hus with earnest diligence to search out the
meaning of their own predictions, what but our capacity should be the
measure of our toil? Nor is this labour to be confined to the pulpit.
"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." If you want to know
the meaning of your Bible, you must prayerfully study it. "These in
Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received
the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily,
whether those things were so."

Here then is our Student: himself a study for all who are anxious to
comprehend this book. There are only three orders of being by whom God
has spoken to the world: Christ; the angels; and _men_. And among these
men the prophets hold the first rank. At an early period--the elements
of religion being already revealed--a new method of communicating truth
was employed; and man rose from the position of an _observer_, to the
dignity and majesty of the prophet. In some instances he is removed at
once into this office without previous training. But generally God walks
among "the schools of the prophets;" and laying his hand upon the chosen
one, He bids him go forth. His very call seems to constitute him an
extraordinary man. Both his appearance and actions make him singular.
He stands alone. The mountain or the sequestered vale is his abode; and
he is only seen among men when he has some message from God. Clothed in
his sackcloth, he appears at the court, the city, and the village; and
having pronounced the coming woe, or stated the imposed duty, or offered
pardon, he mysteriously disappears; and is seen no more, till the burden
is again upon him, and forces him to come forth and speak. There is a
fire in his eye, but it is inspiration, not wildness. There is a majesty
in his gait, as though he is either great himself, or is employed by one
who is. There is a solemnity of countenance and a nobility of manner,
which say that he is not often among mortals, but dwells in a higher
sphere. In language which more fully pertains to us as Christians, his
"conversation is in heaven." Carried up by the Spirit perhaps to the
summit of the mountain which covers his retreat, views of the future
break upon his vision. His eye burns; his lips quiver; his bosom heaves.
And opening his mouth, he pours forth in more than angelic cadences, the
designs of God concerning men, and kingdoms, and the human race. It may
be that to himself a