come, and who shall be able to stand." Few boldly deny future judgment. But few realize what it is, or how they will stand the revelation of secret things before Christ and all his holy angels. This shakes the conscience, blanches the cheek, and makes the death-bed awful. It is the "terror of the Lord." Men are judged each day; they prepare for it, and are content. Could they go to the bar of God as they go to the bar of man, and they would fear it as little, it would be as imperfect. But this calling up and calling out all the hidden man, this blazing the secrets of the soul before the universe, this makes the pulse beat quick and the heart tremble. Standing before him who can read "the thoughts and intents of the heart," and who will "judge the secrets of men," men may well tremble. Now Judas is one of the twelve, then he will dwell in "his own place." Here, tares grow with the wheat, then they will be judged to the fire. Here, the goats graze with the sheep on the same hillside, then they will be separated from the fold. Here, hypocrites and believers walk hand in hand in the same church, then we shall "turn and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not."

Even this terrible truth is not without comfort to the humble child of God, whom the judge has promised to remember and "spare in that day, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." Tossed on life's stormy sea, misrepresenting and misunderstood, condemned by lying tongues, chained in dungeons, and on gibbets his "record is on high." Clear

and bright shall his name shine when God shall judge the secrets of men.

Should this view of the final trial provoke the inquiry, "Who, then, can be saved?" What soul can pass this ordeal? Who can stand when the judge appears? We answer, perhaps but few. Your name and mine may be cast out. Sad reverses may take place where least expected, in the household, and in the church. But fall the blow where it may, "God will judge the secrets of men according to his Gospel." Let the results of this judgment be what they may, it will still be true in that day, that "the pure in heart shall see God."

XXVIII-THE CITY OF EPHRAIM; OR, A CAKE NOT TURNED.

"Every day hath toil and trouble,
Every heart hath care;

Meekly bear thine own full measure,

And thy brother's share.

Fear not, shrink not, though the burden

Heavy to thee prove;

God shall fill thy mouth with gladness,

And thy heart with love."

THE city of Ephraim was located near the Jordan, and was famous for its fine flour. When Jesus could "walk no more openly among the Jews, he went into a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim." When the ten tribes revolted from the house of Rehoboam, and made themselves a distinct nation, they selected the city of Ephraim as their capital. The house of Israel is called Ephraim from this fact, and it is thus known in the Prophets. In the book of Hosea, we have a distinct description of the moral and religious character of Ephraim. One of the most graphic features is taken from the domestic customs of the people, and their mode of baking bread—“Ephraim is a cake not turned." It was the custom of this people to bake their bread on plates of iron heated hot. The dough was mixed and spread on the hot iron plates. To have good bread, it was not only needful to have good material, and to have it well mixed and well laid on, but it must

be watched and tended, and when baked on one side the cake must be turned, else one side would be a bitter coal, the other side a sour paste, and neither side would be fit for use.

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Ephraim was a cake not turned." He had great excellencies and great defects. The mixture was good, but spoiled in the baking. There was no balance in his character-no proportion in his parts; and all that was really good was neutralized by much that was evil. It was a choice between a bitter coal and sour dough. His piety was evanescent, like the morning cloud "that passed without rain;" "like the grass on the housetop, that withered before it grew up." He was punctilious in small things, but was not just. He was exact in forms, but destitute of mercy. He was careful in his sacrifices, but he neglected to obey God. He supposed himself holy, but he was self-deceived; his strength was devoured; "yea, gray hairs were upon him, here and there, and he knew it not." Because he was a cake not turned, all his gifts, graces, tithes, and professions were in vain.

Ephraim is a type of men. It is safe to trace men as God traces them; to classify them as God classifies them. The leading sect in the time of our Lord was of this description. As formal men, of exact and punctual ritual service, they had no equal. In religious profession, public devotion, the giving of alms, and the paying of tithes, attendance at the temple, and an ostensible regard for the law of God, they are a model people. But they said and did not. They gave good counsel, but set a bad example.

"Do as they bid," said our Lord, "but do not as they do." It was not wrong for the Pharisees to clean the outside of the platter, for one side clean is better than both sides filthy. It was not a sin to make beautiful the outside of the sepulcher, for both sides need not be repulsive. But as they were both overdone and underdone, they were rejected of God, and called a generation of vipers.

Men now divorce doctrine from practice; and cling to the logic of argument rather than the logic of a good life. Their title to heaven is a sound creed; their acceptance hereafter is their orthodoxy. The Pharisees were sound in the faith, yet were rejected. There is no heresy in hell, for "devils believe and tremble." Men ought to be rooted and grounded in the faith. But a holy life will cause the world to give glory to God. Sound doctrine is indispensable to a good Christian character; so is a skeleton to a horse, and a foundation to a house. But a horse made up of nothing but a skeleton, would be "a vain thing for safety;" and a house with nothing but a foundation, would not be much of a refuge in a storm.

Another class divorce good works from evangelical faith. Many do not think much of "set people." They do not "like doctrinal preaching." "Action, action-good works, noble deeds, these are the great results to which all should look." But action and noble results come only from strong faith. As well refuse to lay well the foundation, and say the "house is the great thing." "Don't waste time in leveling mountains and bridging ravines—send along the train. Don't plant the posts and hang the wires-send along