which resists the temptations of the devil the world §• the flash by these means which God has appointed.

"Watch and pray, that ye be not led into temptation" "He that is faithful unto death shall receive the crown of life!"

THE HUMAN HEART.

This Heart represents one who is "called, chosen, and faithful." One who can say, "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory."

In addition to the preceding stages of the new life, this veteran in faith and experience has stood stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in good works, when assaulted by the combined powers of this world's darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. He stands fast on the Rock of Ages. "The Law of God is in hi heart, none of his steps shall slide.”

That heart is fortified by a triple reflection of uncreated Light. It cannot be taken by surprise, because its will and affections are responding to every claim which infinite Love has on the new Life of blessedness and peace.

His power to resist temptation is in the Omnipotent Word. There is now no condemnation for such a character. Neither death nor life, nor any created thing can separate him from the love of Christ, which is the life-breath of his existence. The world is under his feet: he looks down upon the smoke and bustle of the scene beneath him; he treads on serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy; nothing can by any means hurt him. He shall be of the first-fruits of the first resurrection. There the remembrance of his sufferings and sorrows shall pass away. The days of his mourning and conflict are ended. What he sowed in tears he shall reap in joy. The LORD whom he loved even unto death, wipes all tears from his eyes, yea, He maketh that faithful and wise servant to set down to meat, while he girds himself to serve him.

"Blessed! how blessed are they who die in the LORD,

their Resurrection, their Life! Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labour, and their works follow them."

man.

Dear youth, thou art invited by the Gospel to become by regeneration such a noble specimen of the renewed The same Spirit which has been here admitted, cherished, and by whom these heavenly graces and virtues were wrought, strives for admittance to thy heart. Wilt thou resist that friendly visitant, who of old brooded over chaos, and at the command, produced therefrom order and harmony, and all in air, earth, and sea, that was very good!"

Wilt thou still seek to grovel, as it were, on thy belly, and eat dust, devoid of the noble ambition of being a candidate for glory, honour, and immortal life? Compare the ignoble pursuits, the sordid character of "the serpent's seed," who resist light, and turn from the Truth, with the Godlike character and bearing of the man who follows the footsteps of Christ in this world; who has subdued, within and without, every lofty imagination and every earth-born desire, giving honour and glory to Him, in the strength of whose Name he won the victory. Dost thou seriously expect to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven? Dost thou pray that thy lot may be with them at the end of the days? This is not enough. Balaam wished the same: "Let me die the death of the righteous; let my latter end be like his." But Balaam was a prophet of the adversaries' ordaining; he sought to curse whom God had blessed. Art thou like Abraham, and the prophets, and apostles, willing to fulfil the condition of thy inheritance with the saints in light. Canst thou, like all of them, make thy covenant by sacrifice; for this is an indispensable proof of their iden

tity with them. The Divine Teacher illustrates this to one, who without reflection said, "Blessed are they who shall eat bread in the kingdom of Heaven." A certain nobleman invited many to a great banquet, and at suppertime sent his servant to say, “Come, for all things are now ready;" but instead of accepting with gratitude the terms of the invitation, they one and all made some pitiful excuse. Each one had some sinister object to require his attention, and all were self-satisfied with the ground of their refusal. When the master of the feast was informed of this ungrateful and unprincipled conduct, he sent his servant to the outskirts of the city, to call the poor, the lame, and the blind to the feast. These had no such formidable barriers in the way, as self-interest interposed in the other case, and they gladly accepted the invitation, without being required to make any preparation. But still there was room for more guests, and the banquet having been prepared, the lord of the feast commands his servant to go out to the highways and hedges, and compel the veriest strangers to come in, that his house may be filled.

"I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden, shall taste of my supper."

The moral of this parable, which is a prophecy concerning Christendom on the eve of his second coming, is, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple."