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io THE PRESBYTEF Prayer Meeting Week Beginning February 21. TOPIC: .THE POWER OF FAITH. Matt. 8:5-13. A centurion was the commander of a hundred men in ihe ltoman legions. The average Roman soldiery consisted of men of repute and the rank of centurion was correspondingly high. This officer, woo came to Jesus as lip entwpit imn was probably of good faniily, education and fortune. Being a Roman, he was of heathen religion in his training and had cordially liatcd the religion of the Jews. But his vocation having brought him into contact with Jewish teachings and worship, he became acquainted with the Scriptures,and had evidently developed*respect for and confidence in the once despised faith; and bad overcome Jewish prejudice against himself as we learn from Luke 7:1-10. It appears from Luke's account that he first sent elders of the Jews to implore our Lord's blessing upon his sick servant and in making their plea they said, ' He loveth our nation and hath built us a synagogue." It is not improbable that this ofTicer had embraced the Jewish faith as is indicated by his building a synagogue aud further by his compassionate regard for his servant. He seems to have had a regard more tender than merely that of an austere officer for a dependent subordinate (God's compassion toward us makes us compassionate toward others). His having sent the elders to Jesus, then a company of his friends, and probably having orae to Jesus in person, would indicate his extraordinary solicitude. The humility of this man. who by his training might be expected to exhibit a haughty spirit, is noteworthy. "I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed." Here is strikingly presented another characteristic of Christian failh. The one to whom he made his appeal was a poor Jew aud himself belonged to the proud, powerful nation that held the Jews in subjection, yet he sincerely felt that he was not worthy to receive Jesus into his home. This Is the spirit of true disciplcship. "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he resnect unto the lo-.vly, but the proud he knoweth afar off." The centurion's faith was remarkable, for he not only thought Jesus could heal his servant, hut that there was no need of methods or even of eprsonal contact. The Master's command was sufficient. The divine volition would impart healing power. He believed thai the authority of Jesus was supreme and that his will could not be thwarted by conditions even so desperate. This suppliants intelligence is admirable. He showed that he nad a proper apprehension of P.hrist'-s pf-iaiinn He illustrated this by his own position as a "man under authority." He knew what it was to command and to have his commands obeyed, and he Recorded to Jesus the authority he had claimed and had exevcised. Intelligence of revealed truth is in order to genuine faith. That which our Lord commended, in the entire bearing of this man, was his faith. Jesus "marveled and said, I have not found so great faith, no. not in Israel." Nol even among his disciples had he seen such an instance of faith. He then announces the solemn fact that Gentiles shall come from distant parts and shall bo heirs with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the riches of the kingdom, while "children of the kingdom," who fancied that they were entitled to its exclusive blessings, would be cast out. Our Lord wants a faith in us that will appropriate his own infinite resources in supplying our needs and blessing our lives to the glory of hi3 name. y TAN OF THE SOUTH. February 17, 1909. Young People's Society PRESENT DAY PIONEERS. Topic for Sunday, February 28: "Home Missions; Present Day Pioneers"?Ecclesiastes 11:14. DAILY READINGS. Monday: The sower ot the seed. Matthew 13:3-9. Tuesday: A missionary call. Jeremiah l:4-i0. Wednesday: A missionary message. Isaiah 40:1-11. Thursday: The Missionary hardships. II Timothy 2:17. Friday: Achieving impossibilities. Ezekiel 37. Saturday: Missionary hardships. II Timothy 2:1-7. The church puts a halo around the head of Its missionary to the foreign field It owes one just as well to the man who works in its home mission field. To give the one is right; to deny the other is wrong. Not no whit less interest should be taken in the foreign worker; nut one whit less should be given to the mission worker at home. A. man is as much a pioneer of the church who penetrates an unoccupied field in our own country as the one who goes to a foreign land. The "distinction hotw^ ? ?? -?* wwHvcii uumr tin(i lureign missions is not justified by the Bible. That home missionary is a special hero who goes to the weak and struggling churches. There is almost obloquy In the act, rather than glamour. He takes his reputation in his hrrnd when he goes to such a field. It ought not so to be. But just such heroes are needed, men who will for their I<ord's sake go anywhere rather than for their own glory remain in more ambitious places. Such men are of the stuff of which true greatness is made. One day they will be properly appraised and appreciated. The call for zealous and steadfast home worker, so ? .. ? a j great just new. Every Synod in the church could use many men, and in the newer Synods great areas of territory lie fallow and untouched where dozens of men of the right kind could be placed if they could bo found. It is not so much the means as it is the men that is the present problem. What splendid results come to the church from her investment in this department of activity! Texas is a fine example. That powerful Syncd was twenty or thirty years ago our great come mission field. It was cultivated, not as fully perhaps as might have been, and today is rich towards other sections in manifold forms of beneficence, has her own great institutions, and is sending the gospel to other parts of the world. Louisiana today calls for more men and more care perhaps inan any other section of our church. Oniv < -?? ? ?nut tj-ocycil ministers work in her great territory. Parish after parish ha3 n it not a single Protestant church. Thousand of foreiguspeakipg people are pouring into her borders every year. There are three hundred thousand French-speaking people who never lieur the gospel in its purity. To be I he pioneers of a great work, what a glory it will be! I low illustrious is the name of Whitman, who opened Oregon, and of Jackson, whd opened Alaska! Wilson and Byers in Texas, Welch in Arkansas, are names that will live forever. The journeys of Gideon Blackburn into Tennessee are treasured memories yet in the homes of the older people of the Volunteer State. Arnold Miller's summer tours through Western North Carolina almost marked an epoch to those people. "Sow beside all waters" is the great command. Tbo promise of a harvest is assured. "Regard not the signs" is another command. One should not take counsel of his fears or yield to the inauspiciousness of the surroundings. God will take care of iho results. Good seed and good soil and heaven to help both always produce a harvest..