through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first." "If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?" If the first period, when there was little or no religious impression, was a dark night to the soul; it is darker now, when serious thoughts of divine things. that were once cherished and expressed, have passed away, and the better feelings of a man's nature that were stirred to a certain degree of action have become colder and more stagnant than before. This is much to be deplored in every way, and chiefly as to the inconstant sinner himself, oscillating between good and evil, for he weakens by every repeated change the power of will and conscience. He becomes an easier prey to all evil influences, and drifts more swiftly down to those awful rapids, which, if once shot, his doom is fixed; there is no escape; nothing more can be done-all is lost for ever. There is nothing to be more deplored in a man than a fitful, irresolute, feeble hold of soul-saving truth. In all our weakness let us lay hold of the strength of God in Christ Jesus. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, ast the latter and former rain unto the earth." While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Mat. xvii. 5). While he thus spake, there came a cloud and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud (Luke ix. 34). THE BRIGHT CLOUD ON THE MOUNT. Take it all in all, the Transfiguration is one of the most remarkable events in the life of our blessed Lord. Its wonders are exhaustless, and the more we study it in all its varied details of glory, the more wonderful it becomes. Group these together: the high mountain, supposed to be some lofty plateau on Hermon; the snow-fields in the back-ground; the stars shining brightly on the clear forehead of the night, for in all probability this was the time; the Saviour pouring out his soul in prayer to the righteous Father in this grand solitude of nature; the glorious change in His appearance when "His face did shine as the sun,' and His raiment became glistering, and exceeding white, like the snow-fields at no great distance; the radiance that shone all around His person; the "bright cloud," the celestial visitants, the surpassing interest of the grand theme on which they and the Saviour conversed, "the decease that would be accomplished at Jerusalem;" the voice from the excellent glory-all these throw a moral sublimity and grandeur over the scene, the record of which partakes more of heaven than of earth. "A bright cloud overshadowed them" -"and they feared as they entered into the cloud." I. This bright cloud on the mount was the symbol of the divine presence. All along throughout the whole history of ancient Israel, the cloud was the acknowledged token of the present Deity. It was in mercy to sinful man that the cloud veiled the glory of Jehovah. It was said to Moses, "Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." "Lo I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever." According to this arrangement, the manifestations of the Divine presence in the cloud were very frequent, so that this expression often occurs in connection with these: "The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud." This was, specially, the case during the leadership of Moses. Very solemn and impressive must have been those occasions when "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see," descended in "the thick cloud," in the presence of all the people. "And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel.” "The bright cloud" on the mount was no less the visible token of Jehovah's presence, and may be regarded as one of the many connecting links between the Old and the New Testa ment dispensation. Mount Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration, though at a great distance from each other in point of time, were brought together in this symbol of a present God; but in what different cir |