hast prepared for those that seek Thee." St. Paul assures us that the sufferings of this time bear no proportion to the glory to come. St. John, in his Apocalypse, describes the heavenly Jerusalem, and Christ Himself by word and deed foretold its beauties and its difficult attainment. Tis not without significance that, from the Jordan, Jesus turned Him to the desert, thus teaching us that we, as He, must suffer first and so enter into our glory. The disciple is not above his Master, and Christ has said and proved that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and by the violent only is attained. I repeat it, Brethren, with such proofs before our eyes — such object-lessons — to turn from our leader makes us guiltier than the faltering Israelites, and against us they will hereafter rise in judgment. If their disloyalty in thought and word deprived them of the sight of Palestine, how hope for heaven, we, disloyal as we are in fact — in deed? How hope for heaven, we, enjoying, as we do, the wondrous advantages of Christianity, and yet more faithless than the oppressed Israelite? Of the ambassadors sent by Moses, two returned bearing between them, on a pole, a huge cluster of grapes. Brethren, that vine-branch is Christ crucified; and he that went before, the Jews of old; and he that followed, the Christian people. We have the Saviour ever at our hand. We labor and are burdened, but He is ever there to refresh us with His graces, and our burden is lightened and our yoke sweetened by the thought that, if such is Christ crucified, what must He be in glory. We should love Christ's yoke and burden, so
