may derive this admonition from the scene before us in the temple.

II. IF WE DEDICATE OUR CHILDREN TO GOD, WE

MUST BE PREPARED TO HAVE THEM SUFFER GREAT THINGS FOR THE SALVATION OF MEN.

All Christian parents dedicate their children to God. The forms in which they do it vary, but the consecration of children to the service of God is one of the most natural, as it is a solemn and affecting, duty, and is felt to be a great privilege by pious parents, whether it be attended with a public offering of the children in a religious assembly, or not. When we consecrate our children to God, we must reckon upon great sacrifices and trials, if God will, in their history.

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The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored among women; the Lord is with thee." Mary afterward exclaimed, in the joy and fulness of her heart, "Henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." Her child grew in stature, and in favor with God and man, and, at length, entered upon his public ministry. Her thoughts and feelings, as a mother, as she heard of his mighty works, his opening the eyes and the ears, and loosing the tongue, and feeding the multitudes, and walking on the sea, and raising the dead, and casting out devils, and healing the sick, can

better be imagined than described. These feelings, however, were mixed with other feelings, as she perceived how the chief priests and rulers of the people conspired against him to take his life.

Can we suppose that there never were any of those interviews between them, which a good son, though grown to manhood, loves to have with the mother that bare him? Did he never retreat from the world to her humble dwelling, and tell her of his joys and sorrows; the mighty work which God had given him to do; the toil and pain which marked his daily life; the thronging multitudes and the insidious Pharisee; the love and joy of the Magdalene, and Bartimeus, and the envy and subtle craftiness of the sanhedrim? How did she feel, as she looked upon the marks which care and toil had made upon that child of hers, the object of such wonder in her secret meditations, for such marks his life of sorrow had made, -"his visage was so marred more than any man's, and his form more than the sons of men." What did that mother want, when she stood without, with his brethren, desiring to speak with him? She saw that things were coming to a crisis with him; her heart was burdened, on his behalf, with a heavy load; all the mother's solicitude, and conscious right to interfere, made her eager to withdraw him from destruction; but her grief swelled like a mountain torrent when she

Enough

no

heard that he was betrayed; and where was she, and what were her thoughts and feelings, when the scenes of his mock trial passed on, and he was finally condemned to be crucified? and what sword was that which passed through her own soul also, as she, with the omnipotent energy of a mother's love, stood by and saw him take his place between two thieves, to expire on the accursed tree, as a public malefactor? For we read in John, "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother," matter who else were there - his mother! O God, our heavenly Father, to what baptisms of sufferings we are called in this world, and how wonderful is that grace which sustains poor creatures like us, under loads which would crush angels, without thine everlasting arm. His mother saw him die his widowed mother, as we must conclude she was, for the beloved disciple took her, thenceforth, to his own home. Hail, thou that art highly favored among women," some one at the cross, instigated by the power of darkness, may have whispered, mocking, through her, as she stood by her expiring son, the pretensions of Jesus, and, with him, the fabulous story of his pretended miraculous birth, in the circulation of which she, of course, was implicated. How is it now with thee, O woman? from henceforth shall all generations call thee blessed? O, sad reward of faith and hope! We will not wonder to

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hear thee echo thy Son's dying cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But, it was for this, though she knew it not, that, in his infancy, she dedicated him to God.

Could you foresee that God would make that little child of yours an instrument of great good, by means of suffering and a dreadful death, would you shrink to consecrate it, by prayer and vows, to God? Dear Christian parents, what an honor it is to have children whom God shall count worthy to suffer for his name's sake. Indifferent servants of God are not selected for this high honor; they are not " counted worthy to suffer; but God seeks those who, by nature and grace, (both his gift,) are capable of great endurance, superior to the frowns and flatteries of the world, willing to be cast out and trodden under foot by feet that have also trodden under foot the Son of God, ready to suffer the loss of all things, able to bear martyrdom, and to endure unto the end. When we consecrate our children to God, let us fancy that we hear him say to us, Are ye able that the child shall drink of the cup that I drank of, and be baptized with the baptism wherewith I was baptized? Let us say, By thy grace, Lord, we are able. We ask not for them length of days, nor riches, nor favor, nor pleasure, nor to sit on thy right hand and on thy left in thy kingdom, but, that thou wilt qualify them, and employ them, to serve thee, wherever, and in

whatever way thou shalt appoint.

Then, should we

hear even that they are devoured by cannibals whom they go to save, we shall say, Had I now a hundred children, I would give them all to Christ, if he would employ them. The reward is great in heaven; and not only so, but in this world, also, a "hundred fold."

It was so with the mother of Jesus. Weeping endured for a night, but joy came in the morning.

What were her feelings when they told her, Thy son liveth! when she looked into the deserted sepulchre; when Jesus met her; when she stood with him in Olivet, 'all power given unto' him 'in heaven and on earth,' and saw him ascend to his throne in heaven. "Hail, thou that art highly favored among women; all generations shall call thee blessed." If she wished for consolation, and were capable of pride, what must her feelings be at the worship paid her by the millions of the Papal and Greek churches, by kings and nobles, and by the imaginative young devotees of nunneries, who make her their patron saint; "our lady," "ora pro nobis," "miserere," and all that incense of worship what reward has she in this, if that could be reward, for all she suffered? Without question, however, it is a sword that is fitted to pierce her more than the nails and spear of her Son's cross, to hear herself worshipped; every "ora pro nobis," every bended knee, every votive