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10 (494) T H E I
men in the effort to win the world for ChristV
The church paper tells the story and he who
runs may read its interpretation. No department
of human endeavor is so interesting or inspiring
as is the response the Church is making
to our Lord's command whose duration is
through all time and whose extent is through
all the world.
A writer says: "The religious newspaper is
11 -1 * *^LJ. J? JL _ _ J
me ciiuinpioii 01 every rignieous reiorm, rne anvocate
of every good cause; it is the ally of every
pastor and church officer and the friend of every
worker; it is a great and important factor in all
forms of Christian activity. It is the universal
testimony of pastors that their most efficient and
earnest helpers are readers of the church paper.
It would be strange indeed for a pastor to manifest
indifference to the circulation of a religious
paper in his congregation."
"TO BE BUT MEN."
"Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations
may know themselves to be but men."
The lessons of the Titanic disaster are many.
Among them one stands out well to the front.
That disaster has shown that, after all, the greatest
and mightiest of earth, even all its greatness
and might combined, are nothing before God.
"The nations are but men." It would seem
strange that men should forget this, but in their
pride tney ao lorget it, ana tne uivine scnooimaster
must needs teach them at times to put
their trust in him and not in themselves. The
monarch cannot wear his crown beyond a certain
line, and there he becomes "but man." "
Here was a vessel that was in itself the climax
of human skill, the embodiment of human power,
tVe "last word" of human science in an age of
t^e most marvelous development of the world's
^'ftorv. Tn its equipment was everything that
'" xnry. comfort, and safety in travel or navigation
could suggest. Tn its officering and management
were men of the rarest ability and largest
oynprience. long tried, successful men. Tn its
"shins and state-rooms were representatives of
flrrp^test and some of the best things on earth.
TntronliAn o rl m iniefuoli nn nanif ol Vio/1 OAmn nf
t>>oir prpat leaders there, as in the person of
^niee T?mnv. Literature and modern thought
had their William T. Stead. Art and aesthetic
culture had their Millet. Soldierly valor and
Miiv^rv had their Archibald Butt. Serene old
age and probity had their Isador Straus and his
wife. Tender sentiment and love were there in
scores of happy husbands and wives, some of
them but new made. Wealth almost beyond calculation
was there, in an Astor and Guggenheim.
And after all, these and all with them were "but
men," and the watery grave of the humblest
steerage passenger was as large as that of the
richest capitalist, and his death robes just as
good. It was a pathetic fact that one rich man
left behind him in his room three hundred thousand
dollars and took with him, as promising to
be more useful in the search for safety, three
_ A* t* 1 1 'ill
pmiui nine oranges.
And how this great tragedy of the seas
teaches men that they should fear the Lord. The
smoking furnaces, thunderous forges, and tinkling
hammers of a thousand workmen melted and
cast and bolted together the great steel frame of
the leviathan, and after three years or more
laupched a ship, the greatest that mankind ever
constructed, and directly sent her forth on her
maiden trip. Little wonder that the name
Titanic was given when the great vessel slipped
down ^he ways and into the watei* which was to
be her home in a sense of which men little
thought. "Was there something prophetic in the
name given her? The Titans of classic mythology
sought to overcome the chief god of their
system, and after a ten years' struggle were, with
all who joined them, hurled ignominiously down
H
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
from the place which they had usurped. During
those same years in which the great vessel was
building, another master mechanic was at work.
Somewhere up on the shores of Greenland or
Labrador another giant was preparing. There
was no sound of furnace or forge or anvil, no
ponderous cranes bringing together the huge
frame work of steel and no forcing of bolts to
hold them together, no tinkling of a thousand
nveiung Hammers, in tne silence with which the
dew and snow and frost and ice are formed, daylight
and dark making no difference, the huge
mass was congealed, and in due time with no
groaning or creaking found its way into the sea.
Without demonstration or show, with nothing
but the silence of its own icy temperature to
mark its way, it moved solemnly on to the place
where it was appointed to go. There it stood,
God's sentinel, in the ocean path. When man's
product came, in all the power and majesty of
man's highest skill and culture and wealth, and
hurled itself upon the sentinel which stood in the
way, the iceberg met the shock without a tremor,
did its deadly work, and floated silently on, not
even known or seen of man.
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put
confidence in man. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in princes."
NOTES IN PASSING.
BY BERT.
The Tree and Twice in the Gospel of Matthe
Fruits thew our Lord declares that the
fruits furnish a legitimate basis
for judging the trees which produce them.
Speaking of the false prophets, he declares, "Ye
shall know them by their fruits." Matt. 7:16,
20. And again in the twelfth chapter and thirtythird
verse, "The tree is known by his fruit."
Looking carefully at these passages it will be
observed that in the first passage he is speaking
of works, and in the second of words. The two
kinds of fruit we are all bearing are the things
we do and the things we say. And by these the
world will judge us, and has a right to judge us.
First we are told that "out of
Judged by the abundance of the heart the
Our Words mouth speaketh," 12:34. The
word '-abundance" means overflowing.
That which we speak is the forth-giving
of a heart so full that it runs over. And that
which flows from it is, of course, of the same
naftire as that which fills it. Tf you see a fountain
running over with water, you inevitably
judge that it is water which fills it. Tf the overflow
of the heart he kindly words; if it he words
of strength, and sweetness, and comfort, and
and helpfulness, then the heart is filled with the
errace of the gospel of Christ. But.if the overflow
he words of profanity, or envy, or strife,
you know that the love of God is not in the heart.
Three classes of words are mentioned?good,
evil, and idle. "A good man out of the good
treasure of the heart hringeth forth good things;
and an evil man out of the evil treasure hringeth
forth evil things. But T say unto yon, that
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
trive account thereof in the day of judgment."
For "hringeth forth" Matthew uses the word
"ekhallo," while Luke, in the corresponding
passage uses "prophero." Matthew's word
means "to thrust out," as of a thing driven
U,, * A ' ? ? ? ?
u.y iuiit, -n iiiHii rHiinoi avoia xemnGT Torr.n
what is in hi.s heart. He will manifest his true
self whether he wishes to do so or not. The
difference between Matthew's word and Taike's
is that the former has reference to the heart from
which the word comes, whereas the latter points
to the world into which it goes. "Every spoken
word then affects two worlds, the world within
the heart, and the_world of humanity into which
it is projected. My character is revealed in my
OTB. [ May 1, 1912 v
speech, and the character of others is shaped by
my speech. This is a solemn thought;, let me
face it bravely and be guided by it.
How many "idle" words do we speak? Useless
words, words which affect nothing. "Nonworking"
words, it is literally. A man who talks
idle talk to a soul hungering for help is like a
man who would reach an empty purse to one
in need of money. Let us grant that the words
ill n fTitrnn o o en n*?o Lr?/^ 1C a-L 1
11 ^uvu vcwv. uic liv/i uau wuiu3j ji muy IlilVC
been passed wh^re other words ought to have
been spoken, they make an impressive revelation
of the character of the speaker. He has
wasted time, he has fed his friesd on husks, he
lias lost an opportunity. lie has failed to measure
up to the needs of his time, he is a frivolous
failure.
The fault with many of our ministers lies in
their idle speaking. It is a calamity when a
minister of Jesus Christ lias established such a
reputation as that when he appears in company,
every one squares himself to hear a joke. He,
in time, becomes a joke.
"By their fruits ye shall know
Judged by them." It is just as easy to tell
Our Works a man's character from the usual
and common nature of his works
as it is to tell a tree by its yearly crop. You
may fasten an occasional apple upon the thorns
of a locust tree, but you know it never grew
there because it is out of harmony with the crop
the tree regularly bears. So you may see a good
deed, here and there in the life of an evil man,
but he is to be judged not by the unusual but
by the usual.
Then we notice that he does not say that
grapes do not grow on thorn or figs on thistles,
but, "do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs
of thistles." The emphasis is put upon the fact
that men gather the fruits that grow. Some
one will take the things I do either to his advantage
or to his disadvantage. Every work done ,,
affects somebody; every moral act increases or ,
decreases the total amount of happiness in th,e ;
world at large, and has a vital bearing upon
some small number. And I must not for a mo
ment permit myself to think that my deeds are ,
wholly private.
But again it is to be observed that a life of
good appearance is passible without a heart in
keeping. Many say, "Lord, Lord," and yet
do not obey. Many teachers, and philanthropists
use the name of Christ and even are instrumental
in turning some to Christ, who, yet are
not themselves Christ's. There are many teaching
in the Sabbath schools, there are many who
pose a.s active disciples of the Lord Jesus in
many ways who will he shown at the last never <
to have had his Spirit at all. And it is possiblethat
some have practiced this deceit upon others
so long and so successfully that they have come tn
hpllAV/l if fllhmCAltroo on/1 n rn
^ U..VU.OV1?uuu hicicuj ivrpi
from making any effort to secure their salvation.
Ths is all very solemn and very tragic. May
Ood help us to he upon our guard. <"
The "revenue" feature of the saloon is made
much of by those who would retain the evil of
the liquor traffic, and especially by those who
advocate a high license. Tf this is right, then it
will be right to license other forms of evil for the
sake of the money their license would bring ih
for the support of the state, the building of
roads, the maintenance of schools. Mfen should
he given the privilege of stealing, lyifigf, Zander-,
ing, even of killing, if they will give tnfe body
politic a good sized fee that may be 'turned iiito
the revenues of the community. That such revenues
do not reduce the burdens of the community,
but add heavily to thefn are' facts that
do not seem to enter the minds' of tbose who
make the plea for license. ^