man is a seeker. Without seeking, what does he find? A bare existence. The treasures of life can only be found out by seeking. The more the value the greater is the secresy. The dust is blown in your face, but coals are lodged in the coffers of the earth. Seekers of knowledge, of discovery, of invention, of religion, have all been rewarded. Is genuine piety the most superficial of all? Nay. "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. All the week men seek worldly wisdom, commercial success; on the Sunday they come to church for ease. Is it a wonder that they are lean? "Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God" (Prov. ii. 3, 4, 5). Christ seeks men, and men must seek Christ. The whole of the Gospel is a seeking after the sinner; and the whole of godliness is a seeking after God. 2. In the department of spiritual life our gain is the greatest. We find God here. We reach beyond all streams to the fountain. This is an age in which the essence of substances is offered to the public. Would you have the essence of truth, of light, of moral beauty? Then seek God, and you will find that essence. "Whom have I in heaven but Thee," "This God shall be our God for ever and ever." Our greatest finding is a loving Father reconciled unto us through the Saviour.

etc.

IV. THE WARNING OF A RELIGIOUS LIFE. "But if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever." We see abandoned characters every day. This is a fearful thought. The eloquence of the pulpit, the earnestness of the throne of grace, the intercession of Jesus, avail nothing. 1. The sinner forsakes first. Describe the process. 2. God next. Speak of the doom and the judgment. These words were addressed by David to youthful Solomon. Try the advice to the young of

your congregation.

T. D.

"The Power of Prayer."

"PETER WENT UP UPON THE HOUSETOP TO PRAY ABOUT THE SIXTH HOUR: AND CORNELIUS SAID, FOUR DAYS AGO I WAS FASTING UNTIL THIS HOUR; AND AT THE NINTH HOUR I PRAYED IN MY HOUSE."-Acts x. 9-30.

ESAREA should be specially dear to us. Here the good Cornelius dwelt. Here Peter preached the gospel to him and to his kinsmen and near friends. Here the first-fruits of the Gentiles were gathered in, and from this, as from a centre, the glad news was carried to the ends of the earth.

Another thing that gives interest to Cæsarea is, that it witnesses to the power of prayer. This we shall endeavour to illustrate. The story of Cornelius shows,

I. THAT PRAYER IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE GODLY.

There were great differences between Peter and Cornelius. The one was a Jew, and the other a Gentile. The one was a believer in Jesus, and the other knew only the religion of Moses. But in spirit they were one. Both were men of prayer. This holds true of the good in all ages and dispensa tions. In proof, mark the testimony of Scripture, the biographies of pious men, and the records of Christian Work.

II. PRAYER CONDUCES TO PROGRESS IN THE DIVINE LIFE.

Peter and Cornelius both witness to this, for to both God, in answer to prayer, revealed hidden truths, and gave more light and freedom and joy.

First: Prayer prepares the heart for the reception of higher truths. Thus we rise above the earthly and the sensual, to converse with the divine. With childlike spirit we wait upon God. There is both humility and aspiration. The cry is, "My soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken Thou me, according to Thy Word" (Ps. cxix. 25).

Secondly: Prayer harmonizes with God's laws as to spiritual progress. God has ordained that they who ask shall receive. It is to him that hath and useth what he hath that more is given. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Ps. xl. 31).

Thirdly Prayer secures the help of the Holy Spirit. "If

ye who are evil," etc. mities" (Rom. viii. 26).

"The Spirit also helpeth our infir

Day by day, if we are true to the light that is in us, and pray to God, He will give us more light. We may have to give up things we once held dear, and have to suffer loss and contumely, but our progress shall be sure. Show me a man who, like Cornelius, prays always, and is actively benevolent and true, and of such you may surely say, that his path shall be like the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

III. PRAYER BRINGS TOGETHER INTO CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP PERSONS THAT HAVE BEEN SEPARATED. Pride, custom, prejudice, sectarianism, and such-like things keep many good men apart. But prayer works against all these. In its purest form it is the ally of God, and helps to bring all His children to be of one mind and of one spirit. Once, Peter held aloof from Cornelius. He belonged to the class of the "unclean." It seemed impossible that he, and such as he, could ever be put on an equality with the Jews, or admitted with them, on the same terms, into the Christian Church. But prayer helped to cleanse his mind of these errors (vv. 34, 35).

Into what a glorious fellowship do we enter when we pray! Christianity is wider than our little systems and Churches. Blessed be God, we have had beautiful evidences of this in these last days. Moved by a power from on high, men of all sections of the Church have felt impelled to seek a closer intimacy, and have rejoiced to come together for prayer and for Christian work.

IV. PRAYER UNITES ALL TRUE HEARTS IN THE SERVICE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

The great end of prayer is to bring us to be of the same mind with God. Its spirit is, "Thy will be done." Now we know it is God's will that Christ should be King over all the earth.

Oh, let us pray more, more often, more earnestly, more unitedly. Let us enter more into the communion of saints, saying, "Our Father, which art in Heaven,

Thy

P

Kingdom come."

Matt. xviii. 19.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, Prayer and work should go together. Thus all true hearts will glow with the same love; and gladly spend

and be spent for the same Master.

"The saint beside the ocean prayed,

The soldier in his chosen bower,
Where all his eye surveyed

Seemed sacred in that hour.

To each unknown his brother's prayer,
Yet brethren true in dearest love
Were they, and now they share

Fraternal joys above."-Keble.

Abernethy.

WILLIAM FORSYTH, M.A.

The Preacher's Finger-Post.

The Two Grand Types of dignity. The only honourable

Character.

"AND AS WE HAVE BORNE THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHY, WE SHALL ALSO BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY."-1 Cor. xv. 49.

THE words suggest:

I. That man has set before him TWO MORAL IMAGES OR TYPES OF CHARACTER. The "earthy" and the "heavenly." These two are essentially distinct, in the spring and sphere of their activities.

First The one is practically sensuous, the other spiritual. The earthy man is material (1) In his views of happiness. All his pleasures are of a sensuous order. (2) In his views of wealth. He knows of no man that is rich, but he who possesses worldly property. (3) In his views of

man, to him, is he who occupies the highest worldly position, and who moves in the mere pageantry that dazzles the sensual eye. He is, in one word, a man of the flesh. He sees only the fleshly, appreciates only the fleshly, enjoys only the fleshly. On the contrary, the other is spiritual. He lives behind the visible phenomena, realizes the spi ritual, the eternal. To him the invisible is the only reality, moral excellence the only wealth and dignity. Though in the world, he is not of the world." He has his citizenship in heaven.

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Secondly: The one is practically selfish, the other is benevolent. The earthly man is controlled in everything by a

regard to his own pleasures | image of the "earthy." He is