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being a child-in the river Lethe, to prevent any danger that might ensue by reason of the Trojan war; but Paris, his inveterate enemy, understanding also by the oracle that he was impenetrable all over his body, except the heel or small part of his leg, which his mother held him by when she dipped him, took his advantage, shot him in the heel, and killed him. Thus every man is, or ought to be, armed, cap-a-pie with that panoply, the whole armour of God. For the devil will be sure to hit the least part that he finds unarmed; if it be the eye, he will dart in at that casement by the presentation of one lewd object or other; if it be the ear, he will force that door open by bad counsel; if the tongue, that shall be made a world of mischief; if the feet, they shall be swift to shed blood, &c.-SPENCER.

Of all the various parts making up the armour of God, there is none provided for the back, showing to us that the Christian warrior was never meant to run from his enemies, but fight the good fight of faith, that he may lay hold on eternal life; and also that if any opposition came from the rear, he might be stimulated and impelled to run all the faster towards his heavenly inheritance.—BATE.

1022. CHRISTIAN FIDELITY.

Eph. vi. 14.-"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness."

Illustrative.-At the critical moment in the battle of Waterloo, when everything depended on the steadiness of the soldiery, courier after courier kept dashing into the presence of the Duke of Wellington, announcing that unless the troops at an important point were immediately relieved or withdrawn, they must soon yield before the impetuous onsets of the French. By all of these the duke sent back the selfsame spiritstirring message, "Stand firm!" "But we shall all perish!" remonstrated the officer. "Stand firm!" again answered the iron-hearted chieftain. "You'll find us there!" rejoined the other, as he fiercely galloped away. The result proved the truth of his reply; for every man of that doomed brigade fell bravely fighting at his post. What an example this for the Christian contending under the bloodstained banner of the cross! Shall the wordling maintain his position at all hazards for mere earthly considerations, and the follower of the meek and lowly dare nothing for the boon of eternal life?--Church Advocate.

PRAYER FOR THE PREACHER.

1023. FIERY PARTS,

Eph. vi. 16.-"The fiery darts of the wicked."

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Illustrative--Ancient warriors used firebrands like darts, which their opponents received on their shields. True faith will quench the darts of unbelief.

1024. THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.

Eph. vi. 17.-"And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Illustrative.-Admiral Count Verhuel attended the anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in London, in 1822, as the representative of the French Bible Society, and occupied a seat next to Admiral Lord Gambier. He was asked some time after, by a reverend gentleman, what were his feelings on that occasion. He replied, "I remember the time when Lord Gambier and myself could not have stood so near each other, without each holding a sword in his hand. At this time we did not feel the want of our swords: we suffered them to remain in the scabbard; we had no sword but the sword of the Spirit, and the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God." "Would it not," the minister added,*“ be a matter of regret to you to be again engaged in a war with Great Britain?" "I should always," he added, "regret to be at war with a country that is so nobly engaged in sending the Gospel of Peace throughout the world.”

1025.-PRAYER FOR THE PREACHER.

Eph. vi. 18, 19.-" Praying always . . . and for me."

Illustrative.-John Livingstone, of Scotland, once spent a whole night with a company of his brethren in prayer for God's blessing, all of them together besieging the throne; and the next day, under his sermon, five hundred souls were converted. All the world has heard how the audience of the elder President Edwards was moved by his terrible sermon on "Sinners in the hands of an angry God;" some of them even grasping hold of the pillars of the sanctuary, from feeling that their feet were actually sliding into the pit. But the secret of that sermon's power is known to but very few. Some Christians in that vicinity (Enfield, Mass.) had become alarmed, lest, while God was blessing other places, He should in anger pass them by; and so they met on the evening preceding the preaching of that sermon, and spent the whole of the night in agonizing prayer.

EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

PHILIPPIANS I.

1026.-PHILIPPI.

Phil i. I.-"To all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi,"

Descriptive.—A city of Macedonia, according to the Roman division, in the first region of that province. It was on the borders of Thrace, thirty-three Roman miles north-east of Amphipolis, and about ten miles from Neapolis, its port, where St. Paul landed. It was built on the site of a village called Krenides (also Datos) by Philip king of Macedon, and made a strong military station. In the hills to the north and east were gold mines; and on the plains extending towards the west to the river Strymon, and between it and the Gangites, on which the town was situated, was fought the decisive battle between Antony and Octavius and Brutus and Cassius. The Roman town was probably not exactly on the Greek site: it was made a colony by Augustus. The ancient name is still applied to the locality; but there are no inhabitants. The line of the walls may be traced, and there are two lofty gateways amid the fragments that are left. There are also the remains of an amphitheatre on the sides of the overhanging hill, the seats of which are quite perfect. We do not know whether early converts may not have carried previously the news of salvation to Italy or to Rome; but, so far as the New Testament history directly informs us, Philippi was the first city in Europe which heard the Gospel message. The account of St. Paul's visit, and of his founding of a church there is given in Acts xvi.

1027.-OFFICERS OF THE EARLY CHURCH.

Phil. i. I.-"With the bishops and deacons."

Expository. This is the first Epistle in which the salutation includes a direct mention of the officers of the Church.

There is now no question-and but for supposed ecclesiastical necessities there never could have been any question-that in Holy Scripture, as also in the first epistle of an Apostolical Father (St. Clement to the Corinthians), the two titles of "Bishop" and " Presbyter" are applied to

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the same persons, the latter, however, being in St. Paul's Epistles the more frequent and conventional term, while the former seems almost always used with reference to its actual meaning. The title of "bishop," or overseer," is of heathen origin, used in classical Greek for a commissioner from head-quarters; applied in the LXX. to various secular offices. It is a title of official duty. Like the word "pastor" and "apostle," it belongs properly only to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the "Apostle of God" (Heb. iii. 1), and the "Shepherd and Bishop of our souls” (1 Pet. ii. 25), but derivatively to His ministers, as having the oversight of His Church.

The name "deacon" is also used here for the first time, unless indeed, as is probable, it is applied officially to Phoebe in Rom. xvi. 1. Although the office of the Teren, in Acts vi: 1-7, is undoubtedly the germ of the diaconate, and although the cognate words ("ministration" and "serve") are used in connection with them (see verses 1, 2), yet the actual title of "deacons" is nowhere given to them.-Com. for English Readers.

1028. A SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST,

Phil. i. I, 2.

Illustrative.-It is said of St. Charles Borromeo that all his own private revenues, as well as those of his diocese, were expended in public uses he kept nothing for himself but what sufficed to purchase bread and water for his diet and straw for his bed. He travelled through every district and village, examining into the state of the people and the conduct of the priesthood, conversing with and catechizing the poor. Up among the mountains, into the secluded valleys of the Italian Alps, where the neglected inhabitants had long remained in a state of physical and spiritual destitution, did this good man penetrate; he sent missionaries among them to teach and to preach, and then went himself to see that they performed their duty: on one occasion he was found in a poor mountain hut, lying on some straw, shivering with ague, which had seized him in one of his "excursions on foot." With all his excessive austerity, his fasts, and his penances, he lived in public with the splendour becoming his rank, and exercised the most munificent hospitality, wearing under his cardinal's robes of scarlet and fur a ragged black gown; and where the feast was spread for others contenting himself with a little dry bread and a glass of water.-MRS. JAMESON.