that in seven days he intended to make it rain on the earth during forty days, and that he purposed to exterminate whatever subsisted on the earth. Noah did as God commanded him. He entered with his family into the ark: the animals also entered, two and two; after which the Lord closed the ark. On the seventh day the waters of the deluge were on the earth: on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain fell on the earth during forty days and forty nights, as God had said to Noah. The waters strengthened and increased on the earth; the ark floated on the waves; the highest mountains met the same fate as the valleys; the tallest hills under the heavens were covered. It required not less water than this to place the ark in safety; while it was sufficient to destroy the world. The waters increased fifteen cubits above the highest summit; being equal to twenty-two feet and a half.

The unbelievers then, without doubt, said, "Where will God find the waters to destroy the world?" See a reply to this in what David says, Psalm xxxiii. 7: "He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap he layeth up the depth in storehouses." In Job xxxviii. 9-11, the Most High thus expresses himself: "Where wast thou when I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" What, however, proves that there was actually in existence a sufficiency of water to drown the old world, and even more than was necessary, is that which we find to follow in Genesis viii. 1: "God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged." We see by this, that, if God, who is the Master of the elements, had not said to the waves, "Hitherto shall ye come, but no further," the waters would have continued to rise. Noah and his family escaped the danger: they were of the number of eight persons, -Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives and children. We may here remark, in passing, that the number of these prove that polygamy did not exist among them. They were in the ark as a kind of tomb, not seeing either the sun by day, or the stars by night, and therefore unable to govern the ark. It had only a little window in the side-roof; and, thus entombed, they no doubt heard the waves coming from far, as from the ends of the earth, and beating against the ark. But it was under the protection of God, in whom Noah confided. The more the waters rose, the more was the safety of the ark secured. There was in that vessel neither rudder nor oar; but the providence of God watched over it. Noah was happy to have obeyed God, notwithstanding the wickedness of men. St. Paul says, in Hebrews xi., that Noah, having been divinely forewarned of things not yet seen, fearing for himself and his family, by faith built an ark, and that by this he condemned the world, which neither believed nor feared, and he was thus made to inherit the righteousness which is by faith. Those who will be found in Christ our true Ark will be sheltered from the deluge of evils which will inevitably fall on the workers of iniquity.

Noah had quitted all to enter the ark: in like manner it is necessary for us to abandon all to follow Jesus Christ as he commands. The waves may be permitted to dash against this refuge of safety;

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but they shall not be able to shake it: they themselves shall be broken by it. My Father," said our Saviour, "which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." (John x. 29.) The afflictions which may dash against them will be as the waves, which will lift them towards heaven. The Lord will accomplish his promise on their behalf: the next day will take care of the things of itself. They will prove that the afflictions of the day will be proportioned to the day, and that it is not necessary to add the pain and affliction of another day to those of to-day.

The ark enclosed the traditions of the past and the hopes of the future; the promise of Jesus Christ, all the truth necessary to salvation. The Saviour who was the object of their hope has appeared in the promised time; and it is He who is our Ark and our assured shelter; and it is He who is the refuge of the faithful in the hour of dissolution; for "the righteous hath hope in his death."

III. We come now to the third part of our subject: The misery of those who found themselves out of the ark, when the door was shut. God, who had said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man," entered into reckoning with these unbelievers. I say these unbelievers; for that which proves their incredulity is, that our Saviour said of them in the Gospel, that when the day of the deluge came, men ate and drank, and married wives, and were given in marriage, even on the day that Noah entered into the ark. They did not know that the deluge was approaching, until it came, and carried them all away. Many were asleep in their beds, plunged in the greatest security, not thinking that judgment was at the door. God, who is merciful, had nevertheless waited a long time to exercise his grace towards them. He had warned them during one hundred and twenty years, by the preaching of Noah, who was a minister of God. When the Almighty said to Noah, that he was going to bring a deluge upon the earth in seven days, (Gen. vii. 4,) there is no doubt that Noah reiterated his exhortations to the people, warning them that there remained but a very short time. But, like those of whom our Saviour spoke, they paid no attention: the one betook himself to his farm, and the other to his merchandise. It seems to me as if I heard the unbelievers in the vales say, "If the waters cover our valleys, we will go to the mountains." But all these reasonings were useless. The highest were covered. Many persons, no doubt, who had assisted to build the ark, perished in the waters: water, which is so useful to man, became an instrument of ruin in the hands of God. St. Paul declares that the Gospel is hidden to those who perish, while it is the power of God to those who believe. It is probable that some climbed on the ark, hoping to be sheltered from the deluge; but they perished like the rest. The Saviour says to us, "When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are." (Luke xiii. 25.) Some of the kindred of Noah, or of his family, might hope that, because of their relationship, they might be permitted to enter the ark; but it was not so: they remained without when the door was shut. Those who flatter themselves that, because they are the descendants of pious parents, they will be sheltered from the wrath of God, are under the influence of a great error. The

salvation of the soul is a personal affair. We know that individual reconciliation and regeneration, received by actual faith, is the foundation of true Christianity. It must not be, therefore, that the young may be permitted to think that they will be eternally happy, because a father or a mother is in heaven, or is walking in the road that conducts thither. It must not be that they may be permitted to think that they may be sheltered from the wrath of God, if they are out when the door is shut; for then, uselessly as the foolish virgins, will they say, Lord, Lord, open to us." Our Saviour says to us, that as it was in the days of the flood, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. He adds, that he will come as a thief in the night, and that we shall know neither the hour nor the moment. What necessity is there for us to give the greatest attention to the things which we have heard, lest we should let them slip! We frequently treat the salvation of the soul as an indifferent matter; but in the moment of death the wicked will admire the lot of the just, and be constrained to acknowledge that happy is the people whose God is the Lord.

My beloved, while the door of salvation is open, enter, enter, O you who are still without. Our Saviour informs us that "strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it; but that wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be which go in thereat." Enter, therefore, by the strait gate while your day of grace lasts; while the Spirit of God still strives with you, as he did for a time with the inhabitants of the old world. Do not rebel. Do not say there will always be sufficient time to repent, and to find pardon with God. Delays in the matter of salvation are in general most disastrous: if to-day you hear his voice, harden not your hearts, lest God swear in his wrath that you shall not enter into his rest. In a little time the door will be shut for ever. What door? The door of repentance; the door of pardon; the door of holiness. Strive therefore to enter while it is open, I beseech you; for many shall seek to enter when they shall have more time at their disposal, but will not be able, having so many efforts to make against themselves, against the world, and against the devil. Noah, the preacher of righteousness, announced repentance to the inhabitants of the old world without any exception; in like manner the salvation that is offered to us, is to be preached to all people: Jesus our Ark will be the glory of our Israel, and a light to enlighten the nations: redemption is universal; all men who hear the sound of the trumpet of the Gospel are invited to participate of it. Our Saviour said to his Ambassadors, "Invite all whom you may find, that my house may be filled." "It is a light thing," said the Almighty, speaking to his Son, "that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Jesus ought to be announced as the true Ark of refuge to every nation, and people, and language. Remission of sins ought to be announced in his name. The Holy Spirit informs us by the mouth of St. Paul, that Christ has tasted death for every man ; and that same Apostle, writing to Timothy, said, that God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth; and again, that if he died for all, then were all dead; that those who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and

rose again. In every place where the Gospel is preached Jesus is recognised as the Saviour of sinners, and the Judge of the quick and dead. We read, in Genesis viii., that the waters retired without interruption from the face of the earth and diminished, and that on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. Noah opened the window of the ark, and released a raven; but the raven wandered here and there until the waters were dried up. As it was an impure bird, no doubt it subsisted on the dead bodies. Afterwards Noah sent forth a dove, to ascertain if the waters were retiring from the earth; but the dove not finding where to rest the sole of its foot, returned to the ark: Noah put out his hand, and drew it again to him in the ark. He released the dove each seventh day, probably the day of the Sabbath, after prayer had been offered to God. He expected the special blessings of heaven.

Are there not among you who, like the dove, have gone forth from the ark; and who, like it, have not found where to place the sole of your foot? You have abandoned the means of salvation, quitted the only refuge feel you not the force of the words, "There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God?" Since you have quitted this shelter, this paternal habitation, have you, I ask solemnly, have you had peace of soul? Is your conscience tranquil, as it was when you were in Christ and Christ in you? You have wandered here and there without finding tranquillity and repose. The waters are still risen on the earth: return to Jesus, the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls; he invites you; there is still time; the door of salvation is still open; like Noah, he stretches out his merciful hand to receive you. See his hands extended on the cross, as if he wished to embrace all men in his favour. His compassion waits to be moved towards you: if you abandon your sins, and if you return to him with faith, with confidence, and assurance, you will be able to say, "I shall see the God of my salvation."

"Come unto me," said the merciful Saviour," and I will give you rest;" ye shall find rest to your souls. Come, therefore, prodigal children, to the Saviour, whom you have crucified afresh: he will pardon you, and receive you into his favour. Noah having waited other seven days, sent forth again the dove from the ark, and in the evening it returned with a branch of olive in its mouth. By that Noah knew that the waters had diminished. Since that period the olive has been among the nations the emblem of peace. What fresh comfort for the patriarch when he found that the earth again appeared! He removed the covering from the ark; and, behold, the earth was dry.

Noah, who had been a year and ten days in the ark, was consoled by the thought, that the earth was again visible to the eye. The Holy Spirit, who is frequently represented to us under the emblem of a dove, because of his purity, gives to our souls the foretastes of the heavenly joy. What a subject of delight and consolation ought the idea to be, that this felicity, which for so long a time has appeared to be at a distance from us, is almost discovered to our eyes; that we are about to take possession; that we are ere long to become inhabitants of that city whose streets are paved with gold, and whose gates are of pearl! It is there where peace and repose reign eternally; it is there where the enjoyment is without admixture and without end!

In closing this solemn subject, permit me to make the application. We have said that the method of salvation vouchsafed to us to escape the

divine wrath and to be happy, has taken its origin in God; that this method is unique; that it is visible; that it is marked by unity; and that it is durable. Now, my dear friends, I ask you, Have you entered by true repentance and living faith in Christ into the ark of safety? Are you justified by faith? Have you peace with God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Are you sanctified by the Holy Ghost? Are you new creatures? Are you able to say, "I am my well-beloved's, and my well-beloved is mine ?" and, with the Apostle Paul, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me?" If it be so, courage, dear friends; forward; fear nothing! Jesus your pillar of fire will go before you to enlighten in the midst of difficulties. He will be your protection. He will place himself between you and your enemies, as he did before his incarnation, when he placed himself between the Israelites and the Egyptians. "He will guide you by his counsel, and afterwards receive you to glory." You shall prove, during your sojourn here, the accomplishment of that promise, Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

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But you, my dear brethren, who are not new creatures in Christ, how great is your danger! If at the moment of death, the door of salvation is shut against you, how terrible it will be! Have, therefore, no confidence in those means which will deceive you: your house will fall, because it is built on the sand. You know that it is said that when the wicked dieth his expectation perisheth: while there is still time, and while the day is called the day of grace, profit by the favourable moment which is given; do not rebel against the voice of mercy which addresses you; in a short time the mercy of God will give place to his justice.

I seem to hear the unbelievers, before the deluge came on the earth, ridiculing Noah and the ark which he had built, as a work such as no one either ever saw or ever heard of. Take care, dear friends, that you be not found of the number of those of whom David speaks, who sit in the seat of the scornful. A day will come, when you will wish that you had, like Noah, provided for your safety, notwithstanding the mistakes of men. You will then see the just go into life eternal, while you, if you have neglected your salvation, will go into everlasting punishment. There are among you those, who perhaps dare not undertake to walk in the way of salvation, because of the difficulties with which they will have to meet, and who contend that the way in which they are walking is easy and convenient. Reflect a moment before you go too far. Suppose a man in prison, condemned to be executed for a violation of the law: go and say to him, on the eve of his execution, that the road from the prison to the place of execution is easy and convenient. Go and tell him to console himself, inasmuch as there will not be on the road any difficulties. I ask you, Do you think that your exhortation would convey to him any relief, any consolation? You reply that it would be impossible, because this man would continually have the thought before him, that when he would arrive at the end of his journey, it would be necessary for him to submit to the terrible stroke of the sentence pronounced against him by the civil Judge. Ah, well, apply this reasoning to yourselves: you say that the road in which you walk is easy and convenient; but, dear friends, reflect, I beseech you, where it terminates. By the law. of