the farm, the home, or the merchandise; but sit down to the gospel feast, for the King Himself bids you come. Seek the Holy Spirit to convince of sin, to lead to the Saviour, and to create a new heart within you: then all who love your souls will unite in a joyful song of praise to Him who says in His inspired Word: "I beseech you to be reconciled to God." "Come, Holy Spirit, come; let Thy bright beams arise; Dispel the bondage from our minds, the darkness from our eyes." "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Love of God. LL His perfections and procedures are so many modifications of His love. What is His omnipo A tence but the arm of His love? What is His omniscience but the medium through which He contemplates the objects of His love? What is His wisdom but the scheme of His love? What are the offers of the gospel but the invitations of His love? What are the threatenings of the law but the warnings of His love? The voice of His love saying, "Man, do thyself no harm." They are a fence thrown round the pit of perdition to prevent rash men from running to ruin. What was the incarnation of the Saviour but the richest illustration of His love? What were the miracles of Christ but the condescensions of His love? What were the sighs of Christ but the breath of His love? What were the prayers of Christ but the pleadings of His love? What were the tears of Christ but the dew-drops of His love? What is the earth but the theatre for the display of His love? What are the heavens but the Alps of His love? from whose summits His blessings, flowing down in a thousand streams, descend to water and refresh the church situated at its base.-Dr. Waugh. H MARK V. 36: ARK what a gentle whisper falls upon the listening ear! 'Tis Jesus speaks, the Saviour always near; "Be not afraid," although the cloud may darkly lower, His voice is full of love, His word is one of power. "Only believe!" This soothed that stricken ruler's heart, Shall not these magic words then give us needed strength, For, when the Saviour bids us exercise our love, Let us go gladly forward then in loving trust, E'en though our heart's best treasures crumble into dustThough our most cherished hopes are quenched in blinding tears In hearts where Jesus reigns there is no room for fears. "May be" is all earth's certainty-then look above; Of present things, and enter into endless rest, To taste in Jesus' presence, leaning on His breast, And shall not all earth's loved ones, safely garnered there, Only believe. A few fast-fleeting numbered days, 66 "Come unto Me." MATT. xi. 28. I. COME to the Saviour, oh thou lost! On sin's tremendous billows tossed, II. Dost thou not hear how wondrous sweet Fain would He lead thy wandering feet III. Shall He in kind compassion load IV. Behold, in tender love He weeps V. Come to the Saviour-He shall place Love's royal chaplet on thy brow, And as His own, His mighty grace Shall seal thy spirit even now. NO. II." IT DOES NOT MATTER.” T is a very small sum-it does not matter how I spend it." "I have half an hour to spare—it does not matter what I do in that time." Which of us has not sometimes spoken thus—but is it true? No, by no means; it does matter how we spend the money with which we are intrusted, and the time which is given us; for God will not have us waste His gifts. He bestows them on us for an especial purpose. The sum of money we use in order to gratify a passing fancy might have helped forward some Christian object; the half-hour we wasted was a portion of the time allotted to us on earth, and of which every minute is precious. This expression, "It does not matter,” is made use of on many occasions; but, in reality, there is no instance in which an action, or event, is so unimportant that it can be said with truth; for, little as we are apt to perceive it, everything that happens in this life has an influence on our eternal welfare. It must be so, seeing that we are placed on earth in order to be trained for eternity; this being the case, every event of our lives is invested with importance. Life is made up of trifles, but we must not regard these in a trifling spirit, for to them all is given a power either to help or hinder us on our road to heaven; we can see that it is so by considering the circumstances of even a single day in the experience of almost any person. Comparatively seldom do any startling events take place in a household; but there are daily duties to perform, perhaps of no high order-nothing beyond the guiding of the house, and the performance of common tasks. It is not a great thing, then, which is required of us, but still it is the thing that is given us to do, and so the spirit in which it is done is what God looks at; therefore, to perform these tasks carelessly, with ill-will, or to say, "It does not matter" how we do them, shows a mistaken conception of duty. All that ought to be done in this world, God could accomplish without our help, but He gives us work to do as a test of our obedience. This work is often very trying to our natural inclination, and difficult to perform in a right spirit; for there are vexatious hindrances thrown in our way, and unamiable tempers to deal with; perhaps even injustice and unkindness to which we are obliged to submit. These are opportunities of showing a Christian spirit; and as these opportunities arise from the apparently trifling circumstances of every-day life, it shows that it "matters" much how we perform our daily duties, so that they shall help, rather than hinder, our souls. But let me here guard against the possibility of being supposed to try to lead you to think that the performance of these duties-in however amiable a temper-will make you acceptable to God, or help to save you. No, that must be only through the blood of Christ. If our good works could do anything toward our salvation, we might save ourselves, and Christ need not have died to save us. Only as a proof of faith in the Saviour can anything we do be acceptable to God; how mistaken, then, is he who labours to obtain salvation by his own efforts! toiling night and day to purchase for himself what he can have as a free gift, when he applies for it in humble reliance on the merits and satisfaction of the crucified Saviour. In how different a spirit, and with what altered motives, does he work who has accepted this gift, and taken Jesus as his Saviour! No need to preach the doctrine of good works to him in whose heart is the love of Christ, for he lives but to do all he can for Him; and, now that love for the Saviour is his constraining motive, he does everything as "unto the Lord." That motive sanctifies every action, and invests all events with importance, so that the true Christian can look on nothing with an indifferent eye; he can say of no duty which comes before him, "It does not matter how I perform it," for he looks on the most trivial circumstance of life as an evidence of God's will. Comparatively few, alas! thus regard the events and duties |