sire to be meek, when Christ has promised to such far greater happiness, than pride and quarrelling could ever bring them? Who would not hunger and thirst after righteousness, whatever pain it may cost them at the time, if they are sure that, however difficult it may be to grow in grace, they shall be abundantly satisfied? far more indeed than if their corn, and wine, and oil increased. And who is there that would not count the pure in heart and the peacemaker among the happiest of human beings, when they remember that they are to see God, and to be called his children?

But we must take an opportunity of reading carefully this first and best of evangelical sermons, and of dwelling particularly on its different parts at greater length than our evening conversation would allow; that from our Lord's own words, so plain and clear that they can scarcely be mistaken, we may learn and remember what it is that He promises to, and expects from, those who desire to be indeed His disciples, and leaving the world behind them, to ascend with Him to the enjoyment of heavenly blessings. Other parts of Scripture are indeed equally true, and all are precious; for all were written under the guidance of the Spirit of Christ but few are so plain. The Gospels are a complete history of our Saviour's life, and works, and teaching, and are therefore the first foundation of a Christian's faith; "for other foundation can no man lay," no, not even apostles and prophets, "save that which was already laid, which was Jesus Christ." This it is which makes our Lord's own words of such vast importance-those words which contain all the great truths of the Gospel. This it is which makes it so absolutely necessary to attend both to His blessings

:

and to His commands; for no where else shall we find the blessing, we may rest assured, but where He hath commanded it. True it is that, without Him, we can do nothing, and therefore as poor needy creatures, dependent on His compassion, we must go to Him, to be made spiritually rich; but if, with Him, we still continue to do nothing, then it were better not to have been His disciples. The fruitless branch in Christ, as you have read in one of His own parables, will be first cast off to wither, and then be burned. At the end too of this very discourse our Saviour has dwelt upon this point in the most solemn manner. There He declares in awful words to His disciples; "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven."

I always think these are very fearful words, they seem to say so plainly that many deceive themselves on this important subject, and fancy they belong to Christ, when they really do not. For it is not speaking of Him, or even liking to hear about Him, but the sincere endeavour to do His holy will, which is pleasing in His sight, and proves that we are really His disciples. Our Lord knew well how deceitful the heart of man was, and what easy but dangerous mistakes we might make; therefore He repeated the solemn warning, and, before He dismissed His followers, set before them, in a little parable or story, two kinds of disciples, two sorts of hearers, one who hears the sayings of Christ and doeth them, another who also hears but doeth them not. The one who heard His sayings and did them, might be compared, He said, to a wise man who built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods

came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. The one who heard the words of Christ and did them not, He compared to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and when the same storms came upon his house, it fell, and great was the fall of it. Let us examine this parable for a moment before we part. What is the house that Christ here speaks of? Surely that house which every one of us has to build, even our hope of heaven and eternal life. Our chief business here on earth is to build this house, and to build it so that it shall be able to stand all the storms of trial and trouble which it shall meet with here, and endure for ever. Now how shall this be done? there is only one way of building so as to be quite sure that our house will last for ever. We must build upon the rock; and that rock is Christ. Every thing besides Christ is sand." We must lay the foundations of our hope deep and firm in Him, by hearing and doing His sayings, by taking Him for our Prince and Saviour, and making it the constant care of our lives to please Him in all things. We must depend entirely upon Him for procuring help for us from God in all our duties, and for obtaining favour for us with Him; and we must love and value Christ far above every thing else on earth, feeling, that if we do not belong to Him we are miserable, but that in Him and with Him we are safe for ever. I wonder whether you understand my meaning?

E. Yes, Mamma, I think I do; but must such great storms beat upon us as Christ speaks of?

M. The rains, the wind, and the flood, must more or less beat upon all of us, my dear child; for they

ever.

are the sorrows, sufferings, and trials to which we are exposed in this world. But even if we could avoid these, there is a storm coming that none can escape. Death and Judgment we must all meet, and against these storms none shall be able to stand, but those whose hopes are built upon Christ Jesus. He is the rock of ages, that has stood and shall stand for Oh! what will then become of the foolish man who has built his house upon the sand? Who has heard the words of Christ, but has not kept them; who has trusted to himself for happiness and safety, and forgotten to provide a safe shelter against the storm. He shall then "lean upon his house, but it shall not stand ;" (Job viii. 14, 15.) it shall fall, just at the time when he most needs it to cover him, and when it is too late to build another. And how bitter will then be the disappointment, how great the shame and loss! But such is the religion of all mere hearers, who do not the sayings of our Lord. Theirs is an ill-built house on a deceitful foundation, which the first storm will lay even with the ground. Both the houses may appear at first alike, whilst the sun shines and the weather is fair; none, perhaps, may be able to see any reason why the one on the sand should not stand as long as the other upon the rock. The rain, the wind, and the storm, will show the difference. Never then let us forget, my child, that the religion of Christ is not a thing merely to talk about, but that it is a principle of holiness in the heart and life. To feel our own helplessness; to mourn for our sins; to be patient under our sorrows; to be meek when provoked; to thirst after righteousness; to love mercy; to cultivate purity; to promote peace; to suffer wil

lingly for righteousness' sake; to let our light, that is to say our holy lives, shine before men; to keep the law of God, not merely in the outward letter, but in newness of spirit; to seek our reward from God; to forgive our enemies; to set our affections on treasures in heaven; to look to our own faults and not to those of others; to seek good from God for ourselves, and to be ready on our part to do good to all around us; these are the true marks of a Christian. These are the duties our Lord urged upon us, the fruits which His preaching was intended to produce, the dispositions of heart by which we must show that we belong to Christ. When, by the help of His blessed Spirit, we cultivate such tempers and habits, then are we His disciples indeed; then do we rise far above the worldly crowd, and dwell on the mount with Christ, within the reach of His blessings. See Matt. v. vi. vii.

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY EVENING.

MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES.

M. We are now, my dear Edward, to leave the mountain where we spent our time, I trust, so profitably last Sunday evening, and follow our Divine Lord to the lake of Gennesareth, a place which He was wont to hallow by His presence, and to make the favoured scene of His Almighty power and goodness. Sometimes we find Him walking on its borders, conversing with His disciples or teaching the people, and often