to here is moral and spiritual-that of wise, loving, earnest, and prayerful persuasion. Nevertheless there are weighty reasons to justify the strong language used, Compel them to come in."

One reason may be to remind us of the intense unwillingness to be overcome. When we consider the need of man and the bounty of God, and the fulness of grace and all the marvellous blessings of redeeming love, we might have thought, like young Melancthon, that no pressing would be required, but that all, as soon as the glad tidings were made known to them, would believe and rejoice. But it is not so, for the unconverted heart, when left to itself, instinctively says, "Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth?" As, notwithstanding the certainty of his peril, Lot needed a compelling hand as well as an inviting word, else he would have perished in Sodom, so is it in every case of true conversion. The compulsion of love is indispensable.

Another reason may be to show that no means are to be left untried. When we know that every Christless soul is under the curse, and condemned already, we dare not give them up till every argument, appeal, and earnest effort have finally and unmistakably failed. "It is a rule I fixed long ago," said John Wesley, "never to give up any one till I had tried him at least ten years."

In seeking to save others, therefore, we are acting in full conformity with our Father's loving will. Whoever may have pleasure in the death of the sinner, He has not.

As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?-EZEK. xxxiii. 11.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.-2 PETER iii. 9.

MEN

February 9.

EXCLUDING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.

EN sometimes speak as if God were indifferent to the treatment he received, and as if with impunity they could reject both the message and the messenger. The very opposite of this, however, is the case; for though he may bear long with the rebellious and unbelieving, he will not bear always; hence the solemn utterance, "I say that none of these men which were bidden shall

unto you,

taste of my supper."

Now, with regard to the excluded, it is important to note that they were all bidden men. The inviting servant had been, as it were, at all their doors; yet, though bidden then, they were forbidden now; though told of the supper, not one tasted it. And why? Just because when they might have come, and ought to have come, and were urged to come, they all with one accord declined to come. This clearly shows that it is not the getting of gospel invitations that saves men, but the accepting them.

But further, the excluded were all well-intentioned men. Seemingly, it was not in their thoughts finally and persistently to reject the invitation. They meant only civilly to decline the present call, and to delay accepting it till a more convenient season. It never entered their minds that this call might be the last they would ever receive. Yet so it was, for no other messenger ever

knocked at their door, or again invited them to the feast.

So is it with many still. When they refuse to believe in Jesus and to repent, it is not their purpose to do so always. Though they decline this call, they will accept the next; utterly forgetting that the call they are getting now may be their very last. There is nothing more perilous than trusting to another day; all the more, as to be once excluded is to be ever excluded. The first Adam," said an old writer, "closed the door upon us, but there was a second Adam to open it; but if the second Adam close the door, there is no third Adam to open it." Therefore delay now may be exclusion for ever.

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?-HEB. ii. 3.

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.-HEB. xii. 25.

Seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.-ACTS xiii. 46.

February 10.

WHEN WARM TO THE MASTER, OUR LOVE WILL NOT BE

WE

COLD TO THE SERVANT.

E are sometimes tempted to imagine that a believer so dead to the world as Paul, and entirely consecrated, would be but little affected by the temporal supplies sent to him from time to time by the Philippian believers. His grateful words to them, however, in his epistle, clearly show that it was far otherwise. "Even in Thessalonica," he said, "ye sent once and again unto my necessity. I rejoiced greatly that your

care of me hath flourished again." Small as such tokens of kindness might seem, they yet gladdened him greatly, and anew refreshed and strengthened him for his arduous labours.

What specially touched him on such occasions was not so much the gift itself, or its seasonableness, as the pure and elevated motive of those who gave it. It was because love prompted it that he prized it so greatly,-love to the Master, and love to the servant for the Master's sake. Such kindness to the servant is kindness to the Lord, and he remembers it as such, and will one day crown it with open acknowledgment and gracious reward. "Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

After telling us of the arrival of himself and his companions at a heathen village on the banks of the Orange River, Dr. Moffat says: "We had travelled far, and were hungry, and thirsty, and fatigued. We asked water, but they would not supply it. I offered three or four buttons that still remained on my jacket for a little milk. This also was refused. We had the prospect of another hungry and thirsty night. When twilight drew nigh, a woman approached from the height beyond which the village lay. She bore on her head a bundle of wood, and had a vessel

of milk in her hand. She laid them down, and returned to the village. A second time she approached with other and larger supplies. We asked her again and again who she was. She remained silent, till affectionately entreated to give us a reason for such unlooked-for kindness to strangers. The solitary tear stole down her sable cheek when she replied, 'I love Him whose servants ye are; and surely it is my duty to give you a cup of cold water in his name. My heart is full, therefore I cannot speak the joy I feel to see you in this out-of-theworld place.' I asked her how she kept the life of God in her soul, in the absence of all communion with saints. She drew from her bosom a copy of the Dutch New Testament she had received in a school some years before. This,' she said, 'is the fountain whence I drink ; this the oil which makes my lamp burn.""

Thus does the Lord sustain and gladden the hearts of his servants in their times of need.

Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.-MARK ix. 41.

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.-ACTS xx. 35.

February 11.

WITH MANY THE BLOSSOM SEEMS TO COME, BUT NEVER THE FRUIT.

AT

T this moment, in India, there are thousands of those trained in our great missionary institutions who, from intimate acquaintance with the evidences of Chris