larized them with such minuteness as to put the sinner out of all doubt, and to enable each man to look at himself, and say, I am or I am not the man.

How, brethren, can we hope to deserve the name of Christians which we bear, but by keeping these lusts of the flesh in perfect subjection? Surely you are not to be discouraged by finding that you have a hard struggle with them; you are not to be surprised if you find that what you thought rooted out, springs up again to infest you rather you are to take comfort in remembering that the fiend dared to speak of temptation to the LORD Himself, that S. Peter fell, that all the Apostles fled and left our Master, that S. Paul had a thorn in the flesh; but that Satan fled the presence of the LORD vanquished; that S. Peter was the rock on which the Church was built; that all the Apostles who fled were part of that rock too; that S. Paul could thank GOD for his thorn. You will surely be tempted in all ways, in inordinate desire, in lusts of the flesh, in all wiles of the Devil, but

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will be enabled to fight the good fight, through HIM who is more than conqueror.

Such then are you, brethren, who are not hearers only, but doers of the hallowed sayings of our heavenly MASTER : now notice to what your LORD has likened you unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock. In this parable, the rock is plainly CHRIST Himself; the house is your faith and life.

Built then on CHRIST Himself, you might have hoped perhaps that you were safe from trials of your faith: we have seen that the doers of His will are constantly exposed to them. You might also have hoped that your lot in life might be marked with fewer of those things which we call calamities than the lot in life of others who have not served God: a natural thought and hope, and one not unseemly, if in this life only you had hope in CHRIST. But He tells you that the rain descended, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and as they have so done to the houses of the faithful in all

time, so will they do if they have not already done, to yours. I said this was a natural thought and hope it is so because our nature does not of itself lead us to see the use of affliction; it is long before we can say with David that it is good for us to have been in trouble. But when the rain and the wind of affliction-of any one of those various kinds which GoD attempers to us-whether sickness or poverty, or loss of friends or any other such like, does beat upon our house, how truly does it lead us to lift up our hearts to HIM who will hear and succour us-to examine our foundation, and see that there is nothing weak, nothing unstable, nothing perishable, or if there be to pluck it out, and not to rest until we are satisfied that we have no other foundation laid than what has been laid for us, even JESUS CHRIST.

As we are not to be discouraged by temptations, so neither are we to be overwhelmed by trials of any sort. We shall probably find that as we pass through the fiery proof of each, we shall leave behind

us some of the dross of the world; plainly that some remains of some evil affections will be blotted out and removed for ever; we shall have advanced some steps in obedience. Thus therefore it seems no more than strictly true and reasonable that we should be thankful for the trials which our FATHER sends, and should pray to HIM, however great at first the effort may be, to give us an heart to be thankful for the future, as well as submissive for the present and thankful for the past.

Our LORD seems to point to this humbly cheerful state of mind in saying of our house, that "it fell not, for it was founded on a rock." The being founded on the rock of CHRIST is not indeed sufficient to keep off the shock of the elements of the world, but it is sufficient and more than sufficient to keep off all falling. And consider, brethren, that here the likeness ceases after storms, houses built with hands require repair, and the repair is seldom of equal strength with the original building-but, our spiritual house, beaten, assaulted, nay shaken, is fixed after each

storm more firmly, more enduringly than before. It will never fall, for it is founded on a Rock, and that Rock is CHRIST.

And when the LORD and MASTER of us all shall summon us to His presence, all storms, all dangers being over, then instead of our earthly house of faith, and holy works and hope in HIM, HE will give us the exercise of endless love and charity, of endless praise, of everlasting joy; and whereas our house here was firm because built on HIM, so in His presence we shall receive the gift of a house not built with hands, eternal in the heavens.

III. The sad part of the LORD's Parable remains there are others who are hearers and not doers. We see them in the world by thousands. These are the men and women who speak of GOD's awful name, with all the lightness of an imaginary being; who have vague, shapeless, wandering dreams of His mercy and benevolence; who hope that of this unknown benevolence they will be sharers; who venture to question whether GOD much, if at all, interests Himself with the con