MARCH 18th.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.-John xiv. 2, 3.

IF my wife were in a foreign country, and I had a beautiful mansion all ready for her, she would a good deal rather I should come myself and bring her to it than have me send some one else to bring her. Christ has prepared a mansion for His bride, the Church, and He promises for our joy and comfort that He will come Himself and bring us to the place He has been all this while preparing.

MARCH 19th.

Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.-Psalm cxix. 18.

WE

E have a great many prayer-meetings, but there is something just as important as prayer, and that is that we read our Bibles, that we have Bible study and Bible lectures and Bible classes, so that we may get hold of the Word of God. When I pray, I talk to God, but when I read the Bible, God is talking to me; and it is really more important that God should speak to me than that I should speak to Him. I believe we should know better how to pray if we knew our Bibles better.

MARCH 20th.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.—Galatians vi. 7. 'HIS law is just as true in God's kingdom as

THIS

in man's kingdom; just as true in the spiritual world as in the natural world. If I sow tares, I am going to reap tares; if I sow a lie, I am going to reap lies; if I sow adultery I am going to reap adulterers; if I sow whisky, I am going to reap drunkards. You cannot blot this law out, it is in force. No other truth in the Bible is more solemn.

MARCH 21St.

Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.—Matthew xi. 28.

I

LIKE to have a text like this, because it takes

us all in. "Come unto Me ALL ye that labor." That doesn't mean a select few-refined ladies and cultured men. It doesn't mean good people only. It applies to saint and sinner. Hospitals are for the sick, not for healthy people. Do you think that Christ would shut the door in any one's face, and say, "I did not mean all; I only meant certain ones"? If you cannot come as a saint, come as a sinner. Only come !

A lady told me once that she was so hardhearted she couldn't come.

"Well," I said, "my good woman, it doesn't say all ye soft-hearted people come. Black hearts, vile hearts, hard hearts, soft hearts, all hearts come. Who can soften your hard heart

but Himself?"

MARCH 22d.

He shall call upon thee, and I will answer Him. -Psalm xci. 15.

F we call on God for deliverance and for

ÏF

victory over sin and every evil, God will not turn a deaf ear to our call. I don't care how black the life has been, I don't care what the past record has been, I don't care how disobedient or how one may have backslidden and wandered; if one really wants to come back, God accepts the willing mind, God will hear prayer, and answer.

Some people say they can't call. Perhaps you cannot make an eloquent prayer-I hope you can't I have heard about all the eloquent prayers I want to. But you can say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'

Only be sincere, and God will hear your cry. Mark you, there is a sham cry. Mothers understand that; they know when their children cry in earnest, or whether it is a sham cry. Let the child give a real cry of distress, and the mother will leave everything and fly to her

child. I have been forty years in Christian work, and I have never known God to disappoint any man or woman who was in earnest about their soul's salvation or were seeking a more consecrated life. I know lots of people who pretend to be in earnest, but their prayers are never answered.

MARCH 23d.

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountains.—Isaiah xl. 9.

A

TRAVELLER once made arrrangements with a guide to take him to the top of a high mountain to see the sunrise. They had not journeyed long when there arose a terrible thunderstorm. "It's no use to go on," the gentleman said. "We cannot see the sunrise in the midst of this fearful storm." "O, sir," said the guide, "we shall soon get above the storm." They could see the lightning playing about them, and the grand old mountain shook with the thunder, and it was very dark; but when they passed up above the clouds all was light and clear. So if it is dark here, rise higher; it is light enough up around the throne. If I may rise up to the light, I have no business to be in darkness. Rise higher, higher, higher. It is the privilege of the child of God to walk on unclouded.

MARCH 24th.

And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.-Mark ix. 8.

WHAT a dark night it would have been if

our Lord and Master had been caught

up with Moses and Elijah, and no Christ had died for our sins. Oh, how Jesus Christ has lit up this world!

But suppose that He had

gone up to heaven on the other side of Calvary, and had never finished His work. Suppose that God in His love for His Son had said: "I can't let those men spit upon you and smite you; I will take you back to My bosom." What darkness would have settled down on this world! But Moses disappeared, and Elijah disappeared, and Christ only was left, for Christ is all. The law and the prophets were honored and fulfilled in Him.

MARCH 25th.

I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.-Psalm xxxii. 5.

WE

WE are good at confessing other people's sins, but if it is true repentance, we shall have as much as we can do to look after our own. When a man or woman gets a good look into God's looking-glass, he is not finding fault with other people he is fully occupied at home.