not like it. The spirit only can profit by it. And as to a scene like this, if I sit here, and, sweet as a hymn may be, if no hymn is sung, or thought expressed, my heart is satisfied with His presence. For the time, I want nothing more; He wants nothing more; He comes where His saints are, for this very end, that we may give Him our remembrance, our love-our affections. What a significance was there in that act, when Jesus walked into the Temple, and looked round, and then left it,-as much as to say, "There is nothing for Me here." There is much for Him where His presence is realized. Oh! for a divine forgetfulness of all else but Himself. In the county of Clare, a dear brother suggested, "Did it ever strike you that Mary told all to the gardener in reply to his question, Woman, why weepest thou? She told him about the absent One; she asked him for her Lord. She said, "They have taken my Lord away." She told all to the gardener, as she supposed Him to be. The same with the angels. But when it is obviously Jesus who speaks and says, " Mary "-when He reveals Himself to her, she does not speak a word, but only "Master." There was no need to tell Him whom she sought; nor to inform Him why she wept. Oh! no, no, beloved; her once sorrowful, but now joyful face-her tearsher look of joy, of love, told Him enough. It was different with the two disciples. They, alas! were content, as I have said, to go back to their homes without Him. Their homes, it would seem, had a stronger claim than either a dead or a living Christ,-some business, or perhaps they expected callers! and so they turned back, not knowing whether Jesus was dead or alive. How is it with each of us, as to this? Ah! the world has a wonderful power-circumstances have a wonderful power-arrangements have a wonderful power-—and very often, alas! we can too contentedly leave Him for these. Then we come to Thomas, a picture of His own Israel. Said Thomas, "I'll not believe unless I see Him." And Israel, too, will not believe, until He appears before their very eyes, as their own Messiah. And then, when they see Him, they will say,-not "My Father," as Jesus said to Mary (type of the church), "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father;' but as Thomas, "My Lord-my God." For Israel will then know Him as Lord and God; and not, as in risen life, we now know Him, where He is in heaven, gone to His Father, and our Father, to His God and our God. But one thought more. The disciples having gathered together on the testimony of Mary, He appeared to them that same evening. He found them all blessedly, sweetly ready, according to that 22nd Psalm, "I will declare Thy Name unto My brethren; in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee." They believed the testimony of Mary; they were compelled to come. He was there in their very midst; and He is here, beloved, in our midst. Ah! then let us gather our hearts' affections all around Himselfour blessed One! having the Object of our love in the same place, in the same room with ourselves. How happy to know Him, and to own Him, and to worship and praise Him! Surely we can say with Jacob, in that wondrous, comprehensive prayer of us. his, so precious, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant." And may we not add, "And of all the truth which Thou hast showed ?" We must surely feel this; "all the truth"-what truth!-wondrous, deep, eternal truth, concerning Him who is now with Are we not filled, yea, full to overflowing, as to the letter or intelligence of the truth? But now are you saying, "I want HIM-I want the Object of my deepest love"? O beloved, if so, see our advantage over her of the 20th of John; we have not to seek for the living among the dead, nor yet for the dead among the living, for He has assured us of His presence here. We may cease our enquiring, our seeking, and sweetly let our souls give way to a full, long, happy enjoyment of His presence, and then, as in the 36th Psalm, we shall be "satisfied-satisfied." Mary was "satisfied; " the disciples were "satisfied." Nay, on His ascension, when going from them, so much were they satisfied, that they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Now, their knowledge and their love were one |