course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." (See also Heb. xi. 39, 40, and Rev. vi. 9, 10, 11.) And thus also the souls of the wicked are not in their full punishment until the judgment of the Lord is publicly passed upon them after his coming. (See Matt. xxvi. 19; John v. 28, 29, &c.) Let us now inquire of the same unerring oracles of truth, the Holy Scriptures, what is the state of the dead, both good and evil, in the mean time. We may learn as much as God has been pleased to reveal, but it will not, perhaps, be enough to satisfy needless curiosity. They have the happiness or misery of certainty. In proportion as people believe the promises of God while they are in this world, in the same proportion they depend upon Him for their salvation in Christ, and by this faith have peace. Unbelief is uncertainty, and therefore not peace. St. Paul in the greatest of his trials could say, "Nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Still there is a considerable difference between the peace which arises from faith, and that which will spring from actually witnessing the greatness and glory of Christ, and from being placed with Him in perfect and eternal security. When his faithful people depart out of this world they see Christ; they who now truly believe in Him, then are with Him, and are conscious that they never can be withdrawn from his presence again for ever. As their future reward will not afterwards be changed, they are also fully conscious of this: they are safe from temptation, and can no more sin. They are secured from doubt and trouble of mind, and unbelief has no place within them. Wherever, therefore, or how long soever they may be kept waiting, they are certain of the glory that is prepared, and they are therefore happy and at rest. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." And the dying penitent on the cross said unto Jesus, "Lord, remember

me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." But when unbelievers depart out of this world they find themselves in darkness, in outer darkness, out of the light of hope, peace, or joy; the body no longer present to yield them earthly pleasure, for there it is, lying in miserable decay, the food of worms in the tomb, and the soul is so deserted and left to corruption, that it preys upon itself, and becomes its own tormentor. They see their folly too late; there is no hope for them; they cannot then have the change of spirit which they would not have before; and whenever they may be cast into the torments of perdition, at all events they are certain that it will come, and therefore, wherever they may be, they must be miserable. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." The same certainty of future misery now exists with regard to the evil spiritsthe followers of Satan and his assistants in the work of destroying man by sin. They are, the Scripture says, reserved unto the judgment of the great day. The answer actually given by one of those lost spirits to Christ, informs us much concerning their present state. They cried out on seeing Him, and said, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God, art thou come to torment us before the time?" They knew, therefore, that at a set time, a fixed and certain moment, they are to be tormented more dreadfully than ever: they knew that the coming of Christ would be the signal of that torment commencing; and they therefore dreaded the sight of that holy and blessed Jesus who to us is come as a Saviour, and whose presence to the believer is the sweetest and best consolation. We learn also from another passage that the misery which these evil spirits at present feel is the cause of their restless labours to destroy and tempt mankind. For when once an evil spirit is expelled, the Lord declares that "he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none; then he saith, I will return unto my house from whence I came out; then goeth he and taketh unto him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there."

We now return to speak of the difference of state which there will be, when the end of all things arrives, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. At his coming his true Church will rise from the graves to meet Him in the air, having again both bodies and souls; but the former so changed and purified, that it is no more the abode of: corruption or of misery, but a glorified body made like : to that of the Son of man Himself. Their happiness will be then complete. Therefore we are exhorted to be ready for his coming; to look to it as the great event to which all things are now tending; the end for which we were born, for which we were redeemed by the death of Christ, baptized into Him, and taught his word and will. It is that we may be ready for his coming. But He may knock at the door to call you out of the world by death, before He bursts open the door to enter into the world Himself to change the living bodies of those who remain to that day. He may send the messenger of disease, or some sudden stroke of his power, to call our spirits into the presence of God who gave them, before the trumpet of the archangel sounds to call us to the judgment. He may call upon us to give an account of our stewardship: He may call upon us soon: He has given you no assurance of another year of life, nor of another day. What He has said of the suddenness of his own last coming, that it shall be "as a thief in the night," may also be a correct description of the coming of death to us. There may be no possibility of immediate preparation; no time for a single prayer, nor for one last thought of that world into which we are hastening. The last great things may break in suddenly upon us, with all their eternal consequences, their unalterable certainty. Which of those who are now assembled together in one place shall first be taken away, is a question which none of us can answer. It may be any one as likely as another. It may be you yourself! The question, therefore, here to be put by each one to himself is this, If Christ should put me beyond the power of any further preparation for his coming, by calling my soul this night, am I ready? The counsel of Jesus to his disciples was, "Be ye therefore ready, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not." He has

given us this gracious counsel and this only information respecting the time of his appearing-that it will be when we do not expect; "at an hour when ye think not."There are times when persons little expect to die; think it unlikely for themselves, although very probable in the case of others. That is the time when for them it may be most probable and near at hand; it is the hour when they think not. How seasonable always is the word of counsel, "Be ye ready." It comes home to the heart full of weight and importance, full of mercy and love; but it must not be despised and neglected; it must not be put aside and forgotten; it must sink into the depths of our thoughts, and "so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."-E.

EXTRACT FROM MY FAMILY BIBLE.

MATTHEW XV, 1—10.

THE Scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem, those outward pretenders to religion, must find fault with the disciples of our blessed Lord, who were guilty of eating bread: with unwashed hands. How could they so transgress the traditions or sayings of the elders of the Jewish Church? Foolish men! by putting this question to Him who knew their hearts and lives, they had another question put to them, and a reproof brought out of the writings of one of their own prophets; both of which so astonished and cut them, that we read not of any answer on their part. These hypocritical people had made a tradition, or saying, or commandment of their own, by which they had led many into the sin of disobeying the positive orders of God: "Honour thy father and mother; and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death." (Exod. xx. 12. Levit. xix. 3. Deut. v. 10. Prov. xxiii. 22.) The thing that these pretenders to saintship set up against these scriptures was this: they said to a man who was disposed to leave his parents to starve,"If you make a gift to the temple, you may then plead a lawful excuse that you cannot spare any money for your father or mother, and you shall be free from any

punishment in consequence." Now there are many such as these pretenders to holiness at present. There are who draw nigh to God with their mouth, and honour Him with their lips, but whose hearts are far from Him, as may be seen by their conduct. Many persons who are attentive to the outward forms of religion, make, like the Pharisees and Scribes, a religion of their own to live by. They hear God's Word on a Sabbath-day, and will pray and sing with their lips with the best saints in a congregation; but bring God's Word to shine upon their actions, and their religion vanishes like a vapour. They do not think that such a commandment means this, another commandment that, but that such and such sayings of their own are right, and none other. By. this thousands are led to put their souls in danger; for the world's religion being only skin deep, worldly people think that if persons are twice at church, and in the habit of saying their prayers, that they must know how to live; and so they fall into their wickedness without inquiring of God's Word whether their notions agree with it. But, dear family, it matters not in the end; for all man's commandments which are not in the written Word, and yet pass as doctrines or rules of faith here, are "vain." They may serve to shuffle a man through as far as a death-bed; but then, if any conscience be left, what regret, what sorrow, what fearful looking for of judgment there will be!--A Layman.

CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW.

IT is remarkable that Christ is called "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Hence it is concluded by some ungodly men that there is no law now to bind them since Christ has come, and that they do not owe obedience to the law of Moses or the ten commandments. But the Scripture never gives the least countenance to this wretched notion. The passage above says, indeed, that Christ is the end of the law; but does it mean that the law is so abolished by Christ as to have "come to an end?" By no means.