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7. The Old Testament identifies for us the
coming Redeemer that we may make no mistake
about his person. In Isaiah t we learn that he
is to be born of a virgin; in chapter 9 that he is
to be the mighty Uod; in chapter 12, that he is
to be of the family of J esse; in Mich. 12, that he
is orn at Bethlehem, in Daniel 10, that he is to
come in 490 years after the decree for the rebuilding
of Jerusalem; and in Isaiah 53 that he
is to be despised and rejected of men, numbered
with the transgressors and yet in burial be given
a place with the rich.
8. And once more the voice of the Old Testament
tells us that this Redeemer shall not be defeated,
but triumph gloriously, Psalm 45 places
him on his throne of glory; Psalm 72, on his
throne of love and kindness; Psalm 110 as ruler
of willing hearts; Daniel pictures him as superior
to all the empires of earth, and possessed of a
kingdom without end; and the closing chapters
of Isaiah present him as preparing for us the
new heavens and the new earth.
So then while we concur in all that has been
said of the preciousness of the Old Testament
as a history, as literature, as a standard of morals,
and a volume of sweet illustrations of God's
faithfulness to His promises, yet we can but feel
that over and far above all these, is the value
of the Old Testament in preparing the world to
recognize the Redeemer, to understand his work,
.ind tn wplcnmp TTim as our own Redeemer. To
us this one feature of the Old Testament so far
outshines all others as to make them like the stars
of night after the morning sun has lighted up the
heavens.
The one great theme of the Old Testament is
like the preaching of John the Baptist, "to prepare
the way of the Lord."
HONOR THE LORD.
BY S. ADDISON M 'ELROY, D. D.
When Christ entered the temple his ears were
greeted by the lowing of cattle, the bleating of
sheep, the cooing of doves and the rattle of gold
and silver on the tables of the money changers.
"It is written my house shall be called a house of
prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves," he
cried, and with indignant fury he overturned
their tables, scattering their money like trash
upon the floor, and drove both traders and their
merchandise out of the holy precincts. Not a
hand was raised against him, but all rushed from
his presence, awe-stricken and afraid, for his
was the omnific presence and power of a god.
This is one of the few instances of Christ's
severity while on earth.
The tendency of human nature is to cast away
all that is displeasing either in consideration or
belief and to lay hold only on that which we
enjoy. Naturally sinful we dislike conversation
on the heinousness of sin. "Let the young man
sow his wild oates. It is but natural." And we
laugh at the uncurbed license of youth as if it
were a badge of manliness. But there must come
a time of reaping and the harvest of a life will
be marred or destroyed by the wild oats sown in
youthful days. "Whatsoever a man soweth that
shall he also reap."
This same tendency manifests itself in our consideration
of Christ. We think of him as all love
and forbearance and we study his life of sorrow
and kindness; we write dissertations on "The
Tears of Jesus," "His Blameless Life," "His
Friendliness," "His Forgiveness," "His Love of
Sinners," "His Tenderness to the Erring" and
"His Agony and Death"; but we lose sight of
other passages just as true, Just as full, just as
vital as his goodness, suffering and love. So that
from our partial vision we have created a being
whom we patronize instead of worship, to whom
we dole out charity instead of offering tribute, to
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
whose invitation we reply "go thy way for this
time and at a more convenient season I will hear
you. The great world is in my audience chamber.
i have not time for you."
"1 am out begging today," declares the deacon
as he approaches the church member for
money to carry on the necessary expense of
Christ's Church. i
' * 1 hate to beg and so 1 shall give a chureli sup- |
pex*, have a fair or bazaar to raise money for mis- '
sions, and we will sell cakes, candies, embroidery j
and an hundred little pretty things which gener- j
ous people shall donate. People always patron- j
ize the church, you know. 1 think we can easily i
clear iifty dollars. By the way, did you see my
new sealskin cloak? It is just lovely. It cost six ]
hundred dollars. John was so pleased with it,
though he did grumble a little at my paying ,
thirty dollars for my winter hat. Don't you
think you could give us a nice ham for the sup- j
per / 1 am going to give a turkey, you know. We j
ought to have ham, but I can't alford both. Do .
give the ham. You know the money is to be
raised lor sending the gospel to two-thirds of the .
world that are all heathen. (Jod will be so pleased ]
if you will give the ham and you will not miss it. j
Thank vou."
1 should like to have seen the face of Julius j
Caesar or Napoleou Bonapart as some of their (
tributaries made such a proposition of charity re- i
guiding them. 1 should like to see your face, my j
aristocratic hearer, as your friends propose to
get you a Christmas or uniiiday present in such <
a manner, i saw it tried on a poor man who had
just lost a child. The good people proposed to i
canvas the community to raise money to deiray ]
the funeral expenses; and i was proud of tnat i
man when he indignantly rerused to be eonsid- <
ered a pauper. * * 1 am a poor man, but 1 am not ]
a beggar, and you can't get up charity contribu- j
tion for me," he said. "If people around town j
would simply pay me wliat they owe me, I ]
would be all right." ]
And if people would only pay the church what ;
they owe Christ, it would be all right. ]
The only true and acceptable way of conduct- i
ing church finance is by giving as an act of wor- 1
ship. Never build a church that you cannot pay ]
for by the free gijts of the people. Never make 1
God's house a house of merchandise. He will 1
receive your worship from a log cabin, a tent, or i
under the open canopy of heaven, if you cannot
do better j for it is not the house but the heart
that interests him. Yet I do not believe that he
accepts worship in a cabin when the worshipers
are living in palaces and are abundantly able to
give Him a temple of marble or granite. JLet
vour e.hnre.h he in keeninc with vnur nhilittr Slinm
X O J . MXAVSn
by your church that you honor the meeting place
of your God with your own soul, and thus glorify
his holy name. "Behold I dwell in a house of
cedar but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains,"
said David. God's house should be the
costliest you can afford; but it should not be too
costly for His people to give to him, nor costly
enough to cripple their work for the spread of
His kingdom. It should be built as a gift to God
and not for worldly display. 4' The Lord loveth
a cheerful giver."
Traffic in the church is highly displeasing to
God, as is shown by this narrative. We may
make excuses, very plausible excuses, but it does
not alter the fact. The subjects of Christ's indignation
had excuses. Animals for sacrifice i
were needed and for the convenience of wnr
sbipers this market was established. It was thus
a help to the worship of God. These men doubtless
had excellent goods, otherwise they could not
have sold them, for the offerings must be without
spot or blemish. But they were not seeking God's
honor, but their own profit.
And when we conduct bazaars, shows and sup
D T H [ September 27, 1911
pei^ is it not to lid ourselves of giving? Is it
the titlier who gets up these affairs? Do not
those who patronize our affairs to a large extent
do it from questionable motives? Is it not a
means of extortion from the world? How often
liave you heard the remark, "These church entertainments
are a continual drain upon the business
men of the town; but you have to patronize
them or you will make yourself unpopular," or
'1 patronize them because it is a good advertisement."
1 knew a piano dealer to offer to give a
fine instrument if the church ladies would raffle
it off at a bazaar and put a placard on it stating
that it was a gift of his firm.
Are these things honoring God either on the
part of buyer or seller? No, it is belittling Him.
It is rendering His name contemptable in the
syes of the people, and it has its reflex action.
"What is religion? It is the action of life engendered
by a belief in a being superior to man
ind to whose power and authority man is subject
md responsible.
God does not need your money. lie wants
your heart, your testimony, your adoration. How
little we think of God in such efforts to raise
money and how little does the world think of us.
We put ourselves before the world as beggars for
a beggar, our testimony is lost, and adoration becomes
an unholy mockery. Exalt God and lie
will exalt you. Dishonor Him and He will degrade
you.
The old-time darkie was far more considerate
af his master than many Christians of their God.
A.t the Confederate veterans reunion in Louisville
I saw the aged body servant of Robert E.
Lee, and his black face carried on it a dignity
ind pride that was the reflection of the contact
)f former days of service to the great generalMot
withstanding the Southern antipathy to familiarity
with a negro, those battle-scarred soldiers
and the most elegant ladies and gentlemen
pressed through the crowd, eager to clasp the
hand that had served the greatest leader of
nwwii An n 4- 4V? a Vina aitam Irn Afim nn rl
Airnico tuat liic vvuiiu uao cvcjl i^uunu, auu iu
look into the face that exalted the master above
all men. Had any man or woman in that assembly
said or done anything derogatory to the
honor of "Mars Bob" in his presence, you may
be sure that the hand of the faithful old servant
would never have been extended in friendly
greeting to the traducer. Though a negro he
was honored by that mighty Southern gathering
because of his fidelity and reverence for the great
Lee, whose memory was continually his delight.
So let the honor of God reflect in your life, and
men will honor you because you have been with
Jesus.
Lancaster, Tex.
SPRINKLING.
BY REV. B. P. BEDINQER.
II
In our first article we showed that sprinkling
with water was God's own chosen way of signifying
outwardly the purification of His people
from sin. It will now be proved that the word
"baptize" in the New Testament means sprinkle.
My friend, who had never seen the word immerse
in the New Testament, recovered herself
and remembered to have heard "Dr. say in
a sermon that baptize was a Greek word and
meant immerse, that wherever you see it you may
substitute 'immerse' and make the same sense."
"How did he know that?" "Oh, he was a good
scholar and understood the Greek " "So in order
to find out what the Bible means we are to
first go outside of it to the old heathen Greek
to get a meaning for its words are we?" ""Well,
how else if it was written in Gr<?ek?" "By
studying the Book itself to see how its writers
used the words they employed."