p. 197 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 13. (4/1/1889)

Signs of the Times

Apr 1, 1889

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 1, 1889

Items of Current News

By Editor

THE German Government has issued a white book disavowing the acts of Consul Knappe in Samoa. Bismarck declares that Knappe had no authority either to declare war or martial law.

COMPLAINT having been made to the Pope by an agent of the French Government of the support given to General Boulanger, Leo is reported to have said that it would be impossible for him to interfere in the matter.

IT has been stated that England's drink bill is diminishing, but the facts are that it footed up $623,019,695 last year against $621,736,845 in 1887. The amount per capita declined, however, sixty cents, namely, from $16.80 to $16.20.

THE Shanghai correspondent of the London Standard says that the number of deaths caused by the famine in Shan Tun is appalling. Many of the inhabitants are committing suicide through despondency, there being still three months to wait for the harvest.

D. L. MOODY has given notice that he will begin on the 4th inst. in Chicago a convention of Christian workers, similar to that held in the summer at Northfield. These meetings will continue from thirty to sixty days, and "instruction will be given by well-known leaders of Christian thought and action."

"THIS seems to be rather a Presbyterian administration," remarks a Washington correspondent of a prominent New York paper, and so it seems, for it is stated that the President and all of his Cabinet except Rusk and Proctor are Presbyterians. Mr. Proctor and Vice-President Morton are Episcopalians, and Mr. Rusk, it is understood, makes no profession whatever.

DR. RIORDAN, Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, says that the people of the United States are drifting "into deism. The religious bodies outside the Catholic Church are suffering greater losses than we have to bear. On the whole, we are holding our own. It is, I think, beginning to be generally recognized that the time is coming when we shall simply have two forms of belief face to face—deism and Catholicism."

Well, if that is our fate, the former is as good as the latter, one is unchristian, the other antichristian. We prefer, however, the truth of God and the religion of Christ. Its adherents may be few, but they will triumph over all opposition.

According to Public Opinion there are 1,248 Young Men's Christian Associations in America, 622 in England, Ireland, and Scotland, 1,392 in Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, 200 in Japan, and 553 in 18 other countries. "It is an interesting fact," says that journal, "that there is an organization at Nazareth, where Christ lived for thirty years, and at Jerusalem, where he was crucified."

SOME of the most earnest supporters of the bill which recently passed the Missouri Legislature, declaring that only the English language shall be taught in the public schools of that State, were Germans. One of these is reported as saying that there is no more reason why German should be taught in the public schools than that the State should furnish instruction in Hungarian, Chaldaiic, or Chinese.

IT is announced from New York that Evangelist Yatman, who has recently returned to that city from a trip through the West, is now busy with a scheme which he is pleased to call a college on wheels. He proposes to obtain a number of Pullman cars and arrange sections in them for men who are to receive students in the work of evangelization. He intends to take the cars and men over the entire world, preaching the gospel wherever they go. The experiment will first be tried with fifty students. Mr. Yatman says he already has fully 1,000 applications.

THE controversy between Canadian Catholics and Protestants over the award to the former of $400,000 in lieu of estates confiscated by George III. grows more bitter. The Toronto Globe has published what purports to be the oath taken by all Jesuits, in which they swear allegiance to the Pope and renounce all allegiance to any "heretical king, prince, or sect named Protestant." For the publication of this oath the Globe has been sued for libel, and thus there is a prospect that the vexed question of the Jesuit's oath will be judicially settled, though it is too much to hope that Jesuits will tell the truth in regard to the matter, even under oath. Their mental reservation tenet will excuse them for any amount of perjury for the good of the church.

THE following from the Guatemala Star of January 5 presents the true type of the Catholic page-papal Sunday, as that day has been observed much of the time for the last thirteen hundred years:—

"The bull-fight of last Sunday was more than usually exciting. One man had an arm broken, and two horses were killed by being gored in the breast by the enraged and desperate toro."

The same paper speaks of a theater and an election held that day. What a comedy it shows to be the so-called increasing religiousness and enlightened civilization of these days. Not that the degrading bull-fight is any more brutalizing on Sunday than any other day, but it shows that the people have not conscience enough to keep an institution which they hold as sacred. A civil law to compel Sunday observance would not help the sin any. Their hearts would be in the bull-fight just the same. And this, after all, is in harmony with the true spirit of the origin of Sunday sacredness.

LIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

THE blessing of God has rested upon us in a wonderful manner at this meeting; we believe that God has forgiven our sins, and we must never go back of this experience to take up the burden of our sins. The light of Heaven has shone upon us here, and our feelings may change, but this does not change God's love toward us. God wants us to make the best use of it by reflecting it upon others. That which has shut away the light from our souls in the past has been the spirit of criticism. Many have watched the course of others, and have condemned their actions instead of keeping their own hearts with all diligence. They have judged the motives of their brethren; but mortal man is not fitted to do this work. The heart knoweth its own bitterness. We all have hereditary and cultivated weaknesses, but we may obtain precious victories every day. When a man climbs upon the judgment-seat to judge his brother, he makes it manifest that Christ is not enthroned in his heart. The Spirit of God will go out of the soul that admits the spirit of criticism.

Suppose that your brother is in error; are you to take a course that will make his case more hopeless? Are you to drive the straying sheep farther from the fold, instead of laboring to bring it back? Says the Good Shepherd, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in Heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven.

For the Son of man is come to save that which is lost.” Do we expect that those who are lost will be faultless? There was once a sister who wrote to me in regard to adopting a child. She described the character of the child she wanted. She must be affectionate, industrious, truthful, pure, and patient. I wrote to her saying: “You cannot find such a child on earth. If you are looking for that kind of character, you must seek it among the angels of Heaven. You think you are offering to do a work of charity in adopting a child; but your motives are wholly selfish. If you would do something to be approved of Heaven, take a child who needs help, who needs forbearance, and the grace of Christ.” We choose associates because we think they will benefit us; but Christ sought associations with those whom he could benefit. True religion will not lead you to do as did the Pharisee, to thank God that you are not as other men are, and congratulate yourself that you have not their faults and weaknesses. It will not lead you to stand off in self-righteousness, and despise and condemn your brethren.

The Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost. He left the ninety and nine, to go into the mountains and deserts for the one sheep that had gone astray. And when he had found it, he rejoiced more over that one sheep than over the ninety and nine that had never left the fold. Jesus said, “It is not the will of your Father which is in Heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” How are we to treat those who are found in fault? The Bible gives directions. “Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” Go in the spirit of meekness and love, desiring the salvation of his soul. Oh! when the Spirit of God is in the heart, there is no feeling of variance, no desire to criticise and condemn others. It is Satan that is an accuser of the brethren; but we must work the works of Christ. We must learn how to go out and seek for the perishing. Go to your brother in kindness, get your arm about him, say, “Come, my brother, let us talk over this matter of difference kindly, in the Spirit of Christ. Let us seek the Lord together. Let us love one another.” This is the very thing to do. We are not to criticise the erring, pushing them away by our influence; but we are to bring them close to our hearts. Are there those in our neighborhood who are breaking the law of God? Plead with them tenderly. Who has gone in love and kindness to those who are perishing, seeking to save that which was lost? I want you to see that it is not merely to eat the loaf yourselves that constitutes Christianity; you are to offer it to others as well. Did not Christ say, “Feed my sheep”?

There are those among us who have inherited weaknesses, and because of these they have been criticised. When they have started in the path of right, there have been those who have raised the cry, “They will never hold out.” And thus they have become discouraged, and have given up the warfare. But to such I would say: “It is not too late to renew the battle. It is not too late to gain the victory.” When the father saw his prodigal son, he did not wait for him to come to the door; but when he was a great way off he ran and met him. Are you ready to treat your brother in this way? or must your brother come up to a certain standard before you can feel justified in extending that sympathy and love toward him that Christ has extended toward you? Oh, go to the straying ones while they are yet a great way off! Labor to bring them back to the fold. We have a work to do for our erring brethren for whom Christ died. You are not to report the failures of others, and to make discouraging remarks as to their steadfastness in the way of truth. You are not to prophesy that this one or that one will fall out by the way, and when your disheartening words reach his ears, and work their evil result, and the trembling, tempted soul gives up, you are not to be ready to exclaim, “I told you so! I knew it would be so!” That is just the work that has been done; but we want that it shall be undone by repentance and confession, and that it shall be left undone in the future.

Oh, why not go to the wounded sheep, and bind up their bruises, and lead them to the Healer and the Shepherd of souls? Why not bind these weak ones by the cords of love and sympathy to your hearts, and make it hard for them to fall from their steadfastness, instead of pushing them away from you by evil surmising and evil speaking? Why not be a co-worker with Christ? Why not stand ready to grasp the hand that is stretched out for your help? Here are souls that are to be saved, and how earnestly you should labor for their salvation. This work has been long neglected. Why not do it now in the fear of the Master? Seek the lost, gather in the weak ones, help them by your faith and love, that they may gain victory after victory, and that where they are feeble they may become strong and whole. May God help you that you may be qualified by the Spirit of Heaven to pity and sympathize with the lost! All Heaven rejoices when characters are transformed, and when men work for the glory of God.

The blessing that Heaven showers upon men is not simply that they may be made happy. Those who receive it must work for others. I remember at one time we had a special blessing in the Battle Creek church, and many souls were swept into the faith by the heavenly current of God’s love. One brother arose and said, “All this blessing means work. It means responsibility, and am I in a situation to bear this responsibility?” There is tenfold greater responsibility resting upon us now than ever before, because of the measure of grace that we have received. Take it up, brethren, and bear it. As you work for God, the light will break in. Gather up the rays of glory, and they will increase more and more. Oh! when I look on others, and know that they are in darkness, my heart goes out in sympathy for them. I was once in the depths of despair myself. I was struggling in a hopeless way. No one seemed to be able to help me; but Jesus pitied me and brought me out of darkness into light. I look upon others, and I wonder, “Are they as restless, as full of suffering, as I was?” Oh, to have the pitying tenderness of Christ! Are there any who have been driven out of the fold because of our lack of love? Go after them, plead with them, pray for them, and draw them back to the tender Shepherd.

Christ’s Coming and Reward

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

FORGIVENESS.

By Edmonston

WHEN on the fragrant sandal tree The woodman's ax descends, And she, who bloomed so beauteously, Beneath the weapon bends, E'en on the edge that wrought her death, Dying, she breathes her sweetest breath, As if to token in her fall Peace to her foes, and love to all.

How hardly man this lesson learns, To smile and bless the hand that spurns; To see the blow, to feel the pain, And render only love again!

ONE had it—but He came from Heaven; Reviled, rejected, and betrayed, No curse he breathed, no plaint he made, But when in death's dark pang he sighed, Prayed for his murderers, and died. —Edmonston.

MORNING BY MORNING.

By F. A. Noble, D. D.

THE lesson of the direction given by Moses, so many centuries ago, to the Israelites concerning the gathering of the manna miraculously supplied for their daily feeding, abides a fresh and perennial lesson. Except on the Sabbath they were to gather it "morning by morning, every man according to his eating." If in fear lest the assurance of enough for each day's need might fail, or in the spirit of avaricious accumulations, anyone should attempt to gather a portion to be held over until the morrow, the manna would simply spoil and become offensive on his hands. "And Moses said unto them: Let no man leave of it till the morning. . . . But some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank."

The law of the manna is the law of the grace of God. We live by the day. Yesterday's gathering is not available for present uses. There is no need to be troubled about to-morrow's requirements. It is to be "morning by morning." In Christ Jesus, there is fullness of supply; resources, indeed, both in kind and measure, to meet all the possible exigencies of our lives; but everything is in the present tense. Vital religion always has been, and always must be, a present tense religion. In every life which has been long in fellowship with God, there are memories of past disclosures and interpositions and helps, precious beyond any compassing in words. In every soul quickened by faith, there are hopes which beam with celestial lights, and fill the mind to overflowing with anticipations of future blessedness. But neither memories nor hopes can meet the issue of immediate needs. We live in the Now. It is the Now which is emphatic. We must be fed of God to-day. We must have supplies of God's grace to-day. This is God's plan—"morning by morning."

The religion of some people seems to be simply a reminiscence. Sometimes it is a decayed and offensive reminiscence. They do not live in God at this present passing hour, but in the recollection of what God was to them in some past hour of their existence. They live just as the children of Israel would have lived if they had had their way—not on the fresh manna right out of the heavens, sweet and nourishing, but on the juiceless and insipid manna which they had laid up in their pots and jars.

God is not alone a God of the ages which are gone. He is not alone a God of the ages which are to be. God is a living God. Christ is a living Christ. The Holy Spirit is a living agency. It is life all along the line. At the dawning of each new day the vast storehouse of the divine resources is opened to our needs. There is no limitation except in our own capacities or inclinations. It is to eat and be full. It is to drink and be satisfied. It is to let in the light until every faculty is illuminated. It is to nourish the whole man into more faith, and more love, and more purity, and more strength, and more likeness to Christ. But this cannot be done on yesterday's manna; it must be from the fresh and full supply of to-day. It must be by a new opening out of the life to God; by a new and vital contact with God; and by entering into a new experience—not necessarily unlike previous

experiences, but new, in the same sense in which the day is new and sincere and real.

It is in spiritual as it is in material things, only we do not know it so well. We cannot live on the traditions of yesterday's sunlight and yesterday's warmth. Nor is there need. The sun comes up to-day with beams as radiant as on the morning of the creation. There is the light, the warmth, the healing, for to-day's requirements. The tonic which is in the atmosphere is not yesterday's, but to-day's; and it is available for to-day's necessities. Morning by morning the manna was there. Morning by morning the manna was gathered. Morning by morning it had to be gathered if it was to be good for anything for nourishment.

Herein lies the secret of a joyous and fruitful Christian life. It is in living in God by the day; it is in gathering our manna morning by morning; it is in breakfasting the soul as we breakfast the body on food fresh and warm and suitable to the new day's needs; it is to take God's light as we take the light of the great central luminary in the heavens, each succeeding day, and see our way in it, and do our work in it, and grow in fitness for higher experiences; it is to abide in Christ, not thinking it sufficient that perchance we were in him yesterday or may be to-morrow, but that we must be in him all the time, getting from him the divine nutriment on which our spirituality thrives, and we grow in knowledge and usefulness and moral symmetry, if we are to meet the conditions of his will and realize the best possibilities of a life hid with Christ in God; it is to abide in Christ unto the end. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna." What a blessed reward!—F. A. Noble, D. D. in Independent.

TO PERSONS WHO WANT A GOOD EDUCATION.

By W. A. Blakely

EDITORS SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Having had occasion recently to inquire what the charges for a classical course would be per month in a private school here, I found that the tuition was $30 per month. This was for the same course that was given in Healdsburg College, by equally competent and thorough instructors, for $20 per month, which includes board, room, washing, and other incidental expenses.

A young friend of mine here pays $30 per month for board and room, where the table for good food, and the room for comfort and pleasantness, is in no way superior to the provisions made for the scholars at the Students' Home. So the student at Healdsburg College receives more for $20 per month than, at the rates named, one would receive here for $60 per month.

It is true that the rates I have given are somewhat above the average; but it is because the instruction is above the average. But the instruction received at Healdsburg is also above the average; and, usually, when a person receives thorough instruction, he is required to pay a higher price for it. The charges of Healdsburg College are from one-third to one-half cheaper than for schools of equal rank anywhere on the Pacific Coast.

This school also maintains a high grade of morality, requires a thoroughness and depth in study that is highly beneficial, exercises a parental care over the young that gives it the confidence of those acquainted with its management, and provides for its students exercise in connection with study that normally develops the body, and encourages in the pupil a taste for thriftiness and industry.

Persons who desire a pleasant home, good food, thorough instruction, and manual training for their sons and daughters, and have only a limited income, cannot find a better school on the Pacific Coast than the College at Healdsburg, California.

W. A. BLAKELY.

Sacramento, California, March 25.

LEARN TO TALK TO JESUS.

By John F. Bahler

MANY make grievous failures in their efforts to live a Christian life, simply because they have not learned to talk to Jesus. Who is there of us that does not know how to talk to our best earthly friend? And if we need anything how quickly, how gladly, we go to that friend to tell our need, knowing that if it lies in his power to supply that need, we shall not want long.

But how slow we are to learn to talk to Jesus. He is our best friend, far better than it is possible for any earthly friend to be, and yet we are so slow to go to him and tell him of our sorrows and our needs. Sometimes I fear we get the idea that because Jesus knows all about us and our needs, we have only to go quietly along and he will supply them all. But he has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive." If there was no reason why we should ask, he would never have given us this assurance.

Now there is a reason why, and that reason is an important one. It is not because he does not know our needs without our telling him, but it is the simple fact that the telling of our wants to a friend, especially to a sympathetic friend, will invariably bind us closer to that friend. It is for this reason that Jesus would have us come to him. The very act of coming and talking to him will bind us more firmly to him. It will not open up to him our needs, for God knows them all, and he is watching us with more than a parent's tenderest love; but it will open up an avenue of strength and light from him to our souls.

The going to him and telling him of our joys and sorrows is simply accepting the help he waits to give. I can think of only one illustration that makes this clear to my mind; it is this, the sunlight may pour in floods of enlivening radiance all around our homes, but if we close the shutters and draw the curtains, it can give us no warmth. But just open the shutters, draw back the curtains, and how quickly the warmth is ours.

Oh, let us learn to talk to Jesus, to open up our hearts to the glowing light of his sweet love. It will quickly radiate to every corner of the heart, and we shall sing because we cannot help singing.

Now when I say talk to Jesus I mean just what I say. We can pray without talking. We can pray in our hearts. But let us as often as possible find some place where we can really talk to Jesus. Our words may be whispered words, but let the thoughts of the heart be developed in words. There is strength to the soul in the expression of the lips.

Then if our enemy is lurking near, and he finds us talking, really talking, to Jesus, he will leave the ground much quicker than he otherwise would. This being true, whatever may occupy our hands, let the lips often breathe a few words, though they be only whispered words to Jesus. Let us learn to talk to Jesus. Talking to him much, we shall learn to trust him more, and "they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed but abideth forever." Ps. 125:1. JOHN F. BAHLER. San Jose, Cal.

FAITH.

By J. H. N.

WHAT though my weary spirit cries With struggles that each hour arise? What though the road be long and sore,— Hast Thou not trod the way before? And this my fainting heart shall cheer,— The knowledge that Thou still art near.

And when I sink in life's eclipse,— If gall be proffered to my lips,— I may not crave the sweeter wine; Not my own will be done, but Thine. For this I know in pain or fear,— Thy word is sure, and Thou art near.

The chosen twelve could gaze on thee. I am not worthy, Lord, to see With eyes of flesh thy sacred face; But let me for a moment's space Bow down by faith and joy to hear Thy word, and know that thou art near.

—J. H. N., in S. S. Times.

The Bible’s Self-Evidencing Power

"THE Bible, to one who is in the habit of devoutly reading it, begets in the soul a consciousness that excludes all doubt as to its truth. To that consciousness it comes with a self-evidencing power that is both sufficient and conclusive. That man spontaneously believes, and really has no time, or taste, or place in his soul for doubts."

THE VINE.

Of all the figurative titles applied to Christ in the Scriptures, there is none more suggestive than that of the vine. "I am the vine," says the Master to his disciples, "ye are the branches." What figure could illustrate more strikingly than this the vital union which exists between the true believer and Christ the head of the church? The true Christian has his very being in Christ, receives from him every invigorating impulse, every enlarging desire and motive, every perfecting grace.

The branches of the vine are strong and fruitful just in proportion as they are firmly and deeply engrafted on the main body. If, for any reason, they become partially disconnected, their hold upon the vine loosened, they at once grow poor and feeble, and if not soon reunited, wither and die. The Christian who neglects the means of grace, who falls into a loose and careless observance of God's laws, soon loosens his connection with the Vine, and is in danger of becoming a dead and withered branch in the vineyard.

As the natural vine holds up and supports its branches free from the earth and its entanglements, so does Christ the Vine bear aloft his branches above the world, above its cares and perplexities, above its trials and griefs. All the branches have to do is just to cling firmly and trust wholly and grow. It is the Vine that gives the life, the strength, the power, to bear fruit. The sincere, trustful Christian is willing that all should depend upon the Vine. Christ is his all in all.—Christian at Work.

CONTROVERSY.

MANY religious persons have a dread of controversy, and wish truth to be stated without reference to those who hold the opposite errors. Controversy and a bad spirit are, in their estimation, synonymous terms, and strenuously to oppose what is wrong is considered as contrary to Christian meekness. Those who hold this opinion seem to overlook what every page of the New Testament lays before us. In all the history of our Lord Jesus Christ, we never find him out of controversy. From the moment he entered on the discharge of his office in the synagogue of Nazareth, until he expired on the cross, it was an uninterrupted scene of controversy. . . . His censures were not confined to doctrines, but included the abettors of false principles themselves.

And as to the apostles, their epistles are generally controversial. Most of them were directly written for the express purpose of vindicating truth and opposing error, and the authors of heresies do not escape with an abstract condemnation of their false doctrine. Paul again and again most indignantly denounces the conduct of opposers of the gospel, and by name points out those against whom he cautions his brethren. When Hymenæus and Alexander erred concerning the faith, and when he delivered them unto Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme, he did not compliment them as amiable and learned persons. Even the apostle who treats most of love, and who possessed so much of that spirit which was eminently manifested in the divine Master, does not avoid controversy; nor in controversy does he study to avoid severity of censure on the opposers of the truth.

In the examples of opposing error left on record for our imitation, we perceive nothing of that frigid spirit of indifference which smiles on the corrupters of the word of God, and shuns to call heresy by its proper name. With what holy indignation do the apostles denounce the subtle machinations of the enemies of the gospel! In vain shall we look among those faithful servants of the Lord for anything to justify that trembling reserve which fears to say decidedly that truth is truth, or that error is error. In what style, indeed, should perversions of the truth of God be censured? Ought they to be treated as mere matters of opinion on which we may innocently and safely differ? Or ought they to be met in a tone of solemn, strong, and decided disapprobation? Paul warned Christians against men who arose from among themselves, "speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them," and instead of complimenting false teachers in his day, denounced an angel from Heaven on the supposition of his preaching another gospel. And if an apostle was withstood to the face when he was to be blamed, are the writings of those who subvert the gospel to be passed without rebukes?

While a spirit of indifference to truth is advancing under the mask of charity and liberality, there is a loud call on all Christians to "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel," to present a firm and united phalanx of opposition to error, and under every name, from whatever quarter it may approach, and not to "stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; to make their land desolate." Jer. 18: 15, 16. "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Should believers become unfaithful to their trust, and be seduced to abandon their protest against false doctrines, they may gain the approbation of the world; but what will this avail when compared with the favor of God? But if with prayer to God, in the use of the appointed means, they contend earnestly for the truth, then they may expect the gracious fulfillment of that blessed promise, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."—Haldane.

A PRACTICAL RELIGION.

WE want a religion that softens the step and tunes the voice to melody, and checks the impatient exclamation and harsh rebuke; a religion that is polite, courteous to inferiors, and considerate to friends; a religion that goes into the family and keeps the husband from being cross when the dinner is late, and keeps the wife from fretting when the husband tracks the newly washed floor with his muddy boots, and makes the husband mindful of the scraper and the door mat; keeps the mother patient when the baby is fretful, and amuses the children as well as instructs them; cares for the servants besides paying them promptly; projects the honey-moon into the harvest-moon, and makes the happy home like the Eastern fig tree, bearing in its bosom at once the beauty of its tender blossoms and the glory of the ripened fruit.—Selected.

"THROUGH DESERTS."

By S. L. White

"And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out." Isa. 48: 21.

WHY did the Lord lead his people through deserts? Evidently that he might prove them, whether they would willingly and gladly follow his leading, when the natural supplies were cut off, and when from a human standpoint they might perish with hunger and thirst. Moses led his flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mount of God, and there God revealed himself to him in the burning bush, and called him by name, and commissioned him to lead his people out of Egypt, with the assurance, "Certainly, I will be with thee." The outcome of this desert experience is as far-reaching as eternity. God's chosen people passed not only through the wilderness, but through deserts; and his word assures us, "They thirsted not when he led them through deserts; he caused water to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock for them and waters gushed out." We find by close observation that God invariably tests those instruments he is about to call into his service. For instance: Abraham was called to leave kindred and home, and go out—not knowing whither he went, and his Isaac must be given up. John the Baptist was in the wilderness until the day of his appearance on the banks of Jordan. Jesus, after his baptism by John, was led of the Spirit into the wilderness, where in fasting and prayer he spent forty days and forty nights, exposed to the devices of the arch-deceiver, previous to his life-work of giving his life a ransom for many. Peter must needs pass through his trance experience, as a preparation to preach Christ to the Gentiles. Philip was sent into the desert of Gaza to bring the Ethiopian to Jesus. Time would fail to note all the leadings of God as preparation for his service, but the most wonderful of all is, that in all these preparatory experiences, "he fed them with manna," "clave the rock for them," "made a way for them in the sea," and "his mountains a way," "and paths in the deserts." He has especial watch-care over his co-workers. When he sent out his disciples without purse, or scrip, or shoes, it looked very much as though perils laid in their path. When they returned, he asked, "Lacked ye anything?" They said, "Nothing." Then we come down to the practical things of life among private Christians. How tenderly and lovingly he removes what would harm us, by removing our idols, calling us to walk in untried paths; by some small event changing the whole course of our lives; opening doors here, shutting doors there; indeed, the resources of the universe are under his control, to be used in helping the saints. How often the missing of a train or boat has saved from disaster. Truly "his counsels are a great deep," and our safety and security for both worlds consists in fully committing every

thing to his sure care and tender love. It is true, "God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform," but it is also true, "All things work together for good to them that love God."

I've placed my feeble hand in his; No power from him can sever, While his strong arm is holding me; No, never, never, never.

—S. L. White, in Michigan Christian Advocate.

THE PRINCE OF PEACE.

"His name shall be called . . . the Prince of Peace." Isa. 9. 6.

THE rest of the Prince of Peace comes only to the soul that treads the path of obedience. That path may be full of thorns, it may lead us into thickest darkness, to bear mental and physical suffering daily, to take up the innumerable duties of the household or of the workshop, to go forth like Abraham, not knowing whither. Be it so! As with him, every step of the way will be sweet, holiest rest to our souls. That rest is "the rest of faith." The sun shall no more go down for such a traveler. Pillowed upon the bosom of Jesus, yet mounting still higher with unfaltering footsteps,—up, up the steeps of life to the final goal,—we shall enter at the last upon that rest which "remaineth for the people of God." But even this shall not be inactivity, nor selfish enjoyment, nor consummated revelations. Onward! upward! in the songs of those who "rest not day nor night," in the ceaseless disclosures of infinite love, in the ever-increasing glory of the "beatific vision." O bright land, so restful even in anticipation, thou art not very far away! When our weary feet shall press thy sacred soil, when our eyes shall feast upon thy ever-widening landscape, one voice shall rise above the acclaim of the innumerable company of the redeemed—the voice of the Lamb before the throne. That voice, "I will give you rest," ofttimes has stilled the tempest of our earthly grief. Now, evermore, it shall be the full, increasing melody of our celestial home.—Christian at Work.

THE JOY OF BEING IN CHRIST.

By Theodore L. Cuyler

THE Bible description of a true Christian is a man "in Christ." This was Paul's description of himself. That bunch of Concord grapes before me did not come off the vine; it really came out of it, for it was originated in the vine, and was a part and parcel of it. Union with Christ is the beginning, the source, the support, and the very essence of the Christian life. There are several blessings that flow from this delightful union.

The first is deliverance from condemnation. In Noah's ark there was no deluge; in Christ Jesus we have deliverance from the deadly curse which sin entails. "All bridges break down but this one," said Bunsen; this one carries us safely over from the domain of guilt and death into the life that never ends. The next blessing is assurance. The Master promised, Because I live ye shall live also, and the true believer responds, "It is not I but Christ that liveth in me." Every branch on an apple-tree might say, The whole tree liveth in me, for the very trunk is pledged to furnish me the sustaining sap. The chief reason why many church members become dry, stunted, and barren, is that they are rather tied onto a church than drawing their vital forces out of Christ. The branch that does not abide in the Vine is cast forth and withered.

"What if, after all your praying and trusting, your soul should be lost forever?" inquired a raw young minister of an old Scottish peasant woman who had been drawing her soul-life out of Christ for forty years. "And is that all the length ye hae got, my mon?" she replied. "I can only say, sir, that God would lose more than I would, for poor old Nannie would only lose her soul, and that wad be a sair loss; but God would lose his character for truth, and then the world would gae to ruin. I hang on his promises, and God wad na dare to break his promises." The simple-hearted old saint knew whom she believed, and that he was able to keep all that was committed to him.

Peace is another blessing—the peace that passeth all comprehension. "My peace I give unto you." When this peace comes, the soul's desire is to desire nothing; its will is to wish nothing; its anxiety is to care for nothing outside of Christ. . . . Fullness of spiritual supply also is assured to all who are in Christ. The great apostle told his Colossian brethren, "Ye are complete in Him." He did not mean that they were such finished Christians in character that they could not be improved, or that they did not need to grow in grace. He must have referred to the entire sufficiency of provision for all their spiritual needs. Everything they required Christ had provided. An excellent reading of the text is, "Ye are filled full in Christ." No soul need starve while the granary of grace is open to him; no soul need lack the water of life while the infinite reservoir holds out.

It is no presumptuous delusion for such a joyous believer to cry out, "Thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ!" This is the battle-cry of faith, and it will be the final shout as the victor comes in among the crowned conquerors before the throne. Good friend, are you in Christ? Then carry the joy of it in your countenance, prove the strength of it by your resistance of temptation, convert others to Christ by making your religion so bright and so attractive that they shall long to have it also. The more thoroughly, heartily, completely we are "in Christ" ourselves, the more we shall do to bring others in.—Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, in New York Evangelist.

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