Jesus said, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness" (John viii. 12), yet they who fear the Lord, and obey His beloved Servant, may, for a time, have no bright shinings on their pathway (Isa. l. 10), just as sometimes a change of wind, or some other cause, may make a sudden darkness overspread the sky. But day-darkness generally passes off again before long. So "light is sown for the righteous," and the glad harvest shall certainly be reaped, for "the path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. iv. 18). The morning twilight in nature may be dim and clouded, but when once the sun has risen, the light grows clearer and brighter till noon is reached; but then it begins to decline, and evening gradually comes on. But the spiritual day _ends_ in noontide glory, the _everlasting ending_ of all sorrow, sin, and fear; and to His people the Saviour says, "Thy sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thy everlasting Light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended" (Isa. lx. 20). May He "open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of His law." May the "Sun of Righteousness arise upon us, with healing in His wings," that "in His light we may see light," and follow Him who has "redeemed us from all evil" to the realms of endless day. Our next subject will be, _God's Independence of All, and His Declared Need of Some of His Creatures_. Compare Psalm l. 12, with Matthew xxi. 3, and other passages. Yours affectionately, H. S. L. THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. The Word of God records a potent test By which a true possessor may be known-- The _Pharisee_ will smite his fellow's breast; The grace-taught _publican_ will smite his own. PRIZE ESSAY. WHO ARE THEY THAT WILL STAND PERFECT IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT? Those who will stand perfect in the day of judgment are those who, by the grace of God, have been enabled to trust in, and wait on, the Lord for salvation from sin and its consequences; for, by the Holy Spirit working in them, they see their sin, and feel the anger of God. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. xvii. 9); and, when we see and feel a little of our wickedness, we despair, and Satan begins to torment us, and say, "You are too wicked to go to heaven." But Jesus says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John vi. 37); "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi. 28). Jesus says "heavy laden," showing that, no matter how wicked, how laden, His word to all those who are weary of sin, and "heavy laden" with sorrow for sin, is, "Come, and I will give you rest"--rest from Satan and his temptations, rest from the world and all its busy cares.