tumults,—the failures of statesmen and legislators,— the constant existence of uncured evils and abuses,―all these things are often puzzling to him. He sees, but does not understand. But the Bible makes it all clear. The Bible can tell him that the whole world lieth in wickedness, that the prince of the world, the devil, is everywhere, and that it is vain to look for perfection in the present order of things. The Bible will tell him that neither laws nor education can ever change men's hearts, and that just as no man will ever make a machine work well, unless he allows for friction,-so also no man will do much good in the world, unless he always remembers that the world he works in is full of sin. The Bible will tell him that there is a "good time" certainly coming,-and coming perhaps sooner than people expect it,-a time of perfect knowledge, perfect justice, perfect happiness, and perfect peace. But the Bible will tell him this time shall not be brought in by any power but that of Christ coming to earth again. And for that second coming of Christ, the Bible will tell him to prepare. Oh! Reader, how important is all this knowledge!

But time would fail me, if I were to enter fully into all the great things which the Bible reveals. It is not by any sketch or outline that the treasures of the Bible can be displayed. It would be easy to point out many other things, beside those I have mentioned, and yet the half of its riches would be left untold.

How comforting is the account it gives us of the great Mediator of the New Testament,-the man Christ Jesus! Four times over His picture is graciously drawn

before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of His miracles and His ministry, His sayings and His doings,-His life and His death,-His power and His love,-His kindness and His patience,-His ways, His words, His works, His thoughts, His heart. Blessed be God, there is one thing in the Bible the most prejudiced reader can hardly fail to understand, and that is the character of Jesus Christ!

How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us of good people! It tell us of many who were of like passions with ourselves,-men and women who had cares, crosses, families, temptations, afflictions, diseases, like ourselves, and yet by faith and patience inherited the promises, and got safe home. It keeps back nothing in the history of these people. Their mistakes, their infirmities, their conflicts, their experience, their prayers, their praises, their useful lives, their happy deaths,-all are fully recorded. And it tells us the God and Saviour of these men and women still waits to be gracious, and is altogether unchanged.

How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of bad people! It tells us of men and women who had light, and knowledge, and opportunities, like ourselves, and yet hardened their hearts, loved the world, clung to their sins, would have their own way, despised reproof, and ruined their own souls for ever. And it warns that the God who punished Pharaoh, and Saul, and Ahab, and Jezebel, and Judas, and Ananias and Sapphira, is a God who never alters, and that there is a hell.

How precious are the promises which the Bible contains for the use of those who love God! There is

hardly any possible emergency or condition for which it has not some word in season. And it tells men that God loves to be put in remembrance of these promises, and that if He has said He will do a thing, His promise shall certainly be performed.

How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer in Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death,—rest and happiness on the other side of the grave, a glorious body in the morning of the resurrection,—a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of judgment, an everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ,-a joyful meeting with the Lord's people in the day of gathering together;-these, these are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all written in the book,-in the book which is all true.

How striking is the light which the Bible throws on the character of man! It teaches us what men may be expected to be and do in every position and station of life. It gives us the deepest insight into the secret springs and motives of human actions, and the ordinary course of events under the control of human agents. It is the true discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. How deep is the wisdom contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes! I can well understand an old divine saying, "Give me a candle and a Bible, and shut me up in a dark dungeon, and I will tell you all that the whole world is doing."

Reader, all these are things which men could find nowhere except in the Bible. We have probably not the least idea how little we should know about these things if we had not the Bible. We hardly know the

value of the air we breathe, and the sun which shines on us, because we have never known what it is to be without them. We do not value the truths on which I have been just now dwelling, because we do not realize the darkness of men to whom these truths have not been revealed. Surely no tongue can fully tell the value of the treasures this one volume contains. Well might old John Newton say that some books were copper books in his estimation, some were silver, and some few were gold;-but the Bible alone was like a book all made up of bank notes.

Think not for a moment that any part of this precious book is not profitable. Think not that such portions as catalogues and pedigrees,-as Leviticus, and the description of Ezekiel's temple,-are useless and without value. Believe me it is childish folly to question the usefulness of any word in the Bible merely because our eyes at present do not see its use.

Come with me, and look for a moment at the book of nature, and I will soon show you things of which you do not see the use.

Place yourself in imagination by the side of an Australian gold-digging, and observe the earth that is drawn up from its bottom. It is likely that your unpractised eyes will see nothing in that heap but rubbish, and dirt, and stones. And yet that very heap of earth may prove, on washing, to be full of particles of the purest gold. It is just the same with the Bible. We see but a little of it now. We shall find hereafter that

every verse of it contained gold.

Place yourself in imagination on the top of some

Highland mountain. Look at the minute moss or lichen which clings to the side of that mass of rock. Tell me, if you can, what use and purpose that lichen serves. The birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the very insects leave it alone. The grouse, the ptarmigan, and red deer draw no sustenance from it. The rock does not require its covering. And yet that minute lichen. is as truly a part of God's creation as the cedars of Lebanon, or the Victoria Regia of the South American rivers. Place it under a microscope, and you will soon see that like all other works of God, it is "very good," and full of beautiful design. Settle it down in your mind, that as it is with the book of nature, so it is with the book of revelation, the written word of God. There is not a chapter or verse from first to last, which is not in some way profitable. If you and I do not see its use, it is because we have not eyes to see it yet. But all, we may rest assured, is precious. All is "very good." Well said Bishop Jewel, "There is no sentence, no clause, no word, no syllable, no letter, but it is written for thy instruction. There is not one jot but it is signed and sealed with the blood of the Lamb."

Reader, this is the book about which I address you this day. Surely it is no light matter what you are doing with it. It is no light matter in what way you are using this treasure. I charge you, I summon you to give an honest answer to my question,-What art thou doing with the Bible?-Dost thou read it?HOW READEST THOU ?

IV. I ask in the fourth place, because no book in