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with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.' In this way the joy of harvest was all the greater, for the anxiety and toil and sorrow through which it was reached. Harvest rewarded the toils of spring, it wiped away its tears.

There are some things we learn only through our tears. The evil of sin, the deceitfulness of our hearts; these are lessons that we learn in sadness of heart. As we come into God's presence confessing our sins, we have often to sow in tears. Day by day we have to mourn our sins; day by day we experience how bitter a thing sin is. But when at last we see the pardon in Christ, and receive it for our own sins, ah, then joy comes. Yes, and the joy is all the sweeter for the repentance that went before. The peace is all the deeper for the trouble which it succeeds. Let us never think lightly of our sins. Let us never try to make them appear less. Let us rather say with the Psalmist, Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great.' Let us be very watchful against any sin to which we are specially liable. Let us strive against it. Let us pray for deliverance from it. When we do fall under it, let us turn to God with renewed repentance. Only by thus sowing in tears, shall we reap in joy.

III. Harvest joy rises from prevision

for the future.

Sometimes the autumn fades away very gradually into winter, and we have what is called an Indian summer.' At other times the blasts and rains of winter succeed immediately. What a cozy look the farm house with its well-filled stack-yard has on such an occasion! Winter winds are moaning, winter storms are rising. The fields are lying bare. For half a year they will yield no crops of corn. But there in that stack-yard, there is enough to carry man and beast through the winter. Harvest joy arises to a considerable extent from this, that the harvest is a provision for the future.

There is a winter that lies before us all,it is the winter of death. The rich fool of the parable made great provision for the

future, but he made none for death. And so, when death came, it found him poor and naked. There is only one way in which we can make provision for the winter of death. It is by giving ourselves to the Saviour, to be washed in His precious blood, and renewed by His Holy Spirit. Then, whenever death may come, it will find us in Christ, nor will it be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. It will only remove us, like the ripe grain, to the garner of heaven. The prospect of all this alone can give joy in view of the end which sooner or later will overtake us all. If the prospect of it gives joy, what will the fruition be? May the full fruition be ours. Amen and Amen. Another harvest comes apace; Ripen our spirits by Thy grace, That we may calmly meet the blow The sickle gives to lay us low. That so, when angel reapers come To gather sheaves to Thy blest home, Our spirits may be borne on high To Thy safe garner in the sky. Close by singing, 'Harvest Hymn,' p. 108.

HOME LESSONS ON THE OLD PATHS.
THE LORD'S SUPPER.

WHY did the people eat bread and

drink wine in the church to-day?' asked little Alice, on the evening of a Communion Sabbath.

'They did so in remembrance of Jesus, and in obedience to His dying_command. What was the last command Jesus gave His disciples before He was led away to be crucified?'

'I know it, mamma,' said Charley; 'it was-"This do in remembrance of Me."'

Yes. Jesus had been eating the Passover with His disciples; and, while sitting at the table with them, He took bread, and gave thanks and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, "This is My body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me, &c." Thus Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, to be observed instead of the Passover.'

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Why was the Passover not to be observed any more, mamma?'

THE LORD'S SUPPER.

'You know what the Paschal Lamb typified?'

It was a type of Jesus, the Lamb of God.'

And when Jesus shed His own blood on the cross, this and all the other types of Him were fulfilled, and no longer needed.'

'But, mamma, the Passover was a memorial of the Israelites' deliverance from Egypt.'

'And the Lord's Supper is a memorial of the great deliverance of the Lord's people from the bondage of sin, when Jesus bought them with His own blood.'

"What is the Lord's Supper?'

'The Lord's Supper is a Sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ's appointment, His death is shewed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.'

'What does, His death is shewed forth, mean?'

'It means that the observance of the Lord's Supper proclaims the free grace and dying love of the Lord Jesus. Read Exod. xii. 26, 27, and that passage will help you to understand it.' Charley read:

"And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses."

One reason for the observance of the Passover, was to teach the children-to impress upon their hearts the Lord's goodness in saving them when He destroyed the Egyptians. When children see the Lord's Supper observed, they ought, like the Jewish children, to ask what it means.' "What does eating the bread mean, mamma?'

'We eat the bread and drink the wineto signify that we live by faith on the Lord Jesus-that His death is the life of our souls, as bread is the life of our bodies.'

The Roman Catholic priests say that

101

the bread is really the body of Christ,' said Charley.

They try to make people believe that Christ's words, "This is My body," signify that the bread is really changed into the body of Christ, when the priest blesses it. But we know what Christ taught when, in the same manner, He said, "I am the door; I am the true vine."

'I am the door, means, I am the way to heaven; because a door is the way into a house.'

. And in the same way, This is My body, signifies, This bread, which I now break, represents My body which died on the cross for you.'

'A little Irish boy who had attended a Protestant School, when told by the priest that the bread was really the body of Christ, replied, "I read in my New Testament, This Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia (Gal. iv. 25). Am I to believe that the maid in the kitchen is Mount Sinai?' 'That was a very good reply.'

'It is not after a corporal and carnal manner that is, not by eating and drink. ing—but by faith, that the Lord's Supper nourishes the soul.'

'Mamma, the answer says, the worthy receivers. I thought nobody was worthy.' 'No one is worthy; but every one who sincerely loves the Lord Jesus is welcome, and is reckoned worthy for His sake. You can tell me now who those are that come unworthily?'

"Those who do not love Jesus, nor keep His commandments,' Nelly replied.

'Some persons come to the Lord's Table who have not chosen Him for their Lord and Master. Is this right?'

'No, mamma; for those who take the Lord's Supper say they are His friends.'

"They not only say this, but they swear it openly and solemnly. To do so, if they do not sincerely desire to follow Jesus, is to come unworthily. To warn us against this sin, a command is given in 1 Cor. xi. 28. Read it, Charley.'

"But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." What is "examine himself," mamma?'

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THE YOUNG MAN AND THE SERMON IN SONG

When your teacher examines you at school, what does he do?'

He asks us a great many questions.' 'To examine ourselves, is to ask ourselves questions-to put to our own hearts the questions Jesus asks each of us. know some of these. What did He ask Peter three times?'

You

THE YOUNG MAN AND THE SERMON IN SONG.

PREPARED FOR THE GOUROCK CHILDREN'S SERVICE.. *** The narrative can be read or spoken either by one, or by several (taking the parts in succession), and each Hymn should be begun the moment the reader or speaker has recited the first line.

PART I.

Jesus said to Peter three times, "Lovest THE night was calm and still, and a full

thou Me?"?

That is the question each one of us should ask ourselves, and Jesus tells us how we may know whether we really love Him or not. Read John xiv. 21.'

"He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father, &c." Read also 1 John iv. 20.'

"If a man say I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"

'These passages shew us how we may know that we really love Christ. If we have reason to fear that His love is not in our hearts, our first duty is to go to Him for a new heart and a right spirit. Then, and not till then, may we come to His table. Who was it that sat at the Supper Table with Jesus unworthily?

'It was Judas, mamma. to betray Jesus.'

He was going

'The story of Judas is a very sad one. When Jesus said, "One of you shall betray Me," did each one say, "Is it Judas?""

No, mamma. Each one said, "Lord, is it I?"

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moon was shedding its silver light over hainlet and field.

On the road a young man was walking along. Sometimes he walked with downcast head, then he would stop as if arrested by a terrible thought. Suddenly he would start and walk excitedly on. What was it that agitated him?

He had seen his widowed mother laid that day in the grave, and it was his own conduct that had brought her there. It was a sad history.

She had brought him up tenderly, and ever since her husband's death she had devoted herself to him, for he was her only child. She lived for him. Her thought by day and by night was her boy. She tried to make home bright and cheerful for him. She denied herself many a comfort, day by day, for years, that he might lack for nothing.

He saw all this, but it never moved him. He took all her devotion and self-denial for him thanklessly and as a matter of course. He never once said to his mother,'Mother, you are very good to me.' As he grew up he became worse, and began to treat her with harshness and cruelty. He took up with bad companions, and began to drink. Sometimes he came home sullen and fierce, and swore at her and struck her.

She bore it all uncomplainingly. She still tried to keep home bright for him, but she sank under the trial. The hope of her life was blighted. Her heart broke, and at last she died.

Her son came home to find her gone. He looked at his dead mother; and the sight of that worn and weary face, cold now and calm in death, brought back a thousand memories of her love. It gave a fearful awaking to his conscience-began to fill him with an agony of unavailing regrets.

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THE YOUNG MAN AND THE SERMON IN SONG.

I'll soon be at home over there,

For the end of my journey I see, Many dear to my heart over there, Are watching and waiting for me. Over there, &c.

PART II.

When the music ceased the young man paced excitedly to and fro, while sobs burst from his heart. Then he cried, as he turned his eye heavenwards, 'O mother, you are there, but I shall never enter. I shall never see you again. I turned a deaf ear to your entreaties; I mocked at your tears and prayers. And now you are gone and I am lost! There is no one left to care for me; no one left to love me; no one in all the world now to pray for me. Why should I think of the home over there?-it is no home for God-forsaken wretches like me. The door is shut. There is no hope. I am lost!'

He was interrupted by another hymn that instantly arrested his attention. It was this:

:

Come to Jesus, come to Jesus,

Come to Jesus just now;

Just now, come to Jesus,

Come to Jesus just now.

He will save you, He will save you,
He will save you just now.
He'll receive you, He'll receive you,
He'll receive you just now.

PART III.

The young man drank in every word with eagerness. It brought back his childhood; it brought back the sweet truth his mother had taught him of Jesus, in days long since gone by. It came to him now with a new meaning. He saw in Christ the Son of God, come into the world to seek and to save the lost-lost sinners like himself.

He let go all else and put his trust in the crucified Saviour. He said in his heart, 'I am thine.' And he seemed to hear the Saviour answer, "Then am I thine.' He began now to breathe a peace he had never felt before the peace that passeth all understanding. His heart thrilled with gratitude.

He turned his eyes to heaven. And as if catching up and echoing the new joy of his heart, the song came forth upon the air cf night:

We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus who died, and is now gone above.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Revive us again.
We praise Thee, O God, for Thy Spirit of light,
Who has shewn us our Saviour, and scattered
our night.
Hallelujah, &c.

PART IV.

But now a change came over him. He thought of to-morrow-of the life to which he had to go back-the companions he would have to face the jeers he would have to stand-the difficulty he would have in remaining faithful to his Saviour, and fighting the good fight of faith.

He knew his own weakness, and he dreaded the coming trial. He began to fear that the worldly influences surrounding him day by day would be too much for him. But like a message from heaven to encourage him, and let him know that he was not to fight the battle alone, this song came forth :Ho! my comrades, see the signal Waving in the sky!

Reinforcements now appearing,
Victory is nigh!

Hold the fort, for I am coming,

Jesus signals still;

Wave the answer back to heaven,—

'By Thy grace we will.'

PART V.

I

The young man said, 'It is enough. will hold the fort of my heart by His grace. I remember His word, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' And now, many of the precious promises of God that his mother had taught him long ago--promises that had cheered and sustained herself-came into his memory like old and strong and loving friends. And as his heart filled with thankfulness, he thought, 'How shall I shew my gratitude! How shall I serve him 1 love? Oh that I could carry this joy into other hearts! If I were only a minister that I might preach this glorious gospel! If I had only eloquence that I might tell what I feel, and win men to Christ! If I had only genius or rank or influence, that I might move men and draw them to the Saviour! But I am nothing. Not even what I might have been. Lord, is there nothing I can do for thee?'

As he stood thinking thus, he heard another hymn, that seemed like an answer,

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