and now it is too late. Oh, Miss Lucy, the half of the awful meaning of those two words has not been told us."

The good old inan looked so sad and troubled as he said this, that I could not bear to leave him, lest he should brood over the thought when I was gone, so I said, "It's all true, John, but I don't think it's any good thinking about it; through God's great mercy, neither you nor I will ever know what it is to be lost for ever, so we need not think about it." "I beg your pardon, Miss Lucy, but I think we do need to think about it."

"But why?" I asked.

"To make us humble, and to make us thankful," he replied; "it's good to take down the pride that's so quick to rise up in our hearts, by showing us that if we had been left to ourselves, hell fire is what we deserved. It's only when we know what we have been saved from, that we feel truly thankful to our gracious loving Saviour. And besides that, when we think what eternal death must be, doesn't it make us long and try and pray to be permitted to tell those who do not know it of the way of escape open to all who will come to Jesus ?”

"But," he added, "after I have, as it were, taken a look at the hell from which I have been saved, I like to have a long look at heaven, and a long thought about it, and after the look and the thought, I like to remember that the half of its beauty, and its happiness, and its glory, has not been told me; and I never weary of reading over and over again those two last chapters of the Bible that tell me so much about what my heavenly home will be like. My wife says those chapters are better than a cordial; and so they are."

'But, John," I said, "you don't think that the gates of heaven will be pearls, and the streets gold; mustn't it only mean that it will all be bright and beautiful ?"

"I don't know, Miss Lucy," replied the old man, shaking his head; "I like best to take the Bible as I find it; and even if the gates are not pearls like our pearls, nor the streets of gold like our gold, it's only because there will be

something more bright and beautiful, still so bright and so beautiful that God Himself could not tell us the half of it. We must wait to understand them till we see them."

it.

"But," he went on, after a moment, as if talking to himself, "but even the beauty of heaven is not the best part of I think that will be the seeing our blessed Saviour as He is. Why, I often think that one look at the face of Him who died for me would more than make up for all I ever suffered; and it's not one look I'll have, or two, but I'll see Him and be with Him for ever, and ever, and ever! And more than that, for I'll not only see Him, and be with Him, but I'll be like Him! Not one sin of thought, or word, or deed, shall ever grieve Him again; not one touch of pain shall ever trouble me; not one moment's temptation shall harass me, but I'll be what my gracious Saviour Himself is -holy, blessed, and glorious. I'm an old man now," he added, as I got up to leave, "I'm an old man now, and like to be in heaven many a long year before you; but when I meet you there, I think my first words to you will be, Miss Lucy, it's all true what I said-The half was not told me.'"

The Tempest stilled, and the Demoniac healed.

"And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish! And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!

"And when He was come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought Him, saying, If Thou cast us

out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And He said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw Him, they besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts."

Matt. viii. 23-34.

HEN Jesus went into the boat which the disciples had prepared by His order (ver. 18), they too followed Him. Let us hope that he who had wished first to bury his father was among them.

The sea, or lake, was not many miles across, but probably the storm which arose made the passage longer than usual. It was a violent storm, such as is not uncommon on that sea, and the waves burst into the boat. Jesus, meanwhile, tired with the labours of the day, was asleep. But the disciples, terrified by the tempest (and it was now night also), came and awoke Him: "Lord, save us: we perish!"

They were right to come to Him in their fear; but were they right to fear? Had that faith which led them to cry to Him been stronger, they would not have feared at all. Our Lord gently reproved them for their little faith; yet He saved them. How greatly were they struck, when, in the darkness of the night, the wind roaring, the waves dashing over the boat, and they themselves trembling with fear, the Lord arose, and spoke, and in a moment the wind was hushed, the waves were still," and there was a great calm!" They had seen Him heal the sick, and cast out devils; now they saw the very winds and sea obey Him. Their sense of His power was greater than ever : "What manner of man is this?"

He who is one with Christ by faith need not fear for his soul, though outwardly all be dark, and storms of trouble beset him. Yet his strength is to go to Jesus again and again for help; and the very words of the disciples are fit words for him to use, "Lord, save us: we perish!" for without Christ he must perish. But let the prayer be made,

not as an almost despairing fear, but in the confidence of faith.

How many there are, who may fitly use the same words! He who is under sore temptation and feels his feet beginning to slip, may at that very moment cry to Jesus thus. Even the backslider, whose feet have slipped, and who has forsaken the right way, even he may return to the Lord with these words. When the sense of sin is strong, when fears prevail, when friends forsake, the Christian may make this cry to his Saviour. Nay, who may not cry to Him thus? for is He not the Saviour of sinners? The sinner, when conscience speaks, and he is afraid, may flee at once to Jesus with such words as these, "Lord, save me: I perish!" Will Jesus refuse that prayer? Surely He who saved the body will not refuse to save the soul! He is always near, to hear the cry of the contrite. He sleeps not now. Wherever we are, by night or by day, our prayer may find Him.

When the storm was stilled, they were soon at the other side. Then at once our Lord was met by these demoniacs, or men possessed with devils. We read of many such in the gospels. They were not masters of themselves; their minds and bodies were completely under the control of the wicked spirits that possessed them; they were miserable in themselves, and a terror or a grief to others. These two were, it seems, even more fierce than most. They lived more like wild beasts than like men. Their dwelling was in the tombs, that is, the rocky caves that had formerly been used for burial; and no one dared to pass that way for fear of them.

Thank God, we have none such, though a raving madman is somewhat like them. But madness may often be traced to disease, or an overworked brain, or a dreadful shock, or some other natural cause. There is something that is in reality more like the case of the demoniacs than madness; a life of wilful sin. A man who gives himself up to sin has, in fact, put himself into Satan's power. He thinks he is doing his own will; but he is really doing the will of the devil; going where he leads him, doing what he bids him

do. He is like one possessed, but with this difference; this grievous affliction came on them of old without their will, but this man of his own accord puts himself under the control of the evil spirit, and chooses him as his master.

The devils knew Jesus. "The devils also believe and tremble." These did so. They called Him by His name, and gave Him His rightful title, "Jesus, thou Son of God !" They trembled before Him. They who had before been a terror to all, now found the Son of God a terror to them. Satan was the strong man armed keeping his palace; but now a stronger than he was come upon him, to overcome him and take his goods, and deliver these men from his power. The devils trembled, for they knew the awful power of the Son of God, and foresaw their own doom. Was He come to send them to it already?

No sooner did the evil spirits see the Lord, than they knew they must give up their prey. It was so. They were cast out, and the poor demoniacs were restored to their right mind. But how strange was the request of the evil spirits, to be allowed to go into the swine! We cannot fully understand either why they wished it, or why the Lord permitted it. Perhaps He gave them leave, in order that all might see how completely they were under His control, to do or not to do, just as it pleased Him. Perhaps also He would show to all around, by way of warning, the wicked malice of these evil spirits, who, when they could no longer torment men, would at least destroy beasts. If the owners of the swine were Jews, He might mean at the same time to punish them thus for keeping them; for by their law swine were forbidden as being unclean. Whether Jews or heathen, the people of the country begged Jesus to go away from them, being frightened at His power, and grieved at the loss of their property, instead of being glad of His presence.

Let not us be like them. When Jesus visits us, in His word, by His dealings, or by the striving of the Spirit in our hearts, let us welcome Him thankfully, and beg Him to abide with us, and bless us. His presence is blessing indeed.