prayer

be endued with power from on high." In calm and ful expectancy they did so tarry; and it was only when at length the Spirit came upon them in all fulness and power that they went forth on their divinely-appointed work to preach the gospel to every creature. The effect was marvellous; for so great and continuous was their success that multitudes everywhere were savingly converted and added to the Lord.

And so is it, more or less, still. The vessels most used by the Lord are those most meet and ready for his service. "If a man purge himself from these," it is written, "he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." From forgetting this, believers occasionally, in spite of excellent gifts and manifold opportunities, have but little usefulness. When the Lord would employ them, he finds them, as it were, so spiritually defiled, through want of due watchfulness and prayer, that he has to pass them by and take others more meet for his use. But for varied discipline and trial, this would oftener be the case with God's children; and if so, instead of murmuring and fretting when trial comes, they should rather be found earnestly praying that thereby the quickening so urgently needed may be secured.

It is said that shortly before Mr. Moody began those labours which were so marvellously blessed, he was greatly impressed by the remark made by a Christian friend: "It remains for the world to see what the Lord can do with a man wholly consecrated to Christ." Why should not all of us aim at such a consecration, seeing that every saving blessing we enjoy we owe to the riches of redeeming love and grace?

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.-ACTS i. 8.

Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.-Acts vi. 8.

If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.-MATT. xvii. 20.

June 6.

THE RIGHT AND THE WRONG OF ANGER, AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.

ANGER is not, in every form and shape of it, neces

sarily sinful. There is such a thing as righteous

anger, and occasions again and again arise in which it would be positive sin not to feel and show it. It is recorded of Moses-not in censure, but in commendationthat when he saw the golden calf "his anger waxed hot." Beyond a doubt, therefore, there is not only such a thing as righteous indignation, but the sight of grievous wrongdoing never fails to awaken it in every truly Christian heart. On this account an old divine quaintly says: "Anger is one of the sinews of the soul; and he that wants it hath a maimed mind, and, like Jacob when the sinews shrank in the hollow of his thigh, must needs halt."

Nothing, however, is more difficult than to keep this feeling within due and proper limits, and to do as the Lord enjoins in his Word, "Be ye angry, and sin not." Anger in sympathy with God is the only legitimate anger. In too many instances anger arises from slight causes, and perhaps from no perceptible cause whatever, and

there is sad intemperateness in its manifestation. For its right regulation, these counsels may not be unhelpful.

First: when anger arises, beware of nursing it. If we put no fresh fuel on a fire it will soon go out; and so is it with this fiery passion. It will soon be quenched if we do not dwell and meditate on the things that excite it. It is always a blessed thing to have a long memory for kindnesses and a very short one for wrongs.

Again: when anger arises, be slow in expressing it. Silence is never so golden as under great provocation; and it is often of itself a great victory if, instead of replying to-day, we do not reply till to-morrow. There would be little contention in the world if men could be silent when hot, and speak only when cool.

Finally when anger arises, never forget how much we all owe to the forbearance of God. Had he not been slow to anger with us, long ere now we would have been undone for ever.

"I am naturally as irritable as any," said an old minister once; " but when I find anger or any other evil temper arising in my mind, I go to my Redeemer immediately, and, confessing my sins, give myself up to be managed by him. This is the way I have taken to get the mastery of my passions."

The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.-PROV. xix. 11.

He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.-PROV. xiv. 29.

Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.-JAMES i. 19, 20.

IN

June 7.

THE LORD'S LEADINGS, HOWEVER STRANGE, HAVE
ALWAYS WISE LOVE IN THEM.

N our earthly pilgrimage, we would fain have neither cross nor cloud nor crooked turning; but the wish is a vain one, for strive as we may, thorns spring up, clouds gather, and sorrowful anxiety enters the heart. It is not so of mere chance, but of wise and gracious design, in order to exercise patience, strengthen faith, and promote that healthy moral discipline without which we can neither have fitness for the kingdom nor entrance into it.

It was once said to the Israelites-and the words are memorable "Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart...and to do thee good at thy latter end." This is a long period, forty years, and many a tear dropped in the course of it; yet it was not a year, nay, not even a day too long, for wise love was leading all through. Doubtless, for mere flesh and blood it would have been pleasanter far if, instead of wandering for forty years in such a desert, they could have passed at once from Egypt to Canaan; but then, for highest interests, it would not have been safe.

Nor is it otherwise with God's spiritual Israel now. Indeed, without more or less of such sorrowful training, pride, unbelief, and earthliness would ever be clinging to us, and heart and conscience become thereby defiled. "I find," says an old experienced believer, "that when the saints are under trials and well humbled, little sins raise

great cries in the conscience; but in prosperity conscience is a pope that gives dispensations with great latitude to our hearts." A measure of adversity, therefore, is oftentimes a merciful necessity. As it is not in smooth waters, but rough, that pebbles are rounded and polished, so it is not in easy times, but in trying, that believers, through grace, become holiest and brightest and likest their Lord. Much as we shrink from trials, therefore, how often do they bring us our truest and richest blessings!

"So help me, Lord, thy holy will to suffer,
And still a learner at thy feet to be;

Give faith and patience, when the way is rougher,
And happy victory at last to me.

Thus grief itself is changed to song

Oft-times on earth, and evermore ere long."

I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.-Isa. xlii. 16.

The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.-Ps. cxxxviii. 8.

June 8.

WE SHOULD BE PRAISEFUL AS WELL AS PRAYERFUL.

THE

THE Lord so delights in the prayers of his people that he not only lends his ear, but lovingly says, "Let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice." Nor is it otherwise with their praises; for these are his own words, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." Though nothing can add to God's essential glory, yet by praise we can declare it, and spread abroad the fame of it, and help to multiply those who joyously show it forth. To praise the Lord, therefore, whether singly or unitedly, in the