The grave is to the Christian but the hallowed entrance to eternal glories. Death is but the crysalis state between the grovelling life of earth, and the higher and more beauteous angelic life of Heaven.

He is at peace with misfortunes, and trials and afflictions; for they come not unbidden of God; and as they bring with them. the seal of their divine commission, he bows with serene submission to the higher wisdom and purer love of his best and truest friend; and breathes forth with the deepest earnestness of his soul-"Not my will, but thine be done."

He is blest with the most glorious companionship. He is never alone, never unbefriended. In the desert with no mortal eye to cheer or pity, God is with him. Amid the ten thousand strangers whom he meets in the busy mart of commerce, and among whom he passes, alike unknowing and unknown, there is one still whose acquaintance he enjoys, and whose friendship and society constitute the highest good of his spirit. In the lion's den Daniel had other companionship than that of the ferocious beasts. In the fiery furnace was seen by discerning eyes another beside the three worthies, and the form of the fourth was like the Son of God. In the prison with Paul and Silas was one whom prison doors could not shut out, and whom locks, and bolts, and bars could not shut in. In the stilly hour of evening, or amid the solemn darkness of the midnight, he who is truly a friend of God is never alone. Wherever he roams, wherever he dwells; by land or by sea; this side the grave or the other, it matters not to him. Wherever he is, there is God; and where God is, there is Home and Heaven. Always safe, for God defends; always peaceful, for he knows God too well to distrust him. "The Lord is his everlasting light, and the days of his mourning are ended." I conclude with two

REMARKS.

1. How perfect an antidote for unrest of soul does the text present to us. Acquaint now thyself with God and be at peace. This is peace-not fictitious peace-but true; substantial, positive, permanent; as enduring as God its eternal source. The good that comes to us of acquaintance with God is everlasting. While God lives to bless, and the soul lives to be blest, its blessedness is sure. "This is eternal life, to know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent." And how infatuated the man who postpones the knowledge of God to any other knowledge or any other thing. "Acquaint Now thyself with God and be at peace." Seek God first. For "they that seek him early shall find him." Seek him earnestly; for it is the highest of all good. And "if thou apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

2. The great end of all God's dealings and doings is to make us acquainted with himself. He writes his name upon every cloud and upon every star; paints it upon the rainbow; utters it in the thunder, whispers it in the summer breeze; he speaks to us from the written page, and with the still small voice of the inward monitor; he comes to us with the voice of the prophet, the apostle, and the living preacher; speaks to us through his Son; speaks to us by his Spirit; comes in rebuke; comes in melting tenderness; comes in the falling shower; comes in the sunbeam; comes in the dew-drop. Every disappointment of earthly hope; every loss of earthly good; every calamity; every bereavement; every prosperity, every adversity; every dashing wave of sorrow, every gilded wave of joy; every pain of body, every burden of the heart; every ill, every sorrow, every sin, still speaks in the ear of man-"Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace; thereby good shall come to thee"-and thereby only. Away then with that atheistic though admired couplet of Pope :

"Know thou thyself; presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man."

Upon the heathen temple was written: yvo dɛauto-know thyself. Upon the new temple is written :-"Know thyself, and know thy God, as thy soul's greatest want and truest good." Delay not to know God. That knowledge will be a living perennial fountain of life and joy to thy soul. The highest of all sciences and the most blessed is that that teaches us of God: a science that the prince and the peasant, the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the learned and the unlearned, the philosopher and the rustic, may all alike engage in studying. The text-books are the heavens above us, the earth beneath us, the universe about us, the Word before us, and the Spirit within Know God, and then shalt thou know thyself; and in him and through him know all things else that it concerns thee to know.

us.

HYMN.

My son, know thou the Lord;
Thy father's God obey;

Seek his protecting care by night,
His guardian hand by day.

Call while he may be found;

O, seek him while he's near;

Serve him with all thy heart and mind,
And worship him with fear.

If thou wilt seek his face,

His ear will hear thy cry;

Then shalt thou find his mercy sure,
His grace forever nigh.

THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST.

BY REV. J. N. DANFORTH, ALEXANDRIA, VA.

"If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”—Rom. viii. 9.

How simple this test! Here is no mystery. The mind of any Christian may apply this criterion. What was the spirit of Christ as manifested on earth?

1. A spirit of benevolence. This brought him from heaven. He loved men-God so loved the world-he wished well to men, desired their happiness, and was ready to make any sacrifice to promote it. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor; that ye through his poverty might be rich." What an example! We cannot so love, but unless we have this spirit in our measure, and according to our ability, we are none of Christ's.-Question thyself.

2. His was a spirit of gentleness. Not a harsh or repulsive feature disfigured that original. John, looking at him as he walked, said, "Behold the Lamb of God." So gentle was he. He admired the boldness of Peter, but felt a congenial sympathy with the tenderness of John. He could modestly say, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly." In him the perfection of meekness was embodied. Hast thou this spirit? Or art thou proud, contentious, severe, implacable? Learn of him, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again." Oh, yes; consider him, who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

3. His was a spirit of beneficence, that is, of doing good. And, though the world was against him, he did immeasurable good. He who has the spirit of doing good, will find the means and accomplish the end. Where there is a will, there is a way. Talk not of your obscurity, and your obstacles. It is the very province of the spirit of Christ in you to take advantage of the former, and to overcome the latter. He went about doing good, and so must you. If Satan and his imps do all the evil they can, we must do all the good we can, or we have not so far forth the spirit of Christ. "To do good, and to communicate, forget not." We are so forgetful.

How

4. Fidelity to the souls of men eminently characterized Christ. It was in him, and it came out on every proper occasion. faithfully he reproved the Pharisees! how plainly he dealt with his own friends. How faithfully he performed every duty, even the most unpleasant. Now, if you have not this spirit, you are

none of his. What a coward hast thou been in dealing with the faults and sins of thy fellow-men.

5. Condescension to the weakness of humanity was conspicuous in the man of sorrows. Who ever stooped from such a height to such a depth? Behold his intercourse with men, visiting them in their abodes, however humble; teaching the ignorant, mingling with all classes, reasoning down objections, removing difficulties, encouraging the despairing, comforting the afflicted. See him in the family at Bethany-by the side of the well of Sychar in a hot summer day-in the house of Simon, with the poor penitent at his feet-in the street with the blind-in the temple of the sick-in the cemetry of the dead; always in all condescending. If thou hast not this spirit-.

6. Then that spirit of forgiveness--is it in thee, as it was in Christ? "I say unto you," I say it in contradistinction from the maxims of the world, "Love your enemies." Oh, how different from the doctrines of men! And in that dark and bitter hour of final agony, he prayed, "Father, forgive them." Canst thou thus pray? If not, thou art none of his. The dying Hooper said to his executioner, "God forgive thee thy sins, and do thine office, I pray thee."

7. Submission to God in affliction. Was ever man afflicted like him? Was ever man submissive like him? "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" Again, in Gethsemane, "Not my will, but thine be done."

With gentle resignation still,
He yielded to his Father's will,
In sad Gethsemane.

As there was no sorrow like his sorrow, so there was no submission like his submission. Dost thou, reader, thus yield thyself to God? How often with deep emotion have I pondered on those lines of the same sweet and natural poet:

8. Earnest anxiety for sinners in connection with intense solicitude for the glory of God. "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up," he could truly say. Ah, that was a living sacrifice, constantly consuming itself. Not to do his own will did he come, but the will of him that sent him. At the end of his eventful career he could say, "I have glorified thee on the earth." He was ever anxious to glorify God in the salvation of sinners. Is this thy anxiety?

9. Exemplary self-denial. His whole history was an illustra

tion of this grace. Well did it come from him, "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself." In what hast thou done this? Hast thou caught this spirit from Christ?

10. Habits of secret prayer. If the Son of God so often retired to pray, what need have we of so doing? Do you imitate Christ in this? If not, you are none of his.

11. Perseverance to the end. Beneath the haughty frowns of the wicked, against obstacles the most formidable, before temptations the most fascinating, amid reproaches, treason, desertion and death itself, he held on his way, resolved to finish the work given him to do: and thus when he loved his own, he loved them to the end. Illustrious model of all that is good, holy and true, be thou my pattern and my portion, infuse thy spirit into my heart, and let me live in thy life. Oh, bless me with a portion of thine own benevolence, thy matchless gentleness, thy beneficent activity, thine unflinching fidelity, unparalleled condescension, wonderful spirit of forgiveness, profound submission, anxiety for sinners, self-denial, secret communion with God, perseverance through all obstacles unto the end. I must be thus blessed, or I am not thine; for if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.