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February 7, 1912] T H E I
CHRISTIAN JOY.
Christian joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit.
It is not made to order. It is not an automatic
arrangement of grace. It is a divine gift, divinely
born and divinely imparted, divinely
nourished and divinely perpetuated. It is not
dependent on external conditions, but rather
upon internal possessions?possessions of grace,
divine favor, divine peace, divine assurance, tin
linerrupiea ieiiowsnip witn uod, abiding companionship
with Jesus Christ and the infilling of
the Holy Spirit. Right internal relations with
Christ, rather than outward conditions, are the
guarantee of the permanence and degrees of this
joy. Joy is more than mere happiness. Happiness
fluctuates, is influenced by circumstances,
by external conditions, but genuine Christian
joy, while it produces exuberance, is nevertheless,
an abiding grace, increasing under trials
rather than diminishing, for it abounds whereever
Christ abounds. Paul and Silas knew what
it meant and did for them in the Philippian jail.
Daniel in the lions' den, Luther in Wartburg,
ouiiyan in rjeaiora jail, Uhnst in the Garden
and upon Calvary, for "He endured the cross
and despised the shame" because of "the joy
that was set before him." The joy of being
found in the path of duty, the joy of anticipated
triumph, the joy of assurance of the effectiveness
of his atoning death and victorious resurrection,
the joy of satisfied justice, the joy of routing
sin, and the joy of populating heaven with souls
washed in his blood, from among all nations,
kindreds and tongues.?Selected.
IS THE CHURCH DECADENT.
Is the Church decadent,' dying out, when our
people in this country are willing to expend annually
from thirty-five to forty millions of dollars
for new churches, for new parsonages, or
the equivalent of from sixty to eighty tons of
gold? Is the Church decadent or dying out
when our 33,000,000 Church members have in
vested in this country one billion and a quarter
of dollars in church edifices? Is the Church
decadent or dying out when we are building annually
an average of from twelve to fifteen
churches every day in the year? Is the Church
decadent or dying out when we have added to
our communicants during the past eighteen years
an average of nearly a million a year??Dr. W.
J. Hampton, in New York Christian Advocate.
THE POWER TO WIN.
In Christian work and worship, especially
when the heart is deeply and tenderly touched
with the spirit of compassion, how we long for
spiritual power to win men to Christ. Of course,
the first and fundamental desire is to win Christ,
in whom "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily." Paul counted all things hut loss,
that he might win Christ, who is our dependence
in the work of winning men to him. The secret
source of power to win men is in Jesus Christ.
When his disciples went out in his name they
found that even devils were subject unto them.
rm. t__ - ' -
?iie name 01 uesus is not only sweet, as tlie poet
says and sings, bnt also potent. All power is
vested in him, and his grace and power are at
onr disposal, if we meet the conditions npon
which it is offered. Each believer is divinely assigned
to service, in which the supreme desire
and pleasure is that of winning souls.?Religious
Telescope.
AN INVALUABLE ASSET.
*
Among the many virtues that men may possess,
that of noliteness is of crr???t intorput *r?d iralno
As a social duty and pleasure it is of prreat importance,
while its reflex rewards make it one
of the ijreateat personal and business assets in the
inventory of life. It counts every way, and thai
'RESB YTERIAN OF THE SO
in the highest and widest respects. In social and
business affairs complaints are bound to come,
and misunderstandings are likely to arise; but
neither the one nor the other can justify the
loss of temper or a lack of politeness. The true
philosophy of life is not to squelch the malignant
or misguided fault-finder, but to bear with and
forgive him, and say the most tender thing that
you can think of in reply to his criticisms. In
this way both parties to the proceeding are
blessed, the one by the influence of kind words
fitly and patiently spoken, and the other by the
sense of having returned good for evil. This
translation of cold formality into real life adds
to the permanent assets of society, to say nothing
of its value in the business world Tt in ffco
clinching climax of high and holy example, and
not the mere utterance of fair words, which butter
no parsnips, that counts for most in the
courts of the human heart, and in the strenuous
struggles of the soul for self-mastery.?Religious
Telescope.
RECIPROCAL LOVE.
He was just an humble pastor
Of a very humble kirk;
But he loved to help his people,
And he had a mind to work.
There were pastors, wise and learned,
Of whom the great world knew;
But his people loved this simple man,
So earnest and so true.
Because he knew the Saviour?
And made Him seem so near;
From oft alone with Jesus,
He breathed his atmosphere.
All through the busy years he gave
Of work, and love his best;
And that is why his humble kirk
And people, too, were blest
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Of this very humble kirk;
But they loved to help their pastor,
And they had a mind to work.
There were people, fine and splendid,
Who gave great gifts of gold;
"But the Saviour wants your hearts the most,"
Their gentle pastor told,
Because he read the longing ,
And knew the sacrifice
These gifts, so poor and seeming small.
Meant to each struggling life.
All through 'he busy year they gave
Of work and means their best;
And that is why th's simple kirk
And pastor, too, were blest.
Savannah. Ga. Edna G. Pigman.
UNANSWERED PRAYER.
Positively speaking, truly considered, there is
no such thing as an unanswered prayer. All
true prayer is in the line of obedience and complete
submission to God, and when the suppliant
is inspired by that spirit all his prayers are heard
and answered, though not generally in his way,
but always in the interest of his highest welfare.
Indeed, we rarely know that our prayers
are answered, except by faith. We know that
he heareth us. But all of our prayers are answered,
and most of them in a way that we know
not. The latter class we commonly call "unanswered."
Paul's prayer for the removal of
the thorn in his flesh remains to this day unanswered.
But God heard the prayer, and answered
it in another and a better way?he gave
him grace to bear his affliction, which was there
by turned into strength and joy! From that on
he gloried in his infirmity, which God refused in
love to remove. How glad we ought to he that
God knows how and when to answer our prayers,
all of which are offered in lack of adequate
knowledge. But God knows! In a state of
nervousness, which may he temporary or constitutional,
when every jar is a jolt, and every
craek a crash, then we bee to he made numb to
all these painful excitement*, and God answers
by m akin J? our sensitive nerves minister to our
good and hia glory.?Religious Teloscope.
IUTH (125) 5
THE LIFT IN KINDNESS.
Ordinary kindness has an extraordinary lifting
power. It takes only ordinary kindness made
constant and habitual in any life to make that
life wholly extraordinary in its service to others.
The reason why more lives are not thus extraordinary
is because we do not take the trouble
to think of and do the obvious acts of kindness
that we might. A man was waiting on the street
corner for his trolley car, when h? was hailed
Dy the occupant of a roomy automobile with the
question, "Going down town!" The unknown
questioner had evidently mistaken him for an
acquaintance. But the question was repeated,
with insistence, and he was invited to get into
the automobile and go along. A moment later
the incident was repeated, and another man,
dazed and apologetic, was saying as he clambered
into the handsome big machine, "I hope I
don't put you ont." "Oh, you 're not big enough
for that," was the reassuring reply! and the
owner of the car then added cheerfully, "We
had six in here the other morning, and not one
of them knew any of the others." Apparently
it was this "eccentric" automobile owner's habit
to fill up his car with people for whom he might
thus save time and add a bit of pleasure at the
beginning of the day's work, instead of riding
down town thoughtlessly alone in a car that held
seven. Not all of us have automobiles to share
up in this kindly and unusual w?v ?"
?? ?? j */?w Ui c on
of us living in such habitual exercise of kindness
that it would be like us to share our automobile
if we did hare onet There are more ways of
giving people a lift than by a sixty-horse power
machine.?Ex.
THE RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPER ESSENTIAL.
It has become an unquestionable fact that the
live, crisp, religious newspaper is an essential
factor in the religious life of every home. The
religious weekly should have first place in the
selected list of periodicals because we are more
capable of appreciating all others that are worthy
when our religious nature is being developed
and trained properly. We learn how the material
and tangible interests of business and professional
life may become avenues of opportunity
to Christian growth and progress, as well as to
financial success and professional skill. Our denominational
weeklies are messages from every
part of the Church to the home and to each member
of the home. Our knowledge is increased
and our interest quickened in the life, work and '
purpose of the Church. Its growing institutions
and its various benevolent enterprises in their
miuiofnino ' 1
?uv>wim ui oci vice uecome real and essentially
important. The mind, heart and life are enriched
as they cannot be from any other source.
?New York Observer.
A PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED.
To bring back the Church to its knees before
the old cross; to paint sin as the blackest curse
that afflicts humanity; to exhalt Christ above
preacher, creed, theory, and hypothesis as the
only Savious of men; to preach a Gospel that
comes not "in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance"?
all this is a heart-perplexing problem to be solved.
That it will be solved we must not, we will
not, doubt; for it is as true now as when Habakkuk
broke out into his jubilant strain that the
11 earth shall be filled with knowledge of the glory
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."?
Nashville Christian Advocate.
Children are God's apostles, day by day
Sent forth to preach of love and hope and
peace.?James Russell Lowell. ^