APRIL 1.

The Unchanging Friend.

"There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."—Prov. xviii. 24.

HERE we have a time of need-uncertain help in man -but certain help in Christ.

We

A time of need.-We need a friend in adversity. Business may not prosper, losses may involve us in difficulties, and our most strenuous efforts may meet with disappointment. We need a friend in poverty. Poverty is often the result of idleness, mismanagement, or vice, yet there are many poor unblameably; their whole life has been a struggle, and poverty has few friends. need a friend in affliction. Individual and family sicknesses press heavy on very many; especially if the breadwinner is laid on a bed of affliction, all connected with him suffer severely. How many conceal such griefs even from intimate friends! We need a friend when death enters our habitation. Bereavement creates a blank, and creates expenses which many are ill able to bear; especially when the head of a family dies, how destitute are the widow and the fatherless children! Death often does its work suddenly, and creates a loss altogether irreparable.

Uncertain help in man.-Those who need help might naturally look for it from a brother according to the flesh, or a brother in Christ, yet such a brother may be struggling himself, and unable to help. He may be able,

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but owing to the reign of selfishness in him, and the total want of sympathy, he may not be willing. Or, as every day brings new wants, and calls for more help, he may not be persevering enough in his timely aid. Or he may be so inconsiderate as to betray confidence, and unnecessarily expose destitution. All these things prove that human aid is most uncertain and often fails, and they teach the destitute to look above man, and to cultivate selfreliance with the blessing of God. "Cursed is man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is."

Certain help in Christ.-He is the never-failing friend. He sympathises with every sufferer. Having suffered so much himself, he is afflicted in all our afflictions. He knows our frame. His eye beams love upon us from his throne in the heavens, while he whispers in our ear, "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not." He comforts and sustains by his word and spirit. "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." "Ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." He perseveres in his kindness. Other friends forsake, but he never forsakes; other friends change, but he never changes; other friends shew kindness only for a time, but he is always kind; other friends turn their back on us when we are poor, but Jesus careth for the poor; and other friends die, but he " ever liveth." He reproves and chastens us for our faults. His is genuine friendship, and the surest evidence of faithfulness. O my soul, hold this best friend! "This is my beloved, and this is my friend!"

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THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

APRIL 2.

The Light of the World.

"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."-John, viii. 12.

REFLECT on what Christ is what Christ requires-and what Christ bestows.

What Christ is. "I am the light of the world.”

He

is the source of light. All natural light comes from the sun, and all the light of saving knowledge from the Sun of Righteousness. The light of the sun is in himself. It is not borrowed, it is not derived from any other luminary; so the light of Christ is original and underived. He gets light from none, but gives light to all. He is the uncreated sun, attracting every eye by the light of his splendour, and inflaming every heart by the warmth of his love. He dispels the darkness of the world. The cheering beams of the sun enlighten all the habitable parts of our earth, and chase away its dark shadows. So Christ dispels the darkness of ignorance, superstition, and error, from the minds of men. He is reflected by his children. All the planets, primary and secondary, reflect the light of the sun, and shine by his light; so all the followers of Christ reflect his light and his image, and thus make their light shine before men. He is shunned by evil-doers. The wicked hate the light of the sun, and choose the darkness of night for their evil deeds; so the light of Christ is shunned by the ungodly. They fly from his word, and his house, and his people.

What Christ requires.-"He that followeth me." If we would follow Christ, we must look at him. Reason is no guide, for it changes every day, and changes in all men ; but the Bible guides us into the presence of Christ, and lets us see the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining

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upon us. Oh that the eye of our faith were fixed on him! We must choose him for our guide. He says, "Follow me;" and this call requires us to become his disciples, place ourselves under his teaching, and reject all other teachers. We must make an effort to keep near him. He requires effort, promptness, and perseverance. As the Israelites in the wilderness watched the cloudy pillar, and followed its movements, so we must follow Christ whithersoever he leads us. Near him, we are safe; away from him, we are in danger.

What Christ bestows.-He brings his followers out of darkness. Formerly their minds were dark, their course was dark and dangerous, and death was the darkest step of all; but now their minds are enlightened, and ignorance and error are gone for ever. It gives them light; light about God and his perfections; light about sin, its dreadful nature and evil consequences; light about salvation, its joys and its prospects; and light about a future state. What a change! I was once darkness, but now I am light in the Lord. This light produces life. As the sun of spring gives life to fields, and trees, and flowers; as the summer sun fills the air with insect life; so the light of Christ fills the soul with newness of life, life spiritual, and life eternal.

APRIL 3.

The Oberwhelmed Heart.

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."—Psalm lxi. 2.

THINK of the heart's sorrrow-the heart's refuge-and the heart's exercise.

The heart's sorrow.-This arises from a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, as offensive to God, and injurious

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to ourselves. Sins committed against so much love, so much kindness, and so much light, may well produce overwhelming convictions. It arises from personal and relative afflictions. Protracted disease, hopes fondly cherished and often disappointed, and the loss of friends in distressing circumstances, how desolating, how crushing to the spirit! It arises from divine judgments. The pestilential disease, spreading, rapid, fatal; the desolations of war, famine prices of bread, and commercial derangements; these often make the spirit fail, and overwhelm the heart. It arises from fears of death and judgment. We must die—it may be soon, it may be sudden. We must encounter a day of reckoning, and meet the eye of an omniscient Judge; and if we forget or neglect to prepare, our hearts may well be troubled.

The heart's refuge.-"The Rock that is higher than I.” This Rock is Christ. The heart should fix on it as a foundation. Thus fixed, it cannot be overturned by the storms of life, nor overwhelmed by the waves of distress. Thus fixed, the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against it. This foundation is therefore safe and satisfactory, and there is no other foundation. The heart should claim it as a defence. "He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munition of rocks." Like Samson on the top of the rock Etam, and like the six hundred Benjamites on the rock Rimmon, the heart on the Rock Christ is defended from all foes and secure from all danger. The heart should flee to this Rock for concealment. Moses was safely concealed in the cleft of the rock when God passed by him in glory. The traveller in eastern countries is safe from the vertical sun when he sits down in the shadow of a great rock; so the alarmed Christian is safe under the covering of Christ's blood, and shall escape all danger. The heart should rise up to this Rock as its dwelling-place in heaven. O my soul, this is thy rest, thy refuge, and thy home.