be surprised, or find any difficulty, with verse 17, which says, "Herein is love with us made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world." Surely, if He has put away all that was ours, and has given us all that is His, we must be as He is, we could not be anything else. And this is true to faith now, though still encompassed with many infirmities, and surrounded with the evil of this world; and the blessed Lord in the very centre of heaven's brightest glory! yet the marvellous truth remains the same, "As he is, so are we in this world." This is true preparation for a sick-bed, a death-bed, the judgment-seat; or, for the Lord's coming to take us up collectively to be with Himself. There is nothing vague or indefinite in the word of God. All truth is absolute and positive. The intelligent believer can say,-As Christ is in the glory, so am I, though still in the world; he may be feeble and suffering, poor and needy, or active and vigorous in service, and surrounded with innumerable mercies, the truth remains unchanged and unchangeable. As He is, so are we in this world. This alone gives boldness in the day of judgment. Oh, that all who read this paper may lay these truths seriously to heart! Nothing less will secure a happy eternity! But what must that heaven be when all are perfect as Christ, and one with Him in His dignities and glories! All that we were as guilty sinners, root and branch, the cross has completely taken away; all that Christ is as the risen and glorified Man is made ours through faith in Him; He gave Himself for us. What an overwhelming thought this truth gives of a believer's entrance into heaven! To enter in the full credit of Christ Himself; and that, whether we go up individually or collectively, is more than we can realise. It is difficult to grasp, to believe, yet it is the plain truth of God. We may assent to it when another repeats it; or we may learn to say it ourselves, but do we live in the power and enjoyment of it? If so, the world will soon find its true place in our sight, and Christ His right place in our thoughts and affections. But But this paper has been written chiefly for those who are unprepared for a death-bed and the judgment-seat. Leave not, my dear reader, this all-important question until the doctor has pronounced your case hopeless. Then you may be unfit to think of anything seriously. Surely it is a solemn thing to die! All feel this. it is a terrible thing for the unprepared! To stand before the tribunal of God in all thy sins, what must thy sentence be? There can only be one-" Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." The curse of God is inseparable from sin. And there is no appeal from this tribunal; the sentence is final; and thou must take thy place with those evil angels in the depths of woe, woe, unutterable. No friendly smile will ever greet thee there. None of the inhabitants of that region of despair ever smile; they only weep and wail and gnash their teeth in self-reproach, and blaspheme the God of holiness. Think, oh think of this now, my dear reader! Thou hast seen what a state of unmingled biessedness the believer enjoys after he leaves this world; but for the unbeliever, there is nothing but eternal misery. The thought is overwhelming; my heart breaks for thee. Neglect not, I beseech thee, this great salvation. It is full, it is free, it is everlasting, it waits thy acceptance! reject not the Saviour of sinners, or thy portion may be amongst the lost, the desolate, the forsaken, where no friendly voice will ever be heard, where no ray of hope can ever enter, and where thy soul must sink beneath the weight of thy sins in endless despair. Turn, oh turn to Jesus now; look, oh look to Jesus now; believe, oh believe in Jesus now; trust, oh trust to Jesus now; then that word will surely be for thee, "Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Psalm ii. "MY FATHER'S HOUSE." Он what a home! The Father's house, There love divine doth rest; No other spot can hold the hearts Of those by Jesus blest. His home made ours-His Father's love Our heart's full portion given The portion of the only Son, The great delight of heaven. Oh what a home! The Father knows And only He-the Son: The Son well knows the Father too, His well-beloved One: Dwells in His bosom-knoweth all And came to earth to make it known. That we might share His joys. That He must fetch us there, To fill that home, to be with him, And all His glory share. The Father's house, the Father's heart, Made ours-the objects of His love- THE HEAD PEW-OPENER. A WOMAN, who had been "Head Pew-opener" in a church in London for forty years, was remarkable for her Pharisaism. She had never missed "church" during all that lengthy period; on saint-days and Sundays she was regularly at her post. The vestments, the wine, the bread, the alms-boxes were all under her care and supervision, nor would she, for the world, allow things so "holy" to be touched by other hands, if she could help it. The cleaning, sweeping, lighting were done by others; her charge was the "holy things" to cut the bread into cubes of equal size, to decant the wine into the chalice, to see that the vestments were properly pre pared, and conveniently hung, for the incumbent, on one hook, and for the curate, on the other, in the vestry; to usher the "better class" of pew-holders into their seats, and those only; to supervise the operations of the other pew-openers, and scold the old beadle occasionally, were her duties, and privileges too. Always there, and joining in all the prayers and responses, listening to the reading of the Bible, and to some thousands of sermons, exact in all her duties, moral in her life, and without a stain upon her character, surely she was fit, if ever woman was, for heaven, "when it should please God that her time was come." Do not you think so, my reader? Forty years of regular attendance on public worship-week-days, saint-days, and Sundays-think of that! Well, she did think of it, and it gave her profound satisfaction. If it be true that "'Tis religion that must give 'Tis religion must supply. Solid comfort when we die," she had enough "religion" for half-a-dozen ordinary people, and it would seem she thought so. As to the Bible, she had heard it read so often in church, that she knew it pretty well by heart, and the Prayer-book too, of course. Besides the regular religious services called public worship, she, as "Head Pew-opener," was always present at baptisms, marriages, and funerals, and had attended them so often, that she was an authority on the whole subject to every new curate just from college, |