Clouds and darkness are round about him

Clouds and darkness are round about him

By A.B. Simpson


The presence of clouds upon your sky and trials in your path are the very best evidence that you are following the pillar of cloud and walking in the presence of God. The disciples had to enter the cloud before they could behold the glory of the transfiguration. A little later that same cloud became the chariot to receive the ascending Lord, and it is still waiting as the chariot that will bring His glorious appearing. Still it is true that while clouds and darkness are round about him, mercy and truth are ever in their midst and shall go before thy face (Psalm 89:14). 

Perhaps the most beautiful and gracious use of the cloud was to shelter Israel from the fiery sun. Like a great umbrella, that majestic pillar spread its canopy above the camp and became a shielding shadow from the burning heat in the treeless desert. One who has never felt an oriental sun cannot fully appreciate how much this means-a shadow from the heat. So the Holy Spirit comes between us and the fiery, scorching rays of sorrow and temptation.

Fear Not The Powers of Darkness

Fear Not The Powers of Darkness

By George Fox


Fear Not the Powers Of Darkness (1653)

Friends, - Fear not the powers of darkness, but keep your meeting, and meet in that which keeps you over them; and in the power of God ye will have unity.

And dwell in love and unity with one another, and know one another in the power of an endless life, which doth not change. And know the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, which is above the first Adam, the earthly, where all strife and transgression is. And all Friends everywhere, be faithful in the life and power of God, and keep your meetings (above all the world) in that which changeth not, that nothing but Christ may reign among you, the power of God, and wisdom of God, the sanctification and redemption; that the just over all may reign, and the seed of God may have the dominion in you all; that with that ye may all be ordered to the glory of God, and kept in the bond of peace, and reign i the live of God, (which is out of the iniquity, and rejoiceth not in it,) which thinks no evil. And have this love shed abroad in all your hearts, and feel it abiding in you; which love of God edifies the body. and know the word of God abiding in you, which was in the beginning, and brings to the beginning; which word being ingrafted, it saves the soul, and hammers down, and throws down, and burns up that which wars against it.


G.F.

The Upper Currents

The Upper Currents

By J.R. Miller

Table of Contents

› Chapter 1 - Catching the Upper Currents - The Upper Currents by J. R. Miller, 1902 PREFACE These chapters contain simple lessons, intended to incite to braver, stronger, truer living ...read

› Chapter 2 - In the Beginning God - No life can be complete, however much of beauty it may have in it--which leaves out God. No path can be a safe one, however sheltered it may seem--in ...read

› Chapter 3 - When Prayer Is NOT the Duty - There are many commands to pray. We are taught in everything to make our requests known to God. We are bidden to be instant in prayer, to cast our bur ...read

› Chapter 4 - God's SLOW Making of us - God does not make us all at once. The process is a long one, running through all the years of our life, however many these years may be. God begins ma ...read

› Chapter 5 - Transformation - "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2 "And we, who with unveiled ...read

› Chapter 6 - Keeping One's Life in Tune - Pianos have to be kept in tune. Every now and then the tuner comes and goes over all the strings, keying them up, so that there will be no discords wh ...read

› Chapter 7 - Putting Away PAST Things - One of the most serious problems of life--is the laying down of things with which we have nothing more to do. It is hard for us to let go of interests ...read

› Chapter 8 - The Ripening of Character - Character is a process of growth. It is like fruit--it requires time to ripen. Different kinds of fruits come to ripeness at different seasons; some i ...read

› Chapter 9 - Steps on the Stairs - The years ought to be ascending steps in the ladder of life. We should always be going upward. Heaven is high--a place of perfect beauty and holiness. ...read

› Chapter 10 - Getting Help from People - We receive help in our Christian lives, through many channels. But more, perhaps, than we are aware of, does God use other human hearts and lives as h ...read

› Chapter 11 - This Too, Shall Pass Away - We meet life's experiences wisely--only when we keep in mind their transientness. Whatever they may be, painful or pleasant--they will soon pass away. ...read

› Chapter 12 - Choosing to Do HARD Things - "I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me!" Colossians 1:29 The man who seeks only easy things--will never make muc ...read

› Chapter 13 - Giving What We Have - "And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is your pound, which I have kept wrapped up in a napkin." Luke 19:20 There always are those who wrap ...read

› Chapter 14 - The Ministry of Kindness - "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved--clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Colossian ...read

› Chapter 15 - The Ministry of Encouragement - "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11 "But encourage one another daily, as ...read

› Chapter 16 - The Word that was NOT Said - Many of the sins of most good people--are sins of 'not doing'. We need always to put into our prayer of penitence the confession, "We have left undone ...read

› Chapter 17 - Things That LAST - "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day w ...read

› Chapter 18 - Is Self-Denial a Mistake? - One writes in a letter: "A friend of mine was speaking to me about self-denial. She does not think one ought to sacrifice one's self too much, even fo ...read

› Chapter 19 - The Christian as a Garden-Maker - God must love flowers--for he has strewn the earth with them! Everywhere they grow--not only in the garden and conservatory, where they are cultivated ...read

› Chapter 20 - The Virtue of Dependableness - After all, the old-fashioned virtues mean the most in life--and are of greatest value. Brilliance is well enough, if there is something solid and sure ...read

› Chapter 21 - The Art of Living with People - Life's best school--is living with people. It is there we learn our best lessons. Someone says, "It is better to live with others--even at the cost of ...read

› Chapter 22 - He Makes Me Lie Down - "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He gu ...read

No Light Without the Divine Enlightener

By A.W. Tozer


However unpopular we may become as a result, we must cling to the knowledge that all men are heretics by nature and can never know redeeming truth till they are enlightened from above by and through the inspired revelation we call the Scriptures. We are never kind to our neighbor when for the sake of sweet charity we smile away his perilous error and let him go unrebuked and uncorrected. The sons of light have an overwhelming obligation to the children of darkness. 

The lighthouse keeper dare not compromise with the storm; neither dare the light become friendly with the darkness. 

The temptation to create our own creed and settle religious questions out of our own heads is as great in the pastor?s study as in the corner tavern. No man knows enough to be sure he is right about divine things until he has submitted his ideas to the test of the Scriptures. Intelligence is not enough, nor experience nor brilliance. The Word of God is the final court of appeal. ?I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path? (Psalm 119:104).

A state of vanity

A state of vanity

(Octavius Winslow, "Evening Thoughts")


The world through which the Christian is passing
to his rest, may be emphatically called a state of
vanity. How perpetually and forcibly are we
reminded of Solomon's exclamation, "Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity and vexation of spirit."
"Surely every man walks in a vain show."

His origin, the earth;
his birth, degenerate;
his rank, a bauble;
his wealth, but glittering dust;
his pomp, an empty pageant;
his beauty, a fading flower;
his pursuits, an infant's play;
his honors, vexations of spirit;
his joys, fleeting as a cloud;
his life, transient as a vapor;
his final home, a grave.

Surely "man at his best state is altogether vanity."
And what is his religion but vanity?
His native holiness, a vain conceit;
his natural light, Egyptian darkness;
his human wisdom, egregious folly;
his religious forms, and rites, and duties,
    "a vain show in the flesh;" 

his most gorgeous righteousness, "filthy rags."
In the impressive language of Scripture, of him
it may be said, "That man's religion is vain." 


 

Slaves to the customs and temper of the world.

Slaves to the customs and temper of the world. (William Law, "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life") "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as   its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world,   but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why  the world hates you." John 15:19 "They are not of the world any more  than I am of the world." John 17:14 "And we know that we are of God, and the  whole world lies in wickedness." 1 John 5:19 All the ways, and maxims, and tempers  of the world, lie in wickedness. Notwithstanding the clearness and plainness of these  Scriptures which thus renounce the world, yet a great  part of professing Christians live and die slaves to the customs and temper of the world. According to the spirit and vogue of this world,  whose corrupt air we have all breathed, there are  many things that pass for great and honorable,  and most desirable, which yet are so far from  being so, that the true greatness and honor of  our nature consists in the NOT desiring them.  The general temper and spirit of the world,  is nothing else but . . .   pleasure,    folly,   extravagance,   sensuality,    self love,    pride,   covetousness,   ambition,   and vainglory. To abound in wealth,  to have fine houses, and rich clothes,  to be attended with splendor and equipage,  to be beautiful in our persons,  to have titles of dignity,  to be above our fellow creatures,  to command the bows and obeisance of other people,  to be looked on with admiration,  to overcome our enemies with power,  to subdue all that oppose us, to set out ourselves in as much splendor as we can, to live highly and magnificently, to eat, and drink, and delight ourselves in the most costly manner,  these are the great, the honorable, the  desirable things, to which the spirit of  the world turns the eyes of all people.  And many a Christian is afraid of not engaging  in the pursuit of these things, lest the same  world should take him for a fool.  But the history of the Gospel is chiefly the history  of Christ's conquest over the spirit of the world. And the number of true Christians is only the number  of those who, following the Spirit of Christ, have lived  contrary to this spirit of the world.  You must unlearn all those notions which you have  been all your life learning from this corrupt spirit of  the world. You must stop the power of the world over  you, and resolve against a blind obedience to its laws. "And we know that we are of God, and the  whole world lies in wickedness." 1 John 5:19 "They are not of the world any more  than I am of the world." John 17:14

Sweet poisons!

Sweet poisons!

(Brooks "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices")

"I will give You all these things--if You will fall down and
 worship me." Matthew 4:9
Satan presents the world in such a dress, and in such a garb,
as to ensnare the soul, and to win the affection of the soul.
He represents the world to them in its beauty and finery, which
proves a bewitching sight to carnal men. Satan can no sooner
cast out his golden bait--but we are ready to play with it,
and to nibble at it! He can no sooner throw out his golden
ball--but men are apt to run after it--though they lose God
and their souls in the pursuit!

Ah! the time, the thoughts, the hearts, the souls--which the
inordinate love of this wicked world eats up and destroys!
Where one thousand are destroyed by the world's frowns
--ten thousand are destroyed by the world's smiles!

The world, siren-like, sings to us--then sinks us!

It kisses us--then betrays us, like Judas!

It kisses us--then stabs us under the rib, like Joab.

The honors, splendor, and all the glory of this world, are but
sweet poisons, which will much endanger us, if they do not
eternally destroy us. Ah! the multitude of souls that have
glutted on these sweet baits, and died forever! Such men
will sell Christ, heaven, and their souls for a trifle! "How long
will you love what is worthless and pursue a lie?" Psalm 4:2 

Ah, how many thousands are there now on earth, who have
found this true by experience; who have spun a lovely rope
to strangle themselves, both temporally and eternally, by
being bewitched by the beauty and finery of this world!

The main reason why men dote upon the world, and damn
their souls to get the world, is, because they are not acquainted
with a greater glory! Men ate acorns, until they were acquainted
with the use of wheat. Ah, did men but taste more of heaven,
and live more in heaven, and had more glorious hopes of going
to heaven, ah, how easily would they trample the world under
their feet!

"You joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because
 you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions."
     Hebrews 10:34 

Let heaven be a man's object, and earth will soon be his abject.
Assurance of more great and glorious things, breed in the soul a
holy scorn and contempt of all these poor, base worldly things
--which the soul before valued above God, Christ and heaven.

Oh how sweet is!

Oh how sweet is!

(Thomas Brooks, "London's Lamentations" 1670)

"Better the little that the righteous have, than
 the wealth of many wicked." Psalm 37:16

The righteous man's mite, is better than the wicked
man's millions.

The righteous man has his little, from the special love
and favor of God. Lazarus' scraps, crusts and rags
—are better and greater mercies than Dives' riches,
purple robes, and dainty fare!

A godly man improves his little, to the stirring up of
his heart to thankfulness, and to be much in admiring
and blessing of God for his little. The least mercies
which the righteous man has, make him humble, "I
am not worthy of the least of all the mercies which
You have showed unto Your servant." Genesis 32:10

The righteous man enjoys his little, with a great deal
of comfort, peace, quiet and contentment. Though he
has but necessities from hand to mouth—yet seeing
that God feeds him from heaven, as it were with
manna—he is content, quiet and cheerful.

All the honors, riches, pleasures, and profits of this world,
cannot yield contentment to a worldly man—they are all
surrounded with briers and thorns. Who can sum up the
many grievances, fears, jealousies, disgraces, temptations
and vexations—which men meet with in their vain pursuit
after the things of this world! Oh how sweet is, it to
lack these bitter-sweets! 

Riches may well be called thorns; because they pierce
both head and heart—the one with care of getting, and
the other with grief in parting with them. The world and
all its enchantments, are a paradise to the eye—but
painfulness to the soul.

But a righteous man, with his little, enjoys both peace of
conscience and peace of contentment; and this makes every
bitter—sweet; and every little sweet—to be exceeding sweet.
A dish of green herbs, with peace of conscience and peace of
contentment, is a noble feast, a continual feast to a gracious
soul. In every crust, crumb, drop, and sip of mercy which a
righteous man enjoys, he sees much of the love of his God,
and the care of his God, and the wisdom of his God, and the
power of his God, and the faithfulness of his God, and the
goodness of his God—in making the least provision for him.

In contrast, wicked men are like the the mule which drinks
from the brook—but never thinks of the spring. They are like
the swine which eats up the fruit—but never looks up to the
tree from whence the fruit falls.

A little will satisfy a temperate Christian. "Give me neither
poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread."
Proverbs 30:8. Agur asks only for daily bread, necessary
for his life—not for his lusts. He prays for enough to satisfy
necessity—not luxury. He asks for bread—not for delicacies.
He begs that his body may be sustained—not pampered.

A little will satisfy nature, and less will satisfy grace; yet
nothing will satisfy a wicked man's lusts! Wicked men
never have enough—they are never satisfied! Those who
are separated from the world's lusts, can live with a little.

Solomon, the wisest prince who ever sat upon a throne,
after his most diligent, critical, and impartial search into
all the creatures, gives this as the sum total of his inquiries,
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" And how then can any of
these things, yes, all these things heaped up together,
satisfy the soul of man!

Life's Open Doors

Life's Open Doors

J. R. Miller

Life is full of doors. A door is a very simple thing. It may be only a plain, unadorned piece of board. It's significance is not in the material of which it is made, or in its costliness or its artistic beauty—but in the fact that it is a door which opens to something. One door may open to a noble gallery of pictures; enter, and you stand amid the finest works of art. Another door opens into a great library; enter, and you find about you—the words of the wise men of the ages. Another door opens to a school, a great university; enter, and you are listening to distinguished teachers whose learned teachings will enrich your mind. It is not the door itself that matters—but that to which the door is the entrance!

Life's doors are not shut and locked. They may not be gilded, and they may not invite to ease and pleasure—but they open to the truest and best things, to the finest possibilities of character and attainment, and to the noblest ultimate achievements.

There are doors that open to good. They may not invite us to easy things. The best things do not offer themselves to us as self-indulgences.

The doors may not be attractive that we ought to enter—but they open to the truest and best life, to the finest possibilities of character and attainment, and to the noblest ultimate achievement.

There is the door of education. All of life is a school. Young people graduate by and by, from the college and university—but their education is not finished. This should go on in the occupations and struggles that follow. It is there, that we learn the real lessons of life.

There is the door of hardship and pain. One of the papers pays tribute to one unnamed man who died recently after years of intense suffering. He never asked pity or any concessions because of his suffering—but grew more and more devoted to his work.

There are many people who permit their pain and misfortune to make constant appeal to human sympathy, instead of bearing these burdens quietly and heroically, as a soldier wears the marks of his profession. Suffering properly endured, develops strength, and adds to usefulness. The school of hardship and pain is where we learn many of the finest things.

The man who wins its real successes, is not he who has the most perfect health—but he who bears disease and misfortune with silent courage and gains from them a more daring spirit; who meetsfailure as if it were veiled victory; who challenges death by ignoring its fearful aspect, tearing off its mask, and meeting it with a smile.

Another of the doors which opens to us in life is the door to kindness. Many people think of kindness as only a kindergarten lesson—but one who accepts the task—finds it very long. Kindness begins in unselfishness, the crucifying of SELF. It is sacrificial in its every feeling and act.

Wherever SELF stays in the heart—there will be unkindness in the life, in some form. To be kind—is to be gentle. Kindness will not break a bruised reed nor quench the smoking wick. Kindness is thoughtful, so sensitive in the consciousness of others' condition, that it refrains from every act, word, or look—which would give pain. Kindness is sympathetic, touched with the suffering of others—and quick to give comfort. It is a great door—which opens into the school of kindness.

Another of life's doors opens into the school of helpfulness. When we begin to be like God—we begin to be helpful. We think we love each other—but the love is only a mere sentiment—until it has been wrought into sacrificial act, into service which costs. Personal helpfulness is the test, as well as the measure of the quality—of the mind of Christ that is in us. Evermore people need to be helped. This does not mean that we are to carry their burdens, pay their debts, do their work, fight their battles. Such helpfulness does harm, rather than good. We help others truly when we make them strong andbrave—that they may carry their own burdens and meet their own struggles. Helpfulness should cheer, encourage, inspire, impart larger visions and greater hope and confidence.

Behold, all was vanity!

Behold, all was vanity!

(Watson, "The Substantial Excellency of Spiritual Things")

"Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your
 wages on what does not satisfy?" Isaiah 55:2 

See the difference between the things of God—and the
things of the world. The things of God are substance;
the things of the world are but a shadow. They are like
fruit-trees drawn in a landscape, which more delight
the eye, than the taste.

All earthly comforts are only imaginary; they are not
substance. Riches look like riches—but they are not
true riches; our Savior calls them deceitful riches. They
promise to ease us of our cares—when they only multiply
them. They promise to fulfill our desires—when they
only increase them. 

Beauty looks like beauty—but it rather deludes than
delights. Proverbs 31:30, "Beauty is vain." The finest
features of the body, and the most lovely face—are
nothing other than well-colored dirt!

There is nothing in the world which has reality, but
sorrows and troubles. Solomon had made the most
critical inspection into the world, of any man; for
variety of delights, he exceeded all the kings who
went before him. Yet, in all this, he could find no
substance, "Behold, all was vanity!" Eccles. 2:11

Earthly things are golden dreams, which leave the
soul empty when it awakens and comes to itself.
All the sweet waters of pleasure cannot quench the
soul's insatiable thirst; nor can the most ravishing
music fill the clamors of conscience. Satan casts a
mist before men's eyes and deceives them—making
them set real affections upon false delights. The
Scripture deciphers the world, to be a non-entity,
"Will you set your eye on that which is not?"
Proverbs 23:5

But he who has spiritual things, inherits substance.
Christ, and grace, and heaven, are substance.

True wisdom—is to know God.

True honor—is to be born of God.

True beauty—is to have the image of God.

True riches—is to be rich in faith.

True victory—is to overcome the world.

True delight—is to have joy in the Holy Spirit.

True happiness—is to see God.

Here is real substance—which will fill the
soul eternally with wonder and delight!

Only another name for "Trouble"

Only another name for "Trouble" 

(J.C. Ryle, "Happiness" 1878)

It is an utter mistake to suppose that RICHES alone can give happiness. They can enable a man to command and possess everything — but inward peace! They cannot buy a cheerful spirit and a light heart. There is . . .
  care in the getting of them, 
  care in the keeping of them, 
  care in the using of them, 
  care in the disposing of them, 
  care in the gathering of them, 
  and care in the scattering of them!

He was a wise man who said that "Money" was only another name for "Trouble," and that the same English letters which spelled "acres" would also spell "cares."

Are you poor? Are you tempted to imagine that if you had the rich man's place — that you would be quite happy? Resist the temptation, and cast it behind you. Do not envy your wealthy neighbors — be content with such things as you have. Happiness does not depend on houses or lands! Silks and satins cannot shut out sorrow from the heart! Castles cannot prevent anxiety and care coming in at their doors. There is as much misery riding and driving about in splendid carriages — as there is walking about on foot! There is as much unhappiness in large mansions — as in poor cottages!

Moody's Baptism with the Holy Ghost

Moody's Baptism with the Holy Ghost

By S.B. Shaw


I first saw Mr. Moody in 1876. He was conducting a noonday meeting at Farewell Hall. When I entered the room, I beheld a large number of clergymen on the platform and I said to a brother minister by my side: "Do you see that large man near the organ? That is Mr. Moody." He replied, "How do you know, have you seen him before?" I replied, "No, but I can tell him; he looks as though he enjoyed more religion than any of the others." He smiled and said: "I guess you are right." Soon Mr. Moody arose and in an abrupt way said: "What would you think if you saw a man on the beach of the lake shivering with the cold, with a big fire near by, looking at it and saying, 'I wish I could get warm.' Why, you would say at once, 'Why don't you go to the fire and warm up?'" He then made a striking application by saying that many Christians were cold and lukewarm with the fire of God all around them, and complained of their leanness and coldness when all they needed to do was to go to God and get warmed up.

He preached that day from John 7:37-40. He spake as one anointed of the Holy Ghost, and we believe that those who listened as if spellbound to his words felt that he spake as moved by the Spirit of God; and giving all due honor to his individuality, his zeal, his perseverance and his integrity, we only accept his own statement when we say that it was the baptism of the Holy Ghost that made him what he was. That baptism he received while in New York in 1871. Multitudes both in Europe and America have heard him relate how he was led to feel his need of power and to seek definitely the experience. At one time he spoke as follows:

"I can myself go back almost twenty years, and remember two holy women who used to come to my meetings. It was delightful to see them there. When I began to preach, I could tell by the expression of their faces that they were praying for me. At the close of the Sabbath evening meetings, they would say to me, 'We have been praying for you.' I said, 'Why don't you pray for the people?' They answered, 'You need the power.' 'I need power?' I said to myself; 'why, I thought I had the power.' I had a large Sabbath-school, and the largest congregation in Chicago. There were some conversions at that time. I was, in a sense, satisfied. But right along these two godly women kept praying for me, and their earnest talk about 'anointing for special service' set me thinking.

Cry Of A Burdened Soul

"I asked them to come and talk with me, and we got down on our knees. They poured out their hearts that I might receive the anointing from the Holy Spirit, and there came a hunger into my soul. I did not know what it was. I began to cry as I never did before. The hunger increased.

"Well, one day, in the city of New York -- Ah, what a day! I cannot describe it; I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths; and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience, if you would give me all Glasgow -- it would be as the small dust of the balance. I tell you it is a sad day when a convert goes into the church, and that's the last you hear of him. If, however, you want this power for some selfish end, as, for example, to gratify your own ambition, you will not get it. 'No flesh,' says God, 'shall glory in my presence.'"

The two godly women who were so greatly blessed to Mr. Moody were Mrs. Sarah A. Cooke and Mrs. Carrie Jones, formerly Hawkhurst, names known to multitudes who have been quickened! into higher life by their Christian example and efforts.


The following extract from a letter by Mrs. Cooke will be of interest to all readers:

"Dear Brother S. B. Shaw: It was at the St. Charles campmeeting in 1871 that a burden came on me for Mr. Moody, that the Lord would give him the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire, a travail of soul deeper than I have ever had for any other being on God's earth. No opportunity after that was lost in urging upon him his great need, and encouraging him to seek with the certainty that it was for him also.

Unspeakable Joy

"In my visits to Mr. Moody I was accompanied by Mrs. Hawkhurst, who enjoyed this great blessing, and had lately come to Chicago. After the sudden death of her husband, her home being gone, and almost heartbroken, she had come here to live with her only daughter. But soon Jesus came into her heart with a joy unspeakable and full of glory, and she would say as her feet trod the streets of Chicago on messages of love and mercy, it seemed as though they did not touch the sidewalk. At first, as we talked with Mr. Moody, there seemed no antagonism, but little conviction of his need of any further work; but he asked us to meet with him in Farewell Hall every Friday afternoon, which we did for a number of weeks. As we met there from time to time, he would seem more in earnest, and the last Friday preceding our great Chicago fire in 1871, he was intensely in earnest. This was during the month of October.

"At each meeting, each of us prayed aloud with much earnestness, but at this meeting Mr. Moody's agony was so great that he rolled on the floor and in the midst of many tears and groans cried to God for deliverance from the carnal mind and to be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

"After the great fire, he went to New York to solicit funds for the rebuilding of his institutions but he said his heart was not in it. The great cry of his soul was for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. While on Wall street it fell upon him just as on the first disciples and with the same glorious results."

Waiting God's Time

By T. Austin-Sparks

      

"When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son...."

      

When the fullness of time came! It is not difficult for us to see in the case of Abraham how his faith was brought into relation to God's time. The time factor with Abraham was a very real one and was perhaps one of the keenest and most acute factors for his faith.

      

Again and again we come upon a test of Abraham's faith along the line of the timing of God. Indeed, from one standpoint, we may summarize the whole of his life and say that it headed up at last to the triumph of faith upon that particular factor. In the full Divine sense he never received the promises in his lifetime. At the end of his life he was still looking for the fulfilment of the promise. If his faith had given way he would naturally have taken the attitude that, since the thing had not been fulfilled in so long a time and in his lifetime, it all represented perhaps a big mistake on his part, a false expectation, some mis-guidance, and so on. But right at the end, if the letter to the Hebrews is to be taken as revealing the actual position, he still believed. He believed, therefore, that God had His time for fulfilling His purpose... and that, although it might not come in his own lifetime, it nevertheless would come. But during his lifetime - within the compass of the whole range of Divine purpose - there were instances of testing on the time factor; and, having been tested on that factor, the promise was fulfilled.

      It is the principle that we want to get hold of. We have it illustrated supremely, perhaps, in connection with the promise of Isaac. It seems that it was at least fifteen years before the promise was fulfilled. It was fourteen or fifteen years at least, but how much more we cannot say, as the Hebrew is very uncertain in this matter.

      

Now, taking every other circumstance into consideration... promise, age, and so on... you can see that this was a real matter of faith - this time factor. The time is getting on. We are getting farther and farther away from any possibility of fulfilment.

      Moreover it was a deliberate and definite movement of God. Why did not the Lord, knowing what He would do, wait until He was about to do it and just come and say, "Abram, this shall be!" - and bring it about? But no! He came, announced it, and went away, and year after year passed by. Then He came again and ratified His promise... and upon that there was still more waiting.

      The Lord has strange ways. He deals with us like that. He must bring His instruments into oneness with Himself. There is a little phrase in the New Testament which runs like this: "When once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah." If that word means anything, it means that delay, in a case like that of Abram's, is not a pleasant thing for a man - not a thing that he would choose for himself. It would at least imply that if the Lord could have His way, He would perfect His purpose at once. Long-suffering, forbearance, patience, endurance - these things on God's part are not the things He would choose in carrying out His purposes, seeing all the suffering and the distress and the pain that there is. But He suffered... and suffered long, and His instruments must come into oneness with Him - oneness with His heart.

"THE CRY OF THE WATCHMAN" BY DAVID WILKERSON 2002

all rights belong to Rev David Wilkerson and Time Square Church

Hope Laid Up for You in Heaven

By William Henry Griffith Thomas


"Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven..."

(Col. 1:4-5).

This hope is said by St. Paul to be "laid up" for believers "in the heavens," and the verb is particularly worthy of notice because of its use elsewhere. Thus, a crown of righteousness is said to be "laid up" for those who love Christ's appearing (2 Tim. 4:8, ASV), while it is also recorded that it was "laid up" for men once to die (Heb. 9:27). Another solemn contrast is drawn in our Lord's parable of the pounds, where the unfaithful servant "laid up" his master's gift instead of using it (Luke 19:20). In two Old Testament passages, moreover, it is declared that the Lord has "laid up" His goodness for those who fear Him (Ps. 31:19) and "sound wisdom for the righteous" (Prov. 2:7). 

No Christian life, then, is complete which does not include in it this forward look of joyous certitude toward a bright future, for hope as a grace is not a mere spirit of what we call hopefulness, or a natural buoyancy of temperament. It is a distinctly Christian virtue, the result of union with God in Christ; and it has for its immediate object the Lord Jesus at His glorious appearing, and for its ultimate, eternal and exhaustless substance the glories of heaven and God as our all in all.

Sufficient for Each Day

By Theodore Epp


1 Kings 17:8-16

Because Elijah was a man like us, he undoubtedly wondered what God had in store for him when he saw the brook beginning to dry up.

Since he was trusting in God, however, he believed and help arrived. God did not send a sudden squall of rain for that immediate neighborhood, nor did he provide some supernatural source of water in that place. Instead, Elijah was to arise, go to Zarephath and dwell there. Only at Zarephath would a widow provide food for him.

Few of us have faced the extremity this widow experienced. It seemed as though each day she might face starvation; yet each day by faith she trusted God to meet her need. The result was that she and her house "did eat many days" (1 Kings 17:15). God supplied not a year at a time but a day at a time.

This is what we need with regard to God's grace. We do not need a great stockpile of it for future use but a daily appropriation of it, which God supplies freely. The manna was gathered daily, not in the evening but in the morning, and each one gathered for himself. So must we accept grace from God. We cannot hoard today's grace for tomorrow or call on yesterday's grace for today. We cannot gather enough on a Sunday to last a whole week. We need to have daily contact with God, particularly in the morning.

"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11).

Children's Edition of TOUCHING INCIDENTS and REMARKABLE ANSWERS TO PRAYER COMPILED BY S. B. SHAW

Children's Edition of Touching Incidents: Introduction and Preface

By S.B. Shaw

      Children's Edition      of
      TOUCHING INCIDENTS and REMARKABLE ANSWERS TO PRAYER      COMPILED BY S. B. SHAW

      FIRST PREFACE

      For many years in our work among children, we have felt the need of something similar to this book.

      The cuts are made especially for this work. Pictures in this book will suggest thoughts of God and heaven and awaken desires to live pure lives which will sooner or later result in the salvation of many of our young readers. God bless all our readers.
            --S. B. Shaw

      We are sure these stories will interest you children (and most older people, too). Especially good and true stories like these. In all that we have selected there are precious lessons of kindness and sympathy and obedience, gratitude, courage, and faithfulness: then there are two other very important lessons which I wish you to learn. The first is that children can be and should be true Christians, that is, have their sins forgiven for Jesus' sake and their hearts changed so that they love God and the right and hate everything that is wrong. The second lesson is that we must be Christians to be ready to live or ready to die. You will find in this book several accounts of happy deaths of Christian children, and you will find also much that tells of the good done by happy Christian children that lived.
            --Mrs. S. B. Shaw.

      DEDICATION

      When I was a little girl about nine years old, my mother gave me the book, "Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers To Prayer," for children. This book was published by Brother and Sister Shaw.

      I still have that book, which is about fifty-nine years old, and I have enjoyed the stories it contained many times. One time while teaching a Sunday School class I gave them each one of these books. They liked them very much, but there came a time when you could not buy these books, as other modern books took their place. But I feel that books like this one are still needed, and I am sure that if Brother and Sister Shaw were living they would like to see the stories sent out again to the children. We are adding a few more true stories.

      So we are praying God's blessings upon this book and dedicating it to the memory of Brother and Sister Shaw who printed the first book in 1895.

            Yours in Him,
            Laura M. Conkle

      (This dedication was written in 1955 for the first reprint edition.)

See Also:
   Children's Edition of Touching Incidents: Introduction and Preface
   Children's Edition of Touching Incidents: Part 1
   Children's Edition of Touching Incidents: Part 2
   Children's Edition of Touching Incidents: Part 3
   Children's Edition of Touching Incidents: Part 4
   Children's Edition of Touching Incidents: Part 5

The Feast Of Tabernacles

The Feast Of Tabernacles

By George H. Warnock

Table of Contents

› Preface - This book was first written in the spring of 1951, and published a few weeks later. It seemed to lay almost dormant for a number of years, for great r ...read

› 1 - Introduction - We believe the hour has come when the saints should know and understand, at least in part, the meaning of Israel's annual Feasts, for they constitute ...read

› 2 - The Feast Of The Passover - The first Passover was observed by the children of Israel in the land of Egypt, on the eve of their departure out of the house of bondage into the wil ...read

› 3 - The Unleavened Bread - The observance of the Unleavened Bread followed Passover and was associated with it. So much so that the two events were regarded as being one and the ...read

› 4 - The Sheaf Of Firstfruits - The waving of the Sheaf of Firstfruits before the Lord took place "on the morrow after the sabbath." Hence it would be on the sixteenth day of the fir ...read

› 5 - The Feast Of Pentecost - The Feast of Pentecost was the second of Israel's three annual Feasts. As the Scriptures reveal, the Feast is also called the Feast of Harvest, of Fir ...read

› 6 - The Blowing Of Trumpets - The Day of Trumpets was really an introduction to Israel's third Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles or of Ingathering. Like the Feast of the Passover, th ...read

› 7 - The Day Of Atonement - "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your sou ...read

› 8 - TABERNACLES, The Feast Of Unity - "And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the broo ...read

› 9 - TABERNACLES, The Feast Of Joy - "And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, ...read

› 10 - TABERNACLES, The Feast Of Ingathering - "And the Feast of Ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field" (Ex. 23:16). If the Passove ...read

› 11 - TABERNACLES, The Feast Of Rest - "Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on th ...read

› 12 - TABERNACLES, The Feast Of Glory - Let us recall how the three events comprising the Feast of the Passover all blended harmoniously together to form that first great Feast of the Church ...read

› 13 - TABERNACLES, The Feast Of Restoration - As we have considered the spiritual significance of the glory and power and wisdom of Solomon's kingdom, so now let us consider the spiritual signific ...read

› 14 - TABERNACLES, The Feast Of His Appearing - We mentioned in the first part of the book how the observance of the natural Feasts served to illustrate their spiritual application to the Church. Th ...read

Abraham, a Foreigner in his own land

By George H. Warnock


As we begin to walk a little in God's Way, so do we begin to identify with the people of the Way in the Bible. Now we can understand Abraham a little more. He had entered into the land that God had given him. He had walked through the length of it and through the breadth of it. But still something within cried out, "This is good, but I am not satisfied..." And why could he not be satisfied? Because God would not let him be satisfied... because God would enlarge his vision. In the seed and in the promise of blessedness that he had received from God there lay dormant a germ of something far, far greater that God desired to unfold to him. And therefore all this weary wandering through the land of promise was necessary in order that this germ of promise might blossom forth into something vastly different and vastly more glorious than a nice piece of real estate. 

As Abraham fretted over unfulfilled promises it is evident he saw little of what God really had in mind. Nevertheless God was faithfully leading him in pathways of obedience that would elevate his vision and cause this man of faith to look beyond the little land in which he walked. If we walk in God's ways this invariably happens. The prize of His promises soon gives way to higher things, better things, more heavenly things. Abraham soon discovered that he didn't really belong there... even in beautiful Canaan. He was but "a stranger and a sojourner" (Genesis 23:4). Hebron must have been very wonderful ...but still Abraham was not at home. He was a foreigner in his own land! He began to look for a better City, a "better country, that is, a heavenly." The real City for which he looked had "foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God." (See Hebrews 11:10, 16.) 

The nations God promised went far beyond the ones that would spring from Ishmael and Isaac. "The WORLD" would become his inheritance, as the true "Seed" was implanted in the hearts of men all over the earth. (See Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:16, 28, 29.) The "City" that he looked for would one day descend upon the earth. And one day Abraham will stand at the head of the line and will look upon his Seed which has sprung forth out of every tribe, and kindred, and tongue, and nation, and people. There will be the red, and the yellow, and the black, and the white. And Abraham will be able to say, "These are my children, for they have my faith." Then Abraham will step to one side and take his place with the rest, and Jesus will include his father Abraham in the company of His own sons (for "instead of thy fathers shall be thy children," Psalms 45:16). And Jesus will say, "Behold, I and the children whom Thou hast given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel," (Isaiah 8:18)... a people who are the Seed of Abraham, because "That Seed is Christ" --whether they be from the various countries of Europe, Russia, India, or the little remnant from the land of Israel and the Arabic nations surrounding them, or the people of China, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, or North and South America.., but the list is getting too numerous to mention. Let us just put it this way: "For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation," (Revelation 5:9). Peoples from the far north and the far south... from the far east and the far west. If they truly believe in Christ, then are they "the Seed of Abraham, and heirs according to promise" (Galatians 3:29).

As citizens of this country or that, we all recognize the natural barriers that exist between men of different cultures and different racial backgrounds. But God, looking upon mankind with His own standard of righteousness and glory, and with the judgments of the Cross in view, declares: "THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:22, 23). 

As Christians let us stop wasting our efforts trying to rebuild the walls of partition that God tore down at the awful expense of the Cross. For God is totally committed to the judgments of the Cross whether nationalistic segments of mankind are or not.

As the Rain and as the Snow

As the Rain and as the Snow

By George H. Warnock


What we are saying is that Truth begins to take on form and harmony and true meaning within us as we begin to walk in His Way, and not merely as we study the Bible. And as His ways begin to unfold we soon recognize that "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). Then we understand that we can only appreciate His ways as we allow our minds to be "renewed." We are aware that God made the majestic "Cedar that is in Lebanon." But now we are amazed that God takes note even of "the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." No longer is it alarming that people, even God's people, should resist the Truth. And no longer is there any purpose in arguing about it. Now we know that one must walk in God's Way if he is going to understand and know the Truth.

Nevertheless, we must be faithful to minister the Truth. For it will serve its purpose. God goes on to explain that His Word is like the rain that comes down from heaven, It will water the earth and flow back into the rivers and oceans from which it came in the first place. It is not really lost. If there has been a good planting of the Lord the rain will fulfill its purpose. But it takes time... and God's watchcare and faithfulness. And as the heart responds in faithfulness, with every going forth of the Word there is a certain work of grace wrought in the life. Truth becomes experience as we identify with it... I should say, with Him.

Then God says, "And as the snow from heaven..." Of course there is always evidence of life after a rain. But snow? Snow, and ice... these speak of hardness, coldness, and death. But as you begin to walk in His Way, you discover that there are "treasures" even in the snow. It, too, is to water the earth. God said so. But this can only happen at the right season... only in the hour of Spring! So that explains it! Here we were, wondering why we seemed to be so cold and lifeless, just cumbering the ground. Everything seems useless, futile, cold, barren. And yet I believe in Predestination. Sometimes I would like to forget it... but I know it is good doctrine: that God marked out my pathway before I was born, even from the foundation of the world. It seems to give you a feeling of importance and of greatness. But, like Joseph, the times come when you just have to lay it aside. I can hardly deny the doctrine... but at least I feel no urgency to argue about it anymore. I can hardly look at my life, very ordinary and futile as most of it seems to have been--and get excited about a doctrine that says God planned it all that way. But then I remember when I was a child, and my mother was doing needlework. She had two hoops that fitted together, one inside the other--and across the hoops was stretched a cloth, tightly drawn together by the hoops. The needlework looked real nice:, perhaps some pretty flowers, of different colors, all worked into the cloth according to a pattern that was stamped on the cloth ahead of time. Sometimes when she would lay it down I would take it and turn it over, and look at the underside. Then I would turn it back and forth and try to reconcile the beautiful flowers I saw on the top side, with the maze of colored thread underneath: loose ends, mixed-up threads, knots... anything but beautiful.

It must be something like that. There is a pattern. And because I believe God, I must believe that "all things work together for good to them that love God; to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did..." I can't quite see it that way now, because I am looking at the underside. The Master Workman is looking down from the top and I have to believe that He knows what He is doing. This gives me confidence and assurance in what I cannot see. But then He said it was supposed to be that way, to believe without seeing.

The Godhood of God!

The Godhood of God!

Arthur Pink
 

INTRODUCTION 

The Godhood of God! What is meant by this expression? Ah, sad it is that such a question needs to be asked and answered. And yet it does — for a generation has arisen that is well near universally ignorant of the important truth which this term connotes.

That which is popular today in the colleges, in the pulpits, and in the press — is the dignity, the power, and the attainments ofman. But this is only the corrupt fruit that has issued from the Evolutionary teachings of fifty years ago. When Christian theologians accepted the Darwinian hypothesis, which excluded God from the realm of Creation, it was only to be expected that more and more God would be banished from the realm of human affairs. Thus it has proven.

To the twentieth-century mind, God is little more than an abstraction, an impersonal "First Cause," or if a Being at all, One far removed from this world and having little or nothing to do with mundane affairs. Man, forsooth, is a "God" unto himself. He is a "free agent" and therefore the regulator of his own life and the determiner of his own destiny. Such was the Devil's lie at the beginning, "You shall be as God" (Genesis 3:5). But from human speculation and Satanic insinuation, we turn to Divine revelation.

The Godhood of God! What is meant by the expression? This: the omnipotence of God, the absolute sovereignty of God. When we speak of the Godhood of God we affirm that God is God. We affirm that God is something more than an empty title — that God is something more than a mere figure-head — that God is something more than a far-distant Spectator, looking helplessly on at the suffering which sin has wrought. When we speak of the Godhood of God we affirm that He is "King of kings and Lord of lords." We affirm that God is something more than a disappointed, dissatisfied, defeated Being, who is filled with benevolent desires, but lacking in power to carry them out. When we speak of the Godhood of God we affirm that He is "the Most High God." We affirm that God is something more than One who has endowed man with the power of choice, and because He has done this is therefore unable to compel man to do His bidding. We affirm that God is something more than One who has waged a protracted war with the Devil and has been worsted. When we speak of the Godhood of God we affirm that He is the Almighty.

To speak of the Godhood of God then, is to say that God is on the Throne, on the Throne of His universe as a fact and not as a say so; on a Throne that is high above all. To speak of the Godhood of God is to say that the Helm is in His hand, and that He is steering according to His own good pleasure. To speak of the Godhood of God is to say that He is the Potter, that we are the clay, and that out of the clay He shapes one as a vessel to honor and another as a vessel to dishonor according to His own sovereign rights. To speak of the Divine Monarch doing "according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him what do You?" (Daniel 4:35).

Therefore, to speak of the Godhood of God is to give the mighty Creator His rightful place; it is to recognize His exalted majesty; it is to own His universal scepter.

The Godhood of God stands at the base of Divine revelation: "in the beginning God" — in solemn majesty, eternal, un-caused, self-sufficient. This is the foundation doctrine, and upon it all other doctrines must be built, and any other doctrine which is not built upon it will inevitably fail and fall in the day of testing. At the beginning of all true theology lies the postulate that God is God — absolute and irresistible. It must be so. Without this, we face a closed door: with it, we have a key which unlocks every mystery.

This is true of Creation — exclude an Almighty God and nothing is left but blind and illogical materialism.

This is true of Revelation — the Bible is the solitary miracle in the realm of literature; exclude God from it and you have a miracle and no miracle-Worker to produce it.

This is true of Salvation. Salvation is "of the Lord," entirely so; exclude God from any aspect or part of salvation, and salvation vanishes.

This is true of History, for history is His story: it is the outworking in time of His eternal purpose. Exclude God from history and all is meaningless and purposeless. The absolute Godhood of God is the only guaranty that in the end it shall be fully and finally demonstrated that God is "All in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).

"In the beginning God." This is not only the first word of Holy Scripture but it must be the firm axiom of all true philosophy — the philosophy of human history, for example. Instead of beginning with man and his world and attempting to reason back to God — we must begin with God and reason forward to man and his world. It is failure to do this which leaves unsolved the "riddle of the universe."

Begin with the world as it is today and try to reason back to God, and what is the result? If you are honest of heart and logical of mind, this — that God has little or nothing at all to do with the world. But begin with God and reason forward to the world as it is today and much light is cast on the problem.

Because God is holy, His anger burns against sin.

Because God is righteous, His judgments fall on those who rebel against Him.

Because God is faithful, the solemn threatenings of His Word are being fulfilled.

Because God is omnipotent, no problem can master Him, no enemy defeat Him, and no purpose of His can be withstood.

It is just because God is who He is and what He is that we now behold what we do — the gathering clouds of the storm of Divine wrath which will shortly burst upon the earth.

"For of Him, and through Him and to Him, are all things" (Romans 11:36).
In the beginning — God.
In the center — God.
At the end — God.

But as soon as this is insisted upon, men will stand up and tell you what they think about God. They will prate about God working consistently with His own character, as though a worm of the earth was capable of determining what was consistent and what was inconsistent with the Divine perfections. People will say with an air of profound wisdom, that God must deal justly with His creatures, which is true, of course, but who is able to define Divine justice, or any other of God's attributes?

The truth is, that man is utterly incompetent for forming a proper estimate of God's character and ways, and it is because of this that God has given us a revelation of His mind, and in that revelation He plainly declares, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher then your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8, 9).

In view of such a scripture as this, it is only to be expected that much of the contents of the Bible conflicts with the sentiments of the carnal mind which is "enmity against God." And further: in view of such a Scripture as the above, we need not be surprised that much of human history is so perplexing to our understandings.

The natural world, to begin with the simplest, presents sufficient problems to humble man, were it not that he was blinded by pride. Why should there be diseases — and remedies for them? Why poisons — and their antidotes? Why rats and mice — and cats to kill them? Why not have left un-made the evils — and then no necessity for the instruments to remove them!

Ah, why are we so slow to learn that God's ways are different from ours?

And when we enter the human realm the mystery deepens. What is man placed here for at all? To learn some lesson or lessons — or to undergo some test or experience, which he could not learn or undergo elsewhere? If so, then why is such a large proportion of the race removed in infancy, before such lessons can be learned and such experiences be gained? Why indeed!

Such questions as these might be multiplied indefinitely, but sufficient has been said to point out the manifest limitations of human wisdom. And if we are confronted with insolvable problems in the domain of nature and of human existence — what of the Divine realm! Who can fathom the ways of the Almighty? Can you by searching find out God? No indeed. "Clouds and darkness are round about Him" (Psalm 97:2). If God were not a mystery, He would not be God to us.

But why write in this strain? Surely the need of our day is for that which will strengthen faith, not that which paralyzes it. True, but what is faith? We mean faith in the abstract. Faith is, essentially, an attitude rather than an act — it is that which lies behind the act. Faith is an attitude of dependency, of recognized weakness. Faith is a coming to the end of ourselves and looking outside of ourselves — away from ourselves. Faith is that which gives God His proper place. And if we give God His proper place, we must take our proper place — and that is in the dust. And what is there that will bring the haughty, self-sufficient creature into the dust so quickly — as a sight of the Godhead of God! Nothing is so humbling to the human heart as a true recognition of the absolute sovereignty of God. So then, instead of seeking to weaken faith, we write to promote and strengthen it.

The chief trouble is that so much that passes for faith today is really only maudlin sentimentality. The faith of Christendom in this twentieth century is mere credulity, and the "God" of many of our churches is but a mere figment of the imagination. Modern theology has invented a "God" which the infinite mind can understand, whose ways are pleasing to the natural man, a "God" who is altogether "such a one as" (Psalm 50:21) those who profess to worship him, a "God" concerning whom there is little or no mystery. But how different the God which the Holy Scriptures reveal! Of Him it is said, His ways are "past finding out" (Romans 11:33). To particularize:

1. The "God" of the moderns is altogether lacking in POWER. The popular idea of today is that deity is filled with amiable intentions — but that Satan is preventing the making good of them. It is not God's will, so we are told, that there should be any wars, for wars are something which men are unable to reconcile with their ideas of Divine mercy. Hence, the conclusion is, that all wars are of the Devil. Plagues and earthquakes, famines and tornadoes, are not sent from God — but are attributed solely to natural causes. To affirm that the Lord God sent the recent Influenza epidemic as a judgment scourge, would be to shock the sensibilities of the modern mind. All such things as this, are a cause of grief to "God" for "he" desires nothing but the happiness of everybody.

2. The "God" of the moderns is altogether lacking in WISDOM. The popular belief is that God loves everybody, and that it is His will that every child of Adam should be saved. But if this be true, He is strongly lacking in wisdom, for He knows quite well that under existing conditions, the majority will be lost. If He is really desirous that every creature should have an equal chance to be saved — then why allow so many to be born into families (of criminal parents, for example) and be brought up under conditions where they will never hear the Gospel — and there are many thousands such in this country.

If it should be said in reply God has not created these criminal conditions, the point is readily ceded — but nevertheless God is responsible for sending children into them, for the fruit of the womb is solely in His hands. Why not produce sterility among criminals, if it is contrary to His will for children to be born into such conditions, conditions which frequently preclude all reading of the Scriptures and all hearing the Gospel.

3. The "God" of the moderns is lacking in HOLINESS. That crime deserves punishment is still allowed in part — though more and more the belief is gaining ground that the criminal is really an object of pity rather than censure, and that he stands in need ofeducation and reformation, rather than of punishment. But that SIN — sins of thought as well as deed, sins of the heart as well as life, sins of omission as well as commission, the sinful root itself as well as the fruit — should be hated by God, that His holy nature burns against it, is a concept that has gone almost entirely out of fashion! And that the sinner himself is hated by God, is indignantly denied even among those who boast most loudly of their orthodoxy.

4. The "God" of the moderns is altogether lacking in a SOVEREIGN PREROGATIVE. Whatever rights the deity of present-day Christendom may be supposed to possess in theory — in fact they must be subordinated to the "rights" of the creature. It is denied, almost universally, that the rights of the Creator over His creatures is that of the Potter over the clay. When it is affirmed that God has the right to make one as a vessel unto honor, and another as a vessel unto dishonor — the cry of injustice is instantly raised! When it is affirmed that salvation is a gift and that this gift is bestowed on whom God pleases — it is said that God is partial and unfair. If God has any gifts to impart, He must distribute them evenly, or else bestow them on those that merit them, whoever they may be.

And thus God is allowed less freedom than I, who may disburse my charity as I best please, giving to one beggar a quarter, to another a dime, and to a third nothing at all if I think well.

How different is the God of the Bible from the "God" of the moderns!!

The God of Scripture is all-mighty. He is one who speaks — and it is done, who commands — and it stands fast. He is the One with whom "all things are possible" and "who works all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11). He is the One "who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out Heaven with the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance" (Isaiah 40:12).

He is the One with whom "the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance," with whom "all nations before Him are as nothing — and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity" (Isaiah 40:15, 17).

He is One who "sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing!" (Isaiah 40:22, 23).

He is the One who declares, "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb. I am the Lord who makes all things; who stretched forth the heavens alone; who spreads abroad the earth by Myself. I am the one who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense!"