MAR. 18. That day. 2 Tim. i. 12.

WE have here presented to our notice an awful period. It is not mentioned by name, but the apostle only calls it "that day.” What day? "The day of death, when the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it"? Or the day of judgment? Doubtless the day of judgment. This is often in the Scriptures called "that day," in order to show us that it is a very important, a very remarkable, a very distinguished day. Therefore it is called "the last day," because it is to terminate the present system, and the angel will then "swear, by Him that liveth forever and ever, that there shall be time no longer." Hence also it is called "the great day," to signify that the magnitude of its proceedings is inexpressible, and because it is the day of final decision. It is a very solemn thing for a man to appear in an earthly court to be judged, and to stand before a human tribunal with his property, or his reputation, or his liberty, or his life, at stake; but here every thing is at stake, and forever. "All that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." "The heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." "Before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left: then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; and then shall he say also unto them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." And are these things so? Surely such a period demands the most serious attention. The first Christians knew that, and they thought much of it. It was not necessary in addressing them to mention the period by name; they were looking for it, they were loving it, they were waiting for it, they were hastening towards it. In the scales of that day they weighed every interest; they made it the test by which they tried their riches, their honours, their treasures, and their anxieties too. Hence their temperance in all

their worldly possessions and enjoyments:-"Let your moderation be known unto all men; the Lord is at hand." Hence their diligence in duty:-"The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." Hence their freedom from envy and ill will:-"Grudge not one against another, brethren : behold, the judge standeth before the door." Hence the little impression made upon them by their trials: the "light affliction which was but for a moment was working for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," while they "looked not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." In a word, "They walked by faith, not by sight;" that is, they could not see the day, but they believed it, and it influenced them just as if they could. The world that now is has an intimate and inseparable connection with that which is to come. It does not depend on us whether the present shall have this relation to the future. God has determined it, and it arises from the very nature of the case; it is the relation between a way and an end,-between "seed-time and harvest;" and "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Let us ever think of this. "I paint for eternity," said the artist, to justify his attention and his accuracy. We too are all acting " for eternity;" and not a fictitious eternity, but a real one. We are reading, and hearing, and talking, and training, against "that day." Have we made provision for it? Alas! how many provide for a temporal who disregard an eternal futurity! They provide for a futurity that only may occur, and then overlook a futurity that WILL occur, and that MUST occur! The grand question is, What have we done against "that day," the certainty of which cannot be denied, the importance of which cannot be disputed, the approach of which no one can hinder, and in which we are to be not only spectators, but parties concerned? Is it our chief concern "to find mercy of the Lord in that day"-to be safe in "that day" -to be happy in "that day"-to be inheritors in "that day" of a new heaven and a new earth, "wherein dwelleth righteousness"?

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MAR. 19.-A GLORIOUS CHURCH, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Eph. v. 27.

What are

THE church, when presented to the Saviour by himself, will be glorious. And is not his church glorious now? It is. It is not a glorious church indeed in the eyes of the world, for the world knoweth them not; they are often like their Lord, "despised and rejected of men;" but they are glorious in the eyes of the Lord. The Judge of all, even when he sees them "wandering in goatskins and sheep-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented," says, "Of them the world is not worthy." We may turn to the language of God in one of the Psalms :-"Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." the mountains of prey? Why, those empires that love war,—that live on the spoil or the prey. Nothing is so splendid in the view of carnal men as these mountains of prey. We see how the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman empires were presented by God to Daniel. He saw them as "four great beasts coming up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear; and it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it; and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron. teeth it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." But though the church is now "glorious," and "more glorious than the mountains of prey," yet its glory is partially prevented and obscured now. It is so by the fewness of its numbers. Here we can only see the Lord's army in its recruiting state, or as learning its exercise, or as practising in small detachments. But when the whole shall be completed, oh, then may it well be said, "Who is this that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an

army with banners?" Its glory is now partially prevented and obscured by intermixtures. The lilies are among the thorns; the tares are among the wheat. "Among my people," says God, "are found wicked men ;" and now we very well know the few will often characterize the many, and the false will throw suspicion on the true, and the bad will serve to disgrace the good. "But then," says our Saviour, "the angels shall gather together out of his kingdom every thing that offends;" and then he will cast them into a furnace of fire; "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth;" and "then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." It is now also partially prevented and obscured by their outward condition. They are now often poor; then shall they " possess all things." They are often despised now; then their very enemies will exclaim, "We fools counted their lives madness, and their end to be without honour; now are they numbered with the children of God, and their lot is among the saints." Now they are often oppressed; many rise over their heads; but "the righteous shall have dominion over them in the morning." Now they are judged, (how falsely judged often!) but then they will be the judges:-"What, know ye not that the saints will judge the world? Know ye not that saints shall judge angels?" Now they "groan, being burdened;" then they will be freed from the burden of the flesh, and those vile bodies shall be fashioned like the Saviour's own glorious body. Above all, the glory of the church is now partially prevented and obscured by moral infirmities. They are, indeed, made to differ from others, and from their former selves; but they are not yet fully sanctified. But the apostle tells the Colossians that they who have been "sometime alienated, and enemies in their minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present them holy and unblamable in his sight."

MAR. 20.-He performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him. Job. xxiii. 14.

WE are here assured that our afflictions are not casual or accidental. Nothing in any of our trials occurs by chance. With us there may be contingencies, seeing we are not acquainted with the plan to be developed and executed in the arrangements of an all-wise Providence; but all events are "determined by

him who sees the end from the beginning, and who is working all things after the counsel of his own will." Nothing transpires without him. He strikes no random blows: his arrows never miss their object. He is performing the thing that is appointed for us; and the appointment is in all respects perfectly equitable. The Lord has not only a right to ordain, but in doing so he cannot pervert justice. He is not only too wise to err, but too good to be unkind. He who is bringing to pass the appointments of his providence so loved us as not to spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. And we are not only allowed but invited, yea, required, to cast all our cares on him, with the assurance that he careth for us. Let us take this principle with every allotment, with every circumstance of life, and say, "The cup which my Father giveth me, shall I not drink it?" It is "the Lord let him do what seemeth him good." "I will cry unto God most high, unto God who performeth all things for me." It is also intimated that these afflictions are not peculiar. "Many such things are with him ;" and when writing to the Thessalonians the apostle says, "The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren which are in the world." Providence will not in any case deviate from the treatment of all the other branches of the household of faith; "for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." To which of the saints, in Scripture or history, can we turn in refutation of this decision:-"What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" But consider, these appointments of the rod are remedial, and not penal. They are corrections; and are inflicted, not by the sword of the Judge, but by the rod of a Father. Believers sometimes misapprehend them, and, fearful of their being messengers of justice, may say unto God, "Do not condemn me.". But the apprehension is groundless; we are "chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world." And, besides, the apostle has declared that it is "through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom." "In the world ye shall have tribulation," says the Saviour himself: "but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." And with respect to the final results of these dispensations,these "light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," while our heavenly Father is performing the thing that is appointed for us, we know that "all things work together