prophet, or the silent Bible, yet longs to get above all intervening ministries and mediums to behold His face.

6. This implies all our mortal disabilities gone, so that we shall look upon His face without death. No more necessary and merciful thrusting into the rock; no more omnipotence in the guise of a wrestling man; no more images of the Invisible; no more the all-glorious God toned down to bearableness by the darkened glass. "As He is."

7. There is a depth of meaning in this particularly applicable to John. He was particularly one of the children of the bridechamber. John understood more of Christ than any other. He was more to John than to any other. The presence of the Bridegroom was their festival. His absence was the hour of sorrow and fasting. The mourning and fasting of His colleagues was finished. They had been summoned to the marriage feast. John was waiting like a bereaved, sorrowful spouse, hence he exclaims, "We shall see Him as He is."

8. "As He is." What recollections John had of what He was. "As He is," not now crushed by sorrow, not now crowned with thorns, not now the object of the rude military jest, or brutal malice. "As He is," crowned with the many crowns, centre of universal love.

9. The joy seems doubly John's, but yet not less ours. We are children of the bride-chamber. It is our time of mourning and fasting, for our Spouse is absent, "Whom having not seen we love." But our love shall not for ever have to climb up to Him through the spheres. Even to us the Bridegroom shall appear. Even "we shall see Him as He is." This hope is the inspiration of our prolonged and ever deepening affection.

MORPETH.

JOHN HOGG.

"He who brings ridicule to bear against Truth, finds in his hand a blade without a hilt. The most sparkling and pointed flame of wit flickers and expires against the incombustible walls of her sanctuary."— LANDOR.

A Threefold Character.

JUDAS, ONE OF THE TWELVE."-Matthew xxvi. 47. “JUDAS, WHICH HAD BETRAYED HIM."-Matthew xxvii. 3. "JUDAS WENT AND HANGED HIMSELF."-Matthew xxvii. 5.

THESE three are one. Here is a strange trinity, and a terrible tragedy. A more remarkable instance of treble-dealing could not well be found. In the first passage the dealing of Christ with Judas is implied; in the second the dealing of Judas with Christ is spoken of; and in the third the dealing of Judas with himself is made known. The Saviour called this man to be " one of the twelve;" this man chose "to betray" his Lord, and, after committing such a mean, dastardly act, he had the decency to go and "hang himself." Thus a threefold character is fully, fairly, and foully established. Cords may be improved by folds, but characters are completely destroyed by such encumbrances. Every strand added to simplicity only serves to mar the strength and beauty thereof, which consist in just the mere one fold. The first remove from this prime excellency of character is duplicity, and that is doubly detestable. But here is a man who has obtained the unenviable distinction of occupying a place, still further apart from that quality, which is the chief adornment of human character. Consider him as Disciple, Traitor, and Suicide.

I. THE DISCIPLE. How came he, in the first place, to be numbered with the twelve is a question, like many others, that is easier asked than answered. Judas, among the disciples of Christ! It is impossible not to express wonderment at such a phenomenon! An interrogation of this kind suggests itself forcibly to the mind, "Friend"-or rather Foe of Jesus-" how camest thou in hither?" Of all persons in the world how ever didst thou contrive to obtain part of this ministry? Is it not distinctly stated in Holy Writ that "Unto the wicked God saith,

what hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest My words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief then thou consentedst with him." And yet, here is the veriest thief, passing as an accredited apostle of the Lord Jesus. Could the Master of the small band of disciples have been deceived in the case of this one dishonest follower? That is incredible. For "He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man.” Could He then have wished to deceive the outer world as to the real character of those chosen few, who composed the inner circle of His disciples, and who formed the very nucleus of His Church? That supposition is more untenable still. He never claimed infallibility for them. Though they enjoyed the highest privileges, in constant companionship with, and closest relationship to, the Divine Teacher, yet they were all very human, and this one, in particular, beyond the rest. At no period in its history, from its foundation until now, has the Church of Christ been wholly made up of "saints made perfect." That is a state at which it will only arrive in glory. Unfortunately, many there are, to this day, who claim to belong to the Church of Christ, who produce no manner of title to show that they are vitally related to the Christ of the Church. The original type and pristine character are still maintained. Iscariot the counterfeit will ever be found alongside Nathanael the genuine -"the Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."

II. THE TRAITOR. Men are not what they seem.” Treacherous he was. He only appeared true. Inside the sheep's clothing there lurked a ravening wolf. Disciple was but an assumed appellation, betrayer was his appropriate epithet, and as such, he will evermore be branded to the end of time: His place in history must remain unique, his foul deed unparalleled, and his black crime without a possible match, or even an approximate repetition.

Peter's denial of his Lord, though strongly emphasised and profanely backed with oaths, seems but mild presumption when

compared with the base, daring act of Judas, which for very blackness cannot be depicted. The former was unpremeditated, and committed in a weak moment, at the strong impulse of the occasion, but the latter was planned and plotted, and deliberately carried out in cold blood. So dark a plot could not be hatched in a day; it was the mature result of long brooding, and so diabolically successful was he in the hypocrite's part he played, that he does not appear to have excited the least suspicion. Verily "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

III.—THE SUICIDE. There, at length, is the bitter end. From step to step the course of this man has been seen growing gradually worse and darker by degrees, until, finally, it is abruptly cut short, and he landed in darkness, as darkness itself.

At an early stage in his discipleship he showed unmistakeable signs of a false and lying spirit within, which, through want of diligent attention to the heart, whence are the issues of life, and lack of good heed to the timely warning, "Beware of covetousness," developed steadily into deep-rooted love of money, and insatiable greed for gold. Hence the tragic terminationdisappointment, desperation, and death. It is ever so in sin. Its natural direction is downwards; and, as a rule, it is a slow descent. All they that walk its ways are "surely set in slippery places." Its course is like that of a river, ever deepening and ever widening as it flows onwards. Its progress is as that of a stone, ever gaining increased momentum as it rolls down hill. Its growth is similar to that of a tree, ever striking its roots deeper and faster into the earth, as it pushes its branches skywards. The hopeful disciple, at the beginning, through a heart he had long "exercised with covetous practices," becomes in the end a hopeless, miserable felo de se.

"Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death "-obsta principiis. The sinner is condemned, the Saviour is justified, God is true, though every man be a liar.

CANTERBURY.

DAVID THOMAS.

Christian Progress.

"AND BESIDE THIS, GIVING ALL DILIGENCE, ADD TO YOUR FAITH VIRTUE; AND TO VIRTUE KNOWLEDGE; AND TO KNOWLEDGE TEMPERANCE; AND TEMPERANCE PATIENCE; AND TO PATIENCE GODLINESS; AND TO GODLINESS BROTHERLY KINDNESS; AND TO BROTHERLY KINDNESS CHARITY. FOR IF THESE THINGS BE IN YOU, AND ABOUND, THEY MAKE YOU THAT

ΤΟ

YE SHALL NEITHER BE BARREN NOR UNFRUITFUL IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. BUT HE THAT LACKETH THESE THINGS IS BLIND, AND CANNOT SEE AFAR OFF, AND HATH FORGOTTEN THAT HE WAS PURGED FROM HIS OLD SINS."-2 Peter i. 5-9.

IN these verses notice

I.—THE GRACES THE CHRISTIAN MUST CULTIVATE. (a) Add to your faith courage. The word denotes force, energy, strength, manly vigour. Courage was needed in making a profession of religion in times of persecution, and we need it now. (b) Add to courage prudence. The apostle means full and exact information of spiritual truths, and also discretion in the wise application of that knowledge to the important duties of life. (c) Add to prudence self control; that is, a complete mastery over our appetites, and passions, and affections. (Compare 1 Cor. ix. 26, 27.) (d) Add to self control patience. Learn to bear trials without murmuring; disappointments without vexation; afflictions without fretfulness; and bereavements with submission to the will of God. (e) Add to patience piety. Seek to gain daily, amid all the trials of life, a deeper reverence for God, a more loving trust in Him, and a clearer consciousness of His favour. (f) Add to piety love to the Christian brotherhood. (g) Add to this love a love still greater, even love to all mankind. Remember the command of Jesus, "Love your enemies," &c. This is the complete circle of the Christian graces, cultivate each and all of them with diligence. Notice

II. THE BENEFITS ARISING FROM THE CULTIVATION OF THESE GRACES.

(a) The activities of life are developed. "If these graces be in you, and are increasing, ye will not be idle." The true