for the moment when we shall be like Him! What an attitude is it to look at the frailty and groan beneath the burden of these vile bodies, and anticipate the hour when they shall be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body; to look back to the memory of the patriarchs, apostles, and prophets; to the muster-roll of the confessors and martyrs; to the great family of the redeemed of every age and nation; to remember the loved and lost, the friends with whom we took sweet counsel, the humble and holy wise, who instructed us, who now sleep in Jesus; and then to anticipate the time when the greedy grave shall give them back to us; and when we shall gather around our Lord, with the general assembly and Church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven, when everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, and they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away; and the joy of meeting shall be dashed by no fear of coming separation; and the beauty of holiness shall be marred by no stain of sin; to look on the sadness of creation, lovely even in its ruins; to hear its groans through all its feigned joy, and anticipate the hour when He who in the beginning said, "Let there be light," shall say, "Behold I make all things new!" and straightway the flush of eternal beauty shall spread over the face of emancipated nature; to look round on the meanness of avarice, the loathsomeness of vice, the littleness of pride, the emptiness of gaiety, the ceaseless surging of the sea of mortal trouble; to see the proud triumph of the wicked, to hear the groans of the oppressed, to catch, even at a distance, the wail and the shout of the battle-field, and to feel the quaking tumult into which the social system is rushing; and then, from all this, to look calmly out for the glorious forthcoming of the King of kings, to put down all might and dominion, and establish a kingdom of righteousness,

peace, and love, which shall never be destroyed! This is an attitude worthy of the children of God, and the only attitude which becomes them. This is a hope which may well endure all trials, and which must purify the soul as Christ himself is pure. We wait for the coming of the Son of God from heaven, desiring to be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless.

BRIDE OF THE LAMB, AWAKE!”

BRIDE of the Lamb, awake! awake!

Why sleep for sorrow now?

The hope of glory, Christ, is thine,
A child of glory thou.

Thy spirit, through the lonely night,
From earthly joy apart,

Hath sigh'd for one that's far away,-
The Bridegroom of thy heart.
But see! the night is waning fast,
The breaking morn is near;
And Jesus comes with voice of love,
Thy drooping heart to cheer.

He comes-for oh! his yearning heart
No more can bear delay-

To scenes of full unmingled joy

To call his bride away.

This earth, the scene of all his woe,

A homeless wild to thee,

Full soon upon his heavenly throne

Its rightful King shall see.

Thou, too, shalt reign,-he will not wear

His crown of joy alone;

And earth his royal bride shall see,

Beside him on the throne.

Then weep no more-'tis all thine own,

His crown, his joy divine;

And sweeter far than all beside,

He, he himself, is thine.

"THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE."

MANY are attracted by the beauty of the last discourse of Jesus with his disciples before he went out to suffer, who cannot appropriate its wealth of heavenly consolation. To them it is like a fountain pouring in living joy from a lofty and inaccessible rock. The traveller stops to gaze with delight on its sparkling beauty, though he cannot reach its waters to quench his thirst. But to the Church of God, what wells of consolation are here! From the hour of its utterance, an hour of peace amid gathering storms, the sweet stream of its comfort has flowed on through the wilderness; pilgrims of all ages have drank their fill, and it flows on fresh and full as ever.

The Lord here unfolds the distinguishing truths of the present dispensation, and though it has an aspect of peculiar tenderness towards those who had been the companions of his earthly pilgrimage, through them he conveys the assurances of his love to his people during all the period of his absence. Those among whom he had gone in and out, in the sensible reality of an every-day companionship, were taught to confide in his love and his care when they saw him no more. Just as they believed in God who was invisi ble, so we love him unseen; and, though now we see him not, yet believing in him, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

The assurance, "In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you," is not a hope of the future, as though he would describe the eternal

blessedness of his people as a condition in which each shall enjoy his separate dwelling, his solitary cell it is a comfort for the present. If this earth had been the only spot where, as the Son of Man, he could dwell, he would not have concealed the truth from them. But in the universe, which is our Father's house, there are many mansions; and so, though he disappeared from earth, he continues to live, and the relationship between him and his people is undissolved. He is still in the Father's house; and does not forget his brethren. "For," says he, "I go to prepare a place for you;" not that He, by whom and for whom all things were created, is occupied in the laborious construction of a local habitation for us, but he has gone to make good our acceptance, and to maintain our place in the family, and in the family inheritance. He ascended as well as descended for us; on the throne as well as upon the cross he is ours. And he will return for us, for His love will not be satisfied with sending blessings which we may enjoy in his absence. He must have us where he is; when he comes again he will not be like a wayfaring man who turns aside to tarry for a night, but the mutual love of Christ and his Church will be satisfied in eternal association and fellowship.

But in this view of his departure and of his appearance in the presence of God for us, we have an intimation of what distinguishes believers in this dispensation from all who went before them. To the worshippers under the former dispensation, everything about the temple and temple service, spoke of a Saviour to come, and a propitiation to be set forth; but nothing in the typical system could make them perfect as pertaining to the conscience. "The way into the holiest was not yet made manifest;" they all stood without, while the high priest went once every year into the presence of the Lord, and they rejoiced when he came forth unscathed, to bless the people. But

now these types are all fulfilled-the true sacrifice for sin has been offered—the true high priest has entered once for all into the true sanctury, and when we look upward, he is there, and there for us. "Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith; having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." To believers He is "the way, the truth, and the life," for in Him we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. Christless reader, Christ is the only way, the truth, and the life; and we desire to speak of Him to you in these three views of His character and office:

CHRIST IS THE WAY.-The word way signifies a path by which some given place may be reached; or, if we say the way, we mean the only path by which it can be reached. In God alone can the soul find full blessedness, and when Jesus says, "I am the way," he means to say that it is through him alone that the soul can enter into this blessedness as He says without a figure, "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Perhaps the announcement that you are estranged from God, that you are guilty and condemned, and the wrath of God abideth on you, is very familiar to you, and perhaps, it does not at present convey any startling and alarming import to your heart. You know that you are more than willing to forget God. Probably there have been times when you would willingly have accepted the destiny of the beasts that perish to escape the thought of meeting with Him; or you may have envied them their unreflecting enjoyment of existence, undisturbed by thoughts of a terrible hereafter. But the truth still remains, that it sums all the pitiful and appalling desola