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The Ark Brought to Jerusalem-
Sunday School Lesson for July
19—2 Sam 6:112
BY S. G. HILLYER.
In the verses of the lesson we
have an account of the removal
of the Ark from the place where
it had been resting, not many
miles from Jerusalem.
David intended, no doubt, to
make Jerusalem the place of.its
permanent abode. Hitherto it
had occupied several different
places; and once had fallen into
the hands of the Philistines. But
it proved to be a terrible guest
for that people ; they soon sent
it out of their country. So it was
restored to the people to whom
it belonged. When therefore Da
vid had chosen Jerusalem to be
the fixed capital of his country,
it was fit and proper that he
should have the Ark of the Cov
enant with him in his chosen
city.
WHAT WAS THE ARK ?
To the eye, it was a very sim
ple piece of furniture—a wooden
chest a little over three feet in
length, and a little more than two
feet in breadth and depth. But
though so simple in its structure
it was very rich and beautiful in
its appearance; for it was cov
ered, inside and out, with pure
gold, and still further adorned
with the Mercy-seat,overshadow
ed by the wings of two beautiful
cherubim. Such was the Ark in
its visible appearance.
ITS DESIGN.
Its chief design was to stand
through all the generations of
Israel as a memorial of the cove
nant which the Lord entered into
with his people at Mt. Sinai. And
subsidiary to this main design, it
was made the repository for the
two tablets of stone on which
the Lord had inscribed, with his
own finger, the Ten Command
ments. Besides these, we learn
from Paul, in Hebrews, that it
contained the pot of manna
which was ordered to be kept as
a memorial of God’s care of his
people through the wilderness,
and also Aaron's rod that budded.
These, and possibly other sacred
relics, were deposited for safe
keeping in the Ark.
ITS SIGNIFICANCE.
In Butterworth’s Concordance
the work Ark means “a chest or
coffer to keep things safe and
secret.” We learn also that it
was the name of the great ship
in which Noah saved himself and
family from the waters of God
in the deluge. The Ark of the
Covenant, with its appendages,
must denote a place of safety, or
of salvation. And, by an easy
transition of thought, it may
stand for one who saves; i. e.—a
Savior.
It is interesting to notice this
typical significance of the Ark
of the Covenant. It points di
rectly to our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. There are perhaps
a dozen points of analogy be
tween the Ark of the Covenant
and Christ- I can mention only
a few of them, as given by But
terworth.
(1) The Ark was made of wocd
and of gold, so Jesus is revealed
to us with a two-fold nature—the
human, represented by the wood,
and the divine, represented by
the gold. Some may imagine that
this point of resemblance is too
vague to deserve mention. Per
haps it would be if it stood alone.
But suspend judgment till we
find the next.
(2) The contents of the Ark.
These were the law, the map
na, and the rod of Aaron, with
its blooming flower. In harmony
with these contents, we learn (a)
that an ancient prophet spake of
the Messiah as saying: “Lo! I
come, in the volume of the book
it is written of me, I delight to
do thy will, O God, yea thy Law
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
is within my heart.” In harmo
ny with these prophetic words,
Jesus said of himself: “I came
not to do mine own will but the
will of him who sent me.” And
again he said: “I came not to de
stroy the Law and the prophets,
but to fulfill them.” The Law
was in Christ as the valid expo
nent of God's eternal sovereignty,
and Christ expounded it with a
fulness and -a wisdom far sur
passing all mere human teach
ings.
(b) Another content of the Ark
was the manna.
To correspond with this, we
find in Jesus the “bread which
cometh down from heaven.”
Jesus said to the Jews: “Your
fathers did eat manna in the wil
derness and are dead, but he that
eateth of the bread that I shall
give him, shall never die.” True,
the manna stored in the Ark, was
designed primarily to be a per
petual memorial of the miracu
lous preservation of Israel in the
wilderness. But mark : that
bread seemed to the Jews to come
down from heaven; but it was
only a material bread, and could
sustain only a material life. Nev
ertheless how beautifully does it
represent the aliment that Jesus
brought down from heaven with
him that men might eat thereof
and live forever.
(c) A third content of the Ark
was Aaron s rod that budded.
You may recall the facts.
Aaron's rod, of all the rods sub
mitted to the test, was the only
one that budded. This miracle
was intended to show that Aaron
and his sons were set apart, by
the choice of God, to be his priests
—to serve in the sanctuary and
to instruct the people in all the
requirements of the Law. Anal
ogous to this, Jesus is our high
priest, proved by his resurrec
tion from the dead; of which res
urrection the budding of a dried
and dead stick of wood into veri
table life may well be accepted
as an impressive type. Yes, the
budding of Aaron’s rod was a
type of Christ's resurrection.
(3) The Ark afforded access to
God.
Upon it was placed the Mercy
seat, over which the glory of God
was often revealed in a pillar of
cloud—the symbol of Jehovah’s
Presence. How plainly does all
this point to Jesus! It is in him
that we find the true Mercy seat,
where only we have access lo
God and are able to ‘behold the
Glory of the Lord as it beams in
splendor from the face of Jesus
Christ.
(4) The Ark was a place of
safety for all that was inclosed
within it.
There we find an analogy with
Christ of transcendent value.
There is something superlatively
grand in the thought of a Cove
nant with God. Covenants, even
among men, are always intended
for the mutual safety of the con
tracting parties, and when faith
fully kept they usually do afford
protection. But these parties
are equals, and often fallible, and
hence may enter into unwise and
hurtful contracts. But God has
actually condescended on several
occasions to make covenants with
men—notably with Israel at Mt.
Sinai. The central purpose of
God, in this great covenant, was
to provide for the temporal and
eternal salvation of his people,
that he might, through them, re
veal to all mankind his mercy
and his glory. O, if Israel had
only performed her part in this
covenant, how exalted would
have been her history! It would
have been to her indeed an Ark
of safety. No wonder that God
called the chest, which held in its
sacred enclosure the words of
this covenant, an Ark. The very
name was a sign and a promise
of safety to all who were em
braced within the conditions of
the covenant.
But Israel did not perform her
part of the covenent. Neverthe
less the Ark continued, for near
ly a thousand years, the center
of her religious interest. When
ever her people would repent,
and draw near through the medi
ation of the priest, with appro
priate offerings, to its Mercy seat,
they were graciously pardoned.
Mercy and grace and deliverance
often rewarded their penitence
and sorrow.
David knew the past history of
the Ark. He knew that for cen
turies it had been Israel’s strong
hold for safety. Hence we can
well understand the joy with
which he celebrated its reception
within the walls of Jerusalem.
But the Ark which David
loved so well has long since
passed away. The covenant which
it concealed has, long ago, been
superseded by a new and better
covenant, founded upon better
promises. Yes, and he has placed
it, for safe-keeping, notin a chest
of wood and gold, but in the care
of his own exalted son, of whom
the ancient Ark was the type
and the promise.
The beneficiaries of this new
covenant are those “who are
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Ito minik t 00. f
born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God,” for the prom
ise is, “I will put my law in their
inward parts and write it in their
hearts; and I will be their God and
they shall be my people, . .
for they shall all know me, from
the least of them unto the great
est of them, . . for I will for
give their iniquity and I will re
member their sins no more.”
See Jer. 31:31-34, and Heb.
8:8-12.
563 S. Pryor st., Atlanta.
rue Baptists of England in tbe Six
teenth and Seventeenth Centuries.
BY A. B. VAUGHAN, JR., D.D.
The Baptists of England, if
such there were, during these
centuries, are known in history
as Anabaptists, which means re
baptizers. These Anabaptists
moved along sometimes more
stealthily, sometimes more open
ly, as a wise discretion dictated.
Their religious contemporaries
were Roman Catholics, Episco
palians, Puritans, Independents,
and Brownists. While these do
not exhaust the list, they repre
sent all the different phases of
religious belief needful for my
purpose.
I shall therefore first state the
difference between these respect
ive religious communities and
the Anaoaptists, when that dis
ference is not generally known;
and secondly, I shall notice some
of the things with which the Ana
baptists were charged, and on
account of which they were often
bitterly persecuted, even unto
death; and lastly, I shall notice
their faith with reference to the
church of Christ and the ordi
nances of the Lord's house, weav
ing in here and there, as it may
be appropriate to my purpose,
the testimony of those who were
their opponents.
If this task shall be well per
formed, my readers will be en
abled for themselves to judge
(1) whether these Anabaptists
should be included in the chain
of Baptist succession; and (2)
whether prior to 1641, the Ana
baptists of England were in the
practice of immersion.
ROMAN CATHOLICS.
The difference between the
Baptists of to-day and the Ro
man Catholics4s radical and well
Known. But what was the dif
ference between the Anabaptists
of England two ’ undred and sis
ty-five years ago and the Roman
Catholicchurch? Briefly stated, it
was this: The Anabaptists held,
“The kingdom of Christ, or the
visible church he had established
on earth, was an assembly of
true and real saints, and ought,
therefore, to be inaccessible to the
wicked and unrighteous, and also
exempt from all those institutions
which human prudence suggests to
oppose the progress of iniquity
or to correct or reform transgres
sors.” — “Struggles and Tri
umphs of Religious Liberty,”
page 80.
The Roman Catholic church
held then, as it holds now: “The
church has authority from God
to teach regarding truth and
morals; and in her teaching she
is preserved from error by the
special guidance of the Holy
Spirit. There is no just grounds
for denying to the apostolic teach
ers of the nineteenth century a
prerogative clearly possessed by
those of the first century. Espe
cially-as the divine Lord nowhere
intimates that this unerring guid
ance was to die out with the
apostles”—“The Faith of Our
Fathers,” Gibbons,
This dogma the Anabaptists
then, and the Baptists now, repu
diate as the first origin and con
tinuous source of all the hurtful
errors which have divided God’s
people into contending factions,
and which have maintained the
unholy warfare.
EPISCOPALIANS.
Nor need I linger longer
here, especially as the differ
ence between this church and
the Roman Catholic church dur
ing the centuries now under con
sideration, was of little or no
consequence. And so the differ
ence between the Church of Eng
land and the Anabaptists was
scarcely less radical than that
between the Romish church and
the Anabaptists. Lord Macaulay
says:
“To this day the constitution,
the doctrines, and the services of
the Church (of England) retain
the visible marks of the compro
mise from which she sprang.
She occupies a middle position
between the church of Rome and
Geneva. Her doctrinal confes
sions and discourses, composed
by Protestants, set forth princi
ples of theology in which Calvin
or Knox would have found scarce
ly a word to disapprove. Her
prayers and thanksgivings, de
rived from the ancient liturgies,
are very generally such that
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. JULY 16, 1896.
Bishop Fisher or Cardinal Pole
might heartily join in them. A
controyersialist who puts an Ar
min ian sense on her articles and
homilies, will be pronounced by
candid men to be as unreasonable
as a. controversialist who denies
that the doctrine of baptismal re
generation can be discovered in
her liturgy.”
You will please to note par
ticularly the phrase “baptismal
regeneration ;” it will be of ser
vice in settling something else
further on.
But wherein did the Anabap
tists of England differ from the
Church of England?
The latter held it to be “the
duty of the secular magistrate to
shape and fashion the church to
that form which his conscience,
instructed by the’Word of God,
or by the interpretations of the
church’s teachers should dictate.
To kings was granted the high
honor of being i s nursing fath
ers, to protect it from its foes,
to maintain in physical comfort
its jninisters, to root out the
weeds of evil doctrine, and to ex
ecute the decisions of the eccle
siastical body.” Triumphs of
Religious Liberty, page 82.
Bullinger, a great light in the
Church of England, and hater of
the Anabaptists,wrote: “Where
fore do I now, as a Christian mag
istrate, assume to myself such
power in matters of faith? Not
as a magistrate, but as a Chris
tian magistrate do I manage this;
nor do I this without precept and
example. . . Let us observe
the example, etc. ' Here he men
tions several Old Testament
kings, among them Darius im
prisoning Daniel.
Cited by Underhill, Triumphs
of Religious Liberty, foot-note
page 82.
Opposed to this, the Anabap
tists held “that the temple can
not be built until God has pro
vided the stones. Holy men
must be first provided by the
power of the Spirit of God, and
then shall a building rise to the
glory of him who has redeemed
them by his blood. No human
workman can be of use but as
the channel of blessing; it is the
prerogative of God to create men
anew in Christ Jesus. His word
is the only effectual instrument
of divine energy; force and coer
cion of every kind are inadmissi
ble. Faith gift of God.
t Faith and
■ ■ ■ ■ '
no other the minis-
ters of God’s word employ.”—
Struggles and Triumphs of Re
ligious Liberty, page 82.
On the question as to the mode
of baptism, there was no dispute
between the Anabaptists and the
Church of England at this time.
But remember that both Edward
VI. and Queen Elizabeth were
immersed, and that in the six
teenth century the “Anglican
Liturgy prescribed immersion as
the “normal mode.” For this as
sertion we have at hand abundant
testimony, which will in time be
shown.
The fact “that almost” down to
the middle of the sixteenth cen
tury, immersion was the “prac
tice of the people as well as the
law of the church,” is of especial
importance. Please to note this
fact particularly.
A Curiosity in Polemics.
BY J. H. HALL, D. D.
The arguments in support of
infant baptism have a humorous
side. The proof-texts in such ar
guments are specially ludi
crous in their irrelevancy.
Among some preserved curiosi
ties I find a scrap in defense of
the practice of pedobaptism in
which the proof-texts are so
foreign that their citation is
enough to provoke a smile from
the most sedate hermeneut. We
should not ridicule the honest
religious opinions of others —it is
not right to do so, nor in good
taste; but when, in support of
those opinions the scriptures are
absurdly misapplied, it becomes
necessary, in exposing the ab
surdity, to resort to the reduc
tio ad absurdum method of treat
ment. The scrap referred to is
given below, followed by an anal
ogous argument, with proof texts,
in support of animal baptism.
The reader is left to judge
whether the proofs in the one
case are not just as relevant and
conclusive as in the other.
PROOF TEXTS OF INFANT BAP
TISM.
“Arelhe children of believing
parents to be baptized in their
infancy ? Yes. For ‘a seed shall
serve him, it shall be counted to
the Lord for a generation’: Ps.
22:30.
“Are children of Christians
members of Christ’s visible
church? Yes. For ‘of such is
the kingdom of God : Mark 10:15.
“Are they born unto God? Yes.
For ‘thou hast taken thy sons
and thy daughters, whom thou
hast borne unto me’: .Ezk. 10:20.
“Is it probably they should be
in covenant? Yes. For ‘when
Israel was a child, then I loved
him.’ Hos. 11:1.
“Is it certain they were in cove
nant? Yes. For T will be a God
to thee and thy seed’. Gen.
17:7.
“Is it certain, therefore, they
are in covenant? Yes. For‘the
blessing of Abraham comes upon
the Gentiles.’ Gal. 3:4.
“Doth the seal of the covenant
therefore belong to them? Yes.
For ‘every man child among
you shall be circumcised.’ Gen.
17:10.
“Was it a great mercy to us that
we were baptized? Yes. For
‘we are the children of the cov
enant.’ Acts 3:25.
“Is infant baptism useful for
preserving the church? Yes.
For ‘so shall your children not ,
cease from fearing the Lord.’ ,
Josh. 22:25.”
This is wholesale, indiscrimi- ,
nate citation. It is serio
comic ! If such reckless methods ,
of misapplication of Scripture, a ,
sample of which we have in the
above catechism, prove that in- ]
fants should be baptized and be j
members of the churches, then ,
it may be proved, in the same (
way, that animals should be bap- ■
tized. j
PROOF-TEXT OF ANIMAL BAP- i
TISM. 1
Are the animals of believing ‘
owners subjects of grace? Yes.
Proof : “Praise him . . . beasts !
and all cattle.” Ps. 148:10. '
Are the animals of believers in
the covenant of God? Yes. '
Proof: “And I, behold, I estab- i
lish my covenant with you, and '
with your seed after you ; and
with every living creature that is 1
with you, of the .. . cattle, and
every beast of the earth.” Gen.
9:10.
Are animals to be members of
Christ’s kingdom? Yes. Proof:
“For every beast of the forest is
mine, and the cattle upon a
thousand hills.” Ps. 50:10.
Are animals capaole of receiv
ing the Holy Ghost? Yes. Proof:
“I will pour out my spirit upon
all flesh.” Joel 2:28.
Should animals then be bap
tized. Yes. Proof: “Can any
man forbid water, that these
should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as
well as we.” Acts 10:47.
Are animals of believers born
unto God? Yes. Proof: “All
thafropeneth the matrix is mine;
aMMsAery firstling among the
cattle, whether ox or sheep.”
Ex. 34:19.
Are believing owners responsi- 1
ble for their animals? Yes.
Proof: “I will require my flock 1
at their hands.” Ez. 34:10.
Is it then certain that believers
should have their animals bap
tized? Yes. Proof: (the jailer) '
“was baptized, he and all his.”
Acts 16:33.
Is it certain that the church :
was designed for animals? Yes. '
Proof: “The wolf also shall
dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard shall lie down with the
kid; and the calf and the young
lion and the fatling together.”
Is 11:6.
Is animal baptism useful to the
church? Yes. Proof: “All the
flocks of Kedar shall be gathered
together unto thee, the rams of
Nebaith shall minister unto
thee, they shall come up with ac
ceptance on mine altar, and I
will glorify the house of my
glory.” Is. 60:6, 7.
Is it therefore certain that ani
mal church members will be
saved? Yes. Proof: “There
fore will I save my flock, and
they shall no more be a prey;
and I will judge between cattle
and cattle . . . And I the Lord
will be their God . . . And I will
make with them a covenant of
peace.” Ez. 34:22-25.
The Western Becorder : Children
so trained come into the church
es with the idea that the Sunday
services must be entertaining.
The singing must attract men in
stead of being done solely to
God's glory. The preaching
must entertain instead of edify
ing the saints and convicting
sinners. Therefore growth in
grace and power with God are at
a discount in pastors. What mat
ter that the church is not built
up in its most holy faith, and sin
ners are not convicted and regen
erated, if crowds are attracted
and entertained? The other
cause, and the chief one in these
days, is this pushing young peo
ple to the front in these latter
day organizations to do the work
God laid on the churches. Expe
rience, ripe piety and that most
important of all things, the pow
er with God which only comes
from growth in grace and years
of walking with him, are all at a
discount. Preachers who en
courage this thing would do well
to consider its results. They may
be young now, and many posi
tions open to them on that ac
count. But let them remember
they cannot keep young,and some
day they will be told such words
the Observer quotes.
Psalm XXIH.
RICHARD ARNOLD GKKKNK.
My Shepherd is the Lord of all;
No want into my lot shall tall,
While 1 have him beside me.
He makes me rest In pastures green,
And where still waters flow between,
He graciously doth guide me.
My soul to health hedotb restore;
In paths of right he goes before
And leadetn.ever ne»r me.
Yea. though I walk within death’s vale,
No evil thing shall make me quail;
Thy rod and staff, they cheer me.
Before my foes thou dost appoint
My table; and my head anoint;
My cup Is still outgiving.
Goodness and mercy ’tend; my days,
God’s house, the goal of all my ways,
Where I'll be ever living.
The Common Task.
A young friend, richly gifted,
but who is tied by inexorable ne
cessity to an office stool, has
complained to me that his life af
forded no outlet for the adequate
exercise of his powers.
His groan is a very common
one. So many grumble about
the monotony of life’s dead-level,
which the great majority of us
have to traverse. The upland
paths which give an ecstacy to
(read in the bracing air and the
expanding glory of the world
are for the few. For most of us
it is the trivial round, the com
mon task. Each morning the
bell calls to the same routine of
commonplace toil. Each hour
brings the same program of tri
fles. There seems no chance for
doing anything heroic, which
will be worthy having lived ’’or,
or will shed a light back on all
past, and forward on all coming
days.
But there are two or three con
siderations. which, if wrought
into the heart, will tend to re
move much of this terrible de
pression.
ALL LIFE IS PART OF A DIVINE
PLAN.
As a mother desires the best
possible for her babes, bending
over the cradle which each occu
pies in turn, so does God desire
to do His best for us all. He
hates nothing that He has made,
but has a fair ideal for each,
which He desires to accomplish
in us with perfect love. But
there is no way of transferring
it to our actual experience, ex
cept by the touch of His Spirit
within, and the educaticn of our
circumstances without.
He has chosen the ciacumstan
ces of our Jife. because they are
the shortest path, if only we use
them as we should, to reach the
goal on which He has set His
heart. He might have chosen
some other country—China, In
dia, Italy, or Mexico. He might
have chosen some other age—
that of the Flood, the Exodus, or
of the early martyrs. He might
have chosen some other lot —a
royal court, a senate, a pulpit, or
an author’s desk. But since he
chose this land, this age, and
your lot (whatever it may be),
we must believe that these pre
sented the likeliest and swiftest
way for realizing his purpose.
If, my brother, you could
reached your truest manhood as
an emperor ’or a reformer, as a
millionaire or a martyr, you
would have been born into one
of those positions; but since you
are only a servant, a bank clerk,
or an ordinary business man, you
will find right beside you the
materials and possibilities of a
great life.
If, my sister, you could have
attained to the loftiest develop
ment of your nature by being a
mother, or a rich man's wife, or
a queen, you would have found
yourself placed there; but since
your lot is that of a milliner’s as
sistant, factory hand, or toiling
mother, you must believe that,
somewhere within your reach, if
only you will search for them,
you will discover the readiest
conditions of a noble and useful
life.
Who can wonder at the com
plaints of the aimlessness, the
vanity, the weariness •of life?
People either have no plan, or
they have got a wrong one.
“What's the fashion?” “What
do others do?” “What’s the cor
rect thing?” How much better
and wiser to believe that God
has a perfect plan for each of us,
and that he is unfolding it a bit
at a time, by the events .which
He puts into our life each day!
’ EVERY LIFE AFFORDS OPPORTU
! NITIES FOR BUILDING UP
NOBLE CHARACTER.
: We are sent into this world to
build up characters which will be
t blessed and useful in that great
future for which we are being
5 trained. There is a niche which
» only we can fill, a crown which
i only we can wear, music which
• only we can waken, service
1 which only we can render. God
r knows what these are, and He is
• giving us opportunities to pre-
• pare for them. Life isour school
' house. Its rooms may be bare,
i but they are littered with oppor
; tunities of becoming fit for our
great inheritance.
VOL. 76-NO. 29 J
Knitting needles are cheap and
common enough, but on them
may be wrought the fairest de
signs in the richest wools. So
the incidents of daily life may be
commonplace in the extreme, but
on them as the material founda
tion we may build the unseen but
everlasting fabric of a noble and
beautiful character. It does not
so much matter wnat we do, but
the way in which we do it mat
ters greatly. What we do may
or may not live; but the way in
which we perform our common
tasks becomes an indestructible
part of our character, for better
or worse, and-forever.
Suppose we meet the daily de
mands of life in a slovenly and
careless spirit, caring only to es
cape blame, to earn our wage, or
to preserve a decent average.
Or suppose our one aim in life is
to get money for our own enjoy
ment. Is it not clear that the
meanness of the motive will re
act on the whole character be
hind it? Will it not be certain
and inevitable that the soul
which is always bathed in such
atmosphere, confronted with
such ideals, wil,l become sloven
ly, careless, mercenary, and self
sh? And when some great
occasion arises it will call in vain
for the high qualities of a noble
nature.
Suppose, on the other hand,
that we do the little duties of life
faithfully, punctually, thought
fully, reverently—not for the
praise of man, but for the “Well
done” of Christ—not for the pay
ment we may receive, but be
cause God has given us a little
piece of work to do in His great
world—not because we must, but
because we choose—not as the
slaves of circumstances, but as
Christ’s freed ones—then far
down beneath the surge of com
mon life the foundations of a
character are laid, more beauti
ful and enduring than coral,
which shall presently rear itself
before the eyes of men and an
gels, and become an emerald islet,
green with perennial beauty, and
vocal with the songs of Para
dise.
THE GREAT DOING OF LITTLE
THINGS WILL MAKE A
GREAT LIFE.
Let ? be granted that you are
a person of ordinary ability. It
is as likely as not that you will
never be removed into a wider
sphere than the obscure one in
which you have been pining, like
a wood bird in its cage. Give up
your useless regret, your queru
lous complaint, and begin to meet
the call of trival common-place,
with tenderness to each person
you encounter, with faith in God,
as doing His best for you, with
heroic courage and unswerving
fidelity, with patience, thorough
ness, submission.
Go on acting thus, week in
and week out, year by year, with
no thought of human notice, de
termined always to be at your
best, eager only to pay out, with
out stint, the gold of a noble un
selfish heart. At the end of life,
though you wist not that your
face glistens, others will see you
shining like the sun in your
Heavenly Father’s kingdom. It
will be discovered that you have
unwittingly lived a great life,
and you will be greeted on the
threshold of heaven with the
“Well done” of your Lord.
Some who are sighing for a
great life are unconsciously liv
ing it in the eye of God’s angels.
Those who forego marriage that
they may bring up and educate
the younger children of their
homes; those who deny them
selves almost the necessaries of
life to add some coals of comfort
to the meagre fire at which the
chill hands of age warm them
selves; those who are not only
themselves pure amid tempta
tion, but the centres of purity,
shielding others; those -who
stand to their post of duty,
though the tires, as they creep
near, are scorching the skin and
consuming the heart; those who
meet the incessant demand of
monotonous tasks with gentle
ness, unselfishness, and the
wealth of a strong, true heart—
these, though’they know it not,
are. graduating for the front
ranks of heaven's nobility.
‘•Oh! where is the sea?” the fishes
cried,
As they swam the crystal clearness
through:
“We've heard from of old of the ocean's
tide.
And we long to look on the waters
blue.
The wise ones speak of the infinite sea.
Oh! who can tell us if such there be?”
The lark flew up in the morning
bright,
And sang and balanced on sunny
wings;
And this was its song: “I see the
light,
I look o'er the world of beautiful
things;
But flying and singing everywhere,
In vain I have searched to find the air,”
—Light on Life's Duties.—Meyer
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