the Lord comforting His beloved servant, when he fell at His feet as dead; "Fear not, I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Rev. i. 17, 18. Yes, beloved, it is Jesus risen, the exalted Conqueror of all our enemies, yea, the Abolisher of death, that faith lays hold of, and hope rejoices in. It is the Lord Himself that is the full consummation of our hope. To see Him, to be like Him, and with Him for ever, is the sure and cherished expectation of redeemed souls; for they well know, it is only in His presence, that there is "fulness of joy ;"-only at His right hand, that there are "pleasures for evermore." And verily this blessed hope is secure in Him, who is our Surety and Forerunner, and who now appears in the presence of God for us. Our path may be sometimes trackless and dark; the waves of tribulation may roll over us, and the foaming billows of adversity seem to lie hard against us; but through grace we are anchored. We may be tossed about by the terrible commotions of temptation, sorrow, and suffering, but faith has linked us securely to the Anchor within the veil; and therefore, knowing this, we can patiently "hope for that we see not." We may often feel distressed by present things, but faith gives quietness and rest, by beholding Him, who is our unchangeable Friend, and "sure and stedfast" Hope: for,

Though many foes beset us round,
And feeble is our arm,

Our life is hid with Christ in God,
Beyond the reach of harm.

Does not this precious scripture, when realized in the power of the Holy Ghost, give comfort and encouragement to our souls? We know in whom we have believed, and to whom we "have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us ;" and we are sure that "He is faithful that promised:" "He cannot deny Himself." Then doth it not become us, while contemplating these glorious realities, to sing, "my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise."

GOD, OR HIS GIFTS.

It is the constant tendency of the heart, to seek satisfaction in the gift apart from the giver, and thus a thing good in itself may be the means of turning our hearts from God, "the Fountain of living waters." Jer. ii. 13. We shall do well often to ask ourselves the question, am I now loving God because of what He is in Christ, or according to His providential dealings with me? Faith says, "the LORD is my portion;" it takes every thing from the Father's hands, enjoys His gifts in His presence, and uses them for His glory.

FOR THE LORD'S LITTLE ONES.

THE GUILELESS ISRAELite.

John i. 45-51.

51

IT may be easily perceived that the great business of the Lord through the early chapters in St. John's Gospel, is to beget in us such an apprehension of Him as suits inners; so that if he be approached as a teacher, or a king, or a doer of miracles, or a judge, He refuses the approach, and lets all know, that they are welcome to Him only when they come as sinners to a Saviour; or, when they discern in Him the glory of the only begotten of the Father, seeing in Him a fulness of grace and truth.

This might be shewn from all the cases recorded in these precious chapters. But I am looking specially now only at Nathanael.

In the ardour and generosity of a new-found heavenly joy, the earliest disciples are for telling out the news, and bringing others to share the presence of Jesus with them. In this way Nathanael is brought into the scene, "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, we have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Philip had already shared the joy with Andrew, and Peter,

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and others, and he now delights to communicate it to Nathanael.

But the work had already been begun, the journey had already been entered upon, in the person of Nathanael. Philip's word rather found his soul in a quickened condition, than produced any such thing. His answer, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" is not the language of popular prejudice, though such words may have been, I doubt not, common on the lips of scorners; but it is the language of a soul just emerging from a spot, where deep searchings had led to some humbling and disturbed experiences in the heart and conscience.

The Spirit of Christ had led Nathanael to the fig tree ere the voice of Philip had called him. And there, in that solitude, he had been convicted of sin. He had been there in the temper of Israel, when the families. shall be apart, and their wives apart, under the Spirit of grace and supplication; or in company with those who in the day of repentance shall mourn, tabering like doves on their breasts. Zech. xii. Nahum ii. By confessing, he had been acquiring, (in the Divine reckoning) the character of a guileless Israelite, Psalm xxxii. 2. And moving forth from his solitude, in such a mind, meet he who he may, he could not forget himself. Little disposed must such a soul have been to join in the language of the scorner, or to esteem any other (Nazarene or Galilean, or even heathen man or

publican) worse than himself; but he might well be prepared to listen to anything, however strange, even such tidings, as that the chief good, the good of all good, was to be found in Nazareth: for all things were now becoming new to him. He went, therefore, at once, at the bidding of Philip. He would walk to Nazareth; for a convicted soul can call nothing common or unclean, but itself. If Nazareth be vile, Nathanael, in Nathanael's thoughts, is viler still. Any thing or any place may be good enough for him. He rises at once to "slay and eat," to have fellowship even with Galilee. Precious is such workmanship of the Spirit of God! Precious such experience of the soul;-conviction and confession, apart even from wife or children, under the operation of the Spirit of grace and supplication! Precious in Christ's esteem. It is perhaps the first, but is a sure step onward to Him, begun in His own Spirit. The Spirit had sent Nathanael under the fig tree, as he afterwards sent Zaccheus up into the sycamore.

This readiness of Nathanael to go to Nazareth is very beautiful and very significant of the state of his soul. Jesus knows him as thoroughly as He knew the rich man of Jericho. He had been in Spirit with him under the fig tree, as He had been in Spirit with Zaccheus along the road, through the crowd, and up the sycamore. Therefore, He at once salutes Nathanael on the ground of the Divine estimation of him-"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" As he salutes