nearly gone. The sand in your hour-glass is nearly run out. And as you look back, do you not feel that there is many an act of your life which you would gladly blot out if could? Are there not many days you you would like to live over again, in the hope that you might live them better-many words you would like to recall-many deeds which you would give worlds to undomany a bad thought, which you encouraged, and which has left a stain behind which no length of time can wear out? Ah! how can all these sins be put away? Must they lie like dark spots on your soul, or hang over you like unpaid debts which can never be cancelled? No, dear brother, no: there is a way—one only way—by which every sin committed, and every deed left un-. done, can be blotted out for ever. Christ has paid your debt. He has died for you. Oh, go to Him with a broken and contrite heart— not to-morrow, but now-not a little while hence, but to-day. The shades of evening are gathering thick around you. You have not a moment to lose. Go and ask Him to accept you, to wash you in His blood, to cover you with His righteousness, and to make you His for ever. I have yet another remark to make. I have spoken of short lives and long lives. We know not which ours will be. But this we do know-of this we are most certainthat our Life to come will be indeed a long one. There will be no end to it. It will be FOR EVER. Methuselah lived nearly a thousand years; but he died at last. But in the next world there will be no closing scene. In Heaven there will be no more death. In Hell there will be no rest-no sleep, even for a single hour-no grave to receive the worn-out body. Oh! think of a long, long ETERNITY; and enter not upon it UNPREPARED. Eternity Eternity! How long art thou, Eternity? NOAH; OR, THE PREACHING LIFE. MORE than two thousand years had now rolled by, since the first day when Adam and Eve stood upon the earth. During those years there was indeed enough to show that man had become a corrupt and fallen being. But still God bore long and patiently with him. He looked upon him with an eye of anger; but His anger was mixed with compassion. Like as a father pitieth his wayward child, so did God pity the sinner then, as He does now. His Spirit strove with him. Again and again He called him to repentance; but no heed was given; the call was heard in vain. At length the cup became fuller and fuller, till it reached the very brim; and God could spare no longer. And then He determined by one awful stroke to destroy the world-that world which he had made D so fair, but which man had stained and marred by sin. He determined to sweep off every family of man with one single exception. And why that one exception? Amidst all the wickedness that prevailed, God's eye marked one who differed from the rest- a solitary grain of wheat amidst the worthless heap of chaff a single sheep among the herd of goats-a faithful one amidst the many faithless. This was Noah, who in the time of the world's greatest wickedness dared to serve the Lord. Oh, how hard it must have been at such a time to stand out from the world, and live for God! It is easy to be on His side, when there are many with us; but to stand alone, when there is no friendly voice to cheer us on-no one on whom we can lean-no brother to support us by his example-then to declare plainly whose we are, and whom we desire to serve this does indeed require no small amount of grace! What a blessed thought it is, that the Lord has always had His servants in the world. In Cain's days there was a righteous Abel; afterwards an Enoch; and then a Noah. Sometimes on a dark night when no stars are seen, and the lonely traveller loses his way, how welcome is the light that glitters from some solitary cottage by the roadside! So in the world's darkest time, when wickedness filled the earth, how blessed to know that there was one dwelling, from which the light of God's truth shone forth! This was the household of Noah. There alone was the Sabbath kept holy. There alone was the voice of prayer and praise heard. There alone was the family altar raised, and sacrifice offered. There, in that dwelling, was the home of holiness and peace. And now God honours Noah by making known to him His purpose concerning the fearful punishment that was hanging over the world. He tells him of the coming Flood, and bids him prepare for it. Observe however the goodness of God. He does not instantly send the Flood. But He mercifully pauses before He strikes the blow. A long, long warning is given. A respite of a hundred and twenty years is granted to |