of men, the fact remains: "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"; and his blood, as of a lamb without spot, cleanseth from all sin. Being justified by faith in the blood, the worst of sinners may find peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom they receive atonement, and have redemption and forgiveness of sins.

The work of the priest, however, extends beyond the ministrations of the altar. Of old the high priest offered up the appointed sacrifices; then turning from the sight of adoring throngs he passed into the awful silence of the inner sanctuary, that he might meet Jehovah at the mercy seat, and there make intercession for the sins of the people. He stood daily ministering, and offering many times the same sacrifices, which could never take away sins; but this man, after offering one complete sacrifice, forever sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Not with the blood of bulls and goats slain by the temple altar, but with his own precious blood shed on Calvary; not into the holy place made with hands, a figure of the true, but into heaven itself, he passed from the sight of men, there to appear in the presence of God to make intercession for the saints. Having explored all the dread caverns of the underworld, he came forth bringing the spoils; and amid shoutings of "Grace, grace unto it," He passed to the mediatorial throne. Now, if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father; and he is both a propitiation and a plea. He knows the mind of God, and makes his prayer according to the divine will. He pleads the covenant of grace, the finished redemption, the fulfilled law, the despoiled grave, the glory of the holy

name, and the justice of justification, since God may be just in justifying the ungodly through faith. Not after the order of Aaron with its ceaseless succession from father to son, but after the power of an endless life, He abides a priest forever to make intercession for His own.

Wherefore! O hear this divine logic, which is as stable as the eternal throne! Hear, and drop your doubts, and drive your fears away! Wherefore, He is able to save unto the uttermost every soul that comes! Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby they must be saved; nor is there need of other names. He has all the forms of power. By his physical power he metes out the heavens with a span, and weighs the hills in scales. By his authority, which compasses all things in the heavens above and in the earth beneath, he administers all judgment, that all men should honor Him even as they honor the Father. Above all principality and power, might and dominion, and every other name written on the scroll of eternity, He sits in majesty supreme, holding all things in subjection and having pre-eminence over all. Oh! he is able to save the high and the low, the rich and the poor; able to bind the dragon, that old serpent which is the Devil and Satan, and hurl him into the abyss of hell; able to pluck up by the roots the foul tree of death, whose noisome shadow has enwrapped the globe, and rendered the earth a place of skulls; able to transmute the grief and groan of nature, travailing in pain and awaiting the promised redemption, into a ceaseless song of triumph, which shall roll through a disenthralled universe and

proclaim all things new; able by one impulse of His majestic thought to sound the knell of time, and silently open the gates of vast eternity, where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest! The sea that laves all lands is no fit emblem of his fulness, for every drop taken away leaves less to swell the tides; but he is the same yesterday, today, forever, and in him dwells all the fulness of God. The sun shining in strength is no sufficient symbol of his glory, for the sun shall be turned into darkness before the great and notable day of the Lord; but even then this man shall shine forth in the glory of God.

The highest schemes that human wisdom can devise or human energy execute are marred by imperfection. Under the best forms of government injustice and oppression prevail; guilt goes unsmitten of the scourge, and helpless wrong cries in vain for redress. Science ransacks the laboratory of nature in search of remedies for physical ills; yet disease and pain continue their remorseless march, and drive the nations to the tomb. Sociology propounds her theses, education pursues her vitalizing work, and charity extends her bountiful hand; yet poverty and ignorance and mainfold miseries remain. The whole realm of human effort abounds in abortion; but God never fails. Sending forth His Son, that the world through Him might be saved, he puts boundless resources at his command. He is able unto the uttermost, and his ability is power clothed in goodness, might melting with compassion. He is able to tread down his enemies in anger, and trample them in fury; but He has pity for such as are weak and out of the

way. The dearest conceptions reached by reasoning or born out of experience are but faint unfoldings of the fathomless truth, that this man, who sits at the right hand of God, cares for us, yearns over us, extends the sceptre of pardon, stoops to lift our burdens and heals our wounds. O throne of iron, from which through ages past thunders of indignation and wrath have been flung to affright the guilty race, avaunt, and quit my sight! O throne of ebony, draped in clouds and darkness, emitting smoke and mists and mystery to appall the souls of men, depart hence! O throne of crystal, shimmering in brightness and casting a chilling light which no man can approach, give thou place! O throne of gems, thou seat of grace, center of power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing, abide forever! O thou that sittest thereon, I yield myself to thee! Be thou my Lord, and thou my Saviour evermore! Amen.

"With joy we meditate the grace
Of our High Priest above:
His heart is full of tenderness;
His bosom glows with love.

Touched with a sympathy within,

He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he has felt the same.

Then let our humble faith address

His mercy and his power;

We shall obtain delivering grace

In each distressing hour."

CHRIST TEMPTS MEN TO HEROISM

REV. JAS. I. VANCE, D.D., PASTOR FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NASHVILLE, TENN.

TEXT "Let us go into Judea again." (John xi. 7.)

I The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

II Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.