"Haste thee to help, You have more than and confidence. To

Psalmist when "his kinsmen stood afar off," and "they that went about to do him evil talked of wickedness, and imagined deceit all the day long?" Then raise the Psalmist's cry, O Lord God of my salvation." the Psalmist's ground for hope him the promise was far off. To you it is very near. Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) . . . The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart"." "He that loveth me," said our Lord, "shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

There is another kind of trial common, real, and sharp, which it is not easy to estimate rightly. It is that which arises from the opposition of the wills of those among whom we live. This trial is commonly in part owing to want of temper, or to some other fault of our own. We often exaggerate its amount, or aggravate it by impatience. But let us suppose a case, in which we are ourselves free from blame. Then is there large room for the exercise of charity, forbearance, meekness, and submission; room for prayer in behalf of those at whose hands we suffer; occasion to employ our Saviour's own words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Of all cases this is perhaps the one, in which the comfort of a Saviour's presence is most desired, and most valued. "The heart," it is said, "knoweth its own

6 Rom. x. 6-8.

7 John xiv. 21.

bitterness ;" and the sharpest thorn in a sensitive bosom is a feeling of isolation. How encouraging is it to think that no true believer need be thus isolated. There is a Saviour ever at hand, "a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." He, in whose agony the most favoured disciples could not fully sympathize, knows how weary a thing it is to pray and watch alone. He will soothe those whom man will not, cannot soothe. He will check those misapprehensions, which constitute a large portion of our pain. He will correct us when wayward (and the best at times need such correction), calm us when over-sensitive, and enable us to take the behaviour of others in good part; not only "enduring" but "believing all things:" and in His own good time He will touch the hearts of those who do us wrong, making "our righteousness as clear as the light, and our just dealing as the noonday." What remains of bitterness in our cup, He will teach us to drink cheerfully, because it is our Father's will. We may suffer, we may be injured, we may be misunderstood; but into His bosom we may pour out all our sorrows, and "evermore rejoice in His holy comfort," and serve Him with a quiet mind.

IV. This brings us to the close of the Christian's sufferings. Stephen "fell asleep." In the sight of the unwise he seemed to die, but he was in peace. Sleep is expressive of rest. "If he sleep," said the Apostles of Lazarus, "he shall do well." And this was true, even though Jesus spake of death. The Angels in their Christmas Hymn announced "Peace." Christ said, "I came not to send peace

8 Prov. xiv. 10.

9 Wisd. iii. 2.

1 John xi. 12.

upon earth, but a sword." But here at last the contradiction is reconciled. "My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you ';" peace which passeth understanding, peace which the world cannot take away.

"There remaineth then a rest unto the people of God." The powers of hell may seem for a time to prevail, the foes may seem to triumph. But the Lord who sitteth on high is mightier. "The Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.”

The path of the Christian may seem to the world dreary and sad; his life crossed by opposition, embittered by wrong. But "fear not, little flock," ye are not forgotten before God. Angels minister unto you, and Christ standeth at the right hand of God to mediate, to succour, and to save. Commit your ways unto the Lord, take up the Cross, and follow whithersoever He shall lead,-to pain, to obloquy, to reproach, to shame, to death. And thus, having been made like unto Christ in suffering, you may, when the summons shall come, like Him, bow your head with the words, "It is finished." No more suffering, no more trial, no more rebuke, no more pain. "The wicked shall cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest"." "Henceforth there is laid up for you a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give unto you in that day, and unto all them that love his appearing." Henceforth are reserved for you the "pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore."

2 John xiv. 27.

3 Heb. iv. 9.

4 Job iii. 17.

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, LONDON.

THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR.

EPHESIANS V. 16.

"Redeeming the time."

THE word which is here rendered redeeming, has reference to the present use of time, rather than to the making up for that which is lost. Time is regarded as a season or opportunity, which we are to buy up, as it were, and make our own, in order that we may use it for good. We speak commonly of lost time, when it is wasted or misused; and so redeemed time, is time well applied, and turned to profit. "See," says the Apostle, "that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." But although the exact meaning of the phrase, redeeming the time, does not indicate the making recompense for what we have lost, such an injunction as to present time must naturally bring with it the recollection of the past. Entrance on a New Year is never unaccompanied with some reference to the Old; and our assiduity to make the most of the time now within our reach, may well be increased by the thought of opportunities gone by.

It is not without its significance, that the Church Festival corresponding to the New Year is the Circumcision of our Lord,-because it is commemorative of the first act by which our blessed Saviour deigned to mark His entrance upon a life of suffering,-and because the rite itself denoted, as Scripture so often [No. 7.]

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informs us, the circumcision of the heart. Hence he who would put off the old man, and put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him, may learn that he is called to a life of earnest sadness, if he is to resem. ble the Man of sorrows-sadness for past neglect and repeated sins, which can only be washed away by the blood of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

The New-Year's Day is, then, to a Christian a day of great searching of heart. It is, indeed, one of sober and calm rejoicing; for its return brings with it the remembrance of the mercies of God experienced throughout the past year;—dangers escaped, difficulties removed, chastisements withdrawn or alleviated, comforts bestowed, health preserved or perhaps renewed, mental faculties continued, if not improved. And it is to be hoped that there are few who have not had some experience of grace bestowed, of temptations withstood, sin resisted, and Satan baffled: therefore may we join with David in praising "Thee and Thy faithfulness, O God, playing upon an instrument of music, singing upon the harp unto Thee, O Thou Holy One of Israel '."

But while God's works are thus the fitting theme of joyful praise and thankful exultation, the retrospect of our own acts must be sobering and saddening. The sins which rise up to testify against us may well need a sorrowful acknowledgment. The multitude of our offences calls for the multitude of God's mercies. And if known sin be thus grievous, what must become of us in the presence of Him, who

1 Psalm lxxi. 22.