hould have been a stone; it will wash out and leave a hole.

Now remember that our great architect, Jesus Christ, is the man with
the plumbline, and He will go over all our work and try how it is done,
and whether it is upright and likely to stand.

II. S. Paul gives another help to us to understand the parable of the
wall. He says that we are building the wall of our salvation on the
cornerstone of Christ, and he goes on to say, "Now if any man build
upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
stubble: every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall
try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which
he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward."

S. Paul, you see, says that the wall will be proved with fire, that is,
that God will try all men's work and see of what sort it is--good,
moderate, or worthless. The worthless will disappear in the judgment,
the moderate will be seen in its faulty condition, but the good will
last for ever.

CONCLUSION.--Try, then, to look upon your life as a time of building up
the work of your salvation, and at every day as contributing something
towards it. Ask yourself each day, What have I done to-day towards
this work set me? And if I have done anything towards it, how has it
been done? Moreover, try to do all things well, to be zealous and
thorough in every thing you undertake.

Also, offer all you do to God, and ask Him to prove it, and to cut off
from it all that is faulty, and to enable you to do better in time to
come.

When Nehemiah had rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, and restored much that
was cast down, and put right many abuses, he prayed, "Remember me, O my
God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done."
Let this also be your prayer, that He may look on all you do for Him
and bless it, and remember it for good, in the day when He tries every
man's work of what sort it is.

L.

_ZEAL._

13th Sunday after Trinity.

S. Luke x., 23.

"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven, said our Lord, is like unto a
treasure hid in a field. One day a man is turning over the stones
which lie in a heap in a corner of the field, and he finds under them
an iron chest, and this chest he believes to be full of gold. Then he
carefully covers it up again with stones and earth, and goe