CHRIST FULFILLING THE LAW.-"Did Christ come to abolish the ten commandments? No; what Christ has done is simply this: he has, if I may so say, wrought steam power wherewith to drive all the moral machinery of that splendid machine, the ten commandments. It was standing idle for want of power and he came to drive it. He did not come to abolish the law. Nay,' said he, 'I am here to fulfil it, to set it a-working again.'"— John McNeill, D.D.

Chalmers' Experience.

CHALMERS' KILMANY EXPERIENCE.-Christ fulfilling the law is well illustrated by Dr. Chalmers' experince at Kilmany. He preached the law and morality with all the eloquence of his being. But in his farewell address he bears this testimony: "I never heard of any such reformations being effected among them in this way. I am not sensible that all the vehemence with which I urged the virtues and proprieties of social life had the weight of a feather on the moral habits of my parishioners." Dr. Chalmers, while at Kilmany, was truly converted to Christ; and then, when he preached the love and atonement of Christ, he again bears witness that by this he found that men obeyed the moral law, and he declares, "You have at least taught me that to preach Christ is the only effective way of preaching morality in all its branches." (Wayland's "Life of Chalmers,” pp. 39-42.) Every true revival bears the same testimony.

THREE KINDS OF CHURCHES.-In one of the early numbers of the Atlantic Monthly a writer divides churches into three classes: (1) The Church Termagant, forever scolding and finding fault, like the deacon who gave as his chief qualification for the office that he could object; (2) The Church Militant, sometimes fighting other churches as if they were enemies, but ever in a martial frame of mind, fighting evil everywhere. And this is one great function of the church, so long as an evil remains to be destroyed. But that church is most effective in this work, which belongs also and most fully to (3) The Church Beneficent, or Constructant, building up the good, planting good seed, encouraging the virtues, and abounding in every good word and work.

LIBRARY.-There are many helpful illustrations on these verses in Whately's "Annotations" on Bacon's essays, "Innovations."

APPLICATIONS.

There are many applications of this principle. Christ fulfils Nature, giving it a new meaning and power. Wordsworth says:

"I'd rather be

A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn,—
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
And hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."

A.D. 28.
Summer.
SERMON

ON THE
MOUNT.

The old Greeks did illuminate nature, but Christ did infinitely more for it. Instead of dryads and nymphs and fairies, He has peopled nature with living truths, with God's angels of light and comfort. Every cloud and star and flower is a divine messenger. Fields and brooks, rain and snow, bring promises and hopes from God. Compare Whittier's "The Chapel of the Hermits," and Mrs. Browning's "Earth's crammed with heaven

And every earthly bush afire with God."

THE FLAG THAT WAS FULFILLED.-When the regiment carried its flag into battle again and again till they brought it home all tattered and stained and torn, and locked it up in a glass case in the State house, they did not destroy that flag but fulfilled it. They filled it full of meaning. This rent says "Antietam "; that bullethole says "Gettysburg"; every stain and tatter and shred shout "Heroism," "Loyalty," "Freedom,” “Courage," "Victory," till no flag though woven with rays of dawning gold is so precious or so full of meaning and glory.

"There is a dogma of the ancient sages,

No noble human thought,

However buried in the dust of ages,

Can ever come to nought.

"With kindred faith that knows no back direction,

Beyond the sages' scope

I see afar the final resurrection

Of every glorious hope.

18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

"I see as parcel of a new creation,

The Beatific hour

When every bud of lofty aspiration

Shall blossom into flower."

-John G. Saxe.

18. ONE JOT OR one Tittle.~"Jot, ira; Tittle, Kepala. Jot is for jod (i), the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Tittle is the little bend or point which serves to distingish certain Hebrew letters of similar appearance, as (D) from ▾ (R), or ♬ (K) from ♫ (B). The guilt of changing those little hooks which distinguish between certain Hebrew letters is declared to be so great, that if such a thing were done, the world would be destroyed.”—M. R. Vincent. In the Hebrew Bible are over 66,000 jots.

SHOE-PEGS AND SHIPS.-"In a shipyard the other day I saw several men working carefully under the bottom of a vessel which was nearly ready to be launched. I was surprised to find that they were driving shoe-pegs into the planks. What was this for? On looking more closely it was easy to find the reason. In the hard wood planks were many small worm-holes, which will not swell up in the water, and there are so many that they would combine to make a serious leak in the ship if not filled up."-Rev. Joel Ives.

Cost of a Small Change in a

COMMA FOR A HYPHEN.-" Among the first years that I was in Congress a little incident occurred that forcibly illustrates the value of exactness even in the most minute details. In a tariff bill that became a law that winter one of the sections enumerated what articles should be admitted free of duty. Among the articles specified were all 'foreign fruitTariff Bill. plants,' meaning plants imported for transplanting, propagation, or experiment. The enrolling clerk, in copying the bill, accidentally changed the hyphen in the compound word 'fruit-plants' to a comma, making it read 'all foreign fruit, plants,' and so forth. As a result of this carelessness. for a year or until

20. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

A.D. 28.
Summer.
SERMON

ON THE

MOUNT.

Congress could remedy the blunder, all the oranges, lemons, bananas, and other foreign fruits were admitted free of duty. It was only a little mistake, but it cost the government not less than two million dollars. Rather a costly comma."-Sunday-School Times.

A ZINC PATCH AND THE CRIMEAN WAR.-" A little zinc patch of repairs on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was the occasion of the Crimean War.' The roof of the dome leaked, and the Latin Church proposed to repair it. The Greek Church objected, saying that such a thing would seem to assume ownership of the edifice. It was their own province, being the largest and most powerful, and, moreover, having their shrine under the dome nearest the dropping, to cover up the obnoxious holes. Then the Latins objected, and a further strife rose as to the use of some keys to the more sacred chapels. The quarrel waxed so fierce that Russia, as the patron of the Greek Church, stepped in and offered to make repairs, and also took up the key question. Then France, as the patron of the Latin Church, had something to say. And the Turks sat quiet between the parties, controlling the building, but not keeping out the winter rain. Everything became complicated. New issues were raised. The Russians began to order the Turks, and the Turks, as usual, refused to obey. The French agreed to be on the Turks' side. War was declared, and England was persuaded to join the French to help the Turks. So an army went to the Crimea to besiege Sevastopol. Meantime the Turks repaired the building, and (we believe) the French paid for it; at any rate, somebody did besides the Turks. And any one can see the blue zinc afar off on the round dome, and can do just as much thinking about the miserable controversy as he pleases."-C. S. Robinson, LL.D.

20. IN NO CASE ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.-This exclusion is not arbitrary, but from the necessity of the case. Those who will not learn to sing are excluded from the choir, Exclusion and those who refuse to learn to play, from the orchestra; not from any arbitrary decree, but because they make it impossible for themselves to belong. Putting them in the seats or

not

Arbitrary.

21. ¶ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22. But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

giving them an instrument will not make them a part of choir or orchestra.

So those who have not the heavenly spirit and life cannot enter heaven; and no beautiful place and golden harp can by any means make them a part of heaven. And no outward form can make them belong to the kingdom of heaven without their possessing the spirit which is the essence of that kingdom. It is the same with the kingdom of knowledge.

LIBRARY.-The booklet," The Sister's Dream of Heaven" (Knowles, New York).

The Ancient
Shield

21. SAID BY THEM OF OLD TIME.-A saying is not always good or true because it is old. This reminds one of the supposed ancient shield which had been found by the antiquary, Martinus Scriblerus, and which he highly prized, ena Pot Lid. crusted as it was with venerable rust. He mused on the splendid appearance it must have had in its bright newness, till one day an over-sedulous housemaid having scoured off the rust, it turned out to be merely an old pot lid."-Arbp. Whately, p. 12 of Preface to Annotations.

22. BUT I SAY UNTO YOU.-Men are apt to feel that whoever sweeps away the cobwebs is tearing down the ceiling; and whoever takes down the ancient scaffolding is destroying the house.

In the great old church of Verona was a bas-relief, a beautiful work of the 15th century. For some reason it was covered with mastic and hidden for more than one hundred years, and entirely forgotten. In 1630 an earthquake shook of the mastic, and revealed the life of Christ in its ancient beauty. A similar experience occurred in the church of Santa Croce in Florence, where Giotto's pictures were covered up by the Medici, but rediscovered in 1863.

Sidney Smith, in one of his addresses, tells us of a laborer who lived near his parsonage," of such superior abilities and character that he