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February 10, 1909. THE PRESBYTEt
Contributed
AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE.
O often I wait
At the beautiful gate
Of Thinp pnrthlv tpmnln T a*?/1
And I ask an alms
Of the sweet-sung psalms,
The prayers and the preached word;
For ever I yearn
And hearken to learn
Some news of my absent Lord,
And I wait, I wait
At th' beautiful gate
In hope of a secret word:
For a priceless grace
In that sacred place
Is ever Thy message, Lord,
And the soul leaps up
In gladness and hope
Whep it hears the precious word;
And it comes to me
In an ecstasy
Sometimes as I listen. Lord,
Or in holy calm
From the chanted psalm,
The prayer or the spoken word.
M. McK. C.
"HE SAVED OTHERS, HIMSELF HE CANNOT
SAVE."
Rv W H PAi-lrinc
?J ?
When Jesus was dying on the cross the chief priests
and scribes looking on said in bitter mockery, "He
saved others; himself he cannot save." Never was a
truer word spoken. To save others, sacrifices must be
made. We sometimes wonder why it is that our counItry
churches have so little lea\ening influence upon
the country around. The best of our country churches
do not grow, and yet, go out in any direction you will,
on converging roads, and within a few miles you will
find families witlinut I fl,~ c~
? ....vuv vjv/uj iviuiuui miuvnn-ug*. u? a savior,
caring for none of these things. Whatever may
be said about the stupid indifference of the unsaved,
the failure to reach them is largely owing to want of
an evangelical spirit in these country churches.
Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth." How can
salt preserve anything unless it is brought in contact
with the thing to be saved? How can Christians spread
the leaven of the Gospel without going out and speaking
to the unsaved?
Only see how we move on! On the one side a large
class of irreligious non-churchgoers, made up of all
shades and grades of refined forms of sin down to the
brutal, but all perishing for salt. Then s#>p a rhiirrh
Ihere and there, little piles of salt, whose members
theoretically say poor sinners can have, if they will
come and get it. Some say: "I have my business to
attend to, and it requires all my time."
Well, when Jesus was sending out His disciples, lie
said, "As ye go, preach." Let your life be a sermon a
letter?Christ's epistle to an ungodly w6rld. Others
say, "I do not care to be mixed up with such common
people." "Self preservation is heaven's first law.
That is an untrue, selfish, unchristian sentiment. He
MAN OF THE SOUTH. 7
that saveth his life shall lose it," and "he that loseth his
life for my sake shall find it."
What kind of an army would we have, if every man
were to set the preservation of his life as his first duty?
What we all need is to go now and then to Calvary,
and gaze upon the face of that great sacrifice and to
think upon those- true words, "He saved others, him
1 r 1 - ?? - ?? w - -
sen nc can not save.' me attitude ot your mind
towards the outside, unsaved masses, determines
whether you are for Christ or against Him. As you
go, preach, and such as you have give unto others.
Freely ye have received, freely give."
THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST.
By Rev. R. L. Benn.
The human soul is not self-sustaining. It is ever
reaching forth to some trustworthy object or presence
Again and again there comes the feeling of Moses that
all will come to desolation without such support when
he exclaimed, "If thy presence go not with me, carry
us not up hence." The human soul wants some object
that is higher and grander and mightier than itself
1|nnn UfVli^U I f I f - 1 S- If
mj/uii nutv.11 11 vail v.vjiiiiucilliy rcpusu Ulltl ieei usen secure.
That want is met in Christ. He satisfies and
sustains the soul, and directs its healthy growth, and
joyful development, and noble achievement. His satisfying
and assuring promise is, "Lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world."
This promise does not mean an impersonal influence,
Vague as the pervading atmosphere, or "a stream of
tendency flowing through the ages" with no ear for
prayer, no heart for sympathy, no arm to deliver. It
means a real living presence. In his estate of exalta1
inil fllrict 1C Am n i nrpcon f T-IIe rvrnrn?i/>n ?1fs* *
V.W.., .WW vrniKipi vuvti t. xiio piv,avu\.g una miiuciisity.
His flaming eye observes all that transpires in
one's private and public life, in the shadow of darkness
as well as in the glare of light. But he is present
with his people as Savior, Shepherd and Friend, giving
his gracious, loving, interested presence exclusively to
them. And there are times in the true Christian's life
when the conviction of his presence dawns so vividly
that one.feels his hand lifting his burdens, and hears
his voice whispering comfort to his soul. His presence
is a benign reality.
More present to faith's vision keen,
Than any visions seen.
More near, more ultimately nigh
Than any earthly tie.
His presence is not something now and then. "I am
with you alway," he says. It is an abiding presence.
Earthly resources are perpetually changing. It is impossible
to calculate what changes a single day may
effect. Uncertainty and instability and transiency
characterize all things here below. Wealth vanishes,
competency ceases, position fails, health breaks, friends
even change, and if they do not change, they certainly
die, so that, "There is none abiding/'
How impressive does this truth of mutation become
at times. One day a visitor returns from some other
place where you once resided, and you ply him with
questions about different friends you once had there.
"Did you see Mr. A?" "Yes; but you would scarcely
recognize him now; he has changed so much." "Did