SOME facts bearing on the question of the fate of the “holy land,” in which, owing to the “Zionist” movement which aims to restore Palestine to the Jews, very many people are interested, are given in the Chicago Record Herald of August 13. The writer, Mr. William E. Curtis, states that no republic would be feasible there, owing to the hostility of the sultan to that form of government. A protectorate maintained by the powers of Europe might be possible, but there is nothing in the geographical importance or commercial value of the land to warrant any interest in that country on the part of the powers. There are about sixty thousand Jews now in Palestine, and the sum of one million dollars is sent yearly to that country by Jews in other lands for various purposes connected with the project of another Jewish Palestine, but much of this fund is expended to no purpose. It is interesting to note that, according to Rabbi Meyer, of San Francisco, who recently investigated conditions in Jerusalem, “nowhere in the world are there so many Jewish converts to Christianity as in the holy city itself. In Christ Church, which is maintained by the English Missionary Society, the assistant rector, the boy choir, and a large majority of the congregation are composed of those who were formerly orthodox Jews. The proselyting done by the various missionaries in Jerusalem” the rabbi says, “is bold and constant.” He agrees that there is very little in these facts to encourage the Zionist project of a restoration of Jewish supremacy in that country.
L. A. S
Words to Ministers
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
In all departments of ministerial work there is need of greater earnestness. Time is passing, and the work that should be far advanced is almost at a standstill. God’s servants are to be “not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” The lamp of the soul is to be kept trimmed and burning. People need the truth, and by earnest, faithful effort it is to be communicated to them. Everything that can be done to save sinners should be done without delay. Souls are to be sought for, prayed for, labored for. Earnest appeals are to be made. Fervent prayers are to be offered. Our tame, spiritless petitions are to be changed into petitions of intense earnestness. God’s Word declares, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Wake up, my brethren, into spiritual activity. Daily reveal a determined purpose to be good and to do good. It is not enough to live merely a quiet, prayerful life. Meditation alone will not answer the need of the world. Vigilant waiting is to be combined with vigilant working. We are to be living, wide-awake, energetic Christians, filled with zeal to give to others the blessings of the truth.
Young ministers should not be encouraged to preach to the churches. This is not their work. They are to go forth without the camp, taking up the work in places where the truth has not yet been proclaimed. Let them go in the humility and meekness of Christ, obtaining strength from the source of all strength.
To every young man in the ministry, Paul’s words to Timothy are spoken, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine.” Thyself needs the first attention. First give yourself to the Lord for sanctification to his service. A godly example will tell more for the truth than the greatest eloquence unaccompanied by a well-ordered life. Trim the lamp of the soul, and replenish it with the oil of the Spirit. Seek from Christ that grace, that clearness of comprehension, which will enable you to do successful work. Learn from him what it means to labor for those for whom he gave his life. The most talented worker can do little unless Christ is formed within, the hope and strength of the life.
Let the young men who are preparing for service read and study the third chapter of Colossians, and the first chapter of Second Peter, and also the following scriptures:—
“The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need.” “In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.”
The Preparation for True Service
The heart must be brought into conformity to the will of God. As is the health of the heart, so is the religious experience and the fruit seen in the life. Unless the heart is cleansed from all defilement, evil will appear in the life. No one can in truth fulfill the requirements of God’s law unless this law is written on his heart. He only who makes righteousness a part of his life is prepared rightly to estimate the truth. The truth is no truth to the one who merely makes a profession, who is not sanctified by its power, upon whose heart its image is not stamped. Such a one keeps the truth in the outer court. His love for Christ is superficial, exercising little controlling power over his reason.
Young men, deal faithfully with your own souls. Seek the Lord most earnestly for grace and strength. Study the words of the Saviour, “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Worldly ambition, worldly plans, worldly principles, are not to be brought into the life of the Christian.
Christ said, “For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Will you not remember that this prayer includes you? Will you not strive to answer it? Will you not give yourselves to the Lord? Willingness of heart and earnestness of purpose to carry out the principles of holiness will place you in such relation to God that you will give full proof of your ministry. You will see the fruit of your labor.
Give careful, prayerful thought to the preparation required in order to do true service for God. Then a decided reformation will be seen. In the place of drinking in iniquity, the heart will be filled to overflowing with the love of Christ. The whole being will be enlisted in God’s service. The affections will be set on things above. A hearty response will be made to the words, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”
The Minister Is to Be an Educator
O what a work there is before us! Ministers are not to spend their time laboring for those who have already accepted the truth. With Christ’s love burning in their hearts, they are to go forth to win sinners to the Saviour. Beside all waters, God’s messengers are to sow the seeds of truth. Place after place is to be visited; church after church is to be raised up. Those who take their stand for the truth are to be organized into churches, and then the minister is to pass on to other equally important fields.
Just as soon as a church is organized, let the minister set the members to work. They will need to be taught how to work. Let the minister devote more of his time to educating than to preaching. Let him teach the people how to extend the knowledge of the truth. While the new converts should be taught to ask counsel of those more experienced in the work, they should also be taught not to put ministers in the place of God. Ministers are not gods, but human beings, men compassed with infirmities. Christ is the One to whom all are to look for guidance. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth. . . . And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
The power of the gospel is to come upon the companies raised up, fitting them for service. Some of the new converts will be so filled with the power of God that they will at once enter the work, imparting that which they have received. They will labor so diligently8that they will have neither time nor disposition to weaken the hands of their brethren by unkind criticism. Their one desire will be to carry the message of truth to the regions beyond.
God’s servants are to make use of every resource for enlarging his kingdom. The apostle Paul declares that it is “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth,” that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.” And James says, “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” Every minister is pledged to unite with his brethren in giving the invitation, “Come; for all things are now ready.” Each is to encourage the other in doing whole-hearted work. Earnest invitations will be given by a living church. Thirsty souls will be led to the water of life.
The apostles carried a weight of responsibility to enlarge their sphere of labor, to proclaim the truth in the regions beyond. From their example we learn that there are to be no idlers in the Lord’s vineyard. His servants are constantly to enlarge the circle of their efforts. Constantly they are to do more, never less. The Lord’s work is to widen and broaden until it encircles the world.
After making a missionary tour, Paul and Barnabas retraced their steps, visiting the churches they had raised up, and selecting men to unite with them in the work. Thus God’s servants to-day are to labor, selecting and training worthy young men as co-laborers. God help us to sanctify ourselves, that others may be sanctified, enabled to do successful work in winning souls to Christ.
The Joy of the Cross
God draws a cloud over each gleaming morn:
Would we ask why?
It is because all noblest things are born in agony.
Only upon some cross of pain or woe
God’s Son may lie;
Each soul redeemed from self and sin must know
Its Calvary.
Yet we must crave for neither joy nor grief,
God chooses best:
He only knows our sick soul’s best relief,
And gives us rest.
For neither life, nor death, nor things below,
Nor things above,
Shall ever sever us, that we should go
From his great love.
— Selected.
Longing for Christ’s Appearing
It is to be feared that much of the longing for Christ’s coming to bring a better state of things proceeds from an unworthy motive. We suffer from bodily ills, we are overpressed by work and care, disappointed in our plans, deceived by false friends, or appalled by war and calamities, and we sigh, and say, “O that the Lord would come, and put an end to all these things!” It needs no long reflection to enable us to see that such a desire is wholly selfish, and not prompted by the only motive that is worthy, namely, love for Christ.
The apostle Paul speaks of the crown of righteousness that is to be given not only to him, but “unto all them also that love His appearing.” The perfect Christian will have such a knowledge of Christ that his presence alone will make happiness for him, no matter what his condition or surroundings. “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee,” is the language of his soul. The presence of the Lord Jesus makes heaven for him on earth, and makes peace in the midst of tumult and tribulation. He experiences the powers, and tastes the joy, of the world to come; and being “abundantly satisfied” with the fatness of God’s house, it is evident that he cannot long for the Lord’s coming, merely that he himself may be benefited.
Moreover, “none of us liveth to himself.” Our concern is not to be our own salvation, but the salvation of others. We should certainly long for Christ’s coming, that sin and strife and sorrow may cease, but this should be with reference to others, and not on our own account. So let us not be childishly impatient, but lovingly longing, when to his words, “Surely I come quickly,” we respond, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” — Present Truth.
Life Insurance
By Clarence Santee
CLARENCE SANTEE
SHOULD a Seventh-day Adventist insure his life when his business leads him every day into dangerous places? This question was recently asked me by a brother who contemplated renewing a life insurance he had taken several years ago. There are many Seventh-day Adventists who are regularly paying out money for a life insurance. They feel that if they should die, in this way their families would be provided for. It is easy also to cite families who have lost the husband and father, and as a result have been reduced to close circumstances.
It is true that in some cases where a man has carried a life insurance, and died, his family has received quite a sum. These things can be pointed to as an outward evidence that this step is desirable. But what is the truth of the matter? Many do not know that God, who looks inward, and sees the end from the beginning, has spoken very positively of this. I will quote a few sentences:—
“I was shown that Sabbath-keeping Adventists should not engage in life insurance. This is a commerce with the world which God does not approve. Those who engage in this enterprise are uniting with the world, while God calls his people to come out from among them and to be separate. Said the angel, ‘Christ has purchased you by the sacrifice of his life. What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God; and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.’ . . .
“Life insurance is a worldly policy which leads our brethren who engage in it to depart from the simplicity and purity of the gospel. Every such departure weakens our faith, and lessens our spirituality. . . . As a people, we are in a special sense the Lord’s. Christ has bought us. Angels that excel in strength surround us. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without the notice of our Heavenly Father. Even the hairs of our head are numbered. God has made provision for his people. He has a special care for them, and they should not distrust his providence by engaging in a policy with the world.
“God designs that we should preserve in simplicity and holiness our peculiarity as a people. Those who engage in this worldly policy invest means which belong to God, which he has intrusted to them to use in his cause, to advance his work. But few will realize any returns from life insurance, and without God’s blessing even these will prove an injury instead of a benefit. Those whom God has made his stewards have no right to place in the enemy’s ranks the means which he has intrusted to them to use in his cause.
“Satan is constantly presenting inducements to God’s chosen people to attract their minds from the solemn work of preparation for the scenes just in the future. He is in every sense of the word a deceiver, a skillful charmer. He clothes his plans and snares with coverings of light borrowed from heaven. . . . Through this union with the world, faith becomes weakened, and means which should be invested in the cause of present truth are transferred to the enemy’s ranks. Through these different channels Satan is skillfully draining the purses of God’s people, and for it the displeasure of the Lord is upon them.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. I, pages 549-551.
These statements are plain, and certainly, being from God, are consistent. We are a peculiar people. We believe that the Lord will sustain us, our wives, and our children, in the time that the famine and pestilence are causing a thousand to fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand. I say, We believe this. Do we? Sometimes it is good to come up against that which uncovers our own hearts. How easy to think that we have strength, courage, and faith, when by test we find it all falls in abject doubt and weakness. If we have faith to believe that God will keep us then, why not believe that he will care for us in the lesser troubles now? “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” Jer. 12:5.
The Testimony quoted says, “He has a special care for them.” Speaking of his church as a vineyard, God says, “I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isa. 27:3.
He has bought us with a price. We are not our own. I was acquainted with a brother who, being afraid that he might soon die, insured his life for quite a sum. He was told that there would be small dues to pay when some person who had insured, and thus become a member of the company, died, but that, as the company increased in numbers, the dues would be less, until he would carry his insurance with practically no cost. He paid the first dues of twenty dollars for a membership. Within fifteen months he had paid forty-five dollars. Still the dues came, and then, should he fail to pay the assessments, he would9forfeit, after a time, what he had already paid. He did not want to lose that which he had paid, so he paid again. He finally let go of the thing. He is still alive, but about fifty dollars was lost to himself and to the cause.
There are those who will read these lines who are living over some part of the experience of this brother. No matter in which part their present experience lies, the Lord warns them in regard to paying any more. We are told by the spirit of prophecy that “without God’s blessing” the money received by the family after the husband’s death, “will prove an injury instead of a blessing.” The best inheritance now, above all times, that can be left to the wife and children is an example of implicit faith; for they will live in the time when insurances will all fail, when gold will be thrown, as useless, into the streets, when no man can in any way provide for another, but “the just shall live by faith.” Heb. 10:38. It cannot be the faith of another. Habakkuk says, “The just shall live by his faith.” Hab. 2:4.
Worldlings are going headlong into all these companies, unions, trusts, associations, etc., because of the fear they have of the outcome of the future. Right in this time the Lord thus exhorts those who are willing to listen: “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.” Isa. 8:12.
“In my Father’s blessed keeping, I am happy, safe, and free;
While his eye is on the sparrow, I shall not forgotten be.”
The Lost Tribes of Israel
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
E. J. WAGGONER
THERE is a popular, almost universal, idea that at the time of the Babylonish captivity, ten of the twelve tribes were wholly lost, and that only two tribes could be mustered to return to the land of Palestine at the close of the seventy years. So deeply rooted is this notion, that almost everybody knows at once what is referred to whenever the expression, “The ten lost tribes,” is used. How this idea came to prevail, we shall not now stop to inquire, but shall content ourselves with ascertaining what the Bible has to say upon the subject of the lost Israelites.
First, however, it may be well to note a common misconception concerning the terms “Judah” and “Israel.” When the kingdom was divided, after the death of Solomon, the southern portion, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, was known as the kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital; while the northern portion, consisting of the remaining tribes, was known as the kingdom of Israel, with headquarters at Samaria. This northern kingdom was the first to be carried captive, and the tribes that composed it are the ones supposed to be lost.
The misconception is that the term “Jews” is limited to the people of the southern kingdom, namely, to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and that the term “Israelites” signifies only those tribes composing the northern kingdom, supposed to be lost. Going on in the line of this supposition, “the warm, ungoverned imagination” of some speculative theologians has fancied that the people generally known as Jews are from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin alone, and that the Anglo-Saxon race, or more specifically, the people of Great Britain and America, are the Israelites, or, in other words, “the ten lost tribes” discovered.
It is easy to see how this theory originated. It originated in an utter failure to comprehend the promises of the gospel. It was invented in order to bring in the Anglo-Saxon race as inheritors of the promises to Abraham, the fact having been lost sight of that those promises embraced the whole world, without respect to nationality, and that “God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Acts 10:34, 35. If men had believed that “an Israelite indeed” is one “in whom is no guile” (John 1:47), they would have seen the folly of the idea that no matter how wicked and unbelieving people may be, they must be Israelites simply because they are a part of a certain nation. But the idea of a national church and of a national religion is wonderfully fascinating, because it is so much more pleasant for people to suppose that they are to be saved in bulk, regardless of character, rather than through individual faith and righteousness.
A few texts of Scripture are sufficient to show that the terms “Jew” and “Israelite” are used interchangeably, each being applicable to the same person. For instance, in Esther 2:5 we read that “in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.” But in Rom. 11:1 we have the apostle Paul’s statement, “I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin;” and the same apostle said, “I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus.” Acts 21:39. Here we have one man of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew, and another man of the same tribe, an Israelite, and at the same time a Jew.
Again: Ahaz was one of the kings of Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem. See 2 Kings 16:1, 2; Isa. 1:1. He was a descendant of David, and one of the ancestors of Jesus according to the flesh. 2 Kings 16:2; Matt. 1:9. Yet in 2 Chron. 28:19, in an account of the invasion of “the south of Judah” by the Philistines, we are told that “the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord.”
When the apostle Paul had returned to Jerusalem from one of his missionary tours, “the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help.” Acts 21:27, 28.
The reader can readily see the naturalness of this, when he remembers that all the twelve tribes were descended from one man, Jacob, or Israel. The term “Israel” is therefore applicable to any or all the tribes; while, because of the prominence of Judah, the term “Jew” came to be applied to any of the children of Israel, regardless of their tribe. In speaking of the covenants, God says that he will “make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Heb. 8:8), in order to make it unmistakable that the new covenant is to be made with the entire, undivided people, just as the old covenant was.10
Thus we see that the term “Jews” is rightly applied to the same people as is the term “Israelites;” but we must not forget that, strictly speaking, “he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rom. 2:28, 29. The reckoning of the tribes has been lost among the people called Jews, but that makes no difference; they may be called Israelites just as properly as Jews; but neither term is in strict propriety applicable to any of them except to those who have real faith in Jesus Christ; and both terms are, in the strictly Scriptural sense, applicable to any who have such faith, though they be English, French, Greek, Turk, or Chinese.
(To be concluded)
Pray Over It
THE late Dr. M. D. Hoge, of Richmond, Va., used to tell of two Christian men who “fell out.” One heard that the other was talking against him, and he went to him and said: “Will you be kind enough to tell me my faults to my face, that I may profit by your Christian candor, and try to get rid of them?”
“Yes, sir,” replied the other, “I will do it.”
They went aside, and the former said: “Before you begin telling what you think wrong in me, will you please bow down with me, and let us pray over it, that my eyes may be opened to see my faults as you will tell them? You lead in the prayer.”
It was done, and when the prayer was over, the man who had sought the interview said: “Now proceed with what you have to complain of in me.”
But the other replied: “After praying over it, it looks so little that it is not worth talking about. The truth is, I feel now that in going around talking against you I have been serving the devil myself, and I have need that you pray for me and forgive me the wrong I have done you.”
Dr. Hoge has told the story very well, and here and there in almost every community is a man or woman who might profit by it.—Religious Herald.
A Narrow Place
By William P. Finney
O soul that’s filled with discontent,
Shouldst thou lament
Because thy life in narrow bounds is
pent?
The land was small where Jesus dwelt,
Yet he ne’er felt
That God with him had thus unwisely
dealt.
But rather, in his narrow place,
He set his face
To do God’s will—and there redeemed
the race!
So, soul, learn this: thou hast a part
Just where thou art,
Which, if thou’lt do, will surely bless
some heart;
And not so much where thou dost dwell
As whether well
Thy work thou dost, at last thy fate will
tell.
—The Rev. William P. Finney, in N. Y.
Observer.
The Business of Christianity
By Alexander Maclaren
If we are Christians at all, we have to make a business of our religion, to go about it as if we meant work. Ah! what a contrast there is between the languid way in which Christian men pursue what the Bible designates their “calling,” and that in which men with far paltrier aims pursue theirs! And what a still sadder contrast there is between the way in which we Christians go about our daily business, and the way in which we go about our Christian life! Why, a man will take more pains to learn some ornamental art or some game than he will ever take to make himself a better Christian. The one is work. What is the other?—To a very large extent dawdling and make-believe. . . .
The Christian ideal is the greatest in the universe. There is no other system of thought that paints man as he is, so darkly; there is none that paints man as he is meant to be, in such radiant colors. The blacks upon the palette of Christianity are blacker, and the whites are whiter, and the golden is more radiant, than any other painter has ever mixed. And so just because the aim which lies before the least and lowest of us, possessing the most imperfect and rudimentary Christianity, is so transcendent and lofty, it is hard to keep it clear before our eyes, especially when all the shabby little necessities of daily life come in to clutter up the foreground, and hide the great distance. Men may live up at Darjeeling there on the heights for weeks, and never see the Himalayas towering opposite. The lower hills are clear; the peaks are wreathed in cloud. So the little aims, the nearer purposes, stand out distinct and obtrusive, and force themselves, as it were, upon our eyeballs, and the solemn white throne of the Eternal away across the marshy levels, is often hid, and it needs an effort for us to keep it clear before us.
One of the main reasons for much that is unsatisfactory in the spiritual condition of the average Christian of this day is precisely that he has not, burning ever before him there, the great aim to which he ought to be tending. So he gets loose and diffused, and vague and uncertain. That is what Paul tells you when he proposes himself as an example: “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly.” The man who knows where he is running makes a bee line for the goal. If he is not sure of his destination, of course he zigzags. “So fight I, not as one that beateth the air”—if I see my antagonist, I can hit him. If I do not see him clearly, I strike like a swordsman in the dark, at random, and my sword comes back unstained. If you want to make the harbor, keep the harbor lights always clear before you, or you will go yawing about, and washing here and there, in the trough of the wave, and the tempest will be your master. If you do not know where you are going, you will have to say, like the man in the old story, in the Old Book, “Thy servant went no whither.”
You have to detach yourself from hindrances. You have to prosecute the Christian aim all through the common things of Christian life. If it were not possible to be pursuing the great aim of likeness to Jesus Christ, in the veriest secularities of the most insignificant and trivial occupations, then it would be no use talking about that being our aim. If we are not making ourselves more like Jesus Christ, by the way in which we handle our books, or our pen, or our loom, or our scalpel, or our kitchen utensils, then there is little chance of our ever making ourselves like Jesus Christ. For it is these trifles that make life, and to concentrate ourselves on the pursuit of the Christian aim is, in other words, to carry that Christian aim into every triviality of our daily lives.—Alexander Maclaren, D. D.
The King a Servant
THE King of kings is “that great Shepherd of the sheep.” It is written by the prophet, concerning Bethlehem: “Out of thee shall come forth a Governor, which shall be Shepherd to my people Israel.” The king is the one who feeds the people, and his authority is in proportion to his power to serve. It is not usually so in this world, but so it ought to be. Jesus said: “The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matt. 20:25-28. In proof of this, Jesus, in immediate connection with his being lifted up upon the cross, “knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God,” and that he was Master and Lord, washed the feet of his disciples. John 13. Not only so, but he tells us that when he reigns supreme in the kingdom of glory, and all his faithful followers have been gathered to him, ‘He shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.’ Luke 12:37. The King of kings a table waiter! There we have proof that the greatest king on earth is the one who does most for his fellow creatures.—Selected.
Walking Carefully
It behooves us to walk carefully and to speak soberly when a soul is in trouble or is passing through one of the many crises of life. “It is said that among the high Alps, at certain seasons, the traveler is told to proceed very quietly; for on the steep slopes overhead, the snow hangs so evenly balanced that the report of a gun, or even the sound of a voice, may destroy the equilibrium, and bring down an immense avalanche that will overwhelm everything in ruin.” Here and there,—we meet them almost every day,—are persons who are obliged to make decisions which will mean to them life or death. They stand at a fork in the road, hardly knowing which direction to take. At such a time a wrong word, or even a wrong look or sign, may decide them to take the wrong road. “A young lady who was deeply impressed with the truth, and was ready, under a conviction of sin, to ask, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ had all her solemn impressions dissipated by the unseemly jesting and laughter of a member of the church by her side, as she passed out of the sanctuary.”—Northwestern Christian Advocate.
Do Good
Do not only take occasions of doing good when they are thrust upon you, but study how to do all the good you can, as those “that are zealous of good works.” Zeal of good works will make you plot and contrive for them; consult and ask advice for them; it will make you glad when you meet with a hopeful opportunity; it will make you do it largely, and not sparingly and by the halves; it will make you do it speedily, without unwilling backwardness and delay; it will make you do it constantly to your life’s end. It will make you labor in it as your trade, and not only consent that others do good at your charge. It will make you glad, when good is done, and not to grudge at what it cost you. In a word, it will make your neighbors to be as yourselves, and the pleasing of God to be above yourselves, and, therefore, to be as glad to do good as to receive it.—Richard Baxter.
Take Joy Home
By Jean Ingelow
TAKE joy home,
And make a place in thy great heart for her,
And give her time to grow, and cherish her;
Then will she come, and oft will sing to thee
When thou art working in the furrows; aye,
Or weeding in the sacred hour of dawn.
It is a comely fashion to be glad;
Joy is the grace we say to God.
—Jean Ingelow.
The Mother’s Responsibility
As our minds to-day are called to this subject, and as none of the selections I had read were just suited to the occasion, I thought it best to jot down a few thoughts for meditation. Truly, no subject is more important to woman than the one under consideration. In us lies the destiny of future generations.
I think, perhaps, some may say, “Not in us alone.” But wait, dear sister; ours is a mighty realm. We have more power than we use. Let us lay aside our ambition to rise to renown, and simply carry out the design of our Creator; and should time last sufficiently long, more would be accomplished by our home influence than we could accomplish by arbitrary force.
There are women who have no home duties to perform. I can find no objection to their public work; for I believe they are called of God to just such places. But a mother’s mission is in her home. It is there her influence is felt and disbursed for the benefit of humanity.
I would not deny her the privilege of mingling with those around her. Nay, that is one of her duties. She must ever be on the alert to secure knowledge from any legitimate source. This may be found in a social call, a lecture, an entertainment, a visit to places of interest, a call on the poor and needy, or in a ramble among the scenes of nature. The source of knowledge is vast. It remains for us to find it under the guiding hand of Him who hath given us our families to instruct.
When I have stopped to ponder over these things, my responsibility seems greater than I can bear; and indeed it is, were it not for the divine help promised me. When I read, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him,” I feel able to perform my mission, knowing that my strength lies in One fully competent.
A thought comes to me now that seems important: “Giveth . . . liberally, and upbraideth not.” Do we do this by our children? I have heard mothers say, when their children came to them with questions, “O, go away! I’ve no time to bother with you now.” O mothers! their little minds are asking wisdom. Is there anything more important? If we can give the information, let us do so; for they may never ask us again, or, what is still worse, they may go to some one else, thus depriving us of our privilege. But if we are unable to satisfy their inquiring minds, then our duty is plain. It is a great embarrassment to be obliged to confess our ignorance before our children. We must ever be learning, ever be striving to fill our minds with wisdom, simplified, suitable for young minds to grasp.
Then, we have a duty to perform to our husbands. Do not think that they are under greater obligation to please us than we are to please them. True, the husband is the head of the household; but woman should be its heart.
It is our privilege to make home so attractive and ourselves so pleasing that our husbands, when they come from labor, may find a “haven of rest.”
“Home’s not merely four square walls,
Though with pictures hung and
gilded;
Home is where affection calls,
Filled with shrines the heart hath
build’d.”
Do not think I would exonerate the husband from all blame. No, indeed! But to-day we are studying womanhood in the home. My dear sisters, this subject is unexhaustible. Already I have taken too much of your time. I will close by giving a few lines from the pen of A. A. Willets, D. D.:—
“The light of a happy home is not only brightest radiance that cheers the darkness of man’s earthly condition, but it is the guiding star of his good destiny; and that sweet spirit who presides at the altar of home, making it a holy and happy spot, is the richest earthly prize man can find and win.
“The modesty of woman’s nature and the unobtrusiveness of her home sphere cause us too often to overlook the almost omnipotent power of her influence, in this hallowed relationship, over the character and destiny of mankind; yet in this quiet and retired realm, where she sways the scepter of her gentleness and love, human characters are formed, human generations molded, and the destiny of the whole world affected.
“To her tender care God commits the generations of mankind in infancy, when their natures are pliable and most susceptible to permanent impressions, and to her gentle hand is intrusted the mighty task of molding their characters and shaping their destiny.
“God seems, by the order of his providence, to say, ‘I cannot commit so delicate and important a task to man. He must be out upon the rough sea of life, struggling for sustenance. He is too much absorbed by that work, and becomes too rough and too impatient by his very exposure, for so gentle an office. Woman shall be fitted for it. And so infinite wisdom and infinite love pillowed the head of infancy upon woman’s breast, where it may feel and hear a heart full of tenderness, patience, and inexhaustible love. And thus the mother, by the gentleness of her nature and the sacredness of her office, holds the key of man’s soul, and by her nameless and numberless ministries of love shapes his character.’”
Can we, my dear friends, conceive of anything higher or more noble in this life?