for Jesus in vain-we have deplored his absence in bitter tears-but "the Master is come." I have already experienced unspeakable joy in his presenceI have already felt a returning peace more precious than life itself. Nothing is impossible to him-he has told me he is " the resurrection and the life, and that he who believeth on him, though he were dead, yet shall he live;" he comes to comfort us our sadness shall be changed into joy, our grief into thanksgivings. "The Master is come, and calleth for thee.”

He calleth for thee: Oh! how merciful of Jesus, thus to comfort the weeping Mary! He has not then forgotten her, she who had been so anxiously watching for him; she might have cried out in her anguish with the Psalmist, "My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning." Now the hour of deliverance is come, Jesus is there-come himself to give her comfort—he will relieve her from the cross he had imposed on her for a time, and will pour into her lacerated feelings the healing balm of his consolations.

Oh! my beloved brethren! join me in adoring the love of the Saviour. He is always the same. Should you have an opportunity of administering comfort to a sufferer—either one afflicted by the death of friends, or perhaps some one in a state of despondence at his own guilt, do as Martha did to Mary, say "the Master is come and calleth for thee." Your kind

* Psalm cxxx. 6.

Master, your merciful Saviour, your heavenly friend is near, when you think him far from you; he is there, he never forsakes you, but watches over you, willing to accept your first sigh of repentance, your first cry for help-ready to receive, to pardon and to bless you." He calleth for you," by this affliction. perhaps, as well as by his blessed words; "he calleth for you," that you may drink plenteously of the consolations of his grace. "He calleth for you" to speak to you of pardon, reconciliation, and peace."He calleth for you" that he may gather you into his sheepfold, and that rising above all doubts and despondency, you may be placed among his flock, his own redeemed, his dear children.

"He calleth for thee:" Oh! beware that ye turn not a deaf ear to that call! beware of imitating those miserable fools, whom he invited to the wedding supper, and who refused to come-do not say that you are not worthy, that you are too great a sinner. Why it is because you are a sinner, because you need a Saviour, because you are poor, blind, miserable and naked, that you ought to come to him, who "though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." "+ He cometh not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance :" his invitation is gratuitous-he bestows his favors freely. Oh Jesus! Oh my Saviour! I hear thy call-I will obey it— I will hasten as Mary did-I will fly to thee that

2 Cor. viii. 9. t St. Matt. ix. 13.,

may have life. To whom else could I fly? Thou only hast the words of eternal life.

Mary was not at once raised to the same lively hopes as Martha-her grief lay too deep in her sentitive heart, but she hastened to answer the call of Jesus. The soul, when plunged in sorrow and doubt, can hardly understand the faithfulness and love of The Saviour-it-makes an effort to rise and seeks God, groping as it were in the dark; but who could refuse the call of Jesus? One who has been told that " the Master is come and calleth for you," already feels his leliverance is at hand. As a flower turns to the Sun, opening its blossom to its cheering rays-as the hart, lry and panting with the heat of the desert, hastens o the water-brooks-as the child bounds into the arms of its mother whom it had lost, so does the soul hirsting for peace and rest, open to the sweet inAuence of its Saviour's love, and refreshes itself with long draughts of " * those living waters which spring up into everlasting life:" it throws itself with confidence into the arms of a heavenly father, with "+whom is plenteous redemption." "As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto him.”

We have already remarked that according to St. Paul, "‡the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God," and the Jews who were with Mary ccnfirmed this painful truth. What St. John tells us of them serves as a shade to the rest of the + Psalm exxx. 7. 1 Cor. ii. 14.

St. John iv. 14.

picture-"The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there."

It was, and is still, the custom in eastern countries to go frequently to the tomb of the deceased, during the first days of mourning, in order to weep there.

He who has not heard the call of our Lord, or who has closed his heart against it, knows not the unspeakable delight, it is to an afflicted soul, to throw itself at our Saviour's feet-to pour out its troubles to him in secret prayer, and cannot in the least comprehend the ways and feelings of the children of God: he supposes that a poor mourner can find no other relief than by indulging the melancholy privilege of weeping at the grave which has just closed over the object of his fondest hopes-he hovers round those dear remains with regrets that nothing seems to sof

ten.

The Jews mourned over the graves of their relations for seven successive days-we raise monuments to keep up a lasting memorial of our sorrows, and to conceal, if possible, that "all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.' Thus in our uncontrolable grief we seem attached to that which is already but dust, and sorrow as those that have no hope; and to delude their grief they call this idolatrous worship the religion of the tombs.— Alas! it would be more justly called the religion of despair, or the poetry of grief. No, Mary did not go

1 Peter i. 24.

to the grave. She knew that Jesus was come-she went to open her heart to him, as her sister had done and threw herself at his feet weeping: all that the bitterness of her grief enabled her to utter was "Lord

if thou hadst been here my brother had not died." She forgot, in his presence, the crowd which surrounded her, nay, the universe and all it contained; she had not strength to add as Martha had done, "but I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God he will give it thee." Her silence prevents us from penetrating into the secrets of her distracted mind-do her words imply that as her brother is dead every hope has forsaken her? Or does she think that Jesus is come to repair her loss? Does she suppose that death can put any bounds, to the power of her divine friend? perhaps, full of resignation and confidence, it is enough for her to have disclosed to her Saviour the excess of her grief, and feel he was as much present with her, as he was on a former occasion, when she sat at his feet listening to his words. Does she now feel that his promises are realised, and is her faith as a light to lighten her darkness? We wish to imagine that it was so, and we like to indulge in the idea that she expected every thing from Jesus, and abandoned herself to his mercy. We like to see her expectations fulfilled, and that the love of her Saviour exceeded all that she could hope for.

Dear brethren, how delightful it is to us to know, that in all our trials, be they ever so great, if we have