his former Disciples, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." In other words, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." That you may attain this final and transcendant happiness, GOD in his mercy grant, through JESUS CHRIST our Lord; to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all praise and thanksgiving, now and for evermore. THE POOL OF BETHESDA. BY THE REV, W. J. THORNTON, PREBENDARY OF HEREFORD, RURAL DEAN, AND ́RECTOR OF LLANWARNE, HEREFORDSHIRE. ST. JOHN V. 14. Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. HE evils of life are so numerous, and they press with THE so much weight on the human mind, that the language of complaint is more common than the expression of any other feeling. Whether we look around or within, whether we regard those misfortunes which arise out of our own sin and folly, or those which we think we may attribute to the conduct of others, the vexations which belong to this state are so various, that man appears to be indeed "born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Some vexations, however, are more severely felt than others. Some affect the whole of a man's life, while others give way to more pleasing impressions. Some, perhaps, involve only himself, others, the whole of his family. The spirit of a man will, at times, bear his infirmity, while at other seasons he feels disposed to sink under his affliction, and to imagine that if in this life only he had hope, he would be of all men most miserable. It is not only a high and heavenly wisdom as regards D our own peace of mind, but a disposition which we may believe to be acceptable to GOD, to consider in any particular affliction, how much heavier a chastisement our sins have deserved, and with how much sorer a punishment the Almighty might have visited us. There is, perhaps, scarcely a single earthly evil, to which this suggestion is not applicable. In the present life, we can never be sure that a worse thing might not have come unto us. Observations of this kind are not, perhaps, unsuitable to the subject which the text brings before our minds. In the earlier verses of the chapter, our Saviour is described as having miraculously cured a person who had been labouring for thirty-eight years in a state of hopeless disease, and as then addressing to him the words, "Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." We shall best derive the instruction which this passage of Scripture is calculated to furnish, if we consider, I. the circumstances which led to the exhortation of the text; II. the exhortation itself; and III. the warning connected with that exhortation. May the HOLY SPIRIT, my brethren, be with us, while we meditate on these words of our Redeemer; and may His teaching enable each of us to understand their solemn import. If there be any here who are suffering under bodily evils or temporal calamities, may they learn, from the subject now under our consideration, the importance of guarding lest a worse thing come unto them. I. It appears, from the commencement of the chapter, that, in one of the public parts of Jerusalem, there was a pool or fountain of water, and that at a particular season of the year the water was miraculously stirred. Any bodily sufferer who at once stepped in, was cured of his disease, whatever it might be; but, if he missed his opportunity, no other would occur till the yearly season returned. In this merciful provision, we have a type of Him who is described as the "Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness," and the necessity of instant attention to the things which concern our peace is here powerfully urged on us. The season of mercies and afflictions, the day of ordinances and means of grace, the opportunity of being impressed with a sense of eternal things, is short, and never will return. He' who neglected the yearly troubling of the pool, had need to tremble lest no other season of cure were offered to him. This circumstance was well known to all, and doubtless those, who could make their way to the fountain, acted with an earnestness and a haste proportioned to the pressure of those bodily calamities under which they laboured. This should remind us, that our day of salvation is rapidly passing away, and that to each of us "the night cometh when no man can work." The fountain which is opened for the cure of our spiritual diseases will soon be closed eternally, and then an impassable gulf will be fixed between us and all hope of heaven. Our grand business should be to seek, by GoD's grace, the forgiveness of our sins, the conversion of our hearts, an interest in CHRIST's salvation, and a living union with Him, before the day of salvation shall pass away for ever. It appears that the person addressed in the text was too weak and exhausted to gain admittance for himself, and that those around him were either unable to assist him, or were perhaps fearful of his depriving them of cure by stepping in first, and therefore refused to aid him. It is one of the evils of any earthly suffering, but |