Who were these? On earth they dwelt;
Sinners once, of Adam's race;
Guilt, and fear, and suffering felt;
But were saved by sovereign grace.

They were mortal too, like us;

Ah! when we like them must die, May our souls, translated thus, Triumph, reign, and shine on high!

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

The Reward of the Righteous in Heaven.

Ps. lviii. 11.

"So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth."

MATT. vi. 20.

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."

MATT. x. 41, 42.

"He that receiveth a prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man, in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."

HEB. X. 35.

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward."

REV. xxii. 12.

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

Our life is but an idle play,
And various as the wind;
We laugh and sport our hours away,
Nor think of woes behind.

See the fair cheek of beauty fade,
Frail glory of an hour;

And blooming youth with sickening head,
Droops like the dying flower.

Our pleasures like the morning sun
Diffuse a flattering light;

But gloomy clouds obscure their noon,
And soon they sink in night.

Wealth, pomp, and honour, we behold
With an admiring eye;

Like summer insects, dress'd in gold,
That flutter, shine, and die.

One little moment can destroy
Our vast laborious schemes;
And all our heaps of solid joy
Are sweet deceitful dreams.

Then rise, my soul, and soar away
Above the thoughtless crowd;
Above the pleasures of the gay,
And splendours of the proud.

Up where eternal beauties bloom,

And pleasures all divine,

Where wealth, that never can consume,

And endless glories shine!

HENRY MOORE.

"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward

in heaven."

F there be one truth more explicitly revealed in Scripture than another, it is,

that eternal life is entirely the gift of

God's sovereign kindness. Even in his original state of holiness and perfection, it is evident that man could do no more than it was his duty to do, and could therefore lay claim to no reward at the hand of his Creator. Much less is it possible for fallen creatures to merit anything, save punishment, at the hand of an offended. God. Our best services are deeply stained with guilt, and wholly unprofitable to the Most High; and if eternal life be bestowed upon us at all, not unto us, but unto His great name, must be ascribed all the glory. The reward is