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Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: :.es cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fi!m6s d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^^!^l■^ 2 6-X THE Heavenly Vision; And Other Sermons. ri863-73-; BY THE REV. WILLIAM COCHRANE, M.A (Zion Presbyterian Church, Brantford.) TORONTO : ADAM, STEVENSON & CO 1874. t i Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy- four, by The Reverend William Cochrane, in the office of the Minister of Agriculture. W, O. GIBKON, I'UINIKK, KIN(- 8TKEKT RAST, TOHONIX) t § i TO THE OFFICE-BEARERS AND CONGREGATION ': ■ .OF"' BR ANT FO R D Whose fond attachment and kind forbearance have tightened laf-or and rendered sacred the tie between Pastor and /'■oplt ®ljcs£ ^agts ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THEIR FRIEND AND FELLOW SERVANT IN THE LoaD WILLIAM COCHRANE. 1 (^ fo 3 ■■ 1 I 1 1 h PREi- .. CE. At the urgent request of members of my con- gregation, to whom the Sermons contained i„ this volume were first preached, I have con- sented to their publication. In making a selec- tion out of a ten years' ministry, it is difficuh to decide what subjects, under God's blessing, may be the most acceptable and profitable to the general reader. A minister is not always the best judge of the Sermons most calculated to do good, and is frequently mistaken as to results. The efforts that have been most care- fully elaborated, are found in many cases far less effective than the spontaneous outbursts of the heart, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I have, therefore, selected the following pages without any special rule, and out of the ordinary weekly preparations for the pulpit, trust- ing that to my own people they may prove of some value, if not for their intrinsic merits VI preface. Bkantford, April, 1874. at least as a memento of happy seasons spent together in the House of God. Should the volume fall into the hands of others beyond the limits of my own congregation, and prove in any case a source of comfort and encourage- ment to God's own children, its publication will not be in vain. 'I 'I CONTENTS. (JlTf.JCl PAGE V I. The Heavenly Vision. oc scin. —Exodus xxxiii. 23. " ^lun shall ace 2t)i3 f.u-c."-REv. xxii. 4 II. Fearing when Entering the Cloud. '•^nh thci) fcarcb as thcij cutcrcb the (JTloub "-Luke IX. 34 IV. 22 III. The Soul's Rest. "Return unto thu vest. 0.1 mi, soul, for the 3i:or.b hath bcalt bount.full,, u,ith thcc.'-PsALM cxvi 7 The Numberer of the Stars. iic hcalcth the brohen in heart, anb binbeth u, their U>ounbs. ^n telleth the number of the sHrs Z ^••»^'^th them aUbu their nanus;--PsAl:Lcri;3-!: ,, VIU Conltnts. V. Things New and Old. '• "iTlKn d.iib Sir unto thrm, Therefore eHrrn scribe Uihieh'^"' IS mstrurteb unto the llingbom of VjciHen is liltc nnto a m.m that is an householbrr, ivhich bringeth forth out of his tieasure things neUi anb olb."— Matt. xiii. =.2 ■^ go VI. I'ai.m Trle Christians. " "JThr righteous shall flourish lihc the palm tree "- Psalm xcii. 12 113 VII. An Immortality to be Desired. "^lu righteous shall be m cbcrlasting remembrance "- Psalm cxii. 6 . . 137 f VIII. A New Year's Greeting. "^cloDeb, i luish abolu- all things that thou maucst prosper anb be in health, eben as thu soul pros- prreth."— 3RD Epistle of John, 2 152 IX. The Master's Call. '%\\i plaster is come, anb cal xi, 28 .... Icth for thcc."— John 173 lib )0 (Tontrnts. i.\ X. Touching His Gakmen-. -She camr brhinb anb touchrb ;i)ie gannrnt. V. 27 -Mark l-ACiK I()4 217 XI. How Ol.I) AKT TlIOl? " 3Vnb Jacob ijaib unto ^Jharaoh, Thr bat)^:s of the near-, of mi) pilgrimage air an hnnbrrb anb thirtn near-, • fcUi anb mil halic the bans of the nrars of' nu. life been, anb habe not attaineb unto the ban^^ of the I'ravs of the life o( mn fathei^j in the bans of their pilgrimage."— Gen. xlvii. 9 XII. The Builder and the Glorv. "(gbrn ^je shall bnilb the -cTemple of the 3Corb. anb Ije shall bear the glotij."— Zechariah vi. 13 . . . . 234 XIII. The Renewal of the Inner Man. " 'nihough our outUiarb man perish, net the inUiarb man 15 reneturb hw) bu ban."— 2nd Cor. iv. 16 . . . . 254 XIV. Children in the Market-Piace. "^ut U)hereunto shall £ liken this geneiatiou? Et is liiic unto chilbren sitting in the marl;ets. anb calling unto their felloUis, anb saning, mt haHe pipeb unto sou anb ije habe not banceb ; Uie haHe mourneb unto J)ou anb ne habe not iamenteb."— Matt. xi. 16, 17 . 270 (Hontcnts. XV. Tm: Hij'SSHONiiss of thk Godly Man. PAGE •*^jc sh.ill blucll on high : his place of brfcncc shallhc the munitions of rochs. ; brcab shall bf gibcn him, his luatcrs shall be sure."— Isaiah xxxiii. i6 . . . 294 XVI. As A Weaned Child. " JW'i soul is encn as a loeaneb chilb."— Psalm cxxxi. 2. 315 XVII. The Essentl\ls of Profitahle Worship. " a^lhere tlno or three are gathereb together in mn namf, there am £ in the mibst of them."— Matt, xviii. 20. 342 I nibc him. I'AOE 294 1.2. 315 20. 342 €^t f cakiiln Wwimi ^o« sbiiU sfc mn bach {jurts. but mn fart sbuU not at San,"— Exodus xxxiii. 23. " ®i»2 shall see Dis fuu.' -Revelation xxii. 4. Moses has been upon the Mount with God. From His nands he has received the two tables of stone, whereon was written the Law by the finger of God. Finding that the people in his absence had cast off their allegiance to Jehovah, and made and worshipped a golden calf, Moses, in the exercise of righteous indignation, casts the tables of stone out of his hands, and breaks them beneath the Mount. Unwilling at the first to assume the leader- ship of the Israelites, such shameful apostacy on their part would, but for Divine interposition, have led to his entire abandonment of the work. The fearful crime having been signally and terribly avenged, by the slaughter of three thousand men, - and the people consecrated anc . to the service of God, Moses is commanded to resume the march through the wilderness. -^ Now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee. ^Ijc |5ccibciTlg Vision. Behold, mine angel shall go before thee." Moses at once proceeds to execute the Divine command. The tabernacle is pitched without the camp, and as Moses enters, the cloudy pillar descends, overshadow- ing the door of the tabernacle, while the Lord talks with Moses face to face, as a man speaketh with a friend. Such signal favour and condescension on the part of Jehovah to his servant, emboldens Moses to seek still further manifestations of Divine power and guidance. He is for the seccnd time to begin the journey, and just as at the outset, when he received his commission from out the burning bush, so now he desires a similar token of the Almighty's favour. " Now therefore, if I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now the way that I may know Thee." "My presence shall go with thee," (iod replies, "and I will give thee rest." Still, as if unsatisfied with the assurance of God's presence, he cries out " Lord, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." Moses already, it must be borne in mind, more than almost any other Old Testament Saint, had been signally distinguished by previous displays of I ^t itabtitlii iJisioi,. God's glory In the burning bush he had listened to the voice of the great I Am. I„ .hat long series of m.racles wrought against Pharoah and the Egyp t.ans. eulminating in the passage of the destroying angel over the land, and the death of the first- bor„;_i„ the parting of the Red Sea, and the drowning of the pursuing columns of Egypt's mighty warriors ;-in the pillar of fire and cloud that g'uded and guarded the Israelites on their way -and amid the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sma,, the might and majesty of Jehovah had been stnkingly revealed. Nor must we forget that f„r forty days and forty nights Moses was alone on the Mount with God, dunng which time the external appearance of God's glory upon the mountain's summ.t was like devouring fire, in the sight of the congregation. During that time Moses doubtless was a spectator of many things that mortal eye had never seen, and human rca,son can never understand. But these sublime manifestations only mcreased hi,s eagerness to draw nearer, and nearer still, to the source of all true blessedness. The deeper he drank the more he thirsted-the more frequent his communion with his Maker the more €)^t l^ciibcitln tJisioiT. earnestly did he long after constant intercourse. Thus it was that what in other circumstances might have seemed presumptuous daring, must be regarded as the cry of victorious faith, as Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration cries out, " I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." What is this glory of God ? do you ask me. Just the character of God — the outshining of God — that radiant holiness which encircles the Divine attributes; — a glory higher, purer, and more solemnizing than that external glory which shines upon the face of nature. Such was the glory that Moses desired to look upon with unclouded vision. Nay, inasmuch as his request was not fully granted, it would almost seem as if, in that hour of ecstacy, Moses would have penetrated the unfathomable depths of the Divine Being, which are shrouded from mortal eye. It was evidently something more than what we are accustomed to call the declarative glory of God that Moses desired to look upon. He wanted not simply to know God, in the sense of having palpable evidence of His existence, but to understand in some measure what He is; — to have, in that secret favored hour when the world I , S^ljc ^nnbtnijf ^isixni. was shut out, and Heaven seemed so near, a manifestation of those perfections, which to the eye of sense are dark and louerin,^^ but to the child of God are full of hope— of peace— of ci-mfort— and holy joy ! Jehovah was evidently not displeased with the desire of His servant, though his prayer was not fully answered. Flesh and blood could not endure a direct vision of the unveiled splendour of the Oodhead. The essence of God is eternally secret. When Daniel only saw an angel, he fell into a deep sleep; and John, at the sight of Him upon whose bosom he had often leaned, fell at His feet as dead. And therefore, in mercy to His feeble servant, God replies, "Thou canst not see my face and live, for there shall no man see me and live." But in order to confirm and strengthen his servant, and as far as possible meet this strong desire of his heart, a revelation was made of the invisible God, adapted to the feebleness of the creature. " Behold," said God, "there is a place by me, and thou Shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cllft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by ; and I will take away mine hand, and ®^c |)t"abntlg ^)ision. thou shalt see my back parts : but my face shall not be seen." Hidden thus within a cliit of the rock, and covered with the hand of Jehovah, Moses was able to catch a glimpse of the retiring Divinity, but the full vision was reserved, until his disembodied spirit should enter the upper sanctuary. Fifteen centuries after the event recorded in these verses, on another mountain - top, Moses beheld the Son of Man, His face shining as the sun, and His raiment white and glistening. He had now enjoyed the beatific vision, and appeared clothed in the gar- ments of immortality, holding solemn yet friendly intercourse with the incarnate God. For the moment the curtain that hides the invisible world from human gaze is turned aside, and we catch a passing glimpse of the inconceivable, inexpressible happiness of the saints in light. It is not now a shadowy passing view of the Deity they enjoy, but face to face recognition. They are before the Throne — they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Humanity redeemed, glorified, and exalted, now looks with faultless vision upon the face of God. " They see His face, and His name is on their forehead." ®be itabeiiln Itisioit. In view of the statements contained in these passages, we remark : I. That imperfect knowledge of God's perfections and works is a condition of our present existence. All that we can see is but "the back parts of the Almighty— His face cannot be seen." To the same purport are such statements of Scripture: "Clouds and darkness are round about Him;" "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection ? " " Now we see through a glass darkly— then face to face ; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known." It is n( t to be denied that great advances have been made in every department of knowledge in recent years. The world of matter and of mind have each in turn been invaded, investigated and scrutinized. Theology has been systematized, and advanced beyond any former age. The learned specu- lations of a bygone antiquity have become the pastimes of the present, and the profoundest dis- coveries of past ages arc now regarded as hardly worthy of serious consideration. Turn the eye where 8 e ^)eabfiTln ^Itision. you will — scan the universe of matter — penetrate the depths of mind — traverse the boundary line that separates the seen from the unseen world, and there we behold the darinj; speculations of the human soul. We send the electric spark of fire from continent to continent along the bed of ocean, and hold converse with the stars ! Thus, in the study and application of those stupendous laws that con- tinue our globe in existence, we see the face of God. The earth we tread and the air we breathe, — the universe and the conscience, — " the starry heavens above and the moral law within, are all so many witnesses of His presence and His power." But yet, after all that has been discovered, how little do we know of God's mysterious workings in the natural or spiritual world ! Nature throws but little light upon the higher perfections of the Godhead as they relate to mortals, and the most satisfactory discussions as to the method of God's moral government of His fallen creatures, leave the profoundest questions of existence unsolved. In the face of nature, and apart from revelation, many of God's attributes may be discovered. Yet, taken as ^e itabtnln Wis'wn, a whole, Nature gives forth an uncertain sound. No true idea— no complete, harmonious view, of God's perfections can ever thus be obtained. It is not always spring-time and summer, beauty and sunshine; there is autumn with its falling leaves, and winter with its storms and tempests. The gentle breezes of the zephyr and noiselessly descending dew-drops have their counterparts in the thunder-peal and lightning- flash. What mean these volcanic eruptions, ceaselessly pouring forth their liquid fire, and encrusting whole towns and villages in their deathly grasp ?-those frequently recurring inundations, where the avalanche of waters overflows the banks of rivers, carrying desolation in its onward sweep ?-those earthquake! and tornadoes, which change the relative position of land and water, and hurl into confusion the very foundations of the earth? In such phenomena we see but ''the back parts of the Almighty-His face cannot be seen." In Providence, again, how much there is to astonish and astound! The seemingly partial distribution of rewards and punishments-the many afflictions of the righteous and apparently un- interrupted prosperity of the wicked-the young and hopeful called away in the beginning of existence- I 10 i\^t Ijtiibtnln l^isiou. false systems of relif^ion and def^rading despotisms suffered to enslave the human mind and retard the long predicted reij^n of peace and goodwill, when Messiah shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied ! And finally, in regard to the great doctrines that centre around the Cross of Christ, is it not equally true that we see but '* the back parts of the Almighty?" How dim and indistinct our view of eternal realities — how perplexed and confounded are the noblest intellects of earth before the simplest truths of Scripture ? In regard to Divine things — those secret thmgs which belong to God — our know- ledge is but rudimentary compared with the clear and full revelation that shall be enjoyed hereafter. There is an almost infinite distance between the highest gifts and noblest attainments of eartli, and the unbounded and accurate perceptions of the saints in heaven. This world is, after all, but the cradle of the human intellect, and the profoundest thinkers are but babes. " What we see of God here is but a broken reflection, infinitely less like God than the sparkle of the morning dew-drop is like the glorious sun of heaven." All that Moses saw, or that any of us see, of God on earth, is but " a gleam of ^^t ^tiibfjiln Vision. 1 1 day, Jet into the chinks of the soul's dark cottage," and yet such visions form the most delightful moments of our life. Standing amid these but half revealed truths, which the angels desire to look •nto and anticipating the moment of perfect visi we cry out with the poet— >ion. "Oh the hour when this material Shall have vanished like a cloud, When amid the wide ethereal, All the invisible shall crowd— And the naked soul, surrounded , ^'*h innumerous hosts of light, Triumph in the view unbounded, And adore the Infinite." For, though it is only "the back parts of the Almighty" that we see, we have in them promise of better days to come. There could be no shadow unless there were something real to cast the shadow. Our present imperfect knowledge of Divine things is the earnest of a higher condition of existence, when every inquiry of the human soul shall be fully satisfied. If we do not always behold the sun, the shining of the moon, which reflects the light of the greater orb, is evidence of its existence. So, in like manner, the glimpses of truth which we now possess 12 9i>\^t ^fubtulg JDisioa. are but faint reflections of that Sun of Ki{;hteous- ness in whose lit,'ht we shall see light clearly. There is something, then, for faith to rest upon. The world beyond is not a mere phantasy. Our instincts and intuitions, seeking and searching after an existence higher and nobler than the present, are not the dreams of a disordered mind. They stimulate to nobler efforts and holier lives; for every man that hath the hope of seeing God, purifies himself, even as Christ is pure. t And this brings me to notice : II. That in our future state of existence our knowledge of God shall be more satisfactory; — His perfections and works, in providence and grace, shall be more fully revealed and more perfectly understood — " We shall see His face." Can it be possible for such worms as we are to see God? Yes, most assuredly. Says the Psalmist: <* As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteous- ness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." Says Job : " I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day i'ht ^tnbenlti l^ision. 13 upon the earth. And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my Hesh shall I see God : Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold and not another." " Blessed are the pure in heart," says Christ, "for they shall see God;" and to the same purport are the words of Paul and John. -We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image irom glory to glory." " Heloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." It is not well to dogmatize respecting the enjoy- ments and privileges of the saints in heaven. It is in bold outlines, not in minute details, that the future state of existence is painted on the canvas. We see, as it were, but the headlands, and more prominent outstanding objects that lie within the eternal world, just as Moses from Mount Nebo saw the widespread panorama of the Promised Land beyond the swellings of the Jordan. Much is left for a sanctified faith to fill in and complete. And H ^\^t ^tabtuln !t?ision. is it not well that it is so ordered ? No human soul could bear clearer visions of heaven's undim- med glory than faith supplies. Even now, when we soar to the external heavens, and endeavour by the exercise of intellect to grasp those suns and systems that skirt the boundaries of immensity, we feel oppressed and wearied in our feeble efforts. If so while attempting to survey the outer carpet of the spirit world, what would it be were we admitted to the Holy of Holies — to walk those golden streets and hear the songs of the angelic choir! And yet such passages as our text, and others referred to, are clearly intended to teach us some- thing of the state beyond the grave. While we may not presume to be wise above what is written, it is our privilege to know the mind of the Spirit. How the glorified are to see God, — the full extent and nature of that vision, — we may not describe. This much we know, that we shall recognize the Saviour — that He shall be the central object of attraction to the inhabitants of that blessed state — without whose presence Heaven would be shorn of all % '€bt fnnbmbj msion. 15 its happiness. And may we not advance one step further, and believe that the sight and presence of God in Heaven impHes communion with Him— the interchange of thought, fellowship and friendship, better far than that which even Moses enjoyed upon the Mount? Are the privileges of God's children in the glorified state to be less than that of the visitors on the Mount of Transfiguration, who talked with one another and with Christ ?* Are we simply to look upon the glorified humanity of the risen Redeemer, and be changed into His image, as we would look with admiring wonder on some faultless specimen of art? Or is it not rather implied that our friendship and fellowship shall be of the most endearing character, far transcending the highest forms of saintly experience on earth ; that those same burning tones of love that arrested Mary in the * " If the contemplation of Christ's Rlorified manhood so filled the Apostle with joy that he was unwilling to be sundered from it, how shall it fare with those who attain to the contemplation of his glorious Godhead? And if it was so good a thing to dwell with two of His saints, how then to come to the heavenly Jeru- salem, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born that are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all-these not seen through a glass darkly, but face to face ?"— .-Jnsc/w. i6 S^e ^cabculg il^isiou. garden, when He called her by name, and made her conscious that she stood in the presence of her risen Lord, shall bring us also near to Him, "as we hear from His own lips the story of Nazareth and Bethany and Golgotha" — of the chilly mountains where He prayed for us, and the desert places where He hungered. Surely this much we may believe of Him who made the hearts of the disciples burn within them " as He talked to them by the way," and opened up to them the Scriptures. 1 ' I Now, in view of such intimacy between the redeemed and the Redeemer, and under such teach- ing, who can set limits to the believer's attainments in the highest forms of spiritual knowledge ? We shall then have more tlian mere guesses after truth; — speculation, and uncertainty, and surmises shall end, and clear and definite apprehensions of truth prevail. Doctrines and decrees, that have per- plexed the human mind for ages, shall be resolved in the light of Heaven, and command the admiration of its highest intelligences. Mysteries shall then all be made plain, — secrets revealed, and dark dispen- sations flooded with light. " With Thee," says the '•J 1 i I I ^t icabatig Vision. 17 Psalmist, "is the fountain of light, and in Thy light shall we see light." "The city," says John, "has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Thus to see God, demands and implies entire and final separation from sense and sin. It is by the regenerated and perfected soul that God is seen as He is. Now we see Him as we are. Our conception is formed from the poor materials we have in ourselves. But when this mortal puts on immortality, and this corruptible incorruption, our conception of the Infinite God shall be vastly dif- ferent. In proportion to the sinlessness of our nature shall be our accurate apprehension of God's perfec- tions, and therefore we are distinctly told that into that holy region "there shall in no wise enter in anything that defileth, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life;" and that, without holiness, no man can see God in peace. The simple fact that they are admitted to Heaven, and see His face, and are near the throne, and have Jehovah's name inscribed on their foreheads r i8 S^Ijc Dccxfacnig Vision. is evidence of their acceptance. Their sins have all been pardoned on the grounds of Christ's atone- ment — they have been reconciled to an offended God through the intercession of the Saviour. They stand clothed in His righteousness, and arrayed in the garments o^ holiness. Heaven is a condition of heart, as well as a locality. Perfect purity of heart, full conformity to God's will, and uncon- strained obedience to his behests, characterize all these children of God. For seeing God implies active service. "They serve Him day and night in His temple." The sight and the service arc inti- mately connected in the text. It is not true that " All we know of saints above, Is that they sing, and that they love." We know from Scripture, and we argue from the constitution of the human soul, that Heaven must be a place where the highest aspirations of the soul shall have their fullest development. " An instrument, wrought up at so much expense to a polished fi*^ness for service, is surely never destined to be suspended on the palace walls of heaven." No ! " Trained in a school, purified in a furnace — J ^t Ijcaknlg mmn. 19 loved with a love which the seraphim and cherubim have never known and never needed; instinct with yearnings and strivings after the high, the beautiful and immortal, we cannot doubt that the service of the Lord's redeemed, accompanied with the sight of his blessed countenance, will be yet higher and nobler than the services of the happy and glorious, but unfallen and unpurchased angels." To the saint of God the approach of death is but the call to higher service. i "Go hence to yonder temple, filled with glory There shalt thou praise thy Lord in song and ' story • There shalt thou see His face, instinct .ith be.uty ' There shalt thou serve with all delightsome duty. • ' Have you. my hearer, a hope of seeing God ? Most men have. Saint and sinner alike shall see Him. "Behold he Cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him." But in the one case, the sight shall produce feelings of despair, in view of a sentence compared with which annihilation were an envied punishment. '' Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is I 20 ^t ^eabenlg ilP'ision. i come and who shall be able to stand ?" Such are the words of the impenitent and unpardoned. The sight of God in such circumstances means more than a simple recognition of the terrible anger of Almighty God ; — more than hearing the sentence of condemnation. It means that the sinner shall con- cur in its justice while shrinking from its awful consequences. For if the faculties of the redeemed soul in its disembodied state, shall be enlarged and clarified so as to possess a more accurate concep- tion of God's love and tenderness, will not the sinner also understand, as he has never understood before, the fiery vengeance of the Lamb ? May not the torments of hell be largely made up of remorse occasioned by the memory of past ingratitude, and the ever increasing perception of God's wondrous patience and forbearance towards the now eternally abandoned sinner. If you would see God in other and happier circumstances, as your friend and not your foe, you must see Him now as your Saviour. "Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little." .- % i! I I hi i I ®^^£ Icufjcnlg Vision. 21 In sure prospect of '« seeing God's face" His saints can patiently wait for fuller and more satis- factory disclosures of His perfections than are possible on earth. What we know not now we shall know hereafter. The broken and tangled threads of Providence shall yet be united and unravelled. The ways of God to man shall be fully vindicated. Meanwhile, let us reverently seek to know His will and follow the leadings of His spirit, though it be with faltering step— saying with the poet : "To Him, from wanderings long and wide I come, an overwearied child. Assured that all I know is best, And humbly trusting for the rest." ! Jfcuring tojicit ^nttniig iljc ^loub. "^nb tbcg fcaricb as tljcg cntcreb % clcrub."— Luke, ix. 34. The Transfiguration of Christ is one of the most remarkable events recorded in Scripture. After all the learning and study bestowed upon it by representative men of the different schools and churches, but comparatively little has been done to furnish a satisfactory solution of its many difficul- ties. Most probably it is one of those incidents the full meaning of which cannot be revealed to mortals ; surrounded by mysteries which we cannot penetrate, and suggesting queries which we cannot answer. It is not difficult, however, to conjecture at least, why the disciples named — as representing the entire brotherhood — were made spectators of such a scene. Before this, Christ had intim ted more than once, and in no doubtful language, His approaching sufferings and death ; — an announcement that never fell upon the ears of the disciples without causing them intense pain and depression of spirits. In '■4 denring foljcn (JFntcnitg tijc Cloub. 23 some cases, indeed, they remained incredulous, and unconvinced of the sincerity and reality of His words, '«the hour is near at hand." In their affection for the Master they could not bear the thought of His leaving them— least of all that He should die by crucifixion— even if His death were followed by a glorious resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God. But it was absolutely necessary that, in some way or other, they should be prepared for what was inevitable, and comforted in the prospect of a separation, though it should require some supernatural testimony to His divinity and supreme authority in earth and Heaven. For this end, accompanied by three of His disciples who were always near the Master on special occasions, Christ ascended the mountain— not Mount Tabor, as has generally been supposed without any good cause,— but Mount Hermon, or some such lofty, sequestered spot, where, alone amid the solitudes of Nature, He might hold fellowship with His Father, and unburden His soul of its human sorrows. This, in itself, was no strange act of the Saviour. All through His earthly existence we find Him seeking such seasons of rest from the rasping ! II 1 . m ti t. 24 dcarhtg foljcit (5ntcriug t^e Cloub. cares and exhausting labours of an intensely busy life. Amid the stillness of Nature He found an outlet for the profound and awful secrets of the mind, and in its silent sympathy and tenderness felt unspeakable relief. As He prayed, we are told that the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment became white and glistening; — His face shone as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light — exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller's earth can white them. Without attempt- ing to be wise above what is written, or to sug- gest philosophic reasons for this wonderful spectacle, we may safely presume that this light was trom within, and not from without. It was no common brilliancy. Christ's face was like a beam of light — one dazzling blaze of glory — too much for mortal eye to gaze upon. The sceptical theory of Rational- ists, that the radiance of an Eastern sunset gleamed around Him as He prayed, and gave an additional element to the glory that transfigured H-m, may have an element of truth in it, but nothing more. Nor must we ascribe it to that high enthusiasm and strong emotion which at times change the countenance and indicate the presence of noble .a & I (^caring fa^cit Entering i^t (Jfloub. 25 busy feelings within the mind. We all know that the human lace is dependent for much of its expression upon the soul ; that even the most unimpassioned and stolid features may, in times of extraordinary rapture and excitement, become glowing and radiant. But more than this is requisite to account for the appearance of the Saviour upon the Mount of Transfiguration. The Saviour had often before been seen by His disciples after seasons of communion with His Father, but never as He now stood before them. There was more than the mere passing glow of devotional feeling; it was indicative of a near- ness to the Divine Being, and the enjoyment of a higher state of celestial communion than is con- ceivable by mortals ; a condition exceptional even in Christ's earthly experience, and intended for some very special end. And now, as He thus stands transfigured before the disciples, two eminent saints are seen standing and communing with Him, Moses and Elias — the one representing the Law, and the other the Prophets— and both together representing the Old Testament declarations of the Divinity of the Son I'l r :»fi ^Mt ) i i i 26 J^ciiring tojicii Entering Ibc Cloub. of God. These glorified ones, like the Saviour, arc clothed in celestial raiment, in keeping with the transcendent glory of the Messiah. Their conver- sation is of Divine things; — concerning the decease whicii Ciirist was soon to accomplish at Jerusalem — the very subject concerning which the disciples were both ignorant and sceptical, but which was essential for their own personal comfort, and the faithful discharge of their public labors when the Master had gone. Such a scene — the transfigured Saviour, and the celestial visitors, and such con- versation — in any circumstances would have been startling and bewildering, but specially so when coming upon the disciples unexpectedly, and with their views so unsettled and unsatisfactory as regards the predicted departure of the Master. During the early stages of this sublime manifestation of the Deity, Peter and his companions were asleep, but awakening from their drowsiness ere the vision had passed away — like men from their dreams, by some alarming tokens of judgment — they were per- mitted to gaze upon the transfigured Saviour; a sight in the main reserved for the Heavenly world. Captivated, amazed, transfixed with the spectacle^ J^ejiring bljru (fFntcriiTO the OTloub. ^7 Peter gives vent to his deep emotion by saying "It is good to be here; let us make three taber- nacles— one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias." It was indeed good to be there at such a moment, although the proposal of Peter seemed more the offspring of impulse than of reason. He indeed knew not what he said. Like men stunned and overpowered—unable to describe their feelings- lifted up, for the time being, far beyond the limits of human existence, how could we expect the calm reasoning and mature reflections that befitted such a scene ! But the vision cannot tarry. The time has not yet come for the Saviour to assume a glorified exterior. Moses and Elias have fulfilled their part, and must return to their glorified dwelling, leaving the Saviour behind to suffer. And now a cloud- no common cloud that visits the heavens, but the Sheckinah cloud, the pavilion of the manifested presence of God with His people upon earth— over- shadows this strange, unearthly group— a gathering made up of the Divine and the human— the earthly and the heavenly— the sensual and the spiritual. 28 clearing ia^nx drnttr'mg i^t Cloub. It is a terrible moment to these disciples, as yet unprepared for immediate translation to the inner mount of the Heavenly world. Their spirits fail them. What shall be the issue they cannot tell. Possibly the remains of Jewish superstition still haunt their minds and disturb their simple trust in a present all -powerful and all -merciful Saviour. Need we wonder that "they feared as they entered into the cloud." But hark! a voice speaks from out the cloua : "This is My vSon : hear Him," — and row all is silent. The cloud vanis!