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duced this tender and affectionate spirit, this fervent love, which made us willing to have imparted unto you not the Gospel of Christ only, but also our own souls? It has been the anticipation of seeing you as our "crown of rejoicing," when our Lord should come. Apostle appears by these heart-cheering and spirit-animating thoughts, to have ascended into a region different from that which some believers too frequently occupy; to have left the land of doubt and anxiety, and entered upon the abode of hope and joy and great gladness, and dwelling in that land, to have partaken of its sweetness. He was gentle as a nurse, and tender as a father, while bold in his God, to declare to them His Gospel.

These interesting truths appear on the surface of our text. I notice them, my beloved friends, from the full belief that the more you enter with a devotional spirit into this glorious subject, the greater will be your advancement in the Divine life. O, that we might be of that blessed number, who are "looking for and hasting "to the coming of the day of God!"

Let us now proceed to the immediate subject appointed for this Lecture,-THE MUTUAL RECOG

NITION OF THE SAINTS.

This recognition might seem highly probable,

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from the character of our great Creator. of His peculiar attributes is His goodness, or communicative benevolence; His delight in making His creatures happy: and assuredly this recognition will tend much to increase the felicity of the redeemed. All the revelations, indeed, which are given to us of a future state, connect it with this life.

It is in reference to the events of our present condition, that the last judgment will be passed at the great day. They that have done good, "coming forth to the resurrection of life, and

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they that have done evil, to the resurrection "of condemnation." So in that new song, which is sung before the throne by the living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, in praise of the Lamb, they say, "Thou art "worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed "us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, “and tongue, and people, and nation;" thus referring to their state of bondage while in this lower world. If perfection of memory be a part of the full perfection of the saints in a future state, as we fully believe, their mutual recognition will then afford the opportunity of recounting, with their former associates, the various events connected with their salvation: and when these shall be seen, not as they are now

beheld, through a glass, darkly, but with that full vision, which will be granted when the books are opened, and the secrets of all hearts are revealed, the hidden purposes of God brought to light, and every link in the chain of His providence, now inscrutable, will then be so perfectly arranged, that His dealings with His Church will be seen as one grand design, accomplished by the union of infinite wisdom, almighty power, and unfathomable love.

Surely the opportunity which the mutual recognition of the saints affords for these meditations, must add to their felicity.

"Rendered safe by His protection,

They have pass'd the wat'ry waste;

Guided by His wise direction,

They have gain'd their port at last:
And with gladness,

Sing of toils and dangers past."

Thus it is said of those who "have gotten the "victory over the beast, and over his image,

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they stand on the sea of glass, having the harps "of God: and they sing the song of Moses, the "servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,” or raise their notes in praise of the dealings of Divine Providence, as well as the mysteries of redeeming love.

Surely this song will be sung in louder strains by a chorus who know each other, since their respective destinies have been so entwined, that each could scarcely meditate upon his own mercies without connecting them with the dealings of God with his brethren. If there were no mutual recognition of the saints, these louder Hallelujahs would be lost; Jehovah would lose a part of His glory, and His saints of their joy. We might well, therefore, believe, even if it were not revealed to us, that the goodness of the Lord would grant such a knowledge to His people. This blessed truth does not, however, rest upon mere probability. The Word of God reveals this recognition in terms which place this privilege beyond all question.

I might refer you, in proof of this, to different passages in the Old Testament, particularly to the consolation given to Rachel, when weeping for her children, she refused to be comforted because they were not,-" Thus saith the Lord, "Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes "from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, "saith the Lord, and they shall come again from "the land of the enemy." It is promised, therefore, that her children should be restored from the land which is the prison-house of that "king "of terrors," who, by the sword of Herod, had

destroyed her children. But what comfort would this promise have given to Rachel, if there were no recognition of the saints? How could she know that they were her offspring, or that those were the innocent babes for whose destruction in Bethlehem she so grievously mourned? When the Lord, however, shall, at His coming, not only bring back these infants from the grave, but shall grant to Rachel a sight of their glorified bodies, then, indeed, He will wipe away her tears, and turn her mourning sighs into songs of joy.

Passing, however, from this Old Testament ground for the belief of the recognition of the saints, I would at once direct you to Him, who is "the Resurrection and the Life," and who "has brought Life and immortality to light "by the Gospel." You, doubtless, my beloved friends, recollect the consolatory words our Lord spoke to Martha while mourning for her brother Lazarus, when He said,-THY BROTHER SHALL RISE AGAIN. When the Lord fulfilled His word by bringing him forth from the grave, did not his sisters know him? assuredly they did. If it should be said, this was his mortal body, the argument would still be the same. For, if it was the sight of her brother, with a knowledge of his identity, that alone would comfort Martha, it is a similar knowledge that