arrangement is unavoidable in a just administration of affairs. But we ought to go a step further-we ought to recognize the fact that different degrees of glory among the righteous must follow different degrees of merit, and that different degrees of punishment among the wicked must follow different degrees of sin. Not only is it true that "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap;" but it is also true that "he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he that soweth plentifully shall reap plentifully." We are the subjects of a Ruler who abhors favouritism, whose justice is absolute and eternal, "who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath for there is no respect of persons with God." Let us, therefore, avoid the presumption of seeking honours to which we have no claim; let us endeavour rather, by our self-sacrificing spirit, our holy lives, our manly conduct, to elevate ourselves into such a position that "when the chief Shepherd shall appear we may receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

2. That glory hereafter will be the necessary consequence of suffering here. These disciples coveted a life of ease; for they wished to sit, the one on the

right hand, and the other on the left, of the Messiah in His newly-acquired kingdom. Splendid visions of earthly grandeur intoxicated their minds; they would exercise power, fare sumptuously, and be envied of all; they would spend their days without pain, without sorrow, without regret; and when death came, they would welcome its approach, since it would convey their immortal spirits to a state of endless bliss. A beautiful dream truly, but how unreal! Our Lord demolished their imaginary paradise at one stroke. He prepared their minds to expect very different things; He pointed to a cup of sorrow and a baptism of suffering, gently intimating that they would have to drink the one and to endure the other; and to their honour it is stated, that they submitted bravely to their fate. The lesson which they now received they never forgot; many years after James wrote in his Epistle on this wise: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Paul writes in the same strain to Timothy: "It is a faithful saying; for if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." After the same manner he writes to the Corinthians: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,

worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." This, then, is the true way to glory

-the way of the CROSS. Ye fainting saints, take courage; fear not the storms of life, shrink not from the trials to which you are exposed; "look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him."

XVII.

AMAZIAH KING OF JUDAH;

OR,

SACRIFICE AND REWARD.

"And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this."

2 CHRON. XXV. 9.

AMAZIAH was king of Judah. His character appears to have been a strange, mysterious, inexplicable compound: the shell was good, the kernel evil; the outside was right, the inside wrong; the conduct was commendable, the motives blameworthy. According to the short expressive summary given at the beginning of this chapter, "he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart." It was this "but" that spoiled it, and made what was apparently excellent to be really void of merit. But you may ask, What has the heart to do with the estimate that we form of a man's character ? Little perhaps in the sight of man, but everything in the sight of God. Small

service, which is the offering of a perfect heart, is more acceptable to God than great service, which is rendered from questionable motives. Thus it sometimes happens that the most splendid achievement is actually condemned, whilst a very feeble effort is deemed worthy of praise. Two facts, drawn from Old Testament history, may serve to illustrate this. When Joseph's brethren sold him into Egypt, they carried out God's fixed purpose, they performed an act which led to the happiest issue, they were the indirect means of saving "much people alive." But then they were actuated by the very worst motives— hatred, malice, vengeance; and hence they were guilty of a dreadful crime. On the other hand, when David intended to build God a temple at Jerusalem, though he was not permitted to execute his design, still that worthy thought which he had conceived in his heart won the approbation of God. This fact has in it an element of terror as well as of joy; terror if our hearts be wrong, however excellent our deeds; joy if our hearts be right, however imperfect our performances. Ye whose brilliant acts of false charity and spurious self-denial have called forth the extravagant praises of a blinded worldtremble for the day cometh when the hollowness of your motives shall be exposed to the view of the whole universe. Ye who feel that your best days have been wasted in barren efforts to do good-who