Then black and white, and bond and free, The servants of our Lord shall be;

And nothing shall be heard above,

But sounds of praise, and peace, and love.

THE MAN WHO SAW HEAVEN BEFORE

HE DIED.

MANY children have some playfellow of whom they are very fond. Perhaps there is some child whom you like to be with. Have you any favorite friend whom you like to walk with, and to talk to, and sit by? I hope it is a good child who is your friend. If he is bad, I fear he will make you as bad as himself.

There once was a man who was the friend of the Son of God. What a happy man he must have been! Would you like to hear about him?

The Son of God once lived down in this world, and his name was Jesus. He had many friends. His dearest friend was called John; John was a poor fisherman, but he left his boats and his nets, that he might go about with Jesus from place to place, and hear his sweet words.

At last the time came when Jesus must leave his dear friends. The evening before he died, he took supper with twelve of his friends. It was the custom in that hot country for people to lie down at supper to rest themselves. John lay down next to Jesus,

and he leaned his head upon his Lord's bosom. Was it not pleasant to be so near the Son of God?

That night Jesus went into a garden to pray, and John went with him, and so did the other friends-all but one, who did not really love his Lord. Some wicked men came to the garden and bound Jesus with ropes and led him away. John was afraid of going with his Lord; he left him, and went a good way off. But afterwards he went to look for him; he saw him hanging upon his cross of wood, with nails through his hands and feet. John stood near the cross, and next to John stood a woman? Who was it? Mary, the mother of Jesus. How unhappy she was to see her dear son dying on a cross! Jesus loved his mother; he looked at her, and then at John, and he said to her, "Behold thy son!" He meant that John was to be her son. And he said to John, "Behold thy mother!" John understood what his Lord meant, and very soon afterwards he took the poor mother to his own home. Do you not think he must have loved the mother of his dear Lord? I am sure he liked to take care of her.

John saw his Lord die upon the cross that day at three o'clock, and he saw the soldiers come to see whether he was dead, and he saw one of them thrust a spear into the side of Jesus. The spear did not hurt him, because he was dead, but from his side blood and wa

ter came flowing out. It was very strange to see water as well as blood. It is the precious blood of Jesus that washes away sin. Water can make your body clean, but the blood of Jesus can make your heart clean. Wicked ness is like dirt. Jesus died to take away ou sins. Do you want to have your sins taken away? Then think how Jesus died upon the cross that you might not go to hell, then pray to God and say, "Forgive my sins, because Christ died." God in heaven will hear your little prayer, if you say it from your heart. John was very unhappy when Jesus was dead, and he shed tears of sorrow. But in three days Jesus was alive again. A woman came one morning to tell John that Jesus was alive. and John ran very fast to his grave to see whether it was true. Another of the friends of Jesus ran with him. His name was Peter. John got to the grave first, and looked in. When Peter got there, he went in, for the grave was made in the side of a rock, and you could walk into it as into a room.

After

Peter had gone in, John went there too, and he saw the white linen clothes that had been wrapped round Jesus lying in the grave-not all in a heap together, but folded up. Then John believed that his Lord was really alive; for at first he thought some thieves had stolen his dead body, but he knew that thieves would not have folded up the clothes and left them in the grave.