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Thanks to “The Smart.’’
The smart woman, bitterly villified
as she is, always has been and always
will be, is the biggest of blessings in
one way, and that is her encourage-
ment of trade.—The Queen.
Bead Work Much in Evidence.
Bead ‘work of all sorts come up sur-
prisingly this season. They and their
cousins, the‘spangles, are used in pro-
‘ fusion for all sorts of purposes. In
millinery hats are edged with beads
both in jet and colors, and festoons of
beads are mingled with the lace which
is so much employed for brims and
edgings. Bead embroideries done on
velvet, silk or cloth are very smart for
all sorts of dress and millinery pur-
poses, while the short bead collar
pieces and long bead lorgnette chains
are very much worn by smart women
here. The chains, of course, are not at
all the hideous things one sees on bar-
gain counters, but fine, artistic com-
binations specially designed.
Bookbinding as Women’s Work,
Since the first woman took it up,
bookbinding has received a curious im-
petus. Each year sees a few more dev-
otees of the art among women, who
are peculiarly adapted for the work
by their delicacy of touch. It takes a
strong wrist and a steady hand for
~ some of the finer tooling—in fact, for
most of the work—but when a woman’s
hand and wrist become trained she be-
comes more adept, as a rule, than a
man. Nobody quite equals, after all,
that great master bookbinder, Cobden
Sanderson, who refuses all but a talent-
2d few of the many who apply to him
for lessons. His pupils must agree to
stay with him the length of time he
dictates, or he will have none of them.
There’s a limited field for bookbinding,
as there must always be with any art
‘hat takes great refinement and an
almost scholarly taste to appreciate.
Yet the women who have made a suc-
2ess of it, above all, those who are
able to make their own designs for
2overs as well as execute them, have
as much as they can comfortably do.
And the work pays well.—Chicago
News.
The Dinner Coat.
There is more than a little to say in
favor of the dinner coat, which has
added itself to the long list of separate
zarments of the present day wardrobe.
The dinner coat is. essentially a varia-
sion or play on the Louis XVI. coat
adapted to indoor usages. It is at its
pest, in fact, it is only consistently
made, of brocaded silk. :
The long, tall, big revers, and courtly
looking cuffs flaring upward from the
tlbow are salient characteristies. The
tails are narrow enough to just escape
being seen from the front. They fall
1early or quite to the hem of the gown,
and are, perhaps, smartest when they
ire rounded at the ends into what has
seen described as a spoon shape. The
scantiness of the sleeves is offset by
the flaring elbow cuff and the wide
revers. Old silver or paste buttons
tre essential. i
The woman with a brocaded silk
sown folded away for many a day will
ind use for it now in these separate
jackets, which are of divers shapes
and kinds. With sleeves of different
material from the bodice possible short
lengths come into excellent employ-
nent.
A dinner coat designed to accompany
wo skirts, one of plain amethyst vel-
set, the other of palest mauve chiffon
very fully pleated, is made of pale
imethyst silk, brocaded with roses in
1 deeper shade of amethyst and bright-
sned by the inter-weaving of fine silver
‘hreads. The coat has a bertha of
point de Venise lace, laid over ame-
thyst velvet.
The waistcoat is of silver tissue,
rimmed with flat buttons of amethyst
srystal, covered with silver filagree.
The coat is perfectly suited to the
natron who wears it. It is being
+opied in white satin, brocaded with a
sompadour design of pink roses for a
lebutante, who will wear it over a
white point d’esprit skirt and a white
shiffon skirt.—Philadelphia Telegraph.
Who Sets the Fashions?
“What is the use in our waiting
tround the anterooms of the great
iressmakers to see whether this or
that fabric, and how much of it, is to
Ye worn? Money can do anything. Let
as show a proper sum to two or three
»f these satraps of the mode, tell them
that we will ‘stand in’ with them, and
publish to the world that certain fab-
sics—our fabrics—are to be fashion-
ible; that skirts are to be longer, that
aats are to be more flamboyant, that
:rimmings are to be more abundant,
‘hat ribbons must be continued in
favor; and that these little canons have
some to stay. Is not business the heart
»f the world—and is it not a fact that
the more of our commodities there
are used the better will be our busi-
aess? Let us bribe a few of the lead-
ng actresses and singers, also—and
sthers who are considered mirrors of
fashion—and then our position is as-
sured. Prosperity—magic word—shall
wait upon our footsteps and right mer-
Let the
women groan under their masses of
drapery. Let their husbands scold at
the bills. What does that matter? We
nold the whip-hand, and whither we
irive, the flock must go.”
How long are women, the sensible
and the intellectual as well as the silly
and frivolous, to endure this sort of
tyranny, who can tell? There is a sori’
of a law, unwritten but binding, that
the woman who does not follow the
fashion is “unwemanly,” that she shall
walk in the valley of humiliation and
eat the bread of sorrow. She may re
fuse to don the death-dealing corset,
and give her digestion and her circu-
lation a fair chance to do their work,
but she must not tell in print how
much better than other women’s is hex
health in consequence—for commerce
stands waiting to punish her just
around the corner. During much of the
time—though now for a little she has
a respite—she must give up the use of
one hand, in order that she may carry
this mass of drapery which the manu-
facturer has forced her to buy. If she
does not hold it up it drags through
the mire. The microbes thus accumu-
lated, so. the doctors tell us, have
caused epidemics of grip and tubercu:
losis—but what matter? The great
fashion trust must prosper, and as for
the rest of us, a few of us more or less
is immaterial (which word might lead
to a pun by one of a jocular turn of
mind, who was not smarting under the
extortions of the trust).—Kate Upson
Clark, in Leslie’s Weekly.
Restricting Women’s Clothes.
The opera management at Covent
Garden regulates the dress of its male
patrons. When i$ it going to do the
same to the women?
On Saturday night I went to the op-
era. I wore the costume imposed on
me by the regulations of the house.
I fully recognize the advantage of
those regulations. Evening dress is
cheap, simple, durable, prevents riv-
alry and extravagance on the part of
male leaders of fashion, annihilates
class distinctions, and gives men whe
are poor and doubtful of their social
position (that is, the great majority of
men) a sense of security and satisfac:
tion that no clothes of their own choos:
ing could confer, besides saving a
whole sex the trouble of considering
what they should wear on state oc-
casions.
But I submit that what is sauce for
the gander is sauce for the goose.
Every argument that applies to the
regulation of the man’s dress app:ies
equally to the régulation of the wom-
an’s. At 9 o'clock a lady came in and
sat down very conspicuously in my
line of sight. She remained there un-
til the beginning of the last aet. 1
do not complain of her coming late and
going early; on the contrary, I wish
she had come later and gone earlier.
For this lady, who had very black
hair, had stuck over her right ear the
pitiable corpse of a large white bird,
which looked exactly as if some one
had killed it by stamping on its’ breast,
and then nailed it to the lady’s temple,
which wras presumably of ‘sufficient
solidity to bear the operation. I am
not, I hope, ‘a morbidly squeamish
person; but the spectacle sickened me.
I presume that if I had presented my-
self at the doors with a dead snake
round my neck, a collection of black
beetles pinned to my shirt front and
a grouse in my hair, I should have
been refused admission.
a woman to be allowed to commit such
a public outrage? Had the lady been
refused admission. as she should have
been, she would have soundiy rated
the tradesman who imposed the dis
gusting headdress on her under the
false pretense that “the best people”
wear such things, and withdrawn her
custom from him; and thus the root of
the evil would be struck at; for your
fashionable woman generally allows
herself to be dressed according to the
taste of a person whom she would not
let sit down in her presence.
I suggest to the Covent Garden au
thorities that if they feel bound to pro-
tect their subscribers against the dan:
ger of my shocking them with a blue
tie, they are at least equally hound tc
profect me against the danger of a
woman shocking me with a dead bird.
—@G. Bernard Shaw, in London Times.
Dress stuffs, organdies,
and dimities
and Swisses are selling. y
A parasol of blue silk—a strong shade
of blue—has a handle of blue-enameled
wood.
Hand-painted parasols are stunning,
but the embroidered ones are still more
popular.
Japanese styles are less good in them-
selves (though they're stunning) than
as inspiration for other parasols.
For “dress-up” gloves everything
mousquetaire is liked—suede mousque-
taire being the newest of all.
Nowadays the riding skirt reached
barely to the instep, and is lighter in
weight than “the average walking
skirt.
All the talk about returning to bus:
tles and crinolines becomes nonsense
when the increasing rationality of fash-
ion is observed.
Several narrow silk ruifles stitched
and corded in the hem have been found
to fulfill the function of holding out
the skirt quite successfully.
Such good looking outing hats as the
milliners are turning out! They're soft
felt hats with soft wings—all pale
gray or all white or gray and white teo-
gether.
Why, then, is]
THE PULPIT,
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV, .F. .E. TAYLOR,
Subject: Christ and the Multitude.
Brooklyn, N. Y.—Sunday morning, in
the Greene Avenue Baptist Church, the
Rev. Frederick EB. Taylor preached on
“Christ and the Multitude.” The text
was from Matthew, ix:35-38: “And
Jesus went about all the cities and the
villages,” ete. Mr. Taylor said:
For nearly two years Jesus had min-
gled with the people of Palestine. He
had visited their towns and villages,
had seen life in all its different phases,
and had been a source of blessing to all
who sought His favor. He had wit-
nessed the hollow mockery which
passed for religion among the Phari-
sees and had burned with indignation
as He saw the people receiving stones
instead of bread from those whose
duty it was to feed their souls. The
whole nation had been astonished by
His miracles, and after a year of com-
parative obscurity, He had entered
upon one of popular favor, His popu-
larity was now at its height, and thou-
sands were found eagerly listening to
the words of authority with which He
spake. Notwithstanding His great
popularity a careful observer would
have noticed that instead of a look of
triumph, His face indicated tender con-
cern for the great multitudes which
were continually seeking: Him. He
was heginning to realize more and
more the awful need of the people, and
His spirit was stirred within Him as
He saw the possibilities for good
cmong those who flocked to hear His
words of life and peace.
Living in a great city, surrounded by
thousands of men and women who are
careless and indifferent about their
earthly welfare, we are constantly fac-
ing the problem of how to reach and
help those for whom Christ died.
What was the attitude of Christ to-
ward those unsaved masses? How did
He seek to solve the problem of reach-
ing them? Is there any way of our
helping the people of our day and gen-
eration? These are some of the ques-
tions which we shall attempt to an-
swer. I believe that when the church
of God follows the example of the
Master in His treatment of the masses,
the masses will be reached and saved.
In the first place, I notice that Jesus’
was filled with compassion for them.
“When He saw the multitudes He was
moved with compassion for them be-
cause they were distressed and scat-
tered as sheep not having a shepherd.”
Compassion is the keyword to the life
of Jesus Christ. We find the evangel-
ists reporting instances of His compas-
sion again and again. When a leper
comes seeking health, Jesus, moved
with compassion, puts forth His hand
and with a touch —estores him to his
wonted strength and vigor. When the
great multitude, filled with curiosity,
followed Him away from their source
of supplies and were without food. He
js filled with compassion and creates
food enough to supply their need. at
was the compassion of Jesus that led
to the healing of the two blind men
near Jericho, and it was this same feel-
ing that prompted the resurrection of
the widow’s son at Nain.
Not only in His acts of kindness. but
in all His teaching we find that the
spirit of compassion is dominant. «The
best known parables uttered by the
Saviour are the parable of the Good
Samaritan and the parable of the Prod-
igal Son, and compassion is the key
word +o both. The compassion ot 8
Samaritan leads to the saving of an
enemy, and it was this same spirit on
the part of the father which made the
home coming so sweet to the Prodigal.
This is the need of the disciples of
Christ to-day. The multitudes are atl
about us: They are careless, indiffer-
ent, sinful; but only because they do
not know. the love of Christ. Deep
down in their lives there is a hunger
for something’ better, and in many
cases men are ‘groping after light on
thie pathway of life. The- church can
and should meet the need, but only a;
realization of the need. and an infilling
of the spirit of Christ to meet it will
solve the problem. Cx .
If the great heart of the Master was
moved with compassion for the mulfi-
tudes of His day, what would He think
—nay, what does He think—when He
sees the vast multitudes in our great
city who are going about as sheep
without a shepherd? I believe that if
we are true disciples of our Lord we
will feel as He felt, and instead of ig-
noring or condemning those who know
not Christ, we will leave no stone un-
turned until they come to know Him,
whom to know is eternal life.
In the. second place, I notice that
Jesus: saw a harvest ready for. the
reaper. He said, “The harvest truly is
plenteous.” He saw the possibiiities
among those who flocked around Him,
and knew that among them there were
many who could easily be led into the
paths of righteousness. And this was
characteristic of Christ. It is true that
much of His time was spent in sowing
the good seed of the kingdom, but it is
also true that He was constantly find-
ing opportunities to reap rich harvests
of souls wherever He went.
He goes to the seaside and finds a
harvest among the fishermen. He
stops at a well side and reaps the first
fruits of a splendid revival among the
despised Samaritans. At the seat of
custom He finds one who is to be an
apostle and write down the good news
for the Hebrew people. Wherever He
went Jesus always found the fields
white and ready for the reaper. And,
brethren, I believe that those who pos-
sess the spirit of the Master will al-
ways find abundant opportunities for
rich harvests of souls.
On one of these occasions Jesus said
to His disciples, “Say not ye there are
yet four months and then cometh har-
vest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up
your eyes and look on the fields, for
they are white already to harvest.”
The trouble with us is unbelief in the
possibility of a harvest here and now.
Some time in the dim future we expect
to reap, but the years pass en and
the conditions grow less and less hope-
rut and golden opportunities are lost
forever.
But I notice in the third place that
Jesus not only saw a great need, but
He told His disciples how it could be
met. ‘The harvest truly is plenteous,”
said He, “but the laborers are few.”
Surely no one ever felt the need of
laborers more than Jesus Christ. - Face
to face with thousands who yearned
to know the way of life, and limited
by His ‘humanity, so that it was only
possible to deal with a very few of
those who came to Him, He felt the
need of laborers as no other ever did.
It is true that He bad a band of
chosen disciples to carry on the work
that He began, but at this time they
could not be trusted to do very much,
as they themselves only knew the truth
imperfectly.
Every true servant of God has felt
his heart sink within him more than
once, as, looking out over the multi-
tudes, he has seen the great need for
men and women, who, counting their
lives not dear unto themselves, would
lay them down at the Master's feet to
be spent in loyal service for those who
knew Him not. It is not necessary to
discuss the need for laborers; this is
so apparent that it needs no discus-
sion. What we need to-day is to
know the remedy and then apply it
to the disease. More than one earnest
minister of the Gospel has presented
the needs of his field, and then sup-
posed that the people wpuld flock to
his support, only to be sadly disap-
pointed. No, the Master's way is the
best way. He did not tell the disciples
to go out and exhort the people to be-
come laborers for Him; He sent them
to the owner of the vineyard with a
request that he send forth laborers
into his haryest; “Pray ye therefore
the Lord of the harvest that He send
forth laborers into IIis harvest.”
Prater is the divine method, and I be-
lieve that more workmen have gone
forth in response to definite, earnest
petition offered by men and, women
who have felt the need for laborers
than by the use of any other method.
Let the ‘members of the church begin
to feel the multitudes without, let
them begin to pray that the people may
be saved, let them ask the Lord of the
harvest to send forth laborers and
hundreds of those who are to-day with-
in the very shadow of our churches
will be led into the way of life.
And now, in conclusion, may I say
that those who are led to pray for the
multitude are usually led into a larger
service on their behalf. Thirty years
azo, says a recent writer in a religious
paper, the region about London docks
contained as large a population as any
district in Africa. Back of the huge
warehouses were innumerable courts
and alleys filled with fog and dirt, and
every horror of sight and sound and
smell. It was a rendezvous for the
lowest types of humanity. The wealthy
and influential classes in this settle-
ment were the rumsellers and gam-
blers. Children were born and grew ta
middle age in these precinets who
never heard the naine of Jesus except
in an oath. Thirty thousand souls were
included in one parish here, but the
clergyman never ventured out of ithe
church to teach. A voung man named
Charles Lowder, belonging to an old
English family. happened to @ pass
through the district just before leaving
Oxford. His classmates were going
into politics, or the army, or the bar,
full of ambition and hope, to make a
name in the world; hut Lowder heard,
as he said, “a ery of mingled agony,
suffering, laughter and biasphemy
coming from those depths, that rang in
his ears go where hie would.” On hig
knees before his Maker he asked that
help might be sent to those who were
dying for the Water of Life. God gra.
ciously led him to see that the man
who felt the nesd the most would be
the one who couid do the most for
the people, and he gave up all plans
for his life and went to labor among
those for whom he had prayed. He
took a house in the lowest slums and
lived in it. Ie preached every day in
the streets, and for months was pelted
with brickbats. shot at and driven back
with curses.
no eloquence with which to reach them:
he was a slow, stammering speaker,
but he was bold, patient and in earnest
Even the worst ruffian learned to re-
spect the tall thin curate, whom he
saw stopping the worst street fights,
nursing the victim of Asiatic cholera
and facing mobs bent on taking his
life.
Mr. Lowder lived in London docks
twenty-three years. Night schools wera
opened, industrial schools and a refuge
for drunkards, discharged prisoners
and fallen women. A Iarge-church was
huilt and several mission chapels. His
chief assistants in the work were the
men and women whom he had rescued
from the paths that abut on hell. A
visitor said that the church differed
from others in that ‘all were in such
deadly earnest.” Mr. Lowder broke
down under his work and died in a ¥il-
lage in the Tyrol whither he had gone
for a rest. He was brought back to
the docks where he had worked so
long. Across the bridge where he had
once Leen chased by a mob bent on
taking his life, his body was reverently
carried while the police were obliged
to keep back the crowd of sobbing peo-
ple who pressed forward to get a
glimpse of “Father” Lowder, as they
called him. No such funeral, says a
London paper, has ever been seén in
England. © The whole population “of
Tast London turned out, stopping work
for that day; the special trains run to
Chiselhurst were filled, and thousands
followed on Yoot, miserable men and
women whom he had lifted up from
barbarism to life and hope.
Charles Lowder had seen the multi-
tude, the compassion of Christ had
filled his heart, his prayer had been
answered, and if he could have looked
over the battlements of Heaven that
day he would have realized that his
labor had not been in vain in the Lord.
AE
Joy.
True Christian joy is glorified joy,
says the Apostle Paul. That is, it has
the glory of Heaven shining upon it,
filling, suffusing, transfiguring it,« in-
tensifying it. In other words, there
is mo other joy anything like so rich,
so deep, ‘so full, so” blessed as the joy
which comes with= religion, which
springs out of faith. “Believing we
rejoice.”
It is a joy, too, that rises above all
sorrow and trouble. Suffering saints
have often been the most joyful. “We
rejoice, though now for a season, if
need be, we are in heaviness.” “As
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”
It is our duty to be joyful and our
privilege to spread joy among others.
It is also an effective means. of com-
mending the religion of Christ to oth-
ers.
Take joy home,
And make a place in thy heart for her;
And give her time to grow, and cherish
er; .
Then she will come and sing to thee,
—@G. B. F. Hallock, D. D.
He had unfortunuately |
aABBATH SCHOOL LESSON
INTERNATIONAL LESSON CCMMENTS
FOR SEPTEMBER 3.
Subject: The Captivity of Judah, IIL
Chron. xxxvi., 11-21 — Golden Text,
Num. xxxii., 23—-Memory Verses, 19-21
—Commentary on the Day’s Lesson.
1. Zedekiah's character and folly
(vs. 11-13). 11. “Zedekiah.” He was
one of the younger sons of the good Jo-
siah and uncle of Jehoiachin. He was
a weak king, with no strength of char-
acter to do what he knew to be right.
Anxious to follow the counsels of Jere-
miah, but without courage to do so, he
became the mere sport of factions, and
at last was brought into ruinous con-
flict with Babylon against his own bet-
ter judgment. 12. “Humbled not him-
self.” Although Jeremiah repeatedly
entreated Zedekiah to obey the word
of the Lord, yet the king through the
pride of his heart and for fear of of-
fending his princes would not listen
to the prophet’s advice.
13. *Rebell2d,” ete. This was the
height of folly. Had he possessed wis-
dom and courage enough to obey the
words of Jeremiah and remain true
to his allegiance to Babylon, Jerusalem
might not have been destroyed. ‘‘Made
Lim swear.” Nebuchadnezzar had
bound Zedekiah by a most solemn oath
to keep the peace by fidelity to the
conqueror who had set him on the
throne. In Jer. 27:3 we find messen-
gers from the kings of Edom, Moab,
Ammon, Tyre and Zidon consulting
with Hezekiah, perhaps concerting a
plan to throw off the Babylonian yoke;
and in Ezek. 17:15, Zedekiah is repre-
sénted as sending his ambassaders into
Egypt that they might give him horses
and much people. Thus he seems to
have laid broad plans for his rebellion,
and in all- this he was encouraged by
the false prophets of his time (Jer. 28).
God’s effort to save His people
(vs. 14, 15).
14. “Trangressed very much.” Here
we see the vile depths into which Ju-
dah had fallen. All classes were cor-
rupted. Restraint was thrown off and
the people openly practiced all the
heathen abominations, even polluting
the house of the Lord.
15. “The Lord—sent to them.” God
did everything He wisely could to pre-
vent His people from rushing down to
their own destruction. He laid upon
them several lesser evils as warnings.
These were devastations of the country
from which a few years would suffice
to recover. Then Jerusalem was cap-
tured and part of its treasure removed,
but the city was not destroyed, and the
temple stood. Kings were made cap-
tive as a warning to coming kings.
Prophets were sent to warn and en-
treat.
rn
(v.16);
16. ‘‘Mocked,” etc. Jeremiah was
imprisoned, beaten and threatened
with death; Urijah: was put to death
(Jer, 26:20-23). “No remedy.” The na-
tion had gone beyond all hope. The
body was hopelessly corrupt. It is
possible to sin too long, to sin away
the day of grace. O sinner, awake,
repent.
1V. Jerusalem destroyed (vs. 17-21).
17. “Therefore.” Because of their
great wickedness. ‘He brought—the
Chaldees.” The siege lasted about one
year and six months. The fortifica-
tions were strong, and the defense was
brave and skilful. The thud of the
battering rams shook the walls day and
night; archers made the defense in-
creasingly hard by constant showers of
arrows from the high wooden forts;
catapaults of all sizes hurled stones
into the town with a force as deadly
as that of modern bullets, and darts
tipped with fire kindled the roofs of
the houses; mines were dug under the
walls, and attempts at escalade by
ladders were renewed at every favor-
Judah utterly rejects the Lord
able opportunity. “Who slew,” etc.
The siege was full of horrors. The
city was reduced to the last extremity.
Ifearful pictures are presented by Jer-
emiah in his prophecy and in the La-
mentations. The destructive fire of
the besiegers was aided by a severe
famine (Jer. 38:9), and all the terrible
cxpedients had been tried to which the
wretched inhabitants of a besieged
town are forced to resort in such cases.
Mothers boiled and ate the flesh of
their own infants (Lam. 4:10; Ezek.
5:10): ladies in magnificent robes wan-
dered about searching the refuse heaps
for a morsel of food (Lam. 4:5-10).
“No compassion.” So hideous were
the cruelties practiced by Oriental vic-
tors upon their captors that, were it
not for the most convineing evidence in
sculpture and inseription, where the
perpetrators glory in their deeds, we
should hardly believe it possible fo*
men to treat their fellow creatures
with such barbarity. When the assail-
ants were once masters of the place
an indiseriminate slaughter appears
to have succeeeded, and the city was
generally given over to the flames.
The prisoners were either impaled and
subjected to horrible torments or car-
ried away as slaves. “He gave them,”
ete. God permitted the Chaldeans to
thus destroy Jerusalem. He might
have done to Nebuchadnezzar’s army
what He did to Sennacherib’s host.
20. “Carried he away.” When the
Chaldeans finally entered the city the
king and his men of war fled, but they
were pursued and captured. Zede-
kiah’s sons were slain before his’ eyes;
his eyes were then put out and he was
carried to Babylon in chains. He was
put in prison till the day of his death
(Jer. 52:7-11). * “To him and his sons.”
There were three kings after Nebu-
chadnezzar before Cyrus established
Persian rule: Evil-Merodach (2 Kings
25:27), Neriglissar and Nabonidus.
21. “Fulfill the word.” See Jer. 25:
11, 12; 29:10. “Enjoyed her Sabbaths.”
See Lev. 26:34, 35, 43. God had com-
manded them to let their land rest
every seventh year, and because they
had violated this command He now pro-
posed to give their land a long Sab-
bath. or rest, for seventy years.
THE REAL DIFFICULTY.
Flushy—-It must take remarkable
skill to raise a check.
Hardup—Oh, .I doa't know! It's
how to get hold of it in the first place
that T can’t see through.—Detroit
I°}ée Press.
Great Britian’s government has de
cic to secure and protect for the
the ancient ramparts erected
around the town of Der-
—
EPWORTH LEAGUE LESSONS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3.
The Abundant Life:
How to Use it. John 10: 7-10;
Rom. 5: 19-21.
Our lesson is from that beautiful
parable of the Good Shepherd. Jesus
is the door and the shepherd as
well. He draws a sharp contrast be-
tween the thief, the hireling, and the
wolf, on the one hand, and the: Good
Shepherd, on the other. These all
bring death. But the Good Shepherd
brings life. And he not only brings
life, but the fullness of an immortal,
heavenly, glorified life. He gives the
more abundant life. The second se-
lection tells us how we may get this
life. It is through the merits ‘and
obedience of Christ. Sin reigns in
How to Get it,
-us to death, but Christ reins in us to
life. And this life is an abundant,
that is, a sufficient life.
The life spoken of in our lesson is
the spiritual life imparted to us by
the Holy Spirit through the atoning
merit of Jesus Christ. It is called an
“abundant” life because it has in it all
the essential elements of salvation
and immortality. It is called in one
place “more abundant,” as if the life
imparted by Christ might be reaiized
in a superlatively large and satisfy-
ing measure. Consider:
This is nothing more nor léss than
the spiritual life imparted to us at
the regeneration of our mature
through the power of the Holy
Spirit. It is that life which we re-
ceive at conversion. An imparted and
not an imputed holiness. It may be
realized in a more abundant measure,
but is the same divine life which is
given to us by the Spirit. It is the
free gift of the Good Shepherd to his
sheep. It ‘is the regeneration and
sanctification of our nature through
the Holy Spirit. It is the inheritance
of all God’s people.
The plan of salvation is easy and
simple. It is by the personal sur-
render of the soul to Christ, and ap-
propriation of this life by faith. It is
not to be “earned,” nor “wrought
out,” nor “purchased.” It is to be ap-
propriated by the individual soul.
Jesus has paid the debt; he has
wrought out salvaticn, he has pro-
vided the life and salvation. It is
ours only to take it, to receive it as
a: gift. As the Good Shepherd
“gave” his life for the sheep, so he
now “gives” the life more abundant:
We learn from many other pass-
ages of the Word how to use. this life
in the service of Christ. Life is given
to be used. We are made alive to
bring others to life. We are saved
in order to serve. We have eternal
life not to selfishly enjoy, but to pass
on to others who need it. It will
thus be an increasing life. Only as
we use it does it become the more
abundant life.
CHS TON EADERIO NOTE
SEPTEMBER THIRD.
The Abundant Life: How Get 1t2 How
Use It? John 10: 7-10; Rom.
5: 19-21.
‘Everything outside of Christ tends
deathward; everything with? which
Christ has to do tends lifeward.
The overflowing life of nature shows
that God loves abundant life, and He
come to earth to fill men as full of
life as He fills the earth. with every
spring. : *
Seeds of weeds fly everywhere, and
the only gafety from them is“an éven”
greater abundance of seeds of grass.
‘When the sin comes into the heart,
it reigns, it sits on the throne and
governs; nor will God's grace accept
any lower position. ba :
Suggestions.
No life can abound for yourself that
does not abound for your neighbors.
If there is an abundant life, there is
also possible for you an equally abund-
ant death. .
Wherever there is fuller joy, it is
because of fuller life; joy means life,
and life means joy. :
Never think of Christ as being
languid, pale, and feeble. He was
the incarnation of vigor and pewer.
Illustrations.
of use only through
its overflow of power. How much
would men care for a machine that
merely kept itself running? ’
Saia the poor woman when she saw
the ocean for the first time, “At last
here is enough of something!” And
Christ is such an ocean.
Questions.
Is your Christian . life
buoyant?
Have you life enough for others, or
just for yourself?
Has Christ become the only source
of your joys?
Quotations.
Life may be deepened, made rich,
not only by broader areas, of culture,
but by priceless mines beneath the
soil.—T. Starr King.
There is nothing of. which men are
so fond, and withal so careless, as
life—Bruyere.
Monthly missionary meetings may
easily be made the best meeting of
the month. Try to bring every mem-
ber into each meeting; but at the
outset divide the society into bands,
each of which will be leaders of one of
the twelve meetings. Do not try to
crowd too much into the meetings—an
outline of a book, for instance, inte
ten minutes. Better take up fewer
points at a time and make them ef-
fectively.
A machine is
languid or
SORROW OF IT.
Edyth—Cordelia. is the most pesst-
girl I ever knew.
Mayme—Pessimistic!
(es. Why, ever since her
she has been worrying
nay not be able te have
after her marriage.” —
mistic