May 21

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I am come to see a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loveth his life for my sake shall find it.

40 ¶ He that receiveth you receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only | in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Here is the test: Relieving or not the distressed. But mark the consideration of the Saviour: He has so brought down this exhibition of charity that it is within the reach of all—"a cup of cold water." The judgment will go according to our serviceableness or otherwise.

"Many are the legends concerning the Quest of the Holy Grail, the traditional Cup of Healing from which the Saviour drank the sacramental wine the night He was betrayed. But the prettiest of them all, prettiest because truest, is that which represents a bold knight of the Round Table travelling far over mountains and through deserts in search of the mysterious Grail. His protracted and exhaustive journeys, however, turned out fruitless. At length, wan in countenance, depressed in spirit, and fatigued in body, he resolved to return to Arthur's Hall, a sadder, but not a wise man. However, as he was nearing the gate of Camelot, he saw a poor man writhing in the ditch, evidently in the last agonies of death. Moved with compassion, the sworn defender of the rights of the poor and the weak dismounted from his steed, sought a cup of water, and handed it to the suffering man; when lo! the cup glowed as if it were a thing alive, flamed as if it were the sapphire of the New Jerusalem. The knight at last saw the Holy Grail, not, however, in traversing barren wildernesses or performing deeds of prowess, but in succoring the poor and forlorn. 'Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of these little ones, ye have done it unto Me.' 'Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.' A little gift to a little one—it will be honorably mentioned in the judgment day."—J. C. Jones.

We are apt to imagine that true religion consists in extraordinary frames of mind, ecstatic moods. It consists in nothing of the kind, but in the faithful discharge, in the spirit of Christ, of the human duties of our every-day existence.

Closet Promise.—Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.—Matt. x. 42.

"Dare I ask one gift more? It shall be this: May every soul that touches mine, Be it the slightest contact, get therefrom some good, Some little grace, one kindly thought, One aspiration yet unfelt, one bit of courage

For the darkening sky; one gleam of faith to brave the thickening ills of life; One glimpse of brighter skies beyond the gathering mists, To make this life worth while, and heaven a surer heritage.

May the assurance that this heavenly gift Has been vouchsafed me be within my heart When the last hour comes! Then shall I know

Thy Spirit hath been with Thy erring child, And Thou wilt take the soul that Thou hast saved To be with Thee. Amen."