FASTING

FASTING

by Archibald Alexander

Yesterday a pious young minister called upon me, and said he wished I would write a short article on the duty of fasting. He observed, that among Christians of our day he feared this duty was much neglected.

I referred him to a valuable discourse of the late venerable Doctor Miller on that subject, published some years ago--which he said he had not seen. I told him that I was not in favor of periodic fasts once a week or once a month; that there were times when we ought not to fast--as our blessed Savior said to the disciples of John, in answer to their question, "Why do we and the Pharisees often fast, but your disciples fast not? Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then shall they fast."

Yet soon after our conversion he determined to fast one day in the week; but after practicing this for some time, he found that it was degenerating into a formal observance, and he gave up the practice. He remarked that it was evident from one declaration of our Lord, that there were cases of obstinate evils from which deliverance was not obtained, without adding fasting to our prayers. The reference was to Matt. 17:21: "Howbeit, this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting."

Fasting has made a part of all religions, true and false, and is much practiced among the heathen, the Jews, the Mohammedans, the Romanists, and the oriental Christians. And because the practice has been turned to superstition, Protestants have too much neglected this duty. But eminently devout men in all ages have found fasting an auxiliary to devotion and to the mortification of sin.

Some professors neglect it altogether, under the false notion that literal fasting is not enjoined, but only penitence and abstaining from sin. There are, however, degrees of fasting, both as to the time of abstinence from food, and whether the abstinence be total or partial. The Ninevites, when brought to repentance by the preaching of Jonah, tasted neither bread nor water for three whole days. This was a severe fast. Daniel fasted for three full weeks; but this was not a total abstinence, for he says, "I ate no pleasant bread, neither came meat nor wine in my mouth." And Peter's fast, when he saw the vision of the sheet let down, was only until three o'clock.

External fasting, without corresponding internal penitence and humiliation, is hypocrisy--and such fasting is severely reproved by the prophet. "'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?" (Isaiah 58:3-5) "Even now--this is the LORD's declaration--turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster." (Joel 2:12-13)

And our Lord warns us against ostentation in our fasting: "Whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They've got their reward! But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face, so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

One special occasion on which the apostles and their companions were accustomed to fast, was when ministers were to be ordained and sent forth. Thus we read in Acts 13:2, "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." And again, chapter 14:23, "And when they had ordained elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord." Is this practice now followed by those who ordain? As fasting renders some people sick, so that it hinders their devotion, such should adopt partial abstinence; for the Lord will have mercy, and not sacrifice.

One end of fasting, is that we may "afflict our souls."

The Open Grave

The Open Grave
By Charles H. Stalker


      Message Delivered at Leicester, Easter Sunday Morning, April 20th, 1919

      "He is not here, for he is risen. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

      This was the time of the greatest disappointment that ever Came to man. There had been expectation and anticipation, there had been burden and there had been blessing, and after the tension and the strain, they Came to the grave and found it was empty. It was the greatest disappointment they had ever had.

      We find that God has a plan and a purpose, and He carries it out. This is the only open grave that everyone has had an interest in There are family graves, and there are graves that a community is interested in, but this grave was of interest to all. There has never been a grave like it, and there never will be. There has never been a grave with which so much is connected.

      We must remember that it required the same faith to follow Jesus then as it does now, all His followers expressed the same faith. A great many people think it was child's play to follow Him and hear His messages when He walked on this earth, but it took the same faith then to leave father, mother, sisters, and brothers. There are some who think they had an easy time of it, but it meant just as much sacrifice and faith as it does today. I believe that the strain was intense, especially/ after He was taken from the cross to the grave, an His followers must have felt lonesome. They came early to the grave. It shows how eager they were, and what an interest they had. And when they came, these were the words that they heard, "He is not here, He is risen." "You need not take our word, come and see where the Lord lay." They came expecting a closed grave, they Came expecting the soldiers, the seal, and the stone, and to hear this announcement made was a real disappointment to them. He had told them before, He had warned them, but the words had a different meaning now.

      We come to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone of Christianity, and that is the resurrection. Thank God, He is risen, and He lives again.

      Now the devil had done his supreme work in the burial of the Son of God. He had placed the stone there, and the seal, and the soldiers, but God raised Him from the dead. After the devil had done his worst, and fixed everything up, God can use His little finger and thwart the plan of the devil and produce Holiness. You cannot smother Holiness, you cannot bury Holiness, it will crawl out on the other side of the grave and sing

      "Is not this the land of Beulah,
      Where the sun is always bright?"

      You can put it in a closed place, but it will come out; you can put a heavy stone upon it, but this movement will go on. Let the people who are looking on see the dust that you cause to fly up in the road as you move on with God.

      Now, I can see another thing in this message. They did not receive what they expected, but they got what they needed. They got the message of the resurrection, and that is the message of new life. That is the message that has to be carried to this lost world. When a man or woman is saved from sin and filled with the Holy Ghost, all they have to do is to take this resurrection message to this world. This message brings vitality, reality, and victory. You can take it to the ends of the earth. That is your opportunity and the responsibility is resting upon you at this hour.

      They expected a closed grave, but it was open, it is the only open grave there is in the world. Every other grave is covered, and covered by law, but this is open. That is of special significance. If it had been closed, there would have been no hope for humanity, there would have been no comfort in the hour of death, there would have been no message from the Bible, there would have been no sermon for the preacher, and no Holy Ghost for the believer. But it is open, thank God! Let us walk carefully this morning, that we might see what there is for lost humanity. I believe that God will show us something that we can carry and that we can tell. I believe we can leave this meeting this morning with a message that is worth living for and dying for. Until you are willing to die for it, it has no power, no purpose, and no plan.

 The thought of God in living is one thing, but the message that I have in my hand this morning was brought by the martyrs' death and by the sacrifice of people who have seen more with their eyes closed, and have heard more than the people of this world. It is useless for you to start in to see how you feel, start in with your life and for life, to live with this message and die with this message. You can give your life voluntarily. The law compelled men to go and fight, you have to pay your tax, you have to do many things, but God never compels a man to do anything.

      The sweetest sacrifice that God or man has looked upon has been given willingly and gladly without any reservation. It was given because people had a vision, and because they saw Calvary.

      Once in a while I have wished I could compel people, when I have seen the possibilities that lie before them, but after all the sweetest part of it is that the red road of martyrdom has been trodden willingly and gladly by holy men and women. There has been no bondage, no iron shackles, and it stands today, after twenty centuries of opposition from hell's artillery. Give yourself willingly and gladly, and your reward is sure. There is nothing touches me like the life that has been abandoned to the Holy Ghost, and there is nothing that is so precious in the eyes of God.

      After dealing with the people of all classes and color and all climes, I have a real conviction that few abandon themselves to the Holy Ghost entirely and eternally, when they do, they scarcely ever lose their experience. I do not say it is an impossibility. This emotional and mental conception of Holiness is damnable, but the heart reality and the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire is the divine preparation for a life of sacrifice and service. If you are going in with any other motive, you had better turn back at once. Make your choice. Very few people touch the supernatural, and unless some of you here this morning get a vision, there is something up the road that you will not be ready to meet. In this atmosphere of faith and prayer you can have something from heaven that will defeat all hell and spread Holiness. Thank God, He is able to do it.

      I was down in Central America, and we had some meetings in a tabernacle. I do not know how it was made, but much had been done there and God had greatly blessed. After the morning meeting, I went to a tree and gathered some bananas and had my lunch. When I had finished, a man and woman came to me and asked if I would go with them, and I consented. We walked along, passed the colored meeting house -- they were praying and singing in there. We went on down the road and into a field. Away over the field there was some barbed wire round a little plot of ground, and there was a stone that had been white-washed and placed at the head. This is the story

      Their little girl had died a few weeks before out in that lonely spot. They nailed some rough boards together and the man took the silk lining out of his hat and made a little pillow for the head. They took a little clean dress and placed it on the dead child and then they placed a smooth box lid over it and nailed it down. They took that little precious one out in the field and dug with their own hands a little hole in the ground and deposited that rough box to wait for the resurrection morning. Why could they do that? The father says he is willing to lie on that side and the mother says she is willing to lie on this side when her work is done. Why could they do that? Why could they close that grave in that informal way? Because of that Open grave. There was not a regret, there was nothing but a tear to stray down the face with a smile on the top of it. No wonder the angels stand on tip toe and look down to see what God has put in the heart of fallen humanity. If His grave had been closed they would have had no hope, but it is open and they had perfect confidence and a living hope.

      You can talk about other things and you can offer your arguments, but you could not stand in a place like that without feeling that nothing but the supernatural could have produced that faith. The message that we have this morning is not a local one, it is for the world and the world is dying for it. It will be lost for ever if it does not get it. What is there in life unless you take life to others? What is there in a selfish life? There is simply nothing in it.

      I was in China and spoke to some missionaries on Sunday morning. The next day one of them came to me. He had been in China for a number of years and he said he had been saved and knew he was a child of God, but he did not have what I had been speaking about the day before. I told him that was no sign that he could not have it if he would pay the price. He said, "Let us take a walk." and so we walked out into the cemetery. They never dig graves in China, they make the mounds on the top of the ground. We walked round until we came to rather a large mound and we knelt down. He said, "I felt yesterday that I must have the Holy Ghost, and I want Him now." He had taken a medical course, graduated with high honors, had been very successful in his work, had a burden for the lost, but had never received the Holy Ghost. He knelt by that dead Chinaman's grave and received the Holy Ghost. When he and his wife came back to our home, he said that the step he took in receiving the Holy Ghost had meant more to him than all he had ever done before. God had wonderfully blessed and used him.

      Now you can carry a burden until that burden carries you. He had a greater burden than ever after he received the Holy Ghost, and just spent his life out there. We had a cable the other day. He had gone out and had been so burdened and had had such poor food that his strength was gone. He had slipped off to heaven and to rest. There is a grave out there not far from where he received the Holy Ghost.

      While I was praying this morning the Holy Ghost gave me an inspiration and I believe I will see that grave. Others may not be willing to go, but I must. The vision of a lost world staggers and stuns me. I have enjoyed this tenderness and this worship, these touches are heavenly, holy, and inspiring, but, beloved, we cannot stay to enjoy ourselves. We cannot stop with our friends always. The Holy Ghost wants somebody this morning to step out with Him and never have a grave in England. I believe there are people here this morning who will never have their friends to attend their funeral if they follow the Holy Ghost. We have little two-by-four plans, and we are expecting to have a funeral and go to heaven, but before we consider getting to heaven let us consider carrying this message to a lost world. Before we consider our funeral let us consider our farewell; before we consider enjoying ourselves let us consider the honor of taking this message to the people who have never heard it, and our funeral will be all right.

      When I was back of the plow the Holy Ghost came and He said, "If you will honor me I will take care of you." I have hardly thought of going to heaven since. I have never thought of my funeral since. Heaven is all right, but there is something bigger than a mansion, and that is to have people rise up and call you blessed when you enter the pearly gates. Let the Holy Ghost come in and plan for you, He is faithful.

The Silence of God

The Silence of God

By Charles H. Stalker


Message Delivered at Perth, Sunday Night, March 2nd, 1919

"God has departed from me, and answereth me no more ... what shall I do?"

This is the language of a lost soul -- no mercy, no Bible, no blood, no prayers, no tears, no Holy Ghost, no heaven, but hell. He was doomed and damned by his own action and decision and his own sin. This man had a wonderful opportunity. He had life and God, he had answers to prayer, he had faith and he had the sanction of God. God had talked to him and he had talked with God. But now this is his language," God has departed from me and answereth me no more."

I feel with regard to our meetings of the past week that God has spoken to many hearts, but there has been continuous resistance. The responsibility is upon all who have heard the messages. Tragedy will follow. A great many people make light of God's coming to the human heart, but it is a great event. People know when He comes as well as they know their names -- and better. They know it as well as they know they are in this room. When conscience speaks, it is as clear and as radical and as real and as, supernatural as God' taking possession of a man. All your customary signing and joining, wandering and doubting is damning. It may increase the membership and satisfy a clergyman, but it will damn souls unless there is a revelation of God in the human heart. When such a work takes place it is a great event; and when a person tells me he does not know if he is saved, I know. When people say they are not sure about it, their very statement makes certain the absence of a real change.

A voice was never more clear than when God, for Christ's sake, unburdened my soul, and when the Holy Ghost came in. All this uncertainty and carnality, all this doubting and unbelief I cannot understand. He that believeth is saved, and he that doubteth is damned. God's word to all is that "everyone that asketh receiveth." God hears and answers prayer.

In the case of this character which we have before us tonight, he knew God, was acquainted with God and God had talked to him, and he knew it. I want to say that of all the tragical things, the worst is the tragedy of a person who has sinned against light. It is an awful thing to reject light. You may think we speak plainly and definitely about it, but I could give testimonies in proof of what I say by the hundreds. I have said it is a great event when God comes to a soul, and it is just as great an event when God leaves one. That is sad indeed; the results are always serious. God can come to a soul and He can also leave a soul; and what keeps God away from a soul in the first place will also cause Him to depart. Sin keeps men from God, and God from men. When the Holy Ghost comes into a man's heart his sin leaves.

Now this event in the text is something that has taken place. It is not a new inception, there is no doubt about it; there is no uncertainty about the thing, there is no expression in it which would admit of a single doubt. Oh! the awful hour when God leaves humanity, whereby humanity is eternally damned. You would be astonished if you knew the number of people in this and other countries whom God has left, irrespective of intellectual belief and tradition. When He leaves, these things do not count, they are only destructive and withering and damning. "God has departed from me." He was the same living, conscious man, but God had left and taken from him every drop of the saving blood, every joy, every tear, every answer to prayer. You talk about real things! That was reality, you do not find any expression of uncertainty about it. I am surprised that more people are not more determined to keep the blessing and maintain their communion with God, and have a burden for the lost. You think you have not the burden I speak of? I know it. I have been speaking to people this week who have no vision -- people who act and live differently from what they are commanded to do. If you had the vision of lost humanity, the vision of Calvary, how differently you would act. I cannot give you the vision; but the Holy Ghost can do it. It will not be done for #100 or #1,000.

I want you to notice that in cases of those who have had light, God can leave them if they are disobedient. He can leave them doomed and damned, even if they remain on the earth. The text is a clear proof of that fact. A few sermons or a few attendances at church will not keep your heart right with God. Here, tonight, we have the language of a lost soul, the cry of a man who knew he was damned while he was alive, and he had a conscience that will live through all eternity. That is not all. The sin that damned him and separated him from God will live with him for time and eternity. This is a sad message because of its cost. Everything has its cost. Everything is valued according to its cost; and this is a valuable message because of its cost. It is not all paid yet. It is being paid even while you are sleeping tonight, and tomorrow, and while the cycles of time go on. Tonight, that man is paying the cost of his sin paying the penalty for the broken law of God, the law broken by the action of his own life.

A great many get the idea that what God says is a joke. They jeer at His word. They also get the idea that there is no hell, that the hereafter is just nothing. They say: "Let us get through this life, and we will risk the hereafter." They have even looked into my face and said: "Well, if I go to hell, I will have lots of company." Company, when locked up in hell, as if it were in Perthshire How deceived a man is, how possessed of the devil a man is, how near to being damned a man is, when he will say a common thing like that. A man in that condition is so far gone, that, possibly, he will never hear God's voice again. Others talk about what it costs to be saved, and to live a holy life. They know little about the cost. What is the cheap laugh of the unbeliever when you have your pure, joyful life and the fulfillment of God's word as your reward. What inducement has the worldly man to offer you, to follow in his worldly, sinful way? Better for these agents of hell, with their inducements, their salaried positions and their sugary things, were a millstone tied round their necks and that they were thrown into the sea. God help them. What is the instigation of these messengers of Satan? It is that abominable carnality. That serpent of hell is the same in the church as in the Market Place; it is as black as hell and it is tearing at the heart-strings of humanity. As we have been praying, God has been talking and He has given me a vision of lost souls.

The other day someone said Perth was a hard place. That is one of the saddest things that could be said of a place where so much light has been given, where so many tears have been shed and where so many prayers have been offered. A sadder thing could not be said, This has been a heavy week, the burden has been heavy, although when someone receives the Holy Ghost that lifts the burden. When you have the destinies of souls resting upon you, I tell you it means something. I do not like preaching funeral sermons while people are alive.

The Wisdom of Holiness

The Wisdom of Holiness
By Charles H. Stalker


Message Delivered at Penn, Sunday Morning, March 30th, 1919

"He answered nothing."

I have wondered what this meeting would be if we could get a conception of God and what His thought is for it. I do not think I was ever in meetings that had more connected with them than these. The network of the Holy Ghost which precedes a meeting and that which follows is just as essential as that which takes place in the meeting itself. A great many people do not recognize that. A meeting is not over in thirty minutes or an hour; a meeting in the Holy Ghost lasts for ever. Other services are a little entertainment, a little pastime and pleasure, and they are over in thirty minutes. The Holy Ghost can show you a vision this morning that you will look upon for ever, and it will be more in a million years from the time He shows it to you than it is now. That is the difference between the temporal and the eternal. The world knows it has to give changes, it has to meet the changes of carnality, but the eternal things are the same yesterday, today, and for ever. That is why a life can be so restful and so fruitful when it is. saved from sin. This world is more than ten million miles from the first letter of the alphabet in the Holy Ghost, and when you see these things you can begin to say and do.

One thing has deeply impressed me and that is the need is greater than the supply. This country has produced workers for everything except Holiness. Millions were ready to die on the battlefield, millions are willing to fill all the places in industry, but there is the need now for fifty men to go with the message of Holiness. The Holy Ghost is faithful in His work and He knows what He is doing. I am glad this morning that we do not have to urge this. If people recognize the fact that it is the work of the Holy Ghost, they will be obedient and walk in the light.

"And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto Him, 'Hearest Thou not how many things they witness against Thee?' And He answered him never a word."

He answered nothing, and He answered him never a word. We find there are a great many people who, through tradition and education, have a very deceptive notion in their minds of the plan of redemption. What a person believes makes him what he is, and the reason why more people are not standing for God and Holiness is because they do not believe it. You see that is true because every effort and every energy of mind and body is expended in the thought of returns and rewards every investment is made with the thought of how much a man will get out of it. And, beloved, when you see and have a vision, that the giving of a life to the Holy Ghost, mentally, physically and financially, spiritually and eternally is more than spending that life in any other way, why, then you will give your life freely and completely. Until you do see it you will never do much. We cannot urge people and show them these things in haste.

Now the plan of redemption is a success because it has defeated all the plans of the devil. Christianity has lived so differently and acted so differently that a great many people have not understood it, and while the thought of God has been slow in being carried out, it has never been a minute late. I want you to notice how carefully the plan of God has been made for the redemption of a lost soul, and God has made man a free moral agent. Your own decision decides your eternal destiny; there may be impressions, and there may be environments that have much to do with your action, but you make your own decision. When God made Adam and Eve out of the dust of the earth and placed them in the Garden of Eden, they were pure and holy and they were in a place of plenty, they enjoyed communion with God. Now to make a man a free moral agent he must have the power of choice. Adam and Eve had this privilege. Then the serpent crawled out of hell and came to Eve and through her he reached Adam. He told them that God was a liar and that if they would help themselves to the forbidden fruit that they would be as gods. They listened to his suggestion and they fell. They lost all they had ever enjoyed, they lost communion with God. They made their choice and everyone has made their choice since. People choose sin instead of Holiness, they choose to wear fig leaves instead of the clothing of God. Every piece of clothing worn by the human race is an acknowledgment of that tragical fall.

Now, the plan of redemption was made before the earth was made, and before the serpent crawled out of hell, and before there was a hell from which he could crawl. God was ahead of the devil. Salvation is older than sin, and Holiness is older than hell. The people of this country make a great point of showing respect for age, so if you wish to respect the oldest, you must respect the man that is sanctified wholly. God had the plan of redemption before man fell, and he was made a free moral agent so that he might accept it or reject it, and he has been choosing or rejecting ever since.

Now, when Jesus was born in the Bethlehem manger, it was a great event. Holiness was born in simplicity and humility and it has lived there ever since. You have never found a holy man or a holy woman who was not living a simple, humble, childlike, victorious life. While Holiness is born in simplicity and humility and lives in purity, it always dies in victory. You never find it fighting for victory, but fighting with victory. It never fears anything it has to face.

Now, if Jesus had come in great pomp and with authority, He would have been accepted of the Jews, but because He was born in a manger and cradled there, they never understood Him.

After Jesus was baptized with the Holy Ghost He was tempted by the devil. He was tempted as the Son of Man but He overcame as the Son of God. He received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, not for the destruction of sin, but as a preparation for His life's work and as an example to His followers. Now, when the devil came to Jesus it was a real onslaught of hell. The devil wanted to defeat Him. He said, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Jesus answered, "It is written." There was no room for argument. When you have the knowledge of forgiveness of sins and the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, all you have to do is to give the devil the word of God. He hates it. It is one of the strongest weapons in the Christian's hand. "Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away." Jesus answered the devil with the word of God. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." He was ahead of the devil. Then the devil tried to meet Him with His own weapon, but he made such a mess of quoting the scripture that he has never tried since. And all the followers of the devil make a mess of the Bible. A person that has the Holy Ghost can have the victory in his soul all the time. I never like to hear people in argument. It is not the work of man to convince people of the realities of salvation and Holiness, that is the supreme work of the Holy Ghost. He did not send out the hundred and twenty to convince people, He sent them out filled with the Holy Ghost to preach the message of full salvation.

Now after the devil had made a fool of himself and failed, Jesus quoted two passages of Scripture. He quoted Scripture to the devil three times, but the devil only quoted it once and then he left the best out of it. The devil is leaving the best part out of the Bible today, the carnal preachers are leaving out the best, and that is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And, beloved, with all due respect, there is no way of getting the light to others unless you have it yourself and are walking in it. Argument will not do it, explaining the Scriptures will not do it, but they can never get around your simple testimony how God has saved you from sin and baptized you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

Carnality hated Holiness so much that it was determined to get rid of Jesus by some means or other. Only one person of the Godhead has ever been allowed to be handled by carnality, they could not handle God the Father, He appeared and disappeared, He thundered from Sinai, He appeared at Abraham's door, He spoke to His people, but they could not get to Him, they could not shake hands with Him they could not look into His eyes. Man fell so low that the Son of God had to come down and take upon Him the likeness of flesh and He condemned sin in the flesh. Carnality had a chance at the Son of God from the time He begun His work until He was crucified. You know what they did, they hated Him, they did all they could against Him until they killed Him. God looked down on the scene, and the only time He turned His back on His Son was just that moment when He bore the sin of the world. It brought from the heart of Jesus the cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?

No Substitute for Prayers!

No Substitute for Prayers!

By Oswald J. Smith


Intercessory prayer is the Christian's most effective weapon. Nothing can withstand it's power. It will do things when all else has failed. And the marvel is that we turn to other agencies in order to accomplish what only prayer can bring to pass. God has placed this mighty weapon in our hands, and He expects us to use it. How disappointed He must be when we lay it a side and substitute natural means for supernatural work.

In this twentieth century we are, more and more, turning from the God-appointed means of intercessory prayer and adopting, instead, merely natural agencies for the carrying on of His work. Everywhere we look it is the same, both in evangelism and ordinary church work. Intercessory prayer has been shelved. For some reason it is out of date. Our methods, we say, are better, our plans more successful, and so we adopt natural means to bring to pass the supernatural.

My brethren, it can never be done, We may appear to be successful; the crowds may come; the altar may be full night after night. Reported results may be broadcasted everywhere. Whole cities may be stirred and mightily moved! And yet when it is all over and two or three years have passed, how little will be found to be genuine! And why? Simply because we have been satisfied with a superficial, spectacular work, brought to pass by natural means. Consequently the truly supernatural has been largely lacking. Oh let us get back to intercessory prayer, the highest form of Christians service, and give God no rest until we have a spiritual outcome.

The best Physician!

The best Physician!

(Thomas Watson)

Christ is the best Physician.

Christ  is the most skillful Physician. There is no disease too hard for Him. "Who heals all your diseases." Psalm 103:3. He can cure the gangrene of sin — even when it comes to the heart. He can melt a heart of stone, and wash away black sins in His crimson blood! There are no desperate cases with Christ. He has those salves, oils, and balsams which can cure the worst diseases.

Christ is the cheapest Physician. Sickness is not only a consumption to the body — but the purse! (Luke 8:43). Physicians charge fees — but Jesus Christ gives us our cures freely. He takes no fee. "Come without money and without price!" Isaiah 55:1. He desires us to bring nothing to Him but broken hearts. And when He has cured us, He desires us to bestow nothing upon Him but our love — and one would think that was very reasonable.

Christ heals with more ease than any other. Other physicians apply pills, potions, or remedies. Christ cures with more ease. Christ made the devil go out with a word (Mark 9:25). So when the soul is spiritually possessed, Christ can heal with a word, nay, He can cure with a look. When Peter had fallen into a relapse, Christ looked on Peter — and he wept. Christ's look melted Peter into repentance — it was a healing look.

Other physicians can only cure those who are sick — but Christ cures those who are dead. "You has He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Ephesians 2:1 

Christ cures not only our diseases — but our deformities! The physician can make the sick man well; but if he is deformed, he cannot make him lovely. Christ gives not only health — but beauty. Sin has made us ugly and misshapen. Christ's medicines do not only take away our sickness — but ourblemishes. He not only makes us whole — but lovely. Christ not only heals — but adorns.

Last, Christ is the most bountiful Physician. Other patients enrich their physicians — but here the Physician enriches the patient! Christ advances all His patients. He not only cures them — but crownsthem! (Revelation 2:10). Christ not only raises from the sick-bed — but to the throne! He gives the sick man not only health — but Heaven!

Oh, the love of this heavenly Physician! Christ Himself drank that bitter cup which we should have drunk, and by His taking the bitter potion — we are healed and saved! Thus Christ has shown morelove than any physician ever did to the patient.

   ~  ~  ~  ~

WELLS OF SALVATION

WELLS OF SALVATION


by Archibald Alexander


"With joy," says Isaiah, "shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation." Pure water is often employed by the sacred writers as the emblem of grace. The figure is used in several different senses. Water represents purity; and the washing with water, the purification of the soul. "In that day," says Zechariah, "shall a fountain be opened for sin and uncleanness." "Wash--and be clean," says Isaiah; and in the New Testament, we read of "the washing of regeneration," of being "born of water," and of having our "bodies washed with pure water." The ordinance of baptism evidently implies, among other things, this, as was said by Ananias to Paul, "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins."

But as water is necessary to the comfort of life, yes, to its very existence, we find it often used as an emblem of life and refreshment. "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters." "On the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink." And Christ said to the Samaritan woman whom he met at Jacob's well, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says, give me to drink, you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water." And again, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." And in the book of Revelation we have one of the sweetest, richest texts on this subject: "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

Another use of certain waters among men is, for healing diseases. Medicinal springs are sought after and resorted to all over the world; but I do not find that, except in case of miraculous healing, any mention is made of water as medicinal in the Bible. The pool of Bethesda was famous, in the time of our Savior, for the healing virtue of its waters; but this, we are told, was owing to a miraculous cause: "An angel descended into the pool, at certain seasons, and troubled the water; and whoever first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatever disease he had." So, also, we read in the Old Testament, that Naaman the Syrian, by the direction of Elisha, was healed of an incurable leprosy by dipping himself seven times in the river Jordan. And the blind man whom our Savior healed by placing clay on his eyes, was directed to go and wash in the pool of Siloam; and "he went, and washed, and came seeing."

If there should be a miraculous fountain opened in some part of the world, which had the virtue of curing all sorts of bodily diseases, what an amazing rush would there be to reach it by the rich and the poor. The ways leading to it would be constantly crowded with pilgrims seeking a cure of their various diseases. The sick and decrepit, as when our Lord was on earth, would be borne by their friends and bathed in the fountain of life. The superstitious heathen travel hundreds and thousands of miles to visit some fountain supposed to possess a healing virtue; and in some popish countries, sacred wells are visited at certain seasons by a poor deluded people, who expect healing from waters which possess no healing quality, but what imagination gives them.

But when it is announced that a well of salvation is opened for the healing of the maladies of the soul, very little interest is felt by most in the tidings. Men are not sensible of their spiritual diseases, and therefore do not seek a cure. Yes, they are under such a direful delusion, that they are unwilling to be healed: they fondly cherish their mortal maladies, and are often offended when urged to come to the wells of salvation to be healed.

A few, however, are thirsting for salvation, and they rejoice to hear that a fountain is actually springing up in this wilderness, to which they are freely invited. Such come with joy to the wells of salvation. And oh, how sweet are the repeated draughts of the water of life which they drink in! Others are deeply affected with the conviction of their moral defilement. They ardently desire cleansing. To all such we bring glad tidings, when we announce that "a fountain is opened for sin and uncleanness." Do you ask where? In the gospel—in Christ, who is the center and substance of the gospel.

A GOOD TREE

A GOOD TREE


by Archibald Alexander


Trees are beautiful objects. If we had never seen this part of the creation before, we would be filled with admiration at the sight. A stately oak or cedar is really a majestic object. It stands firmly by its own strength. It raises its head towards the heavens, and spreads out its arms on every side; and when verdant, affords a canopy and grateful shade to the weary traveler, and a secure habitation for the birds of the air. Trees are the handsomest ornaments of gardens and pleasure-grounds. Eden itself, without trees, would have been shorn of its glory.

But a tree laden with nutritious fruit is an object still more beautiful and interesting than the trees of the forest. What spectacle is suited to give more pleasure to the contemplative mind than a tree bending under the weight of precious fruit?

Between natural and spiritual objects there is a striking analogy. Of this the sacred writers often avail themselves, to give a lively representation of important truths. The discourses of our Lord are enriched and adorned by the employment of striking emblems. His figures are almost all derived from natural objects.

Among fruit-trees, the VINE is often mentioned in the Scriptures, because everywhere to be seen; and when loaded with fine clusters like those of Eshcol, the sight is most pleasing. To represent the vital union of believers to himself, our Lord employs the union of the branches to the vine. He is the vine, they are the branches; and the effect of this union is fruitfulness. As a branch severed from the vine cannot bear fruit, neither can believers without Christ. And the cogent motive to induce them to bear much fruit is, that their Father in heaven may be glorified.

"Make the tree good, and his fruit good." "By their fruits shall you know them." No man, by merely looking at a tree, can tell whether it will bear fruit, or whether the fruit will be good or bad. When we see people making a good profession in the church, we cannot tell whether their religion is genuine or spurious, until we have an opportunity of seeing the fruits. When John the Baptist called men to repentance, he required them "to bring forth fruits fit for repentance." A godly life is the best evidence of sincerity in religion. How beautiful is a consistent Christian character. Such a one "does justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God." To his prayers he joins alms, and he abounds in every good work. As he makes his way through this sinful world, his bright example sheds a light on all around, and others seeing his good works are led to glorify his Father in heaven. He makes no ostentatious display of his religion; and yet his good deeds cannot be hidden--they are like the fragrant aroma, which betrays itself. He is not ashamed of Christ and his gospel, but glories in the cross, and esteems all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

As the true Christian advances in years, his fruits become more mellow and mature; and he goes on to bring forth fruit, even in old age. And finally, like a fruit fully ripe, he drops into the grave; but his works follow him, and he is blessed in death, as the voice from heaven declared, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."

Watch For God By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

Watch For God

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman


"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me" (Hab. 2: 1).

There is no waiting on God for help, and there is no help from God, without watchful expectation on our part. If we ever fail to receive strength and defense from Him, it is because we are not on the outlook for it. Many a proffered succour from heaven goes past us, because we are not standing on our watch-tower to catch the far-off indications of its approach, and to fling open the gates of our heart for its entrance. He whose expectation does not lead him to be on the alert for its coming will get but little. Watch for God in the events of your life.

The old homely proverb says: "They that watch for Providence will never want a providence to watch for," and you may turn it the other way and say, "They that do not watch for providences will never have a providence to watch for." Unless you put out your water-jars when it rains you will catch no water.

We want to be more business-like and use common sense with God in pleading promises. If you were to go to one of the banks, and see a man go in and out and lay a piece of paper on the table, and take it up again and nothing more--if he did that several times a day, I think there would soon be orders to keep the man out.

Those men who come to the bank in earnest present their checks, they wait until they receive their gold, and then they go; but not without having transacted real business.

They do not put the paper down, speak about the excellent signature, and discuss the excellent document; but they want their money for it, and they are not content without it. These are the people who are always welcome at the bank, and not triflers. Alas, a great many people play at praying. They do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers. Our Heavenly Father would have us do real business with Him in our praying. --C. H. Spurgeon

"Thine expectation shall not be cut off."

Blessed are the Merciful

Blessed are the Merciful

By Warren Wiersbe


Certainly it does not mean that we earn mercy because we extend mercy, for such an idea is foreign to Word of God. By its very definition, mercy cannot be earned any more than grace can be earned. The Beatitude is saying: "When you experience mercy, and share mercy, then your heart is in such a condition tha6t you can receive more mercy to share with others. . . Jesus is not asking us to be merciful occasionally; He is asking us to be constant channels of mercy. "Give, and it shall be given unto you" (Luke 6:38). By extending mercy, we open our hearts to receive mercy; and having received, we can share again and again.

The Christian is surrounded by mercy. When he looks back, he can say, "Surely goodness, and mercy have followed me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6). When he looks ahead, he remembers the words of Jude 21--"Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." As he begins each new day, he can say; "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

. . . God responds to us on the basis of the heart. "With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward" (Psalm 18:25-26). . . . When once we begin to cultivate one of the spiritual graces, God always provides more. When we show mercy, He gives mercy; and thus, we have more mercy to show.

When a Christian shows mercy, he experiences liberation. He is set free from grudges that drain the strength and unsettle the mind. . . The most miserable prison in the world is the prison we make for ourselves when we refuse to show mercy. Our thoughts become shackled, our emotions are chained, the will is almost paralyzed. But when we show mercy, all of these bonds are broken, and we enter into a joyful liberty that frees us to share God's love with others. This blessing of freedom is one way that we receive mercy as we show mercy. It is a blessed by-product of obeying God.

. . . How thrilling to go through life sharing God's mercy and not having to judge people to see if they are "worthy" of what we have to offer. We stop looking at the externals and begin to see people through the merciful eyes of Christ. Every Christian we meet is a person in whom Jesus lives; every lost soul we meet is a person for whom Jesus died. In both cases, we have candidates for God's mercy.

Pneumatologia

Pneumatologia

By John Flavel

Table of Contents

› The Epistle Dedicatory - Pneumatologia by John Flavel A Treatise of the Soul of Man The Epistle Dedicatory To the much honoured, his dear kinsman, Mr. John Flav ...read

› The Preface - Among many other largesses and rich endowments, bestowed by the Creator's bounty upon the soul of man, the sentiments and impressions of the world to ...read

› Chapter 1 - Gen. 2:7 - And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Three t ...read

› Chapter 2 - Rev. 6:9,10,11 - And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they ...read

› Chapter 3 - Eph. 5:29 - For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. Having given some account of the nature and ...read

› Chapter 4 - 2 Pet. 1:13,14 - Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my ...read

› Chapter 5 - Heb. 12:23 - -- Kai pneumasi dikaioon teteleioomenoon. - And to the spirits of just men made perfect. The particular scope of this context falls in with the gen ...read

› Chapter 6 - 1 Pet. 3:19 - By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. In the former discourse we have had a just view of heaven, and the spirits of just m ...read

› Chapter 7 - Matth. 16:26 - For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Difficult d ...read

› Chapter 8 - Eph. 5:16 - --Redeeming the time (or opportunity) because the days are evil. Time is deservedly reckoned among the most precious mercies of this life; and that ...read

A Door Opened in Heaven

A Door Opened in Heaven

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman


"A door opened in heaven" (Rev. 4:1).

You must remember that John was in the Isle of Patmos, a lone, rocky, inhospitable prison, for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And yet to him, under such circumstances, separated from all the loved ones of Ephesus; debarred from the worship of the Church; condemned to the companionship of uncongenial fellow-captives, were vouchsafed these visions. For him, also a door was opened.

We are reminded of Jacob, exiled from his father's house, who laid himself down in a desert place to sleep, and in his dreams beheld a ladder which united Heaven with earth, and at the top stood God.

Not to these only, but to many more, doors have been opened into Heaven, when, so far as the world was concerned, it seemed as though their circumstances were altogether unlikely for such revelations.

To prisoners and captives; to constant sufferers, bound by iron chains of pain to sick couches; to lonely pilgrims and wanderers; to women detained from the Lord's house by the demands of home, how often has the door been opened to Heaven.

But there are conditions. You must know what it is to be in the Spirit; you must be pure in heart and obedient in faith; you must be willing to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; then when God is all in all to us, when we live, move and have our being in His favor, to us also will the door be opened. --Daily Devotional Commentary

"God hath His mountains bleak and bare,
Where He doth bid us rest awhile;
Crags where we breathe a purer air,
Lone peaks that catch the day's first smile.

"God hath His deserts broad and brown--
A solitude--a sea of sand,
Where He doth let heaven's curtain down,
Unknit by His Almighty hand."

SEE the Conqueror mounts in triumph,

SEE the Conqueror mounts in triumph,

By A Collection of Hymns


8s & 7s.
1 SEE the Conqueror mounts in triumph,
See the King in royal state
Riding on the clouds his chariot
To his heavenly palace gate;
Hark, the choirs of angel-voices
Joyful hallelujahs sing,
And the portals high are lifted
To receive their heavenly King.

2 Who is this that comes in glory,
With the trump of jubilee?
Lord of battles, God of armies,
He has gained the victory;
He who on the cross did suffer,
He who from the grave arose,
He has vanquished sin and Satan,
He by death has spoiled his foes.

3 While he lifts his hands in blessing,
He is parted from his friends;
While their eager eyes behold him,
He upon the clouds ascends;
He who walked with God, and pleased him,
Preaching truth and doom to come,
He, our Enoch, is translated
To his everlasting home.

4 Now our heavenly Aaron enters,
With his blood, within the veil;
Joshua now is come to Canaan,
And the kings before him quail;
Now he plants the tribes of Israel
In their promised resting-place;
Now our great Elijah offers
Double portion of his grace.

5 He has raised our human nature
In the clouds to God's right hand;
There we sit in heavenly places,
There with him in glory stand:
Jesus reigns, adored by angels;
Man with God is on the throne;
Mighty Lord, in thine ascension
We by faith behold our own. ==SECOND PART

6 HOLY Ghost, Illuminator,
Shed thy beams upon our eyes,
Help us to look up with Stephen,
And to see, beyond the skies,
Where the Son of man in glory
Standing is at God's right hand,
Beckoning on his martyr army,
Succouring, his faithful band;

7 See him, who is gone before us
Heavenly mansions to prepare,
See him, who is ever pleading
For us with prevailing prayer,
See him, who with sound of trumpet
And with his angelic train,
Summoning the world to judgement,
On the clouds will come again.

8 Raise us up from earth to heaven,
Give us Wings of faith and love,
Gales of holy aspirations
Wafting us to realms above;
That, with hearts and minds uplifted,
We with Christ our Lord may dwell,
Where he sits enthroned in glory
In his heavenly citadel.




9 So at last, when he appeareth,
We from out our graves may spring,
With our youth renewed like eagles,
Flocking round our heavenly King.
Caught up on the clouds of heaven,
And may meet him in the air,
Rise to realms where he is reigning,
And may reign for ever there.

The following Doxology may be sung at the end of either part.

Glory be to God the Father;
Glory be to God the Son,
Dying, risen, ascending for us,
Who the heavenly realm has won;
Glory to the Holy Spirit;
To One God in Persons Three
Glory both in earth and heaven,
Glory, endless glory be. Amen.

BLOW ye the trumpet, blow,

BLOW ye the trumpet, blow,

By A Collection of Hymns


4-6s & 2-8s. Leviticus xxv.
1 BLOW ye the trumpet, blow,
The gladly solemn sound,
Let all the nations know,
To earth's remotest bound;
The year of Jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

2 Jesus, our great High-priest,
Hath full atonement made:
Ye weary spirits, rest,
Ye mournful souls, be glad;
The year of Jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

3 Extol the Lamb of God,
The all-atoning Lamb,
Redemption in his blood
Throughout the world proclaim;
The year of Jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

4 Ye slaves of sin and hell,
Your liberty receive,
And safe in Jesus dwell,
And blest in Jesus live;
The year of Jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

5 Ye who have sold for nought
Your heritage above,
Receive it back unbought,
The gift of Jesu's love:
The year of Jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

6 The gospel trumpet hear,
The news of heavenly grace,
And, saved from earth, appear
Before your Saviour's face:
The year of Jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

A Higher Source

A Higher Source

By D.L. Moody


"I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him" (Ps. 91:15).

First, "I will deliver." When God called Moses to go down into Egypt to deliver the children of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, in all the world there wasn't a man who, humanly speaking, was less qualified than Moses. He had made the attempt once before to deliver the children of Israel, and he began by delivering one man. He failed in that, and killed an Egyptian, and had to run off into the desert, and stay there forty years. He had tried to deliver the Hebrews in his own way, he was working in his own strength and doing it in the energy of the flesh.

He had all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but that didn't help him. He had to be taken back into Horeb, and kept there forty years in the school of God, before God could trust him to deliver the children of Israel in God's way. Then God came to him and said, "I have come down to deliver," and when God worked through Moses three million were delivered as easy as I can turn my hand over. God could do it. It was no trouble when God came on the scene.

Learn the lesson. If we want to be delivered, from every inward and outward foe, we must look to a higher source than ourselves. We cannot do it in our own strength.

This would help you more than anything!

This would help you more than anything!

(George Everard)

A wandering of the mind in prayer is an evil to be carefully avoided. I imagine there is no child of God but has continually to lament wandering thoughts — something coming in to divert the attention, and often carrying you miles away from the presence of the Lord. Even those who most grieve and regret this evil, find that it often comes and disturbs them. It meets them in the sanctuary, it meets them in family worship, it meets them in their private devotions. It is a weed that is ever growing, and no remedy has yet been found that can completely root it out of the garden of the heart.

Yet some guidance may be given in the matter. Strive to be very definite in your prayers. Think of what you most need, and then put it very distinctly before the Lord.

Also, endeavor always to speak as to a living person. If you could more fully realize and always recollect that when you pray, a living Redeemer and an omnipotent Friend bows down the ear to hear, that He is close by you, that you are not speaking into the air — but that you speak your words to one who as truly sees you and hears you as if you saw Him with your very eyes before you — this would help you more than anything!

   ~  ~  ~  ~

The Power of Habit!

The Power of Habit!

(author unknown)

Those habits which seem too weak to be felt — soon become too strong to be broken! They entwine themselves around the soul, and the coil proves fatal.

Once commence the downward course, and it is uncertain if you will ever return!

The lives of many in history illustrate the "downward steps from innocence to guilt."

A painter once wanted a picture of innocence — and painted a child at prayer. The little suppliant was kneeling beside his mother, the palms of his uplifted hands were reverently pressed together, his rosy cheek spoke of health, and his mild blue eye was upturned with the expression of devotion and peace. The portrait of young Rupert was much prized by the painter, and was hung up on his study wall, and called 'Innocence.'

Years passed away, and the painter became an old man; still the picture hung there. He had often thought of painting a contrast — the picture of guilt — but he had not found the appropriate subject. At last he effected his purpose by paying a visit to a neighboring jail.

On the damp floor of his cell lay a wretched culprit, named Randall, heavily shackled. Wasted was his body, and hollow his eye — vice was visible in his face. The painter succeeded in copying his features admirably, and the portraits of young Rupert and old Randall were hung up side by side, as 'Innocence' and 'Guilt.'

But who were young Rupert — and old Randall? Alas! the two were one! Old Randall was young Rupert, led astray by his companions, and ending his life in this damp dungeon of the jail.

Beware of trifling with sinful habits. Satan lays his fatal snares for the unwary, adapts the bait — and the soul is taken captive by the devil!

Never open the door to a little vice, lest a great one should enter also!

Hide God's Word in your heart, that you may not sin against Him. It will be a bulwark to shield you, and a guide to direct you.

If we would walk safely, we must check every approach to evil, and pray, "Hold me up — and I shall be safe!" Psalm 119:117
 

"Sow a thought — and you will reap an act;
 sow an act — and you will reap a habit;
 sow a habit — and you will reap a character;
 sow character — and you will reap a destiny!" 

"As the tree falls — so must it lie;
 As the man lives — so must he die!
 As a man dies — such must he be;
 All through the ages of eternity!"

   ~  ~  ~  ~

The best Physician!

The best Physician!

(Thomas Watson)

Christ is the best Physician.

Christ  is the most skillful Physician. There is no disease too hard for Him. "Who heals all your diseases." Psalm 103:3. He can cure the gangrene of sin — even when it comes to the heart. He can melt a heart of stone, and wash away black sins in His crimson blood! There are no desperate cases with Christ. He has those salves, oils, and balsams which can cure the worst diseases.

Christ is the cheapest Physician. Sickness is not only a consumption to the body — but the purse! (Luke 8:43). Physicians charge fees — but Jesus Christ gives us our cures freely. He takes no fee. "Come without money and without price!" Isaiah 55:1. He desires us to bring nothing to Him but broken hearts. And when He has cured us, He desires us to bestow nothing upon Him but our love — and one would think that was very reasonable.

Christ heals with more ease than any other. Other physicians apply pills, potions, or remedies. Christ cures with more ease. Christ made the devil go out with a word (Mark 9:25). So when the soul is spiritually possessed, Christ can heal with a word, nay, He can cure with a look. When Peter had fallen into a relapse, Christ looked on Peter — and he wept. Christ's look melted Peter into repentance — it was a healing look.

Other physicians can only cure those who are sick — but Christ cures those who are dead. "You has He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Ephesians 2:1 

Christ cures not only our diseases — but our deformities! The physician can make the sick man well; but if he is deformed, he cannot make him lovely. Christ gives not only health — but beauty. Sin has made us ugly and misshapen. Christ's medicines do not only take away our sickness — but ourblemishes. He not only makes us whole — but lovely. Christ not only heals — but adorns.

Last, Christ is the most bountiful Physician. Other patients enrich their physicians — but here the Physician enriches the patient! Christ advances all His patients. He not only cures them — but crownsthem! (Revelation 2:10). Christ not only raises from the sick-bed — but to the throne! He gives the sick man not only health — but Heaven!

Oh, the love of this heavenly Physician! Christ Himself drank that bitter cup which we should have drunk, and by His taking the bitter potion — we are healed and saved! Thus Christ has shown morelove than any physician ever did to the patient.

   ~  ~  ~  ~

All-wise Providence!

All-wise Providence!(Moral and Religious Anecdotes)

A merchant was one day returning from market. He was on horseback, and his saddlebag was filled with money. The rain fell with violence, and the good old man was wet to his skin. At this he was vexed, and murmured because God had given him such bad weather for his journey.

He soon reached the borders of a thick forest. What was his terror on beholding on one side of the road a robber, with leveled gun, aiming at him, and attempting to shoot him! But the gunpowder being wet by the rain, the gun did not go off--and the merchant, giving spurs to his horse, fortunately had time to escape.

As soon as he found himself safe, he said to himself: "How wrong was I, not to endure the rain patiently, as sent by Divine Providence! If the weather had been dry and fair, I probably would not have been alive at this hour, and my little children would have expected my return in vain. The rain, which caused me to murmur, came at a fortunate moment to save my life and preserve my money!"

And thus it is with a multitude of our afflictions. By causing us slight and short sufferings--they preserve us from others far greater and of longer duration.

"We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose!" Romans 8:28

   ~  ~  ~  ~

In Time of Loneliness

In Time of Loneliness

J. R. Miller

"Surely I am with you always--to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20

Loneliness is one of the most pathetic of human experiences. The yearning for companionship is one of the deepest of all yearnings. The religion of Christ has something to meet every human need; what is its blessing for loneliness? We may turn to the Master's own life for an answer to our question. He met all the experiences that ever become ours, and He found for Himself the best there is to be found in the divine love—to meet His experiences. Thus He showed us what we may find in our times of need, and how we may find it.

Christ's loneliness was one of the most bitter elements of His earthly sorrow. His very greatness of character, made it impossible for Him to have any real companionship in this world. Besides, those whom He came to bless and save, rejected Him. The only human relief to His loneliness along the years of His public ministry—was in the love of His chosen friends—and this was most unsatisfactory. But we know where He ever turned for solace and comfort in His experiences. After a day of pain and suffering, He would climb the mountain and spend the night in communion with His Father, returning in the morning renewed and strong for another day of sweet life and service. In His darkest hour, He said that though left alone as to human companionship, He was not alone because His Father was with Him.

The comfort of our Lord's heart in His loneliness, is for us, too—if we are walking in His steps. We, too, have our experiences of loneliness in this world, and we, too, may have the blessed companionship that shall fill the emptiness. In a certain sense—all of life is lonely. Even with sympathetic companions all about us, there is an inner life which each one of us lives altogether alone. We must make our own choices and decisions. We must meet our own questions and answer them ourselves. We must fight our own battles, endure our own sorrows, carry our own burdens. Friendship may be very close and tender—but there is a sanctuary of each life—into which even the holiest friendship may not enter. Blessed are they who in this aloneness can say, "Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me!"

God's is the only friendship that can really meet all our soul's deep needs and cravings. Humancompanionship helps us at a few points; but the divine friendship has its blessing for every experience. We never shall be left alone, when we have Christ. When other helpers fail and comforts flee—He will ever stand close beside us. When other faces fade out of view—His will shine out with gentle love, pouring its light upon us.

There are special experiences of loneliness in every life—for which Christ is needed. YOUTH is one of these times. Youth seems happy and lighthearted. Companions swarm all around it. But often a young person feels lonely even amid such scenes and friendships. All of life is new to him. As his soul awakens, a thousand questions arise demanding answers. He is in a world with a thousand paths—and he must choose in which one he will walk. Everything is mysterious. There are perils lurking on all sides. Choices must be made. Lessons must be learned. All is new, and at every step the voice is heard, "You have not passed this way before" (Joshua 3:4). This loneliness of inexperience, when a young soul is taking its earliest steps in life—is one of the most trying and painful feelings of all the years. If Christ is not his companion, then, lonely and perilous indeed, is the way! But if He walks beside the young soul in its inexperience, all is well.