UNDER date of November 24, a donation was received from Newfoundland, to the amount of $16.80. The sender says:—
“I am sending you herewith a money-order for $16.80. It is intended for the $150,000 fund. You will see from this, that, notwithstanding our poverty, we are anxious to do a little to help in this matter. I have had this in hand for some little time, but I have been so busy that I have been putting off sending it; but presume it will do just as well now as at any other time.”
When we stop to consider the condition of our brethren in Newfoundland, and their extreme poverty, we can better appreciate this liberal contribution from that field. Newfoundland is not benefited in any way by the $150,000 fund. They have no institutions in that field. They are a struggling little company of Sabbath-keepers, and are very poor as far as this world's goods are concerned; but their hearts beat loyally to the advancement of God's work in all parts of the earth, and from their poverty they contribute their offering for the building up of the work in all countries.
Such donations are doubly sacred in the eyes of the Lord, because the givers need all they have to help themselves, and the offerings they make are a denial to themselves of the actual necessities of life.
The year 1907 is rapidly drawing to a close. Four more weeks, and the new year will be here. If we make up the rest of the $150,000 fund in 1907, great activity will have to characterize the raising of this money.
Over forty-five thousand dollars has yet to be raised. Much of this is provided for in pledges. Is it not possible for those who have pledged donations to this fund, to endeavor to pay the same before the close of this year? It would certainly be a grand advance step if we could close this fund up by January 1, and enter afresh upon new enterprises for the year 1908.
We have much to be grateful for when we consider the liberality of our people in sustaining the foreign mission work, while at the same time they are doing double duty in contributing to this fund.
We believe that all have done the best they thought they could in helping to raise this large fund, and yet it would be an easy matter for the entire amount to be raised, and none of us would be the poorer.
I. H. EVANS.
Atlantic Union Conference
By I. H. Evans
Received on the $150,000 Fund up to Nov. 26, 1907
Atlantic Union Conference
Central New England ........$ 2,771.18
Chesapeake ................. 550.73
Eastern Pennsylvania ....... 1,889.68
Greater New York ........... 1,118.11
New Jersey ................. 1,101.26
Maine ......................... 689.88
New York .................... 1,628.50
Southern New England ..... 1,158.50
Vermont ..................... 1,255.00
Virginia ....................... 717.14
West Pennsylvania .......... 1,451.85
Western New York .......... 1,973.80
West Virginia ................. 405.41
Total ....................... 16,711.04
East Michigan ............... 2,542.09
Indiana .................. 5,183.27
North Michigan ................. 841.74
Northern Illinois ........ 2,810.61
Ohio ..................... 5,720.81
Southern Illinois ........... 1,176.29
West Michigan ............... 5,714.15
Wisconsin .................... 3,857.47
Total ....................... 27,846.43
North Pacific Union Conference
Conference not specified ..... 55.00
British Columbia ............ 209.50
Montana ...................... 535.38
Upper Columbia ............. 2,562.71
Western Washington .......... 2,133.04
Idaho ......................... 903.90
Western Oregon ............. 2,363.06
Total ........................ 8,762.59
Northern Union Conference
Alberta ....................... 200.80
Manitoba ...................... 305.30
Saskatchewan Mission Field .... 47.60
Minnesota ................ 5,405.26
South Dakota ............. 2,645.47
North Dakota ............. 1,949.13
Conference not specified ...... 73.82
Total ....................... 10,627.38
Pacific Union Conference
Arizona .................... 401.44
California-Nevada ........... 8,436.55
Southern California ........ 1,649.66
Utah ....................... 431.58
Total ....................... 10,919.23
Southern Union Conference
South Carolina ............... 144.39
Alabama ....................... 433.89
Tennessee River ............. 1,119.61
Florida ....................... 613.54
North Carolina ............ 774.71
Cumberland .................... 906.72
Louisiana ..................... 390.61
Mississippi ................... 254.59
Georgia ..................... 408.47
Total ........................ 5,046.53
Southwestern Union Conference
Not specified .................. 22.82
Arkansas ....................... 513.35
Oklahoma ..................... 2,802.02
Texas ........................ 1,945.90
Total ........................ 5,284.09
Unknown
Unknown ........................ 158.20
Foreign
Algeria ..................... 13.33
Australia ...................... 163.84
Bermuda ......................... 36.00
China .......................... 155.60
South Africa ................... 278.16
Jamaica ......................... 13.41
Yukon Territory ................. 20.00
England ........................ 264.13
West Africa ..................... 14.06
Mexico ........................... 2.00
Costa Rica ....................... 6.25
India .......................... 147.94
South America ................... 41.80
Switzerland ....................... 9.69
Panama .......................... 19.00
Nicaragua ......................... 4.00
Central American Mission ........ 26.00
Trinidad ........................ 28.69
Norway .......................... 25.00
Japan ........................... 12.50
Hayti ............................ 5.00
Egypt ........................ 51.55
Palestine ........................ 2.00
Tobago, W. I. .................... 1.22
Cuba ............................. 8.00
Hungary .......................... 3.00
Tahiti .......................... 14.88
France ........................... 6.80
Philippine Islands ............... 1.00
Samoa ............................ 8.00
Barbados ........................ 5.00
Portugal ........................ 1.00
Straits Settlement .............. 10.08
Pitcairn Island .................. 10.00
Total ....................... $ 1,408.93
Grand Total ..................$107,212.01
I. H. EVANS, Treasurer.
Hope, Faith, and Love
By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
HOPE spans the chasm of Grief, where 'mid the gloom
Of earthly losses runs the stream Despair;
High heaven in love hath built this bridge aloft
For weary feet that tread the Path of Prayer.
Ah, what would life possess were faith unborn?
And what could solace had not Hope built nigh?
Each heart were pierced by sorrow were there yet
No calm, glad morning in God's by-and-by.
And even now is life baptized anew
With impulses to conquer and succeed,
Blessed by the vision bright that Faith portrays,
Calmed by the peace Love granteth for its need.
Hope, faith, and love,— the triune thought of God
For man's most noble, most exalted life;
Our ardent longings and ambitions pale
By his ideal for us 'mid earthly strife.
Why longer trifle with the gilded worth
The world flings out to dazzle and allure?
God beckons thee to heights yet unexplored,
Vast and eternal and forever sure.
Portland, Ore.
Loss Through Delay
By Ellen G. White
The Return of the Exiles—No. 5
Loss Through Delay
MRS. E. G. WHITE
During the earlier years of the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, the Samaritans were untiring in their opposition. They “weakened the hands of the people in Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius.” By their false reports they aroused suspicions in minds easily led to suspect. At times, the rulers in authority seemed to be influenced to work against the purposes of God. But for many years the influences for evil were held in check, and the people of God had liberty to continue their work.
Throughout these years, Satan was striving to influence the highest powers of the kingdom of Medo-Persia to show disfavor to God’s people. It was Satan who prompted the Samaritans to persevere in their opposition. But angels of God were working in behalf of the returned exiles, and all heaven was intensely interested in the controversy. In the tenth chapter of Daniel is given a glimpse of this mighty struggle waged for many years between the forces for good and the forces for evil.
In this vision of the prophet, the angel Gabriel declared: “The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” For three weeks Gabriel had been wrestling with the powers of darkness, and seeking to counteract the influences at work on the mind of King Cyrus. Before the contest closed, Christ himself came to Gabriel’s help. All that heaven could do in behalf of the people of God, was done. The victory was finally gained, and the forces of the enemy were held in check all the days of Cyrus, who reigned for seven years, and all the days of his son Cambyses, who reigned about seven years and a half.
This was a period of wonderful opportunity for the Jews. While the highest agencies of heaven were working on the hearts of kings, the people of God might have been most active in carrying out the decree of Cyrus to restore the temple and its services, and in re-establishing themselves in their Judean homes. But many failed of co-operating with God. In the day of his power, they proved unwilling.
The opposition of the enemies of God’s truth was strong and determined. Gradually the builders lost heart. Some could not forget the scene at the laying of the corner-stone, when “many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men,” and who had seen the temple that Solomon built, gave expression to their lack of faith in the enterprise by lamenting because of the seeming inferiority of the plans for this second temple. And as the Samaritans grew more and more bold, many of the Jews began to question whether, after all, the time had come for rebuilding. This feeling soon became widespread. Many of the workmen, disheartened and discouraged, returned to their homes, and engaged in the ordinary pursuits of life,—in sowing and reaping, and in building and beautifying houses for themselves.
During the reign of Cambyses, the work on the temple progressed very slowly. Finally, in the brief reign of the false Smerdis (named Artaxerxes in Ezra 4:7), the Samaritans induced the unscrupulous impostor to issue a decree forbidding the Jews to rebuild their temple and city.
For over a year the temple was neglected,—well-nigh forsaken,—while the people dwelt in their homes, and labored to attain temporal prosperity; but their situation was deplorable. Work as they might, they could not prosper. The very elements of nature seemed to conspire against them. A drought prevailed, and the harvests were meager.
These were the conditions existing during the early part of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, king of Medo-Persia. Spiritually as well as temporally, the Israelites were in a pitiable state. So long had they murmured and doubted; so long had they chosen to make their personal interests first, while they viewed with apathy the Lord’s temple in ruins, that many had lost sight of God’s purpose in restoring them to Judea.
For a time, the forces of evil seemed to triumph. But even this dark hour in the history of God’s people was not without hope for those whose trust was in the Lord God of Israel.
In tender compassion, the Lord wrought in a marked manner to save his chosen people from utter spiritual ruin. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to meet the crisis. In stirring testimonies these appointed messengers of God revealed to the people the cause of their troubles. Their lack of temporal prosperity was the result of their neglect to consider God’s interests first. By honoring God and by showing him due respect and courtesy, through the building of his house, they would have invited his presence and blessing.
“In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”
The expression, “This people say,” is significant. In the hour of their opportunity, the Israelites had not shown themselves willing. Prompt obedience is expected of those whom the Lord chooses and leads. Pleas for delay are a dishonor to God. And yet those who choose to follow their own way, often frame ingenious excuses in self-justification. Thus the Israelites declared that they had begun to rebuild, but that they were broken off in their work because of the hindrances devised by their enemies. These hindrances, they reasoned, were an indication that it was not the proper time to rebuild. They declared that the Lord had interposed difficulties to reprove their hot haste. This is why, in a communication through his prophet, he referred to them not as “my people,” but as “this people.”
The Israelites had no real excuse for leaving their work on the temple. The time when the most serious objections were raised, was the time for them to persevere in building. But they were actuated by a selfish dislike to encounter danger by arousing the opposition of their enemies. They did not possess the faith that is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. They hesitated to move forward by faith in the opening providences of God, because they could not see the end from the beginning. When difficulties arose, they were easily turned from the work.
This history will be repeated. There will be religious failures because men do not have faith. When they look at the9things that are seen, impossibilities appear; but God can lead them step by step in the course he desires them to take. His work will advance only as his servants move forward by faith. While they may be called upon to pass through trying times, yet they should ever remember that they are contending with a weakened, beaten foe. God’s people will finally triumph over every power of darkness.
“Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” Why have you been so passive? Why have you done so little? Why do you feel concern for your own buildings, and unconcern for the Lord’s building? Why have you lost the burning zeal you once manifested in behalf of the restoration of the Lord’s house? What have you gained by serving self at the sacrifice of the best interests of God’s cause? The desire to escape poverty has led you to neglect the temple; but this very neglect has brought upon you that which you feared. Nothing has prospered. “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put into a bag with holes.”
The Lord calls upon them to consider the situation carefully. “Consider your ways,” he repeats. “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.” He gives the reason for their having been brought to actual want: “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.”
How striking is the contrast between the prompt obedience of the things of nature, and the slothful disobedience of men, those for whom Christ has died! The Lord calls upon the dew and the rain and the varied agencies of nature, and they obey his call, to be used either in blessings or in judgments. Inanimate nature is represented as being shocked at man’s disregard for God’s word. God calls for famine and plague and pestilence, for calamities by sea and by land, to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. In response to the call of God, the things of nature spring to do his bidding, either in wasting and destruction or in mercies and blessings.
Because the Israelites let God’s house lie waste, the Lord sent upon all their substance a wasting drought. This judgment affected not only all the fruits of the ground, but the living creatures as well. The cattle must suffer because of the sins of men. God had bestowed on his remnant people the fruits of field and garden, the corn and the wine and the oil, as a token of his favor. It was because of the sins of Israel, the Lord declared through Haggai his messenger,—because the people had used all these bountiful gifts so selfishly,—that the blessings were removed.
The messages of counsel and reproof given through Haggai were taken to heart by the leaders of Israel and “all the remnant of the people.” Roused by these warnings, “Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord.”
The Rise of Its Power
By J. O. CORLISS
Character of the Papacy—No. 2
The Rise of Its Power
J. O. CORLISS
The celebrated English historian, Thomas Hobbes, left on record his judgment that the papacy was but “the ghost of the deceased Roman empire, crowned and seated upon the grave thereof.” By touching here and there the history of early missionary work in behalf of Roman Christianity, the measure of accuracy contained in this statement may be easily determined.
When the Goths crossed the Danube to make for themselves homes in the south of Europe, they encountered believers in Christ, who probably were captives taken during that journey. From these slaves they received the primary doctrines of the Christian faith, which was in turn given by them to the various tribes of the Gothic nation.
By the time Western Rome had been dismembered in A. D. 476, the Suevi of Spain, the Burgundians of southeastern France, and the Vandals of north Africa had become converts also to the new religion. A little later the Franks, the Scandinavians, the chief tribes of Germany, and a century or more after, the Anglo-Saxons followed in the same path.
In the midst of this work, however, a great controversy arose. Some of those nations newly come to the Christian faith, had indorsed the Aryan creed, which already had been condemned by the Council of Nice. The bishop of Rome accepted the Athanasian doctrine as the orthodox one, and human-like, felt determined to bring those of the Aryan faith to his standard of orthodoxy. It mattered not so much to him if, in receiving Christianity, these nations had retained, as had all the others, many of their former heathen notions and ceremonies. In any effort to correct their false ideas, no notice was to be taken of the corruptions their paganism had engrafted upon the pure Christian faith.
In further efforts to win these simple-minded barbarians, who were utterly unable to comprehend the subtle differences of dogma between the two great leaders of factions, the church lowered her standard of piety to meet their condition. In order to dazzle their senses, and win their attention, Guizot says that the church “increased wonderfully the number, pomp, and variety of her religious ceremonies.” Through this medium, those who did follow the Athanasian creed, became altogether different from the Christians of an earlier age.
When the wars of subjugation had about annihilated the so-called heretical nations, the others were ready to acknowledge the church of Rome as the exponent of orthodoxy, and the bishop of that organization as its vicegerent. This was but one step toward the realization of a higher ambition. Western Europe at that time was nominally under the government of the emperor of the East, whose seat of empire was at Constantinople. The bishops of Rome were thus the most important persons in the West. They were far removed from the imperial court, and being called to adjust disputes between cities, and between the chieftains of the numerous governments of the West, they gradually assumed imperial powers. Each case so arranged tended to strengthen the authority and increase the influence of Roman bishops.
Up to a certain point, four bishops, or patriarchs, of the early church, each with co-ordinate powers, were distinctly and generally recognized. These were located at Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch. But at an early period, the bishop of Rome began to lay claim to supremacy over all the others on the ground that the church at Rome had been founded by the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord had entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven, thereby constituting him the first bishop of that church, and that the special authority to feed the Lord’s sheep, conferred on him, was to be transmitted to his successors in that office. This claim was recognized, and title of supreme head of the church was first applied by the Roman emperor to Innocent I early in the fifth century.
But with this claim thus substantiated, no bishop of Rome had then thought of calling himself pope, the title of archbishop seeming to satisfy the high tide of ambition for that time. The title of pope was supposed to be first conferred on Boniface III by the Emperor Phocas in 606, by declaring him Universal Bishop.
So far as the statement of Christ to Peter in Matt. 16:18 goes, not one of the anti-Nicene fathers applies it to Roman bishops as successors of the apostle Peter. While many of them have commented on the text, not one has explained the “rock” there spoken of as referring to any office bestowed upon Peter to be transmitted to others. Some thought the “rock” to refer either to Christ himself or to Peter’s confession10of faith in Christ. Others thought that Peter, with all the other apostles, was by this to constitute the foundation of the church. Indeed, Cyprian, who was bishop of Carthage in the first part of the third century, in letters to Cornelius and Stephen, two bishops of Rome, said that all the apostles had received from Christ equal power and authority with Peter. Gelasius, however, near the close of the fifth century, in an attempt to maintain his new theory of the supremacy of a Roman bishop over the imperial power, caused to be added to Cyprian’s statements, the following: “The primacy was given to Peter to show the unity of the church and of the chair. How can he believe himself to be in the church who forsakes the chair of Peter on which the church is built?”
Another text (Luke 22:32) upon which the papacy relies so strongly for Biblical support, has also been largely commented on by early writers, but not with any comfort for the advocates of papal supremacy. The words, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” are explained by no less than eighteen ecclesiastical writers prior to the seventh century, to be simply a prayer of Christ that his apostle might not wholly lose his faith in his approaching trial. The words were first used in behalf of papal elevation by Pope Agatho in 680 A. D., when trying to avert a threatened condemnation of his predecessor on the charge of heresy.
But there was method in all this work of the Roman bishops. They saw a pinnacle towering above them, which, could they but reach it, would give them control of the world. The next step toward this was to invent the theory of the sacredness of the person of the head of the Roman church, so that he might not be judged by any human tribunal. Early in the sixth century this question brought about such a strife in Rome itself that the adherents of two opposing factions murdered each other in the public streets. So there was soon produced a “decision” of an unknown council pretended to have been held at Rome in 321 A. D., in which it was declared that no one can judge the See of Rome.
By such strange doings, well attested by history, did the papacy build itself up into power. Having attained the steps already mentioned, the next degree to be reached was but a half step, since it naturally followed the doctrine of the inviolability of the pope,—and that was the dogma of infallibility. This was to be the crowning achievement, and so the approaches toward it were carefully and strongly laid. Having attained the dizzy height, it was deemed necessary to guard well every viewpoint of the situation, lest there might be discovered some vulnerable part of the station at which to begin an attack. But the review of these precautionary measures must wait for another paper.
Mountain View, Cal.
Is Life Worth Living?
By William P. Pearce
WILLIAM P. PEARCE
The answer to this question depends upon one's conception of what is meant by life. When asked to define life, Herbert Spencer said it was “the continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations.” This simply tells what life does, not what life is. The scientist begins with the lowest form represented by a mere atom of living matter, known as protoplasm, but he, with all other great intellects, staggers at the contemplation of life. It is not life from a scientific standpoint which should trouble us, but life from a practical side. Is it worth living?
Much depends on one's perspective. The poets Gray and Longfellow looked from different points. The former said,—
“Life is a jest, and all things show it;
I thought so once, but now I know it.”
The other wrote,—
“Life is real, life is earnest,
And the grave is not its goal.”
Horace Bushnell says, “Every man's life is a plan of God.” That is true. Where there is a distorted life, it is because of the distortion of the plans of God. He asks no less than the architect asks of the builder.
There is a law of gravitation in one's life as well as in nature, which seems to oppose progress upward. No man ever achieved true greatness without a struggle, but in all our struggles life can be a “Te Deum” or a “Gloria in Excelsis.”
“Our lives are songs;
God writes the words,
And we set them to music at leisure;
And the song is sad,
Or the song is glad,
As we choose to fashion the measure.
“We must write the song,
Whatever the words,
Whatever its rhyme or meter;
And if it is sad,
We must make it glad;
And if sweet, we must make it sweeter.”
The answer to whether life is worth living depends upon one of two things; is it—
Self-Centered or Christ-Centered?
A self-centered life is a self-destroying one. It is lost in what the possessor supposes the best way to preserve it. Take the one who likes to live easy. Ease is a necessity. The overwrought brain, muscle, and nerve must rest. Broken-down tissues must be built up. But that life that says, like the rich man, “Soul, take thine ease,” never worry over anything or any one,—that life is not worth living. “A man's life,” said Samuel Smiles, “is to be measured by what he does in it, and what he feels in it.” William Bryan said to the Union College students, “Life is not measured by what you get out of the world, but by what you put into it.” Of Edward VI, Hooker said, “He died young, but lived long if life be action.” “Whither are you going?” asked Carlyle of a young man. “Don't know,” was the reply. “What do you carry?”—“Nothing.” “What are you doing on life's sea?” And the young man answered what thousands of purposeless people now answer, “Only drifting.”
Life must be spiced to be congenial. But that life that simply lives to sip the rounds of amusements is not worth living. Lord Chesterfield tried it, and called it “romantic dreams,” like those produced by opium, which he did not wish to repeat. How much better the philosophy of George Herbert, “Give me simplicity that I may live.”
But the life that simply lives to accumulate a large bank account or property, is not only a strenuous, but a contemptible one not worth living. Money!—it's the god of too many. Touch it, and not infrequently you touch character. Touch it, and you touch the destiny of the soul. What shall it profit to put one's heart in dollars and one's soul in hell?
To be famous is not wrong, provided it be in the interest of humanity, and if fame is not the end sought. One can without sinning covet the gifts which made Newton and Field, Livingstone and Gladstone, Lincoln and Tennyson famous. But living just to make a name, as Phrine, who offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes if permitted to engrave, “Alexander overthrew Thebes, and Phrine did in this manner restore it;” or to achieve notoriety, as Marie Bashkirtseff, the brilliant Russian girl who wrote in her journal, “It is the new year. At the theater, precisely at midnight, with watch in hand, I wish in a single word, fame,”—such a life is not worth living. It is, as Byron said, “Something, nothing, words, illusion, wind.”
Take the one who lives without God. That life is not worth living. It does more harm than good. It rolls up a list of demerits rather than merits against the day of reckoning. When a man said to Diogenes that it was a bad thing to live, the philosopher answered, “Not to live, but to live badly.” It was because there was no God in his life that Schopenhauer cried: “This world is the worst possible; the life of man is one of unbounded misery and wretchedness.” A godless life is a lost life. The only life worth living is—
The Christ-Centered Life
That is constructive and eternal. “Live while you live,” was the apparently suspicious motto of Philip Doddridge, suggesting Horace or Aristophanes rather than Isaiah or Paul; but Dr. Doddridge rendered it into what Dr. Samuel Johnson pronounced “one of the finest epigrams in the English language:”—
“Live while you live, the epicure would say,
And seize the pleasures of the present day;
Live while you live, the sacred preacher cries,
And give to God each moment as it flies.
Lord, in my views let both united be.
I live in pleasure when I live in thee.”
The Christ-centered life will exhibit itself. Buds, leaves, blossoms, and fruits are only indicative of the hidden life in the tree. The piston-rod moving in and11out of the cylinder is an evidence of the steam-life within the locomotive. The Christian life, says Paul, “is hid with Christ in God.” Col. 3:3. The external life is only the thermometer which indicates the degree of internal life. Life was given as a trust, not to hoard, but to use. “He lived for others,” is the epitaph on the tomb of John Howard. “Why not rest from your labor?” said a friend to John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, who was found on the day of his death, at eighty years of age, teaching an Indian child its alphabet. “Because,” said he, “I have prayed God to make me useful in my sphere, and he has heard my prayer. Now that I can not preach, he leaves me strength to teach this poor child.” Until we learn to live for others, we have not begun to live at all. We live, as Bailey wrote—
“In deeds, not years—in thoughts, not breaths—
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We count time by heart-throbs. He
most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, and
acts the best.”
What Is Your Life?
Not the life of some one else, but yours. What have you done, and what are you doing, to perpetuate a loving, blessed memory? What heart have you comforted? What struggling person have you cheered? What weakening faith have you strengthened? What other youth have you turned from folly? What needy cause have you assisted with a God-desired liberality? What soul have you been instrumental in saving?
When I think that God is as just as loving, I tremble for some, who, I fear, when they come to die, will suddenly realize that they have not lived. How much better to leave behind a beautiful picture of a blessed example, as did the old grandfather. The little girl had gone into his room to ask him to read to her. Finding him asleep with his head upon the back of the chair, his Bible upon his knees, and the sunlight coming through the window at the proper angle to cast about him a halo of glory, she ran to her mother, saying, “I have been in grandpa's room, and I have seen God.” Can others see God in you? They saw him in Paul when he cried, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Gal. 2:20. That life, and only that life, is worth living. Is that your life?
Louisiana, Mo.
Conscience not an Information Bureau
If conscience is a safe guide to what is right and wrong, then the Bible is not needed. There is no half-way ground here, for a guide that needs guidance is no guide at all. And as a matter of fact, conscience is not a guide, and because so many souls mistakenly think it is, confused and wandering errors in the pathway of life are constantly made. Conscience is a monitor. It prompts and prods; it urges, “Do what you know to be right; do not do what you know to be wrong.” But it does not instruct us in what is right and what is wrong; it is not a bureau of information. That instruction we receive from God in many different ways, of which the Bible and the training of parents and teachers are some. Therefore it will not do to settle back in the easy assurance that we have a safe guide in conscience. We have a tremendous responsibility to learn, from sources outside of ourselves, what is our duty, and those sources are always available when we really seek them.—S. S. Times.