SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND FAMILIE w! It is my meditation all meditation all the day." us now fear the Lord our God. He reserveth unt the appointed weeks of HARVEST. When the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before THE LORD'S DAY.-Why is the HOUSE OF GOD forsaken ? This is a FAITHFUL saying, and worthy of ALL acceptation, W 10S (CHRIST'S RESURRECTION DAY.) Come, see the place whe "IS THINE HEART RIGHT ?” 2 Kings x. 15. Reader, ponder this question well; it is the question of questions. It may be well as to thy bodily health,-well as to thy temporal circumstances,—well as to thine outward reputation,—yea, even well as to the orthodoxy of thy creed. The head may be clear, the life may be moral, the character untarnished among men; but "Is thine heart right" in the sight of God? for that is the turning point. And what the apostle said to Simon Magus (Acts viii. 21), is true of every unconverted person,-"Thy heart is not right in the sight of God." Try it by the unerring rule of the law of God, the requisitions of which are summed up by the Lord Jesus Christ, as consisting in perfect love to God and to our neighbour. What! hast thou never had an unholy thought? Was there never a moment in which the heart has not been conscious of perfect love to God? Never a deviation from purity? Never an inclination to evil? Never even a thought of selfishness, of envy, or of anger, towards a fellow-creature? Alas, thou art undone. That righteous law condemns thee. Yet thou mayst not be sensible of this, because the fallow-ground of thine heart is not broken up. Art thou a ploughman? Then mark, when thou followest the plough, as the ploughshare turns up the soil, what insects and creeping things are brought to light that were concealed before; or if thou hast seen an ant's nest with a stone upon it, all seems quiet; but only remove the stone, and what a busy, lively swarm will be seen. Just so with the human heart: roll away the stone from the door of this sepulchre; let the light of God's law into this loathsome dungeon, and the cry will be, "Unclean, unclean !” Try it by the light of the gospel, which requires "repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ." Are these graces there? if not, thou art undone. It may be when an uneasy thought troubles thee, it is quieted for the moment by the reflection, "Well, I am not so bad as many, and if I am not saved, what will become of thousands ?" Or, when a faithful minister denounces sin, dost thou immediately think | of some of thy neighbours, that surely they must go to hell? And so thou art like those who told our Lord of the Galileans (Luke xiii. 3). But hear his answer, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Try it in the prospect of a dying hour. We have witnessed many death-bed scenes, but never one in which the most virtuous and amiable could feel perfect tranquility and satisfaction in the retrospect of the past,-never one that could say, "Here, Lord, is my heart, pure and without a stain." Oh, no, without the precious blood of Christ in that solemn hour, "Thou wilt be weighed in the balance and found wanting." And dost thou say, "What shall I do to be saved?" We say, pray; but perhaps thou hast never prayed, and wilt say, "I know not what to say." Well, open the bible a there is a prayer, an inspired prayer, ready for th dwell on the 10th verse, "Create in me a clean heart, a right spirit within me." For this new creatio heart, must be experienced before there can be a " grace;" and oh the folly of postponing this to the ho may not then have your reason,-you may be giver ness of your heart, or if there be some relenti an awful uncertainty as to the reality of death-bed it is madness to rely on them. Therefore, we say, seek for a new heart now. To day, while it is calle not your hearts, seeing that now is your accepted your day of salvation. CORNE "YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. WHO must? You must, reader, whoever you may a man, any man, every man, be born again, he cann kingdom of God. Every man, woman, and child, the new birth; for regeneration is absolutely prere It is alike true of the moral and the immoral; the illiterate; the amiable and the morose. Young peop born again. Aged friends, you must be born again readers who are in the prime of life, you also must No regeneration, no salvation. WHAT is the change required? Not information, Not a change of opinion, but a change of nature. produced. The first birth constituted you creatur birth will make you christians. You must receive "be created anew in Christ Jesus." You must be rai in sin, unto a life of righteousness. God must give which he has promised, and put within you a right nature will produce new views of all important subjec for spiritual and heavenly things, new desires fo Saviour, for holiness of heart and life,-new fears come, and of offending God on account of his goodn eises, or inward conflicts, between light and darknes ness, truth and error, and new pursuits, for if bo will follow peace with all men, aim in all things at G strive to be useful to your fellow-men. WHY must this change be effected? Because depraved, your heart is polluted, and you are disqu employments and enjoyments. You have no power ritual duties, nor any fitness for heavenly glory. If y an entrance into heaven, you never could be happy there; for you Think of it seriously. If a new birth "Gracious Redeemer! set me free From my old state of sin; Renew mine eyes, and form mine ears, Give me new passions, joys, and fears, New-Park-street, London. JAMES SMITH. WHAT CAN A BOOK DO-FOR A HUNGRY MAN? "A book is not bread!" Friend, it is not; would that it could be, if you are in distress; yet a book may be better than even "bread to the hungry!" The writer, a few weeks ago, was conversing, while on the road, with a man who looked very poor, on the late disturbances, and strongly representing the injury done to their own avowed principles by those who talked so much of "physical force." The poor man replied, "O yes, sir, we know, when we think, that violence can do nobody any good; but, sir, hunger drives reason out of our heads. What would you do, sir, with a wife and four children, and only one meal a day for them? Would not that make you unreasonable?" The appeal to me, who had just the family he mentioned, was heart-rending, and I found the man was no impostor. I mentioned, of course, the duty of the parish to relieve in such a case. "Yes, sir," was the reply, "but I have always earned my living as yet, and I can't make up my mind to go for relief." O England, be proud of such sons of thy soil, even should their spirit be sometimes misguided! "A book is not bread!" What could it do for this poor man? What can a book do for the thousands who toil long hours to earn barely enough to satisfy hunger? or for the thousands willing to work, but unable to find it? or for the hundreds who, like the man I have mentioned, love their own firesides so well, that they prefer almost starving at home, to entering the poorhouse? Can it point you to hidden treasure? No. Can it tell you where well-paid work abounds? No. Can it direct your eyes to a wealthy and generous friend? No. Yet we can tell you of a REAL FRIEND. You cannot see him, but he sees you. He has himself felt hunger, and has been without a home. He has lived upon charity, and not had where to lay his head. He was also rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich (2 Cor. viii. 9). Brother, that Friend's name I hope you well know. Forget not him in your poverty. It cannot make you poorer to remember him. It can give you the only comfort within your reach at this moment. It can make you rich for eternity, and happier or less wretched now. Well does He know the weight on your spirits. He has felt it. Among the poor He was born,-among the poor He lived,—the poor were his daily companions,—to the poor He preached his gospel. "He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper" (Psalm lxxii. 12). How different would the end have been, had the thousands of poor and needy, who (at the instigation of reckless men) met to intimidate their neighbours, but believed this text, and met together to pray, under their trials, to the real Friend of the poor and needy. He would have helped them. He has ten thousand ways to do it. He is Almighty (Isaiah ix. 6). Oh, that want and distress led the sufferers to seek for help in Jesus! Want of work, my brother, and consequent poverty, is your affliction, it is not your fault; but on the part of God it is permitted, to remind you of a poverty which is your fault. Unrepented and unforgiven sin is the true poverty,—it is the poverty of the soul,-it is poverty for eternity. Pardon for sin through Jesus' blood, overcoming sin by his blessed Spirit's help,-these are the true riches. The poorest who belong to Jesus, by their faith in him and their love to him, are infinitely rich, even if perishing for hunger here! The richest who forget or despise him are miserably and eternally poor! |