Tenth Sabbath-Evening.

THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ."-Rom. viii. 35.

THE love of Christ may mean either Christ's love to us, or our love to Him; for the love of Christ to believers, and the love of believers to Him, are mutual, identified, and inseparable.

Think of Christ's love to us. It was from eternity. Long before the creation of our world, long before the transgression in paradise, Christ loved us. "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." It was spontaneous. There was nothing in us to call it forth, more than in the angels that sinned. We were sinners and enemies, and content to be so, yet He loved us. It was, and is, very great. Hence, His incarnation, sufferings, and death. Hence, the light of salvation-the privileges of the church, and bright hopes of heaven. Was there ever love equal to this? History informs us, that a brave general and a great army once besieged a city, and that after a breach had been made, orders were issued that the city should be stormed, and its inhabitants put to the sword. At this critical moment, two young men appeared at the breach, who had once saved the general's life, imploring his clemency. He told them to

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go back to the city, and bring out of it as much as they could carry, and he would save their lives. In a short time these youths appeared, the one carrying his aged father, and the other carrying his aged mother. What an affecting instance of filial love! Yet, compared with Christ's love to us, it is only as a sunbeam is to the sun, a leaf to all the leaves of the forest, or a drop of water to the boundless ocean! It is unchanging. Christ's love to us is a perpetual spring tide, without any ebbing. It is like the sun, incessantly pouring forth a flood of light, and yet shining with undiminished splendour. "Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.

Think of our love to Christ. Believers are united to Christ by the hand of faith, and their love, which is the fruit of their faith, is sincere. It is in their hearts. Christ's love has kindled a fire there, which burns, and will burn, for ever with increasing intensity. It is supreme. We love our friends, we love our fatherland, we love the house of God, but we love Christ more than all, for, "he that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me." It is constant. Our love to Christ does not wax and wane like the moon, but it resembles the planets, as seen by the naked eye, it shines with a steady light. Hence Christians are thus

exhorted: "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." It is operative. It leads to obedience, and it is evidenced by obedience. "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Think of its permanency—“ Who shall separate us?" Men shall not do it. They may speak all manner of evil against us falsely, they may spoil us of our goods, they may imprison our bodies, and they may kindle the fires of persecution to destroy us, yet they cannot extinguish the fires of heaven in our souls, and they cannot break asunder the tie that binds us to Jesus. "Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword," separate us? They shall not. Sooner shall they pluck the stars from the vault of heaven, sooner shall they tear the crown from the Saviour's brow! Afflictions shall not. Personal and relative afflictions may weaken our bodies, grieve our hearts, and lay our earthly hopes in the dust, but they will not quench our love, for when they have tried me, "I shall come forth as gold." Adversity shall not. I may lose my prosperity, but I cannot lose my Saviour. I may lose my earthly home and inheritance, but I cannot lose the house not made with hands. I may be "poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me." Death shall not. Death is my last enemy, but shall I fear a conquered foe, whose sting is gone?

Eleventh Sabbath-Morning.

OUR CREATOR REMEMBERED,

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth."-Eccles. xii. 1.

WHO is your Creator? What are you to remember about Him? What is meant by remembering Him? And when ought you to remember Him? These are the questions we

must consider and answer.

Who is your Creator? Reader, remember you did not always exist. A few years ago there were other young persons, some are dead, others are men and women; some are in this country, others are in a foreign land, but you did not live then. You did not make yourselves, and no man made you. True, you were born of your parents, but who made the first parents? No human ingenuity could contrive, no human effort could make them or you. No earthly power could make your blood circulate, your lungs breathe, or your mind think. God alone formed you, and breathed into your nostrils the breath of life. God alone preserved you through the many dangers of infancy, and He preserves you still. You began to exist, and you continue to exist, and you must hope still to exist, solely by the power of God, your Creator; therefore you must remember Him.

What are you to remember about your Creator?

Remember what He is. Your Creator is love, and He desires to draw you to Himself. He is holy, and cannot look upon sin. He is just, and must punish sin. Remember what He has done. He has given his Son for you, and to you, that you may believe in Him and be saved. And shall you receive other gifts, and not gladly and gratefully receive this, the best of all gifts? How many children, in heathen lands, would like to know about this gift, and yet they know not! Do you pity them, and will you help them to know Christ? Remember what He is willing to do. He is willing to pardon your sins, and save your soul for Jesus' sake. He is willing to take you back into His holy and happy family, from which sin had excluded you. And He is willing to take you to heaven at death, and make you happy for ever there. When God is willing to give you so much, are you not willing to take it? When He never forgets you, why will you forget Him?

What is meant by remembering your Creator? This commandment supposes that you are apt to forget God, that He sees you, that He loves you, and that He preserves you every moment. Therefore, you require to have your attention arrested; you require to be urged and warned to remember Him. You cannot remember Him unless you are first acquainted with Him. You must know Him as your Creator; you must know