dently relates to uncertainty respecting the issues of providential dispensations. And a servant of God thus exercised, is bid to trust in the gracious guidance and protection of his heavenly Father, and to stay himself upon his God; like a little child, who is led by the parent's hand, or is carried along as it reposes in the parent's arms.

In John viii. 12, the word darkness is used in a much more enlarged and comprehensive sense it has reference to moral and spiritual blindness-to that darkness which fell upon man, when man fell from God-to that shadow of death in which all the children of Adam are involved, and in which all are walking, into whose hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, has never shined. Ignorance and unbelief, superstition and prejudice, constitute the fourfold darkness in which they walk, who know not God, "the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent." Such persons know not whither they go."

(See John xii. 35.) They know not where, or in what, that road will terminate in which they are walking. They have no spiritual light-no perception of eternal and invisible realities-no right apprehension of heavenly things no discernment of the nature of truth or of holiness. Heavenly wisdom is derived from Christ alone; therefore none but his true disciples (they who have learned of him) believe in him, love him, serve and follow him; they, and only they, will be found walking in the light of truth and holiness, safety and peace, assurance of hope, and heavenly consolation.

To darkened minds, LORD JESUS! be Thou,

light;

To fainting hearts, impart thy Spirit's might;
To souls in sorrow, give, and still increase
As griefs abound, thy more abounding peace. //
Let those who walk, thy cheering glory see;
Let those who rest, find sweet repose in Thee.

THIRD DAY.

"JESUS CHRIST, WHO OF GOD IS MADE UNTO US WISDOM."-1 Cor. i. 30.

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My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew." Thus sang Moses, the great prophet and lawgiver of Israel. But a greater than Moses is here; even Him of whom Moses spake when he said, "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me, Him shall ye hear." From Him, Moses under the Old Testament, and the apostles under the New, alike, as His servants, received their commission. And not only their commission, but also their power: not only their instructions, but also the very form of words in which they were to be delivered. "Go, and I will be with thy mouth, and will teach thee what thou shalt say."-Exod. iv. 12. "I will give you a mouth and wisdom; which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay, nor resist."-Luke xxi. 15. And again, "It is not ye that speak, but the

Spirit of

your Father that speaketh in you." -Matt. x. 20. The Spirit of God and of

Christ is the same; for the Father and the Son are One. The SPIRIT of JEHOVAH spake in me," said David, "and His WORD by my tongue." Jesus is the "WORD of JEHOVAH; GOD manifest in the flesh; for "the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth." And, "God, who....spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these latter days spoken to us by His Son;" to whom He bare testimony at his baptism, and again at his transfiguration, saying, "THIS is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleasedHEAR YE HIM."

"Who of God is made

unto us wisdom." "He is the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." "The Light of the world:" for the light of reason and the light of revelation are alike from Him. He is the Teacher sent from God-the Revealer of the mind and will of the Father, in whom, as in one vast

treasury, are laid up, for the benefit of his people, "all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge." Hence, when he began to teach and to preach in Capernaum, the word spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: "The people that sat in darkness saw a great light and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." (Compare Matt. iv. 16. with Isa. ix. 2.)

Reader! has this blessed light ever shone into thy soul? It has arisen upon thee in the ministration of the word;-thou art favoured with the external revelation; truth is shedding its bright radiance around thee, in the publication and spread of the gospel; knowest thou any thing of the internal illumination? has it broken in upon the darkness of thy mind? If so, bless God for that wisdom which cometh from above. Sit down with humble thankfulness at the feet of Jesus, and receive of His words. The instrumentality of man can reach no further than the outward ear: it is Jesus Christ