est company. Those who walk with him through life have in his friendship life's greatest boon. Before his departure he said to his followers: "I will not leave you desolate, I will come unto you. Yet a little while and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me." These words promise two things: first, his speedy return; second, the consciousness of his presence on the part of his people. These two things go together; the very possibility of the experience of his presence being based upon the fact of his return. For if he has not come back how can any one meet him and sun his soul in the light of his presence? Upon his return old friendships were renewed-but on a new footing and on a higher level. Henceforth they knew their divine Lord after the flesh no more. Their communion with him was spiritual. A new and intimate relation was established between them which was to remain unbroken. Identity of personality was also established. It was "the same Jesus" as had been taken up who had come back to abide with his own forever. Tho veiled from sight he is ever near. Of him his humblest followers can now declare: "Whom having not seen we love; and altho now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." Forecasting his departure and return, Jesus, in commissioning his disciples to go into all the world and preach the good news to the whole creation, fortified them for their task with the assurance of his presence. Go forth, he said, to win the world to my sway; "and lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the consummation of the age." Not only was he to be their companion by the way, but the helper in the work. Those who go forth at the Master's bidding on any of his errands never go alone nor do their work unaided. It is said that when the Lord was "received into heaven, the disciples went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the work with the signs that followed." The same is happening to-day. The living Christ is by the side of every lonely worker as his unseen ally. He is in every great movement of social and moral reform. Every token of the better day is the fruit of the working of his spirit in the hearts of men. His cooperation with our feeble efforts is our only guarantee of sucWith him as our partner we can not fail. When difficulties discourage, we are to fall back upon the certainty of his presence and go on with unskacking steps, supported by the assurance that whatever comes we will share together; if we are partakers with him in the conflict of to-day, we shall be partakers with him also in the victory of to-morrow. cess. In his hard mission field in the New Hebrides, Dr. John G. Paton, burying his young life in the presence of hostile natives, testified, "If it had not been for the presence of Jesus I would have died from sorrow." That presence carried him through his trouble, and made him victorious in his missionary task. In his lines entitled "East London" Matthew Arnold gives expression to his thought. He says: 'Twas August, and the fierce sun overhead Smote on the squalid streets of Bethnal Green, And the pale weaver, through his window seen In Spitalfields, looked thrice dispirited. I met a preacher there I knew, and said, "Ill and o'er-worked, how fare you in this scene of woe?" "Bravely," said he, "for I, of late, have been Much cheered with thoughts of Christ, the Living Bread." This is the Christian secret. Those who feed upon Christ the Living Bread are strengthened for their task. It is his presence that imparts said that God must have smiled when power for the struggle. A Scottish chieftain fell wounded in battle. His clansmen supposing him to be dead began to waver and fall back. Raising himself on his elbow he cried out, "I am not dead, but am looking on to see you do your duty." At once they rallied, and swept on to victory. This is only a partial representation of our Great Commander. He is neither dead nor impotent to help. He is not only looking on; he is leading on to victory. July 18-24-The Blossoming Plants (Matt. 6:28-30) "Consider the lilies," says the Master; do not pass them heedlessly or hurriedly by, but stop to observe them and study them and to learn the lessons which they teach. Jesus is not referring to any particular variety of lily, but to the lilies in general growing wild in the fields. "Consider," he says, "how they grow"; with what grace and beauty they expand. Consider, too, how God clothes them in gorgeous raiment excelling that of Solomon, altho they neither toil nor spin; and learn from them to trust the Father's providential care. This is the main lesson of the liliesthe main lesson of all the blossoming plants. "Look to the lilies how they grow'! 'Twas thus the Savior said, that we Even in the simplest flowers that bloom God's ever watchful care might see." Why should we be troubled about food and raiment when the heavenly ་ Father who knows what we need has promised to provide them for us? But let us beware of making his watchful care an excuse for idleness. Unlike the lilies we have to toil and spin; but all our labor would be in vain without his blessing. Toil unblessed would profit us nothing. The lilies of the field speak to us also of God's love of beauty. Beecher he made the rose. He must have smiled also when he made the lily. It is expressive of his beautiful thought. He loves beautiful things, hence he has made so many of them. God is no mere utilitarian; he ministers to our pleasure as well as to our need. Of human ministries none is more gracious and joy-giving than a flower mission which provides flowers for sick-rooms, hospitals, and tenement houses. Realizing the value of this higher ministry Mahommed said to his followers: "If thou hast three loaves, sell one and buy hyacinths to feed thy soul." Another lesson of the lilies is that of the attractiveness of goodness. The lily is fragrant-good deeds have a sweet odor. The lily is gracefulso is goodness. Sin is intrinsically ugly, holiness is intrinsically lovely. The lily is pure. We use the expres sion, pure as a lily. Especially is the idea of purity connected in the modern mind with the lilies of the garden, the Calla and Easter lilies, those "flowers of virgin light," which are to us the symbols of white thoughts and deeds. The lilies speak to us of the transitoriness of life. They soon fade and pass away; but while their brief life lasts they fill their place and do their work. The Master in the passage before us compares our life to a flower which in the morning flourisheth and groweth up, and in the evening is cast down and withereth. We are here but a short time; but while we are here we have each a place to fill which no one else can occupy, and a work to do which no one else can perform. The lilies speak to us also of resurrection. This is the reason why they are associated with the celebration of Easter. When the lilies fade they do not really die. Their life goes into the root. We dig up the brown bulbs, and when spring comes around again we put them into the ground; the rain falls upon them; they feel the thrill of a new life, are drawn up into the sunshine, and expand in beauty. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. July 25-31-What to Read (Phil. 4:8) Among the counsels of Paul to Timothy, his son in the gospel, was, "Give heed to reading." He desired him to be studious and thoughtful that he might be enlarged spiritually and have his power for good increased. To know what to read is even more important than to know how to read. In the text referred to above, Paul gives some valuable hints touching the former point by suggesting some of the things upon which we may profitably ponder. His list includes,— "Whatsoever things are true." The life of the Spirit is nourished by truth. Ignorance is not the mother of devotion, but the mother of superstition. The mother of devotion is intelligence. Knowledge is the fuel that feeds the fires of piety. Let any one drift away from Bible doctrine and he will soon drift away from Bible morality. A writer in one of our popular magazines takes the position that pernicious literature is that "which deliberately misrepresents actuality by giving false views of life and casting a glamour over actions in themselves sordid and destructive of character." A life built upon falsity is like a house built upon sand. "Whatsoever things are pure." Avoid everything that would bring a blush to the cheek, rub off modesty which is the enamel of virtue-pollute the imagination, and poison the fountains of life. The sex novel, with its subtle, insidious suggestions of evil, is baneful in the extreme. It taints the soul and weakens the barriers of temptation. Strange that parents who are careful about their children's food should allow them to feed their souls upon such poisoned confectionery. The choice of books, like the choice of friends, ought to be made with care. "Whatsoever things are lovely"— i.e., in any way elevating and ennobling. Read the best books, the masterpieces of literature. Waste little time on ephemeral literature but give attention to books of abiding value and of spiritual quality. Few books live over a year, and those alone that possess survival value are worth reading. Through the best books we hold high converse with the mighty dead, and thus keep in the best company. When once we taste the best, relish for the inferior is taken away. "Read Homer once and you can read no more For all books else appear so mean and poor." With still greater force does this apply to the greatest book in all the world-the Bible. In its pages we find comfort and inspiration and hope to be found nowhere else. The banishment of this Book of books from our public schools is surely folly. In a word, we are to read whatsoever things make for the strengthening of character. We live too much on the surface of things. We go through life like skaters skimming over a frozen pond. Our religion is liable to become shallow and showy. To make it deep and strong we must provide better food for the soul. We can not grow strong on gruel. Light reading produces light character. We must also assimilate what we read; following the advice of the Prayer Book, "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest." Above all, we must read with a practical intent; for a man may be "deep versed in books. and shallow in himself." A true book-lover will seek "to know for the sake of living and not to live for the sake of knowing." EARLY LEADERS AND KINGS OF ISRAEL July 4-David in Camp and (1 Samuel 17:1-18:9) scribes David's introduction to Saul, the latter seems never to have seen him before, whereas in 16:21 David is No story in the Old Testament is already at the court, not only well more familiar than this of David and Goliath. Like Old Testament history in general, this narrative may be looked at from two points of view (1) the historical and critical, (2) the religious; tho it is naturally with the latter that the preacher and the teacher are supremely concerned. And no difficulties that the historian or the critic may raise can blur the exquisite literary flavor of the story or affect the value of the religious lesson which it so dramatically illustrates, that God can use weak and unpromising instruments to achieve his purpose against fearful odds-a lesson that has been earlier illustrated by the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer (1 Sam. 14:6). known to, but dearly beloved by Saul. thousands, but David his tens of critic and historian. another. The story ranks as one of the most brilliant and vivid in the Old Testa ment. The heart beats high as we watch the preparations for the unequal contest and wonder what will happen to the Hebrew boy as he goes out unarmed to face the Philistine giant-symbol of the eternal fight of goodness with the mighty godless forces of the world. Every detail counts. The giant is about ten feet high. David is not to be thought of as small: tho not so tall as Eliab (16:7) he must yet have been regarded by the historian as of a goodly height, since he can put on the armor of Saul, who is himself of more than average stature (10:23). The scene in which he tries on Saul's armor would be very amusing to an ancient audience, as it still is to us, if we exercise our imaginations. It is wo But the critical and historical problems happen here to be peculiarly interesting and not quite unimportant. (1) In a little known and little noticed passage, the credit of having slain Goliath-manifestly the same Goliath (cf. 1 Sam. 17:7)-is ascribed not to David but to Elhanan (2 Sam. 21:19). The chronicler seeks to reconcile the two stories by making Elhanan slay the brother of Goliath (1 Chron. 20:5). (2) The picture of David here given as a ruddy shepherd boy agrees with the previous chapter (1 Sam. 16:12), but is difficult to reconcile with the description of him in the older history as "a mighty man of valor and a man of war" (16:18). (3) Again, in 17:55-58, which de พ marking that when David enters the lists Goliath notices only his staff (16:43), but not the sling from which he was fated to receive his own deathblow. No wonder that, in his strength and arrogance, he disdained and cursed the boy. The charm of David is felt through all the brilliant story; it comes out in his physical beauty, in his fine manners and gracious speech, in his love for the sheep, and in the skill and power with which he defended them. The great lesson of the story lies, as we have seen, on the surface, but there are many subsidiary touches, as, e.g., that Goliath was finally slain by his own sword. But the story, as a whole and in detail, admirably illustrates the conditions of victory in the battle of life. (1) Most prominent is that David is a religious lad—with a deep faith in his God and a passion for his honor. It is the insult to his God that stung him into hurling his defiant challenge at Goliath (verse 26); and he fearlessly goes out to the fight, because he quietly trusts this God"he will deliver me" (verse 37). And he trusts, because he believes his God is a "living" God, i.e., a God who is alive, a God who can do something, above all a God who can help and strengthen his servants who take their lives in their hands and go forward to champion his cause. (2) Note again, David's fine control of his tongue and temper (verse 29). His big brother Eliab is jealous and angry at what seems to him David's stupidity and insolence; and David must have been sorely tempted, as he was well able to hurl at him some stinging rejoinder -perhaps to remind him at least that he should have had more faith in the God he pretended to worship. But his brief answer betrays no trace of bad temper. He who ends by mastering Goliath began by mastering himself. Often envy and misunderstanding, even from quarters where they might least be expected, dog the heels of those who are taking risks and making sacrifices for country, church, or God. But the path of self-control, in speech as well as in action, is the path to victory. (3) To succeed, a man must be himself. David must not appear in Saul's armor, but with the weapons that are his own and that he understands. In Saul's armor he would certainly have cut but a sorry, if not a ludicrous figure, and would probably have achieved no victory. He might have stumbled and fallen by the very weight of that unfamiliar armor and ended by being thrown prostrate by his adversary. We must be natural; we only make ourselves ineffective and ridiculous by aping another man's manner, or echoing his voice. It is originality that the world needs, not imitation or the putting on of what is not our own: that is the road to ridicule and ruin. (4) The Hebrew tenses in verses 34 and 35 imply that David had many a time faced lions and bears-in other words, that he had a rich experience of battle behind him. The deadly accuracy with which he hit the giant shows that it was the shot of one who had had years of practise behind him. God needs servants who trust him, but they will be all the more effective for having trained and practised their powers. There lies upon us all the duty to train whatever power we have, so that, when the call to important or perilous service comes, it will find us not only ready but competent. Notice the prudence and care with which David prepares for the fight. He does not take any stones, he carefully selects the ones he wants; and, not rashly anticipating that the giant will fall a victim to the first stone, he prudently takes with him five. Even the man who trusts his God is in honor bound to prepare himself, so far as human foresight may, for all eventualities. (5) |