"A threefold cord is not quickly broken."-Eccles. iv. 12.-See also Gen. xi. 6-8; Ps. cxxxi.; John xi. 52, xvii. 21-23; Ephes. iv. 4-6.

"Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope." -Isa. v. 18.-See also Jer. xiii, 23; 1 Cor. v. 9.

IF you consider how it is that a hempen twine is made strong enough to draw a loaded wagon, or to bear the strain of a ship as she rides at anchor, you will see a significancy that perhaps did not occur to you before, in the use which Holy Scripture makes of this work of human art as an emblem.

It is formed of many threads, twisted together into one cord, and these cords are again combined into one cable. Each thread in itself is so weak, that a child could break, or the slightest weight would burst it; but when the threads are twined into one rope, their united strength is such as

1 See Lowth's Isaiah.

would have seemed incredible. "A threefold cord is not quickly broken."

The truth is thus brought before us, that union is strength. They who are weak and helpless singly, are able to produce a vast result when they combine their powers. It was in order to restrain His sinful creatures from doing what they had imagined to do,1 that God scattered them over the face of the earth; and He gathers together again His elect people in one body in Christ, that by uniting their various energies in one work, and for one end, they may strengthen each other's hands, and effectually "bruise under foot" the powers of darkness. "Every kingdom divided against itself,” says our Saviour, "shall not stand ;' " and so is it as to a house or family, or a Church. The divisions of the Church of Christ have been one great hindrance to its progress among the heathen: and in our own beloved country may God give us grace to lay to heart the dangers caused by our unhappy divisions, and take away all pride and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one body, and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling; one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all; so we may, henceforth, be all of one heart and one soul; and being united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, may, with one heart and one mind, glorify God through Jesus Christ.3

But there is another lesson suggested to us by the same figure of speech, used in a somewhat different manner : "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with

1 Gen. xi.

2 Matt. xii. 25. See Collect in Service for Queen's Accession.

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a cart rope." The meaning seems to be, that as a strong cable is formed of threads twisted together, so the rooted habit of evil in any heart is formed of numberless single transgressions, each one of which might have been resisted at the time; but when they have, by their united influence, formed a habit, the work of recovery is like that of bursting asunder some strong cable; and thus it is written, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."

We read of Samson, that when he was bound with ropes, he burst them asunder like a thread,' by the wonderful strength which God had given him. And, God be thanked, there is a power by which the most deeply-rooted habits may be broken. The skin of the Ethiopian may pass away, and the leopard may lose his spots. But we should learn to resist the beginnings of evil, and to break singly the threads which Satan would wind around us, before they become such a cord as may seem to defy our utmost strength, and we shrink from what we think a hopeless task.

"Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird."-Prov i. 17. See also Ps. xci. 3; cxxiv. 7; Prov. vi. 5; vii. 23; Eccles ix. 12; 1 Tim. iii. 7; 2 Tim. ii. 26.

THE fowler has not worked to-day in vain. There is a fluttering of wings among the grass on yonder bank, which shows that some poor bird is taken in his snare, and is vainly struggling to be free. The snare was so skilfully set, that the bird could see nothing of its danger, but flew into it unawares.

There is an enemy who is ever setting snares in our path. This enemy is Satan; and the snares are those many false reasonings, and vain seductions, by which he misleads to their ruin such as are unwary and unstable. To one he says, "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is

2

pleasant." To another, "Do not trouble yourself to repent at once, but wait for a more convenient season. To a third, "You shall have peace, though you walk in the imagination of your heart, to add drunkenness to thirst." "3 To a fourth, "The number is so great of those who are careless and live in pleasure, that God can never take account of each." He adapts the snare to the habits and weakness of each one of us; as a skilful fowler studies the habits of the several birds which it is his business to take. So many have been taken by the snares of Satan, that his devices may now be said to be "set even in our sight:" and yet wicked people are more foolish than yonder flutterer; and are caught, though they might see their danger. It is far more difficult to recover ourselves out of the fowler's snare when we have been caught, than to avoid it from the beginning.

1 Prov. ix. 17. 2 Acts xxiv, 25. 3 See Deut. xxix. 19.