always greatest. wings as he cries,

And each seraph covers his face with his "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts."

"The more thy glories strike mine eyes

The humbler I shall lie;

Thus, while I sink, my joys shall rise
Unmeasurably high."

My Brother, regard the Bible as Moses did the burning bush. It stands out distinguished from all other books, as this bush from all the other plants, and shrubs, and trees, on Horeb's side, or on the wide-spread desert around. It flames with a supernatural light; the "angel of the Lord" is in it; and wondrous things thou shalt hear, and feel, if thou wilt turn aside, take off thy shoes, listen and enquire.

SUBJECT:-The Philosophy of True Courage.

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we way be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," &c.-2 Cor. v. 8-10.

Analysis of Homily the Hundred and Twenty-eighth.

THE word "confident" here means courageous. And courage is a quality of mind which mankind have, not only ever praised and prized, but generally misunderstood. It is often confounded with a reckless indifference to life, a brutal insensibility to danger, and sometimes with desperation itself. In the apostle's sense, it implied two things:

First Unavoidable perils and trials. What were they? Turn to the eighth, ninth, and tenth, verses of the preceding

*appéw occurs but in six other places of the New Testament, and in three of these it is rendered " bold," the idea we attach to it here. Therefore, we are bold, intrepid, courageous, &c.

chapter: "We are troubled on every side," &c. True courage implies, not only dangers, but unavoidable dangers. The man that rushes into danger is not courageous, but reckless.

Courage, in the apostle's sense, implied :—

Secondly: Intelligent views and convictions of being. Much of what is called courage on the battle-field, springs from an utter ignorance of what existence is; or at any rate, an entire destitution of all true views upon the question. But what were Paul's views of being?—the data-views from which he draws this "therefore"? Looking at the preceding verses, we discover four general ones.

(1.) He regarded the body as the organ of being. He speaks of the body as a "house"- -an "earthly house""tabernacle," and also, a clothing.

(2.) He regarded the soul as the personality of being. “WE that are in this house." His idea is, that the body is no more the man, than the house is the tenant, or the clothing the wearer. We may change our dwellings and our garments a thousand times, and yet be the same. The soul, not the body, is the I, or self of being.

(3.) He regarded death as only a change in the mode of being. A mere change in the house and garment.-not the extinction of the tenant or the wearer.

(4.) He regarded heaven as the perfection of being. It is "the house not made with hands eternal, in the heavens,”—the life that would swallow up death,-the being "present with the Lord." Such are, generally, his views, as developed in the

context.

But in the text these views are repeated in a somewhat modified, and in a more condensed form; and they enable us to say that the apostle's courage was based on three things:

I. A CONSCIOUSNESS THAT HIS DEATH WOULD NOT ENDANGER

THE INTERESTS OF BEING. That which gives a fear-awakening power to events, is the dread of death. The most malignant

disease would awaken no fear, were there not a dread of death in the patient. The fiercest hurricane that ever rushed on the bark of a mariner, or the loudest roar of musketry or cannon on the field of strife, would have no fear-awakening power without this. Let the fear be taken away, as it would assuredly where there was a consciousness that death would endanger no interest of being, and a man would then, like Paul, be always courageous.

Now, just observe the apostle's view of the interests of being, and the bearing of death upon them.

First Notice Paul's view of the interests of being. In what did he consider the highest interest of man to consist? In being "present with the Lord :" implying a scene where the Lord's presence is especially enjoyed. The highest aspiration of a loving heart is to be with the object of its love.

Secondly: Notice Paul's view of the bearing of death upon the interests of being. He regarded death as the flight of the spirit to the presence of its Lord. "Absent from the body," &c. A view of death this, opposed to the various errors of annihilation-purgatory-soul-sleep.

Thirdly Notice Paul's state of mind under the influence of these thoughts. "Willing rather," &c.

The apostle's courage was founded

II. ON A CONSCIOUSNESS THAT DEATH WOULD NOT DESTROY THE GREAT PURPOSE OF BEING. One of the great features that distinguish a rational, from a non-rational, existence is, that the former acts from a purpose, and the other does not -being the mere servant of blind instinct. Now, life is precious to a man, just in proportion to the felt importance of his grand purpose. Men without purpose, are almost indifferent to life. Hence too, the young man clings to life with a greater tenacity than the old, because he has but just committed himself to a purpose. The old has either fulfilled his purposes or renounced them; and he feels that he is too near the grave to form others. He is purposeless,

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and being so, life has but little hold upon his interests. man's sympathies and soul run into his purpose.

in his purpose.

A

He lives

The master purposes of men differ very widely. The object of some, is pleasure; of others, wealth; of others, to please God. This was Paul's grand purpose. "Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him."

If there be a God,

First: This purpose is reasonable. reason dictates, that to please Him ought to be the supreme purpose of intelligent natures.

:

Secondly This purpose is delightful. The highest happiness of a moral intelligence, is to please the chief object of its love.

Now, observe, death does not destroy this purpose. Death destroys the main purposes of the voluptuous, avaricious, and ambitious; and hence it is terrible to them: but it does not destroy the chief purpose of the christian. "Whether present or absent"-in all worlds and times-his chief purpose will be, to be "accepted of Him."

The apostle's courage was founded—

III. ON A CONSCIOUSNESS THAT DEATH WOULD NOT PREVENT THE REWARDS OF BEING. "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," &c. Success, whilst it should never be regarded as the rule of conduct, nor the test of character, must ever have an influence upon the mind of man in every department of labour. Non-success discourages. He, who in any sphere of worldly service, meets not with success, soon gets disheartened. It is both natural and right to look for it.

The christian labourer looks for it; but it does not appear here, at all proportioned either to his ardent desires, his costly instrumentality, or his self-denying efforts. Paul, no doubt, would like to have seen the full results of his labours in Philippi, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, &c.; and if death could have prevented a full realization, he would have

But

esteemed it an evil, and shrunk from it with fear. here he distinctly affirms an opposite conviction. "For we must all appear," &c. As if he had said, Although I am anxious to see the good results of my labours, and have seen but little, comparatively, as yet, I shall see them in the future! "For we must all appear," &c.

First Every one shall receive the recompense of labour. "We must all appear," &c. If some were to be absent, the doubt might awaken distress. A man might say, Some will appear in the great future to receive a reward, but I do not know whether I shall be there or not; and the doubt disturbs me.

Secondly: Every one shall
For every good deed.

deed.

receive a reward for every There shall be no lost labour.

And every "bad" deed, too, shall be recompensed. The apostle introduces the "bad," not in order to explain his courage and illustrate his general point, but rather, we think, to prevent a wrong conclusion being drawn from its omission. If he had spoken only of the "good" deed, it would have answered the purpose of his argument; but then it might have been inferred, that there would be no recompense for the "bad."

From all we have stated, it would appear that the apostle had the best of reasons for "always being confident," or courageous. True courage is a blessed thing. To stand fearlessly in peril, to rise buoyant above the pressure of trials, to struggle bravely against the opposing forces of life, to pursue duty over a stormy sea, or through a perilous road, and face death itself with a firm heart and a placid spirit, is a truly blessed thing. If we possess Paul's convictions of life and his spirit, we may have this sublime courage. Let us look at death, as he looked at death—as the flight of the spirit into the presence of its Lord. Is not fear of death a disgrace to the christian? "If," said Cicero, "I were now disengaged from my cumbrous body, and on my way to Elysium; and some superior being should meet me in my flight and make the offer of returning and remaining in my