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THE CONVENTION SERMON.
THE VINE AND ITS BRANCHES.
BY REV. .1. L. WHITE.
Text: "I am the vine, ye are the
branches: He that abideth in me and I
in him. the same bringeth forth much
fruit. ” John 15:5
Jesus used passing events to
illustrate great truths. There
was a man striding across the
field sowing seed, hence ihe
parable of the seed and the
sower. Some men were casting
the net. fishing: Jesus said: “Hol
low me and I will make you fish
ers of men." Palestine has ever
been renowned for its beautiful
vineyards covering every hill
side So there was present a
striking illustration for him who
spake in parables: “ I am the
vine, ye are ihe branches."
Christ is the true vine. There
was a type of Christ in Joseph s
vine whose branches ran over
the wall; also in Judah's and Is
rael's safely dwelling under their
own vine and fig tree. The
Psalmist spoke prophetically of
him. saying: “Cod brought a
vine out of Egypt, cast out the
heathen, and prepared room be
fore it. and caused it to take deep
root, and it tided the land. The
hills were covered with its
shadow, and its boughs were like
the goodly cedars. It sent its
boughs into the sea, and its
branches into the river." This
prophecy is strikingly fulfilled
in Christ Jesus. He came out of
Egypt. Many heathen nations
have been converted into Chris
tian. His kingdom is firmly es
tablished. Dungeon, sword, fag
got, death, couli not stay its
progress. Its influence is felt
the world over. In his name
prison doors have been opened,
the captive has been set at liber
ty, the bruised have been healed,
the broken heart has been com
forted. Its boughs and its
branches have touched the seas
and rivers, bringing salvation
and gladness and joy to the sea
man's heart. In the distribution
of the vine over the surface of
the globe we have an appropriate
image of the diffusion of the
Gospel of Christ and a promise
of the fulfillment of the poetic
prophecy.
‘■Jesus shall reign whe’er the sun
Does.his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to
shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no
more."
“Ye are the branches.” This
completes the figure. At once
the relation between Christ and
his people is seen to be vital.
There is vital union between the
branch and the vine; the life of
the vine is the life of the branch,
and the branch grows by the life
given it from the vine. The
branch soon dries up when
severed from the vine, and is
good for nothing except to be
burned.
1. Christ is the true, the only
sourceof all spiritual life. Union
with the Lord Jesus Christ is life.
Want of union with him is the
missing link, is spiritual death.
All apart from him are withered
leaves or dry sticks, tit for noth
ing except to be burned. The
world, apart from Jesus, is de
clared to be “dead in trespasses
and in sins.” “To be carnally
minded is death.” “ Without
God and without hope in the
world.” Union with nothing else
can produce spiritual life. Christ
is the true vine—the only foun
tain of spiritual life. “He that
hath the Son hath life; he that
hath not the Son hath not life.”
“He that believeth and is bap
tized shall be saved; he that be
lieveth not shall be damned.”
This union with Christ is
formed by regeneration through
the agency of the Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews,
admired the lowly Nazarene and
desired to know all about him.
So he came to him by night, and
with a beautiful compliment to
open the conversation, sought to
learn how to be joined to this
teacher from God. For the first
time Jesus gave utterance to
those profound words which so
clearly teach the doctrine of the
new birth which is necessary to
entering into the spiritual, invis
ible kingdom of the Christ.
Jesus replied: “Verily, verily, I
say unto ihee. except a man be
born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." Nicodemus
saith, “How can a man be born
again when he is old? Can he
enter the second time into his
mothers womb and be born?”
Jesus answered: “Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh; and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
So to enter upon the spiritual
life we must be quickened to
gether with Christ. We must
receive the Lord Jesus. For “as
many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name; who were
born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God.” When we
are regenerated, “Christ is found
in us the hope of glory;” and
whoever has not been born again
has no spiritual life, no hope of
glory. “Being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incor
ruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth for
ever.” All grace to sustain this
new life comes from the Lord
Jesus. As the sap of the vine is
the life of the branch, so now is
Christ, the mystical vine, ’he
source of our spiritual life. In Gal.
2:20, Paul said, “I am crucified
with Christ; nevertheless I live,
yet not 1, but Christ liveth in me,
and the life which I now live 1
live by the faith of the Son of
God who loved me and gave him
self for me.” Blessed life! The
old supports, as broken crutches,
are thrown clean away, but we
lean on Jesus. We grow out of
his fullness. He is our life. In
the hospitals, they tell me, some
times the patient is so low that
they have to make an infusion
of healthy blood into the
poor veins of the weak one,
and sometimes there is love
enough in the nurse to allow
the healthy vein of a healthy arm
to be tapped and the blood there
of transmitted into the poor sick
one, and he revives. Christ Je
sus shed his blood on Calvary,
dark Calvary, for the cleansing
of the nations. It is through
that blood that we have redemp
tion. Through its cleansing
power we are made partakers of
the divine nation. Through it
we live in him and he in us. The
life of the Son of God is the life
that throbs in every redeemed
soul. Think of the fulness of
the source ! O, its power and
grace and glory ! Mighty God,
mighty life.
‘‘Ah liven the flower within the seed,
As in the cone the tree,
So, praise the God of truth and grace,
His spirit dwelleth in me.
Once far from God and dead in sin,
No light my heart could see;
But in God's word the light 1 found,
Now Christ liveth in me.”
2. The great purpose of the
existence of the vine and its
branches is to bear fruit.
Truly, this vine is one of the
most graceful of plants. It is
beautiful. Every leaf, in its
shape, venation and coloring, is
a model of beauty. But itis culti
vated with the hope of securing
its clusters of luscious grapes.
If fruitless, soon the husband
man clears the earth of its en
cum bran ce. Christ desires fruit.
He hungers for fruit. The dying
of the seemingly perfect tig tree
under the curse of its Creator be
cause it produced no tigs, only
leaves, stands as an unquestion
able proof of Christ’s wish.
The Master is looking for the
travail of his soul. He has en
dured the agony in Gethsemane
and on Golgotha. In the gath
ering of the sons of men to him
self through the power of that
great sacrifice he is satisfied.
Unless there is fruit the Lord is
eternally dissatisfied. As he
walks in our churches, as he
walks among us in convention
assembled, he is looking f< r
fruit. Fruit, fruit, my dis
ciples,” says the Master, “is
what I want.”
The disciples are the channel
through which Christ blesses the
world. Bruce in “ The Train
ing of the Twelve" says, “The
branches are the media through
which he himself brings forth
fruit, serving the same purpose
to him that the branches serve
to the vine.” While on earth
Jesus said, ‘“lam the light of
the world.” Not long before
he ascended he added, “ Ye are
the light of the world,” Chris
tians are -not merely rt flections;
but Christ Jesus shires through
them upon the world. “Ye are
the salt of the earth.” Through
them Christ has ordained to
bring the world unto himself
“ Now then we are ambassadors
for Christ." The honor of the
great King as well as that of the
kingdom is entrusted to them.
Through those who have been
redeemed he must reconcile his
enemies to himself. “We pray
you in Christ stead, be ye recon
ciled unto God." Beloved, have
we not learned that according to
God’s own ordination, the world
must be won to Christ by those
who love him ? Have we failed
to realize that we are witnesses
of the glorious gospel of our God
both in Jerusalem and Judea and
to all the regions of the earth ?
Redeemed of the Lord, on the
wings of faith and love, speed
away on your missions to the
lost ones of earth. Speed away,
bearing glad tidings of great
joy to all nations. Take the gos
pel and outstrip the angel who
is awaiting the command of the
Lord, “ fly in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that
dwell on the earth." Go, for ye
are the branches and the Lord is
wholly dependent upon you as
the media through which to
bless the earth. God will save
our neighbors in Georgia, in the
South, in Cuba, in Mexico, in the
wide world, no faster than we
preach to them the gospel. We
are cc-laborers together with
God.
3. The one indispensable con
dition of fruitfulness is abiding
in Chris*. “Hethat abideth in
me and I in him the same bring
eth forth much fruit.”
The analogy here will help us.
A branch abides in the vine
structu rally and the vine dwells in
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY, APRIL 30 1896.
its branches through its sap,
vitally. Both of these abidings
are absolutely necessary to fruit
bearing. Unless the branch be
organically connected with the
vine, the sap of the vine cannot
flow into it and unless the sap
flow into the branch no fruit can
be produced. The same is true
in reference to the mystic vine.
We, the branches, must abide in
Christ and Christ in us, or we
shall be fruitless. How can we
abide in Christ? (1.) By faith.
Through faith we have received
power to become the sons of God
and by the faith of the Son of
God we live. Christ being the
only source of our spiritual life,
with childlike simplicity we
cling to him and depend on
him for all spiritual growth.
The child while a child never
forgets who feeds it. Its
little heart is at rest trusting in
the love of its parents. O, that
we evermore possessed the spirit
of a little child ! How we would
nestle beneath his wing and rest
in the assurance of receiving all
needed blessings according to
the riches of his glory in Christ
Jesus. “As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him; rooted and
built up in him, and stablished in
the faith as ye have been taught,
abounding therein with thanks
giving.” Col. 2:6,7.
(2) Abiding in Christ is to have
his words abiding in us. “If ye
abide in me and my words abide
in you, ye shall ask what ye will
and it shall be done unto you
John 15:7. The great result is
conditioned upon our abiding in
Christ and his words abiding in
us. The term used “my words,”
is suggestive. Many readily ac
cept the Bible as containing
Christ’s words, but reject its ver
bal inspiration. I ask, there be
ing but one Bible, who shall
judge the words which are
Christ’s and which are not? The
writers were the authorized in
spired witnesses of both the deeds
and the words of Jesus. God has
preserved his word; he has
snatched it from the incendiary's
torch; rescued it from the priest’s
closet, and given it to us for our
instruction and guidance. Any
man who rejects a part must re
ject the whole, for it is not for
man to say which are and which
are not the words of God. This
blessed old book, not in part, but
in whole, must be believed by
us. Doubting one utterance of
God through the men of old who
spoke as inspired by the Holy
Ghost, one utterance of Jesus
Christ, God incarnate, given by
inspired apostles, is refusing to
allow his words to abide in us.
The doubter is breaking away
from Christ and is daily becom
ing weaker. To doubt one sen
tence uttered by Jesus Christ is
the entering wedge of scepticism.
No man reaches blatant, blas
phemous infidelity all at once.
There are steps to this calami
tous state of mind. Doubt is the
first step. Mark you, too, how
useless a doubter is. He has
spiritual dumb ague, followed
by the high fever of crankism.
He soon finds his calling to be
something beside saving men.
The orator tickles the itchingears
of the conglomerate multitude;
the higher critic has a little
“den” of his own where he re
eeives- special revelation from
the prince of darkness about the
blessed old book, and tells us as
ter waiting nearly four thousand
years, that Jonah and the whale
is a myth. Not one such has
ever moved the great mass of
mankind upward toward God, nor
have his teachings ever prepared
another to bless the world. His
following scatters to the four
quarters of the earth w’hen he
dies, because there are no back
bone and ribs, no sinews and
muscles of doctrinal truth to
hold the body together. No man
who is a doubter can ever be a
truly great man. Huxley, a re
nowned scientist, a voluminous
writer, but an agnostic and the
father of it, has never brought a
single man into closer sympathy
with poor lost humanity, or dis
covered a power by which to re
deem the world. No man Is great
who does not better the condition
of humanity. The famous scien
tist, almost great, has died with
out attaining true greatness be
cause he was an unbeliever.
“As man was made for glory and for
bliss,
All littleness is an approach to woe,
Open thy bosom, set thy wishes wide.
And let in manhood—let in happiness:
Admit the boundless theatre of thought
From nothing up to God * * * *
which makes a man!"
(3) We abide in Christ by obe
dtettce. No higher example is
needed than the life of Jesus.
He says, “If ye keep my com
mandments ye shall abide in my
love; even as I have kept my
Father's commandments and
abide in his love.” Hear the
father say, “This is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased.”
Christ says, “This is so because
I always do those things which
please the Father.
Obedience made the Roman a
great soldier. The word impe
rium expresses it fully. “A sol
dier under the Roman imperium
was dominated absolutely by that
imperium, so that he had not a
faculty or a movement, or a par
ticle of property of his own.”
Now, beloved, we have enlisted
as soldiers of the Lord. We are
dominated by the imperium of
honor, by the imperium of the
Godhead. We are not our own;
we have been bought with a
price, even the precious blood of
Jesus; so our hearts, our souls,
our lives, our bodies, our prop
erty, our homes, our business,
our pleasures,belong to God, and
his life in us must purify and
control all. “If ye keep my
commandments, ye shall abide in
my love.”
The second abiding is not a
condition when we abide in Christ.
“Abide in me and I in you,” is
equivalent to saying, “If ye
abide in me I will abide in you.”
John 14:23. Jesus said, “ If a
man love me he will keep my
words; and my father will love,
and we will come unto him and.
make our abode with him." Bless
ed Christ, not only will he abide
in us when we abide in him, but
he is forevermore helping us to
abide in him in order that he may
abide in us. In Asia a church
had closed the door against the
dear Lord. They had invited the
Master to go out and welcomed
heresies. Yet behold the lamb
that was slain standing at the
door knocking, saying, “If any
man will hear my voice and open
the door, I will come in to him
and sup with him and he with
me.” Brethren, be assured that
whenever we, by faith, through
his words and by obedience abide
in him, he abides in us in the ful
ness of his love and joy and
power.
Christ abiding in us is a literal
fact. It is not a theory, a myth.
Christ is here to day— Emmanuel,
God with us. The Holy Ghost,
the invisible God, descended on
the day of Pentecost. He
has never returned and will not
until Jesus comes again. The
Holy Ghost is present in the
churches of Christ, in the indi
vidual Christian heart. He is
omnipresent. Beloved, is he a
stranger to you? Haven’t you
felt the heavenly influence of his
presence? His power in ser
vice, his comfort in sorrow? He
is here. Receive him in all the
fulness of his glory.
4 The result is much fruit.
“He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit.” At Pentecost, in
the fulness of time, when the
disciples by prayer and medita
tion had drawn close to the Fath
er, the Holy Spirit tilled each
one There were added to the
Lord on that day about three thou
sand souls. In Acts 5:14: “And
believers were added to the Lord,
multitudes of men and women ”
Barnabas was “a good man and
full of th£®Holy Ghost and of
faith; and much people was added
unto the Lord.” So it has been
and ever will be true that the
men and women who are tilled
with the Holy Spirit reap great
harvests for the Lord. The dif
ference between Christians is the
different degrees of abiding in
Christ, and hence of the »tilling
of the Spirit, and so the measure
of fruitfulness.
The world cannot hold down a
man who abides in Christ. I
know a man in eastern North
Carolina who used to drive a
cart. He was too poor to buy
his invalid wife medicine and too
illiterate to write his name. God
called this man to preach. He
studied by the light of a pine
knot. He knows the words of
Jesus. He loves the Lord with
all his heart. He walks with
God. He is a God tilled man.
Josiah Elliott has done more
good in the last ten years than
any other preacher in all that
section of the Old North State.
There are more than a dozen
churches erected, paid for, with
self - supporting membership,
waste places blooming, that tell
the power of this man of God.
To-day he is pastor of the church
around about which he used to
drive his one-horse cart. ‘ ‘lf any
man serve me, him will my fath
er honor.” This is not an argu
ment against education. Far be
it from me to disparage the high
est attainments in our schools. I
go so far as to say that I do not
believe a man is obeying God,
who can take advantage of the
collegiate and theological train
ing, and will not. But an edu
cated man is useless in God’s
service unless Spirit-tilled: an
untrained mind is greatly useful
when God-tilled. Therefore it
is not by might nor by power,but
by my spirit, saith the Lord. The
educated, the cultured, tilled
with the Holy Ghost, have at
once a wider influence and a
larger field of operation, but
the nutriment, the fruit-produc
ing element is in Christ, and not
in education or ignorance. Hence
all men are just so successful in
the Lord's vineyard as they’ abide
in Christ Jesus.
5. To increase the fruitfulness
of the branches the husbandman
works. It was vinedressing sea
son. The husbandman was cut
ting off some branches and burn
ing them, and pruning others—
freeing them from all useless
shoots.
Christ says, “My Father is the
husbandman.” Some branches
he takes away because barren
God had just given the first ex
ample of his divine husbandry
in the excision of Judas. Judas
had gone out from among them
Z •
| BUBBLES or MEDALS i
“ Best sarsaparillas.” When you think of it how con- (g)
tradictory that term is. For there can be only one best in
anything one best sarsaparilla, as there is one highest inoun
tain, one longest river, one deepest ocean. And that best
sarsaparilla is ? .... There’s the rub. You can measure (O)
mountain height and ocean depth, but how test sarsaparilla?
( You could if you were chemists. But then do you need
zgA to test it? The World’s Fair Committee tested it, —and
thoroughly. They went behind the label on the bottle. What
, did this sarsaparilla test result in ? Every make of sarsaparilla
shut out of the Fair except Ayer’s. So it was that Ayer’s was
the only sarsaparilla admitted to the World’s Fair. The com
mittce found it the best. They had no room for anything that - z - Y
was not the best. And as the best, Ayer’s Sarsaparilla received
® the medal and awards due its merits. Remember the word
“best” is a bubble any breath can blow; but there arc pins to
prick such bubbles. Those others are blowing more “ best
fax sarsaparilla” bubbles since the World’s Fair pricked the old
ones. True, but Ayer’s Sarsaparilla has the medal. 'I he pin (|||
that scratches the medal proves it gold. The pin that pricks
the bubble proves it wind. We point to medals, not bubbles,
when we say: The best sarsaparilla is Ayer’s. Q)
Still have doubts ? Send for the “ Curebook."
It kills doubts and cures doubters.
J. C. Ayer Co., Lowell, Mass. MP
never again to return. When
Christ wast ed his disciples’ feet
he said, “Ye are not all clean,”
re'erring to Judas who was a
devil. Just after Judas had
gone out he said, “Now ye are
all clean.” Do not fear any fur
ther excision. My Father cuts
off and burns only the fruitless
ones. Ye are all mine and I am
in you. Fear not.
All hypocrites are like Judas,
dried sticks, fit only to burn.
These are nominally with us, but
are not clean through the Word.
Now and then one falls out of
the pulpit and goes to his lot, to
his vomit. One occasionally is
providentially revealed and made
an example of in this life. But
the great fact is apparent that
all who have not been born
again, though baptized, are
bi an ihes tied on ceremonially
without having any part with
Christ. All such shall be
burned. “Woe unto you, Scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites', for
ye make clean the outside of the
cup and of the platter, but with
in they are full of extortions and
excess. Ye serpents, ye genera
tion of vipers, how can ye escape
the damnation of hell?”
The husbandman promises
those that do bear. “Every
branch that beareth fruit, he pu
rifieth it, that it may bring forth
more fruit.” There are shoots,
annual growth, that hinder the
branches from attaining the
highest productiveness. The
knife of the vinedresser cuts
them off. In so many of our
lives there are hindrances. Our
hearts get absorbed in business,
or we are led off by some seduc
tive pleasure. There are too
many things that occupy our
minds and time. God, through
some providence, separates them
from us. Dr. A. J. Gordon was
dining with one of his members
who quite recently had shown
marked signs of growth in grace.
After dinner this gentleman
took Dr.. Gordon into the parlor
and pointed out to him a por
trait of a beautiful little girl, with
ringlets of golden hair falling
down upon her shoulders, and
upon the side of the portrait,
tied with a white ribbon, hung a
white slipper. Said this gentle
man, while the tears ran down
his cheeks, for he never saw the
picture without wanting to press
the dear form to his bosom,
“Pastor, God emptied the slip
per, left the portrait, and took
the soul of my darling daughter.
But for that sad providence I
would to day be a worldly church
member. But thank God I am
laying up treasures in Heaven.”
Alas! alas! the frost of world
liness has hindered the fruit, has
caused the bloom that promised
so much to fall off. Many are
often laid by apparently useless.
Now and then, at long inter
vals, there is some fruit. God’s
child? Yes; but so dust covered
that there is scarcely a sign of
the Christ life. O, that the dear
Master would draw nigh to such
once more. There used to be
joy and praise in their souls.
The harp is now unstrung and
silent. A strange box hung up
on the wall of a castle. It was
dusty and the strings breken.
No one cared for it. One day a
stranger came in and took down
that old dark box and brushed
off the dust, reset tne swings
and such music had not been
heard in that mansion for years.
The Master had come home. It
was his instrument.
“O, could the tender Christ but brush
away,
And o'er the slumbering tones his fin
gers sweep,
A world would pause to catch the re
echoing chords
Os music awakened 'neath the touch of
God.”
Well, the best of us are going
to suffer. The only way to sep
arate gold from dross is to put
it into the furnace. God is as a
refiner of silver. He wants us
separated from the world and
consecrated to his service.
Somehow suffering is a great
aid. Christ was made perfect
through suffering. Paul, a good
and great man, suffered. He re
joiced, he gloried in his infirmi
ties bt cause the power of Christ
rested upon him. “Whom the
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he
receive!h”—all that w r e may
bring forth the peaceable fruit
of righteousness. But, beloved,
God will not put in the knife
deeper than it ought to go. He
is our Father. He pities us. He
loves us.
God will judge of the quality
as well as the quantity of the
fruit. All he expects of us is
our best. If our sphere be lim
ited let us do our best there. It
is fidelity after all that is re
warded. “He that is faithful in
that which is least is faithful
also in much.” The missionary
who never sees a convert, but
sows the good seed, may receive
a greater reward than the one
who baptizes the thousands.
The faithful mother of C. H.
Spurgeon, whenever would have
been known to the world but for
her famous son, may have just
as many stars in her crown as
her great son, Charles. Let it
be said of us as of Mary, “She
hath done what she could.”
“Well done, thou good and faith
ful servant.”
Glorious shall be the close of
the earthly career of one who
has lived a life of sweet fellow
ship witn Christ, filled with the
Holy Ghost, his pathway strewn
with luscious, good deeds. He
shall shout like the old hero, “I
have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept
the faith. Henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of right
eousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, shall give me at
that day.” When he departs
this life, God will be w’ith him as
he wms with Moses on Pisgah.
The setting of his life’s sun will
be as magnificent as tne ascen
sion of Elijah’s chariot of tire.
Verily, God will put his arms
around his tired child, wipe away
all tears from his eyes and say,
Come home, my child. Ttiou
hast wrought well. Come home
and rest. There, amid the wel
coming acclamations of angelic
hosts, he shall be crowned a
king in Israel.
McClures Magazine for May will
have an article by the eminent surgeon.
Dr. W. W. Keen, indicating the uses al
ready possible, as well as those likely to
become -possible soon, of the Roentgen
rays in the study and cure of human de
formities, injuries and diseases. The ar
ticle will be fully illustrated from pho
tographs taken by the new process.
Any publication mentioned in this de
partment may be obtained of the
American Baptist Publication So
ciety. 93 Whitehall St.. Atlanta, Ga.
When prices are named they include
postage.
The Editors of the Christian Index
desire to make this column of service
to their readers. They will gladly
ans ver, or have answered, any ques
tions regarding books If you desire
books for certain lines of reading, or
desire to find out the worth or pub
lisher of any book, write to them.
Sabbath and Sunday, by Wm. De-
Loss Love, D D Fleming H. Revell
Co. New York and Chicago. Price
$1 25.
Nearly all the chapters of this book
appeared as articles in the Bibliotheca
Sacra and as there published received
very hearty indorsement The author
maintains the ordination of the Sabbath
before Sinai and its moral obligations as
being permanent. He discusses in a
fine spirit the transition to the Lord’s
day A most ingenious argument for
the observance of the two days by the
disciples and early Christians is that
circumcision and baptism which replac
ed it, continued side by side for some
time. This effort to bolster the baptism
in the place of circumcision argument
by sheltering it under the wing of the
Lord’s day, is new. It is more new than
tiue. Mr. Love considers the general
laws for the Jewish Sabbath, cleared of
Pharisaical tradition, as of force for the
Lord’s day. The book contains a great
amount of valuable reference and gener
al in"• mation. The last chat ters discuse
the moral, educational, religious, san
itary and other advantages of Sunday.
The book will be of interest to those con
cerned as to the Seventh-day arguments.
We would advise careful thought before
many of the arguments are used against
the Adventists. They must be assimi
lated to our Baptist position or some
times the logic we use comes back to us
somewhere else.
Henry W. Grady, the Editor, the
Orator, the Man. Rev. J. W.
Lee. Barbee & Smith, Nashville.
Price 75 cts.
Both the subject of this sketch and
the author of it are well known to our *
readers. Both of them are in the book.
It is about Grady and beautifully
appreciative. It is by Dr. Lee,
and is well supplied with his
delightful philosophizing. We con
fess to a disappointment that how
ever beautiful the thoughts of the book,
not more is said of Grady We delight
to read after Dr. Lee, and his “Mak
ing of a Man” is a book of sterling
worth, but in this case we felt we could
be more happy were there either less of
Grady and more of Lee, or more of
Grady and less of Lee. At the same
time the book is worth more than one
reading and is a magnificent tribute
to the dead editor, orator and man.
From Hollow to Hilltop. Mary
Lowe Dickinson. American Baptist
Publication Society, Philadelphia and
Atlanta.
This is a well written and beautifully
printed little story. It is the story of a
young widow returning for rest to a vil
lage where she formerly lived as a school
teacher. With new ideas of life and
deeper experiences of religion she tries
to influence the life of the village. This
she does. The results are somewhat
marvelous, but the motive is good, and
the sentiments beautiful.
The Presbyterian and Reformed
Review. April. McCalla & Cox,
Philadelphia Quarterly. 80 cts. each.
s•’, 00 per year.
This Review has no superior in its
class. The present number is of unusual
excellence. Dr. Ellinwood has an
unusual article on “Present Hindrances
to Missions, and their Remedies.” Other
articles of great merit are “The idea of
Systematic Theology,”by B. B. Warfield;
Baptism of Polygamists in non-Christian
Lands, Samuel H Kellogg, and “The
Doctrine of Total Depravity and Soleril
ology " by N. M. Stiffens. The departj
ment of Recent Theological Literature
is one of the best treatments of new
theological books we know of.
The next volume in the Public Men
of To day series will deal with Senor
Casteles, of Spain. Recent volumes in
this series have been on Bismarck, Glad
stone and Li Hung Chang. Frederick
Warne & Co. are the publishers!