disciples constrain Thee, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."

Ah, Lord, that is just the fact, as realized in my own present experience: "it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." Hence, Lord, I want Thee, condescendingly, to "Abide with me."

"ABIDE with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide :
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

"Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away!
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou, who changest not, abide with me.
"Come not in terrors, as the King of kings;
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings:
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea;
Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.

"I need Thy presence every passing hour:
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who like Thyself my Guide and Stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me!
"I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless :
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:
Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

"Reveal Thyself before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows

flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!"

"And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side."

Mark iv. 35.

LORD, when the even has really come with me, and I am called to stand upon Jordan's brink, this is the rich mercy and distinguishing favour which I would crave at Thy hands, even that Thou wouldst, in Thine own sweet and loving way, cause me to hear Thy fear-assuaging voice say, "Let us pass

over to the other side." Sure I am that if thus indulged of Thee, blessed Lord, my heart would instantly be relieved of every semblance of burden, and I should be so enraptured with Thy presence and the realization of Thy sustaining arm, that, even in the view of so called death, I should rejoice with "a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory." If Israel of old neither felt nor feared the passage of the Red Sea nor the Jordan, neither shall I the narrow streamlet that severs the wilderness from the better land, if so be Thou art but

pleased to say "Let us pass over to the other side." Oh, it is the "us," Lord, Thy blessed companionship, Thine own divine presence, Thine all-sustaining arm, that will disperse all darkness, dispel all doubts, remove all fears, and give me to exclaim, as the psalmist did, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."

Then, when once safely over on "the other side," oh, how shall we realize what is expressed in the song:

"WHEN this passing world is done,
When has set yon glaring sun,
When we stand with Christ in glory,
Looking o'er life's finished story;
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,—
Not till then,-how much I owe.

"When I hear the wicked call

On the rocks and hills to fall;
When I see them start and shrink,
On the fiery deluge brink;

Then, Lord, shall I fully know,-
Not till then,-how much I owe.

"When I stand before the throne,

Dressed in beauty not my own;
When I see Thee as Thou art,
Love Thee with unsinning heart;
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,—
Not till then,-how much I owe.

"When the praise of heaven I hear,
Loud as thunders to the ear,
Loud as many waters' noise,
Sweet as harp's melodious voice;
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,-
Not till then,-how much I owe.
"Even on earth, as through a glass
Darkly, let Thy glory pass;
Make forgiveness feel so sweet,
Make Thy Spirit's help so meet;
Even on earth, Lord, make me know,
Something of how much I owe.
"Chosen not for good in me,
Wakened up from wrath to flee,
Hidden in the Saviour's side,
By the Spirit sanctified!

Teach me, Lord, on earth to show,
By my love, how much I owe."

"The other Side."

WELL indeed may the poet say, "But what will it be to be there?" and well might the apostle exclaim; "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." Again he says:

Beloved, 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."

Oh, blessed Jesus, what must it be to see Thee as Thou art-"no longer as through a glass darkly, but face to face?" Why, dearest Immanuel, a short momentary glimpse of Thee, by faith, as realized under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, can never be forgotten-no, not for a whole life-time, notwithstanding all the sin and defilement and corruption which are inseparable from our poor fallen state, and beset as we are by Satan and the entanglement and anxieties and perplexities of the world. What, then, must it be, when finally and for ever delivered from the burden of the flesh, we are privileged to see Thee in all Thy unveiled loveliness? Yea, and to be made like unto Thee? No sin now! no corruption now! no dark nights and dreary days now! no aches, no pain, nor sicknesses! No tempting devil, no alluring world, no deceitful treacherous heart! No death in prospect! No-oh, no-all these of the past-never-no never-again to be felt or feared.

"The other side!" Oh, so bright! so blessed! so uninterrupted! so unmingled! so everlasting! Abraham and Isaac and Jacob there! apostles, prophets,