Christians, do we feel our responsibilities as those who have inscribed their hand to Jehovah, and surnamed themselves with the name of Israel? The hand being the working member, the inscription on it is the symbol of consecration of heart and soul. "Soldier of God!" have I any claim to the honourable appellation? Have I realised all that is involved in that vow of allegiance which Bunyan describes as uttered by the man in armour at the gate, "Put my name down, sir, for I too am to be one of the host of the Lord?"

Reader, in order that you may be "Christ's faithful soldier and servant," it is not necessary that you be among the number of those who are vindicating His cause on the high places of the field, in posts of conspicuous and distinguished honour. Your apportioned lot and duty may be the reverse. It may rather be, keeping solitary vigil in some obscure watchtower. It may be in the nightly bivouac of sorrow, with sword and shield hung in the silent

corridors of sickness; by passive endurance rather than by active service, you may be called to glorify His name. It may be, wearing the consistent profession, and bearing the consistent cross in the midst of the daily contacts and cares and obloquies of life. "To every man his work;" to every soldier his post; to every Levite his "course;" whether it be the more privileged occupations of the Holy Place, or the subordinate sphere of hewing wood and drawing water. And remember, too, that the lowliest offices,even menial drudgery, may be transfigured into what is holy and religious, if in the discharge of these duties you are actuated and animated by pure and holy motive and principle; seeking to carry out the lofty rule and test of the Apostle, "Whatsoever ye do, whether in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Be your assigned place and mission what they may, seek to make it manifest, by deed as well as by word, that "to Jehovah you belong." The life of the Christian is, or ought to be, a

life of consecration;-bearing the image and superscription of the Great Master who has redeemed it. "Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price; wherefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are His.”

"Jesus, Master, whose I am,

Purchased Thine alone to be,
By Thy blood, O spotless Lamb,
Shed so willingly for me;
Let my heart be all Thine own,
Let me live to Thee alone.

Lord, Thou needest not, I know,
Service such as I can bring;
Yet I long to give and show

Loyal homage to my King;
Open Thou mine eyes to see

All the work Thou hast for me."

Nor let us degrade this high consecration "to the Lord" by confounding it with any travesties of human invention. Let us not mistake adhesion to sect and party, for allegiance and loyalty to the divine Redeemer. Amid the battle of creeds and din of faction, when ten thousand clamorous voices are heard proclaiming, "To this or to that ecclesiastical organisa

tion I belong,"-be it ours to avow a nobler ownership and surrender;―answering to the rollcall of Jehovah's true servants, not by any conventional Shibboleths, but by lofty principle and high-toned consistency, by self-sacrifice, holiness of heart and purity of life. Paul's badge is the only safe and legitimate one-" Be ye followers of me, even as I (or as far as I) also am of Christ" (1 Cor. xi. 1).

Let us only recall, in closing, the great truth which imparts to the passage we have been considering its main beauty and significancy; that this consecration of the soul is the special result and product of the Holy Spirit's quickening, reviving, regenerating power. For it is when God, in fulfilment of His own gracious promise, "pours water on thirsty ones, and floods upon the dry ground," that grass springs up on the parched earth, and the willows fringe the water-courses; or, using the other metaphor, that the altar is reared and the vow of allegiance is recorded.

Spirit of the living God! descend, in all the plenitude of Thy gifts and graces, alike on "Thy holy Church throughout all the world," and on each individual heart. Then "the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God" (Ps. xlvi. 4). "And everything shall live whither the river cometh" (Ezek. xlvii. 9).

Spirit Divine! grant us Thy gracious leadings;
Come and erect Thy dwelling in each soul;
And while before Thee rise our fervent pleadings,
Touch every lip with a live altar-coal.

Come, like the gentle dove, with olive-token;

Come, like the balmy wind, soft breathing peace;
Come to the heart which sin has crushed and broken;
Come to the captive, and vouchsafe release.

Come, like the dew which on Mount Hermon falleth ;
Come, when bereavement dims the mourner's eye;
Come, when 'the deep to deep' responsive calleth,
And with Thy comforts gem our starless sky.

Come to the world, new life and healing bringing,
Cheer its parched souls with rills of heavenly bliss;
Make them like willows by the water springing,

'The Lord's own planting'-'Trees of righteousness.'

"IN THE MULTITUDE OF MY THOUGHTS WITHIN ME

THY COMFORTS DELIGHT MY SOUL."