"grace," divine acceptableness, may be implied. here. The other form of it, human convincingness is certainly indicated. For this it must be appropriate (a) as : to topic, (B) as to time, (y) as to manner. (2) Because it is to be distinctive. Not talk of tasteless insipidity, making no impression, but conversation as clear and definite in purifying influence as Christ meant the disciples themselves were to be when He said, "Ye are the salt of the earth." "Certain it is," says Jeremy Taylor, "that as nothing better can do it, so there is nothing greater for which God made our tongues, next to reciting His praises, than to minister comfort to weary souls. And what greater measure can we have than that we should bring joy to our brother, who, with his weary eye, looks to heaven and round about, I and cannot find so much rest as to lay his eyelids together, then thy tongue should be tuned with heavenly accents, and make the weary soul to listen for light and ease. This is glory to thy voice, and employment fit for the brightest angel. have seen the sun kiss the frozen earth, which was bound up with the images of death and the cold breath of the north, and then the waters break from their enclosures, and melt with joy, and run in useful channels. So is the heart of a sorrowful man under the discourses of a wise comforter. He breaks from the despairs of the grave: he blesses God, and he feels his life returning. God is pleased with no music below so much as in the thanksgiving songs of rejoicing comforted per sons.' URIJAH R. THOMAS. Bristol. Seeds of Sermons on St. Paul's Epistle to Philippians. Having gone through all the verses in the Epistle to the Ephesians (see "Homilist," Vol. xxii. to xxviii.), we proceed to develope, with our usual brevity, the precious germs of truth contained in this letter. The following remarks, as a standing introduction, may contribute some portion of light to the whole Epistle:-Notice (1) The residence of the persons addressed. Philippi-whose ancient name was Crenides-was a city of Macedonia. and called after the name of Philip of Macedon, because he rebuilt and fortified it, B.C. 358, and afterwards colonised by Julius Cæsar, who invested the population with the privilege of a Roman City. It was the first place in Europe where the Gospel was preached by Paul, an account of which we have in the sixteenth chapter of the Acts. It was during his second missionary tour, and about A.D. 53.-Notice (2) The occasion of the Epistle. The contributions which the Philippians had made towards supplying the Apostle's necessities when a prisoner at Rome, evidently prompted its production.-Notice (3) The scene from which the Epistle was addressed. That it was from Rome where he was a prisoner is clear, from chapters i. 1-13, iv. 22. It would seem from the Epistle that he was expecting a speedy decision of his case, and hoped to obtain his release. Epaphroditus had been despatched to him from the Philippian Church with pecuniary contributions for the Apostle's relief, and on his return the Apostle entrusted this letter for conveyance. This would be about A.D. 63.-Notice (4) The general character of the Epistle. It is all but free from any censure, and breathes a warm and generous feeling through every part. The Epistle gives us the impression that the Philippian Church was one of the most pure, consistent, and generous, of that age. About 40 or 50 years after this Epistle was written, we are informed that Ignatius, on his way to martyrdom passed through Philippi, and was most warmly received in that city.] No. X. unity there is a division everywhere, and the divided parts become antagonistic. The mission of the gospel is to remedy this, and to restore to perfect social unity. This unity, we infer from the text, includes three things. First: Harmony of feeling to one another. "That ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." Having noticed this point in the preceding article, we have only to repeat that the harmony can only be realised by all having the one same object of reigning love. Two men, however different in the kind and measure of native talent, in the nature and measure of information, in the degree of culture, in the character of their opinions and beliefs, are indissolubly united in soul if their greatest love is centred in the same object. So of any number. The design of the gospel is to centre all men's love on God in Christ. There is no other way of producing this harmony; no theological system, no ecclesiastical organisation, no legislative enactment can do it, it is simply by this love that it can be done. This unity includes, Secondly: Humility of deportment among one onother. "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." "This verse expresses the negative result of this unity of soul-that nothing will be done in strife-that is factiousness(the word used in chap. i. 17) or ' vainglory,' nothing, that is, with the desire either of personal influence or of personal glory. For, he adds, each will esteem other better than himself, or rather, will hold that his neighbour is worthy of higher consideration, and a higher place of dignity than himself (comp. the use of the word in Rom. xiii. 1; 1 Pet. ii. 13, of temporal dignity), for the idea is of the ascription to others, not of moral superiority, but of a higher place and honour. Self-assertion will be entirely overborne. So he teaches us elsewhere that "charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own (1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5).-Dr. Barry. The proud, the haughty, the supercilious, are not only the disturbers of social unity, they are the destroyers of it. According to the law of souls they loathe and recoil from all arrogance and pretension in others, hence the exhortation, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory." This unity includes, Thirdly: Generous concern one for another. 66 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." This does not mean, of course, that you are to neglect your own things. There are things that every man must attend to for himself, his own physical health, intellectual culture, &c., but it means that we are not to attend to our own things chiefly, and in such a way as to neglect the concerns of others. There is no real antagonism between the interest of self and the interest of others; on the contrary, we can only secure our own individual well-being or happiness by promoting the interests of others. It is only as men become generously engrossed in the interest of others that they can realise their Own individual happiness and perfection. The man rises only as he becomes self-oblivious; thus Paul felt, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live." The ego must be swallowed up in the non-ego-the spirit of universal benevolence. This is genuine socialism, and it is here urged by II. APOSTOLIC PERSUASION. "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy that ye be likeminded.” "There are here four influencing motives to inculcate the four Christian duties corresponding respectively, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, of one accord, of one mind. (1) If there be (with you as I assume) any consolation in Christ, i.e., any consolation (but Ellicott, to avoid tautology, comfort following translates (paraklesis) exhortation, Rom. xii. 8), of which Christ is the source leading you to console me in my afflictions borne for Christ's sake, ye ought to grant my request. (2) If there be any comfort of (i.e., flowing from) love, the adjunct of consolation in Christ. (3) If any fellowship of (joint participation of) the Spirit (2 Cor. xiii. 14). As pagans meant those who were of one village and drank of one fountain, how much greater is the union which conjoins those who drink of the same Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 4). (4) If any bowels (tender emotions) and mercies (compassions, Col. iii. 12), the adjuncts of fellowship of the Spirit. The first and third mark the objective sources of the Christian life-Christ and the Spirit; the second and fourth, the subjective principle in believers. The opposites of the two pairs into which the four falls are reprobated in verses 3 and 4."-Fausset. A man like the Apostle would not have urged this true socialism with such mighty earnestness had he not been impressed with its importance, and what can be of greater importance than this unity among the race For this Christ prayed the night before His death, "That they all may be one as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." ? Homiletical Breviaries. No. CCCL. The Divine Method of Estimating Human Conduct, "IF THERE BE FIRST A WILLING MIND, IT IS ACCEPTED ACCORDING TO WHAT A MAN HATH, AND NOT ACCORDING TO THAT HE HATH NOT."2 Cor. viii. 12. The new version reads thus: "For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according as a man hath, not according as he hath not.” I cannot but think this very clumsily worded. I much prefer the wording of Dr. Samuel Davidson: "For if there is first the readiness it is acceptable according to what it may have, not according to what it has not." Neither of these versions give the Apostle's idea better than the old one. The idea is that an honest unaffected desire of doing right is the test of God's true servants. "Paul," says Dr. Newman, "is speaking of almsgiving, but what he says seems to apply generally. He is laying down a principle which applies of course in many distinct cases, though he uses it with reference to one in particular.” Our subject is, that the disposition of the heart, and not the doings of the man's hands, constitute the essence of moral character. We offer five remarks in relation to this fact. I. This fact is ATTESTED BY THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE MORAL TEACHER. Who was He? Christ, who had the absolute truth, who was sent from God. In the sermon on the mount He taught that he who lusted after a woman was an adulterer, that hated his brother was a murderer, that coveted a neighbour's property was a thief, that the soul was the arena of moral actions, that there the moral battles were fought, victories won, and defeats endured. The old prophets indeed taught the same. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." The essence of a moral act lies not in the muscular action, but in the mental volition. II. This fact ACCORDS WITH OUR SENSE OF JUSTICE. Were our characters to be judged by overt acts, we feel that the estimate would be incorrect. First Because many of our overt acts spring |