Sabbath Reading

Burating from earth in air of carly spring, I found a lily growing sweet ana wild ; And pmckcd the blossom, euowy iair, to bring, Aa tjpe of rpfuirreetion, to my child ; Witk it to rkow How out of death divuiest lif c might Rrow. I told her then what Easter meant ; and why There seemed Biich gladness in the world to reign, Why clear-voiced choirs sang bo exultantly The jojful autheiu " Ohrist is rieen again !" That, dying, Ho Had taken from the grave its victory. " Becanpc ' He died aud rose again,'" I said, " Tho dark and shadowy valley none need foar ; The little brother that to you aeeined dead Waa omy on Cbrist's bosom heavenly near ; Thcre ia no tomb Can prison or hide the bouI'b immortal bloom." O ! impotenee of wordb I Who can explain This wondrous mystery? And yet, perchance, Through one white lily on God'6 altar lain My child may grasp the flower's significance, Aiul. kneeling, Bay, f A little child doth yield htr heart to-day 1" - Wide Awakefor April, And There Wa No More Sea.' What is meant by tliis symbol is best ascertained by remembering howthe sea appears in tlie Old Testament. The Jew was not a sailor. All the references in the Old Testament, and especially in the prophets, to that great ocean are sueh as a man would make who knew very little about it, except from having looked at it from the bilis of Judea, and having often wondered what might be lying away out vonder at the point where sky and sea blended together. There are three mam things which it shadows forth in the Old Testament. It is a symbol of mystery, of rebellious power, of perpetual unrest. And it is the promise of the cessalion of these things which is set forth in that saying, " There was no more sea." There sh all be no more mystery and terror. There shall be no more " the floods lifting up tlieir voice," and the waves dashing with impotent foam against the throne of God. There shall be no more the tossing and the tumult of changing circumstances, and no more the unrest and disquiet of a sinful heart. There shalibe the "newheaven and the new earth." The old humanity will be left, and tb e relation to God will remain, deepened and glorifled and made pure. But all tb at Í3 sorrowful and all that is rebellious, all that is mysterious and all that is unquiet, shall have passed away for ever We shall look back and see that the bending line was leading straight as an arrow-flight, borne to the center, and that the end crownsandvindicates every step of the road. Something of the mystery of God will have been resolved, for man hath powers undreamed of yet. and " we shall see Him as He is." Set this before you, as the highest truth for us ; Christ is the beginning of all wisdom on earth. Starting thenee I can hope to solve the remaining mystery when I stand at last, redeemed by the blood of the Lainb, in the presenoe of the great light of God. Oh ! what a thought that is that ,.„„_,, llffi that - ;t.soU agamU ui. Lord is á tutUe life, that it comes to nothing at last, that none hardens himself against God and prospers ! It is true on the widest scale. It is trne on the narrowest. It is true about all those tempests that have risen up against God's churoh and ührist's gospel, like the " waves of the sea foaming out their own shame," and iever shaking the great rock that they brake against. And it is true about all godless lives; about every man who arries on his work, except'in loving obedience to his Father in Heaven. There is one power in the world, and none else. When all is played out, and accounts are set nght at the end, you will find that tb e power that seemed to be strong, if it stood against God, was weak as water and has done nothing, and is nothing ! Do not waste your lives in a work that is selfcondemned to behopeless ! Rather ally yourselves with the tendencies of God's ■nniverse. and do the thinff which will last f orever, and live the life that has hope of fruit that shall remain. Submit yourselves to God ! Love Christ ! Do His will ! Put your f aith in the Savior to deliver you from your sins, and, when the "wild tossing of that great ooean of ungodly power and rebellious opposition is all hushed down into dead silence, you and your work will last and live hard by the stable throne of God. Life is a voyage over a turbulent sea ; changing oircumstances come rolling after eaeh other, like the undistinguishable billows of the great ocean. Tempests and storms arise. There is wearisome sailing, no peace, but " ever climbing tip the climbing wave." That is life ! But for all that, friends, there is an end to it some day; and it is worth while for us to thiBk about our " island home, f ar, f ar beyond the sea." Surely some of us have kiarned the weariness of this changeful state, the weariuess of the work and voyage of this world. Burely some of us are longing to find anchorage while the storm lasts, and a haven at the end. There is one, if only you will believe it, and set yourselves toward it. There is an end to all ' ' the weary oar, the weary wandermg field s of barren foam." On the shore stands the Christ; and there is rest there; there is no more sea, but unbroken rest, unohanging blessedness, perpetual stability of joy, and love in the Father s house. Are ue goiüg there? are we living for Christ? are ive putting our confidenee in the Lord Jssus Christ? Then, "Ho brings us to the desired haven. The wicliert is like the tronbled ca wliich cannot rest, whose waters cast up miro and dirt. Tliat restless, profitless working of the great homeless, hungry, moaning ooean -wliat a picture it is of the hcart of a man that has no Christ, thathas no God, that has no peace by pardon ! A soul all tossed with its om boiling passion, a soul aoross which there howl great gusts of temptation, a seul which works and brings forth nothing but foarn and mire ! Unrest, perpetual unrest is the lot of every man that is not God's child. Some of you know that. Well, then think of one pioture. A little barque pitching in the night, and one figure rises quietly up in the stern, and puts out a rebuking hand, and speaks one mighty word, "Peace! be still." And the word was heard nmid all the hurly-burly of the tempest, and the waves crouched at his feet like dogs to their master. It is no fancy, brethren, it is truth. Let Christ epeak to your hearts, and there i peace and quietness. And, if He do that, then your experience will be like that described in the grand old Psalm, "Though the waters roar and be troubled, and, though thft mountains shake with the sweliing thereof, yet will we not fear. " For the city stands fast, in spite of the vaves that curl around its lowest founlations. Dcath, death itself, will be but the last burst of the expiriug storm, the last blast of the blown-out tempest. A.nd tlea the quiet of tlie green inlaDd alleyi of our Father's land, where ao tempest oomeg any more, nor the louJ wind ar eyer bgara, öoï tbe eH pea is ever seen ; but perpetual ealm and blessedness ; all mystery gone, silenced, and all unrest at &n end forever ! " No more sea." but, instead of that wild and yeasty chaos of turbulent waters, tliere símil be " the river that makes glad the city of God," the river of water of life, that " croceeds out of the throne of God and