in the workhouse hospital. He was in great pain. Both feet were mortifying, and the smell from his wounds was almost unbearable. He could not move hand or foot, but he could speak. As I looked at the poor fellow I thought he could not be worse off-poor, old, full of pain, and friendless. I talked with the old man, and soon found he was dying, and that what I had to say I must say very quickly. He told me he had been one of the Lord's people for more than thirty years. All his family had died before him, and now he was longing to join them in heaven. I put this question to him, "Does that God you served in health forsake you in sickness?" A tear ran down his cheek as he said, "No; He is more precious to me now than ever He was." I prayed with the old man, and commended him to the care of his best Friend. That night he slept his life away, and went from a workhouse bed on earth to the palace of angels and God in heaven.

If God does not forsake His children in pain and poverty, when will He forsake them? Never. He hath said, "I will never leave nor forsake thee."

Earthly friends may fail and leave us,

One day kind, the next day grieve us,
But this Friend will never leave us.

We know not what may be our future lot. Some of us may become rich and great. Some of us may leave our native land and dwell in distant parts of the earth, to meet no more in this life. Let us ever remember wherever we go that we have one Friend in the world who will never be ashamed of us, never disown us, never neglect us, never upbraid us, and never fail us.

When will God forsake you? Never.

Take care you don't forsake Him. That is the only danger. The bargain you make with your heavenly Father when you begin to serve Him will never be broken on His part. If ever it is broken in this world, it must be done by you. Never forsake Him.

Let us in life, in death,

Thy steadfast truth declare,

And publish with our latest breath

Thy love and guardian care.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." "-MATTHEW xxiii. 37, 38.

Text: "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not !"-MATTTHEW XXIII. 37.

THE lesson from the text you have just read sets before us the hen and chickens for our study. Jesus compares Himself to the hen, and the Jews to the chickens.

What had He done for them? He had made them a great nation, put them in a beautiful and fruitful country, defended them from their enemies, and supplied all their wants. He had done as much for them as the hen can possibly do for its chickens.

How had they repaid His kindness? They had broken His laws, forsaken His service to worship idols, persecuted His prophets, refused to obey Him, and wished to put Him to death. They had treated him worse than the chickens treat the hen when she calls them.

Therefore our text is a message of warning and reproof to the Jews for their ingratitude and disobedience.

Now, however, I want to apply the emblem to ourselves. Jesus compares Himself to the hen. We are the chickens.

Look at that hen surrounded by her chickens. She is scratching among

H

the straw, and seeking a few grains of wheat.

How hard she toils to find

food for her family. Every time she turns up a grain of wheat she waits for the chickens to eat it. They get all the sweet morsels and all the dainty bits of food. She supplies them before she takes any herself. She is always thinking more about her chickens than herself.

On a cold, wet day you may see her standing for hours in the rain, while her chickens are sheltered under her wings. She cares not how wet the storm makes her if she can keep them dry. She bears the cold and wet to comfort and protect her chickens.

She is a timid, harmless creature. She seldom fights for herself, but she will often fight for her young ones. See, there is a cat creeping near to steal one of them. How she stretches herself, and raises her feathers, and prepares to drive it away. Pussy, if you come too near you will smart for it. That timid hen grows bold and fearless when she becomes a mother. She will do for her young ones what she would not do for herself. Why? Because she loves them. Yes, and this brings us to our first lesson in the emblem:

I-God is Love.

What has God done to show His love to us? You don't often think how much He has done. You know that he Has made you and fed you, clothed you and defended you, preserved and comforted you. But He has done a great deal more than that. He has redeemed you. And how much did it cost to redeem you? Jesus had to leave heaven. He laid aside His glory, forsook the company of holy angels and happy saints, and became man. He was born in a stable and cradled in a manger. He hungered and thirsted, worked and preached, prayed and toiled for years. He had few earthly comforts. The poorest child is better off and has more comforts than Jesus had.

The Son of God, the Son of man,
He had not where to lay His head.

He ended a life of toil and suffering by a death of shame. He submitted to the mocking and scourging, the insult and pain of His crucifixion, and