none occasion of stumbling in him." Thus Jesus, whose love to us no waters could quench, and no floods drown, requires us to be so baptised in His love as to love all His followers for His sake. Christians should not be like Cain, and Esau, and the brethren of Joseph, but they should be like Joseph and Benjamin, Moses and Aaron, David and Jonathan. Because they are members of the same family. God is their Father, Christ is their elder Brother, they have one origin, one name, one statute book, and one aim. They are a believing family, a praying family, an obedient family, and they ought to be a loving family. Should not the members on earth strive to resemble the members in heaven? Because brotherly love is a proof of genuine discipleship. If we have not love to the brethren, we are destitute of good fruit, and must bring forth the fruit of a strange vine-the grapes of Sodom, and the clusters of Gomorrah. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." Because it resembles the inhabitants of the better world. Love is the fulfilling of the whole law of God. The citizens of heaven fulfil this, and therefore the atmosphere in which they live and breathe, is holy love. Now, if the children of God on earth would cultivate and maintain brotherly love, they would stand out before the world in the highest style of Christian perfection,

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and constrain the ungodly to exclaim, Behold these Christians, how they love one another!

How should Christians evince their love to each other?-By their prayers. "Brethren pray for us." As the members of every family should be deeply interested in each other's welfare, and seek each other's good, so all the members of the great Christian family should make "supplication for all saints," and plead with God for their establishment in the truth, for the confirmation of their faith, for their growing usefulness in the world, and for their growing ripeness for a better world. If the hands of ministers were held up by the prayers of their people, how soon would every enemy be discomfited, and how soon would the cause of Christ triumph! By their sympathy and help in distress. All the parts of the human body are so connected, that if one member suffer, all the rest suffer with it. In like manner, the members of the Church are so closely connected with Christ, and with each other, that they should rejoice in each other's prosperity, sympathise in each other's sorrows, and aid in each other's difficulties. By forbearance. When forbearance does not countenance sin, nor compromise character, it is a sacred duty. By gentle reproof. Wicked men cannot bear to be told of their faults, but Christians can, and ought. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend."

Fifty-Second Sabbath—Evening.

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."Rev. ii. 10.

HERE is a solemn event to be anticipated-our duty till it takes place-and our promised reward.

The solemn event to be anticipated-" Death." Death is a separation of the soul from the body, and the separation of both from earthly friends and all earthly things. It is sure to all, the Christian as well as the sinner. "What man is he that liveth and shall not see death?" How many are the ways in which death may come to us! It may come by persecution, as it did to many of the first Christians. Let us cherish their spirit, seek their fortitude, and imitate their example. It may come by accident, suddenly and unexpectedly. A false step, a careless servant, a foolish neighbour, air, fire, water, may in a moment deprive us of life. It may come by disease, trifling at first, but making sure and deadly progress; or it may come by old age and frailty, till strength fail and nature sink. The time of its approach is very uncertain. "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death." As death terminates our course, and finishes opportunity, duty,

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and trial, and as its consequences are uniformly great and unalterable, how earnestly should we serve God, and hold ourselves in readiness!

We

Our duty till death-"Be faithful." This language supposes that we have faith already, and are the followers of Christ, and it tells us that our great duty as Christians, is to continue faithful. We must be faithful to Christ, and keep the eye of our faith firmly fixed on Him. We must live a life of faith in His name. must hold Him fast through opposition, persecution, temptation, and affliction, and we must persevere in this course till death. With Jesus in our arms, under the covering of His blood, and in the path of duty, death may find us, but will not take us by surprise. We must be faithful to ourselves. We must maintain religion in our hearts by daily reading the Scriptures, by daily personal covenanting, and by daily wrestling at a throne of grace. We must avow ourselves to be on the Lord's side; we must, like Enoch and Noah, walk with God; and we must hold fast as well as hold forth divine truth. With humility and fortitude, we must bear up under all our trials, and seek and enjoy the support of Him who says to us, "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not." We must be faithful unto others. We must instruct our friends and warn them of danger-we must help and encourage the weak we must soothe and comfort the afflicted

we must warn the foolish, and speak a word in season to them that are weary-and we must do what we can by our efforts, and prayers, and sacrifices, to bring sinners to Christ, and save souls from death. O were Christians faithful to others, how many would speedily be rescued from the grasp of Satan, and a noble band formed, whose efforts would never be paralysed, till Christ's conquest of the world would be complete!

The promised reward—“I will give thee a crown of life." The high honour secured to the faithful Christian is "a crown." The Christian can say, I shall be a king in heaven-crowned by Him whose crown is gemmed with the stars of eternity. He shall be equal unto the angels, and His crown shall be bright and unfading. The value of this honour appears, in that the Christian's crown shall be "a crown of life"-life unsullied by sin-life unmixed with misery-and life that shall never end. The richest crown on earth cannot secure life to its owner, nor can it secure happiness. Its possessor dies, and leaves it to another, or he may lose it before he die. But the heavenly crown brings no crushing cares; there are no sorrows underneath it, and death never comes to its owner. The certainty of all this arises from the promise, "I will give." Christ hath said it, and none can prevent it. His death hath procured it, and His hand will bestow it.