into the kingdom of God, or drift into the kingdom of God, or be dragged into the kingdom of God. "Straight is the gate, and narrow in the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." "He that endureth unto the end shall be saved." "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you." "Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life." "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." "I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge."

It is common knowledge that physical strength, mental strength and moral and spiritual strength are developed by use. This does not deny the importance of principles of heredity and environment; it insists that men grow strong. When young men and young women are looking for an easy way through life they have gone out to invite failure. The fact that a thing is hard to do is not an argument that it cannot be done. The fact that a thing is not generally believed, is not a sound argument that it is not So. When the boy David, to protect the sheep that had been intrusted to his care, killed a bear

and a lion, he was developing the qualities that enabled the young man to kill the giant of Gath who was defying the God of the armies of Israel. When Benaiah killed a lion in a pit in a snowy day he was preparing himself to snatch a spear that was like a weaver's beam from the mailed hand of the giant Egyptian. "Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin; each victory will help you some other to win; strive manfully onward, dark passions subdue, look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through."

Let us not doubt God nor be afraid; neither let us lie down in fancied security to be devoured. Let us recognize the great sad fact of sin. Let us recognize how wicked and subtle it is. Let us face it squarely in the strength of God. We may all have the joy of service and of victory. Our Father will stand by us in every trial. Every effort will make us stronger. Every victory will give us confidence in our leader. Every faithful effort will be crowned with true success, and will make us of use to our country and to our king.

"Also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day." "Now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God. Those by the

wayside are those that hear; then cometh the Devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience."

I

II

"Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly

him that is in reputation for wisdom and

honor."-Eccl. 10: 1

HARDLY know whether to be sorry or

glad that the text this morning has so little attraction. In the first place it is not inviting. The theme is not invitation. It is not "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Not, "Whosoever will may come." Not, "Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth."

Neither is the text inspiring. The theme is not one of inspiration, as might be expected from such texts as: "Lo, I am with you always;" or "The Lord of Hosts is with us;" or "Ye are the light of the world." More than this the text is not even instructive. The theme is not one of instruction. One could hardly hope to instruct a congregation from so homely a text or with so homely a theme. But the text is more than homely; it is positively repulsive. You may have noticed that homely people are frequently the best people; and that the best things are

often the least inviting. In this particular many of you could be likened unto an oyster in its ragged shell; while many of us resemble rather a beautiful green persimmon. But the

text this morning is not narrow or shallow or short. It has real value and is keenly suggestive, notwithstanding its homely form. You will not easily forget it. Eccl. 10: 1, "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor."

The text itself needs little explanation. The meaning of the word apothecary, is one whose business it was to compound incense; or as we would say, a perfumer. The sense of smell has never been cultivated or appreciated in our western catarrhal climate, as it is in the oriental countries. Very much was made, and is still made, in the East, of the art of compounding delicate and rare perfumes.

The statement of the text is simply this, if a perfumer is compounding some very fine incense or perfume, it is not necessary for a dead sparrow or cat to get into it to spoil it, but that a few dead flies will cause the beautiful fragrance to give place to a stinking savour. Just so the