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THijj Divine comfort.
The initial null' of llic Cospe! is sounded in
I sa i;i li 10:1-1?. ? ? ? '< ? II 1 1'? ? 1'1 y\ cOlufort vc 111 \"
people, s;i it ii the Lord. Speak to tile lie.l It o!
? It TUsalein. <i hi 1 sjiv iiiitu her. In r i i ii<|iiil is
pardoned. her warfare i^ ceased. ami sin- shall
I- i ve double at tin- Lord '?> 1 1 ;i 1 1 ? 1 s for ail her
sins '" TIh'si- words arc tin* I ?i*tr i n 1 1 i 1 1 i?r ol* tin'
< i * is pi ? I according t?? Isaiah. It peals with a
Hole ol' jo\ as tin- heart of tlii' | ?i*? ? | ?li ?*t leaps
? ?ill in moot ( i i H I s >ai vat i< hi.
"Comfort" is nil;' of (hi* iM'ncious won Is. It
means. relief. cheer. nay. even jo\ in tin* face of
adverse circumstances. It is needed. Trouble
is int respect *r of persons. Sin lies at the door
?if rvrrv heart, ami sin always means, result
ing misery. I'.nt it is the peculiar 'jilt of the
Note how t i oi I gives a gracious reason t ? ? r
this changed point of v iew. \\V ; ? r ? brought
into happy relationship with < I o? I . We are
llis people. lie is our Cod. This change we
? ?all "the new birth." '"The a*hiption into the
t;i III 1 1 \ of Cod. We hi' ? no louder I lie ehil
ill-ell nt the evil one. We al'e <ioi| s and ha\e
a right to all the blessings ol our father s
llolise.
This alone ought to make us leap with joy
ill I lie pr 'seiiee of ailV evil that may eoiue to
us. I > 1 1 1 this is not all. We are assured that
I In- perioil of our liar. I service in sin is over.
We are no longer the i|ri\en slaves of Satan.
No longer do our ? ? \ i I passions drive us w ith
i-ruel hit. No longer are we iu bondage
through fear of death, the most terrible weap
on of our arch enemy, the devil. "For w ?
have not received the spirit of bondage again
to fear, hill We have received ill' spirit of
adoption whereby we cry ".Vha. Ivilher.'
This is a public declaration, spoken to all
1 1 1 e 1 1 so that no one can make us afraid. The
fatal cans* of hardship and misery and shame
is removed. " I ler i 1 1 i? | it i t \ is pardoned. Sin
is the cause of all uiihappiiiess. Only wln n
the cause (joes does the cure cojlie.
Cod is delight '(I thai 111- can forgixe. that
lie call he jllsl ami yet I lie jllslilier of I lielll
that believe. It is a relief In lliui to be able
to reeeiv" Us to Himself.
The word in.', in- "To accept with pleasure
one, as an atonement for another ' It beau
I if ul I x describes the heart of (iod in vi. wring
the Work of I lie .Mediator.
Tllell. too. the best is yet le come. "She shall
receive doubl ? for all her sins." Looking
hack at the Cross il shows us the siilVieieiicy of
the atonement. "Double." means more than
enough, desus, being Divine, is a sulliei'iil
atonement for all the sins of all the world.
Looking forward it reveals the slilHicicncy of
.It siis lo satisfy mil' souls.
W e speak of giving up pleasur ? and selfish
pursuits for the gift of Christ. What folly.
We gel more than we give. We receive far
more, and increasingly, throughout the ag.'s.
These are the grounds of our comfort. It is
ours to receive tlieiu. and to be happy in them.
The Christian should he the happi.'st of men.
Are we sounding out the joy of Cod? Is there
the shout of praise on our lips' There ought
to be.
A. A. L.
I>'? the work I lint's merest
I lntii?r|i it's iliill ;if wliilcs
I |c||>i||<r wlll'll \ nil IliCI'f 1 I U'l 1 1,
l.;iiiir ? l< ?i?s ovi-r stilus.
him/sfrff.
Sell IHIlh'ul III t rifll'S I I'll Ills In <c| | Colli I'll] ill
Contributed
ORTHODOXY IN CHINA.
I \y IJev. S. II. Chester. 1). I ).
The writer of this :i i*t i?*l i* is very lotli to ap
I in thi' Church papers in connect ion with
tli" discussion ill' this topic. I deem it import
ant. however. to make a brief statement with
!*?? t*? * r? ? 1 1 ?** ? tti mi art it'h' on tin* subject hy IJev.
1 1 n?rli \Vliiti'} pnhl isln'il in 1 1 1 " I're.sbytcriaii ??i*
tin- Sun l li ninh-r date of -I u t m* 7th. I am well
assiiivtl that Mr. White wonhl not maUe any
statement that lie < I i < I not believe to be abso
lutely inn* ami accurate. It happens, how
evi-r, that lie was quite a long distance from
tin- plae-'s where the things whieh lie mentions
are a I lege* I to have occurred. ami the report,
til what ? 1 1 ? I happen, in traveling that list-aim*,
as is tun ?>ften t In1 i-asi1. eann* 1 ? > vary essentially
from thi- net na! faets of the ease.
.Mr. White states first that the Annual ('oil
liTenei* lit .M issinii |',t tart Is mi New' ^ ? ? r lx re
Ins'tl in ">;uirl inn the Kihlical Klie.Vehipetlia
whieh was being prepared hy Dr. Woods, in
('hina. As a matter of fact. this conference
tlitl nothing of the kind. The question of
financing the pi 1 1 ? I i?*<i t ion of Dr. Woods' Kin
cyclopedia w as brought before t he 1 .it erat iltv
< '<iiiiiii it 1 ee of thi- New York Conference ami
that committee, mainly on the ground of tin?
size ami ex peii>iveness of Dr. Woods' work,
did iii>! foe I a 1 tie tn entertain the proposition <?(
timinciiiir it. Thai is all that the New York
( 'onfi I* .-nee has hail tn do w ith tile matter.
Mr. White also makes the following state
ment whieh I'oiihl only refei to the Kxecutivu
Commit (???* of I'oi'eign Missions, "The Hoard
of his own Church. while granting ;i 1 1 other re
quests, would not grant this missionary's an
nual appropriations except on the condition
that tlie money should not he used on On*;"
Hits I'.ncYclopodia heing the basis ot the work
l>r. Woods is preparing.
I have searched the records of the Kxecutive
( 'oiiiniit lee for two years past in vain for any
minute that wonhl justify this statement of
Mr. White. The natural elVcet of the state
ment, if believed to he correct, would In; to
discredit our Kxccutive Committee as being
unsympathetic with the effort being made to
prescrv.' sound teaching in our missionary in
stitutions in China. The various actions of the
Executive Committee taken in connection with
this matter, would require too much space to
he print -d here, hut they would show the very
reverse of jiii.x lack of sympathy with those of
our brethren in China who are most concerned
about this matter.
The Kxecut ive Committer has addressed a
letter to our China Missions conveying to llieni
the action of the (Seticral Assembly taken on
this subject, ami instructing tln-m to make the
maintenance of essential orthodoxy iu tin!
leaching of our I nion schools a condition of
our continued co-operation iu these schools.
We deem it Very d"sirablc that this co-opera
tion be maintained if it can be maintained con
sistently with our fidelity to the truth ami
without compromise of principle. Three mein
b 'l's of our China Missions arc members of tin*
faculty of Nanking Theological Seminary, and
we deem it a matter of very great importance
that these representatives of our Church
should not be deprived of the opportunity id'
influencing the rising generation of ministers
in the Chinese Church bv withdrawing from
that seminary } unless it should become abso
lutely necessary for them to do so in order to
preserve our testimony to the truth unim
paired. We aiv confident. thai iimlcr t li;> ? I i
reel ion t?r men like Dr. Kichardson, Dr. I *ri?*.
and Dr. Lancaster, our representatives on t
faculty, and the oiler members of our China
Missions who arc represented on the Hoard of
Control of tin* institution, anything that may
have crept into the school that needs 1o h<
eliminated can and will b;* eliminated. It this
proves impossilile after judicious elVorts on tin
part of iilii' cprcscutat ives to that end have
failed, it will then he time for us to consider
the matter of our withdrawal.
Meanwhile, let us not become panie-sl rickcu
and lose confidence in the ability of the m *ii
who compose our two China Missions to liaudh
1 h is matter in the way it ou?;hl to In- handled;
and let us iiol make it more difficult than it
would otherwise b> for them to handle it
wisely siud elVeetively by creating an impres
sion in the Cliui'ch at home that things ar<'
so in iieh worse than they really are. So far
as our own missionaries are concerned tliev
are sound and loyal to the core, and the saiie'
is true of the vast majority of the entire mi
sioiiarx body in ('hina. This hein<>- so we max
be reasonably eoiitideiit that an insi?;nilieaiit
minority of radicals and free thinkers will not
be able to destroy the foundations of the faith
in the rising Church of China.
SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS.
By Rev. W. J. McM ill. -in. 1). I).
The ministers ;i 1 1< I pastors of churches in this
a lit I doubt loss of her cities have i*? ' i \ ? ?? I ready
m:i? l<> announcements addressed to their con
gregat ions. In lliis city tin announcement in
part is as follows:
"To the < 'ongregat ion : I hereby endorse
William .lennings Bryan's Bible Talks, which
arc to be printed in the Sunday issue of tin
, ami I take pleasure in recommend
iny th 'in 1o the members of this church.
"William Jennings Bryan, as you know, i
a great church layman; in fact, lie is conceded
to he the leading lay preacher in America to
day. More than this lie is one of the greatest
authorities on the Bible ami one of its mosi
] licit 1 interpreters, (hit of tin* richness of hi
knowledge of th' Scriptures lie is writim*
these articles for tin* readers of the
one each Sunday.
'*1 eoinuii'lid these Weekly Bible 1'alks I"
you, because I know they will stimulate ami
renew your knowledge ami understanding o"
the Bible."
There follows a place for the signature oi
the ])astor and of the Sunday School sujicrin
tend "lit. by the signing of which their endorsi
incut of the above is secured.
To my mind this is an attempt of the pub
lishers of newspapers to increase the sale oi
the Sunday edition, to do so under the gni
of bringing forward "the leading lay preacher
of America," to bring the principle of th<
?lesuit np to date, .lust how many minister"
and congregations will be led to lend their ai<!
to the promotion of Sunday newspaper circa
latiou I do not pretend to surmise. But it i*
to be hoped that ministers and churches will
not lend themselves to the further promotion
of the assumption that the end to be secured
justified the means to be employed.
The publication of splendid articles in th'
edition can never justify the circulation of th'
Sunday newspaper. It is a pitv that in tin'
sale of these syndicated articles, for such '
take them to be, Mr. Bryan did not express!*
stipulate that they should be given to the pco
pie in some edition other than that issued on
Sunday.
The Sunday edition of the newspaper is oic'