to the official character of Christ, and fasten upon them as being the grand securities of the Church of the living God.

But let me further observe, this official character of Christ, as "the Chief Ruler," has been manifested throughout the history of the Church of God. We have a hint of it in the opening of the chapter from which the text is taken; and if we go back to the earliest portions of the living Church upon earth, the sovereignty and rule of Christ are manifest. The family of Abraham, the distinction between Isaac and Ishmael, the choice between Jacob and Esau, all manifested the sovereignty of this Chief Ruler. Moreover, look at the position of the children of Israel in Egypt. When the famine was sore in the land of Canaan, and they all expected to perish, they gained information that there was corn in Egypt, and were, as an act of mercy, under the sovereignty of "the Chief Ruler," conducted into the land of Goshen, to be sustained there by Joseph. But Joseph could not have done that, if he had not been "the chief ruler." Then how much more will Jesus do for you and me! There" the Chief Ruler," superior to Joseph, marked the spot they should occupy, restrained the rage of enemies, supplied their every necessity. By-and-bye another Pharaoh arises, who "knew not Joseph," and the children of Israel get under task-masters, and drudgery, and degradation, and toil, and misery, and oppression, so excessive that they murder their little ones as soon as they are born. Where was "the Chief Ruler," say you, "then?" He was overruling all, making way for their escape, preparing for their mighty deliverance, and laying up the ammunition which was to destroy Pharaoh and his associates. And so it is now. No matter in what way He works," the Chief Ruler" is overruling all for the good of His people; and, if He shakes the nations, it is that "the desire of all nations may come." If He put forth the decree, "Overturn, overturn, overturn," it is only " till He come whose right it is." If He comes forth and says, "The day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come," none can stay His hand in the day of vengeance, or alter His purpose for the year of His redeemed.

Follow on the history of the Church to her deliverance. And what arm effected it, but the omnipotent arm of "the Chief Ruler?" Mark, further, her progress through the wilderness. Who made the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire to go before them? Who ruled the heavens, so as to rain down manna for their food? Who ruled the rocks, so as to gush forth water to supply their thirst? "The Chief Ruler" was managing all for them; and thus the history of the Church manifests His claim to this sacred office. If you follow it on to their entrance into Canaan, who threw down the walls of Jericho? Verily, we have no account that a stone was cast against them, or that even one of the ram's horns touched them; they only sounded round about them. "The Chief Ruler" threw them down, and bade His tribes march up. And who subdued the nations? The "Chief Ruler" was superintending all, for He "divided the land according to the tribes of the children of Israel." And if you look at the kingly dispensation, who ruled the hearts of the kings? Jehovah Jesus did it all. And if you come down to the New Testament dispensation, who ruled in his personal ministry on earth? The winds obeyed His voice, the waves were still at His word, the devils came out at His bidding, and disease and death both fly at His rebuke. Our Jesus was Chief Ruler, even in His humiliation.

Passing over these things as hastily as possible, I come to ask, Who is the Chief Ruler now in His Church? Let us never forget, that whosoever dishonours Him as Chief Ruler, must expect the vengeance of the eternal God. Recollect the words of Moses, "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; Him shall ye hear; and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not hear Him shall be cut off from among God's people." Whosoever rejects the sovereignty of Christ shall come under the same condemnation. So saith my Bible (Acts iii. 23).

I pause here for a moment to invite the attention of my hearers, solemnly and seriously, to this one point, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little." In the Churches of the living God no being has a right to frame a single law, or utter a single command, but under the imme diate sanction and authority of Jesus. Away with your popes, and your cardinals, and your priests; their authority is worse than that of the devil; we own only the authority of Jesus, for He is "the Chief Ruler," and every law which I cannot find in His word I trample under my feet-every command which has not His sanction, I pride myself in destroying; but all He has written, all He has set forth in His precious Word, as the statute book of His Church, I feel enjoined upon me with Divine authority, and to dare to resist it is to subject my soul to the flames of hell.

Will you bring this matter a little closer? This Chief Ruler rules in the hearts of His people. Now I never knew of more than two rulers that pretended to rule in men's hearts; the one is "the god of this world," and the other is "the Chief Ruler." It is said that the god of this world "rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience;" but it is the God of heaven, the precious Christ of God, that "dwells in our hearts by faith," and rules there, to "bring every thought into captivity (or subjection) to the obedience of Christ." I should very much like my hearers individually to ask the question, What is the ruling power in my heart? who is the chief ruler there? is it sin? is it the world? is it filthy lucre? is it pride? is it proud free-will, that monstrous usurper of Christ's prerogative, all treason, all rebellion against the God of heaven? If Jesus reigns not, rules not in thine heart, thou wilt perish for ever; if "the Chief Ruler" set not up His throne in our hearts, if we do not cry before Him, as the Egyptians cried before Joseph wherever he travelled in his chariot, "Bow the knee, bow the knee," all that passes under the name of Christianity is rebellion, all is mockery of God.

If Jesus is Chief Ruler in the heart, let me take a view, for a moment, of what His intention is by ruling there. Nothing more nor less than to "put all things under His feet." "He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet." All our corruptions, all our vile propensities, all our abominable pride, all our rebellion, all our unbelief-the Chief Ruler must subdue them all; you and I cannot. None under heaven can subdue these evils but "the Chief Ruler." And be sure of this, if He is really the Chief Ruler of thine heart, thou wilt wait daily and hourly His commands, thou wilt wait momently for His directions, thou wilt shrink from anything and everything that can in the slightest degree dishonour His name, or displease His heavenly majesty. If "the Chief Ruler" is thy friend, and rules and reigns for thee and in thee, wilt thou not study His very look? wilt thou not analyse His every expres

sion? wilt thou not wait on His commands? and especially when He comes forth and says, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you;' shall it not be our anxious concern to cherish closely the obedience due to this sacred command of our precious Christ?

Moreover, this Chief Ruler is handed down in history as manifestly such, in the greatest perils and trials of His Church, and shall be so to the end of time. It is my serious apprehension that Pharaoh has not done all his work, that Pharaoh's task-masters are not all dead, that the abominations of Antichrist are not yet extinct. I think that Antichrist has yet to vex the Church of Christ sorely in these realms. But though our temples be closed, our persons imprisoned, and even martyred, what of all this? “The Chief Ruler" has His eye upon us, and will save His elect family with an everlasting salvation. Just glance at the wonders of Providence, and keep an eye upon Jesus as "the Chief Ruler" there. When the comforts of any of His believing family are heaped up, and extended, and multiplied, if Jesus is not the Chief Ruler," depend upon it the recipients will be like Jeshurun, 66 wax fat and kick." But if" the Chief Ruler" be there, when this goes and that goes, He says, "Let them go, I will never leave thee.' There are two or three things that a Christian can never lose. He can never lose his birthright, as Reuben did; he can never lose his title-deeds, for they are lodged in the Divine archives; he can never lose his glorious inheritance, for it is "reserved in heaven" for him. So that when things in providence appear adverse, and our poor fleshly nature is inclined to kick, our Chief Ruler is still at the helm; and whenever we are tormented with trials and difficulties, we must do as the Egyptians did to Joseph, go to our Chief Ruler, and He will set matters right. Go to Jesus, He rules for thee as well as in thee, and "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Our Chief Ruler "ordereth all things according to the counsel of His own will."

II. Now I hasten, in the second place, to say a few words about His essential qualifications. You know that wicked rulers, or disqualified rulers, are a curse to any people; and if our Chief Ruler had not the essential qualifications of which I am about to speak, His Church would not have existed a tenth part of the time she has existed. A very great deal is to be attributed, in a minor sense, in Christian Churches, to the manner of ruling, to the discipline and order maintained, to preserve the peace and prosperity of the associated body. But these are subordinate. The welfare of the whole Church of God, the entire election of grace, the whole kingdom given to Christ, nay, His very existence as King depend upon His essential qualifications as "the Chief Ruler." And what are they? Infinite wisdom, power invincible, and order undisturbed.

Infinite wisdom is His. Hence He is designated by the name of "Wisdom," in the eighth of Proverbs, already quoted. The apostle Paul says, "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and to the Greeks foolishness; but unto them that are saved, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." He is so wise, that there is not an affair of His kingdom but what is open to His view; there are no enemies to His truth that He

is not perfectly aware of, their names, their residences, and their designs; and He knows how to frustrate them. He is so wise that there is not a want which can exist among His disciples for which He has not made provision, there is not a necessity which He does not habitually and unfailingly supply, and there is not a desire that He cannot satisfy with His goodness. He is so wise, that every step of every child of His is ordered by Him; He is so wise, that in the face of all our folly and ignorance (for we have a vast mass of it) He will go contrary to them both, and manage all our affairs for us wisely; so much so, that we shall by-and-bye draw the conclusion, " He hath done all things well." I beseech you, beloved, to cherish the consolation which arises from this thought. We are accustomed, in straits, in difficulties, in mysterious providences, in trying exigencies, to set (as the common phrase is) all our wits to work to plan and contrive, and we are almost ready to compass sea and land to carry our projects and designs, and really with a conscientious opinion that they are correct and best. It is right to use all these means, provided they are used in subordination to "the Chief Ruler." In many instances, however, the most sagacious and keen men, able to calculate with the greatest nicety, and look into events with a scrutiny peculiar to themselves, have turned out to be the greatest fools, and have done the greatest mischief to themselves when left to their own resources. By-and-bye" the Chief Ruler" comes in, upsets all their plans, and causes them to cry, "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me," just because His plan is wisest and best. Moreover, if He had not possessed infinite wisdom, how could He have known the thoughts of our hearts? How could He have devised a plan to save us? How could He have counteracted the designs of Satan, and overturned his kingdom, and spoiled his dominion, and pillaged both death and the grave by His own omnipotent power?

And this leads me to mark, that one of His essential qualifications must be power invincible; because you know that rulers among mortals may be very wise, and plan things excellently, but they want efficiency, they want means, they want an army, in a word, they want power; they cannot carry out their plans, however wisely laid down. But our Chief Ruler has all power in heaven and earth." He is the omnipotent God. Oh, how powerful is our Chief Ruler! But do mark, there is no enemy too strong for His people, on that very ground, because not too strong for Himself. And therefore, according to the language we read at the commencement of the service," the prey shall be taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive shall be delivered; for I will contend." And when our omnipotent Ruler comes forth to contend with the powers of darkness, who so long held many of His elect family as their prey, He says, as He did to Pharaoh, "Let my son go, that he may serve me;" and whatever reluctance, whatever resistance may be manifested by the powers of darkness, He takes the prey from the mighty, and delivers the lawful captive, and brings out of the fowler's snare the objects of His eternal love, and thus proves Himself thoroughly qualified to be "the Chief Ruler." The sinner may be rolling his sin as a sweet morsel under his tongue" -he may not want to begin a gloomy life of religion just yet; but the omnipotent arm of "the Chief Ruler" subdues his heart, reverses the current of his affections, turns the will upside down, and makes him willing in the day of Divine power. Our Chief Ruler is thus

essentially qualified for His office. The angels in heaven are at His command; the devils in hell are bound with His chains; the "powers that be are subject to His authority; nations, kingdoms, and empires are managed, raised up, or cast down at His word. This is our Friend, our Brother, our Jesus, our Chief Ruler.

Moreover, we said that one of His essential qualifications was order. Our God is a God of order, not of confusion. Only look at the disorders that are abroad in the world; cast your eye for a moment upon the disorders in nations, in kingdoms, in cities, in families, in scenes of merchandize, in business, and fix your attention, if you can, upon the extent of disorder that sin has introduced, putting even "the foundations of the earth out of course." And yet, in the midst of all this disorder and confusion, our Chief Ruler has His order maintained. Everything is marked in His map-all the events that shall take place are under His sovereign control. If the proud waves of the sea are to be stayed, He will say, "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further." "He doth according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" His map of all the events of time, both with regard to the world and the Church, was drawn by His own infinite wisdom before all time, and He never deviates from a single line of it.

"Our lives through various scenes are drawn,

And vex'd with trifling cares ;

While His eternal thought moves on

His undisturb'd affairs."-WATTS.

The word contingency belongs not to Jehovah's vocabulary; though devils rage and men rebel, though Antichrist may lift up his impious head, and heresies abound, still our "Chief Ruler" says, "I am God, and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isa. xlvi. 10).

I am very anxious to hasten to the third_particular of our subject, and yet I seem loth to quit this because, as I pass on week by week in my wilderness journey, my poor rebellious heart is often ready to fret and say, "I should like to alter this, I should like to change that, I should like to control the other, according to the wisdom which God has given me; and until I come to my Chief Ruler with it I am always in a state of perturbation, I am filled with anxieties, which sometimes bring on a depression of spirits." Our Chief Ruler manages all. "There is no evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it." In all your family and business trials, consult him about them, and He will set them all to rights. Even the arrangements made concerning His own crucifixion, the Chief Ruler had a band in; and He held fast the intellects and the minds of the rulers, that none of them should know Him, in order that His work might be carried out, and the Church redeemed and saved with an everlasting salvation. And do you think that He will overlook your little affairs, your minute concerns? Has He not said, that He has counted the very hairs of your head, that He has "fixed the bounds of your habitation," that your very steps are ordered by Him? and will you not rely on the glorious essential qualifications of this Chief Ruler, for everything that relates to your happiness, both here and hereafter?