shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 33.) It is important to notice this. Our temptation is to attempt to serve two masters, but this cannot be. We have often tried to please ourselves and to please God, but in such a course, the one or the other is despised. If we do not hate self-will, we shall despise God. To trifle on this point is the backsliding path, and is sure to bring darkness-great darkness-into our souls. "If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" To be "careful and troubled about many things," is a sure indication that our hearts are not fully taken up with Christ. Hence the "one thing" needful for us, at all times, is to be in entire dependence on Him, sitting at His feet and hearing His word, having all our springs in Him. When this is the case, we shall know Him, not only as the Maker of all things, and Heir of all things, but also as the Upholder of all things, and that by Him all things consist; we shall, therefore, take all things that befall us, whether painful or pleasant, from His hands, learn in every thing to give thanks, being assured that, while He works all things after the counsel of His own will, He also makes "all things work together for our good;" for He is the Head of all principality and power, having all power in heaven and in earth. How "needful" then is it that we should take our proper place before the Lord as receivers-helpless, ignorant, and unworthy, so as to learn of Him, wait upon Him, and glory in Him.

O let Thy grace inspire

My soul with strength divine;

Thy glory only to desire

To live, to walk as Thine.

We may be well assured, that we are no losers by seeking the glory of God. He is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Them that honour Him, He will be sure to honour. When the Lord proposed this question to Solomon, "Ask what I shall give thee?" he did not reply, long life, or riches, but he desired "one thing:" :""Give Thy servant," said he, "an understanding heart, to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad... And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself;....behold, I have done according to thy word,....and have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days." (1 Kings iii. 5—13.)

It is well also to notice what abundant honour and blessing God bestowed upon Elisha, after he also had chosen "one thing." The prophet Elijah said unto him, “Ask what I shall do for thee," and he replied, "Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." (2 Kings ii. 9.) The sequel tells us the blessed result. May we be delivered from all the miserable influences of self, and seek honestly to live unto God!

The Psalmist desired "one thing" of the Lord, and that, said he, "will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple." (Ps. xxvii. 4.) This is blessed. There is no fruit of nature's barren soil here. It surely is the breathing of the Holy Spirit in the soul, and had its full utterance

in the heart of Jesus. But it is written for our learning, and we may well ponder the lesson. It teems with the deepest emotions of affection; we may say, it is one of the finest specimens of "singleness of heart." And, beloved, do not our souls sympathize with the desire for this "one thing," this thirst for fellowship and joy in the Lord? Or, are the things of earth so earnestly sought after by us, as to hinder our saying, "One thing have I desired of the Lord?" The Apostle Paul wept over those who were minding earthly things in his day, and spoke of them as "enemies of the cross of Christ." Surely, "the beauty of the Lord" is above all created excellence, whether visible or invisible; it is both unchangeable and eternal; and the soul anticipates no higher delight than "seeing Him as He is :" it is the consummation of the saint's desire, and also of the desire of Christ concerning us. "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory." (John xvii. 24.) The fervent utterance of the heart of Paul was, "that I may know Him;" and so the souls of those who have beheld "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," who know their standing in grace, and have proved the vanity of the world and themselves, find that the one object of their desire and affection is CHRIST HIMSELF. They search the sacred oracles, and thirst for closer, happier, deeper fellowship with Him of whom they testify. This "one thing" they seek after, never being weary of considering the "beauty of the Lord," never aspiring to a higher position than that of enquirers and learners at His feet. The more believers learn of Jesus, the more earnestly

they "follow on" to know Him. They find increasingly, that His flesh is bread to strengthen, and His blood wine to cheer; and the droppings of the anointing of the true Aaron coming down to the skirts of His garments, they find to be the oil that makes their face to shine. (Ps. civ. 15.) They call upon all that is within them to bless His holy name, and feel, if they had ten thousand crowns, they would count it their highest honour to cast them all at His feet. If our souls are not desiring and seeking after this "one thing," it is because we have forgotten Him who did, by Himself, purge our sins.

The Apostle Paul, when writing to the saints at Philippi, felt his heart so fired with the love of God in Christ, that he tells us that the "one thing" prevailing in his soul, was to hasten onward to the possession of the promised glory. "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. iii. 13, 14.) He had experimentally proved, while feeling "less than the least of all saints," that he possessed in Christ an all-sufficiency of strength and wisdom to glorify God. He had also so experienced the vanity of things here, and the inestimable value and preciousness of Christ, as to "desire to depart, and to be with Him." To be with Christ in resurrection life, was the " one thing" on which his heart was set; for this he fervently longed, and his soul earnestly pressed onward to this fulness of joy.

Had we, beloved, more perfect knowledge of Christ, and the power of His resurrection, there would be more

of this energy of life, and intensity of love, working in our hearts. The Divine assurance, that there is the most "perfect peace" between God and our own souls, that we are in Christ, that He who went down into death, under the full weight of God's wrath for our sins, is alive again, and exalted "far above all heavens," that "our life is hid with Christ in God," that "as He is, so are we in this world," that "we are members of¡ His body, of His flesh, and of His bones," so "joined to the Lord," that nothing can possibly separate us from the love of God, will alone enable us to count all things but loss for Christ, to forget the things that are behind, and to find one thing animating our hearts. The enjoyment of our standing "complete in Him," practically separates us unto God.

HEART-TROUBLE.-When our Lord said to Peter, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John xiv. 1), He did not mean, do not be troubled about your sin of denying Me with oaths and curses, but do not be troubled about your salvation; for "ye believe in God, believe also in Me." He knew that Peter would be troubled about his sin, and it was well that he should be; for we afterwards see that "the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly." (Luke xxii. 61, 62.) May we know much of heart-trouble and weeping before the Lord over our sins and failures as disciples, while we experience the reality of His everlasting salvation of our souls!