PRAYER BEFORE THE SERMON.*

WE rejoice, O Lord Jesus, that by the power of thy name men still are called from death to life, that by faith of thee joy takes possession of sorrow, that hope is more than fear, and that there is victory even in defeat. We rejoice that all the streams of human affairs— the temptations of pleasure, the power of pride, the organized forces of human life—are not so much as the power of thy Spirit; that thou dost still, against the world and against all its seductions, bring forth children unto thyself, redeeming them from thrall, creating in them new hearts, and giving them a new spirit filled with love, with joy, with hope and with patience; that finally thou dost carry them forward to the very end; and that having loved thine own, thou dost love them to the end.

To thy holy care and keeping we commit the beloved ones who have been brought into this household of faith. We ask not that their faith may always be one of light or one of ease, but that thou wilt grant to them the secret of songs in the night, of light inward where there is cutward darkness, and strength to endure hardness as good soldiers when thou dost lead them in a strait and narrow way. We pray that their life may not be hid except in Christ. May they shine forth upon the world that which they learn of him. We pray that they may be made fruitful in their spheres of labor. And as thou hast appointed to them severally, grant that they may adorn both the doctrine of Christ and the name of the Saviour, by bearing his Spirit among men.

We pray that thou wilt grant thy blessing to rest upon the great brotherhood; and more and more wilt thou be with every member of this church-with each one in his own personal experiences, in his trials, in his secret, inward, hidden life, known only to God. Grant that there may be breathed upon the very springs of action the sanctifying influences of the divine Spirit.

We pray that thou wilt bless all of us in our household life. More and more may we learn of God by the interpretation of our daily experiences. More and more may our love, our friendship, our life be sanctified, that it may reflect upon us the truths of the eternal world. Grant that all the members of this church, in their outgoing and incoming, in their various and appropriate duties in society at large, may bear in them a true manliness. May they have that manhood which is in Christ Jesus. We beseech of thee that they may have force, and enterprise, and victorious accomplishment in the things whereunto they set their hand. May they be diligent in business and fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. And grant that they may serve thee, not alone in their thoughts in the household and in the church, but in their business, so that everywhere they may be witnesses for Him who loved them, and who gave himself for them. We pray that their spirit may be so guided and so disciplined as that they shall make known to men by their unconscious life, even more than by their words, what is the secret of God with men. We pray

* Immediately following the reception of members into the church,

that thou wilt comfort them in any trial which may come upon them.

Be near to any, we beseech of thee, who are sitting in darkness, and in great trouble. May the Lord be their counsellor. And grant that there may be for them, not day and night, but perpetual day; for where thou art no darkness can dwell. Where thou art there can be no weakness. Where thou art is peace which the world never gives, and which the world cannot take away.

Grant, we beseech of thee, that if there come up any trouble, sudden, great, and hard to be borne, they may be strengthened in their emergencies, not to forsake their faith in their Saviour.

Be near to the sick; and be near to those who watch with them, in all the alternations of day and night, with fear. Wilt thou strengthen them day by day; and may their trust in God never fail them.

We pray that thou wilt be with those who are perplexed in business. Be with those whom care rests upon heavily.

We pray that thou wilt be with the Israel of God everywhere. Wilt thou be in the hearts of all thy people continually immovable. We pray that thou wilt bless the churches that are this day assembled in this city, and in the great city near us, and throughout all our land. We rejoice that there are so many, and that there is so much power in them. If there be such error of thought and teaching as diminishes the power in any, we pray that by thy Spirit they may be guided into a more perfect knowledge of thy truth. Bless even the fragments of truth everywhere, so that whether Christ be preached of contention or in earnest, he may still be made known to man, and blessed to the salvation of their souls.

We pray for those who labor for the promotion of intelligence. We pray for those who are installed in places of great influence. We pray for all presidents of colleges, for all professors, and for all teachers of academies and common schools. We pray for those who write books, and for those who are editing papers, and sending them forth as leaves of the tree of knowledge throughout this land. May they be guided by the inspiration of God.

We pray that thou wilt grant that intelligence may not disjoin itself from virtue, but that knowledge may lead to that righteousness which shall make men perfect before thee.

We beseech of thee that thy kingdom may come, not alone in this favored land, but in all lands. We pray for peace. We pray that those evils from which discontent and discord have sprung may be abated. O Lord, we pray that nations may learn war no more, and that they may cease to live in their animal nature. Grant that men may no longer be as lions, and eagles, and beasts of destruction: make the power of men to reside in their goodness of heart and in their intelligence and virtue. So may the day of ignorance and superstition and violence pass away, and cruelties cease to exist upon the earth. And grant that that great and glorious day may speedily come when Christ shall take to himself his power, and rule over the earth as he rules in the heaven. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. And to thy name shall be the praise, Fainer, Son, and Spirit. Amen.

TRUTH-SPEAKING.

"Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man the truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another."-Eph. iv., 25.

Deceit is the sign of inferiority. It runs toward animal conditions of life. It is the sign of weakness. In the order of nature, that which cannot be done by discretion nor by strength, animals do by craft, by deceit; and in the lower stages of human development deceit is common and under such circumstances it does not take on, either to them or to us, the heinousness of guilt to the degree that it does after men have been civilized.

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In other words, we tolerate, in the lower stage of moral development, things which become intolerable in the higher stage of moral development. We see in the old patriarchs instances of cunning and deceit which would absolutely ruin the reputation of men in our times who were of a corresponding rank in life. They were blemishes; but the gravity of the offense is tempered in our judgment by the circumstances, by the small knowledge, by the few helps which surrounded those men.

I propose, to-night, to speak some wholesome words on a subject which once was considered worthy of a good deal of instruction, and some practice-namely, the subject of truthspeaking.

To "speak every man truth with his neighbor" is a duty and doctrine of Christianity. Lying is in terms forbidden.

SUNDAY EVENING, May 17, 1874. LESSON: Prov. ti., 1-22. HYMNS (Plymouth Collection); Nos. 102, 513. 657,

"Lie not one to another, since ye have put off the old man with his deeds," as well as, "Speak every man the truth with his neighbor," is express and explicit.

No man can be a truth-speaker in the sense of the New Testament teaching unless he has fully made up his mind to the intention of telling the truth—and that, not sometimes, but always. When a man is determined to be a truthspeaker, and to reflect, as far as he reflects anything, things as they are, between man and man, then it is not always possible for him to tell the truth; because it requires a great deal of knowledge to tell the truth, and it requires no inconsiderable amount of practice. It is an education both to know what is true, and to know how far to speak, and how far to be silent. For, telling the truth is not random talking. It is an administration which requires an understanding and interpreting moral sense, and no inconsiderable amount of practice and skill in the affairs of life. He who discerns things aright, and knows times and seasons, and the fitness of matters, and speaks invariably the simplicity of truth, has well nigh completed his warfare with himself, and with the world, and may be counted, as James says, "a perfect man," because he bridles his tongue.

No man can be a truth-speaker who does not love the truth; to whom truth is not as to a musician's ear chords are; with whose nature it does not harmonize. It is impossible for men to speak the truth occasionally with any considerable degree of success unless they speak it habitually, for the love of it; unless they love it, as is expressed elsewhere, "in the inward parts."

The habit of speaking the truth implies a whole cast of life. I have said that it belongs to an ideal manhood. More than that, it will symmetrize the man around a divine centre. For, as soon as a man has made up his mind always to speak the thing that is true, he will not speak near as much as otherwise he would be apt to. "In the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin," we are told; and there is a great deal too much talking in this world, considering what stuff it is made up of. Men who catch what they hear easily-too easily; men who hear everything that is said about every