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8 THE PRESBYTERIA lie ask about me?" "Well, it seems to me that he did, but 1 cannot be sure. He is wonderfully changed." "And what about Mr. R?" "Ah me, times have sadly changed him. It would make you sorry to see him. He is in dreadfully distressing circumstances." "And" how did you find my old neighbor?" "He is gone to his reward. The old home is occupied by strangers. The place is all run down. All the family have moved away." So runs the story. Changes! Mutations! But there is one who is not subject to these variations. He is ever the same, day in and day out, year in and year out. His face is always lovingly toward us, and his POt" 1C ? ? ? ? A - .o a.ways open 10 our prayer. As he walked and talked with the disciples so he walks and talks with us; and as he stood by Paul when all others had fled, so he stands by us under all circumstances. But the promise speaks of an omnipotent presence. Christ possesses all power, almighty power, unfailing power, which achieves and wins in the conflicts of life. He imparts his power to us, so that it becomes sufficient and efficient to strengthen and sustain and lead usforth more than conquerors. In the day when earthly sources of happiness go as the transient sunlight, when the blessing of friends fade as flowers fade, when sorrow and bereavement come in as the flood, when anxiety and worry toss the soul as the ship in the temne^f 1? when temptation becomes almost unbearable; then, the angel of light in the promises reaches out for us, and grasps us, and tells us of his powerful presence which is sufficient for every need, and which strengthensus with strength in our soul. Indeed, all the promises culminate in this one which vouchsafes to the soul a living, abiding, omnipotent presence. It answers every need under every circumstance, "even unto the end of the world." Then what? It is said that Mr. Gladstone one day repeated these words to a friend in deep trouble, and that a sceptical listener asked, "Then what?" Immediately the great Christian he was, replied, "Why, I will be with him." Think it out along that orbit. Jesus says, "I am with you all through life," and at death, "you will be with _ 9f me. He is always with us, but we are not always with him. He is always near us, but we are not always near him. He follows us always, but we do not always follow him. Some day death will complete the promise, and then, we will be with him, ever near him, and forever follow him. "In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." THE WINTER WIND. By George Carrington Moseley. Cold is the air and bitter chill, In its wild and boundless sweep; Down from the mountains, wintera nid Wrapped In snow-drifts deep. Cold is the air and bitter chill, Whirling and swirling and racing along; Through the valley and over the hill, In a mad and riotous song. Cold is the air and bitter chill, For winter winds bleakly blow; But a balmy breeze from southern seas, Will again bring spring, I know. lN OF THE SOUTH. February 10, 1909. TEACHING AND PREACHING. By James L. Martin. Each generation needs to be taught the first principles. We are prone to go astray. The native depravity of the human heart causes it to lean to its own undercf ? -' 1 ^ 1 * oiununig , in an ages uoa nas expressed his disapproval of this self-sufficiency; it is an insult to his majesty, a discounting of his word, rebellion against the royal prophet, a grieving of his Holy Spirit. No language can sufficiently express the sin and the danger of indulging the pride of our human intellect. Invariably the Lord of his church has visited with condign punishment not only the wicked in general, but his own people in particular, for the sin of "rationalism"?for that is the root of the matter. The alienated heart and the darkened understanding caused the flood to sweep away the antediluvians; caused the nations to sink into hopeless heathenism; drove Saul from his* kingdom, Israel to Nineveh and Judah to Babylon. Nineteen hundred years of apostasy is the price Judaism is paying for this sin; the terrible darkness of the Middle Ages is Jehovah's testimony against the pride of human speculation, that refused to humble itself in sackcloth and ashes before the "oracles of God." Is it nui d question wormy oi carelul and prayerful consideration? Has not this age gone far, very far, away from the sincere and devout acceptance of the inspired Scriptures as the sole and all sufficient rule of faith and practice? It is apparently a small matter, whether one draws a sharp distinction between "teaching" and "preaching." But if our heavenly Guide observes that distinction, is it a small matter whether, as we are threading our way through the tangled wilderness, intricate, full fo dangers, dark as Egypt sometimes, we follow the Guide or strike out for ourselves? Already some have evoluted inl-o nrplarv t?.?j, ?o iiuu ji(tpdv.jr, some inio populism, and, of late, we have faint symptoms of an initial degeneration into mobocracy and nihilism. We have borrowed these terms from the political sphere because they are no less expressive of ecclesiastical heresies. That the Scriptures do recognize this distinction would at once be apparent if, taking a good, comprehensive concordance, especially a Greek concordance, we turn to the words: Teach, preach; teach and preach, and evangelize. We should find, e. g., Lu. 24:47, "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached (heralded) in his name." In Matt. 28: 19, the commission is: (1) "Make disciples of all nations." This would be done by "preaching"?i. e., they would be gathered and prepared; then follows (2) "Baptizing them." This would be the formal introduction into the school and . recistrafinn oc "^!c/>inloc " ?*.??* J1?? '*v 0?.. uo u^vif/ivg, ui piipus. i\uw iuuows (^3J i "Teaching them," etc. The simple heralding or proclamation or preaching of the gospel (evangelize) announcing briefly the terms of salvation: "Repent and be baptized every gne of you," "Believe op the Lord jesus ^nrist and tliou slialt be saved," would be sufficing as on the day of Pentecost, to give knowledge enough for an intelligent exercist; of saving faith?as also with the jailor at Philippi. Thereupon, the next step would be public "confession" by the sacrament of "baptism," and then follows the third injunction of the