"How many have been thus removed who seemed the very men to labor for God here! This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes." It is mysterious, yet we can see reason in it--the Lord will show that He is not dependent on men. And there is mercy in it--He spares the green and takes the ripe. To our departed brother the change is unspeakable gain--he is gone forth out of all his tribulations. Faith is changed into sight, hope into enjoyment. He is gone to see the Saviour, whom long he had trusted and long loved. Faith, we may be well sure (a favorite form of speech of John Black), had many a struggle to realize a present Redeemer; but now there is no struggle; he sees Him as He is, and is like Him. We are left. His form is no longer before our eyes. But in his meekness and gentleness of disposition, in his Christian consistency and cheerfulness, in his patience under suffering, in his prayerfulness and faithfulness, and in his kindness of heart and spirituality of mind, he has left us an example which woe unto us if we forget. And in his happy, joyful deathbed, unvisited by doubt or fear, we have another blessed evidence of the reality of religion and the faithfulness of God. To the family the loss is great, but their sorrow is mingled with joy, for not the shadow of doubt is left upon their minds. To myself the loss is also great. There I found sympathy, counsel, encouragement, prayer. But that heart and those lips are now still. "IN ROBES OF WHITE." "See these glorious, these shining ones, walking in brightness the golden streets of the New Jerusalem. They are clothed in white robes--angels' garments. Such was the clothing of our Lord on the day of His transfiguration, and such was the clothing of the angel that rolled the stone away from the door of His tomb." THE WHITE ROBE IS THE EMBLEM OF PURITY. The white robe without signifies the pure and holy heart within. These are purified, holy souls. In them has been fulfilled to the utmost, David's prayer: "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." No stain of guilt now remains upon their consciences, no stain of corruption now defiles their hearts; no sinful desire, no vile or tumultuous passion now agitates their minds. Their thoughts are all pure; their affections are all heavenly; they are conformed to the image and the will of God. Not the smallest thing in them is out of keeping with the holy heaven in which they now dwell. THE WHITE ROBE IS ALSO AN EMBLEM OF JOY.