MUTUAL RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN. REV. DR. GEORGE SMITH, POPLAR, LONDON. THE hope of reunion in a future state of being has been prevalent amongst devout and thoughtful persons in all ages of time, and under the various dispensations of divine truth which have passed over men. Some glimmerings of this expectation have visited communities and individuals unblest with the light of a written revelation, but who probably derived their impressions from traditionary recollections of a primitive faith. A definite and ever-brightening impression of the truth has been obtained under the Patriarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian economies. This hope has been a great comfort to mourners in seasons of bereavement. They have felt as did the monarch of Israel, who when lamenting the decease of his child, encouraged his heart by uttering the well-known words, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." By many of those who receive the kingdom of God as little children, this consoling doctrine is admitted without gainsaying, and is almost intuitively perceived. Not very long since, an aged disciple, a highly valued relative of mine, fell asleep in Jesus at the advanced age of eighty-one years. On hearing of the event, his sister, more aged than he, said, "How glad my dear mother will be to see her darling boy again!" When the tidings of death reached my home, a grandchild of the departed saint, my own youngest boy, Richard Morley, being then only in his fifth year, exclaimed, "How delighted grandmamma will be to see him again!" Thus youth and age, both taught of God, testified to a glorious truth. They have both since then passed into the world of light; the child after a few weeks only, and they are doubtless reunited to the loved ones of whom they believingly spoke. This subject is adapted to comfort the orphan deprived of parental support, and cast on the fatherhood of God. It is equally suited to bind up the wounds of parents who mourn, like Rachel, over their children, because they are not. Nor is it less fitted to support the mind of others who are deprived of companions in labor, and sorrow, and joy. We can follow them by faith within the veil, and behold their ever increasing happiness. We can listen to the voice of revelation, which assures us that they without us cannot be perfect; and we can look forward with hope to the time when, knowing as we are known, we shall rejoin them in the climes of bliss, and with them place the crown of redemption at the feet of the Redeemer. With Richard Baxter, the eloquent discourser on "The Saint's Everlasting Rest," we may say, addressing the Captain of our salvation, "As for my friends, they are not lost; SAFE WITH CHRIST. REV. CHARLES Garrett, Manchester. Он, weeping, trembling mother, the Good Shepherd who carries the lambs in His bosom, looks pityingly upon you, and says in loving tones, "Can you not trust your child with Me?" Surely your heart, in the midst of its agony, will reply, "Yes, Lord, I can." You have often said to an earthly friend, “I have no fear nor anxiety about my child when it is with you." And if this be true, for it to be with Christ must be far better. Think of His unerring wisdom, His almighty power, His boundless resources, His unutterable tenderness, and, above all, His infinite love, and your faith will be strengthened and steadied. Remember that He loves your sainted child as tenderly as if there were not another child in the universe, and, oh, how safe, how happy it must be with Him! Bear in mind, also, that the separation is only for a "little while," as little as is consistent with your eternal welfare. Your heavenly Father is far more anxious to have you in heaven than you are to get there. All the events of your life are working together for this end. You may not be able to see how this can be, but His eyes are clearer than yours. He sees the end from the beginning. If, therefore, you cannot praise Him for this "fiery trial," don't murmur, be "dumb, and open not your mouth," because He has done it. He will understand your silence. "He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust." His purposes will soon be accomplished, and then amidst the glories of heaven you will meet again; so shall you "obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." UNCONVERTED PARENTS ADMONISHED. REV. PROFESSOR M'MICHAEL, D.D., Dunfermline. PERHAPS there is a danger, in themes of this description, of overlooking the case of mourning parents, who are themselves in an un ΙΟ sanctified state, and who are destitute of a saving faith in the Lord Jesus. This book may fall into their hands, and to them I would now address a word of kind and faithful expostulation. May it be abundantly blessed, through the Holy Spirit, to promote their eternal interests! My supposition is, Death has entered your dwelling, and has snatched a loved one from your embrace. That child, I believe, is safe, -safe in heaven; but you yourselves are still living in sin and unbelief. What a monstrous contradiction is here! Your child in heaven, while you are on the broad road to hell! That child was dear, inexpressibly dear to you; but the Lord took him. Perhaps it was done for your spiritual benefit. Had it not been for this gracious purpose, he might have been still with you, cheering your heart. More frequently than is imagined, children become martyrs for the sake of their ungodly parents. For them they wither, and for them they die. But has this divine visitation produced the effect which it ought to have done? Did you actually look upon your own child in the convulsions of death? did you place it in its little coffin, and lay its head in the grave, without a piercing consciousness of the evil of sin? There would have been nothing surprising, |