======================================================================== FAITHFUL WORDS FOR OLD AND YOUNG VOLUME 26 by H.F. Witherby ======================================================================== A collection of articles and writings by H.F. Witherby from Faithful Words for Old and Young Volume 26, covering various biblical topics and Christian teaching. Chapters: 113 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0. Faithful Words for Old and Young Volume 26 1. In Sherwood Forest 2. Our Guiding Principles 3. What Is Grace? 4. Holy Chairs 5. Ex-Cathedra 6. Notes on Scripture 7. Trust in God 8. Hints for the Bible Class 9. Figures and Shadows 10. Giving Jesus Our Best 11. He Would Do It for a Little Girl Like Me 12. Side Lights on Scripture 13. From the Mission Field 14. England's Boy King 15. “Personal Testimony.” 16. Work in Catholic Villages in France 17. Precious Words 18. The Golden Thread 19. Dark Spots in Our Land 20. The Bible in Macedonia 21. Fellowship in the Gospel in Ancient Rome 22. The Lepers in India 23. “All Out of the Bible.” 24. “Will He Cast Me Out?” 25. A Lesson From Our Garden Mowers 26. Voices From the Ruins of Ancient Rome 27. A Bright Testimony 28. God's Faithfulness 29. Pray on 30. Bible Class Outline 31. Missions in West Africa 32. Joy, Peace, Power 33. The Forgiveness of Sin 34. The Bible in Belgium 35. Our Leper Fund 36. A Story of Shameful Persecution 37. The Burden Was Gone 38. Ex Cathedra 39. Glimpses of the Golden Thread 40. “Not I, but Christ” 41. To the Perfect Day 42. The Three My's 43. Pleasing Jesus 44. I Love Jesus 45. Preaching at St. Paul’s Cross 46. Which Is the Savior—Christ or the Sacrament? 47. As Many As Touched 48. The Fullness of Christ 49. The Mission Field 50. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 51. A Child’s Adventure 52. Charley and His Mother 53. William Tyndale 54. A Jubilee 55. The Italian Fisherman 56. The Peaceful Conqueror 57. A Lesson From the Catacombs 58. The Coptic Priest and the Bible 59. Review 60. The Power of the Word of God 61. A Word to the Little Ones 62. The Entrance of Christianity Into Britain 63. None but Christ Can Satisfy 64. A Letter From a Working Man 65. Bell-Sheep 66. A Young Girl’s Prayer 67. Maggie's Bible Chair 68. Reaping 69. Receiving the Word of God 70. Two Natures 71. A Sequel to the "Drummond Castle.” 72. The Great English Cardinal 73. The Right Religion 74. Sunshine 75. The Door of the Sheep 76. At the Seaside 77. A Few Words About John Huss 78. The Lord Has Got My Soul 79. Work Among Catholics in France 80. Waiting for the Bright Side 81. Faith 82. I Wish I Could Be a Christian! 83. The Unchanging Word 84. The Temple Tribute Money 85. Bible Glass Outline 86. Notes From the Mission Yield 87. Luther's Mighty "No.” 88. They Who Are Christ's 89. Yesterday 90. An Apt Argument 91. Jack's Prayers 92. Yet Not I 93. Notes From the Mission Field 94. “The masses at Antwerp speak Flemish, with the exception of a certain number of Walloons, amongst the latter being about half the conscript soldiers of the garrison. My method of working among the Flemish, who are nearly all of the working-classes, and live in one or two rooms, is to knock at the door, or enter the workshop or public-house, and, taking off my hat, to present the book, saying that it is in Flemish. It is looked at and declined; but with all gentleness and assurance I persist, guiding their eyes to the table of contents, then (giving them plenty of time) confidentially guide them to John 3:16, 17, marking the passage there and then with a pencil, and also other passages, and when other persons are present inviting one to read out the passages, to be heard of all. I then put down a ten centime (nickel) piece, and say it is the price, and the bargain is generally concluded with goodwill on both sides..... I have come across single portions (with my marked passages) fifty and sixty miles distant from the place where they were first disposed of, and I have learned that a daughter or a son had sent it by post. It was always treasured by the possessor. Sometimes the parents could not read, but the children could; and it was an interesting thing to make one of the latter read out from St. John, and to watch the play on the parents' countenances.” 95. Little Vitus and His Nurse 96. “the Record Reign.” 97. Simple With 98. The Altar in Israel 99. “One Thing I Know.” 100. Salvation and Sanctification 101. Under the Fig Tree 102. Cesar’s Tribute Money; 103. Some Famous Bonfires 104. Mother's Last Verse 105. The Kindness of Jesus 106. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew 107. Righteousness and Mercy 108. The Hindu Professor 109. The End 110. Living for Jesus 111. The Sunbeam 112. Word to My Fellow-Servants ======================================================================== CHAPTER 0: FAITHFUL WORDS FOR OLD AND YOUNG VOLUME 26 ======================================================================== ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: IN SHERWOOD FOREST ======================================================================== ON a sweet summer's day I stood beneath a giant oak in old Sherwood Forest. Time was slowly and steadily doing its work on the once magnificent tree known as "Robin Hood's Larder." It had completely hollowed out the enormous trunk, and I marveled how there could still be life in the mighty limbs which stretched across the drive clad in summer green, with so little nourishment supplied them from the parent stock. These great boughs have to be supported by many strong beams, and the poor old tree itself to be kept from falling by iron chains clasped around it, and fixed firmly into the ground. An old man, appointed to keep guard at that spot, strolled up to me, glad of an opportunity to break the silence of his solitary watch. We talked of the days long ago, when Robin Hood and his merry men made the forest ring with the hunter's horn and shout, and the royal deer were killed and hung up in the leafy "larder," then in its full glory, now in its feeble old age. “Aye, but there's life—long life yet—in t'old tree," said the caretaker, looking with almost fatherly pride on his ancient charge; "he'll last many a year to come, he will.” “Yes, he will," I answered; "but I shall outlive him.” “Nay, I doubt that, miss; I greatly doubt that. He'll see us all out, and many another too, will t'old tree.” “And yet I shall outlive him," I persisted, and I'll tell you why. Long as the oak has lived, it will someday have to be said of it, as of the long-lived man of old Bible times, 'And he died;' but I have everlasting life through faith in Christ Jesus—the life that He gives to the poor lost sheep whom He has found and saved. He says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.' You see your old tree is perishing, and it will surely die; whereas I have everlasting life, and shall never perish, but live with Christ forever.” The old man listened with earnest attention and with brightening smile. “Ah! now I see what you mean, miss. But it is grand when you can say that you have no doubts. Now' am one as does believe in the Savior, and in what He's done for me, bless His holy name! But, still, I am one of those as has doubts.” “I am right glad to hear you say you believe in Him," I answered; "and have you ever seriously thought who it is you are doubting when you have these doubts? Can you really doubt the power or the love of Jesus, who died for you and now lives in heaven for you? Dare you doubt the truth of God's Word, when He tells us that the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin, and that He is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him? You may doubt yourself God never asks you to believe in any good or strength in yourself; you are just a poor sinner and nothing at all.' But, oh! don't pain the Lord Jesus by doubting Him: you will never live to His glory or be any witness for Him until you have joy and peace in believing.’” And while I went on to speak of Christ's finished work on the cross meeting all God's claims and all our need, the old man listened with keenest interest and relish of the truth. Each time after that when I drove through the forest I pulled up at "Robin Hood's Larder" and had a talk with the dear old man, and gave him a "bit of nice reading" in the shape of some back numbers of FAITHFUL WORDS, which he always greatly appreciated. And much he seemed to feel it when I pressed on him the unfailing love and faithfulness of Christ to carry safe home to glory the sinner, who comes to Him in simple faith. One day, when I had been speaking to him about our responsibility to confess Christ's name to others, and to be lights in this dark world, he said: "Well, miss, I hope to shine out bright for Him when I get yonder.” “And we won't thank you to shine there," I answered. "The Lamb will be the light of that bright place, and we shall have no need of the candle! “No, no! If you mean shining for Him, now’s your time, and don't lose your chance! You may not have much longer here, and when you see Him up there you will wish with all your heart you had been bolder for Him, and truer to Him, for He is worthy!” The last time I saw my old friend he was looking very shattered and feeble after an unusually severe winter, and as I was again leaving home for a few months, I felt it was little likely I should see him again in this world. His face lit up very brightly as I spoke of "the tree of life," beneath whose shadow we should sit down, by-and-by, and whose fruit we should find sweet to our taste; of the beautiful home Jesus has got ready for His redeemed ones, where pain, and sorrow, and death, and old age will be no more. He said nothing of "doubts," but spoke with glad assurance of being present with the Lord when his time here was over. When I again stood under the old tree it was a much younger man who came up to me. In answer to my inquiry after his predecessor, he said, "What, haven't you heard, miss? He were picked up dead, one day, down by the hut yonder—gone all of a sudden! But I believe it were well with him, and that he was ready; and we gave him a nice funeral, all of us following.” And so my old friend had entered in through the gates into the city, for he had a right to the tree of life, having washed his robes in the blood of the Lamb. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES ======================================================================== AS guiding principles for our Magazine this new year, we take two brief passages of Scripture—an exhortation from St. Jude, and a charge from St. Paul:— “Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word." Both exhortation and charge were given in view of evils in the Church and in the world—evils which were young in the days when the words were penned, but which are now hoary; yet though old, they have still before them a period to fill up of audacity against the truth. With inspired vision the writers beheld these opposing forces in their destructive work, and they call aloud to us in our day and generation. Our duty as men and women loyal to God's orders is clear. The Faith, the Christian Faith, is assailed—fight for the Faith. The stronghold of truth is assaulted—drive back the foe. Contend earnestly. Soldiers in battle do not temporize with the enemy. When disease invades the land, doctors and their brave staff attack it, be it cholera or destruction ever So deadly. The enemy of souls invades our land, threatens its liberty, and undermines its spiritual health. Shall we demean ourselves towards him with amiable consideration? Shall we treat him as if he were our deserving brother, and then describe our disloyalty to God as Christian charity? Let our "charity" say what it will, the Faith, once—or, rather, once for all—delivered to the saints, is the object of attack. In this, perhaps, there is nothing new, forever since it was given to man by God, the truth has been attacked, and during the nineteen centuries of this era, sometimes one country, sometimes another, has been in a special way the field of battle. The new thing is that just now England and America are the chosen places for the strife. These lands are beyond all others the lands of open Bibles. "Let us conquer them and subdue the world," is the cry. The Faith had been already once for all delivered to the saints when St. Jude penned his epistle, and as he wrote it before the end of the first century, we have to get back into that century if we would know what the Faith is. In other words, we have to get into the New Testament, and not to step out of it into the second or the nineteenth century if we would know what is the Faith—that is, Christianity according to God. The Faith was delivered by the apostles and by men inspired of God to the holy ones of God. This choicest treasure was handed over to the trust of loyal men and women on the earth, whom God called saints. “The Faith" means the whole of Christian truth—not a part or section of it. Speaking generally, the history of the Church in reference to the Faith has been a succession of attacks upon the Faith and earnest contention for it—a continued loss of some part or other of the Faith, and then a winning back to the Church of that which had been surrendered. All down the Christian centuries the confessors of the Faith have suffered loss and, death in n contending earnestly for it. The noblest of Christ's soldiers were intolerant of all and every form of belief which denied the Faith once for all delivered to the saints; and every true revival to holiness and joy has found its birthplace in the Church in zeal for the Faith. In contending for the Faith, false beliefs had to be contended against. The victors for God were aggressive men—men full of holy, harmless, pure aggressiveness against evil teachers and doctrines— men bent on making God's glory known on the earth, and bent on winning men for God whose lives should answer to their holy Faith. And we, the Christian men and women of this century, should follow the steps of our forefathers: we should earnestly contend for the Faith which was "once delivered to the saints.” Not to act is to rust; not to do is to decay. Vigorous nature pushes outwards, overcomes, and bears fruit; life is ever conquering. If we are time-servers and are devoted to the fashion of our day, God will raise up better and worthy soldiers, who shall quit themselves like men and be strong. The charge of St. Paul is burdened with solemnity. He looked up to the eternal God, and on to the great day, as he uttered it, saying, "I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge both living and dead at His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word.” “Preach the Word: be instant in season and out of season." He beheld the multitude of evil men and seducers in their dark array; he saw the effect upon the professing Church of their doctrines; there was but one way of meeting the souls of men; there was but one way for conquering for God, and that was, making known His Word. Such thoughts fill our hearts as we sit down once more at the beginning of a new year, with our Magazine before us. In the presence of exhortation and charge, these shall be our guiding principles: "Contend earnestly for the 'Faith"—"preach the Word." Whether such principles are popular or not, is beside the question; St. Jude and St. Paul so exhort and charge us. No doubt there is a measure of uprising against sacerdotalism in the land. English-speaking people love liberty, and the dominion of priests, and particularly that of foreign priests, is distasteful to them. But whether there is a return to zeal for the Faith we cannot venture to say. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." The Faith teaches us, How God pardons sin—How a man can be justified—What the Atonement of Christ effects—What His Priesthood in heaven signifies. Whether in the Sunday school, the Bible class, or the congregation, such parts of the Faith are earnestly contended for and resolutely and plainly "preached" or made known, let our readers judge. Certain towns of England and Scotland are well garrisoned by men and women who do their utmost to keep such truths outside their walls. Pressure is brought upon booksellers, put upon distributors and readers of Gospel literature, which is most effective in keeping such parts of the Faith away from the hands of the people. Hence the loyal and the true-hearted to the Faith are called upon for renewed efforts, and for some self-sacrifice in distributing the Word. The simple are told that they cannot understand the Bible, and must accept its teachings through the channel of the Church. What is meant by the Church? The teaching of the Church is at variance with itself through the centuries. The greater part of such Church "truth" as people are asked to accept is contrary to Bible truth. All so-called "truth" not contained in the New Testament accrued to the Church after the Faith had been once for all delivered to the saints. Lectures and pamphlets of an infidel character against the Faith are also common, and they find attentive listeners, and these efforts of the enemy again demand our individual zeal in promulgating the truth, and in making known the Word. The Faith will be forever the only true faith—there is none other—and for its prosperity none dare to fear, but we may justify fear for our land in the presence of the apathy of the saints to whom the Faith was delivered. For other lands which made light of the Faith have been laid low, and they lie to this day in the dust. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: WHAT IS GRACE? ======================================================================== GRACE is favor from God, absolutely undeserved, and bestowed in the most pitiful, kind, loving way, that God Himself can possibly bestow it. The grace of God is God looking upon vile, undone sinners, and bestowing upon them the love of His heart, so as to make them feel they have a place in His heart, and that they are beloved of God, and may be at home with God. In this grace, God met the dying thief, and the chief soldier among the murderers of His Son. In this grace the Gospel was sent first to Jerusalem. In this grace Christ found Saul of Tarsus, and made the chief of sinners the chief of saints and apostles. The grace of God, which carries with it salvation for all men, has appeared. From Adam until now all the saved are saved by grace. Grace is the child of love and the parent of mercy. We make this discovery as we hear the voice of God speaking to us in Jesus. I am thirsty; "Come to the waters," says grace. I am hungry; "Eat ye that which is good," is the response of grace. But I am poor and have nothing to buy with; "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price," is the reply. When we turn our gaze towards the person of Christ, we cannot doubt the grace that is in Him towards us. There it stands a blessed reality; we see it in every action, we discover it in every word of His. I am weary; "Come unto Me... I will give you rest." I am faint; "Casting all your care upon Him," and thus, like breezes from the waters, "He sustains with words them that are weary.” I find the grace of God put beyond doubt as I gaze upon Calvary's Cross and behold the agony and death of God's only begotten Son. The measure and proof of all the favor comes out in "God so loved." It is not, "How shall I win God's favor?" That favor, or grace, "hath appeared," and has been exhibited by the life and the death of God's own Son. Our hope is in God, and in His grace. Simeon said: "Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou Nast prepared before the face of all people." Christ, then, is the salvation of God (or, rather, God's salvation). "He hath appeared," not above our heads so that people cannot reach to Him; not under the feet to be trampled upon; not behind the back to be rejected: but "before the face." Nothing less than the blood of Christ is needed to cleanse from one sin, nothing more is required to cleanse from all sin. Christ is trustworthy, and He says, "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” “We thank Thee for the blood, The blood of Christ, Thy Son, The blood by which our peace is made, Our victory won. “We thank Thee for the grace Descending from above, That overflows our widest guilt, Our God's eternal love.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: HOLY CHAIRS ======================================================================== MUCH is said in these days about union with Rome. Union with Rome means nothing less than absorption into Rome: that is, all who are united to Rome become part of Rome. What, then, does this signify? To form a just idea of what Rome is, and what union with it really means, the city of Rome should be seen. There the visitor beholds the temples, the idols, the practice of old pagan Rome, all turned to use in the name of the Christian religion. The light of God's truth and the darkness of paganism cannot have fellowship together, the glory of the sun and the gloom of the night can never be united. We propose to offer our readers a little information on the religion of Rome, and as a commencement we place before them some facts in reference to holy chairs. In England the chair and the chairman are familiar ideas in all orderly meetings, and people are expected to abide by the ruling of the chair which is a figurative way of speaking of the man who sits in the chair. In ecclesiastical matters in our land the actual chair, seat, or throne whereon the bishop sits is of importance, for the cathedral "is the church of the bishop, containing his throne of office, or bishop's stool, as our Saxon forefathers termed it." It is that one church "where the bishop hath his seat...." or chair.” A bishop's see is, therefore, strictly speaking, a bishop's seat, or cathedral." In a somewhat similar way we speak of the message from the throne—that is, the message from the royal personage who fills the throne. The throne of God, the judgment-seat of Christ, are familiar Bible expressions. In early Christian times, long before cathedrals existed, there was in many a building used for Christian worship, at one end a slightly raised platform; and here, against the wall, were seats placed in a semicircle, whereon the elders of the church sat. In the center of the semicircle was a seat or chair for the overseer, or bishop, of the particular church in question. So that, whether according to primitive church practice, or whether according to present day conceptions, the "chair" or "seat" or "throne" is an important matter. Yet, while this is the case, a sacred chair—even if formed of wood several hundreds of years old—hardly commends itself to the ordinary English man or woman as being worthy of worship. But, in the great Brompton Oratory in London, there is a reproduction in gilt of the bronze statue of St. Peter in Rome, seated in the chair, which, in common with the original, forms a center for veneration. And, so highly does "the Roman" in England prize this reproduction, that such as offer prayer before it are promised fifty days' indulgence. The foot is also kissed. Hence, the history of the "chair" in the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter's is of living and practical interest to English-speaking people. The article on the chair following these remarks, is written by the Rev. James Wall, who has worked in the Gospel in Rome from the time when the Pope's loss of temporal power made it possible, not only to bring the Holy Scriptures into Rome, but also to preach Christ to the people without fear of the cruelties of the Inquisition, which were, up to 1870, legally perpetrated in the dungeons or torture chambers of the Pope's palace. That memorable 1870 saw the loss of temporal power of the Papacy and also the dogma of Papal infallibility, which, being translated into homely language, is the ruling of the Papal chair, commanding the unqualified obedience of every soul in Christendom. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: EX-CATHEDRA ======================================================================== Chapter 1 THE THREE CHAIRS IN THE VATICAN BASILICA THE Church of Rome is never weary of boasting unbroken continuity in her traditions and dogmas. She appeals to antiquity with seeming confidence. She glories in her ritual, which in many instances, she declares, dates from the apostles. Until the entrance of liberty, in 1870, she had possession of the sites, and sepulchers, and catacombs of the Eternal City; and she dealt with them as she did the written Word—some were suppressed, others altered, and all were treated by persons who, not having the ideas of those who produced them, could never grasp their hidden meanings, and who were thus obliged to read into them the thoughts of their own minds. This will become increasingly clear as we proceed in the study of the "chair" as a symbol among Christians, and especially among the early Roman Christians. In St. Peter's Church there are really three chairs, which, because they throw light on each other, we shall study in the order of their antiquity. The first is the chair of bronze in the apse of the great basilica. This was designed by Bernini, by order of Alexander VII. The height of the whole work, from the pavement, is about seventy feet, and it cost twenty-five thousand pounds. The metal weighed more than seven tons. On pedestals of marble, four immense statues, representing the four doctors of the Church—St. Ambrose and St. Augustine for the Western, and St. Chrysostom and St. Athanasius for the Eastern—support a chair, beautiful in form and ornamented in the bronze with finely-chiseled arabesques. In the front of this chair is a bas-relief, representing our Lord giving the keeping of His flock to St. Peter. Two genii support the Papal tiara and the keys. Two angels stand one on each side, and a dove on the wing sends down rays and light from above. Inside this gorgeous work of art is preserved the chair which is called the "holy seat," which is exposed to view only once in every hundred years, because it is regarded as too holy for ordinary occasions. This seat, behind its veil of mystery, is the object of Catholic devotion and the supposed center of immense miraculous virtue. Roman controversialists, when they meet with references in the "Fathers" to the chair of an apostle, seem unable to conceive them to have been symbolical, and insist that they refer, not to the form of the apostle's doctrine, but to the material seat. Here, however, in St. Peter's we have a chair which seeks to be symbolical in all its parts, and is the center of a system of symbols. No one thinks it was made to sit in, or that the surroundings are other than symbolical. The symbolism is pagan in the genii, false as far as the angels and doctors are concerned, and blasphemous in its reference to the Holy Spirit, Who does not shed His gifts on bronze and rotten wood. The second chair is the one on the right hand of the nave near the dome. It is occupied by the bronze statue which is kissed by all true Catholics who visit the basilica, and who have thus kissed some of the toes of the right foot out of existence. Many hold that this statue is merely an old image of the Roman Jupiter, with another head in place of the classical one. No one supposes it to be of the first century, or supposes it to have any resemblance to the apostle. Modern archaeological opinion, based on the style of the work, refers it to the fifth century. It is dressed in gorgeous pontifical robes on every solemn occasion, just as the statue of Hercules was in his temple on the Tiber, when the Roman army gained a victory. Special forms of prayer are authorized to be said before the statue, and one hundred days of indulgence promised for each recitation of them, forty days for each kiss of the foot, and miracles may be expected occasionally by the very devout. The third chair is the one enclosed in or behind the bronze of Bernini. This is the so-called "holy chair of St. Peter," preserved in the holiest place of the holiest church of the Roman Catholic world, and surrounded with all the reverence and honor and pomp and glorification possible. This is the apex of the Papal pyramid, the keystone of the Papal arch. The material of this chair is wood; most of it, however, has been replaced, and what remains of the original is in an advanced state of decay. The length of it is 3 feet 9 inches, the breadth is 1 foot 8 inches, the height is 2 feet 1 inch. The back is triangular, and at the highest point it is four feet high. Now the first thing that strikes the unprejudiced observer is that it could hardly have been designed for one individual, but that it was probably made for the use of two persons in some public place. The style of the work brings it down to the fifth century. On each side there are two iron rings, evidently made to support it when carried in procession, and these are of very inferior and late workmanship. The rings are so slender that if anyone had occupied the chair when it was suspended from these, his neck would have been endangered. The rings, therefore, indicate that the seat was to be carried without any great weight in it. Tradition indicates that in the fourth century a double seat was placed, not in the Basilica of Constantine, but in the adjoining baptistry, whence it was removed in the eighth century. That baptistry was erected by Bishop Damasus. There is just a possibility that this seat may be the one referred to, and it, therefore, carries us back to that date. Now, if for the sake of argument we concede this much to the Roman Catholic Church, we must be allowed to fill up the emptied spaces in the back of the seat with decorations which belong to that period. This would oblige us to put figures of the two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul—the supposed founders of the Church in Rome—one on each side, while the unfilled circle would contain the usual monogram of Christ. This is the earliest date that archaeological research can give to the chair, which date all will allow to be at an immense distance from the times of the apostles. The gilded glass cups which have been found in the catacombs, and which are preserved in the Vatican Museum, throw definite light on the chair in St. Peter's, and enable us to complete the restoration. The use of gold in this way indicates Byzantine influence, which is late. The bad spelling, even of the names of our Lord, shows advanced decadence in language. The monogram shows them to be not earlier than the fourth century, and the name of Damasus, who died in 384, shows that some of them are probably as late as the beginning of the fifth century. The copies on opposite page of some of these designs in gold on glass will sufficiently represent the state of opinion on these subjects at the close, say, of the fourth century. No. 1 shows Peter and Paul on the same level; No. 2 the same apostles with a single crown between them; No. 3 shows them sitting, each holding a book; No. 4 presents Paul and Peter sitting on a double seat, like the one in Rome, with the monogram above them. In No. 5 Christ is between them, presenting crowns of victory. In No. 6 two saints occupy the upper half of the circle, the two apostles the lower, and two large monograms the center. In No. 7 the apostles and two popes occupy nearly all the space, while the monogram of Christ is at vanishing point. In No. 8 Christ has disappeared, the seat is enlarged for three persons, the two apostles are divided and no longer have the Gospels in their hands, while the giant proportions of St. Lawrence occupy all the center. Now, the structure of the chair in St. Peter's evidently belongs to the period indicated by the design in No. 4, a period of rapid transition, of deepening artistic and religious darkness, when the dominant sentiment of paganism prevailed, and the local god—in the form of the local saint—took the power and dethroned the conception which was more Catholic and Christian. St. Lawrence was a Roman martyr, and his memory struck the Roman imagination with greater force than either St. Peter or St. Paul. We now come to the most conspicuous part of this chair, which, while the others have fallen into decay, or disappeared altogether, remains in its full original significance. It consists of eighteen squares of ivory inserted in the front of the seat. In each square is engraved one of the works, or lying miracles, of Hercules. Hercules was one of the pagan heroes, a child of double adultery, of celestial and earthly apostasy, symbol of brute force and unbridled lust. In these designs, as in an infernal ark, are preserved the outlines of paganism, the ideals of evil: hydras, stags with brazen feet, boars and centaurs, birds with brazen claws, and wings, and beaks; mad bulls, man-eating horses, giants, a monster with three human bodies, vultures, and dragons, and Cerberus from the depths of hell, all waiting to be embodied in the kingdom of Antichrist, at the apocalypse of Satan. The design, however, that requires our special attention is the HYDRA with nine heads, the one in the midst being immortal: when separated from the body it still lives. Here is the mystery of the Vatican. We may well ask, How did these things come about? How did this one head of paganism survive? How did the ivory designs, which seem from their style to be of early date, become inserted in the seat which is of the fifth century? How could anyone who knew the representative value of the chair and of these monstrosities unite them? How did they, when united, find their way into the Christian church, usurp the central position, and become objects of worship, and remain as they now are for many centuries? Notice, lastly, that the number of the great deeds of Hercules are increased from twelve to eighteen, and the eighteen hieroglyphs are arranged in THREE ROWS OF SIX EACH-6. 6. 6. "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six." “And upon" his "forehead was a name written: MYSTERY.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: NOTES ON SCRIPTURE ======================================================================== THE GOLDEN THREAD. GOLD is symbolic of glory. A golden thread of glory runs through the whole of the Scriptures. It is the glory of the Kingdom of God which shall come. This thread is woven into the various patterns of the different books of the Bible, and whether they treat of the times before the flood, or picture the patriarchs walking with God in the midst of idolatry's deepening gloom, or describe the nation of Israel in its rise and fall, and the return of its remnant from Babylonian exile, still the gold and the glory are present. The thread shines forth in the four gospels, and in the epistles, and it is displayed in ample beauty in the book of the Revelation. How can the "higher critic" account for the presence of this one thread of gold in the writings of various authors of various ages? Whence comes it, in the books of Moses, the chronicles of the kings, the burdens of the prophets, the narratives of the life of Jesus the Lord, and the teachings of the epistles, unless it comes from heaven? This earth is pre-eminent amongst the worlds—for here was the Son of God incarnate; and from this earth—which gave Him, instead of its throne, a grave—He has ascended to heaven, where, as Son of Man, He is seated on the right hand of the Divine Majesty. Science seeks to penetrate, by telescopic power, into the secrets of the worlds around our own; but the far-reaching eye of faith sees into the heavens, and discovers the mind of God in relation to His kingdom, and the destiny of man in relation to the universe. In Christ, man is exalted above angels, principalities, and powers. The sight of the glorified Jesus sheds a fresh glory over the work of God in rendering this earth a habitation for man. When the Creator fashioned it for our dwelling, the gloom, the death, and the shroud of waters wound about it, gave place to light, and life, and verdure and, when all was finished, the almighty Worker rested in satisfaction in His perfect work. "Behold, it was very good." The habitation, "very good" in God's eye, was suited for the home of man and was ordained to be a brief tarrying-place for the feet of His incarnate Son. In the mysterious ways of God, sin was allowed entrance into this world. "How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out." We leave the why and wherefore to Himself. Man on earth is called to trust. The story of the habitable earth—even of seven thousand years' duration—is brief, for "with the Lord.... a thousand years are as one day." Millions of years may be traced in rocks and fossils, but the moral history of man carries a term no longer than that span of time the earth has been made his habitation. We are called by God to trust during this brief space of time. The future will answer questions now unanswerable. The deep importance of this span of time is realized when we consider the infinite glory of God in the incarnation of His Son, and the marvelous position into which God has set the human race, as evidenced by the incarnation. Neither need we be surprised, with the glory of the Son of Man before our eyes, that throughout God's Word, the honor and majesty of His kingdom should have a prominent place. Nor should we forget that God would have the glory of that kingdom obtain a large place in our hearts. The first great revelation of the coming glory was made to the Serpent, the originator of evil here. The woman's Seed should bruise his head; and the serpent should bruise the heel of the woman's Seed. This word referred not only to man, but to fallen angels; it referred to beings made to dwell upon this earth, and also to those beings who have visited it for thousands of years. The Son of God should by His incarnation, and His death, exalt and bless man, and should cast down Satan. This is the first letting down from heaven of the golden thread to earth. The advent of the kingdom has ever been presented by God to His people as their hope, and God communicated more respecting it to His servants before the flood than may appear at first sight. We cannot conceive the earth's first families as being indifferent to their origin and to the life which was lost. The very legends of the heathen disallow the idea of such indifference. The gates of Paradise were closed against man, and the earliest legends describe man seeking to obtain entrance—but the Cherubim barred the way. Life so near, yet unattainable! Rest at hand, but out of reach! The Scriptures afford us an insight of the expectations given by God to His people in those days of the coming of the kingdom. "The Lord cometh" prophesied Enoch. "The Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all." The first promise was judgment upon the serpent, the next was judgment upon obdurate men. It would seem that the men before the flood laid the burden of their condition upon God. Instead of repenting of their sins and turning from Satan, they lived in sin and spoke ill of God. Hence, when the Lord came, Enoch said He would "convince all that are ungodly.... of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." Such was the testimony of "the seventh from Adam"—the man who saw the perfection of man's wickedness in those early days, who proclaimed the perfection of God's judgment on the ungodly at the coming of the Lord, and was in himself the witness of the perfection of grace on the earth-for he was translated that he should not see death, before the flood of judgment swept away all the sinners of the early world. Noah took up the testimony. He proclaimed the coming flood, which should cleanse the very earth from its uncleanness—its horrible defilement of the union of man with the sons of God. The judgment came according to the Word of God by Enoch and Noah. After the judgment, in the earth arising into life out of death, we see again the golden thread. Noah—or Rest, as his name signifies—found satisfaction in a new earth, in an earth purged from iniquity. Thus the overthrow of Satan's power; the judgment of obdurate man; the cleansing of the defiled earth are before us. The rest of Noah proclaims the new earth, which shall yet be, and the fulfillment of the promises of God in the power of the sweet savor of the sacrifice of Christ—the Lamb of God who bareth away the sin of the world. On another occasion this thread of gold, as it shines out from Babel to Egypt blessed under Joseph, shall occupy us. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: TRUST IN GOD ======================================================================== AN aged believer was much perplexed as to her future, and as to the way in which the Lord would lead her at a time when nothing but poverty seemed to be in store for her; and she besought Him to make clear the path and give assurance of His loving protection and care. As she was thus lifting up her heart in prayer to God, a tapping was heard on the window pane of the small cottage. The poor tried woman looked up and saw a sparrow knocking on the window sill, having a large crumb of bread in its beak. Instantly she arose from her knees, gratefully accepting this simple messenger's testimony of God's loving care for His creatures, and so for herself. "Fear not, therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” It only remains to add that her way was opened, and a plain path made for her to walk in. But the lesson of simple trust and confidence in God has never been forgotten, and to this day the dear old Christian narrates it to cheer and comfort others sorely tried. May it serve to remind you, dear Christian reader, of His care and solicitude for you in all the daily affairs of this life. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: HINTS FOR THE BIBLE CLASS ======================================================================== 1. (1) Redeemer. (2) Redemption. (3) Redeemed. (1) Christ is our Redeemer. (2) Our redemption is effected by His blood. (3) Christ's redeemed are His own by the right of redemption. (1.) A selection from Old Testament references to the Redeemer. The kinsman-redeemer of Lev. 25 (read vers. 10, 47-53). Christ became by incarnation our kinsman. He did not take up the cause of angels (Heb. 2:16). He was made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7), and having become in grace our kinsman, exercised the kinsman's right (corn-pare Ruth 2:1; 4:6) of being our Redeemer. (2.) Christ did not redeem us by His prayers. His miracles, His holy example, but by His blood. He "gave Himself for us that He might redeem us..." (Titus 2:14). “In whom we have redemption, through His blood" (Eph. 1:7). "Thou.... hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood" (Rev. 5:9). The bondsman of Lev. 25 could redeem himself "if able" (v. 49) to do so. He might lay up a surplus from his labor, and so buy his freedom. But the spiritual bondsman is "sold under sin" (Rom. 7:14), and has no works which he can offer whereby to purchase his liberty. "Not of works" (Eph. 2:9). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5). (3.) A redeemed person is no longer a slave, he is a freed man. A freed man is no longer in captivity, but in liberty. "Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free" (Gal. 5:1). Yet the freed man is the servant of love to his Redeemer, "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). We should no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again (see 2 Cor. 5:16). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: FIGURES AND SHADOWS ======================================================================== THE PRESENTATION OF THE OFFERING WHEN the Israelite of old approached Jehovah, either voluntarily with the burnt offering, or, of necessity, with the sin offering, his first consideration was the presentation of his offering. This act was of prime importance, for, unless the offering itself were accepted, the offerer's approach to God was in vain. We will suppose the offerer coming to Jehovah of necessity, drawn to Him by His Word, which commanded the transgressor to bring to Him an offering for his transgression. As every detail of the manner of approach was regulated by divine law—no license or liberty of any sort being permitted—and as obedience to the holy will of God was stamped upon each and every action, the position taken up by the Israelite in relation to Jehovah was all-important. This position the diagram herewith makes plain. The offerer stood facing the throne of Jehovah, which, though hidden from view, regulated his position. The offerer could not appear before Jehovah without an offering for his transgression; such a course would be absolutely impossible. Therefore, as he faced Jehovah's presence, he had with him the appointed sacrifice for his sin. He stood with his back to the east and his face to the west—for westward, in the symbols of the sanctuary, the throne was located. Between him and the throne was the altar. Let the reader examine the diagram carefully, and note the words, "the transgressor"—"the altar"—"the throne." The transgressor must needs face the throne of God as the arrow indicates. Now the Scriptures declare—"I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it.... And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." And again: "We must all appear before the judgment-seat." Let us apply the diagram to our own position before God. In this lifetime the transgressor finds between him and the throne—the altar. The throne is hidden from view now, but every sinner who comes to God about his sins recognizes it by faith, as the Israelite of old, who appeared before Jehovah with his offering for his transgression, recognized it in Israel. The altar, the cross of Christ, is within the spiritual view of all who read and hear the Holy Scriptures, as the altar was open to the sight of all in Israel. As convicted of our sin, and feeling the guilt of our ways, we take our stand in obedience to God, as we have indicated on the diagram. The Word of God sets forth to us the sacrifice of Christ for sin, and thus, as it was with the transgressor in Israel, so our sins demand that we should appear before God. We place our finger over the words "the transgressor," and, with the publican in the temple, we cry, "God be merciful to me the sinner." The altar stands between the transgressor and Jehovah's throne! Upon that altar the blood of the sin offering was sprinkled, and by it forgiveness was obtained. To us there is one question of overwhelming importance—will the offering by which we approach God be accepted? In order that this may be the case, the offering must of necessity be well-pleasing to God. Certain qualities respecting the offering were requisite to its acceptance. It had to be without spot-it had to shadow forth absolute holiness. If we would stand before the throne of God in peace it can only be by virtue of an accepted offering. We cannot offer ourselves to God as sinners, for in so doing we should present to Him sin. We require an offering outside ourselves, and one that is holy—"without blemish and without spot.” How completely the offering of our tears, our repentance, our good works, or that of the good works, and, again, the offering of the prayers of saints and of angels, is dispersed by this shadow of the law! The offering had to be without blemish, and neither saint nor angel is without blemish. Our only hope is in Christ, the spotless offering. “Could my tears forever flow, Could my zeal no respite know, Naught for sin could e'er atone, But Thy blood, and Thine alone.” One further suggestion arises with the diagram before us. The day is at hand when we individually must appear before God. Let us place a piece of paper over "the altar" and continue the dotted line from "the throne" to "the transgressor." And as we meditate upon the diagram let us face the day when we must perforce present ourselves before the throne of God. Alas! how many even in Christian lands live and die without "the altar!" And, alas! how very much religion in Christendom now proceeds without "the altar," without the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many live and die under the vain effort to transform "the transgressor" into a being fit to stand in his own right and title before the throne of infinite majesty! May none of our readers be guilty of this presumption, for if "he that despised Moses's law died without mercy under two or three witnesses, of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God?" ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: GIVING JESUS OUR BEST ======================================================================== AMY F., a little girl of some seven or eight years of age, had among her collection of toys a very pretty doll, which had been given to her by a dear friend. Amy was very proud of it, and kept it as one of her choicest treasures. She had other dolls, but this one was the best. Children have oftentimes shown a spirit and example such as those of mature years might wisely and profitably cultivate and follow. Amy, on coming downstairs one morning, began to recite to her mother, at the breakfast table, a dream she had had. “Oh, mother!" said the child, "I have had such a nice dream! I thought Jesus came to my bedside. He was dressed in beautiful shining clothes; and He looked so bright! He called me, and said, 'Amy, I want to know if you will give Me that pretty doll you have—the one you call your best—the one you love most and take such great care of—because I want to make some other little boys and girls happy, whom I know and love, and who have not such a happy home and such kind friends as you have.'” “And what answer did you give, Amy?" asked her mother. “Why, mother," she said, "I told Jesus I would willingly give it to Him; and He looked pleased, and sweetly smiled on me, and said, ' Thank you, Amy'; and He went away in my dream.” So the best doll was wrapped up in a clean piece of paper, and put aside carefully in the drawer till the fitting occasion should serve Amy's dream. By-and-by there was a sale of work held in the schoolroom, the proceeds of which were to be given to a missionary society to aid in sending the good news of Jesus and His love to other lands. To this sale Amy sent the doll as her contribution. It soon found a customer, and realized the sum of one shilling and sixpence! And Amy went home with a treasure in her heart, even the sweetness and pleasure of giving a child's gift to the Lord Jesus. Now it is just possible that to many of you dear young people who read this story, Jesus, your Savior, has come many, many times in the past with this same earnest, loving request, asking you to give Him your best—not merely your best doll, or toy, or book, but your best love, your best service, and best days. A young heart and life given to the Lord and to His service will make all our days and years bright, happy, and useful. “Take my poor heart, and let it be Forever closed to all but Thee.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: HE WOULD DO IT FOR A LITTLE GIRL LIKE ME ======================================================================== The preacher was pressing on his N audience the importance of accepting Christ, and with Him life eternal as the gift of God, and while closing his address he observed a little girl in tears, whose attention had delighted him during the evening. He determined to converse with her before she went out, but while he was busy she was gone, and with sincere regret he went away. On the following evening his little friend appeared, but there did not seem in her the intense interest of the previous evening, and at the close there were no signs of tears. Grieved at having lost his chance, the preacher, however, made for her, and, sitting down beside her, remarked on her attention and emotion during the former address, asking at the same time how she seemed to have lost that anxiety. “Oh," said the little girl of six or seven summers, "you told us last night of God's willingness to give Christ and eternal life through Him, and I went home to my closet and asked Him to give me Christ and life eternal; and don't you think He'd do it for a little one like me?” “I am sure He would," said the preacher. “And so am I," said the child; "and I feel like singing now, although I felt I could do nothing but weep last night.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: SIDE LIGHTS ON SCRIPTURE ======================================================================== HOSE of our readers who are interested in the beliefs and monuments of Ancient Egypt will find pleasure in the perusal of "The Land of the Monuments." Besides a pleasantly-recorded tour amongst Egypt's ever-absorbing wonders, the volume offers a variety of happily-selected incidents, illustrating passages of Scripture. From these we cull a few. “TWO WALKING TOGETHER. “The chief mourners follow immediately behind the bier; then other men, probably the friends of the deceased. Some of these are occasionally seen walking hand in hand. Wherever and whenever this occurs, it is an indication of great friendship. It is a custom of great antiquity; in hieroglyphic characters two figures represented hand in hand form a determinative of friendship or brotherhood. It is a custom alluded to in Scripture. ‘Can two walk together (i.e., hand in hand) except they be agreed?' ‘Thou hast holden me by my right hand.' ‘Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?... If it be, give me thine hand.” “RUBBISH HEAPS. “Beyond them, away to the south and east, Are huge mounds of rubbish, the accumulation of the sweepings of centuries, of which the most imperishable portion is the pottery. Potsherds shine in the sunlight, and form more or less regular strata of color through 'the dull mass. It is a curious and interesting fact that the age of mounds and tells may be fairly determined by the shape, style, and character of the earthenware and fragments of pottery which they contain.... Such mounds of rubbish as these are to be met with on the outside of all Eastern towns and villages; they are universal dust-heaps, ancient as the Book of Job. 'And he took him a potsherd to scrape 'himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.' 'He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill.'" “A WATERED GARDEN. “On arriving at the village of Matarieh we were driven up to the gate of a garden, through which a small stream of beautiful clear water was running. The splashing, gurgling sound was most pleasant and refreshing. Its effect upon the vegetation was very evident; it was indeed a watered garden.' Flowers were abundant, beautiful, and fragrant; shrubs and trees were growing most vigorously.” “THIEVES BREAKING THROUGH. “The streets of the city are narrow, irregular, and badly paved. The houses seldom exceed two stories in height; those of the poorer classes are of one story, and miserable structures. Where thieves break through and steal.' `He would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up,' or broken through.' Nothing would be easier than to break through' these frail walls...” “THE SCEPTRE, OR BATON OF OFFICE, denoted chieftainship, the ruler of a province, chief authority, precedence. Upon it the names and titles are inscribed, and it was also customary for the name to appear upon the ruler's staff. The scepter marked the person of distinction, the great landed proprietor occupying a high position in the state. The staff implied much the same dignity as the scepter, and is found only with persons of the highest position—princes, priests, and high officials. Numerous staves, five to six feet in height, with ornamental tops of various designs, have been found at Thebes, upon some of which the name of the owner could be read. The figure of a man leaning upon a staff denoted a great one,' a prince,' or a person of distinction.' Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.' Jacob, as chieftain of the Hebrews and the sheik of the tribe, would naturally have his ruler's staff when he came down to Egypt, as the Arab sheik of the present day has his spear, which is driven into the ground before his tent. Joseph, the ruler of the land of Egypt, would possess one of the highest orders, second only in distinction to that of Pharaoh, who said to him on his appointment: Only in the throne will I be greater than thou.' The Vulgate renders the passage, and bowed himself lowly before the ruler's staff' (scepter, or baton of office) which his son carried.' In this, one would read the acknowledgment by the dying patriarch of the overruling providence of God, who had raised his son to the highest position as ruler of the land of Egypt, and had thus saved their lives by a great deliverance.'” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: FROM THE MISSION FIELD ======================================================================== THE following letter will interest our readers:— “Nkanga, Pondoland. “We had a very rough ride over the mountains at first. We had to cross the St. John's River where it was very broad, and then began a long climb up to the top of the hills once more. “We reached Palmerton—a Wesleyan mission station—at sunset, having left here before sunrise. Palmerton is about sixty years old, and has been for some time in charge of a native pastor. However, there is one European over there now. It must seem strange to you to think that on such an occasion one simply rides up to the front door and introduces oneself, and takes it for granted that hospitality is offered. But, of course, there is nowhere else to go to for the night. “We then went on to Emfundisneni (the word means `the place of the teacher’) where I once stayed some six years ago. We spent Saturday and Sunday there, and I spoke to the large congregation (about five hundred natives) on Sunday morning, and Mr. Green spoke at the children's service in the afternoon. Later on we had the joy of taking the Lord's Supper with the natives, when fully one hundred and fifty were present. It was a very interesting sight, and such a service as this makes one feel more than ever one with the people. At Nkanga we are only starting work, whereas Emfundisneni is thirty years old. So we only get raw natives here. “We left Emfundisneni long before sunrise on Monday, and retraced our steps to Palmerton, where we spent a night. I spoke to the Christians at the early morning prayer meeting at 6 a.m., when fully one hundred natives were present. Then we got on horseback again, and reached St. John's at sunset. “We spent a couple of days—or, rather, two nights—at St. John's, and then started off at 4 a.m. for here. On our way we called at a kraal where we are starting a new out-station, and found that the huts had not been commenced, though we had been assured that one was nearly finished. The natives here seem to have no idea at all of telling the truth. They lie without any motive for their deception. Indeed, they seem to be unable to tell the truth. “When we got back here we found the people wanted us to pray for rain, as they needed it so much. So we had a meeting with the people, and I was asked to speak. I told them that they did not deserve rain, as when they had asked us to pray for it once before they got the rain, and when their crops were ripe they had made them into beer. But I added that I knew they wanted rain, and, as God's heart was not hard like theirs, we would pray; for He made His sun to shine on the good and the evil, and sent His rain to the just and unjust. I then quoted St. Paul's remarks, how that He 'left not Himself without witness in that He sent them rain from heaven, filling their hearts with joy and gladness;' adding that this rain which would come in answer to prayer would be one of God's witnesses against them if they did not yield their hearts to Him. Then Mr. Green told them that they asked for rain, but that he could not give them rain—only God could do that. “So we prayed for rain, and by night the mists came on, and it rained a little. Next day and night it came down in splendid style. So after this we went round the kraals and called the people to come and praise God for the rain. We numbered forty all told at this praise meeting, which was called at half a day's notice only. I spoke to them on John 3:16, and the passage in St. John's Epistle about loving in deed and truth, and not in tongue only. I pointed out that what God wanted from them was not merely the praise of lip, but a yielding of themselves to Him. “The people listened most attentively, and yet when it was all over one old woman came up to Mr. Green and thanked him for sending the rain. Still, I think that many of the natives have been hearing God's voice in all this. “It is surprising how I can start off on a long tour on horseback like this straight away after office work. I often think I was cut out for this country.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: ENGLAND'S BOY KING ======================================================================== OF all the favors we enjoy in our land, liberty is the noblest; and the crown of our liberty is our freedom to read the Scriptures in our mother tongue —nor to read them only, but to obey them to the best of our ability. While we enjoy our liberty, and thank God for it, never let us forget that our forefathers won it for us, and that they won it by slow degrees, and by the protracted struggles of many generations. In the great conflict of some three hundred and fifty years ago, which ended in the ascendancy of the Reformation, a very strong political element was mixed up with questions of religion, and to this may be largely attributed the cruelty of the sword, to which first one party and then another resorted. Underlying the political movements two forces were at work: the spirit which determined that England should have the Word of God, and the spirit, equally determined, which sought to keep the light out of the land. Between these conflicting spirits there never was, and never will be, unity. They will war for the mastery so long as this world continues in its present state—that is, until Christ the King shall rule in righteousness. In the very heat of the struggle, when only nine years of age, Edward the Sixth came to the throne. His father, Henry the Eighth, had favored sometimes the religion of the Bible, and sometimes the Papal religion, excepting the power of the Pope, which clashed with his own. The monks and priests were no friends to Henry, and in order to influence the people, he commanded that they should have in the churches copies of the Holy Scriptures chained to the pillars, and he made this law even while he condemned to the fire some who sincerely believed the teaching of the Bible. Unlike his father, the young king respected the Book with constant fidelity, and thus he was on the side of the reformation of the religion of the land. When he was still very young, while playing with some other children, the ball lodged upon a shelf out of reach. One of the boys quickly laid hold of a large Bible to make it a footstool in order to reach the ball, but Edward promptly forbade him so to use it, saying, "Stay. Do not, I beseech you... It is the Bible, and God's Word must not be treated with such indignity." This little story shows that about the young king were instructors who had trained him in reverence of the Word of God, and to those good men and women, who planted such feelings in his mind, we this day are deeply indebted, for a king, even if he be a boy king, leaves his stamp upon the nation he rules. We have no right to expect great wisdom from a king who began his reign at nine years of age, and who lived but six years and five months after; nor should we be too exacting on his memory when we recall some of the treacheries which arose in his reign, and the sorrowful part his hand played in consenting to that treachery which brought his uncle to the scaffold—that protector of the king to whom England owed so much. There are shameful blood-stains upon the pages of England's history in this Edward's time, though they be not so deep as those of his predecessors. It was during his brief reign that the persecutions ceased, and efforts were made by proclamation and otherwise, for the instruction of the people in godliness and Christian faith. From the "injunction" published in the first year of this reign the following instructions referring to the reading of the Bible are taken:— "Parsons, vicars, and other curates" are commanded to provide " one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume in English..."and to have" the same set up in some convenient place within the said church they have care of, where their parishioners may most commodiously resort unto, and read the same. And they shall discourage no man authorized and licensed thereunto, from the reading of any part of the Bible, either in Latin or English, but shall rather conform and exhort every person to read the same as the very lively (living) Word of God, and the special food of man's soul...” The parsons were also ordered to " learn, and have always in a readiness, such comfortable places and sentences of Scripture as do set forth the mercy, benefits, and goodness of Almighty God towards all penitent and believing persons, that they may at all times, when necessity shall require, comfort promptly their flock with the lively (living) Word of God, which is the only stay of man's conscience.” We give the honor for these injunctions to the young king's protector and advisers; and we can only wish that some of the "parsons, vicars, and other curates" of our own day might follow the injunction last quoted. It was circulated particularly on account of "those persons which be sick and in peril of death," and who were oftentimes in the extremity of weakness "put in despair by the craft and subtlety of the devil." Alas! instead of the "comfort" of "the living Word of God, which is the only stay of man's conscience," not infrequently a few words of prayer are now read, and poor dying persons are left without being taught to "put their full trust and confidence in" God. During his last illness Bishop Ridley on one occasion preached before the young king, and said much on works of charity and the Obligation that lay on men of high condition to be eminent in good works. This smote Edward to the quick, and he sent for the bishop, and told him that he looked upon himself as chiefly touched by it, and desired him to instruct him as to his duty in the matter. And, as a result, in order to aid the destitute and the suffering, he founded a home for orphans, and made St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, a hospital, thanking God for prolonging his life to effect these desirable ends. Thus from the practical hand and heart of the youthful king arose those institutions which are today England's glory, and which every Christian rejoices to see flourish so nobly in our land. Those lands in which the Bible is most freely circulated, and which are, therefore, mostly influenced by its teachings, are the lands where the orphan, the widow, and the aged, the suffering and the destitute, are most considered. The closing moments of the young king's life were spent in short prayers and ejaculations. Amongst the last words he was heard to say are these: "Lord God, deliver me out of this miserable and wretched life, and take me among Thy chosen.... Lord, I commit my spirit to Thee... O my Lord God, bless my people, and save Thine inheritance. O Lord God, save Thy chosen people of England. O Lord God, defend this realm from Papistry and maintain Thy true religion, that I and my people may praise Thy holy Name, for Jesus Christ His sake.” As the pangs of death came on him, he cried, "I am faint. Lord have mercy on me, and receive my spirit.” Edward the Sixth died July the 6th, 1553, and for nearly three hundred and fifty years God has delivered our beloved England, for which he prayed, "from Papistry," and has "maintained His true religion." Let us join our prayers with that of this youthful king. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: “PERSONAL TESTIMONY.” ======================================================================== THOU shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God hath led thee..." "A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps...” In the early days of my life I was led to see my own sinfulness in the sight of God, and after a time of anxious thought and prayer the Lord gave me an answer of peace through His written Word: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I was enabled to trust in the atoning merits of Jesus Christ, and to believe that I was accepted in Him. After this I became a member of a Christian church, and a teacher in the Sunday school. At a later period in my Christian experience I was led to see my own weakness, and to realize my need of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. God graciously answered my prayer, and I became conscious of His indwelling power, quickening spiritual life, giving victory over the power of the enemy, and guidance in the hour of perplexity. The quickening power of the Spirit created in me a desire to be entirely engaged in working for God, but the way was not made plain at that time. The Lord knew the desire of my heart, and enabled me to commit my way unto Him. "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” About five years passed away in silent waiting, and then a great change in my circumstances took place. God tested my faith by closing a door of occupation which had been my means of support for many years, and in this season of darkness I was led into very close communion with my Father in heaven, waiting for a revelation of His perfect way for me. "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." "Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed." “Though dark be my way The Lord is my guide; 'Tis mine to obey, And His to provide. Though cisterns be broken, And creatures all fail, The word He hath spoken Shall surely prevail.” As I obeyed the Word, I proved the love and faithfulness of God in providing for my temporal needs. The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail. The testing process was permitted to strengthen faith, and to prepare me for future service. During the waiting season much time had been spent in prayer, asking that the way might he made very plain. I desired to hear the voice of my Divine Master, and to know that He was leading me forth. In God's own appointed time the message came. "Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you." A door of service was soon opened for me in Gospel mission work, where numbers gathered together to hear the Word of God, and I have had the joy of telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love. Dear reader, have you heard the voice of the Lord, and have you obeyed in answering to His call? "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins he as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: WORK IN CATHOLIC VILLAGES IN FRANCE ======================================================================== IT is interesting to a Christian to notice the easy way in which the Lord can give opportunities for service, as well as the small links in the chain of circumstances by which He can bring about the conversion of a soul. To elucidate this I will give more particulars of the case of conversion briefly alluded to in this magazine last September. About nine months ago my wife and I were holding a Gospel service, with magic lantern views, in a little hamlet near Chasseneuil, when two strangers from a neighboring village came in. They were so interested with what they heard that they said, “Cannot you come and hold a similar meeting in our village?” As I always like to see in such invitations a call, not from man but from the Master, and to obey His call without delay or hesitation, I replied, "Certainly; if you can find the room, we will come the day after tomorrow.” They promised to do this, and to make known the meeting to all the inhabitants. We therefore went over on the day appointed, and after securing a humble lodging for the night, and sending to the Maire the notice required by French law, we went to the room that had been engaged, which was speedily crowded with an eager and most sympathetic audience. They seemed so desirous to hear the Gospel, and bought testaments and hymn books so readily, that we promised to return the following week. In this way we went on for some weeks, and at last began to make the acquaintance of several. Amongst others we were specially interested in a young man, L. P., who related to us a little of his history. As a boy his family had intended that he should become a Romish priest, and for that purpose put him under the care of the village curs, who took him into his house to educate. But what he saw there, during three or four years, of the daily life of this priest and his colleagues, instead of attracting him, so shocked his natural sense of right and wrong that he felt he never could force himself into such a life. He therefore left the priest's house, thoroughly disgusted with religion as it had been presented to him, and took work in a factory. Our service in the village was the first time that he had heard the Gospel, and he told us that at the very first meeting a deep impression had been made in his soul. We read and prayed with him, and urged him then and there to accept the offer of salvation in Christ Jesus, which he seemed to do as far as he had light. After that he used to walk over on Sundays from time to time to have reading and prayer with us, or to attend service. But after a time his visits stopped, and on looking him up he confessed, with Much regret, that he had got led away by evil companions into wrong ways. We pointed him afresh to Christ, who can restore the weak and wandering ones, and encouraged him to make a fresh grasp of the Savior, which, I think, he did. At the same time we asked praying friends in England to intercede for the work in this village, and especially for this young man, L. P., surrounded as he was by so much to tempt him and drag him back. Some warm-hearted Christian men belonging to the Postmen's Association in Ramsgate responded to our appeal, and have been lovingly bearing up this young brother by their fervent prayers; and I have now the pleasure of saying that the work which we began in such a humble way in this village has, at my request, been permanently taken up by our good and active friend the pastor of Chasseneuil, who has built a small hall in the place, and holds regular services there every week. L. P. is apparently pressing on, and I believe that many of his companions are more or less impressed. All this in a purely Catholic locality, where the Gospel was unknown till we went there, nine months ago, is a matter of much thankfulness. Since then my wife and I have moved into a village right in the heart of a vast un-evangelized district, having secured the aid of a devoted and experienced evangelist and his wife to help us, and we have already had the joy of seeing several turning to the Lord. A remarkable point about our settling here is that we were not the first to think of it; but after having held two or three lantern services here, as we had done in other places round Chasseneuil, some of the inhabitants themselves (who, of course, are all Catholics) said to us, "We should like regular teaching on these subjects. Cannot you come and live in our midst?" The proposal at first seemed unreasonable, as vacant houses are seldom to be found in villages of this kind; and, therefore, we were all the more surprised when a well-to-do farmer told us that his own house was much larger than he required, and that he would gladly put half of it at our disposal, one of the rooms being sufficiently spacious for meetings. We were still undecided, when we were still further surprised by the landlord of our house at Chasseneuil saying that he had changed his mind, and could not renew our lease of that house as he had promised; and as there was no other suitable house to be had there, the leading of God seemed clear that we should make the move to this place, Lapéruse. To a peculiar extent the promise of Matt. 10:40, "He that receiveth you receiveth Me," appears to have been fulfilled, as special blessing has rested on the household. The farmer himself is deeply impressed; his Wife, who, like most educated women in France, was brought up in a convent, has fully turned to the Lord, so far as we can judge; so has a brother, who was staying in the house, as well as the maid-servant, and a respectable laborer who works on the premises. The matter has not rested here, for the farmer having relatives in other villages who are in positions of influence, two of them, who are Maires in their respective villages, have made arrangements for our holding Gospel services there, and have offered us permanent permission to that effect, a privilege that we have not as yet been able to obtain in this place. My article in FAITHFUL WORDS of last September has also borne fruit, by meeting the eye of an English lady much experienced in Gospel work in France, and specially musical. She has been led to join us, and promises to be a great acquisition to our work. My interest in converted priests remains unabated. I have at last succeeded in getting a godly pastor to take as evangelist the priest who came last to stay with me, on the condition, however, of my paying half his salary myself, which is rather a drain on my purse. I had hoped that this priest would get more thorough training in this way, under a French pastor of special experience and gift, than if he were with me; but I am sorry to say that though my friend considers the priest himself to be truly converted, and really gifted for evangelistic work, yet he thinks that the wife is not of the same spirit, but is so worldly and dressy that he fears putting them into any important post. I am therefore afraid that I, or the friends of the Mission, will have this ex-priest on our hands after some months' time, with little possibility of finding a suitable post for him. I would therefore ask any readers who have power in prayer earnestly to pray that the wife may be converted, and that thus the priest himself may continue in his post as evangelist, and also that some may come forward to help in his salary. Lapéruse, Chabanais, W. F. HATHAWAY. Charente, France. Figures and Shadows 2.—IDENTIFICATION WITH THE OFFERING. AFTER the acceptance by Jehovah of the offering which had been presented to Him, the offerer identified himself with it. The first and foremost question was, Would Jehovah accept the offering presented to Him? and this may be expressed as the satisfaction of God in the transaction; next came the question of the offerer's relation to the offering in view of his transgression, and this may be termed man's side of the transaction, and as his own satisfaction obtainable from it. Let us slightly vary the diagram of our previous paper in order to make this vital consideration as plain as an object lesson can do. The throne of God, the altar, and their lessons remain the same, as indeed does the position of the offerer, or the transgressor, but there has been added a second arrow, indicating the position of the offering. In the Jewish practice of approach to Jehovah the offering and the offerer both faced the same way, i.e., towards the throne of Jehovah. Now the acceptance of the offering by Jehovah did not cause an atonement for sin; it was the preliminary to atonement. Neither did the acceptance of the offering connect the sin of the offerer with the offering. But this connection was absolutely necessary to procure the removal of the trans or the forgiveness of the sin which had been committed. For the removal of the offerer's guilt his identification with the offering was the first requirement. He had expressly to indicate that the offering was for him. And to make this as evident as action could do, the offerer laid his hand upon the head of the offering. Neither did he simply touch its head; he pressed his weight heavily upon it, and by that action, he witnessed that the spiritual burden of his sin was laid upon the offering. The Jewish offerer had thus a personal dealing with the offering as he stood facing the altar which was placed between him and Jehovah's throne. Now granting that we come to God through Christ—the one offering accepted of God—the great consideration for us is our personal identification with Christ. Surely our hearts should be no less emphatic than the hands of the Israelite! We in our hearts lean our whole weight of guilt upon Him. We do not actually place our sins upon Him, for Jehovah laid upon Him the iniquity of us all, but the faith of the believer expresses itself about his sin and the Sin-bearer, as does the verse of the old hymn: “My faith would lay her hand On that clear head of Thine, While like a penitent I stand, And there confess my sin.” Having identified himself with the offering, the offerer slew it before the Lord. We have to maintain the position indicated by the two arrows, and to remember that "before the Lord" signifies facing the throne of Jehovah. In the apprehension of the just and eternal claims of God's throne, in the conviction that the offering met God's requirements, and in the sense that his sin called for the substitutionary death of the victim, the offerer slew it before the Lord. “Before the Lord" contains a most important principle. The eternal God changes not, and our dealings respecting Christ and our guilt, to be effectual, must be in deed and in truth "before the Lord." The light way in which sin is now so often viewed would vanish in a moment, if the soul were truly "before the Lord" in spirit. Let us transfer ourselves to the diagram, and as sinners, and having Christ for our sacrifice, stand in spirit "before the Lord." What a realization of sin thus presents itself to our souls! How positive is the need for Him as our substitute! How deep becomes our sense of the holiness of God and the claims of His eternal throne! The contemplation of these verities greatly subdues the soul, and produces humility and godly fear, yet, also, an exaltation of Christ and of His work, together with joy unspeakable and full of glory. None but Christ could satisfy God, and Christ's death for us could alone atone for our sins. "The Son of God gave Himself for me." "Christ died for us." Such texts come at once before the mind, not as words well known merely, but as words full of the most intense meaning. Let us note again these solemn words, "before the Lord”:— “He shall offer it... before the Lord" “He shall kill it… before the Lord." Our opinions are of little worth indeed when we submit to the thoughts and purposes of THE LORD GOD. And the only acceptable position we can take up is "before the Lord." We can but agree that this is a position stamped with eternal reality, and that all others are unworthy of God, though it is possible they may be highly esteemed among men. Once more let us betake ourselves to the diagram and apply the fullness of the object lesson to ourselves, our Sacrifice, and the throne of our God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: PRECIOUS WORDS ======================================================================== THUS spake Jesus to His disciples in reference to prayer:— “I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.” “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that... whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you." “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you." “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Thus spake Jesus to His disciples respecting peace:— “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Thus spake Jesus to His disciples respecting joy:— “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. David said, “The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver," and of the words of the mouth of Jesus each true disciple rejoices to say the same. The prayers are heard here on earth—we agree "on earth"—the favors granted are granted on earth. Let us prove His faithfulness by prayer. The peace is given on earth; it is the special portion for the true disciple on his way home to heaven. The joy is for earth. Our joy in answered prayer becomes full here; the joy, the peace, the promises for answered prayer, are all for us in this very world. Holy Chairs WE were unable to obtain in time for our last number a sufficiently clear photograph of the holy chair of Rome, having upon its ivory tablets the labors of the pagan hero, Hercules, to present a favorable representation of it to our readers. However, we are now enabled to do so., and the curious can inspect the pictures upon it, and find what they can in them of the holy servant of our Lord, the great apostle Peter. We add also a few additional remarks upon this chair from "Roma Papale," by Desanctis. Tillmont, the learned Benedictine monk, in his travels in Italy, says: "It is pretended that the episcopal seat of St. Peter is in Rome ... and Baronius says that it is made of wood. Yet some who saw the one that was selected to be solemnly placed on the altar in A.D. 1666, declare it to have been made of ivory, that the ornaments were not more than three or four hundred years old, and that they represent the labors of Hercules." The contradiction which is so great between these two Catholic authorities is accounted for thus:—The festival of St. Peter's chair had existed for more than half a century before any chair had yet been exposed for veneration. Among the relics in the Vatican there was a chair said to have belonged to St. Peter, and Pope Clement VIII. thought to expose it for veneration, when Baronius observed that the designs represented the labors of Hercules, and that the chair could not therefore have been the one in which St. Peter sat. The Pope was convinced of this, but still required a chair. Then search was again made among the relics, and a chair of wood was adopted instead of the one of ivory, and this is the one to which Baronius refers, while Tillmont speaks of the first. Sixty years after the death of Baronius, when Alexander VIII had the present altar constructed, they were perplexed to know which to venerate, because the one was mythological, and the other in Gothic style. The Pope then found a third, which had been brought from the East as a relic to Rome in the time of the crusades, and this is the one now venerated. This latter view of the case would be confirmed if what Lady Morgan states in her work on Italy be true. She says that during the occupation of Rome by the French soldiers at the beginning of this century the chair was taken out of its bronze exterior and very carefully examined, and that the following inscription in Arabic was found beneath the seat: "There is but one God, and Mahomet is His prophet." If the Papal authorities would allow the chair to be seen this point would soon be settled, but they are not likely to do this. Mr. Wall will, we hope, continue his article in our next issue. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: THE GOLDEN THREAD ======================================================================== FROM BABEL TO EGYPT BLESSED UNDER JOSEPH. AFTER the flood the sons of Noah multiplied, and the earth once more became populous. Then it was that the human race made a new and a very terrible departure from God, combining and establishing a great union for its own glory. To center the combination a city was built, and a tower was erected, "lest," said the builders, "we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth." Now while a metropolis may attract men together, it is not of itself a bond of union; the bond which most firmly unites men is religion, and this was expressed in their tower within their city. Its top was "the heavens," that is, upon its summit there were portrayed figures of the heavens. The seven-staged towers of Babylonia are generally regarded as the lineal descendants of the tower of Babel, and their stages are in honor of the sun, moon, and five planets, and they are colored accordingly. The idea of the union of a race or kingdom and of a metropolis with its tower, or temple, has prevailed over the ages since the first erection of Babel, and the idea awaits fuller developments in the day that is yet to come. God also has His purpose in the union of mankind and in His city, to which all the nations of the earth shall come up to worship. As we consider this first great combined action of man after the flood, we are confronted with the solemn fact that the nations of the earth, generally, have been idolatrous ever since Babel; also, that Israel, once delivered from idols, in time became idolatrous; and, further, that Christendom itself, over a wide area, has established the worship of images; and, more, that Protestant lands in our own day are being rapidly colonized by image worshippers. The position given in the Scriptures to the record of the erection of the city and tower of Babel is therefore a voice from God not to be unheeded. Neither should we fail to carefully observe the solemnity of Jehovah's own attitude in relation to this union of men. He came down to see the city and the tower"— the metropolis and the temple—" which the children of men builded"; and He said," This they begin to do "—for the work was but the commencement of a great plan—" and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do." They would go on and develop the idea of human union, with God excluded, until that idea reached its climax of apostasy. And this is precisely that which Scripture tells us man will do, so far as he is able, in the day that is coming, and this it is which is being sought for in Christendom by those who are attempting a religious union of men, with Christ and God's Word excluded. For this is in plain language the basis of the proposed "reunion." So Jehovah confounded their language, and hence they no longer understood one another's speech, and He "scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth.” To all appearance the word addressed to the serpent respecting the victorious Seed was further off fulfillment than before the flood, and we may ask, Where in this confusion shall the golden thread be found? We find it let down from heaven in the word of promise to Abram: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." When at the first the enemy introduced sin into the world, God said the Seed should bruise his head; and when man had forsaken God, His promise to a man declared the blessing of the human race. These ways of God have their explanation in this word: "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." If we glance at the revelations of God made to the patriarchs, the golden thread from heaven is seen again and again. After the promise to Abraham, there followed a long period of waiting. He had to wait for his promised son until the hopes of nature had perished, and then in a way outside mere nature, Isaac was born. In this is an indication of both the long time that was to ensue before the Seed should be born, and the fact that His birth was not as that of any other son of man. Further, when the son was given, the promises vested in him were apparently set aside, for Abraham was called to surrender him in death to God. We are familiar with the touching prophetic story of the father and the son going together up to the mount of sacrifice, and its marvelous foreshadowing of the oneness of purpose of God the Father and the Son relative to the cross. The story ends in the resurrection, in figure, of the Son, and after Abraham had received him back from the dead, in a figure, the promises were finally established, the angel calling to Abraham out of heaven, saying, "In thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Now, these old-world shadows have been literally fulfilled in the incarnation, the sacrifice, and the resurrection of Christ. Again, in the vision which Jacob saw of the angels of God descending and ascending from heaven to earth, we behold a glory of the Seed; and upon this foreshadowing, God once more renewed His promise: “In thee and in thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." These great incidents are brought forward one by one, and as they are each shadowed forth, God Himself reiterates His promise respecting the Seed, which, interpreted by the Holy Ghost, relates to Christ—"to thy Seed, which is Christ." Now since the types of the gift of the Son and of His death and resurrection have been literally fulfilled, we need not argue with higher criticism whether the type of heaven and earth joined in one by angelic ministry through Him, shall also be realized! Our Lord Himself declares that that great sight shall yet be witnessed: "Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” We may read the story of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the records of men of God, and learn our lessons from them; but we may also read them to discover in them the purpose of God respecting the Seed and the blessing of all the families of the earth. In the lovely story of Joseph, the golden thread is seen in supreme beauty. That story forms a grand end to the book which forms the preface to the books of the Bible. It is abundant in prophetic and in moral excellence. Under the figure of the obedient son of his father coming to his brethren, and being rejected by them, it portrays Christ rejected by the Jews. Joseph's brethren committed him to the pit of destruction, and though he was relieved from death, he was sold into Egypt. Step by step, the story of Joseph finds its fulfillment in Christ. In Egypt, Joseph was despised and cast into prison, but from the dungeon the great utterer of the Word of God was elevated to the throne! In that ascension, he received for his bride a stranger from his own people, and thus formed an excellent type of our ascended Lord, cast out by Jew and Gentile, but raised to the throne of divine majesty, and in that glory obtaining for His bride, the Church. Up to this point the story of Joseph has been fulfilled in Christ, but from this point the story is yet prophetic. Let us not forget that for hundreds of years before the time of Christ's incarnation, the whole story was of prophetic significance. We follow its still prophetic lines. When Joseph was upon the throne the whole earth suffered from famine; but where Joseph was, there was provision for human need. As the suppliants for life came before the king, he bade them go to Joseph, who, as his name implies, was verily, "The Sustainer of Life." Famine-need-in time brought the kindred of the exalted ruler to his footstool; they bowed before him, even as his dreams had described, but they knew him not, though he knew them. After allowing repentance to work in their souls, "Joseph made himself known unto his brethren." The gentlest of words, and the most tender kindness were his, as he assured their hearts by revealing to them his own heart. So will it be in the day yet to come. The Seed shall sustain the life of all the children of men, and in His exaltation upon His Father's throne, and having for His bride His Church, He will make Himself known unto His brethren the sons of Israel. They will yet repent and come to His feet, and when repentance has had its thorough work, Christ will make Himself known unto them. He will assure their hearts by the revelation to them of His own heart. The Word to the fathers shall be realized, and in the Seed—the incarnate—the crucified—the risen—the exalted Jesus—shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: DARK SPOTS IN OUR LAND ======================================================================== THE needs of the villages and hamlets of our country are very great. It is not too much to say, that in some parts of the land the Way of Salvation has not been proclaimed and made known to the people for years. There are districts in various counties, which, while smiling under the summer's sun, hardly have one ray of the light of the Sun of Righteousness to cheer them. This acknowledged darkness is a great grief to many godly people, for although there is much cause for thanking God for mission vans, colporteurs, and other agencies, which are at work to carry abroad the Word of God, still the need is appalling. Can we do anything? Can I do anything to bring the Word of Life to these dark spots in our land? Now we appeal to those of our Christian readers who ride a bicycle or tricycle; we would stir them to feel the enormous use they can be in the furtherance of the Gospel. We will suppose two Christians in a parish, or district, of one mind in the Lord—at least of one mind in lamenting the coldness, the indifference to Christ, and the lack of knowledge of the Way of Salvation around them. They join together in prayer, and they each devoutly say to the call of God, "Who will go for us?" "Here am I; send me." They map out the villages and hamlets within ten or fifteen miles of their home, they discover the dark spots around them, and they consecrate their cycles to the service of the Gospel—shall we say for one afternoon in a fortnight. Armed with a bundle of Gospel papers, they ride to the village ten miles off, and, making the acquaintance of the cottagers, leave there some half-dozen little booklets with the cheering word, "God willing, we shall be here again very soon.” If this work were multiplied we should see its gracious results. It is a bright and cheery work, and we long to see more young people engaged in it. It is a work either sex can equally well engage in, and perhaps the woman will be the more successful in it. Do think of the lonely and old Christian poor, with hardly one friend to say one word to them about Christ Will you not be the comforter of their loneliness? We should be glad to hear from any who would engage in the work as suggested, and we should be glad to assist by supplying copies of FAITHFUL WORDS for the work. We do not encourage wholesale distribution, but earnestly appeal for individualizing, and for persistent effort. Do use your cycle for Christ and His Gospel. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: THE BIBLE IN MACEDONIA ======================================================================== THE Macedonian empire was founded in the year 334 before Christ, by Alexander the Great, the mighty conqueror, and it became one of the most powerful nations of antiquity. When the power of the empire decayed, and conquering Rome took the place of Greece in the shaping of the world's kingdoms, Macedonia was divided into two great provinces, one of which the Romans called Macedonia, and the other Achaia. These provinces possess names familiar to every reader of the Bible, and they are graven, as it were, in the very life history of the apostle to the Gentiles. For European Christians generally, Macedonia must ever present a peculiar interest, for when the apostle and his co-workers were bent upon evangelizing Asia, the Holy Spirit suffered them not, and while they were in Mysia the apostle received the vision in which a "man of Macedonia" stood by him, "saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us." So to Europe these great missioners came, and they located themselves in one of the chief cities of Macedonia, namely, Philippi. On a subsequent occasion, the Macedonia of St. Paul's days and of our own, shall be shown by two maps, but now it shall suffice for us to remember the grand Gospel love and energy which sprang up in Europe, in the Philippi of olden days, by the hands Of the apostle and his co-workers. Nor can we forget that epistle which those first converts of Europe received from St. Paul, the epistle of the true Christian life, evidenced in love to Christ, and love to souls, and in following Christ in His pathway on earth, and reaching up to Him in His glory in heaven, with its concluding words on practical and enjoyed peace and possessed power. Macedonia is now a strangely-peopled land. There live Mahomedans and also followers of both the Greek and Roman Christian religions; and not only are its religions diverse, its nationalities are also divided; so that Albanians and Greeks—not to speak of the Turks—are ready to fight for the supremacy. In the midst of its conflicting religions and ideals, the Word of God is once more finding an entrance, Whether Turks, Greeks, or Romans, its religious powers are at one in keeping the Word of God, as far as they can, from Macedonia. Still, God has opened doors there for the entrance of His Word; and the colporteur, with his pack of precious books, finds his way into the country. We now quote from the Bible Society's Report of last year:— “In Macedonia the population is chiefly Bulgarian, but the rivalry of the Greeks, Romans, and Servians has led them to establish schools for their respective nationalities, so that considerable attention is paid to education, the Albanians alone lagging behind, hitherto, at least, through fear of Government opposition. Amongst the Bulgarians there are numerous missionaries at work; but among the Albanians, with the exception of the help from the American Board in maintaining the female school and public worship in Koritza, and the cordial aid of the Bible Lands Missions Aid Society, it is to the Bible Society that we have to look for the continued progress of the Gospel. With this object in view Colporteur Tsiku has, for the last two years, visited all the principal towns, from Koritza to Scutari, twice a year, in spring and autumn, staying six weeks in Scutari each time; and with thankfulness we relate that a report just received intimates that some, even in Scutari, are at length perceiving it to be both their duty and their privilege to read the Word of God for themselves, notwithstanding the prohibition of their Church. “Perhaps there are few regions in Turkey in which there is more earnest inquiry after the way of salvation than just in Albania; and it is certain that in several towns there are not a few who eagerly desire that the Gospel were preached among them, and that they had truly Christian schools for their children. Nor is this spirit of inquiry confined to Christians. For Tsiku found a Mahomedan who made no account of the five formal hours of daily prayer, and longed for a more thorough cleansing than washing with water. And he found even a Jew who was hated by his brethren as a Protestant for openly avowing the Messiahship of the Lord Jesus, though circumstances deterred him, as he thought, from professing Christianity. We have said that the colporteur appears to have made some impression on Scutari. During the heavy rains that prevail there at this season he had visited a druggist's shop, when the conversation turned on the right and duty of Christians to read the Word of God. During the prolonged discussion others entered, and among them an Italian lady, the teacher of a female school. He pointed out how inconsistent the denial of the Scriptures to the people was, with the example of the Lord and His apostles, who preached openly to the common people. Also how unreasonable it was that any human being should prevent his fellow-creature from reading that Word, which God had given to be `a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.'” “At length the lady exclaimed, ‘Well, after all, I am persuaded our friend is right. Here am I, a Roman Catholic, taught to reverence Mary, and this and the other saint, but really of the Gospel I know nothing. I am wholly dependent on the teaching of others, and am not allowed to judge of what most concerns me. They even forbid us to read the Gospel, but simply to keep by our profession as Roman Catholics.' The lady bought a French Testament, and the druggist a Croatian Testament. They praised the work of the Society, and prayed for a blessing on it and their brother Tsiku, who had to suffer so much reproach and scorn. Soon after, also, two Croats came one evening to his room in the inn, and after much conversation on divine things bought a Croatian Testament.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: FELLOWSHIP IN THE GOSPEL IN ANCIENT ROME ======================================================================== IT is worthy of remark, that when St. Paul wrote from Rome, where he was imprisoned, to the Church in Philippi, he commended them with all his heart for their fellowship in the Gospel, and at the same time he told them that many in Rome had been stirred up to proclaim Christ by reason of his bonds. Now, if the ancient Roman Church had been the great missionary center that some would have us believe, we should assuredly find in the epistle to the Romans some evidence of that fact. We find evidence, both in the epistles to the Thessalonians and the Philippians, of their Gospel or missionary zeal, while we find a lack of such zeal in Rome, as we have observed. And more, Onesiphorus is highly commended because he sought out the apostle in Rome, and was not ashamed of his "chain"! At that time "all forsook" Paul; they feared the sword of the pagans, and the cruelty of the emperor, Nero. These incidental remarks in the epistles afford us a sidelight respecting the mission spirit of the ancient Church of Rome. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: THE LEPERS IN INDIA ======================================================================== WE have received from Mrs. Bailey a letter acknowledging with grateful thanks the help we were able to send to her last year, from which we extract the following:—“It is most encouraging and fills us with thankfulness to see our old friends so faithful, and especially just now are we grateful for help, for the famine is creating heartrending havoc, and will continue to do so for some time to come, notwithstanding the welcome rain, which it is hoped may save the next crop of wheat. “Meanwhile prices are doubled, which puts a great strain on the funds of the asylums, and in addition many poor starving lepers come begging for admission. Many who used to make their living by begging are now forced to come and beg to be taken into the asylums. “Sometimes it is too late, for, as a lady wrote us the other day, they come to be fed for a few days, and then die. “But we pray for means to take in many who may live to learn of Jesus and become His followers.” Our young friends will not forget the poor lepers, we are quite sure; and we, too, tender them our best thanks for the gifts they have so kindly sent for the poor sufferers, and for their allowing FAITHFUL WORDS to be the happy means of handing over their contributions. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: “ALL OUT OF THE BIBLE.” ======================================================================== ONE summer I was residing at the seaside, and invited some old friends to come and stay with me for a few weeks, hoping that the change of air would be of benefit to them, and, above all, desiring that they might hear the good news of God's salvation. I was much attached to their little girl Agnes, whose evident delight in hearing the Scriptures and deep interest shown in the things of God, made me more than ever anxious to teach her of Him. On one occasion, when on our way home from a children's service, she exclaimed earnestly, "What that gentleman said was all out of the Bible I" This was a great joy to me, as I felt that the Lord was blessing this dear child, and during the remainder of her stay I ceased not to speak to her of the Savior of sinners, who had said, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” The time spent together quickly passed, and Agnes and her parents returned home. Two years later a letter was sent me by the mother, to say that for six months Agnes had been very ill and was now gradually sinking. Full of sorrow, I hastened to my little friend, but before going up to the sick room, heard from her mother that on the Sunday evening she had said, "Mamma, I want to tell you something. I know now that I shall never get better, but you must not fret, because I am going to be with Jesus. God knew I could not battle with this sinful world, so He is going to take me home. You know there is a verse in the Bible that says, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' But there is no sting for me. Jesus has washed me whiter than snow in His blood, so it will only be my body that will go into the grave, my spirit will be up there with Him. But, dear mamma, it is only since I have been ill that I have known that I was such a sinner, but now my sins are all gone; Jesus bore them all, and I am free!” She had been tenderly brought up, and some might ask, "How could a little girl like that have been such a sinner as she thought herself?" Ah it was light from God revealing her sinful condition, and making her see herself as she was in His presence; light which He in mercy gave that she might come to the only One able to remove the burden from her conscience, and gave her power to say with holy triumph, "I am free.” As we were sitting by the bedside, her mother was telling me of the pain the dear child had been suffering during the night, and Agnes said, "I am afraid that I was not so patient as I ought to have been." Her mother said she was, considering her pain, when the little girl gently answered, “But my pain was nothing like what Jesus bore for my sins; all I suffer cannot be as bad as being nailed alive to a cross. When I remember that, I did ask God to give me more patience if I had the pain again." The bright way in which she drank in any little sentence from the Word of God caused me to lift up my heart in thankfulness to the Good Shepherd who had made her one of His own little lambs—one who knew His voice and followed Him. On seeing the sorrow of those around, Agnes begged them not to cry, because she would soon be with the gracious Savior who so tenderly loved her. And now, dear young reader, what more can I tell you about Agnes? She has gone from this world to be forever with the Lord. Where did she learn that she was "such a sinner," and afterward that her sins were "all gone"? She learned it all out of the Bible. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: “WILL HE CAST ME OUT?” ======================================================================== SOME years ago, the writer of this little narrative was giving an address to the scholars of a small Sunday school in one of the suburbs of London, the subject being "Blind Bartimæus." Three things which occur in the incident especially were dwelt upon:— “He heard... Jesus" (ver. 47). “He came to JESUS" (ver. 50). “He followed Jesus" (ver. 52). At the close of the service it was evident that the Holy Spirit had been working during the meeting, and one of the scholars came to the speaker, crying bitterly and trembling as she said, "Oh, sir, I am so wicked, and don't love Jesus. Will He cast me out?" The child was convicted of sin; she knew that she was a sinner. It was pointed out to her that God says, "All have sinned," and also that the Lord accepts guilty sinners who come to Him, since He says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out.” The earnestness of the blind beggar attracted the attention of Jesus, and Bartimæus, answering quickly to the Savior's call, soon found himself in the company of the sinner's Friend, and everlasting blessing resulted. And so with our little maiden: she obeyed the call of Jesus, came to Him, and could say:— “I came to Jesus as I was, Weary and worn and sad; I found in Him a resting place, And He has made me glad.” Henceforth her desire was to follow the Savior as Bartimus did, to tell others of Him, and her delight was to bring others into the place where the Word of God was read and spoken of. The writer lost sight of her for some few years, but he constantly heard of her sweet testimony. Last year it pleased the Savior to take her home to be with Himself. Say, children, have you found soul rest in Jesus? Come, yield yourselves to Him now ere the day of salvation closes, and you, too, will desire to follow Him, and shine for Him, as we so often sing:— “Jesus bids us shine, first of all for Him, Well He sees and knows it, if our light grow dim. He looks down from heaven to see us shine, You in your small corner, and I in mine.” “He received his sight, and Followed Jesus in the way.” Hints for the Bible Class (1) The Purgation of Sins. (2) The Purger of Sins. (3) Our Sins. EVERYONE who has any kind of faith in the holiness of God, and any degree of just sense of his own sinfulness, believes in the necessity of the cleansing away of sins. (1.) The Scriptures testify to the fact of sins being cleansed or purged. Example—"... purged our sins" (Heb. 1:3); "... cleanseth... from all sin" (1 John 1:7); "washed... from... sins" (Rev. 1:5). (2) The Scriptures declare that (a) there is only One purger of sins, even the Lord Jesus Christ. “He... purged our sins," or "made purgation of sins" (Heb. 1:3). As there is only One purger of sins, all systems of religion which disallow Christ this exclusive honor are disobedient to God's Word. The Scriptures further declare that (b) the Lord Jesus effected the purging away of sins "by Himself"—"... He... by Himself purged our sins." He did not give over the power to anyone else, nor entrust any creature whatever with the right or authority to cleanse away sins. The Scriptures yet further declare that (c) the means adopted by the Lord to effect the purging of sins was by His own blood. He "washed us from our sins in His own blood" (Rev. 1:5). Observe how specific are the words of Scripture, giving the glory of the cleansing to Christ Himself—"He Himself"; and also to the means whereby the cleansing is effected—"His own blood." Christ and His gracious work are guarded by the Holy Scriptures with the utmost care. "He Himself" lets no other in; "His own blood" permits of no other means save the blood of Jesus. His blood was poured out once and forever; there was no repetition of the blood-shedding. And now "the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” (3.) Our sins are our own sins—not our parents' or our companions' sins—and unless our own sins are cleansed away from us we individually cannot see God. When David felt his sin he cried to God, "Wash me" (Psa. 51:7). Wash me!-just as if there had been no other sinner in the world but himself. And everyone who believes the holiness of God and realizes his sinfulness must say, "Wash me.” A great company is presented to our contemplation in heaven, concerning whom the inquiry was raised, Who are they? And then we hear heaven's reply: "These are they which... have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God." (Rev. 7:14, 15.) "They have washed their robes. Therefore the holiness of God magnified, perfect purity ensured, and the means the precious blood of Christ. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: A LESSON FROM OUR GARDEN MOWERS ======================================================================== MANY persons around London observed last year that their flower beds were peculiarly beautiful; old and homely friends, such as scarlet geraniums and calceolarias, seemed to have sprung almost from a different stock than usual, their blooms were so large and brilliant; indeed, the size and color of Continental flowers of a similar kind were matched. What was the cause of this? The summer was notable for its prolonged and brilliant sunshine, and the humble flowers of the garden became under its influence noble and glorious. They were, themselves, our old and homely friends, but by the effect of the sunshine they were changed into unwonted beauty. Now here is a happy illustration of the words: "We all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory." The true nobility and grace of the Christian arises from his living in the sunshine of Christ's own presence. He is in heaven, and He shines upon us here on earth, and as we behold Him we reflect Him. We are changed, transformed; we are our poor selves, but yet not ourselves. And thus do we reach from glory to glory; grow up and expand, and shine forth, and in our degree express Christ Himself. Our garden flowers which so charmed us were of various colors, and each maintained its own color and character, but all obtained their beauty and brilliance from the glorious sun. So the Christian is ever himself, just what God has made him; but by living in the light of Christ's presence he becomes beautiful; he is transformed into the same image, and is like his Lord. When the long bright summer days gave place to clouds, we could but observe that the flowers quickly lost their glory; that instead of much bloom there was a profusion of leaf; and that instead of brilliancy there was dullness. What a lesson! How soon the real glory of the Christian life disappears when Christ is hidden from view. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: VOICES FROM THE RUINS OF ANCIENT ROME ======================================================================== STANDING amongst the ruins of the ancient temples and palaces of Rome, voices address us in the language of our own times, for Rome's past and our present are by no means strangers. To the Bible reader, Rome possesses peculiar attractions, whether the prophetic words of Daniel, or of St. John, or of the Lord Himself be before him, or, indeed, the life and writings of the apostle Paul. The stranger does well, in visiting the city for the first time, first to place himself amongst the bewildering maze of ruined temples and palaces, which have for a sort of center the Forum—the Forum Romanum. The area they cover is not large, and we wonder how the thousands of Rome's citizens found standing room, to watch the triumphal pageants they loved so well, winding their glorious march along the Sacred Way, which; adorned with triumphal arches, ran through the very center of the temples and the palaces, the ruins of which form the maze that almost bewilders us. Though it takes a considerable time to learn what the ruins once were, the Sacred Way, the Via Sacra, at once impresses its lessons upon the mind. Here are the very stones over which the victors and the vanquished passed, and under our feet are the deep ruts, cut into the flags by the chariot wheels of the conquerors. We fancy we hear the sound of the wheels, and where the deeply ground-in ruts turn sharp by the face of the Forum, we see the procession halt, while the captives and prisoners devoted to death are led into it, and thence to execution. As the procession climbed the hill of the Capitol the captives perished, their chief fault being courage, and love of country and freedom, for ancient Rome had no mercy for any generals who fought against her troops. Thus by the time the conqueror had gained the summit of the Capitol, and was ready to lay his crown upon the image of his god, Jupiter, the messenger had arrived announcing the death of Rome's enemies. Then with acclamations the crowd praised their gods, and iron Rome gloried in her devouring sword and the brave men slain in cold blood. The sharp turn of the Sacred Way at the Forum, and the dividing at that spot of the vanquished from the pageant, recall the apostle's words, "a savor from life unto life"—"a savor from death unto death." The incense which was burned at the temple entrances as the procession passed by, was veritably a savor of life, and a savor of death. To the conqueror it was the odor of life, ending in glory; to the conquered, of death and dishonor. The apostle regarded himself and his companions in the Gospel as led by God "in triumph in Christ;" and he regarded the Gospel as the incense rising up to God in a sweet savor; and he looked upon men either as being saved—as reaching the goal of the conqueror's glory an d crown—or as perishing—nearing the shame of their doom. The parting of the ways on the road of life—our Via Sacra—as we apply this figure to ourselves, is solemn in the extreme. St. Paul ever had the end in view! Leaving the Forum and the remains of the adjoining temples, and following the Via Sacra up the gentle slope, we presently reach the Arch of Titus. There is scarcely a spot in Rome more impressive. As we face the Forum and the Capitol, the mount of the palaces on the left comes into full view; on the right rises up the huge basilica of Constantine, overwhelming the heathen temples which surround it; behind us is the Coliseum, where eighty thousand Roman citizens could see the fierce shows they loved, of wild beasts and men in combat, or of Christian martyrs devoured by lions; while the Arch of Constantine, near the Coliseum, lifts itself at the foot of the slope which is crowned by the Arch of Titus. Here at one glance is the glory of ancient Rome, in temples and palaces; the overthrow of Judaism in the Arch of Titus; and the uprising of the glory of that strange mixture of paganism and Christianity which has since prevailed over Christendom, in the arch and basilica of Constantine. For the present, we confine ourselves to the overthrow of Judaism as it is engraved upon the triumphal Arch of Titus. It was a morning of brilliant sunshine as we stood gazing on the familiar form of this arch, which, resplendent in the light, rendered by contrast, the ruins around the Forum in the valley, somber and dull. Perhaps it was the light of nature which at once suggested the meaning of the position of the arch. The light-giver of the sanctuary of Jehovah—the seven-branched lamp stand of the temple of Jerusalem—portrayed upon the shoulders of laurel-crowned soldiers, is being carried into the gloom of the shrines of Rome's gods. The light of Judaism is being borne into the dark places of paganism! Paganism has triumphed; Judaism is laid low! This suggestive design calls to mind the prophetic words of Christ on the destruction of Jehovah's temple, and also His solemn warning to His Church: "Repent... or else I will... remove thy candlestick out of his place." Jehovah revealed Himself to Israel as a jealous God, and in His ways with them He proved Himself more jealous over their backslidings and rebellion, than over the reproaches of the heathen because the people who were called by His name were desolated by the hands of idol worshippers. And of the lukewarm Church, "neither cold nor hot," the indifferent professors of His Name-His Name on the lip, but His love far from the heart-Christ says, "I will spue thee out of My mouth." He will vindicate His honor in Christendom no less than He has done in Judaism. There is no more solemn lesson graven on the monuments of pagan Rome than that of the lampstand, and the sacred vessels of Jehovah's temple, being carried in triumph into the idol-temples. It seems to resembled the original as ordained by Moses. But the base as represented on the bas-relief is certainly not Jewish, but pagan art. While Scripture gives no manner of hint as to the form of the base of the candlestick-though the branches and cups are most carefully described -Jewish tradition points to the base as being some three feet high. Now the silence of Scripture is to be noticed, as well as its detailed descriptions. The base of the light-giver within the sanctuary was, morally speaking, the earth have been preserved by divine providence in a peculiar manner, so that Christendom may behold in it the record of the fulfillment of the words of Christ against guilty Judea, and also the solemn warning to itself "Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches" (of the olive tree-the light-giver), " take heed lest He also spare not thee." The engraving of the bas-relief on the left-hand side of the arch indicates in a general way the form of the lampstand, and no doubt it itself; the candlestick was placed upon the earth, as was the Jewish nation, and as is the Church, to give light. We are not, therefore, to be occupied with the form of the stand, but the position of it. It is generally supposed that the stand did not fall into the hands of Titus, but was destroyed with the temple. The table of shewbread and the silver trumpets are also carved upon the arch. They are worn by time, and not seen so clearly as they were some three hundred years ago, when careful drawings were made of them, and when the double crown of the table could be easily seen. That table, whereon the twelve loaves —representing all Israel—were placed, in the presence of God, was also allowed by Jehovah to fall into pagan hands, and to adorn the pagan triumph. The bowls for the incense are represented, carried with the table upon the shoulders of the soldiers. Since the fall of the temple, no fragrance has arisen from Jewish worship to the Most High, and these empty cups of gold, on the day when the conquerors, adorned in the garments of victory, offered frankincense to the gods of Rome before their statues, were suggestive indeed of the emptiness of Judah. Thus the hand of the heathen sculptor upon the triumphal arch has carved out for Christendom to behold, Israel's lost place on earth as the light-giver for Jehovah, and, with the lost light, her lost communion with, and her lost praise for, her God. The silver trumpets, too, are silent—those call-trumpets used for alarm in war, and blown, over the peace and burnt offerings. Yet more important than all the other spoils from the temple, was the Book of the Law, described by Josephus as the very climax of the pictured treasures. It had its place upon the sculptured arch. A record, now some four hundred years old, notes its place near the pieces of furniture which have occupied us. The placards which are represented as borne by the soldiers, were in all probability written descriptions of the nature of the spoils. The arch as a whole, commemorating the overthrow of Judea, is a witness to the words of the Lord Himself, when—beholding Jerusalem in its glory, and the temple shining white and beautiful under the bright sunshine, with its resplendent upper front and plates of gold—He wept over it and foretold its doom. The disciples, astonished at His words, inquired of Him concerning the fall of the city, and He declared that the enemy would cast a trench or rampart about it, slay its people, and overthrow its buildings. These words, so strange to His disciples, were literally fulfilled, for Titus, finding his attacks on Jerusalem make but slow headway, eventually raised a rampart around its walls, better to starve out its defenders. To this day a considerable part of the course of this trench or rampart can be traced—a witness to the literal fulfillment of literal prophecy. Famine and pestilence, together with internal strife, ravaged Jerusalem, and at length, after the bloodiest of struggles, the Romans forced themselves into the city, and burned the temple. Over a million of souls perished during the siege, and nearly one hundred thousand were carried away captive. Titus ordered both city and temple to be razed to the ground, and, says Josephus, speaking of Jerusalem's overthrow, "there was nothing to lead those who visited the spot to believe that it had ever been inhabited.” “The abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not," was at least partially fulfilled at the overthrow of the temple. The abomination of a heathen nation signifies its idol, and the idol or symbol of deity of the Roman desolator, or of the desolation wrought by the Roman, was brought into the very sanctuary of Jehovah when the temple was captured. While the sanctuary was in flames the soldiers brought within it their triumphant eagles, and, setting them up by the eastern gate, offered sacrifices to them with shouts of joy. But no doubt a deeper fulfillment still awaits the words of Daniel the prophet. Thus the glory of Jewish religion perished in its Christless surroundings—the Romans came and took away their place and nation, and the Arch of Titus tells out to us its own eloquent story. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: A BRIGHT TESTIMONY ======================================================================== GO with me to a ward in the Lady Dufferin Female Hospital at Allaha-bad. And yet—no, you would not be allowed in. Why? A wave of smallpox had passed over a portion of India, and even invaded that well-appointed hospital. But listen You will hear the broken sentences issuing from the lips of a patient, and recorded by those who were permitted to be present. And what a scene did that bed present! F. D. had nursed her husband until he died with typhoid fever; had herself been laid low by that insidious disease; had been brought through the worst stages, and was looked upon as a hopeful case of recovery: indeed, her baby boy was allowed to be with her to solace the dear mother with his busy, loving prattle. Yet, unexpectedly, the epidemic seized the mother, and soon did its fell work spite of all the skill of physician and attention of nurse—to mar the features and attack the brain. But as long as there were power and sensibility, a bright confession of Christ poured forth at intervals from those parched and swollen lips. The last coherent words she was heard to utter were these: "Oh I don't you know? Then I will tell you. My life is hid with Christ in God, and has been since I was sixteen. I have left all to Him, and can trust Him through all. My fond love to all.” Any sinner, old or young, who takes God's Word as to the above, may know—nay, ought to know—that his life is bid with Christ in God, and that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory. What a prospect, dear reader!—peace, perfect peace, now, come what may-and by-and bye, tomorrow perhaps, "GLORY WITH CHRIST ABOVE.” Oh! may F. D.'s last coherent words be blessed to you! How she would rejoice! And then you and F. D. would rejoice together, and cast your crowns at His feet. Yes, and it will be, if you simply believe what God says: "He that believeth HATH everlasting life.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: GOD'S FAITHFULNESS ======================================================================== AS I meditate upon this gracious promise, "My salvation shall be from generation to generation," my thoughts revert to a tried and tenderly-loved friend, now advanced in age, who was brought to Christ now many years ago. When young, with a heart believing unto righteousness, he felt it became him openly to confess Christ as his Savior and Lord, and thus to do honor to His Name, as a humble follower of the Lord Jesus. By so doing he encountered active opposition; but he remained "steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." Amongst the many cheering indications that his labors were not in vain in the Lord, were the workings of grace in several members of his family. He saw his children one after another truly converted, giving themselves to the Lord, and devoting their best energies to His service; and now he is given to see his God's faithful goodness to his children's children. His eldest daughter was on one occasion overtaken by a severe trial, which was heavy not only upon her but upon her family. As a friend of the family I felt much for her, and was concerned for all of them. Opening my Bible one day I read from Isa. 54, "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted.. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." The manner of her deliverance out of that trial was so wonderful that all could but exclaim with the Psalmist, "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." Though the deliverance to herself was given, her prayers for her children were still unanswered, and her mother's heart yearned over them for their spiritual good. Neither had she to wait in vain. Her eldest girl sat in the Bible class of our Sunday school, and one afternoon, after a very earnest address had been given by a visitor, she asked if she might accompany me to the hospital, where she knew I was in the habit of going. However, I had already paid my visit there that afternoon. After the evening Gospel service Nellie still kept close to the side of the preacher and myself, which led me to say to her rather abruptly, "Nellie, why did you want to go to the hospital this afternoon? Did you want to tell the sick inmates of the Savior you have found?” “I feel that I want to find Him for myself," she replied; and I saw by the light of the street lamps that her eyes were filled with tears as she spoke. That same evening, in the quiet of a home, Nellie was once more shown what the Scriptures teach concerning God's way of salvation for lost and undone sinners through the finished work of Christ. She had heard the sweet story over and over again already, but now that God had taught her that she needed a Savior for herself she readily received the glad tidings. As she entered her mother's house I said to her, "The Lord will certainly hear you if you cry to Him just now.” “I feel that He has heard me already," was her quiet reply. The next day arose to her with the realized joy of 'God's salvation. None were more surprised than her own sisters. "Nellie is saved," said one of them, "and I am not; but surely there is salvation for me.” And she too sought for salvation and obtained it. Then the two next sisters became exercised, and sought and ultimately found peace in believing in Jesus. The eldest brother also began to seek the Lord, and thus were the parents' hearts rejoiced to see one after another of their children "taught of God.” And my well-loved friend, the grandfather of these children, rejoices in God's faithfulness in answering prayer, and trusts Him for all his family. Many servants of Christ are now rejoicing in the ingathering of children. There is a voice in this for us, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Meanwhile we rejoice as our hearts observe the continuous fulfillment of the gracious promise, "My salvation shall be from generation to generation.” ============================= ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: PRAY ON ======================================================================== "I HAVE prayed for that relative for fifty years, every morning," said an aged believer to me, and now God has answered my prayer." But in many cases we do not live to see our prayers answered; nevertheless, let us none the less trust in God, who is the Hearer of prayer. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: BIBLE CLASS OUTLINE ======================================================================== THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS. 1. How does a man become a priest? IN New Testament times, a man became a priest solely by the act of Christ, the great High Priest in heaven, as we read: "Jesus Christ... hath made us priests." And note the Lord Jesus has made us priests, not of any particular Church, or even to the Church at all—but "priests unto God and His Father.," (Rev. 1:6.) Everyone who is loved by Jesus Christ, and whose sins have been washed away by Him in His own blood, is a priest. "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us... priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 2. What the person whom Jesus Christ has made a priest, does. (1) He offers up sacrifices—"spiritual sacrifices." In the material sacrifices offered up to God in Old Testament days, God had "no pleasure" (Heb. 10:6); but the "spiritual sacrifices" are "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5) The ancient sacrifices were types of Christ, but in themselves they possessed no value-therefore, they could neither satisfy God (Heb. 10:8) nor man (Heb. 9:9; 10:4). Had they been of value to effect the forgiveness of sins, they would have ceased to be offered upon the forgiveness being effected. (Heb. 10:2.) The order of the Christian priesthood is one of offering continual sacrifice-spiritual, not material, sacrifice. "By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually." (Heb. 13:15.) (2) The priest of Christ's making is also a royal priest (1 Peter 2:9). These priests are enjoined to show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. The majesty of praise is theirs to render to God—not mere outward religious service, but real, true praise for what God has done in redemption. Unless there be true spirituality there cannot be efficient priestly service. God is satisfied with nothing less than reality. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: MISSIONS IN WEST AFRICA ======================================================================== BRYAN ROE was in some respects a remarkable character. From his boyhood he was full of fire for the conversion of souls; at the early age of fifteen he riveted audiences—navvies and miners weeping under his burning words, till he was known in Staffordshire among the Primitive Methodists as the "boy preacher.” In 1881 he had such strong assurance of God being with him, that he gave himself up entirely for the ministry. During his student days, drunkards and spiritualists were turned from their iniquity through him, and drowsy Christians awakened to live as Christians should do. In 1885 Bryan Roe felt called to the mission-field of Africa. He was ordained in that year, and on the day following ordination sailed for Lagos. Ten brief years of his life were given to Africa; he fought with the climate and with sickness; was driven back again and again to England; and at last, while yet young, fell under the power of pestilential fever, and yielded up his brave spirit to his Lord and Savior. Far be it from us to question the propriety of the path Bryan Roe's feet trod. “I had better die in Africa," he said, "doing my duty, than live in England neglecting it." What was the spiritual result of his work in Africa his biographer hardly tells us, and we should indeed like to know the inner working of Bryan Roe's heart, as he faced the horrors of devil worshipping paganism, and the scarcely less horrible "civilization" of the gin and drink traffic forced upon the sons of Ham by English and other "Christian" nations I Nor should we less like to know the inmost thoughts of this earnest man, as to the true character of conversions to God of the heathen, resulting from the mission in which he was engaged. A few passages which portray the horrors of the Niger region, to which at the present time many minds are naturally directed, will be interesting. First as to slavery: instead of precious metals or bank-notes being accepted as a circulating medium, Africa has for ages declared that a human creature—a slave—should be regarded as the standard for prices. "A slave is a note of hand, that may be discounted or pawned... thus slavery is not likely to be soon surrendered by the negroes themselves as a national institution." Hence parents pawn their children, and tribe wars against tribe. Then as to fetishism, which holds so firm a grip of the African, that nothing save the power of God's Spirit can loosen the bonds. The different forms of superstition which enthrall men are an interesting study, but the end of the bondage is in all cases very similar—the priests of the god, idol or image, grind out the life, soul and body, of their dupes. “In the main it may be said, that a fetish is supposed to have behind it the power of some particular deity." Allied to fetishism is the faith in charms: “A charm is any article which has received the blessing of a priest, or which is supposed to possess inherent virtues peculiarly its own." This admirable definition we commend to any reader who has an affinity for scapulas and relics, since all that is required is to exchange the name of the priest from Christian to pagan; the charm will be alike in each case! To the definition we add this practical sentence:" The priests are generally the vendors of charms, which are almost universally worn, and they drive a remarkably brisk business.” Coming home to us in England more closely than slavery or fetishism possibly can do, is the horror of the spirit traffic. " It had been the custom of many business houses in Togoland to pay part of their laborers' wages in drink and tobacco—two bottles of gin and a screw of ‘negro head' being equivalent to a day's pay. The consequence was that many and many a man would work hard one day and get blind drunk the next." Well did Bryan Roe say:" Without gin the West African may indeed be a savage, but, with it, he is a demon. The amount of gin and rum poured into the heathen lands by 'Christian' traders is almost beyond belief." The missionary takes the Bible to the heathen, the trader takes gin and powder to him." In the hand of one there is the Bible; the other rolls his rum cask on shore." And yet we hear that civilization is the pioneer of Christianity! As so much of the trade of Africa is carried upon men's heads, we readily understand the needs-be for "the carriers' god," whose portrait we give. The deeply interesting question in all mission work is, Are men really changed and brought to God? The trader is well satisfied if he can intoxicate or clothe the naked savage; the Christian requires that the man shall be "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." Let us hear of some of the spiritual difficulties and sorrows of the region. “The country through which the Upper Niger runs... is densely populated, and almost entirely Mohammedan, many being recent converts and great fanatics. Roman Catholics," says Mr. Roe, "were pouring in men and money in a most lavish manner.... It was almost impossible to get a congregation without paying for it. One trader gave me a part of a conversation he had overheard between a certain missionary, bent on gaining adherents, and some natives. Will you come to the mission?' Oh, yes; we will come tonight," and according to promise they went. Two days later the same question was asked, but the answer was somewhat different. Why should we come to your mission? We are no better off for it. You give us no chop,' (i.e., food). You give us no cloth. You give us no gin. You give us nothing but palaver. Why should we come? Give us chop, cloth, gin, rum, and we come to hear you as long as you like; if not, palaver set' (i.e., the matter is ended). “A Roman Catholic missionary resolved to teach the natives a higher Christianity, and said, We will make no more gifts, no more rum, blankets, and tobacco.' The king, wearing a brass plate announcing his dignity, approached the missionary, and inquired: No more blankets? No more baccy? No more rum? Then,' said he, looking scornfully at the missionary, all right; good day. Na more Alleluias! '” This description, to our hearts, is on the same level of misery as that of the slavery and the fetish, and of the iniquity of the gin and rum. The very idea of true repentance seems foreign to certain so-called missionary effort. As the natives have many wives, a great difficulty arises when Christianity enters their land. The following story—be the incident true or not—demonstrates an awful laxity of ideas as to what is really the Church of God. “There is told the story of a repentant chief who was advised to put away one of his two wives before he could be received into the Church. Soon afterward the chief returned, claiming the boon. “Well,' asked the missionary, and what have you done with your other wife? “Pointing to a wide-opened mouth, the chief replied, I have eaten her! '” Mr. Roe evidently keenly felt the questionable Christianity of some of its native professors—especially of certain schoolmasters, whose characters only brought dishonor upon the name of Christ. But in the midst of the varied power of the enemy, we are encouraged to see the power of the Spirit of God, and thus to feel that if there were more true trust in Him, mission work, whether at home or abroad, would assume a very different character from that to which we are too well accustomed. “On one occasion the fetish priests began to see that unless they bestirred themselves they would very soon be left without any followers at all. They commenced operations by sending a message to the catechist, advising him to leave the town, as Shango, the god of thunder, had communicated to them the fearful fact that he was tired of tolerating Christianity. The agent sent word back that he would soon show them who was the stronger—Shango or the mighty God he worshipped. 'Tomorrow,' he said, you shall know who is the Lord.' Calling his people together he taught them the few lines of a hymn of his own composing, and started off for the Shango quarter of the town. Here a great crowd of heathen were gathered, armed with stout clubs, and determined to give the Christians a sound thrashing, but, marvelously enough, when the Christians began to sing and pray, the effect produced was so profound, that the angry mob gradually melted away, and the agent was left in possession of the ground. “I will preach here again this evening,' he boldly announced; at which the Babalawo, or high priest of If a, another celebrated African deity, gnashed his teeth with rage. “You come,' he said warningly, `and I and my people will flog the life out of you and your people.' Others standing by made a similar declaration. “The handful of Christians grew desponding and fearful. Let us abandon this,' they advised; no good can come of it.' “Wait, brothers, wait,' he cried encouragingly, for today you shall know who is the true and living God. He is not asleep; His open eye is upon us, and His help will be forthcoming this evening, even as it was this morning! “When night came, the faithful few assembled again in fear and trembling. The catechist with undaunted heart prayed and began to preach, and as he did so, the Babalawo, arrayed in all the glory of his priestly office, came forth from his quarters, followed by an immense crowd of infatuated adherents. Tom-toms were beaten, horns were blown, and loud shouts indulged in; but what alarmed the Christians more than these noisy demonstrations, was the very significant manner in which sundry clubs of formidable size and shape were waved in the air. Nearer and nearer came the howling mob, brandishing their whips and clubs, and intimating by word and gesture what short work they were going to make of the feeble band in front of them. But as in the days of Wesley, when God often changed the hearts of men from rage to tenderness, so here a magical transformation was effected in the mind of the Babalawo. No sooner did he come within sound of the Christian voices, lifted up in holy hymns to God, than his whole disposition seemed to change, and to the intense astonishment of all present, he commanded his followers to cease their noise and listen to what the Christians had to say. Then, ranging himself by the catechist's side, he said, Baba (father), preach on, for I feel you are preaching a true word. Let no man dare disturb you, lest I punish him as I had intended to punish you.' “That very night a violent tornado swept over the town, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning. Many houses were hurled to the ground, others were burnt down, and among the number was the house of the Shango priest, who had professed but the day before to be able to catch the wind in his hand and compel it to do what he liked. The little church and mission-house were left untouched by the storm, as were the dwellings of all the Christians!' The story of Byran Roe, as told by his biographer, unfolds some bright instances of true conversion to God, and it lets us see also into the terrible difficulties attending true discipleship. Many informed Mr. Roe that they would be secretly put to death if they forsook their idols, but, notwithstanding such fears, some came out bravely for Christ to live or to die for Him. Mission work in pagan lands calls for intense faith in the living God; and the insight into its true character in West Africa, which the story of Byran Roe supplies, should inspire us to pray much for the work. Figures and Shadows 3. TRANSFERENCE AND SUBSTITUTION. AS the offerer brought to the altar his offering for sin, he stood "before the Lord," and in the most emphatic manner expressed the reality of the transference of his sin to the sin offering, and of its substitution for him. The offerings for sin ordained by Jehovah in Horeb made provisions for various specific sins, and whatever the sin offering was, it was linked in the offerer's mind with the forgiveness of his sin. Over and over again, upon the completion of the offering for sin, the gracious words occur, "It shall be forgiven him.” Let us present to our imagination an Israelite whose special sin has brought him "before the Lord"— that is, before the altar and facing the throne of Jehovah, which stood within the sanctuary. The full meaning of Jehovah's throne, as now revealed, was unknown to the Israelite, for the veil hid it from mortal sight. Nevertheless, the transgressor knew full well that his sin separated him from God, and that until that sin was forgiven him, he must remain in that separation. We have already seen the offerer present his offering to the Lord, and the acceptance of the offering; we have also seen the offerer identify himself with the accepted offering by laying, or pressing, his hand upon it. This latter act conveyed the idea of transference. On the Great Day of Atonement the offerer laid both hands upon the head of the offering, and pressed upon it, as it were, the whole of Israel's sins of one year. Thus Israel's SINS WERE TRANSFERRED to the sin offering. This act spoke for itself, and none could misunderstand it; and we find that the exponents of divine truth in Israel taught explicitly the doctrine of the transference of the guilt of the transgressor to the offering. It is a little important to remember this fact, because of the tendency of our day to ignore the meaning of the sacrifices as taught in Israel. When the transference of the sin of the transgressor to the sin offering had been effected, the offering was regarded as sin, of which we may speak later on. This was of common acceptance in Israel, and however deeply the Jew rejected the only perfect Sin Offering that has been rendered to God, he knew full well the signification of a sin offering. In our Christian day, it cannot be denied, that the full meaning of Christ being made sin for us, is but little known, and is still less believed and indeed the religion of our times sadly ignores the fullness of this great and wonderful reality-this foundation truth of the Gospel. Let us have before us the instructions given by God to Israel, on the matter under consideration: “If the priest" (i.e., high priest) "do sin... let him bring for his sin which he hath sinned... for a sin offering." “When a ruler hath sinned,. he shall bring his offering... it is a sin offering." “If any one of the common people sin... he shall bring his offering... the sin offering." Here we have the sinner and his offering for sin, distinctly stated to be a sin offering. Mark, not a burnt offering, nor a peace offering, but one of a peculiar class, dealt with altogether in a different way from the burnt and peace offerings, as we shall see on a future occasion. The sinner standing before Jehovah because of his sin, and with the sin offering at his side, obeyed the following command of God: “He shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering." There was no other possible way for him to stand before his God, and in the application of the act to our spiritual necessities there is no other possible way for any unforgiven sinner to do so. The offerer by the obedience of his faith, transferred, in figure, his guilt to the sin offering. And the sin having been transferred to the sin offering, it became the SUBSTITUTE FOR THE SINNER. Next we read as follows: “He shall... slay the sin offering" "before the Lord." That is to say, the sin offering died in the stead of the sinner. We note that the offerer slew the sin offering. This act was that of the transgressor himself. It could not be undertaken for him by the priest. The emphasis of the act consisted in the sinner himself causing the death of his substitute, and the faith of the Israelite consisted in his obedience to the divine command. Having fulfilled his part, the offerer could do no more; the rest of the work was performed by the priest. Let us now record the result to the sinner of the sacrifice of the sin offering in the repeated words about his sins, "It shall be forgiven him." Thus we have the sinner; then his sin offering for his sin; after that the transference of his sin to the sin offering; and then the sin offering, a substitute for the sinner; and finally the whole-the forgiveness of the sinner. The New Testament thus speaks of our Lord as the Sin Offering: God "hath made Him to be sin for us;" not a burnt offering, nor a peace offering, in this instance; but the Lord, "who knew no sin," constituted the Sin Offering, to whom, in deepest reality, sin was transferred. The substitution of Christ for the sinner is emphatically spoken of in these words: "Christ... hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust." Once more we take up our stand as indicated on the diagram, and utter the familiar words: “O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head, Our load was laid on Thee; Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead To bear all ill for me.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: JOY, PEACE, POWER ======================================================================== THE three key words to the wonders of the fourth chapter of the epistle to the Philippians are joy, peace, power. The first verse of the chapter really connects itself with the preceding chapters, as the word "therefore" indicates. In view of the wondrous salvation unfolded, the Philippians were "therefore" to "so stand fast in the Lord." But there is also another connection with the joy; the apostle dearly loved these bright Christians, and he looked forward to heaven when they should be his crown. And when the great day came, they should be yet in all intensity, his joy—he would have in them in eternity a link with this past life, and a crown of delight. To them, then, he would say, "Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice.” “The peace of God"—not "peace with God"—peace as the experienced portion of the soul, and the way of obtaining this peace, occupies the sixth to the ninth verses. The holy calm of God Himself, the unruffled peace in which He dwells—this peace "shall keep your hearts and minds" (or thoughts) "through Christ Jesus." And how is this miracle wrought upon earth within the heart? By God garrisoning heart and mind by His peace. Give God our cares, make our requests known to Him, give Him our thanks for His mercies, and, lo! in our hearts His peace shall prevail. And not only shall the peace of God keep heart and mind, but "the God of peace" Himself, shall be with you. Do we inquire, How shall this divine companionship be attained? The way is as simple as the result is mighty. Think upon the things God loves, do the things the holy life of St. Paul patterned and his teachings pointed to, think and live according to the will and pleasure of God, and He, as the God of peace, shall be our Companion. Power is the last of the three key words. St. Paul could be full, or he could be hungry; he knew how to abound, and he knew how to be abased; he was master over circumstances, master of himself, master of the very tyrant who had thrown him into the dungeon; he was greater than the world. And how was this? He tells us: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Christ was his power. The joy, the peace, the power, are for us all. And whether joy, peace, or power each is established in the Name of Christ. The Bible in Macedonia IN our last issue we said we should give two maps of Macedonia, showing the district as it was in the apostle's days, and as it is in our own times. If the fifteenth to the eighteenth chapters of the book of Acts be read with the map at the top of the opposite page before the eye, a fresh interest will be added to the story of the journey of the apostle to Europe in reference to the call, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." Philippi and Thessalonica are names of cities which, by reason of the apostle's epistles to the young Christian churches there, ever possess a peculiar charm to the Bible reader. He sees what manner of men those early believers were, their love to Christ, their zeal for the promulgation of His Gospel. The Word of the Lord sounded out far and wide from the Thessalonians, and the Philippians shone as lights in the world, holding forth the Word of Life; and their fellowship in the Gospel and its persistency caused the apostle, chained in the dungeon at Rome, to rejoice before God.' The pagan world around those churches was affected by their testimony, while Corinth stands before us as a church abounding in spiritual gifts, if not in grace. Here some of the brightest lights in Europe shone for God; and the writings of the apostle to them have been ever since the guide and direction of the universal Church. Now, as we look at the map at the bottom of the page, what do we see? Some, at least, of the old familiar names mentioned in the chapters of the Acts: But Macedonia is under the power of the followers of Mohamed, who hate with a fierce hatred all who bear the name of Christian. For centuries the Turk has held sway over those localities where once the name of Christ was so well loved. And if we put our finger upon Corinth, we are confronted with the opposition of professing Christians to the distribution of the epistle to the Corinthians (for example) in the modern language of its people. "It is the great boast of the Greeks,' says the Bible Society in its report," that the Gospel was given to the world through their language; “and yet the Orthodox Church in Greece assumes a hostile attitude to those who distribute the Scriptures in the Greek spoken by the people. Alas? whether Turk, or Orthodox Greek Church, or Roman Church, the religious instructors of the people alike hate the distribution of the Word of God, and, so far as they can prevent it, the Word shall not sound out to men. It is strange that Moslems and Greek Christians, who are now slaughtering each other under the banners of their respective beliefs, are at one in their enmity to the Word of God. Nevertheless, at least in Greece, the distribution of the Scriptures made good headway last year, while in Bulgaria the existence of religious strife caused a lessening of the copies supplied to the people. What will the record of the next few months be? Will those parts of Europe where the apostle planted the Gospel, and where it so richly flourished, be drenched with blood, and kingdoms shape themselves into form in the familiar Bible districts, where the Turk, with his fierce hatred to true Christianity, now holds his sway? Let us, who rejoice in our open Bibles, lament for the darkness and the spiritual gloom of that part of Europe where the apostle Paul first planted the Gospel. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN ======================================================================== PERHAPS my dear young readers know that their sins are forgiven; or of some young companions whose sins are forgiven. I could tell of several who are now with the Lord Jesus—some were my companions, some my own little sisters—who knew the forgiveness of their sins. I well remember their sorrow about their sins, their repentance, and how, when they turned to the Lord, He forgave them. And well do I know about little children being troubled by reason of unforgiven sins, for I was one of them. I could not bear the thought of dying, because I knew I deserved to be cast into hell. I had done many wicked things, and indulged in many evil thoughts. God had said that the wages of sin is death, and that all liars shall have their portion in the lake of fire, and that whosoever loveth and maketh a lie shall be amongst the dogs outside the gates of His heavenly city. When a companion died, I was glad it was not I. I knew that my father and mother had the forgiveness of sins, and would be in heaven; and I feared God would bring me unto judgment and reveal the secrets of my heart: and then that my parents would be parted from me forever. One night, when in my room alone, my sins rose before me. I buried my head in the bed-clothes, and tried hard to sleep. Then I dreamed that the judgment had come. I passed through darkness, and stood in a great company, where one after another was passing into judgment. I awaited my turn, and saw dark angels claiming some, who wept and cried aloud, and bright ones receiving others with joy. My turn was very near: it came, and I was carried forward into the presence of the Judge. One glance and I saw that it was the Lord Jesus; I saw His look of pity, but I knew He must utter that awful word "Depart!" and I sank at is feet in all the agony of the feeling that I was hopelessly and eternally lost. Crying for mercy, I awoke. I determined then that I would give over sinning, and try to please God and be a better boy; but every day I felt I was only adding new sins to the old list, and imagined that there could be no creature on earth so, abominable in God's sight as I. In almost every possible way I tried to ease my conscience or to be better, and to commit fewer sins; but the more I tried to cleanse my ways the deeper I got into the mire, until I felt it was useless to hope that I could ever be fit for heaven, or become a child of God. One day a Christian gentleman wrote me a letter, and at a glance I saw the subject of it, and put it away to read it when alone. He told me in that letter that he had seen my anxiety and fears, that he had been praying for me, and that I must come to see him. The sympathy of that friend was as a precious ointment; I wept, and yet I was glad. The secret of years was found out—the cause of my unhappiness—and I felt I had a friend. He spoke to me of the mercy of God, that He could forgive sins; and afraid as I was of God, I at once set about to pray for pardon and mercy. The feeling of what a sinner I was, made me pray in secret, lest my friends should think that I was a saint. Thus days passed, but all my prayers seemed in vain; I was yet in my sins, and conjecturing reasons why God should not have mercy on me. One day, when at my accustomed task, crying for mercy, the utter hopelessness of my case, crossed my mind. Must I perish? In agony, almost distracted, I said, "If I could see Christ I would cast myself in all my wretched at His feet, and if I must perish it would be there. "Then the word of the Lord came 'before my mind about blind Bartimæus, who, in his blindness, cried to Jesus he could not see; and there rose then before my heart the tender grace of the One to whom the blind man cried, as He stood still and commanded Bartimæus to be called, and the question," What will ye?" and the ready response to the poor Ian's wish. I saw the Lord then in a new light, as I had never seen Him; it was not an angry God, but a gracious, kind, tender-hearted Savior —Bartimaeus’s Friend. Could it be possible? I asked myself. Is that God? the God I hated and feared? I saw then that I had been 'doubly blind, and I uttered to God my shame, that I had not believed in His love and tenderness, but had such wrong and wicked thoughts about Him. I asked forgiveness for the sins I could not reckon up, for they were more than the hairs of my head, and He forgave them all. The burden of guilt was gone. I did not know myself, my heart was as light as a feather; I wept for joy alone there in that room and blessed God; thanked Him and wet again for very joy, calling the Lord Jesus all the sweet names my heart could imagine, for He was so precious to me. God was my Father now; I knew and felt the God, who gave Jesus that I might not perish, was to me a God of love, and I His child. I drew up the blind, and far away in the west the sun was setting, the clouds were tinged with gold, and the thought of a heaven and a glory for me, for the first time broke in upon my heart—my delight was rapturous. Again I fell down on my knees and blessed God, who had given me the knowledge of forgiveness and the joy of His love and the hope of glory. I could add much more, but write only to tell you how I got in amongst the little children whose sins are forgiven for His Name's sake. Many years have come and gone since then. The little child has been carried to gray hairs, but the burden of sin that was lifted off his heart that day has never come back, and the joy that was put into his heart by God has never passed away. And I think if there has been one thing more than another that I have blessed and thanked God for as life has gone on, it is that He gave me to know my Savior and to have my sins forgiven when I was a little child. “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His Name's sake.” “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: THE BIBLE IN BELGIUM ======================================================================== HE following remarks are taken from a letter by Mr. Gaussen, written to a friend. Mr. Gaussen is a Swiss gentleman of means, who, for the love of souls, is laboring in Belgium, as a volunteer colporteur, carrying with him the Word of God and selling it to the people. “Just a line to let you know how I get on in the work of selling the Scriptures to the poor, ignorant, and for the most part godless, people of this Papal country. I say, godless—for it is a great exception to find those who do, after their own fashion, believe in God at all, the repeated question from all being," Have you seen Him?—for we have not. "This infidelity is the direct result of idolatry and idolatrous teaching, through which their intelligence has seen, and from which it has revolted.” Mr. Gaussen then describes the mass of soldiers quartered near Liege. They are quartered in single rooms of large houses, and these he visits with much success. Speaking of the infidelity, he says: "It is very sad; but still there is another side of its bearing to a colporteur, and that is the absence of the hostile power of the priests. Thus the colporteur has the pleasure of knowing, when the sales have come off, the poor purchasers will have the benefit of their bargains.... “Last summer, in the rural villages of the Ardennes, I visited from house to house; and the priest interdicted the Gospels from the altar on the next Sunday. He said the books were immoral and wicked, and ordered them to be burned or delivered up to him upon pain of excommunication.... In one isolated village, where the priest is all-powerful, men and women preferred to suffer excommunication rather than give up their Gospels, which they had learned to love, even by a first cursory reading.... You may imagine the pleasure to these people of reading the Gospel for the first time.... I know no other way by which our great enemy can be harder hit by one poor tongue and two pairs of hands and feet than by Bible distribution. “I have a license as a trader to sell all over Belgium during 1897. I have also to pay a daily tax in the town or township in which I may be operating. Subject to compliance with these conditions, one is as free as in England, notwithstanding that the religion of this country is Roman Catholic. My four months' work of last year resulted in the circulation—chiefly, though not entirely, by sale—of ten thousand six hundred copies of the Gospels, one hundred and thirty-five New Testaments, and thirty-three Bibles.” May God prosper the work of His servant and support him in toil and self-denial! The work is to him indeed "a labor of love.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: OUR LEPER FUND ======================================================================== THE terrible famine in India is placing a very severe strain upon the resources of the Leper Refuges and Homes, towards the support of which so many children and friends, both in the United States, in Canada, and in England, have contributed through our pages. Besides the immediate need of money to relieve actual suffering and prevent death from starvation, it must be borne in mind that the expense at the various institutions is greatly increased owing to the very high price of grain. Rev. A. Muller, Ellichpore, says: —"I am getting a number of starving children for our orphanage, as people are dying here in numbers.” Mrs. M 'Comb, Ambala City: — "Poor starving lepers are coming to us to be fed for a few days and then to die.” Miss Mary Reed, Chandag, Pithora: —"Prices of grain of all kinds continue to rise.” Rev. A. Cullen, C.M.S., Bhagulpore: —"We are face to face with a famine, with all its horrors.” Mr. Uffmann, Purulia, says: —"We have secured the forest for the new asylum, a splendid site, but we have no tanks and no wells for water for the inmates. Two new wells must be excavated, both for lepers and for our own use for buildings.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: A STORY OF SHAMEFUL PERSECUTION ======================================================================== NO story of religious persecution conducted by an English Government is more shameful than that with which the Scottish Covenanters were pursued in the latter part of the seventeenth century. We read with horror and indignation of the burnings and martyrdoms under Queen Mary, but, at the most, the number of those slain by her in obedience to Papal power, amounted to a few hundreds, while the hangings and hunting to death of the Covenanters, under the tyranny of the Stuarts, are to be reckoned by thousands. England freed itself from the supremacy of the Pope in Henry the Eighth's reign, and in that of his daughter Elizabeth. The last military effort of the Pope to regain his supremacy in this island came to naught. For really the Armada of King Philip of Spain, and his great scheme for subduing England, were undertaken in the interest of the Pope. But the English kings of the Stuart line who succeeded Elizabeth were friendly to the Roman Catholic religion, and there can be no doubt that they were really Romanists, pledged to destroy the Bible liberty which had entered our land. The truth of the Scriptures had taken firm hold of multitudes in Scotland, and when their Christian liberty was endangered by the laws made by the Jameses and Charleses, numbers of Scotchmen banded together with a solemn determination to follow the teaching of the Bible. "We covenant," said they, "to refuse all company with idolatry." "We vow, by the grace of God, that we shall with all diligence apply the whole power, substance, and our very lives, to maintain, set forward, and establish the most blessed Word of God.” The pro-Romish Kings of England, while professing friendship for the Covenanters, were in heart bitter against them, and deluded them by promises of liberty which they never fulfilled. After a while Charles the First introduced his Romish principles, and tried to force them upon the faithful Scotch. In response to this effort the nation uprose in determined indignation, and multitudes of men, from all parts of the land, hastened to Edinburgh, and in the Greyfriars' Churchyard they signed the Covenant, the terms of which accorded with the sentences just given; and so eager were these brave men of old that many signed their names with their own blood. When Charles the Second ascended the throne in 1660 he promised the Scotch the liberty they were determined to have or to die for. By "solemn oath in the presence of Almighty God, the Searcher of hearts," he professed his "allowance and approbation of the National Covenant." But, so far from keeping his oath, Charles set to work to destroy the liberty of the Covenanters. Public meetings were forbidden, books were condemned, and the Parliament in London, in its mean subservience to the King, passed the Declaration, "that the ordering and disposal of the external government and policy of the Church doth properly belong unto His Majesty, as an inherent right of the Crown, by virtue of his royal prerogative and supremacy in causes ecclesiastical." This Declaration made the King practically a pope. It gave him authority over men's faith, and, as we shall see, caused the most horrible enormities to be perpetrated. "The divine right of kings" to persecute and destroy their subjects is far from the constitution and the present throne of our land; but if the Papal party could procure an answer to their prayers and place once more a Romanist over England, the blood that was poured out two centuries ago would surely once again flood our country. Sooner than be slaves to the King's supremacy, with its accompanying Papal teachings, four hundred brave Scotch ministers left their homes in midwinter and their places of worship in response to this Declaration of the English Parliament, and they faced starvation. They were prohibited from preaching under penalty of death, and all who attended their meetings did so under the same penalty. Such were the laws of Old England some two hundred years ago! We cry out against the King of Spain and his Armada, and Popish efforts to subdue our land—do not let us forget the King of England and his Parliament in 1662. In the bitter and shameful persecution that arose, one of the first to suffer was the Marquis of Argyle, the man of the greatest influence in Scotland, and the greatest man who had signed the Covenant. "Behead the Marquis of Argyle!" cried Charles, and thus, according to the divine right of kings, in 1661 the Marquis was hurried to the scaffold. In the prison he made use of these memorable words to his friends: "Mind that I tell you it: my skill fails if you will not suffer much, or sin much." And on the scaffold he repeated to the assembled people the same solemn words: "We are tied by covenants to religion and reformation. These times are likely to be very sinning or very suffering times, and let them make their choice. There is a sad dilemma in this business-sin or suffer; and surely he that will choose the better part will choose to suffer.” And Scotland did suffer. She poured out her blood for the Bible. Let us peruse the inscription on the martyrs' monument in Gray-friars' Churchyard, Edinburgh, and hearken to its solemn voice— “Halt, passenger, take heed what you do see; This tomb doth spew, for what some men did die. Here lies interr'd the dust of those who stood Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood; Adhering to the Covenants, and laws Establishing the same; which was the cause Their lives were sacrific'd unto the lust Of Prelatists abjur'd. Though here their dust Lies mixt with murderers, and other crew, Whom justice justly did to death pursue; But as for them, no cause was to be found Worthy of death, but only they were sound, Constant and steadfast, zealous, witnessing For the Prerogatives of Christ their King; Which Truths were seal'd by famous Guthrie's head, And all along to Mr. Renwick's blood. They did endure the wrath of enemies, Reproaches, torments, deaths, and injuries. But yet they're those who from such troubles came, And now triumph in glory with the Lamb. “From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle was beheaded, to the 17th February, 1688, that Mr. James Renwick suffered, were one way or other Murdered and Destroyed for the same Cause, about eighteen thousand, of whom were execute at Edinburgh about an hundred of Noblemen, Gentlemen, Ministers, and Others, noble Martyrs for Jesus Christ. The most of them lie here.” The Covenanters not only signed the Covenant with their blood—thousands of them sealed it with their blood. We select from "The Heroes and Heroines of the Scottish Covenanters” a few touching incidents. The death penalty was attached by the law of the Declaration mentioned, to the nonattendance at the Episcopal church, where Romish doctrines and practices prevailed. Three children of the name of Wilson, whose hearts were given to God, attended the field meetings of the Covenanters, and thereby brought themselves under the power of the law. “Their youth protected them for a time from the fury of the oppressors, and their absence from the parish church was winked at, but one morning Margaret Wilson, aged eighteen, Thomas, aged sixteen, and Agnes, aged thirteen, were reported by the curate as defaulters in church attendance. “' Send the dragoons after them,' said the cruel Grierson of Lagg, ' and we'll teach them their duty.' “A friendly hint was given to the Wilsons that the children were to be arrested, and a family council was held. “And that night, after an affectionate farewell, the three wandered out to the moss-hags in search of a hiding-place from the dragoons. “The cave in which these noble children hid may be seen today by the curious. It has slightly altered its form through frosts and rain. It has been formed by two large slabs of stone, like the legs of an A, resting against each other. A small stone covers the mouth of it, and this was covered by some wild brambles and tufts of heather. It was small, wet, and necessarily uncomfortable, but here they spent the whole day, and at night searched for food. “On the death of Charles II., when the country was filled with hopes of a more lenient policy, the young Wilsons were advised by some of their Covenanting friends that they could now go safely home. They were a little timid about going to their parents' house, and went rather to the house of a widow, about seventy years of age, named Margaret M'Lauchlan. Whilst at the widow's house, Margaret Wilson met a man named Patrick Stuart, whom she knew well, and who had received much kindness from her father, and this man informed the authorities where the children were. Soon a company of dragoons sought them out, and the two girls were arrested and thrown into the horrible place called ' The Thieves' Hole.' “They were brought up for trial, together with the widow; and, as they maintained their position, this sentence was passed upon them. “' Upon the 11th of May ye shall be tied to stakes fixed within the flood-mark in the water of Blednock, near Wigton, where the sea flows at high water, there to be drowned.' “It was a beautiful May morning, and the crowds of people dressed in their best attire made it look more like a gala than a procession of death. “The sight of the two large stakes erected in the sand, one thirty yards further out than the other, took the color from the cheeks of more than the prisoners. Women began to weep, and men began to clench their fists and grind their teeth. It required but one man to lead, and they would have torn the soldiers to pieces; but the leader was not there. “`We are called upon this day to give a worthy testimony for our Lord. He hath done us much good and no ill these years we have served Him. This day shall we behold Him in the glory of His risen power, and I do rejoice the end is so near at hand,' said Margaret to the widow, who had now become courageous. “The widow was marched out to the stake nearest the sea and there tied securely. 'Though I walk through the valley of the shallow of death I will fear no evil; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me,' she said, quietly; and her face had a new light in it, as though the sea, gilded with the golden sun, had reminded her of the City of God. “Higher and higher came the water, and the women on the beach turned their heads away as it reached her waist, and at the same time touched the feet of Margaret Wilson. “The Lord will this day cleave the waters of death asunder for me, and I shall behold the Lamb in His beauty,' she cried out to the weeping crowd. “The water had now reached the widow's neck, and Lagg and others began to make sport of her as they saw her strain her neck to keep out of the water. A wave passed over her, and the struggle of death began. Margaret Wilson saw the struggles of the widow, and her voice was raised in prayer that God would take Margaret M'Lauchlan to Himself. “What thinkest thou of that? ' said a soldier to Wilson, pointing to the death-struggles of the widow. “What do I think! I see Christ in one of His members wrestling there. Think you that we are the sufferers? No, it is Christ in us, for He sends none a warfare upon their own charges.' “She then began to sing the twenty-fifth Psalm, and those on the beach who had lost their timidity joined her in some of the lines: “The Lord is good and gracious, He upright is also; He therefore sinners will instruct In ways that they should go.' “As the water crept on towards her shoulders, she closed her eyes in prayer. “' God receive my spirit,' said Margaret, as the water once or twice lapped her face. There was the gasping of drowning, and, to the joy of all, a soldier rushed into the water, cut Margaret's bonds, and brought her to the shore. “The people shouted with glee, and the mother wept for joy. It was unheard-of mercy, and though Margaret seemed more dead than alive, the remedies they used soon restored her to consciousness. “It was then seen that the mercy was the work of a fiend, and not of a human heart. Lagg's sport was too soon coming to an end, and he had restored her to life to torture her again. Major Windram went forward and began to test her. “Will you pray for the King?’ “I wish the salvation of all men and the damnation of none,' she answered meekly. "Oh, Margaret! why will you throw away your life?' said her mother in terrible agony. Say, 'God save the King, God save the King.'" God save him if He will; for it is what I often have prayed for, and do pray for now. But, mother, you do not understand these monsters.' “Sir, my daughter hath said it, she hath said it—let her 'go free! ' said the mother, frantically, throwing herself at the Major's feet. “Margaret had meanwhile closed her eyes in prayer. She knew, instinctively, that they had determined on her death. “'See, my daughter is praying for the King,' said Mrs. Wilson, pointing to her daughter. “' We want none of her prayers,' said the brutal Lagg. 'Tender her the abjuration oath, and, if she refuse, let her drink some more of the sea.' “I am ready for death; I will not take the oath. I trust God may forgive you this murder before your hour of death comes. I am one of Christ's children, and have done naught worthy of death.' “Back to the sea! back to the sea with the hag!' cried Lagg; and two soldiers lifted her in their arms, waded in as far as they could, and then flung her headlong into the sea. They then pushed her head under the water with the butt ends of their guns. “The story of the Wigton martyrs spread like fire over the length and breadth of Scotland, and inspired the Covenanters with joy that two of their number had been so faithful. It caused many Royalists to become friends of the Covenanters, afterward.” After the persecution had raged many years, it died out. The English boast of the discomfited Spanish Armada, and thank God for His winds, which blew their galleons to destruction. Let the Scotch glory in the noble army of thousands of martyrs, whose blood poured out upon their moors and glensides, who at length drove to their doom the army of their persecutors. Ever may Scotland's sons "refuse all company with idolatry," and "apply their whole power, substance, and their very lives, to maintain, set forward, and establish the most blessed Word of God.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: THE BURDEN WAS GONE ======================================================================== ON my asking a dear friend, living in a small town in one of the eastern counties, how she found peace with God, she gave me the following simple account, which I narrate, as nearly as possible, in her own words. “I had been anxious for months," she said, and felt the burden of sin grow heavier and heavier each day. How to get rid of my sins I knew not. They seemed to weigh me to the ground. I prayed and tried, but nothing took the burden away. A servant of God often came in and told me the way of salvation— often pointed me to "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," but I always felt He had not taken my sins. I knew they were still on me. Then a Christian lady called, and invited me to a little mothers' meeting. I went; a lady spoke to us a few simple words. God,' she said, laid the sins of His people on Christ. Christ died because of the judgment of God due to our sins, and on the third day God raised Him from the dead. This is a proof that He was satisfied, and had accepted Christ's death as an atonement for us; moreover, the sins of all who trust in Jesus, who died for us, are gone from God's sight.' “Had I not been a stranger I could have stood up and cried, He did not bear my sins; they are still on me; I know I have them.' Then a hymn was sung— ‘There is life for a look at the crucified One.' That hymn followed me, but still I could not look. “The next week I was there again, but my heart said, It is not for you.' My agony on account of my sins increased, so that I was positively afraid to move. I had my little one upon my knee, but could take no notice of her; and still that hymn rang again in my ears, ‘There is life for a look.' “I felt that night I must look—I must trust my soul to Jesus; so I got my Bible and read the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel by St. John. Then it seemed that God really spoke to me, and told me I must believe in Him—must just come to Him. I remembered what the lady had said, that Jesus had put away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself, and I saw the burden was gone. Oh! I can never tell the joy and peace that filled my soul as I saw what Christ had done for me. I think I have never felt so really full of joy since, though, indeed, I have found His promises sure. He has never failed me, never forsaken me. He is sufficient.” I then said, "Did you tell your husband at once?” “No," she replied, "because I had once before made a profession of having found Christ, but it proved to be only the excitement of the moment; so I determined this time to show him I was converted by my life.” “Has he found it out?" I asked. “Oh, yes, miss. He came in one day, and said how some neighbors had been laughing and teasing him, saying that his wife professed to be converted, and he told them he knew it was true. “I asked him how he came to know it, as I had never told him, and he said, ‘There was no need to tell; I saw it by your ways.' I was rejoiced to hear him say this, for I felt God had given me grace to shine just a little for Him, and I quite believe the Spirit of God is beginning to work in my husband. Is not this cause for rejoicing?” There is indeed— “Life for a look at the crucified One: There is life at this moment for thee!'' There was no peace for this poor woman until she believed the word of God's grace—until she herself personally believed in Christ. Do you know what kept her in such distress of mind? She doubted God's word. Believe what God tells you about His Son: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Listen no longer to the whispered lie of Satan, "It is not for you." Silence him with, "It is written," and you, too, will be able to say, "And I saw that the burden was gone.” Hints for the Bible Class THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. 1. Observe the glories of Christ in His Priesthood. (a) Personally, He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Heb. 7:26. (b) Positionally, He is made higher than the heavens. Heb. 7:26. (c) Relatively to man, such an High Priest becomes us. Heb. 7:26. (a)Personally in His glory. He is exalted above angels, for He is the eternal Son of God (Heb. 1:4-6), and He is exalted above men, being the Son of Man (ch. 2:6-8). (b)Positionally. He is seated on the right hand of Divine Majesty (ch. 1:3, 10:12), and all things are put under Him (ch. 2:8), and all power, and every name (Eph. 1:21), and all angels (1 Peter 3:22). He is supreme in His exaltation. (c)Relatively to man. He is our High Priest over the House of God (Heb. 10:21). He stooped to man's estate in order that He might succor the sorrowing. "In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted" (ch. 11:18); and He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities (ch. 4:15). He appears in the presence of God tor us (ch. 9:24). He has offered one sacrifice for sins to God, once for all (ch. 10:12). He has by His one offering up of Himself perfected His own people forever (ch. 10:14). He is able to save to the uttermost; He ever liveth to make intercession for us (ch. 7:25); He has given us boldness to enter into the holiest of all (ch. 10:19, 20.). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (ch. 13:8). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: EX CATHEDRA ======================================================================== Chapter 2 THE THREE CHAIRS IN THE VATICAN BASILICA. N the medallions reproduced in our first article, we saw the symbol of Christ gradually diminish and then disappear, and we saw also the so-called “princes of the apostles"—St. Peter and St. Paul become the supports of the more than life-size figure of the local saint, St. Laurence! By the process which led to these changes, the Christian idea was slowly eclipsed; and not only was Christ caused to disappear, but even the idea of giving St. Peter and St. Paul chief honor gave place to that of honoring the local saint! What a witness we have in these things to the steady decline from early truth which was made in Rome—a downward course, which has never ceased and which hurries on to this present day! But there is yet further darkness to be noted in the ideas and symbols of the early centuries. As time proceeded, the figure of one local saint was substituted for that of another, the substituted local saint being a woman—St. Agnes; and, though it may seem incredible, our Lord Himself is represented as one of two who support the woman who, in His stead, has become the object of worship. Thus, our Lord Jesus Christ is lost as the object of worship, and He is made a mere instrument for upholding woman-worship. And this is now exactly that principle which prevails in Rome, as anyone who may read the Glories of Mary" can easily see. But let us turn back to primitive ideas, ascending by the steps with which art furnishes us, and which time has left for us to study, and trace the ancient conception of the chair as it obtained among Roman Christians. The engravings we offer to the reader will lift one, at least, of the many veils that obscure the original truth. In this article we shall be able to work our way back to the beginning of the fourth century, when Constantine came upon the scene. It may be well to note here that an enormous change took place in Christian symbolism at this time. The Church, whose eyes seem to have grown dim in watching for her coming Lord, was now so weak that she appears to have taken the downfall of paganism for the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. At first, the new empire under Constantine seemed to represent realities above; but, instead of this, experience soon proved that the imaginary heaven of the period was simply the reflection of the imperial court. Constantine was looked upon as God's vicegerent on earth; the Cæsars, his sons, in sharing the empire, were "the saints of the Most High, who were now taking the kingdom"; and, when the emperor finished "The Church of the Saviour" at Jerusalem, that act was considered the fulfillment of Rev. 21:2. Such, at least, was the idea of Eusebius, the historian—so corrupt, so degenerate from Bible truth had the popular idea of Christianity become. Many and very splendid churches were built by order of Constantine, and the mosaics which filled the ceilings of the apses of those churches are often the best expression of the great change which had taken place in the Christian conceptions of his era. In the upper part of the apse, representing heaven, the Savior was represented sitting on an imperial throne, with angels standing near. Then some symbol of the Father was placed above Him, and a dove, as emblem of the Holy Spirit, was represented below Him. From the dove descended strong rays of light upon a lamb with a nimbus about it, and the lamb was portrayed standing upon a rock, from which issued four streams of pure water, at which sheep or deer were seen slaking their thirst. In these symbols there is much that is beautiful and true, but there are also in them the fast developing germs of later evils. The lamb, which became the most popular symbol of the fifth century, as was then represented, is no longer the lamb of the catacombs; but still, whether the pure water that flows forth from near the lamb be that of the River Jordan, or that of the four rivers of Paradise, or that of the seven rills issuing from the block of stone on which the lamb is seen, the flowing water always has its origin in the lamb—the symbol of Christ. Thus all life, all inspiration, all authority, are symbolized as proceeding from the lamb, and these symbols remind us in their deeper meanings of the not yet distant catacombs. Soon, however, the darkness deepened. The introduction of the worship of the Virgin and of patron saints took place. Also relics were honored, which expressed no single idea of art or faith, and these relics were supposed to be a permanent source of miracle. According to some, the mummified corpse would turn in its silver coffin, open its eyes and stare at the peeping devotee, lift a finger, grow a beard, sweat blood or change color if vexed, or, if pleased, breathe forth heavenly odors. The dust of the shrine, the oil from the lamps, the shadow of the image, were all miraculous. The article that touched the corruption received a blessing, which blessing, it was said, was indicated by increase of weight. The passion for relics grew till it knew no bounds; a nail, a bone, a feather, a single hair, a tint of blood, scratches in a stone, dregs in a jar, air in a bottle, all were supposed to retain the potent virtue of miracle, and all in some measure usurped the place of Scripture. Instead of the baskets filled with Scriptures, so frequently met with in the catacombs, the sacristies were full of cases pigeon-holed for a selection of relics. The accompanying reproductions will enable our thoughts to return to the earlier state of mind among Christians. The fresco from which our first illustration is taken represents the Savior as a young man in the act of teaching, sitting between two baskets full of Scriptures. It is to be seen in the catacombs of St. Agnes, and belongs to the period when there was no thought of giving, or even of possessing, a portrait of Christ, and the fresco is meant to represent the office, or the teacher. Here the seat can hardly be seen. And for this reason —the real seat is the doctrine, the teaching of Christ. The proportions of this chair are therefore moral, intellectual, spiritual, divine, which no worm consumes, no corruption destroys. This Teacher sitteth in the heavens. If the first place is given to the posture, and the living teaching shown by the pleading expression of the hands, the baskets of Scriptures at Christ's feet, with no man near, are the necessary accompaniment, and complete the idea. This fresco is in the center of the ceiling of one of the chambers of the catacomb, and occupies the place usually held by the figure of the Good Shepherd bearing the lamb on His shoulders. The illustration shows belief in the celestial nature and universal authority of the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, and which is the central force in heaven as it is on earth. The second illustration is copied from a fresco from the Balbina catacomb of St. Calixtus. Our Lord is represented sitting on a raised seat, which, like the one just referred to, has no hack. With Him there are four persons without halos, while He has a large nimbus. The monogram of Christ is on either side of the figures. Before Him is a basket of Scriptures, and in His left hand a codex, which seems to be that of the whole Bible. His right is stretched out in the attitude of the teacher. The proportions of the codex are those of the celebrated "Codex ' Vatic anus," which was made about the time to which this picture evidently belongs. Thus we see that in this period of the Church's history the whole of Scripture was before the Churches. Further we note that the painter of this representation of our Savior knew nothing of the conventional portraits which were a later creation, and were in after times palmed off as the work of St. Luke. Illustration No. 3 is also from the catacombs of St. Agnes, Rome. In it the Savior is represented between two persons, who probably are intended to represent the two apostles. Notice that the twelve are reduced to two, and that both of these have the nimbus about their heads, which indicates that the picture belongs to the latter part of the fourth century. The nimbus or halo round the heads of the two attendants on the Savior, indicates the loss of pre-eminence which the picture numbered three gives to Christ. But the Savior Himself is in the act of teaching. In His left hand He holds a codex, and on either side is a basket full of scrolls, or copies of detached books of the New Testament. Note here the position given to Christ the Head of the Church. He is the Teacher, and He teaches from the Word. The mosaic represented in engraving No. 4 is from the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. It was made in the beginning of the fifth century under Sixtus III. A very considerable progress in error is stamped upon this work. The apostles Peter and Paul, each with a book in the left hand, point with the right to the throne, which is very richly decorated with precious stones. The back of the throne is in the form of a cross. At the extremity of each arm is carved the head of an apostle, and between them, in the throne itself, is a crown and a pallium. Christ is conspicuously absent, and a cross upon the throne is offered to view instead. The crown and pallium seem to belong to the Savior, but in reality the Scripture has been removed, and history shows us how that the Bishop of Rome ascended and seated himself in the throne, put the crown upon his own head, and dispensed the pallium to whom he desired,. So that the empty throne and sign of the cross made way for the Pope to usurp Christ's place in His Church. It will be observed that the apostles Paul and Peter are represented, the one without the sword, and the other without the keys! These things were added later on. The rest of this article will be found in our next number. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: GLIMPSES OF THE GOLDEN THREAD ======================================================================== IN EXODUS AND LEVITICUS. 3. THE golden thread appears frequently in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, whether worked in massive form in the broad purposes of the books, or wrought in delicate details in their component parts. It literally shines out in glory in the book of Exodus, viewed as a whole, while it is none the less apparent in its details. That book opens with Jehovah's people subservient to an idolatrous world-power; it ends with the redeemed people assembled around the sanctuary of Jehovah, and His glory shadowing their camp and filling His dwelling-place. The very story foretold by the prophets is thus in substance before us in this glorious and much-attacked book of the Bible. It is remarkable that the religious infidelity of our day practically denies three of the great features of the book of Exodus, namely: the power of idolatry—by giving to all religions a place of honor; the might of the redemption, which is Christ Jesus—by making light of the sin of man and the atonement of Christ; and the coming glory of God on the earth—by relegating to the land of dreams, the assurances of Jehovah respecting the coming kingdom. While the future glory appears in type in the grand scope of Exodus, again and again is the thread of gold evident in the ordered unfolding of the rook. The song of redemption there recorded—the first given in the Bible—celebrates the overthrow of the opposing power of evil and the establishment of Jehovah's sanctuary on earth, and thus prophetically chords with "the song of Moses and the Lamb" of the book of Revelation. The overthrow of evil on this earth is a great purpose of God, which will be accomplished in His time, and He would have His people sing of that coming day. A beautiful tracery of grace and glory occurs in the story of the gift of the manna, with the Sabbath rest to Jehovah, following upon that gift. Israel murmured and hungered in the wilderness, and God gave them bread from heaven to eat—a delightful type of His gift of the Bread of Life. Upon the end of the first week of Israel's reception of the manna, Jehovah connected His own Name with the seventh day, and Israel, as His chosen nation, kept Sabbath unto Jehovah their God. Thus we have a picture of Christ in grace bringing, man into the promised rest of God. Another week of days in the wilderness opens out the same purpose of God, only from a different standpoint. Israel fought their way towards Horeb, the Mount of God, through opposing Amalek, and they overcame through the intercession of Moses as he lifted up his hands on the hill. The end of the strife was rest, and into this rest Jethro entered, and, together with Israel, partook of the peace offering before God. When the struggle and the war are over, and God's people are victorious through the intercession of their ascended Lord, the nations represented by Jethro and the chosen people Israel, shall in communion, together praise God for His deliverances and victories. Design is abundantly evident in the structure of the book of Exodus—design which utterly repudiates the notion that the book is the patchwork performance of different sets of writers in different ages. To such as would trace the evidence of design We suggest the careful noting of such words as these: "The Lord commanded Moses"; and it will be found that they are part of a definite structure, upon which the number seven is marked. Calling attention merely to a few prominent forms taken by this golden thread as it is wrought through the book of Leviticus, we first note the story of the seven feasts of Jehovah. At their head, as a kind of preface to their full story, stands that feast which occurred at the close of every six days—the Sabbath, the rest. As is very frequently the case in the first books of Moses, the Sabbath introduces a great plan of God. The seven feasts following, which ran through Israel's religious year, show how this rest should be reached. Now we must not forget that when the feasts of the Lord were established in Israel, the fulfillment of the whole of them was future. They were all prophetic in their purpose, as well as being designed for the worship of Jehovah in Israel during their commemoration. This stands outside controversy of the first four—the Passover, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the Wave Sheaf; and the Wave Loaves at Pentecost. We in our Christian era look back upon the four which have met their fulfillment; we rejoice that Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us, and so we keep that feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We rejoice that He is the Wave Sheaf; the Corn of Wheat Who fell into the ground and died but Who is risen from the dead; and we rejoice also that at Pentecost the Holy Ghost was sent down from heaven, and that Jew and Gentile, figured by the two leavened wave loaves, were presented to God as the Church. Through Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, the rest of God will be brought about, that Sabbath which shall yet dawn for Jew and for Gentile. After the four feasts just enumerated had been commemorated, an interval of time occurred in the religious year of Israel, and these three took place—the Feast of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. The three have not yet received their prophetic fulfillment, but they will do so as surely as the four have received theirs. The trumpets could be blown only in the land of Israel, and the Great Day of Atonement could only be kept there; and so also was it with the joy of the year—the Feast of Tabernacles. We cannot enlarge upon this glorious subject, but the day is at hand when Israel, "scattered and peeled" upon the face of the earth, shall once again hear the call of God. With supplications and with sorrow for their centuries of sin, and of rejection of their Christ, Israel shall enter into the full benefit of His atonement, and then joy shall be the portion of Israel, and of the earth, and the Feast of Tabernacles shall be entered upon. Let us glance at one more institution noted in the book of Leviticus—that of the kinsman-redeemer. All Israel's buying and selling of land and of persons were based upon the year of jubilee, upon which day, bonds were loosed and debts were canceled. The poor Israelite, whose stress had forced him to work off his debt by personal labor, was not a slave forever, and was set free in the year of jubilee—"the acceptable year of Jehovah." That year was the herald of the joys of God's kingdom, as the words of Isaiah and the Lord's quotation of them indicate. But there was an institution by which a wealthy kinsman might, if he so willed, become the redeemer of his poor brother. In order to effect the redemption, the rich man needed to claim kindred with the poor one, and in this we have a lovely type of Jesus our Lord, Who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich. Jesus, the Lord, in order that He might be our Redeemer, became our Kinsman. He did not take hold of angels, but He stooped down to man! He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was very man, even as He was very God; and having become a man, He humbled Himself to death, even the death of the cross, and by His death and blood-shedding He has become our Redeemer. The grace of the Kinsman-Redeemer and the glory of the year of jubilee are linked together in the story of the book of Leviticus, and in them we behold the glory and the grace of the golden thread which we delight to trace throughout the varied books of Holy Scripture. From the Mission Field The following papers are selected from "India's Women”:— CALCUTTA A STRONGHOLD OF ISLAMISM. Its foundations are deeply laid. Its walls of bigotry and superstition rise up around it, shutting out all view of heaven. Its inhabitants are ignorant and self-righteous. "Give us knowledge, but no Savior," was the cry of one of our Mohammedan sisters; to whom Miss Bardsley made answer, "But, Bibi, if you do not care to hear, I cannot come, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, and I could not come to you and not speak of Jesus." "Then, Miss Sahib," was the answer, "do not come; I like to see you, but I do not care to hear of Jesus.” Another woman, a pupil of Miss Wrangham, who has joined the Mohammedan Mission in Calcutta this year, is very eager for her secular lessons, but places her hands over her ears when the Bible lesson is given. Yet the steady labor goes on, and in time indifference gives way. One of the lady workers thus writes:— “I wish I could take you one and all with us for one day's work. Those we work amongst are for the most part very poor, and they do indeed hear gladly. I can only remember five occasions when entrance has been refused. At first some have said no' through fear, or the thought that we wanted pice, which they were too poor to give; but a few words and kind looks have quieted their minds; they have made us sit down, and have listened to our message. “Come with me into this house; it is a Mohammedan one. Two sisters live here. We sit down on mats; they listen attentively, but suddenly one jumps up. “Do not leave, Bibi,' I say; just sit a little while.' “She answers, Why should I hear all these good words to myself? I must call my friends.' She calls them, and then Miss Roseboom has to begin and tell the same words over again. If she leaves anything out, she is interrupted, showing that the woman has really listened to the Gospel message. “Now we are walking along a narrow path to a house which we wish to visit. An old woman stops us; we do not know her, but she knows us, and has heard us speak before. She says, Miss Sahib, come to my house and sit and speak to me. I am in sorrow, and your words bring comfort to sorrowful hearts.'” ============================= BURDWAN. Upon one occasion when I was taking my seat in a third-class zenana carriage in the train from Burdwan to Calcutta—a journey of some sixty miles—our bearer, an earnest native Christian, who had come to help me into the train, opened the carriage door, and, handing in an old lady, said to me, "Ma'am, this woman wants to hear about religion.” Naturally my sympathies and interest were at once aroused in my traveling companion. She was tall and thin, and must have had a handsome face in her youthful days. Her widow's garb was a spotlessly clean white sari without any colored border; but what struck me most was the earnest, fervent look in her dark eyes. She thanked the servant graciously, and then, seating herself beside me, said, "He says that you will tell me of the true religion.” I cannot tell you how earnestly she listened, asking questions such as these: "Then can I get pardon for my sins?" "Will the Lord Jesus receive such a sinner as I am?" "I never heard of this beautiful religion before!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how I wish I had such faith as this!” We talked on rapidly for half an hour, and I quoted texts to show her God's way of salvation. All too soon we arrived at the station where my interesting friend was to alight, to go to her old home in a village near Mymaree. She told me the address of her son with whom she lived; he was postmaster in a remote village in the Burdwan district. As she bade me good-bye, the tears stood in her eyes as she said: “Oh, how I wish I were going all the way to Calcutta with you, that I might hear more of these beautiful words! I want to get eternal life. I have told my son I want to go and lead a religious life as a fakir [religious beggar], that I may obtain peace of mind; but he will not hear of it. How I should like to come to you and hear more!” I gave her a warm invitation to our mission-house in Burdwan, and I can never forget her sad, yearning look as she followed the carriage along the platform as far as she could. Afterward I wrote to her son, sending a Testament (marked by one of our orphan girls), begging him to read it aloud to his mother, as she could not read herself. He wrote a most polite answer, but said, "The Christian religion is for you, and our religion is for us. My mother must remain in her own religion.” There was no missionary within reach of their village whom I could ask to visit them, and although I kept the address for years, yet I was never able to go there. Oh, if you could only realize what pain it gives us to feel the great responsibility of being unable to reach these numberless villages where there are many like this dear widow, thoroughly dissatisfied with their own round of meaningless rites and ceremonies, and groping longingly in their deep darkness after the true Light. We have that Light; are we seeking to diffuse it? This story is only one of many we might tell to illustrate the crying need there is for us to extend our village mission stations in this populous district, where Hinduism has many of its almost impregnable strongholds. The seed of God's Word has been sown in many young minds as well as in the minds of those reached in the zenanas. With God we leave the result. Yet for our encouragement we often hear of instances where childlike faith begets perfect confidence in the love and protecting care of God. We give two of such instances. “The heathen mother of one of our little girls in Virudupattie told us that when the cholera was very bad in that place she said to her little girl of seven, 'You must not go to school, or you will catch it.' “Oh, no,' said the little girl, I shalt not, because the Lord Jesus Christ will take care of me if I ask Him; I am not afraid.'” Does not this little heathen girl teach a beautiful lesson of trust? “A sad story comes to our ears today of a little girl strangled and her jewels stolen. The child lived not far from here. The mother of two of our dear girls, Kusheem and Kiron, fears for her children, and does not wish them to go to school. “' Mother, no harm can happen to us, for God will take care of us; we cannot die unless it is His the children pleaded with simple faith.” “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: “NOT I, BUT CHRIST” ======================================================================== IT is instructive to observe how many times "I" or "me" occurs from the fourteenth to the last verses of the seventh chapter of the epistle to the Romans. This great chapter of experience opens up to us a view of our hearts, and teaches us where we are spiritually. The experienced physician, gifted with perception, upon hearing some of our symptoms, inquires, Do you feel this? or, Are you subject to that trouble? And the patient wonders how the physician exposes the very symptoms of which he himself had omitted to speak. In spiritual matters the constant reference to self, to "I," to "me," lays bare to us our inmost selves. "Am I really a Christian? Could a Christian have such thoughts as I have? I am brighter today, but I shall be as despairing as before, tomorrow." What is the ailment here? The statements are no doubt perfectly just and true, but they are symptoms of a very feeble state of soul, and they all indicate self-occupation. If a man be in pain, the pain necessarily occupies him; but where there is pain, there is a cause producing it. The pain produced by self- occupation is evidence that Christ—occupation is wanting, and the true healthy Christian life—living Christ—"To me to live is Christ"—is not apprehended. Let us look further into the experience before us. It is evidently that of a true Christian, for he cries, "I hate sin; I do not wish to do it." This longing after holiness and hatred of sin prove the speaker to be truly a child of God, for dead men do not feel, and when we were dead in trespasses and sin, we did not feel the sinfulness of sin. A man swimming under water is not sensitive to the weight of the water above him; but let him when on land attempt to carry but a very small part of the water, the weight of which, when in it, he did not feel, and he will be crushed under the load. The sense of the load causes a struggle to be free from the burden, and the struggle to be free from sin is real and earnest in the true Christian, and it is a terrible and heartbreaking one. However much the fact of the struggle may prove that the burdened soul is alive, the struggle is not Christian liberty of soul, it is not heavenly placidity of mind; but it is instead a sore and heavy experience. The heart laid bare before us in our chapter, after a while comes to this remarkable confession: "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." We see here the good will, the holy desire, but a lack of power. We trace the love of holiness planted within, by the Holy Spirit of God, and we perceive no power to be holy. The experience is true and honest in the presence of God, for no false refuge is allowed, no weakness is excused—far from it. Nevertheless, the enlightened heart and conscience are at a loss. The believer is nonplussed, mastered, hopeless, and he cries: "I find not the power to live the life I long to live!" Yet this darkness is but that of the hour before the dawn; it is the prelude to the wise and true conclusion of the struggle: “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” The experience of I, I, I, me, me, me, is like that of passing through a long and weary tunnel; and when the point, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," is reached, the bend in the tunnel is gained, and in a few moments there will be daylight. When the believer knows that in him dwelleth no good thing, he has learned that he cannot in his own strength do one single thing, or think one single thought, acceptable to the Holy God. It is the lesson of utter weakness, of the utter worthlessness of self. What, then, shall be done? Instead of self; it shall be Christ; it shall be "not I, but Christ who liveth in me." Christ the power—not myself. Christ, with Whom "I am crucified"; Christ, with Whom we died. In Christ risen, victory; in Him on high, power. And God has exposed us to ourselves, and has revealed Christ to us so that we might "rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh," and thus live the true Christ life. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: TO THE PERFECT DAY ======================================================================== THERE is a beautiful Old Testament witness to the path of the just, which declares that it is like the shining light, which shineth brighter and brighter to the perfect day. What a gracious testimony is this to progress in holiness, in meekness, in righteousness, in love, in all the excellencies of the divine life! When the dawn breaks and sheds its first faint rays over the gloom of night, it rises to conquer, to shine brighter and brighter, until the fullness of the glorious day has spread itself on hilltop and in valley, and has left no place whatever for the night. And thus does the Spirit anticipate perfect victory for the people of God. In a kindred way the New Testament speaks of the believer becoming changed from glory to glory. Not, indeed, all the glory at once, yet every glory an occasion for a fresh glory. From glory to glory—that is, from one moral excellence to another, from resemblance to Christ to an increased resemblance. A little like Him, then a little more like Him. It is the gentle unfolding of the flower under the influence of the glory of the sun. The sun paints the white lily and the red rose, and as we behold the face of Jesus Christ, He writes upon our lives something of Himself. This is true holiness, and true spiritual expansion. Not our little schemes of what we should like to be, but the great and glorious purpose of God for us. There is a charming variety in the excellency which is provided by Christ in His people. The individuality of each believer is maintained, and yet each resembles Christ. In human efforts to be holy there is a remarkable dullness! Some must needs wear an attire after the pattern of their ideal, others seek to assume the fashion of thought and experience of their religious guide. How unlike the variety and unity which is stamped upon the work of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 42: THE THREE MY'S ======================================================================== NOTES OF AN ADDRESS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. “MY SOUL." (Isa. 38:17.) DID you ever think that you carry about with you a precious soul? God values it at such a high price that His dear Son could say, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” These are serious words, dear young friends, spoken seriously. Pray do not treat them lightly, but think over them, and may you not rest till you can say, "My soul is saved.” “MY SINS." (Isa. 38:17.) Said one of old time, "O God,... my sins are not hid from Thee." Yes, God knows them, every oneשevery sin that you have committed, in thought, word, or deed. But David also said, "Hide Thy face from my sins." Can God, who is so holy, "of purer eyes than to behold evil," hide His face from the sinner's sins? Yes, because the blood of Jesus is of such value that He can look on that blood instead of our sins. God has before Him the great love of His Son in coming to this dark world of sin, and in suffering on Calvary for sins, in the sinner's stead; and those who act in obedience to His Word and believe on Him can say, "He (Jesus) bore my sins in His own body on the tree.” “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." Rest not until you can sing, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed" (or loosed) "us from our sins in His own blood…to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever." “MY SAVIOUR." (Luke 1:47.) This is the privileged language of every believer in Jesus. We can all rejoice in Him as our own personal Savior for time and all through the eternal ages. How blessed for those who thus know Him as their Deliverer from danger—that awful danger that is facing those who reject His love and despise His great salvation. “Savior and Lord, I own The riches of Thy grace, For I can call Thy God my God, Can bow before His face.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 43: PLEASING JESUS ======================================================================== I WAS much touched lately in reading the life of that eminent and honored servant of God, Dr. Marsh, by what is told of his Tittle granddaughter Rosamond. She was called to die when very young, and a short time before her death she said, "I wish I were grown up, that I might do something to please the Lord Jesus.” She was told that she need not wait until she was grown up to please Him, for she could do so at once by obeying Him, and that He had said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not.” “Oh, I am so glad!" she replied, "for I have come to Him, I know. I am so glad it pleased Him.” Dear child yet she but little knew how greatly her wish to please the Lord had pleased Him! I thought, dear young readers of FAITHFUL WORDS, that I must relate to you the touching incident, in the earnest hope that you, by means of it, might be led to reflect,—to ask yourselves the grave and profitable question, Have I ever done anything to please the Lord Jesus? Have I ever tried to please Him?” Are you obliged to say, "No, I have never done anything to please Jesus: I have never even tried to please Him"? If so, is it not sad? Never to have even tried to please One Who, out of pure love for you, laid down His life, and who daily loads us with His benefits? Had little Rosamond Marsh lived, she would, doubtless, have done many another thing to please the Lord she loved so well. You will not forget that this coming to Jesus is but the beginning of a life to be spent in pleasing Him. But perhaps some will ask, "What things—what acts—shall I do to please Him?" And I would answer in the words of St. Paul: "Whether therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Everything is included in that—lessons and play, as well as eating and drinking, and the "doing good" spoken of in another verse. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 44: I LOVE JESUS ======================================================================== A LADY was speaking to some children about the love of the Lord Jesus. A little girl named Lizzie sat upon a low stool at her feet. As the lady ceased speaking, Lizzie asked if they might sing "Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” “Why do you wish to sing that hymn?" said the lady. "Because I want to feel safe in His arms," was the reply. They sang the hymn together, and then the lady spoke again of the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep. Lizzie sat with clasped hands, and a bright smile covered her face. Suddenly she started up, and putting her arms around her friend's neck, she exclaimed, "I love Jesus,” “Why do you love Him, Lizzie?” “Because He first loved me," was her reply; then she added, "And I love you, too, for telling me about Him loving little children. Dear Jesus! I will sing to Him now, for He has made me feel so safe.” This little child would frequently go to some lonely spot, and sing simple hymns of praise to Him Who first loved her. And her artless talk and loving smile gave many to know that she had been in the company of the Lord Jesus. “Do you love Jesus?" would be her simple question; then, while awaiting a reply, she would say, "I love Him; He has made me so safe. Will you love Him, too?” God, by His Spirit, thus used dear Lizzie to lead many of her companions to Him, and, through her, quite a band of little pilgrims turned their faces heavenward. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 45: PREACHING AT ST. PAUL’S CROSS ======================================================================== IN the time of the first St. Paul's Church, London, where the present Cathedral stands, there was a pulpit formed of wood called Paul's Cross. Here the most famous divines were appointed to preach every Sunday in the forenoon. Here the Mayor and Aldermen and principal citizens of London used to resort; here also came the Court and the King and his train. The greater part of the congregation sat, in the open air; the King with his train had covered galleries. In rough weather a covered space on the side of the old church protected the congregation. The "cross" itself was subjected to change and to rough usage, but for a very long period important announcements were made from it. So far back as 1262 a Papal Bull was published from it, by order of the King, Henry III.; and coming down to Henry VIII's time, we find the then Bishop of London compelled by the King to find preachers to preach down the Pope's authority at the cross from Sunday to Sunday, and to prove to the people that the Pope was merely Bishop of Rome. The building of the Cathedral of St. Paul, London, of our own day, was commenced in 1697, upon the site of the old church, and a considerable time after the occurrence of such scenes as are represented in our little engraving. Out-of-door preachings were fashionable in Queen Mary's reign, and, as the presence of the armed guard shows, were, at least at times, conducted under military authority. Bishops and other ecclesiastical dignitaries gave forth their sermons and their statements at St. Paul's Cross in her reign, and the Londoners on occasions crowded to hear them. There proclamations were made; there at the command of the notorious Bishop of London, Bonner, in 1555, the declaration from which we quote was made by Dr. Chedsey. Bonner was looked upon by the people as full of cruelty, and he endeavored to shift the burden of his persecuting deeds to the shoulders of Queen Mary, affirming that she charged "the bishops with remissness and negligence in instructing the people infected with heresy" —as he termed the truth of the Gospel—"and in punishing them if they will be obstinate and willful." "The Lord Bishop of London," proceeded the declaration, "offereth himself ready to do his duty to the uttermost," and announced "that he had sent to all the prisons of the city to know what persons are there for heresy.” As the Scriptures had entered England by royal authority before Queen Mary's time, the people, as is now the case, knew to a very great extent the truths of the Bible; hence, if the heresy "of the Gospel faith was to be rooted out of the land, very great energy was necessary. The" arguments " brought forward by the Papal party consisted chiefly in the punishment or burning of such as would not yield up their faith in God's Word, consequently the party was not by any means popular. The Queen inhibited by proclamation the reading and preaching the Word of God in churches, and the printing and selling of religious books other than as by authority. The plea against "the printers and stationers" was that they "set out to sale to her Grace's subjects, of an evil zeal for lucre, and covetousness of vile gain," these books. While preaching at Paul's Cross on this matter, the canon who was in the pulpit raised such a storm of indignation against himself, that the Queen's guard with their weapons were sent the next day to guard the preacher. And we find precisely the same spirit active in our own times. The present Pope, Leo XIII., only last year forbade the printing and selling religious books, as was done in Queen Mary's days! The document which thus binds the fetters on the Pope's subjects is called an "Apostolic Constitution." The Roman Catholic bookseller is forbidden to vend books unauthorized, while to print "books of the sacred Scriptures, or notes, or commentaries upon them" brings down upon the offender "excommunication unreserved"; and all who read such books, without being granted special permission, are to be "restrained by canonical penalties." "All versions in the vernacular" of the sacred Books, "even though made by Catholics, are entirely forbidden unless approved by the Holy See or issued under the care of Bishops"; while "prohibited are all versions of the Holy Scriptures made by whatever non-Catholic writer in whatever vulgar tongue, and those especially which are spread abroad by Bible Societies, again and again condemned by the Roman Pontiffs.” “Put out the light! Put out the light!" is ever the cry of superstition, for when the light shines darkness flees away. The great Erasmus narrates how his publishing the New Testament in its original language met with a great deal of clamor and opposition; and how that one college in the University of Cambridge, in particular, absolutely forbade the use of it. "These," says he, "object to us the feigned authority of synods, and magnify the great peril of the Christian faith and the danger of the Church, which they pretend to support with their shoulders, which are much fitter to prop a wagon. And these clamors they disperse among the ignorant and superstitious populace, with whom, having the reputation of being great divines, they are very loath to have their opinions called in question, and are afraid that when they quote the Scripture wrong, as they often do, the authority of the Greek and Hebrew verity should be cast in their teeth, and that by-and-bye appear to be a dream which was by them given out for an oracle.” The Vicar of Croydon in Surrey is said to have expressed himself to the following purpose in a sermon which he preached at Paul's Cross about this time: "We must root out printing, or printing will root out us." That vicar would not believe himself if he could see what printing has done for England in our century. And the fact that numbers of the large daily newspapers have Jesuits upon their staffs only proves the value the Papist sets upon the press. These do their best to keep truths about Rome out of the public papers and away from the knowledge of the people. Also in various publishing houses the Jesuits have found entrance, their effort being to disparage and keep down Protestant literature. So the old vicar of Croydon's utterance at St. Paul's Cross was indeed a true one. Printing has rooted out the errors of Rome from millions of human souls, and it has planted within them the truths of the Gospel of God. The liberty of free speech and of a free press are boons to the land possessing them, which are not generally realized by those who have been born heirs to liberty. Let anyone try the effect of free speech in reference to the Scriptures in parts of Austria, and he will presently find himself in prison; or let him make a similar effort in parts of Spain, in favor of a free press, and he will soon experience the penalties of the law, on the ground that such statements are contrary to the religion of the land; such countries afford a just idea of what religious bondage was like in our land before the Reformation. Free speech is the most powerful of weapons against error and for truth: hence there need be no surprise that those who love error and hate truth strive to keep free speech out of a country or a community. Even in some parts of England, where it is politic or possible, the exposure of the false in religion is now met with such furious storms of noise and blows that free speech is hardly possible. And as the influence of the priests grows this will be increasingly the case, for such civil office-bearers as are ruled by priestly power, will be more active to prevent the light from shining upon the practices of false religion. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 46: WHICH IS THE SAVIOR—CHRIST OR THE SACRAMENT? ======================================================================== IT is, alas! necessary in many parts of England to ask this question! Under Papal rule the Sacrament comes first as Savior, and under a great deal of Anglican sacerdotal teaching Christ is not acknowledged in His absolute glory as Savior, sacraments being regarded as necessary to say the least—unto salvation. Now Christ is our personal Savior: it is His glory to be this, and in this glory none may share. Christ died once to save us, and now "Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more," and it is the sinner's privilege to deal with Christ, ascended in glory, and in Him alone the sinner finds the Savior. Let the reader peruse the following little story, and he will own that there is teaching abroad respecting Christ as Savior which proves that the language we have just used is none too strong:— R. C. was brought up by her kind mother, her father having died when she was a very little child. When old enough she was educated in sacramentalism, but this gave her no peace of soul before God, and she was convinced that all was not well with her for eternity. Occupying a humble position in life, R. C. entered into domestic service, and as one of her fellow-servants was also anxious, about salvation, the two girls would talk together, both longing to know their sins for given, and that they were saved. At this time R. C. met with a simple man, who knew in his own heart what God's salvation is, and he pointed her to Jesus. He showed her that Christ and His finished work on the Cross forms the only ground of the sinner's salvation, and the girl saw dimly the light of truth shining before her. After a while she had to leave her situation and come home, and then the Lord caused the light of His Word to shine so clearly into her soul that she was enabled to rest simply, but firmly, upon what He had said: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” Her health was failing, and as she grew weaker she was able only to be brought down for a little time in the middle of the day. On one occasion, while in this state, the "priest," as the parish clergyman loved to be called, visited her. He told her people could not go to heaven without partaking of the sacrament—that is, the Lord's Supper. This upset her very much, for she knew her father had been brought to Christ, and had borne a bright testimony on his dying bed to the power and willingness of Jesus to save the lost and guilty, and she knew that Christ, and not the sacrament, was his confidence. In reply to her words about her father, the "priest" said, "If there are any who go to heaven without it, it is as by a miracle; and he sought to shift the dying girl from her resting-place in Christ, and to make her build her hope for eternal salvation on partaking of the sacrament. However, she clung to words such as" He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," for she had learned that the "salvation" and "eternal life" come direct from the Lord Jesus Christ. God, who had given her grace to cling to His Word, increased her desire to know more and more of that Word. She suffered much, but she enjoyed peace, rest, and joy, which the believer in Jesus only knows. God has but one foundation for the sinner to rest upon, and that foundation is Christ. God has but one answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?"—that is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." By trusting to ordinances and sacraments the true place of the lost, ruined, and guilty sinner before God is lost. In this land of ours there are "blind guides," who tell lost, perishing sinners that life and salvation are obtained through sacraments; but the Scriptures teach that to have "life" we must have Christ, the Life; that to be saved we must have Christ, the Savior. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 47: AS MANY AS TOUCHED ======================================================================== “AS many as touched Him were made whole." But, remember, they did touch, and it was as many as touched," that received the healing blessing. The touch was the outcome of faith. Some looked on, some heard, some reasoned, but those who touched were healed. There is a lesson herein for the seeking soul, which teaches him to get close to Christ. Personal contact with Him is the necessity. It suffices not for the sick man to look at the healing medicine, he must take it, if he would be benefited thereby. You must come to Christ, not come towards Him, if you would be healed. The sinner must needs meet the Savior, his soul must come into contact with Him; and when this is the case, lo! the sinner is "made whole.” There was no virtue in the touch of these sick persons! Think we, that the finger of a paralyzed man had power in it? Or, that in the hand of the leper there was cleansing? The virtue dwelt in Jesus, but through the touch, the blessing was received. The touch was the evidence of faith. It was a direct personal act on the part of him or her who came to Jesus. It was also the sign that the sick needed the healing of the Good Physician. On the one hand, in Jesus there is stored the fullness of grace, and pardon, and cleansing; on the other, there is in us the absolute need; faith puts the empty sinner into communication with the fullness that abides in Christ. Many a soul carries its burden to this hour, simply because Jesus has not been "touched." Some are content to hear of His gracious works, others satisfy themselves by remaining, as it were, afar off from Him; but the healed people, the saved people, have been content with nothing short of getting close to Christ, each one for himself and herself. “As many as touched Him were made whole!" We do not wonder at this; there would be no room for surprise if millions upon millions were healed every whit—the surprise is that so few go to Him. Does it astonish us to read of a dying thief being saved, or of a blasphemous man, a persecutor and injurious, being made a follower of the meek and lowly Lord? Or are we surprised to hear, in our own day, of the vilest and worst being "made whole," and living no more the life of sin, but living instead the life of faith? Do we lift up our eyes with amazement and say, "How can these things be?" By no means, for Jesus is so wonderful, and His salvation is so complete, and the cleansing efficacy of His once-shed blood is so perfect, that we know He can and does heal all who come to Him. “Whithersoever He entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought Him that they might touch, if it were but the border of His garment." What a sight of power and of weakness, of grace and misery! The Son of God, who had come from heaven, surrounded with every type of human woe. As He walked on, His heart moving in tenderness towards all, hundreds of weak hands would stretch out, as it were, to touch the very skirts of His garment! And if our eyes could but see, we should behold in this our gospel day the selfsame Jesus, the Son of God, moving amongst the longing and perishing children of men, and we should see weak and helpless hands outstretched to touch Him, and "As many as touched Him were made whole.” Before the night closes in, and the Lord has passed by to return in mercy no more, oh! stretch out the hand of faith and touch Him, for—"As many as touched—” Figures and Shadows "BEFORE THE LORD": "UNTO THE LORD.” WE have already considered the words “before the Lord," and have seen that they define the position of the man who approached Jehovah, and also of the offering which he brought to Jehovah. Every detail in the position of both offerer and offering was so carefully defined that no manner of looseness, nor of will worship in reference to sacrifice, was possible in Israel. In the words "unto the Lord," a very different teaching from that which has been already under consideration is presented—it is not man's position before Jehovah that we are here led to consider, but Jehovah's attitude towards the sacrifice. The words "unto the Lord" occur far more frequently than the words "before the Lord," as may be observed by a cursory glance down the early chapters of Leviticus; and we may say that the principles which are associated with "unto Jehovah," are even more important than those associated with "before Jehovah," since the former relate to God's estimate of the sacrifice, while the latter relate to man's attitude in approach to God. The whole question respecting the efficacy of the sacrifice, depended upon God's reception of it. If He did not accept it, the sacrifice was worthless. All the worship of all the world, centered around a non-accepted sacrifice, was invalid. This principle is of the utmost importance, yet it is one which the trend of present-day thought utterly ignores, for it is said, "It is of no moment what a man's religion may be, so long as he is earnest." But if God's requirements be left out of our religion, our religion is vain, even if ours be the religion of all the world. In the affairs of everyday life, a man's earnestness will not bring him to the place upon which his back is turned, and from which his eager footsteps are hurrying. In spiritual things our zeal, if not according to knowledge, is only to our detriment. The completion of the sacrifice of the burnt offering resulted in "a sweet savor unto the Lord"; and in like manner the memorial of the meal offering was "a sweet savor unto the Lord"; while the crowning glory of the peace offering was a "sweet savor unto the Lord." The sweet savor of the sacrifice unto the Lord was a familiar figure in Israel. The savor of the sacrifice, as pleasing to the gods, was well understood by the heathen before the time of Moses. And it is well to remember the fact, since "higher criticism" conveniently ignores it. The way in which Jehovah received the sacrifices of sweet savor was upon His altar, and by fire, and as they were consumed upon the altar, He, in figure, partook of them. In the burnt offering, man partook of none of the sacrifice. It was one, wholly ascending to Jehovah, who, by His reception of it in its entirety, showed His good pleasure in it, and His jealousy of its glory, in not allowing man to receive a particle of it. And thus a very excellent figure is presented of God's absolute delight in the willing offering up of Christ, His Son, as a sacrifice upon the cross, in which sacrifice there were depths and heights of love and goodness that none but God could comprehend, and which none but God could receive. The exaltation and the glory of the cross of Christ are infinite, and as such are forever above all human thoughts; they rise up to heaven, "unto the Lord," in a sweet savor which God alone is capable of accepting. This first principle in sacrifice—the value to God of the offering up of Christ—is usually left outside religion. If it were allowed, the whole business of all the priests of Christendom—Greek, Roman, Anglican—would perish in an hour. For God being absolutely and eternally glorified and exalted in His Holy Being, in His love, His light, His grace, His righteousness, by the death of His Son on the cross, all sacrificing priests re-offering a sacrifice to win God's pleasure are an impossibility. And, as if to witness to the world how impossible their position is before God, none of them in their sacrifices ever allows to God the consumption of the sacrifice, for their altars have no fire upon them, and thus God is outside their "sacrifice.” But let not the Evangelical professor of The Faith be satisfied as to himself, unless he really rejoice in Christ Jesus; unless Christ, who once for all offered up Himself to God, be his whole and entire trust. And let such as do thus honor the Lord Jesus Christ gratefully acknowledge the fullness of the favor in which they stand, for that which is so pleasing "unto the. Lord" is also "accepted for him, to make atonement for him." The fullness of divine delight in the perfectness of Christ's work on the cross, and the fullness of the acceptance of him who trusts in Christ, go together, and thus "unto the Lord" and "before the Lord" are morally and graciously connected. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 48: THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST ======================================================================== HE believer, who has been brought into the enjoyment of God's love, is an astonishment to himself, and as he ponders the former feelings of his heart, he can but wonder at what God has wrought in bringing him into fellowship with the Father and the Son. This wonderful work proclaims the glory of the Lord Jesus. Once we were strangers to God, with hearts and minds estranged from Him, and enemies of Him by wicked works, We did with a will the things which God hates. His Name, His character, His glory, were but the occasion of our scorn, or of the calling out of our indifference. Yet, despite all, of every believer the word stands, "You.... NOW HATH HE RECONCILED.” And as the Lord upon the throne on high looks down to this earth, it is to His honor and glory that, in the midst of this world of enmity to God, there should be men and women who enjoy the blessings and love of the reconciliation. In the natural hardness of our hearts, we once regarded God as a severe Being frowning upon us from the inaccessible heights of His heavenly dwelling, and it was practically no easy truth to believe that God reconciles man to Himself. Hence there was a variety of expedients resorted to in order to try to win God's heart towards us, such as prayers and good works, and earnest efforts to improve the heart, so that it could be worthy of God's love. But what was the result? Instead of gaining a sense of reconciliation, we gained the knowledge that in us (that is, in our flesh) dwelleth no good thing. Instead of acquiring an understanding of God, we simply discovered that our hearts were really what God describes them to be. But when by faith we at length received the truth of a reconciling God, that truth, as a precious seed planted in our hearts, grew up into a tree bearing the fruit of love to God. The love-token of God to us is such that, when eyes are opened by the Spirit to see it, our natural enmity cannot resist the grace. God breaks down the walls of our will by His own kindness. God's love-token to man is nothing less than His own Son, crucified for sinners. Through the body of His flesh, "through death" we are reconciled. The alien feelings of our minds are overcome by the sight of His death. Who is there in the whole world who, having seen the Son of the Father giving Himself a sacrifice, and shedding His blood to cleanse his sins, can after that sight hate God? The bands of unbelief are burst asunder, and the soul enters into the liberty of God's love. Present peace, present joy and present reconciliation, are the believer's portion, and his future is to be according to God's great thoughts of love. And this, too, shall redound to the honor of the Son, for the perfect state of each one of His people in eternity shall proclaim His glory. “HOLY, UNBLAMABLE, UNREPROVEABLE in His sight "—in God's sight—will be the wonderful result of the Lord's work for His own. In this state of moral perfection every believer will be presented to God by Christ. The nature of God is holy. The triumph of the Lord's work for us will be complete in that day when in God's sight there will no longer exist in His children the corrupting nature of sin. Then God will see in the family what He now beholds alone in His Son. "I In Christ" marks our present standing and acceptance before God; but sin remains in us; we have a sinful nature. Then all will be holy. The Lord was ever unblameable and unreproveable in God's sight; He ever did those things which pleased God. Every step of His path was perfect. We, alas! are continually doing wrong; our path is marked by falls. But the day is at hand when we shall not require to mortify our members which are upon the earth, for we shall be unblameable before God, without any evil tendencies. In resurrection, the life of Christ will be perfectly and wholly manifest in all His people. All who are washed in the blood of Jesus will be perfect before God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 49: THE MISSION FIELD ======================================================================== SYRIA. A DEEPLY interesting work for God was opened up in the Lebanon district after the awful slaughter there in 1860. As men's blood now runs cold at the tidings of the massacres in Armenia, so in that period did horror pervade Europe at the tidings of the cruelties in Syria. Turks, Druses, and Kurds slew thousands upon thousands, and Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon were filled with fugitives. "Stained with the gore of their husbands and sons, the sound of the murderer's sword still ringing in their ears, crowds of these helpless widows and children flew distractedly they knew not whither." The late Mrs. Bowen Thompson felt called of God to help those widows and orphans, and, arriving at Beyrout, she found “thousands of women and children plunged in helpless despair. "She at once commenced a Refuge for them, and literally in a few days found hundreds under her care. It is most affecting to hear of the intense interest of these poor afflicted women in the Word of God, for, though Christian by name, they knew sadly little of the Christ of God." Even the families of priests would say, "We are like the cows—we know nothing." And as the widows sat before their devoted teachers they would exclaim, "We never heard such words! Does it mean for us women?” Such was the destitution among the twenty thousand refugees crowding the khans of the city, that women with families were glad to get work at twopence a day. It was from these materials that the mission conducted by Mrs. Thompson was formed. After some years of labor one great triumph of Christianity was effected in the mission schools, children—Arabs, Mahomedans, Druses, Jewesses, and Christians—could be seen happily learning together to read and to work, and singing the praise of God. Let us hear what the Scriptures of God wrought in the life of a Druse who was blind. “Mr. Mott, a worker in Syria with Mr. Bowen Thompson, having completed the Gospel of St. John in the embossed type adopted by Mr. Moon, a school for the blind was opened. “Among the first pupils was a young Druse called Ghandoor, who, like the others, was destitute of spiritual as well as physical sight. No sooner did his fingers touch the beautiful words of the Gospel, than his whole soul was filled with delight. He could not part with his beloved Gospel of John; it was his study by day and by night; it lay under his pillow. The words of light and truth penetrated his heart, and the work of the Spirit was soon manifested in his daily walk. “On one occasion an English traveler asked him whether he did not feel the loss of sight. He replied, 'How can you ask me? It is miserable not to see. And once I was miserable, but now'—laying his hand on the Gospel, and his countenance brightening up-'now I am happy since I have learned to read the Bible, and know about Jesus. Of course, I should like to see the sun which makes me so warm, but this cannot be; but when I get to heaven, the first person I shall see will be Jesus, for He will open mine eyes.' “In time Ghandoor printed and corrected for the press, and he also invented a method for communicating his favorite texts to his sightless brethren in the kindred school at Damascus. “Another blind boy, of gentle mien, in the school examinations, replied in unconscious simplicity to the questions of the astonished Turkish officials: I am a little blind boy. Once I could see, but then I fell asleep—a long, long sleep. I thought I should never wake, and I slept till a kind gentleman called Mr. Mott opened my eyes. Not these eyes'—pointing to his sightless eyeballs—' but these '—lifting up his tiny fingers,—`these eyes.' And oh! they see such sweet words of Jesus, and how He loved the blind.' “He had, as it were, acquired a new sense. He saw through his touch, and his energetic mind at once expander to grasp the large sphere thus unexpectedly brought within his power His zeal outstripped that of all the rest. His desire to lead others to the Savior was a further evidence of the renewed state of his soul. Not only did he become a regular attendant at the services on the Lord's Day, but he brought his brother, a Druse, as he once was, but now an inquirer. “During the summer Mr. Mott sent for him, to the mountains, to teach a blind woman to read; and short as was his stay, he left a very decided impression that he, who was once a Druse, had become a true disciple of Christ. “After this, Ghandoor might often be seen in a schoolroom hired for the purpose, reading the Scriptures to the poor, the maimed, and the halt. His sightless eyes continually look upward in faith to Him whom lie expected to see, eye to eye, at the welcome Ephphatha.” “Every Druse village," says Major Heber-Percy, “has its menzûl, where all travelers can find shelter, food, and accommodation free of cost. The” traveler is attended to and the menzûl is kept clean by the nahtour (a man appointed for the purpose), the cost being defrayed by a subscription from the villagers. Arrived in this room, we were invited to take our seats on the carpets spread on the center of the floor; and we sat on our feet, taking great care not to show the soles of our boots, which is considered most impolite. I asked the sheyk, through the dragoman, to sit down by us; but, in obedience to etiquette, he declined. I insisted, till, after a proper amount of reluctance, he gave way and sat on his heels beside me. In the meantime coffee-making had been in full swing.” The report of the mission shows that the unquiet of this present time is filling hearts with anxiety. In 1896, the record for Beyrout states, " depression prevailed everywhere; the Druses and Christians were continually expecting a general outbreak and massacre, which more than once seemed to be on the eve of taking place, but God in His mercy averted it. Yes, those were gloomy times, but times in which the Bible woman's message got more attention, especially as she could point them to many warnings in the Bible; of God's call to repentance and punishment for the unrepentant, which all seemed to be repeated in the present history.” Gradually, after Ramadan, the fears of the people subsided. The work of Bible distribution among soldiers in the Lebanon district is very cheering, showing how God can turn the very disquiet and the quartering of soldiers in disturbed districts to His glory and man's blessing. “The soldiers," M. Ibrahim Nassif's report says, "consist of Maronites, Druses, Greeks, Roman Catholics, Moslems, and Metualis.... In spite of the opposition of the priests, and the reproach of others, I was, by the help of God, able to go among many of the new soldiers. “At another station I was speaking of redemption. A Maronite, who could read a little, but had never heard of this before, fixed his eyes on me, and leaning on his hand he said, Teacher, are all these things written in the Bible? " Yes, of course,' I replied; and this is the Bible, the Word of God.' `And is Jesus alone the Savior?' he added. ‘No doubt of this.' I then read to him, ‘For there is one God, and one Mediator.' On finishing the text, he asked, Are not the saints and the Virgin Mary intercessors?' did my best to explain to him the meaning of redemption, and how Christ only is the Redeemer, Intercessor, and Savior, and not anyone else. The soldier was astonished, and asked, Can I be saved by faith in Jesus only?’ ‘Yes,' I answered; and added, Do not you, the Maronites, count Peter the head of the Church, and an Intercessor?" Yes, we do.' Well,' I said, listen to what he says: "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other Name under heaven given amongst men whereby we may be saved."' I told him how Jesus loves us, how He suffered, and died under the greatest suffering for our salvation, and to give us everlasting life. The eyes of the poor soldier burst with tears: How sweet! how sweet! I must read the Word of God.' He begged for a Bible, which on my second visit he was reading earnestly. “At another meeting of soldiers, one of them narrated his experience. When on leave he took his Testament with him, and his wife was very excited when she knew it, and said to the neighbors, He has brought an enemy to the house!' Then she bade the son burn the book; No, my father will be angry and perhaps beat us,' the boy said. Well, bring it, and read it; let me hear what is in it.' So the boy opened the place and read the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. It is good! it is nothing bad! ‘cried the mother. It is the sayings of Jesus I Why do people say it is bad? They have made me so excited that I have made your father's sleep sorrowful. I must awake him and make him glad.' So she awoke him, saying, Get up! get up! You don't know what I thought of doing. Forgive me! I have sinned against you.' “On hearing this story, a Moslem soldier was very much affected. He begged earnestly for a Bible, and came to my house to fetch it. Many others asked for Bibles—Druse, Maronite, and Greek. “Seventeen men were present on another occasion. With the exception of one man, who was a butcher, all were soldiers; seven of them had had Bibles and Testaments. I asked them, `Do you read the Word of God?' One man said, Two days ago I was reading, when a priest passed by. He fixed his eyes on me and said, "Are you reading a nice story?" "Yes," I replied; "it is the best story in the world." "What is it, my son?" "It is the Bible, the Word of God." "The Bible!" he said, in astonishment. "And who gave it to you?" "A teacher came and brought it to me from the English." "From the English?" the priest said, showing much fear and trouble. "No, no, my son! it is better for you to carry fire in your hands; fire burns your body, but this will burn your soul." "No, no," I answered, "it is quite contrary. If we do not know the way of salvation, we shall burn in hell." The priest became very excited, and went away and accused me to my aga (officer), but he said, "He is at liberty to read any book he likes.” One man, on hearing this, warmly defended the priest, and said, 'Every Protestant deserves the treatment of Assad Elshidezah ' (a martyr Protestant, who had died in the prison of the Maronite patriarch), and went away. The butcher was much affected, and said, 'Teacher, what you say is right. Jesus says, "Come unto Me"; the priests say, "Come unto us." I must read the Bible. If you will bring one, I will pay some money for it,' and he gave me one bishlik (about 6d.) for a copy.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 50: THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH ======================================================================== IN the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we read how the Lord “rained brimstone and fire.... out of heaven” upon those cities, and perhaps in our childhood we tried to imagine what this meant. Added to the storm of fire, we read how the sun had risen upon the earth at the time when Lot entered the city of Zoar, and also how the smoke of the country," which "went up as the smoke of a furnace," was visible for many miles round. If we take a map of Palestine, and note the position of Hebron, we have before us the locality of the plains of Mamre, whence Abraham witnessed the desolation. He would not have been more than a few miles from the plain where the cities stood—a long and narrow plain, once like Paradise, well watered, and cultivated like Egypt. Into this plain numbers of little rivers ran, and its luxuriance filled Lot's eyes with satisfaction; and thither he went with his flocks and herds, to escape at last with life only, and even then that escape being due to the intercession of Abraham. Some of the mysterious occurrences told in the Bible are explainable by simple natural causes. God used the waters above the earth and the fountains of the deep to effect the flood, and He may have used the fire within the earth and under the plain where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah stood, to effect their overthrow. There is a certain resemblance in the country around Vesuvius to that of the plain where Sodom and the cities stood. And its extinct volcanoes, now lakes—well filled with water—and its fruitful soil, the result of volcanic action, assist in picturing to the mind that district, once so fruitful and populous, which is now silent, buried under the Dead Sea—the Sea of the Plain. The destruction of the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, which flourished at the foot of Mount Vesuvius eighteen hundred years ago, affords striking suggestions as to the terror of the doom of Sodom. A great mass of sulfurous ashes from the mountain was suddenly cast up into the heavens, and, borne by a strong wind, it spread over Pompeii, and fell upon it, overwhelming and suffocating the inhabitants. Yet, still the rain of hot ashes fell, and then a storm of larger stones, until the whole of the city was completely buried. The bread was in baking, the food for dinner was being cooked in the bronze pots upon the oven, as the ashes from heaven fell. The prisoners were chained in the cell, awaiting the sentence of the Roman magistrate, when they were summoned to appear before the Judge of All. The sleeper Jay without a dream troubling his countenance, and died in his sleep, to awake in eternity; while some rushed into the cellars to escape the doom, but only to perish in despair. The spectator who walks through Pompeii today can see all these things before his eyes. They ate, they drank, they bought and sold, married and gave in marriage, until the terrible November day, eighteen hundred years ago. The adjoining city of Herculaneum perished likewise, but by different means, for the mountain cast out a stream of hot liquid mud, which, pouring down its side, covered up that city; and the mud, subsequently hardening like stone, entombed Herculaneum in solid rock. The city was only re-discovered some hundred years ago. At a distance from these cities, probably hardly further than that which separated Abraham from Sodom, when he pleaded for it, ashes fell like deep snow upon Puteoli. At Puteoli some seventeen years previously the Christians had cheered the heart of the apostle Paul on his way to Rome. We may infer that there were many Christians in that busy port when Pompeii was overthrown, and that they saw in the awful destruction the judgment of their holy God against the licentious inhabitants of the overthrown cities, and a terrible warning to the wealthy district around Puteoli. When the Cities of the Plain were consumed, Abraham worshipped Jehovah in Mamre, and Melchizedek was priest of the Most High in Jerusalem, and neither Mamre nor Jerusalem would be very much further off "the plain" than Puteoli was from Pompeii. The opening chapter of the epistle to the Romans, read in connection with the objects dug out of Pompeii and Herculaneum, evidences a terrible moral similarity between the two groups of overthrown cities, "the men" of both of which "were wicked, and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." "Behold," says the prophet, "this was the iniquity of... Sodom.... fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness... neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me" (Jehovah). If we may wonder how all these sins expressed themselves in the Cities of the Plain, we can see how they expressed themselves in Pompeii and Herculaneum! The paintings of the goddess (or idea) of abundance are constant, and the baths and the Forum were the ideals of idleness and indulgence. Close by them the slaves were practiced in combat in order to amuse the citizens by slaying one another, or by encountering wild beasts in the arena, and also it was slave labor which made the traders rich. The evidences of the iniquity of selfishness and disregard of the poor and tried in those days of Rome's luxury and ease are numerous. In the times of the pride of Sodom, idolatry and its accompanying licentiousness—the worship of vice, personified by images of gods of drink or crime—was established on the earth. Pompeii abounded with these sins. Its houses were models of taste and art, and no less a very emporium of iniquity. We seem to learn what Sodom and Gomorrah and the corrupt district around them really were by studying the remains which have been discovered in Herculaneum and Pompeii. On the slopes of burning Vesuvius a vivid illustration of the world itself is presented, and of the apostle's words: "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were"; for men build and plant as if the mountain had never overwhelmed man and never would again destroy. The cities turned into ashes, "condemned with an overthrow," made "an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly," seem to have no voice. The burning mountain is merely a question of nature! Yet nature is remarkably unstable when she pours forth fire and sulfur and trembles and burns under one's feet. Nature is but the servant of her Lord and Maker. The desolations nature has wrought are but the voices of nature's Lord, and they are a warning to sinful men of the judgment which shall yet befall an unbelieving world. In this connection of thought, the position a man takes up to view the prophetic Word of God is most significant. If one looks up to the height of the burning mountain, towering into the heavens, its fiery summit, seems too far off to occasion any concern, and its lava-streaked sides seem but only memories of what can never occur again. But if one stands upon the summit of the mountain, feels its heat and trembling under one's feet, hears its thunders, sees its fire and smells its sulfurous smoke, and then looks down at the villages and towns in the plain, they seem so small, so insignificant, so utterly at the mercy of the mountain, that the wonder is the impetuous fire within is restrained and all are not swept away. Such as dwell on the heights regard the prophetic word as the Word of God, and such as dwell afar off from God regard it with small concern. Yet the Word of God, and not our view of it, is that which will be fulfilled. The fire and the smoke are Scripture symbols of the judgment of God; and not only so, they are the natural servants of their Maker, who will use them to accomplish His Word, as in a former age He used water to fulfill His judgment. "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" Ex Cathedra Chapter 2 (continued.) THE illustration here given is taken from an ancient gem, and carries us back to a period before Constantine. The fish is perhaps the symbol that better than any other represents the Christianity of the catacombs. Indeed, it represents the creed of the catacombs, and the most ancient of Catholic creeds. The persecutions and general necessities of the times required that believers should put all distinctive truth into the briefest possible form. The result of continued effort in this direction was embodied in the symbol of the fish. Now the letters forming the Greek word fish, ΙΧθϒΣ furnish the initials to the five articles of their creed, namely, Ιησους Χριστος Θεου ϒιος Σωτηρ|JESUS CHRIST, OF GOD, SON SAVIOUR.| In this ancient gem, therefore, we have symbolized Christ, all Christ, and nothing but Christ, which is the essence of the Scriptures. This word engraven on the back of the chair proves that the seat belonged to and represented Christ, and could be occupied by no other person than Christ. Would that the Church had to this day maintained this glorious primitive Christianity. The symbol of the fish in the hands of the Martyr Church seemed to lend itself to the expression of almost every Christian sentiment, and the symbol only fell into disuse when the Scriptures were no longer regarded as the source of life, and sacramentarianism had taken their place. We give an illustration, representing a dolphin, the king of fish, with a trident, crushing the head of a polypus which has seven tentacles. Christ is thus portrayed in the power of His cross, triumphing over pagan Rome, the polypus, and its seven hills. On the right hand a small fish will be observed. This is the piscinculus of Tertullian. It rests in steady balance, and without a curve, the indication of fear, awaiting the end of the monster's agony. God had promised to bruise Satan shortly under the feet of believers, and this is the interpretation by the early Roman Church of the promise. The year 325 A.D. is notable in Church history as that during which the first General Council, convened in Nicea, was held. The accompanying illustration is an enlargement of a part of a photograph of a painting in the Pope's library. The picture is interesting because of the position in it occupied by the "chair" or throne. This occupies its center, and in the chair is represented not the Bishop, or the Pope, but a volume of the. Scriptures! Other points of the picture are not according to history, but the position given to the throne and the Word of God is perfectly accurate. Even to this day, before a General Council is opened, the Word of God is carried with great pomp to a throne placed in the center of the building in which the assembly is gathered. "Before the opening of the sittings one places the Book of the Gospels, which is the symbol of Jesus Christ speaking to men." Let the reader connect this with Fig. 4 on page 57. "Upon a throne covered with rich draperies, whence He seems to preside over the assembly, and to demand that judgment shall be dictated by justice." Cyril of Alexandria, who presided at the Council of Ephesus, writes: "The Holy Synod, assembled in the church, called Mary, constituted Christ its Head. The venerable Gospels were placed upon the sacred throne, thus suggesting to the fathers to judge justly." Thus was the presence, the lordship, and the government of Christ, by means of His own Word, expressed with unmistakable clearness. Such were the ideas of the early Church. Those present at the Council of Nicæa had heard the supremacy of the Scriptures preached not only in their own churches, but also in the catacombs. It is said in a legend of that time, that three hundred and eighteen delegates were present at that Council, but that when the counting took place, there was always found to be three hundred and nineteen, and that they never succeeded in getting a sight of the unseen presence, whom they were, never the less, obliged to reckon of their number.. Thus Christ was recognized to a large extent by the early Church as its Ruler, though mist was rising which was to obscure the unseen Shepherd of the Christian flock. The Bible in the chair, as represented in the illustration, is possibly the Codex Vaticanus, and probably the most ancient copy of the Bible in existence. The vellum on which it is written is the best that imperial command could procure, and the workmanship is of the highest quality that was then available. Not only in later Councils, but also in earlier ones—and, judging from the proportions of the sacred volume in the picture above-mentioned, perhaps in that of Nicæa itself—this copy was placed on the throne in the center of the assembly, and revered as the throne of Christ, the Head of the Church, Who ruled in their midst from this chair or seat of righteous judgment. But how sadly has Rome forsaken the true position of the Church. The real chair of the apostles—that is, the platform and basis of their doctrine—the true chair, or seat of Christ, the only Head and Ruler of the Church—that is, the Scripture—has been long since hidden away in the Vatican Library, while the place of honor which belongs to it among Christians has been usurped by a meaningless and corrupting piece of furniture! What awful departure is witnessed by these facts from the principles of the early Church and those of modern Rome. The early Church recognized Christ in its midst, and the teachings of the Word of God as its authority. Papal Rome has substituted for these realities—a literal chair! The crown which is represented on the chair signified the Savior's royal right to reign, and His present spiritual reign over His people. Thus we have been led into a sphere of Christian experience and testimony in which the heresies which cluster round the Papal symbol—the old chair in St. Peter's—have no existence. In proportion as we raised the dark medieval veil which obscured the ideal chair, its outline, if faint, was nevertheless discernible, and at last we saw the written volume of Christ reappear in central and truly Catholic authority, which the unanimous voices of General Councils saluted as the throne of the present, governing Christ, the Head of the Church. In our next article, leaving behind basilicas and councils, we shall descend into the heart Of the catacombs of Rome and gather evidence of the power and virtue of the Word, which to those Christians was not only letter, but also life and spirit—indeed, the eternal Logos. Hints for the Bible Class 2. Consider the... High Priest of our profession (Heb. 3:1) in His grace towards us. (a)It behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren (ch. 2:17), so that He might be our Priest. And having become a man, He was when on earth tempted (5:18; ch. 4:15), so that in heaven He can feel for us and succor us. Thus the Lord's heart is to be fully trusted, for though He be exalted, yet He "can have compassion on the ignorant" (ch. v. 2). (b)He is Priest after the power of an endless life (ch. 7:16). His office does not pass from one to another, as is the case with priests of earth (ch. 7:24). He is the perfect repository for all our needs; we can tell Him our secrets, and repose our whole burden on Him alone, for He is able to save to the uttermost (ch. 7:25). (c)He is the only Intercessor, and He ever lives to make intercession for all who come to God by Him. 3. Because we have such an High Priest (a) Our privilege is to come boldly to the throne of grace (ch. 4:16)—to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (ch. 10:22). (b) And our responsibility is to hold fast our profession (ch. 4:14), part of which is that Christ Himself is our great High Priest. Also the profession of our hope (R.V. ch. 10:23) that is, the fulfillment of the promises of God through Christ. Our calling is heavenly—we are going to heaven (ch. 3:1). Christ—our Aaron—will bring us there safely; we are therefore to run with patience the race that is set before us (ch. 12:1). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 51: A CHILD’S ADVENTURE ======================================================================== IT is over fifty years ago; but the lesson I learned that day has lived freshly in my memory and has told on my life. I was living with my parents at a seaside town stretching far out into the sea. At low water miles of rocks surrounded it on three sides; and on those rocks the children were wont to amuse themselves—some of the older ones going far out to gather dulse, a seaweed of which we boys were fond. I had seen some of them coming in laden with it; and, in disobedience to my parents' instructions, I went out alone across the dark rocks in the hope of reaching the dulse which grew far out. I was not much more than a child, and had no thought of danger—no notions about the tides—indeed, it was my first journey on the outside rocks. I gained my point, reached the rocks, and soon engaged myself in gathering and eating the seaweed. When satisfied, I began my return journey, but had only come a little way when I was stopped by the inflowing sea. Thinking I had come the wrong way, I tried another, and yet another, to find at last that I was completely surrounded. How deep the sea was I did not know, hut the rush of the waves and the swirl of the water made me afraid to attempt to wade it. I shall never, never forget the moment when I sat down on the higher rocks to die. It was not that I was able to reason about the tide flowing up and drowning me; but it was the strange, weird feeling that I was separated by an impassable gulf from all mankind—never to see my parents or friends again —that this had come to me through disobedience. And I felt God would be angry as well as my parents. I was very far away, and the hope of being seen or heard did not occur to me. I sat down, broken-hearted and hopeless, to cry. How long I sat I cannot tell—it seemed to me ages—when I heard a voice and started up. A big, sturdy fisherman had seen me from the pier wall, and guessing my hopeless plight he had come to my rescue, and standing above the waist in the water was calling me to come down to the edge. At any other time I would have hesitated to commit myself to one whom I had never seen or known before, but there was no time for questions or delay. Gladly I committed myself to his powerful grasp, and was hoisted on to his shoulder, held there by his hands and arms, as he waded through the waters which would have drowned me. Thus he carried me home, and put me in the safe keeping of my parents, who were so glad of my rescue that they passed over my fault, thinking the lesson had been enough punishment. Ten years after, conviction of sin and fear of death and judgment laid hold on me, and once more I felt myself a hopeless, lost, lonely sinner, with death on every side, and no apparent way of escape. In my agony and distress I heard One say, "Come unto Me." I might have doubted and hesitated, as I have since seen others do, who had not learned how terrible their danger was; but the old lesson I had learned on the rocks stood me in good stead, and I committed myself to One who had at a great cost come a long way to save me, and His strong everlasting arms lifted me above death and sin and judgment, putting me on to His almighty shoulders, and as He put me there, He did so rejoicing, and His word of love was, "No one shall pluck you out of My hands.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 52: CHARLEY AND HIS MOTHER ======================================================================== THE last rays of the setting sun shone into a room where a mother sat, keeping watch beside her sick child. Her face wore an expression of hopeless anguish, for she was thinking of the parting which was too surely coming—of that hour 'which each setting sun was bringing nearer and nearer, when her only child, whom she had watched day by day fading from her side, must leave her; and she knew that not even the might of a mother's love could prevail to snatch him from the relentless grasp of death. “When my baby-girl died," she said to herself, "they told me to take comfort—to think of my boy, and live for him; but now—" Sighing heavily, she rose and bent over the sofa where the sick boy lay. "I wonder," she thought, as she laid her hand tenderly against his hot cheek, "what he would say if he knew he was going to leave me.” Charley had not been asleep, and as his mother touched him he looked up at her and smiled. He, too, had been thinking of the parting that was corning; for, though no one had said plainly, "Your short life of fourteen years in this world is nearly spent," he knew that God's call for him had come. Charley was ready, so ready that he did not need to think of himself; all his thoughts were for his mother, whose tears were falling fast as he looked at her. “I almost wish, Mother," he said quietly, "you could die before me.” “Why, Charley?” “Because, with what I believe, I could bear to live without you better than you could bear to be without me.” Charley's words went straight to his mother's heart. "With what he believes," she repeated again and again to herself. Her chosen friends had been freethinking people, as those call themselves who count it a privilege to grope in the darkness of their own thoughts, while they shut their eyes to the clear light which shines from His Word, and she had listened to them only too readily. “O God, teach me, too, to believe!" was now the cry of her soul. That cry was answered. Before her Charley was taken, where “Pain and sickness ne'er can enter,” his mother's sad heart had found a sure resting place; she knew and believed the love of God to her, and could look forward to the day when she should meet her boy again in the presence of the Lord Jesus, where all His redeemed will dwell with Him, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things shall have passed away. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 53: WILLIAM TYNDALE ======================================================================== IN the reign of Henry VIII., God raised up William Tyndale, who gave the English the printed Bible in their mother-tongue. Comparatively little is known of this great man; the place and year of his birth cannot be stated with certainty, and we must be content with “somewhere on the borders of Wales" for the former, and between 1484 and 1490 for the latter. Much of his life was spent abroad, in willing exile from his native land, in order that he might carry out his great scheme for printing the Word of God in English, and it cannot be said with certainty where he often hid himself the better to carry on his work. But if the story of his life cannot be very clearly written, WILLIAM TYNDALE'S MONUMENT exists in the hearts of English-speaking people all over the world, in our beloved English Bible, which in great part is in the very words of his translation. William Tyndale was of a good old English stock, and as a young man showed promise and learning in the University of Oxford. There, for some ten years, he studied Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and there he learned to abhor the manner in which men were then trained for the Church. "In the universities," he says, "they have ordained that no man shall look at the Scripture until he be nursed in heathen learning eight or nine years"; and he laments how men were sworn to hold no opinions condemned by the Church, while being ignorant of what such opinions were; and further, that when at length divinity came to be studied, it was "locked up with false expositions, and with false principles of natural philosophy.” During his course of study he came to Cambridge University, and there he was imbued with the desire to translate the Scriptures into English. Scripture truth had entered into his soul; and when he was ordained priest he was in constant conflict with the dignitaries of the Church because of his love of Bible teaching, and presently he was opposed to the Pope and his prelates. The great battle of the Reformation was at that time in progress, and he saw, by the enlightenment of God, the only way by which England should be freed from error. "I perceived," he said, "how that it is impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother-tongue, that they might see the process, order, and meaning of the text." In his "Preface to the Pentateuch," he declares that the determination of the priests to "drive" the people "from the knowledge of the Scripture," "to the intent they might sit in the consciences of the people, through vain superstition and false doctrine," in order to serve their own base, ends, had led him to give the Bible to the English. These are his words on the matter: "which thing only moved me to translate the New Testament.” The struggle of the Reformation is still the conflict of today. Every people should have “the Scripture plainly laid before their eyes in their mother-tongue." And all lovers of God's Word are called to arise and circulate the Scriptures over Christendom, and to send the word of truth to the ends of the earth. It seems strange to find in England many ready to praise the great persons who, in Tyndale's days, were his enemies simply because he was determined to give the people the pure Word of God in plain English. Yet it is not really strange, because such as denounce the Reformation as a Deformation, hate the light of God's truth, after the manner of their forefathers, who persecuted Tyndale, and at last, as we shall see, procured his martyrdom. Finding it impossible to conduct the translation of the Bible into English in England, much less to print the volume, Tyndale in 1524 sailed from England to prosecute his work on the Continent. The Reformation had laid hold of various parts of the Continent, and in cities of Germany he found a refuge. But he was pursued in different towns, yet God preserved him until his work was done. In 1526 early editions of his work reached England despite the King and the prelates, and it was said that the English "were so eager for the Gospel as to affirm that they would buy a New Testament even if they had to give a hundred thousand pieces of money for it.” The Scriptures and also some of Tyndale's tracts had entered England before the ecclesiastical authorities were aware; and no laws prohibiting men to read the Word of God could prevent their doing so. The authorities endeavored to destroy the books—indeed, all the lay and spiritual powers "were publicly committed to oppose the circulation of the New Testament as translated by Tyndale," but in vain. Cardinal Wolsey set to work to buy up the books, and Archbishop Warham, in 1527, announced that he had got into his hands all the copies. But this effort only turned to good account, for the large purchase put considerable funds into Tyndale's hands, who was eager to improve and revise his early edition. The end of these ill-advised efforts was to place heavy sums of money into the hands of the printers, who produced fresh editions. The revised edition of 1534 will ever remain Tyndale's monument; and as we read our New Testament today, it is no slight joy to recall the great man who gave so very much of it to us in his simple, but noble, English. A few of Tyndale's sentences respecting the Scriptures will prove interesting. He says: "God worketh with His Word, and in His Word; and where His Word is preached, faith rooteth herself in the hearts of the elect; and as faith entereth, and the Word of God is believed, the power of God looseth the heart from the captivity and bondage under sin, and knitteth and coupleth him to God and to the will of God— altereth him, changeth him clean, fashioneth and forget him anew.” “I call God to record against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus, to give a reckoning of our doings, that I never altered one syllable of God's Word against my conscience, nor would this day, if all that is in the earth, whether it be pleasure, honor, or riches, might be given me.' The absolute "evangelical" character of his faith is well expressed in the following words of his: “Remember that Christ is the end of all things. He only is our resting-place, and He is our peace. For as there is no salvation in any other name, so is there no peace in any other name. Thou shalt never have rest in thy soul, neither shall the worm of conscience ever cease to gnaw thine heart, till thou come to Christ. If thou trust in thy works, there is no rest... If thou trust in confession, thou shalt think, 'Have I told all?' ... Likewise in our holy pardons and pilgrimages thou gettest no rest... In Christ put thy trust, and in the pardon and promises that God has made thee for His sake; and on that rock build thine house and there dwell." Such words attest his faith in Christ, and all who have like faith love the Scriptures and seek their circulation. Pardon sellers, pilgrimage makers, and the like do not love the Bible, and in all ages the men who have given it to their fellow men have been those of truly evangelical faith. King Henry VIII. in course of time was favorable to the reading of the Bible by the people, and perhaps William Tyndale would have fared better had he returned to England. But he distrusted the King, and knew too well how his life was sought by many in his native land. It was the will of God that he should wear the martyr's crown in 'the coming day of glory, and his enemies in England were chiefly guilty of his death. Through them he was betrayed and given over to the enemies of the Gospel on the Continent. At the time of his betrayal Tyndale was living in Antwerp, where, so long as he remained in a certain part of the city, he was perfectly secure. Antwerp being close to England, he' could prosecute his work there to advantage; but a Henry Philips from England, "not without the help and procurement of some of the bishops" of England, enticed him from his place of security. Philips set two officers to watch for the victim as he led him up a narrow passage, pointing with his finger over Tyndale's head as a sign. Philips was the means of bringing Tyndale before a tribunal of enemies of the Reformation, by whom he was tried as a heretic. He was committed to a prison, from which he wrote a touching appeal for a "warmer cap" and "warmer coat," and also "a piece of cloth to patch my leggings," for he suffered terribly from the cold during the winter. "I wish also for permission to have a candle in the evening... But, above all, I entreat and beseech... to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew grammar, and Hebrew dictionary, that I may spend my time with them at study." It would appear that his prayer was granted. After some months of imprisonment, the various arguments for and against Tyndale came to an end, and he was condemned to die. He was tied to a stake and strangled, and afterward his body was burned. His last words were: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." This was in October, 1536, and before that year was gone Tyndale's own version of the New Testament was issued from the press of the King's printer. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 54: A JUBILEE ======================================================================== EVERYONE in England is anxious to impress upon this month some feature of rejoicing, and we have been reminded that, small as we are, still we, too, should utter some special strain of thanksgiving. Hence we have made this issue of FAITHFUL WORDS emphatically a Bible number, for there is no theme of thanksgiving richer or sweeter than that which exalts the Word of God. If we exalt the Word of God we exalt God, and God is nowhere exalted on the earth when His Word is unknown, hidden, or neglected. All Jubilee gladness rightly partakes of the divinely inculcated spirit of sending gifts to the needy in the day of a Feast of Jehovah. The gift of gifts for man is the Word of God, which speaks of His heart, His beloved Son, and the blessed Spirit. We have the Bible among us in every house—thus we English—speaking people are rich; but many of our fellow men have never seen it—they are poor. Now we are particularly desirous of presenting some thousands of the citizens of Rome with a copy of the epistle to the Romans! This epistle the epistle of the Gospel of God—is unknown to most people in Rome. It will be a delightful little present to many. It is now being printed in Rome, in clear type and on good paper. Willing hands will distribute it. Will our readers help us in supplying the funds for this work? What can we offer to the citizens of Rome, ornamented with churches, abounding in relics, crowded with monks and students, the abode of scores of cardinals, and containing the palace of the Pope, more appropriate than a copy of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 55: THE ITALIAN FISHERMAN ======================================================================== SOME time ago I spent a few days at Porta d'Anzio, the ancient Antium, birthplace of Nero and Claudius, and where the former had his summer palace. The sea has encroached upon the land, but yet the ruins of the imperial villa are still to be seen under the clear, deep, blue water. Walking along the shore towards Nettuno I came upon three fishermen, one of whom was reading aloud a newspaper; and as I drew near I asked to be allowed to sit down beside them, my object being to engage them in conversation. Many of these poor Italians are extremely ignorant, but seeing this one was able to read the newspaper to his companions, I said to him: "As I see you are somewhat of a scholar, may I ask if you will do me the favor of reading this little book to your friends" at the same moment taking out of my pocket a Gospel portion— St. John. The elder of the three, a weather-beaten old man, replied, "Thank you, Signora; I know this little hook well;" and continuing, added, "It contains the word of life.” To make sure of his statement, I said, "Can you repeat to me a text out of it?" when immediately he replied, "Yes; in chapter 3:16 it is written: ' God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'” Surprised and pleased, I asked him to tell me how he became possessed of this knowledge, and he told me the following simple narrative:— “Two years ago I was in Rome. On my way to visit a friend I passed the door of a hall and heard singing—such sweet singing that I stopped to listen. A young man, seeing me standing, came and invited me in. I had never heard the simple story of the Cross before, and was much interested in what the signor was saying. Just as I rose to leave, one of those present said to me, ' Would you like to have a Bible? ' I replied, 'I am a poor fisherman, and cannot afford to buy books '; but I was asked to take one without money, and I carried it home and read it; and God spoke to my heart by it, and I now know that my sins are pardoned, and that I have life in Christ Jesus.” I asked him if there were others in Anzio who, like himself, knew the Gospel, and his answer was: “Not one that I know of, but there are a few at Nettuno, and there we meet every Lord's Day to read and pray together. We have no pastor nor teacher, but among ourselves we have a little gathering—sometimes numbering five to eight or ten—when we study the Word for mutual help.” Speaking of the Roman Catholic Church, I asked him if he continued his attendance there, and his reply was: "Never since I knew the blessed tidings of the Gospel have I entered within its walls.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 56: THE PEACEFUL CONQUEROR ======================================================================== THE Word of God may fitly be termed The Peaceful Conqueror, for it has conquered men of all times, religions, and countries, and has brought them in the subjection of love to honor God as their Father, the Lord Jesus as their Savior, and the Holy Spirit as their Instructor. Many a human heart has held out for years like a fortress against the gentle entreaties and strong assaults of the Scripture, but only to yield at last and to rejoice in the longsuffering and the grace of God. It cannot be too strongly pressed upon the mind in our own day that the Bible is in itself the perfect missionary. We do not detract from men missionaries; the Scriptures themselves exhort us to mission work, and they pattern to us true mission work in the records of the great missionaries of the early Church; but still the Bible is in itself the divine and perfect missioner to men. We hear the contrary largely advocated in our own land, even under the plea of supporting the Christian faith; indeed, some go so far as to affirm that unless the Church send out its appointed missioners, the Book of God—though circulated by barrow-loads—must be useless! Let us, then, cull a few instances from multitudes, to prove that God not only can but does speak to man to the saving of the soul, and the change of life, by His written Word, and apart from any human missioner, save such as send out the Bible to their fellow men. Our incidents shall be selected from the huge pagan area, and from the areas of the Russian and Roman Churches. It may be convenient to begin with the lowest and most debased of the heathen. We cannot get much lower than cannibals I Speaking of the Fijian Christians, the Rev. J. Horsely, a missionary to them, says: "Many of these men were wild, degraded cannibals, but they have been transformed by the power of God attending the quiet perusal of His Word; and where in the wide world can there be found a more astonishing transformation? Here is not only a miracle, but a miracle of power to prove the divinity of the Scriptures; these once bloodthirsty cannibals are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Again, the same witness declares that in 1865, when examining twenty-eight young men, who were recommended by the native ministers as candidates for the office of local preachers, he was much struck with the oft-repeated mention of the New Testament as having been the only means used by the Holy Spirit to convince them of their danger, and lead them to "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Let us now turn to the refined and the cultivated heathen. There are in the pagan area minds as well proportioned and as keen as there are in Christendom. Quite true, the human mind does not work in exactly the same way in the East as it does in the Anglo-Saxon race. The mind of a cultivated heathen Chinese offers an unpromising soil for the seed of God's Word. Such a heathen looks upon sin and the future state in a way absolutely different from that which any man trained in Christian knowledge would do. Therefore it is all the more remarkable that the Scriptures alone—without human instrumentality— will so work in such a mind that the heathen is turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God. Instances are before us where, by the means of reading a small portion of the Scriptures, Chinese, who had never seen a foreigner, gave up their system of religion in order to follow the teaching of the wonderful Book which had fallen into their hands. Let us imagine one solitary Chinaman, with a small portion of the Word of God in his hands, and all around him for many, many miles, millions of his countrymen who have never so much as heard of the Living God, and this man devoutly and humbly obeying the teaching of the wonderful Book of God! And as we do so we see that the Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." In like manner the Scriptures alone have led Japanese to God. “A Testament came into the hands of a gentleman who lives among the mountains of Shinshū. He began to read, and the Lord opened his heart. As there was no Christian in that region, he would put little pieces of red paper over against the passages he could not understand and took them to God in prayer, and one after another the red inquiry marks disappeared. He went to a town some distance away, found a Christian minister, and received baptism. He returned to his village and built a house of worship, and announced to his neighbors that the building for the worship of God was ready for use. Any might join him who wished to do so, but to himself it would make no difference whether any came or not, as he would henceforth at stated seasons offer worship there.” The few words in reference to the Bible in Russia, which we now lay before the reader, are substantially those of a well-known Russian gentleman, as he recounted the power of the Word of God to us the other day. Some thirty years ago a young Russian was employed in Germany, and during his term of service he was greatly struck by the behavior of some German workmen in the place where he himself was engaged. Upon seeking to discover the secret of their godliness, a Bible was placed in his hands as the key. Shortly after he returned to Russia and read the Book carefully. By it he was brought to God. He was brought to God by the Word of God. Unable to keep the joyful realities of salvation to himself, he invited his neighbors to hear the word of the Book, and many of them were "born again": “of incorruptible" seed. The priest of the village where these things took place, was a drunken man, and the Bible believers were I constrained to absent themselves from the services he conducted. Because of this they were reported to head-quarters—hundreds of miles distant—and the order came for their punishment, and the young man who brought the Bible to the village was banished many miles from his home. At the village to which he was banished he began again reading the Bible, with similar results, and also with fresh persecutions and a fresh banishment. However, he maintained his course, and again and again with the same results. This Bible reading and Bible following has gone on in Russia for some thirty years, and it progresses to this day; and thirty years of persecution has rather increased than diminished the number of these Bible believers, whom we know as Stundists. We have to remember that the Russian Church does not prohibit the reading of the Word of God as does the Roman Church, but rather favors it; but none the less does the Russian Church, or its authorities, persecute such as obey the Scriptures. From the huge area of Russia we come to that part of Christendom where, so far as she can do so, Rome rules. For centuries Rome has used her power to keep the Word of God from the people; but in our days the people have wrested much of Rome's power from her—at least, in most countries she cannot imprison for reading the Bible. She denounces, she tries to prevent Bible reading by the people, but she cannot slay those who do so. In vast districts of Europe—we will not look to the States of South America—millions of human beings, called Christians, have not so much as had a Bible in their hands; and their teacher is "The Church," as Rome designates herself. Now, competent evangelical workers tell us it is their conviction that to such millions it is far preferable to send Bibles, or Testaments, or parts of Scripture, than missionaries. About Rome—say, in a space of twenty miles around the city—there are wild districts filled with unruly people. When, some five years ago, the colporteur first made his appearance in one of these districts he was stoned and driven away, but not without first having left a few copies of God's Word behind him. Now what is the case? Hundreds of people—and chiefly men—listen eagerly to the word of life, and they cry out for a teacher! We have before us many instances of this nature, in which the Word of God, speaking from God to men, has entirely turned them from the superstition of Rome, and has brought unruly and lawless men to meekly pray and read the Book of God together. The order of battle there in the war against superstition is, first the Bible, then the teacher; not, first the teacher, then the Bible. We have selected only a few instances of the mighty power of the Word of God alone over men. And we can engage in no greater service to our fellow men, and no purer service for our God, than Bible circulation. The great need of Roman Catholic countries is the Bible. And the Romish hierarchy well knows that Bible reading and Bible believing must occasion its downfall. In the districts around Rome referred to, the priests employ little boys to collect what Bibles they can find, so that they may burn them. A bishop, not long ago, sent no less than ten shillings to a poor Italian peasant—a very large sum to him—if he would only yield up his Bible, but the man made answer that he loved it too well to part with it. Indeed, every effort is made to keep the people from the Bible, which may now by law be circulated in Italy. Also tracts with mutilated texts are issued in order to disparage pure Bible truth, the evident antidote to which is the Bible itself. The manner in which the Word of God has been spread over the world in late years thrills the heart, and inspires it with hope. Prior to the Queen's reign, Spain, Portugal, and Italy were to a great extent closed against the Bible, while in Austria no Bible distribution was possible. In these countries today there is very considerable Bible distribution, and if there were more funds, millions of copies of the Book might be spread amongst the people. In India the Bible has greatly won its way since the Queen's accession, and a few millions of copies, in about sixty languages or dialects, have been given to India's millions of souls. In China the Word of God is also being circulated,' and in many parts of Africa the Bible is now tenderly loved and devoutly reverenced. The Bible Society alone—to whom we are indebted for some of our information—issues the Scriptures in over three hundred languages and dialects, "an increase of one hundred and ninety-seven in fifty-nine years!" And it offers the sacred volume to the blind in several languages. Very, very much more remains to be done; yet we can all rejoice in what has been accomplished during the time covered by the Queen's reign. There can be no nobler way of offering our gift of thanks to God for His mercies to us during the sixty years celebrated this month, than by presenting before Him our mite to assist the great work of Bible distribution. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 57: A LESSON FROM THE CATACOMBS ======================================================================== IN the so-called “chamber of the sacraments," in the catacomb of St. Calixtus, on the famous Appian Road leading into Rome, is to be found a series of mural paintings, which are evidently of the earliest period of Christian art. They are of the greatest interest, and as they are consecutive in their design, they possess considerable archeological and doctrinal importance. The, series mark the time when symbolism was fully developed, which in all probability was not earlier than the latter part of the second century, or the beginning of the third. This symbolism could hardly have commenced before the reign of the cruel Emperor Nero, and thus a period of one hundred and fifty years would be allowed for its development; and this period of a century and a half corresponds with the period of the decline of its purity. The point of maturity is indicated by the purity of the artistic ideas, by the continuity of Scriptural thought running through the series, by the importance given to fundamental Christian facts, and by the absence of any signs of the commencement of error. In time, decay set in; the artist had not the spiritual capacity to represent Scriptural truths, and confused ideas sprang up like tares to suffocate the good grain of divine teaching. The catacomb art which is at present before us, is full of real Christian thought rendered in consecutive symbols. The place given to our Lord is solely symbolical—that is, there is no notion of presenting a likeness of Him, even of a conventional kind. In the illustrations before us, He is the Well, the Roll, the Rock, the Book, the Stream, the Healer, the Fish, the Loaf, and the central Figure amongst the seven guests at the love-feast. In other catacombs there are single symbols, or individual scenes, which, so far as regards power of representation, and excellence of form and treatment, far surpass those before us; but, taken as a whole, this chamber must be pronounced to be the point pre-eminent for combination of ideas of early Christian catacomb art. Roman archaeologists acknowledge the consecutiveness of idea which marks this series, and have sought to interpret the series on that principle. The best and ablest of these men, De Rossi and Garrucci, possessing no spiritual experience beyond that pertaining to the Church of Rome, have professed to find in these symbols the seven sacraments, and have therefore found it necessary to dismember, and even to practically mutilate, the pictures. Now, I believe it will become evident that there is a real spiritual Christian progress designed in the symbols, and that, such being the case, an experience formed by the truth of Scripture is necessary to discern their meaning. Hence the sectarian and arbitrary dogmatism of non-Christian archaeologists is destroyed. The first step of Roman Catholic interpretation is fatal to the understanding of the paintings. For it makes the last picture the first of the series. We will now examine them. No. 1.— it is described as the woman of Samaria. The figure represents a person who has come to a well, and is holding a bucket over its mouth, with the water gushing up and running away in streams. The well is the reservoir of knowledge, which can be drawn by a cord, toil; but in this well the nether spring has been opened, and the well has become a gushing fountain, Now we know that when the woman knew Christ as the Messiah, her heart was filled with living water, so that she left the cord and bucket, and not only received for herself, but sent living streams of knowledge through the city of Samaria. This interpretation is not only rendered in the overflow of the well, but also by a figure just above it, which we now give—namely, a man on an exalted level seated on a rock, with a scroll in both hands, fully unrolled, from which he is earnestly reading. This, probably the oldest pictorial representation in the world of a primitive Gospel roll, is the Teacher seated in the high place, giving knowledge, the knowledge of Himself, which is eternal life. The so-called woman of Samaria is in the attitude of asking. The woman listens to the Teacher's voice, and receives eternal life. Behind that scroll there is the living, heavenly Teacher, who through it, as His own chosen channel, reveals Himself. This is the genesis of Christian life. Christ, the Word, makes known Himself through the Word. No. 2.—The second design represents a rock being struck by one who holds a rod in his right hand. A river of water is rushing down. The Rock is Christ, the Preacher is Christ revealing Himself, the river is the knowledge of Christ. "Jesus cried with a loud voice, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." Every true preacher touching the divine in Christ, as Peter did on the day of Pentecost, brings out a stream of living power. There is life in the Rock, eternal life, against which Hades cannot prevail. This water represents not the immediate knowledge of Christ, which wells up in the individual alone with Christ, hut that knowledge which reaches him through the hearing of the Word, by means of those who preach Christ. No. 3.—The next picture is a fisherman who has hooked and nearly drawn to shore a fish. The line is straight, and the fish rises without a struggle. The idea here is obedience to the precept of Christ. The stream comes from the rock; the fisherman and the fish meet at the river. Wherever knowledge of Christ is flowing there are fish to be taken, and fishermen who know how to find and how to take them. The fisherman is sitting on a rock. He is seated, established on Christ, and draws all his skill, office, and authority from Him. Indeed, Christ Himself is the great fisher, and others are such only in proportion as they learn of Him. Catholic archeology makes baptism out of this scene! No. 4.—The next picture is thus described by Garrucci: “A man, bound about the waist with a narrow cloth, but otherwise naked, has placed his hand on the head of a naked boy, who is immersed entirely in a cloud of water. This is indicated by great dashes of green coloring all about the person, and even above the head. Thus baptism is represented." It is remarkable that the dove is not found in this scene. This is a proof that it does not represent the baptism of our Lord, and also that the author of this picture did not suppose that the Holy Spirit was given by the person who baptized, or that the Holy Spirit was necessarily received in baptism. It is remarkable that the first occasion on which we hear of the chair in St. Peter's Church is when it was placed in the Baptistery of the Vatican by Pope Damasus, where it remained until the eighth century. On that seat the bishop sat during the baptism, and immediately anointed the neophyte on his rising from beneath the waters, in imitation of the dove descending on our Lord as He arose from the waters of Jordan. The picture in St. Calixtus of the believer in baptism is of too early a date to have attached to it the symbol of the Spirit. That was limited to Christ in the Jordan. Confirmation, in the modern sense, did not exist at this period. The person in the act of being baptized is a youth, to represent the new nature. The mode was immersion, not pouring or sprinkling. The water is only up to the knees of the youth, but would cover him if he laid himself in it. The baptisteries in use at that time, and especially the one in St. Ponziano, were deep and wide enough to immerse the largest person in Rome. Baptism was an external act, which found its place after, and not before, the beginning of inner and spiritual life, was legitimate if one believed with all his heart, and was becoming in the disciple as it was in the Master, who regarded it as a fulfilling or completing of an internal righteousness. No 5.—Our Lord was immersed when about thirty years of age, and the boy descending I in baptism in' the fourth picture, becomes in the fifth the mature man who has risen to his feet, is dressed, girded, and walking in the way of obedience. After full and complete pardon a believer has need only of the forgiveness of those things 'which hinder or weaken communion with Christ. "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet." The paralytic here represented has not been raised from a tomb but only from his couch, and therefore is a symbol, not of conversion but of restoration to normal Christian life and power: Christ has restored him, and Christ is the only restorer of the stumbling soul. No. 6.—In this picture there stands a woman with uplifted hands before a tripod table on which there are two plates, one of which holds a loaf and the other a fish. On the other side of the table is a man who seems to be partaking of the viands. According to Papal interpretation the tripod is an altar, the man a priest, the woman the Church—the whole thing, the sacrifice of the Mass. Now the principle of continuity in the series requires that the youth, who has become an able-bodied man, should be fed with suitable food, "strong meat," by which the life received should be sustained. The uplifted hands—the sign of adoration in the catacombs—signify the blessedness of the departed, and always bring before us the spiritual state. The man is the one we have followed through the river and up the bank with his bed on his shoulder. The woman, coming from the part of the tomb where the most spiritual facts are represented, is spiritual; she belongs to the higher sphere of symbols. Nothing seems to me to explain the meaning of this picture so fully as the epitaph of Albesius, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, which he composed for his own tomb. He died A.D. 160. "Faith brought to us and set before us food, a fish from a holy or divine fount, great and clean, which the holy maiden took in her hand and gave to her friends that they should alway eat thereof, holding goodly wine, given with bread a mingled drink." Here the holy 'maiden is Faith, and the fish which she has taken from the sacred or divine fountain is the ΙΧΘϒΣ, or the epitome of Christian teaching—the truth, which, corning from Christ, is His mind, His nature, Himself—the spiritual Christ which the Holy Spirit takes from the stream of Scripture, the stream of the Spirit, and offers to us. Sanctification of the Spirit through faith. The Holy Spirit in the engraving, from an ancient seal, which is here reproduced, is figured under the symbol of the dove carrying the fish— that is, bearing Christ to the soul. This is individual and not ecclesiastical. No. 7.—The next picture is generally called the Agape—the Love Feast. Seven persons are seated at what appears to be a semicircular table. On the table there are two large fishes, and before it there are eight large baskets, filled with loaves. The prominent place given to this picture shows it to be the most important in the series. We here have before us a community of Christians commemorating and testifying to the Lord's death until He come. The person occupying the middle seat is pointing with his right hand to the fish lying on the dish before him. The left hand and arm are covered, as is the case with all the other guests. The right arm of all is uncovered, as if to show that all support and join in the testimony being given by the central figure, who is pointing to the only object on the table—the fish—the Lord's death. On the pavement before the table there are eight large baskets filled with bread; they form a kind of balustrade and enclose the semicircle of the Agape. Now, while the meaning of the one fish and the one loaf is clearly Christ as the slain but life-giving One in Scripture for the individual, the two fishes and the eight baskets of bread signify life and the sustaining of life for any number of individuals, or for any Church-for instance, for the Church of Rome as it existed at the time when these designs were made, and as it is represented in the seven sitting round the IXΘϒΣ. That the early Catacomb Church understood the loaves to represent the divine Word in. its spiritual reality is evident from the fact that the baskets were often filled with the books, scrolls of Scripture. That the meaning of the two symbols is life, and the sustenance of life, is clear from the following design, where the fish is seen bearing the basket of bread on his back along the surface of the sea; and if this is put with the scene of the IXΘϒΣ borne by the dove it will be seen how the Word is represented as spirit and life. At the commencement of this series, we have seen in the figure with a scroll, represented above "the woman of Samaria," the Holy Scriptures, and what has followed has all been evolved from the same source. Christ and the believer appear in increasing spiritual light, until Christ appears upon the table in the humiliation of death as the central and divine source of life. At this point the letter is left behind, as is the bucket when the fountain wells up, as are the baskets when the bread is taken out, as is the plate when the ΙΧΘϒΣ is eaten; but the substance, the virtue, the spirit of the Word abides, and that Word is felt and known to be nutriment, whether from the fish, or the bread from the basket, or the water from the rock—that Word issues from the mouth of God; it is a voicing of that eternal Word who was, and is, and who was in the beginning with God, and who is God. No. 8.—The last picture in the series contains three figures which represent Abraham and Isaac in the attitude of adoration, and on their left hand a lamb standing near a tree, behind which there is a bundle of wood. The lamb is looking on from a slight elevation; it has no horns. There is no thicket. The tree and the fagot seem rather to recall than to anticipate sacrifice. The lamb seems to be standing on Mount Zion, having near to it the memorials of Calvary. While the Agape represents the believer in communion with his brethren in their relation to the world without, showing forth the Lord's death until He come, this picture seems to set forth believers in their sacerdotal standing before God, as children of the resurrection, met together in the name, with Christ as their head, as the Lamb that leads the flock. Abraham is in the fullness of his manhood, Isaac in the freshness of his youth, the Lamb—the last and the highest figure in the series—in the vigor of His power. The remainder of this article will be given in our next issue. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 58: THE COPTIC PRIEST AND THE BIBLE ======================================================================== ABOUT forty years ago a missionary was traveling through Egypt laden with Arabic Bibles. Stopping at a place in Lower Egypt, called Medina Feyoum, where a curious stream flows, called Joseph's Canal, making an oasis in the desert, he tried to make it known to all in the neighborhood that he had beautiful and precious books to give away. The news spread, and many came— among them a Coptic priest. The Copts are said to be the only true Egyptians now existing, being descended from the people among whom Moses was brought up. They no longer follow the ancient Egyptian forms of worship, but call themselves Christians, and say their forefathers received the truths of Christianity from the evangelist, St. Mark. However, they are in deep need of the clear light of Gospel truth, for they are brought up in great darkness and superstition. This priest took the Arabic Bible home with him. I do not think he read it, but he kept it for some time. It is the custom of the country when any particular business is transacted—such as the buying and selling of a horse, or of land, or on any solemn occasion, such as a marriage—for the priest to be present with a Bible, by which the people take oaths. Accordingly, when this priest was summoned to a village not far off to assist at an important ceremony, he took his new possession with him. Arabic Bibles are now printed in small, clear type, but at the time of which we write they were very bulky and ponderous volumes, bur times as large as one of our large English Bibles; so the priest, not caring for the book, and unwilling to burden himself on his homeward journey, left it behind. “What shall we do with the priest's book?" said the master of the house to his wife. “Let it stay here," she answered, pointing to a niche in the wall. There the book lay, silent and unheeded, until one day the father of the family, suddenly remembering it, took it down, and began to turn over the dusty pages. He could read a little, and as he slowly turned over page after page its truth by the power of the Spirit of God, like a ray of light piercing the darkness, shone into his heart. “These are precious words," said he; "surely these are precious words!” More and more precious did the words become, and soon the reader, as he read, longed that others, too, should share the blessing of the words of grace and truth which had become so dear to his heart. Calling his family around him, he read to them—others heard, too—and by-and-bye, during the evenings, the father taught his children to read out of the great Book. When the father died, happy in the faith of Christ, the Bible was still read by his children to all who came to hear; the blessed Spirit of God still spoke through His Word to heart and conscience; and so it came to pass that about twenty years ago some American missionaries found in this forgotten spot, a place which had the name of being a nest of thieves, robbers, and murderers, a happy little assembly of Christians! “How did you learn the Gospel of Christ?" they asked, in astonishment. "Have you not been taught by some of our missionaries?” “God Himself has taught us by His Word," they replied. And then they showed the missionary the forgotten Bible, which had brought them the message of the love of God in sending His own beloved Son into the world that they might live through Him, and of the wonderful life and death of the Son of God, Jehovah-Jesus, the Savior. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 59: REVIEW ======================================================================== AMONGST the various "Bible Helps," The Illustrated Oxford Bible for Teachers stands pre-eminent. It abounds with instructive and useful illustrations which bring before the eye the life of ancient Egypt and Assyria, and plates which form quite a history of Bible manuscripts and English editions, and it possesses many valuable maps. The Holy Land and the more important places mentioned in the Bible are all carefully described in a way to enable the teacher to master their physical surroundings; while Bible animals, birds, botany, and minerals are individually dealt with. Such matters as the customs of countries are explained; and, indeed, everything seems to have been thought of which can in any way help the Bible student in his efforts to teach others. In the Concordance and "Subject-Index" there will be found very great assistance in the work of comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Bible Class Outline BIBLE WITNESS TO THE BIBLE. INSPIRATION.—". All Scripture is given by inspiration of God "—it is God-breathed. (2 Tim. 3:16.) "Holy ' ---' men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:2) “He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets!' (Luke 1:70.) Man dependent upon God's Word.—"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4.) Characteristics of the Word. It is eternal. "It endureth forever." (1 Peter 1:25.) It is unbreakable.—"The Scripture cannot be broken." (John 10:35.) It cannot be set aside.—"It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." (Luke 16:17.) It is incorruptible. (1 Peter 1:23.) It is living-quick. (Heb. 4:12.) It is "able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. 3:15.) It gives true liberty.-"The truth shall make you free." (John 8:32.) It is "more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." (Psa. 19:10.) It is the believer's— Lamp. (Psa. 119:105.) Source of wisdom. (vers. 98-100.) Strength. (Acts 20) Secret of faith. (Heb. 11) It is wrested by the unlearned and unstable to their destruction. (2 Peter 3:16.) ======================================================================== CHAPTER 60: THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD ======================================================================== THE Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, and by this weapon God overcomes the enemies of the Truth, and subdues men to Himself. A sword is absolutely uncompromising, and the sword of the Spirit, by the essence of its character, can never be changed. It will never become a plowshare or a pruning-hook in the domain of sin, to cultivate the growths of unbelief. This sword, the faithful soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ is bidden to take and to use in his warfare for God, both for defense and attack. And it is well to remember that it is the only weapon of offense granted to him by God. A prime characteristic of “the Word of God "is that it is" living." The words of the most eloquent of men, which moved multitudes to action, after a few years lie dead upon the shelves of libraries, but the Word of God is ever a living Word. Today it is as full of life as it was when first it was given to man. The Lord Jesus says," The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." : His words differed absolutely from the lifeless words of tradition of the Pharisees. The word of tradition too generally deals with a dead past, and seeks to enwrap the eager life of the present day in the shroud of bygone centuries, and to encase the mind of man today in the habit of antiquity. It sanctifies antiquity because it is past and gone, not because antiquity is truth. The Word of God deals with man today. It is truth. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, and, living and energetic as it is, it divides asunder soul and spirit, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the human heart. Man's innermost being is laid bare by it, and he finds himself in the presence of God, before whose eyes all things are naked and opened. These essential qualities of the Word explain why it is that in a time of spiritual declension the man of God is thus exhorted: "Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." And in our own day, if the "man of God" would observe the apostle's exhortation to Timothy, and insist upon the eternal truths of God, the lives of men would respond to the testimony. We never lift men up by descending to a low moral level, and thus the fashionable descent into religious amusements, or into the habits of tradition, instead of bringing men up to God, merely brings the messengers of God down to the level of caterers for public taste, or to that of bondsmen of a bygone age. The personal and individual dealing of the Word of God with man is another essential of its character, and one upon which it is well to enlarge. By it man comes into direct dealing with God, and direct responsibility to God. By the Scriptures, God Himself speaks personally to man, and requires men individually to listen to Him and to obey Him. The notion that a man may entrust his spiritual concerns to a human religious authority does not find a place in the Scriptures; on the contrary, God by the Scriptures enjoins men to search the Scriptures, and every man who listens to God and obeys Him is exalted morally and spiritually, while all who place themselves under human control in religion are spiritually and morally debased. When addressing the religious world Christ said, "Search the Scriptures;" all the Scriptures were to be investigated, to be carefully and painstakingly explored, if Christ would be found in them by the people addressed. And it is remarkable that when a division arose amongst these very religious people shortly afterward because of Christ, those who were against Christ used the very word "search" to maintain their position, by suggesting a limited search. The religious people (the Jews) of Berea stand commended by God upon the page of His Word, for their individual searching of the Scriptures. They had heard the apostle's testimony to Christ, and they pit his words, by an examination of the Scriptures, to the test. They subjected his words daily to the authority of the Scriptures, and tried and judged them— as in this case the word rendered search signifies by the infallible tribunal of the written Word. Man has a judgment of his own, and he is called by God to use that judgment by the guidance of the Scriptures, and he is not to surrender it to mere human authority, and thus to forego his personal responsibility to his God. The apostle John enjoins the people of God to examine the spirits, whose witnesses the false prophets were, and after' examination they were to decide as to their character; and he laid down a principle by which these spirits should be tested. We learn, further, that the spirit of truth and the spirit of error should be known by conformity or non-conformity to apostolic teaching. The people of God—the "beloved" whom the apostle addressed—were thus thrown upon "it is written," even as was the case with the elders of Ephesus, who, as the apostle Paul bade them farewell and warned them of the rising up of false teachers, were by him commended to God and the Word of His grace. If we surrender our personal responsibility to search the Scriptures and to act upon their testimony, we have lost personal touch with divine authority. This subjection to our God is quite another thing from our setting ourselves up, each one of us, as judges of God's Word. We shall be careful to be taught by the teachers of God's appointment, and shall not despise any teacher in the Church of God; but none the less shall we hold that the authority over our souls is vested not in the teacher—who is a servant of God—but in God, who is Lord of all. The men who have been used for God throughout the centuries have been first filled with divine truth. The father of the faithful is a great example of this fact. God communicated to him great and eternal truths, and those truths molded Abraham's life. He believed what God said to him, and he acted accordingly. He did not receive the promises, for he died in faith, but his faith lives on in other lives. Moses, on the other' hand, lived to see actually fulfilled a vast amount of what God had promised to him; but in his case, likewise, the revelation given him of the glory of Jehovah's name, was the propelling force in his energy of action, whether in Egypt or in the wilderness. The unbroken zeal of the Apostle Paul's life was sustained by the majesty and honor of the exalted Christ, with which his soul was filled; and before this glory Judaism and its religion were in his eyes weak and beggarly, and paganism and its philosophy, empty and ignorant. Coming to men used, though not inspired of God, we find the same principle in practice. The man who influences men is himself under the influence of the truth he proclaims. The truth has entered into him by the operation of the Spirit of God, and it comes forth in power by the energy of the Spirit. Luther did not proclaim the doctrine of justification by faith merely as a doctrine, but as part of himself, as part of his spiritual being. When men were mown down under Whitfield's calls to repentance, it was not the theological importance of repentance that moved them, but the sense of their sins and the terrors of the Lord. In our own times we see occasionally kindred work in the souls of men, and that work is produced by God the Spirit using outspoken truth, which truth burns like a fire within the heart of the speaker. Correctness without power does not move souls. It is like setting the clock right which for some cause or other does not "go." We have seen this done time after time by an attendant in an hotel, whose duty it is to see that the clocks there are correctly timed-and before us now stands the lifeless clock pointing its motionless hands to the hour when it was last set right! The Lord Jesus teaches us how we may be individually used for God. He says, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.... out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." As we satisfy our souls with Christ, so does He fill us with Himself, and thus the overflowing to satisfy others arises. We obtain the "filling" by coming to' Christ, and the filling being obtained the "flowing" follows. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 61: A WORD TO THE LITTLE ONES ======================================================================== DO you know, dear children, that when Jesus went away out of this world to heaven He told the people who loved Him that He would come back again one day, to take them all home to the Father's house? This promise was a great comfort to them, because, you know, nothing cheers us up so much, when we are saying good-bye to dear friends, as hearing them say they will come back again. Now, a great many years have gone by since Jesus left His disciples, and many, many hundreds and thousands have followed Him to heaven, gladly leaving this world to be present with the Savior they have loved and served. And Jesus has never yet come back as He said He would, so that some people, who do not want ever to see Him, say: "Oh! He will never come at all," just because He has never come yet—which is very foolish. But all round this great world there are still many disciples of the Lord Jesus who believe every word He has spoken, and they are watching for Him more and more, and think the day is now drawing very near when He will come down from heaven in a cloud, and with a glad, strong shout call all His own dear ones to meet Him in the air, and to go home with Him to the beautiful place He has got all ready for them. And "when He cometh to make up His jewels," dear children, will you be found among "His loved and His own"? Many very little children love Jesus, and know that He has died to wash them from their sins. Are you sure that you do? And some very little ones are waiting for Him. Are you? The other day I was sitting in a cottage home, chatting with a young mother, when a wee damsel, not quite three years old, clambered upon my knee and pillowed her little golden head on my bosom. While mother and I talked she began singing softly to herself a little song of her own making up, and this was what she sang over and over— “We'll all go together when Jesus comes, We'll all go together when Jesus comes;” and she rocked contentedly backwards and forwards, smiling as she sang. Was it not a sweet little song? This tiny child knew that her father and mother loved Jesus, and were looking for Him to come; and she knew she loved Him too, and she was sure He would not leave the darling baby behind when He took them all home, so they would all go together when Jesus came! Perhaps some dear children who read this may not be quite sure they belong to Jesus—that they are saved, and ready to go to heaven when He comes. This must make you very unhappy. Do not try to forget it, or to put off seeking the Savior, or you will be lost. Do kneel down at once, and ask Jesus to save you now; tell Him you are weak and sinful, and that you want to take your place among the sinners for whom He died; and I am sure He will not keep you long waiting, but will wash away your sins in His own precious blood, and give you to be looking with joy to see Him face to face at His coming. ============================= A CHILD'S ANSWER. "You know you are going away, my darling," said a mother to her little boy—"going away from us all. I wish I were going with you, but I think you are not alone, though I cannot be with you. What does your heart rest upon?” The boy looked up into his mother's face and repeated, 'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” “Does he understand it? Can a child of seven years old grasp the meaning of such wonderful words?" thought the mother. So she whispered:" Tell mother, my pet, what makes you rest your heart on these words?” “Oh, "he said," it's only just like this: `Jesus Christ yesterday' is then, when He died for me; Jesus Christ today' is now, when He is in heaven praying for me; and ' forever'—well, forever belongs to Him, and He takes care of it.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 62: THE ENTRANCE OF CHRISTIANITY INTO BRITAIN ======================================================================== THE facts concerning the introduction of Christianity into Britain cannot be stated accurately—at least, at present—and the difficulties of doing so are such, that in all probability they never will be precisely before the mind; but, on the other hand, the arguments in favor of its introduction before the end, of the first century are so strong, as to leave little doubt upon the matter. Some fifty years before Christ the armies of Rome invaded Britain, but they made only a temporary impression upon its warlike inhabitants, and not until the year 43 of the Christian era did imperial Rome set herself to the task of conquering the thickly populated island. Centuries before Rome had set her eyes upon Britain, its shores had been visited by Phoenician traders, who, sailing up the Mediterranean, trafficked with Britain for lead, and even with the dwellers upon the shores of the Baltic for amber. These ardent explorers and traders had settlements on the Scilly Islands, and a regular trade with the people of Cornwall and Devon. In time the Greeks took up the trade, and so long as five hundred years before Christ, they established a colony at Marseilles, and reached Britain by a land route over France through Brittany. They established a trade center in the Isle of Wight and dealt with the British of the south coast. Later still, the Roman traders sought out the products of the island, and bartered for skins and other raw materials. Thus for many centuries civilization and commerce, working towards the setting sun, from the shores of Palestine, Greece, and ancient Rome, established trade routes from the East, to the islands of the West. Observance of these facts lends considerable importance to the legends or traditions respecting the introduction of Christianity into Britain. The East and the West were connected together by the bonds of trade, which bonds had existed for hundreds of years; and a perfectly simple and natural explanation is afforded to the stories of missionaries coming from Judea in the East, and visiting the heathen in Britain in the West. The Scriptures do not instruct us as to the missionary labors of the various apostles, but they transmit to us the Lord's commission to them to go forth into all the world and to preach the Gospel to every creature, and they, also inform us that they did so go forth, and that in their labors the Lord worked with them. Further, we are told that the order of executing their commission was first Jerusalem and Judea, next Samaria, and lastly the uttermost parts of the earth. By means of the gifts of tongues and of healing bestowed upon these early workers in evangelization, the attention of all peoples was at once commanded, while the " signs and wonders and divers miracles " accompanying their words, demonstrated to the heathen the power of the living God, and the folly of trusting in their idols. St. Paul describes their work, saying how Christ wrought by him" to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God." Jerusalem first, and afterward Antioch, where the disciples were known distinctively as Christians, were in turn the great centers whence the Gospel issued, and whence it spread in the process of the first century, over Asia Minor into Italy and Macedonia, and eventually into Spain, Gaul, and Britain. The Scriptures, being silent on the missionary labors of the apostles generally, do not give us the longings of their hearts for the salvation of the heathen, excepting in the case of the apostle Paul, and those with him. With his evangelic yearnings of soul, for Jew and for Gentile, we are acquainted, and from his own words written at Corinth we are aware how he desired to make his "journey into Spain," visiting the city of Rome as he did so. His visit to Spain would occur in the year 64, and it is generally accepted that he passed some two years in the West of Europe. We quote the well-known authorities for this visit. Clement, writing in the first century, states that the apostle Paul had preached the Gospel "in the East and in the West"; that he "had gone to the extremity of the West"—which certainly includes Spain, and which some suppose embraces Britain also; and that he "had instructed the whole world "—i.e., the Roman world—"in righteousness!' Both Chrysostom and Jerome mention St. Paul's labors in his going ``to Spain" and "in the West"; so that the early Church fully recognized that the apostle's purpose, expressed in his epistle to the Romans, was duly realized. There is nothing improbable in the apostle himself visiting Britain, but there is no proof that he did so. He was about seventy years of age when he was in Spain, and was then Paul the aged," to use his own words. But if physically unfitted to endure the hardship of visiting Gaul and Britain, his undimmed energy of spirit would lead out his desires to the brave people of Britain, whose struggles with great Rome were on everyone's lips. His heart ever reached to the regions beyond, and we may well imagine a firm foundation for the legend that his companions in the Gospel visited Britain's shores. The traders' boats already mentioned, calling at the Spanish coast towns on their way to the islands of the West, or the overland trade route to the same destination across Gaul and Brittany, afford a simple and natural accomplishment of the tradition. In like manner the traditions of visits to Britain by missionaries from Jerusalem are seen to be by no means improbable stories. We need not assign a name to the companion of St. Paul who is stated to have visited the island, and declare him to be the Aristobulus of Romans 16:10; nor need we affirm that Joseph of Arimathea was the missionary from Jerusalem, according to the tradition of the Romish Church. But by the teaching of Scripture, the statements of the early fathers of the Church, and the ancient legends respecting mission work in Britain, we are entitled to believe that before the first century closed, our Lord's command," Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," had led the feet of His servants to the extreme west of the pagan empire of Rome. We now turn our thoughts to the Church in the city of Rome in order to trace, if possible, any connection with it and Britain. And first, it will be necessary to say a few words on the Church in Rome itself. The date of the entrance of Christianity into Rome and the name of the founder of the Church there, are absolutely unknown; neither are there traditions as to its founders as is the case with the Church in Britain. But there can be no doubt that the Jewish "strangers of Rome," converted to The Faith at Pentecost, returning to the imperial city, spread the truth amongst their numerous fellow countrymen resident there, and also amongst the Gentiles. That, very early, Churches were planted in the countries and districts mentioned in connection with the day of Pentecost is not to be doubted. From Pentecost, until the time when St. Paul wrote his epistle to the saints and beloved of God in Rome, little is known of the Church in that city, but some few facts can be gathered by reading the apostle's epistle, Some of those addressed had been Christians before the apostle; the believers generally were well instructed and well able to build up one another; and they were widely known for their obedience to the faith. History marks the growth of the Church in Rome in the first century, and testifies to the constancy of its numerous martyrs. But faithful and constant as were these believers, the apostle does not refer to their missionary and evangelic zeal as he did to that of the Churches in Philippi and Thessalonica. He does not address the Christians in Rome as a Church, but rather in their individual capacity, and singles out families and households for his salutations, which may possibly indicate the difficulties encompassing the Church in Rome in the days of the pagan emperors. By natural and most simple causes Britain was brought, in the persons of many of her sons, into touch with Rome. In the year AM. 43 Rome once again set about the bloody work of subjugating Britain, and for some years fierce battles raged in the island, and British prisoners and hostages were forwarded to Rome. At length the heroic Caradoc, or Caractacus, gathered the tribes together, and for nine years defied Rome's legions. His stronghold was on the borders of Wales. During his defense his name was on all lips in Rome, and when at length he was brought captive to the city, every eye was anxious to gaze upon the proud and indomitable Briton who for so long had struggled with the masters of the world. When Caractacus was brought before the Emperor Claudius, un-subdued in spirit, he advanced to his throne, and said: “If I had had, O Cæsar, in prosperity a prudence equal to my birth and fortune, I should have entered this city as a friend and not as a captive… My present condition is as glorious to you as it is humiliating to myself." Then, defending his course, he continued:" If you Romans aspire to universal dominion, does it follow that men must willingly become your slaves!... And now, should you resolve to put me to death, my story will be soon forgotten. Preserve me, and my name shall live an eternal instance of your clemency." His noble words procured to him and his family release, hut of his future we know nothing. Legends as to St. Paul's interviews with members of the family of Caractacus exist in Wales, and it is not at all improbable that members of it were converted to the Christian faith, and that they returned as missionaries of Christ to their own land. Further Roman victories in Britain caused A.D. 59 the fall of Druidism, which must have stood as fiercely against The Faith of Christ as the paganism of Rome itself in the time of Nero. The intercourse between Britons brought to Rome and the Christians there, and the numerous Christians who served in the Roman legions, and also the foreign Christians who visited Britain for purposes of trade, would all account for much in the tradition which speaks of Christianity entering Britain in the first century. But all such means would be non-apostolic, and of the character of the ordinary mission work of our own times. Apostolic missionary work was conducted with apostolic power, accompanied by the gift of tongues and miracles,, as we have already observed. St. Paul was martyred in 67 or 68, and it is not necessary to follow the traditions which associate the first century Christianity in Britain with the apostle John, whose work lay in Asia, nor with others of the apostles whom legend credits with the evangelization of Britain. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 63: NONE BUT CHRIST CAN SATISFY ======================================================================== AN old lady was dying; and over her a fair, flaxen-haired girl was bending, anxious to catch her last messages. ‘After she had given what messages she could, she said, "Oh, my dear child! my greatest sorrow is leaving you—I fear for you!” Doubtless it was the attractive face that made the mother dread that her child would have many temptations; and it might be that she had seen the confiding, simple, sweet ways of her loved child; besides which, the mother knew that Christ had never gained her heart's affections, and that to her the world was very attractive. “I have prayed for you, and must leave you to my Lord.” Later she ceased to speak audibly, but her lips were moving; and the girl tried to listen, but could not catch the words. “Oh, mother!" she cried, "what is it? Can I do anything for you?” With a great struggle, the mother whispered: “Now none but Christ can satisfy, No other Name for me!” It was the last effort; and soon she passed away to be with Him who would fully satisfy her. The daughter lived on and drank somewhat deeply of the pleasures of the world; attractive, sweet, and winsome, she had many false friends and went on in the whirl of folly. A good many years had passed when I heard from a friend that the daughter—now the mother of several fair, flaxen-haired children—was living near me; and, for her mother's sake, I went to visit her. Referring to the mother's dying words, I asked if she had been satisfied by the life in the world which she had lived. She said, "No." And then she owned that she was most unhappy, and that the unhappiness increased, even although she had tried various remedies—amongst others, religion. She had changed from church to church, and was now attending a very high church. She had sought counsel from clergymen, and latterly had been going to frequent early morning communion, and even to confession; but still she had no peace. She knew her mother had possessed a peace and joy to which she was, as yet, a stranger, notwithstanding all her religious services and attempts. “How did you think of going to confession?" I asked. “The clergyman advised it, and I went one evening to church. I had to wait an hour," she said, "in the dimly-lighted building, and I felt so cold, and it was so strange, that I never went back again; besides, I did not think I got any good from it.” “How many sins did you confess?" I asked. "Three," she replied. “Well," I said, "I don't want to know them, but I know one which I am sure you did not confess, and which, if you persist in, will condemn you, and land you in a lost eternity.” “Oh," she said, "I am not so bad as you seem to think me; I am not guilty of any such sin as that. What do you mean?” I said, "It is the sin of keeping the Lord Jesus outside your heart. He has loved you and given His life for you, and now comes with His pierced hands and with the marks of the spear-thrust in His side, and He says to you: I have died for you; I want your heart's affections—let Me in; ' and you have had a heart for anything and everything but your Savior, who still stands without, and you keep Him out at your peril, for He alone can save you. Your mother knew," I added, "that none but Christ could satisfy, and what you need is Christ. You have owned to me that you have tried everything else, and failed: try letting the Lord in.” After a little more talk, we knelt together in prayer; and, as I parted from her, she held my hand, and said— “I cannot tell you how happy I feel since I opened my heart to the Lord.” “And so you have let Him in now, have you? I am indeed glad to hear you say so," I said, and left her. We often meet now, and the smile on that once so sad face tells me that Christ has satisfied the daughter as well as the mother. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 64: A LETTER FROM A WORKING MAN ======================================================================== TWENTY-EIGHT years had I served the devil with all my heart and mind; and then the Lord said, Stop.' He had said so to me many a time before; but this time His voice sounded loud in my soul: Stop and listen; hear what I have got for you. If you go on serving Satan you will be lost; but if you trust Christ and His work on the cross, you shall have eternal life.' “The preacher came to me that evening and said, 'Do you know Christ as your Savior?’ The thought came to me, Say, Yes.' But I could not in truth; so I said, No.' Then we knelt to pray; but I could not get out a word—my heart was too full. At last, from the depths of my heart I cried, Lord, save me ' And He did save me, there and then—and my dear brother, too—that same evening. “Now, I often think that if men did but know how wicked I had been, they would say as I say—that I deserved hell, and not heaven; hut, thank the Lord, in His great mercy He has saved a big, black, hell-deserving sinner like me. “I write these few words so that, if there are any dear souls where you are that think they are too bad to be saved, you may tell them there is none too bad for Jesus, or I should have been turned back; but, thank the Lord, He has saved me—not for a day, but forever!” A Lesson From the Catacombs IN the crypt of St. Peter's in Rome there is a marble sarcophagus which belonged to Junius Bassus, Prefect of Rome, who died about the middle of the fourth century. In that century the consecutive teaching embodied in a series of pictures, either in catacomb or on sarcophagus. began to decline; and while it appears in the present instance, it is only to be found in diminished proportions, and the series is introduced to fill up spaces in the general design of the sarcophagus. We give one section of the general design; above the panel will be seen two little groups of the Iamb in different attitudes. A glance at the tomb shows at once that the series of figures relative to the lamb was intended as a consecutive representation of ideas, and that it began with the design which we commence with. While the order I follow is, I contend, based on Scriptural teaching and real believing experience, it is also confirmed by the mural paintings in the catacombs which belong to the first three centuries. The first among the representations before us is of one lamb following another to what appears to be a fountain issuing from beneath a rock. This corresponds in spiritual interpretation to Christ and the woman of Samaria, treated of in our last issue. It includes also the bringing of water from the rock, and corresponds to the second illustration in the catacomb series referred to. The second is of the Savior blessing baskets of loaves, and seems to carry us on to the Agape. The fisherman is left out. The third is of a lamb with his foot on the head of another lamb. The dove above shows that the scene represents baptism. The fourth—of a lamb receiving a book from heaven—indicates the divine origin of Scripture. This one is out of order, and is really the limit of the experience on earth of Junius Bassus. The fifth—passing over. the Paralytic, the Damsel, Faith, the Agape, and the group under the gentle lord ship of the lamb—ends with the resurrection of Lazarus After reading the description of the so-called Chamber of the Sacraments, which appeared in our last number, and comparing the experience of the fourth century with that of the second, it will be seen how rich the latter is when compared with the former, and how the Scripture in the fourth century had ceased to exercise its highest functions in the Church of Rome. It is, however, very beautiful to see how the lamb is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the religion of Junius Bassus, who died a neophyte—that is, soon after baptism—in Rome in the fourth century. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 65: BELL-SHEEP ======================================================================== WE observed outside Rome, on the Appian Way, a shepherd leading his flock to the place of safety for the night. The flock hastened after him, and one of the great white dogs of the Campagna kept guard at the rear of the sheep. The shepherd was leading a sheep at his side, which had a rope tied round its neck, and the peculiar sight led us to question our companion. “The shepherd," said he, "is by means of the leading-string training that sheep to walk at his heels. Here the bell-sheep follows close to the shepherd, and the flock follows close to the bell-sheep. Certain sheep are selected for bell-sheep, and they are regularly trained to their duty. Should the chosen sheep prove itself unfit for its position, it is set aside, and another is selected for the place. The shepherd of a large flock will have three or four sheep trained to this service. These bell-sheep the shepherd calls by name, and they know his voice, so that even after dark he has no difficulty in leading them. The flock follows the sound of the bells, and the large white dogs of the Campagna keep the flock in safety as they bring up the rear.” This pleasant little episode gives quite a fresh idea to us on the honor of being a bell-sheep! We usually associate the distinction with extra power in leadership, but the Italian shepherd gives us to attach the power to his own voice in keeping these pre-eminent sheep close to his side. The true bell-sheep in the flock of God will surely be the one who follows the most closely the steps of the Lord and obeys most readily the voice of the Good Shepherd. What a beautiful succession it would be in the flock of God—the Chief Shepherd going first, followed by the distinguished of the flock, swift in obeying His voice and making His Word their guide even when the darkness of the hour prevented them seeing the Shepherd; He leading His flock for the good of every sheep composing it, and the music of the bells of the selected leaders telling the flock the way the Shepherd leads! From the Mission Field CHINA. THE spiritual needs of the Chinese Empire are of very great magnitude. Little more than the fringe of the darkness has after all been touched. The Holy Spirit has, however, been working wonderfully in the hearts of the people of God, stirring them to labor; but how utterly insignificant, amongst three hundred millions of heathen, are the two thousand four hundred Protestant missionaries (men and women) now in China I In all parts, but specially in the interior, millions remain unreached, while to this day the provinces of Hunan and Kwang-si, with their twenty or thirty millions of people, are still without any resident missionary. Amongst other interesting and encouraging examples of the power of true Christian faith, "China's Millions" records the story of an old man named Li Pu-cheo, He came forward on the occasion of a conference, and laid on the table a piece of silver, value about four taels, which he wished to be given to Mrs. Hsi, the widow of the pastor, because she is a widow. This man was converted fifteen years ago through a conversation with a missionary, who was then in P'ing-yang Fu. Formerly Li Pu-cheo had been a vendor of native medicine; but, as he told us himself the other night, from the time he went out of the gate of P'ing-yang Fu after that conversation, till now, he has preached the Gospel. “We had an interesting talk with him one evening after the conference before he went away, and he told us some of his experiences. Being asked, ' On whom do you depend for food? ‘he replied, I depend on the Lord Jesus.' And perhaps there is no one on earth, except himself, who knows what those few words mean to Li Pu-cheo! Having years ago heard Pastor Hsi say that covetousness was idolatry, in order to guard against the possibility of setting his heart on money, he has ever since refused to receive payment for his services in the opium refuge or evangelistic work. He will set off on a preaching tour through the villages, carrying no money, and depending on the hospitality of those to whom he goes. “Not long ago he and another man started for four days' preaching, but the old man relates that the Holy Spirit did not permit them to return under ten days. He is the father of the work in the Yoh-yang district. Some money was given to him while he was in Hung-Tung, and it was then found that the old man's winter coat was in pawn. He had pawned it in order to help to pay the expense of some place in the village he wanted to use as a little chapel. He had been feeling the cold in the early mornings and evenings, yet had given the silver to Mrs. Hsi without knowing where the money would come from to redeem the coat. “Having a wadded gown I had been keeping for old Mr. Li (for I had noticed last winter how shabby his own looked), I gladly gave it to him, and he received it with these words, ' I am better off than the Lord Jesus was.” Another story from the same source records the experiences of an opium eater. “Among those received was a man who came to the refuge to break off his opium, and was saved; then he went home and told his wife, who also broke off her opium, and is now earnestly seeking the light. After this they took down their idols and ancestral tablet. For this insult to the religion and customs of their country the man was badly beaten by his family. When asked how he felt while being beaten, he said, I remembered the words of Jesus, "Love your enemies."' “Another man baptized was also an opium smoker, and was bitterly persecuted by his mother for becoming a Christian; but he remained true to the Lord, and now his mother and wife have both become interested through his changed life, and his wife has broken off opium. This man is proving to be a great help in the work. “One of the women received was formerly a Buddhist, and had tried almost everything to get rid of sin; she is now a bright Christian, and brings many city women to the mission.” Yet how few are the laborers in this great empire of China! Just one here and there, like a little drinking fountain in the midst of the huge desert of idolatry and superstition. Figures and Shadows JEHOVAH'S PORTION IN THE SACRIFICES. JEHOVAH reserved to Himself specific portions of the sacrifices, and these, under no consideration whatever, could be partaken of by men. This fact opens up an important inquiry, both as to the value of these portions in their symbolic character, and as to the reason why man was not permitted to partake of them. The two portions reserved by Jehovah were the fat, and the blood, of the sacrifice. We open our Bibles, and find divine instruction on this matter from the early chapters of Genesis to the detailed revelations respecting sacrifice of the Mosaic era, and also in the history of Israel under her kings, and in the testimony of the psalms and the teaching of the prophets; hence in all the writings of the Old Testament. And as the New Testament, with one voice, speaks of the spiritual signification of the types of the Old Testament, the whole Bible testifies to those portions in the sacrifice which were exclusively for divine use. The fat and the blood of the sacrifice are spoken of as the bread of Jehovah: "My bread, the fat and the blood" "All the fat is Jehovah's," was Mosaic teaching; and again and again, in the injunctions referring to the modes of sacrifice, the command occurs to remove the fat from the rest of the offering, and to burn it for a sweet savor to Jehovah. In like manner, the blood of the sacrifice was exclusively dedicated to Jehovah, and by sprinkling, anointing, and outpouring, was presented to Him. The altar was the table, as it were, upon which the fat was placed, where it was consumed by the fire, and thus, symbolically, Jehovah partook of that part of the sacrifice which was His "bread." In the same way, by means of the altar, the blood was offered to Jehovah. It was disposed of differently from the fat, being thrown upon the sides of the altar, placed upon its horns, or poured out at the bottom of it. We will now look a little into the meaning of the fat. First, "the fat" was the network of fat which covers the inward parts of the animal. We have not to suppose general plumpness which is easily recognized in the creature, but, on the contrary, a part of the creature which is unseen. This fat figures the health and inward vigor of the creature, and it was specifically offered to Jehovah from the days of Abel. It was placed upon the altar, and as it was consumed it arose as a sweet savor to Jehovah—that is to say, the inward vigor and excellence of the sacrifice, by being burned, ascended wholly to Jehovah—every part of it went up to Him. The idea of the consuming by fire of the sweet savor offering is quite distinct from the burning of the sin offering. The former was a delight, as it were; the latter was the opposite—it was destruction We feel at once in the application of the figure to Christ and His sacrifice, how perfect this figure is. There was in the Lord an unseen excellence which God alone could note. There were many, many beauties in His ways of love and mercy which man could and did see, but the root of all was His own essential character and perfection. On occasions, God the Father opened heaven over Him and testified: " This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased "; and when the sacrificial death of the blessed One was in view, we learn that in a peculiar way the Father loved Him because He laid down His life.” Again, in His sacrifice of Himself He fulfilled the will of God. Thus the hidden excellence of His nature was a sweet savor to His God, and His death with all its suffering was an offering, wholly ascending in its perfection to His Father. Under the law, the worshipper coming to Jehovah was prohibited from partaking of the fat of Jehovah's offerings, and, in like manner, there are in Christ's sacrifice excellencies in which no mere man can spiritually participate, and which must forever be the sole delight of the Father. The priest, who offered the sacrifice, became, in certain instances, possessed of a particular portion of the sacrifice; thus, the right shoulder, the breast, or the skin of the victim, were acquired by him for himself while offering the sacrifice to Jehovah. The right shoulder signifies the strength; the breast, the love; the skin, the beauty of the offering sacrificed. Among the priests of God, who rejoice in the sacrifice of Christ once offered, some have exalted thoughts of the power of Christ the Savior, some of His love, and others of His moral beauties, as they worship God the Father through His Son; but of the secret of His being—"no man knoweth the Son but the Father.” The blood of the sacrifice, like the fat, was exclusively dedicated to Jehovah. A very different instruction, however, meets us in this case. Instead of an intrinsic excellence being shadowed forth, the power of the death of the victim to magnify divine justice, is presented. From the first the blood was associated by God with the life of the creature, and, again and again, the instruction of the Mosaic age in respect to it was "the blood is the life." The blood of the sacrifice was the life taken from the offering, which stood in the stead of the offerer in his approach to Jehovah. This was sacred to Jehovah, and was received by Him upon the altar. The fat expressed the perfection of the victim, the blood expressed propitiation effected by the victim. The fat ascended by the fire of the altar in sweetness on high, the blood effected atonement on earth on the altar for the guilty. Jehovah expressly said, "The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." We observe Jehovah does not say that the fat—the excellence of the victim—makes an atonement, but the blood—that is, the life of the victim given up—the blood upon the altar, of the perfect offering. The death of the victim in sacrifice—"upon the altar"; not death merely, but life yielded up to God upon the altar. No one in Israel was allowed to partake of blood. "Thou shalt not eat the blood" was repeated in a variety of ways, while the penalty of so doing was death. Life had been given by God; but sin had entered the world, and death by sin; and death had passed upon all men, for all had sinned; and the only way of man back to God was by the door of death. Such death could not be man's own, which would be but the penalty of his transgression, but the death of a pure and perfect Substitute, who should make atonement on his behalf. The blood given by Jehovah upon the altar to man, in order to make atonement for man, expresses Jehovah's own satisfied requirements on account of sin. The atonement was first made, and then man derived his benefit from it. First of all, God Himself was appeased and propitiated; after that came the reconciliation of man to God. Can we not see a divine fitness in this? By sin death entered into the world; by death sin was atoned for. Death is the wages of sin: death upon the altar proclaimed the due of sin satisfied according to God. "Having made peace through the blood of His cross," we read, and we find a remarkable likeness in the words to those already quoted from Lev. 17. The peace was made by God, and by means of the blood of His Son. And the words are express—"the blood of His cross"; the altar, as it were, is specified, and the atonement is defined as the work of the cross. Upon the basis of the peace established by the atonement, God reconciles. Our thoughts should be directed to God's own glory in the sacrifice of His Son, and we should keep God's glory in the sacrifice before our minds as the principle of all others of prime importance. It is true that much of current religion would thus be put aside; but, since every man must give account of himself to God, let each seek in the first place to be in line with God's thoughts respecting sacrifice, for right thoughts of sacrifice lie at the root of right views of the Gospel of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 66: A YOUNG GIRL’S PRAYER ======================================================================== ONE bright afternoon, some few years ago, a young girl stood at the window of a pleasant sitting-room watching the sun as it slowly disappeared in the west, and, as she watched it, one great longing desire arose in her heart and expressed itself in these words, "O God, when wilt Thou convert me?” All around her was beautiful, all spoke of the goodness of God; but to His love she felt she was a stranger. A few Sundays before she and her sister had been called into their mother's room to thank God for the conversion of one of her brothers. The mother rejoiced that three out of her eight children now knew Christ as their Savior, but while she thanked God on behalf of the three, she cried to Him to have mercy speedily on the five others who were still unsaved. C.'s tears flowed fast as the mother poured out her soul in praise and prayer to God; she was glad that her brother was happy, but the thought of his happiness only made her long more for the aching void in her own heart to be filled. And yet C. knew something of happiness, for God had given her loving parents, and her earthly surroundings were such as might well gladden her; but all this was not enough, for God had awakened a desire in her heart to know the Lord Jesus as her Savior, and she could not rest. Still she went on day by day proudly, speaking to no one of the great sorrow that was in her heart; yet, in her ignorance, crying to God to meet her in some way. Little did C. think how He was waiting to be gracious, and for her to surrender herself to Him. Shortly after the circumstances thus described, C.'s mother received a letter from an earnest evangelist, proposing that he should come to the place in which they lived and give some Gospel addresses. This proposal was gladly agreed to. C. then cried to God that He would make this preacher, whom she had never seen, the means of bringing her into rest. Upon the night of his arrival, having heard that C. and her sister taught in the Sunday school, he asked if they loved the Lord Jesus, and receiving no answer, added, "How can you try to tell others of what you know nothing yourselves?" Then, as they were still silent, he went on to speak of that love, and to tell them how that the Lord Jesus was waiting to receive and welcome them. During the Gospel addresses this one question kept ringing in C.'s ears: "How can you try to tell others of what you know nothing yourself?” Yet at the same time there arose in C.'s mind a vision of all that, as she thought, she might lose by coming to Christ; so she tried to laugh off the effects of the conversation with another young friend who was staying in the house. This succeeded for a time, but at last the little parry began to separate, and C. went round to say good-night. When she came to the preacher of the evening, she paused, for his words, "How can you try to tell others of what you know nothing yourself?" came back to her with great force. She felt convicted in God's presence, and walking hastily out of the drawing-room, hurried up to her room, knelt down, and there alone with God she unburdened her soul to Him. What did she say to Him as she knelt there? She scarcely knows herself; perhaps not much, but God saw the bitter tears of real humiliation which she shed, and God had much to say to her. A deep tide of joy poured into her soul as she believed God had received her, the weary, restless one, and had made her His own for time and for eternity. She need no longer go about sad and discontented, for He had made the storm a calm. His own presence had dispelled the gloom once and forever from her heart. She rose from her knees, knowing that she was forgiven, and had been welcomed by the One who promises never to cast out those who come to Him. It pleased God in His mercy to bring C.'s sister also to Himself that evening, and a few hours later the mother and the two daughters knelt together again. But this time the mother was not praying for the conversion of the dear ones beside her, but was thanking God, with tears of gratitude, for thus bringing two more of those children who were so precious to her to Himself. Two years later it pleased God to take that dear mother home, but not until He had made her cup of joy run over in seeing all her eight children brought to Himself. Several years have slipped by since the events mentioned in this simple little paper took place. Does C. ever regret that evening, I when, alone with God, she forsook the service of Satan, and was received by God? Oh, no; nor will any do so who come to Jesus. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 67: MAGGIE'S BIBLE CHAIR ======================================================================== DEAR little girl of seven years of age, named Maggie, was taught in her Sunday school to love the Lord Jesus Christ, and early learned to know Him as her own Savior. Very real was the love of Jesus to Maggie, and she faithfully told all she knew to her friends and relations, urging them to love her dear Savior. Her greatest delight was to sit on a small chair of her own and read to others from the Bible about the wondrous life and death of Jesus, always leaving her precious Bible in the little chair when not thus occupied. Everyone in the house and those who came there were familiar with Maggie's little “Bible chair," as she called it. Very soon the" Good Shepherd" called His little lamb home to Himself. On the last night of her short life she asked her weeping mother to put her on her best clean nightdress, patiently enduring the effort and fatigue of the process. Then she whispered, "Now I am ready for Jesus.” These were her last words. She passed peacefully into His presence to be forever safe in His loving arms. Oh, how that little "Bible chair" of Maggie's spoke to others when she was gone! The Savior's words to all are "Be ye ready." Maggie was "ready for Jesus," through faith in His precious blood. How is it with you? Can you say: “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness, Thy beauty, are my glorious dress. 'Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 68: REAPING ======================================================================== AS we look upon the harvest field, thoughts of the year's labor arise in the mind, for in the golden sheaves lies the fruit of both plowman's and sower's toil, and the result of months of heaven's sunshine and of its refreshing rain. Paul may plant, Apollos water, but God alone gives the increase. A man may spend a lifetime in sowing good seed, which another, who is a reaper, may garner in almost at once; but the harvest will be the joy season, when both he that soweth and he that reapeth shall rejoice together. God has so ordained, in His field, that His several servants shall each do a part of His great work, the whole of which, complete and perfect, shall only be seen in eternity. We are frequently too much occupied with our own little part of this work, and thus we forget the great end God has in view; and by such partial sight, we either magnify our special occupation into undue importance, or lose heart as if it had no blessing attached to it. We cannot in one day be both sower and reaper! Patient continuance in the work of the field necessarily precedes harvesting. The young naturally are more impatient for reaping than their seniors, just because they have had less experience in the lapse of time required for the seed to grow up. "Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days," said the wise man; and the apostle tells us, "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." We would encourage our young friends in their Christian work—not to be disheartened because they do not all at once see the seed grow up; and not to expect that it will become ripe and fit for the sickle in a day, even when they see it grow up. We have also to remember that in God's harvest field, not only has the work to be done which He has appointed, but that the workman by his work has to be fitted for God's work. We learn while working; experience teaches; and the harvest field is frequently our school where we learn to trust in God alone, who gives the increase. At first, possibly, we almost thought we could command the blessing and make the seed to grow; nay, at first, we almost thought that we could sow the seed with the greatest ease; but experience taught us, that only by the power of God we could do this. The good seed of the kingdom is His Word, and we have to study and to pray over it in order to know how to use it. The souls of men are the soil, and we have to discover what they are like! The golden harvest is ever a pleasing and a restful sight, speaking of work done and of the favor of God received. But it is also one of warning, for it declares to us the end—the end of the purpose of the plowing and the sowing, the end of the effect of the sunshine and the showers upon the field. The Lord tells us in His parable, Matt. 13, "The harvest is the end of the world" (or age); "and the reapers are the angels." There is a deep solemnity in these words. This age will have its close; it began with sowing, it will end with reaping. It began with the sowing of the seed of the kingdom, which is the Word of God; it will end with the results, which the distribution of the Word has effected in human hearts. Think of the harvest and take courage. Look on to the day of glory when, life's toils over, our reward shall be to rejoice in our Lord's joy. He was the Sower—He will be the Reaper. He labored and He wept, He died for sinners, He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied; and every good and faithful servant of His shall receive His encouragement and His smile: "Well done enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 69: RECEIVING THE WORD OF GOD ======================================================================== THERE is a living freshness in the Scriptures, when read in faith, that brings us into direct communication with God Himself. This freshness ever exists in the Scriptures, but we realize it solely as we read them in simplicity. Do we really hear God speaking to us when we open His Book? The way in which the Thessalonian believers received the Word is most instructive on this point—"When ye received the Word of God, which ye heard of us," says the apostle, "ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." (1 Thess. 3:13.) This their reception of the truth accounts for very much of their state of soul, for which the apostle could and did give God thanks. We may be sure that, as Christians, we are what we are in proportion to the depth or shallowness with which we receive the Word of God as the Word of God. It does not effectually work in us who believe, unless we truly believe it. As a matter of fact, believers but faintly believe the Word of God as the Word of God. There is very great trifling with it. We do not now refer to that Christianized infidelity, which sits in judgment upon the Scriptures, and believes only what it professes to understand, for that is not faith at all. That is to say, it is not faith in God at all, but faith in the ability of human reasonings. We take it rather as the word of man than as it is in truth, the Word of God. When the Word of God is received by us, as it is in truth, the Word of God, we listen to God. We are then, spirit, soul, and body, commanded by His Word. Hence it works effectually within us. It never occurs to us either to question or to evade His Word, and such a spirit soon tells its own tale to the world around us; for as the lives of the Thessalonians sounded out the Word of God far and wide, so does the Word sound out from every believer into whose heart it has been received as it is in truth, the Word of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 70: TWO NATURES ======================================================================== I HAVE ascertained the truth of a. peculiar habit in the fine and stately Moreton Bay fig (or vine, which it really is), about which I was incredulous until I saw it. A seed of this fig, being deposited in the branches of another tree—let us say in one of the enormous stag-horn ferns—is thus provided with a certain amount of decayed material, in which it germinates. It first throws down its roots until they reach the ground, and then begins to grow round the fern tree, clinging to it like a vine, until it completely envelops the fern tree, its sap wood uniting where it meets and the bark entirely covering the joint, so that nothing of the old fern tree can be seen. The old tree dies; so that, after a lapse of years, all traces of the fern tree disappear, and a Moreton Bay fig only is visible! In many cases I have found openings where the wood of the fern tree is plainly visible; and the process I have related may be seen in its varied stages in some of our Australian scrubs. Is it not an illustration of the practical working of the two natures? Man, like the stately fern tree, flourishes in the power of his own energy, until at some point decay and death force themselves upon his soul. But God plants a seed of another kind within him, and gives him a new life, which is destined to overcome the old, though the old will never entirely disappear until we see Him who has conquered death. The new life, like the fig, feeling after and feeding upon, the provided nourishment, grows strong, and gradually spreads itself over the rough surface of the old, until, though the old is known to be there, the new alone is to be seen. It is often slow work, but, if going on, how sweet to have some little bit of self covered with Christ! It is also interesting that the fern tree has a rough bark, while that of the new tree has a smooth one. The rough is covered by the smooth. "Put on, therefore (as the elect of God, holy and beloved), bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering.” Bible Class Outline ON SACRIFICE. OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICES. (1) Gave God no satisfaction. (Heb. 10:6.) (2) Did not give the offerer a good conscience. (Heb. 10:2.) (3) Could never take away sins. (Heb. 10:4.) (4) Were of constant recurrence. (Heb. 10.) THE SACRIFICE OF OUR LORD. 1. Fulfilled the will of God. The purpose of Christ in coming to the earth was to do God's will. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God." (Heb. 10:7.) (a) His incarnation. "A body hast Thou prepared Me." (Heb. 10:5.) (b) His suffering to death. "Father...., not My will, but Thine, be done." (Luke 22:42.) "The suffering of death." (Heb. 2:9.) (c) His resurrection. "Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father." (Rom. 6:4.) (d) His exaltation in heaven. "Him hath God exalted with His right hand... a Prince and a Saviour." (Acts 5:31.) 2. Gives us a good conscience. "The blood of Christ" (does) "purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Heb. 9:14.) 3. Puts away sin, and brings us to God. "Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself," (Heb. 9:26.) “Christ hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18.) 4. Is not repeated. "Where remission of these" (sins) "is, there is no more offering for sin." (Heb. 10:18.) “I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." (John 17:4.) “Jesus... said, It is finished: and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost." (John 19:30.) ======================================================================== CHAPTER 71: A SEQUEL TO THE "DRUMMOND CASTLE.” ======================================================================== THE sad catastrophe of the wreck of the passenger steamship "Drummond I Castle," lost off the coast of Brittany at the entrance to the English Channel in the late summer of 1896, has not yet been forgotten: nor should it be, in connection with the burial of Protestants with a Romish ceremonial. English Protestants yield to none in sorrow for, and sympathy with, the afflicted, nor in gratitude to those who promptly respond to an appeal for kindness in distress, as displayed by the inhabitants of the little Island of Molène; but many must have been grieved with the decay of loyalty to the truth of the Gospel, on that occasion. The committee of the Trinitarian Bible Society, however, desired to do something which should at once witness for God and His Truth, and be a blessing to the people concerned, and they sent through the Mission of Pasteur Lecoat, on behalf of the Society, copies of the Word of God in remembrance of the help given to the victims of the "Drummond Castle.” The colporteurs entrusted with the copies of the Scriptures, entering the only house on the island where one can get anything to eat, and greeting the proprietress, addressed her as follows: "Madame, the director of our society sends us here on behalf of the lovers of God's Word in England, to offer to you and to all the inhabitants of the island a copy of the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Breton or French, in remembrance of your help to the victims of the Drummond Castle.'” She immediately received them with much kindness, as did also her married sister, who lives a few steps away. “We offered her a copy of The Word of God, and another to her sister," continues the colporteur, "and then went from house to house throughout the isle to fulfill our simple but noble mission.” Everywhere we met with a friendly reception and sympathy;, the people were grateful, and the one expression was, "What a terrible calamity! Never have we experienced such an one here. Now, even though they were Protestants, each time we go to the cemetery to pray for the dead we pray for them also." When we replied that there was no purgatory for those of the victims who had received the free salvation that Jesus Christ came to bring to the sinner, and no other means of cleansing from sin but the blood of Jesus Christ, they replied that they had never heard of such things. They promised to read our books and keep them carefully. One mother begged us to place a New Testament on a cradle, promising to instruct her child, if God spared it to her, in the Holy Scriptures. At the mayor's we were equally well received. Refreshment was given us; then he thanked us for having given such a precious souvenir to the inhabitants for what they had done to the poor victims. He himself accepted gratefully a copy of the Word of God. At the convent we had a hearty welcome; and with joy they received our books. We also gave a copy to the schoolmistress of the island, who had only a single scholar! We then visited the curd. "Monsieur le Cure," we said, "we have come to offer you a copy of the pure Word of God on the part of those who love it, as we have already done to all the inhabitants of the island." He replied, "If you give me this book you will not have one for everybody." "Oh, yes," we said, "we have plenty for all who know how to read.” Presently he said, "Where did you study? These books are false! Who authorized you to distribute them here?” “If the books are false, will you kindly show us a single passage or verse which is incorrect?" was the reply. “Do you mean to say, young man, that you came here to instruct me?" said the priest. "Go out immediately.” The priest followed, saying, "You do not believe that there is a purgatory?” “No, sir, because you can't find it in the Word of God.” “If you had said that to me in the house I would have struck you. I am going to call my sailors to throw you into the sea. All the inhabitants of the island are my children. Fear not; Sunday I will destroy all the books which you have distributed.” So we left. When we departed from the island nearly all the inhabitants came to say "good-bye" and to thank us; and those who had not received books begged us to give them a copy, saying that "they would keep them carefully, and that they would not allow them to be destroyed.” True to his word, the priest said from the pulpit: "I have seen two gentlemen who had been sent here by the English people to offer you a book—a good book indeed, but, as it is not approved by one of our own bishops, you must burn or destroy it.” The next day the priest went to pay a visit to the mayor, and saw a copy at his house. “Monsieur le Maire, you have one of those Protestant books," said the cure. “Yes, Monsieur le Curd," replied the mayor; "and yesterday you surprised us all very much by saying that the book was a good one, and yet you asked us to destroy it. Please explain this.” The priest invented an excuse and went back to his presbytery. This simple record will show the character of the people of the Island of Molène, the need of the Word of God, and the opposition of the Church of Rome to the Gospel. The Trinitarian Bible Society has provided Brittany with a Revised New Testament, and separate portions, and has been the first to prepare and give to that people the whole Bible in their own tongue. For Brittany—our nearest foreign mission field—was left without a Bible until within the last few years! The work in Brittany is most important and cheering. The simple people receive with gladness the Words of Life, and already many a Breton has found through them pardon, peace, and joy. An edition of five thousand copies is now in the hands of the people, and the committee are looking for help to enable them to print and send out a second edition. Contributions will be thankfully received on behalf of this important work. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 72: THE GREAT ENGLISH CARDINAL ======================================================================== THE Lord Jesus says to all, "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me." To the Roman governor, who under- stood Him not, and before whom He stood, the Lord said, "My kingdom is not of this world"; and many who profess Christ's name, like Pilate, understand not the kingdom of the Lord. Again, the Lord's thoughts concerning His own people are thus expressed in His words to His Father': "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." We do not forget that as He uttered these words He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and away from the world and its kingdoms and glory. With such unmistakable teaching before us, it is a fact of intense sadness, that the professing Church of Christ, which assumes to represent Him on the earth, is so determined to emulate and outdo the world's kingdom in pomp and glory. The cardinal princes of "the Church" may be seen in Rome officiating in divine service, and as they do so, they themselves are the objects of adoration and prostration on the part of lesser dignitaries. These men may also be seen at their evening airings, proud and self-confident, walking in their solitary dignity, followed by their servants, and again by their carriages. The poor and the miserable shrink into their rags as these eminences pass by. Such are the proud dignitaries of "the Church" which bears Christ's name. How different from the Master, who said: "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart.” Amongst all English cardinals Wolsey was the greatest. His pomp and estate were truly magnificent. Even nobles enrolled themselves amongst the hundreds of his servants; priests marched before him bearing silver crosses as he paraded London's streets; and his robes were crimson velvet and gold, and his silken shoes glittered with jewels. He would speak of the King and himself as "I and my King," and really he governed both Church and State in England for a time. He became Papal Legate; but his ambition was the Papal tiara, and this led him to intrigue with kings and emperors. But Wolsey had in Henry VIII. a man more ambitious and less scrupulous than himself; and thus Wolsey in the end died in disgrace and a failure. Such was the man, just prior to the Reformation, that England had to regard as the expression and the representation of religion in his country. Wolsey's service of himself and Papal power led to the destruction of that power over England; but we are not now dealing with history, save as it communicates its moral lessons. Prelate princes with their worldly glory are incompatible with the example of the Lord Jesus. Their pride and His meekness cannot be united. Oneness with the world and also oneness with Christ is an impossibility. Thus, when we see cardinals asserting themselves in our land, and speaking of subjugating the English to the Italian Pope, and when we see the dignitaries of the English Church adorning themselves after the manner of Rome, the fatal issue is too plainly evident. Those who love these things know not the meaning of Christ's words, "My kingdom is not of this world;" they comprehend not His language to His Father: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world," and they miss the end: "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 73: THE RIGHT RELIGION ======================================================================== NELSON A. was "the only son of his mother, and she was a widow." He had been duly apprenticed to a wheelwright, and had served his time up to twenty-one years of age with credit, and was a respectable, moral young man. Nelson was, at the time of my story, employed at some railway-carriage works, but, falling ill, he had come home to be nursed by his fond mother. Under her care he gained strength, and returned to his work, but only to break down again. His mother knew the Lord Jesus as her own Savior, and by Him had peace with God; and she yearned after her son, who, while good and kind, was yet without a saving knowledge of the Lord. She asked me to visit her son, and very courteous I found him. Evidently he had a lingering hope that he should yet recover, but soon the solemn truth broke upon him that he was a dying man. One day he exclaimed, in distress and agony of soul, "Oh! can you tell me which is the right religion? You speak to me one way-others speak in another. Oh, do tell me which is right!” I answered, “Nelson, you have a deeper question than that to settle first. You are a lost sinner, but God in His love has sent His only begotten Son to die for you. ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' " The Word of God entered into his soul, and by the Holy Spirit's power he believed, and as a result, light and peace filled his heart. He had found the "right religion." He had found Christ—or, rather, he had been found of Him. This was far beyond what is called religion. It was salvation. His dear mother's joy was great. The Lord had answered her prayers, and there was joy in that house, as well as in heaven in the presence of the angels of God. Nelson now began to talk closely with his two sisters, questioning them as to the foundation of their hopes for salvation, for they took the place of being saved; and on fine days he would walk a little way to talk about Christ to an old man who lived near him. One day a Christian man, older in years as well as in grace, called to see him, thinking to instruct and comfort him; but he found that he had to listen to this child of God of a few weeks old, so much had he grown in the knowledge of God. "Christ first, then knowledge," it had been said to him. "When you know Christ all the rest will follow. In Him all questions are solved for the soul.” Nelson grew rapidly worse, and we all saw that the end was approaching. Frequently Christian friends would hold little meetings with him—engaging in prayer, singing, and reading the Word in his sick room. One day I was with him alone. He had heard that I was leaving home for a few weeks, and he had an impression that he should go before I returned. With some hesitation he said to me, "I am sorry to hear that you are going from home soon for a month or more, and I have a presentiment that I shall not see you in the body again. Will you promise me something before you go? Do not deny me this one thing; then I shall be at perfect rest.” I replied, "Nelson, I will promise to do anything for you that is in my power. What do you desire me to do?” He replied, "If I pass away before you return, will you come to my funeral? I do not ask it for my own sake—I shall be with the Lord—but for the sake of my sisters' husbands who will be present. For their sakes only I desire it.” I could only reply, "If possible I will do it, Nelson. I shall be two hundred and fifty miles away; but if a letter reach me in time, I will, the Lord willing, be here on the appointed day.” He thanked me warmly, and said, "Now I am at rest; it is my only request.” The widowed mother lived to the ripe age of over fourscore years; then passed away most triumphantly to wait with many others in the cemetery at M— for "that blessed hope," the coming of the Lord. My dear reader, I now ask you if you know Christ as your Savior? This is the momentous question. Intellectual knowledge will not suffice. An outward form of religion will not suffice. Christ in the heart, the hope of glory, alone can give rest and peace. ============================= ======================================================================== CHAPTER 74: SUNSHINE ======================================================================== THE brilliant sunshine of Southern Italy afforded us a very pleasant experience this spring. We are all aware that the light exposes and reveals what an object really is, but somehow or other, such is the radiance of the Italian sun, that it sheds its own glory over all upon which it shines. The very rags of the peasants look beautiful under its influence—walls of houses, none too clean, shine like gold—indeed every object is robed in garments of light. It was a pleasant experience as applied to our glorious Sun on high. In His light how beautiful will all His saints appear! They will be robed in the glory of His radiance, made lovely in and by His brightness. The peasants appeared glorious in the sunlight; out of it they were but poor and ragged. And whatever worthy things the Lord may find in His own, He will render them exceeding in beauty by His own personal grace. Without Him we should all be but beggars and poor and miserable. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 75: THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP ======================================================================== THERE are certain figurative ideas presented to us in the Scriptures, which to the Eastern mind are perfectly natural, while to us of another race and habit of life they offer difficulties. Amongst these may be placed the well-known words of the Lord, "I am the Door of the Sheep.” The fold in Palestine is a strong erection, having high walls of stone, or of prickly shrubs, and it affords a safe abode for the flock during the night. The walls are designed to keep out both wolves and robbers. The entrance to the fold is a little doorway in the wall, just about the height of a man, and wide enough to admit one sheep at a time. When the hour has come for folding the flock, the shepherd stands at the doorway; and having his rod—really a formidable club—in his hand, he calls the sheep to enter in. He is their protector; his club is to preserve them from both wolf and robber. When the flock has passed in under his club, or rod—that is, really under his protecting care—the shepherd stands in the doorway, and thus he becomes literally the door. "I am the Door," says our Lord. He keeps the flock, and none can enter in save at His will. Robbers come to the fold to kill and to destroy; He in His might is the Living Door to save and to preserve. He is the "Door of the Sheep." Suppose a stranger stood in the doorway of the fold: do we suppose the Eastern flock would approach and enter in? They would flee from the stranger. His club, his rod, would terrify them; his voice would repel them—they would not know the voice of the stranger. The sheep are wise in the knowledge of their shepherd, if in other matters they may be foolish. The Lord speaks of this wisdom: "I know My sheep, and am known of Mine.” Let us picture to ourselves the Living Door, and apply the figure to our Lord. He stands in His strength. His right hand of power holds the extended rod. He stands in His love. His heart is towards His sheep. He is the Door for them. What vigor does this picture give to our Lord's gracious words: "I am the Door: by Me, if any man enter in...." By Me, the Living Door, the Person full of strength and power! What a sweetness it casts over the entry of the flock to perfect security. The eye is just fixed upon Jesus, and upon Him all hopes rest. Indeed, there is no question whatever on the Door; He is there, and all questions are answered by His strength and His love. “By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved." The door to the Jewish nation was an ordinance; the door to the fold is Jesus. The ordinance did not save—Jesus saves. The ordinance was not instituted to save; by it man entered the nation and came under the law. Jesus came to save, and by Him not only are we saved, but we "enter in" the fold of security; we "go in and out" as He may lead and guide, and we "find pasture"—we are supplied out of His fullness. Bible Class Outline WHAT CHRIST'S SHEEP HAVE:— Eternal life Perfect security Absolute safety Salvation Liberty Food Eternal life in its abundance Intimate knowledge of the Lord| John 10:28, 29, 30 Ver. 9 Ver. 10 Ver. 14, 15| (Refer to the Revised Version for verses 14 and 15. There is a most lovely unfolding of grace to be found in that rendering of our Lord's words, which is not in our Old Book.) WHAT THE SHEPHERD IS FOR THE SHEEP:— Their leader... John 10:3, 4. Their door... ver. 7. Their lover to death. ver. 11. Him Who speaks to them, Who knows them (ver. 27); Who gives His life for them (ver. 15), and Who gives them eternal life (ver. 28) Who seeks for them and finds them, each one, and carries each one home rejoicing (Luke 15:4, 5, 6). The Entrance of Christianity Into Britain IN considering the subject of the introduction of The Christian Faith into Britain, it is necessary not only to picture the condition of the country in the first three centuries of our era, but also to have in view the religious condition of the Romans, and the state of the Church at that period. Britain was peopled by various tribes, some of which were little better than savages, while others were moderately civilized. Within the tribes was the circle of the druids, who had their three orders, and whose priests were subject to one head. The druids possessed considerable knowledge of astronomy and mechanics, which was utilized for religious purposes. They had also the knowledge of writing, but as they encouraged memory to a wonderful extent, they did not favor the pen. They held great festivals in different parts of the country at set seasons, and their temples were very vast in area. In the innermost part the altar was placed. Here the sacrifice was offered up by the white-robed priest. "They hold," said Caesar, "that the wrath of the immortal gods can only be appeased and man's life redeemed by offering up human sacrifice, and it is part of their national institutions to hold fixed solemnities for this purpose.” Cesar further tells us that the druids held the immortality of the soul, and that because of this, virtue was inculcated. Their doctrines, he adds, also treated of the power and the attributes of the immortal gods. We know that the ancient nations of the East, long before the time of Moses, believed these things; and we may say, therefore, that these druidic faiths, overlaid though they were with horrible and cruel superstition, evidence a great antiquity. In the year 59 the power of the druids was broken. The tribes had joined together to cast off the Roman yoke, and were defeated in their stronghold in Wales. The sacred groves were felled and the authority of the druids was destroyed. By this great victory the druid spell, which was a terrible hindrance to the entrance of The Faith amongst the un-subdued tribes, was removed from over the Britons. Let us now glance at Rome and its religion. Temples abounded in the imperial city and numerous gods were adored; but, strangely enough, at least in the first century, there was a disrespectful feeling in regard to some of these deities, while the habit of the people and the craving of the time led to the importation of new gods and the erection of fresh temples. Processions, gorgeously robed priests, the glamour of sacred personages, and sacred shows, upon which all the art of Rome was lavished, were to be found without stint in the imperial city; but such as would know what its paganism really was should read the latter verses of the first chapter of St Paul's epistle to the Romans. A very remarkable event occurred in the year 70. Jerusalem fell, and Rome regarded her god, Jupiter, as the victor of the God of the Jews, Jehovah I His temple was burned to the ground, and the city of His people razed. The defiant Jews were either dead in the Holy Land, or were being slaughtered in the pagan arenas to amuse the populace. The few sacred vessels from the temple that escaped the flames had been carried as divine spoils in triumph through Rome, and had been presented before Rome's gods in the temples, even the Book of the Law being thus treated. Paganism seemed triumphant. We glance over the world of the first century, and we inquire, What should speak to man in his moral darkness and lift him up out from his baseness— whether barbarian or civilized—and set him upon his feet before God? The Jew, with Jerusalem fallen and the temple destroyed, was religiously set aside, and he could offer nothing to man. What could the Church offer at the close of the first century? A general insight into the condition of the Church in those times is necessary in order to satisfactorily answer this question. All the apostles had died, or had suffered martyrdom, in the first century, the aged apostle John falling asleep about the year 100. With the apostles gone, the Church had lost her miraculous powers, and, still more, her divinely inspired directors and guides, and her mighty missioners, who, when preaching Christ to the heathen, received from on high the witness of signs and wonders. The Church without the apostles was as is the Church amongst the heathen, and under heathen government, today. But not only was the Church thus bereft: wave after wave of persecution was rolling over her—the confessors of Christ were mutilated, destroyed, and thrown to wild beasts. There was no Government to fight her battles; she had God alone in Whom to hope. Yet day by day the Church grew in numbers—day by day the heathen, whether barbarian or civilized, were attracted from their idols, their sensuality, and their selfishness, to purity, and love, and peace! Notwithstanding that the apostles were gone, and miraculous powers had ceased, the Church grew! How could this be? This is the reason for the marvel—the Church had the Truth. The apostles and the men inspired of God had left the written Word of Truth with the Church, and by The Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, the marvelous victory was wrought. Born of that Word, the lives of the confessors of Christ of all ranks, ages, and peoples, proclaimed purity, love, and immortality, and the pagans were astonished. That Word proclaimed salvation from sin and from the power of self; alike in Caesar's household and in the shepherd's hut, alike in the sun-worshipping East and in the islands of the West. The Faith, with its love and holiness, was illegal in the Roman Empire, and its confessors were therefore liable to death at the hands of the State. Conquered nations were permitted by Rome to maintain their own religions; but the Church was not a nation—it was a family composed of members of all classes from all nations, bound together by bonds of love and common faith. The Christians refused the idols of every nation, rejected the philosophy of the day, and refrained from the sins in which the people delighted. Thus they were looked upon as a huge secret society. They were said to be subversive of law and order, to their charge all kinds of abominations were laid, and over and over again they were tortured, in order that their secret might be discovered. At the beginning of the second century, Pliny thus wrote of the Christians in Bithynia—some of whom he had caused to be tortured in order to discover their practices—to Trajan, the Emperor: "The whole of these people's fault or error," he said, "is that they are accustomed, on an appointed day, to meet before dawn, to sing an ode to Christ as God, and to bind themselves by an oath—not to the commission of any enormity—but only, not to be guilty of any theft, or robbery, or adultery, and not to break their word, or withhold a pledge when re-demanded"; that when this was over they used to go away, and come together again to take food, but it was of a common kind, and harmless. Intervals of peace came to the Church, but only to be succeeded by fresh persecutions. Sometimes these broke out in different parts of the world—in Asia Minor, Africa, and Europe; at others, the whole empire rose up against the Christians. In Lyons, in 177, the populace of that city rioted against the Church there, and one Christian after another was tortured, but only to obtain this confession: "I am a Christian; we commit no crimes.” The third century tells the same tale of suffering. We read of the martyrs of Carthage, and of those of Egypt at its beginning, and of awful and widespread persecutions in the heart of the century. Again and again throughout the century the Christians were hunted out, tortured, and slain; and yet when its end arrived the number of those who professed The Faith was greater than when the century began. The Church was outwardly prosperous at the commencement of the fourth century, and there were Christians at the Emperor's court who held high offices in the State. But in the army located in the West there was very severe persecution, and a whole legion composed of Christians was slaughtered. Britain, too, gave up her martyrs at this period—that is to say, to the Roman power. A fierce effort was made to root out The Faith in 303. The Emperor Diocletian issued an edict, commanding the destruction of all churches and sacred writings, the degradation of all Christians, and the death of all who maintained The Faith. Some books were surrendered, but generally there was constant faith under the most ingenious cruelties. The rage against the Christians increased, and at length idolatry was so intimately connected with every duty and necessity of life that no one could escape sacrificing to, or in some way associating himself with idols. Even infants were fed with food which had been offered to idols, and everyone who refused idolatry was slain. The empire ran with blood. But times of peace were about to dawn. In 312 Maxentius and Constantine strove for the imperial crown. Maxentius persecuted the Church; Constantine favored the Christian religion. Maxentius was defeated, and the next year Constantine issued edicts favorable to the profession of Christianity. From this date, excepting during a short period of relapse, the Christian religion took its place amongst the accepted religions of the world, It is necessary to keep these broad facts before the mind in considering the entrance of Christianity into Britain. Under the Roman occupation The Faith had no rights in the island and no protection. Neither is there much ground for believing that Christians from imperial Rome were largely instrumental in spreading it in Britain, as we shall point out later. There are remains in England which mark the devotion of Roman soldiers of different nations to their gods, but monumental remains indicating The Faith of Christ are very rare. We fall back upon the little that the writers of the early Church have to tell us on the matter, and very interesting it is to hear of The Faith prospering in the island outside the limits of the Roman sway. Tertullian, in or about the year 208, wrote in favor of The Christian Faith with the view of seeking to quiet pagan hostility and injustice towards its confessors; and, referring to its world-wide conquests, he speaks of " districts of Britain inaccessible to the Romans, but subdued to Christ... “and how "the kingdom and name of Christ are venerated" there. He wrote in a similar manner, we should judge, to that which in our day might be adopted as to parts of China where Christian missionaries are at work. He did not imply that Britain had become Christianized, but that many true Christians were the fruit of missionary labor in Britain. It is wise to keep this in view in reference to the position of the Church in Britain in later years. In 239 Origen says, "The power of the Savior is felt even among those who are divided from our world in Britain," and he adds, that very many in that country had not heard of Christ. Tertullian was of Africa, and Origen of Asia Minor, but evidently they were each in some way in touch with missionary work in Britain. This fact certainly points to the belief that to the East and its early apostolic energy Britain was indebted for "The Word of the Truth of the Gospel.” And here we would add that as the origin of the more ancient of the Britons was the East, and as the druid religion had in it, doctrines as ancient as those held in Egypt before the time of Moses, there was a sort of affinity between the islands of the West and the Africa of Tertullian's days. Christianity shone the fairest in the early centuries of our era in the East, and the East rejoiced over the salvation of the children of the West. In some ways the religion of Britain offered ideas which the missionary could use in teaching the Truth of the Gospel. Certainly the religion of the druids was not so debased as that of imperial Rome, for it contained, in spite of all its horrors, the conception of a deity requiring from the guilty a sacrifice of the most important nature the human race could offer, and of the deity overseeing man's actions and motives, and of a coming day when man should be judged by him. And when the priestly power of the druids was broken, as it was midway in the first century, it is not so difficult to follow the missionary from the Far East, proclaiming to the oppressed Britons the Truth by which men are made free forever, as it is to follow him in his labors amongst the luxury and debasement of the worshippers of the gods of Rome. From the Mission Field THE STATES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. A FEW words on the open doors to mission work in the States of Central America, and also in the State of Ecuador, South America, will interest our readers. The present day is chiefly remarkable in its mission work for the doors which are constantly being opened in different countries for the entrance of the Word of Salvation. Lands closed for centuries against the Scriptures are now open to their circulation, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Roman Catholic countries. In some of the States of Central and South America the Romish Church has for generations held the people in utter ignorance of the Word of God; but now, though the State religion be Roman Catholic, the respective Governments afford liberty to distribute the Scriptures and to teach their truths. A very small band of Christian workers is now struggling to introduce the Scriptures in the Central States of America. Writing from HONDURAS, one of these missionaries says:— “I doubt if any new work among the heathen in these last centuries has had greater evidence of God's unmixed grace and favor, in spite of missionary flesh,' than has had the work in Honduras. “As to evangelizing Honduras, it is most probable that today no other land in all heathendom is so open to the preaching of the Gospel, for the following reasons:—Because of the small number of priests here, there being about forty in all Honduras, for they will not stay where poverty and hardships abound. Because a goodly number of the people have lost faith in Rome. And also because of the poverty of the people. “Perfect religious liberty is guaranteed by the Constitution, but this, of course, does not mean that the people will not persecute. "Contrary to the laws of Honduras, the officials of San Augustine have been trying to compel the converts to Christ in that city, under threat of imprisonment, to do work on the church building; and to collect alms for the processions of idolatry, and to do personal service for the priest. With loyalty to Jesus they have said, 'We can go to jail, but we cannot do these inconsistent things.' ============================= “The people here seem to persecute the native converts much more than they do any of us. The alcalde (mayor of San Augustine) attempted to make Justa Rodrigus (a convert) gather up alms for the priest, threatening her with imprisonment for her refusal. We therefore called on the commander of the department of Copan, who lives in Santa Rosa, and laid the matter before him. He said the alcalde had no authority to support his action, that religious liberty was guaranteed, and that they could not compel anyone to serve the priest in any way. He said he would write the alcalde of San Augustine, so we trust the annoyance along this line will stop; but we expect persecution to deepen in many ways as the truth is sounded out. ============================= “Here, in San Rosa, the house of Nina Fransito, where we held meetings for a week, has been stoned, and plans were prepared to poison us... “We are right in the midst of Lent, and every Friday a procession marches from the temple to an elevation outside the town called Calvary. They bear a life-size image of Christ carrying upon its back a monstrous cross. For the purpose of more fully deceiving the people, the priest petitioned the authorities for police protection, saying that we were planning to molest the procession last Friday. The police were granted, with instruction to arrest us should we attempt to molest them. At the same time—these things being unknown to us—we held four meetings on the street in advance of the procession, and when it passed we were standing on the porch of Nina Fransito's house, which the same procession had stoned the previous week. “A few days later the alcalde (mayor) sent for us, and said that he had been told that the, people were planning to molest us, and that he believed the priest, whom he said was a very wicked man, was at the bottom of it. He further said that he would give the police special instructions to protect us, and that he would be glad for us to assist him in keeping good order by reporting any disturbance. He also said that he would, see that the officials in San Augustine, over whom he has superior authority, did not further annoy the believers. Thus our God has wrought for us in these matters without our asking the authorities for help. “Formerly I had a great dread of working in Roman Catholic lands, but now I would rather work among them than any class of heathen in the world. One does not have to prove to them the inspiration of the Bible. They do not question this anything like the people do in Protestant lands. Again, any good Bible student can show that every doctrine, without exception, of the Roman Catholic Church is not of God. The idolatry of Rome is more dreadful than you can imagine. The deceit and licentiousness of the priests beyond description.” BIBLE DISTRIBUTION IN GUATEMALA. Another missionary writes: “We left with a cargo of books for Esquipulas, Guatemala, where a great Catholic feast was being held from January 1st to 15th. We passed through many towns and villages, and in each left some testimony for Jesus. The last days of our trip we met a great many persons returning from the feast. We thought it a good time to spread the Word of God far and wide, so offered our Bibles for sale, and from our mules sold Gospels and Testaments so fast that we could not keep track of the number. “After being located at Esquipulas we started out with our arms loaded with Bibles, and going down the main street, which was crowded with thousands of people, we commenced to cry out Santa Biblia de venta ' ('Holy Bible for sale'). In less than a day and a half we had sold the last book of our cargo! It is said that people attend the feast from each of the five republics of Central America, and also from Mexico and South America. “Esquipulas is not a large place, but it has one of the largest and finest churches in Central America. The annual January feast is called the feast of the Black Saint.' The image, life size, is suspended on a cross in a large glass case at the far end of a spacious temple, the whole being hid from the view of the audience chamber by a curtain. The people pass through a side door, ascend a large platform, and then pass through the glass case on their knees, dropping their gift of money into a slot that conveys it under the platform, and then, kissing the feet of the Black Saint,' pass on and out. The poor, deluded people are told that the image is a petrified body, a saint from the time of Christ, which was found in the mountains near Esquipulas. When the people are sick or in trouble they pray to this saint, and vow to make it a visit and pay it so much money if they are delivered. In this way many who get out of their difficulties, or recover from sickness, make long journeys, some occupying months, on foot, and the treasury of the church and the pockets of deceiving priests are enriched. “A colored man from the States, now living here, told us that he painted the image two years ago, and that it was made of wood, and that there were two or three discarded images of the ' Black Saint ' in the church garret. Perhaps fifty thousand or more pilgrims attend this feast every year. Drunkenness, gambling, and robbery abound on every hand. Every man, with scarce an exception, carries a gun or a sword. Before starting we were repeatedly warned against robbers, but the Black Saint' is by far the biggest robber of them all.” ============================= Let us now turn to ECUADOR. The "New York Herald" of May last announced that the President of Ecuador had issued an order for the expulsion of the priests because of their activity in the revolution in the State. "From almost the very first the uprisings in Ecuador have been among religious fanatics, who, led by the priests, and receiving their support from that quarter, have harassed the Government persistently." The President declares "that he is determined to rid Ecuador of the priestly thralldom which has existed there for the last thirty years.” A month previously to the issuing of this order an American missionary, who visited Guayaquil, Ecuador, with Gospel books and literature, had to suffer considerably for the Gospel's sake; and such being the case, the action of the President will be accepted by Christians as another instance of God's way of opening the doors for the entrance of His Word. Let us hear Mr. Strain's story. After some heavy traveling the missionary reached Guaranda. “In the morning it seemed laid on me," he says, "to distribute some tracts on the crowded market plaza, so, selecting several which seemed free from offensive references to Catholicism, I took perhaps two or three hundred, and as soon as my actions were discovered I could hardly give them out fast enough. In a little while the conductor of the mail under whose care I was traveling came to me saying the people were greatly excited, claiming that the tracts were against the Catholic religion, and that if I would go on to San Jose de Chimbo, some fifteen or twenty miles distant, he would provide a horse at once, and would join me there that night. I had no time to think over the matter; the horse was brought, and as it was being saddled, boys and young men crowded into the hotel court, looked up towards my room, and cried, Que baje no mas,' a free translation of which would be, Let him come down—we will do the rest.' “The landlady closed the big front gates to the hotel as the mob was crowding in, but as they were opened I rode out, turned my horse toward Chimbo, dug the spurs into his sides, and flew down the street, the crowd after me. I saw a crowd waiting ahead, so turned into another street, when I noticed a horseman following, who, coming within hailing distance, told me it was the order of the commander of the troops that I should return. “He caught my bridle-rein, and, with the help of a man on foot who came up, commenced to lead me back. We had not gone far before we met the mob. I was made to dismount, and fully expected they were going to kill me, but they were after the tracts. They broke into a package behind my saddle, and into my medicine case, tearing into bits what they found, but not securing all I had. They even pulled my little Spanish Testament out of my hip pocket, and that was the last I saw of it. “About this time some young men arrived who tried to take my part, but they were an exceedingly small minority. The ringleader, after shouting at me, responded to the demand for my death by saying they would first take me to the commander, but there seemed a slim chance that I would ever get there. “Just then a rather big man came running to meet us; he drew a revolver, struck the man who was leading my horse with his fist, and said he would shoot anyone who touched me. He then made himself known to me as the commander himself, and told me he would guarantee my safety, and took me into the barracks. As we went in, the crowd made a rush, but the young men inside ran here and there gathering guns, and putting in cartridges; the sharp click of the hammers was heard again and again, and the result was the mob remained outside. As I sat down and thought of the awful exhibition of hatred on the part of the Catholic Church of Guaranda, as well as the wonderful workings of our God, I wept. “Some man, whose heart God had touched, sent me as good a breakfast as the place afforded, but you can imagine I could not eat very much. The commander sent quite a lengthy telegram to President Alfaro, and inquired as to what was missing, and was quite anxious I should understand this was the work of the enemies of the Government. The soldiers kept coming to me for papers, and I soon gave away my stock of calendars. “About 3 p.m. the commander sent me out of the city under an escort of soldiers, and eventually reached Guayaquil safely.” Another dispatch from Ecuador mentions the arrest of Father Rivadene Cialik, of Guaranda, on the charge of conspiracy to assassinate Captain Saltos, commander-in-chief of the Government battalion in Guaranda. This captain is probably the man who was used by God to save Mr. Strain's life. Thus the secular power ranges itself against the spiritual power, and aids the distribution of God's Word. We need have no doubt that when the brave missionary revisits the places where his life was so nearly taken from him he will find people anxious to obtain his tracts and books. We say this, for such is the case elsewhere in similar circumstances. Where the Lord opens the door no man can shut it. A FEW WORDS FROM CHINA. Dr. Parrott writes us as follows. He was leaving China at the date of his letter. “I found it very hard to break away from my native children in Lao-he-Kori. Their love and tears were too much for me. Some of them put their arms around me and wept, urging me to return to them quickly. One rough old man cried for half an hour, and told the others that he could not understand what ailed him. He had not cried since he was a boy, when his father used to beat him. Now the hard skin of his old eyes had broken and the tears began to flow.' This was his expressive way of putting it. “The old nurse was beside herself with grief at the thought of losing the children she had learned to love. “Let no one say that the Gospel of Christ has no power to change the hard hearts of these naturally stolid and unsympathetic people after such exhibitions of affection as I have seen. “How truly it may be said that the Gospel produces the same kind of fruit in every believer, no matter what the social condition may be! I mean that our admiration of the Lord Jesus begets in us something of His own Spirit. What wisdom of God so to order it! By what other means could it be possible for men of every tribe and nation to become of one heart and of one mind? Men try to be one in doctrine, and in opinion, and in codes of morality; but how sadly all such unions fail! One in Christ—the Center—the Heir of Creation.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 76: AT THE SEASIDE ======================================================================== I SUPPOSE there is not a little boy or girl anywhere who does not like to go to the sea; to watch the white crested waves rolling in, to dig with wooden spades in the golden sands, or look for bright-colored sea-weeds, or lovely sea-anemones in the pools amongst the rocks. But I think what I liked best at the sea was to watch the waves steadily advancing, till they reached a high reef of rocks, and then it was they looked so lovely. If the tide were rising and the wind high, then the spray rose highest and pleased me most. It looked nearly alive. You can understand that I wished to see the reef where all this happened myself. So one day, when the tide was out, my sister and I resolved to make the venture. It looked so easy and safe. We never thought of danger, still less of going into it. So we started, going down a zig-zag stair in the cliff—that was not hard—and then we jumped from rock to rock, and, in a few minutes, climbed up first one ledge of rock and then another, gradually getting higher and higher, till we reached one of the lofty peaks we could see from the beach. I remember it all so well though it is so many years since it happened. Then we sat down, facing right out to sea; the sun shining brightly, and the rock towering high above us. I never could remember how long we stayed, but it must have been for more than an hour. At last we thought it time to go borne. We had failed to remember that each ledge of rock which led back to the zig-zag stair, became lower and lower, nearly to the level of the sea, and that each tide would cover the rocks we had crossed. It was quite plain as we got on to these lower rocks that the tide had risen and was coming in very quickly, covering the flat rocks of our path. We could not see one spot where we could cross to the higher rocks, leading to the cliff path. We were puzzled what to do. We could not stay where we were; we dared not venture on the high reef again, for even it sometimes was nearly covered by the sea. What should we do? Ah! how God takes care of His children. A gentleman had seen our difficulty, though we had not seen him, and in a clear voice called to us, "There is a safe way on here!" and he pointed with his outstretched arm. Yes! there it was indeed, safe, dry, easy; just the one way off the rocks. We crossed and were safe. We wished to thank the gentleman, but when we got to the top of the cliff he was gone. You will say, "What a kind man!" Yes; he was kind indeed. But what if we had not taken the safe way he pointed out. And it was the only one! "Oh," you say, "you would have been mad. What else could you do? “Ah, yes; what else! And yet, when the Bible tells us to come to the Lord Jesus for salvation, to wash us from our sins in His blood—to come just as we are, as sinners, and He will save us—how many fail to come! Ah! surely, dear children, you do not listen to the account of all this love and say, " It is nothing to me." Remember, like the rising tide on the rocks, there is no time to wait—death may come at any time. A dear little boy I knew, not more than nine years old, died lately. He learned of Jesus' love. He is with Him now—so happy—so blessed! I love to think of him. You may meet him in heaven, for there is room for all—a welcome for all there. Everybody washed in the precious blood of Jesus will meet there. But, remember, if you stay where you are, in your sins, if you try any other way of salvation, you will be lost forever. There is just one way. May God by His Spirit lead you to it, for Jesus' sake. Figures and Shadows THE MEETING PLACE FOR GOD AND MAN. THE altar in Israel was the meeting place for God and man; and, indeed, we may say, as a broad and general principle, that at the altar God meets sinful man and sinful man may meet God. But more-no other meeting place on earth exists for man; and if we do not meet God as to our sins at the place designed by His appointment for our eternal blessing, we must meet Him at His solemn judgment throne to our eternal doom. These are Jehovah's words in reference to the altar of His sanctuary in Israel: "There I will meet with the children of Israel"; and of the altar which the pious Israelite might erect, Jehovah said "In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee." As we consider the goodness of God in providing a meeting place for man and Himself, and as the fact fills the mind, that there, was only one such place allowed by Him, both the grace and the solemnity of, the position of the altar are present to us in all their importance. It was not left for the teachers of Israel to determine the locality of the altar—God Himself arranged its position—for we now have Jehovah's sanctuary in view. The position designed for it by Jehovah was such that everyone in the camp—or in later years in the court of the temple—could perceive it at once; and, as it was situated in immediate connection with the gateway, or entrance to the sanctuary, everyone coming: to Jehovah could approach it at once. There was no manner of hindrance to debar the Israelite in approaching the altar. Indeed, how could such a thing be? The meeting place was by Jehovah's appointment open to all—to rich and poor—who would receive the blessing of God. It is remarkable that, as the Church lost her early or apostolic simplicity, and changed the table of communion into an altar for sacrifice, she located it in exact opposition to the divine order in Israel. Instead of placing it in front of the worshipper who would approach God, she set it as far from him as the extent of the building would allow. It might be more correct to say, she did this by degrees—for, at the first, the altar had a row of seats, or a long bench behind it, whereon sat the elders and the bishop in his chair; but, as time proceeded, this bench was removed. And, that there should be no doubt as to her intention, she also erected a railing or a fence between the altar and the people—thus doing all that in her lay to write upon men's minds that the meeting place between God and sinful man was difficult of approach. Again, in process of time, the priest officiating, instead of facing the people, stood with his back to them in his ministrations. The Church, in her departure from apostolic truth, taught that no approach could be obtained unless the services of the priest were brought into requisition. The contrast between the position of the altar as developed by the Church and that as commanded by Jehovah in Israel is so absolute, that everyone who trembles at Jehovah's word should earnestly consider it. The teaching of Jehovah by sign and symbol was, the accessibility for man to reach the place where God would meet him. The altar stood in the open air, in broad daylight, and had no mystery about it. It proclaimed its lessons to all. The teaching of the Church by sign and symbol developed difficulty upon difficulty for the man who would reach God. Even the place to which the ordinary man was denied access, as the Church evolved her false ideas, became shrouded with drapery and lighted artificially! The Reformation destroyed a great deal of this false symbolism. It laid a heavy and righteous hand upon a vast amount of priestly sacrilege, and ecclesiastical acts of despite to the cross of Christ, and ways of despising the grace of God. But, alas! a rage of fashion subverting the teaching of God and perverting His symbols, has again set in in the land. Yet, be human fashion what it may, God never changes, and, blessed be His Name! He never changes in His grace which the position of the altar proclaims to every sinner who would approach Him. Nay, since the cross of His Son, which the altar prefigured, God has adorned the place where He meets man in his sins with glories and beauties such as Israel never knew and the heart of man never conceived. Not only was the altar hard by the gate of the sanctuary, and a witness to all of accessibility, it was set to the four quarters of the earth, looking outward, as it were, to all the world. It was the moral center where every creature might meet God. In this characteristic it was an on looking to the fulfillment of Christ's own words: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said signifying what death He should die." "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'' We will now observe briefly the witness of the sacrificial blood upon the altar. The blood was either cast upon the altar, or some of it was placed upon the altar's horns. This latter action related to the sacrifices for sin. Now, whatever was the manner of the disposal of the blood, the object lesson was enacted thousands of times a year in the sight of Israel, and was familiar to all. The manner of the disposal of the blood was ordained by Jehovah Himself in His instructions to Moses, and for centuries the priests of Israel obeyed those instructions. As for the objection that those instructions were the invention of the priests of Ezra's time, it is very well known that heathen priests did not deal with the blood of their sacrifices after the manner of Israel. The teaching contained in the disposal of the blood is divine: man's mind did not conceive it; no, it shadowed forth the glory of God in reference to the cross of His Son. Our space confines our thoughts to the placing of the blood of the sin offering upon the four horns of the altar. Horns are emblematic of power. With them the bull and the ram offered in sacrifice used their strength. The horns upon the altar were formed of brass, and they made a terminal at each corner rising upwards, and thus completed its symbolism. The crowning power of the altar arose towards heaven, and bent towards the four ends of the earth. Upon these horns the sacrificial blood was placed. The blood proclaimed pardon. Thus was the power of the altar before heaven and towards man witnessed in the pardon of sins. Before eternal justice it proclaimed the death of the victim on behalf of the guilty; unto the guilty it proclaimed forgiveness through satisfied righteousness. The teaching of the New Testament in reference to the sin offering expresses itself in plain words such as these: "He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"; " Christ... His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree " —words which teach the power of the sacrifice of Christ in its effects upon His people. Now, how did the Church act in reference to this teaching? She erected an altar having no symbol of power attached to it. The Church lowered in the eyes of her children, the divine conception of the altar and deformed it. Neither had she shedding of blood in her sacrifice upon her altars, and without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. God declared through Christ "the forgiveness of sins" and justification "from all things" to all who believed, and remission of sins and iniquities by virtue of Christ's one offering for sin. God by His Holy Spirit, by apostolic teaching, magnified the power of Christ's cross; but the Church, by her altars, did her best to eclipse from man's eye the glory of Christ's sacrifice and the majesty of His work, and to substitute in their place a faint and faulty idea. And such as emulate the altar of the Church, and make light of the altar of God, have to confess to their weakness by the fact that their altar has not even the symbol of power connected with it. From such an altar the testimony in heaven of Christ's fulfilled sacrifice is lacking, and by it the conscience of the worshipper is unpurged from dead works. The fashion of the day perverts the communion table into an altar for sacrifice, and does so with all the pomp and pride of incense, garments, and candles; but the fashion is but the garb of a mean and feeble religion, having no true resemblance to the majesty and the glory, the wealth and the grace of the Gospel of God. Glimpses of the Golden Thread IN NUMBERS AND DEUTERONOMY. WE resume the theme of the coming glory of the kingdom as it shines before us in the different books of the Bible. The Book of Exodus closes with the grand scene of Jehovah's glory in the midst of men—a foreshadowing of the kingdom in its noblest character—and from that glory the Book of Leviticus opens out its teaching of access to God. Now, as the Book of Numbers unrolls before us, we see men surrounding the sanctuary of Jehovah, and arrayed in their noble estate as the army of Jehovah about His dwelling place. The tents of Israel form in the picture the outer enclosure of the sanctuary of God; anticipatively, it almost might be said, "The tabernacle of God is with men." After the camp of Israel was thus arranged, the marching order was given. Would Israel march to victory, and bring in the kingdom to the glory of God? Alas! the Book of Numbers is stamped with the backslidings of Israel, and their consequent wanderings in the wilderness—not, indeed, as the army of Jehovah, but as a mere mass of men. Close upon the marching order to Israel, instead of the obedience of the people came their murmurings, their weariness of the manna, and the "very great plague" sent upon them by Jehovah. So that instead of beholding the army of Jehovah in its designed order and array, we see a great graveyard where the bodies of the murmurers were laid. We seem to have lost sight of the coming kingdom altogether; and, indeed, if its coming depended upon human effort, we should give up all hope of its appearing. Further great murmurings of Israel are chronicled. Then a rebellion of the princes and the people of such a nature occurred, that Jehovah was ready to consume them all in a moment. But in the sequel once more there arose, shining out from the very darkness of Israel's ways, a picture of the grace and the glory of the coming kingdom. Let us note the ways of God at this time with backsliding Israel. Israel had scorned the priesthood of Jehovah. The princes had claimed honors equal with Aaron, and had perished in their contempt of the High Priest chosen of God. What, then, would Jehovah do? He stilled their murmurings and rebellion by bidding Moses take the rods of Israel—the emblems of tribal authority—and place them before Him in His sanctuary. He would make to cease from before Him the murmurings of Israel in reference to His chosen leaders. And He would do so by making the rod of priestly authority fruitful before Israel's eyes. The rod of Aaron, in company with the rods of the heads of the tribes, was laid up before the ark, and on the morrow it was brought forth with the others. They retained their lifelessness, but Aaron's rod bore "buds," "blossoms," and "almonds"; it was abundant in the energy and fruitfulness of life. In this wonder we see once more the golden thread of the glory of the coming day. Over the dark background of man's rebellion, against God's Great High Priest, the grace of God is wrought. The sin of the rebellion related in Numbers is distinctly referred to prophetically by St. Jude as the climax of latter-day apostasy. The religious sin of our times is particularly in relation to the priesthood of Christ. The priesthood of the day asserts for itself power and virtue which belong alone to God's High Priest in heaven. Yet while the princes of the religious world may exalt themselves against His authority, none of them is capable of truly blessing his fellow men. Their authority is like the lifeless rods of the chiefs of Israel. But the rod of Christ's priestly authority is full of blessing. In His priesthood flowers and fruit are simultaneously put forth. He saves to the uttermost, He intercedes for His people, He brings them home to God. And in the end grace shall triumph over man's murmurings and over man's rejection of the Christ of God, and our High Priest shall come forth in power to reign in all the fullness of His excellence and glory. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. The kingdom shall be introduced by virtue of the intercession of our Great High Priest. The Book of Deuteronomy reiterates the words of Jehovah, and lays down principles which should govern Israel when possessing their own promised land. After what had been recorded of Israel in the wilderness, it is not surprising that laws and statutes should be earnestly pressed upon the people to induce their obedience. The Book of Deuteronomy closes with a song and a blessing. Let us linger for a moment over the song. There is a moral fitness in the fact that Moses, the Man of God, who introduced Israel into the wilderness, and their journey to the promised land, with a song, should, as they were about to enter that land, and as he took his leave of them, do so with a song! In his second song he joined Joshua with himself in its recital to the people of Israel. But how vastly different was his first song of unbroken victory, from his last of chastened reliance on God. Forty years in the wilderness, spent as to the greater part by Israel in sin and failure, necessarily altered the, great composer's thoughts about the people, and it could not be otherwise. And he taught them his last song in order that they should set their hearts to its words, and thus by its means prolong their years in the promised land. And this spirit is necessary for all who have experienced a little of themselves; a chastened spirit, or a sense of our sins and follies, should fill us with greater thoughts of divine grace. The song recites the sorrowful ways of Israel, their idolatries and perverseness, and looks forward on to the end, when, in the coming day, at length, Israel shall learn itself. But it does far more; the song rejoices in Jehovah, in His judgment and His fruitfulness, and calls to mind His first purposes when, in separating the sons of Adam, He fixed the boundaries of the nations of the earth according to the number of the children of Israel. Here, indeed, the absolute certainty of the coming kingdom shines forth. It shall be; for it is the purpose of God. Egypt had seemed to overmaster the divine purpose in Israel's slavery, but Jehovah had triumphed gloriously over Egypt; now worse enemies than Egypt had seemed to gain the victory—even the unbelief, and rebellion, and perverseness of the chosen people—but Jehovah would yet prevail —Israel should be blessed. The kingdom should surely come. The nations should rejoice, and the sins of Israel should be forgiven. After Moses's song came his blessing. As we regard it in its broad aspect as relating to Israel at large, and the realization of the kingdom, we especially rest upon the well-known words: “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms... Who is like unto thee, O people saved by Jehovah?" In the glory and the character of God lie the sure foundation of all our blessings. We may, like Israel, by our ways forfeit everything; but in God is our trust—in Him we hope. He will give us grace and glory—underneath are the everlasting arms. And thus shall it be in the coming day for this earth. Man has forfeited all blessing by his sins and rebellion; but the Lord has promised, and according to His own great name, He will bless. He will establish His sure word through the burnt offering and the incense-through the sacrifice and the intercession of Christ. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 77: A FEW WORDS ABOUT JOHN HUSS ======================================================================== IN the year 1404 two Englishmen visited the city of Prague. They had come from their own land to endeavor to spread Christ's Gospel in Bohemia. Once Bohemia rejoiced in much Gospel truth; but when the Pope Hildebrand, in 1079, gave his "dear son," the King of Bohemia, direction to forbid the reading of the Bible in the tongue of the people, darkness began to set in and persecutions to arise over the land. The Pope stated that, after a long study of the Word of God, he found that the Almighty was pleased that His worship should be celebrated in a tongue unknown to the people, and that many evils and heresies had arisen from the non-observance of this rule. The Pope was wise, we all can allow, since his Church and the Bible cannot live together, any more than he can live and thrive in the presence of God and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. These Englishmen began their work by public disputations on the Pope's supremacy; but this was soon forbidden by the authorities. Then they thought of another plan of work. They were artists as well as theologians; and they portrayed on the corridor of their host's house two pictures—one of Jesus entering Jerusalem, meek and lowly, riding upon an ass; and, opposite to it, one of the Pope, with his triple crown and bejeweled golden robes, sitting upon his horse, heralded by trumpeters and followed by cardinals and bishops in their bright clothing. These pictures attracted so many visitors and preached so eloquent a sermon, that the two Oxford graduates had to escape. Amongst the many who came to see the two pictures was John Huss, whose name is inscribed in letters of glory upon the crimson banner of the martyrs for our Lord Jesus Christ. John Huss lived in a strange time in the religious world. Three Popes fought with each other for the Papal throne. Thoughtful men asked, which of the three should be obeyed, and were puzzled how it could happen that the three, being infallible, could not distinguish which of them was the real Holy Father. One Pope said that the other was "a heretic, a demon, the Antichrist," and the two described the third as "an impostor and schismatic," while the third stigmatized the other two in equally vigorous terms. The evil lives of these men shall not now occupy us; but we cannot forget that, even during the period of agitation which filled Western Christendom because of the scandal attending the rivalries of the claimants to the Papal crown, bulls were issued, and persecutions carried out under them. John Huss endeavored to reform the abuses of the Papacy. He exposed the lying wonders that then, as now, captivated the people. There was one noted relic which he especially attacked. It was a reputed portion of the blood of Christ, and by it all kinds of miracles were said to be wrought. Thousands flocked to it, and the lame were healed and the blind given sight by its virtue. All this reads like some of the relics now becoming fashionable in our own country, and which ever attract thousands of sightseers on the Continent. If on this matter common sense existed in our nineteenth century, like that brought into use by John Huss in the fifteenth century, it would be all the better for religion today. The Archbishop of Prague instituted a commission of three learned men, who inquired into the miracles, and they proved that the blind people, who were alleged to have received their sight, were never blind, but only had had sore eyes, and that the lame were as lame after their being "healed" as they were before visiting the relic. Thus, under severe penalties, preachers were commanded to warn the people against impositions. But when John Huss attacked the abominable system of indulgences he committed an unpardonable sin against the Pope and the Church, for that system brought in endless money; and, as the King of Bohemia and the people of Prague sided with him, the Pope laid the city under an interdict. The churches were closed, the dead remained unburied, and the images were draped in black, and, being taken off their pedestals, were laid flat upon the roadside—hence they were not in a suited position to receive the people's prayers. Tumults arose and struggles occurred in the streets, so John Huss left the city. He fought the selfsame battle which is proceeding today even in our land. He wrote: "The absolution of Jesus Christ ought to precede that of the priest—or, in other words, the priest who absolves and condemns ought to be certain that the case in question is one in which Jesus Christ Himself has either absolved or condemned." This blow against the power of the priesthood could not be tolerated. What! Christ first, and the priest only the servant of Christ in the forgiveness of sins! Such a statement deprives the priest of his priestly power, and leads the sinner to Christ instead of the priest. But a greater evil still was promulgated, for Huss wrote: "If the Pope uses his power according to God's commands, he cannot be resisted without resisting God Himself; but if the Pope abuses his power by enjoining what is contrary to the divine law, then it is a duty to resist him, as should be done to the pale horse of the Apocalypse, to the dragon, to the beast, and to the leviathan." Here Papal infallibility was struck at; for, if the Word of God, and not the word of the Pope, is to be obeyed, who, after all, is the Pope? No wonder Pope John XXIII was not trusted as the voice of God, for a viler man than he hardly ever breathed, and being one of the three rival Popes he was a scandal to the Church. Perhaps, had he merely been a bad-living man, he would have been sainted in due season, for, evil as he was, he was not unlike other Popes of his times; but the rivalry of the Pontiffs disturbed the kings and emperor of the age, and political necessities demanded and accomplished John's removal from office. The Emperor Sigismund was honestly grieved at the scandal, and he determined to put an end to it, and called a great council together, to which came prelates and delegates from all parts of Europe. In the end, two of the rivals were deposed, and the third retired. But another man was summoned before this council, not to give an account for an evil life—far from it—but for an unpardonable offense in the eyes of the Emperor and the Church—for preaching Christ. Huss presented himself at the council under the protection of a safe conduct of the Emperor, and every bond of word and of honor which mortal man could give. But Emperor and council set their word and honor at naught. "No faith is to be kept with heretics to the prejudice of the Church," was the decree. Neither was this decree new to the council in question (A.D. 1415); it had been promulgated in prior centuries, and was re-declared in later ones. It is Rome's principle of today, and, therefore, no oath or promise made to a heretic by the Church, or those whom the Church can command, is valid, for immediately there is necessity for the interest and benefit of the Church, the oath is converted into a lie. Huss was seized, cast into a dungeon and loaded with chains, and, strangely enough, his dungeon stood in the very prison where the Pope was confined! When Huss was brought before his accusers, he appealed to the Scriptures, which occasioned such an uproar of jeers and laughter amongst the "fathers" that he could not be heard. The voice of the Church drowned the voice of God. When the sentence of condemnation had been recorded against Huss, the ceremony of degradation followed. His hair was cut crosswise in token that he could never again exercise his priestly office, and seven bishops deprived him of seven priestly garments, each one cursing him as he exercised his power. After that he was crowned with a hideous cap, painted with the figures of devils, and then the bishops said, "Now we devote your soul to the devil,” Then a procession was formed of Emperor and prelates, and a great crowd, and John Huss was led to the stake. He was chained by the neck as he stood on straw and fagots, and wood was piled about him to his chin. While in this position the Marshal of the Empire approached, and, in Sigismund's name, implored him to retract. "I call God to witness," cried Huss, "that all that I have written and preached has been with the view of rescuing souls from sin and perdition; and, therefore, most joyfully will I confirm with my blood that truth which I have written and preached.” When the fire was lighted Huss uttered no cry of pain, and as it arose around him he sang hymns to God. Emperor and prelates thought they had silenced the voice of John Huss forever, but today the very Rhine which bore his ashes to the ocean, rolls through lands where the Bible is in the people's hands, and lands which are great because they possess the Bible in their own mother tongue. War to the knife against the Bible is the battle of Rome. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 78: THE LORD HAS GOT MY SOUL ======================================================================== AUGUST A. was a Swedish sailor, who had been ill for several years; sometimes he was able to get about a little, at other times he was confined to his bed. His protracted illness had been the means of bringing him to Christ. “Before I was ill," he once said to me, "I thought I was my own master." But when I first saw him in a London hospital he had already spent two or three years in the service of another and a better Master—not His active service (for from that his-ill-health shut him out), but in that equally acceptable service of which Milton wrote: "They also serve who only stand and wait.” He was rather a slow, quiet man, but greatly appreciated any kindness shown him. I remember how earnestly he once spoke to me about a Swedish lady who was in the habit of visiting him: “If I were to live five hundred years I should never forget that lady! The quiet, simple-hearted Swede was quite a friend and confidant for me in my visits to the hospital. He did not say much, and was not always as bright and happy as one would have liked to see him, but I always knew had his heartfelt interest and sympathy in anything of which I told him, or for which I asked his prayers. One summer afternoon last year I was greatly startled on going into his ward to see the change in his appearance. His strangely altered features and unnaturally high-pitched voice told of the near approach of death. I sat down by his side and told him how sorry I was to see him so ill. August gathered his little remaining strength together, and cried: "Don't be sorry! don't be sorry! The Lord's got my soul.” Oh, the joy of hearing such a testimony from dying lips! Then, raising his right arm as high as he could stretch it, and pointing heavenwards, he said: “I’m going home—there—home! As I prayed for him he clasped his hands together, and the dying lips sought to join in the petition. "God bless you" he said, earnestly, as we shook hands on parting, and then he put up his wasted hand and patted my cheek just like a little child. It was dear August A.'s last farewell. A few days later I found his bed empty—he had gone to be with his Savior. Dear reader, if you, like the Swedish sailor, were lying on your deathbed, would you be able joyfully to say, "The Lord has got my soul"? Or would you leave this world in the awful consciousness that, as Satan had been your master through life, so in death your lost soul was in his grasp, instead of in the hand of the Good Shepherd? Oh, I plead with you, in simple faith take refuge in the One who died and rose again. May He be your Savior, your Lord, your all; and then His home will be yours too, and, whether you fall asleep, or are still living when He comes, you will be able to say with happy assurance, “I'm going home—there—home.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 79: WORK AMONG CATHOLICS IN FRANCE ======================================================================== A COURAGEOUS PRIEST. SOME stir has been made in the town of Plomion, in the diocese of Soissons, by the action of the priest, M. Philippot. He is a man of more than usual thought and education, and he has at length come to the conclusion that many of the dogmas of Rome—such, for example, as the infallibility of the Pope—are utterly untenable. At first he endeavored to retain his position as cure, and preach to his congregation the simple Gospel as he found it in the Scripture; but the Bishop soon heard of his unorthodox views, and ordered him at once to abandon them under pain of excommunication. Being thus forced to open action, M. Philippot wrote out a formal declaration of his faith, which he read publicly in church to his congregation on the 13th of the month before, at the same time sending a copy to his Bishop and to his brother clergy. It runs as follows:— “Having been impeached before a sort of tribunal of the Inquisition for having made a statement of the evangelical views that I preach to my flock, I was then ordered by the Bishop to explain myself before a council of bishops at Vervins. But today his lordship refuses me that opportunity; and I am, therefore, obliged to appeal to the tribunal of public opinion. “When the early martyrs were questioned about their faith, they used to reply, ' I am a Christian.' Like them, I sum up my creed in the same phrase. “I am a Christian because I am united to Jesus Christ by faith; in Him and through Him I have the pardon of my sins, and also fellowship with my Heavenly Father. I am a Christian because the teaching of Jesus Christ is the law of my mind, as well as my ideal in life; and I cannot conceive of any religion more perfect. I put the Gospel of Jesus Christ above every word of man, and I judge all by the Gospel. In religious matters human teachings and institutions are praiseworthy if they are inspired by the spirit of the Gospel, and bad if they run contrary to it. “I believe in the divine revelation, which I sum up thus: Jesus Christ foretold and announced in the Old Testament; Jesus Christ, in His earthly life, proclaiming to men the good news of salvation; Jesus Christ, in His glorified life, communicating His Spirit to the souls of men. “I believe in everlasting salvation, the conditions of which are clearly fixed by the Gospel; so that man's authority can add nothing to it nor take anything from it. These conditions are summed up in one—faith in Jesus Christ. But this faith is not a mere intellectual belief; it is a genuine whole-hearted trust—the yielding up of the whole soul to the government of Jesus Christ. We are conscious of this trust and surrender when Christ is revealed to us; and when we feel that, notwithstanding our sins—which have been washed away by the blood of Christ—God is our Father and we His children, brethren of Jesus Christ and heirs with Him of eternal life. This feeling of union with God by Jesus Christ is the very essence of Christianity. “I believe also in the Holy Spirit sent by the Father and the Son. It is by the Holy Spirit that God reveals Himself to us; it is by Him that the words of Jesus Christ touch our hearts; it is He who makes us cry Abba, Father! ‘and who bears witness that we are children of God. This inner witness of the Holy Spirit is at the foundation of my faith in Christ and of my calling as His servant. ============================= “I believe in the Word of God as contained in the Old and New Testaments. “I believe, notwithstanding my convictions, and even on account of my convictions, that I might be a good minister of the Catholic Church, earnest for bringing souls to Christ in all love and humility and true apostolical liberty. I call myself Catholic because Christ was so, and all the Christians of the first ages; and I am persuaded that this emancipated Catholicism will be that of the twentieth century. We are getting back to the spirit of the first century; the world can never be saved except by the Gospel. “As for myself, I cannot maintain a hypocritical silence any more than be a liar. In any condition, respectable or despised, in which Providence may put me, I am resolved to preach the truth according to the dictates of my conscience. Woe be to me if I preach not the Gospel! "A. PHILIPPOT, “Curd of Plomion (Aisne)."M. Philippot sent a copy of this to the Bishop of Soissons, with the following letter:— “Plomion (Aisne), “June 16th, 1897. “My Lord,—I have the honor to send your lordship my profession of faith, which I was going to read before my brethren next Tuesday. Pray do not be surprised to see it in print. You forbade me to speak at Vervins, and I have therefore thought it my duty to speak to the whole diocese. Today, as in the time of St. Paul, the Word of God is not bound. “Pray do not look on this as the effort of an inferior in rebellion against his superior. My poor personality is nothing, as the matter goes far beyond us. It is a conflict between the Gospel and the teachers of the law of the present day, who, after stealing the key of the sanctuary of knowledge, refuse to go in themselves and hinder others from doing so. (Luke 11:52.) “If you believe the Gospel, you will bless me; if not, you will condemn me. “Allow me to offer you, my lord, the expression of my deep respect. “A. PHILIPPOT.” On the 18th of June M. Philippot was excommunicated. The Bishop's letter ran: "By reason of your public and printed profession of faith, which I received this morning, and which is clearly heretical, you have incurred the sentence of complete excommunication which the Sovereign Pontiff has the right to pronounce. And I therefore declare you incapable of any ecclesiastical function.” The Bishop added that it was a deep sorrow to him to be obliged to write in such a way to one of his priests, but that he had no alternative. M. I’Abbé Philippot declares that he also has only obeyed the voice of his conscience; and he writes to one of his friends: "At this moment, when I am outside the communion of every Church, I feel myself more Catholic than ever, and more than ever in communion with all those who live the life of the Gospel under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 80: WAITING FOR THE BRIGHT SIDE ======================================================================== THE following simple record of what God's grace can do in lifting a poor sufferer above the present grief may cheer many, and be the means of leading them to their Savior God, and to patient, ever thankful submission to His will. The one we speak of had once enjoyed the blessing of health, which she had used for herself, and not for Him who gave it. Now, long bedridden, she is a bright testimony to the truth of the scripture, "He Both not afflict willingly," and to what great things God can work in the soul. S. has lain thirty-two years with half her frame paralyzed, speechless, often in pain, and penniless, except for the parish allowance, and the gifts of Christian friends. Not infrequently the last penny was spent, and the cupboard was empty, but never for long, for her Father in heaven would send her something, when, as she says herself, it was least expected. On the afternoon of the day I made her acquaintance, she had not yet tasted food, yet an open intelligent countenance met me with a bright smile, as the hand waved me to the chair, and the lips moved their welcome, for no sound came forth. I said, "He doeth all things well"; and she laid her hand upon her heart and gazed upward where He is, as though she would pierce those opened heavens where, by faith, she sees Jesus her Savior, crowned with glory and honor. The placid calm of her features seems to reflect His image, for we "with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image." To one, who by long practice is able to interpret the movements of her lips, she said, pointing upwards, "I am just waiting for the bright side" (meaning, "I am waiting for glory with Christ above"). "I would have nothing undone. All is right.” When I saw her five years had elapsed since she had been lifted off her bed, as the pain incurred by the exertion would have been too much for her. She shares the room with another, and there is little quiet from morning until nearly midnight, but when all is hushed the enjoyment of the silence almost overcomes her. Here does He, who lives in glory and cares for His people, still come and manifest Himself richly to her, for He is her only possession here and portion forever. It was in a workhouse twelve years ago that this dear child of God found joy and peace in the Lord, through the visits of a Christian, who had read and explained the Scriptures to her, Dear afflicted sorrowing one, let this reality lead you to the "spring" of all our joys, "God's love," revealed in Christ. He is the channel through whom the love flows, and every thirsty longing soul has but to drink and never thirst again. May we, like dear S., be able to say, "I am just waiting for the bright side. I would have nothing undone. All is right.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 81: FAITH ======================================================================== WITHOUT faith it is impossible to please God," for no moral association exists between man and God where man lives in independence of God. A heathen does not believe that God is; he is, therefore, without compass or guiding star upon the waters of life. The mere professing Christian believes as an article of his creed in the fact that God is, but does not believe God Himself; he is like a mariner accepting the theory of the compass yet setting sail without it, and knowing that the pole star is overhead yet refusing to cast his eye up to it. The genuine believer takes God at His word, and shapes his course by its directions. Faith is the great principle upon which the people of God go holily through this world to heaven. The believer needs faith for his daily life. Our daily progress in the life of faith only commences after our hearts have truly taken in the tidings of His love to us in His Son. In the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, we have the activities of faith presented to us in a series of groupings, which, like a picture in partitions, unfolds the life of faith from the moment God is believed by the sinner, till the time when, life's pilgrimage being over, the saints shall be perfect in resurrection bodies. The first three verses of the chapter are preliminary to these groupings. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"; he who has faith, has in him the assurance, the giving substance to, of things hoped for. Knowing about a truth, and having the truth in the heart, are vastly different things. No amount of infidel argument can thrust out of the soul of the dependent child of God this substance, or drive from him this divinely given conviction of what he sees not. The believer dependent on God has in him the God-given assurance and conviction of the truth of what God says to him. In our chapter, before faith in God for salvation is spoken of, faith in Him as Creator is set forth. What these eyes behold, what these feet tread upon, of this material world, was not made from what appears. The believer has faith to know God as the Creator, as well as his Savior. In the persons of Abel, Enoch, and Noah, three great traits of faith are grouped together. The lives of these three men picture, first, faith which is wise as to the sacrifice; second, faith which waits for translation to heaven; third, faith which saves others, and condemns the world as it hastens on to its judgment. Abel recognized his own sinful state, and trusted in God for the remedy for man's ruin. He brought to God "the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof," and God testified of Abel's gifts—the sacrifice and its excellency. Those gifts, the outcome of obedience to God's Word, declared the worthlessness of self and the worthiness of the sacrifice of God's appointment. By them Abel obtained witness that he was righteous, even as in this day do all who believe God and rest in the finished work of His Son. “Enoch walked with God." The world-crowd of his day rushed on one way; the solitary man of faith went in the opposite direction. We find the difficulties of our short lives very great—to walk with God for three years is no light thing. "Enoch walked with God... three hundred years”! Sin was lusty and strong in those primitive times; and as, year by year, the world grew older in iniquity, Enoch walked with the never-changing God. Walking with God, we are like God, and not like the changing times in which we live. “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." What a short, sweet history of a long life I We are not told what great works he did; these will be known hereafter in heaven; but he had this testimony, "that he pleased God." Enoch believed that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Cain had his all in this world—Enoch looked for his reward in heaven. Nor was Enoch an inactive spectator of the growing sin around him; he lifted up his voice against the evil of his times; he warned men by the Spirit of coming judgment. "Behold," said he, "the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” We may say that our life of faith should be made up after Enoch's testimony. Our first aim should be to please God, and it is our privilege to wait for His Son from heaven. Pleasing God in walk and ways is the active part of the life of faith; waiting for His Son from heaven, even Jesus, who hath delivered us from the wrath to come, is the patient side of faith's career on earth. Trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus, rejoicing in its efficacy and its worth, walking with God, and waiting for His Son from heaven, are the first principles of the life of faith. The testimony of Noah completes this early picture of three panels of the way of faith. The things around him were apparently as secure as are the things of the world this day. But the solemn word of God respecting coming judgment stirred Noah's soul. There are two distinct characters in Noah's faith as here presented to us; he built an ark for the saving of his house, and he condemned the world. When the Christian is truly energized by the faith of coming judgment, he cannot fail to seek the salvation of his house. Those who do not believe that Christ is coming, to take His own out of the world to heaven, and that having thus come to the air He will next come to the earth to judge its iniquity, may perhaps afford to be indifferent to the salvation of souls. But such as have faith in God's Word respecting the coming of His Son, dare not cease seeking for the salvation of their houses. The jeering of the, multitude, who heard Noah's hammer ringing against the gradually rising sides of his ark, would only call forth from him more earnest preaching of righteousness. How he must have warned the godless world of impending wrath He had the word, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man.... yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." But year by year the number of those years diminished, till at length the last day of the last month of the last of the one hundred and twenty years came. Noah entered into the ark, the door was shut, and the flood came and swept the rest away. Let us add to our faith, which trusts the blood of Jesus, that faith which we have seen gave Enoch his footsteps, and to that, the faith which gave Noah his energy. These three things should be found in all their intensity in each believer. They are all necessary in living the life of faith, and when they are all found in holy proportion in the soul, the result is a fine type of the man of faith. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 82: I WISH I COULD BE A CHRISTIAN! ======================================================================== NELLIE was resting by the bank of a shining brook near her home one lovely Sunday morning, and looking very sad. As the tears rolled down her cheeks, the cause of her sorrow was explained by her desires contained in these words, "I wish I could be a Christian!” What had made Nellie feel so unhappy on this bright Sunday morning? Well, I will tell you. She had been to hear a young missionary preach on behalf of the African-Americanses, and, as she listened to his eloquent pleading, not only for the poor heathen, but also for the souls of those who then listened to him, poor Nellie felt very sad, and the bitter tears would come into her eyes, and the sobs would make themselves heard, as she felt that she was just as bad as the poor black children across the sea, for she, too, was not saved. And so after the preaching she slipped away from her friends and ran down to the brook where she might be alone and sob out the misery of her troubled young heart unseen. But was she unseen? Ah, no! My reader: know very well that there is One who always sees us. God was looking down on Nellie and He was going to give her the desire: of her heart, though she would have to learn a good many things first. The young missionary soon left the village, without preaching again, and Nellie's sorrow, after a time, wore off But she never forgot that she was lost—that if she died as she was she could not go to heaven. The one friend to whom Nellie found courage to tell her trouble only laughed at her. She tried to forget this solemn truth, but in vain: when she was awake at night she again remembered it, even if she had forgotten it during the day, and so she went on for a long time. She then tried to be good, thinking if she could only succeed she should be all right but having a quick temper, Nellie seemed to get worse instead of better, till at last she felt that she was too bad ever to be a Christian at all. She did not know that the Lord Jesus has power to save all who come to Him. And, indeed, when she heard preachers say, "Come to Jesus," she used to think to herself, "How can I go? I wish only knew how—I would walk anywhere if He were down here now why don't they tell us how to come?” For years Nellie was seeking at times how to be saved, and none of those whom she heard preach told the simple, plain way of salvation. But at last one preacher told his hearers to take their difficulties to God in prayer. Here was something Nellie could understand; and she went home, took her difficulties to God in prayer; then soon after she was led to read the precious verse in Matt. 1, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." That was what she wanted. She read on and on through the New Testament, and there, to her surprise and joy, she found that God had sent His own Son to die, to put away the sins of all who believe on Him. She learned, too, that in order to come to Jesus she did not require to go anywhere; coming to Him meant believing Him with all her heart and telling Him so. She also found that she could speak to Him just where she was, and that He would hear her. It was so delightful to Nellie to find that she might have all her sins washed away and be brought to God, that at first she hardly dared believe it, but before long she did; and I will tell you what helped her very much—she learned by heart several verses, and, amongst others, these words of Jesus: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Whenever she began to feel sad she would repeat them over to herself; and the dark thoughts soon went. So at last Nellie knew that she was saved, because God's Word said so. And who was happier than Nellie then? Her friends soon observed the change, and, to her great delight, in a short time her sister also was saved. Before long Nellie was taken very ill, but she was very happy; she was so glad to think that perhaps she might soon see Jesus, who had saved her. One day during her illness the doctor who had been to see her looked very grave, and, calling her friends out of the room for a minute, told them that Nellie had only a short time to live. Great was their surprise at the happy smile with which she received the news. Ah, Nellie belonged now to Jesus, who had been right down into death and the grave; and He had made even that bright with His own love, and there was no terror left for His own loved ones. But, contrary to the fears of all, she recovered, and lives now with one desire—to please the Lord Jesus. Dear children, will not you, too, trust the Savior, and live for Him? ============================= ======================================================================== CHAPTER 83: THE UNCHANGING WORD ======================================================================== "THE Word of the Lord abideth forever" Every generation produces its own thought and ideas. God's Word is unchangeable. Man, of course, thinks he is ever on the road to fresh glory, but his progress may be after all only further and further from God. What a day of opening of eyes will it be when, this life being ended, the leaders of thought in the world enter eternity to find that God is what He declares in His Word. The Entrance of Christianity Into Britain IN endeavoring to learn what the Church was really like in the early centuries, it is most necessary to keep before the mind the fact, that many words then in use carried a very different meaning from that which now is the case. Church, bishop, altar, for example, in primitive times conveyed different ideas from what they now do. In respect to the word "church." During the apostolic age, and for some little time afterward, there was no word for the place where the Christians congregated. Church in those days signified persons. Hence, when we assign a date to the erection of churches in Britain, we perceive that custom had already prevailed in the world, and had permitted the Church to designate with its own name the buildings in which its members congregated. The Church at large was at the first too little settled in the heathen world to admit of rearing buildings for special use, and the room of a Roman villa, whose owner was favorable to the Christian faith, or any occasional chamber, would suffice as the place wherein the Christians worshipped; or, failing such advantages,' the open air or a hiding-place underground would afford them the opportunity of gathering together. Amongst the Jews the upper room of the house, or, in Jerusalem, the precincts of the temple, gave the Christians the center for their assembling themselves together. The persons who composed the Church were the "living stones" of the spiritual building, which was the "habitation of God through the Spirit" on the earth. But as time proceeded, and the Church fought its conquering way in the world, the places where its members met together obtained recognition, till at length buildings of importance were erected, which overtopped and overshadowed the temples of the pagans. The first churches erected in Britain were not like the great churches of the East. They were formed of mud and wattle, after the manner of the humble houses of the Britons themselves, and this fact alone is evidence of the national character of the early British Church. There are some few remains of churches in which Roman work proclaims the presence or the influence of the conquering nation, and the hold the Christian faith had gained in the pagan empire. The wooden fabric and straw roof of the church of about A.D. 230 (we quote from Thackeray) was not adorned either outwardly or inwardly with paintings, crosses, and images, although texts of Scripture appeared in various places upon the walls. Nearly in the middle of the church was placed a reading desk, from which portions of Scripture were read to the congregation by the deacons; for in early times every nation performed divine service in the tongue of the people. History tells practically nothing of very early British martyrs, and it has been shrewdly observed, as it was the custom of Imperial Rome to allow conquered nations to retain their religion, that after the overthrow of Druidism the Britons may have been left, as to religion, to take their own course-at least, to a considerable extent. The Romans, while bringing their religion with them into conquered lands, did not aim at changing the ideas of the people, while certain Roman rulers in Britain were, to say the very least, favorably disposed to the Christians. But when the edict of the Emperor Diocletian (A.D. 303) reached Britain toleration was set aside. The Emperor endeavored to stamp the Christian faith out of the whole empire; and thus the more settled parts of Britain, and its chief cities, felt the force of his blow. Then it was that Albanus, the Roman who protected a Christian, suffered martyrdom. The names of a few others have come down to us. There were many churches in Britain at the time, and many Britons who worshipped Christ, and it is much to be regretted that we know so very little of the martyrs, for several, both men and women, were slain. We merely know, in a general way, that there was persecution. The annals of the martyrs are the noblest monuments of the Church; they declare the power of Christ in His people, and the faith of Christ's servants, such as none other witness can approach; but, alas! in regard to these ennobling testimonies, the Church itself was her own enemy, for, as she grew lax as to Christ and His sacrifice on the cross, she surrounded the names of the martyrs with garlands of fables, and instead of magnifying Christ in their death, magnified their bones and garments. After the persecution during the reign of Diocletian, a period of ease at the hand of the Romans accrued to Britain, and times of favor to the Christian religion. The Christians came forth from their hiding places, rebuilt their churches, and honored the bones of their martyrs. The Christian faith had spread in the country, and the names of several early British bishops, some of whom are noted for spiritual wisdom, have come down to us, so that we can with joy consider Britain in the third and fourth centuries as possessing a considerable number of churches and godly leaders. We must pause again as the word "bishop" is upon our lips, for it would be a great mistake to suppose that the bishops in Britain of the third and fourth centuries were either like the bishops of today, or those of the apostolic age. As such titles as bishops, deacons, presbyters, and priests present themselves, it may be well very briefly to view the constitution of the Church as it existed at the first. The whole body of the Church (that is, all of its members) were regarded as priests rendering spiritual and acceptable worship to God the Father. They were, as St. John tells us, priests to God the Father by the consecration of Jesus Christ Himself; priests, both holy and royal, capable of offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, as St. Peter teaches; and having, each one of them, liberty to enter into the Holiest of All by virtue of the sacrifice and High Priesthood of Christ, as St. Paul declares. As the Church lost faith in these divine realities she invented a class of priests of her own, and denied to "all saints" the privileges above enumerated. So widely did the Church diverge from apostolic and revealed doctrine on this matter, that the very word "priest," as it is now applied to Christian ministers, has not even a place in the Scriptures. Over the Church in a locality—in a town, for example—elders, presbyters, or bishops were appointed. These men were married, and their families were of good repute. They were especially appointed to oversee the moral tone of the local Church, and such of them as labored also in the word and doctrine received double honor. It would have been almost impossible for the Church in Britain to have maintained a continuance at the first had the divine order not been regarded. The everyday life of the pagan and that of the Christian stood in contrast on all points, and the accepted moral principles respecting good and evil, such as prevail in Protestant countries today, had no existence in pagan communities. But, further, God did not intend that in His Church every man should do what might be right in his own eyes; neither did God intend that in His Church men should yield blind and senseless obedience to rulers who would turn it into a piece of spiritual mechanism. At the beginning the order of government in the local Church was patriarchal in character and of a family nature. The family character of life in the Church had died down in the end of the third century, when the original bishop had developed into a ruler over a large community; and it was absolutely forsaken when hundreds of such rulers were in turn ruled by a supreme Pontiff. Then the original constitution of the Church was laid in the dust, and upon the ruins of its holiness, tenderness, and love the citadel of priestly tyranny was built. Therefore, when we speak of bishops of the British Church, and would picture one of them, we have to shade off mentally from the homely example to the flock of apostolic times, to the bishop of the Roman province of the time of Constantine, and we must form our type according to the century in which we are interested. For some time after the conquest of Britain the Romans kept the people of the country poor; and, even when the policy of the conquerors changed, and Britain was intersected with roads, fruitful with corn and cattle, and luxurious with villas, the tax-gatherer pressed heavily upon the British. It is not, therefore, surprising that the Church in Britain was poor. It had no revenues, save the willing offerings of its members; and we find poverty characterizing some at least of its early bishops. But the favor towards Christianity shown by the Emperor Constantine exchanged the healthy hardships of the Church in Britain for pagan patronage. The Emperor addressed a circular letter to all the bishops in the empire, and commanded the State to assist with funds and support the rebuilding and enlargement of churches; and this circular styled the bishop addressed "your holiness"! So differently did the world of the year 350 regard the Church from the world of the year zoo A few brief words are necessary respecting Constantine. This emperor, while remaining a pagan—for he was not baptized until his dying hours—presided over the Church councils and was energetic in church building. We have not to say whether he was truly a Christian—we have only to judge by his ways: and, at the end of his life, he "sought comfort and absolution from the ministers of pagan superstition as well as from those of the true religion." What the influence of such a man was upon the Church is not hard to determine. Hence, the reign of Constantine, and the public recognition and toleration by the pagan empire of Rome, of the Christian religion, form a landmark of supreme importance in the history of the Church. Under Constantine the cross superseded Christ in many respects; and this evil is still rampant in the Church. He gave an impulse to the growing practice of the Church in her idolatrous sentiment of venerating sacred localities and of building elaborate churches upon sacred spots, and of doing so without warrant, whether the reputed sacred places were genuine or not. He persecuted "heretics"—some of whom, let us hope, rejected the corruption and worldliness with which the Emperor had flooded the Church— drove them out of cities, and confiscated their places of assembly. Such novelties—having the apostolic era in view—could not do otherwise than affect the whole professing body—the "Catholic" Church of the empire. Thus with the reign of Constantine and the empire absorbing the Church, we enter that period of her history when the last fragments of apostolic power, purity, and simplicity were fast being swept away. Constantine's seat of power had been transferred to the East, and Britain stood in the extreme West of the empire; hence it may not have suffered to the extent which befell the district in immediate contact with the Emperor. And, further, Rome with its idols, ever inimical to Christianity, stood as a barrier between the East and the far West. And, also, as we shall recount in our next chapter, changes were about to take place in Britain which isolated her, not only from the East, but from those countries of Europe which formed part of the Roman Empire. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 84: THE TEMPLE TRIBUTE MONEY ======================================================================== THERE are certain coins mentioned in the gospels connected with incidents of very deep interest. We will first turn our attention to the silver stater, which is mentioned in St. Matthew's gospel. The particular coin from which our illustration is taken is to be found in the British Museum. It was probably struck during the revolt of the Jews, and before the destruction of Jerusalem, and would date A.D. 66-70. Some, however, consider that it was struck B.C. 141 to 135, in the time of Simon Maccabæus. Be that as it may, it offers a fair representation of the “piece of money" of the scripture referred to. On the one side is a chalice, with "Shekel of Israel" inscribed over it, and "Year Two." Upon the reverse is a branch with three flowers—probably those of the pomegranate, which, as may be remembered, formed part of the ornamentation of the high priest's robe—and around the flowers is inscribed, "Jerusalem the Holy.” Every male in Israel was bound to offer once a year a half-shekel poll tax, which passed into the money chests of the temple. It was a sacred tax, emanating from the law demanding the redemption money when the tabernacle was erected. If two men joined together in payment of the tax, and presented a silver stater, they had to get the coin changed into two half-shekels, as each person had to pay his personal temple tax himself. The money changers charged a small settled fee for the transaction, though at times they imposed upon the people. When the Lord was with His disciples at Capernaum, the collector of the tax inquired of Peter whether his Master paid tribute, and as a pious Israelite Peter answered "Yes." Indeed, not to pay the tax was an offense which brought down the penalty of excommunication upon the offender. Rich or poor, even the very beggars, had in some way or other to find the money and pay the tax. When Peter had entered the house, and before he had opportunity to relate what he had said, the Lord inquired of him, "What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children, or of strangers?" Peter replied, "Of strangers"; and the Lord answered, "Then are the children free"! May we infer that He did not approve of this annual tax? It was originally the one compulsory payment which each Israelite had to make for the erection of the tabernacle of Jehovah in the wilderness, and the silver so collected was devoted in such a manner that it proclaimed Redemption. It was ransom money, and every Israelite, rich or poor, gave the same amount, for there is but one ransom for the soul. When the people were numbered it was also ordained by God that this ransom should be made by those who were numbered. But it may be questioned whether an annual tax in order to support the temple was at all the same thing as a ransom for the soul upon the given occasion of the numbering. The children of the King are free. Now, the form of the Lord's question is remarkable: "Of whom do the kings of the earth take tribute?" For by it the Lord discovered Himself to Peter, not merely as the King of Israel, but as the Lord of creation, saying, "Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for Me and thee.” A fish readily seizes a shining object as it settles down through the water; and the Lord, who knew all things, was aware of the silver stater being in the fish's mouth; and, as Disposer and Sustainer of all things, He so ordered that Peter should cast his hook aright and catch the fish. All obeyed His bidding or followed out His ordering. So far we see His perfect authority and power. But the incident shows more than this. "Lest we should offend them" is grace. He was Lord over all; and to ask Him to pay a poll tax, and His disciples, who stood, as it were, like children in relation to Him, was a grievous dishonor to Him; but "Lest we offend them," He said, graciously linking Peter with Himself in the "we." And not only so; but, in His almighty power and glory as Creator and Disposer of all things, He linked Peter with Himself. The temple coin, surrendered from the "sea" by the fish, was given to the tribute gatherer, by the Lord's order, both for Himself and His disciple—"for Me and for thee.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 85: BIBLE GLASS OUTLINE ======================================================================== OUR Lord's word: COME. 1. The absolute assurance and comfort in His declaration: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37.) “In no wise" forbids every question and silences every fear. It embraces every human being, irrespective of what he is or what he may have done.). 2. The cheer and encouragement to the sin-burdened in His gracious invitation: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28.) Every sin-burdened soul is assured of that rest which all the world cannot give, and which it has never so much even as suggested to offer any human being. The rest is the gift of One Person—Jesus only. 3. The satisfaction for oneself; and the wealth for others, the Lord promises, as He says “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink; he that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly" (i.e., inner spiritual man) "shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37, 38.) The Lord appeases soul thirst and heart longings; He quenches every desire by sustaining the heart of him who comes to Him with Himself. And this miracle on earth having been accomplished, a further miracle of grace is wrought; for the once yearning, unsatisfied heart becomes an up-springing fountain—nay, a river of blessing to others. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 86: NOTES FROM THE MISSION YIELD ======================================================================== THE NEW HEBRIDES. A FEW years ago only, the inhabitants of these islands were all savage cannibals. Some of the islands are still heathen, and untouched by the Gospel. On one of these a devoted missionary has located himself He thus writes (the "Paton Mission Fund" tells us): “The natives are very friendly to me, and I have had no trouble with them. But, oh, how they do fight among themselves! When once life blood is shed, nothing can put an end to the terrible chain of murders that follow, even to the bitter end of the extinction of the tribe. “The list of villages that have simply been blotted out in this manner is dreadful. Occasionally a man who has fled to a neighboring tribe and identified himself therewith escapes the general slaughter, but blood revenge is a fearful thing. And yet it is not all evil. Before the quarrel it gives in the heathen mind a sanctity to life. When a man knows that if he kills another he is almost certain to be shot in return, he hesitates to commit murder. “An outstanding source of war is the superstition about `poison.' They never think that anyone dies a natural death, but that someone must have ' poisoned ' him. I can best illustrate how this works by a case that occurred a short time ago. A boy in Leirup, a bush village, died. His father declared that a man in Melingelo—a neighboring bush village-must have poisoned him. The Melingelo man was enticed into Leirup, and most treacherously murdered. A hole was dug in the ground, and the body of the murdered man was placed in it, with the dead body of the boy in his arms. The hole was then filled up. The people of Melingelo in due time heard of the murder of their tribesman. They then went on the war-path and shot the dead boy's father, and no one can say where the affair will end... “One evening, just after sunset, Yesilel, a boy of ten whom I had adopted, came rushing up in a state of excitement, crying, ' Here come all man Omumba; man who fight! ' As I had never seen these people I got a start; but went out to meet them. They said they had been hunting pigs and were benighted, and asked to be allowed to sleep till the moon rose, when they would go home. I gave them a biscuit each and a house to sleep in, and had a long talk with them on the evils of fighting. I do not know what I should have said to these men had I known that only a day or two before they had killed two of their enemies and feasted on one of their bodies! “Who can paint the dirt, the sin, the misery, the chronic state of fear of the ' noble savage'? Well do I remember the emphasis with which a patient replied ‘SIKA’ (NO!) when I wanted him to go and wash in the stream. It was a new word to me, but I can never forget it. “I have appointed two of my natives assistant teachers. The elder of the two is doing very well, but the younger does not manifest the same eagerness. I have taught him a little English, and he is able to help me in acquiring the language. The seed time is a period of hard work and scanty encouragement for the farmer. Our work here is only in its seed time. Or, perhaps, rather we are just clearing the ground yet. But the harvest is sure. ' We shall reap if we faint not.'” Let us now turn to a Christianized island in the same group. “About nine a.m. we landed on Aniwa. Almost the whole population was there to welcome us. It was delightful to land among a Christian people. They are as different from the heathen, even in outward appearance, as light is from darkness. There was great shaking of hands and `alofa'-ings. The boat was soon emptied. Our own boat was hauled up and our things carried to the house. We were glad to find Kamasiteia, the head teacher, quite recovered from his illness. Leaving the landing we found the road beautifully swept, and at the Mission Station everything was in beautiful order. Litsi-Sisi, Hutshi, and Nalausi met us at the house and soon had tea ready. We were greatly refreshed in spirit by all that we saw and heard. Mr. Bates, another Christian trader, is on Aniwa just now, and takes a great interest in the natives. “The next day we had a prayer meeting, which was very largely attended. We were all struck by the number of fine healthy children on Aniwa. I addressed the people in their own language... “I know no community, as a whole, which is so living and practical in its Christian faith and life. Of course they have their faults, but so have we all. The children are respectful and obedient to their parents, and show a deep interest in spiritual matters. The young fellows nearly all take an active part in Christian work, and there is only one able-bodied old man who does not attend church regularly. Kamasiteia, the head teacher, is a fine character, and is a man respected by all. Lawawa and Kaitasi, his fellow elders, are Christ-like men—very faithful and reverent. The teachers are worthy of their vocation and some of them have served for years on Tanna. Altogether we were deeply impressed by the abundant spiritual life of the people of Aniwa. It is a truly Christian island.” Writing again of another island, Mr. Paton says: “As soon as we got back from the steamer we unpacked the organ. The natives came running from all directions. When Mrs. Paton played over some of the tunes which we have taught them in school, their joy knew no bounds. Their eyes were like to start out of their heads. To them the bokus nabuk ' (the box that sings) is a wonder, a mystery. The first hymn we sang was `Jesus loves me,' in Tannese. The natives joined in, their wonder growing with each new hymn. Our own hearts were very full as the grand old tunes sweetly rose to God. And to hear the dark heathen singing, too, brought the tears to our eyes. It was an hour never to be forgotten. The sweet notes of the organ, the wonder-looking faces of the natives, the heathen singing in their own tongue the praises of Christ, of whom they were only beginning to hear, and the agony of prayer that rose from our hearts to God—these things will go with us to our graves. “The following Sunday I had to again forego my tour among the villages, as I was still too weak to walk far. But Mr. Hume and the teachers made the usual round. I was able, however, to conduct the noon service at the station. In the evening we had a communion service with the teachers. It was a very happy, holy time, our first communion on Tanna. How our hearts did rise to God for the Tannese. Though we were alone amidst a dark mass of utter heathenism, yet we felt sure that the time would come, in God's goodness, when many of these dark, callous, cruel heathen would sit with us, transformed, around the Lord's Table. It was a most helpful time and we felt the presence of Christ very real to us.” While the missionaries are encouraged in their great work, and are nobly fighting for God in the great battle against sin and heathenism amongst the pagans, they have also to keep watch over the dark doings of European peoples, whose love of money leads them to capture, and enslave, and do to death many a poor native. Writing from West Tanna, Mr. Paton says: “Early on Monday morning the French steamer stopped off our landing and sent a boat ashore. The rain was coming down in torrents and a heavy sea was setting in. As the boat neared the shore we saw a recruit on board with his box. He looked wet and miserable enough in the boat, but when he was set on shore he presented one of the ghastliest sights I have ever seen, racked with a fearful cough, and so weak that he could not walk out of the water, but stood helplessly gazing about him. There were no friends to welcome him, so we agreed to take care of him, and to return him to his village. Mr. Hume and Tousi carried up his small box, while I brought up the rear with the recruit, whom I found to be one Netian, from a village about six miles from here. I had to walk very slowly, and when we got about a hundred yards Netian stopped, and said, `Me sore,' and would have fallen had I not caught hold of him. We had then to half carry him the remaining hundred yards to the house. By this time he was almost in a state of collapse. Every two hours we gave him a little nourishment and he came round wonderfully, but he was still very weak and low. All night long his fearful cough sounded through the house, and it made our hearts ache for him and boil against his ruthless murderers. The poor fellow kept complaining that his throat and chest had been burned out with grog. “Netian's story is only too common in these far lands. He left Tanna four years ago for Noumea, and was worked there till all his strength had gone, and was then shipped back to die in his native land-to die like a dog. The men who have sucked his life's blood may go free here, but there is a God of justice and of mercy who will reckon with them some day. I would rather be this dying heathen than they when that day comes.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 87: LUTHER'S MIGHTY "NO.” ======================================================================== NO event in the life of Martin Luther is more extraordinary than that of his victory over the powers of the world and of the church at Worms in April of the year 1521; and, we may almost say, no event in history is more wonderful, for then one man faced the whole might of the world. Having been cursed by the Pope himself to the fullest extent of his ability, Luther was summoned by the mighty Emperor Charles V.—practically the sovereign of the world—to appear before the Diet convened at the city of Worms, there to give account of himself, and necessarily to retract his doctrines. He had a safe-conduct, which really was of no value with the Pope's party; but Luther knew it was God's will that he should attend the Diet, and thus expressed himself to his friends: "I am called; it is ordered and decreed that I appear in that city. I will neither recant nor flee. I will go to Worms in spite of all the gates of hell and the prince of the power of the air." As he passed through Germany to the city, the inhabitants of whole villages and towns turned out to welcome the bold monk who dared to face the greatest powers on earth for the sake of the Truth of God. “They will burn you as they did John Huss," said some, who remembered what was the worth of the safe-conduct granted to that martyr. Luther answered: "Though they should kindle a fire all the way from Worms to Wittemberg, the flames of which reached to heaven, I could walk through it in the name of the Lord." As he neared the city, his great friend Spalatin sent a messenger begging him not to enter. Luther's reply was: "Go and tell your master that even should there be as many devils in Worms as tiles on the housetops, still I will enter it.' When at length the old towers of the city arose before his eye, he sat up in his car and sang the hymn of his own composing— “A tower of strength is God our Lord— A sure defense and busty guard; His help as yet in every need From danger hath our spirit freed: Our ancient foe in rage May all his spite display May war against us wage, And arm him for the fray, He that can keep all earth at bay.” At mid-day the city was reached, and crowds rushed out of the houses to behold the humble monk who braved the Emperor, the Pope's nuncios, the princes and the bishops of Christendom. His car could hardly advance for the mass of people, and it was midnight before he could be alone. Then he opened the casement of his window, and, looking up to the still sky, said: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety," and took his rest. In the morning, dressed in his monk's frock, Luther appeared before the grandeur of the Diet. He was dazed for a moment by the array before him—Emperor, electors, sovereigns, dukes and ambassadors, Papal nuncios, archbishops and bishops, not to speak of princes and counts—but he soon regained his calm. “Martin Luther," cried Eck, the spokesman of the Diet, as he pointed to a pile of some twenty volumes upon the table, "do you acknowledge these books to have been written by you? Are you prepared to retract and disavow the opinions you have advanced in them?” Luther replied: "Most gracious Emperor, and most gracious princes and lords, the books that have just been named are mine." And then he asked for time to reply to the second question, as it was one which concerned the salvation of souls, and "as it was one in which the Word of God—than which nothing is greater in heaven or earth—is interested.” The delay requested was but seemly; and the request was granted. The following morning, early, Luther was upon his knees. Trembling before God—brave before men; absolute nothingness in God's presence—power in the presence of God's enemies. Luther was prostrate in his spiritual conflict. Was God with him? Did God hear him? Had God forsaken him? Such were his longing questions to God. He cried, “Stand at my side for the sake of Thy well-beloved Jesus Christ, who is my defense, my shield, and my strong tower. "Then, after a period of pleading, the darkness lifted, and Luther said,” My soul belongs to Thee! It shall abide forever with Thee. Amen!... O God! help me… Amen.” The agony of that early morning is proof that Luther's courage was from God; it was no mere iron human will which bent the Diet to attention-it was the strength which God gave His servant which bowed the mighty to listen to his words. Calm in his soul, and filled with confidence and courage, Luther on the ever memorable 18th April, 1521, appeared once more before the Diet. He respectfully saluted the Emperor, the lords and the princes. He then declared that even his enemies had said of parts of his writings that they were conformable to Scripture; therefore these he could not retract. Also such parts of his books as attacked the errors of doctrine or evils in the life of the Papacy he could not withdraw, lest if he did so, evils still worse by the means of such withdrawal should be promulgated. As to such parts of his writings as those in which he had treated individuals with little ceremony, he would retract the manner of his utterances. But, he added, let him be but convinced from the Word of God that he was in error, and he would be the first to cast his books into the flames. Having thus answered the questions of Eck, Luther proceeded to appeal to the great assemblage before which he was arraigned. But he did not plead for himself—far otherwise. He warned the Emperor and the rulers of the judgment to come, and of the certainty that they must stand before God and give an account to Him of their trust. Then, by examples of the overthrow of kingdoms and rulers, of Egypt, Babylon, and Israel, he made them feel their responsibility before God. He was judging his judges, and they stood condemned before the solitary monk they were seated to condemn. A sound of applause followed his words. He was master—or, rather, God, who in him had spoken, was the Ruler in that assemblage. Presently, Dr. Eck rose again, and demanded a precise answer: "Will you, or will you not, retract?” To which Luther replied: "Unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or on plain and clear grounds of reason, so that conscience shall bind me to make acknowledgment of error, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything contrary to conscience.” Then turning round to the assembly, he said to the whole company: "HERE I STAND. I CAN DO NO OTHER. MAY GOD HELP ME. AMEN.” The victory was won. Luther was asked to withdraw for awhile, and the Diet deliberated. Then he was once more led before the Emperor's throne, and for the third time was asked to give his "Yes" or "No.” He said he had no other answer to give than that which he had already given. And so he and the Diet parted. As no recantation could be procured, the opposers of Luther sought to obtain his life. But although the Emperor would have broken his word in company with the prelates, and would have canceled the safe-conduct granted to Luther, the honest German princes (and some of them were Romanists) would hear of nothing so scandalous. Moreover, in and around Worms there were numbers of armed men ready to fight if necessary. But God's way for Luther was not the sword. While the gates were watched, and his end was being prepared, he rode out through the walls at a small exit. He was kept for months in hiding by his friends, and in vain was he searched for by his enemies. Let us learn in our day our lesson from this grand old story. No battle for God is ever won by compromise. The truth must be maintained at all costs, and the truth held and maintained with a pure conscience, is mighty beyond all the forces of the world. Let us also, again and again, thank God for Luther's "No." Had he hesitated—had he faltered, the Reformation on the Continent would have failed, and Rome would have been victorious. Oh! may God give us courage in our day to say "No" to all the enemies of the truth. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 88: THEY WHO ARE CHRIST'S ======================================================================== SOME services pass from one's mind; but somehow one which I held in a very poor district of a great city lives ' in freshness in my memory. I know not why. I was speaking of the first resurrection, and of the fact that such only as those who "are Christ's" when He comes, and such only as those who are "the dead in Christ," would have any part in that glorious event. I pressed this, and spoke of how God had before Him even now a people who are very dear to Him, and of whom He can say "they are Christ's," and that, whether sleeping or waking, these, and only these, would hear the voice of the Son of Man and be caught up to meet Him. Then the difficulty we might have in knowing who are Christ's people, presented itself. But God knows His own, and when the moment comes, although two might be sleeping in one bed, the one would be taken and the other would be left. Only those who were Christ's would be taken up to meet Him in the clouds, to be forever with Him. While speaking, I observed a woman sitting on my right hand, in whose eyes the tears glistened. On leaving the mission hall my elderly hearer of the glistening eyes had my overcoat in her hand ready to help me, and I observed that she was the keeper of the room. On bidding her "Good-night," I said— “I suppose you are Christ's'?” There was a pause that told a. tale; and, when the tears once more glistened and fell, she said— “I cannot say that. I wish I could. If anybody ought to be Christ's, it should be me; but they seem to take it for granted that I am all right.” “Well," I said, "I did so, too, and it was only your hesitating to answer me, that made me fear you were not. But," I asked, ' What is it that hinders you from saying, ' I am Christ's? '” “Well, sir," she said, "I don't know. It is so impossible for me to understand what to do.” “My dear friend," I said, "you have nothing to do for your salvation. Jesus has done all that was needed to bring us to God.” “I know all about it," she interposed; "but oh! it is dark and mysterious; it applies to everybody but to me.” “You are a married woman," I said. Half smiling through her tears, she said, "Aye, twice married.” “When your first husband came and asked you if you would be his, what did you say? “I said I would." “And when your second husband asked you, what then?" "I said 'yes' to him, too.” “My good woman, now the Lord Jesus comes to you at the close of a long life, and He says He will take you for His own, and He will cheer your latest days. He will be with you when you pass through the darkest part of the dark valley. He will do everything for you in time, and bring you to His Father's house, to share His glory and His throne. Now, tonight, He holds out His pierced hand, and, as it were, says, Will you be mine?” With tears she cried, "O Lord Jesus, I do take Thee to be my Savior! Save me, and keep me, for I have been a poor, miserable, sinful woman.” Three weeks after, her daughter came to tell me she had passed away very unexpectedly, to be with the Lord whom, during the few weeks, she had gladly confessed. Are you Christ's?—not, will you take Him now? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 89: YESTERDAY ======================================================================== NO, my child, I cannot go with you today. If you had asked me yesterday I might have managed it. "The large, dark eyes of the little three-year-old son were gravely earnest as he asked in reply: “Father, where is yesterday?” Willingly would he have recalled it, that he might claim his loving father for the wished-for treat; but—"Where is yesterday?” Ah for how brief a moment was it today, in our keeping; and yet each moment it was slipping from our grasp to join that past eternity, which is "still in God's keeping.” Have a care how you tread today. Every step will tell on the sands of time. Have a care how you speak—aye, how you think, how you act, today. It will also be "yesterday" very, very soon—gone from you forever, but carrying with it eternal consequences, all to be brought back again and made a living present reality when the Lord comes and brings to light the hidden things of darkness and makes manifest the counsels of the heart. “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts," or how regretfully may you have to look back to a yesterday that you can never again make your own, in the which He called and you refused. Bible Class Outline ETERNAL LIFE. THE Lord came from heaven to this earth in order to bestow it “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) Life is obtained by gift. "I give unto them eternal life." (John 10:28.) "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23.) The life is given to such as believe. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16.) "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." (John 3:36.). It is possessed by such, as believe. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life." (John 5:24.) "He that hath the Son hath life." (1 John 5:12.) Such as have not life are under the wrath of God. "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36.) "He that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (r John. v. 12.) Such as have life are eternally secure. "They shall never perish." (John 10:28.) "Shall not come into condemnation." (John 5:24.) It is God's will that these realities should be known by Christ's people. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13.) ======================================================================== CHAPTER 90: AN APT ARGUMENT ======================================================================== AN infidel met a Sunday-school lad coming home from his class, and inquired— “What is that in your hand, lad?"—"A Bible.” “What do you do with it?"—"It learns me." "What does it learn you?"—"It learns me about God.” “I do not believe there is a God.” Astonished, the boy looked him in the face, and became the questioner. “Who, then," said the boy, "made the sun and the moon?"—"They came by mere chance.” “What! and the stars and everything?"— "Yes," responded the philosopher; "they all came by chance.” “And who made your hat?"—"Why, the hatter, to be sure.” “And who made the hatter?” This was too much for the infidel. He was silenced. ============================= ======================================================================== CHAPTER 91: JACK'S PRAYERS ======================================================================== WHEN he went to sea, Jack's religion was not of the kind to be left on the land until his return; but he tried at the first to bear his testimony as unostentatiously as possible. He knelt down to pray before the others; but he did so in tones so low that they could not hear him. They thought he was a hypocrite, and showered his head with boots. The effect, on Jack was to make his voice heard. He prayed aloud for his persecutors. They never troubled him again with boots; and soon several knelt beside him, and, with him, pleaded for God's grace. The Entrance of Christianity Into Britain ONLY a few years after the death of the Emperor Constantine the hands of imperial Rome waxed feeble, and the pressure of her own needs caused the withdrawal of her legions from Britain, and in 409 the Roman Empire in the island terminated. While these events were proceeding a new race had set its eyes on the shores of the land. Boatloads of the hardy tribes of the countries of the Northern seas stole down upon the north and east coasts, and settled themselves in the country. The numbers of these warriors increased as generations passed by, and for some hundreds of years, until the final invasion of the country by William the Conqueror, Saxons, Angles, Jutes, and Danes poured into Britain. The British generally were slowly driven back towards the south and west, while in some parts of the island they assimilated with their conquerors. The Picts also assailed the British in the northern part of the island, while the Scots, who inhabited the coasts of Ireland, raided the British shores, and over the greater part of the land wars were incessant. After generations of fighting, and when matters had settled into comparative calm, the British held Wales and part of Cornwall, the Picts Caledonia, and the Saxon invaders, the east, center, and the north. To the Angles we owe the names of England and the English, and the combination of the different races referred to, form the people of Great Britain. Let us try to imagine the state of the population of the country in those un-restful times. First, on the withdrawal of the imperial forces, there were those who were right glad to throw off the Roman yoke, and opposed to them were the great party of Roman-loving Britons. Later on, the Britons, with what unity they possessed, were contending against the Picts, and then against Saxon invaders also. Again, as the Saxons obtained land and power, and settled themselves under their kings, they would perchance ally themselves with some of the British against the Picts. Or the kingdoms, composed of the various tribes of Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, which had settled in the land, would fight one against another, and at times would enter into alliances with the British, the better to overwhelm their fellow Saxons! Further, when, after the lapse of many generations, the Saxons had either driven out the Britons from their old possessions, or had assimilated themselves with them as children of the soil, they would in turn seek to drive back the invading Danes, who came in their armed ships, as had done their forefathers before them, to make England their home. The Northmen, whether Saxons, Jutes, or Danes, were heathen, and their gods and religion were in accord with themselves—rude and fierce. Unlike the licentious deities of decaying Rome, their gods were destroyers and thunderers; they loved the roar of battle, and to them smoking homesteads were as sweet incense. These Northmen slew the Christians and destroyed their churches, and as the mass of the British were slowly forced back, southward and westward, during a prolonged period, their religious teachers retreated with them; while ruined churches told the story of an overwhelmed religion. Thus the Church of God in Britain, which, under the Roman occupation, had extended over the greater part of the land, was hemmed in in Wales and the west, and separated by a broad belt of paganism from the Churches of the East and of Europe. Because of these events the Church in Britain, for a considerable period of time, was to a great extent isolated, and it lived a life of its own. This may be well regarded as distinctly providential, for the Church, both in the East and in Europe, was rapidly departing from the holy principles and the simplicity of apostolic times. We do not affirm that the British Church was pure in Scripture truth and principle, as it had been at the beginning—far from it; but the sword of the heathen certainly protected it from some of the evils which were fast leavening the Church on the Continent of Europe. With the above short sketch before us, and referring to it occasionally, we shall endeavor very briefly to recount the story of the Church in Britain from the time of the Emperor Constantine till the advent on British shores of Augustine the monk, whom Pope Gregory of Rome sent to convert the pagan English, and to subdue the British Church. This period, from A.D. 312 to A.D. 597, approaching in length that which has elapsed since the Reformation, is full of interest. The British Church at the commencement of the period was patronized by the state of imperial Rome; then from about the year 400 it shared the sufferings and hardships which befell the land wherein it was planted; and at the close of the period it arose out of persecution and affliction to be earnest and fruitful, sending forth its missionaries, reaching the Picts of Caledonia, and the Scots of Ireland, penetrating into the territory of the Saxon, and extending even to the Continent of Europe. A t the call of Constantine, the British Church sent bishops to the general councils of the Church. Three were selected, probably because they represented to imperial Rome the chief provinces of the island. In those comparatively early days, upon a vital question arising in the Church, bishops and delegates came together to consider the matter. The Church thereby practically declared its unity. And more: as there was no ruling bishop or pope in those times, the Holy Scriptures were accepted as the authoritative voice. To the great Council of Nicea, A.D. 325, we owe the Nicene Creed, which so nobly sets forth the nature of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Still the bishops returning from the Council could not say, "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us," as was said of the first council of the Church, but rather, "It seemed good to us and the Emperor," who we will not forget was an un-baptized man, though practically the president. The Emperor gave a great impulse to the building of gorgeous churches and the worship of relics. As regards the former, it is a matter of sincere congratulation that these islands yield no remains of costly ornamentation or similar mementoes of the departure of the Church from its heavenly calling, as do cities such as Rome, and also those of the East. And as ornamental remains exist in the ruins of private edifices in Britain, it cannot be said that all such records of the past have been swept away by barbaric hands. As regards relics, they were venerated in Britain. How this evil habit was introduced into the island we cannot positively say; it may have come from Rome, or from other places where the bones of the martyrs had been held in high esteem from shortly after the apostolic age. Together with sacred bones, the British Church held to the notion of sacred places—also an utter departure in spirit from Scripture teaching. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land were in favor. The land where Christ had lived and had been buried, was the direction the ancient pilgrims chiefly regarded. It is supposed that from the East these visitors brought back with them the monastic idea, and the practice of the shaving of the head, for the British monks shaved their heads as did the Easterns, and not as did the monks of the Romish Church. Easter was also kept according to the Eastern style; and in various other practices the British differed from the European Churches. The Church in Britain, unlike the Churches on the Continent, had no archbishops. Some at least of its bishops were poor, and generally its bishops were far removed from riches. The British Church had a version of the Scriptures which differed in certain small matters from the version in use in other Churches; so that in a variety of ways we see that it possessed a distinct character of its own. An interesting feature of its character is found in the opposition to the doctrines of Pelagius conducted by two bishops from Gaul in the year 429. These two worthy men spoke to the people in the fields or villages, or wherever they could find them. The British people were much agitated over the doctrines, and they listened eagerly. After a time an open discussion was arranged. The Pelagian party came forth arrayed in fine garments and their two opponents appeared in plain attire. The people sat and stood about, a great company of both men and women, and the people practically decided the case, for they drove off the Pelagians. Thus the laity had a practical voice in ecclesiastical matters, or, at all events, on the vital questions of doctrine which affect all the Church. In after years, in relation to such matters, the ecclesiastics treated the laity as utterly beneath their notice. The early British Church, in addition to considerable learning, possessed most remarkable missionary zeal, and by glancing at the names of a few of the great men of her early days a fair notion can be gained of what the Church was like. In the year 360 Wales gave birth to Ninian. He died in 432. His labors commenced and continued in troublous times. The marvel is that he was the great missionary of his day to the Southern Picts, who, un-subdued by the Roman legions, were ever warring with the garrison of the North of England, and who poured into Britain when the Roman troops were withdrawn. The Picts, whether Southern or Northern, could only regard the Britons as their natural enemies, once of the same blood as themselves, but at length the allies if not the serfs of the Latin race. Yet during the period when the victorious Picts plundered and destroyed the Northern Britons, Ninian maintained his missionary labors amongst them, and planted churches in their territory. To this day the name of Ninian lives in the legends of Scotland, and also in various churches and places called after him. It is most remarkable how that from this period, say from the year 400, the Christian faith, through the zeal of the British Church, began slowly but surely to extend over the Picts, Southern and Northern, and later over a great extent of the Saxon kingdoms. At about the same period arose Patrick, who was even greater than Ninian. When a boy he was stolen from his home in Britain and carried into slavery, together with hundreds of others, by the Scots, whose land was Northern Ireland. This untoward circumstance was ordained of God, to lead Patrick to become the great missionary to the people of Ireland. True, there were isolated Christians in Ireland before his day, but he was the great evangelist and apostle of the Irish. Like Ninian, Patrick's labors were carried out in the midst of a wild people, who fought against the Britons, and therefore in the presence of difficulties which could be surmounted by a power no less than that of God. His labors in Ireland had commenced before Ninian's death, and his mightiest successes there are assigned by some to the years before that event occurred. The vigor and the life of the British Church wrought chiefly outside Britain during the long years of trouble induced by the wars with the Saxons—or the English, as for convenience sake we will now call them. The mission spirit found first its outlet amongst the peoples of Scotland and Ireland. Patrick was joined in his work by men from Gaul as well as from Britain. For very many generations Gaul and Britain had been connected with each other; they had continually interchanged warriors and religious teachers in the time of the Druids; and now, in the name of Christ, missionaries from either country labored together. Patrick originated a "household" community of workers, some of whom were apt in agriculture, mechanics, and household duties, and others were devoted to literary pursuits, while all the "household" would preach Christ to the heathen. From the midst of Patrick's converts and helpers in Ireland, missionaries poured out to Caledonia, to the pagan Saxons, and also to various European nations. He died in or about the year 493. In close moral connection with Patrick is the great Columba. He was born in Ireland in 521, and was trained in the religious community of which Patrick was the founder. His name is associated with much Christian work in Ireland, and when he was forty-two years old, Columba, accompanied by twelve monks, came to Iona, where he instituted his famous society, the object of which was "to preach the Word of God in the provinces of the Northern Picts." This society of so-called monks lived by the labor of, their hands; the orchards and fields of their own planting sustained the workers. One of the common names for these worthy monks—some of whom were married, and all of whom led useful lives—was "Soldiers of Christ." They journeyed amongst the heathen around them, and thus were in constant danger and open to a violent death. The copying of the Scriptures was a large part of their work, and it is said that Columba himself wrote three hundred New Testaments with his own hand. In their college or colleges—for the institutions under Columba increased—the most talented men of the day were to be found; various languages were studied, and the missionaries to different countries were trained in the language of the country to which they would go. The ruins of the monastery on Iona are not those of the building erected by Columba, but of a more recent period. He and his fellow workers lived in reed and mud huts, of which many of the churches of those days were built. Through the work of Columba and his assistants the pagan section of the Picts at length became nominally Christian. Columba died on June 9th, A.D. 597. The work he had instituted lived long after him, and, as we shall see in our next chapter, his followers penetrated into the darkness of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and many of the pagan English people, by their instrumentality, were converted to Christianity. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 92: YET NOT I ======================================================================== TRUE Christianity ever magnifies Christ, and we may test the claims of that which assumes to be true by proving whether Christ is glorified by it or not. Let us look at the inspired words of the apostle Paul: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Now, much Christianity which is accepted as devout, looks for perfection in a result which may be summed up thus: "I am crucified." This being crucified is regarded as the highest attainment. Self is mastered; the world conquered. There is victory over passions and temptations, and the "crucified," being dead to all that to which he was once a slave, is in this world a superior power to the world. To such as have reached this elevation our paper is not addressed. But there are many who are striving to crucify themselves, to put themselves to death, to be master over themselves and the temptations and allurements of the world and their enemy, sin, and to those especially our few words are directed. Now, the apostle does not say, "I am crucified," but he says, "I am crucified with Christ." It is quite possible to say, "I am crucified," and yet to leave Christ out of one's religion, and all the while to be an enemy of Christ's cross. "I am crucified" may be merely the outcome of fancied spiritual attainment and the result of spiritual pride. But "I am crucified with Christ" is in no sense whatever a sign of superior goodness; on the contrary, it is the evidence of the terrible nature of sin which demanded for our salvation the cross of the Son of God; and it is the blessed assurance that, vile as we are in ourselves, by being crucified with Him we have been judged and condemned, when Christ in mercy was judged and took our condemnation upon Him on Calvary. “Crucified with Christ" does not allow us, in ourselves, one single standpoint before God. It sweeps away all our hopes of self-betterment, and of our dying to what we are by nature, and instead, it accepts with reverence and with love, the position our Lord and Savior took for us on the cross in grace as our position. In His judgment we were judged, in His death we died. As a man might say of his substitute, "He died not only for me, but I died with him," so we are privileged to say of our Savior and Substitute, "He died for me and met my deserts, and I died with Him and receive the satisfaction rendered to God by His death.” Here is the true beginning for the Christian—"I am crucified with Christ." He does not, therefore, look to himself for power to die to himself, but he looks to Christ's cross and knows that there he was crucified with Christ. The cross of Christ is his judicial end in the sight of God, and when by faith he takes in God's fact about himself, he starts his spiritual career with the reality of his utter badness by nature, and the condemnation of what he is by Christ's cross. Having spoken of the end of the old, the apostle proceeds to the beginning of the new. "Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." The apostle lived in the energy of the Holy Spirit of God; he was a witness on the earth to divine love and power. Whence then this life? Of himself he had spoken: "I am crucified with Christ." Now of himself as the Christian, he in effect says, Though crucified, still I am a living man, spiritually, but the source of this life is Christ. This is not victorious self reasserting itself. It is not Paul, the Jewish Pharisee, nor Paul, the Christian Pharisee—no, Not I, not self, but Christ. "live, yet not I, but Christ who liveth in me.” Neither could it be said Paul so became crucified that Christ could live in him, for he says, "I am crucified with Christ." He did not become crucified by slow degrees, but with Christ who was crucified on Calvary. To leave out "with Christ" would be to leave us a crucified Paul without Christ. And this would be that kind of Christianity which endeavors by following Christ, to arrive at Christ crucified, whereas God begins with Christ crucified for us, and our being crucified with Christ, and thus opens up to us the Christian life in its power and faith. “I am crucified with Christ" is grace and not attainment. It is the portion of every believer, and we should so deport ourselves as to conform to the reality. “Nevertheless I live; yet not I, hut Christ liveth in me," is also not attainment; it is grace, absolute grace, and it is as much for us as for the apostle. There is none other life for any Christian whereby he lives before God in holiness than this: "Christ liveth in me." There are not two lives for the Christian whereby he lives to God, one more exalted than the other—one for the selected saints, the other for the general class. All God's children are in Christ, and Christ is in all God's children. But when we speak of the manner of our living, another subject is before us—then we have degrees of excellence before us, and attainment in practical holiness. The apostle said, further, "And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Now, in this there is attainment—there is spirituality and true holiness. From Christ he drew his strength for each day and hour. The wonder of his zeal, the beauty of his character, arose from Christ, in whom he lived daily by faith. Faith is our own. Each believer has faith for himself; and a life of faith is the personal and constant reliance of the soul upon the Lord in heaven. It is very delightful to hear the great apostle say, "Yet not I," also of his labors for God. He magnified God's grace in all that God did by him: " I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." He gives us the true secret of power, of living and of working, and the secret is Christ," not I.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 93: NOTES FROM THE MISSION FIELD ======================================================================== STUNG K'UN-SHAN is the name of one of our most zealous Christian workers in Lao-he-K'ou, Central China, Dr. Parrott writes to us. His surname "Hsiung" means "a Bear"; "K'unshan" means "Earth Hill," and this is the name by which most of us call him. He is about twenty-six years of age. The circumstances connected with our first meeting with him were somewhat peculiar, and his early career was a strange one. As a schoolboy he did not make much progress. His idea of life was that of the soldier, as was that of his elder brother. So, when old enough, he enlisted, but only to find that the work was not to his taste, and after five years of soldiering he started in business in a small way as a seller of silk. Then he learned the cap-making business, and opened a hatter's shop. At this time he was about twenty-two years of age. One of his brothers lived in Hankow, and was a Christian. K'un-shan resolved to come to Hankow to his brother, and try his fortune there. So he gave up his hat-making business, and arrived in Hankow, without money, and without any prospect of work beyond a hope of getting some employment in the ranks of a big mandarin, upon the strength of a recommendation from his own mandarin brother. This was in 1893. His Christian brother could do little for him. We had recently arrived in Hankow from England, and were wanting a servant who could cook. We engaged a youth, who had had some experience, and he turned out to be the son of K'un-shan's Christian brother. We were to go forward by boat the next day to Lao-he-K’ou, and what was our surprise to find two men ready for the cook's place, the extra man being the young cook's uncle, K'unshan. I protested that I had engaged only one man and could not take two. But the K'unshan pleaded hard to be allowed to accompany his nephew, who was young, and had not before been away from home, and said they would be content with one man's wages. It became a question of taking the two men or none. Servants were not easily obtained, and our boat being already hired, and delay impossible, we decided to bring the two men. A few months proved the young cook to be both incapable and morally unsatisfactory, and we had to dismiss him. The uncle, on the contrary, had so commended himself that we gladly offered him the situation which his nephew had forfeited. From the first day of our acquaintance with K'un-shan we noticed an unusual readiness to know the gospel. During our long journey of a month up the Han river he spent many hours in trying to read the New Testament. Afterward, when his work was finished, he would go into the boys' school, and learn to read with them. His diligence in this respect was soon rewarded, and he is now able to read the Bible as well as most people. He was with us more than a year before we could see any evidence of a real change of heart. His love of reading the Scriptures increased, and gradually the light dawned upon him. From the first his growth in spiritual things has been steady. Indeed, this is so in the majority of native Christians. There is not in their case, as at home in Christian lands, some ground-work of Christian knowledge before conversion. Eighteen months ago K'un-shan was one of the first three we had the joy of baptizing in this place, and he is now our most gifted gospel preacher. He assists me in seeing the dispensary patients, and preaches every day to men who come to the dispensary and to our evening evangelistic meetings. His testimony has been blessed to the conversion of a few, and to the enlightenment of many. A few days ago, in protesting against the unrighteous treatment of a nephew of his who had gone to serve in a tailoring establishment, with a view to being apprenticed to that trade, he received rough handling, and only by the interference of a friendly shopkeeper did he escape a beating from the three brothers, whose rage was being vented upon him, more from the fact that he was a Christian, I think, than anything else. K'un-shan took it very quietly, and one could clearly see had gained a great victory over himself by not giving way to passion as any other man, not a Christian, would have done. Some months ago a thing happened which shows the character of the man. He was speaking one Sunday morning at our meeting, when the cook came in late. K'un-shan at once somewhat severely rebuked him before all the others. After the meeting I told him I thought, he had been unnecessarily severe, and that he should have spoken to him privately. This was all I said. The next time we all met, a few days later, K'un-shan, the moment the meeting was over, stood up and confessed to ' being hasty on the occasion I have mentioned, and calling the man by name, begged his pardon. This was quite voluntary, and produced a splendid effect upon us all. It was the grace of God, I am sure. I would like to ask prayer for this young man. He has a good deal of natural ability for public speaking, and can usually gain the attention of the people more readily than any other one of our native brethren. There lies before him a large field of usefulness. There is no greater need in all this land than of men, full of the Spirit and of faith, who, being natives of the land, can speak the language, as no foreigner, however clever a scholar he may be, can ever speak it. May we not add that the testimony to the Faith of a converted native Must be More impressive to his hearers than that of a foreigner? COLPORTAGE IN BELGIUM. We have before mentioned some incidents in the work of Mr. Gaussen in his volunteer colportage in Belgium. The following paper is taken from "The Bible Society Reporter." Mr. Gaussen thus writes:— “Wherever my visit to a village or district preceded the priest's knowledge of it, all went well; and, as the result of about ten minutes' canvass in each house, sales were effected in, say, one out of three, and tracts were given; and, when one had visited the last house, it was with the happy consciousness that a village was left in light, which had been entered in darkness. But, alas, experience developed a dark side to the picture; for the next Sunday would, nearly always with certainty, bring forth a violent interdiction from the cure, who would say from his altar, Up till now, those who have bought those wicked books of the devil may have done it in ignorance—and, if so, it is not mortal sin; but, after this hour, those who do not burn them or bring them to me are excommunicated.' In consequence many Bibles and books were burned; but, thank God, many more were not; and, where they had been even very partially read, many were bold enough to contend that there was no harm in the books, but good.' ' On re-visiting a village or district, I was, in many cases, heartily greeted, and I was received and thanked, where I had spent, say, a quarter of an hour in making good my reception and effecting a reluctant and grudging sale. Some would confess that, by the priest's orders, they had reluctantly burned their purchases. But, on my explaining the enormity of the folly of burning God's Word, they generally accepted my gift to replace the destroyed property, promising this time to cherish it, as they knew that several of their neighbors did. The chief allegation was disrespect—if not blasphemy—against the `Sainte Vierge,' and that she was ignored, which a reference to Luke 1 often got over. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 94: “THE MASSES AT ANTWERP SPEAK FLEMISH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A CERTAIN NUMBER OF WALLOONS, AMONGST THE LATTER BEING ABOUT HALF THE CONSCRIPT SOLDIERS OF THE GARRISON. MY METHOD OF WORKING AMONG THE FLEMISH, WHO ARE NEARLY ALL OF THE WORKING-CLASSES, AND LIVE IN ONE OR TWO ROOMS, IS TO KNOCK AT THE DOOR, OR ENTER THE WORKSHOP OR PUBLIC-HOUSE, AND, TAKING OFF MY HAT, TO PRESENT THE BOOK, SAYING THAT IT IS IN FLEMISH. IT IS LOOKED AT AND DECLINED; BUT WITH ALL GENTLENESS AND ASSURANCE I PERSIST, GUIDING THEIR EYES TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS, THEN (GIVING THEM PLENTY OF TIME) CONFIDENTIALLY GUIDE THEM TO JOHN 3:16, 17, MARKING THE PASSAGE THERE AND THEN WITH A PENCIL, AND ALSO OTHER PASSAGES, AND WHEN OTHER PERSONS ARE PRESENT INVITING ONE TO READ OUT THE PASSAGES, TO BE HEARD OF ALL. I THEN PUT DOWN A TEN CENTIME (NICKEL) PIECE, AND SAY IT IS THE PRICE, AND THE BARGAIN IS GENERALLY CONCLUDED WITH GOODWILL ON BOTH SIDES..... I HAVE COME ACROSS SINGLE PORTIONS (WITH MY MARKED PASSAGES) FIFTY AND SIXTY MILES DISTANT FROM THE PLACE WHERE THEY WERE FIRST DISPOSED OF, AND I HAVE LEARNED THAT A DAUGHTER OR A SON HAD SENT IT BY POST. IT WAS ALWAYS TREASURED BY THE POSSESSOR. SOMETIMES THE PARENTS COULD NOT READ, BUT THE CHILDREN COULD; AND IT WAS AN INTERESTING THING TO MAKE ONE OF THE LATTER READ OUT FROM ST. JOHN, AND TO WATCH THE PLAY ON THE PARENTS' COUNTENANCES.” ======================================================================== ============================= BIBLE distribution is effecting wonders in various Roman Catholic lands. Only a few years ago countries, now open by law to Bible distribution, were kept close shut by the priests of the Roman Church. Let us thank God and take courage. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 95: LITTLE VITUS AND HIS NURSE ======================================================================== You live in a time, dear young readers, in which God has made the way for you to act as true Christians much less difficult, so far as trial goes, than was the case in years gone by. Many of you would suffer nothing worse than a little ridicule upon confessing Christ, whereas in former years to be a Christian was very often to be also a martyr. Long, long ago, a rich fancily of Sicily engaged a nurse for their little boy, Vitus. Perhaps they did not know that she was a Christian'. They were themselves heathen, and prayed to idols. The nurse's name was Crescentia, and she taught her little charge from his earliest days of the Lord Jesus, the living One in heaven. Little Vitus learned by grace to love the Lord, and he grew up to be a noble and faithful follower of his once-crucified Master. Vitus's father was very angry when he found that his son was a Christian, and, not being able to make his boy deny the Lord Jesus, he took him to the Governor of Sicily, who hated the name of Christ, and persecuted the Christians. Vitus was twelve years old, and the Governor threatened him with many cruel things, and then had him scourged. This was done with great severity, and after it was over Vitus was sent back to his father. But the love of Christ could not be beaten out of the Christian boy. Jesus had died for little Vitus, and he was willing, if necessary, to die for Jesus. When the father found that Vitus did not move from his love to Christ, he said he would sacrifice him to his idols. The poor boy then escaped from his father's house, but was pursued and brought back. Hearing how decided he was for Christ, the cruel governor had both him and Crescentia, the nurse, put to death. This happened some 1500 years ago, but little Vitus and his good nurse are with the Lord in glory. Their trials are over, but their joys will never, never end. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 96: “THE RECORD REIGN.” ======================================================================== HOW many times during the year that is now closing have we all heard these words! How earnestly we have praised God for the long life and glorious reign of our gracious sovereign, and how heartily we have prayed that she might yet long be left to us! Dear children, you will never forget this jubilee, will you? You have been given medals and pictures of our Queen, and processions, and feasts, and treats, to make you remember it as long as you live. Now it will surprise you when I tell you that I want to speak to you of a far longer reign that that of Queen Victoria, and still more when I tell you that even this long, long reign will be broken by yet another, which will be indeed the RECORD REIGN. And I would ask you if you are going to share the grand jubilee of that coming reign, for I am! First of all, about this long reign that has far exceeded our beloved sovereign's. You will find it in the fifth of Romans, in the fourteenth verse: "Death reigned from Adam to Moses." Oh, what a long time! Over two thousand five hundred years! And the reign of death did not end then either, for Moses bringing in the law only added another terror to the reign of him who has been called "the king of terrors"—for "the strength of sin is the law," and "sin hath reigned unto death ever since." So that for pretty near six thousand years this reign has lasted. Now, I dare say you think there will never be one that can beat that. Never one so awful certainly. No jubilees, no feastings, no rejoicings mark its course—only the tears of the orphan and the widow, only the sighs of the desolate in darkened homes, only the groans of a weary creation! Oh! let us turn from this sad theme to a brighter one—to the grand RECORD REIGN yet to come. “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven... And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom... His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Then, oh! then, shall be the true jubilee to this sad earth; for the King will" make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow "; and in that glad day" He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.". Jesus, the rejected One, to whom the crown of Israel was refused, to whom was given the cross of Calvary, shall then" sit... a Priest upon His throne." “All kings shall fall down before Him," and the whole earth shall be "filled with His glory." Many shared in the festivities of our Queen's jubilee; many of the great ones of the earth took part in the honors of that wonderful 22nd of June; but none shared her throne! In this grand coming day those who have suffered for Christ's sake shall reign with Him; they also shall be crowned, and shall sit with Him on His throne, so that He will be in very deed "King of Kings" when we shall be "glorified together." Now, when His glory shall be revealed, will you "be glad also with exceeding joy"? or are you yet unsaved, so that when Jesus comes in power you will be among those who "shall wail because of Him"? Don't leave this an unsettled question. The people who set their hearts on seeing that grand procession last June, bespoke their seats long beforehand,— paid heavy prices to secure a good view; many of the poorer folk who could not do this, took up their position over night in the streets, and patiently waited many weary hours for the sight of the Queen, with all the military pomp and attendant princes. What will you sacrifice to make sure of seeing "the King in His beauty," by-and-bye; of having your share of joy in that "day of the gladness of His heart"? Are you still in the kingdom of darkness, where death reigns in awful power? or have you “passed from death unto life," so that for you there is "no condemnation"? Are you, as I am, awaiting the coming King, and that bright RECORD REIGN that shall never be broken? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 97: SIMPLE WITH ======================================================================== ONE Lord's-Day evening, after our Scripture lesson, the simplicity of the Gospel came so sweetly to my soul that I could not help exclaiming to my young pupils, "You have but to look, dear children, and you are saved! Behold Jesus hanging on the cross! Look and live!" As I spoke, Laura, a lively, joyous child of about seven years of age, raised her eyes, and, with much earnestness, told me that she had indeed looked with her heart upon Jesus. Faith is the look of the soul. My little pupil looked upon God's sacrifice, and the most eminent of saints have done no more to obtain life; for, " as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." “We live by faith," as well as receive Christ by faith. That is, day by day we take God's Word and follow it. This, little Laura was enabled by the Lord to do. She cast her troubles and cares upon Him." I was praying, and I knew then that I should find what I had lost," she told me in one of her small troubles; and very shortly afterward her prayer was heard. We have only to look once in order to be saved, but we have to keep on looking, so that our steps may be pleasing to the Lord. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 98: THE ALTAR IN ISRAEL ======================================================================== THE altar of burnt offering, and lessons from it, have engaged us on various occasions, and before leaving the fruit-fill theme, we will touch upon the truths relative to the blood of the sacrifice in its connection with the altar, and also with the throne of Jehovah. The constant shedding of sacrificial blood spoke day by day to the whole camp of Israel in the wilderness. All blood had to be shed at the door of the tabernacle—that is, in close association with God Himself. The blood had to be sprinkled upon the altar of Jehovah in solemn witness before Him, and He Himself said of that blood in connection with Israel: "I have given it to you upon your altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." Israel, therefore, could not by any possibility fail in the understanding of the meaning of the blood-sprinkled altar. A first principle was in object teaching every day, and many times during the day, before the eyes of all, and thus atonement by blood upon the altar, was fixed in the minds of every dweller in the camp. Whether there was faith to humbly receive the teaching was an individual question for each Israelite personally. In no less clear and emphatic teaching does the New Testament declare the same truth, but no longer in symbolic form; on the contrary, in all its full reality. Christ's blood has been shed upon the cross; there He made atonement for our souls, and it is written of His work: "Having made peace through the blood of His cross." Arid now God sets Him forth a propitiation, through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past (i.e., those sins committed before Christ's death), and also to, declare His righteousness at this time (i.e., the period since Christ's cross), that He might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Atonement by Christ's blood is the great foundation truth of the Gospel. It is before every reader of the Scriptures, and none less clearly than it was before Israel in the camp of the wilderness. But whether there be faith humbly and gratefully to submit to the truth and to embrace it by faith is an individual question for us all. The blood of the sin offering was connected in a very emphatic way with the throne of Jehovah, in His dwelling-place, between the cherubim. Jehovah planned not only that Israel should know the favors accruing to them through the sacrificial blood, but also that they should know how that His throne was exalted by it, and His righteous requirements were set at rest by it. We have already noticed, how sadly deficient the current religious teaching of our times is in reference to the all-important principle of God's requirements in relation to satisfaction for sin. The spirit of the day, in this matter, is painfully human, and man's conscience, or realization, are set up as standards rather than God's righteousness, and throne of justice. And so long as man does what is right, according to his conscience, it is said, that is all sufficient. But man's conscience will not be enthroned on the Day of Judgment; man must then how to God, and man's conscience will be but a witness against himself. Israel had lessons before them, respecting the satisfaction to be rendered to God for sin, which we do well to heed. When the whole of the people had sinned, the priest dipped his finger in the blood of the sin offering, and, entering the tabernacle, he sprinkled it seven times before the veil, behind which stood the divine throne. The action was emphatically Godwards. The blood was sprinkled before the veil—not before the people, and before the veil where the people could not come, or, indeed, see what transpired. God in His majesty had been slighted, or set at naught, by the sin committed. His laws had been broken, or disregarded, and, therefore, the priest took the atoning blood, and by it perfectly (seven times) answered for the sin before the throne of God. After that (see also the case of the sin of the high priest) some of the blood was placed upon the horns of the golden altar which stood within the tabernacle, and upon which the sweet incense was burned. In this action, again, the intimate service of Jehovah, and not the consciences or the feelings of offending Israel, was in contemplation. Upon that altar was burned, the sweet incense which was solely for Jehovah's service, and which none might dare imitate. The golden altar and its incense figure the priestly action of Christ, unseen by man, but in the heavens before God. This figurative intercession was conducted in the power of perfect atonement. The horns (the emblem of power) of this altar of gold, were thus anointed with the blood of the sin offering, which had already been presented before the throne of Jehovah, and had been accepted by Him. The rest of the blood of the sacrifice was poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. We may place together the teaching respecting the anointing of the horns of the brazen and the golden altars as offering instruction on the points before us. The blood of the sin offering for ordinary cases of sin—as those of the ruler and one of the common people—was placed upon the horns of the brazen altar. There the sinner could see the blood, and by the symbol of the altar's horns being covered by it, he could see that the power of the altar spoke of atonement for his sin. This comforting assurance is made ours, as it is written, "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree," and "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." "How much more shall the blood of Christ... purge your conscience?" The power of Christ's blood is almighty in its atoning and cleansing efficacy. And in that which the altar declares, we can and do confidently rest. Israel could not see the sprinkling of the golden altar by the priest, but Israel knew of what the priest did in God's presence. So we read of what our Lord has done in heaven: "By His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." His entrance there was in the power of the blood He once for all shed here. He appears in the presence of God for us, to intercede on our account in the virtue of the blood which He shed for us when He was the sin offering for us on the cross. Space will not permit of our referring to the wonderful type of the great day of atonement, which we hope to do a few pages later on. The Entrance of Christianity Into Britain THE work instituted in Iona by Columba lived long after him, and Christianity made head, and supplanted much Saxan paganism in the kingdom of Northumbria. We are obliged to express ourselves in this unpleasing manner, and to speak of Christianity rather than The Faith of Christ, for in the early days under consideration, whole tribes would become "Christian" because their chief; or king, had changed his religion, and they would become once more pagan when their chief, or king, changed from Christian to pagan. This wholesale conversion to the Christian religion was one of the causes which led to the utter demoralization of the idea of the Christian faith as it is presented in the Scriptures. Aidan and Colman are names of earnest missionaries amongst the Angles and instructors of these heathen in the Christian religion. As successively Bishops of Lindisfarne, their time of labor extended from A.D. 635 to A.D. 664. Their sphere of work amongst the Angles was "the north country from the Forth to the Humber.” We have, therefore, the fact before us, that the Christian religion, which had been driven to the west and south of Britain, was gradually entering the north, and other parts also of the territory in the hand of the Saxons. That some movement in the Saxons, upon the east coast of the island, or, at any rate, in their leaders, was also in progress, is evidenced by the Saxons sending to the Gauls to come and help them, which fact had come to the ears of Gregory the Great The hatred of the Saxons to Christianity at the end of the sixth century was not of its old fierce character; far from it, for Ethelbert, the Saxon King of Kent and the conqueror of other Saxon kings, married Bertha, a Christian, the daughter of a king of Paris, and permitted her to have as her chaplain Luidhard, a Gaulish bishop. In the British church then standing in Canterbury it is more than probable that Christian services were held. Our chapter relates to the coming of Augustine, the monk, to the English, and as he was sent by the Pope of Rome, it is necessary, for the purpose before us, that we should now note how the original Bishop of Rome developed into the Pope, how the first humble overseer of the flock of God in the imperial city, became the imperial ruler of men's souls and bodies. We have no need at the present to inquire whether the apostle Peter was ever in Rome, but from the Scriptures we know, that the office and work of an apostle were very different from those of the bishop. Who were the first bishops of Rome is a question which can hardly be settled, for the lists are not alike, and are given thus Peter, Linus, Anacletus, Clemens—Peter, Clemens, Linus, Anacletus—Peter, Linus, Clemens, Anacletus. Some think there may have been two or more bishops together. The overseer of the flock of God in apostolic days was without doubt a successor of the apostles, in the sense that he was a pious man, of high Christian character, and possibly of ability to teach, and certainly of moral weight. Further he would be a pattern in his household of Christian virtue with his wife and children. We have not space here to trace the intensely fascinating story of the transformation or deformation of the holy man, the bishop of apostolic appointment, into his Holiness the Pope of ecclesiastical evolution. It must suffice to state, that the name "pope," as applied to the Bishop of Rome, appears first in the time of Marcellinus, Bishop of Rome, 296-304, and that it was first formally adopted by Siricius, Bishop of Rome from 384 to 398, and officially used by Leo I. 440-461. The pretensions of Papal power grew up gradually. The original bishop of the city became spiritual ruler of a province, then of various provinces, and at length the actual ruler of kings and of kingdoms. The pagan emperors of Rome were styled Pontifex Maximus—their title of religious supremacy; and the popes of Rome captured the title and the supremacy, and, to this day, brand their churches and erections, their names and tombs, with the pagan distinction. When we come to the time of Pope Gregory called Gregory the Great, whose pontifical reign dates from 590 to 604, we have a man of mighty strength, whose ambition for supremacy in the Church, and for the rule of all bishops of all countries, were even more vigorous than those of his predecessors. He called himself; as Pope, the Servant of the Servants of God, and evidenced the humility of his service, by assuming it to be indisputable that every bishop accused should be subject to the see of Rome! He was the first of the popes who was practically a temporal sovereign. It may be said he did not court this position, but he used it, and did so in and around Rome with true patriotic force. Yet, supreme as he was, both by his own character and position, he declared: "No one in the Church has yet sacrilegiously dared to usurp the title of universal bishop; whoever calls himself universal bishop is Antichrist." For, as we have already pointed out, Papal power is the outcome of religious evolution, and is still in the process of reaching its final stage. It was Gregory who, while yet a monk, saw the English or Angle slaves in Rome, and, severe as he was in monasticism, his heart was touched as he gazed upon the fair-faced, flaxen-haired captives. He inquired whence the lads had come, and was told Britain. "Are they Christians?" he asked, and was answered, "They are pagans." “Alas, that the prince of darkness should possess such forms of loveliness! that such beauty of countenance should want the better beauty of the soul!" Gregory rejoined; and then he inquired of what nation they were. "Angles "was the reply, and he wittily answered," They are angels. From what province?" he further questioned. "Deira," he was answered. "Then they must be rescued from de ira" (or "the ire of God"), he said, continuing his play upon words. And, learning at last, that the name of their Saxon king was Ælla, he declared "Alleluia" must be sung in that kingdom. And to the shores of England he determined to go—and, indeed, started thither—but the reverence in which he was held in Rome was such that he was brought back. Shortly after the monk became Gregory the Great. When Pope—notwithstanding the devastations of the fierce Lombards to which Italy was subject, notwithstanding the pestilence and distresses by which the city of Rome was afflicted, notwithstanding the struggle between, the sees of Constantinople and Rome for the upper place in the rule of the Church—Gregory did not forget the fair-haired pagan slaves! He did not set his face against slavery, which was a common trade in his days, but he set face towards Britain and the conversion of the English; nor, let us forget, and towards the subjugation of the British Church to his supremacy. To effect this double purpose Augustine, the monk, was sent with his company of singing monks to the land of the Angles. What sort of Christianity was it that he brought to England? It is impossible in our small space to do more than state a few ascertained facts on the question. “The creeds of the Church formed but a small portion of Christian belief… God the Father had receded, as it were, from the sight of man into a vague and unapproachable sanctity . . . .The Savior Himself might seem to withdraw from the actual—at least, the exclusive—devotion of the human heart, which was busied with intermediate objects of worship…The worship of these lower objects (shrines, and relics of martyrs), begins to intercept the higher.... legends of saints are supplanting, or rivaling, at least, in their general respect and attention, the narratives of the Bible." Relics, according to Gregory the Great, had in them intrinsic power, causing such as touched them to fall down dead. Cloths which had covered these relics would actually shed blood. This zealous Pope wrote that the chain of St. Paul would at times refuse to submit to the action of the file, and that, therefore, he could only transmit a few particles of their dust to the Empress—yet he consoled her by declaring that these particles of iron possessed inherent miraculous power. Such gifts Gregory doled out with pious parsimony. Amongst the idle tales of the time was that of the golden nail belonging to the chains of St. Peter, which a profane man desiring to cut off with a knife, the knife in its religious awe sprang up and cut the throat of the sinner. This wonderful nail Gregory himself sent as a priceless gift to a distinguished person. The worship of the Virgin had not assumed in Gregory's days the rank to which it is now exalted by Rome, but "the unbounded admiration of virginity, which had full possession of his (Gregory's) monastic mind," to a great extent led to her worship. The exaltation over men of demons and angels—really the pagan idea—which was then current belief, evidences the degradation into which Christianity had fallen. "In Gregory's Dialogs,' a woman eats a lettuce without making the sign of the cross; she is possessed by a devil, who had been swallowed in the un-exorcised lettuce" Yet "Gregory, not from his station alone, but by the acknowledgment of the admiring world, was intellectually and as also spiritually the great model of the age." The intelligent reader of the Bible will fail to find spirituality in such a believer of God. And if passages from this celebrated Pope's exposition of the Book of Job could be added, the devout reader of the Scriptures of today, would only the more thank God, that the Christianity in England in this nineteenth century is in no manner whatever of the Augustine type. Accompanied by some forty other monks, mostly Italians, the rest of Gaul, Augustine reached the shores of Kent. He brought the best kind of Christianity he had, no doubt; and he sought to appear before the King. He was armed with a commission from the Pope, for it had grown to be a custom for missioners to pagans, to present themselves before kings and chieftains rather than to pursue the apostolic mode. However, Ethelbert, though willing to confer with Augustine, feared some magical spell, and would only meet the visitors in the open air. It seems probable that the extraordinary beliefs of "Christians" in demons and angels, to which reference has been made, had in some way penetrated into the mind of Ethelbert. But, repudiating magic, Bede says of them: "They came carrying for their banner a silver cross and the image of the Lord our Savior painted upon a board, and, singing litanies; they made humble prayer for their own, and for the eternal salvation of those to whom they were come.” Ethelbert was a most tolerant king; he gave the monks liberty to exercise their religion, and to proclaim it in his dominions, placed no hindrance in their way of converting his subjects, and appointed his metropolis, Canterbury, as their residence. In due time he was himself baptized, and then his people were baptized also by the thousand. "Sacred vessels, ornaments for altars and churches" (we quote from a Roman Catholic writer), "vestments.... relics of the apostles and martyrs, with a large collection of books," were sent to Augustine to further his work. The temples of the Saxons were, by Pope Gregory's orders, "converted into Christian churches by sprinkling them with holy water, by erecting there altars and placing relics," and "the riotous festivals" of the heathen "were supplanted by the celebration of wakes on the anniversary feasts of the dedication of their churches; and on the solemnities of the martyrs." Gregory also allowed the custom of sacrificing oxen, which had hitherto taken place in the temples, to be continued in the churches. These sacrifices were to be celebrated on the saints' days. It has already been mentioned that in the Emperor Constantine's era Christianity had incorporated much paganism. The conversion of pagan gods, customs, and temples into Christian saints, customs, and churches proceeded apace, and Rome has continued her work on these lines ever since the days of Constantine. "What communion hath light with darkness? What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? What concord hath Christ with Belial?" —are words with which this practice of the Church can never be made to agree. We cannot give that which we have not, and most interesting it is to compare the Gospel of God as announced in the Holy Scriptures with the Christianity which Augustine brought to England; and most important it is for every lover of the Bible to note how both Anglicans and Romanists have been celebrating Augustine's work, and for what cause they have made their high praises of his mission. So far as the former are concerned, we have not observed in their laudations what Augustine really did bring in the way of Divine Truth to the pagan part of England. The latter, the Romanists, very justly celebrate the entrance, through Gregory's missioner to the English, of the Papal claim of supremacy in the island. Both celebrations, like Augustine's Christianity, judged by the samples of it we have presented for inspection, have very little of Christ and His glory in them. The conversion of the Saxons by Augustine was of the sort that rejoiced the heart of Gregory the Great, and by it, according to his ideas, the pagan Angles were made angels. A few years after these wholesale conversions, the converts in thousands adopted paganism once more, in order to follow their then pagan king. The work of converting the English was of a painfully unspiritual and human character. But if we are perplexed to know what part of the work was of God, We can be more definite as to that part of Augustine's mission which related to the subjection of the British Church to Gregory the Great. We are not to forget that part of the scheme of the conversion of the English was to make them obedient to the Pope, and that practically the whole of Augustine's mission to the British was to bring them into similar holy obedience. This part of his work will occupy our next and last chapter. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 99: “ONE THING I KNOW.” ======================================================================== ONE thing I know," replied the beggar, whom Christ had healed, to the scribes and the doctors when they sought to make him deny his faith— “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." Not all the learning of his judges could drive this knowledge out of him! Arguments, threats, persuasions, could not shake him out of the belief in the sight which he possessed, and, therefore, in Jesus, who had given him sight. And by his assurance the Pharisees were confounded. The efforts made to disprove his ever having been blind were in vain; and no one could gainsay the fact that the man had his sight, for he stood before the council with his eyes open. His testimony was his victory: "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” It is ever a refreshment to read the story of this man's simplicity, to note his wonder at the folly of the wise men, who examined him, and his amazement at their ill-speaking of Jesus, who had opened his eyes! Holiness, power, and grace, he was assured, dwelt in Jesus, for only to One who did God's will would God give such power. Since the world was, he argued, who before had had the power to give sight to one born blind? And who but One of perfect grace would have condescended to give sight to a blind beggar? “I received sight," "I.... do see." "I see," "He hath opened mine eyes," were the glad words of this man. And this character of argument, all can advance who have had their eyes opened by the Lord. Each truly converted person can and does say: "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see"; and saying this, he utters his faith in the mighty power and grace of Christ, which have been wrought in his own very self. Jesus is the Light of the world; He opens our eyes to see the reality of our sinful state by nature, and of God's hatred against sin. He is also the Light of Life, and, following Him, we obtain life and light. Thus we can say from the heart, "One thing I know"—"I" know—I, myself, for myself—"whereas I was blind, now I see. Jesus has done a great work in me, as well as for me. He bade me obey His word; I obeyed, and I see!” Such faith as this is not easily disturbed. Modern infidelity has no more influence upon this realization than an army of locusts upon an iron wall. No infidelity can disprove to a man who sees, that he has his sight. Simple faith in Jesus is a stronghold for the soul. How often has the testimony of young and old to what Jesus has done for them broken up the ranks of skeptics! The poor man, of whom we speak, had his sight, and he rejoiced in it. The doctors of the law—spiritually blind as they were—cast him out of the synagogue. After he had been cast out, Jesus found him. He would not have it that the man should be the loser. The man had lost his parents and the advantages of the synagogue for Christ's sake. And, finding him, Jesus said unto him, "post thou believe on the Son of God?" He revealed Himself to the man in His divine glory, and thus the man gained by his loss. And he became a worshipper of the Lord. To belong to the synagogue when Christ was outside it was indeed a dishonor; but to belong to Christ and to worship Him and the Father is honor indeed. How frequently the Lord Jesus is found outside the religion of the day. Judaism was of God, but it had developed by the teaching of the Pharisees to such an extent that Christ could not be found in it. He was not wanted in the temple; He was not tolerated in the highest religious circle; He was outside the religion which professed Jehovah's name amidst the world's idolatry. Alas that it was so! And Christ has been outside a great deal of so-called Christian religion for some hundreds of years. He is not wanted in much of that which is called Christian worship—images and saints are preferred to Him. He is not to be tolerated in very much that bears His name; but when one solitary human being is cast out of his religious society for Jesus' sake, Jesus meets with the outcast and receives his worship. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 100: SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION ======================================================================== IN the erection of a building, its foundation is the all-important consideration, lest by any means the structure should collapse; how much more then in the things of God, and in our building for eternity, is the foundation to be esteemed above everything else. The subject of sanctification is of the utmost importance to every human being, for without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Let us, therefore, seek to learn from Scripture what true sanctification is, and what is the foundation requisite for building it up. The building of sanctification is only to be reared upon God's salvation. We are first saved, then sanctified. We are not made holy in order to be saved—we are saved in order that we may be holy. A vast amount of religious effort proceeds upon the assumption that we must needs be holy in order that we may be saved. If upon this foundation a religious life be led, despite to the Salvation of God and to the Savior are done, however earnest and sincere the builder may be. The Scriptures plainly teach that Christ died for sinners, and that, as sinners, we derive the benefits of His work for us. If we could improve our sinful condition in such a way as to cause God to look favorably upon us, the work of Christ our Savior would not be of absolute value. Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He came “to seek and to save that which was lost." " While we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Again, God justifies us while we are still sinners by virtue of what Christ has done. God" justifieth"— not the sanctified sinner, but—"the ungodly." He brings near to Himself such as were afar off; and more, it is to those who are dead in sins, and to them while in that condition, that He gives life. In the apostle Paul a great example of the saving grace, and sanctifying power of Christ, is seen. The apostle, since he persecuted Christ in the person of Christ's people, presents himself as the pattern sinner, so that all who come after him may have hope and comfort. Yet, pattern sinner as he was, he was also a pattern of natural righteousness. The worst of sinners against God and Christ may be the most exalted of men in religious uprightness. No form of sin is more deadly than that of religiousness without Christ, for it is essentially sin against God and Christ. Hence Christ says the publicans and the harlots enter the kingdom before the Pharisees. Now, the apostle had been a Pharisee; he had gloried in his religious life and in his religiousness before God, but when Christ saved him, Paul counted all his former life and boast, loss for Christ. There and then he cast aside all that in which he had formerly gloried, and instead he gloried in Christ. Being saved by Christ he lived for Christ, and lived his daily life in the faith of Christ, who had died for him. And all his holy life he attained unto, not by his own power but through Christ, who strengthened him. And as his life reached its close, Paul, the aged, was, if possible, more contemptuous as to self-attainment and more zealous for Christ, than he had been at his conversion. For he counted the things he had once gloried in but dung, that he might win Christ, and be found in Him, not having his own righteousness, which is by works, but the righteousness which is of God by faith. Apostolic Christianity such as this, is sorely needed in our days. Allowing that we rejoice in Christ as our Savior, let us from this position turn to sanctification. In speaking of sanctification, we must have a standard before us. Everyone who seeks to be holy has some kind of standard or example before the mind, and he endeavors, with more or less zeal, to come up to it. The Christian, when he has his own sanctification before his mind, should allow no lower standard than Christ. Christ in glory as He is, is the supreme pattern to which, by grace, all true Christians shall be changed by Christ at His coming; and Christ as He was upon earth is the only example and standard of perfect holiness that was ever seen in a sinful world amongst men. We are not to make our own conception of sanctification our standard, and, if we do so, we shall probably leave Christ out. Neither are we to allow that, in conformity to any ecclesiastical society or religious bond, sanctification will be found. We may go utterly astray by so doing, or we may become satisfied with and proud of our religious association, and have next to nothing of Christ in our holiness. The mechanical imitation of Christ, which prevails so largely over Christendom, is exceedingly painful. The acts of Christ are imitated without any regard to their intention, and often without respect even to their nature. The feet of beggars, for example, are washed by persons in high positions in life, and are washed in public, ostentatiously, and with great ceremony. This is called the imitation of Christ It is recorded as indicative of the holiness of the saint who performs the operation The very act itself is utterly unlike the act of Christ, while the spirit of the act is hopelessly left out. Again "saints" inflict wounds upon their persons in imitation of Christ's wounds on the cross, and holiness is supposed to result from these inflictions. Alas 1 these wounds are so many tokens of the "saint's" repudiation of Christ's atoning work, for He endured the cross for us to save us thereby, not in order that we by imitating His wounds might procure holiness for ourselves. True sanctification is erected upon the base of true salvation, and salvation reaches us through the death upon the cross, of our Savior. We take our stand at the cross of Christ, own our sinfulness and state of death towards God, and we begin our Christian life in Christ risen from the dead. Thus the root, self, is allowed no place save that of death with Christ. "I am crucified with Christ." The Christian's pathway of holiness is that of yielding himself to God as one who is alive from the dead in Christ. Instead of laboring to slay self, he reckons himself to be "dead indeed" (or to have died) "unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." He appropriates by faith the divine fact of His being dead with Christ and alive to God in Christ, who dies no more. If this be looked into, its reasonableness will be seen. Christ came into the world to save sinners, and to give to men dead in sins. Having saved sinful man, and given to him new life, eternal life, Christ imparts to the saved man who has the new life, power for a daily walk of obedience. Our strength, therefore, is to draw upon Christ for the necessary strength. And when this is done, victory occurs, and victory which ever redounds to Christ's glory and honor, and never to the glory and honor of the "saint.” If a Christian man could reach to true holiness by his own efforts, he would have somewhat whereof to boast. But if he lives a life which in the power of Christ is pleasing to God, Christ, not the saint, is magnified. If a noble rose be grafted upon a wild stem, the grand flowers bear the name of the graft, and no one extols the briar! But if there be not a diligent eye upon the briar, it will send forth its shoots to the detriment of the graft. Yet never will its own native shoots bear the beautiful flowers of the implanted rose! The two will be distinct to the end. So it is with the Christian. Christ in him does not gradually eradicate his briar nature, nor even so much as amend it. The flesh remains the flesh— "In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," is true to the end. But Christ in him, by the Holy Spirit's energy, produces the graces and the excellencies which God loves, and which are the fruits of true holiness. Christ as He was on earth, should be the pattern for the believer. He died to bring us into living union with Himself. He ever is what He was, and we should walk even as He walked, and be like Him in degree. How do we reach in any way to this? By dwelling in spirit with Christ, by occupation with Christ. Whether He was angry, or whether He comforted, Christ was ever perfect. Our standard must be none other than He. God does not give us a code of rules to follow, but a living example as our pattern. And God the Holy Spirit is in us, so that we may through Him, in measure, be imitators of Christ. From the Mission Field COLPORTERAGE IN FRANCE. THE sleepless warfare of the priest against the Gospel is described in the Report (we quote from that of the Bible Society) of 1837 in terms which may be repeated still. As if he had been the embodiment of some inextinguishable dread of discovery, of some evil conscience, the minister, who was set apart for the service of the Gospel, was found everywhere pursuing the footsteps of the sixty years ago distributor of the Scriptures; the same sad record, illustrated by a thousand examples, repeats itself continually during all the intervening period, and in the accounts of 1896-7 the same old sorrowful testimony appears once more. If it is changed at all it is more universal, more bitter, more carefully organized. "At every spot," writes M. Monod, "where a colporteur succeeds in selling a few volumes there rises up at once an enemy seeking to destroy them. And how intense is the conflict the colporteurs' reports bear witness.” - - - “I have a Gospel in English," said a man; "it is a better translation than the French one, but I have torn the pages that did not agree with me.” “What do you mean? Why did they not agree with you?” “Because they did not agree with our religion.” “You had better tear off what in you does not agree with the Gospel," was the reply. A curd told me, "Go to Madagascar: there you will sell your books, but not here, where we all are good Catholics. Protestants are not French, they are Jews. They are English, Germans, Prussians.” “People here are as much in need of the Gospel as in Madagascar.” “Yes, but not Luther's and Calvin's Gospel." He turned round and asked for a match to burn the books. "But they are excellent," said a woman. "I have a Testament; I read it, and am very fond of it." The curd went away murmuring, "Were I the maire I would not tolerate your presence here, and next Sunday I will preach against your books.” ============================= I was selling a Testament to a woman when the curd came along and said in Breton, “These are bad books, not approved of by the Bishop of Quimper." The poor woman dared not displease M. le Curd, and refused the book. I could not help saying to the cure, "Remember, that whosoever shall be ashamed of Jesus and His words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh." The cure disappeared at once, and a sailor, who had heard the whole, approached and said, "What is the price of the Bible? I want to buy one, and I need no permission from that seller of prayers in Latin.” At the isle of Ushant the people are excessively religious, and rather superstitious. "We would like to read the Gospel, but our curbs do not allow us to read the New Testament, and thus we are not free to inquire about religious truth," said one. A woman who bought a Bible, said, "We are quite sure it is a good book, but we must hide ourselves to read it, otherwise if the cures knew us to do so they would ruin our commerce"; and this is true. Along the coast, fishermen are busy in selling their fish, and among them I sell best; they are not prejudiced, and listen willingly to Gospel truth. ============================= At Vannes a woman refused my books because they are Protestant. "But, mother," said the girl, "I wish to have a copy." "I see no harm in that," said the father. But the mother exclaimed, "Look here! you have been to confession tonight; you arc to receive holy communion tomorrow morning, and you should not read such books! That would be to sin with a full purpose of doing so.” “How," I asked, "can the fact of reading the Word of God be a sin?” “The 'Word of God,' indeed! And it is a book full of horrors against the Virgin, to whom my daughter is consecrated." I pointed to Luke 1:26-36, which the girl read aloud. “You see, mother, how you are mistaken. Let the book be Protestant, I want to know its contents." And she bought a copy with her father's, but not her mother's, approval. ============================= At Vastes a woman said, "Why should we buy books which the cures forbid us to read?" "But they are not your masters, are they?" "In fact they are. We had bought a Testament that we liked to read, when the cure, catching hold of the volume, threw it into the fire. When my husband came home he was not pleased, and said that I should by all means buy a Bible from you if ever you passed again.” “Is it really the true story of our Lord Jesus Christ?' asked a farmer's wife, after a short conversation; and when she believed my statement that it really was, she was so happy that she did not know how to express her thankfulness. “And so you came so far only to bring me that book?" She then spoke of the Savior with an ardent love, though not yet realizing how complete and gratuitous is the salvation He brings us. I showed her some passages on that point, and I feel sure that the work of grace begun in her will be perfected by the Holy Spirit. Another day an old woman of eighty-three years was at first surprised that such a young man as I should speak to her of such things. "But, sir, I love God. Is it He who sends you? Please step in, that we may talk more intimately." I did so, and told her about the great salvation the Savior has secured for us. She drank in my words, and the tears ran down her cheeks. "To think that He died for, me. What a marvel!" She bought a Testament in large print that she can read very easily, and we parted, to meet again in our heavenly home. This month I sold two hundred and fifty copies among people favorably disposed. "What a good thing," they said, "to circulate such books! It is a deplorable fact that even our children believe nothing. What will become of us if things continue in that way? We cannot allow our children to read bad books.” I often hear, "We have lost our faith in our religion, but we still believe all bon Dieu, and we want to read the Gospel.” ============================= “Will you have the Gospel, the Word of God?” The woman thus addressed turned round and said sharply, "No! we do not love God here.” “Nevertheless," I said, "God loves you." This struck her. She then said her husband had been lying already three years with great sufferings, and that the cure had explained that such sufferings were needed to deserve heaven. "I conclude," she said, "that God is not a merciful God.” I showed her the cure's mistake; what was meant by the gift of God; and how Jesus is the only way to heaven. I was listened to with great attention by several persons who were present and who bought a few portions—poor sheep not having a shepherd. ============================= In a very small village lives a woman who is said to be distracted. She never attends mass, but stays at home "reading a small book." I called upon her and found the small book to be a Testament that she had bought from one of my colleagues! Having lost her only child, she sought consolation in that book, and having found it, she felt that she wanted nothing else. When pressed by her friends to go to church, she says, "Why should I go? I understand not a word, and no one will tell me better things than what I find in this book. That is why I prefer remaining at home.” ============================= I spent a few days last year at a place where there is hardly now a single house without the Scriptures, and I am received with so much joy and cordiality when I speak of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that I cannot but feel that the Lord is at work in that small village. At Orliac de Bas a rich landlord who had read a Bible I had sold to his sister, not only bought one for himself, but made me sell a dozen more to his neighbors. I had to stay at his house, where we had at night quite a little religious meeting; several said as they retired, "We had never heard such things before and we shall never forget them.” ============================= HONDURAS. From different places in South America good news comes relative to Bible distribution. The hearts of the people are frequently opened by the Lord to receive His truth and salvation. Gospels and epistles and tracts have been well circulated, and also in Ecuador. Venezuela also has workers in it, who are making a good headway. "In these lands," says our correspondent, "it is quite important to adhere to the Lord's way of sending forth two and two, yet it does not seem always possible in the present scarcity of laborers.... Little by little these dark lands are being penetrated, and the Lord, whose Word His servants carry, will not let it fall to the ground.” ============================= THE ARGENTINE. “One writing from the Argentine speaks of knowing whole families being turned to the Lord through our publications.” Thus we rejoice in God's work in these long neglected and hitherto benighted countries, where native paganism has had merely the darkness of Rome to mock the salvation of God for centuries. ============================= ROME. We have in our hands the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, in Italian. Our friend, Mr. Wall, of 35, Piazza in Lucina, Rome, has ready a first edition of ten thousand copies for distribution, and he wishes to circulate this gracious portion of God's Word to the forty-five thousand Romans who are electors. We have already been the means of sending him some contributions for the object in view, and we should be delighted to be the means of transmitting to him sufficient funds to enable him to place one copy in the hands of each of the electors of Rome. ============================= In concluding our message to our readers on missionary efforts, we would beg them to give all heed to these words of the apostle: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season... For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine... they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Our duty is plain; we have to make the Word of God known to the utmost of our power. We can all circulate it more widely than we now do. Our own land, the countries of Europe, and the peoples at the ends of the earth are in need of the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Let us do our duty and leave the results to God. There is no happier service in which we can engage than in Scripture distribution, none more pure, none more profitable. And in Roman Catholic countries, none so richly blessed by God. “Preach the Word.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 101: UNDER THE FIG TREE ======================================================================== HOME “is as sweet a word as exists in the English language. It stirs our feelings with pleasant thoughts, and is harmonious with the sweetness of rest. "There is no place like home," is a good old sentiment, which all who value the best side of life most heartily rejoice in. But home is not merely a locality hallowed by pleasant memories and well-loved associations; it is the place where our most dearly loved dwell. The love of home is strongly marked in the feelings which are expressed in the songs of Israel, the Psalms having in them many beautiful passages of delight in the heritage and in the fatherland. Israel's true home-joy consisted in the Lord Himself. God made His dwelling on earth in Israel, and, so long as He was recognized and obeyed, both the land and the individual heritage prospered—peace prevailed, the enemy approached not Israel's coasts; corn and wine, milk and honey, were in abundance, and the sons of Israel dwelt in comfort, "each under his own vine, and under his own fig tree," which latter expression seems almost to correspond with our English word "home.” When the Lord Jesus came to this earth there was no home for Him; He was from the first a stranger here. But the very gospel which at its very commencement records this sad fact, is that one which in like manner shows us Jesus Himself making, by His own love and grace, a home in His presence for those who love Him. "Where dwellest Thou?" inquired Andrew and the other disciple of John, and Jesus said, "Come and see." "So they came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day.” And having found Jesus, they had reached to the sweetness of rest at home. The next day Jesus found Philip, and bade him follow Him, and thus he also became a disciple of the Lord. Now Philip, having become a follower of Jesus, partook of His spirit, and sought for his friend, to bring him to the Lord. He found Nathanael. Nathanael was sitting at home, under the fig tree, when Philip came to him, He was a devout man, and by Philip's mode of address, we may be sure he was one who studied the Scriptures. Indeed, we know that engaging in daily prayer under the shady tree was approved by the Talmud. We may almost imagine Nathanael lifting up His eyes from the roll of the sacred writings he was reading, as he listened to Philip's eager words: “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write." Sure we are, that as the pages of the sacred book are devoutly read, Jesus is revealed by God to the reader. Yet Nathanael was not ready in one moment to accept Philip's statement. "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” said he, for he had his doubts and difficulties. “Come and see," replied Philip. His answer was, as it were, the echo of the Lord's own "Come and see" of the preceding day. As Philip led Nathanael to Jesus, with what burning words and eager steps he must have pursued his way. Nathanael was an honest man. "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile," were Jesus' words of greeting to him! “When thou wart under the fig tree I saw thee." And Jesus observes our ways. He sees us as we read the Scriptures at home under our "fig tree," and possibly having our difficulties. He never fails those who are honest at heart, and who faithfully search God's Word. “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel," exclaimed Nathanael to the Lord, who told him of the coming day when this earth shall be home indeed, for Jesus shall be here in glory, and the angels of God shall ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. Heaven is now the home of the children of God, because the Father and the Son are there, but our earthly homes are green spots indeed when the Lord is recognized, honored, and loved in them. There is a blessing in reading the Bible at home, in praying at home, in hearing of Jesus at home, and of having Christian friends come to us at home, who, like Philip, say to us of Jesus, “Come and see. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 102: CESAR’S TRIBUTE MONEY; ======================================================================== THE WIDOW'S MITE AND THE FARTHING. IN our last paper upon the coins of the New Testament, we had before us the tribute money of the temple. We will now turn to the tribute money payable to the Romans, and thus to the coin referred to in the well-known incident of the Lord's discomfiture of the Herodians and the Pharisees, who had thought to lay a trap for Him. Their question was opened up very finely—"Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man; for Thou regardest not the person of men." Here was an acknowledgment of the most solemn kind: "Thou teachest the way of God in truth"; and in the words, "Thou regardest not the person of men," the allowance, at least in form, that man must submit to the truth. Yet this preface was merely introduced to prepare a deceitful catch. "Tell us therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" What would He reply, who preached the coming kingdom, and, therefore, who could not allow that the rule of the pagan Romans over Jehovah's heritage, was in line with the promises of God? The Lord's preface to His answer was stern. The Herodians, who were the people of the palace, had entered into an alliance with the Pharisees, who eschewed the palace and boasted in the temple. The Church of that day and the world of that day went into association in order to entrap the Lord. "Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?" Their deference to Him as the Teacher of the way of God in Truth was merely a piece of acting, and He, the Truth at once exposed their true character—they were hypocrites—actors of truth, but in reality lovers of falsehood. Then He said: "Show me the tribute money." The witness of Israel's sin was stamped upon the coin, in the image of the Cæsar to whom the rebellious nation was subject. So they brought unto Him the little piece of money which is here represented. Look carefully at it, the better to follow the Lord's words as He continued: “Whose is this image and superscription?” An image never used in connection with the worship of the God of Israel. A superscription in no way relating to the glory of Jehovah. Far from it, for though "as far back as any specimens of coined money can be traced, it was the function of the sovereign power, whether that of the king or that of the state, to affix its signature to the coin, whether by name, by symbol, or by portrait," yet "the latter mode of authenticating money was forbidden by the Jewish law. And it is not until the establishment of the Roman power in Palestine that an ' image ' was added to the ' superscription' of any coin current among the Jews." How did the questioners of the Lord find their tongue to answer Him? They knew too well that the "image" of the Roman Emperor upon it was there because Israel had forsaken Jehovah, their King. But they were obliged to answer. "Caesar's," they said. “Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Cesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." His words severed the alliance between Herodians and Pharisees, between the courtiers of the King, and the exponents of the truth of Jehovah's Word. They were utterly discomfited; they marveled, left Him, and went their way. We now turn to the story of the widow's mite. Here is a picture of that coin, or, at least, of a coin very much like it, one of the smallest of the Jewish coins. This insignificant piece of silver, unlike the tribute money with Caesar's stamp upon it, was one which could be devoted to Jehovah's service. And the Lord has surrounded its intrinsic insignificance with lasting honor, by His record of the love of the hand which bestowed it upon Jehovah's treasury. The silver and the gold are His, and He needs none of them, but He prizes, as of exceeding preciousness, the cheerful heart of the giver. Little did the throng who cast their gifts into the public receptacle in the temple recognize whose eye was upon their hearts and hands, as their donations were thrown into the treasury. "Many that were rich cast in much," and all who that day made offerings to Jehovah, save one, did so out of their abundance. But one—" a certain poor widow "—came with her poverty, and" of her penury.... cast in all the living that she had "—and her devotion is inscribed upon the sacred pages of God's Word, for His glory and her praise. No name, however, is written there; the donor is anonymous—" a certain poor widow." A pattern for ourselves who would give to God, and what a lesson for us not to blow the trumpet before us, but, when we give to God, to do so with heart and hand devoted to His service! We now turn to the familiar farthing. We may take it that the illustration below presents that coin to the eye. It is the coin which ever brings before the heart the Father's care. "Are not two sparrows" (the little birds of Palestine) "sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father; But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." The common little bird dies and is not missed by man; but it is observed by the great Creator and is cared for by Him. And such care does He, who is our Creator and our Father, exercise over us, that ALL the hairs of our head are numbered by Him! What a comforting assurance to the children of God! Let us rejoice in His love, which is so vast towards us as to stretch from eternity to eternity, and yet which is so perfect in its detailed kindness towards us here on earth, that we cannot have a sigh or a sorrow, a smile or a pleasure, in which He is not interested. Some of the grand teaching of the New Testament surrounds the mention of the coins which have been before us. The temple tribute money led us to consider Christ as the great Creator and Disposer of His creation, while He Himself was here a man of poverty and not having where to lay His head. The tribute money payable to the Roman Emperor was used by the Lord to show that the Church and the world-as we may express ourselves-cannot be united. In the widow's mite we are given to know how the eye of Christ is upon us in all our actions in His name and for God's glory; while, in the farthing, we are given to learn that our Father's eye is upon us in all our needs, and that His love is towards us in the things of life most common and minute. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 103: SOME FAMOUS BONFIRES ======================================================================== IN a chatty little volume, bearing the above title, the author brings before the young the thrilling stories of bonfires of bones, of Bibles, and of brave men. And well indeed it is that the young should hear how old Rome dug up out of the grave the very bones of men who circulated the Bible, and burned them; and how Rome burns the Bible; and how she burned the brave men who gave that Book to the people of our land. The volume is well designed for distribution in country localities, where the servants of him who hates God's Word are perverting the minds of the people. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 104: MOTHER'S LAST VERSE ======================================================================== LITTLE Lewis slowly opened the door of his mother's room, and, peeping in, said— "Mamma, will you teach me my verse, and give me a kiss and say good night? I am so sleepy, and no one has listened to my prayer yet.” Little Lewis did not know that his fond mother was very ill; indeed, those around her thought her dying. She was a widow, and Lewis was her only child, and every night as he sat upon her knee, she used to read to him a few verses from the Word of God, or tell him the history of some of the great men of the Bible. She had been long in very weak health, but had never been too ill to teach her little son his verse, and to hear him repeat his evening prayer; so on this night he had come to her room as usual, only wondering that he had not heard her voice calling him, for bedtime was long past. “Hush!" said the nurse who stood beside the bed; "your dear mother is too ill to hear your prayer tonight. I will put you to bed," she added, coming forward and taking the child's hand to lead him from the room. But Lewis began to cry as if his heart would break. "Indeed, I can't go to bed without saying my prayer," he sobbed. The cry of her child aroused the dying mother, and, turning round, she begged that her boy might be brought to her. He was lifted up and laid upon the pillow—the bright locks and rosy cheeks of the child, side by side with the pale face of the mother, who was so nearly gone. Poor little Lewis! How little he thought of the great loss which he was so soon to know! “Lewis, my son—my dear child," said his mother—"say this verse after me.” The child repeated in a clear, distinct voice, after his mother, the words, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." Then he said his little prayer, and kissing the lips of his mother he went to bed. When Lewis awoke next morning, he went as usual to his mother's room, but the stillness of death was reigning there. His mother had taught him his verse for the last time, but he never forgot it; and I know, dear children, you will like to hear that God has answered the prayers of that mother, who, when she was dying, left her darling only son to the Father's care. Lewis has grown up to be a man, and he knows what a happy thing it is to be a Christian, and he knows the God in whom his mother trusted as the One who never leaves nor forsakes those who put their trust in Him. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 105: THE KINDNESS OF JESUS ======================================================================== WHAT are those patches of white on the hillside by that wood? "I said, as we drove through a lovely part of Surrey. “Linen bleaching," said one of our party. “A giant's wash-day!” suggested another. But when we came to the place we found they were tablecloths spread upon the grass, and that six hundred boys from some London ragged schools were going to have tea in the country. Poor fellows! Very soon they came, and we saw that the huge loads of cake and bread were none too large to feed the thin, hungry lads. In going back we saw the white patches for a long distance, surrounded by the boys, who looked like black dots, like strings of beads; and you will not wonder that we thought and spoke of that other large gathering of people, when Jesus fed the five thousand. Can you not picture the scene—the day far spent, the lovely color fading from the lake, and the shadows of the multitude lying, long and dark, "on the green grass," as they all eagerly watched Jesus dividing the food? How wonderful to see Him giving and giving, and yet the loaves grow no smaller! “And the two fishes divided He among them all." Then Jesus sent His disciples to the other side while He sent the people away. He was on the shore; His disciples were alone in the ship. He departed into a mountain to pray, and they were "in the midst of the sea," and "the wind contrary"—perhaps feeling very lonely, and thinking Him far off—but all the time "He saw them toiling in rowing," for, "there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with His eyes." He saw how hard they were rowing, but when He went to them "they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out." But how kind and gentle He was to them: "immediately He talked with them." He did not scold, but just "talked" to them. A little girl had read about children becoming Christians, and she prayed that she, too, might be one. She tried very hard to be unselfish, and do what she knew to be right, but found it, indeed, toil, and often very difficult. All the time "Jesus saw her toiling," working hard to be saved; but the more she tried to be good, the worse she saw herself to be. Now all the time God was answering her prayers, and the Holy Spirit was showing her her sinfulness. But she was afraid, for she did not know the Lord Jesus—she had not by faith received Him. One night she awoke, feeling miserable, because she thought He did not hear her prayers, and knelt down, when "immediately He talked with her," and, as it were, came Himself into her heart. Then, indeed, the wind of fear and doubt ceased, and there was a great calm—a peace that has lasted through long years of happy work for "the Prince of Peace." "When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?" Do you think it strange that the disciples did not know it was Jesus? Do not let us judge others, but look at ourselves. How often, instead of simply looking for Jesus in our troubles, we are afraid He is not with us. And, oh! do not "toil" to get "to the other side," for Jesus is near to you. Say unto Him, "O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me." So He will bring you to "the haven where you would be.” The Altar in Israel HE altar of burnt offering on the Great Day of Atonement was intimately connected with the throne of by means of the sacrificial blood, which on that day was carried into the holiest of all where Jehovah dwelt between the cherubim. The disposal of the blood of the sacrifice on that day was unique. We have already seen that in certain cases the blood of the sin offering was carried into the tabernacle, and was sprinkled before the veil there, which separated the holy from the holiest; but once a year only the blood of the sin offering, was carried within the veil, where it was sprinkled upon and before the mercy-seat itself. By this action, which was unseen by Israel, the very dwelling-place of God, in the midst of His sinning nation, was rendered suitable to His holiness. The blood of the sin offering was shed because of the sins of Israel, and that solemn witness to Israel's transgression and uncleanness was brought into the very presence of God, and it was laid upon His throne! But the blood was sacrificial blood, and while it witnessed to the depth of Israel's sins, preeminently it made atonement for the sins on account of which it had been shed. In this action sin had its true place given to it in the presence of God. Sin was acknowledged, but atoned for. The modern notion of God looking lightly upon human sin had no standing ground whatever. It was all brought out before God. Need we observe, that the teaching of the type was only an indication of the reality of the offering of Christ Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, and that that sacrifice forbids forever any notion that the Holy God, in consistency with His glory, can in any sense look lightly upon sin? Or need we state, that such notions are really the outcome of mean conceptions, or unbelieving thoughts, respecting the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ? The throne of God—His seat (figuratively) of government in Israel—was exalted in righteousness by the blood of the sin offering; for that offering was the annual acknowledgment of all Israel, in the most solemn way possible, of their sin and uncleanness during the year. But the throne of Jehovah was also exalted in righteousness by the blood in forgiveness of the sins, on account of which the blood had been shed. By virtue of that blood Jehovah could, as it were, come forth to Israel and bless the people. The blood upon His throne magnified the requirements of His righteousness. Sin calls for death at the throne of God. The throne of God was anointed with the blood of the victim which had died in the stead of the sinful people; and, accordingly, from the throne of God the utterance of peace could be heard. How gloriously Christ's sacrifice thus speaks from heaven to man-proclaiming in righteousness God's justice in justifying him who believes on His Son. The Gospel of God is based upon righteousness. The love of God flows out to sinful man through the perfected righteousness of the cross. God can be just, and yet the Justifier of Him who believeth in Jesus. Thus we read that in the Gospel of God's Son the righteousness of God is declared. This truth is one of the utmost importance for the day in which our lot is cast-since, on the one hand, the atonement of our Lord is made light of by the notion that His sacrifice is repeated continually; and, on the other, by the unbelief which repudiates the necessity of His sacrifice for our sins. It is due to this double character of unbelief in Christ's atonement, and in the righteousness of God, that sacramentalism and "higher" criticism obtain so many adherents. After the majesty of God's throne in Israel had been exalted by the blood placed upon it, the way from that throne outwards to Israel was sprinkled with the blood, as if to say "The way of peace for Israel is made for Jehovah He can come forth to bless." Accordingly the high priest, from the starting-point of the blood sprinkled throne, went with the blood and purified thereby the holy place, and then the court, which was open to the sight of all Israel. There was work seen and unseen that day. We cannot see what has transpired in heaven! We know by the testimony of the Word of God. Further, we know by that same Word, and also by our own witness of heart and conscience to that Word, how verily by that blood there are peace and blessing for us here on earth. The way from the throne led towards the brazen altar. The blood of the sin offering was taken and "put upon the horns of the altar round about," and, further, it was sprinkled upon the altar, which was thereby hallowed. Thus all Israel could see that the altar, whereby they drew near to God, was hallowed from their uncleanness by the selfsame blood which their high priest had carried into the Divine Presence. The horns, the power of the altar, proclaimed pardon according to the standard of God's own throne. And this, indeed, is the Gospel of God. The righteousness it proclaims is none other than divine, divine righteousness exalted by the cross of Christ, and brought forth for us all to see and to rejoice in to the glory of God's grace. We earnestly press upon our readers the importance of studying Scripture upon the great question of the altar as designed by God in Israel. For in the details respecting it are object lessons unfolding the great truths of the New Testament relating to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. And with these object lessons before the eye, the symbolism of very much that is now captivating the mind in connection with the altars erected in churches, will be seen to be utterly false to the teaching of Scripture. It is mysterious in the extreme, that the position of the altar, its nature, its object, its use, and the manner in which it is served, should be so absolutely in contradiction of the Word of God. It is a terrible thing to indulge in will-worship, to invent a system of approaching God, and to maintain it in direct antagonism to His Word, and when the will-worship relates to man's mode of access to God, it is too evident that its end must be separation from God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 106: THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW ======================================================================== ROME still tries to hide the truth of the massacre of St. Bartholomew from the eyes of the world at large, but no web of falsehoods can possibly obscure the horrors, the iniquity, and the cunning of that awful event. It stands out in all its infernal darkness upon the page of history, as a proof of what Rome is, and as a warning to the peoples of Christendom never to trust her. Protestant truth had been making strong headway in France, and in the middle of the sixteenth century the Huguenots had established their power, and, to a great extent, their liberty. They had won their position by invincible courage, and by the blood of thousands of their noblest men, and they stood in France, in their districts and towns, a great army of free men, who would not be the slaves of Popery. In the year 1569 Pope Pius V., finding that the King of France could not subdue his Protestant subjects to the Papacy, proposed treachery and massacre. This so-called representative of Jesus Christ on earth thus wrote to King Charles IX.: "Unless they are radically extirpated they will be found to shoot up again, and, as it has already happened several times, the mischief will reappear when your Majesty least expects it. You will bring this about if no consideration of persons or worldly things induces you to spare the enemies of God. "While to Catherine de Medici he promised the assistance of heaven if she pursued them" till they are all massacred, for it is only by the entire extirpation of heretics that the Roman Catholic worship can be restored.” Pope Pius V. was a devout man in the sense of austerity and poverty, and in the recitation of prayers; indeed he was regarded in Rome as one of the holiest of the Popes. And what is perhaps more interesting, he was canonized—therefore he is "Saint," according to Rome. He regarded himself as the appointed minister of his God to destroy all heretics from off the face of the earth. How to massacre the Huguenots was a task which taxed the ingenuity of both prelates and kings. First, the Huguenots had to be deluded into the belief that the Government and Court of France were favorable to them. Deception upon a grand scale was necessary, and deception of a most ingenious kind, as over and over again the Huguenots had been deceived, and they were alive to their danger. To begin with, the brave Admiral de Coligny, the leader of the Huguenots, was enticed from his home to Paris, and the young King embraced him with mock joy, restored to him the dignities he had forfeited because he was a Huguenot, and also his pensions, and professed to place the Admiral in a high position in the fleet. The French Court, which was serving His Holiness the Pope, is described by the Archbishop of Paris of the time, as under the reign of "impiety, atheism, necromancy, perjury, poisonings, and assassinations"! Nevertheless, when the King pledged himself to "indefatigable obedience to the Holy See" in the destruction of the heretics, the joy of the Pope was great. The Pope, his cardinals, and the Kings of France and Spain, together with other celebrities, were all working together to destroy the believers in God's Word. This should surely be a warning to the people of England, who can but observe what is being done today by lords, both spiritual and temporal, in the land, who are seeking for the reunion (as they term it) of Christendom, which would mean another and more awful St. Bartholomew's. There was also an effort made by the King to create a faction strife, or civil war, in Paris, so that the means would be the better at hand to destroy his loyal subjects, the objects of Papal hatred. This, however, did not succeed; therefore the massacre pure and simple had to be enacted. Naturally the story of a widespread conspiracy began to ooze out, and the King, dreading lest he should be overwhelmed by the storm he had now raised, went forward, as he exclaimed: "Let Coligny be killed, and let not one Huguenot in all France be left to reproach me with the deed!” At eleven one Saturday night the arrangements for the massacre were perfected. The bloody work was to begin at daybreak, and all who were not in the secret, and wore the white cross upon their hats, or the white scarf upon the left arm, were devoted to destruction. At two o'clock in the morning the toscin was sounded, and the great bell of the Palace of Justice began to toll. The first pistol shot was heard, and church steeple after church steeple in Paris pealed forth the call to slay. Shouts and oaths filled the streets, and above the din arose constantly the fearful words, "Kill! kill!” None were spared. The nobles who had been enticed from their country residences, and were the King's guests in his palace, were dragged out of their beds and hacked to pieces. The streets were crowded with victims fleeing for life—to be overtaken with murderous blows—and with the bodies of the dead. Old and young, and babes in arms, were alike slain. From house roofs and windows the corpses of fugitives were thrown into the streets, where they were hacked and kicked. The streets were red, and the very Seine ran through Paris a river of blood. Soon the arches of the bridges were blocked by the mass of corpses. Yet the assassins stayed not their hands. Such was Rome, "Holy" Rome, on the morning of the 24th August, 1572. For a full week the massacres continued in Paris; the King himself, drunk with the passion of slaughter, found pastime in shooting down his own subjects, and for two long months the slaughter was continued throughout France. A Romanist who gazed upon the heaps of corpses of his fellow-countrymen in the city of Lyons, said, "They surely were not men, but devils in the shape of men, who did this.” When the news of the terrible murders reached the Holy See, the Pope was full of thanksgivings. Cannon were fired, processions were made, the churches were illuminated, and God was praised. The Pope had a medal struck in commemoration of the event-also a great picture painted, that the horrors of it should be present to his eye; and to this day his tomb bears upon it the allusion to the iniquity, as one of his honors and acts of piety. We do not question the honesty of this Pope, but we do not forget the Lord's words: "The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor Me." We do not question the honesty of the Church in these deeds of infamy; but we do not forget that though Rome endeavors to hide the fact of its deeds from the world at large, it has never confessed one crime or expressed one word of sorrow for the blood it has shed, and that whether in the rôle of murderer or liar that Church is ever Holy Rome! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 107: RIGHTEOUSNESS AND MERCY ======================================================================== SHORT time ago there might have been seen, in a third-class carriage on one of our Scotch railways, a policeman sitting with a handcuffed prisoner by his side. The man had broken the law of the land, and was going, as fast as steam could take him, to the place where he was to suffer the punishment for his evil deed. The passengers seemed greatly interested in this man's case. Question after question is put to the policeman as to the cause of his conviction, and the nature of his sentence. The man had been poaching in the River Tweed, close to the town where he lived; and having been caught and found guilty, he had been sentenced to pay fifty shillings or to suffer thirty days' imprisonment. “Could he not pay the fine?" the passengers asked. And as he could not do so, he was being taken to prison. Presently a gentleman, an entire stranger to the prisoner, and to all in the compartment, asked whether, if the fine were now paid, the prisoner could go free. “Certainly," was the answer. When the train stopped, the policeman with his prisoner and the gentleman left the train. The authorities were seen, and the money was handed over; then the discharge was made out, the prisoner's handcuffs were taken off, and he was free. Another had done for him what he could not do for himself. This kind action is an illustration of the love of God to man. The prisoner had no claim upon the gentleman who befriended him. And the scripture declares that, "when we were enemies" to God, He gave His Son to die for us. God loved us in our sins, in our state of condemnation, and while we were hurrying on to bear our judgment. And since God is just, and His demands against sin must be executed, He gave his Son to die in our stead, to bear the judgment due to us on account of our sins. We all have sinned; we have broken God's law, and, do what we will, we cannot pay the debt. As fast as time can take us, we are being hurried along to eternity. How will you treat God, who gave His Son to die, that you might be saved and be delivered from the wrath to come? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 108: THE HINDU PROFESSOR ======================================================================== PROFESSOR Gopal Chandra Shastri, M.A., a distinguished Oriental scholar and Hindu preacher, thus speaks:— "I was, up to the year 1890, a great enemy of Christianity. In my popular Hindi book on the superiority of Hinduism I wrote in the beginning of the year 1890 to the following effect: ' Call me a dishonorable Hindu, and I will bear that with resignation; but do not call me a Christian, however good and great that word may be. Christianity is a term repugnant to my feelings and shocking to my ideas. No man can make me a Christian.' "But I, the same Gopal Chandra of the Hindus, who was a staunch and strong enemy of Christ in the year 1886, am now a follower of Christ Jesus in the year 1896! My hard heart is converted, the stubborn unbelief is removed, and the grace of God is stealing downward, like the dew of heaven, in silence and unseen. During the past three years I carefully read many books bearing upon Christianity, and became convinced of its truth. “I am now a new man in Christ Jesus, and I can now happily hold my life as of no value, for our dear Lord and Savior’s service. “There are times when the heart will, and must, speak for itself; but my poor pen cannot give adequate vent to the feelings of my awakened heart. May our Almighty Father give me more light to know more of Christ Jesus and Him crucified. “The Book of Books has alone converted me; it was not in the power of any man to convert me into Christianity. May the Book convert many millions like me!” Our Leper Fund THIS will be the last time we shall be able to lay before you the case of the poor lepers of India, and now also of Japan, so earnestly taken up by Mr. and Mrs. Bailey, 17, Greenhill Place, Edinburgh. We have been enabled by your kindness to send annually various sums of money on behalf of these poor sufferers; and now we ask you to kindly forward your contributions to Mrs. Bailey direct. The sufferings of these terribly afflicted people cannot be expressed; but the joy which so many of them have in Christ the Savior is deep indeed. Thus from CALCUTTA we have the story of Bella David:— Mr. Bailey visited Bella David on several occasions, and always delighted her heart by speaking with her in her own beloved Hindustani. He last saw her in January, 1896, when he found her in a dreadful condition physically. He says of that visit: " Bella is now in a fearful condition—blind, her voice quite gone (she speaks only in a husky whisper), and her throat very much affected —at times she almost suffocates.... When I was pointing out some texts to Bella, she said to me, 'You gave me a text when you were last here [five years ago], which I remember quite well.' I said, 'What was it? ‘She replied, ' As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.'” Mr. Stark, of the C.M.S., in writing of her death, says: " Both my wife and I had seen her the day before. As usual in the cold season she was suffering from bronchitis, and was scarcely able to speak; her voice was a mere hiss. She could not lie down, but was propped up with pillows. Her dear and faithful friend, Mrs. Nelson (herself a leper), attended her most devotedly. They sent for us at dawn, and we went at once, but her spirit had left for the presence of the Lord. All the women, and several of the men, followed her remains to the cemetery. We buried her in the Mission burial-ground. She was much loved. Her bright and patient life, in the midst of excessive bodily pain, was evidence of her faith and joy in the Lord.” Again, from the AMBALA Home, the gracious testimony of Bahadur reaches us:— Bahadur was one of the little flock of Christian lepers whom Mr. Bailey had under his care at Ambala. “In Bahadur we have all lost an affectionate friend, a zealous helper, and the brightest ornament of the little church here. It will be very hard, if not impossible, to find anyone to fill the place which he occupied. He was trusted and beloved by all classes alike, and it was a grand testimony to him that both Hindus and Moslems used frequently to call on him to arbitrate in matters of dispute which arose amongst themselves. His funeral was attended by not a few non-Christians, and it was very touching to see them offer marks of respect to the deceased, while it was most encouraging to hear one after another bear testimony to his godly life. “Only four days before his death, he, with a dozen or so of his fellow Christians, was helping me as usual in my weekly efforts to influence the non-Christian inmates of the asylum, and I shall not soon forget the faithful testimony which he then bore to the saving power of Jesus. His soul seemed to burn within him with a holy jealousy for his Lord and Master.” Once an English traveler, in addressing the Christian lepers, said that it was probably a mystery to them why they were afflicted above other men; he counseled them not to lose heart, but to trust in the all-merciful and wise Father, and to believe that in the light of God's presence they would know the "why and wherefore" of His dealings with them now. To this Bahadur replied that for himself the mystery was already solved by the "joy of the Lord" which filled his soul. "Before I became a leper," said he, "I was utterly godless; but my affliction drove me to an asylum where I heard of Christ, and by grace I was led to accept Him, and He has given me something infinitely more precious than mere bodily health and strength." It was he, too, who, in reply to an inquiry if the sufferers were looking for the return of Jesus, said, "Yes, and He may come today.” Our readers will like to hear a word or two respecting the PURULIA Home, to which their gifts were first of all sent. It prospers and bears fruit:— “On last Sunday I saw that our chapel is too small. It is 25 feet broad and 52 feet long, but it was filled from one end to the other. I believe if you had been present you would really have enjoyed the service, seeing the lepers listening to the Gospel; no eyes were going hither or thither. I had the subject of the prodigal son, a story mostly unknown to them: they bowed down their faces as if they would say, ‘I am the one.'” “A number of the new corners, when they see what there is going on in the asylum, at first refuse to heat the Gospel, and refuse to come to church. By and bye they come nearer, and sit outside; then they do a step further, and come close to the door; next they sit at the door; then they do the last step, and enter in and begin to listen to the Gospel.” The work in Japan is just opening up. From TOKIO we hear as follows:— Miss Youngman, in one of her bright, interesting letters, speaks of the enlargement of the buildings. "The frame is up, and the building will be ready in about three weeks. No sooner did we begin to enlarge than applications began to come in from all quarters. All the cases are so sad and so worthy that we cannot find it in our hearts to say no, yet we are now spending more than we are receiving.... We cannot look for much increase in our Japanese contributions, so what are we going to do if you do not send us more money? “If we enter these new applicants we shall need £200 a year instead of £100. Will not the Lord give it to us now that He has sent these poor afflicted ones to us? Four of them are already Christians.” We earnestly hope that all who have hitherto contributed to these leper homes through the pages of FAITHFUL WORDS will henceforth do so direct. To the children of the Sunday-schools, both in America, Canada, and England—whose gifts it has ever been so great a pleasure for us to transmit to Mrs. Bailey—we give our affectionate greetings and farewell. May each of you know for himself and herself that Jesus has indeed given you perfect healing from the leprosy of sin and perfect fitness for His holy presence! The Golden Thread THE glory of the coming kingdom of God has been briefly touched on in the earlier pages of this volume. Our pages are nearly at their end, and we can but add a few words on the ever-joyful theme. In one way or another almost every book of the Bible contains references to the coming of the Lord Jesus—whether to His coming to earth to suffer and to die, or to His coming in power and glory to judge and to rule. Unless we apprehend this fact, we are necessarily at a loss in understanding the Word of God. The divine plan respecting man and this earth is the display of divine glory; and the effecting of this is committed to the Man of God's right hand—His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Where man has persistently sinned away the privileges and honors committed to him, Christ will re-establish those privileges and honors to the glory of God, and in a fresh and more excellent way. We live in an age in which the scriptures which foretold Christ's coming to this earth in humiliation, have been fulfilled. It would be almost possible to place side by side the history of Christ's life as presented in the gospels with the prophetic words relative to His life. Minutely and perfectly the word of prophecy has been realized. Such a fact should create, at least, a little feeling of propriety in those who deny the foretelling of God's Word; while, to the believer in inspiration, it is absolute proof that those scriptures which speak of that which is still future, will be in their time also distinctly fulfilled. The root prophecy concerning the kingdom may be said to be God's word to the serpent respecting the woman's Seed: "It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The latter part of that word was fulfilled when our Lord—the Incarnate One, the Son of Man—died upon the cross. The former part of the word remains to be fulfilled, and this will take place amongst the last things described in the Word of God. The Christian is looking forward to the fulfillment of the Lord's word: "Surely I come quickly," and its gracious result to him, for when Christ comes, we shall be like Him, and we shall enter into the Father's presence with Him. All the saints will rise from among the dead, and all will compose the one redeemed family before God and the Lamb. There is, however, much, very much, yet to be accomplished in reference to Christ's coming. We do well, in our day of priestly assumption, to consider the Lord as the High Priest in heaven, and to remember that He will come forth as Priest "the second time without sin unto salvation," even as the high priest of Israel, after he had made atonement before God, came forth to bless expectant Israel which waited for him. When Christ comes to this earth in His glory, priesthood will be seen in its due place on earth, and it will be invested with peculiar glory. And thus will it also be regarding the kingly glories of the Lord. The princes and kings of the earth are not celebrated for devotion to God. The Lord will reign to God's glory and to the earth's blessing. The poor shall be satisfied, and peace shall prevail. Then the earth, already offering to man new wonders from her bosom, shall "yield her increase" in all fullness, and, in a way hitherto unknown, man shall replenish and subdue it. When man is fully blessed upon the earth, the animals shall reap the result, and this creation shall enjoy the effects of "the glorious liberty of the children of God." And what shall be said as to righteousness, in reference to Christ's coming? This is a most fruitful theme of Scripture. The Lord will be not only Priest and King in His glory on earth—He will be Judge. He will purge out of the kingdom all things that offend and do iniquity, and His rule will be established in equity. In like manner the eternal state will be ushered in by the Judge taking His seat upon the throne. Righteousness, eternal righteousness, will be established, and eternal love will reign. To pursue the golden thread throughout Scripture is a profitable study, and it is highly interesting to note the variety of blessings which are yet awaiting their fulfillment at the coming of Christ. It would occupy many pages such as this to enumerate them. The reader will find a profitable and enjoyable occupation in the effort to do so, and one which will lead his heart upward to the Coming One. The Entrance of Christianity Into Britain BEFORE speaking of the attitude of the British bishops towards the Romish bishop in England, let us further remark upon the nature of the Christianity which Augustine brought into the land. We have already stated he could give only that which he had, and we certainly believe he gave to the pagan English the best of what he had. But his best was poor Gospel fare! Relic worship, and such shameful departures from Scripture truth and the honor due to the living God, which he brought with him, testify to the corrupted Christianity of his mission. Perhaps the silver cross, and the board painted with the image of Christ, which he bore before him, express as forcibly as can be the exaltation of the cross above Christ, and the rebellion against the commandments of God, which in his day had already degraded the Church. And these things Augustine carried with all ecclesiastical ceremony, with procession and singing, for the purpose of converting the English. What Augustine had in his own heart of Christ's Gospel as regards salvation, may best be understood by the fact that his monks prayed for their own salvation as they appeared before the pagan king. Their idea of salvation was, therefore, based upon ignorance of such passages of Scripture as these: "According to His mercy He saved us"; "By grace ye are saved"; and of the apostolic teaching: " I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved." Pope Gregory himself was no more enlightened than they. Having been asked by a noble lady if he could give any satisfactory information as to her obtaining the forgiveness of her sins, he answered: "Certainty in this matter is not attainable; we must repent and mourn over our sins and apply for pardon continually." With these facts before us, it is difficult to understand how Augustine could be a messenger of "glad tidings of good things," or how he could have told the pagan English— as God-sent evangelists are privileged to do— "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Looking at Pope Gregory and Augustine from the standpoint of Roman clerical ambition, their success with the English was all that could be desired. Pagans were made Christians, by baptism, in thousands, and bishops of the Romish Church were appointed and held authority in England. But the conversion of the British Church to Papal rule was not so easy as that of baptizing the pagans into Christianity. The converted pagans could and did transfer their professed allegiance to Christ back again to their false gods at their list; but the conversion demanded of the British Church would allow of no such compromise—it contained unqualified submission to the Pope. There were conferences between the Romish, or English, bishops and the British bishops as to union of the Churches. And it is an interesting fact—and one which seems to bring these ancient efforts on to the same platform as those of our own times—that the British bishops stated that the doctrine which Augustine preached was the truth. This seems like very much that is now said by the sacerdotalists in the Church of England. They profess that what the Roman Church teaches is the truth. But, added the British bishops of Augustine's days, they could not, without the consent or agreement of their nation, quit their ancient customs! These differed in certain respects from the customs of the Romish Church. Baptism was not administered exactly in the same way, neither was Easter kept at the same period; and, further, their respective monks did not shave their heads in the same manner. However, as "a little chink lets in much light," so a little story of the time helps us to see into the reason for the hesitation of the Britons in uniting themselves with the English in things religious. The British bishops were very much perplexed, the story runs, as to what they should do and after one of their conferences with Augustine they resorted to a famous hermit to obtain advice. He bade them act thus: If when they next waited upon Augustine he should rise to greet them, they should accept him as a humble man sent by God; but if, on the contrary, he should remain seated, they should regard him as coming amongst them to obtain the mastership over them. Augustine did not rise to meet them. It could not be forgotten how he had made obeisance to the pagan king on his arrival; but as he was the Pope's archbishop, to whom had been given the supremacy over the British Church, he retained his seat, his chair, his emblematic throne! This decided the question in the eyes of the British bishops. And, oddly enough, it is one of those incidents which Roman Catholic writers cannot understand! All they can perceive in it are the willful obduracy and un-Christian spirit of the British Church. History repeats itself, for, practically speaking, the Pope and his cardinals have retained their seat during the late agitation on the Orders of the Anglican Church, and other matters. They have retained the old position of their predecessors, requiring everyone to bow before the Pope, and to submit to his supremacy. And the Britons of today have acted as did the British bishops of Augustine's time. They have objected to the union of Christendom on these terms! The English came under the influence of the Christianity of the era before us, by degrees. Sometimes whole districts became Christian and then relapsed into paganism, at length to become Christian again. And after some sixty years Christianity was triumphant. The British Church, as such, fell slowly under the greater power of the English Church; and in the eighth century the Roman Catholic faith was predominant. How far the influence of the zealous British missionaries was extinguished it is hard to say. Some consider that the Scottish love of the Bible may be traced back to the times of Columba and his successors. In Wales the British Church is considered to preserve its continuity from the earliest centuries of the Christian era. Certainly we may all acknowledge that our favored land owes very much of its present Christian liberty and love of the Scriptures to the prayers of the early Church in these islands. Equally certain it is that the Christian prosperity of England exists only when Britons make the Word of God their rule of faith. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 109: THE END ======================================================================== THEN the end! And when is this? After the resurrection of the dead, and after death is no more. Christ is risen from the dead, and is now glorified in heaven. He is the firstfruits; presently the great harvest will be gathered in, and all who are Christ's will be raised from the dead and will be like the Lord in His heavenly glory. "Then the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” The enemies are still many and mighty. They are numerous upon earth, they are mighty in the heavenly places—the Accuser himself darkens by his shadow the outer courts of heaven—but Christ shall reign and put down all enemies. And lastly He will destroy death itself. This is the end for which God's people are looking. The man of the world cannot look to the end—he hardly dares face death, and he will not entertain the contemplation of the judgment. No, when a man seriously and in the sight of God contemplates the judgment, he must seek for his own salvation, for his sins condemn him in the view of the judgment seat. Our little selves have an end, and to those who are Christ's our end is His end—the Father's presence and the Father's kingdom. There we shall meet again our best beloved ones, and we shall never be separated from them. We look forward to an end of sin, of sorrow, of death, of dishonor to God, of lack of love and holiness—an end which shall consummate in an everlasting present of everlasting bliss. The Mission Field EGYPT. THE woman here represented is a type often seen in Port Said. Port Said is an important station for Bible distribution, whence the Scriptures reach not only the Moslems, but also people of various nationalities. In parts of Egypt the sale of the Scriptures amongst the Moslems is much less difficult than used to be the case a few years previously. As regards Port Said, the people are now divided into two classes, as it were: those who show bitter opposition to the colporteur and his books, and those who seem eager to obtain them. Amongst the former class the religious leaders are prominent. Alas this is too generally the case all the world over, for religion and truth are frequently as far apart as the Poles. In Egypt and in Palestine the circulation of the Word of God is slowly making headway. Only a few years ago Islamism was all-supreme in those lands—now the Word of God is a living voice in them. The earnest superintendent of the Bible Society's colportage work in Port Said, describes the abundant access that port presents for visiting ships of various nations, and selling the Scriptures to Turks, and to Russians, Romanists and Protestants. Necessarily there is opposition, but there is also immense encouragement. The question, "Will the books be read?” says the superintendent, calls to mind a very serious conversation I had with a clergyman some time since. He said, "What is the use of putting the Bible into the hands of illiterate and ignorant people? They cannot understand it." My reply was, “Sir, I wish you could come with me some day on board one of the large Russian transports, and study the faces of men sitting about who have purchased a Bible or a Testament, and are now giving their whole minds to the perusal of the volume. Watch their faces and the faces of those to whom they are reading. This would be the most eloquent, and, at the same time, the most persuasive answer to your question.” “The fact is," he adds," that these thousands of people with whom we come in contact are enabled to read and to understand the simple truths of the Gospel.” Bible distribution is simply supplying the world with the Word of God. God speaks to men in His Word; and it is painful unbelief to suppose that God does not make His Word plain and understandable. If Romanists, Mahomedans, and others who endeavor to stop the circulation of the Bible, conceived that it was a Book which we could understand, they would not be so busy. The truth is: "The entrance of God's Word giveth light: it giveth understanding to the simple.” ============================= FROM THE NEW HEBRIDES. TOM TANNA'S CHURCH. Tom, the converted heathen, started an evening school among his own people, and the missionaries came one evening to see the work; and so far as it can be remembered this is Tom's prayer—the first they had heard uttered in English by an islander:— “O Lord God Father, we thank Thee dis night for bring altogether people here. Lord Father, help altogether, make we fellow strong along Jesus. We no savey (know) much, we savey too little. O Lord Father, stop along heaven, good fellow place, look down along dis world and see ebery man sinner. Jesus He born piccannini, He grow man, He shed blood along Cross, wash away sin belong heart. O Lord Father, help we altogether think about Jesus ebery day, ebery hour. Keep from steal, keep from tellum lie, keep from ebery bad thing, keep from Satan. Help we altogether keep close along Jesus ebery day, ebery hour. Help ebery man and woman here, and ebery man who no come help bring him come. O Lord Father, we altogether sinner. Nothing take away sin, only blood of Jesus. Jesus Master, we thank Thee. Help us all we go along work we think about Jesus all the time. All dis we ask for Jesus' sake, Amen.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 110: LIVING FOR JESUS ======================================================================== YOUR great object, dear young friend, now that you know the Lord Jesus to be your Savior, should be to live for Him. Life is like a battlefield; it is a struggle. The world would have your heart, and God says to you, "My son, give Me thy heart." Who, then, is to have your heart, your affections, and the strength of your life? The whole question of living for Jesus, or living for the world, depends upon where your heart is. You need not make a number of promises or resolutions; for, if your heart is really given to the Lord, you will live for Him. If, on the other hand, your heart is only half for Christ, then it is all for the world. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” There are precious years of your life, Christian boys and girls. "The way the twig is bent the bough's inclined." Every day spent with God is a day spent for God. Every day of your youth given to the world is bending the twig crooked. You could not straighten an old twisted oak tree; and the way the early days of your lives are spent will affect your whole life. We cannot believe that any one of you is so selfish as to say, "I am saved—I am going to heaven; therefore, I can live for myself.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 111: THE SUNBEAM ======================================================================== ONCE a sunbeam found its way into a house situated not many yards from the seashore. It was a bright summer day, and the Venetian blind was let down to keep the room cool, but this sunbeam would find its way in. In it came through a small opening in the blind. Now, you will hardly guess what so sorely puzzled little Willie, who was in the room at the time the sunbeam entered. Wherever the stream of light caused by the sunbeam went, there little Willie saw a thin line like smoke. Willie was much puzzled. Then his mother explained the nature of it to him, and told him it was dust. “Dust!" he cried. "Then how is it that the other parts of the room, where the sunbeam does not shine, are not also full of dust?” Then his mother told him that it was the same all over the room, although he could not see it; and, indeed, that it is the same everywhere all over the world, in a greater or less degree. In the evening, after the sun had done shining for that day, Willie begged his father to tell him more about the dust. So his father told Willie that, although he could not see it, yet the dust was in the room still, and that the reason he saw it before was because the little stream of bright light which shone into the comparatively dark room made all things clear to the eye where the sunbeam fell. Then Willie's father told him that the sunbeam is God's light, which is so pure and bright that it detects the dust in any room, no matter how clean the room may be. But God has also a light to show the dust of sin in our hearts. That light is the Word of God. When the Holy Spirit of God makes this light shine into our hearts, we find that they are "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” God gave us this light to show us these things, and God's light makes our sins plain to us. We may try to shut out the light, and succeed for a while. Sometimes, by trying to keep the room, as it were, very clean—that is, by trying to be good—people fancy there is no dust flying about, no sins filling the heart; but directly the light shines in, it shows that the heart is full of iniquity. It is very foolish to suppose that we are not sinners just because we do not see our wicked thoughts and deeds. The light of God's Holy Word not only shows what we are, but it shows us what Christ is. The light of God's Word reveals Him. It shows us that we may look on Him and live, and be saved. Has the light shone into your heart, and shown you that you are a sinner? Has it shown you that Jesus died for sinners? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 112: WORD TO MY FELLOW-SERVANTS ======================================================================== THE other day I turned over the leaves of an old book, in which, more than fifty years ago, my mother had begun entering the names, wages, and other items relating to her servants, making notes as to their service, capacity, character, etc. It set me thinking about my own service—whom I am serving, on what terms, how I am serving, and what will be the result of my service. You see, when we were saved—you and I—we became "servants of righteousness,” “servants to God," or, as another scripture tells us, "Ye serve the Lord Christ"; and when we call Him Master and Lord we say well, for such He is to us whom He has redeemed to Himself by His blood. Now, it was wonderful, as I looked through my mother's old book, to find how much of it fitted in with what the Bible says about our service, and how her little entries spoke to my conscience: perhaps they will also speak to yours. “Selina M., a very good and thoroughly clever, hard-working servant. She was, however, violent at times with her fellow-servants.” Is that what may be written of you in the accounts above? Is your energetic, faithful service marred by a temper that is a trial to your fellow-workers? Thus was it long ago, when Paul wrote to two "good, hard-working" servants: "I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord." It is pleasant to find that Selina, after having been away for a time nursing her sick mother, returned; and that when she left again on the same mission the following year, the entry runs thus: "She is a great loss to me. She has governed her temper, and made no trouble with her fellow-servants this last year. They all seem to regret her very much.” God grant that we, too, may thus grow in grace, and in likeness to our Master—that we may never be found beating the men-servants and maidens, as did the evil servant, who thought the Master would never come to look into his conduct. Of another I read: "A very nice-looking young woman, obliging, and clever over her work, but giddy in her conduct." Alas if such "little foxes" spoil our “tender grapes” —mar our service for Christ! Give good heed to the apostle's word, teaching" the young women to be sober," so that no occasion may be given to speak reproachfully. “Mary Ann H., a good nurse, but had not patience with the children. None of the little ones liked her, and were glad when she left." And yet, oh, how dear to Christ's heart are the little ones! Do you lose patience with the lambs of the flock, who, after all, will feed after their manner? Are you a Sunday-school teacher, a" nurse" in the Church of God, and yet lacking patience with the children, so that they do not like you and are glad to get away from your class, and care not for the truths of God taught by your impatient lips? One travels with her mistress, and it is written: "She was very thoughtful on the journey and kind to the little ones." How much we might lighten one another's burdens in the wilderness journey were we more "kindly affectioned one to another," thus fulfilling the law of Christ! I will give you one more entry: "Eliza H., a most excellent servant. She lived with me for more than seven years, and left in a consumption, of which she died. She was much attached to the children, and always thoughtful' and attentive to them. She is a very great loss to me, and few are to be found like her. Her mind seemed in a happy state, and she was fully prepared for her death." Does it not make you think of him to whom his Lord said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord"? The complete term of service ended here; then called to come up higher, where "His servants shall serve Him" forever! But there is another point in the old book that has struck me very much. I see that in those days the maids were engaged by the year, and their wages paid at the year's end. It seems that as the year ran its course a girl would draw a few shillings at a time in advance. On each such occasion she would sign her name-sometimes with evident difficulty-sometimes only the initials are scrawled (for those were not days of the "Sixth Standard"); but one way or another she acknowledged having received the money; and when the term of her service was completed, the words ".Paid in full" or "Sealed" are written, and she adds her signature for the last time. Now we who serve Christ get some of our pay "advanced" to us, do we not? Yes, a hundredfold more in "this present time "than we have sacrificed for His name's sake. But, oh, dear fellow worker! think of the pay-day coming! It is well to have some arrears to be "settled" on that day in which He will reckon with His servants. Not one but shall be "paid in full," for He will give to "every man according as his work shall be." Then it will be "made manifest" how you have served, and “then shall every man have praise of God." You will find how the forgetting heart of God has treasured up every thought, word, and deed that has been given in loving service to Himself, and you will marvel as He praises and repays you for what His own grace has wrought in you. We shall, indeed, bow low in worship at our blessed Master's feet by-and-bye as we acknowledge that all is “settled,” and that He is no man's debtor. God grant us, until that day, to" serve the Lord with gladness"! ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/faithful-words-for-old-and-young-volume-26/ ========================================================================