said they would do it; others hung back. One man there was a day-labourer. Every year there were a few days in which he had little to do. He said he would give one day's work every year. He would fix on a certain day ahead. When that fixed day came round, he would consider it the Lord's day. Whatever he might happen to make on that day should be the Lord's without fail. If that day should happen to be a rainy day, or if he got nothing to do that day, it should be the Lord's loss, and not his. Another brother was a shoemaker. He offered to give the work of four Saturday nights in each year. It was agreed that it should be the last Saturday night of each quarter-those particular nights, and no other. Whatever jobs of half-soleing and mending boots and shoes came to him on those evenings were to be paid into the Lord's treasury. If no work should happen to come in, it was to be the Lord's loss, and not his; or, if he should be sick and unable to work, the loss still was the Lord's; he was free from his obligation. A grocery-keeper agreed to fix on one day of the year, to be determined on at least three months in advance. On that day, whatever might be the profits of his sales, whether fivepence or twenty-five shlllings, should be devoted to the spread of the gospel. The results surprised them all. In previous years they had never taken more than twenty five or thirty-five shillings for mission purposes. Elwell, the grocer, had received the produce, and made the sales, and collected the little sums earned. He now rendered his account:: The members enjoyed the giving. John Pye said he never put forth his strength with so much pleasure as on that day when every stroke of his hand was to help his Master. It sweetened his toil for a month afterward. Thomas Smith said that on those nights when he was working for missions, the sound of his lapstone was like music in his ears. John Elwell said it was the easiest and smoothest day's business he ever did in the store. Edward Rodden said that, whether any missionary agents came or not, henceforth the Lord's work should have a share in the yield of everything on his farm, from the sale of a fat ox down to a peck of turnips. Giving had been a blessing to him. It had kept God before his mind all the time. It had sanctified his flocks and his herd, and he meant to do a great deal more next year than he had done this year for missions at home and abroad, He hinted also about their being able to raise the pastor's salary next year. Money-getting might be made a curse, or it might be made a means of grace; and so said they all. How Fair a Lot is Thine. How fair a lot is thine, my little one A sunny life on earth to thee was given, Which scarce a cloud e'er shadowed till the end, When Jesus bore thee through the cloud to Heav'n. Great was His tenderness to thee, my own, And great to us all human words above; For every thought of thee, though sad, is sweet As every look on thee, on earth, was love. We praised the grave, sweet eyes, the fair, high brow, The noble bearing of our lovely boy, And fondly prophesied a great careerA life of usefulness, and love, and joy. And who shall say those hopes are blighted now That thou art safe beyond earth's clouds and storms; Will those sweet eyes look up less sunnily 'Tis Jesus, in His love, has call'd thee hence, FEBRUARY 12. સ A Daily Portion. 'COME UNTO ME.'-Matt. xi. 28. God's people are called from self to Christ. The main end of a call is to bring Christ and the soul together; every dispensation of God hath a voice; and God speaketh to us by conscience, by His works, by benefits, by crosses, but chiefly by His word, the application of which by the Spirit is, as it were, an awakening call; but the chief call of God is by the voice of the gospel, wherein the offers of grace are discovered to us: Come, poor wearied soul, come to Christ, and thou shalt find ease and comfort. Again, they are called from sin to holiness: God hath not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness. Though the immediate end of divine calling be faith, yet the intermediate end is holiness, as the ultimate end is glory. Thus we are called out of Babylon into Sion, from the tents of Kedar into the tents of Shem, from nature to grace, and the power of Satan into the kingdom of God; in short, this call is a separation from uncleanness, and all common and vile uses.T. Manton. FEBRUARY 13. 'CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELLOUS LIGHT.'-1 Peter ii. 9. God's people are called from misery to happiness and glory, from aliens to be friends, from darkness to light, from being enemies to be reconciled, from bastards to become sons, from vessels of wrath to be heirs of glory. With respect to all these sorts of calling it is termed sometimes a high calling,' sometimes 'a holy calling,' and sometimes a heavenly calling. It is a high calling,' because of the honour and dignity of it; it is no small matter to be children of God, co-heirs with Christ, kings and priests to God. Many are lifted up because they have borne offices, and are called to high places in the world; a Christian hath a calling more excellent, he is called to be a saint, a spiritual king, a holy priest to God. It is a holy calling,' because of the effect and purpose of it. Man's calling may put dignity and honour upon us, but it cannot infuse grace; it may change our condition, but not our hearts. It is a heavenly calling because of the author of it, God by His Spirit; and because of the aim of it; the grace whereby we are called came from heaven, and its aim and tendency is to bring us thither.T. Manton. FEBRUARY 14. 'COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOUR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN.'-Matt. xi. 28. Some are wont to allege, It is true there is mercy in Christ for sinners, but Christ doth not call them. My brethren, what do you look for an audible voice to speak to you, Thou John, thou Thomas, &c.? In the tenders of the gospel you are included as well as others, and why will you exclude yourselves? If God say sinners, you should subsume and reply, 'I am chief. I remember it is said, Christ calleth His sheep by name, and leadeth them forth.' How doth Christ call them by name! By speaking expressly to their case, as if He did strike them upon the shoulders, and say, Here is comfort for thee. As at a feast, when there is a dish that we affect set upon the table, though all the company be free to make use of it, yet we say, Here is a dish for me. So should you apply and take to yourselves your own portion; though it be propounded generally, yet when God directeth the tongue of His messengers to speak so expressly to your case, that is all the calling by name which you can look for, since oracles are ceased, and therefore you should say, This was a dish provided for my hungry conscience, intended to me.-T. Manton. FEBRUARY 15. 'I AM NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS.'-Matt. ix. 13. Some will say they are such sinners. The more need to come to Christ; He came to 'call sinners.' It is no matter what thou hast been, but what thou wouldst be; Christ doth not call us because we are holy, but that we may be holy. Is it a rational plea in outward cases, I am too poor to take alms, I am too filthy to go to the water to be washed? But they have stood out against so many calls already, and scorned God's counsel. Wisdom calleth scorners: Turn ye scorners; how long will ye delight in scorning?' It is a mercy that thou hast one call more; do not increase the guilt that thou complainest of. But I know not how to come to Christ. The blind and the lame are invited to the wedding, and wisdom calleth fools, 'Whoso is simple,' &c. The stray lamb is brought home upon the shepherd's shoulders. O that these words might be spirit and life to you!-T. Manton. FEBRUARY 16. 'PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE.'— 2 Peter i. 4. God consecrates us with His Spirit; whom He makes saints. When a man adopts another he adopts, he anoints; whom he makes sons, for his son and heir, he may put his name upon him, but he cannot put his disposition into him; if he be of a morose, rugged nature, he cannot alter it; but whom God adopts He sanctifies; He doth not only give them a new name, but a new nature. God turns the wolf into a lamb; He makes the heart humble and gracious; He works such a change as if another soul did dwell in the same body.-T. Watson. THE SALUTATION TO THE SAINTS AT PHILIPPI BY REV. JOHN ALEXANDER, M.A., SYMINGTON, BIGGAR. 'Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.'-PHIL. i. 1, 2. HIS epistle is one of the four written by the Apostle Paul during his captivity at Rome. The others, the only ones remaining of the many epistles he must have written, 'for the care of all the churches was upon him' (2 Cor. xi. 28), are those to the Colossians, Ephesians, and to Philemon. The Church at Philippi differed from the others of Paul's planting. In the course of his second missionary journey, he was specially commanded by God to preach the gospel there. He, along with Silas and Timotheus, had been confining their labours to Asia Minor; they had not gone over it all; different districts were still unvisited by them, but there were centres of greater influence to which they were to be called. While at Troas, a seaport town on the Mediterranean, near to the celebrated Troy in Mysia, a vision appeared to Paul in the night. 'There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us' (Acts xvi. 9). From this they were sure that the Lord had called them to preach the gospel to the inhabitants of Greece, and they sailed accordingly. A quick passage was made to Samothracia and Neapolis, aud from thence they pressed on to Philippi. Philippi was the first city in Macedonia. Its natural position, a strategical one, commanding the great road between Europe and Asia, and its political standing, a Roman colony, enjoying all the privileges and rights of the mother Republic, gave it an influence which was indeed great. It was founded by Philip, the famous King of Macedon, about B.C. 356; and was made a Roman colony by Augustus Cæsar after his victory over the Republican party at Rome. As a colony, it was Rome on a miniature scale. It had its own senate, and magistrates, and laws. It does not appear that the Jews were in any 38-9. great numbers here. They had not a synagogue; the place for prayer was 'the riverside,' under the open vault of heaven; and here there met together Jewesses and proseIytes of the gate. No doubt the city would be moved on the entrance of the heralds of the cross, proclaiming the revelation from heaven, and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the inhabitants would silently listen, and conclude that another god was to be added to their many. At first the success of the Apostles was not great; nay, their very lives were threatened. Here it was that they were shamefully treated; the magistrates lost all sense of justice, and, at the instigation of a mob, excited by cruel and selfish men, beat the Apostles 'openly and uncondemned;' no trial was given them, no opportunity for defence; but, after being cruelly scourged, they were cast into prison, and instructions given that they be thrust into the dark dungeon, and their feet made fast in the stocks. Here their state verily seemed helpless. For them, too, there was no ray of cheering hope, but only the expectation of death on the morrow; they were suffering the acutest pain, were in great misery, and yet how do we find them? It was here, in the prison at Philippi, that they testified to the sustaining and comforting power of religion; here it was that 'at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God,' and were heard of Him, for He spake and the earth shook, the prison door were opened, the chains fell from the feet and hands of the prisoners, and the cause of the Lord's servants was taken up by the Judge of all the earth! In this most unlikely place was a member of the future Church found in the person of the jailor, who was brought from the depth of despair into the true liberty of the followers of Jesus. On the next day the Apostles were released by the magistrates themselves, who evinced no little fear at the consequences of their perversion of Roman justice. The other converts mentioned were Lydia, the seller of purple, 'whose heart the Lord opened,' and the poor girl whom Paul, in the name of his Master, rescued from the cruel bondage of the devil. Besides these there were brethren unnamed. Such was the beginning of the Church at Philippi. The interest of the Apostle in this city never abated, for we find him visiting it twice in his after journeyings. The Church, from a small beginning, became one of the most flourishing. The preached Word here prevailed in turning many from idols to serve the living God. Its members tried, by all the kindness and attention in their power, to obliterate from the mind of Paul all the unpleasant memories connected with their city. He tells them in this epistle 'That in the beginning of the gospel, when he departed from Macedonia, no Church communicated with him as concerning giving and receiving, but they only. For even in Thessalonica, they sent once and again unto his necessity' (Phil. iv. 15, 16). And when the founder of their Church, he who had first given them true cause for joy, through the knowledge of a reconciled God, and salvation through Jesus Christ, was in chains at Rome, sad and downcast, fettered, and bowed down with grief and anxiety, he was not forgotten by them. They made his heart rejoice, for they sent by the hands of Epaphroditus that which could procure him some extra comforts, and which was an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable, well-pleasing to God.' This kindness, expressed in a substantive form, showing their love for the Apostle, was the occasion of this epistle. The Apostle at the time was 'in bonds,' awaiting his trial before the cruel Nero. His imprisonment was of a harsher and harder character. He speaks of his expectation of death, his readiness to die, and seems to feel the weariness of his sufferings. He is in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better' (Phil. i. 23). He refers to a conflict which he has, and to his comfort at Epaphroditus being spared to him. God had mercy on him, lest he should have sorrow upon sorrow' (Phil. ii. 27). But, nevertheless, he has something to cheer him. He hopes for a release, and speaks joyfully of his expected meeting with his dear Philippian converts once more. The knowledge of their attachment and love to him bears him up. But the great secret of his power to endure, and to take every affliction joyfully, is his knowledge of God's love and Christ's death. He compares what he him self has suffered with the indignities, the cruelties, and the death under which his Saviour bowed, and finds that he has not humbled, and cannot humble himself so much as his Lord, who 'being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross' (Phil. ii. 6-8). And the Apostle is further cheered by the knowledge of Christ as a present, living Saviour, who arose, and is now seated at God's right hand, and who yet sympathises with him in his cruel bondage, who heard his cry when in the cells at Philippi, and who can hear him still. He was thus contented, quite willing to be offered up as a sacrifice to his Master's religion. He saw, and rejoiced at, the progress the Christian religion was making. 'The things which happened him had fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that his bonds were manifest in Christ in all the Pretorium, and in all other places, and the greater part of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by his bonds, were much more bold to speak the word without fear' (Phil. i. 12-14). And in Cæsar's household, that den of impurity and nest of wickedness and deceit, there were saints-men who were forsaking sin, and living unto God and Jesus Christ. Such, then, was the state of mind of the Apostle when this Epistle to the Philippians was penned. He was sad and disheartened, yet not quite cast down, for he was cheered and borne up by hope, and was resting calmly and gladly, with the confidence of a child in his heavenly Father and his risen Lord. This epistle itself is written in an affectionate, joyous, and fervent strain. The Apostle is writing to dear friends in whom he greatly rejoices: he thanks God for their fellowship in the gospel,' for the blessed fact that they are at one with him in the service of Jesus Christ. He knew that they were trying to walk worthily of their high and holy vocation, consistently with their profession, and he gently and lovingly encourages them in their heavenward course. There are no doctrinal errors, no heresies to check; he has not to assert his right to be heard as an Apostle, as he had to do to the Galatians; there are no sins to be condemned; it is simply a letter from Paul expressing his thanks for their kindness, written in the fullest confidence, telling them of his present circumstances, encouraging them to rejoice in the Lord, and in the power of His might. The order and arrangement of the epistle may be seen in the following analysis: I. 1-11.-Opening salutation, with thanksgiving and prayer for them. 12-26.-Account of his personal circumstances, II. 5-11.-This urged by the example of Christ. 12-18.-Exhortation to follow their Lord, and let their light shine. 19-30.-His proposal to send Timothy to them, and his thankfulness for having Epaphroditus spared to him III.— Begins his conclusion, but breaks away again; warns them against (1) Judaism; and (2), Antinomianism, lawlessness, and urges them to walk as citizens of the heavenly kingdom. IV. 2-3.-Urges them to heal their dissensions. 4-9.-Exhorts them to joyfulness and holy living 10-20.—Thanks them for their thoughtful kind ness. 21-23.-Salutations from all to all. Benediction. (To be continued.) A PLEA FOR LIGHT-HEARTED "THERE goes I believe she never has a serious thought,' said Mrs Experience, looking gravely out of the window. I looked too. It was a still, clear autumnal afternoon. The wind had been blowing freshly, but it had subsided, and now the western sky was full of golden light, melting away to pale amber and opal, before the dying of the day and the outshining of the stars. Yes, Daisy Dorman was lighted-hearted, and as she went down the street, with her elastic step, her sweet face glowing with youth and health, her quick nod and smile of recognition for her friends, I for one was very glad that she was the representative of a class of people who must always be in the minority in this world of change, the care-free, rather than the careless, the bright and buoyant, who have not yet been schooled by the discipline of sorrow. . 'She'll have trouble soon enough!' said Mrs Experience. Laugh before breakfast, you'll cry before night!' It seems to me almost wicked to go singing and smiling along, as though there was nothing but happiness before you. The world is all a fleeting show.' She sewed with renewed energy on David's checked shirts. I felt reproved for my folded hands, but I cannot always be busy, and I answered my own thought quite as much as her words. 'Don't you suppose God likes to see the flowers bloom, and to hear the birds sing, and that He has made some people light-hearted on purpose that they may carry sunshine wherever they go, and cheer lonely hearts, and uplift drooping heads?' Mrs Experience drew down the corners of her mouth and said no more. But, as I think of it, I am growing surer that the lighthearted people, the children, the gay girls and merry lads who are cheerful, not from a sense of duty, but because they are so happy that they cannot help themselves, are worth a great deal to the world. What a boon it is to meet a person who goes singing on life's way! What a benediction there is in a beaming face! We should be very careful how we repress and restrain the exuberant spirits of the young. They are abounding in vitality, these boys and girls of ours, who do not get tired easily, and who find something to laugh at, Let them where we are not so much amused. laugh. Household fun should not be too quickly checked. There ought to be a margin for it in our home calculations. Study and work and thoughtfulness have their place, but play is just as legitimate, and just as essential to healthy living. We should not be in haste to condemn as volatile and giddy the girl who is bent, as it seems to us, on enjoyment and mirth, rather than on more serious occupations. Hers may be the swiftest foot to go on love's errands, the coolest hand to smooth the sick mother's forehead, and the quickest brain to devise what to do in an emergency. a mercurial boy becomes the comforting pastor, the wise judge, the able man of business, the kind husband and father. To direct rather than to crush the abundant efflorescent energy of the young should be the aim of parents. The more light-hearted they are the better. Light-hearted is not always feather-headed. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.' The Flowers' Reply. Many Within our father's garden Oh, then, may thy arising Be calm and bright, like ours, And thou as full of spring-time joy As we, thy little flowers. Emma A. Smuller. |