Emblem, or how it became such! None is better known, and none should be dearer to a christian's heart. It has been an honored christian emblem ever since it was planted upon Calvary, more than eighteen centuries ago. It is the hope of the world. God forbid that we should glory in anything but the Cross!

Sweet the moments, rich in blessing
Which before the Cross I spend ;
Life, and health, and peace possessing
From the sinner's dying friend.
Here I'll sit, forever viewing

Mercy's streams, in streams of blood;
Precious drops my soul bedewing

Plead and claim my peace with God.

Here it is I find my heaven,

While upon the Lamb I gaze;

Here I see my sins forgiven,

Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

THE MORAL SAPHET:

OR, A CITY BUILT UPON A HILL.

BY REV. J. HASSLER.

WHEN the Saviour uttered the beautiful symbol, drawn from a natural object, which compares a good man to a city upon a hill, he sat upon the Mount of Tabor. The sides of this mountain are craggy and precipitous. Its top is lofty and towering, reaching towards the clouds, and pointing the weary pilgrim up to heaven as his home. At its base, a landscape of rich and fertile country stretches as far as the eye can see, interspersed with hills and mountains, lakes and vallies, whose fertile plains are made vocal with the sweet music of the joyous shepherd. On the side of this mountain, a vast throng of people are eagerly bending towards one who is seated in their midst. He is not comely, that they should look upon him with delight; neither is his rank distinguished, nor are his commands invested with earthly authority. It is the calm, the simple, the heart-searching words which fall from his lips, that enchain the attention of the surrounding multitudes as by magic spell. The beaming look of God-like benevolence and holy love that sparkles in his eye, stills every tongue and wins every heart to a willing, to a reverential submission. Above him is the blue vault of heaven; below him the lake of Tiberias; around him his disciples; whilst

in the far-off distance, on another lofty eminence is the city of Saphet-a conspicuous object to all around for miles in extent. Raising his hand, it may be, and pointing upwards to the sun, which doubtless at this very time was throwing his golden beams of light over the whole expanse of country, and then pointing to the distant prospect, where lay conspicuously the city, he turns to the multitude, and appealing to his disciples, says, "Ye are the light of the world. A city upon a hill cannot be hid."

Just as the city upon yonder hill cannot be hid, so the life, light and influence of the christian character can never be obscured. As a city on a hill is always seen, so the man of christian faith and christian practice can never be screened from the eye of the world. His words are heard-his actions are seen -his conduct is marked-his whole life is ever scrutinized by the watchful gaze of a fault-finding world, more eagerly and more intently even than soaring eagle watches his prey. No position in life is so awfully solemn, and none is so awfully weighty and full of heavy responsibility, as that of the christian man. Like unto a city built upon a hill, he cannot be hid! He is constantly seen-always observed-and is ever regarded by others, as an object either of praise or of dis-praise-as an object to be imitated, or else to be shunned. His affairs cannot be carried on secretly or covertly.

In this natural emblem, therefore, which the Saviour adduced to set forth a man's character, several ideas are forcibly exhibited to our view-conspicuousness, permanency, and the power of example.

A city built upon a hill is always seen-it is always thereit always serves as a guide to the traveller: so the lives and actions of good men are always visible-are always fixed and permanent in this position-and always serve as a guide for others to steer by; either as they set sail upon the tempestuous sea of life's voyage, or travel forth upon the wearisome journey of earth's pilgrimage. Visibility of action, fixedness of purpose and example for others, constitute the essence of a good man's character, and eventually place him upon a hill of distinction and honor, fixed and immovable.

The city is always seen. This is so from its position, which is high and lofty-towering far above the level of the fertile plain, or the smooth surface of the placid lake. No position is so high and lofty, none so prominent and commanding, and so far eclipsing all other localities, as that of the city built upon the eminence or the towering mount. It is the highest that can possibly be assumed, unless you reach the clouds themselves.

No higher can be obtained upon the earth. So the position of
the christian is the highest any mortal can ever assume.
It is
even superior to the angels, and no higher can ever be attained,
unless man should become equal unto God himself. It is so,
because of the christian's birth. The christian is born of God.
"Not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh,
but of God." His birth-right makes him an heir of heaven,
and gives him relationship to God. He is a Son of God-he
belongs to the world of purity and bliss, not of sin. He exists
here, but lives in heaven. He thinks, acts and moves here in
time, like others, but his life is hid with Christ, in God. He
tabernacles in the flesh, but walks in the spirit. He walks with
God, because he is a Son of God!

But the christian is born God-like. Not merely born of a divine power, but born in its image, in its life, in its spirit. He has the life of a God in him, a new principle of will, thought and action. He is not merely raised up by his new birth from the depth of sin, but he is placed upon a hill, made a new creature, is a new man. His feelings, thoughts and actions are all new; and do necessarily give forth a new life and a new character, as much so as a good tree sends forth good fruit. He is not of earth, earthy; but of heaven, heavenly; and exhibits the spirit of heaven in all his walk and conversation.

Such a position must be seen. It is high above the world. The sons of Adam are infinitely beneath it, both in birth and in character. Their views, aims, purposes and plans are all human and selfish. They center upon self and self-aggrandizement. They have no higher good than their own glory. No better motive than human selfishness; no other end then self-complacency. The good of self is the end, middle and beginning of all human life, unless raised up by Christ upon the hill of a divine birth and a divine character. On account of this exalted position the christian is an object of notice and attraction to all the world.

But this city is also fixed in its position and permanent in its locality. It is always there. No midnight storms can molest its security. No raging billows of the stormy sea can reach its height. It is high above all the dangers of the sea, and is secure against the force of the storm. Nothing can shake its rocky foundations. So the man of Bible principle and of Bible practice. Nothing can shake his Faith. He stands upon the Rock, Christ.

No fluctuations of opinion; no provocation of words; no discrepancy of conduct, and no duplicity of language, mark his

V

steps, or characterize his movements in life. The man of God is sincere in his professions and fixed in his purposes. What he says, he does; and what he does is always consistent with his profession, and in harmony with his new birth and his divine character. His acts and his movements fix him in one place. They give him a permanent position and a fixed locality. No storms of adversity, and no power of man or of the Devil, can move him from his rocky foundation.

One striking characteristic of this firm foundation is, that the Christian is always in love and favor with God.

This is natural from his previous birth-right. In Christ, God is reconciled unto us, and through him we hold fellowship with the Father. The root of enmity is killed, and the christian lives in the sunshine of God's love and favor, as truly so as the city enjoys the light of the sun. It is built high-directly under the rays of the burning sun. Yet this high elevation does not exclude the intervention of clouds, or the thick veil of darkness from coming in to intercept its light. Heavy clouds and thick darkness frequently do intervene between the city and the sun. They often obscure its light and frequently shut up the whole city in the gloom of midnight. This, however, does not prove there is no sun, or that the city is not upon a hill. Thus, too, when the heavy clouds of adversity, or the thick gloom of doubt or affliction, intervene between the christian and his God, they do not prove that the christian has no God, or that he is not a city upon a hill. Job and David are cases in point. They were moral cities, raised up high from the low level of mediocrity and human depravity, by divine power, and yet they were often under a cloud. Many, thick, heavy and portentous were the clouds of sorrow and affliction, that for days and months sat upon the horizon of their spiritual existence and would often eclipse the light of God's favor, yet with all, Jehovah was their God, and they were men of moral power and fixedness of purpose. These interruptions of divine favor are not perpetual. The thickest cloud yields to the rays of the The darkest night gives way to the morning light. So the darkest times and the severest storms of adversity that can ever befall the christian, only drive him closer to his purpose and fix him firmer upon his foundation. These storms, too, only exhaust their strength by their intensity, or blow away their force by their fierceness. When their mission is fulfilled-when God is honored and men humbled, then they yield up their sorrow and their distress into the lap of prosperity, and the sun again sheds forth his beams. The city on a hill is still there

sun.

in all the dignity of its height, enjoying the full light of the Sun of Righteousness, shining down upon its lofty front and high battlements, in splendor and beauty!

Another trait in the firm position of this Moral Saphet, is, that he is always in love and charity with his neighbor. This is so from the fact that he loves God. Love to God is the root of love to man. One begets the other. We love our fellow men because we love God-not before. When the first table of the Decalogue is obeyed, then the second follows. The two are to be kept together and in unison. John says, "If any man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen." The christian is full of love, compassion, and sympathy for his fellow men. He stays too in this state of mind. He never gets out of it. He has no disposition to do so, though greatly annoyed, wearied and sick at heart, it may be, from the weaknesses and imprudencies of his brethren, yet he loves them still. Not their sins-not their imperfections-not their faults-yet he loves them as his brethren, sinful, weak and imperfect. He has the principle of love in him, and this principle leaves him in no other position than in that of love and charity with man. Though even abused or injured, it may be, by his neighbor, still he loves; yea, he does more he prays for him. He lives peaceably with all men. He overcomes evil with good. Love leads him to do so.

A beautiful trait in the holy character of this Moral Saphet is, that he is always in peace with his family, and in active membership with the christian church.

At peace with his neighbor, he lives at peace and in harmony with his wife, his children, and his domestics. The evening and morning prayer-grace at meals-the creed, the catechism and the religious instruction of the holy Sabbath, serve to ward off the evil genius of hate, malice, envy, discord, or family contention and sinful gossip. Where the voice of prayer is heard— where the bible is read-where the catechism is taught, and where the whole family is trained in the fear and nurture of the Lord, there no family disputes can enter, and no quarreling with wife, mother, daughter, or child, can ever disturb the mild and hallowed influence of the family circle. It is only where these things are wanting that the family is distracted and ruined by the evil spirit of domestic discord. A good man is punctual at the family altar, at the family bible, and exercises family discipline and family instruction with care, decision and affection. "He governs the affairs of his household with discretion."