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th e world, he shall some day reign w ltn Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. In infinite wisdom and love God pro mised th ru Daniel, “ In th e days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be de stroyed.” Dan. 2:44. Not by Force.— In Mr. W yatt Gill’s “ Jo tting s from th e Pacific,” he tells us of a common sailor, who? settled on th e Island of Nintao, “ as m issionary on his own account.” This eccentric individ ual, having first won over th e chief, proceeded to convert th e heathen na tives, “w ith a loaded revolver and some bowie-knives.” Mr. Gill gives us th e resu lt of th is “propaganda by force” in a sentence. This is all he says, “He failed, and in disgust left th e island.” Battleships and arm ies will never bring th e sp irit of Christ to men. God’s Method of Making th e W orld Christian.—A man suspended by a rope half-way down th e stone quarry, was for a long tim e seen boring a hole in the rock. A fter spending much care and toil and tim e in boring th e hole to a sufficient depth, he filled it w ith black dust. “W hat a fool to spend so much tim e boring a hole and filling it up again,” says one. B u t when th e fuse is lighted, th e whole mountain side breaks up by a trem endous explosion. So our m issionaries are preparing the way. They are cu tting a hole into the very rock of heathendom , and they are filling it up w ith th e power of divine, tru th . W hat we w ant is ' fiire from heaven to touch it. By and by we s h a ll, have a m ighty upheaval and heathenism and ignorance and superstition Will give way to something better. Golden T ext Illu stratio n .— The fifty years in th e F iji Islands from 1835 to 1885 saw changes so wonderful th a t they defy adequate description. When Jam es C alvert went th ere his first duty was to g ath er up and bring the skulls, hands and feet, of eighty victims, sacri ficed a t a cannibal feast. He lived to
viz., in a religious sense, reso rt to as an oracle to r consultation in difficulties. Compare Rom. 15:12 which quotes this passage, “ In Him shall th e Gentiles tru st.’’-P^Horsley. M Subject Illu stra tio n .-^ “Dr. Bellamy made God big,” said an old negro to Dr. Backus, his successor. The world will not tu rn tow ard God un til God is magnified in our BESSON words and walk. ILLUSTRATIONS A m inister, whose W. H. P ik e congregation h a d long deplored th e cold and dry style of his preaching, found one Sunday morning, on entering th e pulpit, a slip of paper on th e cush ion w ith the words in John 12:21, w rit ten on it: “ Sir, we would see Jesu s.” H is conscience supplied th e application of th e text, and afte r much though t and self-exam ination, he resolved, w ith God’s help, to preach Christ more clearly; and th e next Sunday he took for his tex t John 20:20, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw th e Lord.” Bible Illu stration . — Unquestionably th e whole world will no t be Christian in government and commerce and so ciety, un til Jesus comes and sets up His kingdom upon th e earth . Then th e re will be th e rig h t order nationally and tru e world peace. Solomon in 1 Kings 4:24, 25 is a good illu stration , “F o r he had dominion over all th e region on th is side th e River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all th e K ings on th is side th e R iver: and he had peace on all sides round about him. And Jud ah and Israel dwelt sa'fely, every man un der his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan, even to Beer-sheba, all th e days of Solomon.” I t is a com fortable speech, which the emperor used to Galba in his childhood and m inority, when he took him by the chin and said, “Thou Galba, shalt one day sit upon a throne.” So w ith th e Christian however mean in th e eyes of
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