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disturbed and put out of temper themselves, they spoke sharply to those who brought them there, and told them probably to take them away again; which must have caused their mothers and friends to feel disappointed and distressed.

But let the mothers be cheerful, and let the children be glad. Jesus saw all that was done, and he was wiser and kinder than his disciples. He heard the disciples speaking so harshly, and he saw the mothers moving away so mournfully, with their downcast little children in their hands, and he was very much displeased with his disciples indeed. And he said to them, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God." Seeing those simple children, who only came that a holy prophet might speak to them and bless them, and seeing those angrylooking men by their side, who had been disputing not long before about high places and offices, reminded him with fresh force how much better the children received or understood his kingdom than the men did, though they did not pretend to understand it at all; and so he again spoke to them of the kind of kingdom

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which he came to set up, and told them that if they did not receive it as simply and affectionately and gently as those children did, they could not belong to it, or have any part in it. Truly I say unto you," said he, "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." And after he had said this, he called the children close to him, and "took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them." What he said when he blessed them, we do not exactly know, for the words of the blessing are not written in the history. But he no doubt prayed that his heavenly Father would take care of them, and keep them in the ways of virtue and innocence and peace, and bring them at last to his arms in the heaven above.

Now, children, does it not make you love your Saviour, when you know how kind he was to children, and how much he thought of them and loved them? Can you not see him, with the eyes of your mind, looking so mildly, and so sweetly, and yet solemnly, too, upon those little children of Judæa, when he took in his arms?

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"Sweet were his words, and kind his look,
When mothers round him pressed; –
Their infants in his arms he took,

And on his bosom blessed."

If he were now on earth, he would take you in his arms, as he did those "children who lived by the Jordan," and would bless you. And if he would love you if he were on earth, do you not suppose that he does love you, now that he is in heaven? How can you help loving such a Saviour?

"Was not our Lord a little child,

Taught by degrees to pray,

By father dear and mother mild
Instructed day by day?

"And loved he not of heaven to talk,
With children in his sight,

To meet them in his daily walk,

And to his arms invite ?"

How, then, I repeat, can you help loving such a Saviour?

And what shall you do, to make yourselves worthy of his love? Do exactly the same as you ought to do to make yourselves worthy of the love of God, his Father. Be kind, be obedient, be good. And as you grow up, do not let your goodness go away from you. Keep

your simplicity, keep your honesty and truth, keep your gentleness and kindness; keep all your virtue, and get more and more. Then you will be that is, your spirits will bealways in the spiritual arms of Jesus.

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Indeed, when I see an amiable, peaceful child, who loves and obeys his parents, and is kind and well disposed to every one,—a child who speaks the truth, and dislikes contention. and quarrelling, and fears to do that which is wrong, I think I see such a child resting in the arms of Jesus, and blessed by his sacred words. And if such a child should die, though its body would be placed in a coffin, and buried in the cold ground, I could not mourn as if that child were forever dead, for I should believe that its spirit had gone to a holier and happier land than the land of Judæa, or any other land below; and that it was resting in the arms of Jesus by the side of a holier river than the river Jordan or any earthly river. You know the name of the land I mean,- Heaven. No fighting is there, no envying nor discord. Tears are all wiped away, and hardships and sorrows are forgotten.

"There every pain and care shall cease,
And perfect love give perfect peace."

SERMON IX.

A NEW YEAR'S WISH.

I HAVE NO GREATER JOY THAN TO HEAR THAT MY CHILDREN WALK IN TRUTH.

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THE aged Apostle John, who wrote the epistle or letter from which this text is taken, which is the fourth verse of the third epistle, did not mean by the words my children young children, for he was writing to grownup people; but I, in using the same words, do mean young children, to whom I intend particularly to speak on this first Sunday morning of the year. The Apostle John was so old when he wrote this letter, having lived probably almost a hundred years, that he well might speak of grown-up people as his children; especially if he had taught them a new and true religion, and had nourished them up in it. And well might such people look upon him, with his thin white locks, as their father. But for my own part I can only address as children those who are really such; and I can say, in the words of St. John, that I have

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