be removed; the sun may be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, the last trumpet may sound, and the last crash of nature summon all the dead before the judgmentseat of Christ, but unchanging love shall throw its shield over all the sons of God, and draw them up to heaven, to be for ever with the Lord. Shall not this love kindle a flame of love in my heart that shall burn brightly, burn before the throne of God, and burn for ever? Shall not this love spread from my heart to the heart of others, till all men see its brightness, and feel its warmth ?

The attention which this love demands-"Behold." Let us behold this love with admiration and wonder. We wonder that the stripling David should be raised from the sheep-fold to the throne of Israel; but how much more wonderful that children of wrath, and heirs of hell, should become the sons of God and heirs of heaven! Let us behold this love with strong faith. Few of the great may know us, and few among men may love us. We need not care, if we know and believe the love God hath to us. Let us behold it with gratitude. "We love Him, because He first loved us." If we are thankful for it, let us tell others of it, that love, the brightest beam of heaven upon earth, may enlighten and warm the hearts of all.

Forty-Ninth Sabbath-Morning.

INTERCOURSE WITH JESUS.

"And they said, one to another, Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures."-Luke xxiv. 32.

HERE we have religious instruction, religious conversation, religious feeling, and religious communion.

Religious instruction-"He opened to us the Scriptures." The two disciples, on their way to Emmaus, enjoyed delightful intercourse with Jesus. He expounded to them the Scriptures concerning Himself, His sufferings, and His glory. But though Christ has gone from earth to heaven, He still opens to us the Scriptures. We may read and hear the word of God, but we also require to have it explained to us. Jesus explained it while on earth, and He explains it still by His ministering servants, and by the teaching of His Holy Spirit. If we devoutly observe His ordinances, and meditate on His person, character, and work, we will understand the Scriptures. We may not ask riches, nor length of days, nor power over our enemies, but if we ask an understanding heart to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent, He will open our eyes to behold wondrous things in His word, and we will be convinced by

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His life, and sufferings, and death, that He is the true Messiah, and the only Saviour of the world. My reader, if thou art ambitious of acquiring knowlege, let the knowledge of the Scriptures be thy first and great aim, and thou wilt soon be wiser than all thy teachers.

Religious conversation—“ He talked with us by the way." We have a journey to pursue up through the wilderness of this world, yet the way is made pleasant, and profitable, by intercourse wlth Jesus. This intercourse we may enjoy in the religious conversation of Christian friends. In conversation we speak familiarly, and unrestrainedly, and our knowledge, which was general, becomes particular and distinct; our apprehensions, which were dark and doubtful, become clear and certain; and our impressions, which were slight and unsatisfactory, become deep and interesting. By providential dispensations leading us to the word, and explaining it; by the remarks of ministers and experienced Christians, and by the enlightening, quickening, and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, Jesus still talks with us by the way, and makes us feel that the way of religion is pleasant, and that all her paths are paths of peace.

Religious feeling-"Did not our heart burn within us?" Intercourse with Jesus makes the heart burn with hatred against sin. What made

INTERCOURSE WITH JESUS.

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Jesus suffer and die but sin? Where can we get such a view of God's hatred of sin, and determination to punish it, as we have in the sufferings and death of Jesus? Shall not our hearts burn with hatred against that which pierced the Saviour's hands and feet, and made Him bow His head and give up the ghost? Intercourse with Jesus makes the heart burn with love to Him. How can we think of His love to us without having our hearts glowing with intense love to Him! When He speaks to us, our interest should be deep, and our pleasure great, and our love sincere, supreme, and constant. He is the spring of all our joys, the fountain of all our consolations, and His presence is the cheering sun that makes all our doubts and shadows flee away. Intercourse with Jesus makes the heart burn with zeal to save others. It makes us use means with sinners, and it makes us use means with God, so that by efforts, contributions, and prayers, we endeavour to kindle in other hearts the fire that warms and cheers our own.

Religious communion-"They said one to another." They did not conceal from each other what they felt. Out of the abundance of their hearts their mouths spake, and their happy experience was the same. If Christians would thus unbosom their feelings to each other, how sweet would be their fellowship, how comforting their intercourse, and how warm their love!

Forty-Ninth Sabbath—Evening.

GOD'S CARE FOR ORPHANS.

"When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up."-Ps. xxvii. 10.

THERE is no reason to suppose that David was ever deserted or disowned by his parents. We know that he greatly loved and anxiously cared for their welfare, and no doubt they loved and cared for him. He, therefore, in this text, probably refers to their death. Here we have great loss experienced--and great consolation felt.

The great loss experienced—“ When my father and my mother forsake me." Some have lost their father. He was the head and governor of the family. Its members generally depended on his skill and exertions, for food, clothing, home, education, advice, and correction. Hence, if children are young, their father's death is a great calamity, exposes to great privations, and creates a blank to which no language can do justice. Even those who are grown up, and able to work for themselves, feel that when their father dies, they have lost their best earthly friend. His advice, his help, his sympathy, his prayers, they no longer enjoy. Let those who have no father on earth, seek and claim one in heaven, for God is "the helper of the fatherless." "In Him the fatherless find mercy." Some have lost their mother. Mothers generally have greater in