kindness, He has shewn, and what the eternal future has in store for all who love Him; and tell me, What has He done to make you dislike Him?  Reflect on what He could have done and could do, if He disliked you as you dislike Him, and say, How can you continue in your enmity?  O my brother, “Only believe!” Believe that “God is love.”  Believe that “in this is manifested the love of God, that He gave His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.”  Believe that He willeth not that any should perish,—­that He has no pleasure in the death of sinners,—­that He is ready to forgive,—­that this is the record, that “God hath given eternal life.”  Believe—­trust in God for the good, the whole good, the most perfect good, that of a child’s heart and sincere love towards Him, which He seeks in you—­trust God for this through faith in Christ, and in the mighty power of that Spirit who is love; and depend upon it, when you know God, and see how excellent He is, and understand His love to you, and what He is willing to make you, and to give you, and, above all, when you know what He himself will be to you for ever, you surely cannot choose but Him! and “there is no fear in love; because fear hath torment!”

MOMENTS IN LIFE.

By moments in life, I mean certain periods which occur more or less frequently in our history,—­when the spirit in which we then live, the step we then take, the word we then utter, or what we at that moment think, resolve, accept, reject, do, or do not, may give a complexion to our whole future being both here and hereafter.

Let me notice one or two features which characterise those moments.

They may, for example, be very brief.  Napoleon once remarked, that there was a crisis in every battle, when ten minutes generally determined the victory on one side or other.  Yet on the transactions of those few minutes the fate of empires may hang, and on the single word of command, rapidly spoken amidst the roar of cannon and the crash of arms, the destinies of the human race be affected.  Men in public life, who are compelled every day to decide on matters of importance, appreciate the value of minutes, and estimate the necessity of snatching them as they pass with promptness and decision;—­of “taking advantage of the chance,” as they say, knowing well that if that moment is allowed to pass, “the chance” it brings is gone for ever; that whatever their hand “finds to do” must be done then or never.  The results to them of what they decide at that moment may be incalculable.  What is then done may never be undone; yet not another second is added to the time given them for action.  Within the germ of that brief moment of life is contained the future tree of many branches and of much fruit.