SEED-THOUGHTS ON TEXTS AND SUBJECTS. SALVATION. "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet, from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living."-Ps. cxvi. 8, 9. I.-The Deliverance. 1. My soul from death. 2. My eyes from tears. 3. My feet from falling. II.-The Deliverer. "Thou": the Lord. In His compassion. His power. condescension. III.-The Resolution. "I will," &c. My delivered powers shall be engaged to honour and glorify Him who has delivered me. GOD ON OUR SIDE. "If God be for us, who then can be against us ?"-ROм. viii. 31. His I. God is for us-Illustrate in how many ways. II. Who are against us, and the futility of their opposition to us. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. A fulfilment of prophecy and Types-an evidence of His Messiahship-a triumph over death and the grave-a principle of Life-a source of Power-a cause of Joy—a Reason for Hope. CHRIST IN HIS RELATIONS As a Teacher-an Example-a Friend-a Brother-a Priest-a Good Shepherd-Head of the Church-Giver of Life-Saviour-Mediator. THE SUFFERER. JESUS-The sinless Sufferer-The willing Sufferer-The foreknowing Sufferer-The forsaken Sufferer-The triumphant Sufferer. THE LOVE OF JESUS. THE LOVE OF JESUS was;-Compassionate-SufferingSelf-sacrificing-Persevering-Generous. THE ASSOCIATES AT THE CROSS. The Spectators-"The people stood beholding." The Soldiers-" These things therefore the soldiers did.” The Thieves-"With Him were crucified two thieves." John-" Jesus saw the disciple standing by whom He loved." The Mother of Jesus-"There stood by the Cross of Jesus, His mother." Jesus-"Truly this was the Son of God." The Women-"The women stood afar off." ILLUSTRATIONS OF TEXTS AND SUBJECTS. MENDING BAD TIMES. "Prudence, frugality, and good management," said Samuel Drew, the philosophical shoemaker, "are excellent artists for mending bad times; they occupy but little room in any dwelling, but would furnish a more effectual remedy for the evils of life than any Reform Bill that ever passed the House of Parliament." Socrates said, "Let him that would move the world move first himself." Or as the old rhyme runs Behold, there is a soul in a palace shrinking into itself! There is a soul in a small place growing capable of all heaven! Yonder comes a soul full of laughter and song, but its own light is going out in darkness. Thither goes a soul trembling along one of life's hard ways of duty, and before it, unseen, God's angel; and after it, into the gates of the city, more treasures than it has ever dreamed of. There is a soul bending to its appointed work in the world, and in its humble dutifulness becoming strong in grace, equal at length to the companionship of the sons of God in their high tasks. And there, withdrawn from the world, in a sick chamber, waiting quietly, almost alone in old age, is a soul becoming seasoned and fragrant; and lo! through suffering and waiting, it has won from life power to receive a whole heaven of sunny peace!-Dr. Smyth. NOTHING TO DO. The Marquis de Spinola asked Sir Horace Vere what his brother died of. Sir Horace replied, "He died, sir, of having nothing to do."-Surely that was enough to kill him or anyone else. To have nothing to do is to be without motive or reason for action, is to be without exercise of the various faculties of body and mind. As a machine, by ceasing to work, loses its capability to work; as fire goes out in ceasing to burn, and water becomes bad by ceasing to flow; so man often dies of having nothing to do. Perhaps more have died in the castle of indolence than in the field of industry. This illustration has a spiritual application as well as a moral. How many die in the religious life from doing nothing. There is plenty to do, but they shut up their gifts and graces in utter lassitude, and they die for the want of fresh air and active service in spheres of service for God and man. THE LORD KNOWS HIS OWN. "The Lord knoweth them that are His." - 2 TIM. ii 19. The Lord is not subject to forgetfulnesse, He knoweth who are His; and His eye is always over them (2 Tim. ii. 19). Could the Lord forget them, were He subject to ignorance then His affections might be separate from them; but He is not, He cannot. Tamar may disguise her selfe, walke in an unaccustomed path; So Judah may not know her. Isaac, through the dimnesse of his sight, may blesse Jacob, and passe Esau. Tract of time may make Joseph to forget, or be forgotten of his brethren. Solomon may doubt to whom the child (of certaine) belongeth; and Christ come to His owne, and not be received. But the Lord seeth all His; (Heb. iv. 13) time, place, speech, or apparell cannot obscure or darken His eye or care. He can discerne Daniel in the denne; Job, though never so changed, on the dunghill: Let Jonah have his lodging in the whale's belly; Peter be put into close prison; Lazarus be wrapped in rags; or Abel tumbling in blood; yet can He call them by name, and send His angels to comfort them. Ignorance or forgetfulnesse may cause love to bee estranged in the creature; but the Lord is not incident to either; for His eye, as His essence, is everywhere. (Ps. cxxxix. 1, 2.)-John Barlow, 1630. DIVINE ASSURANCE. No human assurances are sufficient to satisfy the soul of its acceptance with God. This is illustrated in the following case, given by a French minister. A lady lay on her deathbed in a beautiful Italian city. She was a Roman Catholic, and received the last rites of the Church. She made confession of her sins to the priest, and received absolution, or, at least, he professed to absolve her. She was not satisfied with a verbal assurance, and requested it to be made in writing. This was done; but even with the document in her hand she did not feel at ease. She wanted something more than a priest's forgiveness, and so, at her request, friends telegraphed to the Pope at Rome, who immediately responded with his verdict of absolution. Then, taking the priest's paper in one hand and the Papal telegram in the other, she declared she felt safe, and could defy all the evil spirits of hell on the one hand, and even God Himself upon the other. The Papal absolution was the stronghold of her faith; but, alas, mortal man cannot speak the word of life to immortal souls, and just before she died she evidently realised the vanity and fallacy of her misplaced confidence. She tore the papers of absolution, the supposed passports to heaven, into pieces, and crying, "Sonno perduta!" (I am lost!) died in hopeless despair. PROFITABLE READING. "We get no good By being ungenerous, even to a book, Mrs. Barrett Browning. IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE. Ignorance and knowledge are associates in this world. Whether as friends or foes, I will not say. They are, however, running a race together. Which will win the prize I cannot tell, because I cannot see as far as the goal. Knowledge may increase and abound, more and more, in individual minds, but it matters not how far the increase of knowledge goes, it will find ignorance close to it. Must it not be always so, while the subjects and limitations of knowledge are infinite? CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS. on Christian forgiveness is not forgiveness resting cowardice, but on magnanimity. It is one thing to forgive another because you are his inferior, and cannot resent. It is another to forgive, being an equal and able to give "tit for tat." If your are smitten on one cheek, and turn the other to be smitten, being able to defend yourself, it is Christian; but if you do it, because you have no other alternative-you have the spirit to resent, but not the power-that is not Christian conduct. Christ forgave, having the power to revenge. A man is attacked by another, and he would, if he could, attack in return: another is attacked, and he could, if he would, crush his assailant, but he does not, this is Christlike not that. : CONTROVERSIES. It is said in ancient story that two physicians, one a Galenist, and the other a Paracelsian, being at supper, fell into hot dispute about the manner of digestion, and while they were engaged in the controversy, a third man, coming into the room, carried off the dishes of meat that were before them. How often does it occur that while some are hotly disputing about theories, creeds, ceremonies in the churches, another party steps in and takes the truth from them, leaving them nothing but their disputes? LOOKING TO JESUS. Sethon, a priest of Vulcan, caused a statue to be erected to his memory, on which was inscribed, "Whoever fixes his eyes on me, let him be pious." Jesus, in his living Person, appears in His Word, and is set forth in His Gospel, saying, "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, for I am God." "Come unto Me all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." A statue, a painting, a ceremony, is dead, and can give out no virtue. Jesus, "Lord of all," and Saviour of all, can save unto the uttermost, all them who come unto God through Him (Heb. vii. 25). WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE CONTRASTED. Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one, The mere materials with which wisdom builds, Cowper. THE REVISION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. BY THE REV. J. ROBINSON GREGORY. II. SOME OLDER VERSIONS. By the time this paper reaches the reader's hand, the Revised Version of the Old Testament will probably be in his possession. This article, however, must be written before the long-looked-for Version is accessible. It is promised definitely shortly after Easter. A rapid glance at the history of the English Old Testament will not be inopportune, as will prove subsequently serviceable. Thence, we will turn for a moment or two to the earliest and, in some respects, the most important of all the versions. We may take it as established that the first complete translation of the Bible into English was finished about the year 1382, and that it must be credited mainly to John Wycliffe, with large assistance from Nicholay de Hereford, and perhaps other hands. So far as the Old Testament is concerned, the major part of the actual work of translation should probably be credited to Hereford. This version was made from the Latin, and until very recent times existed only in manuscript. Passing by the revision of Purvey, we come to William Tyndale. His translation of the New Testament was printed at Worms in 1525. It was not granted to the father of our English Bible to render the entire Old Testament into his mother-tongue. In 1530, he published an English version of the Pentateuch, with a |