Faithful Words for Old and Young: Volume 4

IN issuing a fresh Volume of FAITHFUL WORDS we have again the pleasure of thanking our friends who, either by their pens or by distributing our Magazine, have so kindly helped us.

Our readers will be interested to know that FAITHFUL WORDS finds its way, not only to a large number of houses in this country, but also to readers living in different parts of the world, and that its voice, speaking of God’s love to man, and the precious blood. of Christ which cleanseth from every sin, is heard in Australia and New Zealand, in India and the West Indies, as well as in Canada and America.

The humble ministry of the gospel tract or paper is greatly owned of God, by His Spirit, in these days, and by various instrumentalities numbers of persons on almost every hand are being turned from darkness to light by the faith that is in Christ. Surely the Lord is quickly gathering His own out of the world before the judgment, so long foretold, falls upon it! Therefore how long opportunity for seed-sowing may last the Christian cannot tell; but it behooves every one, into whose heart Ike love of God has entered, to strive to his utmost to distribute this glad news of salvation more and more widely. Let us remember, that in our own land there are thousands of houses into which the sound of the gospel of the grace of God has never entered, and that there are fields white for the harvest and sighing for laborers all about us.

We have to regret that in one solitary instance a paper — not original found its place upon our pages. R was sent to its in manuscript, as if original; and we did not know to the contrary until several weeks after the monthly issue. The publisher of the story, however, has kindly granted permission to us to retain it in the copies reserved for this Volume. The paper referred to bears the initials A. M. A. in the Tune Number.

The New Year.

WE have floated further down the stream of Time. The memories of 1874 already; begin to fade away; another year has begun Each of us is nearer Eternity. Who shall dare to say, “I shall see the close of 1875?” The frail thread of life may be snapped, the brief span of the allotted days may be measured, the word may have gone forth, “This year thou shalt, die.” Reader, how is it with your soul? Your life is uncertain, but at this moment there is a great certainty concerning you―you are either saved or lost― either in Christ or out of Christ―either a child of God or a slave of Satan. To many who read this opening page it is a sure word, “This year thou shalt die.” All will not see its close. Reader, are you saved?

And who shall dare to say, “The Lord will not come this year?” We know “that He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Happy are they who wait and watch for His return. While the world goes on its busy way; while schemes for human progress, for wars and wickedness, fill the thoughts of men, the happy few in the world, but not of it, wait for their Lord from heaven.

“He is coming!” they whisper one le another; “He will soon be here. The day of the resurrection is nigh; and when He comes we shall go up to meet Him in the glory, and be with Him and like Him forever.”

Reader, are you scheming for the world, or are you waiting for God’s Son from heaven, even Jesus, who hath delivered us from the wrath to come?

A New Year's Text.

A VERY aged Christian lady, in reduced circumstances, was suffering much weakness in her solitary room at the close of the winter, and as the New Year approached she was sad and oppressed.

For many years she had sought and received a New Year’s text from the Lord, and now, once more, the dear aged pilgrim lifted up her heart to her faithful God, who had been her stay so many years in her widowhood and poverty.

As she committed herself into His hands ere she fell asleep, she breathed out this simple, childlike prayer: “Give me, dear Lord, a word from Thyself to comfort me in the New Year.”

The first thought that came into her mind as she woke early on New Year’s Day was a couplet from one of her favorite hymns: ―

“If Jesus once upon me shine,

Then Jesus is forever mine,”

This cheered her spirit, and she whispered: “Dear Lord, since Thou art mine, give me a word from Thyself to comfort me,” and immediately the words came to her: “Run with patience the race set before thee, looking unto Jesus” all the way, “for the eyes of the Lord are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” (Heb. 12:1, 2, and Deut. 11:12.)

The aged pilgrim arose, cheered and encouraged in her God, to enter the 91St year of her pilgrimage; and when her friends came to see her, she was delighted to tell them of the Lord’s goodness to her, saying, after she had ended her little story, “There now! Must not that have been the Holy Ghost who brought these texts to my mind? I am sure I never could have thought of them thyself; and you know it was the very word I needed, for I longed so to go Home last month, and the Lord has just told me to run with patience the rate He has set before me.”

Need we add that, when her time came to cross Jordan, she went over dry-shod, magnifying her God and Saviour?

What Want I More?

AMONGST the various splendid buildings rising up in the heart of London, there is one which possesses a peculiar interest to the writer. Some sixty years ago its late owner came to the great City to fight his way up in the world; he was a boy in humble circumstances, thrifty, energetic, and far-seeing. By remarkable business ability he quickly rose in his trade; he added warehouse to warehouse, bought huge stocks of goods, and succeeded in almost every transaction which he undertook. The nature of his business gave him a practical interest in politics, and the trader’s far-seeing eye perceived how both the English and foreign markets were affected by rumors of war or tidings of peace, and by his penetration he succeeded in amassing a vast fortune. To use his own words, “Money poured in upon him,” and amongst the signs of his wealth stand a mansion in a fine park in the country, and the great pile of buildings still erecting in the City of London, filled with goods, and occupied by hundreds of employees.

In the midst of his business this successful man did not neglect religion, at least the outward forms of it, for a certain amount of this is profitable in life! He prospered on every hand, yet, perhaps, his ambition was not quite satisfied, for the honors and title he coveted came not to him, otherwise he might have said, “What want I more?” His success was the talk of many; hundreds envied his talent for getting on in the world, or longed for a tithe of his wealth.

When in a good old age the prosperous man lay upon a dying bed the success of his life was his theme; he could not take his eyes off the fruit of his skill and the glitter of his surroundings, and when a faithful counselor reminded him of eternity, he said he could not induce his mind to go out in that direction. Not that he was unwilling to hear about God and His Christ, but his brain, his heart, his very self, were so filled with worldly prosperity that he could think of nothing else. The swift ship rapidly leaving the shores of this world was so laden with its treasures that its very weight threatened to sink it into eternal destruction. Was it not strange, reader, that such a far-seeing man, gifted with vigorous penetration, should not look beyond the narrow limits of a lifetime?

At length the frequent appeals to bethink him of everlasting life, and of endless riches, roused the man, and he became sorrowful, because he found it so hard to withdraw his gaze from the perishing, and to fix it upon the enduring substance. The world became a weight to him, its vanities a burden; he longed, yet longed fruitlessly, to empty his brain and heart of earthly things, and to think about God. Like a drowning man clutching at the sides of the passing ship, he cried, “Oh! that I could lay hold of everlasting life; oh! that I knew life in Christ.”

Consider, dear reader, such an exit from the wealth and comforts of this life! Ah! if saved―and may salvation have been his―it was barely saved; no abundant entrance, no fullness of Christ’s love, no triumph, but an end calling for your pity and your tears.

Turn with me from the mansion, from this envied man, who, so far as worldly goods are concerned, might well say, “What want I more?” to an obscure corner in the City of London, and note another soul leaving this world for eternity.

A servant of Christ is seeking in forgotten corners for the suffering and desolate; his errand of mercy leads him to enter an old house, where all is silent and almost as dark as still. AS he ascends the rickety stairs, he mutters to himself, “Surely no one lives here.” Passing into one of the rooms, he sees in its darkness a heap of straw, and thereon, to his distress, he finds lying a poor Woman in rags. There is no furniture, no fire in the desolate chamber, and the pale and hollow cheeks and sunken eyes of the sufferer tell more forcibly than language, that consumption, urged on by cold and hunger, has well-nigh done its fatal work.

As the visitor gazes upon the shrunken form of the friendless woman, and upon the misery surrounding her, he is forced to ask. “Is this all you have?”

The poor creature looks up to him and gently replies, “I have Christ―what want I more?”

Full of compassion, and moved with sorrow that one of God’s people should be thus circumstanced, the visitor hastens away, to procure were it only an orange or a cup of fresh water to moisten the sufferer’s parched lips; but, upon his return, he finds the cage empty, her spirit has flown away; she has entered the realms of light; she has gone up to the glory above, the home of saints, and she has received the loving welcome of the Lord Jesus. She is “absent from the body, present with the Lord.”

Sad that in rich London such poverty should exist; that an heir of glory―a joint heir with Christ―should die hungering, unsoothed and unsolaced. But the poverty-stricken creature realized that Jesus loved her; that He, who was God from all Eternity, had stooped to humanity, had hung upon the cross for her sake that He had given Himself for her. Her faith and her affections embraced His love. His Spirit fed her soul and filled it full, the everlasting arms were round about her; hers was an abundant entrance into His presence: and to show to us the sufficiency of Christ, the triumph of His love over earthly misery, He let His servant hear these her dying words, “I have Christ―what want I more?”

Reader maybe surrounded with many comforts, possibly luxuries―look around you, count up your treasures― “Is this all that you have?” Are you still without Christ, without rest, without peace? Are you sail unpardoned, unsaved? Oh! while it is yet today, seek and you shall find. Let the dying love of Jesus fill your heart and mind. Embrace by faith His kindness. May the Spirit of God fill your very self with Him, that the world may lose its hold upon you, and that to all its allurements your satisfied hear may answer, “I have Christ―what I want more?”

THE cross of Christ was, as it were, till opening of the floodgates of God’s love Then the channel, which had been waiting for ages for the waters, was filled.

One Thing Have I Desired.

“THAT is a most tiresome person,” said a friend of mine one day. “He seems to have but one idea; talk on any subject you will he gets round to his one absorbing topic, as if his mind could not bend itself to anything else. Do you not think that is very tiresome?” “It all depends,” I replied, “on what his one idea is; it may be something surpassingly great and ennobling, and then it is highly instructive to see a person thoroughly taken up with what is worthy of his devotion. A poet has said, ‘Noble conceptions are the fruits of a soul wholly absorbed with one idea.’ But what is the idea to which you say your friend is so devoted?”

“He says that he has made acquaintance with a person who was once a lonely, suffering stranger in this world, and Who is now passed beyond the clouds where mortal eyes have never reached; and who is now sitting on the throne of God. But the thought that so absorbs his mind is that he fully believes that this wonderful Person loves him.”

“Loves him! How can you wonder then that he is absorbed by such a belief? Ah, that man is a Christian, and his one idea is Christ. He has learned what Christ has done for him, and he never forgets the one who has done it. He is like her to whom much was forgiven for she loved much. All Christians would be like this man with one idea, if their souls had learned as deeply as his soul has learned how entirely and how fully Christ took their place upon the cross, in order that He might as entirely and as fully introduce them as sons into His Father’s house.”

I once knew an idiot child who seemed to have no other consciousness but that of love. An idiot is a person capable of only one idea. If you noticed her she would say, “Love me. Do you love me? Jesus loves me,” often adding “I love you.” And sometimes I have thought that perhaps her awakening consciousness in the realms of glory would be richer and fuller than mine, for love is the deepest joy of heaven, and to have deeply apprehended love is higher than any range of thought, and richer than any wealth of works. “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

‘Twas love that sought and found me

When I was lost, undone;

‘Twas love that died to save me,

Love of the Holy One.

Christ to Himself hath bound me,

Like ivy to the oak,

His grace o’er sin abounding,

Love’s tribute loth evoke.

While clinging, creeping upward,

Each touch a firmer hold,

My heart is bounding onward,

Homeward to joys untold.

A.M. S.

The Three Flags.

WHILE being whirled along from place to place in a railway train you have observed the signalmen with their three flags! Each of the flags has a meaning, which is as plain as words―red, danger; white, safety; green, caution.

Now on the road of life we may see these three flags waving. We are all traveling to eternity. Not one of us is at a standstill. Moment by moment life is being got through; soon it will be over, and the great terminus reached. Some are hurrying on to eternity unsaved, others as swiftly are going home to glory.

Before you, my unsaved reader, I wave the red flag. You are in danger. You are yet in your sins, yet out of Christ; you are rushing on at express speed to the fearful precipice which is at the end of your line, At the bottom of that precipice is hell― eternal hell. With all my soul’s energy I cry to you, “Stop, stop!” God’s own word is my authority. By His command I wave the signal before your eyes. “All have sinned.” You have sinned. “The wages of sin is death”― “after death the judgment,” and there is no coming out of hell forever. Reader, “Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee” (Job 36:18). No, not even the great ransom price of the blood of Christ.

But has my reader left the old line of self? Has he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” These are blessed words for you who fear the wrath to come, and dread the eternity to which you are hastening. Ah! some of us have had moments, nay hours, when eternity has seemed to stare us in the face, and we knew that we were rushing on into it, and might die at any moment, but were unsaved. But, thank God, we now see God’s white flag of safety. It speaks of peace to us. Swiftly and surely we are going on to the glory. Ours is safety, and safety forever. God has found a ransom, even Jesus; His death has perfectly met all the claims of God’s justice, and now we are no longer in the train which is due for destruction, and is timed to reach eternal death directly this life is over, but we are in Christ, we are bound for glory, and no accident can possibly hinder us reaching God’s home above.

One word as to the green flag. In railway signal language it is caution. But when used for this life and eternity it seems to be the devil’s flag of “Go on quietly, don’t be too fast, live a decent, moral life, say your prayers and be religious, and all will turn out well at the end.” Reader, thousands are signaled down to hell by the devil’s green flag. But be not deceived, it is either Danger or Safety for you―danger of eternal destruction, or safety in eternal blessedness. May you know all the deep blessedness of having God’s white flag of peace waving over you! But bear in mind that His word says, “Behold now is the day of salvation.”

A. F. R.

"Christ in You."

THERE is no room for doubts and fears within the heart, which Christ fills. Sorrowful it is, that so many of God’s people harbor their unbelieving thoughts within their hearts to the exclusion of Christ. “Christ in you the hope of glory,” is the unveiled mystery of the gospel.

1, The A B C of the Gospel

THE gospel of God, unto which as the Apostle Paul tells us he was separated, is God’s good news; and a God is the Author and Announcer of His gospel, it is, and must be worthy of Himself. This good, this glorious news is worthy of all acceptation; and may our reader own with rejoicing, the grace and the glory of God in it.

The gospel, coming from the throne of divine righteousness and the divine heart of love, declare; present and perfect forgiveness for the guilty; righteousness for the unrighteous; liberty for the law-enthralled and self-bound; while it present gift is the spirit of love for that of fear, and its promised future likeness to Christ in the glory above The good news is not confined to a few; it is “unto all,” and the word is: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature.” The breadth of God’s love embraces the world, and all who believe it have all its blessings.

And as this glorious news is proclaimed to all, so is the title to receive “unto all.” Not a single sinner excepted. For grace confers the title thus: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” all an alike upon the level of utter badness and weakness; all differences amongst men are gone, all are alike bankrupts. Hence God is free in the riches of His grace to bring salvation by His gospel to every human being upon earth.

Whoever practically takes the place of being lost, whoever accepts God’s verdict upon himself, is in a fit condition to receive God’s gospel. For it is not the sense of our sins, but hope in our fancied righteousness which hinders our receiving the gospel. The grace of God brings salvation; therefore an empty hand only is needed by the sinner. God requires nothing from you―He brings all to you. Away with your doings if you would receive the fullness of His grace.

As the gospel Isaiah “unto all,” and as the title to receive it belongs to “all,” so is the responsibility of rejecting it upon “all” who hear it. If you refuse God’s grace, you spurn His love, despise His Son, turn from His heaven, and cast yourself into the hell prepared for the devil and his angels. If you believe it not here, you are everlastingly lost! “He that believeth not shall be damned.”

The believer’s happiness here and in heaven tends to Christ’s glory. The glory of Christ is the purpose of God. The freedom, the fullness of the gospel, find their explanation in this fact, that God’s good news to man i; “concerning His Son.” Take all the blessings of the gospel and add them up, do they seem too wonderful, toe great, to be yours, poor trembling, doubting soul? Why is this? You have taken God’s center out of the joy of the gospel; you have put yourself in the place of Christ. You need never doubt again from the how you believe that God’s good news to you is concerning His Son, and that it is not concerning your state of heart, or your experiences.

How can there be a question as to salvation if CHRIST be the Saviour? Where is Jesus? At God’s right hand raised from among the dead by God and declared His Son according to the spirit of holiness. And why is this? God made all our iniquities to meet upon Him when He hung upon the tree. God measured out therein perfect righteousness the exact due to our sins, and Jesus took the brimful cup and drank it to the dregs. And the selfsame righteousness which forsook our Substitute when He way upon the cross, has set Him free from the prison of the grave, and placed Him upon the throne of glory. And since all the wrath is gone,

“Nothing for us remains,

Nothing but love.”

Where then, believer, are your sins? Not upon you, for Jesus “Himself bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” Not upon Jesus, for He has borne them, and is now in heaven, and “in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.” Your sins are gone, washed away in the blood of Jesus, and you are as free as the risen Christ in heaven. Is not this good news?

The bright angel descended from heaven and rolled away the great stone from the Lord’s sepulcher after He had risen, and then bade the trembling disciple look within the empty grave. Will not you also, as you lay hold of the fact of a glorified Saviour, spread abroad the welcome news “He is not here, He is risen?” All who know the Christ God loves, are saved, believers in Jesus have perfect peace and liberty, for their peace glorifies Him who made the peace; their liberty magnifies His resurrection. God delights in all who delight in His good news about His Son. Reader, are you one of the number? Well weigh the fact, that the gospel of God is concerning His Son, and you will perfectly understand how plain it is that all who believe in Him are saved. May you by grace believe!

Holiness Through Hope.

1 John 3:1

THE believer, who knows the Father’s love, exclaims, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” The springs of joy which refresh and strengthen God’s people are unseen; they an ministered by the Spirit. But while the joy is present, the glory is to come. “It doth not ye appear what we shall be.” Does yonder weak suffering, dying believer appear like a son of God? His trials, his pains, deny to sight the fact in which faith glories. “But we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him”―no mon weakness, no more sorrow, no more trial then― “we shall be like Him,” like the glorious and glorified Jesus! This is our prospect. Cheer you heart, Christian, with this the common hope of al the family of faith. There is a transforming power in the hope of seeing a glorified Jesus. When He calls His own up from this earth to meet Him at His coming, we shall then all be changed; “we shall bear the image of the heavenly,” for “we shall see Him as He is.” As He is now―the bright and beloved One in al the glory of God!

We saw Him by faith as He was―the rejected, the crucified Jesus. We saw Him suffering for our sins once and forever. But the cross is past. He is the glorified Christ; and when He comes we shall look at Him as He is, for these bodies shall be changed into likeness to His present glory.

Now, reader, mark how this hope of being like Christ conduces to holiness: “And every man that hath this hope in Him, purifies himself ever as He is pure.” Let it be a very weak believer, but he looks for Christ’s coming, and knows that when Christ shall appear he shall be like Christ Hence he hopes to be what he knows he shall be even as the heir of a great estate and honor, who is assured of his coming portion, hopes eagerly for the time of his entrance into his possession. This hope affects his whole life. He can no lunge act as one of the common herd. And shall thy Christian beg for the paltry pleasures of the hour? No. Christ in the glory is his prospect, and with this hope in Christ he purifies himself even a Christ is pure. Pure, even as He is pure, is his motto. Christ Himself as He is, in the glory, the risen man at God’s right hand, is the diving standard of Christian perfection. The hope act upon each day’s duties, fills up all the corners of the heart. No lower standard of holiness that perfect likeness to a glorified Christ is the result of this hope, and God, whose sons we are, would have us now so filled with His Spirit that Christ’s coming and our then perfection should possess us.

The Words of the Watch.

MY boy, come here and sit upon my knee,

I have a pretty thing for you to see,

A tiny toy, you think it, smooth and round,

But listen, for this toy will make a sound.

Now hark awhile! I’ll hold it to your ear,

You must not speak—but try if you can hear.

What is it like? “Oh! tick, tick, tick,” you say;

Yes, tick, tick, tick, all through the night and day.

“Is it a voice,” you ask, “that I can hear?

And does it speak?” Ah, yes it does, quite clear,

The watch has words which, if we think and look,

We understand as from a voice or book.

This tiny hand which moves so swiftly round,

A warning utters with each ticking sound;

It counts the moments ebbing quick away,

“Short is man’s lifetime-waste us not,” they say;

With measured pace the long hand surely strides,

He passes round, away an hour glides;

But when the short hand has his journey run,

Twelve hours have gone, and then the day is

done.

A boy like you, I climbed my father’s knee:

“Short is man’s lifetime” ticked his watch to me,

So strange it seemed, I could not comprehend

Its meaning, knew not man’s brief life and end.

Ah! swift flits Time. How narrow is the span

Of life to live on earth allowed to man.

But like the waters of a boundless sea

Around this lifetime lies Eternity.

Thither we hasten; may you know, my boy,

Eternal love, eternal peace and joy.

They only live who live for Christ below,

All other pleasures are an empty show;

That life is lost, which follows vain pursuits,

Its hopes are blasted, bitter are its fruits.

What! should this world be gained and glory lost?

Poor, poor indeed, the soul at such a cost.

Oh! well, my child, if in the days of youth

You yield your heart to Him who is the

Truth And all your life’s fresh years you freely give

To serving Christ, who died that you might live.

Make this the end before you, this alone,

Until you rest with Him upon His throne―

Until you reach His home, where evermore

Abideth joy, where grief and Time are o’er.

G. A. A.

Chapter 7,: John Wesley.

You will like to hear more of John and Charles Wesley, who, when you last remember them, were working so hard at Oxford to gain eternal life. They were now to work in a different way, and in a very different place, but yet with the same object in view, for God was willing that they should be left for a while to try their own plans and ways, till at last they should be brought to own that they could do nothing, and they should be led to come as lost and worthless sinners to the feet of Jesus.

It was during the summer of 1735 that an offer was made to the two brothers which they thought they ought to accept. The English, who had already so many colonies in North America, had been forming a fresh settlement in what is now the southern part of the United States. This new colony was called Georgia; the chief town was Savannah. The object of this new settlement was to provide a home for English people who could get no employment in their own country, and especially for those who had ruined themselves by getting into debt. The person who was chiefly interested in this plan was a gentleman called General Oglethorpe. He hoped that Georgia would not only become a place of refuge for the poor and destitute, but that also Christian people would settle there, who would employ themselves in the conversion of the Indians. He believed that by the cultivation of silk large numbers of people might get their livelihood there. He now proposed to the two brothers that they should go and live at Savannah, and do what good they could amongst the English settlers and the Indians.

John and Charles thought it would be right to go, but they wished to consult some of their friends about it; and they feared that their mother would never consent to their going to a distant land, now that she was left a widow. Their mother, however, when they asked her said, “had I twenty sons, I should rejoice that they were all so employed, though I should never see them more.”

John then went to ask the advice of an old friend who lived near London, of the name of William Law. John had often, whilst at Oxford, walked all the way to the place where Mr. Law lived, because he thought he could learn so much that was good from him. We see how very ignorant John Wesley was at this time of the truth of God, from his thinking so highly of William Law’s teaching. In the first place, Law said that God never punished, and never will punish sin; and therefore he mocked at the thought that the death of the Lord Jesus was needed to put away sin. He thought that the history of Adam and Eve was a fable, and that Christ only came to teach men about God. When John asked his advice about going to Georgia, he recommended him to go, and this decided John to hesitate no longer. He thought it would be an easy and delightful task to convert the Indians. Besides John and Charles; one of then friends, belonging to the Holy Club, offered to go. This was Mis Benjamin Ingham. Another young man, Mr. Charles Delamotte, also joined them. They sailed from Gravesend in October, 1735. General Oglethorpe went with them, taking out about three hundred persons in two ships. In the same ship as the Wesleys, were twenty-six Germans. These Germans struck John Wesley as being most extraordinary people. They seemed to be, as far as he could tell, without knowing their language, people who loved and feared God. They never quarreled, or ever looked cross, they were always cheerful and happy. He found they were coming from Herrnhuth, in Saxony, and going out to America as missionaries. Perhaps you have never heard of Herrnhuth. There is a great deal to be said about it, and it would be a long and most interesting story to tell you, but now I will only say a few words, to explain to you who and what these Germans were. Some years before, a German nobleman, Count Zinzendorf, a man who loved God, had built a little village near his castle which was to be a place of refuge for Christian people, who, for Christ’s sake, had been persecuted and driven from their homes. Such people were often to be found. In Moravia, especially, those who left off being Papists because they had learned the gospel of Christ, had for many years been suffering for their faith. A number of Moravians came to live at Hernnhuth, as the Count’s village was called. Hernnhuth means “the protection of God.”

It seems to have been a most happy little village. To pray and to sing hymns were the chief employments of these poor people when they were not at work. They studied the word of God and lived together in great love and peace. The Count often told them about things which were going on in other parts of the world, and encouraged any of them who felt a desire to do so, to go to heathen countries and preach the gospel. As the Count lived very simply, and denied himself in every way, he had money to spare for these purposes.

Three Moravians went to live in Greenland, where their preaching was used for the conversion of many souls. One of them, Christian David, went from Hernnhuth to the West Indies, where he sold himself as a slave, in order to have opportunities for making the gospel known to the negro slaves in the sugar plantations. Several had gone to North America, and the twenty-six who sailed with John Wesley were now on their way to join the former party, who had been at Savannah for some time. John Wesley was made rather uncomfortable by the sight of these Germans. He could not help feeling that they had a joy and peace he had never known, and he could not understand why. Perhaps it was for this reason that he began to deny himself more strictly than before. He would eat nothing but a small quantity of rice and biscuit. One night his bed was deluged by a wave which rolled in at the cabin window, and he had to sleep on the floor. Having once done this, he began to think it was a useless luxury to have a bed, and he resolved to sleep on the floor from that time forward. He and his friends divided their time by rule between reading, prayer, and teaching any on board who were willing to be taught. They worked hard, they allowed themselves no idle time, no unprofitable conversation. They were, as people so often say, “Doing their best.” But, alas! our best is of small use, if that is all we have to make us pleasing to God. Like Adam’s fig-leaves, we feel that in God’s presence they, our best deeds, are no covering. Adam went to hide himself when God came, just as if he had never taken any trouble about the fig leaves at all.

So it happened on board the ship, when one day a storm suddenly rose; the great waves dashed over the decks; the sailors rushed to and fro in alarm. It was well known that the ship was in terrible danger. The English passengers, the four young missionaries amongst them, were very much frightened, and John and Charles could only feel terror at the thought of being perhaps in a few moments in the presence of God. But the Germans, who had been singing hymns when the storm began, merely went on singing as though nothing had happened; and the Wesleys, who watched them, thinking that now at last their peace and happiness would come to an end, were astonished to see that they looked just as bright and cheerful as ever. “Were you not frightened?” John said to them, when the danger was over. “Oh no,” they said, “why should we be? we should only have gone to the Lord.” “But the women and the children? They seemed not to mind the storm at all.” “No,” said the Germans, “why should they? Our women and children are not afraid to die.” John was more perplexed than ever about the Germans, and yet when they tried to explain to him the cause of their joy and peace, he did not like to hear it, and thought they talked foolishly. They had sailed from Gravesend on the 21St of October. It was not till February 5th that they reached Savannah. They first landed on a little island, where they knelt down to thank God for having brought them safely to their journey’s end. General Oglethorpe then went on to the town, leaving the passengers still in the ships. The next day he came back, bringing with him a Moravian pastor, called Spangenberg. John Wesley, thinking the Germans were such wonderful people, was glad to see one who had lived some time at Savannah. He thought Spangenberg would give him good advice as to how to begin his work. But Spangenberg said, “My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions. Do you know whether you are a child of God?” John was astonished at this question, and knew not what to answer. Spangenberg finding he did not reply said “Do you know Jesus Christ?” “Yes,” said John; “I know He is the Saviour of the world.” “True,” said Spangenberg, “but do you know that He has saved you?” John replied, “I hope He has died to save me.” And when Spangenberg asked him further, “Do you know yourself?” he said “I do.” But he added in his journal, “I fear they were vain words.”

John and Charles now separated. Charles went to the town of Frederica with Mr. Ingham, John and Mr. Delamotte lodged in the house of some Moravians at Savannah, and were glad to have an opportunity of watching their daily conduct. John says “they were always employed, always cheerful themselves, and in good humor with one another; they had put away all anger, and strife, and wrath, and bitterness, and clamor, and evil speaking; they walked worthy of the vocation wherewith they were called, and adorned the gospel of our Lord in all things.”

Things did not go on very well with the two brothers in Georgia. Charles Wesley greatly displeased the people of Frederica. Having long lived by rules themselves, and having, as far as they could, obliged others to do so at Oxford, it seems both John and Charles tried the same plan in Georgia. They gave orders to the people to pray and to go to church, they told them how to dress, they interfered now and then in their affairs, and very soon General Oglethorpe sent Charles back to England. John, however, determined to stay. He soon found he could do nothing with the Indians, not knowing their language, and the few who talked English were quite unwilling to listen to anything he had to say. “No,” they said, “Christians drink! Christians beat men! Christians tell lies! we don’t want to be Christians.”

How often have people, calling themselves Christians, thus led the heathen to think that they had better remain as they are. Some of the English seemed at first inclined to listen to John. He and Delamotte had each a school for boys, and as some of the boys had no shoes and stockings, John began to go barefoot, that the bare-footed boys might not be despised by the others. He and Delamotte also determined to eat no food but bread. Had he been satisfied with making rules for himself and Delamotte, nobody would have been displeased; but very soon the English settlers began to complain loudly of his severity and interference. No doubt many of the complaints were unjust and untrue, but it was in God’s great mercy that Wesley’s work in Georgia was not allowed to have any appearance of success. He began to find out that no good came of it, and at first he thought this was the fault of others, and that their taking offense was a proof that he was right. It sometimes is so, but we very often offend others by our foolish and mistaken conduct, and so it was in this case. Besides this, he was not happy in his own mind. Once when there was a terrible thunderstorm he wrote in his journal, “This voice of God told me I was no fit to die, since I was afraid, rather than desirous of it. O, when shall I wish to be dissolved and to be with Christ!”

Two years passed by, and John determined to go back to England. He felt he was doing no good, and that all his labors, both for himself and for others, had been in vain. He was sad and discouraged.

On December 22nd 1737, he sailed from Charlestown, leaving Mr. Delamotte behind in America He was now without any friends, and had plenty of time to think over the past years of his life. The more he thought, the more unhappy he became. How was it that he had for so many years tried hard to be a Christian, and yet after all he could see no sign that he was “nearer to being one,” as he says in his journal.

On the 8th of January, 1738, whilst still in the ship, he wrote down that he was now convinced of unbelief and of pride, and he adds, “Lord, save, or I perish!” He tried still to make himself happier by teaching the cabin-boy and some negroes who were on board, and for a little while felt more cheerful. But this was not the peace of God which fills the heart of those who believe, whether they have work to do or not. John Wesley was like the lawyer in Luke 10, who was inquiring for the neighbor to whom he might do good, and the Lord had to show him the humbling lesson, that what he needed was a neighbor who would do good to him. The Lord did not say to the lawyer, when He had told him the story of the Samaritan, “Who thinkest thou was the neighbor of the Samaritan?” but “Who thinkest thou was the neighbor of him who fell among the thieves?” That is to say, HE did not in this story put the lawyer in as the Samaritan, but as the poor, helpless, penniless man, who could do nothing and pay nothing Perhaps the lawyer never understood this. But it was a truth which poor John Wesley was now at last to learn. F. B.

New Year's Questions.

AM I saved? Am I one of the Good Shepherd’s flock? If the Lord should come this year, should I hear His voice and go up to meet Him? If I should die this year, would it be to depart and be with Christ, which is far better? Do not, my soul, evade these questions. They must be answered, and “Now is the accepted time―now is the day of salvation.”

Little Andrew's Confession.

LITTLE Andrew had kind parents, brothers and sisters who loved him, a beautiful garden in which he played, and green fields and shady lanes to walk in. He had learned to love his Bible, so we call him a happy little boy. We shall see what power the Word of God had to save him from a great sin which he was tempted to commit.

One day Andrew happened to be in a room alone when his eyes were attracted to a penny which had fallen upon the floor; now he had spent the last of his small allowance of pocket money, and very much wished for another penny. How easy it would be to pick up the coin. No one would see him. Very cautiously, for he knew he was doing wrong, Andrew crept up to the spot; another moment and the penny was in his pocket. But, alas, what an altered boy he was; his very face was changed. A few minutes before he looked bright and happy, but his joyous, open expression was now gone, he looked frightened and unhappy, and how heavy that pocket felt. Surely no penny ever weighed so much. Then came the fear of being found out; he could not keep it in his pocket any longer. Away he ran into the garden as far as possible from the house, and after looking fearfully around to see that no one saw him, he knelt at the foot of a large apple tree, and making a deep hole with his hands, he put the penny in and carefully covered it up till, as be thought, he could spend it unknown to anyone. But was he now free from anxiety? No, for that very morning he had been reading Matthew 25, and had thought much of that servant who had misused the talent delivered to him; he almost thought he heard a voice telling him that he too had hidden “his Lord’s money in the earth;” he tried to get rid of the thought, telling himself that it did not mean money in the chapter he had read, but yet the words were constantly in his mind. Does it not prove the living power of God’s Word, that often portions are brought home to the heart and conscience, although the circumstances may be unlike the case to which they were originally applied? It was so with our little Andrew; he tried to occupy himself as usual but his manner was so altered that his dear mother, fearing he was not well, sent him early to bed, but he could not sleep; he was afraid of God’s anger, he knew he had stolen that penny and “hid it in the earth,” away from human sight, but the poor boy felt that he could not hide it nor his sin from God.

All the family had retired to rest; his little brother was sleeping by his side; but louder and louder the words sounded in his ears― “He hid his Lord’s money in the earth”― “Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.” At last he sprang out of bed, and, creeping softly downstairs, he opened the back door gently, and sped down the garden paths till he came to the tree, and there the little nightgowned figure knelt, hastily clearing away the earth till the penny was found; then quickly the little bare feet ran back to the house, and the coin was soon put back on the floor whence he had taken it a few hours before. No one had been disturbed, and he was soon safely back in bed, but not before he had confessed his sin to God, and determined to tell all about it to his mother, who had so lovingly trained her boy in wisdom’s ways. And in the morning he confessed to his mother what he had already confessed, to God.

Andrew is now a man, and has children of his own, but he never forgot that night of terror and repentance, nor can he ever read the twenty-fifth of Matthew without recalling that passage in his early life when he hid the penny in the earth.

It may be that the consciences of some who read this maybe speaking to them of sins committed, and not, like Andrew’s, quickly repented of. It may not be the same kind of sin, but all sin is displeasing to God, who is holy and just, as well as merciful. If such an one should read this little story, let me point him to the Blessed Saviour, who died for sinners. God has said in His word that “all have sinned;” and surely each of us can say this is most true. Do you know you are a sinner? Do you want a Saviour? The Son of God came into the world to save sinners. He is able, He is willing to save you.

Oh, my dear children! do not put off this solemn question. You have an immortal soul which must live forever, either in eternal glory with Christ, or in eternal misery with the devil and his angels. If little Andrew was so wretched about his sin, what will you be if you go down to hell with all your sins upon you, where no hope ever comes, where “their worm dieth not, where the fire is never quenched?” Oh, then, come now to Jesus, whose precious blood can cleanse, from all sin.

"Come Unto Me."

THESE are the Lord’s own words― “Come unto Me.’ All last year He gently said them; many heard His voice, many believed His love; they went to Jesus, and He received them to Himself for time and for eternity. The new year has begun, and again Jesus is saying, “Come unto Me.” He is inviting you, dear young reader, by this page, to Himself. Will you come?

How long you will hear the Saviour’s invitation we cannot say. Not all of the young readers of FAITHFUL WORDS will live out the year 1875. Suppose that you should be called away from the earth this year, would your spirit go to the Lord in heaven? Think, before you answer. Some of you can say without one doubt, “Yes; for we know in whom we have believed. We know the Lord who loges us, and are sure that He will take us to be with Himself.” But some of you are not sure You do not even like to think of dying, or of the Lord’s coming. The reason is, you have not yet gone to Jesus, and He has not yet taken away your sins. The sting of death is sin, but Jesus has been made sin for us. Therefore, for all who are His, the sting of death is taken away.

“Come unto Me,” says the Lord. May you go with your heart; give yourself to Him; believe Him, and then live for Jesus, work for Jesus, wait for Jesus.

"Because the Bible Says so."

A FEW days ago I met a little girl to whom I said, “Do you know that Jesus loves you?” Her face lighted up with 1: simple smile of confidence, and the ready answer came forth.

“Oh, yes, sir.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because the bible says so.”

“But as you speak about the bible, my little girl, I must tell you that that holy book says, that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that there is none righteous―no, not one.”

“But Jesus said, ‘Suffer little children to come unto Me,’” she replied.

“But you are a sinner. You have done many naughty things. What makes yet think He would receive you?”

“The bible says He died for sinners, an therefore He died for me.”

“But that is a very great thing for such little girl as you to say. How can you be so sure about it?”

“Because the bible says so.”

“The bible also says that Jesus will come again and take His people up from the earth in a moment some day. What will become of you then? How would yet feel if He were to come now, while you and I are talking?”

“I should be very happy.”

“Why would you be happy?”

“Because He would take me up to be with Him forever.”

“And how long have you been able to say this, my child?”

“Some weeks, sir.”

This was childlike faith, and I found that she sheaved by her ways, that the confession of her lips was the real working of the Spirit of God in her soul.

We know that God is love, because the bible says so, and when we believe Gads word our hearts answer to its truth. Are you sure that Jesus came to this earth to save sinners? And are you sure that yet are saved? You may be quite sure, because the bible says so.

C. W. E.

A Few Words About the Bible Questions.

DEAR CHILDREN―At the beginning of a New Year I would like to say a few words to you about a subject of importance to us―the Bible questions and answers. It was cheering last year to receive replies and letters from so many children scattered over England, Ireland, and Canada―children whom God has His eye upon, for whom Christ died, and who will I trust all be gathered into the flock of the Good Shepherd. You remember Timothy, who from a child had known the holy scriptures (2 Tim. 3:15.) If he had not been instructed in them he could not have been in his youth (1 Tim. 4:12) so able to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2), and so useful to Paul, and indeed to its, as he has been. Therefore we desire not only that you should believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved, but that you should find interest in God’s word, and we seek to unfold it to you, that as you grow, older you may, so to speak, become at home in it. Every page points to “Him of whom Moses and the prophets did write;” but our eyes must be opened by the Holy Ghost if we are to see it, and unless you know Christ all your knowledge of scripture is useless. Faith must come before knowledge (2 Peter 1:5), and “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

I do hope none of you will be discouraged at not receiving a prize, but will only take more pains than ever. Scripture says, “One receiveth the prize.” (1 Cor. 9:24). You may be sure we have been very careful to award them rightly. We have also made it a rule that the same children cannot have prizes every year, even though they may answer best.

I trust that some of you will be rather more tidy this year, and not make blots or write on torn half sheets. “A thing that is worth doing at all is worth doing well” is a good old saying. And is it not a pity to send very good answers one month and the next not to send any at all?

We are so glad to receive replies from schoolfellows or classmates, but it is a curious thing that in such cases all the answers are generally alike! How is this to be accounted for? Do the teachers tell the children what to write? Do the schoolfellows copy from each other? Or have they the idle habit of getting down the big concordance and copying a list of texts! ‘Whatever the reason is, would it not be better for each child to find the answers himself as far as possible? It is proposed to give six prizes again this year, and we think it well to say, once for all, that unless the questions throughout the year are answered every month there will be but little hope of gaining a prize. However, with very young children, we shall perhaps make an exception. Hoping to hear from all of you again, if the Lord delay His coming.

Part 1, Apostle Paul.

Acts 7:58; 8:1-4.

SAUL, afterward the great Apostle Paul, was the son of a Jew, who lived at Tarsus, which, by consulting the map, you will find to be a town in the province of Cilicia, to the south-east of Asia Minor. This province, along with the greater part of the then known world, was in the hands of the Romans, but Tarsus was nevertheless a “free” and by no means unimportant city. It is supposed that Saul was born about the same time as John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus, during the reign of Augustus Caesar (Luke 2:1), and he would accordingly, at the date of his conversion, have been more than 30 years of age. That his father was a Pharisee, we learn from Acts 23:6, but, concerning his childhood and youth we have singularly few particulars. How remarkably unlike he was to Israel’s chosen king, of the same name and same tribe, we shall soon see. One, a head and shoulders taller than most men; the other, “in bodily presence weak.” One, though on a pinnacle of greatness, a monument of failure and the forsaking of God; the other, though counted as the offscouring of all things, the man through whom God has communicated to His people His thoughts concerning His Christ and His Church.

Though “born in Tarsus,” Paul was brought up in Jerusalem, doubtless for the purpose of education, for we read of him as a pupil of Gamaliel, a learned doctor (22:3), by whom he was instructed in all the Jewish law, and probably taught to argue and debate, as all young Jews were at that time. It is evident, from various scriptures, that he was no mean scholar; and, according also to the custom of those days, he was instructed in a trade, which proved exceedingly useful to him in his journeys among the Churches. Perhaps his father had been a tentmaker also. Certainly he neither neglected to educate the mind nor the hands of his son. Of his mother we have only the notice at Romans 16:13.

The first mention of Saul is at Stephen’s death (Acts 7:58). It is very likely that he may have been one of those (Acts 6:10) who “were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake,” since some of them were from the synagogue of “Cilicia” (6:9), to which Saul would of course resort. We are never told what brought him to Jerusalem at this time, or whether it was now his home. At all events, Satan was using him to withstand, if possible, the truth and people of God, and he was doing it, strange as it may appear, with all good conscience. He firmly believed that Jesus of Nazareth was an impostor, and, like a zealous Jew, he did his best to punish His followers. Blessed be God, his eyes were shortly to be opened, by a sight of the very One he was persecuting. We can hardly conceive how he could have been present at such a scene as the stoning of Stephen without having his heart broken; but until God spoke to him it was as hard as the stones he was “consenting” should be showered upon the martyr.

A great persecution of the Church followed this martyrdom, and all were scattered abroad except the apostles, who do not seem to have remembered that they were only told to tarry at Jerusalem until the Holy Ghost was given (Luke 24:49). Being Jews, they toyed Jerusalem unduly, and it was reserved for Paul to carry the message of salvation far and wide, and to break down the barriers that Jewish prejudices still kept up. In spite of Saul’s daily persecution, preaching went on everywhere (8:3,4); but here, for the present, we must leave him.

Questions.

1. Of what tribe was Saul? ―2. What can you find about his life before his conversion? ―3. Had he any brothers or sisters? ―4. Does Paul mention Stephen? ―5. How many people were stoned to death in the 3ible, and who? ―6. Where are Tarsus and Cilicia mentioned? ―7. What is said about Gamaliel?

H. L. H.

E. D.'S Conversion

Death―Resurrection―Ascension.

E. D. LIVED a quiet life in a little country village. She was fond of reading and other occupations; which, for a time, gave her that sort, of imperfect satisfaction which, perhaps, most people think is all that we can attain to in this world. She had just that little amount of religion which the world thinks the right medium― “not going too far,” as they say. She went to church on Sundays, taught in the Sunday-school, and once a week went through her district to leave the tracts supplied by the clergyman. It must be owned that this last occupation was undertaken somewhat against her will. She disliked tracts, and had a fellow-feeling with some of the people in the district who refused them, or spoke contemptuously of them. The religious books which E. D. liked to read, were those which told how people should make themselves pleasing to God by their good works. It seems strange that, as she approved of these books, she did not devote herself to doing good works; but with the exception of leaving the tracts (which in her heart she did not think a good work), her time was employed; in any occupation, such as reading, work, gardening, &c., which was pleasant to herself.

A lady was once arguing with a minister of the gospel, who had said in his sermon that we are saved by faith only: “After all,” said the lady, “you know we are told to Work out our own salvation.” The minister, who knew this lady as one leading a fashionable London life of pleasure and gaiety, replied, “Why don’t you do it then?” a question to which he received no answer E. D. much resembled this lady, except perhaps in the fact, that the worldliness of an intellectual life in country village is of a different sort from the worldliness df a frivolous life in London. But the one is as much apart from God as the other.

It can scarcely be said that E. D. was awakened to a sense of sin by the books she read, but rather that she was saddened by a feeling of disappointment in finding they did not give her peace; for without having any real and deep sense of sin, she yet knew she was not safe for eternity, and the thought of what was to come filled her with horror. At times she had a longing desire to escape from this feeling of condemnation, and she envied the Roman Catholics, whom she heard that they confessed their sins to a priest, and got absolution. She longed to do something of this sort. She thought it would be an easy and sure way of getting peace about the future.

I would ask you for a moment to consider how very extraordinary it is, that anybody could ever imagine for a moment that they could get a peace worth having by such means. In the first place, if the confession were of use at all, it is plain that it could only avail for the sins confessed, otherwise why confess them? Then we must be well aware that the immense mass of sins committed, have been utterly forgotten by us. We cannot remember distinctly the events of a year ago, except the more remarkable of them. Our sinful thoughts and words make too little impression upon us, to be remembered for more than a very short time. And if he who offends in one point is guilty of all, one forgotten and unconfessed sin would therefore be to the utter condemnation of the sinner. Nor could we escape this difficulty by constant and daily confession, for this reason, that we not only forget sins, but also we are by nature under an entire delusion as to what is sin, and what is not. E. D. who would have confessed as sin that she had perhaps spoken too loudly in some consecrated building, was perfectly ignorant of the fact that to look for salvation by our own doings or feelings in any even the smallest degree, is sin in God’s sight. More than this, it is gross and heinous wickedness. But E. D. felt, on the contrary, a great deal of satisfaction in the thought that she did not believe herself saved. She thought she was more humble and less presumptuous than people who knew that their sins were forgiven. She was most proud, therefore, of her greatest sin, and would certainly never have confessed it if she had had the opportunity. She said, in a loud voice, twice every Sunday in church, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” meaning thereby only that she believed there was such a thing as sin being forgiven, a belief which she possessed in common with the devils. Not having, however, any opportunity for confession, she thought there might perhaps be some other means of relief for the conscience, by fasting, repeating prayers, and observing those days mentioned in the Prayer-book as feasts and fasts. To begin with Lent. How could it be spent in a manner specially displeasing to the flesh? It would not be enough to abstain from unnecessary food and pleasant occupations. It would be a painful, and perhaps profitable employment to devote the time to looking back over past sins, to write lists of them, to begin as far back as memory could reach. And in God’s great mercy, a further thought came into the mind of E. D. that it would be well to look out and copy all that God has said about the guilt and punishment of sin.

It was by this means that God Himself now began to speak to her soul. Day after day she looked out the awful words from the mouth of God. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” “Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup.” “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine anger, the Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them.”

It was a terrible employment. An awful reality was in these words which made it at last almost impossible to go on copying them. But E. D. silenced every thought of ceasing her penance, by assuring herself that the more painful and gloomy the occupation, the more it would be a suitable observance of those long forty days. Each day, too, was one nearer to the end of that time of self-mortification! How she would rejoice when Easter morning dawned, and she could dismiss for a while the thoughts of sin and of judgment, and think only of what was bright and cheerful! And so the days passed on. Just at this time two books were given to her. The one was the account of the conversion of a lady, who, like herself, had been seeking peace through ritual observances, and was brought to Christ at last by a foreigner, who was not a member of what she would have called “the holy Catholic Church,” but only a simple believer in Jesus. E. D. disliked this book intensely. The other book was lent her by a friend who admired the poetry in it. It was an old German book, containing the hymns and sermons of a German ribbon-weaver, who lived 200 years ago. This book E. D. read, and thought she liked. The strange, old-fashioned expressions gave her pleasure, and there was something in it besides which possessed a mysterious power, although she did not understand it. It was very simple, almost childish, and yet the meaning of the words was as much hidden from her as if it had been Chinese.

At last Easter morning dawned―a dark, drizzling day. Her first thought was one of relief. The time of penance was over. She need no longer think of sin and of judgment„ But the second thought was one of despair. She found, to her unspeakable horror, that thoughts are not so easily portioned out by rules and calendars. Sin, sin only, was the one black object before her eyes. It was useless to attempt for a moment to think of anything besides. And what would be the use of it if she could? for the sin would still be there. Whether she thought of it or not, it was an awful reality; and the terrible judgment of God was as awful a reality on that Easter morning as during the forty days of Lent.

She little knew what she had been doing in looking at Goes view of sin. Now that she had seen the terrible sight she was utterly incapable of any thought besides. It was the first time that she knew what reality was! She could not observe Easter. She could not even think of the resurrection. She felt that she was now entirely powerless; and the very thought of attempting anything more was out of the question. She was nothing but a lost, helpless, dead sinner!

And still, like a machine, she went to the Sunday-school. “So,” she remembered, “Mary went out early on the first-day morning, and she thought ‘Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?’ Happy Mary, her stone could be rolled away, and she could see Christ; but the greater stone, the mass of sin which hides Christ from me, who shall roll that away?” And feeling how impossible that must be, she sat in the school, unable to teach, and therefore made the children repeat the catechism all through, and when they had done, begin it again, till church time. In church she could not pray, nor did she attempt it; nor could she listen to the sermon. Sin, sin was the one thought. She could not, and did not, ask for mercy.

But on the way home, suddenly, as a flash of lightning, came to her soul the wondrous revelation, “God sees my sin no more, for Christ has died! He sees me white as snow.” The stone was rolled away, for it was very great―so great, none could move it but God only. And His hand had done it!

From that day for 26 years sin never again rested upon E.D., and never will it rest on her, for “the worshipper once purged has no more conscience of sins.” What does that mean? Simply that no condemnation can ever rest for a moment upon the one whose condemnation has been borne by Christ. Fully, perfectly borne. God’s awful judgments spent upon the head of Christ, and nothing left for the believer but love only. Christ died in the place of the sinner. He bore the curse, and drank to the last drop the cup of wrath. Now all is gone, and washed, sanctified, justified forever, does the redeemed one stand in the light of God. The light can only show that he is whiter than snow! Oh, that every heart might know what is the wondrous meaning of the Death of Christ!

E. D. had to learn another lesson later, for we need more than to know that sin is put away. But that first lesson was indeed a blessed one. What Resurrection means is a further step in the knowledge of God, and this second lesson shall be told another time.

F. B.

"Washed in the Blood of the Lamb."

FELLOW CHRISTIANS! do the sins of your past life ever cause you pain and sorrow now―ever weigh upon your minds? Does the remembrance of some sin committed since your conversion, and of which you have bitterly repented, fill you at times with deep grief? If so, perhaps the anecdote I am about to relate may be of benefit to you.

A young Christian was much troubled about a sin which she had committed since her conversion. At first she tried to banish it from her thoughts, and succeeded for a time, but only for a time, for at last, in spite of all her efforts to forget, the burden grew heavier. One Sunday she was in deep distress, and Satan suggested to her that she had been deceiving herself all along, that she had never been converted, and that Christ had not died for her. She was almost ready to despair, when suddenly the words, “washed in the blood of the Lamb,” came with great force into her mind. She then saw that all her sins had been washed away by that blood, and remembered how it was written, “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19). “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 10:17). She believed the word, and was comforted, and peace came into her heart.

Dear readers, if on any of your consciences the sin of the past is weighing, let me tell you that the only way to find rest is to confess your sin and to believe that “the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son,” cleanses the believer from every sin, and that “by Him all that believe are justified from all things.”

H. A. I. S. M.

Growth.

CHRISTIANS are often impatient with themselves because they are dull in understanding the scriptures. But to take in the truth the heart must be enlarged; and to have the heart enlarged the presence of Christ is necessary. There would be more growth and capacity to receive the truth if there were more communion with Christ.

Truth Stronger Than Falsehood.

A POOR woman, the wife of a soldier, was brought to the knowledge of God in a very remarkable way. Just a year after an attack of scarlet fever, which had left her totally blind, she was walking one Sunday afternoon on a common with her only child, a boy of six years old, when her attention was attracted by the sound of public speaking, and she desired her little son to lead her to the spot. A crowd had gathered round the speaker, and as she drew near she heard these words, “If any of you that stand by are trusting to the blood of Christ for salvation, I warn you that you are trusting to that which is utterly useless!” and then followed other terrible remarks of the same kind. The man who thus spoke was an infidel, and, sad to say, he used to go to the same place every Sunday afternoon and collect a number of people round him who listened to his blasphemous arguments.

As the poor woman heard him declare that He who is indeed the SON OF GOD was only a Man, and that His blood had no cleansing power in it, the thought flashed upon her that, in that case, “there was no hope of salvation for her!” She turned away with her child and wandered over the common in another direction. She had been a professing Christian, had gone to church or chapel occasionally, and led an outwardly moral life, but she had never before felt herself a sinner in the presence of God. Now all the sins of her life seemed to come up before her in dreadful array; she knew now that she was guilty―that there was no good thing in her; and, in her agony, she exclaimed, “I must be lost! I shall be lost! if there is no salvation in Christ!”

Satan’s wicked lie had sunk into her heart; she doubted the atoning work on the cross. But, oh! how marvelous are the ways of God! He can overrule even the very depth! of wickedness for His own glory, and this hour of conflict in the poor woman’s soul was made, by His grace, to lead to blessing.

As she was slowly walking homeward with her little companion, who was too young to understand his mother’s grief, she heard the voice of another man, who was engaged in preaching; and with a feeling almost amounting to despair, she approached, wondering whether any word of comfort might fall on her ear.

Instead of a lie, she now listened to the truth, even to words which came first from the lips of Him who is Himself “THE TRUTH.” “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). This verse repeated two or three times slowly and solemnly was used by God to give her life and liberty. No more fears, no more doubts, no more reasonings, she believed now in Christ as God, as the Son of God, and knew that His blood, His own precious, precious blood, had washed away her many, many sins, and when she reached her dwelling she poured out her thanksgiving to Him who had had such mercy upon her.

This happened three years ago, and ever since she has been living in the enjoyment of the love of God. Her boy is a comfort to her, and, although her earthly path has many trials in it, she can and does “rejoice in the Lord,” seeking daily to walk in the path that He appoints for her, and looking forward to being with Him whenever He calls her hence.

H. L. T.

Simplicity.

THE way to lead a person on is to come down to where he is, and then to help him gently forward. We were taught simple addition before our schoolmaster gave us difficult sums to work out; but schoolmasters are wiser than those preachers who are “over the heads” of their hearers. Where there is sympathy there will be simplicity. When the preacher goes down to the spiritual condition of his hearers, it is because his sympathies have led him to their level. And having come down to them, he will bring them up to his own knowledge of Christ.

2, The A B C of the Gospel.

“THE field is the world;” here it is that the good seed of the word of God is sown. Before the cross of Christ, this field had been under cultivation. Part of it―watched over by God―had, by His direction, been plowed by the law and sown by the prophets; part of it―tended by human hands―had been sown with human reason and philosophy; the remaining part of this field was left wild. At the close of the period of cultivation God sought for fruit and found none, and He declared that the whole field was equally evil. That part of the field cultivated by meant, of the Law was as bad as the awfully evil breadths left wild or under the hand of human effort.

This truth God unfolds to us in the early chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. The uncultivated portion of the field is treated of in chapter 1:19-32; that under the hand of philosophy, in chapters 2:1-11; that favored part, where law and prophet plowed and watered, in chapter 2:12 verse to end of chapter 3:20.

The philosopher fenced himself in with scorn and pride, and then judged the vile weeds and evil growth of the heathen about him; the Jew had been fenced in by Jehovah Himself, and the Jew boasted in the fence which surrounded his portion of the field, while the fruits brought forth by him were as worthless as the rest. Then God in grace broke down all the fences and sowed salvation for sinners, life in Christ, peace in believing, by His gospel over the wide word. Modern infidelity, which returns to philosophy, modern religiousness, which returns to Judaism, are the efforts of man to set aside the verdict of the cross― “if One died for all, then were all dead.” The cross is God’s verdict that man’s nature is irrecoverable, and faith accepts the sentence, saying, “I am crucified with Christ.”

So long as a sinner seeks to obtain peace or perfection from his own evil nature, so long he is incapable of receiving Christ, in whom alone is peace and perfection. The gospel of God is concerning a living Christ for dead sinners. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.” Man could not be associated with Him until He had put away by His death the sin which separates from God.

Had He not died He would have remained alone. All His beauty, all His grace would have been reserved for Himself and His God. But He died for us; and now that He is risen He is our Life, and the life which He gives is in that condition of life which is His in resurrection. It is a life beyond death, a life the other side of the grave; a life which cannot be forfeited; a life which judgment cannot require. His people are now united to Him as He is. He is our peace. He is our perfection. He has taken upon Himself in grace all the dues and penalties belonging to our natural and sinful state. He has satisfied God’s righteousness about sin; the proof whereof is His resurrection, and our being, in God’s sight, raised with Him.

Reader, ask yourself, “Is it good in self, or the influences which religion has over my heart, or is it Christ in heaven, whose death proves that I am dead in God’s sight, that I look to for salvation?” In the economy of old it was forbidden to sow the field with mixed seed; and believe, dear reader, it is fatal to peace to sow your soul with a mixed gospel of good in self and good in Christ. The farmer carefully looks over the wheat he would sow in his field. Would he expect wheat if he sowed tares? or would he look for all wheat if he sowed partly wheat and partly tares? To sow a mixed gospel is to add to the dishonor which man does to Christ.

The gospel of God reveals His righteousness. A Saviour forsaken of God upon the cross because sins were laid upon Him, and because [le was made sin; a Saviour raised from the dead and exalted upon the throne of God because He has borne our sins, and because He has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, is the righteousness the gospel reveals. To the philosopher, who calls foolishness that which only faith comprehend, this is folly. To the religious man, burdened with his own “good works,” it is a stumbling clock; befalls over such a humbling plan of salvation as being nothing, doing nothing, and having everything done for him, and being everything in Christ, who is in glory. To Be believer it is peace.

And how shall you get the blessing? for you long for it, reader. By Faith. The righteousness of God is not revealed to feelings, or to doings, but to a poor dead sinner, who owns his state, and who thanks God for the revelation in His word of a now glorified, but once crucified, Saviour. The moment you have faith the righteousness is upon you, for it is upon all that believe; and the just shall live by faith. It is God that justifies. He justifies all who believe His Son. Reader, accept God’s verdict and God’s grace.

Holiness, by Beholding.

2 Corinthians 3:18.

WHEN Moses, upon his second ascent of Sinai, saw the glory of Jehovah there, and learned His gracious name, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,” his face shone while he talked with God. When he came down from the mount with the law in his hands, and with the reflection of God’s grace upon his countenance, the people were afraid to approach him. Then Moses put a veil upon his face, which veil he removed when he spoke, to God, but retained when he conversed with the people.

In contrast with this fear in the heart of the people, and this veil upon the face of the revealer of God’s mind, it is ours to behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord, with (unveiled) face. Israel could not read the meaning of the reflection of the grace upon Moses’ face, because the tables of the law were in his hands. That display of grace only brought out dread, for it is impossible to receive grace from a lawgiver, and life through “the ministry of condemnation.” There are Christians who practice mixing law and grace, but they are not and cannot be at liberty before God. They try to be better men, but instead of becoming holy by their efforts, they learn experimentally, “In me, that is my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.” Instead of finding grace in God and glory in Christ they discover in themselves a nature which disobeys, and which is unable to do good. No doubt it is a most profitable lesson to learn; but it is not holiness.

The ministry of a glorified Jesus opens to us the secret of holiness. This ministry proclaims to us God’s righteousness. Jesus would not be a glorified Man in heaven had He not been a crucified Man upon earth. He is glorified because He finished the work the Father gave Him to do; and we look up to heaven and see Him, not, thanks be to God, with tables of law in His hands, demanding of us to do and live; but we see Him with hands once pierced for our sins, and the glory of God shining from His face, telling us that all is done, that our sins are gone, and that God’s righteousness is satisfied.

Before we can be holy, we must be at liberty, and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;” He has taught us that our sins are gone, and we can, by faith, look upon His unveiled face. It is all love, all grace, all glory. Not a cloud upon the face of Christ, not a doubt left in the hearts of His own. He tells us that redemption is accomplished, that He was slain for us, and that He lives for us in the glory. One look of faith upon Him as He is, and all doubts ag to our acceptance vanish. For He who once was forsaken for us is now the measure of our acceptance― “we are accepted in the Beloved.”

The divine power which lies in looking upon “the glory of the Lord” thus, is such, that “beholding... we are changed,” we become heavenly by looking upon Christ in heaven. True, we see as in a glass, but we see an unveiled face of Christ in the glass―faith sees it, and present holiness follows, for it does not say we shall be changed, but we are changed.

Resolutions do not tend to holiness; to resolve to be holy is to look into self and not upon Christ; nay, it is to look for power in self, and so far to reject Christ. He was crucified for our sins, and part of our sins are broken resolutions. The Christian who resolves is not changed, it is the Christian who thinks not of himself but of Christ in glory who is changed. Neither let us think that the power which changes lies in ourselves. We “are changed... by the Spirit of the Lord.” The change is progressive; it is “from glory to glory;” there is no standing still― “not as though I had already attained or either were already perfect.” This is growth. The eye can hardly trace the gradual ripening of fruit, yet the fruit is changed by the sun’s rays; it absorbs sweetness from the light. So the light of a glorified Christ poured into the soul produces holiness.

Some Christians expect to leap into holiness as the sinner, upon believing, leaps into joy. But the word says, “from glory to glory,” “from strength to strength,” “shining brighter and brighter.”

“Beholding... we are changed.” And there is no effort about it, but a mighty result. The sorrowful thing is that we behold so little! We hinder holiness by looking to the earth, to things below, to self, to one another. No surprise that holiness is small where Christ is not all.

We cannot make ourselves holy by faith or by anything else. But we can hinder the Spirit of the Lord by looking to self, or to our experiences, or to our faith, thus having another object than Christ. It is as fatal to growth to be occupied with our own holiness as with our own weakness. Christ as He is in glory is faith’s only object, and beholding Him by faith, we are morally changed into the same image by the Spirit.

The Bird of Love.

The dove is an emblem of love and purity. The first time she is spoken of is in the history of the Deluge. God was angry with men because they were so wicked, so He destroyed them by a flood, and all the people who then lived, excepting Noah and his family, were swept away. The tall trees, the high mountains, all were covered by the deep, dark waters of death. For many days, the ark in which Noah was shut up floated above the waste, till at length the waters began to abate, and then Noah opened the window of the ark, and let loose a bird, to see whether it would come again for refuge within the ark, or find a home upon the earth.

Away sped the raven; it wandered to and fro, now alighting upon the ark, now sweeping over the waters, ever finding its food and pleasure upon the lonely waste. On no branch of tree nor crag of rock could the raven shelter, for all around was a deep sea of destruction; but the bird’s nature loved liberty, and until the waters were dried up it spent its time in restless wanderings.

Then Noah sent forth the dove, and she, finding no green trees or clefts of rocks, returned quickly within the ark. Seven days passed by and Noah again let the dove loose, and back once more she came to his hand, bearing in her beak the olive leaf of peace. “So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the face of the earth.” Then for a third time Noah sent forth the dove, and she came now back again to him.

Each bird had its freedom, and each used its liberty after its own nature. So it is with boys and girls as well as birds. Give to the child who loves to do wickedly full liberty to please himself, and away, like the raven, he will go, to find his pleasure in the waste of death around. He will not want to come near Christ, he will not want to have the hand of goodness stretched out to take him inside the place of safety. But the child who loves God is like the dove; he never rests until he is near his Saviour, and knows the sweetness of His presence.

The dove, which is mentioned many times in scripture, was used in sacrifice. The poor man who desired to approach God, and who could not afford to present as his offering a lamb, brought instead “a pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons.” One of these was slain, and God accepted the sacrifice. Thus of old, God taught men that the only way for a sinner to approach Him is by the death in the sinner’s stead of one that has not shined. So the dove is thus a picture for us wherein we may see the

“Gentle Jesus meek and mild”

dying in our stead. What love it was on the part of Him to die in our place,

“He saw how wicked men had been,

He knew that God must punish sin,

So out of pity Jesus said

He’d bear the punishment instead.”

Around and within the, ancient Temple were the places where those who kept doves used to sit. When the country people came up to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord they went to these merchants and bought their doves. And these sellers often drove hard bargains with the poor people and cheated them with their change of money. Alas, that anything which points to the holy death of Jesus should by men be made into an occasion for robbery and riches! How angry the Lord was with these people. He cast them all out of the temple, and poured their money upon the ground.

The dove was used by God to express to us the Holy Spirit by whom the Lord was fined on earth. The Holy Ghost, assuming a bodily form like that of a dove, descended upon Jesus. God’s beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased, was truly the gentle, the loving, the peace-giving One down here upon this earth. Children ran to His arms, the sick and the poor followed Him, and He healed and fed them all. All are welcomed to Him who come, so if you have not yet gone to Him, hasten at once to Him, and He will receive you, for He is love.

To those of my dear young readers who have been by faith to Jesus, let me close this paper with His own words, “Be ye harmless as doves.”

Chapter 8: John Wesley.

ON January 24th he wrote in his journal the following words, over which we can well believe there was joy in the presence of the angels of God: ― “I went to America to convert the Indians! But, oh! who shall convert me? Who, what is he that will deliver me from this evil heart of unbelief? I can talk well—nay, and believe myself, while no danger is near, but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled.

“‘I have a slit of fear that, when I’ve spun

My last thread, I shall perish on the shore.’”

And yet again he tried to take comfort in the thought that he had given and did give all his goods to feed the poor, and that he “followed after charity.” But that thought could give him no comfort when he thought of death. “Oh! who Will deliver me,” he writes, “from this fear of death? What shall I do? Where shall I fly from it?”

A day or two later a ship’ bound for Georgia passed in sight. John Wesley did not know that on board of that ship was his old friend George Whitefield. On the 1St of February John Wesley landed at Deal, and wrote in his journal—

“It is now two years and almost four months since I left my native country, in order to teach the Georgian Indians the nature of Christianity―but what have I learned myself in the meantime? Why (what I the least of all suspected), that I, who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted to God. I am not mad, though I thus speak, but I speak the words of truth and soberness, if haply some of those who still dream may awake, and see, that as I am, so are they. Are they read in philosophy? So was I. In ancient or modern tongues? So was I also. Are they versed in the science of divinity? I too have studied it many years. Can they talk fluently upon spiritual things? The very same could I do. Are they plenteous in alms? Behold I gave all my goods to feed the poor. Do they give of their labor as well as of their substance? I have labored more abundantly than they all. Are they willing to suffer for their brethren? I have thrown up my friends, reputation, ease, country. I have put my life in my hand, wandering into strange lands; I have given my body to be devoured by the deep, parched up with heat, consumed by toil and weariness, or whatsoever God should please to bring upon me. But does all this (be it more or less, it matters not,) make me acceptable to God? Does all I ever did or can know, say, give, do, or suffer, justify—me in His sight? Yea, or the constant use of all the means of grace? Or that I know nothing of myself, that I am as touching outward, moral righteousness, blameless? Or to come closer yet, the having a rational conviction of all the truths of Christianity? Does all this give me a claim to the holy, heavenly, divine character of a Christian? By no means. If the oracles of God are true, if we are still to abide by the law and the testimony, all these things, though when ennobled by faith in Christ, they are holy and just, and good, yet without it are dung and dross, meet only to be purged away by the fire that never shall be quenched. This, then, have I learned in the ends of — the earth; that I am fallen short of the glory of God, that my whole heart is altogether corrupt and abominable, and consequently my whole life; seeing it cannot he that an evil tree should bring forth good fruit; that alienated as I am from the life of God, I am a child of wrath, an heir of hell; that my own works, my own sufferings, my own righteousness, are so far from making any atonement for the least of those sins, which are more in number than the hairs of my head, that the best of them need an atonement themselves, or they cannot abide His righteous judgment; that, having the sentence of death in my heart, and having nothing in or of myself to plead, I have no hope but that of being justified freely through the redemption that is in Jesus, I have no hope but that if I seek, I shall find Christ,” (he did not then see that it was Christ who was seeking him) “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. If it be said that I have faith (for many such things have I heard from many miserable comforters) I answer, so have the devils, a sort of faith, but still they are strangers to the covenant of promise ... the faith I want is, a sure trust and confidence in God, that, through the merits of Christ, my sins are forgiven, and I reconciled to the favor of God. I want that faith which St Paul recommends to all the world, especially in his epistle to the Romans; that faith which enables every one that hath it to cry out, ‘Believe not; but Christ liveth in me―and the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God; who loved me and gave Himself for me.’”

You will see from this that God in His great mercy had now opened John Wesley’s eyes to see that he was nothing but a poor lost sinner. He now knew that he was, as the Lord Jesus says of the Laodiceans, wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked, and this, too whilst he, like the Laodiceans, had been thinking himself rich and increased with goods, and needing nothing. It was a great step to know this much. But there are some who go thus far, and no further, and it is not by knowing ourselves as sinners, but by knowing Jesus as our own precious Saviour that we have eternal life. This second step John had not yet learned, but he was now longing thus to know Christ, and was ready to listen to anyone who would teach him the simple gospel of God. But of all his friends in England, there does not seem to have been one from whom he could have learned it. He might, no doubt, have learned it from the Bible, but in most cases, almost in every case, God is pleased to make use of His people in saving the souls of others. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. A messenger of the good tidings was ready in God’s good time to tell John Wesley the words whereby he might be saved. As man would say, this happened by chance. I will tell you how. After Wesley landed at Deal, he went on to London. I told you that he landed on the 1St of February. On the 5th of February, which was Sunday, he preached at a church in London, on the text “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” Though he did not yet understand the gospel, and therefore could not have preached it fully, there was something about this sermon quite different from his former preaching. He was now himself awakened, and there was such a reality in what he said that the people who heard him were much offended, and he was told he must preach in that church no more.

On Monday and Tuesday he went to visit his old friends in London, and it was on Tuesday that he first saw the servant of God who was to speak to him the words of grace and peace. This was again a German Moravian!

Wesley, it seems, called at the house of Mr. Weinantz, a Dutch merchant, and there found three Germans, who had just landed in England. One of them was called Peter Bohlen. Finding they had no friends in London, Wesley offered to find them a lodging; and took rooms for them in a house close to where he himself was staying. From the little talk they had that day, he felt sure that from them he could learn what he now most desired to know―how a sinner can have peace with God. He wrote in his journal that Tuesday evening, “A day much to be remembered!”

From this time John Wesley took every opportunity of talking with Peter Bohler. Peter could not talk English, and John could not talk German, they therefore had all their conversations in Latin. Peter told John that what he needed was faith in Christ, and that there were two marks of having faith, namely, first the certain knowledge that our sins are forgiven, and secondly, power to overcome sin in our daily life. John says he was quite amazed at hearing this. It seemed to him a new gospel. “If it is true,” he said, “it is quite clear I have not got faith.” But he was not willing to be convinced of it, and disputed, as he says, with all his might to convince Peter that though he did not know that his sins were forgiven, still he really had faith, which would prove that Peter was wrong. You may remember that he had written in his journal that those people were “miserable comforters” who thought that he had true faith, for that though he had a sort of faith, so have the devils. But we often are displeased with others when they accuse us of the very same faults of which we have perhaps accused ourselves, and John now argued with Peter to prove that what he had was really faith, though he did not believe his sins were forgiven.

Peter, however, said that if John would only consult the bible, and the experience of believing people, he would see that those who believe in Jesus not only have forgiveness, but know they have it. John did not give in, but he could not help talking to Peter, and when he went to Oxford, a fortnight after coming to London, he took Peter with him. He felt that there was something in Peter’s arguments which he did not understand, and he hoped that at last he should find out what it all meant.

Ten days later, John went to Salisbury to see his mother, who was living there with Patty and her husband. Whilst he was there he got a message from Oxford to tell him that his brother Charles was there, and was thought to be dying, John instantly went to Oxford, and found his brother better, and with him he found his friend Peter. The next day he and Peter had a talk and John was at last convinced that he was indeed guilty of unbelief. He felt that he was wrong in preaching to others, whilst he was himself without true faith, and he asked Peter’s advice about leaving off preaching. Peter said, “No, preach faith till you have it, and then because you have it you will preach faith.” This was not good advice, for it is not sincere to preach to others beyond our own belief. However he was right in the main, and John began to see, after a while, that Peter spoke the truth in saying that a believer knows he is forgiven, and has power against sin. But that this great change should happen in a moment, as Peter said, he could not admit. He looked through the bible, especially the Acts, to see if there were any cases there of people who were all at once brought from darkness to light. “To my utter astonishment,” he says, “I scarce found any instances there of other than instantaneous conversions, the least sudden being the conversion of Paul, who was three days before he knew himself to be a new creature in Christ Jesus.” John saw that the bible was against him, but he told Peter he thought in those early days, when God worked miracles, things might be different.

It happened, however, only a few days later, that John met with several bright, happy-looking people, who assured him that just this same thing had been true in their case, and that God had shown them all at once that their sins were forgiven, and had turned them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to Himself. John was then convinced that this was true, but when he said so, Charles was very angry, and begged him not to say anything so wrong.

Soon after, Charles’s illness returned, and this time he was laid up in London, at the house of a pious working man, called Bray. John went to see him, and found him still much displeased at what he called “those new notions.” Peter went too, and had a long talk with him, and this talk opened Charles’s eyes; he now clearly saw what faith was, and only longed to have it. The very next day Peter sailed for America. This was on May 4th not three months from the time John first saw him. John wrote in his journal, with regard to Peter, “Oh, what a work hath God begun since his coming into England! Such an one as shall never come to an end till heaven and earth pass away.”

John felt very, very sad now that Peter was gone. It cheered him a little to get a Latin letter from him a few days after. But still he felt how terribly true it was that, as Peter had said, he had not yet believed in Jesus, and he could have no peace nor joy. Just a fortnight after Peter left, on the 19th of May, John got the news that his brother Charles was now rejoicing in the knowledge that his sins were forgiven―Charles, who had at first been so angry with him for speaking of it! You will like to know how this happened. Of this you shall hear in our next number.

F. B.

The Sick Child.

I THINK I almost hear his labor’d breathing―

See the pale face and watch the sunken

Mourn, as I mark the bosom’s weary heaving,

And catch the patient, tired, little sigh.

His gentle sister’s arms around him stealing,

Sorrow and love her childish face bespeak,

While she supports him, by the bedside kneeling,

Oft wondering him, by the bedside kneeling,

weak.

Departing rays of sunlight softly falling,

Through, curtained windows, on the curly head;

Perhaps ere morning’s beams he’ll need no calling,

Nor tired lie upon his little bed.

And now, dear children, this is but a picture,

And yet a story that is often true,

For life on earth is not without its mixture,—

Sorrow and death are here, though new to you.

But there is One who fills the heart with gladness!

‘Twill not be long ere we shall see His face;

He died to take away the lone heart’s sadness,

And in His Father’s house give such a place.

Oft you have heard of the dear love of Jesus,

To ruined earth He came, and bled, and died;

E’en from death’s power, and hell, that He might save us.

The Holy Son of God was crucified.

Come now to Jesus! time is quickly speeding,

His voice you may not, will not, always hear;

Pass not His grace; but now His mercy heeding,

Receive His love, and He’ll cast out all fear.

S. C. M. A.

The Little Girl and the Dark Night

I HAVE sometimes heard of children being afraid in the dark. If we are under the shelter of God’s care, He guards us by night as well as by day, for the “darkness and the light are both alike to Him.” Jesus passed through the darkness on the cross for us when God hid His face from Him, because, though He knew no sin, He was made sin for us. And those who believe that their sins were laid on Jesus then, and put away forever by His precious blood, will never have to go away into that blackness of darkness forever, which will be the portion of titan, the prince of darkness.

Many years ago, there was a little girl who went out walking one night with her mother, and I do not think she had ever been out of doors in the dark before, so she clung very tightly to her mother’s side, but did not say anything. You would not have known she was at all frightened if she had not held her mother’s hand very tightly. So the little girl’s mother quietly said: “The darkness and the light are both alike to God,” Young as she was, she felt the power of God’s Word, and after that she never again showed any fear in the dark.

C. A. W.

What Clement Wrote in His Bible.

HOW little did the children think, that bright, stormy April day, as they sat round the dinner-table in their, home by the sea, that one of their number, then full of life and health, would never more take his place amongst them!

Yet so it was! When tea-time came, the eldest brother, the one who used to cut the bread, and set the chairs, and see that everyone was helped, was absent. They might call “Clement! Clement!” but no Clement came, and it was not till his body was brought home, cold and dripping as it had been found cast up by the sea, that they knew his end.

Oh, it was a sad house that evening! Robert and Alick looked at each other, and then at that poor dead face, and it seemed a thing too dreadful to be true. But their father and mother, wondering at their boy’s sweet, peaceful look, took comfort, for they were assured that the blessed Saviour, who had taught their Clement when in life and strength to trust Him, had surely been near to cheer their boy when no help was nigh, and that Jesus had taken hit home to His Father’s house, where storms can never come.

“How did it happen?” they asked; but no one could answer. He had been noticed walking along the sands, watching the waves roll in, for it was a spring tide, and very grand they looked.; after this no one saw him alive.

His parents knew their boy’s love for the sea, and how often he would sit for hours on the shore, busy with his boot little heeding how quickly the time passed. He must have been thus engaged the stormy April day of which we speak. Clement had not noticed, in his sheltered nook the flowing tide, ever coming nearer and nearer, till, too late, the water locked him in, and all hope of escape was gone. No doubt he shouted for help, but the wind was high and the sea roared, so his voice was lost.

There was nothing left for Clement Layton but to wait till death should roll in upon him. Did he faint as the chill waters rose around him, or did he long battle with the waves? We cannot tell; but we know that the same Lord Jesus who came to His disciples walking across the dark waters, and who stilled their hearts with His word, “It is I; be not afraid,” was present. Yes! the Lord of Life took away every thought of fear, so that Clement was “more than conqueror through Him that loved him.”

While the water was gathering round Clement, the Lord gave him courage and calmness to think of those who loved him, and he wrote for them words more precious than I can tell. I have read these words, and you shall read them too.

His parents went mournfully along the shore the evening of their boy’s death, searching for anything that might have belonged to him, and their search was not in vain, for they picked up a bible and one or two of his books, all soaked with the salt water. It was not till the next day that they noticed some pencil writing on the fly-leaf of the bible; it was like A message from Heaven to their hearts as they read, “In danger, I now declare that I do trust in Jesus my own Saviour, and have trusted for about five years. I know that my sins of heart and action have been many and grievous, but now I do pray to God to forgive me for the sake of the perfect work of Christ, and to help me to do His will, and to receive me to safety and holiness with Himself.

“I ask God to bless my father and mother, and to give them the comfort of His Holy Spirit, and to keep all my brothers and sisters in His faith and fear. ― Clement K. Layton.”

These were Clement’s last words, written with a firm hand, as he sat alone face to face with death.

Sometimes, as Robert and Alick walk on the sands thinking of their brother, rough men come up, and, with tears, speak of Clement, and tell how he had read the bible to them and tried to lead them to his “own Saviour” in whom he trusted.

Dear children, you often sing “

Safe in the arms of Jesus.”

See how safe and happy in the storm and “in danger” was this dear boy whom Jesus loved.

C. P.

Saying Over the Text.

IT is Sunday morning, and little May, who has been up early, is saying over to herself her texts of Scripture before she runs off to her class in the Sunday School. May has not yet been once late at her class; neither has she ever had a bad mark for ill-behavior there, so little May sits in the seat of honor beside her teacher. Can you tell me why you should not be always punctual and attentive?

Will you learn May’s three texts? Each one has the little but bright word love in it. Nothing could make you happy if no one loved you, neither can anything in the world make us truly happy unless we know that God loves us. We will number the texts:

1. “God is love.”― 1 John 4:16.

2. “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins. Hath quickened us together with Christ.”―Ephesians 2:4, 5.

3. “We love Him because He first loved us.” ―1 John 4:19.

Why does God love poor guilty sinners who do not love Him? There is only one answer: because “God is love.” It is His divine pleasure to love.

The next verse speaks of God’s great love. It is a very great love, because He loved us when we were so far off from Him, and because He has brought us so very near Himself. We love persons because we find in them something which we like. If you think over the names of your young friends, you will say, “Yes, I love them because they do the things which I like.” But God’s love is very great, and His mercy is rich, hence He loved us in our state of enmity to Him, and when we were dead in our sins.

The third verse speaks not only of God’s love to us, but also of our love to Him. There is a because, a reason for loving, in all our love. God gave Jesus to die for us, He pitied us when we were dead in sins, He has made us His people, and because of His great love to us, we give our little love to Him. God loves us because He is love; we love God because He first loved us. Tell me, dear young readers, do you love God?

A Hymn.

HOLY JESUS, meek and mild,

Once was born a little child.

In a manger He was laid,

With no pillow for His head.

All His life He loved to do

Just what God would tell Him to;

Good and kind to every one―

God’s beloved holy Son.

Wicked men―though He was good―

Nailed Him to a cross of wood;

And God’s holy anger, too,

Fell on Him instead of you.

Why was this? you well may say―

‘Twas to put our sins away;

There He died that we might be

Saved from sin’s dark penalty.

Do you love Him, little child―

This dear Jesus, meek and mild?

Do you wish to see His face,

And to thank Him for His grace?

It will be a happy song

Through eternity so long:

Unto Him that died for me,

Praises, endless praises be!

W.T.

Part 2, The Apostle Paul

His Conversion. ―Acts 9

AFTER Stephen’s death, Saul obtained from the high priest letters permitting him to go to Damascus, to bring any Christians he could find, bound to Jerusalem. Damascus is 136 miles from Jerusalem, and the journey would take about a week.

When near Damascus, suddenly “a light, above the brightness of the sun,” shone round about the persecutor, and he heard a voice, saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” Saul fell down to the earth, and cried, “Who art thou, Lord?” And the Lord said to him, “I am Jesus,” the One whom he had been persecuting, who had been rejected by man. But the Lord did not condemn him. Accepted by God, in the glory, He was a Saviour for Saul. He revealed Himself to him in calling Saul by his name, and Saul became the servant of Jesus from that day. In saying “Why persecutest thou Me?” the Lord made known to Saul the blessed fact that the poor, despised ones whom he was persecuting were one with Himself― His body upon the earth―loved by Himself with a perfect love.

The effect on Saul of this heavenly vision was that “he saw no man.” When you have been looking towards the sun have you not noticed that, for a while afterward, you can hardly see anything? So Saul says, “I could not see for the glory of that light.” His eyes were shut to earthly objects; he was led by the hand to Damascus, where, for three days, he neither eat nor drank. What days for Saul! He had seen Jesus! The light of His glory had shown him himself, his past life, his bitter enmity against Jesus of Nazareth. And this very Jesus, instead of condemning him, made Himself known to him, and gave him a message too to deliver to others: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in Me.”―(26) If, during these days of blindness, Saul found out that he was “the chief of sinners,” he also learned that “the grace of our Lord is exceeding abundant,” and that “He came into the world to save sinners.” — 1 Timothy 1.

Do you think Paul cared much for things down here after seeing such heavenly sights? No. He says, “For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, I count all things but loss.”―Philippians 3:8. He would never be satisfied until he was with, and perfectly like, the One whom he had seen in heaven.

The Lord bade a disciple named Ananias, whom we never hear of again, to give Saul his sight. At first Ananias was afraid to go to Saul, but upon the Lord telling him what a chosen vessel unto Himself Saul was, Ananias did as he was bidden, put his hands upon Gaul’s eyes, whereupon the scales fell off. Then Saul was filled with the Holy Ghost, and was baptized.

Saul tarried some days in Damascus with the Christians he had come to bind and to carry away, and preached in the synagogues of the Jews that Jesus is the Son of God! Imagine the feelings of friends and foes when they heard Paul proclaim the Man once crucified, a divine Person in the glory! Truly the preacher was turned from darkness to light, and, increasing in strength, he proved that Jesus is very Christ, is the exalted Messiah.

"Behold! Ye Despisers."

THE gospel service had ceased, and as the people were passing out I observed a gaily-dressed young girl, decked out like a butterfly, who, to judge by appearances, seemed determined to enjoy life and live for herself. The question, “Are you saved?” was tenderly and earnestly addressed to her, but she tossed her head, as she lightly replied, “Oh! I have heard all about that over and over again.” “But are you resting on Jesus as your own Saviour?” I inquired. Again she evaded the question. “Come,” said I, solemnly, “are you a Christ accepter or a Christ rejecter?” She hurried by, muttering, “A Christ rejecter.”

A day or so elapsed when she told her mother with a smile, that she had heard some preaching the previous Sunday, adding also what she, had said as she left the place. “Mother,” she exclaimed, “get me the bible, that I may read what happens to these Christ rejecters.” Hardly had she uttered the words than, to her mother’s terror, and without one word of warning, the poor girl fell down a corpse upon the floor.

Beloved reader, this judgment of God happened only a week or two ago, and under the writer’s eyes. God is not to be mocked. In the presence of eternity and the judgments of God, I earnestly ask you, “Are you saved? Are you resting on Jesus as your own Saviour?” I beseech you now in this day of grace to be reconciled to God, through faith in His Son, warning you against the coming judgment (Rev. 20:11-13), and the eternal lake of fire (Rev. 21:8), and the end of all who despise Christ.

Alas! how many who read this page arc practically despisers of God’s grace. You do not believe the work which God has wrought, though it is declared to you. You are not yet resting only upon the blood of Christ. Jesus is not yet your Saviour, while mercy still stretches out her hand, believe, repent. Oh! sinner, “Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of.... Behold! ye despisers, and wonder, and perish.”

"Only the Bible!"

“SAVED! I should not like to say that.

How can anyone know for a certainly that he is saved?”

“But if God Himself told you, would you believe Him?”

“Yes, certainly, if God told me, I should believe Him.”

“And God has told you, that you may know that you are saved,” I said.

The lady to whom I was speaking looked at me as if she expected some supernatural visitation, and I cannot depict her disappointed countenance, nor soon forget her dissatisfied muttering, “What! only the bible!” as I opened the book by which God speaks to us.

The bible, dear friend, is the word of the living God; it testifies to the finished work of His Son, and Jesus says to you in the bible, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, Hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24.)

It is “only the bible” which says to you, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31), and which warns you, “He that believeth not is condemned already.” It is “only the bible” to which the trembling believer can look for the knowledge of peace with God. It is “only the bible” which will survive the wreck of this world’s grandeur and greatness, for God says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away.”

I pray you take your stand upon the only rock that will never be moved. Receive the declaration of “forgiveness of sins” from the word of the living God. “Through this man (Christ Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified from all things.” (Acts 13:38.)

May you, dear friend, credit every word in the bible, and, looking away from yourself, you shall be able, by the grace of God’s Spirit, to say, “I know that I am saved; God has told me.”

H. N.

Lines Written Upon a Dying Couch.

Song of Sol. 2.

Kiss me, with Thy kisses pure,

For Thy love loth aye endure,

Better far than wine.

Kiss me, with Thy loving mouth,

Like the breeze from out the south,

Kindling joy divine.

Kiss me, with Thy kisses sweet,

While I linger at Thy feet,

Beloved! Thou art mine.

1St November, 1874. T. M.

Resurrection, E. D.'S Conversion

IT would be a terrible thing if all that God did for us was saving us from the punishment of our sins! And yet this thought of being saved from punishment, and of being happy in eternity, is all that man’s thoughts about the Gospel amount to. Yes, even in Christians, so strong is the selfishness of the natural heart, that we too often find that their chief thought about Christ is that He is the means whereby they are saved from hell. Self, self, is the hurtful weed springing up constantly even in the renewed heart. If we get beyond the thought of being saved from hell, and think what it will be to be in heaven, our natural hearts will be filled only with selfish thoughts even of heaven. We do not perhaps, like Mahomet, think of heaven as a place where our senses are to be pleased and indulged, a place of eating and drinking, and of bodily enjoyment only. But though we should have learned to have higher thoughts of the happiness of heaven, would they after all be higher, in many cases, than simply that self is to be pleased in a higher way? That we shall have no more sickness nor pain; that we shall meet again those whom we have loved; that we shall die no more is, alas, all the heaven to be found in many sermons, in many hymns, in many hearts!

How little do we enter into God’s thoughts for us! As little, very often, as an infant into his mother’s thoughts about him. That he should have a toy is his thought of happiness; well for him that his mother’s thoughts go further, and well for us that God’s thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor His ways as our ways. That we are saved from condemnation must be the first thought with the sinner who is brought into the knowledge of the gospel. Thus we find in the Old Testament that the Sin offering, which was the picture of the putting away of the judgment upon sin, was first to be offered. But when God spoke of the offerings, as they ranked in His mind, He began with the great Burnt offering, which tells what the death of Christ is to God. But we have to learn from the other end, so to speak, and to see first what Christ is to us.

E. D. had learned, through the wondrous teaching of the Holy Ghost, how sin was put away; that God saw her sin no more, and would never see it again, because Christ had borne the awful judgment which she had read of in the terrible verses she had been copying out during the past forty days. What a flood of light and joy now poured in upon her soul! But this was not all she had to learn on that happy day. All at once, the ribbon-weaver’s sermons, which she had read them, came into her mind, and seemed to her as though they had been suddenly and instantly made clear to her. She was now aware that she had never understood them before, and for the rest of the day she was simply lost in wonder at what she now saw for the first time. “it was not merely,” the ribbon-weaver had said, “that Christ died, He is also risen again,” and in words to this effect, he added, “if you know what Christ’s death is to you, you now have to learn what His resurrection is. It is not merely a fact that Christ rose from the dead as an event in history, but as His death was your death so is His resurrection your resurrection. It is you, dead soul, who awake through the mighty power of God, in consequence of Christ’s death, to a new life. You are alive with His life. You come out of the grave of sin and self, and are alive for evermore with a life you never had before, which will bring forth in you the works which are pleasing to God.” Yes, not only forgiveness of sin: but eternal life. Did you ever consider how distinct these two things are? And what a terrible thing, I would repeat, it would be for us to have the first only. To be save from judgment and yet to have the same evil, miserable nature forever. What place of torment would heaven be to us What a life of misery the eternal existence would be! But “this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” Yes, the same life that is in Christ Himself is in the believer. You might think it a great deal if God put into you the life of an angel. But how much more, how infinitely more, is the gift that He has given―the “life that is in His Son.’

It is no wonder that E. D. was so utterly amazed at this wondrous truth that she could do nothing for the rest of that day and for some days following but simply enjoy it. It did occur to her once or twice that this fathomless tide of blessing had come to her through one who was just like the foreigner she had read of in the other book, not a member of what she had once called the one Catholic Church, but a simple, unlearned working man, who held meetings and preaching’s such as she had thought to be sinful and contemptible. But when the thought came she could only answer “I know that what I have learned is Christ, and if it contradicts my old thoughts they must go to the four winds.”

She had to return the book soon after to its owner; but she often read it over in memory. That little old-fashioned shabby book was the only book, except the word of God, which now seemed to her to have been worth reading. It had been to her indeed a channel through which the living water had flowed from the risen Christ.

It was now clear to her where good works came from. They were the consequence of the life within, just as the fruit on a tree is the consequence of the living sap flowing through the branches. Here, then, we come to the right explanation of that verse which the lady repeated to the minister in order to prove that we are to work for salvation “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” You cannot work out what is not within, any more than you could pour water out of an empty pitcher. But when the life is there, God looks that it should be worked out in service to Himself; and therefore we are never commanded in scripture to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, but we are simply told what the fruit is― “Make the tree good, and its fruit good.”

Life to E. D. now became a very different thing, and she began to understand those wonderful words― “I delight to do Thy will, O my God.” It had often seemed to her before simply impossible ever to speak to others about God, as she read in books of people doing. In those days she had satisfied herself with various excuses to account for her never doing it, such as “What people feel deeply about they are not so ready to speak of;” “Only irreverent people would like to talk about such things;” “Deeds are better than words,” &c. It is strange that people who thus excuse themselves do not see what hypocrites they are. As to feeling deeply, Christ is, alas, the One concerning whom they feel nothing. As to reverence, whilst they feel it perhaps towards a stone building, they do not know God, and therefore do not reverence Him in the least. As to deeds, “those that are in the flesh cannot please God,” and the works by which in any measure they satisfy themselves are simply sin in His sight.

E. D. had often imagined she did feel deeply about God and Christ, but she now saw it was a God, a Christ of her own imagination. And having the true God before her eyes, and having seen and heard the living risen Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost, she could but “speak of the things which she had seen and heard.”

Many old friends, many near relations who had thought well of her before, were now up in arms. Scarcely any were otherwise than displeased; but the presence and the blessed companionship of Christ left no room for sorrow or loneliness. Some of the poor seemed willing to listen when told of Christ and His perfect work, and in time many who loved Him took the place of the former friends who had turned away.

All might now have gone on happily with E. D. But, alas, so ready is Satan to take an advantage of us, that even the greatest favors which God can do us may be turned into snares for our feet! It is only too common for believers who are rejoicing in some fresh knowledge of God to make that very joy a hindrance by resting satisfied with that to which they have attained. It is against this that the Holy Ghost warns us in that wonderful chapter, Phil. 3. There is a goal there set before us, and to stop short of that brings darkness, sorrow, and shame upon those who may for a time have run well.

One night, in thinking of the wonderful power of Christ’s resurrection, the further thought came to E. D., “I do not yet know what His ascension is to me. I see that His death was my death, His resurrection my resurrection. But He not only rose, He ascended into heaven, and I have not yet known what that is.”

Had E. D. gone then and there to the Lord Himself for an answer to this question, had she searched the word, and looked in faith for the teaching of the Holy Ghost, the Lord would not have left her in ignorance. But, alas, she contented herself with the thought, “I shall find this out some day.” She looked upon it as some further step, which no doubt she would one day take, but was contented for the present with what she had. We little know what we are doing in neglecting any truth God has revealed.

How many speak of the blessed hope of the Lord’s coming, for example, as something which no doubt it is very happy to believe in, but to have other “views,” as they say, “of prophecy” appears to them a matter of indifference. “After all, if only we love Christ,” many will say, “we must agree to differ about many things: we cannot all see alike;” “All truths are not essential,” &c.

Had E. D. only known how essential was the truth she was neglecting, well would it have been for her. But, alas! she let it pass. Our selfish hearts readily settle clown into contentment when we know we are safe forever. But God will not let His children find rest in anything lower than that in which His own heart can rest forever. E. D. had to learn a further lesson, and to learn it with sorrow and shame in years to come. She did not see that in what God does for His saints He considers what is due to Christ, for it is to reward Christ that He gives blessing to those whom He saves. Therefore to have low thoughts of the blessing which God has for us is to have low thoughts of the wonderful work of Christ, and of His value in God’s sight. But we shall at last, if we are indeed God’s children, be brought to own so fully that all is of Christ, by Christ, and for Christ, that we shall understand why God can give to us such unspeakable blessing and glory. Not only can give, but must give, for Christ’s reward is ours. If He won it, it must be measured by His deserving, not by ours. We shall then no longer sit down satisfied with the thought of “getting inside the door of heaven in some low place.” What a mass of pride is man’s humility! Self, only self! F. B.

Spiritual Perception.

IT is astonishing what keenness of vision to behold the beautiful in God’s people is attained by studying the beauties of Christ. We learn to discern what is lovable in His own by looking off unto the Lovely One. A sure sign of a low spiritual condition is an aptness for picking holes in others. Half, and a very large half indeed, of the spirit which sees so much blackness in God’s people arises from a spiritually diseased sight. Christians thus affected should buy from the great Physician the needed eye salve. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Phil. 4:8.)

3, The A B C of the Gospel.

THERE is no truth which stands out in greater clearness in the New Testament than the utter ruin of man, yet there is, perhaps, no truth which our hearts more slowly take in. The statement that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” is accepted; but by self-efforts, by looking to feelings, and a variety of ways and endeavors to make self in some degree fit for God, that word is practically denied. But, until our utterly lost and helpless state as sinners is submitted to, we are morally unfit to receive God’s gospel, and the great practical hindrance to souls obtaining peace and rest, lies in their looking within their hearts to find these blessings, instead of believing God, whose grace brings salvation, peace, and rest to us.

When the leper of old appeared before the priest, having but the smallest speck of leprosy upon him, he was pronounced unclean, and was forbidden the camp, and as the dreadful disease spread, till almost his whole body was a mass of leprosy, still he was unclean, still he was barred out of the camp; but, to show what God’s thoughts are, directly the leprosy had covered him from head to foot, so that there was not one sound spot left about him, the priest pronounced him clean, and once more the camp was open to him. So is it with the sinner. Let him be in his own eyes guilty of but one offense, or guilty of all offenses but one, he is unclean, and unfit for heaven; but let him own his entire guilt, confess that he has not one single word to say in his own favor, and God justifies him. Reader, the leprosy of sin is upon you, and you own it, but do you feel your total ruin? Have you given up every thought of good in self? Do you no longer excuse or justify yourself, but, as a sinner, stand confessedly guilty before God? “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5, 6.)

It is at the very point where man is brought in utterly lost, that God opens His heavens to us, and sheds forth upon us the gospel of His grace and glory. When man had done the worst that he could do in wickedness and in hatred to God by crucifying Jesus; when God, in His righteous wrath against sin to the utmost, had forsaken Jesus, who was made sin for us; and when the Blessed One had poured out His blood for sin, God took up a new attitude towards man. Then God gave an answer to the shouts, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” then His heart replied to man’s heart. And what was the answer? Oh! such a reply! God rent the vail that for centuries had hidden Him from man, laid bare the mercy seat, and proclaimed His love to man from heaven, and forgiveness, peace, and righteousness for all who believe. The God, who brings us in guilty, shuts up our mouths, and takes away from us every excuse and self-justification, opens His heavens to our gaze, sets forth the Propitiatory, Jesus, the mercy-seat for sins, and justifies the poor sinner, upon his believing in His crucified and risen Son!

Our sins cry for judgment from this earth. God sets forth His Son, a propitiatory for us in heaven! It was justice to Him who had finished the work given Him to do, that He should be raised from the dead and given glory on high. His blood has answered for sin; it cleanses us from every sin. And now God declares His righteousness, by justifying every sinner who believes on Jesus. The question is, Do you rest upon His blood? Do you see God’s righteousness satisfied by the blood of Jesus? Do you see that God has raised Him from the dead, and now sets Him forth to you a mercy-seat for sins? You come to God lost, guilty, and in your sins, you come to His throne, His mercy-seat, for what, to be judged, to be sent to hell? No, to learn that the righteousness of His throne is ranged upon your side, that the blood upon His mercy-seat has atoned for your guilt, to hear Him say of you “Clean, every whit,” “Justified from all things.” Do you not delight in this grace and righteousness?

God does not punish twice for one offense. Jesus was delivered for our offenses, for every one of them, and God does not simply save us from hell, He declares us to be righteous; we are, being believers in Jesus, freed from every charge. “It is God who justifieth.”

This is the way God breaks down our rebellious hearts. Thus He melts our iron wills. Thus grace reigns through righteousness. Not a sin is made light of or passed by, but every single sin has been judged by God, and the very blood which is the measure of our sins is our peace.

We look back to the day when God’s judgment was laid upon Jesus, and rejoice that for us there is “now no condemnation.” The storm has passed over us never to return. We are in the cloudless sunshine, where for all eternity the light and love of God are our portion. Reader, own, I pray you, your ruin, and accept God’s righteousness in a risen Christ.

Not Conformed, but Transformed.

Rom. 12:1, 2

THE believer is justified by God, he has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, who is given him. It is by these and such mercies of God that he is enjoined to the devotion of his whole person to God, to absolute self-surrender, to consecration and holiness Until God’s gospel mercies are our possession we are not called upon to give the smallest thing to God, and it is only as in the realization of Hi gifts to us, that we are capable of rendering aught to Him.

And being the recipients of God’s mercies we are besought to present―not a trifling gift to om God, not merely our time, or our money, but everything— “our bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” And this presentation of the whole person to God is not to be rendered by us in an unintelligent spirit, such as that which drives men into monasteries, there to blindfold their minds and to sell or to surrender their will: to a superior, but it is an intelligent, a reasonable service, one in which the mind is perfectly alive to the thoughts of God.

Upon dedication comes the exhortation not to be conformed, but transformed. When converted the believer occupies a special platform―he is separated by God from the world. And being God’s, the anxious question arises, Will he live for God? Will he be entirely and only for God or will he go down to the level of this world, leave his privileged place of separation, and once more become like his old companions, and sink back into his former habits and thoughts?

It is impossible to be like the world, to do as it does, and to be practically holy. And though peculiarity is not holiness, yet there is peculiarity in holiness. We do not say that to wear a gray suit or a Sister of Mercy’s ghastly attire has any holiness in it, but if the heart be separate from thy world, even in outward things, the state of till heart will be expressed.

We must not mistake peace with God for inward holiness: the possession of peace is a mercy which should lead to holiness; neither is joy in God holiness, but a gospel mercy which should stir up our affections to surrender all to God. Too many, having heard and believed the gospel of peace, and being assured of salvation, are content with the assurance, and basely, selfishly, return to their former worldly associations. There was a measure of separation to God with many when first converted―for upon conversion such is invariably the case―for a short time the new convert to God was content to be peculiar, but the world bid for his company, and he left the platform of separation to God, and descended to the world’s level. Mark him now! He dresses as the world, does as the world, talks as the world, and the world to which he is conformed exclaims, “Surely he is no Christian!” Let us, dear reader, in the presence and possession of the mercies of God, heed the exhortation, “Be ye not conformed to this world.” Let the peace God has given us, the freedom from doubts and fears, yes, all His gospel mercies, lend their force to the exhortation not to become like the world out of which the blood of Christ has redeemed us.

“But be ye transformed.” Conformity is going down to the old state of things, but to be transformed is to rise up into that which is outside and beyond us. God would have the caterpillar become the butterfly; the groveling soul, the elevated Christ-like spirit; the dull, stupid child, the bright intelligent son the being, once living for self and life-time, taken up with Christ and glory.

And how is this transforming effected? It is not an instantaneous work. We obtained life in Christ immediately upon faith in Christ, but this transforming goes on daily. It is wrought by the Spirit of God, by the renewing of the mind, by continually being in God’s presence, and being occupied with His thoughts. Do we not need daily, hourly renewing of the mind? Do we not feel how deeply we require His gracious work within us? We must yield ourselves to God, and by degrees we shall become practically and positively holy. Holiness is not merely the absence of bad thoughts or non-conformity to this world, it is positive good, and it finds its force in proving God’s will. Once we liked to let our wills have their full fling, but by the grace of God’s Spirit within, we prove that God’s will is good, and then we find that it is acceptable―our hearts really rejoice in His will; and so we come to bow with reverence and joy before His will, for it is perfect.

The motive for this devotion to God is surely seeing His wondrous mercies―which are ours in Christ-saved by His grace, washed in the blood of Jesus, justified from all things, possessors of peace, filled with His love, indwelt by His Spirit no condemnation, no separation! Oh! the depth of His riches! Therefore, “by the mercies of God... be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

The Little Boy Who Sang Himself to Sleep.

WE give you a picture of a child asleep, as we are about to tell you of a little boy, who went to bed feeling so happy that he sang himself to sleep. Most children can remember some special time when their young hearts were so full of sorrow that they cried themselves to sleep; but I am afraid there are not many who can remember a night when they sang themselves to sleep for joy, because they had learned that Jesus had borne their sins when He died on the cross. But I have heard of one little boy who thus sang himself to sleep, and I will tell you about him.

He lived in London. His mother loved him, but she was not a Christian, and his father was a drunkard. Poor, poor little boy! What was to become of him, with a swearing, drinking father, and a godless mother? Perhaps he never thought. But God, who sees and knows everything, and who loves to save poor sinners, whether they be old or young, had thought of this little boy. One day God put it into the heart of someone to ask this boy to hear the gospel preached to children. Until this time the little boy knew nothing of the love of God, or that he was a sinner needing salvation; but on that day he was plainly told that he was a sinner―one who has offended against God―and he was also told that God is so full of love and pity that, instead of sending sinners to hell to suffer for the wicked things they have done, He sent His own Son from heaven to become a man to be punished in their stead. The little boy was told that when the Lord Jesus died on Mount Calvary God punished Him for our sins, and now that God is justly able to let us go free, and that He makes us His own children, and will take us to be with Him and with Jesus, in His own beautiful home forever. The little boy heard, too, how God forgives and saves all who, knowing they are sinners, believe in Jesus.

As he heard these wonderful things he believed them. He was told that he was a sinner, and it made him very sad. He was told that Christ had borne the punishment of sin to save him from having to bear it in hell, where all sinners deserve to go, and so happy was he., that when the people sang―

“I can believe, I do believe

That Jesus died for me;

That on the cross He shed His blood,

From sin to set me free,”

he could not help joining with all his might.

The little boy went away, thinking only of what he had heard. He did not stop to look into the great shop windows, nor did he notice the people or things in the street, but all the way home, if you had been near him, you might have heard him singing over and over again the words―

“I can believe, I do believe

That Jesus died for me.”

When he reached his home he told his mother where he had been and what he had heard, and then went on singing as before. By-and-bye the time came for his father to come home, and his mother, fearing the father would beat the boy if he heard him singing a hymn, sent him to bed. But the little fellow’s heart was so full of the good news, that from his little bed, in the dark, his voice was still heard singing―

“I can believe, I do believe

That Jesus died for me;

That on the cross He shed His blood,

From sin to set me free.”

The sound reached his father’s ears, who angrily asked, “Where has the boy been? Why is he making that noise?” Then he said to his wife, “Go up and tell him to be quiet, or I’ll give him something to make a noise about.” She did so, but added, “You shall sing as much as you like in the morning, only don’t let your father hear you.” Then the mother left her son. However, the little boy still went on singing, only he covered his head with the bed clothes to keep the sound from reaching his father, and at length he fell asleep.

In the morning, as the child did not get up, his parents came to awake him, and what was their sorrow and surprise to find that he never would awake again. The Lord Jesus had called him away in the night, and the mother’s words, “You shall sing as much as you like in the morning,” came strangely true.

Dear children, do not weep over this little story of one who heard of God’s love, believed it, and whom the good Lord Jesus so quickly put to sleep, but rather rejoice that he is with the Lord.

Weep for yourselves if you are not saved. How often you have been told that you are lost sinners, but that Jesus came “to seek and save the lost,” and that if you trusted Him to save you He would do it, and how often have you almost directly forgotten all that you have heard! And some of you are still turning away from Jesus and serving the Wicked One, who is leading you to hell!

Suppose that this little boy had gone home thinking about his play, or about the things he saw in the street, instead of Jesus, where would his soul be now? Ah! dear children, he would have been lost forever! Oh! if God were thus to call you away, would your spirit go to be with Jesus? Do you really know, too, that the Lord Jesus is coming for His people some day? He has not told us when, but it will be very soon if He were to come just now, would you be one of the happy ones caught up to meet Him?

“When the Saviour at His coming

Shall His own in glory bring,

‘Midst the throng of holy children,

Will you, too, His praises sing?”

Oh! dear, dear children, think of these things! If you should be among those who will be left behind when Christ comes for His saints, it will be of no use for you to cry for forgiveness, for the “door” will be “shut.” (Matt. 25:10.) But it is not shut yet; it is still open; wide open, and you may enter in. Yes, every one of you may enter in. Jesus still calls you to come to Him. It is still the day of mercy. Do, then, believe the gracious Saviour, and while you are young give your hearts to Him. I trust that you will not read this little story in vain. Oh! may the Spirit of God lead you to Jesus while “yet there is” (Luke 14:22.)

So prays one who loves you.

J. L.

1. His Messenger, the Child Jesus.

SHALL I tell you a little of God’s holy child Jesus? Many children have never heard of Jesus. Perhaps they live in a country where His name is not known, or perhaps they have no kind mother to tell them of Him. But Jesus wishes little children to be told about Him, and if He were here now He would put His hands on them and bless them, for Jesus loves children, and He was once a child Himself. Before Jesus came into the world God sent a messenger to tell people that He was coming, and to prepare His way. The way God did this was very wonderful. There lived in those days an old man, whose name was Zacharias. He was a priest, and used to serve God in the Temple. He had a wife, whose name was Elisabeth. They had no children, and this made them very sad. One day Zacharias went into the Temple to burn incense on the altar, and all the people were outside praying to God. Presently an angel came and stood beside the altar of incense. Zacharias was frightened when he saw the angel; but he said, “Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard.” What had Zacharias prayed for? I think he prayed that God would bless His people, and God was going to answer his prayer in a way Zacharias did not think, for the angel said that he should have a son, and he should call him John, which means the favor of the Lord. And the angel said, “Thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth.” For this child was to be God’s messenger to teach the children of Israel that they were to leave off their wicked ways, and to obey God’s word, because Jesus was coming very soon.

Did Zacharias believe what the angel said? No, he thought it was too wonderful to be true. But is anything too wonderful for God to do? Nothing. When God loves anyone nothing is too good for Him to do for them. The angel was grieved because Zacharias did not believe, and he told him that he should not be able to speak until his words came to pass. The people outside were surprised that Zacharias did not come out to them, and when he did come he could not speak. But God gave him a son, as the angel said, and when he was eight days old they were going to circumcise the child, and their friends wanted to call him Zacharias, because that was his father’s name; but Elisabeth understood the favor of the Lord to her, and she said, “No, his name shall be John.” Then his father made signs for something to write upon, and wrote― “His name is John.” Was it faith made his parents call the baby John? Yes, it showed that they believed what God said about their little child, and as soon as Zacharias had written,” His name is John,” he was able to speak again, and he praised God. The child grew strong in mind and body. HE lived in very lonely places, but God took care of him, and fitted him to prepare men for the coming of the Lord Jesus, of whose birth I will tell you in our next number.

A. M. S.

"God Is Light."

I WAS telling some of you last month why some children are afraid of being alone in the dark, but now I want to tell you how terribly your hearts would quail to stand in the light of God’s presence if you have not Christ as your Saviour. For if He is not your Saviour now, you will have to stand in that light by-and-bye exposed in your sins. Every stain that is hidden now in the darkness of this world, from human eyes, brought out in all it hideousness there; the eye of God, to which, eves now, all things are naked and opened, piercing you through and through, for “God is Light, am in Him is no darkness at all.”

Do you remember the effect on Paul of till “light above the brightness of the sun?” That light was from the glory of God where Jesus is. It struck him to the ground, and it dazzled him, for he says, “I could not see for the glory of that light.” And even the men with him were afraid. Would you be afraid? Or have you had your sins washes away in the precious blood of Christ, and yet yourself accepted and brought right home to God in all the value of Christ, so that now till light, in shining upon you, only skews how white the blood has made you― “white as snow?” Thank God, there are some who know what it is to have been fully exposed in that light now, as lost, ruined sinners, so hopelessly bad, that to be saved in God’s way was the only thing for them.

I was walking one day with a little child, am we were talking about heaven and the glory. Thy sun was shining very brightly overhead, but I was able to say, how much brighter the glory would be. We were going to see a poor woman, and the child begged my leave to ask her if she loved Jesus? and if she would like to see His glory? The answer was given, and a very happy “Yes” it was, for the woman was a Christian, and thy child added, “I should too.” What answer would you give to this question? Remember, we must each give an account of ourselves to God.

C. A. W.

Little Edith.

WHEN Edith was laid upon a sick bed she said, “Mother, can you spare me to go to Jesus?”

“Yes, dear,” replied her mother, “if the Lord wants you. But, my child, He will not have anyone in glory with Him whose sins are not washed away.”

“Yes, mother,” said Edith, “but I have been to Jesus, and asked Him to wash away my sins in His blood.”

“And what did He say to you, my child?”

“You know it is written in the bible, mother, that, if we want anything when we ask for it, we are to believe that we receive it, and we shall have it.” (Mark 11:24.) So Edith took God’s word, just as He says it; she believed, and her sins were washed away.

“When did you first feel you were a sinner?” asked her mother.

“A long time ago, when you were ill. I wanted Lizzie to pray for me, but she said she did not know what to say; so I asked God myself, and He made me happy.”

Her father, who had earnestly prayed that he might receive an assurance from Edith’s own lips that she had passed from death unto life, asked her what was the ground of her faith?

“God’s word gives me confidence, father. I have believed what Jesus did for me, a naughty sinner, by shedding His blood upon the cross, and His word says, ‘He that believeth shall be saved,’ and ‘hath everlasting life.’”

When too ill to speak, little Edith would point with her finger to this sweet passage: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” (Rev. 1:5.) But one day Satan, the enemy of souls, tried her very much. She told us that he brought a great black cloud over her, telling her that God was dealing hardly with her. Poor little Edith was miserable. However, the Lord brought joy to her again, and though amidst great suffering, she could say, “All is bright now; the clouds are all gone. Jesus! Jesus! Thank Him! Thank Him! Clean! Clean!” This was her last day on earth.

The Bird of Power.

The eagle is the King amongst the birds, his strength is the greatest and his flight the highest of all feathered creatures. Should you ever climb some snowy summit, from whence the river shining in the valley beneath looks like the finest thread of silver, and the villages like a few dark specks, you may see, far above your head, poising in the clear blue sky, what at first you might suppose a tiny bird, but which is really the majestic eagle. From that lofty elevation and place of deep stillness, far removed from the earth, the eagle’s piercing eye sees the objects in the valley as clearly as we should if looking through a telescope, and, if a lamb be straying, or a young kid have made a false step amongst the rocks, down swoops the mighty bird and bears up his victim to the crags of the precipice.

The griffon vulture is the eagle of scripture, and as the children of Israel passed through the wilderness to their home in Canaan they must have seen many of these birds amongst the rocks and mountains of the desert. Perhaps some of the people had observed the timidity of the young birds on first leaving their nests, and had seen the old ones teaching and encouraging them to fly whilst circling round the nests or winging their way with them upon their first voyages. This would give especial beauty to the gracious words of the Lord, who had brought his own people out of Egypt, and who was leading them stage by stage to Canaan: “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him.” (Deut. 32:11-12).

This gracious promise is for us, who are journeying to glory, as much as it was for Israel upon their way to the earthly inheritance; the power of the Lord is for us, and His encouragement and unwearied love are ever exercised upon our behalf. We are delivered from the judgment of this world by the atoning blood of Jesus, and as pilgrims below, upon every step of our journey, we have the protection and the power of the Lord for us.

God has used the eagle as an emblem of power above the earth. The cherubim of which we read in Ezekiel and the Revelation are described to us as having the appearance of a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle. The cherubim express to us the actions of God in His government of the world, and as we consider the eagle lifted upon its pinions high above this world, yet with its far reaching vision, seeing what goes on even in the distant valleys, we can understand the emblem which shews God’s discernment from heaven of all that transpires below.

The eagle lives above the world, and as he mounts up to the blue sky, soaring right through the mists and clouds, he well expresses to us the spirit of faith in God which enters into the light of God’s presence. It is only as near God that we can truly understand His ways; if we are looking at what is about us from the level of our own thoughts, it is impossible to gain a right judgment, it is only as near God Himself that we can enter into His mind.

You remember, amongst many texts respecting the eagle, this one, “Where the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” Suppose a traveler in the east setting out upon his journey at break of day. The sky is clear and cloudless, and stillness reigns. As he journeys, one of his camels falls down and dies; he is obliged to leave it. He has not gone many paces before he beholds a speck in the horizon; now there is another—they appear on all sides, they become rapidly lager as their numbers increase! What are they? The vultures! Have they smelt or have they seen the carcass? Be that as it may, they are already tearing the flesh off its bones, while jackal and hyena remain at a respectful distance watching the mighty birds at their repast.

As the vulture flies to its carrion, so swiftly and surely will judgment fall upon all who are not saved by the Lord Jesus! There will be no escape. May each of you have the Lord’s strength upon your side in that day.

Chapter 9,: John Wesley.

The good man Bray, in whose house Charles Wesley lodged, read the bible to him, and talked to him as best he could, and Charles listened gladly, now the he had lost Peter. “God,” he said, “sent Mr. Bray, a poor, ignorant mechanic, who knows nothing but Christ, but by knowing Him, knows and discerns all things.”

A woman of the family also talked to Charles, and told him she would be glad to die at any moment. “For,” she said, “All my sins are blotted out. Christ has saved me by His death. He has washed me by His blood.”

Charles longed to feel this too. As he lay in his bed he prayed, saying: “O, Jesus, thou hast said, I will come to you. Thou hast said, I will send the Comforter unto you.” And so he prayed till he was dropping off to sleep, when he was roused by hearing some words which came to him as a message from God. They were a few simple words spoken by the good woman who had talked to him before, and who nursed him in his illness. Charles received Christ into his heart, and after praying and talking with Bray, he felt a joy and rest in his soul he had never before known. He knew the love of Christ that passes knowledge.

But John could not yet rejoice. Though he was glad for Charles, he felt all the more unhappy about himself. It was on Sunday that he heard of Charles’ happiness. He says in his journal: “On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I had continual sorrow and heaviness in my heart.” And he goes on to describe how he now saw more and more that he was altogether vile and sinful, “deserving nothing but wrath.” He looked back over his past life, and felt how, that one by one, everything he had trusted to for salvation had been like a broken reed. He remembered he had been taught when a child, at Epworth, that he “could only be saved by keeping all the commandments of God.” Then he remembered that though he believed this to be true, he had lived when at school in constant neglect of his duties, and in the practice— the constant practice—of known sins. And he remembered how he them thought that in sprite of it all he might hope to be saved. 1st. By not being so bad as other people. 2nd. By having a respect for religion. 3rd. But reading the bible, going to church, and saying his prayers.

Then he thought of his Oxford life, how at first he lived there contentedly in known sin, and without any or fear of God, and yet thought from time to time that perhaps he might be saved by short fits of repentance every now and then. Then he remembered how he had “turned over a new leaf,” as people say, from reading “Thomas a Kempis” and Mr. Law’s books; how he had then tried hard to be holy; had caused himself to be laughed at and hated; had worked like a slave in visiting the poor; had fasted till he was ill; and then after all had felt no happier, and just as much afraid of death and judgment as before. He remembered, too, his voyage to America, and how he had refused to believe what the Moravians told him about faith and Christ. And then his sad, fruitless labors at Savannah; and his terrible discovery on the way home, that he had never been really a Christian. And then he thought of the light that had come into his mind through his talks with Peter, and he felt now assured that Peter had been telling him the truth about himself when he convinced him that he had not really believed in Jesus. And yet, though he longed to believe, he felt that his prayers for faith were dull and cold; he could not arouse himself, nor make himself really care to have it.

Poor John he was learning that it is not the sinner who makes himself alive; and that it is not to living souls, but to dead ones that Christ speaks the word that calls them out of the grave of sin and death. “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” It is not that the Son of God wants to hear the voice of the dead calling to Him for help; He speaks the word, and they come forth alive for evermore. It was on Wednesday evening, May 24th that the word of life was spoken by the voice of Christ to John Wesley. He had gone “very unwillingly” to a meeting in Alders gate Street, where someone read aloud Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. Wesley had not been fond of Luther, he had spoken of him before as “a wrong-headed German, who made too much of faith, instead of teaching that we are saved by faith and works together.” But now, as he listened to the one reading aloud, Wesley says, “while he was describing the change that God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, in Christ alone, for salvation, and an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. I then testified openly to all there what I now felt first in my heart.”

After this blessed evening John Wesley was indeed a new creature in Christ Jesus. At first Satan tried to rob him of his peace, but he found that Jesus was with him, and when he looked into the Word of God, he says he scarce remembers ever to have opened it but upon some great and precious promise. He now at last had the peace he had so often longed for, and he could praise God and rejoice in Christ, knowing for the first time what joy really means. But at times he felt more sorrow than joy, in the thought of his own sinfulness — not like the sorrow he had felt before, which was more fear of punishment than real sorrow for sin. Now, he never doubted that Christ had saved and forgiven him, and therefore his peace never left him, though at times his joy did. He longed to know more of Christ, and to have more power over his own evil heart, but forgiveness he knew that he had, and he could now understand what it is to be a new creature. I hope to tell you in what follows how John Wesley ran the race in which he had at last started. His history, as God’s servant, properly begins here, and a wonderful history it is. But before I tell you about it, I would ask you earnestly to consider all that I have hitherto told you about him. It concerns you. If you have not yet been born again, it is as needful for you as it was for him to pass through this great and glorious change from death to life. It will be a wonderful day when the body of John Wesley comes forth from the grave, made “like unto Christ’s glorious body,” but it was a more wonderful day in his history when he first heard the voice of Christ and lived. If you do not know what this means, be sure it has never yet happened to you. You see from the history of Wesley, it does not mean turning over a new leaf, or becoming religious, and kind to the poor. All these things could be said of him before. It is a mistake to think that an unsaved, unforgiven sinner never does what are commonly called “good works.” There are thousands who give to the poor, teach in Sunday schools, read the bible, and say prayers, and “do many things” (which last we are told of Herod, who ended by mocking at the Lord Jesus).

What is really true about an unsaved sinner is that all he does are what God calls “dead works,” works that have in them nothing pleasing to God. They are like leaves and blossoms stuck upon a dead tree. The works of a believer are the leaves and blossoms which grow out of the living tree. Which case is yours? If it is the life that is wanting in your case, it is quite plain you cannot give it to yourself, and your case would indeed be an utterly hopeless one, if God did not undertake to do, not some of the work for you, but all. “Then,” you say, “I must wait till He does it.” This would be perfectly true if there were anything to wait for on the part of God. But let me remind you, that your salvation rests, not upon something God is going to do, but on something He has done. God will never do anything more to put away sin. If that is what you are waiting for, you may wait forever. When you look back to the cross on Calvary to see what He has done, and up to Christ who is in glory as the proof how fully that work on the cross has satisfied God―when you thus look, believing all was for you, you have eternal life. Just as when the dying Israelite looked up at the serpent, life flowed into him, so the moment you look up to Christ, owning Him as the one who bore all your punishment, the eternal life flows into your soul from God. It is all there, treasured up in Christ, ready for you now. And remember, too, that the life God gives is the very same life that is now in Christ in glory. “God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” And again, He says, “Christ, who is our life.” With such a life flowing into us, well may we bring forth fruit to the praise and glory of God. It is no longer an imitation of Christ, but we may rather say a continuation of Christ. Wonderful thought! Do you say you must wait, then, till God calls you to take this free gift? He calls you now, by these words. If you do not receive it, it is because you refuse it. You cannot give it to yourself but God has said “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” God gives it, you only receive it. F. B.

Part 3, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 9:23-31; 11:25-30; 12:25; 13:1-12.

SAUL, after escaping both from Damascus ant Jerusalem, is found by Barnabas at Tarsus, his native town, and is brought by him to Antioch, Antioch was an important city in the north of Syria, and there the Lord had been using Barnabas, not only to confirm the hearts of those Gentiles who had been converted through the preaching of men of Cyprus ark Cyrene (11:20, but to bring in “much people” besides. For a whole year Barnabas and Saul remained at Antioch, and assembled themselves with the Church there.

To understand what the Church is we must go back a little. Ever since the call of Abraham, his seed, known as Jews, Hebrews or Israelites, had beer God’s chosen people upon the earth. It was to “His own” people that the Lord Jesus came, “but they received Him not.” (John 1:11) They rejected and slew Him. But by the death of Jesus, God save: Gentiles as well as Jews. Jesus did not die for Jews only, “He died for all,” so that “whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43.) The church or assembly, then, is the company of people upon the earth ‘who are no longer Jews nor Gentiles, but Christians.

The Jews were not pleased that God should have a Church upon the earth; they were accustomed to call the Gentiles “dogs;” therefore, in their religious pride, they refused the preaching of the Apostles, stoned Stephen, and rejected the testimony of the Holy Ghost to the love of God and to their own guilt in crucifying Jesus. And now God has set them aside as a nation for a time.

How blessed is His grace which tells us Gentiles and strangers to His covenants with Israel and His promises, that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish.”

At Antioch the disciples were first called Christians, or followers of Christ. It was to Antioch that, after visiting Jerusalem the second time, Saul returned with Barnabas and John Mark, and at Antioch the Holy Ghost said by the lips of a prophet “Separate for set apart) me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.”

Being thus sent forth, they went to Seleucia, a seaport town, whence they sailed to Cyprus, where already the Jews had been preached to by the disciples (11:19). Cyprus is a large, island, about 100 miles from Seleucia, its chief towns being Salamis and Paphos, at both of which places the “word of God” was preached by Barnabas and Saul with their companion John Mark. At Paphos, the Roman governor Sergius Paulus desired to hear, but Elymas, a Jewish sorcerer, sought to turn him away from the truth’. Saul (who is henceforth called by a Roman name Paul), full of the Holy Ghost, rebuked him, and a blindness from God fell on the unhappy man (compare Rom. 11:25). Then Sergius Paulus believed, and was, as far as we know, the first-fruits to God among the Gentiles in that city.

H. L. H.

Questions.

1. What caused Saul to leave Jerusalem besides what is said in Acts 9:29, 30? ―2. How many times was Paul employed to carry money to the poor saints at Jerusalem? ―3. How long had Paul been converted before he went to Jerusalem? ―4, What was the tribe, country, and Christian name of Barnabas? ―5. What relation was John Mark (or Marcus) to Barnabas, and what was his mother’s name and dwelling place ―6. What other sorcerers Ind such like evil characters do we read of in the Acts? ―7. Which of the Epistles did Paul write? ―8. Give some passages concerning the “word of God” from Paul’s epistles.

H. L. H.

How William Hunter Was Burned for Reading the Bible

WE all like to hear of the noble men, who suffered for the Lord Jesus Christ and His word and from time to time there will be in our pages short accounts of one and another of the martyrs of Jesus.

Some 300 years ago it was not possible that the bible could be in every house as now, but in many of the churches a large copy of that precious book was kept. It was laid upon a desk and chained to a pillar, and to this book any one might go to read what God tells us. But, with the accession to the throne of Queen Mary the Papist, it became contrary to the laws of England to read God’s word, and, as we shall see in the instance of William Hunter, to read the bible might lead to being burned alive.

William Hunter was an apprentice in London. He feared God and loved His word and this his master knew, for when the true decrees of Queen Mary were issued, Hunter’s master, sent his apprentice home for fear that he should, be implicated by the you man’s faith.

So William returned to Brentwood, when his parents lived. When he had been then some six weeks he longed to get some foot for his soul, so he quietly stole into thy church and went up to the place where the bible was. After he had read a little out of the book, an-officer of the bishop said to him, William why meddlest thou with the bible?” to whom he replied, that it was for his comfort and edification. Then the officer told a priest what William had done and he was very angry indeed: “Sirrah,” he cried fiercely, “who gave you liberty to read, the bible and expound it?” Whereon William Hunter boldly said, that read God’s word he would, as long as he lived, as that word enjoined him.

After a little the priest informed a neighboring magistrate, and he sent for the youth’s father, who, with tears, told the magistrate that William had left home, and that he could not seek out his son in order that he should be burned. Then the persecutor! found William and put him in the stocks for twenty-four hours, even as the pagan enemies of Christ had done before to Paul and to Silas.

After a while a bible was brought to William, the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel opened, and he was asked whether he believed that in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper the bread really contained the body of Christ. The sixth of John does not relate to the Supper, but to Christ Himself, and that the body of our blessed Lord is in the bread of the sacrament, William stoutly denied, whereupon his doom was sealed. But here let us explain, in a general way, and without touching upon the differences between Romanist and Ritualist, what is meant by the real presence of the Lord being in the bread of the Supper, and perhaps there is no better way of doing this, than by giving the exact words of an article in a monthly publication which is issued and circulated in England by the Ritualists. The paper is upon “the First Christian Passover,” which title implies more than one sacrifice of Christ, in direct denial of the scriptures, “nor yet that He should offer Himself often,” and, “by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” (Heb. 9:25., 10:14.)

The article is addressed to children, and is as follows: ―

“When our dear Lord and Master had fulfilled and forever put an end to the Jewish Passover, He proceeded to institute the Holy Eucharist, or Christian Passover.” (Note, that God says “Christ”―not the Eucharist―is “our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7), and that “He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Heb. 9:26.) “Every priest from that day to this has consecrated bread and wine. By this miracle of Consecration Almighty God invented a! means whereby He can be ever present in our churches.” (But Jesus says, “where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt. 18:20.) “And feed His faithful people, who approach His altar to receive Him All that is needed, dear children, to bring Jesus Christ into our churches are those few words said by a priest of God over the bread and wine”.... “The blessed sacrament under both God and Christ united are hidden from human eyes.” (Jesus says, “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24.) “Angels, with adoring awe, surround the altar, and in prostrate adoration worship Him. Boys and girls, too, when permitted to be present at this most awful mystery, should imitate those angels.”

God forbid that any of our readers should ever be idolaters of this sort, or worship the bread of these so-called Christian priests!

Alas! we see that the selfsame awful lies of Satan, the rejection of which cost so many noble men their lives, are widely circulated and taught in our country. Be sure of this, that if ever the teachers of these things gain the power to do so, they will burn people for reading the bible, which rebukes their wicked doctrines and practices, as their fathers burned the brave youth William Hunter, So they brought William before the Bishop of London, who asked him to say that Christ’s body is in the sacrament of the altar; and when William would not do so, the bishop threatened him that he should be burned before he was twenty years old. After imprisoning the Christian youth, and otherwise punishing him, the bishop sought to bribe him into denying the faith; but William told him that he counted all his worldly offers, “loss and dung in respect of the love of Christ.”

As neither threats nor bribes moved him, they sent William back to Brentwood, and there his parents saw him, comforted him, and helped him in the faith, his mother saying, she blessed God for a son who could find it in his heart to lose his life for Christ’s sake. “Mother,” said William, “the little pain I suffer will be soon at an end. Christ hath promised me, mother, a crown of joy; should not you be glad of that?” Then his parents knelt down and blessed God.

While William was a prisoner in Brentwood many people came to see him, to whom he spoke of Jesus, of His great love, and of the joy of being with Him in glory; and he besought them to beware of the idolatry of worshipping bread consecrated by a priest.

When the last morning came, a company of archers and men-at-arms brought the young martyr to the place of burning. On one side of William walked his brother; on the other the son of the very sheriff whose office it was to see to the death of the martyr. These two young men encouraged William to suffer for Jesus. Then his father met him with “God be with thee, son William.” “God be with you, good father,” he cheerfully replied, “for I hope we shall meet again, when we shall be joyful.”

All things were not ready when the place of martyrdom was reached, so William knelt down and read the gist Psalm. Just then a letter from the queen was brought him, having these words, “If thou will recant, thou shalt live; if not, thou shalt be burned.”

What was William to recant―his denial of the lie that the body of Christ, which is glorified in heaven at God’s right hand, is in the bread over which the priest has prayed? Let us rejoice that William’s answer was, “I will not recant, God willing,” which having said, he went to the stake, and stood upright against it.

Queen, bishops, magistrates, priests, were all against the simple youth; but the Lord stood by him and strengthened him. He held his ground for Christ in the face of them all. Was he not a noble witness for Jesus?

A priest now came to him, and bade him recant; but “Away, thou false prophet” he boldly cried, and would not hear him. “Beware of them, good people, and come away from their abominations, lest ye be partakers of their plagues!” he then called to the crowd. Upon which the priest said, tauntingly, “Look how thou burnest here! So shalt thou burn in hell.” To which William cried again, “Away, thou false prophet, away!”

“I pray God have mercy on his soul,” said a gentleman; and the people answered, “Amen, amen!”

Immediately after this the fire was made. Then William gave his precious book to his brother, who said, “William, think on the holy sufferings of Christ, and be not afraid of death!”

“I am not afraid,” the noble youth answered, and lifting up his eyes and hands to the glory where the living Person, Jesus, is, he cried, “Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit!” Then his head fell upon his breast, and he was gone to be with the Lord.

“Fear not them who kill the body, for after that there is no more that they can do,” the wickedness of man can only persecute God’s people in this lifetime, neither kings nor bishops, magistrates nor priests could do more than blow out the little candle of the martyr’s life. Their spite was soon over. William went quickly to his dear Lord Jesus in heaven. By-and-bye he will have the new body, the resurrection body, and will wear forever the martyr’s crown. Where will be the persecuting priests and powers then? Ah! just, but dreadful doom of unrepentant persecutors, their “smoke went up forever and ever.” What power can put out the fire of hell, those flames are everlasting, from them is no deliverance, to them no end, and those who are condemned to that torment die forever, but never die.

Upon whose side are you, reader? If you love your soul have nothing to do with the lies of priests. Are you Christ’s? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Have you the privilege to enter in through the gates into the city? Prize the bible while you have it. Thank God for His word, which brings salvation to you, freely, freely, freely. Cry “Away, false prophet,” to everyone who dares warn you not to, read that book. Be assured of this, that all who would hide from you God’s word, though they assume to be ministers of light, yet they are but emissaries of Satan.

"I Can Believe Now."

“I CAN believe now,” said one, who had been in deep distress of soul. “And what is it that enables you to speak thus?” we inquired. “Oh, it is this text,” was the answer: “‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed;’ that just meets my case.” Reader, it must be Christ, not feelings.

"Can Jesus Save Me Now?"

OH the depth, the reality of the ceaseless joy of “knowing Him,” of hearing His words spoken by the power of the Holy Spirit, “Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee!” How the soul overflows with thanksgivings to Him who has called us “out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Filled with this joy, being only just brought to God, and full of the precious message of His grace, and praying that He would bless it to some soul, I went with my sister to our town hospital. We soon found ourselves in a long room, with beds ranged on either side, the first of which was occupied by a very old woman, whose restless, wandering eyes expressed deep distress.

Sitting beside the sufferer’s bed, our hearts were soon full of sympathy for the poor old woman, as she told how her husband had that morning died, under the same roof, and how that a pauper’s coffin had been provided for him, whose early life had been one of comfort. None but those who visit the fatherless and the widow can realize the longing of a lonely heart to pour out its troubles into another heart; and the desolate widow’s sorrowful tale told, she broke down, completely overcome by her grief.

We felt that it was sympathy she needed, and bade her think of Him who is especially the God of the desolate. Then we asked her if she knew the Lord Jesus as her Saviour? Was there a place prepared for her where “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes?” But, perceiving we were speaking of truths that found no echo in the poor old woman’s joyless soul, we told her in plain, earnest words how Jesus had so lately shown us His great salvation. “And,” said my sister, “I am come to tell you He seeks your soul, to wash it in His blood, and to cleanse it from sin.” After reading these words― “Unto Him that loved is and washed us from our sins in His own blood... be glory and dominion forever and ever,” “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, or to give... forgiveness of sins,” my sister entreated her to believe God’s record, that He Himself is “the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” “For by grace are ye saved through faith... not of works, lest any man should boast.” Then, forgetting for the moment her desolation, the old woman exclaimed, “Oh! is it true? Can Jesus save me now? Why, nobody has ever told me that before. Ladies have come and read to me but I never knew I could be saved, and all by faith in Jesus! Thank God, miss, that He sent you to tell a poor sinner like me that I could be forgiven!”

Reader, it is true of you as well as of my old friend, who is now with the Lord, that Jesus can save you now. Will you believe? “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53) So precious is this work, so perfect in God’s sight, that “Whosoever believeth on Him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43.) Do you believe? “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Rom. 10:9.)

Take God at His Word.

A TRIED hard to save herself, and labored in vain to find peace. Very often she would say, “I want to be saved, but God won’t give me peace. Oh! if I could only say, ‘My sins were forgiven,’ how happy I should be.”

“Take God at His word,” said we; “believe—give up your endeavors to appease God; you go against His plain word by so doing. Christ has met every claim of God’s justice upon, the cross, and God now, through that cross, preaches peace to you.” With similar words we frequently entreated poor A. to leave self and self-help, and to come to Christ and trust His finished work for sinners. Nor was the tale of God’s love and of free grace told A. again and again for naught. For one morning, when greeting her with the customary salutations, her face beamed with joy as she exclaimed, “Oh! I am so happy; I now know that I am saved, safe through the blood of Jesus. The Lord has shone into my soul, and now I cannot tell you my happiness because of what God has done for me.”

Shortly after this we lost sight of A., her husband having removed her to a distance from us. After an interval of three months we visited her, being anxious to discover how her soul prospered. All was well. “Oh! the joy; oh! the settled peace—the rest I have, and all in Jesus!” she exclaimed. “Never, since that night when the Lord shone into my soul, have I had one single question about peace with God.”

A Constant Lesson.

“THE young convert may be compared to a child, whom his father is leading over a rugged and uneven path. After proceeding for some time without much difficulty, he forgets that it has been owing to his father’s assistance—begins to think that he may now venture to walk by himself, and consequently falls. Humbled and dejected, he then feels his own weakness, and clings to his father for support. Soon, however, elated with his progress, he again forgets the kind hand which sustains him, fancies he needs no more assistance, and again falls. This process is repeated a thousand times in the course of the christian’s experience, till he learns at length that his own strength is perfect weakness, and that he must depend solely on his heavenly Father.”―Payson.

Repentance.

“ALL that the hypocrite desires is salvation from punishment, and when he thinks this end secured, he feels no concern respecting his sins. But the true Christian desires to be saved from sin, and his hatred of sin and repentance for it, increase in proportion as his assurance of heaven increases. The repentant sinner feels willing to lie at God’s feet and confess his sins, without even wishing to excuse them.” — Payson.

4, The A B C of the Gospel.

How God Forgives Sin.

GOD is light, in Him is no darkness at all. He hates iniquity and sin. Man is by nature a child of darkness, he loves evil― we go astray as soon as we are born. Therefore, if man is to dwell in God’s presence, it can only be as forgiven and cleansed. Forgiveness is the sinner’s first need, and, thanks be to God, we can say, “there is forgiveness with Thee.”

How brightly shine these divine words, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” (Rom. 4) Reader, are you amongst these blessed ones? oh! if not, rest not until you are, lest you die in your sins and perish eternally.

God does not overlook sins, nor pass over our offenses because it is human to transgress God never foregoes His character. He forgives upon the ground of righteousness. It is because His own Son has borne the penalty due to sins that God forgives them. There is no forgiveness of sins apart from the blood of Jesus. It would not be natural in earthly things that the debtor, hopelessly involved in ruin, should dictate the terms of his discharge to his creditors and his judge. But men too often assume to themselves the principle upon which their sins shall be pardoned by God! “I cannot help sinning,” says one, “so God will not mark my offenses;” “I have given to God many prayers and good works,” cries another, “and so I hope for forgiveness someday.” Baseless hopes! God forgives now—today—and because His own Son has made full atonement for sin.

By the cross, God’s own nature is magnified concerning sin. His righteousness is established everlastingly by the blood of Jesus. If all hell rose up to clamor against a soul, trusting in Jesus, having a place in heavenly glory, Justice could point to the blood as having more than paid the debt of ten thousand crimes and countless evil thoughts and deeds.

God from the eternal throne proclaims His own justice in the forgiveness of sins. He sets Christ, once crucified, before our gaze, and addresses our faith to Him. And what does faith behold in Jesus now? What does faith read in the hands, the feet, the side of Him who became dead, but who lives for evermore? “The debt is paid;” “Sins have been borne.” Faith sees in the risen One the divine approval of the great and glorious work effected by blood and suffering upon the shameful tree. Our peace is upon the throne of God. Upon the cross we saw divine righteousness exacting to the uttermost the last farthing of sin’s terrible debt; upon the throne we see divine righteousness proclaiming, “In Christ we have redemption through His blood―the forgiveness of sins.”

Upon God’s side there is perfect readiness to forgive. Alas! upon man’s side there is too often unwillingness to be forgiven upon the divine terms, “Be it known therefore unto you that through this Man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins;” and upon what terms? “By Him all that believe are justified from all things.” Faith is the only thing demanded of man, and by Him “all,” every sinner who believes, is justified from all things, whatever the things may be. The first all embraces every person who believes; the second all comprises everything that has been done. The circles are complete.

In the most solemn words God warns you not to “judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,” not to listen to the great work of finished salvation wrought for sinners and still to disbelieve; while God, also, in tenderest love, bids you now, today, this moment, “Believe and be saved.”

Reader, this brief life will soon be spent; the grains of sand in your hour-glass are fast hastening down; your little heap of days and months and years will shortly be made up―what then? Eternity! eternity! And what kind of eternity? Peace or woe depends solely upon the treatment God’s glad tidings of salvation receive at your heart.

“But it is only to believe.” God says, “Believe.” The sin of the early rejecters of the gospel was “blaspheming and contradicting;” and men still contradict God’s terms of forgiveness, by saying, We must do something, “He that believeth not God, hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son.” Yet what can you do to save yourself? Can you add to the value of the finished work of Jesus, completed hundreds of years before you were born? The cup of wrath, drunk to the dregs, “finished;” the many stripes, “finished;” the blood shedding, “finished.”

Do not look for a new revelation in your soul, but believe the Holy Ghost’s testimony to what Christ is to God and what He is for sinners, and if you do believe you are that moment forgiven, and fit for God’s presence, whiter than snow, washed in the blood of the Lamb, “forgiven all trespasses,” “clean every whit.”

"All Ye That Labor."

MY friend F. was in great distress about her soul. She read the bible and good books, heard sermons, attended prayer meetings, and tried in every way she could think of to obtain pardon for herself, but all in vain. The way of salvation was plainly set before her; she knew that Christ had borne the penalty of sin, and that she had only to come to Him for peace, but her feeling was always, “I want to come to Him, but I cannot; something seems to hold me back.” At last, one night, as she was thinking how miserable she was, and wondering how long she should remain so, the words, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” came into her mind with great power. She thought, “I am ‘heavy laden,’ so those words are meant for me. Jesus says, ‘Come;’ I will come. Lord, I come to Thee, just as I am. I believe Thou art my Saviour, and that Thou wilt give me rest.” And the Lord did give her rest, according to His word. The moment she believed she obtained the rest she longed for.

How many are there like F.! Wondering why they cannot come. We know of some held in these invisible chains, who for years have been oppressed with a similar burden. Are you not just the heavy-laden souls to whom Jesus speaks? You are amongst the “all” that labor. Oh! cast yourself, “heavy laden” as you are, upon the heart of Jesus. His words are indeed addressed to you. His invitation is specially sent to you. Believe the Lord, and if you feel that you do not believe aright, remember that it is Jesus who saves your soul, and that your faith is simply crediting Him. Do not be occupied with your faith in Christ, but with Christ Himself. Satan often keeps the heart from repose in Christ by occupying it with the quality of its faith; but the Spirit of God puts Christ only before you; rest in His heart, accept His love, leave serf aside, and say as did F., “Jesus says, Come. I will come. Lord, I come to Thee just as I am. I believe,” and you shall have the promised rest.

H. A. I. S. M.

"Reaching Forth."

Philippians 3:13.

THERE is no stagnation in Christian experience; the heights which have been reached reveal heights still higher. As surely as Christ Himself is learned more deeply by the soul so the longings of the heart to know more of Him deepen. The Holy Spirit, who dwells within the hearts of God’s children, is the energy within, which leads them on to Christ. It is He who forms the divinely-given desires, which cannot cease until the goal of glory is reached, and Christ Himself is seen as He is. In the chapter from which the two words heading this paper are taken we have true Christian experience unfolded. Paul was following after, reaching forth, pressing toward the prize, ever, in faith’s vigor, active and energetic, not as though he had already attained or were already perfected. His future fashioned his present. The fact of his assurance that he should be like Christ in glory, formed him the holy, heavenly man he was upon the earth.

All earthly pretensions, place, and power were cast aside, and were counted as dung for the glorious Christ who is in heaven. He would win Him who had bought him by blood. The prize was the Christ who had saved his soul. The Christ who, in weakness and suffering, had been crucified for him, was in glory and honor the sole object of his affections.

“And,” says the Scripture, “let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded.” The perfect are the full-grown, the established believers, such as know that they are saved, and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The poor doubting and fearing spirit, whose life is a constant questioning of the truth of God’s word, and a looking into self for evidences, is not perfect. Clogged with self, and fettered with feelings and fears, he cannot press on to the prize. But the believer, who has true peace with God, and knows the Lord Jesus as the Risen One at God’s right hand, is appealed to, to be as was the apostle.

True holiness is ever “reaching forth unto,” it ever “follows after,” so that we may lay hold of that, for which we are laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Christ has apprehended us for glory, for being with Himself and like Himself up yonder, and as each day He is better learned and more intimately known, the soul reaches on with fresh vigor to Himself where He is.

The Holy Ghost ministering Christ to our hearts is the spring of this activity, and Christ Himself glorified on high the measure of perfection.

Why Little Charlie Left Our School.

CHARLIE was a poor little ill-fed child having a sad face, white with want and woe. As he sat in my class amongst the other boys he listened gladly to the sweet story of God’s love to poor lost boys and girls.

Charlie attended regularly for some months, and seemed to grow a little stronger in body, but when winter came I missed the pale face and large sparkling eyes of little Charlie.

Pressure of work of various kinds prevented me from visiting the miserable abode he called his home, and thus several Sundays passed. His mother was a christian but his father was an ungodly man. He gained his living by playing the “banjo” among a troupe of “negro minstrels” that frequented love public-houses, and his poor little boy and sickly wife knew well what it was to feel the pinch of hunger.

When I called at his home I found that little Charlie had left the school to come back of more. I daresay you wonder why? It was not that, like some disobedient boys, he had run away while his parents thought he was at school, neither had he gone to another school because there was a “treat” coming off there, nor had he left us because he was too “big,” or too much of a man, or because he was too idle to learn his texts, or find out his teacher’s questions. It was for none of these bad reasons and excuses. My little Charlie had left the school to be with the Lord Jesus in Paradise.

In his class, and on his mother’s knee, the words of love and peace had fallen into his heart as well as upon his ear, and little Charlie had believed the love that God had to him, and he really trusted in the Lord Jesus.

During the few weeks of his last illness his chief delight was to hear his mother sing―

“Around the throne of God in heaven

Thousands of children stand.”

His little bed was huddled up in the corner of a cold room, destitute of any of those comforts that cheer the sick rooms of many invalid boys and girls, and there was not much covering for his poor, wasting body, and scarcely a bit of furniture in the place; yet he was full of joy as he thought of being “around the throne.” And once, when his mother wanted to put on him a clean night-shirt, he said, “Oh mother, I don’t want that Jesus has such a clean, white robe for me, and I shall soon be wearing that.”

Charlie’s great desire was to get his father to promise that he would “come to Jesus” and meet him “up in heaven,” for he was very fond of his father, and could not bear to think of never seeing him again.

Dear boys and girls, have you, like little Charlie, believed the love of God? Have you trusted in the precious blood of Christ, and been made whiter than snow? If you have, then indeed you are fit to join that glorious company of happy singers that by-and-bye surround the “throne of God in heaven.”

H. N.

Whom Do You Serve?

Romans 6:13.

LITTLE children; you have each of you a body which has several members―hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, and many more besides. Each of these members is a tittle, instrument for good or evil. Suppose I say, “Joseph here’ is a book, take it.” Joseph wishes to obey, he puts forward his hand, closes his fingers around the book, and takes it His hand serves his will A short story shall help to explain what I mean. A little boy has a whip, with which he plays at horses; one day another boy says to him, “Lend me your whip,” but the other boy uses it to beat a poor dog. Thus as soon as the whip has a bad boy for its master it serves as an instrument for cruelty.

A girl puts out her hand to stop her little sister from falling, then she uses it well; but if she lifts her hand to strike some one, then she uses it badly. If the feet run an errand of obedience, it is well; but if they stamp with impatience, it pleases Satan. You can tell me how your ears serve for good and how for evil. Yes, you may say, we use our ears well if we listen to the word of God, and we use them badly when we lister to naughty tales instead of doing our work.

There is a bad master called “Sin,” and when we give up our members to Sin―hands feet, eyes, ears―all are turned to a bad use like the whip in the hands of the cruel boy The Lord Jesus, God’s Son, became little child, and had a body like ours, only without sin; His hands and feet never did evil, His mouth never spoke any wrong words, and He never lent His ears or eye; to what was wrong, nor had He ever om wrong thought. But those hands, which had touched so many sick people, healing them, and had been laid upon so many little children, blessing them, were pierced with nails; and the feet of Jesus, which were ever going errands of love, were nailed to the cross. And when the good and kind Jesus was nailed to the dreadful cross, all the sins of His people were laid upon Him by God. It is by the stripes of Jesus, by all that He suffered upon the cross, that we are healed. How loving it was of the Saviour to die for us.

Little children, you have obeyed Sin, but Jesus died to put our sins away, and if you believe in Jesus, all the sins that you have done are put away, and God does not look at them any more. And because you are now God’s children He bids you not to give up your members as instruments to serve Sin, but to give up yourselves to Him, for He is your God. You are called to serve the Lord in little things, for you are little children. But all your members can be made useful for God. Will you learn this text? ― “Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus;” and by doing this your members shall not be instruments to serve Sin, but shall be the servants of righteousness, and you will please God.

C. H.

HAVE you a Bible of your own? Find out for yourself the 14th verse of the 10th of Mark. Read it carefully. Now ask yourself, Have I come to Jesus? Am I one of His little ones? Remember that Jesus says, “I will in no wise cast out.”

Work While It Is Day.

YOUNG or old we all should be working for the Lord. But perhaps my little reader who loves the Lord asks, How am I to labor for Christ? If you have a real desire I am sure He will show you the way. You have early learned the love of Jesus, and can say, “The Son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me,” and you love Him because He first loved you. Do not be ashamed of other people knowing that you are saved. You can never be a laborer if you are ashamed.

I heard lately of a little girl who was brought to know Jesus when she was twelve years old; she loved Him, and could not help confessing His name. She was the only one in her family who knew God; all the others laughed at her.

For five years God kept this little laborer working humbly and quietly in the harvest-field, and then He called her to Himself. As she lay dying she said to the one who had first shown her the way of salvation, “I know mamma will be saved some day, for I have asked the Lord about it, and am sure He will hear, but I shall not live to see it.”

And she was right. Her earnest appeals to her mother to come to Jesus, and her quiet, consistent life, have been blessed, and this mother has now the same bright hope in Christ that her child had. The time for working for Christ will soon be over. He is coming quickly, and His reward is with Him, to “give every man according as his work shall be.” May we who know Him, and have eternal life, be kept living for Him and serving Him!

G. A. A.

The Lamb's Book of Life.

THERE is a book mentioned in the 4th chapter of the Philippians, called The Book of Life; in that precious book are the names of all who love the Lord Jesus. The book belongs to Jesus, and He keeps it. “Why do you come to hear about Jesus?” said we to a little boy the other day. “Because I love Him,” was the reply. That little boy’s name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life—is yours?

J. H.

2, His Birthplace, The Holy Child Jesus.

AFTER the angel had finished his message to Zacharias, God sent him to the house of a young woman, whose name was Mary. She belonged to the family of David. Do you know who David was? He was king of Israel. He loved God, and God promised him that one day another king should come out of his family, who would reign in righteousness; and God kept this promise by choosing Mary to be mother to His holy child Jesus, for the angel came to tell her that she should have a son, whom she should call Jesus. Jesus means Saviour, for Jesus was going to save His people from their sins.

The Word of God, God’s Son, never had any beginning, for He lived with God forever and ever; before the world was made He was God’s delight, rejoicing, always before Him. But He came into this world to do God’s will, and He chose to become a baby, dressed in baby’s clothes, and He was helpless and weak as other babies are, carried in His mother’s arms, and resting in her care. His mother was a poor Jewish woman, who loved God. Perhaps you think she ought to have been a great and noble lady; but she was not. God’s thoughts are quite different from our thoughts, and when He has a great favor to give He almost always choses some poor and humble person to give His favors to. Mary was the wife of a carpenter; and God sent His angel to tell her that she should he the mother of His holy child who was to come. Mary was in great delight when she heard of God’s loving-kindness to her, and she said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit Hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

God was the Father of the Lord Jesus. Why did He take the body of a helpless babe? When God made Adam he was a grown-up man. Why did not Jesus come into the world a grown-up man? Because Jesus came to do God’s will. He came to show how that even a child could please God in everything. If Jesus had not become a little child we should not know how a holy child would behave in this world. But Jesus left us an example that we should follow His steps. He was a holy child. “Holy” means set apart. Jesus was set apart to God. He belonged to no one else. He was God’s holy child. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. His thoughts were holy, His feelings were holy. His delight was in the law of the Lord; He thought about it, night and day. His heart always turned to God, like the flower that opens to the sun. Jesus would not listen to the plans of wicked men; He would not walk with them or sit with them, and God said He was like a tree planted by rivers of water, bringing forth fruit at its right time, and like a tree whose leaves did not wither.

Do you think God’s holy child was born in a palace, or in some noble dwelling? The grandest palace that kings ever built would be but a poor place to Him, for He had come from glory! His home was that bright heaven where God His Father lived; but He chose to come down to men. Did they build a beautiful temple to receive Him? No; they did not take Him into their houses, nor even make room for Him in their inn. And why? Because they did not know Him! They saw He was but a lowly babe, and they could not believe what the angels said of Him, so His mother laid the babe in a manger, in a place which men would think too poor for themselves to lie in. Could not God have said a word and made a grand house for Jesus, as He once said, “Let there be light,” and the light came? Surely He could; but God was going to try what was in the hearts of men―to try how they would treat His only Son when He came straight down from God to them.

A. M. S.

THE foxes have their holes,

The birds of air their nest;

But Thou our blessed Jesus,

Thou hadst no place of rest.

No home below hadst Thou,

Wherein to lay Thy head;

The infant King of Glory

Had but a manger bed.

The inn there had no room,

For Thee the noblest-born;

God’s Son, God’s well-beloved,

Might not their rooms adorn.

A Walk in the Garden.

BRIGHT, beautiful spring begins to smile once more upon us. Already the song of the thrush is heard, as he cheerily sings upon his chosen topmost bough of the old apple tree. The bees are full of activity after their long winter’s rest, and between the showers hasten from their hives to return to them as swiftly, laden with the sweetness of the early flowers. “The winter is past and the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come.”

Every year God sends the joy of spring to this earth, teaching us of the everlasting spring that is yet to burst upon us. Had we not seen the wonderful change that takes place upon our earth after the barren, silent winter we could not believe or imagine the beauty and life of spring, but though few believe in, and fewer look forward to the brightness of the Resurrection day, it is drawing closer and closer, and will very soon be here.

As we begin again to enjoy our gardens, to mark the early shoots and the fresh growth, to watch the trees unfold their shining buds, too observe the brilliant leaves and flowers, and to hear the glad song of spring’s many voices, let us think together of the Resurrection day. See this little flower-bed. Already the seed you sowed is peeping above the earth. It helps us to understand this verse of scripture, “That which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body which shall be”―you did not sow the gay flower of a sweet pea or the sweet-scented blossom of the mignonette— “but bare grain”―a little, dark, round ball, or a tiny, brown, pointed seed; and what do you expect to find in your garden by-and-bye? A lovely flower, about which the butterflies will play, and which you will perhaps gather for a nosegay! Yes, the poor, humble little seed you placed beneath the soil will rise up out of its bed bright and beautiful, for “God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him.”

Sweet it is to look on to the everlasting spring time. When the Lord Jesus comes, how many little boys and girls that loved Him, and whose bodies died and were laid in the earth will rise again? They will be the selfsame persons that they were, but how changed! No more like the insignificant seed but evermore like the glorious flower! They will be all like Jesus Himself. You know that if you sow the seed of the sweet-pea you will have those flowers in your garden, and when you have once seen the flower which bears that name you can tell what all sweet-peas are like. So we read in scripture. Christ “is become the first-fruits,” and “we shall bear the image of the heavenly.” We know quite well what those who love the Lord Jesus will be, because we know that Jesus is now a glorified man at God’s right hand in heaven. I am sure that each of you, who loves the Lord, looks forward with very great joy to that day. How often persons said to us, last winter, “The winter is nearly over, spring will soon be here.” They were looking forward to the bright time that has now come. So we, who love the Lord, loot: forward to the glad and bright day of His coming.

We are not looking forward to dying, but to being changed, to being made like our Lord at His coming. The seed you sow dies before it lives again, “That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die,” but the trees are changed in the spring time. They are clothed with new leaves, and instead of being dark and bare, they become bright and clad with verdure. So when Christ comes, all who sleep in Christ shall live again, like the seed sown in the ground, and all who are alive and remain shall be changed like the trees,” clothed upon, with our house which is from heaven.”

Now be careful to keep the weeds well pulled up out of your garden, for at this time of year they grow apace. And as you love the Lord seek His grace to root up the naughty things which rise up in your hearts, as the Scripture says, “Mortify your members which are upon earth.” Christ is your life, and He is in heaven, even as the sun is the source of this brightness around us. What would our spring garden be without the sun? And what would my dear young friend be without Jesus?

But does my young reader not yet love the Lord? Oh! seek Him while He is near, lest if you die, or He come, no sweet spring shall await you, but endless sorrow. How dreadful will be the resurrection of those who love not Jesus. You see the weeds in your garden, but you do not love them, they are not precious to you like your pretty flowers; and so when those rise again who do not love Jesus it will be to be destroyed like the weeds. There is a resurrection of life, and one of judgment. All, who love the Lord Jesus, have life in Him, and will partake of the first resurrection; but the wicked, like the weeds, will rise from the earth to be cast away.

Chapter 10,: John Wesley.

YOU may, perhaps, think that now that John Wesley had joy and peace, and all his fears were gone, he would have no more troubles and sorrows, unless some great misfortunes befell him. It is true that his old troubles and sorrows were gone forever. It is written: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new, and all things are of God.” But as the old troubles passed away, new troubles came. Yes, amongst the new things which ‘God gives His people, are not only new joys, but new troubles and sorrows. Do you think they are no better off, then, than they were before? If you did but know the difference between the old troubles and the new, you would not say so. The new troubles are a glorious, blessed gift from God, which, strange as you may think it, make the one to whom they come far happier than he would otherwise have been. Hear how Paul speaks about them, or rather how the Holy Ghost speaks by Paul: “We glory in tribulations also.” “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. “As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing” “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong.” And God tells us of Moses, that the thing which he esteemed greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, was not that which most people would value, it was “the reproach of Christ.”

You can well understand that John Wesley, in his old days, could not take pleasure in his doubts and fears, nor glory in them, nor find them in any way an advantage. Now he was to have troubles such as His blessed Lord am Master had had, and he would learn to understand those words, “Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate yet from their company, and shall reproach you, am cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in Heaven.” John Wesley soon found out that the world is no changed since these words were spoken. He had come to London, as you remember, on the 3rd of February, and had preached there since that time in many churches. By the 28th of May he was forbidden to preach any more in no less than ten of these churches. On that day he had preached twice about God justifying the ungodly and this sounded strange to people who had been taught that God loved good people, and took them to heaven because they had done their best. This was the first Sunday after the day that John found rest and peace in Christ, therefore the sermons which had given offense before, must have done so because, though not himself at peace, he had at least preached some of the truths he had learned from his friend Peter; and besides, he had been thoroughly in earnest, a thing which cold or lukewarm people much dislike.

On this same Sunday evening he gave fresh offense by something I am now going to tell you. Whenever John Wesley had had any business in London in former days, he used to stay at the house of his brother Samuel, in Westminster. When Samuel left London and went to live in Devonshire, a friend of his, called Mr. Hutton, said that he would gladly receive John and Charles into his house whenever they wanted to come to London. It was in the house of Mr. Hutton that John had been staying ever since he came back from America. You will see from this that Mr. Hutton was a kind, friendly man. He was, besides, a religious man. On Sunday evenings he used to read a sermon aloud to his family and visitors. On the Sunday of which I am telling you, when he had finished the sermon he was reading, all at once John Wesley stood up, and told them all he had something to say to them. It was this: he said, “I have to tell you that I was never really a Christian till five days ago. I am sure that this is true if you, too, wish to be Christians, not in name only, but in truth, there is but one way. It is to confess that you are nothing but lost sinners, and believe in Christ only as the Saviour.” Mr. Hutton was astonished and displeased at John’s speech. He said that Mr. Wesley had been baptized long ago, and had often gone to the Lord’s Supper. How, then, could he dare to say that he had never been a Christian till five days ago?

Mrs. Hutton, too, was much displeased. In vain John told them that nobody was a Christian, except in name, until he gave up all trust in baptism, in the Lord’s Supper, or in any works whatever, as able to save him, and till he trusted in Christ, and Christ only.

Mr. and Mrs. Hutton only became more angry, and at last Mrs. Hutton settled it in her mind that her friend John was becoming mad, and she wrote to his brother Samuel to tell him that both John and Charles had become so wild and strange she knew not what harm they might not do. She told Samuel she believed they both meant to pay him a visit, and that then, if he could not persuade them how wrong and foolish they were, the best plan would be to shut them up in a lunatic asylum. Samuel quite agreed with Mrs. Hutton, and said, “What Jack means I cannot understand. He was baptized long ago, and how then can he say he has only just become a Christian? I pleased myself with the expectation of seeing Jack, but now that is over, and I am afraid of it.”

John, however, did not go to pay Samuel a visit. He had other plans, of which I will tell you further on. In the meantime he found that other old friends besides Mr. and Mrs. Hutton had turned against him. Amongst these was Mr. William Law. John had written to him to tell him that he had now, and only now, become a true believer in the Lord Jesus, and that it was through the teaching of Peter Baler that he had learned the blessed truth that we are saved by Christ only, and not by our own works in any degree. “And now, sir,” he added, “suffer me to ask, how will you answer it to our common Lord that you never gave me this advice? Why did I scarcely ever hear you name the name of Christ, never so as to ground anything upon faith in His blood?... I know that I had not faith, unless the faith of a devil, the faith of Judas.... I beseech you, sir, to consider whether the true reason of your never pressing this upon me (that it is by faith we are saved) was not this, that you had it not yourself?” He then warned Mr. Law of the danger of remaining without true faith in the Lord Jesus.

To this letter Mr. Law replied that he had taught John the truth about faith in Christ, and so had Thomas a Kempis. It was plain therefore that Mr. Law did not so much as understand what John meant. In fact, amongst all his old friends, scarcely any seemed now to agree with him, except his brother Charles and Mr. Ingham, who had once belonged to the Holy Club.

F. E.

Scripture Enigma.

The name of one to whom a doctor wrote

Two treatises, from which we often quote.

A Hebrew maid, an orphan, and alone,

Adopted by her cousin as his own.

Full of unfeigned faith, the mother, she,

Of one who knew the truth from infancy.

He, unto women, in his grief and pain,

Confessed he had a fellow-mortal slain.

The name of him, who threshing wheat one day,

Turned and beheld an angel in his way.

It from an opened window was sent forth,

And wandered to and fro above the earth;

Thrice was she sent to espy the landscape o’er,

Twice she returned, and then returned no more.

Made by a queen, within a grove it stands,

But soon cut down, and burnt by royal hands,

It bore the weight of him who sought to see

Jesus, the friend of sinners, such as he.

A trusting maid who left her father’s home,

To dwell with kinsmen in a land unknown.

Beneath a shrub he was laid down to die;

But help was near, for God had heard his cry.

“Exceeding wise,” and yet a little thing,

She dwells within the palace of a king.

That spot on earth where two poor sinners tried

From the all-seeing God their shame to hide.

The name of him, with wine-cup in his hands,

With a sad face, before a monarch stands.

The initial letters of these words record

A wondrous truth concerning Christ the Lord,

And without which, the Scriptures say ‘tis plain,

All faith in Him, and hope of heav’n are vain.

G. A. A.

Part 4, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 13:13.

FROM Paphos, Paul and his company crossed the sea to Perga, a town in the province of Pamphylia. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. From Acts 15:38 we learn that he “went not with them to the work,” and was probably afraid of suffering for Christ’s sake, preferring his own home. He seems to have been thoroughly restored, for on another occasion Paul commends him highly.

Antioch, the next place they visited, is a large town in Pisidia, in Asia Minor, and not the same as the Antioch we have already read of. There, in the synagogue, Paul preaches the first sermon of which we have any full account. It appears to have been a custom in a synagogue, or Jewish meeting-house, for a stranger who wished to speak to sit down (vs. 14). Paul’s “word of exhortation” is remarkable. Like Peter and Stephen, he reminds the Jews of their privileges in former days. He speaks to them about the call of their fathers, their deliverance from Egypt, God’s forbearance with them in the wilderness, the land of Canaan, the judges, Samuel the prophet, Saul, David, and, last of all, “a Saviour―Jesus.” John had come before Him, and they might have repented. “To you is the word of this salvation sent” must have come home to their hearts, and still more the powerful truths that follow; God “had raised up to them David to be their king” (vs. 22), and they had acknowledged him; now, “we declare unto you glad tidings, He hath raised up Jesus.” David was laid in the grave and saw corruption; Jesus, God raised again, and He saw no corruption. Had they accepted Jesus for their Messiah and King? Ah, no; “they knew Him not.” “They desired that He should be slain.” Dear children, are you doing the same? Is the One whom God has raised up, the One who has the chief place in your hearts, and to whom you turn as the flowers turn to the sun? Perhaps you have never been to Him even for His first gift―the forgiveness of sins? Well, here it is preached to those who had crucified Him. “Be it known unto you that, through this Man, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.” And not only so, you may be made righteous before God. “By Him, all that believe are justified from all things.” What the law could not do, Christ can do. Are not these “glad tidings?” That the Gentiles thought them so it is plain, for they begged that they might be repeated to them. The solemn warning with which Paul had concluded may well have alarmed them. “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish.” Oh, do not be a despiser of the heavenly blessings brought so near to you!

After the meeting, some Jews and proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, and were exhorted. Paul is now always named first (compare 13:2, 43). Proselytes were Gentiles who had been converted to the Jewish religion. Such were the numbers who came to hear on the next Sabbath, that the Jews were envious and opposed. Then the apostles told them, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” But persecution followed this, and the apostles departed to Iconium, leaving the converted ones full of joy and of the Holy Ghost.

H. L. H.

Questions.

1. Give the history of John Mark? ―2. — What Old Testament Scriptures does Paul quote in Acts 13? ―3. Trace Paul’s journeys from his conversion to the end of chapter 13— 4. Of what does chapter 13:51, remind you? ―5. What is the difference between the Sabbath; verse 44) and the Lord’s or first day of the week? — 6. How often are the last two mentioned in the New Testament? ―7. What does Paul say about the forgiveness or remission of sins in his epistles? ―8. Are your sins forgiven?

Answers to March Questions.

1. Acts 22:17-21.―2. Twice. Acts 11:29,30; Romans 15:25-28.―3. Three. Galatians 1:18. ―4. Levi, Cyprus, Joses. Acts 4:36. ―5. Nephew. Colossians 4:10. Mary; she lived at Jerusalem. Acts 12:12. ―6. Simon. Acts 8 Elymas-13. A certain damsel― 16. Jews and Sceva’s sons―19. ―7. Rom.; 1:2 Cor., Gal. Eph., Phil., Colossians 1:2 Thess. 1:2, Tim, Titus, Philemon, Heb. ―8. Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 2:17, 4:2; Ephesians 6:17; Colossians 1:25; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 4:12, &c.

Saved or Lost.

“FIRE! fire!” cry the passers-by. “Make way!” And in an incredibly short space of time the thronged road is cleared―omnibuses, wagons, cabs, pulling aside. The long shout of the firemen is heard in the distance; it grows louder. Down comes the fire-engine, steam up, at full gallop. It dashes by, with brass helmets, shining machinery, surging steam, and crimson wheels, and you follow the runners at top-speed. They are not a moment too soon. The urgent haste was needed; for from the upper windows the thick smoke rolls out in black volumes, while the roar of the flames and the crackling of the timbers of the lower part of the building make you shudder.

And now there is intense silence in the crowd, for the fire-escape man has fixed his ladder, and is mounting to the uppermost floor. He quickly enters the burning house, at the further end of that upper room lies a child asleep. It knew not its danger, but only dreamed of strange sounds; and before it is half awake, the strong man has borne it upon his shoulder to the window. He places his foot upon the ladder, and as he does so, a shout louder than the roar of the fire rises up from the crowd below, welcoming his return; and down he gently bears his burden clear out of the ruins to safety.

“Whenever I am fearful whether I can be saved, I take courage by the fire-escape; for it is made high enough.to reach the highest houses,” said one to us; “and Christ can reach me.” If the fire-escape could not reach the highest rooms, it would be a mockery and not a security. And, reader, Christ can save you where you are. Do you realize that like the child asleep, with only the thickness of the floor between it and the flames, you are separated from eternal fire by only this frail life? Oh! should the floor give way! ―oh! should life break! ―where would your soul go?

Christ takes us clear out of the place of ruin and judgment, and clean into a place of peace and security. Salvation is nothing less than complete deliverance. You are now, this moment, either with the wrath of God abiding on you, or you are “in Christ,” where there is “no condemnation.” Which is it?

Alas! too many remind us of a poor wretched man, who met his end as a “fool dieth.” The flames had laid hold of the house, or rather the block of houses, in which his rooms were. They poured forth in fierce streams, roaring as they swept on in their irresistible course. There were thousands of persons congregated in the vast square, witnessing the grand but fearful sight, when high up upon the roof they thought that they saw the figure of a man! Was it possible! Yes; and he was soon recognized, and people passed his name from one to the other. What was to be done to save him? They shouted in terror, but the man only waved his hat, crying, “Hurrah! hurrah!”

Again they shouted for him to come to a corner of the block of buildings where there seemed a slight hope of affording the man rescue; but he continued his mad hurrahs and waving of his hat, as if it were for him a day of feasting and delight instead of destruction! “He is drunk or mad!” said the people, while they trembled at his certain and horrible doom. Presently he gave another jovial shout, and then fell back into the surging flames and perished.

Like this madman are the men who delay accepting salvation―who run on in their course of riot and of folly. They die as “the fool dieth,” perish, falling into the lake of fire which burneth forever and ever. Oh, think what the horror of awakening from life’s folly and madness will be to the anguish of hell and the fire that burneth forever! We almost hear him say, “I am tormented in this flame: Oh! for a drop of water to cool my tongue.”

But why art thou in the place of torment? Hapless man, didst thou never hear of salvation? Ah! yes, it was brought to his very doors; the escape was put before him, but he would not be saved. He would go on the madman’s Way. He grasped after pleasures and folly, and now that the world is burned up and gone, he lives to die forever and yet never to die.

Concluded, E. D.'S Conversion.

Ascension

YEARS passed on. E. D. had never for a moment lost the blessed assurance that all her sins had been forever put away by the blood of Christ. She had never doubted that she was safe forever. She knew that the life she now had was the life of Christ Himself, and that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him. Therefore she knew that she had passed beyond death into that resurrection standing which must be eternal, because Christ lives forever, and His life was now her life.

All this was so far the truth. But she had forgotten that it had ever dawned upon her that there was something beyond this; yes, beyond the knowledge and possession of the glorious resurrection life of Christ. Not that she was satisfied, but she did not know why she was not. She was very happy in thinking of the future to be spent in unmingled joy, after the present life is over; but the present was not bright to her. Not bright, though she knew she was saved! She scarcely knew it was not bright, for she had never imagined any happiness beyond that of knowing sin forgiven, and no doubt in that respect she was far happier than many around her. I would ask, Do you know what it is that lies beyond? in plain words, what God has saved you for? “In order that I may tell others the way to be saved,” was the answer I once had to this question. “And what, then, is the last believer saved for? For God will one day accomplish the number of His elect. There will be no gospel work for that last saved one to do. And yet God saves that one for the same purpose as He has saved those before who have believed through the word of His apostles. What is that purpose?” No answer was given. E. D. would have found it hard to answer either. She did clearly see that, as she had opportunity, it was a right and blessed thing to tell sinners of the way to be saved, and she often did so. But it sometimes came into her mind “God has the gospel for sinners, is then nothing for the saints?”

Strange that will so large a part of the bible in our hands, addressed to “the saints and to the faithful in Christ Jesus,” any should be in ignorance of what Gee has for such. But the same power which opens the eyes of the blind sinner is needed to enlighten the eyes of the understanding in the case of the saint, as we see it Ephesians 1:18. No doubt most believers see and admit that there are directions given in the New Testament for the conduct of Christian people, and that these directions are for them, and not for unsaved sinners, but such passages as Ephesians 1:17-23, 2:6, 3:16-19, Colossians 1:25-29, 2:2, do not bring any distinct thought before their minds, except that they perhaps look at such expressions as a way of speaking of the future glory which is, after all, they think so difficult to imagine or understand. To know we are saved, to tell the gospel to others, to endeavor to live blamelessly, and to a certain extent to keep out of the world, is their thought of what Christian life is. It was E. D.’s thought. And with regard to the last “duty,” that of keeping out of the world, she agreed with others to whom she spoke on the matter “that it is very difficult to draw a line.” No doubt it is, and into this difficulty God has never put us. He has never told us to draw a line whereby to cut off even the smallest portion of the world for our gratification. He has said “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Yet God in His great mercy did, from time to time give some fresh light to E. D., slow to learn as she was. “What is it to be a Christian?” she asked herself. “Do I know?” And then in searching the scriptures, the truth forced itself upon her mind, “If I would know that, I must first know what Christ is, for He is the pattern of it. What is true of Him as the risen man, that, and that only, can be the truth as to what the Christian is.” By degrees this thought unfolded itself in many ways, and it became at last the one absorbing desire in the mine of E. D. to be taught something more of Christ. It was true more light came through the Word, but it only sheaved how much more there was to learn.

It was on a winter’s evening that she was unexpectedly called for by some friends, who were going to some preaching in a little mission room in a small village some miles off. A dark, ignorant place she knew it to be, and went, prepared to hear the message given to half heathen people as to the way by which sinners might be saved. But if was a message she had never heard before. The work of Christ in saving the lost she had long known, that which is past and finished; the future, coming to take His saints, she also knew; but for the present she knew but by hearsay, as it were, of His intercession in heaven, and His advocacy with the Father. Now it was to her, as it is said in Acts 7, “Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” For the first time she was, as it were, brought face to face with Christ in glory, had seen Him where He is. For to be really with Him in spirit, and to behold Him, we must behold Him where He is. To remember Him where He was, to look forward to His coming again, blessed as both must be, still these thoughts of Him are not the same as the actual sight of Him as He now is, given by the power of the Holy Ghost, not to Stephen only, but to all who have eyes to see. It is thus, that whilst the body is still down here, God brings us up in spirit to those heavenly places, where we find Christ in glory―not only find Him, but find ourselves one with Him there―already given a place far above the wilderness world, brought to the Father as dear children who have the nearest and the dearest place, because it is Christ’s place, knowing Christ as the living One in the glory, and, having seen Him, becoming blind to all besides. “I could not see for the glory of that light.”

E. D. had known something before of present intercourse with Christ, but it was then Christ as coming down to sympathize and interest Himself in her circumstances―lighting up the dark days, encouraging in trials and difficulties. But the new thing was, to be taken up into His circumstances, to be able to enter into His joy, to share the blessedness of the Father’s love, to lose sight, in how great a measure! of the things belonging to the earth below; and to find a new, boundless scene of glory filled with Christ, Christ only, as manifesting the Father, and as the object of the Father’s delight.

This, then, is the present possession, or rather, some faint attempt to describe the present possession which our God would have us to find in the ascended Christ. And till it is thus with us, till we know Christ as He is, and where He is, and learn to find the joy of our souls in His joy, we have but touched the outside rim of salvation. Saved we may be. We may be rejoicing in the complete knowledge of our safety and our forgiveness. We may remember Christ, we may look forward to seeing Him, we may find Him helping and cheering us in the wilderness path, but we do not know that bright scene of glory in which self can be forgotten, and Christ is the present, living, glorious One, in whom (not only in our own safety and blessing) we find unspeakable delight. We share the delight of God in the Son of His love, and the delight of the Son in the Father’s presence. And not only so, but we find ourselves in a new relation to the saints, and in a new position as regards the world. We find but one Christ in the glory, and we can thenceforward see but One Body here below, united to that one glorified Head by the Holy Ghost, sent down from the glorified Christ to form the One Body of that Head in heaven. We see, then, the meaning of those words in John 7, “The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” And how wonderful is this first sight Df the Church of God, all believers, as the One Body of the Christ who is in the glory!

E. D. had known and believed in a certain way before that all believers were one company, and therefore bound to love one another, as all belonging to Christ. But union is a closer thing than even love. We may love and “agree to differ,” as the world says: we own our place as those who are all one with Christ, and we are “perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment,” as the Holy Ghost says, and where difference arises we grieve, not agree to differ. For as there is one Body, there is but on Spirit who lives and moves therein―all else is the acting and moving of the flesh and of the mind. Therefore it is by knowing Christ in glory, and ourselves as one with Him there that we first see clearly what the Church of God is here below; and we see ourselves as taken out of the world altogether, because we are united to Him who is in heaven, whom the world has rejected. Taken out of the world, and yet―wonderful thought! ―sent into the world, “as He was sent into the world.” And here we find ourselves, therefore, as before said, in a new position with regard to the world. Sent into it from Christ in heaven to tell lost sinners of “the things which we have seen and heard.” These words were said to Paul. What was it he had seen and heard? It was Christ in the glory. He could not only say, as the twelve apostles did, that he had seen Christ risen, but he had seen what they had not seen, Christ in heaven, and from thence therefore is the message come to us sinners of the Gentiles―come from that bright glory where Christ is.

Do you think it makes no difference in giving the message? We see one Christian who has a real concern for lost souls, who is touched with the thought of the eternal misery lying before them, who knows the blessed truth that Christ has borne the punishment due to sin, and thus, roused by the sense of the sinner’s need, he tells him of the remedy, and rejoices for the sake of that sinner when he sees him turn to God. Does it offend you to hear that this is falling far short of the fullness of the gospel of Christ?

We find another Christian who has himself, by the power of the Spirit, been brought to know Christ as He is, and therefore where He is. And he goes forth as sent by Christ into the world, his heart filled with the sense, not of the sinner’s need of Christ, but of Christ’s need of the sinner. He can tell, as Paul did, of the things he has seen and heard, how Christ needs the sinner to share with Him the Father’s love and the glory of Heaven. He can preach that gospel which is called in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “the gospel of the glory of Christ,” the good tidings that Christ is in the glory. “Why is that good tidings to me?” the sinner may say. “Because Christ calls to you to share that glory, and till you know what that means you do not see what the good tidings are—something far, far beyond your thoughts and hopes, not according to your desires for yourself, but according to Christ’s desire for Himself. That is to say, it is not your need Christ is thinking of, but His need of you. To think of your need would be kindness, to think of His need of you is love.”

How often, alas, is the gospel of kindness the message given, instead of the gospel of love! And yet we have the wonderful histories in the 15th chapter of Luke, the gospel preached by Christ Himself, and what do we find there? We find the shepherd’s joy, and the joy of the angels that he had found his heart’s desire: we have the same thing in the third parable, we have the father’s joy, because, though his son would have been satisfied without him, had he had enough to eat, he could not be satisfied without his son. And it is from the brightness of the Father’s glory that this message comes, only delivered faithfully by those who know what it is to have seen there, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the ascended Christ. F. B.

Onward.

Do you not often let your soul go out, fellow Christian, in thoughts of what you will shortly be? Just like the Christ at God’s right hand! With your heart perfectly and eternally attuned to His desires! No jarring of circumstances, no discord of sin! No feebleness of grasp of the holy and heavenly things at God’s right hand! This is perfection, and to it you are hourly hastening.

4, The A B C of the Gospel.

The Work of God.

WHEN our Lord had healed the palsied man, who lay waiting helplessly and almost hopelessly by the pool of Bethesda, and when the Pharisees had found fault with His work wrought upon the day of rest, He replied, “My Father work eth hitherto, and I work.” (John 5:17.)

Before the creation Sabbath, before man was called into being, before the Lord God shaped the dust of the ground out of which man was so “fearfully and wonderfully made,” God had worked. He made this creation, beautiful and teeming with life; He formed earth’s paradise, and, having accomplished this work, He made man, breathed into him the breath of life, and placed him in the scene prepared for him. Man was to enjoy this first creation, and to work therein for God, without weariness. All was complete, before man was in existence. And in the new creation the truth is the same. Before we were born, God had wrought the work of redemption and completed divine righteousness. Helpless and spiritually palsied, like the impotent man at the pool, it is ours to hear and live. Dead in ourselves, like the dust out of which Adam was made, God gives us eternal life, and forms us a new creation.

“I work,” said the Lord Jesus He came from heaven to do the divine will, and having finished the work which His Father gave Him to do, having borne divine wrath against sin, having, in His own person, met all the demands of righteousness, He cried, “It is finished!” and yielded up His life.

By faith, a sinner receives the new life, the gift of God. The new life is not as the old life which God breathed into Adam — a life of innocence, and capable of sinning―but “the new man is after God, created in righteousness, and true holiness.” (Eph. 4:24.) The life we receive upon believing is the life which comes to us from Christ risen from the dead. Having spoken peace to His disciples in resurrection, He breathed upon them. The Lord had come up out of death, whither He had gone upon behalf of His own, to bear away their sins, and to be in Himself the end, judicially, of the first race of man. Coming up out of death, He stood before them, the Head of the new creation: all the sins and judgment attached to the first gone in His own body upon the cross. The life which we receive upon believing on Him is His life in the power of His own resurrection.

As we thus view Christ, what madness it is to suppose that any work of ours can raise us up to Himself To reach Him we must, by grace, be brought through His death. We have in ourselves no more power to work up to His life than the dust out of which Adam was formed had power to live. Life is the gift of God and all who believe receive the gift Sinners may refuse it; they mal, spurn Christ away, and turn aside from life everlasting, but they cannot do anything to obtain life. A beggar might refuse the gift of a kingdom, but could not of his penury, buy possessions.

“To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Rom. 4:5.) Thus does God set aside man’s doings, and he who would be saved must also in like manner, set aside his own efforts. Working and believing are placed in direct contrast. The workers will be judged at the great white throne, “out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:12); but they, who hear the words of Jesus, and believe on God who sent Him, “shall not come into judgment.” (John 5:24.) Workers will be eternally lost, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in God’s sight, but believers are eternally saved, and are already “justified from all things.” The end of the one is the lake of fire, of the other, the portion of Christ!

Reader, we beg of you to consider this word, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:15.) “Whosoever,”―that great and glorious gospel word! “for God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Whosoever, good or bad, “the fearful, the unbelieving,” as well as the “abominable,” whosoever was not written in the book of life. Works and death go hand in hand, and faith and life are divinely united. All who have believed in Christ have the life, which His death has obtained for sinners; all who go on in their own works must have the death which rejection of His work merits. Works exalt self; faith exalts God; and be the works those of tortures of the body, penance, and the like, or be they the smallest reliance upon the state of the heart, they are but human saviours, and liars against the finished work of Christ! Life is in Christ, and all who have the Son have life. Is Christ yours, reader?

Farewell.

A LOVED sister is lying upon the bed of death; around that bed stand her father and mother, brothers and sisters; she has called them together to bid them her last farewell. It is the first death in the family, and I remember it well. Cannot you, reader, recall some such scene? I was a child when she bade me farewell, but I cannot forget it oh, no. I see today that patient sufferer with those earnest, beseeching eyes, as she clasps her arms around her father’s neck. “Good-bye, my own precious father, I am going home; farewell, my darling father.” Then, with sobs and tears, he answers” Good-bye, my dearest child, good-bye― I trust that we shall meet again above.”

Ah! the incident is very, very simple, but how real―how real! There is not one who reads this, who has not known some friend or relation who has left this earth for eternity. Solemn thought! Has your friend gone to Jesus? will you meet again? or is it to be an eternal separation?

Is the broad sea of eternity to roll between you and your loved ones forever? Men will not forget their relations in hell: the rich man, even in the midst of his torment, well remembered his five brothers. Have you never thought, “Shall I meet them again? was that a last, a long farewell?”

How was it when that loved one departed? All was peaceful, happy; no desire to stay here―the tears of father, mother, brothers, sisters, and friends created no wish to remain. Jesus was better than all; His love the best―and then, at the last, what a bright and holy smile! what a vision of heaven lit up that dying countenance! Life, eternal life, triumphing over death. Death, already swallowed up in Victory.

In such a scene even the infidel dares hardly to disbelieve the fact of a home above, and of a LIVING PERSON in glory. Reader Christ is in heaven waiting for His own. He will receive you to Himself. Accept Him for your Saviour, and have everlasting life Can you barter away the eternal weight of glory for the pleasures of sin for a moment?

Christian Standing Unalterable.

WHEN a man becomes a Christian he has a distinct position before God. But while his position never alters, the condition of his soul may do so. Let the unconverted man be as one drowning in the sea, and the Christian as one taken out of the water and put upon the rock of safety. The rock is his position, and from this place or standing he will never fall, God’s word declaring that he is safe forever. But being taken out of the place of death, he is responsible to God for his state or condition of soul. Now the state of his soul will depend upon his devotion to God, or his inclining towards the world. As he sows, so will he reap.

The standing of the believer is not simply that of a saved person, it is more. He is in Christ. He is not in the flesh. The flesh, the old man, is gone out of God’s sight, so far as our standing is concerned. God ever sees us in Christ; never in ourselves. “Our old man is crucified with Christ;” we are buried with Christ. I―self, the flesh, is clean gone, and has no standing whatever― “I am crucified with Christ.”

We are seen by God in Christ, who is our life, and faith acts out the divine fact during this lifetime. When the resurrection comes we shall be altogether like Christ; until then, or until we leave this earth, there will be the flesh in us: no good thing there, nothing to work upon, to amend or improve, but everything to be reckoned dead, because crucified with Christ.

If the head of a family be elevated to some great rank, the members of the family come in for their father’s standing. Christ is lifted up to the glory of God, and in Him all His members have His place. Our standing depends upon the position Christ occupies in glory; that can never be lowered or lost, neither can ours, because we are in Christ.

But it is quite possible that the members of the family whose head is elevated to earthly title should dishonor their position. So it is too true, that by living like the world, believers frequently bring shame upon the name whereby they are called, and contempt upon the glorious place which is theirs in Christ. Let us heed the exhortation, “Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth, for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:2, 3.) Let us seek by the grace of God’s Spirit that our state may answer to our standing; so that the joy of Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith may be ours.

Evening Time

‘TIS evening-time, and all things yield

To quietness and rest;

The birds have left the open field,

And sheltered in the nest.

You, too, my pet, must go to sleep;

You, too, must say “good night;”

And by your side my watch I’ll keep,

When I put out the light.

I’ll sing to you the hymns you love,

While you are still awake;

And pray the God, who dwells above,

To bless you, for Christ’s sake.

And then, dear boy, you will not fear,

If you should be alone;

For the kind Lord is ever near,

And mindful of His own.

And through the night, when others sleep,

He’ll guard you from all ill;

His tender love will surely keep,

And bless my darling still.

G. A. A.

Chapter 11,: John Wesley

JOHN’S new plan was to go to Germany and see Count Zinzendorf, and the Moravians at Herrnhuth. He thought he might learn more from them than from anyone in England. He went first to Salisbury, to say good-bye to his mother, who was still living there with Patty and her husband. John and Charles had both told their mother of the great change that had happened to them. Mrs. Wesley thought they spoke very oddly, but as she did not quite understand what they meant, she told John she was glad he was now so happy in the knowledge of Christ. And when John read her a paper in which he had written what he now believed, she said she agreed with it. She did not, however, really understand it, for when Samuel showed her the same paper after John was gone to Germany, and explained to her that it was quite wrong, she believed what Samuel said, and became unhappy about John and Charles, thinking them much mistaken. Mr. Ingham went with John to Germany. Charles stayed in England, as he had become curate to a good man in Islington, and he found that great numbers of people came to hear the gospel preached. One reason why so many people were ready to listen was that George Whitefield had been preaching in London before he sailed for America, and many had become anxious to be saved.

We see how God orders all the plans of His servants. He sowed the seed by George Whitefield, and now He sent Charles Wesley to reap the harvest.

You will like to hear what happened to John in Germany, On the 15th of June, 1738, he and Mr. Ingham landed at Rotterdam. The next day they arrived at Ysselstein, where they were taken in by a friend of Count Zinzendorf’s, Baron Frederick Watteville.

Baron Frederick had seemed when he was a boy at school to have a desire to love and serve God. He was at that time a friend and companion of Count Zinzendorf, who was about his own age. But when he grew older and went into the world he became careless and ungodly. He was led, through the means of his old friend Count Zinzendorf, to think of his soul, and was brought to repentance and to faith in Christ. He was now a very earnest servant of God. Wesley spent a very pleasant day with Baron Frederick and a number of Moravians. They told him of the work which God was doing in many parts of the world; they all joined together in prayer, and in praise, and it was a very happy time. After this they went to many other places along the Rhine, and at last arrived at Frankfort, where Mr. Bohlen Peter’s father, gave them a warm welcome. The next day they went on to Marienborn, to pay a visit to Count Zinzendorf. The Count’s home was, you know, in Saxony, close to the village of Herrnhuth, but he had been banished from his country by the King, who did not like him to receive strangers from other countries, especially from Austria. He had been sentenced to lose all his property; but he seems to have foreseen this, and had therefore ten years before sold his estates to his wife, so that he now had nothing to lose. He had been at Marienborn only a little while when Wesley came there. He had taken the castle as a home for his family, intending himself to go as a missionary to the West Indies, and shortly after Wesley’s visit he went there, having first seen a little settlement of Moravians formed near Marienborn. This new settlement was caned Herrnhaag.

John was very much pleased with all he saw at Marienborn. He wrote to Samuel: “God has given me at length the desire of my heart. I am with a church whose conversation is in heaven, in whom is the mind that was in Christ, and who so walk as He walked.” This was saying a great deal, and he found afterward that he had said too much, for we must have very low thoughts of what it is to walk as Christ walked, if we are satisfied about any set of Christians, that they are doing so. The more nearly they are truly doing so, the more will they see and own what is wanting in their obedience to God, because they will the better know and understand how wonderfully perfect was the walk of Christ; but God gives us no lower standard, so that besides having a perfect example, we have something which ought always to keep us from being satisfied with ourselves.

John and Mr. Ingham spent a fortnight at Marienborn, and then went on to Herrnhuth. You will like to know what sort of place it was. There were about loo houses, built on a rising ground, with evergreen woods on two sides gardens and cornfields on the other, and high hills quite near. There was one long street, in the middle of which stood the orphan-house. The lower part of this house was an apothecary’s shop. The upper part was a chapel, so the orphans lived in the middle. Every day there were two or three meetings for reading the bible, praying, or singing hymns. Some were in houses or in the chapel, others out of doors, in the woods and on the hills. The first meeting was in the summer, at four o’clock in the morning; in the winter at five o’clock. Even the little children would go out in parties on the hills to pray and sing hymns. On Sundays they had meetings from morning to night. People came from a long way off, bringing a crust of bread in their pockets, and spent the day in the meetings.

It must have been a happy thing to see so many people who all found pleasure in praying and reading the bible; and no doubt God really worked amongst them, and made Herrnhuth a place from whence the light of the gospel shone into the darkness around. But it would have been better if the Count had had faith to trust God to order all the prayer and praise, by leaving the people to meet together simply following the rules given in His word. Instead of this, all things at Herrnhuth were arranged as if for children in a school. There were rules for worshipping God, rules for prayer, and, besides this, rules for dress, rules for the spending of every hour of the day and night, rules as to which of the people might be special companions for one another, rules for the employment of each person, rules as to how long each might sleep, and even rules as to the choice of a wife, if any one wished to be married. All the people were divided into classes, like school-children, and dressed accordingly. Every class amongst the women were forbidden to use jewelry, lace, parasols, or fans. They were all to wear white straw bonnets with plain ribbon. The widows wore white ribbon, the married women blue, the unmarried pink, the girls, between 14 and 18, red. All were to pray in turns, besides the prayer at the meetings, so that there should be always some praying both all day and all night. The little children, the middle children, and the great children were all kept in separate classes; the boys apart from the girls. So everything went on in excellent order, but, alas! not in God’s order. God has His own order for everything, but men often think they can improve upon it. God sets people in families of different ages, because it is good for the old to learn to care for the young, and for the young to submit themselves to the older. God would have our outward conduct ordered by a motive from within, which is much stronger than a rule outside. No doubt, in our own affairs, rules are often useful for the sake of order; but in the service of God He must direct us, and for this purpose He has given us His own rules in His word, which must be received into our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost, and obeyed by that power working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Having told you what was mistaken amongst the Moravians, it is pleasant to be able to say, on the other hand, that there seems to have been amongst them a great deal of true, earnest love to Christ, and of devotedness to His service. John Wesley talked a good deal to many of them, and was very glad that one, whose name was Christian David, came back to Herrnhuth for a time just after he arrived. He had heard before of Christian David, whose history was a remarkable one. He had lived as a child in Moravia, and had, when very young, read a great many religious books. These books convinced him that Papists were wrong, but he could not make out what was right. He disliked the Lutherans, because they talked so much about Christ. What a sad tale that tells of the heart of man! He did not then believe that Christ was God. Strange to say, he became persuaded that Christ is God by meeting with some Jews, who told him the New Testament was not true. This led him to read the Old Testament carefully, and compare it with the New, to see whether the prophecies about the Messiah came true in the case of Jesus. He could no longer doubt after doing this, who and what Jesus is. He was still by name a Roman Catholic, but soon after this he openly gave up the Popish religion, and called himself a Protestant. But he had no peace in his soul, and tried in vain to get it by reading, praying, and “doing his best.” He became a soldier, thinking he should have time when going about the country to read the Testament and hymn-book he kept in his pocket. But his books were stolen, and then he had a dangerous illness, and could neither read, nor do anything else. It was then that God sent one of His servants to visit him, and through the teaching of this good man he learned the blessed news that Christ saves the ungodly, and believing it, he was saved.

When he got well he went about preaching Christ, and it was then that Count Zinzendorf heard of him, and sent for him to his castle in Saxony. Christian David was the first Moravian who went there, and it was he who began the building of Herrnhuth. After this he went to preach in Greenland, then a heathen country; and later, after John Wesley’s visit to Herrnhuth, he sold himself as a slave in the West Indies to preach to the negroes. Other Moravians had also gone to preach in Greenland, and in other parts of the world.

Christian David preached several times during the fortnight that Wesley spent at Herrnhuth. Wesley was willing to learn from this poor carpenter, as he then was, and has told us about his sermons. Perhaps you would like to hear a little of one of them, it helped Wesley much, and if God gives His blessing, it may help you. I suppose it was preached in the chapel, which was, you remember, the upper room in the orphan house. Perhaps you can imagine the large plain room, with the open windows looking out on the green hills, and the fir-woods, and the rip, corn-fields. The quiet, orderly Moravians all in their places, the men and boys on one side, thy women and girls on the other, looking like beds of flowers with their various colored ribbons, Christian David standing up in his plain work man’s dress. No doubt many peasants around him from the neighboring villages. John Wesley, who never forgot to dress himself like an English clergyman, sitting amongst them, taking notes.

Christian said: “The word of reconciliation which the Apostles preached, as the foundation of all they taught was, that we are reconciled to God, not by our own works, nor by our own righteousness, but wholly and solely by the blood of Christ. But you will say, Must I not grieve and mourn for my sins? Is not this just and right? ‘Must not first do this before I can expect God to be reconciled to me?’ I answer, it is just and right You must have a broken and contrite heart. But then observe, this is not your own work― this is the work of the Holy Ghost. Observe again, this is not the foundation. It is not this by which you are justified; this is not the righteousness; this is no part of the righteousness by which you are reconciled unto God. The remission of your sins is not owing to this cause, either in whole or in part. Your humiliation and contrition have no influence on that. Nay, observe farther, that it may hinder your justification: that is, if you build anything upon it―if you think, ‘I must be so or so contrite; I must grieve more before I can be justified.’ To think this, is to lay you, contrition, your grief, your humiliation, for the foundation of your being justified; at least, for a part of the foundation. Therefore it hinders you, justification, and a hindrance it is which must be removed. The right foundation is not your Contrition (though that is not your own), not your righteousness―nothing of your own―nothing that is wrought in you by the Holy Ghost, but it is something outside of you―the blood of Christ. For this is the word, ‘To him that believeth or God that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.’ See ye not that the foundation is nothing in us? There is no connection between God and the ungodly. They are altogether separate from each other. They have nothing in common. There is nothing, less or more, in the ungodly, to join them to God. Works, righteousness, repentance? No, ungodliness only. This, then, do― go straight to Christ with all your ungodliness. Tell Him, ‘Thou, whose eyes are as a flame of fire searching my heart, seest that I am ungodly. I plead nothing else. I do not say I am humble or contrite, but I am ungodly; therefore, bring me to Him that justifieth the ungodly: let it be Thy blood that saves me; for there is nothing in me but ungodliness.’ Here the wise men of the world and the learned fail to understand. It is foolishness to them. Sin is the only thing that divides men from God. Sin is also the only plea the sinner has―the only reason he can give why the Lamb of God should have compassion on him, and by His blood bring him near to the Father. This is the foundation which can never be moved. By faith we are built upon this foundation, and this faith also is the gift of God.”

As Christian preached these blessed words, John wrote them down, thankful and glad to have heard them. Never amongst the learned men who had preached at Oxford had he heard words which so helped and cheered him as those of this poor German carpenter. Several others helped him, too, by their conversation and example. “I would gladly,” he says, “have spent my life here, but my Master calling me to labor in another part of His vineyard, I was constrained to take my leave of this happy place.” So he said good-bye to dear old Christian David, and his other Herrnhuth friends.

He went from place to place till he again reached Marienborn. He found in Germany that the laws were in some states even stricter than those in England against Meetings for prayer or reading the Word. In one place any number exceeding three were forbidden to read together or to worship God, and, sad to say, the Lutheran clergymen were those who chiefly objected to it.

The Count was not at home when Wesley returned to Marienborn. He only saw the countess and her children, and after a short stay returned to England. He landed in London on Saturday, September 16. F. B.

Strayed From the Flock.

WE had for some hours been sitting by the side of a beautiful Devonshire river, under the shadow of some large tree: which dipped their graceful branches on its surface. On the opposite side of the river and about half-a-mile from it, was a small village, and as we sat we now and again heard the merry laughter of the children who were coming out of school, which mingling with the songs of the various birds, and the lowing of the kine, made us for the moment think, that the whole, work was happy, with nothing like a trace of sorrow upon it.

Little we thought, that so near us there was a poor suffering creature for which all the music of nature had no charm, and which, if recognized at all, could only make it the more miserable, being that into which it could not enter.

But the day was coming to a close, am like all other earthly pleasures, our pleasant time was passing away. Only the pleasure! at God’s right hand endure for evermore, and this is because God is Himself the spring, and Jesus the object of them, and we know that “there will be no night there” to hide Him from us.

As we were getting cold, and the heavy dew began to fall, we rose to go home.

Having proceeded only a few steps on ears were attracted by a noise, quite on of harmony with the beautiful music we had been listening to for so long. We glanced around to see if we could discover whence it came, and we had not to loop far, for at our side, a few yards from us, ova; a small head rising above the ground, from which issued the discordant notes. And no wonder, for, as we approached, who: should we see but a poor sheep, that had fallen into a narrow ditch, and that was so closely wedged in by the banks as to be wholly unable to move. The poor anima: had doubtless been there some time, as all the grass that it could reach had beer eaten, and had it not been found soon, it must have died from starvation.

There were a great many other sheep on the marsh, but they could not think of a plan to set free their captive companion. No! It required a power and an intelligence much beyond theirs to deliver the prisoner.

We tried several ways to lift it out, but could not do so for some time. The ditch was so narrow that it was not possible to get even a hand down by the sheep’s side it was of no use pulling the poor thing by the head as that would have killed it, and its legs, of course, were buried. At last a plan suggested itself. We dug two small holes, just large enough to put our hands, in, one on each side of the sheep. Then we put the end of a handkerchief down one hole and brought it up the other hole, and so, after much pulling, up came the sheep. This was a very laborious task. Every muscle was strained, and now and again the large drops of perspiration rolled from my father’s forehead. But his trouble was rewarded as you have seen.

The first thing the poor sheep did after having been taken out of the miry clay, and having its feet set on the green pasture, was to look up into our faces as if thanking us for our kindness, then it began eating, and soon we saw it run off to join the flock.

Now is this not very much like an old, old story you have heard very often? It reminds me much of the tale of God’s love to poor sinners, who, like the sheep, are stuck fast in the ditch of sin, and cannot of themselves get out. And it is a most solemn fact that by nature everybody is in this dreadful ditch. But need they stay there? Is there no way out? Yes, blessed be God, there is. The Good Shepherd has given His life for the sheep. And it is He who comes to you, just where you are, to save you from eternal death. Will you not believe on Him? It is the only way to be saved. Do not try to save yourself, or think that any of your friends can save you; the sheep could not, nor could its companions help it, and it would have died had we not saved it, and so must you unless the Good Shepherd saves you. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” You will be taken from the miry clay and the Lord will make you to fie down in the green pastures of the love of God.

E. A. P.

Little Emily.

ONE snowy day, as a missionary was searching out the very poor people in one of the most wretched parts of London, he came to the top floor of a house, as he thought, when he happened to see a ladder leading to a place above him. He climbed up the ladder and entered a sort of loft, and on knocking at a door before him, a feeble voice bade him cone in. With a glance, his eye took in the contents of the place. An old box turned on end stood for chair and table, while the other piece of furniture, the kettle, occupied the side of a broken and empty grate. In the window there was not a whole pane of glass, pieces of rag helping to keep out the snow.

Upon some straw in the corner of this desolate room was lying “little Emily,” as the people of the house called her, a motherless child, and very ill.

Yet little Emily’s poor, thin face lighted up with a sweet smile when the missionary asked her if she loved Jesus, for Jesus was very precious to her.

Why was this? She had heard of the Lord in the Sunday School, and of His leaving the glory above and becoming a man, dying upon the cross, the Just for the unjust. And sweet it was to her that Jesus had died, and had washed away her sins, so that she might live with Him forever. Though her bed was so hard and cold she was cheered by the love of Jesus.

Let me ask you, Do you know Jesus? I do not mean, have you ever heard of Him? But do you love Him in your heart? See how truly peaceful the love of Jesus makes those who trust in Him. Are you, in your health and strength, and your many mercies, happy because, like little Emily, you know the preciousness of Christ.

“The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.”―Psa. 25:9, 10.

Angels Who Announced Him, the Child Jesus.

NOW there were some shepherds taking care of their sheep in the lonely night, and as they watched to see that no wicked, greedy wolf came near their flocks, they saw a wonderful, light brighter than the mid-day sun, and it shone all round them, and an angel spoke to them out of that bright glory―for it was Gods glory that shone round the shepherds. At first they were afraid, for they thought the glory would destroy them but when they heard what the angel said, their fear all went away. He said, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” What did the angel mean by saying a Saviour was born? Was this babe going to be the Saviour of sinners? Yes, that is what He came from heaven for! And what sign did the angel give that what he said was true? Oh, it was a wonderful sign: they were to find this babe, who had come out of that beautiful glory—where? A babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger! God’s holy child had taken the lowest place of all―that was the sign.

Now the moment the angel had told this good message, and those poor shepherds had heard his words, the joy of heaven was heard on earth, and a multitude of heavenly beings came praising God for letting His glory come down to fallen man. The holy angels were glad because God loved man. And God the Father looked down upon the babe with joy, for now there was one Person in this world on whom His holy eve could rest and see no sin.

As soon as the angels were gone back into heaven, the shepherds said one to another that they would go and look for the babe. So they left their flocks, and went away very quickly, and found Mary the mother of Jesus, and Joseph her husband, and the babe was lying in the manger, and the shepherds stood and looked at Him, and they thought of what the angels said: “Today is born to you a Saviour.” Their hearts were very full that day for to every one they met they told what God had told to them: “Today is born to you a Saviour,” and they went home glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard.

Now there was an aged man at Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon. God had promised him that he should not die until he had seen the Saviour. He was in the temple when the parents brought in the child Jesus to present Him to the Lord, and when Simeon saw Jesus he took Him up in his arms, and he blessed God and said, “Now lettest Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” Simeon held in his arms the Lord Jesus Christ, and he knew that He was come to be the Saviour of all who believe. His eyes had seen Him, his hands had touched Him. Simeon felt he was a sinner, and he had longed to see God’s Saviour. Now the time had come. This holy child from heaven was there, to be seen and handled by a poor sinner, who believed that He had come from God. Simeon felt how wonderful it was, and he said: “I do not want to see anything more in this world; I have seen God’s salvation, and that has satisfied all my desires. I can die in peace.” How happy Simeon felt! and how he loved that lowly babe, who had come down into a wicked world like this, not to enjoy Himself, but to show old people, and little children too, what great love God had for them. Just at the same time aged Anna came in, and she, too, gave thanks to God for sending Jesus, and she spake of Jesus to every one who wished to be saved.

A. M. S.

Part 5, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 14.

AT Iconium the Lord “gave testimony unto the word of His grace” which was preached by Paul and Barnabas. When God is working Satan generally raises opposition, as Paul says elsewhere “a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries;” so it was here, for they had to flee to Lystra and Derbe, still in Asia Minor. At Lystra, Paul performed a miracle similar to Peter’s in Acts 3. This caused the heathens by whom they were surrounded to call the apostles after the names of the false gods whom they ignorantly worshipped. The Greeks or Grecians of whom we read in the Acts were not heathen as these people were, but believed in the true God. But it was the Jews who had a special hatred to Christ and His servants, and continually stirred up the Gentiles or any whom they could against them. So now, after Paul and Barnabas had restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them, and had preached to them to turn to the “living God,” the Jews take occasion of the uproar and persuade the people to stone Paul.

Thus he nearly shared the death that he had consented to for the martyr Stephen. But God had other work for him to do. If Stephen went to heaven to prove how a saint of God can die, Paul must be spared to prove how such a one can live in a world that hates all the things which he loves. Was not Paul a heavenly man? Had he not seen Jesus Christ in glory? He must, then, live to be a witness of those things which he had seen, and to walk about in a world which had rejected Christ, and would reject any who were like Him, for it is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master.

What must have been the feelings of those few disciples who stood around Paul, supposing him dead, and what their joy when he rose up! But none of them could know how we have had to thank God for sparing His servant, if only to write such epistles as those that were sent from the prison in Rome.

After preaching the Gospel at Derbe, Paul and Barnabas retraced their steps (visiting the places even from which they had had to flee), for the purpose of confirming the disciples. How important Paul seems to have thought this work! He was not content unless he found those to whom he had been blessed prospering in their souls and growing in grace. Would it do for a child to stop growing? No, it would be a dwarf. So if a person born of God does not learn more of Christ every year, he is not “growing up into Him,” and is a dwarf in soul.

From Attalia, on the coast, they at last sailed for Antioch, and once more gathered the Church together; this time to tell how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles; and at this Gentile center they abode long.

H. L. H.

Saved; at Such a Cost.

IN the year 1827 her Majesty’s ship “Orontes” was crossing the Bay of Biscay with despatches. The night was unusually dark; the middle watch had just come on deck, when that most dismal of sounds to a sailor’s ear was heard―a heavy splash―and then a cry at the highest pitch, “Arran overboard!” The helm was put down, sail taken in, and as the frigate came to the wind the two quarter boats were hastily lowered to look for the lost man. But the moment the junior lieutenant, whose watch it was, had given his orders, he threw off his coat and shoes, and, leaping into the tossing sea, swam off to the rescue. Blue lights shone out brightly, and guns were fired at intervals to show the struggling men and the boats where the vessel was. The captain and the officers gathered on the quarter-deck, and the men clustered like bees in the rigging. The solemn plunge of the ship’s bows into the sea and the slight creaking of the ropes alone disturbed the intense silence, when suddenly, a voice cried from the maintop, “I hear them, sir.” Shortly after the well-known sound of many oars, with but as one dip into the waters, was distinctly audible, and then there was a trembling all round in those who were-so unused to tremble, and the captain’s clear voice through the trumpet was heard, “Have you got them?” “Yes, sir.” “Have you got them both?” “Yes, sir.” And then there was a “Thank God!”

Carefully borne on two foretop men, Gregory was brought on deck.

“Is the other boat alongside? Clear the gangway,” is the captain’s word. ‘“Lanterns over this side. Help the noble fellow up.”

“Noble, indeed, sir,” said the poor, sodden seaman, “he dived for me as I sank, and bore me on his back till the boat came up―he saved my life!”

“Get underneath him and lift him up!” And thus was Mr. R. borne by four fine fellows to the deck, and there tenderly thrla.id him down, a crowd offering pea-jackets for his head and to cover him.

“Where is the doctor? Give him brandy! How is he, doctor? Speak!” “Sir,” said the surgeon, with a choked voice, “he’s gone—quite gone.” “Dead! You don’t mean dead!” “Yes, sir, quite, quite dead.”

And then there was a gasp and a sob, and the poor saved man threw himself down by the corpse, and kissed the noble forehead and cold hands, and burst into a passion of grief. The captain hurried below and said nothing. The mass of hardy, stern men and officers shook as they sought to repress their sorrow. To tear and drag Gregory away was no light task; he had forgotten himself, he had forgotten that he was alive in turning all the energies of his rescued life on his deliverer, and on the hard cost of his rescue. Saved, indeed, alive from the dead, but at the sacrifice of a life so far beyond his own! Mr. R., the favorite of the fleet, the beloved of all! “If he had but said a word to me before he died to tell me of his wishes, to tell me how to use for him the life he had saved, how thankful I should be! And yet I remember now, in our struggles in the water, he said to me, ‘Gregory, I am feeling weak. I hear the boats. But if you are saved and I am not, go to my mother, give her my last and truest love―take her my watch, and all my books to my sisters, and explain it to them. They won’t lament my dying thus.’ And, ah! will I not do it, and all else I can! Is not my life his, and not my own?”

Reader, you admire the noble officer, who gave up his life to save the drowning seaman, the greatness of his character stirs your heart; let me ask you, “What think you of Christ?”. Have you wept over His love to sinners? have you wondered at Him leaving His Father’s glory and giving up His heavenly honors to die the shameful death of Calvary? and for whom? For His enemies, for the creatures of His hand, who saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. He went right under the deep waters of divine wrath to bear up the souls He loved. He took their very place, to rescue them from eternal woe. Has Jesus saved your soul? Reader, if you are His and if you believe in Him, then you are His, then are you, like Gregory, devoted to the person of your Saviour? Do you reckon yourself now no longer your own, but Christ’s? Your life Christ’s? your whole being Christ’s? Are you living out the seaman’s words, “Is not my life His, and not my own?” Jesus has left you His word to follow out while you remain here; if you love Him you will keep His sayings.

The next day, according to custom, everything belonging to the deceased was sold by auction, except what was sealed up to be sent to Mr. R’s. mother, the watch being given to Gregory that he might take it to her himself. And then a new and touching scene presented itself. Gregory had borrowed all the money he could from his shipmates, which, with his own, made a good sum, and, with eager, anxious looks, he stood foremost of all to get every scrap he could of his deliverer’s things. And away he went with his arms full, rejoicing in his prize, although it had exhausted alike his purse and his credit. I followed him to see all folded up, and put by with a tenderness and care that could not be exceeded; and as I remember the scene, and the love of Gregory to all that belonged to his noble deliverer, my soul inquires, what is its love to my Saviour? Fellow believer, what saith your heart to Him who died for you? Rescued from death, for, “He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25, 26). Rescued from judgment, for “there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1) Rescued from the second death, “on such the second death Hath no power” (Rev. 20:6); you are His for time and for eternity. You are His to live for Him, who rescued you at the cost of His own life.

In very deed Christ has given you His life, for He has not only died in your stead, but He is now your life. He is risen up out of the deep waters of death and lives in the glory of God, the life of all who believe.

Oh! in the power of this new life, bow down before Jesus, not a dead Deliverer, but a living Saviour; let all that you are and have be His, and your new life be spent solely for Him.

A. M. A.

The "Priest" And the Publican; or, "Only One Mediator."

COME with me to a low beershop in one of the most degraded districts in the metropolis, and leaving behind the sights and scenes belonging to bar and parlor, ascend the staircase and gaze upon the proprietor of the house. There he is tossing restlessly on his bed, the victim of vice and debauchery. His evil course of reckless godlessness is fast drawing to a close, for, with a high hand, he has sinned against God and His Christ, and has lived for half a lifetime amid corruption of the foulest kind, until at last he lies dying, at what men term the prime of life, his frame shattered and torn with disease. “Some men’s sins go beforehand to judgment” seems terribly true of him; there is no question as to his being a sinner, and a black one too; he has served his master well, and the hard-earned wages of his sin and folly are before him in all their naked reality―DEATH, and after death the JUDGMENT.

Friends inquire anxiously: “Is there no hope of his recovery, doctor?”

“None whatever here. I can only hold out a faint hope, upon condition that he is removed to a hospital, as this noise and atmosphere are most prejudicial to his recovery.”

Acting upon this advice, in the course of a few days, the removal is made, and the publican becomes the inmate of the W―Hospital, and there we will leave him for a little. Meanwhile, I direct your gaze to another scene.

Look! right up, through the opened heavens, and see seated on the throne of grace, at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honor, a Man―the risen Man―Christ Jesus, the Lord of Life and Glory. He is seated, having FINISHED the work which His Father gave Him to do. Once He hung between earth and heaven, the lifted up Son of Man a spectacle to men and angels. Calvary’s cross displayed the sinless One made sin; and there, on that tree, He drank to the dregs the cup of God’s wrath against sin. He bore and exhausted there the wrath and judgment of God, which an endless eternity in the lake, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, shall never exhaust. He was there as the substitute for sinners, not as the doer of the sins for which He suffered. So that now the message of pardon, peace, and eternal life can be sent by God from that bright glory in which Jesus is seated, to this lost, ruined world, and that blessed One can make known the riches of His grace to such an one as was the occupant of that bed in that wretched beer-shop.

Let us turn to him again now that he is lying in the longward in the W―Hospital. He is not alone. By his bedside sits a gray-headed soldier, once fighting the battles of the Queen, but now having on the helmet of salvation, armed with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and fighting the good fight of faith. To the poor, sinful sufferer he is telling of pardon, of blood so precious that it avails even for him―that God has come down as a giver, not a claimer, as a saviour God, to deliver, not to condemn. Will the poor man, just upon the brink of eternal death, refuse such an offer, so suited to him as a lost sinner? Alas! the words of love have no charm for him, and, with evident distaste, he turns away his head. Thus repulsed, the old soldier leaves the bedside. He has grown gray in serving his Lord, and has often suffered, even to personal injuries, whilst proclaiming the gospel of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ, and, knowing that he is a messenger of the Lord, he can but feel that the message being refused is a solemn thing. The old soldier leaves the sick ward, with its long row of narrow pallets, only to wrestle in prayer for the poor man’s soul.

Often and often during the fast-ebbing days of the sick man’s life did the Lord Jesus send His messages of love and grace by the soldier’s lips to the dying man, but apparently all was in vain, and again and again the old soldier had to leave, committing the word to the Lord of the harvest.

Not many hours after one of the “old soldier’s” visits, another occupant of the chair by the bedside might have been seen. He was clad in approved clerical garb, youthful in appearance, and pervaded by an air of sanctity. He thus addressed the dying man: “You are soon about to leave this scene, my poor man. You have been a very bad man. Now, I am a priest. If you are contrite, and confess your sins to rile, I will pray to God and read the absolution.” With an almost superhuman effort, and with horror depicted on his face, the poor sufferer raised himself up and said, “Go away from me. Go away from me. THERE IS ONLY ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, and I don’t want you.”

He sank back exhausted with fatigue; upon recovering he asked if he might see the “old soldier,” who was soon at his bedside listening with breathless interest, as the marvels of the riches of God’s grace to one so utterly lost were recounted. He heard, to his joy that, as the dying man lay there, the word had, in the power of the Holy Ghost, sunk down into conscience and heart, telling of his guilt, but making efficacious the blood that cleansed away that guilt, and that then and there he had with his heart believed unto righteousness; so that when the test came he was able to confess with his lips unto salvation, owning that there was only one Priest who could say “Absolvo te,” whose voice he had heard from the bright glory.

During the remaining hours of the man’s life it was his delight to tell of the love and grace that had sought and found one so lost as himself. And gladness filled the breast of the “old soldier,” a faint reflex of that joy with which Heaven rejoiced over the returned prodigal.

We will again visit the beerhouse. It is now midnight. The bar-parlor is filled with its usual complement of slaves of intemperance, but its wonted hubbub and song are silent. Instead are heard the deep tones of the “old soldier’s” voice, telling of the departure of their once boon companion. He has just left the bedside of the dead man, and with the events of his closing days and hours freshly before him, he narrates the marvelous riches of God’s grace to the poor drunkards. How that, instead of the jaws of the pit receiving him, he was in the presence of his Saviour, God. And as he goes on to proclaim the same precious blood, the same living Lord in glory, waiting to make known His heart of love even to them, pipes are quietly put out, half emptied glasses are pushed away, and astonished ears listen to the tale of God’s saving power and grace extending even to them. The devil’s territory is invaded with the glad tidings of the gospel of peace. The day of Christ, when both sower and reaper will rejoice together, will declare the result of the message.

Shortly after the occurrence of the foregoing events I stood in a cemetery amongst a number of other Christians. “Is some great person to be buried here today?” said some onlookers. “Not great as this world counts greatness,” we answered.; “poor, indeed, was he as to this earth’s goods, but rich in faith and in service to his Lord and Master.” So, sorrowfully and yet joyfully, we laid in the grave, to await the note of victory on that resurrection morn, the once stalwart form of R. A., “the old soldier.” His end was perfect peace.

Oh! what a blessed meeting will the “old soldier” and the “beer-shop proprietor” have with Him, who loved and gave Himself for them, on that cloudless morn, when the grave will yield up the bodies of all believers, at the sound of the Redeemer’s voice, to be changed into the image of their glorious Lord, and be “forever with the Lord.”

My dear reader, shall you meet them on that resurrection morn, when Christ will claim His own? You will if you trust in the man Christ Jesus, the one only mediator between God and man.

H. N.

Bring Them Out of This Place.

DEAR fellow-believer, the world is soon to be burnt up―are there any besides in this city of destruction whom you would have saved? “Bring them out of this place, for God will destroy this place!”

Before the flood came, and swept the unbelieving away, God said to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” Ere Jericho’s guilty inhabitants― “man, woman, young, and old”―were “utterly destroyed,” Rahab, “her father, mother, brethren, and all that she had” were taken to a place of safety (Josh. 6) for Rahab asked for the lives of her father, mother, brethren, sisters, and ALL THAT THEY HAD! (Josh. 2) and under the shelter of the scarlet line, they were all safe in that day of judgment.

It was to Lot that the word, “Hast thou any here besides?” was spoken. The angels announce to him that the hour of Sodom’s destruction is at hand― “Hast thou any here besides,” say they, “son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in this city, bring them out of this place, for we will destroy this place.” (Gen. 19) What could have been more comprehensive than these words― “whatsoever thou hast!” Ah, Lot! think over those whom thou hast in Sodom with thee―thy wife, whom thou didst marry in Sodom, thy children begotten in Sodom, thy sons-in-law married to thy daughters in Sodom―go to them, plead with them, cry to them that this is their last opportunity; if they refuse thy voice tonight, they will tomorrow be destroyed. But Lot is as one that mocks unto his sons-in-law-his life had been worldly, and so he had no power to testify to others of the coming judgment, for was he not as one of them, a citizen of their city. He himself is saved as by fire, the Lord being merciful to him. He leaves the city with his wife and daughters; his wife looks behind her, and becomes a monument to all generations that to walk towards heaven, with the heart and eyes towards the world is utterly vain―that nothing short of a heart turned to God is salvation. When the clear day broke, all were destroyed, burnt up by the fiery tempest.

May we learn the Lord’s lesson from these examples! Jesus is coming―the world will soon be destroyed―for as it was in the days of Lot, so shall the day of the Son of man be. Surely we who believe the word of God―that we may be called at any moment to meet our Saviour in the air―have need of the angels’ question being put to our own hearts, “Hast thou any here besides?”

5, The A B C of the Gospel.

DOES God justify a man upon his becoming somewhat righteous, or while he is still in the guilt of his sins?

God justifies a man while he is ungodly; and while the sinner is yet it his sins God reckons him to be righteous, even as righteousness was reckoned to Abraham when he was still in uncircumcision! And Abraham was accounted righteous upon the principle of faith in God, and not because of any works of his own doing. And a sinner is accounted righteous while he is a sinner, and apart from any works which he may do, for “God imputeth righteousness without works.” (Rom. 4:6.)

And when does God justify a man? When he believes. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness;” and it shall be counted to us also, “if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for on justification.” (4:24, 25.) God Himself is the source of the gospel, His heart of love is the fountain-head of its life-giving streams, and God is the object of our faith. It is God who has made the salvation for us; God, who has given His Son to die for us; God who laid upon Him the iniquities of us all; God, who raised up Jesus again for our justification. God has by the work of the cross established divine righteousness, so “that He might be just, and the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus.” (3:26.) His love sends this gospel to us, and therefore itis termed the gospel of God; the glorious news that God maintains His own justice by the cross while His mercy flows out from the cross to sinners, as they are in their sins. This river of mercy welled up 1800 years ago, and pours out in life-giving streams from a glorified Christ. It rolls on still, and every sinner who comes to this river, and drinks of its waters, is perfectly safe for all eternity. The judgment which we justly dread has been laid upon Jesus, the wrath which we rightly fear has been borne by Jesus; instead of His judgment upon us because of our guilt, God presents to us the blood of His Son; and instead of pleasing God by our own efforts, we please God when we believe His own gospel and His own free act of justifying sinners, for without faith it is impossible to please God.

Not one offense was made light of upon Calvary, but all were atoned for, all were put away by Him who bore their penalty, in His own body upon the tree. And on the morning of the third day, Justice came to the prison of the grave, raised up Jesus and gave Him glory; and then, that man might know God’s act, the angel rolled away the stone from the prison. And God justifies all who believe what He has done, and gives them the place before Him which His Son holds as risen from the dead.

The Lord, once upon the cross under the weight of our guilt, is now raised for our justification. The sins laid upon Him on the cross are not upon Him now, they are gone. He is seated upon the throne of God, and we are justified according to the standard of a risen Christ.

A criminal might escape sentence upon the ground of “not proven,” or a man might be discharged from court as “innocent,” but we who believe are like a criminal proved guilty, who has been condemned and executed, and who has died for his offense, but who, having received a new life, is risen again. What could the law say to him but “He has been punished for all things?” The man would also be in a new condition outside of and beyond the old condition in which he once lived and sinned and died. So does scripture say that ours is “justification of life” (Rom. 5:18), and that we are “in Christ,” for we are in a new condition before God, no longer “in the flesh” or in Adam;” no longer sinners, responsible for their guilt, and with the judgment due to sin before them, but believers, with the judgment due to sin behind them, with sins gone, and responsible to walk before God “as those who are alive from among the dead.” (Rom. 6:13.)

When a sinner believes in Christ he has this righteousness and this life. Perhaps he does not take it in all at once. And no wonder! The sense of relief in the knowledge of assurance of being saved from wrath to come, is so great that perhaps for years he is occupied with the fact that he is saved, and that Jesus saved him! But all the blessings of the gospel are ours upon believing.

What, then, let us ask, shall the believer do? “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound,” shall we deny Christ, falsify grace, and misrepresent the God of love by living like unbelievers? We obtained our deliverance from judgment, our freedom from sin by death―the death of Christ―and now we are to reckon ourselves as dead with Christ, to count ourselves to be what Christ once was for us upon the cross; and as we are alive unto God, we are to live as those whose life is Christ. Our lives should be the practical expression of the glorious facts of the gospel of our salvation.

Upon What Does Your Soul Stand?

“I WANT to feel that I am saved,” said a young man to me some few months ago; “want to feel safe, and to know it is all right.”

“Surely,” I replied,” there is no need to doubt when you have God’s own word in your hand. It is not a matter of feeling on your part, but of God’s wondrous love and grace and righteousness. Everyone who believes in Christ’s perfect work and accepts His atonement once made is saved. Do not, I pray you, trust your immortal soul on the ground of your own feelings or failures: God expected nothing of you, found nothing in you, but in His own dear Son He was perfectly satisfied. ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,’ were God’s own words of the same Jesus who Himself on the cross took the sin of the whole world, and all the sins of every believer.”

I had not time to say more than this to my inquiring young friend. But a short month after I heard that he was ill, lying unconscious and helpless, suffering from a most painful and distressing disease of the brain, nor did he ever rally for five minutes, but passed away without one word. Oh! how sorrowfully we mourn him! But there was just this gleam of sunshine in a few worth he had said in our hearing, “I do believe: only I want to feel more peace.”

Dear reader, God seeth not as man seeth, and He knoweth that it is not our feeling saved that gives us peace before Him, but our simply resting by faith on the finished work of His Christ.

E. A.

A Solemn Discovery.

IT is a most solemn discovery for a believer, that there is nothing good in him; that as God looks into his heart He finds there only sin, the thing which He hates. Nothing can meet his case but the death of God’s Son on Calvary. That blessed One died in the place of curse and wrath. God has thus once and forever condemned sin in the flesh, and now there is no condemnation for those that are in that Christ, whom God has raised for their justification. ―Payson.

Christian State Variable.

WHILE the Christian’s standing is immovable, Christ risen being the guarantee of his security, and Christ Himself the measure of his acceptance before God, the state of the Christian is subject to continual change, and is frequently as variable as the proverbial weather. The reason is that his standing rests absolutely and exclusively upon what Christ did for him upon the cross, and what Christ is for him in the glory, while his state has to do with himself, with his walk, his prayer, his communion. Christian standing relates to what the believer is in Christ in heaven; the state of the Christian relates to what the believer is in this world.

Very frequently the people of God, finding their state to be poor and miserable, begin to question their standing, and hesitate to accept all that which God says they are in Christ; Hence the enemy gets an advantage, and levels, them down to the low estate of their own experiences. But we are not accepted according to our love to Christ, but “in the Beloved” Himself.

When Israel in the wilderness was sinning shamefully, and joining in wickedness with Moab, God would from those mountain-tops, where the accuser sought to curse them, see no iniquity in Jacob, or, perverseness in Israel. He spake of the people according to His own purposes of them—great, glorious, and unalterable. They stood in His mind according to the measure of His counsels respecting them. But He did not pass over their evil state; nay, He laid His heavy hand upon them, and that because they were His people―His sinning people.

If the believer lets go faith respecting his standing in Christ, he is like a ship without an anchor, caught by the storm upon a lee shore—every trial from without, every weakness within drives him nearer and nearer to the rocks of despair. Self-occupation becomes his soul’s shipwreck. His sense of his utter inability to do anything or be anything good―which when Christian standing in Christ is known becomes the most wholesome of experiences―is to him utter misery. His eye being off Christ and on himself, his soul having lost sight of strength in Christ and finding none in himself, he is driven on to dejection, and to doubt whether he was ever in Christ at all.

It must be Christ first, Christ last, Christ all. No hope in self; no help in self. All confidence a Christ, and no confidence in the flesh ever makes us strong. Yet, Christian, while you boast of being “in Christ” take heed that “Christ be formed in you.”

Chapter 12,: John Wesley.

THE evening that John Wesley returned Germany he went to Charles’s house. They had a great to deal to tell one another. John gave an account of his travels, and of the help and encouragement he had had from being amongst the Moravians. Charles had to tell of the great work the Lord was now doing in England, of sinners converted in great numbers in many places, and of the great desire to hear the gospel which was now preached by Charles and a few others. There were at that time, and there had been for about seventy years, little companies of believers who met together, a few at a time, to read the word of God, and to pray. These little companions had been first formed by two London clergymen, just after the Fire of London, in the reign of Charles II. They met at one another’s houses once a week. Their meetings were no doubt often rather stiff and lifeless, as they had a printed paper from which to read their prayers, and they had bound themselves to keep various rules, such as praying a certain number of times every day. But it is hard to meet over the word of God without finding some blessing. It was at one of the meetings of these “societies,” as they were called, that John had heard the reading from Luther that had at first brought peace to his soul. These little meetings were now to be of great use, for, as John and Charles were so often forbidden to preach in the churches of London, they would often have been at a loss to know where to preach had it not been for the meeting rooms of these little “societies,” which were in the houses of those belonging to them.

The day after John came home (on Sunday) he spoke to a large company in one of these rooms in the City of London. He continued to do this daily in one room or another―sometimes two or three times a day― and found many glad to listen. He and Charles also went often to Newgate Gaol to visit the prisoners condemned to death. You must remember that at that time people were hanged not only for murder, but for stealing, so that there were generally people to be found under sentence of death—often a considerable number. The brothers still preached in churches when they were allowed; but it generally happened that after the first sermon they were forbidden to preach in that church any more. John now began to preach in other places besides London, at Windsor, Oxford, and so many other places that it seems wonderful how, in those days, when there were no railroads, he could be so constantly moving about, and so constantly preaching, as though his journeys took but a small part of his time. He either walked or went on horseback.

At the end of this year, on Dec. 8, John and Charles heard the good news that their old friend George Whitefield had arrived in London from America. John went at once to see him. George Whitefield began preaching immediately, but after three days he was forbidden to preach in no less than five London churches. He, too, was very glad of the rooms of the “societies.” He not only preached there, but he and his friends had prayer meetings, which lasted sometimes all night. They felt sure that God had a great work for them to do in this poor, benighted country, and they began the New Year with much prayer and with meetings, to consult together as to the best way of carrying on the preaching of the gospel.

George Whitefield left London early in that year (1739) and went to Bristol, where he had leave to preach in the churches. In a fortnight, however, his preaching had such offense that he was forbidden to do so again in any church in the town. In fact, the only place left where he was allowed to speak a word was in the gaol, and very soon the Mayor of Bristol forbad this also. What was now to be done? Perhaps you think it was a pity he did not take more care about offending people. But if it is the gospel that offends them, it would not be right to hold it back on that account. Do you know that one of the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ is a very sad and strange one? He is called (Rom. 9:32, 33) the Stumbling Stone! That is to say, there is something in the thought of being saved by Him alone, without any doings or feelings of our own to help in the work, that is very displeasing to the proud heart of man. We would like to have some share in saving ourselves.

The people of Bristol had stumbled at the Stumbling Stone, and God would now send out His servant into the highways and hedges, that His house might be filled. Three or four miles from Bristol is a place called Kingswood. It was once a royal forest, but coal having been found there the trees were mostly cut down, and the whole country round filled with coal-mines, and inhabited by miners. These miners were a very rough, brutal set of people, almost savages in their planners. There was no church or chapel anywhere near them; nobody cared for their souls or bodies, and they lived and died as heathens.

Whitefield thought much of these poor people, and for the second time in his life the thought came to him whether he might do such an extraordinary thing as preach out of doors in a case like this. When he had thought of it before, was just before he left London. Such crowds of people had come to hear him preach in Bermondsey Church, that one thousand remained standing outside the door unable to get in. Whitefield then thought of going out and preaching on a tombstone, but he did not dare; and when he had afterward consulted John and Charles, they said it was a most mad thought. Now, however, Whitefield had no one to consult, which was a good thing. He saw that if he did not go and preach to the colliers out of doors, they must remain heathens.

On Saturday, February 17th 1739, he set the first example in England of what then seemed so extraordinary, but it is now so common that we think nothing of it. He stood on a hillock and began to preach. He remembered Christ had done the same. A number of colliers came to listen. Next time two thousand; the third time from four to five thousand, and soon twenty thousand. The trees and hedges were filled with black men and boys. He says the scene was very strange: the sun shining brightly―the people standing still “in an awful manner.” All could hear, which was wonderful considering the numbers. As he preached, he saw white lines on many of the black faces, which were made by the tears running down their sooty cheeks. Numbers of them appear to have been truly converted. In time, others came besides the colliers―ladies and gentlemen, of horseback or in carriages, so that as far as he could see were crowds eager to listen. God had at last begun to awaken England. Whitefield then thought it well to preach on a large bowling-green, in Bristol itself, and as the crowd increased, he sent for John Wesley to come am help him. John hardly knew what to make of it when he arrived. He says he had been used to think that “the saving of souls was almost sin if it had not been done in a church.” I suppose he thought the rooms of the “societies” almost as good as churches. He let Sunday pass without daring to preach out of doors; but next day, on Monday, April and, he took what he thought the desperate step of preaching on a hill near the town. Three thousand people came to listen. He now had no more fears about it. He preached day by day, and always to crowds.

Whitefield said that as John now found open air preaching was not a sin, he would leave the Kingswood Collieries to him, and go himself into Wales. The poor colliers took a most affectionate leave of him. They made a sort of farewell feast in their simple way, and brought their pence to be saved up to build a school for their children, asking him to lay the first stun, before he left. So, with much prayer, this was done, and Whitefield rode away into Wales.

Wesley went on preaching to great multitudes of people when Whitefield was gone. Now and then he was allowed to preach in a church. He went to the towns round Bristol as far as Bath. There was a man called Mr. Nash living a Bath at that time. He was the leader in all the fashionable amusements of the place, and was known by the name of the King of Bath. A report was spread that if Wesley dared to preach at Bath, Mr. Nash meant to take some violent measures to stop it. Many people begged him, therefore, to give up the thought of preaching there. John Wesley, however, was no easily frightened, and was glad the report had been spread, because great numbers of people especially of the higher classes, came to ail preaching in order to see what Mr. Nash meant to do.

He had just begun to explain his text when Mr. Nash appeared, and asked, as the chief priest: and elders once did on a former occasion, by what authority he did these things? Wesley replied that it was by the authority of Jesus Christ. Mr. Nash then told him that such preaching’s were contrary to the Conventicle Act, “and besides,” he added, “your preaching frightens people out of their wits.” “Sir,” said Wesley,” did you ever hear me preach?” “No.” “How, then, can you judge of what you never heard?” “Sir, by common report.” “Common report is not enough. Give me leave, sir, to ask is not your name Nash?” “My name is Nash.” “Sir, I dare not judge of you by common report; I think it not enough to judge by.” (I should tell you that common report said of Mr. Nash that he was a very bad character.) Here Mr. Nash paused awhile to recover himself, and then said, “I desire to know what these people come here for?” upon which an old dame stepped forward; and said to Mr. Wesley,” Sir, leave him to me; let an old woman answer him. You, Mr. Nash, take care of your body, we take care of our souls, and for the food of our souls we come here.” Mr. Nash replied not a word, but walked away, and we hear no more of him.

Many of Wesley’s friends were somewhat shocked and astonished when they heard of all that was going on. One of them wrote to advise him to leave off his strange practices, He wrote in reply that God had commanded him to preach the gospel. “Man,” he said, “forbids me to do this in another’s parish, that is, to do it at all, seeing I have now no parish of my own, nor probably ever shall. Whom, then, shall I hear, God or man? If it be just to obey man rather than God judge you. You ask, how can one do good of whom men say all manner of evil?’ I will put you in mind, the more evil men say of me for my Lord’s sake, the more good will He do by me. How could you ever think of ‘saving yourself and them that hear you’ without being the filth and off-scouring of the world?’ To this hour is this scripture true, and I therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. Blessed be God! I enjoy the reproach of Christ! Oh may you also he vile, exceeding vile, for His sake! God forbid that you should ever be other than generally scandalous I had almost said universally. If any man tell you there is a new way of following Christ he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

I do not know whether Wesley’s friend was convinced by this letter. Perhaps he thought it very foolish, as many would think now. In any case, whilst he was thinking about it, lost souls were being saved, and brutal, drunken colliers were becoming as lights shining in a dark place, for which John Wesley thanked God, and we can thank Him too.

F. B.

"Meet Me in Heaven."

SUCH were the last words of a young girl I knew: would you like to hear about her?

A. R. was very regular in coming week after week to our bible class for girls, and she often brought other little friends with her. One evening, to my great joy, in answer to my question, she said: “Oh, I am not afraid to die now. I am so happy. I know I should go to be with Jesus.” Adding, “Whilst you were speaking to us I believed in Jesus, and now I know that I am saved.” From that night A. wished to please her Saviour.

About two months after this, a little girl of our Sunday School died, and I well remember A. saying, “I wonder who will be next,” little thinking the Lord would so soon call her! Shortly after this she told me that her mother was going to leave the neighborhood of our Sunday School, and that they were to move the following week. “But my mother has promised to let me come sometimes to the bible class, so I shall still see you,” said A.

But note, my young reader, how uncertain life is! A. was taken ill before the end of the week, and though she much wished to come to the Sunday School, she could not do so. On the Monday she was worse, and from that day she was not able to get up any more, and the doctor gave no hope of her recovery.

“Dear A.,” her mother said, “the doctor says that you cannot live long.”

“Well, mother,” she replied, “do not cry for me; do not let any one of those I love cry for me, because I am going to heaven. Meet me there.”

In the midst of great sufferings she comforted her sorrowing mother by telling her that she was going to be with Jesus, and was not afraid of death.

One day the nurse said―

“Do you get any rest, dear?”

“Oh, no,” she said, “but I know I shall soon rest in heaven, where I am going.”

A few hours before her death she sang her favorite hymn:

“There is a better world they say,

Oh, so bright,”

till no longer able to sing. Then she called her mother and brothers around her bed and said to them, “Now I must bid you my last good night. I am going to heaven; meet me there.” She sent her last good-bye to the teachers and scholars of her Sunday School, and about midnight she said, “Jesus is waiting for me with His arms wide open; I am going to Him.” She then put her hands in an attitude of prayer and looking upwards began to pray, but her hands dropped down, and she fell asleep in the 16th year of her age.

Dear reader, the reason why my young friend was not afraid to die was, because she knew that the Lord Jesus had washed her from her sins in His most precious blood. She was prepared to meet her God, but let me ask you, are you? ―could you say, “I know that I am going to be with Jesus?”

A. was only fifteen and very healthy. Who can tell how soon you may be called away? Are you ready? Oh, if you are not, let me entreat you not to put it off any longer, but to come to Jesus at once. Tomorrow may be too late, but today “yet there is room” for you.

Remember A.’s last message, “Meet me in heaven.” Will you meet her there?

F. B.

The Widow and Her Son.

SOME time ago there lived in a sea-port town a widow, with one little boy, a cripple, on whom she lavished all her love, and for whom she lived and labored. She had no one else, this lone woman. Once she had had another child, also a boy, but he had grown up wayward and wild, and preferred the company of the giddy, thoughtless boys of the town to staying at home helping his mother. One day he ran away from his home. It was an evil day for him, for he never saw his mother nor his home again. His mother longed and waited for his return, and made inquiries of many in vain; he was heard of no more, and was at last given up as drowned.

I do not know whether it was this great, sorrow which made Mrs. W. think of another world and of Him who dwells there, but she began to feel what a sinner she was in the sight of the holy God, and to cry, “What must I do to be saved?” She soon found that ruined sinners in their distance from God can do nothing to bring themselves nearer to Him, nothing to make them fit for Hip presence, but that God bids them, turn to Him, in whose sight they have sinned, and believe Christ and His finished work.

When Mrs. W. knew Jesus as her Saviour, and that His blood had washed away all he’ sins, she earnestly sought to lead her cripple boy, Willie, to believe and be saved. Over and over again she told him the sweet story of God’s love, ever increasingly feeling the freshness of it in her own soul; but to her Willie it brought no joy. He soon wearied of it, and showed no taste for the bible or the things of God.

Willie now made the acquaintance of some rough, bad boys, and in vain did his mother beg him to break with these companions. But he had not the courage to shun the boys and bear the laugh they would raise against him. So he went on his own way, little dreaming how it was to end. “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

A few years passed away, and Mrs. W. died, leaving her son a small property. He now grew more careless than ever. His mother’s words, which had never failed to rouse a feeling of uneasiness in his bosom, were silent, and the still small voice of conscience was almost stifled. He gave up the godly counselors of his childhood, and went with those whose end is destruction. He spent life, money, and all the good gifts that a kind God bestows on His creatures in his own selfish way. But this could not go on very long. The many opportunities that had been given to Willie to flee from the wrath to come had been thrown away, had been put off for a “more convenient season,” and at last the word went forth, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.”

He was still young, not one-and-twenty, when, as he was returning home from some of his midnight amusements, he stumbled against a stone, and, falling heavily, was thrown into a deep ditch beside the path. There he lay through the night, and when the morning came he was dead.

Poor Willie was only one of the thousands of Satan’s dupes. When the Enemy sees a boy beginning to think about his soul, he whispers, “Not yet; you are too young; plenty of time for you to think about these things afterward.” And so he leads him to destruction. Ah! the Devil is a “liar from the beginning,” and this lie of his has been the ruin of many. The poor, deluded souls who listen to his voice believe him, and trust at some future opportunity to settle the question of their eternal welfare. But they go on through life, turning a deaf ear to the voice of God and the warnings of conscience, until having been “often reproved,” and having “hardened their neck,” they are “suddenly destroyed, and the that without remedy.” (Prov. 29:1.)

Oh, young ready; whoever you may be, are you thus hardening your neck? You have heard of the love of God in sending Christ to be the Saviour of the world; but is He your Saviour? Are your sins are washed away in His blood? If not; you are lost, and, if you were to be “suddenly destroyed,” your eternity would be spent in hell; away from the presence of God and the joys of heaven. Yet the One who thus warns still entreats― “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” “Now is the accepted time: now is the day of salvation.”

C. A. A.

Do Not Delay.

“BOAST not thy self of Tomorrow,” says the Lord to you, dear young friend. You do not know what may happen to you, or where you may be Tomorrow. Perhaps in eternity! Are you ready to go should you be called away at once from this earth? Oh! be quite sure that your soul is safe. Be quite sure now. Do not let any thoughts of tomorrow hinder you from this very day coming to God and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Little Prisoners.

I WILL tell you a true story about a kind gentleman who was very fond of little ones, and who found three poor children in a gloomy prison. Their parents had died, leaving them friendless and alone, and to save the children from starving they had been brought up in the prison.

I daresay you will wonder at the poor little brothers and sister being put into a prison; but in the days of my story there were not so many orphanages as there are now. The children could only run about in the prison yard; and they had quite forgotten what a tree was like! The court of the prison was enclosed by very high walls, so they could only see the blue sky above their heads; but God looked down from that same sky and He intended that these children should be taught about His dear Son, who left His own bright glory and walked through just such, ah! and far worse scenes than those of the prison. So He put it into the heart of His servant, Mr. G., to take the children out of the prison, care for them, and tell them how God loved then in all their loneliness, and how He gave His only begotten Son to die for us. The hardest efforts to be good will never wash away sin; only the blood of Christ does that. The child who thinks he can get to heaven by any of his own doings, even though they be right in themselves, such as reading the bible, hearing the gospel, and attending a Sunday-school, is like the man in the parable, of Matt. 22:11, who dared to stand in the presence of the king without the wedding garment. His own dress may have been outwardly nice, or otherwise; but it was not the wedding garment, and so he was bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness.

Willie, the youngest of our little friends, found in Jesus a perfect Saviour, and one who met all his great need as a sinful child. It was well that it was so, for God called him away from earth. A short time after he fell asleep it Christ, and to Willie, to whom the sweetness of an earthly home was unknown, is now made known the joy of the home of God.

S. C. M. A.

4, His Youth, the Child Jesus

AFTER this His parents took Jesus home to their own city, Nazareth, and He grew strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was upon Him. When Jesus was twelve years old His parents went up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice to God, and they took Him with them. After the feast was over they started on their way home, but Jesus stayed behind in the Temple. His mother did not know where He was, and she was very unhappy, and went about everywhere looking for Him. At last, after three days, they found Him in the Temple. He was sitting in the midst of the teachers, hearing them, and asking them questions. What were they talking about? God’s law. Jesus loved God’s law, and He liked to stay in the Temple because it was God’s house. But Jesus knew more about God than any of these learned men; so they were quite astonished at the way He answered them, but they did not know what Simeon knew, that Jesus had come from God. He was wiser than all His teachers, because He knew God Himself; He was the Son of God, who lived in the bosom of the Father. No wonder the teachers were surprised at His answers! When His mother found Him, she said, “Child, why hast Thou thus dealt with us?” They had been very sorrowful while they were searching for Him, and His mother, who loved Him much wondered why her obedient, blameless child had left her side. What did Jesus say to her? He only said, “Why did you look for Me? Did you not know that I ought to be in My Father’s business?” But they did not know what Jesus meant. Even His mother did not understand what His heart was so full of So Jesus rose up and went away with His parents, and He was in subjection to them. How wonderful to think of that!

Some of my young readers are about twelve years old. Did you ever think that the blessed Lord was once your very age? I wonder if you are like Him, even in one thing. Do you love to obey? Jesus had good and holy desires; it was quite right of Him to like to be in the Temple. He was occupied with the things of God. Perhaps you think He might have stayed in the Temple, because He was quite right to be there. But Jesus knew that God loved obedience, and He knew that God had written, thousands of years before, “Honor thy father and thy mother as the Lord thy God commanded thee.” And in this He has left us an example that children may follow His steps. Jesus knew God’s law and He kept it perfectly; not only doing what the words say, bat keeping it, according to all that God meant when He gave it. He knew exactly what God meant when He wrote on the tables of stone, “Honor thy father and thy mother;” and Jesus did it, not by acts only, but in the spirit of subjection and of love. He knew that obedience is more acceptable to God than the greatest work that man has ever done for Him. And the Spirit of God tells us in His word that Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. God who was in heaven took pleasure in this obedient, subject Child; and even sinful men admired Him, because He was perfectly unselfish. He took the lowest place of all, that none might envy Him. He let those around take all they wanted, and never said that anything was His. If other children wanted things they might have them. His things were all in heaven; and if anyone wanted to be served, He was one who had come to be servant to every man. No discontented word ever passed His lips; no proud thought or haughty look as He passed by a poor, degraded man, brought low by sin. He must have seen, oh, how much! to pain His holy mind―children quarreling, perhaps, over their toys, or being naughty to their parents; and grown-up people being unkind to one another, and ill-treating the animals that God created. He saw sickness, too and death, and people everywhere in pain and sorrow, but there only rose up in His heart, at all which he saw, perfect pity and a love which would die to save.

A. M. S.

Part 6, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 15:16:1-12.

TO Peter had been given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, i.e., he was the one whom the Lord used to open the door to admit others into the church or kingdom, the place of blessing upon the earth, See Matt. 16:19, and Acts 3:8, 10, 11.

But though Peter had opened the door, to Pau] was reserved the privilege of breaking down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile; a wall, which had been really done away at the death of Christ, but the breaking down of which had not been known, until Paul taught that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but all are one―the Church of God.

It was therefore determined, that Paul and Barnaba; should go to Jerusalem to confer with the other apostles on this subject. Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James seem to have spoken at the Conference, and the whole church agreed to write letters and send messengers to the Gentile brethren to settle the question. To seek to keep the law would be to annul the gospel, for “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth,” and to attempt in any way to work out a righteousness of our own is trying to add to that which Christ has so perfectly finished. In Christ, we who believe are “dead to the law,” that we may “bring forth fruit unto God,” for we “are not under the law, but under grace.” Grace and truth have come by Jesus Christ, and have taught us that “by Him all that believe are justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses,” and that there has been one Man upon this earth who lived in perfect obedience to God, and who offered Himself without spot to God for us who were so vile and lost by nature, that we could not please Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. God’s law is holy, just, and good; but He has not now given us that as a rule of life; but He has given us His Son for our pattern and object. The law condemned and killed; but Christ took the condemnation due to us, and gives us His life, and power too, by the Holy Ghost, to please God, and He makes us desire to walk as He walked. This the law could not do.

The coming to Antioch of Paul, and Barnabas, and Judas (or Barsabas), and Silas, to confirm the Gentiles in such truths, caused great rejoicing. Judas returned to Jerusalem, and Silas abode to be the companion of Paul.

After this there was dissension between “our beloved Barnabas and Paul,” and perhaps it is well to have to mourn over failure in them that we may learn by contrast the infinite perfectness of the Lord Jesus Christ “who did no sin,” and who is the only One in whose steps we may safely follow.

Barnabas sailed to his own country, Cyprus, accompanied by his kinsman Mark; and Paul, recommended to the Lord by the brethren, as though approved of by them, adhered to his original plan of visiting those churches already known to him in Syria and Cilicia.

At Lystra and Derbe he found Timothy, his future companion and “own son in the faith.” Timothy’s mother was a Christian Jewess, and his father a Greek.

In Asia and Bithynia Paul essayed to preach, but the Holy Ghost forbade him; in a vision he was summoned to Macedonia, whither he went, and at Philippi we will leave him for the present. H. L.H.

Questions.

1. Who accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem? ―2. “Through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (15:11) are you saved? and if so, how do you know it? ―3. What James is it at chapter 15:13? and how often mentioned in Acts? ―4. Give the first mention of Barsabbas. ― 5. When was Barnabas led away by dissimulation? 6, Prove from scripture that keeping the law cannot save a soul. ―7. What does Peter call Paul in his epistles, and what does he say of Paul’s writings?

H. L. H.

Answers to May Questions.

1. Five. Acts 9:23, 29, 13:50, 14:5, 19.―2, Paul uses the title “Living God” twelve times, Acts 14:15; Romans 9:26; 2 Corinthians 3:3, 6:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Timothy 3:15, 4:10, 6:17; Hebrews 3:12, Isaiah 9:14. 10:31, 12:22. Peter uses it once―Matthew 16:16; and John once―Revelation 7:2.―3. Seven. Acts 13:11, 14:3, 8, 19:11, 20:10, 28:5, 8.―4. 2 Timothy 3:11, ― 5. At the flood. Genesis 7:12. Noah. Genesis 8:22. ―6. Romans 5:3, 8:35; 2 Corinthians 1:4, 7:4; Ephesians 3:13

All at One Sweep.

AN aged man not at full peace before God about his sins, was recounting God’s goodness to him during his long life. He was 92 years of age, and, said he, “I can thank God for over 90 years of mercies!”

“My dear old friend,” I replied, “let us indeed thank God for a thankful spirit, and for all His mercies in this life. But you are old: you will soon leave this scene of mercies. Let me also ask you, What about your 90 years of sins? How would you answer for them should you be called to stand before God?”

For a moment he paused, then said, with a trembling voice, “I should have to plead guilty.”

“Well, but if someone should say, ‘I will go and stand before God in your place, and will answer for all your sins, and settle them all!’”

His countenance brightened as he exclaimed, “That would be a blessing.”

“God has sent His Son, my friend, out of heaven, and Jesus has been here on earth, and He has settled in His own person upon the cross the due of your sins. God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all, and all sins are gone for those who believe on Jesus. You are one of the Lord’s believing people, but you are not quite at rest in His presence, because you do not fully take God at His word that all is done and settled, and all the blessing is yours. Jesus has stood for your sins in the presence of God, and has answered for them all with His own blood.”

I shall not soon forget the old man’s surprise as, raising himself up, he exclaimed, “You have brought me good news today. I never heard anything like it before. To think that the Lord Jesus should die for such a wretch as I am, and put away all my sins at one sweep: there, I would do anything in the world for Him that I had power.”

After a few moments he whispered, “Is not this too good to be true?” then, looking at me, said, “I suppose it is right, sir?”

“The word of God says so,” was my reply. “His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree,” and, again, “by Whose stripes ye were healed.”

“Thank you: that is sufficient. I have nothing to do now but to wait here and thank Him that He has done everything for me.”

Before this old man had heard what the Lord had done for him, he used to try to call to mind every sin done during his long life, and then he would confess it to God, and pray that that sin might be forgiven, and so he had continued for many years, but without any comfort whatever respecting eternity, though thankful to God for the mercies of this life. Reader, how is it with you? Do you, too, believe on Jesus? Are you, like our aged friend, trying to confess your sins in order to find peace with God? Oh! believe what Jesus has done, and rejoice that all the sins of all who believe were put away, once and forever, “at one sweep” on Calvary.

W. M.

Prodigal, Come Back!

O YE who are weary and wandering astray

In the path which the Prodigal trod,

The husk of vain pleasure, your comfort and stay,

In the land of far distance from God,

O seek ye the Lord! for in mercy He waits

To respond to the penitent’s cry.

It is you that He loves―your sins that He hates,

And He pleads with you― “Why will ye die?”

The work of redemption was perfectly done

When His life for a ransom was given;

The claims of God’s justice were met in His Son,

Who is now at His right hand in heaven.

Soon, soon will the day of salvation be o’er,

For the moments are hurrying on,

The Lord will arise then, and shut to the door,

And your last hope of heaven be gone.

O come, then, to Jesus! come just as you are―

In your sorrow, your guilt, and your sin;

O come as the Prodigal came from afar,

And you’ll find a glad welcome within.

He has pardon and peace for the sin-weary soul,

And a cup of salvation to give;

O doubt not the love that can now make you whole

But believe in His mercy, and live.

G. A. A.

Three Solemn Facts.

THE scholars of a Sunday school were told to find texts upon the three following truths, write them down, and bring them to their superintendent: ―

“(1) ―You must be born again by the Holy Spirit, or you cannot enter the kingdom of God.

“(2.) ― Your sins must be washed away by the Saviour in His own blood, or you cannot be saved.

“(3.) ―The Lord Jesus is coming from heaven to gather to Himself all believing children, whether living or in the grave, before He appears in flaming fire to judge this present evil world.”

After a month had passed, their superintendent collected the best answers, and had them printed. One of the papers was given at the school treat to each of the children and their friends, and amongst the rest to a young woman, Mrs. T —, known to one of the elder boys, James―.

James, our scholar, worked where Mrs. T― ‘s husband was foreman, and shortly after the school treat the youth fell sick. God saw well to cut James down like a flower. He was in his class one Sunday, the next he was with Jesus in heaven. On the Saturday, his teacher was with him in the morning, and at night he had the affecting duty of telling the dear boy that he was dying. But, oh! how peacefully did James receive the solemn tidings.

He calmly thanked his teacher, adding, “You have been a father to me;” and then turning to his widowed mother, he bade her good-bye, asking, “If he had been a dutiful son to her? He said he would like to go to be with Jesus, and only wished to live that he might be a comfort to his mother it her old age. His sister asking James if he were happy, the dying youth said,” Yes; I do not feel any sting in death.” Then his brother asked him if his sins were forgiven, and, without any hesitation, James replied. “Yes. I believe they are all washed away in the blood of Christ. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” After which he bade his two brothers put their trust in Jesus Christ, and be good boys to their mother, and so he fell asleep.

Mrs. T― was greatly impressed by the last words of our Sunday scholar, and from the time that she heard them she began to seek the Saviour. The school paper which she had taken home she read over and over again. Now it so happened that Mrs. T― never heard the word of God preached again after the evening of the school treat. She took cold shortly after, and was laid on her dying bed. Upon that bed she thought frequently over the three bible truths, and the texts written under them by the children, and how she longed that her death might be as peaceful as that of James, ―our scholar! One Sunday afternoon, when the school was assembled, a messenger came to us in breathless haste begging James’s teacher to come at once to Mrs. T―, who was beseeching the Lord to save her, and saying she could not die till her sins were pardoned. The teacher left the school while his fellow-workers prayed together that the poor trembling one might find the Saviour and so die in peace. Upon entering her room he found Mrs. T― crying to God, with intense earnestness, in the very word of the school paper― “O God, give me the new birth. Oh that I may be born again. O God, wash my sins away in the blood of Jesus and save my soul. Oh let me not die until Thou hast saved my soul.”

Her cries were so earnest and continued that nothing could be said at first, but after she had quieted down a little, a few verses of God’s word of salvation were read, which the poor dying woman drank in with the avidity of soul-thirst. Then, kneeling beside her bed, we earnestly besought God to manifest His mercy to her soul. He heard and answered; and she who, in her distress, had said, only a little while before, “I cannot find Jesus, or I would come to Him,” now, with a beaming face and glad voice, burst forth, “While you were praying, the Saviour appeared to me, and I have come to Him, and He has received me. My sins are all forgiven. I am not afraid to die. I shall go to heaven now.”

Her soul was full of praise, and, with the true instinct of the new life, she at once turned to her husband beseeching him to come to Christ himself. Yes, she who had been so sorely pressed down beneath the weight of her guilt, filled with the love of God, became a preacher of peace through the blood of the Lamb! In a moment all was changed! From darkness to light, from death to life, from Satan to God. Marvelous change! The Holy Ghost filled the frail vessel so richly with divine grace and love that her overflowing heart poured forth its praises in abundant streams. The next day Mrs. T — peacefully fell asleep. Her last words, as she beckoned with her hand, were― “Come; come gentle Jesus, quickly come for me.”

Thus did the gracious God use the word of our dying scholar and the lesson paper for the salvation of this precious soul. Nor was this the only case of which we heard, for the Sunday after James’s death, while two youths were conversing together, one told the other that James was dead, and that he had said, with his last breath, that he was happy, and that his sins were washed away, adding, “James has gone to heaven but if it had been Me, I should have gem to hell.” The other youth then tried to comfort his friend. “You cannot comfort me, Harry, for you have not peace yourself,” was the truthful, though cutting, reply of the lad. From that night Harry did not rest until he could say, “My sins are all washed away in the blood of Jesus.”

Reader, are your sins unrepented of and unforgiven? Will they sink you into hell? Oh come to Jesus, and He will wash away your sins and make you holy and happy forever. Ponder the three truths of our Sunday school paper. Ask yourself, Am I born again of God’s Spirit? ―are my sins washed away by the blood of Jesus? ―am I ready to meet the coming Lord? And rest not then until from your heart of hearts you can truly say, “I believe all my sins are washed away in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

"Hath."

“CAN you direct me to S―?” inquired an old woman, whose silvery hair and wrinkled brow told that the sands of her life’s brief day were fast running out.

“No, I cannot,” I replied; “but I can tell you the way to heaven.”

“Oh, sir, I hope to go there,” she exclaimed, with a depth of feeling which plainly told that her desire was a real one.

“Are you only hoping? Would you not like to be quite sure?”

“Oh yes, sir; but none of us can be quite sure!”

“Listen. God says, ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.’ (John 3:36.) Do you believe on God’s Son?”

“Indeed I do, sir.”

“What does God say those have, who really believe on His Son?”

“Everlasting life.”

“Now, look at that little word of four letters, which connects faith in God’s Son with the gift of eternal life, and tell me, is not that a present thing― ‘Hath,’ that is, you have the gift the moment you trust God’s word?”

Tears of joy trickled down her furrowed cheeks as she exclaimed, with deep emotion, “I have been a member of a chapel for twenty-eight years but I never saw that ‘Hath’ before-never knew that I could be quite sure. Thank you, sir; thank you, sir. I hope I shall not forget your words, sir.”

“Do not trouble about my word,” I replied; “you have God’s word, to which you can turn every moment of your life, and find the precious assurance unchanged, unaltered, that all who believe have everlasting life, and that not upon the ever-changing, ever-varying feelings of the believer, but upon the authority of God’s word.”

“He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18.)

“He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:12.)

H. N.

A Contrast.

VISITING a workhouse one day with a friend, we went into a room, where a very old woman was sitting over the fire. Entering into conversation with her, we spoke of death, and asked her if she expected to go to heaven. “Yes,” she answered. “Why do you hope so?” asked my friend. “Oh!” she said, “I believe everyone will go to heaven.” “What reason have you for believing that?” we asked; but to this question we could obtain no answer. Again we asked, “Why do you think you will go to heaven?” To this she said, “Because I am trying as hard as I can. What more can anyone do than that?” The truths of the gospel were then plainly set before her, but apparently with no result, for she constantly said, “I am trying hard, doing my best.” Poor creature! What a miserable delusion was hers! How could she think that anything a sinner could do could atone for sin?

Leaving her, we went into the sick ward, where a very different scene awaited us. On a bed lay a dying woman; the nurse and matron were standing by her. On our entrance the matron came up to us, and, with tears running down her face, said to my friend, “Oh! what a wonderful change is here! You know this poor woman; you know how dark and ignorant she has seemed; you know that, when addressed on religious subjects, she has appeared quite unmoved, and could seldom be persuaded to speak. But all is now altered. Yesterday she became much worse, and now she seems a different being. Her tongue is loosed, and her soul seems filled with unspeakable things. She said this morning that God had taught her wonderful things, and she felt that He was preparing a place for her.”

We now went up to the bed, and entered into conversation with the woman. “Do you fear to die?” we asked. “No. Jesus has saved me.” “Are you trusting to anything you can do?” said my friend. “Oh, no,” was the answer. “What could I do! I trust in the Saviour.” Her mind appeared perfectly clear, and she seemed fully to understand the plan of salvation. “Is not this wonderful,” said the matron, “to hear her, whom we always considered the most ignorant woman in the house, speak like that? I can hardly believe my senses.”

What a contrast do these two cases present: one trusting to her own efforts to save herself, the other resting her hopes on Christ alone!

Now, dear reader, let me ask, Which case is yours? Are you trusting to your own poor, feeble efforts to win pardon and peace? If we poor sinners could have obtained pardon by any effort of our own, there would have been no need for Christ to suffer and die, but, because we were lost and helpless, He came to save those who, giving up all their own vain efforts to save themselves, believe on Him, and trust in Him alone, Who, of God, is made unto us that believe “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”

H. A. I. S. M.

Vanity and Reality.

NUMBERS leave the question of their souls’ salvation till their dying hour, perhaps to be settled then during the hurried visit of some priest! So was it with an acquaintance of mine, a gay, sprightly young woman, the mother of three children. Her giddy life was chiefly spent in pleasure, yet nominally she was a Christian, being a member, she said, of the Church of England, the services of which she hardly ever attended!

She was taken seriously ill, and we asked her to allow a Christian to visit her, but were refused. Then the priest came and granted her absolution. Very unexpectedly the young mother continued in a critical condition, hovering between death and life, for some months, and buoyed up with hopes of recovery.

While thus upon the borders of eternity, a gay young neighbor, as light and foolish as herself, came with a new dress to show off its attractions. This called forth the vanity of the dying woman. She had all her dresses ranged about the room and upon her bed for her eyes to feast upon. But just as she was inspecting them, the summons came, and her spirit was called to God who gave it―one moment occupied with the frivolities of dress, the next in the presence of the Almighty God!

"Must"

HAVE you ever pondered the “must,” the irresistible “must” of this text of scripture: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad?” (2 Cor. 5:10.) Heaven and earth will pass away, but this ‘must” will never pass away till it be fulfilled. We address this question to our reader who is not sheltered from judgment by the blood of Christ, before whom loom the terrors of the Lord and the fearful issues of the coming day, and we earnestly beg him to give his undivided attention to this certainty.

There is no uncertainty in scripture respecting how and when those who die without Christ will stand before His tribunal. The rejected Saviour will be their Judge. The seat of mercy which He now occupies will he changed for the great white throne of judgment. The voice now heard so tenderly saying “Come unto Me” will be then heard in its terribleness and majesty. Mercy, like the heavens which are now stretched over our heads, will have fled away; there will be found no place for it before the great white throne. Justice will hold its sway alone. This earth, this life, these seasons of opportunity will be all passed, the sea will have given up the dead in it, death and the grave their prey, the resurrection will have taken place, eternity have begun. The books will be opened, containing the record of the deeds done in this mortal body, and the small and the great will be judged out of those things written in the books according to their works.

Delude not yourself, to imagine that the dust of your body shall sleep on heedless of the trumpet’s call, or that your soul shall escape the voice that summons you to the throne,” for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” Your body, which is now will be then changed to a spiritual body, capable of existing eternally. The great and final change will have taken place, in which Condition you will live forever. Let not your forgetful memory cheat you into disbelieving that God forgets your works for they are all at this moment, good or bad, written down in His books. Nay, the very words you speak are recorded, for, for every idle word that men speak they shall give account at the day of judgment. Secret things will be made manifest; long-forgotten sins will be unburied and dragged from their darkness into the light of divine holiness. Terrible light then, reader, for its rays will be unmixed with grace, and what can man expect from God’s holiness when it is exercised without God’s grace? Now the light of God’s holiness shines to us in perfect grace from the cross of His Son and reveals to us the precious blood which cleanses from every single sin, but then the light will reveal the sin of man without the remedy, and will detect and convict in order to condemn.

We inquire once more, What say your heart to this “must” of God’ word? As the tree falls so will it lie, a you die so will you live throughout eternity. The ax may be laid to your root. Dare you declare that your life shall be prolonged another hour Unsheltered, unsaved, oh! “flee from the wrath to come.”

To escape judgment you must be judged in the person of another; to flee from the wrath to come you must have one who has endured the wrath in your stead. How can this be? There has been judgment of sin, and wrath against sin upon this earth; God’s light and holiness have been revealed it connection with sin, and mercy point you to the great judgment of Calvary. There was a necessity for that darkness, that sin-bearing, that wrath-enduring, a “must” that could not be satisfied until it was fulfilled, a necessity of divine love. Jesus Himself uttered the words, “Even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” (John 3:14.) And the effects of this “must” flow out to you today, for the reason Jesus said He must be lifted up was “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

You stand between two judgments―the judgment of Jesus for sinners, and the judgment by Jesus of sinners. This day of salvation is the brief period between these two tribunals. In this day of salvation you receive the benefit and blessing of the first, or earn the doom and destruction of the second.

The holiness of God has been satisfied by what Jesus did for sinners upon the cross; the sins of all who believe have been borne by Him there; His death there is our life for eternity. Man’s sins and God’s justice must meet. They have met once on the cross; they will meet again at the great white throne. Have you believed on the Son of God? Have you by faith accepted His work for sinners upon the cross? “Whosoever believeth in Him” will never perish, but has everlasting life; whosoever’s name is riot written in the book of life will be judged by the standard of his works, and be eternally lost. If you believe, you will not come into judgment. (John 5:24.) You have been judged in the person of Jesus upon Calvary, and are one with Him—your life in glory.

"Come Abraham Over Them."

THE sons of a Christian farmer were very anxious to visit a large fair in their neighborhood, and their godly parent, fearing the influence of such an assemblage upon them, advised and argued with them not to go, but in vain.

At length, the day before the fair was to be held, finding that his sons really meant to go, he was greatly troubled; whereupon he went, as he was wont when in any anxiety, to his bible, praying God for guidance. The old man opened on Gen. 18, and his eye rested on the verse, “I know Abraham, that he will command his children and household after him.” “Ah!” said he, “that’s where I was wrong, I advised them; I should have come Abraham over them, and have commanded them.”

The next morning at family prayers, be read this chapter, and explained how that it was the parent’s duty to command his sons to keep out of harm’s way, and theirs to obey; and he accordingly forbade his sons going to the fair. They all obeyed; and from that day, the old man told a friend, “I never had any trouble after I learned to come Abraham over them.”

We commend this little story to Christian parents.

The Child and the "Amen."

A CHILD once told us that he thought that the Amens said at the end of prayers were good-byes to the Lord, so he used to avoid them, and continue talking with Him. But is not the child’s fancy too often a fact with ourselves, and the Amen a farewell word to Him, until the glorious Lord has sent some fresh cause to bring His wanderer to His feet again? Oh! did we but know how He yearns to have His people ever close to His side, abiding in His love, then we should be more watchful that nothing should press Him from our thoughts or our affections. Oh! what power would there be were the life spent in fellowship with Him! What might not be practically ours, did we but go on with Him, living in communion with Himself?

E. L.

The Only Road to Power.

Mark 9:1-29.

THE possession of peace with God, the knowledge that we are His for all eternity, and of the great and glorious fact of His unchanging love, do not constitute the believer a man of power. In order to have power there must be a work of God within the soul of a kind different from that work which is experienced by everyone who knows that God is his God―a work leading to consecration and to holiness, to separation from the world and decision for God. Knowledge of truth is not of itself power, for power is energetic, and power is exercised in the place where the enemy’s strength is active against God.

Upon the mount of transfiguration the disciples, removed from every adverse circumstance, beheld their Master’s glory: they heard the voice of the Father from the excellent glory testifying of His beloved Son. It was to them, indeed, a sacred season. But in the valley, when they came down from the mount, a strange contrast awaited them, even the power of darkness in one of its most terrible forms; unbelief was also there, for the father of the poor boy, whom Satan held in bonds; had not faith to believe the power of Christ to cast out the devil from his son. In the presence of this terrible energy, and blessing-hindering unbelief, the disciples gathered around the boy were helpless, and then in secret they ask the Lord why this was so.

Jesus gives them their answer: “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting;” thus showing us the only road to power. It is open for all who love Him. None are refused a passage, yet few, very few of His disciples walk there. As a man, the Lord trod this way. Whatever He did, in healing the sick or in casting out devils, He did in perfect dependence upon His Father. His will was that of His Father. The Lord was the man of prayer. Prayer is really dependence upon God. The Lord “pleased not Himself;” His was a life of unbroken self-surrender. Now, dependence upon God and self-denial constitute the way of power in this world of self-will and self-pleasing. And, mark, that prayer is put first, for we learn God’s mind by pleading with Him; the fasting comes next, that is, after we have obtained the mind of God we learn how to deny ourselves. If the fasting be put first, we shall deny ourselves according to our own ideas, and probably not as God would have us; but if we have the mind of God as learned in dependence upon Him, then we shall possess power.

The Bird of Tenderness

NEVER was there a child who did not watch the hen gather her chickens under her wings with pleasure; and each summer the helpless chicks, at home beneath the outstretched wings, or safe while near their noble mother’s side, giving out their contented little chirrup, have charmed us again and again and taught us lessons of tenderness. When the hovering hawk or prowling cat draw near, the hen instantly calls her young to the shelter of her wings, and there they are secure so long as she has strength to protect them.

Our Lord and Saviour, who so often used illustrations from the every-day things around us, so that we might the better understand His instruction, has taken the tenderness of the hen over her chickens as a text for one of His most loving appeals. He had been laying bare the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and had been warning them of their certain destruction, when His heart of love yearning over poor self-willed Jerusalem, He said: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37).

Dear children, all that we think, as well as all that we do, is known to the Lord. He looks into the heart and sees its working. He saw that the Pharisees’ hearts were full of uncleanness, although their clothes and their manners were of a religious appearance. Yet, while angry with their pretended goodness, He longed for those whom He had so often called to come to Him to be saved, and grieved that they would not listen to His voice. He is willing to receive the worst and the most willful.

How does the hen gather her chicken’s uncle] her wings? Does she force them under, or drive them to the shelter? Have you ever watched her when danger threatens her brood? Then you have heard her call-note bidding then hasten to her wings, and you have seen how quickly the little creatures have run to their mother’s side. Sometimes we may have seen one of the brood so busy in picking an insect off a flower that it has delayed to run ai once to its mother, and so it has been snatch& up and carried off by the enemy; but as a rule the little chickens teach us a lesson of ready obedience.

But has not many a poor child delayed to obey the tender call of Jesus to come to Him for shelter from destruction? Have not many chosen the pleasures of sin for a moment and have perished forever? “Ye would not,” said the Lord. “Ye would not be saved, would not have Me.” His heart was and is full of pity and of love. He wept over Jerusalem. He grieved over the city’s end. “If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” (Luke 19:42.) The same love is tenderly calling you, dear young reader, to peace and safety. Oh! may you hear, and your soul shall live. “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” (John 5:24.)

When we hear the cock crow during the still hours of the night, a text of scripture comes to the mind. “The cock shall not crow, till the hast denied Me thrice.” (John 13:38.) Pete loved Jesus very truly; he was ready to lay down his life for Jesus’ sake; yet Peter denied Jesus. He sat down by the fire in the hall of the high priest’s palace, where the servants were, while Jesus was being struck and cruelly used by the officers. There one of the maids, looking at Peter, said that he was one of Jesus’ disciples. But Peter was afraid to confess his Master, and denied Him three times, and then the cock crew, Then the Lord had turned and looked on Peter, and he remembered his Master’s words, and broken-hearted went out and wept bitterly.

Alas! Peter is not the only disciple who has denied Jesus, and many a little boy or girl has gone to some secret place to weep repentant tears because of having been ashamed of Jesus in the presence of His enemies. If you distrust yourselves, and pray to the Lord for His strength, then you will be full of calm courage for Him, but ever remember that Jesus loves His own who are in the world to the very end.

Chapter 13,: John Wesley.

JOHN spent about ten weeks in and near Bristol. He then heard that he was wanted in London, and on June 13 he returned there. In London he found his mother, who had come to live there. He had not seen her since he went to say “good-bye” before going to Germany. He now found her very unhappy about his “strange way of thinking.” She said she had read a paper he had written, which proved he had greatly wandered from the faith. This was the very same paper which John had read to her at Salisbury, and which she then said she approved. But it was Samuel’s doing that she now thought it so wrong. John preached next day out of doors at Blackheath to 12,000 or 14,000 people. This was not the first open-air preaching in the neighborhood of London. Whitefield had arrived from Wales a few weeks before; he had preached on a tombstone in Islington churchyard, and, being forbidden to preach in churches any more, he went the next Sunday to Moorfields. Moorfields is now a busy part of London, but was once really a moor, and later, in the time of James 1, had been made into a sort of public park for the people of London. Thus it was in the year 1739. There were rows of trees, straight gravel walks, and large spaces where crowds might assemble. Whitefield had preached there from the top of a wall, as the table which he had at first used for a pulpit was broken in pieces by the mob. There was now constant preaching in and near London, as the Wesleys and Whitefield were all there together. John, too, preached in Moorfields and on Kennington Common.

I must now tell you a story about John’s first preaching in Moorfields. But to begin this story at the beginning we must go back a good many years. One Sunday night in the year 1717, whilst John Wesley was a schoolboy at the Charterhouse, another little John sat listening to his father reading the bible. This other little John, who was then nine years old, was the son of a stonemason of the name of Nelson, at Birstal, in Yorkshire. On that Sunday evening the stonemason was reading aloud the loth chapter of the Revelation. His little boy sat on the ground by the side of his chair. But as the father read on, little John fell with his face on the ground. He did not like it to be seen that he was crying bitterly. The solemn words made him tremble with fear. He tells us, “As my father proceeded I thought I saw everything be read about, though my eyes were shut, and the sight was so terrible I was about to stop my ears, that I might not hear; but I durst not. As soon as I put my fingers in my ears I pulled them back again. When he came to the 11TH verse the words made me cringe, and my flesh seemed to creep on my bones while he read, And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat thereon, from whose face the heavens and the earth fled away, and there was found no place for them. ‘And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books, according to their works.’”

Little John felt as though he were one of those guilty sinners, standing there before God. He says, “Oh, what a scene was opened to my mind! It was as if I had seen the Lord Jesus Christ sitting on His throne, with the twelve apostles below Him, and a large book open at His left hand, and, as it were, a bar fixed about ten paces from the throne, to which the children of Adam came up. On one leaf of the book was written the character of the children of God, and on the other the character of those that should not enter into the kingdom of heaven. I thought neither the Lord nor the apostles said anything, but every soul, as he came up to the bar, compared his conscience with the book, and went away to his own place.” The stonemason never knew whilst he was here on earth what was the consequence of his reading that chapter that Sunday evening. What a blessing would it be if the fathers who now spend their Sundays at the public-house, or in reading Sunday newspapers, were to follow the example of the Yorkshire stonemason. From that time John had no more peace or rest in his soul. He became so frightened when he knew he had done wrong that he would hide himself somewhere and cry bitterly. But when he was with his boy companions he would pretend to be merry and happy. “But, oh,” he says, “the hell I found in my mind when I came to be alone again! And what resolutions I made! Nevertheless, when temptations came, my resolutions were as a thread of tow that had touched the fire.”

Once, when he was sixteen, he heard a sermon which kept him from sleeping all night, but after trying a few days to do right he began again to follow the example of older boys, and fell back into all sorts of sin. Just after this his good father died. He said when dying, “I know that my peace is made with God, and He will provide for my wife and children.” John was greatly surprised at his words, wondering how he could know his peace was made with God. But the death of his father had no other effect upon him. He still lived, as he says, in sin and folly, and tried to make himself happy with any pleasure or amusement he could find. Perhaps there are other boys like John, who give themselves up to pleasure, and seem to their companions to be jolly, merry fellows, when at the bottom of their hearts they are utterly miserable. No one knew but John himself that the reason he was so eager for amusement was that he wanted to get rid of the thoughts of the Great White Throne, and of Him who sat thereon. Ungodly as he was, he still prayed from time to time, and when he was nineteen he asked the Lord to give him a suitable wife, and “then,” he said, “I will live to Thy glory.”

Soon after he met with a young woman, who was, he thought, the wife God intended for him. They were married, and she proved a good, affectionate wife. But neither one nor the other loved God, and all John’s promises and resolutions were again broken. He gave himself up to pleasure as before. “Yet,” he says, “many times, when I had been shooting a whole day, and had killed a good many creatures, I was quite unhappy, and ready to break my gun in pieces, resolving never to shoot nor hunt anymore.” John at last became so restless and miserable, he thought he would go away to a distance, and see if he could turn over a new leaf when he was away from his old companions. He did not at first take his wife with him, because he wanted to go from place to place to see where he could get work enough to make it worthwhile to settle there. He found he could get plenty of work in London, and there he tried to live a steady life, and began to read the bible and pray. But his fellow-workmen cursed and abused him because he would not drink with them nor spend his money as they did. He bore a good deal very patiently; but at last they took away his tools, and said, if he did not drink with them, he should not work whilst they were drinking. This was too much for poor John. He forgot all his good resolutions to be patient and meek, and gave them a good thrashing. It was sad that all his “best endeavors” should thus have ended with black eyes and bruises. But so it was.

John Nelson, like John Wesley, had been trying what he could make out of the dry stick, and those who do so are doomed to disappointment. John knew that he had thoroughly broken down in his attempts to be good, and he left off reading and prayer almost entirely. He had by this time saved up, ₤12 15s., and with this large sum he returned to his wife in Yorkshire. But he still felt so restless and unhappy, he could not settle down there. He told his wife that he would go back to London, and that she must follow him in the stage-wagon. This she did, and they lived in London some years. But poor Martha Nelson missed the fresh air of the Yorkshire moors, and became at last so weak and ill that John told her to take the two children and go back to her friends in the country, and he said he would follow her soon. This he did. But he again felt as though he could not stay in Yorkshire. He could not rest night or day. At last he said, “Martha, I must go back to London for I have something to learn I have not yet learned.” What this was he scarcely knew, but he thought if he could but find out what it was that would make him happy, his troubles would be over. He says, “I was as a man in a barren wilderness that could find no way out. I said to myself; ‘What can I desire that I have not? I enjoy as good health as any man can do; I have as agreeable a wife as I can wish for; I am clothed as well as I can desire; I have at present more gold and silver than I have need of: yet still I keep wandering from one part of the kingdom to another seeking rest, and cannot find it. Oh! that I had been a cow or a sheep!’ I looked back to see how I had spent above thirty years, and thought rather than live thirty years more so I would choose strangling. But when I considered that, after such a troublesome life, I must give an account before God of the deeds done in the body, I cried out, ‘Oh, that I had never been born!’ for I feared my day of grace was over, because I had made so many resolutions and broken them all.”

Poor John had no one to help him. He went back alone to London for the third time. Sometimes he wandered out in the fields when his work was done, thinking whether there were any way by which he could possibly be saved. Sometimes he went from church to church in the hope of learning it there. At St. Paul’s Cathedral he heard a sermon about people doing their duty to God and their neighbor. The preacher said. “What joy will such people have on their deathbed by looking back to their well-spent life!”

Poor John then looked back at his life to see if he could get any comfort out of that. “But, alas!” he said, “I could not see one day in all my life wherein I had not left undone something which I ought to have done, and done many wrong things besides, and I saw that I was so far from having a well-spent life to reflect upon, that even if one day well spent would save my soul, I must be damned forever.”

This sermon, as you may think, made him far more miserable than he was before. Then in another church he heard the preacher say that man could not keep God’s law perfectly, but God required him to do all he could, and Christ would make out the rest. But unless man did all he could he must perish, far he had no right to expect salvation from Christ unless he had done his part. “Then,” thought John, “it is quite clear that not only I, but every one, must be damned, for I am quite sure no one has ever done all he could.” He now thought he would try no more churches, but would go to dissenting chapels. But there he got no help either. Then he tried Roman Catholic churches, still to no purpose. Then he went to the Quakers. But all was in vain! Nothing remained but to try the Jews; but this he thought would be quite hopeless, and so he began again with going to church, and continued to do so till the spring, when George Whitefield came from Wales, and began to preach in Moorfields.

F. B.

A Lesson From the Looking Glass.

LITTLE Johnny was promised by his father a visit to the Zoological Gardens to see the strange creatures there, a picture of one of which you have upon the opposite page. The day came, and Johnny, full of impatience to be dressed, was ready some time before his papa could take him. Johnny’s mother said to him, “Now, Johnny, mind you do not make your best clothes in a mess, for if you do so, you will not be able to go; for your papa will not take an untidy, dirty child with him.” Johnny seemed to listen to what his mother told him as he ran out of doors to wait, but he soon forgot her instructions, and thought of nothing but his play.

At last his papa came; Johnny saw him and ran to meet him, exclaiming, “See, papa, I am quite ready; do take me to the gardens.”

“But, Johnny,” said his papa, “look at your coat; how untidy it is, and covered with mud; and how dirty your face and hands are. I cannot take you like that.”

But Johnny was not at all inclined to believe that he was in such a state, so his father carried him in doors, and held him up before a large looking-glass, whereupon Johnny could not help seeing and owning his condition.

Now, I am sure, if I ask you what good the looking-glass did to Johnny, you will tell me, none at all; but it showed him how dirty and untidy and how unfit he was for his father’s presence. Did the looking-glass make him any better? Not at all. Did it make him any worse? No, it only showed him what he was. Perhaps you will ask, what was the good of showing him this? Well, because he felt ashamed of his dirty clothes and hands, and knew that he must be clean of he could not go with his father.

Now, I will tell you of what the looking-glass reminds me. It reminds me of the law. The law shows us what we are, and how unfit we are for God’s presence. The law says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart” and “thy neighbor as thyself.” Take your place before the looking-glass, and see what you are like. Do you love the Lord with all your heart, and do you love your neighbor as yourself? No, indeed. The law, like the looking-glass, shows us how unfit we are for God’s presence; but the law does not make us clean, any more than the looking-glass took away Johnny’s dirt. You would not run to a looking-glass to wash your hands. Yet, are not some of you going to the law to get your souls cleansed? “I must do better; I must try.” Saying this is going to the law to get clean.

Well, Johnny was washed and dressed again, and then his father took him to the gardens. And God washes us in the blood of Jesus, and gives us a new dress. What is this new dress? I will tell you. It is the robe of righteousness which God puts upon us when we believe in Jesus.

C. H.

A Bible Enigma.

UNTO whose offerings had not God respect?

Th’ enduring name of Him whom saints expect.

A place where Jesus dried the mourner’s tears.

A mount which fills the guilty heart with fears.

A people, for their fathers’ sakes, beloved.

A godly king whose wife with scorn reproved.

Her name from whom our woe and bliss descend.

A sinful Gentile whom God’s host befriend.

A prophet where the gospel tidings shine

In six short words, with blessings all divine.

A youth, once meekly as an offering laid,

And where was this complete surrender made?

The initials to my answer call the heart

To Him, whose changeless grace will ne’er depart.

As the believer heeds these words aright

His feet shall tread a path of heavenly light.

Fruit and Root.

I ONCE had a beautiful little cherry tree in my garden. I took great care of it, put nice fresh earth all round it, and did everything I could to make it grow. If any of you have gardens you will know how I watched my tree. The trouble I took with it only made me more anxious to see it flourish. Spring came, and it looked, oh so pretty in full blossom—so pure, and white, and rich! I shall surely have a great many cherries, I thought, on my pretty tree when summer comes. Summer came, and what happened? Oh, children! it was so sad; my pretty tree faded quite away! First the blossoms, then the leaves, and then the branches. I was so sorry after all my trouble. I asked the gardener why it faded, and he said there must be something wrong at its root. So he dug it up, and there, deep down in the earth, were nasty bed worms, a great many of them. They had eaten the root of my poor little tree, and so it had died.

Now, this is like what we all are by nature. There is a deep root of sin in all, and though we may be very pleasant and kind, all alike need a Saviour, Jesus. There is no life but in Him, no way to heaven but through Him.

None of the beautiful blossoms upon my cherry-tree came to anything, just because there was death in the roots; so no good promises or works of yours will avail before God, for, young as you are, you must be born again. Jesus died that we might live; believe in Him and you shall have the new, the everlasting life, and then may you be a fruitful tree for Him upon the earth. Should you live to be old, or should you die young, may you please Him, and bring forth fruit for God.

How can we do this? By being obedient to God’s holy word, and treasuring in our hearts what our Lord says to us.

But remember, dear children, that there cannot be fruit unless there be root; and, therefore, be quite sure that you are one of those who are of the Lord’s planting. Be quite sure that you do indeed believe on the Lord Jesus, and that you have the new life.

R. B.

Is Jesus Mine?

CAN you say, Jesus Christ is mine? If not, dear young friend, then you do not know what peace and joy are.

My little friend Julia, of whom I will tell you, finds Jesus more precious to her than all besides. Julia was always, to all outward appearance, a happy child. She had much to make her happy. A dear mother, and brother, kind relations and friends, and a comfortable home. Good health and spirits served to increase the enjoyment of these blessings; but one thing Julia had not―without which all else was as naught―she had not peace in the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ.

Julia had often heard of the love of God to sinners, and no doubt if anyone had told her that she was not a Christian, she would have been quite angry; but the fact remained she was unsaved. I longed to show my young friend her danger, and one day, when we were walking out together, I said quickly, “Julia, will you come to Jesus?”

She looked up surprised as I explained to her, her state in the eyes of God. She promised me that she would read Isa. 53 when in her room alone before she went to bed that evening. And the next day I was rejoiced when she told me she had no rest till she had read that chapter, and that after reading it she had gone down upon her knees, and had asked God to make her Jesus’s lamb, I also received a letter from her in which she said, “I pray God to help me, that I may be one of Jesus’s lambs. I am going to tell Jesus all my trouble, and I pray that He may pardon all my sins.” I soon noticed a change in her conduct, that prepared me for hearing her say that she had given herself to Jesus, and that He way hers. Julia could now say, “Christ Jesus is mine.” Here are a few sentences of another letter, which she sent me some time after she knew that the Lord Jesus loved her: ― “I am quite sure Jesus has washed my sins away. I have written to S. and asked her to give her heart to Him... for He will never cast anyone away. Nom who once come to Him will want to leave Him.” If you come to Jesus, you will experience the same happiness as my young friend. But do not deceive yourselves; you either belong to Satan or to Jesus.

A. M. E. T.

The Child Jesus.

(Concluded.)

JESUS lived thirty years as an unknown Person in this world. He made Himself of no reputation, and took on Him the form of a servant, and when men saw Him they saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him! How different man’s idea of beauty is from God’s. Jesus was perfect in loveliness to God’s eyes, who sees beauty in lowliness and humility. Jesus laid aside His power that He might show us how well pleasing to God is subjection to His will.

Now, when the child John became a man, he told the people about Jesus, and warned them to turn from their wicked ways. He said Jesus would judge between them, for He would be like a man who threshes out his corn, the good he puts into a safe place, but the chaff—which is the worthless part — he burns with fire; so John invited all the people to come to him to be baptized. When the people were baptized by John they confessed their sins, and turned away from them, waiting for the Saviour whom God had promised to send.

John was telling the people about Jesus, while Jesus Himself came up to John to be baptized. John did not like to see this Holy One taking His place with repentant sinners, and he said, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” But Jesus said it must be so, to fulfill all righteousness.

God claimed of His people to repent and be baptized, but Jesus had nothing to repent of; nothing to turn away from. Why, then, was He baptized? Because it was His delight to fulfill every claim of God, and He chose to show how entirely He took the place of a man before God, that whatever was right and true for men to do, He would do also.

God marked the difference between this Holy One and those who came to be baptized confessing their sins, for as Jesus was coming up out of the water praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in shape like a dove, came down, and rested upon Him, and a voice came out of the opened heaven, said: “Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.” Heaven had never opened to a man before. God loved Abraham, and Moses, and Samuel, but He never found His delight in any man till now. And the moment Jesus took His place as the Man of God on earth, heaven opened to see the wondrous sight, and to own Him as man, and yet a grew deal more than man―God’s beloved Son.

Surely it was joy to the heart of Jesus to know that through Him God had found delight in man! He left His home at Nazareth, and His mother whom He loved, and He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed with the devil, for God was with Him. He had no home. He used to say that foxes had holes to live in, and the birds had nests, but He had not even a pillow to lay His head upon.

Jesus went about preaching the gospel to the poor, He made the blind people able to see, and comforted all that were broken-hearted. People wondered at His gracious words, and they asked each other who He was. They spoke of Him as a carpenter, and as the son of Joseph. Only a few believed who He was. He was despised and rejected of man. And now He is in heaven seated at the right hand of God. May you all believe Him and love Him who so laid aside His glory for our sakes.

A. M. S.

Part 7, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 16:13.

IT is evident from this passage, that from Troas Luke, the writer of the Acts, accompanied Paul, for he says “we” from vs. 10 to 17. At Philippi, a Gentile city, there being no synagogue of the Jews, Paul and his companions resorted to a prayer meeting by the river side, and there they met Lydia. She was a native of Thyatira, in Asia; and the Lord opened her heart to attend to the things spoken by Paul. The seed sown by him fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit in her to the glory of God. After she and her house had been baptized, Paul and his company abode with her, and daily went to the place of prayer. Still the “man of Macedonia” had not been found, and Satan would seek to hinder further blessing. If he cannot accomplish his ends in one way he will in another, and in this case he tried to patronize or speak well of the servants of God. But Paul was not deceived by this, and by casting out the evil spirit from the young woman he so enraged her masters that they brought Paul and Silas before the magistrates, by whom they were beaten and committed to prison. What will now become of the testimony of the Lord and of Paul, His prisoner? God’s ways are not as our ways, and in His hands things we fear often turn out for the furtherance of the gospel, and so it was here, as, indeed, in later days for what should we do without Paul’s epistles, some of them written from a prison in Rome?

That the jailor was evil affected towards them it is evident, for he put their feet in the stocks, and treated them severely. But God put gladness in the hearts of His servants, and at midnight, in spite of their bleeding wounds and painful position, the prison resounded with their prayers and songs of praise. God had made the wrath of man to praise Him. Suddenly His power was made manifest to all, and an earthquake opened the doors, loosed the prisoners, and awaked the jailor.

What joy there was in heaven over this repenting sinner! In presence of God’s power and God’s servants he learned in one moment his lost condition, and cried, “What must I do to be saved?” Has God less power now than He had then? No. The things that are impossible with men are possible with God, and, though He does not send earthquakes or angels, He deals with the hearts and consciences of sinners by the power of His word and His Spirit as He lid then, “The word of God is quick and powerful;” and to how many has Paul’s reply to the jailor proved so! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” No doubt the poor man had expected to have much to do, and to hear “believe” instead of “do” set him at rest: For has not Christ done what man could never do? Then they preached the gospel to the assembled household, and, when the jailor had ministered to the need of their bodies, he and his household were baptized―no longer now unbelieving Jews or heathen, Jut Christians, owning that the death of Christ was their only door of hope or blessing. The jailor took Paul and Silas into his own house, and he rejoiced Ind believed in God, with all his house. All this happened in the town of Philippi, and here was the beginning of the church, to which Paul afterward wrote his beautiful epistle. The praises of God sung in the prison were the key-note to all the rejoicing that followed, both in the jailor and in the Epistle to be Philippians; and the service to the apostle, begun by Lydia in opening her house, and in the jailor in washing their stripes, was carried on by the church at Philippi in a remarkable manner. Thus Paul fund the “man of Macedonia.”

When Paul and Silas left the prison they went to be house of Lydia, where they now found brethren, Thorn they comforted, and departed.

H. L. H.

Questions.

1. Give an account of Luke (or Lucas) from the New Testament. ―2. What books of the bible did Luke write? ―3. What earthquakes have happened in scripture? ―4. What christian omen are spoken of by name in the Acts? ―5. What does Paul ty to the Philippians concerning joy or rejoicing? ―6. Did the Philippians or Macedonians ever send Paul anything? ― 7. Give some instances from the bible, of the head of a house and his household getting blessing or salvation.

Answers to June Questions.

1. Titus. Gal. 2:1―2. “I am saved. I have known and believed the love that God has to me.” 1 John 4:16. “The Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God.” Rom. 8:16-3. He was the brother of our Lord (Gal. 1:19, 2:9), and not one of the twelve apostles. He probably wrote the epistle, Acts 12:17, 15:13, 21:18.―4. Acts 1:23―5. When Peter came to Antioch, after the conference at Jerusalem. Galatians 2:11-1¬ John 1:17; Acts 13:38,39; Romans 3:19-28, 8:3; Galatians 2:16,21, 3:11-13, &c.―7. “Our beloved brother Paul.” That in his epistles are some things hard to be understood. 2 Peter 3:15, 16.

"Jesus Was so Kind, He Died for Me."

EARLY one cold morning last February I ran up the station stairs, when, to my surprise, I found that the train had just let the platform. “How annoying: all the run for nothing!” I exclaimed. But I had hardly considered my hasty speech when my attention was directed to a young man in a very delicate state of health, whose wife was helping him on to the platform. An awful fit of coughing followed his exertion, and but one opinion could be formed as to his state. He was in a rapid decline. In a moment I saw why I had missed the train, and inwardly thanked God for giving me an opportunity of speaking of His love to a fellow-traveler to eternity.

When the young man was seated and somewhat recovered, I said to him, “I think yet are on your way to the Brompton Hospital?”

“Yes, sir,” he answered, “but I am only an out-patient, and should so like to get in.”

“Well,” I replied, “I may be able to help you, and will see what can be done.”

So, having taken his name and address, and having spoken a few words to him about his soul, I jumped into the next train, and was soon at my destination. Our efforts to get the poor fellow as an inpatient into the hospital were of no avail; the doctors pronouncing him too far gone to be admissible. A day or two, elapsed, and then I bent my steps down a very poor street, and knocked at No. 27, asking of the untidy woman, who opened the door, if Albert T― lived there.

“Yes, sir,” she replied, “and he is much worse. You will find him and his wife upstairs―first floor front.” Up I went, and very shaky stairs they were.

While tapping at the “first floor front” door the dreadful coughing within told me only too, well I was right.

“Do come in, sir,” said Mrs. T —. “Albert has been long expecting you.”

What fearful ravages his disease had made in three short days! Albert was evidently rushing on to the grave. I shall hardly forget the poor fellow’s look of despair when I told him what the doctor said. His soul was wrung with grief and terror as I told him that he must die. So I turned away from his bedside for a minute or two while he composed himself; then returning, asked him, as gently as I could, “if he had any hope for the future.”

“No! no!” he said. “I am so bad.”

This answer encouraged me; it was not like those which so often come from dying lips, such as, “I have done nothing wrong,” “I am not worse than others.” Surely, thought I, he is in a broken state of heart, and the love of God will find an entrance there.

“My dear friend,” said I, “Jesus, the Lord of glory, became a man and suffered and died upon the cross, ‘the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.’ Jesus finished all the work which His Father gave Him to do; there is nothing now to be done, and His precious blood can cleanse you from every sin. You can’t be too had for Christ. You can’t owe too much for His blood to cancel all the debt, for God has raised up His Son from the dead, and has accepted Him and all His work for sinners, and has seated Him at His own right hand in the glory. You may now have perfect and everlasting salvation if you believe on Christ the risen Saviour.

Tears streamed down his poor wan cheeks as he listened to the tale of the great love wherewith God loved us; even when we were dead in sins. Having again sought God’s blessing upon His word, I left Albert deeply exercised in conscience before God about his sins, and much broken in spirit.

The next evening found me again at the young engine-driver’s bedside. As I entered his room his countenance spoke the change which God in His great mercy had wrought in his soul. His tears were gone, and a joyous look shone upon his dying face as he told me that he was simply trusting to the Lord Jesus. He had laid hold of Christ, and had appropriated to himself Jesus as his Saviour. Several visits ensued, during which it was most happily evident that, to use his own words, “Jesus was such a comfort to him.”

Other duties called me away from my poor friend, and when I was able to visit his house it was to learn from his wife’s lips how peacefully and gladly he had left this scene of sorrow.

About half-past two on Sunday afternoon, as Albert was rapidly sinking, he called his wife to him, and begged her to kiss his death-like brow, then gently said between his failing breath, “Jeannie, don’t cry―I am going straight to glory―the road has been very narrow since I first started, but―I―can―already―see―the―end (he gasped out)―and―such―bright―glory―oh―so―bright―”

Then, turning to his brother, “Jesus―was―so kind―He―died―for―me. Do―come―now―to―Him―dear―brother―do―come―” and then he passed away.

Beloved reader, have you, like happy Albert T―, trusted in Jesus and found Him a comfort? Are you in the narrow road to glory? Can you say Jesus has died for you? If not, come, I pray you, in simple faith, just as you are, to Him, for He has said, “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37.)

“Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

Oh, Lamb of God, I come.”

Heathen at Home.

A VERY considerable portion of the people of this land are utterly ignorant of the oval of salvation; they are altogether destitute of the knowledge of God. In large cities the heathen of this professedly Christian country may be counted by tens of thousands, and in numberless villages and hamlets the gospel is never heard. Christian reader, what are you doing to carry the living waters to the dying souls in your own immediate neighborhood? Close by your doors are those who, practically speaking, have as vague at idea of divine pardon, and as little desire after the true God, as the heathen at the ends of the earth.

An Incident in the Bush.

IN the winter of 1874 I was asked to see a poor woman living at T―, in the bush in Australia, who had been for two years anxious about her soul. The hot north wind blew, and I found her busy cutting potatoes for seed, with her children carrying them and planting them in the furrows which had been just opened by her husband.

She told me that she was well enough as to her body, but, “Oh, sir,” she said, “my soul is bad enough; I get no rest, no peace. I was reading this book just before you came,” reaching an old bible that lay on a sack of potatoes behind her, “and though I go to hear the word of God, and read His book, yet I get no rest.” On the previous Sunday, in her anxiety to hear the gospel, she had started to walk three miles through the bush during a heavy rainfall, having to wade waterholes and climb fences. And when asked how it was she ventured out, she replied, “I dare not stay at home, my soul is at stake.”

“How is it,” said I, “that you don’t get rest? Is there not rest for the believer?”

“Yes,” she replied, “but I have been very wicked. I lived for five years close to the Baptist farmer-minister at the Cudgee, but never went to hear him till two years ago, when the word of God plowed me all up, and I was all broken to pieces, and since then I have never had rest, and I can’t believe aright.”

“Have you ever read,” said I, “the 24th verse of the 5th of John?”

“Oh, yes; I have read it all often.”

“Well, what does that verse say?”

“Perhaps you will read it, sir, as I have forgotten it.”

I read the words― “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”―and then asked, “Do you believe that?”

“Oh, yes; I believe every word the book contains,” she quickly answered.

“But stop; do you believe that verse?

“I do.”

“Then, if you do, you have everlasting life; if you have not everlasting life, you do not believe. Now read it yourself and see what it says.”

She read it, saying, as she put the book down, “Well, it is a beautiful verse; but it is not for me, I don’t believe aright.”

“Now read it again,” I said, “and see if it says anything about believing aright.”

She read it again, aloud, and said, “Well, no it doesn’t; now that’s strange, I have read that verse many times before, and never read it like that.”

Here my work seemed to be done; I had only now to look on, as God, by His Spirit, applied the word to her soul. Reading it again aloud, she exclaimed, “Well, that is beautiful;” and the tears started to her eyes and to mine also. Again she read it, and again and again, each time aloud, making her comments upon it, and emphasizing the “hath,” “shall not,” and “is.”

Her husband then coming in, she thrust the bible before him, saying, “Read that verse.” Her husband, a grisled and weather-beaten old man, after saluting me, took the book to the light. The tears that rose to his eyes sheaved that God had kept his heart tender notwithstanding his hardy exterior. Having read it over, he asked me, “In how many ways might one believe?” which explained at once his wife’s difficulty about believing aright. I told him that with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and that this heart-belief had made his wife happy before God.

As I left the house a cool south wind sprang up with the suddenness peculiar to the Australian climate, and I could not but see in the rapid change from sultry heat to refreshing coolness a symbol of the changed state of the woman’s mind, for as suddenly as the refreshing breeze had peace burst upon her soul.

Since that day the woman’s walk and changed conduct have abundantly testified to the reality of God’s work in her soul; while her altered expression tells of a new-found peace and joy to which she had previously been a stranger.

G. S.

Light Affliction.

CAN anything make affliction light? The heathen, the infidel, the rationalist can but scoff at the idea, or confess it to be to them an unsolved mystery. The very word “affliction” conveys with it the thought of heavy and burdensome sorrow. Yet there is truth in the statement that affliction can be light, and the Christian, with the unerring word of God for his guide, knows where to find the explanation of the mystery, and, if he be living in communion with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, he realizes in his own soul its blessedness as a fact.

On a bed in the infirmary of one of our London workhouses lies a poor woman, named Matilda Smart, in grievous suffering. So weak is she that for nearly four years she has not stood upright; indeed, for more than half that time she has not stood at all. Though, as to age, in the prime of life, her pale, sunken cheeks and emaciated form chew that premature decay has set in. Some months ago my attention was drawn to her by the nurse of the ward, who said, “I wish you would speak to that poor thing, and give her a bit of comfort, if you can. I am sure she needs it as much as anybody.” With this somewhat peculiar introduction I sat down by the bedside of Matilda Smart, to whom I then spoke for the first time. She had no hesitation in giving me a full description of her bodily infirmities, and dwelt very much on the excessive pain that she endured every morning when lifted from her bed; but when I spoke to her of her soul, and of the love of the Lord Jesus in dying for sinners, she became very reserved, and was unwilling to express her thoughts.

On my next visit I found that she had been thinking very much of what she had heard, for, with tears in her eyes, she said, “I do try to believe. I try as hard as I can, but it seems as if I could not believe in Jesus!” This she repeated over and over again, and it would, indeed, have been sad to sit by her and listen to her sorrowful utterances had it not been for the hope that the Holy Ghost was already working in her heart. Matilda was too weak to hold a bible in her hand, but had just enough strength to keep the gospels of Matthew and John, separately bound; before her eyes. Sometimes she could only read a verse or two at a time. Then she would put the book down, think of what she had read, and take it up again when able. While thus anxious about her soul, she spent nearly the whole day in reading those two gospels, and during her sleepless nights her mind occupied itself with that which she had read during the day.

One day I found her usually sorrowful and pain-lined countenance beaming with smiles―her eyes actually sparkled―and she told me the joyful news that the Lord Jesus was her Saviour and her Friend. “I cannot doubt His word now,” she said. “He has told me about His love, and made me perfectly happy. Yes, I am happy now all day and all night. I scarcely feel my pain, although my sores are as bad as ever, and when they lift me out of bed I do not dread it at all, for the Lord helps me, and it seems to me that because He helps me it is almost pleasant. Everything seems so different, everybody is kind and gentle, and I have everything that I can want; besides, the Lord Jesus is with me every moment, and before long I shall see Him and be with Him!”

Is not this a precious testimony to the power of the grace of God? Truly His love “can sweeten every bitter cup,” and make the roughest places smooth. The nurse and the other inmates of the ward speak of Matilda’s patience and gratitude for every attention shown her, and any one who sees her serene expression of countenance, and knows not the secret of her joy, may well be puzzled to understand, how, in the midst of so much suffering, she can appear so contented. Has our reader within his own soul the secret of Matilda’s peace? Does he know the love of God? Can he, too, say, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory?” (2 Cor. 4:17.)

H. L. T.

The Sinner's Friend.

THE guilty sinner’s Friend Thou art!

But who Thy boundless love can scan?

Who fully know Thy tender heart?

Who rightly tell Thy grace to man?

Jesus, Thy Name, like balmy breeze,

Is life and healing to our race;

The sinner looks, Thy wounds he sees,

Forgets his fears, and sings of grace.

Nor hearts of stone, nor crimson sins,

Shall drive Thee and Thy grace away;

Blest be Thy love which constant wins

From sin and self to life and day.

None can be sunk too deep for Thee

E’en to the throne of God to raise;

None shall despair whose eyes can see

The least of all Thy gracious ways.

‘Tis through Thy death we pardon find,

In Thy great love our hearts we rest,

Our hope ‘ere long in heart and mind

Like Thee to shine, forever blest.

Look Unto Me.

I WENT one day to see a poor woman whom I had known for some time to be anxious about her soul, but who looked at herself instead of at Himself, “who bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” To my surprise I found a blessed change; her face was radiant with joy, “Oh, it’s all bright now,” she said; “I can see it all.”

I sat down and asked her what made her thus to rejoice.

“Well,” she said, “I have a lodger, and she always comes down at a certain time every morning for some hot water. This morning she came down as usual, and there was no water, for the fire had gone out. I shall never forget her look. ‘Oh,’ thought I, ‘if I could only look at Jesus as that woman looked at the fire-place I should be saved,’ for she looked as though she was thinking of nothing else, and as soon as she was gone I fell on my knees, and I did just look, and now I am as happy as possible!”

H. N.

"Repentance Unto Life."

Acts 11:18.

CHRIST, not our repentance or our faith, is our Saviour; yet we need both faith and repentance, or we cannot be saved. With some the joy which faith produces comes first; with others, the sorrow which repentance works. We cannot raise either faith or repentance from our own breasts, but the gospel seed produces both. Omitting repentance is like not using the spade in gardening. Not all the digging in the world will produce a crop; but the crop will be poor without the digging. We need to have our souls well dug up in the sight of God.

A child, planting his flowers, just scratches away an inch or so of soil; and for a few days his plant, the roots of which rest upon the unbroken and undisturbed earth, gives as fair a show as that of the gardener, whose earnest care was a well and deeply loosened soil. Presently comes the hot sun— the testing time. Then the work of the child’s planting flags, has to be done over again, and perhaps his flower does not recover itself for the whole summer, while that, the roots of which are established in the soil, flourishes through the heat. Ah! how many souls are there now, who once flourished exceedingly, but who have drooped and faded beneath a few months’ testing! They had to be preached to over again, to be replanted, as it were. They needed to learn the weakness and the wickedness of self. Perhaps during this painful process they doubted whether their conversion was real, whether they had any interest in Christ; but beloved, ―and should our reader be in such a condition―the very conflict proves that there is life. God is only loosening the soil of your heart, so that His gospel may strike its roots the more deeply into your soul.

God has shown us that, instead of it being presumptuous to say our sins are forgiven, the presumption lies in doubting His word and questioning what He bids us believe concerning present forgiveness; but His grace in no way lessens His cl aims for repentance. Man must bow to God’s word, which never changes. In our day things are made for show, which used to be made to last, but our altered times have not altered God’s requirements. A man may live in a house, which the wind shakes and the frost cracks, but God’s work in the soul, where His Spirit dwells, will bear all testing, and will endure forever.

The apostles preached the free grace of God towards sinners, and also the sinners’ repentance towards God. The result of the glorified Saviour’s commission to Paul, that he should open the eyes of the Gentiles; and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, was that, obedient to the heavenly vision, he preached that they should repent and do work; meet for repentance. In those days it was either God or Satan, God or Judaism, and it is now either God or the world. Sorrowful it is when both association with the evil of the world and assurance of salvation by Christ are professedly united in one heart! Where was the repentance? where the works meet for that change of mind? where the turning to God from idols to serve the living God, and to wait for His Son from heaven? where the changed affections and purpose which the gospel teaches?

Probably our reader, really earnest about his soul, may inquire, “Have I repented unto life?” Remember that your repentance is not God’s Son, not your Saviour. Rather ask, “Have I Christ?” He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36.) The same God who gave His Son to die for our sins gives us faith to believe, and grants us repentance unto life. Be not cast down because you are learning somewhat of yourself. Repentance is change of mind respecting God, and respecting self sin, and all that which fills the unconverted heart. Sin is hated and turned from; God, loved and turned to. God has given His Son to die for our sins, and He has given us a new and holy life; we, by grace, hate the sins and the inclination to sin for which our Saviour shed His blood, and in the power of the new nature we love our God, who first loved us. This is repentance unto salvation not to be repented of.

One word to the unrepentant. Beware lest your repentance come too late. Did not the despisers of Noah’s preaching repent when the flood came? But the door of the ark was shut against them. Did not Esau repent after he had sold his birthright? But it was too late: the blessing was gone, and could not be had. Did not Dives, when in hell and in torment, repent of his selfish and self-pleasing life? But it was too late, eternally too late.

Reader, God commands you to repent; He bids you come to Him, as you are, in your sins; He tells you that He is love, and that you are a lost sinner. If you trifle with God and His word your soul will be everlastingly lost. Then, now, in the day of salvation, believe and live.

Believe and Thank God.

“I TRY to lay my sins upon Jesus,” replied poor Mr. C., in answer to my question as to whether his sins were all washed away by the Saviour’s precious blood. He was weak and prostrate, lying upon a bed of sickness after a long, painful illness, “But, my dear sir,” I said, “you have not to lay your sins upon Jesus at all; the bible tells us (Isa. 53:6), The Lord (Jehovah) hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all,’ so you see it is all done, and all that we have to do is to believe and thank God.”

“Well, that is a comfort,” replied the pool man, and he seemed to brighten up a little, though he was too weak to give much expression to his thoughts.

And now, dear reader, let me affectionately ask you have you experienced the comfort of these words? or are you, like my poor friend, trying to lay your sins upon Jesus yourself? If you are, be assured you never attempted a more hopeless task. Have you never observed the words of the passage in God’s book? or do you disbelieve the record God has given of His Son? Surely it must be one or the other, or you would not be trying to do, what God says He has done. Beware of making God a liar by unbelief (1 John 5:10); rather take Him at His word in spite of your feelings and misgivings, “set to your seal that God is true.” (John 3:33.) The moment you believe God you will have the comfort and joy of knowing that your sins are put away forever. Jesus has carried them away into the land of forgetfulness, and God, being perfectly satisfied with the work of His Son, has raised Him from the dead, taken Him back to heaven.

But where now are our sins who believe? “Jehovah hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” What, then, has become of them” He Himself bare our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24); and we are accepted in Him who is risen from the grave and seated in heaven. “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1) “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” J. J. H.

The Great Hindrance.

Mark 6:6.

“AND He marveled because of their unbelief!” What words are these? Jesus wondered at the poor, dull hearts, which would not take in His love and His power. And what was the result of this unbelief? “He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.” The most awful forms of leprosy did not hinder His healing power, neither did death and the grave hinder Him from giving life, nor did a thousand devils possessing a sinner hinder Him from driving them all out; but unbelief, unbelief, unbelief did stay Jesus from working the wonders of His grace and love.

Believer! Unbelief is the great hindrance. “Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”― “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

The Lord was ready to bestow His blessings, but “His own country” lost them because of unbelief. The cloud laden with bounties, which appeared to break in blessings upon their heads, rolled on to the district round about, where “many” sick were healed, and “many” devils were cast out; for mark the contrast between the few and the many in this chapter.

And so it is at this very day. The progress of art and science, the rapidity of traveling, have not lessened the number of the “many” sick or the “many” under the power of Satan who have need of healing. Only One Person can meet their need, Jesus; only One can bind up their aching hearts, Jesus; only One can set peace upon the throne of the human heart, Jesus. Oh! let us ask, is He driven away from doing His great and glorious work in our midst because of unbelief? It is said, “He marveled because of their unbelief,” and still it must be said, “He marvels because of their unbelief.” The present is too much like the past. Our hearts are too much like those of the inhabitants of Jesus’ “own country.”

Christian reader, while you can, by grace, trust in God for your soul’s salvation, are you daily trusting in Christ for your daily needs? Do you rest in Christ not only for the glory which shall be revealed in you, but for His present glory to be wrought out in your life and conduct upon this earth? What blessings there are hanging over your head! What clouds laden with bounties! Ask yourself, Do I hinder the manifestation of the Lord’s love by my unbelief?

Chats Wits the Little Ones Your Soul.

YOU have a soul as well as a body. Ye: cannot see your soul. God made you soul and body. If your body were to die your soul would leave your body.

Once this table was a tree, but a man made the tree into the table. You are not old enough to do anything so wise. The clock is much more wonderful than the table. It tells us the time. It speaks, as each moment passes by, and strikes the number of the hours throughout the day. You could not make a clock, and only a very wise man could make one.

Now look at your own hand, open it, turn it round, shut it up. Your little hand is even more wonderful than the clock. The wises man in the world cannot make a hand, God only can do anything So wonderful.

Now listen to me. What have I been speaking to you about?

“A table, a clock, and my hand!”

“Yes, quite right.” You remember what I have said, and also many, things that you heard yesterday, and you can tell me what you saw and heard a week ago. There is something in you which remembers all these things. You can see your hand move, but you cannot see what you think with.

It is your mind that thinks.

A bad man once told a little girl who loved God to look at her little hands, and, said he, they will turn to dust and be no more when you die, and your soul will die as well as your body, and then you will be no mon at all. The little girl thought for a few moments what to say; she then remembered how her heart loved God, and all the dear things Jesus says to us in His word, and she said to the bad man, “But, sir, the think never dies.” True, true, little girl, “the think” never dies―the soul never dies.

The souls of all who love God go to Him. God is good, and God is love. God loves you, but God does not love the bad things which you do. And you must be made good or you cannot live with God.

I once had two clocks. One kept the time very well indeed. I had only to look at it and I was sure that it was telling me the right hour of the day. The other clock was very troublesome. Sometimes it would point to 12 o’clock when really the hour of the day was only it, and at another time it would tell me it was it o’clock when the proper hour was 12. I did all that I could for the bad clock, but it was of no use; so at last I said, “I cannot have this clock in my room, it is always wrong.” But the good clock I put upon my mantelshelf, and everyone who lives in my house likes to look at it and hear it strike the hour. If I could not have a bad clock in my room, do you think that God will have bad people in His home?

Once a boy came to my house. One day I asked him where he had been, and he told me a lie. “It is very wicked to tell a lie, my boy,” said I, “and if you tell lies, you shall not stay with me.” The next day the boy told me another lie, so I turned him out of my house. And God says He will not have liars in His house in heaven, but that He will turn them into darkness.

What was it in the boy that told the lie? A dog or a cat does not tell a lie! It was something inside the boy which cannot be seen. And it was a very naughty something. It is only boys and girls and men and women who can tell lies, for they only have souls.

If you would live forever with God your soul must be made clean from every naughty thing. How is this to be done?

A little boy fell down and hurt his hand very much, some pieces of gravel got into the wound and made it very sore. He could do nothing but think about his sore hand. Presently his nurse washed his hand in some warm water, and after a few days it was quite Well. You could see the hand get better, and how it was that it became well.

A boy came running to his mother with a sad face. He had been naughty, so his face was sad. Naughty children are unhappy. His mother was sad, too, for she loved her little boy very much, and wished that his soul might be happy, but, like the gravel in the little boy’s sore hand, there was sin in her child’s soul, and until the sin was owned her child could not be happy. No one could see the boy’s soul, but the sorrow of his soul made him very sad, and was a worse pain to bear than that of having a sore hand. If you have done a naughty thing your heart is sad, and that pain is very bad to bear.

So the kind mother bade her little boy tell her all that he had done, and this he did with many tears, and then his mother forgave him, and his soul was happy.

Now, God sees your soul, as well as your body, and He sees the thoughts, which are in your heart, and He knows all about you. He sees every bad thing that is in you, neither can you hide anything from Him. And God, dear child, loves you, even more than your mother loves you, for God is love.

The little boy could not be happy with his mother until the naughty things he had done were all told her and she had forgiven him. And no one can be happy with God until God forgives him. Unless your soul be clean in God’s sight you will never be happy.

The little boy’s hand was washed with warm water, but how can the soul be washed? God washes the sins away from our souls with the blood of His own dear Son. Long ago Jesus died to make us clean and happy, and now God makes every child clean who believes Him. You cannot see God wash away your sin, but God who sees your soul and your thoughts, as well as your body and your doings, can see that the blood of His Son makes the soul clean. And you can believe.

The little boy believed his mother when she told him that she forgave him, and he ran away quite happy. He could not see her heart forgive him. If he had not believed his mother he would not have been happy; but children believe their parents when they say, We forgive you. And so do God’s children believe God when He tells them that the “blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin,” and when. He says, “thy sins are forgiven.”

You love to be forgiven, and to have a sweet kiss, and you are then quite happy. You cannot see God, but you can feel His love in your heart. And God says He loves children, and this makes you happy. And God says that the naughty things which children do can all be washed away by the blood of His Son; so I trust that you will believe God, and if you believe God He will wash your soul and forgive you, and then you will be happy; and then you will be ready to live with God forever in His beautiful house called Heaven.

Love the Best Motive.

A LITTLE girl, who was naturally untidy, allowed her drawers to remain in great disorder. Being anxious to overcome her bad habit in order to please her mother, she wrote on a piece of paper, “To be kept tidy for mamma’s sake,” and placed it in her drawer, so that whenever she went to it she might thus be reminded of her mother’s wishes. And keeping this before her, she soon kept her drawers in neat order. We should do well if we stamped on everything we do, “To be done in the best possible way for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake.”

E. L.

Confidence in Christ.

A YOUNG girl, 16 years of age, and ill with fever, on being asked if she were happy, replied, “Oh, yes, for Christ has forgiven all my sins. There is not a morsel of sin upon me: for where Christ is there is no sin.”

E. L.

"One Sheep."

IT was only one sheep which the shepherd lost; he had ninety-nine all safe in the fold, but he loved the one sheep so much that he went after the wanderer till he found it. It was only one piece of silver which the woman lost; she had nine other pieces safe at home, but she gave herself no rest until she found the one lost piece. Dear child, you are like the one sheep, the one piece of silver. God loves you. You are precious to Him. He gave His Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. His joy in bringing you to Himself is far, far, far deeper than yours in being saved. Do not doubt the love of God.

The Old Story.

COME, Kathleen, nestle near me, dear,

A story I’ll relate

Of Him whom you need never fear,

Although He is so great.

‘Twas He who made the stars and sun,

And set them in their place;

Twas He who marked the course they run

In their appointed race.

The blade of grass we crush beneath

Our careless tread each day;

The mighty orb which rolls in space

Alike His power display.

Yet He, who was so very great,

A little child became;

He took on earth man’s low estate,

Despising all the shame.

He grew in stature and in grace,

The holy, harmless One;

Perfect He fill’d His lowly place

As Mary’s subject Son.

He cleansed the lepers, raised the dead,

Gave sight unto the blind;

The hungry multitude He fed

He was so good and kind.

But who responded to His call,

Or to His word gave heed?

A few poor fishermen were all

Who felt and owned their need.

One way alone was left to save

A guilty, ruined race;

God’s righteous wrath the Son must brave,

Must take the sinner’s place.

And there upon the cross we see

The blest, eternal Son;

The One who made the earth and sea,

Who spake, and it was done.

That One! made sin upon the tree,

Oh miracle of grace!

Rejected and despised, that we

Might see His glorious face.

And dwell with Him and taste the joy

Of all that bliss above,

Where it shall be our blest employ

To sing His boundless love.

Oh trust in Him who loves you so,

And you shall happy be,

And more of His deep love shall know

Throughout eternity.

G. W. F.

The Cripple of Formosa.

THERE is an island, almost as large as Ireland, near the coast of China, called Formosa. A pretty name with a pretty meaning: “richly beautiful.” Grand mountains tower up in the center of the island; abundant rice fields wave on its plains; pleasant fruits grow on its sunny shores. How you would enjoy picking some of those fruits!

In times long gone by the Dutch preached the “good news” there when they held the island, but after they left two hundred years passed before others came to fill their place. Then it was a Scotchman who first preached the gospel there again, and his was soon a post of danger. At first the common people heard him gladly. Then Satan rose up in his agents to close the lips of the missionary, and he was obliged to leave the city. Nothing daunted, he, with his brave wife, re-established himself there soon afterward―the only Europeans in the place. A hospital has since been opened, wherein sick bodies and souls have been healed. More missionaries have gone to Formosa. Far and wide the “sweet story of old” has been published on the mountains and the plains. But it is not of these labors, interesting as the account is, that I would tell you now; only of one poor cripple. He was not rich, learned, or noble; he was one of the weak things of this world whom God has chosen “to confound the things that are mighty.” I cannot even tell you his name; but it is written in heaven.

This poor man lived in a village amongst the hills, where he earned his daily bread as a barber. He could not do out-door work like other men on account of his weakness; but bodily weakness did not make him a coward, nor did it hinder him from laboring hard in Christ’s service. He had a hymn book, which used to accompany him when with the help of his staff, he hobbled through the village, much like the Samaritan woman, saying: “Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?” The anger of some of his neighbors was aroused by his earnest words. Christ’s faithful soldier was not to be frightened from his post. He lost his customers; but he would not lose · his Sundays. So, mounting the bullock cart, he went week after week to Alikung, and all the village saw he meant what he said.

A little while afterward a missionary was examining those who were professing to be converted. Forty names were given to him. He looked through the list, and one-third were from the cripple’s village! Had he not spread the “good tidings” indeed!

Will not the cripple of Formosa have a bright crown prepared for him? Poor, weak, and unknown, he was not hindered from “turning many to righteousness.” The “fullness of Chris” was his source of help, “and the same Lord over all is rich unto all them that call upon Him.” Perhaps our young reader, who loves the Lord, cannot do much for Jesus. Well, the Lord does not ask you to do great things for Him, but He looks at the state of your heart. If you work for Him out of love and according to His word, the Lord finds pleasure in what you do for Him. Make it your joy to earn the Lord’s approval, and though what you do for Jesus may not be observed by man, yet the Lord will never forget your service of love to Himself, and He will reward you by-and-bye.

E. E. F.

Chapter 14,: John Wesley.

NELSON hoped that this preaching of Whitefield’s might at last be the message from God to his soul. He went to hear him. I will tell you what he says of it: “Mr. Whitefield was to me as a man who could play well on an instrument, for his preaching was pleasant to me, and I loved the man, so that if anyone offered to disturb him, I was ready to fight for him. But I did not understand him, though I might hear him twenty times, for aught I know. Yet I got some hope of mercy, so that I was encouraged to pray on, and spend my leisure hours in reading the bible. Sometimes as I was reading, I thought, ‘If what I read is true, and if none are Christians but such as St. John and St. Paul describe to be God’s people, I don’t know any person that is a Christian, either in town or country, and as for myself, I am no more a Christian than the devil,’ and my hope of ever being one was very small.”

So poor John went on, spending sad days and sleepless nights, till the morning came when John Wesley preached his first sermon in Moorfields. You shall hear John Nelson’s account of it: ― “Oh!” he says, “that was a blessed morning to my soul. As soon as Mr. Wesley got upon the stand, he stroked back his hair, and turned his face towards where I stood, and, I thought, fixed his eyes upon me. His countenance struck such an awful dread upon me, before I heard him speak, that it made my heart beat like the pendulum of a clock, and when he did speak, I thought his whole discourse was aimed at me. When he had done, I said, ‘This man can tell the secrets of my heart. He hath not left me there, for he hath showed the remedy, even the blood of Jesus.’ Then was my soul filled with consolation, through hope that God, for Christ’s sake, would save me.” It was still only a hope, but till now poor John Nelson had not had even that. So he took courage, and he says: ― “I continued to hear Mr. Wesley as often as I could, without neglecting my work.” It was right of him not to neglect his work. People whose consciences are really awakened, will be careful about such a thing as that. But, in spite of this, his fellow-workmen told him that Mr. Wesley’s preaching would make him quite unfit for his business. They said, “We wish you had never heard-him, for it will be the ruin of you.” John told them he had reason to bless God that ever Mr. Wesley was born, to which they replied, in their rough way, that they were very sorry for him, and should be glad to knock Mr. Wesley’s brains out, for he would be the ruin of many families. Some of them said they would not hear him preach for. ₤50. It would be well if all such men would be equally determined not to go to public houses, which really are the ruin of many families, but it is one of the proofs how utterly foolish, as well as sinful, the heart of man is, that they thus call darkness light, and light darkness.

John bore all their abuse for a time, but at last his temper gave way. “Everyone tries to provoke me,” he thought, “and I can’t bear it. Perhaps I had better give it all up and go back to my old ways.” But God saw the trials and difficulties of the poor stonemason, and sent him a word in season. As he came one day out of St. James’s Park into Westminster, there walked before him a party of soldiers and some Welshwomen, who were talking earnestly. One soldier spoke so loud, that John, as he followed, could hear all he said. “None of you,” said the soldier to his companions, “pitied me sonic months ago, though I was going headlong to the devil. I was a drunkard and swearer, a fighter, a. Sabbath-breaker, and a gamester, and I don’t know any sin that I was not guilty of, either in word or deed, so that it is a miracle that my neck was not brought to the gallows, and my soul sent to hell long ago.” Then the soldier went on to tell how he had heard Mr. John Wesley preach on Kennington Common, and how he had tried to turn from his sins, but his old companions had dragged him off to an ale-house, and he had given way, and got tipsy, and left off praying. But he had determined to go once more to hear Mr. Charles Wesley, and there and then the grace of God had reached his heart: he had believed in the precious blood of Christ, and was saved. These words encouraged John Nelson, and though soon after he again lost his temper and went into a passion, he still felt the hope that there was mercy in Christ even for him. So instead of going to his dinner, he went up to his room, shut the door, and knelt down to pray. But the more he prayed, the more he felt that his case was hopeless. Twice he knelt down and prayed earnestly. The third time, in utter despair, he knelt down, and to his great dismay he found he could not pray any more. “I could not,” he says, “say a word if it would have saved my soul. I was dumb as a beast.” Poor man, God was taking away the last prop on which he had been leaning. And now when he could not even ask for mercy, the Holy Ghost brought brightly and clearly before his mind the blessed truth that Christ had borne his punishment, and that his sins were all put away. “Christ,” he says, “was as plainly set before the eye of my mind, as crucified for me, as if I had seen Him with my bodily eyes.” From this happy day John Nelson was a new creature. He had to suffer for it very soon, for his landlady turned him out of doors because, she said, she “could not have such a fuss made about religion in her house.” But when John went back to fetch something he had left behind, he found that the woman’s husband was filled with sorrow for having turned him out, and said, “If God has done anything more fat you than he has for us, tell us how we may fine the same mercy.” So John sat down and tole them: of Christ, and persuaded them to go to the preaching. They both went, and were saved. Next came a complaint from John’s master, because John had refused to work on Sunday. The master said he would employ him no more, and that his wife and children would then have to suffer for his folly. John said, “I would rather see them beg their bread bare-footed to heaven than drive in a coach to hell.” The master swore at him, and said, “I have a worse opinion of you now than ever,” to which John replied, “Master, I have the odds of you, for I have a much worse opinion of myself than you can have.” He was surprised after this that hip master sent for him again, and gave him employment as before. “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

After a while John set off to return to his wife in Yorkshire. He had only once seen John Wesley to speak to, but they were to meet again as you will hear by and bye. At present I will only tell you that when John got back to Yorkshire he had anything but a warm welcome from his family. They said they would be ashamed to show their faces in the street if he persisted in telling people his sins were forgiven. They had never heard of such a thing in their lives. John’s old mother said, “Why, lad, your head is turned.” “Yes, mother,” he said, “and my heart, too, thank the Lord.” His wife said she wished he had stayed in London, for she couldn’t live with him if he went on saying people needed to be converted. John said he was sorry for it, for he loved her better than ever, and would always do all he could to provide for her. “If thou wilt not go to heaven with me, Martha,” he said, “I will still do the best I can for thee, only I will not go to hell with thee for company.

But I believe God will hear my prayer, and convert thy soul, and make thee a blessed companion for me in the way to heaven.” You will be glad to hear John’s prayer was answered, and Martha became a bright, happy Christian.

We will now leave John doing the best he could to make known the gospel in Yorkshire, and go back to London, where we left John Wesley preaching in Moorfields.

In the afternoon of the day when John Nelson first heard him, he preached to 15,000 people on Kennington Common. This was on Sunday. The next day he returned to Bristol, having only spent five days in London. Charles and Mr. Whitefield went on preaching whilst he was away. At Bristol, and in the country round, and at the large towns of Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, the multitudes continued to come, and numbers, it would appear, believed the gospel. Wesley returned to London in August, having been absent about two months. Again the crowds gathered on Kennington Common and in Moorfields, sometimes to the number of 20,000.

But I must now tell you of something which gave John Wesley the greatest joy. The very day after he returned to London, his mother told him that till within the last few months she had scarce heard such a thing mentioned as our having forgiveness of sins now, much less did she imagine that this was what God desired all His people to know. “Therefore,” she said, “I never durst, ask it for myself. But two or three weeks ago, when I heard the words spoken ‘The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee,’ the words struck through my heart, and I knew God, for Christ’s sake, had forgiven me all my sins.” This was indeed happy news for John. His mother now began to go with him to the preaching’s. Her doubts and fears were gone, and she thanked God for the blessed work He was doing by her two sons. Besides preaching out of doors, Wesley had many meetings in the rooms of the societies, especially at the room in Fetter Lane, in the City of London. To this little meeting a lady came, of whom you will hear a good deal by and bye. But I will first tell you a little of the London life of ladies in those days, that you may understand how strange a thing it was that any of them should find their way to this little Methodist meeting.

We find in an old book written in those times a sad account of the manner in which the days were spent by both ladies and gentlemen. The ladies, we are told, “seldom rise till noon, and the first part of their time is spent either at the tea-table (which must have been a sort of late breakfast) or in dressing, unless they take a turn to Covent Garden or Ludgate Hill, and tumble over the mercer’s rich silks, or view some India or China trifle, some prohibited manufacture, oi foreign lace.”

F. B.

Answer to Bible Enigma of July.

C ain―Genesis 4:5.

O mega―Revelation 1:8.

N ain―Luke 7:11.

S inai―Exodus 19:1,16.

I srael―Romans 11:26-28.

D avid―2 Samuel 6:20.

E ve―Genesis 3:20.

R ahab―Joshua 6:22-25.

H abakkuk―Habakkuk 2:4.

I saac―Genesis 22:9.

M oriah—Genesis 22:2.

CONSIDER HIM.

Part 8, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 17.

AT Thessalonica Paul would probably not have been treated better than at Philippi, could his Jewish enemies have found him. For three Sabbath days he had reasoned in their synagogues concerning the dead and resurrection of Christ. Some believed; also a multitude of Greeks, and some women. But opposition was again raised by the Jews, who charged him, as their nation had charged the Lord, with saying that Jesus was King, and not Cæsar. Those who refuse Jesus as Lord and Christ, like to forget that whey God’s servants “turn the world upside down,” it is to warn people from the “wrath to come,” of which the) choose not to think. Are you “serving the living and true God,” and “waiting for His Son from heaven,’ as these believing Thessalonians were?

So Paul and Silas have to escape, and by night they fly to Berea, where, “not weary in well doing,” they go again into a place of danger―the synagogue. How wonderful is the life of these men! Laboring with their hands, and praying night and day (1 Thess. 2:9, 3:10) for those whom they loved for Christ’s sake; preaching the glad tidings to all who would hear them; disputing with those who opposed; suffering cold, hunger, weariness; escaping from their enemies with bare life, but leaving behind them a handful of believers in the places they fled from, who blessed God that their coming had not been in vain. And why did they suffer all this? Because the love of Christ constrained them; the One who loved them, and gave Himself for them, had so bound their hearts to Himself, that they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And they believed in the awful realities of darkness and light, Satan and God. They realized what sin is in God’s sight, and what the satisfaction He found in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Do any of us who know the Lord thus esteem these things? The Bereans must have been a great encouragement to the apostle. They proved all things from the scriptures. But the Thessalonian Jews hated the truth; they journeyed to Berea (a distance of about 50 miles) and caused Paul to leave the town. Silas and Timothy, who had followed Paul from Philippi, remained with the Bereans for a time.

The two Epistles to the Thessalonians (the first letters Paul wrote) should be read with this 17th chapter of Acts, that we may enter into his thoughts concerning those whom he had left. His love for them, his desire to return to them, Satan’s hindrance, and his praise and prayers for them, are very touching. They had been idolaters, and had become a remarkable testimony for Christ to all around. Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timotheus (Timothy), worked at their trades while staying in Thessalonica, though partly supported by the Philippians. (Phil. 4) And Paul suffered himself to be left at Athens alone that Timothy might visit them to comfort them and bring him news. All this is found in the first epistle, which was probably written from Corinth.

At Athens Paul waited for Silas and Timothy, and there he disputed with the Jews and heathen philosophers, who were so ignorant of the truth that they supposed Jesus and the resurrection to be the names of two gods, and brought Paul to the Areopagus (a celebrated hill where religious disputes were heard and settled) to hear more about what he preached. There Paul charged them with ignorance and idolatry; told them of God the Creator, who now commands men to repent, and that Christ will be a Judge; and of the resurrection. Some mocked; others proposed to hear him again; certain slave to him, and doubtless to the Lord, on whom they believed.

H. L. H.

Questions.

1. What does Paul say in one of his letters about his treatment at Philippi? ―2. Who received Paul into his house at Thessalonica, and where is he mentioned in the Epistles? ―3. What do you remark most in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians? ―4. Why does Paul make so much of resurrection here (17:3, 18, 31, 32) and elsewhere? ― 5. Do you search the scriptures daily, and of what do they “testify”? ―6. In how many towns did Paul speak in the Jewish synagogue in the Acts? ―7. Which of the Epistles did Timothy write jointly with Paul?

Answers to July Questions.

1. He was Paul’s companion at Acts 16:9-17, 20:5-16, 21, 27., 21., &c. A Physician. Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11. ―2. The Gospel of Luke and the Acts. Compare Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1. 3.― Six. In the reign of Saul. 1 Samuel 14:15. In the time of Elijah. 1 Kings 19. In the reign of Uzziah. Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5. At the death of Christ. Matthew 27:54. At the Resurrection. Matthew 28:2, At Philippi. Acts 16.―4. Mary, the mother of Jesus. Acts 1 Tabitha. ―9. Mary, mother of John. Mark. ―12. Rhoda, ―12. Lydia. ―16. Damaris. ―17. Priscilla. ―18. Seven. ―5. Philippians 1:4,18, 25, 26; 2:2, 16, 17, 18, 28; 3:1, 3; 4:1, 4, 10. ―6, Yes. 2 Corinthians 8:1, 4; 11:9; Philippians 4:14-18. Probably they sent him money four times. ―7. Noah. Genesis 7:1. Rahab. Joshua 5:1 verse 22, 23. Lydia. Acts 16 The jailor. ―16. Crispus. ― 18.

"Mighty to Save."

BUSINESS led me near the court-house; the prison-van was driven up to the door, and a large crowd gathered round to watch the prisoners as they should be takes to the jail. One after another the prisoners were led out, each escorted by two policemen. The faces of most told plainly the sort of life they had led. The profligate and the abandoned were there, feeling for till moment that “the way of transgressors is hard.” (Prov. 13:15.). But sin has its pleasures, and therefore its followers.

The last of the prisoners was unlike the others. He was young, his face was fair, he was neatly dressed, and as he saw the crowd gazing at him he hung his head in shame, and I observed the big tear stealing down his cheek. At that moment an aged man, whose hair was as white as snow, sprang out from the crowd clasped the prisoner in his arms, am sobbing as if his heart would break, cried “My son! my son! Oh, that I could die, and save you from this disgrace―from ruin―from the jail! Why have you used your old father thus? I told you of God, am of heaven, but you would not give heed and now they are taking you away―away! I shall go down broken-hearted to the grave.”

“Cheer up, father,” said the young man weeping. He was going to add more, but “Bring him away!” cried the officer, an with rough hands they thrust him into the van, the door was shut, and the old Max fell upon the pavement weeping.

As I turned away, wiping the tears from my own eyes, I thought, “Here is love, indeed! But there is no power in this love. The broken-hearted father cannot alter the young man’s condition. Into the prison-van and to the jail the guilty youth must go: the law must take its course. This love is not mighty to save.”

Darius, the king of Persia, made a decree that whosoever should ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of the king, would be cast into the den of lions.

But Daniel knew God, and the king’s decree was nothing to him. So, with his window open towards Jerusalem, Daniel prayed and gave thanks to God, three times a day, as before. The king loved Daniel, and labored hard to save him from the den, but the unbending laws of the Medes and Persians rendered his love powerless. He spent the night in fruitless sorrow and fasting. No joy; no sound of music was heard in his palace. But the king could not save. The law of the kingdom was more powerful than the love of the monarch. Love might weep, but the law triumphed, and Daniel was cast into the lions’ den. His love was not mighty to save.

But listen, dear friend, to the love which is mighty to save. The word of God has declared in awful solemnity, “The soul that sinneth it shall die!” There is no power which can alter the decree. England’s law could not be altered to ease the heart of the sorrowing father. The law of the Medes and Persians could not be altered to meet the wishes of the king, and not one jot or tittle of the holy requirements of Jehovah shall ever be set aside. You have sinned, judgment is pronounced upon you, the sentence must be executed.

But we tell you with gladness of love which is mighty to save―yes, to save you, the condemned sinner on the way to the eternal prison. We tell you of the Substitute―of Jesus who died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.

Yes! wonder of wonders! the offended, yet loving God gives His Son! “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16.) Eternal and universal praise to His name! His love is mighty to save. He saw us in our ruin. But He found a Ransom; the debt is paid, the law magnified, sin condemned.

“When naught beside could ease us,

Or set our souls at large,

Thy holy work, Lord Jesus,

Secured a full discharge.”

Oh! beloved, unpardoned reader, the work is all: done: God has taken the offending thing out of the way, and He is now beseeching you to be reconciled to Himself.

His love is mighty to save. As a criminal under sentence of death, oh! receive the pardon that the hand of Divine mercy stretches out towards you. Believe that God is Love, that He gave His Son to die to satisfy His justice, and that His justice being met, we poor, guilty sinners may be freed for eve: from condemnation.

J. MCK.

The Two Mountains.

“WHO is that pleasant-looking old man that comes so often to our cottage meetings?” “Oh, that is old John B., and a real, good christian man he is.” Such was my introduction to one of the Lord’s jewels, to whom I afterward became more and more attached.

John B. lived at some distance from the hamlet where our cottage meetings were held, and, although aged and infirm, yet he encountered many a long walk to hear the blessed sound of the gospel of peace, and often were we cheered and encouraged in our simple addresses by the sight of a hearer so earnest and so absorbed. The slow shake of the head when sin, its guilt, its woe, its doom were dwelt upon; the tender look of loving interest when poor sinners were invited to come at once, just as they were, to the Good Shepherd; and the grateful tears of joy trickling down the furrowed cheek when the precious Saviour in His divine power, love, and grace became out happy theme all bore living evidence that it could indeed be said of John, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:8.) Having for a short time missed my aged friend, I learned that his wife was very ill, my informant adding, “She is worthy of him. It ever does me good to have a talk with either of them.”

The abode of the good old pair proved to be a very snug and pleasant ivy-covered cottage, surrounded with a garden, having its well-tended flowers and bees, situated on the hill-side, whence a lovely view extended itself far away to the west.

The good old wife was ill, indeed: dropsy was supervening on a long-standing heart weakness, and she could scarcely move from her chair. For some time she had been unable to rest in bed, and could only recline her head upon a pillow placed by her side. I found in her a humble, believing, patient child of God. No murmur escaped her lips. In God was realized her covenant God and Father; in Jesus her Saviour; in the Holy Spirit her comforter. All was well, and for eternity. That same Lord, who in His infinite love had borne “all her sins in His own body on the tree,” forever canceling her guilt, was now, indeed, permitting her to suffer His will before He called her to rest. But should she therefore complain? Oh, no! “It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.” But, as is always the case, the faith He gave He also tried, that “being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” Asking her if she did not long to go to lay aside her suffering body, and enter into rest, “Yes,” she replied, “but I hope I shall not die first, for I can’t think whatever John would do without me.” However, the Lord’s ways are not as ours, and He saw fit that she should go first and leave her husband to be under His own special care.

The call came quite suddenly. It was a most affecting sight. Poor old John, seated weeping on one side of the fireplace, and the deserted tabernacle―the dead body of the loved wife―in the arm-chair opposite, just as she had been sitting when her spirit was called away.

“Well, my poor friend,” I said to John, “you are left.” “Yes, ma’am, here I am― alone, but a pilgrim of hope;” and he seemed to grow brighter beneath his trial.

“It is many years, is it rot, since you knew the Lord?” I inquired of him one day. More than forty he told me, and then related how God had converted him. “When I was a young man I lived at S., where Dr. W. took great interest in the young. It was at one of the special services for the arousing and quickening of sinners that it pleased God to awaken me. I became most unhappy: the burden of all my sins pressed so heavily upon me. The Holy Spirit had convinced me of my lost condition, and I groaned in anguish of spirit. I attended the meetings, but, instead of comfort, my distress of soul deepened. One evening at the prayer meeting, as I groaned aloud, Dr. W. came up to me: ‘Why, John, what is the matter?’ ‘Oh, sir,’ I replied, ‘the load of my sins is more than I can bear. I don’t know how to get pardon and peace.’

“He stopped a moment, looked kindly at me, and then replied very earnestly, ‘John, I see you have been to Mount Sinai: now you must go to Mount Calvary.’ Then, after a little more conversation and prayer, he left me.

“The next Sunday I know he thought about me, for his sermon was all about the fullness there is in the Lord Jesus for every sin-sick soul; but, though this helped me, I think what really set me free was a hymn sung that morning.”

“No more, my God, I trust no more

In all the works that I have done;

I leave the hopes I held before

For trusting in Thy Son.

“The best obedience of my hands

Dare not appear before Thy throne;

But faith can answer all demands

By pleading what Thy Son has done.”

Since then the dear old man has walked the blessed walk of faith, and evidenced in his daily life that “faith worketh by love.” The sick or the sorrowful ever hailed his coming with pleasure. Christian neighbors loved to drop in to have a little conversation with old John as he stitched away at his last, and, if one was awakened or anxious, John was the friend ready and able to lead the troubled heart from the fiery Mountain to the Mount of Calvary.

The dear old pilgrim’s end was chosen in infinite love. He had not been quite well for a short time, and one morning the young companion who lodged with him, on awaking, heard him breathing heavily. The young man ran quickly to fetch John’s son, but ere his return his aged friend had taken farewell of earth and was gone, to be forever with the Lord, who had loved him and washed him from his sins in His own blood.

Beloved reader, what do you know of the two mountains? Have you learned the terrors of Sinai? There God demanded goodness from man, and commanded him to obey His law. That law is holy, just, and good, and wherever a sinner places himself beneath it, the sentence stands, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.” (Gal. 3:10.) If you are under the law, you are under its curse. By the law is the knowledge of sin; by it you can never be justified; by it you can never gain life nor obtain righteousness. Sinai is the mountain where God required of man, and man cannot give God anything, save his sins.

Oh! turn with John B. to Calvary, the mountain where God gave His Son to die in our stead. That death of Jesus manifests the very character of God in being just, and yet the Justifier of the ungodly. And now the glad tidings sound from Calvary, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16.) If you accept, by faith, God’s gift, you are saved. By the blood of the cross your sins are taken away, you are justified, you gain life, and obtain righteousness. Calvary is the mountain where God gave to men, and whosoever believes in Jesus, the Son God gave, has everlasting life.”

C. C.

The Portion.

ONE day, in the depth of a severe winter, when the snow was deep on the ground, I was asked to call on a poor man, whom I found without food and firing. He had just been reading his bible, and he said to me, “I was just thinking what a rich portion mine is, for I can say the Lord is the portion of my soul; but what a poor portion the Lord’s is, for the Lord’s portion is His people.”

E. L.

"Keep the Blind up."

IN a very retired spot in a village in Kent lies a poor afflicted person, who has not only lost her sight, but also the use of all her physical powers, except her arms. It was my happy privilege to visit her about two years ago. I ascertained that she had been in the same perfectly helpless condition for eight years, but soon found that she had been made acquainted with the Lord Jesus, and that her spirit sweetly responded to what God had made Him to be to her.

In the course of our conversation, I asked her if she uninterruptedly enjoyed the Lord’s presence. She replied, “He sometimes hides His face from me.” “Why does He do so?” I inquired. “Because of my sinfulness.” I then observed, “You are not able to go out into the world to do anything wrong or sinful.” “Oh! but, sir, my heart is such a wicked one, and I often have sinful thoughts and feelings that make Him hide His face from me.” I said, “Is not God greater than your heart? does He not know more about it than you do? is He not satisfied with what Jesus was and is for you? Can He then hide His face from you? No; it is you who shut Him out by looking within yourself, and pulling the blind down. You must keep the blind up.” “What do you mean?” I replied, “You must be looking unto Jesus,’ setting your affection on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. It the sun is pouring forth all its golden beauty, and you are keeping the blind up, it will tell all its power; but if you draw the blind down you check it―that is, if you get occupied with self instead of Christ you are in darkness, and are taken up with your own feelings and thoughts instead of that joy and peace unspeakable and full of glory―Jesus, who is risen, and who is now on the Father’s throne is ‘the same yesterday, today, and forever.’”

She appeared wonderfully interested, and evidently drank deeply into it. I visited her a second time a few days ago, being again in the village where she still lives. She referred to my previous visit, and quoted what had passed on that occasion, adding that the thought of “keeping the blind up, had been constantly present to her mind, and had helped her very much. This poor young woman leads a life of much solitude, often being left quite alone all day in the cottage without anyone near her. She expressed the joy it had given her to “keep the blind up,” as she had found by real experience that every dark and trying moment was caused by not really looking unto Jesus. I then observed, “What do you think is the reason why God leaves you here?” “For some wise purpose,” she replied. “If the blind is up,” said I, “He does not hide from us what His object is, as in the case of Abraham— ‘Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?’ Just so God loves to make His secrets known to those who are near to Him. Then, why are you left here?” “To glorify Him!” “But how can you do so, lying always in the bed?” “By patiently suffering, in subjection to His will, and by testifying of Him to any that come to see me―of His grace and goodness.” “Are you never afraid of being alone?” “No! I am under the protecting care of the Lord; I am never alone.” “You can then say in the full consciousness of it, ‘Thou art with me.’” “Yes; His rod of protection and staff of faithfulness comfort me.” What a reality it is when the soul is shut up to the Lord Himself, as in the case of this poor blind person, who so truly enjoys, without natural sight or strength, the secret place of the Most High.

C. T.

A Corrupt Tree Cannot Bring Forth Good Fruit.

WHILE passing down a country lane we espied a tree full of fruit. “Oh!” said my child, “Do let us gather some of those apples.” “They are all sour,” said “not one of them is good for anything.” Like the crab-tree laden with its sour fruits is the self-righteous man covered with his own works. Not one of them is worth anything in God’s sight! And faith looks not for works acceptable to God in fallen nature, but leaves self, reckons self to be a dead and worthless tree, even as we left the crab-tree by the roadside with all its show.

"Conscience of Sins."

Heb. 10:2

AN honest man, who knows that he is a sinner, that God is holy, and that he must meet God about his sins unless he be resting upon the blood of Jesus, is utterly miserable. His conscience condemns him continually; his doings do not bring peace he knows that it is utterly impossible for him to satisfy God.

In olden times the troubled consciences of God’s people led then continually to the altar. They went over and over again to God, taking each time a fresh sacrifice. Each sin needed new blood-shedding, and a every day added to the list of sin committed, there was constant coming to God to obtain renewed forgiveness. So long as lifetime lasted sinning continued, and so long a sinning continued fresh sacrifice was needed; hence they never had lasting peace with God.

The Christian, on the contrary, has lasting peace with God, and he has it because the sacrifice of Christ, having accomplished complete forgiveness of sins, cannot be repeated. When God made the world He rested from His work—all was good and perfect in its order, and not to be added to, When the Lord Jesus died, the work which His Father had given Him to do was done, and sin and death heard the cry, “It is finished!” Men do not endeavor to paint the petal of the lily or the rose, nor to set the mountains in order! They admire God’s works of creation. Nor do such as know the perfection of the work of Jesus upon the cross, attempt to establish a righteousness of their own. They praise God for His salvation.

The one offering of Christ once offered has once and forever atoned for the believer. His sins have been blotted out of the book, and God says, “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more;” and the sins being gone, there is no fresh sacrifice, for “where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin.” The debts are paid, and because they are paid, the demand of Justice for their payment has ceased.

Our answer to the question, “How do you know that your sins are forgiven?” is, The sin-offering has been offered, Christ has been made sin for us.

To believe what Christ has done is to have peace. It is the glorious fact that Christ’s work is complete which gives to the believer “no more conscience of sins.” Praying for forgiveness, or seeking to apply the effects of the blood to our consciences, is not resting by faith, upon what Christ did upon the cross. Allowing the thought of any repetition of the sacrifice is to become like the Jew of old, who brought to God for each offense a fresh offering. To apply to the blood for constant cleansing is really lowering the all-sufficient value of till once-shed blood to the level of on: poor faith about it. God says, By one offering we are “purged,” and then can neither be a second blood-shedding nor a second blood-cleansing.

The comer to God of old saw the victim slain for his sin, and his faith in. God’s word that the death of the victim was an atonement for his sin gave rest to his conscience. God said, “His sin that he hath committed shall be forgiven him.” The man could not see the efficacy of the blood! It was what God had said respecting the blood which brought rest to his heart He obtained repose by believing.

God has in our day of grace supplied the Victim. He has prepared the Sacrifice. His own adorable Son from His own bosom has been nailed a sin-offering to the tree, and God says, “If the blood of bulls and of goats ... sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more Christ ... purge your conscience.” (Heb. 9:14.) Do you believe God? Then he says of you “once purged,’ “no more conscience of sins.” Dear reader, has not Christ been evidently set forth before your eyes crucified? His blood has been shed once, your conscience has been purged once; His blood will never be shed again. Your sins are forgiven because His blood has been shed. Have you not a good conscience before God?

Quite true as to daily walk, there is a daily need, and God has made provision for that need, for, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9.) This is provision for a saint. And God’s people do commit sins. Then tell Him of the sins committed, and He will forgive them. But do not in spirit become again an unforgiven and uncleansed sinner and pray Him to wash you again in the blood of His Son, and so make you afresh a saint! Do not let the cloud upon your soul, the shadow hanging over you, through an evil way or word of your own cause you to speak to God as if the sacrifice of His Son were not perfect.

It is the blood of Christ, shed for us, that has cleansed away our sins, and by faith we enter into the blessings accruing to us by reason of the blood of Jesus, as set forth in the word of God. Give God the praise for the cleansing blood of Jesus, and seek for grace to walk as one whom God has made clean.

Prepared.

I WENT to see a poor woman, who was said to be very ill and quite unprepared to die. After speaking a few words to her, and finding her indifferent as to her state of soul, I turned to her husband who was sitting by, and prevented from going to his work at the coal-pit by slight indisposition. I had never seen him before, but I knew the cottage bore a bad name, so I told him solemnly of his danger in going on without God. But again and again he gave me the same answer, “Yes, we’ve all got a preparation to make.” And when I attempted to show him the terribleness of sin, his guilt in the sight of God, and the folly of doing anything but owning his state as a lost sinner, and accepting God’s grace in meeting him with a Saviour, he would say, “Yes, it’s all quite true, miss,” and the next moment the same words would be on his lips again, “We’ve all got a preparation to make.”

A few weeks afterward I saw a funeral go by, and to my surprise I learned it was this man’s body being carried to the grave; in his end, as far as I could hear, there was no hope. How little he could have thought how short a time he would have to make his preparation, and how awful to have to stand before the great white throne unprepared, and to feel throughout an eternity of misery that he knew whilst on earth, that he was not ready to die. A death without Christ is a terrible thing. It is well to be warned in time.

If you have any thought left of making a preparation to meet God, it skews you have not taken the low place of being good for nothing at all. “The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost.” And God says, “I have prepared,” “All things are ready.” May God in His mercy bring you down to own your true state before Him, so that you may prove the wondrous value of the blood of Christ, the only preparation which God has provided for the sinner to fit him for His presence, and may you know what it is to be low enough to accept God’s grace like “little children.”

C. A. W.

My Father's House.

WHEN the blessed Son of God was a pilgrim here, the joy of His heart was ever in hastening to the moment when He should leave the world and go unto the Father. He found nothing on earth to detain Him. The things of time and sense had no deadening power over the Holy One He ever dwelt in heaven in spirit while walking here in the flesh. Nothing could satisfy Him as man, save the presence of God in heavenly rest and glory; and this led Him to lay up all the bliss and hopes of His poor disciples where His own hopes were set. He must bring them to His Father’s house, and there they should forever dwell with Him in divine and heavenly joy. How could the holy Son of God give them a home anywhere short of His Father’s house? He had no home here, and would not seek one, either for Himself or them. And, if it was thus, when he was amongst men in the days of His flesh, is it not the same now that He has gone to the Father? Will He give you, believer, another rest, or lead you to another home? It is the perfection of His love to choose for His people the portion which fills His own heart as man with divine blessedness. In nearness of heart to Christ we shall choose the home that He has chosen for us, and refuse all other resting places. It has been ever God’s gracious purpose to dwell with men; but sin barred the way until Jesus came and went alone into death to make atonement, that He might open the way for His people to His Father’s home. Now He has died and risen, we only wait for His coming again to receive us to Himself. But ere we are welcomed into that home above, Jesus is Himself the way to the Father, and they who believe in Him reach God as their Father in coming to Jesus. The Father is known for Jesus is the truth. As a man down here He knew the Father, and as such He has declared Him to believers. Whatever that Father was to Jesus, such is He to all who believe in His Name. God is unknown out of Christ, but believing in Him we know the Father. And He is the life by whom we live with the Father, as His children. We are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:26.) May we have growing nearness to the Son of the Father, and so abide in Him, and enter into all that He has done for us, and into all the thoughts of His love towards us, that we may be increasingly desiring His coming, to be carried by Him into His Father’s house, and, while waiting for His coming, learn Him, as the way to the Father, the truth about the Father, and the life by which we live is children with the Father.

Joseph's Dream

JOSEPH was the obedient son, the son in whom his father could repose entire confidence. And when this is the case the parent has a special pleasure in his child. So it is with God’s children, such as do God’s pleasure and are obedient to His word receive in their hearts a peculiar share which others who do not so closely follow their Father’s word cannot enjoy. The Lord Himself when He was upon this earth was the obedient Son of God, and in Him the Father was always well pleased, and He tells us of “His joy,” His own special happiness, which He had as the obedient Son upon earth.

Joseph is a type of Jesus. You remember that his brethren envied him, and sought to kill him, and at last sold him into a foreign country as a slave, for twenty pieces of silver. That would be two pieces each for the ten brothers. One of the things which made Joseph’s brothers so angry with him was the dreams God gave him. In his dream he saw the sun and the moon and eleven stars make obeisance to him. And so it came to pass, for when Joseph was upon the throne of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, his brethren did indeed bow to him and own him lord. We know that Jesus has been upon this earth, and that because He was good, and because He told men that they should see Him sit on the right hand of God, He was envied and hated and put to death. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver by one of His own disciples. But Judas did not dare to keep the money. He was miserable, so he went and hanged himself. The wicked people who slew the Lord, thought that they should see Him no more, but God raised up Jesus from the grave, as He had taken Joseph out of the pit. God tells us that the time is coming when the Obedient One shall be exalted, and when every knee shalt bow to Him and own Him Lord to the glory of God, His Father. The cruel people who crucified and mocked Him will bow the knee to Jesus. Every little child and every grown person will own Him Lord. There will not be anyone anywhere who will not bow to Jesus. The happy and holy in heaven, and the miserable and wicked in hell, will all confess that Jesus is Lord.

As the dreams which God sent to Joseph have come true, so will the promises God has made to Jesus come to pass. Joseph’s brothers did not believe that the dream would come true. They would not have been so wicked to him had they believed; neither would people be so careless about the Lord Jesus if they believed that very soon. He will be the One before whom their knees must bow. Would those children, who follow wickedness and do the very things which they know Jesus hates, not be afraid if they believed that very soon they will have to bow before Him? Ah! it will be too late then to go down upon the knees, and cry, “Lord save me!’ Now, in this day of mercy, is the only time given to us to come to Jesus.

When Joseph was seated upon the throne in Egypt he was very kind to his brothers, and he gave them food, and saved them and their children from starving. And thus he is also a picture for us of Jesus, for the Lord is now seated upon the throne in heaven, and He is willing to receive there all who bow before Him, all who call upon His name, for “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Little boys and girls, or old people, “good or bad”— whosoever will may come. What happy news is this! When the famine was very sore in the land, the poor people were so glad to heal about Joseph. He succored thousands. “Go to Joseph” was the word for every poor, hungry one in those days, and, dear children, now our word is, “Go to Jesus,” for He is upon the throne of mercy, and sits there to bless for time and eternity all who come to Him. Joseph did not cast out his brothers who sold him, and the Lord Jesus is love, and His heart is full of tenderness. He is the true Joseph. Jesus will in no wise cast out those who come to Him.

"I Have Found Christ Farewell, Mother!"

I WILL tell you a story of how the Lord Jesus answered a mother’s prayers, and brought a child she loved very much to a knowledge of Himself. You may have one little brother, or perhaps two. The boy I am going to tell you about had five. They were not good children, and often troubled their mother very much. I am afraid they were “spoiled.” Their father, Lord A., was a very rich man, but not what people who love their bibles would call wise. He did not know the scriptures, neither did he care that his boys should know them. But the mother of these boys taught texts of scripture to her children every day, and prayed that God the Holy Spirit would bless what they learned to the saving of their souls.

When Lady A.’s boys grew up to be men, war was declared against Russia, and the English army was sent to the Crimea. There was a great stir throughout these islands: many men longed to share with the army is toils and dangers, and, if needs be, were ready to lay down their lives also―amongst these was young Harry A. He longed to be in active service, entered the army, and vas at once sent with his regiment to the Crimea. He was followed there by his mother’s prayers. She prayed that, if his body was killed, his soul at least might be saved, even though it should be at the last moment.

Russia is a long way off. It is a very different country from England. You would think it cold and miserable, but the people here love it very much, and fought very hard when the French and English came into their country. In a terrible battle Harry A., with many another brave fellow, got a mortal wound. He was carried off the field, and attended by a surgeon, who lid what he could for him, told him his life vas quickly drawing to a close, and left him with his servant to die.

Oh! could our eyes, like those of the prophet’s servant, be opened, what wonderful scenes we should see, not only the battle-field in which the body is killed, but the deadly enemies of the soul who compass us about; but our Lord Jesus, who died for us and rose victorious, is ever near to pardon and forgive, and He has His messengers too. It was the sweet gospel truths learned long ago at his mother’s knee, that the Spirit of God was bringing to Harry’s mind as he lay still and silent, while life and strength were ebbing fast away. At last shortly before the end, he roused himself and seemed to wish to speak. A friend near asked was there anything he could do for him. “Oh! no, not anything. My life is just over; but send this message home for me—just these few words, I have found Christ. ‘Farewell, mother!’”

The Bright and Blessed Day

THE bright and blessed day will come

When Jesus we shall see,

And with Him in the glory bright

For evermore shall be.

Singing glory, glory,

Glory be to God on high.

The Shepherd’s heart will then rejoice

That all His lambs are there,

And every heart and every voice

In His great joy shall share.

The Lord will see us pure and bright,

And whiter than the snow,

And we shall be His heart’s delight,

Because He loves us so.

He then will sing and praise our God

For all His love and grace,

That we, who once were far away,

Now stand before His face.

In His sweet song we too shall join,

All standing round His throne,

Like lilies in His garden fair,

Each pure and spotless one.

Let those who love Him bless His name

For all the joy to come,

When we shall be with Christ above

In God our Father’s home.

Oh! then we’ll praise Him for the joy

Of Jesus Christ our Lord,

For His eternal deep delight,

His endless bright reward.

F. B.

"Little Violet."

MANY a time did Little Violet attract my attention as she earnestly looked at me when talking to my ragged children. Her bright blue eyes often reminded me of a lighthouse on a dark night at sea―they shone so sweetly in the midst of the listless and dirty faces of the other children, especially when the wonderful love of God was the theme. She had been brought up very respectably, but the sudden death of the father had plunged her mother and family into deep distress, and they had had to leave a comfortable villa for the hovel they now dwelt in; once surrounded by nice clean people, now by thieves, dog dealers, and low characters. As weeks rolled by, one of my most regular hearers was Little Violet, until one cold, biting winter evening I missed her from her seat; and as I left the school, her mother, with tears in her eyes, came to tell me Little Violet was dying. She asked me to go and see the child, which I at once consented to do. I was shown into a poverty-stricken cottage, and into a miserable room, and there in the corner, on an almost black-looking bed, was dear Little Violet, fast fading away. Her breathing was painful, and her earnest, loving-looking, little face was pinched up with pain, but her bright blue eyes shone in all their beauty.

The mother pressed her to take her medicine, which the child almost refused to do, but at my earnest request she swallowed the nasty draft, and then fell back on her pillow quite exhausted, her eyes still fixed on me. My heart ached to see her in pain, but rejoiced to think of the home awaiting her.

“Well, dear Violet,” I said, “do you know that when Jesus was down here, He said to little girls like you, Suffer them to come to Me; but He is in the glory now, having died on the Cross for boys and girls, men and women, who are all sinners. As the little hymn says―

“He knew how wicked man had been,

He knew that God must punish sin,

So out of pity Jesus said,

“I’ll bear the punishment instead.”

And so He died, and this is why

He came to be a man and die.

The Bible says He came from heaven,

That we might have our sins forgiven.’

And do you know, dear Violet, although He is in the glory at His Father’s right hand, still He is saying to you, ‘Come to Me.’ Will you go to Him tonight, Violet, just as you are, a poor little sinner? He will receive you, wash you in His precious blood, and make you fit to dwell with Him in glory.”

She was too exhausted to answer, but a beautiful, beaming smile lit up her poor, wasted face, which plainly said, “I have gone.”

I left her, never more to see her here alive, for she passed sweetly away that night, just managing to lisp out, “Jesus!”

A few days afterwards I went to the cottage again, and was shown by the poor, weeping mother Little Violet’s thin, wasted body in the coffin. It was only her body―the soul was gone, present with her Saviour, who said, “Suffer her to come.”

Dear little reader, He is bidding you come to Him, and take Him as your own precious Saviour. Have you been, just as you are, with all your sins, and had them washed away in His precious blood? His words are, “Come to me.” If you have not, and your little body had to be laid in a coffin, your soul would be not with Jesus, but where? I leave you to answer that question, and conclude by saying, Go as you are, rest in those loving arms, for in this day of grace He is saying, “Suffer them to come to Me.”

“Jesus calls you, little children,

And His words are words of love;

Come to Me: I died to save you;

Come to Me, and dwell above.”

W. S. W,”

IT is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matt. 18:14.)

“AND they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them; and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not.” (Mark 10:13, 14.)

Chapter 15,: John Wesley.

WHILST the ladies were engaged in these useless occupations, we are told that the gentlemen, if they were not Members of Parliament, and had no particular business to attend to, were to be found in the chocolate houses near the Court, or in the park, or were up so late in the morning as not to go out till after dinner. Dinner seems to have been at about two or three o’clock, as we are told that the evening, which is reckoned to begin about four or five, was devoted to pleasure. “All the world get abroad in their gavest equipages between four and five in the evening, some bound to the play, others to the opera, the assembly, the masquerade, or music-meeting, to which they move in such crowds that their roaches can scarce pass the streets. There are many gentlemen, however, that choose to spend their evening at a tavern in agreeable conversation, whilst others go to their clubs; but of all diversions theatrical entertainments seem to rank the highest, as being most universally admired.” Our old book goes on to describe these much admired theatrical entertainments, giving the account written of them by a French gentleman who visited England. “It is here,” says the Frenchman, “that young people are made familiar with vice, which is always represented is a thing indifferent, and never as vice. The characters in the play swear, game, drink, fight, &c. All that can be said of the best of them is that he is more genteelly wicked than the rest. Mere seldom fails to be abundance of swearing, die stories, and foolish comparisons,” &c.

This description goes on to say that one reverend writer condemns playhouses, as unlawful for a Christian, as “unlawful as to be a drunkard or glutton, or to curse and swear,” and you might, perhaps, suppose from this that there were many right-minded people who saw the evil of such amusements. But, alas! The old book goes on to tell us that such an opinion was thought too severe, and to “border upon arrogance and uncharitableness.”

“What must we think of our clergy,” adds the writer, “knowing that they have, every one of them almost, sometimes in their lives attended at such places, and given their money to be thus entertained? This should lead us to Conclude that the playhouse does not deserve the bad names which the reverend writer has been pleased to bestow upon it.”

The accounts given of the other amusements of those days are much what we might expect, having been told that the playhouse was thought a fit place for the men who called themselves ministers of the gospel; nor can we be surprised when we hear how entirely useless were the sermons preached by such men on Sunday. A learned lawyer who lived at that time tells us that he went from church to church all over London to hear what the sermons were like. He says he did not hear a single sermon that had more Christianity in it than the writings of the old heathen, Cicero, and that it would have been impossible for-him to find out from what he heard whether the preacher were a follower of Confucius, of Mahomet, or of Christ. Confucius was, you know, a heathen Chinese, will lived a long time ago, and taught the Chines his own dark thoughts about religion. It seems wonderful that any of those living in the midst of this darkness could ever have been brought into the light of the Gospel of Christ. But God will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy, in spite of all the hindrances which the devil of man may put in the way, and so it came to pass that at the meetings of the little “society” it Fetter Lane one who listened most eagerly, and was most diligent in coming there, was a lady, who had been much admired, flattered, and sought after in the gay world of London, and who was now to be despised, laughed at, and evil spoken of, for Christ’s sake. This was the Countess of Huntingdon.

It would be difficult to imagine two people so outwardly unlike one another as this high-born lady, brought up in luxury and refinement, and the rough Yorkshire stonemason, John Nelson. But their inner history was in some respects strangely alike. When Lady Huntingdon (then Lady Selina Shirley) was a little girl of nine years old, she one day saw a funeral going to the churchyard. When she heard that it was the funeral of a little girl, just her own age, she asked if she might go to the churchyard and see the little girl buried. As the coffin was put into the grave, little Selina began to think for the first time about her soul that could never die, and she wondered where her soul would go if she, too, were to die and be buried. She cried bitterly at the thought of this, and in her heart she asked God as she stood there by the grave to take her to heaven when she died. She often went to see the little girl’s grave, and remembered her prayer, and she began to pray at home in a little closet whenever she had any little trouble. One of her prayers was that if ever she should marry it might be into a family where there were some who feared God.

When she was twenty-one she married Lord Huntingdon. He and his family were people who had more appearance of religion than many in those days, and as Lady Huntingdon did not know what real believers in Jesus were like, she no doubt thought that their forms of religion were all that could be desired. She tried, too, herself to be, as she imagined, a true Christian. She was very kind to the poor, and very careful to act honorably and justly in all her dealings. But she had no peace in her heart, and the thought of eternity was one which filled her with dread. She often remembered the fear and terror she had felt at the little girl’s funeral, and she still thought, if she were to die, she might be lost forever. But God remembered her prayer, that she might marry into a family where there were those who feared Him, and though it seemed at first that He had not answered it, He meant in time to show her that He had granted her request. Her husband, Lord Huntingdon, had four unmarried sisters. The eldest, Lady Betty Hastings, had an estate of her own called Ledstone Hall, in Yorkshire. It happened in the autumn of 1738, just 10 years after Lady Huntingdon’s marriage, that her three younger sisters-in-law, Anne, Frances, and Margaret, went to stay at Ledstone with Lady Betty. It was just at the time that John Wesley and Mr. Ingham had returned from Herrnhuth. Mr. Ingham went into Yorkshire as soon as he arrived in England, to stay with his relations, who lived at a place called Ossett, not far from Ledstone. Here he began to preach the gospel, and to hold meetings in the neighboring towns, to which many people came. The ladies at Ledstone had heard of the Methodists, even so long ago as in the days of the Holy Club at Oxford, and when they were told that a Methodist preacher had come into their neighborhood, they resolved to go and hear what it would be like. It would seem that Lady Margaret Hastings no sooner heard the gospel thus simply preached than she believed and was saved. She then, like the women at Sychar, began at once to speak to others of the Saviour. In a very short time Betty, Frances, and Anne, were all rejoicing in the knowledge of Christ. Lady Margaret took the first opportunity of telling the same glad tidings to Lady Huntingdon, who listened attentively, and began, not to rejoice, but to feel the more sure that she was a lost sinner. Soon after, it would seem that winter, she had a dangerous illness, and then all her fear of death and eternity became so great that she was utterly miserable. She thought again and again of some words which Lady Margaret had said, and which had struck her deeply: “Since I have known and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for life and salvation, I have been as happy as an angel.” And now in her despair she felt that for her, too, the only hope was in Jesus. Lying there on her sick bed she told the Lord that she would now cast herself wholly upon Him alone, to be saved from all her sins. She began to get better from that hour, and rose from her bed in a short time not only healed in body, but eternally saved― “a new creature in Christ Jesus.” When she went to London soon after, she at once found her way to the little meeting in Fetter Lane, and took her husband with her. She began to speak of Christ to her old friends, still taken up, as they were, with the things of the world. She entreated them to go, too, and hear the preaching of the Methodists, and took with her any who would accept the invitation. You would like to know some of the answers she received to these entreaties. You shall hear one or two just as they were written by Lady Huntingdon’s friends. The first is from Sarah, the old Duchess of Marlborough. If you ever read the life of Queen Anne you will know something about this old duchess. She had spent her life with the one thought of being great in the eyes of the world, and having labored for this end she had had her reward. She had been flattered and admired by some, and envied by others. If what the world has to give could make a woman happy, the duchess ought to have been one of the happiest. You shall judge whether she was so. This is her note: ―

“My dear Lady Huntingdon is always so very good to me, and I really do feel so very sensibly all your kindness and attention, that I must accept your very obliging invitation to accompany you to hear Mr. Whitefield, though I am still suffering from the effects of a severe cold. Your concern for my improvement in religious knowledge is very obliging, and I do hope that I shall be the better for all your excellent advice. God knows we all need mending” (the duchess did not know that we are past mending, and need to be made anew), “and none more than myself. I have lived to see great changes in the world—have acted a conspicuous part myself, and now hope, in my old days, to obtain mercy from God, as I never expect any at the hands of my fellow creatures. The Duchess of Ancaster, Lady Townsend, and Lady Cobham were exceedingly pleased with many observations in Mr. Whitefield’s sermon at St. Sepulcher’s Church, which has made me lament ever since that I did not hear it, as it might have been the means of doing me some good—for good, alas! I do want; but where among the corrupt sons and daughters of Adam am I to find it? Your ladyship must direct me. You are all goodness and kindness, and I often wish I had a portion of it. Women of wit, beauty, and quality cannot hear too many humiliating truths: they shock our pride. But we must die―we must converse with earth and worms....

“Believe me, my dear madam,

“Your most faithful

“And most humble servant,”

S. MARLBOROUGH.”

In another note from the duchess we read: — “Your letter, my dear madam, was very acceptable. Any communications from my dear, good Lady Huntingdon are always welcome, and always, in every particular, to my satisfaction. I have no comfort in my own family, therefore must look for that pleasure and gratification which others can impart. I hope you will shortly come and see me, and give me more of your company than I have had latterly. In truth, I always feel more happy and more contented after an hour’s conversation with you than I do after a whole week’s round of amusement. When alone, my reflections and recollections almost kill me, and I am forced to fly to the society of those I detest and abhor. Now there is Lady Frances Saunderson’s great rout Tomorrow night―all the world will be there, and I must go. I do hate that woman as much as I do hate a physician, but I must go, if for no other purpose than to mortify and spite her. This is very wicked I know, but I confess all my little sins to you, for I know your goodness will lead you to be mild and forgiving, and perhaps my wicked heart may gain some good from you in the end.”

Alas! it would seem that, though the old duchess did go to the preaching, she never turned to the only One from whom she could gain good—at least, we have no proof that she ever did. You remember that Herod heard John gladly; but the last we hear of him is that he “set at naught” the blessed Son of God.

The next note is from the Duchess of Buckingham. She says: ―

“I thank your ladyship for the information concerning the Methodist preachers; their doctrines are most repulsive, and strongly tinctured with impertinence and disrespect towards their superiors in perpetually endeavoring to level all ranks and do away with all distinctions. It is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful, as the common wretches that crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting, and I cannot but wonder that your ladyship should relish any sentiments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding. Your ladyship does me infinite honor by your obliging inquiries after my health. I shall be most happy to accept your kind offer of accompanying me to hear your favorite preacher, and shall wait your arrival. The Duchess of Queensbury insists on my patronizing her on this occasion, consequently she will be an addition to our party.

“I have the honor to be,

“My dear Lady Huntingdon,”

“Your ladyship’s most faithful and obliged,

“C. BUCKINGHAM.”

This poor lady died not long after she had written this note. Lady Huntingdon tried to see her on her death-bed, but the duchess refused to admit her.

The last letter I shall copy for you is from Lady Hinchinbroke. It is one which must have cheered Lady Huntingdon, different as it is from the letter of the proud Duchess of Buckingham: ―

“My dear madam, ―I am deeply indebted to your kindness and the anxiety you have manifested at all times for my spiritual improvement. Indeed, I stand in need of all your sympathy, and all your unwearied exertions, for I feel myself utterly helpless, miserable, and guilty in the sight of heaven, and were it not for the ray of hope which I have in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, would be driven to despair and ruin. I shall have much pleasure in waiting on your ladyship Tomorrow. Have you heard where Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley are to preach this week?

“I remain, my dear madam,

“Your faithful friend,

“And most humble servant,

“E. HINCHINBROKE.”

There is every reason to believe that Lady Hinchinbroke’s “ray of hope” soon became a firm trust in the precious blood of Christ, and that she was for the rest of her life a true servant of God.

F. B.

Part 9, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 18:1-23.

AT Corinth Paul abode with Aquila and Priscilla, a Jew and his wife, who had come from Rome, and being tent makers, he worked at his trade with them. As usual, he went into the synagogue, and as usual the Jews violently opposed him, so that again he says to them, “Henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”

Corinth was a place renowned for its trade and its wickedness. But even in this city God could call out a people for His name. Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue, received Paul, and Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed, with all his house; others also, who were the beginning of the “much people,” concerning whom the Lord encouraged Paul in a vision. He told him not to be afraid, but to speak, and no one should hurt him. This must have been a great encouragement to him, and he remained there a year and a-half, and “a good while” longer too, for Gallio, the deputy, though not a Christian himself, would not listen to the complaints of the Jews about Paul. God has the hearts of all in His keeping, and can turn them as He will.

After this, Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila sailed to Ephesus. As far as we know, Paul had not been there before. When he had reasoned with the Jews he departed, though desired to remain, for he wished to keep the feast at Jerusalem. He therefore landed at Caesarea, and went up and saluted the church―probably that of Jerusalem―in which case this would make Paul’s fourth visit to that city. Then he went to Antioch for the fifth time, and traveled through Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples. This was the third journey Paul had made through Asia Minor.

In tracing these footsteps of the great apostle we must ever remember whence he started. It was from heaven. He had seen the Lord Jesus there, and so he was hastening to get back to the place in which he had seen Him, and by the way he did not mind afflictions. If he had not counted all things as dung and dross for His sake he could not have exposed himself to such perils. “Neither count I my life dear unto me,” he says. Let the readers of these papers ask themselves if they know Christ; and if so, if in anything they are willing to suffer for His sake.

H. L. H.

Questions.

1. What happened in the days of Claudius Caesar, foretold by a prophet? ― 2. What is said of Crispus in the Epistles? ―3. How many times did the Lord Himself speak to Paul, or in a vision, in Acts? — 4. Was Sosthenes converted? ―5. How many feasts ought Jews from all parts to have kept at Jerusalem according to the law? ―6. Why are sacrifices and feasts of no use now 27. What are we redeemed with? H. L. H.

Answers to August Questions.

1. “Shamefully entreated at Philippi.” 1 Thess. 2:2. ―2. Jason. Acts 17:7; Rom. 16:21. ―3. His mention of the Lord’s coming or appearing in every ch. 4. Because 1 Cor. 15:14,17, and Rom. 1:4.-5. Yes. “Of Me.” John 5:39. ―6. Damascus. Acts 9:20. Salamis. ―13:5. Antioch in Pisidia. ―13:14. Iconium, ―14:1. Thessalonica. ―17:1. Berea. ―17:10. Athens. ―17:17. Corinth. ―18:4. Ephesus. ―18:19; 19:8. Nine. ―7:2 Cor., Phil., Col., 1 Thess., 2 Thess., Philemon.

Freely.

“BEING justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth a propitiation (mercy-seat) through faith in His blood, to declare at this time his righteousness, that He might be just and the Justifier of him that believes in Jesus.” (Rom. 3:24, 25, 26.)

An officer in the British army but newly converted had this blessed truth very prominently before his mind. He found that the Greek: word translated “freely” literally means “for nothing.” Taking a sheet of paper, he printed upon it in three lines, each in larger letters―.

FREELY, FREELY, FREELY, and nailed it to the post of his tent. He never tired of gazing at the liberal word, and when any of his comrades asked what the poster meant, he would reply, “That is how God has justified me.”

Yes, and how he will justify you, too, dear reader, only give Him credit for His grace. As the God of creation, he said to man, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” (Gen. 2) His liberality is unchanged for as the God of Salvation He has given His Son and the Spirit that we may know the things which are freely, given to us of God. (1 Cor. 2)

Once I had a beautiful illustration of the freeness of salvation when traveling along a country road. Beneath the window of a small cottage had been placed by some kind hands a pitcher of clear, cool water. Upon the window-sill was a mug to lift it with. For whom was the water placed there? For me, of course, or for any thirsty wayfarer. The day was hot, the road dusty, and the tongue parched. Enough, it met my need. What was freely given I freely took. As I drank, my heart praised Him who had written about another water―not to slake thirst here, but to satisfy the craving of an immortal soul, vivify the lifeless, and save from the eternal burning thirst of hell, where is not a drop to cool the tongue. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Dear reader, may God’s “freely” sound in your heart, and may its cheering, living note peal louder and clearer above your fear, your unbelief, and the hissing lie of the old serpent until you hear it only, and rest in the blessed fact that God is for us. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.” Again he says, “I will give unto him that is athirst of the water of life freely” (Rev. 21:6.) Drink ye, and drink abundantly.

T. R. D.

Is It for Me?

“WHEN sinners have been awakened to see their guilt, and danger, and are invited to come to Christ and be saved, they frequently make such excuses as these: ‘I cannot believe that the-invitations of the gospel were intended for such sinners: as I am; I am afraid I do not feel aright And that. Christ will not receive me? ‘Suppose a table, set in the street, and loaded with all kinds of food, and that a herald is sent to make proclamation that all who wish may come and partake freely. A poor man comes and stands looking very wishfully at the table, and when he is asked, why he does not eat, replies, ‘I am afraid the invitation is not meant for me; I am not fit.’ Again he is assured that the invitation is intended for all those who are hungry; and that no other qualification is necessary. Still he objects, ‘But I am afraid I am not hungry enough.’ In the same way do sinners deprive themselves, by their own folly, of those blessings which are freely offered them by God.”―Payson.

“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.... Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul Delight itself in fatness.” (Isa. 55:1, 2.)

God Loves You; Can You Refuse His Love?

JULY came round with its sultry but bright days, so enjoyable to the healthy and robust, but so trying to the weak and suffering. As I passed through a noisy street in B― I used to feel for a poor, dying man I could see lying on a sofa in the inner room. His face too plainly told me that he was fast sinking, and, as I learned, without any hope. To him, poor sufferer, the future was a lightless chaos-a black night. Twice I tried to get to see him, but was refused, although it was through one of his best friends and neighbors who endeavored to obtain for me the introduction. Earnestly did I look to the Lord to open the door of that house to me.

A few days after, when coming home from business early one Saturday afternoon, I was told, to my joy, that Mr. H―, the dying man, had sent for me. A minute or two after I was hurrying through the street, lifting up my heart to the Lord to give me the right word. When I arrived at the shop I was met by his wife, son, and daughter, all crying bitterly, and was shown up a very steep pair of stairs, having to pull myself up by a rope, and found myself in a clean, neat bedroom, with the poor, dying man lying on the sofa. He scowled at me as went in, as much as to say, I would never have sent for you if I could have helped it, but I will make it uncomfortable for you. I sat down near him and said, “I have brought you a message, dear H―.” “Well, what is it?” he said. “God is love,” I replied. “What!” he said, lifting himself up in a rage. “How dare you say that to me! Love, indeed! Pretty love, to give me here seven years of awful pain and suffering. Be off out of the room!”

“Stop!” I cried; “when I came through your shop I saw a young man crying bitterly; who was it, my friend?”

“My son,” he replied; “my poor, dear son,” and he burst into tears, “and I don’t know how to part with him. I have given him a good education, he has been my pride and delight, and now I have to part with him―yes, part with him,” and the poor fellow shook with convulsive sobs.

“Hark!” I said, “the great God above had a Son whom He loved more than you love yours. Your love compared with His is but as a grain of sand on the vast sea shore, or a drop in the mighty ocean, but still, with all the love He had for His Son, He loved us poor sinners, who deserve His wrath and righteous judgment, and He sent His Son down to be judged, and to die in our stead, that we, through faith in Him, might be saved from the wrath to come, and have eternal life with Him. Is not that love? and cannot we say, God is love? Oh, dear H —, do come to Jesus and rest. Surely He sent you this illness to bring you to Himself. Come just as you are―poor, wretched, and vile. He will wash all your sins away, make you fit for glory, and soon come to take you away to be with Him and like Him.”

The hot, burning tears rolled down the poor man’s face as he rocked to and fro, and exclaimed, “Oh, what love! I never knew it before; I see it now.” Full of praise to God, who had awakened this once hardhearted man to think of His great love to sinners, I dropped on my knees, and poured out my heart to the God of love and the One who came to do His will and die.

Many happy days passed away, and the nearer his end came the brighter he was, manifesting to all around his joy, and leaving such a testimony! One lovely evening in August, during an attack of delirium, he passed away, dwelling in his wanderings on the One who loved him, and gave Himself for him.

Dear reader, do you know “God is love?” Do you know His Son as your Saviour? If not, what is your hope? Where will you spend eternity? Your good works are of no avail; your righteousness’s are called “filthy rags;” you can but now stand in God’s presence as a guilty, lost sinner. Oh, if you knew this you would indeed feel your need, and go to Jesus as you are, and rest in Him as your Saviour―the only, Saviour.

“The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” (1 John 4:14.) “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16.) “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?”

W.S.W.

The Communist and the Bible.

AFTER the late French war, a great many men, who had been concerned in the political disturbances of their country escaped to England, fearing lest they should be sentenced to death or banishment. One of them―a middle-aged man, who had lived all his life in total neglect of God―reached London with no money, nor friends, and only the clothes he wore on his back. He was shunned by the most respectable of his countrymen, and how he lived it is hard to say. One day a gentleman, after relieving his misery, told him to go to a meeting where the poor French were gathered every Sunday evening to read the bible. The poor Communist’s first thought was: What use is it to listen to a book containing stories fit only for old women and children? He had never read the bible, but, like many others, passed an ignorant opinion upon its precious contents. However, preferring to sit down to wandering about the streets, he went.

When the service was over, the missionary, discovering his miserable state, showed him sympathy, and asked him to come again. The missionary found the stranger had a wonderful memory, so he asked him to learn by heart chapters in the New Testament, and promised him a small gift for each lesson. To this bargain the Frenchman acceded, thus reading God’s word over and over again, but little thinking what glorious effect it would produce on his heart by the grace of God. After several months of attending at the services, he called at the missionary’s house, holding in one hand a large official letter, and in the other the testament which had been given to him. “I thought,” said he, “that you should be the first to whom I would tell the good news concerning me, and make your heart leap for joy. This letter contains my pardon. I am no more an exile, or an outcast. But how can I express myself about the greatest freedom which I have received freely from the King of kings, and Lord of lords, ―even a free, full pardon for all my sins and transgressions of which I am guilty, and for which I deserved everlasting death. This little testament contains the loving words of my Saviour―yes, my Saviour. ‘Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.’ By faith I have seen Jesus, the Lamb of God, pierced for me. His blood has washed me, and has made me as white as snow. Oh, my God! my God! what shall I render for so much love?” he cried. “No condemnation for me now.” Then he told the missionary how that while he was reading the Gospel of John the Spirit of God opened his heart to believe the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that he had been led step by step by the Holy Spirit to accept the pardon God offers sinners, and to give himself up to God through Jesus, adding that though he had suffered immense misery in London, yet he could see now how God had ordered it to lead him where he might learn how his soul should be saved.

What a striking proof is this of the power of the word of God when applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit!

J. L. M. V.

Knowledge Without Communion.

“THERE is nothing more dangerous than to use the word when it has not touched my conscience. I put myself into Satan’s hands if I go beyond what I have from God, what is in possession of my soul, and use it in ministry or privately. There is nothing more dangerous than the handling of the word apart from the guidance of the Spirit. To talk with saints on the things of God beyond what I hold in communion is most pernicious. There would be a great deal not said, that is said, were we watchful as to this, and the word not so used in an unclean way. I know of nothing that more separates from God than truth spoken out of communion with God; there is uncommon danger in it.”―Extracted.

Speaking for Jesus.

IN the house where a lady was staying with some friends was a little girl also on a visit. More than once the lady thought, “Shall I tell that dear child of Jesus’ low for children? shall I ask her if she love: Jesus?” But she kept silence. At last the time came for the little girl to go home, and again the lady thought, “Shall I not speak to her before she leaves? I may never have so good an opportunity.” But once more her cowardice overcame her, and she let the child go without a word, saying to herself, “Well, I shall often see her again at her own home, then I will speak to her of Jesus.”

About a month passed, and there came a letter, saying the little girl was very ill; soon after another, to say she was dying; and not many days after, the sad news of her death. Then what sorrow and remorse filled that lady’s heart while she earnestly prayed for grace to overcome her cowardice.

Christian reader, do you shrink from speaking a word for your Master? Are there not friends around you to whom you might speak of

“That wonderful redemption,

God’s remedy for sin.”

But you keep silence, thinking that they will not like the message, and laugh at you; yet, maybe, all the time those whom you fear may he longing for someone to tell them of Jesus and His love, and wondering why you do not speak of Him.

Some years ago a young girl was in great anxiety about her soul. She was timid and reserved, and there being no Christian in the house where she was living, she kept her distress to herself. She often longed greatly for someone to talk to her of the Lord. One day she was invited to spend the evening at the house of a friend whom she knew to be a Christian. She thought, “Now I shall be told how I am to be saved. Mr. G. is such a good man, I hear, he will never let me leave his house without speaking to me of vital religion.” When she arrived at her friend’s house, she found there another gentleman of whom she had often heard as an earnest Christian. But all that evening the two gentlemen conversed together, but neither said one personal word to the visitor, who longed to hear the way of salvation; so at last she took her leave and went home, crying bitterly all the way with her disappointment. And during her grief the tempter suggested that there was no such thing as real religion; that it was an invention, and that she had better give up thinking about her soul and enjoy herself.

Dear Christian readers, may these simple facts be a warning to us never to let an opportunity pass of speaking for Jesus.

H. A. I. S. M.

Eyes Opened.

I REMEMBER visiting a poor woman dying of a very painful disease. She had passed long years of suffering, and thought that she had suffered and repented enough for God to have mercy upon her.

“What!” said one, “will you dare to bring your suffering and your repentance to a holy God as a ground of acceptance with Him? Has He not declared that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin; and that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin?’”

The words were used of God. The poor sufferer’s eyes were opened. She saw that her pain of body had nothing whatever to do with the salvation of her soul, and that her repentance could not possibly make her holy in God’s sight, and that trusting to those things was really despising Christ’s blood.

Sometime after, when calling upon her, I asked her if she was happy in the prospect of death, and of standing before God? “Yes,” she replied, “quite happy.” “And upon what are you resting for salvation?” She replied “The word of God. ‘Whosoever!’ Whosoever means me, and He will not cast me out.” And her last words of all, feebly uttered, were, “No, He’ll never, never leave me.”

Upon what are you resting, dear reader? Is it only upon Christ, or self. What is your ground of confidence before God? M. H.

"Be Reconciled to God."

AT the first God made man happy and surrounded him with ever earthly blessing, but Satan poisoned man’s mind with the thought that God had held back from him what was for his benefit. He suggested that man might be better off by breaking God’s command, and man forsook the place of dependence in whirl God had set him, and learned evil to his cost.

Then God came into the garden where man was, fallen from innocence, acquainted with good and evil and a sinner. Man hid from God, but God called him, and, remonstrating with His creature, pronounced his punishment, and also the coming of the Deliverer.

Some four thousand years rolled by, and man returned not to God “They did not like to retain God in their knowledge,” but went on from shame to shame, and from darkness to darkness, till God Himself declared, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God; they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Then it was that the star shone over Bethlehem: then it was that Jesus was born. The Deliverer came. Man sought not God, but God sent His Son into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. He came in grace. He uttered the heart of God. Never before had man heard or seen such love. Man knew by bitter experience what evil was, but good, such good, the goodness of God he knew not. It was a new thing upon the earth. The Son in the bosom of the Father declared Him to man, and to as many as received the Son, He gave the privilege to become the sons of God.

The stiff-necked religious world would not yield and be embraced by divine love, and tears rolled down the face of Jesus as He wept over the refusers of His mercy. Yes! and that tender, compassionate heart still pities the rejection of His grace. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; not imputing their trespasses unto them.” The greatness of God could stoop to the level of man’s weakness in order to prove to man God’s love. Jesus did not go about this earth with the books in His hand, inscribing therein the evil which He saw around Him, but by grace and love He showed to such as could see the Father’s heart. Jesus did not come to judge, He came to save. He came not to smite the sinner, but to be stricken and smitten in his stead. This mighty friendship of God for rebellious man was signed and sealed in the blood of His own Son. We deserved to die, but divine love formed a sheath for the sword of divine justice, even the bosom of the Son of God’s love, and now God “hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by us: we pray in Christ’s stead, Be reconciled to God!” Be no longer His enemy. Live not another day, duped by Satan to believe that God’s presence will make you miserable. He only, can give you peace and everlasting joy.

We are sinners, our nature is sinful. And what has God done? “He hath made Him sin for us... that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” We can never go back to earth’s paradise and innocence any more than we can return to infancy and its simplicity, but God has in His great grace formed a better state. We “after God are created in righteousness and true holiness.” Our portion is righteousness: God’s righteousness. Ours to know good and evil, but to know it in the new creation, as delighting in the good, as having no liking for the evil. “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away.”

God tried innocent man by one test, and man utterly failed, and fell from God. God now by His servants beseeches sinners to be reconciled to Himself. God does not now ask man to do one single thing, but God spews us His heart, His Son, and what He has done “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ.”

There is no happiness apart from God. Surely the miseries and death that have filled the world for 6000 years prove this! Reader, will you go to hell in order to learn that apart from God all is sorrow? Oh! be ye reconciled to God, whose Son has died that you might be saved and happy forever. Be not as the Pharisees of old, who would not come to Jesus that they might have life. Be not as the giddy fool who sips of sin’s pleasure — able cup for a few years, and wakes to thirst in woe for endless ages. But, religious without Christ, or worldly without Christ, oh! receive Him: Be ye reconciled to God. The day is coming when He will impute their trespasses unto men. The time is near when Christ, whose hands were nailed to the cross for our guilt, will open the books of judgment. “Now is the day of salvation.” Now is the bright, blessed day when the Spirit of God through His people whispers to the sinner, “Be reconciled to God.”

Safe on the Rock.

“I AM safe on the rock, and only waiting,” were the words of one now passed away, Oh! how sweetly and calmly, to be with Jesus. When his wife asked him if he were afraid to die: “Ah!” he replied, “I shall not die but only fall asleep in Jesus. ‘Oh! death, where is thy sting?’ Death has no sting for me.”

When taking leave of him one morning he held my hand, saying “Good-bye, I shall not see you again.” “It is but for a little while. You will be up there waiting with Jesus, and I shall be down here waiting for Jesus,” I answered.

To another, who, when taking leave of him, said, “Good-bye, for the present,” his reply was, “You will not see me until you meet me up there,” His last words were “Beautiful home, happy home; come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,” and almost instantly he was absent from the body and present with the Lord.

Thus passed away one who had been brought unto peace with God, and in the following manner: ―Being ill, and troubled in soul, he labored to find peace by praying, When one day a gentleman, quite a stranger, called in upon him and pointed him to Rom. 5:1. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse was read over several times to him, and the Lord, by His Spirit, graciously showed him that peace is not to be had by working, nor by praying, but by believing. Thus he obtained that peace he had long labored for in vain. And his soul was stayed upon the word of God, not upon feelings, though he had feelings, and happy ones too.

W. M.

Justified.

AS believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we need to know what God has done for us, so that we may delight in Himself―the end for which He has saved us. If grace is working in out hearts we shall want Him; but we cannot joy in Him, as the object of our renewed nature, until we are in our consciences reconciled to Him.

Turning to Rom. 5 we find a word which, grasped by faith, brings us to God in peace, and makes Him our hope instead of our fear. It is a word often uttered, but little understood, therefore we affectionately beg the reader to ask himself what does God mean by declaring that a sinner who believes on Him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, is justified.

Justification is an act altogether of God on our account, and not an experience wrought in us by His Spirit. God delivered the Lord Jesus for all the offenses of the believer on Calvary’s cross, and the offenses being cleared away in His sight He justifies the believer. God now sees Christ before Him, and not the offenses. A risen, living Lord is our justification in God’s sight. By faith we see the Lord Jesus Christ raised by God for our justification, and through Him we have peace with God. Peace is the answer of our conscience to God’s act of justifying the sinner; peace with God is our response to God’s grace in counting us righteous and cleansing us from all guilt.

God is the Justifier, therefore we are always justified. We learn to think of ourselves, not as we may feel or imagine, but as God declares us to be in His sight. A living Saviour in the glory is our justification, and by Him we have access freely into this favor, this grace of God in which we stand.

The believer is always in the favor of God in Christ, for Christ is always for him in the glory of God; and this gives us a boast that has its strength in God Himself. God has given all His glory to shine upon our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are going to be with Christ, so we boast in hope of the glory of God. The tribulations of the way are sent in God’s love to His children to perfect patience in them, and to teach the children all that God is to them and for them in their sorrows and exercise. Never do they taste of wrath, though Satan may so insinuate. Tribulations are the dealings of God’s love which, shed abroad by the Holy Ghost in the heart, makes hope in Him not ashamed; for if He loved us when we were enemies, He will not cease to love us now He has reconciled us to Himself by the death of His Son.

And thus it is God and His Christ, His grace, and His love, from first to last; and the poor sinner has naught to do but to receive what God is for him as his Justifier, and thus he will have God Himself for his joy. R.

The Bird of Kindness

THE stork is a bird held in high esteem in the countries where it is found. In various parts of the continent you may see what at first seems to be a bundle of sticks upon the top of a house or chimney, and this is the stork’s nest. To the same nest, the faithful birds return year after year, and should one of the pair die, still, upon finding a fresh mate, the old quarters are resorted to, so that for many years in succession the favored house has its favorite bird. And favored the house is accepted to be, which has these birds, and very often in building a house in a locality frequented by the stork, a special breeding-place high up upon the roof is made for the bird of kindness.

Both in the East and in several parts of Europe to kill a stork or to destroy its eggs is a punishable offense, so that being thus protected no wonder it loves the homes of man. Our young reader would find that by treating the little birds of our own country kindly, they would become comparatively tame and friendly, and thus many of their pretty and instructive ways would be learned. And the kindness of birds to their young is a pleasing lesson to us all. The tradition is, that the stork when grown old is cared for by its young, and that the feeble old birds are cherished and fed during the helplessness of age; be this as it may, its kindness towards its young is remarkable. The stork keeps its offspring in the nest longer than any other bird and it is a pretty sight to watch the old birds teaching their young to fly around their nest before allowing them to soar away. There was a stork which built its nest upon a house that, along with several others, was subsequently burned down. Misfortune often makes men selfish, but during the misery occasioned by the dreadful fire in question, the poor, houseless people were taught a lesson of kindness to each other, by seeing the stork trying, though in vain, to protect her young with her wings from the devouring flames. Presently the roof blazed up but the mother would not desert her post, and perished with her little ones in the fire. The fame of this stork has spread far and wide beyond its native Holland, a lesson to us all of devotion to those whom we love.

The meaning of the Hebrew word for stork is derived from one that signifies benevolence, thus skewing us that in times long passed by this bird was known, as in our own times, for its kindness.

There are many direct instructions in God’s word to us about kindness. “Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted,” we read in the 4th chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. And how many a sorrowful hour, nay, year, might have been prevented by kindness. How many an unhappy home might be again bright if its inmates were only like the stork! Kindness flows from a tender heart just as scent rises from a flower. It costs little, but gratifies much. A few kind words will take away a child’s tears and will often help to soothe sharp pain. Even a kind look or a smile will light a fire, as it were, in a cheerless heart.

Of kind and dutiful deeds at home we read in this text, “If any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.” (1 Tim. 5:4.) And a beautiful sight it is to see the boy or girl doing his or her best kindly and tenderly for parent or relation. God marks it, and He too, notes the selfish son or nephew. The stork performs its acts of kindness instinctively, but alas! our nature is a fallen nature, not the kind nature which Adam had before he sinned, and so the scripture says, “Let them learn to show piety at home.” Need we tell you that it is only as being born again, as having the new nature that true and heavenly kindness can be shown. And that the way to have this new and holy nature is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us. It is a sad sight when one professing to be a Christian is marked as a selfish or disagreeable child. For “by their fruits ye shall know them.” May you all be known as kind and tender hearted, loving to serve and soothe others because God loves to see His children acting thus. And may it be said of each of you that it your “tongue is the law of kindness.”

Lost.

ONE cold, cheerless Sunday night a poor woman was hurrying down one of the crowded streets of the metropolis, and her lace wore such an anxious look that I inquired the cause of her trouble. “I have lost my little boy,” said she; “he went to Sunday school this afternoon, and he has not come home. His father and I are almost distracted, and I am now going to the police station to see if he has been taken there.” Perhaps my young readers may know that when the police find lost boys or girls they take charge of them until their friends claim them. “Let me help you,” said I, so we hurried to the nearest police station. We entered a bare room, where stood several blue-coated police. We told our errand, and a ray of hope lit up the poor mother’s face as a policeman pointed to a dark corner of the room, where a little boy was lying upon a bench. His face was towards the wall, his head had fallen on his breast, and he lay fast asleep. The mother hastened towards him, hoping that the little fellow was her boy, but as the flare of the gas fell upon his face her hopes were crushed. It was not her son. Her sorrow became greater through the disappointment; but though weary and dispirited, she hurried to the next station. It was some distance off, and I could not accompany her.

I want you, my young friends, to look at that boy lying on the form. Such a dear, rosy-faced little fellow he was, and seemed as happy as possible. He was lost, yet fast asleep―lost, but unconscious of it, sleeping as peacefully and quietly as if he were safe in his little bed at home. He had forgotten all about the hard bench, and the blue-coated and brass-buttoned men that tramped in and out of the stone-floored room. He was not disturbed by the sin and misery of which a police station speaks. I wonder if that sleeping boy is a picture of yourself. Are you unconscious of the dreadful fact that you are lost? that you are away from God, and away from all true peace, and joy, and love? Are you saying, I feel comfortable; I do not feel that I am lost? The little sleeper does not feel that he is lost, he appears quite peaceful, but that does not alter the fact that he is lost. And God says all are lost; for all who, since Adam left the beautiful garden God placed him in, are away from God and lost. Perhaps you know that you are lost, but like another little boy of whom I will tell you, you are not troubled.

One Sunday afternoon, as I was leaving our schoolroom, I saw a little fellow lingering behind. He had forgotten where he lived, and as he did not belong to my class, I did not know his name or address. “Can you point out the direction in which you live, my boy?” “Oh, yes,” he said; “that is the way, sir. ‘‘Then take my hand and run along,” said I. Presently we came to a crossing. “Which is the way now?” “That way,” he said. “Are you quite sure?’ I asked. “Yes, quite sure, sir.” So we were soon trotting along again. After a few minutes I again asked him, “Are we in the right way?” “Oh, yes; quite right,” he replied. We now came to another crossing, and I said, “I feel sure that this cannot be the right way.” Then the little boy confessed that he did not know where he was. What was to be done? After a little consideration I decided to take him home with me, where he was soon happily engaged enjoying cake and tea. But his parents were full of anxiety. His father had gone in search of him, and having learned that his boy had been seen with me he hastened to my house, and I cannot tell you how happy he was to find his son. The little boy had taken exactly the opposite direction to that which led to his home. This boy was lost but self-confident. He did not cry, was not troubled, and if left alone would have wandered until the shades of night had proved to him with terrible truth that he was lost. This is a picture of many children. They have a way of their own to be saved, and are confident that it is the right one. Some people say there are a great many ways of being saved, but God’s word only tells us of one way, and if you are trying to be saved any other way than through Jesus and what He has done you are only getting farther and farther away from God, and if you delay coming to Jesus that long, dark, terrible night of judgment will overtake you, and then you cannot be saved at all.

I will now tell you of another lost child. One Sunday evening I noticed a group oi men, women and children, collected around a policeman. Upon looking inside the circle, I saw a girl sobbing bitterly. By her side was a tiny baby sister, who could only just walk. I quickly learned the girl’s trouble. Her parents had recently removed from a distant part of London to a new neighborhood, and in the afternoon the children had gone in search of a Sunday school, but had forgotten to notice the name of the street in which was their new home School was dismissed, and in vain they tried to find their way back, they did not know which way to go. The terrible truth had dawned upon them that they were lost. Pool children, how they longed for home, for one sight of mother, and to hear their father’s voice once more. These children were lost, but anxious to be saved. Not one of the crowd around her could direct the poor girl, and how she got home I could not tell.

Now, my little reader, are you anxious and troubled because you are lost and away from God? Do you desire to be saved? Are you in earnest? Oh, if you are lost, but anxious to be saved, I have such good news for you. My Saviour, who sought and found me, is longing to have you in His happy home, and close to His heart of love. I think you know this beautiful text — “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Jesus is the seeker as well as the finder of the lost. He is seeking you even by these words which you read.

The poor mother did not know where her child was; but Jesus knows all about you and says to you, “Come unto Me... I will give you rest.” Yes, such sweet rest, for He puts the little lambs in His bosom, and His everlasting arms are underneath them, and He gently whispers to each boy and girl who trusts in Him, “I will never leave thee,” “And no one shall pluck them out of my hand.”

My first lost child was “careless and fast asleep;” my second, “careless and self-confident;” but I trust that you are “anxious to be saved.”

H. N.

The Letter.

OUR picture illustrates what faith is. The little girl is stretching out her hand to receive the letter which the postman is stooping down to give her. When she has received the letter it will be her very own, and all the kind things which her father has said to her in it will be stored up in her heart.

The bible is God’s letter to us; it is full of the story of His love; in it the way of salvation and of happiness are plainly and simply told. And all its blessings are ours the moment we stretch out the hand of faith, and take God’s word as His very words to us. But is this letter for you? A little boy once ran up to a postman, saying, “Please give me a letter.” “I do not know you, little sir,” replied the good-natured man, smiling. “Do you know that I am the Queen’s servant, and may only give away my letters to the people they are meant for?” So the little boy ran back to his nurse, not very happy.

But God’s messengers carry about His letter of love, and at God’s bidding ask sinners to receive His word, so that you need not ask, as did the little boy, “Is it for me?” for God’s letter is addressed to you― “Unto you is this word of salvation sent” is written on the envelope as it were, and “whosoever” will may be saved.

Some time ago the postman brought me a letter, but I said, “No, I will not take in that letter.” I knew who sent it, and because I knew it would be filled with bad things I would not receive it. But God’s word is full of good things Yet how many treat God’s love in a similar way: they will not take it in. They will not receive His mercy! As it was with a sick man not long since, to whom a Christian said, “I have a message of love from God to you.” “Go away,” cried the man; “I neither want you nor any like you who talk about God.” This was a knock at the door of the heart, and an offering of the letter, but a sad, sad refusal to have it.

I saw a man going to every house in a town with letters, and several said to him, “As it is for everybody, it is too common for me.” So because they were so proud they would not receive the man’s letters. And God has the self-same word for rich and poor, old and young. “There is no difference” God says in His word. And pride often―very, very often―prevents the sinner being saved. Such as feel their sins long for God’s word of love, and to them the bible is most precious. When we receive a letter from one we love, do not we value it? and have you not said sometimes, “This is my own precious letter?” Have you said of the bible this is God’s own word to me? To my own very self. It is His word about His love to me; about the blood of Jesus that was shed for me; about my sins, all washed away in that blood. This is like the little girl taking the letter, reading it, and making her own all that her father says to her in it.

Has your heart taken in God’s great love to sinners? Have you stretched out your hand of faith and laid hold of His word as a word for you, your own self, so that you can say “God is my God, and Jesus is my Saviour?”

Chapter 16,: John Wesley.

WE will now go back to John Wesley. We shall hear more of Lady Huntingdon and her friends later on.

It was during this summer and autumn of 1739 that disputes arose between the Methodists and the Moravians, who all met together in the room in Fetter Lane. It is difficult to find out exactly how far the Moravians were in fault, as they denied having said some of the things of which they were accused. It seems likely that both the Methodists and the Moravians were wrong on some points, and also that they misunderstood one another, as people often do in such disputes. This might the more easily happen, as many of the Moravians were Germans, who neither spoke nor understood English perfectly. I would remind you, that by “Moravians,” it is not simply natives of Moravia who are meant, but those belonging to the sect founded by Count Zinzendorff, of whatever nation they might be. It seems clear that some of the teaching of the Moravians was not according to the bible, and this was so mixed up with much that was right and true, that those who were not well taught by the study of the word were easily misled by it. The Moravians said that until a man knew that his sins were forgiven, it was wrong in him to go to the Lord’s Supper, to read the bible, to hear preaching, or to pray. He should only, as they said, “be still,” and wait for God to save him. It is very true that the Lord’s Supper is only intended for those who are really believers in the Lord Jesus, for we read in Scripture that those who meet at the Lord’s Table to eat together the “one bread,” thus signify that they are all joined together as One Body, the Body of Christ, of which the one bread is the emblem. It is quite clear that none but a real believer has a place in that Body, and therefore none but a real believer ought to have a place given him at the Lord’s Table. But when the Moravians went on to say that an unsaved sinner should not read the bible, or hear preaching, I need hardly tell you they were going directly in the face of the plain word of God. We read that the “law of the Lord,” by which we may understand the word of God in general, “is perfect, converting the soul”―that the “entrance of God’s word giveth life.” Preaching, too, we are told, is the chief means by which God converts the sinner, as we read in Rom. 10, where it is said, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard: and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Again, the Moravians must often have done harm by telling those who were still unsaved that they were wrong if they attempted to pray. It is possible that they may have merely meant that the habit of “saying prayers,” which is not really praying, and which is very commonly done by those who are entirely without faith or life, is a habit displeasing to God. We read in the. Bible (Prov. 28:9), “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.”

And again, of such God has said, “When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; when ye make many prayers, I will not hear.”

So far, it is true, that there are millions of prayers repeated daily, which are simply an offense to God; and I would warn you of this most strongly, lest any of you who have not really known the love of Christ, should think that the mere habit of “saying your prayers,” whilst your hearts are far from God, is a habit which God can approve. It is also true that with regard to unsaved sinners, God does not tell them to ask Him for pardon and life. On the contrary, He asks them, prays them, beseeches them, to take these gifts, as we find in 2 Corinthians 5:20, 21. If you went on asking me for something which I was all the while beseeching you to take, I should think you were deaf. But then we must remember that the unsaved soul really is deaf to the voice of God, and therefore if we meet with any such, who feel themselves lost and miserable, and who, not knowing that God is calling them, begin to call upon Him for mercy, we can gladly believe that this is the beginning of their awakening from the death-sleep of sin. It is a very, very different thing from “saying prayers,” and certainly we ought to rejoice to find in any sinner this first sign of a desire for God’s great salvation, deaf and ignorant as it proves him to be. I cannot tell you whether this is what the Moravians meant. It is easy to mistake the meaning of what is said, just as you might, if after reading this you were to say, “Then you mean to tell me that if I want to be saved I must leave off saying my prayers.” What I do mean is, that when you do want to be saved, you will not “say prayers” any more. When once you know what God is, and have been awakened by Him, you will be only too glad to hear His voice speaking to you, and to pray to Him with your whole heart, as you never did in your life before. Most likely the Moravians did not all think alike. In fact, we know that Peter Bölher had advised John Wesley to read the bible, and even to preach, before he knew his sins were forgiven. Wesley and the Methodists were certainly wrong in some of their answers to the Moravians; for instance, they said that unsaved persons ought to come to the Lord’s Table, in the hope of being converted there. You see Satan was very busy in trying to sow tares among the wheat, as is always the case where the wheat is sown, and a great deal of trouble and sorrow and evil arose from these ignorant disputes. At last, the Moravians said they would keep the chapel in Fetter Lane entirely for themselves, and let the Methodists meet elsewhere. Wesley then bought a large old building in Moorfields, which had formerly been used as a foundry for casting cannon, but was now deserted. This building contained not only a large room suitable for a chapel, but other rooms, to be used for a school, a dispensary, and for prayer-meetings. There was also a somewhat tumble-down house attached to the building, in which John Wesley took up his abode, with his mother and Kizzy. This happened in November, 1739. Just whilst the foundry was being prepared for these purposes, John was at Bristol, where he spent October, making from thence a little journey into Wales. He spent five days in Wales, and preached fifteen times to crowds of people.

He had been invited into Wales by a devoted servant of God, called Howel Harris. It was this good man who had before invited Whitefield to go there. I must tell you something about him, for God remembers His servants, and likes us to do the same. Wales was, 150 years ago, almost a heathen country. The people lived in ignorance and wickedness, and had no more opportunities, generally speaking, of learning the Gospel, than if they had lived in China. Bibles in their own language were almost unknown amongst them. Saturday night was spent in music and dancing, which lasted till Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon was again spent in dancing and other amusements. They must, therefore, have spent the Sunday mornings in sleep. Where the Lord’s day is forgotten and overlooked, we may be sure the Lord Himself is not remembered. One good clergyman seems to have been the first in the past century who tried to make God known amongst the Welsh people. He sent a party of teachers from village to village, to teach any who were willing to learn, to read the bible (if they could get one), and to sing psalms. He himself went about the country preaching in the open air before Whitefield began open-air preaching in England. This good man was called Griffith Jones. About twenty years later Howel Harris, then a young man, began also to preach from village to village. Howel Harris was a gentleman of good family. He was born at a place called Trevecca, in 1714. When he was about twenty he became convinced that he was a loss sinner. This thought came to him when he was repeating the confession in the communion service. It suddenly struck him, when he said the words, “that the remembrance of his sins was grievous to him, and the burden intolerable,” that he was telling a fearful untruth, for he had up to that time considered himself tolerably good. He was led by this to real repentance and faith in Christ. His relations, to cure him of what they called his folly, sent him to study at Oxford, intending him to become a clergyman. He does not seem to have known any of the Methodists there, and he became so miserable at the sight of the wickedness and infidelity around him, that he left Oxford in disgust, and returned to Wales. Things were not much more cheering there; but in Wales he could at lease do something to spread the knowledge of God. “There was,” he says, “a general slumber over the land―no one I knew had the true knowledge of God — a deluge of swearing, lying, reveling drunkenness, fighting, and gaming, had overspread the country like a mighty torrent, and that without any notice taken of it, or any stop attempted to be put to it.” Harris, therefore began to preach anywhere and everywhere―in rooms, barns, market-places, churchyards, and high roads―generally three, and sometimes five or six times a day. All this was before open-air preaching had ever been attempted in England; nor had Harris, as yet, heard of the Methodists. We often find, that when the Lord is doing a great work, He raises up one here and one there, who are all led by the same Spirit to do the same thing, though they may know nothing at firs about each other. Harris was threatened by the magistrates, preached against by the clergy men, pelted and insulted by the mobs to whoa he preached; but he went on, from village to village, for three years, and then for the first time met with Whitefield. He had thus been used by God to prepare the way for the preaching of the Methodists, and both Whitefield and Wesley found many souls awakened, and ready to receive the Gospel. Two other Welshmen also began to preach over the country―a young clergyman, Daniel Rowlands, and Howel Davies. They met with every kind of ill-treatment, and seem to have become quite used to the showers of stones, dirt, eggs, dead dogs, and dirty water which were lavished upon them wherever they went. “During it all,” says Howel Harris, “I was happy in my soul, and could cheerfully stand as a mark for them.” I hope you will not forget these faithful servants of God.

During this autumn of 1739 a great sorrow befell the Wesley family. Samuel died suddenly at Tiverton, in Devonshire. Sad to say, he had only about three weeks before written to his mother, to tell her how grieved he was to hear that she now approved of the strange notions of John and Charles, and to entreat her to leave off going to the open-air preaching. There was, however, some reason to hope that a few days before he died he had been led to see that his brothers were right, but we cannot tell certainly whether he ever received the gospel into his heart, so as to be saved. He had, however, been a dutiful son, and a great help in many ways to his family, and his mother felt his loss bitterly.

It would be an endless history were I to attempt to tell you, one by one, of all the journeys taken by John Wesley for preaching the gospel from this time forward. He seems seldom to have spent more than a week or two in the same place; but for some time his journeys were chiefly between London and Bristol, stopping at places on his road, or going some distance out of the direct road, in order to preach. The year 1740 was thus spent. He sometimes rode on horseback, sometimes walked, and occasionally we hear of his traveling in what he calls “a machine,” which was a sort of stagecoach. This was, however, only on rare occasions. Whilst at Bristol, he would take the opportunity of going into Wales, generally for about six days. Whitefield was, meanwhile, in America. It was during the year 1740 that several of the Methodists began to preach and teach truths of which Wesley did not approve. One of them, Mr. Cennick, wrote to Whitefield to ask him What he thought on these matters, for Mr. Cennick felt that he ought to preach what he knew to be true, displeasing as it was to Mr. Wesley, and he wished to know whether Whitefield also thought him wrong. Whitefield, however, fully approved of Mr. Cennick’s preaching, and this grieved John Wesley very much. The matters about which they differed were chiefly two. John Wesley believed that a man, after being saved, could again be lost, by his own carelessness and neglect of prayer, or obedience to God. He also believed, on the other hand, that a saved man could attain such complete victory over sin that it might at last be entirely rooted out of him, and nothing be left in him but what was perfect and holy. This he called attaining “perfection.” Whitefield and Cennick, on the other hand, said that salvation was entirely God’s work from beginning to end―that God had chosen His own people before the world was made―that He saved them because He loved them―that although no dependence could be put in them, God could be depended upon to keep them safe forever. That, moreover, He gave to them everlasting life, and that everlasting life lasts forever. That they should never perish, and that none should be able to pluck them out of His hand. They said that if their safety and continuance in faith depended in any degree upon themselves, they not only might be, but certainly would be lost at last; but that He who had begun the good work in them, would assuredly carry it on and complete it, for “whatsoever God doeth, it is forever.”

With regard to perfection, they said, that whilst it is true the believer has power over sin, there is always in him, as long as he is down here, the sin over which he has power; and that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” More than that, “if we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and His word is not in us.” But the very fact that we have power against sin leaves us without excuse when we do sin, so that as we go on we learn the more deeply to feel how sinful our natural hearts always are, and we condemn ourselves the more, the more we know not only God’s love and grace in forgiving us, but also His great power working in us, the power of the Holy Ghost, which leaves no room for the excuse, I could not help it.” Moreover, the more we know of Christ, so as to be able to compare ourselves with Him, the more we learn how far short we fall in our conduct from that perfect standard, ―the only standard God will allow. F. B.

Part 10, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 19:1-20.

BETWEEN Paul’s first (Acts 18:19) and second (19) stay at Ephesus the Ephesians had been visited by Apollos, a converted Jew, who by Priscilla and Aquila had been taught the way of God more perfectly. Apollos departed to Corinth before Paul came to Ephesus the second time, therefore they did not then meet. As Apollos had known only thy baptism of John, we need not be surprised that Paul found many at Ephesus ignorant of anything further. John the Baptist had baptized unto repentance; that is, those who were baptized forsook their sins and looked for the Messiah. Even the Lord was thus baptized as a godly Jew, though He had no sins to repent of. Twelve men at Ephesus had never been baptized unto Christ, and did not even know that the Holy Ghost had come down because Jesus had ascended to the Father. They had eternal life through believing in the Lord Jesus, but they had not received all the benefits that God has to bestow on those who have life through His name. They had not received the Holy Ghost as a seal of God’s work in their souls. Paul therefore caused them to be baptized, and when he had put his hands on them the Holy Ghost came upon them. No one but an apostle could do this, and there is no one now on this earth who has seen Christ, or has by Him been gifted with power to bestow the Holy Ghost. If you look at 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22 you will see that it is God who establishes us in Christ, and who gives the Holy Ghost― “who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” Because we belong to Him, He puts His mark on us.

For three months after this Paul continued preaching; but when many were hardened he separated himself and the disciples, and taught more privately for two years longer. Many believed, and by Paul were wrought special miracles. But Satan employed the Jews to imitate and withstand the truth, and take the Lord’s name in vain. It is worthy of notice that devils do not call Jesus Lord. “We adjure you by Jesus,” and “Jesus I know,” they say, for “no one can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.” The Evil Spirit had power over those who thus sought to act a lie, and fear fell on all that heard it, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. In result the word of God prevailed, and many who used what we call witchcraft (the power of the devil) burnt their books before all, even though they were worth much money. They had learned to value God’s word above thousands of gold and silver.

It is believed that during this visit to Ephesus the Epistle to the Galatians and the first to the Corinthians were written. H. L. H.

Questions.

1. When was the Holy Ghost sent down to dwell upon this earth? ―2, Was Paul sent to baptize? ―3. How long does Paul tell the Ephesians that he had been with them? ―4. What mention is made of Apollos in the first epistle to the Corinthians? ―5. Give some texts about baptism from the Epistles. ―6. On what other occasion was a book or roll burnt for a bad reason— 7. What did Jesus tell His disciples they might ask in His name?

Answers to September Questions.

1. A great dearth or famine. Acts 11:28―2. 1 Corinthians 1:14. ―3. Five times. At his conversion―chapter 8 At Jerusalem 22:17, 18. At Corinth―18:9. At Jerusalem―28:11. An angel of God, in the shipwreck― 27:23. ―4, Yes. Paul calls him “our brother.” 1 Corinthians 1:1.―5, Three. The feast of unleavened bread; of weeks or first fruits; of ingathering or tabernacles Exodus 23; Deuteronomy 16:16. — 6. Because Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice to God. Hebrews 9:11-14.―7. 1 Peter 1:18,19. The precious blood of Christ.

Ye Must Be Born Again.

WILLIAM H. lived forty-five years following the evil devices of his own heart; his evenings were spent in public houses, his wife trembled when she heard his footsteps, and his children would shut themselves in another room for fear of him.

One day he came home in a great rage, declaring he would fight a fellow-laborer. However, he had first to finish his work, and as he went to the stack to cut hay for the cattle, his foot slipped from the ladder, and his leg was broken by the fall. He was at once carried home, and when his wife, who had entreated him as he left the house not to give way to his passion, saw her husband brought home helpless, thinking that he had been wounded in a fray, was so affected that she was seized with a sudden illness, and thus William was deprived of her kind nursing in his sufferings.

How wonderful and gracious are God’s ways! William H. had not lain many days upon his bed before he began to feel that he deserved all he was suffering. His sins rose up before him, and he sought for salvation. He did not know that Christ had finished the work of salvation, and that the sinner is to believe and be saved; but he asked his little girl to find him a book to read which might help him, and the child brought him “Pilgrim’s Progress.” As he read it, he said, “The man with the burden on his back is just my case―I am laden with sin and misery.” He now began to cry to God for pardon for all his past life, and became calm and patient, to the astonishment of his wife and children.

After some twelve months of suffering he was able to walk on crutches, and in course of time became strong again. When he recovered the use of his limbs, such was his anxiety to hear the word of God preached that he constantly walked fourteen miles to hear a godly minister, and much to his wife’s annoyance, who said he must be mad to wear out his boots on such an errand. But William, whose soul could not be satisfied with the heartless religion around him, told her he must go where Jesus Christ and Him crucified was preached, quietly adding, “I wish you would go too.”

It was one Sunday, as these words “He sent redemption unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant forever: holy and reverend is His name.” (Psa. 111:9,) were read, that the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to William H. His burden of sin fell off. His joy was full. He exclaimed, “This is enough for me, a poor, hell-deserving sinner.” As he walked home with his little girl he said, “I do wish, my child, you could enter into what I can tonight.”

After this William H. lived nearly thirty years to show to the world how the grace of God changes a sinner. He had a faithful word for all that asked him of the hope he confessed. His usual word to mockers was, “I would sooner be shot through than turn from the faith God has given me;” adding, “you must be born again of the Spirit; you must come as a lost sinner to the blood of Jesus.”

In his old age he had but three shillings a week to live on. When this scanty allowance was brought to him he would raise his eyes heavenward, saying, “Bless His holy Name.” His wife still murmured at him, but he would answer, as he hobbled to hear the word of God, “I must go, for Christ is my all in all.”

For the last six years of his life William was bedridden. As he lay helpless, his sons mocked him; but he ever had a sweet smile in reply to their jeers, with “Poor things, you must be born again of the Spirit; you must be stripped naked before God, May God have mercy on your souls;” and his calm, peaceful, heavenly face often brought them to silence.

In speaking of Christ he would take the bible, and putting his finger upon some verse would say, “Read for yourself: it is God’s word, not mine.” To the doubting believer his usual word was, “‘There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus; no, and no separation. He will raise them all up at the last day. Not one will be missing when He comes. God’s word will stand forever and ever. He has marked all His people. Bless His holy Name.”

The night William H. was taken home he called the daughter who as a child had so often walked with him to hear the gospel, and said, “I can read my title clear to mansions in the skies; but do not cry. Put your trust in the blessed Lord. There is none else in whom you can trust.” Then, for some six hours, he remained in peaceful communion with His Redeemer, and lovely it was to hear him telling the Lord Jesus he was quite ready, and waiting to come, but willing, by suffering or what else the Lord might send him, to fulfill all His will in his body, which once he used in the service of Satan. His last words were, “Blessed, precious Jesus, do come.”

Thus, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: thus was William born again.

“Ye must be born again.” “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Read John 3. Our nature is contrary to God. By nature we love that which God hates; and if we are to dwell with God we must have the new nature which is theirs who believe on the Son. T.

"The Blood of Jesus Christ Is the Devil's Master."

A SHORT time ago I was sitting in a cottage in a country village, speaking to a few people of the love of Christ, when a woman came in, apparently in great distress, the cause of which was soon disclosed, by her saying that she had just come from a place, three miles distant, where poor old G. was dangerously ill with spasms of the heart. “And,” said she, “he is grumbling all day long, saying that when he was well he neglected to go and hear the gospel, but now that he is so ill and dying nobody will come near him.”

Immediately on hearing this I arose, took a friend with me, and went to see the poor man. He was lying on a bed of intense suffering, but, great as his bodily pain was, the ghastly look of his eye, the terror of his countenance, and the groans from his lips, told too plainly that there was a suffering there, far beyond mortality, in the prospect of an awful eternity, as a lost sinner.

“How are you, now?” I inquired. “I do not think that I have quite so much fear of death as I had.”

“How is that?”

“Why, a gentleman came in yesterday and read a prayer to me, and I thought I got some comfort from that.”

“Pause, and think again. Is it not rather that your pains are great, and you are getting more accustomed to the thought of death?”

“Well, sir, it is quite possible that it is so.”

“Yes,” I replied, “‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;’ and you must know that it is a dreadful thing to deceive a never-dying soul. Let us read from the 36th verse to the end of the 7th chapter of Luke.”

The portion was read, and I then asked, “Now tell me which of the two debtors you are?”

“Oh! sir,” exclaimed the dying man, “I am the biggest of the biggest of sinners; there cannot possibly be a bigger on this earth!”

“Well, and what does God want from you.? Is justice satisfied?”

“How can this be?” inquired the man.

I then read to him Heb. 9:22— “Without shedding of blood is no remission;” and also read and explained Rom. 3:23 to 27; in fact, nearly every portion of scripture was read that spewed how God was eternally satisfied with the once-shed blood of His Son, as a sacrifice for sin. We had proceeded in this way for one hour, the Spirit of God graciously unfolding the necessity of a lost, dead soul getting life through Christ alone, when, all of a sudden, those eyes, that were before so ghastly, sparkled with a beaming brightness; the countenance, that had been full of terror, shone in all the delight of a sunshiny day; while the lips, that had been bemoaning his fate and condition, exclaimed “I see it! I see it! the blood of Jesus Christ is the devil’s master! My sins are gone!”

“Oh!” I observed, “somebody may come in tomorrow, and tell you that this is presumption.” “No, no!” he cried, “that would be no use, God says so, Christ died for me. The blood of Jesus Christ is the devil’s master! my sins are gone!” “ ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.’ How far is that?” I asked, and then went on to say: “God laid our sins on Jesus―not that I want you to think lightly of sin, but to show you that the distance from east to west is immeasurable, and cannot be discovered. Supposing you took some shavings, and put them on a fire, could you find them anymore? Even so God put our sins on Jesus, on the furnace of the cross, and they were all consumed in the fire of that judgment.”

The sick man said, “Oh! you will never find my sins anymore; they won’t be burned with me. The blood of Jesus Christ is the devil’s master. My sins are all gone.”

We then rose to leave the house, and as we passed out of the door, he cried after us, ― “I shall never forget; the blood of Jesus Christ, the devil’s master!” Several visits followed during the three months that he survived, and never once was there a single cloud or a doubt of his complete interest in the blessed work of the Lord Jesus.

Many a gray head in that neighborhood went to witness what the Lord had done; “another rebel knocked down,” was the frequent remark, although few could understand why such a great sinner was able to rejoice in God.

The aged subject of this narrative has lately departed, in the full enjoyment of peace with God.

C. T.

A Word of Life.

NOT one of the least sweet in that “grand re-union” will be the meeting of three women who, unknown to each other, came into contact for a few seconds on one of the crowded bridges which span the Thames.

One was poor. She toiled wearily along. Of earthly care and sorrow she had a burden. Her lot was not a highly-favored one. Very few of the rays from that sun which men call “worldly prosperity” brightened her path; for she was one of that numerous class known as “London Poor,” whose condition seems inseparable from want and suffering. But it was not the pinch of poverty, or the struggle for daily bread, that caused her steps to drag so wearily. A far deeper sorrow pressed on her spirit. She had learned what it was to know herself a “sinner,” but as yet knew not the “Saviour of sinners.”

Heedlessly the hurrying crowd passed to and fro, intent on business or pleasure, careless of want or woe. Not so the Lord of life and glory, as from His seat at the Father’s right hand, He gazed upon that moving throng, and knew who it was in it that really wanted to “touch” Him.

Coming from the opposite direction to that in which the poor woman was going, were two godly women, whose hearts (like the disciples on their journey to Emmaus) were full of their blessed Lord and Master, and they spoke of Him “by the way,” and just at the very moment they passed the poor woman, one of them quoted some precious portion from God’s word. They passed on, and were soon lost amidst the bustling throng.

Not so their words―unconsciously and unknown to them―that text of Scripture fell, like healing balm, on the troubled heart of the poor woman. It was the voice of the Lord Jesus from that bright glory imparting peace, life, light, and joy. The entrance of the word had, indeed, given light. Her heart was filled with thanksgiving and praise. Her burden was gone. Her fears had fled. With a joyful heart and elastic step she went on her way rejoicing.

When I last saw her, some long time afterward, her heart was still full of praise to Him whom she knew now; not only as the “Saviour” of the sinner, but the gracious “Preserver” of those who have believed.

May the Lord, beloved fellow-believer, so keep us walking with “Himself” and talking of “Himself” that the incorruptible seed of the word may be wafted by the Holy Ghost into the hearts of perishing sinners, knowing that we have been redeemed from our “vain conversation,” not by corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the “Precious Blood of Christ,” in order that out of a “good conversation” we may show forth the praises of Him who has loved us and given Himself for us.

H. N.

The Gift of God.

“AND being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat; there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious and she brake the box, and poured it on His head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? for it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor; and they murmured against her.”― (Mark 14:3, 4, 5).

Have you ever calculated the value of this box of ointment? The Roman penny was worth about seven pence half-penny of our money, consequently those three hundred pence would be more than nine pounds of our English current coin; and this at a time when one of those Roman pennies was a laborer’s day’s wages. (Matt. 20:2.) I think most of us would look a long time at the value represented by these three hundred pence, before spending it on a box of perfume, wherewith to anoint the head of even our dearest friend.

But this poor woman deemed nothing too costly to lavish upon the divine Person who had won her heart.

But let us look at another precious gift of which we read in John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Have you ever calculated the value of this gift? Put in one scale all the wealth, the gold, silver, rubies and diamonds, yea, all the costliest treasures that this perishable world ever contained; add to these, all the titles, honors, and glories that kings and conquerors ever enjoyed, and inquire what are these things as weighed against the only-begotten Son of God, and the everlasting life given to those who believe in Him; ah! up, up leaps the scale, filled with honor and glories, “trifles, light as air,”―all is vanity. But let us reverently consider the other scale. The Son of the Living God. Who can tell His untold value save God Himself? Everlasting life, who can measure that which has no end?

And this gift, this priceless, infinite gift, is offered to you, dear reader. Oh! turn not lightly away from it.

Whatever else in the world be false, this is true, that now, as you read these words, the God of love is offering you His precious gift. “The gift of God is eternal life.” (Rom. 6:23). “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” (1 John 5:11.)

Is it not marvelous that the great Almighty God should stoop to ask a fallen creature to accept a gift from Him? Yet so it is. Most wondrous love and grace! All that man’s natural mind can reach is the hope that, perhaps, after a long amount of repentance, prayer, and holiness, God may become reconciled to him and accept him. But God’s thought is quite the reverse, for He is beseeching man to be reconciled to Himself. Oh, does it not melt your heart, that the very One whom you have offended more deeply than you can ever imagine, is seeking reconciliation? “If thou knewest the gift of God.”

All that you can bring to God is yourself, just as you are―your wretched, worthless sin-polluted self! So He bids you to come to Him. He asks for nothing from your hand, put shows you what His love gift is to a perishing world. His salvation is great and free. Has not His love won you? Can you not say from this time, “Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift?”

Accepted.

WHAT sinner in his sins could conceive such a thought as being “accepted in the Beloved;” as being it the favor of God even as Christ is as being loved in Christ, even a; Christ in Himself is loved of Hi; Father? The thought of getting to heaven someday, is the highest flight that the unconverted hear can make towards an idea of God’ grace. But God surrounds Hi; grace with glory, and it is to the glory of His grace that He ha; taken such as believe His Son into His favor in Christ.

“Accepted in the Beloved!” Thus does God speak of each and all of His children. There is not one who is not “accepted.” Yes, accepted, yet not in self, nor because of works of righteousness which we have done, but “in the Beloved;” in the Son of the Father’s love, Who, having finished the work which was given Him to do on earth, sits upon His right hand in glory. It is to the praise of God’s own grace that we are thus taken into His favor. It is to His praise that our sins are forgiven, that we are cleansed from our iniquities; but to be accepted in the Person of Christ in glory is grace deeper still.

The riches of God’s grace are such that the need of multitudes of sinners cannot exhaust them, and that the vilest of sinners may have forgiveness. The extent of God’s grace to us in our sins is to be measured only by the blood of His Son in its own infinite value, and by the infinite love which led to its being shed. To place our sins into our own scale, and then watch them drag it down, is unbelief and sorrow. Our sins are nowhere the moment we believe. He “washed us from our sins in His own blood.” They are gone: remembered no more!

And as the extent of God’s grace towards the sinner in his sins can only be understood by appreciation of the infinite worth of the blood of His Son, so the extent of His grace towards the believer can only be grasped by the realization of His taking us into His favor according to the measure of His acceptance of His Son.

Our state while in our sins is learned by God forsaking Christ, when He was made sin for us. Our state when we believe is learned by the favor with which God regards His Son, now at His right hand. What we are in ourselves is seen in a forsaken Christ upon the cross on earth; what we are in Him is seen in an accepted Christ upon the throne in glory.

Our realization of a fact does not affect the reality of the fact. Light exists, though the blind see it not. A grain of grit will close the eye against the most glorious of sights; neither can the eye open itself and look calmly upon the scene till the grit be gone. Unbelief closes the eye against the glory of God’s grace, to the pain and darkness of His people, and until unbelief be got out of the heart there will be no moral power to behold grace. If you are a believer, but still questioning your acceptance, listen to the word of God, “Accepted in the Beloved.” Let your heart dwell upon it. It is the glory of the Beloved One that fills the Father’s heart, and you enter the favor of God, as nothing at all in self, but as everything in Him.

This is the unalterable position occupied by the believer before God in Christ, and his solely because of what Christ is to God. There is another side of the truth which we need to keep before us, namely, our own personal acceptability. Being accepted in Christ, we should seek that “we may be accepted of Him” or “agreeable to Him”―we should earnestly desire to please Him. This can only be accomplished by obedience to the word of God. Soon we shall stand before Him, and then it will be His joy to welcome and reward everything in us which has been done in obedience to Himself and His God by us upon this earth. There is no prayer breathed in scripture that we may be accepted in the Beloved, for our acceptance is by grace a fact, but there are exhortations and appeals which call upon us most earnestly to endeavor to be acceptable to Him. And the more genuine the joy of the believer in his acceptance of God, the more truly will he seek to walk acceptably before God.

But our reader may be one who prefers the honor of the world or the folly of the hour before the favor of God! Consider this, that you stand either in the full favor of God, or under the wrath of God. There is no middle ground. God tolerates not for one moment neutrality regarding Christ. If not in Christ, you are out of Christ; if not for Him, against Him. If not accepted in Him the wrath of God abides on you. Heaven will eternally attest the love God has towards all who love His Son, and hell His wrath against all who love Him not. While Jesus still invites you, Come, trust Him; “Kiss the Son lest He be angry.”

Pursued by Love.

AN elderly Christian gentleman had taken his seat in a railway carriage; his thoughts were towards the sick chamber of his only son, for the young man was seriously ill, but his father’s comfort was that his son loved God, and that God is love, and allow: no sorrows to befall His children unless for their good. Presently another elderly man, accompanied by his son, took his seat in the carriage, and the train moved off.

“Look!” exclaimed the last comer to his son, “Look there; wherever we go we are annoyed in this way,” and he pointed to some letters scratched upon the window “It is most annoying, sir,” he added, warmly addressing our Christian friend. “I assure you, wherever we go, it is the same.”

“What is it?” asked our friend, turning to the glass, and reading there these words, “God is love,” he said, “And pray, sir, what is it in those words to which you object?”

“Well, it is not the words exactly; but wherever we go it is the same, is it not, my boy?” addressing his son. “Go where you will you must needs be worried to religion in some form.”

“For my part,” said the christian, “I can only regard those words as most excellent; what should we do if God were no love? I am afraid, sir, you have something wrong here,” (at the same time tapping his own breast,) something wrong, sir, or yet would not take objection to those words, am convinced.”

“Well! but this is not the place; beside: we can think of these things upon our deathbeds.”

The train was drawing up, and our Christian friend had only time to say, “Did it ever occur to you that you may never have a death-bed?” when they parted.

Reader, does God pursue you with words of love? What mercy to your soul! What grace! But beware of trifling with His grace. You may be cut down suddenly. Are you waiting for a death-bed? Beware! It is not given too many to drink in upon a death-bed the blessed truth, “God is love.”

"If Ye Be Risen with Christ."

Col. 3:1.

“IF ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” Not that there is any question in this “if,” as though the believers addressed were not risen with Christ, for the apostle had already said, “Ye are risen with Him” (ch. 2:12), but the “if” calls upon them to act up to their privileges, as we should say, “If you are the son of such a father, live worthily of your father.”

“Christ, who is our life,” has gone out of this world to God, and the Christian’s “life is hid with Christ in God.” The Christian’s life is sustained by the Holy Spirit ministering to us heavenly things― “things above.” The earthly things around us do not assist the new life. On the contrary, the Christian, whose mind is taken up with “philosophy,” “traditions of men,” or “rudiments of the world,” becomes “spoiled;” his heavenly character is tarnished by contact with the earthly things, and when the precious metal is tarnished it is oftentimes difficult to recognize whether it be indeed precious. We see the freshness, the bloom of the young Christian fading, as fades a flower taken from its native atmosphere and transplanted into unkindly soil. Of the flower we say, “The remedy is simple! Give it the air it loves.” But Christians often are perplexed at their own poor growth, and wonder why they do not get on! The reason is evident. The heavenly things are not the bent of their minds, the occupation of their affections. “Set your mind, or affection, on things above, not on things on the earth.” No amount of self-occupation will make us grow; but when the things above, where Christ is, are sought, growth follows. And in His presence there is true self-judgment. The dead leaves will be plucked off the plant when we are in Christ’s presence, and in His presence the silver will become bright and shining.

The first of the things above mentioned in the Epistle is “the hope laid up in heaven” (ch. 1:5.) If we look to Christ in heaven, we see Him, a Man in glory, and like Him we shall shortly be when He comes “He will change our vile body, and fashion it like unto His glorious body.” (Phil. 3:21.) When He comes, “we shall know even as also we are known.” (1 Cor. 13:12.)

There are various other things above spoken of in the 1St chapter. Let our Christian reader search for them, and set his mind upon them.

Chapter 18,: John Wesley.

IN the spring of 1741, George Whitefield came back from America, and John Wesley went to talk to him. Whitefield spoke very plainly to him, and told him he could no longer join him in preaching, and that he should feel it right to warn those to whom he preached against the two errors I have told you about.

It is very sad when Satan thus divides God’s people by bringing in errors and misunderstandings of God’s truth; but in such cases it is wrong to “agree to differ,” as people often say. Those who are speaking according to God’s mind are right in showing the errors of those who differ from it, however painful it may be to do so. Peter Bohler came to England about the same time, and Wesley had a long talk with him, which, he said, “made his heart burn within him;” but still Peter could not convince him that he was wrong. John’s old American friend, Mr. Spangenberg, was also in London, and they both talked to John Wesley a great deal about “perfection.” Mr. Spangenberg said, “The moment we are justified a new creature is put into us. This is otherwise called the new man. But notwithstanding, the old creature, or the old man, remains in us till the day or our death.

And in this old man there remains an old heart, corrupt and abominable. But the heart which is in the new man is clean, and the new man is stronger than the old, so that, though corruption continually strives, yet while we look to Christ it cannot prevail. You fancy your corruptions are taken away, but inward corruption never can be taken away till our bodies are in the dust. To this Wesley answered, “Was there inward corruption in our Lord? Cannot the servant be as his master?” We see from this answer how great was Wesley’s error. We know there was no inward corruption in the Lord; but it was in this that He was perfectly different from another man. And if we look of the passage whey it is said “the servant shall be as his master,” we find it refers to the way in which the ungodly world will treat the servant.” If they persecute Me,” He says, “they will also persecute you. In Luke 6:40 where it is said “every one that is perfect shall be as his master,” we find in the margin it should be read, “every one shall be perfected as his master.” Just as in the verse before we are told that the blind who follow the blind will be led into the ditch, so they who follow Christ will be led in His steps, and the will at last in glory be perfectly conformed to His image. But that is when the sinful nature is entirely gone, and even our bodies are mad like His.

However, John Wesley never saw that he was wrong. Only God can convince the heart. Let us be careful to look to Him to be taught, and to be kept from error in belief or practice. In the autumn Count Zinzendorff came to London and Wesley had a long talk with him in Gray’s Inn walks. This conversation was in Latin. They seem to have separated without agreeing on any of these points more than before.

During this year, and the beginning of the following, Wesley made constant journeys as before between London and Bristol, and once went north as far as Nottingham. He was sometimes ill-treated, but almost always found crowd ready to hear the gospel. The change which had taken place amongst the colliers of Kingswood was indeed wonderful to behold.

I must for a moment go back to the beginning of this year 1741, to tell you of the last great sorrow which befel poor old Mrs. Wesley during her life of many troubles. On the 9th of March Kezzy died at the Foundry. She had always been in delicate health, and till about two year! before her death she had opposed the gospel, which her brothers, Charles especially, told her “plainly and fully,” as he says. At last Charles had said, “Will you then discharge me in the sight of God from speaking to you again? If you will, I promise never more to open my mouth till we meet in eternity.” Kezzy fell on Charles’s neck with many tears, and was now ready to listen. She believed, and after the short time still left her here below, she died “full,” as we are told, “of thankfulness and love, commending her spirit into the hands of Jesus.” I will now only mention a few of the events which we find in Wesley’s journal from time to time, as to tell you all would fill many large books.

Once, near Bristol, the mob brought a bull they had been baiting, and drove him into the crowds when Wesley was preaching on the village green. They hoped the bull would upset the table on which the preacher stood. But though the bull stood close to the table he was quite quiet, which so provoked the mob that they seized the table themselves and broke it in pieces, whilst some of Wesley’s friends rushed to the rescue, and carried him off on their shoulders. In May, 1742, Wesley set off on a journey further north than he had yet been as a preacher of the gospel. He first went to Donnington Park in Leicestershire, where Lady Huntingdon lived. Then he went on into Yorkshire, and at the end of May reached Birstal, our old friend John Nelson’s home. As soon as he got there he sent for John to come and see him at the inn, for John had written to him a little while before telling him of the troubles and trials which had befallen him, and it was a great comfort to the poor man to see Mr. Wesley and have his advice. John had also good news to tell, how his two brothers and his old mother had believed in Jesus, and his mother had died rejoicing. Then his aunt and two cousins had believed, and numbers of his neighbors. He had at first talked to them, and read with them, and when he found many willing to listen he had begun to preach out-of-doors, and the Lord had blessed his labors, so that many souls had been saved. A little while before John Wesley would have been shocked to hear of a stonemason preaching the gospel, or, in fact, anybody who was not a clergyman. (That such things should be done in other countries he does not appear to have thought wrong. As he had listened gladly to Christian David at Herrnhuth, he perhaps thought that where there was no Church of England it mattered Little who preached.) When he had first Beard of such a thing it was in the case of a young man called Thomas Maxfield. Not long before, when going from London to Bristol, he had once left Maxfield to look after the classes and meetings at the Foundry, telling him he might read the bible to any anxious to be taught, and now and then make a remark, but he was or no account to preach. Maxfield found, however, so many longing to hear the gospel, that he dared not refuse to preach it to them, Wesley heard of it, and his mother saw him one day unexpectedly walk in, when she thought he was busy at Bristol He looked very much disturbed, and very angry “So Thomas Maxfield has turned preacher, I find,” he said. “John,” said his mother, “yet know I used to think none but a clergyman ought to preach, but take care what you do with respect to that young man, for he is as surely called of God to preach as you are. Examine what have been the fruits of his preaching, and heal him yourself.” Wesley was wise enough to take his mother’s advice, He went to hear Maxfield and was only thankful when he found he preached faithfully and well. “It is the Lord,” he said, “let Him do what seemeth Him good. What am I that I should withstand God?” God in His providence had ordered this to happen before Wesley and John Nelson met at Birstal, so that Wesley could now cheer and encourage pool John, who had already been told more than once that he had no business to preach without authority.

Wesley himself was cheered and encouraged by finding, that in consequence of John’s preaching, there were many believers in the town of Birstal, who met together for reading and prayer just as the other Methodist societies which Wesley had formed in other places. Wesley preached twice that day at Birstal to large crowds, and spoke to many besides. Next day he set off for Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Newcastle was a surprise to John Wesley. He calls it “the Kingswood of the north.” Like Kingswood, it abounded with colliers, and the wickedness of the people was beyond anything he had ever seen. He says, “So much drunkenness, cursing and swearing (even from the mouths of little children) do I never remember to have seen and heard before. Surely this place is ripe for Him who came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The first morning Wesley walked down to the worst part of the town, at seven o’clock, and there, standing in the street, began to sing the 100th Psalm. Before long a crowd collected; there were at last about 1500. He preached on the text, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” Blessed tidings to have to tell to these poor degraded people! But at first it seemed beyond their comprehension, for Wesley said: “When I had done, I observed them stand gaping and staring upon me with the most profound astonishment. I told them―if you desire to know who I am, my name is John Wesley. At five in the evening, with God’s help, I mean to preach here again.” At five o’clock, more than 20,000 people were standing ready to listen. Wesley had never seen so large a crowd, either in Moorfields or at Kennington, He preached on the text, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.” It was sad to leave these poor people who seemed, he said, after the preaching, to be ready to tread him under foot out of pure love and kindness. But this was Sunday, and he had promised to be at Birstal again on Tuesday. After preaching at Birstal and the villages round, Wesley set off for his old home at Epworth, in Lincolnshire. He had not been there since his visit to his dying father. He wondered how he would be received now that he was a despised Methodist. On arriving at the inn, an old servant of his father’s, with two or three poor women, found him out. The old servant was rejoiced to see him, not only because she had loved the family, but for a stronger reason, ―because she, too, had found peace through believing in Jesus. Wesley called next morning (Sunday) on Mr. Romley, the curate, and offered to read prayers, or to preach in the church. But Mr. Romley was by no means anxious to have the help of a Methodist. On the contrary, as a crowd came to church in the afternoon, hoping to hear Mr. Wesley, Mr. Romley took the occasion to preach a sermon against enthusiasm, by which he meant, people being in earnest about the salvation of their souls. The text he chose was a strange one for such a subject, ― “Quench not the Spirit.” I suppose he did not know that was just what he was doing at that moment, to the best of his power. But man is not always allowed to succeed in his attempts to do so. As the people came out of church, a good man who had gone with John Wesley to Epworth, called John Taylor, stood in the churchyard, and called out, “Mr. Wesley, not being permitted to preach in the church, intends to preach here, at six o’clock.” “At six o’clock,” says Wesley, “such a congregation came as, I believe, Epworth never saw before. I stood upon my father’s tombstone, and preached upon ‘The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’”

F. B.

A Story About a Chest of Bibles.

MOST children have heard of the city of Constantinople, which travelers tell us looks so beautiful from the sea, with its gay gardens and its white towers shining in the sun.

It is the capital of Turkey, a country much larger than England, and was a famous city in ancient times, almost as well known in the world then as London is now.

Many of you know something about the Turks, and their religion. How sad it is to think that the poor little children, instead of learning from the bible to believe in God and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, are taught to read the Koran, a book full of stories about Mohammed, a man who said he was God’s apostle. Thousands of people call themselves by his name, though he has long been dead, and his body has never left the grave.

What a sad thing to trust in an imposter, when God has given us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one “who liveth and was dead, and is alive for evermore,” to be out Saviour.

Mohammed called his false teaching the religion of Islam, or salvation; and thirteen centuries ago, just when the Saxons were busy conquering Britain, he was fighting battles against the Jews, and trying to make them, as well as other nations, bow to him, and say, “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his apostle.”

This clever deceiver could neither read nor write; but some of his wise sayings―which were received as revelations from God―were written down on palm-leaves. Soon after his death, they were collected, and now form the Koran, or Mohammedan bible. If you could read this strange book, you would wonder to see how different the religion of Islam is from the word of God.

But have the Turks never read the true word of God, or heard about the Lord Jesus Christ?

Yes; there are many bibles now printed in Turkish, and given away to those who will have them. And I will tell you how God once used a very unlikely instrument to be the means of spreading His word abroad in that dark land.

An instrument is that by which a thing is done. We read in the Psalms of the “stormy wind fulfilling God’s word.” And He can use the smallest of His creatures, as well as the most mighty, for all wait upon Him, and obey His will. But you shall hear the story.

At the time of the Crimean war, when our brave soldiers were dying from cold and want of proper food and medicine, Constantinople was the place where the stores sent out from England were kept until the wagons came to take them to Scutari, where the sick soldiers were.

It was a busy time; and we cannot be surprised that while all the packages lately arrived from England, and containing all sorts of necessary things for the poor men, were carefully examined and sent on as soon as possible after landing, a large box, addressed to an English missionary in Turkey, was allowed to remain month after month unheeded in a corner.

At last a curious Turk began to wonder what was in this box, but he did not dare to open it. By-and-bye, he came again to the place where it was, and saw a large rat scuttling away, and hiding among the baggage. This made him more curious. “There must be something good there,” he said to himself. And so there was; for when he stooped down he found the rat had gnawed a hole large enough for him to put his hand into. Very cautiously he put it in; and what do you think he drew out?

A Turkish bible!

He read the book, and the more he read it the more beautiful it seemed; for God’s Spirit taught him to receive the Word into his heart. Soon he thought it too good to keep to himself, so he lent it to a friend in the next town.

By degrees the box was emptied, and the precious word of God was sent from village to village, to be a light shining in many a dark place, where perhaps no Christian had ever been.

How those poor ignorant people must have wondered when they saw such words as these― “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world!” You know these words very well, and I daresay could find them in your bible quickly enough, but it was a new thing to a poor Mohammedan to learn that God so loved sinners as not to spare His own Son, and that the Son of God so loved them as to give His life for them.

Are you not glad the box was opened at last, and that the strangers to the goodness of God read in His own tongue that God is love?

Three Little Verses.

THERE are three little verses I have been very often thinking of lately. They are short and easy to learn. And they are all words said by the Lord Jesus when He was on earth:

COME UNTO ME―ABIDE IN ME―WITH ME. What is the meaning of the first, “Come unto Me?”

If you were sitting down quite still, and heard your mother calling you to come to her, you would get up at once and come to her, wherever she was. Now, God calls you to come to Him that you may be His child. He calls you by His Spirit through His word.

I heard of six boys lately who wished to come to Jesus. They were “middies” in the Royal Navy, in one of the Queen’s beautiful ships. They were away from kind parents and friends who could teach them. They felt they were sinful, and wanted to come to Jesus very much. What do you think they did? They obtained leave from the captain, who allowed them to go into a nice quiet little corner by themselves, and there kneel down and pray to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to teach them, and make them His own forever; and then they would get their bibles, and read them together, believing that the Lord heard their prayers, and would teach them by the Spirit through His word. Did He hear their cry? Oh! yes; He always does, and He is just as ready to hear you now. I pray that the Holy Ghost may draw many of your young hearts to Him as you read this. These boys longed to know the Lord Jesus Himself, to live in His presence on this earth in the midst of their daily work. They were thinking of His great love to them; they knew they could only love Him because He first loved them. And, oh! I think they greatly longed for Him to come again and take them to Himself, that where He is there they might be also. Have you the same desire? the same knowledge of the Son of God? the same life in Him? Oh, be very certain if you have or not.

What is our next little verse? “Abide in Me.” This is the Lord’s word to those who have come unto Him. To abide means to stay. If you have come to Him, then listen to His word, “Abide in Me.” Jesus loves you very much. It is the Holy Spirit who made you come to Jesus and be God’s child forever. Now the Lord Jesus would have your heart ever thinking of Him, ever staying near Him. You are now no longer to please yourself, but to do what the Lord Jesus tells you? Ah! being washed in the precious blood of the Lamb, and loving Him because He first loved you, now you will try to please Him every day and all day long, then you will be happy indeed.

The last of our little verses is “With Me.” What is it that makes your earthly home, bright and happy? Is it all the nice things in the house, the flowers and books, the pictures and toys? or is it being with your loving father and mother, your brothers and sisters? If they were not there, would all the pleasant things I have mentioned make you happy? I think not: you would feel lonely and miserable, no matter how many nice things you were given. And this makes me think of heaven. It is not all the beautiful things that are there that makes the place so pleasant. It is being with the Lord Jesus, in His presence; like Him, seeing Him as He is, with Him forever. He knows that to anyone who loves Him, this is enough to tell. You will not find a long description of heaven in your bible, but you will find that the Lord wishes those who are His to be with Him where He is. Oh! how wonderful, to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus without fear or dread.

And when is all this to happen? We are perfectly righteous before God now, in Christ. But our bodies are still weak, poor bodies, and so will remain, until the Lord comes to take those who love His appearing to Himself. What does His appearing mean? If some kind person, who loved you, went away, promising to return soon, do you not think that, if you missed him much, you would sometimes run to the hall door, or look out of the window to see if he were coming? Oh! yes, I think you would. You would also be careful while he was away not to do anything that would grieve him when he returned, or that would make you feel ashamed to run and meet him the moment he came back. This is like loving the Lord’s appearing. All the beautiful things in the world could not make Christians truly happy, as Christ is not here. Those who have “come to Jesus,” who are “abiding in Him,” and who will soon be “with Him” forever, often now look up, and say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

K. B.

"I've Gone to Jesus."

NOW, dear children, this true story of a little girl is written just for yourselves. For twelve years Fanny had lived, perhaps like many of you, enjoying herself with all the youthful pleasures and amusements of the world. She had a happy home, loving parents, everything, indeed, that her pearl could wish; but still Fanny felt there was something more she needed, and something which neither her parents nor, any of her earthly friends could give her. Perhaps some of you have found that with all your joys and amusements still there is something wanting, and you wish that you were safe in the arms of that loving Jesus who died to save you. You shall hear how it was that Fanny came to know that all her sins were forgiven, and herself safe for eternity.

A cousin of hers, who had known the Lord several years, spent a few days al Fanny’s home. He had prayed before coming that his words to Fanny during his visit might be blessed to her, and they were, for on the second night, just as Fanny’s mother was going to bed, she heard a knock at the door, and her little girl’s voice calling. “Mother, mother, do come here, I have something to tell you.” What could Fanny have to tell so late at night? Ah, it was such good news that she could not keep it till the morning.

She went immediately, and found Fanny on her knees by the bed. Her mother asked her what was the matter, when Fanny answered, “Oh, mother, I’ve gone to Jesus, and He has washed all my sins away. I have given Him my heart, and He took it at once, and He has made me so happy, so very happy.” Then pointing to the clock, “Look, mother, every tick brings me nearer to Jesus, and nearer to heaven.” And then her mother knelt down beside her child and thanked the good Lord for His great love in thus saving His little lamb. And I can tell you that Fanny that night was full of joy.

And now I want you just to think one moment whether you too can say, “I’ve gone to Jesus, and He has washed all my sins away?” Fanny was able to say it right from her heart, because she knew it was true; but she had found out first of all, by the Spirit’s teaching, that she was a sinner, and a lost sinner, too, and that was why she so much wanted a Saviour. And, oh! you will have to find this out, each one of you, some day, and if you put it off, and try not to think of it now, perhaps the Lord will not give you another opportunity, and then how dreadful it would be to learn too late what it is to be a lost sinner, to hear Jesus say, “Depart from me.” Oh, come to Him now, just this very day, even as you are reading this. Do not put it off even one hour. Remember the Good Shepherd seeks His little lamb, even though the little lamb does not want Him, and if you will only listen to Him you will find how loving He is, and how gently He carries His lambs in His bosom. He will carry you there till He brings you quite safely to His own happy home, to be with Him forever.

K. M.

Harry's Dream.

HARRY took an honest pride in doing what he had to do, well; but Harry C―was in great trouble about his soul. He was not satisfied with himself: he feared death, and often thought how awful it will be after death for the unsaved. Yet he was considered in the eyes of the world a religious boy; he always attended the Sunday school morning and afternoon, and also the evening service, and indeed, judging by outward appearances, Harry C―stood better than many of his companions.

A few weeks ago, while speaking to him about decision for Christ, he said, “May I tell you, sir, of a dreadful dream I had a few nights ago? You may remember speaking to me on the parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise, and five were foolish; well, I dreamed that I was walking down a passage dressed in fine robes of righteousness, and at the end of the passage I came to an iron door, and knocked and knocked again, but the only answer I could get was, ‘Too late! too late!’”

The dream sorely troubled my young friend, and I was only too thankful to be able to say to him that “Now is the day of salvation,” and the door is not yet shut. But the time is near when the door will be shut, and then it will be too late. And if the dream be dreadful, what will be the reality? To stand before the closed door of mercy, and knock and knock again and again, yet in vain! Oh, what weeping, what sorrow will there be! Dear young friend, do not be satisfied with being honest or even religious; do not rest until you know that you are saved for all eternity and ready should the Lord come even now.

H. E. W.

Part 11, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 19:21-41; 20:1-12.

BEFORE Paul left Ephesus there arose a great stir about “that way,” an expression in the Acts used for the following of the Lord Jesus. At Ephesus there was a beautiful temple in honor of the heathen goddess Diana, containing an image of her, said to have fallen from heaven. It was the custom to make little silver copies of the temple or shrine, which visitors to the town carried away with them, and Demetrius, the chief maker of these shrines, supposing that the preaching of Paul lessened his trade, incited his companions to this tumult. In the confusion every one rushed to the theater, where Paul would have addressed the people had not his friends prevented and probably hidden him. After refusing to listen to Alexander, a Jew, the multitude were obliged to take heed to the town clerk, who reproved them for the uproar, and dismissed them. Thus God preserved His beloved servant from those who were more like “wild beasts” than men.

About this time Paul wrote the Epistles to the Galatians, and 1 Corinthians, and, a little later, 2 Corinthians, and Romans also. There may be found recorded, several facts as to his journeys not told us in Acts. We learn that he did much more, for example, than Luke tells us in Acts 20:2.

From Ephesus Luke says (ch. 20) that Paul went through Macedonia, or the north of Greece, to Lower Greece or Achaia. A plot of the Jews caused him to return by Macedonia on his way to Jerusalem, where he was going to carry collections for the poor saints. His companions in travel started before him, and waited for him at Troas, which was across the sea, and Paul, accompanied by Luke, sailed from Philippi, remaining at Troas for a week with the others. The last day of their stay there being Sunday, or the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread, for so had the Lord Jesus invited them to do. He had before His death given the bread and the cup to His disciples, and told them, “This do in remembrance of Me.” Since that time those who loved Him had come together on the Lord’s Day to remember His death―a privilege which His people love. God gave Paul a revelation on the subject, as he tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:23. He speaks of it also in 1 Corinthians 10, and we may believe that at Troas he told them about the one body and one loaf. Only those who know they are saved, and who through the Holy Ghost are members of Christ’s one body on the earth, can rightly take the Lord’s supper.

On this occasion Paul preached, and it being the last opportunity, he went on till midnight. How much we should like to have heard him! Except Eutychus, he probably had attentive hearers. This young man was overcome with sleep, fell out of the window, and was taken up dead. But Paul restored him, and comforted them all. After he had broken bread with them and talked until morning, he departed on his lonely walk to Assos, a distance of about twenty miles.

H. L. H.

Questions.

1. What does Paul say elsewhere of Alexander? ―2. How many men waited for Paul at Troas; and what were their names? ―3. What can you find out about Gaius? ―4. Till when are Christians to remember the Lord’s death in breaking bread? ―5. Give the texts about the Lord’s Supper from the New Testament. ―6. Who had told Paul that there were contentious at Corinth? ―7. What mention is made of Ephesus in the New Testament?

Answers to October Questions.

1. On the day of Pentecost, after the Lord Jesus had gone back to His Father. Acts 2. ―2. No. 1 Corinthians 1:17. ―3, Three years. Acts 20:31. ―4. 1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4, 5, 6, 22; 4:6; 16:12. ―5. Romans 6:3,4; 1 Corinthians 1:13-17; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21. ―6. Jeremiah 36. ―7. “Anything.” John 14:14; 16:23.

"Is the, Link on?"

“WHEN you have connected the engine with the carriages the train can be moved, I presume?” I said to a porter who was attaching a number of heavily laden vans to an engine by a single link.

“Yes, sir, “he replied.

“Then the engine does all the work?”

“Oh, yes, sir.”

“And when that link is on, the engine will convey the train to its destination?”

“Yes, sir, if it don’t break.”

“Well, now, let me ask you another question, Are you linked to Christ in heaven? Shall I tell you what the link is? ‘Faith’ is the name of the link; faith connects with Christ; ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.’ Just as that engine does all the work, and by its strength conveys all the carriages to their destination, so surely has Christ done all the work for a poor sinner, and all that believe on Him are connected with Him, and He will convey them safely to glory, God’s ‘hath’ will never, never fail. Tell me, now, ‘Is the link on?’ Do you believe Christ?”

“No, sir,” replied the man, “this link is not on.”

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and you will find that God’s link never breaks. That ‘hath’ of God never gave way yet, and never will.” Just at that moment the signal sounded for my train to move on, and as I was borne away I called out, “Good night; may the Lord enable you to believe.”

Dear reader, let me ask you seriously, Is the link on? Are you connected with Christ who is in heaven? Have you believed the love of God? Have you received His Son the Lord Jesus Christ? And remember God’s “link” never breaks.

H. N.

“He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.” (John 6:47.)

“If ye believe, not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24.)

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13.)

"Born of the Spirit."

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou Nearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8.)

THE above words are those of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the following story of one who was thus newly created, and is living to this day a monument of the grace of God, may be helpful to our readers.

It is often said by the unregenerate “If I could only give up going to theaters, or break off those acquaintances, I think I could be a Christian; but I can’t give up such attractions.” So E. talked; but God does not ask the sinner to give up any sinful pleasure. He gave His own Son for the sinner, and when there is faith in Christ, there is a new nature that craves after the things of God, and which consequently cares not for this present evil world.

E. was a pleasure-loving creature. Theaters, balls, and parties were her delight. To be debarred from such amusements was heavy trouble to her. And for what reason? She could not bear to think! Could not tolerate the hour of silence when her mind looked on to eternity. Her condition was a terrible one― without God and without hope in the world! Any cessation of excitement would find her mind distorted with fearful images of death, and the sinner’s final doom. And in the whirl of her worldly vanities she was not exempt from frightful thoughts. Often when seated in a theater, hell has appeared to yawn under her, as if only waiting to fold her in its everlasting burnings. The hearts of many yearned over her, and many an earnest prayer winged its way to the throne of grace on her behalf. God heard those prayers, and in His own time and way answered.

One Lord’s day evening E. was persuaded by her friends to hear the Gospel. Thinking it would wile away an hour, she went, though, determined with herself, that she was not going to become religious. But a poor sinner’s evil thoughts cannot hinder God from His purpose. That night there was joy in the presence of the angels in heaven, and the good Shepherd rejoiced over a lost sheep found.

As E. listened to the preacher’s description of the believer’s happiness, she thought, “were it not for my worldly associates, I would become a Christian this very night; but how they would laugh at me.” But, while her heart thus spoke, the preacher cried out, “Procrastinator, you will awake to find yourself in hell! Can you put off the salvation of your precious, never-dying soul? ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.’” (John 3:36.)

Cut down by these words, E. forgot her companions, her pleasures, and the people surrounding her, and bursting into tears cried aloud for mercy. “Will Jesus save a sinner like me?” she asked one who endeavored to help her: “Yes, for He died for sinners,” was the answer.

“But all seems dark; I want to be saved, but I can’t believe.”

“You must trust what you cannot see. God’s word says: He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.’ All you have to do is to trust.”

“Lord Jesus, I must, I can, I do believe,” burst from E.’s lips, and a great light seemed to surround her; the darkness fled, and a sweet peace filled her soul. Radiant with delight she arose from her knees, exclaiming, “I’m saved! I shall never go to hell, but shall dwell with Jesus forever.”

“Yes, blessed truth, I know it,

Though ruined by the fall,

Christ has my soul redeemed,

Yes, Christ has done it all!”

Ah! E. found a treasure that night which the world could neither give nor take away.

As she opened her eyes the next morning she wondered at everything she saw. And then came to her remembrance the words, “Old things are passed away; all things have become new. Born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” And her heart was filled with praise to the precious Jesus who bore the punishment that was due to her; who had plucked her as a brand from the burning.

Reader, are you seeking for pleasure in the world? Are you content to be unsaved? O, listen to the words of the gracious One, “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” The world at its best can offer you nothing but husks; God offers you wine and milk, without money and without price, and a place of nearness to Himself now and throughout eternity. “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”

Like E., may you take God at His word. She trusted what she could not feel, believed what she could not see. May it be your happy lot, dear reader, to know the joy of the new birth; then, truly, it will be well with you both in this world and in that which is to come.

E. E. S.

Present Joy in a Living Saviour.

A SHORT time ago I visited a dying man at the request of a young Christian who had never before seen a soul, without doubts or fears, in the full enjoyment of delight in God, and whose experience had been such, that he feared the poor man’s joy must be delusive.

On reaching the desolate spot far out in the country, I entered a two-roomed cottage, with walls unplastered, and through the unveiled roof the autumn winds found an easy entrance. In one of the rooms were the wife and three children; in the other the dying man. Never shall I forget, he heavenly smile with which he welcomed me. His emaciated condition was such that he could not move without intense suffering, but the divine life within him rose in a marvelous way above both poverty and pain.

He told me that up to about five months previously he had lived without one thought or desire as to his soul’s salvation. He had had no early instruction as to God and eternity, knew nothing of the bible, never went to church or chapel, nor had anyone ever been interested enough in him to speak to him about a Saviour. Habits of intemperance had doubtless had their share in leading to his illness. He was verily without God, without Christ, without hope in this world.

But the God of all grace saw this man dead in trespasses and sins. He knew all about him, and in His wondrous mercy convinced him of sin. When his health so far failed as to give him no hope of recovery, feat of death took hold of him. Then he thought that there might be something in the bible to help him, and he began to read. For weeks he staggered daily to an old tree opposite his cottage, and there sat for hours together, anxiously searching and poring over the pages of the bible, longing for a word to suit his soul. At last he found himself alone with God, and with no escape from His all-searching gaze.

Then it was that the Lord Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross for his sins, was revealed to him a living Person in heaven, who loved him with an eternal love. Indeed, so richly was Christ revealed to him that the dying man was entirely taken up with Him. Not one word did he say about his abject poverty; his soul overflowed with thanksgivings to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed him with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

In reply to my saying that during the night when in such intense pain he must be indeed lonely, Mark wished me to understand that he knew nothing of the kind, for Christ was ever his company. His eyes beamed with joy as he looked upward, occupied and engrossed with the glorious person of Christ.

Reader, what a reality there is in the love of Christ! Does your inmost soul know Him? Is Christ formed in your heart? Have the eyes of your heart seen His beauty? Would that you knew one-hundredth part of the joy that filled this dear, dying man’s soul; and yet you may also rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glory, blessed with all the riches of grace and glory which were his. Oh! believe the Son of God, and be saved.

I was not privileged to see this dear man again. Before I could a second time reach his home his spirit was with the Lord, but the young christian already mentioned was with him the whole of the night before his death. Up to the last no shadow, no cloud was permitted to darken his soul. He was absorbed with his Saviour and Lord, and his last audible words were, “Beautiful, beautiful; Lord, Lord.”

“Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they,” says our Lord Jesus, “which testify of Me.” (John 5:39).

G. A. D.

The Widow's Confidence.

ASHORT time ago a gentleman called on a widow, whose husband, a laboring man, had been some two years before brought home dead. She had been left penniless with three young children, and her own health had been, and still was, very delicate. “And did you know the Lord at the time of your husband’s death?” he inquired.

The widow paused for a minute before she replied, and then said, “Yes, sir, I knew Him, but not as I do now, or I could not have asked myself the question that I did when I saw my dear husband’s dead body lying there, for almost my first question was, ‘Oh! how shall I be able to find bread for my children?’ But, ah! sir, my wants have been supplied, and we have been so cared for, that had I known the Lord’s heart then, and how good He is, I could never have doubted about our having enough.”

H. L. T.

Seven Times Always!

Always giving thanks for all things. ―Eph. verses 5:20

Always rejoicing in the Lord. ―Philippians 4:4.

Always abounding in the work of the Lord. 1 Cor. 15:58.

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the― Lord Jesus. ―2 Corinthians 4:10.

Always having a conscience void of offense both toward God and man. ―Acts 24:16.

Always ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you. ― 1 Peter 3:15.

Always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ―2 Corinthians 5:6.

Jesus Has Done it all for Me.

ONE beautiful summer evening, while walking through a little hamlet on the outskirts of one of England’s largest cities, I saw a woman at the door of her cottage weeping bitterly. Though I hardly liked to intrude, yet I could not pass by without inquiring into the cause of her trouble. He: answer, sobbed out, was, “Oh, my daughter my poor girl.” “Is your daughter ill?” I asked. “Very ill, and she is not happy. The doctor says she cannot recover, and she is not happy.” “Is she not ready to die?” “No, indeed, ma’am, and that is what troubles me. I have myself to blame for it I am a poor widow, and I’ve had to worn hard for my living, and I have not had time to think of those things. And now my pool Jane is dying, and I don’t know what to say to comfort her.” “Will you let me see her?” I asked. “Indeed I will, ma’am, thankfully; maybe you’ll be able to hell her.”

Then leading me up to her daughter’s room, and telling her why I had come, the widow left us. The daughter was a young girl about sixteen, whose wasted frame toc plainly indicated that she had not long to live.

“Your mother tells me, my dear girl, that you are not happy. I want to see if I can help you.”

“You are very kind, ma’am,” she replied, in a low voice; “but I think it is too late.’

“You must not say that. Have you not heard of the love of the Lord Jesus?”

“Yes,” she said, very mournfully, “but I have never tried to serve Him;” and then in a sad tone she told me that lately she had been trying to read the bible, bit could not understand it.” Jesus Christ,’ I said, “came into the world to save sinners He says, ‘Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.’ Though you have for so long forgotten Him, yet He is waiting even now, late as it is, to receive you.”

“Are you quite sure?” the poor girl in quired. “Yes, quite sure. Come now to Him with all your sins, and trust Him with all your heart. ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, Come’ (Isa. 55:1), is God’s own word.”

“Every one!” she repeated slowly, “every one!”

“Yes, everyone,” I said, as I rose to leave, and then begged her to read often the 51St Psalm.

The next day the poor girl’s face brightened as I entered the room. She said, “I have read that beautiful Psalm ever so many times: I almost know it by heart.” At the close of our interview, Jane exclaimed, “Jesus has done it all for me.”

She lay for some moments with her eyes closed, then spoke again, “Oh, to think of the Lord Jesus dying for me! When I think of that, and remember how long I have forgotten Him, I feel that my sins are too great, and that I dare not hope for His mercy.” “Do you not love the Lord?” “Yes, indeed, I do.” “Then you must not doubt Him.” Again she was silent for some moments, but presently she said, “I do believe Him! I can trust Him!”

A few days after this I found Jane much worse. When I bent over her to wish her good-bye she whispered again, “I do believe Him! I can trust Him!” “Are you quite happy in the prospect of death?” I said. “Quite happy; I have no fear,” was her reply.

When I returned in the evening, I found the poor mother weeping bitterly by her daughter’s bedside. “Poor mother!” said the dying girl, “she is sorry because I am dying. She forgets how happy I am. Oh, dear mother, do not weep, Jesus is with me. Oh, it is sweet to die now. He died for me. Come to Him, He can give you peace.” We said, “Jane, death is very near you; you have no fear?” “Fear!” she said.” Why should I fear? Jesus died for me. He has washed away my sins.” In a few moments she bade us both farewell, assuring us still of her perfect happiness.

Reader, can you trust the Lord Jesus? Do you know Him as your Saviour? You know not when your turn will come to lie on a death-bed. Oh, when it comes, shall it find you ready?

"Then Cometh the End."

(1 Cor. 15:24.)

THE end of man is not death, nor the judgment, but eternity. Man seldom glances forward even to the first hour which must ensue after his spirit has left his body. Very few can say what that hour will be to them. A thick darkness hangs over the last moments of their lives―a darkness thicker still over eternity. But the believer’s joy is to look onward, and in the word of his God to behold what eternity will be for him.

We ask our reader who is not yet in Christ, and whose pleasures are in the world, to consider in their solemn reality these words, “Then cometh the end.” Your joys here, and the very world itself, are hurrying to an end. Glory, honor, wealth, pleasures, as well as the strife of nations and the efforts of man to master the powers of the earth, arc coming to an end. Christ will shortly be here. He will put down all evil and judge the living who do wickedly. Then He will reign for a season over the earth. After that the earth and the sea will give up the dust o: men, and then the earth will flee away, and no place be found for it After that the great white throne of judgment will be setup, and the small and great will stand before Christ to be judged according to their works; and all whose names are not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. In that terrible place will be those for whom it was made―the devil and his angels. This place will be the end for the godless sinner. There will be nothing then to look forward to; no day dawn to expect; no future of hope. The end will have come: the endless end, the everlasting state.

From this end turn to that of the righteous. Heaven will have received its inhabitants, and the countless number of the redeemed will surround the Redeemer’s throne. He will see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; they shall see His face, and His name shall be upon their foreheads. In the fullness of that light love will fill every heart. The last enemy, Death, will have been destroyed; sorrow and tears will have forever fled away; all enemies will have been put under Christ’s feet; all contrary rule, authority, and power abolished. He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father. In this blessedness will be the end, the eternal state for such as now in this world believe on His name. None will be left out of the joy; not the humblest name of such as love Christ will be overlooked or forgotten. All will gather around God and the Lamb in the everlasting glory and joy of eternity.

In this shortening lifetime it is yours, reader, to choose between the end that belongs to not having Christ, and to having Him. “He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life.

With Christ all the blessing is bound up. To die without Him is inevitably to meet Him as the Judge, and to meet Him as the Judge is to be without doubt, sentenced to the lake of fire, which burns forever.

Thus your eternity hangs upon the thread of your lifetime―that this thread, which grows with each tick of the watch feebler and feebler, and which will shortly snap and drop you into eternity. Thousands unexpectedly fell into eternity this year. Man, trifled with their souls and their end to find the first five minutes after death, that all which God says in Hi word is true, and that for them is reserved blackness of darkness forever. But God still presents His mere: to you, and by His Spirit utters to you in love and warning the short, significant word, “Now.” Now you may be saved. Now your sins may be forgiven. Now life everlasting is offered to you. Now heaven’s door is open and you may enter in. And now life time is ebbing rapidly away, and now Satan is whispering, “This is the time to enjoy the glories, honors, wealth, and pleasures of the world.” But let us ask Satan a question, What does he say to this word, “the end?” He knows that there is a hell. He knows that God is true, and that punishment is as everlasting as the righteous throne of God. “The devils believe and tremble.”

Be no longer blinded by the god of this world, whose realm and power will so soon come to an end, but believe the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Believe the love which God has to sinners, love which led Him to give His Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, put have everlasting life! What words of love! What deeds of love! Your sins are blotted out forever at the hour you believe in Jesus. The end of God’s wrath against the sins which Jesus bore occurred 1800 years ago won the cross. His Son drank up the cup to the dregs, and now for all who believe there is the cup of endless blessing. The end of sin and of wrath has already been reached by him for whom Christ died. For him the great and glorious end, when time shall be swallowed up in a boundless eternity, is close at hand. Reader, apply these words to what belongs to you. Ponder them well, “Then cometh the end.”

Christ the Only Savior.

“JESUS lives―Jesus with me―Jesus died for me!” were the last words that we gathered from the lips of S. E. before she departed to be with Him who loved her best. She was afflicted with paralysis of more than fifty years’ standing, which increased in intensity during the latter years of her sojourn here, drawing her poor body into a zigzag form, and also with other infirmities. Such was S. E.’s outward form perishing daily.

Her character was irreproachable. Strictly conscientious, remarkably devoted to her beloved parents, under whose pious instruction am example she was brought up, and when she was left an orphan she pursuing that religious course, which seemed her existence. Her patience was exemplary, borne witness to by many. Those that waited on her remember the grateful smile or gentle “Thank you!” that repaid their attention. In all her course the spirit of contentment was ascendant, as those who watched hey through the summer and winter of her life can testify.

But however estimable and amiable a mar may be, yet without Christ he is lost. Our ready: may have learned to shrink from and to hate hi! sins. Has he learned that in himself there is no good thing; that his good works and his bac works are alike evil in God’s sight?

Another scene breaks upon S. E.’s vision―one of goodness and grace, which the natural mine can never grasp. When about sixty-six years of age she saw what she was in the sight of God by nature, and from that moment her upright, unblemished life and character were of no avail to give her rest. When the Spirit of the Living God convinced S. E. of her state in the presence of the Holy One, who holds the scales with a righteous hand, then even that which from men might and did rightly call forth approval and admiration was of no avail. Her eyes were directed to the only One who could meet her state. She gazed upon and was enraptured with Jesus, who died for her, a poor sinner. His Person became precious to her: she loved to speak of Him, and in her parting moments to tell of His victory over death and the powers of darkness.

Reader, consider this faint yet truthful picture! Can you say, “I, too, have given up every hope which I once had in myself; I trust no longer to my goodness or my works. My whole confidence is in Christ, who died for me?” Oh! think what it has cost that blessed One, whom you so often call God, and who really is God, to open up a way for sinners not only to escape from the wrath to come, but to bring believers to His own glory.

C.W.E

"That I May Know Him."

THE Epistle to the Philippians is the christian-experience epistle. The third chapter presents Christ in heaven as the object of the believer’s desires, the winning-post of his race across the course of this world. The Christian himself is the racer, whose energy reaches forth, and whose decision for Christ casts aside every hindrance as dung. At every bound Christ is better seen, and, seeing Him more brightly, the longing greater to reach Him. “If by any means,” says the apostle; though the “any means” might be, and indeed were in his case, martyrdom. So lightly did he esteem dying, in comparison with being with Christ in glory, that he was ready to be “made conformable to His death.”

Heart acquaintance with Christ is the secret of this vigor, and nothing else nerves the christian racer for his work. A man may know the truths of the bible, and yet be practically ignorant of the person of Christ. It is possible to go back into the world with acquaintance with scripture in the mind, but impossible to return thither with acquaintance with Christ in the heart. Christ and the world never keep company. The world murdered Him, and His own are not of it, even as He is not of it. They are chosen out of the world. A believer, whose desire is “that I may know Him,” is not tolerable to the world, and to be loved by the world is to be an enemy of the cross of Christ.

When the Christian is sluggish and not pressing on he is like an engine upon the rails, but without the heat which gives it motion. There are many Christians with their faces towards heaven, accredited Christians upon the right road, yet like the engine with its fire down―it a standstill. Love to the Person of Christ Is not active in their hearts: all the force of the engine is motionless for lack of motive Sower.

“That I may know Him” is a desire which, acing of the heart, is within the reach of the nimblest believer. There can be no deeper longing, yet the simplest heart may contain it. The question is, “Is there true-heartedness for Christ”―such a realization of who He is, that our hearts truly say, “That I may know Him?”

The End of Year.

DEAR young friends, 1875, which twelve months ago was so young and bright and upon whose birthday you had so many happy New Year wishes, has grown old and gray, and, like the thousands of years which have before passed away, will soon be gone. Perhaps you think twelve months a long time! So did we when we were about your age. But the more you have to do and to think about the shorter does time seem to grow, and the quicker do the years fly by.

Let us give old 1875 some parting smile: as we thank God for His mercies to u: during the last twelve months. It is well to treasure up in our hearts the goodness of God, and to tell Him how kind He has been.

The little girls in our picture are happily at work in prospect of the family pleasure, of this season, while their old friend in the arm-chair has some wise and kindly thing: to say to them, and we, too, would give you our best wishes with our parting words for this year. Some of you live thousand: of miles away from us, far away from Oh England; some of you―and just a few―we know by sight, and have had pleasant chat: with. Some of our young friends have all the good things which this world can give; others, whom we also know, have quite a difficulty in obtaining even the penny which purchases our FAITHFUL WORDS. But to all of you the end of the year is an important event. You have journeyed nearly 365 more stages to ETERNITY. You are nearer the great end than ever you were before. Oh! before this year closes, each ask yourselves, “Where shall I spend eternity?” Go to your own room alone, or to some quiet place, and there, and in God’s presence, ask this all-important question.

The Lord Jesus still waits to bless you. If your heart is fearful, and you dare not say where you feel you are going, Jesus will save you. The heart of the Saviour is so full of love that He will welcome you yes, just as you are, and just now, at this moment. Jesus shed His precious blood to wash away your sins, and if you trust Him you shall sing the sweet song, “Unto Him that loves us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”

To you who do love the Lord our parting word for the year shall be, “Seek above all things else to please Him.” You will read in His word what His commandments are, and Jesus says those who love Him keep His commandments. Ever remember that Jesus is always looking down upon you. “God withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous;” no, never. Day and night, at all times, it is your joy to be able to say, “Thou God seest me.” The obedient child rejoices that his parent beholds him, and the happy Christian child finds his pleasure in the fact that God looks down upon him ceaselessly. “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”

“So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Lucy and Her Grandmother.

A SHORT time ago I stood beside an open grave made in a beautiful cemetery in the outskirts of a large town. The ground was silvered with snow, the atmosphere clear and bracing; and the solemn stillness unbroken even by the hum of the distant city. With a small company of mourners I helped to lower into its deep grave a little coffin, having a plate inscribed upon it, “Lucy Gair, aged five years.”

Only five years old, only a few days ill, and the bright-eyed, happy child was snatched away by death. I call her happy. Yes! all day long. But what think you made her happy? Was it a grand home? No. Was it having fine toys? She had but few of them. Was it merry playmates? She had none, but spent all her day in the house with her grandmother, who was lame, and unable to go out. “Oh!” you may think, “how dull! I wonder what made Lucy happy!” I will tell you the secret so that you, too, may have the same happiness.

Lucy’s grandmother was a christian―bright, peaceful, and joyful. She knew the love of the Lord Jesus Christ; knew that He had suffered for her sins, and given he; eternal life, and was in heaven preparing a place for her, and would soon return and take her and all who love Him home to dwell with Himself forever. This made her wish little Lucy should know the Saviour, too. So she would often take her little grandchild upon her knee, and tell her bible stories, and how she had been born into this world a sinner, and needed to be washed in the precious blood of God’s Lamb, and thus be made fit for glory by believing in the Lord Jesus. Lucy eagerly listened, and could tell all the chief stories of God’s book, from the creation in Genesis to the birth of Jesus in Matthew, and from that to the heavenly Jerusalem at the end of the Book of Revelation. She told the histories in her own artless way. Once when asked where the children of Israel got water in the desert, she replied quickly. “God told Moses to strike the rock, and water came out, and a’ (all) the children of Israel gaed (went) with their cuppies (cups) and bowlies (bowls) and kepped (caught) the water,” for our little Lucy spoke a: most Scotch children do. Well, she liked to hear about Joseph, Daniel, David. Solomon, and Elijah. The story of the little Hebrew maid, who was the means of curing Naaman’s leprosy, and poor Peter, were great favorites; but most of all she loved to hear about the Saviour’s life. death, and resurrection, the tears running down her face as she listened to the story of His cruel betrayal, trial, and crucifixion Her favorite was Mary, who anointed Jesus feet, and sat there. When Lucy was dying she said, “When I get to heaven I will sit at Jesus’ feet like Mary.”

Lucy suffered much, but never a murmur escaped her lips. She quietly told he: grandma she was going away. Oh, Lucy,’ she said, “what will I do without you?” Cheerfully she replied, “You will come to me, grandma.” One night she desired he grandma to read some hymns, but she was so wearied with long watching that she was unable to do so. When Lucy saw how tired her grandmother was, she quietly laid the hymns aside. Shortly after she said, “I wonder who will open the gate to me?

Who will put the crown on my head? and what kind of a robe will I wear?” “Grandma, who said ‘Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven?’” Her grandmother replied by re-asking the question, “who?” Lucy instantly said, “Gentle Jesus!”

After a short sleep she awoke, gave two gentle sighs, and her spirit departed to be with Christ far better. Gone like a tender, beautiful flower, nipped by the frost in the bud, but transplanted to heavenly soil to bloom in the paradise of God; or, like a jewel taken from the dark sin-tainted mine of earth, to glitter in the diadem of the Redeemer as a trophy of His own grace.

Lucy, though a little child, lived for heaven. She seemed to have that place and Christ ever before her heart, and readily put aside her doll or plaything to hear something out of the scriptures. Hymns she loved to sing in her lisping little way, and “Mothers of Salem,” and “Go work in My vineyard, there is plenty to do,” were some of her favorites. “When I am big,” she would say, “I will work in the vineyard; I will go to see poor men and women, take them meat, and tell them about Jesus.”

Young as she was, even when playing with the neighbors’ children she cared not for their songs, but immediately began to sing and speak about Jesus; then when they laughed she reproved them, and came in very sorrowfully to tell her grandmother about the wicked ones, who did not like Jesus.

When the old missionary called, as he loved to do, she would climb upon his knee and chat away so cheerily about her favorite subjects, and when he gave her a little book her happiness seemed full.

Lucy loved all who spoke of Christ. Often she gazed through the, little window and said, as she eagerly looked above the chimney pots, “There is One that never changes up in the blue sky.” And He has now gently laid her to sleep, and His own voice will awaken her to see Him as He is.

Meanwhile the bright sunbeam of the little home has been withdrawn, and the loved ones left sorrowing. So lived and died Lucy Gair.

Suppose, dear young reader, that, unwarned, you were suddenly taken away. How would you die? In Christ, a pardoned, washed, saved child; or, without Christ, guilty, vile, lost? Oh dear ones! Jesus has declared God’s love for you. HE has died for you and risen again. He lives to love and save you. Trust Him, for HE has said “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.”

T. R. D.

Man's Way and God's Way.

THE first little child ever born! What a strange and wonderful event this must have been! You and I, when so many are born day by day, do not think much about the fact of the birth of a little one; but we can imagine what it must have been to Adam and Eve to look upon the very first child ever born into the world. We see from the fourth chapter of Genesis that Eve must have been overjoyed, because she thought that her babe was the One promised by God when He cursed the serpent, and so Eve named her little son “Cain,” which means “gotten,” saying― “I have gotten a man from the Lord.”

It was foolish confidence, because God had not told her so, and we can see that God was not leading her in doing it, because she thought first about herself.

When the Lord leads us we always think first and most about God and the blessed Lord Jesus; but if we are merely doing what we like or what we think right, then we think about ourselves.

Well, soon Cain had a brother who was called Abel, and no doubt he was not thought so much of as Cain; but God has given us a story about these two brothers, not only to show us what they did, but also to teach us what is the way He likes, and what is the way man likes, when sinful man draws near to God.

And He has also written for us in Heb. 11:4, and 1 John 3:12, the character which He gives the two, so that as long as the bible exists all may see that, whatever man thought or thinks about Abel, or about Cain and his way, God has given Abel the character of “the man of faith,” while He says Cain is “of the wicked one.” You must be very careful to remember that each earned his character after the actions of which we read and because of what he did; for both men were sinners, both were born outside of Eden.

Sometimes boys and girls have said to me Abel was a good man and Cain was a bad man, meaning that Cain was a sinner and that Abel was not, and that on this account God refused Cain’s offering and accepted Abel’s. But this is quite wrong, for both were equally sinners.

Shall I tell you what was the great difference between them? Abel acknowledged that he was a sinner, but Cain would not stoop to take that place. This is shown to us by what they did, as we read, “In process of time it came to pass that both men brought an offering to present it to God.” This was quite right, for we ought to acknowledge that we owe everything to God. But in coming to Him we must not forget what sort of people we are. Suppose a man had been going about the country speaking against the Queen, and trying to get people to make him a great person in her stead, and that then he came into the Queen’s presence, and appeared before her just as if he were a good subject! It would be very wicked. He ought to come owning that he had been a traitor, and sueing for pardon for his offenses. But Cain’s way of coming to God was very much like a traitor approaching his sovereign without acknowledging his guilt.

Cain brought of the fruit of the ground for his offering. Beautiful no doubt it was; perhaps fair and ripe ears of corn, and rich clusters of grapes; and delicate fruits from many trees, glowing with lovely tints and fresh with bloom. To cultivate these had no doubt cost him trouble. These offerings suited Cain, but he forgot one sad and solemn thing―that God had cursed the ground for man’s sin, and that the fruit of a cursed ground could not be a fit offering for God until sin was removed. Such offerings did not suit God. Besides this, at the very best they were only intended to show the results of Cain’s work and offering, or coming to God by his own works. It was like saying that a sinner can do what is sufficient to satisfy God. This is a deadly error.

But Abel―what did he do? He also brought an offering, and what was his? One of the tender lambs of the flocks which he kept, and he offered the lamb, laying its life upon his altar, and taking care also that all its excellency―its fat―was there also. Thus death was connected with Abel’s sacrifice, and Abel acknowledged that God must punish sin even though He could in mercy spare the sinner by accepting the sacrifice of another’s life and excellency.

Cain’s offering declared his own works were good enough; but Abel’s, that he as a sinner could stand before God only by virtue of the merits of another. Cain’s offering would have been quite right if sin had not come into the world, but by his offering he refused to own that there it was in God’s sight. Poor, foolish, blinded man! Blinded just as Satan blinds men and boys and girls today, telling them that they must do their best, and that God will surely accept them. Our best will not do, for we are sinners; but what is even the best a sinner can do? Nothing but sin in God’s sight, and though we may think it good enough for us, yet sir will not suit God. Hence we must get a “best” which will suit Him. But how can we poor sinners find what is good enough for God? Do you say this, dear children? Well, then, listen. God says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice, than Cain, and by it he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of (or speaking about) his gifts, and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.” So that we have only to listen and to learn to do what Abel did if we wish to please God and be made righteous. We need only to find the “more excellent sacrifice,” and to put all our confidence in it, and this is God’s Lamb, the blessed Lord Jesus. His life has been laid down and offered to God, and it is God Himself who knows all the value and preciousness of Jesus and His blood. And these are enough for God; He is satisfied with them, delighted with them; and so, if you and I, dear children, just trust all in Him and His merits, and own that we, too, want no more, then we stand where Abel stood, and we are not in “the way of Cain.” Some, alas! men and women, as well as boys and girls, are treading that “way”―trying to satisfy God by their own works and doings; but they do not know how solemn a thing this is. For God has said of all such, “Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain!” And it is a terrible thing when God says “woe” to anyone. See that you do not take this dreadful road, but that you take your place along with righteous Abel, and God will count you righteous also, for you will be in God’s “way.”

T. J. R.

Chapter 18,: John Wesley.

AT 8 o’clock, he preached again, and every evening that week, on his father’s tombstone. During the day, he visited the towns and villages round. One day he paid a visit to a neighboring magistrate, before whom a whole wagonload of people had just been brought, because they went to the Methodist preaching’s. “But what is their crime?” asked the magistrate. No answer was given, for the people who brought them had forgotten to settle what they were to be accused of. After a deep silence, one man said, “Why, they pretend to be better than other people; besides which, they pray from morning to night.” “Have they dorm nothing besides?” asked the magistrate. “Yes, sir,” said an old man. “An’t please your worship, they have converted my wife. Till she went among them, she had such a tongue! and now she’s as quiet as a lamb.” “Carry them back,” said the magistrate, “and let them convert all the scolding wives in the town.” Next Sunday, Wesley preached his last sermon in Epworth churchyard. The people stayed for three hours to hear him. It was very hard to part with them, but souls were perishing elsewhere; and now that he seed had been sown, Wesley had to leave hem for a while, and after preaching many times on the road, returned to Bristol. There he stayed till the middle of July, when he was ailed back to London for a sad reason. Old Mrs. Wesley, who had been suffering much for fears in one way and another, was now so much worse, that a message was sent to John to desire aim to come to London at once. He accordingly started from Bristol on Sunday evening, July 18. On Tuesday he writes, “I came to London, and sound my mother on the borders of eternity. But she had no doubt or fear, nor any desire, put (as soon as God should call) to depart and to be with Christ. All her five daughters were with her―Mrs. Harper, Mrs. Ellison, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Lambert, and Mrs. Hall; or, to...all them by their old Epworth names, Emilia, Sukey, Hetty, Nancy, and Patty.” Since you last heard of Emilia she had, at the age of fifty, married Mr. Harper, an apothecary at Epworth. Charles was not in London, and we have a short account of Mrs. Wesley’s last days in a letter which he received after her death from Nancy. She relates: ― “A few days before my mother died she desired me, if I had strength to bear it, that I would not leave her till death, which God enabled me to do. She labored under great trials, both of soul and body, some days after you left her, but God perfected His work in her above twelve hours before He took her to Himself. She waked out of a slumber, and we, hearing her rejoicing, attended to the words she spake, which were these: ‘My dear Saviour! are you come to help me at my extremity at last?’ From that time she was sweetly, resigned, indeed. The enemy had no more power to hurt her. The remainder of her time was spent in, praise.”

It was on Tuesday, as I told you, that John had arrived. On Friday she seemed to be fast sinking. Her six children sat by her bedside, and sang to her for a time. “After this,” says John, “she continued perfectly sensible, though she could not speak, till near four o’clock. I was then going to drink a dish of tea, being faint and weary, when one called me again to the bedside. It was just four o’clock. She opened her eyes wide, and fixed them upward for a moment. Then the lids dropped, and the soul was set at liberty, without one struggle, or groan, or sigh. We stood around the bed and fulfilled her last request, uttered a little before she lost her speech, ‘Children, as soon as I am released, sing a psalm of praise to God.’”

Mrs. Wesley was buried on the following Sunday week late in the afternoon. Her grave is in the Bunhill Fields burying-ground, near where the Foundry once stood. One who was present at the funeral says, “At the grave there was much grief when Mr. Wesley said, ‘I commit the body of my mother to the earth.’” When the funeral service was over, John preached a sermon over the open grave. The text was, “I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it”―and so on to the end of the following verse, which speaks of the dead being judged out of those things that were written in the books according to their works. It was a strange text to choose for such an occasion, for we know that those verses in Rev. 20. describe, not the first resurrection, when Mrs. Wesley will rise again, but the second resurrection, which is not to happen till Christ has reigned on the earth moo years. In this last resurrection, called by the Lord in John 5 by the terrible name of the resurrection of damnation, the saints of God, instead of standing to be judged, will sit in judgment, in company with Christ, upon those then called out of their graves to receive the awful reward of their ungodly works. If you ask when will be the first resurrection, at which time God’s people will rise from their graves, I can tell you with joy and thankfulness that it may be Tonight―Tomorrow―any day―for it is for that glorious moment we are told to wait, expecting at any hour that the Lord may come. The first thing that He will do on coming down from heaven, will be to call the dead saints out of their graves, “then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” If it seems strange to us that John Wesley did not on such an occasion preach about the first resurrection in which his mother should rise again, we should remember that at that time even God’s believing people seem to have been in total ignorance of the blessed truth that at any moment the Lord may come and call away His saints. They seem only to have expected Him to come for judgment after many signs and prophecies should have been fulfilled. They did not understand that He would come and take away His saints before He would come with them to pour out His judgments on the ungodly, as is plainly taught us in 1 Thess. 4:14-17, where it is said that “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: and that then the living saints shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” And in 2 Thess. 1:7, we are told that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven to take vengeance on the ungodly, and that then He shall be glorified in the saints, who, we read in Col. 3 shall appear with Him in glory, and, as it is said in Zechariah, “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.” It is then that those found alive on earth shall be judged by Christ and His saints, and moo years later we read of the judgment of those who have died, Christ and His saints sitting in judgment as before. But these things were overlooked even by God’s people 100 years ago. Neither Wesley, White field, nor any of God’s servants in those days ever gave the blessed message, “The Lord Jesus may come today. We must be looking for Him.” It should not surprise us that so it was. The Lord Jesus foretold in the 25th chapter of Matthew that so it should be. He says, “While the bridegroom tarried, they all (foolish and wise virgins alike) slumbered and slept.” That is, as regards the truth of His coming at any moment, they were all alike asleep. Let us be thankful that we live at the time when the glorious midnight cry has been made, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!”

John says, “We set up a plain stone at the head of her grave, and on this stone he wrote the following lines: ―

“In sure and steadfast hope to rise,

And claim her mansion in the skies;

A Christian here her flesh laid down,

The cross exchanging for a crown.

“True daughter of affliction, she,

Inured to pain and misery,

Mourned a long night of griefs and tears,

A legal night of seventy years.

“The Father then revealed His Son,

Him in the broken bread made known,

She knew and felt her sins forgiven,

And found the earnest of her heaven.”

There in the Bunhill Fields burying-ground we may leave Mrs. Wesley, till that day, we hope so soon to come, when she shall be raised it incorruption, and be forever with the Lord.

F. B

Part 12, The Apostle Paul.

Acts 20:13-38.

FROM Assos Paul went by sea to Miletus. He desired to be at Jerusalem by the feast of Pentecost, for though the apostle of the Gentiles, Jerusalem was dear to his heart, and he never forgot “to the Jew first.” From Miletus he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus to come to see him, and he gave them the beautiful address found in our chapter. It is evident that Paul knew that his ministry among the Gentile churches was over, and he looks back on his life amongst them without regret. He was now going to Jerusalem, not knowing what should befall him; save that bonds and afflictions awaited him, which proved too true. But his life was not dear to him if he might end it with joy. To depart and to be with Christ would be far better for him, though not so rot them. Who could fill his place among them? Could he appoint another apostle? Did he commit them to Timothy, whom he loved so well? No; they were to take heed to themselves and to the flock, of which they were the under shepherds, and they were not to be ignorant that after his departure evil men, from without and from among themselves, would not spare them. Would he be at hand to help and advise them? No; Paul commends them to God, and to the word of His grace which was able to build them up. We cannot here enter into all the truths spoken of in this wonderful address, but these two things each of us may remember― “God and the word of His grace.” Do you know God? Perhaps you say Jesus loves you, and you love Him; but God loves you, too. Christ died to “bring us to God,” and “God commends His love to us,” and, again, “we have known and believed the love that God hath toward us.” So do not be content without learning something about this God who has made Himself known to us in Christ. He has given us the word of His grace that we may grow; and we ought to desire it, as children do their daily food, for it is the only truth in this world. When Jesus was going to leave His disciples He asked His Father, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.”

After reminding the elders of the words of the Lord Jesus, which are told us no where else, how He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” he prayed and took leave of them, never to see them again till (we know not how soon) we who love the Lord, and he and they, will meet in God’s presence forever, where there is fullness of joy. Will you all be there?

Here for the present we must leave Paul.

N. L. H.

Answers to November Questions.

1. 1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 4:14. ―2. Seven, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timotheus, Tychicus, Trophimus ―3 Acts 19:29; 20:4. Gaius traveled with Paul. Rom. 16:23. He was his host. 1 Cor. 1:14. Paul baptized him 3 John 1. John wrote an epistle to him. ―4. Till the Lord comes. 1 Cor. 11:26. ―5. Matt. 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7; 1 Cor. 10:11. — 6. The house of Chloe. 1 Cor. 1:11. — 7. 1 Cor. 15:32; 16:8. Eph. 1:1, 1 Tim. 1:3, 2 Tim. 1:18; 4:12, Rev. 1:11; 2:1-7.

Faithful Words for Old and Young: Volume 4

Table of Contents

Preface

The New Year.

A New Year's Text.

What Want I More?

One Thing Have I Desired.

The Three Flags.

"Christ in You."

1, The A B C of the Gospel

Holiness Through Hope.

The Words of the Watch.

Chapter 7,: John Wesley.

New Year's Questions.

Little Andrew's Confession.

"Come Unto Me."

"Because the Bible Says so."

A Few Words About the Bible Questions.

Part 1, Apostle Paul.

Questions.

E. D.'S Conversion

"Washed in the Blood of the Lamb."

Growth.

Truth Stronger Than Falsehood.

Simplicity.

2, The A B C of the Gospel.

Holiness, by Beholding.

The Bird of Love.

Chapter 8: John Wesley.

The Sick Child.

The Little Girl and the Dark Night

What Clement Wrote in His Bible.

Saying Over the Text.

A Hymn.

Part 2, The Apostle Paul

"Behold! Ye Despisers."

"Only the Bible!"

Lines Written Upon a Dying Couch.

Resurrection, E. D.'S Conversion

Spiritual Perception.

3, The A B C of the Gospel.

Not Conformed, but Transformed.

The Little Boy Who Sang Himself to Sleep.

1. His Messenger, the Child Jesus.

"God Is Light."

Little Edith.

The Bird of Power.

Chapter 9,: John Wesley.

Part 3, The Apostle Paul.

Questions.

How William Hunter Was Burned for Reading the Bible

"I Can Believe Now."

"Can Jesus Save Me Now?"

Take God at His Word.

A Constant Lesson.

Repentance.

4, The A B C of the Gospel.

"All Ye That Labor."

"Reaching Forth."

Why Little Charlie Left Our School.

Whom Do You Serve?

Work While It Is Day.

The Lamb's Book of Life.

2, His Birthplace, The Holy Child Jesus.

A Walk in the Garden.

Chapter 10,: John Wesley.

Scripture Enigma.

Part 4, The Apostle Paul.

Questions.

Answers to March Questions.

Saved or Lost.

Concluded, E. D.'S Conversion.

Onward.

4, The A B C of the Gospel.

Farewell.

Christian Standing Unalterable.

Evening Time

Chapter 11,: John Wesley

Strayed From the Flock.

Little Emily.