slice); charge the rich "that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life," the life which is life indeed. God gives to His children more than they need for themselves, to exercise in them the grace of giving, and to open to them the opportunity of a special reward. He who gives wealth "is able to make all grace abound," including this special grace of giving; so that "having all sufficiency in all things, we may abound unto every good work as it is written, He hath scattered abroad: he hath given to the poor, his righteousness abideth for ever." It is He who

supplieth seed to the sower," giving what is more than enough for ourselves for the purpose of distributing it; and we should pray that "He would both supply bread for food," bread which we ourselves need, "and multiply our seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of our righteousness." "He who soweth plentifully shall reap also plentifully." In receiving from God we are on a level with our needy brethren; but when we are enabled to relieve their wants, we are sharers with God Himself, the universal Giver.

And what can we give which we have not already received? "Of Thine own have we given Thee, O Lord." We are His almoners; His hand to distribute the daily store. Our Lord illustrated such beneficence: "He went about doing good;" and we are to remember His words, how He said, "It is more blessed to give

than to receive." It is more blessed, for there is more conscious pleasure in giving; there is more profit, for it benefits the soul of the giver, while the bread may only feed the body of the receiver; what is secured by the giver is more lasting than the gift, because the benefit to the soul abides when the garment given is worn out, the bread eaten and the money spent; there is a richer reward from God, for though grateful receiving is acceptable to Him, yet special promises are recorded for those who generously bestow. Jesus regards the bread given to a poor disciple as given to Himself. A "cup of cold water given in His Name will not lose its reward," and He will say to those who with true love have ministered to others "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Thus the poor and the rich are mutually helpful. If the rich help the poor by material benefaction, the poor help the rich on a still higher scale in affording them the opportunity of increasing their spiritual wealth both here and hereafter, and of rendering special service to their Lord. This is the true community of bread.

V. THE CONDITIONS OF THE GIFT" OUR.”

1. Honesty. God's bread cannot become our own in any true sense when we obtain it by dishonest means. We do not in such a case really ask it from God, nor does He give it. It is a seizure by us, not a donation are providing for our wants by any

by Him. If we

species of fraud and exaction, or by trades which injure either the bodies or the souls of men, we may not consider that the bread we eat was given by our Father. We cannot ask a blessing on what is sure to entail a curse. "He that increaseth his estate by indirect means stuffs his pillow with thorns, and his head will lie very uneasy when he comes to die." Such wealth will prove "daggers of gold to stab us, ropes of silk to hang us. Though we tread the courts of the Lord and nail our ears to the pulpit; yet a false weight in our bag and a heavy hand will wipe off our title to our bread;' and our names too, if we repent not, out of the book of life" (Farindon).

2. Industry.—Intelligent prayer has regard to the Divine methods. It is His Will that bread should be the reward of labour. Adam was placed in the garden not simply to enjoy its produce, but "to dress it and to keep it." Idleness is the paradise of fools alone. The curse pronounced when man sinned was not labour itself, but the new conditions attending it. Man would have been much more cursed had he been

doomed to inactivity. "In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread" has been the law of the Giver from the first. Satan goes where men stand idle for his most ready slaves. God's law, linking labour with

bread, is a law of love. The Son of man honoured humble toil for daily maintenance. He of whom it was said, "Is not this the carpenter ?" did not eat the bread of idleness during that long abode at Nazareth. In praying for bread we pray for health and strength

to earn it, that by industry it may become fairly ours. The most distinguished patriarchs, lawgivers, and prophets were trained in humble toil. The Bible abounds in admonitions to industry. "The hand of the diligent maketh rich." "Be diligent to know the state of thy flocks." "Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings," whereas drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." Christians

are instructed to "work with their own hands, that they may walk honestly and have lack of nothing." Prayer for bread linked with laziness is mockery. We only truly pray, "Give us bread," when we pray, “Thy Will be done," and do it.

Those whose circumstances raise them above the necessity of labour are not thereby discharged from the obligation to do some useful work. King Lemuel's model woman "eateth not the bread of idleness," though possessing fields and merchandise, with maidens to serve her. St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "When we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." He then He then "commands by the Lord Jesus" those who "walked disorderly, working not at all, but who were busy-bodies, with quietness to work and eat their own bread," as if no man by mere purchase could make it his own. If we would "eat our own bread," it must either be by manual toil in its production, or by rendering some equivalent service to the community. Of course children and infirm persons are exceptions; all others, however exalted in

N

station, should, by some beneficial industry, earn their bread if they would regard it as their own. Every man is to work for his food either directly or by commutation; for the gentleman cannot, at least worthily, obtain it otherwise than by redeeming it from the ploughman and the artificer, by compensation of other cares and pains conducible to public good. Sloth is the argument of a mind wretchedly mean, which disposeth a man to live gratis on the public stock as an insignificant cipher among men, as a burden of the earth, as a wen of any society, seeking aliment from it, but yielding no benefit or ornament thereto. A noble heart will disdain to subsist like a drone upon the honey gathered by others' labour, like a vermin to filch its food out of the public granary, or like a shark to prey on the lesser fry; but will one way or other earn his subsistence, for he that doth not earn, can hardly own his bread" (Barrow).

Such industry is not opposed to piety, but is a part of it. Religion has too often been regarded as confined to mental exercises and acts of worship; and so the duties of common life have been regarded as a hindrance in the way to heaven. But when bread is

sought from God, and strength for winning it is acknowledged as His gift and exercised according to His Will, then work becomes worship, and the most humble manual toil or the most engrossing mental labour is an acceptable sacrifice, being "sanctified by the word of God and by prayer." "Religion is not confined to the ear, nor is it a prisoner to so narrow a compass as to be