s friends after His resurrection, we
shall be to ours, and they to us. We shall hear the familiar voices
and the dear old names, shall resume the dear relationships which death
severed, and shall speak again of the holy secrets of our hearts with
those who were our twin-spirits.

And He will come again, either in our death hour or in His Second
Advent, "to receive us" to Himself. If we only could believe this, and
trust Him who says it, our hearts could not be troubled, though death
itself menaced us; for we should realize, that to be received at the
moment of dissolution by the hands of Jesus, into the place on which He
has lavished time and thought and love, must be "far better" than the
best that earth could offer.

V

The Reality of which Jacob's Dream was the Shadow

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man
cometh unto the Father, but by Me."--JOHN xiv. 6.

We all know more truth than we give ourselves credit for. A moment
before the Lord had said, "Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know."
Thomas, the pessimist--always inclined to look at the dark side of
things--directly contradicted Him, saying, "Master, we are absolutely
ignorant of the goal to which Thy steps are bending; it is impossible,
therefore, for us to know the path that lies through the gloom, and by
which Thou art to come to it." It was a strange collision, the
Master's "Ye know," and Thomas's "We know not." Which was right?

There is no doubt that Jesus was right, and they did know. In many a
discourse He had given sufficient materials for them to construct a
true conception of the Father's house, and the way to it. These
materials were lying in some dusty corner of their memory, unused, and
Christ knew this. He said, therefore, in effect, "Go back to the
teachings I have given you; look carefully through the inventory of
your knowledge; let your instincts, illumined by My words, supply the
information you need: there are torches in your souls already lighted,
that will cast a radiant glow upon the mysteries to the brink of which
you have come."

This is true of us all. Christ never conducts to experiences for which
He has not previously prepared us. As the great ocean-steamers take in
their stores of coal and provision, day and night, for weeks previous
to their sailing; so, by insensible influences, Christ is ever
anticipating the strain and stress of coming circumstance, passing in
words wh