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''" Religion  clean  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father, is  this:  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  tribulation, and  to  keep  oneself  unspotted  from  this  world." — James i.  27.

Ex.: I.  Ideal  life. II. Charity, prayer,  clean  heart. III. Inversion.

I. Undefiled  :  1. Occasions of  sin. 2. Israelitic  defilements. 3. Cover  on  vessel.

II. Prayerful : 1. Pray always. 2. Vocal  and  mental. 3. Effects  of  prayer.

III. Charitable: 1. Life's miseries  and  blessings. 2. Nobility of poor. 3. Charity's  effect.

Per.: 1. Reversion. 2. Our  sinfulness. 3. Our  Jacob's  ladder.

Brethren, in  to-day's  Epistle  and  Gospel,  if  taken and studied  together,  you  will  discover  the  outlines of an  ideal  Christian  life. Our Lord's  discourse  on prayer  is  supplemented  by  St.  James's  definition  of religion  clean  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the Father. To suppose  that  Christian  perfection  consists altogether  in  contemplation  or  lip  service  is  to deceive  ourselves. We must  not  only  be  hearers  but doers of  the  word,  for  it  is  not  the  man  who  saith " Lord,  Lord,"  but  he  who  doth  the  Father's  will, that is  saved. Righteousness demands,  therefore, that the  Christian,  besides  being  possessed  of  a prayerful  spirit,  should  plunge  into  the  thick  of  life's activities,  bear  the  full  weight  of  life's  inevitable