December 26

1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water or v, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one.

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he beareth us:

15 And if we know that he bear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him.

16 If any man see his brother sin a sin sold, it is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

17 All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death.

18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneh not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world hath in wickedness.

20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (verse 4). A lofty thought, to face the whole world and to conquer it! "This is the victory, by which the martyrs overcame, by which the weak became strong, and, in Divine strength, mastered the strong; the strength of endurance wearied out the brutal might of affliction; children overcame their oppressor; the ignorant took captive the learning of the world; fishermen and the tent-maker subdued the world; the dying conquered the living; the blood of martyrs became the harvest-seed of the Church. By faith, St. Paul says, 'they subdued kingdoms;' by faith St. Peter bids us resist the evil one. For faith knits us to Christ; faith obtains for us the power of Christ; faith prevails with Him who is Almighty, and overcomes the world, for it has power with Him who has power over the world."—Pusey.

"It is hard to turn a life that is misdirected into right channels; it is hard to change wrong feeling to right feeling; but it can be done. And the victory will pay for the struggle. Not those victories which come easiest are most sweet to us."—H. W. Beecher.

Closet Promise.—And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.—John xiv. 13, 14.

When thy heart's bowed down with grief, When no friend can give relief,

Tell Jesus.

When thy soul is faint and weary,

When all things look dark and dreary,

Tell Jesus

When for sin thy heart is broke,

When for thee there seems no hope,

Tell Jesus.

When sad doubts and fears depress thee,

When temptations sharp distress thee,

Tell Jesus

When care and anguish weigh thee down,

When pain and sickness force a groan,

Tell Jesus.

When fear of death disturbs thy peace,

When Christian counsels give no case,

Tell Jesus.

In whatever state thou art,

Whatever sorrows swell thine heart,

Tell Jesus

—Selected

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

Breakfast Motto.—Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.—Matt. vi 32.

Weekly Proverb.—Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is—Poor Richard.

DAILY BIBLE READING.—RUSKIN'S FAVORITE CHAPTERS.

Sunday.—Sermon on the Mount.—Matt. vi.

Monday.—Sermon on the Mount—Matt. vii.

Tuesday.—Paul's Defence.—Acts xxvi.

Wednesday.—The Praises of Charity.—I Cor. xiii.

Thursday.—Of the Resurrection.—I Cor. xv.

Friday.—The Slain Lamb.—Rev. v.

Saturday.—The Opening of the Seals.—Rev. vi.

LITTLE BITS.

"A little bit of Patience

Often makes the sunshine come,

And a little bit of Love

Makes a very happy home;

A little bit of Hope

Makes a rainy day look gay;

And a little bit of Charity

Makes glad a weary way"

—Selecta.

THE SUM OF IT ALL.

The boy that by addition grows,

And suffers no subtraction,

Who multiplies the things he knows,

And carries every fraction,

Who well divides his precious time,

The due proportion giving,

To sure success aloft will climb,

Interest compound receiving.

—Dr. Ray Palmer.

LAW OF LIFE.

Live I, so live I,

To my Lord heartily,

To my Prince faithfully,

To my Neighbor honestly,

Die I, so die I.

—Longfellow

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.—Prov. vi. 20, 21.

Do you have to commit a verse of the Bible or a part of the Catechism? or the "rule of three?" That is a good thing to do. Do you hate it? Do you wish you didn't have to do it? Well let me show you how you will prize it some day. Some time you will need that very thing. Perhaps it may be twenty years before you can make it fit in just the right place; but it will be just in place some time, and then, if you don't have it, you will be like the hunter who had no ball in his rifle when a bear met him. "Twenty five years ago, my teacher made me study surveying," said a man who had lately lost his property; "and now I am glad of it. It is just in place. I can get a good situation and high salary." Daniel Webster once told a good story in a speech, and was asked where he got it. "I have had it laid up in my head for fourteen years, and never had a chance to use it till to-day," said he. Now, children, the Bible and Catechism are better than all these other things. They will be in place as long as you live. I hope you will never complain again, when your parents or teachers want you to learn a Bible verse or the Catechism.

37

THE TAMBOURINE GIRL.

"Tell us a story, papa! papa!

A story of something strange and afar;

'Tis a stormy night, and never a star

Shines in the dark overhead

But here, where in man is the fire is bright—

She will smile and sew by the soft lamp-light—

The lessons are learned and it's just the night:

For stories," the children said.

The father nestled the little form

Of the child on his knee, while the moaning storm.

Angry at seeing them snug and warm,

Ratified at window and door;

The old ones eager as children are

For a stirring tale of the strange and far,

Just to be nearer their dear papa,

Crept to his feet on the floor.

"A story, my little ones; what shall it be?

A hunt in the mountains? a ship lost at sea?

Or a tale of the furies?" "Oh, tell us all

three."

Together the children said

"The wreck is for Edith who loves the sea well,

The rice fairy story for sweet baby Belle,

And the hardest hunt you ever can tell

For Robert and Will and Fred."

A picture to sorrowful eyes beguile,

Fair in the light of a mother's smile,

They made—as they waited and watched the while

For "Once upon a time!"

But ere it was spoken, a sound half pain,

Louder and sadder than sobbing rain,

Rose, and quivered, and died again

In broken and tremulous rhyme.

'Twas the voice of a child in a Southern tongue,

Singing a song in the vineyards sung,

In a summer land the flowers among,

And the listening children heard:

And their hearts went out through the rain and mist,

Through winds that threatened and sleet that hissed,

To seek for the sweet child-mouth unkissed,

That sung like a Summer bird.

Wet locks shadowed her dusky eyes,

Started and full of a sweet surprise,

Her sad voice gladdened in low replies;

As round her the children pressed;

They warmed in their own her bare brown hand,

They made her a place in the fireside band,

They gave her glimpse of her own far land

In comfort and love and rest.

They found her beggared and poor and mean,

They drew her in to the sweet home scene,

The dark frail child with her tambourine

Out of the spikes night;

The mother-heart gave a mother's care,

Each child-heart tried its gift to share,

They taught her the meaning of love and prayer,

And lifted her into the light.

The longed-for stories were left unsaid;

The children safely asleep in bed

Had lived a wondrous tale instead,

Though little their young hearts guessed

That work for fairies their hands had wrought,

That sweetest moral their lips had taught,

That through the might of their loving thought,

A whole sad life was blessed.

—Mrs. Mary L. Dickinson.

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FIFTY-FIRST WEEK.

PEARL TEXT.-- Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.—Luke x. 27.

Oh, blessed life!—heart, mind, and soul, From self born arms and wishes free, In all at one with Deity, And loyal to the Lord's control.

—W. T. Matson.

The measure of our love to God is, that we love Him beyond measure.— St. Bernard.

Add love, everything profits; take away love, what remains profits nothing.—St. Augustine.

Love your neighbor, but do not pull down the hedge.—Selected.

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR.