16. And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? I came again when years were gone, "Who fain would follow Jesus, In arms of blessing up, Hold sweet compassion up." A.D. 30. LAST THREE JESUS' PICTURE.-16-22. The Rich Young Ruler, Hoffmann and Bida. 16. THAT I MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.-Goethe's dying cry was, "More light." The cry of the soul is "More life." "Whatever crazy sorrow saith, No life that breathes with human breath -Tennyson. INSCRIPTIONS ON THE MILAN CATHEDRAL.-"Over the triple door-ways of the Cathedral of Milan there are three inscriptions spanning the splendid arches. Over one is carved a beautiful wreath of roses and underneath is the legend, All that which pleases is but for a moment.' Over the other is sculptured a cross, and there are the words, All that which troubles us is but for a moment.' But underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is the inscription, That only is important which is eternal. If we realize the latter, we will not live for the passing pageants of the hour." -Christian Age. 17. And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19. Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20. The young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21. Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 17. Keep the CommandmenTS.—We cannot push a railroad train by our hands, try we never so hard; but we can let on the steam, and thus move it. We cannot make ourselves good by trying to keep the commandments, but we can go to Jesus, who will give us a new heart, a new life, that will lead us to holiness. THE SCHOOLMASTER'S DREAM.--I once read of a schoolmaster who, having helped many persons, trusted for salvation to his good works. One night he dreamed that he was climbing up to heaven on a shining ladder, like Jacob's at Bethel. He mounted far up toward the sky, when he came to a place where the rounds were gone. Above him rose the ladder to heaven, but he could go no farther. He saw in this latter his own good works, but saw that there were great deficiencies in them,-sins of omission which he could not span. There was no hope of heaven in this way. 22. HE WENT AWAY SORROWFUL; FOR HE HAD GREAT POSSES SIONS. "A finger's breadth at hand may mar A world of light in heaven afar; REFERENCE. See on xxvi. 48, Retsch's illustrations of Goethe's "Faust." AN EPITAPH.-"In one of England's great cathedrals rests one whose gravestone, according to his own direction, bears but the single word, Miserrimus, 'most miserable.' He was a man of wealth and position, or his sepulchre could not have been there." "A spiritual giant buried under a mountain of gold." "This world's wealth that men so much desire But profit much our bodies well to warm : A.D. 30. LAST THREE JESUS' RULER. Seeking satisfaction in this world is like trying to quench the thirst by drinking the salt waters of the sea. The more we drink, the thirstier we are. The love of money is the root of all evil. I heard Henry Ward Beecher once say that the love of MONEY was all right, but the LOVE of money was all wrong. "I cannot call riches better than the baggage of virtue; the Roman word is better, impedimenta; for as the baggage is to an army so is riches to virtue-it cannot be spared nor left behind, but it hindereth the march; yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or disturbeth the victory."-Lord Bacon (Essays). ROWING WHILE Tied to the WHARF.-Dr. William M. Taylor tells a story of some sailors who went ashore on a spree, and returning to their vessel late in the evening, got into their boat, and began to row toward the ship. They rowed all night, but could not reach their destination. When daylight came, they found that they had not unfastened their boat, but were tied to the wharf. So men, cling to some sin, some property, or hope they are unwilling to give up. COMING EMPTY INTO PORT.—“ A ship lately came into port which had long been out upon the sea. The coal gave out; then everything in turn that would burn-cargo, stores, spars, furniture-had to be burned to bring the vessel to the harbor. She anchored at last, with nothing left worth anchoring. So many rich men come into the port of old age, having burned up everything of manhood, character, and hope,-rich in the world's eyes, mayhap, but wretched wrecks in God's/sight."-Sunday-School Times. REFERENCE. See xvi. 26, a story of Russian diamond mines. 23. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. " LIBRARY.-A most effective illustration is found in the tract, 'Captain Bull's Experience"; Bertram's Homiletic Cyclopedia, "The Devil's Bait," and "The Fly in the Honey." LIBRARY.-The difference between riches of a community and of an individual is admirably stated in Whately's "Annotations," 370-374. "The declaimers against the incompatibility of wealth and virtue resemble the Harpies of Virgil, seeking to excite disgust at the banquet of which they are themselves eager to partake." -Whately. 23. A RICH MAN SHALL HARDLY ENTER, etc. LIBRARY.-Tennyson's "Vision of Sin," dealing with the baser and more sensuous forms. "I had a vision when the night was late; A youth came riding towards a palace gate, He rode a horse with wings that would have flown, "In the symbolism of those last two lines we may trace something like a reminiscence, though not a direct reproduction, of the marvelous mythos of the Phædrus of Plato (pp. 246, 254). The horse with wings that 'would have flown' is the nature of man with its capacities and aspirations. The 'heavy rider' is the sensuous will that represses the aspirations and yields easily to temptation. "The Palace of Art presents the analysis of a far nobler experiment in life, answering to that of Kohéleth (Ecclesiastes) when he sought to 'guide his heart with wisdom' and surrounded himself with the peculiar treasure of kings.' 24. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26. But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. "I built my soul a lordly pleasure-house I said, O Soul, make merry and carouse, A.D. 30. LAST THREE JESUS' OF GOD. -Cambridge Bible on Ecclesiastes. SOLOMON'S EXPERIMENT.—“I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: "I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: "I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: "I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me : "I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. "So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me." He possessed "The wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand But he found only "vanity and vexation of spirit." Here was no door to the kingdon of heaven. 26. WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.-At the laying of the foundation-stone of Bunker Hill Monument, in 1843, the crowd was |