Sabbath Evenings at Home. BY THE REV. J. JORDAN, VICAR OF ENSTONE. B. C. 1042. THE THIRTEENTH PROMISE OF 2 SAM. VII. 12-17; Ps. CXXXII. 11, 17. P. As time moved on God was pleased to give more frequent and more full promises of the Saviour; and in the time of David we meet with many such. The first of these was spoken by Nathan the prophet, the others by David himself. David had desired to build a temple for God, and Nathan at first approved of the king's design, as all who honour God would do, but afterwards he was specially warned by God to advise David to leave it to his P.-And how has he built a ho for God? C.-By uniting believers in G through him, as it is said by St. Pa in his Epistle to the Ephesians, ti "Jesus Christ himself is the chief e ner-stone, in whom all the build fitly framed together groweth unto holy temple in the Lord: in whom also are builded together for an hab tion of God through the Spirit," Epl ii. 20-22. St. Peter, also says, t believers, as "lively stones, are b up a spiritual house, acceptable to through Jesus Christ," 1 Pet. ii. 5. B. C. 1008. son and successor to do; and this gave THE FOURTEENTH PROMISE occasion to the utterance of a promise respecting Christ, which restricted his birth to the royal race of David. This you will find in the seventh chapter of second Samuel, 12-17 verses. Nathan speaking for God, says to David, "I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son." C. Of whom is this said? P.-It has a double meaning; first referring to Solomon the son of David: secondly, to Christ the Son of David. As it is also said, in Ps. cxxxii. 11: "The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." This Peter has interpreted to us distinctly of Christ, as in Acts ii. 30, where he says that David, "being a prophet, knew that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne." Where is Christ's kingdom then? C.-In heaven. A SAVIOUR AS GOD. PSALM XLV. 6, 7. P.-Another very glorious prom of a Saviour contained in the Psal of David, is that in the 45th Psal The whole of it relates to the Messi and his kingdom, but the 6th and 1 verses speak of him in a manner. which we have not before read of hi What is he there called? C.-He is called God, for it is wr ten, "Thy throne, O God, is for ev and ever." P.-And this St. Paul, in his Epist to the Hebrews, distinctly applies Jesus Christ, so that there can be doubt whatever of his being mean here. How then was this accomplishe in him? man. P.-And unless he had been thes united, he would not have corresponde to the prophecies that went before com cerning him. This, then, is a mo gracious promise, since it plainly int mates that God himself will be o Saviour; and it beautifully agrees with those truths taught us in the New Tes tament, in which we are assured tha God was in Christ reconciling the rld unto himself, not imputing their spasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19. B. C. 1047. HE FIFTEENTH PROMISE OF PSALM II. 7, 8. P.-In the last promise we learned P.-And who calls him so? P.-Yes, that is God, consequently C.-No, he was begotten of him. But what does this mean? P. That we do not know, we have only to believe what the Scripture tells us, whether we can clearly comprehend its meaning or not. This, however, is plainly taught us, hereby that as Adam begat a son in his likeness, and we all are sinners through him, so the only begotten Son of God is of the same essence, being, nature, and character that the Father is; for so St. John teaches us, that "the Word who was with God, and was God, was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth," John i. 1-14. As a Son, Christ was to have an inheritance. What was promised to him as such in this Psalm ? C.-The heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession. What does this mean? P.-That they should be converted to God through him, and saved by his P.-In what sense are we even said mediation. The heathen were at that o be the children of God? time all the world except, the Jews, id to be the Son of God? C.-We are his children because he who were in covenant with God; so that it is promised to Christ that all s our Maker. P-Was Christ, then, made by men shall be brought to the knowledge im? of him. ILLUSTRATION OF FAITH. DURING one of my visits to the sea, being a great invalid, I was accustomed to recline on the sands, and often spent hours there reading and working. On the Sabbath, not being able to go to the house of God, I generally selected a retired spot, and if any people came in my way, I gave them a tract or a little book. One fine evening I saw a group of children at a short distance; they were not near enough to hear my voice, but I beckoned to them, and held up a few hymns, printed on separate papers. They soon saw them, and began to talk amongst themselves whether they should venture to come or not. I beckoned again, and smiled at them, still they hung back. One tried to persuade another, and some of them held down their heads and laughed. At length one little child ventured, by slow degrees, and came within the sound of my voice. I spoke to her, and told her not to be afraid. I then asked her why she had come. She was silent a moment, and said, "Because you called me." "Do you think," I said "I have any thing to give you?""Yes, ma'am." Why do you think so?"-"Because you held something up." I then took out 66 the hymn, and read a verse or two of it, to see if she understood it. Finding she did, I gave her one, with which she ran back to her companions, and the others I shut up in my bag. The rest of the children gathered round the little girl, and tried to take it from her, but she would not give it up. They were sorry then they had not come also; she said, "You had better go now, she is not at all unkind, and I think she has more in her bag." Whilst this was going on I did not look up; presently two elder children approached, and requested a copy. I asked them whether they went to Sunday-schools; they said "Yes;" and finding that they were accustomed to religious instruction, I put a few questions to them about the Scriptures and prayer, and the love which the Saviour has towards the young. As I went on they all came round me, hoping to get a hymn, but I told them my bag was shut for that time; that they should have come at first, whilst I held the papers out. 66 "There was only one little girl," I said, "who trusted me; only one who had faith; she came all alone, and you see she was not disap pointed. It is just so with the invitations of Jesus Christ. He invites us all to come to him, and he promises to give us everlasting life. Some stay away because they de spise the blessing; some are afraid to venture; others do not like to go alone; but every one that believes, and runs to Christ, is graciously re ceived, and finds the promise made good. "We must, however, come at once, for the accepted time will soon be gone. Just as you are disappointed now, because my bag is shut, so will every one be disappointed who neglects the opportunity of seeking Jesus whilst he is to be found, and does not call upon him whilst he is near." I did not open my bag then, because I wanted to impress the minds of the children with the importance of coming at once to Jesus; but I told them I would give any of them a hymn who came and repeated it to me the following Sabbath. Before that day arrived, however, I was obliged to leave the neighbourhood, and it is very probable the hymns which I left will never come into their possession. RAMBLER. OLD PAUL'S VISIT TO THE CHINESE JUNK. CHINA-Where is China? get out your atlas and look. You will see that it is a very large empire, and when I tell you that there are as many millions of people living in it as there are days in the year, you will be surprised to think how so many men and women could live there, with neighbours all round them, and yet be so little known. They call their city the celestial city, and the great wall round it has, indeed, kept them closely in, and kept other people out; and not till the good Prussian missionary, Gutzlaff, went in disguise to Pekin, had any European seen the Emperor. A little while ago and it was thought a wonderful thing to see a Chinaman, but of late years several have been in England with Mr. Milne, and Dr. Legge, the missionaries; and we have had in London the Chinese Collection of Curiosities, so that people are now be ginning to be better acquainted with this interesting people, and their habits. The Chinese have often seen our ships, but they are ery proud of their own; and though urs are so very much better, they vill not imitate, and if they did, by he laws of their country, they would e punished. However, the Chiese are a very ingenious people; hey invented the mariner's comass, and printing was known among hem before it was known in this ountry; and then they are a very nterprising people when they can et away from their own country, hich it is not a very easy thing ɔ do. worship. Their friends came to look at them for the last time, and said, "Good-b'ye," believing they should never see them again. So away they came-and first they went to Hong-Kong, another place in China now belonging to England, where thousands of people came to see Keying; look at your map again, and see where Java is: well, the Junk reached Java, that beautiful "paradise" as it is called, on the 27th of January, and then put out to sea, and made for the Cape of Good Hope. Nearly three months passed before they got there, and very glad both the captain and his men were to see the Cape, for the poor Chinese had been behaving badly, and would not work. You have heard of the mutiny of the Bounty, and you know that mutiny means when men will not obey orders, and sometimes try to kill the captain and take possession of the ship, and so there was some disorder on board the Keying; and when the Chinese reached the Cape, and got on to the shore, they said they would not go any further. However they did, for the captain took them before a magistrate, and he explained that they had promised to go to England, and said they must keep their word; and he told them that he himself and his children came from England, and so they were less frightened, and promised to go. I cannot tell you what fearful storms the ship was in, and how the mast was split, and the great rudder ropes were snapped in two, nor how the waves dashed over the vessel, washing away the boats and whatever was on deck. The poor Chinese said many prayers to their gods, and hung out many flags: on one of them was written, But I promised to tell you about he Junk. In the beginning of 846, there were a few persons at Canton who thought it would be good thing to take one of the real Chinese vessels to England. Every Dody laughed, but these adventurers lid not care for that. The Chinese ooked at their maps which make he earth to appear flat, and represent China as the largest part of it and all other places as little spots just on the edge; this is where they suppose England is, and they call us all barbarians; and so they said it would be madness to think of going over the edge. Thus a long time passed by before any Chinese sailor could be induced to go; but at last a ship was prepared, and every thing made ready, and on the 19th of October, 1846, the Keying sailed from Canton, with thirty Chinamen on board, and twelve English sailors. The Chinese had never been away from home; and, though sailors, they were terrified when they lost sight of the land, so that was wise to have English sailors to steer the vessel. Before the ship sailed, the poor creatures said they would not go unless they had much money given to them; and then they bargained for a great "Good luck to the Junk." Howdeal of tinfoil, silver paper, joss-ever, the God of heaven took care sticks, and incense for their idol of them, and said to the tempest, "Peace, be still!" and so there was a calm. The anchors are very curious, being made of iron-wood, and very much like a new iron anchor lately invented in this country, though the Chinese have used it for centuries. Then, also, these ingenious Chinese have made their vessels water-tight, so that if a plank were to be driven in by a rock, and the water came in at the great hole, it could only fill one small part of the ship for all that; for there are nineteen other partitions into which the poor sai lors could go and be safe. These contrivances we have now in our English ships, but the Chinese thought of it long before us. In front of the vessel are two large eyes, meaning vigilance and activity; as much as to say, "Never asleep." The poor Chinamen, however, say, "Have eye, can see; can see, can savey; no have eye, no can see; no can see, no can savey. In good time the Keying reached New York, and there she stayed for seven months, and many thousands of Americans came to see her. Then it was time to go at last to England; so a stock of provisions was laid in, and plenty of water for the voyage. The poor Chinese hoped the wicked god would not make the sea rough this time. Poor people, do not you pity them? but though they prayed very much, and burned much incense, it was of no use; the rough weather came, and beat the ship about very much; the captain had to throw eight tons of the precious fresh water overboard in the midst of the hurricane to lighten the vessel. At last she came safe to England, and is now in the quiet dock, covered in and every day hundreds of people go to see her. The charge is two Then inside the vessel, on deck, shillings, but little children go in there are the cooking-houses where for one, and Sunday-school children the rice is boiled every morning, for still less. I dare say you would when each man is allowed three like to come to London, and see the pounds weight. They like rice Junk. If you did you would walk better than any thing else; but I into a large square, boarded all am sorry to say they have begun round, and this square encloses the to like English beer and spirits, vessel. The ship is very gaudily which is a very sad thing. They painted, and there is plenty of yel-eat opium too, a great deal, which low and red, of which colours the Chinese are very fond. The two ends of the ship go up very high, so that it looks almost like half a circle. There are three masts made of teak wood, of which the whole ship is built; the sails are not canvass or cloth, but are made of rushes plaited together, and the ropes are made of rushes too. The top of the highest mast is ornamented by a vane or weather-cock, in the shape of a fish, and long streamers float from its tail. There are paintings all over the ship of a bird something like a cockatoo, with its wings outstretched. is bad for them. The glass about the ship is made of oyster shell, very thin. The grandest room is the saloon or state-cabin, filled with beautiful furniture and curious things. Many lanterns hang from the ceiling, of all shapes and sizessome like fish, and some like birds. The Chinese are very fond of their lanterns; any man after sunset who is found in the street in Canton without his lantern in his hand, or carried before him with his name | and address written on it, may seized and put into prison. be I must wait for another month before I tell you about the Joss |