Doré, "Christ entering the Temple," "Christ leaving the Prætorium," and "The Night of Crucifixion.”

3. Legislation is going after Him. On one occasion Theodosius the Great, the Roman Emperor, asked a vote from the Senate, whether the Pagan idols or Jesus of Nazareth should be the object of worship in the Empire. The Senate without a single dissentient decided for Jesus. Senates are not the proper places to decide such questions, but it is gratifying to see Legislation following in the footsteps of Christ. To the degree that Civil Law is founded on the eternal principles of the Book of God, to the same extent is the true progress of a nation and the general elevation of mankind to be expected. In modern legislation

there are indications that the world comes to this. Cruelty and tyranny are giving way gradually to justice and equality. 4. Wealth is going after Him. Wealth has not always been on the side of Christ and His Gospel. "Not many of the noble were called." The Christian Church has been throughout the ages the poor man's Church. Now, however, the wealth of the world seems to be beginning to pay homage to Jesus. When the wise men came from the East, they presented unto Him gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Isaiah, in language of glowing imagery, has enumerated some of the sources which will contribute to the unbounded wealth of the Church of the future" the abundance of the sea," "the forces of the Gentiles," "multitude of camels," "the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah,” "all the flocks of Kedar," "the rams of Nebaioth," "the ships of Tarshish," "their silver and their gold." "For brass I will bring gold, and for iron silver," &c. (Isaiah lx.) Already this prophecy is being fulfilled; millions of money roll to the feet of Jesus. Forsooth, men give their wealth to Christ rather than themselves. God demands the heart. A rebellious leader once sent a golden crown to Cæsar, when the Emperor said, "Submission first, then your crowns." So God demands men's obedience first,-" My son, give Me thine heart."

5. Men are going after Him. (a) Men of all conditions in life. In the crowds which follow Christ, we find tax-gatherers and fishermen, the poor and the outcast, and men like Nicodemus,

and Joseph of Arimathea, who were rulers of the people and members of the highest councils of the nation. (b) Men of all ages,-"Old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." Fathers and mothers adore Him, and children shout their loud hosannahs to His praise. (c) Men of all grades of moral character are going after Him; those of unblemished morality, and those who have sunk deep in the mire of iniquity, join to follow Him. When Matthew wrote his Gospel, he said, "And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan." Were the Evangelist writing in this, the nineteenth century, he would have said that a great multitude followed Him from Asia, Africa, the South Sea Islands, and from beyond rivers and oceans. The literature, art, legislation, wealth, and men of the world, are going after Christ.

III-SOME THINGS UPON WHICH WE ESTABLISH OUR BELIEF THAT THE WORLD IN ITS ENTIRETY WILL ONE DAY GO AFTER CHRIST.

1. By going after Christ will the world obtain its greatest good. Men are continually seeking after what is sometimes called the summum bonum-the chief good. Many are the voices which invite men's allegiance. I hear the noisy voice of worldliness saying, "Follow me;" and the enticing voice of pleasure exclaiming, "Follow me." In the Bible I hear the gentle, loving voice of the Great Prophet of Nazareth coming down through the ages, saying, "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Follow Me, I will give you peace amidst the tumults of life, I will give you strength and joy in your dying hour; "I will receive you to Myself."

2. The number and power of the agencies at work in order to accomplish this. Think for a moment of all the exertions made at home, and in distant lands, to obtain this. All these cannot be in vain. All the invitations given, all the Bibles distributed, all the prayers offered, and the many examples of a Christ-like life, cannot be without effect. Results must follow. Harvest

time will come. To the joyful sound of Christ's Gospel the world will one day echo a reply. "At the sound of the trumpet they shall come which are ready to perish in Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt." In the day of His power men from all climates will fall into His ranks, will rally round His banner, will swell His procession, and kings and queens will cast their crowns in showers at His feet.

3. The promises of the Bible. "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea," &c. (Ps. lxxii. 8-11, 17). Abraham Lincoln, one of the truest monarchs of humanity, was elected to the Presidential Chair of America by a majority of votes in each of the States. When the result of the polling was declared the enthusiasm of the crowd assembled was so intense that it gave vent to itself by singing the Doxology,—“ Praise God from whom all blessings flow," &c. A day will come when Jesus will be proclaimed King by the unanimous voice of the human race. The teeming millions of the East will swell the anthem-" Crown Him Lord of all;" and those of the far West will echo the reply "Crown Him Lord of all;" and the isles of the sea will bow at the sway of His sceptre, and pay allegiance to His throne. This lost world, which, like a wandering child, has gone astray from God, will be restored into the bosom of Him who made it, and the earth will be filled with the Divine glory.

LLANELLY.

(From the Welsh.)

D. LEWIS.

"Remember, every living thing around us,—every child we meet, every flower we see, every blade of grass,—is a Sacrament"'—an outward and visible sign of the nearness of God the Holy Ghost. Why is that flower a living flower? Because He has been brooding over it. It would not be alive without Him. How did it come out thus in colour and beauty! God the Holy Ghost has been there, so fashioning and painting it. How is it that you are alive,-able to use your mind and to bend your knees! Why is that arm so strong? Because He is over you as the Giver of Life, giving to you, moment by moment, your strength, your life. are living and moving under the overshadowing wings of God the Holy Spirit."-BISHOP WEBB.

We

Heaven as Revealed by Jesus.

"IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS, IF IT WERE NOT SO I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU. I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU."-John xiv. 2.

DECEPTION is the plague of our life. Much of our life environment is falsehood. Our pilgrimage is among quicksands. Our hearts are false. The world is false. There are decoys to entrap, hopes that are hollow. We find a traitor in a friend. False teachers, false philosophies perplex and distress us. Life's good plays fantastically before us, like the enmaddening mirage of the desert. Imaginary ills start up around us to complete the sum of our disappointments. Jesus will not throw in an additional deception, neither will He suffer us to be deceived. He will be one great exception.

This Gospel of John is distinguished by references to Christ's truthfulness. In the first chapter, John conducts us down from the Eternal "Word," to Jesus "full of grace and truth.” *

The manifest design of the Gospel is to set out and defend our Lord's Divinity. Christ's veracity has its part to play in St. John's argument. It is the key-stone of the arch. When the High Priest, agitated by the hope and expectation of a Divine advent, and furious in the presence of a supposed impostor, said, "I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God," Jesus would have put in a very emphatic disclaimer. They stone Him, and eventually put Him to death on this ground alone, "because He made Himself the Son of God." Mark the word "made." He did not suffer them to use the title as a loose expression, but He made the effort to establish the conviction and belief that He was "the Son of God." The insertion of this asseveration of His veracity at this particular portion of the Gospel is exquisitely appropriate. The words of this chapter fall from His lips as He stands with His

* See Concordance for similar assertions of His veracity.

face to the cross. The shadows and the heaviness of His passion are upon Him. He is on His way to die, to die as the Son of God." If He were not, He would have told us. Now He turns to His disciples, made sorrowful by the announcement of His departure, with the great consolation, "In My Father's house are many mansions," &c. It is the lot of the disciple to be in heaviness for a time. Jesus would throw their thoughts beyond even the garden of this earth's hospital, to the all-comfort giving and sustaining hope, "the Father's house." Realise the force of the triplet " Veracity," "Divinity," "Heaven." "Veracity" confirms "Divinity." "Divinity" sees beyond earth's sorrows and graveyards, and speaks to us authoritatively and veraciously of the life and home beyond.

I. OUR LORD WAS SILENT AS TO THE LOCALITY OF THIS ETERNAL DWELLING.

Men have guessed that this earth purged will be the ultimate residence of the glorious family of God. Eliminate its sin, temper its fierce heats and biting blasts, put an end to its perils, and let it be said—"The tabernacle of God is with men;" how beautiful then would earth be! Definite revelation on this point would have satisfied our curiosity without adding to our blessing. The illimitable universe is "The Father's house." It teems with indications of His Fatherly care and wisdom. "Heaven is His throne, earth is His footstool."

II. NEVERTHELESS THERE WAS MUCH FULNESS AND FORCE IN THE DESCRIPTION-" MY FATHER'S HOUSE."

This fulness opened and realized by (1) Antithesis. Zion's sacred, glorious, but desecrated Temple He had designated "My Father's house." The emphasis with which He said "I go to prepare," &c., originated in His sorrowful recollections of the one on earth. Its every memory was blighted. Did Simeon in beautiful faith and hope make it echo with his "Nunc Dimittis"? Zacharias was filled with offensive rationalizing incredulity. If to Himself the meaning of its solemn passover was pregnant and clear, temple service and rites were enigmas rather than revelations to His holy mother. If angels visited its sacred precincts, to speak the comforting promises of heaven to a faithful priesthood, Satan