And in these expressions, outworkings, and fruits of this man's faith, we get a still deeper insight into the greatness of what the Saviour so highly commended and what is so necessary

for us.

And now a few observations on the general subject.

The first that strikes me is the pungent reproof and rebuke which the case of this Centurion brings to modern unbelievers. He came to honored faith in Jesus under very limited opportunities and against very serious disadvantages. And if there was ground for wonder at his faith, how much greater the ground for surprise at the unfaith of those who, after the fulfilment of so much that was foretold, the revolutionary and new creating power of the Saviour's life, death, and resurrection,-after all the wonderful manifestations of His gifts, and after the glory the centuries have woven around His Name, the progress of His Church, the dethronement of paganism, the conversion of the Cæsars, and the common sentiment of the most enlightened people on earth,-still doubt, and hesitate, and take upon themselves to reject and confute what the toils of Apostles and martyrs, and the experiences of eighteen hundred years, have so universally and divinely planted and authenticated! If the queen of the south is to rise up in the judgment with the men of that generation, and condemn them, because she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, while they despised and

rejected the Greater than Solomon; will not this Roman soldier rise up in condemnation of the people of our day, who have a thousandfold better chances than he, and yet never cast a believing thought to the blessed Christ, or at all apply to Him as their Saviour and hope? Ho, ye neglectors of your sick and dying souls, whither will ye look for help, with Jesus spurned and His Salvation trampled under foot?

But there is a more cheerful inference from the faith of this Centurion. It is an inference formulated by the Saviour himself. If this man, against so many disadvantages, could rise to faith so exalted, why may not many others in similar circumstance? Yes, this case shows there may be many consistent believers where we would not expect to find them? Hence the Master's declaration: "I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom. of heaven," while those from whom everything was to be hoped, even the very children of the kingdom, fail altogether. We must not judge outsiders too harshly, nor condemn the heathen and soldiers too indiscriminately; for, with all their unfavorable surroundings, they may turn out better than ourselves.

However, the great central lesson for us all is, to make diligent use of our opportunities; to embrace the Christ as He comes to us; to take Him as our Helper and glorious Lord; to look to Him. in our need; to trust implicitly to His Word;

and humbly to submit ourselves to Him as the great and merciful spiritual Cæsar, whom none can neglect nor disobey without forfeit of all that is most precious to the soul, whether for this world, or that which is to come.

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The Frightened Voyagers.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany.

And He said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? — MATT. 8: 26.

HE Speaker here referred to was Christ. The place was on board a boat on the inland sea of Galilee. The occasion was the alarm and outcries of the disciples in the midst of a terrific storm. The whole scene was one of impressive sublimity, beautifully described by the Evangelist in a few simple sentences, and full of suggestive significance.

Those

That sea is a picture of this world. afloat upon it represent the voyage of life. And that storm symbolizes the adversities and troubles often encountered in this voyage.

I. It appears, then, first of all, that the following of Christ sometimes brings into very trying scenes. He went aboard this boat, and took His disciples with Him into the storm. Christianity does not exempt from trials in this world. The following of Jesus may save from many a sorrow, but there are others into which it leads. This was specially true of the first Christians.

Earthly life is like that Tiberian lake, some

times calm and beautiful, but frequently thrown into violent commotion, often lashed with furious tempests. And our way lies through that lake. The Saviour himself said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation;" and that word has held true. in every age. If any one expects to reach the happy land without encountering storms and troubles of one sort or another, he will be greatly disappointed.

But all such experiences have in them a good and beneficent purpose, or the Saviour would not. lead His followers into them. They are not accidental. They belong to a divine system so ordered as to make "all things work together for good to them that love God." This storm on Genessaret was not unforeseen by the Saviour, but was meant to give and impress lessons which could not otherwise be so well taught.

These disciples needed to be made more sensible of their own helplessness and their dependence on their Lord. They needed to be more deeply convinced of His abundant power and sufficiency in every emergency. He had wrought many great and wonderful things on land; but there they had some chance for helping themselves. It remained for Him to show the greatness of His power over the winds and the sea, where they had no recourse but in his almightiness. some beneficent results are contemplated in all the troubles and afflictions of the saints. Hence we are exhorted not to think it strange that fiery trials come, as though they were something quite

And