cause ye are sons," says St. Paul, in writing to the Galatians, "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father!" The reason here assigned for the gift of the Spirit of Christ-without which we are none of His-is, that we are 66 sons," now no longer servants, but actually adopted into the family of God. The effect of this gift is the confidence, joy, gratitude, and love towards God, which the Spirit works in the believing soul-in ecstatic joy, or at least in calm unspeakable peace, the new-born soul exclaims, "My Father, even mine!"

For

Nor are the words of the same inspired apostle, in his epistle to the Romans, less worthy of our most serious regard. as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Here is the general statement as to the agent who works a saving change in men, and as to the condition into which by Divine grace they are brought. But now the apostle makes an appeal to their own experience, and shows that it was their privilege to have been saved in precisely the same way as he himself and his fellow apostles had been. "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father." Once they had received the spirit of bondage-by the gracious influences of the Holy Ghost they had been made sensible of their guilty and fallen condition; they had struggled hard, but unsuccessfully, to conquer sin. But a change had taken place in their relationship to God. They had received "the spirit of adoption," the Holy Spirit, so named, because He is the precious gift of an adopting Father's love, and also because it is the very intention of the Father that He "who searcheth all things, even the deep things of God," should Himself testify of this joyous fact. It follows then naturally. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

One other passage may be adduced from the same apostle's writings. He is congratulating the believers at Ephesus on their participation in the privileges of those who "first trusted in Christ." "In whom," he says, "ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." Here, again, the gift of the Spirit is declared to be the result of faith in the gospel. It is thus limited to believers. But to them it is a "seal." Of what? Of the favour of God to which, by trust

in the word of truth, they have been introduced. This is its design primarily. But in this, another end is answered. As a seal impresses the image which is engraved upon it on the plastic wax, so the sealing of the Holy Spirit impresses upon the softened spirit of man the image of God in righteousness and true holiness. And, more, in that image, so restored, there is both the pledge and the foretaste of the "purchased possession," which is to be fully enjoyed when the work of redemption is completed at the coming of the Lord.

Briefly, then, the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins is due to the agency of the Holy Spirit. To the fact of the believer's adoption He testifies-by an immediate impression wrought upon the soul. The effect of this testimony is the renewal of the believer in the spirit of his mind. And of this again there arise "love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness and temperance." This "fruit of the Spirit" in its turn affords a rational conviction to its possessor that he has "received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that he might know the things that are freely given to him of God."

THE ATHEIST'S DAUGHTER.

'TWAS evening, and the setting sun,
Its brightest glories shed

Through a chamber, where a youthful form
Lay on her dying bed;

Her fond and loving mother

Was by her side knelt down,

There stood her wretched father,
Upon his face a frown;

For his almost worshipped daughter

Was passing to the skies,

And he knew that he had taught her
But vanity and lies.

A bold and daring sceptic,

Careless of God and man,

Whilst health and wealth were granted

His prosperous course he ran;

But now, when his treasured darling
Was fading from his sight,

His boasted courage failed him,

As she whispered low-" Good-night,

I know that I soon shall leave you,
By the cold sweat on my brow;
Oh, say if my mother's teaching,
Or thine, I must follow now."

Heart-wrung, in bitter anguish,
With sorrow almost wild,

He pressed her hand, and firmly said,
"Follow thy mother's, child."

"I will," she said, "for my mother dear
Hath taught me how to pray,
And I know that my blessed Saviour,
Hath taken my sins away:

Even now, He comes to fetch me,-
Can you not hear Him call?
Dear father, trust in Jesus,

His grace can save us all."

"I will, my child ;" and her dying smile
Was beautiful to see-

A ray on earth of heavenly light—
While the father bent his knee,
And in broken sighs, repentant pray'd
Forgiveness for the past,

And saving grace to keep from sin
As long as life should last.

He wrestled till the answer came

And set his spirit free:

O wondrous change !-sin's heavy yoke
For gospel liberty.

In after years, he owned the stroke

Was all in mercy sent,

To save him from an Atheist's doom-
Eternal punishment;

His wealth, his talents, he employed,
To spread his Saviour's praise,
And dedicated to the Lord

His residue of days.

J. R. ROBINSON.

"IN POWER AND IN THE HOLY GHOST." THERE is a general impression that the Church has lost something of its early power; that it is no longer the vital force that it was in apostolic days; that at least it no longer achieves its ancient success. Churches half filled, demand of their pulpits an eloquence that shall fill up their empty benches, and depend upon outside show to supply the spiritual warmth which alone can give life and comfort to the human heart. Art is invited to co-operate with rhetoric. Whatever money can do to provide elegant churches and exquisite music, is done in the hope to draw by attractions of taste to the house of God. Men, observant of the fact that the Roman Catholic Church never lacks a congregation, borrow her candles, her processions, her intoned service, her altars,-all but her faith; and hope by imitating a dying system to renovate a decaying one. "Society"

is invited to become the handmaid of religion. The strait and narrow gate is made the entrance to the best society; and the effort, not always unsuccessful, is, made to fill up the Church of God by making the pilgrim-path lead to Vanity Fair.

It is not thus that the Church of God can re-acquire the power which she possessed in apostolic days. Not by eloquence, nor by music, nor by social attractions, nor by ritualistic pageants, can the Church of Christ put on its strength; but by a new indwelling of God in the hearts of the people. When the fire of an ardent piety has gone out and left nothing but the ashes of a cold ceremonialism or a spiritless orthodoxy on the altar, it is not a new altar, but a new fire from on high that is needed to kindle the sacrifice, roll back the tide of covetousness, which is idolatry, and re-establish in power the religion of the one true God. The Philistines believed that if they could capture the ark of God, Israel could no longer prevail against them; and they were right. Now, no less than of old, the power of Israel is in the ark of God; and when this is taken away it is invincible no longer.

Faith in Christ constitutes the locks which are the glory and strength of the young Samson. When the treacherous Delilah has shorn the sleeping Church of these, it is a giant in strength no longer, its power has gone.

Men wonder at the power of an Augustine, a Chrysostom, a Whitefield, a Wesley, a Chalmers, a Spurgeon, and study their rhetoric, and vainly hope by adopting their methods to secure their power. They forget too often to study that which alone constitutes the true secret of the power of any pulpitthe earnestness of a genuine faith, born of the Spirit and fed by the word of God. If the Church and the ministry have a living and a life-giving faith in Christ, if they so believe in Him that they can impart their faith to others, the pews will not be empty nor the Churches weak. Wherever the fountain truly flows the thirsty people will crowd to drink.

"Our Gospel," says the Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, "came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance."

The power which comes with the Holy Ghost and with the strong assurance of faith, can alone re-endow the Church with its divine glory, and clothe it with God-given success.

SIN, all sin, is fruitless; it blossoms fair, but always deceives. "What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?"

THE LITTLE SAND-VENDOR.

FOR THE YOUNG.

In a certain street in Berlin there sat a boy who counted his twenty-six pence. He dropped them from one hand to the other, and they appeared to him as so much shining gold. Near by his little sister stood; her head was bowed down, and her hair unkempt. Not far from where they were there was a large house with high windows. Many people entered the house, and it seemed as if there were to be a public meeting there. The ladies and gentlemen who entered were observed attentively by little Snell and his sister. He had made that day twenty-six pence by selling sand, and as he had a little still left in his bag, he thought he might be able to dispose of that in the large house where the people went.

So he said to his little sister, "You stay here while I go with the sand to that house."

He went up the large marble steps and saw a man standing at the door, who had a good many slips of paper in his hand. They were tickets of admission to the meeting that afternoon. Snell was a frank boy, and said to the man, "I don't belong to the meeting, but I have some beautiful white sand I would like to sell you. There is no better sand to be found than

mine."

The

The man replied. "It is no time for selling sand. gentlemen who live here have a missionary meeting this afternoon, which is to be addressed by missionaries just arrived from their distant fields of labour. Please leave very soon; we don't want any sand."

"Then if you will not buy my sand, will you not allow me to stand a few minutes in here, and hear the missionaries talk ?"

66

Yes, stay; but you will have to behave yourself while in." Then Snell mustered up a little more courage, and said, "My sister is out of doors near by, and I know she would like very much to hear the missionaries too. Please let me go and call her. We will sit anywhere in the room, and nobody shall see our rags but you."

The man had a kind heart, and consented to his request. In a little while, Snell and his sister were seated on a low stool behind the parlour door. The little bag of sand was brought to the front gate and put down just inside of it. The meeting was opened with singing and prayer, after which a missionary