November 6

Proverbs 9:1. Wisdom hath builded her house: she hath hewn out her seven pillars; 2. She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table; 3. She hath sent forth her maidens; she crieth upon the highest places of the city, 4. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 5. Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. 6. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. Luke 14:15. And, when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many; 17. And sent his servant at supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20. And another said, I have married a wife; and therefore I cannot come. 21. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded; and yet there is room. 23. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled; 24. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

That careful observer of Oriental life, Dr. W. H. Thomson, states, that, in Lebanon, the custom of repeating the invitation to a feast still exists. "If a sheik, boy, or emir, invites, he always sends a servant to call you at the proper time. This servant often repeats the very formula mentioned in Luke 14:17, Lukhābā, aṣ-ṣaḥ bāḥ, — 'Come; for the supper is ready.' The fact that this custom is mainly confined to the wealthy and the nobility is in strict agreement with the parable, where the certain man who made the great supper, and bade many, is supposed to be of this class. It is true, now as then, that to refuse is a high insult to the maker of the feast; nor would such excuses as those in the parable be more acceptable to a Druze emir than they were to the lord of this great supper."

The feast in the parable is the grace of the gospel; and Christ is the provider: it is prepared upon the simplest scale: the invitation is freely given, and is urged by repeated messengers. All the excuses proceed from worldliness, and are mere pretexts. The Jews who read the first invitation, especially those to whom the casts of the prophets were familiar, rejected their Messiah: the apostles were sent with urgency to the poor, the despised, the outcast, in Israel itself; and the first-fruits of the gospel were gathered from these. But no limits of nation, race, or time, could confine this free salvation: they must go with it into all the world, to every creature. Millions have already come; "and yet there is room." None are debased save by their own refusal; and all who come and taste the grace should swell the call, "There yet is room."

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 11, 42, 93.

Our Father in heaven, we come to thee with wants which thou knowest far better than we, and for blessings which thou art more ready to give than we to ask. But thou hast bidden us to pray; and we love to come, saying, Our Father. Oh, may we have the spirit of little children, and show our love and gratitude in lives of devotion! Thou hast kept us in the watches of the night from every trouble, sorrow, and alarm; and now we bless thee for the day, for life and health, for food and raiment, for home and friends, for means of education and of enjoyment, for means of occupation and of support, for means of improvement in the knowledge of thyself, and for opportunities of doing good to others. Oh! grant us grace that we may use to thy glory the lives which thou didst give, and which thy mercy doth continually spare.

We acknowledge, O Lord! our unworthiness and our sinfulness, and beseech thee to pardon our transgressions, and heal our infirmities. Help us this day to live aright. In the business of life

may we be diligent, faithful, and true! and do thou, Lord, prosper the labor of our hands. In our intercourse with others, may we manifest the gentleness, the sincerity, the charity, of the gospel of Christ! May we be patient under trials, meek under injuries, firm against temptation, bold for the truth, zealous for thy cause! May we be kind to the poor, helpful to the suffering, gentle toward all men! [Give unto these children, O Lord! grace to serve thee in the morning of life, and in their thoughts and words, their studies and their play, always to please their Father in heaven.] Remember with thy mercy all our friends. Build up, O Lord! thy Church: prosper thy kingdom in our land, and throughout the world. Ever guide, keep, and bless us. May we live as pilgrims in the world, seeking that better country which is the home of thy saints! Bring us to the close of the day in peace, and to the close of life in a hope full of immortality, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.