Newspaper Page Text
4 (220) 1' H Jfi
Famii/ ]
MY FRIEND
Ry Rev. J. E. Wallace.
I've a friend who loves me well,
And his name I love to tell,
For he saved my soul from hell,
'TIb Jesus,
He Is tender, kind, and true,
Faithful, self-denying, too;
He will be the same to you,
"Will Jesus.
Then he never weary grows.
And my wants he always knows.
Countlers blessings he bestows,
Does Jesus.
Though 1 sometimes make him sad.
Yot I never make him mad,
Oh! 1 long to make him glad,
My Jesus.
lie goes with me every day;
Chases all the clouds away,
And ne'll never leave me. nay
Not Jeaus.
When on death's sea I set sail,
May 1 hear no uttered wall,
t'AVOun /vnnnrit foil
rur mj i v.- ttjc voMow.
With Jeaua.
Heaven, I'n> sure, will ibe the end,
And 'twill all be due this Friend,
So for iiim my life I'll spend,
For Jesus.
thL xyrian baby.
BY MKS. C. W. LITTLE.
"A little child shall lead them."
I have had many happy experiences in my
work with the Craddle Roll, and have seen
many brought into a vital touch with the
-1 u fLn inflimnoo nf the babv on
CUUIX11 llliuugu IUV WUVUV- ,
the Cradle Koll, but the incident of all other?
which has warmed my heart und has made the
work for this year worth while, even though
there were no other rewards, is the one 1 take
pleasure in relating?the story of iny Syrian
baby.
There came to my house last December a Syrian
salesman with oriental goods?beautiful
laces and linens. 1 had bought from him be
e?? '' T Irnnur Vila nailltl fll
lure, UIIU, lliuugu X UiU liv w ?
history, 1 recognized in him a gentleman ol
refinement. I let him display his goods upor
my dining-room table. I was interested in his
goods, but he was interested more in a sketcl
of the Holy Land which was pinned upon tht
wall. Finally he voiced his thoughts.
"What map ie^that?"
"Don't you know?" "Isn't this your conn
try up here?" pointing to Syria.
"Yes," he said, "I know. I was born it
Damascus. Are you a church worker?"
< v? i> t
X CS, X hdlU.
"Teaeh a Sabbath-school class?"
"Yes. I drew that map for a class of Ju
iiior boys."
"Well, I used to teach in Sabbath school
too, and always went to church, but I forgo
my religion when 1 came to this coantry."
"What was your religion?" I asked.
"I was a Presbyterian," he replied.
I told him that was my church and that i
was too good a religion to forget. Then h
l ? ? ? c 1.:
K?ve iuc MUCH itu JUICICSUU^ oiui^ ui m
church near Damascus, of his good father an<
mother, of their concern about his religiou
life and church attendance in this countr>
and of his hard luck since he came over her
as an excuse for falling away from his liom
training.
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
H* 1
rxeadmgs
= 1 wm ???a ...
"Nobody seems to pray or think about God
over here, and so 1 did as 1 saw others do. We
used always to ask the blessing at home before
we ate, but I don't do it any more."
"Whv. not?" I said. "Are vnn . nnt *>?
thankful as ever to the Heavenly Father who
supplies your food?"
"Yes, but nobody in America does it."
1 told him he was mistaken, that there were
thousands of Christian homes where they never
eat without first giving thanks, but he bad
not found them, lie told me of his wife, an
American girl, and then of his baby. 1 would
- l * "* ?% -
nae you to nave seen tne tenner look in ins
eyes as he said:
"Oh, 1 tell you, she is pure joy. No mutter
whether I sell much or little, 1 go home to
her and forget my troubles. 1 do wish to have
my baby brought up in the church. Would
your minister baptize her?"
"Yes, gladly," 1 said, " When you are ready,
but you are not living as you should. When
you give that child to God in baptism you
pledge yourself to bring her up as his child.
a wu tau uui uu it unicss yuu are living rigux.ly
yourself; but 1 can put your baby on our
Cradle Roll and we will be so glad to help
you and the mother all we ean."
So on Christmas Sunday, along with the
story of the Baby Jesus, who came to be the
Savior of the world, we talked of our little
Syrian baby whose father was born in Damascus,
not so very far away from Bethlehem,
and we put her name on the Cradle Roll.
The presentation of the Cradle Roll certifi!
cate to the mother opened the way for a heart
1 talk with her in her home, and she admitted
1 that she was reared in a Christian family, but
1 had fallen into the ways of her husband.
L Then I preached a little sermon on her lost
opportunity and asked her to come to our
1 church, where we, as fellow Christians, could
help them both. There followed talks with
the pastor, the remembrance of baby at
^ Christmas time, the messaee of the "Oolden
Now" each month, the prayers of those interested,
and the lloly Spirit working through
^ all these means. At the Easter communion
1 father and mother came into church fellow1
ship.
1 Is this the climax of the story T There is a
i pequel. At a Ladies Aid meeting soon after
this I was asked to make a "speech." I told
the story of the dark-skinned who had excited
the curiosity of some on that Sabbath day
V* ? 3 -?A 1
.. ??^u 110 nas xcccivua inro me cnurcft, and
t said:
"Now he has taken the first step to better
things. Will you do your part to help him
in a practical way by giving him your patronage,
and will you call upon his wife in a
friendly way? If you do not, he will still
!, have reason to believe that there is nothing
t vital in American Christianity."
rru ?it * ?
mey sum xney would. Ho wa8 furnished
a list of fifty names at whose homes he might
call and expect to be courteously received
t at least. He now carries a bigger stock, and
e I know of several prospective brides whose
s "hope chests" contain many of his beautiful
[1 linens.
s He has moved his family from a little down-.
town room to a comfortable cottage among
e wholesome people. Truly the love of a little
e child touches the best there is in us.?Tlcrald
and Presbyter.
UTH [March 12, 1313
A WISE FEAE USED UNWISELY.
BY BEV. Q. B. P. 1IALLOCK, D. D.
A young woman of about twenty-five years
of age, of beautiful charaeter aud highly respected
in the church and community, waa one
of the lirst persons 1 approached at a time of
special spiritual interest in the church of which
1 was then pastor. I found that she had a sincere
love for Christ and was earnestly trying
to follow him, according to her own testimony.
And the testimony of her life confirmed what
she said to me as her pastor. 1 said: "Why
is it. then, that vou have not united with the
Church?" She replied most earnestly and
frankly, with warmth of feeling: "Oh, I would
have united long age, but I was so afraid I
might bring dishonor on the Saviour." I replied:
"And, Miss II , that is such a
good fear to have." She seemed much surprised
at my answer. She had not looked at
it in that light; had not thought that such a
fear was only an added reason why she should
confess Christ.
I told her how much worth such a fear is,
and eininded her of Christ's many promises
of grace according to the day?daily strength
for daily duty, daily grace for daily need. I
also told her that uniting with the Church is
not professing religion, but eonfossing faith
in Christ; that professing religion is pointing
to oneself and seemingly saying: "Look at
? ? T I 1 1 J u
me. x nave uctumc guuu uuw; guoa euuugn,
I think, to unite with the Church and be counted
as religious." I assured her that the very
opposite of this is the attitude of those who,
in proper spirit, confess Christ by union with
His Church; that they come 011 confession. It
is confession, not profession. They confess
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their attitude,
and the rightly interpreted attitude of all those
who unite with the Church, is the opposite of
pointing to self and saying, "I have become
good now." It is pointing away from self to
Christ and saying, "Do not look at me, look
at my Savior. I do not profess to be good; but,
on the contrary, I realize that I am a weak
and helpless sinner. But I confess that in ray
weakness I have turned to Him; I have taken
Him as my only hope; my faith is not strong,
but I am trusting Him, and I love Him and
mean to try to serve Him. Because of my own
weakness I feel that I need all the help I can
get, and, therefore, I am joining myself with
His people, am obeying His command to ally
myself with His cause, and propose thus to
get all the help I can toward holding out always
as one of His disciples."
This way of looking at the matter seemed
surprising and entirely new to her. And it
seemed to come as a clearing up to her views
of duty. We knelt in a brief nraver tnorether
- ? ? r /
She expressed gratitude for the call and the
aid given. At the next communion ahe was
one of twelve of about her own age who united
with the Church.
It should be added that one of the reasons
this girl had looked at the matter as she had
done was that her mother, though an excellent
woman, was very exacting, and had al- '
ipflva tr a r\ f ? ? ^ 5
uciuic iici" uauguitT a magnmoQ requirement
of perfection, both in her own case
and the case and conduct of others. She was
very critical of the smallest faults in those who
wero church members.
I am glad to add that the mother herself outgrew
this tendency as the years passed on,
and she became a much happier Christian. No
doubt the daughter's quiet and beautiful character
and influence had much to do with the
cnango.
It is hard for some people to realize that a
Christian is jnst onev who loves Christ and is