ZEAL.-An Objectionable

The zeal of some men is of a haughty, unbending, ferocious character. They have the letter of truth, but they mount the pulpit like prize-fighters. It is with them a perpetual scold. This spirit is a reproach to the Gospel. It is not the spirit of Jesus Christ. He seems to have laboured to WIN men.-R. Cecil.

ZEAL-Pleasing to God.

As love delighteth men, so zeal pleaseth God, for zeal is the love of God. Therefore every sacrifice was offered with fire, to show with what zeal they should burn which come to offer prayer, or praise, or thanks unto the Lord; therefore the Holy Ghost descends in fire, to show the fervency of them upon whom the Holy Ghost resteth; therefore the cherubim were pourtrayed with wings before the people, to show that they should be as earnest and quick about the Lord's business as the cherubim; therefore God would not take a lame nor halting sacrifice, to show how He abhorreth slackness in all our duties. The hound, which runs but for the hare, runs as fast as he possibly can; the hawk, which flieth but for the partridge, flieth as fast as she possibly can; and shall he which runs for heaven creep more slowly than the dial? Is it not better to be vessels of gold than vessels of brass?-H. Smith.

ZEAL.-A Preacher without

Is a preacher who is without zeal a servant of God? Is he not rather a mere man? He is placed in the sanctuary solely to keep up the sacred fire which the Lord Jesus brought from heaven to earth; and yet he is cold and insensible in the midst of those who are perishing through the vices which fret and consume them! Verily, he is an inconceivable contradiction!—Mullois.

ZEAL.-The Rewards of

It pleaseth God to confer upon it some glorious rewards. David's ruddy complexion, and his skill in music, made him amiable in the eyes of men; but the zeal of his heart styled him “a man after God's own heart," and "the sweet singer of Israel." Abraham, that could find in his heart to sacrifice his Isaac, was called "the friend of God." And the same virtue denominated Jacob ** a prince with God."-Ward.

ZEAL.-Satan Provokes

Upon highest pretexts for God's glory, Satan sometimes lays a snare for our lives. Doubtless, he had a hand in that forwardness of ancient Christians, who by an open profession of their faith before persecuting judicatures, did, as it were. court a martyrdom; and I have the same persuasion of the painful earnestness of many holy preachers, who lavish out their strength in a prodigality of pains for the good of souls, which, like a thief in the candle, wastes them immediately; whereas a better husbanded strength might be truly more advantageous, as continuing the light the longer; and yet so sincere are their ends, so pleasant is their work, that they seldom observe, as they ought, that Satan, when he can do no better, is glad of the opportunity to destroy them with their own weapon; and therefore they may expect he will do all he can to heighten and forward their zeal, not only by adding all the fuel he can to their inward propensity of laborionsness, but also by outward encouragement of the declared acceptations and expec tations of their hearers.-Dr. Gilpin.

ZEAL.-Tempered

As the Holy Ghost descended with fire, so He did descend with wind, that cooleth fire, showing that our zeal should be temperate zeal, as our Master's was. As there is a measure in knowledge, so there is a measure in zeal; that is, be zealous according to discretion, as Paul saith-"Be wise according to sobriety." The disciples were commended for their zeal when they left all to follow Christ; Lut Christ reproved them for their zeal when they would pray for fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans. Therefore zeal and discretion happily unite together, are like the two lions which supported the throne of Solomon; and he which hath them both, is like Moses for his mildness, and like Phinehas for his fervency; therefore, as wine is tempered with water, so let discretion temper zeal.-H. Smith.

ZEAL.-True

True zeal will hate sin, yet love the sinner. True zeal will hate heresy, and yet love the heretic. True zeal will long to break the idol, but deeply pity the idolater. True zeal will abhor every kind of wickedness, but labour to do good, even to the vilest transgressor. True zeal will warn as St. Paul warned the Galatians, and yet feel tenderly as a nurse, or as a mother over erring children. It will expose false teachers, as Jesus did the Scribes and Pharisees, and yet weep compassionately as Jesus did over Jerusalem, when He approached it for the last time. True zeal will be decided as a surgeon with a diseased limb; but true zeal will be as gentle as one that is dressing the wounds of a brother. True zeal will speak truth boldly, like Athanasius, against the world; but true zeal will speak the truth in love.-Canon Ryle.

ZEAL-Untempered

Zeal, untempered with love and compassion for souls, will soon degenerate into harshness, and cruelty of manner and expression, which will have no other effect on an audience than scolding, or even profane swearing.- Nettleton.

ZEAL.-The Want of

We have great reason to suppose that much good remains undone, because we have not boldness of zeal properly adapted to our present circumstances. We are too much alarmed at objections, too much given to calculate natural probabilities; we magnify the obstacles, we lose sight of the all-sutficient power. True, it may not be God's will; but we are to try whether it is His will: the result alone can prove it, while we cannot take upon ourselves to be the judges beforehand, but only the obedient instruments for the work of the Lord, whensoever and wheresoever He may be pleased to shower down the riches of His mercy.Butterfield.

ZEALOT.-The Faith of a

'Tis a zealot's faith

That blasts the shrines of the false god, but builds
No Temple to the True.-Dobell.

ZEALOUS-in the Faith.

We cannot be zealous in a better thing than in the faith of Christ.-Dr. Hole. ZION.-The Beauty of

The most celebrated place, and the most important in all Judea, was Mount Zion; it was the super-eminent part of the famous city of Jerusalem; it was

called "the perfection of beauty"-matchless, peerless. But that which stamps a far higher value upon it is-that Jehovah chose this spot. "For the Lord hath hosen Zion, He has desired it for His habitation. This is My rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it." Here He made "the place of His feet glorious:" the altar of burnt-offerings, the holy fire, the altar of incense, the laver, the tables, the shew-bread, the perpetual lamps, the veil, the ark, the mercy. seat, the table of testimony, the book of the Law, the rod of Aaron, the cherubim of glory overshadowing the merry-seat, the Shechinah or symbol of the divine presence, the Lord's high priest, the servants of the holy service, the singers and players upon instruments-all combined to form what the inspired penman has appropriately and emphatically styled "the perfection of beauty," during the time that this worldly sanctuary and these cardinal ordinances were to remain in use, and until the ministry of the Levites was to give place to a more excellent ministry. Dr. Sturtevant.

ZION-in Ruins.

Reft of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn,

Mourn widowed Queen, forgotten Zion mourn!
Is this thy place, sad city! this thy throne,
Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone?
No martial myriads muster in thy gate;
No suppliant nations in thy Temple wait;
No prophet bar is the glittering courts among
Wake the full lyre and swell the tide of song;
But lawless Force and meagre Want are there,

And the quick-darting eye of restless Fear,

While cold Oblivion, 'mid the ruins laid,

Folds his dank wing beneath the ivy shade.-Bishop Heber.

ZION.-The True

There is another Zion whose towers are still more glorious, and shall never be overthrown. "God is known in her palaces for a refuge." "And this God is our God for ever and ever." How often is this name synonymous with the Church of the living God! and no other spot but one can divide with it the affection of His people-no other name but one can awaken such joyful hopes in the Christian's heart. The temporal Zion is now in dust, but the true Zion is rising and shaking herself from it, and putting on her Easter robes to welcome her King when He comes to reign over the whole earth.-Dr. W. M. Thomson.

INDEX OF AUTHORS.

THEY THAT HANDLE THE PEN OF THE WRITER.-Samuel the Prophet