2. The Meat-offering, which comes next (Lev. ii.), seems to have been the constant and unfailing adjunct of the burnt-offering, and may be said to have belonged to it. It went along with it always, and without it the burnt-offering was in a sense incomplete. Thus we read again and again of "the burnt-offering, and his meat-offering" (Num. xxviii., xxix., passim).

Apart from the meat-offering, the great sacrifice was wanting-not indeed in power to atone, but in actual result. Though in itself all-sufficient, it was yet inefficient, and failed of its purpose. It was unavailing, because unappropriated. For the meat-offering, as we conceive, figured that act of faith on the part of the sinner without which the expiation of Christ can no more save than bread can nourish without being eaten.

The two offerings are thus correlative, and exhibit different sides or aspects of the same thing: the one representing atonement in its relation to God, as satisfying the claims of divine justice; the other, in its relation to man, as meeting the needs of his soul. In the one, we have the universal provision; in the other, the individual appropriation.

In itself the meat-offering was not a sacrifice, for there was no life taken nor blood shed. It consisted of flour or unleavened cakes, with oil, frankincense, and salt, part being consumed on the altar, and the remainder eaten by the priests-this participation in the offering figuring communion between God and man: at the same time a libation of wine was poured out. The altar was thus the communion table of that day, and the symbols-bread and wine-were the same appointed afterwards by Christ himself in the ordinance of the Supper. They prefigured then what now they commemorate.

The gospel of the meat-offering is best unfolded in Christ's own words: "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal

life......For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed......He that eateth me, even he shall live by me" (John vi. 54-57). Here we have both the sacrifice and the appropriation.

"The meat-offering," says Ainsworth, "figure-l communion with God and participation in that atonement whereby Christ becomes the bread of life, of which, as a royal priesthood, the whole Church are made partakers. The oil signified the grace and comfort of the Holy Ghost, whereby we serve God with gladness. The frankincense, that sweet savour of Christ whereby we are acceptable to God. The salt, the perpetuity of God's covenant, and the incorruptibility of the life now given.'

3. The Peace-offering (Lev. iii., vii.) follows: for, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. v. 1).

Of this offering, likewise, part was burned upon the altar, and part belonged to the priest and to the worshipper. It was designed not to make peace, but to give expression to the peace already made and enjoyed. It was also a thank-offering. And, because of the peculiar manner of its presentation, was called sometimes a heave-offering, sometimes a wave-offering.

Certain peculiarities of the ritual may be noticed, the meaning being too plain to admit of doubt or controversy.

(1.) The Lord's portion of the sacrifice was laid upon the burnt-offering: "Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt-sacrifice" (Lev. iii. 5). This is to be carefully noted, for peace must have propitiation as its basis. resting on the burnt-offering, it pointed to the unity of the whole system of sacrifice.

Thus

(2.) The worshipper's portion might be eaten anywhere—in the courts of the Lord, or at home; alone, or with the family-peace with God being independent of place or circumstance.

(3.) Leaven, elsewhere strictly forbidden, is tolerated here (Lev. vii. 13), for pardon and peace do not imply perfect holiness. Nor is daily conflict with indwelling sin inconsistent with the fullest sense of reconciliation.

(4.) But no one living in circumstances of defilement, or conscious of uncleanness resting upon him, might partake of this offering (Lev vii. 20, 21). And can he have peace who is

Him who bears upon his shoulders and in his breast the cares and interests of his people. And in the mystic gestures, we have the worshipper making his boast of a Saviour omnipotent and compassionate, and calling on those around to unite with him. "Extol the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together; "such is the language of his acts.

T is agreed by Dean Alford and all the most accurate students of the Greek New Testament, that the text "redeeming the time" should be read "buying the opportunity." The word "redeem" has a rather theological sound to the ordinary reader, and suggests Christ's ransom of our souls. "Time" is a word of indefinite extent. But "opportunity" is a sharply-defined word. It describes the very nick of time,-the golden moment for the doing of a thing. It is that especial season most favourable for the purpose. Therefore Paul-who was himself a minute man-urges his readers to "secure their opportunities."

Three

Our Lord emphasized the supreme value of grasping the present moment: "I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day; for the night cometh, in which no man can work." "Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you." Mark, too, with what sharp precision the time for securing our salvation is presented in God's Word: "Now is the well-accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." times over is that tremendous alarm-bell rung by the hand of the Holy Spirit: "To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart." If we dig underneath the surface of several passages, we find the same idea lurking there. A "word fitly spoken" signifies a word opportunely spoken. In Leviticus we read of a "fit man;" but it should be read-the man of opportunity.

The men who have succeeded best, have been the men who grasped their opportunities. That martial bulldog, Frederick the Great, defied nearly all Europe to conquer him for seven long years, simply by his intuitions of the right moments, and his prompt use of them. His most famous pupil-Napoleon-was a king of opportunities. He used to say, "There is a crisis in every battle, a ten or fifteen minutes on which the fate of the battle depends. To gain this is victory; to lose it is defeat." In nearly every battle of life there are pivotoccasions on which the greatest interests are depending. The loss of them never can be retrieved. There are merchants who never buy until the wares have gone up,

and never sell until they have gone down. They complain of their "bad luck;" but it is always the luck of loitering stupidity to be just a little way behind the point where all the successes are won. The secret of success is to secure life's opportunities. Ten minutes of sharp striking when the iron is hot, is worth days of tiresome hammering when it has grown cold.

There is a lesson for Christians in this. For Bible religion is the highest common sense applied to the service of God. "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men." Paul practised as he wrote. There was a chance given him to restore a cripple at Lystra, and to direct a convicted sinner in the dungeon of Philippi, and to put a plain truth into the ears of Felix, and to speak the right word at the right time on the hill of Mars. He did not let one of his chances slip. M'Cheyne's success as a winner of souls-and Payson's too-depended much on their happy talent of buying opportunities. Good Harlan Page, who is about the model man among working American laymen, hai a fixed rule never to lose the opportunity to win a soul to Jesus. The wisest pastor is the one who knows how to time his visits when sickness or sorrow require them most, and to speak the word in season when a hearer's heart is melted. Let every young minister write this sentence on the first page of his life-record,―The loss of opportunities will be the loss of success in my ministry.

There is a solemn lesson for every unconverted reader of ours in the truth we are enforcing. Friend, if you ever reach hell-for there is a hell-it will be because you lost your opportunities for securing heaven. You have thrown away many such already. There have been times when God's Spirit of love strove with you most powerfully. You quenched the Spirit. You may do this once too often. He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his heart, shall suddenly be cut off, and that without remedy. When such tremendous interests are at stake, delay may be death.

A sea-captain said that on a certain evening, just as

* "Extol," literally "lift up."

the dark was coming on, he hove in sight of the ill-fated steamer Central America carrying signals of distress. He ran up near to her and inquired if they needed help. Captain Herndon replied, "We are in a sinking condition, but try and lie by us until morning." "You had better send your passengers and men on board now." The captain still replied, "Lay by me till morning." In two hours the lights of the Central America disappeared. In those two hours were crowded the last opportunity to save the precious lives on board. Unconverted friend! you are really in a sinking con

dition too. Every sinner is. The voice of mercy hails you. The life-boat of salvation waits to be sent off to you. The trumpet-call to you is, "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." The present is yours. You have not one inch of future in your hand. Secure your opportunity, and you secure eternal life. It is only a moment's work to accept Christ when you are in earnest. But even that moment will never come after the "door is shut."

"Of all sad words uttered by tongue or pen,
The saddest are these-it might have been."

YES, yes," answered Eli emphatically; "I should have obeyed God's voice in my heart, and not listened to the tempter and followed my own will. And see what came of it! I had escaped the hospital, certainly; but then came the dear time. Then again I made wise plans, and thought I would take from the can of honour, little by little, only what we required for daily necessaries. But the tempter whispered again : 'If you do that, Eli, your money will soon be gone; and, besides, people will wonder where the old lame carpenter gets it all.' Yes, I thought to myself, they will call me a deceiver; and I am not that, at any rate. 'Are you not, Eli? Have you not kept back from God his due, and grieved the Holy Spirit, and been silent when he bade you speak, and tell the young master all about it? And when Joseph went away, and the landlady gave us warning, and you, dear friends, so lovingly offered to receive us two old folks into your home, I longed so to tell you all, and relieve myself of the burden that grew heavier day by day; but Satan would not let me, and mocked me, saying: 'It is too late now, old Eli. You have been a hypocrite too long. There is no forgiveness for you now!' And there was an end of all peace for me. I saw now that I had indeed been a hypocrite all the time. I took to myself all the Lord said to the Pharisees; I despaired of finding mercy, and I was driven out of my senses, and nearly killed by it." "Poor Eli!" said Mrs. Lindfelder; "I saw that you were suffering much at that time, but was far from guessing the cause."

"Yes; and the worst of it was that I could not even pray, for the wicked one was always mocking and triumphing over me. I was his now, he said, and no one could save me! Oh, the miserable money, which had been the cause of my disobedience! But what the Lord wills, he brings to pass, in spite of all the devil can do

to prevent it.-And what was thy will, dear Lord?" he continued after a pause, with folded hands and uplifted eyes; "to save my soul for ever. And gloriously hast thou fulfilled it in me a poor sinner.-When I was in the depths of my soul's agony the Lord came to me once more, held out his hand to me, as he did to the sinking Peter on the Sea of Galilee, and said: 'O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?' And as often as Satan said 'It is too late,' the Lord answered, 'It is never too late as long as it is called to-day, only repent and confess thy sin.' And when I came to the sincere resolution to confess it, and tell the young master all about it, whatever might happen, then the curse was removed, I had my Saviour once more, and in him rest for my soul and forgiveness of my sins."

"And you did tell him?" asked Swiss Anna.

"To be sure I did, or the peace would not have lasted long. God will not be mocked, Anna. Last year, in the Easter week, when the pastor came to give me the holy communion, I confessed everything to him, and begged him to tell it in my name to the young master, and to the other gentlemen, which he was so good as to do."

"Thank God! only now can I really rejoice over the wonderful help," said Mrs. Lindfelder, with a sigh of relief.

"And they let you keep the money?" asked the father, astonished.

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Lindfelder; and told the pastor to say to me that the money was mine; I had earned it honestly, and I might do what I pleased with it; and the young master is still to continue my pension till my death. Yes, indeed; it is all true, just as I tell you. And then I consulted with the pastor, and determined to leave the money where it was another year, and if your Tony should lose in the conscription, to buy him off with it. But if he had won, I would have given it

"It can't be, Finy! It seems like yesterday since we all sat here together on that Sunday evening, when Joseph poured all the money out of Eli's can of honour. You remember?"

"Remember, Anna! I should be ungrateful indeed if I could forget that."

"And you say it is three years ago! How the time has passed!"

"It was three years last Easter, Anna; and in the following June Tony went away with the strange gentleman to America."

"Where he was to build so many new houses in the land where they say the gold grows. What do you call it, again?"

"The land is called California, and the town Sacramento."

"What a profane name! But let them call it what they like, Tony has earned plenty of money there, and has helped us nobly with it. But I wish he would come home now. If he does not come soon he will not find Eli here."

"It is three months now since we heard from him; he never was so long of writing before, and I have such fears about him sometimes. O Anna, it is very hard to be parted by the wide ocean!"

"That's true, Finy, for the sea has no beams, as I have heard them say, and I do wish he were safe back again. I am very anxious about Eli; did you hear how he spoke of parting this morning? You will see he will die very soon. If I were only as ready for death, I would like to go with him. We have lived so long together, through bright days and dark ones, that it seems as if the heart would be torn out of my body when he goes. I never knew before how much I loved Eli, but now-now I know it!" she added, bursting into tears.

Josephine wept with her, and replied: "Ah, yes, it is as if the light would go out of our house when old Eli leaves us !"

"Finy," called the boys, who were playing with Lena in the garden-" Finy, here comes the postman! He must have a letter from Tony!"

Josephine sprang from her seat, and hastened to meet the postman. Anna put on her spectacles and looked eagerly after the girl till she saw her receive a letter from the man, and go into the house with it, followed by the inquisitive children. Then she said to herself: "The letter cost nothing this time either, and Tony is the best lad in the world. And if the Lord would keep him safe on the sea, and bring him home again, and if Eli did not need to die, then I would be quite happy!" While Josephine is reading her letter, we will look back and see how it has fared with our friends during the past three years; and then enter Eli's chamber, where the old man, after much suffering, lies calmly awaiting his last hour.

As we have already heard from Josephine, Tony had gone to California soon after the events narrated in our last chapter. A company of merchants who were fitting

out a ship at Havre were anxious to secure the services of a skilled workman to superintend the building of a number of houses in the new city of Sacramento. Mr. Reymann, when he heard of it, at once thought of Tony, and spoke of it to him. According to the custom of the country, Tony would have to go from home for a few years to get experience in all the branches of his trade before settling down, and he was too young yet to marry; so he caught eagerly at Mr. Reymann's suggestion, and on his warm recommendation was at once engaged by the company on very advantageous terms. So Tony embarked at Havre, with a heavy heart indeed at the thought of going so far from home, but full of hope, and accompanied by the prayers and blessings of his dear ones. His mother and Josephine gave him a Bible as a parting gift; and old Eli wrote in it with his trembling hand the following verse :-

"Jesus, go before and guide me,
Fearless I shall follow thee:
In the darkness light provide me,
Helm and compass on the sea.
Though my bark should stagger sickly

On the ocean billows' crest,
Say thou, 'It is I;' and quickly
Solid land shall give me rest."

And the precious Word of God, and the prayers of his pious mother and bride, and the remembrance of his dear home and the quiet peaceful life there, kept the soul of our young friend like a guard of angels. In the far-off gold country, among wild, avaricious men, where all wicked passions raged without restraint, there Tony learned what a good thing it is to be contented. He no longer desired to be rich and great, but rather to be righteous and God-fearing. And the Lord blessed the labour of his hands; he was able to help the dear ones at home and save them from want, and at the same time to lay by a little capital for his own use in the future. Neither did he forget the can of honour, and his promise to old Eli, but gave faithfully the tenth part of his earnings to the Lord. At home it was always an occasion of thankfulness and rejoicing when Tony sent money, and the mother laid in the can of honour, which, now kept bright as silver by Anna's busy hands, still stood on its shelf over old Eli's bed, the sum specified by him for that purpose. And all followed Tony's good example; the children, Anna, even the father, put in their pennies every week, but the mother and Josephine put in the tenth of all their earnings. And every ten weeks Joseph, who also brought regularly his weekly contribution, carried the money to the pastor, to be applied by him to missions and works of charity; and old Eli's heart was glad.

When Tony had, at length, by the blessing of God, but not without hard work on his own part, successfully completed the houses he had engaged to build in Sacramento, his longings for home grew stronger than ever, and he hoped now to settle down there and make his dear Finy his wife. But he was requested to undertake the building of a new street in New Orleans, and did so