Earlier text: VictoryTHOSE professed ministers of the gospel of Christ who are clamoring for recognition in the political field, and who often show themselves partizans in politics, should read and ponder upon Canon Fausset's clear statement of the principles involved in this question:— The refusal of our Lord to intermeddle with the affairs of this life as a judge, carries with it a great lesson to all religious teachers. Immense indeed is the influence of religious teachers in the external relations of life, but only when it is indirectly exercised; whenever they interfere directly with secular and political matters, the spell of that influence is broken. If they take a side—as in that case they must do—those on the opposite side can not help regarding them as adversaries, and this necessarily diminishes, if it does not destroy, with such at least, their professional influence or the weight they would otherwise carry in their own proper sphere. Whereas, when the ministers of Christ keep themselves aloof from secular and political parties, abiding within their proper sphere, all parties look up to them, and they are often the means of mollifying the bitterest feelings and reconciling the most conflicting interests. Will the servants of the church of God weigh this? THE situation among the orthodox churches of Boston is attracting attention and causing comment. Some statistics concerning membership and contributions are thus given:— Fourteen of their strongest churches [Congregational] dropped last year from 7,134 to 6,991. The young people seem especially to be drifting into other churches and Christian Science. The Methodists have about thirty churches, mostly small, only seven numbering over three hundred. Five leading churches are in a “moribund” condition. The blood and fire of Methodism have disappeared. The Baptists have neither lost nor gained numerically. In ten years there has been only about three hundred advance. Dr. A. J. Gordon’s church, that gave over twenty thousand dollars in one year to missions, last year fell to one hundred fifty dollars! Ruggles Street and Dudley Street are likely to unite. Tremont Temple, now pastorless, is a great preaching-center rather than a strong church. Protestant Episcopal churches have made the most progress in ten years, nineteen parishes increasing over thirty-two per cent. “They Shall See His Face”
By Mrs. A. E. Barnes
To see His face—O joy divine!
What richer treasure could be mine
Than when, these earthly trials o’er,
I see his face forevermore? To see his face—my soul, rejoice!
To see his face and hear his voice;
To count my toilsome journey o’er,
And see his face forevermore. My Father’s face! O blessed thought!
With every earthly care forgot,
I’ll stand upon that heavenly shore,
And see his face forevermore. A blood-washed throng, redeemed from
earth,
Shall see his face. O sound it forth,
Till all who will may find their place
In heaven, where they shall see his face! Instruction to Ministers
By Ellen G. White
In these last days ministers need to guard the churches against the dangers arising from the acceptance of fanciful and erroneous theories by preaching the plain truths of the Word regarding individual duty and responsibility. The people of God are to be educated to hate and forsake all unrighteousness if they would be prepared for a place in the kingdom of heaven. Teach that the fruits of repentance are to be seen in the life in deeds of righteousness. By lives of faith and devotion, and reliance upon the Word of God as the foundation of all faith, by acts of unselfishness and sincerity, teach them to make known the saving grace of Christ. The qualifications which shine brightest in the eyes of men and are most attractive in the kingdom of the world, have no recognition in the kingdom of God. The rewards of Christ’s kingdom are not for the covetous, the selfish, the proud. No, no; those who enter into eternal life enter it because the perfection of Christ’s character has been imparted to them. In the kingdom of God nobility and holiness of character are accounted wealth. That which is pure and lovely counts. The knowledge of the truth in the heart, virtue of character, the manifestation of love such as Christ possessed,—those who are possessors of these are sharers in the kingdom of Christ. The lesson of the barren fig-tree is one that we should keep continually before us. It is not profession of righteousness that will meet the needs of the world to-day, and fulfil the will of God for the human family. God is looking for fruit-bearing branches. “Feed my sheep with pure provender,” is the Lord’s command to those who stand as teachers of the gospel of salvation. He has made provision that the gospel’s saving power shall be represented in all places. This gospel, Paul declares, must be preached to every creature under heaven; “whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God.” The apostle bears the burden of the stewardship given him. He must co-operate with God in the work of saving souls, dispensing faithfully as one who must give an account. And as he labors, he sees by the eye of faith the results of his work; souls who were without God and without hope in the world would receive the faith, and in their turn preach the gospel they had received. “Now in Christ Jesus,” he declares, “ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. . . . For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” Conditions to our knowledge of the mystery of God are plainly stated. “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” This calls for much searching of the Scriptures. We can not be settled in the faith unless we educate and train every faculty of the mind. To continue in the faith means to have a determined purpose to use every God-given power in becoming an experienced and competent builder with God, building up the souls of those in the faith, and striving to reach those who have not yet come to a knowledge of the truth. I was shown that mistakes have been made that have left wrong impressions upon minds, because there were allowed to preside over important interests men who were deficient in the saving grace of the gospel, who had not made its purity and simplicity a part of their lives, and who did not seek God often in earnest, humble prayer. Righteous, self-denying works were not regarded by them as being a necessary part of Christian experience. They did not see the necessity of having the Spirit of Christ and of emulating his example in their work of ministry. I am instructed to say to our ministers, Be careful that the work of cleansing and sanctifying shall go on in your own individual souls. Let your first thought be to make your calling and election sure. Your example is to be full of kindness and encouragement. No masterful spirit is to come in, but let the heart be filled with the tenderness and love and compassion of Christ. Work every day for sanctification of the spirit through belief of the truth. Let all realize that they are chosen of God to reveal that they understand the mystery of godliness. As a people we are to be purified from our natural evil habits and desires. Our hearts must be changed, or we can not correctly represent the Lord Jesus, who gave his life for us. The Son of God took humanity upon him that he might make it possible for humanity to take hold upon divinity through the exercise of a perfect faith. Christ is our example for the development of a perfect character. Through the strength we receive from him, we may be overcomers. In seeking him for those things that we need, we must exercise a faith that will not be denied. We must represent him by following humbly in his footsteps. Through faith in his merits and practise of the truth, we shall receive of his grace, and this will be revealed in kindness of heart and of action, and in singleness of purpose. Courtesy and sympathy will be revealed in our lives. By a daily opening of the heart to truth and righteousness, as they are found in Jesus, we shall be able to reveal that truth and that righteousness in our dealings with others. The Spirit of Christ is grieved when any of his followers give evidence of possessing a harsh, unfair, or exacting spirit. As laborers together with God, each should regard the other as part of God’s great firm. He desires that they shall counsel together. There is to be no drawing apart, for the spirit of independence dishonors the truth we profess. One special evidence that the Spirit of Christ is abiding in his church is the unity and harmony which exist among its members. This is the brightest witness to the possession of true religion; for it will convert and transform the natural man, and fashion him after the divine similitude. The converting power of Christ is the agency that will overcome our individual defects of character, and make us laborers together with God. By the truth held in its purity souls will be reached who could not otherwise be influenced to obey. The Holy Spirit is to be our counselor and guide in every branch of the work. The will of God made manifest in the life reveals the power of the Word to overcome the natural traits of character, and to change the believer “from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” A Time for Earnest Work
By G. B. Thompson
The close of probation! What an awful hour is that when the destiny of a world is decided! When we stop to think that this long-looked-for, yet awful, hour is near, how it ought to move the hearts of those who believe this solemn truth! The last plagues are at hand. When we pause to think that in a few brief years, at most, earth’s millions, our unsaved friends and neighbors, will be in the grip of the seven last plagues, from which there will be no deliverance, it should arouse us to work for souls perishing in their sins. Our inaction is appalling in view of the lost millions around us. We should9 awake to our responsibility. It is related of Rowland Hill, who was noted for his energy and eccentricity, that once, while speaking, he was carried away by the impetuous rush of his feelings, and exclaimed:— “Beware! I am in earnest; men call me an enthusiast, but I am not: mine are words of truth and soberness. When I first came into this part of the country, I was walking on yonder hill; I saw a gravel pit fall in, and bury three human beings alive. I lifted up my voice for help so loudly that I was heard in the town below, a distance of a mile: help came and rescued two of the poor sufferers. No one called me an enthusiast then. When I see eternal destruction ready to fall upon poor sinners, and about to entomb them irrecoverably in an eternal mass of woe, and call on them to escape by repentance and fleeing to Christ, shall I be called an enthusiast?”
Our efforts are far too feeble when compared with the terribly solemn message with which we are entrusted, and the remnant of time which remains in which to finish the work. We should awake from the stupor which rests upon us, and throw all our power and energy into the finishing of the work. Let us work as if we really believed God’s truth for this time. Religious Conditions in the Last Days
By George Ide Butler
In order to comprehend fully the conditions connected with “the fall of Babylon,” it seems necessary to consider certain scriptures which speak of the last days and of the religious conditions prevailing in that interesting period. The fall of Babylon is certainly an important matter. It is made prominent in the book of Revelation. We should approach the subject in a candid, kind, Christian spirit, and never in a censorious, sharp, criticizing spirit calculated to wound and hurt the feelings of others. Our efforts should be to instruct, edify, and kindly lead along the lines of truth, as the Lord has done in his blessed Word. We should mildly seek to present the reasons of Babylon’s fall, so that candid Christian people may see and fully comprehend, and be saved from its awful effects. With these objects in view, we approach the subject by considering certain scriptures relating to the last days of time. In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we have a most remarkable prophetic discourse, given by our Saviour just before his crucifixion, in answer to his disciples’ question, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus then answered their questions, and told them how and when these things would come. In his discourse he first rapidly gave a summary of the prominent events of the Christian dispensation. In the latter part of the chapter he gives the special signs of his coming. In verses 11-14 he gives a special description of the religious conditions prevailing in the last days: “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” There can be no question but that Christ is here speaking of the very last days. Notice especially verse 12: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax [or grow] cold.” The last days are days of great light and knowledge: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12:4. We have surely reached that period. But though it be an age of “knowledge,” it is likewise an age of great spiritual stupor, coldness, and apathy among professed Christians generally. Who can dispute that we have reached such a period? There are some noble exceptions left in the world, we admit, but most assuredly religious coldness and apathy characterize these last days. In the parable of the importunate widow (Luke 18:1-8), we have another statement by our Saviour bearing on this subject. In this parable there is introduced an unjust judge, who feared not God nor man, wholly selfish and indifferent to the rights of the poor oppressed widow. Holding the office of judge, he had to listen to the cause of the wronged and oppressed. She pleaded her case most earnestly. He simply put her off, and wished to be bothered no more with her claims. But she was persistent, and felt that she must have justice. She had the right to come to him, and she came constantly. He soon found that if her case did not receive attention, he would be worn out with her importunities. This selfish reason, rather than any desire to see justice done, induced him to grant her request. She got justice because of her earnestness. The Lord says: “Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? . . . Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith [or this kind of faith] on the earth?” His language strongly implies that there will be very little of this strong, vigorous, persistent, earnest faith on the earth when the Son of man comes. Our Saviour sometimes prayed all night for strength to carry out his wonderful mission. But the great majority of professed Christians in these last days know very little of prevailing faith. It is a day of religious carelessness and apathy. In the latter part of Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians, we have a wonderfully vivid description of the second coming of Christ: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. . . . For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Why is it that some of God’s professed people are of darkness, while others are the children of light? There must be a reason for this difference. Peter answers this question: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19. This earth is a dark place morally. Every form of iniquity prevails in it. The midnight of heathenism envelops more than a thousand million of earth’s inhabitants to-day, after eighteen centuries of gospel light; and besides these, vast multitudes dwell in darkness almost as great. These care little for the light of prophecy, which alone can enlighten them. A small number have accepted that blessed light, and hence they are said to be “the children of light.” They are illuminated by its clear rays. One class heeds “the sure word of prophecy,” and the other rejects that light. Each has the same opportunity. God wishes to enlighten all; but his method is cast aside, sometimes with evident scorn and hatred, but still oftener with indifference and neglect. Hence the great darkness which broods over the mass of professed Christians to-day. They refuse to receive the light which God has in mercy sent. They are crying, “Peace and safety,” when sudden destruction is impending. What can be done to arouse and enlighten the professed people of God? Their condition is passing strange, yea, sad above measure. It is as it was at Christ’s first advent. His professed people, the Jews, ignored the prophetic instructions God had given through his prophets. He had, through the prophet (Daniel 9), given the very year when the Messiah should appear. A few knew this, and believed, and were looking for his advent. Simeon was “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” The Holy Ghost was with him. The Lord had made known to him that he should not die till he had “seen the Lord’s Christ.” In the temple of God he was waiting, and when they put the child Jesus into his arms, he cried, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. . . . Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” The widow, Anna, a prophetess, also recognized the fulfilment of the prophetic prediction. A small minority of God’s professed people accepted the light. The great majority rejected him, and some10 said, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” God’s judgments followed the rejection of light. It will doubtless be the same at his second coming. The Reconciliation Complete
By W. E. Haskell
The Greatest Reconciliation— No. 4
The Reconciliation Complete
This giving, this sacrifice, required the separation of Father and Son, the breaking of ties that bound them together. But what this separation involved would depend much on what they were to each other. We read that Jesus is “the brightness of his [the Father’s] glory, and the express image of his person;” and that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Between them there would be a mutual understanding each of the other; delight each in the other; love each for the other; sympathy and companionship each with the other, such as could be between no others in all the universe. The ties of friendship, betrothal, of home relations, of all human love combined, can reveal only in part the ties which bound them as one. The suffering resulting from the breaking of these earthly ties, all combined, would be far surpassed by the infinite suffering caused by the breaking of those ties of infinite love between the Father and the Son. To a being whose nature had never been benumbed and paralyzed by sin, contact with sin would be the most painful contact possible. But the sin of the world pressed upon Christ as being his own. He endured the double agony of separation from his Father and of closest contact with sin at one and the same time. Jesus would make a way for love to be revealed in its fulness, even though that way must be through his own broken heart. He endured the awful contact with sin, that from sin we might be forever separated. He endured the awful separation from his Father, that with them we might enjoy eternal reunion. The infinite sacrifice, self-denial, and suffering—the overwhelming display of love—reached its climax on the cross. By means of the cross of Calvary, multitudes of sinners have had confidence restored, and their reconciliation with their Maker has been accomplished. “And you that were sometime alienated and enemies, . . . yet now hath he reconciled.” Col. 1: 21. “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself.” Verse 20. “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; . . . that he might reconcile both unto God, in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Eph. 2: 14, 16. This was so fully done that many have said, and more will yet say, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 8: 35, 38, 39. The cross has a power possessed by no other agency to conquer unbelief and enmity, and to establish faith. It has filled the hearts of multitudes with the assurance that God is love, and therefore that in whatever he has required or permitted, “he hath done all things well.” On the cross, sin was punished in a way that makes equally plain God’s infinite hatred of sin, and also his infinite love for the sinner. The one supreme act by which God’s justice and mercy were reconciled is the overwhelming display of love by which alone rebel sinners can be reconciled to God, and thereby with one another. Truly love’s conquest of unbelief and stubborn will is the greatest conquest in the world. Let the individual ask, “Has it conquered mine?” “Just as I am, thy love I own
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be thine, and thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
Amid the Ruins of Italy's Earthquake
By CHAS. T. EVERSON
I HAVE just returned from a sojourn in the land of death, and I can assure you that it can not be compared to anything short of a picture of the last great day. The cities are, as the prophet said, “broken down.” Wherever one looks, desolation and destruction meet his eyes. I wandered over the mountain of ruins that cover almost every street in the town, and it was really heart-rending to behold the effects of the horrible disaster that had overtaken the sleeping people in a few seconds. The earthquake giant arose in all his fury, and in thirty-two seconds two large towns and about two hundred smaller towns and villages were a heap of ruins, humbled in the dust. Little did the inhabitants of the stricken cities think that ere the light of another day broke, their destiny would be sealed forever. As I wandered among the ruins, and saw some of those who had been taken unawares while tranquilly sleeping upon their beds, I thought of the great need of living always during these days of peril as if looking for the Bridegroom, that he may find us ready, whether he comes at midnight or at the day's dawning. I saw one man and his wife lying upon their bed, crushed, with a pile of ruins resting heavily upon them. The body of one woman I saw suspended on a beam in the third story, where it was impossible to get to her. Thousands and thousands buried under the débris make the city a great cemetery, that sends forth a stench that is sickening indeed. In the city of Messina alone, that numbered one hundred sixty thousand inhabitants before the earthquake, it is estimated that one hundred thousand were buried under the ruins, and that two hundred thousand perished in the desolated region. The earthquake of Lisbon, with its fifty thousand victims, loses much of its terribleness, when compared with the catastrophe of southern Italy. One can imagine how absolutely impossible were the chances for escape on the part of the sleeping inhabitants of the doomed cities. Wings themselves would not have helped the greater part of them. While they were peacefully sleeping, a terrible shock hurled them under huge piles of débris, before they had time to think of what had happened. Those who escaped were saved only by a miracle; for no one can be said to have been saved by acts of heroism or courage. With the earthquake there is no kind of heroism or courage that avails. One is buried in the land of forgetfulness before he has time to think of what he ought to do. The sea also rolled in to help in the work of destruction, and many were carried out into the murky waters to perish. Dense darkness settled down on the stricken city immediately after the earthquake began to do its deadly work; for the lighting plants of the place were quickly disabled. The few inhabitants that escaped the terrible tremblings went groping around in the dark, trying to find a place of safety. Falling walls destroyed many of these. Suddenly the dense darkness was lighted up by fires that broke out here and there in the stricken city, to complete the destruction after the visitation of the earthquake and the tidal wave. Then, as if every element of nature were bent on contributing its part to the catastrophe, the rain began to come down in torrential floods, drenching the poor survivors, who, terror-stricken, had taken refuge under the open heaven in the country, to escape from the falling walls that on every side in town threatened the unfortunate inhabitants. A more desolate picture one can hardly imagine. It really gives one some little idea of what the last great day will be, when all the powers of destruction will be turned loose, and the terror-stricken inhabitants of the world will run here and there to seek a place of safety, only to find that destruction threatens them on every hand. It makes one sick at heart to see so many go down in destruction in a moment who have never heard a word of the third angel's message. I do not hold that, in such a terrible disaster, even Seventh-day Adventists would be exempt from destruction. But for the child of God it would be but a moment of sweet sleep, to awaken in the beautiful morn of the resurrection. We think of the openings that this great sign of the times will probably give us in Italy. But the question that presents itself to me is, What shall we do with new openings, when we can not fill those we already have?11 We have been having earthquake shocks also in Florence, Milan, and throughout northern Italy. I hope that the hearts of our American brethren will be moved not only for the bodies of the poor, stricken Italian people, but also for their souls. May we not hope that this earthquake, with all its sad effects, will at least achieve one good result for Italy—a new recruit of workers and means for this land? God help us to do our duty toward old Italy. Improving the Record
By M. G. HUFFMAN
The corrupting influences of Satan are flooding the world as never before. The enemy of all good knows that his time is short. Each one of us might ask himself the question, Is my record before God all that it should have been or could have been for the year 1908? The records of the past year have shown that it was the banner year for disaster by land and sea. Thousands upon thousands of human beings were hurled to death without a moment’s warning, and many of them with no hope in Christ. How diligent ought we all to be in giving the last message of mercy for this time to those who are sitting in darkness, that they may have opportunity to make their calling and election sure. We all have had sorrows as well as joys. Sunshine has played with the shadows. Our songs of joy have been mingled with tears and pain, caused by neglects, mistakes, and shortcomings. But with the knowledge of the fact that the Father is still at the helm, we can, and will by God’s help, take courage to lay aside the old year with calmness, while we take up our duties anew, having faith to press forward in the Master’s vineyard to accomplish the work he has for us to do in the year 1909. We all believe in being better than we are. We may fail as individuals in reaching the standard, or many of us, despairing, may even cease to press toward it; but our efforts, put forth in the name of Christ, are not in vain. They help us to rise toward a higher plane of character. When we look back upon the year just past, we can, notwithstanding all our mistakes and failures, see some permanent results of our efforts; that is, if we have put forth our efforts in the name of him who said, “Without me ye can do nothing.” The evil in our natures will be less dominant in 1909 if we continue to strive against it in the name of Christ. But we should ever remember that the conviction of sin is the first step toward righteousness; but it must be one’s conviction of his own sin, and not of his brother’s. The trouble with many of us is that we have been content with trying to convict some one else, feeling that, while we are not without fault, our brethren and sisters and neighbors are extremely sinful, and must be changed at once. But, my brother, my sister, such efforts inspire resentment. A man under conviction of sin may be willing to accuse himself of every depravity; but when others accuse him, he immediately feels that he is not the only sinner in the world, and he begins, in turn, to accuse others. The accused then becomes the accuser, and the result is merely crimination and recrimination, accomplishing nothing except to inspire distrust. Great strides have been made in all parts of the world in spreading far and wide the glorious proclamation of the third angel’s message to a dying race of sinners for whom Christ gave his life. The evidences that the work for the last days will be finished in this generation are multiplying on every hand. And, in view of this fact, let us strive in 1909 to go forward and do what we can for the Master. But we can go forward only when we strive hopefully, and not despairingly. Our success in the war in which we are engaged depends much upon the mood in which we rise to better things. Let us ask God to help us to do better day by day. He has washed away that spot; let us ask him to wash away this one also. We have stopped doing that wrong thing; let us stop this also. We have now entered upon another year. The doors of 1908 are closed forever; we can never open them again. Good or bad, the work we have wrought must stand. There is doubtless much we would wish were blotted off the page,—many a careless deed, many an idle word, many a thoughtless act that brought pain not only to our own hearts, but to the hearts of those whom we would gladly have pleased. Let us all strive in the name of Christ to make 1909 so beautiful with good deeds that we shall feel that it is good to live, and the world will be better because of our having lived in it. Prayer Directed Pocketward
By T. E. Bowen
The effectiveness of prayer the true Christian doubts not; but that intelligence is needed in choosing subjects for prayer, we sometimes overlook. In regard to the work of missions, a timely and valuable suggestion will be found in the following quotation from Lucas’s “Empire of Christ,” appearing in The Missionary Review of the World, under the title “Foolish Missionary Prayers:” — “We have the remarkable spectacle of the establishment of prayer unions beseeching God for more success, side by side with the recognition of our utter inability to provide for the success he has already granted. We send up a prayer to heaven for more work, and we send out a message to the field announcing a reduction of grants. We should be dumbfounded if we received a request from the field asking us to reduce our prayers, on the ground that they were quite unequal to provide for the answers already granted.” God, in answer to very definite prayer, has opened wide the door of missionary endeavor in nearly every land. But the most stubborn door to open can quite truly be termed “the door of the pocket-book.” Suppose we direct a few prayers thitherward, remembering the statement, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” Among the hills of northern New England were two infidel neighbors who had lived to man's estate, sinning and blaspheming against God. One of them heard the gospel message, and on hearing, believed unto eternal life. A short time afterward the converted man went to the house of this infidel neighbor, and said to him: “I have come to talk to you; I have been converted.” “Yes, I heard that you had gone forward to be prayed for,” said the skeptic, with a sneer; “and I am surprised, for I thought you were about as sensible a man as any in town.” “Well,” said the Christian, “I have a duty to do to you, and I want you to stop talking and hear me. I have not slept much for two nights thinking of it. I have four sheep in my flock that belong to you. They came into my field six years ago, and I knew they had your mark on them, but I took them and marked them with my mark, and you inquired all around, and could not hear anything of them. But they are in my field with the increase of them; and now I want to settle this matter. I have lain awake nights and groaned over it, and I have come to get rid of it. And now I am at your option; I will do just what you say. If it is a few years in prison, I will suffer that. If it is money or property you want, say the word. I have a good farm and money at interest, and you can have all you ask. I want to settle this matter up and get rid of it.” The infidel was amazed; he began to tremble. “If you have the sheep, you are welcome to them. I don't want anything of you, if you will only go away; a man that will come to me as you have—something must have got hold of you that I don't understand. You may have the sheep if you will only go away.” We do not know what the after-influence of the professor's life was on the unbelieving infidel, but we do know that when the true religion gets into a man's heart, it works such a change in him that those who have known him before soon decide that “something must have got hold” of him. And when this kind of Christianity gets into a man's heart, it does more to convince the skeptic than a world of sermonizing.—Selected. AN engine that expends all its steam in whistling, has nothing left with which to turn the wheels. Then let us cultivate silence. All that we can save in noise we gain in power.—Charles Wagner. The Way, the Truth, the Life
Thou art the Way; to thee alone
From sin and death we flee;
And he who would the Father seek
Must seek him, Lord, by thee. Thou art the Truth; thy word alone
True wisdom can impart;
Thou only canst inform the mind,
And purify the heart. Thou art the Life, the rending tomb
Proclaims thy conquering arm;
And those who put their trust in thee,
Nor death nor hell shall harm. Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life;
Grant us that way to know,
That truth to keep, that life to win
Whose joys eternal flow.