Christ is the sure defence of his church. A thousand times has she been assailed by her enemies. The princes of the earth have set themselves in array against her, and hell has opened upon her all its batteries. But the Rock of Ages has ever been her strong fortress and high tower. He will never refuse to shelter her from her adversaries. In the time of trouble, he shall hide her in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide her. When the heavens are dark and angry, she flies, like the affrighted dove, to the thick branches of the “Goodly Cedar.” There she is safe from the windy storm and tempest. There she may rest in confidence, till these calamities be overpast. The tree of her protection can never be riven by the lightning, nor broken by the blast. _Christ is the source of life and beauty to all the trees in the garden of God_. Jehovah determined to teach “the trees of the forest” a new lesson. Let the princes of this world hear it, and the proud philosophers of Greece and Rome. “I have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree—have dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish.” Many things have occurred, in the providence of God, which might illustrate these metaphors; such as the bringing of Pharaoh down to the bottom of the sea, that Israel might be exalted to sing the song of Moses; and the drying up of the pride and pomp of Haman, that Mordecai might flourish in honor and esteem. But for the most transcendent accomplishment of the prophecy, we must go to Calvary. There is the high tree brought down to the dust of death, that the low tree might be exalted to life eternal; the green tree dried up by the fires of Divine wrath, that the dry tree might flourish in the favor of God for ever. To this, particularly, our blessed Redeemer seems to refer, in his address to the daughters of Jerusalem, as they follow him, weeping, to the place of crucifixion. “Weep not for me,” saith he. “There is a mystery in all this, which you cannot now comprehend. Like Joseph, I have been sold by my brethren; but like Joseph, I will be a blessing to all my Father’s house. I am carrying this cross to Calvary that I may be crucified upon it between two thieves; but when the lid of the mystical ark shall be lifted, then shall ye see that it is to save sinners I give my back to the smiters, and my life for a sacrifice. Weep not for me, but for yourselves and your children; for if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? I am the green tree to-day; and behold, I am consumed that you may flourish. I am the high tree, and am prostrated that you may be exalted.”