ministry, though purely incidental, is com- ing to be regarded the essential service of the Church. The priestly ministry is passing, the altar, the laver, the inner light, the incense, the shewbread, the holy of holies, the Psalter evangelism is neg- lected; body-saving displaces soul-saving: " T h e City B e a u t i f u l ," the City Celestial; the pleasure and glory of man, the will and glory of God. The Word of Truth, the Blood of the Cross; the quickening of the Spirit; the God hated and God hating bitterness of sin and its damning nature are all but forgotten, and the " wo r ld to c ome" degraded to a " w h i t ed sepulchre," f a ir without, but within full of dead men's bones. gent young lady, but let me know whether you have ever been to s c h o o l ?" A flush of anger came to her face, broken, however, by a smile, as she answered, " I graduated at r Institute two years a g o . " " Y o u did? And yet you were not taught to read correctly," he said. She took the Book once more and read slowly and with emphasis, " H e said to the woman, Thy f a i th hath saved the, go in p e a c e ." The Book fell to her lap, and a new and joyful look came to her eyes, as she exclaimed, " O h , I see it! I see it! the woman was not trying to be saved; it was not a thing of the f u t u re with her; she was already saved, and saved without do- ing anything. My mistake has been in putting .shall in the place of hath; and no more will I doubt the word of my precious S a v i o r ." She arose and left the room, not trying any more to find eomfort in her doing, but rejoicing in the knowledge of what Christ had done. There are thousands, even in our church- es, who do not see the difference be- tween " s h a l l " and " h a t h . " They are afraid to stake their eternal interests on the Word of God alone, without the sup- port of their frames and feelings and prayeirs and ordinances. They dare not launch out into the hereafter, clinging sole- ly to the finished work of Christ, trusting wholly in His grace; and hence they hug the flinty and frowning shore of legalism, and it is no wonder that they are often in- volved in fogs and fears. They think it is presumption for one who is conscious of his sinfulness to say t h at he is already passed out of death into life, beyond the sentence of condemnation and the reach of judgment.
are pilgrims and strangers, journeying on to a pure and better age (Rev. 20:4). The type of our pilgrimage is Israel's passing through the wilderness. They did not seek to make it better; they made no assaults on its-tribes or their customs; that is not the business of travelers; they resisted their attacks victoriously (Ex. 17:8). They invited others to join them and passed on. Read the first epistle .of John .for a description of the world and our mutual relations, and read Eev. 18 for a glimpse of its fate. As said above, we should be good citi- zens, philanthropists, l i f t i ng their fellow- men as they have opportunity. But such
Owo !Ôits Z A S * U c t e ò
YOUNG lady confessed her desire to be saved, and re- counted her efforts in the Way of listening to sermons, prayer, watchfulness over her conduct, good resolu- tions, and baffled attempts
to feel her own sinfulness and to love God, until she come to the p a i n f ul conclusion t h at there was no salvation for her, as her struggles had ended in defeat and dis- appointment. A servant of Christ read to her from the inspired Scriptiires a true statement of her condition as a lost and helpless sin- ner, and also the testimony t h at is given concerning the death of the Lord Jesus to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He then s a i d , '' Your difficulty arises wholly from the f a ct t h at you do not believe the B i b l e ." " I n d e e d ," she earnestly replied, " y o u are mistaken; I do believe the Bible; and my trouble does not lie in that direc- tion, I assure y o u . " " I m e a n ," he an- sWered, " t h a t you do not believe the whole of i t . " " Y o u aré mistaken a g a i n ," she 'quickly responded, , " I believe all of it, from the first of Genesis to the last of Rev- elation. " " Well, we shall soon settle t h at q u e s t i o n ," he remarked. He opened the Bible at Luke 7:50. " B e a d that v e r s e ," he said. She took the book and hastily read, " H e said to the wo- man, Thy f a i th shall save thee, go in p e a c e ." He quietly asked, " C a n ' t you read ?' I She looked at him a moment in astonishment and scarcely suppressed in- dignation, and sharply inquired, " W h y do you ask me t h a t ? " " B e c a u s e ," he re- joined, " y o u did not read that verse as it is writt,en. You seem to be an intelli-
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