and the world has reasserted its power, and all his energies are turned in another direction. It cannot be too deeply impressed on every heart that, without decision, without following the Lord wholly, there is neither happiness nor usefulness nor safety in religion.

"Turning from warning to promise, what a wonderful prophecy we have in the words, The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.'1 Every depth filled, every height covered, the deeps and the shallows alike full. What a world this will be, when every heart shall know Him, 'Whom to know is life eternal;' ' when all shall know Him, from the least unto the greatest,' and 'out of the abundance of the heart' every tongue shall tell of His goodness.

66

Then, not only to tell of the blessedness of the renewed earth, is the sea made to speak, but to tell also of the fulness of the joy, the glory, the praise of heaven itself. Again and again in the Revelation we find such words as these: 'And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters

... and they sung as it were a new song before the throne.'2 'And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters . . . saying, Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.'s

"One more thought before we close, as we must now, though not because our sea has nothing more to tell us. My favourite association with the sea is, that when the disciples were tossing on it in their little ship that stormy night, 'toiling in rowing, for the wind was contrary,' 'Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.' The very waves which seemed to separate them from Him, the pathway by which He came to them, walking on the sea, and speaking those undying words of comfort, 'It is I; be not afraid.""4

"Yes," said Mr. Arnold; "and that other storm, where He was with them in the ship, but asleep; so weary that all the tumult of wind and waves could not awake Him, yet at the first call of His weak and terrified disciples, He arose 1 Isa. xi. 9. 2 Rev. xiv. 2, 3. 3 Rev. xix. 6. 4 Matt. xiv. 24-27.

and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, ‘Peace, be still.' Gracious words of love and power.

"Shall we not all henceforth love and admire more and more this glorious sea; not only because of its sublime beauty, but for its sacred associations, and its many voices of teaching, warning, comfort, hope and promise ?"

Saved by Faith Alone.

A DYING CHRISTIAN'S TESTIMONY.

BY RUTH LAMB.

K. W.

OMETIME ago I stood by the sick bed of one who, during more than thirty years, had delighted to follow in the footsteps of her Divine Master, by going about and doing good.

The troubled had gone to her with their tale of sorrow, and never failed to find sympathy. The suffering were wont to rejoice when they saw her face beside the couch of pain, for she told of Him, the great Physician, both for the troubled soul and the diseased body. The poor went to her with the tale of want and privation, and she would do what she could to give them a supply for their immediate needs. But she did not stop there; she told them about Jesus, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, and who said of Himself: "The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head."

And then she would speak of the riches of His grace to poor sinners, and of the glorious inheritance awaiting those who had obtained peace through faith in the all-cleansing blood of Jesus.

And now she, who had ministered to so many, needed the ministration of loving hands, and lay in weakness and helplessness. But on the thin, wan face there was a smile; 1 Mark iv. 37-39.

and, though there were dark circles round the eyes, there was a glorious light from them, as raising them heavenward she said: "There is not a single cloud between me and my Lord. I can lie at peace without an anxious thought as to whether I shall ever rise from this bed again. I know that if my Father has any more work for His child to do, He will raise me up to do it. If not, I shall just go home."

Some one spoke of the many who were eagerly asking for news of her state, almost from hour to hour; poor wives and mothers, to whom the sight of her face had been like sunlight in the cottage doorway.

"Yes, for them I might wish to live.

But to depart and be with Christ is, for me, far better," she replied.

"You have always been labouring for others, and have done so much good,” said her friend.

But the dying disciple turned her eyes towards the speaker, and said: "I don't want to hear of anything I have ever done for Him. He will not forget the poorest service done for His sake. What I want is to think of nothing but what He has done for me." And then, almost in a whisper, she said: "Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us."

To Thy name be all the glory! God, by His Spirit, had truly wrought in her both to will and to do. Hers had truly been a life in the Spirit.

What a privilege to stand by such a dying bed as this to hear such a testimony, as to the love that made it bright to the departing disciple, to the faithfulness of Him whose promises are all Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus, and tested through many a past year; to the indwelling hope, clear as a noonday sky, without a cloud, and full of the glory shed by the Sun of Righteousness!

And yet, though the life which was fast drawing to a close had been exceptionally self-sacrificing, this servant of the Lord had no wish to hear of her own doings. What she wanted was to have constantly in her mind the thought

of what her Master had done for His servant. The thought of the life He lived and the death He died; of His being delivered for our offences, and raised again for our pardon and acceptance; and the example which He left being that we should tread in His steps, was her delight. These things were what she desired to realise continually. She desired to rest on these things for salvation, and not on anything that she had done.

As to these labours of love done for His sake, no fear that they would be forgotten by Him! Those who benefited by them here might forget. The troubled one who had sought comfort might think no more of her sympathy when the hour of trial had gone by. The sick, raised again from the bed of suffering and restored to health and strength, would perhaps cease to remember whose hand had smoothed the pillow and whose tongue had whispered cheering words. But the servant of the Lord could say, my "God is not unrighteous to forget." The book of remembrance written before Him is kept by no careless hand. It is enough for me that He knows.

66

They rest from their labours, and their works do follow them," is the testimony as regards the blessed dead.

But the gate of the heavenly home is thrown wide open, not for the sake of these things, but because Jesus put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

It was this precious thought which dispersed every cloud. Faith could leap at one bound from earth to heaven. Faith could pass beyond the sick chamber, and see the risen and glorified Saviour waiting to perform His promise and bid His disciple welcome at the entrance to the many mansions which make up the Father's house. Faith could claim, in the Saviour's perfect righteousness, that wedding garment which should make its wearer fit to sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

"All in Christ, nothing in me," were the words in which an aged servant of the Lord summed up all on which she founded her hope of heaven. He was the source to her

of peace and joy here, and the pledge of future glory. For, who can look into the heart and be satisfied with its thoughts and intents? Who can look into the life and feel there has been any merit in it, and that it is fit to present as a ground of acceptance before Him "who is of purer eyes than to behold evil," and who cannot look upon iniquity? Who can bear even to examine those works in which they have found the greatest satisfaction, or say that the constraining motive in each was nothing but the love of Christ?

So we come back to the place from which we started, and confess that the only course for us is to close our eyes to any thought of merit in ourselves as a procuring cause of our salvation, and say, like the dying saint, whose deathbed knew no surrounding cloud: "I don't want to hear of anything I have ever done for Him. What I want is to think of nothing but what Jesus has done for me."

This be my joy, dear Lord,

To lie and think of Thee;

By faith to see the work

Which Thou hast wrought for me.

This thought alone can bring

Peace to the troubled breast,

I need but to believe;

My Lord has done the rest.

My works! Oh, name them not!
No praise, no thanks be mine ;
Should aught of good be found,
The glory, Lord, is Thine.

Now helpless here I lie,

With this my only plea:

I was a sinner lost,

But Jesus died for me!