66 upon a pavement of adamant ? "They that were in the ship," we are told, came and worshipped Him." How was it with the blind man, upon whose sightless eye-balls he poured the light of day? No sooner was he brought to know his great Deliverer, than he exclaimed, "Lord, I believe; and he worshipped Him." How was it with those devoted females who first beheld Him after He rose triumphant from the tomb? When He met them and said, All hail, "They came, and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him." And what was the last act of the disciples as he ascended from the heights of Olivet? "It came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them; and they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." In that blessed state on which He then entered, the homage that awaited Him was not only equal to, but immeasurably surpassed what He received here below. That such was the case appears from the glowing representations which are given by the exiled prophet of Patmos. Who, according to his statements, is the great object of the adorations of the heavenly hosts? It is the Lamb that was slain; not separate from, but conjointly with, the Eternal Father. Not the least distinction is there between the worship paid to the one, and that which is rendered to the other. The same blessing, power, glory, thanksgiving, and might, are equally ascribed to Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. What a transporting sight! How do the heavenly legions, in countless multitudes and shining troops, press forward to present their profoundest homage! "Lowly reverent Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground, Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold. O my soul, what are thy feelings towards this exalted Personage? Art thou despising Him on earth, who is thus honoured by saints and angels in heaven? Be assured that to reverence the Son is at once thy bounden duty, and thy highest privilege; and if thou hast at present no heart for such exercises as those to which we have referred, dream not of dwelling hereafter with those who will be thus employed without intermission and without end, G 20TH DAY. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets."-Matt. vii. 12. The The Golden ALL the duties which are enjoined upon us by our Rule. Lord may be enforced on the ground of their being essentially right and reasonable. Some things are above reason, such as the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. mode of the subsistence of the Divine Persons in the Godhead, and of the two natures in the person of Christ, are altogether beyond our narrow comprehension. There are other things which are directly contrary to reason, their incredibility being at once seen and felt. If any one should attempt to prove that two and two made five, or that the whole was less than the different parts of which it was composed, with whatever ingenuity the process might be carried on, nothing could slake our belief of the utter imposibility of what was attempted to be established. But the precepts of Jesus, and especially the one before us, belong to a third class; instead of being above reason, or contrary to reason, they are in complete accordance with all its dictates. Their propriety is instantly recognized, and every candid mind must acknowledge, that to comply therewith is "our reasonable service. What a happy world would this be if the command, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise," or the parallel one of "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," were universally acted upon! There would be then no wars, no antipathies, no unhallowed rivalries among nations; no jealousies or bitter contentions among neighbours and families; no haughtiness or oppression in the rich, and no envy or discontent in the poor. No heart would burn with anger, no breast rankle with revenge. Every species of fraud, deceit, and treachery |