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longs for you, and that he waits to welcome you; and that, before you speak, he hears the beating of the heart, and judges of your wants, not by what the lips say, but by what the heart beats. True prayer is that which men cannot hear; and such prayer is often lifted up on the exchange, amidst the collisions and stir of party dispute, on the highway, in the crowded thoroughfare. Many a prayer rises from a meek and humble heart, and ascends faster than an angel's wing can clip, and higher than an archangel's wing can soar; and comes down in responsive benedictions, grace and glory, and life that shall never end. Do we, then, pray by faith? The patriarch prayed as Jacob, by faith; the patriarch returned to his home as Israel, the man that had power with God, and prevailed.

Thus we have seen that life in the retrospect of which the patriarch leaned upon the top of his rod, and worshipped God. All the storms he had passed, all the dangers he had seen, all the crosses he had met with, all the losses he had sustained, did not conceal from him God's good hand guiding him; and, therefore, his last words became the song of victory, somewhat like Simeon's, "Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." By faith, the patriarch saw God in all the dispensations of his providence, in all his wanderings, his losses, his crosses, his joys, and his sufferings. One of the truest evidences of a heart right with God is, that in all things that heart sees God. With a Christian, the idea of God is not a dead dogma, petrified in his creed; but a living, plastic power, ever present in his heart. With him, to know God, and to see God, and to recognize God, needs no syllogism, nor demonstration, nor argument. As truly as the outward ear hears the song of birds, and the outward eyes see the sun in the firmament, the inward ear of faith hears God's great voice, and the inward eye of faith sees the shadow of God's pres

ence sweep along the world. Hence he acknowledges and leans on God. The Christian realizes God's presence in the concave of the sky, and on the bosom of the earth; and, when the worldling can hear nothing but the clamor of the world's tongues, the strifes and collisions of the world's disputants, and the noise of the ceaselessly revolving wheels of Mammon, a Christian's ear can hear that word "God" reflected from every object, and, like a voice uttered amid the mountain gorges, reverberating in multiplied repetitions, till the whole world sounds one word, "God," and all the universe is lightened with the glory of one Being, God. In his least and loftiest engagements, a Christian recognizes God. "Thou, God, seest me." "My Father." "My God.".

We learn, from these sketches in the patriarch's biography, that praise and prayer are the expressions of Christian life. Expiration and inspiration are not more necessary to our natural life than prayer and praise are to our Christian life. And, therefore, in the Christian's experience, what he suffers and what he enjoys equally lead him to God. James says, "Is any among you afflicted?” What is he to do? To commit suicide? No.. "Let him pray.". "Is any merry?"

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What is he to do? To launch into all sorts of wild excesses? No. "Let him sing psalms." A Christian's joys bring him to God in praise; a Christian's sorrows bring him to God in prayer; in every phase of his experience, it leads him to God in adoring praise, or in humble and earnest prayer.

Do you, dear reader, believe, not simply the facts we have read from the biography of an ancient patriarch, but the lessons some of which we have noticed in the course of these remarks? Do you feel that holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; and that these things are written for our profit? The facts vary, but the truths are the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Do you believe in him, by whose blood Jacob was forgiven, by whose righteousness

he was justified, in whose name the patriarch is now enrolled in the registers of the blessed, and beside whose throne, with the crown upon his head, and the palm in his hand, he praises and worships continually? Are you, let me ask, a Christian? It is the most momentous question that can be put; and it is a question that demands, not an answer next year, but an answer to-day. Either Christianity is true, and the instant reception of it is the instant duty of every human being; or it is a fable, and ought to be abjured, and repudiated, and despised. There is no such thing as moderate Christianity. You must be a Christian with the whole heart, or you must be a worldling with the whole heart. There are but two successions in the sight of God—the succession of saints by grace in one line, and the succession of sinners by nature in the other; and these two lines will meet at the judgment-seat, one to take its exodus to everlasting joy, the other to take its departure to the place it has prepared for itself, everlasting misery. To which do you belong? Am I a child of God, or am I not? It is not subscribing a creed, it is not repeating a prayer, it is not belonging to a church or chapel, that constitutes Christianity; but it is having the heart so changed that divine things shall be felt to be the most important; it is having the thoughts so sanctified that they shall rest upon none short of God; and it is having the life so characterized, so elevated, its tone so altered, that, whether we eat or drink, we shall do all to the glory of God. Accept the blessings that are offered by the Lord, by being Christians. When the poor hear of gold to be gathered upon the shores of the distant Pacific, how many thousands rush there in order to be rich! When the sick man hears of a clime whose air is balm, whose sunbeams are health, he leaves home and friends, and goes to that clime to get health. If you are convinced that you are poor, because destitute of those riches that constitute the currency of heaven,—if you feel that you are dying, soul,

and body, and spirit, and that none but Christ can save you, - then this day will not close, and to-morrow's sun will not rise upon you, without your exclaiming, with the whole heart, "Lord, I believe; help mine unbelief. To thee I come; to whom can I go but unto thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life."

CHAPTER XV.

A PILGRIM'S FOOTPRINTS.

"Hast thou not glimpses, in the twilight hour,
Of mountains where immortal morn prevails?
Comes there not through the silence to thine ear
A gentle rustling of the morning gale,
A murmur, wafted from that glorious shore,
Of streams that water banks forever fair,
And voices of the loved ones gone before,
More musical in that celestial air ?"

By faith, Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones." HEBREWS 11: 22.

Ir would take too much time to review all the circumstances in the history of Joseph. I assume that most readers are acquainted with that most interesting history, far more beautiful than any romance; for real history is ever much more beautiful than romance. The few points which we shall select for instruction will not be unfamiliar to most. I will draw lessons, rather than quote passages.

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The first feature that strikes us, in the history of this patriarch, varied and checkered as ever history was, is, that he was rich, of great power, occupying a lofty position, the very loftiest in the realm of Pharaoh; and yet that he remained, from first to last, triumphantly a Christian. We know how much more easy-if one may make a comparison it is to be a Christian where there is no pressure of trials,

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