to carry the sufferers to that beautiful land, where they will be with God, beyond all danger, and harm, and death for ever. he loved his own people very much, and his heart's desire was that Israel might be saved. But here, instead of listening, the Jews opposed themselves and blasphemed; and when Paul turned to the Gentiles, who did listen to his message, they were the more angry. But Paul had not to meet their anger alone. Opening Hymn: "Little children. praise the Saviour." Lesson: Acts xviii. 9 and 10. Concluding Hymn: Saviour, The Lord Jesus, when He was leaving His breathe an evening blessing." THIRD EVENING. The third vision, or sight of things generally unseen, that I want you to think of was given in the night, like Jacob's vision. St. Paul had just had a great disappointment. He had been speaking very earnestly to some of his own people, the Jews, who were living, at Corinth; he had been trying to persuade them to love and serve the Lord Jesus, for, though Paul was the preacher to the Gentiles, disciples, said to them, "Lo, I am with you always," and because one of His disciples was disheartened because outward things seemed very hard to bear, Jesus let him see some of the eternal things which are unseen. In the night the Lord came and spoke to Paul, and said, "I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee." Another time when Paul was in great danger, more than he knew of, he saw the same vision. Lord stood by him, and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul." But these were not the only times that the Lord was with Paul and comforted him. Oh no; He was with him at all times only, perhaps, just then Paul might have been forgetting this, and thinking only of his trouble. People often remember that Jesus is with them when they are feeling happy, and when they get into trouble they often think He is like the hireling shepherds that we read of in the tenth chapter of St. John, who flee when the dangers come near the sheep. When we get into trouble let us remember how Jesus stood by Paul in his trouble. But it is not only when we are in trouble that Jesus likes to be with us. Do you remember how often He let his disciples see Him after He rose from the dead? He came to one when he was in trouble; He came to some when they were praying; He came to some when they were at work fishing; to two when they were taking a walk; to some when they were at supper. This was to show us that whatever we are doing Jesus is willing to be with us. Some people do not want Jesus to be with them always; they are afraid that He would see and hear many things they would not like Him to see and hear. If we want to keep our naughty ways, if we want to do just as we like, we cannot enjoy the thought that Jesus is with us. But His presence will give us far more pleasure than anything we may have to give up would do. Not very long ago an old negro died in America at the age of a hundred and twenty years, as nearly as could be found out. He had loved and served the Lord for a hundred years. He was called Uncle Johnson. He was a very happy old man, and yet, looking only at the visible things, we should have said he had very little to make him happy. His wife was sixty years younger than he was, and after he had been set free at a hundred years old, she supported him and her two children. He was left very much alone, for his wife was out at work five days every week. A friend one day found him at work in his garden shouting and singing, and said to him, "You seem very happy. Yes, massa," he answered; "I'se just tinking, dat if de crumbs dat fall from de Master's table in dis world am so good, what will de great loaf be?" When he was asked why he did not go to church, he said it was because he had got so old he could not behave; and when asked to explain, he said, “When they 'gins to talk and sing about Jesus I can't hold in, but I 'gins to holler, and den dey says, 'Carry dat old One day man out; he 'sturbs de meeting.' a friend heard him shouting and singing for nearly two hours, and at last went into his cottage, and found him sitting alone before his breakfast. Old Johnson explained that his wife had gone out, so he had to get his own breakfast; and then when he began to say grace there were so many things to say grace for, that "it seems I neber will have done saying grace." It was the thought of the presence of Jesus that made this old man so happy, as it has made many others. There was a poor Scotch boy who had very little sense for anything else but religion. The last night of his life, when neither he nor those around him thought that he would so soon see Jesus, he was heard praying, “Ay, Lord, it's just poor me that has been sae long seeking ye; and now we'll bide together and never part more. Oh, ay! but this is a bonny loft-all gold and precious stones! The hall of the castle is but a poor place to my loft this bonny nicht." It is not only poor and old people that the Lord makes happy; it is the same with every one who opens his heart to Him, and loves Him to dwell in it. He knocks at the door of every heart, but it is only when that door is lovingly opened to Him that He comes in to sup with us, and we with Him. FOURTH EVENING. Opening Hymn "Around the throne of God in Heaven.” Lesson: Rev. vii. 9-14. Concluding Hymn: "Saviour, breathe an evening blessing." There is one more vision of things unseen I want you to think about. It was sent to the apostle John at Patmos. It was a vision of the happy people in heaven, and there are three things about them that I want you to notice. Ist. What they are doing there. They have beautiful harps in their hands, and they are singing a beautiful song. It is called a new song, but every one of those happy people, except those who were too young when they went there to learn anything, learned to sing that song when they were down here on earth. There was one little girl, who is singing that song in heaven now, who learnt it when she was only three years old. God taught it to her. As she knelt down to say her evening prayer she said, "I thank Thee, O Jesus, that Thou was punished instead of me." She could not even speak plainly, but God had put the new song in her heart, and this was how she sang it with her lips. You see it does not need a fine voice or a correct ear to sing that song, only a loving, thankful heart. It was just the same song the happy people up in heaven sing, only the words were a little different. There was a little boy who learned this song when he was very weak and ill. A gentleman once visited a gipsy camp, hoping to have an opportunity to speak about Jesus to those who knew very little of Him. He found most of the gipsies absent,. and those who were at home did not seem to care to listen to his message, and he was going away discouraged, when a man said, "There's a lad in there, very bad. You can see him if you want." The gentleman went into the tent, and found a boy of about twelve in the last stage of fever. His eyes were closed, and he seemed unconscious of all around him. The gentleman bent over the heap of rags, on which the boy was lying, and repeated the verse, "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The child took no notice, again he said the verse, with the same result. Over and over he repeated his message, and at the twelfth time the boy turned, opened his eyes, and said, "Did He? and I never thanked Him for it, but then no one ever told me." And he was not content till the gentleman knelt by his side, and thanked God for His unspeakable gift. The next time the gentleman visited the camp, the boy was thanking God in heaven; but he found many who knew the child anxious to hear the message that had made the boy so happy. Have you ever thanked God for sending Jesus to die for you? I do not mean with your lips only; but have you ever felt very glad in your heart about it? If not, you have not yet begun to learn the song that is sung in heaven. If you would like to learn it, Jesus will teach it to you by His Spirit, no one else can; and then you will have begun to get ready for the home above. very bad temper, and his father wanted to help him to overcome it, and the first thing towards that was to make him feel how strong his fault was. So he gave his son a hammer and nails, and told him to knock a nail into the wall whenever he got angry. Very soon the boy came to his father, and led him into his room, and with much shame and sorrow showed him his wall all covered with nails. Now the child was in earnest in wishing to overcome his bad temper; but he had hard work. His father advised him each time that he got a victory over his temper, to pull out one of the nails. It was a long business, but at last it was accomplished, and the boy again led his father into his room. His father began to congratulate him; but the boy stopped him, with a sad face and the words, "But, father, the marks are left." Yes, each sin leaves a black mark on our hearts, and before we can enter heaven our hearts must be washed white; but Jesus can do this for us. Let us ask Him, and say, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow; and then He will say to us, "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as wool." One thing more I notice in our text, "What is it those singers are holding in their hands? Palm branches; those are a sign of victory. You know what must come before a victory-a battle. There is a battle which we all must fight if we ever want to wave the palm branches, the sign of victory. We have to fight with our great enemy the devil, who is like a roaring lion; but though he is like a lion in some things, he is not in others. If even a little child will resist him, the devil will flee away. Why is this? Because he knows that that little child is not alone, but that the Captain of our army, who has Himself fought and conquered Satan, is with the youngest and weakest of His soldiers, who is trying to fight for Him. Then we have to fight with ourselves. We must not always do the things we want to do. If we want to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must give up our own wishes, and try to please not ourselves but our Captain. How we like to read of our English soldiers and the wonderful Balaclava charge! They had hard work to do, and they did it, though their leader had made a mistake. But our Captain never makes mistakes, He never gives us anything to do which is too hard for us; and one day He will say to each earnest little soldier, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Another thing I notice about the people in heaven is their clothes. They have all white robes. I think that means that their hearts were pure and white, like it says in the psalm, "Who shall ascend into Thy holy hill?" And the answer is, "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." The hearts of those happy people were not always clean. Once they were black and stained with sin, but they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Their robes were washed down here on earth, before they were ready to go to heaven. It is sin that makes our hearts black. A little boy had a | Lord." SAFE into port at last! we cried, Safe into port at last! Though sorely tried by wind and tide, For, sailing on a wintry sea Long days and nights in fear; Storm-tossed and frail our bark, and we Had nought to cheer. We neared a rocky shore, So thought we in despair until We 'spied a narrow way, A land-locked bay. We entered, and the strife was o'er, In port at last. Alas! too carelessly at ease We thought not of the angry seas, OUR MONTHLY SURVEY. I.-HOME NOTES. THE BIBLE SOCIETY'S APPEAL FOR HELP. WITH the opening of the new year the Committee which is in the Divine Word. WOMANLY CARE FOR CRIMINALS AND THE POOR. Mrs. Meredith's work on behalf of discharged female prisoners, at Nine Elms, one of the outlying districts of London, has several times been mentioned in these pages. It is a work of truly Christ-like compassion, and is carried on with such overflowing sympathy and enthusiasm, and at the same time with so much wise discretion and steadfast perseverance, that we are glad to say a word in its favour once again. In a recently published double number of the report of the good work, Mrs. Meredith gives a striking series of narratives, called "Nine Elms VIII. N.S. Tales," describing scenes, incidents, and characters, among the "prison population" which have come under the observation of the earnest Christian women associated with Mrs. Meredith in trying to reclaim and succour "the lost." The narratives not only reveal some singular and pathetic phases of actual life among criminal classes, but also nobly testify to the power of Christian effort, and to the devotion of gentle, delicate women to the service of their Master. Mrs. Meredith very distinctly recognises the calling which some women have, to "forsake for Christ's sake and the gospel' the things that are esteemed good among men," to give up home joys and home service for the rough, severe, and often excessively painful work of caring for the fallen and debased, and to offer themselves and everything they have, in a special sense, as a willing sacrifice to God. Mrs. Meredith's work has branched out in several directions, and now includes, besides the establishment at Nine Elms for providing employment for discharged female prisoners, the "Princess Mary Village Homes," for the children of prisoners, at Addlestone, Surrey; Coffee PublicHouses at Nine Elms and Addlestone; a Ladies' Mission Training House, and a Nursing Institution, from whence trained nurses are sent to the homes of the sick at a moderate charge, and where invalid ladies are received as boarders. We see that orders for needlework and knitting are invited for the Industrial Department of the Homes. Mrs. Meredith may be communicated with, and her publications obtained, at the Mission Book-Room, 29, Charing Cross, W. Another true-hearted and earnest woman, long known in the special field of service which she has found for herself, is Miss Annie Macpherson, whose "Home of Industry," at 60, Commercial Street, Spitalfields, has been the starting-point of many a bright and happy career, and has become the centre of many kinds of Christian service, and of gracious influence. This Home was opened in 1869, and very "street children "-rescued speedily one hundred from miserable circumstances and perilous influences -were received for training in domestic work and for Christian instruction. This enterprise too, like others which have life in them, has grown and expanded in many ways. Premises have been secured at Hackney for additional accommodation, and a small farm of ninety-eight acres purchased at Ontario, Canada. Two thousand seven hundred children have passed through the Home at Spitalfields, to various departments of the institution, and out into the world to enter upon an honourable life-work. Thirty groups of children have been taken out to Canada, and the majority of them are happily settled there. The details of the work are carried out voluntarily by Miss Macpherson and her brother and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Merry, with a staff of helpers, composed of from six to eight ladies resident, and about thirty ladies coming as their time and strength will admit. Besides the care of the 15 |