that may not be removed. There is nothing in your little individual case that is at all to be compared to the mighty and complex problem presented in this text. If God says to you, a backslidden Christian, "Seek my face; I will heal all your backslidings; I will graciously blot out all your iniquities," don't be discouraged. Don't for one moment suppose that God ever speaks an insincere thing. Question, if you will, the fact that the sun shines; question, if you will, your own existence; but do not question the veracity and sincerity of God. And if he says to you, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be as high as the mountains, they shall be as fine dust in the balances; though they are more in number than the leaves of the trees, they shall be utterly and forever extinguished in the mercy of God," do not doubt his word. He never yet said, "Seek my face" in vain; never.

In a little chapel, a primitive Methodist chapel, an exceedingly ordinary building, there is in one of the pews on the right hand side of the church from the pulpit, a tablet which says that right under this tablet, August 6, 1850, Charles H. Spurgeon heard an ignorant preacher, who seemed to occupy the pulpit that day by accident, read this forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, and heard the words, “Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved," and he was saved right then and there. If God does not in vain say to Israel "Seek ye my face," then

God does not say in vain, "All ye ends of the earth, look unto me, and be ye saved." There is no vain word that comes from God. In thinking over that one instance of the broad deduction from the first fact that God never said to Israel in vain, “Seek ye my face," it follows that he never said to anybody, "Look unto me and be saved," in vain. It follows that when he said, "Go ye into all the earth and preach the gospel to every creature,” that he said it sincerely. It follows that when he said, "Every tongue shall confess and every knee shall bow to me," that it was not in vain, and that a man is without faith who will preach concerning the salvation of the heathen, and in his heart all the time say, "It is in vain. It is in vain."

Now I want to make the last application. For myself, I have no doubt of the government of God. I am sure he will bring this whole world under the sway of the gospel of peace. I am sure that wherever the blood of Christ touches a soul, that that soul will be white forever. I am sure that however far a child of God may wander away in sin, if the Lord says to him, "Return, O backslider, return!" he does not say it in vain. I am sure of that. But here is the point. If God does command all the ends of the earth to look unto him, and to look unto him for salvation, some one here to-day, some end of the earth, might look to-day, as Spurgeon did, and find that God has not spoken in vain-some lost soul.

Oh, that to-day, because he is God, and there is none else, you would look to him and be saved. He does not speak to you in vain, and not vainly did he say, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." Not vainly did he say, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' Not vainly did he say, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Not vainly did he say, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." There is no insincerity with God. If he tells you to seek him, seek him, and do not look at the difficulties. Do not consider them a moment. True, they may appear to be insuperable, but there is nothing impossible with God. Oh, if his word to-day reaches your heart and speaks to your soul, "Seek my face," sinner, believe that it is not spoken in vain. Call on the Lord. Ask him this day to break the bondage of sin that holds you, and to set you free in Christ Jesus. Now, it does not matter who you are, nor what your condition is. There is some word of God for you in this book, that suits your condition. If it be a condition of sorrow, if of fear, if of fearful sin, if of bondage to evil habits, that have bound you hand and foot, I say to you there is a word of God that speaks to you and for you, and that word is not in vain. Seek God's face this day, and find deliverance from the trouble of your heart.

XI

VOLUNTEERS, NOT CONSCRIPTS, FOR THE ARMY OF JESUS

"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holíness from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."-Ps. 110:1-4.

T

HE first four verses of the 110th Psalm em

body four cardinal doctrines. These are the doctrines selected for the present discussion. It may be allowed to preface the opening of this particular paragraph in the Psalms by a more general statement concerning the whole collection. Many of these sacred songs are Messianic; that is, they are prophecies forecasting the times, person and work of the long-expected Messiah. Some of these, indeed, refer primarily to contemporary persons and events with a distant and more extensive application to subsequent ages. But others evidently refer primarily to the Messiah and his work. They are not susceptible of local application, by any fair method of interpretation. Prominent in this latter class are the 2nd, 16th, 45th and 110th Psalms-all prophetic-some of the prophecies already fulfilled,

some in process of fulfillment, some yet awaiting fulfillment. Some of these Messianic Psalms foretell the passion of the Christ, others his resurrection, others picture his ascension and exaltation; for example: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted, ye everlasting doors, and let the King of Glory come in! Who is the King of Glory? I, the Lord, mighty to save," while yet others portray his enthronement and investment with universal sovereignty. You recall under this last head the 2nd Psalm: "Yet have I left my King upon my holy hill of Zion," which finds a parallel in Daniel: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came unto the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." It also finds a parallel in our text: "The Lord said. unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. . . . . . Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies."

Before embodying the doctrine of the first verse of our text into a clear proposition, let us first understand the import of certain words: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Who here is represented by "the Lord"? Who, by "my Lord,”