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BIBLE JEWELS

Chapter 1 - My Jewels

Malachi iii. 17.

This is what God calls His people. He is speaking of all true Christians – of all persons who really learn to love and serve Jesus – when He uses this language. It is wonderful to notice how many different kinds of things God compares His people to in the Bible. In one place they are compared to trees, as the cedar (Ps. xcii. 12), or the palmtree (Ps. xcii.12). In another place they are compared to flowers, like the rose and the lily (Canticles, or the Song of Solomon ii. 1). Again they are compared to the stars (Dan. xii. 3), and to the sun (Matt. xiii. 43). In one place they are compared to the sparkling dew-drops, that stand so thick on the flowers of the garden, on a fine summer morning, and make the whole garden look so fresh and beautiful (Micah. v. 7). In other places they are compared to the light which the sun is pouring forth all the time, and which enables us to see the many wonderful things with which God has filled the world around us (Matt. v. 14). They are compared to the dove, because it is harmless; to the lamb, because it is gentle; to the lion, because it is bold; and to the eagle, because it is a noble bird that tries to get above the world, and to rise far away up toward the sun. But, in this passage from the prophet Malachi, God compares His people to jewels. He says "They shall be mine in that day when I make up My jewels." Jewels are considered to be the most valuable things that a person can have. Sometimes they are made of gold and silver, and sometimes of pearls, or diamonds, or other precious stones. Kings and queens, lords and ladies, and other great and rich people put jewels on their fingers, round their necks, or in their bosoms, and wear them for ornaments. And just in the same way God says His people shall be to Him for "a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty" (Isaiah lxii. 3). What a blessed thing it will be to be one of the jewels in the crown that Jesus wears, or to lie in His bosom shining like a diamond! And yet, if we really love and serve Him, He tells us in this text that we shall be His jewels.

There are a great many precious stones mentioned in the Bible. Each of these may be considered as representing some important part of Christian character or duty; and it seems to me that if we take up these jewels they will furnish us with an interesting and instructive subject for a course of sermons. This subject, then, we may call – Bible Jewels.

In our present text God's people are compared to jewels. This first sermon will lead us to consider some reasons why Christians are like jewels. I wish now to give you three reasons why they are so.

In the first place, Christians are like jewels, because jewels are very beautiful.

God never made anything that looks more lovely than some jewels do. When you hold up a diamond, in the light of the sun, or even of a lamp, and move it about, it flashes and sparkles most beautifully. And if we had a number of them together, as they are sometimes seen in a monarch's crown, or a lady's head-dress, in a strong light they would glitter and shine so, that we could hardly bear to look at them. They would seem to have little rainbows dancing all about them.We should see all the colours of the rainbow glittering and sparkling there. But these beauties are not in the jewels so much as in the light which shines upon them. If it were not for the light, you would see nothing of the beauty. Suppose it were as dark as midnight here; I might hold up ten thousand diamonds, if I had them, and yet there would be no beauty for you to see. Not a trace of brightness would sparkle in one of them. We sometimes read stories about dark caves, in which great jewels are put up, instead of lamps, for the purpose of lighting them up. But this is a mistake. Jewels have no beauty in themselves. They have no power of their own to shine. It is only when light, outside of themselves, is thrown upon them that their beauty can be seen. But when the bright beams of the sun shine upon them they appear very beautiful.

And just so it is with Christians, who are God's jewels. They are very beautiful. But this beauty is not their own. It does not belong to themselves. It all comes from Jesus. When they learn to know Him, and love Him, and serve Him, they become like Him, and this is what makes them beautiful. Jesus is called in the Bible "the Sun of righteousness." He gives light to His people, just as the sun gives light to the world. He shines on the souls of His people, and this makes them look beautiful as diamonds and other jewels do, when the sun is shining on them. And the stronger the light is that falls on a jewel the more beautiful it appears. If, instead of the light of a lamp, you hold a diamond in the beams of the sun, it will sparkle with a hundred times more beauty. And so the nearer we get to Jesus, the more we know of Him and love Him, the more beautiful we shall become.

You remember what we read in the Bible about Moses. He went up to the top of Mount Sinai once, and he was there for forty days, seeing Jesus all the time, and talking with Him. And, when he came down, his face was shining with so much brightness and beauty, that the people could not bear to look at him. The sight of his face dazzled their eyes, like looking at the sun. Moses had to put a veil over his face, and cover it up, before the people could come near enough to talk with him.

And, you remember, too, what we read in the New Testament about Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. His disciples looked at Him, just as you and I have sometimes looked at, what is called, a dissolving view, in a magic lantern. They saw a wonderful change come over Him. The appearance of Him, which they were accustomed to see, melted away, and another form, or appearance, gradually took its place. His face grew brighter and brighter, till it was shining with a light above the brightness of the sun. His clothing changed too. It all turned white, and kept on growing more and more pure, till it was whiter than the spotless snow. And Jesus underwent this change, and put on this beautiful appearance, on purpose to show us what the beauty is which He intends to put on all His people. Yes, my dear young friends, if you and I are true Christians, we shall be made, at last, to look just as Jesus did when He was on that mountain. Jesus will come into our world again. He will come to gather His jewels together. This means that He will come to raise His people out of their graves, and take them to be forever with Him in His heavenly kingdom. And, when Jesus comes to do this, He will appear just as His disciples saw Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. And all His people will be made like Him then. They will all be wearing the same snow-white garments that Jesus wore on the mount. Their faces will all be shining brighter than the sun, as His did. Oh, how brightly God's jewels will sparkle then! How beautiful they will appear! We often see great beauty, now, in flowers, the rainbow, the sky; but it fades while we look at it, and very soon it is all gone. Even the beauty of the Transfiguration did not last. But the beauty that Jesus will give to His people, when He comes again, will be lasting beauty. It will never fade. On the contrary, it will grow brighter, and brighter forever. Jewels are very beautiful. This is one reason why God calls His people jewels.

But jewels are very valuable; and this is another reason why God calls His people jewels.

It is because of their value that we call them precious stones. Very often a single jewel will be worth more than many a rich man's whole fortune. You remember the Bible speaks of a man "finding one pearl, of great price, and then selling all that he had" in order to purchase that pearl.

We read of a nobleman in England, some time ago, who had a suit of clothes made to wear on special occasions. It was what is called a court-dress. He only used to put it on when the king had great companies of the nobility at his palace. But there were so many jewels on that one suit of clothes, that it was worth one hundred thousand pounds.

A young friend of mine, now traveling in Europe, wrote home the other day that he saw, while visiting the royal gallery in the city of Dresden, a necklace of jewels that was said to be worth four hundred thousand pounds. In the same place is a small casket of jewels, valued at about four millions sterling.

But to show you what very valuable things jewels are, let me tell you about some of the most celebrated diamonds in the world.

One of these is called the Orloff diamond, or the Grand Russian diamond. This is about as large as a walnut. It belongs to the Emperor of Russia. Its luster is very fine, but it is a little defective in shape. It is valued at over one hundred thousand pounds. There are two stories told about this diamond. One is that it used to belong to a Persian prince, who called it "the Moon of the Mountain." It is said that somebody murdered the prince, and then stole all his jewels, and among them this great diamond, which, after many changes, came into the hands of the Empress Catharine, of Russia, and has since been kept in that family.

The other story is that this beautiful gem was once used as one of the eyes of an idol, in the temple of Brahma. I don't know what he had for his other eye. But certainly one of his eyes must have been much brighter, and more beautiful than the other. Well, there it was, for many a year, flashing and sparkling most splendidly. The fame of this wonderful, bright-eyed god spread all over the country. A French soldier, in the garrison at Pondicherry, made up his mind to try and get it. He deserted from the army. He went to the priests of this temple, and professed his desire to become a convert to the worship of their god. He remained with them a long time, till he gained their confidence, and was appointed to some post of duty about the temple. Then he watched for an opportunity and got into the temple all alone one night, when he climbed up on the shoulders of the idol, gouged out his bright-jeweled eye, and went off with it. He escaped to Madras, and sold it to a sea-captain for fifty thousand francs. After passing through different hands, a Greek merchant finally sold it to the Empress Catharine. The price she paid the merchant for ti was about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds cash down, five thousand pounds a year as long as he lived, and also a title of nobility.

There is another great diamond, called the Austrian, or Grand Tuscan diamond. It has belonged to the family of the Emperor of Austria for many generations. It is cut in the form of a rose. It has nine sides, each presenting a star with nine rays. But is has a kind of yellowish tint, which makes it less valuable than it would otherwise be. Yet that single jewel is supposed to be worth between one and two hundred thousand pounds.

Another of the celebrated diamonds of the world is called the Pitt diamond, or the Regent. It is not the largest, but is said to be the most perfect and beautiful diamond in Europe. When it was cut, or polished, it took two years' time to do it, and the work cost above three thousand pounds. The fragments broken off from it in cutting were worth many thousand pounds. It is called the Pitt diamond, because, when first brought from the East Indies, it was bought by Mr. Thomas Pitt, the grandfather of the celebrated English statesman of that name. It is called the Regent diamond, because, when Mr. Pitt sold it, it was bought by the Duke of Orleans, who was then the Regent, or reigning Prince of France. When Napoleon I. was Emperor of France it belonged to him. He used to wear it on the hilt of his sword. Once he had to pawn it to raise money to pay his soldiers. Now, it is set in the crown of the Emperor of France, and sparkles beautifully there. This one jewel is worth a quarter of a million of pounds.

Another famous diamond is called "The Star of the South." This belongs to the King of Portugal. There is an interesting story connected with the finding of this precious gem. A good many years ago, you know, Brazil, in South America, which is now an independent government, used to belong to the King of Portugal. In those days three men had done something to offend the king. As a punishment they were banished to a place in the interior of Brazil. They were never to go home again to their families, but were to stay there till they died. The part of the country to which they were sent was very rich in gold and jewels. Every river rolled over a bed of gold, and every valley was a sort of diamond mine. But they could not live on gold. And jewels would not take the place of their families and friends; and so the banished men were very unhappy. They longed to go back to their homes. But how could this be done? It occurred to them that if they could only find some very rich mine of gold, or some very large, valuable jewel, perhaps the king would pardon them and let them go back to their homes. Then they went to work. For six long years they toiled on without success. But one summer there came a long, severe drought. It hardly rained all the season. The stream, near which they lived, dried up. They went into the bed of the river to dig for gold. While digging there they found the largest diamond they had ever seen. It was over an ounce in weight. They knew it was exceedingly valuable. They were filled with joy. They ventured to go home with this precious gem. They sent it to the King of Portugal in Lisbon. He was so delighted with it that he pardoned the men and let them stay at home. This was the famous "Star of the South." The king had a hole bored through it, and used to wear it round his neck on holidays. It has since been cut into a beautiful eight-sided jewel. In a French work on the subject of jewels, which I have, it is said that this diamond is supposed to be worth the surprising sum of three millions of pounds.

Another of these celebrated diamonds is called the "Koh-i-noor," or Mountain of Light. This now belongs to Victoria, the Queen of England. It is said to have been found in the mines of Golconda, more than a thousand years before the birth of our Saviour. During all these many centuries it is said to have been in the possession of different rajahs, or princes, in India, and many stories are told about it.

Once an Indian prince had conquered another. The conquered prince owned this gem, and wore it in his turban or head-dress. The conqueror saw it flashing in its beauty there. He proposed to the conquered prince that they should exchange turbans in token of friendship. The poor fellow was very unwilling to do this. But he knew it would cost him his life if he refused. So he made the exchange, but lost that splendid jewel.

There was another occasion when one Indian prince had conquered another in battle. The conquered prince was known to be the owner of the Koh-i-noor. The conqueror invited him to his palace. When he came, he was told that he never should go out again till he gave up his jewel to his conqueror. He had expected this; and to be prepared for it, he had a counterfeit, or imitation of the real jewel made. This he pretended to be very loath to part with, yet finally gave it up. Then he was set at liberty. The other prince was delighted to think of his great treasure. But when he gave it to his jeweller, to set it for him, he told him it was a counterfeit, and not the real jewel. Then he went to the palace of the prince who had deceived him, and tried to find the great diamond. He ransacked the palace from top to bottom, but could not find it. At last one of the prince's slaves told him where it was hid, and the "Koh-i-noor" - the "Mountain of Light" - was found hidden away under a heap of ashes. But at last the English army conquered a part of India called the Punjaub. The prince of that country owned this celebrated diamond, and he was obliged to give it up to the Queen of England; and now it shines and sparkles among the crown jewels of that kingdom. It is worth about a million and a half sterling.

Now we see, from what has been said, how very valuable jewels are. But perhaps some of you are ready to say, "Well, what is all this to us? We have no such jewels as these."

Nay, but you have. Every one of you has a jewel worth more than the Koh-i-noor, and the Star of the South, and all those costly gems put together. I mean by this your soul. The soul of the youngest child here is worth more than all the gold and silver, and all the diamonds and rubies, and gems and jewels in the world. Jesus said that if a man should gain the whole world, and lose his soul by it, he would make a very bad bargain. Jesus knows what the soul is worth, for He made it. And when it was lost He paid the price that was required to redeem it, or save it. That price was His own precious blood. He shed this on the cross for us. And this shows us how very valuable our souls are. This is a very good reason why God should call His people jewels. He does it because they are very valuable.

The third reason why Christians are like jewels is because they are hard to polish.

Many diamonds, when they are found, have some stain or speck upon them, and they almost all have a rusty sort of coating, which must be taken off before their real beauty and brilliance can be seen. But this is a very hard thing to do. You know the diamond is one of the hardest things in the world. It is harder than iron, or steel, or stone. It is so hard that it will write on glass. It is so hard that nothing can be used to polish it but powder made out of diamonds.

The men who polish diamonds, and other jewels, are called lapidaries. 'Lapis' is the Latin word for a stone. And a lapidary means one who works in jewels or precious stones. If we should go into the workshop of a lapidary we should see a great variety of machinery, which is used in polishing jewels. Most of these are solid wheels made of hard wood or iron. They are about and inch or an inch and a half thick, and about a foot wide. They are like thin, small grindstones. They are so arranged that they can be made to turn round very fast. Then the diamond, which is to be cut or polished, is fixed very tight on the end of a piece of wood, so that one side of the diamond at a time can be held very steadily against the wheel while it is flying round rapidly, just as you have seen the scissors'-grinder hold the scissors he is sharpening, against the grindstone. But the diamond is so hard that this grinding sort of work has to be kept up a long time before the polishing is finished. It takes months of this sort of work to polish a diamond. The Pitt diamond, of which we have already spoken, took two years to polish it. So you see that polishing jewels is very hard work. And this is a very good reason why Christians are called jewels; for they have to be polished, too, and it is hard work with them, just as it is with jewels.

When we become Christians we are like diamonds, as they are found in the mines. There are specks, or stains, on us, which must be removed by polishing. These specks and stains mean the bad habits we have formed, which must be broken up; or the bad tempers we have indulged, and which must be overcome. But there is one great difference here between diamonds and Christians, or between men's jewels and God's jewels. When a man is polishing a jewel, the jewel cannot help him. It has nothing to do. But if we are God's jewels, when He is polishing us we must help Him. There is something for us to do. And God won't carry on the work of polishing us, or making us better, unless we try to help Him. Let me try to show you what I mean.

Edward Norton was a good Christian boy. He was one of God's jewels. But there was quite a large spec on this jewel. He had a bad temper. A little thing would often make him very angry. He was fond of reading about the great conquerors spoken of in history. His mother tried to show him how he might become a greater conqueror than they. Every morning, for a whole week, she made him repeat this verse, "He that ruleth his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a city." At the same time she taught him to pray to God for grace to help him to resist the temptation to get angry, and for power to rule his own spirit.

One day, after they had been talking about this verse, Edward was playing with some boys. A dispute arose between them. One of them called Edward a fool, laughed at him, and made fun of him. In a moment Edward grew red in the face. The fire began to flash from his eyes. He was just doubling up his fist, and raising his head to strike a blow, when he suddenly stopped. He thought of what his mother had said about conquering his spirit. In a moment the silent prayer went up from his heart, "Lord, help me to overcome this angry spirit." God heard that prayer and helped him. No angry blow was struck. No angry word was spoken. He ruled his own spirit. And when he went home and told his mother about it, she threw her arms round his neck, and kissed him, and told him that he had gained a more glorious victory that day than any that Alexander, or Cæsar, or Napoleon ever gained. That was true. And when Edward Norton was resisting that temptation, and trying to overcome his angry temper, he was helping God to polish one of His jewels, and remove an ugly spec from it.

Let me tell you now about another little boy who helped to polish one of these jewels. This boy's name was Willie. He was trying to follow Christ. The spot on this jewel was not that of an angry, but of a selfish spirit. He liked to have his own way, and indulge, and please himself better than any one else. One Saturday Willie came home from school and said they were to have holiday for a week. His mother told him that on Monday afternoon she was going to send their man Dennis with the wagon to a village six miles off, and that if he were a good boy, and the weather were fine, he might go along with him. Willie was delighted with the prospect of such a fine, long ride, for he loved riding very much.

The next day, while in church and Sunday school, Willie could hardly keep from thinking about that ride, and wishing that Monday afternoon would come.

On Sunday evening, while sitting by his mother, he said, "Ma, the minister talked to us in Sunday-school today, about self-denial. And he said that the more we denied ourselves, for the good of others, the happier we should feel. Now is that really so?"

"It is, Willie," said his mother. "The Bible tell us, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive;' and that we must 'take up our cross daily, and follow Christ.' "

"Then, ma, I feel that I have been a very selfish little boy; for I don't like to deny myself at all. I ate all those oranges myself, the other day, although I knew that Johnny Maloney would have been very glad of one, for he had just got over the fever, and I remember how good they tasted when I was getting well, after I was sick last year."

"I'm glad, Willie, to find you have been thinking of this matter. If you wish to find out whether the minister's words are true, try it for yourself. Do something to deny yourself, the first chance you have, and see if you don't feel happier for it."

Well, Monday morning came. It was a bright, clear, beautiful day. Willie was in fine spirits, thinking about the ride he was to have on the afternoon. The morning seemed very long. He thought it never would be gone. He did not know what to do with himself all the time. He got tired of staying in the sitting-room, so he thought he would go into the kitchen and see Mrs. Maloney, the washerwoman.

"Ah! master Willie," she cried, "how well ye're looking this morning! And what a fine colour ye have in yer cheeks! Here's me poor Johnny as pale as the sheet I'm washing, ever since the faver left him. The docthor says he ought to take a ride now and then, and go out into the country a bit; but the likes o' me that has to wash for a living can't do that at all, at all."

A sudden thought darted into Willie's mind; and hardly stopping to answer, he hurried out into the yard. Then he walked up and down awhile, with a slow step. His face had an anxious and troubled look. A great conflict was going on in Willie's mind. The question was whether he should indulge himself, or deny himself. It was a conflict like that famous one which the great Cæsar had on the banks of the Rubicon. All at once he stopped walking, and came to a dead halt. He planted his foot down firmly on the bricks and said, "I'll do it. I'll do it."

Then he ran into the house. "Ma," said he, "Johnny Maloney is downstairs; and he looks so pale and thin, that I think the ride into the country will do him more good than it will me; and as there is only room for one I'm going to let him take my place, if you are willing."

"Most certainly, my dear boy," said his mother, as she clasped him in her arms, and gave him a hearty kiss. Willie flew to tell Mrs. Maloney of his decision; and when the wagon drove up to the door, he stood nobly by while Johnny was lifted up on the high seat by the side of Dennis. As he watched them ride out of sight, both smiles and tears were seen on Willie's face. It seemed doubtful, for a while, which would gain the day; but at last he dashed away the tears, and the smiles got the victory. Then he went cheerfully away, and spent the afternoon in doing some errands for his mother.

At night Willie's mother was sitting by the side of his bed before he went to sleep. She put her hand fondly on his little curly head and said, "You have made me very happy, dear Willie, to-day, by trying to practice so soon the lesson we were talking about yesterday. It was a great act of self-denial for you to give up the ride which you had been expecting with so much pleasure. But tell me now, Willie, do you feel happier or not for staying at home to let Johnny go?"

"I feel happier than if I had taken the best ride in the world, Ma. And you say it made you happy, too; and I know Mrs. Maloney and Johnny were happy; and so only think how much happiness it caused. I'm sure I don't want to be selfish."

Willie slept very sweetly that night. What a noble little fellow he was! If he kept on in that way he would soon get the stain out of his jewel, and have it looking very bright and beautiful.

But these jewels are not always polished only for the sake of removing specks from them. They are often cut, and polished on purpose to make them look more beautiful. If a large diamond is to be put on the crown of some great king, it is only by cutting and polishing that it can be made to shine with all its brilliance. When you look at a diamond, you see that it has many faces or sides. These don't belong to diamonds naturally. When they are found in the mines they have none of these smooth faces. They are then like little pebble-stones, without any particular shape. These smooth, even sides are made by the jeweller, or lapidary, by grinding, and polishing. And they are made on purpose to make the diamond look more beautiful. And just in the same way God cuts and polishes His jewels, in order to make them shine more brightly and beautifully in the crown of His glory in heaven.

Sometimes we see good Christian people who have very heavy trials which they are obliged to bear for many years. And when we see them bearing those trials we often wonder what it is all for. But the meaning of it is that God is using those trials just as the lapidary uses the files and wheels, to polish His jewels so as to make them brighter and more beautiful in heaven. There was that poor beggar at the gate of the rich man, of whom we read in the New Testament. He was left to be so poor, and to have all those dreadful sores, not because God could not help it; He could easily have made him a rich man and have kept him from having any sores at all, if He had pleased. But he was one of God's jewels, and God was making use of his poverty and beggary and sores, in order to polish that jewel and make it shine more beautifully in heaven.

I was reading lately about a Christian woman who was kept on a sick bed, entirely unable to help herself, for twenty years. She had no use of her limbs. She was blind and dumb, and suffered dreadful pains. She lost her father and four brothers, and was left alone in the world. Yet she was always cheerful and happy. Before she lost her voice, she used to say that she would not alter any of these trials if she could, because God sent them, and He knew what was best. She was one of God's jewels, and He was using all those trials to make her happier and more beautiful in heaven forever. And if this is the way in which God prepares His people for heaven, then they may well be compared to jewels, because they are hard to polish.

My dear young friends, I want you all to love Jesus and serve Him. Then you will be His jewels. And every jewel must be polished before it is fit for the jeweller to set it in the ring or crown for which it is intended. And it is just so with God's jewels. They all need polishing. And the church and Sunday school are God's workshop. God is like a great jeweller or lapidary. In every church and Sunday-school He has jewels which He wants to have polished. And He makes use of ministers and teachers to help Him in polishing His jewels. But then the jewels must take hold of the work and help, too. The hymn we sometimes sing, says:-

"There is something in heaven for children to do."

And that's true. But there is something for you to do here too. You are God's jewels. But you need polishing. This is hard work, and you must help to do it, or it will never be done. You must find out what your bad habits or bad tempers are, and then try to overcome them. These are the specks or stains on your jewels. And these must be polished off. The speck on Edward Norton's jewel was a quick, angry temper. We have seen how he tried to get that polished off. The speck on little Willie's jewel was a selfish spirit. We have seen how he tried to polish that off. In the same way you must find out what the speck is on your jewel, and try hard to get it polished off.

Little Georgie was a boy only about five years old. He was trying to love Jesus and be a good boy. He was one of God's jewels; but there was a speck in it. Georgie's fault was that he would get sulky and be obstinate. One day he had been doing something wrong, and his mother had to punish him for it. This made him very sulky, and it took him a long time to get over it. Every night, when he had done saying his prayers after his mother, she used to teach him to pray in his own language; to speak freely to God and tell Him all that he wanted. So on the evening of this day Georgie remembered how wrong he had been, and he thought he must pray about that. And he did it in this way. He said: "O God! bless Georgie, and give him a new heart. Don't let him be naughty again, never; no, never. Because you know when he is naughty he sticks to it so. Help him to give up easy, and make him a good boy, for Jesus' sake. Amen."

That was the way in which little Georgie tried to get the stain off his jewel. And that is the way in which we must try. Let us find out what our spots or stains are. And then let us pray to God to help us while we try to polish them off. And then, when God comes to make His jewels up, we shall be gathered among them and shine beautifully in heaven forever.

Chapter 2 – The pearl

"One Pearl of Great Price." - Matt. xiii. 46

A pearl is a very beautiful jewel. It is generally round in form. Sometimes it has a tapering shape, something like a pear. Its colour is a rich, soft, pure white, tinged with some of the colours of the rainbow. You know that the pearl is only found in a particular kind of oyster. In old times, people used to have very strange ideas about the way in which they were formed. Some thought they were drops of dew, made hard in some strange way, and so turned into precious jewels. Others thought they were the eggs laid by the female oyster. Others thought that when the oysters were injured, drops of liquid, like tears would ooze out, on the inside of their shell, and these would turn into pearls. But we know now that they are formed just in the same way as the inside shell of the oyster. This is the reason why some beautiful shells are called pearl-shells. The inner lining of these shells is called "mother-of-pearl." This is used to make knife handles, and paper-cutters, and ladies' card-cases, and work-boxes, and many other useful and ornamental things. If a grain of sand, or a small bead, is put into the inside of a pearl-oyster shell while the animal is yet alive, and left there for a year or two, it will become a pearl; that is, it will be covered all over with this beautiful pearly substance. This shows us clearly the way in which pearls are made.

Many years ago there was a learned man in Sweden who found this out about pearls. He told it to the King of Sweden, and proposed that they should establish a manufactory of pearls. The king was greatly delighted with the idea. He gave him a large present, to show how much he was pleased. Then he sent to the East Indies, where the best pearl-oysters come from, and got a large quantity of them. With these they formed a bed of pearl-oysters in one of the rivers near the sea. They put little beads in the shells with the living oysters, and thought in this way they could make as many pearls as they wanted. But it did not succeed. They made a few indeed, but found that it cost more to make them than they were worth; and so they gave it up.

The pearl-oysters are found in many parts of the world. But the principal place is near the Island of Ceylon, in the Indian Ocean. The pearl is one of the most beautiful of all the jewels. The smaller pearls are worth from ten to twelve shillings each. A necklace of pearls, as large as peas, will sell for different prices, varying from two hundred to three thousand pounds. Sometimes a single pearl will be found, of very large size, which will be truly "a pearl of great price." The largest pearl now known in the world, and the most perfect in colour and form, is about an inch in width at the broadest part, and about an inch and a-half long. It is like a small pear, and is said to be worth fifty thousand pounds.

We read in Roman history about Queen Cleopatra. She was a very beautiful woman, and very rich; but very wicked, and very foolish. One night she gave a great feast, in honour of the celebrated Roman general, Marc Antony. She had two of the most valuable pearls then known in the world. They were both alike, large, round, beautiful, and perfect in shape and colour. Each of them was said to be worth one hundred thousand pounds. Well, the story is, that in order to show how rich she was, and how much she thought of that brave soldier, she dissolved one of those valuable pearls in vinegar, and gave it to Antony to drink. I do not believe the story, but it has been told now for nineteen hundred years; and, if it be true, then that Roman soldier had the most costly drink that anybody ever had. Only think, nearly one hundred thousand pounds at a draught! It must have tasted pretty strong of gold, or silver. The mate of that beautiful pearl of Cleopatra's afterwards fell into the hands of Augustus, the Roman Emperor. He had it split in two, and used it to ornament the ears of the statue of the Goddess Venus. What became of it afterwards no one knows.

Now it is because the pearl is so beautiful, and so valuable, that Jesus is compared to this jewel. He speaks of a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls. Presently he "found one pearl of great price, and went and sold all that he had and bought it." Jesus is called a pearl because He is so beautiful - so precious. He is called "the Pearl of great price," because there is no one else like Him. I wish to give two reasons why it is proper to speak of Jesus as "the Pearl of great price."

The first reason is because He was hard to get.

I don't mean by this that it is a hard thing now for you, or me, or anybody that wants this pearl to get it; for this is not hard, at all. It is very easy. But what I mean is, that Jesus had a hard time to make it so easy for us to get this precious pearl.

For instance, suppose I had a small box here full of pearls. And suppose I should say to you, "Come to me, my dear boys and girls, and I will give each of you one of these beautiful pearls." It would not be hard then for you to get a pearl, would it? No. You would only have to walk a few steps from where you are sitting, to come up to me, hold out your hand for the pearl, and it would be yours. That would be very easy. But suppose after you had got your pearls, I should say to you, "Now, my dear young friends, I want you to take great care of these pearls, and prize them highly, for they were very hard to get. Just listen, and I will tell you what I had to do before I could get them for you." For we will suppose that I had been to the pearl-fisheries and had got these pearls for you myself. And the things which I describe myself as doing, are just the things which somebody has to do for all the pearls you see shining on ladies' headdresses.

Well, then, in the first place, I had a long voyage to make. I had to sail many thousands of miles across the seas till I reached the Island of Ceylon, in the Indian Ocean. I went to the pearl-fisheries off the northern part of that island. There I got into a boat along with the fishermen. By-and-by we came to the fishing-ground. It is away off to sea. The water was very deep. The pearl-oysters were far down at the bottom of the sea. The only way to get them is to dive down to the bottom, fill a basket with the oysters, and get pulled up again as quickly as possible. Well, I had to put off nearly all my clothes; a basket was hung from my neck, to put the oysters in; a big stone was fastened to my feet, to make me sink quickly; and, holding on with one hand to a rope, fixed round my body, the men in the boat lowered me down to the bottom. Oh, how many dangers there were! At one time the current almost dashed me against some sharp, jagged rocks. Then a whirlpool came near drawing me in; and just as I got my basket full of oysters, and made signal to the men in the boat to pull me up, I saw a huge hungry shark coming towards me as fast as he could. How glad I was to escape his terrible jaws! Well, I got safe up with my oysters.

The next thing was to open them, and find out how many pearls were in them. And how was this to be done? Perhaps you think, why, in the same way in which we open our oysters - with a knife. No; that is not the way. That would spoil the pearls. I had to spread them out in a trough, where the sun would shine on them; and then wait till the shells opened, and the fish died, and their bodies all decayed and turned putrid. Then I had to wash off as much as I could of the decaying matter, and go feeling round among what was left for the pearls that were in it. The smell was horrible. The work was the most disagreeable that could possibly be. That is the way in which I got my pearls. That is the way in which all pearls are got. And so I might end as I began, by saying I want you to prize these pearls highly because they were hard to get.

And Jesus may be called "the Pearl of great price," for the same reason. He was hard to get. I mean by this, that He had a great many hard things to do before He could become "the Pearl of great price" to us. The hard things that a pearl-diver does, in getting pearls, are nothing compared to what Jesus had to do, before He could be our friend and Saviour. He had to take a long journey. He came from heaven to earth. It took Him thirty-three years to make this journey. He had to strip Himself of the glorious garments that He used to wear in heaven, and put on the garments of a poor man. The pearl-diver has to plunge into the depths of the sea, where he can only stay two or three minutes at a time. When Jesus came into our world, it was like plunging into a sea, not of salt water, but of dreadful wickedness; where He had to remain, not for a few moments, but for many long years. And He met with dangers and trials here, worse than the rocks and the whirlpools, and the terrible seamonsters which the pearl-diver has so much reason to be afraid of. He had to meet with the sharp tongues of wicked men, and they are worse than sharp rocks. They ridiculed Him. They called Him all sorts of bad names. They put a crown of thorns on His brow. They tore His back with cruel scourges. Not only wicked men, but wicked spirits gathered all about Him, to worry and persecute Him. These were worse a hundred times than the sharks and sea-monsters that threaten the pearl-diver. It was this which made Him feel such dreadful pain and sorrow, in the Garden of Gethsemane, that He sunk down to the ground and that bloody sweat came out all over His body. Oh, how hard that must have been! And then they drove the big, rough nails through His tender hands and feet. They fastened Him to the cross, and let Him hang there till He died, a lingering, torturing death! Oh, how hard that must have been! This was the price at which this Pearl was got for us! What a price that was! Nobody can ever calculate how much that price was! Jesus may well be called: the Pearl of great price," because He was so hard to get. This is the first reason.

The second reason why Jesus may be called "the Pearl of great price" is because there are so many uses that we can make of Him.

If we had the most beautiful and valuable pearl in the world there are only two things we could do with it; we might wear it as an ornament; or we might sell it, and spend the money. But if Jesus - "the Pearl of great price" - is ours, it is hardly possible to tell how many uses we can make of Him. I have been preaching the gospel for almost thirty years. All this time I have been trying to tell about the many uses that poor sinners, such as we are, can make of Jesus. And yet, so far from getting through with all there is to say about Him, I feel as if I had hardly begun. We can make use of Jesus for everything that our souls need. We can use Him for meat and drink to our souls; for clothing, for ornament, for medicine, for help, for strength, for wisdom, for riches, for pardon, for peace, for light, for joy, for life and, in one word for everything. Here now, I have mentioned fourteen different uses that we can make of Jesus. I might increase this list to as many hundred. And then, if I should live long enough to preach a sermon on each of these fourteen hundred different uses to be made of Jesus, still the half of this subject would not be told. And if this is so, then we need not wonder that true Christians love so much to sing that precious hymn, which says -

" How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer's ears;

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,

And drives away his fears.

" It makes the wounded spirit whole,

It calms the troubled breast;

'Tis manna to the hungry soul,

And to the weary rest."

But let us look more closely at two or three things for which Jesus is of use to His people. One important thing is for protection.

We live in a world where we are exposed all the time to a great many dangers. We cannot protect ourselves from these dangers. But Jesus can protect us; and this is one thing that makes Him of so much use to those who love Him.

You know that before the invention of gunpowder the things that men fought with were swords and spears and arrows. Then, before going into battle, the soldiers used to put armour on, of steel or brass. This armour was to protect them from being killed or wounded. But this life is like a battle-field. We are in danger here all the time. We need protection. Jesus can put a sort of invisible armour round His people, to protect them.

Many years ago there was the celebrated minister in Scotland, whose name was John Know. He had a great many enemies on account of his faithful preaching. Some of these tried in many ways to kill him. When taking his meals in his own house he always used to sit at the head of the table, with his back to a particular window. One night, when they were going to sit down to supper, it came into his mind, all at once, not to sit in that chair himself, and not to let any one else sit in it. He could not tell why, but he insisted upon that chair being left empty. In the midst of supper a gun was fired. The ball went right through that empty chair, and buried itself in the foot of a large candlestick on the table. Then they all saw why it came into Mr. Knox's mind to leave the chair empty that night. Jesus had done it. That was the way in which He put His invisible armour about His servant for his protection.

Let me show you how Jesus put this same armour round one of our brave generals during the American Revolution, and protected him. This story is told of General Schuyler. He had a great deal to do along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, where the English generals had hired the Indians to fight on their side. General Schuyler was a very brave man, and he had always been a great friend to the Indians, so that they both loved him and feared him. But the English officers wanted to get him out of the way, and as he never seemed to get hurt in battle, they hired two men - one a white man, the other an Indian - to waylay him and murder him. The time was set; the two men hid themselves in a clump of trees which the general was accustomed to pass on his way home. They waited and watched awhile. By-and-by they saw the general coming along the road. He was on horseback, and alone. Now or never was their chance. The men looked to the priming of their guns. They raised them to their shoulders. They took aim. In another moment the general would have been a dead man. But, instead of firing, the Indian lowered his gun to the ground. He pushed the white man's gun aside; - "No," said he, "I cannot see him killed. I've eaten his bread too often." And so the general rode on to his home in safety, little dreaming what a narrow escape he had just had from death. Thus you see how Jesus put His invisible armour around him and protected him. One of the things for which Jesus is of use to His people, is for protection.

Another thing for which Jesus is of use to His people is for guidance.

It is a sad thing to be lost in a wilderness, where there are no roads, and not to know which direction to take in order to get out. What such a person needs above all things, is a guide; some one to show him the way to take in order to get safely home. Now, we are in this world, like travellers who have lost their way. We have lost the way to heaven, our Father's house. And what we need is guidance; some one to show us how we can get there. If we had all the pearls in the world, they could not help us in this matter. But Jesus, "the Pearl of great price," can. This is one of the ways in which He can be of use to His people, and this use is of great price. Sometimes Jesus guides His people by His example.

Howie Malcolm was a little boy about six years old. He lived in the country. Once, in the middle of winter, he went to spend the day with his cousin Robby Darwin. Toward the close of the afternoon Howie's father came to take him home. The ground was covered with snow, and as they were about starting Howie said, -

"The snow is so deep, and it is a long walk; won't you please to carry me, papa?"

"No, my dear," said his father; "I have a particular reason for wishing you to walk. But I will go before you, and then, if you will follow in my footsteps, the snow will not seem so deep. But don't turn aside to the right hand or to the left. And don't try to make a path for yourself over the hill, for that which I am showing you is the only one to lead you home."

Then his father went before him, taking short steps, so that the little fellow could easily follow him. And while he kept treading in his father's steps he got on very nicely. But by-and-by he saw a holly-bush a little distance from the road. He thought he would just like to pluck off a branch to take home with him. Then he started for the bush; but pretty soon he was sticking fast in the deep snow, and was obliged to call his father to come and take him out. He did so. He set him in the right path again, and told him not to turn aside, but to keep treading in his footsteps, and then he would be safe. So they went on a little farther. Then he thought he could get home by a shorter path than his father was taking. So he started to make a short cut across the fields. But pretty soon he was fast in the snow again, and his father had to come once more and take him out. After that he followed the guidance of his father till they reached home. And when they were sitting by the fire in the evening his father told him that the reason why he did not carry him home was that he wanted to show him how it was that Jesus guides His people to heaven. "When I walked before you, Howie," said Mr. Malcolm, "you could see my steps in the snow, and, by following them, you found that you were brought safely home. And just in the same way Jesus came into the world to be our Guide. He walked before us to show us the way to heaven. As the Bible says, "He left us an example that we should follow His steps." Our work here is to be following the footsteps of Jesus. And when we are trying to be like Jesus, - to think, and feel, and speak, and act as He would do, - then we are "treading in the blessed steps of His most holy life;" and if we follow on in those steps we shall be guided safely through this world to heaven.

But, besides guiding His people to heaven by His example, Jesus often guides them out of their troubles here, in very singular ways.

Some years ago Lord Wellington had an English army in Spain, trying to drive the French out of that country. A battle was fought at Talavera. In the 42^nd Regiment of Scotch Highlanders, belonging to Wellington's army, was a sergeant whose name was McCullum. He was wounded so dangerously that he was reported among the killed, though he was not killed. His wife, with her little boy, had followed the army as nurse in the hospital. But she had been very ill, and died about the time of the battle. Now, what was to become of that little boy, left alone among strangers, in an army marching through a foreign country? What could you expect, but that he would be left to perish? But God put it into the heart of a kind officer, connected with the army, to take charge of him. When the army went back to England, supposing that the little fellow's father was dead, he tried to find out if he had any relations. But he could not find any. Then he thought he would put him into the Military Asylum at Chelsea.

When the little boy's father got well, he tried to find his child. He inquired everywhere for him, but could hear nothing of him. He was afraid he should never see him again. But he used to pray every day that God would take care of him, if he were still alive, and would guide him so that he might find him.

One day the person who had charge of the little boy, was going to the office of Lord Huntly, in London, to get an order for his admission into the Asylum. Just before he reached the place, he saw a Scotch soldier a little ahead of him. He hastened up to him and said, -

"My friend, do you belong to the 42^nd Regiment of Highlanders?"

"I do, sir."

"Were you present at the battle of Ralavera?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you know anything about a Sergeant McCullum who was killed in that battle?"

"I did not know any man of that name who was killed there; but pray, sir, tell me why you ask that question?"

"Because," said the officer, pointing to the child, "that is his little boy whom I brought from Spain."

"O sir," said the man, "he's my child;" and rushing towards the boy he clasped him in his arms, and cried, "O Jamie, Jamie! don't you know me?" What a happy meeting that was! And how mercifully God had guided that father so that he should find his lost child. Guidance, therefore, is one of the things for which Jesus is of use to His People.

And then He is of use to them for comfort.

There are a great many sorrows and trials in this world. And when they come, we need comfort under them. But if you are sick, or in pain, or if in sorrow for the death of your father, or mother, or some dear friend, it won't take away your pain, or help you to bear it, or comfort you in any way, to have a string of pearls tied round your neck. A common pearl cannot give any comfort then. But Jesus, "the Pearl of great price," can. He says in the Bible, "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you." What a sweet promise that is! Nobody can comfort like a mother. She is so gentle and kind! She knows just what to do to make us feel better, when we are sick, or in trouble. I said nobody can comfort like a mother. But that was a mistake, for Jesus can; yes, and better even than any mother. Sometimes we have troubles under which even a mother cannot comfort us. But we never can have a trouble under which Jesus cannot give us comfort.

When the celebrated Whitefield was preaching in England, a gentleman who heard him was thrown into great distress of mind. He felt as if his sins were so great that they could not be forgiven. He could not eat. He could not sleep. He could not attend to his business. It seemed as if he could die, unless he found comfort. One evening the Countess of Huntingdon, an excellent lady, who was in company with him, heard him say to a friend, " I am a lost man. My sins never can be forgiven. I am a lost man."

"I am glad to hear it; I am glad to hear it," said the Countess.

"It is very wicked of you to say you are glad that I am a lost man," said he.

"I repeat it," said she, "I am heartily glad of it; because it is written ' the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost.' "

The gentleman burst into tears, and exclaimed, "Oh, how precious those words are! I will take my lost soul to Jesus and He will save it." So Jesus comforted him.

Some Bible distributors in going round their districts once gave a Bible to a poor woman. A long time after, in going round again, they met her, and asked her what she thought of the Bible. "Think of it?" she said, "why, I would not part with it for all this world can offer. Since I have had this Bible I have passed through many great trials. And in those trials my Bible has given me more comfort than all the riches in the world can give. I have found Jesus there. He has pardoned my sins, and given me the hope of going to heaven, and there is no comfort like that." So Jesus comforted that poor woman.

Jesus may be called "the Pearl of great price," for two reasons. The first is because he was hard to get. The second is, because there are so many uses that we can make of Him. We have spoken of three of these. He is of use for protection, for guidance, for comfort.

Oh, how I wish, my dear young friends, that you all had this "Pearl of great price"! Let me tell you one more story, in closing.

Some years ago an English merchant was engaged in business in the island of Java. He got very rich there. He married a lady of that country, and returned to England. This lady could not get used to the customs of the English ladies, and was not very happy here. She spent most of her time in playing with her children, whom she loved very much, and in decking herself out with her pearls and jewels, of which she had a very large and costly collection. She would often call for her jewel-box, and spend hours in looking at them and holding them up to see them sparkle in the light. These jewels were her treasures. Her heart was set on them, and she had little happiness beyond what she found in them.

One day her old Scotch nurse, who was a good Christian woman, was in the room. The lady said to her; "Nurse, I think England is a poor place."

"Why so, ma'am?" asked the nurse.

"Why, I look out into the streets, and don't see any ladies with jewels on. Now, in my country all the ladies are covered with diamonds and pearls. We dig into our hills and get gold and silver and precious jewels. You dig into your hills and get nothing like them."

The nurse said, -

"Oh, yes, ma'am, we have a pearl in this country, ' a Pearl of great price. ' "

"Have you, indeed, " said the lady. "When my husband comes home I'll get him to buy it for me. I would part with all my other pearls to get that valuable one.' "

"Oh!" said the nurse, "this pearl is not to wear. It is not to be had in the way you think of. It is a precious pearl indeed; and they who have it cannot lose it. They are at peace and have all they wish for."

"Indeed!" said the lady, astonished.

"What can this pearl be? I must get it, if possible. "

"This pearl," said the nurse, in her simple way, "is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the saying that He came into the world to save sinners. All who truly receive this saying, and have Jesus in their hearts, as the hope of glory, have that which makes them rich and happy, whatever else they want; and so precious is Jesus to them that they count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Him."

It pleased God to bless the nurse's words. Her mistress was led to seek a better treasure than her box of jewels. She became a Christian. She found "the Pearl of great price." Soon after, the lady died; and on her death-bed directed that all her jewels should be sold, and the money which they brought be used to send the knowledge of "the Pearl of great price" to those who had never heard of Him.

My dear young friends, try to find this precious Pearl. It is of great price. It will be worth more to you than all the gold and silver - and all the gems and jewels in the world!

Chapter 3 - The diamond

"And the Second row shall be .. a Diamond." - Exodus xxviii. 18.

These words refer to the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest. This was made of fine linen, and beautifully ornamented with threads of gold, and other threads of blue, purple, and scarlet. It was made square, each side being about a span long. In the front of it were four rows of jewels. The first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; and the second row was an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. The diamond is only mentioned in three places in the Bible, and this is one of them. And I have taken this passage for our text to-day only because it contains the word diamond.

We have talked about the reasons why God calls his people jewels. And then we have considered Jesus as "the Pearl of great price." Now I wish to talk about the different kinds of jewels. And I begin with the diamond, because it is one of the most valuable of jewels, as well as the most beautiful. Suppose now, we have a beautiful diamond here. We may consider this as representing a Christian. Every true Christian is a spiritual diamond, one of God's jewels.

Let us look at this diamond and see what there is about it on account of which a Christian may be compared to it.

And the first thing about the diamond to notice is its hardness.

It is one of the hardest things in the world. You may rub it all day against a pebble-stone. You may keep on rubbing till the pebble is all ground to dust; but it won't leave any mark on the diamond. You may get the hardest file that can be made, and rub it on the diamond till the file is worn as smooth as glass; but it will not hurt the diamond in the least. It will bear a great deal of rough handling, without being scratched, or injured at all.

And Christians are just like diamonds on this account.

They can bear trial or hard treatment without being injured by it. Job was one of God's diamonds. Satan said if God would only let him take Job in hand, and bring heavy trials upon him, which would be like rubbing a diamond with a file, he could mark him, and injure him, in such a way as to show that he was not a true diamond. He got a hard file, and rubbed him very severely with it; but it did not hurt him at all. He killed his children and destroyed his property; he took away his friends, and his health, and left him in poverty and in misery; but he could not make Job give up loving God, and trusting Him. If you can only make a scratch on the surface of what is thought to be a diamond, that shows it is not a true diamond. A real diamond is so hard that no file can ever make a mark, or scratch upon it. And Satan found that this was the case with Job. He rubbed away on him with the file of affliction till he got tired; but he could not make any mark upon him to show that he was not a real diamond. He had the hardness of a true diamond. He had power to bear trial.

And Satan did the same thing with the early Christians. He used persecution as a file. In those days Christians were put in prison; their property was taken from them; they were thrown to the wild beasts; they were burned; and tortured, and put to death in many ways; but even these things could not make them give up loving Jesus, and being Christians. Those terrible persecutions were a hard file to be rubbed with. But the Christians of those days were real diamonds. They had the hardness of the diamond. They had power to bear trials without being injured by them.

And all God's spiritual diamonds have this hardness. God gives to true Christians the power to bear trials.

I remember, some years ago, making a visit to Wilkesbarre in America. A day or two before I arrived there, a dreadful explosion had taken place in one of the coalmines. Several men had been killed, and others had been burnt so badly that they were not expected to live. I was sent for to go and see one of those poor men. When I entered the room where he was, what a sight I beheld! There sat the poor man in a large arm-chair. He was wrapped all round in blankets and these were wet through with linseed oil and lime-water. The flame of the explosion had burnt off his clothes, and scorched his body from head to foot. His hands and his head were swollen to nearly twice their natural size. The skin of his face and hands were burnt crisp, and looked just like the skin of a roast pig. A person stood by him bathing his face and hands with a mixture of linseed oil and lime-water, which was put on by a feather. He was suffering dreadfully. It was difficult for him to speak, because the skin of his face was so hard and stiff. I stood awhile and looked at the poor man with great pity. My heart felt very sad and sorrowful for him. I thought to myself, "what shall I say to this poor fellow to comfort him, if he is not a Christian?" I hardly knew what to do. At last I said, -

" My friend, there is nobody like Jesus to give us help and comfort when we are suffering from pain and sorrow. I hope you know Jesus?" I hardly expected any other answer than a groan, to tell of his misery, and that he had no comfort. But presently he managed slowly and indistinctly to say, -

"Oh, yes, thank God, I do know Jesus. he is my only comfort now."

You can hardly tell what a relief this was to me. Then I sat down by his side and talked to him about Jesus. He seemed to feel the truth of all that I said. He had the hardness of a true diamond. Jesus gave him power to bear his trials patiently. Under all his terrible sufferings he found peace and comfort in Him. And not long after, he died, in great bodily pain, but feeling happy in the love of Jesus and in the thought of going to be with Him forever.

But there is another thing the diamond can do, on account of its hardness, besides bearing rough handling, without being hurt. It can make marks that cannot be rubbed out.

The diamond, you know, will cut glass. You have often seen the glazier, when a pane of glass was too large, put his rule upon it, draw his diamond across it, and cut a piece off, almost as easily as you or I could cut a piece of paper off with a penknife. Take a diamond in your hand, and you can write your name on a pane of glass. And when it is once written there, no one can rub it out.

Now, when we become Christians we are like diamonds in the hand of God. And when we do anything to show our love to Him, it is written down on the book of God's remembrance. And the good works of His people (written in that book) are like names written with the point of a diamond on glass; they never can be rubbed out.

The Bible tells us that a large part of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, is composed of gold, and that gold is clear as glass. It is transparent; you can see through it. What a blessed thing it is to think of having our names, and everything we do for Jesus written there, so that they never can be rubbed out! Every little movement made with the point of a diamond on glass will leave a mark there. And so everything we do for Jesus, no matter how little, will be written on the golden glass of heaven in such a way that it cannot be rubbed out.

We read in the New Testament about the woman who came to our Saviour before His crucifixion, and poured the ointment on His feet. The disciples found fault with her; but Jesus took her part, and said that wherever the gospel was preached in all the world, the good deed she had done should be known and mentioned to her honour. She made a mark then that will never be rubbed out.

One day the superintendent of a Sunday school in Philadelphia was going along near Third and Dock-street. He saw one of the large boys belonging to his school coming out of a drinking saloon. The boy's name was George Simpson. As the superintendent passed by he raised his finger, and shaking it gently he said, in a kind, but serious way, "Take care, George, take care." Some ten or twelve years passed away. He had forgotten all about it. But one day a very genteel-looking man came up to him in the street, and, bowing to him, said, "I think, sir, this is Mr. P., who used to be superintendent of such a Sunday-school?"

"That is my name, sir, but I don't remember you."

"Don't you remember a boy named George Simpson, who used to belong to your school?"

"No, I cannot recollect the name."

"Well, sir, don't you remember meeting him one day, coming out of a drinking-place near the corner of Third and Dock-street, when you shook your finger at him and said, 'Take care, George'?"

"Oh, yes, I remember that."

"Well, sir," said the young man, "I am George Simpson, and I want to thank you for what you did and said that day. It was a little thing, but it saved me from ruin. I was just beginning to go in the drunkard's ways. But something in your words and manner made a great impression on me. I gave up drinking. Not long after I joined the church. Now I am living in the West, and am quite well off; but, my dear sir, I owe it all to you."

Here you see how that superintendent was, like a diamond, making a mark that never can be rubbed out.

Some years ago, a missionary in India, in going through a village, left a copy of the New Testament in the shop of one of the natives, that any person coming in there might read it. A great many read it. They talked about the new religion and wished to know more about it. At last they sent a committee, of the most intelligent men of the village, to the city of Scrampore, where the missionary lived, who left the Testament, in order to learn more about the religion of Jesus. The missionary went and preached to the people of that village. A number of them became Christians, and several of them were appointed missionaries. They preached the gospel through that part of the country, and great numbers were converted through God's blessing on their labours. It was a little thing which the missionary did when he left the Testament in that village, but in doing so he made a mark that will never be rubbed out.

The first thing about a diamond, on account of which a Christian may be compared to it, is its hardness. It can bear rough using, or trials, without being injured; and it can make marks that cannot be rubbed out.

The second thing about a diamond, on account of which a Christian may be compared to it, is its brightness.

The diamond is the most brilliant of all the jewels. It shines with more brightness than any other. And the reason why it does this is, that when the rays of light fall upon it, God has given it the power to reflect them, as it is called, that is, to throw them back, or scatter them. The diamond does not keep to itself the light that God sends it, but gives it back that others may see it, and enjoy it. In this respect the diamond is like a liberal-hearted Christian. Jesus said to His disciples, "Freely ye have received; freely give." This is just what the diamond does. It gives up freely the rays of light that God freely bestows upon it. And this is what makes it look so bright and beautiful. And so you see that when Jesus said, "Freely ye have received, freely give," it is about the same as if He had said, "Be like the diamond which gives back again so freely the light which it receives."

Now, put a piece of coal side by side with the diamond. How bright and beautiful the diamond looks! And, in comparison with it, how dark, how ugly the piece of coal is! The diamond, shining so beautifully, and scattering its light around for the benefit of others, is like a liberal, generous-hearted Christian. And the piece of coal, keeping all the rays of light it receives to itself, is like a selfish miser, always trying to get all he can, and to keep all he gets. Jesus said. "It is more blessed to give than to receive. " A diamond and a piece of coal are the best illustration of this.

Now, let us take one or two examples of liberal Christians, and see how they shine like diamonds, and then look at one or two selfish misers, and see how ugly they appear in comparison with them.

Lady Huntingdon was a noble Christian woman who lived in England some years ago. She was not very rich, considering that she belonged to the nobility. Her income was about £ 1,500 a year. She lived in a very plain way, spending as little money as possible on herself, and giving away all the rest of it in doing good to others. She founded a college to educate ministers and supported it herself. She built a number of chapels in different parts of the kingdom, and supported ministers in them to preach the gospel. She was like a diamond shining brightly, and scattering abroad for the good of others the blessings that God gave to her.

John Wesley, the celebrated Methodist minister, was a most generous and liberal Christian. When he first began to preach, his salary was thirty pounds a year. He found he could manage to live on twenty-eight pounds; so he saved two pounds, not to keep to himself like the coal, but to scatter among others like the diamond. The next year his salary was sixty pounds. He still lived on twenty-eight, and gave away thirty-two. The third year his salary was ninety pounds, and he gave away sixty-two. The fourth year his salary was a hundred and twenty pounds. But he still lived on twenty-eight pounds, and gave away all the rest. This was being like the diamond, indeed!

Some years ago there was an excellent minister in France, by the name of Oberlin. One day he was reading in the Old Testament where God told the Jews that He expected them to give a tithe, that is a tenth, of all their property to him. Mr. Oberlin said to himself, "Well, I am sure that I, as a Christian, have three times as many blessings as the Jews had. If it was right for a Jew to give one-tenth of his property to God, surely I ought to give at least three times as much." So he made up his mind to do this. Out of every three pounds that he received, he laid aside one to give to God and the poor. he kept on doing this all his life, and God blessed him for it, and he always had as much money as he needed.

These Christians were like the diamond. They were liberal, and scattered or gave away the blessings God gave them. This makes them shine and look beautiful as the diamond does. When we think of them there seems to be a brightness round them like that of the diamond.

Now, let us look at one or two examples of selfish, miserly people, who keep all the money they get, just as the coal keeps all the light that shines on it.

Some time ago there was a miser who lived in England, by the name of Dancer. His income was nearly four thousand pounds a year. Besides this he had immense sums of gold and silver stowed away in different places where nobody would be likely to find it. He never gave away a penny to anybody; and he never liked to spend the least trifle for himself, if he could help it. He used to wear an old hat, which he had kept for nearly twenty years. One day, a lady who knew him, met him in the street, and persuaded him to buy another hat. He would not be so extravagant as to get a new one, so he finally concluded to buy a second-hand one from an old Jew. He gave him a shilling for it. But the next time the lady saw the old miser, she observed he was still wearing his old hat; and, on inquiring about it, she found that the hat he gave a shilling for he had persuaded his servant to buy from him for one shilling and sixpence. So he made sixpence by the sale and went on wearing his old hat. In cold weather he used to lie in bed most of the time, so as to keep warm and save the expense of a fire. He never used snuff himself, but always carried a snuff-box about him, and when anybody offered him snuff he would take a pinch, but, instead of using it, would open his box and put it in. When the box was full he would sell it, or exchange it for farthing candles. These were the only lights he had in his house, and these were never used except when he was going to bed. He seldom washed his hands or face except when the sun was shining. Then he would go to some pool or stream near where he lived, and wash himself, using sand to save soap. When he was washed he would lie on his back and dry himself in the sun, because it was not worth while to go to the expense of a towel. He never would have his shoes cleaned, because rubbing them with a brush helped to wear them out. After his death, cups and jars and jugs were found stowed away in different holes and corners about his house, filled with gold and silver coin, and his greatest happiness, while living, was to take these out, count them over, and then put them carefully back.

There was a miser in Russia, some time ago, who was so rich that he sometimes lent to the emperor a million of money at a time. he would barely allow himself food enough to live upon. He used to keep his money in casks which were buried in the cellar. His chief dependence for the protection of this treasure was upon a very fierce dog, who was kept chained up all day, and then at night would guard the house by barking loudly all the time. But at length the dog died. The poor rich man did not want to go to the expense of buying another dog. Besides, if he should buy one, he could not depend upon him to keep awake all night. So he thought he might as well be his own dog, and actually used to keep awake all night, and go about the house barking as loudly as he could in imitation of his faithful dog.

A piece of coal does not reflect any light. All the light that falls on it is swallowed up and kept to itself. This is what makes it look so black, so dark and disagreeable. Selfish, miserly people, such as we have just been speaking of, are like coal in this respect. They don't reflect, or scatter about them anything they receive. Whatever God gives them they swallow up and keep to themselves. And the sparkling diamond and the dull, ugly-looking piece of coal, are not more different from each other than liberal, generous-hearted Christians, like Lady Huntingdon and John Wesley, are different from such selfish, miserly people as those just referred to. The brightness of the diamond, or its power to reflect or scatter light, is the second thing on account of which a Christian may be compared to it.

But there is a third thing connected with diamonds, on account of which Christians may be compared to them, and that is, the way to find out counterfeits.

There are many counterfeit diamonds. Men can make imitation diamonds. And these often look so very much like the real, that it is difficult to tell one from the other. And then God sometimes makes stones that appear so much like diamonds that hardly one person out of twenty can tell the difference between them. Sometimes even the merchants who are engaged in buying and selling diamonds can hardly tell a real jewel from an imitation.

Some years ago a free negro, who lived in Brazil, wrote to the emperor telling him that he had found an enormous diamond, - the largest that had ever been seen; and he asked the privilege of being allowed to come in person and present it to the emperor. One of the emperor's carriages and an escort of soldiers was sent down for him. The negro rode up to the palace in great state. When he arrived he threw himself at the feet of the emperor, and presented to him the diamond. He was astonished when he saw it, and so were all the nobles in the court. They examined it with great care. They weighed it, and found it was about a pound in weight. Then they began to calculate how much it was worth. Judging by its weight, they found it would be nearly fifty millions of pounds. No wonder they were glad, and made a great ado over the coloured man who brought it. Then the large diamond was put carefully away, in a strong chest, in the emperor's jewel-room. That room was locked, and soldiers appointed to guard it night and day.

About that time an English gentleman visited the emperor. He was known to be an excellent judge of diamonds. The emperor invited him into his jewel-room to see his great treasure. The strong chest was opened. The huge jewel was brought out. He looked at it. He took a diamond ring from his finger. He drew it across the surface of the large jewel. It made a scratch. This showed it was no diamond at all. The emperor's fifty millions of pounds all melted away like a castle in the air. The poor negro who brought it had to trudge home on foot. "It is not all gold that glitters." It is not every bright stone that is a diamond. One of the ways to tell a counterfeit is by trying to scratch it. A real diamond cannot be scratched. Another way is by putting it beside a true diamond and comparing them together. And so, if you wish to tell if a person is a true Christian, you must compare him with Jesus, and see if he is like Him. Jesus was gentle, loving, and kind. And the Bible says that "unless the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus we are none of Him." This means that unless we are like Him we are not true Christians.

I remember hearing of two boys who were brothers. The elder was named George, the younger Charles.

"Hallo, George," said one of his schoolmates to him one day, "I hear your Charley has become a Christian; is that so?"

"I don't know, " said George, "but I mean to find out."

Now George was going to apply some test to Charley's character, just as a jeweller would do when he wanted to find out whether a particular stone was a real diamond or a counterfeit.

One time he broke his kite, just before he was going out to fly it. At another time he trod on his toe when he was going past him. At another he cruelly threw a stone at Charley's pet dog and sent him yelping to his master.

Charley was naturally a very passionate boy. George knew very well, that formerly any one of these things would have roused his angry spirit. George could see that Charley felt these things very much, but still he kept his anger down. His fist was not clenched; his eye did not flash; his tongue did not scold as it used to do. Charley bore these trials patiently. And when George met his friend again, he said, -

"It's true; Charley is a Christian. I know it, for I've tried him."

And then there is another way by which you can tell a real diamond from a counterfeit. If you put them in water, the diamond will still look bright and shine; but the counterfeit, instead of shining, will look dark and dull.

The Bible compares affliction or trial to water. And you can easily tell a true Christian from a counterfeit by seeing how he acts when affliction comes upon him. If you go through an orchard, in summer-time, you will see some of the fruit dropping off, whenever the tree is shaken by the wind. And if you examine the fruit that falls off, you will find it all spotted and unsound. The sound good fruit is not easily shaken off. In spite of all the shaking the tree gets from the wind, the good sound fruit hangs on, and only drops off in the autumn when it is ripe.

But true Christians, like real diamonds, shine brightly even in the water.

Let me tell you about a Christian who was put very deep in the water of affliction, and yet continued to shine to the very last. I refer to a negro, who was a slave in one of the West India islands. He was afflicted with a terrible disease which the physicians did not understand. It broke out in great sores, which spread over his body. His fingers fell off. It went into his head. He became blind, and his eyes seemed to rot away, and pieces of his skull came out. His feet were affected in the same way and rotted off. His sufferings were dreadful; and yet he was not only patient under them, but often really happy and joyful in the thought of soon being with Jesus in that world where there could be no more pain or suffering. Here was the real diamond, shining brightly in the water of affliction.

"The last time I visited him," said his minister, "I could not bear to look at him. I only stood at the door of his chamber, and talked to him, and prayed with him."

"How do you feel to-day, Robert?" I asked.

"O massa !" said he, "me two eyes gone; me two hands gone; me two feet gone. No more but dis ole carcass left. O massa ! de pain sometimes too strong; but Jesus help me. Most over now." And so he continued till he died. That was a true diamond. The shining in the water proved it.

Now we have spoken of three things about diamonds, on account of which Christians may be compared to them. The first is their hardness. The second is their brightness. The third is the way to find out counterfeits.

My dear young friends, pray earnestly that Jesus may give you new hearts, and make you true Christians. If you do not become real Christians you will only be like common pebble-stones. You will be good for nothing. But if you love Jesus, and become His servants, you will be His jewels, - real diamonds.

Chapter 4 - The ruby

"For Wisdom is better than Rubies." - Proverbs viii. 11.

This jewel is called a sardius in two places in the Bible. One of these places is in Exodus, the other is in the Revelation. In the former it is spoken of as being the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest. There it occupies the first place in the first row of jewels. And when St. John is giving us his beautiful description of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, in the last two chapters of the New Testament, he tells us that the foundations of this city were of precious stones. Then he mentions the twelve different kinds of jewels as going to make up those foundations. The ruby was the sixth among those foundation-stones. The ruby stood first on the breastplate of the high-priest, and sixth among the jewelled foundations of the heavenly city.

The name of this jewel comes from the Latin word, "ruber," which means red. And this name is given to the ruby because of its colour. The ruby is a jewel of a blood-red colour. The reason why the ruby was called sardius was because it used to be sometimes found near the city of Sardis, in Asia Minor. It is sometimes called a carbuncle. This means a little coal, and the ruby often shines like a little coal when it is burning and all in a glow.

The next thing for us to inquire about is, what the ruby represents? We may regard it as representing love or charity. And then the question is, what is there about the ruby on account of which love or charity may be compared to it? We shall find our answer to this question when we look at some of the things which people, in old times, used to think the ruby could do. There are three of these that we may speak of, on account of which the ruby may well be compared to love.

And the first of those things which people used to think the ruby was good for, was to cure sorrow.

In former times people used to think that a ruby had the power of driving away sadness from their hearts, or of curing their sorrows. But this was not so. If you have ever so many of the finest rubies that anybody can find, they would not be able to give you any relief from pain, or any comfort in sorrow. But if you have the Bible ruby, the love of Jesus in your heart, there is nothing in the world that can cure sorrow, or relieve pain like that.

"What do you want?" asked a gentleman one day of a poor man whom he was talking to, and whom he knew to be a Christian. "I only want three things," said he, " and I find them all in Jesus. I want to be in Christ, I want to be like Christ, I want to be with Christ." That man would find his love to Jesus a real Bible ruby. It would cure all his sorrows. If it did not take them away from him, it would comfort him under them.

Some time ago a gentleman was conducting a meeting for boys in London. After he had spoken to them for some time, he said, "Now, boys, before I stop, I want all of you who feel really happy to hold up your hands." He looked for a moment, but there was only one hand held up. The owner of that hand was a stout lad about seventeen. He was a poor boy, dressed in coarse clothes, and all blackened with soot, for he was a chimney-sweeper. He had to work hard, and live on very plain food. Yet his hand went up in a moment, and his bright, beaming eye showed clearly that he understood what he was doing when he lifted up his hand.

"And what is it that makes you happy?" asked the gentleman.

He answered at once with his voice, as clearly as he had done before with his hand,

"Loving Jesus, sir."

He had this precious Bible ruby, and it cured his sorrow, or made him happy.

Two girls were going to a neighbouring town, each carrying on her head a heavy basket of fruit to sell. One of them was murmuring and fretting all the way, and complaining of the weight of her basket. The other went along smiling and singing, and seeming to be very happy. At last the first got out of patience with her companion, and said, "How can you go on so merry and joyful? Your basket is as heavy as mine, and I know you are not one bit stronger that I am. I don't understand it."

"Oh!" said the other, "it's easy enough to understand. I have a certain little plant which I put on the top of my load, and it makes it so light I hardly feel it."

"Indeed; that must be a very precious little plant. I wish I could lighten my load with it. Where does it grow? Tell me. What do you call it?"

"It grows wherever you plant it, and give it a chance to take root, and there's no knowing the relief it gives. Its name is love, the love of Jesus. I have found out that Jesus loved me so much that He died to save my soul. This makes me love Him. I try to show my love by serving Him. Whatever I do, whether it be carrying this basket or anything else, I think to myself, I am doing this for Jesus, to show that I love Him; and this makes everything easy and pleasant."

That girl had found out the great secret of being happy. She had a ruby heart, a heart of love to Jesus; and that cured her sorrows and made her burdens light.

The stories I have just told you show us how a heart of love to Jesus will help to cure our own sorrows. But if we have this ruby in our hearts, it will help us to cure, or relieve, the sorrows of other people too.

One morning a wealthy farmer was kneeling down with his family at prayers. Among other things he seemed to pray with great earnestness that God would clothe the naked, feed the hungry, relieve the distressed, and comfort all who were in sorrow.

A poor neighbour of his sat on the door-step listening to that prayer. He was in distress and sorrow, and had come to ask relief. He was an honest, industrious, hard-working man, who was trying to support his family by his own labour. But for some time past he had been in trouble. His wife was sick, and, not being able to hire a nurse, he was obliged to nurse her himself. This, of course, prevented him from working, and earning any money. His family were in want of bread, and he had come to his rich Christian neighbour, to ask him for two bushels of wheat, promising to pay him out of the first money that he earned.

As soon as the prayer was ended he went in and told what he wanted. But the wealthy farmer shook his head. He said he was sorry, but he had a large sum of money to raise, and he wanted all the wheat he had to get it with. The tears were trickling down his cheeks as he walked slowly away.

As soon as the door was shut, the farmer's little boy said to him, -

"Father, did not you just ask God to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, relieve the distressed, and comfort the sorrowful?"

"Yes, my son; but why do you ask that question?"

"Because, father, if I had all your wheat I'd help God to answer that prayer by giving some to our poor neighbour."

In a moment the poor man was called back. The wheat was given to him, and he went home, feeling comforted.

That rich farmer had let the ruby fall out of his heart; but his little boy put it in again, and then he was able to cure or relieve the sorrow of his poor afflicted neighbour.

The first thing that people used to think that a ruby could do, was to cure sorrow. The second thing they used to think it could do was to shine in the dark.

They used to tell a great many stories about rubies and other jewels, being employed, instead of lamps, in dark caverns, to give light, just as if they had power in themselves to shine like so many little suns. But this was a mistake. If you carry a ruby, or a diamond, or any other natural jewel, into a room that is entirely dark it won't shine at all. You may lay it down by the side of a piece of coal, and you could not tell one from the other by the looks of them.

But it is different with the Bible ruby. Real love to anybody, and especially the love of Jesus - and this is what we compare the ruby to, - will shine in the dark. And when we speak of love shining in the dark, we mean that it gives us help and comfort in trouble. It will make us able to do and suffer things that we never could do without it. The Bible tells us that "many waters cannot quench" love. Waters here mean troubles, or afflictions; and when we hear about people bearing their troubles bravely, either out of love to Jesus, or love to anybody else, then we see a Bible ruby shining in the dark.

A little boy, six years old, had a sad fall and broke his leg, and was carried home on a litter. His poor mother, who had long been sick, and was confined to bed, was very much distressed when she knew of it. She tried to get up, but fainted, and had to be put to bed again.

The injury done to the little boy was very great, and when the doctors came to set his broken limb and dress his wounds, he suffered a great deal of pain. But during the whole operation he never uttered a single cry. All the persons present were surprised at this, and one of them asked if he did not suffer much.

"Oh, very much," said he, gently; but I was so afraid of giving pain to mother that I tried to keep from crying."

That little fellow had a ruby heart, and there we see it shining in the dark.

There is a story told of a certain king of Lydia, in old times, whose name was Croesus. He was supposed to be the richest king in the world at that day, and this has given rise to the common saying, "as rich as Croesus." But he had the misfortune to have a son who was dumb, or unable to speak. His childhood and boyhood had passed in the splendid court of his father. But during all those years he had never spoken one word. Then dreadful troubles came on his father and the country over which he reigned. The Persians were his enemies. They were very powerful. They defeated the army of Croesus and took him prisoner, together with his unfortunate son. The Persian soldiers were plundering the city. One of them was just going to kill the king, not knowing who he was. His poor son saw what that soldier was about to do. The thought of it was more than he could bear. He loved his father with a very strong love. That love did for him then what all the skill of the physicians had never been able to do. In his effort to save his father, it broke the string which had tied his tongue, and he cried out, "Don't kill him! That is the king!" That young prince had a ruby heart, and here we see his ruby shining in the dark.

Not long ago a gentleman was walking down Marketstreet. As he passed along in front of one of the stores he saw a man taking packages of dry goods from a box which had just been opened. The son of this man was standing by, with his arms spread out to hold the packages which his father was taking out of the box. A little fellow, the friend and playmate of the boy, was standing near, looking on. Presently, he thought the boy's load was getting too heavy, and he said, -

"Johnny, don't you think you've got as much as you can carry?"

"Never mind," said Johnny, in a pleasant, cheerful voice; "father knows how much I can carry."

How beautiful that was! Johnny had a ruby heart towards his father. He loved him, and trusted him; and when we think of him, he seems like a ruby shining in the dark. That is just the way we ought to feel towards our Father in heaven. The Bible tells us that He "considers our trouble." He knows how much we can bear a great deal better than Johnny's father knew this about him. If Johnny's load had happened to get too heavy for him, his father was not able, in a moment, to make him strong enough to bear it. But our heavenly Father can do this, and He has promised to do it. He says in one place in the Bible, - "As thy day so shall thy strength be" (Deut. xxxiii. 25). This means that whatever load he puts upon us, He will always help us to carry it. Let each of us think of Johnny's words, - "Father knows how much I can carry." Let us try to have a ruby heart of love and confidence towards our Father in heaven, and then when trouble comes upon us we shall find that our ruby will shine in the dark. The second thing that people used to think a ruby could do was to shine in the dark.

The third thing that people used to think a ruby was good for was to keep them from harm.

People used to carry a ruby about them as a sort of charm. They thought it had some secret power to ward off danger. It was just the same kind of feeling that the heathen in Africa have, when they carry greegrees round their necks, or put them up in their houses to protect themselves from what they call the witches. More than a thousand years ago, there was a great king called Charlemagne, or Charles the Great. He was King of France and Emperor of Germany. He was a great soldier, and gained a great many victories. He used to wear one of these jewels round his neck, and he never would go into battle without it. He thought it kept him from being hurt. And when he died he ordered it to be buried with him. It is said that jewel remained in Charlemagne's coffin till the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, and that he took it and wore it till towards the latter part of his life, when he gave it away. But no common ruby has any power to protect people from harm. It is only the Bible ruby that can do this. If we have a ruby heart towards God, - that is, if we love Him and trust Him, - it will be like a charm that we shall carry about with us, and which will keep us from harm. There is one sweet passage in the Psalms which proves this. It is Ps. sci. 14. Here God says of every true Christian, - "Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him." Here you see how God promises that a ruby heart of love towards Him shall really be like a charm to keep His people from danger. David could understand the meaning of that promise very well. When he was a young man, for ten long years Saul, the King of Israel, was trying to kill him. David was a poor man then, and Saul used to chase him all over the country. He used to go after him with a whole army. Sometimes he tried to catch him when he was shut up in a walled town. Sometimes he would hear that he was in a particular cave, in the side of a mountain, and he would get his army to surround the whole mountain, and feel sure that he should get him. But he never could do it. God's promise was fulfilled to David: "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him." David had a ruby heart, and it was like a charm to him; it kept him from harm.

The same was true of Martin Luther, who brought about the Reformation, more than three hundred years ago. The Pope of Rome wanted to have him put to death. And Charles the Fifth, the Emperor of Germany, the most powerful monarch in the world at that time, wanted to have Luther killed too. Those two great men tried all they could to kill Luther; but they never could do it. Luther had set his love upon God; therefore He delivered him. Luther had a ruby heart of love towards God, and this was like a charm to keep him form being hurt.

And God is taking care of His people who love Him, at all times, and in many different ways.

I was reading lately about a missionary in India, who had a ruby heart of love towards God, and of the way in which this acted like a charm to keep him from being hurt.

He was preaching one day to a crowd of people near a heathen temple. Not far from where the missionary stood one of the priests of the temple had a large white elephant, which the Hindoos look upon as a sacred animal, and to which they are in the habit of making offerings. The voice of the missionary preaching about Jesus, drew the attention of the crowd towards him. The priest, with his elephant, was left almost alone. He thought he should not get much money that day, and this made him angry. So he determined to let the elephant loose upon the missionary, so that he would either be driven away or trampled to death. The huge beast moved towards him; but on his way he broke of a great branch of a tree as though he needed a weapon, and then he hastened on towards the missionary. Some of his friends who stood near urged him to go away. He said to them - "Remember Daniel in the lion's den, and don't be afraid."

Then he went on preaching. The Hindoos, who were standing round, watched the elephant, expecting to see him strike the missionary to the earth. They were greatly astonished when they saw the animal walk up to where the missionary stood, quietly lay down the branch at his feet, and go away without offering to do him the slightest injury. He stepped on the branch which the elephant had brought him. This was like a platform for him to stand on, so that as he went on preaching he could be seen and heard better than before. When the priest saw this, he was still more angry. He directed the elephant to him again; but he refused to go. The missionary then raised his finger, and said to the priest, - "You want your elephant to kill me: take care lest God should turn his rage against yourself." This made the priest more angry than ever. He resolved that the missionary should be killed before all the people. He ordered the elephant again to kill him. He stormed at him and even struck him to make him go. But this made the elephant angry. He was not used to be treated in that way; instead, therefore, of rushing on the missionary, he turned quickly round, threw the priest upon the ground, and trampled him to death with his broad heavy feet. Here you see how the God, on whom the missionary had set his love, delivered him. That missionary had a ruby heart of love to God. This acted like a charm upon him. It kept him from harm.

And now, before closing, I want to show you that when boys and girls have ruby hearts, so as to be loving, and gentle, and kind to all about them, it will act like a charm to keep them from getting hurt.

Johnny Curtis and his sister Mary lived in a quiet village in New England. There was an old drunkard in that village, whom most of the children were very fond of teasing. He had formerly been a very wealthy man, and used to ride about in a beautiful carriage. But he took to drinking, and this ruined him, as it will do every one who indulges in it. He had lost all his property, and had become a poor, miserable drunkard. He used to be known as Captain Nicholas Beers. But now the boys used to run after him, and call him "Old Nick." One day little Mary Curtis came home from school before her brother. Soon after she came in, her mother said, -

"I wish Johnny would come in; I want to send him out to get me a skein of blue silk to finish Lotty's hood with. Mary, my dear, look out of the window and see if he is coming."

"Cannot I go, ma?" said Mary, " it is early yet, and I will hurry back quickly."

"No, my dear, not on any account; for Capt. Beers, or 'Old Nick,' as the boys call him, has been reeling about the village all the afternoon, with a troop of rude boys about him. He is very apt to throw stones, or anything he can lay his hand on when he is drunk, and he might hurt you."

"If that is all you are afraid of, ma, you had better let me go, for Capt. Beers won't touch me; he is never cross to Johnny or me. He is only cross to those who tease him. I always speak kindly to him, and say, 'Good-morning, Capt. Beers,' and he says, 'Good-morning, Miss Curtis.'

One day, he walked all the way to school with me, and talked as pleasantly as anybody. Miss Bruce, our teacher, says I gave a secret charm which keeps him from hurting me."

"I'm glad to hear it, Mary. How did Miss Bruce know about your 'secret charm,' as you call it?"

"Why, mother, one day the poor old man was shaking his big stick around, and threatening to catch the first little boy that came near, and put him in the mill-pond, because they had torn the brim off his old straw hat. The boys were running up to him as near as they dared, and calling out, 'Hurrah for old Nick.' 'Three cheers for old Nick, president of the Temperance Society.' The more they hallooed, the more angry he looked. I saw him, and began to cry, for I could not get home to dinner without passing close to him. Miss Bruce saw us and called us back, and said, 'Now, John and Mary, do not cry or be frightened; I will teach you a secret charm, that will keep the old man from hurting you. Walk slowly along, and look him right in the face, and say, 'Good morning, Capt. Beers.' I trembled like a leaf when we came near him, and could not speak a word, but Johnny spoke up loud, just as Miss Bruce told him. Instead of hurting us, he said, 'You're nice, civil children; so I will not hurt you.' I was so pleased when we got past him! and, from that time, I have not been afraid at all. I always speak pleasantly to him, and so he does to me. Now, mother, may I not go for the silk?"

"Yes, dear, I'm not afraid to trust you, now I know about that charm."

Mary put her bonnet on to go to the store. She was almost afraid when she came in sight of the old drunkard. He was standing on the steps of the store. His face was red and angry; his hat was off, and his gray locks were blowing in the wind, while his hand held a stick, which he was brandishing wildly in the air. They boys had been teasing him till he was almost crazy. But Mary took courage. She knew how much her mother wanted the silk, and that it would be too late when Johnny came back from driving the cows from pasture; so, choking down her fears, she said, "Good afternoon, Capt. Beers." "Good afternoon," he said, and tried to make her a bow. When he saw her coming back from the store, he said, so that all the rude boys could hear him, -

"Make way for little Miss Curtis! She's a lady, - and so was her mother before her."

That little girl had a ruby heart, a loving, gentle heart, - and it was a charm that kept her from being hurt.

Now we have spoken of three things which people used to think that the ruby could do, but which we know that the Bible ruby can do. The first is, to cure sorrow. The second is, to shine in the dark. The third is, to keep us from harm.

Let us all pray to God to give us ruby hearts. Let us ask Him to fill our hearts with love to Him, and love to all about us; and then we shall have this Bible ruby. It will cure our sorrows. It will shine in the dark. It will keep us from harm.

Chapter 5 - The Amethyst

"An Amethyst." - Exodus xxviii. 19.

This was the ninth jewel on the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest, or the last jewel in the third row. In the foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem, it was the last of the twelve jewels spoken of.

The amethyst is a very precious jewel, and very much admired. Its colour is a mixture of blue and red. It is a rich purple, very much like the appearance of a bunch of ripe, dark-coloured grapes.

The name of this jewel comes from the Greek language, and it means not to intoxicate, or not to make drunk. The amethyst is the temperance jewel. The boys and girls, and men and women, who make clear, cold, sparkling water their principal drink, should take the amethyst as their favourite jewel. In old times people used to think that if they only had a cup made out of an amethyst to drink from, they never would get intoxicated. And if they only carried one of these jewels about them it would have the same effect. They thought the amethyst was a charm against intemperance, and a cure for it when men fell into this dreadful habit. What a blessed thing it would be if this were so! Then this jewel would be worth its weight in gold, and ten times more than that. It would be the most precious and valuable of all the jewels. It would be worth more than the pearl, and the diamond, and the ruby, and the emerald, and the sapphire, all put together. If this were so, I would be willing to go to the very ends of the earth if I could only get enough of these precious jewels to put one round the neck of every boy, and every girl too, in this school, and every man and woman in this church. That jewel would be the most useful and valuable thing that could be given to any one. Oh, how I wish that the amethyst really had this power! How I wish it were able to keep people from becoming intemperate! But it cannot do this. It is only the Bible jewel, which the amethyst stands for, that can do this. And what is the Bible jewel that may be compared to the amethyst? It is the fear of God. This is the real temperance jewel.

And when I speak of the fear of God, I don't mean that we should be afraid of God, as a slave is afraid of his overseer, who stands by with a whip in hand, ready to lash him the moment he stops working. I mean that we should feel towards God just as a loving child feels towards an affectionate parent, or kind friend, when he would almost rather die than do anything that that parent or friend would not like to have him do. This is a sweet, loving, pleasant feeling. It makes the person that has it very happy. It is the Bible jewel that will keep us from a great many evils, and especially from the terrible evil of intemperance.

I wish to speak of three ways in which this Bible jewel - the true amethyst - the fear of God - will be a temperance jewel to us. In the first place it will keep us from learning to drink.

And when we speak of drinking, in connection with the subject of temperance, we do not mean drinking water, or milk, or tea and coffee, but liquors that intoxicate people, or make them drunk. And people always have to learn to drink liquors of this kind. Things that are really good for us, like water and milk, God had made pleasant to our taste. We do not have to learn to drink them. But it is different with the liquors that make people drunk; such as brandy, and rum, and wine. You hardly ever find anybody who likes these at first. People have to learn to drink them. It takes them some time to get into the habit of drinking them before they really like them.

Now, if we have this Bible jewel, the true amethyst, or the fear of God, it will keep us from doing anything that God does not like to have us do. But do you think God likes to have us do anything that will harm either ourselves or others? No; surely not. And yet there is no one way in which we can possibly do so much harm to ourselves, or to others, as by becoming intoxicated, or by getting drunk.

Some years ago there was a very celebrated judge in England, known as Chief Justice Hale. He had been engaged a long time in trying people in court, for all sorts of crimes. And he said, one day, that of all the persons he had tried for murder, for robbery, and every kind of wickedness, four cases out of every five had been caused by intemperance. And if you and I should go to our State prison, and visit the prisoners in their cells, and ask what it was that brought them there, I dare say we should find that at least four out of every five had been brought there by intemperance.

"What is whisky bringing?" asked a dealer in this article one day. He meant to ask, how much is it selling for?

A gentleman who heard the question took it in a different sense from that.

" 'What is whiskey bringing, ' do you ask? I'll tell you. It is bringing men to prison, and to the gallows, and it is bringing women and children to poverty and want!"

There never was a truer answer than that.

A physician was walking along a road in the country one day. An old man met him, who had a bottle of whisky sticking out of his coat-pocket.

"Is this the way to the poor-house, sir?" asked the old man, pointing in the direction in which he was walking.

"No, sir," said the physician, "but this is," laying his hand on the bottle of whisky.

Now, let me tell you what intemperance is doing in this country every year. Try and remember some of these figures, for they are very terrible.

One hundred thousand men and women are sent to prison every year by intemperance.

Twenty thousand children are sent to the poor-house every year by intemperance.

Three hundred murders are caused by intemperance every year.

Two hundred thousand children are made orphans every year by this dreadful evil.

You know there was lately a dreadful civil war in America. It lasted for just five years. During that war, out of the armies connected with our Northern States, the number of men killed was about three hundred thousand. This took in those who fell in battle, and those who died from disease. Now, if we divide three hundred thousand by five, in order to find out how many men were killed every year by the war, we shall find that the number was sixty thousand. How dreadful to think that every year the war lasted it was destroying sixty thousand men!

But how many men do you suppose are killed by intemperance every year in this country? Why, sixty-five thousand! Only think that intemperance is killing every year five thousand people more than the war killed !

But then many of our brave soldiers who were killed in battle, or died in the hospitals, were truly Christian men. They died, and went to heaven. The war only destroyed their bodies. It did not hurt their souls. But when intemperance kills men, it destroys the soul, as well as the body. The Bible tells us that "drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. vi. 10). Suppose that you and I could stand at some place where we could see this great army of sixty-five thousand drunkards go reeling down to death. We watch them as they pass. With their wretched, bloated faces, we see them stagger on, and drop into the grave. And suppose, at the same time, we could see their souls plunging into that dreadful place to which God tells us drunkards must go; - how terrible it would be! Do you think that after seeing such a sight, we should ever be willing to learn to drink? Oh, no! We should want to take this Bible jewel - this temperance gem - this amethyst - the fear of God, and bind it on our hearts, that we might never learn to drink.

There was a company of several sailors once on board a ship. Six of them had learned to drink, as sailors are so apt to do. They would get drunk whenever they could. But the seventh man in that crew never would touch a drop of intoxicating liquor. One time the vessel in which they were sailing was bound to Liverpool. The six drinking men agreed among themselves that when they got into port they would invite "cold-water Jack," as they called him, to a tavern with them, and make him drink for once at least.

They arrived in Liverpool. They ordered a supper at a tavern, and invited Jack to go with them. He went. The supper passed off pleasantly. Then they began to drink their liquor. First one, and then another invited Jack to join them in drinking; but he steadily declined. Then they all urged him together; but still he refused. Finally, they got angry and threatened to beat him, even to death, unless he would drink with them.

"Shipmates, " says he, "I'm in your power. What can one fellow do against six? But before you begin to do as you have threatened, hear what I have to say. " They agreed, and Jack went on to give this explanation of his conduct:

"My father," said he, "was a drunkard. I remember, when I was a child, how he used to beat and abuse my mother, who was always affectionate and kind to us. One day, in winter, my mother sent me away on some business, which kept me from home till late at night. On my return, as I came near the house, I saw something lying on the snow, which looked like the figure of a man. I came nearer, and looked carefully at it, in the light of the moon, and you can imagine, perhaps, how I felt, when I found it to be the frozen body of my dead father. I was overcome with horror. I hastened home and told the dreadful tidings to my poor heart-broken mother. Our kind neighbours came in. They carried my dead father home. Preparations. were made for the funeral. On the day of the funeral my mother took me, and the other children, into the room where the corpse was lying, to look upon our father's face for the last time. As we stood there, weeping round that open coffin, she made us each solemnly promise, that, as long as we lived, we never would learn to drink intoxicating liquor. My mother is dead, and gone to heaven. I have always looked on the promise I then made as a sacred thing. I have sailed round the world; but in storm or in calm, in winter or summer, I have never yet broken it. Boys, would you have me drink, and break that promise to my dear, dead mother, now?"

"No, no, no!" was uttered by every voice, and the tears which flowed down their weather-beaten faces showed how much they felt what he had said.

That faithful mother put the temperance jewel, the true amethyst, round the necks of her children, as they stood by their father's coffin, and we see how, by God's blessing, it kept them from learning to drink anything that would intoxicate them.

You know what a dreadful thing it is to be plunged over the falls of Niagara. Nobody can go over there without being killed. And if, when you are visiting the falls, you should see a person sailing on a boat, on the river above the falls, to see how near he could go without being drawn over, you would think that a very dangerous position to be in. And so it would be. So long as a person is on the river above Niagara he is always in danger of being drawn over. But if he keeps out of the river, he is free from danger. Now, to fall into intemperance is worse than going over Niagara. And learning to drink intoxicating liquor is like sailing on the river above Niagara. You are in danger at any time of being drawn over.

I was reading lately about a merchant who lived in Scotland. He was a good man, and a member of the church. But he thought he could drink when he wanted to do so, without getting drunk. He was willing to sail in the river above the falls, but he never intended to go over. One day, a person with whom he had some business invited him to an hotel, to settle their business. They sat and talked and drank a long time. Before he knew it, this merchant became drunk. He never had been so before in all his life. He went home in that state. He quarrelled with his wife, and not knowing what he did, he struck her a blow on the head, which knocked her down and killed her.

He was taken to prison, tried, found guilty, and condemned to be hung. Once drunk, and the consequence was his wife was killed, and he was brought to the gallows. I think you will all agree with me that that was worse than going over the falls of Niagara. But if that man had not allowed himself to sail on the river above the falls, he never would have been carried over. I mean, that is, if he had not allowed himself to get into the habit of drinking, he never would have been found even once drunk, and have gone home to kill his wife. If he had worn this temperance jewel it would have kept him from learning to drink. And then, instead of ending his days on the gallows, he might have died at home, a happy Christian death.

It is remarkable that though men, who can think and reason for themselves, are so ready to learn to drink intoxicating liquors, the dumb animals - brutes, as we call them - can never be taught to do it.

I was reading lately of a Welshman who had got into the habit of going to a tavern in his neighbourhood, and getting drunk there. He had a tame goat that was a great pet with him, and that used to follow him about wherever he went. One day he thought it would be nice fun to take his pet, Billy, to the tavern with him, and make him drunk. So he took him there. he offered him some liquor. Billy smelt it and turned away his head at once. He would not touch it. Then the man took hold of him, and held his mouth open, and got somebody to pour the liquor down his throat. Well, it made Billy drunk, and he behaved in a most ridiculous manner, just as drunken men do when in the same state. But, mind now; the next day the Welshman went out, and Billy went with him as usual. He followed him till he saw him enter the tavern. Then he stopped. The man called him, and coaxed him; he threatened him, and beat him; still Billy stood firm. He would not go a step in that direction. He had had enough of liquor. He would not learn to be a drunkard. It seems as if God had put this temperance jewel, the amethyst, round the necks of all the dumb animals. And it acts like a charm upon them. They will not learn to drink intoxicating liquors. Neither the horse, nor the cow, nor the dog, nor the cat, nor the sheep, nor the pig, nor the donkey will ever learn to get drunk.

This Bible gem, the fear of God, is the true amethyst - the temperance jewel - in the first place, because it will keep us from learning to drink.

It is so, in the second place, because it will keep us from tempting others to drink.

It is impossible to tell how much harm is done in this way. God speaks of this evil in the Bible. He says in one place, "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him" (Hab. ii. 15). Now, if you put this temperance jewel round your necks, and keep it there, you will never learn to drink intoxicating liquors yourself, and you will never ask, or invite, or tempt anybody else to do so.

And I do not want the girls to think that this subject belongs only to the boys. It is not so. It belongs to the girls just as much. There are a great many young ladies, nowadays, who learn to drink wines and cordials; yes, and they tempt young men to do so! This is dreadful. When I see a young lady in company sipping wine or cordial, and tempting some young man to do the same, it makes my blood run cold, and the flesh fairly creep upon my bones with horror. I think of that terrible "woe to him that giveth his neighbour drink." The "woe" belongs as much to a woman as to a man; to her as well as to him. There is a great deal of drinking, and a great deal of drunkenness, now among the women of this country. I do not mean the poor women only, but the rich and the fashionable. I saw it stated lately in a newspaper that in the city of Brooklyn there are twenty thousand female drunkards.

I met with an illustration of this habit among ladies the other day. There was a well-known physician in one of our large cities, who had allowed himself to get into the habit of drinking too much. Now, of all men in the world, next to ministers, doctors should be most careful to keep sober. One day this doctor had been drinking pretty freely. When he went home at noon he found on his slate a request for him to come and see Mrs. B---, one of his patients - a rich and fashionable lady. He took his dinner, and drank some more liquor, and then went to see the lady. She was in bed. He sat down by the bedside, took out his watch, and putting the finger of his right hand on the lady's wrist, he began to count her pulse. One - two - three; then he got confused, and began again. One - two - three - four; confused, and tried again. One - two - three - four - five; but he could not go on. So he put up his watch, and said to himself, in a whisper, which he did not intend the lady should hear, "Drunk, I declare!" Then he told the lady to keep in bed, and take some hot lemonade, to throw her into a perspiration, and he would see her again in the morning. In the evening he received a few lines from the lady, written in this way:-

"Dear Doctor, - I am dreadfully mortified to think you should have found me in such a state when you called this afternoon. Please accept the enclosed fee for your trouble - (a twenty-pound note) - and pray do not, for the world, say a word to any one about my condition."

That lady had been drinking. And when the doctor whispered, "Drunk, I declare," - meaning himself, - she thought he was saying it of her. The doctor was too drunk to see what was the matter with his patient; and the patient was too drunk to see that the doctor was in the same state.

It is a dreadful thing to tempt any one to drink intoxicating liquors, and I want you all to feel this so strongly that, as long as you live, you will never allow yourselves to do it. There are two ways in which we may be guilty of this sin; one is by example, the other is by invitation or persuasion.

Let me give you an illustration of the first of the two ways in which this evil may be done. It is one that took place in this city some years ago.

There was a young man here who was a clerk in a store. He was "the only son of his mother, and she was a widow." He was a good, moral young man, and went regularly to church with his mother, though he was not a Christian. His mother had tried faithfully to warn him against the terrible evils of intemperance, and out of love to her he had always refused to drink wine, or intoxicating liquor, when he was invited to do so. His young friends often joked with him, and said, it was not manly to refuse to drink with them. They did not want him to become a drunkard, but they thought a man might take a little without doing himself any harm.

But he had resisted all their entreaties. He felt as if he were safe in not drinking at all, while he could not tell what might follow if he once began to drink.

But, after awhile, he got tired of opposing the constant invitations of his friends. He was beginning to think that he might drink one glass in an evening without hurting himself.

Just at this time he was invited to a large party. The minister of the church which he attended, the Rev. Dr. ---, was to be there. He knew his friends would urge him again to drink, and he found it hard to make up his mind what to do. At last he settled it in this way. He said to himself, "I'll watch my minister, Dr. ---, to see what he does, and I'll follow his example. If he refuses to drink, I'll refuse too. But I know he is a good Christian; and if I see him drink, it cannot be very wrong, and I think I shall be safe in doing as he does."

Well , the evening came. The company assembled. It was a bright and cheerful scene. They were having a very pleasant time. After awhile they were invited to the dining-room for refreshments. The table was covered with good things, among which were bottles of wine and brandy. That young man kept his eye fixed on his minister. Presently he saw him go up to the table, pour out a glass of wine and drink it off, as though it were something very good and harmless. Soon after, one of the young man's friends came up and invited him to drink. He drank his first glass of wine that night. Another followed it, and then another. He went staggering home from that party a drunken man. He kept on drinking from that time. And what was the result? He lost his situation. He ruined his character. He broke his poor mother's heart! He went down to a drunkard's grave. How sad!

And who killed that young man and broke his mother's heart? That minister of the Gospel did it. For all the gold of California I would not have been in his place! How little he knew of the tremendous evil that was to follow from the influence of his example in that one act! Ah! if he had only taken his temperance jewel - the amethyst - the fear of God - to the party that night, it would have kept him from tempting that young man to drink by his example.

Now, my dear young friends, I want you all to get this temperance jewel - the amethyst - the fear of God, and carry it with you. Intemperance will ruin your health, and run away with your money. But this precious temperance jewel will preserve them both.

How it does this was very well told by an honest old Dutchman. He had felt the bad effects of intemperance on himself, and then gave it up. One of his friends asked him why he did so?

"I vill tell you how it vas," said he. "I puts mine hand on mine head, und der vas von pig bain. Den I puts mine hand on my pody, und dere vas anoder. Dere vas ver much bains in all mine pody. Den I puts mine hand in mine pocket, und dere vas noting. So I jined mit de temperance. Und now dere vas no more bain in mine head. De bains in my pody vas all gone away. I puts my hand in mine pocket, and dere vas dwenty taullers. So I vill shtay mit de temperance."

That is all true. We have spoken of two good things that this temperance jewel will do for us. It will keep us from learning to drink; and it will keep us from tempting others to drink.

And now, if you want to be healthy and cheerful, if you want to be good and useful, ask God to put His fear in your hearts, that is, the Bible amethyst, the temperance jewel, and it will be better for you than thousands of gold and silver.

Chapter 6 - The Amethyst

"An Amethyst." - Exodus xxviii. 19.

In our last sermon I said that the amethyst is a temperance jewel. I said, too, we would consider it as representing the fear of God. This is the Bible jewel that most nearly resembles the amethyst. We spoke then of two reasons why it may be called a temperance jewel. One is that it will keep us from learning to drink; the other is that it will keep us from tempting others to drink. Then we spoke of one way in which we might tempt people to drink, viz., by example.

But there is another way in which this is done, and that is by invitation, or persuasion. It is a dreadful thing to tempt a person to drink anything that will intoxicate. It seems like a little thing when you persuade a person to take a glass of wine. But nobody can tell how much harm may be done by just one glass of wine or other liquor.

Some years ago, Louis Philippe was the King of France. His oldest son was the Duke of Orleans. He was a tall, handsome, splendid-looking young man. And he was just as good as he was handsome. He was intelligent, affectionate, kind, noble, generous, and seemed to have every good quality you would expect to find in a young prince. He was the pride of his family, and the hope of his country; for it was expected that he would be the King of France when his father died.

He had command of a regiment in the French army. He had been ordered to join his regiment. Before he left Paris to do this, he invited some friends to his house that he might say good-bye to them. They drank some wine together. The duke had never been intoxicated. He knew how much he could take with safety, and then he always stopped, and refused to take any more. He did so on this occasion. But one of his friends invited him to drink "just one glass more." The duke said No. His friend urged him so much that at last he yielded, and took that "one glass more." Now, mark the consequence. It did not make him drunk, but it confused him, and made him feel uncomfortable. He said good-bye to his friends, got into his carriage, and rode off.

He still felt the effect of that one glass of wine. Soon the carriage stopped at the place where he was to get out. He opened the door and jumped from the steps. He hardly knew what he was doing. But for that one glass of wine he would probably have alighted fairly on his feet. But he was confused. He stumbled. He fell. His head struck the pavement. He was taken up bleeding and senseless, and very soon he died. For one glass of wine that noble Duke of Orleans lost his life, the throne of France, and property worth twenty-five millions of pounds. How badly that friend of the duke must have felt who urged him to drink that "one glass of wine!" If he had only had this Bible jewel – the amethyst – the fear of God – about him, it would have kept him from tempting that young man to drink, by invitation or persuasion.

A very sad case occurred near this city, some years ago, which shows the terrible evil that may follow from tempting a person to drink, by persuading and urging him to do so.

There was an excellent physician, not far from here, very well known, and whose family was very respectable. He had allowed himself to get into the habit of drinking till he was intoxicated. It was beginning to injure his health and his practice, and was the cause of great distress to his family and friends. A friend whom he loved very much, spoke very plainly to him about the terrible consequences that must follow, if he went on in this way. He saw the danger, and resolved to escape from it. He made up his mind at once to give up drinking anything that would intoxicate. He kept on in this good course for a while. But one day he was invited out to a dinner party. Some of the gentlemen present, who knew what his habit of drinking used to be, and of the resolution he had made about it, had agreed together that, just for their amusement, they would try if they could not persuade him to drink again. It was a cruel, thoughtless thing to do. They would not have done it for the world, if they had only stopped a moment to consider what the result might be.

Well, after dinner, while sitting round the table, they invited him to drink with them. First one would ask him, and then another and another. But he steadily refused. At last they joined together and urged him to take "just one glass." He yielded. He took one glass. Then his old taste revived. He drank one glass after another till it seemed like fire on his brain. Presently he rose and left the room, leaving his friends all round the table. They thought he would soon come back; but he did not come. They were wondering what had become of him, when they heard the report of a pistol in a room upstairs. They hastened towards the spot – and what a sight they saw! There lay the poor doctor, weltering in his blood. The drink had maddened him. He left the table and blew his brains out! Oh, how terribly those gentlemen must have felt who had persuaded him to drink!

If they had only had this precious jewel with them, they would not have tempted their friend to drink, and the sad result of his drinking would not have taken place.

Some years ago there was a remnant of the tribe of Indians called the Mohegans, living near Norwich in Connecticut. That tribe was one of the best of the Indian tribes. There had been a long line of kings or chiefs among them in a family called the Uncas. The last of those chiefs was named Zachary. He had learned from the white men the use of intoxicating liquor – the fire-water, as the Indians called it, and become a great drunkard. But some kind friend had a serious talk with him about it. Zachary made up his mind that, by the help of God, the last of his race should not die a drunkard. He resolved to wear this temperance jewel, and drink no more intoxicating liquor.

Every year, about election time, Zachary used to make a visit to Governor Trumbull, the governor of the State. One of the governor's boys had heard about the old Indian's story, and he thought he would try him, and see if he would stick to his temperance principles. So the next time Zachary came to his father's house, as they were sitting round the dinner-table, he poured out a glass of wine, and said,-

"Zachary, this is excellent wine; will you taste it?"

The old man dropped his knife and fork, and leaned forward with a very stern look, his black eye, sparkling with anger, was fixed on the young man, -

"John," said he, "do you know what you are doing? You are doing the devil's work, boy; stop it! I tell you I am an Indian; you know I am. If I should drink one glass of that liquor I could not stop till I became again the miserable, drunken wretch that I used to be. John, as long as you live, never tempt a man to break a good resolution."

John Trumbull never forgot old Zachary's short speech. He bound this temperance jewel round his neck that day, and made up his mind that he would never tempt any one to drink again.

There is a very interesting story told about Queen Victoria. One day there was a large company of lords and ladies dining at the queen's table at Windsor Castle. One of the noblemen in the company was a strictly temperate man. Sitting next to him was the wife of a royal duke. While they were talking together this lady invited him to take a glass of wine with her. He said, -

"Excuse me, but I never drink wine."

The lady turned towards the queen, saying, -

"Please, your majesty, here is Lord ---, who declines to drink wine at your majesty's table."

This drew the attention of the whole company. Every one looked towards the queen, feeling curious to know what she would say to one who would drink nothing but cold water even at her table. The queen looked towards the temperance nobleman, and gracefully bowed her head, while she said with a pleasant smile, -

"No one is compelled to drink at my table."

If we have the true amethyst, the Bible temperance jewel, the fear of God about us, it will keep us from tempting others to drink, either by example or by invitation.

And then there is another reason why this Bible jewel, the fear of God, may be compared to the amethyst – the true temperance jewel – and that is, it will lead us to stop drinking, even when we have got into the habit of doing so.

When the habit of drinking is once formed it becomes very strong.

We read in the Bible the interesting story of Samson. He was the strongest man that ever lived. And, curiously enough, the Bible tells us that this great strength lay in his hair. God had made a covenant with him that if he would let his hair grow, and never have it cut, his strength should continue. His hair had grown into very long locks, and the secret of his strength lay in not having those locks cut. Samson kept this great secret to himself, and so long as he did this he was safe.

But the Philistines were the enemies of Samson and the Israelites. They wanted very much to take him prisoner, because he had done them so much harm. But they could not do this unless they could manage in some way to take away his great strength from him. They tried very hard, therefore, to find out the secret of his strength, that they might take it away, and make him a prisoner. They tied his arms and legs with different kinds of ropes while he was asleep, hoping that this would overcome him. But as soon as he awoke he broke those ropes as easily as a giant would break a thread. At last he foolishly told them the secret about his hair. Then they came, while he was asleep, and cut off his locks and shaved his head. This took away his strength, and he became as weak as any other man. Then they made a prisoner of him, and put out his eyes.

And the habit of drinking, when it is once formed, has a strength like that of Samson's. Men can no more overcome this habit, of themselves, than an infant can get away form the strong grasp of a giant. For a drunken man to sign the pledge, and say, "I won't drink any more liquor," when trusting to his own strength, is only like tying ropes around Samson's limbs, when his locks have not been cut off. As soon as he wakes, and stirs himself, those ropes give way like tow. We must get the help of God. We must get this amethyst, this Bible jewel, the grace of God in our hearts. This will cut off Samson's locks. Then his strength will be gone, and we can bind him, and keep him from doing any harm. Nothing but this temperance jewel will enable any one to break off from the habit of drinking.

I was reading lately of a mechanic who had become intemperate. Nearly al his wages were spent at the tavern. His family were left to get on in the best way they could. They were often in want of bread to eat, of clothing to put on, and of fuel to keep them warm. He was a first-rate workman, and could get excellent wages when he was sober. But now he seemed to be going to ruin. His employer used to reason with him about the folly of his conduct. His wife used to beg him, with tears in her eyes, for her sake, for the children's sake, and for his own sake, to give up drinking. He was often very much affected on these occasions, would bitterly lament over his folly, and solemnly promise never to drink any more. He signed the temperance pledge several times. But when he got near the tavern, and among his old friends again, he forgot all, and drank away as hard as ever. His pledge and his promises seemed to have no more power to bind him then, than the green withes and the new cords of the Philistines had to bind Samson, before his locks were cut off.

One night, when he was sober, he went to church with his wife. He heard a very solemn sermon preached on the subject of the judgment. It made a great impression on his mind. It led him to pray earnestly to God. He became a Christian, and went regularly to church with his wife. Then he signed the pledge again. He made new resolutions against drinking. But he did not make them in his own strength now. He had the grace of God to help him. He had found the Bible amethyst, the true temperance jewel. He could meet his old friends, and pass by the tavern without stopping to drink. Samson was not only bound, but his long locks were cut off, and his strength was gone. This man had now the fear of God before his eyes. He had found the true amethyst – the temperance jewel – and it led him to stop drinking. His employer never went to church himself. He hated religion, and religious people very much. He tried to persuade the man to give up going to church.

"No, sir," said he, "that I will not do. You tried to make me a sober man when I was a miserable drunkard, but you could not do it. I tried to make myself sober; but the love of drink was too strong for me. I could not get away from it. But since I have been to church, and have obtained the help of God's grace, I have been able to resist the temptation. And now would you have me give up the only thing that has saved me from being a drunkard? I cannot do that."

There was a man, some years ago, who was a weaver. His name was Robert Jackson. He lived in a little manufacturing village. He had a very good wife, who was a pious, excellent Christian. For some years after their marriage he was a steady, sober, industrious man; and he and his wife lived very comfortably and happily together. But after awhile he got acquainted with some bad men, who spent their evenings and their wages at the tavern, and went home late at night drunk. They persuaded Robert to go with them. He became a drunkard too. Before, he had been a kind and gentle husband. He never used to speak a cross or angry word to his wife or children. But oh, how drinking changes people! Now, he would go home in a bad temper, and scold his wife, and swear at the children, so that instead of running to meet him, as they used to do, they were glad to creep away in a corner and hide themselves.

Mrs. Jackson had tried all she could to get her husband to give up drinking. But it was all in vain. Nothing seemed to have any effect upon him. He was getting worse and worse. He spent nearly all his wages now at the tavern. He seldom took any money home. His poor, sorrowful wife worked almost night and day to get bread and decent clothing for her children. Every night, before they went to bed, she used to read a chapter in the Bible to her children and pray with them. And she always prayed for their poor father too, that it might please God to lead him to quit drinking, and make him a sober man again.

One night they were sitting round the table as usual. Mrs. Jackson was reading the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew, where it tells about Jesus coming to judgment, and gathering all nations before Him and then separating them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats. She read on, "And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Just as she began to read, her husband came home from the tavern. He came quietly into the entry and heard his wife reading. He knew it was the Bible, and he was not too drunk to know that he ought to be still while that was read. So he took his hat off, and stood there listening till the reading and prayer were over. He had a little boy, Robbie, named after himself. He was between seven and eight years old. He had been very much interested in the chapter read that night. As his mother was closing the Bible, Robbie said,-

"Mother, may I ask a question?"

"Certainly, my child," said she; "what is it?"

"Will father be one of the goats on the left hand of Jesus when He comes to judgment?"

Poor Mrs. Jackson could not answer that question. She burst into tears. Then they kneeled down to pray. And she prayed, oh, how earnestly! For her poor husband, that he might stop drinking, and become a Christian, and not be found among the goats on the left hand of Jesus, at the last day. Before that prayer was over, Robert was quite sober. What he had heard made him feel very deeply. He cried like a child. As soon as they rose form their knees, he went into the room, threw his arms round his wife's neck, asked her to forgive him for all the sorrow he had caused her, and promised solemnly that, by the help of God, he never would get drunk any more. Then he kissed little Robbie, and the other children, and said he would try not to be among the goats when Jesus comes. And the promise made that night he never broke. He prayed to God to help him; and He did help him. He became a great temperance man, and persuaded a great many of his companions to give up drinking too. He got this temperance jewel – the amethyst – the fear of God, that night, and fastened it round his neck, and the blessed result was, it led him to stop drinking.

Come with me now, and let us take a walk through one of our hospitals, at the close of the late war. It is full of wounded soldiers. There is one among these that I want especially to tell you about. There he lies on yonder cot-bed. He is a tall, strong fellow. Here comes the doctor along. Let us look, and listen.

"Well, my boy," says the doctor, "I'm told they call you 'Old Battles.' Is that so?"

"Yes, sir," said he.

"And they say you are the bravest man in the regiment, too."

"So they say," he replied.

"Old Battles" was one of the boldest and most terrible men in our ranks. He had received his name from having been in so many battles. In the smoke and flash and fire, amidst balls and shells and cannon, when the roar and strife and slaughter were the most fearful, he seemed quite at home. The balls might fly around him like hail; they might riddle him; but he would fight on as long as he could stand and load his gun. His body was a sort of walking history of the war. He had hardly a limb but what had been wounded; and he gave to each wound the name of the battle in which it was received. He had been wounded in the right shoulder, and he called that "South Mountain." His right leg he called "Bull Run;" his breast was "Antietam;" his left arm was "Gainsville;" and his right hip "Fredericksburg." But fierce and terrible as he was in battle, in the hospital he was as quiet and gentle as a child. The doctor comes round again, and tries to cheer him by talking about his bravery.

"I don't feel so very brave now," said he.

"Why not? You'll soon shoulder your rifle again."

"That may be; but I wasn't thinkin' o' that. Doctor, stop a minute."

The doctor waited.

"Sit down on the edge of my cot."

The doctor sat down.

"They call me 'Old Battles,' you know," said he, "But there's mor'n one kind o; fightin'; and when I lie here I never feel brave; for then I think of the battle that I'm always beat in – the battle with strong drink. Doctor, unless I get help in this fight, I shall never get the victory. Oh, won't you teach me to pray?"

"Yes," said the doctor. "Here's a short prayer for you: 'O Lord, pity me, and help me, for Jesus' sake.' Let that be your prayer."

" Thank you, thank you" – and he began at once, - " ' Lord, pity me, and help me, for Jesus' sake. Pity me, help me," - and the hero of many battles cried like a child.

The doctor went through the hospital, and visited other wounded men; and still "Old Battles" prayed – "Lord, pity me, and help me, for Jesus' sake." And God heard his prayer. He pitied him, and sent him help. And when the cup he used to love so much was offered him, he turned away from it with the prayer upon his lips, - "Lord, pity me, and help me, for Jesus' sake." Thus he asked God for strength, and it was given to him, - strength to resist temptation, and to say No firmly, when urged to drink. His comrades looked on him with admiration. They thought he was braver in this fight than in all the others he had ever been in.

He got well again and left the hospital. He fought another battle. He was wounded once more, and brought back to the hospital. His old friend the doctor came to see him.

"How now, 'Old Battles?' " said he. "So you'll have another scar."

"No, doctor; I've fought my last battle. This wound will never heal into a scar."

"Don't say that," said the doctor. "Keep a good heart. I expect to hear your name changed from 'Old Battles' to 'Old Victory.' "

"No," said he, "my fighting is over. But, doctor, let me tell you, the best battle I ever fought was fought without sword or gun. It was fought with that sweet little prayer you taught me. That helped me to conquer in the fight within, - a harder fight than ever I had with outside enemies. It made me conqueror over the worst and strongest enemy a man can have, - the love of strong drink."

What a glorious old hero that was! He found the amethyst, - the fear of God, the true temperance jewel, in that hospital. He put this round his neck, and it helped him to stop drinking.

We have spoken now of three reasons why the fear of God may be called the amethyst, - the true temperance jewel.

The first is, because it will keep us form learning to drink; the second is, it will keep us form tempting others to drink; and the third is, it will lead us to stop drinking.

My dear young friends, you know that in Switzerland there are great mountains, very high and very steep. Many of them have their tops covered with ice and snow. Sometimes great masses of this ice and snow will get loose and fall. In their fall they go rushing down the sides of the mountains with a noise like thunder. These masses of falling ice and snow are called avalanches. If travellers, or cottages, or even villages are in their path, they are swept away into instant destruction. When an avalanche is once started, it never can be stopped till it gets to the bottom of the mountain. Sometimes a very little thing is enough to start an avalanche. The stepping of your foot upon it; the taking away of a loose stone; or even the jarring of the air may do it. What a dangerous thing it is to loosen an avalanche and send it down the mountain's side, breaking and crushing everything before it!

But drunkenness is worse than an avalanche. And when any one gets into the habit of drinking, he is loosening an avalanche over his head, which may, at any time, rush down upon him and kill him. Be very careful how you do this. Don't get into the habit of drinking, and then you will be sure never to become a drunkard. When you see young people learning to drink, you may say to yourself, - "These people are loosening avalanches, and when they fall they will bring terrible ruin upon them."

Take this amethyst – this real temperance jewel – the fear of God. Carry it with you wherever you go. Don't be afraid to let people know that you have it. It will bring to you safety, health, peace, and prosperity. It will bless you, and make you a blessing wherever you go.

Chapter 7 – The Emerald

"An Emerald." - Exodus xxviii. 18.

The emerald is a jewel of a beautiful, soft, rich green colour. Ireland is called the "Emerald Isle," because the grass which covers its hills and valleys is such a beautiful green. When you look at that island from the deck of a vessel, far off at sea, it looks like a great jewel, a great emerald, rising out of the ocean. The emerald stands, in value among jewellers, next to the ruby. It is spoken of several times in the Bible. It was found on the breastplate of a Jewish high-priest. There it was the first on the second row of jewels, or the fourth in number from the beginning. And when St. John gives us an account of the twelve great jewels which made up the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem, he tells us that the fourth of them was an emerald. And so we find that the emerald occupies the same place in the breastplate of the high-priest, and in the foundation of the heavenly city. It stood fourth among the jewels spoken of in both these places.

In a former sermon we spoke of the ruby as representing love. But the emerald, with its beautiful bright green colour, we may consider as representing hope. We all know what sort of a feeling hope is. When anything that we want to have very much has been promised to us, then we expect to get that thing, whatever it be. We think about it, and long for it, and this is the feeling we call hope. We say we are hoping for the thing that has been promised to us. If our parents go away on a long journey, as we miss them greatly, and think of the time when they will return, then we are hoping that they will come back in safety. If they promised to bring one of us a new book, and another a watch, and another a large doll that will open its eyes and speak, then the feeling we have when we think about those promised things, and long to have them, is hope. We are hoping for the new book, or the watch, or the doll. Some people are hoping to get rich; and some are hoping to get particular places of honour in this world. And when we learn to love Jesus and become Christians, God promises that He will take us to heaven after we die, and that we shall each have a crown of glory, and be like a king, with Jesus, in a kingdom more glorious than ever was seen in this world, and which will last for ever. And when we think about that blessed place, and long to be happy with Jesus there, then that feeling is the hope we have of heaven. This is the Christian's hope. And this hope is the emerald among the Bible jewels. And the question now before us is, what is this jewel good for? What will it do for those who have it?

In olden times people used to think that the emerald had certain wonderful or magical powers. It was not true that it had any such powers. But hope, which is the Bible jewel represented by the emerald, possesses them. I wish to speak of three of these powers. This will give us three reasons why hope may be compared to an emerald.

And the first reason why hope may be compared to an emerald is, because it makes us industrious.

People used to think that the emerald had the power of curing idleness, or of making men industrious. If it only had this power the emerald would be one of the most valuable of jewels. Then, when boys and girls were put to school, it would only be necessary to hang an emerald round each one's neck, and there would be no lazy scholars. The owners of all our workshops and factories would want to have a good supply of emeralds. They would take care that every workman had one in his pocket, and then they would be sure to have no lazy workmen about their place. I need not tell you, however, that the emerald never had any such power as this. But hope, the beautiful Bible jewel, that which the emerald represents, has this power. If people hope to get rich they know that they must be industrious and work hard.

You know the most industrious little creatures in the world are the bees. God has taught them to know that in winter there are no flowers for them to get honey from. And so they are very industrious, and work hard all summer, that they may have a supply of honey to live upon through the winter. It seems as if it were hope that make the bees so industrious. I know that people say it is only what we call instinct that leads the bees to such industry in making honey, and that they don't know what they do it for. Perhaps it is so. But we have never been bees, and so we don't know how they feel about it.

I remember once to have heard a very curious thing about some bees. A gentleman from New England went to live in South America. He was very fond of honey, but found there were no bees, and of course no honey, in that part of the country. When he came home on a visit he resolved to take a hive of bees back with him that he might have a supply of honey. The first season the little creatures were as industrious as ever, and made their usual supply of honey. But after being there a year, and finding that there was no winter, but that the flowers were blooming all the year, they quit working, gave up their industrious habits, and took to leading a lazy sort of life, just like the butterfly. That looked as if those bees at least knew what they were about. It seemed as if by their conduct they would say to that gentleman, "We can get our living here all the year round without work, and so we have made up our minds to take things easy, even though you have to go without honey."

There is nothing like hope to make people industrious. Here is a farmer. See how industrious he is ploughing his ground, in harrowing it, and sowing the seed in it. And what makes him so industrious? It is the hope of getting a harvest in the fall. There is a whaling-ship going off on a three years' voyage to the North Seas. What cold, stormy weather the sailors on board that ship will have to meet! What hard work they will have to do, in catching and killing the whales! And how industrious they will all be in their work! And why? What will make them so industrious? Hope will do it. They are hoping to bring home a valuable cargo of sperm oil, and that makes them industrious.

Some years ago there was a boy named Warren Hastings. His family had formerly been very rich. They used to own a very large and beautiful place in the neighbourhood of the village in which this boy lived. But this property had been sold, and now belonged to other people. One day, during recess at school, Warren Hastings was reclining under a tree, at the edge of the woods, on the old family place. As he lay there on the grass, he said to himself, - "All these woods, and yonder fields, and the houses and gardens on them used to belong to our family. Now, we don't own anything here. Would it not be fine if I could only get rich enough to buy this beautiful property all back again? I wonder if I could do it. I'll try." He set the hope of doing this before him. It was like putting an emerald round his neck that had the magical power of making him industrious. That hope made him industrious. He studied hard. When he had finished his education, he went to the East Indies. He was very industrious there. He gave his whole time to his business. He rose to one higher position after another, till he got to be Governor of India; and in about twenty years he came back to England one of the richest men in the country. And then he bought the old place, so that it belonged to his family again. The hope of doing this had made him industrious.

And how many poor boys I might tell you about, who have been made industrious by hope, and so have become rich, and great, and good men! And when we become true Christians, we have the hope of getting to heaven. This is a better hope, ten thousand times better, than that which Warren Hastings set before him, of getting back the family homestead. It will make us industrious in serving God, and trying to please Him. The first thing that hope does for us is to make us industrious, and for this reason it may well be compared to an emerald.

Again, people used to think that the emerald had the power of taking away fear. And this leads us to speak of the second reason why hope may be compared to an emerald; because it makes us courageous.

The Bible tells us that "Hope maketh not ashamed" (Rom. v. 5). In one place in the Bible, hope is compared to a helmet. A helmet was a kind of hat, or covering for the head, made of iron, or steel, or brass. Before the days of powder and guns, when people fought with spears and arrows, a helmet would protect the head and keep it from being wounded in battle. And a soldier who had his head covered with a good helmet would be very bold and courageous. He would not be afraid when the arrows were flying thick around him.

In another place in the Bible hope is compared to an anchor (Heb. vi. 19.). And this is the reason why we always draw an anchor as the figure, or emblem of hope. Suppose that you and I are at sea, on board a vessel. A storm is driving our vessel right on towards a rocky and dangerous coast. If we have no anchor on board we may well be afraid, for pretty soon we shall be dashed against the rocks and perish. But suppose we have a good anchor, and a strong cable to hold it by on board our vessel. We drop our anchor in the sea. It sinks to the bottom, and is buried in the mud and sand, or takes hold of the rocks there. It keeps the vessel form drifting towards the shore. We are safe. Our fear is gone. Let the winds blow, and the waves roar ever so much, they can't hurt us. The anchor gives us hope, and this hope makes us bold, or courageous.

And it is just so when we become Christians. Then we love Jesus. We have hope in Him. That hope is to our souls just like what the anchor is to the sailor. It keeps us from being afraid.

I was reading lately about a little boy who used to be afraid of being left alone in the dark. When he went to bed at night his mother used to keep a light in the room, and sit by his bedside until he fell asleep. After a while he learned to love Jesus. Now, he found that the hope he had in Him gave him courage. Soon after this he said to his mother one night, when he had got into bed, -

"Mother, you need not stay till I am asleep. You may take the light and go downstairs."

"Why, Willie," said his mother, "you used to be afraid of being alone in the dark. How is it that you are not afraid now?"

"Why, mother, I know now that Jesus sees me in the dark as well as in the light; and am sure that He will take care of me. And ever since I heard my teacher talk about that beautiful verse in the Psalms, 'What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee,' I don't mind about being in the dark."

That little boy had this beautiful Bible jewel, the emerald, hope, and it gave him courage.

In the days when the Roman emperors used to persecute the Christians because they would not give up their religion, a Christian bishop named Chrysostom was brought before the emperor.

"I will send you into banishment," said the emperor, "unless you give up your religion."
"All the world is my Father's house," said he, "and so wherever you send me I shall be at home."

"I will take away your treasures," said the emperor.

"Earthly treasures I do not care for," said the bishop.

"My best treasures are laid up in heaven. Those you cannot take away from me."

"I will put you to death," he said.

"You may kill this body, I know," observed the Christian. "I do not care much for that. You cannot hurt my soul, for its life is hid with Christ in God."

"But I will separate you from all your friends."

"Nay," said the brave bishop, "for my best Friend is in heaven, and nothing can separate me from Him."

What courage that Christian's hope gave to him!

Jerome of Prague was a Christian martyr. He was sentenced to be burnt to death. He was fastened to the stake. The wood was piled up around him, and the executioner was going behind him to set fire to the pile.

"Come here," said the brave martyr, "and kindle the fire before my eyes. I am not afraid to look upon it."

As the fire blazed up, he began to sing a hymn, and kept on singing till the flames stopped him. He had this precious Bible jewel of hope in his heart, and how courageous it made him!

And this blessed hope of heaven which the Bible gives, can make people just as courageous now, as they used to be in former times.

Two miners in Cornwall, were working down in a deep mine. They were blasting rocks. This is done, you know, by drilling a hole in the rock. Then the powder is put in and pieces of the rock are hammered into the upper part of the hole. This is called charging the rock. It is just like loading a gun. When this is done, they have what is called a fuse. This is like the little string at the end of a fire-cracker. It burns slowly, and takes ten or fifteen minutes before it reaches the powder and explodes, so as to give the men time to get out of the reach of danger. When these two miners had got the rock all ready for blasting, one of them used to get into the bucket and be drawn up to the top. Then the bucket would return, the other miner would light the fuse, run to the bucket, and be drawn up before the explosion took place. One day the fuse took fire, unexpectedly, when they were both down at the bottom of the mine. As soon as it began hissing, the two frightened men ran to the bucket, jumped in, and made the signal to hoist. But the man above could only draw them up one at a time. There was not a moment to lose. Only one could get up, and the one who stayed down would be blown to pieces. One of the miners was a Christian; the other was not. Quick as thought the brave-hearted, Christian man jumped out of the bucket, saying to his companion, "Escape for your life: I shall be in heaven in a few moments."

The bucket was drawn up, and the man was safe. They listened at the top for the explosion. Presently they heard the heavy, smothered sound, made by the bursting rock. They waited awhile for the smoke to scatter, and then went down to look for the mangled remains of the brave miner. They began to dig among the fallen rocks for his body. At last they heard a voice. Their friend was still alive. They worked away, and pretty soon they found him, not only alive, but unhurt. All that he could tell about it was, that as soon as his friend was gone up, he lay flat on the ground; and when the explosion took place God had caused the rock to fall over him in such a way that he had not even a scratch of a wound about him. When they asked him what made him willing to stay down and let his friend escape, his reply was, "I believed my soul was safe, but I was not sure of his."

Ah! that man had an emerald heart. He had the hope of heaven, and it made him courageous indeed. He was a real hero.

The second reason why hope may be compared to an emerald, is because it makes us courageous.

Another strange power, which it used to be supposed the emerald had, was that of taking away gloom and sadness from the minds of people. Of course this was a mistake. It never had any such power.

But this points out to us a third reason why hope may be compared to an emerald. It is because it makes us cheerful.

Hope is a bright, sunshiny thing. You know how beautiful the rainbow is! There is nothing in the world more pleasant to look upon. When we see it spanning the sky, how delightful it makes the woods look, and the fields, and everything under its broad arch! Hope is sometimes compared to the rainbow. And it may very properly be so compared, because it seems to paint in bright colours the things it leads us to look for, and to put rainbows all about them. And it is very singular that when St. John had a door opened before him, so that he could look through it into heaven, he saw the throne of God, and he tells us that "there was a rainbow round about the throne;" and that rainbow he says was "like unto an emerald." How beautiful it must have looked! An emerald rainbow, - a rainbow of hope in heaven! I don't know what that beautiful rainbow was intended to teach. But one thing I know for certain, that when we get the hope of heaven, which Jesus gives, fixed in our hearts, it brightens up our whole life. It is like having a rainbow about us all the time. This hope makes us cheerful.

There was a little girl once whose mother was poor, though she was a good Christian woman. This little girl, whose name was Lillie, was very fond of music. A kind neighbour, who loved Lillie, used to let her come into her house, for an hour or so every day, and play on their piano. One day, when Lillie had just come back from this neighbour's fine house, she felt unhappy and discontented. She thought to herself how plain and shabby our cottage home is, and how hard it is that we can't have a piano as well as our neighbours! She felt so sad that she leaned down her head on the table, and burst into tears. Just then her mother came in.

"Why, Lillie dear, what's the matter?"

"O mother, it seems hard that we should be so poor as not to be able to have a piano!"

"Never mind, Lillie dear," said her mother, "only be careful to love and serve Jesus, and then, though you may not have a piano on earth, you will have a harp in heaven."

Lillie wiped away her tears in a moment. That thought was very sweet to her. She was a Christian child. She did love Jesus. Her mother's words seemed to set the door of heaven open before her. She felt as though she could see the rainbow, the emerald rainbow, which St. John saw. She had the hope of heaven in her heart, and it made her cheerful and happy. Lillie has grown to be a woman now; but she has never forgotten her mother's words. And many a time when she could not have what she wanted, she has said to herself, as if whispering over her mother's saying, -

"Never mind, I may not have a piano on earth, but I shall have a harp in heaven."

There is a steam ferry-boat on the river Mersey. It runs form Liverpool to Birkenhead and back. Several years ago, passengers on that ferry-boat would sometimes see, on a warm, bright day, a poor crippled boy. His body was grown almost to a man's size, but his limbs were withered and helpless, and not larger than the limbs of a child.

He used to wheel himself about in a small carriage, like those that boys use in their play. He had a little musical instrument, called a concertina, and on this he used to play some sweet tunes. He never asked for anything, but yet very few of the passengers could hear his touching music, or look at his honest, cheerful face, without dropping a penny or two into his carriage.

One day a lady was standing near, looking at him with great pity. She thought how sad and lonely he must feel, unable to help himself, and with no prospect of ever being any better in this world. She said to a lady who was with her, but not intending that he should hear it,-

"Poor boy! What a sad life he has to lead; and nothing in all the future to look forward to!"

But he did hear it. And, in stepping out of the boat, that lady saw a tear in his eye and a bright smile on his face, trying to chase the tear away, as he said,-

"I'm expecting to have wings some day, lady!"

Happy boy! He was poor. He was a helpless cripple. But the door in heaven had been opened for him to look through. He had seen the emerald rainbow. He had heard what Jesus said about those who love Him, how they shall be made "equal to the angels." He had that blessed hope in his heart. It was like a precious jewel, like a beautiful emerald to him. And though he was so poor, and so much afflicted, this hope made him cheerful.

I have only one more story to tell now, about this Bible jewel, - this emerald, - hope. But this, like the others just mentioned, shows what power hope has to make people cheerful. This story refers to something which took place in the Southern States before the war.

Down in the State of Georgia there lived an old negro slave, who always went by the name of "Happy Dick." He had a kind master, who allowed him the use of a comfortable hut for himself and his wife, because they had been so faithful in working before they grew old. Dick had this Bible jewel, - the emerald, - that we are speaking of, and it made him happy, as he sat under the shadow of the great magnolia tree that grew near his cabin.

One day a Christian lady, who was on a visit to his master's house, asked him if he never felt uncomfortable when he thought he was a slave; and if he did not long to be free, so that he might lay up his earnings, and have something which he could call his own.

"O missus! Don't ask me," said the old negro; "dem days is all gone by. I's longed for freedom mightily, but I longs for heben, too, and dat is a heap better. I nebber allows myself to 'fleet on the bad tings dat happen to me, nor de good tings dat I nebber had. And when I tink about suffin' to call mine, 'pears like I had a big treasure right yer, dat I don't owe any man for."

"How is that, Dick?" said the lady.

"Why, missus, when all the rest ob de world am saying, 'Dis is my house,' 'Dat is my sugar-mill,' 'Dere is my great cotton-patch,' I look up to heben and say, 'Dere is my hope, and dere is my Saviour;' and when I own de Lord Jesus, 'pears like I owned all de rest. For de earth is de Lord's and de fulness dereof. De air is mine, and I can breeve it. De sunshine is mine, and I can sit in it. De water is mine, and I can drink it. De earth is mine, and I can lie down and sleep on it; and aint dat enuff?" The hope of heaven was like an emerald to that old negro, and it made him cheerful and happy.

Now we have spoken of three things which people used to think the emerald had the power of doing; and hope may be compared to an emerald for these three reasons. The first reason is because it makes us industrious; the second is because it makes us courageous; and the third because it makes us cheerful.

It is a very important thing for us all to have this Bible jewel, - this emerald, - the hope of heaven. If it can give industry and courage and cheerfulness to those who have it, then it is certainly worth trying to get. But how can we get it? We cannot buy it. We cannot earn it. None of our friends can give it to us. There is only one person from whom it can be got. Jesus is that person. We never can have the real Bible emerald, a true hope of heaven, till we learn to love Jesus. We must ask Him to change our hearts, and make us His dear children. Then this Bible jewel will be ours. We shall have the hope of heaven in our hearts, and we shall find what a treasure that hope is!

Chapter 8 – The Opal

This is a jewel not spoken of in the Bible. But it is so beautiful that I cannot pass it by without stopping to speak about it, and to see what lessons we may learn from it. I dare say it is included in some of the places in the Bible where gems and jewels are spoken of, in a general way, as "precious stones." There are more than a dozen such places that might be quoted. And if we only had a full list of all the jewels, there referred to as "precious stones," I feel pretty sure we should find the opal among them. And so, though it is not mentioned by name, we know it belongs to the same family, and therefore, I think we may well give it a place among our Bible jewels.

The opal is a very beautiful jewel. It is reckoned more valuable than the sapphire. When set by the jeweller, in a ring, or breast-pin, it is generally surrounded by small diamonds, - brilliants, as they are called, - and the bright, sparkling rays of the diamonds, as they are seen flashing out, make a very great contrast with the calm and soft, but rich and varying, tints of the opal. This jewel has not merely one colour, but many. When you first look at it, you will say its colour is white, or pearlish gray. But when you hold it between your eye and the sun, you will find its colour varying. It seems to take on all the colours of the rainbow. Pale-red, emerald-green, golden-yellow, violet, purple, and sky-blue may all, in turn, be seen blending sweetly together, and making it look very beautiful.

There are said to be two very fine opals among what are called the crown jewels of the French. One of these is in the clasp that fastens the emperor's cloak. The most valuable opal now know in the world is in the museum in the city of Vienna, the capital of Austria. It is very large, and very beautiful, and is valued at more than fifty thousand pounds.

We read in history about a Roman senator who had a famous opal. It was as large as a hazel-nut, and was reckoned to be worth £ 200,000. It is said that the Roman emperor wanted the senator to give it to him. But he was not willing to give it up. I don't blame him for that. But the emperor did. He sentenced him to be banished from Rome. So the man took his jewel with him and went into exile rather than stay at home and lose his beautiful and valuable opal.

All the colours of the most beautiful of the other jewels are found to meet in the opal. But it is most easy to see in it the red of the ruby, the yellow of the topaz, the purple of the amethyst, and the green of the emerald. And now the question is, what Bible jewel shall we consider the opal as representing? What is it that we read of, in the Bible, that brings all blessings to us, and does more good than anything else? It is prayer. Then we may take the opal as representing prayer. This is a jewel that the Bible has a great deal to say about. And there are so many bright and beautiful things connected with this Bible jewel, - prayer, - that when we think of them, we may well be reminded of the opal, with its rich, soft rays of many-coloured loveliness. We may speak of three of the colours seen in the opal, - the red, the purple, and the green. These colours represent three of the jewels we have already spoken about. They are the ruby, the amethyst, and the emerald. These all seem to meet in the opal. We may take these as representing three of the benefits of prayer, of which the opal may remind us.

The red colour in the opal reminds us of the ruby. And people in olden times used to think, that one of the benefits you got by having a ruby was protection. But ah! There is no protection like that we get from this Bible jewel, the opal of prayer.

A good minister whose name was Flavel, was once going round by sea from Dartmouth to London. On the way a violent storm arose, and threatened the destruction of the vessel. Night came on and the storm continued to increase. About midnight the captain said it was impossible for them to be saved unless the wind should change, for it was driving them directly on to a rocky coast, where they must be dashed to pieces. Mr. Flavel asked that all who could be spared from deck, would come into the cabin and join with him in prayer. They did so. He prayed earnestly for deliverance. His prayer was hardly ended, when some one came down from the deck, crying, -

"Deliverance! Deliverance! The wind has just changed round to the opposite quarter."

And so they found protection in prayer, and were carried safely to "the haven where they would be."

A man who had been once a thief, and was afterwards converted, wrote an account of his life. Among other stories he told this:-

"Three of us, one winter's evening, were marking the house of a man, in which we were told there was a good deal of money, and which we intended to rob that night. As we came near, however, we heard singing; and when that was over, the family knelt down to pray. We heard the father pray that God would protect them from all harm and danger. He prayed for the neighbourhood, and for all mankind, that sinners might be turned from their evil ways, and made to know the Saviour, in whom alone peace and salvation were to be found. I saw that my companions were startled; but they tried to turn it off. For myself, I could not get over the effect of what I had heard. It made me feel very uneasy. It brought back the remembrance of the instructions I had received when a boy. I felt that I could not do anything that night. "Let us go," I said; "we have seen enough."

"But we have not seen the back of the house," said one of my companions, "and we don't know the best way to get in. Don't you mean to come to-night?"

"No," said I, "this is no place for us;" and, as I was the leader of the gang, we went away.

Here you see how God made that good man's prayer, as it were, the means of answering itself. It brought to him and his family the very protection that he prayed for.

A vessel bound from Glasgow to New York, was overtaken by a terrific hurricane in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. The captain tried everything in his power to weather the storm. At last he gave up and said,-

"The ship is on her beam-ends. She'll never right again. We shall all perish."

"Not at all, sir! Not at all, sir!" cried a little sailor-boy. "God will save us yet."

"Why do you think so?" asked the captain.

"Because, sir, at this very hour they are praying, under the Bethel flag, in the city of Glasgow, for all sailors in distress, and we are among the number; and God will hear their prayers, sir; now see if He don't."

With tears in his eyes the captain exclaimed,-

"God grant that their prayers may be heard in our behalf, my little preacher."

Just at that moment a great wave struck the ship and righted her again. And a few days after the ship sailed safely into the harbour of New York. There you see how that ship, and all on board of her, found protection and safety in prayer.

The King of Dahomey, in Africa, is one of the most cruel men alive. A few years ago he sent a large army to destroy the city of Abbeokuta, where the English missionaries were labouring. He was making a great deal of money by selling slaves. The missionaries were trying to break up the slave-trade. This made him very angry. He swore at them dreadfully, and said he would burn down the city and kill everybody in it. His army was encamped under the walls of the city. The people in Abbeokuta had very few soldiers, but they resolved to defend themselves the best way they could. Their chief dependence, however, was on prayer. The missionaries and native Christians met together for prayer. For eight days that great army lay encamped around the city. All that time the people in the city were expecting to be attacked. All that time the meetings for prayer were continued. Day after day passed by, and yet no attack was made. It was a time of great trouble and distress in that city. Each hour they were expecting the threatening storm of war to burst upon them, though praying against it all the while. On the morning of the ninth day they rose and looked out towards their enemies, and not one of them was to be seen. During the night the King of Dahomey had ordered his army to withdraw, and it was marching back again to his own country. It was very strange, that after all his threatenings, he should let his army lie before that city for eight days, and then march away without making any attack upon it. The people in Abbeokuta never found out the reason for it, but they felt sure that God had heard their prayers, and had protected them from their fierce enemy.

This case is very much like the one we read of in the Bible, when God heard the prayers of the good king Hezekiah, and protected Jerusalem from the great army of the Assyrians.

The red colour in the opal reminds us of the ruby. This, it used to be thought, had the power of protecting those who wore it. And the first reason why we may call prayer the Bible opal, is because there is protection in it.

But when we look at the opal we see also a purple colour in it. This reminds us of the amethyst. It used to be thought that this jewel had the power of helping people in anything they had to do. And this is the second reason why prayer may be called the Bible opal, because there is help in it.

There is nothing that we need, in this world, more than help. We are all the time having something to do which we either cannot do at all, or cannot do in the right way without help. And that which can get for us the help we need is a jewel indeed, - a very precious jewel. And one of the sweetest promises in the Bible is that in which God says to each of His people, "Fear not; I will help thee" (Is. xli. 10). And the only way in which we can get this help is by prayer.

Let me tell you about a sea-captain who needed help very much, and got it in answer to prayer.

When we are walking through a city, we look for the little signs which have the names of the streets on them, or for the numbers on the houses to find out where we are. When we are going along the road in the country, we look at the milestones to find how far we have come, and how far we have to go. But at sea there are no milestones to tell how far you have come, and no finger-boards to point out the direction in which to go. But the captain has a curious kind of instrument called a quadrant. When the sky is clear, by looking at the sun through this instrument at twelve o'clock, he can make a calculation which will show him just where he is, as certainly as we know where we are when we see a milestone on the turnpikeroad. And looking through this instrument is called making an observation.

Now, the captain, of whom I am speaking, had had a long spell of cloudy, foggy weather. For a number of days he had never seen the sun, and had made no observation. He could not tell how far his vessel had gone, or whereabouts she was. He was getting to feel very uneasy. He thought, if he could commit his soul to God's keeping, he might certainly commit his ship to Him too. He did so, and prayed for God to take care of him and his vessel too.

But still he wanted very much to see the sun at noon, that he could make an observation and find out where they were. So he prayed earnestly to God, one morning, that the sun might come out at noon. About eleven o'clock he went on deck, with his quadrant under his coat. But there was a heavy drizzle, and a fog so thick that he could hardly see the length of the ship, in any direction. The men looked at the captain as if they thought he must be crazy to be expecting to use his quadrant in such a fog. He went into the cabin again and prayed, and came up. Still there was no sign of clearing away. Again he went and prayed, and again he appeared on deck with the quadrant in his hand. It now wanted only ten minutes to twelve o'clock, but still the fog was as thick as ever. Yet there he stood with his quadrant, waiting for God to answer his prayer, and help him to get his observation. Five minutes before twelve it grew lighter. The mist seemed to be folded up and rolled away as if by an unseen Almighty hand. The blue sky appeared. The sun shone out brightly. The man of prayer stood there with his quadrant, and took his observation. He felt as if God were just at his side. He trembled with excitement, so that he could hardly hold the instrument. But he got his observation. He found out where the ship was. He had the comfort of knowing that all was right. But he had no sooner done this than the mist rolled over the heavens again, and the fog and drizzle were as thick and heavy as before. What a beautiful example this is of help received in answer to prayer!

Here is another illustration connected with a little boy. He was about eight years old. His parents were poor, but honest, industrious, pious people. They lived in a manufacturing town in the North of England.

One morning, this little boy was sent by his mother to the mill to buy some flour. His mother gave him five shillings, which she tied up, very carefully, in a corner of the bag which was to hold the flour. Then she kindly patted him on the shoulder, and told him to make haste, and come back as soon as he could. Then he hurried on and was soon making his way through the busy crowd, and along the dirty streets of that smoky town.

On arriving at the mill he found a number of people there waiting to be served. He took his place in the line to get his flour. He had to wait for half-an-hour before his turn came. Then he gave the man his bag, and told him that he wanted five shillings' worth of flour, and that his mother had tied the money up in a corner of the bag.

The man opened the bag, turned it inside out, and shook it; but, alas! there was no money in it.

"There's no money here," said he, as he tossed the bag aside, and turned round to wait on another customer.

Poor little Johnny! how sad he felt, to think that he had lost his money, without knowing how!

What could he do? His mother wanted the flour; and he knew she had no more money to get it with. How could he venture to go home and tell his mother of his loss?

Greatly troubled, he withdrew a little from the crowd, to think what he should do. Then the thought came into his mind;-

"God can do everything. He can help me to find my money. I'll pray to Him."

Then he walked quietly up and down in a corner of the mill, and, lifting up his heart to God in secret he offered, very earnestly, this simple prayer,-

"Heavenly Father, please help me find my money, for Jesus' sake. Amen!"

Then, knowing that he must work as well as pray, he set off to look for his money. He went back the same way that he had come, looking carefully at every step, and offering, all the time, the earnest prayer that God would please help him find his money. The way he had come was over a bridge, which was the busiest part of that busy town. How little hope there was of his finding his money on the open street in broad daylight, where hundreds must have passed since he had dropped it! Still on he goes, with his head bent, watching narrowly every step, and still offering his prayer to God for help. He is almost over the bridge, looking narrowly first on this side, then on that, when, lo! there, on the black ground, he sees a bright shining shilling, and then another, and then another, till he has picked up all the five silver shillings he had lost. Was he not astonished though? And did he not jump for joy when he grasped the five shillings in his hand! There never was a happier little fellow than he was, when he took the flour home to his mother, and told her all that had happened to him.

And when we look at the purple colour in the opal it may remind us of the amethyst. It used to be thought that this jewel secured help to those who had it. But there is nothing like prayer to secure us help. And for this reason the opal may be compared to it.

I wanted to speak of the yellow colour in the opal, representing the topaz. But it would take too much time. So we pass this over, to speak of one more colour, and that is the green. This represents the emerald. It used to be thought that this had the power of blessing people. But there is nothing that brings us blessings as prayer does. And this gives us the third reason why prayer may be called the Bible opal, because it brings us blessings.

The Bible is full of stories that show us what great blessings have been received through prayer. Abraham's servant prayed when he was seeking a wife for his master Isaac, and he found the right one. Jacob prayed when he was wrestling with the angel, and he got a blessing from him. Moses prayed, and God opened a way of escape for the Israelites right through the Red Sea. Hannah prayed, and Samuel was born. What a blessing that was! David prayed, and the blessing he received was victory over the giant. Elijah prayed, and God shut up the windows of heaven so that there was no rain for three years. He prayed again, and God sent abundance of rain to refresh the parched earth. What a blessing that was! Isaiah and Hezekiah prayed, and an army of an hundred and eighty-five thousand men was killed in one night. Daniel prayed in the lions' den, and God shut the mouths of the lions. Jonah prayed in the belly of the whale, and God brought him up from the bottom of the sea, and set him down safely on the dry land again. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego prayed in the burning fiery furnace, and God kept them from being hurt by the fire. These are a few of the cases mentioned in the Bible, which show us the blessings obtained by prayer.

And prayer is working such wonders still. It brings down from heaven the very best things that are in it. It brings strength to the weak, and riches to the poor, and comfort to those who are in sorrow. Prayer is a bank of wealth, a mine of mercies, a store of blessings. It flies where the eagle never flew. It travels further and faster than the light.

Mary, Queen of Scots, used to say that she feared John Knox's prayers more than an army of ten thousand men. There is truth in every word of the hymn that says,-

"Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, -

Gives exercise to faith and love,

Brings every blessing from above."

Let me mention some instances to show the blessing obtained by prayer in these days.

A Christian man had no money in his pocket, no food in the cupboard, and no credit at the shop. He prayed to God for relief, and, before he had done praying, a friend called and left him as much money as he needed.

A Christian mother had a sailor-boy, thousands of miles away from her. She awoke one night thinking about her absent boy. Something seemed to whisper to her, "Get up and pray for your son." She got up and prayed long and earnestly for him. Afterwards she found that he had been in great danger at that very hour.

He had been washed overboard in a storm, and was caught by the hair of his head, and snatched from a watery grave at the very time that his mother was praying for him.

Some years ago, a minister of the gospel was preaching about the benefits and blessings that may be obtained by prayer. "I once knew a little boy," said he, "who had a very bad sore on his right hand. It got worse and worse, in spite of all that was done for it. At last it began to mortify, and the doctor said it would have to be taken off, in order to save his life. The day was fixed upon for the operation. The little boy was a Christian. He had a little retired, shady spot, in a corner of his father's garden, where he used often to go and take his book, when he wanted to have a nice, quiet time for reading. When heard the doctor say that his hand must be cut off, he felt very sad. He did not want to lose his right hand. So he went to that quiet, shady spot in the garden. There he kneeled down, and prayed that God would make his hand better, and let it get well again, without having to be cut off.

"The next day, when, the doctor came to look at his hand, he was very much surprised to find it looking a great deal better. The next day it was better still; and the third day, he said he thought it was going to get well, and that it would not be necessary to have it taken off. The little boy grew up to be a man. He became a minister," and then, holding up his hand, the minister said, "this is the right hand that was saved from being cut off, by prayer. And I hold up this hand before you as a proof of the blessings that may be obtained by prayer."

Some years ago there was a small congregation of Wesleyan-Methodists in a village in Essex. They used to worship in a little cottage. But after awhile their number increased till that cottage was too small for them. They concluded to build a chapel; and a lot of ground was secured on which it was to be built. But some wicked men in the village did not want to have the chapel built. They resolved to oppose the building of it as much as they could. One of these men owned a lot of ground next to that on which the chapel was to stand. On this lot there was a fine sarge tree. One of the great branches of this tree grew over the chapel-lot. It was right in the way of the building. One of the members of the Church went to the owner of the tree to ask him if he could allow them to cut off that limb. He said, -

"No, that I won't; and if you attempt to do it I shall prosecute you."

Now what was to be done? the chapel must go up; and yet they could not afford to go to law about it. They resolved to hold a special meeting for prayer on the subject. They did so. They told the Lord of their trouble, and asked him to relieve them. That night there came up a violent storm, with thunder and lightning. The lightning struck that tree, and shivered the branch just where it was in the way of the chapel-walls.

This made those wicked men afraid. They gave up their opposition to the chapel, and the building was finished without any further trouble. What a blessing prayer was in that case!

I will only mention one other case to show how blessed the influence of prayer is.

A man was travelling once in Ireland. Night overtook him before he reached the place to which he was going. He knocked at the door of a cabin by the roadside, and asked shelter for the night. They invited him in. Just then the owner of the cabin was reading a chapter in the Bible, according to custom, before having prayer with his family. When the stranger was seated he went on with his reading. Then they kneeled down to pray, and after that, they retired to rest.

In the morning the same thing took place. This simple service seemed to have a great effect on the mind of the stranger. He thanked the father of the family for his kindness in giving him lodging for the night; and he thanked him still more for the words he had read and the prayers he had offered.

"They have kept me back from committing sin," said he, "I came into this part of the country to attend the fair at the next town, which is to be held to-morrow. My object in going was to pass off a quantity of counterfeit money. This is the first time I ever attempted to do such a thing. But after hearing your reading and prayers, I see how wrong it is, and I won't do it."

Then he took a parcel of bad money from his pocket and threw it in the fire, and went home to try and get his living in some honest way.

What a blessing the prayers of that humble cottager were to that poor stranger! This Bible jewel, prayer, may be compared to the opal, because it brings blessings.

We have spoken of three things that prayer will secure for us, on account of which it may be placed among the Bible jewels, and compared to the opal. The first of these things is protection; the second is help; the third is blessing.

My dear young friends, I want you all to get this Bible jewel, and keep it about you always. Prayer is the golden key that opens heaven. A good man once said, "Prayer moves the arm that moves the world." And when we learn to pray, we can move the arm that moves the world. A Christian man was dying once. A friend at his bedside asked him how he felt. "I'm too weak for anything but to pray; but, oh! it's a glorious thing to pray," said he. Yes, it is a glorious thing, to pray. It is a useful thing a happy thing, a blessed thing to pray. Then learn to pray. Pray for everything you need, especially pray for your souls. Pray to Jesus to make you His children, - to teach you to love and serve Him. Then you will always be safe; for

"Satan trembles when he sees

The feeblest Christian on his knees."

"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath

The Christian's native air;

His watchword at the gates of death,

He enters heaven with prayer."

Chapter 9

"A Sapphire." - Exodus xxviii. 18.

The sapphire is a very precious jewel. A lady in London has two which are worth nearly £ 40,000 each. The sapphire is of a beautiful blue colour, - like the colour of the sky on a bright clear day. This jewel was the fifth among the jewels in the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest; and the second among the foundation-stones of the heavenly Jerusalem.

We read in the book of Exodus that, when Moses went up to the top of Mount Sinai, God wrote, with His own finger, the ten commandments on two tables, or slabs, of stone, and gave them to Moses. Well, the Jewish writers tell us that those tables, on which the commandments were written, were composed of this very jewel that we are now going to talk about. They were slabs of sapphire. How beautiful they must have looked! How precious and valuable they must have been!

In former times, when a man was made a bishop in the church, it used to be the custom always to put on his finger a ring with a jewel in it, and the jewel in the bishop's ring was always a sapphire.

We may take this jewel as representing faith, or trust in God.

Perhaps some of you may be ready to ask why I say this? When we look at a sapphire, shining in its beautiful blue, there is nothing in it that reminds us of faith any more than of hope, or love. Then how can we tell what each one of these jewels properly stands for, or what it represents?

The way in which I make up my mind on the subject is this: - I try to find out what people, in olden times, used to think were the properties or qualities of each particular jewel, or what they thought these jewels were good for. And then I try to find out which of the Bible jewels, or the graces which a Christian should have, each of these best represents. And then I put these two things together, - the natural jewel, and the Bible jewel that it represents. For instance: we have now before us the sapphire. I want to find out what this jewel stands for, or represents. Well, when I come to read about the sapphire, I find that in olden times people used to think that if you carried one of these jewels on your heart, or in your bosom, it would have the effect of making you strong. And then we have only to ask ourselves which of the Bible jewels, or Christian graces, is it which has the greatest power to make people strong? We see in a moment that it is faith. And so we feel safe in saying that the sapphire stands for faith, or trust in God.

Faith may be compared to the sapphire, because it makes us strong.

I wish to speak of two things for which faith makes us strong.

In the first place, faith makes us strong to suffer.

It is surprising how much suffering good people have had to bear, and how strong their faith in Jesus has made them to bear it.

I was reading lately of a poor, sick Christian woman, who was in what is called the infirmary or sick ward, of a hospital in England. A friend who was visiting her, asked if she found her trust in Jesus give her comfort in her affliction? Her answer was, -

"Oh, yes! My trust in Jesus gives me more than comfort. It makes this sick-room seem like heaven to me. If you were to heap up my bed with gold and silver, - if you should offer to give me the queen's carriage and horses, her palace and garden, and all the beautiful flowers in it, with health and strength to enjoy them, - I would not give up my trust in Jesus for all these, or anything else the world can give. They talk to me sometimes about the pains of dying; but what do I care for them when I know that death can only take me into the presence of Jesus, my best Friend?"

This woman had the Bible jewel of which we are speaking. The sapphire of true faith was in her breast, and we see how it made her strong to suffer.

There was a family once in great affliction. The father had been sick all winter. The mother, who was an earnest Christian, had laboured hard with her needle to get money enough to buy food and fuel for the family. She trusted in God, and this made her cheerful. She always told her children that the Lord would take care of them and give them what they needed.

But on towards spring her strength began to fail. She could not work as much as formerly. At last their money was all gone. There was only just wood enough left to make one more fire. Every morsel of food was gone. A slice of bread was borrowed from a neighbour to make a piece of toast for the sick husband and father. The children were obliged to go to school that morning without any breakfast. And as the hungry little ones were going out of the house, their mother heard Henry, the oldest, a boy about ten years old, say to his brother and sister, -

"I wonder what mother thinks of the Lord, now?"

It filled that mother's eyes with tears to hear this. It brought a swelling feeling up in her breast and throat, that seemed as if it would choke her. She turned aside into a corner of the room, and kneeled down to pray. She told God again of their great need of food and fuel. She prayed Him to remember His precious promises never to forsake those who trust in Him, and not to leave her dear children to think that His promises were not true.

While she was praying she heard a noise in the street. She went to the window to see what it was. There she saw a load of wood, which some kind friend had sent her, thrown down at her door. Then she cried again, but these were tears of thankfulness.

Before she had fairly wiped those tears away there came a knock at the door. She opened it, and there was a man with a large basket filled with potatoes and bread and butter and tea and sugar and a leg of mutton. He emptied them on the table, but would not tell who sent them. Then that Christian mother prayed again, a prayer of thanksgiving.

And when the hungry children came home at noon, she showed them the wood. Then she opened the closet and showed them all the good things God had sent them. And then they all cried together for joy and gladness, and Henry threw his arms round his mother's neck, and asked her to forgive him for what he had said in the morning. Henry never forgot the lesson he learned that day. It gave him such strong faith in the Bible that he never again asked the question, "I wonder what mother thinks of the Lord now?"

This good Christian woman had the Bible jewel, we are speaking of, in her heart, and you see how strong it made her to suffer. And it seemed as though, on that day, she hung the sapphire of trust in God round the necks of her children, and it made them strong in the same way.

Several years ago a ship was burned near the mouth of the English channel. Among the passengers were a father and mother, and their little daughter, a child not many months old. When the fire was discovered, and the alarm given, there was great confusion, and this family separated. The father was picked out of the water and taken to Liverpool. The mother, with her infant in her arms, was crowded overboard. Just as she fell into the water a large piece of the wreck floated by. She caught hold of it, and managed to get partly on it, so as to support herself and her infant. Thus they drifted with the tide out of the channel towards the sea.

Late in the afternoon of the same day, a vessel from Newport, Wales, bound to New York, was moving slowly along in her course. There was only a light breeze, and the captain was walking up and down the deck whistling, and hoping for the wind. Presently this floating piece of the wreck hove in sight, far off in the distance. He called the other officers and they watched it awhile, wondering what it could be. At last, as they were moving very slowly, they concluded to send a boat and see what that floating object was. The boat was accordingly lowered and manned. Away it goes; while all on board the ship stand watching it with interest. The men bend upon their oars. Soon they can see that it is a piece of a wreck; but before they can see whether any one is on it, they hear a voice; it is a female voice singing. They stop their rowing and listen. These are the words that reach their ears, in a clear, calm, sweet voice, -

"Jesus, Saviour of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly,

While the waters near me roll,

While the tempest still is high;

Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,

Till the storm of life is past:

Safe into the haven guide;

Oh! receive my soul at last."

"Other refuge have I none;

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;

Leave, oh, leave me not alone;

Still support and comfort me.

All my trust on Thee is stayed,

All my help from Thee I bring;

Cover my defenceless head

With the shadow of Thy wing."

As soon as the singing stopped, the men rowed on again. Presently they came up to the floating piece of the wreck. Then they found the mother and her infant. She was so situated that she could not see the boat till it came close up to her. She did not know that any one was near her but Jesus, while she was singing that sweet hymn.

The sailors took her off the wreck, carried her on board their vessel, and then took her to America. There she took the first opportunity of going back to her husband.

That mother had this Bible jewel, the sapphire of true faith, or trust in Jesus, with her on that floating wreck. And how strong it made her to suffer! What a blessed feeling that is which could lead one to trust in Jesus, and sing so calmly to Him, even when in such a dreadful situation as that poor woman was!

The first reason why faith may be compared to the sapphire is, because it makes us strong to suffer.

The second reason why faith may be compared to the sapphire is, because it makes us strong to serve.

There is nothing that gives us so much strength to serve God as simple faith or trust in Him. Abraham had such trust in God that when he told him to offer his son Isaac for a burnt-offering he went right straight to do it; and he would have done it, too, if God had not sent His angel to stop him. It was his trust in God that gave Samson his great strength. It was this that enabled him to take hold of a roaring lion, and tear his jaws asunder. It was his trust in God that gave him strength to wrench out of their place the gates and bars of a city, and carry them off on his shoulders. It was this that helped him to kill a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, and do all the other wonderful things that are written of him.

When David was a shepherd boy, it was his trust in God that gave him strength to go after the lion and the bear that had stolen a lamb from his flock, and to kill them. And it was his trust in God that gave him strength to fight and to kill the great Philistine giant, when all the bravest soldiers in Saul's army were afraid of him. Abraham had this precious jewel, - the sapphire of true faith in God; and so had Samson; and so had David; and we see how strong it made them to serve God. And the Bible is full of illustrations of the same kind.

But will trust in God have the same effect now that it had in the days when the Bible was written? Yes, just the same. It makes people strong to serve God, and do what is right, in these days, as much as it used to do so in old times.

Some years ago, there was an Irish sailor by the name of Blake. He had a little boy named Jimmy, of whom he was very fond. Blake was a pious man, and he began early to teach his little boy about Jesus. He taught him to read, and pray, and commit texts of Scripture to memory. He particularly tried to teach him simple trust in God. He often told him never to be afraid of doing his duty; that however great the danger attending it, he might trust God to take care of him; and that, if he should even die in doing his duty, he would be a great deal better off than to live on in the neglect of it. In this way sailor Blake tried to fasten this Bible jewel, the sapphire of true trust in God, in the bosom of his little boy. How strong it made him to serve God nobly, we shall see directly.

Blake was an excellent swimmer, and, as he intended Jimmy to be a sailor, he took great pains to make him a good swimmer, too. When he was only three or four years old, his father would often take him in his arms and jump overboard. He would hold the little fellow up in one arm, and play round in the water with the other. In this way, by the time Jimmy was twelve years old, he took to the water like a duck, and felt almost as much at home there as on land.

About this time, Blake and his son were on board an American ship bound from New York to Havre, in France. The captain of the ship had become so fond of Jimmy that he had undertaken to teach him navigation, so that he might become an officer. Among the passengers in the ship was a gentleman who had a dear little daughter. One day she was leaning over the vessel, watching the waters as the ship ploughed her way through them. Presently, the ship gave a lurch, and the little girl was plunged into the sea. Blake was on deck. He saw what had taken place, and, quick as lightning, he leaped overboard and swam towards the struggling child. He soon reached her, took hold of her, and placed her on his shoulders, so that he might have his arms free, and then he struck out towards the vessel. While he was doing this, however, the ship, which was under full sail, had got some distance from him before she could be put about. But he did not care for the distance, and breasted the waves manfully. All on board the ship were watching him with the greatest interest. Presently, they saw him pause a moment, and turn off in another direction, as he cried out, - "Help! Help! A shark!" They looked around, and true enough there was one of these horrible monsters swimming directly towards him. How sad this made them all feel! The sailors took guns and fired at the shark, with the hope of driving him off. But on he kept towards his prey. The poor father was almost frantic. He offered all his fortune to any one who would save his child.

Just then, a little head was seen of some one in the water striking out from the ship. It was Jimmy. The moment he heard his father's cry, and saw his danger, he resolved, hero as he was, to try and save him. Unseen by any one, he had jumped overboard, and was swimming directly towards the shark. As soon as he came near it, he made a dive in the water, and taking his sheath-knife from the case at his side, he plunged it into the belly of the monster. Then, knowing that the shark would turn after him, he struck out away form the ship, so as to give his father a better chance to be saved. Noble little fellow! The shark floundered about in pain for a moment or two, and then darted after Jimmy. In the meantime, his father and the little girl had reached the ship, and were hauled on board. As soon as the brave fellow heard the shout of joy which told him of his father's safety, he turned about and made straight for the ship. Then all the anxiety was for his safety. The captain brought the vessel as near to him as possible. Every eye was fixed on him. A dozen ropes were thrown over for him. He seized one of them, and, as they began to haul him up, the captain clapped his hands, and cried, "He's safe! he's safe!" - while the tears streamed down his weather-beaten cheeks. But, - just then, the shark made a tremendous spring, and, opening his horrid jaws, snapped the brave boy asunder.

Only his mangled remains were drawn on the deck.

What a real hero! what a truly noble little fellow that was! How well he had learned, and how faithfully he practised, his father's lessons! He had this Bible jewel, - the sapphire of true faith, or trust in God, - and we see how it made him strong to serve.

Perhaps some of you may think that he was disappointed in his trust because his life was not saved. But that is not so. Remember one of his father's lessons to him was that "it is better to die in doing our duty than to live on without doing it." This noble boy died in the very act of saving the life of his father. And don't you think that the reward God will give him in heaven will be a thousand times better than any that the captain of the ship, or the father of the little girl, could have given him on earth? Certainly.

Let me tell you one more story, to show how trust in God will make us strong to serve Him. This is a story which I remember hearing my dear mother, now in heaven, tell, when I was a boy, more than forty years ago. I have never used it before, but it is none the worse for its age. You may depend on its being true, for my mother knew the person to whom it refers. When she was a young girl, my mother lived in the town of Bridgenorth. In that town there was a baker, who was a very wicked man. He never went to church, but hated religion and religious people very much indeed.

Now it happened that this baker's wife, at one time, began to go to God's house on Sundays. She soon became very much interested in the subject of religion. After a while she became a Christian and joined the church. This made her husband very angry. He ordered her not to go to church any more, but still she went. And it was right for her to do so.

You know when a woman gets married, she makes a solemn promise and vow to obey her husband. And she is bound to do so, in everything that is not clearly contrary to the will of God. But this husband was ordering his wife to do something that was contrary to the plain command of God. God commands us to keep the Sabbath-day holy, and to go to church and worship Him. And if a husband forbids his wife to do this, she has a right not to mind him. Her marriage vow does not bind her here. In such a case she must "obey God rather than man," no matter what comes of it.

The baker cursed and swore at his wife fearfully. Still she went to church. Then he beat her cruelly every Sunday; but still she went to church. One Sunday he became so furious as to tell his wife that, if she went to church that night, he would heat the oven as hot as he could heat it, and put her in and roast her alive when she came back.

His wife knew what a desperate man he was, and had no doubt but he intended to do what he had threatened; yet still she resolved to go to church. Before going she went up into her room and kneeled down to pray. She told the Lord what her husband had threatened to do, and prayed earnestly that He would change his heart, and keep him from fulfulling his terrible threatening. Then she went quietly to church, trusting to God, and not saying a word about it to any one else. What a large sapphire that baker's wife carried in her bosom, and how strong it made her to serve God!

Well, as soon as his wife was gone, the baker went to work at the oven. He made a tremendous fire. He kept the oven full for an hour, till it became, like Nebuchadnezzar's furnace, "seven times hotter than it was wont to be." He waited for an hour, and then began to feel restless and excited. He walked up and down, and looked at his watch every two or three minutes. Then the thought occurred to him that perhaps his wife might be afraid to come back, and would go home with some of her neighbours. So he put on his hat and resolved to go and wait till she came out of church, and then come home with her. He went. He stood by the door of the church. He listened, and presently heard something said about " a burning, fiery furnace." A feeling of terror came over him. He slipped quietly into the church, and sat down into the seat nearest the door. The minister, without knowing what God intended to do by that sermon, was preaching about Nebuchadnezzar casting the three men, who would not worship his idols, into the fiery furnace. (Since preaching this sermon, I have learned from a gentleman who once lived in Bridgewater, that this minister was the Rev J Fletcher. He had prepared another sermon for that evening; but after going to church, was led, without knowing why, to lay that aside, and take up the subject here spoken of.) God made use of that sermon to show the baker his horrible wickedness. He trembled like a leaf, and wept like a child.

When the sermon was over they sang a hymn. Then, as is usual in the Methodist churches, they invited persons who wished to be prayed for, to come up towards the pulpit. You can judge what the feelings of that faithful woman were when among the first who came up was her own husband! He walked home with his wife after church, in tears all the way. As soon as they were in the house he asked his wife to pray with him. He soon after became a Christian and joined the church himself.

This woman had the Bible jewel of trust in God, this beautiful sapphire, and we see how strong it made her to serve God. Faith or trust in God is, like the sapphire, because it makes us strong; strong to suffer, and strong to serve.

Now, my dear children, if you want to have this Bible jewel, you must ask Jesus to give it to you. You cannot find it. You cannot buy it. Your parents, or teachers, or friends cannot get it for you, or give it to you. Nobody but Jesus can give it to you. It is only His grace that can put it in your hearts. If you pray earnestly to Jesus to give you a believing, trusting heart, He will give it to you. This precious jewel, trust in Jesus, is all we need to make us comfortable and happy here, and all we need to save our souls and take us to heaven at last. It is faith, simple faith, or trust in Jesus, that saves us. The Bible says, - "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." This means just trust His word, and He will save us.

" In my hands no price I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling."

This is the only way to heaven.

Lord Jesus Christ, give this precious Bible jewel to all of us, and make us strong to suffer, and strong to serve, for Thy blessed name's sake. Amen!

Chapter 10

" The Topaz. " - Exodus xxviii. 17.

The topaz is another of the beautiful jewels mentioned in the Bible. It was the second jewel in the first row of the twelve precious stones in the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest. And among the twelve foundation-stones of the heavenly Jerusalem, mentioned in the last two chapters of the Revelation, it was the ninth.

The topaz is a beautiful jewel, of a bright orange, or golden colour, though they are sometimes found green, blue, and red. It is very hard, being next to the ruby in this respect. And yet the story is told of one of the Roman emperors, named Maximilian, who was so strong as to be able to crumble topazes to powder between his imperial fingers. If you and I had seen him do it, of course we should believe it, but without seeing, I think we may be excused for doubting it.

I saw lately an account of a fine old topaz seal, among the curiosities in a museum in England. What is called the field of the seal was blue. On this there were three arrows. On the top or crest of the seal was the head of a dragon on a crown. And round the seal was this inscription, or motto, - sola bona quae honesta. The meaning of this is, Honesty, which is the only good thing. And this, according to the old proverb, might be rendered, "Honesty is the best policy."

The topaz is considered to represent honesty. Now, to be honest means more than people generally think. Most people think that if they do not cheat when they get a chance, and do not steal from those about them, they are honest. But true honesty means much more than this. True honesty means to give to all persons whatever belongs to them. Let us see now, what sort of persons we shall be if we are honest in this way. Let us begin with God.

To whom do our hearts belong? To God. Who has the best right to be beloved by us? God. Whose will ought we to obey, and whose word ought we to mind, more than any one's else? God's. That is true. Well, then, if our hearts belong to God, and we do not give them to Him, are we honest? If we ought to love God more than any one else, and we do not do it, are we honest? If we ought to obey God's word, and do God's will, and don't do it, are we honest? No; we are robbing God. How many are doing this? And so, you see, the only truly honest people in the world are the real Christians, who are trying to please God in everything they do. They give their hearts and lives to God, and try to give to others everything that belongs to them. The Bible topaz, the jewel of true honesty, is to be trying always to do just what God wants us to do. And the question we have now to ask is, Why may this Bible jewel be compared to honesty? In olden times people used to carry the topaz about with them as a charm, or a safeguard against temptation.

Now the world in which we live, is full of temptation. We need something, all the time, to keep us safe when we are tempted. The Bible topaz, the jewel of true honesty, is the very best thing in the world for this purpose.

I want to speak of four different kinds of temptations, and to show how this precious jewel, the Bible topaz, will be a safeguard to you against them all.

The first kind of temptations in which this jewel will be a safeguard to us are temptations for the eye.

The very first temptation that we read of, in our world, was to the eye.

There is the garden of Eden. Oh, how beautiful it is! And right in the midst of the garden is "the tree of knowledge." That was the only tree of which God had told Adam and Eve that they must not eat. But Satan had made up his mind to try and get them to eat of it, in spite of all that God had said. And the first thing he did, in beginning his temptation, was to get Eve to look at the tree. So we read that "when the woman saw the tree, that it was pleasant to the eye, and good for food, she took of the fruit and did eat." That was the beginning of sin and sorrow in our world. It was a temptation that began with the eye. If Eve had not allowed herself to look at that tree, and long for it, she never would have been willing to eat of it. Satan stole away this Bible jewel of true honesty, from Eve, before he could succeed in tempting her. If she had only held on to this it would have been a safeguard to her. It would have kept her from looking at the tree, and that would have kept her from eating of it.

There is another case of temptation through the eye mentioned in the Bible. When the Israelites entered Canaan to conquer it, and take possession of it, the first city they came to was Jericho. Before they captured it, God told them that all the gold and silver and brass and iron found in the city were to be considered as belonging to Him. None of the people were to take any of these for themselves. They were all to be set apart for God. If the people should take any of them, it would bring a curse upon them. Well, presently the walls of Jericho are thrown down. The soldiers go up to destroy the city, and gather all the spoil together for God. See, there is a soldier, whose name is Achan. He enters a rich man's house. He goes from one room to another. Now he comes into the room where they used to keep their treasures. Here he finds a wedge of solid gold, and three hundred pieces of silver, and a beautiful rich cloak or mantle. It was the prettiest thing he had ever seen. He stood and looked at them. How the gold glittered! How bright the silver looked! And then, that beautiful cloak! How he would like to have them! "Why can't I?" he says to himself. "They will not be missed out of all the spoil of this great city. And then, there is no one here to see me. I will take them." He covers them up; carries them out to his tent; digs a hole and buries them. Then he goes back and helps his comrades to destroy the city. He thinks no one has seen him and that he is safe. Ah! he forgot that God had seen it all.

The next time the Israelites went to fight they were beaten. Their leader, Joshua, prayed to God, and asked Him what this meant. He said the reason was that some one had been stealing what belonged to Him, and he must be found out and punished, or else they would have no more victories over their enemies. But how could Joshua find out one man from among a whole nation? He found him out by casting lots. First the tribe was found out to which he belonged; then the family; and then the man. Achan saw that it was no use to deny what he had done, so he confessed it all, and was stoned to death.

He had not this Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, with him, or else it would have been a safeguard to him in that temptation. He would not have allowed himself to look at those treasures till he felt that he must have them.

You know when an army is besieging a walled city, or fortress, how very careful those inside of it are to protect the gates. But our souls are like walled cities, or fortresses. Satan is the enemy trying to get in. And the eye is one of the gates of entrance. We must guard this gate well, if we want to keep our souls safe. Job said he had "made a covenant with his eyes" not to look on anything that it was not right to look at. David used to pray, - "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." And we ought to offer David's prayer, and make Job's bargain with our eyes not to look on anything that we know will do us harm. And if we keep this precious Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, about us, it will be a safeguard to us in temptations. The first temptations from which it will save us are temptations for the eye.

The second kind of temptations in which this Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, will be a safeguard to us, are temptations for the ear.

This is another of the principal gates of entrance to the soul. And it is a very important gate. It ought to be most carefully guarded. We receive a great deal of good, and a great deal of harm, through the ear. If our souls are saved at last, they will be saved by what we hear; and if our souls are lost at last, they will be lost by what we hear. It is no wonder, then, that our Saviour, when He was on earth, should have said so solemnly to His disciples, - "Take heed how ye hear;" and, "Take heed what ye hear."

A single leak will sometimes sink a ship. A single spark of fire may cause a whole magazine of gunpowder to explode. And so a single word or sentence has often brought a man to the gallows.

"I don't want to hear naughty words," said a little boy one day.

"It is no matter," said another boy to him, "what Joe Town says; it goes in at one ear, and out at the other."

"No," said the little boy, "the worst of it is, when naughty words get in, they stick; so I mean to try and keep them out."

That little boy was right. Some naughty words stick so tight that you never can get rid of them. The only way is to try and keep them out. "Take heed what you hear."

There is an old Greek book called "The Odyssey." It was written by an old blind poet whose name was Homer.

It is one of the oldest books in the world, next to the Bible. It contains an account of the wanderings of a wise old Grecian king, whose name was Ulysses. Well, this book tells about the voyages of Ulysses, as he went sailing all up and down the Mediterranean sea, trying to get back to his own country. He passed through a great many dangers. One of these I want to tell you about, because it shows that Ulysses had this precious jewel that we are now speaking of, and how it kept him and his companions from the temptation of hearing what was likely to do them harm.

The story is that Ulysses, in his voyage, had to pass by a certain island which was very dangerous. Three females lived on that island, who were excellent musicians. They were called Sirens. They could sing and play delightfully; and their music had such a bewitching effect on those who heard it, that they would never go away from the island, but would stay there till they died. The shores of the island were covered all over with the bones of multitudes of people who had been destroyed by listening to the music of those dangerous women. Now, Ulysses did not want to be destroyed himself, or have his men destroyed, in this way. So, before they came in sight of the island, he told the men about the danger they had to pass through, and what he was going to do in order to avoid it. Then he got some bees-wax, and softened it in the sun. With this he filled up the ears of all his men, so that they could not hear the song of the Sirens. Then he told them to bind him fast to the mast with chains, and not to undo the chains till they got out of sight of the island again, however much he might want them to do it. When the ears of the men were stopped up, and Ulysses was chained to the mast, they came in sight of the island, and sailed by it. The women came down to the rocks and began to sing and play. They expected to see the vessel come straight to shore, as others had done. But, instead of this, it kept directly on its way. The sailors could not hear a single note of the music. Ulysses heard it, and wanted very much to stop and go ashore. He motioned to the men to come and unfasten him. But, instead of this, as he had told them before to do, they only came and made the chains tighter about him. And so they sailed past that dangerous island without receiving any injury. The story says that when the Sirens found that Ulysses was going by without stopping, they sang all the very sweetest songs they knew, and finding it all had no effect, they were so vexed that they took to fretting till they died.

Of course this story is not true. It is what we call a fable. But it teaches us a great lesson. It shows us that Ulysses had this precious jewel that we are speaking about, and how safe it kept him from those temptations for the ear. It shows that we must stop our ears against anything we know to be dangerous and wrong, if we want to be safe.

I knew of a young man who was a carpenter. This is a true story. He was an excellent workman, and could get the highest wages. But he became intemperate. His wages were spent for drink, while his family was left to suffer.

One day something led him to think seriously on the folly of the kind of life he was living. He resolved to change it. He went to see his minister and talk with him about it. In his minister's study he signed a pledge never to drink any more liquor. How glad his wife and children were, and what a happy home they had! Things went on in this way for about six months. One evening, when he was going home from work, he met some of his old companions. They persuaded him to go with them and take just one glass of liquor. He thought one glass would not hurt him. He went. When he had taken one, he had to take more. He took to drinking worse than ever; and, a few days after, he went home drunk, fell down the stairs, broke his neck, and died a drunkard!

Temptations for the ear are the second kind of temptations from which this precious Bible jewel of true honesty will save us.

The third kind of temptations from which this jewel will save us, are temptations for the tongue.

Oh, how much sin people commit by means of the tongue! If we could keep from saying what is wrong, how nicely we should get along! Well, if we carry this Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, about us all the time, it will keep us safe from these temptations.

A young man, we may call him honest Frank, who loved the truth, and carried the topaz of true honesty about him, was a clerk in the office of a rich merchant in New York. One day this merchant received from a customer in another city, an order for a large and valuable lot of goods. The next day another letter came from the same customer, recalling that order, and saying they need not send those goods. The merchant handed the note to Frank with a pleasant smile, saying,-

"Frank, I want you to answer this note. Please say that the goods were shipped before the letter recalling the order was received."

Frank looked into his employer's face, with a sad but firm glance, and said, -

"I'm very sorry, sir, but I can't do it"

"Can't do it! And pray why not?" asked the merchant, angrily.

"Because, sir, the goods are in the yard now, and it would be telling a lie."

"I hope you may always be so particular," said the merchant, as he turned on his heel and went away. Honest Frank did a bold, but a right, thing when he took that stand. And what do you think was the result? Did he lose his place? Not at all. The merchant was too wise to turn away a clerk who was so honest that he would not write a lying letter. He knew how valuable such a young man was, and so, instead of turning him off, he made him his confidential clerk.

And so Frank found that this Bible jewel was not only a safe, but a profitable thing to have about him.

"How is it that I don't seem to hear you speak bad words, like the rest of us?" said an old sailor, one day, to a boy on board a man-of-war.

"Oh, 'cause I don't forget my Captain's orders," answered the boy.

"Captain's orders!" said the sailor. "Why, I didn't know he'd given you any."

"Yes, but He has though, and I keep 'em safe here," laying his hand on his breast. "Here's one of 'em," said Jack, speaking slowly and distinctly, -

" ' I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

"Them's from the good old log-book, I see," said the sailor. "Very good, shipmate. Keep on that track, and it'll bring you safe into the harbour."

That young sailor had this Bible jewel, and it was keeping him safe from temptations of the tongue.

The fourth and last kind of temptations we are to speak of, from which this jewel keeps us, are temptations for the hand.

I mean by this, the temptation to take or to keep what does not belong to us. If we keep this jewel about us, - that is, if we remember God's presence, and try honestly to please Him, - it will save us from ever taking or keeping what does not belong to us.

Let me tell you a story to show how this jewel saved a boy from taking what was not his.

A little boy, whose name was Jem, was employed by a gentleman to weed some beds in his garden. There was a cherry-tree in the garden full of nice ripe fruit. He was told not to take any of the cherries. He worked away diligently till it got towards noon, and the sun became hot, and he began to feel both hungry and thirsty. Then he looked towards the cherry-tree. How ripe and juicy the rich, red fruit seemed! He thought how nice it would taste! He looked round. There was no one to see him. Something seemed to whisper, "Just one handful won't be missed." He went towards the tree, but felt very much afraid. If the wind rustled the leaves, he would stop and tremble, and look round, as if some one was coming after him. Still he went on, and reached up his hand to take hold of one of the branches. Just then, a little bird up in the tree began to chirp. It sounded to him like, "Jem, Jem." He thought the bird was calling to him. His hand fell down. He walked quietly away from the tree. He remembered the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal." Then he went into a corner behind some bushes. He kneeled down, and asked God to forgive him for thinking, for a moment, of stealing; and prayed for strength to resist temptation. Then he went back to his work and felt happy.

Presently, he heard the little bird up the tree chirping again. "Oh, yes," said he; "you may call 'Jem, Jem,' as much as you like; I'm not afraid of you now."

This little boy had the Bible jewel we are speaking of. He almost lost it when he took hold of the tree. But God kept him from losing it, and it saved him from taking what did not belong to him. It was a safeguard to him from the temptation for the hand.

Let me give you one more story to show how this jewel saved a boy from keeping what was not his, just as it kept little Jem from taking what did not belong to him.

Mrs. Morton was a widow woman who had an only son, named Abel, about seventeen years old. They lived in a small hut, in the outskirts of the village, and were very poor. Abel had never learned a trade, but he was an honest, industrious boy. He loved his mother very much, and was always ready to work for her when he could get any work to do. One winter his mother had been very sick, and, as he had been obliged to stay at home and nurse her, he had not been able to work much, and they were very much in want of clothing, and food, and fuel, and everything. One afternoon, Abel went into the village to see if he could get some work, and earn a little money. He went from one house to another all through the village, but could get nothing to do.

Hungry and sorrowful, faint and sick at heart, he turned his steps towards home. He walked slowly on, and was just turning into the lane that led towards his mother's cottage, when his foot struck against something in the road. He stooped to pick it up, and found it was a small silk purse. It was quite heavy. He shook it, and the clear jingle that it made told him it was filled, not with copper, but with silver.

The poor fellow did not stop to open it, for night was coming on, and he knew his mother would be anxious about him. As soon as he entered the cottage, he drew the purse from his pocket, and threw it on the table near his mother.

"What is that?" she asked, as she heard the rattle of the money.

"A purse, mother. I found it on the road, just at the corner of our lane."

A candle was lighted. The purse was emptied. It was found to contain sixteen silver half-crowns.

"Two pounds," said Abel, "I wonder if we can find who lost them?"

"Is there not some name on the purse?" asked Mrs. Morton.

Abel looked on the inside of the clasp, which was lined with red morocco, and there he saw the name of "John Thompson."

Mr. Thompson was one of the richest men in that neighbourhood. He owned a large farm; kept a great number of cows, and supplied the village and neighbourhood with milk and vegetables.

"Ah! how easily Mr. Thompson could spare this!" said Abel. "It would not be any loss to him, and we need it so much!"

"That is true," said his mother; "it would not be any loss to him; but it would be a great loss to us if we should keep it."

"How so, mother?"

"Why, don't you see, we should lose our honesty and honour. That is worse than losing money. The next time you meet Mr. Thompson you would be afraid to look him in the face. There would be a blot upon your character, and a thorn in your pillow at night that would disturb your rest. Surely you would not be willing to keep it, Abel?"

"No, mother; I would not keep it for anything."

Bright and early the next morning, Abel hastened over to Mr. Thompson's house, and gave him the purse.

He seemed pleased to receive it. He asked Abel if he could write and cipher; and, finding he could do both very well, he told him he wanted an honest lad who could write and keep accounts, to go to market, and sell things for him.

"I have thought of employing you for some time, Abel, but I wanted first to be sure if you were honest. I took this way of finding it out. I put the purse in the road, on purpose, when you were coming home last night. I stood behind the bushes, and saw you pick it up. I tried two other young men in the same way, but they both kept the money, so I could not trust them; but I'm sure I can trust you. And now I will give you constant employment, and good wages."

Abel burst into tears. He could not speak. He only pressed Mr. Thompson's hand. Then he flew home to tell his mother the good news. And when he got through, he said, -

"O mother! only to think if I had kept the money!"

Surely he found it true that "honesty is the best policy."

Abel had this precious Bible jewel, - the topaz of true honesty, - and it saved him from temptation for the hand, - from keeping what did not belong to him.

Now, we have spoken of how many different kinds of temptations from which this jewel will save us? Four. What are the first? Temptations for the eye. What are the second? Temptations for the ear. What are the third? Temptations for the tongue. And what are the fourth? Temptations for the hand.

If you want to keep this jewel about you all the time, so as to be kept from temptation, there is one text you must always remember. It is this, "Thou God seest me!"

Oh, pray God to write that text on your memory. Then you will always have this Bible jewel – the topaz of true honesty – about you. And when you are tempted to do anything wrong, you will say with Joseph, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"

Chapter 11

"An Agate." - Exodus xxviii. 19.

This is a precious stone, more common than most of those we have spoken of. It is not of any one particular colour. Like the coat that old Jacob gave to his favourite son Joseph, it is of many colours. It seems to have been made by putting together one layer after another of substances of different colours. White and yellow and brown, and red, and black, and green, may be found in it, not all mingling together, as they do in the opal, but in different lines, or layers, or rings. Sometimes these different colours are seen in a sort of wavy lines, that look like ribbons. Sometimes they are in zigzag lines, like the walls of a fortification. And sometimes they are in circles, looking just as if different coloured rings had been dropped in when the substance of which the agates are made was in a melted state. And on this account it often happens that when an agate is cut and polished, you may see in it a strange sort of resemblance to some particular object or form. There is one of these in the British Museum, which has in it a likeness of Chaucer, one of the first and most famous of English poets. There is one in the church of St. Mark's, at Venice, representing the head of a king, with a crown on it.

In a work on precious stones, there is a description given of an agate, on which may be seen the figure of a bishop, with a mitre on his head, in the middle of a complete circle. If you hold the stone in your hand, and turn it round a little, another figure appears; and if you turn it a little more, you may see the figure of a man and woman.

We sometimes hear about people finding "sermons in stones;" and we know that this may be done, for here we have been, for two winters, finding children's "sermons" in the precious "stones" mentioned in the Bible. And, from what has just been said about the agate, we see that it is possible to find pictures in stones, as well as sermons.

The agate was one of the jewels in the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest. It was the middle one in the third row, the eighth jewel out of the twelve in the breastplate.

In olden times people used to think that this jewel had the power of securing success. It was supposed that if persons only had an agate with them they would be sure to get the victory over their enemies. The agate was considered as the conqueror's jewel. And now what is the Bible jewel that will always give us the victory, - that will make us more than conquerors through Him that hath loved us"? It is the grace of God. This is the Bible jewel that we may compare to the agate. And there are two things over which this jewel, the grace of God, will make us conquerors, if we have it in our hearts. Each of these things begins with the letter S.

The first thing over which this Bible jewel, the grace of God, will make us conquerors, is sin.

The Bible tells us that we are born in sin. Our hearts are full of sin. Unless we get this sin driven out, and overcome, we never can be happy, either in this world or in the world to come. We read a great deal in the Bible about the wrestling, and struggling, and fighting, that Christians have to do. And the thing that they have to fight against, all the time, is sin. When two people are fighting, it generally happens that they keep on at it till either one or the other of them gets the victory. And so it is in the great battle we have to fight with sin. Either we must conquer it, or it must conquer us. But we never can conquer sin ourselves. And there is nothing that will give us the victory over it but the grace of God. This is the real agate, the Bible jewel, that will give us the victory.

Let met tell you about a young man, whose name was Harold Thompson. He went from his home in the country to enter into business in the Metropolis. He was soon tempted to commit sin; but he had this Bible jewel with him, and you will see how it made him conqueror.

"Harold, what are you going to do with yourself tomorrow?" said one of his companions to him, as he was brushing his shoes, one Saturday evening.

Harold had been admitted only a few days before, as a clerk in a large warehouse; and the older clerks looked upon him as "very green," as they called it. Looking from his shining boot, he said, very modestly,-

"I shall go to church, Frank."

The young man burst out into a laugh, and said,-

"Well, I declare, you are green. Why, none of our fellows think of going to church. We are going down the river in a splendid steamer. You had better go with us. It won't cost much."

"It will cost more than I can afford to spend," said Harold, brushing away pretty smartly at his boot.

"You are on the poor list, then?" asked another of the clerks, in a sneering tone.

"Out of cash, eh?"

"I'm not rich, certainly," said Harold, quietly. "Still, I have a few pounds of my own; and expect to have a monthly allowance from home till I begin to receive wages."

"You are stingy, then," said Clement.

"Not exactly," replied Harold.

"But you said you could not afford to go with us, tomorrow," said Frank, "when the trip need not cost you more than a five-shilling piece, dinner and all."

"It was not the cost in money, that I meant to say I could not afford," replied Harold.

"What did you mean, then? It would not cost you anything else," said Frank.

"Yes, it would," said Harold, very seriously; "it would cost me a guilty conscience."

Frank looked surprised at this bold speech; but Clement laughed, and said in a sneering way, "Take care, Frank; you've caught a saint."

"No, I don't profess to be a saint." said Harold; :"but I believe it wrong to break the Sabbath, and I won't do it."

"But, Harold," said Frank, pleadingly, " it cannot be very wrong to take a trip on the water on Sunday, after being shut up in a warehouse all the week. Come, go with us to-morrow, just for once."

"No, not for once," said Harold. "My father has often told me that sin is like the camel, which asked the cobbler to let him put his nose into his stall. The cobbler gave him leave; and then the camel, after putting in his nose, pushed in his head, and then his foot, and finally walked in and turned the cobbler out. I mean, if I can, to keep out the camel's nose. I won't begin to do wrong."

"Well, you are a saint, and no mistake," said Clement. "I guess you won't do for our set."

"I suppose not," said Harold, quietly, as the others left the room.

That young man had this Bible jewel, - the true agate, - the grace of God, - and it made him conqueror over sin. It was a great victory he gained on that Saturday evening.

Now, I want to tell you about a little boy who had this jewel, and to show you what a glorious victory over sin he gained by it.

This little fellow's name was Gaspar Morgan. He lived in Boston, and was very poor. One bitter cold day in winter he was going along the street, ragged and hungry. Presently he came up to a baker's shop, and stood awhile to look in. His little cold nose was flattened against the great window-pane; his blue fingers were thrust into his empty pockets; and his bare toes were out upon the frosty pavement, as he stretched up and looked longingly on the many good things that were there. Inside the shop he saw John, the baker's boy, dealing out hot loaves, and nice, fresh-looking cakes, to a crowd of customers.

"Oh, what nice cakes!" cried Gaspar, in his delight, forgetting himself, and speaking out aloud. "Wouldn't I like to be a baker's boy! And he jumped half his height up into the air, in the joy which the very thought gave him. Then he put his face to the window again. He was so busy talking to himself that he did not see a little old man, almost hidden in a great fur overcoat, who was standing by, and seemed to be very much amused in watching him, and hearing what he said.

Presently Gaspar saw a servant in the shop loading a basket. "Oh, dear," he sighed, "would it not be nice to carry that basket home to mother and little Sue? How mother would cry, and how Sue would enjoy having plenty!" And Gaspar took his nose from the window, to watch the servant as he came down the steps with the basket. But just then a large man, with a basket on his arm, was hurrying up the steps, and, running against the servant, upset his basket, and spilled all its contents on the ground. This made him very angry, and, hastily gathering up the scattered pieces, he rushed back into the shop to give the man a scolding for his awkwardness.

Gaspar stood looking on while this took place, and as soon as the door was closed he saw something white on the pavement. He sprung to it, and picked it up with a cry of joy. "Won't mother and Sue have a feast!" he said, and the little fellow danced for joy.

But, all at once, his countenance fell, and he looked carefully around. He had been well taught by his pious mother. She had often told him that it would be better to starve than to take what is not our own. Gaspar remembered those words now. There was a great conflict going on in his heart. But he had this conqueror's jewel within him, and it gave him the victory over sin. He choked down all the feeling that made him want to keep the loaf. With a determined look on his face, he went bravely into the baker's shop. There was the servant still scolding away at the big man who had upset his basket.

"Here, mister," said Gaspar, pulling the servant by the sleeve, "here's the loaf of bread you dropped."

The man was so full of anger that he hardly knew what he was about.

"My bread, you young rascal!" cried he; "and how much have you stolen besides?"

"Are you not ashamed to speak to the boy in that way?" said a gentleman standing by.

"That's all the thanks I get for being honest," said Gaspar to himself, as he walked sorrowfully along towards home. But, before he had gone very far, he heard a quick step behind him, and a hand was laid gently on his shoulder. Turning round, he saw an old gentleman, in a fur coat.

"Well, my little man," said he, "why did you not carry home the bread to mother and little Sue?"

Gaspar turned red, and looked confused, and the merry old man burst into a fit of laughter.

"Ho, ho!" said he, "you did not know that somebody was looking at you all the time. Give me your hand, my boy. I saw it all, and it is well for you that you did not yield to the temptation. I would have caught you quickly if you had, and sent you to prison."

"I hope I shall never do so again," said Gaspar, trembling to think of the danger he had just escaped.

"I'll trust you for that," said he. "Now take me to your home, and I'll help you."

Gaspar told his new friend his sad story, - how his father had died, and left his mother to take care of the children; how she grew sick, and little Susie cried for bread, and there was none to give her.

Mr. Green went to see his mother. He became a warm friend of the family. He gave them all they needed for their comfort. He hired new lodgings for them, and little Susie, a pretty, black-eyed girl, soon grew plump and rosy. He got Gaspar a good situation in a store, and there, by his honesty, and strict attention to business, he rose and prospered, till he is now a well-known, successful merchant in Boston.

Thus we see how this Bible jewel, the grace of God, made Gaspar Morgan, and Harold, the clerk, conquerors over sin. This is the first S. Now for the next.

The second thing over which this jewel will make us conquerors, is Satan. This is the next S.

Satan is the great tempter. The Bible tells us that he "goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" or destroy. The only way in which Satan can destroy us, or do us any harm, is by tempting us to sin. And he cannot hurt us, even in this way, unless we yield to the temptation. If we only have this Bible jewel, the grace of God, with us, it will make us conquerors over Satan. And then, although he is so powerful, and so wicked, and although he tries so hard to injure us and keep us from getting to heaven, he will not be able to do us any harm. The Bible says to us, - "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." This precious agate, the grace of God, is what we need to help us in resisting Satan.

But perhaps some of you are ready to ask, How can we tell when he comes to us, and in what way are we to resist him? These are very important questions. I will try to show you how you are to do this.

Satan never comes to us so that we can see him, as one soldier stands before another when they are going to fight together. Satan is a spirit, a fallen angel; and we cannot see angels or spirits. The way in which he tempts us is by putting bad thoughts into our minds. He stirs up in our hearts the desire to do, or to get something that is wrong. If we give way to that thought or desire, and try to do, or to get the wrong thing, then we give way to Satan. He gets the victory over us. He does us great harm, and, if we go on giving way to him in this manner, he will destroy our souls for ever. Whenever, then, you have a bad thought come into your mind, - whenever bad feelings or desires are in your hearts, - you may be sure that Satan is busy with you. Those bad thoughts, bad feelings, bad desires are his work. You are resisting Satan when you strive to drive away those bad thoughts, and not to yield to those bad feelings, or desires.

Let me show the way in which this work of resisting Satan is to be done.

The Rev. Dr. B-- was a good minister of the gospel, in Scotland. One cold day in winter, he had a pile of wood sawed, and split, in his wood-shed. Late that night, as he was sitting in his study, he thought he heard a rattling sound near the wood, in that pile. He went softly to the window, and, peeping through the curtains, he saw a woman filling her apron with the wood, which she carried hastily away. He sat down again, and went on with his study. Very soon he heard the same noise. He looked again, and there was the same woman filling her apron again, as full as it would hold. He sighed, as he went back to his study, thinking to himself, "Well, I suppose it is some poor creature whose fire has gone out, and whose children are perhaps crying on account of the cold. But I wish she had come and asked for the wood, instead of yielding to the temptation of Satan by stealing it."

Still he felt more of pity than of anger towards the poor woman.

He had not been studying long before he was startled by a heavy crash of falling wood. He hastened to the window, and there he saw the same poor woman. She had brought back one of the loads of wood she had taken away, and had thrown it down on the pile where it belonged. He now felt more pity for the woman than ever, and a greater interest in her. He thought what a conflict must have been going on in that woman's mind, and he was glad to see that it was likely to end in the right way. He waited a while at the window, to see if she would come back again, or whether she was going to divide the matter with Satan, and made it a sort of drawn battle, in which neither side would be wholly beaten, and neither get a decided victory. But very soon, back she came again, with the other load of wood. She threw it down on the pile. Then she shook her apron vigorously, as much as to say, "There, go. Anything stolen brings a curse, I know; and I don't want even the dust of that curse to cling to me."

Then the doctor slipped quietly downstairs, and followed the poor woman, at a distance, that he might know where she went, and who she was. He watched her till he saw the cottage she went into. Then he knew all about her. It was Mrs. W---, who belonged to his church. She was a poor widow, a good woman, but struggling in great poverty to bring up a large family of children. And he was delighted to think that, though at first Satan had got the advantage over her, yet she had rallied so nobly to the fight, and had driven him clear off the field. She had gained a splendid victory over him.

The first thing after breakfast, the next morning, the doctor went to Mr. C--, who kept a wood-yard, and ordered him to send a load of his best wood, sawed and split, to Mrs. W--; but not, on any account, to let her know where it came from. Of course the doctor said not a word about what had taken place the night before. Mr C-- promised to keep the secret about the load of wood. But Mr C--'s carter happened to be within hearing when this conversation took place. He had not promised to keep the secret, and did not feel bound to do so. He took the load of wood to Mrs. W--'s cottage, and threw it down before her door. He told her it was all paid for by a friend. She wanted to know who had sent it. The carter told her that Mr. C--, his employer, had directed him to say that he had strict orders not to tell where it came from. But when he found how anxious she was to know who sent the wood, he said to her,-

"I'll tell you about it, Mrs. W--. You see, I happened to be near the office this morning, when the order was left for this wood, and I heard all that was said about it; but, as I didn't promise not to tell, I feel at liberty to do so. It was Dr. B--, the minister, who sent the wood."

Poor Mrs. W--! how sorry she felt when she heard this! She was sure that her minister had seen her stealing his wood the night before. She resolved to go and see him, to confess the wrong she had done, and ask his forgiveness, as well as to thank him for his great kindness in sending her the wood. She went at once. She expressed her gratitude for his kind present. With many tears she told him how Satan had taken advantage of her poverty and want to tempt her to take the wood; and how at first she had yielded to the temptation, and had broken the eighth commandment.

"But," she added, "though my house was dark and cold, and my heart was full of sorrow at the sight of my poor shivering little ones, I could not keep the wood, when I had taken it. My conscience would not let me. O sir! will you forgive me?"

The Doctor could not keep the tears back from his own eyes, as he pressed her hand, and said,-

"Pray don't say any more about it, my good friend. I saw you struggling with Satan last night, and you beat him in two fair stand-up fights. May God bless you, and give you the victory in every temptation!"

That woman had this Bible jewel. She almost lost it once; but she recovered her hold upon it, and it made her a conqueror over Satan.

Now I want to tell you about a little girl who fought with Satan, and got the victory over him, by the help of this same Bible jewel.

The little girl's name was Amy. She lived out at service. Her mother was dead; her father was poor, and put her to live in a good Christian family, where she had a very comfortable home.

Amy was a good, industrious girl. She learned to knit; she cleaned the knives, and went on errands, and made herself generally useful. She tried to be faithful, because she really wanted to please her Saviour. She knew that though the lady she lived with did not always see her, yet God did. Her mother had gone to heaven to be with Jesus, and sometimes she used to think that if she tried to be a good girl, perhaps Jesus would tell her mother, and that would be very pleasant to her.

One day Amy let a cup fall out of her hands, and broke it. It belonged to the best set of China that the lady had. Amy felt very sorry, and was greatly frightened. She was not a careless girl. She tried to be careful in attending to all her duties. But accidents will sometimes happen even to the most careful, and it really was not her fault that the cup was broken. She picked up the pieces, and ran out of doors with them. Then she began to cry, "Oh, dear, dear, what shall I do!" There was but one right thing for her to do; that was to go and tell the mistress of the house what had happened. But she was afraid of displeasing her mistress, and of being scolded or punished. It was wrong for her to give way to this feeling. For though we ought to be afraid of displeasing our earthly friends, we ought to be much more afraid of displeasing God, our best, our heavenly Friend.

Amy could not make up her mind to go and tell what she had done. But there were the pieces of the broken teacup staring her in the face. "What shall I do!" she said again to herself. Then it seemed as if some one whispered in her ear. "Dig a hole in the ground, and bury up the pieces, and no one will know anything about it."

Who was that whispering this in Amy's ear? It was Satan. Yes, Amy had to fight a battle with Satan, now; and either she must conquer him, or he would conquer her. Let us watch this fight, and see how it ended, for we all have just the same sort of battles to fight, with just the same enemy.

I suppose Amy did not think that it was Satan who was telling her to do this, or else I do not think she would have done it. But she listened to that whisper. She dug a hole, and put the broken teacup in it, and covered it up. I suppose this pleased Satan very much. He seemed to be having the battle all his own way.

But how did Amy feel? Why, very uncomfortable.

She went to bed; but she could not keep from crying. She put her head under the sheet, and cried herself to sleep.

When she woke the next morning, the very first thing she thought of was that broken cup, and those pieces hid in the hole, and then she thought of God. He had seen her dig that hole, and put the pieces in it. He knew that she was trying to deceive her mistress. This would grieve Him. He could not look on her with pleasure while she was trying to deceive. This made her feel worse than before. She said to herself,-

"I cannot bear this. I'd rather be punished than be a deceiver. I'd rather be punished than do what I know displeases my heavenly Father. I'll go and tell my mistress all about it, this very minute."

Then she slipped on her dress, and ran downstairs very quickly. She seemed to be afraid that Satan might come and tempt her again, and she would not give him a chance. She went into the yard and dug up the pieces of the broken teacup; then she went into the chamber of her mistress, and told her all that had happened, finishing by saying,-

"And so I had a great deal rather tell you all, even though I get punished, than to keep hiding the pieces, and not tell."

"I am very sorry that the cup is broken," said the good lady, "but I am very, very thankful that you came of yourself and told me. You must fear God above everybody, Amy, and fear Him all the time, and then Satan will never get the victory over you."

Amy had this Bible jewel, and it was this – the grace of God – which helped her when she woke up in the morning, to go and tell the whole truth. And it was in this way that she conquered Satan, and gained a glorious victory over him.

It is often the case, when there is a war going on, that some people are not obliged to take either one side or the other. This is called being a neutral. But, in this war with sin and Satan, we are obliged to take part on one side or the other. There are no neutrals here. Jesus said, "He that is not with me is against me." You must either fight with Jesus against Satan, or with Satan against Jesus. But do any of you want to be on Satan's side in this warfare? No. You want to be on the right side, the safe side, the side that is sure to win. Then ask Jesus to give you this Bible jewel, - the true agate, - the grace of God. This will help you to get the victory over sin, and over Satan, and make you at last "more than conquerors" over all the enemies of your soul. You will enter heaven, saying, "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

Last edited on: Sunday October 28, 2001     E-mail us at: mail@ksb.org.za          Return to KSB Home page