of darkness and of the shadow of death. Conversion is a turning from darkness to light; it is the dawning of a heavenly day-spring upon every region of thought, and on all the inward faculties and powers of the soul. The gross darkness disappears; He who commanded the light to shine on the depths of chaos, shines into the heart, to give the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And hence the sweet Psalmist describes this dawning of Messiah to the desolate heart in those beautiful words; "He shall be as the light of the morning when the sun ariseth, a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.”

How lovely and glorious is a day-break in the morning of spring. Before, the whole landscape was buried in darkness. But now the streaks of rosy light are seen in the eastern sky. At once the birds awake from their slumbers, and pour forth their innumerable songs of joy and melody. The mountain-tops catch the first beams of daylight, and the clouds drink deep of the splendour from the yet unrisen sun. A brighter and brighter glow spreads over the hills, and pierces slowly into the deep valleys. The beasts of the field wake up from their grassy couch. Presently the sun arises in his strength, and all creation, once more animated with new life, rejoices in the glorious apparition. The birds redouble their songs, the landscape laughs with brightness, the dew-drops sparkle with richest colours, the flowers once more unfold their delicate petals, and yield their fragrance. Man goeth forth to his labour, and life and beauty and joy soon spread over the landscape, that was buried so lately in the stillness and gloom of death.

Such, and so blessed is the change, when Christ, the

true Day-spring, arises in His mercy, and shines into the heart of the fallen sinner. The soul, before dull and mute, learns now to utter a new song of praise. The obscurity which rested on the powers of the understanding, and made them blind to all heavenly things, is driven away, and the whole world of the inner man, which was once darkness, now becomes light in the Lord. The tears of godly sorrow are themselves lit up by the promises of the Saviour, till they sparkle with the bright reflection of heavenly joy. The powers of the soul, which were fast locked in the sleep of sin, awake to new activity, and go forth to labour in the vineyard of the Lord. The light of wisdom dawns on the understanding, the light of holiness on the inward affections, the light of joy and gladness on the heart. The soul becomes a watered garden, lit up with the blessed sunshine of the Redeemer's love, and sending up to heaven its perpetual incense of devout praise, humble adoration, and deep and pure thanksgiving for the tender mercy which has visited it from on high. O that the millions now sitting in darkness, the slaves of sin, might speedily rejoice in this glorious light, and the Sun of Righteousness might soon arise and dawn upon them with healing in his wings!

But the emblem has only to be varied, and it will equally illustrate the character of true holiness in the hearts of believers, and reveal, in another light, the treasures of wisdom in our blessed Lord.

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They shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the day that I make up my jewels." Every believer is thus compared to a precious stone, formed and polished by a Divine Artificer, to adorn the sanctuary of God, or shine for ever in the Saviour's diadem. And what is it that distinguishes the gem or precious stone from all other sub

stance? Its transparency or lustre ; its peculiar affinity for the light of heaven, and its aptness to reflect it with a peculiar brilliance, and in a rich variety of colour, according to its own peculiar line and character, or the figure which it has received from the skill of the lapidary. Even when it was secretly forming in the mine, we have reason to believe that electric influences, akin to those of light, if not the very same, determined its structure, and gave the crystal its hidden beauty. And when it has been brought out, and duly polished, its surface sparkles with every sunbeam, each point and facet is enriched with a reflected splendour; and what seemed once a mere speck of useless earth, is now a ruby, or topaz, or diamond, beaming out a lovely radiance, and glistening with a continual play of varied colours, a jewel fit to adorn the coronet of kings.

Very similar is the nature of that change which must pass upon the Christian in his preparation for a brighter world, and the mark which separates him from the worldling is the very same. It is a peculiar affinity for the light of heaven. There is a secret power which must mould the heart, to produce this aptitude for reflecting the radiance of Divine love. And when this secret change has been wrought in the solitude of the closet, there is a further work of holy discipline, by which the crust of evil habits and sinful tempers must be removed, and the outward life be brought into harmony with the inward work of grace, and taught to reflect, in various hues and forms of holiness, the love of the Saviour. Then, at length, the gem receives its true perfection, and shines with a heavenly lustre. But all its brightness and beauty are due only to Him who is the true Light, the Giver of all grace, the source of every good and perfect gift to the souls He has redeemed. It

is He, who by a secret influence moulds the very structure of the renewed heart into an entire affinity with His own heavenly light, and makes it transparent to the messages of His love. It is He who, by His wise Providence, fulfils the part of the lapidary, and removes the crust of earthliness and selfish desires from the souls whom He loves. And then it is He also, who shines upon them with the bright sunlight of heaven, to bring out all their various graces, and renders them beautiful with his own reflected beauty. How various in their form, colour and lustre, are these precious stones, all set in the breast-plate of the Great High Priest! Here we see the stern dignity of an Elijah, very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, and there, the tenderness and contrition of a Magdalene, weeping beside the open grave of her risen Lord. Here we see a Zechariah, uttering the language of a righteous indignation in the hour of death-the Lord look upon it, and require it; and then a Stephen, praying for his murderer "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." But all these varied forms of holiness, however bright or beautiful, derive their beauty and brightness from a higher source, and receive it from the fulness of Emmanuel. The Sun of Righteousness must shine upon them, or all their borrowed glory will disappear.

But science can detect, in every crystal, many hidden properties that escape the eye of the casual observer. Their outward appearance depends only on the reflected light which glances from their surface; but there are delicacies of structure, and secret qualities, which can only be detected when light is transmitted through them. The results are as beautiful as various, which thus reveal themselves to the keener eye of science. The pure sunbeam will thus resolve itself into innumer

able forms of light, that rival the rainbow in their rich colouring, while they almost baffle description by their elegant complexity of form. No part of science is more fascinating to the eye than this branch of optics, due to modern discoveries in polarity and crystallization. And here too we have an emblem, full of significance to the spiritual mind. Besides those distinctions of character in the believer, which meet every eye, there are others deeper in the heart's experience, and which only the Searcher of hearts can fully discern. Each ransomed spirit has its own peculiar appetency for special parts of Divine truth. Some lessons of God's word have been more deeply impressed on it than others, some examples have a stronger hold on its hidden sympathies, some precepts a double power over the conscience, some promises are felt doubly precious to the heart, and are endeared to it by the memory of peculiar consolation they may have rendered in the hour of deep sorrow. The foundation of the heavenly city is "garnished with all manner of precious stones." None of these jewels of the Lord will have had the same experience, or be moulded into precisely the same form of spiritual feeling and heavenly wisdom. One will resemble the glowing ruby, and another the green emerald, and every variety in the natural world meets an answering variety in the divine forms of delicate sympathy, pure emotion, and refined experience of Divine truth, among the children of God. He only, who knows what is in man, and bears the names of His people like precious stones on His breast-plate, to intimate His full knowledge of their various characters, and the various forms of Divine beauty in which He is preparing them to shine for ever,-He only can form and polish these gems of the sanctuary, and prepare every saint for His own pe