HOW TO KEEP WHITSUNTIDE.

THERE is often plenty of merry-making at Whitsuntide. We hear on all sides of Whitsun fairs, Whitsun feasts, Whitsun gaieties, as if we were all to give rein to the spirit of worldly mirth, as if it were the very time for breaking out into all sorts of worldly amusements.

But ought this so to be? Ought we to be rejoicing in a worldly way and indulging in any excess of worldly mirth? Is this a time to be setting the wheels of worldly pleasure on the whirl, to be giving them quicker motion and greater speed? Is it a Season for the children of the world or the children of God, for those who walk after the Spirit or those who walk after the flesh? Stop and think this Whitsuntide what you ought to do, and how this Season ought to be spent. Do not fritter and trifle it away without thought. Do not follow the gay giddy multitude who would bid you take part with them in foolish frivolous pleasures which so little suit the time, which are at all times perilous and hurtful to men's souls.

Stop, I say, and think; think of the real object for which this Season of Whitsuntide has been appointed by the Church. Carry your thoughts back to that wondrous day when the disciples were "with one accord in one place." Bound in love towards each other by their love of Christ, they were of one mind and had assembled in one place, doubtless that they might comfort each other, speak to each other of the things o God, pray together, and wait for the promise which their beloved and loving Lord had given them before He left them and went up into heaven. And while these holy men, these faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus, who had given up the world and all worldly things, were thus assembled together, "suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

This was the great thing that happened; it was the first coming of the Holy Ghost, the first descent of the Comforter, the first gift of the Spirit of truth. And as that blessed Spirit from

that time to this has continued to be present in the Church, to abide and dwell among Christian men, guiding them into all true and holy ways, so has the time of His first coming been set apart as a season of holy joy and thankfulness; so does the Church, filled with joy because of the presence of the Comforter, bid her children at this time to come together "with one accord," and to bless God for this most excellent gift.

Whitsuntide is then a time set apart for thanking God for sending to us God the Holy Ghost, for giving us spiritual gifts, for enriching us with spiritual blessings, for aiding us in leading spiritual lives. All our thoughts, all our doings, all our pleasures at such time should be spiritual, holy, Christian, and full of God. To

rejoice in the Lord," to rejoice in the gift from above, to rejoice in the love of God towards us, is the proper work of Christians at Whitsuntide. Should we eat, drink, and be merry, should we indulge in worldly pleasures, in noise, and in gaiety, because we remember the first coming of the Holy Ghost? What has this remembrance to do with worldly mirth, or what has worldly mirth to do with the presence of the Spirit of truth? Were the Apostles indulging

in worldly pleasures, in worldly mirth, were they with one accord in one place that they might enjoy themselves and be merry? Or should we be like them, and be doing what they would like us to do, if we were to make this time a time for foolish talking and jesting, for foolish amusements and festivities?

O my friend, take no part in all this idle joy of the world. Shun at this time the gay throngs of thoughtless revellers who would hurry you into gay thoughtless scenes. Go up to the House of God; there pour forth your soul in grateful prayer; there bless God your Father for sending to you the Holy Ghost to guide you in all times of doubt, to strengthen you in all times of weakness, to guard and defend you in all times of danger, to console and comfort you in all times of tribulation, and to lead you on step by step in those ways of holy living whereby faith is made fruitful and God's mercy secured at the last great day. In short, spend a spiritual, a Christian Whitsuntide, such a one as you will not be ashamed to hear of when your Blessed Saviour comes in all His glory to judge both quick and dead.

QUESTIONS ABOUT BAPTISM

ANSWERED OUT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.

How did our Lord say that we must enter into the kingdom of God?

By being "born again."

Born of what?

"Of water and the Spirit." St. John iii. 3, 5. How did St. Paul say that we become members of the one body of Christ?

"By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." 1 Cor. xii. 13.

How did St. Paul say that Christ "cleanses" His Church?

"With the washing of water by the word." Eph. v. 26.

(Is there any apparent reason for the Apostle's making any allusion at all to Baptism in this passage, unless his mind had been very full of the great gifts it conveyed?)

What did St. Paul call the instruments by

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