minister?

often, alas! yield to their persuasion. Shall not good angels, then, have power with us for good? We are assured by Scripture that they have, that they are "all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." Who can tell how many blessings they secretly How many evils are warded off by their watchful guardianship? In how many ways they try to do us good, would we only permit it? By how many avenues they have access to our hearts? And how many methods they use to better our condition and rectify our lives? We may be sure that their strong interest in us, as souls for which Christ died, leads them to use their advantages, to ply every means with diligence, perseverance, and anxiety. They have often to wait long for the fruit of their care, sometimes to wait in vain. But when the means prosper, and the sinner's heart melts; when they witness the inarticulate groaning, the sob, the purified tear, the cry for mercy, then their song begins. They have succeeded, and they have their reward. "There is joy

in heaven."

The joy of the angels at a sinner's repentance is a token of the joy of their Lord. We judge of a monarch by the pomp and style of his ambassadors, and of the nobles about the court. His grandeur, and often even his character, is reflected in them. Now the angels are nobles of the court of heaven, God's messengers and ambassadors. They are emphatically "angels of God." Their character is greatly in harmony with His, and much of His character may be learnt from theirs. That which occasions pleasure to them, is well-pleasing to Him, and in a far larger measure. If there is joy among the angels at the repentance of a sinner, God is the Original Abode and Spring of that joy. The angels sympathize with Him according to their measure, but He rejoices far more than they. Christ is better than the angels, (Heb. i. 4) and His joy over repentance is more excellent and mighty, and is the fountain. of theirs.

When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was "a man of sorrows." His life here was for the most part saddened by our

sadness and sin. This world has seen Christ in sorrow; it has hardly known Him in joy. Christ in joy is a mystery hidden in heaven. The definition of heaven is-the abode of Christ in joy. And the essence and character of His joy isthat it is joy over repenting sinners.

We have said that when Christ was on earth He was generally in sorrow. Yea; but there were moments of relief and intermission, moments even of joy, which had a like occasion with that in the text. In that hour, says the evangelist, Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. (Luke x. 21.)

Even when Jesus was on the cross, amid all His bodily and mental anguish, there was a moment of relief; in the dreadful gloom of that hour there was one serene ray of heavenly brightness. It was when His face lighted up with unutterable love, as He said to the penitent and supplicating thief, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise. For a moment the Saviour forgot His present suffering in the foretaste of the joy that was set before Him.

Brethren, we have sometimes felt inclined to speculate on the nature of heaven's happiness. We have longed for some celestial visitor to draw aside the curtain and show the joyful mystery. Let us speculate and yearn no more. Christ has opened heaven to us. We know now in what the joy of heaven consists. The angels and the redeemed from the earth rejoice-not because they rest in bowers of roses on the banks of gently flowing rivers, nor over amaranthine crowns, nor the brightness of their countenances, nor the sweetness of their music. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.

Let us draw from this subject encouragement to repentance. God rejoiceth with His holy angels over every repenting sinner. Sin is the only object of His hatred, mercy is His delight. When therefore, sin is forsaken, He has infinite pleasure in restoring the soul. The greater the sinner, the greater God's joy at his return. Come to Him then, and make

the trial, and you will find that He will not despise your tears, nor refuse what is His greatest joy.

It was to lead us to repentance that Christ came from heaven. He "came to seek and to save that which was lost." It was to save us that He endured the shame and pain of the cross. Every new salvation is another portion of His reward, an earnest of His full satisfaction, when "He shall see of the travail of His soul." Fear not then to come to Him. He still "receiveth sinners." He will speak gently as of old and say: Son, or Daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven. We may draw from this subject not only an encouragement but also a motive to repentance. It is in our power to increase the joy of heaven, to add new intensity to the raptures of angels and of the holy dead, to enhance the blessedness even of Christ.

Is there, then, any intemperate person here, whose conscience disturbs him amid his cups, whispering of guilt and shame, and suggesting fearful apprehension? Ask for God's help, brother, to lead you to repentance. His grace has no work which He more dearly loves than restoring such as you to sobriety, self-respect, usefulness, honor and hope. Or is there some covetous man here, who has often proved that he loves gold better than his own true welfare and the welfare of his brethren? It would indeed be a triumph of grace for your better nature to gain the ascendency, but even this is a triumph of which grace is capable. Pray Christ to impart His own Spirit, to refine and ennoble you by contact with Himself.

Perhaps some of you have friends who have departed in peace, fathers or mothers who once watched for your salvation, prayed for it constantly and fervently, and died with the prayer on their lips. Brethren, it is in your power by repentance to add to their happiness even now. You can do this, and at the same time secure your own safety, and gain the prospect of joining them one day in the land of holiness and peace. Will you then not do it? God grant that you may!

Finally: Let us emulate the angels in their delight in repentance. St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, describes certain of the worst of the wicked as having pleasure in other men's sins, an extreme of depravity truly diabolical. On the opposite side, we find saints and angels taking pleasure in the repentance of sinners. And the more of this disposition we have, the higher we rise. If the true character of heavenly blessedness is exultation over the repentance of sinners on earthif this is the disposition of the redeemed, who have worked for Christ here, and are doubtless with the angels working for Him still-if this is the true meaning of entering into the joy of their Lord, whose greatest joy always was and is over repentant sinners-then we learn what the spirit of heaven is, and what fitness for it is. Do we desire heaven? Let us repent of our sins, and promote repentance in our brethren. Let sin ever be our greatest grief, recovery therefrom our constant aim, our dearest gratification. Let us regard as the choicest sight which earth can present, the weeping penitent returning to his Father's house; and, as the sweetest music, the words :-Father, I have sinned, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. If we have this disposition, and consecrate our lives to this holy work, we shall be training for the world whose inhabitants and their King are even now working with the same purpose, and rejoicing in every instance of success, and we shall be ready when called ourselves, to rise and "enter into the joy of our Lord."

The Preacher's Finger-Post.