Jerusalem they could only bring together one hundred and twenty. But there were more in the country. Let us not judge of our Lord's followers by a particular place, or party. Let us remember, that he has his hidden ones, whom circumstances may never bring to our notice. How surprised should we be, if any event was to draw them together from their various retreats-" These, where have they been?"-What a multitude, then, which no man can number, will there be, when they shall be all assembled, out of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues!

The ravages of time-"Some have fallen asleep." And no wonder, in the lapse of six-and-twenty years. Who has not, during such a period, been summoned to the grave, to weep there? Whose heart within him has not been desolate, at the loss of friends and relations? Even the Church has not been a Sanctuary from the robber and spoiler. The wise, and the good; the holy, and the useful: the followers and witnesses of the Redeemer, have finished their course, and their testimony, and have slept the sleep of death.

Distinguished preservations-"The greater part remain unto this present"-The majority of five hundred spared so many years!-when, from the numberless perils of life, it was marvellous that any one of them should have lived even a week, or a day! Have we survived others? Let us not ascribe it to our own care; or the goodness of our constitution; but say, with Caleb, when so many carcasses fell in the Wilderness, "The Lord hath kept me alive."

And let us be concerned, that protracted life be devoted to Him, who is "the length of our days," and "the God of our salvation."

APRIL 7.-"Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Ps. xvi. 10, 11.

OUR Lord tells us of many things concerning himself, not only in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, but in the Psalms. Some have contended, that he is immediately regarded in every passage. This error, arising from a noble truth carried too far, has led the holders of it to take liberties with the translation, and with the original, too. may safely follow the applications of the Holy Ghost; and we are sure, from the language of Peter in the Acts of the Apostles, that, in the words before us, David speaks of the Messiah, or rather introduces the Messiah himself as the speaker.

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Jesus knew that he was to suffer, and die; but he knew, also, that death could not feed upon him. He knew he should be laid in the grave; but he knew, also, that he should not remain there-Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.-Hell, here, does not mean the place of the miserable, but the abode of the dead. This he entered; but continued not long enough there for dissolution to commence : "Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."

The path of life was his passage from the sepulchre to glory; from the tomb of Joseph to the Palace of the Great King. This path no one had yet trodden. Enoch, and Elias, had entered heaven, but did not go thither from the grave. Thousands had entered heaven, but left their bodies behind. But He did not leave his. He is therefore called, the first-born from the dead, because he was the first that entered heaven after lying in the grave. He was the first-born, too, in the dignity and influence of the life he realized. Lazarus, and the widow of

Nain's son, and others, though they were revived, died again. But he, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. He lives as no one else ever lived, or ever will live. He lives, having the keys of hell and of death. He lives in the possession of all power in heaven and in earth. He lives as our Head and Representative; as the source of all spiritual influence; as the Father of the everlasting age. And he shall see his seed, and shall prolong his days; and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

And because he lives, we shall live also. His resurrection is the model, the cause, the proof, and the earnest, of our own. For there is a union between Christ and Christians, by which they are federally and vitally one. When, therefore, he died, they were crucified with him; and when he arose and ascended, they were quickened together with him, and raised up, and made to sit with him in the heavenly places. And though their bodies return to the dust, they will not see corruption for everfor this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality.

The believer, therefore, can also say, Thou wilt shew me the path of life. This life means the blessedness reserved in heaven for the people of God, after the resurrection. David here describes it-In thy presence is fulness of joy: at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. It has three characters. The first regards its source-It flows from "his presence." He is the fountain of life, and the supreme good of the mind.

The second regards its plenitude-It is fulness of joy. In this vale of tears every pleasure has its pain, and every comfort its cross. We pursue satisfaction, but we grasp vanity and vexation. We look to Jesus, and find him the consolation of Israel. But consolation supposes trouble. His fol

lowers are described, not only by their rejoicing, but their mourning-without they have fightings, and within they have fears. They have blessed frames ; and in some religious exercises, they seem to be partakers of the glory that shall be revealed. And so they are; but it is by a glimpse, a taste, a dropthe fulness is above.

The third regards its permanency-The pleasures are for evermore. Uncertainty, as well as deficiency, attaches to every thing here. We embrace our connexions, and, lo! they are gone. We set our hearts on that which is not.

If there was a possibility of the destruction, or loss of the blessedness above, we should be miserable in proportion to its greatness. From the moment of knowing it, the thought would poison all the joy. But, no-It is a crown of glory that fadeth not away. It is everlasting life!

APRIL 8.-" If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. iii. 11.

HERE the subject of consideration is, the resurrection of the dead! But it is obvious the Apostle does not refer to it as an event; for as an event it will be universal, and we shall be the subjects of it, whether we are willing or unwilling-for there will be "a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust." But he refers to it as a privilege. That can hardly be called a deliverance that takes a man out of a bad condition, and consigns him to a worse. What is it for a criminal to be led out of prison to be tried, and condemned, and executed? What is it for the body to be revived, but not renovated-inheriting the principles of all the evils entailed upon it by sin, and rendered

immortal for the duration of misery. The grave is better than hell. But while some will come forth unto the resurrection of damnation, others will come forth unto the resurrection of life-a resurrection that shall change the vile body, and fashion it like the Saviour's own glorious body-and complete all, that the Saviour has procured for us, and the Gospel has promised to us.

With regard to the acquisition of a share in this blessedness, the Apostle makes use of language that implies-valuation-difficulty-variety-submission: If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."

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It implies valuation of the object. Things may be important in themselves, and not prized by those whom they concern. And we see this with regard to the blessings of the Gospel; for though they are as superior to all wordly good, as the heavens are higher than the earth; yet men make light of them; and were we to judge of eternal salvation by the regard paid to it by the multitude, we should consider it a trifle unworthy a moment's serious thought. But what is it in the view of awakened souls? The "pilgrim," when leaving the City of Destruction, and implored by his friends and family to return, put his fingers in his ears, and ran, crying, Life! life! eternal life! Such wait for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. They hunger and thirst after righteousnesss. They count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus their Lord. "Every thing," says Paul, "compared with this, is nothing." This is the prize of my high calling. If I miss it, I am undone for ever. If I reach it, the possession will realize all my hopes and desires-The very prospect, as I can make it my own, enlivens and cheers me in all my labours and sufferings "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."