o 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.

What a brief moment, indeed, in our endless life is the whole period
even of the longest life on earth! It is compared to a vapo