JUNE 27. "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

vi. 13.

Ерн.

MONG the prisoners who were taken captive

A by the French at the battle of Waterloo, there

was a Highland piper. Napoleon, struck with his mountain dress and sinewy limbs, asked him to play on his instrument, which sounds so thrillingly in the mountains and glens of Scotland. "Play a pibroch," said Napoleon; and the Highlander played it. "Play a march.' It was done. "Play a retreat." "Na, na," said the brave piper, "I never learned to play a retreat!"

We, who are soldiers of the cross, may learn a lesson from this. We should never retreat. The battle may be hot, and our enemies in ever-increasing numbers may press around us; but, we must still maintain our ground. Let us be animated by the conduct of our Glorious Leader, and by his assurances of succour in the most threatening and perilous hour. If we retreat, we fail; if we stand, we conquer. The Lord give us grace to stand!

Now let the feeble all be strong,
And make Jehovah's arm their song:
His shield is spread o'er every saint,
And thus supported none can faint.

JUNE 28. "I am the way." JOHN xiv. 6.

CHRIST is the way through which sinners re

turn to God. He is the Divinely appointed way. God has opened this method of return to himself. He had a right to do so, and he only. If a subject rebel against his ruler, it is for the

ruler to say whether or not mercy shall be exercised, and how it shall be shown. The mediation of Christ bears the stamp of Divine wisdom and love; and he who offers it an insult, offers an insult to the Most High. He is a tried way. Millions now in glory have passed along this way. It is still open. Sometimes as you pass through our towns you see a board up at the end of a street informing you that there is "No road" that way. No such notice has ever yet, before the way of salvation. You sometimes hear persons

or ever shall be set He is the only way. say that there are

several roads to heaven. It is a grand mistake.

There is but one.

ther but by me."

''

"No man cometh to the Fa "Neither is there salvation in

any other." You cannot come to God by any works of your own. No gifts-no prayers-no efforts-no sufferings, can atone for your sins.

In vain would boasting reason find
The way to happiness and God;
Her weak directions leave the mind
Bewildered in a dubious road.

No other name will heaven approve
Than Christ, the true and living way,
Ordained by everlasting love,

To the bright realms of endless day.

JUNE 29. "Be not righteous over much.” ECCLES. vii. 16.

M

cr

ATTHEW HENRY, in his life of his father, the Rev. Philip Henry, says, “I have heard him often blame those whose irregular zeal in the profession of religion makes them neglect their worldly business, and let the house drop through-the affairs of which the good man will order with discretion; and he would tell some

times of a religious woman whose fault it was,
how she was convinced of it by means of an in-
telligent, godly neighbour, who, coming into the
house, and finding the good woman, far in the
day, in her closet, and the house sadly neglected,
children not tended, servants not minded, What!'
said he, is there no fear of God in the house ?'
which much startled and affected the good wo-
man that overheard him.
He would often say,
"Everything is beautiful in its season;' and that
it is the wisdom of the prudent so to order the
duties of their general callings as Christians, and
those of their particular callings in the world, as
that they may not clash or interfere. I have
heard it observed, from Eccles. vii. 16., that there
may be over-doing in well-doing. In all things,
O Lord, may I honour thee. By a due attention
to all my secular duties may I prove to the world
that godliness is the true guide of life, as well as
the hope of death and eternity!

Direct, control, suggest each day,
All I design, or do, or say;

That all my powers, with all their might,
In thy sole glory may unite.

JUNE 30. "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." 1 PET. i. 7.

N eminent preacher has the following beautiful comment on the above passage, in one of his sermons:-"Faith is precious; all things of earth compared with it are as nothing; the precious gift of a Father's love; the precious fruit of

a Saviour's righteousness; the precious grace of the Holy Ghost. It enriches those who have it. They who have it have God as their Father, Christ and his fulness as their treasure, the Holy Spirit as their Comforter and Sanctifier. It is the enriching grace; though it brings nothing in its hand, yet it has a goodly train,-love, joy, peace, yea, all precious fruits. It justifies, it sanctifies, it pacifies, it glorifies, for they who have it have eternal life. It receives all from Christ, and does all for Christ. It bears burdens, gains victories, groans, wrestles for him, and in his ways. It is nevertheless very different to gold in one thing,few value it. It is a despised grace, pre-eminent. ly so. Love has its admirers, even among the un godly, courage, patience, self-denial; but faith is despised. Yet is it more precious than gold. Gold conveys perishable riches; faith, everlasting ones. Gold, though durable, yet is in itself perishable. 'I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.' Gold often brings sorrow; faith always brings joy. Gold is from the earth; faith is from above. Gold often debases the mind; faith always elevates and purifies it. Again, gold is tried in order to prove it to be gold, and in order to be purified. Faith must also be tried. Thus being tried, proved, purified, it shall, through grace, be found unto praise, honour, and glory; it shall have its blessing here; but most of all, when he shall appear in his own glory, whose it is, and from whom it came."

Faith; 'tis a precious grace
Where'er it is bestowed,
It boasts of a celestial birth,
And is the gift of God.

JULY 1.

"And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night." EXODUS xiii. 21.

44

T

HE pillar," says Arrowsmith, "by which the Israelites were conducted through the wilderness may be looked upon as an emblem of that safe conduct which the church in all ages may expect from Jesus Christ. As in that pillar there were two different substances, the fire and the cloud, yet but one pillar, so there are two different natures in Christ: his divinity shining as fire; his humanity darkening as a cloud, yet but one person. As that pillar departed not from them by day or by night all the while they travelled in the desert, so, whilst the Church's pilgrimage lasts in this world, the safe conduct of Christ, by his Spirit and ordinances, shall be continued. But as at their entrance into Canaan, a type of heaven, the pillar is thought to have been removed (because not mentioned in the sequel of the history; and because, when Israel passed over Jordan, we read not of the pillar, but of the ark going before them); so when the church shall arrive at heaven, her resting-place, the mediatorial guidance of Christ is to cease, and the ordinances, which are here of use, shall disappear."

Round the church for ever hovering,

See the cloud and fire appear!

For a glory and a covering,

Showing that the Lord is near,