employed, landlord and tenant-all this is a terrible curse, and sooner or later does mischief all round. Never forget that there is only one true bond of unity. It is the knowledge and love of God. The French talked of "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!" and then raised the guillotine and slew each other by scores and hundreds. Ah! they had left one word out. They ought to have put first "Paternity!" for if the Fatherhood of God had been the basis of their edifice, they would have learnt the secret of true brotherly love and unity. Do something in this direction. Promote a spirit of peace and love, and let the love of God make you forbearing and forgiving toward all men. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." Take this as a call to faith in Christ. Your Saviour comes to you. He knows all your waywardness and wrong-doings. He may know that up to this hour you have never cared to love or please Him. But He comes and holds out to you the hand once pierced for your sin. He offers to you His friendship, His faithful loving-kindness, and His daily help. He would say to you, "Son, I have preserved thee all thy days, and have followed thee in mercy and goodness. I know every sin thou hast committed, and every evil thought thou hast ever harboured in thy breast; but, in spite of all, I love thee and am willing to forgive all that is past. Wilt thou с accept My friendship, My favour, My grace? Wilt thou take Me as the Guide of thy youth, and the Friend above all friends? 'Give Me thy hand!' Give it not to sin; it will bring thee nought but shame, and misery, and death. Give it not to the world; it will bring thee only unrest and disappointment. Give it to Me, thy Saviour, thy King, thy Redeemer!" What do you say? Yea, Lord, with all my heart I give Thee my hand." VIII. HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION. "Then the devil leaveth Him; and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him."-Matt. iv. II. THE narrative of Christ's conflict with the tempter stands out in marvellous contrast with Adam's fall in Paradise. Adam was in a garden surrounded by all that was pleasant, with food enough and to spare. Christ was in a wilderness, fasting forty days and afterward an hungered. Adam was tempted but once, yet he fell. Christ was thrice assaulted, yet He stood firm. Adam shows us that man's unaided strength is but weakness. Christ shows us how the soul, leaning upon God, can triumph over the enemy. "But how can I triumph?" you may ask. In one form or another few have more temptations than lads at school, yet by God's help you may pass unscathed through all. Let me give you a few hints how you may do so. I. You must recognise the reality of Satan's power to tempt. He is a real foe, and one whom you must be prepared to face. Have you ever noticed 8th Sunday.] how often Christ spoke of his deadly work? He tells how, like a secret foe, he comes by night and sows tares among the wheat. He tells how He foresaw him coming to sift Simon and try him. He tells how, as the prince of the world, he came to Himself, but could find no foothold for his temptations. O be watchful to mark his approach! Strong as a lion, crafty as a serpent, invisible, yet ever hovering near, he is always on the look-out to beguile and enthrall the soul. Never is he more successful than when men deny his very being. "My soul, be thou ever on thy guard." If he thrice strove to overthrow the Master will he let the servant alone? None will he more strive to injure than yourself. If he can ruin the peace and destroy the usefulness of a young life, great will be his gain. II. You must be swift to discern temptation in whatever form it may come to you. These thousands of years he has been practising his fatal arts in beguiling souls, so that he knows how best to reach those whom he would injure. Just as a thief would go round about a house to see by what window or door he best can enter, so the devil goes round about each soul to discover where he can find the easiest access. Remember, no place is secure from danger. The wilderness, the mountain-top, the Holy City, the Temple, were scenes where he tempted Christ. So everywhere and anywhere he is on the watch for you. In solitude or in society, in your chamber or on the cricket-field, in the schoolroom or in the chapel, he may come to you. And he has many devices to compass his work. If he can, he will draw you into sin, he will make you forget God, he will make you proud or careless, or perhaps try to make you despair of help. See how variously he tempted Christ. He would have Him doubt His sonship, distrust God's providential care, presume upon His protection though He should forsake the path marked out; he tempted Him to self-display, to grasp at the dominion over the world, to commit the fearful sin of worshipping him. In these ways he tempted Christ, and in similar ways he will tempt you. He will tempt you to sins of the intellect, to self-conceit, parade of natural gifts, thinking lightly of God's truth. He will tempt you to sins of the appetite, to selfindulgence, to caring too much for eating and drinking, to self-abuse, and other sins. He will tempt you to sins of the heart, trusting in an arm of flesh, love of the world, ambition, craving too much human praise, and letting some idol take the throne which Christ alone ought to occupy. one can tell the lanes and byways by which your enemy will come near. You need to be perpetually on the alert. "Gird thy heavenly armour on, Watch and pray." No |