effect of this sight upon him, or what he learned from seeing Jesus, was to be able to die in peace. None can have true peace in dying, but those who have seen Jesus, by faith, as old Simeon saw him. It is sin that makes us afraid of death. And while our sin is unpardoned, we have good reason to be afraid of death, because death is the messenger that God sends to bring us into his presence, that we may receive the punishment which our sins deserve. This fear or dread of death, is the sting that he has. And this is what the Apostle Paul means when he says,— "The sting of death is sin." I Corinthians xv: 56. And we never can have true happiness or peace in death, till this sting is taken away. But Jesus is the only one "who has power on earth to forgive sins." When .we believe in him, or see him by faith, as Simeon did, then "his blood cleanseth us from all sin." And this is the only thing that can take away the sting from death. As the hymn says :—

"If sin be pardoned, we're secure,

Death has no sting beside."

God made use of a wasp once to teach this great lesson to a man who was afraid to die. This story illustrates very strikingly the great truth of which we are now speaking. We may call it—“The Wasp's Sting."

A gentleman in England, was the squire of the village in which he lived. He was very rich. His house was like a palace. His grounds were very extensive, and very beautiful. A fine stream of water ran through his land, and widened out at one place into a lovely lake. There were hills, and dales, and noble forest trees surrounding his house, so that it looked like an earthly paradise. He had everything around him the world could give to make him happy. But he was not happy, because he was not loving or serving God. He was living, as the Bible expresses it, -“without God in the world." At length, he was taken sick. His sickness was of a severe and dangerous character. And as he had not thought about God when he was well, he was not willing to do so, even now, when sickness came upon him. The thought of death was so dreadful to him that he would not allow any one to speak of it in his presence. His wife was a God-fearing Christian woman. for their minister. But he refused.

She begged him to let her send "No," said he, "I don't want any

minister to come near me. I have lived for this world, and I wish to enjoy it to the very last."

His wife prayed earnestly and constantly for him, that God would

have mercy on him, and bring him to a better state of thought and feeling before he should be called to die. God heard and answered her prayer in a very singular way.

One day an old friend of the family, who was an earnest Christian minister, came to visit them. He asked if he might see the squire. His

wife went in and told him that this friend had called, and wished to see him. At first he refused to see him. But finally he yielded to the earnest pleading of his wife, and said:—“Well, let him come in; but tell him that he must not say a word to me on the subject of religion."

The friend entered the sick man's chamber, and as he did so, he lifted up his heart in silent prayer to God, and asked for help, that he might say something that would do the sick man good. He sat down by his bedside and talked with him about his sickness, and what medicine he was taking for it. While doing this, he resolved to try and get an opportunity of saying something to him about his soul. But he could not do it. His thoughts seemed to fail him. He could not think of a single thing to say. This seemed very strange to him. He never had felt so before, and was quite at a loss to know what to make of it. As he sat there, wondering why he could not speak freely on this subject, as he had always been accustomed to do, a large wasp came buzzing round the sick man's bed. It flew here and there about his head, as if threatening to sting him. This disturbed and troubled him greatly. The servants were called in. They chased the wasp away from the sufferer's bed, and finally succeeded in killing it. Then they went out of the room, and the sick man lay exhausted. "Why were you afraid of the wasp?" asked the minister.

"Because I feared it might sting me."

"If you had known that its sting had been taken away, would you have been afraid?"

"Of course not. I'm not a fool. If it had no sting, it could only buzz about, without doing any harm."

"Are you afraid to die."

"Yes, I am."

"But why are you afraid to die?"

“Because I am a sinner, and I know that God is angry with me for my sins."

"Would you be afraid to die, if you knew that your sin, which is the sting of death, were taken away?"

"No, of course not."

"The Lord Jesus Christ has taken away the sting of death. He died for your sins, and for my sins. He stood in our place, and bore all the

penalty that a just and holy God is bound to inflict on us for our sins. If you accept him as your Saviour, and look to him in simple faith, your sins are blotted out, and you may say with St. Paul,-'O, death where is thy sting? O, grave where is thy victory?'"

Thus the door was opened, and the visit of the wasp gave the minister an opportunity of speaking to his friend on the forbidden subject. He went on and preached Jesus to the sick man. And God blessed what he said. The squire listened eagerly to him. He was led to true repentance for his sins, and to exercise faith in Jesus as his Saviour. And when he

came to die, as he did not long after, he was able to take up good old Simeon's words, and say,-"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

In this story we see what the effect of seeing Jesus was on a dying man in England, not long ago. In the case of Simeon we see what the effect of seeing Jesus was on him, in the land of the Bible, eighteen hundred years ago. And seeing Jesus has the same effect now, on people in all lands. Just one more illustration. This is from an English missionary in India:

"Our station," says the missionary, "was on the borders of one of the largest jungles in India. One day a very rough-looking man, of whom we had some knowledge, and who was employed as a buffalo or cow driver in

the jungle, came to our house, bringing with him a little girl, about eight or nine years old.

He said, "This is my daughter, and I want you, if you please, to take her into your mission. I have given up worshiping idols. I have learned something of the religion of Jesus, and I want my child to learn it, too."

We took her in. She appeared like a very unpromising scholar. She was ragged and filthy, and seemed as dull and stupid as the cattle she had helped to drive. The entire change of life, at first, was hard for her to bear. But she soon began to feel great interest in the exercises of the school, and the services of the chapel. Before a year had passed away it was evident that a great change had taken place in her. She was neat and tidy in her dress, and ways; and gentle, and loving in her temper and

manner.

About that time she came to me and expressed an earnest desire to be baptized. She understood well what it meant, and gave good evidence of being a Christian. But still I said, perhaps she had better wait awhile. Her reply was, "I am not strong; I may not have long to live, and I want to be able to say I am a Christian before I die.”

She was baptized by the name of Jane. Not long after, she came one day to ask if she might go and visit her people. It was a long way off— a journey of several days to where they lived. When asked why she wished to go so far, her answer was, "They know nothing of Jesus, and I wish to tell them what a Saviour I have found in him. My grandmother is old. She cannot live long. I want to tell her about Jesus before she dies. There is a messenger going from here to-morrow. He says he will take care of me. Please let me go, and in fourteen days I will be back

again."

We let her go. True to her word, at the close of the fourteenth day, after her departure, she returned.

As she entered my study, with her face all beaming with joy, she exclaimed:-"I was just in time. I'm so glad I went."

"Just in time for what?" I asked.

"Just in time to save grandma. She only lived three days after I got there. But I told her all about Jesus. I prayed with her, and read to her