he who is thus at peace with himself, will have peace with others around him; he will not be too much agitated and distracted by this world's troubles. The child of this world, who feels the pelting of its pitiless storms, and the unsatisfactoriness of all its promises of joy and bliss, can he come under the shadow of one that is at peace with God, and not find his own spirit calmed. Thus he who has that holy calm will be a shelter to those around him-thus the birds of the air can lodge in his branches, and find, in coming and taking shelter with him, that he will take them to the same Saviour, in whom he has found peace, and make them to know the same peace which he himself has experienced; as the Apostle declares, as the minister of Christ, in the 2nd chap. of the 1st epistle to the Corinthians, "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."

And, again, there are other fruits of the Spirit brought before our thoughts long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; all these spring from that little mustard seed of the divine energy in the heart of man. How can he be otherwise than long suffering to those around him who feels how long the Lord has borne with himself! If he be in the post of a teacher, and find but intractable scholars, does he not remember how long he himself has been an untractable scholar in Christ's own school? If he be suffering under disappointed hopes-a rejected affection, how will it bring before his thoughts the Saviour, who has suffered so many disappointments (if we may call them disappointments) in him, and rejected affection? So he has been taught long-suffering who has experienced the long-suffering of

God in bearing with himself-who has experienced the gentle dealing of the divine long-suffering to his own soul; how he has borne with his waywardness-how he has melted his stubbornnesss-how he has subdued him by the power of his love, and wearied out his opposition by the unwearying exercise of his own long suffering and gentleness, and goodness. He cannot but imbibe, and, therefore, cannot, but diffuse around him, the same blessed principles. He cannot but be long-suffering, gentle, and bountiful, (as the word "goodness" here means,) to all around. The birds of the air come and lodge under the branches; the people that are brought by the providence of God within the sphere of his influence, will feel that the power, and strength, and energy dwelling within the long-suffering, the gentleness, and goodness of the child of God is developed there; they experience the blessedness of its fruits, and lodge under the power of his goodness. And we have, in the same way, the faith that is spoken of here. Faith presented to us in the Scripture is, if I may so say, a primary and a secondary grace. There is the primary faith to be the foundation of this blessed gracea faith that is the fruit of that faith. This is that faith of which the Apostle speaks, in the 1st chap. of the epistle to the Romans, where he speaks of the power of the Gospel of Christ, and says, in the 17th verse, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith." He that has faith in God, receives a new power, which produces other fruits of faith; and he finds the power of his faith strengthen and its subjects increase from time to time. The object of his faith is one and the same at all times The subjects of his

God in Christ.

faith are those blessed promises of God, which bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. Therefore, the faith spoken of here is that secondary faith, in which the exercise of our confidence produces new exercises of faith in the unchangeable love of God. And in this faith, the fruit of the spirit, the birds of the air come and lodge under its branches; and he who is thus strengthened in his confidence towards God, will be increasing in the confidence which he will inspire in others around him; and he who is himself continually relying upon the unchangeable promises of God, will become proportionably unchangeable in his own promises.

"Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope," is the pleading of that faith in the believer's life towards the object on whom he relies, and the same pleading will not go up in vain from others to him who is in the habit of thus pleading with God. He who says, with earnestness, "Thou hast caused me to hope in thy word" will not be the one to disappoint those who put their hopes in his word. Thus we have the fruit of faith, not only in its energy in the heart, but in its development in the life, and itself becoming the source of blessings of a similar kind to those who come to shelter under its human development.

Meekness and temperance are those other fruits of the Spirit that are here presented to us as the power of that grain of mustard seed implanted in the heart of man. He, who was the meekest man upon earth, was meek because he endured as seeing him who was invisible. Could any one of us be overcome by the excess of passion if we had Christ visibly present to our eyes? We could not-we dare not. And if we are able to realize him, who is invisible, continually to our own

mental sight, we cannot but be meek and temperate in all things; as the Apostle again says to us in the 4th chap. and the 5th verse of the epistle to the Philippians, "Let your moderation be known unto all men; the Lord is at hand," the Lord is here with you—the Lord is abiding with you-the Lord is present with you; let your moderation, your meekness, your gentleness be known unto all men; for the Lord is at hand; he is at present with you.

Brethren, here then is what Christ brings before our thoughts in this parable of the grain of mustard seed. It is, indeed, the least among seeds; for a little while there seems to be no divine power in it; but it soon developes itself, and manifests itself to be the power of God unto salvation. It is seen, and known, and read of

all men

Now, let us ask ourselves, in conclusion, is this the faith that we have? Is this the love that we have received? Is this the energy that we have been putting forth? Are the fruits of the Spirit seen in us? Can men draw near to us, and lodge under the power of these manifested fruits of the Spirit? Can they see in us that faith that can overcome every difficulty-that faith that produces these blessed fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance? These are the product of human power, but the fruits of the Spirit. May they find their places their abiding dwelling place, in every heart, and produce the energy of their fruits in all our minds, to the praise and glory of God.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM.

PART V.

THE LEAVEN.

MATT. xiii. v. 33.—“ Another parable spake he unto them: The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."

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We may view every thing in a twofold aspect, its absolute condition, and its relative condition. We must consider all that concerns religion in this same twofold aspect. We never take a right view of ourselves until we view ourselves in this twofold manner: we are to see that we are ourselves right, absolutely right, with respect to ourselves; and then we are to see that we are right, relatively right, with respect to each other. The parable before us is strikingly suited to bring before our thoughts these two views of ourselves, and of every thing around us. 'The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened." The natural figure made use of by our Lord is this, that when that which is intended to be made bread is worked up into a dough, it requires leaven to ferment it and to make it leavened bread. Now that leaven which the woman is here represented to have taken and put into it was nothing more than what had been dough before, and was left to come into this fermented state which is called leaven. Into this, therefore, it had changed its condition from what it had been in its