Beloved Brethren:

God has put into our hands His precious word. Its riches are unfolded to us by His Holy Spirit. Of the fullness, the variety, the divine perfections of that word it is needless to speak to you. Men are, however, attacking it,- no longer as avowed infidels, but as professed friends. The attacks are the more dangerous, because covert. This infidelity, like the leprosy in the house, is creeping over the whole professing Church, doing its deadly work every where. What will be the end of it ? .

Let us pause, and ask ourselves why God has permitted this inroad of the enemy. When Israel failed to drive out their foes and to occupy the land for themselves; when they turned from God, He gave them over to the surrounding nations. Have we occupied our spiritual territory? Have we learned fullness from the word of God? Is it not too true hat many of God's people have been, are, neglecting His word? It is to this widespread neglect of the reading and study of the word of God that the inroads of infidelity maybe truly attributed. Its attacks would be weak indeed did they not find God's people were weaker as far as a knowledge of His word is concerned. Do we know the gospels? Are the contents of the epistles familiar to us ? " Yes," you say; "we are fairly acquainted with the New Testament."Then how is it with the Old? 't not a fact that to most, the Old Testament is a used book ? Need we, then, be surprised if Satan should attack us at our weak point ? The Old Testament
history should be as familiar to us as the gospels,- the prophets as the epistles. The remedy is simple. Let us read the Old Testament more, and the New as well. Let not a day pass without our searching in its stores of divine truth. Let us not make the excuse that we have no time. If we have time to eat, we have time to read the word of God, as one has said, " I esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." A few minutes daily given to the attentive reading of the Bible would enable us to complete the whole in a year.

Then, as we grow familiar with it, we would find it in our thoughts during the day; passages helpful in the prayer-meeting, illustrations at the reading meeting, and words of comfort or exhortation at the breaking of bread, would thus take the place of a barren silence. In other words, we would be revived. Let it not be thought, for a moment, that a neglect of prayer and dependence upon God are implied in this. Rather such reading and study will stimulate us in these. Shall we not afresh arouse ourselves in this matter ? It concerns us all. Let us begin at once, and never leave off until we are with the Lord. If anything has come in to interfere with our enjoyment of the word of God,- the newspaper or the novel,- let us cast them from us, and turn afresh to that book of God. What blessing would result!