MARCH 11th.

Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.-Exodus xviii. 21.

́SN'T it extraordinary that Jethro, the man of

ISN'

the desert, should have given this advice to Moses? How did he learn to beware of covetousness ? We honor men to-day if they are wealthy and covetous. We elect them to office in church and state. We often say that they will make better treasurers because we know them to be covetous. But in God's sight a covetous man is as vile and black as any thief or drunkard. David said: "The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth." I am afraid that many who profess to have put away wickedness also speak well of the covetous.

MARCH 12th.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. .—1 John iii.

THE

2.

'HE reason why there are so many in the churches who will not go out and help others, is that they are not sure they have been

saved themselves. If I thought I was dying

myself, I would be in a poor condition to save any one else. Before I can pull any one else out of the water, I must have a firm footing on shore myself.

We can have this complete assurance if we will. It does not do to feel we are all right, we must know it. We must read our titles clear to mansions in the skies. The Apostle John says: (( Beloved, now are we the sons of God." He does not say we are going to be.

MARCH 13th.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.—John v. 24.

IN my native village in New England it used

to be customary, as a funeral procession left the church, for the bell to toll as many times as the deceased was years old. How anxiously I would count those strokes of the bell to see how long I might reckon on living! Sometimes there would be seventy or eighty tolls, and I would give a sigh of relief to think I had so many years to live. But at other times there would be only a few years tolled, and then a horror would seize me as I thought that I too might soon be claimed as a victim by that dread monster, Death. Death and judgment were a constant source of fear to me till I realized the fact that neither shall ever have any hold on a child of God.

MARCH 14th.

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.-Deuteronomy xxxii. 31.

HAS the human heart ever been satisfied with false gods? Can pleasure or riches fill the soul that is empty of God? How about the atheist, the deist, the pantheist ? What do they look forward to? Nothing! Man's life is full of trouble; but when the billows of affliction and disappointment are rising and rolling over them, they have no God to call upon. "They shall cry unto the gods whom they offer incense; but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble." Therefore I contend "their rock is not as our Rock."

MARCH 15th.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.-John iii. 14, 15.

I

HEARD of a woman once that thought there

was no promise in the Bible for her; she thought the promises were for others, not for her. There are a good many of these people in the world. They think it is too good to be true that they can be saved for nothing. This woman one day got a letter, and when she opened

it she found it was not for her at all; it was meant for another woman that had the same name; and she had her eyes opened to the fact that if she should find some promise in the Bible directed to her name, she would not know whether it meant her or some one else that bore

her name. But you know the word "WHOSOEVER includes each and every one in the wide world!

MARCH 16th.

The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.-Romans viii. 7.

JESUS CHRIST, the purest being who ever

came to this earth to save mankind, was crucified. I believe if Gabriel should come down from heaven with all the glory of that upper world, and try to save men, they would try to blacken his character inside of a week. The ungodly do not like the godly. The impure do not like the pure. There is enmity still. Men may cavil and discuss as much as they like, but there is the fact. God's prediction is fulfilled. The serpent shall have its head bruised, and every man of us should do all he can to bruise it. Our worst enemy is sin.

MARCH 17th.

Unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.-Hebrews iv. 2.

FAITH is very important. very important. It is the link that

A man may tell me

binds us to every promise of God-it brings us every blessing. I do not mean a dead faith, but a living faith. There is a great difference between the two. that ten thousand dollars are deposited in a certain bank in my name. I may believe it, but if I don't act upon it and get the money it does me no good. Unbelief bars the door and keeps back the blessing.

Some one has said there are three elements in faith-knowledge, assent, laying hold. Knowledge! A man may have a good deal of knowledge about Christ, but that does not save him. I suppose Noah's carpenters knew as much about the ark as Noah did, but they perished miserably nevertheless, because they were not in the ark. Our knowledge about Christ does not help us if we do not act upon it. But knowledge is very important. Many also assent and say "I believe"; but that does not save them. Knowledge, assent, then laying hold: it is that last element that saves, that brings the soul and Christ together.