the social relationships of life. Not only are we creatures of imitation, but we are so constituted as to be the subjects of unconscious influence from those with whom we associate. Hence, it is said, "Whoso walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." (Prov. xiii, 20.) This insensible but all-powerful influence is one of the strong motives for the selection of virtuous companions in life, and for the avoidance of those who are wicked. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. He shall be like the tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away." (Psa. i, 1, 3, 4.) But here is brought to view another motive for the selection of virtuous companions, that can not fail to appeal strongly to the heart. We naturally desire our friendships perpetuated. How, then, must we feel to have for our most intimate companions those from whom we are liable to be separated forever by death? If we desire the companionships of time to be renewed and perpetuated in eternity, we must select those for our companions in whose moral and religious character there is a foundation for this hope. If this applies to the ordinary friendships of life, how much more to that most intimate of all mere earthly associations-the marriage relation? For a pious person to be wedded to and to love one who is irreligious, and to bear about them the consciousness that death will work an eternal separation between them, it appears to us must prove a life-long agony. Hence, the nervous language of inspiration, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." (2 Cor. vi, 14.) We might refer to the self-deception employed in the delusive plea of becoming instruments of salvation to the objects of their regard; how it begins with a compromise of Christian principle, and ends usually in a sad disappointment in regard to that particular result. We might recur to the embarrassments of the household where religion and irreligion intermingle in often very unequal parts; and how often, instead of a profligate reclaimed, the result is a Christian backslidden, and perhaps lost. We might refer to the sad disappointments even in the worldly advantages expected; to the impossibility of the proper religious training of children-their nurture in the admonition of the Lord. We might also refer to the frequency, the many forms, and the solemnity of manner in which the Bible gives line upon line and precept upon precept in relation to the matter; but we come to the one point the ever-present, painful consciousness which the Christian must ever have, unless his Christian consciousness become blunted and seared-that this union must end in everlasting separation. Before this one thought, reaching down to the very depths of the heart, the believer must ever feel that a life-long shadow falls upon his path and darkens all his way. We repeat, then, with all the emphasis superadded by our theme, "Be ye not," either in the social or the domestic relation, "unequally yoked with unbelievers." 2. Such a doctrine and such a hope should elevate and ennoble our Christian friendships here. Mere worldly affections are short-lived; they spring into being as the offspring of passing events or of temporary interests, and then pass away with the incidents that gave them birth. But Christian friendship rests upon a broader foundation; its principles are vital, spiritual, eternal-"charity never faileth"-it reaches forward into the future life. Said the heavenly-minded Baxter: "I must confess, as the experience of my own soul, that the expectation of loving my friends in heaven principally kindles my love to them on earth. If I thought I should never know them, and consequently never love them, after this life is ended, I should, in reason, number them with temporal things, and love them as such, at the same time allowing for the excellent nature of grace; and I now delightfully converse with my pious friends in a firm persuasion that I shall converse with them forever; and I take comfort in those of them who are dead or absent, as believing I shall shortly meet them in heaven; and love them with a heavenly love, as the heirs of heaven, even with a love that shall there be perfected and forever exercised." The blessed hour of the saint's reunion shall erelong come. "Blest hour, when righteous souls shall meet, Shall meet to part no more; And with celestial welcome greet On an immortal shore! Each tender tie, dissolved with pain, With endless bliss is crowned; All that was dead revives again, All that was lost is found." We can not forbear adding a paragraph from Mr. Harbaugh: "How elevating to our affections is the thought that friendships are eternal if pure; that the ties we form on earth, on virtuous and holy principles, will continue through death, and be made perfect and permanent in heaven! This makes the cultivation of friendship a high aim. Even the pursuit of knowledge, so far as it has merely this world in view, and is unsanctified by religion, is low compared with this; for 'charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.' All our intercourse with our friends will be more holy and heavenly if we regard them as those who shall be ours in heaven as well as upon earth. "The addition of a good friend or relative will be the addition of one who will share with us the joys of immortality, who will enter with us into the city of the living God, and be our everlasting companion in glory." 3. A belief in this doctrine should induce tenderness, forbearance, and justice. In this world we are all encompassed with infirmities, and liable to err in thought, in feeling, and in action. Sometimes our censoriousness rises above our charity; mistaken prejudice or enmity nips the buds of tenderness; and selfishness beclouds and overmasters our sense of justice. Slight causes, seen through distorted mediums, often alienate hearts most tenderly allied, and the "roots of bitterness" spring up where only the flowers of paradise ought to grow. Now, the thought that these friends, whom we can not unchristianize even in our alienation, are to be our companions in eternity; that there, with all the mists of earth and sense cleared away, we shall recall these events, and reëxamine our motives, our feelings, and our acts—can not but exert a salutary influence upon us here. We will want those friends, when they go away from us into the heavenly world, to carry with them feelings of confidence and affection; we will want them to possess that state of feeling toward us that would give us a rich welcome to the partnership of their immortal joys. The lesson from the unjust steward, as drawn by the Savior, was, "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." (Luke xvi, 9.) Are our friends emigrating to a new country, and are we expecting soon to follow and to become their life-long neighbors? What carefulness will we employ that we may secure a welcome greeting from them when we arrive? All causes of discord or of distrust will be removed; all differences will be adjusted; firm and friendly relations will be established. So should it be with those pilgrims and strangers of earth who seek a better counuy-a heavenly—who are expecting to become denizens, fellow-citizens of that country, and to be affected and influenced by each other forever. What can be a stronger incentive to "be kindlyaffectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another?" (Rom. xii, 10.) How strong the bond of attachment in time is this expectation of renewing and perpetuating our friendships in eternity! They who are looking forward to eternal companionship will never allow their hearts to be alienated by the jars of time, however harsh and rugged they may be. None but those in whose hearts are no roots of bitterness and no alienation of feeling can truly sing "When shall we all meet again Meet ne'er to sever? When shall Peace wreathe her chain 4. A belief in this doctrine must be a source of great comfort in the hour of bereavement. AMoravian missionary, who had buried two of his little ones upon the Labrador coast, said: "I was once standing by the grave of my departed children, under a brilliant and cloudless sky, when suddenly a shadow passed over the green turf. Looking up for the cause, I beheld a snow-white gull winging her lofty flight through the air. The thought immediately struck me-thus it is with the dear objects of my mournful remembrance. Here lies the shadow, but above is the living principle. Nor was the reflection without comfort to my wounded spirit, since of such is the kingdom of heaven." The thought which proved a source of comfort to the poor Moravian missionary in his distant field of labor, comes laden with comfort to every bereaved heart. The grave hides the dear objects of our affection from our sight, but we know that the separation is only for a |