here! O prodigal, clothed with the best robe, remember the depths, when thou didst sojourn in the far country! If in Christ, fellow-heirs with him, what a glorious future is awaiting us! Christ gives us not merely heaven, but a right to heaven, — his own right, as it were: "I will grant to him to sit with me in my throne !"

See here what constitutes your misery and your weakness: "Without me ye can do nothing." When we do not abide in Christ, and do not let his word abide in us, our peace becomes shallow, our joy becomes hollow, our strength unreal, feverish, and effervescent. Only by decreasing in self-dependence and confidence in the flesh, and by allowing Christ to increase, to become more indispensable to us, and claiming more his strength and the supplies of his grace, can our souls prosper and glorify God.

Learn here to seek the Spirit. He joins us to Christ. It is he who keeps us in Christ, even to the end.

Learn here the importance of obedience. Ponder Christ's saying, "If ye keep my

commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." Oh, what earnest, heart-stirring, heart-constraining preaching of the law have we here! Obedience is the way of abiding in Christ's love. It is when we obey that we rest in the embrace of our Saviour.

If not in Christ, then, instead of bread, we feed on poison; instead of a sure foundation, we build on sand; instead of being living branches, we are withered, ready to be cast out and burnt; instead of having life in him who is the resurrection and life, we are in Adam, children of wrath and disobedience, and heirs of death; instead of the marriagesupper, we must look forward to never-ending separation from the Source of all light and purity and blessedness. If in Christ, we wait for a glorious harvest, for the perfect manifestation of the sons of God, for the inheritance which God has promised to Christ, and all who by the Spirit are joined to him.

Once in Christ, in Christ forever! While

Peter denied him, Christ remembered him. Before Peter fell, Christ had prayed for his disciples. In the depths, the everlasting arms are beneath thee. Will not his goodness lead thee to repentance, to tender, loving, faithful, zealous obedience?

ANON.

I CAN WAIT.

Though the ills of life oppress,
And the waves of grief o`erflow,
God will all my wrongs redress :
This my soul doth surely know.
I can wait.

Though my ships went down at sea,
With their wealth of gems and gold,
Filling all my soul with grief,

And a sorrow all untold,
I can wait.

Though the bread with lavish hand
Which I cast on every side,

Now to me in direst want

Comes not o'er the treacherous tide,
I can wait.

Though the good I measured out
With my lavish, willing hand
Comes not to relieve my need,
While I worn and waiting stand,
I can wait.

Though I laid my idol down,

Bound and banded in the tomb,

Taking from my life its charm,

From my cheek its healthful bloom,
I can wait.

Though I've freed while I am bound,
Though my works have come to nought,
Though where others jewels found
Dross has come where I have sought,
I can wait.

He has promised in his Word,

What we do not know while here,

Over in that happy land

To our souls shall be made clear:
I can wait.

He has promised that those bound
Here on earth shall find release
When their happy souls in heaven
Know the joy of perfect peace:
I can wait.

And my dead will rise again

From the confines of the tomb,
Bringing back my wasted life
With a new and fresher bloom.
I can wait.

Though the ills of life oppress,
And the waves of grief o'erflow,
God will all my wrongs redress:
This my soul doth surely know.
I can wait.

ANON.

"A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD."

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never-failing ;
Our Helper he amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing ;