Revelation (Sections 260-264)

Section 260

"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him,
and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."—Rev. 1:7 The doxology which precedes our text is most glorious.

It runs well in the Revised Version: "To him that loved us and loosed us."

Keeping to our Authorized Version, we can get the alliteration by reading "loved us and laved us." To him who has made us kings, is himself a King, and is coming into his kingdom: to him be glory. Our adoration is increased by our expectation. "He cometh." Our solemnity in praise is deepened by the hope that our expectation will be speedily realized. The coming is in the present tense.

John, who once heard the voice, "Behold the Lamb of God!" now utters the voice, "Behold, he cometh!"

I. Our Lord Jesus comes.

1. This fact is worthy of a note of admiration—"Behold!"

2. It should be vividly realized till we cry, "Behold, he cometh!"

3. It should be zealously proclaimed. We should use the herald's cry, "Behold!"

4. It is to be unquestioningly asserted as true. Assuredly he cometh.

It has been long foretold. Enoch. Jude 14.

He has himself warned us of it. "Behold, I come quickly!"

He has made the sacred supper a token of it "Till he come."

What is to hinder his coming? Are there not many reasons for it?

5. It is to be viewed with immediate interest.

"Behold!" for this is the grandest of all events.

"He cometh," the event is at the door.

"He," who is your Lord and Bridegroom, comes.

He is coming even now, for he is preparing all things for his advent, and thus may be said to be on the road.

6. It is to be attended with a peculiar sign—"with clouds." The clouds are the distinctive tokens of his Second Advent. The tokens of the divine presence. "The dust of his feet." The pillar of cloud was such in the wilderness. The emblems of his majesty. The ensigns of his power. The warnings of his judgment. Charged with darkness and tempest are these gathered clouds.

II. Our Lord's coming will be seen of all.

1. It will be a literal appearance. Not merely every mind shall think of him, but "Every eye shall see him."

2. It will be beheld by all sorts and kinds of living men.

3. It will be seen by those long dead.

4. It will be seen by his actual murderers, and others like them.

5. It will be manifest to those who desire not to see the Lord.

6. It will be a sight in which you will have a share.

Since you must see him, why not at once look to him and live?

III. His coming will cause sorrow.

"All kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him."

1. The sorrow will be very general. "All kindreds of the earth."

2. The sorrow will be very bitter. "Wail."

3. The sorrow proves that men will not be universally converted.

4. The sorrow also shows that men will not expect from Christ's coming a great deliverance.

They will not look to escape from punishment.

They will not look for Annihilation.

They will not look for Restoration.

If they did so, his coming would not cause them to wail.

5. The sorrow will, in a measure, arise out of his glory, seeing they rejected and resisted him. That glory will be against them.

6. The sorrow will be justified by the dread result. Their fears of punishment will be well-grounded. Their horror at the sight of the great Judge will be no idle fright. To his Lord's coming the believer gives his unfeigned assent, whatever the consequences. Can you say, "Even so, Amen?"

Advent thoughts

Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly! In the meanwhile, it is not heaven that can keep thee from me; it is not earth that can keep me from thee: raise thou up my soul to a life of faith with thee: let me even enjoy thy conversation, whilst I expect thy return.—Bishop Hall.

"Every eye shall see him." Every eye; the eye of every living man, whoever he is. None will be able to prevent it. The voice of the trumpet, the brightness of the flame, shall direct all eyes to him, shall fix all eyes upon him. Be it ever so busy an eye, or ever so vain an eye, whatever employment, whatever amusement it had the moment before, will then no longer be able to employ it, or to amuse it. The eye will be lifted up to Christ, and will no more look down upon money, upon books, upon land, upon houses, upon gardens. Alas! these things will then all pass away in a moment; and not the eyes of the living alone, but also all the eyes that have ever beheld the sun, though but for a moment: the eyes of all the sleeping dead will be awakened and opened. The eyes of saints and sinners of former generations. The eyes of Job, according to those rapturous words of his, which had so deep and so sublime a sense, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand in the last day on the earth: in my flesh I shall see God, whom my eyes shall behold, and not another." The eyes of Balaam, of which he seems to have had an awful foreknowledge when he said, "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh." Your eyes and mine. O awful thought! Blessed Jesus! May we not see thee as through tears; may we not then tremble at the sight!—Dr. Doddridge.

"And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. . . . And Peter went out and wept bitterly." So shall it be, but in a different sense, with sinners at the day of judgment. The eye of Jesus as their judge shall be fixed upon them, and the look shall awake their sleeping memories, and reveal their burdens of sin and shame—countless and cursed crimes, denials worse than Peter's, since life-long and unrepented of, scoffings at love that wooed them, and despisings of mercy that called them— all these shall pierce their hearts as they behold the look of Jesus. And they shall go out and flee from the presence of the Lord—go out never to return, flee even into the outer darkness, if so be they may hide them from that terrible gaze. And they shall weep bitterly—weep as they never wept before, burning, scalding tears, such as earth's sorrow never drew— weep never to be comforted, tears never to be wiped away. Their eyes shall be fountains of tears, not penitential and healing, but bitter and remorseful—tears of blood—tears that shall rend the heart in twain, and deluge the soul in fathomless woe.—Anon.

Section 261

"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and
there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament:
and there were lightnings, and voices, and
thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."—Rev. 11:19 It may not be easy to work out the connection of the text; but taken by itself it is eminently instructive.

Much that is of God we fail to see: to us the temple of God in heaven is still in a measure closed.

There is need that it be opened to us by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has rent the veil, and so laid open, not only the holy place, but the Holy of holies; and yet by reason of our blindness it still needs laying open, so that its treasures may be seen.

There are minds that even now see the secret of the Lord. We all shall do so above: and we may do so in a measure while below.

Among the chief objects which are to be seen in the heavenly temple is the ark of the covenant of God. This means that the covenant is always in the mind of God, and that his most holy and most secret purposes have a reference to that covenant.

It is "covenant," not testament (see the Revised Version, which is the better translation in this place.) I. The covenant is always near to God.

"There was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant."

Whatever happens, the covenant stands secure.

Whether we see it or not, the covenant is in its place, near to God. The covenant of grace is forever the same, for—

1. The God who made it changes not.

2. The Christ who is its Surety and Substance changes not.

3. The love which suggested it changes not.

4. The principles on which it is settled change not.

5. The promises contained in it change not; and, best of all, 6. The force and binding power of the covenant change not.

It is, it must be, forever where God at first placed it.

II. The covenant is seen of saints.

"There was seen in his temple."

We see in part, and blessed are we when we see the covenant.

We see it when—

1. By faith we believe in Jesus as our Covenant-head.

2. By instruction we understand the system and plan of grace.

3. By confidence we depend upon the Lord's faithfulness, and the promises which he has made in the covenant.

4. By prayer we plead the covenant.

5. By experience we come to perceive the covenant-love running as a silver thread through all the dispensations of providence.

6. By a wonderful retrospect we look back when we arrive in heaven, and see all the dealings of our faithful covenant God.

III. The covenant contains much that is worth seeing. The ark of the covenant may serve us as a symbol. In it typically, and in the covenant actually, we see—

1. God dwelling among men: as the ark in the tabernacle, in the center of the camp.

2. God reconciled, and communing with men upon the mercy-seat.

3. The Law fulfilled in Christ: the two tables in the ark.

4. The kingdom established and flourishing in him: Aaron's rod.

5. The provision made for the wilderness: for in the ark was laid up the golden pot which had manna.

6. The universe united in carrying out the covenant purposes, as typified by the cherubim on the mercy-seat.

IV. The covenant has solemn surroundings.

"There were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings," etc.

It is attended by—

1. The sanctions of divine power—confirming.

2. The supports of eternal might—accomplishing.

3. The movements of spiritual energy—applying its grace.

4. The terrors of eternal law—overthrowing its adversaries.

Study the covenant of grace.

Fly to Jesus, who is the Surety of it.

Remarks of sound Divines The great glory of the covenant is the certainty of the covenant; and this is the top of God's glory, and of a Christian's comfort, that all the mercies that are in the covenant of grace are "the sure mercies of David," and that all the grace that is in the covenant is sure grace, and that all the glory that is in the covenant is sure glory, and that all the external, internal, and eternal blessings of the covenant are sure blessings— Thomas Brooks. The covenant stands unchangeable. Mutable creatures break their leagues and covenants, and when they are not accommodated to their interests, snap them asunder, like Samson's cords. But an unchangeable God keeps his: "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, nor shall the covenant of my peace be removed." (Isa. 54:10.)—Stephen Charnock. The ark was an especial type of Christ, and it is a very fit one; for in a chest or coffer men put their jewels, plate, coin, treasure, and whatsoever is precious, and whereof they make high account. Such a coffer men use to have in the house, where they dwell continually, in the chamber where they lie, even by their bedside: because his treasure is in his coffer, his heart is there also. Thus in Christ "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). He is "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell" (Col. 1:19). Hereupon Christ is "the Son of God's love" (Col. 1:13); "his elect in whom his soul delighteth" (Isa. 42:1); and he is "ever at the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12).—William Gouge. A friend calling on the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, during his last illness, said to him, "Sir, you have given us many good advices; pray, what are you now doing with your own soul?" "I am doing with it," said he, "what I did forty years ago; I am resting on that word, 7 am the Lord thy God'; and on this I mean to die." To another he said, "The covenant is my charter, and if it had not been for that blessed word, 7 am the Lord thy God,' my hope and strength had perished from the Lord."—Whitecross. The rainbow of the covenant glitters above, lightnings of wrath issue from below. This is the fire that breaks forth from the sanctuary to consume those who profane its laws. It is the wrath of the Lamb that bursts from the altar upon those who trample under foot his blood. It is the savor of death unto death to those who have rejected the gospel as a savor of life unto life. It is the reply of Christ to those who command him upon their own authority to come down from his lofty elevation, and commit himself into their hands. "If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you." Humiliation brings Christ himself from heaven to earth; imperiousness brings down consuming fire. From the same temple, in which some behold the ark of the covenant, lightnings, voices, thunderings, earthquake, and great hail, descend upon those who have profaned its courts with their abominations.— George Rogers.

Section 262 "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun;
and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

"And men were scorched with great heat, and
blasphemed the name of God, which hath
power over these plagues; and they repented "
not to give him glory."—Rev. 16:8, 9 What forces God has at his disposal, since all angels serve him! These bring forth the vials of his wrath.

What power these beings have over nature; for on the sun the angel empties his bowl, and men are scorched with fire! No men are beyond the power of the judgments of God. He can reach them by any medium. He can make ill effects flow from our best blessings: in this case burning heat poured from the sun. The judgments of God do not of themselves produce true repentance; for these men "repented not to give him glory."

I. They may produce a repentance.

1. A carnal repentance, caused by fear of punishment. Cain.

2. A transient repentance, which subsides with the judgment. Pharaoh.

3. A superficial repentance, which retains the sin. Herod.

4. A despairing repentance, which ends in death. Judas.

There is nothing about any of these which gives glory to God.

II. They do not produce the repentance which gives God glory.

True repentance glorifies God—

1. By acknowledging his omniscience, and the wisdom of his warnings, when we confess the fact and folly of sin.

2. By admitting the righteousness of his law, and the evil of sin.

3. By confessing the justice of the Lord's threatenings, and bowing before his throne in reverent submission.

4. By owning that it lies with the sovereign mercy of God further to punish us, or graciously to forgive us.

5. By accepting the grace of God as presented in the Lord Jesus.

6. By seeking sanctification so as to live in holy gratitude, in accordance with favor received. In the case before us in the chapter, the men under the plague went from bad to worse, from inpenitence to blasphemy; but where there is godly sorrow, sin is forsaken.

III. They involve men in greater sin when they do not soften.

1. Their sin becomes more a sin of knowledge.

2. Their sin becomes more a sin of defiance.

3. Their sin becomes a sin of falsehood before God. Vows broken, resolutions forgotten; all this is lying unto the Holy Ghost.

4. Their sin becomes a sin of hate towards God. They even sacrifice themselves to spite their God.

5. Their sin becomes more and more deliberate, costly, and stubborn.

6. Their sin is thus proven to be engrained in their nature.

IV. They are to be looked upon with discretion.

Hasty generalization will lead us into great errors in reference to divine judgments.

1. Used by the grace of God, they tend to arouse, impress, subdue, humble, and lead to repentance.

2. They may not be regarded as of themselves beneficial.

Satan is not bettered by his misery. The lost in hell grow more obdurate through their pains.

Many wicked men are the worse for their poverty.

Many sick are not really penitent, but are hypocritical.

3. When we are not under judgment and terror, we should repent.

Because of God's long-suffering and goodness.

Because we are not now distracted by pain.

Because now we can think of the sin apart from the judgment, and are more likely to be honest in repentance.

Because we shall find it sweeter and nobler to be drawn than to be like "dumb driven cattle." Be it our one aim "to give him glory."

Begin with this object in repentance, continue in it by faith, rise nearer to it in hope, abide in it by zeal and love. From great authors

Trees may blossom fairly in the spring, on which no fruit is to be found in the harvest; and some have sharp soul exercises which are nothing but foretastes of hell.—Boston.

Richard Sibbes says, "We see, by many that have recovered again, that have promised great matters in their sickness, that it is hypocritical repentance, for they have been worse after than they were before." Dr. Grosart adds, by way of illustration, the testimony of a prison chaplain to the effect that of "reprieved" criminals who, in the shadow of the gallows had manifested every token of apparent penitence and heart-change, the number whose subsequent career gave evidence of reality is as 1 to 500, perhaps as awful a fact as recent criminal statistics reveal.

I believe it will be found that the repentance of most men is not so much sorrow for sin as sin, or real hatred of it, as sullen sorrow that they are not allowed to sin.—Adam's Private Thoughts.

There is no repentance in hell. They are scorched with heat, and blaspheme God's name, but repent not to give him glory. They curse him for their pains and sores, but repent not of their deeds. True repentance ariseth from faith and hope; but there can be no faith of releasement where is certain knowledge of eternal punishment; knowledge and sense exclude faith. There can be no hope of termination where be chains of desperation. There shall be a desperate sorrow for pain, no penitent sorrow for sin. None are now saved but by the blood of the Lamb; but when the world is ended, that fountain is dried up. The worm of conscience shall gnaw them with this remorse, bringing to their minds the cause of their present calamities: how often they have been invited to heaven, how easily they might have escaped hell. They shall weep for the loss of the one and gain of the other, not for the cause of either, which were repentance. . . . They suffer, and they blaspheme.—Thomas Adams.

How awful to read, "men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail!" How true it is that affliction makes good men better, and bad men worse! Wrath converts no man. It is grace that saves. The chastisement that does not soften, hardens. Judgments lead men to blaspheme; and the greater the plague, the more they blaspheme. What a solemn, but truthful, representation of the consequence of oft-neglected warnings! See the employment of man in the future state—in heaven, to praise; in hell, to blaspheme.—George Rogers.

Section 263

"And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."—Rev. 19:9

Amazed by what he saw and heard, John might have failed to write; but he was warned to do so on this occasion, because of— The value of the statements herein recorded. Their absolute certainty, as sure promises and true sayings of God. The necessity of keeping such facts in remembrance throughout all time for the comfort of all those who look for the Lord's appearing. This fact, that men shall partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb, might seem too good to be true, if it were not specially certified by order of the Lord, under the head and seal of the Spirit of God. In the historical order, the false harlot-church is to be judged (see previous chapter), and then the true bride of Christ is to be acknowledged and honored. In meditating upon this august marriage festival, we shall note—

I. The description of the bridegroom. The inspired apostle speaks of him as "the Lamb." This is John's special name for his Lord. Perhaps he learned it from hearing the Baptist cry, by the Jordan, "Behold the Lamb."

What we learn early abides with us late.

John uses this name continually in the Book of the Revelation. The last book of the Bible still reveals Jesus in this character as the Lamb of God. In this passage the marriage of the Lamb may even seem incongruous as a figure: but John looks at the sense and not at the language.

He wishes us above all things to remember that as the sacrifice for our sin our Lord appears in his glory; and that as a Lamb he will manifest himself in the consummation of all things when his church is perfected.

1. As the Lamb he is the one everlasting sacrifice for sin: he will not be other than this in his glory.

2. As the Lamb, suffering for sin, he is specially glorious in the eyes of the angels and all other holy intelligences; and so in his joyous day he wears that character.

3. As the Lamb he most fully displays his love to his church; and so he appears in this form on the day of his love's triumph.

4. As the Lamb he is the best loved of our souls. Behold, how he loved us even to the death!

Ever as a victim for sin he rejoices to display himself to the universe.

II. The meaning of the marriage supper. In the evening of time, in the end of the gospel day, there shall be—

1. The completion and perfection of the church. "His bride hath made herself ready."

2. The rising of the church into the nearest and happiest communion with Christ in his glory. "The marriage of the Lamb is come." The espousals lead up to this.

3. The fulfilment of the long expectations of both.

4. The open publication of the great fact of mutual love and union.

5. The overflowing of mutual delight and joy. "Be glad and rejoice."

6. The grandest display of magnificent munificence in a banquet.

7. The commencement of an eternally unbroken rest. "He shall rest in his love." The church, like Ruth, shall find rest in the house of her husband.

III. The persons who are called to it. Not those who have the common call, and reject it, but—

1. Those who are so called as to accept the invitation.

2. Those who now possess the faith which is the token of admission.

3. Those who love the Bridegroom and bride.

4. Those who have on the wedding garment of sanctification.

5. Those who watch with lamps burning.

These are they which are called to the marriage supper.

IV. The blessedness which is ascribed to them.

1. They have a prospect which blesses them even now.

2. They have great honor in being called to such a future.

3. They will be blessed indeed when at that feast, for—

Those who are called will be admitted.

Those who are admitted will be married.

Those who are married to Jesus will be endlessly happy. How many a marriage leads to misery! but it is not so in this case.

Alas, some are not thus blessed! To be unblest is to be accursed.

Marriage Music As they that have invited a company of strangers to a feast do stay till the last be come, so there will not be a glorious coming of Christ until all the elect be gathered into one body. And then shall be the coming of all comings, which is the glorious coming of Christ, to take us to himself.—Richard Sibbes.

How blessed it will be to those "called" ones, to "sit down" at "the marriage supper of the Lamb"! Then will "the King sit indeed at his table," and "the spikenard will send forth the smell thereof."

He who once hung so sad upon the cross for everyone, will look around that bright company, and in every white robe, and in every lighted countenance, he will behold the fruit of his sufferings. He will "see of the travail of his soul, and will be satisfied." It will be the eternal union of God fulfilled in its deepest counsel—a people given to Christ from before all worlds; and that they are, that day, all chosen—all gathered— all washed—all saved—and not one of them is lost!—James Vaughan.

We dare not say that our Lord will love us more than he loves us now, but he will indulge his love for us more; he will manifest it more, we shall see more of it, we shall understand it better; it will appear to us as though he loved us more. He will lay open his whole heart and soul to us, with all its feelings, and secrets, and purposes, and allow us to know them, as far at least as we can understand them, and it will conduce to our happiness to know them. The love of this hour will be the perfection of love. This marriage-feast will be the feast, the triumph, of love—the exalted Saviour showing to the whole universe that he loves us to the utmost bound love can go, and we loving him with a fervor, a gratitude and adoration, a delight, that are new even in heaven. The provisions made by him for our enjoyment will astonish us. Conceive of a beggar taken for the first time to a splendid monarch's table, and this at a season of unusual splendor and rejoicing. How would he wonder at the magnificence he would see around him, and the profusion of things prepared for his gratification; some altogether new to him, and others in an abundance and an excellence he had never thought of! So will it be with us in heaven. We shall find it a feast and a monarch's feast. It will have delights for us, of which we have no conception; and the pleasures we anticipate in it will be far higher and more abundant than our highest expectations have ever gone. We shall have a provision made for us, which will befit, not our rank and condition, but the rank and condition, the greatness, the magnificence, of a glorious God.— Charles Bradley.

Section 264 "And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God." —Rev. 19:9 These words relate to that which immediately precedes them. The judgment of the harlot church. Verse 2. The glorious and universal reign of Christ. Verse 6. The sure reward and glory of Christ with his saved ones in the glorious period at the last. Verses 7, 8. The existence, beauty, purity, simplicity, and glory of the church. The union of Christ and the church in love, joy, glory. The blessedness of all who have to do with this union. The subjects thus referred to make up a summary of what the Lord has said upon future human history. The words before us we shall use as expressing—

I. A right estimate of holy scripture.

1. These words which we find in the Old and New Testaments are true. Free from error, certain, enduring, infallible.

2. These are divine words. Infallibly inspired, so as to be, in very truth, "the sayings of God."

3. These words are thus true and divine in opposition to—

Words of man. These may or may not be true.

Pretended words of God. False prophets and men with addled intellects profess to speak in the name of God; but they lie.

4. These words are all of them truly divine. "These are the true sayings of God."

Neither too severe to be true, nor too terrible to be uttered by a God of love, as some dare to say. Nor too good to be true, as tremblers fear. Nor too old to be true, as novelty-hunters affirm. Nor too simple to be truly divine, as the worldly-wise insinuate.

5. These words are a blessing to us for that reason.

What else can guide us if we have no sure revelation from God?

How can we understand the revelation if it is not all true? How could we discriminate between the truth and the error on subjects so much beyond us?

II. The result of forming such an estimate.

If you believe that "these are the true sayings of God,"

1. You will listen to them with attention, and judge what you hear from preachers by this infallible standard.

2. You will receive these words with assurance. This will produce confidence of understanding. This will produce rest of heart.

3. You will submit with reverence to these words, obey their precepts, believe their teachings, and value their prophesies.

4. You will expect fulfillment of divine promises under difficulties.

5. You will cling to revealed truth with pertinacity.

6. You will proclaim it with boldness.

III. Our justification for forming such an estimate. In these days we may be accused of bibliolatry, and other new crimes; but we shall hold to our belief in inspiration, for—

1. The Scriptures are what they profess to be—the word of God.

2. There is a singular majesty and power in them; and we see this when the truth of God is preached.

3. There is a marvelous omniscience in Scripture, which is perceived by us when it unveils our inmost souls.

4. They have proven themselves true to us.

• They warned us of the bitter fruit of sin, and we have tasted it.

• They told us of the evil of the heart, and we have seen it.

• They told us of the peace-giving power of the blood, and we have proved it by faith in Jesus.

• They told us of the purifying energy of divine grace: we are already instances of it, and desire to be more so.

• They assured us of the efficacy of prayer, and it is true.

• They assured us of the upholding power of faith in God, and by faith we have been upheld in trial.

• They assured us of the faithfulness of God to his people as shown in providence, and we have experienced it. All things have worked together for our good hitherto.

5. The witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts confirms our faith in Holy Scripture. We believe, and are saved from sin by believing. Those words must be truly divine which have wrought in us such gracious results.

What follows upon this? We believe all the Scripture.

We now accept as true sayings of God— The proclamation that our Lord is coming. The doctrine that the dead will be raised at his call. The fact that there will be a judgment of the quick and dead. The truth that saints will enjoy eternal life, and that Sinners will go away into everlasting punishment.

Worth Quoting Whence but from heaven could men unskill'd in arts, In several ages born, in several parts, Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?

Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice, Starving their gain, and martyrdom their price.

—Dryden. Of most things it may be said, "Vanity of vanity, all is vanity"; but of the Bible it may be truly said, "Verity of verity, all is verity."—Arrowsmith. The True is the one asbestos which survives all fire, and comes out purified.—Thomas Carlyle. A young man had fallen into loose habits, and was living a wild, fast life. Late hours were frequent with him, and he would pay no regard to the remonstrances of a Christian father. At last it came to a point. The father told his son that he must either leave his home or conform to rules. He followed his old ways, went into lodgings, and was rather pleased to be free from the restraint he felt at home. After a while he picked up with some young companions who professed infidel opinions, and soon, like them, he even scoffed at religion, and made light of all his parents had taught him. But the prayers of his father and mother followed him, and in a remarkable way were abundantly answered. One night the young fellow lay awake and began to think. "I tell people," said he to himself, "that there is no truth in the Bible, but there must be truth somewhere, and if not there, where is it? I wonder what the Bible says about truth?" In this way he was led to go to the Scriptures, and read every passage where truth is spoken of. The Bible became its own witness. It so took hold of him that he was persuaded that it was the very Word of the living God. He was convinced of the evil of his past life, and was led to see Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His whole future was the reverse of his former course.—G. Everard.