scarcely a good man of whom we teld much in the inspired writings, I whom we are not told somewhere hat he sinned. Adam sinned; Abraam sinned; David sinned; Peter ned: even "Moses the servant of God" sinned. But the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the sight of God is more strikingly shown in the case of Moses than in any of the rest. BeCase Moses sinned he died. Because he sed-there was no other reasonhe was not permitted to pass over into the Promised Land. 66 Surely," we ht have said, "such a one might have been spared. He had been a faithful servant of God. He had given up, for the sake of God, all the honours of the world. He had deliberately chosen and cheerfully endured affliction and reproach with God's people. His life had been a life of devotion and self-sacrifice; and this was his only sin: surely He who is merciful and racions, who is 'long-suffering,' who slow to anger,' might have pardoned his servant, and have passed over this one sin." The contrary result is a solemn lesson to us a solemn leson to all time. "As I live, ith the Lord, the wicked shall not unpunished." "Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant, saith the Lord : for I am with thee: I will not make a full end of thee; yet I will correct thee thensure; I will not leave thee wholly punished." (Jeremiah xlvi. 28.) Thes it not occur to as, that we are in much danger now-a-days, of not estimating the sinfulness of sin as we caid do? We speak so much of the Line mercy of the Divine comression and forgiveness,-that is so much the burden of our preaching and Gur theology, and we thank God that it may be so,-that there is some risk of Cr regarding sin as a light and unmomentous thing. But, in order that an might be forgiven, the awful sacrice of Calvary had to be offered: in order that sin might be forgiven, the Blessed Saviour had to die: in order that sin might be forgiven, those great events had to occur, in connexion t with which the sun was darkened, and the rocks were rent, and the vail of the temple was torn in twain. Nor let us forget that, though our sins be forgiven, they are not obliterated; every sin we commit is written down in the records of the universe; God himself cannot wipe that record away. Oh, my brother, have you forgotten that sin that you committed yesterday? You have confessed it, perhaps, and have obtained pardon for it, and with pardon you have peace but your sin remains: it is henceforth one of the facts of God's universe: through all eternity it will be true of the spot on which you stood when you committed that sin-" One of God's creatures sinned here." My readers, let us never allow our estimate to be lowered of the sinfulness of sin. There is nothing in the universe that is hateful, except sin. Sin always will have its penalty. Thousands of men, all through the ages, have had to hear some "Thou shalt not go over" in consequence of sins which have yet been forgiven by God. How many of our disappointments and sorrows are but the penalty of our sins, we shall never know till God has revealed to us the mystery of our life, and has told us, as He will do, in that high communion that we anticipate with Him hereafter, the reasons of all His dealings with us in our passage to the skies! 2. My second reflection is, that, even in exacting the penalty of sin, God is always tender and pitiful to his people. Very beautiful is the illustration of this in the history of Moses. Scarcely had the penalty of his sin been pronounced-scarcely had he been told that he must die-before, with seeming anxiety, the alleviation was also mentioned. "I pray thee," said Moses, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan." "Thou shalt not go over," was the reply, "but thou shalt see it with thine And even in the circumstances of his death there was much of tenderness and compassion. The Lord showed him," we are told, "all the eyes. land." What the Lord said to his servant in that interview, we shall never know; but, after he had "showed him the land," to quote beautiful words which come down to us in Jewish story, "he kissed his soul away." The sacred writer adds, “And he buried him." "HE buried him!" No fingers less sacred than those of God and the angels must touch that sacred dust! My readers, there is always tenderness mixed with the terribleness in God's dealings with His people. The Lord is very pitiful, and of great mercy: his compassion is infinite." Referring again to the case of Moses, do we not see now that it was almost better for him that he should not go over? What sympathy would he have had with the scenes of struggle and of slaughter that followed the passage of the Jordan? Surely he had had enough of fighting, enough of conflict; surely his weary spirit had now earned its right to rest. And similarly, in all God's dispensations, there is always mercy mingled with judgment. "Behind a frowning Providence It has been proved to be so in the history of all God's people; it has been proved to be so even in our own history. For, my brother, have you not found it so? That stroke was indeed very heavy, but who gave you strength to bear it? That storin was very terrible, but who showed you the sunshine beyond and above the storm? Those tears were very bitter, but who helped you at last to smile even through your tears, and who wiped those tears away? Oh, it is glorious to think of the testimony that is handed down to us of the tenderness and compassion of our God! To tell of his tenderness is the burden of history; to illustrate it is the purpose of prophecy; it is sung in the Psalms; it is chanted in the rapt utterances of the Prophets; and, if we want further testimony, we have it in that wonderful song in the Revelation, which seems to be a confession to the universe from Moses himself of the rightness of God's dealings with him Great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty: just and true ar thy ways, thou King of Saints." Ard. oh, shall not we be strengthened by all this testimony? Shall we not join wr songs to the songs of those who have gone before us? At least, let us so when we consider HIM, who, though He was rich, for our sakes beca poor-who for our sakes endured th Cross-who now is our Great High Priest, and our Intercessor in th mount of God. 3. My last reflection would, like th former ones, tend to lessen our depa ence upon man, and to increase our cokfidence in God. For who was th Moses of whose death I have bee speaking? He was, as we have seen a man of the most eminent talents and of the most exalted piety. For forty years he had been the leader of Israel, and, during that period, their honour and their safety, their meat and their drink, their very existence, seemed to de pend on him. At what period was thes Moses taken from this people? At the very period when he seemed most necessary to them. Under his guidare they had overcome the dangers of th wilderness, but they had now to " counter still greater dangers. The had to pass over Jordan, to fight with enemies stronger and more numeros than themselves, to drive them from their country, and to establish the selves in it. In this critical al dangerous situation, when every eve was turned to him for direction, whe all their hopes of success were centr in him, their illustrious leader commander was taken from them, ani all their prospects appeared at one blasted and destroyed. How mys terious was this dispensation! Ho incomprehensible it must have seem. to God's people in those days! And yet the occurrences of every dav are involved in almost equal mystery. A great and difficult work is to be ac complished in the Church or in the world. The Lord raises up and prepares an instrument for performing it. He calls him out into actual service. le crowns his efforts with astonishing ocess. But, in the midst of his work, t the very period when he seems most ecessary to its accomplishment, God moves him from the world, lays him lent and inactive in the grave. Do ask why God acts thus? why He breaks in pieces the instrument bere the work is finished? He does it to teach us our meanness and his Tess; to show the world that, although he is pleased to use human struments, he does not need them; tist His creatures see that, even if the hosts of heaven should cease to obey His word, He could form other hands to do His work, or bring to pass His purposes without any instrumentality at all. He does it to bring the hearts of His people to a closer and more simple dependence on Himself. He dashes to pieces the cistern, that He hey may go to the fountain." breaks the reed, that they may be led to rest on the Rock of Ages. While therefore the King of Zion its upon His holy hill, we have no reason to fear for the safety of the Thurch, or for the honour of God. rael passed over the Jordan, and umphed over her enemies, without Moses. The Church of Christ also shall stand, and shall be established in the earth, though she may seem to includes. be without a helper or a friend. Her lights may disappear, her ministers may be removed, her enemies may rejoice over her; but "God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early.' As for her enemies, "he will clothe them with shame, but upon himself shall his crown flourish." Only one word more and I have done. "To labour, and not to see the end of our labours; to sow, and not to reap; to be removed from this earthly scene before our work has been appreciated, and when it will be carried on, not by ourselves, but by others-is a law so common that none can be said to be exempt from its operation." Let us be comforted. "Our lives through various scenes are drawn, And vexed with trifling cares; While thine eternal thought moves on Thine undisturbed affairs." WORDS TO YOUNG MEN.-II.* BY THE REV. 8. G. GREEN, B.A. Ax evil against which young persons are often warned, and which cannot indeed be too strenuously resisted, is WORLDLINESS. But let us be quite sure that we understand what this comprehensive word Some good people seem very unwarrantably to restrict its meaning, especially in regard to the young. We hear many a protest ainst the spirit of worldliness," which on examination resolves itself inta a denunciation, exclusively, of worldly amusements, as parties, balls, concerts, and other engagements of social life held to be at variance with the spirit of Christianity. It has almost appeared as if in condemning these a licence were permitted to other forms of worldliness as decided and more insidious. See p. 152. Many young men who may read this paper are in business. And i is impossible to look around and not see the extent to which, in our days the respect for wealth is carried. We are surrounded by people with whom to get money seems the one aim of life- the mor the better, and almost by any means which a morality limited by the bare letter of the law will allow. To be rich is to command respect. Nor do I speak of the market alone. The social circle, and ever the Church of Christ, own the magic power. "How could you contradic Mr. So-and-So-don't you know," not that his judgment is sound, that hi principles are right, that his knowledge is thorough, that his taste is unim peachable, but-" that he has made a hundred thousand pounds !' Against such a habit of thinking the scrupulous conscience often has n chance. If a man is to get on, how often do we hear it said, he must tak the laws of business as he finds them, must follow the way of the world and not be over particular. C Now I believe that these maxims are as short-sighted as they an immoral. If that be true which we sometimes hear, that business canno le carried on successfully on the principles of strict and perfect honesty better close the warehouses and extinguish the fires to-morrow. A poor author tried once to excuse himself for writing a false and scurrilous pamphlet for gain. "You know, sir," he said to a great minister, "one must live." 66 I do not see the necessity of that," was the sardonic reply. So we may say, It is not necessary to make a fortune-but it is necessary to be true; those are happiest who can do both, but to sacrifice the latter for the sake of the former is of the very essence of worldliness. Every Young Men's Christian Association or Mutual Improvement Society is a gratifying proof that its members are resolved to rescue a part of their everyday life from the tyrannical demand of business. They w have leisure; and that leisure they will employ in seeking that which is higher, nobler than all material gain. It is well, I would say to all such young men but your work will only be half done unless in this leisure you can assist each other to attain and hold fast great principles of life that will ever set you above making gain the chief result of your toil. To do your appointed work, whatever it be, uprightly, manfully, with brave heart and clear conscience-that is the one thing needful; and the gala will come, or not come, at the end of that, as it pleases God. Or you may take the worldly rule. Set apart a portion only of life for higher thoughts, and for the rest-the period of busy activity-go with the crowd, who, like Doctor Watts's ants "1. bour and tug and strive" for the grains of this world's wealth, and nothing more. The probability is that you will have your reward. As a general rule, what a man works hard for, body, soul, and spirit, he is sure to get. A hundred books will encourage you to hope for success. Have we not all read in eminently religious biographies how the subjects of them, when boys at school, practised their infant powers by purchasing five marbles for a penny and retailing them two for a halfpenny, or, more ingeniously still, by lending schoolfellows a penny on Wednesday, to be repaid by three halfpence on Saturday, accumulating, as the result of the endeavours so begun, an enormous fortune? Of course they did. So probably will you, if you give yourself to the task with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and love not your neighbour as yourself. Now I strongly feel that this particular form of worldliness is the most dangerous with which we have to contend, and that young men especially who are not yet drawn into the vortex, who still value their independence, and hose hearts are still buoyant and free, are of all the likeliest to own, to feel, and to triumph in, the great declaration, that "a mans' life consisteth Dot in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Still, at the best, the duties of life are engros-ing. Business will have the time and thought even of those who will not surrender to it their entire being. It needs some resolution to secure the worthy and useful employment of your few leisure hours. Try, therefore, individually, and by mutual Assistance, to pursue some profitable intellectual aims. Understand me here. I do not mean to say that it is possible for most, or for many, among you, to carry on in the intervals of business, anything like what we call hard study. Some imaginary descriptions of the industrious youth represent him as sitting down after a hard day's work in the warehouse, shop, or mill, surrounded by great books of science, mathematics, metaphysics, or the ologies; and "consuming the midnight lamp" until the thought-burdened, aching brow drives him to his pillow. Now, in Home rare instances, even this picture may be realized. There are special tastes, or aptitudes for study; a far-reaching aim perhaps at something beyond; so that the young man of business can also be, in the true sense of the word, a student. But I fear much that such cases rare, and that mental exercise and refreshment are all that can be reasonably sought. Still to every young man I would ay, Let the refreshment be good and healthful. Even in your intellectual recreation let there be something to spur to the exercise of manly hought. I very much fear that the habit of so many intelligent people of *pending all their leisure over novels is doing very serious mischief. Do It suppose that I am going to utter an indiscriminate condemnation of wel-reading. I quite admit that fiction has its uses, nay, that it may be wholesome amusement, and sometimes even a method of conveying important truth. It does not by any means follow that because a narrative Is fictitious it must therefore be untruti ful. Do we, for instance, stop to ask whether the traveller ever really went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, how many robbers set upon him, and what was the name of the Good Samaritan who passed that way? No: we own the profound and beautiful truth of the narrative, though every detail should be imaginary. And to me down to merely human teachings, there may be truth without fact; and ficts that convey no serviceable truth. When Marlborough said that the only History of England for a couple of centuries worth reading was in the Historical Plays of Shakspeare, did he mean to imply that there the facts were most accurately recorded? No; but that there he found the truth of nature and of humanity-the play of passion, the impulses of |