state! The neglect of this duty would be fatal. Is it not written, "Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away"? But the character we are considering is neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ; he bringeth forth his fruit, for his faith is not alone; it renders him zealous of all good works. And not only is he fruitful, but he has fruit suited to every season-to sickness and health, to prosperity and adversity, to riches and poverty: in each of these states he seeks to glorify God and edify man. Is it thus with you, my dear reader? Has the tree been made good, and is its fruit abundant? God requires this, and your incorporation into Christ is known by it: "Herein," said the Saviour, "is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples."

The royal Psalmist next observes, "His leaf also shall not wither." The leaf represents his profession, which shall not be temporary, like that of the stony ground hearers, which endured only for a time, but abiding; he shall not only believe, but hold fast, and even endure unto the end. This may reasonably be expected from the renewed; they are God's foundation-God's building, and "the foundation of God standeth sure." Left to themselves they would not endure, but He will not leave or forsake them. has promised to keep them "by His power through faith unto salvation ;" and He will do as He has said. Be mindful, then, whence your security arises. Make not flesh your arm, but trust in the Lord; be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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Lastly, it is said of this character, "Whatsoever he

doeth shall prosper." It must be soul prosperity that is here promised. The Lord's servants have not always temporal prosperity. Their bread and their water shall indeed be sure, but the Lord may not give them power to get wealth. What they do, however, for the Lord-what they do also for their own soul's health, shall prosper; they shall know if they follow on to know; they shall have more grace if they improve grace; they shall renew their strength if they wait on Him who is the strength of their life.

I would improve what has been said in a way of inquiry. See that you possess the character. I have held out a mirror to you; have you seen your image reflected in it? Are you separate from the counsel and society of sinners? Do you love, search, and inwardly digest God's word? Do you send out your roots to Try yourselves on these points. The privileges go with the character. Men would sever them, but in so doing they lose the blessing.

the river of grace?

I would also improve it in a way of admonition. By neglecting or rejecting the character you not only lose the blessing, but you bring a curse upon you. The ungodly are not as the character we have considered; they sow to the flesh, and they will reap as they sow-not merely corruption, but wrath; they cannot calculate on prosperity here below, and they shall not stand in the judgment. To them the Lord will say, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Consider this whilst a way of escape is yet open unto you, and whatsoever you purpose to do, do it quickly -do it with all your heart.

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CHRIST THE BELOVED, AND FRIEND OF

not.

THE BELIEVER.

SOLOMON'S SONG, v. 16.

"This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." UMAN friendship is not to be undervalued; for much of the pleasure, even of a believer's life, arises out of his communion and fellowship with the saints, and the excellent of the earth. With them he takes sweet counsel; with them he speaks of things not seen as yet, and of joys with which the stranger intermeddleth Sweet even are the wounds of a friend, for they are inflicted with a friendly intent, and are designed to save the soul, and not to endanger it. And were the love of friends more simple and guileless, were it more after the Scriptural model, so fully and beautifully set forth by St. Paul,-were it ever prepared to suffer long and yet be kind, to hope all things, to believe all things, to endure all things, yea, and to cover the multitude of sins, human friendship would be still more valuable, and would have a still greater tendency to make the wilderness glad, the desert to bloom and blossom as the rose.

Valuable, however, as human friendship is, it is not absolutely necessary; for man may live, and perhaps not unhappily, without a human friend. There is, however, a Being whose friendship is absolutely neces

sary, even the Lord Jesus; for without Him man can do nothing; and if He be not with him, man can enjoy nothing. In His friendship, too, there is no alloy. No misunderstanding can cause Him to become cool; for He knows all things,-He ponders the heart: no caprice can lead Him to cast off those with whom He was once familiar; for He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and whom He loves, He loves unto the end. And this is He of whom the Church in general, and every believer in particular, is privileged to say, "This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend."

In discussing this passage it may be well to note first, the season at which this animating declaration was made.

The paragraph to which this passage belongs commences at the second verse. I will take it as referring particularly to the believer, though, as I said before, it also refers to the Church in general. The believer in that verse represents himself as having fallen into a state of spiritual slumber,-in other words, into a state of religious declension; "I sleep," says he, "but my heart waketh." The flesh had gained a temporary ascendency, and produced much lukewarmness and torpor; but grace was not extinct, the heart still waked. To arouse him from this unsatisfactory, and I may also say perilous state, the Lord had employed entreaties, remonstrances, and even more urgent calls. This the believer candidly admits in the same verse, saying, “It is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my

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locks with the drops of the night." Nothing can exceed the beauty of this address, which breathes undiminished love and tenderness, though his calls had been so long disregarded, and his patience so severely tried. But tender as it was, the believer is here constrained to confess that he had on the most frivolous grounds disregarded it. Instead of immediately opening to the gracious Redeemer, and welcoming Him with renewed affection, he represents himself as having answered His tender entreaties in these cold and offensive words,-"I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"

Entreaties having thus proved unavailing to arouse the slumbering believer, the Lord Jesus is next represented as working in the soul by His Spirit the will to comply with His wishes. As though He were impatient of the delay, He is described in ver. 4 as putting in His hand by the hole of the door in order to unbolt it: "My Beloved," says the believer, "put in His hand by the hole of the door." This, as might have been expected, proved effectual, for Jesus “has the keys of David; He openeth, and no man shutteth."

And now the believer represents himself as having become properly affected with a sense of his folly. He thought upon his Beloved, he felt his sin in having allowed Him to wait without until His head was filled with the dew, and His locks with the drops of the night, and his bowels were moved for Him; "Yea," says he, "I rose up to open unto my Beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers