May 1929
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A Whole Year for $1.00! THE i l l u s t r a t o r makes Sunday-school teaching worth while! "I regard the 'Illustrator' as being the best I can get.” E. N. Henshaw. Sample copy free. THE ILLUSTRATOR, 158 Fifth Avenue, New York True to the Bible i N A RECENT conference on mission ary preparation, attended by lead ing representatives of the principal Foreign Mission Boards and Training Schools of the United States and Can ada, two im portant admissions were made, even though liberals protested their inclusion in the re p o rt: “U nitarianism leads to sterility of propagating power.” “Religious liberalism has y et to re veal the dynamic and passion which missionary m inistry requires .if The decadence in religious conviction and C hristian faith in many churches; the decline in power and zeal among many C h ristian s; the decrease in m is sionary candidates and giving in the church as a whole ; all these combine to increase the responsibility upon loyal followers of Christ to devote themselves and their m eans in wholehearted obe dience to the carrying out of Christ’s commission; ‘‘Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every crea ture.” Never in the history of the church was there greater need for wholehearted allegiance to Christ and sacrificial zeal in . His service. The C hristian and Missionary Alli ance is actively engaged in soul-winning service and in building the Church of Christ in every field where it labors. All who labor in the Alliance are true to the Bible as the inspired Word of God and to Jesus Christ as the true Son of God and m an’s only Saviour. Many new tribes, hitherto unreached, present opportunities for immediate en trance. We invite the cooperation of God’s childen who believe th at the principal purpose of m issionary effort is to preach the Word th at souls may be won to Christ and built up in Christ. THE CHRISTIAN AND MISSIONARY ALLIANCE 260 West 44th Street New York, N.Y. SAVE A SOUL FROM DEATH This is being done in Africa, China, India, by Native Evangelists and Bible Women who are being supported for from 80c to $2.00 a week, $40 to $100 for a year. Write Rev. H. A. Barton, Secy., Box B, 473 Green Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y., for free literature. The New Commandment A message by James H. McConkey upon the believer’s love-life. A well-known devotionalcwriter says of it— “This message comes like a benediction. It i6 surely destined to wield a tremendous influence in helping to restore the unity of Love to the body of Christ such as characterized the apostolic church.” Sent Absolutely Free Address Silver Publishing Society Dept. M, Bessemer Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. ri CHURCH FURNITURE ul_ E'verything^for Church andjSunday School use. From Factory to You. Fin ecatalogfree. DeMoulin Bros* 8C Co. 1151 South 4th St., Greenville, Illinois M
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Da ily D evo t iona l R ead ings A Message (or Every Day o( the Month
To answer not, question not, just to be still, And know Thou art shaping us unto Thy will? “This, this may we plead with Thee, Workman Divine, Press deep in our substance some symbol of Thine, Thy name or Thy image, and let it be .shown That Thou wilt acknowledge the work as Thine own.” —o— May 10— “Thou, O God, hast proved us; Thou hast tried us as silver is tried; Thou broughtest us into the net; Thou laidst affliction upon, our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place" (Psalms 66:10-12). We may well be thankful for the “but.” But for that, we might often give way to despair under God’s dealings. But God’s “buts” have large begettings. There is an end to our sorrows, but no end to His goodness; an end to our trials, but none to our triumphs. —o— May 11 —“By me, if any man enter in . . . he shall go in and out" (John 10:9). Note, “He shall go in.” Given the union with Jesus Christ by faith, there must then, as the basis of all activity, follow very frequent and deep inward acts of contemplation, of faith, and aspiration, and desire. You must go into the depths of God through Christ. You must go in to the depths of your own souls through Him. You must become accustomed to withdraw yourselves from spreading yourselves out over the distractions of any external activity, howsoever impera tive, charitable, or necessary, and live alone with Jesus, “in the secret place of the Most High.” ' And only they who habitually live this hidden and sunken life of solitary and secret communion will ever do much in the field of outward work. Christians of this generation are far too much accustomed to live only in the front rooms of the house, that look out upon the streets; and they know very little—far too little for their souls’ health, and far too little for the freshness of their work and its prosperity—of that in ward life of silent contemplation and ex pectant adoration by which all strength is fed. If there be this unrestricted exer cise through Christ of that sweet and si lent life of solitary communion with Him, then there will follow upon that an enlargement of opportunities, and power for outward service, such as nothing but emancipation by faith in Him can ever bring. Through Christ we.can “go in and out,” and in both be pursuing the one uniform purpose of serving and pleasing Him.— Alexander Maclaren, D.D.
May 7— “We are His workmanship cre ated in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). It is one thing to work for God; it is another to have God work through us. We are often eager for the former; God is always desirous of doing the latter. Now the God who is the Ruler of the uni verse does not want us to plan and worry, and work for Him. For while He appre ciates our purposes toward Him, yet they may be all athwart His purposes for and through us. What He wants is not our plans, but our lives, that He may work His plans through us .—James H. Mc Conkey. — o — May 8— -“Order my steps in Thy Word” (Psalm 119:133). “Roll it upon God” ; leave to Him the guidance of thy life, and thou shalt be at peace. This is a word for all life, not only for its great occasions. Twice, or thrice, perhaps, a man’s road leads him up to a dividing point. . . . Powerless to see before him, he has yet to choose, and his choice determines the rest of his days. Certainly he needs guidance then. But he needs it not less in the small de cisions of every hour. . . . If we have not learned the habit of committing the daily steps to Him, we shall find it very hard to seek His help when we come to a fork in the road.— Dr. Alexander Mac- laren. —o— May 9— “The vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the pot ter" (Jer. 18:4). A potter put a little piece of clay that had •not undergone the preparatory process that the clay must be subjected to, into the mass of beaten and prepared clay. All was going well, until in a moment there was a twist, and the beauty and elegance of the vessel were gone. That little bit of undisciplined clay entirely frustrated the potter’s purpose. Here is a fact of great significance, as proving how one cherished sin, one unholy passion, will defeat the purpose and plan of the Great Potter, and mar the vessel upon which He has His hand . . . . We have all been marred by sin, and though some of us may have spent years in trying to per suade the Divine Potter to patch up the marred vessel, we never knew what, it was to be made again until we were will ing that He should break it down, for “the sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” . . . . Have you yet learned the great lesson of this par able, that you are the clay and that God is the Potter?;—/. G. M. “What portion is this for the sensitive clay 1 To be beaten and molded from day unto day;
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