Earlier text: Fruit-BearingOut of Babylon to Zion
By Prof. Lucas A Reed
XVII. The Vision of the Four Horns and the Four Smiths
"And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, four horns. And I said unto the Angel that talked with me, What are these? And He answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And Jehovah showed me four smiths. Then said I, What come these to do? And He spake, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head; but these are come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it." Zech. 1: 18-21.
This is the second vision of the seven given to the prophet Zechariah as recorded in the first six chapters. These visions are seven, and seven means completeness. They reveal in full God's providence for His people at that time, and in type they are God's providence for His people in every age. They are therefore replete with lessons for the church to-day. The four horns represent four nations, or earthly powers. A horn to represent a kingdom is quite common in the Scriptures. Thus the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7 represent the ten kingdoms of the latter Roman Empire. The ten horns of the seven-headed beast of Revelation 13:1; 17:3, 12 similarly represent ten kings, or kingdoms; and indeed the very statement made in Zechariah, "These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head," shows clearly enough that earthly powers are meant. There has been much needless speculation as to just what four nations are indicated. Four stands here, as in the previous prophecy, to represent all points of the compass, north, east, south, and west, every direction from which trouble for the chosen could arise. Viewing it in this light it may represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, Rome, as these severally come on the stage of action, or it may mean Egypt, Syria, or any other earthly power at any time that threatens the prosperity of God's kingdom and the welfare of His children. The four horns are typical. They are the power of the wild beast, and God uses such an illustration to represent the strength of earthly power. The ease with which God deals with these powers when they oppose His purposes is shown by the four smiths, or workmen, who frighten and cast out, or cast down, the horns of the nations. They are disposed of by being frightened and cast down. As stated in Zech. 2:9, God has but to wave His hand — that is, shake His hand over them — and they become a spoil to those that serve them. Let us consider for a moment again the condition of God's people at this time. Prohibited by the earthly power, Persia, from building the temple, God had told them to begin anew that work, and they had done it. At the present time there stood lodged at the court of Darius a complaint against them for thus undertaking this work anew while the royal mandate stood prohibiting the rebuilding. There is therefore a lesson to God's chosen right at the time. God has His means of rebuking earthly power when it interferes with His plans; He assures them that there is a smith, a carpenter, an instrumentality which He can quickly use to despoil any nation that opposes Judah, Israel, or Jerusalem. It is an assurance to them, in that trying hour, that God foresees and knows just how to deal with every perplexity confronting His work. In the past, Egypt had lifted up her horn against the horn of Israel; but God had dealt by plague and disaster until all the might and majesty of Egypt were annulled and God's people given complete victory, not only when they came from that land by the path of the Red Sea, but many times after that. So the Philistines had seemingly wrought their will when they oppressed the people of God; but through Sampson and Saul and David, various instrumentalities, God had cast down the horn of the Philistines. They were a power no longer to be feared. Likewise the Edomites who dwelt in the mountains, in the fastnesses of the rocks, who had built their mighty city of Petra in the carved stone, who had swept over the land of Israel time and again like the grasshoppers and the locusts, devastating wherever they went, had felt at last the rebuke of God. Then, too, the Assyrian who had come down "like a wolf on the fold, and his cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold," during one hour of the night had felt the withering blast of the glance of God. To the children of Israel who were building at Jerusalem under such strenuous circumstances and under fear of the displeasure, especially of the Persian nation, harassed by the Samaritans, their enemies, this lesson came with special hope and comfort. God's Remedies Sufficient
And you will note that while there were four horns, there were also exactly four smiths, or carpenters, or workmen; and that is the lesson for all God's people to learn,—four against four. For everything that threatens the child of God, there is that which will offset or neutralize it when God so chooses. For every enemy or evil power that may assail, God has already equipped an antagonist to frighten it, to cast it down, to nullify absolutely its effects. And so God's people then building the temple, altho the decree of Darius was not yet given, were to read the lesson that God would check the present opposition in His own good time. History has verified the prophecy. Events have justified the prediction of God. Notwithstanding the many things that might have occurred, notwithstanding all that the Persians or the Grecians or later the Romans might do, God was in command of the situation. The temple went up; the city was builded in spite of all the efforts of all opposing enemies. To-day those enemies are gone, their gorgeous cities are heaps of desolation; and while God could not do for Jerusalem what He planned to do, and tho it failed to stand forever as was His original purpose, His kingdom still prospers, His children are ever cared for. The evil comes and will be allowed to come, as God's servant, to correct and chasten, with certainty at the appointed hour, at the right moment known only to God, the terrifying or frightening artificer will come to vanquish or destroy. The Vision of God's Purpose for Jerusalem
"And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof." Zech. 2: 1, 2.
This vision opens with a picture so clearly like that at the beginning of Ezekiel 40 that we are impressed to believe that the two prophecies cover the same period, represent the same purposes of God toward Jerusalem; but one is the counterpart of the other, and therefore they should be studied together. This view will be confirmed as we proceed to study each verse of the second chapter of Zechariah. We may as well say at the outset that this vision recorded in the second chapter of Zechariah, and the vision given to Ezekiel as recorded in the fortieth chapter of Ezekiel and onward, were given concerning the future of Jerusalem on condition that God's people put aside their sins and come up to the full measure of children of God. The people of that time, however, failed to come up to this standard; they therefore forfeited the privileges that they might otherwise have had. These prophecies failed for Jerusalem then; but wherein for old earthly Jerusalem they failed, they will be grandly realized in the New City that awaits the true Israel of God. In Zechariah's vision a man is seen with a measuring line in his hand who measures Jerusalem, its breadth and its length. In the vision of Ezekiel also a man is seen, a man with the appearance of brass, who holds a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed, and who measures the temple and the city of God. In the prophecy as recorded in Ezekiel's vision we have a new city, grander than the old Jerusalem, with a finer temple even than that of Solomon. Some of the things that in Solomon's temple brought in commercialism and unholiness, are eliminated from the temple of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel's temple there was to be anew the Shekinah, the shining7 glory of the presence of God. This temple was to be built only on condition that God's people put away their sins. To the prophet was given the instruction, "If they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof," etc.; "that they keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them." In the temple of Ezekiel there were to be the sacrifices and the oblations and the priesthood as of old, showing that this all must have applied to the time before Messiah came. There was to be in addition a prince who had a certain gate of entrance, who had certain services to go through. We see at once that he is to stand before Israel until the Prince, the Messiah, come. Last of all the name of that city, according to the last verse of the last chapter of Ezekiel, was to be "Jehovah is there." But God's people failed. Instead of all this glorious rebuilding of the city, this glorious inhabiting of the holy place by the Shekinah of God, instead of a place made sacred by the visible presence, we have a period of over four hundred years in which no prophet speaks the inspired Word of God, in which no inspired record is given us, for there was nothing worthy of the inspired pen. The light that God would have caused to shine like the glory of the noonday, was eclipsed by the sins of His people and a night of almost midnight darkness for four hundred years, until the voice of John broke the silence, and the light of the Gospel of the Son of God scattered the shadows of that awful darkness. The Rich Man and Lazarus
By Eugene Arthur Brown
WHEN will Lazarus receive his reward? Rev. 22:12: "And, behold, I [Christ] come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Where are the dead, Lazarus included, reserved until rewarded? Job 14:14; 17:13: "If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." "If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness." Job 14:12, 15: "So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." "Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee." What are Lazarus and the rich man thinking about? Ps. 146:4: "His [man's] breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." In what way did Christ teach the people? Mark 4:11: "Unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables." How did the Pharisees treat the truths uttered by Christ? Luke 16:14: "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided Him." Having ridiculed the Word of God, the law and the prophets, was there any authority to quote from that they would respect? -- But one -- their own preconceived opinions. Matt. 15:3, 9. What was the Pharisees' belief regarding the dead? -- Josephus, the Pharisee and Jewish historian, records under date of the first century, the essential details of the Saviour's quotation in Luke 16:19-26, and ascribes the scene to an underground region where the Jews taught that the dead were being detained. In fact, an almost identical parable existed at that time in the "Gemara Babylonicum." In the parable of Luke 16 "Christ was meeting the people on their own ground." Does the parable teach truth or error? -- While the literal narrative is drawn from the fiction of a Jewish sect, we are to study its figurative meaning; the application is all truth. There was an unjust steward in the previous parable. Who was the unjust steward in this one? -- The rich man. Whom did he represent? -- The Jewish nation, selfish and proud, divorced from God, but deifying Abraham; individually, those who live in selfish indulgence. Whom does Lazarus represent? -- "The suffering poor who believe in Christ." What is taught concerning a second probation? -- That there is none. What is the gulf? -- The gulf of disobedience. Is there any salvation in Abraham, in Mary, in saint, or angel? -- Ps. 146:3: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation" [margin]. Why not? -- Verse 4. When he dies, his thoughts perish, he has gone back to dust. What is a rich robe? -- The God that clothes the lily with a better robe than that of Solomon, can clothe us with the richer robe of the righteousness of Christ. Isa. 61:10. It is not safe to disbelieve the Old Testament prophets. It will lead to a rejection of the resurrection. When and where is our eternal destiny decided? -- Now and here. Did the Jews ever understand the application of this parable? -- Yes, at the destruction of Jerusalem. Gen. 4:10: The blood of Abel cried out of the ground. Isa. 55:12: The mountains sing, and trees clap their hands. Hab. 2:11: The stone and timber hold a conversation. Rev. 6:9, 10: Killed souls represented as impatiently crying for vengeance. (Martyrs of the Dark Ages. Their sacrifice demands recognition. Now vindicated in the eyes of the world.) Have we a part in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? Which character have we assumed? "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?" James 2:5. Serving Our King
By Mrs. L. Flora Plummer
It is said that in the mines of Siberia there are persons who were born there, and have never seen the light of the sun. They have never known anything but the dimly-lighted mines and the coldness and darkness of their cavern home. In one way their condition is no more pitiful than is that of one who lives in the brilliant light of God's love and amidst the warmth and cheer of the blessings of the Gospel, yet whose vision is so narrow that he is unable to perceive the privileges of divine grace so freely bestowed. God's plans for His people have always included the youth and children. When Pharaoh asked, "Who are they that shall go?" Moses, divinely inspired, answered, "We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters." In these latter days, the people of God are just as truly called out from the world's pleasures and the world's work as the Israelites were called out from the thraldom of Egyptian taskmasters. And now, as then, the call includes the sons and daughters. The response to the call of God does not necessarily mean a display of wonderfully brilliant talents, the doing of marvelously great things; for the work given to each of the servants of God is never far-off, or too high or great to be attained. In many cases it is the faithful doing of "the simple round of duties which the passing hours bring." "No ministry is more pleasing to the Master than that of cheery and hearty faithfulness to lowly duty, when there is no pen to write its history, nor any voice to proclaim its praise." It is in the doing of the commonest duties, that we gain our victories or suffer our defeats. A great source of discouragement to many is their environment. Not long ago I heard a young man say, "If only I could choose my surroundings, I could work faithfully for the Lord." Many have the feeling that if they were anywhere else but just where they are, their personal difficulties would not be so great. Environment is always to be reckoned with, but it can never serve as an excuse for failure, or be given as explanation of the successes of those who have conquered difficulties and made opportunities. To adjust ourselves to conditions, to set ourselves to the tasks nearest at hand, to sail against a contrary wind, to overcome the preferences and prejudices of a selfish nature, — these are the things the follower of Christ must learn. Some one has said of worldly enterprises, that to make a success of anything, "one8 must grasp the situation with all the vigor of his being, with all the energy he can muster, and stick and hang and dig and save." It is true that such effort is the cost of any worthy achievement, and there is no lower price. One can not hope to become a Christian workman who need not be ashamed if he devotes less energy, less determination, less consecration of heart, less loyalty and devotion, than do they who run in the race for the wealth, the pleasure, the fame, or the power which the world offers. 1. Love is an attribute of God. "Beloved, let us love one another: for LOVE IS OF GOD. . . . He that loveth not knoweth not God; for GOD IS LOVE." 1 John 4: 7, 8. 2. God's love is manifested in impartial giving. "He GIVETH TO ALL life, and breath, and all things." Acts 17: 25. 3. God's greatest gift is His Son. "For God SO loved the world, that HE GAVE HIS ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3: 16. "In THIS WAS MANIFESTED THE LOVE OF GOD toward us, because that GOD SENT HIS ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON into the world, that we might live through Him." 1 John 4: 9. 4. God's love for us precedes our love for Him. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that HE LOVED US, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Verse 10. "God COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, in that, while we were YET SINNERS, Christ died for us." Rom. 5: 8. 5. When God gave His Son He gave ALL. "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not WITH HIM also freely GIVE US ALL THINGS?" Rom. 8: 32. 6. God's love for us lays us under obligation. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we OUGHT ALSO TO LOVE one another." 1 John 4: 11. 7. The Word also gives us a test of our love for one another. "By this we KNOW that we LOVE the CHILDREN OF GOD, WHEN we LOVE GOD, and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS." 1 John 5: 2. 8. We can not love God and love the world at the same time. "LOVE NOT THE WORLD, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the WORLD PASSETH AWAY, and the lust thereof: but HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF GOD ABIDETH FOREVER." 1 John 2: 15-17. 9. The divine definition of love is obedience. "THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD, THAT WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS." 1 John 5: 3. "Whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected." 1 John 2: 5. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." "How are you going to have faith when you haven't it?" But, brother, you have it. God never allowed any human to come into being without faith. Suppose you were placed for life on a fruitless island with only food enough to last a year, and seed grain enough for one crop, how could you perpetuate your life? "Why, by carefully sowing the grain, and reserving from each harvest enough for future seed." Suppose you hide your wheat and keep sowing thistle seed, how soon will you have bread? But suppose you sow your wheat on a bare rock, or the clean-swept floor, or out on the ocean, how soon will you get bread? Then you would perish while all the time you had in your possession plenty of seed, if you had treated it intelligently, to save your life. Brother, brother, the Creator who gave you the faith, or confidence, that enables you to till the soil, and engage in profitable business with your fellow man, has given to every man the seed of that faith which pleases God, and so wins an eternity of joy. Will you foolishly scatter all your seed faith upon the hard rock of this natural life, or the fickle waters of human character, and finally perish for your folly? Come, brother, cultivate your seed faith by diligent Bible study, sincere, unselfish prayer, and cheerful, prompt obedience to Bible rules as fast as you understand them, and you will never lack an abundant harvest of faith to supply your own needs and help your neighbors. When Satan would make you believe that you can not or do not believe in God and the Bible, you just emphatically inform him that you will believe, and then live as if you did believe, and your faith will strengthen with every fresh test that impish power can devise. A man's beliefs mold his character; and humanity never nurtured any other faith that, full-grown, could bring forth such strong, sweet, noble character as the Christian faith. And, brother, you can have it, for the Creator gives to every one the seed faith that alone can nourish us into immortality and eternal wealth. Better not neglect it. Life Is But in God
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
"The God in whose hand thy breath is." Dan. 5: 23. Every word
That proceedeth from the Lord,
Everywhere
In the earth and in the air
Rings this truth,
Pæan of immortal youth. He who bends a listening ear,
He may hear;
She who trains a vision free,
She may see;
All who wisdom's lessons heed,
They may read;
Who their love on truth bestow,
Each may know;
Life is but in God. Shining stars in whitest speech,
Nightly teach;
Central suns, in dazzling rout,
Flame it out;
Circling planets, from their track,
Flash it back;
All the round earth's rhythmal rune
Blends, in tune;
Every voice in nature's throng
Joins the song;
Gusty gales in sibilant sweep
O'er the deep;
Billows breaking on the shore,
Evermore;
Balmy breezes to each breast
Breathing rest;
Gentle zephyrs, whispering low
As they go;
Each of all the rippling rills
In its trills;
Waving woodlands, ferny fells,
Dreamy dells;
Moon-kissed meadows, verdant vales,
Daisied dales,
Fragrant flowers in their bloom
And perfume,—
In their mystic native tongue,
All have sung,—
In their holy, God-known speech,
Each doth teach:
"Not in earth, where death is rife,
Dwelleth life;
She hath source above the sod,
Hid in God,—
Life is but in God." If a boy at school is bidden to cipher, and chooses to write a copy instead, the goodness of the writing will not save him from censure. We must obey, whether we see the reason or not; for God knows best. A guide through an unknown country must be followed without demur. A captain yields complete authority to the pilot. A soldier in battle must fight when and where he is ordered; when the conflict is over, he may reflect upon and perceive the wisdom of his commander in movements that, at the time of their execution, were perplexing. The farmer must obey God's natural laws of the seasons if he would win a harvest; and we must all obey God's spiritual laws if we would reap happiness here and hereafter.—Anon. THE end of the voluptuous is, that their soul degenerates into flesh. The sources of love, mercy, and faith dry up. The heart, which has sent all its life to the senses, withers and hardens. A ferocious egotism slowly makes its way there, and seats itself on the empty throne of the generous affections. The very feelings of nature are blunted. There is darkness, cold, horror, within the soul; while around it, I mean in the flesh, everything is lit and inflamed by the fire of lust—a house lighted with a thousand lamps as on the evening of a festival; house of gladness, you would say; enter it, you will find within only a corpse, and demons that dance around it.—Anon. Lessons From the Book of Ezekiel
WHAT an awful chapter is 23. How it points out the fearful sins of Judah and Israel. And what a sad incident is given in chapter 24 if we will but dwell for a little time upon it. The reader will note all through Ezekiel that the prophet himself is given for a sign of the people; and he shows by his own sufferings and privations which he undergoes, some of the awful sufferings which will come to Israel. Famine was to overtake them; he was to live for a time on famine diet. They were to be taken captive and bound by their enemies; he himself must lie in one position as tho he were bound, showing to them what must come to them. They were to lose their city; and the pride of their life and the joy of their heart, the temple itself, was to be destroyed. Then comes the awful blow to Ezekiel of the death of his wife, and yet over her he must not sigh, nor cry, nor wail aloud. THE closing chapters of Ezekiel are a prophecy of the restoration; a prophecy which was never literally fulfilled and never will be literally fulfilled. If God’s people had heeded the words of the prophet, the Lord would have cut off all their enemies, as He declares in chapters 38 and 39; those who had gone down in death would have been resurrected, as presented in chapters 36 and 37; and the glorious temple, with its water of life and its wonderful glory of God, would have been rebuilt, and Israel would have become a light indeed to the world; but they refused to be ashamed, and so a mere shadow of the temple was builded instead of the wonderful structure which the Lord presented by His prophet. The Simple Power of the Word
By Editor
II. Victory Out of Defeat
THE morning dawned in a cold, dense, drizzling fog, which the soul in darkness thought to be a fitting symbol of his own condition. The early morning meeting was good, as souls praised God for His love and goodness. Other meetings followed — all were uplifting. We came again to the revival service in the afternoon. Other souls yielded and found deliverance, but the man was still embanked, enshrouded, in a gloom deeper than the fog. Yet he sought God. He came forward to what was truly to him an "anxious seat," came in darkness, and went as he came. An inquirers’ after meeting was held; and he came to that, doubting. Soul after soul found peace, but not he. Said the preacher, "Brother A, have you confessed your sins?" "Do you not believe that God forgives you?" "No, He has not forgiven me; but I do not blame Him. He is all right. I am too great a sinner. He can not forgive me." "But does He not say, 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness'?" "Yes," said the despairing man, "He says that." "But you say," pressed the preacher, "that you have confessed your sins, yet you will not believe that God has forgiven." "Yes, I believe God, but I do not feel that He has forgiven me. My sins are too great." "But does God say that you must feel that you are forgiven, and you are?" "No; He says believe. I do believe God, but it does not meet my condition." Said the almost despairing preacher, "You are a sinner, are you not?" "You believe that Christ died for sinners to save them from sin?" "You know how strong God makes it, 'Tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; tho they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' The apostle declares that it 'is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.' You could say no more than that. But chief of sinners, He died to save you." "No more 'buts,' dear friend. Face the matter as it is. You do not believe God. You are charging Him with unfaithfulness, injustice, untruthfulness." In consternation the man looked up. "I? no, I could not do that; I am to blame." "Then," said the preacher, "why do you blame God? You say you are a sinner. He says that He came to save sinners — even to the uttermost. He says, confess your sins, and He will forgive; you say you have confessed. His Word declares that 'He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Now, brother, either you have lied yourself, and have not confessed your sins —" "But I have," he broke in vehemently. "Then you charge God with unfaithfulness and injustice," persisted the preacher. "More than this," he continued, "you charge God with falsehood; for 'he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar.' What are you going to do; depend on your feeling and give the lie to God, or believe God and let Him sweep away the darkness?" He never saw it in that light before. The preacher paused, prayed, and waited. Suddenly the man raised his head, a new light in his eyes, and declared, "I believe, I believe God." The transformation of his countenance was like the change in nature when the black, 'lowering gloom-cloud, charged with thunder, breaks and dissipates, and the genial sun shines strong and bright from the clear blue; only it came immediately. The simple Word had pierced the heart, dissipated the darkness, and set free the imprisoned soul, whose heart and lips praised God. Sinner, dear soul in despair, the Master is willing, waiting, to help you. THE infinite God hears prayer. The loving God answers prayer. Assurance of this is repeatedly given in His Word. “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.” Ps. 34: 15. The apostle repeats this cheering promise: “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers.” 1 Peter 3: 12. The psalmist knew by experience what he sang, for he declares: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Ps. 34: 4, 6. “I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.” “Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.” Ps. 116: 1, 8. That all His children might have courage and hope, our Lord passed through the experiences which we must meet; for He “in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear, tho He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” Heb. 5: 7, 8. If Christ the Lord, our great Example, prayed, why should not we? If He needed to pray, why do not we? God is infinite in knowledge and wisdom and power. He is love personified. He loves us with an everlasting love. Why should we not seek Him? Our need, our helplessness, our hopelessness apart from Him, demand it. His fatherhood, His infinite fulness, His love, invite us. There are conditions, but we can all meet them. Then pray. THE Protestantism of Germany was so affronted by the insulting words of the pope's recent encyclical on Saint Charles Borromeo, as to make its feelings forcibly felt at Rome. The Vatican yielded by relieving German priests from the obligation to publish the deliverance, which included bitter accusations against the Reformers, the heroes of the German nation. Following quickly upon this retreat has come the collision between the papal diplomats and the Spanish Government. On June 11 the Spanish premier, Canalejas, in the king's name, proclaimed toleration to non-Catholic religions, permitting them to display the insignia of worship upon their places of meeting. The radical premier's program includes also a revision of the terms of the concordat with Rome, and would close unauthorized religious orders, some of which have been reestablished in Spain after being banished from France. The Vatican claims that the decree of June 11 must not go into force until negotiations for the revision of the concordat are complete. Rome has let loose upon the premier all her enginery of influence and abuse, but Señor Canalejas declares that the Vatican's interference with the sovereignty of the state is intolerable. He says: "The church falsely accuses us of an attack upon the Catholic religion. We are simply defending the sovereignty of the state."—The Christian Advocate.