from Him; do we find that a single one was sent unhelped or uncomforted away? Men sometimes rebuked those that came to Him, and bid them hold their peace; but He never did. Believe, then, that He knows that your chastening is grievous for the present, and that He pities you under it; nevertheless, afterward it shall yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, if you be exercised thereby. There is such a thing as despising God's chastenings, instead of being exercised under them; there is such a thing as revolting more and more; then, indeed, we cannot expect that they will yield to us the peaceable fruit of righteousness. But there is also such a thing as humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in due time. And do you remember how high He desires to exalt us? Even to no less a thing than a share in the kingdom of His Son; to reign with Him when His kingdom shall come, and His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. And to be ready for so great a glory, can we suppose that a small preparation is necessary? To appear before that King, to dwell near to His throne, shall we not need royal robes instead of our filthy rags? Oh, then, let Him work in us these peaceable fruits of righteousness. And what are they? Here are some of them: "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experi

H

ence, hope;" and that hope shall never make

ashamed.

You may have seen a bare autumn field when the sower was scattering his seed on it; when his work was done, it looked as bare as before. You propably did not watch it during the many dark and wintry days, when rain and snow came down upon it, when biting frost hardened its clods, and it seemed as if nothing could live under them; but you return on a summer day, and you see that field rich with a golden harvest, ready to be reaped and gathered home. Do you think, if there had been nothing but a summer sun shining on that field all the time, that that rich harvest would have been there? Did not the snow and the rain and the frost do their needful part? And must not we let the trials and dark days of our earthly life do their part in causing the good seed sown in our hearts to bring forth fruit to the glory of God? How many children of God have had reason to say, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept Thy word."

Let us never forget that, as baptized Christions, we are children of God; if we rebel against Him, it is against a Father that we rebel; if He chastens and corrects us, it is a Father that corrects; it is a Father that would save us from going down to destruction. Let us then be in subjection to the Father of our spirits, and live,"

* Rom. v, 3, 4.

SECOND SERIES.

X.

The Presentation in the Temple.

LUKE ii, 22-38.—“They brought Jesus to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) and to offer a sacrifice, according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon: and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was upon him, And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the

glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against: (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she, coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

WHEN Joseph and Mary brought the child Jesus into the temple, to present Him to the Lord, according to the command of the law, there were probably many people in the temple who saw that poor man and woman come in and do what was customary for their child, and go away again. They saw them, we may suppose, as we see an infant brought into one of our crowded churches for holy baptism. How little do we think of it, how few consider what a great act of God is then performed on that child; still fewer of course care to know its name, or to think what its future history may be. It goes away, and we forget all about it. So carelessly, we may believe, did the Jews look upon that poor child in the arms of its poor mother, and go away and think no more about it. But how came it that two per

sons saw in that temple in that child what was quite hidden from other eyes? There was nothing to distinguish Jesus from any other Jewish child, except, perhaps, that He was poorer than many, and less likely to attract the notice or admiration of men. How was it that these two saw in Him that Saviour for whom they were waiting, and that none of the others saw it? Others saw a very poor child; they saw the Son of God. It was so unlikely: yet Simeon and Anna express no doubt that this is indeed He who shall be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of God's ancient people Israel.

What, then, are we told concerning these persons? It is said of Simeon that he was just and devout. This was far from being the character of many who frequented that temple. There were there those who sold and bought, and carried on their unrighteous and dishonest trade, making the house of God a den of thieves.* There were the chief priests and scribes, and the proud Pharisees there, who when they afterwards saw our Lord's mighty works in the midst of them, were filled only with displeasure and envy. Such as these knew little who had been brought to the temple on that day. But among these unrighteous and worldly and proud ones is this just and devout old man. His neighbours, pro

* Matt. xxi. 13.