steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously; who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep gone astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

LESSON XV.

FROM the immense disproportion between our finite minds and the infinite objects of future hope, our conceptions of the disimbodied spirit must necessarily be feeble. But while we anticipate the promised freedom of the celestial world, the disenthralment of our intellectual faculties, and the deliverance of our moral powers from all corruption, the mind becomes more and more habituated to the scenes thus disclosed, and even reaches to prospects of resplendent beauty; to visions of unclouded truth; to the solution of the little difficulties of our own earthly trials; to the evolutions of the Divine character in connection with our little planet, and even to that infinitude that mocks the bounds of time and space.

Thus the pious Christian, who meditates upon God and the heavens, the work of his hand, feels a divine influence spread over his soul, while the active and the retired, the ardent and the timid, the philosopher whose mind is illumined by the varied lights of science, and the pious slave, whose researches are confined to the sayings of some unlettered expositor, will each cherish anticipations congenial to his peculiar state of mind. Yet all will grow in grace; all will rise above the level of temporal delights; and all will embrace in their expanding conceptions the mighty import of that glorious promise, that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him," 1 Cor. ii. 9, till elevated so far above earthly associations, that each can say, "I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." Ps. xvii. 15.

What degree of moral likeness will gradually be produced by a near contemplation of unveiled perfection is reserved for eternity

to disclose. But the time will at length come when to every sincere Christian and true disciple, dazzled by the refulgence that will break upon his astonished sight, Jesus Christ will address the language of affection, as he did to Martha: "Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst see the glory of God?" John xi. 40.

"Then we all, with open face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of God, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory." 2 Cor. iii. 18.

Such, then, is the picture and such the prospect of the Christian character; and well may Christians, even the slave, "Reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed." Rom. viii. 18.

From the monarch down, viewed from the distance of eternity, man occupies but a point. All earthly distinctions become so small that nothing short of the eye of omnipotence can see them. The same language describes, and the same God will prepare their

rest.

The Christian slave feels exalted even while on earth, for he is well persuaded "that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God." Rom. viii. 38.

If for a few days the afflicted Christian and slave "wander in the wilderness in a solitary way;" if, "hungry and thirsty, their souls faint in them," he is yet "hastening to a city of habitations." Ps. cvii. 4, 5, 7.

If even the sun of his earthly hopes be set, yet he is hastening to a country where "thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." Isa. lx. 20.

With such views the heart is elevated above the pains and miseries of this transitory world to the contemplation of hope celestial. The mere philosopher, who views the mutilated structure of the moral world, sees no renovating principle to reorganize its scattered fragments. He mourns with unavailing sorrow over the ruins of his race, and chills with horror at the prospect of his own decay. But the Christian sees a fairer earth and a more radiant heaven. And should the poor slave, forgetful of this high destiny of his Christian character, and of his ultimate home, feeling, like Hagar,

the slave of Sarah, the hand of his mistress dealing hardly by him, and, like her, attempt a remedy by flight; like her, he will hear the voice of God, saying, "Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hand." Gen. xvi. 9.

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Like her, in humble submission, he obeys the command, and prays, "O Lord, correct me," for "I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jer. x. 23.

He,

In the miseries and vanities with which he is surrounded, the Christian only sees proofs of a fallen, not of a hopeless state. like old Eneas, is seeking and looking for a home in a foreign land, and, like him, constantly requires the interposition of some friendly providence to warn him that he is still distant from the destined shores.

Mutandæ sedes; non hæc tibi littora suasit,

Delius, aut Creta jussit considere Apollo.-2d Enead.

Like the Israelites, he has pitched his tent in a wilderness of sin, and feels grateful for those afflictions that reiterate the admonition: "Arise and depart, for this is not your rest." Micah ii. 10.

He knows that "this corruptible will put on incorruption, that this mortal will put on immortality, and that as he has borne the image of the earthly, he shall also bear the image of the heavenly." See 1 Cor. xv. 49, 53.

Why then should our hearts sink in sadness, because, as we have seen, sin has destroyed the balance of moral power among men, even the foundation on which their universal equality could exist, whence some races of men have gone deep down in the pit of human degradation, until the man and the brute are found in the same animal tenement.

Such is the poisonous nature of sin, that the heart that deviseth wicked imaginations always finds "feet running swiftly to ruin." See Prov. vi. 18.

But God hath promised that the remnant of Israel shall not speak lies: "Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid." Zeph. iii. 12, 13.

But the ways of God are not as the ways of man; he makes his enemies build his throne.

Therefore, be ye not deceived, for "there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,

even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." 2 Pet. ii. 1.

Study and pray to improve the powers that God hath given, while you compare the things that be with the causes and designs of Providence; and while you note that "the evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous," note also that "the way of the ungodly shall perish." They shall be "like the chaff which the wind driveth away." For "the hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slothful shall be under tribute." "He that hath not sells himself to him that hath." Therefore, "the borrower is servant to the lender," and wherefore, "wisdom is better than rubies;" for "by me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me: yea, durable riches and righteousness."

But God hath promised that "the whole earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isa. xi. 9. Therefore, so long as the tares and the wheat shall grow together, "Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I will rise up to the prey for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour out upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all call on the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, ( Bath Putsi, the daughter of Phut, the most degraded of the African tribes,) shall bring mine offering." Zeph. iii. 8-10.

The slavery of the African tribes to those of the true faith is here clearly announced, and the great benefit of their conversion to the worship of the true God proclaimed as an abundant

reason.

Thus Isaiah, speaking of the house of Israel, the prototype of the church of God, says-" Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine; they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, they shall fall down unto thee; they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Verily, God is in thee, and there is no God" beside. Isa. xlv. 14.

And these people, in a state of pupilage, are thus referred to by

Zephaniah: "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord."

God ever requires of the powerful the protection of the weak, of the more learned the instruction of the ignorant, and of the more wise the government of those who cannot govern themselves.

"For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” Acts xiii. 47.