p. 10 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 5. (1/30/1907)

MIRACLES, MARVELS, AND MYSTERIES. IV.

By William Samuel Sadler

The Miraculous Element of the Bible.

WE find, then, that life and energy are manifested in four distinct realms. Let us enumerate and briefly consider them.

1. The Realm of Matter.—In the mineral kingdom, we find the workings of that mysterious and universal power, gravitation. We are baffled in our study of the mysteries of chemical affinity, molecular attraction, light, heat, electricity, radio-activity, etc. These manifestations of energy, while diverse, are all found to have much in common, which fact bespeaks a common origin, a single source. For instance, light, heat, and electricity are regarded as practically the same, simply diverse manifestations of the same principles of molecular vibration.

2. The Realm of Botany.—The vegetable kingdom is another great channel of life proceeding from the throne of God. There is that wonderful intelligence, that mysterious selection shown by plant life, which can not be explained by any hypothesis that ignores the mystery of life. But it must not be forgotten that the vegetable life is limited to the vegetable channel. It operates in no sphere either above or below the botanical realm. True, it is life, but it is equally true that it is vegetable life.

3. The Realm of Zoology.—In the animal kingdom we find another life; we might rightly say a higher life, embracing all the wonderful and vital activities of the life

found in the vegetable kingdom, but, in addition, exhibiting the mysteries of mind. The animal can think and feel. It has a central nervous system, with branches to every part of its being. This is another distinct and separate channel of life proceeding from the great Life-giver. True, its source is common to all other forms of life and energy; and true, it is life in common with vegetable or cell life, but in differentiation from the vegetable, it is animal life,—thinking, willing, and acting.

True, these lives and energy are one in source and origin. Their difference, so far as man knows, consists in two important features; namely, (a) The different and distinct channels thru which they are distributed; (b) The laws governing, and the conditions determining, life are distinct for each realm.

4. The Realm of Morals.—The kingdom of heaven presents to our view another channel, another stream of life, flowing from the great Fountainhead. While the life of a Christian man embraces all the marvels of botany and the mysteries of zoology, it likewise reveals the "mystery of Godliness,"—"Christ in you, the hope of glory." And this kingdom of heaven is a separate and distinct channel of life from animal life. The life of the animal is secured by natural birth; but the heavenly life, the spiritual life, is obtained by the supernatural, the "new birth."

By right of natural birth, man is reckoned in the animal kingdom; but, said the Lord of heaven and earth, Ye must be born again, or ye can not see the kingdom of heaven.

Matter, since its creation, has exhibited its energy in the form of gravitation, heat, light, electricity, etc., according to the laws ordained for its conduct. Plant life, likewise, has continued on, perpetuating itself by the law of life implanted in the seed. The animal world, also, has existed according to the laws governing that channel of life, while to obtain the spiritual life, mankind must be "born again,"—become subject to the higher laws of life and love, governing and controlling the abundant life of the Eternal.

So, if we stand in the place of the world-scientist and the materialist, and look with the eye of the flesh from beneath up thru the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, and the animal kingdom, all will appear to be materialistic and physical; but if, with the eye of faith, having been translated out of darkness into light, we look from above, from the standpoint of an adopted child, in the realm of the heavenly life, looking down thru the animal kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, and the mineral kingdom, we see all from the standpoint of the spiritual; we see Christ holding all things together by the "word of His power," and God, the One who is "all, and in all," the Maker and Upholder, the Personal Guide and Protector of all the manifold and mysterious and infinite operations of the vast, created universe.

W. S. SADLER, M.D.

SOULS WANTED.

By J. G. Holland

AND heaven wants souls—fresh and capacious souls; To taste its raptures, and expand like flowers, Beneath the glory of its central sun. It wants fresh souls,—not lean and shriveled ones; It wants fresh souls, my brother,—give it thine. —J. G. Holland.

God Sent His Son

"For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world thru Him might be saved." John 3:17.

IS IT A CHRISTIAN MEASURE?

By Abdiel

THE Sunday-law amendment proposition to be laid before California’s Legislature, and for which petitions are now being asked, is, in its very nature, unchristian. As Christians we protest against its passage.

I do not in this refer to the question of days. I will not open the controversy as to whether the seventh day or the first day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God, and obligatory upon every soul. That is a matter purely religious, to be decided by every soul; and with that soul, conscience, the Bible, and God must guide, even as the soul must meet the record in the day of judgment. Whether the first day of the week is wrong or right does not affect this question before the Legislature. If it be the true Sabbath for which law is demanded, they have no business to legislate upon it, for it does not need it, and it is a religious question. If it be a spurious sabbath, they have no right to legislate upon it, as it is also a religious question, and no amount of law can make truth error. No civil tribunal has the right to decide between the divergent religious beliefs of its subjects; in other words, it has no right to assume the judgment seat of God. It is unchristian.

Civil Can Not Enforce Spiritual.

It is not Christian to ask State aid that any religious institution may be "promoted," "protected," "fostered," "preserved," or its "desecration" prevented by civil law. Christ’s work is spiritual. Christianity is a life, not an outward form. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. John 4:24. His "law is spiritual." Rom. 7:14. Only those who have the Spirit of Christ can observe the spiritual law. Rom. 8:4. That the Gospel may be effectual in man, it must be received through faith. Rom. 1:16. The power in His Word is His Spirit. Acts 1:8. The method is that of teaching and moral suasion. 2 Cor. 5:11. "We persuade men." The weapons are "not carnal," but spiritual and mighty. 2 Cor. 10:4. The motive forces in performing duty are faith and love. In this realm, civil law can only make hypocrites, and persecute those who are honest enough and brave enough to follow conscience and God rather than men.

God or Cæsar.

When the sticklers for Church-and-State union came to Christ, and asked, "Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar or not?" the Master replied by saying, "Show Me the tribute money." They brought a denarius, a Roman coin. He asked, "Whose image and superscription hath it?" and they reply, "Cæsar’s." And He responds, "Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s." See Matt. 22:15-21; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-25. "Whose image and superscription" hath the Sabbath? It is God’s. Render it therefore to Him, not to Cæsar. Cæsar—civil government—has naught to do with it.

“Judge Him Not.”

He who sets himself up to decide religious controversies, and place men under condemnation in consequence, exalts himself above Christ and usurps the place of the final judge. Said Jesus:

"If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:47, 48.

Christianity, in the words of Jesus Christ, grants to every soul the right to believe or NOT to believe, answerable to no tribunal but that of God in the last day.

The Church Needs No Aid.

We protest against this mixing of politics with religious dogma, and enforcing religious dogma at the demand of the church. God espoused the church "as a chaste virgin to Christ." She takes His name and character. From Him she receives "all power" to do her work. See Rom. 7:4; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:31, 32. When the church turns from Christ to seek the influence and power of civil government to aid in her work instead of the promised "all power" of Jesus Christ, her lawful Spouse, she becomes guilty of fornication. James 4:4; Rev. 18:3. But this very thing the church is doing in asking support for a church institution. Would God she might return to the Husband of her youth! She would find in Him more power for righteousness than all the parliaments of earth could give.

“Not of This World.”

Jesus Christ said, when charged with treason against the Roman government: "My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence, . . . I am a King. . . . For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." John 18:36, 37.

The ultimate enforcement of civil law demands the sword; not so the kingdom of Christ. Peter thought so. There are many Peters who still think so. Jesus says to each and all: "Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Matt. 26:52. Fighting with carnal weapons may bring temporal deliverance; leaving it with God brings from the very grave eternal life and victory.

Force Versus Persuasion.

Civil law is operative among sinful men, and must often resort to force to maintain civil government. Its ambassadors are clothed with the authority and physical force of their government to "make good" its demands. Not so with Christ’s cause. "Preach the Word!" There is no other way. "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." "We pray you in Christ’s stead be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 5:11, 20. "Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand." 2 Cor. 1:24. "Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." 1 Peter 5:3. "What have I to judge them also that are without?" "Them that are without [outside the church] God judgeth." 1 Cor. 5:12, 13. The Sunday law is not of persuasion, but of force, and is therefore anti-Christian.

The Golden Rule.

For the Christian’s, and therefore the church’s, conduct between man and man, Jesus has given us the Golden Rule: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12.

If we were in China where no day is observed and idols are worshiped, we would not for a moment admit the right of the Chinese to compel us to work or coerce us into worshiping idols. We would that he should let us observe unmolested our own revered day and worship the one God as we desired. "Do ye even so to them." Would they worship their own gods?—The Golden Rule demands that you should let them. Would they work upon your "holy" day?—The Golden Rule declares that their work shall be allowed. Would you that men grant you fullest religious liberty?—"Do ye even so to them." The Sunday law is not in harmony with the Golden Rule of Christ; therefore it is not Christian, but anti-Christian.

As Christians we protest against all Sunday or Sabbath legislation, because it is unchristian. California has the enviable and proud distinction of being the one great State that has expunged from her statute book the Sunday law, and wiped from her escutcheon this blot of the Dark Ages, this relic of Puritan Blue Laws. Let men in their ignorance call liberty license because it will not bind others to the chariot wheels of intolerant creeds, but let not Californians yield to such clamor. Whatever lust or greed has done, let not religious legislation dim the grand luster of the Golden State. Let her not bind about her fair neck a yoke to which is attached the chains of endless strifes and persecutions. Let California remain free for men and women of every religion and creed, and let the best win by its own innate worth. In perfect freedom and fairness the fittest will survive; and with the Arbiter of all, men may safely leave results.

BETHEL.

By Helen Maud Merrill-Phelps

So VAST the space from heaven above To sinful earth, We marvel what can span And stretch a saving bridge across To erring man,— It is the grace of Christ to me, It is my simple faith in Thee.

And as o'er mountains cold and steep The Master sought His wandering sheep, So now to-day He seeks me still, Forgives the flesh and takes the will, And by the grace of Christ to me, Accepts my simple faith in Thee.

Judge not, O thou who judgest, for God is thy Judge; do thou the law. Seek not the mote, the beam is nigh, For all have sinned beneath the sky. Stretch, still, that blessed Bridge of Light, From mansions fair to Egypt's night; At Bethel send Thy grace to me, By which my faith may rise to Thee.

HELEN MAUD MERRILL-PHELPS.

Christ Came to Save

By Jesus Christ

“If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”—Jesus Christ.

THE SUPREMACY OF THE PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN WORD.

By W. A. Alway

Two Classes.

TO-DAY, as in all past ages, there is an important issue dividing Christendom into two distinct classes, tho not necessarily along specific church lines. Nevertheless it is an issue so clear and vital, and exerting so important an influence on the decision of all religious questions that the respective representatives of these classes can not long travel the same pathway. I refer to the position accorded the previously-written word of God by its avowed friends.

One class gives to the Bible the place of undisputed supremacy. To them its utterances are authoritative and conclusive, and by its standard all church discipline, spiritual gifts, and the utterances of its ordained representatives are tested.

The other class is composed of all those who, while admitting the sacred character of the Scriptures, have for various reasons given them a secondary position, and have made supreme their own personal judgment, or the supposedly infallible decisions of church councils and popes, or the unquestioned authority of an earthly priesthood, perpetuated by a fleshly succession from some other human being believed to have been heaven-appointed.

The testimony of the ancient prophet of God states an important truth affirming the impotency of man to successfully direct his own feet in the way of life. Jer. 10:23: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” “He,” therefore, “that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Prov. 28:26); for “there is a way that seemeth* right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Since man can not be guided by any resource within himself, it must necessarily follow that He who has thus created man must also provide a standard outside, and independent of man’s own wisdom, desires, impulses, and passions, to which in safety to his own soul he must yield implicit submission.

The psalmist in pursuance of this same thought says: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” Note the inspired reply. It is not by consulting his own highest conception of right, nor yet his emotions or desires; neither is he recommended to follow the highest standard of the cultured age in which he lives; but he cleanses his way “by taking heed thereto according to Thy word.” Ps. 119:9. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Verse 105.

The Word Recorded for Future Generations.

Much of the Scriptures, perhaps the greatest portion of them, were prophetic in their character, and had specific application, not alone or mainly to the generation in which it was written, but to the peoples who were to live in the distant future. They outlived future events and revealed the dangers and deceptions that were to be avoided by God’s faithful children. Thus to the king of Babylon it was declared that the vision was given to make known “what shall be in the latter days.” Dan. 2:28. The vision of the eighth chapter was stated by the angel Gabriel to apply to the time of the end, and Daniel himself was commanded to seal up the vision “to the time of the end.” Dan. 12:4.

The apostle Paul confirms this vital truth by the sweeping declaration that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we thru patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4); and we are admonished to give heed to these ancient writings “as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn.” 2 Peter 1:19.

Speaking by the Holy Spirit, Stephen declared that the ancient fathers had “received the lively oracles” from God, not to be superseded by more modern commands, but to be preserved and delivered unto us—the church. Acts 7:38. Paul testifies that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God,” and is not to become a dead letter, obsolete in the practise of the church; but is to continue to be a living authoritative standard of doctrine, profitable for “instruction in righteousness.” 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 4:1, 2.

After quoting several verses from the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, Peter, so far from affirming its obsolete character, testifies that it lived still and would abide forever. 1 Peter 1:23-25. W. A. ALWAY.

[The concluding part of this article will be published next week. It will deal with “Christ and the Previously Written Word.”]

OURS TO MAKE THEM THINE.

By Alfred Lord Tennyson

STRONG Son of God, immortal Love Whom we, that have not seen Thy face, By faith and faith alone embrace, Believing where we can not prove.

Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou madest life in man and brute; Thou madest death; and lo, Thy foot Is on the skull which Thou hast made.

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust, Thou madest man he knows not why; He thinks he was not made to die, And thou hast made him; Thou art just.

Thou seemest human and divine, The highest, holiest manhood, Thou; Our wills are ours, we know not how; Our wills are ours to make them Thine. —Tennyson.

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

By Jesus

"My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight; . . . but now is My kingdom not from hence."

Persuading Men

“Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we PERSUADE men.”—Paul.

Religious Freedom and Free Speech

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”—U. S. Constitution.

NOT A CALIFORNIA NEED.

By William Newton Glenn

(By the late William Newton Glenn, written a few days before his death, Dec. 1, 1906.)

I N a recent sermon, a Fresno clergyman gave utterance to the following sentiment:

"One of California's greatest needs to-day is a Sunday law. We need it to save the commonwealth from utter moral decay, if not overthrow. Witness the awful moral condition of her chief metropolis. Corruption and crime rampant, moral senses dead, and the whole State under the blight of the curse. But aside from this general need, the man most interested in a rest day is the man who toils. He needs it, as we have already seen, for the same reason that every other man needs it, and for this additional reason: That he may recuperate his wasted physical energies, that his life of service may be prolonged to himself and to the State. The commonwealth of California owes it to itself to enact a law that will guarantee to every man one day's rest in seven, that the best interests of the State may be conserved. How may such a law be secured? Largely, as it seems to me, through two channels—the Church and the Labor unions, not ignoring, of course, or making secondary the newspapers and the influence of the general public."

As to the "awful moral condition" of California's "chief metropolis," we ask, What about the moral condition of great cities where there are Sunday laws? There is nothing in San Francisco, even in this most unsavory time, that has not been experienced in Chicago. That city has experienced its great upheavals of crime—social and political—that stirred its people from center to circumference. At times they have arisen and attempted to throw off the spell, and to this end evil-doers have been punished, and crime has been compelled to hide its head for a moment. They have a Sunday law in Illinois, but whatever of reform has been periodically enforced has been by vigorous application of civil law, rather than through the influence of the Sunday law. Has the Sunday law done for Chicago what it is claimed such a law will do for San Francisco? —Hardly. What has it done? A few years ago it put some honest, industrious, Christian men in prison for doing innocent work in the country on Sunday, and that in spite of an exemption clause; but we have no evidence that moral conditions are generally any better throughout Illinois than in California.

And what of New York and Pittsburg with their strenuous Sunday law? The greater part of the laboring men in California do not now work on Sunday, and no one can compel any to work; yet complaint is made by certain zealous classes because they choose to take recreation in their own way. The pleasure excursion is a common mode of diversion; also hunting and fishing in the seasons for such pastimes; and many people go to church. It is not enough, however, that men do not work. Altho the plea of needed rest and recreation is made the pretext for a general Sunday law, that is not what is wanted. The men who are urging such a law want also to stop the recreation. They have not enough of the Spirit in their churches to draw the people as they would like, and it is desired to make conditions such that the people will not have anything else they can do to while away the idle hours.

Nor would the votaries of a Sunday law be satisfied with their own plea for a statute "that will guarantee to every one one day's rest in seven," unless that rest be on Sunday. However much they pretend to believe such a law necessary, not one of them would agree to such a general rest day on Monday or Wednesday, or on any other day but Sunday. The rest is not the point with them, notwithstanding the pretense to that effect. The aim is to compel everybody to observe Sunday. This is proved at every turn of the wheel.

But, according to sentiment quoted at the beginning of this article, the hope of the Church in this matter is hanging largely on the cooperation of the labor unions. This is another case of the Church yoking up with an institution of the world in order to have its tenets enforced upon those who do not accept them willingly. The labor unions will not federate with the Church unless those churchmen who make the bargain concede support to the principle of unionism and agree to maintain the union cause. The unions have a purpose in maintaining the Sunday-law clause, and it is not heart concern for the welfare of laboring men in general.

For the great majority of laborers are not in unions, excepting in the large cities. Union men would, of course, prefer to see this majority forced into the union if possible, in some cases even denying the privilege of work any day if they refused. By siding with the churchmen in this matter, these radical ones hope to secure for the non-union man the antagonism of the Church. And that is where the Church places herself when she federates with one of two antagonistic classes for any purpose whatever. The Church will hardly win the large non-union laboring class to Christ by confederating with their common enemy, nor will she gain the respect of the best union men. The laboring union forces must see in the Sunday law something advantageous to them in the labor struggle, or they would not throw their influence in that direction.

The Sunday law is not a friend to anyone; it is a delusion even to advocates. It is not one of California's needs in any sense. California's greatest need is men, honest, capable men, to execute the right laws in a right manner which she already has on her statute book, and which amply protect the one man in his recreation or labor, and the other in his worship, on all days.

A SONG IN THE TEMPEST.

I DREAMED I was lost on a mountain In a tempest fierce and wild, And I cried in my bitter anguish, “Hath the Father forgot His child, O, why am I left to wander Alone in the pitiless storm, While others bask in the sunshine So beautiful, bright, and warm?”

Then I heard sweet voices singing Afar on the mountain's brow, And the echo of that music Is with me even now, “Tho some must walk in the shadow While others dwell in the light, Yet the Father leadeth His children, And sunrise follows the night.”

I looked toward the mountain's summit, Lo! the first faint gleaming dawn. Still veiled in the mist the hillside, But the blackness of night was gone. The furious storm subsided, The light o'er my pathway shone, And I knew that a loving Father Was guiding me to my home.

But the day seemed long in coming, 'Twas a perilous road and drear. Then oft when my courage faltered Rose the echo sweet and clear, “Tho some must walk in the shadow While others dwell in the light, Yet the Father leadeth His children, And sunrise follows the night.”

And I scorned my dismal fancies And steadily pressed along, Cheering my weary footsteps With the memory of that song. Soon I reached my Father's threshold,— Lo! the radiance o'er me shone; Kind hands stretched forth in welcome, There were light and joy at home.

'Twas a dream. I awoke and the sunrise Illumined both field and glen; Still lingered the low, sweet echo, It floats to me oft as then, “Tho some must walk in the shadow While others dwell in the light, Yet the Father leadeth His children, And sunrise follows the night.” —Selected.

Religion and Government

By James Madison

Religion is not in the purview of human government. Religion is essentially distinct from government and exempt from its cognizance. A connection between them is injurious to both.—James Madison.

Genius and Free Institutions

By Edward Everett

THE greatest efforts of human genius have been made where the nearest approach to free institutions has taken place.—Edward Everett.

THE FOOLISH ONES.

THEY tell us that when ostriches are hunted in Africa, they always afford to the hunter a good and long day's sport. The ostrich can outrun the fleetest race horse. But that bird, too, becomes exhausted. After he has left horse after horse far in the rear, after the rider in succeeding mounts finally overtakes him, in his exhaustion he buries his head in the sand and feels secure.

So man, pursued by the evils of time and the fears of eternity, the evils that reason conjures, and the evils that faith dreads, runs madly away from them, until, in sheer exhaustion, he buries his head in the ground; buries his thoughts, buries his reason, in the things of earth, in the interests of time—and then fancies himself secure. Men have run this rapid course of life; like this poor, irrational bird, they flee from the shadow of every danger, run from every fancied enemy; and when surrounded by evils, without hope of escape, bury their minds in the ground, bury their reason in the earth, and think they are secure.

The man that does not fear God is a man that buries his reason. The Preacher of old said, "The fear of God is the root of wisdom; the fear of God is the fulness of reason." The men who have feared God in every age have been the reasoning men, the wise men. The men who have not feared God have been the fools. Our Saviour has called the man who had succeeded in all his worldly enterprises, and had forgotten his God, a fool. "Fool," He says, "dost thou not know that this night thy soul will be demanded of thee? Then whose will all these things be?"—Western Watchman.

LET IT GO.

By Anna Robertson Brown

We may let go discontent. In all the eternal years there is no word of murmur from any restless heart. In its vast silences how trivial would sound the complainings of our harassed days! In its great songs of praise how our frettings would be overborne!

In life one thing makes for discontent. It is lack of harmony with one's environment. A congenial environment is not one of the essentials of life; present opportunities, if rightly used, are as great as the soul may ask. Which of us can sit down at the close of a day and say, "To-day I have done all that was in my power to do for humanity and righteousness"? Ah, no! We look for large things, and forget that which is close at hand! To take life "as God gives it, not as we want it," and then make the best of it, is the hard lesson that life puts before the human soul to learn.

One's environment may be very disagreeable. It may bring constant hurt of heart, mortification, tears, angry rebellion, and wounded pride, but there is a reason for that environment. To become strong, the soul must needs fight something, overcome something. It can not gain muscle on a bed of eider-down. A great part of the strength of life consists in the degree with which we get into harmony with our appointed environment. So long as we are at war with our town, our relatives, our family, our station, and our surroundings, so long will much of the force of our lives be spent uselessly, aimlessly. A good way to get into harmony with environment is to try to adapt ourselves to it as far as may be possible. Rather say, God put me here among these people, these opportunities, these duties. He is neither absent-minded nor incompetent. This is exactly the place where He means me to be; the place I am capable of filling. There is no mistake. I am in my proper setting now. The setting will change as I grow and grow forever.—Anna Robertson Brown.

IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION.

THERE is told a story of an old Scotchman, who, many years ago, was on his way to a meeting of the people of God held in a tent, or some such temporary structure.

The old pilgrim was poor and ill clad, and partly deaf; but he trusted in the Lord whom he served, and rejoiced in His kind providence. On his way to the meeting he fell in with another Christian brother, a younger man bound on the same errand, and they traveled on together.

When they had nearly reached the place of meeting, it was proposed that they should turn aside behind a hedge and have a little praying before they entered the meeting. They did so, and the old man, who had learned "in everything by prayer and supplication" to let his request be made known to God, presented his case in language like the following:

"Lord, Thou ken'st weel enough that I'm deaf, and I want a seat on the first bench if Thou canst let me have it, so that I can hear Thy word. And Thou seest that my toes are sticking thru my shoes, and I don't think it so much to Thy credit to have Thy children's toes sticking thru their shoes, and therefore I want, Thou knowest, a pair of new ones. And I have nae siller, and I want to stay there thru the meeting, and therefore I want that Thou shouldst get me a place to stay."

When the old man had finished his quaint petition, and they had started on, his younger brother gently suggested to him that he thought his prayer was rather free in its form of expression, and hardly as reverential as seemed proper to him in approaching the Supreme Being. But the old man did not accept the imputation of irreverence.

"He's my Father," he said, "and I am weel acquainted wi' Him, and He's weel acquainted wi' me, and I take great liberties wi' Him." So they went on to the meeting together.

The old man stood for awhile in the rear of the congregation, making an ear-trumpet of his hand to catch the words, until some one near the pulpit noticed him, and beckoning him forward, gave him a good seat upon the front bench. During the prayer the old man knelt down, and after he arose, a lady who had noticed his shoes said to him, "Are these the best shoes you have?"

"Yes," said he, "but I expect my Father will get me a new pair very sune."

"Come with me after the meeting," said the good lady, "and I will get you a new pair."

The service closed, and he went with her to her house.

"Shall you stay during the meeting?" said the good woman as they went along.

"I would, but I'm a stranger in the place, and I have nae siller."

"Well," said she, "you will be perfectly welcome to make your home at our house during the meeting."

The old man thanked the Lord that He had given him all the three things he had asked for; and while the younger brother's reverence for the Lord was right and proper, it is possible that he might have learned that there is a reverence that reaches higher than the forms and conventionalities of human taste, and which leads the believer to come boldly to the throne of grace to find all needed help in every trying hour.—Baptist Weekly.

INTEGRITY.

By The Christian Advocate

Moral.

THAT man is to be credited with moral integrity whose rule of life is to do nothing he believes to be sinful or vicious, and who, if overtaken in a fault, repents promptly, and makes all possible reparation; such a one will and should be trusted by those who know him.

But he who does only what pleases him or what he wishes to do, or what will be to his advantage, whether right or wrong, or who does only what he dares to do, who may tell the truth or a falsehood when it helps him, and who, when exposed in his iniquities, or disastrously entangled in his own webs, or detected by the vigilance of others, will lie, will not and should not be trusted by those who know him. Even the professed repentance of such a man is open to suspicion.

Some deny that perfect moral integrity exists. By such a statement they condemn themselves, for if they possess it, it exists; if they have it not they are simply bolstering themselves up as being no worse than others. Tho this idea is erroneous, most good men who rigidly inspect their conduct sometimes find occasion for self-condemnation and repentance.

Intellectual.

That man is to be credited with intellectual integrity whose reasoning faculties naturally come into action whenever any subject arises in his own mind or is presented for consideration, or who uses the scales of judgment to determine the essential quality of things, the fitness of things, the truth of any proposition, or the morality of any single act or line of conduct. But to possess perfect intellectual integrity one must not merely perceive and estimate, he must act according to his judgment. Leaving out moral questions, a man who reasons and concludes and acts against his own judgment or ignores it, can not be held to have a well-balanced mind. In writing of moral integrity or of intellectual integrity we are not dealing with what are popularly called moral sanity or insanity, or mental sanity or insanity, but with the average normal mind and conscience

and the variations they are capable of without furnishing ground to suspect disease.—The Christian Advocate.

OUR HOME.

By J. M. Cartwright

OUR Saviour has gone a place to prepare, In that far better country, the land bright and fair; His Spirit He's promised to send to us here, That will guide us in truth till the day-dawn appear.

He will come yet again; send abroad the glad cry; As He went will He come; and His coming draws nigh, To gather His people, forever made free, With Christ in His kingdom forever to be.

And when Christ comes again His own to receive, Made ready because on His word they believe, To their long-promised home He will bear them on high, Where illness ne'er comes, where His people ne'er die.

The city of gold forms a great perfect square, There His people shall dwell who His sorrows did share, In beautiful mansions which will never grow old, Where the streets of the city are purest of gold.

In that earth made new death will never be known; All meet in glad rapture around His great throne. Then forever with Christ, with our trials all o'er, We will meet lost and loved on that beautiful shore.

J. M. CARTWRIGHT.

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If you haven't already done so, why don't you drop us a postal asking us to send you a copy of our monthly paper, "The Bank of Mountain View Journal." It is very interesting. It is full of good ideas, and it is free to you for the asking. If you live in the East, send for a copy and see how we do it in California. We still hold ourselves ready to furnish you with information about Mountain View. Write us.

Address

Bank of Mountain View

Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California

FERRY'S SEEDS have stood the test for over 50 years, and are still in the lead. Their absolute certainty of growth, their uncommonly large yields of delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers, make them the most reliable and the most popular everywhere. Sold by all dealers. 1907 Seed Annual free on request. D. M. FERRY & CO., Detroit, Mich.

Stubborn Audacity and Guilt

STUBBORN audacity is the last refuge of guilt.—Dr. Johnson.

HIS EYES BLINDED.

By Bishop E. R. Hendrix

IMPURITY sees only impurity, and doubts the very existence of God. Selfishness does not believe that there is such a thing as unselfishness in the world. Dishonesty questions every man's motive, and says there is no disinterested benevolence. Hate refuses all offers of sympathy and aid. These malign feelings and affections carry with them their own sad sting and curse. Sin thus degrades a man in his own eyes and in the eyes of the slaves of sin, and impoverishes him. It robs him of true fellowship based on mutual confidence. It robs him of self-respect. It robs him of peace.—Bishop E. R. Hendrix.

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