While we keep our eye firmly fixed, by faith and hope, upon that glory which shall be revealed and shewn forth in body as well as soul at its redemption from death and the grave, that is, by its resurrection, we shall not think it hard to have our portion of suffering, to which the whole creation is doomed,—made subject to disease and death by Adam's fall, but restored to spiritual life and hope of perfect bliss with God in heaven by the wonderful things which Christ has done and suffered for us. For it is He alone Who hath delivered us from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Of which deliverance, that from the cruel slavery of Egypt was only a type or figure,-only a shadow of the true and real redemption by Christ Jesus.

With Him, after we have suffered a short while in our passage through the wilderness of this world, we shall reign for ever, if we dutifully hear and obey His voice in the Gospel, exciting us to be kind, forgiving, and merciful to one another, as He is merciful to us all. The duty of love in all its branches takes in the whole of virtue-to God, our neighbour, and ourselves; and this love is necessary, not merely as the solemnly vowed condition of life and joy eternal, but as the necessary disposition for happiness; because, without heavenly-mindedness we could not be happy in heaven itself, for it is not the place, but the state that makes happiness.

He bids us hear, at each sweet pause
From care, and want, and toil,-

When dewy eve her curtain draws

Over the day's turmoil,

In the low chant of wakeful birds,

In the deep weltering flood,

In whispering leaves, these solemn words,—
"God made us all for good."

Services for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity.

Morning Lesson, 1 Samuel xv.
Evening Lesson, 1 Samuel xvii.
Epistle, 1 St. Peter iii. 18.
Gospel, St. Luke v. 1.
The Collect.

Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The peace and godly quietness of the Church, which is the subject of this day's Collect, help towards the peace and spiritual welfare of every single member of it. The Church is the mystical body of Christ, enlivened by His Spirit, Who makes all the members to be of one mind, to love as brethren, pitiful and courteous, according to the holy doctrine of the Epistle.

But the Church, the spiritual ship of salvation, is a ship at sea, according to the figure in the Gospel, in which human power alone is of no use, toiling all the night and taking nothing. It is the Presence of Christ alone that by His Word and Spirit gives the success; and it is His commission only that gives men power to be fishers of their fellow-mortals out of the sea of the world,

that in the Church's net they may be drawn safe to the shore of eternal happiness, where there is no sea, no tossing agitation, or stormy tumult whatever, but all is godly and glorious quietness, and the service of God, His joyful praise, is performed in endless happiness. Meantime, while the net is in its passage, it takes in bad fishes as well as good; and, according to St. Augustine's teaching, the good must not break the net because the bad are with them, but wait quietly and patiently in hope even of their becoming better in the company of the good, till Christ Himself, in the day of judgment, shall separate the precious from the vile.

The men employed in this toilsome hard work, to be continued in season, out of season, night and day, must be Christ's commissioned fishers, taking their authority in succession from the Apostles, to whom in the beginning He gave commission to be fishers of men, and promised to be with that commission to the end of the world. For it is He alone Who has power to send and give success, Who Himself is all in all, and without Whom the best talents of men labour in vain. Whatever is well done and succeeds happily in this spiritual ship of the Church is His work. The under-workmen are but His instruments and ministers, all appointed by Him in their several places and ranks, which have all their proper place; for without such order, as in the ships of the world, so also in the ship bound for heaven's harbour, great would be the danger of running upon rocks, and going to wreck. Let His voice therefore be heard, and His order carefully obeyed, by every

one in his own place and station; for, as in the Gospel for this day, it is He still Who sits in this ship, and teacheth the people out of the ship. The voice of man, however well he may speak, without His assistance only beats the air, and instantly vanishes; but His Word, Who is the Almighty Word of God, is with power, and His teaching takes effect by His Spirit. To Him, therefore, we must give ear; first praying Him to give us such an ear that we may hear, to our soul's salvation, what the Spirit saith unto the Churches. To this end He frequently says, "He that hath an ear, let him hear."

If we give ear to the Morning Lesson, and spiritually apply it, we shall learn in a striking manner, in the case of Saul and the Amalekites, the danger of doing the work of the Lord and executing His commission in part only. We shall see how easily we may deceive ourselves by vain pretences and excuses which flatter ourselves, when the signs of disobedience, like the oxen and sheep of the Amalekites, lowing and bleating, stun the ears of the hearers. While Saul was little in his own eyes, meek and lowly, he was exalted; but when he became proud and thought highly of himself, he lost the Divine favour, and fell from his high station. Before honour is humility, but pride is the losing of it. He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The glorious Lesson for the Evening is a contrast to that for the Morning, and encourages us by representing as in a type the triumph of Christ. He Who was the truly humble descendant of Jesse,

triumphed over the devil and all his hosts of sin and death; by the arm of the Almighty in human nature conquering by His cross (pictured to us in David's staff); spoiled thereby principalities and powers, making a show of them openly, wounding and bruising the head of the old serpent, who is typified by Goliath.

"The livelong night we've toiled in vain ;
But at Thy gracious word

I will let down the net again :
Do Thou Thy will, O Lord!"

So spake the weary fisher, spent
With bootless darkling toil,
Yet at His Master's bidding bent
For love and not for spoil.

There is a stay, and we are strong;
Our Master is at hand,

To cheer our solitary song,
And guide us to the strand.

Services for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

Morning Lesson, 2 Samuel xii.
Evening Lesson, 2 Samuel xix.
Epistle, Romans vi. 3.

Gospel, St. Matthew v. 20.

The Collect.-O God, Who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good things as pass man's understanding; pour into our hearts such love towards Thee, that we, loving Thee above all