Chapter 5

There is no subject of those on which I have written as yet in this book, or of those on which I shall write, that I believe to be of greater importance than that of setting a good example to others. Amongst other things our influence on one another has been compared to the action of the sea. And indeed the comparison is a good one. The sea is a mighty power, stronger perhaps than any other natural force. It is constantly and silently at work. We stand on a rock in the midst of the ocean; a rock that looks so firm, and seems so hard that it blunts the sharpest tools to work it. And yet, quite silently, the restless sea is eating into its very heart with its ceaseless beatings. And so is it with influence, or example. Silently, but none the less surely, do we make our influence felt upon each other. The influence may be bad or good; it may be a bad or good example we are setting, or a bad or good word that we speak, still there are always plenty of people ready to take it up and copy it. Probably for every person we can see to be influenced by our example, there are at least ten of whom we know nothing. Reader, these are solemn thoughts. The idle word you spoke yesterday has gone beyond recall; but God heard it and noted both it and its effect upon those who stood by. And you may one day find that that word has caused a world of sorrow to spring up around it. Yes, we cannot unspeak a word carelessly spoken, or unthink one evil thought. How often we hear it said, "Alas! I possess no influence, what can I do?" Now it is true that many have no wealth, no beauty, no rank, no intellect, no learning; but there never has been a heart created since the world began, that has not received and exerted the precious, though much-abused gift of influence. How is this? Just because every heart has the power of loving! There is a story told of Cecil's little daughter, who was asked by her father how it was that everybody loved her so much. "I think, dear father," replied the child, "it must be because I love everybody." Here, then, is a work we all can do, and we all have to do. "Love is power." The sunshine has to do its work; it penetrates the darkest places, the dirtiest streets, the most dismal prisons; it brings light and heat to the chilled and cold; it gives colour to the flower, and ripeness to the fruit. And so it is with good influence. The influence of one loving heart may do a world of good. It may not be a powerful heart; it need not be the heart of a learned man; still less need it be the heart of a rich one; so long as it is a loving heart it will go about cheering and lighting up, warming and colouring and ripening all things like the sun.Many good people seem to think it a duty to keep their hearts locked up tight from their fellow men. Have you ever thought seriously of the sin of doing this? Have you ever thought that such a course makes the religion of your gentle, kindly, warm-hearted Master appear in a cold and disagreeable form? Have you ever thought that as the Lord Jesus looks upon the cup of cold water bestowed on a neighbour as given to Him, so He will look upon the wounded feeling, the repulsed confidence, the bruised spirit, you have occasioned as given to Him too? Oh! it is a sad thing to fold up in a napkin the talent ofmanner; to lose, as it were, the key of the door which opens the hearts of men.But if you are using your influence, don't be afraid to use it for Christ; to be an out-and-out Christian! Those are the sort He always blesses in the end, and their works follow them long after they have passed onward to their reward.Not long ago, in a Sussex village, there lived a young man, a farm-labourer. He had often wished to stay in church for Holy Communion, which he knew well would help him, beyond all else, in the good and earnest life he was trying to lead. Still the fear of his companions' laughter held him back. One Sunday morning, however, after praying much for God's help to aid him to do what was right, he knelt on, when the others had left the church, and went up to receive the Holy Communion. On coming out of church his friends began to laugh at him for staying, but he said nothing, and walked quietly home. Sunday after Sunday he persevered, though it was hard work, and he was often tempted to give way. Months passed, and one Sunday another boy came and knelt down beside him, instead of leaving church, and he too received the Holy Communion. A few Sundays after they were joined by another, and after that more and more of the young men of that parish began to follow their example. Nor did the good resulting from this end there. These young men are now banded together in that parish, working together for the same great Master Christ, each in his own occupation, and leading others to the knowledge of the Saviour. And all this came from the courage of that one brave soldier of Christ, who used his influence in his Captain's cause. Reader, will not you go and do likewise?Hitherto I have spoken only of the good influence we may exercise upon our companions and on strangers. What shall I say of the influence we may exercise on our home? Ere this, one Christian man has been known to change the whole manner of life of a household. St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to Timothy to "shew piety at home;" and after all it isin our own homesthat we must bear witness for Jesus Christ. Speak up for Christ when occasion demands it, above all live a Christian life, and then the lives of those around you will be brought more under the influence of religion. But to young men particularly is the call to influence others loudest and clearest, and to set a good example their plain duty--"Young men be strong for Jesus,To toil for Him is gain--And Jesus wrought for JosephWith chisel, saw, and plane."HELPING OTHERS."The cowslip and the spreading vine,The daisy in the grass,The snow-drop and the eglantine,Preach sermons as we pass.The ant within its cavern deepWould bid us labour too,And writes upon its tiny heap--'There's work enough to do.'To have a heart for those who weep,The sottish drunkard win;To rescue all the children deepIn ignorance and sin;To help the poor, the hungry feed;To give him coat and shoe;To see that all can write and read--Is 'work enough to do.'"John Burbidge.Of all the different kinds of work that God has given us to do here on earth, there is none more important, none more satisfactory, than this work of helping others. Ever since Jesus Christ stood upon the shore of the sea of Galilee, watching two fishermen mending their nets; ever since He spoke to those two, saying, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men[#]," the command has been binding upon all Christians. To go out upon the grand field of philanthropy, of love of men, is the noblest occupation that our poor life can have. To spend and be spent in the service of our fellow-men is a work that is so specially blest by Christ, that I hardly think that a chapter on "helping others" will be in any sense out of place here.[#] S. Matt. iv. 19.But perhaps you will say, "How can I, I who am so poor, help others?" Reader, you have only to look for such work, and God will give it you. It may be you can help others by giving them your time. For instance, if you have an aged or infirm neighbour, too feeble to dig his own garden, it would no doubt be a great help to him if you were to go and offer to do it for him. Some time ago, in a country village, there was a young man, who wished to try and help others in some practical way, for the Master's sake. For a long time he could not find anything to do; but at last one of his neighbours, an old man, became very ill, and bedridden. He was very poor, and his old wife almost too infirm to attend to him properly. For the last two years this young fellow has gone in in the morning, before going to his work, and done all he could for him in the house; and every night on returning home, he goes again, settles him for the night, and reads the Bible to him before leaving. One day, when he was praised for doing this, he said, quite simply, "I do like to do it, it seems like helping Christ: whenever I go there, I say to myself, 'I was sick, and ye visitedMe.'"That young man understands the true meaning of the words "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me[#]."[#] S. Matt. xxv. 40.Reader, there may be no sick neighbour for you to help, but there is no doubt you can find work to do if you will only try. Oh! don't stand idle all the blessed hours of youth, that God has given you to work for others. Stand up like men, ready to go and fight for Jesus, the Great Captain of the Lord's host. Ask God to give you strength and victory, and to fulfil the promise He once gave to His chosen people, by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint[#]."[#] Isaiah xl. 31."Come labour on!Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,While all around him waves the golden grain?And to each servant does the Master say,'Go, work to-day.'Come labour on!The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure,Blessed are those who to the end endure;How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,Oh! Lord, with Thee."Yes, the end of helping others lies in the Master's kingdom. The reward of serving Christ in the person of His poor, awaits you in the many mansions. You may meet with coldness, and hard words, from those you would seek to help; but generally, you will find them only too glad of it. And what matters it what men say and think of your work, if the Lord approves of it? What will it matter whether your friends did not help you, if Christ helps you here, and gives you your reward in heaven?It is especially a young man's calling to help others. He need not give up the least bit of his ordinary daily work or daily pleasure to do so. All he needs is a ready will to undertake the work as soon as Christ gives it him to do.I cannot close this chapter better than by quoting some remarks, made some years ago by one of the London clergy. Preaching to young men upon the words, "Young man, I say unto thee arise!" the preacher said--"We need young men, fired with the thought that they are called by Christ to be the saviours of society from the sins that are wasting it, to render to their country and to humanity the noblest service, by fighting with voice and hand against those deadly foes that menace our very life; and will, if they are allowed to run riot, certainly drag us down to hell. Young men, rise up to stand against it and destroy it. Lift up against it the Standard of the Cross. Be known as Christ's soldiers, banded and pledged to overthrow it. Let your conversation be pure from all taint of uncleanness; and never let the glass rob you of your power to stand up for Christ against sensual sin. Rebuke and frown down the young man's talk, and the habit of life it engenders; you know what I mean. Say to those who love it, it is just this that is destroying us as a people. Unless our young men rise up together, as one man, and make drunkenness and harlotry shameful and hateful, I see no hope for our country, but a hope of growing decay."Those are wise words, carefully and thoughtfully spoken. God grant, reader, that you and I may lay them seriously to heart.OUR COMPANIONS."A friend I had, long, long ago,And one I learnt to prize,He taught a truth that all should know--In work true honour lies.A frank and cheerful face had he,And a heart as light as heart could be.* * * * *He has found his rest in Heaven above,But has left a golden fame;For the neighbours tell his deeds of love,And the children bless his name;And comrades too for many a dayShall roughly wipe their tears away."John Burbidge.There are, perhaps, few things so important to a young man as to make a right choice of companions. How much depends on this. How much of our present and future happiness; nay, more, how much of our eternal welfare depends upon those with whom we mix on earth. Very many a young man has begun life with the best intentions and the holiest desires; and all these have been dashed to the ground by his having made an unwise choice in selecting his companions.Now there are several things to be thought of in making this choice. And I shall try to put a few of these before you. First, it is most important that your companions should be God-fearing men. I don't think any friendship can be really happy, or even lasting, unless this is the case. For remember that there are friendships which do not end with life; that true friendship, blessed by Almighty God, is only begun here below, and is carried on in that distant spirit-land beyond the grave.Secondly, don't think that because your companions should be godly men, they must needs be gloomy or dull. A man may be godly, and at the same time quite able to laugh with others, and make as good jokes as they; but his laughter will never be turned against religion, nor his jokes made at the expense of the people of God. A man who is a drunkard, for instance, will never be a good or even pleasant companion for you. His conversation in his sober moments is rarely interesting, and when he is in liquor he is worse than a beast. And as to his example, what can I say of that? It will be an example which God grant, reader, you may never follow; but it is an example which it is better you should not even see. In a word, as a recent writer has put it, my advice to you is, "Make friends with sober men, who can talk and laugh without incessant liquor."Now it may be you think you are quite strong enough to resist temptation. It may be you think that as you pass through this world yours will be a life of temptation, and you feel that if you can't resist it now, you never will. It was said of Sophronius, a wise teacher in Ancient Greece, that one day when his daughter Eulalia came to ask permission to visit a worldly friend, Lucinda, Sophronius forbade her. And when Eulalia, trusting in her own power to overcome the temptations of her evil companion, replied, "Dear father, you must think me childish if you imagine I should be exposed to danger by going." Sophronius took, in silence, a dead coal from the hearth, and gave it to his daughter. "It will not burn you, my child: take it," said he. Eulalia did so, and behold! her hand was blackened, and, as it chanced, her white dress too. "We cannot be too careful in handling coals," said Eulalia in vexation. "Yes, truly!" replied her father; "You see, my child, the coals, even if they do not burn, blacken."And so, too, is it with companions. The coals may not burn, but only blacken; and companions may not leave any lasting impression for evil on the heart. Their example may not even appear to the conscience as being black and evil, but they blacken the character, at any rate for the time, none the less, if not in the sight of men, undoubtedly in the sight of God.And there is one point more. Do remember, that even the worst of us, the most degraded, are being constantly watched by people above us in society. And very often they don't care to have anything to do with us,because of our companions. I once heard a foreman, who employed a great number of hands on a certain work, say of a young man, whose name had been recommended for employment, "He keeps such bad company." And though I knew the young man in question well, and knew that whatever his companions might be, he himself was pure and good, still it was of no use my speaking to the foreman, because hewaskeeping bad company. Depend upon it, reader, there is truth in words written down in our Father's Book, "Godliness is profitable unto all things, baringpromise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come[#]."[#] Tim. iv. 8.THE BOOKS WE READ."There is a Book, who runs may read,Which heavenly truth imparts,And all the lore its scholars needPure eyes and Christian hearts.The works of God, above, below,Within us and around,Are pages in that Book to showHow God Himself is found."John Keble.There are few things which have so mighty a power for good or evil, on the lives of most of us, as the books we read. Nor is it easy for us to read nothing but what is profitable and good. From the Bible, of course, we can always get wholesome reading, and always gain fresh stores of knowledge; but we cannot always be reading the Bible. And there are in these days many books and papers which a young man may come across, which can hardly fail to do him harm; books with perfectly innocent titles, and apparently quite harmless, and yet the reading they contain is as poison to the human soul. But there are plenty of good books too, thank God; and almost every village has its library, and every cottage home its books.But even if you are ever so careful as to what you read, it is almost certain the devil will put something into your hands that you should not read. He does so to us all. Rich and poor, young and old, all alike read a good deal that they should not--for rich people have their temptations too, and very hard they are tried sometimes. Well, the only safeguard I know of is, whenever you read anything you know to be bad shut up the book at once, and read no further. And whenever you read anything that you are doubtful about, take down your Bible and ask God to shew you, out of His Word, whether what you have been reading is right or wrong. You know, I daresay, that all along a part of the south coast of England there are a number of round towers, built at certain distances from each other. And the object of these towers was this. Many years ago we expected a foreign foe to land on our shores, and we built these watch-towers to guard against surprise. And it is just the same with the Bible. God has said, I won't prevent the devil trying to persuade you to read these bad books, and I won't prevent your reading them; but I give you the Bible, which, if you compare its words with the words of the books you read, they will, like the men in the watch-towers, give you warning of the enemy's approach. Reader, if you require plainer words than those written in God's Bible, I fear you will never read them on earth, and you certainly will never read them in heaven. How often we hear men say, "I'm no scholar." And this is given as an excuse for not coming to church, and for not reading the Bible, and a lot of other things too. But there's many a man who will tell you he's no scholar, if you ask him to read the Bible; but if you give him a newspaper and tell him there's an account of a horrible murder in it, he'll take that gladly, and he won't tell you he's no scholar then! He'll very soon find that either his wife or his children can read to him about the murder of a fellow creature, but he won't take the trouble to ask them to read to him about the death of God's only Son.Oh, reader, be honest with God. He is honest, and means what He says. Man may not see through your excuses. He may go away and pity you for your want of learning, and you may be sitting at home thinking how cleverly you have deceived him. But all the while, though you little think it, God is holding up your character, and He sees through you, and every bit of what He sees, is written down in His great book to be brought up against you at the last day. Some people give as an excuse for reading bad and immoral books, that they can understand them. They say theycan't understandthe Bible. No doubt that is true. God says the carnal man--that is the man who loves this world and things of the flesh--cannot understand spiritual things; and the Bible is a spiritual book. How can the unwashed heart understand the Bible? Well, you say if it is a sealed book, how am I to understand it? The word of God, I answer, may be and is darkened to the worldly man, but the way of salvation is written so plainly, that a little child of six years old can read it, if he will. And oh! if you come across any impure or sinful book, do be careful what you do with it. Don't let it lie about. A little child may take it up and read it, and it may be, through your carelessness, its first step on the road to ruin. Don't say, that's not my look out! Reader, it is your look out; and God will lay it to your charge. If you stop under a hayrick to light your pipe, and you carelessly throw the lighted match away among the hay, so that the rick catches fire, isn't that your fault? You didn't mean, I daresay, to set fire to the rick; you didn't leave home, and go to that particular place in order to set that rick on fire, but I think that any magistrate in the kingdom would make you suffer for your carelessness. And so it is with God. He looks at results as well as at intentions. And if you carelessly leave a bad book about, and it happens to do harm, the punishment of that harm, be it little or be it much, will rest upon your soul in the life to come.TRUE MANLINESS."There are other battles to fight, my boy,Than the battle of which you speak;There are battles which none can win, my boy,But the lowly in heart and meek;There are battles in which earth's mightiest fail,And the strong ones are the weak.There's a battle, my boy, with the world's rude laughAt the lessons our Saviour taught,And many a battle with self, beforeWe can do the things we ought;A battle which, not for the praise of men,Is in secret and silence fought.If in the battle of life, my boy,Thou would'st stand on thy Captain's side,With the white-robed hosts that follow the Lamb,The called, and chosen, and tried,Thou must take up thy cross, denying thyself,And follow the Crucified."From"The Child's Book of Ballads."There is nothing a young man desires more than to be thought manly. At school he is constantly told to be manly. And indeed true manliness is a grand thing. How often we hear our young men say that they want to be more independent. You may have said so yourself, reader; what harm if you have? Isn't it a fine thing, and a noble thing, and a right thing to be independent? Certainly it is; and I hope before the end of this chapter to have shewn you the difference between true and false independence, and true and false manliness.Now let us deal with manliness first. What is it to be manly? To be manly means to be man-like--like a man. And He Who was our great pattern man, the only perfect pattern that ever lived, has shewn us in His own life what true manliness means. He knew well how fond young men in all ages would be of trying to be manly, and so He gave them His advice how to be so. Listen to it. He said, "Except ye be converted, and becomeas little children, ye shall in nowise enter into the kingdom of Heaven." As little children! Young man, do you hear that? you must become as submissive, as obedient, as trustful and believing as a little child, if you would be manly.And one of the greatest marks of true manliness is respect paid to women. A true man is ever courteous, and careful of his words and acts in the presence of a woman. He indulges in no thoughts of impurity or lust; but if they arise he drives them out. Like Joseph, when he is tempted to sin against his master's law of purity, he says to himself, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" I know no surer test of manliness than that. To be careful of woman's virtue, and to be mindful of God's commands. To help the weak and those who cannot help themselves, to think for those who will not think for themselves, is manliness indeed; and he who will do these things in the midst of a mocking crowd, shews that he is truly manly.And next, let me say a word about independence. So many young men nowadays seem to think that independence consists in being rude to every one they meet. But if this is your idea of independence you may be sure you are on the wrong road, and the sooner you get right the better. Real independence is, as I said, a fine and noble thing. An independent man can walk through the world with his head up, and give every one a civil answer, for he is as good as they. Oh! learn, reader, to be more truly independent. Learn to withdraw your dependence from man, and put it all on God. It is quite possible to be too dependent on man; it is quite impossible to be too dependent on God. Whether you wish it or not, you must depend on Him. He sends you life and health, food and raiment, all that you have, and all that you hope for. If you have saved enough money you can take a cottage, and live comfortably and independently in your old age; but if you have saved ever so much money, you can never lose your dependence on God.Lastly, let me in all earnestness say a kindly word to young men. You are just beginning life; everything is before you; and perhaps you feel, as indeed you ought to feel, that as you grow in years you wish to grow in true manliness and independence. Very well; take a kindly word of advice from a stranger; it is this, always be civil to everybody. A little civility goes a long way, farther often than you think. Be civil to your superiors, and they will think the more highly of you for it. Be civil to your equals, and they will respect you for it. Be civil to your inferiors, and they will look up to you for it. It costs very little to give a civil answer, and we often have reason afterwards to regret an uncivil word, uncivilly spoken. I do believe that this is a most important thing in going through life. We so constantly hear whole masses of men classed together and unfairly judged because of the conduct of one of their number who may chance to have been met. I have so often heard railway porters, for instance, described as a most civil class, and no doubt they find their civility paying. Above all, reader, to look at it from a higher ground, civility is pleasing to God. Of Christ it was said, "When He was reviled, He reviled not again[#];" and if He set us this example of civility it was to shew us that we can be truly manly, and truly independent, and at the same time truly civil, and truly Christian in heart.[#] 1 Pet. ii. 23.HONESTY."'Tis but a flash that spans the sky,A few short hours of joy to wreathe:Reader! this moment you and IMight cease to breathe!Then, live more worthy of a soulImplanted by a Hand Divine!Press onward to a richer goal!While yet there's time!He who can so secure his fame,Has nobly filled his narrow span,And future times shall write his name,An honest man!"John Burbidge."Honesty is the best policy" is a saying we frequently hear. And we may have said, "Ah! that's all very well for thieves and such like, but it doesn't apply to me." Reader, you may be honest, strictly honest in the sight of man, but are you strictly honest in the sight of God? You may never have taken so much as a pin that did not rightly belong to you, but are you quite certain that you have never taken of the things of God?Now let us just consider this for a few moments. To-day, we will say, is Sunday, God's holy day! To-day, of all days in the week, God has chosen to be set apart for His worship. He has given you time to be so employed. He has given you an open church to go to. He has given you health and power to go, and yet perhaps you reject all, and never go at all. Don't you see that you have taken of things of God, that you have taken His gift of health, and His gift of Sunday rest--things given that they might be spent in His service, and in worshipping Him in His church. And yet you accept these gifts, you take them as the most natural things in the world, and use the gifts of Almighty God for your own selfish purposes. And is this honest? Certainly not.But we will take another and a commoner case, if you like. God has perhaps given you influence among your fellows, and as you go about among them, you hear some person spoken against in terms which you know are not true. And yet you allow the matter to pass, because you are afraid that if you spoke, you might lose your influence. You forget that even if you lost it for the time, God, for Whose sake you spoke, would surely give it back, if He thought it good for you; and besides this, you would have the consciousness of having done an honest deed, and of having done it in an honest fearless way.And so you see that it is quite possible to be a strictly honest man in the sight of men, and a very dishonest man in the sight of God. And which, think you, is the best? Which will stand you in good stead at the day of judgment, your character as it has appeared to men, or as it appears to God? I think the latter. For in the Bible we are taught that the sight of God and that of men are two utterly different things, "for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."Some time ago in Edinburgh two gentlemen were standing at the door of an hotel one very cold day, when a little boy with a poor thin blue face, his bare feet red with cold, and with nothing to cover him but a bundle of rags, came and said, "Please, sir, buy some matches." "No, don't want any," the gentleman said. "But they are only a penny a box," the poor little fellow pleaded. "Yes, but you see we don't want a box," the gentleman said again. "Then I'll give you two for a penny," the boy said at last. And so to get rid of him the gentleman who tells the story says, I bought a box of him. But then I found I had no change, and so I said I would buy a box tomorrow. "Oh do buy them to-night, if you please," the boy again pleaded, "I will run and get you the change, for I'm very hungry." So I gave him the shilling, and off he started. I waited for him, but no boy came. Then I thought I had lost my shilling; still there was that in the boy's face I trusted, and I did not like to think ill of him. Late in the evening I was told a boy wanted to see me. When he was brought in, I found it was a smaller brother of the boy that had got my shilling, but if possible still more ragged and poor and thin. He stood for a moment diving into his rags, and then said, "Are you the gentleman that bought the matches from Sandie?" "Yes." "Well, then, here's fourpence out of your shilling; Sandie can't come, he's very ill; a cart ran over him, and knocked him down, and he lost his cap and his matches and your sevenpence, and both his legs are broken, and the doctor says he'll die, and that's all." And then, putting the fourpence on the table, the poor child broke out into great sobs. So I fed the little man, and went with him to see Sandie. The two poor little things lived alone, father and mother both dead. Poor Sandie lay on a bundle of shavings; he knew me as soon as I came in, and having told me how his legs were broken, he added, as his eyes fell on his little brother, "Oh Reuby, little Reuby! I'm sure I'm dying, and who'll take care of you when I am gone?" Then I took his hand and said, I would always take care of Reuby. He understood me, and had just strength enough left to look up at me, as if to thank me; the light went out of his blue eyes. And in a moment--"He lay within the light of GodLike a babe upon the breast,Where the wicked cease from troublingAnd the weary are at rest."That story was told in the noblest church of our great city. It was reported in the papers the following day. And I have no hesitation in saying that beautiful as are the words in which it is told, and wonderful as the effect may have been on the hearts of those who heard it, it was a sight far more wonderful than any we can imagine, when that story was told in the courts of the kingdom of heaven.Reader, think of little Sandie when you are tempted to say you are honest, and ask yourself the question, "Can I lay my hand upon my heart and say, My God, I am honest indeed, honest as that poor child was, honest before my neighbours, honest before Thee."BEARING THE CROSS."'Take up thy cross,' the Saviour said,If thou would'st My disciple be;Deny thyself, the world forsake,And humbly follow after Me.'Take up thy cross,' nor heed the shame,Nor let thy foolish pride rebel:Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured,To save thy soul from death and hell!'Take up thy cross,' and follow Christ--Nor think till death to lay it down;For only he who bears the cross,May hope to wear the glorious crown!"C. W. Everest.Bearing the cross, or self-denial, as it is sometimes called, forms a necessary part of the daily life of every Christian man. Every one of us can give up something for the good of others. A rich man is called upon to give up one thing, a poor man another. But let none think that his riches or his poverty, as the case may be, will excuse him from bearing the cross of Christ. And indeed in the heart of any true servant of God, there will be no wish to shirk the hard and disagreeable part of His service. His heart will be so filled with love and devotion to Christ, that he will gladly bear the cross, "despising the shame." It may be we are called upon to give up our time to go and see a sick neighbour, or it may be we are asked to do a neighbour a good turn by going on an errand for them when we wish to go elsewhere. But whatever it may be, it is certain that opportunities for practising self-denial occur in the lives of us all. "If any man will come after Me"--Christ has told us--"let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me[#]." There is the command, now hear the promise made to such as fulfil the command,--"and where I am, there shall also My servant be[#]."[#] S. Matt. xvi. 24.[#] S. John xii. 26.Self-denial may be in very simplest matters, and yet be quite as acceptable to Christ as would be the most costly gifts bestowed by the rich upon His service. You remember when Jesus was on earth, how one day He was sitting over against the Treasury, and as He sat there He kept taking notice of all the pieces of money that were cast into the Treasury. Now there happened to come by some very rich people, and they put large sums into the box, and passed on their way. And again others came, and they too being rich, "cast in much." But after awhile there came by one who is described as "a certain poor widow;" and "she cast in all she had, even all her living." How much it cost her to give that one farthing Jesus Christ knew well. Instead of keeping it to spend upon her own needs, she brought it up to the temple Treasury and gave it back to God. And that is just what you must do. I do not say it is necessary, or even right, that people should in these days give everything they possess to God. In one sense indeed we ought to give upall we haveto the service of Christ; I mean by this that we ought at all times to be ready to part with things earthly, if they interfere with the cross we are called upon to bear. And I do say that we ought to deny ourselves some little comfort or pleasure, and make a rule of giving the money that we should thus have spent upon ourselves to the service of Almighty God.It is told of a great and good man who lived many years ago at Cambridge, that on one occasion, being disheartened by the wickedness of many of those with whom he came in daily contact, he retired to his rooms, and taking his Bible he asked God to give him such help from its pages as would serve him in his trouble. He opened the Bible at the twenty-seventh chapter of S. Matthew's gospel, and his eye quickly fell on the thirty-second verse, "And as they went out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to bear His Cross." Charles Simeon, for it was he, rose from his knees comforted and strengthened. The likeness between his own name of Simeon and the Cyrenian's name of Simon, struck him forcibly; and he came to the conclusion that it was the will of his Father in heaven that he should bear the cross under which he was labouring.Reader, yours, like his, may be the cross of ridicule, of your friend's laughter at the things of God; and a bitter cross it is to bear! But try and look upon it as a cross laid upon you by your Saviour, a cross which He has borne before you up that bitter hillside of Calvary. Remember it is not merely that you are called upon to bear the cross, but, like Simon of Cyrene, that you should "bear itafterJesus." Therefore ask Him to give you strength to take up your cross daily, cheerfully and lovingly, and bear it after Him. Then self-denial will be less hard for you to practise than it is now. I do not say it will be pleasant, for that it can never be, but the sting of it will be taken away; indeed for the Christian, it long ago was taken away and laid on Him Who bore the burden of our sins on Calvary. So let yours be a life of obedience here, a living for others, a pleasing of others, not of yourself; "For even Christ pleased not Himself[#]," but "was made sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him[#]."[#] Rom. xv. 3.[#] 2 Cor. v. 21.HUMILITY.

Many good people seem to think it a duty to keep their hearts locked up tight from their fellow men. Have you ever thought seriously of the sin of doing this? Have you ever thought that such a course makes the religion of your gentle, kindly, warm-hearted Master appear in a cold and disagreeable form? Have you ever thought that as the Lord Jesus looks upon the cup of cold water bestowed on a neighbour as given to Him, so He will look upon the wounded feeling, the repulsed confidence, the bruised spirit, you have occasioned as given to Him too? Oh! it is a sad thing to fold up in a napkin the talent ofmanner; to lose, as it were, the key of the door which opens the hearts of men.

But if you are using your influence, don't be afraid to use it for Christ; to be an out-and-out Christian! Those are the sort He always blesses in the end, and their works follow them long after they have passed onward to their reward.

Not long ago, in a Sussex village, there lived a young man, a farm-labourer. He had often wished to stay in church for Holy Communion, which he knew well would help him, beyond all else, in the good and earnest life he was trying to lead. Still the fear of his companions' laughter held him back. One Sunday morning, however, after praying much for God's help to aid him to do what was right, he knelt on, when the others had left the church, and went up to receive the Holy Communion. On coming out of church his friends began to laugh at him for staying, but he said nothing, and walked quietly home. Sunday after Sunday he persevered, though it was hard work, and he was often tempted to give way. Months passed, and one Sunday another boy came and knelt down beside him, instead of leaving church, and he too received the Holy Communion. A few Sundays after they were joined by another, and after that more and more of the young men of that parish began to follow their example. Nor did the good resulting from this end there. These young men are now banded together in that parish, working together for the same great Master Christ, each in his own occupation, and leading others to the knowledge of the Saviour. And all this came from the courage of that one brave soldier of Christ, who used his influence in his Captain's cause. Reader, will not you go and do likewise?

Hitherto I have spoken only of the good influence we may exercise upon our companions and on strangers. What shall I say of the influence we may exercise on our home? Ere this, one Christian man has been known to change the whole manner of life of a household. St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to Timothy to "shew piety at home;" and after all it isin our own homesthat we must bear witness for Jesus Christ. Speak up for Christ when occasion demands it, above all live a Christian life, and then the lives of those around you will be brought more under the influence of religion. But to young men particularly is the call to influence others loudest and clearest, and to set a good example their plain duty--

"Young men be strong for Jesus,To toil for Him is gain--And Jesus wrought for JosephWith chisel, saw, and plane."

"Young men be strong for Jesus,

To toil for Him is gain--

And Jesus wrought for Joseph

With chisel, saw, and plane."

HELPING OTHERS.

"The cowslip and the spreading vine,The daisy in the grass,The snow-drop and the eglantine,Preach sermons as we pass.The ant within its cavern deepWould bid us labour too,And writes upon its tiny heap--'There's work enough to do.'To have a heart for those who weep,The sottish drunkard win;To rescue all the children deepIn ignorance and sin;To help the poor, the hungry feed;To give him coat and shoe;To see that all can write and read--Is 'work enough to do.'"John Burbidge.

"The cowslip and the spreading vine,

The daisy in the grass,

The snow-drop and the eglantine,

Preach sermons as we pass.

The ant within its cavern deep

Would bid us labour too,

And writes upon its tiny heap--

'There's work enough to do.'

To have a heart for those who weep,The sottish drunkard win;To rescue all the children deepIn ignorance and sin;To help the poor, the hungry feed;To give him coat and shoe;To see that all can write and read--Is 'work enough to do.'"John Burbidge.

To have a heart for those who weep,

The sottish drunkard win;

To rescue all the children deep

In ignorance and sin;

To help the poor, the hungry feed;

To give him coat and shoe;

To see that all can write and read--

Is 'work enough to do.'"John Burbidge.

Is 'work enough to do.'"

John Burbidge.

Of all the different kinds of work that God has given us to do here on earth, there is none more important, none more satisfactory, than this work of helping others. Ever since Jesus Christ stood upon the shore of the sea of Galilee, watching two fishermen mending their nets; ever since He spoke to those two, saying, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men[#]," the command has been binding upon all Christians. To go out upon the grand field of philanthropy, of love of men, is the noblest occupation that our poor life can have. To spend and be spent in the service of our fellow-men is a work that is so specially blest by Christ, that I hardly think that a chapter on "helping others" will be in any sense out of place here.

[#] S. Matt. iv. 19.

But perhaps you will say, "How can I, I who am so poor, help others?" Reader, you have only to look for such work, and God will give it you. It may be you can help others by giving them your time. For instance, if you have an aged or infirm neighbour, too feeble to dig his own garden, it would no doubt be a great help to him if you were to go and offer to do it for him. Some time ago, in a country village, there was a young man, who wished to try and help others in some practical way, for the Master's sake. For a long time he could not find anything to do; but at last one of his neighbours, an old man, became very ill, and bedridden. He was very poor, and his old wife almost too infirm to attend to him properly. For the last two years this young fellow has gone in in the morning, before going to his work, and done all he could for him in the house; and every night on returning home, he goes again, settles him for the night, and reads the Bible to him before leaving. One day, when he was praised for doing this, he said, quite simply, "I do like to do it, it seems like helping Christ: whenever I go there, I say to myself, 'I was sick, and ye visitedMe.'"

That young man understands the true meaning of the words "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me[#]."

[#] S. Matt. xxv. 40.

Reader, there may be no sick neighbour for you to help, but there is no doubt you can find work to do if you will only try. Oh! don't stand idle all the blessed hours of youth, that God has given you to work for others. Stand up like men, ready to go and fight for Jesus, the Great Captain of the Lord's host. Ask God to give you strength and victory, and to fulfil the promise He once gave to His chosen people, by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint[#]."

[#] Isaiah xl. 31.

"Come labour on!Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,While all around him waves the golden grain?And to each servant does the Master say,'Go, work to-day.'Come labour on!The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure,Blessed are those who to the end endure;How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,Oh! Lord, with Thee."

"Come labour on!Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,While all around him waves the golden grain?And to each servant does the Master say,'Go, work to-day.'

"Come labour on!

Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,

While all around him waves the golden grain?

And to each servant does the Master say,

'Go, work to-day.'

Come labour on!The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure,Blessed are those who to the end endure;How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,Oh! Lord, with Thee."

Come labour on!

The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure,

Blessed are those who to the end endure;

How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,

Oh! Lord, with Thee."

Yes, the end of helping others lies in the Master's kingdom. The reward of serving Christ in the person of His poor, awaits you in the many mansions. You may meet with coldness, and hard words, from those you would seek to help; but generally, you will find them only too glad of it. And what matters it what men say and think of your work, if the Lord approves of it? What will it matter whether your friends did not help you, if Christ helps you here, and gives you your reward in heaven?

It is especially a young man's calling to help others. He need not give up the least bit of his ordinary daily work or daily pleasure to do so. All he needs is a ready will to undertake the work as soon as Christ gives it him to do.

I cannot close this chapter better than by quoting some remarks, made some years ago by one of the London clergy. Preaching to young men upon the words, "Young man, I say unto thee arise!" the preacher said--"We need young men, fired with the thought that they are called by Christ to be the saviours of society from the sins that are wasting it, to render to their country and to humanity the noblest service, by fighting with voice and hand against those deadly foes that menace our very life; and will, if they are allowed to run riot, certainly drag us down to hell. Young men, rise up to stand against it and destroy it. Lift up against it the Standard of the Cross. Be known as Christ's soldiers, banded and pledged to overthrow it. Let your conversation be pure from all taint of uncleanness; and never let the glass rob you of your power to stand up for Christ against sensual sin. Rebuke and frown down the young man's talk, and the habit of life it engenders; you know what I mean. Say to those who love it, it is just this that is destroying us as a people. Unless our young men rise up together, as one man, and make drunkenness and harlotry shameful and hateful, I see no hope for our country, but a hope of growing decay."

Those are wise words, carefully and thoughtfully spoken. God grant, reader, that you and I may lay them seriously to heart.

OUR COMPANIONS.

"A friend I had, long, long ago,And one I learnt to prize,He taught a truth that all should know--In work true honour lies.A frank and cheerful face had he,And a heart as light as heart could be.* * * * *He has found his rest in Heaven above,But has left a golden fame;For the neighbours tell his deeds of love,And the children bless his name;And comrades too for many a dayShall roughly wipe their tears away."John Burbidge.

"A friend I had, long, long ago,

And one I learnt to prize,

He taught a truth that all should know--

In work true honour lies.

A frank and cheerful face had he,

And a heart as light as heart could be.

* * * * *

He has found his rest in Heaven above,

But has left a golden fame;

For the neighbours tell his deeds of love,

And the children bless his name;

And comrades too for many a day

Shall roughly wipe their tears away."

John Burbidge.

There are, perhaps, few things so important to a young man as to make a right choice of companions. How much depends on this. How much of our present and future happiness; nay, more, how much of our eternal welfare depends upon those with whom we mix on earth. Very many a young man has begun life with the best intentions and the holiest desires; and all these have been dashed to the ground by his having made an unwise choice in selecting his companions.

Now there are several things to be thought of in making this choice. And I shall try to put a few of these before you. First, it is most important that your companions should be God-fearing men. I don't think any friendship can be really happy, or even lasting, unless this is the case. For remember that there are friendships which do not end with life; that true friendship, blessed by Almighty God, is only begun here below, and is carried on in that distant spirit-land beyond the grave.

Secondly, don't think that because your companions should be godly men, they must needs be gloomy or dull. A man may be godly, and at the same time quite able to laugh with others, and make as good jokes as they; but his laughter will never be turned against religion, nor his jokes made at the expense of the people of God. A man who is a drunkard, for instance, will never be a good or even pleasant companion for you. His conversation in his sober moments is rarely interesting, and when he is in liquor he is worse than a beast. And as to his example, what can I say of that? It will be an example which God grant, reader, you may never follow; but it is an example which it is better you should not even see. In a word, as a recent writer has put it, my advice to you is, "Make friends with sober men, who can talk and laugh without incessant liquor."

Now it may be you think you are quite strong enough to resist temptation. It may be you think that as you pass through this world yours will be a life of temptation, and you feel that if you can't resist it now, you never will. It was said of Sophronius, a wise teacher in Ancient Greece, that one day when his daughter Eulalia came to ask permission to visit a worldly friend, Lucinda, Sophronius forbade her. And when Eulalia, trusting in her own power to overcome the temptations of her evil companion, replied, "Dear father, you must think me childish if you imagine I should be exposed to danger by going." Sophronius took, in silence, a dead coal from the hearth, and gave it to his daughter. "It will not burn you, my child: take it," said he. Eulalia did so, and behold! her hand was blackened, and, as it chanced, her white dress too. "We cannot be too careful in handling coals," said Eulalia in vexation. "Yes, truly!" replied her father; "You see, my child, the coals, even if they do not burn, blacken."

And so, too, is it with companions. The coals may not burn, but only blacken; and companions may not leave any lasting impression for evil on the heart. Their example may not even appear to the conscience as being black and evil, but they blacken the character, at any rate for the time, none the less, if not in the sight of men, undoubtedly in the sight of God.

And there is one point more. Do remember, that even the worst of us, the most degraded, are being constantly watched by people above us in society. And very often they don't care to have anything to do with us,because of our companions. I once heard a foreman, who employed a great number of hands on a certain work, say of a young man, whose name had been recommended for employment, "He keeps such bad company." And though I knew the young man in question well, and knew that whatever his companions might be, he himself was pure and good, still it was of no use my speaking to the foreman, because hewaskeeping bad company. Depend upon it, reader, there is truth in words written down in our Father's Book, "Godliness is profitable unto all things, baringpromise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come[#]."

[#] Tim. iv. 8.

THE BOOKS WE READ.

"There is a Book, who runs may read,Which heavenly truth imparts,And all the lore its scholars needPure eyes and Christian hearts.The works of God, above, below,Within us and around,Are pages in that Book to showHow God Himself is found."John Keble.

"There is a Book, who runs may read,Which heavenly truth imparts,And all the lore its scholars needPure eyes and Christian hearts.

"There is a Book, who runs may read,

Which heavenly truth imparts,

And all the lore its scholars need

Pure eyes and Christian hearts.

The works of God, above, below,Within us and around,Are pages in that Book to showHow God Himself is found."John Keble.

The works of God, above, below,

Within us and around,

Are pages in that Book to show

How God Himself is found."John Keble.

How God Himself is found."

John Keble.

There are few things which have so mighty a power for good or evil, on the lives of most of us, as the books we read. Nor is it easy for us to read nothing but what is profitable and good. From the Bible, of course, we can always get wholesome reading, and always gain fresh stores of knowledge; but we cannot always be reading the Bible. And there are in these days many books and papers which a young man may come across, which can hardly fail to do him harm; books with perfectly innocent titles, and apparently quite harmless, and yet the reading they contain is as poison to the human soul. But there are plenty of good books too, thank God; and almost every village has its library, and every cottage home its books.

But even if you are ever so careful as to what you read, it is almost certain the devil will put something into your hands that you should not read. He does so to us all. Rich and poor, young and old, all alike read a good deal that they should not--for rich people have their temptations too, and very hard they are tried sometimes. Well, the only safeguard I know of is, whenever you read anything you know to be bad shut up the book at once, and read no further. And whenever you read anything that you are doubtful about, take down your Bible and ask God to shew you, out of His Word, whether what you have been reading is right or wrong. You know, I daresay, that all along a part of the south coast of England there are a number of round towers, built at certain distances from each other. And the object of these towers was this. Many years ago we expected a foreign foe to land on our shores, and we built these watch-towers to guard against surprise. And it is just the same with the Bible. God has said, I won't prevent the devil trying to persuade you to read these bad books, and I won't prevent your reading them; but I give you the Bible, which, if you compare its words with the words of the books you read, they will, like the men in the watch-towers, give you warning of the enemy's approach. Reader, if you require plainer words than those written in God's Bible, I fear you will never read them on earth, and you certainly will never read them in heaven. How often we hear men say, "I'm no scholar." And this is given as an excuse for not coming to church, and for not reading the Bible, and a lot of other things too. But there's many a man who will tell you he's no scholar, if you ask him to read the Bible; but if you give him a newspaper and tell him there's an account of a horrible murder in it, he'll take that gladly, and he won't tell you he's no scholar then! He'll very soon find that either his wife or his children can read to him about the murder of a fellow creature, but he won't take the trouble to ask them to read to him about the death of God's only Son.

Oh, reader, be honest with God. He is honest, and means what He says. Man may not see through your excuses. He may go away and pity you for your want of learning, and you may be sitting at home thinking how cleverly you have deceived him. But all the while, though you little think it, God is holding up your character, and He sees through you, and every bit of what He sees, is written down in His great book to be brought up against you at the last day. Some people give as an excuse for reading bad and immoral books, that they can understand them. They say theycan't understandthe Bible. No doubt that is true. God says the carnal man--that is the man who loves this world and things of the flesh--cannot understand spiritual things; and the Bible is a spiritual book. How can the unwashed heart understand the Bible? Well, you say if it is a sealed book, how am I to understand it? The word of God, I answer, may be and is darkened to the worldly man, but the way of salvation is written so plainly, that a little child of six years old can read it, if he will. And oh! if you come across any impure or sinful book, do be careful what you do with it. Don't let it lie about. A little child may take it up and read it, and it may be, through your carelessness, its first step on the road to ruin. Don't say, that's not my look out! Reader, it is your look out; and God will lay it to your charge. If you stop under a hayrick to light your pipe, and you carelessly throw the lighted match away among the hay, so that the rick catches fire, isn't that your fault? You didn't mean, I daresay, to set fire to the rick; you didn't leave home, and go to that particular place in order to set that rick on fire, but I think that any magistrate in the kingdom would make you suffer for your carelessness. And so it is with God. He looks at results as well as at intentions. And if you carelessly leave a bad book about, and it happens to do harm, the punishment of that harm, be it little or be it much, will rest upon your soul in the life to come.

TRUE MANLINESS.

"There are other battles to fight, my boy,Than the battle of which you speak;There are battles which none can win, my boy,But the lowly in heart and meek;There are battles in which earth's mightiest fail,And the strong ones are the weak.There's a battle, my boy, with the world's rude laughAt the lessons our Saviour taught,And many a battle with self, beforeWe can do the things we ought;A battle which, not for the praise of men,Is in secret and silence fought.If in the battle of life, my boy,Thou would'st stand on thy Captain's side,With the white-robed hosts that follow the Lamb,The called, and chosen, and tried,Thou must take up thy cross, denying thyself,And follow the Crucified."From"The Child's Book of Ballads."

"There are other battles to fight, my boy,

Than the battle of which you speak;

There are battles which none can win, my boy,

But the lowly in heart and meek;

There are battles in which earth's mightiest fail,

And the strong ones are the weak.

There's a battle, my boy, with the world's rude laughAt the lessons our Saviour taught,And many a battle with self, beforeWe can do the things we ought;A battle which, not for the praise of men,Is in secret and silence fought.

There's a battle, my boy, with the world's rude laugh

At the lessons our Saviour taught,

And many a battle with self, before

We can do the things we ought;

A battle which, not for the praise of men,

Is in secret and silence fought.

If in the battle of life, my boy,Thou would'st stand on thy Captain's side,With the white-robed hosts that follow the Lamb,The called, and chosen, and tried,Thou must take up thy cross, denying thyself,And follow the Crucified."From"The Child's Book of Ballads."

If in the battle of life, my boy,

Thou would'st stand on thy Captain's side,

With the white-robed hosts that follow the Lamb,

The called, and chosen, and tried,

Thou must take up thy cross, denying thyself,

And follow the Crucified."

From"The Child's Book of Ballads."

There is nothing a young man desires more than to be thought manly. At school he is constantly told to be manly. And indeed true manliness is a grand thing. How often we hear our young men say that they want to be more independent. You may have said so yourself, reader; what harm if you have? Isn't it a fine thing, and a noble thing, and a right thing to be independent? Certainly it is; and I hope before the end of this chapter to have shewn you the difference between true and false independence, and true and false manliness.

Now let us deal with manliness first. What is it to be manly? To be manly means to be man-like--like a man. And He Who was our great pattern man, the only perfect pattern that ever lived, has shewn us in His own life what true manliness means. He knew well how fond young men in all ages would be of trying to be manly, and so He gave them His advice how to be so. Listen to it. He said, "Except ye be converted, and becomeas little children, ye shall in nowise enter into the kingdom of Heaven." As little children! Young man, do you hear that? you must become as submissive, as obedient, as trustful and believing as a little child, if you would be manly.

And one of the greatest marks of true manliness is respect paid to women. A true man is ever courteous, and careful of his words and acts in the presence of a woman. He indulges in no thoughts of impurity or lust; but if they arise he drives them out. Like Joseph, when he is tempted to sin against his master's law of purity, he says to himself, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" I know no surer test of manliness than that. To be careful of woman's virtue, and to be mindful of God's commands. To help the weak and those who cannot help themselves, to think for those who will not think for themselves, is manliness indeed; and he who will do these things in the midst of a mocking crowd, shews that he is truly manly.

And next, let me say a word about independence. So many young men nowadays seem to think that independence consists in being rude to every one they meet. But if this is your idea of independence you may be sure you are on the wrong road, and the sooner you get right the better. Real independence is, as I said, a fine and noble thing. An independent man can walk through the world with his head up, and give every one a civil answer, for he is as good as they. Oh! learn, reader, to be more truly independent. Learn to withdraw your dependence from man, and put it all on God. It is quite possible to be too dependent on man; it is quite impossible to be too dependent on God. Whether you wish it or not, you must depend on Him. He sends you life and health, food and raiment, all that you have, and all that you hope for. If you have saved enough money you can take a cottage, and live comfortably and independently in your old age; but if you have saved ever so much money, you can never lose your dependence on God.

Lastly, let me in all earnestness say a kindly word to young men. You are just beginning life; everything is before you; and perhaps you feel, as indeed you ought to feel, that as you grow in years you wish to grow in true manliness and independence. Very well; take a kindly word of advice from a stranger; it is this, always be civil to everybody. A little civility goes a long way, farther often than you think. Be civil to your superiors, and they will think the more highly of you for it. Be civil to your equals, and they will respect you for it. Be civil to your inferiors, and they will look up to you for it. It costs very little to give a civil answer, and we often have reason afterwards to regret an uncivil word, uncivilly spoken. I do believe that this is a most important thing in going through life. We so constantly hear whole masses of men classed together and unfairly judged because of the conduct of one of their number who may chance to have been met. I have so often heard railway porters, for instance, described as a most civil class, and no doubt they find their civility paying. Above all, reader, to look at it from a higher ground, civility is pleasing to God. Of Christ it was said, "When He was reviled, He reviled not again[#];" and if He set us this example of civility it was to shew us that we can be truly manly, and truly independent, and at the same time truly civil, and truly Christian in heart.

[#] 1 Pet. ii. 23.

HONESTY.

"'Tis but a flash that spans the sky,A few short hours of joy to wreathe:Reader! this moment you and IMight cease to breathe!Then, live more worthy of a soulImplanted by a Hand Divine!Press onward to a richer goal!While yet there's time!He who can so secure his fame,Has nobly filled his narrow span,And future times shall write his name,An honest man!"John Burbidge.

"'Tis but a flash that spans the sky,A few short hours of joy to wreathe:Reader! this moment you and IMight cease to breathe!

"'Tis but a flash that spans the sky,

A few short hours of joy to wreathe:

Reader! this moment you and I

Might cease to breathe!

Then, live more worthy of a soulImplanted by a Hand Divine!Press onward to a richer goal!While yet there's time!

Then, live more worthy of a soul

Implanted by a Hand Divine!

Press onward to a richer goal!

While yet there's time!

He who can so secure his fame,Has nobly filled his narrow span,And future times shall write his name,An honest man!"John Burbidge.

He who can so secure his fame,

Has nobly filled his narrow span,

And future times shall write his name,

An honest man!"John Burbidge.

An honest man!"

John Burbidge.

"Honesty is the best policy" is a saying we frequently hear. And we may have said, "Ah! that's all very well for thieves and such like, but it doesn't apply to me." Reader, you may be honest, strictly honest in the sight of man, but are you strictly honest in the sight of God? You may never have taken so much as a pin that did not rightly belong to you, but are you quite certain that you have never taken of the things of God?

Now let us just consider this for a few moments. To-day, we will say, is Sunday, God's holy day! To-day, of all days in the week, God has chosen to be set apart for His worship. He has given you time to be so employed. He has given you an open church to go to. He has given you health and power to go, and yet perhaps you reject all, and never go at all. Don't you see that you have taken of things of God, that you have taken His gift of health, and His gift of Sunday rest--things given that they might be spent in His service, and in worshipping Him in His church. And yet you accept these gifts, you take them as the most natural things in the world, and use the gifts of Almighty God for your own selfish purposes. And is this honest? Certainly not.

But we will take another and a commoner case, if you like. God has perhaps given you influence among your fellows, and as you go about among them, you hear some person spoken against in terms which you know are not true. And yet you allow the matter to pass, because you are afraid that if you spoke, you might lose your influence. You forget that even if you lost it for the time, God, for Whose sake you spoke, would surely give it back, if He thought it good for you; and besides this, you would have the consciousness of having done an honest deed, and of having done it in an honest fearless way.

And so you see that it is quite possible to be a strictly honest man in the sight of men, and a very dishonest man in the sight of God. And which, think you, is the best? Which will stand you in good stead at the day of judgment, your character as it has appeared to men, or as it appears to God? I think the latter. For in the Bible we are taught that the sight of God and that of men are two utterly different things, "for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

Some time ago in Edinburgh two gentlemen were standing at the door of an hotel one very cold day, when a little boy with a poor thin blue face, his bare feet red with cold, and with nothing to cover him but a bundle of rags, came and said, "Please, sir, buy some matches." "No, don't want any," the gentleman said. "But they are only a penny a box," the poor little fellow pleaded. "Yes, but you see we don't want a box," the gentleman said again. "Then I'll give you two for a penny," the boy said at last. And so to get rid of him the gentleman who tells the story says, I bought a box of him. But then I found I had no change, and so I said I would buy a box tomorrow. "Oh do buy them to-night, if you please," the boy again pleaded, "I will run and get you the change, for I'm very hungry." So I gave him the shilling, and off he started. I waited for him, but no boy came. Then I thought I had lost my shilling; still there was that in the boy's face I trusted, and I did not like to think ill of him. Late in the evening I was told a boy wanted to see me. When he was brought in, I found it was a smaller brother of the boy that had got my shilling, but if possible still more ragged and poor and thin. He stood for a moment diving into his rags, and then said, "Are you the gentleman that bought the matches from Sandie?" "Yes." "Well, then, here's fourpence out of your shilling; Sandie can't come, he's very ill; a cart ran over him, and knocked him down, and he lost his cap and his matches and your sevenpence, and both his legs are broken, and the doctor says he'll die, and that's all." And then, putting the fourpence on the table, the poor child broke out into great sobs. So I fed the little man, and went with him to see Sandie. The two poor little things lived alone, father and mother both dead. Poor Sandie lay on a bundle of shavings; he knew me as soon as I came in, and having told me how his legs were broken, he added, as his eyes fell on his little brother, "Oh Reuby, little Reuby! I'm sure I'm dying, and who'll take care of you when I am gone?" Then I took his hand and said, I would always take care of Reuby. He understood me, and had just strength enough left to look up at me, as if to thank me; the light went out of his blue eyes. And in a moment--

"He lay within the light of GodLike a babe upon the breast,Where the wicked cease from troublingAnd the weary are at rest."

"He lay within the light of God

Like a babe upon the breast,

Where the wicked cease from troubling

And the weary are at rest."

That story was told in the noblest church of our great city. It was reported in the papers the following day. And I have no hesitation in saying that beautiful as are the words in which it is told, and wonderful as the effect may have been on the hearts of those who heard it, it was a sight far more wonderful than any we can imagine, when that story was told in the courts of the kingdom of heaven.

Reader, think of little Sandie when you are tempted to say you are honest, and ask yourself the question, "Can I lay my hand upon my heart and say, My God, I am honest indeed, honest as that poor child was, honest before my neighbours, honest before Thee."

BEARING THE CROSS.

"'Take up thy cross,' the Saviour said,If thou would'st My disciple be;Deny thyself, the world forsake,And humbly follow after Me.'Take up thy cross,' nor heed the shame,Nor let thy foolish pride rebel:Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured,To save thy soul from death and hell!'Take up thy cross,' and follow Christ--Nor think till death to lay it down;For only he who bears the cross,May hope to wear the glorious crown!"C. W. Everest.

"'Take up thy cross,' the Saviour said,If thou would'st My disciple be;Deny thyself, the world forsake,And humbly follow after Me.

"'Take up thy cross,' the Saviour said,

If thou would'st My disciple be;

Deny thyself, the world forsake,

And humbly follow after Me.

'Take up thy cross,' nor heed the shame,Nor let thy foolish pride rebel:Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured,To save thy soul from death and hell!

'Take up thy cross,' nor heed the shame,

Nor let thy foolish pride rebel:

Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured,

To save thy soul from death and hell!

'Take up thy cross,' and follow Christ--Nor think till death to lay it down;For only he who bears the cross,May hope to wear the glorious crown!"C. W. Everest.

'Take up thy cross,' and follow Christ--

Nor think till death to lay it down;

For only he who bears the cross,

May hope to wear the glorious crown!"

C. W. Everest.

Bearing the cross, or self-denial, as it is sometimes called, forms a necessary part of the daily life of every Christian man. Every one of us can give up something for the good of others. A rich man is called upon to give up one thing, a poor man another. But let none think that his riches or his poverty, as the case may be, will excuse him from bearing the cross of Christ. And indeed in the heart of any true servant of God, there will be no wish to shirk the hard and disagreeable part of His service. His heart will be so filled with love and devotion to Christ, that he will gladly bear the cross, "despising the shame." It may be we are called upon to give up our time to go and see a sick neighbour, or it may be we are asked to do a neighbour a good turn by going on an errand for them when we wish to go elsewhere. But whatever it may be, it is certain that opportunities for practising self-denial occur in the lives of us all. "If any man will come after Me"--Christ has told us--"let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me[#]." There is the command, now hear the promise made to such as fulfil the command,--"and where I am, there shall also My servant be[#]."

[#] S. Matt. xvi. 24.

[#] S. John xii. 26.

Self-denial may be in very simplest matters, and yet be quite as acceptable to Christ as would be the most costly gifts bestowed by the rich upon His service. You remember when Jesus was on earth, how one day He was sitting over against the Treasury, and as He sat there He kept taking notice of all the pieces of money that were cast into the Treasury. Now there happened to come by some very rich people, and they put large sums into the box, and passed on their way. And again others came, and they too being rich, "cast in much." But after awhile there came by one who is described as "a certain poor widow;" and "she cast in all she had, even all her living." How much it cost her to give that one farthing Jesus Christ knew well. Instead of keeping it to spend upon her own needs, she brought it up to the temple Treasury and gave it back to God. And that is just what you must do. I do not say it is necessary, or even right, that people should in these days give everything they possess to God. In one sense indeed we ought to give upall we haveto the service of Christ; I mean by this that we ought at all times to be ready to part with things earthly, if they interfere with the cross we are called upon to bear. And I do say that we ought to deny ourselves some little comfort or pleasure, and make a rule of giving the money that we should thus have spent upon ourselves to the service of Almighty God.

It is told of a great and good man who lived many years ago at Cambridge, that on one occasion, being disheartened by the wickedness of many of those with whom he came in daily contact, he retired to his rooms, and taking his Bible he asked God to give him such help from its pages as would serve him in his trouble. He opened the Bible at the twenty-seventh chapter of S. Matthew's gospel, and his eye quickly fell on the thirty-second verse, "And as they went out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to bear His Cross." Charles Simeon, for it was he, rose from his knees comforted and strengthened. The likeness between his own name of Simeon and the Cyrenian's name of Simon, struck him forcibly; and he came to the conclusion that it was the will of his Father in heaven that he should bear the cross under which he was labouring.

Reader, yours, like his, may be the cross of ridicule, of your friend's laughter at the things of God; and a bitter cross it is to bear! But try and look upon it as a cross laid upon you by your Saviour, a cross which He has borne before you up that bitter hillside of Calvary. Remember it is not merely that you are called upon to bear the cross, but, like Simon of Cyrene, that you should "bear itafterJesus." Therefore ask Him to give you strength to take up your cross daily, cheerfully and lovingly, and bear it after Him. Then self-denial will be less hard for you to practise than it is now. I do not say it will be pleasant, for that it can never be, but the sting of it will be taken away; indeed for the Christian, it long ago was taken away and laid on Him Who bore the burden of our sins on Calvary. So let yours be a life of obedience here, a living for others, a pleasing of others, not of yourself; "For even Christ pleased not Himself[#]," but "was made sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him[#]."

[#] Rom. xv. 3.

[#] 2 Cor. v. 21.

HUMILITY.

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