at through the grace of God my soul has been in peace, though
day after day we have had to wait for our daily provisions upon the
Lord; yea, though even from meal to meal we have been required to do
this.

GIVING.

ASKING GIFTS, ETC.

It is not enough to obtain means for the work of God, but that these
means should be obtained in God's way. To ask unbelievers for means is
_not_ God's way; to _press_ even believers to give, is _not_ God's way;
but the _duty_ and the _privilege_ of being allowed to contribute to the
work of God should be pointed out, and this should be followed up with
earnest prayer, believing prayer, and will result in the desired end.

CLAIMS OF GOD.

It is true, the Gospel demands our _All;_ but I fear that, in the
general claim on _All,_ we have shortened the claim on _everything._ We
are not under law. True; but that is not to make our obedience less
complete, or our giving less bountiful: rather, is it not, that after
all claims of law are settled, the new nature finds its joy in doing
more than the law requires? Let us abound in the work of the Lord more
and more.

GIVING IN ADVERSITY.

At the end of the last century a very godly and liberal merchant in
London was one day called on by a gentleman, to ask him for some money
for a charitable object. The gentleman expected very little, having just
heard that the merchant had sustained heavy loss from the wreck of some
of his ships. Contrary, however, to expectation, he received about ten
times as much as he had expected for his object. He was unable to
refrain from expressing his surprise to the merchant, told him what he
had heard, how he feared he should scarcely have received anything, and
asked whether after all there was not a mistake about the shipwreck of
the vessels. The merchant replied, It is quite true, I have sustained
heavy loss, by these vessels being wrecked, but that is the very reason,
why I give you so much; for I must make better use than ever of my
stewardship, lest it should be entirely taken from me.

How have we to act if prosperity in our business, our trade, our
profession, etc., should suddenly cease, notwithstanding our having
given a considerable proportion of our means for the Lord's work? My
reply is this: "In the day of adversity _consider."_ It is the will of
God that we should ponder our ways; that we should see whether there is
any particular reason, why God has allowed this to befall us. In doing
so, we m