Saviour, may glorified be.

Defiled is the temple,
Its beauty laid low,
On God's holy altar
The embers faint glow,
By love yet rekindled,
A flame may be fanned;
Oh, _quench_ not the Spirit, _the Lord is at hand!_"

--_P. P. Bliss._

CHAPTER V.

POWER HINDERED.

The strokes of the "Sword of the Spirit" alight only on the
conscience, and its edge is anointed with a bairn to heal every wound
it may inflict.--_Dr. J. Harris_.

Every vain thought and idle word, and every wicked deed, is like so
many drops to quench the Spirit of God. Some quench Him with the lust
of the flesh; some quench Him with cares of the mind; some quench Him
with long delays, that is, not plying the motion when it cometh, but
crossing the good thoughts with bad thoughts, and doing a thing when
the Spirit saith not. The Spirit is often grieved before He be
quenched.--_H. Smith_.

In times when vile men held the high places of the land, a roll of
drums was employed to drown the martyr's voice, lest the testimony of
truth from the scaffold should reach the ears of the people,--an
illustration of how men deal with their own consciences, and seek to
put to silence the truth-telling voice of the Holy Spirit.--_Arnot_.

POWER HINDERED.

ISRAEL, we are told, limited the Holy One of Israel. They vexed and
grieved the Holy Spirit, and rebelled against His authority, but there
is a special sin against Him, which we may profitably consider. The
first description of it is in Matthew xii, 22d verse:

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN.

"Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb;
and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and
saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of
David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth
not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house
divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan,
he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And
if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them
out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else
how can one enter into a strong man's