that have_ever been perpetrated. Yet in going he contributes his part to the fulfilment of an eternal purpose. Peter brings out this truth in his address to the assembled thousands on the day of Pentecost: "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel," etc. Men may violate the precepts of Heaven, they cannot frustrate its purposes. "He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him." What they intend for evil shall turn out for good. We have here,—

III. THE ENORMITY OF HUMAN WICKEDNESS, THOUGH OVERRULED FOR GOOD. "Woe unto

that man," etc. Evil is evil, however it may subserve the good of the univese. Crimes

lose none of their turpitude because kind Heaven makes them useful. Though the crucifixion of Christ will prove the greatest blessing to the creation, the crime loses none of its enormity by the countless and ever multipling benefits it confers. Though Judas did a service. to the creation, woe to him. By the very act he places himself in a position which renders his existence an intolerable curse: "Good were it for that man if he had never been born."* This

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* According to a version of this clause which we have seen, the sense is thus expressed, "It would have been good for him (the traitor) if this man (the Son of man) had

expression shows that the curse he brought upon himself was endless; for if, after the sufferings of ages, in the future he would be restored to holiness and blessedness, it could not be said it would be good for him if he had never been born. Can you conceive of a position more tremendously awful than the position of a man of whom it may be predicated-" good for that man if he had never been born" ?-good that he had never opened his eyes on the universe? Another Evangelist tells us, that "after this Judas went out, and it was night." Ah, it was night in more senses than one! Though in nature it was night, the moon perhaps shone brightly: the darkness of the night was in his own soul.

Christ's Enemies Condemned out of their own Mouth.

"HE SAVED OTHERS; HIMSELF HE CANNOT SAVE."-Matt. xxvii. 42.

HARD by the city of Jerusalem there is Mount Calvary. A numerous crowd has gathered around its summit; like all mobs, they are attracted by a tragical scene. There is the execution of three men; each is nailed to a cross. The central

not been born." If this version is correct, the general idea is, that man by sin may make, so far as he is concerned, the greatest blessing the greatest curse.

one is the object of the deepest interest and attention. All eyes are fixed on Him; the conflicting passions of the mass flow towards Him. Not a few of the motley crowd burn with hatred and grin with scorn as they look at Him. Some look at Him, not with fiery malice, but with doubt, saying in their hearts, Surely He is a good man and a prophet. While a smaller number, struck with the purity and beneficence of His life and His aspect of moral majesty on the cross, were pierced with grief and overwhelmed with disappointment. The soldiers and all the miserable tools of the Sanhedrim, anxious to please their masters, seem maddened into fury, as they beheld His body bathed with gore, His limbs convulsed, His breast heaving with inexpressible anguish, all His nerves quivering with agony. They "wagged their heads" at Him, exclaiming, "If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross," etc. The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders,-the instigators of the horrid crime, are in that crowd, endeavouring to heighten its malignant passions, and they say, "He saved others, Himself He cannot save."

The subject of these words is, Christ's enemies condemned out of their own mouth.

I. Their AFFIRMATION is sublimely true, and it con

demns them. "He saved others." What a testimony from His enemies to His beneficence! These men did not speak in ignorance; they knew well His history, for they had been watching Him during the whole of His public life. They knew the wonderful restorations He had effected in the organs, limbs, and lives of men. They knew, doubtless, of the raising of Lazarus and the widow's son at Nain and

the ruler's daughter. "He

saved others."

real

First: This testimony condemns them for their base ingratitude. If "He saved others," exercised a beneficent ministry amongst their countrymen, did good and good only, they ought to have rallied round Him with hearts filled and fired with patriotic gratitude. Whatever good a man does to his neighbours is a good done to his country, and a good to his race; and he deserves the thanks of every lover of his kind. That man in a State who does real good,-who is beneficent in his whole life, best promotes national order and prosperity. Shame on these rulers of the people! "He saved others."

now refer? The fame of His restorative acts filled the whole of their country, it was on the lips of all, it was the common talk in all homes, villages, cities, etc. It was utterly impossible for them to regard His transcendent acts of beneficence as the production of a mere man. Yet, with the impressions of His Divinity that they must have had, they had the infernal hardihood, not only to send Him to the cross, but to taunt Him as He hung in writhing agony before them.

If these men, thus self-condemned by their base ingratitude and daring impiety, had any knowledge or appreciation of the spiritual salvation that He had wrought—such as the salvation of Matthew, Zacchæus, Mary Magdalene, etc., —their depravity was greater still.

II. Their DENIAL is gloriously true, and it condemns them. "Himself He cannot save." In the Divinest sense He could not save Himself. Physically, of course, He could have delivered Himself, "come down from the cross," and overwhelmed His enemies with destruction. But morally He could not, and His moral weakness here is His glory. He could not, because He had undertaken to die, and He could not break His word. He could not, because the salvation of the world depended upon His death. The His death. The

greatest man on earth is the man who cannot be unkind, who cannot tell a falsehood, who cannot do a dishonourable act, or be guilty of a mean, selfish deed. The glory of the omnipotent God is, that He "cannot lie."

CONCLUSION.-Learn, First: The worst men may give utterance to the greatest truths. These murderers of Christ here proclaim (1) Christ as a Saviour. "He saved others." "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." The title of Christ, which is the grandest in the universe, and which is the most inspiring and cheering to men, is a SAVIOUR. He saves men by saving them from their sins. These murderers of Christ here proclaim (2) Christ as a sacrifice. "Himself He Not a coerced

cannot save.

sacrifice, but a voluntary one, He sacrificed Himself. He was self-bound, and to be selfbound is to be free. "I have power to lay down my life,"

etc.

Secondly: The best men are often most glorious in their weakness. "Himself He cannot save." Godly tradesmen are too weak to make fortunes at the expense of honesty, godly ministers too weak to win popularity at the expense of truth, godly statesmen too weak to grasp power at the expense of conscience, godly patriots too weak to serve self

at the expense of the common good. The grandest man on earth is the man who is too weak to be untrue, ungenerous, and self-seeking.

tery, blasphemy, kidnapping, were under the Law capital crimes, to be punished by death. In Numbers xv. 31, the reason for this inexorable penalty is declared to be, not merely because of the act

"HE THAT DESPISED MOSES' LAW DIED WITHOUT MERCY UNDER TWO OR THREE WITNESSES: OF HOW MUCH SORER PUNISHMENT, SUPPOSE YE, SHALL HE BE THOUGHT WORTHY, WHO HATH TRODDEN UNDER FOOT

THE SON OF GOD, AND HATH COUNTED THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT, WHEREWITH HE WAS SANCTIFIED, AN UNHOLY THING, AND HATH DONE DESPITE UNTO THE SPIRIT OF GRACE ?" -Hebrews x. 28, 29.

THESE verses suggest three solemn and suggestive truths.

I. THAT BOTH JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY ARE OF GOD. It is implied that the Giver of "Moses' law" is the Author of the Gospel, the One God through all dispensations. The identity in the moral principles and spiritual aims of the two administrations argue the identity of authorship. Christianity is the ripened fruit, of which the Law was the germ; the noon, of which the Law was the dim dawn; the finished building, of which the Law was but the architectural sketch.

II. THAT THE DIVINELY

ORDAINED PUNISHMENT FOR THE REJECTION OF JUDAISM WAS TERRIBLY GREAT.- "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses." Murder, adul

gressor thereby "despised the word of the Lord and broke His commandments." The transgressor died not, however, until his guilt had been proved by "two or three wit

III. That, great as was the Divinely-ordained punishment for the rejection of Judaism, that for the REJECTION OF CHRISTIANITY IS GREATER. how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God," etc. The rejecter of Christianity is here represented,

:

First In his conduct in relation to Christ. "He hath trodden under foot the Son of God." An expression, this, indicating something more than contempt, something more than mere spurning; it expresses the malignity of one who exultingly treads the reputation of an enemy under foot. The Jews did this literally in relation to Christ. They mocked Him with cruel insults; with rancorous rage they cried, "Away with Him, Away with Him." Yes, and the rejecters of Christ do it now.

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They

crucify the Son of God afresh." They are represented also as counting the blood of the covenant as unholy. Instead of valuing His self-sacrifice, they depreciate it, they denounce it as an unholy thing. In their eyes gold, pleasure, ambition, everything, is more valuable than the self-sacrifice of Christ; practically, it is counted a worthless thing, although, in solemn reality, it is the only thing that sanctifieth, and makes men holy. The rejecter of Christianity is here represented,

The

Secondly: In his conduct in relation to the Spirit. "Hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace." Divine Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, is in the world-in it to convince it of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. This Spirit works in human history, works in the Bible, works in the ministry, and in all in order to redeem humanity from sin.

recompense and reward, "how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ?"

The Religious Craving and Seeking of the Soul at Night.

"WITH MY SOUL HAVE I DESIRED THEE IN THE NIGHT; YEA, WITH MY SPIRIT WITHIN ME WILL I SEEK THEE EARLY."-Isaiah xxvi. 9.

PERHAPS the busiest time of the human soul is in the wakeful hours of night. Then,

when the forms of nature are veiled in sackcloth from the senses, and all its ten thousand noises are hushed in profoundest silence, when it is withdrawn from the bustling markets and the exciting scenes of social life, and feels itself alone in the deep hush of darkness,-it realizes its awful isolation, its self-responsibility, its relations with the Invisible and the Eternal. "I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate upon Thee in the night watches." Of all the work in this busy world, there is no work so momentous, so influential, as the work of the soul in the sleepless hours of night. Busy in calling up departed friends and interchanging thoughts again, busy in recalling the past and foreboding the future, busy in reflections concerning itself and its God.

In these words we have,I. The soul's religious LONGING in the night. With my soul have I desired Thee in the