-What then?

It is raised in glory.

"They go down into the grave sealed with the blood of Jesus;' and

Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.-I THESS. iv. 14.

The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.-Gen. xxiv. 1.

-even in this.

III.

Isaac's Tent.

An exceeding bitter cry.-GEN. xxvii. 34.

THERE are people in this restless world, who from the depths of their heart can say: The will of the Lord be done. His name is blessed, his work is perfect. To them there is no loss. The drafts protested in many an earthly bank of friendship, or society, or ease, or worldly honour, are somehow accepted in heaven; answered with a note of hand made payable at such a date,-'the end of the world' or 'when the King shall come;' and meantime gold-bearing. And there is no fear; for back of all mortal commotions and threatenings stands ever the Lord: Let him do what seemeth him good. At all times, in all places, such people have all things, and abound.' They have eaten the living bread, and are not hungry; they have drunk of the water of life, and do not thirst.

Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.-Ps. cxix. 165.

-But these are they, remember, who are always ready to do the Lord's will; desiring only to have it accomplished in them, and by them, and for them, as he shall please.

'If thou love him,

Walking only in his ways,

Then no trouble, cross, nor death
Shakes thy heart or stills thy praise.

All things serve thee here beneath,
If thou love God!'

-But the people who prefer their own will, and take their own means of obtaining it, 'shall be filled with their own desires'-have them until they are sick of them; and shall eat of the fruit of their own way.'

Sodom are nothing to that.

Apples of

Esau had just begun to gather in his. It had been a long time growing. From the day some thirty years before when he had 'despised his birthright,' counting 'the promises' a too intangible inheritance, and choosing instead whatever he could get in hand, from that day until now, the bitter fruit of his own ways had been growing. Now first he fairly puts it to his lips.

And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry.-GEN. xxvii. 34.

-Had so little grown so quickly into so much? The work begun in easy unbelief was now a finished thing. And now, Esau would fain have played fast and loose with his hasty words, but it was no longer possible. He had slighted the promised blessing, passed it away for a corner of earth, and now God held him to his bargain.

What will ye do in the end thereof?-said the prophet.―JER. v. 31. He found no place of repentance,—that is, to take back his choice,though he sought it carefully with tears.—HEB. xii. 17.

-And in all the world there are no tears like those.

Esau cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry.-GEN. xxvii. 34. Afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing.-HEB. xii. 17. -O blessings despised-and then longed for! O treasures lightly esteemed, until of a sudden they are beyond our reach! Not for what the Lord had taken from him did Esau's bitter cry ring out, but for what his own hand had flung away. Faith can let go the first, with unclasping fingers that may tremble and yet are firm; but oh, how despairingly remorse reaches forth after the other! How the hands grope and endeavour, in vain! The Lord has declared his work unchangeable; and so in a sense it is his pleasure that ours should be; for what we deliberately purpose and choose for our life, that shall stand. The visible things or the invisible; the gold in prospect or the tinsel in hand; things present or things to come, as we choose, so we have. We may play fast and loose with each other, but not with God.

'Then Christian asked, What is the reason of the discontent of Passion? The Interpreter answered, The Governor of them would have him stay for his best things till the beginning of the next year; but he will have all now; but Patience is willing to wait.'

Are we willing? even we who are the Lord's people? Do we never forget our allegiance, longing for something the Lord has not given? Do you think perhaps that he has made some mistake, and that your plan is best? Beware,give up your own will quickly; or God may say: Take it -with all its consequences, and manage them as best you What deep disappointments, what hopeless floundering

can.

among difficulties, does such a permit involve! This is true even in lesser matters; but in the great life questions? Ah me-for them there is no overruling love to interfere, putting right what we have put wrong; no light breaking out at evening after the stormy day has set. To those who choose earth instead of heaven, even heaven can be no cure.

'Then I saw that one came to Passion, and brought him a bag of treasure, and poured it down at his feet, the which he took up and rejoiced therein, and withal laughed Patience to scorn. But I beheld but a while, and he had lavished all away, and had nothing but rags.'

-This was what Esau had done. He parted with his birthright, the special blessing of God, for a mess of pottage. He was hungry and faint, and thought, What good will anything do me, but somewhat in hand?

Skin for skin, said the devil, who knows men pretty well,-yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.-JOB ii. 4.

-And to that sore need and temptation the Lord answers tenderly:

What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?— MARK viii. 36, 37.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.-MATT. iv. 4.

This life, or that,-it is the old question: as fresh and stringent still as it was when Esau smelled the enticing savour of the red pottage. Will you have what God has chosen for you, taking it from his hand just as and when he gives it; working out his plan, accepting his purposes; or