Church; a grand moral force, the only moral force. No external organization can supply its place; it is Spirit and it is life. The question is not whether a body so endowed, and so endued, may not meet with the devil in some form, and be cast down, plunged into deadly conflict; but the question is, which shall be the conqueror? Eight very great promises from that same Almighty Being to Him that overcometh, but not one throughout the Bible to an unfallen being; not one to the self-righteous, not one to him who rests in natural religion, not one to him who settles down in an external system. Oh, spiritual men and women, know yourselves, know your Lord, know your enemy, know your commission, know your end (Rev. iii. 21, 22). Make this knowledge the paramount business of your lives. "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small." There are gifts enough in the gift of the devil (Matt. iv. 9). Oh, do not covet them.

"So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the JEHOVAH."

We know the remainder of this history, I will not extract it here. Nor will I attempt to fix the conduct of the typical Jonah to any period in the history of the Christian Church; it seems to suit too well all periods; his prayer connects the present with the past.

"O JEHOVAH, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil.

"Therefore now, O JEHOVAH, take, I beseech Thee,

my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live" (chap. iv.).

Neither will I attempt to fix the period of the great chastisement of Jonah here revealed; suffice it to say, the great Head of the Church has often so chastised His people, and will again often do it, to raise her to higher degrees of glory in His own blessed kingdom; to make her understand better what the nature of that kingdom is. Oh, Thou moral Power, let us behold Thy glory. For myself, I worship God more for His chastisements than for all His mercies, although I am not unmindful of these. "Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me."

In this history of Jonah, Christ stands before us, and we stand before ourselves; the contrast is a gulf no man can pass, but we can all fall down, and ask mercy for ourselves and for each other; and in doing this we shall best follow Him in His footsteps. "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin" (John xv. 18-22). "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

Thus do we see how the two passages that head this chapter are not at variance. "Salvation is of the JEHOVAH," completely and entirely; but He came not only to fulfil the Law and the Prophets Himself for us, to deliver us from the bondage of them; but He came also to give us life, that a new creation may be begun in us here, and perfected in glory; that we may learn to obey the laws of God here, and be like Him hereafter. 66 Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. . . Be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create " (Isa. lxv. 17).

CHAPTER XXIV.

GOD IN CHRIST, IN THE NAME JEHOVAH.

"All people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the JEHOVAH our GOD for ever and ever."-MICAH iv. 5.

E have only to turn to the page of history of the time in which this verse was written, to

understand it (2 Kings, xvii.; 2 Chron. xxviii.). Not only were the heathen nations gross idolaters, but the greater part of Israel and Judah also.

"The children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the JEHOVAH their GOD, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced cities. And they set up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree."

And of the king of Judah at that time it is written: "He sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel."

It was against this state of idolatry and declension that the Prophet Micah was called to write, and to separate the few faithful from it. "All people will walk

every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the JEHOVAH our GOD for ever and ever." His standard was set up, and under it he pursued his course.

But let us inquire here, how it was possible for Israel and Judah to swerve to other gods? to desire another king than He who brought them out of Egypt, wrought miracles before them, led them through the wilderness, brought them into Canaan, and dwelt with them, to direct them in every difficulty, and to deliver them from every distress? It was because their hearts were not right with Him; He could not lower His standard to them, and they could not rise to the Divine requirement. They loved the tinsel and the glare of the world; they loved authority and place, and were so dazzled with these that they could not distinguish aright the hierarchy of heaven. If we know that the JEHOVAH Jesus Christ is indeed with us; if we know that we are surrounded with celestial beings, His angels and ministering spirits (Heb. xii. 22-24), we shall care very little for the outer world: it will not affect us one jot. If we have truly subscribed to the kingdom of God, we cannot render tribute to Cæsar. Christ only taught those to do so who had corrupted themselves by alliance with Cæsar. This melancholy page of Jewish history moves one to these reflections.

"The word of the JEHOVAH that came to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

"Hear all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that

therein is and let the JEHOVAH GOD be witness against you, the JEHOVAH from His holy temple.

66

For, behold, the JEHOVAH cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

"And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

"For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem ?

"Therefore will I make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

"Her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of My people, even to Jerusalem."

Thus do we see how God comes forth from time to time to assert Himself; to recall His people back to Himself; to restore, or to give them up to their own hearts' lust. But we never read of judgment but it is followed or summed up by some gospel promise. "Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah”—the native place of the prophet Micah— "he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel" (Micah i. 15).

Adullam was a city in the south of Judah, not far from Mareshah. The mind of the Spirit here may have been, that Christ should come to this world as