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David. King* ot Judah —2 Sam
2:1 11.
BY S. G. HILLYER.
At the close of December last,
just six months ago, we suspend
ed the story of David, and curing
the first and second quarters of
1896, we have been considering
the story of Jesus. In the pres
ent lesson we return to the Old
Testament, and resume the story
of David.
David had taken refuge in Zik
lag, a city of the Pnilistines,from
the persecutions of Saul. In the
meantime, the Philistines were
making ready again to invade the
land of Israel. When the host
was marshalled and about to
march,David offered to join them
with his own followers; but the
chiefs of the Philistines declined
his assistance, fearing lest in the
heat of battle he would turn
against them in favor of his own
people. This we learn from 1
Sam., 29th chapter. David,there
fore, returned to Ziklag and pa
tiently awaited the issue of tl e
coming battle. It was fought at
, oilboa. Saul and his three sons,
incluoing Jonathan, were slain,
and the forces of Israel were de
feated and scattered.
This brings us to the present
lesson. When David heard all
the facts of the defeat of the Is
raelites, and of the death of Saul
and three of his sons,he inquired
of the Lord what he should do.
Though David was a mighty man
of valor and a skillful military
leader, yet he would not, if he
could help it, take a step without
divine guidance amidst the con
fusion of things that then sur
rounded him. He committed his
way unto the Lord and he was
directed to go up to Hebron, a
city of Judah.
Upon his arrival in Hebron,the
men of Judah met him there and
anointed him to be their king,
and he reigned in Hebron seven
years.
You may remember that when
David was only a lad,Samuel the
prophet, under the [instructions
of the Almighty, had gone to
Bethlehem and there called Da
vid from the sheep-fold and an
ointed him with holy oil as the
man who should succeed Saul in
the kingdom of Israel. But he
was then a mere boy Long
years of discipline, of trial, of
exile, and of privation, stretched
out between that day T in Beth
lehem and'the day when he was
actually anointed king by the
men of Judah at Hebron.
But thrc ugh all the vicissitudes
of his eventful life God took
care of him. It is delightful to
see the evidence afforded by the
experience of David that there is
a providence “that shapes our
ends, rough hew thi m as we
may/’ We may not be always
conscious, as David was, that God
is guiding our steps along the
journey of life; but afterwards,
when the sceneshave passed,and
we look back upon them, we of
ten discover that what we consid
ered reverses and disappoint
ments have somehow cr other
worked for our good. Oh, how
happy we would be, if we could
in all cases trust in God! We are
told by the Apostle, “Be anxious
for nothing; but by prayer and
supplication make known your
requests unto God; and the peace
of God, which passeth all under
standing, shall keep your heart
and mind through Jesus Christ.”
The words of the Apostle place
the Christian far in advance, in
point of privilege, even of David
—the man after God’s own heart
—for he had not the light of the
gospel in his day: and yet he did
trust in his great Jehovah with a
faith far more profound than
many Christians do in their di
vine Redeemer.
Again, the words of the Apos
tle indicate that we may pray for
anything we please to ask for
THE CHRISTLAN INDEX.
z
| ■IFTION. P(E Y(*B.--..*2.00. I
• TO STERS, 1.00. I
provided it be souk. ;ing lawful
for us to have. The/e is no other
limit to the range of our suppli
cations but this. Ask for what
you please; but then commit the
case with unwavering faith to
the better judgment of your
Heavenly Father.
The reason why I love to linger
upon the faith of David is be
cause it is a brilliant and striking
ing proof that God is in fact the
hero of the Bible. It is he, not
Adam and Eve, that shed
glory over the garden of
Eden; it was he, not Noah
and the ark, that gave its
significance to the deluge. Here
I strike a line of examples that
might be followed down to the
book of Revelation. And in ev
ery one of them the most august
and exalted actor is God. Hu
man agencies, in the mighty
dramas of the Scriptures, w*ere
but instrumentalities to bring
about the foreordained results.
And if God is the hero of the
B ble, is he not “a fortiori” the
hero of the whole world? “O ye
of little faith!” Is he not,to day,
just as truly ruling the nations
by his providence as he was in
the days of Moses, of Gideon, or
of David? To believe this is in
deed our safest refuge from the
crushing despondencies of “pes
simism.”
It was David’s faith in God
that has invested his character
with such surpassing interest.
In studying his life we shall see
his faith more and more devil
oped.
But let us look at another ele
ment of that noble character.
Saul had waged an unrelenting
war against David. But when
this tierce enemy had fallen in
battle, and three of his sons had
perished, David did not exult
over their death. He paid hon
ors to the memory of the fallen.
This magnanimity was not af
fected. Before Saul died, while
he was in the plenitude of his
power, and while he was pursu
ing David for the purpose of de
stroying him, David twice had
his enemy in his power; but he
would nQt lift his hand against
the “Lord’s anointed.” Such for
bearance gives evidence of his
sincerity when he wept over
the fall of Saul and of Jonathan.
Succeeding lessons will show
us mqre and mqje of
character. It is true that he was
not a perfect man. None knew
this better than himself. And
none have ever bewailed their
errors in tones of deeper peni
tence and sorrow than oid David.
We shall tied in studying this
great character both protit and
comfort —profit, because we shall
learn much of the ways ol God in
dealing with the weaknesses o.f
his people who, in spite of all
their faults, cling to him with
humble and abiding faith. Then,
we shall find comfort, because
Dav.d stands forth as a great ex
ample of ex peri mental religion.
He shows us what religion can
do wi h a human life full of im
perfections. And his experiences
have been reproduced in every
true child of God down to our
own day. Hence, it brings to us
great comfort to know that the
God of David is also our God.
Let us then give all diligence
to study the story of David in
connection with our Sunday
school lessons.
For the Index.
A Timely Discussion.
BY .1. B. GAMBRELL, D D.
It has been quite a time since
such a discussion arose among
us as that now’j-aging concern-
Dr. Whitsitt’s Alleged new dis
coveries in Baptist history. All
sorts of things are going into
print, and evidently’most of the
pruning knives have a very rough
edge on them.
Brother Editors, I am for the
discussion, smooth and nice, if it
can.be that way, but for the dis
cussion any way. Baptists must
express themselves, and Baptists
believe in martyrs. I do. Really
I would like to be one myself, if
it would not hurt. President
Whitsitt would make a lovely
martyr to a historical fad, fancy
or fact, which ever it turns out
to be. But it is possible that he
can serve the Lord better in an
other way. I incline to think so.
It is not my purpose to enter
into the merits of the question
at all. but rather to submit a few
remarks on the different phases
of the controversy as it has been
developed up to date.
In the first place, Dr. Whitsitt
was acting within his rights and
within the rules of propriety
when he gave his views to the
world. Ido not agree at all with
one of our papers that he was
bound to represent the current
views of Baptists on points in
history. He was bound to do no
such thing. If he chose to write
at all, he was bound to write the
truth as he saw it. To hold that
the heads of our institutions of
learning must run with current
opinion on matters, not doctrinal,
is to lay down a law’ tiat will
take every man with any real
manhood in him out of educa
tional leadership in the denomi
nation and till every presidential
chair with small educational dem
agogues. It will stop all real
progress and reduce us to a dull,
low, flat level of mediocrity.
Far better have mistakes, even
bad breaks, than the dry rot of
intellectual servility to indeter
ininate popular notions.
The discussion will bring out a
vast deal of historical informa
tion lying dust-covered in the
British Museum and elsew’here.
This will be good for us. As a
rule men do not rub up their
guns and keep them in order in
times of peace. The net result
will be a decided gain to the de
nomination of historical knowl
edge of a reliable sort. It took
a man in Dr. Whitsitt’s place to
bring this about.
In the end the denomination
will be sweeter, and more judi
cious, and every way better fitted
to deal with other questions. We
are bound to have discussion
right often to keep the denomi
nation in good case. The way
to make ground work easy is to
plow it often, and that is the
W’ay to make it bring good crops,
too. We are afraid of the very
thing that will help us, just as
sinners are afraid of the grace
that tears them all to pieces pre
paratory to making them all new
and better.
But one orother w’rites that
the Pedoes are going around
saying, “O, yes, the President
of your Theological Seminary
has knocked the bottom out of
the Baptist denomination.” Poor
simpletons, what a blessing that
they are now awake and giving
us the opportunity to inform
them that the New Testament is
the bottom of the Baptist de
nomination. It is a rare oppor
tunity for doing some missionary
work along the lines of the fun
damentals. I have been yearn
ing, like “Uncle Jimmy to hear
some “squar” Baptist talk, and to
eat some honey out of the rock
Christ Jesus, upon which every
Baptist church in the world is
built. Our opportunity has come.
I am always glad when Pedobap
fists attack Baptists. Whenever
that happens you had just as
well go to cleaning out the bap
tizing places. There is too much
peace in this country, consider
ing the amount of sin and heresy
in it.
Dr. Whitsitt, notwithstanding
his rare mastery of English, has
been guilty of a marked infe
licity of expression. When he
says that the Baptists of England
•were not in the practice of im
mersion prior to 1641, he does
not mean to imply that there
were ever Baptists who did not
immerse. I know’ he does not.
And yet he is so understood, and
bis infelicitous language squints
that way. I am not very much
of a historian; but I. have long
known that certain dissenting
bodies in England came to the
Baptist position by stages. They
abandoned the English Church,
became independents, but prac
ticed infant baptism. Some
abandoned infant baptism later,
but practiced sprinkling and
pouring. Later, some of these
came into the pract.ce of immer
sion, and from henceforward
were Baptists. This is the truth,
and this is what Dr. Whitsitt
means, I dare say. The great
Dr. Carson came to us by stages.
In the early history of the
Seminary a terrific war was made
on it, because Dr. Williams be
lieved in tne validity of alien
immersions. It was demand
ed that he -be dismissed. It
was not done. I was then as I
km now, an anti-alien immersion
ist, a landmarker of the old
school; but I took the position
then, that as the articles of faith
were the expression of the Bap
tist faith, we could not enforce a
narrower vjgw, if, as a people,
we are to hold together and build
up anything w’orthy of our num
bersandopportunities. In twen
ty-five years I have seen no rea
son to revise that judgment.
The principle applies in the case
before us. Within the limits of
the articles of faith, there must
be toleration. It is a perpetual
grief to me, and of course a de
nominational calamity, that all
the brethren do not see things as
I do; but we live in an imperfect
world, and it has occurred to me
that I am not here to have my
way all the time.
We will come out of this dis
cussion wiser all round. It would
not surprise me if Dr. Whitsitt
learns a thing or two. Unless
there is an amount of folly un
thinkable among us, we will set
tle the historical points accord
ing to the facts, allowing every
man to have his own opinion
about the facts, and then, as a
great brotherhood, we will go on
building up Zion on the founda
tion of the apostles and proph
ets, Jesus Christ himself being
the Chief Cornerstone.
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. JULY 2, 1896.
In the meantime, while we are
working on toward this good
conclusion, we must beware of
the brother who rises up and
says, “Just watch me tear it
in two.” He is not the man to
follow just now. We will go on
deliberately and get to the end
in good repair.
Brother Editors, these are my
sentiments. Could you find place
for them in The Index ?
Baptists and the Saloon
BY J. H. GAMBRELL.
No. 2.
Let the reader turn to the last
issue of the Index and read
again the second recommenda
tion the Georgia Baptist Con ven
tion makes to the Baptist voters
of the State. It is i very impor
tant matter to the Baptists and
the entire Slate.
This recommenda’ a n has to do
with the ballot box. and suggests
the kind of tickets Baptists, at
least, ought to pqt ia Tnesug
gestion is witbgofereii *e to the
way to i
the saloon m
results. BapW^voti'’s. in the
main, will vote some vmy and for
some body. The Convention
has for years been passing reso
lutions anathematizing the sa
loon, and the Baptists have been
going to the ballot box and vot
ing against • these resolutions.
So that the representatives of
the Baptists of Georgia in their
religious bodies have stood
against the saloon, while the
representatives of these same
Baptists in the legislature have
stood for the saloon. What has
been the result of this anomaly?
1. It has secured for the Bap
tists the contempt and derision
of the saloon man and his allied
evil doers. It has led the sa
loon forces to the conclusion that
Cnristian men are a set of vam
peming, pharisaic, and, so far as
the saloon is concerned, harmless
fustians. Again and again, have
the saloon men said, “We care
nothing about your church reso
lutions, so long as you vote for
the man we wte for. Why
need they care, pray let some
one tell ?
2. It has gi with po
litical aspiratiiflß'ro understand
that they dig their political
graves the day they determine to
stand in elections for the de
struction of the saloon. The
very day that aspiring men de
cide to stand as the representa
tives of the Convention’s resolu
tions, the saloon forces wi ite Ich
abod across their political fore
heads, and Baptists will not only
stand.by and see it done, but
help do it. So that no man who
is ambitious for political prefer
ment, fails to see that it will be
fatal to him to espouse a cause,
whose enemies will fight him to
the death, and whose professed
friends will not only not help him
but join forces, at the ballot box,
with those who seek, for selfish
purposes, his political destruc
tion.
3. It has, in some measure,
given birth to that pernicious
heresy that a policy or business
may be politically right, tho'
morally and religiously radically
wrong. Baptist fathers, not a
few, are teaching this hurtful,
hateful doctrine to their boys by
their conduct. They vote in re
ligious assemblies that the sa
loon is “the sum of all villian
ies,” “a sin against God and a
crime against humanity,” then
go to the ballot box and vote for
men and measures to maintain
the saloon. For this reason alone
there are saloons in Georgia to
day. To remove this reason and
thereby abolish the saloon, is
the high object sought by the
Convention in suggesting how
and for whom Baptists ought
to vote in the approaching elec
tion for members of the legisla
ture. It teaches the unholy les
son that the thing to be consid
ered in voting is, not what is
right, honest and just, but what
will bring success now. It exalts
sin in State and nation and
brands as an intruder every
righteous impulse in the voter’s
heart. It teaches that tjae voter
may, with impunity, and ought
to, assault righteousness with
his ballot. It teaches that to go
with the multitude to do evil is
man's duty, and that it proves
his patriotism. It teaches that
God may be defied by voters, and
the people prosper as the result.
It teaches that men may be
“saints at church and devils in
politics.”
Suppose that every Baptist
voter in Georgia were to give it
out that, for hims< If, he will do
exactly what the Convention
ijecommends, what would be the
results? These:
1. The next legislature would
be under the absolute control of
those who represent the Enemies
of the saloon. Who doubts that,
acting as the balance of power,
the Baptists alone can determine
the complexion of the Georgia
legislature on the saloon ques
tion? If it were known to day,
that not a saloon advocate in all
Georgia could get a Baptist
vote, and that every Baptist vote
would go for the men who hate
the saloon, there is not a sensible
liquor dealer in the State who
would not at once arrange to go
out of the business, or leave the
State. That is true beyond ques
tion.
2. Every Baptist would clear
his skirts of the blood of those
who go to destruction through
drink. There would come to
every Baptist heart, home and
church such a Hood tide of satis
fying blessing as they have nev
er known. A mighty quickstep
would be given to educational
and missionary enterprises. Tbe
dark clouds of dissipation and
wretchedness, that hang over
thousands of hearts and homes,
would be lifted, by Godly hands,
in noble deeds, and show their
silvery lining.
3. It would deplete the human
caravan, bathed in the tears of
1 v;do ies,that is hourly moving
on to the jail, the penitentiary,
the gallows, and a fiery destiny.
The policeman would put away
his “billy” as a relic of rum’s
red reign, and give his attention
to productive industry. The
prison-keeper would wait in vain
for human monsters to fill his
emptied dungeons. The hang
man would rejoice that his voca
tion is gone, and that he would
hear no more the s ckening thud
of human beings, dropping from
the gallows into eternity.
Beyond dispute, those who
vote for saloon advocates to
make laws are responsible for
the results of the saloon. Neither
the legislator nor saloon-keeper
is more responsible than the vot
er who made the legislator. The
Convention spoke wisely. Bap
tist voters ought not to make
themselves responsible for the
saloon for the sake of party or
anything else. Let righteous
ness be exalted at the ballot box.
Greensboro, Ga.
The-Baptint Outlook : The action
of the Methodist General Confer
ence by which members of that
denomination are permitted to
be immersed who have become
dissatisfied with their *preVious
sprinkling or affusion,is very nat
urally being commented on as ind i
cating the growth of the sentiment
in favor of baptism among Meth
odists. In fact it was stated on
the floor of the Conference that
members of the church had gone
over into the Baptist ranks in
numbers which to us seemed sur
prising ly large. And consent was
obtained to the amendment of
the Book of Discipline, because
evidently something had to be
done to prevent continued defec
tion. The Baptist position as to
the ordinance is unquestionably
winning its way with reverent
minded Christ ans more and
more, so evidently in harmony is
it with the teaching of the New
Testament, and so appropriate as
the symbol of the facts of the
gospel history and of Christian
experience. It also has upon its
side the scholarship of the world.
Every indication of this we are, of
course, glad to note, and hope for
the speedy coming of the day
when the great evangelical de
nominations shall be agreed in
their practice in regard to the
New Testament rite. But when we
pause to consider the motives
which prompted the Conference
to amend their discipline as indi
cated above, we acknowledge
some sense of pain. It was not
amended in the spirit of loyalty
to truth, but merely to hold a
portion of the membership of the
church w’ithin its pale; it shows
that the Conference shut its eyes
to the fact that it authorizes its
ministers to disavow as baptism
what they had previously admin
istered as such to the same indi
vidual; it continues to ignore the
minister's own responsibility un
der the commission of the Lord
for the administration of the rite.
These things we regret as indi
eating that policy rather than
loyalty will sometimes control
the action of so noble a body of
Christian men as those who con
stituted the Cleveland Confer
ence. But it will not always be
so. And how happy the day
shall be when loyalty to Christ
shall control us all.
Rev. J. H. Wray, of Milledge
ville, delivered a fine discourse
in the hall of the academy Sun
day morning. His text was,
“Despise not tbe day of small
things,” and he handled it in a
way highly creditable to himself
and very profitable to his hearers.
His sermon Sunday night is
said to have been even better
than the discourse of the morn
ing. The Ishmaelite is requested
to state that this earnest and elo
quent preacher will return to
Sparta, in July, to conduct a se
ries of meetings in the Baptist
church. — Sparta Inhmatlite.
Narrow but Not Hard. J A
My Master,they bnve wronged Thwnnd Thy
love!
Th» y only told me I should find the path
A Via Dolorosa all the wav’,
Narrow indeed it Is! . . . » Oh, why
Should they misrepresent Thy words, ami
make
“Narrow ’ synonymous with “very hard"?
For Thou, Dlvlnest Wisdom, Thou hast said
Thy ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
Thy paths are peace; nod that the pain of
him
Who wears t hy pet feet robe of righteousness
Isas the light that shlneth more and more
I nto the perfect day. And Thou hast given
An olden promise, rarely quoted now,
Because it is too bright for our weak faith:
“If they obey and »erv e him,they shall spend
Days in prosperity, and they shall spend
Their years In pleasure.”
—F. K. Havekgal.
Loss Through Unoffered Prayers
Since it is clear, from the au
thority of God's Word and from
the lessons of God's providence,
that positive good comes in re
sponseio specific prayer, it must
be eq'ually clear that the lack of
such prayer causes the lack of
such good. Prayer being a rec
ognized force in the economy of
the universe, the results which
pivot on the exercise of that force
are necessarily missing if the
force be not exercised Loss
through unoffered prayers is as
truly a fact as is gain through
prayers proffered. To many it
seems as if simple non doing
could not be, in itself or in its
consequences, as grievous a
wrong as the commission of a
sin o’ positive performance yet
we are taught in the Bible, both
in the Old Testament and the
New, that not to do a plain duty
is as offensive to God, and is as
sure to merit condemnation and
punishing, as the doing of that
which ought not to be done. One
of the fiercest maledictions
under the Old Covenant is re
corded against a people who
were simply inactive when they
ought to ha ve taken part in a
pending contest. It is in the
song of Deborah, after the battle
of Israel with the Canaanites at
Megiddo. Rehearsing the de
tails of that contest , and praising
those who were faithful, she
cried out against the recreant
non doers:
“Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the
Lord,
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants
thereof;
Because they came not to the help of
the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the
mighty.”
It was, again, the lips of the
luf’hig Jesus ul’nt taught—-the
wickedness and guilt of non do
ing, and foretold the terrible
doom of thbse who did nothing
more reprehensible than to do
nothing. It was the man who
simply kept his one pound wrap
ped in a napkin, instead of put
ting it at interest or using it in
trade, who was called the “wick
ed servant,” and from whom his
treasure was taken away.
It was the man who merely
failed to invest his talent at re
munerative rates who was de
nounced as “wicked and sloth
ful,” and was to be stripped
his possessions, and cast, as an
‘unprofitable servant,” into outer
darkness, where there “shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
In the inspired description of the
day of final account, the fearful
doom pronounced by the Judge
of all the earth against the lost
is not based on the fact of their
evil doing, but on their evil non
doing. “Inasmuch as ye did it
not,” therefore “depart from me,
ye cursed, into the eternal fire
which is prepared for the devil
and his angels.”
Can there be any loss greater
than the loss of one's very self
for all eternity which results
from simple non-doing when one
ought to have done? This
thought suggests the irreparable
loss through unoffered prayers,
in face of the fact that faith-filled
prayers are a force in God’s
providential plan, and that God’s
children are commanded to prof
fer them.
In the whple realm of nature,
loss through non action is quite
as real and positive, and may, in
deed, be quite as ruinous, as loss
through actual wrong doing. A
man, by not reaping, not sowing,
not plowing, may as truly lose a
harvest as by setting fire to his
standing grain; and neither
drought nor frost, neither mildew
nor locusts, can more surely be
a cause of famine, among those
dependent on the crop, than
could be a simple neglect of pro
cesses which would in God's
providence secure first the blade,
then the ear, and after that the
full corn in the ear. A man’s
family can be as truly shelterless
through his failure to build a
house, or to buy or rent one, as
by his turning them out of their
home, and blowing up their
dwelling with a charge of dyna
mite.
To fail to take needful food or
drink, or to secure fresh air in a
room filled with stifling gas, may
be a means of as sure death to a
man as a pistol or a razor em
ployed for self-destruction. As
with one's self, so with one's fel
lows. Simply to fail to reach
out a hand to a. drowning child,
when within reach of
VOL. 76--NO. 27
the river bank, or to speak a
word of warning to a blind man
on the edge of a precipice, or to
hold back a deaf one from step
ping before a coming train, may
bring on one’s soul the blood of
the man lost as truly as if he
were deliberately murdered.
Neglecting to provide needed
shelter, or food, or clothing, for
a child, may cause its death.
Neglecting to give it wise coun
sel or ample protection may re
sult in that child’s going astray
to its ruin. Failing to pray for
and with one’s child day by day
may be as culpable neglect as
failing to give it material suste
nance and ministry. Whatever
is to be gained by prayer for
one's self or for others may be
utterly lost if that prayer be held
back
A man in mature life, who had
for years stood well in the
church and the community, was
arrested for forgery, and charged
with various acts of embezzle
ment. His aged mother visited
him in the jail. As she entered
his cell, she fell on his neck in
an outburst of tears. She had
no word of reproach for him, but
she reproached herself most bit
terly. “My poor boy!”, she
cried out; “this is all my fault.
I haven't been praying for you
as I ought to. W hile you were
a child I prayed for you constant
ly; and so all along, until I saw
you in the church, active in
Christ’s service. Then I thought
you safe, and I only thanked
God for you in my prayers. Now
you have been led astray, while
I was neglecting to pray for you.
Poor boy! poor boy! your old
mother is to blame for it all.”
Whatever may be thought of
that mother’s division of respon
sibility in the case of herself and
her son, it is evident that she
had a sense of loss through un
offered prayers; and who saall
say that if that mother’s prayers
for the gracious upholding of
her son had been ceaseless and
full of faith, he might not have
had his feet kept from falling.
If a mother’s prayers are potent
for good, their lack may be a
veritable loss. And there are
other prayers than those of a
mother that have power with
God, and that cannot be neglect
ed without loss.
~He.Trht) fails us-pi-wr-••juon'lvudfs
protection as he sleeps, or for
God’s guidance as he wakes,
omits to take a precaution for
his safety that is as important as
it is real. Why should he think
he is not likely to have a result
ant positive loss from that omis
sion? If he does not pray for
special wisdom and grace as he
attempts to write or to speak, to
teach or to pray, for the benefit
of others, can he hope that his
word will show the gain that it
could have through such prayer?
Can he hope that there will be no
actual loss from his neglect?
Blessings that are promised in
response to faith tilled prayer
cannot be expected if faith filled
prayer is not offered. Loss
stands over against gain in the
neglect of the duty and privilege
of prayer.
Heaven is the magazine wherein Gai
puts
Both good and evil; prayer's the key
that shuts ..
And opens this great treasure; tis a
key
Whose wards are Faith, and Hope,
and Charity.
Would’st thou prevent a judgment
due to sin ?
Turn but the key, and thou may's!
lock it in.
Or would’st thou have a blessing fall
upon thee?
Open the door, and it will shower on
thee.”
To fail of using wisely the key
of prayer is to fail of guarding
against the dreaded outflow of
evl, and to fail of securing the
desirable outflow of good.
There are those who are near
us, and those whom we hold
dear, who are suffering to day
from lack of blessings that would
have been theirs had we done our
duty in the proffer of faith-tilled
prayers in their behalf. We our
selves are losers in spiritual life
and power through our failure to
be instant and earnest in gaining
blessings that are promised only
in response to fitting and timely
prayer. God forgive us for our
lack and our loss! Let us pray!
—Prayer-. Its Nature and Scope.—
Trumbull.
The protracted services which
have been in progress at the Bap
tist church at this place, con
ducted by Rev. J. M. Kelly, as
sisted by Rev. J. M. Waller, of
Montezuma, closed Monday night
after having done much good for
the advancement of the Master’s
cause, and three accessions.—
Vi’enbu Progress.
Rev. H. L. Crumbley is warm
ing up to the work and is now
preaching some splendid gospel
sermons to the people of Blakely
at the Baptist church. As a re
sult the interest of the congrega
tions is increasing at every meet
ing.— Early County News.