which this wonderful Preacher proclaims to the meek? He proclaims himself as willing and able to supply all their wants. He is a Teacher, able to give all needful instruction. He is a Saviour, that can save to the uttermost all who repose confidence in him. He is a Physician, who can heal all the maladies of the soul. He is the good Shepherd, who takes care of the welfare of his flock. He is a King, who can subdue all our enemies. He is a Friend who loveth at all times, and sticketh closer than a brother. He can pardon all our sins, wash our souls, and make them whiter than snow. He can free us from all evil, give us the final victory, raise us from the dead, and secure to us eternal redemption. He proclaims himself as the gift of God's love to a fallen world. The Father anointed him, or set him apart, to his great work of saving men, and qualified him for it, John iii. 16. What a precious balm is the love of God in Christ to a soul that feels the arrows of truth, and is bleeding of its wounds! The eye of faith delights to look upon the Gift of gifts, the unspeakable Gift, the Pearl of great price! What a comfort, under a sense of sin, to know that the God against whom we have sinned is willing to be reconciled, and seeks to bring us to himself for instruction, mercy, and all needful good! The Gospel is full of good tidings. Jesus proclaims to the meek the completion of the great work for which he came into the world, that his residence in heaven is more for our advantage than his residence on earth, that he will soon come and take them to

himself, that his Father has put all things into his hands for the welfare of his church, and that he is willing to receive all who apply to him for salvation. What joyful tidings are these! How welcome to the weeping penitent, the afflicted believer, and the dying saint! They show the love of God, the deep interest he takes in our welfare, that he careth for us. They ought to encourage our hope, awaken our gratitude, and fill us with joy in our God. These joyful tidings are true, and well worthy of our entire confidence. The Saviour wrought numerous miracles to prove that he was the Sent of God; and these, in connexion with the nature of the tidings themselves, and the effects they have produced in the world, ought to satisfy us of his Divine mission.

These joyful tidings are published to the "meek." And who are these? They are described in the word of God; and here we learn that the meek are deeply sensible of their need of Divine teaching, deeply sensible of their guilt and pollution, and deeply sensible of their poverty and emptiness, weakness and need of help, and of the immense importance of their salvation. Hence they welcome the good tidings of the Gospel, and give them a cordial reception. The self-righteous think highly of their own works, and feel little or no need of a Saviour, and treat him with proud indifference; but the meek see and feel the greatness of their sins, the value of their souls, and the solemn realities of eternity, and long for mercy; and in the Gospel they find a way in which

God can exercise mercy consistently with all the claims of his justice. Here they find a just God and a Saviour.

Are you humbled before God on account of sin? Are you anxious to be saved? Are you seeking to be ready for the coming of the Lord? Then the Saviour proclaims good tidings to you. Hearken to his loving voice: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There is no other source from whence you can find rest for your troubled soul. Jesus can give you rest, for he can pardon all your sins, remove all stains of pollution from your soul, supply all your wants, vanquish all your enemies, and present you faultless before the throne of God. His instructions, atonement, government, intercession, promises, and Spirit, give us rest. The soul that reposes confidence in him is at rest, for it is safe, redeemed, prepared for heaven. He has given rest to many weary souls, and he can give it to you. Then seek him while he may be found. He gives rest freely, daily, and to all who apply. He delights to give. He is full of grace. He is rich in mercy. He is ready to forgive. He saves to the uttermost.

He who cultivates humility, meekness, a sense of his dependence on God in Christ, cultivates a state of mind very pleasing to God and beneficial to himself: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." The humble before God are heirs to a kingdom. They are kings. They are the

temples of the Holy Ghost. "He will beautify the meek with salvation;""Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." What a wonderful promise is here! Let me value the book which makes it known. Let me trust in the Promiser. Let me be clothed with humility, that I may know that the promise belongs to me. H, H.

CHRIST A FAMILY
BLESSING.

AMONG the names of men there is none greater than that of Abraham. He was the founder of a great nation, the father of the faithful, and "the friend of God." Of him, according to the flesh, Christ came (Gal. iii. 16), of whom it is said, "And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Out of Christ, without Christ, whatever there may be in a family, there is no real blessing. If salvation come not to a house, it matters little what else comes. The family may be well educated in the estimation of the world, but unless "wise to salvation," no blessing. Wealthy they may be: Dives, in hell, had been of a "good family" in this sense; but his purple and fine linen, his sumptuous fare, and his merry meetings, were only "a preface to his plagues." "Good livers" they may be styled, charitable, religious; but without Christ, no blessing; charities, dead

works; order and decorum, a welldressed corpse; and prayer itself,

an abomination!

A blessed family is a household of faith." "In thee," that is, in Christ, we must be, or very soon we shall be in hell! A blessed family is a praying family. They pray apart; they pray together; and they go to the "house of God in company." It is delightful to see a family pew well filled; more so to see a whole family at the table of the Lord! A blessed family, like Abraham, are 66 a blessing" to the neighbourhood, the country, and the world.

Wherein consists the blessedness of such a family? They are blessings to each other, while resident under the paternal roof. Trouble there will be; but amidst the darkness of Egypt, Israel had light in all their dwellings. They are also blessed when they turn out and settle in the world: wherever they go they carry a blessing with them, and leave a blessing behind them. Suppose the mother lying on her death-bed, how blessed is she in leaving a family that fear God! They follow her to the grave. How blessed are they in having no bitter tears to shed, as some, crying, "Oh that she would but come again! I think I'd vex her so no more!" They sorrow not as those without hope. At times, indeed, the maternal smiles return so vividly that they could almost wish her back again:

"But, no! what here we call our life

is such,

So little to be lov'd, and thou so much,

That I should ill requite thee to constrain

Thy unbound spirit into bonds again!"

Such a family will be blessed at judgment: "Here are we, Lord, and the children which thou hast given us." They will be blessed eternally in heaven! The windows of our Father's house are never darkened by death; no graveyard attached to the heavenly temple; no mourners go about the streets of the New Jerusalem!

The earth will one day be filled with such blessed families. Lord hasten it in his time!

The

Reader! are you blessed in Christ? Perhaps you say, "My mother or my sister is, but I fear I am not." Then, indeed, you may well fear; for it were better to go to hell from any place than from the bosom of a Christian family! You separate yourself from your godly relatives and friends now, and unless there be a change, the separation will be eternal! Come now, like Ruth, and say, "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." Receive the record of God concerning Jesus.

Shall not pious parents seek the salvation of their unconverted children? Dying Halyburton thus addressed his family: "I desire to bequeath this as my best legacy to my family, even my serious and solemn advice to make choice of God for their God. He has been my father's God, the God both of my wife's predecessors and mine; he has been, we hope, our God; and I recommend him to my children for their God, solemnly charging them,

SHAME, which is an emotion of the deadliest power, will clearly enter into the punishment of the wicked. Even the present life supplies numberless proofs of its mortal effects. It has often driven men to suicide, and often itself extinguished life.

Some years since, a certain man in an American city was charged with opening a letter which had been put into the post-office, and divulging some family secrets which that letter contained. He denied the charge. A committee was appointed to investigate the matter, and make a report. I was present when the report was made. In the presence of some one or two hundred citizens, the chairman of the committee came forward and said,

We have investigated the charge alleged against the gentleman, and find it to be true." I saw the man the moment his character was thus blasted for ever. After one frantic

effort with a pistol to take the life of the person who had thus exposed him, he dropped his head; he could not bear to look upon man or woman any more; and, returning to his lodgings, he laid himself down upon his bed, and died of a broken heart. Shame killed him.

And now, if the divulging of one base act in such an assembly on earth occasioned him such overwhelming, heart-breaking shame, oh, what intolerable shame must come upon the sinner when every base act, when every impure thought, when every unlawful deed shall be revealed, before God, and angels, and men! Methinks in anguish he will exclaim, "Oh, that I had never had a being!" or, "Oh, that I could now hide me beneath the mountain's base or the ocean's wave! "Shame shall be the promotion of fools."

ALPHA.