and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."-Zechariah ix. 9.

"When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem . . . . then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her : loose them, and bring them unto Me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. ... And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, . . . and they set Him thereon.”—Matthew xxi. 1–3, 6, 7 ; Mark xi. 1–3, 7.; Luke xix. 29, 30, 34, 35.

"The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up."-Psalm lxix. 9. "The Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, and . . . . said. . Take these things hence; make not My Father's house an house of merchandise. And His disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up." —John ii. 13-17; Matthew xxi. 12, 13; Mark xi. 15–17; Luke xix. 45, 46.

"I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.”—Psalm lxix. 8.

"His brethren said unto Him, Depart hence, and go into Judæa, that Thy disciples also may see the works that Thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If Thou do these things, shew Thyself to the world. For neither did His brethren believe in Him."-John vii. 3-5.

They took counsel together against Me, they devised to take away My life."--Psalm xxxi. 13.

"The rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed."—Psalm ii. 2.

"Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high-priest,. . . . and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill Him.”—Matthew xxvi. 3, 4.

"Of a truth against Thy holy Child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together."Acts iv. 27.

(To be continued.)

Redemption.

AN I be, or am I saved? are undoubtedly two of the best questions any individual can ask, either as a self-examination or an inquiry of another. Yes, truly so, because it is said that one soul is

of more value than the whole world.

Well, now, supposing that I, upon the persuasion that these are indeed the most momentous questions, inquire of myself as to whether I can be, or am saved. What have I to say in answer? Oh! the sweet promises, offers, and sayings contained in the Book of books, which I have, to my great joy and satisfaction, read over and over, and therefore implanted on my memory, come uppermost in my mind, and say sweetly and encouragingly, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." "I am the way, the truth, and the life." "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world." "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the

rest.

door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." "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."

Sinner, therefore, thou canst be saved. Nay, "though thy sins be as scarlet they shall be as wool, or as crimson they shall be made white as snow."

Saved, oh! peace that passeth knowledge-which the world can neither give nor take away. Saved, but remember only by coming through Christ, the Mediator between God and man. Still, through One who has given a hearty welcome to all; for He graciously said, "Come unto Me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved."

What is your Ministry?

HERE is a sense in which each one of us is called to be a minister of Christ-each one who knows His name, and who can read in the Gospels the story of His life. It was a life of love; and if we are following Him indeed our love is in its measure a life of love likewise.

I will tell you now of a working-man, who, though poor himself, ministered to two poor old women whom I knew, and who would certainly have remained strangers to him if he had not sought them out for the purpose of comforting them in a great sorrow.

together in a small room in a They were both past fourscore

years; indeed, the elder, a tall, upright, dignified person, had reached the great age of eighty-eight. We will call her Mrs. Green, and the younger woman Mrs. Ellis.

Mrs. Ellis was a good-natured, cheery, kind-hearted creature, who gave up her own will in most matters to her friend, who was of a somewhat sterner nature. They had been servants together for many years in the same family, and formed an attachment to each other which remained unbroken till their death.

For many years they had lived together. The elder, as long as she was able to do anything, used to make ironholders, and take them in a basket with tapes, cotton, and buttons to sell. The younger kept their room clean, cooked the little meals, and went on errands, earning a shilling now and then by needlework.

One cold day in spring poor Mrs. Ellis was brought home by two girls, who found her feebly tottering along, unable to reach her little dwelling without assistance. She was put into her bed, from which she never rose again alive. After a fortnight's suffering from bronchitis she died, leaving her poor old friend in great grief. A lady who visited the district had kindly supplied her with a nurse, who happened to live in the same house with the sick woman. It was the husband of this nurse, a poor working-man, who, night after night, when the labour of the day was over, comforted and prayed with the two old women before he would go to rest himself.

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"Bless you, ma'am," said the nurse to the district visitor, my husband couldn't sleep of a night unless he'd first said a prayer and read a word of comfort out of the Bible to those two poor souls. My husband's a fine scholar, ma'am, though I say it that shouldn't, and he's seen better days. He has always a store of comfort and cheer for the sick and lonely, and he says it's all out of the Bible. It's a wonderful book, indeed. My husband's travelled a deal; he's been pretty nigh over the world, and he says there's no other religion can give comfort as the Bible can. He says it's the book for life and for death, and if people would read it more, and pray over it, they wouldn't be that cast down and knocked under by their misfortunes as too many are."

Mrs. Ellis was comforted and soothed by the holy words and promises of Scripture; and those about her had a good hope that she was resting on the only sure foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Her mind was bright and clear and peaceful to the last.

The night before her death this kind working-man had been reading to her the descriptions of the glories of heaven from the book of Revelation (xxi. 2-27, and xxii. 1-5). What the little party said as they sat talking together in that poor room we cannot tell, for there was no human being there but the four who were met in the name of Christ. He, their Saviour, we may be quite sure, was in the midst of them.

Now I have told you a true story of a poor man who ministered, as God gave him ability, to those among whom he dwelt. They lived in the same house that was the tie. Many a man would have said, "They are nothing to me; I have not even seen them. My wife will do the nursing, and if they want religion there is the parson-he will come and pray with them."

Yes; but he who loves Christ loves his brother also: he feels that his neighbours are very much to him, and that if he has any help and comfort to give he is bound to give it them.

Poor Mrs. Green was in great distress when her friend died, and, as she had no one now "to do for her" (to use her own expression), she was obliged to go, to the workhouse. It was a great trial to her; but the Bible has promises for life as well as for death, and no doubt some such word as this comforted her: "The Lord shall guide thee continually." "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness."2 Her kind friend, the district visitor, went to see her two days afterwards, and found her happy and well cared for.