forgiven, and all decrees annulled which were issued against the sinuer while possessed of his former appellation. Accordingly, at the approach of death, the Jews were wont to change the ne.me of the dying person, e.nd the ree.son of this custom will be perceived from the following prayer offered for the dying, to whom the new name he.s been given: "0 God, te.ke pity on A (his former name), and restore him to health, and let him h~nccforth be called B (the new name); and let him be glad in his new ne.me, and let it be confirmed to him. Be pleased, we entreat thee, 0 God, that this change of ne.me me.y abolish all the hard and evil decrees against him, and destroy the broad sentence. H death be decreed upon A (the former name), it is not decreed upon B (the new name). If an evil decree was made against A, lo! this hour he is another mo.n, a new creature, and like a child born to a good life and length of days." I. TIIl!: NEW NAME nnHCATES THE END OF THE OLD LIFE. Illustrate: 1. By the new name given in marriage, which closes up the old life in the father's home. 2. By the new name given to those restored to Jerusalem, which intimated the close of the time of captivity in Babylon. 3. By the new name" Christian," which marks the end of the old heathen life, or pagan life. 4. By the new heavenly name (e.s in Rev. ii. 17), which tells that the earth-conflict has ended in the victory of holiness. Apply to the Divine recognition of our final triumph over the old Adam, which is "corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." Il. THE KEW 1'AME REMINDS MEN OF THE GRACE OF WHICH THEY ARE MONUMENTS. It is very positively stated that God gives the name, to remind men of what he he.s done for them. The name "redeemed" keeps in mind the "Redeemer." The name "Christian" sets" Christ" ever before us. It is not our ne.me for ourselves; it is God's name for us, and so a constant reminder of what Almighty grace has done, and can do. III. THE l."'EW NAME INDICATES THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW LIFE. The name "holy city " calls attention to the fact tha.t the people should be all holy, as those who are fully consecrated unto God.-R. T. Ver. 4.-Tlie Bunyan figure of the Beulah-lQ,'Tl,d. Hephzi-bah wae the wife of Hezekiah, a.nd mother of Manasseh. Very uncertain tradition says she was a daughter of the Prophet Isaiah. The name means, "My delight is in her," and Dr. C. Geikie says, "Her name, whether given at her marriage or earlier, wakes a thought of old- world tenderness and poetry. W ae it a fond reminiscence of one he had loved and respected, when Isaiah tells us that Jehovah will make Zion, after her long desolation, once more his Bephzi-bah? " The word "Beulah" means " married," and the figure rests upon the Ea.stem notion of the desolate condition of a maiden or a widow, and the happy satisfied state of the married woman, who hae husband and home. A "married" land is one watched over, tended, cared for, and loved. Bunyan uses the name to represent the "waiting time " of old age, or of frailty, in which God's people tarry awhile ere they pass over the river. If somewhat fanciful, his picture is both beautiful and suggestive. "Now I saw in my dream, that by this time the pilgrims were got over the Enchanted Ground, and entering into the country of Beulah; . . . whose air was very sweet and pleasant; the way lying directly through it, they solaced them- selves there for a season. Yea, here they heard continually the singing of birds, and saw every day the flowers appear in the earth, and heard the voice of the turtle in the land. In this country the sun shineth night and day: wherefore this was beyond the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and also out of the reach of Giant Despair; neither could they from this place so much as see Doubting Castle. Here they were within sight of the city they were going to: also here met them some of the inhabitants thereof; for in this land the shining ones commonly walked, because it was upon tha borders of heaven. In this land also the contract between the Bride and the Bride- groom was renewed; yea, here 'ae the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, eo doth thy God rejoice over thee.' Here they had no want of corn and wine; for in this place they met with abundance of what they had sought for in all their pilgrimages.'' This passage is taken from the first part of the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' but a similar passage at the close of the second part should be examined. 'l'he following divisiond may serve as guides in the spiritualizing of this Beulah-figure. I. BEULAH-LAND BEPBEBENTS TUIES OF PEACE AFTER CONFLIOT WITH SIN, Such t i m1:a come in varioUB parts of our life, and are timee of refreshing. on. LXII. 1-12.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 439
IJ, BEULAH-LAND REPRESENTS TIMEB OF COMFOnT AND REST AFTER DIVINE CHAS- TISEMENTS, God is very tender over the healing of his smitten ones, and gives sea.sons when the very heavens drop balm. JII, BEUJ,AH·LAND REPRESENTS TIMES OF WAITING WHEN EARTH'S TOIL IS ENDED, The beautiful time of holy old age, full of sweet memories and patient trust.-R. T.