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VOL 111. RICHMOi
"THF. W
bm ?m V V
By F
Scripture Lesson?iiev. 21:1-7, 10-17, 21-27.
Text, Rev. 21:16. "The City Lieth Foursquare
We are apt to think of life as a single mass,
good or bad, happy or miserable. We think of
the rich man as ever busy with his wealth and
the learned as ever poring over his books, the
mneiflian no nlwavo nlnwinof tlio laVairop aa nr.
ceasing at his toil. We think of life as a unit,
either a ball of lead or a sphere of gold.
But human life is complex. It has many objects
in view from day today and from hour
to hour, and the efforts employed to attain these
objects change with the passing scenes. A school
is not taught in a single class from A, B, C, to
Algebra; if large it is divided even into separated
grades. A great mercantile establishment has
many departments for the handling of its wares,
while not even the smallest roadside store would
nvup lu^uiur piuws, uaiicu, puiaiues unu writing
paper. Life will be the best lived if there can be
la proper arrangement of its necessary parts
and a convenient system developed for an
orderly and efficient performance of its varied ,
duties. k
It is not wrong for us to be engaged in dif- m
ferent pursuits at dilferent times, but most fl
needful and benelicial; we have duties to God, fl
to our neighbors and to ourselves; we have H
bodies to be fed, minds to be taught and I
spirits to be purified. Time is given to us |H
in large coins of whole days, but like a twenty ?
uuuar guiu piece iresu irum uie mini, we may n
spend each one for various worthy purposes? W
food, clothing, books and recreation. The V
well spent life at different times must have ^
different incentives and motives.
Shall we each one for himself make the
departments best suited for his individual life,
or are they already demanded of certain kind
and number by the laws of nature and of spirit?
VU1 UUlidLlLULIUU iUiU UU1 till V liUilJLilUIl b ICqUlXO
definite objects and labors; it should be our
pleasure to find out what these are and to develop
in harmony with the will of God and in
-ry</ conformity with the powers of His universe by
which we are surrounded. In doing this we
Wl must have recourse to His priceless word of
^ truth and promise, the inspired Scriptures of the
7^35 Holy Bible.
Oj To be rightly built, our lives must be founded
' ' on the mountain of God's eternal grace, on the
P)^.3^salva.tion of His love and on the strength of His
protecting and upholding providence. We must
be built on the foundations of the prophets and
apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone. We are building for judgment;
let us prepare to meet our God. We are building
for eternity; what we construct shall endure
forever or be consumed with the end of time;
let us build, not with wood and hay and stubble,
' but with gold and silver and precious gems.
4 V
ND. NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA. AUG
ELL BUIL
LEV. EUGENE P. MICHEL, I
To instruct us in the building of our lives,
there have been given us many divine commands
and precepts, all most necessary, and many
parables and symbols all highly helpful. From
these we would now consider the lessons taught
by finding a picture of the perfect and ideal
life in the perfect and ideal city,' the New
Jerusalem. As an earthly city gathers together
the wealth, inventions, skill, culture and power
of a people, so should our lives gather all that is
good and true and beautiful. An earthly city
with its sin and care and sorrow would be a
poor picture of the ideal Christian life, but the
heavenly city is a most fitting emblem.
THREE GENERATIONS
Rev. E. W. BEDINGER. D.D. Rev. B. F. BED1NGER,
Anchorage, K>. Brookneal, Va.
p- P^RT n Rpn,MrjB
Ordained by East Hanover Presbytery July 30th in the
Ginter Park Church as a missionary to'Africa, the
representative of this church.
The well-developed Christian life, built as the
plan of God demands, becomes a great life, broad
and high. We speak of the great cities of earth,
New York and London; we speak of the great
lives of earth, great in wealth or power or knowledge.
But the New Jerusalem which John saw
was fifteen hundred miles in breadth, as far as
from the orange groves of Florida to the wooded
hills of Maine. "And the length is as large as
the breadth," a vast square containing more
than twice the territory of all the States lying
East of the Mississippi River. "The length and
AUG 9 1911
VIHOTNIA STTATB
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western presbyt5/?/a/sh
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UST 9. 1911. NO. 32.
,T LIFE."
). D.
the breadth and the height of it are equal," not
an unsightly cube, though that might be the emblem
of perfection, but a graceful, foursmmrp
pyramid, rising in golden terraces to the lofty
summit from which beams the eternal light of the
throne of God. Around this city is the wall of
transparent jasper, over two hundred feet in
height, symbolic of the holy principles that
should guard our thoughts and words and deeds.
''The city lieth foursquare." In the Scriptures,
numbers often have symbolic meanings.
Seven is the sacred number of worship, the sign
of the Holy Spirit, twelve is the signature of the
covenant people, among whom God dwells. As
three is the symbol of God so is four the number
which is the symbol of the world. The number
lour rightly represents human energy, plans and
accomplishment, because human activity always
divides into four departments of development,
among which we find the smaller sub-divisions.
Among all races direction is spoken of as
north, east, south and west; movement is forward,
backward, right or left; duration of
\ time is past, present, future and eternity.
|t Standing on earthly plains or mountains, we
l\ measure length, breadth, heighth and depth.
m. Like his earthly activity, so is the religious
\ life and energy of man fourfold. Thus he reH
ceivesthe love of Christ, and thus he must manH
liest the ideal Christian growth;"able to com I
preliend with all saints, what is the length
/ and depth and height, and to know the love
ml of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye
V might be filled with all the fulness of God."
r (Eph. 3:18 and 19). The new life is represented
as having source in the breath of the
four winds; "Come from the four winds, O
breath, and breathe upon these slain that they
limy live." (Ezek. 37:9.) No one earthly
symbol can represent the life of God's people,
and the Iloly Spirit employs four living creatures
to show forth its perfection, the lion, the
ox, the face of a man and the flying eagle. The
lion represents strength and bravery; the ox
patience and endurance; the human face love
and intelligence; the soaring eagle, faith and
hope. See Ezek. 1:5 and Rev. 4:7. In the new
Jerusalem, the four sides of the city represent
the four great departments of the fully developed
Christian charn.p.tpr ?nri a
THE EAST.
"The city lieth foursquare;" "on the east .
three gates;" (vs. 13), "each one of the several
gates was of one pearl," (vs. 21, revised version).
The East is the side of the dawning
light, the side of the coming day; the sun rises in
the east. Knowledge, civilization, culture, improvement,
all have swept around the earth
from east to west. So also have the beauties, !
the powers and the blessings of religion. The
first part of your life to build is religion. Many