eat, and the water we drink; for by Him we "move, and live, and have our being, and without Him was not anything made that is made:" but there is something special in "the blessings of the deep that lieth under," or, as Moses says, "that croucheth beneath," and these are all on the head of Joseph, and are to be drawn from his fulness; and it is, beloved, with some of these UNDERLYING MERCIES AND DISGUISED BLESSINGS that we want to have to do with at this season, and so point those who think their lot hard, and their cares excessive, to the fact that—

"The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head."

Of course, as Jesus is the Fountain Head of all blessings, there are the innumerable mercies which spring from His wondrous stoop, from the glory which He had with the Father before the world was such as His humiliation, incarnation, life, doing, and dying. Yes, blessed be His dear name!—

"He sank beneath our woes

To raise us to His throne;"

-became a partaker of our infirmities, for we have not an High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. "Let us, therefore," says the Apostle, "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." In Him we have, on the one hand, an elder Brother and a sympathizing Friend, and, on the other, a Saviour-a Forerunner-the mighty God; and then, when we come to the personal realization of Him as ours, the spring of our knowledge of Him lies in

THE UNDERNEATH BLESSING OF REGENERATION. "Your life is hid with Christ in God." I believe that this is a work far deeper than that which is commonly called "conversion." Where a mere conversion to a set of religious opinions is professed, a tolerable easy course is the result, and the temptations and buffetings of Satan to such are unknown, while there is a blending of the world and religion. Flesh-pleasing enjoyments in the day, and an evening display of eloquence at a prayer meeting-these sort of things can run parallel in the course of such, while the natural pride of the heart, not having been crucified, the spirit, if not the language, with such is, "Stand by, I am holier than thou! God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican!" What the end of such a religion will be is certain; but let the starting point be the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost, and a far different line of things is realized. Warfare then aptly describes the experience,—

"Temptations, too, without,

Of various kinds assault;

Sly snares beset his travelling feet,

And make him often halt."

But we are certain, whatever castings down and cuttings up there will be by the way, the climax of such a work is eternal glory; and that, however sharp the warfare may prove, there will yet be realized wondrous joys, marvellous revelations, sweet meltings of heart and mellowings of spirit, unknown to the mere professor. Yes, beloved, the blessings of the

deep lieth under all the earth-bound cares, and will spring up, whatever may oppose. And then, not merely are there innumerable deep underlying blessings in connection with grace and the salvation of the soul, but there are disguised mercies and underlying blessings in connection with Providence, as dear Cowper sings in those well-known lines—

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face."

Let us think, beloved, a little of these smiling blessings which are behind an apparently frowning providence; for often in the review of the Lord's discipline with us do we shake our heads and say, "Ah! all these things are against me.' It would have been better for me that I had died in the wilderness-my life is so full of trouble, and I am so specially tried that it had been well for me if I had never been born." Ah! beloved, in such a humour we are only thinking of the "frowning providence," and not of "the smiling face" which is behind it; we are thinking of the mere surface of things rather than "the blessings of the deep which lieth under." Like dear old Jacob, when they wanted to take Benjamin away from him, he exclaimed, with bitter lamentation : "Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me." He had not realized the mercy underlying it all, nor could he conceive of the blessing that was in store for him: yet the Lord had been working wondrously and marvellously. There was a wheel within a wheel in His providence concerning the dear aged patriarch, and his long-lost and beloved Joseph became his succour and support in his old age-the cloud big with blessings burst o'er his head at the appointed time, and man's extremity became God's opportunity in his experience. Another case to the point is that of dear Esther: God's chosen people, Esther included, were in eminent danger-a secret train is laid by Haman to destroy them,-the king's mandate has gone forth; but a more secret train is laid by Jehovah for their salvation. When the storm is ready to burst, that very night the king cannot sleep, but goes and searches the records of his kingdom,-he is made to pause over the reference to his own deliverance, and now, finding that his deliverer has been neglected, determines he shall be honoured. Here is the turning pointHaman is degraded and Mordecai exalted, and the day on which God's people looked for universal destruction was spent in joy and gladness of heart.

Beloved, it is the same now: Esther's God still lives and still loves,His Church and people are as dear to Him as ever. He is vigilantly watching them in every strait and danger, and will work in such a way as shall make them acknowledge His hand. Apply this wondrous way of working, dear reader, to your own experience. Look at your little history-has there not been much that is difficult, very difficult to understand, much that you have thought, if spared, it would have been better for you in many ways? But this cannot be. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Can He err in a single act? Certainly not. He must be

"Good when He gives, supremely good,

Nor less when He withholds."

There is a deep purpose in all His ways, and they will bring about the saints' salvation and the Saviour's glory. But, to trace out this matter a little further,

Sometimes our LOT IN LIFE is felt to be hard, but there are blessings underneath it all. Yes, there are things that have to be encountered day by day, that are anything but congenial with the tastes and desires of the child of God, and he is apt to get uneasy and fretful under the feeling: "Can it be possible that I shall have to spend my life amidst these sordid cares, drudging on for the bread that perisheth, while my heart is really fixed upon better things, and I should like to spend my days in some honourable calling that would let me glorify Christ ?" Ah! beloved, but stay-you can glorify Him as much in the life as by the lip. "The lot is cast into the lap, and the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord;" and, if He means to take you out of that position, He will do it in His own best and right way, but do not run before Him, or run away with the idea that He needs your service in his vineyard. We have in the course of our days seen miserable disappoinment attending the throwing up of one's position in life hastily and unadvisedly. The proper spirit to maintain in the matter is that which David enjoins: "Wait upon the Lord, and be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord;" and look at our blessed Lord's resignation to His Father's will: "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight." Oh, beloved, to grow into His meek and submissive spirit, and, whatever the cross may be, to say: "Even so, Father; for so it seemeth good in Thy sight." As long as the cloud stands, we should stand and let patience possess our souls, and when it moves we should move cheerfully and unhesitatingly, although it may not be just at the time we would have it. Then, again, sometimes in providence the Lord lets us have our own way to show us our folly and bring us to nought. We dictate to Him, and thereby bring ourselves into difficulties. For instance: "Oh! that the Lord would grant that I might marry a certain one," said a Christian. God granted her request, and sent leanness into her soul; and for years she had to endure the bitter trial of being unequally yoked, and in a distant country passed through a sea of troubles. She sowed to the flesh, and of the flesh reaped corruption. "Oh!" said another Christian, who had been deprived of the privilege of attending the preaching of a favourite minister, "if I could only get back to the old spot and live within reach of that place, I should be happy." She did go to the old spot, but never to attend the means of grace; for, with an afflicted body, she became bedridden to the end of her days. Yet she was a richly-taught saint, and died triumphing in Christ; but it was evident the Lord wanted to teach her not to lean upon any earthly prop, but solely upon Him; therefore, it is, beloved, we say concerning the lot in life: "Sit ye still, wait and watch, there are blessings in disguise where you are; they may be (as in the former case mentioned) removed, if you go where your own caprice directs, and not where the Lord leads Oh! to be getting constantly behind Christ, knowing no will but His!

Sometimes the Lord in providence thwarts our plans for a wise purpose.We have thought we have done all very cleverly-indeed, have rather prided ourselves upon our wisdom and judgment in the matter-but, just as we are about to carry out our plans, there comes some mysterious interposition of providence, which blows upon the whole, and we are thrown, as it were, thereby upon our beam-ends. Then arises the spirit

of rebellion: "What has the Lord done all this for?" Ah! Jonah, doest thou well to be angry? "Yes," says the peevish wayward one, "I do well to be angry, even unto death." But in our sober hours we think differently; and, when we begin to "walk by faith and not by sight" in the matter, then do we find out the folly of our arrangements and the wisdom of the Lord's working.

Beloved, we do believe that one of the things which will cause us to glorify God hereafter will be the discovery of the perils we made for ourselves, again and again, along the pathway, and the merciful deliverances which the Lord worked for us in His own best and right way, and the underlying mercy that saved us from destruction. Do you understand what we mean?

But, furthermore, in connexion with the Lord's discipline

Sometimes opposition is permitted that we may become fruitful unto God.We are apt to think, if our opponents could only be silenced, we should be so joyful and happy. Nay, but do they not drive us to the throne? Do they not keep us alive to things of God, and cause us to be active and on the alert? Are they not blessings in disguise? We know it is specially hard when opposition comes from a quarter that it seems it ought not to come from. The disciples said of the poor seeking soul, "Send her away: why troubleth she the Master?" It would seem the disciples of our Lord ought to have been the last persons in the world to send a poor sinner away from Jesus. The Master never would have done so, and here's our consolation. He never yet said to the seeking seed of Jacob, "Seek ye my face in vain." But it is a trial, nevertheless, when those who ought to help us onward are found discouraging us; as dear Hart says

"How hard and rugged is the way

To some poor pilgrims' feet!
In all they do, or think, or say,
They opposition meet."

Well, if such be the experience that in all we do or think and say we meet with opposition, it yet has this beneficial effect, we are shut up to that hallowed course of SILENTLY CRYING BEFORE THE LORD. Some may say, "What a paradox-' a silent cry!'"-yet, methinks, it will be well understood by those who can enter into our passage, "The blessings of the deep that lieth under ;" and it is under such circumstances that there comes about a melting and mellowing of spirit, as well as a passive resignation to His will. But, a step further

Ofttimes afflictions are sent that we may be enriched in spiritual things, for their tendency undoubtedly is to humble our pride, to try our faith, to purify us, to bring us to exercise patience, to render us fruitful, to exhibit the power and faithfulness of our God, and to promote His glory.

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." This sorrowing in tears is doubtless an allusion to the eastern agriculturist who, because the country was infested with hordes of robbers, ever on the look-out for robbing him of the fruits of his labour, would go forth surrounded by armed men, and, with fear and trembling as to the result, would sow in tears. We have a striking instance of this in the joint narrative of dear Ruth and Naomí.

After all the trials they suffered in the land of Moab, what a wonderful chain of events brought about their exaltation! To think that God, in the infinitude of His purpose, should bring a poor girl in a heathen land

into the family of Elimelech, that she might thereby become a branch of the family of the Messiah! Nothing at one time seemed more improbable. Yet every link in the chain, so familiar to every Christian, was in its place-not a cog in the wheel of God's providence was missing-the gear was perfect, and the result, as we know, was marvellous. Naomi and Ruth becoming another illustration of the truth, that "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Further on

Sometimes there is a needs be that the discipline should be specially severe.— It requires the furnace to be heated seven times to make a saint of such a sinner, and the ordeal is not one of wrath, but one of love on the part of a merciful God: "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."

We can never think of the Lord's severe discipline without calling to mind the history of dear Job. His trials outweighed the trials of the most tried. He was hurled suddenly from the pinnacle of earthly fame and honour to the very dung-hill-from the height of prosperity to the depth of adversity. Nothing could be more severe. Yet underlying his accumulated trials was the Lord's tender love for him, and, at the appointed time, blessings burst from the big black clouds that had overshadowed him; the silver lining of God's promise was seen, and from the regions of misery he mounts to the hills of triumph to proclaim the memorable result of the Lord's discipline: "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Great blessings are generally reached through great trials. "Odours

crushed are sweeter still." And then

Sometimes the Lord finds it necessary to remove an idol, that He may occupy the supreme affections of our heart.-We could not help loving that dear one; he was our own flesh and blood; and, somehow, he crept round us in his affections as the ivy creeps round the oak, and takes its root-hold in its very trunk. We were, too, as a parent, proud of him. We could not help it. We felt it our happiness to study his welfare, and we promised ourselves that he would take an honourable position in the world. All this was but natural; but we went too far. The boy became an idol, and the Lord became a jealous God. Our heart was divided, and we fear the largest half was turned to the flesh-to the creature-to the idol. The Lord saw we were tending to leanness of soul, and our beloved one pined and wasted before our eyes. We flew to earthly help-everything must be done that can be done-but all to no purpose; there was a worm at the root, and our idol faded and died. Oh, the distress! none but a parent can understand it. But what about the result? Have we not learnt the lesson Solomon learnt, "Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities, all is vanity?" And have we not twined closer round the Lord, and found out the emptiness of all creature-joy? The Lord, then, has accomplished His purpose. The idol has fallen, but He has become exalted, and shown us that our idols are not always made of wood and stone, but that sometimes they are made of flesh and blood, and that, be they of whatever cast they may, the Lord hath said, "From all your idols I will cleanse you." But, once more, beloved

Sometimes the Lord puts death upon the promise to test our faith; but, mark, He never brings the promise to death. There is the same honey in it, although it may for a time be concealed; and, although misery has to be endured while the tarrying of the vision remains, it will be a