Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 27, 1881
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
As Jesus pursued his way to Galilee, his course lay through Samaria. He embraced every op-portunity to teach as he traveled on foot from place to place. The Saviour was weary, and he sat on Jacob's well to rest, while his disciples went in search of food with which to refresh themselves and their Master. As he sat there alone, a woman of Samaria drew near as if un-conscious of his presence; but his eye was upon her, and after she had drawn the water he asked her to give him a drink.
The Samaritan woman was surprised at this request from a Jew, and answered, "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." Jesus answered, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." He here referred to the divine grace which he alone could bestow, and which is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invig-orating the soul.
But the woman's understanding did not com-prehend the meaning of Christ; she supposed that he was speaking of the well before them, and answered, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself?" She saw before her only a weary, thirsty traveler, wayworn and dusty; and her mind instinctively compared this humble stranger with the great and worthy Jacob.
Jesus did not immediately satisfy the woman in regard to himself, but with solemn earnestness said, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
The woman looked upon him with wondering attention; he had succeeded in arousing her in-terest and inspiring respect for himself. She now perceived that it was not the water of Ja-cob's well to which Jesus alluded, for of this she used continually, drinking, and thirsting again. With remarkable faith she asked him to give her the water of which he spoke, that she might not thirst nor come to draw from the well.
Jesus did not intend to convey the idea that simply one draught of the water of life would satisfy the receiver, but that whoever is united with Christ, has within his soul a living fountain from which to draw strength and grace sufficient for all emergencies. Words and deeds of right-eousness flow from it and refresh the hearts of others, as well as the soul from which it springs. Jesus Christ, the never-failing source of this fountain, cheers the life and brightens the path of all who come to him for aid. Love to God, the satisfying hope of Heaven, springs up in good works unto eternal life.
Jesus now abruptly changed the subject of conversation, and bade her call her husband. The woman answered frankly that she had no husband. Jesus had now approached the desired point where he could convince her that he had the power to read her life history, although pre-viously unacquainted with her. He addressed her thus: "Thou hast well said, I have no hus-band; for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband; in that saidst thou truly."
Jesus had a double object in view; he wished to arouse her conscience as to the sin of her man-ner of life, as well as to prove to her that a sight wiser than human eyes had read the secrets of her life. But the woman, although not fully re-alizing the guilt of her manner of living, was greatly astonished that this stranger should pos-sess such knowledge. With profound reverence she said, "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet." Her personal feelings were now lost in anxiety concerning religious matters. She proceeded, "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."
Just in sight was Mount Gerizim, its temple demolished, and only the altar remaining. The place of worship had been a subject of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans. The lat-ter people had once belonged to Israel, but had become divided from them because of their trans-gressions in neglecting to obey the statutes of God. The Lord suffered them to be overcome by an idolatrous nation, whose religion had gradually contaminated their own. Still preserving their reverence for the true God, they represented him by images of wood and stone, before which they bowed in worship.
When the temple was rebuilt at Jerusalem, the Samaritans wished to join the Jews in its erec-tion. This privilege was refused them, and, in consequence, a bitter animosity sprang up be-tween the two people, which resulted in the Sa-maritans building a rival temple on Mount Geri-zim, where they worshiped according to the cer-emonies that God gave unto Moses, but mingled with their worship the taint of idolatry. But disasters attended the Samaritans, their temple was destroyed by the enemy, and they seemed to be under a curse.
They were forced to believe that God was punishing them for their apostasy. They deter-mined to reform, and solicited teachers from the Jews to instruct them in the true religion. Through this teaching, their views of God and his requirements became clearer, and their relig-ious service resembled more nearly that of the Jews. But to a certain degree they still clung to their idolatry, and there was a lack of har-mony between them and the Jews. The Samar-itans would not respect the temple of worship at Jerusalem, and refused to admit that it was the true place of worship.
Jesus answered the woman by saying that the time was at hand when they should neither wor-ship the Father in that mountain nor in Jerusa-lem. Said he, "Ye worship ye know not what; we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Fa-ther in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
This was a plain statement that the Jews were more nearly correct in the principles of their re-ligion than any other nation. Jesus also alluded to the faith of the Samaritans being amalgamated with the worship of graven images. True, they held that these idols were only to remind them of the living God, the Ruler of the universe; but nevertheless, the people were led to reverence these inanimate figures.
Jesus who was the foundation of the old dis-pensation, identified himself with the Jews, sanc-tioning their views of God and his government. He opened great and important truths before this woman. He declared to her that the time had arrived when the true worshipers need not seek a holy mountain nor sacred temple, but were to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Re-ligion was not to be confined to external forms and ceremonies, but was to be throned in the heart, purifying the life and actuating to good works.
The words of truth that fell from the lips of the divine Teacher stirred the heart of his listener. Never had she heard such sentiments, either from the priests of her own people or the Jews. The impressive teachings of this stranger carried her mind back to the prophecies concerning the promised Christ; for the Samaritans as well as the Jews looked for his coming. "I know that Messias cometh," said she; "when he is come, he will tell us all things." Jesus answered, "I that speak unto thee am he."
Blessed woman of Samaria! She had felt dur-ing the conference as if in the presence of divin-ity; now she gladly acknowledged her Lord. She required of him no miracle, as did the Jews, to prove his divine character. She accepted his assertion, feeling perfect confidence in his words, and not questioning the holy influence that ema-nated from him.
The disciples, returning from their errand, were surprised to find their Master conversing with a Samaritan woman; yet they did not inquire her errand, nor ask Jesus why he talked with her. The woman left her water-pot, forgetting her errand to the well, and went her way into the city, saying to all whom she met, and the men of the city, "Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?"
This woman, though so sinful, was still in a more favorable condition to become an heir of Christ's kingdom than those of the Jews who made exalted professions of piety, yet trusted their salvation to the observance of outward forms and ceremonies. They felt that they need-ed no Saviour and no teacher. But this poor wo-man hungered and thirsted after righteousness. She was eager for instruction, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and ready to accept the Sav-iour when he was revealed. Jesus who ex-plained not his character to the proud and skepti-cal Pharisees and rulers, declared himself to this humble person who was ready to believe on him.
As yet he had not taken the refreshing draught that he desired, nor tasted the food that his disciples had brought him. The salvation of per-ishing souls so absorbed his attention that his physical wants were forgotten. But his follow-ers anxiously entreated him to eat. Still contem-plating the great object of his mission, he an-swered them, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of." His disciples were surprised, and began to wonder among themselves who could have brought him food in their absence. But Jesus explained, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work."
Jesus saw a field of labor among the Samari-tans. Before him lay the fields of grain, their tender green lit by the golden sunlight. Viewing the beautiful scene, he employed it as a symbol, "Say not ye there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." He here referred to the gospel field, to the work of Christianity among the poor, despised Samaritans. His hand reached out to gather them into the garner; they were ready for the harvest.
It was not merely the fact that Jesus told her concerning the secrets of her life which inspired the confidence of this woman in him, but it was also his look and his solemn words that reached her soul and convinced her that he was a superior being. At the same time she felt that he was her friend, pitying and loving her. This is the char-acter of the world's Redeemer; while he con-demned her life of sin, he directed her to his divine grace as the sure remedy. The pitying love of the Saviour is not confined to sect or party.
As the woman of Samaria hastened back to her friends, publishing as she went the wonder-ful news, many left the highway and the town to go and ascertain if she indeed spoke the truth. Numbers of the citizens left their employments and hastened to Jacob's well to see and hear this remarkable man. They surrounded Jesus and listened attentively to his instruction. They plied him with questions, and eagerly received his ex-planation of matters that had perplexed their understandings. They were like a people in great darkness tracing up a sudden ray that had pierced their gloom and which they were eager to follow to its source, that they might bask in the light and warmth of day.
The Samaritans were attracted and interested by the teachings of Jesus. But they were not satisfied with this short conference; they were anxious to hear more and to have their fellow-citizens also listen to this wonderful teacher. They begged him to tarry with them and instruct them. For two days he remained in Samaria teaching the people. Many believed on him and accepted his words. Jesus was a Jew, yet he mingled freely with these Samaritans, setting at naught the custom and bigotry of his nation. He had already commenced to break down the parti-tion wall between Jew and Gentile, and preach salvation to the world.
These Samaritan listeners were in darkness and superstition; but they were not contented with their condition, and the words of Jesus relieved them of many doubts and uncertainties that had harassed their minds. Many who had come from curiosity to see and hear this remarkable person were convicted of the truth of his teachings, and acknowledged him as their Saviour. Eagerly they listened to the words he spoke in reference to the kingdom of God. In their new joy they said unto the woman, "Now we believe, not be-cause of thy saying; for we have heard him our-selves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."
Christ, at the very beginning of his ministry, openly rebuked the superficial morality and os-tentatious piety of the Jews. He did not conform his life and his work to their customs and regula-tions. He was not influenced by their unreason-able prejudices against the Gentiles. He, on the contrary, sternly rebuked their conceit and selfish seclusion. The Pharisees rejected Christ. They ignored his miracles and the truthful simplicity of his character. They refused to recognize his pure and elevated spirituality and all evidences of his divinity. They scornfully demanded of him a sign that they might know that he was indeed the Son of God.
But the Samaritans asked no sign, and Jesus performed no miracles among them; yet they re-ceived his teachings, were convicted of their great need of a Saviour, and accepted him as their Redeemer. They were therefore in a much more favorable position before God than the Jew-ish nation, with its pride and vanity, blind bigo-try, narrow prejudice, and bitter hatred of every other people on the earth. Jesus, in face of all these prejudices, accepted the hospitality of this despised people, slept under their roofs, ate with them at their tables—partaking of the food pre-pared and served by their hands—taught in their streets, and treated them with the greatest kind-ness and courtesy.
38In the temple at Jerusalem there was a parti-tion wall separating the outer court from the inner one. Gentiles were permitted to enter the outer court, but it was only lawful for the Jews to penetrate to the inner inclosure. Had a Samaritan passed this sacred boundary, the tem-ple would have been desecrated, and his life would have paid the penalty of its pollution. But Jesus, who was virtually the foundation and orig-inator of the temple—the services and ceremonies of which were but a type of his great sacrifice, pointing to him as the Son of God—encircled the Gentiles with his human arm of sympathy and association, while, with his divine arm of grace and power, he brought to them the salvation which the Jews refused to accept.
Jesus had spent several months in Judea, giv-ing the rulers of Israel a fair opportunity of prov-ing his character as the Saviour of the world. He had performed many mighty works in their midst; but he was still treated by them with sus-picion and jealousy. In passing through Samaria on his way to Galilee, his reception among the Samaritans, and the eagerness with which they listened to his teachings, were in marked contrast with the incredulity of the Jews, who had misin-terpreted the prophecies of Daniel, Zechariah, and Ezekiel, confusing the first advent of Christ with his second majestic and glorious appearing.
Their blindness was in consequence of their lofty pride and arrogance, looking only for worldly station and emolument. They urged their interpretation of the prophecies upon the Samaritans, who believed that Messiah was to come not only as a Redeemer of the Jews, but of the world. This caused great bitterness toward them from the Jews, who contended that Christ would come to exalt Israel and to bring into sub-jection all other nations. This perversion of the prophecies led the Samaritans to discard all the sacred writings but those of Moses. But their minds were open to enlightenment, and they re-ceived the Saviour's instruction joyfully and accepted him as the promised Messiah.—Great Controversy, Vol. 2.
IMPORTUNITY.
"MEN ought always to pray, and not to faint."—Luke 18:1.
Pray on, thou weeping, wrestling saint,
Thy God, though silent, hears;
He registers each sad complaint;
He bottles all thy tears.
Though instant answer be not given,
Thy cry he doth not spurn;
Each prayer sent weeping up to Heaven,
Rejoicing shall return.
Who gave his Son shall give thee all
Thy utmost need can want;
Would thou wert half as prompt to call
As he is prompt to grant!
Then be not like the faithless king,
Who smote but thrice, and stayed;
Smite on, until thy smiting bring
The answer which it prayed.
Trust to thine Advocate on high,
Whose pleadings never fail;
His word which backs the feeblest cry,
Shall make that cry prevail.
THE LAW AND THE SABBATH.
By J. N. Loughborough
CONTINUATION OF A LETTER TO A FRIEND IN SUSSEX.
BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, OF SOUTHAMPTON, ENG.
You say, “If the Sabbath were binding on the church, the apostles would say so in some of their twenty-one epistles.” I do not know as this is a necessary conclusion. Our Saviour had recognized the binding force and continuance of the moral law in his teachings, as we see by the record of his discourses in the four gospels. In sending out his disciples, their commission contains these words: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Matt. 28:20. It is evident from their epistles, that they followed this instruction in reference to the binding force of the moral law. While they teach, in the most explicit language, the abrogation of the law of ceremonies, and those feasts created thereby, they as plainly teach the continuance of those laws we denominate moral.
As they thus teach in reference to the law as a whole, and as the New Testament contains no record of a formal repeal of the Sabbath, or of the law in the midst of which it is found, there is no necessity that they should single out that command and re-enact it, any more than they the others. In the specific reference which they make to any of them, they do not profess to be giving them over again, but quote them as parts of a living law.
In illustration of what I have stated, I will present a few scriptures. First, as to how our Saviour taught respecting the law. In his discourse on the mount, he says: “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. 5:18, 19.
Greek scholars tell us that the word fulfill, in the above text, signifies accomplished. Its person, number, and gender, is the same as the word that is rendered prophets. The text, then, really means that not a jot or tittle of the law shall pass till all the prophecies are accomplished. From this we learn that not only every letter, and every corner of a letter of that law is to endure until heaven and earth pass, an event that is yet future (2 Pet. 2:10), but it shall not pass until all the prophecies are accomplished. The law of which our Saviour thus speaks, is one he found when he came; for he says, “Think not that I am come to destroy.” This cannot be the same as found in Colossians, for Christ’s death blotted out those laws; but it might properly be said he came to “abolish the law of commandments contained in ordinances” (Eph. 2:14, 15), and thus break down “the middle wall of partition” between Jews and Gentiles. If we follow Christ’s words, in illustrating his subject, we see he refers to the commands against killing, and adultery; and so far from his relaxing the moral code, of which these laws form a part, he shows us that the purpose formed to break these laws, though the outward act may not be committed, is in the sight of God counted adultery, and murder. The law, then, which is to endure, is the moral, and not the code of ceremonials.
In the record of Christ’s teaching, made by St. Luke, we read: “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. Again, in his words to the young man who wished to know how to gain eternal life, he said, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:16–22. In response to the question, “Which?” our Saviour quotes from the moral, and not the ceremonial law, thus showing the young man his deficiency. These quotations will serve as samples of our Saviour’s teaching with reference to the law.
We will now notice, secondly, how the apostles speak with reference to this moral law. We read in St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans: “Thou, therefore, which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal [eighth commandment], dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery [seventh commandment], dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols [first and second commands], dost thou commit sacrilege? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God?” Rom. 2:21–23. Having singled out some of these commandments, he then refers to the law as a whole. The law of which he is speaking, it would dishonor God to break. It would not dishonor him to break a law that he had abolished by the death of his Son. So then the law above mentioned, is not the hand-writing of ordinances, but the moral code.
In the third chapter of Romans, St. Paul shows that even this moral law will not justify the man who has transgressed it; for by it he learns what his sins are. It could not tell him he was a sinner, and at the same time tell him he was not. His justification must therefore come from another source—through the blood and intercession of Christ. Let us have the apostle’s own language: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:19, 20. He does not say the law said, but “saith.” It speaks to the world still. He does not say it said to those who were under the law; but, “it saith to them who are under the law.” Under it when he wrote. Under it now. Who are those under the law? simply the Jews? No! “That all the world may become guilty.” This moral law which the Jews knew, approved, and taught, is the instrument by which all mankind are shown to be sinners; for this reason, it cannot justify the sinner.
Those “under the law,“ in this case, are those who have violated its precepts, and are condemned to death by it. When such repent, and turn from their sins, they may obtain pardon (not by the law of works—the ceremonies—verse 27), by the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of the person who has received such pardon, St. Paul says: “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Rom. 6:14. They are not under condemnation, but are subjects of God’s grace, having received his pardon. In this case, he asks the question, “Shall we sin (transgress the law) because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” Rom. 6:15.
To return to the third of Romans, where the apostle has so clearly set forth the matter of justification by faith in Christ. He gives a clear statement of how the law stands after the sinner is justified: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law as a whole.
FEEDING GIRAFFES.
"Feed my lambs," and "Feed my sheep," were the Saviour's commands; but according to Mr. Spurgeon's observation, as well as our own, many preachers seem to be aiming to feed the giraffes. The rack is put so high above the heads of many flocks that they cannot reach it, and the starving sheep are heard bleating for fodder.
A great mistake is made by not a few preachers as to the character and style of discourse adapted to the wants of the people. Learned and profound sermons have their time and place, but for ordinary occasions and to meet the every-day wants of the great majority of all our congregations, simple, direct and practical preaching is the manifest need of our times. The sober judge, who arrested the grandiloquent flight of the lawyer by reminding him that his sky-scraping periods reached beyond the jurisdiction of the court, suggests an admonition in the same direction to some ministers. The function of the pulpit is not to display oratory or learning, but to teach religious truth and impress it on the heart. To accomplish this, plainness of speech and earnestness of manner will be found much better adapted than flights of fancy and frigid dogmatism.
The fact is, the style of not a little preaching is incomprehensible, and its matter is entirely foreign to its purpose. Its aim is not manifest, and it has so little application to the practical relations of life and to the conscious wants of the soul that it utterly fails of its object.
The pulpit, to be efficient, must adapt itself to the necessities of the people. The truths of the gospel must be brought down to the understanding, and be pressed home upon the hearts of those who come to hear them. Never more than now has there been greater need of this style of preaching, and in the measure that ministers meet this condition will the people be reached and the pulpit prove itself a power.—Baptist Weekly
The Law and Conversion
law." Rom. 3:31. That is, when we come with penitent hearts to God, and in and through the merits of the blood of Christ receive pardon, we do in the most emphatic manner acknowledge the binding force and stability of that law.
As we advance to the seventh chapter of Romans, the apostle gives us the process of a genuine conversion to God. The sinner discovers that the law of God is holy, just, and good. He finds desires springing up to obey God. He even goes so far as to will to obey, but alas! he finds in himself no good thing. He is a condemned sinner; condemned by that law of which one command reads, "Thou shalt not covet." Of that law, he says: "I had not known sin but by the law." That law slew him. That is, by the convicting power of God's Spirit he saw the excellence of the law, and his own departures from it, until "sin, by the commandment, became exceeding sinful." Under this conviction, he decides to leave sin, and obey; but, alas! he finds his sins clinging to him like a dead, putrifying body. When he "would do good, evil is present" with him; and "how to perform that which is good," he finds not. He looks to Christ, and what does he find? Does he find the moral law—by which he discovered his sins—taken away? Does he not rather find his sins forgiven, and a new nature planted in him? He is grafted as a living branch into Christ, the true vine. The old man of sin, the first husband, is dead. The sinner is married to Christ. He is born again, and, as the growth of the germ divine planted in his heart, he now yields the fruit of righteousness, which is obedience to those same laws which before showed him to be a poor, wretched man, under the bondage of condemnation, exposed to death.
This deliverance is most beautifully expressed by the same apostle, in the first verses of the eighth chapter of Romans: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin (by a sacrifice for sin—margin), condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:3, 4.
It is in this sense that Christ has become "the end [object] of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Rom. 10:14. Not that when men believe the law it comes to an end, but to those who believe He becomes a means of forgiveness of sins. By faith we obtain a union with him as the head of the body of which we are members; and as virtue from Christ is imparted to us, our "fruit" is "unto holiness"—obedience to God's moral law.
But now for the bearing of all this on your question. The apostles do not claim in their epistles that they are framing laws, or giving a new edition of the law of God, but they are proclaiming, through Christ, the way of pardon for transgressors of God's law. In doing this, they tell us that "by the law is the knowledge of sin," for the reason that "sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. Thus they have taught the moral law as a whole.
When these epistles were written there was no controversy as to the day of the Sabbath, the Jews, and the Christian converts still keeping the seventh day on the authority of the fourth commandment. The Jewish converts were in danger of still clinging to their ceremonies, and the law of ordinances, but the apostles, in the council at Jerusalem (recorded in Acts 15), and in their epistles, have dealt plainly with this matter, teaching that those "carnal ordinances" are "blotted out," while of the moral law, their united testimony is well expressed by St. James: "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2:12. The apostles have not given any of the commandments over again; but when they quote them, it is on the authority of the law as they found it. Why is there any necessity of giving the fourth commandment over again? especially as the testimony is so plain that the ten commandments were not repealed by the death of Christ.
The remaining questions in your letter will be answered next week.
Perseverance in Well-Doing
When you attempt anything that is right, go through with it. Be not easily discouraged. Yield not to sloth, and sleep, and fickleness. To resist all these will not be easy, but you will feel that you have done right when you get through.
THE USES OF CHASTISEMENT.
THEY who have not submitted fully to the Saviour the conduct of their life, have yet to learn the meaning of their sorrows. They naturally blame themselves or others for the ills that vex their lives. So grief brings them only bitterness. It hardens, instead of softening the soil of the heart. But when one commits the keeping of all to Christ, he knows that Satan cannot pluck him out of the Master's hand; and, of course, he cannot touch him without permission while he is in that hand. Jesus desires so earnestly to save his child, He will never loose his hold of him; so as long as he is loyal to his purpose he is perfectly safe. All things work together for his good.
The shortest way out of trouble is to learn the lesson it is meant to teach. Luther used to say, when the Lord had fresh work for him, a strong trial was usually sent before-hand to prepare him for the new duty by humiliation. Before promotion comes discipline. Before honor is humility. We must learn to be abased before it is safe for us to abound. We must be faithful over the few things before we can be trusted to reign over the many. He who would rule must first serve. I was in the finishing-room of a watch factory not long ago. The last thing that was done to the watches before sending them out for work was to test their reliability. They were baked in an oven, then shut up in an ice-box. They were jolted and jerked. They had to stand on their heads and lie on their backs. If, after all this treatment, it was found they did not vary in accuracy of time a fraction of a second, they were declared fit to be trusted. On railway trains, in darkest nights, thousands of lives might depend upon their faithfulness. It would not be strange if we have faults that make it quite impracticable for God to use us for strong work. We covet places of responsibility, yet ten chances to one, when the strain came on us, we would give way and shatter the faith of hundreds. Now when God takes us in hand He is trying to show us our weak points, that we may let Him strengthen them, and thus fit us for wide trusts.
No doubt the Holy Spirit whispers to us often of our need. God would teach the lessons without the pain. But we are so busy with our own schemes we will not heed His monitions. We are like naughty children so carried away by their own mischief they have no ear for their mother's voice, till the hand of her who loves them best touches them with the rod. In their pain and anger they lose sight of her love, but the sooner they acknowledge that she is right, and they must be wrong, and think how they can improve their behavior, the sooner they forget the trouble in her loving arms.
Pain's furnace blast within me quivers,
God's breath upon the flame doth blow,
And all my heart in anguish shivers,
And trembles at the fiery glow.
And yet I whisper, "As God will,"
And in His hottest fire, hold still.
He comes and lays my heart, all heated,
On his hard anvil, minded so
Into his own fair shape to beat it,
With His great hammer, blow on blow.
And yet I whisper, "As God will,"
And under heaviest blows, hold still.
—Jennie F. Willing, in Christian at Work.
J. A. M.
Deep, Thorough Bible Study
By J. A. M. Chapman
LET me say to the young forming habits: One fact or truth looked at in all its phases, traced in all its relations, thoroughly mastered, is worth more to head, heart and life than a thousand superficially grasped and partially comprehended. Take a subject, think through it, round it, over it, under it, turn it over, look at it in all possible phases and relations; master it, make it your own; one book—read it, question it, doubt it, discuss it and analyze it; master it, and it will be worth a dozen read in a cursory and superficial manner. One text of Scripture—fathom it, measure its length and breadth; try to detach it and find the ligaments by which it is held; think down into it until you come according to its own path to Christ—for be sure as he is the truth, every truth leads to him in its own way—get into its very heart and look at it, for the peculiar glory of spiritual truths, like some temples, can be seen only from within. Climb to its summit. As literally, so spiritually, the best, widest, grandest prospect is from the top of its heights. It is the beaten oil that gives the brilliant flame. It is the thoroughly-digested food that gives us strength and health. I would not say, read the Bible less, but meditate upon what you read more. He is not the best Bible student that remembers the greatest number of verses, or that is the most skillful exegete of its difficult passages, or that has at his command the greatest number of its facts and truths; but rather that man who best understands its great fundamental principles that lie at the foundation and manifest themselves through every verse, and is the most thoroughly imbued with its spirit, that has the key of interpretation to the deepest meaning of the whole.—J. A. M. Chapman, D. D.
Accept Your Lot
By Dr. Bushnell
NEVER complain of your birth, your training, your employments, your hardships; never fancy that you could be something, if only you had a different lot assigned you. God understands his own plan, and he understands what you want a great deal better than you do. The very things that you most deprecate as fatal limitations or obstructions, are probably what you most want. Choke that devilish envy which gnaws your heart, because you are not in the same lot with others; bring down your soul, or rather, bring it up to receive God's will, and do his work in your lot, in your sphere, and then you shall find that your condition is never opposed to your good, but really consistent with it.—Dr. Bushnell.
Falsehood
By Ruskin
FALSEHOOD.—It should be pointed out with continual earnestness that the essence of lying is in deception, not in words; a lie may be told by silence, by equivocation, by the accent on a syllable, by a glance of the eye attaching a peculiar significance to a sentence; and all these kinds of lies are worse and baser by many degrees than a lie plainly worded; so that no form of blinded conscience is so far sunk as that which comforts itself for having deceived, because the deception was by gesture or silence instead of utterance, and finally according to Tennyson's trenchant line, "A lie which is half a truth is ever the worst of lies."
The Tinnamies
At a Sunday-school picnic in England a teacher asked her scholars how they liked the sea. "Very much, miss," replied one, "but where are the tinnamies?" "The tinnamies, my child! What do you mean?" "Why, you know," the child replied again, "the tinnamies that go with the sea. You know the commandment says, 'the sea and all the tinnamies.'" This was the way the child had been repeating "the sea and all that in them is."
Pain from Imagined Evils
How much pain the evils have cost us that have never happened.