At once the priests brought garlands and oxen to the gates that they might offer sacrifices. How prompt they were to hallow the names of their gods! And how liberal! Behold them bringing their most costly and beautiful things-oxen and garlands. We know that these oxen were the fairest and fattest and cleanest in all the land. They were white, and they were coaxed to go willingly to the altar without thongs, as they believed that the gods would not accept any offering that was defiled or unwilling. Paul's spirit, you remember, was stirred within him when he saw the city of Athens wholly given to a false religion. Athens then was a perfect forest of statues and temples in honour of their gods. These were of the finest marble, covered with gold, and the masterpieces of men of genius. The streets were choked with pedlars selling little images of the gods. These were taken home and used for family worship. Ephesus was as religious as Athens. The splendid temple of Diana there was one of the seven wonders of the world.

And how very religious millions of heathens are to-day! Think of the temples of India, Burmah, China and Japan; think of the multitudes who give up their whole life to religious duties. I read that a merchant in Bombay wished to atone for his sins. He

had himself and his wife weighed, and gave their weight in silver to their idol-temple. These heathen shame millions in Christian lands. We may well offer up the poet's prayer, "Oh for a pagan zeal in Christian hearts.'

From the Profaners and Neglecters, we gladly turn to

III. THE HALLOWERS OF GOD'S NAME.

I cannot make God's name holier than it is; but I can hallow it by treating it as it ought to be treated, and getting others to join me in this. I can hallow it by heart, by lip, and by life.

All true hallowing must begin in the heart and work outwards. "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts": if we do not sanctify Him there, we cannot sanctify Him anywhere. I sanctify God in my heart when I turn to Him with childlike awe and trust. son, give Me thy heart," is His appeal to me; and through Christ Jesus, and by the aid of His Spirit, I can gladly give myself to Him. All other hallowings flow from that.

My

I hallow God with my lips when I confess Him as my Father in heaven, engage in His worship, and sing His praise. Every act of worship is a hallowing of His

Name, and

some ways of worship have more hallowing in them than others. During worship in the early Church, the pastor used to cry out, "Sursum corda: lift your hearts to heaven"; and also "Hoc age: do this one thing; put all your soul into it." Worship means worthy-ship: it is the way of publicly owning the infinite worthiness of the Allworthy. It is the treating of Him as He ought to be treated: it is the loftiest admiration and adoration.

By my life I can hallow God's great name. By glad and unfailing obedience to His will I pay homage to Him. My work thus becomes worship; every meal is as a sacrament, every day as a Sabbath, and the whole life is an offering upon God's altar. The first petition singles out worship as the highest work of man. From it every good

work should flow.

The mother of two little girls had a frightful temper, which often filled them with terror. But she was converted. One day the younger girl came home, having her pinafore all covered with mud, and expecting a dreadful beating. But the mother quietly gave the child a clean pinafore, and a "piece," and a kiss, and told her to join her sister at play. The mother had been teaching the child the first questions in the

Catechism about God. The astonished little thing looked up in her mother's face and said, "Mother, if God's like you, I love Him." Most admirably had that mother hallowed the name of God.

"Hallowed be Thy name": does it say on Sabbath, in the church, or at the school? No it does not say where, or when, or how; for it means everywhere, everyway, and always. It is a missionary prayer. It breathes the desire that all idols may be cast down, and that all the children of men may worship as the dear children of our Father in heaven, so that the Great Name may be hallowed far and near. You cannot really add to the brightness of the sun; but yet, in what is called a relative way, you may increase his glory by letting his light into dark corners from which it is now shut out. Thus, to spread God's kingdom by a single hairsbreadth is to hallow His name. He who uses this prayer must do his best to have it answered. "Have mercy upon us, O Lord, and incline our hearts to live more nearly as we pray."

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

D

No. IV

THY KINGDOM COME

HIS is the First of May.

THI

Both in pagan and in Christian lands May-day has been celebrated as a glad festival. Millions have risen before the sun that they might go a-maying, as the phrase runs. They rushed to the fields in merry groups, revelled in their fresh beauty, drank in the sweet morning air as drunkards drink wine. The earth had on her holiday attire, and they were in their holiday mood. They washed their faces with the May dew, believing that it had all the powers of magic, and that it would give them fresh strength and beauty. They also gathered the fragrant hawthorn blossoms, wherewith they garlanded their houses.

May is also the month of increase and abundance, for it is crowned with the promise of harvest. The word May, they say, comes from the same root as major and the Scotch mair.

God grant that in the great things of the soul you may be to-day like those who go a-maying. Arise early in the morning of life