_The Christian's Mark._

"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, I _press_ towards the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."--PHIL. 3:13,
14.


MY DEAR SISTER,

Ever since the death of our dear mother, I have felt a deep interest in
your welfare. And your being left, while young, in a measure dependent
upon me, has increased my affection for you. You have now left my roof,
to sojourn among strangers. You have little knowledge of the world, and
your religious experience has been short. I trust, therefore, you will
cordially receive a few hints from one whose fraternal affection has
been strengthened by many peculiar circumstances, and who, for many
years, has not ceased to remember you in his prayers.

Young Christians, when they first obtain peace and comfort in Christ,
are prone to think the struggle over, the victory won. But nothing can
be farther from the truth. They have but just enlisted under the banner
of the great Captain of their salvation, in a warfare which will never
cease till they shall have obtained the final victory over sin and
death, and entered into the joy of their Lord. This mistake often leads
them to be satisfied with what they have already experienced, and to
cease that constant inward strife and earnestness, which they exercised
while under conviction, before they found "joy and peace in believing."
They see such a heavenly sweetness in divine things, that they think it