THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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vainly imagine th a t everyone can con trib u te something to th e uplifting of humanity, and even th e assurance from those in au tho rity , -that although he may not know it, he is really a Chris tian, and doing good service for th e kingdom of Cod. This is no exaggera tion. I t has. actually happened. And th is craze for pressing in to the supposed service of God anyone and everyone who is able to do anything a t all in pub lic, has resulted in th e extraordinary spectacle of men and women of th e most incongruous type, who themselves do not make th e sligh test pretence to spir itu al or religious life and experience, being invited on to th e religious p lat form and even into the pulpit. The incongruity of asking people of any religion or none, and not infre quently of u tte rly worldly life, to take p art in professedly religious services, seems to pass unnoticed. Apparently anyone whn can say something about anybody or anything, is regarded as capable of contributing to the sum to tal of “good,” which by its ever-increasing volume will usher in the Millennium. Such methods may commend themselves to those whose only idea of Christianity is th e financial prosperity and size of th e ir church; b u t it is sad to see min isters of th e Gospel, who are supposed to be ambassadors for God, not only pandering to the wishes of th e unspirit ual m ajority, bu t oftentimes tak ing the lead in introducing spurious devices and worldly methods into th e ir churches. And the resu lt is th a t the World and th e Church go hand-in-hand, to the streng then ing of th e one and th e u tte r undoing of the other.— C. H. F ountain. THE BOOK THAT CUBES The Bible cures th e wounds th e Bible makes. It pulls down th e erro rs it was misused to build. It restores fourfold th e freedom it was employed to take away. I t has been th e occasion of tyranny, superstition, and cruelty, but
it is the source of all th a t destroys such things forever. There is no erro r bu t has supported itself from th e Bible. There is nothing you cannot prove from p arts of th e Bible. But th ere is no erro r or wrong th a t can resist the tru th and power of th e Bible as a whole. Its own revelation ad ju sts its own views. The Bible is the cure for th e church, for the theologians, »for th e fanatics th a t have bu ilt strange fabrics on it. T errible churches, theologies, and cruel ties have risen from it,.'or been forced into it. But all modern liberty has come out of it. It stands subduing its abuses like a free people, rebuking them , con founding them , stirring th e ir repentance and draw ing out th e ir purified devotion. It is the Bible,- the free, public, day man’s Bible th a t must save us from th e church of th e past and th e churchlings of th e present, save us for the church of the fu tu re, of the race, of th e Gospel, of th e Christ, of th e living God..—For- A BLANK BIBLE We have heard of a man who dreamed he went to consult th e Bible, and found every page blank. In amazement he rushed to hiA neighbor’s house, aroused him from sleep and asked to see his Bible b u t when he brought th e book they found it also blank. In g reat com- stern ation they sought other Bibles, w ith the same result. Then they said; “We will go to th e libraries and from g reat books we will gather th e quota tions of Scriptures, and th u s remake our Bible.” But when they examined all th e books upon th e shelves of all th e libraries, th ejr found th a t wherever a quotation of Scripture had been, th a t p art of th e page was blank. When the man awakened from his sleep his brow was cold, yet covered w ith perspiration, so g reat had been his agony during the dream. Oh! how dark th is world would be w ithout th e Bible! Man would be like a wrecked ship dashed into m id ocean.
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