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ESTABLISHED 1821.
The .Christian Index
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The First Ward Protective Association,
of Allegheny, Pa., deserve the thanks of
all good people. They have arrested
several landlords, because of their rent
ing property for vile purposes. This is a
step in the right direction and it is hoped
this example will be followed by others.
The latest Webster— that is styled the
“•International" as though a country like
ours would be for it “a pent-up Utica”
—omits from its vocabulary the words
•■Anti-mission,” “Anti-missionary,”“An
ti.niissionisin,” “Anti-missionary ism,”
etc. Do not these words belong to rep
utable English, then ? We wish we
might as easily get quit of the men and
things they stand for.
A thing lawful in itself may become
unlawful to us through the fact that it
has been associated by others with
things worldly and evil. There was no
reason, so far as purposes of diet were
concerned, why the Jews should not
suckle a kid in its mother's milk: but
they were forbidden so to suckle it for
these purposes, because annually at the
end of harvest the Egyptians did it
that they might sprinkle the broth as a
magical charm on their gardens and
fields, to render them more productive
the following year. Does not the general
principle involved here apply to a par
ticipation of Christians in sundry forms
of fashionable amusements?
Dr. Josiah Strong, in his recent work
“the New Era,” recognizes three great
races in antiquity, the Hebrews devel
oping the spiritual, rhe Greeks develop
ing the intellectual, and the Romans de
veloping the physical, conditions of hu
manity. But when he comes to modern
times, he finds these distinctive func
tions of the three all combined in the
Anglo-Saxons. If the Anglo-Saxons as
a race make this claim for themselves,
wo greatly fear that they are lacking in
the virtue of modesty, whatever other
gifts and graces may abound in them.
Nor do we exactly see how an individ
ual Anglo-Saxon making this claim for
his race can clear his own modesty from
suspicion and impeachment.
A writer in the “Irish World” brings
out clearly the distinctive type of An
archism, as the rejection and overthrow
of all authority. There are fathers;
but they have no right to control the be
havior and direct the education of their
children. There are States; but they
have no right to enact laws, maintain
order, establish tribunals, and inflict
penalties. There may be—or, if you
will, there is—a God; but he has no
right to reward and to punish the ac
tions of his creatures. This is not athe
ism, of course; and yet it is. A God
without sovereignty is no God; he is de
nied in the denial of his sovereignty.
Ami yet is it not a more flagrant offence
than this, to confess liis sovereignty and
so to confess him, but still to refuse
obedience and make him nothing by
making his sovereignty nothing?
It does not lie within the compass of
human science to devise and rear build
ings which shall be absolutely lire
proof. This is the unwelcome conclu
sion reached after experiments running
through a series of years, and in which
inventors of fire-proof materials and
systems from all parts of Germany bore
apart. The wider experience of all
lands and of all the ages teaches the
graver and more startling truth, that
man can in no way safeguard his heart
from the fire of temptation ; that after
every precaution of his wisdom and
virtue, its spark may kindle in his bos
om and its “flame flameout” in his life.
An absolutely tire-proof soul no mortal
ever yet won for himself. With what
holy watchfulness, then, ought we to
walk in a wbrld on fire with evil, w here
its flames blaze and its sparks fly at
every step, lest on us too the universal
conflagration may fasten and burn un
checked to our eternal undoing!
The “Review of Reviews,” in its issue
for August, kindly volunteers to inform
tlie “Sunday and secular schools of the
country" how they may exert a “most
salutary influence on the rising genera
tion.” This may be done, he tells them
by the use, as a text-book, of a certain
treatise on the Bible which is dedicated
to a group of foreign scholars of the
same type as Prof. Crawford H. Toy, of
Harvard University, who shares with
them the h<«ior of this dedication. The
author of the treatise adopts the infidel
conclusions from the“ Higher Criticism,”
as though these were the legitimate
“results" of that criticism. He strips
the Bible;of its distinctive glory by rea
son of supernatural origin and divine
revelation. He classes it with the great
"sacred books" of the world, as simply
the fruit of the natural evolution 'of
the race, and though intrinsically nobler
than the Vedas, the Koran, etc., yet no
less truly human in its sources and char
acteristics than they. We respectfully
suggest that the Review, in champion
ing the champion of such views, “rushes
in" where, with wiser thoughtfulness,
it would “fear to tread." Why that pe
riodical should thus rudely outrage the
convictions of the great mass of ortho,
dox and evangelical Christians, we can
not say. Why should it force them
either to bear a needless pain or to lurn
away from its pages? It only shows its
ignorance in assuming that the battle
of the “Higher Criticism” has been
won to the overthrow of the divine au
thority of Holy Scripture. Many a
Idow needs to lie dealt before that issue
comes, if it ever does. And it never
will!
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
PHILIPPIANS-
BY REV. F. R. BOSTON.
A letter ! The address Philippi
chief city of Macedonia, nine miles
from Neapolis where Paul and Silas
landed on their first mission to
Europe.
Philippi was founded by Philip
of Macedon, constituted a colony
by Augustus and possessed all the
privileges of Roman citizenship,
in fact she was a little Rome in
herself. She was noted in history
as the battlefield on which the Re
publican armies led by Cassius and
Brutus made their final stand and
were defeated by Octavius and
Antony. Philippi was also cele
brated as the first European city in
which the gospel was preached and
the first Christian church organ
ized.
The letter is addressed to the
saints in Christ Jesus which are
at Philippi.
Turning to the i6th chapter of
Acts, we learn that this church
was born from the imperative com
mand of the Holy Spirit to Paul
and Silas to preach the gospel in
Macedonia, and in the next place
from great suffering on the part of
these consecrated servants of
Christ. For they had not fairly
commenced their work, before
they were seized by a mob, scourg
ed by Roman Lictors, cast into an
inner cell damp dark and reeking
with pestilence and banded down
with chains. At the darkest hour
they prayed and sang praises to
God. Their bands and imprison
ment were over ruled unto the fur
therance of the gospel and the es
tablishment of this church.
The names and persons of a few
of the constituent members of this
first European church we are fa
miliar with. Lydia’s name stands
first on the church work, and also
as the first European convert. She
was a Gentile from Thessalonica,
a business woman, a seller of Pur
ple in Philippi, more than all, she
was a truth seeker. God opened
her heart, she received the gospel
on first hearing, and her household
followed her example.
Next on the roll, appears I am
sure, the name of the damsel whom
Paul healed of the spirit of divi
nation, possibly some of those poor
prisoners, who heard the prayers
and songs of the apostles at mid
night and the gospel as preached
to the jailer. At least is it not
pleasant to think that some of
these poor souls, with the hope of
life well nigh gone, received
Christ, and rejoiced in the liberty
where with Christ makes the pris
oner free?
Next appears the names of the
jailer, his wife and the members of
his family. To these no doubt we
can add the names of Euodius and
Syntyche, good women but with
their faults and Clement and Epa
phroditus.
May we not be sure that most,
if not all these persons.were brought
into the church as its constituent
members by Paul, and were per
sonally and affectionately known
by him?
The church at Philippi was in
every way a model church. It had
not been disturbed to any serious
extent .by Judaizers. There were
no divisions among them, no doc
trinal errors as had appeared in
some other churches, worldliness
had not eaten out its heart as in
case of the Loadicean church. It
abounded in benevolence, Paul said
a great thing about it on one occa
sion. Their deep honesty abound
ed unto the riches of their liberali
ty”
Is there any wonder that this
church was the favorite one with
the great Paul, and that they re
turned the apostles affection with
corresponding warmth and devo
tion ?
As we look further at the back
of this letter, we notice that the
post mark is Rome, camp of the
Praetorian Guards.
When Paul first arrived at Rome,
the virtuous Burrus was the Prae- i
torian prophet. This may account '
for his being permitted to live with
a soldier in his own hired house,
and to receive any who desired to
visit him.
Sometime after Paul came to
Rome, the good'prophet died. The
death of Burrus was an important
epoch in Neros reign. It broke the
power of Seneca and established
the influence of Tigellinus, who
became the Praetorian Prophet, a
man whose energetic wickedness
has since made his name proverbial,
and from this period Nero’s public
administration became gradually
worse and worse, till at length its
infamy rivaled that of his private
life.
About this time also Nero divorc
ed his wife Octavia and married his
mistress, the wicked Poppaea, who
had become a prosllye to Juda
daisin. In quick succession follow
ed the murder of Octavia.
These public events must have
affected Paul’s imprisonment, trans
fering him from his own hired
house to the barracks of the Prae
torian guards. (See Conybearl
and llowson introduction to Pauls
letter to Philippians.
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 21, 1893.
The date of the post mark of this
letter appears to be about 62.
Now let us break the seal and
examine its contents. The occa
sion of its writing was to acknow
ledge the contributions sent to him
by the church at Phillippi, through
Epaphroditus. It seems as soon as
this church learned of Paul’s im
prisonment and his suffering condi
tion, their hearts were touched with
sympathy for their father in the
gosbel.
When Epaphroditus returned
from Rome he brought with him
this letter from Paul to the church.
We sometimes find a rock on
which is an impression of a delicate
fern leaf, whence it came, how it
was made we know not. Perhaps
in the early age of the earth it liv
ed its life then fell over in some
soft-substance, so impressible that
every part of the fern was printed
on it, as it hardened into stone, and
that is the only record of the life
which the fern left. So it was with
Epaphroditus, all that we know of
him and his character, we find
pressed between the folds of Paul’s
letter, as delicate and beautiful as
the fern leaf on the rock. How
beautifully and affectionately Paul
writes of him, “My brother and
companion in labor and fellow sol
dier, but your messenger and he
ministered to my wants.
Continued in next issue.
NOTES ON T HE WORLD S FAIR-
BY DR. S. P. SANFORD.
Whilst the writer enjoyed the
grandeur and magnificence of the
“World’s Fair"—its palatial build
ings which rise on every side—its
lovely lawns, its beautiful terraces,
and its charming water scenery,
yet that which gave him the most
exquisite enjoyment,over and above
everything else, was the music of
Theodore Thomas’ orchestra. His
orchestra consists of 114 instru
ments, ehiefly stringed instruments,
played by the most accomplished
musicians selected from Europe and
America. His concerts took place
in “Choral Hall,” a most beautiful
building 260 by 250 feet, capable
of seating 6500 persons.
Theodore Thomas’ music is un
like any other that I ever heard.
It is simply indescribable. So differ
ent it is from the ordinary, blatant
brass band, that there is no com
parsion between them. His music
is soft, mild, soothing and in perfect
time. It is astonishing' what per
fect control he exercises over his
114 musicans. With a gentle wave
of his hand, he can change the mus
is from loud to soft, or from gay to
plaintive, almost with a magicans
power.
My principle incentive to go to
the World’s Fair, was to hear Theo- i
dore Thomas' music, and 1 carried
out this purpose fully, having at
tended all his concerts with one
exeption. I heard his first con
cert on the day of our arrival in
Chicago. In addition to his or
chestra of 114 instruments, there
was a chorus of 800 Scandinavian
male voices, selected from the best
singers of Norway, Sweden and
Denmark.
When these 800 Scandinavians,
some with their deep, rich bass
voices, and others with the finest
tenors, all united in singing some
of the heroic songs of their native
lands' the music was, as the Bible
expresses it,“like the sound of many
waters.”
Several thousand visitors attend
ed the concert, yet the stillness and
quiet of the vast audience was so
profound, that the drop of a pin
might almost have been heard.
And when as a finale,the whole 800
joined in singing, “The Star-span
gled Banner,” the effect was per
fectly thrilling.
At one of his concerts, Thomas’
orchestra played a piece of music
in which only the stringed instru
ments participated. It was simply
perfection itself. The memory of
that seraphic music lingers with me
yet. I never expect to hear better
music until I get to a better world,
if I should be so happy as to reach
there. I thought of a sayiug of
Isaac Walton, the quaint,old angler
of England: “Lord, if thou dost
allow to wicked men on earth, such
music as this,what must be the mus
ic of Heaven.”
It must not be inferred that the
attractions of the World’s Fair con
sist exclusively or chiefly, in the
contents of the palatial buildings.
There is almost as much outside, as
within the buildings, tojinterest the
visitor. Nowhere has the writer
ever seen more charming specimens
of landscape gardening, more beau
tiful lawns or more delightful road
ways. Even should he never enter
a building at all, he would be amp
ly compensated for his trip to the
Fair, iu the attractive surround
ings.
Between the city proper, and
the Fair grounds, lies Washington I
Park. This lovely park comprises 1
about lixxi acres,—covered with
grass, trees, shrubbery and bright
1 blooming flowers. Near the cen
! tre of the park, within a short dis
tance of the Rail ways,rises a gentle
i elevation covered over with closely
shaven grass. At the centre of the
mound, supported by a flowery
pedestal 4 or 5 feet in height, rises
a sphere some 12 or 15 feet in
diameter. On this globe or sphere
are delineated distinctly, the divi
sions of the earth ; Europe, Asia,
Africa and North and South Amer
ica, with the respective oceans. All
this is expressed in flowers—live,
growing flowers.
Near the globe written in large
letters of flowers, are the words :
“Sols clock.” It is in reality a sun
dial made of living, growing flow
ers. The stylus of the dial is a
large, green cactus some eight or
nine feet long mal'ing an angle
with the horizon, I estimated, about
equal to the latitude of Chicago.
The figures 6,7, 8, 9, etc., were
made of flowers and placed at pro
per intervals on the lawn, as indi
cated by the shadow J of the stylus.
As we passed near “Sol’s clock,”
some one of the pc “y said : “The
dial indicates the time as half past
eleven.” We took out our watches
and found that the diff-.-rcnce was
very slight.
At a little distance from Sol’s
clock, in large letters was the fol
lowing : “Tuesday, August Sth,
1893.” The day before some of
our party passed this point, and it
read : “Monday, August, 7th, 18-
93-”
A little farther on in large letters
were the words: “Gates Ajar;’’
and there at the top of a broad stair
way was a gate of flowers standing
partly open. It was difficult to
conceive of the exquisite taste with
which this was gotten up. The
steps of the stairway seemed to
have a broad strip of Brussles car
peting running up to the gate.
Still farther on there was a piece
of music regularly written out on a
“Staff” in the key of three ‘“Flats.”
The lines were represented by one
class of flowers, and the Notes by
another. The piece of music was
the well known tune of “Hail Col
umbia.” Doubless Theo do r e
Thomas’ orchestra could have stood
off some distance and played the
piece from the flowery notes.
But I will bore your readers no long
er.
THE TWO Olie ERNS-
BY REV. F. C. JOHNSON.
Extracts from a : anuscript that
has never yet beer made public,
as far as known to- Che sender of
■these extracts, 11* ' ’Act concern-
ing twocisterns, and a factory of
stupendous extent and marvelous
products, which is situated between
the cisterns and communicating
with them in a very wonderful way.
There be in this universe two
cisterns, and God made them. One
of these cisterns, which itself is
double, that is the cistern consists
of two parts, which are exactly
alike in their form and also in their
use, and this cistern is the ears of
the Christ. It is first named in the
40th Psalm 6th a verse, “Mine ears
hast thou opened,” English version.
The oldest translation of the He- I
brew words is that of the Septua- '
gint, which is quoted in the Epistle
to the Hebrews 10: 5, “a body hast
thou prepared for me.” The vul
gate more literally “ears has thou
perfected for me.” Now the He
brew literally rendered is “ears hast
thomdug for me.” To dig a pit,
to excavate a cisteun, that is the
way, the word is always used in
the Hebrew Scriptures. The ears
are the two-fold cisterns, which
God did excavate in the body of
Jesus the Christ, and so the Sep
tuagint puts not “ears” but “body,”
and renders the verb “dig” by a
word signifying the “perfect adap
tation” of the entire body,(of which
the ears are a part) to the uses for
which this body was destined.
Now this two-fold cistern hath two
pipes, one ascending to God the
father, and through it all the will
of God every word of God enters
into the ears of Christ. One might
say this pipe is laid from the mouth
of God to the ears of Christ. The
other pipe, is called faith, and con
nects the mouth of the believer
with the ever open and listening
ears of the Christ. Through this
pipe sorrowful and sinful man pours
his sorrows and sins into the this
divine cistern. From North to
South, from the rising of the sun,
to the going down thereof, from
continent and islands, from millions
of heavy laden souls, there is an
unbroken flow of sorrows and sins
into the Christs wondrous ear.
This is too wonderful for me. Up
yonder, beyond the sun and moon
and stars, at the right hand of the
majesty on high, sits the Son of
man, the Christ, with ears ever
open day and night to the cries, as
cending in all earths languages.
All the dialects of earth he knows.
He hears every tale, and knows
each supplicant. The number of |
languages, the variety of sounds '
ami sobs, create no confusion to I
him.
The other cistern is the hand of ■
Christ it is ever full. His etp- is
ever full of mans sorrows, his hand '
is ever full of blessings, which sor- I
rowful and needy man wants. In j
that hand is forgiveness of sin, is
comfort for mourners, is deliver- -
I ance in the time of tribulation, in
j a word is salvation. Often in the
Psalms, when we translate singular
salvations, it is ’plural salvations.
Thus 68 Psalms 20 v., ‘“Our God is
a God of salvations” or deliveran
ces. He saith not salvation, as of
one, but salvations as of many.
“Many, oh Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works, which thou hast
done, and thy thoughts to us ward :
they cannot be reckoned up in or
der unto thee ; If I wished to de
clare and speak them. They are
too numerous to be counted. There
is no one single perfected act of
salvation, but salvation is a process
consisting of countless acts and
successions of deliverance, which
process begun on earth, in time be
tween thy mother’s womb, and this
grave, in this body, which thou
wilt never see again, is finished in
the world to come, when time shall
be no more, and thou a sinless
spirit, and incapable of sin forever
more, standest in thy spiritual body
made after the fashion of the Christs
glorified body, in which no sin was
ever done, or ever will be done.
One of a countless host on the sea
of gloss mingled with fire, before
the throne of God and the lamb.
Now God hath contrived a pipe
called “mercy,” leading from that
hand to man on earth, from the
hand so full, to the man so empty.
From man on earth is the continu
ous and even increasing stream of
plaints and cries to the ear of
Christ, always going up, no cessa
tion, not even for one second, from
death beds and fresh graves, from
busy thronged cities, from unpeo
pled wastes, from firesides and al
tars, from whereever man breathes,
lives, works and dies, this stream
ascendeth and emptieth into the
God excavated cistern, the ear of
the Christ. Then there is another
equally uninterrupted flow from
the other cistern, the hand of Christ.
It is blessings, blessings, blessings,
nothing but blessings. “All spiri
tual blessings,” “all things pertain
ing unto life and godliness.” This
again is. too high for me, I cannot
attain to it. This ear we shall see,
this hand and the hole made through
it by the nail that fastened it to the
cross, we shall see it but notwith
ing that open hole, there leaketh
out and is lost not one drop of the
.pver flowing stream of blessings.
I come now to speak of the di
vine faculty which is situate be
tween the cisterns, and communi
cates with them. This is the heart
of Christ. It is of capaci
ty. It is bigger than the whole
world. In this heart is the “blood
that maketh atonement for the
soul,” “the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Through this blood we have redemp
tion, the forgivness of sins. We
are justified by his blood. God, the
Father, made peace through the
blood of his cross, that is peace be
tween God and the sinner, and be
tween Jew ami Gentile through the
blood shed on the cross of Jesus.
This precious blood redeemed us
from the vain conversation handed
down from our fathers. “Vain
conversation,” is a manner of life,
which is fruitless, and has special
reference as to what was done, of
taught to be done for the salvation or
the soul. The Fathers, I take it, es
pecially refer to the Jewish ances
tors of those to whom he wrote,
and their silly teachings, which
profited nobody either here or here
after. This blood of Christ shed
on the cross is the only fluid,known
in heaven or on earth, to God and
Angelsand men, that posseses the
virtue of cleansing the rational im
mortal essence, the God imaging
soul of man, from all sin. But in
the heart of Christ again is love,
concerning which One saith in a
certain place : “'Die love of Christ
passeth knowledge.” Now man’s
prayers, plaints, cries for deliver
ence, empty into the ear of Christ.
Thence they pass by a channel
known to Him who fitted the body
of Christ for its work, into the Sa
cred heart, wherein is contained
the ocean of Christ's love—whereof
no Geographer has yet ascertained
the cost line, nor sounded the
depths. This love is marvelous,
when now the cries of men pass
through this love-filled heart, and
out into the hand (which is won
derful in respect to its distributing
power) or Christ, they have be
come changed into answers, that is
into blessings, perfectly adapted to
the wants of sorrowful and sinful
man—both in respect to the quani
ty, quality and time of the particu
lar blessings. Now it is a wonder
ful thing that Christ’s hand never
confuses the blessings needed by so
many millions, in different circum
stances, and in different places, and
calling in so many different tongues.
The blessing from the hand, exact
ly corresponds to the cry for help,
that entered into the ear.
A resolution is before the Senate
for the appointment of a commit
tee to enquire whether any Senator
is a stock holder in the national
banks. Thiswasdone in retaliation
of the charge that lhe Silver Sena
tors are interested in the silver
mines of the West. It seems to be
a case of the kettle and the pot.
Both ought to be cleaner.
TO ALL CHRISTIANS, BAPTISTS ES
PECIALLY- *
Dear Brethren.—Our beloved
land, “the land of the free and the
brave,” has enjoyed a long season
of unparalleled prosperity. The
colonies, from which many of the
States were formed, were settled
by pious people, seeking soul liber
ty. The Bible was the book of
their religion, and the freedom to
use and desseminate it, led them to
encounter incredible hardships.
The Puritans of Massachusetts, the
Baptists of Rhode Island, Quakers
| or Friends of Pensylvania, are but
| specimens of the masses who came
| to America for homes from the old
World where the persecution by
Roman Catholics and their kindred
spirits made the fires too hot for
them. From these pious liberty
loving people God built up a na
tion, the like of which never before
adorned the earth. For less than
a century had passed when the
United States of America stood as
the Princess of Nations, the fairest
of all the sisterhood. Statesmen,
philosophers and divines were hers
The sails of her commerce whiten
ed the harbors of all commercial
nations. Her schools, colleges and
literature were far in advance of
any known nation of the earth of
its age. Os her glory, orators spoke
and poets sang. Pier praises were
in all languages. Whenever the
down-trodden of any nation pined
in prison or slavery, he sighed for
a home in “the land of Washing
ton." In a word, the American
Union of States grew and flourish
ed in all that made a nation great,
beyond all precedent. Light and
knowledged flowed back on the old
World like the vast ocean waves.
What was the cause of all this
prosperity? It was, in a few words,
owing to the beneficent God. But
this does not tell the story full en
ough. Our fathers came to this
country,in its wild primordeal state
to worship and glorify God.
Among the first things they did
was to build a home or a place of
worship, and though it may have
been as rude as an Indian wigwam,
when the worshippers were there,
God as truly met them as He did
Solomon while dedicating the Tem
ple. Q Those frail tenements of
God’s people were as truly under
his eye as the tabernacle of Abra
ham when “he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange
country.” (Heb. 11:9.) America
was to all the Pilgrim Fathers a
land of promise. When jt was
said : Ask of me and 1 will give
thee the heathen for thine inheri
tance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession,”
( Psalms 2:8,) Truly the American
Indians were heathen and the then
unknown land to man,America,was
from Palestine an uttermost part
of the earth ; and what was prom
ised to Christ as an inheritance,
was promised to his people, for they
are “heirs of God and joint heirs
of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Hence
our ancestors, tabernacling in their
land of promise as in a strange
land, had reason to ask and expect
God’s blessings on their labors and
on their posterity. They came and
doubtless in richer abundance than
their imaginations could have meas
ured. Long details of history are
not needful to the intelligent read
er at this point. It is sufficient to
say that after many and radical
changes, the whole scene of the
W estern World was changed.
Verily the wilderness and the soli
tary place was made glad, and the
desert rejoiced and blossomed a>
the rose. (Isa. 35 : I.) Indeed, the
United States was for a time the
great reservoir whence flowed the
water of life freely.
Nearly all nations have been in
fluenced and refreshed by their wa
ters. By this we mean that the
great tide of Gospel civilization
that has flowed from these Amer
ican States has reached and so mod
ified other governments on both
hemispheres that kingdoms, em
pires and despotisms are far from
what they were two centuries ago.
We are just passing the great mile
stone that marks the first century
of the revival of missions. Effec
tive mission work and gospel civi
lization are kindred phrases. This
country has done more to enlighten
other nations than all others. We
are proud, too proud, of our career.
Let us look over the threatening
scene. There is darkness in the
moral sky. Reluctant as we may
be to acknowledge the fact, there
is certainly trouble ahead. It is
time to stop in the wild career of
greed for gain,and inquire “Watch
man, what of the night ?” A thought
less, worldly spirit has prevailed
too extensively. The precautiona
ry words “eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty,” have not been suf
ficiently heeded. The great ad
versary of soul liberty, Roman
Catholicism, has been skillfully and
cautiously weaving his web to en
tangle and destroy this free coun
try —free in thought, free in word,
action, speech and press. Shall he
succeed? Only our Father knows.
May we not stop and ask our
selves, why has a just, allwise and
allmighty God threatened with so
dire a change our fair land? May
it not be because God did so grandly
VOL. 70—NO. 37.
bless our Christian fathers with
more than a land of earthly Canaan,
and that their children so lightly
esteemedElis favor. In other words
may it not be because God has so
richly given to us temporal things
of spiritual, intellectual and finan
cial nature, and we have given
back so little to extend the know
ledge of the Gospel to them who
have it not, that He is about to
take away even that which He has
already given us? The question is
well worth pondering.
W. M. Howell.
HEZEKIAH’S EXAMPLE.
There is a large volume of mean
ing in the following words concern
ing Hezekiah, the honored king of
Judah : “On every work that he
began in the service of the house
of God and in the law and in the
commandments, to seek his God,
he did it with all his heart.” (2
Chron. 31 ; 21.) Fie did not (be
lieve in half-hearted service, either
for God or man. If there’ be any
thing which more readily and com
pletely disgusts a thorough-going
business man than half-heartedness
in his employs, it is in some other
very bad trait which it is ha’“d to
name. Certainly he will put up
with a good deal that is imperfect
and offensive, rather than to quiet- 1
ly and continually submit to the
ways of a half-hearted servant.
An employe may be ignorant con
cerning much of the work which
he is called upon to perform, but if
he serves his master “with all his
heart,” his master, if he be at all
reasonable and kind, will not only
be greatly pleased with him, but
will cheerfully bear with his ignor
ance and awkardness, and do all he
can to encourage him in his work.
And such a servant is sure to make
swift progress. He wijl soon in
form himself with regard to every
detail of his work and attaid pro
ficiency at a rapid rate. Thus will
he prosper, as a natural result of
his whole-heartedness. Just as it
is with those Christians who serve
God as Flezekiah did. As a matter
of purely self-interests, it is vastly
better to serve God with all of the
heart than half-heartedly. We cer
tainly cannot truly prosper, either
spiritually or temporally, by serv
ing God in a half-hearted manner
The seeds of death and failure are
lodged in all half-hearted service
for God. The great reason why
there are so many half-dead Chris
tians is because they attempt to
serve God half-heartedly. The}
will often mourn the low state of
the church, when the truth is. they
are largely to blame themselves for
such a thing. And remember that
to not serve God with all the heart
is to rob him of his dues. That
servant who works half-heartedly
for his employer is guilty of rob
bing him of a part of the time and
strength belonging to him.
C. 11. Wetherbe.
Dr. Russell H. Conwell, using
the text “Sir Rabboni,’’ from the
twentieth chapter of John, says:
“In the record of the Gospels,’’ he
said, “we get three glimpses of the
life of Mary Magdalen. We get
the first glimpse of her in her fath
er’s family in Capernaum, where
she was loved, courted and praised
for her beauty and grate and where
she was respected for her father’s
wealth. She was a reigning belle
of society; the wisest and richest
men bowed at her feet, and even the
court of Herod found great delight
in the festivities of her father’s
house.
“The second glimpse is where
she had swept from the highest
place attained by woman to the very
lowest depths of degradation, mis
ery, woe and insanity. We find her
hiding among the tombs, leaping
from rock to rock, with disheveled
hair, using the most horrid lan
guage, living upon roots and herbs;
the wildest lunatic, with seven
forms of insanity, possessed of
seven devils. Loveliness, character,
wealth all gone —a sad, forlorn,
wandering creature. Jesus comes
across her path somewhere. He
heals her. Her intellect is restored,
and with it her property is again
given to her, for ‘she ministered
unto him of her substance.’ She
acknowledges her indebtedness to
Him and devotes her life to Him
with that lasting gratitude that only
a woman can give.
“The third glimpse is early at
the tomb after the crucifixion. Faith
and hope are dead, but love still
survives. The disciples had hoped
much from him and now it seemed
the seal of falsehood was set on His
life by His death. They had hoped
he would overturn the Roman gov
ernment and set up a government
for them; they had had faith
in Him, but now all was gone.
They had discussed him and did
just what any set of men would do.
They said it was a failure and they
scattered. Peter said: ‘I go
a fishing.’ You may do what you
please, but I’ll go back to honest
work.’’
4,s<x> Coal miners near Pittsburg
Pa., went on a strike on the -i2inst.
A reduction in wages was the cause.
The men are still idle.