At infinite cost provision has been made for men to reach perfection of Christian character. Those who have been impressed by the Holy Scriptures as the voice of God, and desire to follow its teachings, are to be daily learning, daily receiving spiritual fervor and power, which have been provided for every true believer in the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a free, working, independent agency. The God of heaven uses His Spirit as it pleases Him; and human minds, human judgment, and human methods can no more set boundaries to its working, or prescribe the channel through which it shall operate, than they can say to the wind, "I bid you to blow in a certain direction, and to conduct yourself in such and such a manner." As the wind moves in its force, bending and breaking the lofty trees in its path, so the Holy Spirit influences human hearts, and no finite man can circumscribe its work.
Born from Above
When Nicodemus, a great teacher in Israel, sought the Master in that night interview on the Mount of Olives, Jesus laid before him the conditions of conversion, saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God."
In astonishment Nicodemus said, "How can a man be born when he is old?" Here the Jewish ruler showed his unbelief; but Jesus answered, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
Perplexed and wondering, Nicodemus said, "How can these things be?" Jesus said, "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?" A teacher, a man among wise men, a man who supposed that he was able to comprehend the science of religion, and yet stumbling at the doctrine of conversion!
Nicodemus was not willing to admit the truth, because he could not understand all that was connected with the operation of the power of God; and yet he accepted the facts of nature, altho he could not explain or even comprehend them. Like other men of all ages, he was looking to forms and precise ceremonies as more essential to religion than the deep movings of the Spirit of God.
Jesus continued, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." By nature the heart is evil, and "who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one." No human invention can find a remedy for the sinning soul. "The carnal mind . . . is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." The fountain of the heart must be purified before the streams can become pure. There is no safety for one who has merely a legal religion, a form of godliness. The Christian's life is not a modification or improvement of the old life, but a transformation of the nature. There is a death to sin and self, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit.
Christ and Nicodemus
An Invisible Worker
Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus that, altho he could not see the wind, yet he could discern its action. The operating agency was not revealed to view; men could not tell whence it came or whither it went. They could not define by what law it was governed; but they could see the effects produced by its action. So this teacher in Israel might never be able to explain the process of conversion, but he would be able to discern its effects. No human reasoning, no skill of the most learned men, can define the operations of the Holy Spirit upon human minds and characters; yet they can see the effects upon the life and actions.
The Spirit of God is manifested in different ways upon different individuals. One, under the movings of this power, will tremble before the Word of God. His convictions are so deep that a tumult of feeling seems to rage in his heart, and his whole being is prostrated under the convicting power of the truth.
When the Lord speaks forgiveness to such a repenting soul, he is full of ardor, full of love to God, full of earnestness and energy, and the life-giving Spirit which he has received can not be repressed. Christ is in him, a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. His feelings of love are as deep and ardent as were his distress and agony. His soul is like the fountain of the great deep broken up, and he pours forth his thanksgiving and praise, his gratitude and joy, until the heavenly harps are tuned to notes of rejoicing with him. He has a story to tell, but not in any precise, common, methodical way. He is a soul ransomed through the merits of Jesus Christ, and his whole being is thrilled with the realization of the salvation of God.
Others are brought to Christ in a more gentle way. Men who have been dead in trespasses and sins, become convicted and converted under the operations of the Spirit. The thoughtless and wayward become serious. The hardened repent of their sins, and the faithless believe. The gambler, the drunkard, the licentious, become steady, sober, and pure. The rebellious and obstinate become meek and Christlike.
When we see these changes in the character, we may be assured that the converting power of God has transformed the entire man. We saw not the Holy Spirit, but we saw the evidence of its working in the changed character of those who were hardened and obdurate sinners.
The Holy Spirit moves upon the inner self until it becomes conscious of the divine power of God, and every spiritual faculty is quickened to decided action. A deep and thorough work is wrought in the soul, which the world can not see. Those who know not what it is to have an experience in the things of God, who know not what it is to be justified by faith, who have not the witness of the Spirit that they are accepted of Jesus Christ, are in need of being born again.
Only by Experience
What can the world know of Christian experience? Verily, nothing! "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." The great Teacher explained this instruction by saying, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Those who not only hear but do the words of Christ, make manifest in their character the internal operations of the Holy Spirit. The result is demonstrated in the outward conduct.
If one who daily communes with God errs from the path, if he turns for a moment from looking steadfastly7to Jesus, it is not because he sins wilfully; for when he sees his mistake, he fastens his eyes again upon Jesus; and the fact that he has erred does not make him less dear to the heart of God. When reproved for his mistake, he learns a lesson from the words of his Saviour, turns the mistake into a victory, and takes heed that he be not again deceived.
The Christian can not serve the world, or yield to the claims of any power, relation, or society that will make him deny Christ, dishonor God, or prove disloyal to His holy law. The Christian is to surrender himself unreservedly to God as His purchased possession.
The life of the Christian is hid with Christ in God; and God acknowledges those who are His, declaring, "Ye are My witnesses." They testify that divine power is influencing their hearts and shaping their conduct. Their works give evidence that the Spirit is moving upon the inward man, so that those who are associated with them are convinced that they are making Christ their pattern. Those who truly love God have the internal evidence that they are beloved of God. They have communion with Christ, and their hearts are warmed with fervent love toward Him. God claims them for Himself, and will impart to them special favors, enabling them to be complete in Christ, more than conquerors through Him who has loved them.
The Holy Spirit—How Received
By Editor
By the Editor
SURELY, it is important, infinitely so, that every child of God should have the Holy Spirit, the great eternal life of the universe; for "if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."
It is infinitely important that human, finite, ever failing, ever fruitless weakness should be supplemented by divine life and power in the work of overcoming sin and of building eternal character.
It is of infinite importance that the worker for God should be Spirit-filled and Spirit-panoplied, in order that he may successfully fight his Lord's battles and win souls for Christ. How may that Spirit be obtained?—Simply by asking. Listen to the assurance of the Master:
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
"And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT to them that ASK HIM?" Luke 11:9-13.
What striking figures God uses to show His willingness! It is a hard-hearted father who will not feed a hungry son if that father have the bread. It is a cruel father who would mock and tantalize his son by offering that son a stone instead of bread, a serpent instead of fish, a scorpion instead of an egg. God is infinitely better than man. He is willing and waiting to bestow His Spirit.
How Shall We Ask?
"But," says one, "I ask again and again, but no response comes, and I am as weak as ever." Granted. Perhaps you do not ask aright. Let us study for a little time how we should ask that we may receive.
1. We should ask in humility. That is the first step in true asking. It must always be. Humility is a proper estimate and opinion of one's self, of one's unworthiness, littleness, weakness, nothingness. God reveals it. We admit it all. We are "poor in spirit;" we have no righteousness, no worthiness, to plead. We are sick, and need healing. We are poor, and need riches. We are clothed with rags or naked, and we need clothing. We are blind, and need sight; sinful, and need righteousness. We have but two mighty arguments to make, God's goodness and our need. And so all we need, in Him to find, we come. Will He turn us away? Nay. It is His message, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." "Saith Jehovah: But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My Word." Once more: He who dwells in "the high and holy place" declares, "I dwell . . . with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite."
Ask in true humility, and thy prayer will be heard.
2. Ask in self-emptying, self-abnegation, self-denial. Says Jesus, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Matt. 16:24. Even so Christ sought: Therefore, "have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant; . . . wherefore also God highly exalted Him." Phil. 2:5-9. There are thousands who would receive the Spirit of God, but their ambitions stand in the way. They desire power, influence, greatness. They are not willing to give all up to God and trust Him for the future. Ask, seek, as did Jesus, and let God do the exalting. "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared." Heb. 5:7.
3. Ask in constant self-surrender. God's Spirit always works with God's will, with God's law. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." Prov. 28:9. But "if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of Him." 1 John 5:14, 15. "And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 John 3:22. Even so Jesus sought God: "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; remove this cup from Me; howbeit not what I will, but what Thou wilt." Mark 14:36. And the prayer was answered. God saves us for service. His Spirit is given for service. But He can neither fit for service nor sustain in service those who are not surrendered, and devoted to His service.
The Name of Jesus
4. Ask in the name of Jesus. "And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My Name, that will I do. If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." John 14:13-17. See also John 15:16. This does not mean the mere word "Jesus," but what Jesus stands for. It means the self-emptying, the self-denial, the self-abnegation, the self-effacement, that God might use Him to save others. "Thou shalt call His name JESUS; for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21. For that service He was fitted by His self-emptying and God's filling Him with the Spirit. Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38. Ask in His Name.
5. Ask in faith. "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And whatsoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11:24, 25. There can be no true faith in God's promises based on an unforgiving heart or a heart which holds hardness against a fellow man. Faith is based on God's Word, not on human creed or statement. Rom. 10:17. Faith accepts God's Word as to man's needs, man's duty; God's Word as to God's precepts, promises, power. It is a spurious faith which ignores God's Word. It is a spurious faith which believes God's promises and rejects His precepts. It is an unworthy faith which would accept the crown and reject the cross. It is a faith not current at the court of Heaven that wants forgiveness of sin and goes on in the sinning. Faith lays hold on God to submit to God's conditions, to do God's will, to believe God's promises, to follow where the Master leads. That is faith. Ask in that faith, and it will ever meet response. "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be My disciples." John 15:7, 8.
These are God's conditions on which His Holy Spirit is granted. They are all one, parts of one cord, intertwined and interlaced. There is no true comprehensive asking which does not embrace them all; and the loyal heart will desire to make them all his own.
Soul, ask according to God's will, and His Spirit will be given; then His whole service will be a delight, because the love of God is "shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us." Rom. 5:5. Then His law will be our delight, His Word our comfort and guide, His work a constant joy and blessing. "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."
Our Bible Reading
The Outpouring of the Spirit
1. What promise did Jesus make to His disciples before His death?
"If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and HE SHALL GIVE YOU ANOTHER COMFORTER, that He [the Father, see verse 23] may abide with you forever." John 14:15, 16.
2. Who is this Comforter that should be given?
"Even THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." John 14:17.
3. What was necessary that the Spirit might come?
"It is EXPEDIENT for YOU that I go away; for if I go NOT away, the COMFORTER will NOT come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." John 16:7.
4. What would be the work of the Spirit?
"And when He is come, He will REPROVE the world of SIN, and of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and of JUDGMENT: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." John 16:8-11.
5. What would be the work of the Spirit in the church?
"He shall TEACH you ALL THINGS, and bring all things to your REMEMBRANCE, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26.
6. In what will the Spirit be the guide?
"When He, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, is come, He will guide you into all TRUTH." John 16:13.
7. What is the truth into which Christ has promised we shall be guided?
"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth." John 17:17.
8. In this guiding, of whom will the Spirit not speak?
"He shall NOT speak of HIMSELF." John 16:13.
9. Of whom will the Spirit testify? whose words will the Spirit speak? whom will the Spirit glorify?
"The SPIRIT OF TRUTH, which proceedeth from the FATHER, He shall TESTIFY OF ME." John 15:26.
"Whatsoever He shall HEAR, that shall HE SPEAK: and He will SHOW YOU THINGS to COME. He shall GLORIFY ME: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you." John 16:13, 14.
10. How close will be His relationship to believers?
"HE DWELLETH WITH YOU, and shall be IN YOU." John 14:17.
"Which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory." Col. 1:27.
"If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and WE WILL COME unto him, and make OUR ABODE WITH HIM." John 14:23.
11. What did Jesus impart to His disciples after His resurrection?
"He BREATHED on them, and saith unto them, RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST." John 20:22.
12. Had they yet received the Spirit in its fulness?
"He charged them NOT to depart from JERUSALEM, but to WAIT for the PROMISE of the FATHER, which, said He, ye have heard from Me: for John indeed baptized with water; but YE shall be BAPTIZED in the HOLY SPIRIT not many days hence." Acts 1:3-5.
13. What would the Spirit give them?
"But ye shall receive POWER, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you." Acts 1:8.
14. What would the Spirit enable them to do?
"And ye shall be My WITNESSES both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8.
"Peace be with you." "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."
15. In what condition did the Day of Pentecost find the disciples ten days after His ascension?
"When the Day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together [with one accord, A. V.] in one place." Acts 2:1.
16. What remarkable experience and manifestation followed?
"And suddenly there came from heaven a SOUND as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and IT filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all FILLED with the HOLY SPIRIT, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:2-4.
17. What did Peter declare this to be?
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will POUR OUT of MY SPIRIT upon ALL FLESH: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will POUR OUT in those days of MY SPIRIT; and they shall prophesy." Acts 2:16-18.
18. What does Joel call this outpouring of blessings?
"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the FORMER RAIN moderately [according to righteousness, margin], and He will cause to come down for you the RAIN, the FORMER RAIN, AND THE LATTER RAIN in the first month [at the first]." Joel 2:23. See also A.R.V.
NOTE.—The "former rain" of Palestine fell upon the dry soil at the close of the year. It softened and prepared it for cultivation, seed-sowing, and the starting of the crops. Following the abundant rains came occasional showers, till just before the harvest, when the latter rains fell to insure abundant crops, and fill out the grain for abundant harvest. So in the Christian dispensation (for Joel is a prophecy of these times, as Peter shows), we have "the early rain" in the apostolic days, and "the latter rain" will fall in the close of the Christian dispensation. As God's people turn to Him and seek His righteousness, He will pour out the latter rain as at the first. In the latter days He will give both the former and the latter rain, with all its blessed fruits foretold in Joel and recorded in part in Acts. Compare Joel 2:28-31 with Acts 2:16-21.
19. How does James predict this outpouring for the last days?
"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the COMING OF THE LORD. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the EARLY AND LATTER RAIN. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH." James 5:7, 8.
20. What promise does God give through one of His prophets?
"For I will POUR WATER upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will POUR MY SPIRIT upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses." Isa. 44:3, 4.
21. What will the Spirit do for the penitent child of God?
"A NEW HEART also will I give you, and a NEW SPIRIT will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put MY SPIRIT within you, and cause you to walk in MY STATUTES, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." Eze. 36:26-28.
22. Into what relationship with God's law will that Spirit bring one?
"I will put MY LAWS into their mind, and write them in their HEARTS." Heb. 8:10.
23. What does God enjoin upon us? and how willing is He to give His Spirit?
"And I say unto you, ASK, and it shall be GIVEN you; SEEK, and ye shall FIND: KNOCK, and it shall be OPENED unto you. . . . If YE THEN, BEING EVIL, know how to give GOOD GIFTS unto your children: how MUCH MORE shall your HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT to them that ask Him?" Luke 11:9-13.9
24. What will the Spirit bring into the heart?
"The LOVE OF GOD is shed abroad in our hearts by the HOLY SPIRIT which is given unto us." Rom. 5:5.
25. How will this love be manifested?
"This is the LOVE OF GOD, THAT WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS: and His commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3.
26. How will His Spirit through His Word affect His church?
"That He might SANCTIFY AND CLEANSE it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might PRESENT it to HIMSELF A GLORIOUS CHURCH, NOT having SPOT, or WRINKLE, or any such thing; but that it should be HOLY AND WITHOUT BLEMISH." Eph. 5:26, 27.
27. What will then characterize His church?
"So that ye COME BEHIND IN NO GIFT; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 1:7.
28. Will His Spirit-filled children then be affected by worldly environment and influences?
"I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall GROW AS THE LILY, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall REVIVE AS THE CORN, and GROW AS THE VINE: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." Hosea 14:5-7.
Changing the Constitution
By Editor
There are so few true conservative-of-the-good utterances in these days, that it is worth while to note them, and send them on for others to consider. One of these is from former Governor Henry T. Gage of California, the newly appointed minister to Portugal. He is quoted as saying:
"There are many principles in government which should never be changed. There is no more necessity now for changing the Constitution of the United States than there is cause to change the multiplication table every time people desire to work a new problem in arithmetic, or cause to reform the Lord's prayer because of its ancient origin. There are too many laws. The country to-day is being overburdened with new laws. We need greater stability in law and its more perfect enforcement. There are too many reckless and bulging changes made in our laws every time our Legislature convenes. No amendment to the old alphabet will ever improve it or be needed for the people either to spell justice or to do justice, and the fewer the changes made in the principles of our constitutional government the better for the preservation of the rights and happiness of the American people. Ought the Bible to be amended in order to suit the ways of the modern sinner, or should the sinner be reformed to abide by its grand precepts? Let the Constitution of the United States alone, and for the good of the country let a lot of the political sinners that would needlessly amend our national creed, to suit their own notions of themselves, be made the subject of reformation."
And these remarks have a good deal broader application than in a political sense. The principles are just as apt regarding God's great constitution, the Decalogue.
Catholic Vote and the Republican Party
By Editor
The Roman Catholic "Western Watchman" predicts in a strong editorial the handwriting on the wall to the Republican party. It has been felt by many who have given attention to the matter, that the Republican party came into power largely because the Roman Catholic vote was swung their way. If we are to take the Western Watchman editorial as representative of Catholic feeling, it certainly looks as tho it would be swung to the other side if the policy of that church seemed to demand it.
The Personality of the Holy Spirit
THE wonderful, blessed grace of the Holy Spirit is that it makes God present with the believer, wherever he may be, or howsoever many he may be. In His incarnation Jesus could be present in only one place at a time. His disciples did not have the faith to grasp that His power reached beyond His personal presence. "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died," was an expression of their general faith. The Roman centurion who declared that he was unworthy that Jesus should come under his roof, to heal his servant,—nor was it necessary, if Jesus should come, He had but to speak the word,—grasped the larger thought which was yet dark to the disciples. Therefore it was "expedient," necessary, for the faith of the disciples, that Jesus in His human, bodily presence should go away.
But Jesus did not leave them alone. His promise was, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come unto you." Again, "If a man love Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We [the Father and the Son] will come unto him, and make Our abode with him." How this is accomplished is thus stated: "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He [the Father] may abide with you forever." Therefore no one ever saw a person of the Holy Spirit. That Spirit witnesses of Christ, and takes of the things of Christ and declares them to the believer. (For the above quotations and references, see John 14, 15, 16.)
The Spirit, the great life of God, through Jesus Christ has the power of making personally present both the Father and the Son; and this as literally to each believing soul though worlds apart. Man has a faint illustration of this wonderful truth in the wireless telephone and telegraph. These instruments make the voice or the message of the speaker or sender, everywhere present as far as its power extends. By His Spirit God becomes everywhere present in His universe, and especially so to the hearts of His children who are in perfect harmony with Him.
PSALMS 1 to 17 are not in direct chronological order with Deuteronomy, nor do we place them there because they have direct connection with our readings heretofore. They were probably all of them written by David; yet they are not the songs of David alone, but they are inspired songs which God has given to His children. It is proper to sing them and study them at all times; and it seemed good after we had covered the first five books of Moses, and that other book, the wonderful book of Job, which revealed so much of God's goodness in patriarchal times, to turn for a little while to the great treasure-house of God in the Psalms. The readings we have already gone over will emphasize the wonderful truth of His great Fatherhood; and the first book of the Psalms—for the Hebrew divided them into five different books—will help to impress upon the hearts of our Bible Band the great spiritual truths which we have already passed over. Why not learn half a dozen of these Psalms, more or less, as we go over them? The readings are not long, and some of the Psalms are very short. Let us suggest the memorizing of Psalms 1, 2, 8, 15; and let us, as we study His Word, learn by experience, as did the psalmist, "Concerning the works of men, by the Word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer."
The Passing of the Puritan
The "Western Watchman," Roman Catholic, referring to the election of Mr. J. F. Fitzgerald as mayor of Boston, declares: "This event marks the passing of the Puritan. We told them nearly fifty years ago that if they did not give up raising poodles and beget babies the Irish Catholic immigrant would soon turn them out of house and home. Boston is now the most Catholic city in the United States."
Investigation of the Express Companies
Some of the great express companies' officials have been undergoing examination by the officers of the United States Government. They have been asked to explain regarding their business; and it has been learned, for instance, that the Wells Fargo Company had made an average net profit of two million dollars a year for a great many years, and had accumulated thirty million dollars of surplus which only recently had been distributed to the stockholders. The question was pressed home why this vast amount of surplus had been kept all these years instead of dividing it among the stockholders; how much of it had been used for the purpose of speculating in stocks or corrupting legislators.
Moses’ Forty Years in Midian
MEN have endeavored to picture the earthly end of this wonderful man in poetry; and yet it seems to us that the simple inspired record can do him justice. What a grand, luminous character is revealed in him, limned against the blackness of the surrounding idolatry of the ages before him! He was a mighty man when he went down into the land of Midian, but he was mighty only in the learning and the wisdom of this world; after the forty years' schooling with God alone in the desert he is fitted to lead a people out from bondage into the land of freedom. What patience, what wisdom, what tender solicitude, what earnest devotion, what constant self-sacrifice, were revealed through all those forty years! To us he seems to stand out the one great figure of the ages, second only to Him whom even he feebly typified, the Lord Jesus Christ. What wonderful lessons God has given to the world through him, and what marvelous civilizations have followed the Book to the molding of which he under God contributed so much!
Aluminum and Electricity
In 1828 aluminum was first seen by human eyes. In a very costly laboratory experiment it was produced in a pure state. It was found to be a wonderful metal, very strong, yet so light that a cubic foot of it weighed less than 160 pounds, while a cubic foot of copper weighs 550 pounds. It retailed in those days for $300 a pound; to-day by the use of electricity the tiny atoms of this material are gathered out and made marketable for thirty-five cents a pound. Electricity has made all this possible; while on the other hand aluminum has greatly aided electricity, ranking next to copper as the most desirable metal in the manufacture of electrical machinery and electrical apparatus. It will be in the future one of the great aids to the housewife. Nearly all of her culinary utensils will be made doubtless of aluminum.
Deuteronomy and the First Psalms
OUR reading for this week closes Deuteronomy, chapters 22 to 34, and includes the first seventeen Psalms. In Deuteronomy the same instruction from the man of God continues, solemn, hopeful, cheering, earnest, and yet pointing out the awful responsibilities and fearful curses of transgression. These are especially emphasized in chapters 27 and 28. In chapters 32 and 33 many blessed truths of God and prophecies of the tribes are enshrined in songs, which the people were taught to sing through all after time, recalling God's mercy and goodness, and setting forth the importance of sacred song among His children. The last chapter records the death of Moses; probably written by Joshua, the son of Nun.
