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commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

Then I saw in my dream, that the shining men bid them call at the gate; the which when they did, some from above looked over the gate, to wit, Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, &c., to whom it was said, these pilgrims are come from the city of Destruction, for the love that they bear to the King of this place; and then the pilgrims gave in unto them, each man his certificate, which they had received in the beginning; those therefore were carried in unto the King, who, when he had read them, said, Where are the men? To whom it was answered, They are standing without the gate. The King then commanded to open the gate, "that the righteous nation," said he, "that keepeth the truth, may enter in."

Now I saw in my dream, that these two men went in at the gate; and lo, as they entered, they were transfigured; and they had raiment put on that shone like gold. There was also that met them, with harps and crowns, and gave them to them: the harps to praise withal, and the crowns in token of honour. Then I heard in my dream, that all the bells in the city rang again for joy; and that it was said unto them, "Enter ye into the joy of our Lord." I also heard the men themselves, that they sang with a loud voice, saying, "Blessing, honour, glory, and power, be to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever."

Now, just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked in after them, and behold the city shone like the sun; the streets also were paved with gold, and in them walked many men with crowns on their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps to sing praises withal.

There were also of them that had wings; and they answered one another without intermission, saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord." And after that, they shut up the gates; which, when I had seen, I wished myself among them.

1. What river is here meant and what gate?

2. What mortals have arrived at the gate without crossing the river?

3. What answer was returned to the question "Are the waters all of one depth"? 4. What did Christian say when he began to sink?

5. With what words did Hopeful cheer him?

6. What was Christian's reply to this, and what happened to him afterwards?

7. What fears and temptations assailed him?

8. With what words did Hopeful try to dispel his fears?

9. Quote the words about the death of the wicked.

10. Repeat the words which dispelled Christian's fears.

11. Who met them at the other side? 12. What made the ascent of the hill so easy now?

13. Describe in the language of the

Shining Ones the New Jerusalem,-as to 17. What happened when the men enits inhabitants, their dress,-their em-tered the gate? ployment, &c.

14. What words were written over the gate?

15. What did the Pilgrims hand in? 16. What gracious command did the King of the Celestial City give?

18. From the glimpse of the glorious city that the dreamer got, what did he exclaim?

19. Tell me the only way to that most glorious place.

THE SAVING CHANGE.

Test, v. (L. testis), to try by experiment; to put to the proof. As-cer-tain', v. (L. ad, certus), to make one's self sure; to find out. Posed', p.p. (L. positus), lit. placed or fixed, hence put to a stand; perplexed; puzzled.

Hyp'o-crite, n. (Gr. hypocrites), a

John Muir, D.D. dissembler or pretender in religion. Ex-tor'tion-er, n. (L. ex, tortum), one who wrests anything from a person by force or illegal means. At-trib ́ute, v. (L. ad, tribuo), to give as due; to ascribe; to impute.

God does not alter the course of nature without, but He alters what is equal to it, the course of nature within. He alters men's desires, tastes, feelings, and such like; and that is the most satisfying evidence that can be given to any man, that God, who hath begun the good work within him, will perform that good work to the day of Jesus; and that as sure as God is in the heavens, that man shall be taken up to dwell in the house of the Lord. Now, not to enlarge upon this idea particularly, my friends, it would seem that there are three testing questions that people may put to themselves to ascertain whether or not the course of nature be changed for the better within.

First. What think we of Christ? You are aware, when Christ put that question to the twelve, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" the twelve replied that they took Him either for John the Baptist, or for Elias or for Jeremiah, or for some other of the Old Testament prophets; taking Him to be a mere law-monger, shall I call it ? or a mere teacher of the law, thinking that Christ came to proclaim the moral law to men, with new sanctions and penalties, and that He was to be regarded in the light of a mere lawgiver. But He put the question again to the twelve, "But whom say ye that I am?" and when Peter replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," He approved of that answer. Now I say, what do we think of Christ? If conscience, posed with

the question, shall reply, "Well, we can form no other opinion of Christ than that He is a lawgiver, come to give us law, and to judge us by the law, and to condemn those who do not keep that law;" then I say, we are not in Christ-we have not been taught that Christ is the Saviour by the Holy Spirit. But if we can honestly reply that we view Christ in the light of a Saviour-one sent of God to assume our nature, that, by living and dying in our room and stead, He might open up heaven to believers; then I say, we are taught of God; for do you know what Christ answered to Peter? Christ said, "Blessed art thou, Simon-Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.' And if any one of us can say honestly, "We have ceased from viewing Christ in the light of a mere lawgiver, and we view Him now in the light of a Saviour," then we may rest assured that the course of nature within us is changed, and that He who hath begun the good work of renewing the soul will perform the same unto the day of Jesus. Another of these questions is, "What think ye of the people of Christ?" Sirs, there are people called the people of Christ in this fallen world; and whenever God finds no more people of Christ in the world, He will bring it to a speedy close; for it is kept up for the people of God to stand upon, and to be a place to fit them for heaven and for glory. So there are people of God round about us, if we can find them out; and if we can find such people-people who are living upon Jesus Christ, looking to Him for everything they require, and lifting up prayer to Him continually; and people who are trying to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man—what think ye of these people? At the day of judgment, those who are on the right hand are taken up into heaven; and the ground of their being taken up is, that when Christ, in the person of His own believing people, was hungry, they gave Him to eat; and the kindness was accounted as kindness shown to Christ himself, and a sign of their love to Christ. But those on the left hand are found to have had no regard for the people of God, and they are assumed thereby to have shown no regard to Christ himself; and it would be impossible to make this people happy by taking them up into heaven; for how can they enjoy heaven where Christ is their all and in all, and all that are there cast their crowns before Him, and give Him the glory of all, and take no credit to themselves? Now what think we of the

people of Christ? If we can say, "We think of them as the best of mankind, who, though not always the wisest in science and literature, yet they are always the wisest for God and for eternity; and we will go far to serve them whenever they require our aid;" if we can say that, then we have good eviIdence that the course of nature within us is altered. But if, on the other hand, we say, as many people say, “We hate them because they are hypocrites, and we have no desire to serve them," then we do not yet love God, and the course of nature is not changed within us; as we prefer those who are not His people to those who believe in Christ, and love Him, and obey Him. Or take another question, to ascertain whether the course of nature within be changed, or whereby we may know whether we are to go up into heaven when we die; and the question is, "What think we of our own selves?" You know that Christ uttered a parable of this kind. He says, "Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee said, God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all I possess." The other man, called a publican, stood afar off in the temple, and was seen beating on his breast, and saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner." "I tell you," says our Lord, "that this man went up to his house justified rather than the other." Now what think we of ourselves? If we think of ourselves as the Pharisee thought of himself, that we are very good indeed, perhaps too good to live long, we have never been taught by God. But if we are disposed to think very meanly of ourselves, and attribute all to the free grace of God, be sure we are taught of God. And this change of nature within, producing the opinion we entertain of our own selves, is a proof that God has begun the good work within us, and we may be confident of this, that He will perfect it in the day of Jesus.

1. What change must the sinner undergo before he can hope to go to heaven? 2. How may the reality of this change be ascertained?

3. In what light did the disciples view Christ at first?

4. Give Peter's answer to Christ's question "Whom say ye that I am?"

5. What did Jesus say regarding this

answer?

6. How does Christ regard any kindness shown to his followers on earth?

7. If we hate the people of God what does this clearly prove?

8. What opinion did the Pharisee, spoken of here, hold of himself?

9. What did the poor Publican think of himself?

10. Of whose views did our Saviour approve?

FURY NOT IN GOD.

From a Sermon, by DR. CHALMERS, on Isaiah, vii. 3—5.

"Fury is not in me; who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me."

You misunderstand the text then my brethren, if you infer from it that fury has no place in the history or methods of God's administration. It has its time and its occasion-and the very greatest display of it is yet to come, when the earth shall be burned up, and the heavens shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; and they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." It makes one shudder seriously to think that there may be some here present whom this devouring torrent of wrath shall sweep away; some here present who will be drawn into the whirl of destruction, and forced to take their descending way through the mouth of that pit where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched; some here present who so far from experiencing in their own persons that there is no fury in God, will find that throughout the dreary extent of one hopeless and endless and unmitigated eternity, it is the only attribute of His they have to do with. But hear me, hear me ere you have taken your bed in hell; hear me, ere that prison-door be shut upon you which is never, never again to be opened! hear me, hear me ere the great day of the revelation of God's wrath come round, and there shall be a total breaking up of that system of things which looks at present so stable and so unalterable! On that awful day I might not be able to take up the text and say that there is no fury in God. But oh! hear me, for your lives hear me on this day I can say it. From the place where I now stand I can throw abroad amongst you the wide announcement—that there is no fury in God; and there is not one of you into whose heart this announcement may not enter, and welcome will you be to strike with your beseeching God a league of peace and of friendship that shall never be broken asunder. Surely when I am busy at my delegated employment of holding out the language of entreaty, and of sounding in your ears the tidings of gladness, and of inviting you to enter into the vineyard of

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