my petition which I asked of him." When the heart is so full that it can only groan in prayer, yet God writes that down: "My groanings are not hid from thee."

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.-COL. iv. 12.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.-JAMES v. 16.

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.-ACTS vi. 4.

IN

December 19.

INVITING TO DINE.

N ordinary circumstances, when men are laid on their dying pillow, and utter what are called their last words, there come no other words thereafter; for the death of men brings to a final close their recorded history. Nor will it ever be otherwise till the grave reopens on the great resurrection morn. The living may speak and help, but never the dead.

In an Arab legend it is written that Akrimah, the Yemenite chief, when once upon a time passing a cairn, said to his companion: "Men report that Hatim when alive never sent a guest away empty. Now, here we are at his tomb our provisions have run short, and there is no village near; let us see whether after death he will do anything for us." With this he halted, and called out: "O Hatim, here we stand at your door-I, Akrimah of Yemen, and my followers-all of us hungry and weary; what can you do for us?"

Alas! Hatim could do nothing; for death had closed his eyes, and extinguished his power for ever. But it was

not so with our blessed Redeemer.

His tomb was not like Hatim's. It is true, he died and was buried, and a mighty stone was rolled to the door of the sepulchre. Nevertheless, ere three brief days had run their course, He who for our sakes laid down his life, once more took it up again; and it was as the Risen One he lovingly said to his disciples at the Sea of Galilee, "Come and dine."

Nothing could have been simpler than the repast. It was only bread and fish that were set before them. But if the provision was ordinary, not so the love that provided it, or the blessing that accompanied it, or the guests that sat at it; for they were all redeemed men, with the risen Redeemer himself in the midst.

We, too, may feast and commune with our Lord. If any man hear my voice," he says, "and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." This is especially the case at the Supper of the Lord. On the table he then spreads for us in the wilderness, bread and wine alone are visible to the eye of sense: nevertheless, to the eye of faith it is the most wondrous table of all; for the heavenly Manna is on it-the Bread of life—and the wine of the kingdom; and the Lord we love is saying, "Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved."

"We taste thee, O thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon thee still;
We drink of thee, the Fountain Head,
And thirst our souls from thee to fill."

Any feast now, however, can give us but little idea of the feast that shall be; for these are our Lord's own words: "Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat,

and will come forth and serve them." The joy of that great feast shall have a wondrous beginning, and it shall never have an end.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.-Isa. lv. 1.

Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. -MATT. xxii. 4.

TILL

December 20.

THE ONLY FOUNTAIN OPENED FOR SIN AND

FOR UNCLEANNESS,

ILL truly awakened, sin in ordinary circumstances gives men little or no concern. They think lightly of it, and usually imagine that at any time, by a little effort, they can themselves do all that is needful in the way of moral cleansing. When, however, they begin to realize in some degree sin's real nature, they are apt to turn to the opposite extreme, and give way to the fear that nothing whatever can save them from its guilt and power. More especially is this the case with those who, in their own strength, have been long and laboriously going about to establish their own righteousness. They cherish hope for a time, it may be; but when they find at length that their every effort ends in failure, and that instead of getting better they daily grow worse, they are ready to fold their hands in the idleness of despair. The great enemy strives to intensify this feeling by many a dark suggestion, just that he may the more effectually hinder their final salvation.

Happily, however, what we cannot do, the Lord can.

Yes! in the riches of his marvellous grace he has opened a Fountain for sin and for uncleanness, where the very vilest may wash and be made clean.

"The dying thief rejoiced to see

That Fountain in his day;
And there may I, as vile as he,
Wash all my sins away."

So infinite is the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Jesus when believingly applied, that by means of it, though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. In Jeremiah's day the Lord said: "O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?" And to all who hear the word he virtually puts the same question now. May it never be said of us—“I would,” but "ye would not."

During an illness, that illustrious scholar, Bengel, sent for a student in the Theological Institution, and requested him to impart a word of consolation. The youth replied: “Sir, I am but a pupil, a mere learner; I don't know what to say to a teacher like you." "What!" said Bengel; "a divinity student, and not able to communicate a word of scriptural comfort!" The student, abashed, contrived to utter the text, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." That is the very word I want," said Bengel-" it is quite enough;" and taking him affectionately by the hand, dismissed him.

But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.-1 COR. vi. 11.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.-EPH. i. 7.

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. REV. i. 5, 6.

WE

December 21.

THE OUTCOME OF GRACE.

HILE in their natural state, the only outcome we are led to expect from men is that referred to by our Lord when he says, "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." But when renewal comes through the Spirit of God, the outcome that before was only evil is now good, and makes itself manifest in sanctified thought, expression, and continuous well-doing. Hence these words of the apostle, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."

These and other graces are so mutually dependent, that what is true of the members of Christ's mystical body is also true of them. If one grace suffers, all the graces suffer with it; or if one grace be honoured, all the graces rejoice with it.

From its very nature, true grace is a seed that never rots, but in due time develops in blossom and fruit. “Ye shall know them by their fruits," says our Lord. "Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." Wherever, therefore, there is the real root of the matter in the soul, there will also sooner or later be, so to speak, the fruit of the matter in the life; and if the latter is wanting, we may well fear that the former is lacking also.

One sweetly says: "In a window this summer there was a flower-pot, containing a plant whose use it was to be