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Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 39.

MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB
Earlier text: NATIONAL CHRISTIANITY EXEMPLIFIED

TRIALS AND DIFFICULTIES NECESSARY TO DEVELOP FAITH.

By A. E. Hassell

BY A. E. HASSELL.
IN order to please God we must have faith. Heb. 11 : 6. This does not mean merely to come to God once, and have enough faith to ask Him to forgive our sins once, and think then that by that one act of faith we are all right forevermore. Would it show much genuine love if one performed an act of love toward the one he claimed to love only once in his life?—No; there will be many such acts if the love is genuine.
Now in order to please God constantly, we must have and exercise continual faith in Him. That will be a continuous walking by faith. We received Christ by faith, and we shall also walk in Him by faith. Col. 2 : 6. The righteous one shall live by faith. Heb. 10 : 38. Living is a continual, not an occasional, doing. This walking or living by faith continually pleases God, and is a very pleasant thing to do, because the faith gains more and more by exercise and stores up, grows stronger, and can bear, hold out, and perform, greater tasks day by day as it grows.
But as it is with physical and mental strength, so it is with our faith. An easy-going, lazy life does not develop much of either physical, mental, moral, or spiritual strength and sturdiness. It is exercise and activity that strengthens the system. It is the grappling with hard, knotty problems that gives strength, firmness, and stability to the mental powers; and what pleasure there is in knowing that we are the victors. Little by little we gain a preparation for more difficult problems and duties.
Faith also must have hard problems to solve in order to gain strength, firmness, and a stability that nothing can dislodge or conquer. Israel of old did not develop much faith in God after they settled down in the land of Canaan and had peace and prosperity. See Deut. 8 : 11-20; Judges 2 : 10-17.
The young generation that had been educated among the difficulties in the wilderness and had seen and experienced for themselves how God led and helped them in every time of need, were prepared to go forward in faith to greater victories, vanquishing their enemies and taking possession of the good land. It was they also who did not depart from Jehovah as long as they lived. Their children had no such practical faith and experience developed in them, and in their case they soon departed from the God of their fathers. A theoretical and nominal faith in God and His truth will not save any one.
It was not through any smooth-sailing experience that Elijah developed a faith strong enough so that he, by the word of God, shut the heaven, raised the dead, was answered by fire, received rain, and was finally prepared for translation without seeing death? As far as he knew once himself, he stood alone against the whole apostate nation; against their usages, customs, priests, rulers, and all. Do you think, dear reader, that it required some living faith and courage to do that, then and there? Do you think it looked very promising to him, when the scorching sun burned up every green thing and even dried up the rivers? Was there much promise under such circumstances that any reformation could be carried on for that people when he had to leave the country and remain at the humble hut of a poor widow, whose sole sustenance was a handful of flour and a little oil in the cruse?
Look at the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11. Had they smooth sailing to strengthen the brawny muscle of faith? And did not our great Master and Example Himself have to walk by faith against all kinds of adverse winds and circumstances at every step? His whole life is a witness to it. Can we, and should we, seek and expect anything less? Faith, living faith, can conquer everything. Said Jesus: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matt. 17 : 20.
Now as we have seen, a firm, stable faith develops best in the soil of adversity. If we then desire a strong faith, do we act consistently if we seek ease, convenience, prosperity, exaltation, honor, or the first places, even in the work and cause of God? What may seem good on the outside to us, may often prove to be a curse in the end, as it was in the case of Saul. Read 1 Sam. 9 : 1, 2; 10 : 24; compare 13 : 9-14; 15 : 1-29; 28 : 6-8. On the other hand God often uses the lowliest instruments and circumstances, and the most obscure, in carrying out His purposes, that man shall not say their strength and their wisdom saved them.
Seek God earnestly to know His perfect will concerning you in all things. Then you will be prepared for whatsoever He sees best to send you, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God. A continual praise will then ascend before Him and we shall see His glory in His mighty arm made bare. May we please Him by a strong, living faith.
Seattle, Wash.

A GREAT WORK.

By H. C. Balsbaugh

BY H. C. BALSBAUGH.
ATTAINING the unity of the Spirit, according to the Scriptures, is a very great work. We are helped in it by examining ourselves often to see if we be in the faith, and by having God search our hearts. Psalm 139.
The tower of Babel was a great effort of man to bring about a selfish unity for security against another flood. The same motive moved them to build a city (Gen. 11:4) for their common good. The city brought them together outwardly, but God's will was that they should "scatter abroad" and be one in spirit.
A human scheme for the merging of the ten kingdoms of the fallen Roman empire into one again was intermarriage. Before the trial it seemed that it would surely prove effectual. But it was not possible of accomplishment as the prophet had declared. Dan. 2:43. While these things prove that unity is desirable, only God knows how to make it possible.
The fourth chapter of Ephesians is a call and an exhortation to the church to this great work of true unity in God. Therein is set forth the purpose of that spiritual unity and the blessings that go with it. That we may underrate it less, and not be given to vain boasting, let us test our present standing before the Lord. Who of us in very spirit is free from judging and condemning after the fleshly mind those whom God wills to save? Who of us, instead, has the spirit to consider, to pray for, and to be helpful to save, the babe in Christ, the weak in will and in faith, the faltering, the needy?
True unity is a work of righteousness in very spirit, and therefore is called the unity of the Spirit, of the Holy Spirit. It is that finishing work of grace in the heart and the church that results in one faith (verse 5), making that unity of faith and that perfect man through a knowledge of Christ, shown in verse 13. By it diversities of gifts work together in harmony.
What begets the spirit of unity? Verse 2 answers. After it is begotten, we are exhorted (verse 3) to endeavor to keep it in the bond of peace, for so it is begotten. It is not for a season only, but to be kept; not slightly, but through endeavor. And let us be admonished indeed, that it is by endeavor of watching unto prayer, and "looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith." So is the finishing work of the church greatly hastened.
Memphis, Tenn.

THE BASIS OF POWER.

By Walter E. Gillis

BY WALTER E. GILLIS.
ONE after another, men of genius have startled the world by the establishment of empire, confederation of wealth, or other feats of intellect, or arms, but their names and deeds alike lie buried in the archives of the centuries. Notwithstanding the heraldings of the great, they and their eulogists have gone out as meteors in the blue of heaven.
It remained for a simple Man,—a Carpenter with tools,—to lay the world under a tribute so great that the years have magnified His deed, as Gerizim and Ebal echoed the words of "that Prophet." Was it thirst for empire, wealth, or fame, that gave Him such a place in the hearts of men?—No; it was love. Who is this whom the ages herald Greatest of the great?
Adam will tell you, It is the Seed of the woman that shall bruise the serpent's head. Gen. 3:15.
Ask Abraham, he will tell you, It is "Melchizedek King of Salem," King of Peace. Gen. 14:18.
Jacob will tell you, He is "Shiloh of the tribe of Judah."
Isaiah will tell you, "Immanuel, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isa. 7:14; 9:6.
Jeremiah will tell you, The Branch of David, "the Lord our Righteousness." Jer. 23:6.
Daniel will tell you He is the "Messiah."
Hosea will tell you, He is "the Lord God of Hosts; the Lord is His memorial." Hosea 12:5.
John the Baptist will tell you, He is "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
The great Jehovah has proclaimed from His throne, "This is My beloved Son." Matt. 3:17.
His disciples declare, "This is Jesus, the Messiah," the Prince of Life, the Redeemer of the world.
And the prince of the powers of darkness acknowledges Him, saying, "I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God." Mark 1:24.
We have all read the story of the fall of man and the "counsel of peace" for his redemption. How love divine was revealed in the Man of Galilee, who lived and died for His enemies!
But love, even with the sacrifice of life, can not do the work of forming character for any one else, for love is wide-eyed, and recognizes individual freedom as divine. This being a foundation principle which at no time can be compromised, love has revealed the only way; namely, to provide the stimulus, the ideal, and the atmosphere for the growth of character. To each soul is delegated the task of working out the pattern furnished.
To this end a well-known author has aptly written:In the matchless gift of His Son, God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will live, and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. . . . By the precious economy of grace, the exhibition of divine love, God strives to produce love in human beings. As we look unto Jesus, beholding the glorious spectacle of the love and tenderness of God, there springs up in our hearts a desire to engage in active service for the Master. The riches of the grace of Christ are without limit. They are sufficient to fill every heart with wisdom and sanctified judgment, creating an atmosphere of grace, real and enjoyable.
All righteous attributes of character dwell in God as a perfect, harmonious whole. His purpose for man is that he shall, in the particular sphere which he occupies, attain to His perfection. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," said Jesus. In order that this result may be attained, God has revealed His perfect will in just the way which man would choose to have it, could he see the end now as he will see it in the future state. And in response the perfect Man, Christ Jesus, cried, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart!"
All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And, if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that, when obeying Him, we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.
To each individual the Holy Spirit interprets God's ideal of perfection for them, and their success or failure wholly depends upon how they relate themselves to that interpretation as they work it out in their lives.
That the will of God stands in direct antagonism to the prevailing customs and natural inclinations goes without question. But love is power, and "God is love." And this mighty power of God which levels prejudices and breaks down every opposing force "is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us." Rom. 5:5.
Intellectual and moral strength are involved in this principle, love, and can not be separated from it. The power of wealth has a tendency to corrupt and destroy; the power of force is strong to do hurt; but the excellence and value of pure love consist in its efficiency to do good, and to do nothing else than good. Whatsoever is done out of pure love, be it ever so little or contemptible in the sight of men, is wholly fruitful; for God regards more with how much love one works, than the amount he does. Love is of God. The unconverted heart can not originate nor produce this plant of heavenly growth, which lives and flourishes only where Christ reigns.
Love can not live without action, and every act increases, strengthens, and extends it. Love will gain the victory, when argument and authority are powerless. Love works not for profit nor reward; yet God has ordained that great gain shall be the certain result of every labor of love. It is diffusive in its nature and quiet in its operation, yet strong and mighty is its purpose to overcome great evils. It is melting and transforming in its influence, and will take hold of the lives of the sinful, and affect their hearts, when every other means has proved unsuccessful. Whenever the power of intellect, of authority, or of force, is employed, and love is not manifestly present, the affections and will of those whom we seek to reach assume a defensive, repelling position, and their strength of resistance is increased. Jesus was the Prince of Peace. He came into the world to bring resistance and authority into subjection to Himself. Wisdom and strength He could command, but the means He employed with which to overcome evil were the wisdom and strength of love.
This power, this victory, dear reader, is subject to our choice, for God says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil. 2:8.
Mountain View, Cal.

THIS MINISTER DID HIS DUTY.

A story is told of a Gospel minister, long before the days of railroads, who was traveling on horseback from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. He stopped over night at a tavern among the mountains of Pennsylvania, and after supper asked the landlord some questions about the people, and whether they ever had preaching there. He was told that there was no church, and no attempt at holding services. The minister told him to prepare a room and invite in the neighbors and he would preach to them.
"That would be of no use," said the landlord, "for they would not come."
To all such objections the minister had but one answer: "Get the room ready." This was finally done, and, sure enough, as the man had said, nobody came. The good minister was still concerned only to do his part. He waited awhile, then began the service, gave out a hymn, sang, read the Scriptures, prayed, and then gave out the text. Just then a man slipped in and hid himself behind the door, where he stayed all through the sermon which followed, rushing out the minute it ended.
Nearly two years afterward the minister went through that place again, and, stopping at the same house, he proposed once more that the landlord should find a room and get it ready, and invite the people in for preaching. "O," said the man, "there will be no trouble now. We have a church, and as soon as I let the people know that you are here it will be filled."
It came out a little later that this church of fifty members had been the direct fruit of that night's preaching to the man behind the door.
He had been converted, and had been the means of conversion to many of his neighbors. All this from "getting the room ready."

WAIT AND YOU'LL SEE.

By Delia C. Post

In a busy schoolroom the little people were sewing picture-cards. One tiny maiden was perplexed about the other side of the picture, and with a face all clouded came to the teacher, saying, "How shall I do that?"
"I will show you when you come to it," was the ready answer.
In a few moments again the question was asked, "But how shall I do that?"
Again the answer, this time in a firm voice, "I will show you when you come to it, dear."
A few more stitches were taken, when once more the little girl in a sweet, coaxing voice, said, "But please tell me how to do that."
This time the answer was very emphatic: "Irene, you go right on working where you are; when you come to the other side, I will show you."
Like a flash of light came the thought to the teacher herself, who had for many days been dreading a trial seen in the distance. "You go right on working where you are, and your heavenly Father will show you, when you come to it, how to be brave and how to act wisely."
O, the comfort and the restfulness of the thought!—Delia C. Post.

PEACE.

No LONGER 'mid the leaden hail Do Japanese and Russian strain; The clouds of war no longer float Above the tortured Asian plain; The mighty armies that have crouched, Like beasts to fall upon their prey, Shall strike their tents, and quietly Break up the camp, and march away.
The deadened grass, the blood-soaked soil, Shall know no more the heavy tread Of marching armies, and the sun, Like vengeful demon overhead, No more shall parch the lips of those Who, torn with bursting metal, lie Day after day with gaping wound, Too weak to live, too strong to die.
All past—and yet not all, for, lo, The widow and the fatherless Bear wounds that peace can never heal, And grief that words can not express Pervades the Mongol heart, and wells In Muscovite and Cossack breast— The bleeding, aching, kindred tie That binds the East unto the West!
Peace comes, and brutal war departs; The statesmen wrangle o'er the spoil; The soldier wets it with his blood, And others come to claim the soil; The humble peasant meets the foe, His breast receives the sabre thrust, And, tho his country win or lose, His bones are mingled with the dust.
—New York Tribune.

A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY IN EGYPT.

THE laborers with pick and spade among Bible lands are being richly rewarded. Recently Dr. Bliss, of the Chicago University Exploration Fund, discovered near Bagdad what he considered to be the most ancient of Hittite monuments. Mr. Theodore M. Davis, the English explorer, who unearthed the tombs of Thothmes IV. and Queen Hatshepsut at Thebes, has just made a unique discovery, in the shape of a tomb which has never been plundered or even visited since the age of the eighteenth dynasty, whose kings ruled in pre-historic times. The sepulcher is filled from end to end with most extraordinary royal treasures, belonging to the age on which great light was thrown by the discovery some years ago of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets.
The newly unearthed sepulchral chamber is only thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide, by eight feet in height. It contains mummy cases encrusted with gold, huge alabaster vases of exquisite form, chairs and boxes brilliant with paint and gilding, a pleasure chariot, two great wooden sarcophagi, painted black and gold, containing mummies of a man and a woman in cases, lined with silver in one case, with gold-leaf in the other. Some of the objects in the sepulcher are the first of the kind found in Egypt.
Some time ago a "bed of Osiris" was found in the tomb of Amenhotep II., and a similar pathetic relic was discovered here. It is a mat of palm fibre on which a figure of Osiris was delineated in soft mould. Seeds were then sown in the mould, and in the green grass which sprang from them after the tomb had been closed and sealed the Egyptians saw an image and earnest of the resurrection.
What renders this discovery of Mr. Davis the most important ever achieved in Egypt is the light thrown on a period of which very little is known. The Tel-el-Amarna tablets proved that Egypt was in pre-historic days for a long period the California of the civilized world. Some of the foreign correspondents of the Pharaohs of that hoary time reiterate that gold in Egypt was "plentiful as dust." The newly discovered tomb furnishes a most striking illustration of that primitive luxuriousness, for the prodigal profusion with which its contents are adorned by the precious metal is amazing. There is nothing, however mean or insignificant, which is not literally plated with the gold of the desert mines.—Selected.

BIBLE READING.

Review of Sabbath-school Lessons.

1. What was lost through sin? Ps. 115:16, compare with Rom. 6:16.
2. How much is included in redemption? 1 Cor. 6:20; Eph. 1:13, 14; Micah 4:8.
3. How was man tested before the Fall? Gen. 2:16, 17. How since the Fall? Lev. 27:30.
4. What indictment is brought against the church by Malachi? Mal. 3:7, 8.
5. What great blessing is promised if they repent? Mal. 3:10.
6. How much did Christ give up to redeem man? Phil. 2:5-8.
7. How much must man give up in order to secure the pearl of great price? Matt. 13:44.
8. Who is the real Owner of the world and all that is therein? Ps. 50:10-12; Hag. 2:8.
9. What position does man occupy in handling the things of this world? Luke 16:12.
10. How extensively is the Gospel to be preached? Matt. 28:18-20.
11. How has God ordained that His ministers should be supported? 1 Cor. 9:14.
12. How did the withholding of the tithe affect the work of God? Neh. 13:10-12; 2 Chron. 31:4, 5.
13. What should be the gauge for giving to the Lord's work? 1 Cor. 16:1, 2.
14. What special blessing is the Lord waiting to bestow upon His people? Mal. 3:10.
15. How should parents instruct and train their children? Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:4; Deut. 6:5-7.
16. What part will the children have in the closing work of the Gospel? Mal. 4:5, 6.
17. What will give the power that will carry that work to victory? Acts 1:8.
18. What experience is to prepare the final harvest? Joel 2:23.
19. For what should Christians now pray? Zech. 10:1.

THE SAVIOUR'S ANSWER TO THE SOUL'S CRY.

LORD, be Thou my helper.—Ps. 30:10. Fear not; I will help thee.—Isa. 41:13.
O Lord, . . . I am in trouble.—Ps. 31:9. Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee.—Ps. 1:15.
Wash me throughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.—Ps. 51:2. I will; be thou clean.—Matt. 8:3.
Keep the door of my lips.—Ps. 141:3. I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.—Ex. 4:12.
God be merciful to me a sinner.—Luke 18:13. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.—1 Tim. 1:15.
What must I do to be saved?—Acts 16:30. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.—Acts 16:31.
O that I knew where I might find Him!—Job 23:3. Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.—Jer. 29:13.
Behold I am vile; what shall I answer Thee?—Job 40:4. Tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.—Isa. 1:18.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.—Ps. 51:10. A new heart also will I give you.—Eze. 36:26.
I am weary with my groaning.—Ps. 6:6. Cast thy burden upon the Lord.—Ps. 55:22.
Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.—Ps. 27:9. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.—Heb. 13:5.
Who is sufficient for these things?—2 Cor. 2:16. My grace is sufficient for thee.—2 Cor. 12:9.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.—Ps. 42:2. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty.—Isa. 33:17.
My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning.—Ps. 130:6. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.—Isa. 40:31.
The terrors of death are fallen upon me.—Ps. 55:4. He that believeth in Me, tho he were dead, yet shall he live.—John 11:25.
Come, Lord Jesus.—Rev. 22:20. Surely I come quickly.—Rev. 22:20. —Triumphs of Faith.

How They Became Convinced

By Editor

[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the Signs of the Times has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.]

CCII.

TWENTY-ONE years ago the message of the Third Angel found me in Ontario, Canada, through the printed page. A year later, Elder T. M. Steward came and presented the truth in our neighborhood, and we were more fully instructed in the way of the Lord. My father, who was a great reader, had sent to New York for two books on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, but these gave him no light. It was then that a family living near by, who we knew were keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, began to offer us reading matter containing the present truth. We were young people going to the public school, and they would give me a tract or a book on the prophecies, and I would take them something my father had been reading.
After nine months' investigation, my father decided that he had found the truth. This he stated to the family as we were all present on Christmas day. Accordingly he observed the next Sabbath—the first of the new year. I observed the first Sabbath in the following September, and have never seen a moment when I doubted the correctness of the decision then made. The truth is brighter and more assuring to-day. E. J. EVANS.

CCIII.

WHILE a member of the M. E. Church at Clayville, N. Y., in 1875, I studied the Bible with a friend who was a First-day Adventist, and finally became convinced that eternal life was not inherent in man, but could be obtained only through faith in Christ. Hearing that there was an Adventist camp-meeting at Rome, and not knowing that it was a Seventh-day Adventist meeting, we decided to attend for one Sunday.
We arrived there Saturday night, and as we entered the tented ground we saw a large sign over the archway which read, "Buy the truth, and sell it not." We soon found that it was a Sabbath-keeping camp, and in a short time we heard enough to set us to thinking.
We remained until after the last service Sunday, and then invested what money we had in tracts. After nine o'clock we walked to Utica, eighteen miles, saving just money enough to ride to Clayville, arriving just in time to go to work.
Then we went to studying the Bible as we never had before, and became fully convinced that the Sabbath of the commandment was binding on Christians even in the nineteenth century. We both left all and went out, as did Abraham of old, not knowing where. But God led us, bless His dear name, and we would not for anything part with the truth that was impressed upon us in that tented grove in 1875. We expect to keep the Sabbath even in the new earth. Isa. 66:22, 23. GEORGE E. LOOMIS.

CCIV.

In childhood I was taught that Christ changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. When about thirteen years of age the question came up in Sunday-school, and I attempted to answer by saying that Christ had made the change. But I was met by a challenge from a boy about my own age to show where the Scriptures said so.
I promised to do so the next Sunday, and all through the week I searched concordances, indexes, and commentaries for the elusive text. But before the next Sunday I had given up in despair, and decided not to mention the matter at all unless it was brought up by some one else; so the matter was dropped.
Some time before this a canvasser had sold my father a number of Adventist books and tracts, among which were "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation," "Marvel of Nations," "History of the Sabbath," and "Ministration of Angels." I began to read the first-mentioned book and was not long in becoming convinced that the seventh day was and still is the Sabbath of the Lord. When I stated my convictions to my parents, they opposed the "new doctrine" very much, but the more they opposed, the more I became convinced.
About four years later another canvasser sold my father a copy of "Bible Readings." Shortly after the book was delivered, my widowed sister began to study it, and in a few weeks she began to keep the Sabbath. Then mother began to keep it, and in a short time Brother R. W. Parmele came and preached the same truth to us. All the family except father and one brother, accepted and began keeping the truth. About five months later father united with us in keeping all of the commandments.
That was in January, 1897, and since then the truth has grown brighter, and we know it will until the perfect day. E. L. MAXWELL.

Pleasure and Simplicity

Pleasure and money: people take them for the two wings of the same bird! Pleasure, like all other truly precious things in this world, can not be bought or sold. If you wish to be amused, you must do your part toward it; that is the essential. There is no prohibition against opening your purse, but it is not indispensable. Pleasure and simplicity are two old acquaintances. Entertain simply, meet your friends simply. If you come from work well done, are as amiable and genuine as possible toward your companions, and speak no evil of the absent, your success is sure.—The Simple Life.

THE HARDEST HEROISM.

By S. S. Times

It is harder to do our best in little things than in big things. Probably that is why most of us have little things to do most of the time,—so that we shall not lack in the best of training. Steady-going goodness in the commonplaces of life puts greater demand upon the fiber of character than the situation that calls for what is known as heroism. The soldier who serves his country faithfully in camp or garrison without ever being called into action against the enemy is put to a severer test than the soldier whose name is deservedly in the newspaper headlines for bravery and skill in the emergency of battle. Heroic action in an emergency is prepared for, to be sure, by this same steady-going faithfulness in little things, and the greatest heroes are those who never have a chance to seem heroic.—S. S. Times.

AN INDIAN WOMAN-MINISTRY.

By L. J. Burgess

BY L. J. BURGESS.
IT was in the home that the Lord designed to educate the human family before the fall of man. The changed conditions of the earth through the curse of sin have brought many changes in the course of instruction required, but the home is still the principal gateway for the entrance of the Gospel. Was it not through the influence of Jochebed the mother of Moses, and Mary the mother of Jesus, that the world has received its greatest blessings?
In carrying the "present truth" to India, China, and other heathen lands, the Lord will help us to find entrance and welcome, as we knock at the door of the home. The following account by Mrs. S. M. I. Henry, may show the truth of this:
"About thirty years ago the burden of this question fell heavily with the sorrows of the heathen world upon the missionary. He found himself unaccountably handicapped. There was a hindrance to the progress of the Gospel which he could not locate. In India, and China, and every heathen country, the experience was the same. A man might acknowledge the truth of the new religion, but he was, for some reason, strangely slow to embrace it.
"At last this hindering cause was discovered, where it had been hidden for centuries in the harem and zenanas. The wife and mother might be a slave, but she had the power to make it very difficult for the men in her family to become Christians. She whom the missionary had never seen, whom he could never be allowed to approach, had the ability to prevent the progress of the Gospel, to make it practically fruitless.
"After the discovery of the heathen mother and wife as a hindering cause, the question came to be, How was she to be reached, and changed into a helper? Every ancient custom, every hallowed thought and manner of life, seemed to have been for centuries kept busy in building a hedge about her for the very purpose of keeping her away from Christ, and of retaining her as His chief antagonist, when the day for the deliverance of the captives should fully come.
"The manner in which the first little break in this wall of prejudice was effected is very suggestive. The wife of a missionary had embroidered, and at Christmas time presented to her husband, a pair of slippers. These were very much admired by a Hindu visitor, and he wished that his wife might be taught, so that she could make him a pair just like them. The missionary's wife promised to make the attempt, and, with some trepidation called upon her heathen neighbor for that purpose. She, delighted at what promised to be an agreeable change from the monotony of her life, and as glad to please her husband as a wife would naturally be, welcomed the offer. The material was purchased, and the work begun; and it was during the hours that these two sat together in that zenana over their embroidery that the Christian woman saw and seized the first opportunity of the generations to reveal Christ, the Liberator, to her enslaved sister, whose whole nature, body, soul, and spirit, was galled by the chains that bound her. And as the missionary lady opened up to the heathen woman's wondering comprehension her own happy domestic life, the starved heart that had never tasted or even dreamed of such possibilities in a home, threw herself upon the breast of her teacher, and begged, with tears, to be taught how to become a Christian, and how to make a Christian home.
"It was not long thereafter before the husband came to his missionary brother to be instructed in the same things; and from that home made new, the Gospel began to go to the homes of India."
Homes for the education of women in India, preparing them to go to their shut-in sisters with the good news of the Gospel, would be blessed by the Lord in bringing light to many who are now in darkness.

SEVENTY YEARS IN CHINA.

By The Missionary Herald

IN the report of the London Missionary Society presented in May last, some striking facts are given, showing the contrast between the condition of affairs in China at the present time and seventy years ago, at the time of Dr. Morrison's death. Then there was one station, that at Canton, but no missionary. The two Chinese Christians employed by Dr. Morrison were in exile on account of their faith, and the severest persecution followed all who had sympathy with the foreign religion. In 1836 Dr. Medhurst, who had voyaged along the coast to discover, if possible, means for direct intercourse with the people, reported that visits on shore were tolerated, and civility would be shown those who distributed tracts. But Dr. Medhurst said, "The mandarins told me repeatedly that their orders from the government were always to treat strangers with politeness, and supply them with necessaries at the public expense, but to get them away as soon as possible." And he added, "I think it entirely out of the question for a missionary to think of taking up his residence in any part of China, except Canton." Not long after Dr. Medhurst's trip an imperial edict was issued, charging the foreigners with having shown a wish "to distribute foreign books, designing to seduce men with lies," and declared that "if they again indulge their own desires, and act thus irregularly, they [naming the foreigners] must be immediately driven out of the port, and no longer allowed commercial intercourse." But seventy years has witnessed a mighty change. Not only the cities on the coast are open, but Hankow, 700 miles up the Yangtze River, is now a central point for churches, having nearly eight thousand members; while Chung King, the capital of the great province of Sz-Chuan, 700 miles farther up the great river, is another center of wide influence. In place of the two imprisoned disciples in Dr. Medhurst's day, there are now scores and thousands of Chinese Christians, whom the missionaries of the London society declare to be "self-reliant, independent, aggressive, and generous in a remarkable degree," and that from among them "a number of Christian leaders who are already proving, under the guidance of the European missionaries, splendid pioneers and faithful and able pastors."

A BLESSED SERVICE.

GOD gave me something very sweet, To be mine own this day; A precious opportunity, A word for Christ to say; A soul that my desires might reach, A work to do for Him; And now I thank Him for this grace, Ere yet the light grows dim.
No service that He sends me on Can be so welcome, aye, To guide a pilgrim's weary feet Within the narrow way; To share the tender Shepherd's quest, And so by brake and fen, To find for Him His wandering lambs, The erring sons of men.
I did not seek this blessed thing; It came a rare surprise, Flooding my heart with dearest joy, As, lifting wistful eyes, The presence of a third, I felt Was waiting, One divine.
So in this twilight hour I kneel, And pour my grateful thought In song, and prayer to Jesus For what this day has brought. Sure, never service is so sweet, Nor life hath so much zest, As when He bids me speak for Him, And then He does the rest.
—Selected.

DIGNITY OF WINNING SOULS.

By Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I SHOULD not like you, if meant by God to be a missionary, to die a millionaire. I should not like it, were you fitted to be a missionary, that you should drivel down into a king. What are all your kings, all your nobles, all your diadems, when you put them together, compared with the dignity of winning souls for Christ, not on another man's foundation, but of preaching Christ's Gospel in regions far beyond?—Spurgeon.
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