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January 17, 1912 ] T H ?
The Syrian host surrounds
The Case of the city of Dothan in which
Elisha's Servant. the prophet and his servant
have spent the night. In the
morning the servant looking out sees the encompassing
host and is greatly alarmed. He is also
no doubt, greatly surprised at the equanimity of
his master under such tragic circumstances. But
Elisha prayed, "And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire
round about Elisha." Two encompassing hosts.
One, horses and chariots of flesh and wood and
iron to destroy him. The other, horses and chariots
of fire to protect him. And what can flesh
and wood and iron do against fire? The fleshly
host the young man saw, the fiery host he did not
see, and yet it was as truly there all the while as
the other. But he was badly scared and saw only
the thing that scared him. And is not that the
usual way?
Christ had joined them on the
The Case of way to Emmaus. He found them
the Disciples, talking about him and the events
of the last few days, and he took
charge of the conversation and opened the scriptures
to them in the things concerning himself.
Then he went in with them to eat, "And their
eyes were opened and they knew him." Two disciples,
earnest men, talking about Jesus, talking
with Jesus, and yet they did not recognize him
though they travelled some distance with him.
Is it not a natural and very common picture?
We talk religion, we read the Bible, we offer
prayer, and yet the true spirit of religion we
altogether miss. "We are so busy doing religious
things that we lose our religion altogether. We
are burdened by the pressure of the externals of
religion that its true inwardness is hidden from
multitudes whose religion is their most valuable
possession.
The things which blind us, even
Conclusions, good people, to the blessings and
and presence of God are brooding
over our injuries, real or fancied; self-will,
avarice, despair over apparent dangers, and such
like. It takes a miracle of grace to open our
eyes to behold the providing, restraining, supporting
hand of God under such conditions. And
even our religion itself may blind our eyes, and
become a real barrier to the soul's advance.
-Many of us know men and women who are
slaves to religious calls and duties. ThU committee
and that; this organization and that; this
meeting and that; and all of religious nature so
steal away their time that their souls are left
to starve for the quiet withdrawal with Christ
without which any religion is only a skeleton.
May God open our eyes.
Sometimes a single mail delivery will bring us
three or four long articles, on as many different
special organizations or schemes of work, with
the request that we publish them in full. Were
any religious paper to insert all the documents
of this kind which are sent it, they would usually
have very little space left for anything else.
And frequently these documents come to us with
the most liberal statement added that we will be
charged nothing for them! That is very kind.
What would become of the bulk of these enterprises
and organizations, anyhow, if they could
not get into the papers, and how universally they
expect the papers to do their advertising for
nothing!
"How many more organizations and mov<>
ments would be necessary in the church i4' all
existing organizations were being pushed with all
possible vigor and spirituality t" So aRks The
Herald and Presbyter. We change the inquiry a
little, and think w? improve it, Dr. Monfort.
P R E S b x T E it I A N OF THE SC
"How many more organizations and movements
would be necessary in the church if the present
organization, the Church herself, divinely organized,
were being pushed with all possible
vigor and spirituality?"
SEEING AND SERVICE.
To many he has not form or comeliness, and
they see no beauty in him, but to those who have
their eyes opened, he is the leader and commander
of the people, the friend of sinners, the
Saviour of the world. The young man who can
see in him a pattern and example and who
keeps his eye ever fixed upon the perfect man is
the young man who will reach the mark of a high
calliner.
Aud remember that Jesus was the great dreamer
of the world. We know the condition of the
world at the time of his coming, how impossible
it seemed of regeneration and redemption. Yet
Jesus saw a people redeemed. We know how
they mocked at his gospel, and even the Apostles
failed to catch the vision but had their hearts
fixed upon a temporal kingdom. But seeeing
things which heart could not conceive, he set his
face toward Jerusalem and by the Garden, the
Cross and the Tomb, he wove reality into the
fabric of his dream and built a kingdom against
which the gates of hell cannot prevail.
He saw in his vision a world redeemed, a universal
kingdom of holiness, and in the face of
the shame of the cross, he sent his disciples into
all the world to preach a Gospel which was a
stumbling block to Jew and foolishness to Greek.
It was a crazy vision to many, but how gloriously
it is being realized as men throughout the world
are catching the vision of the Christ and sending
his light and truth into all parts of a sin-cursed
world.
The man with eye fixed upon this Saviour,
with an eye open to the possibilities of a Christ
owned life, who can see the revealed will of a
Master, is the man who will become in his smaller
sphere a leader among men. The man with
his open eye is able to expose sham, pretension
and falsehood and become a sworn enemy of error
and untruth. lie sees things in their right
relations and is able to counsel men as to safe
paths. lie leads while others are groping in darkness,
and by his wide vision he is able to enlarge
the mental and spiritual horizion of hu
manity.
You wish to be great and useful, you can become
so by supplying a crying need of the world.
The world is seekinc fr?r mon wlm n
guides and counselors, men of large thinking
and imagining capacity, men who are able to direct
a keen vision upon the many complex prob
lems which beset mankind and open the blind
eyes of others that they may see things as they
are and should be and not as sin has distorted
them.
We need men, who though bound in a rocky
Patmos of circumstances, can see a city which
is yet to come; men whose feet may be torn by
jagged flints, but whose eyes are filled with a
glory unspeakable; men who can see in every
moment a jewel to be cut and polished for a
crown of rejoicing, in every hour a treasure house
of opportunities to bless mankind and serve our
God, in every life a gift of God with which we
may glorify him in this world, and in which
we may enjoy him throughout all eternity.
Here is an Oriental proverb that we should
all have engraved on our minds: "He who sows
courtesy reaps friendship and he who plants
kindness gathers affection." These qualities are
worth more than gold or gems. They serve a
better purpose than genius or distinguished
birth. They are a better business asset than big
capital or long and careful training with these
)UTH (59) 11
left out. They are the key to social refinement
and are a mark of genuine culture. But if they
serve so noble a purpose in those relations which
we regard as purely secular, they also serve aI
yet higher purpose in the spiritual realm.
Courtesy and kindness are rays emitted by an illumined
spirit. If these rays are absent the
spirit has its light abnormally obscured or else
the light is not there. It is of utmost importance
to cultivate these graces. Their possession and
exercise are sources of happiness to ourselves.
They bring cheer and courage into the lives of
others and are media of communion between
spirits that might otherwise be barred from a
wholesome and joyous fellowship.
DEFENSE RIGHTLY DIRECTED.
The late Dr. Bethune, famous in his Jay for
saying fine things, never said a finer than this,
"I am not here in this pulpit to defend the Bible,
but the Bible is here to defend me." Commenting
on these words, The Lutheran adds, "No
preaching to-day is weaker than that which gives
the impression that the Bible is in need of defense.
No word of man can add anything of real
permanent value to that body of truth which the
Bible reveals, it does not need the props and
supports which some ministers are putting under
it to prevent it from falling. What it does need
is more faithful proclamation of its truth; it
needs to be allowed to speak for itself, to deliver
its own message. It will do infinitely much to
sustain the preacher and give his message divine
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utters, the people should be able to see 'thus
saith the Lord,' or 'as it is written.' Such
preaching will do more to sustain and defend
the preacher than a thousand preachers can do
to defend the Bible."
A SPECIAL REASON.
Let it not be supposed that because one is
highly favored by having a much better knowledge
of God than the most of his fellows have,
he is, therefore, less liable to be punished by
God for his sins than the others are. An intimate
knowledge of God is of great advantage
to the one who has it, and yet there is great
peril to one in having such knowledge, for it
involves him in greater responsibility than
rests upon one who knows not God. In the
book of Amos is a very impressive passage. It
ronresoilta drwl no unvinrr flit,
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"You, only, have 1 known of all the families
of the earth: therefore 1 will visit upon you
all your iniquities.'' A mere glance at those
words causes one to wonder as to what they
mean. God's reason for punishing that people
for all their iniquities seems, at tirst thought,
to be a very strange one, if not unreasonable.
We would be inclined to say that, as the Israelites
were the "only" people of all the families
of the earth that God had known, therefor
he would spare them punishment, even tlmugu
they did sin against him. Whv should he
severely punish his elect p< ?,?ie .' Why should
he not pass by the sins oi those for whom he
had done so much? Had he no love for them?
Yes. It was because he loved them that he
chastened them. But that was not the only
reason, nor the chiefest one. It was especially
because that people, knowing God as no other
people did, and favored by him as no others
had been favored by him, departed to iniquity
and despised God's commands and ordinances.
They knew God's will, and did not respect it.
They knew his great goodness, and yet ruthlessly
abused it. Being so highly favored, they
were much more responsible to God than were
those who were ignorant of God. They sinned
against great light, and hence they derr .
corresponding punishment. Rememb" the
lesson. C. H. "W., uerbs.
I B3