Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 35. (9/9/1886)

Signs of the Times

Sep 9, 1886

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 9, 1886

General Articles.

By Mrs. Ellen G. White

Woman in the Home.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

The principle inculcated by the injunction, “Be ye kindly affectioned one to another,” lies at the very foundation of domestic happiness. Christian courtesy should reign in every household. It is cheap, but it has power to soften natures which would grow hard and rough without it. The cultivation of a uniform courtesy, a willingness to do by others as we would like them to do by us, would banish half the ills of life. The wife and mother may bind the hearts of her husband and children to her own by the strong chords of love, if in her intercourse with them she will manifest unvarying love in gentle words and courteous deportment.

Marked diversities of disposition and character frequently exist in the same family; for it is in the order of God that persons of varied temperament should associate together. When this is the case, each member of the household should sacredly regard the feelings, and respect the rights of the others. By this means mutual consideration and forbearance will be cultivated, prejudices will be softened, and rough points of character smoothed. Harmony may be secured, and the blending of the varied temperaments may be a benefit to each. Christian courtesy is the golden clasp uniting the members of the family in bonds of love that become closer and stronger every day.

In many cases homes are made unhappy by the useless repining of the wife and mother, who turns with distaste from the simple, homely tasks of her domestic life. She looks upon her cares and duties as hardships, and the ministrations which might be made pleasant and interesting become the merest drudgery.

Many a woman goes through the routine of her daily duties with fidelity and exactness, while she is all the time comparing her lot with that of others whom she considers more favored, and is cherishing unsanctified longings for an easier position, where she will be free from the petty cares and exactions that vex her spirit. She little dreams that in that widely different sphere to which she aspires, trials fully as vexatious, though perhaps of a different nature, would certainly beset her. And while she is fruitlessly yearning for a different life, she is, by her sinful discontent, casting from her the blessings which a kind Providence has already granted.

Others become so occupied with their household cares that they forget the little courtesies which make life pleasant to their husbands and children. While their time and energies are absorbed in the preparation of something to eat or to wear, their husbands and sons come in and go out as strangers. And very many, finding nothing attractive at home, perhaps being greeted with continual scolding and murmuring, seek comfort and amusement in the dram-shop, or in other forbidden places.

The true wife and mother will pursue an entirely different course. She will perform her duties with dignity and cheerfulness, not considering it degrading to do with her own hands whatever it is necessary to do in a well-ordered household.

In order to be a good wife, it is not necessary that woman’s nature should be utterly merged in that of her husband. Every individual has a life distinct from all others, an experience differing essentially from theirs. It is not the design of our Creator that our individuality should be lost in another’s; he would have us possess our own characters, softened and sanctified by his sweet grace. He would hear our words fresh from our own hearts. He would have our yearning desires and earnest cries ascend to him marked by our own individuality. All do not have the same exercises of mind, and God calls for no second-hand experience. Our compassionate Redeemer reaches his helping hand to us just where we are.

If woman looks to God for strength and comfort, and in his fear seeks to perform her daily duties, she will win the respect and confidence of her husband, and see her children coming to maturity honorable men and women, having moral stamina to do right. But mothers who neglect present opportunities, and let their duties and burdens fall upon others, will find that their responsibility remains the same, and they will reap in bitterness what they have sown in carelessness and neglect. There is no chance work in this life; the harvest will be determined by the character of the seed sown.

Many who do well under favorable circumstances seem to undergo a transformation of character when trials and adversity come; they deteriorate in proportion to their troubles. God never designed that we should thus be the sport of circumstances. We are not responsible for circumstances over which we have no control, and it is useless to deny that these often affect our life-work; but we sin when we permit circumstances to subvert principle, when we are unfaithful to our high trust, and neglect known duty.

The first and most urgent duty which the mother owes to her Creator is to train for him the children that he has given her. Infant children are a mirror for the mother in which she may see reflected her own habits and deportment. How careful, then, should be her language and behavior in the presence of these little learners. Whatever traits of character she wishes to see developed in them, she must cultivate in herself.

When the mother has gained the confidence of her children, and taught them to love and obey her, she has given them the first lesson in the Christian life. They must love and trust and obey their Saviour, as they love and trust and obey their parents. The love which in faithful care and right training the parent manifests for the child, faintly mirrors the love of Jesus for his faithful people.

Mothers, awake to the fact that your influence and example are affecting the character and destiny of your children; and in view of your responsibility, develop a well-balanced mind, and a pure character, reflecting only the true, the good, and the beautiful. Your compassionate Redeemer is watching you with love and sympathy, ready to hear your prayers, and to render you the assistance which you need. He knows the burdens of every mother’s heart, and is her best friend in every emergency. His everlasting arms support the God-fearing, faithful mother. When upon earth, he had a mother that struggled with poverty, having many anxious cares and perplexities, and he sympathizes with every Christian mother in her cares and anxieties. That Saviour who took a long journey for the purpose of relieving the anxious heart of a woman whose daughter was possessed by an evil spirit, will hear the mother’s prayers, and will bless her children.

He who gave back to the widow her only son as he was carried to the burial, is touched to-day by the woe of the bereaved mother. He who wept tears of sympathy at the grave of Lazarus, and gave back to Martha and Mary their buried brother; who pardoned Mary Magdalene; who remembered his mother when he was hanging in agony upon the cross; who appeared to the weeping women, and made them his messengers to spread the first glad tidings of a risen Saviour,—he is woman’s best friend to-day, and is ready to aid her in all the relations of life.

Our Saviour, who understands our heart-struggles, and knows the weakness of our natures, pities our infirmities, forgives our errors, and bestows upon us the graces which we earnestly desire. Joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, faith, and charity are the elements of the Christian character. These precious graces are the fruit of the Spirit, and the Christian’s crown and shield. Where these graces reign in the home, the sons are “as plants grown up in their youth,” and the daughters “as corner-stones polished after the similitude of a palace.” These heavenly attainments are not dependent upon circumstances, nor the will or imperfect judgment of man. Nothing can give more perfect contentment and satisfaction than the cultivation of a Christian character; the most exalted aspirations can aim at nothing higher.

JESUS IS MINE.

By Mrs. Sarah M. Swan

BY MRS. SARAH M. SWAN.

What though my path o'er life's rough way, Be strewed with thorns, with snares beset, Though dark and cloudy be my day, And oft with tears my couch be wet, Though worldly hopes be blasted all, And pleasure prove an empty dream, If mid the storm, the gloom, the thrall, My soul can chant the glorious theme, Jesus is mine.

Yes, he is mine, I ask no more, My shepherd, husband, and my friend, My hope when life's brief day is o'er, My shield from evil to defend, My stay on which I now may lean, My refuge from the coming storm. His presence shall my soul sustain, And bring me to that glorious morn; Jesus is mine.

Jesus is mine; let all depart, Come joy or sorrow, grief or pain, To him I give this trembling heart, And he will ne'er the trust disdain. His love shall bear me safely through, Though high the waves of trouble rise. To earth I soon will bid adieu, And sing with angels in the skies; Jesus is mine.

Inconvenient and Unpopular.

By D. A. ROBINSON.

In the long list of objections raised against the observance of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment; the two suggested in the heading of this article are seldom mentioned; and yet with the masses they have more weight than all other objections put together. Strict Sunday-keepers gravely tell us that the fourth commandment simply enjoins the observance of any day in seven, and no day in particular; then in almost the next sentence they charge Sabbatarians with having fallen from grace because they keep the seventh day. But this any-day-in-seven theory, stripped of its dress, is an affirmation that every day is a sabbath. Let us grant, for argument's sake, that the commandment means that any day in seven is the Sabbath. If so, then it means that every day is the Sabbath.

To illustrate: I place in a circle seven pieces of coin. I now affirm that any seventh piece is gold. If my affirmation is true, then it follows that each and every piece is gold; and if each piece is not gold, then my statement that any seventh piece is gold is wickedly false. So in the case of the statement that any seventh day is the Sabbath, if it does not prove that all days are sabbaths, it proves that the statement is foolish and false. Well, says one, isn't that just what the Lord meant, that we should keep all days right? Answer: “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work.” If the seventh day there means any day, it means, as I have shown above, every day, and hence we have the Lord giving this remarkable instruction to man, namely, to work six days, and then in the next sentence forbidding labor on every day in seven. All can see that this is the legitimate conclusion to which we are driven when we take the position that the fourth commandment means any seventh part of our time.

Another objector tells us that our interpretation of the commandment is all right, that it should be taken literally just as it reads, but that we overlook the fact that Christ changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day, and that if we fail to keep the latter, we deny Christ. We ask the objector, and we ask you, reader, as well, Is there any Scriptural proof that either Christ or the apostles ever made such a change? The only honest answer that can be given is that there is not a single text in all the word of God to prove that Christ, the apostles, or the early church ever changed the Sabbath, ever thought of doing so, or ever desired it to be done.

Nowhere in the inspired volume is any sacred title applied to the first day. Christ never observed it, neither did he ever tell any one else to keep it. What does the objector say? Reader, what do you say? This same objector, after finding no proof for his supposed change of the Sabbath, tells me that the world is round and that it is impossible to keep the seventh day. Why did he not think of that when he was enforcing upon me the observance of the first day, and charging me with denying Christ if I did not keep it? Is the seventh day so radically different from the first that its observance on a round world is impossible, while the first day can be kept there as well as not? Is not this position rather a miserable make-shift and quibble to avoid the force of a plain precept of Jehovah, which says: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work”?

A clergyman of considerable note, not long since, after instructing his audience that the world was too round to admit of observing the seventh day, told them that time had been lost so that it was impossible to tell which the seventh day was. Then as if to put the matter beyond all dispute, he drew a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. He described pathetically “the dead Christ” there on that “old Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day,” and then told of the “living Saviour” who came forth on “Sunday, the glorious first day, the day of all days.” Let us place these arguments side by side.

The world is round, and we cannot keep the seventh day.
Time has been lost and we cannot tell which the seventh day is.
Sunday is the first day. On it Christ rose from the dead; and if we would honor him, we must keep it sacredly.
This first day came the next day after the “old Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day.”

A strange thing is this Sunday! There is no such thing as “the seventh day;” the commandment simply means any seventh day; time has been lost, and the seventh day cannot be found, and the world is round and you could not keep it if you were to find it; but none of these things militate one whit against the first day!! Strange, indeed, is Sunday! The seventh is the only day that God ever commanded to be observed as a weekly Sabbath. It was kept by patriarchs, prophets, Christ, and the apostles. A commandment concerning it was placed among the everlasting ten. It was enjoined in the teaching of our Saviour; and yet this first day, with no command for its observance, no hint that Christ or the apostles ever kept it or that they required or desired us to keep it, steps forward with all the authority of a God-given institution, and boldly asks us to recognize its claims. This whole matter of objections to Sabbath observance, in the minds of those who have given the question anything of a fair and careful examination, when simmered down amounts to this: It is inconvenient and unpopular to keep the seventh day. Then why should not those who think they cannot afford to obey the commandment just as it reads, unite on these objections, abandon the weak and puerile arguments they have been using against the Sabbath, and present one united front to Sabbatarians on this question?

Inconvenient and unpopular! All other objections against the Sabbath can be answered, but these we cannot answer, only as each answers them for himself. These objections are true; all others are false. It is often inconvenient to keep the seventh day—to be out of joint with the world two days in the week—this is what makes it one of the closest tests of our loyalty to Him who bade us: “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, in it thou shalt not do any work.” Ex. 20:8, 9. And it has always been unpopular, so far as the world goes, to be in the minority; but while we are free to confess that no one can remove these objections for another, we wish to ask you, kind reader, what excuse do they contain for our violation of that law of which the Saviour says: “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law”? Matt. 5:18.

No, it is not always convenient to keep the Sabbath. Neither does the commandment say: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy if it be convenient.” It was not a matter of convenience for the three worthies to face the fiery furnace and the wrath of earth's then mightiest king; and yet they did it, and by sending the “form of the fourth” into that furnace to protect them from the destructive elements, God approved of the course they pursued. It was not convenient for Peter, Paul, James, John, and other of the disciples to meet persecution, to have their character maligned, their names cast out as evil; to be whipped, stoned, imprisoned, and put to death; and yet they suffered all this for the truth's sake, and rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” It wasn't convenience that led our Saviour to give up all the glory of Heaven, and become “sin for us.” He was the “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He came not to do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. Of him it is said, “even Christ pleased not himself.” Oh, let us become partakers of his Spirit; and when an unpopular truth presents to us a cross, let us take one look at the royal Man of Calvary in his life of humiliation, and remember that— “There is suffering ere the glory, There’s a cross before the crown.”

D. A. ROBINSON.

Roman Aggression and Protestant Apathy.

By R. T.

Of all the great evils that exist in our land, there seems to be none toward which the American people exhibit such apathy and perfect indifference as the insidious and rapid encroachments of Romanism. Although they cannot shut their eyes to the fact that this sect always has been the uncompromising enemy of religious and civil liberty, and that their leaders still claim that they never change, yet by some strange infatuation business men, and politicians especially, seem to vie with each other in their efforts to court the favor and to yield to all the demands of this sect, which they should know is endeavoring to destroy us as a free people.

The man who found a viper benumbed, cold and stiff, and put it in his bosom to warm it to life, and as it revived stung him to death, acted just as consistently and as suicidally as those who so readily yield to the demands and seek the favor of Romanism. The fact is we are warming to life a veritable viper whose ultimate aim is to sting to death the life and liberties of this Nation. The rum power is bad enough—a great and terrible evil, causing untold misery and desolation, and filling graveyards with its victims—yet I think it would not lay violent hands on our Constitution and trail our banner in the dust at the feet of foreign despots. But Romanism would do this to-day if it had the power. It first blindfolds its victims, then robs them and leads them deluded to eternal destruction under a cloak of religion. And this is the principle that Protestant Americans are fostering and apologizing for, in order to gain office, or a few dollars in trade, etc., like Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage; yea, worse, for he only injured himself. But these persons deliberately sell our blood-bought liberties for all time, for mere sordid gain and personal ambition.

Is it not wonderful, astonishing, and even shameful to see governors, legislators, judges, merchants, and business men, even down to the humblest citizen, cringing at the feet of Rome's hirelings—the priests—as if anxious to do their bidding, and awed into submission to their will by the crack of that terrible weapon, the boycott lash, which they keep constantly twirling over their heads. Merchants want their trade and politicians their votes, therefore they keep very quiet and don't say anything to disturb them.

Oh, ye Protestants of America, will ye never awake to your danger till your liberties are taken from you, and only here and there one like Father O'Connor to raise his voice against this usurpation of the priests of Rome, while there is not a nation on earth where Romanism bears rule that has the least semblance of civil and religious liberty. It would seem as if Protestant Americans are bent on their own destruction. May God have mercy on us, and save us from this terrible apathy before it is too late, is my prayer.—R. T., in Converted Catholic.

Thoughts Shape Our Lives

By F. W. Teal

It is the habitual thought that frames itself into our life. It affects us even more than our intimate social relations do. Our confidential friends have not so much to do in shaping our lives as thoughts have which we harbor.—F. W. Teal.

Who May Rejoice.

By Mrs. M. J. Bahler

“Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” Ps. 107:1, 2.

DAVID sang of the redemption from Egyptian bondage; but how appropriately can the soul which has been brought to see itself all stained and polluted by sin, “sunk in deep mire where there is no standing,”—how appropriately can such an one adopt the language of Israel’s sweet singer, when that peace which passeth all understanding flows into the weary, sin-sick soul! When, loathing its bondage to sin, it is brought to comprehend that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20), then it must rejoice in Him who hath become its strength and salvation.

When a soul finds that in itself “there is no good thing,” that sin is the natural fruit of the heart, how comforting then the precious assurance that although sin exists in the heart, a God of love extends grace; that because we are sinners, Jesus died to save us. That even though the sin piles up until it seems mountain high, and “abounds” on every side until we seem to be hedged in with it, yet “grace doth much more abound.” That God’s mercy and favor extends above and beyond all the sin. “That as sin hath reigned [in our hearts] unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life.” How? “By Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 5:21.

May not the redeemed of the Lord, redeemed from the galling bondage of sin, sing with a joyful heart, “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever”? Surely, if any being endowed with power to rejoice and give praise to God can do so intelligently, it is the soul redeemed from sin. When with David we have bowed low in humiliation, and cried “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me,” then we are made to realize that a broken and contrite heart God does not despise, and that “the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down.”

Can a heart that has truly become conscious of its own sinfulness and its utter helplessness to resist evil and overcome sin of itself, alone, unaided by Christ, once realize the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit, the transformation which will be wrought in the soul by the love of Christ,—can such an one, I ask, taste the joy of sins forgiven and keep silent? Nay, verily. Such a thing is an impossibility. The soul that has found this priceless blessing can no longer bow low in mourning over sin. It will ever maintain a consciousness of its own danger without Christ, and this very consciousness will increase the gratitude which culminates necessarily in glad rejoicing.

In the consciousness of its own weakness the heart throbs and swells with glad praises to that Friend who hath not only redeemed, but who can also keep. Such an one will not be ashamed to proclaim, “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” Ps. 40:2, 3.

Even “as the hart panteth after the water brooks,” so will such an one pant and long for a closer union with Christ. He will sing “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” And then, glad to acknowledge the reason for his joy, he will not fail to add, “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” Ps. 103:1, 2, 3.

Then is it not our privilege to rejoice in the Lord? May we not say, “He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved”? Ps. 65:2. Yes, we may make these glad words ours if we forget not to confess, “O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.” Ps. 62:5. Thus ever blending a sense of our weakness and sinfulness by nature with a sense of his abundant mercy and abounding grace, we may rejoice evermore. MRS. M. J. BAHLER.

The Loss of Conscience.

By Rev. W. S. Danley

THERE is a passage of scripture in 1 Tim. 1:19, which merits more attention than it has generally received. The thought of the apostle is that the thrusting away of a good conscience entails the shipwreck of the faith. The word “faith” has two uses,—first, confidence in God; second, the gospel doctrine in which we believe. The gospel is called the faith, because it is that on which our faith leans. The expression, “the faith,” is employed in this sense in the passage referred to. A man first loses faith in the gospel, and then loses the gospel—faith and “the faith” go down together. . . .

There remains this, however, that when a man destroys the gospel it is destroyed only for himself; it continues a living power for others. The destructive critic makes a wild mistake by supposing that because he has put the truth beyond his own reach he has thereby utterly destroyed it. Conscience plays a prominent part in the destruction of faith in the soul. By putting away a good conscience, Paul tells us many have made shipwreck of the faith.

A good conscience may be thrust away, and when the admonitions of this faithful monitor are persistently resisted, it ceases to utter its warning voice. Conscience is a voice that may be stifled, an alarm-bell which may be muffled, a mirror whose clear face may be sullied till it refuses to reflect the image of the persevering transgressor. Conscience is thrust away by the constant doing of deeds which conscience condemns. When the sinner loses his conscience, he loses a faithful monitor and a true friend; and that is enough to lose. But he loses more; he loses faith in the gospel, he makes shipwreck of the faith; and from him it sinks to the bottom of the sea. How does it happen? An evil life, a life disapproved by conscience, blinds the sinner so that he is unable to see the truth in its beauty; it has no beauty for him, and has lost its power over his life. He thinks it has no force, and believes he was childish when he owned the influence of gospel truth on his life. He thinks he is wiser now.

It is common to say of bad men that they only pretend they do not believe the gospel, and thus make an open way to shun what they hate and are glad to get rid of. It is to be feared the truth lies deeper; that they in fact cannot see in the gospel plan of salvation the beauty others clearly see there, because they have blinded their faith, the soul's eye, by an ungodly life. The gospel has lost attraction for them, and that is unbelief in earnest; there is no need of making a show of skepticism. Their unbelief is but too real, too much of a stubborn fact in their experience. Many are in this sad state who would promptly repel the charge that they are skeptics. They have put their hands on their ears to shut out the sound of the truth till the gospel has ceased to sound in their ears. . . . He who daily declines to do what he knows is right, is fast making it probable the day may come when he shall not know what is right. The man who doeth Christ's will shall know of the doctrine. Obedience is the key to the inner chambers of gospel wisdom. Disobedience dulls the conscience, blinds the eyes, and thrusts the truth into the deep sea. The most discouraging fact concerning persons who thus destroy the influence of the truth upon them by unconscious living is, that they believe themselves all right, and think the defect is entirely with the truth itself, in which they perceive no remarkable beauty or power.—Rev. W. S. Danley.

Antiquity of the Scriptures.

By Dr. Upson

FEW of us ever stop to think how old the Bible is. Yet “the Scriptures are believed by candid critics to contain the most ancient forms of truth now known to men.” With the aid of chronological tables, any one may easily make profitable comparisons between the antiquity of the Book and that of other writings and events. The Scriptures contain the only authentic history of the world before the flood. We find in the Pentateuch one or two stanzas of poetry composed in the antediluvian period. The Hebrew statutes were enacted a thousand years before Justinian reformed the Roman jurisprudence. In the Bible we have the record of chartered rights secured to the people more than two thousand years before Magna Charta.

What a sensation would be produced if the first chapter of Genesis should appear for the first time in one of our newspapers to-morrow! Yet there can be no doubt that that chapter contains the oldest writing, twenty-five hundred years before the invention of printing. Xenophon’s record of the conversation of Socrates, in his Memorabilia, seems an old book to us, yet similar topics were discussed in Ecclesiastes six hundred years before. The works of Tacitus, Plutarch, and Quintilian are not modern, yet the books of the New Testament are older than they.

As to the book of Job, its age is beyond conjecture. Those who make it as modern as they can, are compelled to place its origin at least one thousand years before Homer. When Priam was king of Troy, Job was of remote antiquity. The name of Alexander has no modern sound to us, yet when Alexander invaded Syria, the book of Job might have been read before him as the work of an author more time-honored than the name of Alexander is now.

The writings of Confucius are modern compared with most of the Bible; and the most that the Hindoos can justly claim for their sacred books, the Vedas, is that they were written five hundred years after the death of Moses. The Koran is a book fresh from the press compared with the Scriptures.—Dr. Upson.

A Difference.

THERE is a vast difference between breadth and looseness. A very narrow man may be loose, and a very broad man may be solid. But this difference is commonly lost sight of in the estimate of religious opinions. Many a man counts himself “broad” merely because he is “loose.” Holding no opinions with positiveness, he thinks that his theological sprawling is a result of his breadth of view, when it is really a result of his looseness. True breadth in religious opinions is desirable; but mere looseness in religious opinions is not to any man’s credit. A man with a clear head can take firm steps along a straight line in a broad avenue, or across the broadest open fields; but a man with a confused brain will stagger from one side of the street to the other, even in a contracted alley. Before you pride yourself on being a broad Christian, be sure that you observe the distinction between breadth and looseness.—S. S. Times.

The One Condition.

BEAR in mind that your loving Master's eye is upon you. He knows your name; it is on his book of life. He heard your promises when you came into his church. Somewhere in his wide vineyard is your bit of soil to till. He guarantees strength to wield plow, spade, or other tool, and the sunshine of his smile, and rain when it pleases Him. You are not responsible for the size of the crop, nor the yield of the tree you cultivate, or, in plain English, for the number of souls you may save. The work is yours; the results are his. "Be ye faithful unto death" is the one supreme condition on which He employs you.—Sel.

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