freshing slumbers to prepare us for the toil of the ensuing morn, Jehovah's name is syllabled by other lips, and other hands are raised in honour of him "who walketh on the wings of the wind and maketh the clouds and thick darkness his resting place." Then, though unconscious, we are remembered by the church of God, and distance cannot sever the bond of unity between us. Oh! if the heathen in his ignorance trusted in his amulets and charms-oh! if the Christian, under the influence of a superstitious church, placed reliance on the bones of his saints, and the wood of the tree whereon the Redeemer was said to suffer, and both were happy in the protection these were supposed to give ; how much more ought we, better enlightened than they in the objects of our worship, but I trust not less devotional than they to objects believed to be worthy of our veneration. and love; how much more ought we to rest contented in the midnight hour, secure of this, that the saints are praying for us! I feel myself a delight in this reflection, and I learn from it the meaning to be attached to that promise uttered by Jesus: "If a man leave father and mother and brethren and sisters for my sake, and the gospel's, he shall receive in this present time an hundred fold, and in the world to come life everlasting."

Yes, man of God, to all appearance, thou mayest be friendless, and yet I tell thee thou art

not friendless; thou mayest have no guards, like some jealous monarchs of the world, to protect thee from the attacks of the foe, and yet I tell thee, that the tree of life, surrounded by the flaming swords of the cherubim and seraphim, was not more effectually cared for than thou art; the prayers of the righteous continually surround thee, and the hearts of the saints are yearning towards thee. Man of God! believest thou the communion of saints? I know that thou believest. Then think upon these things, and rejoice with an exceeding great joy.

The apostle concludes this interesting subject by expressing a wish that the church of Ephesus would pray to God on his behalf. If you examine the text, you will learn at once from the phrase "ambassador in bonds," that the epistle before us was written from Rome at the time St. Paul was held in captivity there. The circumstances of the Roman empire at this period, were of a nature to strike terror unto the stoutest heart. By degrees that city, which had held its sway over the three discovered continents of the globe, had fallen from its lofty position; the luxuries of Asia had enervated its sons; the sculpture and the paintings of Græcia's favoured land had refined its manners, and with that refinement had brought in a flood of vices upon its warlike gates which undermined their founda

tions, and at length prostrated them to earth. Rome had accomplished its destiny, and was gradually seeking to make way for the fifth prophetical kingdom. Nero was now its chief, and under his government assassinations and murders were rife! Already his own mother had passed away through his brutal instrumentality, and no man could call his life his own. St. Paul had appealed from Festus to this Cæsar, and to this Cæsar he had been sent in accordance with that appeal. In his own hired house, with a soldier to keep him, the apostle taught some of the noblest citizens of Rome, and yet notwithstanding he was a prisoner in a capital where human life was almost valueless,-notwithstanding his name was noised abroad so that he probably was a competitor for public notice with the vain and jealous emperor himself, I find in the passage before me not one wish that the Ephesians should pray for his safety on his own account. It would, indeed, have surprised me, had such a wish been shown, because I know that death had no terrors for the holy Paul. Yea, rather sometimes a thought would flit across his mind, how sweet it was to die to be with Christ, and imagination would catch at the idea, and expand it until the glories of the third heaven were recalled, and the unutterable words he once heard, and the scenes he once saw, and the company of the saints he once beheld,

burst forth again before him, as they did in the days gone by, and Abel, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Elijah, and Elisha, and that James whom he knew, and whom Herod had slain, all seemed to come forward and congratulate him, and all were anxious as heretofore to draw his attention to the hand from the throne holding forth the crown of glory and the harp of thanksgiving and of praise. Oh! with such a prospect as this before his eyes, it were incongruous to suppose that the blessed Paul could wish to live for aught this world could give.

But if the apostle feared not death, he might desire to remain here, in order to advance the kingdom of his God upon the earth; he had tasted how gracious the Lord was to those who believe in him, and the true spirit of Christianity was working in his breast; he wished that others should partake of the happiness of knowing Christ, and therefore he asked the church at Ephesus, to pray that he might be delivered from his bonds, in order that he might go forth and preach the unsearchable riches of the Gospel. And I feel that there may be even something more than this. Was it possible that the spirit of looking into futurity with which he was endued, and by which he probably saw that the church of Ephesus itself might have need of his assistance to preserve it from threatening dan

gers and gross defections of some of its members from the faith of Christ; was it possible, I say, that this in part could have induced him to ask their prayer? Alas! no such feeling as this could have existed on his part. The last time he saw the assembled church of Ephesus, they had fallen on his neck and wept, because he had told them that they should see his face no more! And yet those very tears perchance were the cause of the boldness and affection displayed in his present request. They had loved him for his ministry amongst them, and he thought that, if actuated by that love, they continually prayed for him, perchance they might be saved from falling from that doctrine which he taught. Incalculable blessing! he asked them to pray for him, and that prayer was to return to their bosom, loaded with benefits of the highest kind!

My brethren, I too have had a dispensation committed unto me; I too must preach the Gospel; I dare not return if I would. The gulf is impassable to me,-I must press forward though I die for it. Pray then for me; though not in bonds like the apostle for the Gospel, I have a vow upon my soul, to extend its influence around. Pray ye that I may discharge that vow. There are souls to be won, and souls to be lost,carelessness or indifference in me may be the