their thoughts and on all their tongues, for their communications were concerning Jesus of Nazareth. And some of them were preparing sweet spices for his embalmment. And blessed be his glorious name, He was so anxious to come and see them personally and comfort them, that He shortened the "three days of his appointed sojourn in the grave into six and thirty hours. And we believe in the communion of saints in all its length, breadth, height, and depth. "We are come unto Mount Zion-and to the spirits of just men made perfect."

VII. We shall join our blessed friends again in the celestial country. When the Saviour was departing with His disciples they were very sorrowful and He comforted them with the sweet assurance that they should follow Him in a little while, John xiii: 26, and with the sweeter assurance that He would come after them, John xiv: 2, 3. How many pleasant family gatherings there will be some day in our Heavenly Father's house of “many mansions," and when we arrive they shall come out to meet us and greet us with kisses, and hail us to our eternal home. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus." If so, may we not depart from the sepulcher of our blessed dead with great joy?

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CONSUMMATE HAPPINESS.

ANDREW R. BONAR, D.D.

"So shall we ever be with the Lord."-1 THESS. iv; 17.

THE

HE Scriptures not only give us certain information regarding the principles by which the Divine government is regulated, the duties which man is called upon to discharge, and the snares he must avoid, but they also

open up a store of consolation, out of which Christians may extract comfort in the midst of disquietude and scrrow. The pencil of John sets before the believer glowing pictures of the New Jerusalem, exhibitions of the glory of the Son of Man, fascinating delineations of the "tree whose fruits, &c.," of the calm windings of the river of life, &c., of the white-robed worshipers bending in homage before Him whose love is enshrined in their hearts. Our text brings before us

I. The certainty and perpetuity of the happiness of which the ransomed are to be made partakers.

The

Hence the felicity of heaven stands in vivid contrast with the distresses and uncertainty of earth. schemes which we cherish a reliable to disappointment-the society with which we mingle is unstable and fluctuating, the ideas we entertain are often imperfect and erroneous-there are many subjects involved in almost complete mystery; many others with respect to which we arrive only at an approximation to the truth. But we are encouraged to anticipate the arrival of a period when disadvantages are to cease, and when we shall enter into a nobler, purer, and more illustrious scene.

Were man destined to lie down for ever in darkness; did no light gleam beyond the sepulcher, and were no prospects open of the land that is afar, God would not have given such aspirations to his creatures as those which possess his soul. These longings-this capacity it has for reflecting upon the Infinite and Eternal-the sagacity that lay plans and make arrangements for coming emergencies, the moral sensibility which the spirit is capable of acquiring, and tasting the goodness of the Creator, accord with the voice of Scripture, and show man to be far more than the short-lived child of earth, destined to see corruption and to be hid beneath the mould.

Nor can we suppose that existing apparent anomalies in the Divine administration are to be left unsolved, that seeming inequalities in the procedure of Providence are to fail of being rectified, or that the struggles with sense and sin, with deformity and vice, the resolute victories achieved over the prince of this world," by the righteous and holy in all ages, are to fail of the recompense which Infinite goodness desires to bestow, and which Christ has secured by his atonement.

On this subject many Scripture statements might be quoted-but apart from these there is in the inner being of man a testimony borne regarding his immortality, and admonitions given whereby he is exhorted to rise to the full height of his lofty destiny. If so, how egregious is their folly who act for time alone and neglect eternity? If it is said of Christians that they shall be for " ever with the Lord," it is time for all who have not given earnest heed to the Gospel, to awake out of spiritual apathy, and to make provision for the unseen state; coveting a "Kingdom which cannot be moved," desiring a crown of righteousness which shall never fade away.

II. This happiness is closely connected with the presence and fellowship of Jesus Christ. "So shall we be ever with the Lord."

1. This implies that believers after the resurrection and the judgment, will be brought into a position near to that which is occupied by the Saviour. We are warranted by the language of Scripture, to suppose that some region does exist, or will be formed, where the faithful and pious of all ages and countries will be assembled, where in the beautiful and expressive language of the Apocalypse, "the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed his people, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters." When earthly trials close, unmingled,

though relatively incomplete, happiness commences. So soon as "absent from the body," the saints are present with the Lord. They are ushered into the realm of spirits, wait in anticipation a further change-when being raised they shall be qualified to meet Him at his coming. Then will be fulfilled the statement of our text, and that of the Beloved Disciple. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne."

2. Christ's presence with the saints in glory must secure their exemption from all evil.

Here, though their lot is superior to that of others, yet they are not exempted from the common afflictions of humanity-these make him long to visit that world where the wicked cease from troubling, &c., where infirmity will cease, the body of sin and death be laid aside, where evil will be no longer present, where no dark cloud will gather to hinder the full shining of the Son of Righteousness-where they "who have washed their robes and made them white, &c.," "shall hunger no more, &c."

3. Christ's presence with his saints constitutes a pledge that their powers will be adopted to their new condition, and that the loftiest sources of enjoyment will be opened for their participation. These bodily and mental capacities with which man was originally endowed by God, were grievously impaired through the entrance of sin into the world. But in that blessed world, the spirit will be made capable of wondrous discoveries as to the works and ways of God, of enraptured contemplation on the plan of Providence, and out of the riches of His goodness, and the boundless treasures of his love, will have every desire satisfied, and will have fresh sources of delight continually abounding. How decided and full must the happiness of the Saint be, when he has taken.

possession of the kingdom prepared for him from the beginning of the world, when he "shall be for ever with the Lord."

PREPARATION FOR THE PASSAGE.

ALEXANDER DICKSON, D.D.

Prepare your victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan.-JOSHUA i: 11.

THIS

HIS was the order given to the children of Israel, when they were encamped in their land of Beulah, before starting on the last stage of their long journey. It was about the middle of April. A magnificent scene met the eye in every direction. To the North the great plain of Esdraelon, to the South the hill country of Judea, before them the walled city of Jericho, and behind them Nebo and Hor. Here they were reposing when the order came to prepare for the passage of the river, which still rolled between them and the home of their hearts. The Hebrews were a typical people-the past is repeated in the present. As they had need of special preparation to pass over the Jordan, so we have need to make ready for crossing the darker, deeper and more dangerous river of death.

I. How and why should we prepare for dying? Our temporal affairs should be arranged beforehand, The victuals of the Israelites consisted of the manna and also now probably of the corn and wine and oil of the region around. Most of these provisions. had need of preparation. Even the bread from heaven did not come down into their tents all ready for the table. It had to be prepared. This suggests that our worldly affairs should be properly adjusted against the time to die. These are seldom as they ought to be when the summons comes, and they often discompose and