FAR AND NEAR.

OR some thirty-five years a converted negro woman, named Hagar, had

been leading a consistent Christian life. Still more brightly did her faith shine forth in her last hours.

To her faithful pastor, who had expressed a wish that, like her, he might soon depart and be with Christ, she said, 'No, no, my son, my master; you have work to do. I am going home: mind your work. See Jesus near you; hold on. Patience; without patience no man can see the kingdom of God.' She then began to speak of the rest to which she was going.

'Jesus prepare fine, fine room for poor Hagar; no trouble, no pain, no cry, no sin, for ever and ever. Amen.'

She spoke, too, of the better land being

near.

'Heaven, master, is not far; heaven.

live here,' pointing to the palm of her hand, meaning that she could almost grasp it.

'True; heaven is not far, it is quite close.' Then she turned and said, with a solemnity never to be forgotten by those present, 'Master, heaven be far, very far, from the wicked, but near, very near, to the righteous.' 'Heaven be far, very far, from the wicked.' But who are the wicked?

The impure, the profane, despisers of God's Sabbaths; revilers, drunkards, extortioners, and the like. But it is not only such. There is a large class besides. Many are numbered amongst the wicked in the sight of God, who in the sight of men pass for respectable and blameless members of society. They that have been born of the flesh only, but have never been born of the Spirit; they that strive to please their fellow-men, and to win the world's praise, but never strive to please God; they that love their kindred only, but love not the Friend of sinners; they that mind the things of the flesh, but have no desires heavenward; they that hear the Gospel message, but yield not obedience to its offers of mercy: these are all classed among the unrighteous. From such heaven is very

far.'

They have no title or right to admission there. As sinners they have broken the law, and that law for ever excludes the unrighteous from God's presence.

They have no meetness for heaven. Its pure and holy joys, the songs of redeeming love that echo through its courts, the delightful service of the King of kings-in these they can have no sympathy; for these they are altogether unfitted.

They have no friends there.

Whilst they remain unpardoned, unchanged, what fellowship can they have with the holy Jehovah, with the holy angels, with the spirits of just men made perfect?

But if heaven be far from the wicked, death is nigh, wrath is nigh, judgment is nigh, hell is nigh.

'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.' 'Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.'

O sinner, why not at once turn to thy God? Why not now, even now, cast away thy sin, and flee for refuge to the only Saviour? Why not seize the present fleeting hour, ere thy doom be fixed for ever?

Come, sinner, with thy load of woe,
And to thy gracious Saviour go:

He turns no beggar from His door,
He saves and blesses evermore.

'Heaven be near, very near, to the right

eous.'

But who are the righteous?

They that confess their sin, and forsake it ; they that have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; they that are clothed upon with a righteousness not their own, even that of Jesus; they that have the Holy Spirit dwelling within; they that follow after meekness, holiness, and charity; these are God's righteous ones; to these belong the promises of eternal life.

To them heaven is near.

None can dispute their right of entrance. They are freely justified from all things; they stand accepted in the Beloved. He that openeth, and no man shutteth, has Himself bid them rejoice; for He has forgiven them all iniquities, and made them joint heirs with Himself in His everlasting kingdom. It was the joyful confession of a dying sailor who had believed in Christ, that 'his sins were cast, not into the shallow water, but into the depths of the sea; that his name was enrolled, not in the queen's books, but in the Lamb's book of

life; that he had good anchorage, that the harbour was in view, and that he could say, as he had often cried in the dark night-watch at sea, "All is well."'

Heaven is near, for God Himself is near. God is very nigh to them in love, in faithfulness, in grace, and they live nigh to Him.

How near the redeemed are to Christ, and through Christ to God, we learn from the sublime prayer of our great High Priest, when He prayed for His people, 'That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us;' and again-'I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me.'*

Heaven is near, for even in this life the people of God are reckoned citizens of the heavenly Zion. Their Father is there; their Forerunner has taken possession for them; none can rob them of their inheritance. 'Our conversation (or citizenship) is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Heaven is near, for in a few short years, at latest, the Christian will reach the Father's house.

John xvii. 21, 23.