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ESTABLISHED 1821. TheChristianlridex Publlibal Every Thursday By BEUvIw Ac VAN NEBS Address Ckbiitian litdix, Atlanta, Ga. •rgaa of the Baptist Denomination In Georgia. SvnsonirTioM Pbiob: One copy, one year M.oo Ono copy, six months.... About Ova advbbtisbb».—We propose hereafter to very oarvtully Investigate our advertisers. We shall exerciseevery care to allow only reliable parties to use our ool ft BID I. Obituabibs.—One hundred words free of charge. For each extra word, one cent per word, cash with copy. To OonnaeronDßSTO—Do not use abbrevi ations; bo extra careful In writing proper names; write with ink, on one side of paper. Do not write copy Intended for the editor and business Items on same sheet. Leave off personalities, condense. Busikbm —Write all names, and post •fltoe* distinctly. In ordering a change give the old as well as the new address. The date of label indicates the ttme your subscription expires. If you do not wish it continued, or der It stopped a week before. We consider each subscriber permanent until he orders his paper discontinued. When you order It stopped pay up to date. KBKITTAHCBH by registered letter, money order, postal note For the imdbx. God's Promises to David—Sunday- School Lesson for July 26 2 Sam. 7:4 16. BY 8. G. HILLYER. We learn in this lesson that very soon after David had safely placed the Ark of the Covenant on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, he was impressed with a desire to build, in Jerusalem, a Temple which should be, in some measure, wor thy of Jehovah and as a fit abid ing place for the Ark, which was not only the memorial of his cov enant, but, with its Mercy-seat, was also the symbol of his pres ence. As was his custom, David would not proceed in so impor tant a matter without seeking divine direction. Accordingly, he conferred with Nathan the Prophet, who was his confiden tial friend and advisor. The Prophet, at first, judging the case without awaiting the monitions of the Spirit, encouraged David in strong' terms to do all that was in his heart—adding the as surance: “for the Lord is with thee.” But that very night the word of the LwdoMne to Nathan, giv ing him a message for David of a most extraordinary character. Mark its tone; it sounds like the words of a loving father to his dutiful child. “Shalt thou build me a house formetodwellin?” Read er, did one of your little children ever bring to you some small gift which he valued very highly, but which you had no use for? You did not laugh at the little fellow; no, you probably patted him on the head and said: “Dear little soul, and did you wish to give papa this pretty toy?” If you ever had such an experience with one of your children, then you can comprehend the full meaning of Jehovah’s question to David. “Shalt thou build a house for me to dwell in?” The Lord did not need a house of cedar or of stone. As you may learn from the succeeding verses, the Lord had followed Israel for nearly five centuries with no other sanct uary than the tabernacle, which was indeed only a tent. He had never given, in all that period, even a hint to the fathers that they should build for him a house of cedar. Indeed the tabernacle was not designed for himself, as if he needed it; but he caused it to be built for the benefit of his people. With this end in view, the tabernacle, with its furniture and its ritual, was made the place where the people of Israel might draw nigh to God and behold his glory. Though Jehovah did not need a temple built by human hands, nevertheless he condescended to accept David’s suggestion ; but, for reasons explained in adjacent Scriptures, he left the accom glishment of David’s purpose to olomon, his son and successor. In thus having his pious in tention postponed, and its accom plishment transferred to another, David was, no doubt, disappoint ed; but not without abundant compensation. The Lord seized that opportunity to enter into a covenant with David, which at once crowned him with glory and honor. The preamble to the covenant, you will find in the Bth and 9th verses. It recites the gracious dealings of God with David from his boyhood up to the time then present. These past dealings of mercy and grace were cited to confirm his faith and trust in the promises which were about to follow. The first promise related to Israel in general, and was in sub stance what had been promised to them at Mt. Sinai and at other places. (See verse 10 and part of the 11th verse.) Then followed the promises to THE CHRISTIAN INDEX. David personally. - '®, Na than is speaking: J/ f- “Also the Lord Je: I will make thee a house. ' To catch the full force of this prom ise, put the emphasis on the pro noun “thee.” It may be thus paraphrased: David, thou hast, in thy love fpr me, proposed to build a house for me that I may dwell in it. I now tell thee, ‘ I will build a house for thee.” In this promise, the word house is used, by metonomy, for the fam ily or lineage that should pro ceed from him. This appears from the verses that follow. The substance of the promises may be concisely stated thus: That the kingdom and throne of David should be established for ever in his lineal descendants, and that his first successor should build him a house. Such was the covenant of God with David. As soon as Nathan had deliv ered the words of the Lord he retired from the royal presence, and David was left alone. “Then went King David in and sat before the Lord.” Then, to the end of the chapter, we have the words with which David of sered worship, thanksgiving and supplication unto God. While he confessed, in deep humility, his unworthiness of such high distinction, yet he gratefully ac cepted the covenant that God had so graciously offered him. Now comes a very important question: Has that covenant been fulfilled, or is it still fulfilling? It will help us to answer the foregoing questions, to notice that there was in the covenent a condition. It is expressed to this effect. If any of David’s succes sors should commit iniquity, he should “be punished with the rod of men; but my mercy shall not depart away from him.” Bear ing these words in mind, we are able to say that the covenant was faithfully and literally fulfilled for about five hundred years. During that period the line of kings in Jerusalem were descend ants of David. But many of those kings were wicked and brought the judg ments of heaven u pon themselves and upon their people. The Lord, however, was true to his word; he would not utterly forsake them, and when t,hey cried for mercy he would deliver them. But at last their wickedness be came so great that the Lord gave them over in A captivity to the king of Babylon. We are, per haps, obliged to admit that from that day to the present time no one of the lineage of David has reigned as a temporal king upon the literal throne of his father. But in spite of this admission we may safely claim that the cove nant with David has not failed in its intent and meaning. While it had a literal side, it had also a spiritual side. On the literal side, the house of David ceased to reign when the king of Baby lon burnt Jerusalem and carried away to his own country its king and its people. They had griev ously sinned—they had commit ted iniquity—and, according to the terms of the covenant, the house of David ceased to reign and the people went into captiv ity. The interregnum continued for centuries. But it was not in tended tu be perpetual. At length the Lord remembered his covenant with David, and Jesus of Nazareth was born in Beth lehem of Judea. He was of the lineage of David and the rightful heir of David’s throne. But he was more than the son of David. He was proclaimed by a voice from heaven to be also the Son of God—the great Messiah, fore told by Moses and the prophets. In this august character he pre sented himself to Israel, but they rejected him. He came to estab lish a kingdom of which the kingdom of David was the type. He came to reign as the King of whom David himself was only a type. And “he came unto his own, but his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them he gave the privilege to become the children of God, even to them that believed on his name, who are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” These are, by faith, the children of Abraham, for he is the “fath er of all them that believe.” They constitute indeed that true Israel which has power with God, and of which the Israel accord ing to the flesh was only the type and the promise. Over this spiritual Israel the Son of David has been reigning ever since the day of Pentecost. And in this fact we discover that God’s covenant with David has not failed. Indeed the sense in which it has been fulfilled has given to it a splendor far surpass ing all the glory of earthly kings. Had it been fulfilled only along the lines of a mere human dynas ty, how tame would have been its history! But wherever Jesus reigns in human hearts there is I W!'. ?".T“::r“:88:1 a glory that eternity itself can never eclipse. Glory be to the Son of David, who is the Son of God. 563 S. Pryor st., Atlanta. Forth« Indkx. Baptists and the Saloon. BY J. ft. GAMBRELL. No. 3. “The democratic party is op posed to prohibition. I am a democrat first, then a Baptist. I will give up the Baptist church any time oefore I will the demo cratic party—if it does favor the saloons. I will vote for anything my party favors, church or no cnurch.” I wish I could hope that the man who wrote the letter con taining that paragraph had no Baptist sympathizers in Georgia, but it is to be proved that his tribe is practically numerous. I submit these reflections to the thoughtful reader: 1. In the two preceding arti cles I have made no point against any political party by name, neither did the Georgia Baptist Convention, in adopting its re port at Cedartown in favor of prohibition. The writer of the above paragraph evidently thinks his party was attacked by the Convention and myself. He is stirred up over the matter. I have no harsh words nor unkind feelings for him. Every thought ful Christian will feel a profound sympathy for him. If what he says is true oi his party then every saloon hater ought, on his God-quickened conscience, make no delay in getting out of that party. Common sense and Christianity alike will lead every thoughtful Christian man to take out emancipation papers from a party that stands for the defense of the saloon. That is the plain truth. 2. Many of the men who voted for the prohibition report at Ce dartown are democrats. Is it true that these men are giving allegiance to a party that op poses their Christian warfare on the saloon? If it is true, when do these men think the saloon will cease to exist in Georgia? What practical good can their convention resolutions do, since they veto them with their votes on election day? Votes put in the ballot box on anti these a, irv’ to authorizingtne sale A whisky party in power means the perpetuation of the saloon curse. A saloon advocate in the Legislature will vote for main taining the saloon, n > diffe: e :ce whether he gets there as the representative of one party or another; no difference wtose votes send him there, he is there in the interest of the saloon, and those who for party or other reasons vote for him are respon sible for his vote and its results. Hell is being peopled by the votes of Baptists, Methodists and other religionists who live in Georgia. That is an awful truth that ought to bring many of us to Godly sorrow, repentance and a radical change of conduct at the ballot box. 3. Against the above quoted paragraph I put this passage: “For we must all appear be fore the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may re ceive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” How the things some of us do on elec tion day will cover us with con fusion when we stand before the great judge of all the earth. Is voting for a saloon party or man a thing "done in the body? In the mind of the judge, is such voting good or bad? Will the inflexible judge revise his sen tence when we tell him we voted for the good of our party, or did not vote for the right because the right had no chance of suc cess. When the victims of the very saloons our votes estab lished confront us before the judge,will we deny our responsi bility for thejr woes, as we are wanting to do now ? The victims of Georgia saloons authorized by-Baptist votes, di rectly and indirectly, will meet the voters before the seat of the judge with their record and tale of woe. There will be no evad ing the issue then, “Guilty or not guilty,” which, in the pres ence of these deeds of wreck and ruin? What does common sense among men say will be a just sentence? Will not the judge of all the earth do right in the final adjudication of the affairs of time? Who has any doubt about it? Who doubts what will be the doom of the drunkard ? the drunkard-maker? those who vote for the drunkard-maker to con tinue making drunkards? Who! “I have been voting for a cow ardly political party and whisky candidates for years. The Lord forgive me for this great sin against him and terrible wrong against frail humanity. I will ATLANTA, GA, THURSDAY. JULY 23, 1896. vote against the saloons and their friends, hereafter, if I have to crawl to the elections and vote alone. They say -I will throw away my vote, but right doing is not loss.” Compare that extract .with the one first quoted. They don’t compare, they contrast, you say! Even so. Both authors are Bap tist, they say. Which of them is the Christian, do you judge? The latter, you say. What do you judge by? Eliminate the question of religion and the judgment to oome, which of the two is the man 01 good hard sense and patriotism? Which of them do you thnk is a more pitiable slave than any African ever was? Friend, do you not pity the poor Baptfs t who fancies that he owes so much to a party that he must insult God and help damn humanity to pay the debt? Are you in his.condi :ion yourself? Are you not sorry for yourself? You feel sorry, po you? You feel natural for oif time,l guess. The Lord forgive you and help you not vote for the saloon par ties or men hereafter. The Geor gia Baptist Convention, in a very practical way, indorsed the “Anti-barroom bill” now before the people of the State. This measure will, if enacted in law, close every saloon, distillery and brewery in the State. The next legislature will vote for the bill, making it a law, or vote against it and leave the saloons, distilleries and breweries to con : tinue their work of devastation and death. Which of these re suits shall be felt by the people depends entirely upon the kind of votes put in the ballot box by the church members of the State for representatives or law makers. Let these facts be noted: 1. The Baptist and Methodist leaders of Georgia, in their great assemblies, have deliberated se riously, prayerfully, and havj solemnly called upon those com mitted to their leadership to use their utmost endeavors to secure the passage by the next Legisla ture of the “Anti-barroom bill.” No one denies the supreme wis dom and patriotism of this call. It honors God and dignifies the men who make it. 2. The political leaders of Georgia are every en ergy to out and They otner members in carrying out their purpose to keep the saloons open in Georgia. And they will have the co opera tion of some of all these classes, whether they succeed in keeping the saloon or not. There are preachers, deacons, stewards and other prominent church men in the State who “will vote the straight party ticket for the good of the country,” saloon or no saloon, drunkards or no drunk ards, crime or no crime, heaven or no heaven, hell or no hell. The success of the political or ganizations to which they belong is a bigger question with them than the matter of keeping souls out of hell by closing the saloons; it’s a bigger question with them than the proposition to stop the vast besotted armies that are being gathered into the jails, penitentiary, con vict camps, chaingangs, prema ture graves, out of the homes of Georgia. To get their political friends into office and have silver remonetized, or maintain the gold standard are bigger questions with them now, “this time,” than the matter of closing the saloon, so that its victims may have the way cleared between them and heaven. Are you one of the preachers, deacons, stewards or prominent church members? If so, it would be a mercy to some people, many may be, if the Lord would take you to your re ward before you can put another ticket in the ballot box. Is that too strong a statement? Let the bloody records of the saloons your votes have helped maintain making the mournful answer. 3. The preachers of Georgia, God's appointed leaders of the people, need to earnestly plead with the people for right voting on the saloon question. They ought not to silently agree that political leaders shall, for purely partisan and selfish purposes, mass and vote their members against morality, peace and good order. The rule has been the preachers lead the people God has com mitted to them on Sunday, and the designing politicians lead them the other six days of the week. Is it any wonder that the political leaders have been able to control the people against the preachers, Conference and Con vention resolutions, when they put in six times as much time and work as the preachers do? People like to be noticed and counted on for something. The Eolitician understands this, and e is therefore a great hand- shaker, he talks with them, he counsels with them, he asks them to do definite things for the party and him. He succeeds and the preacher rises in his pulpit Sunday morning in bad spirits to berate his people for lheir bad conduct. What is the remedy for this condition of things? Simply this: Let the preachers get out among the people during the week, counsel with them, ask them to give moral questions in politics the benefit of their votes, ask them to vote against saloons and its advocates, and Georgia will be delivered from the saloon power. As sure as God reigns, and that righteousness exalteth a nation, this is true. What sober mind doubts it for a moment? If any care to know my judg ment as to the situation in Geor gia, this is it, briefly stated: 1. The Baptist and other de nominations in the main are right on the saloon question, in their religious assemblies, but radically and deadly wrong at the ballot box, where the ques tion is settled. 2. There are many Baptist voters who would really like to see the saloons go, but they are such intense partisans that they will vote for the saloon to stay before they will lessen the chances for party success by voting their real convictions. They will insult God and help damn souls, out of loyalty to their party or friends. 3. The preachers of Georgia are paralyzed by timidity and partisanship. When people learn that a preacher is a shrinking character or is a political parti zan, without reference to moral ity, they will not respect him. They ought not. No preacher can afford to be a partisan of any thing but truth and morality. 4. If the Baptist preachers of Georgia alone would renounce publicly and emphatically all al legiance to political organiza tions except such as stand openly for morality, peace, law and order and against the saloon with its allied evil forces, there can be no doubt but that the sa loon will soon be no more in Georgia. But as long as preach ers are mere partisans, whether the saloon stays or goes, we will be burdened and cursed with the liquor traffic. The Lord give his ministers to see their duty to him and his, people at this im acrtaiit iunbt'hr.e and give them ■mirage to do that duty hero-' fbatly and fearlessly and all will be men! Greensboro, Ga. Is It the Better Plan? It is being urged upon the Baptists of Georgia that an ad ditional endowment of a hundred thousand dollars is needed for Mercer University. We would not throw any hinderance in the way of the raising of this amount. If it can bedone let it be done. But we would propound the ques tion, whether or not the same end may not be reached in a more satisfactory way? Would it not be better for all the churches to adopt the plan of contributing yearly for Mercer University, just as they contribute to mis sions? A small amount from each church wculd aggregate five or six thousand dollars; •which, added to the present income, would enable the trustees to en mploy as able instructors as can be found. If all the pastors would interest themselves this, itwould soon become as settled thing as are our missionary col lections. This income would be as certain as that arising from This plan possesses several advantages. It does away with the raising this large sum the fearful responsibility for the ju dicious investment of it after it has been raised. Perhaps not many of us have ever estimated the burden imposed upon the trus tees in this respect. As endow ment increases the burden of taking care of it will be propor tionately increased. Nor can any foresight suggest investments that will not be liable to shrink age or loss. When it shall be come a settled rule for every Baptist church to contribute yearly for Mercer, the institu tion will have a more assured re source than from a large endow ment. This plan, too, has the advant age of being one in which all can help. Many a man will be able and willing to contribute a dollar would not give the fifteen or twenty that it would take to yield one of interest. He could keep his principal and use it while the college would have the benefit of it. Os course it will require a good deal of effort to get our churches to adopt this as a regular prac tice. But it can be done just as easily as the hundred thousand can be collected all at once. It will require no small amount of persuasion on the part of those [who are most interested in the matter to accomplish either. L. L. V. When I Have Time. When I have time, »o many thing* I’ll do lo make life happier and more fair For tho»e whose live* are crowded now wqh care, I’ll helj to lift them from their low despair, When I have time. When 1 have time, the friend 1 love so well Hhall know no more these weary tolling days. I'll lead her feet In pleasant paths always, And cheer her heart with words of sweetest praise. When 1 have time. When you have time! The friend you hold so dear May be lieyond the reach of all your sweet Intent. May never know that you so kindly meant To All her life with sweet content, When you had time. Now Is the time! Ab, friend, no longer wait To scatter loving smile* and word* of cheer, To those around whose Ilves are now sodear, They may not need you In the coming year— Now Is the time. —Medical Missionary Record. Tolling Hopelessly. “Hopelessness” is only another term for “despair,’’the two words being really synonymous; and we are prone to feel that despair, or hopelessness, deprives effort of any possibility of good. Our thought, indeed, is, with the poets, that “Hope springs eternal in the human breast that “The miserable have no other medi cine But only hope;” that “The wretch condemn’d with life to part Still, still on hope relies, And every pang that rends the heart Bids expectation rise:” and that “Hence the most vital movement mor tals feel Is hope, the balm and fife blood of the soul.” Yet, as a matter of fact, there is a constant call for hopeless or despairing effort in this world as it is; and the truth stands out, in spite of our feeling, that there is often a direct gain from hopeless or despairing endeavor, beyond and above all gain which is pos sible where hope is an element of the struggle. At the best, how ever, hopeless effort is a phase of tribulation. It is a pitiful .sight to look into the vacant eyes of a hopeless idiot, or into the glaring counte nance of one hopelessly insane. It is hardly less pitiful to look down upon the tired face of one hopelessly racked with pain, which must continue with in creasing force while life lasts; or ‘to watch the hopeless wasting away of & form which is under the power of an incurable dis ease. It is sad to see an aged parent, a helpless object of hope less effort, with paralyzed limbs or deadened brain, living on only as a burden and a tax in a home which was once lighted and glad dened by the presence that is now a source of unintermitted discomfort. There is a gloomy aspect to those institutions for the incurable, which actually close their doors against any who do not utterly despair, or who are not utterly despaired of; so again there is to those wards for the hopeless cases in other insti tutions, where diseases of the body or the mind are objects of treatment and of ministry. But, with all the sadness or gloom of such an outlook, would any of us say that, because in these instances there is no hope of cure, there is therefore no gain in the loving ministry which is demanded for them? Could we question that, apart from any possibility of result to those who are cared for tenderly, these is a gain, unspeakably great, to those who thus minister in loving tenderness to the ne cessities of the hopeless objects of despairing endeavor —a larger and a nobler gain through the very fact of the hopelessness of the effort demanded? Hopeless endeavor brings finer possibilities of unselfishness, in its immediate exercise, than can show themselves in effort which is prompted and cheered by sub stantial hope. So long as hope is an element of the struggle, there will be the thought of coming gain or reward as an in centive to correspondent action; but when hope is excluded, the chiefest inducement to struggle on in the line of loving ministry is the unselfish affection which makes such ministry in itself a delight. This it is that so often renders the dependent and helpless pa rent a new power for good, in the home where his hopeless needs are a means of evoking and developing the truest and noblest traits of character in the chil dren who are doing for him. This it is that causes many a hopeless invalid to be a center of light and joy in a home which is purified and cheered through the added necessity of forgetting self, and of living for one who can never rise up to return or re quite this ministry of love. This it is that brings a spirit of sur passing tenderness into the man ner and ways of the best of those VOL. 76-NO. 30 who attend upon the incurable, or upon the hopelessly imbecile, in institutions where such cases are an object of special attention. When, in fact, every prompt ing is outward, and every incen tive is away from self; when there is no possibility of attain ment or of requital; when the only gain which can be thought of is the gain of continued doing in the line of hopeless endeavor —the effort which is demanded cannot but be noble and enno bling, and cannot but have its reward in the uplifting and the enlarging of the heart which is thus nobly exercised. We are not likely to undervalue the benefits of hope, but we are in danger of overestimating its advantages; and it is well for us to consider that, unless we were sometimes called to hopeless en deavor, we should never know the highest gain which is possi ble from a generous and self-for getful ministry of affection. Hope even imperils our spirit of rest ful contentment with what we have, by tempting us to look away from present good, in long ing expectation of better things to be attained to. Thus it is that hope is sometimes peace-destroy ing, that “Hope, eager hope, th’ asHassin of onr joy. All present blessings treading under foot, Is scarce a milder tyrant than despair.” In this light it is that hope may deceive us by its very truth, and that its surest leading may be misleading. And here is the point of Carlyle’s satire: “What is hope? A smiling rainbow Children follow through the wet; ’Tis not here—still yonder, yonder; Never urchin found it yet.” In this sense, hopeless effort may be more gainful than effort that is full of hop©; and the re turn of good may be largest through the very fact that no re turn is a possibility. And so we have reason to be grateful that there are calls upon us here to struggle hopelessly in loving ministry to others, and to be con tented with what is already ours in that struggle. Os course, it is only with ref erence to the life that is, that any hopeless endeavor can be called for, and it is only in lov ing ministry to our earthly fel lows that a loving ministry can ever be in hopelessness; for all God-waid love is full of hope, and is sure of both reward and return beyond its uttermost giv ing or deserving. And it is be cause there is something of God likeness in a love which goes out and goes on with no hope of re turn, that all hopeless ministry of love is so ennobling and so en riching, and that its gains tran scend the gains of any love that wins return. Love seeking and finding re turn is very beautiful; it is one of earth's brightest blessings. But love which loves on without thought or hope of return is still more beautiful; it has a touch of Christ likeness in its moral beau ty. It is this of which Whittier reminds us: “Love is sweet in any guise; But its best is sacrifice. He who giving does not crave, Likest is to him who gave Life itself the loved to save.” And Helen Hunt would have us know that this is ever the spirit of the truest, worthiest love: “When love is strong It never tarries to take heed Or know if its return exceed Its gift; in its sweet haste no greed, No strifes, belong. It hardly asks If it be loved at all; to take So barren seems, when it can make Such bliss, for the beloved’s sake, Os bitter tasks.” And when a human love recog nizes the fact that it is hopeless love, yet lessens not nor swerves because of its hopelessness, that love has added power in refining and purifying the heart which it fills; and its giver has a gain be yond all that any return of love could bring to him. A mother’s love is never more saintly, never nearer divine, than when she loves an unloving son hopelessly. And the highest reach of human friendship is where one is lovingly and loyal ly an unswerving friend, with never a possibility of -love re turned or of love comprehended as it is. “It has seemed to me lately more possible than I knew,” says Emerson, “to carry a friendship greatly, on one side, without due correspondence on the other. Why should I cum ber myself with regrets that the receiver is not capacious? It never troubles the sun that some of his rays fall wide and vain into ungrateful space, and only a small part on the reflecting plan et. . . . Thou art enlarged by thy own shining.”— ln Tribu lation. —Trumbull. Subscribe for the Christian INDEX.