desert!-more than a necessity for secure night quarters!" Then would you desire with us to discern the divine glory in the gloom of earth; the enduring in the decaying; perfection in the imperfect; and light in the darkness of night; consolation in all calamity; peace in the great, trying war, and somewhat of the heavenly, in the sorrows of this vale of tears.

"But of what good would such a desire be?"—Much, much. Before it would be opened another more beautiful world." Above?"—No, here below. "But here below we are in darkness." Beyond the shades lies that world." Ah, show us that!"-You shall behold it. The road to it will be shown by Jacob. Turn your look back to him.

There he stands, solitary, mournful, and in doubt. The sun is set; the evening twilight draws in; he can proceed no further. And whither should he proceed? Far and near this waste is uninhabited by human beings; and even should he encounter such in this wilderness, it might perhaps not be advisable for him to seek a refuge with them. Only one resource remains. Jacob perceives a stone; that may serve his purpose; that he will convert into his pillow. Soft or hard, there is no other: comfortable or not, there is no choice. He stretches himself down, lays his head down upon it, and settles himself thus for repose. And let us act similarly: This is the road to the sweet world. You know the living stone, which is called the "Rock of Salvation;" the precious and enduring one. "The stone which the builders rejected," but, by God's grace, "become the head of the corner." "1 This is the antetype of that emblematical stone in the wilderness, and 1 Luke, xx. 17.

with that do as the prophet did with his yonder. Be impoverished even to this very stone; be thrown down from the lofty throne of self-confidence; be turned adrift into the desert of necessity, through your sin; be aroused in fright from the pillows of security and deception, and deprived of every other pillow of repose, find in Christ crucified, the only resting place that is left to you; cling to him, praying, "Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me!" rest upon his pierced paternal heart your weary head and-you will then behold the glory of the Lord, as does yonder Jacob.

Look, there he lies, the beloved pilgrim, upon his stone, and slumbers; his staff and bundle at his side, -he, solitary, and yet not alone. O soft be thy slumbers, thou pious stranger! No savage beast shall touch thee, no serpent sting thee!-How sweetly does he sleep, as if he were aware of the invisible guardians, who keep watch around his bed! How placid does he appear, as if he were lulled to rest by heavenly hymns! Never, indeed, has he slept more sweetly than upon this stone of the wilderness; and of his security upon that couch he will soon be convinced.

The heavens shine over him in the full magnificence of their wide canopy of stars, and behold thence emerges before the soul of the slumberer a countenance, resplendent with glory. Certainly a countenance; but the eternal God permits him to see it, and therefore it is in all its features truth and being.-Jacob beholdsO what is this which he beholds in the lonely, desert wilderness ?-Can aught more blessed be witnessed? His spirit lies prostrate in the dust in adoration; his heart overflows with joy and delight. He beholds the world of light, which rises before every one, who com

mits his heart and head to repose upon the corner stone of salvation, and into which it is permitted us not only to look, but likewise to enter. What then, is Jacob's dream a reality?"-Yes, friends, praised be God! it is so.

The patriarch beholds a ladder, reaching from the earth below to the heavens above. This stands to this hour: the gulf is built over, the heavens are open, space procured for our hearts. The exclamation, "It is finished!" uttered on the cross, has burst the gates of eternal Jerusalem. The angels of God descend kindly unto us; our hopes, petitions, and "Abbas" ascend confidingly and joyously and to-day or to-morrow ourselves also! The earth is the entrance-court of Paradise, mortal life a short pilgrimage, to the home above, while light of a blessed eternity falls illumining upon our road. Upon the summit of the miraculous ladder appears God, the Lord,-but how? In the brilliancy of the rainbow of grace ! "I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy Father, and the God of Isaac!" O hear it, hear it! A God of poor sinners, a reconciled God, a God that pardons, loves and blesses. O what an occasion for rejoicing! "The land whereon thou liest," saith the Most High, "to thee will I give it and to thy seed!" Thus, then, the poor wanderer of the wilderness is a king; and not only he, but all who are of his seed; they are elevated to a "royal priesthood," appointed to an eternal dominion, selected for the possession of the kingdom of the earth; far, far may we cast the metewand of our inheritance; and the earth will once again become a paradise !" All things are yours," shouts one of the people, "whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and

!

ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."1 And what more would we fain wish for ourselves? Extension of our family of brethren?" Thy seed," saith the Eternal," shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed!"—And what besides? The Lord himself, his presence, his guidance? Listen: "And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest!"-And what else? A guide, who assuredly will conduct us to the last point? Listen: "And I will bring thee again into this land!" saith our God. Or a friend, who would remain true, even if we should be untrue? "I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of !" Behold every thing granted that we have desired. O beautiful world! O sweet relations! Thrice blessed is he who hath entered it, and walks in its sweet light!

Our Jacob awakes up. "Surely," he exclaims, in blessed consternation, "the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not!" Assuredly, beloved pilgrim, it is even so; and O! how many likewise of ours, if they only knew it, how gloriously are they provided for! "How dreadful is this place!" he continues; "this is none other but the house of God, and this the gate of heaven!" Yes, it is so! "And Jacob rose up early in the morning," the history farther relates," and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it!" This act is repeated in heightened celebration as often as a poor sinner has found in the wilderness of life the Lord Jesus.

11 Cor. iii. 22, 23.

O, how then wilt thou be anointed with tears of rapture, thou living corner and foundation-stone of all bliss! How wilt thou be embraced, how loaded with sounds of gratitude and jubilees! The place where thou wast met will be called "Beth-el," "house of God," in future, for in thee was developed before us God's heart, ripe with love and mercy, and in thy community Jacob's vision of a dream became the most blessed reality and truth.

Let then this divinely illumined reality open its blessed barriers before us, where heaven and earth became one, and where, as in paradise, God walks familiarly amongst men. We have already often glanced from afar into this silent world of heavenly meetings and blessed greetings of God. Elisha dwelt therein all the year round, and at the present time it will open itself to us afresh, if God but aids to the aspiration of the prayer, “O, let me also, Lord, see that good land, those lovely mountains!"

2 KINGS, VIII. 1—6.

"Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, ' Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.' And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines; and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. And the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, 'Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done. And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that behold the woman whose son he had restored to life cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, 'My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.' And when the king asked the woman, she told