Earlier text: Our Bible BandFollowers of God
By Ellen G. White
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” Man by wicked works alienated himself from God, but Christ gave His life that all who would, might be freed from sin and reinstated in the favor of the Creator. It was the anticipation of a redeemed, holy universe that prompted Christ to make this great sacrifice. Have we accepted the privileges so dearly purchased? Are we followers of God as dear children, or are we servants of the prince of darkness? Are we worshipers of Jehovah, or of Baal? of the living God, or of idols? No outward shrines may be visible, there may be no image for the eye to rest upon, yet we may be practising idolatry. It is as easy to make an idol of cherished ideas or objects as to fashion gods of wood or stone. Thousands have a false conception of God and His attributes. They are as verily serving a false God as were the servants of Baal. Are we worshiping the true God as He is revealed in His Word, in Christ, in nature, or are we adoring some philosophical idol enshrined in His place? God is a God of truth. Justice and mercy are the attributes of His throne. He is a God of love, of pity, and tender compassion. Thus He is represented in His Son, our Saviour. He is a God of patience and long-suffering. If such is the being whom we adore, and to whose character we are seeking to assimilate, we are worshiping the true God. If we are following Christ, His merits, imputed to us, come up before the Father as sweet odor. And the graces of our Saviour’s character, implanted in our hearts, will shed around us a precious fragrance. The spirit of love, meekness, and forbearance, pervading our life, will have power to soften and subdue hard hearts, and win to Christ bitter opposers of the faith. “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” Vainglory, selfish ambition, is the rock upon which many souls have been wrecked, and many churches rendered powerless. Those who know least of devotion, who are least connected with God, are the ones who will most eagerly seek the highest place. They have no sense of their weakness and their deficiencies of character. Unless many of our young ministers shall feel the converting power of God, their labors will be a hindrance rather than a help to the church. They may have learned the doctrines of Christ, but they have not learned Christ. The soul that is constantly looking unto Jesus, will see His self-denying love and deep humility, and will copy His example. Pride, ambition, deceit, hatred, selfishness, must be cleansed from the heart. With many these evil traits are partially subdued, but not thoroly uprooted from the heart. Under favorable circumstances they spring up anew, and ripen into rebellion against God. Here lies a terrible danger. To spare any sin, is to cherish a foe that only awaits an unguarded moment to cause our ruin. Ministers should see that their own hearts are sanctified through the truth, and then labor to secure these results for their converts. It is pure religion that ministers and people need. Those who put away iniquity from their hearts, and stretch out their hands in earnest supplication to God, will have that help which He alone can give them. A ransom has been paid for the souls of men, that they may have an opportunity to escape from the thraldom of sin, and obtain pardon, purity, and heaven. God hears the cry of the lowly and contrite. Those who frequent the throne of grace, offering up sincere, earnest petitions for divine wisdom and power, will not fail to become active, useful servants of Christ. They may not possess great talents, but with humility of heart, and firm reliance upon Jesus, they may do a good work in bringing souls to Christ. They can reach men through God. Ministers of Christ should ever feel that a sacred work engages all their souls, their efforts should be for the edification of the body of Christ, and not to exalt themselves before the people. And while Christians should esteem the faithful minister as Christ’s ambassador, they should avoid all praise of the man. Peter exhorts the believers: “Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” When the right way is so plainly marked out, why do not the professed people of God walk in it? Why do they not study and pray and labor earnestly to be of one mind? Why do they not seek to cherish compassion for one another, to love as brethren, instead of rendering evil for evil, and railing for railing? Who does not love life, and desire good days? Yet how few comply with the conditions, to refrain the tongue from evil, and the lips from speaking guile. Few are willing to follow the Saviour’s example of meekness and humility. Many ask the Lord to humble them, but are unwilling to submit to the needful discipline. When the test comes, when trials or even annoyances occur, the heart rebels, and the tongue utters words that are like poisoned arrows or blasting hail. Evil-speaking is a twofold curse, falling more heavily upon the speaker than upon the hearer. He who scatters the seeds of dissension and strife, reaps in his own soul the deadly fruits. How miserable is the talebearer, the surmiser of evil! He is a stranger to true happiness. “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Grace and peace rest upon those who refuse to join in the strife of tongues. When venders of scandal are passing from family to family, those who fear God will be chaste keepers at home. The time that is so often worse than wasted in idle, frivolous, and malicious gossip, should be given to higher and nobler objects. If the professed followers of Jesus would indeed become missionaries for God, visiting the sick and afflicted, and laboring patiently and kindly for the erring—in short, if they would copy the Pattern—the church would have prosperity in all her borders. The sin of evil-speaking begins with the cherishing of evil thoughts. Guile includes impurity in all its forms. An impure thought tolerated, an unholy desire cherished, and the soul is contaminated, its integrity compromised. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” If we would not commit sin, we must shun its very beginnings. Every emotion and desire must be held in subjection to reason and conscience. Every unholy thought must be instantly repelled. To your closet, followers of Christ. Pray in faith, and with all the heart. Satan is watching to ensnare your feet. You must have help from above if you would escape his devices. Temptation, however strong, is never an excuse for sin. “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers.” Cry unto the Lord, tempted soul. Cast yourself, helpless, unworthy, upon Jesus, and claim this very promise. The Lord will hear. He knows how strong are the inclinations of the natural heart, and He will help in every time of temptation. Have you fallen into sin? Then without delay seek God for mercy and pardon. When David was convicted of his sin, he poured out his soul in penitence and humiliation before God. He felt that he could endure the loss of his crown, but he could not be deprived of the favor of God. Mercy is still extended to the sinner. The Lord is calling to us in all our wanderings, “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” The blessing of God may be ours, if we will heed the pleading voice of His Spirit. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” Meekness Is Teachableness
TRUE meekness is teachableness; “for the meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way.” Ps. 25: 9. Therefore the meek man is one who is willing to be taught and guided by the Lord. Blessed are such. It is said of the New Jerusalem, the mother of the saints (Gal. 4: 26), “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Isa. 54: 13. The way of the meek is the way of God; and the way of God is the way of peace. Who would not be a willing learner? “In speaking of persons, if you can not say a pleasant word, say nothing.” Meeting the Eternal Every Day
“THE test of greatness is the way one meets the eternal every day.” Unwelcome Advice Is Often Best
“THE advice you don't like is often the best.” The Coming of Our Lord
By L. A. Reed
JESUS, the Christ, is coming again. Who can doubt it? He Himself has declared it. His word can not fail. In His confidential communion with His disciples, the evening before the trial and the crucifixion, He assured them: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3.
This was more than a mere promise that He would come again; it was a promise that when He did come He would receive these, His disciples, unto Himself, to be thereafter with Him in the place prepared. The promise is not that His disciples shall go to Him at death. He is to receive them unto Himself only when He comes again. Then when Jesus comes, and only then, God’s children enter into their reward. This is precisely in accordance with the words of Christ as spoken upon another occasion: “For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then shall He render unto every man according to his deeds.” Matt. 16:27.
It is easily enough to be seen from this that at His coming, Jesus will bring salvation to His people. But there is a scripture that explicitly declares this: “Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for Him, unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28.
In perfect harmony with this, Paul taught that the crowns of righteousness will be given when Christ shall appear. In the Roman dungeon, with the shadow of soon-coming death resting over his life, he wrote: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Tim. 4:8.
The American Revised Version renders the last statement, “But also to all them that have loved His appearing.” Many who have loved Christ’s appearing or second coming, like Paul, have died and been laid away. But the promise is sure, nevertheless. Paul declared that the crown was laid up. He said that it would be given to him in that day when the Judge appears. And at that time all who have loved the appearing of Christ will, with Paul, likewise receive the crown. Writing to the Thessalonians, this same Paul has described how both the living and the dead of God’s chosen will enter into this reward. His word on this matter is clearly authoritative. He says: “This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:15-18.
Thus in detail Paul, by the word of the Lord, explains how when Christ comes again He will receive His children unto Himself, that where He is they may ever be also. And he also declares plainly by this word of the Lord, that both living and dead are to be caught up together in the clouds, of angels, to meet the Lord in the air, then evermore to be with the Lord. How idle then, and how contrary to the facts and statement of Scripture, is that teaching that Christ comes at death, and then the believer at once enters upon his blissful existence. The facts of the above scripture are to be our hope and comfort. Paul’s admonition is, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” But plainly we can have little interest in that time, if death is to take us there ahead of that time. Then, do you not see that the teaching that death is the time of entering into reward, and of being with Christ, absolutely denies what the Word says when it declares that both the living and the dead, at the coming of Christ, are together to be received by Him at the one time? And thus also it is at the foundation of that awful disregard in the churches to-day of that which ought to be the one hope and comfort of all—the blessed appearing of Christ? The crown of righteousness, you will remember, is to be given to them who love His appearing. Through all the history of the church, the coming of Christ has been the great hope and comfort of the faithful. Job, in the midst of his affliction, feeling that he had entered the very shadow of death, and that in his disease his body had actually begun the work of dissolution, could look beyond the destruction of the body to the resurrection of a new body and a glorious sight of the appearing Christ. “O that my words were now written! O that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; tho my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19:25-27.
That the coming of Christ is the time when God’s people shall be delivered, was plainly declared to the prophet Daniel by the angel Gabriel. “Michael [shall] stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Dan. 12:1.
It is at this time that Jesus sets up His kingdom. Paul makes this very plain. It is not at Pentecost. It is when Christ appears. “The Lord Jesus Christ . . . shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.” 2 Tim. 4:1.
Christ Himself declared the same thing. He tells us that His coming, His sitting on the throne to reign, and the entering of His saints into the kingdom, are all synchronous; they all occur at the one time. “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25:31, 34.
Not until that time will the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. For the kingdom that Christ sets up, breaks in pieces and consumes all earthly kingdoms, and stands forever. Dan. 2:44. It is by this destruction of sin, sinners, and all sinful, earthly kingdoms, that the promise of God to Christ is to be fulfilled. “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Ps. 2:7-9.
The glorious presence of Christ, which is the surety and safeguard of the believer, becomes the vengeance of God to the rebellious wicked, and their destruction. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” 2 Thess. 1:7-10.
His glorious appearance changes the believer in Christ into the same image as His Lord (1 John 3:2); but it consumes the sinner (2 Peter 3:7). Thus the saints shall enter into their immortal inheritance. And thus too the sinner shall be destroyed. Sin must cease. God has decreed that throughout His wide domains there shall not be sin, sickness, death, or the curse. All shall be holy and blessed, all shall be glorious. Those who definitely and fixedly connect themselves with sin, will perish in the destruction of sin. But the destruction was for sin and not for man. If he chooses it deliberately, the blame rests upon himself, and not upon the One who has decreed the banishment from His kingdom of all sin. But we need not be among those who rebel. We may be among those who believe, among those who love His appearing, among those who comfort one another with the words of God relative to that glorious time. If so, we shall not be among those who go down in ruin, but instead we may say: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 25:9. [The last article in this series is “The Hope of the Ages,” by A. O. Tait.] If you have any faith, give me a share of it. Your doubts you may keep to yourself, for I have plenty of my own.—Goethe. “A MAN is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.” Life Ascending Toward Heaven
By Richter
LIFE, like the water of the seas, freshens only when it ascends toward heaven.—Richter. The Law of God
By H. W. Cottrell
THE immutable nature and moral character of the law of God, must Scripturally and logically determine its eternity. In a previous article, we demonstrated its character and its immutability. Of the Author of the law, we read, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy.” Isa. 57: 15. We read of His law, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom. 7: 12. Relative to the eternity of God's law, we read, “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever.” Ps. 111: 7, 8. It will be both interesting and profitable to the soul who is searching to know the way of the divine Christ more perfectly, to read both the prophetic and literal history of His life upon earth, and to study His utterances concerning the eternity of the law. “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the Book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Ps. 40: 7, 8. “I have kept My Father's commandments.” John 15: 10. In His memorable Sermon on the Mount, our Lord said, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16: 17. That our divine Lord herein declares the eternity of the law, is evidenced from His unimpeachable language, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than . . . [for] the law to fail.” He quotes from the sixth and seventh commandments. Matt. 5: 21, 27, 28. A candid doubting Thomas is left no room for questioning in regard to the Saviour's meaning. In that same memorable sermon, He makes further reference to the eternity of the law, as follows: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Matt. 7: 12. In this utterance, our Lord totals the law's requirements of man, with his fellow men. Certainly, it is clear to every thinking mind, that the doing to others as one would be done by, required by the law — the last six commandments — will be obligatory upon man throughout both time and eternity. Thus, the Master taught the eternity of the law of God. The eternity of the law is again determined by the prophetic utterance of Christ, when clothed upon in flesh. “Yea, Thy law is within My heart.” That which was within Christ's heart, (the law) is within His heart, and will eternally remain within the heart of our Redeemer; for He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” Heb. 13: 8. And that which was within His heart, was truly manifest in His earthly life. “I have kept My Father's commandments.” The psalmist David once said, and he was a man with a personal, spiritual experience; “Thou art nigh, O Jehovah; and all Thy commandments are truth. Of old have I known from Thy testimonies, that Thou hast founded them forever.” Ps. 119: 151, 152, A.R.V. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away.” —Jesus. The great Teacher reaffirmed the continuance of the law, and laid special emphasis upon the fourth commandment, as recorded: “Wherefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.” Matt. 12: 12, A.R.V. It is self-evident that to do good on the Sabbath day, can not be truthfully said to be “lawful,” except the law exists. Our heavenly Father declares in behalf of the eternity of both Himself and His law, He is unlike sinful men. He never changes, and His word can not be broken. “Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.” In view of the fact that all men are face to face with eternal life through Christ, or eternal death through impenitence of a violated law, it is the privilege of every seeker after truth, to petition the Lord in the language of the man of God, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Ps. 119: 18. [The last article in this series will appear next week and is entitled “The Law and the Gospel.”] The Natives’ Time Board with Its Seven Holes
By T. E. Bowen
IN the Bible Society Gleanings, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, of London, there appeared recently a little item as follows: “In West Africa, a town on the delta of the river Niger was visited for the first time in 1909; and early last year, in response to repeated invitations, the Rev. J. D. Aitken went thither. The whole town turned out to meet him, and he was taken to see a spot where they proposed to build a school. He observed in their houses pieces of wood bored with seven holes, and a peg inserted in one of them. This was their contrivance for keeping the recurrence of Sunday in remembrance, tho in their ignorance they observed it on Saturdays.” We have in this contrivance of boards with seven holes and pegs, by the natives in this West African village, something well worthy of more than passing notice. These people knew there are seven days in each week, and had found out in some manner that one of these days ought to be observed as the Sabbath. Our missionary friend states that “in their ignorance” they had put their Sabbath pegs into the wrong hole, as he found them in the Saturday hole in place of the hole for Sunday. But in what a terrible dilemma this Bible agent (for he was engaged in selling the Bible in these parts) finds himself as he undertakes to straighten out the heathen people at this village by showing them into which hole their pegs should be placed for the Sabbath! Surely he could not use the good Book of God, which he was circulating among them, in showing these people they had their pegs in the wrong holes. Imagine him taking his Bible from his pocket and beginning to read to them, after turning to Ex. 20:8-11, where God says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Should the chief speak up and say, “Why, missionary, this is the very hole our pegs are in now; and how is it that you tell us they are in the wrong place, when your God plainly tells you, in His Book you bring to us, that it was upon this very day that He rested, and then commanded you to keep the day holy?” what answer could this representative of the gospel give? Turn to any portion of the Book he likes, it reads the same in every place: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Nowhere can a blessing or like command be found that would indicate that the natives ought to put their pegs into any other hole than the one in which he had found them — that for the seventh day, or Saturday. If the missionary can supply his own ideas, entirely apart from the Book, in place of what the Book says, by substituting a day not spoken of at all in his Book as the day he must keep for the Sabbath, what assurance have these “ignorant” heathen that the Jesus of whom the missionary reads is the One after all who can really save them from their sins? If pegs can be moved in one instance, why not in another? The only way in which this missionary, or any other, can prove to a heathen man that the stone or tree he worships is not the true God, is by proving to him that his god did not create the heavens and the earth. He must be made to see that the God of the Bible is the true God, and the only one to worship, because He created all these things the heathen beholds in the earth and sky. It is thus that the poor heathen sees his error, and renounces his false god. Then is it not a cruel thing for a missionary to turn squarely about and deny that that day upon which God rested after finishing His creative work — that day He set apart, to keep fresh in the minds of all that He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth — is the Sabbath, and that another must be kept that has not thus been set apart at all by the Lord, and which must rest wholly upon the authority of men? Can you conceive of a more confusing thing to do in trying to convert the heathen to God? Ah, reader, the heathen people back on the delta of the river Niger in West Africa made no mistake when they put their peg into the seventh-day hole for the Sabbath. This is the hole into which the Lord Jesus Himself thrust His peg for the Sabbath day at the close of creation week (see John 1:1-3; Eph. 3:9; Gen. 2:1-3), and He has never changed it. It is safe to teach the heathen, as well as all others, to follow Jesus; and, furthermore, He “is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Selfishness and Greatness
“A SELFISH man can be neither good nor great.” “BELIEVE in others and they will believe in you.” Touch Not the Unclean Thing
“Touch not, taste not, handle not the unclean thing.” “FALSEHOOD is cowardly, truth is courageous.” Diligence and Good Fortune
By B. Franklin
DILIGENCE is the mother of good luck.—B. Franklin. Keeping the Battle-Axes Sharp
By Robert Atkinson
SOME one has to grind our battle-axes and keep the supply of ammunition close up to the firing line.—Robert Atkinson. No, don't take out the lines, sir;
Just leave 'em, every one;
It wouldn't be my mother
If all the lines were gone. It's well enough for young folks
That never knowed a care,
To hev their faces white-like,
And ne'er a wrinkle there. But when there's seventy years, sir,
Left clear ahind one's back,
It seems to me like lying
To cover up their track. A field that's long been furrowed,
And ditched on every hand,
No one would think of passing
For new prairie land. And so, I think our faces
Should tell out fair and true,
Whatever care or tillin'
Our lives has bin put through. The heft of care that mother
So long and late has borne,
And sorrow's share a-plowin'
Has all them furrows worn. Why, bless you, when the fever
Took all her children down,
And not a friend or neighbor,
In all the country roun',
Would lend a hand at nursing,
Or even dare come near,
To pass a cup of water
Or drop a word of cheer. She tended 'em right faithful,
Till six long weeks went by,
And 'cept 'twas setten dozin',
She never closed an eye. And once—'twas in the springtime,
When father broke his leg,
And for a month and over,
He couldn't stir a peg—
She sowed along the furrows,
And drew the harrow, too,
And kept the work a-goin'
As well as man could do. And never sich a harvest
Before or since has proved,
As that one that came after
The seed my mother sowed. And then o' sore heart trials
That all has got to bear—
The partin's and eye closin's—
Poor mother's hed her share. I don't just want a pictur'
To hang upon the wall,
With roses roun' the border,
And gildin', frame and all;
But somethin' of my mother
To tell me when she's dead—
Jest with them very wrinkles—
To bravely go ahead! So don't take out the lines, sir,
But leave 'em every one,
For 'twouldn't be my mother
If all the lines were gone.
— Selected. The Real Test of Worth
By Spencer B. Meeser
THE faultiest measure of honor is fame, and the least token of right is popularity. Majorities do not make moralities. The majority is as often wrong as right. Neither might nor majority makes right. Self-respect is better than popularity with others; and the approval of Christ worthier than all honor men can give. After Christ’s approval, the next highest thing is the approval of one’s own soul. There is no higher law for one’s life than the law of one’s own soul, save God’s law; and in the last analysis, His is but the more perfect rescript of the one law in our souls. Perfect moral self-respect is one with Christ’s approval. So, once more, such a one as desires true worth is not concerned with ruling and governing others. His kingdom is what he is, not what he has; what he can do in himself, rather than what he can have others do for him. His kingdom is in ruling himself, and he aims at self-mastery. So he keeps his body under, and brings it into subjection; so he casts down false ideals, and leads every thought into captivity to Christ; so he takes hold on the sympathies and emotions, in order that, at last, he may be sovereign in every faculty and power of his life, and use them all to the attainment of worth and blessedness and right character.—Spencer B. Meeser. “But ye denied the Holy One and the just.” Who is it speaking these words in Acts 3:14?—It is Peter—that same Peter who denied Jesus thrice in an hour. Well may we imagine these proud Pharisees whom he is now addressing, throwing back the taunt: “No, Peter, we never denied Him; we never professed to love or to follow Him. But you, you, Peter, denied Him. It was you—one of His best friends; you who said you were willing to die for Him, and would never deny Him tho all others did.” Ah, how the words would have stung Peter’s loving, impulsive heart even to the core. “Yes,” says Peter, “I did; I did deny my blessed Lord. I did pierce afresh His bleeding side. He was wounded in the house of His friends. Yes, I was a poor, lost, undone, guilty sinner; but Jesus looked on me with that loving face so full of sorrow; and with that look came the memory of my sins, and I wept to think how cruel, how ungrateful I had been, and I asked the dear Master to forgive me, and I was restored to fellowship and communion with Him, and now I trust not in Peter for sustaining grace, but I trust in Him who said to me, ‘When thou art converted [turned from self to Me], strengthen thy brethren;’ and it is through Him that I have done this miracle, and not by any holiness in myself.” Ah, dear Christian readers, let us beware lest we too, like Peter, give unbelievers occasion, by our unfaithfulness, to blaspheme the name of the Lord. Let us ever remember that forgiveness only heals the wound, but the scar still remains. True, we are complete in Jesus when accepted by Him; but these backslidings, these denials, will do us lasting harm. They hurt our influence with the unsaved, and they at once say to us, “Physician, heal thyself.” Let us look well to it how we walk. Let us ever bear in mind that the fire will try our works, and whatever we have done that has any of self in it at all, shall be burned up.—Selected. The Reticent God
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
Great souls are silent and walk apart:
Yea, every spirit dwelleth alone;
By the crowded way and on thronging mart
Each one hath a vision, his very own,
But perfect kinship doth none await.
The reticent God is the only mate. His Word instructeth. By what it saith
We must bear the burden and share the bane,
For we are one body with Christ, by faith:
Tho the wound be thine—I must pity the pain.
My words and my deeds are only mine—
The reticent God is the Judge, divine. The Christian life, in the Christ, must be
The mystic communion of many saints,
With trust the watchword, and love the key
Unfettering all the soul's constraints.
Yet, howsoever the ranks demean,
The reticent God is the bond between. No heart can be strong in the rush and boom
Of the world's commotion and complex strife,—
The spirit of man must have range and room
For separate living and restful life,
Where, by light or darkness, in joy or ruth,
The reticent God can reveal the truth. Potential powers are gleaned and gained
Where the solitudes mature the strength;
From Horeb's stillness, the might obtained
Bore Paul to the “Ostian Way” at length.
Where holy bush doth the soul surround,
The reticent God can be truly found. He hideth from us, we know not why,—
His self-completeness we know and trust;
We may not gaze on Him, eye to eye,—
We see His beauty, perceive Him just,
And step with Him till the tumults cease.
The reticent God is our perfect peace. Tho ransomed bosoms be full of song
When Love looks in with delight aflame;
Tho majesty and all graces throng
On the brow, thorn-crowned for the Perfect Name;
We learn, when He comes to abide within,
The reticent God is our next of kin. San Francisco, California. Our Friend
By Worthie Harris Holden
The heart craves friendship, for its Maker reckoned
That each some friend should know—
Some kindred spirit on whom in communion
Its secrets to bestow. But God alone can be the Friend of sinners,
To rescue them from death,—
A power for virtue and a balm for sorrow,
Who grants their every breath. A Friend unchallenged when we tread the threshold
Of death or grim despair,
A spirit who records each prayer unuttered
And wings its comfort there. O, Friend of sinners! dearer name ne'er given
To light our night of wo;
No word of mortals e'er can voice Thy praises,
But each Thy heart can know. The Christian’s Immunity
By Deloin Res Buckner
The viper’s lasso-coils, like ripples, clash
While he extends his neck with arrow aim,
When, leaping from his lair within the flame,
Quick as a fatal nerve-like lightning flash,
He strikes and leaves a venom-loaded gash
In the half-frozen hand of one whose name
Is Paul, who hurls it back from whence it came,
Where slowly it cremates to leprous ash.
The rude barbarians of Malta isle
Think that the victim of the serpent’s ire
Must once have spilled a life upon the sod,
Which is avenged; but, when they stare a while,
And see him stand unharmed beside the fire,
They change their minds, and say he is a god. Jesus Our Friend
By Laella M. Kendall
Jesus is our friend in need;
All His counsels safely heed.
He alone will kiss away
All the tears of every day. Jesus is my all and all.
When I'm sorry, I will call;
He will hear me, love me, too,
He will pardon, lead me through — Through the rugged, rocky way
Of this world's life-weary day,
To a blest, a safe retreat,
For the cut and bleeding feet. As we journey, we must pray,
Lift our eyes, and look away,
Never doubting. Never fear—
Always trust Him, He is here. Blessed Jesus — Holy One —
Kindly lead us, guide us on
To the happy, golden shore,
Where life's sorrows are no more. When I fold my hands to sleep,
Careful watch my Jesus keep;
Then it is my sleep is sweet,
And the words in dreams repeat: Blessed Jesus — Holy One —
Kindly lead us, guide us on
To the happy, golden shore,
Where life's sorrows are no more.