phrases, but we tell the man plainly, that we put before him life and death, salvation or destruction, heaven or hell. We say, that he that repents and believes the Gospel, and believes on Him whom the Gospel sets forth, shall be saved; and that he which believeth not shall be condemned. What is his answer? The answer of the great multitude of those we address is-'I, lost! I, a sinner! I, unrighteous! I, ungodly! I, in danger of eternal woe!' And we tell them, that the "Lord looked down from heaven to see if there was one righteous, and there was not one ;" and when we tell them, that if there be one righteous, he must be righteous in the righteousness of another; and set before them this great truth, that “to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness:" what is it that rejects it all? It is the desperate pride of the human heart. And whence is it, that when a man receives the deep conviction that has brought him to the dust, that he is himself lost and ruined, yet he keeps on waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Christ? He wants to bring something, he labours to produce something, and vainly thinks that at last he shall attain something. What is it causes it all? It is nothing less than the pride of the human heart. And even when the soul has received Christ, what is it makes us so backward to feel, 'I am as poor as I ever was, as needy, helpless and unable to walk alone as I ever was; I must live out of myself on Christ as much as ever I did; Jesus is as much needful to me as my "wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification” now, as at the first; and if left to myself I should fall, as certainly as ever, walking in my own strength-as certainly ? What makes us backward to acknowledge this truth? Oh! beloved, it is the pride of our hearts.

Behold, then, the necessity of the precept. What is it, leads men, beloved, to that insubordination as to ranks in society, that is so very manifest in the present day? What is it, leads men to pull down their superiors? What makes men behave so unsuitably to their equals? What makes men look down so on their inferiors? It is the pride of our hearts. And what produces such evil conduct oft in one saint to another-the coldness, and distance, and reserve, and want of heart, and the want of forbearance, and that readiness to judge? What is it? It must all be traced up to the same cause, the pride of our nature-that sickening, foolish, senseless, wicked pride, which, if unsubdued, must lead a man into the bottomless pit, and, so far as it does prevail, must exclude all reception of salvation.

SUBMISSION ONE TO ANOTHER.

II. But observe, secondly, there is not only a necessity for this precept, but there is an especial suitableness in it.

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These are addressed as servants of Christ. What a Master! Why, His whole life was one submission; it was subjection to the work and will of God; it was one continued, ceaseless, unbroken act of submission to God. In His incarnation, in His humiliation, in His sufferings unto death, yea, and His very intercession in that place in heaven whither He is ascended to "die no more," yet we are told that all was according to the will of God." Observe, even in His intercession, in His exaltation at the right hand of God, it is according to the will of God. And let me remark this one thing more; not only was our Lord one exhibition of subjection to God His Father, but He was subject unto His parents. You that profess the name of Jesus, re

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mark this; our Lord was subject unto His parents. More than that, He was subject in a sense to His very disciples. Look into that twenty-second chapter of Luke's Gospel. Oh! blessed truth! may we have grace to learn it out! “There was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.

serve.

But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth." How suitable, then, the exhortation given to us as the servants of Him, whose whole life was submission, whose death was submission, whose intercession is submission, who was subject unto His parents, and in a sense subject also unto His disciples: a servant of His disciples, yet their master!

In another view this suitability appears quite evident. The great act of subjection they had had wrought in them, dear hearers, was when they were brought into subjection to Christ themselves. Man, beloved, can do many things by nature. I believe, a man can give up his rank, he can give up his fame, he can give up his family, he can give up his riches, he can give up his time, he can give up his comforts, and yet hold fast one thing to the end, and that is his own righteousness.

Numbers have done so, and numbers are doing it now-you need only go to La Trappe to see the mystery unravelled. They do it for their own righteousness, and hold fast to it for their own righteousness, and make it an essential

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part of their righteousness, and a costly proof of it in their own eyes. But here, beloved, when a man casts aside his own righteousness, and receives the Lord Jesus Christ for his righteousness, and submits to the righteousness of God, and lays aside his self-endeavours, and self-reasonings, and self-will, and self-power, and self-esteem; when he throws aside his doubtings and hesitations, and looks out of himself for righteousness, and bringing nothing in his hand, by faith stretches out his weak and empty hund and receives Christ-oh! what a subjection is this! What a wondrous exchange, when the soul is brought to leave its sins before the cross, and takes Jesus and His righteousness! Why, the very act of faith, is it not the greatest act of subjection? What a subjection in the awakened conscience to the testimony of God! God says it, He tells me there is no hope but in Jesus the Beloved, I rest my soul on this, 1 believe His Word, I rest my hopes on His work; there is no other name whereby I can be saved. My dear hearers, I never like that statement of truth, that does not lay much stress on that statement of our Lord, "This is the will of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." It is the great distinguishing mark of real regeneration of soul, the great work of the Holy Ghost, and the great act of submission. What is repentance? It is the lying low; it is the submitting to the holy, just, merciful and good God. What is the life of faith? Continued subjection. As poor as I ever was, Jesus my all, I come to the fountain of Thy blood as if I had never come before; and plead Thy finished work as if I had never pleaded it before. I take Thy glorious righteousness as my only hope; I come to Thee for grace to subdue me, and my sins, and sanctify me, and bring forth all fruit in me to Thy praise and to Thy glory, as if I had never come before. Is not this subjection? Would that you and I showed more of it! What is patience? Subjection to God, subjection to His will. What is spirituality? Subjection to the Spirit of God. What is filial obedience ? Subjection to His love; "draw me, and I will run after Thee." How suitable, then, is the exhortation given! I hope you feel it most needful, because of the indwelling pride, not only reigning, but indwelling; but how suitable, too, because Christ, the great servant of the covenant, hath made the whole life but one act of submission, by the power of the Holy Ghost!

III. Now see the extent of the precept.

Many seem to say, that it means submission to the "powers that be;"-those in authority, them that have the rule. I see many, at

whose feet I would sit, see it in that view. Yet it does not seem to be the mind of the Spirit, nor the sense of the passage. No wonder there were many directions given to submission to the " powers that be," when one sees that the Jew was naturally despising the Gentile ruler. I do not wonder, to see perpetual recurrence of such direc tions. Would that they were more remembered by us, in these our days! It would not be less for our happiness as a nation, nor less for our good as a professing people. But that is not the meaning of this passage; and I cannot see any reason to think so for one moment. It takes it in, certainly; it necessarily includes submission to those who are above us; to him who is our superior in age, our superior in position in the Church, our superior in gifts, or our superior in grace. It takes in submission from the wife to the husband; from the children to the parent; and from the servant to the master. But it includes more; for it includes the duty of submission on every part. It is mutual; it is universal; it not only belongs to one party, but it belongs to all; so that each one of God's children shall feel the solemn obligation there is for subjection to those around him. What! does this break in on the different ranks of men? By no means. Does this bring the world into confusion ? By no means. Masters still remain masters; servants still remain servants. Still, the command-" be subject to the powers that be," "give honour to him to whom honour is due," is a precept for us to obey.

Here, then, we have to consider the respectful and 'affectionate bearing ordered and enjoined by this portion of God's Word to all, without distinction; to those our superiors, to those our equals, and to those who we think beneath us. My dear hearers, let me call your attention to two or three portions of Scripture here; for, after all, it is not what tradition may say, nor what priests may say, but what God says. We must revert to "thus saith the Lord;" and be satisfied with nothing, short of what God himself hath delivered. Now observe, in the fifth chapter of the first epistle of Peter, the fifth verse: "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder;" both in the plural, not the one person; since the elders were, for the most part, those that had the authority in the Church. Yet observe how he goes on: "Yea, all of you, be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." “All of you be subject one to another!" Here is mutual subjection. Observe again in the

fifth chapter of Galatians, the thirteenth verse-" Ye are called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;-Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." Oh! blessed service! My dear hearers, this is spoken of, too, I conceive, in the twelfth chapter of the Romans, the tenth verse: “Be ye kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another." Here is something more than mere submission to superiors; here is true subjection one to the other. And what is all the forbearance, what is all the kindness, what is the condescension to the weakness of a weak brother,—what is this condescension to his painful weaknesses, weaknesses that disturb me and try me, and cannot fail to disturb me and try me, as long as I am constituted as I am,-what is that which bears with it,-what is it, to be in submission to it? What is it, but the exhibition of what we read of in the second chapter of Philippians, the third verse? "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Ah! beloved, there is not a more difficult precept in God's Word than this. With what exquisite beauty did the apostle write of it! I think the passage has transcendant beauty in it. There are no fine epithets, no fine flowers; but it is the majesty of simple eloquence. It is in the fifteenth chapter of the Romans: "We, then, that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak :" not merely to share with them, but to bear them as if we ourselves were the subjects of them. "We then, that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not Himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on Me." This is a beautiful description; but life is always more beautiful than description; the bringing it out in the life, is always more beautiful than any description. See how it is brought out, in the conduct of this same apostle. Look into the first epistle to the Corinthians, the ninth chapter, the nineteenth verse: "For though

I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to