Yes. Upward looks He to His Father still.
God asks His children's trust,

And they will give it, albeit His will

Strive hard with them.

Faith must.

"I come to do Thy will; 'tis My delight."

So spake the Holy Son.

“Dare I capitulate while I can fight?

Pause ere the race be run?

Hence, Satan! Whisp'rest thou, Yea, hath God said?'
God hath said, 'Not alone

Doth man live on the sustenance of bread

'Twere to the soul a stone

From lips Divine each word which doth proceed
Nourisheth that within.'

Receive it, and in contemplation feed;

Thus eat, thou shalt not sin."

So fed Christ. For the "angels' food" He sought,

He found. And it was meat

Meat such as, though unknown to earth-bound thought,
His soul loved well to eat.

Ay, Lord! so too Thy servants fain would feed

Their meat, to do Thy will;

If but Thy holy influence, their need

And emptiness, may fill

With Christ's desire. So appetites that speak

The longing, heaven-taught heart,

Only their right inalienable' seek

In choosing "that good part."

1 ("Which shall not be taken away" from them.)

B

46

'Physician, Heal Thyself.”

EFORE thou reprehend another, take heed thou art not culpable in what thou goest about to reprehend. He that cleanses a blot with blurred figures, makes a greater blot.-Even the candlesnuffers of the sanctuary were of pure gold: Exodus xxxvii, 23.-Quarles.

A Young Man Missing.'

NE day, passing along a public thoroughfare, I noticed a broad sheet pasted on a wall, at the head of which were the words in large letters,

"A YOUNG MAN MISSING: 10 Reward."

I read on, and found that the young man had been a teacher in a National School, and had last been seen at a certain railway station, carrying a small parcel. Notice of his whereabouts was to be given to a certain police office, together with any information that might lead to his discovery.

I neither saw nor heard anything more about this advertisement. The affair certainly looked mysterious, and seemed to indicate something of fraud or other wrong

1 May be had also as a tract, Is. per 100.

doing.

If this were so, probably the culprit, sooner or later, was found, and brought to justice for the evil he had done.

But this simple sentence of four short words remained on my memory long after it was read, and gave rise to reflections which I will set down here. They may come

home to some one..

He

"A young man missing" from the family circle. might be its light and comfort. Father and mother, brothers and sisters, look for his presence, and would rejoice to have it. But he is seldom there. He has his own ways of spending his leisure time. He has his own haunts and companions. Night after night, he is missing. Sometimes it

is past midnight before he returns to his home..

"A young man missing" from the house of God. It may be that he was brought up by Christian parents, or that he was instructed in the Sunday-school as to the sacredness of God's holy day. But all this is forgotten and cast aside; and the Sunday is the worst day of all the seven with him. Perhaps now and then, on some rare occasions, he is seen in the sanctuary. Ordinarily his feet tread other paths. He has no taste nor desire to hear the Word of God, c. to seek His face. Still less does he care to do good to others. Byand-by he will find the truth of the saying, "Sabbathbreaking sins bring heart-breaking sorrows."

"A young man missing" from the fold of the Good Shepherd. He has gone astray like a lost sheep. He has turned his back on the Friend of sinners. Christ has many beneath His loving care; but this young man is not amongst them. He chooses to roam. He will be his own master, and no one shall control or guide him. He is careless and indifferent as to a better life. He cares for none of these things, and goes along his way without a thought of God, or his soul, or eternity. He may even be treading the path of vice and profligacy. He goes to the house which is the way to hell. He is sowing to the flesh, and will hereafter reap a terrible harvest. Sorrow and remorse, perhaps broken-down health

and early death, may follow as the bitter fruit of his sinful

courses.

of transgressors is hard."1 "Many sorrows

66

66 The way shall be to the wicked." The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."3

He is

"A young man missing," BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. lost, but loved. An eye is ever following him in pity and compassion. In the second column of the daily papers. there is occasionally an invitation to an absent one to return. Sometimes it is an appeal from a father or mother to a son who has left his home. The parents earnestly entreat him to return. It is promised that the past shall all be forgiven, and that a hearty welcome awaits him from those who are deeply anxious and distressed on his

account.

heaven give to

You have gone He has been call

Such an invitation does our Father in each erring one who reads these lines. astray, but your Father loves you still. ing long, and He is calling yet. He bids you think of the mercy and kindness and forbearance that He has shown you. He watched over you in your infancy. He kept you from many dangers. In spite of your rebellion against Him, in spite of your forgetfulness and ingratitude, He has never ceased to follow you in His tender compassion. He has called you many a time by His word, and by the chiding of your conscience. Once more he calls you by this little messenger.

He has seen the blackest stain that

has marked your course, and is willing at once to cleanse it in the blood of His Son. If only you heartily repent, acknowledge your guilt, and trust in the name of Jesus, He will receive you, cast all your sins behind His back, and welcome you at once as His reconciled and adopted child. More than this, He will undertake to guide and strengthen you in the future. He will put His Spirit within • Prov. xiii. 15. 3 Isa. lvii. 20, 21.

2 Psa. xxxii. 10.

you, and enable you to resist every temptation, and break off every evil habit. Only read, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the words which tell of God's love to His penitent child.1

Behold in that touching story the picture of the father's love welcoming home the missing and the lost one. See how love lifts up the poor and wretched and guilty one to honour and peace and favour. Yes, and heaven itself resounds with a song of joy and gladness in the recovery of the sinner who has gone astray, for "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

Ah, it is a glorious truth that God does not despise the fallen and the lost one, and is waiting to be gracious. Will you not prove it for yourself? Why longer stay in the land of barrenness and famine? Why continue a stranger to such a Father? Oh, come back; return at once. Stay not an hour. Linger not by the way. The door is open. The Father is on the look out, and comes to meet you. bear you on His shoulder. Angels Come back now. Come back to-day. Make Christ your hope. Pray for the

Good Shepherd will will rejoice over you.

Believe God's love.

The

new heart which the Spirit will create in you. In your Father's tender care you shall have peace and comfort on earth, and in His kingdom you shall have joy and rest hereafter.

44

A Message out of the Night.”

wo women were walking quickly along the shore one mild autumn evening. The sea looked sullen and dark under the gloomy sky, lit only by a

faint glow in the west; the evening was throwing her grey shadow over everything, and shore, sea, and sky were fading into one mysterious whole. The women were talking so earnestly together that they did not pay much

1 Luke xv. 20-24.