things." Humanity in its spiritual necessities and relations is here brought before us. It is contemplated in all its aspects and extent. Some of the interpretations which have been given to this feature of the parable may appear at first sight to be fanciful; but further thought will discover grounds of probability in them. The tripartite constitution of man is thought by some to be here represented. If the division of body, soul, and spirit be the scriptural analysis of human nature, as many most decidedly hold, we may easily find a reference to those parts of our nature in the figure "three." The individual man, in all the parts and powers of his constitution, is to be operated upon, and renewed by the "leaven" of Christ. But the figure points beyond the individual to the whole unleavened mass of fallen humanity. "The three seahs, which together make an ephah, appear in Scripture as the usual measure of a complete batch." In the mind of the Great Teacher the reference can be nothing less than to the entire race He came to redeem and to renew. To say that the number three embraces "the Jews, the Samaritans, and the Greeks,” is to express only a part of the truth. It may be supposed to point to the three then known parts of the world, though we cannot well conceive of the Saviour speaking in so limited a manner. Rather we would say, "When viewed as a prophecy, stretching throughout all future time, it may have reference to the three sons of Noah, by whom every land is possessed, and in whom the prophetic word sees represented the whole 'seventy' nations." Into the whole of human life, with its various forms of development, and into the entire history of the world, the good leaven is to enter. At the least, we must regard the figure as embodying the idea of completeness, and thus embracing humanity as a whole, into the midst of which the Divine truth is to be placed. As the Saviour afterwards said, "The Gospel must be published among all nations."

The agent indicated in the parable requires particular attention: "which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal." We cannot overlook the parallel between the aveрwños, the "man," of the previous parable, and the yun, the "woman," of this. The figures of the Saviour are chosen with exquisite adaptation to the relations in which they are placed. Men sow the "seed;" and women employ the "leaven," and knead the dough. We cannot hesitate to say that the "woman" here represents the Church, in its living activity, as the grand agent in the conveyance of the Gospel of salvation to men, as the case of the "woman" seeking her lost piece of silver represents it as the agent of the Spirit in His seeking love for souls. Pervaded by the renewing "leaven," it is required to employ it for its legitimate purposes. That the visible Church may remain crude, and only partially regenerate, and may prove faithless to its mission, as it has too often done, does not affect the teaching

of the parable. It is the Church in its multiplied agencies to which the reference is made; and, therefore, we are not to lose sight of the obligations of individual members of the Church to be active in the application of their spiritual power, and the word of truth, to the minds and hearts of men. A tendency to perform Christian duties by proxy easily takes possession of the minds of certain classes of Church-members. In this age of commercial enterprise, and desire to acquire wealth, even Christian people are apt to allow their entire time and energies to be absorbed in secular affairs. They are willing to con tribute of their increased means in support of the work of evangelization; and some there are who do this in due proportion to their worldly prosperity. This is undoubtedly so far well; but it cannot relieve them of their personal obligations to be actively and directly employed as agents of spiritual good to their fellow-men. An undue devotion to their worldly interests cannot but injure the tone of their religious character, and so disqualify them for usefulness. The effectiveness of the Church as a whole is thus lowered; and though they seek relief to their conscience by a system of pecuniary contribution, their spirit and example depress the zeal of those around them; and the activities of the Church are in danger of sinking into mere formal service. If the Divine "leaven," in its soul-renewing power, is to be more widely diffused, and if the Church is to be composed in the main of regenerated persons, too many of us need to be recalled to a sense of duty in this respect, and to the cultivation of that condition of character by which we shall be prepared to discharge that duty aright. With the deterioration of the Church's spiritual activity, all its agencies, of whatever kind, must become equally deteriorated. This question is of the largest and gravest import; and demands the serious consideration of all. The future of the cause of God is deeply involved in it.

In the choice of the agent in the parable, the Saviour beautifully indicates the necessity of a suitable agency for the various departments of Christian work. It is " a woman who hides the "leaven" in the "meal." This, as just observed, is a part of her household duty; and a work for which she has been instructed and trained; and, therefore, for which she possesses special qualification. The performance of this homely office by one ignorant of the action of "leaven" would be productive of an unsatisfactory result. In all this we see the Saviour's intention to remind His Church of the importance of a careful selection of its agencies, with reference to their adaptations for the work to be performed. Men who are to be Ministers of God's truth must be chosen with special reference to their qualifications to preach that truth with sufficient clearness, and with power and efficiency. The great commission to the Apostles was, "Preach the Gospel." This is the chief means of "discipling

and saving men. Whatever else a person may be, if he is not a preacher, in the proper sense of that term, it is suicidal on the part of the Church to appoint him to the duties of that office. A high order of preaching qualification is one of the demands of the age, and men "endued with power from on high" alone can meet this demand. Our remarks indeed equally apply to every other agency of the Church; and all, from the highest to the lowest, should be willing to labour in those departments for which the wise Distributer of talents has given them an adaptation. But we have chosen to speak especially of the highest agency, in the conviction that if proper care be employed in reference to that, there will be but little difficulty in the case of any other.

In our exposition of this parable we must not overlook the allessential act of hiding: "which a woman took, and” évékpušev, “hid in three measures of meal." The "leaven" must be placed within, mixed up with, "the meal," must be brought into positive and free contact with it, or the intended result cannot be obtained. We have no objection to the remark that "this refers to the great outward Church, in which the living Gospel seems, as it were, hidden and lost. It appears as if the Gospel were engulfed in the world; but under the regenerating power of Christianity it will at last be seen that the whole world shall be included in the Church." We do not, however, think that this expresses the point of the parable either fully or clearly. As the "leaven" is deposited within the meal, we are taught, the Word of God must actually enter into the hearts of men; and the living Spirit must be allowed to employ it as the instrument of conviction and renewal. No mere approximation, however near, of the truth to our moral nature will accomplish the contemplated object. Under such circumstances, the "leaven" remains "leaven," and the "meal" remains "meal." It is not a surface action of the Spirit of God upon the soul which will effect its transformation into the Divine image. There must be a positive entrance of the Gospel, with its Divine power, into the heart, and a mutual action between the two, to admit of the process of the heart's spiritual leavening.

There is much practical mistake on these essential points. Many who hear the truth are quite willing to make it an object of mental appreciation they can, and do, reflect upon it with pleasure. When the Gospel scheme, in all its wealth of wisdom, and power, and love, is placed before them, they are impressed with the vastness of Divine condescension, and admire its wondrous adaptation to the condition and necessities of man; but the moment the Spirit proceeds to carry it into their own hearts, for the production of a sense of their personal need, they shrink from the pain of conviction and the humiliation of conscious guilt. At the most, it is allowed to awaken a partial and pasting right emotion, with the fancied virtue of which

the heart is only too ready to be satisfied. All this is utterly insufficient for the purposes of salvation. But it is a lamentable fact that a large number of the most intelligent hearers of the living word are in this very condition. We remind them that the truth must be allowed to enter into their inmost soul, or it will remain a dead letter, and their soul will remain a dead soul. At the same time, the thought of the hidden "leaven," seemingly inoperative, reminds us of the fact of the unseen action of the truth in many hearers. It appears as though it were absorbed and lost; enclosed within the heart, and its very vitality destroyed. The evidence of its influence has to be so long waited for as to awaken the anxious apprehension of those who are looking for it. But, having entered the heart, the result, though slowly developed, will certainly make itself manifest. In such cases, the man does not freely respond to the power of the Gospel. The truth is not repelled; but it is not fully submitted to. Counter influences are allowed to play their part; and the soul is the theatre of a lengthened contest. The work of renewal is slow, and for a period it may be even doubtful. If, however, the truth in such hearts be not deliberately cast out, it will certainly triumph over all forms of opposition; yet wiser and happier are they who freely and fully yield to its power.

As we find in the "three measures of meal a representation of humanity as a whole, we must also find in the hiding of the "leaven "in them the conveyance of the truth to all mankind. This is the Church's highest obligation and grandest mission. Its past history proves the adaptation of the truth it possesses to man in all the various conditions in which he may be found. Everywhere its elevating, renewing power is made manifest; and it more than proves the shallowness and falseness of the narrow and misanthropic philosophies which have been in former times, and again recently, so loudly and confidently proclaimed. The truth may, indeed, appear in some instances to effect little. But whenever fairly employed, it effects enough to declare its vitality; and where only a slight result appears to the unskilful and partial observer, the mightiest effects are not seldom being produced. To re-animate the Church in its arduous enterprise, it is allowed to look from time to time upon regenerated peoples as at once the evidence of its duty and its success. Such conquests not only proclaim the capacity of man, however degraded he may be ; but also his original dignity, and the unity of the race. "The savage is a degraded man, not man a civilized savage." This is the correct view of humanity; and the only one which invests the undertaking of the Church with its true interest and importance.

We have now to regard the results which the parable indicates: "till the whole was leavened." Here we have an indication of the fact that the "meal" was " leavened." The one substance infused its own nature into the other; transmuted it by assimilation with itself.

This remarkable result is what takes place in the ordinary process of leavening. Though unlike, the nature of the "leaven" fits it to operate upon the "meal ;" and that of the "meal" equally fits it to be operated upon by the "leaven." A similar relation exists between the truth, and the Divine power in Christianity, and the heart of man. If they are allowed to enter into a proper association, this is speedily made manifest. The Divine energy proceeds to communicate its nature to the soul into which it has entered, and to renew that soul in its own likeness. All the faculties and powers of the man are brought under its transmuting virtue. "Body, soul, and spirit" are alike influenced and elevated by it; and the whole man becomes meet for the high purposes of God. It is a word of light, and it illumines; a word of purity, and it sanctifies; a word of life, and it quickens into spiritual vitality; a Divine word and power, and it changes the human into the Divine, man into a partaker of the nature of God. It penetrates and pervades all the relations of the individual, and raises them to the standard of a Divine order. These grand results, which it effects in the individual, it also accomplishes in the mass. The marvellous change which, in the earlier centuries of the history of Christianity, passed upon the empire of Rome, furnishes an imposing illustration. No higher demonstration of the power in Christianity to purify and elevate nations can be desired by its friends, or demanded by its foes. The re-construction and elevation of the nations of Europe, subsequent to the barbarian migration, are conclusive evidence of the adaptation of the Gospel to the rudest tribes of mankind. And in the success of modern missions, God is bearing testimony to the fact that our Divine religion continues to be the sufficient means of salvation to our race. All interests and institutions are brought under its hallowing influence. "In domestic life, marriage is sanctified; in civil life, equal rights are established, slavery is abolished, legislation becomes mild, and war itself is rendered" comparatively "humane; another spirit is infused into philosophy, science, art, everything, in short, through the blessed influence of Christianity." A multitude of agencies, philanthropic and benevolent, spring into existence under its auspices; and the woes and wants of the many are alleviated by those benign ministra tions which it calls forth. As the genial suns and showers of spring renew the face of the earth, the influences of this Divine power renew the condition of our otherwise blighted world.

This great agent achieves its results silently and mysteriously. When the "leaven" is deposited within the "meal," there is no immediate sign of its activity. One, ignorant of its power, might smile at the simple-looking process. But, behold how certainly it operates! And how frequently the truth and power of God enter the heart of man "without observation," and proceed silently and