May 19

57 ¶ And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

58 But Peter followed him, afar on unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death.

60 But found none; yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses.

61 And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

62 And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands.

68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?

69 ¶ Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a dainvel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.

70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.

71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.

73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech he wrayeth thee.

74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

There was a gradual descent in the fall of the apostle Peter. He was first alarmed, and consulted his safety by flight; then he followed Jesus, but afar off; then he entered into the palace; then he sat down among the servants; then he listened without rebuke to their scoffs against Jesus; then he denied that he was a disciple; then he denied with oaths and curses.

"There was really no excuse for Peter's sin. He was in no personal danger. All he had to fear was a momentary contempt from servants and soldiers. Yet the paltry desire of standing well in the estimation of those who happened to be about him, menials as they were, caused him to prove false to his Lord. Miserable man! It makes us blush to think of him; so brave in meeting swords and clubs, so cowardly in meeting sneers."—R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.

Peter's repentance teaches us a most practical lesson. He is not merely the assurance to us of the possibility of a perfect restoration after falling from God; he is also the model of all true penitents. The first main element of St. Peter's recovery was a spirit of self-accusation, a ready acknowledgment of sin and error. Here, then, is one essential element of true repentance—self-accusation at the feet of Jesus. And how needful a lesson to learn well. The saddest part of our sin is, that we are so slow to confess it.

"It might not be quite right, theologically, to thank God for Peter's sin. But since he did sin, we certainly ought to be very thankful for the record of it. Had Judas alone offended, afterwards perishing by his own hands, and sinking to his own place, Christians, once sinning, might well grow desperate. Had Peter stood, as John did, unshaken and unsuihed, our hard struggle with manifold infirmities would be far harder than it is. But now we have a sinning Peter before us; an apostle grievously sinning, but grandly recovered. And while we blush to look upon him, there is comfort in the sight. Be encouraged, my feeble, imperfect, wavering brother, not indeed to sin, nor yet to think lightly of sin; but, if you have sinned, to go and sin no more. Remorse belongs to Judas. Penitence to Peter. Penitence and a better life."—R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.

Closet Promise.—Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.—Jer. iii. 12.

"It may be too late, quite too late, to set right mischief once done, to avert consequences, to stop the working of the evil that we have set in motion. But it is not too late, it is never too late, to come back to God. If you can't be what you might have been, you can still be something that Christ will love and value—an humble, penitent soul. If you cannot serve God as you might have done—nay, if you have done harm that you can never undo—yet you can still give Him what He values more than all service—a will surrendered to His will. If it is too late for everything else, it is never too late to join the service of Christ."

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

Breakfast Motto.—Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely—Rev. xxii. 17.

Weekly Proverb.—"Sour grapes," said the fox, when he could not reach them.—English.

DAILY BIBLE READING—CHRIST'S MIGHTY DEEDS

Sunday.—The Wedding at Cana.—John ii. 1-11.

Monday.—The Nobleman's Son—John iv. 43-54.

Tuesday.—The Widow's Son. Luke vii. 11-17.

Wednesday.—The Ten Lepers—Luke xvii. 11-19.

Thursday.—The Changed Demoniac.—Mark i. 14-28.

Friday.—The Healing of a Paralytic. Mark ii. 1-12.

Saturday.—The Centurion's Servant—Luke vii. 1-10.

DO YOU LOVE HIM TRULY?

Oh, children, do you love The Saviour dear?

Then trust in Him always— Be of good cheer!

Cast all your care on Him, Who cares for you;

He'll guide you to the end, And love you, too.

Serve Him with all your heart And have no fear;

Wherever you may go, Jesus is near.

—Selected.

Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.—Prov. iv. 23.

Dear little friends, the wise man tells us here of something, worth more than anything else, that you are to keep—the heart. Who is to keep it? You are. Not papa or mamma. They cannot do it for you. Your doll or your ball you can give to some one else to keep for you. It is safe, and you can have it just when you want it. But your heart—you must keep. How? Well, how do you keep your doll? Do you throw it into the mud? Or your ball? Do you throw it into the fire? No, you take care of it. Just so you are to keep your heart. You must use more care in keeping it than in keeping your money, your playthings or anything else of which you think the most. You must not take it where it does not belong. You can hurt and spoil it, just as you can your book or doll by the fire or the mud, by taking it where it ought not to be. Keep your heart by keeping out all bad thoughts, bad words, or bad feelings. Don't use indecent language; don't read those books, or look at those pictures, that contain anything impure in them. Above all, you can keep your heart best by giving it to Jesus to keep for you.

THE LESSON OF THE PASSOVER.

God sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians. The tenth and last was the worst. God's holy angel passed over the whole land of Egypt one night and slew the eldest son in every house of the Egyptians. He passed over the houses of the Israelites and spared their babies. And why? Because they did what God commanded them to do. Each family took a lamb, and killed it, and some of its blood was sprinkled upon the doorposts of the house. Where that mark was the angel passed over and did no one any hurt. This was called the Passover, because the angel passed over the houses where the blood was marked over the door.

God commanded the Israelites to keep the feast of the passover ever after. He told them that, when their children should say, "What mean ye by this service?" they were to answer, "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." And here, in the picture, we see the family gathered around the passover lamb and the father teaching the children the reason why this feast was celebrated.

Now the Lord Jesus Christ is our passover lamb. He was slain as the paschal lamb was, and His blood was shed upon the cross. Why? To save our souls. The lamb of the Israelites saved their bodies from death. The Lamb of God saves our souls from sin. The blood of the lamb in Egypt was sprinkled upon the doors; the blood of Jesus must be sprinkled upon our hearts. The destroying angel saw the blood and passed over the houses, and when God sees the blood of Jesus upon us He forgives and saves us from sin.

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TWENTY-FIRST WEEK.

PEARL TEXT.—For the love of Christ constraineth us.—2 Cor. v. 14

O love surpassing thought, So bright, so grand, so clear, so true, so glorious, Love infinite, love tender, love unsought.

Love changeless, love rejoicing, love victorious? And this great love for us in boundless store; Christ's everlasting love! What wouldst thou more? —F. K. Havergid.

The people of Christ are not merit-mongers. Love to the Captain of their salvation ranks them under his banner. They are not like the Swiss, who fight for pay.—Rutherford.

The colored sunsets and the starry heavens, the beautiful mountains and the shining seas, the fragrant woods and the painted flowers, are not half so beautiful as a soul that is serving Jesus out of love, in the wear and tear of common, unpoetic life.—Faber.

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR.