and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness;

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

GOD of the evening, while the curtain of night falls around us, thy imperfect creatures, to thee the darkness and light are both alike. We would realize that thine eye never slumbers; that it is ever upon us, and upon us only for our good. Having experienced thy watchful and beneficent care through another day, we would in this quiet evening hour gratefully and devoutly acknowledge it.

We humbly confess our unworthiness. We pray that we may be forgiven; and by true repentance, by consistent and thorough faithfulness, by reforming what is wrong and perfecting what is right, may we commend ourselves to thee and our consciences, and show as we best can our sense of that unceasing and infinite goodness, which is new every morning, and renewed every evening, and every moment of our life.

O God, as we now yield ourselves to rest under the shadows of night, may we yet more repose under the shadow of the Almighty, of thine all-wise and most merciful protection. If thou shalt permit our eyes to open again on earthly scenes, may we awake with powers refreshed, and spirits invigorated, and resolute for the work of duty. Give thine angels charge over us this night, that our sleep may be rest and our waking peace.

And when that night cometh, that sooner or later comes to all, in which the heavens shall pass away, and the work of life can no more be done, may we be found prepared to awake in thy likeness, and to enter on the rest of thy people, in those heavenly mansions which the great and good Saviour has gone before to prepare for his faithful followers. Thus, though all these things of earth shall be dissolved, we would according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. May not the shadows of time obscure the realities of eternity. But, grateful for thy long-suffering, remembering that the day of the Lord will at last come when we look not for it, may we be diligent that we be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless. And to thy holy name be the glory forever. Amen.

XLI.

Passing On.

Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (for the trumpet shall sound); and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

OUR FATHER, who hast given us the light and life and enjoyments of another day, blessed be thy name for these and all the rich tokens of thy fatherly goodness, from the beginning to the present time. Let a fervent gratitude warm our hearts, that we may never forget or forsake thee, the fountain of all good, who hast never forgotten or forsaken us.

We give thee hearty thanks for the active duties,

be

the labors of love and usefulness, which thou hast ordained as the means of our earthly discipline and our preparation for the life to come. If we have failed this day in reverence to thee or obedience to thy most holy commandments, if we have thought or done evil to our fellow-men, we pray that we may forgiven and restored to thy paternal love. If we have injured our own bodies or souls, and marred thy divine image within us, we beseech thee, the source of all health and all spiritual regeneration, to heal and to redeem us.

And now, since our days on earth have been lessened, lead us onward and upward more and more, in faith and affection, to the heavenly world. While all things here below are passing away, and we can look for no eternal home on earth, may we lay up our treasures and build our hopes in heaven, that when this mortal shall put on immortality death may be swallowed up in victory.

O God, thou again drawest around us the curtains of evening, and declarest thy glory in the starry skies. Keep us in peace and safety, great Guardian of our lives, during the hours of darkness and sleep, and may we be refreshed by quiet slumbers. Let it please thee to guard all our dear friends, wherever they may be, at home or abroad, on land or sea, and to bind our hearts to them in ever new ties of love and spiritual sympathy. Command thy divine blessing on the poor, the sick and the erring, that thy compassions and thy

corrections may not fail in their several needs. Above all things, our heavenly Father, we pray for the coming of thy kingdom, and the doing of thy will on earth as it is done in heaven. May Jesus reign, from the rising to the setting of the sun, in all hearts and in all homes.

Graciously accept our evening tribute of prayer and praise in his holy and ever-blessed name who giveth us the victory over all danger, and over death itself; and unto thee, the King eternal, the Father almighty, be honor and glory, dominion and power, world without end. Amen.

XLII.

No Night There.

And I saw no temple in it: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it for the glory of God enlightened it, and the Lamb is the light of it.

And the nations of them who are saved shall walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

And the gates of it shall not be shut by day: for there shall be no night there.

And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defil