nature, upon what evidence, and according to what standard rule, will be formed the decisions of that awful day? Nay, my brethren, much as ungodly men might wish to plead an excusable ignorance on these points, they cannot-they know in the general their Lord's will, -they are professedly aware of His holy service,—they are even now reaping those tender mercies which fall I ceaselessly around their earthly tabernacles from the O capacious and munificent hand of Him, who is loving unto every man,-and they may also know, amply sufficient for their correction and instruction in righteousness, that God is a righteous Judge, a God of knowledge, by whom actions are weighed,-that He is angry with the wicked every day, and that the very same strong right hand which now evermore in this life is reaching forth for the rescue of every conscious and returning penitent, will soon exchange the sceptre of mercy and grace for the glittering sword of indignation and judgment. These are among the distinct revelations of the Word of God. And the text solemnly alludes to the glories and momentous transactions of this judgmentday, in which consider, 1. The wondrous appearing of the Son of Man upon the throne of His glory. would, indeed, be vain and presumptuous to think of realizing, in our purest and warmest meditations, the prospect alluded to. That scene, however, is coming on apace, which every eye must witness, but which no human eye will bear to see but that of the genuine and prepared Christian; a scene it will be of such excessive brightness, that the light of this firmament will shrink from before it as darkness, and even the glorious sun itself will be quenched by the breaking forth of that uncreated splendour.

It

"When the Son of Man shall come in His glory." And what is the glory of the Son of Man? It is the glory of the Son of God! it is therefore Divine glory, -the glory of intellectual and moral perfection,-the glory of universal dominion over all worlds, -the triumphant glory of final conquest, with His enemies for His footstool, the glory of redemption, the complete number of the redeemed being now brought home,-the

blended glories of the Cross and of the crown, for in the midst of the throne stood a Lamb, as it had been slain, —the glory of everlasting and now undisputed sovereignty, as King of kings and Lord of lords,-all these revealed glories, together, no doubt, with countless others not revealed, will compose that unutterable majesty of the Son of Man, in which He will come to judge the world. Again, we remark the glorious train which ascompany the Son of Man to the throne of His glory, "All the holy angels with Him." Those countless hosts of cherubin and seraphin, which are now ever doing His will, and seeking to advance His universal empire, shall then minister, in full attendance, not indeed to the wants of His humanity, but to the worship and service of His eternal and glorious throne. For how widely different, my brethren, will be the circumstances of that triumphant day from the various occasions of angelic ministration to the Son of Man while here on earth! In the hour of His humiliation He was made lower than the angels, placed beneath those very beings who were themselves by Him created, in the wilderness of temptation; and in sorrowful Gethsemane, we are distinctly told, that angels came and ministered unto Him; that there was seen an angel strengthening Him, as though the fountain of life were dry, as though the arm of Omnipotence were withered and dead. But now, that hour of seeming inferiority, that mystery of abject condescension, is cast for ever aside; Christ is still the Son of Man, but with such a dignified humanity, that in the sovereignty of His love to man, in clothing Himself with human form and fashion, He will even take the redeemed members of His body nearer to His throne than the angels. They, indeed, with abundant satisfaction, remain the ministers of His presence, the executioners of His judgment, the winged heralds of His mercy; but those, for whom He became the Son of Man, for whom He lived, suffered, and died, they are His kinsmen-bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh. Mary was His mother; Joseph, by Divine sanction, His reputed father; and His brethren, are they not all with us? and to ask the question in a general, though not less conclusive sense,

have we not all one Father after the flesh? Let it not be imagined that we are in danger of presumptuously offending the Son of God by thus closely tracing His genealogy as the Son of Man. Nay, my brethren, Christ is in nowise ashamed to call mankind His brethren, saying, concerning the sons of men whom He brings to glory, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren."

It is this close connexion of grace which has even exalted the Son of God to a peculiar dignity, which (to speak with reverence) could not otherwise have attached to Him. Hear St. Paul on this point'. Blessed, indeed, to the full of their capacity, are the angelic hosts, which excel in strength, who now surround His throne, and who will attend the final triumphs of His latter-day glory; but men, Christian men, are the children of God, and, "if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and jointheirs with Christ!"

But I must now return to the direct statement of the text: "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory." Not, indeed, as though in the interval He remained exiled from that rightful and glorious throne,-not as though that imperial seat, which from the beginning has been the place of God's sanctuary, can ever for one moment be usurped by any hostile power, not as though the Son of Man now in the meanwhile had abdicated His crown and sceptre, his throne and government. No, my brethren, the Lord, the Son of God, the Son of Man now reigneth; the Shepherd of Israel now sitteth between the cherubims. Listen, O Christian believer, to the royal grace and dignity ensured to you by the King of kings, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." Then, doubtless, the future accession of the Son of Man to the throne of His glory, referred to in the text, must be understood thus: 1. That the Son of Man shall then be universally seen to sit on the throne of His glory. Hence the second advent of Christ is declared by St. Paul to be "the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus 1 Philip. ii. 5-12.

2 Rev. iii. 21.

Christ"." St. Peter also, in 1 Epist. v. 4, "When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Until the arrival of that day, flesh and sense do sadly interrupt the vision of Christ on His throne; even the true-hearted believer labours much under this disadvantage; and with regard to an ungodly world the firmament is sackcloth betwixt heaven and their souls. But when dull mortality shall be laid aside for ever, then shall all the kindreds of the earth see Him as He is. He is now the Lamb in the midst of the throne, and faith beholds Him there; and Christian experience feels Him there: but then both believer and unbeliever-both saint and sinner, shall behold Him there together, with equal faith; but oh! how wide apart in respect of that full joy mounting up into the spirit of the one, and those inconsolable sorrows which must for ever afflict and overwhelm every wicked reprobate from that awful presence!

(To be concluded.)

CHILDREN'S PRAYERS.

S. B.

PARENTS ought to teach their children such prayers as are fit to instruct their hearts, and lead their minds to God. Many fathers and mothers say, "We do our duty towards our children. We labour hard to provide them with bread and clothing. We strive hard to give them a good education, that in after years they may be able to maintain themselves, and to rise in the world." But wicked and wretchedly deceived are these parents, if, all this time, they are taking no pains to secure for their families "the one thing needful," and are not teaching them how to seek for the grace of God, and the pardon of their sins, and everlasting life.

Very many persons who do not altogether neglect to instruct their children in this matter, yet teach them the same prayers which they themselves, when children, used to learn, without considering whether these are the best that could be found, or even whether they are right or wrong; and thus it often happens that ignorance and sin

31 Tim. vi. 14. 2 Tim. i. 10. Tit. ii. 13.

are handed down from parent to child, and from generation to generation. God is unknown. It is a most important question, "What prayers do your children say?"

A most common plan (perhaps it is yours) is this. First the child is taught to say "the Belief," "I believe in God the Father," &c., then the Lord's Prayer, and, lastly, some verses which begin with

This is a very common way indeed, but is it the right way? No. And, if you consider a little, you will soon understand why it is not.

You begin with the "Belief." But the Belief is not a prayer at all. To pray is, to ask God for those things which we need 1. But in the Belief we do not (as you will see at once if you think it over) ask God for anything. It is only, as its name is enough to show, our Belief, or a short sum of those things which Christians believe. Thus, in it we say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty," and that He is the "Maker of heaven and earth." I believe also "in Jesus Christ his only Son," and that He "was crucified," and was "buried." "I believe in the Holy Ghost." "I believe in the forgiveness of sins ;" and that there is a "life everlasting" after death. These are the chief things; and there are others beside. So the Belief is not a prayer at all. And you will remember also, that when we say it at church, we do not say it kneeling down, as we should if it were a prayer; but the ministers and the people stand up, and repeat it all together, as much as to say, "All these things we believe, and will stand to it." The children then ought not to learn to say this as a prayer. The Lord's Prayer you are quite right in using. It is the prayer which our Lord Himself taught us, and is the best. of all prayers. It will be very useful both to yourself and to your children, if you often try and explain to them, as well as you can, the meaning of this blessed

prayer.

The verses which I spoke of, which begin " Matthew, Mark," &c., are quite wrong; and if you have taught them to your children, be sure and let them be said no

1 Matt. vii. 7.