Newspaper Page Text
January 6, 1909. . THE PRESBYTER]
Contributed
A NEW YEAR REVERIE.
By Benjamin C. Moomaw.
Saw >e Ihis writing in the book of time,
Or hailed this message from the vanished ages,
Or found the treasure in the Word sublime,
That love the sorrow of the world assuages?
Oh, tell me not the boreal winds, astir,
Mav hillH snnl in niHlooo nnnnn?lt~~
? ?r?? ?x. www. HI [/?v?ivoo wugcauug,
Or that the fierceness of the wintry year
Can freeze the tides of tenderness and feeling.
Blasts of the barren world may yet abide
But briefly o'er the valleys and the mountains;
And sorrow may but yet a moment hide
The springs cf Joy, and all its flowing fountains.
Avauut, ye darkening storms; the youthful year
Shall soon in radiant bloom and blossoming
Fling far the phantom of the wintry fear
And fill us with the splendor of the spring.
Ben, Virginia.
A NEW YEAR'S PRAYER FOR CHRIST.
By Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler.
With the single exception of our Lord's intercession
for his disciples on the night of his betrayal, the principal
prayers recorded in the New Testament are very
short as well as very simple. The shortest, the sweetest,
and the most comprehensive is that one which closes
the sacred canon; for the Bible begins with a narrative
and ends with a prayer. It begins with the sublime
story of the Creation; it concludes with a petition that
the ascended Christ would come and take possession
of the world which he had redeemed with his blood.
"Even SO come. LorH Tesiml" Tf 1 j:?:_1
_ r J . A A. lilt UCIUVEU UlSCipiC
had cast about him to find the words which should express
the deepest loyalty to his Master and the deepest
love to his fellow-men, he could find none so comprehensive
as these: "Come, Lord Jesus!" They epitomize
all the richest blessings that can fill a human
heart, or save and purify a wicked world.
Into the controverted questions about our Lord's
"second coming" we do not enter. It is enough for us
that Jesus comes afresh in every utterance of Gospel
truth, every manifestation of Gospel grace and every
forth-putting of Gospel effort t6 regenerate humanity.
All the preaching of the Cross, from apostolic days to
the present hour, all the enterprises of Christian benevolence,
all grand movements like the Reformation, the
revivals under Wesley and Whitefield, the establishment
of foreign missions, the emancipation of the slave, the
temperance reform, the whole circle of Christian charities
are only the continued advents of Christ Jesus into
thp u;nr1 A L- 1 ^ -1? 1
? iic iuvcs. wniy wnen Uhrist is in them
do such enterprises possess power and permanence.
There is a great deal of rambling and of repetition in
the average utterances of the family altar and the prayer
meeting. But suppose that God gave to each of us the
same privilege that he once gave to Solomon: "Ask
[AN OF THE SOUTH. n
what I shall give unto thee." What would it be? One
might urge the case of a sick child, or an unconverted
1 t 1 -
misDanci, or a wandering son; and another might covet
a blessing on his pulpit, or his Sabbath school work;
and another might ask for a revival, and many others
for victories over special personal temptation or the influx
of some especial grace. But while various requests
of various persons were presented, suppose that some
one should rise up and say: "My petition includes and
covers about all of yours. 'Let us pray for Christ!'"
Would not his prayer cover the whole circle of cases
and meet about every want? For, if we get Jesus, we
shall get every spiritual gift. Health, light, pardon,
strength, comfort for aching hearts, converting power,
sanctifying grace, victories over the Devil?all these and
more will come if Jesus only comes himself. In him
dwells all fullness. What are all the miracles in the
Bible compared with him who is the mightiest miracle
fllP urnrl/1 ^
...v xuilU V.VC1 StlW I
Now, let us suppose once more that any of our
Church prayer gatherings should agree to merge their
various requests into this single one: "Come, Lord
Jesus!" It might prove like the concentration of many
sun rays into the focus of a burning lens. "If two of
you shall agree as touching anything that they shall
ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in
Heaven." Most assuredly a company of Christians
could not go astray if with all sincerity they agreed in
offering a prayer which is recorded in their Bible anH
inspired by the Holy Spirit. Assuredly no prayer could
be more directly in the line of the divine promises; none
more likely to be answered. It would be as nearly
sifted of all selfish and sinful desires as anything human
could be. It would not involve any straining after
immediate miracles such as many believers in "faith
cures" require. There is nothing impossible, or even
improbable, in the fulfilment of this prayer of prayers.
For our Savior has distinctly promised his presence
with his flock. When his bodily form floated upward
fmm Ol!"?* "-- *-*
?... v^nvci. in me vernal air, and a cloud received him
out of human sight the promise remained: "Lo, I am
with you." Not somebody else, but "I," your risen
Lord. Jesus was as truly in Jerusalem on the day of
Pentecost as he was on the day of his crucifixion. His
presence filled that upper chamber, when the sound was
like the sound of a mighty wind, and the light was like
the light of a tongue of flame. He spake through Peter's
lips, when the wonderful discourse made three
thousand converts; and he wrought through Peter's
hands, when the cripple leapt up and walked through
the beautiful gate. He had a personal encounter with
that bitter bigot on the highway to Damascus. To the
bigot's question, "Who art thou, Lord?" the reply was,
"I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." Christ was as
vcrnaDly with Luther in the Erfurth Convent, and with
Bunyan in his Bedford cell, and with David Brainerd in
the Indian camp, as he was with the disciples on the
shore of Gennesaret. He still does mighty works
through his living witnesses. Every genuine conversion
testifies to a present Christ. He still casts out evil
spirits from the drunkard, still welcomes the penitent
harlot, still whispers in the ear of the contrite sinner,