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death and hell. He knew what they were moving
from; that they were moving from God tl|e Father,
from God the Son, and from God the Holy Spirit;
that they were moving away from their best Friend,
One upon whom they would ultimately have to call;
that they were moving from their best Companion;
that they were moving away from their Savior.
Jesus knew this, and as He saw the hardness of
their hearts, how His heart must have ached!
And my friends, it did not cease aching that day.
That great heart of Jesus has continued to ache
and it aches now for this world. On the one
hand is that great surging mass of humanity that
is moving away from Jesus toward the world, enam
ored by its promises, lured by its artful persuasions,
moving away from Jesus, toward sin and toward
suffering and sorrow and heart aches, and pain, and
hell, moving away from Jesus; away from God;
from loving companionship, and friendship, walking
not with Him.
On the other hand there is that smaller company,
alas, alas, how small, too small for what God has
done for us. How small is that company who have
not forsaken Him, who have stood true, who are
walking with Him! Some have wandered a few
steps but they have come back; others are now
wandering, but His love will call them back.
Oh, my brother, my sister, in which of these
two classes.do you belong? Are you in that crowd
that is moving away from Him? Has the desire
for the world overcome your desire for Him? Are
you with that crowd, or are you with the smaller
company, walking with Jesus? Which class does
the world think you are in? What class does Jesus
know you are in?
“TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?”
But even more pathetic than this were the words
that fell from His lips as He watched them move
away, knowing why they were leaving, and where
they were going. As He watched them, I fancy,
with a tremor in His voice, He turned to the twelve
and said: “Will you also go away? Is it possible
that they will influence you to go back to the
world? You know why they are leaving; is it a
temptation to you to go too?” We cannot realize
what unutterable sadness was expressed in that
sentence, “Will you also go away?” He wanted
to test them in this hour; to see if their faith had
waned. But I believe that it was not only that.
My brethren, Jesus was human, and He had he
feelings of a man, and He dreaded to be left alone.
It grieved Him to think that perhaps these who had
been so long with Him and who had had such close
companionship with Him, would perhaps leave Him
now. You need not tell me that the human heart
of Jesus did not feel a throb of pain at the pros
pect. I know of nothing in the wide range of hu
man experience that is so hard to stand as the
denial of a friend. I can conceive of nothing that
burns and sears and hurts like the loss of the
fidelity of a friend. I believe that you have caught
my thought, and, oh, my friends, let us see to it
that we are not the ones that are giving Him such
concern as to make His heart ache and yearn for
our constant love and fidelity.
When Jesus asked that question, there burst
forth from the lips of Peter a very human expres
sion, and yet one of very deep wisdom, “Lord, to
whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life.” To whom else could they pledge allegiance?
They had seen Him daily and watched Him; they
had seen Him tried and tested in every possible
way, and He had never failed in all that testing
and trial.
My brethren, the one thing needed today in the
Christian world is more fidelity to the Lord. That
is the one thing that would most, gladden the heart
of the Lord and it is the one thing that will make
us of most service in the kingdom of Christ. Shall
we not enter into a resolute determination to be
faithful? Oh, the need of fidelity in all lines of
life! It is the one thing needed. These very peo-
A number of bright College Students paid their way through college this year by representing The
Golden Age last vacation. The same opportunity is open to you this summer. Write to us.
The Golden Age sot May 28, 1908.
ple who were turning their backs upon Him were
the very people who just a day or so before had
wanted to crown Him as the king. In a few days
more they were crying, “Crucify Him.”
In no line of life is faithfulness needed so much
as in the church; in the cause of Christ.
IN TIME OF TRIAL.
On one occasion it was my privilege to be in at
tendance upon the Keswick Convention in England.
I shall never forget a testimony given by a re
turned missionary, on missionary day. She had just
returned from the interior of China. It was just
after the boxer uprising, and this little woman had
been in the midst of it.
She said that in a certain section a family, com
posed of husband, wife and one child, were seized
by the boxers. The husband was cruelly tortured
before the eyes of his wife and babe, and then his
head was taken off, she screaming, pleading, and
praying. When that was done they said to her,
“If you will give up your religion and renounce it,
we will spare the life of your babe. If not we will
kill him before your eyes, and then kill you.”
Without a moment’s hesitation she said, “I can
not. I will not turn my back upon Him.”
Then they made the proposition that, if she would
turn her back upon her religion, they would spare
both her and the child.
She looked those men in the face, and said, “Not
for one moment will I turn my back upon my Lord. ’ ’
They argued with her, but to no avail. Every
time they made the proposition to her, she positive
ly refused to even consider it.
Then they took her babe, and before her eyes
tore it limb from limb. While this was going on,
she stood, praying to God for grace just a little
longer. When they had killed the babe they came
to her and with one blow severed her head from
her body.
When that little woman stood in that convention
and told that story, I grant you, my heart sank
within me. I thought, “You poor, unfaithful ser
vant! How unfaithful you have been at the very
best.”
I couldn’t help wondering if I would have stood
the test as nobly and as unflinchingly as that frail
Chinese woman.
That spirit of fidelity is the supreme need of the
Church today; that spirit which had rather die
than to leave the Lord, and to drag his standard in
the dirt and the dust. It is that spirit that will
bring the world to see the cross of Christ.
“Will you also go away?”
H *
Lobe and Science.
By A. J. Aven.
Heart calls to heart, as deep to deep,
My dearest absent one,
And I, to hear your liquid voice,
Must use the telephone.
Though absence from you be my fate,
There comes to me a hope,
For I, to see you face to face,
May use telautoscope.
To hear and see do not suffice,
To kiss you, too, I must,
But I, to touch your ruby lips,
Must use telautogust.
If these should fail to operate,
And you be absent, far,
Then I, the distance to o’ercome,
Will use an autocar.
When all opposing fates retire,
And I shall claim my boon,
We’ll face life’s problems, side by side,
And keep our hearts in tune.
Among the Workers.
The Southern Baptist Convention at Hot Springs
has just closed. The newspaper accounts show that
it was a meeting of unusual power and significance.
In spite of the panic, in spite of the fact that
one of the Boards of the Convention had a debt of
twenty thousand dollars at the close of the last
Convention year, the deficit was all made up and
the work of the convention advanced to still higher
things.
n
The Methodist General Conference, North, has
held its session at Baltimore. A spirit of earnest,
hopeful, aggressive Christianity has characterized
their work. It is well to remark just here that
both of these great bodies took advanced ground on
prohibition.
The Northern Baptists are holding their anni
versary at Oklahoma. From about 1815 down to
1845, all the Baptist of the United States were
in filial co-operation with what was then known
as the Triennial Convention. The Baptists of the
South withdrew from that convention in 1845 and
organized a Southern Baptist Convention. The
Northern Baptists abandoned the Triennial Con
vention, but continued to hold annual meetings of
the three great societies: The Missionary Union,
of Boston (Foreign Missions), The Home Mission
Society, of New York, and the Publication Society,
of Philadelphia. It seems now that they have de
termined to organize a convention similar to the
Southern Baptist Convention which will take the
oversight of all their missionary and publication
work. This, according to the program, is what we
understand to be going on at Oklahoma now.
At this writing there is gathered in Atlanta a
great educational conference of Southern Method
ists. This is a coming together of college president-,
great teachers, and learned bishops, and wide
awake laymen and preachers. The betterment of
the educational machinery of Methodism is the
object in view.
*
An Increase: The records show that for the past
year the gain in the membership of the Southern
Methodist Church reaches 55,042. Traveling preach
ers number 7,188, an increase of 150; the Epworth
League gains 4,233 members; the Sunday school
teachers have increased 2,517, and scholars 43,121.
There has been a slight decrease in the number of
local preachers. —Wesleyan Advocate.
* «
A Home Tor the Old Warhorse.
To The Golden Age:
The propositin to build a home for Rev. A. J.
Hughes, the great prohibitionist, meets my most
hearty approval. When the Georgia Legislature
roused the people of the United States by passing
the prohibition bill, without knowing it, that body
put a crown of glory upon the head of one of Geor
gia’s noblest sons. When others were sounding the
praises of the great leaders who had led the pro
hibition forces to victory, I was the first to name
the man who, in my judgment, had done more than
any other man or woman to secure this glorious
result —the tireless, persistent, undaunted A. J.
Hughes. When the friends of prohibition were
discouraged and its enemies defiant and seemingly
triumphant, Bro. Hughes never lost heart. The
mails groaned with prohibition literature; he never
ceased his fiery denunciation of the “accursed
traffic.” Now that his reward has come, the people
of Georgia can in no more fitting way give expres
sion of their appreciation of his unselfish, patriotic
services than by building for him a comfortable
home in which, with his invalid wife, he can spend
the rest of his days. Sincerely yours,
W. P. LOVEJOY.
Cartersville, Ga.,
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