hen he
shall come in his kingdom, "_Then shall the righteous shine forth as
the sun in the kingdom of their Father_," St. Matt, xiii: 43. He
taught us the same lesson, in his prayer to his Father, when he said,
speaking of all his people, "_And the glory which thou gavest me, I
have given them_," St. John xvii: 21. And the apostle John taught us
the same lesson, when he said,--"We know that when he shall appear
_we shall be like him_," I. John iii: 2. These sweet passages make
this lesson of hope very sure. And this is just the way in which we
are made sure about other things we have not seen.

"How we Know There is a Heaven." A Sunday-school teacher was talking
to one of her scholars about heaven and the glory we shall have when
we reach that blessed place. He was a bright boy, about nine or ten
years old, named Charlie. After listening to her for awhile, he said:
"But you have never been there, Miss D., and how do you know there
really is any such place?"

"Charlie," said the teacher, "you have never been to London; how do
you know there is such a city?"

"O, I know that very well," said Charlie, "because my father is
there; and he has sent me a letter, telling me all about it."

"And God, my Father, is in the heavenly city," said Miss D., "and he
has sent me a letter, telling me about the glory of heaven, and about
the way to get there. The Bible is God's letter."

"Yes, I see," said Charlie, after thinking awhile, "there must be a
heaven, if you have got such a nice long letter from there."

The lesson of hope is the first lesson taught us by the
Transfiguration.

_The next lesson taught us here is_--THE LESSON

OF INSTRUCTION.

The great event of the Transfiguration took place in our Saviour's
life for _this_ reason, among others, that we might learn from it
_how we are to think of Christ_. While the disciples were gazing on
the glory of that scene, and on the distinguished visitors who were
there, there came a cloud and overshadowed them. This cloud, we may
suppose, was like a curtain round Moses and Elias, hiding them from
the view of the disciples. And, as Jesus in his glory was left alone
for them to gaze upon, there came a voice from the overshadowing
cloud, saying--"_This is my beloved Son; in whom I am well
pleased_." This was the voice of God, the Father. It spoke out on
this occasion to teach the disciples then, and you and me now, and
all God's people in every age, what to think about Christ.