"In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God."-Ps. lxii. 7.

SALVATION.

Lo! where amid appalling dangers dread,
The rock undaunted lifts its welcome head,
The ship of commerce gaily sailed along,
All hands were merry with their evening song;
When lo! they scud before a sudden blast,
The sails are shivered, broken is the mast;

The ship is wrecked, the storm rolls wildly round,
The sinking sailors have no footing found.

In drowning plight, stunned by the wave's rude shock,
The lightning kindly points them to the rock ;
The rock they grasp, and raise themselves on high,
In conscious satety bid the storm pass by.

So when mankind was wrecked on Eden's shore,
Loud was the tempest, loud the thunder's roar;
Earth, sea, and skies affrighted were, and tossed,
Tumultuous all. Shall man be saved, or lost?
In that wild ocean of despair and dread,
The ROCK OF AGES lifts His lofty head.
The sinner, sinking, stunned by Sinai's shock,
By Sinai's lightning now beholds the Rock;
With glad surprise, more clear his moral sight,
He seesbesides a cross of heavenly light:
The Rock he clambers, to the cross he clings,
And saved from danger, of Salvation sings.

A SHORT time since, and that vessel was sailing calmly and

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securely over the soft blue wave. The voice of song arose, and mingled its melodies with the light air around. Home, sweet home, was the theme which gladdened every heart. But ah! thou treacherous sea! thou deceitful wind! How changed the scene! The voice of song is departed; joy and gladness are no more. stead of the music of soft symphonies, are heard the clamours of despair, the thunder's mighty roar, old ocean's harsh sounds, and the howling of the storm. The ship is driven fiercely before the gale, sails are rent, one of the masts is gone by the board; ruin steers the ill-fated ship; she strikes upon a reef, the billows roll over her, the crew are washed overboard. Night thickens around, with his stormy horrors. Manfully the drowning wretches buffet the waves; the lightning flings its lurid glare around, and shows them their awful condition; again it lightens, and they descry a rock, lifting its head. above the billows, and promising a place of safety. Hope revives -they swim for the rock, soon "they make it." See, they have got upon it. Now they are safe.

The vessel, sailing joyfully and securely before the gale began, may represent the safe and happy condition of our first parents before they were assailed by the storms of temptation; the drowning mariners denote the deplorable state of mankind since the fall, who are sinking amidst the waves of guilt and woe; the tempest overhead denotes the storm that howls over the head of every sinner, in consequence of the violation of Jehovah's law. Sinai thunders forth its curses, and flashes its lightnings around the sinner's path, in order to show him his weakness, his guilt, and his danger. As the lightning points the drowning sailor to the rock, so the law directs or opens the way to Christ, that the sinner might be justified by faith in the atonement.

The rock, rising in the troubled ocean, affording a shelter from the shipwreck, represents Christ, the Rock of Ages, who has borne all the fury of the storm for man, and who, by His cross, giveth life and light to a dying world. The penitent sinner, feeling himself sinking in the mighty waters, and tremblingly alive to the dangers of the tempest above, and to the more fearful dangers of the rolling waves beneath, escapes to the Rock, embraces the cross, and is safe; i.e., he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and is saved.

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,

While the tempest still is high.

"And having done all, to stand."-EPHES. vi. 13.
THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER.

The Christian hero here has made his stand,
Obedient to his Captain's great command;
In panoply divine, equipped complete,
No danger dreads, no foe he fears to meet :
Truth wove the girdle that his loins adorn,
This bears him scathless through the battle's storm,
A sense of pardon guards each vital part.

And forms the Breastplate that defends his heart.
For brazen greaves, obedience he takes,

Through thorny paths his onward progress makes.
'Hope of Salvation" is his helmet fair;

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Though oft perplexed, it saves him from despair.
He wields, and not in vain, a trusty sword,
A right good blade it is, Jehovah's word;
The Spirit's weapon, 'twill each knot untie,
Each foe disarm, and make Apollyon fly:

O'er all the rest he grasps Faith's mighty shield,
And onward rushes to the battle-field.

As soon as one enlists himself as a soldier of Jesus Christ, that moment the world becomes his enemy.

It happens to him as it

fell out to the Gibeonites; when they made peace with Joshua, the neighbouring nations were highly offended, and said to one another, "Come, let us unite our forces that we may smite Gibeon. for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel."

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But there are other foes, more mighty and fearful, against whom. he has to contend. Satan, after 6000 years' practice in the art of destroying souls, is a powerful opponent. "He goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour," for we wrestle not against flesh and blood-merely-but" against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." "Wherefore," on this account, "take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

There are two kinds of armour, offensive and defensive; one to attack the foe, the other to protect ourselves. It is remarkable, that but one weapon is mentioned by the Apostle as belonging to the offensive kind, viz., the sword; all the rest are defensive. Among the Grecian warriors there were at least nine different weapons with which they assailed their enemies, yet the Apostle thinks that for the Christian this is enough.

The Captain of our salvation has provided us with all that is necessary for the Christian warfare. Is our head exposed to the assaults of the devil? he has furnished us with a "helmet" to guard it; this is called in another place, the hope of Salvation. This good hope prepares the soldier for the warfare, upholds him in it, and brings him off a conqueror. Is the heart liable to be pierced? there is a breastplate provided to protect it, it is the breastplate of Righteousness; this is a consciousness not only of his own sincerity, but also of his favourable acceptance with God. He feels that he is honest in his profession of attachment to the Saviour, and that · Christ, his Captain, acknowledges him for a true soldier.

The feet being exposed to injuries, a pair of brass boots are given to protect them. It would not have answered any good purpose to protect the head, oftentimes, unless the feet likewise were provided for. If the feet were wounded, the soldier could not stand to fight the foe, neither could he pursue him if conquered. The greaves imply prompt obedience to the Captain's commands; with this, rough places become as plain, and the crooked as straight.

The girdle is given to keep the rest of the armour in its place, and to strengthen the loins. "Truth" accomplishes this for the Christian soldier. By this he discovers who are his enemies, their mode of attack, and the best way to resist them. A shield also is provided; it is called the shield of faith, by which he is able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Finally, a sword is put into his hands; with this he is to inflict deadly wounds on all his

foes; it is called the Sword of the Spirit, because the word of God was inspired by the Holy Spirit. "Wherewithal shall a young

man cleanse his way, but by taking heed thereto according to thy word?" By the clear instruction, by the powerful motives, and by the glorious encouragement of the word of God, the Christian soldier puts all his foes to flight.