loo, though they may not recall one stone upon their sepulchres.

My brothers, when we die no one will raise a grand memorial over us;
they will not carve our story upon marble tombs. And yet, I tell you,
we shall have our monument, we have it now, and we are building it
ourselves each day we live.

Yes, our life and our works are our monument, and it lasts for
eternity. The good life stands like a fair carved memorial of white
marble. The evil life stands too, like Lot's wife turned to a pillar
of salt, a monument of sin and disobedience.

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness."

And this is specially true of the beauty of holiness. The palace of
Caesar, the ivory house of Ahab, the gorgeous home of Pilate, have
perished, but the loving tenderness of Ruth, the sweet ministry of
Mary, and the holy affection of S. John, stand as monuments before God
which shall never perish or decay. Never mind, my brothers, what sort
of tomb they give us, never mind what epitaph they write upon it,
_they_ cannot know the truth. But let us try so to live near to Christ
that our life may be a monument of His love and pardoning grace, and of
our poor endeavour to do right. If we want to make our life a _good_
monument, we must ask God to help us in raising it. "Unless the Lord
build the house their labour is but lost that build it." Each one of
us needs the prayer of S. Peter in my text, "The God of all grace make
you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Yes, we must be
_stablished_ and _settled_, that is, we must have a good foundation to
build on. We must raise our monument on the foundation of a firm,
trusting, humble faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. On that basis we must
strive each day to build the _life of duty_, by just doing what God
puts before us with all our might. It matters not what our rank in
life may be, whether we are princes or farm labourers, merchants or
petty traders, artizans or cabinet ministers, officers in high command,
or soldiers of the rank and file, one thing has to be done by all--_our
duty_, in that state of life where God has placed us. Every piece of
earnest work well done adds a something to our monument. No matter
whether it be the building of a cathedral or a log hut, whether it be
the making of a poem, or the making of a pair of boots, work well done
leaves its mark, and builds our monument.

My brothers, we m