donald, I'm not dead, but I'm watching how my children fight." My dear friends, the great captain of the brigade is not dead, but is watching us, his children, and seeing how they walk worthy of those "who by faith have inherited the promises.'

A FISHERMAN.

READY? OR NOT READY?

REV. ALBERT BIBBY.

PREACHED AT A SEAPORT TOWN, ON OCCASION OF THE FUNERAL OF A FISHERMAN WHO HAD BEEN DROWNED, AND BEFORE MANY OF THE SAME CRAFT.

"Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”—LUKE xii : 40.

THESE words occur at the end of a very solemn sermon preached by the Lord Jesus Christ to a numerous congregation; for we read-"There were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another." If you read the chapter carefully, you will be able to trace the various links in the chain of thought.

These words demand from us more than ordinary attention. God speaks to men in two ways, through the Holy Scriptures and by his dealings with men. When a friend or relative dies, we feel it is the voice of God calling to us to prepare to meet Him. And has not God. been speaking to us, my brethren? Only eight days ago a respectable fisherman, well known to most of you, left his wife and three children at home and went forth in his little boat to gather from the deep those treasures which it had often yielded to his industry, and which afforded him his daily bread. The day passed swiftly on, and the little boat and its owner came not at the usual hour of

returning. Sad fears began to chill the hearts of that mother and her little ones. The dreary hours dragged slowly on, and fears grew into anguish and distraction, only to be succeeded by the heart-rending certainty, that the wife had become a widow for her little ones were fatherless. We are told to " weep with them that weep ;" and there should be no heart among us that does not sympathize with the afflicted family. It is not, however, a solitary case. Within the last twelve months three times has such an event happened; three times it has been whispered in our streets, "A man is drowned;" three times the report has proved a fact; three times has death visited us in this unusual way. Death has not stopped only at the lowly cottages of the poor. I ask you solemnly to consider these dealings of the Lord with ourselves as inhabitants of this parish, and then say if you do not feel God is speaking to us, te each of us, to young, to old, to rich and poor? If there is one class amongst us to which God speaks more particularly, it is to the fishermen and sailors. Does not God seem to say to us-"Behold, three I have taken away from you; be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not?"

I. The lesson is, that Jesus Christ will come again. We are taught this in those words "For the Son of Man cometh."

When, however, Christ next comes, it will be in His glorious majesty. Nor will he come for the same purpose as at the first. Then He came to procure salvation ; when He next appears, it will be to inquire who amongst men have sought His salvation and accepted His offers, and to pronounce sentence accordingly. When Christ came the first time, only a few saw His real dignity and character; when he comes the second time, His glorious majesty and power will force themselves on the atten

tion of all. There will be a little flock who love his appearing. But what frightful consternation will there be among those who cared not to be found ready! What terror, dismay and anguish will seize them as they behold the Son of Man coming! Thus is that awful moment described in God's Word-" And the kings of the earth, &c." (Revelation vi: 15-17.) In that day every secret shall be made known, every hidden deed brought to light.

11. Christ will come when we do not expect him. "For the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” In the scripture the coming of the Son of Man is compared to a flash of lightning, or the coming of a thief in the night. In this way we are taught its suddenness. It will find the world generally unprepared; for thus it is declared concerning that day in the Holy Scripture— "And as it was in the days of Noe," &c.-(Luke xvii : 26-30.) As the flood came when men though not, so the Son of Man come at an hour when ye think

will not."

Do not such instances as those I have alluded to solemuly tell each of us we know not at what hour the Son of Man cometh ?" This last case was that of a young man not yet thirty years of age. In the morning he left his house and family, probably with no more serious thought of not seeing them again than any of you had on coming here; before the night closed in, the cold. waves were rolling over his lifeless body.

III. We now proceed to notice, thirdly, the necessity of being prepared to meet our God when He cometh. In the language of the text it is thus expressed-" Be ye therefore ready."

It is the same as saying, "Because you must stand before the judgment-scat, and may be called to do so at any hour of any day, take care and be prepared. Be ready

to meet God every day." Remember, too, that these are the words of Christ.

And this will lead us to inquire, What is meant by being ready for the coming of the Son of Man? In other words our inquiry is, Who is prepared to die?

First, Are you forgiven?

All men need forgiveness, because all men are sinners. Sinners we are born, and sinners we have been all our lives. There is not a commandment which we have not broken. 2. Are you holy?

Scripture says, "Without holiness no man can see the Lord." To be holy is to have a mind like God-that is, to love what He loves, and to hate what He hates. A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment. He will feel just what Paul felt when he said, "I delight in the law of God, after the inward man." By means of prayer made in the name of Christ, and efforts made in reliance upon the grace of Christ, the Christian will be able to overcome the solicitations to sin which surround him on every side, and lurk in every corner of his heart.

Fishermen for many hours almost every day you are separated from a watery grave only by a few inches of board: do you ever think, that without holiness you cannot see the Lord? Of some few of you there is a hope that you do; but of a very large number there is, at present, no hope at all. Do not say this is uncharitable; God says, "By their fruits ye shall know them;" and by swearing, by drunkenness, by lascivious conduct and conversation, by bickering and dishonest dealing, by the neglect of the Sabbath, by idleness and disregard of your families, too many declare, as plainly as if they said it in so many words, that they are the servants of the devil, and not of God. And some who are more decent in their conduct at home, leave all their care of the Sab

bath behind them, when they go to fish elsewhere.

In

a few weeks you will again be leaving, and exposed to the same temptation. Let me intreat you wherever you may be, to leave your nets on the Sunday and follow Christ by worshipping Him in His house.

A MERE PROFESSOR.

LESSONS FROM THE LIFE AND END OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. REV. WILLIAM S. PLUMER, D.D., LL.D.

"It had been good for that man if he had not been born."MATTHEW Xxvi: 24.

SUCH is the alarming and astounding language of the Lord Jesus Christ respecting one of his disciples and apostles. The Messiah needed not that any should testify to him of man; for he knew what was in man. He searches the hearts and reins. He declares the end from the beginning. "Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not, and who should betray him." Christ's ministers are often deceived; Christ, never. He knows all things. He never was overreached. His eyes are as flaming fire. He casily detects the most specious pretenses. He knows all men, all hearts, all destinies.

The person here spoken of is Judas, whose surname is Iscariot. Let us consider the life and end of him of whom the words of the text were spoken.

1. There is no evidence that Judas Iscariot was a man of bad countenance. Most men are much influenced by looks, and many think they can tell a man's character by the physiognomy. This may often be true; but

there are many exceptions.

2. There is no evidence that, up to his betrayal of his Lord, his conduct was the subject of censure, complaint,