tion shall have been felt by the sleeping dust, and realized by the glorified spirits of the redeemed of God, that there will be a meeting so grand, so noble, so glorious, that the imagination of the brightest poet, even in his happiest imaginings, has never conceived it. I believe I shall see Adam who first sinned, and was also first saved, and hear from his lips the story of Paradise lost, and Paradise regained. I shall see Enoch, and learn of one who never tasted death, but passed from the life that now is to the eternal world without having waded the narrow sea that flows between. I shall see Noah, and hear him relate the story of the ark,-what he felt, what he hoped, and how he trembled, how gloriously he was saved, and how happy he now feels. I shall meet with Moses the great prophet, and Aaron the great priest, with John the evangelist, and with Peter the apostle, and hear each tell the story of his trials, the secret of his triumphs, and the happiness he now feels when the battle is won-when the palm is in the hand, and the wreath of victory twined about the brow. shall see things that are now unseen, and taste joys that we have now no conception of; and if we felt all the grandeur and magnificence

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that awaits us in reversion, I do believe that, in the case of the children of God, the reluctance would not be to die, but to live; and that oftener would this cry rise from the very depths of the sanctified heart, "Oh that I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away, and that I might enter into that rest, and be with God for ever!" It is because we are so long accustomed to the old house, and so acquainted with all its nooks, its recesses, and its windings, that we do not like to leave it; but if we could only gaze upon that glorious palace, if we could only measure its splendid halls-those halls where the altar is Christ, where the floor is emerald, and the dome is sapphire, and the very dust is diamond-I am sure we should thirst and long for an entrance into that blessed city, which hath no need of sun nor of moon, for the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are the light thereof.

It is nearer than many of us think, and either it will soon come to us, or we must go to it; one or the other must be. If we are now the people of God, the partition-wall that separates it from us becomes thinner every day. One can feel the pulses of that great heart of love to which we

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shall soon draw near; one can almost hear, in rapt moments, the first notes of that glorious jubilee in which we shall take a part. We stand every moment on the verge of that great and unsounded sea. Are we ready to set sail? Are we clothed in the Redeemer's righteousness? Are we actuated by the Redeemer's spirit? Have we the humility of a Christian? Have we the humility of the soldier, the faith of the soldier, the trust of the soldier, recorded in the miracle? How is it that any one, with one foot in eternity and the other in time, not knowing into which section of eternity he is about to plunge, there to be for ever, can remain in such a state for one single day? Let me repeat the blessed truth: Salvation now, this very day, for the guiltiest of us all; instant pardon, glorious, sufficient pardon, through the blood of Jesus, for the chiefest of sinners. My dear friends, God's great grief is, if I may use such language, that we are always suspecting him to be a hard Egyptian task-master, instead of feeling of him, and flying to him, as to our Father. Father, go home, and watch the babe in the mother's bosom, and see where it finds its repose, where its rest and its confidence are; and learn that, great and gifted

and celebrated as you may be, it is only when you can become like that little babe, and feel toward God as that infant feels to its mother, that you will be a true, a happy, and exalted Christian.

LECTURE IV.

THE DISCIPLES IN THE STORM.

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, of a truth thou art the Son of God.-MATT. XIV. 22-33.

I BEG to introduce the beautiful miracle recorded in the passage I have read by some ad

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