A PRAYER FOR MY BELOVED MINISTER. BRETHREN, PRAY FOR US. O HOLY Spirit, gracious Lord! He has been set apart by Thee To minister thy Word; But 'tis an earthen vessel, Lord, Where thy rich treasure lies; Tho' all thy people have to fight, Thou knowest th' trials, Lord, he has, And those connected with his charge, O Holy Spirit, Jesus, Lord, And open out thy sacred truths Lead him to portions of thy Word, The weak, the strong, the sick, the faint, Be with him in his study, Lord, O may thy Word, dispensed by him, And may he more, and more proclaim The writer hopes that our dear readers will receive in love the few remarks that may be made on the subject of praying for our respective ministers. But we have long feared there is a lack of earnest supplication at the throne of grace, by many of God's people, for those whom the Lord has placed over us in word and doctrine; which may be the cause-nay, must be one cause of their profiting so little under the word preached. Surely if we earnestly sought and expected a blessing, would we not receive it? We know that in the sovereignty of his love the Lord is found of them that sought Him not. But it is not his usual method of dealing after He has brought the soul to the knowledge of Himself. "I will may be inquired of," Jehovah says, "that I do it for them." And the Saviour said, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find." Oh, then, let us be more in prayer for our beloved ministers, that they may be instructed to give to each their portion of meat in due season; that Christ may be their theme, and that theme more and more precious to us. And let us not forget that they are only earthen vessels, subject not merely to the assaults of Satan, in common with other of the Lord's people; but fur more, they are ambassadors for Christ, whom Satan hates; therefore we may expect they have more of his fierce attacks; and when we consider the various trials and difficulties, which perhaps we have no idea of, connected with their peculiar offices, in addition to those that are personal and relative, all these considerations should call forth our prayer and sympathy on their behalf. ́ ́ Ŏh, never let us tread the Lord's house without first in our own private retirement, as well as in our daily remembrance of them, entreat the Lord specially that they may be strengthened, and taught, and that the Word may be brought home with power to our hearts! We have been led to make these remarks from a knowledge of some individuals who we could not doubt as being the Lord's, but have not seen their pri vilege and duty to the extent we think it ought to be considered. If these few remarks should lead any of the Lord's family to more prayer in behalf of their minister, their own souls will be profited, and the hands of their pastor strengthened. We know it is a source of comfort for the Lord's servant to believe that he has a people supplicating for him. And those of us who are blest of God with a sound Gospel ministry, should rejoice in it, when it is to be feared there is much that is anything but glad tidings to the poor sinner who has "nothing to pay.' May the Lord's faithful Spirit-taught servants be increased, and the family of God prize the precious loan, and bear them on their hearts before the Lord. M. E. L. Dublin. PARABOLIC TEACHING, EXEMPLIFIED IN AN EXPOSITION OF THE SEVEN PARABLES CONTAINED IN THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER OF ST. MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. " (Continued from page 68.) 5. THE HID TREASURE. : Father before the world was, Christ's heart was with the chosen of his love. Well may we exclaim with the dying Moses, Yea, he loved the people,' though buried in the ruins of our fallen race, they were his peculiar treasure, though He "sat enthroned upon the riches of the universe,”—for "the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field." II. But we pass on to consider, in the second place, the interesting circumstances which are related in the parable, in connection with the above comparison :-" The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." And here six points seem to present themselves, upon each of which we have some words to speak,-upon some, indeed, but very few, but upon other perhaps many. May they be words of soberness, of consolation, and of instruction. AH, reader, this, and this alone is the reason, why God has in so wondrous, and perhaps to the unbeliever in so unaccountable a manner, seemed to have concentrated his attention and regard upon this little speck of earth- -one amid the myriads that gem the firmament of his power: this is the reason why He has watched over it so tenderly in its dark and wayward course, and borne with it so patiently though laden with iniquities heavy enough to sink it to hell: this is the reason why He has again and again made bare his holy arm on its behalf, and even sent his only-begotten Son to win it from the spoiler's grasp because He hath a treasure in it. Ah, reader, this, and this alone is the reason, why as its first foundations were laid, He caused the morning stars to sing together, and all the sons of God to shout for joy" (Job xxxviii. 7): and why Christ Himself, as the incarnation of the Eternal Wisdom, even "when there were no depths; before the mountains were brought forth, or ever He had made the 1. In the first place, this "man," as earth and the world," did as we are told, we have already intimated, is none other rejoice in the habitable parts of this than the Lord Jesus Christ. The man earth, and have his delights with the yet who sowed the good seed in his fieldunborn sons of men" (Prov. viii. 23-31). the man who planted the mustard-tree Yes, He had a TREASURE in it-a "trea--and the man who here buys the field more precious in his sight than in which the treasure was hid, are the deeps of diamonds," or mountains of same;-for the parables, in general derubies, or worlds of gold-a "treasure sign at least, are one. dearer to Him than suns and systems, 2. But concerning this man, it is said yea, than all the glories of the heaven of that he "found the treasure;" and this his holiness. Wondrous thought!-in- may at first sight appear to militate finite condescension!-that though girt against our interpretation of the parable; about with all the splendours of the eter--For how, it may be asked, can the nal throne, the Eternal Son should espe- Lord Jesus Christ be said to find his cially "rejoice in the habitable parts of this earth" that though lying in the bosom of the Father, and worshipped and adored by all the bright spirits who had their dwelling-place on high, his supreme "delights were with the miserable sons of men." But herein was his own saying verified" Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. vi. 21). Oh, think of this, beloved! Even in the glory which He had with the sure treasure, the Church-as the expression implies without a previous knowledge of it? Is there " any creature that is not manifest in his sight?" Are not "all things naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do ?" (Heb. iv. 13). Yes, assuredly. But, on the other hand, does not the Lord throughout the volume of his word, condescend to speak to us of Himself after the manner of men? Is there, in truth, 66 66 any other conceivable way in which He | young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh could speak of Himself, and which our them, beareth them upon her wings; finite intellects would be able to compre- so Jehovah alone did lead him, and there hend? Hence, do we not find Him representing Himself as experiencing human emotions, as anger, pleasure, repentance, and sorrow? (See Deut. i. 37; Isa. xlii. 21; Gen. vi. 6). And again, as exercising human senses, as when, in the book of Exodus, He says, concerning his afflicted Israel, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows (Exodus iii. 7). Or, to confine our attention to the act of discovering what was before unknown, as in the present instance, are we not told in the parable of the Lost Sheep," of the Good Shepherd going after his lost sheep until He finds it; and when He hath found it, laying it upon his shoulder rejoicing; and when He cometh home, calling his friends and neighbours together, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost? Just as five hundred years before, He had said, by the mouth of Ezekiel ;-" Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep, that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day" (Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 12). And again, in the very next parable contained in that chapter (the 15th of Luke), have we not the Holy Spirit set forth, under the figure of a woman, as sweeping the house and seeking diligently until she has found the piece of money which she had lost." And once more, in the last parable of that exquisite series, have we not the Almighty Father Himself, represented as rejoicing over the returned prodigal in such words as these "This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." Nor are these expressions confined to the parables; for what reader of his Bible does not remember the beautiful words of the song of Moses, a part of which we have already found it necessary to quote -"For Jehovah's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He FOUND him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her was no strange god with him" Deut. xxxii. 9-12). Surely then we need not be stumbled by the fact, that this parable should represent the Lord Jesus as finding his Church in the world. 3. "Which when a man hath found he hideth." Here it is well for us to understand clearly what the man is said to hide ;-It is not the treasure itself; for that was hidden before in the field; but the knowledge of its existence and locality. This, in the case of his Church, the Lord Jesus hid (1.) from Satan, “the roaring lion, who goeth about seeking whom he may devour." Even as a hen hideth her chickens under her wings, did the Lord "hide his people under his wings, and cover them with his feathers" from the "counsel of the wicked one" (Psal. lxiv. 2). Oh, "if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through" (Luke xii. 39). Oh, if "the prince of this world" had known how the treasure was to be bought, he would never have excited his children and servants to "crucify the Lord of glory" (Rom. ii. 8). But God “ took the wise in their own craftiness," and accomplished his eternal purposes of grace and mercy to his Church through those very means by which Satan designed to frustrate them altogether. In the very first promise given in Eden, Satan might have read the prophecy of his own defeat: but being either ignorant or careless of it, he approached the Lord Jesus, concealed as he thought behind his wretched instruments, and darted forth his poisoned sting-but, in the very act of thus permitting him to bruise his heel, the Almighty Conqueror for ever crushed the serpent's head. Thus "through death destroying him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivering them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews ii. 14). Again, the Lord hid the mystery of his kingdom (2.) from angels. When the covenant of grace was concluded between the Persons of the adorable Trinity, it was not immediately proclaimed to the inhabitants of heaven. Only as it has been gradually developed, have the angels acquired their knowledge of the great scheme of man's salvation-only as the ransomed spirits of the just have been gathered out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" around the throne of God, have the angels learned that "new song" which none could raise, "but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which are redeemed from the earth" (Rev. xiv. 2). And still with out-stretched necks they "desire to look into these things as the very perfection of the divine wisdom. For "unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places" shall, throughout the countless ages of eternity, "be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God" (Eph. iii. 10). men. son of this exceeding and absorbing rapture. And is it not such a joy as this that the Lord Jesus Christ feels in his bride the Church? Does He not say of her, by the mouth of Zephaniah-“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest"—or, as the margin expresses it, "He will be silent"-" in his love (as though in an ecstasy too deep for words to express), He will JOY over thee with singing (Zeph. iii. 17). Oh, how beautifully does this joy beam forth when He says, "Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy And once more, He hid it (3.) from will (see John vi. 38-40). O my God: The mystery of the Church-yea, thy law is within my heart" (Psal. that glorious "mystery which from the xl. 7, 8). With what latent fire does it beginning of the world was hid in God" burn in his exulting declaration, "I will -how slowly was it revealed to the ransom them from the power of the world! How small was the knowledge grave; I will redeem them from death : of it made known to the Old Testament O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, saints. Enough of saving truth was re- I will be thy destruction: repentance vealed for their salvation; they were shall be hid from mine eyes" (Hos. xiii. permitted to see the form of the coming 14). And on the only occasion during Saviour looming through the mist of the whole of his weary earthly pilgrimJesus but of the entire mystery of the age, on which we are told that spiritual kingdom of heaven" how rejoiced in Spirit "-Was it not still the little did they know ! Slowly, very same joy that animated his loving heart, slowly, did the Lord reveal his mighty as He looked up to heaven, and said, "I purposes: first in a dark mysterious pro- thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven mise, then in more significant, but still and earth, that thou hast hid these veiled types, then in still clearer pro- things from the wise and prudent, and phecy; until at last in the glory of an hast revealed them unto babes: even so ascended Saviour, and through the power Father; for so it seemed good in thy of an out-poured Spirit, it is in these last sight" (Luke x. 21). Mark, it is over days openly revealed to the sons of men. his poor "babes" that he rejoices-it Oh, to use the words of the poet,— is in the Father's sovereign and immutable purposes of grace towards them, that he found his one solitary source of earthly joy-yea, finds it still even at the right hand of God. This was "the joy that was set before Him," and for which he "endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. xii. 2). Aye, and it is a joy in which he admits his believing people to a participation, in measure He shall meet each faithful disciple with even now, but more fully hereafter, when ages; "How blessed are our eyes, That see this heavenly light! The Lord makes bare his arm Their Saviour and their God !" 4. The next point which we notice in the parable is, the joy of the finder of the treasure at its discovery-" for joy thereof," or "for his joy." This expression strikingly denotes not only the delight and exultation of the " man at the finding of the treasure, but also the extraordinary value which he set upon it. It was a "joy" greater than "the joy of harvest"-even such a joy as men feel “when they divide the spoil." It was a joy so exclusive that it made him willing to part with all he possessed, in order to obtain the object of it; in nothing else could he find any joy by rea *Reader, pardon us if we drop the thread of our subject for a moment, in order to ponder over this touching epithet, "Babes!" How tender, almost apologetical, it sounds. They experience-babes in faith; but still His babes, were but babes;-babes in knowledge-babes in and dearer to Him than the sucking child to its mother. Oh, how blessed to be one of the babes of Christ!-How sweet to lay the weary head, meekly and confidingly as a little child, upon his faithful bosom : O holy trust! O endless sense of rest! To lay the head upon a Saviour's breast, 3. "Which when a man hath found he hideth." Here it is well for us to understand clearly what the man is said to hide ;-It is not the treasure itself; for that was hidden before in the field; but the knowledge of its existence and locality. This, in the case of his Church, the Lord Jesus hid (1.) from Satan, “the roaring lion, who goeth about seeking whom he may devour." Even as a hen hideth her chickens under her wings, did the Lord "hide his people under his wings, and cover them with his feathers" from the "counsel of the wicked one (Psal. lxiv. 2). Oh, "if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through" (Luke xii. 39). Oh, if "the prince of this world" had known how the treasure was to be bought, he would never have excited his children and servants to "crucify the Lord of glory" (Rom. ii. 8). But God “ took the wise in their own craftiness," and accomplished his eternal purposes of grace and mercy to his Church through those very means by which Satan designed to frustrate them altogether. In the very first promise given in Eden, Satan might have read the prophecy of his own defeat: but being either ignorant or careless of it, he approached the Lord Jesus, concealed as he thought behind his wretched instruments, and darted forth his poisoned sting-but, in the very act of thus permitting him to bruise his heel, the Almighty Conqueror for ever crushed the serpent's head. Thus "through death destroying him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivering them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews ii. 14). any other conceivable way in which He | young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh could speak of Himself, and which our them, beareth them upon her wings; finite intellects would be able to compre- so Jehovah alone did lead him, and there hend? Hence, do we not find Him re- was no strange god with him" Deut. presenting Himself as experiencing hu- xxxii. 9-12). Surely then we need not man emotions, as anger, pleasure, repen- be stumbled by the fact, that this parable tance, and sorrow? (See Deut. i. 37; should represent the Lord Jesus as findIsa. xlii. 21; Gen. vi. 6). And again, ing his Church in the world. as exercising human senses, as when, in the book of Exodus, He says, concerning his afflicted Israel, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows (Exodus iii. 7). Or, to confine our attention to the act of discovering what was before unknown, as in the present instance, are we not told in the parable of the "Lost Sheep," of the Good Shepherd going after his lost sheep until He finds it; and when He hath found it, laying it upon his shoulder rejoicing; and when He cometh home, calling his friends and neighbours together, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost? Just as five hundred years before, He had said, by the mouth of Ezekiel ;" Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep, that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day" (Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 12). And again, in the very next parable contained in that chapter (the 15th of Luke), have we not the Holy Spirit set forth, under the figure of a woman, as sweeping the house and seeking diligently until she has found the piece of money which she had lost." And once more, in the last parable of that exquisite series, have we not the Almighty Father Himself, represented as rejoicing over the returned prodigal in such words as these-" This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." Nor are these expressions confined to the parables; for what reader of his Bible does not remember the beautiful words of the song of Moses,—a part of which we have already found it necessary to quote "For Jehovah's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He FOUND him in a desert land, and in the it was not immediately prop waste howling wilderness; He led him inhabitants of about, He instructed him, He kept him been gradua as the apple of his eye. As an eagle acquired stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her cr Again, the Lord hid the mystery of his kingdom (2.) from angels. the covenant of grace was conclud tween the Persons of the adorabl |