adversity strips them of their leaves, they shall renew in the spring an abounding foliage, to be a beauty and a shelter. And when the autumn of life comes they shall bear fruit in large purple clusters for the comfort and joy of all who need, to make glad the hearts of little children, to moisten the parched lips of the dying, to assuage the burning thirst of fever, and give delight to all.

But in order to be freed from fear, it is not enough to be told not to fear. In the midst of a battle tell the coward not to be afraid; in the midst of a thunder-storm tell the person who shrinks from the vivid flash and the astounding peal that he need not fear. What good will it do? The source of fear is within, and that must be removed. So preach, as much as we may, the mercy of God, preach that he is a father, and that no one need fear,— I tell you that men will still fear, will fear death, will fear hell, will be afraid of God as long as unreconciled, unrepented sin is in their hearts. They may think there is no punishment hereafter, but that will only cover up and hide the fear, —it will not remove it. To cure our souls of fear, to fill them with hope and trust, there is but one way, and that is to look our sins in the face, to look God's law in the face, to see the eternal connection between right and good, death and evil; and then, when we have had an experience of duty, of responsibility, of sin, of danger, we are ready to enter into the deeper experience of pardon, of hope, of entire, present joyous salvation.

But just as everything passes through natural death to a new life, so it is in the progress of the soul. When most discouraged, we are then most ready to receive a new kind of encouragement. This the gospel gives. The gospel is an assurance to us, from God through Christ, that we are to conquer sin and be redeemed wholly from its power. It is a promise that what we cannot do in our own strength,

we can do through faith in Christ; a promise of a continual influx of new life from God while we look for it and ask for it; a strength sufficient for us, a peace passing understanding, a love shed abroad in our hearts, a light from him in which we shall see light. Now, this assurance, if we believe it, renews all our courage, and more than renews it. It prevents the possibility of future discouragement. For the sense of our weakness, which discouraged us before, does not discourage us now. We are relying on something else - a different strength, another energy. In this way we surmount the fear of sin and its consequences. We have a profound inward assurance that we shall conquer it, and be fully saved from its power. And so the law no longer discourages.

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. This man is the human soul on its journey through human life and the experiences of earth. The thieves are temptations from without and within, which strip the soul of its heavengiven raiment of innocence, wound the moral nature, and leave the human being, despoiled of peace and hope, perishing in the wilderness of the world. Then there comes a priest a preacher of the moral law - and says, "Arise and flee, or thou wilt perish on the sand; or, if not, the robbers will return and slay thee. Thou must exert thyself and go to the city; it is many miles distant, but thou must reach it, or die." And having said this, the priest departs. The man rouses himself, goes a little way, but, weak through his wounds, drops on the ground more discouraged than before. Then comes the Levite, who represents the ceremonial law, and tells him that the holy church, by its sacraments and its ministers, its holy creed, its holy books and its holy days, will endeavor to obtain from God

his cure, and so passes by on the other side. Then comes the gospel, as the good Samaritan, on its journey of grace and peace through the world. It has compassion on the soul because it is weak and sinful, It pours the oil of God's forgiving love into the wounds of the conscience; the wine of inspiring truth and an infinite hope into the mind. It sets him on its own beast, and brings him to the inn, and takes care of him, and makes a provision for his permanent relief and cure. The soul, made alive by Christian faith, feels that it has not to struggle unaided in the work of duty. It feels the kind friend always near, the supporting arms always ready, the provision for future need all made; and so, inspired with new faith and courage, is able to begin a new life.

Thus delivered from the fear of sin by the power of the gospel, we are also delivered from the fear of God. This statement also requires some consideration.

There is a fear of God which is always right, and which we shall always need to cherish. It is that spirit of reverence for the greatness and holiness of the Divine Being which elevates the character, purifies the soul, and brings us evermore nearer to the Heavenly Father. This is not a spirit of fear, but a spirit of reverence which consists with perfect love. In this sense the word fear is often used in the Bible, as where it is said (Eph. v. 33), “Let the wife see that she fear her husband," which in our version is properly translated reverence, as it should be translated (1 Peter iii. 2) where. the pure and respectful or modest behavior of wives are spoken of.

Where fear means dread, it is not applied to God. There is an apparent exception to this (Matt. x. 28), "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." But if this applies to God, then the word

fear has to be taken in two senses in the same verse. And, directly after, we are told not to fear, because God protects us. Hence, some interpreters suppose that, as God does not destroy the soul, this must refer to sin, or the principle of evil, which does destroy soul and body in hell. It is the work of the gospel to substitute the spirit of adoption for the spirit of fear in our feeling towards God.

It is, no doubt, natural for men in a low moral or mental condition to dread higher powers. Pagan religions, therefore, are religions of fear. All forms of superstition make men tremble before the anger of their gods. They transfer to the character of their gods their own cruel and vindictive feelings, joined to a superhuman power. So their gods are remorseless, delighting in human victims, only appeased by the sight of blood and human suffering. The Jews regarded Jehovah in a much higher light— as a holy judge carrying out his laws, severe, nevertheless, and stern, rewarding the good, punishing the evil. As among heathen nations power is the chief attribute in the deity, so among the Jews justice is the chief attribute. But with the Christian, love is the chief attribute. Heathenism says God is power. Judaism says God is justice. Christianity says God is love. According to these three different views of God is the spirit and influence of each system. Heathenism is a religion of fear; Judaism is the religion of conscience; Christianity is the religion of grateful affection. Where God is regarded essentially as an almighty ruler, the chief duty of man is implicit, unquestioning obedience. Where God is regarded chiefly as a judge, the principal duty of man is righteous conduct. Where he is regarded as a father, the chief duty of man is childlike trust and love. So that there is a gradual progress in the conception which men have had of the Deity. Beginning with power, they ascend to justice, and terminate in love. And when perfect love is attained, it casts out all fear.

All these forms of religion recognize in the Deity the attributes of power, holiness and goodness. But the su preme and ruling attribute differs in each, as we have seen, by making one or the other attribute supreme. But, even in Christianity, men have relapsed towards Paganism or Judaism in their conceptions of the Deity. It ought to be understood that there may be a Christian Paganism or a Christian Judaism; that is, there may be views of God taken by Christians which make the attribute of power or justice superior to the attribute of love. The essential doctrines of Calvinism may thus be considered as a relapse into Paganism. Calvinism is a backslidden theology. It makes the highest attribute in the Deity to be neither wisdom, justice nor goodness, but arbitrary power. According to Calvanism, the reason to be assigned for the Divine conduct in the last analysis is simply that he chooses to do so. Philosophical Calvinism places an omnipotent wilfulness on the throne of the universe. It does not say God's will is holy, just and good, and therefore we are bound to obey it, but it says it is the will of an omnipotent being, who will cast you into hell if you do not obey. For where the chief attribute of God is arbitrary power, the chief duty of man is a blind obedience. Thus Calvinism rehabilitates Paganism under the forms of Christianity. It takes away the spirit of adoption whereby we cry “ Abba, Father," and gives us the spirit of bondage again to fear.

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In like manner as there is a Christian Paganism there is a Christian Judaism; that is, a system which makes justice the chief among the attributes of God. God is simply infinite law, rewarding the good and punishing the evil in this world and in every other; incapable of mercy in any true sense; unable really to forgive sin; incapable of any real answer to prayer, of any personal intercourse with the human soul. God, in this system, is no more a father, but