Messages of God's Love: 1936

Juda, Num. 1:26—Rev. 7:5; Reuben, Num. 1:20—Rev. 7:5; Gad, Num. 1:24—Rev. 7:5; Aser, Num. 1:40—Rev. 7:6; Nepthalim, Num. 1:42—Rev. 7:6; Manasses, Num. 1:34—Rev. 7:6. Simeon, Num. 1:22—Rev. 7:7; Levi, Num, 1:47—Rev. 7:7; Issachar, Num. 1:28—Rev. 7:7; Zabulon, Num. 1:30—Rev. 7:8; Joseph, Num. 1:32—Rev 7:8; Benjamin, Num, 1:36—Rev. 7:8.

4.David. Rev, 5:5—2 Sam. 2:11.

5.Balaam and Balac. Num. 31:16.

6.Dan. 7:9.

7.Ezekiel 3:1-3.

Bible Questions for January

“The Young People’s ‘Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Matthew,

Chapters 1-9

1.What three dwelling places of the Lord Jesus are mentioned in these chapters?

2.What are we told to seek first?

3.Of whom was it said, “Ye shall know them by their fruits?”

4.What is the meaning of “Emmanuel”?

5.In what form did the Spirit of God come upon the Lord?

6.Whom did Jesus come to call?

7.Was Peter married?

ML 01/05/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 31

This chapter gives God’s answer to the ambition of the king of Egypt who would have his country exalted to the supreme place among the nations, left vacant for a time by the fall of Assyria. We have already seen (Jeremiah 27, etc.) that God had chosen Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylonia to take Assyria’s place, and indeed to be the world’s first empire, but if the Egyptian Pharaoh had learned of His purpose, he did not regard it.

Egypt was the first great nation, as far as the Scriptures, and human records too, reveal. It was a substantial country when Abraham lived, and he was born only 352 years after the flood.

Assyria’s beginning was later, and not much has been learned concerning that people before the period in which the children of Israel entered Canaan. They began to assume some importance as a nation about fifty years before Saul became Israel’s first king.

Tiglathpileser, who is regarded as the founder of the second empire of Assyria is named in 2 Kings 15:29. From about B. C. 745 to B. C. 606 when Nineveh was destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians, Assyria was the most powerful of the nations. It overcame Egypt at one time (about B. C. 671) under Esar-had-don who is named in Isaiah 37:38.

Egypt had, before Israel’s possession of the land of Canaan, held the country, and after Solomon’s death, God moved that nation, with Ethiopia, to attack Judah (2 Chronicles 12:1-12). A second invasion under an Ethiopian general took place in Asa’s reign (2 Chronicles 14:9-13), and a military expedition was sent (B. C. 610) by Pharaoh-Necho to the head of navigation on the Euphrates, while Josiah was king of Judah (2 Chronicles 35:20 to 36:5). A few years later, about the time of the destruction of Nineveh, Nebuchaezzar and Necho, met in battle, and the latter was defeated (2 Kings 24:7; Jeremiah 46:2).

Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, had bound himself by an oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, but broke his promise, forming an alliance with Pharaoh-Hophra (Jeremiah 44:30), the second ruler of Egypt after Necho. Of this act of rebellion, the Babylonian king learned, and sent an army to besiege Jerusalem and destroy the city, ending the kingdom of Judah. He also defeated Hophra in battle during the siege of Jerusalem.

In the message to Hophra contained in chapter 31, he is reminded of Assyria’s greatness, God using the figure of a cedar in Lebanon to describe Assyria after the unfaithfulness to Himself of Solomon and his successors, the kings of Judah;

“No tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I had made him fair by the multitude of his branches, and all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, (i.e., the neighboring nations) envied him” (verses 8 and 9).

God had lifted up Assyria, but its king exalted himself in the greatest degree of pride and boastfulness; therefore “I have given him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations” (Nebuchadnezzar), So reads verse 11, and in verse 14 it is declared that no other nation should exalt itself after Assyria; in the government of God, death awaited them all.

Verses 15 to 18 refer to Assyria’s fall; that event had produced a very profound effect in the world. The Hebrew word translated “the grave” in verse 15 and “hell” in verses 16 and 17, is Sheol; it does not refer to the lake of fire, but to the unseen world, like the Greek word Hades. The application of the history of Assyria to Egypt’s proud monarch and his people is made in the last verse of the chapter. Did he think to arise to Assyria’s, former height? He would be brought down to the lowest place, according to the word of the Lord Jehovah.

ML 01/05/1936

In Everything Give Thanks

A very little girl, only four years of age, was once taken by her parents on a short visit to a seaside town.

On the morning following, she knelt by the bedside, and after having put up a few simple petitions for God’s blessing and protection for herself and others dear to her, she added, quite of her own accord,

“O, and thank Thee very much, good, kind Lord Jesus, for letting me come down to B. with papa and mamma; I did want to come so, and “tis, so nice!”

There was no mistaking the sincerity of that thanksgiving: the deep earnestness of the little one’s tone of voice proved that she meant all she said.

“The Lord hearkened and heard,” for He hath ordained that “praises should be perfected out of the mouth of babes and sucklings.” It rejoices His heart to receive thanks and praises from the tiny lambs of His flock.

“Children’s praise He loves to hear, Children’s songs delight His ear.”

Many little children forget very often to thank their earthly friends and relatives for their pleasant gifts. This is sadly ungrateful and rude; but how much oftener do they forget to thank God for all the “good and perfect gifts” which He is ever showering down upon them. No child could count up the blessings and comforts which are given to him or to her by God, and which are given so freely, too without His having been even asked for them; and should there not be thanks returned for them?

Do you remember, dear children, how when the Lord Jesus was upon this earth going about doing good He healed ten poor lepers who came to Him? They were suffering from such a terrible disease that no one dared to come near them, or to have anything at all to do with them. Yet the Lord in His tender pity healed them all.

How many out of the ten do you think remembered to thank the Lord for being so kind to them? Surely all of them! No, only one out of ten! and he no doubt was considered by the rest to be the worst of the whole number, because he was not a true Jew, but only a Samaritan.

Is it not much the same now in our day, we wonder?

“O, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endured” forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Psalms 107:1, 2.

ML 01/05/1936

God's Creation

That a charming scene in our picture. As we look at the fine large trees, the quiet stream, and the lovely view, it all seems so restful. We do enjoy all of God’s handiwork.

But this will not satisfy our hearts, as all things here on this earth change in a short time. We need something that will last forever. We shall find rest and satisfaction for our souls through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross of Calvary. There He suffered for our sins, and bore God’s judgment for them in His great love for us, to save us.

Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you eternal life in Him?

“HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE: AND HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE: BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDETH ON HIM,” John 3:36.

01/05/1936

Come to Jesus

O, Children, Come Saviour Come!

He Waits Your Souls to Bless;

to Clothe You With His Heavenly Robe

of Spotless Righteousness.

It Was for Such as You He Died

On Calvary’s Cruel Cross;

To Save You From the Load of Sin,

and From Eternal Loss.

Love Brought Him Down From Heaven

Above,

To This Sad World of Woe,

That You, Deserving Endless Death,

To Life Through Him Might Go.

God Gave Him up—His Only Son—

To Bleed and Die for Sin,

That Rebel Sinners, Great and Small,

He to Himself Might Win.

Alone He Suffered, Died Alone,

but Now He Lives in Heaven,

That All Who Now Believe May Know

Their Many Sins Forgiven.

Then, Will You Come, and Own Him Yours, and Trust His Peerless Name?

That When He Comes to Claim His Own. He You as His May Claim.

ML 01/05/1936

Sparrows

In our picture we see a good many enjoying themselves. They are glad to get their sleds out once more and slide swiftly down the hills and over the smooth slippery walks.

I am sure many of my little readers, like the boy in the front, take pleasure in drawing their brothers or sisters to school on sleds.

Several years ago, on a holiday, some boys were enjoying their first sport with their sleds. They lived in a small town on the Mississippi River. The weather had turned cold enough to freeze the river a little.

The boys took their sleds out for a slide on the ice, but soon went out where it was not strong enough to bear their weight. One sled broke through, and before the boy could be rescued, he was drowned. In a moment he was in eternity.

Dear reader, if you should be called away suddenly, like the boy we just mentioned, where would you go?

Do you know the blessed Saviour who is up in heaven, and who has a home ready for those who love Him? He wants us all to go there. He died on the cross and suffered the punishment for our sins, so that we might not have to die and be forever shut out of God’s presence. If you feel your need of such a blessed Saviour, and confess your sins to God, He will forgive them.

“IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS.” 1 John 1:9.

ML 01/12/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 32

The time of the first prophecy in the chapter was a year and a half after the end of the siege of Jerusalem, and its blackened ruins were now all that remained to testify of that city’s darted glory. The second prophecy, unveiling the unseen world (verses 17 to 32) is separated from the first by two weeks.

Verse 2: Pharaoh was like a young lion among the nations, and as a monster (not likely a whale, but, as in a former case, probably a crocodile) in the waters; he had gone beyond his proper limits and troubled other peoples. Judgment was shortly to be executed upon him by means of many peoples; but it was God’s doing: “they shall bring thee up with My net” (verse 3).

Verses 4 to 6 repeat what was said in verse 5 of chapter 20, and supplement it in language which suggests terrible and unexampled slaughter. “All the fowls of the heavens” and “the beasts of the whole earth” were to be fed with the slain. More fearful will be the carnage at the Lord’s coming in judgment (see Revelation 1.9:17, 18).

That Egypt was to be made desolate from Migdol to Syene for forty years, we have already learned (chapter 29; 10-12); indeed, it is said that Nebuchadnezzar ravaged the country so savagely that it was utterly desolate, his anger against Hophra being the greater, because he had sheltered the Jews who murdered Gedaliah, the governor of the land formerly Israel’s, and other persons, and fled the country to escape the vengeance of the Babylonian government (Jeremiah 11 to 41).

The judgment of God, unlike that which men give to their fellows, is ever according to perfect justice; the measure of guilt and of responsibility of every one with whom Fie deals in His governmental ways with the living is exactly known to Him, and Egypt’s visitation as portrayed in this chapter is thus far more severe than that of Assyria, spoken of in chapter 31. Egypt’s ancient grandeur, its riches, etc., much exceeded the glory of Assyria in its prime, and the news of its desolation cast dismay upon the world (verses 7 to 11).

God will be known by His judgments (verse 15); better far to know Him through His grace! But mercy despised, brings heavier strokes of judgment, as this poor world will find when God no longer speaks in grace, offering salvation to the lost.

What follows (verses 17 to 32) has been called the most solemn elegy over a heathen people ever composed. The close of verse 21 should be read “...out of the midst of Sheol; they are gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.” (The “uncircumcised” is a term distinguishing the nations from Israel).

“Asshur” (verses 22 and 23) is Assyria; “Elam” (verses 24 and 25) is the ancient monarchy mentioned in Genesis 14, but their country became a part of Persia, and the reference may be to the Persian empire, as in other prophetic passages. In verses 24, 25 and 30, “confusion”, it is believed, better expresses the meaning of the original language than “shame”.

Meshech and Tubal (verses 26 to 28) will come before us in connection with chapter 38. It will be noted that they and their multitude’ do not lie with the mighty (verse 27) who are gone down to Sheol. They are the last of the enemies of Israel who will meet with God’s vengeance in the judgments to be executed in the coming day.

Verse 30 will become clearer if the central portion he read “ashamed of the terror which they caused through their might.”

In these verses God recounts the names of several of the war-like nations which endured for a season and crumbled into dust: In their day they caused terror to many, but when life’s swift journey is over, and eternity has dawned, what then?

What is in view here, as in Old Testament prophecies generally, is the governmental dealing of God with the inhabitants of the earth and their rulers.

Eternal judgment, and the salvation of the soul are not Old Testament themes though spoken of there. The full light of the gospel of the grace of God was reserved until the work of redemption by the precious blood of Christ was accomplished, and the Redeemer had ascended to the throne of God.

ML 01/12/1936

Redeemed

When I was a child, my sister and I had a present of “puppies” given us. One day they disappeared, and we afterwards learned they had been stolen. Passing through the market we saw them exposed for sale, and in order to make sure they should not be carried away from the place, our father bought them for us, and we bore them back in triumph to our home. They were redeemed by a price being paid for them, and ours again on a new ground—Redeemed by price.

In the center of Africa, a slave lad escaped from his cruel master, and was pursued through the woods by Libe the chief, and his men armed with bows and arrows, who were fast gaining ground on the runaway slave. A trader and his caravan came along, and the exhausted slave, seeing the white man, ran for protection toward him. The trader offered a sum of money to Libe to let his captive free, then a quantity of ivory, but the angry chief cried out in rage,

“Nothing but blood will satisfy Libe.”

An arrow from the bow of one of the party grazed the white man’s arm, and drew from it a few drops of blood which fell to the ground. When Libe saw his follower’s arrow had drawn blood, he was afraid, for he knew well it might be required at his hand, and the trader seizing his opportunity, held up his bleeding arm and said,

“Libe wanted blood, he has it, let him go now.”

Glad to escape so easily for the rash deed, the chief with his men retired, leaving the trembling slave clinging to his deliverer’s bleeding arm—Redeemed by blood.

The believing boy or girl, who comes to the Saviour and trusts Him for salvation is redeemed. Redeemed by price, and that price, not silver or gold such as was paid for our lost puppies, but by “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19) once shed on the Cross, and accepted by God on the throne.

Then immediately you trust in that precious blood, you will know what it is to be redeemed by power, to be raised up from the depths of sin in which we all by nature lie, and to be brought from “death to life,” from “darkness to light,” and from the power of Satan to God. What a glorious salvation! What a wonderful redemption!

See that you make it your own in the early years of life, and go forth to live for and serve the One who has redeemed you.

ML 01/12/1936

Gaining a Crown

Would you like to do a little service for the Lord who has saved you?” a teacher asked one of the little girls in her class, who was a believer in the Lord Jesus, and desired to serve Him.

“Yes, very much indeed,” replied the young believer with a happy smile.

“Will you go and read a chapter of God’s Word on Lord’s Day afternoons to old Mrs. Jones, the blind woman at the end of town? She is very anxious to hear about Jesus, but she has no one to read or speak to her.”

The young believer blushed, and held down her head. After a moment’s pause, she said,

“I fear I could not do that, I am too young.”

“It does not need an old person, to speak a word for Jesus, Mary, and if you do not go, you may be throwing away a golden opportunity of winning a soul, and gaining a crown.”

Mary felt the power of that word, and as she knelt by her bedside that night, she asked strength from her Lord and Master, to go forth in the little service to which He had so clearly called her. Faithful to His promise, He gave her the needed strength and courage, so that when the following Lords Day came, she was joyfully ready for work. And for many days “old Mrs. Jones, the blind woman” heard from Mary’s lips the story of a Saviour’s love, and the Lord made her the honored instrument in leading her to the Saviour.

See, dear young believer, that you do, not miss the opportunity of gaining your crown. Whatever service the Lord calls you to, He will give you strength to do it, if you go to Him and ask for it. Your youth and lack of experience need not hinder you from going forth in lonely paths of service for His Name. Lay yourself at His feet, yield yourself to Him, and He will surely bear you forth, as a vessel meet for His use, in carrying the water of life to weary thirsty souls around you.

We all should speak for Jesus,

Who hath redemption wrought,

Who gave us peace and pardon,

Which by His blood He bought.

We all should speak for Jesus,

And tell how much we owe

To Him Who died to save us,

From everlasting woe.

We all should speak for Jesus,

The aged and the young,

With manhood’s fearless accents,

With childhood’s lisping tongue.

We all should speak for Jesus;

The world in darkness lies;

With Him, against the mighty,

Together let us rise.

ML 01/12/1936

Peggie's Letter

Peggie, perched on a high. chair, sits writing to her cousin her-first letter. What do you think it is about? Not her dog, not her doll; both of these for the present are forgotten in a more precious gift she has just received. That gift is eternal life. She has received it through the Lord Jesus, by believing in His Name.

She came to Him as a sinner at the children’s service held in the school every Sunday evening, and she maintains she has been saved. And she is writing to her cousin Mary the good news, and she closes her letter with the favorite lines,

“Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Ever my soul shall be.”

“Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord has done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” Mark 5: 19.

ML 01/12/1936

God Looks Down

From the glorious heaven,

Where the angels are,

God looks down on children,

Seeth them afar.

Heareth all they ask for,

All the night and day,

Watches like a father,

All their work and play

As a father giveth,

So He gives them bread,

Saves them out of danger,

Watches by their bed.

Tell all little children

Of God’s constant care,

That He loves and pities

Children everywhere.

ML 01/12/1936

A Life Boat

There is a country in Europe called Holland. Some of you are old enough to go to school and have studied about this wonderful country. Much of it is below the sea level.

In many places, walls, called dikes, have been built along the streams to keep the water from over-flowing the land. Sometimes one of these dikes breaks. Then the water pours in over the land, and causes a great deal of trouble.

In our picture we see the water up almost to the roofs of the houses. See those clear little chicks! Do you know what they are in? It looks like a wooden shoe—the kind of shoe that people in Holland wear. Because it is made of wood it is light enough to float and keep the water out.

How safe the chicks are in this lifeboat. The water cannot touch them. The big wooden shoe is a place of refuge which means a place of shelter or safety.

Do you know, dear children, where you can find refuge in all kinds of trouble and danger? There is a beautiful verse that says,—

“GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE.” Psa. 46:1.

He is glad to protect you from harm and danger if you trust in Him. He also wants to protect you from the punishment that we all deserve as sinners. He died on the cross to bear the punishment of your sins and mine. So in Him we find refuge from the punishment we deserve, if we believe in Him as our Saviour, and there will be no other refuge,—no other life-boat,——-when God pours out His judgment on this sinful world.

“There is none other name (but the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth) under heaven given among men whereby we must he saved.” Acts 4:12.

Dear reader, if you are not safe in Christ, turn to Him at once. You may not have another opportunity. Turn to Him today for refuge. Tomorrow may be too late.

ML 01/19/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 33

After the pronouncement of divine judgment upon the troublers of Israel, from the Ammonites to the Egyptians, in chapters 25 to 32, God returns to the consideration of His earthly people. As a nation, Israel had been put under the rod of His displeasure; Jerusalem was now in ruins, three kings of. Judah were captives in Egypt and Babylon, and hardly an Israelite remained in the land of promise; the ruin of Israel was complete.

“The children of thy people”, a term found in verses 2, 12, 17, and 30 (and in chapter 3:11, and later in this book) is significant of the altered position of the nation; Israel is “not My people” (Hosea 1:9), yet objects of mercy are among them, and a compassionate God seeks their good. He had told them through Ezekiel in chapters 3 and 18, and now a third time, in chapter 33, that thenceforth His dealings would be with individuals; their national position as God’s favored people was gone. The prophet had been made a watchman unto the house of Israel to warn them of judgment to come (chapter. 3:17-21), but they had not hearkened to the word of God which he delivered to them, and since then Jerusalem had been captured and destroyed, and its remaining inhabitants for the most part put to death by the Babylonian conqueror.

In the long-suffering and mercy of God, Ezekiel is again declared a watchman to the house of Israel, and directed to hear the word at His mouth and to warn them (verse 7). The wicked, if they do not turn from their wicked ways, shall die in their iniquity; the prophet, if he gave warning, whether it was heeded or not, had delivered his own soul (verses 8 and 9).

Man is ever ready to blame. God for his condition as a sinner, and verse 10 gives an example of this: “Thus ye speak, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them; how then should we live?” The answer is ready,

“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his own way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (verse 11, N.T.).

After the same manner of entreaty God has spoken to man in the gospel of His grace, in the inspired words of the apostle Paul (2 Cor. 5:20, 21):

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech... by us; we pray... in Christ’s stead, Be ye reconciled to God; for He hath made Him to be sin (or sin-offering) for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Alas! that the many spurn the offer of mercy!

What follows in our chapter (verses 12 to 20) is not the gospel of the grace of God, which was only published when His beloved Son had met the full demands of divine righteousness and holiness as the sinner’s Substitute on the cross of Calvary. It is a declaration of individual responsibility in a day of judgment, not a day of grace. Life is for those who live in the fear of God; death is for them who turn away from His Word. The way was still open for individual repentance, though the nation of Israel as a whole was under the judgment of God.

Verse 21, if the reckoning of time be from the same date as in Jeremiah’s last chapter, shows that a very long time elapsed from the fall of Jerusalem until the news reached Ezekiel in far off Chaldea. Now at length the mouth of Ezekiel was opened in testimony (see chapters 3: 20, 27, and 24:24-27). That testimony (verses 25 to 33) is of further judgment.

There were yet in the land of Palestine some Israelites who had escaped the sword of Nebuchadnezzar and the captivity of many of their fellows. These had thought to possess the land for themselves, but their state is exposed, and their judgment is announced in verses 25-29. As for the captives where Ezekiel was, they heard his words, but at heart they were unchanged; they were indifferent to the messages he gave them from God. The day was coming when they would know that a prophet had been among them.

ML 01/19/1936

Lured to Death

What captain would think of setting out on a voyage without the all-important chart? Far more foolish would he be if, when in mid-ocean, he neglected to examine his chart and despised its faithful, friendly warnings.

Still more foolish is the boy or girl, whose frail bark has been launched upon the ocean of time, and though swiftly sailing toward eternity, neglects the faithful warnings of the heavenly chart—God’s Word. Satan has one object, he desires to rob Christ of the joy and glory of saving you. To accomplish this, he presents all the pleasures of sin to lure the unwary to destruction.

You have heard, I doubt not, of the rattlesnake—a most deadly reptile. Its food chiefly consists of rabbits, birds, etc., though it frequently attacks man and inflicts a deadly wound with its poison fangs, which may prove fatal in a few minutes. It is provided with a strange appendage to its tail, which produces a rattling sound. When on the lookout for its prey it continuously shakes this rattle, until a reckless bird or rabbit, attracted by the sound, approaches it.

The serpent, erect and motionless, now fixes its basilisk and glittering eyes upon the frightened bird or animal, and apparently subjects it to some sort of strange influence, for though half paralyzed with fear, the terror-stricken victim makes not the slightest effort to escape, hovers or plays about nearer and nearer the beautiful destroyer, fascinated and, bewitched by those gleaming, sparkling eyes, and at length the trembling prey approaches, helplessly unable to escape, coming close to the rigid form of the serpent.

In the twinkling of an eye the subtle serpent darts forward and fixes its deadly fangs in the victim which he has lured to destruction.

Remember the words of the preacher: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Prov. 1:10.

Satan has varied baits for the unwary, and subtly deludes with the world’s varied pleasures; but, dear reader, be not deceived, he seeks your soul’s destruction. All that this world can offer is for TIME, your soul must live for ETERNITY. Seek, I beseech you, a refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, He died to deliver you from the power of Satan, and give you a home in glory with Himself forever,

Which will you be—

Lured to destruction or saved for glory? Jesus said,

“Come unto ME, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28.

ML 01/19/1936

A Text on a Post

Not far from a busy city there lived a bright and happy Christian boy, whose conversion was brought about by means of a simple text of Scripture posted by the sea-shore. He had been troubled about his soul for many months, knowing he was not saved, ill at ease, and very unhappy about his state before God. Walking alone by the shore one day, he saw a bit of paper nailed to a post, and going up to it, found it was a text, in bold letters,

“What must I do to be saved?” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:30-31.

Here was the sinner’s question; the question of one in soul trouble, like himself. And here, too, was God’s answer, plain and clear. It did not bid him to work, or pray, or wait. It pointed him to another, “the Lord Jesus Christ,” and told him to “believe,” or rely on Him. That word from God was the means of his conversation.

This is all you need; God’s Word is to you, as it was for him. Are you willing to be saved by Him, and NOW?

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2.

ML 01/19/1936

Keep Little

Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee.” Psa. 55:22.

A dear old Christian was feeling how unable he was to meet the troubles and sorrows and difficulties of this life; so he said to the Lord:

“Lord, Thou knowest I am a weak child, and cannot walk; Thou must carry me.” Someone asked him,

“What answer did the Lord give you?”

“It was as if He said to me: “Well John, if you must be carried, you must keep little,” He replied.

“He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom.” Isa. 40:11.

Go to Him, dear boys and girls, for strength; tell Him all you feel. There is nothing too great, and nothing too small for Him to notice, for He is God.

“His love is as great as His power,

And knows neither measure nor end!”

“To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My Word.” Isa. 66:2.

ML 01/19/1936

O, Children, Come!

“All things are ready,” Come,

Come to the supper spread;

Come, rich and poor; come, old and young;

Come, and be richly fed.

“All thing’s are ready,” Come,

The invitation’s given,

Through Him Who now in glory sits

At God’s right hand in heaven.

“All things are ready,” Come,

The door is open wide;

O feast upon the love of God,

For Christ His Son has died.

“All things are ready,” Come,

All hindrance is removed;

And God, in Christ, His precious love

To fallen man has proved.

“All things are ready,” Come,

Tomorrow may not be;

O children, come; the Saviour waits

This hour to welcome thee.

ML 01/19/1936

The Sheep Fold

In the early morning, the faithful shepherdess remembers her sheep. They have been shut in all night, kept from all harm, and examined carefully as they went in, to see if they needed any attention. Some may have been torn with thorns, and needed a little oil put on to heal; or a thorn pulled out of the foot, and so on; and not one of them was afraid of her, for they knew her voice and her tender care.

How good, you say, it was for those sheep to have such a shepherdess as that.

Yes, and would you like to be looked at as a sheep with a faithful shepherd; or, in other words, would you like to be a sheep, belonging to the Lord Jesus? If you would, He says,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” John 10:27, 28.

Have you heard His voice? Perhaps you say, I don’t know what that means. Well, think of this, He says,

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28.

How great is that Shepherd’s love for His sheep. May you be enabled to say,

The Lord is my Shepherd, He has given His life for me, He knows me and He has given me eternal life, and now I follow Him.”

“I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD: THE GOOD SHEPHERD GIVETH HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP.” John 10:11.

ML 01/26/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 34

Firstly, after the 33rd chapter, telling of individual responsibility before God, comes this one on the responsibility of the leaders and caretakers of His flock. Who of the kings of Israel and Judah had walked in David’s footsteps? With notable exceptions, they lived to please themselves, and cared little for the flock of God. That David sinned, and very grievously, too (and reaped of his sowing), is well-known, but comparing his course as a whole with his successors’, the contrast is not, in general, to their credit. (See 2 Samuel 24:17; 1 Kings 9:4 and 11:4-6; 2 Chronicles 12:1; 21:5, 6; 28:1-4; 33:1-9; 30:11-13, telling of some of the kings of Judah).

Of the kings of Israel (the ten tribes), not one feared God; Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:20-33 and 13: 33, 34), and Ahab (1 Kings 16:30-33) were outstanding among them as leaders in iniquity.

More wicked, however, will be the shepherds of the last days, just before the Lord’s appearing and kingdom.

Ezekiel was therefore directed to prophesy against the shepherds (rulers) of Israel who feed themselves, eat the fat and clothe themselves with the wool, killing the fattened sheep and neglecting to feed the flock (verses 2 and 3). Their whole course lay exposed before God: the weak they have not strengthened; they have not healed the sick, nor bound up what was broken, nor brought again what was driven away, nor sought for, what was lost; with harshness and with rigor they have ruled over the flock (verse 4).

As to the flock: they were scattered because there was no shepherd; they became meat to all the beasts of the field. Jehovah’s sheep wandered through all the mountains, were scattered upon all the face of the earth, and there was none that searched or that sought for them (verses 5 and 6). The language is figurative and looks on to the last days. The shepherds will then be held to account, and the sheep will be delivered from them by God (verse 10).

Verses 11 to 16 tell of the coming gathering of all Israel again in their own land, not in unbelief, as is the case with the Jews who have been and are returning to Palestine in our times. Then the blessed God, — “I, even I”, He says in the touching language of verses 11 to 13— “will both-search for My sheep, and tend them. As a shepherd tendeth his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so will I tend My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries; will bring them to their own land, and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the water courses, and in all the habitable places of the country.”

And as if this were not enough of grace to the undeserving recipients of divine favor, verses 14 to 16 tell yet more of God’s unfailing purpose to bless Israel.

Necessarily, judgment will in that day overtake the “fat” and the “strong”—those who have enriched or strengthened themselves at the expense of the flock. Nor are all the oppressors shepherds or rulers, as verses 17 to 22 make plain. “Between cattle and cattle” in verse 17 means, as the marginal note shows, “between sheep and sheep”; in verses 20 and 22, likewise, sheep are referred to, rather than cattle. All the children of Israel are sheep in the figure used here of a flock belonging to God, but some of them will be dealt with on account of their ill treatment of their fellows.

Verses 23 to 31 introduce the Lord Jesus as the Shepherd of the royal line of David, who will feed His flock. A fresh and lovely picture is afforded of the thousand years of blessing on earth following which the history of this present world will close. It will be noted that there is no mention here of the Lord’s humiliation, as in Isaiah, for example; the reason is that in Ezekiel the whole of the twelve tribes are in view; the ten were not guilty of the rejection of their Messiah, as were the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Nor is the Messiah’s being Jehovah presented in Ezekiel’s prophecies for the reason that His humiliation is not mentioned.

God will make with Israel a covenant of peace; evil beasts shall cease in the land, and the people shall dwell in safety in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. Jerusalem (“My hill”) will be the center of blessing on earth, with Israel dwelling in God’s special favor. A “plant of renown” will God raise up for His people, even the Lord Jesus. The reproach of the Jew will be gone forever then (verses 25 to 29).

Israel (the believing and blest remnant) will know that Jehovah their God is with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are His people, God’s flock, the flock of His pasture; they are men, and He is their God. What grace is this that God will thus work in the scenes of man’s rebellion and the rejection of His Son!

Yet is there far richer blessing in store for those who give heed to the present message of grace to Jew and Gentile.

ML 01/26/1936

What Can I Bring to God?

A little one I am,

What can I bring to God?

Can I bring lovely fruits and flowers

Up to His high abode?

Not these, my child.

O what, then, can I bring—

The labors of my hands?

For surely one who bringeth these

Loved and accepted stands;

Not so, my child.

No fruits or flowers avail

To please the Holy God;

Remission is by blood alone—

The Saviour’s precious blood;

‘Tis this, my child.

No labor of your hands

For sin can e’er atone;

The Bible says salvation is

By faith in Christ alone;

Not works, my child.

Believe what God declares,

Believe in Christ and live,

For all who trust His precious blood

Eternal life receive.

Believe, my child.

ML 01/26/1936

Whosoever "Will"

In a small Mission Room, off one of the crowded thoroughfares of a large city, a few earnest Christian workers gathered a number of poor and needy children, for whom they provided every Lord’s day afternoon, a free supper, and afterwards spoke to them on the Word of God. Many were by this means reached with the gospel, who would not otherwise have heard it.

A poor boy, called by his comrades “Will,” heard the singing, and stood listening at the door. The last line of the chorus, repeated after each verse was,

“Whosoever will, may come.”

This arrested Will’s attention. He was sure the “Will” applied to him, but what the “Whosoever” meant, he did not know. A gentleman passed as Will stood listening, and touching his cap, Will asked, “Please, sir, can you tell me what ‘Whosoever’ means?” The gentleman smiled, and replied, “Yes, my boy, ‘whosoever’ means anybody; you, if you like.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Will, returning to the Mission Room door as fast as he could run. It now stood half open, and Will, removing his cap, walked in, and received a warm welcome. After the hymn, the supper was served, and then a short gospel address was given, telling how that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

Will went to that humble room for many a day, and there he was converted and now follows Christ.

Have you learned that “whosoever will” means anybody, you, if you like? Have you taken your place and claimed God’s gift, as Will claimed the invitation to “whosoever will,” at the Mission Room supper that day? God still says to you,

“Whosoever will, let him, take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17.

But this sweet invitation will not be continued forever: A day will come when God’s door will be closed, and all who have refused to obey His invitation will be shut out for Eternity.

Then another “Whosoever” will be made known;

“Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:15.

ML 01/26/1936

"My Book"

Little Emmie was left in a room for a few minutes with a gentleman. Wishing to entertain him in her father’s absence, she took up from the table his pocket Bible, and said,

“Would you like to read a little from this—this is my father’s Book, Mr. H—. I don’t often see him reading any other.”

Emmie found the Lord Jesus as her own Saviour; and the Bible became her Book, as it had been her father’s. From it she gained the guidance and direction she needed clay by clay. By it her heart was cheered in trouble, and her sorrow turned to joy. Through it she grew in grace, and in the knowledge of her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Can you say,

“It is my Book too—the Book of books to me?”

Treasure its words and precepts more and more. Remember the words of the aged apostle Paul to his beloved child, Timothy,

“From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 3:15.

ML 01/26/1936

"I Know I'm Saved"

While many say, “I hope I’m saved,”

By grace I say “I know.”

“How do you know?” you ask. “Because

The Bible tells me so.”

I read in John, Epistle one,

Last chapter, verse thirteen,

The precious words, O! mark them well,

And think on what they mean.

To all who on Christ’s name believe (These words are plain and true),

“These things” (these holy, heavenly things)

I’ve written unto you.

“That ye may know (blest be His name, Not hope but know) ye have

Eternal Life, through Christ our Lord, Who died our souls to save.”

ML 01/26/1936

"The Children's Class"

“The Children’s Class”

1.“And I heard,” etc. Rev. 16:5.

2.“Who shall not,” etc. 15:4,

3.“Having the glory,” etc. 21:11.

4.“These shall make,” etc. 17:14.

5. “And I heard,” etc. 19:6.

6.“He that is unjust,” etc. 22:11.

7.“And all that dwell,” etc. 13:8.

Bible Questions for February

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Matthew,

Chapters 10-18

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “That labor and are heavy laden.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Faith as a grain of mustard seed.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Compassion on thy fellow servant.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Hear, and understand.”

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Blessed are your eyes.”

7.When Peter was walking on the water, why did he begin to sink?

Answers to Bible Questions for December

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.The tree of life. Gen, 3:21—Rev. 22:2.

2.Gog and Magog. Ezek. 38:2—Rev, 20:8.

3.Babylon. Isaiah 21:9—Rev. 18:2.

4.Moses. Rev. 15:3—Exodus 15:1.

5.Michael. Rev. 12:7—Dan. 10:13.

6.Time, times, and half a time. Rev. 12:14—Dan. 12:7.

7.Mt. Zion. Rev. 14:1— Psalms 78:68.

Bible Questions for February

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Matthew,

Chapters 10-18

1.To whom only were the twelve disciples sent?

2.How many times shall we forgive those who sin against us?

3.How low a place did the Canaanite woman take?

4.How did john the Baptist meet his death?

5.What two men appeared in the glory on the mount?

6.What three cities did Jesus upbraid?

7.What did the Lord say about “Idle Words?”

ML 02/02/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 35

The promise of Millennial blessing in chapter 34 leads the divine Author of the prophecies of Ezekiel to speak further about the closing scenes leading to the establishment of peace and righteousness on earth. An enemy to the south of Israel, Edom, the people of Esau, Jacob’s brother, has been briefly mentioned in chapter 25 (verses 12 to 14), and to that land of perpetual hatred the Holy Spirit here returns in His forecast of events yet to come. The reason for again mentioning Edom is plain: When all the earth rejoices, the land of Edom will be a desolation, an abiding token of the judgment of God to be seen throughout the coming thousand years of peace and blessing.

Mount Seir (verse 3) is the range of hills extending from north to south through the land of Edom, and Seir and Mount Seir are names applied to the country in Scripture. “Most desolate” in verses:3 and7 hardly expresses the full sense of the Hebrew original; it has been translated “a desolation and an astonishment.” In verses 4, 14 and 15, also, “desolate” is “a desolation”, a somewhat stronger term.

Little did the children of Esau reckon that God was taking notice, and would in due time visit them as a nation on account of their feeling toward their brother Jacob, and the treatment they accorded him, when opportunity arose.

It is idle for men, even Christians, in the light of the promised judgment of Edom, and (not to mention other Old Testament nations which will be revived to meet God’s righteous anger on account of the past) of that proud religious system called in Revelation 17 and 18 “the great whore” and “Babylon the great”, to deny that the offenses against God, His truth and His people, committed by bygone generations, will not be dealt with in judgment upon the living who occupy the same ground morally before Him.

God requires what is past, as the Preacher declares in Ecclesiastes 3:15, and the prophetic word in both Old and New Testaments gives abundant proof of this principle of His government.

Edom, non-existent today, as a nation, will be found again in its homeland as time draws on to the end of God’s patience with this world, and they will there again plot against the children of Israel (Psalm 83:6; Isaiah 34:5-17; Jeremiah 49:7-22).

The Edomites will, in the day of their judgment, know that He who deals with them is Jehovah’ (verses 4, 9 and 15). They will know it in His judgments. Philippians 2:10, 11, Revelation 1:7, and other passages point to those who will be in the class of the Edomites, —owning the power, and the just judgment of God, but strangers to His grace.

The Edomites had a deep-seated hatred of their kinsmen according to the flesh, the children of Jacob, and when Nebuchadnezzar’s army was accomplishing the destruction of Jerusalem, they helped them. Verse 5 in our chapter may be read: “Because thou...has given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword, in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity, of the end...,” See also Amos 1:11, 12; Obadiah 11-14, and Psalm 137:7 which tell of the attitude of Edom when Jerusalem fell.

Of no other, land does Scripture promise such a judgment as that to be poured out on Edom:—perpetual desolations, and their cities without inhabitants (verses 9 and 15). They had planned to seize the land of Israel (“these two nations and these two countries” referring to Israel and Judah), but they forgot that that land is set apart for God’s earthly people (Deuteronomy 32:8). It never has been and it never will be a blessing to any other nation, but only to the Israel of God. They forgot, too, that Jehovah, the eternal God, heard all their reproaches, uttered against the mountains of Israel (verse 12), and their many words against Himself (verse 13).

“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11.

God’s long continued forbearance is misjudged by man, yet His word (if they would but believe it) fully declares that the day of His grace will end, Truly is it said,

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psalms 14 and 53), and, “He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” Psalm 94:9.

ML 02/02/1936

"Me, Too"

Many years ago an old lady who loved the Lord Jesus was called on by a gentleman who also loved Him. They spoke together about a lovely verse of God’s Holy Word. It was one which perhaps you know quite well—

“The Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

The old lady liked to think of the wonderful love of the Lord Jesus, and how He came down from heaven and died upon the cross so as to save her, and that she might be with Him forever, and she repeated the verse with great pleasure. And so did the gentleman, who also said the verse over.

Now, there was a little girl sitting close by the old lady. She was her grandchild, and when she heard the words again and again she pulled at her grandmother’s dress, and said,

“And me, too, grandma, me, too.”

She did not want to be left out in the cold, so to speak, for she knew that the Lord Jesus had loved her and given Himself, that she might be happy now and happy forever.

Yes; the Lord Jesus loves children—country children, town children, all children. Have you ever thanked Him for all that He has done?

Jesus loves the children;

In the days of old,

When they gathered round Him,

Then His love was told.

Tenderly He blessed them,

Kindly He did say,

Suffer little children,

Turn them not away.

Jesus loves the children,

‘Twas for them He came,

Leaving heavenly glory,

“Saviour-Lord” His Name.

He endured the judgment,

Suffering for sin,

That to heavenly glory.

He might bring them in.

Jesus loves the children

Though He’s now above,

Still He calls them to Him

In His wondrous love.

All their guilt He knoweth,

All their sinful way,

But in love He calleth

“Come to Me” today.

Come to Him, clear little ones, come NOW.

ML 02/02/1936

At Their Best

The two little boys and the dog in this very interesting picture look as though they might be having their picture taken. See how carefully seated they are.

Whether playing or working, easy work, or hard work, we should always do our best and be our best. If we love the Lord Jesus, who loves us so much, and has done so much for us, we will try to please Him at all times.

One way to please Him is to obey our parents and please them in every way we can.

“CHILDREN, OBEY YOUR PANTS IN ALL THINGS: FOR THIS IS WELL PLEASING UNTO THELORD.” Col. 3:20.

ML 02/02/1936

Death and Life

Ah, what a little thing it seemed

When first Eve plucked the tree:

And vet it brought the fruit of death—

Poor child—on you and me.

She listened to the Devil’s word,

And on his word relied:

But, O! the day she took the fruit—

That very day she died.

God could not from His word depart,

And so with all in sin;

The moment life we enter on,

To die we but begin.

Is there no hope, poor little one—

No hope for you and me?

Ali! yes, the Saviour shed His blood

Upon the cursed tree,

That we a better life might have,

Which never can decay:

Which neither Satan nor the world

Can, ever take away.

Then little children, come and take

The life which God has given;

For all who have that life on earth,

Shall spend that life in heaven.

ML 02/02/1936

A Winter Scene

In the dense forest a road has been made, and a house has been built, so the bunters may have a place to go, and get some refreshments and warmth in the cold winter, and when they get on to the road they will soon find their way home. But when people go into the midst of the trees, they often get lost for a time, because there are no paths.

A young man I once knew was lost in this way in the woods, and he called out, “Lost, Lost,” a number of times till someone who knew the directions, came for him, and brought him out.

We say he was lost, because he did not know his way, and now I would like to ask you a question,

Do you know the way to heaven? If you do not know it, you are lost. What a terrible thing it is to be lost, and especially for eternity. It is our own fault if we are lost, for there is a Saviour who has been provided for us, and He is the way, so the Lord Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life! no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6.

If you are lost let the Lord. Jesus be your Saviour, for he came to save the lost.

“THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST.” Luke 19:10.

ML 02/02/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 36

As chapter 35 was occupied with the rebuke of Mount Seir, an equal portion of chapter 36 is taken up with the blessing of the mountains, etc., of rivers of Israel’s land. The blasphemies (or reproaches) of Mount Seir, and their planning with other countries (verses 2 to 5) to make the land of Israel their own, move God to declare what He will do on behalf of that very portion of this world.

We must bear in mind that in Ezekiel’s prophesies, the times of the Gentiles which commenced with the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, and will end at the Lord’s appearing, are passed over; the coming of the Messiah as the lowly Son of Man, and His rejection are not referred to. Ezekiel is concerned with the 12 tribes of Israel, and the state of the neighboring nations, and the execution of judgments by Nebuchadnezzar as the instrument of God, are linked directly with the state of things at the Lord’s second appearance on earth.

God has never given up His purpose of blessing Israel; the promises to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, 7; 13: 14-16; 15:5, and 18-21; 17:7, 8, and 22: 17, 18, will be exactly fulfilled when Israel and the world have been cleansed by judgments far exceeding those of the past.

Verses 2 to 5 point to His full knowledge of what is done and said on earth, for, as Hannah said (1 Samuel 2:3.), “Jehovah is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.”

We need only to turn to the Scriptures to learn why Palestine is, and for many centuries has been, largely uncultivated, its former abundance exchanged for seemingly barren wastes, where the few degraded inhabitants eke out a bare existence.

God’s Word does not mention the present activity in scattered portions of the country, carried on under British protection, because it is neither the work of God, nor of a believing remnant of Israel. That it is directing the thoughts of many, both Jews and Gentiles, to Israel’s ancient land, is clear, and in that way it is moving toward the closing scenes which cannot take their final form until the Church of God is gone from the earth.

In verse 8, the last clause refers to the “branches” and “fruit” of the mountains of Israel. Full blessing is assured to Israel in the day to come, for “I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and you shall be tilled and sown,” is a promise without condition, as is also “I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, yea, I will make it better than at your beginnings” (verse 11, N. T.). What astounding grace this is!

It had been falsely said by the spies sent by Moses into Canaan (Numbers 13:33), that the land ate up its inhabitants, and now that it was emptied and waste, men were saying it of Israel (verse 13), but it will never be true again.

In verses 16 to 20, the cause of God’s dealing with His people and its character are considered, and it is added, that when they came to the nations whither they went, they profaned His holy Name, when it was said of them, “These are the people of Jehovah, and they are gone forth out of His land.” Not for their sakes, then, but for His holy Name will He work among Israel in the coming day.

Verses 24 to 36 forecast the work of grace which God will yet accomplish in Israel, —a passage to which the Lord clearly referred when speaking with Nicodemus in John 3:3-12. It will be seen that the promises to Israel do not extend into eternity; they are occupied with the earth, but faith (as in Hebrews 11:10, etc.) grasped what was not, until New Testament times plainly revealed.

ML 02/09/1936

The Colonel's Story

Or, the Mirage of the Desert

Tell us a story of the war, was a very common request of the colonel’s grandchildren, as they climbed upon his knees, and stroked his long gray beard. He had been in many dangers, and had proved the Lord’s delivering hand, even in his unconverted days, when as a dashing young officer, he delighted in the roars of the cannon, and the clash of swords. After God saved him, he saw things in a new light, and sought to spread abroad the name of Jesus while serving his country.

“I’ll tell you a short story tonight, my boys, which I would like you to remember, and in order to keep it in your minds, I want you first to learn and repeat a nice text from God’s own Word. You will see the connection when you hear my story. The text is this,

‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’ Rev. 22:17.

“Now for my story. When I was out in foreign service, we were on a long march through the desert. Our supply of water was completely finished, and we were all very thirsty. Some of the soldiers were actually sucking the sand, wherever they saw a little moisture, in hope of finding water. Day after day passed, and we began to fear that many would die for want of water.

We had been told of certain “pools” somewhere about the line of our march, and we hoped every hour to reach them. At last one of the officers gave the cheering signal of water within sight, and we strained our eyes to catch the first glimpse of it. We thought it would be the “pools,” but to our amazement a beautiful lake appeared in the distance, with palm trees growing luxuriantly around its edge. The thirsty soldiers could not restrain their delight, but burst into a song. But alas, the lake turned out to be a mirage of the desert.

A mirage is a picture thrown upon the desert from the clouds above it. It all has the appearance of real water, but it is only a shadow. How disappointed we were Our tongues seemed to cleave to our mouths, as we found that the mirage had deceived us.

I learned a lesson that day, my dear boys, that I shall never forget. Fair appearances often deceive. The world’s pleasures, its honors, its wealth, are like that mirage in the desert. They promise much, but give nothing to satisfy.

Just as we were preparing to camp for the night, without any appearance or display whatever, we suddenly came upon a river of beautiful clear water, O joyful sight! And all free, without money and without price. Never before did I enjoy a drink of water as I did that evening. The men knelt down and drank their fill, and our camp that night was a scene of gladness. We valued the water because we were thirsty.

And now, my dear boys, for the lesson. We are all in a thirsty desert. This world has nothing to satisfy. Its fair promises are like the mirage. But the blessed gospel flows like a river, giving life and joy and peace. Best of all, it is free, and the invitation of God is,

‘Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.’ Isa. 55:1.

‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’ Rev. 22:17.

The boys listened attentively to their grandfather’s story, and they will not soon forget the meaning of that “mirage of the desert.” Dear boys and girls, there is nothing to satisfy in the world. You must come to Jesus, and receive Him, in order to have life and peace.

“I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth. on Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35.

ML 02/09/1936

The Blood of Christ

An old herdsman in England was taken to a London hospital. He was very ill, and the doctors gave no hope of his recovery. His little grandchild used often to come and see him, and she would then read to him out of the Bible. One day she was reading the first chapter of the first Epistle of John, and came to the words

“And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.

The old man raised himself up and stopped the little girl, saying with great earnestness:

“Is that there, my dear?”

“Yes, grandpa,” she replied, “it is.”

“Then,” said he, “read it to me again I have never heard it before.”

She read it again.

“You are quite sure it is written there?” he said again.

“Yes, quite sure, grandpa,” was the child’s answer.

“Then take my hand, and lay my finger on the passage, for I want to feel it.”

She took the old blind man’s hand and placed, his bony finger on the verse, when he said, “Now, read it to me again,” With a soft, sweet voice, she read,

“And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin,” Again he asked eagerly,

“And you are not making a mistake; you are perfectly sure that is in the Bible?”

“Yes, perfectly certain, grandpa.” “Then,” said the old man, sinking back on his pillow, “if anyone should ask how I died, tell them I died in the faith of those words, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” Soon after, he passed away, peaceful and happy in the sense of all his sin being put away by that One perfect sacrifice.

ML 02/09/1936

"I Can't Help Loving Jesus"

I can’t help loving Jesus

Since He has loved me so;

He tells me, very shortly

That I to Him shall go,

And be with Him forever,

In you bright home of light,

Which makes me always joyful,

And fills me with delight.

Perhaps He’ll come tomorrow

To call His saints away;

I’m sure I should be thankful

To see Him here today.

But till I go to heaven,

I wish my song to be,

“I can’t help loving Jesus,

He is so good to me.”

When people talk of doing,

I very often ask

How can a sinner labor

In such a holy task?

It needed One most holy,

Such a work to undertake;

And all was done by Jesus,

And for the sinner’s sake.

I learned that God had sent Him

To save, and not destroy;

To make us very happy,

And fill our hearts with joy.

To him who wants to know it,

The Scriptures clearly show,

The work of our redemption

Was finished long ago.

The blessed work of Jesus,

For us was so complete—

That I can only wonder,

And worship at His feet.

Thus I am always singing

(And always wish to be)—

“I can’t help loving Jesus,

He’s done so much for me.”

ML 02/09/1936

Sparrows

There is no bird so common, or of so little value as the sparrow. There are not only a great many of them, but their feathery coat is not beautiful, and their song is not sweet, like many other birds. But there is one thing that is good to remember—God’s Word lets us know that He takes the same need care of the sparrow as He does of other birds.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Fathers; But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Matt. 10:29, 30.

How many there are who fret and trouble themselves about the affairs of this life, and so occupy their time in putting forth great effort to gain something in this life, that they have little or no time to give to God’s Word, or to pay attention to eternal things.

They forget that God cares for all, and provides food and raiment for all His creatures, and thus He is the preserver of all men, but especially of those who believe.

God has loved them so much that He gave His own beloved Son to die for us on Calvary’s cross in order that we may be saved.

“CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS, ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES. AND HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.” 1 Cor. 15:3, 4.

ML 02/16/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 37

The prophecies which have occupied us, have shown the abounding wickedness of the people of Israel which led to their banishment from the land; God’s dealings with them as a nation because of their sins; and their future restoration and blessing according to His mercy. Is there then an element of goodness in the chosen people that only needs culture and favorable conditions that it may spring forth in full vigor? Chapter 37 gives the answer, and Romans 11:15 bears further witness that the restoration of Israel, when it takes place, will be as life from the dead.

By the power of God and in His Spirit, Ezekiel was carried out and set down in the midst of a valley that was full of bones; he was caused to pass by them round about, and saw that there were very many, and that they were very dry, —a vast sepulcher of those long dead. The scene represented the whole house of Israel, morally, in the sight of God (verse 11).

God asks His servant, “Son of man, shall these bones live?”

“Lord Jehovah” (the name habitually used in Ezekiel, and translated Lord GOD) “Thou knowest” is his answer; there is and could be no hope of life in such a scene of death apart from the power of God. By the Word of God, then, and by His Spirit, the dry bones before the prophet’s eyes are made to become clothed with flesh, and life enters the bodies; they stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army. it is the Israel of God viewed in their new birth of water (typifying the Word of God) and the Spirit, without which there can be no entering the kingdom of God, —as Nicodemus, who ought to have known Ezekiel 3(1 and 37, was reminded by the Lord in John 3:342.

The believing remnant (see Isaiah 53:1) will say, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off,” but God will give life to the nation which for many centuries has been spiritually dead; and bring them to the land of Israel. All of these Israelites will then be born again.

It will be seen that the resurrection of the believing dead is not in view in this passage; it refers to those among the children of Israel living on earth, who will be the subjects of a new work of the Holy Spirit leading them to repentance toward God in view of their Messiah’s near return. The unbelieving mass of Israel are not referred to in this chapter.

Verses 15 to 28 portray the reunion of Israel, the two tribes of Judah with the ten of Ephraim, forming one nation in their own land, with one King over them, even the Lord Jesus, ruling as the Son of David. That Kingdom will never give place to another, nor will God’s covenant of peace with them ever be broken. His sanctuary shall be in the midst of them, and His tabernacle over them; He will be their God, and they shall be His people. The nations, too, (for there will be nations in the Millennium), shall know that Jehovah hallows Israel (See Zechariah 8:20-23; Isaiah 2:2,3; Jeremiah 3;17,18).

“Forever”, “everlasting”, and “evermore” in verses 25, 26, and 28 are not eternal in their meaning, but “age-lasting”. At the conclusion of the Millennium (one thousand years) the eternal state will begin; then there will be nations no longer: the tabernacle of God will be with “men” (Revelation 21:3) who will be on a new earth. (See also 2 Peter 3:7-13).

ML 02/16/1936

Mary's Wish

Mary Jones lived many years ago in a village of Wales. Her father was a weaver, a kind honest man, who worked all day at his loom making cloth. The mother helped weave. Yet because in those. days the work was slow and the pay small, together they earned barely enough for each day’s needs.

Little Mary learned to do many tasks about the house and when older to weed the garden, feed the hens, and care for the bees. She was a prompt cheerful girl, who loved her home and the country round. She liked to look from their cottage door up the steep bluffs or down the pretty valley to the Bay.

But she enjoyed most the time when, the work laid aside for the night, her father told her stories of Joseph, Moses, or Daniel, or of the Lord Jesus feeding the hungry people, or healing the sick or lame. He could not read the stories to her for they had no Bible. All books were very expensive, so that few of the poor people had any. Many could not even read as there were very few schools. It was not until Mary was ten years old that a school was started where she quickly learned to read.

Then there was something which Mary wished for every day. It was to have a Bible that she might herself read all its wonderful words. So she decided she must try to earn money to buy one. She told her father this plan, and he made a little box in which she kept whatever she earned. Usually it was but a penny at a time, sometimes only a farthing for minding a neighbor’s baby, or washing dishes. As she grew older and could help with harder tasks and could mend neatly, she received a little more pay. Yet often there were weeks when there was no chance at all to earn. But after nearly six years of working and waiting, at last the necessary amount for a Welsh Bible lay in the little box.

The nearest place where a Bible could be bought was Bala, twenty-five miles distant and the only way for Mary to go there was to walk. Her parents gave their consent to the long journey, trusting God to keep her in safety.

So early one spring morning Mary started, barefooted, with her shoes in a bag carried over her shoulder, only to be worn when the town should be reached. The road was rough and hilly, but she felt happy and there was much pleasant to see. At noon she sat under a tree to eat her lunch, soon starting on again.

It was a very weary girl who at evening reached Bala and the house to which she had been directed and where she was kindly lodged for the night.

In the morning she joyfully exchanged her long-saved money for a Bible, and, with it held tightly to her heart, started the walk home. She arrived safely at night, tired, but happy to share her loved Book with her father and mother.

Often when we wish for something, and receive it, soon we do not care for it. But Mary never tired of her Bible. The more she read the more she prized it, and learned to repeat many verses and even chapters, and thought of them while busy about her work.

All who knew Mary spoke of her as a good, kind girl, yet she herself knew that there was sin in her heart and she had early learned that God is holy and that no sin can enter heaven. But in her Bible she read how the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, bore the punishment of sin when He died on the cross at Calvary, and that God waits to freely forgive all who trust in Jesus. That was why Mary valued God’s Word above anything else and why it made her so happy to read it.

Now we may easily obtain a Bible in any language but do we think of its truth and beauty, and love our God and Saviour as did this young girl?

Mary lived to be an old lady, helpful to those around her, ever counting her Bible her greatest comfort and treasure.

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him: but God hath reavealed them unto us by His Spirit.” 1 Cor. 2:9,10.

Praise God for the Bible!

Better far, than gold,

The words of sure promise

Its pages unfold.

“He that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life.” John 5:24.

“Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed, but he that feareth....shall be rewarded.” Proverbs 13:13.

“The word of our God shall stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8.

ML 02/16/1936

Reggie's Mistake

A present for you, Reggie.”

So saying, an uncle offered a shining 50 cent piece to his nephew, a bright, cheerful little fellow of four. Reggie immediately took the coin with a cheery “Thank you, uncle”; but after looking at it rather wistfully for a few moments, said in an undertone,

“Uncle.”

“What is it, dear?” asked his uncle, noticing his puzzled expression. “I was wondering if you would give me a brown one for it; then I could buy some chocolates with it,” was the little fellow’s reply.

You, dear children, who are older, may smile at Reggie’s mistake in wishing to exchange a bright new piece of silver for a paltry penny, but why was it? Surely because he was ignorant of its real value.

Likewise numbers of boys and girls, as well as those of older years, decline the better things and choose the inferior. They decline the weighty, lasting, and enduring blessings offered by the Saviour, and choose the poor, fleeting trifles of earth. Why is it so? It is surely because they are ignorant of the value of their souls, neither do they know the great unspeakable gift of God, Jesus.

Happy are the children who remember their Creator in the days of their youth; who early seek the gracious Saviour’s face; who now avail themselves of the mercy of God, for they who seek early will surely find.

“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

ML 02/16/1936

"Will Jesus Bless Me If I Come?"

Will Jesus bless me if I come

Just as I am today?

I am so sinful and so weak,

And like a sheep I stray.

Yes! yes! He calls you to Him now,

His words are, “Come to Me;”

He will in no wise cast you out,

His grace is full and free.

Will Jesus save my guilty soul?

Will He forgive my sin?

Will He remove my ev’ry fear

And give me peace within?

Yes! yes! He suffered on the cross,

Himself for us He gave;

That we might peace and pardon know,

That He the lost might save.

Will Jesus fit me for His Home

If I am called to die?

Or if He conic to call His own

To dwell with Him on high?

Yes! Jesus’ blood can make you white

And fit in, heav’n to be

With Him above in perfect love

For all eternity.

ML 02/16/1936

Dear Grandfather

The old gentleman in our picture has been left in charge of his baby grandson, whose mother has, I expect, gone out to do some shopping.

But the old man is better able to handle fish nets than feeding bottles, and instead of pouring the baby’s food into the bottle, he is pouring it over his fingers and clothes, while poor baby lies in his cradle and cries!

What will the mother say when she returns? I expect she will readily forgive grandfather, for, after all, he did his best. He really does not know how to take care of babies.

But I want to tell you about One who does know how to take good care of all who are in His charge. I mean the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, He is able to save. Those who cannot possibly save themselves, may come to Him, and He will save them at once. He died upon the cross and shed His blood, in order that He might save the sinful and the lost.

To us who are saved, He is able to help in all our difficulties. He is a true and faithful Friend, as well as our Saviour. There is nothing too small to take to Him in prayer.

He is able to keep us in all our dangers and temptations, if we trust in Him. We should constantly pray to Him,

“PRESERVE ME, O GOD: FOR IN THEE DO I PUT MY TRUST.” Psa. 16:1.

When we are saved through trusting in Him, we are in His charge, until He comes again. How glad we ought to be that He knows so well how to take care of us, and to do for us that which is best.

ML 02/23/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 38

Chapters 38 and 39 have to do with the last enemy that Will come up against Israel at the beginning of the Millennium.

Verses 2 and 3: “Gog” is a symbolic name, meaning “high” or “mountain”; it is also applied to the enormous host that Satan will deceive at the end of the Millennium to their own destruction (Revelation 20:7-9). In both passages, Magog is mentioned, but in our chapter it is “the land of Magog”; he was one of the seven sons of Japheth (Gen. 10:2); Meshech and Tubal were also Japheth’s children.

That Russia with its Asiatic dominions is meant here cannot be doubted, since it has long been known that “the chief prince”, in verse 2 is a mistake in translation, the true reading being “Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.” These were three great tribes known to the ancients as Scythians, occupying the country north of the Black and Caspian seas and east of the latter.

“Rosh” has since given its tribal name to Russia; Meshech is represented now in the name of Russia’s capital, Moscow, and Tubal in the city of Tobolsk in western Siberia, formerly the administrative center of a Siberian province of the same name.

Verses 5 and 6: Under Russian leadership there will be Persia and Ethiopia (but not necessarily the country now so named, for Ethiopians settled on the Euphrates as well as upon the Nile (See Isaiah 18: 1); Libya (on the north African coast west of Egypt); Gomer (eldest son of Tapheth, a tribe whose geographic limits are not defined as they have spread over much of Europe, and include the Celtic peoples and others) “and all his bands.” Togarmah (Armenia) “and all his bands”; “and many peoples (N. T.) with thee.” An immense army is indicated here, and in chapter 39.

It is believed that Asia and that part of Europe which lies outside of the boundaries of the old Roman Empire, as it existed when the Lord Jesus was on earth will join with Russia, in this attack on the children of Israel.

The time of the invasion is, from verse 8, just after the twelve tribes are settled in the land. The Antichrist and those associated with him, together with the power of the Roman Empire will have met the consuming judgment of the Lord at His coming; the king of the north, or Assyrian, with his allies, will also have been destroyed, and we may suppose that Edom will already have been dealt with separately in promised judgments.

Verse 17: Isaiah 33 is the only other prophecy which appears to point directly to Russia, but that great power is included with its instrument, the Assyrian, or king of the north, in prophecies dealing with the latter (Turkey, it is believed, with nearby nations), so that those concerning the judgment of the latter look on to the more terrible scenes involving the former’s end.

Verses 19 to 23 promise an event without parallel in the history the world, when sea, earth and air, and their inhabitants, are mightily affected and disease bloodshed (Israel’s enemies killing each other), hail and fire and brimstone, bring to naught this mighty aggregation of the power of man.

ML 02/23/1936

I Am Not My Own

A little girl named Susie was talking to her father one day, and said, “I wish I had some money to give to God, but I haven’t any.”

“God does not expect you to give Him what you have not,” said her father, “but you have other things beside money, and when we get home I will read something to you which will show you plainly what you may give to God.”

After dinner Susie’s father took down a large book from his bookcase and made Susie read a passage aloud from it, which he pointed out, as follows:

“I have been to God this day and have given myself to Him, all that I am and have; so that now I am no longer my own. I have no right to this body or any of its members; no right to this tongue, these hands, these feet, these eyes and ears; I have given myself right away.”

“These are the words of a good man, written long ago, who is now in heaven. Do you see from this, Susie, what you have that you may give to God?”

Susie was silent, as she looked first at her hands and then at her feet. At last she said in a low voice half to herself: —

“I don’t believe God wants them.”

Her father heard what she said, and in reply he said,

“He does want them, and He is looking at you now to see whether you will give them to Him; or keep them for yourself. If you give them to Him, you will he careful never to let them do anything naughty, and will teach them to do every good thing they can. If you keep them for yourself, they will be likely to do wrong and to get into mischief.”

“Have you given yours to Him, father?”

“Yes, indeed, long ago.”

“And are you glad you did?”

“Yes, very glad.”

Susie was still silent; she did not quite understand what it all meant.

“If you give your tongue to God,” said her father, “you will not allow it to speak unkind angry words, or tell tales, or speak an untruth, or indeed anything that would grieve God’s Holy Spirit.”

“I think I’ll give Him my tongue,” said Susie.

“And if you give God your hands, you will watch them, and keep them from touching things that do not belong to you. You will not let them be idle, but will keep, them busy about something.”

“Well then, I’ll give Him my hands.”

“And if you give Him your feet, you will never let them carry you where you ought not to go; and if you give Him your eyes, you will never let them look at anything you know He would not like you to look at, if He were by your side.”

“But now I have left the most important thing till the last, and that is giving Him your heart, for I am sure that if you give Him your heart, you will feel that you belong to Him entirely, and will not want to keep back anything.”

Then they knelt down together, and Susie’s father prayed that God would bless all they had been saying, and especially help her to yield her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ as her own loving Saviour.

“Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.

ML 02/23/1936

A Solemn Word

Albert and Arthur are two boys who like to speak to each other about the Lord Jesus, for they know Him as the One who, by His death on the cross, has saved them from their sins.

One day, while out for a walk together, Albert told Arthur of a gentleman who used to say in a loud voice to those whom he met.

“Prepare to meet thy God.”

As they walked on they overtook a mall, who, though a stranger to Albert, was well known to Arthur, as he lived in the village where Arthur was brought up.

The thought came into Albert’s mind to say these solemn words, “Prepare to meet thy God” loud enough for the man to hear them.

He did so twice, and the man suddenly stood still, as if something had struck him, and made Him unable to move. Perhaps he was thinking deeply of the words he had just heard. May God have blessed them to his soul.

Only a few days later, someone came into my room, and said,

“Such a sad thing has just happened. Mr. R. has fallen down dead in the road outside here, and there is a large crowd gathered.”

Wonderful to relate, it was the very same man who, two or three days before, had heard Albert say, “Prepare to meet thy God.”

Dear children, the only way to meet. God with joy is to meet Him in Jesus, whose words are,

“Suffer the children to come unto Me.” Have you come to him yet? if not, come to Him now.

ML 02/23/1936

"He'll Come Soon"

Well, Bertie, now long are you going to live?” a friend asked a little boy.

“I do not know,” little Bertie slowly replied.

“Until you are an old man of a hundred years?” again asked the friend.

“I don’t think so,” said the tiny boy, gravely, as he raised his blue eyes to his questioner’s face.

“Indeed! are you very ill, that you think you may die soon?”

With a sweet little smile, but trembling lips, six-year-old Bertie replied: ‘‘O! you don’t understand one bit! I’m only waiting for Jesus, and He’ll come soon.” Dear little boy; with childish simplicity he went on with his play, but the words he uttered sank into the, heart of who one who had heard them,

“He’ll come soon,”

“Yet a little while, and He that shall come. will conic, and will not tarry.” Hebrews 10:37.

ML 02/23/1936

"Come unto Me"

Let the little children come,

Let them come to Me!

There is room for everyone,

There is room for thee.

I have died for little ones,

Sinners though they be;

God will call them His own sons,

If they come to Me.

God has loved the children dear,

So He gave His Son;

To Himself to bring them near,

Come then, little one!

Soon I will return again,

All Mine own to take;

Where no sorrow is, nor pain;

E’en the dead I’ll wake,

With Myself and like Me, too,

Beautiful and glad;

All My glory they shall view—

None shall e’er be sad.

ML 02/23/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for January

“The Children’s Class”

1.“Therefore, whosoever”, etc. Matt. 7:24.

2.“And it came to pass,” etc. 9:10.

3.“And seeing,” etc. 5:1.

4.“When he was come,” etc. 8:1.

5.“Then the devil,” etc. 4:11.

6.“And when they were come,” etc. 2:11.

7.“And lo a voice,” etc. 3:17.

Bible Questions for March

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Matthew,

Chapters 19-28

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Some of them ye shall kill and crucify.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Vinegar to drink mingled with gall.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “The Son of man is betrayed to be crucified,”

4. Write in full the verse containing the words, “The stone which the builders rejected.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Thou shalt have treasure in heaven.”

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Lo, I am with you alway.”

7.How much money did those laborers in the vineyard receive, who were hired about the eleventh hour?

Answers to Bible Questions for January

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.Egypt, Matt. 2:13; Nazareth, 2:23; Caper-flaunt, 4:13.

2.The kingdom of God and His righteousness. Matt. 6:33.

3.False prophets. Matt. 7:1546.

4.God with us. Matt. 1:23.

5.A dove. Matt. 3:16.

6.Sinners. Matt. 9:13.

7.Yes. Matt. 8:14.

Bible Questions for March

“The Young’s People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Matthew,

Chapters 19-28

1. What will the Lord say to the foolish virgins?

2.What did Jesus say of those who take the sword?

3.What does the Lord say about the sanctity of marriage?

4.In whose names were the disciples to baptize?

5.What Psalm did Jesus quote when hanging on the cross?

6.Why did the Sadducees err?

7.How did the righteous minister to Christ?

ML 03/01/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 39

Verse 1; “the chief prince of”, as in chapter 38, should be read “prince of Rosh.” The marginal note regarding verse 2 refers to uncertainty as to the meaning of the rare Hebrew word translated “and leave but the sixth part of thee.” It has been read “and lead thee” (N. T.).

Verse 4, compared with Revelation 19: 17 is suggestive of the much more numerous army to be brought against Palestine by Russia and its allies; the latter passage speaks of the western empire’s hosts which will then have been destroyed, that is, at the Lord’s appearing.

Verse 6 is a promise of an infliction of judgment upon Russia and the countries with which it will be allied, for “the isles” means distant lands, not necessarily islands (verses 9, 10). The weapons of warfare here named are little used in our times, but as God’s Word is true, there will be enough wood in war material left by the slaughtered hosts of the north to serve the children of Israel for fire wood for seven years.

Verse 11: The burial place of this vast army will be where many will see it,—the valley of the passersby to the east of the sea; but the translators erred in adding the “noses” of the passengers; it is rather their way that will be stopped. For seven months the bones of the dead will be in process of burial.

“Heathen” in verses 21 and 23 should be “nation”; all will know God who are spared when the Millennium begins. Israel will know Him in a nearer relationship than the nations (verse 22), and the latter will know that Israel’s troubles were afflictions from Him for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Him.

Verses 25-29 close the chapter and this section of the book with a bright picture of the coming day of blessing. As usual in Ezekiel, the whole of Israel’s twelve tribes is in view. The latter part of verse 26 should be read, “when they shall dwell safely in their land, and none shall make them afraid.” All of Israel will then be gathered in their own land; no more will the spectacle be seen of Jews in nearly every country of the world.

Never again will God turn away from His earthly people, for He will have poured out His Spirit upon the house of Israel (verse 29).

He never has hidden His face from the Christian, because the believer is now brought into the full value before God of the sacrifice of Christ. Blessed as Israel will be, the Christian’s blessing far exceeds.

ML 03/01/1936

Escaped from Prison

One morning, when walking through a village, I observed a number of people earnestly gazing into a beautiful woods, where were two or three persons walking about among the trees with bird cages in their hands, each containing a canary.

What do you think was the meaning of it all? A gentleman present explained that a canary, in a house close by, having seen its cage door and the door of the house both open, had wisely taken the opportunity of escaping to the woods opposite, where it was enjoying freedom from its prison.

The same gentleman also told me that these people with birds in cages, were trying to entice the escaped bird back to its prison-house. But no, no; it would appear dear little birdie was not going to be so easily persuaded to exchange its native woods for the gloomy confinement when once it knew the difference! I found that this bird was born in the cage it escaped from, and that it was not quite a year old.

Now, dear children, what are you to learn from our story. First, that we are all born in sin, and that we should not let a moment pass without knowing we are turned from the power of Satan unto God. Second, that when we have got out of prison, and are enjoying the happy liberty wherewith Christ makes His people free, we ought to take good care to keep away from the fowler’s snares that are laid to draw us away. The Lord says to His own,

“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” John 10:28.

But have you yet escaped from Satan’s thralldom, and are you enjoying the blessed liberty of the children of God? If not, why not, when the door is still wide open, with every opportunity to escape? Then escape, dear young reader, like that canary; for if you do not, the door of God’s grace and mercy will soon be shut against you forever.

To escape, is to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Then be wise like the little canary, and escape from prison, and enjoy your sweet liberty throughout all eternity with the blessed One who set you free.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Col. 1:13, 14.

ML 03/01/1936

Mamie's Way

“Mamie,” said her teacher, “do you think you are getting any stronger?”

“No Miss Smith, I’m getting weaker all the time Mamma is afraid I’ll not grow up to be a woman.” Her teacher thought so too, as she looked into the little pale face and felt her tin small hand in hers; and she asked,

“What do you think, Mamie?”

“I think Mamma is right.”

“And are you afraid to die, dear?”

“No, teacher; that is not so much. Mamma says I’ll go to heaven if I’m good.”

“And are you good, dear?”

“Not very; not as good as I ought to be.”

“Mamie, how good do you think you will have to be for God to say,

‘Now you are quite good enough to please Me?’”

“O, very good indeed I should think; quite good altogether?”

“Did you ever know of any one quite good altogether?”

“No, teacher; only Jesus.”

“Then you see, dear, you would have to be as good as Jesus. Shall you ever be as good, do you think?”

“O no, Miss Smith, I know I never can be that good.”

“Then don’t you see, my child, you can never be good enough to please God, and so you can never get to heaven in your way. Now listen to God’s way? He does not say, ‘Be good.’ He knows we can’t; but He says, ‘Look at the cross. Who died there?’”

“Jesus.”

“For His own badness? no, for yours.”

“When you think of Jesus hanging on the cross, say to yourself, ‘That’s as if I hung there, as if I was punished for all my sins.’ So now God can say, I have nothing against you, I want you to know that and he happy.’ “

Dear little one, are you trying to be saved in Mamie’s way? that is, by what you can do? If so, stop and take God’s way, that is, what Jesus has done. “Jesus did it all,” for all who trust Him and then we can prove we love Him by doing what He says to us.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me,” John 14:6.

ML 03/01/1936

Little Mother

How peaceful and contented this little girl looks with her treasure in her arms!

It seems to be a rag doll, but that makes no difference.

Many a rag doll has been just as fondly and tenderly loved by its little mother, as the beautiful dolls so many of you have today, —dolls that have hair, and open and close their eyes, and say “mama.”

Whether a rag doll, a wax doll, or some other kind, it is a precious treasure.

Now, just as you love and care for your doll baby, and just as your mother loves and cares for you, so the Lord loves and cares for each of His clear children. He watches over you night and day, and protects you from many dangers that you know nothing about.

Do you love this blessed Saviour who is so good to you? He says,

“SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME, AND FORBID THEM NOT: FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” Mark 10:14.

03/01/1936

Rest

Is there a little soul that pants

To taste redeeming grace,

And longs to pour out all its wants

Before the Saviour’s face?

He is a kind and gracious Lord—

Love fills His gentle breast;

“Come unto Me” is His own word,

“And I will give you rest.”

ML 03/01/1936

Snow Balling

O, I love the winter!” So said a little boy as he thought of the different kinds of fun to be enjoyed in the snow and on the ice. Snow-balling, sliding, tobogganing, and other pleasures seemed most attractive to him.

God said to the snow, “Be thou on the earth.”

“Great things doeth He which we cannot comprehend.” Job 37:5.

In our picture the boys are having plenty of fun snow-balling each other, and they are enjoying their play immensely.

We know all our readers have heard the gospel message, and hope each one can say,

“WASH ME AND I SHALL RE WHITER THAN SNOW.” Psalm 51:7

“The blood of Jesus Christ, has washed me, and made me whiter than snow.”

“Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa. 1:18.

ML 03/08/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 40

In chapter 29 (verse 17) the 27th year of captivity was mentioned, the latest date given by the prophet. The chapters which now follow have no connection with the subject matter of that, but deal with the position of restored Israel in their home land, after the cleansing by judgment which is set forth in the chapters through which we have passed.

It is quite a common thought that the clay of the Jew, of Israel, is-forever past, that the Gentile has a position in God’s favor which will never be taken away; but the intelligent reader of the Scriptures knows that these thoughts clash with the word of God (See Romans 11). The Gentile’s clay is ending, the clay of Israel’s glory will soon dawn.

Ezekiel is in a vision brought again into the land from which he had been taken as a captive nearly a quarter-century earlier. To Moses the plan of the tabernacle was given in Mount Sinai; to David a revelation of the temple was granted, afterward built by his son; to Ezekiel was given the plan of the temple of the Millennium, and because it has not yet been built, its description was committed to writing for the day to come.

Verses 2,3: The prophet is set upon a very high mountain, upon or by which is as the building of a city, on the south. He sees a man whose appearance is like that of brass; now brass is in Scripture a symbol of righteousness according to the claims of God upon man. The line or cord of flax (from which linen is made), and the measuring rod also speak of righteousness, in the symbolism of Scripture.

Verse 5: The measuring reed is judged to have been slightly longer than 10 feet, 6 inches long; the ordinary cubit was roughly 18 inches and the span 9 inches. The wall here mentioned briefly, reappears at the close of chapter 42.

The remainder of our chapter, together with chapters 41 and 42, details the dimensions of the future temple. The entrances are described in turn in chapter 40, beginning with the chief one, at the east, followed by that at the north (verse 20), and that at the south (verse 24). It is of God thus to signify its figure, that He has made a way whereby men may approach Him; we know that in reality it is only through Christ and His atoning death.

Among the details, the prayerful study of which will reward the believer, we find in verses 38 to 43 references to animal sacrifices, for which provision was made in the dispensation of law communicated through Moses at Mount Sinai. The sacrifices will have a commemorative character, looking back to the cross of Christ, instead of forward to it as of old.

Verse 46 names the sons of Zadok as the priests of tile Millennium. In David’s reign there were two priests, Zadok and Abiathar; the latter was set aside by Solomon when he took part in Adonijah’s rebellion, but it was, after all, fulfillment of the word of God concerning Eli (1 Samuel chapters 2 and 3; 1 Kings 2:27). Verses 47-49 give the measurements of the porch of the temple.

ML 03/08/1936

A Shepherd Boy

Martinko was a poor orphan boy who lived in the village of Raschowo in northern Hungary many years ago. When twelve years old he began helping the village shepherd, and every day in, summer they drove the cattle and sheep to feed on the hillsides nearby.

Next year the old shepherd died and Martinko was given the charge of the flocks and an old hut to live in. He liked the animals and kept good watch of them and in his spare time he wove baskets and mats. It was pleasant on fine days to be out under the big trees. Often as he looked off to the blue sky he wondered what heaven was like. He had heard that God was there, but he knew little more of Him. No one had ever taken the time to tell him, and he had never been sent to school, or on Sundays to hear the preaching.

One day a stranger came down the hill path, and sat on a rock to rest. He talked with Martinko and showed him a book which he said was God’s Holy Word. The boy begged him to read aloud. This the young man did, but first he told him that all people in the world are sinners, yet that God loves them, so He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to bear the punishment of those sins Himself.

Then he began to read: first how Jesus went into a garden near the city of Jerusalem, and prayed and wept; how the soldiers came and took Him, bound, to the Jewish rulers, and to Pilate, the Roman Judge, who passed the sentence of death, though he could find no fault in Him. Then the soldiers scourged Jesus; spit on Him put on His head a mock crown of sharp thorns and led Him away to Calvary’s hill, where they nailed Him through the hands and feet to a heavy cross, to slowly die. A crowd stood by, with the soldiers, watching-and mocking Him as He hung there for six hours. Yet He never resisted, and spoke only gentle words, and prayed God to forgive them. The last three hours the sun was hid and all was dark, though yet day.

At last Jesus gave up His own life, saying, “It is finished.” And a soldier thrust a spear into His side. Men who loved Jesus begged for the body and buried Him, and a stone was rolled. against the grave.

All this sad story Martinko had not heard before, and he felt so sad that it was for his sins, as also for all our sins, that God’s Holy Son suffered that cruel death, that he laid down on the ground crying. To comfort him, the man read more; how on the third day after, God raised Jesus out of the grave; how Jesus talked with the people who believed in Him and loved Him, and told them He was going to heaven. but would someday come for them also, Then He was taken up from them, a cloud hiding Him from their sight.

This last reading comforted Martinko very much and soon the young man went on his way.

The shepherd boy did not forget the words he had heard that day. But wished he knew how to read and that he had a Bible. This wish came true before long. And it was because he was kind to another poor boy, Joschko, whose mother had died, and took him to live with him. The old hut was damp and cold, so the two boys did not have a good home, and sometimes not enough to eat, but Martinko tried to keep it clean, and they were happy.

In the day time they watched the flocks, in the evenings Joschko read aloud and began to teach Martinko. That winter, for the first time, Martinko went to school. A kind man gave him a New Testament, and soon he could read for himself. They were very happy and often sang as they tended the flocks when summer time came.

One night a sheep was missing, Martinko saw it, at last, caught in some bushes among the steep rocks. In trying to get it, he fell, and lay stunned till aroused by Joschko calling him. He felt stiff and weak but glad to see the sheep safe and with much trouble carried it up the bank. They took the sheep home, and Martinko said, “I was lost, like the poor sheep, and Jesus gave His life to save me.”

Martinko was never very well after his fall. There was no one to give him medicine, or warm food. So he grew weaker each day, till soon the young shepherd’s life was ended. Neighbors took care of Joschko and buried Martinko. We know his spirit is with the Lord, as God has promised for all who love Jesus.

These are the verses Martinko liked best: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

“The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.” Matt, 18:11.

“They shall see His face.” Rev. 22:1.

ML 03/08/1936

Little Edna and Her Blocks

Would you like, dear children, to hear about a dear little girl with whom I traveled awhile ago in the train?

As she was going alone on her journey, she had been given into the care of the conductor, and he kept her ticket for her. Someone had given her a few letter blocks with which she could spell words, to amuse herself. We were not very far on our way when I noticed that she had put an E, a D, an N, and an A together, and I daresay if you had been there you would have guessed, as I did, that Edna was my little companion’s name.

After some time I asked her if she could spell me a very beautiful name beginning with a J. She spelt “Julia,” but that was not the name I meant: so I asked her if she could spell a very wonderful and beautiful name, a name which was only borne by one, who once lived on this earth. Ah, then she knew what name I wanted, and with a bright look and ready fingers she spelt “Jesus” for me.

After a little while I asked for another name. What do you think it was? I said, “Can you spell the name of any one whom Jesus loves?”

I watched her little fingers as she put the letters together, until I saw that she had spelt—what name do you think? Why “Edna” to be sure. So then I knew that this little girl had learned something of the love of the Lord Jesus, and the thought made me happy.

When I asked her how she knew that He loved us, she spelled her answer in these words,

“He died for us.”

This was a right answer, was it not, dear children? But it was a solemn answer too. That the Lord Jesus, the Son of God should die for us shows indeed how He loved us; but it also shows how terrible our sins are, that He should need thus to suffer.

We reached our destination soon afterwards, and the conductor came to find his little charge, I trust by and by, I shall meet dear little Edna in the presence of the Lord, in that place which He has gone to prepare for His own. Will you also be there, dear children?

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood:” Rev. 1:5.

ML 03/08/1936

His Love to Me

“Though I’m but a little thing,

To my Saviour I will sing,

Songs of praise to Him I’ll bring,

For all His love to me.

“O how good it was and kind,

Leaving His bright home behind,

Down He came to seek and find

Such little ones as me.

“And upon the cross He bore

All my sins and thousands more,

And His pain and grief were sore,

In His great love to me.”

ML 03/08/1936

Feeding

How peaceful and contented these cattle look as they feed in the pleasant pasture. They are just taking their time. There is nothing to hurry them. They eat the grass and then lie down and digest it thoroughly.

We, too, need food for our bodies, and we eat our meals every day. We should thank the Lord continually for his goodness in giving us what we need.

But, dear children, our souls also, need food. Do you know what that food is, and where you can get it?

It is the Word of God, and you will find it in your Bibles.

It is by reading God’s Word that you will find out how to please Him. The more you read His Word, the more you will learn about Jesus and His love and goodness, and the more you learn about Him, the more precious, and wonderful He will become to you. It is by learning more of Him that you can grow more like Him.

When you read God’s Word, if you will take your time, like the creatures in our picture, —if you will read it carefully and think about what you have read, it will do you much more good than if you are hurrying to get away to something else.

“AS NEWBORN BABES, DESIRE THE SINCERE MILK OF THE WORD, THAT YE MAY GROW THEREBY.” 1 Peter 2:2.

03/15/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 41 and 42

In the vision given to the prophet of the plan of Israel’s Millennial temple, he is taken in chapter 41 to the principal building-, containing the most holy place, set apart for God. This room is to be the same in size as that in Solomon’s temple 20x20 cubits (1 Kings 6: 16-20; 2 Chronicles 3:8). In other respects the temple which Solomon erected was very much smaller than that which was revealed to Ezekiel.

The only ornamentation spoken of here consists of cherubim and palm trees—tokens of power and of victory (verse 18-20, 25-26). The faces of a man and a lion which are seen on the cherubim fall short of the display of these representatives of God in judicial power seen in chapter 1, verse 10, and in Revelation 4:7. These four faces are needed to set forth intelligence (man), strength (lion), endurance (ox or calf), and swiftness (eagle).

The temple of the Millennium as seen by Ezekiel, includes no mention of gold, so much displayed in the temple of Solomon. The omission, we cannot doubt, is intentional, and we are not to conclude thereby that gold and other precious adornments will not be there. It would rather seem that the purpose of God is to show that the thousand years of the reign of Christ will not be a period where sin is unknown; all will not be according to the mind of God as it will be in eternity.

While Satan is bound, and peace and plenty are everywhere, why should sin enter? Alas! the heart of man is utterly bad, and the devil will be no sooner loosed at the end of the Millennium than he will gather a countless host of unredeemed men, born during the period, who are willing to do his bidding, and ready, if it were possible to destroy the people of God (Revelation 20:7-9).

If earth will not, during the thousand years, be free from defilement, Revelation 21:9-27 reveals a Millennial scene that will answer to the mind of God in every part, —the Church of God, the bride of Christ, presented in the figure of a city related to, but not a part of the earth. All is perfection there, and all of God. What grace it is that has taken up poor sinners who have been constrained in this day of grace to believe His message of salvation, and has provided for them a portion in Christ for eternity!

Chapter 42 Completes the description of the temple of the future day, by showing the many rooms, arranged in lower, middle and upper stories, and finally the wall enclosing the temple grounds. The rooms are for the priests, as verses 13 and 14 explain. Israel will still be at a distance from. God, having access through the priesthood, though redemption will be known.

ML 03/15/1936

A Big Raven

God has different ways of providing for His children when they cry to Him in their need. He can open hearts and open purses in very unexpected manners.

Perhaps someone is impressed to send food to those in need, or money through the mail.

The following is a true story of how He answers the prayer of faith of children, as well as of older ones:

A small boy lived in New York State, on the banks of the glorious Hudson River. He was only eight or ten years of age, and his mother was a poor, penniless widow.

During one of the severe winters, when the snow was lying on the ground to the depth of two or three feet, the poor mother was in great need, having nothing in the cupboard, and only a few sticks to keep the small fire going. Her little boy as last her if Jesus knew how hungry they were.

She replied that He did, and then the little fellow, without another word, got down on his knees and asked the Lord to send a raven with some bread, as he did to Elijah.

After having asked for bread, the boy felt sure Jesus would answer, and in order not to hinder the answer from coming, he went to the door and threw it wide open, letting the cold wind into the house. His mother told him to shut the door.

“No, mother,” he replied; “I am looking for the raven Jesus is going to send.”

About five minutes afterward a gentleman was passing, and noticing the little fellow standing at the door, shivering, and looking up and down the road, he stopped and asked him,

“My boy, what is wrong?”

The boy told him how his mother and he were very hungry, and that he had asked Jesus to send a raven with bread for them, and he was at the door looking for it.

The gentleman, who was a Christian, put his hand in his pocket, and gave the little fellow a five-dollar bill, and told him that he was the raven that Jesus had sent this time.

“All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matt. 21:22.

ML 03/15/1936

A Child's Simple Faith

During a violent storm one evening, several years ago, a mother felt rather anxious, about her little boy upstairs. She ran up to see if the thunder and rain had alarmed him, when, what was her surprise to behold the little fellow standing upright in bed in full view of the window!

The lightning flashed in quick and sudden brightness, the thunder rolled and rumbled, the rain seemed to slash the window as if endeavoring to break it, but the child was quite calm.

Looking round as his mother entered the room, he said,

“Mamma, when will the Lord Jesus say, ‘Peace, be still?’”

His dear mother took her darling in her arms and gave him an affectionate kiss. She had been reading to her little ones that day about the Lord Jesus stilling the wild waves of the sea of Galilee, and she was delighted to find that her little son had remembered and believed what she had read.

Thus the word of a child, as it has often done, told of the calmness that is linked with simple faith in God’s Word, and it helped the mother to trust afresh in the mighty Lord who is ever watching over His own.

ML 03/15/1936

"How Shall I Ask Him?"

A Christian lady once asked a little boy if he knew the Lord Jesus, as his own Saviour? He said, Yes, he did. She asked him if he knew why He had died, and she told him about His death on the cross for sinners. She said to him,

“If you ask Him to save you, He will do so. You will then be happy, and belong to Him. The child was very much interested, and after a while said,

“But how shall I ask Him?”

She told him that the Lord could see him and hear what he said, and that he was just to speak to Him,” Then he said,

“And when shall I do it? When you go away?”

“No,” she said; “do so now.”

And then and there the little child closed his eyes, laid his head on her shoulder, and in simple words asked the Lord to save his soul.

Dear children, do as that little boy did. Give yourselves up to the loving Saviour at once. Remember He has said,

“Those that seek Me early shall find Me.” Prove 8:17. Also He said,

“Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Luke 18:16.

You have often been interested in hearing about the Lord Jesus, but you have truly come to Him for your own selves? You have often wished you were really and truly among, the number of His lambs; why delay longer? Come to Him now Just as you are, speak to the Lord, and tell Him you want to be His, and He will receive you just now.

ML 03/15/1936

What She Saw

Tell me,” I said to a little girl, “what is it that makes you so happy? You say you have been happy for some time?”

“Yes, I am quite happy,” she replied, and evidently with much feeling.

“But do you think you could tell me distinctly what it is that gives you such joy?” After a moment’s pause the following reply was given, and such a reply for fullness and simplicity,

“I see the love of Jesus to me a sinner.”

“Bless the Lord, that is something to see; may you never lose sight of it. But in what way do you see His love to yourself now?”

“I now see that He died for me on the cross, and put all my sins away there.”

“Amen,” my heart replied; “surely you are taught of God.”

“And now, once more, tell me, how do you feel towards Jesus Himself, after seeing and believing all this?” Her reply was natural and beautiful,

“I love Him, and I want to please Him.”

I had nothing more to ask of the young Christian, and turned away, with a praying heart, and these three answers so engraved on my memory, as never to be forgotten,

“I see the love of Jesus to me, a sinner. I now see that He died for me on the cross, and put all my sins away there. I love Him, and want to please Him.”

Can you say truly what she said? I have heard many confessions from many lips, but I never heard one more simple, more concise, more complete, or more satisfactory.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15.

ML 03/15/1936

My Best Text

“Mother,” said a little girl on coming home from the, Sunday school, “I want to ask you something.”

“Well, dear, what is it?”

“Do you know which is my best text?” “Tell me, my dear,” replied the mother.

“Well, mother, you know that I’m just seven years old, and my little text has just seven words in it, and this is it:—

“‘It is time to seek the Lord.’.” Hosea 10:12.

ML 03/15/1936

Great Grace

Jesus, the Son of God,

Came from His home on high,

Suffered for sinners,

And on the tree did die.

The mighty work is done;

See! Christ is risen now!

Yes, it is finished!

Crowns are upon His brow.

Soon He will come again

To take His own above;

Welcomed to glory,

Ever to share His love,

Come to the Saviour, come,

Gently He calls for thee;

None are too sinful,

All may to Jesus flee.

ML 03/15/1936

God Feedeth Them

God knows whether the winter will be severe or not, and He sends food for the birds accordingly, Jesus said,

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap: which neither have storehouse nor barn: and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?” Luke 12:24.

They go forth in search of their food each morning, never troubling themselves because they have no store at home, and when the day is over, they have, had enough, for “God feedeth them.”

May each one, young or old, who reads these lines, seek first to know and confess the Lord Jesus as the One whom God sent for them; and rejoice, not only that He has saved them, but that they are such objects of His care, that the very hairs of their head are numbered, and that they are of more value than many sparrows.

“MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEED ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY BY CHRIST JESUS.” Phil. 4:19.

ML 03/22/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 43

In chapters 10 and 11 The glory of God was seen leaving Jerusalem and pausing on the mount of Olives, —compelled to leave the city where He had chosen to set His name, for it was wholly given up to wickedness. Chapter 43 prophetically shows the return of that glory as soon as the Millennial temple is completed by the redeemed ones of Israel. See 1 Kings, 8 and 9, when the token of God’s presence was given at the dedication of the first temple, with the conditional promise that His name should remain there; the warning then given was disregarded, and the words of verses 7 to 9 of the latter chapter were literally fulfilled in the days of Ezekiel and Jeremiah as we have seen.

Verses 7, 8 contain the precious assurance for the children of Israel that God will not again give up the place of His throne, or His dwelling in their midst, nor shall the house of Israel defile His holy name after they are reestablished in the land of their fathers. Verses 9 to 11 are addressed to the consciences of Ezekiel’s hearers and those of Israel who read his words; at the time they were uttered, little heed was paid to them, but as part of God’s living word they will be heard by the Israel that shall be, with deep conviction of sin.

The measurements, of the altar follow with its ordinances (verses 13-27). It will be profitable to compare the sacrifices of Leviticus 8 with the ordinances attending the new beginning in the Millennial age. No high priest is here, nor any comparable to “Aaron and his sons”; there is no anointing oil. Not a little of the system made known to Moses has no counterpart in the Millennium; it foreshadowed the present portion of the Church, the office of the Holy Spirit in connection with it, the present action of the Lord as our High Priest within the veil, and much more.

The annual day of atonement (Leviticus 16) will not be found among the holy days of the Millennium, nor will the feast of weeks or the day of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-22).

The day of atonement ceases, because it was, although the most solemn of all Israel’s special clays, only temporary, and looked on to a perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 9:6 to 10:18).

The day of Pentecost had its fulfillment in Acts 2 in the descent of the Holy Spirit, forming into one body, the Church of God, all believers, whether Jew or Gentile. Jew and Gentile will be separate in the Millennium, with Israel’s place the more blessed of the two, though both on the ground of redemption.

Of no ordinary character is the cleansing of the altar in Ezekiel 43; for seven days, day by day, a goat, a young bullock, and a ram are to be offered in sacrifice for the purifying of the altar and its consecration.

How will not this action speak to the consciences and hearts of redeemed Israel, impressing deeply upon them the enormity of the sin which has separated them as a nation from God for more than twenty-five centuries.

ML 03/22/1936

"Only Once More!"

A Christian father was reading to his family, one Lord’s day not long ago, a solemn incident entitled:

“Only Once More;” at the close of which he added a few warning words to his still unconverted. sons. Probably no one present anticipated that God Himself, was going to speak still more earnestly to them. One of them, a youth of 16 years, had until then gone in ways pleasing to his parents, still there had not been “joy in the presence of the angels of God” on his behalf, for Karl had not yet come to the Lord Jesus as a lost sinner.

For some time he had been keeping company with several friends of his own age, some of which indeed had Christian parents, but they loved the world and its joys. When at times the friends would stop for a drink, or billiard playing, Karl would turn away. He would rather obey his parents and go with them to hear the Word of God. This naturally brought contempt and evil names from his friends, which caused him to feel deeply the reproach.

But who would have thought that Karl, on this particular day, after listening to that exceptionally solemn incident, followed by his father’s earliest admonition, would not be able to withstand the tempter’s voice? It was but a short time after this hour, that his parents received word: “Karl is in the saloon playing and drinking!”

O how poor, how powerless is man’s heart, as long as he is not really the Lord’s. The parents were deeply grieved, and spoke earnestly to Karl when he came home. Poor Karl did not realize that he had only one more opportunity to listen to the message of God’s grace in the midst of believers, on the same Lord’s day evening.

The following Tuesday Karl came home complaining of an earache; but this was not considered serious, until the following evening when severe pain in the head and chest set in with high fever. A physician was called, and shortly after an examination told Karl and his parents, “There is no hope!” This was a shock to all, especially to Karl himself, who had now become quite weak from suffering.

A few days later a Christian came to visit the sick boy, and conversed with him about his soul’s salvation, but Karl said very little. These were days of grief and care for his parents.

Although Karl was not indifferent as to his lost condition, yet it seemed as though his weakness and suffering allowed him no time to really come to himself, and, like the prodigal, hasten to God with the confession of his guilt.

To his mother, especially, this condition was unbearable. She cried to God continually, feeling as though she must force her son’s conversion. Gradually, however, she became more subdued, trusting in the promises which the Word of God attaches to the prayers of faith, which correspond with God’s will. Now God’s time had come, and He acted. Karl began to show more uneasiness and concern about his sins, although he said little.

One night, thinking his mother was asleep, he sat up in bed and prayed aloud for the forgiveness of his sins. The mother remained perfectly quiet, while in her heart she rejoiced and prayed with him. The next morning Karl smiled, while half asleep; then his mother came to him and asked:

“Karl, have you not yet believed in the word and work of the Lord Jesus?”

“Yes, mother, I have believed, and know now that the Lord Jesus has forgiven all my sins; now I have peace.”

Karl lived about two weeks longer. He was very weak, and could speak but little, yet remained happy and joyful to the end, which was a peaceful departure to be with Christ.

My dear little readers, when will you turn to the Lord Jesus, the Saviour, to be saved?

Do not try to persuade yourself that you will have time to come to the Lord Jesus while on your sick bed. You may not have a lingering illness. Many, many people, young and old, die very suddenly without a moment’s warning, and have no opportunity to come to Him.

O, come to Him now, while you are well, and have the time to do so; and if sudden death overtakes you, or if the Lord Jesus conies to take away all of His own to be with Himself, it will be well with you.

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts,” Heb. 4:7.

ML 03/22/1936

"I Give Him a Text"

What do you do, Jessie, when Satan tempts you to do wicked things?” said a little girl to her companion as they walked from school together one afternoon,

“I give him a text,” said Jessie, “and he soon goes away,” and Jessie was right.

There is nothing like a “text” for driving off Satan. You remember that was what Jesus gave him when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He said— “It is written,” and gave him a text. This is the sword of the Spirit, by which only our enemy can be defeated.

Dear boys and girls who are saved, do not forget to give Satan a “text” when he comes near to tempt you, and to lead you into sin.

When he would make you doubt your salvation, give him the text that first led you to the Lord, and he will not be able to make you doubt any longer.

And when companions would lead you away from Christ, and into the paths that are forbidden by God, a text will often preserve you.

“By the words of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” Psalm 17:4.

ML 03/22/1936

Faith

A little boy named Willie had a papa who loved him very much. In their house there was a dark cellar, and one day his papa went down to it to get something, and Willie wanted to go too; so he called out from the top of the trap door,

“Papa, may I go down to you?” And he said,

“Yes, Willie, you may come.”

“But I can’t get down there,” Willie said.

“Well,” his papa said, “I am standing just under where you are now, and you can jump into my arms.”

“But, papa, the cellar is so dark I can’t see you a bit,” said Willie.

“You can’t see me Willie, but I can see you quite well; now jump,” said his papa.

And Willie believed he meant what he said, and he jumped right into his papa’s strong arms, and was safe. Willie had faith in his father, he jumped into his arms and was safe.

So poor sinners have faith in Jesus, they jump into His everlasting arms and are forever saved.

“To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted unto him for righteousness.” Rom. 4:5

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.

ML 03/22/1936

Is Jesus There?

Will little Grace run into the dining-room for mamma’s book?”

Off trotted the three-year old baby, but at the dining-room door she stopped, and presently her little steps were heard crossing the hall again.

“It’s very dark in the diny-room, is “Jesie” there?”

“Yes, Jesus is there and He will take care of baby.”

“O, then I’m not fitened,” and away she went again and brought the book safely out of the dark room.

Is Jesus there? —is that the question that rises to our minds when fears arise; and is His protecting love and care so real to us that it soothes our hearts and relieves us from all anxieties. Yet we have the sure promise,

“Lo, am with you alway,” Matt. 28: 20.

On whom can we more surely rest than on Him who has told us to cast all our care on Him, for He cares for us.

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee.” Isa. 41:10.

ML 03/22/1936

The Gazelle

The Gazelle, or roebuck, is a small deer or antelope. Its tail is short; the fawn color on the back is separated by a brown or nearly black band from the white of the stomach.

This animal’s activity of power of leaping have procured for it its familiar name of “springer.” It is celebrated in Scripture for its beauty, gracefulness, swiftness, and gentleness. The eyes of the Gazelle are so beautiful and so kind; its movements so graceful and nimble that the animal often serves as a subject for the poets.

The Gazelle is always met with in herds, often of a hundred, thus forming a sure prey to lions, panthers, hyenas, wolves, and eagles. They are inoffensive creatures, gentle and timid, which have as a defense against their enemies, only their rapid flight to some high and secure place on the mountain. Sometimes, however, if surprised, they show a desperate courage. They press close to one another, in the form of a circle with their horns toward the enemy. The ravisher, a lion for instance, then may take his time to choose his victim; he springs upon it, and the rest of the band, terror stricken, disband and flee.

God tells us in His Word that Satan goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Let us not, as these little creatures, try and stand in our own strength when we meet with temptations, but let us flee to Christ who is our Rock, our Secure Hiding Place.

“THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION; WHOM SHALL I FEAR? THE LORD IS THE STRENGTH OF MY LIFE; OF WHOM SHALL I BE AFRAID?” Psa. 27:1

ML 03/29/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 44

A third time (see chapters 40:6, etc., and 43:1-4) the prophet in his vision was brought to the east gate of the Millennial temple. The outer gate was now shut, and never again to be opened, because Jehovah, the God of Israel, had entered by it. There will be a member of the house of David, here called the prince, who will be the immediate ruler over the people, acting for the Lord, and he shall sit in the gate to eat bread before His. He shall enter and leave by the way of the porch of the gate, while the common people will use the north and south entrances.

Ezekiel was now brought the way of the north gate, and beholding the glory of Jehovah which filled the temple, he fell upon his face. A message was then given him to deliver to Israel. The house will never be defiled, as the former house had been (verses 7-9). Righteousness will rule in the coming da, and there will be remembrance of past unfaithfulness (verses 10-14), promising for the Levites who went away from Jehovah after idols, that they shall not have the full privileges that would have been theirs in the temple service.

There will, however, be priests, Levites, sons of Zadok, who shall minister unto Jehovah (verses 15, 16). No such privilege will be allowed the people as such, — so different from the present dispensation of grace will be the future dealing of God when Israel again takes the lead in the world. Now, all believers are priests; then only a limited class will be.

Exact rules with regard to the dress, etc., of the priests follow. As under the old covenant. (Exodus 28:42), they are to be clothed with linen garments when they are at work. They may not wear wool while ministering in the gates of the inner court, and within. The garments of service are to be left in the holy chambers, and other clothes put on when going forth into the outer court. The treatment of their hair is regulated, and they may not drink wine when they enter the inner court (see Leviticus 10:9-11).

In marriage, the priests are given rules exceeding those laid down in Leviticus 21: 7, but as to defilement for the dead, the order is the same as in verses 1-3 of that chapter.

The food of the priests is provided according to the forethought of Jehovah, as under the Mosaic system, —the meat (or meal) offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering, and every dedicated thing, together-with the first of all the first fruits of every kind, etc., are for the priests.

ML 03/29/1936

Lost! and Knew It

Dick was brought up in a respectable home. His father and mother were regular Church-goers, his father being church-warden for many years. Dick himself was a regular church-goer, often attending services twice on Sunday, a school scholar, but for all that he was not happy for he felt that if he were to die he would not go to heaven, in other words he was

Lost and knew it.

Dick was about ten years of age when he realized his lost and sinful condition, and for this reason he tried hard to live a Christian life. He knew that only true Christians would go to heaven, Alas! he utterly failed in the attempt to lead a Christian life, yet tried again and again with only the same result. He would say to himself,

“It’s hard to be a Christian,” yet he continued his efforts, knowing full well that if he did not go to heaven he would go to hell, for there are only two places spoken of in the next world in the Bible.

Dick was confirmed, which made him redouble his efforts to live the Christian life, hut he found he could not. This fresh effort only lasted for about a week, hardly that. He found that he had no more power over temptation than he had before.

Dick was nearly in despair, for he knew that were he to die, he would go straight to hell although he had been confirmed. Often when it thundered he would shudder at the thought of the possibility of being struck down dead by the lightning, and on each birthday, he would say to himself,

“I’m a year nearer hell.” Awful thought!

Two years after being confirmed, however, Dick, who was still trying hard, gave up trying and just knelt down on his knees in his bedroom, and, trusting the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, asked Him to forgive him his sins, and to save him. The Lord Jesus answered his prayer, for did He not say, as recorded in His Word,

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out?” John 6:37.

To Dick’s greatest surprise and joy, he began to have power over temptations, and to have a desire for reading the Word of God and for prayer. The fear of going to hell was gone; in fact he realized he was actually on the road to heaven; for he believed the words of the Lord Jesus that if he trusted Him as his Saviour, he would be saved and he was.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.

Dick found out after that, the reason for his failure in trying to live the Christian life was because he tried when he was not a Christian, and that only the Christian is given power from God to live the Christian life.

Dear reader, are you in the same position as Dick was? Have you been baptized as an infant and confirmed in youth, and yet you do not feel happy, for you are not sure that you are going to heaven? Well, let us call your earnest attention to the words of the Lord Jesus,

“Except a man he born again (not confirmed or baptized) he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

Do as Dick did, come to the Lord Jesus, tell Him how you feel, tell Him that you know He has died for you, for the Lord Jesus has been nailed to the cross for your sins and mine, and has paid sin’s penalty. Tell Him you accept what He has done for you. If you do this, immediately your name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in heaven, and you will have the same joy and peace of God in your heart that Dick has.

ML 03/29/1936

"Isn't It Nice?"

Isn’t it nice? “My sins are all washed away in the blood of Jesus.”

Such were the sweet and simple words uttered with great earnestness by my little girl as I entered the room.

She was sitting in the arm-chair, and evidently thinking of the precious Saviour, and with a bright smile, she told out to me her heart’s trust in His precious blood.

“Isn’t it nice?” Indeed, it is, so nice—so real; such a happy thing for the young thus to confess their trust in Jesus. What about my dear young friend who is reading these few simple lines? Sins we all have, whether we are young or old. Sins, few or many, if unforgiven must shut us out of heaven. Trust, then, in the precious Saviour—Jesus—who died on the cross for sinners, young and old. His precious blood was shed there for sinners.

Thus it was little E—could say, “Isn’t it nice? My sins are all washed. away in the blood of Jesus.”

Can you say this? If not, why not? Why not now, young though you are, believe on Jesus as your very own Saviour? “His blood cleanseth from all, sin.” Wait no longer; you are not too young to be saved; and Jesus is coming. Death, too, carries many young people into eternity every day.

Now then, trust simply in Him who died, and you will find how nice, how very blessed it is to be washed in Jesus’ precious blood.

ML 03/29/1936

"The Third Finger of the Left Hand"

A little girl was on a visit to her aunt, who, being a real Christian, sought to instruct the child in the knowledge of Christ. She asked the little one,

“What are the first words of the 23rd Psalm?” Promptly the answer came,

“The Lord is my Shepherd.”

“Now, these words just answer to your five fingers—try it. The—putting the finger on the thumb of the left hand; Lord —touching the first finger; is—touching the second; my—touching the third; Shepherd—touching the fourth.

“Now,” asked the aunt, “which of these five words do you like best?”

And on her little fingers she went over and over the words till at last she paused; her mind was made up—it was the one that stood for the MY. This is just what faith does. It is taking Jesus as my own Saviour, it is believing that He loved me and gave Himself for me. Faith is not content with saying, “He was wounded for our transgressions” (Isa. 53:5), but says, “for my transgressions.”

Not only, “He gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6), but, “He gave Himself a ransom for me.” Thus faith takes all that Jesus did as done for me personally, and all His love and care, and faithfulness are my very own.

Can you say, “He loved me and gave Himself for me.” I take Him as my Saviour, and

“The Lord is MY Shepherd?”

ML 03/29/1936

"Praise Ye the Lord"

The flowers that deck my pathway round

And skirt the shady wood,

Proclaim as with a thousand tongues,

That God is very good.

The ripened fields of waving grain,

For man and beast assigned;

Tell that the great Creator is,

Not only good, but kind.

The glorious sun and peerless moon,

And stars which round them wait;

Prove God to be not only good,

And kind, but very great.

But O! the cross where Jesus hung,

Doth yet more strongly prove,

That though so good and kind and great,

The mighty God is LOVE.

ML 03/29/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for February

“The Children’s Class”

1.“Come unto me,” etc. Matt. 11:28.

2.“And Jesus said,” etc. 17:20.

3.“Shouldest not thou,” etc. 18:33.

4.“Behold, I send,” etc. 10:16.

5.“And lie called,” etc. 15:10.

6.“But blessed are,” etc. 13:16.

7.“But when he saw,” etc. 14:30.

Bible Questions for April

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Mark

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “To give his life a ransom for many.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Whosoever shall do the will of God.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “When he cometh in the glory of his Father.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “He looked up to heaven.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “He saw the heavens opened.”

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “He was received up into heaven.”

7.What directions were given to the disciples, when they should hear of wars and rumors of wars?

Answers to the Bible Questions for February

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.To the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matt. 10:6.

2.Seventy times seventy. Matt. 18:22.

3.A dog. Matt. 15:27.

4.Beheaded by Herod, Matt. 14:10.

5.Moses and Elias. Matt. 17:4.

6.Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Matt. 11:21-23.

7.They must he given account for in that day. Matt. 12:36.

Bible Questions for April

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Mark

1.Why are we to give the cup of cold water?

2.What verse shows we all have something to do for Christ?

3.Who does our Lord say shall be saved?

4.What made the Lord angry?

5.What defiles a man?

6. How does an unforgiving spirit effect prayer?

7. What was the centurion’s testimony about the Lord?

ML 04/05/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 45, verses 1-8

Not until chapter 48 do we find the division of the land of Canaan for the inheritance of the twelve tribes, but here (verses 1 to 8) the portion for God in it is set apart, with provision also for the priests, after that for the Levites, and lastly for the city of Jerusalem. God in that day will be first in the ways and thoughts of His earthly people, however His word be set aside by them in our times.

“Oblation” is “offering,” or more fully “heave offering,” and is so rendered by the translators in most passages where the same Hebrew word occurs; examples will be found in Exodus 25:2 and 29:27 and 28. The portion of the land here denoted lies between the future inheritances of Judah and Benjamin, the seventh and eighth tribes in order, counting from north to south.

We may rightly omit the word “and” in the last line of verse 3, reading the clause, “the sanctuary, the most holy place.” Verse 4 is better read “This is the holy Portion of the land; it shall be, etc.” Within the strip of land set apart as the holy portion in verses 1-4, 25000 cubits (rather than reeds), or substantially seven miles across, and 10,000 cubits or nearly 3 miles from north to south, is to be the temple whose description is given in chapters 4042, surrounded by the dwellings of the priests who do the service of it. The temple area, 500 reeds (approximately one mile) square, corresponds with chapter 42, verse 16; round it is to be a space of 50 cubits (about 75 feet).

Verse 5 refers to the second area, adjoining on the south that of verses 1-4 and equal in size to be given the Levites who do the service of the house of God. The beginning of the verse is correctly translated “And (a space of) five and twenty thousand;” “for twenty chambers,” at the end of this verse is considered a copyist’s error, the true reading being “for their habitations.” No serious mistake has ever been found in the King James translation, God having preserved His Word through all the centuries from alterations that would have changed its substance.

In verse 6 Jerusalem is provided for in an area 7 miles from east to west, adjoining the portion for the Levites on the south, but its extent from north to south is to be a little less than 1 1/2 miles. Thus the city and the temple will in the Millennium be separated by a distance of more than 3 miles. The three parcels of land here marked out are thus in all approximately 7 miles square. The prince who will rule is to be given the land on both sides—east and west—of this area, to the borders of the country—the Mediterranean on the west and the Jordan. and Dead Sea on the east (Chapter 47:18).

Verse 8 brings the assurance that the leaders of Israel shall no more oppress God’s people. That will be a day of rejoicing in the earth when man ceases to oppress his fellows; it will not be until the King of Kings reigns (Revelation 19:11-20:4).

ML 04/05/1936

The Sailor Boy

A sailor boy, whose captain was a terrible swearer, was shocked at his blasphemy and defiance of God. One day he walked up to the captain, and courteously touching his cap remarked,

“Captain, God is the answerer of prayer. If He answers that prayer of yours, where will we all be?”

The captain said the words fastened upon his conscience with irresistible power, and made him tremble before God.

He was deeply convicted of sin, and was soon after converted to God. This was James Haldane.

Through his instrumentality, his brother Robert, who was at that time an infidel, was brought to Jesus, and the two brothers, James and Robert, became two of God’s most honored servants of their time, and were used in winning many souls for Christ.

The sailor boy who had learned at his mother’s knee the story of a Saviour’s love, and whose young heart had been early won for Him, was not afraid, amid that scoffing crew of godless sailors, to own Jesus as his Lord, and to speak the faithful word to his ungodly captain, that God was pleased to use to his awakening.

Reader, if you know the Lord yourself: if you are converted to God, do you bear a true and fearless witness for His name, or do you stand and hear that name blasphemed, and His truth dishonored, without saying a single word?

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” Exo. 20:7.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believeth.” Romans 1:16.

ML 04/05/1936

Can a Little Boy Be Saved?

Jack was a typical, sturdy little boy. His chubby face and cheery ways brought him into prominence with all with whom he came into contact.

Particularly were these characteristics evident at the Sunday school, where it was his pleasure to attend. Little did Jack miss of his Bible lessons, as was proved by the ready way in which he answered questions, either put to him personally or to the school generally. The boy or girl to answer before Jack, had to be very smart indeed. Jack also possessed a good clear boys’ voice, and was not afraid to use it at singing time; in fact, his voice could frequently be heard above the rest of the scholars, so vigorously did he sing.

At home, of course, he was the pet. Being the only child, he had showered upon him all the love and care that a good father and mother could bestow; yet he was far from spoiled.

However, after all we have said in Jack’s favor, there was one thing that he felt he seriously lacked; and that was a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The circumstances were these. Gospel addresses were being delivered both for children and adults. At these meetings the need of salvation was clearly demonstrated; so much so that Jack realized his need of the Saviour. The boy did not miss attending one meeting, but, like so many more, who, although greatly impressed, hesitate to make a final and definite decision.

However, on the following Lord’s Day the Gospel was again declared. At this meeting Jack felt he had the opportunity to be saved, when an invitation was given to those who desired to be saved to stand up.

He was told of Jesus who loved him, and died for him on Calvary’s cross, so that if he would accept Him, he would be saved.

It can be readily seen that Jack saw his need of being saved, that he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord, that he derived happiness thereby, and applied himself at that early age to read God’s Word. The change of life consequent on new birth was also real to him.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.

ML 04/05/1936

God Feedeth Them

Look at these five sweet little birds. Some are on the branches, and sonic down by the water. How contented and happy they all look! They have no thought of care.

Who gives them their food? Who cares for them?

You will no doubt answer, “It is God who cares for the little birds,” and that is quite right.

Dear boys and girls, you are of more value than the birds, and God cares for you! Read Matthew 6:25 to 34.

“Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of.” Matt. 6:8.

But far more, He has given His own dear Son that you might have everlasting life, if only you believe on Him as the One who has suffered for your sins. Then, though your sins have been as scarlet they shall be made white as snow.

Have you thought of His love and His care? Do you trust Him?

How many of you can say, Jesus is mine?

ML 04/05/1936

"A Shepherd Jesus Is"

A Shepherd Jesus is, so kind!

And all. God’s sheep are His;

And by His power He leads them on

To everlasting bliss.

No eye but His could e’er survey

A flock so large, so vast;

No heart but His could seek and find,

And love unto the last.

No arm but His could it defend

From dangers all around,

And lead it to the pastures green

Where living streams abound.

Large as the flock of Jesus is,

His power is greater far,

And every lamb amidst the flock

His power and love cloth share.

ML 04/05/1936

The Great Indian Tortoise

No doubt most of my readers are interested in the various animals that God has created for this earth. The variety is beyond any ordinary person to remember, and far less be able to learn all their various habits.

Nearly all children look with curiosity on the tortoise, and consider it a peculiar reptile, and, no doubt, the kind in the picture is such that few have seen, as they are natives of the Galapagos.

It is sometimes called the “Gigantic Land Tortoise.” A man could sit on the back of one and it would run away with him.

This Tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quantities, and wallowing in the mud. When the tortoise arrives at the spring, quite regardless of any spectator, it buries its head in the water above its eyes, and greedily swallows great mouthfuls, at the rate of about ten in a minute, until it is satisfied.

The Lord Jesus not only came to die for us and thus save our souls, but He wants to satisfy those who have put their trust in Him. He can fill and satisfy the heart. This can he accomplished by taking the Word of God as our companion, and reading it often. There we may hear what God has to say to its about His Son.

“HE SATISFIETH THE LONGING SOUL, AND FILLETH THE HUNGRY SOUL WITH GOODNESS.” Psa. 107:9.

ML 04/12/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 45:9-18.

God’s word is meant for the conscience of the reader, though in this Book of Ezekiel it looks far onward from the time it was written to a time not yet come. So verses 9 to 12 were meant for Ezekiel’s day, but they will come freshly before the Israelites who enter the Millennium, and they have a message for us who now are privileged to read God’s Word.

The natural heart was the same when Ezekiel gave his prophecies as it is today—deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) if this were not so, God would not have said it, and such as verses 9 to12 would not have been written.

The ephah was the Hebrew dry measure and the bath their liquid measure, each holding nearly six and a half gallons. The homer was equal to ten ephahs or ten baths; as a liquid measure it was also called a cor (as in verse 14). The maneh weighed two pounds and equaled 60 shekels (20 plus 25 plus 15).

In verse 13 we pass front the consideration of measures and weights in honest dealings with men to what is due to God. All the people are to bring an offering of wheat, barley and oil, and a lamb or young goat to make atonement for themselves. The sixth part is not without spiritual meaning, and as seven is a number used symbolically in the Scriptures for spiritual completeness, six appears to stand for incompleteness, imperfection; the blessedness of the Millennium will not be perfection. That belongs to eternity, the eternal state. In the institution of the offerings, in Leviticus 1 to 7 there is no mention of a sixth part; it would be out of place, for there they point directly to Christ in His death and in. His matchless life.

It will be the prince’s part (he who will rule Israel for the Lord Jesus) to supply the burnt offerings, the meat offerings and drink offerings at the feasts, at the new moons and on the sabbaths in all the solemnities of the house of Israel. He also is to prepare the four offerings to make reconciliation (atonement) for the house of Israel (verse 17).

ML 04/12/1936

Will He Take Me as I Am?

A Christian lady, had a Sunday afternoon class for girls. By means of the Gospel earnestly and lovingly spoken by the devoted teacher, who was a woman of great faith and mighty in prayer, many were led to the Saviour.

One afternoon at the close of the lesson, the teacher, as was her custom, invited all who desired to be personally spoken with, to remain.

Only one girl sat still, and she was the only daughter of a farmer near, well known as a careless girl, fond of dancing and other worldly pleasures. But God had awakened her to see her guilt and need of a Saviour. When they were left alone, the girl burst into tears, and burying her face in her hands, she asked with great earnestness,

“O, Mrs. B—, you have told us about the Saviour receiving sinners, but will He take me as am?”

The Christian lady was glad to be able to tell her on direct authority of God’s Word, that Jesus would take her as she was. His own faithful word is,

“Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37.

“That’s grand, Mrs. B—,” said the girl, smiling through her tears; “that’s just what I need; for I’ve tried to make myself better many a time, and always failed, but if He will take me as I am, then I will just let Him have me now.’

She did go to Him just as she was, trusting in His promise, and He did receive her and save her.

Reader, Jesus will receive you just as you are. You do not need to make yourself different from what you are just at this moment, for Jesus Christ to receive you. He receives sinners. Is not that your name?

He does not restrict His invitation to certain kinds of sinners; it is extended to sinners everywhere, anywhere, of all ages, colors, nations and tongues. Whether anxious, careless, ungodly, or religions, His Word is,

“Come unto Me.”

You will find, reader, if you obey His invitation, that He will receive you warmly, “just as you are.”

“Just as I am without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come.”

ML 04/12/1936

Charlie and the Apple

Charlie had a bad habit, which he did not give up in spite of repeated warnings. He had been often forbidden to accompany some boys home from school, whose bad conduct was exercising a bad influence on him. These warnings Charlie did not heed.

He delighted himself more and more at the unseemly tricks and bad talk of his evil companions and cared little about his father’s command, and the warning word of Scripture,

“Evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1 Cor. 15:33. I need not say that his conduct pained his father very much.

One afternoon, Charlie had been again disobedient; it was shortly before the fruit-gathering. His father did not punish him this time as he had always done before, but sent him into the garden to pick three of the best apples he could find. That was pleasant work for Charlie, and he did it with the greatest readiness. In a few minutes he returned with three large rosy-cheeked apples.

“Lay them on the table,” said the father; “and now go and bring the worst apple you can find.”

Charlie ran into the garden again and returned with a bad apple. He was curious to know what his father meant to do.

“Now, lay all the apples together on a plate, the bad and the good and lay it aside in the cupboard.”

“But, father,” cried Charlie surprised, “the bad one will spoil the rest!” The thought of such beautiful fruit becoming spoiled, was highly displeasing to him.

“Do what I have said, my boy,” said his father. Charlie obeyed. Sometime after, when Charlie had quite forgotten the incident, his father told him to bring the apples out. He brought them. But what a sad spectacle the plate presented; as the boy had thought, so it happened. All the apples were rotten. The three rosy-cheeked, beautiful apples, that Charlie had picked himself were scarcely recognizable. He was just about to say, “I told you how it would be,” when his father prevented him, and in a few serious words showed what he meant to teach him through this little experience.

“You see”, he said, “that the bad apple placed with the good ones, first affects them, and then completely destroys them. The three good ones were not able to make the bad one good, but the one had apple has spoiled the three good.

Now, if one bad apple has such an effect on many good ones, what do you think will be the result of the company of many bad boys on my son?”

Charlie looked at the ground ashamed, and answered nothing. His father continued to earnestly press upon him in a gracious way the cause of his disobedience. He showed him that there was sin dwelling in him; which made him love the company of bad boys. Then he told him of a child, who never had sin in Him.

“Such a Child, the world only saw once He was a Holy Child.”

My young friends have doubtless already guessed Who he meant. He spoke of Jesus, the beloved Son of God who out of love to sinners, great and small left the glory of heaven, and became a man so that He might be able to go into judgment and death instead of us.

Finally the father read to him some texts, treating on the love of God and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, among which were the beautiful words;

“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.

Charlie listened attentively to the words of his father, and as I heard later, they had such an effect on him, that he had no more rest, till he was assured that the precious blood of Jesus had washed all his sins away. From that time onward he became an obedient boy. He did not seek any more the company of his former friends.

The lesson which his father had taught him by means of the apple, and which had been so blessed to him, he never forgot.

ML 04/12/1936

"He Faileth Not"

I was walking along, speaking to a friend of God’s simple way of salvation through faith in the finished work of Christ.

We took a circuitous round, and presently found ourselves at the Station. Seeing that my friend’s difficulty lay in the lack of simple faith in the Word of God, I turned, and, observing a little girl a few yards away selling matches, I said, pointing to her,

“O, if you had but the faith of a little child.” This attracted the notice of the little girl, who, running up to me, said,

“Matches, sir!”

“No, my dear,” I replied. “I do not need any.”

But the more I argued, the more she pressed use to buy just one box.

“What do you do all day, and when do you go home? “I inquired, for I felt an increasing interest in her, and it was then past eight o’clock.

“O, I go to school in the day, but as mother’s ill, I come here afterward to earn cents home,”

“How much have you now?”

Fumbling in her tiny pocket she brought out the sum of six cents in coppers.

“Why,” I said. “you have been here four hours and only earned six cents: you will never get the twelve cents tonight.”

“O, yes: I shall earn the twelve cents—I always do,” she said quickly.

“But tonight you cannot earn it, it is so late.”

“But I’m sure I shall, though,” she replied.

“What makes you so sure, my child.”

For some moments she made no reply, but upon being pressed, looked up into my face and said,

“Because before I come out, mother and me always ask our Father to help me earn twelve cents, and He always does.”

I was struck with the answer, being wholly unprepared for such a beautiful exhibition of simple faith in one so young.

“What would you do if I gave you six cents?”

“Why, I would run home sharp to mother, now.” And so she did, poor little thing, and left me wondering at her true confidence in God’s ability to hear prayer and send direct answers. Surely our Father in Heaven was rejoiced by the simple trust in Himself displayed by this little child.

“Without faith it is impossible to please Heft 11:6.

ML 04/12/1936

The Way of Safety

You will notice in our interesting picture today a ship in the distance, tossing on the stormy sea. It looks as though it was in trouble. Perhaps it has struck a rock and is sinking. So some brave sailors have started out from the lighthouse in a big row-boat, hoping to reach the ship before it sinks and to save the people on it. How the people on the sinking ship will welcome the life boat. Can you imagine one of them saying,

“I don’t want to go in to your boat. I can save myself?” No, he knows better than to think he can save himself.

And yet, dear reader, there are many people who think they can save themselves from the storm of God’s wrath, which will surely fall on all who refuse to accept His beloved. Son as their Saviour, by their “good works.”

God’s Word tells us that eternal life is a gift, not something we can earn.

“BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD. NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.” Eph. 2:8, 9.

To refuse this gift of God is far more serious than to refuse to be taken into the life-boat, for it means eternal loss and punishment.

Unsaved one, you cannot save yourself. Your good deeds count for nothing with God. Listen to what God says about them in His Word:

“All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Isa, 64:6.

Turn to the Saviour,—your only way of escape from sin and its consequences.

“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13.

ML 04/19/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 45:18-25

At the beginning of the year the sanctuary (temple) is to be purged, and on the seventh day of the month there will be a repetition of the sacrifice for everyone that erreth, and for the simple. A week later the passover is to be celebrated as of old (Exodus 12:14-20), only that the prince is to offer for himself and all the people, a bullock for a sin offering, and during each of the seven days a burnt offering-and a sin offering, together with a meat (or meal) offering. The passover as then observed will be a remembrance, not of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt so much as it will be of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and this, no doubt, explains the offering of seven bullocks, and seven rams daily for seven days—telling of the infinite worth of His death in the sight of God.

Verse 25 renews the feast of tabernacles (or booths) reminder then of the centuries when Israel was without a home.

Leviticus 23 names the seven fixed “feasts of Jehovah”, given by Him to Israel. Four of these are omitted in the Millennium.

There is to be no feast of the first fruits, because that foreshadowed the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:23).

The feast of weeks or Pentecost had its fulfillment on what has been called the Church’s birthday (Acts 2), when the Church of God was formed at the descent of the Holy Spirit to indwell all who believe in the Lord Jesus, receiving the present message of God’s unfathomable grace which is offered to Jew and Gentile without distinction.

The feast of trumpets will have been fulfilled in the great ingathering of all Israel in their land.

And the day of atonement could not have a place after the cross of Christ. (see Hebrews chapters 9, 10) bearing in mind that redeemed Israel in the Millennium will not have all the blessings and privileges that are the Christian’s.

There will be a visible priesthood, which God will own, to come between the people and Himself, and there will be constant sacrifices, not in view of a redemption to be accomplished, but having a memorial character, looking backward to the atoning death of Christ.

ML 04/19/1936

"One Thing Thou Lackest"

The boy I am going to tell you about was what people call one of the best of boys. At home he was dutiful and affectionate to his parents, and always kindly considerate towards his younger brothers. At school there was never a complaint to be made against him his lessons were always well prepared, and he continually kept his place as first in his class. All this was a great pleasure to those about him, for it is well to see the young diligent in their work, and careful to obey those who are over them; and surely it is pleasing to God to see all this, for has He not said—

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,” and that “the slothful shall be under tribute?”

Yet more than this is required to fit a soul to meet God and go to that happy home in heaven where all so much wish to be.

The boy of whom I am telling you knew this, and I will tell you what first made him feel it. A children’s meeting was held in the large schoolroom to which he went for his daily studies, and there he heard the gospel of God brought out in a way he had never heard it before.

It was God’s voice to him, and sank deeply into his young showing him that he had to stand in the presence of a holy God, and that all that looked so outwardly fair in the eyes of men, would not do to meet the eye of Him who reads even the very thoughts of our hearts.

Yes, dear children, He knows the thoughts of each one; and, as you read this story, He can tell you whether you are trusting to any goodness of your own, or if you have been brought, as this dear boy was, to see your own utter unfitness for His holy presence.

A few days after the meeting of which I have told you, when one of his teachers was speaking to him about Jesus, and his need of a Saviour, he exclaimed,

“I am going to hell, and I know it.”

God had shown him that he was a sinner, and he felt that he had nothing in himself that he could bring to God, and that it was “not by works of righteousness which we have done” that he could come to God. His good conduct did not blind him to this, and he knew that he was on “the broad road that leadeth to destruction.”

But, O, what a happy thought that God does not ask anything from us! He says, “I have found a ransom.” That ransom is the precious blood of the Lord Jesus which He shed on the cross, that all those who believe in Him might have their sins washed away, and be “whiter than snow.”

Then instead of only looking forward to a day of judgment, we can look up to God without a fear, knowing that Christ has done all, and that God is satisfied.

Have you, dear children, learned to trust this loving Saviour? or, are you still on that broad road? If the latter, do not go any further, but own your own helplessness, as did this dear boy. Come by simple faith to the Lord Jesus, and as certainly as you were lost, so certainly will you know that He has found you.

“Christ hath the ransom paid,

The wondrous work is done;

On Him our help is laid,

The victory is won.

Captivity is captive led

Since Jesus liveth who was dead.”

ML 04/19/1936

"I Like Them While They Are Young"

One morning, a dear little girl came to her mother with a beaming, happy face, having in her hand a tiny wicker basket, which had been presented to her full of chocolates. These had long since disappeared, as all our young friends will understand, but now, on opening it to show to her mother, it was seen to be filled to the brim with the pretty, young, silvery buds of the palm-tree, which she had gathered, and stripped of the hard brown covering which had protected them during the cold of winter.

Her satisfaction was evidently great in seeing her valued little basket filled with the velvety things she so much liked. Her mother said,

“How pretty! But is it not a pity to gather them so young? They would grow so much larger.”

“O no, mother, I like them while they are young,” she answered.

“Yes, dear child,” was the mother’s rly, “that is why the Lord Jesus Christ invites the little children to come unto Him. He likes them to come while they are young, and says,

‘Suffer the little children to come unto Me,’ And if you are past being little children as to age, the same blessed Person says,

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy YOUTH, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shall say, I have no pleasure in them.” Eccl. 12:1.

The mother of the little girl of whom I told you, when she was a child, one day had this verse,

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shall say, I have no pleasure in them,” quoted to her as she was passing through a room in which a dear servant of Christ, who was visiting her parents, was; but she did not want to listen, and went out at the door just as the solemn words, “I have no pleasure in them,” were uttered.

Her conscience was, however, reached, and as she passed into the garden, she looked up into the blue sky, and the Holy Spirit of God pressed home to her heart the solemn and awful thought that a day might come when she would have no pleasure in the Lord and His things! This made her very unhappy, and was the beginning of the work of God in her soul as to sin. She was deeply convinced of her unfitness for God, and after a short time of suffering under a crushing sense of her condition by nature, the Spirit of God, by that beautiful scripture,

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God ‘hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved’’ (Rom. 10:9), wrought complete deliverance from her burden, and one night she arose from her knees a happy, saved, and satisfied child.

Dear child, “Remember now!” Do not put it off.

ML 04/19/1936

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

I expect that most of my young readers are well acquainted with the above text, though, perhaps, there are many who doubt very much whether God can use them in His service, although they know that they are God’s children through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some few years ago, a young man, whose mother and sister had for a long time prayed for his conversion, but who still was as “a lost sheep,” was walking along the street, when lie was accosted by a little girl who asked his protection from a rough man, of whom she was afraid. This he readily gave, and taking her hand, they went some distance through the town together.

After walking for a time, the little girl turned to her companion, and asked him if he went to Sunday-school; to which he replied that he did not now, though he used to go when he was younger. The child then said,

“But you love Jesus, don’t you?”

He did not answer, and the question was repeated, but still she got no reply. Again she spoke, saying,

“You don’t answer, but you do love Jesus, don’t you?”

He then confessed that he could not say that he did, Soon after, the little girl left him, but the conversation had reached his conscience, and God brought home to him his neglect of salvation, and how he had slighted the Saviour, so powerfully, that before he laid his head on his pillow that night, all was settled between his soul and God, and lie knew that the Lord Jesus was his Saviour.

But perhaps some who read this little story have not yet conic to the Lord Jesus themselves. Let me ask you, “Do you love Jesus?”

Remember what He has done for you. He died upon the cross, He bore the punishment that your sins deserved, and God was so satisfied with His work that He raised Him from the dead, and put Him in the highest place in heaven, and gave Hint the greatest name, to which every knee must how.

May you, my dear young friends, give your hearts to Him now, so that, till He come again for those who He loves, you may be found serving Him, as did our little girl and bringing others to trust in Him.

ML 04/19/1936

The Letter

These two sisters have walked down the road to meet their brother as he comes from town, to find out if he has brought a letter to them from their mother who is away from home, and they are eager to hear from her.

You can see by the pleased look on their faces that he has told them that one has come for them.

There is One in heaven who has written you many messages in a book called the Bible; do you ever read His letters? He is one who loves you very much—far more than your parents do. His book is full of His loving messages—there He gives such kind invitations to all unsaved ones to come to Him to have their sins put away.

In Matt. 11:28, we have such a wonderful invitation,

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus says to those that put their trust in Him,

“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” John 10:28.

And for those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ as their own Saviour, He tells them He is coming for them, and they shall live with. Him forever.

“I WILL COME AGAIN, AND REIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF; THAT WHERE I AM, THERE YE MAY BE ALSO.” John 14:3.

ML 04/26/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 46

The gate of the inner court that looked toward the east is part of the entrance reserved for the God of Israel (chapter 43:1-5), where the prince, as a mark of particular favor, is to be permitted to enter so far as to stand at the threshold while his burnt offerings and peace offerings are presented by the priests, and there he may worship. Such occasions are limited to the sabbath and the day of the new moon, and the gate is then to remain open until the evening, the people worshiping at the door of it (verses 1-3).

In chapter 40 we learned that there will be three entrances to the temple grounds, east, north and south of the building; of these the north and south gates will be open to the people at the set feasts, but they are to pass through, not returning by the way they went in (verse 9). At these times the prince is to go with the people (verse 10). However, when he offers voluntary burnt and peace offerings, the gate that looks toward the east will be opened for him, to be closed when he shall go out again.

In all this it will be seen that the Millennium will bring no such access to God as the. Christian has; boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19-22) will not be possessed by Israel. Through Christ Jesus we (Christians) have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Ephesians 2:18).

A change in the sacrifices connected with the passover was noted in comparing chapter 45 with Exodus 12. A similar change is observed in connection with the sacrifice on each recurring sabbath. The sabbath of old was observed with an offering of two lambs, two tenths of an ephah of flour mingled with oil and a drink offering of the fourth part of a hin for each lamb (Numbers 28;9, 10). In the coming day of Israel’s restoration, six lambs and a ram, a whole ephah of flour for the ram alone, and flour for the lambs as the ruler shall be able to give, with a drink offering of a hin (one-sixth of an ephah or bath) for each ephah, will be the rule.

The new moon has a marked place in the Millennial order; it expresses the reestablishment of Israel—the nation’s appearing anew in the world. On the first of each lunar month, the prince is to make an offering of a young bullock, six lambs and a ram with their accompaniment of flour and oil (verses 6, 7).

In Numbers 28:1-8 a daily sacrifice of two lambs for a continual burnt offering was required, one lamb each morning, and one each evening; in the Millennium there is to be but one lamb offered, and that each morning (verses 13-15). The explanation appears to be that there will be then no fading out of Israel’s day in darkness as when the nation was removed from the land God had given them, because of sin that compelled their banishment.

The latter part of the chapter provides against unrighteousness on the part of the prince, and points out that there will be sin that must be met by sacrifice in the Millennium.

ML 04/26/1936

Rocks

A gentleman was once, when a lad, sailing down East River, near New York, which was then a very dangerous channel. He watched the old steersman with great interest, and observed whenever he came near to a stick of painted wood, he changed his course.

“Why do you turn out for those bits of wood?” asked the boy.

The old man looked up from under his shaggy brows, too much taken up with his work to talk, and simply said, “Rocks!”

“Well, I would not turn out for those bits of wood,” said the thoughtless boy; “I would go right over them.”

The old man only replied by a look, which that boy has not forgotten in his manhood. “Poor foolish lad,” that look said, “how little you know about rocks!”

God has one firm Rock in life’s tempestuous sea, but Satan has many sunken rocks of which God’s Word tells us, and warns us about. So shun the rocks for they lead to death. There are plenty of buoys to warn you where they lie hidden; and whenever you meet one, be sure and turn aside, for there danger lies.

“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” Prov. 4:14, 15.

ML 04/26/1936

A Child's Definition of Faith

He was only seven years old. He spoke of mercy and grace; of faith in God as his only foundation for his hope of going to be with the Lord Jesus, who died for him. Being visited about this time by an unconverted relative of mature years, who asked him how he was, when he answered that he was very happy, though sick in body, that his faith in the Lord Jesus kept him happy.

“I can’t make you out. How do you get the faith you speak about?” his relative asked.

“O,” said Charley, “God gave it to me.” “Well,” said his relative, “I don’t understand; what’s it like?”

“O,” replied Charley, “it’s just like this: s’pose you was upstairs and you made a hole in the ceiling and spoke to me through the hole, and told me, up there was better than down here, and that you had some beautiful things up there for me, if I was to come it should want to come, shouldn’t I?”

“Well, yes, I dare say you would; but how would you know I had the things I spoke of?” he asked.

“Well,” replied the child, “I should be sure to know you were there when I heard you speak.”

That’s what faith is BELIEVING GOD’S WORD WHEN HE SPEAKS, without seeing the things He promises. And God does make a good many holes and speaks to a great many people, only they pay no attention, and if they do hear, they want to see the things first, but that’s not faith.

Reader, have you faith as this little child? Do you believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God? Hear the words of the Lord Jesus Himself,

“Verily, Verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24.

Have you passed from death unto life? If so, you are happy, you are safe for all eternity, for your life is hid with Christ in God, a safe hiding place indeed.

ML 04/26/1936

"Those Naughty Fingers"

Dorothy Day was a dear little girl about five years old, the daughter of a Christian. One of the delights of the day to father and daughter was the little prayer time at its close, and the confidential chat after, before Dorothy pillowed her curly head and went to sleep.

One evening, after the prayer time, Dorothy held up her little hand and said:

“This finger and this thumb have been very naughty today, father.”

“Why, what have they done?” inquired Mr. Day.

“Can you not guess?” said the child, thinking that her wise father knew everything about her day’s doings. But though he thought of many of little Dorothy’s childish doings, he failed to tell the exact thing to which she alluded.

“They took some raisins out of the cupboard,” confessed his little daughter, and, after a pause, she added, “and put the raisins into my mouth.”

Hiding an amused smile at the sincerity and simplicity of his darling, Mr. Day inquired;

“Did anybody tell those naughty fingers to do it?”

“I did not hear anybody tell them,” replied the child simply.

“What part of my little girl caused those naughty fingers to take the raisins?” again asked the father, in the hope of teaching his little daughter a profitable lesson. “Was it her curly hair, her head, or her heart?”

“Her heart,” quickly replied Dorothy, realizing that it was something within her which caused the fingers to act. Then, in simple language, her father set before her the Scripture truths, that “out of the heart are the issues of life,” (Prov. 4:23), that God, who knows “the secrets of the heart,” (Psa. 44:21), has declared that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jer. 17:9.

Like a faithful father, he explained to her that as the source or spring of herself was wicked, therefore she was a sinner, and included in the great “all” when God says,

“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23.

Then taking a piece of black cloth, he wound it round the naughty finger and thumb to indicate their black Character. Mr. Day put the matter in such an interesting and simple way, that the child nestled closer between his knees, and looked inquiringly into his face.

“But what made my Dorothy know that those naughty fingers were naughty, and what led her to think of confessing to father?”

Dorothy could not answer this question, so her father went on to tell her that it was her conscience that told her act was sinful, and that it was her conscience that brought before her when speaking to God in prayer that sin, and holiness could not dwell together.

Thus, sweetly, Mr. Day was able to set before his darling child, her need of knowing her sins forgiven, for if conscience led Dorothy to confess to father at the close of day, what about the time when “every one of us shall give-account of himself to God?” Rom. 14:12. Surely the desire must be implanted in each heart to know their “sins forgiven”; and any boy or girl may rejoice in this now, for God’s. Word says,

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved,” Rom. 10:9.

If you, my reader, have not already done so, why not take Him now as your Saviour?

ML 04/26/1936

Only a Step to Jesus!

Only a step to Jesus!

Then why not take it now?

Come, and thy sins confessing,

To Him, thy Saviour bow.

Only a step, only a step;

Come, He waits for thee;

Come, and thy sins confessing,

Thou shalt receive a blessing;

Do not reject the mercy

He freely offers thee.

“Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” Psa. 16:11.

ML 04/26/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for March

“The Children’s Class”

1.“Wherefore, behold,” etc. Matt. 23:34.

2.“They gave him,” etc. 27:34.

3.“Ye know that,” etc. 26:2.

4.“Jesus saith unto them,” etc. 21:42.

5.“Jesus said unto him,” etc. 19:21.

6.“Teaching them,” etc. 28:20.

7.“And when they came,” etc. 20:9.

Bible Questions for May

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Luke,

Chapters 1-12

1. Write in full the verse containing the words, “His mercy is on them that fear him.”

2. Write in full the verse containing the words, “Every tree is known by his own fruit.”

3. Write in full the verse containing the words, “The ax is laid unto the root of the trees.”

4. Write in full the verse containing the words, “That hear the word of God, and keep it.”

5. Write in full the verse containing the words, “Which hear the word of God, and do it,”

6. Write in full the verse containing the words, “When I come again, I will repay thee.”

7. What is to be done for those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching?

Answers to the Bible Questions for March

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.“Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” Matt. 25:12.

2.They shall perish with the sword. Matt. 26:52.

3.“What God hath joined together let not man put asunder.” Matt. 19:6.

4.Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Matt. 28:19.

5.Psalm 22:1; Matt. 27:46.

6. They knew not the Scriptures nor the power of God. Matt. 22:29.

7. By ministering to one of His brethren. Matt. 25:40.

Bible Questions for May

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Luke 1-12

1.Might loyalty to Christ bring division in the home?

2.What chokes the Word in the soul?

3.How long did Jesus pray before choosing the twelve disciples?

4.What Scripture did our Lord read in the synagogue?

5.What verse shows Peter’s conversion?

6.Of whom does the Lord require much?

7.What three things did the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet receive?

ML 05/03/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 47

In verses 1 to 12 we are given all account of a wonderful river which is to be in Israel’s land, a life-giving stream that will have its source at the Millennial temple, God’s earthly throne. Joel, who lived before Isaiah, prophesied concerning it (chapter 3:18) that “a fountain. shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim”—a place about seven miles east of the Dead Sea as it now exists (see Numbers 25:1; Joshua 2:1, and 3:1).

Zechariah, one of the last Old Testament prophets, wrote (chapter 14:8) of “living waters (that) shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former (the Dead) sea, and half of them toward the hinder (the Mediterranean) sea; in summer and in winter shall it be.”

It is plain from these and other passages that important physical changes will be made in Palestine at the Lord’s appearing, and it may be questioned if any of man’s “improvements” will be allowed to remain there during the thousand years of His reign.

The man of chapter 40:3, with the measuring line, who in Ezekiel’s last vision showed him the measurements of the temple, now leads him to the source of the stream, and along its banks. It is, however, Ezekiel, and not the man, who measures the depth of the river, and finds it to reach to the ankles, the knees, the loins, and finally at the furthest point to which he is led, it proves to be a river that he cannot pass over. This will be a real river in the Millennium, but does it not present a lovely illustration of the grace and love of God to man?

Wherever the river flows it brings blessing; along its banks are very many trees (verse 7); the waters of the Dead Sea are healed (verse 8), and a very great multitude of fish are to be found in that body of water which has long been a token of the judgment of God.

Another reminder that the Millennium will not be a perfect slate is seen in verse 11: the miry places and marshes of the Dead Sea will not be healed. Again, at the close of verse 12, the reference to medicine shows that there will be sickness in that day.

The latter half of the chapter names the boundaries of the land of Israel, which will be seen to considerably exceed at both northern and southern extremities the extent of the land occupied of old by the twelve tribes. The boundaries are, however, identical with those named in Numbers 34. The northern boundary cannot, with our present knowledge, be exactly fixed; it will be between Damascus and, Hamath. Part of the southern boundary will be at the small stream called The River of Egypt, about eighty miles east of the Suez Canal. The Mediterranean Sea is the western boundary, and the Jordan and the Dead Sea form a considerable part of the eastern boundary.

Provision is made, in the grace of God, for a place for strangers that may sojourn in the land—Gentiles who seek to dwell among the chosen people.

ML 05/03/1936

Little Gertie

O you love Jesus?” I said, one day, to a little girl.

“Yes, I do,” she replied. “But, does Jesus love you?” “Yes, He does. I know Jesus loves me, because He died for me,” Her face brightened up, as she continued, “Please will you tell me about Jesus?” And, when I paused, she said, “Do tell me more.”

Dear reader, do you love Jesus? Do you want to know more about Him, or do you dread His name?

Gertrude was in a great deal of pain at the time I was speaking; to her, but she said,

“Jesus suffered much more pain than I ever have, didn’t He? and Jesus makes my pains better sometimes, when I ask Him to.”

After a little she said,

“Please, do you know why Jesus made me ill? I know. Shall I tell you? When I was well I never thought about Jesus at all. I was always playing about, and having games; but since I have been ill, I have heard about Jesus, and love Him.”

Dear young reader, is it with you as it was with Gertrude? Are you so engrossed with your pleasures that you cannot spare time to think about the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who died for you? Or can you say, as Gertrude said,

“He died for me.”

“The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

ML 05/03/1936

Creation

No. 1

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.

God Himself has told us about His wonderful creation of the heaven and the earth. No one else could have told us.

When a boy wants to make a wagon, he has to have wood, nails, and wheels: or if a girl wants to make a doll dress, she must have cloth with which to make it. But God had nothing to make the heaven and earth out of. He made them by His power, and everything He does is perfect. He does not tell us how long it remained so, but in the 2nd verse we are told,

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” We are not told when the change took place, but now God was going to prepare it for people to live on.

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Hebrews 11:4.

“For every house is builded by some man; but He that built all things is God.” Hebrews 3:4.

“He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion.” Jer. 10:12.

ML 05/03/1936

The Spring

Some of you who live in the city may never have seen a spring, but those who get out among the hills and streams will find here and there a spring of clear cold water bubbling up from the ground, or from between the rocks.

We all get thirsty, and when out walking on a warm day, we are pleased to run across one of these refreshing springs.

But it is our bodies that thirst for this kind of water. When we learn what poor, sinful creatures we are, and there is nothing in this world to satisfy us, we find our souls growing thirsty for something that will satisfy.

Dear reader, God tells us how we can satisfy this thirst. Jesus says,

“IF ANY MAN THIRST, LET HIM COME UNTO ME AND DRINK.” John 7:37.

“Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14.

The invitation is free. It cost the Lord Jesus all the sufferings and agony of the cross, but it costs you nothing.

ML 05/03/1936

His Little Lamb

“I do not think I can be one of Jesus’ lambs,” a little boy sobbed out, as he lay in his father’s arms.

“And why so?” inquired his father.

“Because I do not feel I am,” the child replied.

After trying in various ways to comfort the heart of his little boy, and yet being very anxious not to say one word which should lead his child to think lightly of what it is to be a sinner; the father repeated this text:

“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.

These words satisfied the child directly. Do you, dear young friend, know their sweetness?

Little lambs so white and fair,

Are the shepherd’s constant care;

How He leads their tender feet

Into pastures green and sweet.

Now they listen and obey,

Following where He leads the way;

O Lord Jesus, may we be

Thus obedient unto Thee.

The Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and we like to think of our readers as His lambs, His constant care. He bears them on His shoulders, and folds them in his arms.

“I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD, AND KNOW MY SHEEP, AND AM KNOWN OF MINE.” John 10:14.

ML 05/10/1936

Bible Lessons

Ezekiel 48

In this final chapter of Ezekiel’s book, the relative positions of all the twelve tribes in the land are described: their allotments are quite altered from those made by Moses and Joshua (Joshua 13 to 19). The possession of each tribe will extend across the breadth of the land from the Mediterranean Sea coast to the Jordan or eastern boundary, beginning with Dan far to the north of Sidon, the northern extremity of Israel’s land under Joshua’s apportionment.

We are not told how large a parcel of land will be given to each tribe, but if they are equal in measurement from north to south Dan, Asher, and Naphtali will be north of Sidon and Ephraim will include both the Waters of Merom and the Sea of Galilee; Judah’s southern boundary will evidently be about six miles north of the city of Jerusalem.

South of Jerusalem the tribal inheritances would appear to be smaller, since five tribes will be accommodated between the city and Kadesh-barnea, the border town whence the spies were sent into the promised land (Numbers 13), and where Moses struck the rock when the people demanded water for their thirst (Numbers 20).

The reasons for the order in which the tribes will be arranged in the land are not altogether plain. That Judah and Benjamin should be nearest to the temple is not difficult to understand on the ground of sovereign grace, for they were the rejectors of the Messiah, delivering Him up to be crucified. Reuben, the first born, who lost his title because of sin, is restored to a place next to Judah. Simeon, the second of Jacob’s children, may, by the position accorded the tribe, be another example of God’s sovereign grace, for Simeon’s behavior brought a curse from his father in Genesis 49:5-7, and he is not mentioned in Deuteronomy 33. Though the tribe was given by Joshua the most southerly part of the land, it seems doubtful if they remained in possession of it very long.

It will be necessary in the day of Israel’s recovery that each Israelite shall know to what tribe he belongs. The Jews have wholly lost their genealogies, but God will meet this need for the redeemed remnant (See Nehemiah 7:64,65).

Verses 15-19 give the dimensions of Jerusalem and its position exactly in the center of the parcel set apart for it in verse 6 of chapter 45, and the last six verses of the book tell of the twelve gates named after the tribes. Here Joseph is represented, rather than his two sons, and Levi appears, the priestly tribe, whose portion in the land will be close to the temple.

It will be profitable to refer to the Millennial scene pictured in Revelation 21:9 to 22:5. The city in Ezekiel is a literal city, but in the Revelation that described is figurative, representing the heavenly bride of Christ, the true Church of God, which will have a special place in relation to the earth during the thousand years.

ML 05/10/1936

Home

What a beautiful word this is! What depths of meaning there are in it! A short time ago, I was reading about some of the poor, homeless children.

The writer told how he went, one night, to see them for himself, and how he found them lying asleep in great numbers on the roofs of outhouses, etc., with no covering whatever, except their few rags. Poor children! how we can pity them. No home! what a sad, sad thing.

How thankful we ought to feel for home, and home comforts. You, I suppose, have a nice home, and kind, loving friends round you there; but let me ask, have you another home in view? In the world you have your home for but a little while; what about the future, the long, long eternity? Have you an eternal home? How many there are who have heard of the eternal home, and have entirely neglected to ask whether that home is theirs.

Perhaps you pity the poor street Arabs, yet many of them with no home down here, will have a glorious home above, with Jesus, throughout eternity, because they have believed on His Name. But you, if you remain unsaved, though you have a nice home now, will be homeless then. Earnestly I would entreat you not to be satisfied until you can say,

“God is my Father, Jesus is my Saviour, Heaven is my home.”

Jesus today says, “Come unto Me”; by-and-by it may be those awful words, “Depart from Me.” Now is the day of salvation. The One who gave His own life, that all who simply trust in Him might share His glorious, beautiful home, is soon coming again; indeed, He may be here even while you read this paper, for He says,

“Behold, I come quickly.”

For whom is He coming? For His own blood-washed ones; those who have put their trust in Him. He is coming to call them home. Those who love Him will hear that home-call—His own well-known voice.

Dear young reader, if He should descend with that shout, and the voice of the arch-angel, would you hear it?

“We know there’s a bright and a glorious home,

Away in the heavens high,

Where all the redeemed shall with Jesus dwell,

Will you be there and I?

“If you trust the loving Saviour now,

Who for sinners once did die,

When He gathers His own in that bright home;

Then you’ll be there and I.”

ML 05/10/1936

I Have

One Lord’s day afternoon, at our Sunday school, the following precious confession of the Lord Jesus was made to the teacher of a class of little girls, from six to eight years of age. Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” the perfect Sacrifice for sin, and as the Light of God’s beautiful city, was the subject that had much interested the class for two or three afternoons. The children had heard how “He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter,” shedding His precious blood for sinners, and the need of each one of them going to God about her own sins had been earnestly put before them.

One of the children, always marked by her brightness and attention to the lesson, exclaimed as the class proceeded,

“I have.”

“You have what?” the teacher inquired.

“Asked Jesus to wash my sins away,” she answered; when another, joining her, said, “So have I.”

Afterward these little children told their teacher, that, one Lord’s day morning, they had asked the Lord Jesus to wash away their sins. The teacher questioned them, and finding they really had been speaking to the Lord, said, “And do you believe He has done it?”

With faces full of expression, they replied,

“Yes, teacher.”

“And did anyone tell you to do so?” “No,” they answered. Another little girl, looking up, said, “Jesus heard them, didn’t He, teacher?”

Yes, indeed, Jesus had heard these little ones, who in their simple way, knowing that He bids little children to come to Him, had gone to Him, and had received His blessing.

“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Psa. 51:2.

ML 05/10/1936

The World

No. 2

Do you not think we live in a wonderful world? Could you tell the names of all the trees, plants, animals, or insects there are? Could anyone count the beautiful stars at night, or tell how the sun and the moon give us light? Men dig in the earth and bring out gold, silver, and stones of great value to us. And from the deep waters of great seas they find strange plants and great fish. Everything we use or eat is in some way taken from the earth.

How did all come here? No one could answer our question, except that God has given us a Book which tells us. The name of this book is the Holy Bible, and there we learn that there has always been a Wise and Holy One whom we cannot see, God, the Father, and always with Him has been His beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit. They planned and made everything. It is by Their great power we now live. How great and wise and holy are they! Our words cannot tell you, but we may be very happy to know that God’s love is for everyone in all the world, and when we read the Bible it is the voice of God speaking to us.

“The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Psalm 33:5.

“All things were made by Him (The Son of God) and without Him, was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3.

“Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee:.... the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of Hosts is His name, great in counsel, and mighty in work.” Jer. 32:17, 18, 19.

ML 05/10/1936

God's Gifts

The God of all creation,

Who marks the sparrow’s fall,

Is One who never slumbers,

But watches over all.

He sends the rain and sunshine

To every creature here;

He gives them food and shelter,

And all that life holds dear,

But there’s one gift, dear reader,

That man alone can claim, —

The gift of life eternal

Through faith in Jesus’ Name.

For man alone possesses

A never-dying soul—

A soul that keeps on living

While endless ages roll.

The soul of man by nature

Is sinful and defiled,—

To save itself, as helpless

As any infant child.

But God Himself has given

His well-beloved Son,

A sacrifice most holy,

To cleanse the guilty one.

Believe in Him, dear reader,

Accept this gift divine,

For on His blood relying,

Salvation must be thine.

ML 05/10/1936

What the Bible Tells Us

The Bible tells us Jesus came

From glory, bright and fair—

God’s perfect, sinless, spotless Lamb—

His mercy to declare.

The Bible tells us Jesus died

A sacrifice for sin;

The gates of heaven to open wide,

That we may enter in.

The Bible tells us Jesus rose,

And left the silent grave,

Triumphant over all His foes,

The mighty one to save.

The Bible tells us Jesus lives

Again upon the throne:

The blessed proof the Father gives

That mercy’s work is done.

The Bible tells us Ile will come

To take His saints away,

To dwell with Him in His blest home

Through everlasting day.

The Bible tells us all may come,

And drink at mercy’s stream;

That Jesus soon will share this home

With all who trust in Him.

ML 05/10/1936

Childhood Days

What a merry little group in our picture today. How happy they look, singing, and enjoying the lovely blossoms. How delightful is Spring, when the warmth and sunshine brings life to the apparently dead trees and shrubs. Does it not, dear children, speak to us of the resurrection?

The clays are fast approaching, when many of our boys and girls shall roam the country lanes, wade the brooks, and enjoy the summer sun to their heart’s content.

But remember clear reader, God’s eye is upon you, and He loves you dearly, and would have you to know Him, and accept the Eternal Life He is offering you.

“THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL, THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, WHOM THOU HAST SENT.” John 17:3.

If you know God as your Father, and Jesus Christ as your own dear Saviour, you will realize that you are not your own, you belong to Another, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has bought you with His own precious blood, and so you will try to please Him whether it be in your work or in your play.

“Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Col. 3:77.

ML 05/17/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 1

The book of the prophet Daniel is closely linked in time and otherwise with the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Jeremiah was at Jerusalem, testifying for God until the end of the kingdom of Judah, while Ezekiel was being given the equally important communications of God which occupy the book we have just examined, and while Daniel, taken to Babylon? years before Ezekiel, was being used as a witness for God in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel, the youngest, evidently long outlived the others.

The subjects of the prophecies differ; it may suffice here to remark that while Ezekiel passes over the many centuries of the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:21) to tell of the day of Israel’s coming revival, Daniel is largely concerned with those times, and looks no further than the dawn of that day of Israel’s glory.

Light on the scope of the four “major” prophets (so called because of the length of their prophecies) is reflected in the meaning of their names: Isaiah, “Salvation of Jah” one of the names of God); Jeremiah, “Jah is exalted” (or so it is believed, is the meaning of his name); Ezekiel, “Strength of God”; Daniel, “God is judge.”

The book of Daniel begins at the year 606 B.C. which included parts of the third and fourth years of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, when Jeremiah prophesied concerning the seventy years of captivity which lasted until 536 B. C. (See Jeremiah 25:12; Daniel 9:2).

It was then, among the first spoils of Nebuchadnezzar, idol-worshiping head of the first Gentile empire God permitted to rise when Israel had fulfilled a course to His dishonor, that Daniel and other youths were carried off to Babylon.

Daniel does not speak of his father’s house, but it is evident front verses 3 and 4 that if not of the royal family, he was a son of one of the princes or nobles of Judah. We may with profit compare the experiences of three youths of Scripture in foreign lands, faithful to their God in difficult circumstances: Joseph (Genesis chapters 39-41); Moses (Exodus 2, Hebrews 11:24-27), and Daniel, as we find him in this book.

Daniel (verse 8) purposed in his heart that he would not touch the food of the idolatrous king; he would live in true separation of heart to God, notwithstanding the orders of the king, and the changing of his name to Belteshazzar (“according to the name of my god” as Nebuchadnezzar said of it, chapter 4:8;—Bel is “the keeper of secrets” is believed to be the meaning, Bel being one of the Babylonian gods).

Among the youths taken away by the conqueror were three others of like mind with Daniel; of the rest we learn nothing in chapter one or thereafter.

God honored the faith of Daniel, and the other three (verses 9, 17, 19, 20) and gave them not only favor in the sight of the king and his servants, but knowledge and skill in all learning-and wisdom.

“Them that honor Me I will honor.” 1 Samuel 2:30.

ML 05/17/1936

"Warranted to Remove All Stains"

As I opened my door one morning, I found on the steps a handbill advertising a wondrous preparation for the removal of all stains in cloth—sure to do it—never known to fail.”

I read it, and thought of other stains more foul—stains that had struck into the textures of life, and left a sorry mark upon soul and character—guilty stains. Who is without some of these?

O, what effort is made to keep them out of sight cover them up—washing “with nitre!” But the spots stick; they will not come out. Much management may keep them out of others’ sight that the garment of life is made to look tolerably respectable; but, alas! they glare out, and bring discomfort and terror. One’s very effort to conceal them often makes them the more prominent, and directs attention to them.

Now, what a sale might be made of some mixture that would “take out the stains of sin.” What a market it would find!

Is there anything that will do this?

Yes, a fountain, and—

“Sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.”

Is it near?

Yes, close at hand; always accessible.

Is it costly?

“Without money and without price.” None so poor but may wash here and be clean.

Where is it? What is it?

“THE BLOOD OE JESUS CHRIST, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.”

Dear reader, will you try it? If you try it, you will find to your joyful satisfaction that it will just meet your need—the very thing you want.

“Come now, let us reason together saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa. 1:18.

Won’t you come to that fountain? Come now, and you will sing,

“Happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!”

ML 05/17/1936

My

Annie, was telling how she found rest about her sins; two years before this at the close of a meeting.

The gentleman who was preaching, read to them the verse in Isaiah 53 which begins, “He was wounded for our transgressions,” and he told them that he was blessed when he took out the word “our,” and put in the word “my” instead, and bade the children, if they wished to be blessed, to do the same.

Annie went home and opened her Bible at the chapter and put in the “MY.” The verse then read like this: —

“He was wounded for MY transgressions, He was bruised for MY iniquities; The chastisement of MY peace was upon Him;

And with His stripes I am healed.”

She saw that Jesus had done all for her, just for herself, and she could now say, “Jesus is my Saviour.” Can you say that?

ML 05/17/1936

Jesus Christ Is Precious

John Newton, author of the famous “Olney Hymns,” the best known of which is “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”, was the son of a sailor. He was at one time a slave dealer on the African coast. At thirty he was converted to God; at fifty he wrote the hymn, “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds,” which is sung worldwide. He lived to the good old age of eighty-two, and continued preaching to the last. His true joy is rightly indicated by the following incident:

“When he had passed his fourscore years, he continued to preach. As it was with difficulty that he could see to read his manuscript, he took a servant with him into the pulpit, who stood behind him, and with a wooden pointer would trace out the lines. One Sunday morning Newton came to the words in his sermon,

‘Jesus Christ is precious,’ and wishing to emphasize them he repeated,

‘JESUS CHRIST IS PRECIOUS,’ His servant thinking he was getting confused, whispered, ‘Go on, go on, you said that before;’ when Newton, looking round, replied,

‘John, I said that twice, and I am going to say it again;’ then with redoubled force he sounded out the words,

‘JESUS CHRIST IS PRECIOUS.’ “

“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.” 1 Peter 2:7.

ML 05/17/1936

God's Work of Six Days

No. 3

Genesis 1

“In six days the Lord made heaven and earth., the sea, and all that in them is.” Exodus 20:11.

It was by the Word of His power that God spoke and caused the great earth to be created. Later, all was dark, till God spoke these words:

The 1St Day: “Let there be light”, and the light came.

The 2nd Day: God spoke again and set the sky and the clouds above us in its place.

The 3rd Day: Water covered over all the earth, and God spoke that the water should gather into the great oceans and leave the earth dry. Then God spoke for the grass, trees, plants of every kind to grow from the ground. How fresh and beautiful all must have been!

The 4th Day: This day God spoke for the great round sun to be set in the sky to give light and warmth, and also for the moon and all the stars to give the soft light of night.

The 5th Day: Now God spoke bringing fish of so many kinds into the waters: great whales, and little minnows. Also the birds of every: kind were made: great eagles and tiny humming birds.

The 6th Day: The Lord next called every sort of animal to appear. And last of all came the words, “Let us make man”. So man was formed from the dust of the ground and God gave to him the breath of life. Later the first woman was made.

“God saw everything that He had made...Behold, it was very good,” Genesis 1:31.

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.... He spoke and it was done.” Psalms 33:6, 9.

“God, which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; which keepeth truth forever.” Psalms 146:6.

“I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” Isaiah 45:12.

ML 05/17/1936

Sun, Moon and Stars

The moon is very fair and bright,

And seems so very high;

I think it is a pretty sight

To see it in the sky;

It shone upon me as I lay

Until ‘twas almost bright as day.

The stars are very pretty, too,

And scattered all about;

At first there seem a very few,

But soon the rest come out;

I’m sure I could not count them all,

They are so very bright and small.

The sun is brighter still than they,

He blazes in the skies;

I dare not turn my face that way,

Unless I shut mine eyes;

Yet when he shines, our hearts revive,

And all the trees rejoice and thrive.

Christ made and keeps them every one

By His great power and might;

He is more glorious than the sun

And all the stars of light;

Yet, though so great, we, by His grace

Made pure in heart, shall see His face.

ML 05/17/1936

Sparrows

A few years ago a boy, having made a bean-shooter, went out into a field to try it. After looking around for something to shoot, he spied a sparrow perched high up in a tree, chirping sweetly, and quite unconscious of approaching danger. The boy crept softly under the tree until he stood directly under the sparrow. Then he pulled the rubber, which he had loaded with a stone, and struck the poor bird squarely in the breast. It came tumbling down, and lay dead at the boy’s feet.

The boy, who had been taught by godly parents to fear God and His Word, remembered instantly that verse in Matt. 10:29,

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”

“FEAR YE NOT THEREFORE, YE ARE OF MORE VALUE THAN MANY SPARROWS.” Matt. 10:31.

He trembled at the thought of what he had done to one of God’s creatures, whom God provides for and protects. With tears in his eyes, the boy picked up the sparrow, still warm, pressed it to his bosom, saying to himself:

“If only I could give back the life I took!” God only can give life.

But God has shown His love for you in a far greater measure, in His care for you, than only in your daily life:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

ML 05/24/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 2

God had made Israel the center of a world of independent nations having their origin in the dispersion that followed the confusion of tongues (Genesis Chapters 10, 11) but, as we have seen in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they had become so sinful that He disowned and executed judgment upon them, and removed His throne from the earth. He then gave supremacy to a young nation, Babylon (see Jeremiah 27). The times of the Gentiles had now begun.

Chapter 1 is introductory; the second chapter begins the first section of the prophecy, presenting in substance the exterior history of the four successive Gentile empires; the second part, comprising chapters 7 to 12, consists of communications from God to Daniel in which His earthly people are directly concerned.

By means of a dream, God brought to the knowledge of Nebuchadnezzar the course of empire from his day forward, with the judgments that will introduce the universal dominion of Christ. He showed him, too, that though He had committed power to the king, His heart was with the captives of His people, and is them His mind was made known.

In the ordering of God, the king forgot the dream that had so deeply affected him, and he demanded of the wise men of his realm that they tell him what it was, and explain its meaning. They, of course, had to confess their helplessness before such a demand, and Nebuchadnezzar in anger ordered their execution.

Soon learning of what had happened, and that he and his young companions were included with those to be put to death, Daniel’s actions show the unfeigned faith that was in him, The first prayer meeting which the. Scriptures record (verses 16, 17) was followed by the answer given to Daniel, whose heart went out in praise to God ere he sought the presence of the king.

To Nebuchadnezzar Daniel spoke of a God whom the heathen ruler had not known, Who reveals secrets, and Who was making known to him things that were to be. As for himself, Daniel disclaimed any wisdom more than any others.

The image the king had seen represented dominion in the hands of men. Beginning at the head of gold (Babylonia) there would follow a second empire (Persia); a third (Macedonia or Greece); and a fourth (Rome). Chapter 5:28 marks the end of the first empire and the beginning of the second, and chapter 8:21 names the third empire, which had not begun when the Old Testament was completed. The fourth empire was in existence when the Lord was on earth (Luke 2:1). It will reappear, but meet His judgment at His coming again.

The succeeding empires from Babylonia were inferior, each in turn, to what had gone before; this was not in the extent of their dominions, but in the limiting of the ruler’s power, and in the lessening splendor of the court.

In verse 44 the reference to “the days of these kings” has to do with the last (future) form of the Roman empire, when there will be both an emperor and subordinate kings.

ML 05/24/1936

Converted Schoolboys

Let us have half-an-hour’s talk together, boys. Let us be thankful that we have a covert from the storm that rages without, and more thankful still, for a shelter from “the wrath to come.”

“You all profess to be saved I hear. Are you all truly converted?”

A look along the semi-circle of ten bright boys—then a hearty “Yes, sir, all saved.”

“Praise the Lord for that. It’s truly grand to be saved in the golden days of youth; to be openly and boldly on the Lord’s side; witnesses, walkers, workers, and warriors in the kingdom of God.

I know a number of converted schoolboys, and some of their trials and triumphs too. No doubt some of you find it pretty hard lines to be at school, surrounded by unconverted schoolmates, with temptations on every side. I know well what it means, but what I want to put before you is, that the Lord is stronger than all your foes, and able to keep you happy and whole-hearted for Him, even at school.

In the face of all this, do you think there is any fear of you being overcome? Not one bit, as long as you trust in Christ and cleave to Him. He will not fail you, He will riot forsake you. You may count upon Him giving you the victory.

But mind, this is not to make you self-confident or careless. If you put yourself foolishly into the way of temptation, or mix up with ungodly company, He has not promised to keep you then.

Never try how near you can walk to sin, or how far you can go with those who serve the devil. Give them a wide berth. Stand out clear for Christ. Confess Him as your Lord everywhere, and always. Never shrink from openly confessing His name. Never shirk the Cross. The truly happy Christian boy is the out-and-out disciple of Christ.

“Kept by the power of God,” is a text for you for every day. Hang it up beside your bed; have a look at it every morning as you go out for the day. Think of it during its busy hours, and lie down on it as your pillow at night, singing praise to God.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” Romans 1:16.

ML 05/24/1936

God Heard That

Please, don’t abuse God’s name; for don’t you know God loves us so, that He sent His dear Son to die for us?”

“There is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.” Psalm 139:4.

A little boy not yet six years old, who had been with his father and mother to the country, after returning home in the evening, said to his mother, “Mother, Willie B. —swore!”

“And what did you say?” he was asked. “I said, ‘God heard that.’”

What a reproof in these words! All little boys and girls should think of that when they are tempted to use any words which they know are wrong. Remember, although your father and mother may not hear you, God hears all you say.

ML 05/24/1936

"I Love the Lord Jesus Now"

A lady was walking in her garden one day, and she was startled by seeing a neighbor’s boy among the apple trees, —looking, as she thought, for some fruit; for she knew he was not a very good boy. However, before she could speak, the boy lifted up his head, and with a beaming face said,

“I am only looking for a ball, ma’am. I love the Lord Jesus now, and I could not take anything that is not my own; so do not be afraid of me.”

The lady was only too glad to learn that the boy had just been brought to know Jesus.

May you, dear children, know, as the little boy did, the love of Jesus in your hearts, and may the power of it show itself in your consciences as it did in his, teaching him that what he could do before (such as taking what did not belong to him), he could not do now, for his Saviour’s sake.

“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.” Eph. 1.

ML 05/24/1936

The Beautiful Garden

No. 4

Genesis 2 and 3

The first man and woman who lived on this earth were Adam and Eve. God gave them their home in a most beautiful garden, called Eden, in a part of the world we now call Asia. A river flowed from the garden to water the trees and plants. There were no weeds or thorns among the lovely plants, and God gave the fruit of all to them for food, except from one tree. Of that, Adam was told not to eat.

Adam gave names to all the birds and animals. There must have been much. pleasure for them to see and learn of all in such a lovely place, and best of all the Lord Himself talked with them.

We do not know how long they lived so happily. But one sad day Eve listened to an evil voice, the voice of Satan, which spoke by a serpent, and made her think that it would be good to eat of that tree of which God had warned them not to She believed the words of Satan, a wicked one, instead of the Lord who had made her, and took of the fruit for herself and also gave to Adam.

But instead of this making them better, it made them afraid, and when God wand to talk with them, they hid among the trees. He then told the serpent it must ever after crawl on the ground. He told Eve she must have sorrow; and Adam, that there would now be thorns and thistles among his plants, and that there would come a time when he must die.

They had made themselves clothes of fig’ leaves—but the Lord pitied them, and made them better ones of skins. He provided a substitute to die instead of the them, which was a picture of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for sinners. But God must send them out of the garden, to keep them from eating of another tree, called “the tree of life,” which would cause them to live forever, sinful and afraid. And an angel with a sword of fire was placed to guard that tree.

ML 05/24/1936

Adam and Eve

Once, in a pleasant garden,
God placed a happy pair;
And all within was peaceful,
And all around was fair.

But, O! they disobeyed Him!
The one thing He denied
They longed for, took, and tasted;
They ate it, and—they died!

Yet, in His love and pity,
At once the Lord declared
How man, though lost and ruined,
Might after all be spared!

For One of Eve’s descendants,
Not sinful, like the rest,
Should spoil the work of Satan,
And man be saved and blest, —

Should be the Son of Adam,
But Son of God as well,
And bring a full salvation
From sin and death and hell.

Caught in a Trap

Poor little mouse has been caught in a trap, and now one of the little girls has gone after the cat and brought her to catch the little mouse as soon as they open the door of the trap and let it out.

A trap is a good thing for such a little destructive creature as a mouse, and God who is righteous, allows snares to be brought upon the wicked. They think they can go on without Him and do just as they please and forget that all they have, they have received from Him, so God lets them fall into a trap that they might learn what weak and foolish things they are.

The one therefore who puts His trust in the Lord for salvation, and then goes to Him about every step in his path, will be preserved from getting into traps or snares.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” Psa. 91:1-3.

May you not only put your trust in the Lord for your salvation, but for all your ways, and He will preserve you from falling into many a trap or snare that the wicked one would have for your feet.

“IN GOD HAVE I PUT MY TRUST: I WILL NOT BE AFRAID WHAT MAN CAN DO UNTO ME.” Psa. 56:11.

ML 05/31/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 3

In chapter 2 we have seen a man, Nebuchadnezzar, exalted by God to the highest position of authority on earth; the third chapter shows what that man shortly did with the authority he derived from God. No doubt he thought lie was doing the wisest thing for the good of his empire, in seeking to unite all his subjects in the bond of one common religion.

We can see that purpose at work in certain countries at the present time, and it will be tried again before the Lord Jesus descends in power to take rule over the whole world.

There was everything for the sight and hearing in the display in the plain of Dura. An image of gold ninety feet high, and nine feet in breadth, surrounded by all the chief and petty rulers of the empire, and with a great variety of musical instruments sounding their notes, were enough to impress anyone not in the secret of the true God.

Three only, it seems (for Daniel at least was not there) of the many of Nebuchadnezzar’s, servants who were present, failed to prostrate themselves before the colossal image, and these were quickly detected and reported to the king. Their failure to bow down would be particularly offensive to him, because of the prominent place they had in the government of the province of Babylon.

All must accept the religion imposed by the sovereign, or die, He asks the three Hebrew believers in the only true God if they will not worship the idol, threatening them with death in the Barnes of the furnace, but there is no yielding on their part. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego raise no protest, it will be seen, against the authority of the king, or his wicked plans.

Their trust is in their God whom they serve, and He is able to deliver them; “and He will deliver us out of thy hand, O king,” though they did not know how that would be accomplished — perhaps through death. But if He should not overcome Nebuchadnezzar’s power with His own, these faithful men were ready to give up their lives. The king’s decree was such that God must be obeyed rather than himself (Acts 5:29).

The impotence of man in the presence of God is shortly seen, when the three objects of the king’s diabolical rage are observed to be walking, unharmed, in the midst of the flames; and further, completing Nebuchadnezzar’s confounding, there is a fourth with them. We note the heathen king’s description of this Person. No mere man did he see; and there can scarcely he doubt that He who walked in the fire with His faithful servants was none other than the Son of God.

Deeply affected, frightened indeed, by the answer of God to the treatment accorded His witnesses, Nebuchadnezzar begs them to come forth. The God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego he now acknowledges a second time, and declares that none may speak amiss concerning Him. The three are promoted in the province—a testimony to their faithfulness which they could not have anticipated.

ML 05/31/1936

Remember Thy Creator

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” Eccl. 12.1.

This verse means that while we are young, we constantly think of the God who made us, and gives us all the good things we enjoy. This will make us love Him, and desire to please Him, just like little children who remember a kind father, love him, and desire to please him.

If we remember God as our Creator, when we are young, we shall not forget Him when we are old. But it is not remembering God, as our Creator, that will save us from being lost as sinners. As mere creatures we are all under condemnation, because of sins that we have committed, but thinking of God’s goodness to us as our Creator will tell us nothing as to how our sins are to be put away.

In order to be sure of being saved, we must think of Jesus on the cross, and “His blood that cleanseth from all sins.” Therefore Jesus does not say, “Remember thy Creator,” but “Remember Me,” because. He is thinking of us as sinners, and He knows that to remember His dying love is the only way to make us happy, when we think about our sins.

As creatures then, we are to remember God, the Creator.

As sinners, we must remember Jesus, the Redeemer.

Little readers, think of these two “Remembers,” but most of all the last.

ML 05/31/1936

Obedience

Mother,” said Elizabeth one day, “I wish I were you; you do not have to obey any one.”

“You are mistaken, my darling. There is One whom

I seek to obey and fear to grieve.”

“O, I understand. You mean God, mother. But does He require of you very difficult things?”

“Sometimes.”

“What, mother I would like to know?”

“To deny myself, for instance; to fulfill my duty toward you without weakness or murmuring; to be to you and your brothers a kind, patient mother, and to bring you up for Him.”

“I do not see how you can bring us up for Him?”

“It means that I am responsible to show you the way of salvation and to teach you to love and serve the Lord.”

“If you did not do it, mother, would God punish you?”

“Yes, in this way. Not having brought you up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, I would soon have the sorrow of seeing you grow up in indifference to God, and in sin, Sometimes, also, God chastises weak or negligent parents in a more marked and terrible way. I have told you the story of Eli, and in what way his sons perished, and he with them, because he had failed to correct and chastise them.”

“Then, mother, when you punish us are you obeying God?”

“Yes, darling, and that is certainly my most painful duty toward you.”

Elizabeth sat for a while in silence, then leaning over, she threw her arms around her mother’s neck saying:

“I was pretty sure you did not punish me because you are angry with me, for the other day, when I was so naughty and you sent me to my room, I saw your eyes were full of tears. That shamed me so, I resolved I would try not to pain you any more, I knelt clown when you had all gone for your walk and asked God to make me obedient.”

How good it is, clear reader, to do as this, little girl did, and that is, in the consciousness of utter weakness in yourself to do what is right, go to the Lord and be cast upon Him for all your ways and He alone can keep you, and enable you to do what is right. But first you must receive Him as your own personal Saviour.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

ML 05/31/1936

The First Children

Genesis, Chapter 4

Do you know the name of the first child in this world: It was Cain, the oldest child of Adam and Eve. The second child was Abel, his younger brother. When they grew to be men, Cain kept fields and a garden, and Abel was a keeper of sheep.

At that time they were to bring an offering of an animal which, after it was killed, was to be burned on an altar for the Lord above to see, as we believe God had told them. And Abel did this, bringing’ one of the best of his flock, and we read that God accepted Abel’s sacrifice. He owned to God that he was a sinner, and offered a sacrifice for his sins, which spoke to God of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was a sacrifice on Calvary’s cross for all who will receive Him as their own Saviour.

But Cain brought fruit front a cursed earth to give to God, and this did not please Him. Cain did not care to obey what God had said, and did his own way. Yet he was very angry because his fruit did not please God. And although the Lord spoke to him, and told him he could still bring an offering, Cain would not do so.

After that, while the two brothers were in the field, Cain became so angry because Abel’s offering had been accepted and his had not, that he killed his brother, Abel. God saw this terrible deed, and again spoke to Cain. But Cain was not sorry, so the Lord said he must leave his fields and be a wanderer on the earth.

Was it good for Cain to choose his own way, instead of God’s? Surely not.

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good.” Prov. 15:3.

“Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore shew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” 1 John 3:11,12.

“And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. 1 John 3:23.

ML 05/31/1936

Do You Ever Pray?

Children, do you ever pray?
Hark! One answers— “No, not I,
‘Twill be time enough to pray,
Just when I’m about to die.”

Say not so! how many pass
Quickly from this world below
In a moment some are called
To the dark, dark grave to go.

You may, perhaps, yourselves have known
Children young and light and gay,
In a moment called to go
From this wicked world away.

O, bethink you! turn to Jesus!
Listen to His voice today;
Only those who, Christ receive
Can with true acceptance pray.

Then shall faith and prayer and praise
Cheer you as through life you roam;
Heir of glory, child of grace,
Peace your portion, heaven your home!

ML 05/31/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for April

“The Children’s Class”

1. “For even the,” etc. Mark 10:45.

2. “For whosoever,” etc. 3:35.

3.“Whosoever therefore,” etc. 8:38,

4.“And when he had,” etc. 6:41.

5.“And straightway,” etc. 1:10.

6.“So then after,” etc. 16:19

7.“And when ye shall,” etc. 13:7.

Bible Questions for June

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Luke,

Chapters 13-24

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Thus it behoved Christ to suffer.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “justified rather than the other.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Accounted worthy to escape all these things.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Sit thou on my right hand.” it.

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Occupy till I come.”

7. During how many years did the owner of the vineyard come seeking fruit on his fig tree and finding none?

Answers to the Bible Questions for April

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1. Because the person “belongs to Christ.” Mark 9:41.

2.“To every man his work.” Mark 13:34.

3.“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16.

4.The hardness of the heart of the Jews. Mark 3:5.

5.The evil within that comes out. Mark 7:20.

6.Hinders our receiving the Father’s forgiveness. Mark 11:26.

7.“Truly this man was the Son of God.” Mark 15:39.

Bible Questions for June

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Luke 13-24

1. When will believers be rewarded for their kindness to the poor and unfortunate?

2. Of whom is it said that they cannot die? How did the thief show he was truly repentant?

3.What proof did the Lord give of His actual bodily resurrection?

4.What may overcharge the believer’s heart?

5. What injunction did the Lord leave with the ten servants?

6.What was the last parting attitude of our Lord?

ML 06/07/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 4

In the first three chapters of this prophecy we have seen Nebuchadnezzar the idolater. In this one, where he appears for the last time, we discover a great change; the worshiper of idols, the proud man of the world, has been humbled, is now a servant of the true God. He tells the story in his proclamation which fills chapter 4. Being practically a world-wide ruler, he addresses his words to “all the peoples, nations and languages, that dwell in all the earth,” and begins with “Peace be multiplied unto you”—almost a Christian message.

His purpose in writing is stated in verse 2; the “high God’’ is the “Most High God”, as in verses 17, 24, 25 and 34. This name of God first appears in Genesis 14:17-24, referring to Him as the possessor of heaven and earth; that title will be exercised by and by, as the demons know (Acts 16:16-18); then Gentile kings will acknowledge the true God as Nebuchadnezzar did at the close of the events of which he tells here.

The great ruler, occupying a more exalted place than any Gentile before him, had profited not at all by the things he had heard and seen concerning the God of Israel, though impressed for a (chapters 2:47 and 3:24-30), God was, however, going to show him mercy. He dreamed, and the dream, he confesses, made him afraid (verse 5). The men to whom He looked for an interpretation of the dream, failed him; Daniel seems to have been forgotten at first, and we need not wonder at this, for the believer who walks before God is not much in the thoughts of the men of this world.

Verse 9: “Master of the magicians” is rightly “master of the scribes” or writers. In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream a great image, the head of which represented himself and the empire of Babylon; here he views a great tree (verses 10-12) which also represented himself, as he presently learned from Daniel. But the tree, by the decree of the watchers and the word of the holy ones—angelic powers acting for God (see verse 24)—was to be hewn down, leaving only the stump with a band of iron and brass. His portion (for in the latter portion of verse 15 the reference to a man becomes plain) is to be with the beasts; his heart is to be changed to a beast’s, and seven times (which may have been 7 years) are to pass over him thus.

Twelve months, passed, and the stroke fell as the king was walking in (or on) the royal palace, boasting about himself (verse 30). The words he spoke in Babylon were heard in the presence of God; the time for repentance was over. At the end Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes unto the heavens and his understanding returned.

Now he blessed the Most High in language totally new to him (verses 34-37), the language of faith. His throne has been held for him, and he is reestablished in the rule of the empire. Firstly he extols God as the “King of the heavens”, for He is not now openly ruling the earth; He has given authority to the Gentiles, giving up His throne at Jerusalem until the day of the Lord introduces a new dealing with the world.

ML 05/07/1936

"Be in Time"

Some, time ago I was at a gospel meeting, where the preacher gave out a hymn, the only words of which I can recall being,

“Be in Time, Be in Time.”

They ring in my ears all day, and now I am going to pass them on to you, and also tell you of a little incident, that strangely enough, took place on the very morning before the preaching.

I had occasion to travel by train on that day, and happily had plenty of time to take my ticket, and watch the train whizz into the station.

I took my seat, and soon I felt the train moving. At that very instant the porter cried, “Hurry up!” and hot and panting a young girl rushed along the platform, and was pushed into the next coach by him, at the same time receiving warning to “be in time” another day.

Hardly was she seated, when a lady, who had been studying the books on the stall for at least ten minutes, turned round, saw the train moving, and sprang forward with a cry, “Is that the M train?”

“Stand back!” shouted the guard. “Stop the train, stop the train! I must get to M!”

“Too late, madam,” said the porter, and he laid a detaining hand on her arm.

The train was now well out of the station, and I turned from the window to hear the remark of an old woman in the corner,

“Well, now, if she wasn’t silly— with them porters calling out ‘M.’ in her ears!”

She was silly, but I felt sorry for that lady. She evidently meant to “be in time,” for that train—but she lost it! How sad!

Now, children, don’t you forget the lesson you may learn from this little incident. Let your ears be open to the gospel-cry going on all round you, and answer it.

Do not even be like the girl who just caught it, but be in time yourself, and then help others to catch the train too.

Remember, you are at the door of eternity, and have other work to do than to trifle away time.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2.

ML 06/07/1936

The Oldest Man

Genesis 5:21-28

Do you know the name of the man who lived longer than any other on this earth? It is a hard name, Me-thu-se-lah. Very few now live to be one hundred years, but this man lived nine hundred and sixty five years. We do not know much to tell of him, but since he lived before Adam died, he must have known better than we the wonderful works of creation; all about the garden of Eden; about the tree of life; the flaming sword, and about Cain and Abel. He was the grandfather of Noah, and died the year of the great flood.

There is something special to tell of Methuselah’s father, for we are told that he did not die—but that when he was four hundred and thirty years old, the Lord took him to heaven. Enoch was one who believed God’s words, and did His way. He told the people the right ways, and how God must punish them for their sins.

Also Enoch told them of judgment that is yet to come, when the Lord Jesus will come to this earth with ten thousands of Ellis saints to judge all of the ungodly—all those who had not accepted Him as their Saviour and Lord (Jude 14, 15).

So you can remember these two men of so long ago, Methuselah, the oldest man; and Enoch, his father, who did not die.

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withered”, and the flower thereof failed” away: But the Word of the Lord endureth forever.” 1 Pet. 1:24, 25.

ML 06/07/1936

Counting the Day's Receipts

Many boys have to go out to earn their own food, and perhaps can earn only a few pennies each day. At night they sit down to count the earnings of the day, and find out how much can be bought with them.

I wonder how many boys and girls sit down to count their sins. How many they are, and what shall we do with them! We cannot go to heaven with them, but if we will accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, He will take them all away.

“THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN.”1 John 1:7.

ML 06/07/1936

Christ's Precious Blood

Christ’s precious blood has ransomed me,

From Satan’s mighty hand,

And through each day, where’er I stray,

‘Tis by His grace I stand.

I cleave to Him with all my heart,

And take Him all my care,

For well I know the mighty foe

Can never harm me there.

Be this my joy, whate’er the trial,

Of prison, fire or sword;

Whatever foes beset my path,

My Refuge is the Lord.

ML 06/07/1936

The Pool of Bethesda

This quiet, peaceful pool surrounded by rocks and beautiful trees, looks very inviting.

I wonder how many of you little readers know about the Pool of Bethesda! We are told about it in the 5th chapter of John’s Gospel. This pool was at Jerusalem, and had five porches. Many years ago, when the Lord Jesus was on earth, any one passing by this pool would have seen a great crowd of people on these porches. What do you suppose they were doing there? Why do you suppose they had come or been brought to these porches around the pool? Our chapter tells us that at times an angel went down into the pool and stirred up the water.

The one who got in first was cured. If he was sick, he became well. If he was blind, he could see after he stepped into the water. If he was lame, he could walk all right again.

When Jesus was here He cured a great many sick people, because they had faith in Him, and believed He was able to make them well.

Many of us have strong healthy bodies, and don’t need to be cured, like the people who waited at the Pool of Bethesda. But we all have sinful, bad hearts that we cannot make good of ourselves, but Jesus is just as able to cleanse us from our sins, as He is to heal our diseases. If we have faith in Him, our sins are forgiven.

“IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, EVEN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.” Col. 1:14.

ML 06/14/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 5

Nebuchadnezzar’s long reign—exceeding 43 years—came to an end when he died in B. C. 561 or 562. The capture of Babylon mentioned in this chapter occurred about 24 years after the great king’s death. Belshazzar was a grandson of his.

It is thought that the “great feast” had been an annual event; on this occasion it took place when the powerful army of the Medes and Persians was assembled outside the walls of the city, preparing to break in under cover of night upon the inhabitants who thought the defenses perfect. God had pronounced judgment upon Babylon before ever the later empire was founded (Isaiah chapters 13, 21,16, and 47) and again during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (Jeremiah 25), but its end and the king’s death came as God’s swift answer to a daring insult, offered to Him by Belshazzar at the banquet here told of.

Nebuchadnezzar had been permitted, because of Judah’s deeply sinful state, to take the vessels of the temple at Jerusalem to Babylon, and to place them in the house of his god (chapter 1:2). There they evidently remained, undisturbed for nearly seventy years, until his grandson ordered them brought out for use it the feast he had made. Out of the vessels the king, his princes, his wives, and his concubines drank wine and praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone.

This daring act, this crowning sin against God, brought an answer the same hour, written on the wall of the banquet hall before the king’s eyes. Terror seized him as he gazed; the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other; he cried aloud to bring in the wise men of Babylon, offering a great reward for the reading of the writing and its interpretation. The words were Chaldean, and plain to all there who could read, but the wise men were baffled. Was it not because the natural mind does not receive the things of the Spirit of God? (1 Cor. 2:14).

The queen, really the queen-mother, now entered the scene of the feast, and spoke of the forgotten Daniel who, when sent for, at once told Belshazzar what in fact the young ruler knew concerning his ancestor (verses 18-21.) In fewer words the aged prophet told the king what his course had been; no offer of mercy, nor counsel for repentance as had been given Nebuchadnezzar (chapter 4:27) was included; the judgment of God, long withheld was about to be executed.

The words Belshazzar saw were, in English, “Numbered, numbered, weighed, divided.” Peres and upharsin have the same meaning; the former is the singular, the latter the plural form of the word.

ML 06/14/1936

A Saviour for Children

There is a Saviour for children. He has saved many, and is still saving all who come to Him. And any boy or girl may come to Him.

He is not calling for good children—He knows that all children have clone wrong; but He calls children just as they are—sinful children—to come to Him. And all who come receive His blessing. Never yet did He refuse one who came. He has welcomed and blessed all who have turned to Him. And He says,

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37.

I have known many boys and girls who having found out that they needed salvation, have looked to the Lord Jesus and have found peace and happiness in trusting Him.

Some of them have come fearing that they would be left behind at His coming. And now they know that they will be with Him forever.

Some have come because they felt their need of a Friend. And now they know that He who is the Friend of sinners is their Friend.

Some have come that they might be saved from the power of sin. And now they are able to walk so as to please God.

All have found much more than they sought when they came. And all who have come are only sorry that they did not come before.

Will you not come to Finn? He calls you just as you are.

“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near.” Isa. 55:6.

ML 06/14/1936

Freddie's Sermon

Freddie was a very small boy; his father was a minister, and used to tell people about Jesus, how He came down from heaven to this sinful world to die in the sinner’s place.

Freddie had often heard his father preach, and one day he looked up earnestly at him, and said, “Fweddie wants to peach.” His father answered,

“Freddie is too young to preach.”

But Freddie could not rest, and the whole week he kept on saying,

“Fweddie wants to peach.”

When Sunday came, his father, thinking that it would quiet him, said,

“You may come up into the pulpit with me if you sit very still.”

But even this did not satisfy Freddie, for he still said,

“Fweddie wants to peach.”

So the father stood up and told the congregation that his little boy had been worrying him all week because he wanted to preach. Then he lifted Freddie up so that he could see the people. At first Freddie felt frightened at seeing so many faces, but he said slowly,

“Fweddie wants to tell you Fweddie loves Jesus.”

That was Freddie’s sermon; only a few words, but it went home to the heart of one old man who was over seventy years of age. He was quite broken down at the thought of a little child loving Jesus when he did not, and this was the means of his being brought to know Jesus as his Saviour, and to love Him.

Dear children who read this true story, if you know and love Jesus, you too, may be little ministers. I do not mean that you may speak to large congregations from a pulpit, but you may tell your friends of the Saviour you love, and you may be the means of bringing them to know and love Him too.

“Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 10:32.

ML 06/14/1936

I Must Tell the Lord

A poor slave who was being threatened by his master, that he would punish him if he attended the preaching, replied, with respect and gentleness,

“I must tell the Lord that.”

This saying wrought so powerfully on the master’s mind, that he not only permitted him to go, but likewise all the slaves in his house, and afterward attended himself, and brought his wife with him.

As there are many little boys and girls who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and are treated unkindly by those who have “no fear of God before their eyes,” such may learn a lesson from the slave, and, without replying as he did, be led to cast all their cares upon Him who cares for them, and pray for those who are unkind to them, that they may be granted repentance unto life.

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Matt. 5:44.

ML 06/14/1936

A Great Ship

Genesis, Chapter 6

Long ago, men in this world lived to be much older than now, but instead of growing better, they were more and more-wicked. They knew all the wonderful works of God and His goodness, but they would not honor or obey Him. The Lord was very patient with them, but at last He said all must come to an end by a great flood.

One man, named Noah, believed God, and God told him to build the big ship, called the ark, which means a safe place. All in that ark should be kept alive when the dreadful storm came. God told Noah how long, how wide and how high to make it. There were to be a lower, a second, and a third story, so as to hold many animals and birds besides people, with food for all.

“God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence ... Behold I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher-wood, rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch.” Gen, 6:13,14.

“Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” Gen. 6:22.

To build such a boat took many years, and Noah must have had help, He talked of the storm to come, but no one believed it.

At last all was ready, and seven days before the great rain began, God called for Noah and his family and the animals to enter the ark. There were seven pairs of the animals and birds which were good for food to be taken in, and two of those not used for food, and the creeping things. What a long line of animals there must have been!

But only eight persons went in—the ones who believed God and wanted a safe place. The Lord shut the door of the ark, and the rain began to fall, and the waters to come also front the great oceans onto the land.

All people outside of the ark were drowned. The way of escape was provided, but they would not believe God. The ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, our place of safety from the judgment of God that will soon come on this poor world for rejecting the Saviour, whom God has given us. Must not those people who had not, believed, then cried out in fear?

ML 06/14/1936

The Hand of God

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand?” Isaiah 40:12.

After reading these words a little boy said,

“Father, if I were out to sea, and fell overboard, I should still be safe.”

“What makes you think so?” asked his father.

“Because I should still be in the hand of God,’’ replied the little boy.

ML 06/14/1936

Learning to Walk

What affectionate interest and tender care these parents are showing in their tottering babe! Flow they love to see the first attempts to walk.

If we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, He has told us in His Word (the Bible) how He would like to have His children walk while we are in this world;

“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,” Col. 1:10.

“That ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you into His kingdom and glory,” 1 Thess. 2:12.

“He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walketh.” 1 John 2:6.

“WALK IN LOVE, AS CHRIST ALSO HATH LOVED US.” Eph. 5:2.

If we feel our weakness and inability to walk in all things pleasing to Him, let us tell Him so, and He will give us the strength to walk before Him.

ML 06/21/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 6

Darius the Mede, the last king of Media, known to historians as Astyages, took the throne of the Medo-Persian empire. Together with Cyrus the Persian he had captured Babylon, and what had been the Babylonian empire ceased to exist.

The Babylonian government under Nebuchadnezzar practically centered in the king alone; all the power was in his hands. The Medo-Persian empire which followed was governed by kings with a large measure of power, but limited by laws which could not be changed; the responsibilities committed to 120 princes and 3 presidents under Darius seem to have been without counterpart in the Babylonian system.

It was these presidents and princes who led the king unwittingly, in their jealousy of Daniel, into making a decree which, apart from God’s intervention, would have cost that faithful man his life.

Daniel, in all the glimpses which the Scriptures give of him, from youth, when carried off to Babylon, to old age, under Darius the Mede, lived for God, let the circumstances be what they might. When the jealous overseers sought to find occasion against him they failed (verse 4), and they concluded that he could only be got rid of by reason of his faithfulness to God.

With a flattering proposal they came before Darius; he was for thirty days to take the place of God, to have all the prayers and petitions of his subjects directed to himself. If, as we must suppose, Darius was a stranger to the true and living God, the crafty scheme of these servants, of the devil would find him an easy victim. Their plan, indeed, seems to have met with quick success (verse 9).

And now we are directed to observe the behavior of Daniel, he would honor the king’s decrees, but he must give God His place, which the king had now usurped; it was a question of God or the king, which? The prophet was therefore on his knees pouring out his heart to his God just as before the decree was written. The listening presidents and princes came to Daniel’s house to make sure of his praying, and betook themselves to Darius, confident now of the success of their scheme.

The king-evidently had not considered Daniel in connection with his decree; thinking very highly of him (verse 3) and knowing him to be a faithful servant of the living-God (verses 16-20), he now tried his best to save him from the horrible death which that decree provided. It was in vain; the law must stand, and the presidents and princes made it quite plain that they intended to see Daniel cast into the lion’s den. It was done; but at break of day the king, after a sleepless night, went in haste to the place, hoping that Daniel might, in sonic miraculous fashion, have been preserved.

“Hath thy God, whom thou servest continually, been able to save thee from the lions?”, is his mournful inquiry.

Overjoyed at Daniel’s answer from the lion’s den (verses 21, 22), Darius ordered his release, and the presidents and princes having-shown very plainly that they had deliberately planned Daniel’s death, the king commanded that they and their families be committed to the ferocious animals. Then he published a decree which betokens stronger convictions than those of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 3:2.

ML 06/21/1936

He Knows and Loves Us Still

How many little ones, yes, and bigger ones, too, can enter into the feelings of a little girl I want to speak of?

She had been sent, at her own request, to a boarding school, arid, having a willful and naughty temper, was soon in disgrace with all there.

One day, having been unusually rebellious, she was banished from her schoolfellows for the rest of the day. The following morning she was utterly ashamed to meet anyone, and remained in her room as long as she dared. Reaching the dining-room, however, she was greatly surprised to be greeted with a kind “Good morning” from someone seated there.

“Ah,” she thought, “he does not know about me, how naughty I have been, or he would not speak to me.”

She afterwards found he did know, and he held a warm place in her heart after that.

Children, are you afraid to meet God because He knows all about you? Do you wish He did not know? Listen, then: He knows and loves you still! No sinful thought or deed is unknown to God, but He sent His own dear Son for the naughty ones, like you and me, and Jesus bore the punishment for us.

“O, ‘twas love, ‘twas wondrous love!
The love of God to me;
It brought my Saviour from above,
To die on Calvary”

If we can sing these lines with our hearts, then we can thank Him that He knows all about us, and loves us still.

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Heb. 4:13.

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:8.

ML 06/21/1936

Saved to Serve

I met a little fellow at a Children’s Service giving out hymn books at the hall door. As he handed me one, I asked him,

“Can you tell me what became of Noah’s carpenters, the men who helped to build the Ark, but did not enter it themselves?” He answered seriously,

“They were drowned.” To press the matter home, I asked,

“And what will become of those who give hymn books and help in meetings, who are not themselves saved?”

“They will perish,” was the answer.

“Will you?”

A smile played on his cheery face, and brightly the answer came,

“No, I’m in Christ.”

I learned he had been saved two years, and was an earnest worker for the Lord, —a helper in this way, —saved to serve.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man. should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Eph. 2:8, 9, 10.

ML 06/21/1936

"It Will Put You Right"

Walking along the road, I was overtaken by a man, of whom I asked my way. After telling me, I offered him a tract.

“O,” he said, “I see the road you are going.”

“Yes,” I replied, “it is a blessed thing to be on the road to heaven.” He assented, and then went on to say,

“I was converted six years ago by a paper like this, which was blown between my feet. It was a windy day, and something seemed to say to me,

‘Pick it up, and it will put you right,’ so I had to turn back and pick it up. It had a hymn printed on it, called,

‘I always go to Jesus,’

“My conscience asked, Do you always go to Jesus? I was obliged to own I did not, so I went to Him then, and He saved me.”

“Well,” I said, “do you ever have doubts or fears now?” He owned that he had.

“Why do you not look at the receipt, then?” I asked him.

“So I do,” he replied.

“What is it?” I asked,

“Why, the blood of Christ,” was the reply.

“No,” said I; “that is the money the debt is paid with; the receipt is the risen Christ. God has raised Him for our justification, and His resurrection is the full discharge, or the receipt for the debt we owed.”

“Well,” he replied, “I never saw that before.”

Dear young reader, are you a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus?

ML 06/21/1936

The Great Flood and the Rainbow

Genesis, Chapters 7 and 8

God once sent a great flood on this earth because of the wickedness of the people, and only Noah and his family were saved in the great boat, the ark. There had never been such a storm before. The heavy rain fell for forty clays and forty nights, every day the water coming up higher and higher, till even the highest hills and mountains were covered.

What dreadful sorrow there must have been among the people who would not go into the ark, as they would try to get to dry places, but would soon find all covered with water! Every man, woman and child on the earth was drowned, and every animal, even the birds died, for their food was covered with water.

The ark floated on the top of the waters, safe through all.

After many clays, God sent a wind to pass over, and the waters became less day by day, till the ark no longer floated but rested on the mountain Ararat, in the country now known as Asia Minor. When the earth was dry, God spoke to Noah to come out of the ark, and his family and all the creatures.

After living in the great boat for nearly a year, Noah and his family were most happy to be free, and thanked trod, who then told them He would never again destroy the earth by a flood, and set the beautiful rainbow in the clouds as a sign to all who see it. God said: “I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth,” Gen. 9:13.

“While the earth remained, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Gen. 8:22.

ML 06/21/1936

His Love

Do you know the Father’s love
Little one?
‘Tis a love that He did prove
By His Son;
When for us that One He gave.
On the tree,
And is waiting now to save
You and me.

Shall we let the time go past
To believe?
Do we want to be the last
To receive
God’s salvation freely given
From above
And a future Home in heaven
Through His love?

ML 06/21/1936

The Storm

My little boy of three and a half years came and sat on my knee and, gazing out of the window, put the following questions to me in a very impressive manner;

“Does God make the light, mamma?”

“Yes, dear, God makes the light to shine into our hearts, and He sits in the heavens, and rules all things.’’

Taking up the last clause of my answer, he again asked with great seriousness,

“Does God sit in the heavens?”—then a pause— “and rule?”

“Yes, dear,” was my answer. Again he inquired,

“Does God rule the seaside water?”

“Yes, ‘He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.’” Psa. 107:29.

Surely, if God rules the troubled waves of the mighty ocean, He is able also to stay the power of the enemy, however fiercely the tempest may rage. That blessed One who once walked upon the stormy waters, is He not able also to steer us safely over life’s tempestuous sea? He only can still its foaming billows, so that we may pass on fearlessly, but He is with us, and we are safe under His protection.

“WHAT TIME I AM AFRAID, I WILL TRUST IN THEE.” Psa. 56:3.

ML 06/28/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 7

Here we begin the study of the second part of the book of the prophet Daniel, in which God communicated His mind concerning coming events directly to His servant. These communications supplement and throw much heavenly light upon the prophetic outline given in the first part of this book.

In chapter 2, God had revealed to Nebuchadnezzar the progressive stages of the history of empires in the hands of the Gentiles, beginning. with that great king, who was viewed as the head of gold, and ending with the appearance of the stone cut out without hands. In passing through chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6, the brevity of these lessons forbade our considering their prophetic character; all that the chapters record is deeply interesting because of the bearing those events had on Daniel and the three companions of, at least, his early years, and because of the revelation they afford of God’s interest in and care for His people. But chapters 3 to 6 mirror the course of Gentile supremacy from the day when God gave up what we may call His earthly throne at Jerusalem, and committed rule to Nebuchadnezzar, until the now rapidly approaching day of the Lord, the Millennium, as it is commonly called.

Reviewing the chapters in the light of prophecy, it is easily seen that in the third we have the record of the first great step taken after imperial power was given to man: the setting up of idolatry on a scale not before attempted; one common religion was ordered for all, for everyone, on pain of a cruel death. In a word, all the power God had entrusted to Nebuchadnezzar was used to deny Him. This principle has continued, in varying degree, throughout the centuries; it is discernible today, and it will appear in full dower when the Holy spirit’s restraining hand is removed (Rev. 13).

Chapter 4 gave the second great mark of Gentile rule: pride, leading to the rejection of all responsibility to God. There have been godly kings and queens, presidents and premiers, but where is the country whose affairs are conducted in subjection to His authority? In the Millennium that will be the rule (Isaiah 49:6, 7, 23; 60:3,10-12; Revelation 21:24-26). Then will the stump of the tree of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream grow again.

Chapter 5 gave us a view of the last phase of the Babylonian empire, and its judgment; it was not merely pride, but insolence to God; treating and His with the fullest contempt and unveiled blasphemy. This will be the character of the last days of Gentile rule also (Rev. 13:5, 6). Chapter 6 affords still another view of the last days, as we may readily see by reference to 2 Thess. 2:4, and Revelation 13:8; man attempting to take the place of God.

Chapter 7 begins the second part of Daniel’s book with a dream and visions given to the prophet in the first year of Belshazzar. The four winds of the heaven tell of God’s providential actions over this world, and the sea is a figure of the world of humanity, as in Revelation 13:1, in a state of confusion. Four great beasts come up from the sea; they represent the four world-empires of which Nebuchadnezzar learned in chapter 2. We are not to suppose that they came forth together; indeed, the language of verses 6 and 7 makes it quite plain that they did not. They are given in historical order, telling of Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

ML 06/28/1936

Lost Mary

A group of happy children belonging to a Sunday school, started off early on a bright day, for their summer outing. By invitation of a wealthy woman, they were to spend the day within her grounds, and have a ramble in the woods. All went on well until the hour had come for returning home. it was arranged that the company should meet in front of the house, sing a few hymns, hear two short addresses, and be presented with prizes by the hostess.

When the children had all gathered, it was found that one little girl named Mary, was missing. When last seen she was gathering flowers in the woods, and although a diligent search was made, Mary could not be found. The company, very reluctantly, had to return home without her, while some of the servants about the place, again set out in search of the missing child. As they were returning along the road, they had to pass a gate and lodge, belonging to the mansion, and who should be standing inside the locked iron gate, but the missing Mary?

She had lost her way, and wandered in the wrong direction, always thinking she would join the other children. When she saw the gate, she thought surely she must be near them then, but alas! it was the wrong gate, and closed, so that she was imprisoned.

The kind-hearted game-keepers spoke a few words of sympathy to Mary, and one of them waited by the gate, while the other ran for a key and opened it. An auto was sent home with her to the village, where she was welcomed by her parents with joy.

Next day when the teacher was speaking to the children, at the close of their usual lesson, he said, pointing to little Mary, who sat on the front seat,

“One of our scholars was lost yesterday, and trying to find her way back, she ran herself into a trap, and was imprisoned between two locked gates. This is very like what all of us are as sinners. First, we are wanderers from God, and next, in seeking to get back to Him, many take ways of their own choosing, with the result, that they become more hopelessly lost than before. Little Mary was delivered by others who went out to seek her, and so Jesus, the Son of God, has come to seek and to save the lost. He has opened the gates of death and judgment, which had closed themselves between its and heaven, and now all who believe on Him are set free, and will ere long be brought to glory.”

The children listened very attentively. The incident of lost and found little Mary, seemed to give point to the gospel, and for many clays they remembered the barred gates and the imprisoned scholar. Mary did not forget it herself, and she now delights to tell the simple story of her early days, to a class of bright little girls, whom she seeks to lead to Jesus, the Saviour of sinners, whose saving grace and delivering power, she has herself known for many years.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isa. 53:6.

ML 06/28/1936

An Apt Argument

An infidel met a Sunday school boy coming home from his class, and inquired,

“What is that in your hand, my boy?”

“A Bible,” answered the boy,

“What do you do with it?”

“It teaches me,” said the boy,

“What does it teach you?”

“It teaches me about God.”

“I do not believe there is a God,”

Astonished, the boy looked him in the face and became the questioner.

“Who, then,” said the boy “made the sun and the moon?”

“They came by mere chance.”

“What! and the stars and everything?”

“Yes,” responded the philosopher; “they all came by chance.”

“And who made your hat?” asked the

boy.

“Why, the hatter, to be sure,”

“And who made the hatter?”

This was too much for the infidel. He

was silenced.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1.

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.” Heb. 11:3.

ML 06/28/1936

Nettie's Morning Song

Nettie went out bright and happy, wheeling her “dolly,” to meet her father who had been absent for a week, and was returning with the morning train. Hastening along the quiet lane which leads from her pretty home, the clear child sang in the gladness of her heart, one of her favorite hymns. A man hearing the sweet voice, was moved to tears.

Once he had known a Christian’s mother’s love, and learned at her knee the story of Jesus.

Nettie’s morning hymn was the first link in the chain that drew him to the Saviour. Nettie was a saved child, she knew Jesus, and her delight was to tell others of Him.

What a blessing you might he to others, if saved yourself. But the first thing is, You must be saved, before you can serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

“He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life.” John 3:36.

ML 06/28/1936

The Raven and the Dove

Genesis 8:6-13

And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which lie had made:

“And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried tip from off the earth.

“Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground:

“But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

“And he stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark:

“And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

“And he stayed yet another seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him anymore.”

ML 06/28/1936

The Ark and the Dove

There was a noble ark
Sailing o’er waters dark
And wide around;
Not one tall tree was seen,
Nor flower, nor leaf of green—
All, all was drowned.

Then a soft wing was spread,
And o’er the billows dread
A meek clove flew;
But on that shoreless tide
No living thing she spied
To cheer her view.

So to the ark she fled,
With weary, drooping head,
To seek for rest;
Christ is thine Ark, my love,
Thou art the tender dove;
Fly to His breast.

ML 06/28/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for May

“The Children’s Class”

1.“And his mercy,” etc. Luke 1:50.

2.“For every tree,” etc. 6:44.

3. “And now also,” etc. 3:9.

4.“But he said,” etc. 11:28.

5.“And he answered,” etc. 8:21,

6.“And on the morrow,” etc. 10:35.

7.“Blessed are those,” etc. 12:37.

Bible Questions for July

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in John,

Chapters 1-10

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “If God were your Father.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Which are not of this fold.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “That great day of the feast.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “I will in no wise cast out.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Hath set to his seal that God is true.”

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Full of grace and truth.”

7.How many porches had the pool of Bethesda?

Answers to the Bible Questions for May

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.Yes. See Luke 12:51-53.

2.Cares, and riches and pleasures of this life. Luke 8:14.

3.All night. Luke 6:12.

4.Isaiah. 61:1, 2. See Luke 4:16-18.

5.Luke 5:8.

6. Of the one to whom much is committed. Luke 12:48.

7. Forgiveness, salvation and peace. Luke 7:48-50.

Bible Questions for July

“The Young People’s Bible Class” The Answers are to be found in John 1-10

1.What two verses in the tenth chapter show the eternal security of the believer?

2.What “one thing” did the blind man know? (Is this true of you?)

3.List at least seven titles of the Lord Jesus given in the first chapter.

4.Who are they who receive the Spirit?

5.What is the secret of knowing whether the doctrine is of God?

6. What is said to be the work of God?

7. What verse shows that the believer shall never come into condemnation (judgment)?

ML 07/05/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 7:3-6

God, in chapter 2, presenting the four successive Gentile empires in the figure of a man, gave their characters before men, in diminishing glory till at length the fifth appears, and after destroying the fourth and what remains of the first, second, and third, fills the whole earth. In chapter 7 and afterward, we have the four empires as God saw them, made known to Daniel for the edifying of His people. Here, therefore, they are beasts, i.e., creatures without intelligence of God.

Babylonia is viewed as like a lion, with eagles’ wings-combining in one figure the king of beasts and the king of birds. Majesty, power, the highest rule, was given by God to this first world empire, but it was short-lived; the wings were plucked; the beast was made to stand as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. Its dominion ceased, though it continued as a nation.

The Persian empire, which began as a union of old Media and young Persia, is seen as a bear, one side of which became greater than the other; it was savage, but had neither the energy nor the swiftness in action under Cyrus the Great, which Babylonia under Nebuchadnezzar had exhibited. Darius the Median was the first ruler of the empire (see chapters 5:31 and 6), but after him the kings were all Persians, the Median element of the conquerors of Babylonia growing weak, while the Persian gained and kept the ascendancy. Except in their treatment of the Jews, which was ordered of God, the Persians were harsh and cruel toward their subject peoples. They possessed themselves of all of the territory embraced in the Babylonian empire, and spread beyond it westward to Macedonia in Europe, and eastward to the borders of India. The Persian empire, reckoning from the taking of Babylon, lasted 207 years, and references to its rulers are found in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Haggai. Nehemiah 12:22 gives the latest reference in point of time to a Persian monarch (Darius II); Malachi; the last Old Testament prophet, was giving his testimony about that time, midway in the period of the Persian empire.

The Macedonian or Grecian empire, as it came to be known, formed under the leadership of Alexander the Great, appears in verse (3. Alexander died at the early age of 33, only eight years after the Persian empire came to an end in B. C. 331. Extraordinary swiftness in conquest was what characterized him, as foretold in the figure of the leopard upon whose back were four wings of a bird. Conquering the Persian empire by the time he was 25, Alexander the Great planned to unite the whole civilized world of his day, making into one the two leading peoples of Europe (Greece) and Asia (Persia), but his early death left no one in command with capacity to carry out his plans, and four generals, after squabbling over the control of the empire, divided it among themselves—an action foreshadowed in the four heads which the prophet noticed last in the description he gives of the leopard-like creature. The Grecian empire’s history, it will be seen, was entirely included in the four hundred years between the Old Testament’s close, and the birth of Christ. After it, sprang up the Roman Empire, the description of which belongs to Daniel’s second vision (verse 7).

The verses we have looked at, perhaps appear to be only history stated in advance, but the purpose of the Scriptures is never to fill the mind without reaching the conscience and heart. The recital of history here, as elsewhere in the Word of God, is purposed to show what man does, when left to himself, with blessings, privileges and responsibilities committed to him, and how God overrules, though unseen, for His glory and the preservation and help of His people.

ML 07/05/1936

Mary at the Telephone

Mary’s father had a telephone in the house, so that he might communicate with his place of business and from it to his home. Little Mary’s delight was to “ring up” her father and hear him speak. It was a great astonishment to her the first day that she went to the instrument, to hear her “very own father’s voice,” although he was miles away.

Years passed on. Mary was now a girl of twelve. She came home from her class in the Sunday school one afternoon greatly distressed, and in deep soul trouble. She had learned she was a sinner in need of a Saviour, and her teacher had been telling her God’s way of salvation.

“But how can I hear God speaking, when He is in heaven and me upon earth?” was her anxious question, as she sat by her father’s side that evening.

“It’s just like the telephone Mary. I speak to you from my office and you hear my voice. The Lord Jesus speaks from heaven through the Bible, and by hearing and believing what is written there, you hear His voice.”

Mary saw in that simple illustration the meaning of John 5:24,

“He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.”

That very hour she became a possessor of everlasting life, and you also may have this same eternal life, if you accept Him as your Saviour.

No audible voice will be heard, no vision given, but the written Word of God through which He speaks to you.

Do you believe on Him?

ML 07/05/1936

I Belong to Jesus

The shortest sermon I ever heard was preached by a little boy. A policeman sat beside him and he said to him:

“Are you a policeman?”

“Yes,” answered the man kindly.

“Why are you a policeman?” was the next question.

The policeman gave a laugh and took out a pair of handcuffs and told him they were to put on bad boys.

“You won’t take me away,” said the little fellow.

“No, my boy, I won’t take von, but who do you belong to?”

“I belong to Jesus,” said the child. -

“Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.” 1 Cor.19, 20.

ML 07/05/1936

A High Tower

Genesis, Chapter 11

A very long time ago some men started to build a high tower of bricks. They planned to make it so high that its top should reach unto heaven.

They were very proud men, for they said, “Let us make us a name,” The Lord God had given them the land, and all that they had, but the tower was not to honor Him.

They worked very busily, yet never finished the big tower. Because God saw how vain and proud they were, and He caused them suddenly, each one, to speak in a different way. Before this, all had spoken the same language, so they were greatly troubled when they could not understand one another, and they gave up the building, and wandered away to different places of the earth.

The tower was then called Babel, which means confusion, or trouble. Ever since that time, people speak many different languages, and cannot all understand each other.

There is a name we can honor and be very happy. It is the name of God, and His Son Jesus Christ.

“Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly, but the proud He knoweth afar off.” Psalm 138:2.

“The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Prov. 18:10.

ML 07/05/1936

Kindness

In the picture, one kitten is playing with the string of the little girl’s slipper, while the other is watching it and looks as though it would like to play too, for kittens are very playful little creatures.

See how still the little girl stands and how careful she is not to hurt the kitten. She enjoys seeing it play.

Sometimes children tease cats and hurt them, and think it is fun to hear them cry and to see them run away, but that is very, very wrong. Jesus said,

“Be ye therefore merciful as your ‘11-ther also is merciful.” Luke 6:39.

“GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US.” Eph. 2:4.

ML 07/05/1936

Grandmother and Little Lucy

Lucy was a very thoughtful little girl. Her mother having died when she was a babe, she was obliged to go to her clear grandmother’s humble cottage, and there she received training that will remain with her as long as she lives.

Grandmother loved the Lord Jesus, and loved His Word, and it was her delight to sit down with the little one for a reading, and explain many things that Lucy as yet could not understand.

Her little heart was opened, and she felt, although young, she was a sinner, so naughty and disobedient, and she longed to have her sins washed away in Jesus’ blood.

Her dear grandmother told her that Jesus was waiting to receive her, just as she was; waiting to pardon all her sins, and to receive her as Elie own little lamb.

Will you come to Him, Lucy?”

“Yes, grandmother, I will come to Him now.” Grandmother went on to say,

“Remember, Lucy, He not only died for you, but He is living in heaven for you, —a clear loving Saviour. The eye of faith looks up and sees Him there. Seeing Him there for you, dear, gives joy and peace.”

“WHEN HE HAD BY HIMSELF PURGED OUR SINS, SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTY ON HIGH.” Heb. 1:3.

ML 07/12/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 7:7-28

In the second vision of Daniel, verses 7-12, he sees the last of the four Gentile empires, that of Rome, and a judgment scene with solemn issue. Much attention is given to the fourth beast, because the empire it represents was in existence when the Lord was upon earth, and under its authority He was crucified (see. Luke 2:1; Matthew 22:17-21; John 19:12, 15). The empire will be revived in the days now rapidly approaching (Rev. chapters 13, 17, 19) when it will serve Satan as no power has clone heretofore.

What marked the fourth empire was resistless strength; what it did not absorb, it destroyed. It was unlike its three predecessors, because it introduced some features of a republic; professing to be a government of the people, it was as despotic as any monarchy that has ever existed. The beast which Daniel saw had ten horns; these belong to the future reappearance of the empire which came to an end nearly 1460 years ago.

In verse 24 the ten horns are explained as ten kings. The revived Roman empire will be comprised of or include ten countries of Europe, each of which will have a king of its own (see Rev. 17:12), No doubt these will be within the territory of the empire as it formerly existed. Among the ten kings there will appear another having a small beginning but quickly becoming the most important of all, and taking the place of three of them; he becomes the imperial head. He will be great in intelligence and pretension, not so much in brute force (verse 8).

In verse 9 we should read “set” or “placed” instead of “cast down”. The “Ancient of days” can be none other than the eternal God; the language used suggests the Person who is seen in Revelation 1:13-10. (See also John 5:22, 23, 27). The Son is, however, not revealed in verses 9 and 10 of our chapter, but in the second reference, in verses 13 and 14. Rev. 4 and 5 may be compared with this passage; in the former is a throne of judgment, and God sits upon it; the Persons are not distinguished there, but in chapter 5 the Lamb is introduced as the Executor of the judgments. The Rejected One becomes the Judge (Phil. 2:9:11). So in our chapter.

The saints of God are not mentioned until verse 18 is reached. In verses 18 and 22, the saints of the high places (see margin) are the heavenly saints of all ages, and with them will be those mentioned in Revelation 20:4. In verses 21 and 25 the saints are the believing Jews, converted after the removal of the Church of God to heavenly glory, suffering under the persecution of the last days. In verse 22 “the saints” is a term plainly general, referring to the heavenly and earthly saints, and in verse 27, “the people of the saints of the high places” are evidently the Jews.

The judgment (verse 11 ends in the slaying of the fourth beast; his body is destroyed and given to the burning flame (Rev. 19:20). It is after this that the Millennial kingdom (verse 27) is set up.

Verses 15 and 28 tell of Daniel’s feelings in view of what he had been told. The restoration of Israel was now far off; not until the Babylonian empire, under which he then lived, and three others, should have run their course (and as we know, too, the long interval of the gospel of the grace of God) would the promised day of blessing dawn.

ML 07/12/1936

The Bible

A lady traveling in T, after reading her Bible, gave it to the maid to pack up with her other things. The young woman asked what book it was.

“The Word of God,” was the answer.

This drew forth an expression of astonishment,

“The Word of God! What does it say?”

Happily we need not ask such a question as this. By the goodness of God “the Scripture of Truth” is near at hand “in our own tongue, wherein we were born.”

It is clear that to be ignorant of the Scriptures is to be ignorant of the Saviour, for they testify of Him. Let us then more and more diligently read, and search into, and dwell upon the precious words of this divine Book, that we may better know and enjoy the “unsearchable” riches of Christ, who, as an old writer says, is “the sum of the whole Bible.”

Do you read this blessed Book and believe every word of it?

Study it carefully,
Think of it prayerfully,
Deep in thy heart let its precepts dwell,
Slight not its history,
Ponder its mystery,
None can e’er prize it too fondly or well.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinner, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord.” Psa. 1:1, 2.

ML 07/12/1936

Where Is Your Bible?

Alfred Bell, when the excitement was at its height, did not escape the contagion, and though not nineteen years old, nothing would do but he must leave a pleasant home, and a kind mother, and a little sister, and go to dig for gold in the newly-found State.

After three years he returned, when his mother and sister greeted him with warm embraces.

“I have something pretty for you in my trunk, Minnie,” he said to his little sister. “You see I have but little baggage; that one small trunk has been with me through sunshine and storm.”

“Let me unpack it, please,” said Minnie; “I will be very careful, and not tumble any of your nice clothes;” and, taking the key from Alfred’s hand, she proceeded to take out carefully one article after another, and then put them on one side, until she came to the bottom of the trunk. She paused a moment, and, seeming to distrust herself, she put her hand first upon one article, then upon another; then looking up earnestly in her brother’s face while she still sat upon the floor beside his unpacked things, she said: “Where is your Bible, brother?”

“I have none,” he said quickly.

“No Bible, Alfred?” said Minnie, as she rose, and put her hand upon his arm, “No Bible, brother?”

“No, Minnie,” he said, a little impatient at her questions. “I left all my books, they took up too much room.”

“And have you had no Bible for three whole years, brother?”

“No, Minnie,” he answered.

“Whose did you read at night, then, brother?”

“I did not read anybody’s. Come, don’t bother me now. Let us find that pretty, fine dress I have for you.”

“No, stop brother. Have you not read the Bible for three whole years?”

“No, Minnie, I have not; and I don’t know that I have ever seen one since I have been away.”

Minnie stood and looked at him in utter astonishment, while the tears poured down her cheeks. At length she said in a low earnest voice,

“O brother! were you not afraid that God would forget you?”

What an appeal to the brother’s heart! He took the little Minnie in his arms, and kissing her, he said,

“I am almost afraid I have been forgetting God, Minnie.”

The earnest pleading of the little Minnie touched Alfred’s heart. That night he opened the sacred volume, and read aloud from its pages.

“Pray for me, mother, for I have wandered far from God; I fear He may forget me.”

Night after night the earnest prayer ascended to the throne of grace. The brother was reclaimed from his wanderings, and now lives to be a blessing, to his home, a Christian man, fearing God, and walking in His ways.

“Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God.” Deut. 8:11.

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Matt 11:28.

ML 07/12/1936

A Man Who Lived in a Tent

Genesis 12:1-6

This man, Abram, lived in the land of Canaan many, many years with no house or land of his own, be, his family and servants dwelt in tents. He had many sheep, cattle, camels, and asses which fed on the grass of the plains and hills, far from any people. The tents were often moved to a different part so the herds could have fresh grass and water.

Before this, Abram lived in Syria. There his father and others bowed down to idols, instead of to the true God, Who told Abram to leave all and to go to the new land, and Abram obeyed. The Lord often spoke to Abram, and told him to “Fear not’’, although in a strange land. He gave him a new name, Abraham, which means, “father of many”. God said his children should become a great nation, more than could be counted, and own all the land he could see about him.

But at that time Abram and his wife, Sarah, had no child. It was not till they were old that a son, Isaac, was born and made them very happy. Abraham lived to be one hundred seventy-five years old. The Bible speaks of him many times. All that God told him came true, as God’s words always do. He was the first of the Hebrew nation, who later owned all that land, and at one time ruled over all the other nations.

“The God of glory appeared unto.... Abraham, and said unto him, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I will show thee.” Acts 7:2,3.

“Abraham believed God.” Romans 4:3.

ML 07/12/1936

"Come unto Me"

Jesus is the gentle Shepherd
Who, upon the cross,
Died to save the little children,
When He died for us.

Jesus loves the little children,
Loves to hear them say,
“Lord, my heart is very sinful,
Wash my sins away.”

Jesus calls the little children,
Calls them tenderly;
Once He put His arms around them,
Saying, “Come to Me.”

ML 07/12/1936

The Sea Side

It was a beautiful, bright day, and many people were spending it by the seaside. The waves sparkled in the sunshine, and, as far as the eye could reach, the sandy shore was a scene of pleasure and childish merriment—not a sad face was to be seen.

But will all of these dear children be always happy? They may be happy forever, if they have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ for their Saviour. And when they leave this world, they will live with Him in glory, He loved us so much that He came down from His home in heaven to die upon the cross to save us.

Now we desire to please Him, and it is a joy to the Lord to see His children making it their first and last object to know Him, and to live a life of thankfulness, loving and serving Him, because He first loved them.

May you be able to say from your heart,

“THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME, AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME.” Gal. 2:20.

ML 07/19/1936

"He Said He Would"

How did you find the Lord?”

said a child of God to one who had been recently converted.

“Well, it just happened this way. After I had tried everything, I went to the garret, shut the door, fell upon my knees, and cried,

‘O Lord, Thou must be my Saviour.’”

“And what then?”

“He just said He would, and I believed Him, and I have had peace ever since.” This is the simplicity of faith.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16: 31.

“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are cowered.” Rom. 4:7.

“Other refuge have I none.”

ML 07/19/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 8

The book of Daniel was, in the purposes of God, written in two languages, Hebrew, the usual language of the Old Testament, and Chaldee or Aramaic. From chapter 2:4 to the close of chapter 7, Chaldee was used, no doubt because what is therein contained directly concerned the Gentiles in whose hands the government of the world was placed. The remainder of the book was written in Hebrew, as primarily for God’s earthly people.

Shushan or Susa (verse 2) was a summer capital of Babylonia over 200 miles east of Babylon; it became the capital of the Persian empire, as may be seen from the book of Esther.

Chapter 8 takes up again the second and third empires which were represented in the 7th chapter in the figures of a bear and a leopard; here they are seen as a ram and a he goat, and their names are given in verses 20 and 21. Evidently the two horns of the ram represent Media and Persia; the victorious campaigns of Cyrus the Great, and in measure, some of the later kings are referred to in verse 4. Darius Histaspis, one of them, carried the Persian banner into Macedonia, and his son Xerxes afterward set out to conquer Greece but failed. The military expeditions greatly angered the peoples of those lands, and long afterward, under Alexander the Great, they attacked the Persians with irresistible force and broke their rule (verses 5-7).

Alexander’s early death, and the partition of the Grecian Empire among foil-of his military leaders (verse 8) leads to the mention of Antiochus Epiphanes. This “little horn” in B. C. 175 became the ruler over what is now Turkey; he was called “king of the North” because his territory was north of the land of Israel. More of his history is given in chapter 11; the Jews of Palestine suffered greatly from him, and the casting down of some of “the host of heaven” and “the stars” refers to his treatment of principal men of Israel, who were degraded and treated with great cruelty.

Verse 11 and the first half of the 12Th form a parenthesis; the marginal reading, “from him”, should be substituted for “by him”; the reference is to the Prince of the host, to God, and the sacrifices of the temple rebuilt by the returned remnant (Ezra chapters 3-6). “An host was given against” the daily sacrifice, means that a time of distress was appointed; it was “by reason of transgression”—because of the sinful ways of the earthly people of God. This king’s reign came to an end in B. C. 164.

Verses 13 to 26 make clear that the conduct of this wicked enemy of the Jews was a foreshadowing of the ways of another king, occupying the same territory when the Jews are again settled in their own land (before the Lord’s appearing), and this is the reason why Antiochus is mentioned. The final fulfillment of the vision is to be “at the time of the end”, “when the transgressors are come to the full”.

In that time, which many things lead us to believe to be near now, a bold king of the north, understanding riddles or wiles (verse 23), whose power will be mighty, (supported by an unnamed country or countries stronger than his own) will, after lulling them into a false security, attack the Jews in Palestine, opposing even the Lord Himself, Who at that time will appear on earth. This king is the Assyrian of Isaiah 10 and elsewhere, to be used of God for the chastisement of His people and afterward destroyed.

ML 07/19/1936

Little Emily

Little Emily had been a constant attendant at our Sunday school for more than a year before she was brought to a knowledge of the Saviour; and perhaps some of you would be interested to know how she first learned to love the Lord Jesus.

It was a bright Sunday afternoon on which I was leisurely pursuing my way to school, having a carefully prepared lesson in my mind. I intended speaking to the children from the old, old story of Noah and the ark; but as I neared the school I felt impressed that it was not to be my subject for that afternoon.

“Revelation 3! Revelation 3!” ran through my mind again and again, and on arriving at the school, I turned to the chapter and read,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” (Verse 20.)

“That must be my text then,” I said to myself, as I took my seat among my scholars.

There were fifteen present, all under seven years of age, and among them, in her Favorite seat by my side, was little Emily, aged five.

I spoke earnestly to them of the One who stood knocking at the door of their hearts, entreating them to let Him in before it was too late. At length I asked,

“Is there no one here who will open her heart to let Jesus come in this afternoon?”

A soft little hand stole into mine, and a sweet voice whispered,

“Teacher, I will let Him in,”

It was little Emily who spoke, and raised her blue eyes, now filled with tears, to my face.

“You will, Emily?” I said, “and why will you let the Saviour in?”

“O, because I love Him so!”

I had a little talk with her after school, and since that day she has been happily trusting in the Lord Jesus as her own Saviour, whose precious blood has washed her sins away.

“We love Him because He first loved us.”

Dear reader, will you let the Saviour in? Or, will you keep the door of your heart, at which He waits and knocks so patiently, bolted and barred against Him?

O, throw open the door! No longer turn a deaf ear to His knocking, so oft repeated, so gentle, so loving. Give the Lord of heaven and earth an abiding place in your heart, and prove, as dear little Emily does, what a kind and loving Friend He is.

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry
Everything to Him in prayer.

ML 07/19/1936

Saved by a Sheep

Did you ever hear the story about a tiny boy who was saved by a sheep? Well, here it is:

A big warship was lying off the coast of Portsmouth, when a very loud noise was heard, and as the people on shore looked to see what it was, the big ship burst into flames.

The father and the mother of this little boy were with him on the burning ship.

The father took one of the biggest sheep on board, and tied his little son to its back and threw them both into the sea. The sheep swam to the land, and the dear little boy was saved.

Could the tiny boy do anything to save himself?

No, he could do nothing but lie still.

And you, dear child, need to be saved, too; and all you have to do is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for you, and who loves little children. It was He who said,

“Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God” Mark 10:14.

If the Lord Jesus loved you so much as to die for you, ought not you to trust in Him, and to love Him in return?

“The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

ML 07/19/1936

Lot and a Wicked City

Genesis 19:1-17 Luke 17:28, 29

Lot lived with his uncle, Abram, and had many sheep and cattle. After a time there was not room for all, so Abram told Lot to choose where he would like to go. Lot looked about and chose a plain near a city, called Sodom. The land was pleasant, but the people in the city did very wickedly. Yet Lot made friends with them and went to live in their city.

Once there was war, and Lot and his family were taken captives and carried away. Abram heard of his trouble, and, with his servants, went and saved Lot and all he had and brought them back. Still Lot stayed among the wicked people. At last all became so sinful, both old and young, that the Lord said the city must be destroyed. He sent two angels to tell Lot to leave. Lot then tried to warn the people of the danger, and for them not to act so wickedly, but they would not listen to him. In the morning the angels hurried Lot, his wife, and two daughters out of the city; told them to flee to the mountains and not to look back. Lot’s wife looked back, and a strange thing happened. She became a pillar of salt, left on the plain, while the others went on God sent fire from heaven upon Sodom and all in it died. They had not been sorry for their evil ways.

“The Lord..... is long-suffering..... not willing that any should perish, but that all should conic to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.

ML 07/19/1936

Praise the Saviour

Let youthful voices join,

To praise the Saviour’s love;

With angels who in glory shine,

And ever dwell above.

Praises on Him bestow,

Who thought so rich and great,

Came here to dwell with men below,

In mean and humble state.

Who laid His honors down,

To save both rich and poor;

Who died that they might wear a crown

Of glory evermore.

To Him who conquered death,

And bore its sting away,

Let old and young with joyful breath,

Eternal worship pay.

ML 07/19/1936

Wading

How much these little folks seem to be enjoying their play at the seaside! They have found a sheltered place, away from the waves which continually break on the shore beyond the rocks. Here they can wade in and gather the pretty shells and sail their little boats. See, how shallow the water is, too, surely, it is an ideal place for little folks like these in the picture. There was One who said,

“All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me.” Psa. 42:7.

Do you know who that was? It was Jesus, God’s well-beloved Son, who said these words, when bearing God’s judgment against sin on Calvary’s cross. There He suffered the punishment we deserved as sinners. There the “waves and billows” of God’s judgment were upon Him. Now, do you think God will punish us, too, if we put our trust in Jesus? Surely not!

Are you aware, little reader, that you are a sinner, and in need of a Saviour?

If not, may God show you your real condition before Him, that you may accept Him as your Saviour—the One who died in your stead. Then you will be truly sheltered from the judgment which God must send upon those who will not have His Son.

“GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.” Rom. 5:8.

ML 07/26/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 9

Both Isaiah and Jeremiah had prophesied of a brighter day to dawn for the Jews when the rule of Babylonia should be ended, and Jeremiah in chapters 25:11 and 29:10 had foretold the limit of the captivity at Babylon as seventy years. Sixty-eight of those years were past when Daniel understood by the books (of these prophets) that the time of deliverance was fast approaching.

Feeling deeply the inward state of the people which had caused the captivity (a state that it is very plain had not been truly judged and confessed to God by very many), Daniel made intercession for them, pouring out his heart in confession of their sins and the hardness of their hearts. Though little more than a child when carried off to Babylon, and living a life of holy separation and marked godless there, he identified himself fully with the people he loved, in his prayer: “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity.”

While he was engaged in prayer, Gabriel was sent to enlighten Daniel regarding the restoration of; Jerusalem and of Israel for which he prayed. Seventy weeks of years, it is plain were to pass to complete the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make expiation for iniquity, to bring in the righteousness of the ages, to seal the vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies (verse 24. The weeks are in verses 25-27 divided into periods of 7, 62 and 1, the last being separated from the 62 by the cutting off of the Messiah.

The 70 weeks began “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem”, an event recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-9, Cyrus in B. C. 536 opened the way for the captives’ return (Ezra 1), and Artaxerxes in B. C. 468 authorized, the restoration of the temple (Ezra 7), but it was not until B. C. 455, eighty years after the close of the seventy years foretold by Jeremiah, that the seventy weeks of our chapter began.

The “seven weeks” or forty-nine years are evidently the period during which the “street and the wall” were built, and Jerusalem became a city again,—of which time the book of Nehemiah tells.

In verse 26, a marginal note shows a better reading, than “but not for Himself”; it is “and shall have nothing.” The reference is to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, Israel’s Messiah. Here the recording of prophetic time is suspended; His people rejected their Messiah, and on that account are wholly set aside as the people of God. Presently, for the last week has not begun, God will take them up again. Verse 20 points no further than the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple Herod built, which occurred in A. D. 70, and to a period of undefined length: “and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end, war—the desolation determined” (N. T.)

Verse 27 gives the last week. The (Roman) “prince that shall come’’ will confirm a covenant with “many’’ (or, the many, the majority of the Jewish people) for seven years, and in the middle of the period the sacrifices will be stopped. “And because of the protection of abominations there shall be a desolator, even until, etc.,” (N. T.)

The appearing of the Lord in glory at Jerusalem will mark the end of the seventieth week, but this is not spoken of here.

ML 07/26/1936

"He'd See Me Too Much."

This evening a little girl said to me, “Do tell we a story please, just a little one before I go to bed.” So I did, and shall I tell it to your Though’

I have often spoken of little Alfred to others, I think some of the younger readers of “Messages of the Love of God” may like to hear the story too.

He was such a fine, jolly boy of six or seven years old, with large dark eyes that used to look up at me as I spoke to the little fellows in my Sunday class. I remember Edward, Harry, Charlie, Frankie and others, but Alfred I shall never forget.

We had speaking about Hagar one afternoon, how she had fled from her mistress into the wilderness, and when she was frightened and alone, the angel of the Lord spoke to her, and told her that God had heard her cry. She was so struck with wonder that God, whom perhaps she had forgotten, had seen her, and known all about her, that she made use of a word in her language which means,

“Thou God seest me.”

Poor Hagar! only a runaway Egyptian woman! Little she thought of the thousands of children all over the world who would be taught that text. It was the very first one I learned. Then came “God is light,” then “God is love.” Did your mother teach them you, I wonder? It is such a grand thing to know that though God can see us, though He is light, and nothing is hidden from Him, yet He loves us.

As the boys were young and could read a tiny bit, I generally wrote out on a large card anything I wanted them to remember, and we used to repeat it quietly together. On this afternoon we said the text, “Thou God seest me” several times, then I asked,

“Who sees us?” “God.”

“What does God do?” “Sees us,”

“Whom does He see?” “Us.’

“Now, Edward, you, say it,”

“Thou God seest me,” said Edward.

“Now Harry.” “Now Frankie,” and round till it came to Alfred’s turn. But Alfred twisted on his seat and grew very red and said nothing. I was disappointed.

“Come Alfred, you can say that tiny text, surely. ‘Thou God’—.”

But still Alfred was silent and only fidgeted more.

“O! Alfred, try. ‘Thou God’—Come.”

“Thou God seest us,” said the little fellow at last. I was more disappointed. Here was a restless, inattentive little boy! He could not even say a, short text of four words correctly. We repeated it again, and once more Alfred replied,

“Thou God seest—everybody.” “Thou God seest—all the world,”

I wondered, for he was a bright little fellow as a rule, so I said,

“What does ME spell, Alfred?”

“Me, teacher.”

“Well, why didn’t you say, ‘Thou God seest me’?”

For a moment he waited, with his big eyes bigger than ever, then he whispered: “Why, teacher, if God looked right at me, He’d see me too much.”

That was the reason the text was not said!

God had allowed the message to sink down, down, until it reached the conscience of that boy, and he felt that God’s eye, if looking at him, would see things he knew were sinful things.

He thought that if the eye of the Lord was on everybody it might not see all he did perhaps, and that God would not notice that naughty action or this sinful deed. But to feel that God was looking right down at him made hint uneasy. Yet it is true as the little hymn says,

“He looks at thee, all day and all night long.”

Now little boy, little girl, what about you? I hope you can say without fear, “Thou God seest ME,” knowing that though you are sinful and naughty, Jesus’ precious blood has been shed to cleanse you from all sin, and make you fit for God’s sight. Have you thanked Him?

ML 07/26/1936

"My Father's House Is Finer Than This."

A New Zealand chief, so called, was remarkable for the deep spirituality of his mind and his constant delight in the Word of God. One day he was taken to see a beautiful mansion. The gentleman who took him expected to see him greatly astonished, and much charmed with its magnificence and splendor; but it secured, to his surprise, to excite little or no admiration in his mind. Wondering how this could be, he began to point out to him its grandeur, the beauty of the costly furniture, brought from all parts of the world, the view from the windows, etc. Tamahana heard all silently, then looking round upon the walls, replied,

“Ah! my Father’s house is finer than this.” “Your father’s house!” thought the gentleman, who knew his father’s home as but a poor mud cottage. But Tamahana went on,

“My Father’s house is finer than this,” and began to speak, in his own expressive, touching strain., of the house above—the house of “many mansions”—the eternal home of the redeemed.

“In My Father’s House are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may he also.” John 14:2, 3.

ML 07/26/1936

What Is a Sacrifice?

You may wonder when you read the Bible why the men of long ago should kill a lamb, or a goat, or a calf and burn its body on a heap of stones or earth. This was a sacrifice and they were told by God to do so. Sometimes they offered many animals at once, yet soon more must be killed. Over and over again they did this. Now let us try to learn the reason: First, remember it was God, who made all things, so all belongs by right to Him. Every beast is His, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. (Ps. 50.)

Next, remember God has all-wisdom, and knows what is right for people to do.

Most of all, remember God is holy. That means He has no sin, and can have no sin in Heaven. Sin is that dreadful thing within all people which makes us think, speak, and do evil. The Lord wanted people to know that sin deserved death, so if they were to live, another must die in their stead.

God had long before planned to send His Son to earth to take the punishment for sin. At last He came, and gave up His life not on an altar, but on a cross. He was without sin, but died for the sin of the world, and is called the Lamb of God. Since then God says people shall no more offer an animal for sin, but believe and give thanks for the One perfect sacrifice, the lord Jesus, of whom, you see, the animals slain before were only a picture.

“The Lord laid on Him the iniquity (or sin) of us all” ... .He was led “as a lamb to the slaughter.” Isaiah 53:6, 7.

Our next story will be of a boy and a sacrifice.

N. B. We are sorry for the mistake in June 7th, “Bible Talks.” Noah was 365 years old when God took him to heaven.

ML 07/26/1936

"The Sinner's Refuge"

“Take refuge in our gracious Lord,
He on you yet doth wait,
And be instructed by His Word
Before it is too late.

He that conquered death and hell,
And Satan’s fiery darts,
Can also lead you to that well,
That heals the broken hearts.

Then to the blessed Saviour flee,
While yet He may be found,
For He can set at liberty
The soul by Satan bound.”

ML 07/26/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for June

“The Children’s Class”

1. “And said unto them,” etc. Luke 24:46.

2. “What man of you,” etc. 15:4.

3. “I tell you,” etc. 18:14.

4. “Watch ye therefore,” etc. 21:36.

5. “And David himself,” etc. 20:42.

6. And he called,” etc. 19:13.

7.Then said he,” etc. 13:7.

Bible Question for August

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in John, Chapters 11-21

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “No cloke for their sin.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, “This sickness is not unto death.”

3.“Write in full the verse containing the words, “Could not contain the books.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “The way, the truth, and the life.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Had given all things into his hands.”

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Given him power over all flesh.”

7.What title did Pilate write and put on the cross?

Answers to the Bible Questions for June

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.At the resurrection of the just. Luke 14:13, 14.

2.Those counted worthy to obtain the heavenly world. Luke 20:35, 36.

3.By justifying the Lord and condemning himself. Luke 23:41.

4.He asked them to handle Himself, and He ate in their presence. Luke 24:39-43.

5. Surfeiting, drunkenness, and cares of this life, Luke 21:34.

6. Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13.

7. Blessing with uplifted hands. Luke 24:51.

Bible Questions for August

“The Young People’s Bible Class„

The Answer are to be found in John,

Chapters 11-21

1.How do we show we are Christ’s friends?

2.Of what three things does the Spirit of God convince the world?

3.What is the stated purpose Jesus’ death?

4. “Till He comes” what are we to do?

5. How are believers practically sanctified?

6. For what purpose did John write his gospel?

7.Why does the world hate the believer?

ML 08/02/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 10

Chapter 9:24-27: From the month Nisan in B. C. 455 when Artaxerxes Longimanus, son of Xerxes, authorized the rebuilding of Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 2:1) to the time of the Lord’s crucifixion—the same month in A.D. 29—there were exactly 69 weeks of yeas (69 x 7=483). Nisan and Abib are two names, one Babylonian, the other Hebrew, for the first month of the religious year of Israel, when the passover lamb was killed. The seventieth week has not yet begun, the clock of prophetic time, it is said, having been stopped upon the rejection by the, Jews of their Messiah. Between the sixty ninth and seventieth weeks is the present interval of the gospel of the grace of God. When that ends, and the end must now be very near, the “clock” will be started again.

Chapter 10: Daniel was now, we may suppose, about ninety years of age, for he had been in Babylon from B.C. 606 and the third year of Cyrus as the sole ruler of the empire would he B.C. 534. The prophet was again mourning, no doubt because of the state of his people and the city of Jerusalem, since that was his grief in chapter 9; and as before, his mourning was accompanied by fasting.

The Hiddekel is now called the Tigris; it is the second great river of the East. There he saw a “certain man”, the description of whom suggests none other than the Lord of glory; the sight affected the prophet as, long afterward, the apostle John in Revelation 1:12-18, who fell at His feet as dead. Daniel, however, only tells us that he heard the “voice of His words”, for the communications that follow were made to him through angels.

An angelic hand touched him; he was raised from his prostrate position and bidden to stand, while the angel addressed him as “greatly beloved”, and told him to “fear not”, Thus strengthened and calmed, made to understand what God was pleased to make known to him, Daniel learned the great revelations comprised in chapters 10, 11, and 12. These include an unveiling of the unseen world in which are wicked spirits, the instruments of Satan, and a detailed outline of Gentile history such as is found nowhere else in the Scriptures.

An encouraging word to other feeble, tried saints beside Daniel, is given in verse 12: “From the first day..., thy words were heard.” The heartfelt prayer of a child of God surely reaches His ear. (1 Peter 3:12). There was, however, a hindrance which God permitted; the “prince of the kingdom of Persia”—a Satanic angel influencing unseen the affairs of the country where Daniel lived—withstood the angel of God for 21 days, the whole of the time since the prophet began his fast (verse 9). Satan cannot thwart die purpose of God, and that his hindering is allowed gives occasion for the blessing of the praying saint who is directed to continue in prayer (Colossians 4:2).

Michael, spoken of again in chapter 12:1 and in Revelation 12:7, is called in the epistle of Jude (verse 9) “the archangel”; watching over the children of Israel he aided the angel sent to instruct Daniel. Verses 16 and 18, and chapter 12, verse 5, show that the angel who brought the revelations to Daniel was not alone. The power of Satan is arrayed against the saints, but the angels of God, though interfered with, perform their service for His own. This passage throws much interesting light on Ephesians 6:11-18 and Romans 8:38 concerning wicked. angels, and 2 Kings 6:17, Ephesians 1:21, Colossians 1:16, 2:10 and 1 Peter 3:22, also Hebrews 1:13-14, and many Scriptures telling of the angels of God.

ML 08/02/1936

The Messenger Boys

Two messenger boy were loitering on the road, eagerly pouring: over the pages of a comic paper. A third came along walking briskly, and as he passed, one of the loiterers said,

“Grand tips here, Jim: wait a minute and hear this.”

“Got something better,” said Jim blithely, pulling out from his pocket a Bible, and holding it up before them. The two boys laughed, called something after him, and resumed their comic paper.

I found that Jim was a converted messenger boy, and ran his master’s errands quickly, as every Christian boy should do. He knew Christ as his Saviour and Lord, and did things to please Him.

What about the other two? One was dismissed, and the last time I saw him he was a bootblack, still fond of his comic paper, from which I believe he learned many of his evil habits.

Jim is now a bright young salesman, quickly rising in the warehouse, and much thought of by his employer. He is not ashamed to own his. Lord, and his Bible is his close companion. Who has the best of it? Jim to be sure.

So will every boy who takes Christ as his Saviour, and the Bible as his guide. Comic papers are poor reading; they defile and deprave the mind, and often sow the seeds of habit which ruin soul and body.

Dear young folks, I know you need something to give you happiness: something to make you glad. The very best you can have is Christ.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night,” Psalm 1:1, 2.

ML 08/02/1936

Isaac on the Mountain

Genesis 22:1-20

Once Isaac went with his father, Abraham, to a mountain far from their tents. They rode together on a donkey for three days. Then Abraham told the servants to keep the animal, and he and Isaac walked on alone. The boy carried a bundle of wood; his father a knife and the coals for a fire. They were going for a strange, sad reason. God had told Abraham to give his boy for a sacrifice. Abraham loved Isaac dearly, but he knew God’s wisdom and power, and trusted that God would raise Isaac alive again, because of His promise to make of Isaac a great nation.

While they were climbing up the mountain, Isaac asked, “Where is the lamb for the offering?” His father said, “God will provide Himself a lamb.” When they reached the place, Abraham made an altar, laid on the wood, bound Isaac, and put him upon it. So all was ready for the sorrowful act of slaying the boy, when quickly a voice from heaven called Abraham’s name, telling him not to hurt the boy. For he had proved he was willing to give him to God. Then, as Abraham looked about him, he saw a wild goat, a rani, caught by its horns in the bushes. He took that to offer instead of Isaac, and praised God. Then they went back to the servants and all returned to their tents. The Lord never again asked anyone to sacrifice a child, and any who did so were disobedient to Him.

On this mountain, many years after this, God gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die. No voice called to spare Him, but God raised Him from death to live for evermore.

ML 08/02/1936

A Feast

Here is a happy little girl with the baby chicks perched on her shoulder and arm, and climbing over her lap after some food. The birds in the window above, too, are hoping for some of that slice of bread that looks so good.

When Jesus was here He said, “Labor not for the meat (or food) which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man, shall give unto you.” John 6:27.

Then Jesus explained to His disciples what He meant by the “meat that endureth unto everlasting life.” He said.

“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: HE THAT COMETH TO ME SHALL NEVER HUNGER: AND HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME SHALL NEVER THIRST.” John 6:35.

Dear reader, have you come to Jesus? Have you found in Him the Bread of life for your soul?

ML 08/02/1936

Can You Pray?

How many children say their prays,

And yet who never pray:

Because they know not Christ,

Who is The Life, the Truth, the Way.

‘Tis only those that know the Lord,

And trust His precious blood,

That can draw near the throne of grace,

And offer prayer to God.

ML 08/02/1936

The Shepherd's Care

Have you watched the shepherd, how he looks at each sheep as he puts the flock into the barn? He looks to see if any are injured by the thorns, or by any other means. If one is hurt, he will carefully attend to it, and the gentle little sheep will quietly wait, and submit to the treatment, knowing that the shepherd is doing it for her good.

There is a beautiful verse of Scripture that speaks of God’s tender care over His Own people, and I should like to have you learn it. We may take it for ourselves, too, if we are one of His sheep or lambs.

“HE SHALL FEED HIS FLOCK LIKE A SHEPHERD: HE SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS WITH HIS ARM, AND CARRY THEM IN HIS BOSOM.” Isa. 40:11.

How beautifully this describes the Lord’s tender care over His own. He is ever watchful and mindful of us. We may expect this when we know that He loved us so much as to give Himself for us and to die in our stead. He offers salvation to all, and saves all who put their trust in Him.

May you all, my dear readers, put your trust in Him as your Saviour, then you can count on His tender and loving care as your Shepherd all through your life.

ML 08/09/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 11:1-9

The first verse is properly connected with the last verse of the 10th chapter; it throws interesting light on the behavior of Darius the Mede in chapter 6, explaining that king’s regard for Daniel, and his deep concern over the prophet’s being committed to the den of lions. Darius was now dead, and Cyrus reigned alone over the Mede-Persian empire.

The four kings of verse 2 are named in Scripture; Ezra 4:5-7 gives Ahasuerus (Camhyses), Artaxerxes (Pseudo-Smeis) and Darius (Davius Hystaspes); the book of Esther deals with another called Ahasuerus (Xerxes), the fourth king after Cyrus. “Ahasuerus” is believed to have been a title, like “Pharaoh” in. Egypt. There were nine kings of Persia after Xerxes, but the object in the Scriptures is never the mere recording of history; the four named had each a part in connection with God’s earthly people, and that is why they are mentioned. Nor was it the course of the later kings, but that of Xerxes in conquering Greece, that prompted the revengeful invasion of Persia’s dominions by Alexander the Great 143 years after Xerxes’ death.

Alexander, the “mighty king” of verse 3, the “he goat” of chapter 8:5-8, and the “great horn” of verse 21 in that chapter, was 20 years of age when he began his career of rapid conquest. By the time he was 26 he had overthrown the rule of Persia and established the Grecian empire. He and his soldiers penetrated as far as the eastern tributary of the river Indus. The city of Alexandria, in Egypt, where the Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Old Testament into Greek was made after Alexander’s death, was founded by him.

As the prophecies in chapter 8 and verse 5 of chapter 11 foretold, Alexander’s death at the age of 32 left the empire without a head; out of the rival schemes for power on the part of his principal men a breaking-up occurred, four presently dividing the bulk of the empire among themselves. With but two of these is Scripture concerned, because the others did not interfere with the Jews or their land in any way general Selencus became the first king of the north (Syria), and Ptolemy, another of his generals, was the first king of the south (Egypt). Seleucus was more powerful than Ptolemy (verse 5 has been rendered “ ... .but another shall be stronger than he and have dominion.”)

Verse 6: In fulfilment of this passage, Ptolemy II gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus II, the third “king of the north”. The two countries had been at war and this was a condition of peace, but the former wife, of Antiochus killed him and brought about the, death of Berenice and her son. The second Ptolemy was now dead, the third, Berenice’s brother (verse 7: “out of a branch of her roots”), avenged his sister’s death by attacking Syria and carrying off into Egypt their gods, their princes and their precious vessels. The third Ptolemy outlived the third and fourth kings of the north (verse 8); but war continued between the two countries for the northern king invaded the realm of the king of the south, and returned to his own land (verse 9, N.T.).

Why is any account of these kings given in the Word of God? Because Israel, and Israel’s land—God’s land—were concerned. In these contests between the kings of the north and the south; that land was ravaged and the Jews suffered severely. What we have been reading in verses 2 to 9 covers a period of three hundred years, from. B.C. 529 to B.C. 222.

Men without faith have ever scoffed at the Word of God; they deny its inspiration, and because of its accurate foretelling of events which have since become history, they assert that the chapter before us and other passages were written after the events transpired, “Daniel the prophet” is quite sufficiently accredited by the Lord, as in Matthew 24:15.

ML 08/09/1936

A Gift for You

A gentleman walking along a railway siding going roan the main line to a colliery, looked down upon a rough-built cottage. with holes in the tiled roof. At first he thought the place was uninhabited, but as he came to the front lie noticed an old woman and her grown-up daughter.

Thinking that he might be able to make things a little more comfortable for them, especially as bad weather was threatening, he decided to purchase a pair of blankets when next he went into town on business.

A few days later he took the blankets in a brown paper parcel, and pictured to himself the delight of the couple.

As he passed the window the old woman was looking out, and lie held up the parcel. But she only frowned and shook her head.

He opened the door, and was about to speak, when she cried out, “Begone, I don’t want to buy any of your goods,” and slammed the door.

“My good woman,” said the gentleman, as he again opened the door, “I do not want to sell them.”

“Begone about your business,” was the only response.

By this time he saw that she was stone deaf.

“I will show her what it is,” he said to himself; “perhaps she will understand then.”

He untied the parcel and displayed the blankets, but all to no purpose.

“Why don’t you go away? I have told you I don’t want them.”

What more could he do? He took one out and held it up full length and breadth.

Again came the words, angrily, “Why don’t you go away when I tell you?”

He determined on a final effort to make the old woman understand, taking the blanket, he threw it right around her, and burst into a hearty laugh.

Then the meaning of it flashed upon her. Looking at him, she exclaimed, timidly—

“For me?”

He nodded his head and smiled.

“A gift?” she queried.

Again he nodded.

“A gift for me?” she repeated to herself. She stroked it with her hands and felt the warmth of it, then laughed and cried for joy; she grasped the hands of the giver, and thanked him with all her heart.

Are you deaf and blind to the love of Christ?

“I will give you rest,” says He. Take it with thankfulness. Accept it with gratitude. It is a gift—a gift for you.

“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23.

ML 08/09/1936

Ada and the Sword

The little daughter of an officer professed to have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour, but at times she was filled with fears as to her salvation.

“Bring me my sword, Ada dear,” said the officer, and, Ada, wondering what her father was going to do, obeyed. He drew the sword-from its scabbard, and held it over Ada’s head. She looked up into her father’s face and smiled,

“Are you not afraid of this glittering blade, Ada?” asked her father. “Don’t you know that its sharp edge failing on your head would kill you?” Ada laughed merrily at the idea, and replied,

“Yes, father, I know it would, but then it is in your hand, and you love me too well to allow it to fall on my head, and kill me.”

“Yes, Ada, that’s just it, and I am pleased to see you so confidingly sure of my love to you as that. But what about the love of God, your trust in Him? You say you are His child, and that you believe He loves you. Now if this be so, why should you at times have gloomy fears as to what may happen to you. You know that Jesus has the power of life and death in His mighty hand; He is the conqueror of death and the grave; yea, we are told He has the keys of death and hell. Do you think that He would be less careful in holding them than I am of my sword? Would He allow Satan to hurt any of those whom He loves, and has saved, and of whom He says that neither life, nor death shall separate them from His love?”

“O father, I never thought of it like that before,” said Ada. “I see my mistake now. Jesus has all power, and He will take care of me. I will fear no evil, for he is with me, and will keep me safe.”

Do you know Jesus? Is He yours? Can you sing in very truth,

“Now I have found a Friend,

Jesus is mine?”

“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” Jer. 31:3.

ML 08/09/1936

The Land of Moriah

When Abraham and Isaac climbed this mountain it must have been wild and lonely. But years later the great city of Jerusalem was built there.

Look in a Bible, atlas, or geography on the map of Palestine, and, near the center, you will find Jerusalem. You can see mountains shown all around, and it is built on mountains. The beautiful Temple to worship God was on one called, Moriah, and later called, Zion. Outside the city was a place called Golgotha, or Calvary. It was there the Lord Jesus was taken to be crucified.

No one now is certain just where the place was; but it is thought to be the same as where God told Abraham to build the altar for Isaac; if not, it was near there. The name that Abraham gave it was “Jehovah Jireh,” and means,

“On the Mount it shall be seen,’’ or “God will provide.”

ML 08/09/1936

Trust in the Good Shepherd

Jesus, bless thy little lamb,

Weak and foolish as I am;

Bear me in Thy mighty arm

Safe from every fear and harm.

Thou did’st call me to Thy side,

Trembling in the desert wide;

Bad’st me all my bleatings cease,

Hushed my fears, and gave me peace.

Lord, Thou art my Shepherd kind;

All I need in Thee I find;

But I fear my silly heart,

Lest I should from Thee depart.

Call me nearer, then, I cry,

Let me in Thy bosom lie;

Turn these wandering eyes, I pray,

From each vanity away.

Teach me what that sorrow meant,

When those cries to heaven were sent;

When in blood and tears and grief,

Thou did’st call but no relief.

Let my childish follies be

Drowned in that deep agony;

Let Thy death, Thy wounds, Thy woe,

Make me all sin’s vileness know.

And when’er in folly’s way,

Thy poor Iamb begins to stray,

May Thy dying love and pain

Turn my heart to Thee again.

ML 08/09/1936

Bertie and His Dog

When I was a boy, I had a pet dog which my uncle gave me as a birthday gift. It used to follow me to school, sit at the playground gate till I came out, and then accompany me home along the country road. Roger, for this was the dog’s name, was a faithful guardian to the all through my school years. He would stand between me and any school boy who threatened to interfere with me, and bark loudly until someone came to my help; or to drive off intruders along the road that led to and from our school, and I loved him because of his faithful service throughout the years of my school days. But after the faithful dog died, I had no one to look to for care, or to defend me.

My mother told me that I would need to “trust in God” for my defense now. I had been brought to the Lord Jesus just about that time, and had trusted Him with my soul for salvation (Acts 16:31).

“You will need to trust Christ; to keep and to guard you in the same way as you go to and from school,” my mother said. So I did trust myself to Him as the Guide and Guardian of my remaining school days. And He never failed to guide, to guard and to help me all the years I walked along that lonely road, but kept me in “perfect peace”

“THOU WILT KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE, BECAUSE HE TRUSTETH IN THEE” Isa. 26:3.

ML 08/16/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 11:10-27

Last week it was pointed out that the ninth verse refers to an invasion of Egypt’s dominions by Syria; the best reading is “And (the same) shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but shall return into his own land.” Verse 10 describes the unsuccessful efforts of the fifth and sixth kings of the north to subdue the fourth king of the south; their defeat filled the latter with pride (verse 12).

The fourth Ptolemy died after recovering the land of Israel from the king of the north, and his successor was a child of. The sixth king of the north, Antiochus the Great, thereupon, with the aid of the king of Macedonia, proceeded to take possession of all he could of the dominions of Egypt. Many of the Jews, the “robbers”, or violent ones among them, sided with Antiochus, who seemed irresistible; Rome, now becoming a power to be reckoned with, was, however, appealed to by Egypt, and Antiochus was told to leave that country alone. However, he had seized the land of Israel, the “glorious land”, or the land of beauty (verse 16). An army from Egypt regained it, but Antiochus again got possession.

“The daughter of women” (verse 17) was Antiochus’ daughter Cleopatra, whom he moved the young king of Egypt to marry, hoping that she would serve his own ends but she proved to be loyal to her husband. Then Antiochus seized many islands of Greece, an act which aroused Rome, and Lucius Scipio, the “prince” of verse 18, was sent against him with an army decisive blow, so that he to relinquish much of his territory and pay a large sum to the victors, Mule robbing, a temple in order to get gold fur the Roman demands, he was killed. Seleucus IV is the next northern king whose chief occupation was raising the money to pay the debt to Rome; he was poisoned one of his sons (verses 19-20).

Verse 21 begins the inspired account of a very wicked man, Antiochus Epiphanes, the eighth king of the north. He was a “vile person,” not the heir to the throne, but obtained it by flattery, Opposition to him was unsuccessful; a league was made with him, but after it he worked deceitfully, becoming strong with a small people. His power and wealth increasing, he squandered much, while continuing to plan the capture of the fortified places (of Syria which held out against the usurper of the throne, we may suppose).

Having established himself in the ride of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes, like his predecessors began to war against Egypt, and the latter met him with a yet greater army, but there, was treachery in the Egyptian court, and the army was dissolved. A treaty of peace was made between the two kings, but both of them were deceitful; they “spoke lies at one table”, and lasting peace was at obtained. Such is the manner of men shell God is not acknowledged.

God had not forgotten his earthly people, though not a prophet of whom we have knowledge was raised up after Malachi’s and Nehemiah’s inspired records were closed, two hundred years before the time we have now reached. The Jews had already suffered much under the contentions of the kings of the north and the south, it far greater sorrows were shortly to be theirs. Malachi had brought the most solemn charges against them wit had returned from Babylonian captivity. but as a body there was no repentance; when the Word of God is rejected, He will not long delay His judgments, as we shall see.

ML 08/16/1936

The Strong Swimmer

A little girl, walking with her nurse, along the esplanade, slipped her foot, and fell into the deep water. The nurse gave a loud cry, which was heard by a number of young men, who were bathing on the opposite side of the river. One of them at once struck out in the direction where the child was, and after several times diving under the water, he brought her up safe in his strong arms. A great crowd had gathered, and as he brought the unconscious child safe to land, he was greeted with a loud cheer.

Do you think that little girl ever forgot her deliverer? I think not. When she grew up to be a young woman, she gave him a beautiful watch in token of her gratitude.

There is One who went down into deeper waters, to save you from an eternal hell—Jesus the Saviour. Have you ever thanked Him for doing so? Have you believed His love, and yielded your heart to Him in return? Or do you slight His love, and despise His atoning death for your salvation?

“Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when. He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Heb. 1:3.

“Sing unto the Lord, bless His Name; show forth His salvation from day to day.” Psa. 96:2.

ML 08/16/1936

"God Is with Me."

A little girl who had been taught of the Lord Jesus, and His love for her soul and body, was sent out one evening to pay a bill for her grandmother. The distance from home was rather long, and the wav somewhat lonely.

After she had paid the money, and received the change, she turned to go home, but it became dark before she reached there.

As she passed along, a man met her in the dark. Surprised at finding a little thing like her alone, he asked, “Little girl! are you not afraid to go in this lonely place in the dark?”

“Ah, no”! she answered “for God is with me!”

Then both of them kept on their ways, and after a little while she reached home, led safely by Him in whom she trusted.

The little girl soon forgot the matter. There did not seem much to remember in simply being asked by a man, if she was not afraid; and a little child of nine years can soon find enough new things to think about, without keeping-such trifles of the past in mind.

But this was no trifle; and God made use of it, as He makes the little seed, dropped without meaning, to grow into a bush or tree alter many days.

This little girl was sent to Sunday-school after a while, and became fond of her teacher, and was no doubt very much beloved by her.

One day her teacher called her back and told her that her husband wished to see her. So she went with the lady to her home, and after she had taken dinner with her, the husband of the teacher said to the little child,

“Do you remember, many months ago, meeting a man on the road in the evening, who asked you if you were not afraid?”

“Yes, sir,” she answered, “I do.”

“Well,” he said, “I was that man; I was drunk at the time; but your answer that God was with you, clung to me, and I thought it over when I became sober, and it has really been used by God, to lead me to become. His child by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to thank you, and to let you know, dear child, that the Lord used you in lily salvation, not only from drunkenness, but from hell.”

Do you not think this dear child felt very happy and very solemn, in hearing such words? Can you say as this little girl did,

“I am not afraid, for God is with me?”

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God.”

ML 08/16/1936

A Long Ride on Camels

Genesis 24

It was near night when a man with ten camels stopped to rest by a well outside a far east city. All were tired and thirsty and had come many miles on an important errand: this was to choose a wife for the master’s son, Isaac. But the servant did not know how to find her, so he prayed to God that it should be the one who would give him and the camels water to drink.

Just then a young woman, named Rebecca, came with her pitcher and drew water. The man asked for a drink; she quickly gave to him, and offered to draw water for the camels also. She filled her pitcher many times, and turned the water in the troughs for the camels. The servant wondered at her kindness, and felt she was the one to be the wife of Isaac. He gave her presents and asked for her father.

She then hurried to tell her family, and her brother came to the well and invited the man to their house. He went, and asked that Rebecca might return with him. They were willing she should go in a few days; but the very next morning the man wanted to start back so they asked Rebecca if she would go, and she said, “I will go.”

So she and her maids and nurse rode on camels following the servant to the land where Isaac lived. One evening Isaac saw the camels coming and walked to meet them. He was very much pleased with Rebecca, and she became his wife.

If you read the second verse of Genesis 15, you will learn the name of the servant of this story, and if you read Genesis 35:8 you will learn the name of Rebecca’s nurse.

This is a picture to us of God sending the Holy Spirit down into this world to choose out a Bride for His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, composed of all the saved people, to live with Christ forever.

ML 08/16/1936

None Other Name

Art thou a child of day,

Saved by the blood?

Hast thou the right to say

“Father” to God?

Are all thy crimson sins

On thee, or gone?

“Peace” upon earth begins;

Is it thine own?

O, come to Jesus now

Soon, soon too late!

Gladness shall crown thy brow,

Love banish hate;

All the old enmity

Sunk into shame;

Jesus thy joy shall be,

“None other Name.”

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we; must be saved.” Acts 4:10, 12.

ML 08/16/1936

A Strange Family

I think I hear some of my readers say,

“What a strange family, and how happily they are dwelling together, and there are so many different kinds of animals!”

There is a terrier dog, a monkey, a lop-eared rabbit, a guinea pig, a white cat, a weasel, two rats, two wild rabbits, an owl, a jackdaw, a hawk and a jacobin pigeon. No doubt you wonder why the dog does not attack the rats, and the weasel the rabbits, and the cat the pigeon. The reason is, they have been trained to live peaceable together, and I expect the teacher has often to take the cane to them.

Even little children and grown up people, too, have trouble together, and why is it? It is because of sin in the nature, wrought upon by Satan, who is “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” Eph. 2:2. But let us remember, that that ugly, quarrelsome and disobedient spirit can be kept under by the rod, and we should be thankful when we are corrected, as it leads us into paths of peace and happiness.

“BLESSED IS EVERY ONE THAT FEARETH THE LORD: THAT WALKETH IN HIS WAYS.” Psa. 128:1.

God in his infinite love gave His Son, and it is only through Him we can have eternal life.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth nut the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36.

It is life which alone can bear fruit to God, and by which we can please Him, but remember that you cannot be suitable for God without accepting Jesus as the One whom God hath sent to die in your place that you might live through Him.

ML 08/23/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 11:28-35

Verse 28: The king of the north whose exploits we ban to read in verse 21, Antiochus Epiphanes, returned, as here foretold, from his war with the king of the south greatly enriched. His heart was “against the holy covenant”, against the Jews who lived in the land God promised to Abraham and gave to their fathers. A poor and feeble people, they had learned in the sorrows of the captivity that the one true God who kept His covenant with them was more worthy of their confidence than the hosts of idols they had worshiped; not since the seventy years spent in Babylon have the Jews been idolaters.

The name of “Epiphanes” taken by Antiochus, means “illustrious”, but he was the opposite,—a degraded, morally abominable man, given a place in the prophetic Scriptures because of his cruelty to the Jews, and that he foreshadowed future enemies, including the king of the north, who will come up against them in the coming day of trial.

Verses 29-32: Antiochus was not long at rest in Syria; his ambition and his former success in humiliating Egypt, led him forth again with his armies, but now “the ships of Chittim”—Rome’s navy and soldiers—came against him, as in verse 18, an earlier check was put by the Roman legions upon his predecessor. The Roman consul came to Antiochus and forbade his going further with his plans of conquest, and even drew a circle round him when he delayed giving his promise, insisting on a reply before the king stepped over the line.

Humiliated and filled with rage, Antiochus returned to Syria, and found in the defenseless Jews, a people upon whom he could vent his wrath, for a time at least, without hindrance. First, he got advantage over them by flattery and deceit, making friends with the apostate Jews; later he resorted to violence. He was determined to stamp out the worship of the true God, and to substitute heathen worship, especially that of Jupiter Olympus. Because they stood in the way of his success, Antiochus treated the Jewish leaders with great cruelty, degrading them (see chapter 8:9-14). He enforced idolatry in the temple itself, stopping-the daily sacrifices under the law. of Moses, and setting up an image even in the holy of holies, —the “Abomination of him that desolates”, as the expression in verse 31 may be rendered. All the Jews who resisted Antiochus were put to death.

Verses 32-35. “The people that do know their God,” led by the Maccabees and others, were able at last, with some help from the Romans, to drive the oppressor out of their country, the temple was cleansed and the Jewish worship was resumed. However, the trials of the Jews did not end with the departure of this wicked king, for a long period of sorrow and trouble followed with the Romans at last taking over the government of the country, as it was when the Lord Jesus was on earth.

The prophecies of chapter 11 to this point (verse 35) have been fulfilled. What follows belongs to the future, not now far distant.

ML 08/23/1936

"From the Author."

A little girl saved enough money in her money-box to buy her father, whom she loved very much, a birthday present.

But what should she buy?

This was a puzzle. She, however, did the best and wisest thing—she prayed about it, that the Lord Jesus, whom she trusted and knew as her Saviour, would guide her. So she decided that, as her father never read the Bible, she would buy him one! This she did, and prayed again that he might be induced to read it, and be made “wise unto salvation.”

“Now,” she said to herself, “what shall I put on the flyleaf?”

She thought on: “From Maggie,” but that seemed too cold. Then again she thought: “From your little daughter,” might do; but had not her father told her that very day that she was growing a big girl? Would, “from one who loves you!” do? Scarcely, for quite a lot of others loved him too! What was she to do?

A fresh thought struck her, and away she went to her father’s study, where there were piles of books, and examined them. All at once she came across the front page, of quite a large volume, which had his name on it, and underneath: “From the Author:”

Yes, that would do exactly.

The next morning, at the breakfast table, when her father received her present (with a smile), he was struck with the inscription written on its front inside the cover in his dear child’s handwriting, “From the Author.” He thought who is He? I don’t know Him. I will read and find out if the Book can tell me!

Under the guidance of the Spirit of truth, he did discover the Author of this sacred volume. Afterward he became an earnest Gospel preacher, and often did he hold up the little Bible given to him and relate the story connected with it— the story of his conversion!

Dear boys and girls, the Bible is indeed the precious and priceless gift from God to all; which He has composed (2 Pet. 1:19-21), and which He has compiled (put together) (2 Tim. 3:15, 16), and in which He commends His own love to us (Rom. 5:8).

Let us then accept it, read it, believe it, confess it, and tell to others that it is a love gift for them “from the Author.”

The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.

ML 08/23/1936

"Don't Say That, Uncle."

So exclaimed a young woman to her uncle as he spoke to his niece of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. She knew she was a sinner, and that she was not ready if she died, but being well and strong, doubtless judged there was plenty of time to think of such matters yet.

But the coming of the Lord could not he put off. It would not matter whether she was weak or strong, well or ill, if the Lord came and she was not ready to go in “with Him to the marriage,” she must be shut out forever.

“Your father and mother will go,” said the uncle, “for they are ready. And the Lord may come at any moment, too—”

“O! don’t say that, uncle; I’m not ready,” she replied.

But whether the uncle said it or not, the truth was the same, and the conviction of this forced its way into her conscience and led her to deep distress of soul.

Rest came when she saw that the work of Christ upon the cross was for sinners, and that it was finished. Then she could rejoice that she was ready if the Lord Jesus should return.

His coming had now no terrors for her she could rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Christ is coming. Are you ready?

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

ML 08/23/1936

The Gate Was Shut

In Eastern cities the gate is closed at sunset, and after that you cannot enter. A party of travelers, including-several ladies and children, arrived at one of these gates a few minutes after sunset, and knocking at the closed gate, offered a sum, of money to open the gate and let them in. But the answer was,

“Too late, gates once closed, do not open again.”

So it will be reader with the gate of salvation. Once closed, it will not open again. See that you are not shut out.

“While they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage; and the door was shut.” Matt. 25:10.

ML 08/23/1936

Two Brothers Esau and Jacob

Genesis 25:29-34

These two boys were sons of Isaac and Rebecca, who had told them of the promises of God to give all that land to Isaac’s children. Esau was the first born so he would have first right, called, the birthright; but he did not seem to care about it; Jacob, the younger, did, and wished he could have it.

As they grew to be young men, Esau liked to go to wild lands to hunt game with his bow and arrow. Jacob liked better to stay by the tents. One day Esau came back from hunting, tired and very hungry. He saw Jacob cooking a warm meal of lentils (which are like beans) and asked him to give to him. Jacob would not do this, unless Esau would promise to give up the birthright to him. Esau felt so faint, he thought he might die, and then, he said the birthright could be of no use to him. So he promised solemnly to let Jacob have the birthright, and Jacob gave him the food.

So you see Esau thought a meal was worth more than all the promises of God. But Jacob was wrong to take this from his brother in such a way; and we read later of the fear he had, because of what he had done. God would have blessed him in a right way.

“Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.”

ML 08/23/1936

Eternal Things

Eternal things cannot be bought—

They all excel in fame:

Salvation only can be had,

Through faith in Jesus’ Name.

God is too rich to sell it us,

And we too poor to buy;

If life were to be offered thus,

Then surely we must die.

But O, God knew we could not pay,

So He was pleased to lay

Believers’ sins on Christ His Son,

Who bore them all away.

God’s wine and milk are offered free.

Come buy, to all we say;

E’en without money or a price,

For none their worth could pay.

ML 08/23/1936

The Little Ones

The little children in our picture today, appear to have come to take the cows home to be milked. Little boys and girls are very fond of a glass of nice rich milk, and baby too. How she cries when she is hungry for her milk. It is food for her it strengthens and nourishes her, and father and mother are so pleased to see her grow.

And so it is, when boys and girls accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, they are “babes in Christ” and will desire the sincere milk of the Word, that they may grow thereby 1 Peter 2:2.

How many dear little children attend Sunday school, and hear of that blessed One, Who when on earth, said,

“SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN, AND FORBID THEM NOT, TO COME UNTO ME: FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” Matt. 19:14.

How much Jesus loved the little ones! Are you not thankful that Jesus said “little children?” Had he not said this, you, no doubt, might have thought His love was going out only to the older ones. But to those who are older He said,

“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 18:3.

ML 08/30/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 11:36-39

At the 36th verse of our chapter a new person is abruptly introduced into the prophecy, — “the king”. It is not “the king of the north”, or “the king of the south”, both of whom are mentioned as his enemies in verse 40, but a king of the Jews who has not yet reigned, of whom other Scriptures tell. In Antiochus Epiphanes, and in Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius, God has shown both the character and the actions of the principal oppressors of His people in a time soon to come, for the purpose of preparing those who, at that time trusting Him, are to pass through those fearful experiences.

“The king” of verse 36 is mentioned as such in Isaiah 30:33 and 57:9. He is referred to as the “idol shepherd” in Zechariah 11:15-17. It is he of whom the Lord spoke in John 5:43:

“If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”

2 Thess. 2:3-10 tells of him as the “man of sin”, and “that wicked”; the First Epistle of John names him “the Antichrist”, and in the Rev. (13:11-18, and chapters 16 and 19), he is the miracle-working false prophet. All of these passages, and others in the Psalms declare his wickedness.

This false king of the Jews—how he will attain the title is not disclosed by the Scriptures—will be a man of great self-will—the very opposite of Him who is the true King (John 4:34; 5:30), Whose obedience is set before believers as their pattern (1 Peter 1:2; Phil. 2:8). He will exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, hesitating not to speak with great daring against the true God, who will permit him to prosper until “the indignation” is accomplished. Isaiah 5, and many other passages have foretold the pouring out of God’s righteous indignation upon Israel, and “that that is determined shall be done”, this wicked man unconsciously serving His purposes.

Verse 37 shows that the false king is a Jew for he shall not regard the God of his fathers. “The desire of women” refers to the hope of Jewish women to be the mother of the Messiah: He will have no regard for Christ the Son of God. Yet, while he sets himself as superior to all, there will be an object or being whom he will venerate: “the god of forces”, a god, whom his fathers knew not. Is it a pagan god of war, associated with his connection with the Roman Empire yet to be revived as when the Lord was on earth? The Scriptures tell no more, and we need not speculate; it is enough that he who claims to be above all, will yet venerate a superior power which, not being divine, can only be of Satan. The king will divide the land (of Israel) among those who are in league with him (verse 39).

God will allow all this, and more, to go on in the land of His choice, It belongs to the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) during which the Jews will be gathered in great numbers in the Holy Land, and they will be confirmed in its possession by a covenant between themselves (or “the many”—the unbelieving majority), and the last head of the Roman Empire, for the period of 7 years (chapter 9:27).

ML 08/30/1936

The Rosebush

Somebody planted a rosebush near the garden wall. In spite of careful nursing it never bloomed. Again, summer time came and again the owner saw no buds. One day his neighbor on the other side of the wall called to him:

“Your rose is blooming in my garden, come over and see it!”

Sure enough, one of the shoots had worked its way through a crack in the wall and was now in full bloom.

If you are discouraged and faint-heard, perhaps you too will find your roses blooming on the “other side” in God’s presence, keep on working in faithfulness to your Master, for the Scripture says,

“Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” Gal. 6:9.

ML 08/30/1936

A Place of Safety

A gentleman saying a few parting words to some children one evening, made a very peculiar wish. What do you think it was? You could not guess for the life of you, so I must tell you. He said,

“I wish you were all like little conies!”

I believe all the children would laugh. For what are conies? They are small creatures something like rabbits, and they are feeble and timid, I think I hear the boys saying,

“Then I don’t wish to be a coney,” and the girls are thinking the same. But what made him wish they were like conies? Here is the reason,

“The conies are a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks.” Prov. 30:26.

You have never tried to catch a coney. But perhaps you have tried to catch a rabbit—have you? How do you go about it? You move up just as quietly as ever you can—lifting your feet as if you were walking on eggs, for fear you disturb him. You are holding your breath to make the final spring and your heart beats fast for you are sure you will catch him—when lo! the object of your chase plays at right about face, and just as you are gasping for a breath of air you see the little white tail disappear into a hole. You feel disappointed, but you feel proud that you nearly had it.

The coney flees to a stronger place—it flees to the rocks. In the rock it is secure from every foe. Feeble—it flees to a strong place.

Ah! these feeble little creatures are wiser in their ways than the children of men. They know their weakness and take refuge in the strength of the rock.

Dear children, there is a strong enemy who seeks your destruction; his name is Satan. You cannot stand and face this foe in your own strength, for he is too strong.

If you are going to be safe, you must flee to a place of safety. You ask,

“Where shall I flee?”

Flee to Jesus—He is the Rock—the place of safety, and He stands with outstretched arms saying,

“Come unto Me.”

Then flee now, and do not tarry,

and you will be among those that God calls wise.

“Safe in Christ, the weakest child

Stands in all God’s favor,

All in Christ are reconciled

Through that only Saviour.”

ML 08/30/1936

Alfred's Prize Bible

Many years ago, when Bible searching was less known than now, a family of four—three girls and a boy— set themselves to search the Word. So pleased was a Christian nobleman with the answers sent to his questions, that he made a gift of a Bible to Alfred, whose paper was the best. It was a great joy to him, and on the fly leaf was written under his name,

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16.

Alfred read in that Bible and his heart gladly opened to receive its truths. He was made wise unto salvation, and came boldly out on the Lord’s side. For many years he has been telling the story of redeeming love in a far-off land, and that prize Bible is still his daily delight.

How good it is to be acquainted with the Book of God in early years, and best of all to know Christ of whom it speaks. Do you know Him as your personal Saviour? If you do, then take the Word of God as your daily guide and counselor, and use it day by day. Christ in the heart and the Word of God in the hand are the secrets of a happy life.

ML 08/30/1936

Isaac and the Wells

Genesis 26

Isaac lived all his life in Canaan, or Palestine, as the country is now called, the same land where his father, Abraham, had lived, and in tents with his wife, Rebecca, and their sons, Esau and Jacob. He had very great herds of cattle and goats, with many servants to watch them. Sometimes they planted grain and grew their food.

It was a warm, dry land, and one of the most needful things was to be near water. We read how Isaac’s men dug wells, and how sometimes other men who wanted the places, drove them away from the wells, and sometimes threw sand and stones in, so the wells had to be cleared out. The wells were not like those most of us see now; some were deep and a wall around, and steps down to the water, which was drawn up with a rope and pitcher or large bottle. Usually there were troughs made from stone for the animals to drink from.

Isaac gave names to the wells, and at one of these, built an altar to give God praise. And while there, God spoke to him and told him,

“Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee.”

Our greatest blessing is God’s Word, the Bible, and if people try to keep it from us, they are like the men who spoiled Isaac’s wells.

The last years of Isaac’s life were spent at Hebron where there were many wells.

The Lord has told us about these to make us understand that our souls need His Word, the same as our bodies need water. When the men worked hard and dug deep in the ground, or among the rocks, for the water, they felt repaid when they could draw out good clear water, and everyone who came to the well would be helped. So if we read the Bible, we will find its words are pure and true.

In the book of Genesis you can find the names of many wells. And in the book of Isaiah the salvation of God is called a well.

“Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Isa. 12:3.

ML 08/30/1936

Jesus, I Would Follow Thee

Jesus, holy, undefiled,

Thou wast once a little child;

Jesus I would like to be,

Pure, and holy, like to Thee.

But, I am so full of sin,

I’ve a wicked heart within,

All my ways are naughty too;

Blessed Lord what shall I do?

In the Bible I can see,

Thou didst die on Calvary;

Could it be that Thou didst die,

On the cross for such as I?

Saviour, can it really be,

Thou wast bearing sin for me,

In the midst of all Thy pain,

I was not forgotten then?

Yes, I do believe it, Lord,

And I’ll trust Thine own sweet word,

Him that cometh unto Me,

Shall be saved eternally.

As Thy little blood bought child,

Keep me pure and undefiled;

From the world and Satan free,

Jesus, I would follow Thee.

ML 08/30/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for July

“The Children’s Class”

1.“Jesus said unto them,” etc. John 8:42,

2.“And other sheep,” etc. 10:16.

3.“In the last day,” etc. 7:37.

4. “All that the Father,” etc. 6:37.

5. “He that hath,” etc. 3:33.

6.“And the Word,” etc. 1:14.

7.“Now there is,” etc. 5:2.

Bible Questions for September

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Acts,

Chapters 1-14

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, And so is also the Holy Ghost.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “In the comfort of the Holy Ghost.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Exhorting them to continue in the faith.”

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “With all boldness they may speak thy word.”

7.How was Jesus of Nazareth shown to be “a man approved of God” in Israel?

Answers to the Bible Questions for July

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.John 10:28, 29.

2.That whereas he had been blind, now he saw, John 9:25.

3.“Word”, “God”, “Light”, “Son of God”, “The Christ”, “Lamb”, “King of Israel”, “Son of Man”, “The Messias”.

4.“They that believe on Him.” John 7:39.

5. “Being willing to do His will.” John 7:17.

6.“That ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” John 6:29.

7.John 5:24.

Bible Questions for September

The Answers are to be found in Acts,

Chapters 1-14

1.How must we “enter into the kingdom of God?”

2.Who “shall receive the remission of sins?”

3.Name five things that Philip preached.

4.What was the first sin in the church?

5.For how long is Jesus to remain to heaven?

6.When was the birthday of the church?

7.Thru whose Name alone must we be saved?

ML 09/06/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 11:40-12:4

“At the time of the end” (vase 40) carries the reader on to a time immediately before the Lord’s appearing. The seven-year period forming the last of the seventy weeks foretold in Daniel 9:24 will be nearing its end, when the king of the south (Egypt) will attack the false king of the Jews. The king of the north (Turkey, with certain allies, as it would appear) will then invade the south with a great force moving very fast before which resistance will be difficult. He will enter into other countries, and pass over to “the glorious land” (the land of Israel), but Edom; and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon will escape. Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia fall into his hands. Isaiah 28, and the judgment of “Ariel” (Jerusalem) in the 29th chapter; also Zechariah 12 and 14, should be read in connection with what is given in the book of Daniel, but many other passages may be profitably examined, as the king of the north of the last days is repeatedly referred to in Old Testament prophecies as the Assyrian”.

While the victor is far south of Israel’s land, news that troubles him will come out of the east and the north. Whatever it may be (for Scripture does not tell), it causes the king of the north to return northward with great fury (verse 44). He will proceed to Jerusalem, and there, or near there, he and his armies will come to their end. (See Isaiah 30:3). For the Lord will then have descended and delivered His earthly saints out of the hands of their enemies, and the false king will have been judged.

Chapter 12 Continues the subject of the last six verses of chapter 11, viz., “the time of the end.” God’s word gives the names of but two angels, Gabriel, named in chapters S and 9 and in Luke 1; and Michael (chief prince or archangel) in chapters 10 and 12, in the Epistle of Jude, and Rev. 12.

The believer is warned in Col. 2:18 against the worshiping of angels, and Hebrews 1:14 tells their office as ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. In the day now near at hand, Michael will be engaged in a new work for Israel, looking to their restoration and blessing. Satan will oppose, as he always does, but he cannot thwart the work of God.

Verses 2 and 3 speak not of resurrection, but of a work of God in the souls of the spiritually dead children of Israel in which some of them will be used for the blessing of others. (See Ezekiel 36-37).

Daniel (verse 4) is to seal the book; John (Rev. 22:10) was not to seal the book committed to him, and the reason is given. As to Daniel, the words were for Israel at the time of the end; when they again become the earthly people of God, and are passing through the great tribulation, the prophecies will be understood by them.

ML 09/06/1936

Happy Charley

Charley Dudley was a cripple, and the only child of poor parents. One day as Charley was sitting by his window unable to move, a young lady paid him a visit, saying,

“I heard that a little invalid lived here, and I have come to cheer one of his lonely hours.”

After chatting a while with him, the lady asked Charley if he would like to come to a Sunday school.

“I can’t walk, Miss,” was the poor boy’s reply; but when he heard that the young lady’s father would send his carriage for him every Sunday, poor Charley’s face brightened up with delight.

When Charley’s mother came home, he told her all about the visit, and his mother promised him that if, the carriage came, he should go to the school. And, sure enough, at 10 o’clock on Sunday morning the beautiful carriage drove up to the door, with the kind young lady seated in it, and Charley was driven off to the school.

You may guess why this young lady took all this trouble about the poor child. It was because she wished that he might indeed know the love of Jesus and be happy forever. One day the boy said to her,

“Miss Caroline, do you think Jesus loves me?”

“He loved you so much that He came down from His home in heaven to die upon the cross for sinners,” was the reply; and very simply did the poor boy receive in his heart the sweet story of Jesus’ love. God gave hint power to believe upon the Lord, and Charley was enabled to say to his kind teacher,

“O, I am so happy, so very happy, have found Jesus.”

“I shall very soon be with Jesus, and then I shall not suffer any more pain; and shall I not be happy up there?”

My little friends, are you as happy as poor Charley the cripple?

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.” Psa. 103:1.

ML 09/06/1936

The Butterfly Chase

The woods are alive with leaves, birds, butterflies, squirrels, rabbits and foxes the grass is full of crickets, moles, caterpillars, spiders, and all sorts of beautiful bugs the cows under the trees drink of the refreshing stream; children rejoice when they can get out of the cities and enjoy the beautiful scene.

God has made them, so wonderful are they; yea more, God feeds them, and they show God’s goodness and power as a creator, yet God’s wonderful love has to be learned through another source.

Where is it that God’s love is to be seen, or is told to us so fully? It was at the cross where God gave His only begotten Son to die in the place of sinners; that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life; Yes, there is where God’s wonderful love has been shown to us.

“HEREIN IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, BUT THAT HE LOVED US, AND SENT HIS SON TO BE THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS.” 1 John 4:10.

ML 09/06/1936

Two Brothers Continued

One day when Isaac was old and blind; he asked his son, Esau, to hunt a deer, and bring him scene meat to eat, and he would speak his last words of blessing to him, So Esau started with his quiver and bow.

The mother had heard Isaac’s promise to bless Esau, and she wished Jacob blessed instead of Esau; and she thought of how lie could get it, but it was in a very wrong way. She sent Jacob for young goats from their flock, which she cooked for a nice meal for Jacob to carry to his father, before Esau could get back.

Jacob said his father would feel of his smooth hands and know he was not, Esau, whose hands were hairy, so his mother put soft kid skins over his hands, and sent him in with. the meal. He told his father he was Esau and that he had venison for untrue. At first Isaac said, “It is the voice of Jacob,” but he felt of the hairy skin over his hands and he thought he was Esau, so he ate and blessed him, saying his brother should be his servant. Jacob went out, and Esau came with the deer meat cooked, ready for his father.

When Isaac heard the voice of Esau, he knew he had been deceived by Jacob, and said he had already given his blessing. But Esau begged for a blessing, so Isaac said he should have a good land, and not always be a servant.

After this Esau was very angry at Jacob and planned to kill him, so Jacob had to nee to a far land. And probably his mother never saw him again, so she must have sorrowed because of her bad plan.

ML 08/06/1936

Saying, or Acting Lies

There are many accounts in the Bible of men and women who told what was not true, either by saying or acting lies. The story of Jacob shows a young man who both told lies with his lips and acted a lie with his hands. And his mother was even more wrong to plan for him to do so. But God shows the evil of all these, for He says,

“He that speaketh lies shall not escape.” Proverbs 19:5.

“They that deal truly are His delight.” Proverbs 12:22.

ML 08/06/1936

God's Handiwork

When you’re walking in the garden

With its many-colored flowers,

Do you ever stop and wonder,

As you gaze, perhaps for hours,

Why so many shapes and sizes—

And each one a different hue—

Pink and white and red and yellow

And some lavender and blue?

‘Tis the handiwork of God.

Can you tell when sitting, resting

In the shade of some old tree,

Why the oaks and pines and cedars

All so different should be?

Or why carrots, beets, and lettuce,

Pears, bananas, plums, and grapes

Differ all in taste and color

And have many different shapes?

Tis the handiwork of God.

When you’re standing by your window

Wrapped in wonder at the sight

Of the moon in all her brightness,

And the beauties of the night,—

At the planets shining brightly,

And the twinkling stars beyond,

Does a note of thanks and gratitude

Deep in your heart respond

To the handiwork of God?

Yes, the flowers, the trees, the mountains

All bespeak God’s love and power,

And the heavens in all their splendor

Breathe His glory, hour by hour,

May our hearts be ever grateful

To the One Who made them all,

And our ears be ever open

To His tender, loving call.

“IN THE BEGINNING GOD CRTED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH.” GEN. 1:1.

09/13/1936

Bible Lessons

Daniel 12:5-13

The fourth verse marks the end of the prophetic outline begun in verse 20 of chapter 10, foretelling the history of Gentile rule from the Persian empire until the Son of Man shall take dominion. That no reference is made in it to the present interval of grace to Gentile and Jew alike (which began when He, rejected and crucified, rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high) is entirely in harmony with all other Old Testament prophecies, none of which tell of the present gathering out of a people to share Christ’s heavenly glory. (See Eph. 3:1-12).

Verses 5 and 6: Angelic beings are seen again, but the central figure is, as before (chapter 10:5, 6), the glorious Person we believe to be the Son of God. In chapter 10, Daniel “heard the voice of His words”, but all that follows, until verse 7 of the last chapter is reached, was communicated to him through angels.

Verse 7: “A time, times and an half” (or the dividing of a time), is believed to mean 1 year, 2 years, and one-half year, (three and a half years in all), and this is confirmed by verse 25 of chapter 7, and verse 27 of chapter 9 which relate to the same period of time. Taking the prophetic year as comprised of 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days each, it will be seen that the period referred to in verse 7 is 1,260 days. The periods named in verses 11 and 12 are 30 and 75 days longer.

Verse 8: Daniel heard, but understood not. The words are “closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (verse 9). Such was the character of much of the revelations of the purposes of God in Old Testament times; compare Rev, 22:10, where it is said that the book (of Revelation) should not be sealed, “for the time is at hand”. (See also 1 Peter 1:10-12), The Christian is taught to expect the coming of the Lord at any moment, and he is given intelligence as to the purposes of God, not only as to his own future place as linked with Christ in glory, but concerning Israel and the Gentiles.

Verse 10 tells in briefest language of the time of trial at the close of Gentile rule; the “wise” of Israel’s race shall understand then, but none of the wicked shall understand. It is ever true that only those who are subject to God understand His Word (1 Cor. 1:17-31).

Verses 11 and 12: It is clear from Rev, 19:11-21, and 2 Thess. 2:8-10 that the first act of the Lord upon His return in glory to this world will be to put down the Antichrist, the false king of the Jews; this, we gather. will take place 1,260 days after the daily sacrifice is stopped at Jerusalem and an idol is set up in the temple—the abomination of desolation (See Matt. 21:15).

The Scriptures do not reveal the order in which His other enemies will be dealt with, but it is clear that they will meet judgment in succession, the last being the northern power called Gog in Ezekiel 38 and 39; the end of the period of 1335 days, named in verse 12 no doubt marks the complete establishment of abiding peace in the world, and the 1,290 relates to an intermediate period of blessing.

The last verse of the Book gives assurance to Daniel in keeping with the character of Old Testament prophecy: the prose is sure, but it is not the Christian hope which was reserved for New Testament prophecy (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

EXTRACT

If God should write the sins of men on their foreheads in visible letters, our streets would be desolate, and the world a wilderness.

09/13/1936

The Golden Curl

When I was a little child, just four years old, I had curly locks, which in sunshine and in shower hung down uncovered over my cheek. My father was cutting a log of wood one day near the house, and I was with him. I stood by his side watching the strokes of the ax, and picking up splinters as they fell around my feet. I stooped to pick up one, and in the act of picking it up, I stumbled forward and fell. My head lighted on the log of wood just as my father’s ax was uplifted to strike. It was too late to stop the blow. I screamed with terror, and my father fell to the ground unconscious. He thought he had killed his child. We soon recovered, I from my fall, and he from his terror. He caught me up in his arms, and looked at me from head to foot, expecting to find some fatal wound, but not a scar or scratch was there. He kneeled down on the grass with me beside him, and thanked the Lord with tears of joy, for the merciful and miraculous deliverance that God had wrought. As we rose, he turned to look at the log of wood, and there lay a curl of my hair, which had been cut off by the stroke of the ax. With renewed thanks to God upon his lips, he took up the curl, then raised me in his arms, and carried me home rejoicing. He kept that lock of hair as a memorial of God’s love and care. It tells me of a God of love; my father’s God and mine. It bids me trust in Him with all my heart, and as I look on it from time to time, it stills my fears, and strengthens my faith in that faithful God.

My dear boys and girls, this touching story of childhood’s days has its lessons for you as well as it had for me. Do you wonder that my curl of golden hair is prized? it tells of the love and care of God in delivering me from death.

But the cross of Calvary manifested the love of God with a greater power. There, the only Son of God, whom He dearly loved, died on the cross for His enemies, to save them from the righteous punishment of their sins. God spared not His Son. Was there ever love like His? Trust Him now, receive Him as your Saviour. He will save and be your Friend forever. You will live with him throughout all eternity.

“The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers.” 1 Peter 3:12.

ML 09/13/1936

He Loved Me First

There was once a little missionary only eight years of age. This little girl loved the Lord Jesus, and delighted to teach others to read, and bring them to Jesus. She was once asked how it was that she loved the Lord Jesus whom she had never seem. Her answer was,

“He loved me first, and died for me on the cross, that I might live.”

Was not this a nice answer? And then because she loved the One who died for her, she delighted to work for Him.

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19.

09/13/1936

A Real Saviour

Tell, me, Jenny, what led you to such a deep sense of sin?”

“O, sir, it was what Mr. McD. told us the other night, about his visiting the garden of Gethsemane, when he was at Jerusalem, and standing in the very place where Jesus was in an agony, and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44).

The preacher did not know what to make of this, and feared that it was a mere burst of feeling, arising from her emotional nature having been touched by the notice of Gethsemane.

“But, Jennie,” he said, to prove her, “what had that to do with you?”

“Ah, sir,” she said, “I then saw that Jesus was a real Saviour. Before that He seemed like a story in a book. But when I saw that He was a real Saviour, I then saw that I was a real sinner.”

Reader, blessed be God, there is a real Saviour for you. Your sin is a reality. Men treat it so lightly—make such a mock of it, that it is quite disregarded. They put it away into the darkness, and try to forget it. The all-important matter for you is to know yourself a real sinner, and then come to Jesus who is a real Saviour. “This Man receiveth sinners.” Luke 15:2.

ML 08/13/1936

Jacob's Dream

Genesis 28

Jacob left his home for other land because of the great anger of his brother, Esau. At night he had no place to sleep, only to lie down on the ground with a stone for a pillow.

But there he had a wonderful dream. He saw a ladder reaching to heaven with angels going up and down on it. And he heard, the voice of God, Who told him that He would bring him again to that land; and that it should all belong to his children.

At that time there was no Book to tell God’s will or promises, and God often spoke to people by dreams (Job 33:14, 1.5). Jacob knew it was the Lord Who had talked to him, and in the morning he set up the stone which had been his pillow to mark the place; calling it Bethel, which means “house of God”. And he went on his journey across the Jordan river to an eastern country.

For twenty years Jacob lived there; then God told him to return to Canaan. He had come there alone “with his staff” in his hand (which means he had walked). But he left the land with his family riding on camels, having their tents and the things they used; and many servants and large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats.

As they came near where his brother Esau lived, he greatly feared to go on, because of the wrong he had done in taking the birthright and their father’s blessing. So he sent servants with camels, asses, cattle, goats, and sheep for a present to Esau.

But Esau was as no longer angry, and came to welcome Jacob. Then Esau went back to his land, called Edom, and Jacob and all with him continued to Canaan. (Genesis 33).

09/13/1936

Whosoever Will!

Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye,

To the living waters free,

Come, drink, for God Himself invites you;

“Whosoever will,” saith He.

With tender love and wondrous mercy,

In the world He’s calling, “Come,”

Through Christ He’ll welcome you so gladly

To His grace, His heart, His home.

“The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17.

“Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” John 7:37.

ML 09/13/1936

Played Out

These fine, noble-looking dogs and their playmate have been having a romp. At last, wearied with their running and playing they have all settled down for a rest.

My young readers know all about such play. You enjoy such sport. And yet when you have played so long that you grow tired, and are “played out,” the sport loses its attraction for you, and you want rest.

There are many older people who seek enjoyment and happiness in the games and pleasures of this world. But a time comes when they, too, grow weary and long for rest. Do you know where they can find it? It is not the body that is weary, but the mind and heart. They do not need the kind of rest that our beautiful picture shows us. They want rest for their souls. Where can they get it? Jesus says:

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30.

Jesus knows that this poor world is full of work and trouble. He knows how much there is in it to weary and discourage us. And now He stands with out-stretched arms waiting to receive us. Come to Him and find rest.

“IT IS GOOD FOR ME TO DRAW NEAR TO GOD; I HAVE PUT MY TRUST IN THE LORD GOD.” Psa. 73:28.

ML 09/20/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 1

The opening verses of the book of Isaiah and Hosea reveal that those servants of God gave their testimonies during the same. period that Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah also prophesied during, or very near to Isaiah’s time is fairly evident, if not in every case disclosed in their writings. The 12 Minor Prophets (so called because shorter than the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel), are, like the 4 Major Prophets evidently arranged in our Bibles substantially in the order in which they were written.

Hosea alone of all the 16 Prophets, addresses all Israel, and in fact his book is concerned with the 10 tribes much more than the 2 of Judah. It is significant that only he names a king of Israel (verse 1) reigning during the time of his testimony. Unlike Daniel, Hosea does not mention the times of the Gentiles.

2 Kings 14:24, and 2 Chronicles 26-29 describe the true inward state of the people in Hosea’s days; it was bad, indeed, but God was not yet willing to give them up entirely. When His word had failed to reach their consciences, He gave them a picture of their condition before Himself in the wife of Hosea.

The prophet must marry a woman with a dark stain on her character; in fact, one who would continue in immorality after her marriage. Deeply painful it must have been to Hosea, whose desire was to be a clean vessel for God to use, to have Gomer as his wife, and later, when she had gone away to live a sinful life, to take her back again.

Israel as a whole had turned away from Jehovah her Husband to the idol worship, of the heathen, and no repentance of her course had occurred (except in individuals, as the Scriptures show). Would He always bear with her guilt? The names of the three children born to Gomer tell the answer very plainly.

Jezreel was the firstborn; this name is connected with blood shedding (verse 4), for it was at Jezreel in Issachar that the wicked king Ahab and his more wicked wife Jezebel lived, and there she met her terrible end (2 Kings 9: see 1 Kings 21 also). The name means “God scatters,” and it is applied in this book both to the taking away of the 10 tribes in judgment, and their being placed again in the land as the sower scatters his seed.

Jehu had been appointed by God for the cutting off of Ahab and his house, and he slaughtered the worshipers of Baal, and destroyed his images and temple; nevertheless he and his sons continued in the sins of the first-Jeroboam (see 2 Kings 15:8-12).

The second child was named Lo-ruhamah: “Not having obtained mercy,” pointing to the captivity of the 10 tribes which was soon to occur (2 Kings 17). Mercy was to be shown to the 2 tribes of Judah for a season; they were to be preserved from the hands of the Assyrian conquerors of the 10 tribes (2 Kings, chapters 18, 19). But in time Judah, too, would be rejected as the people of God, and this was prefigured in the name of the third child, Lo-Ammi;— “Not My people.” Judah outlasted Israel as a kingdom only 133 years (2 Chronicles 36).

In verses 10, 11, the forecasts of judgment give place; there God looks forward, past the centuries of Gentile dominion, to the day of blessing for all Israel which is yet to dawn. The use of the latter part of verse 10 in Romans 9 (see. verses 24-26) shows, however, that not only Millennial blessing was in the mind of God when Hosea was inspired to write those words, but the quotation is applied to the present work of grace to the Gentile, as well as the Jew.

ML 09/20/1936

Love

We all, I think, know how sweet it is to love and to be loved in return. But the love of Jesus is the sweetest love of all love. It is human love, because He is a real mall; it is divine love, because He is God.

One summer evening I was alone for a few hours, and not being felt and longed for someone near me that could love. I opened a book, and the Lord Jesus spoke to my heart through what I read. He told me He was very near, and loved me, so much; and I knew that I loved Him, though very little compared with His love to me.

I did not feel lonely any longer, and the rest of the time I was alone passed very quickly.

Twice we read in the Gospel of John,

“The Father loveth the Son”; and Jesus says Be loves us as the Father loves Him; and He wants us to love one another as He loves us.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.” 1 John 4:7.

08/20/1936

"Because My Sins Are All Forgiven"

A little girl, of the name of Florrie A—, attended my night class in the town of B—. Often had she been pressed to come to Jesus and tell Him what a sinner she was, hut without effect.

One night she looked brighter than usual, and during the meeting I asked the boys and girls who were washed in the precious blood of Jesus to hold up their hands, and among the number was our little friend Florrie.

Ah! thought I, Florrie can now hold her hand up, I will speak to her after the meeting.

Now, before we proceed with our story, perhaps some of my young readers would like to know what our subject was. Well, we had three scriptures, commencing with A, B and C.

All have sinned.” Rom. 3:23.

“Be sure your sin will find you out.” Num. 32:23.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” 1 Tim. 1:15.

Now let us take our first scripture, “All have sinned.” What do we find out? Why, we find that God says that we are all Sinners, and hence we need a Saviour, and that Saviour is Jesus, “Who gave Himself a ransom for all.”

Let us now pass on to our second scripture, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Have you ever thought, my young readers, that all your sins will be found out, either now or in the clay of judgment? O, let me plead with you to let your sins be found out Now. I mean, tell God what a sinner you are, and put your trust in Jesus’ own most precious blood, and He will save you there and then.

Now, to come to our last scripture: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Can any young readers say, really and truly from their hearts,

‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save Me’?

If not, do not rest until you can. Come to Jesus now—before it is too late—because Jesus soon is coming, and then when He comes the door will be shut, and if you are not saved you will surely be shut out for all eternity!

“Where shall I spend eternity?

This question comes to you and me!

Tell me, what shall your answer be—Where shall I spend eternity?

Eternity! Eternity!

Where shall I spend eternity?”

Now let us come back to our story of Florrie. The meeting was over, and after the other boys and girls had passed out I spoke to her. Florrie could now tell me she was saved, and that her sins were washed away by the precious blood of Jesus. So after a little conversation, I said,

Well, Florrie, if the Lord Jesus were to come tonight, would you go to be with Him?”

“O yes, sir!” said she. So, to assure myself, I asked,

“Why?”

“Because my sins are all forgiven!” she said.

Ah! dear Florrie knew that her sins were all forgiven. I wonder if any of my young readers know that their sins are all forgiven. Let me put the same question to you as I did to Florrie.

“If the Lord Jesus were to come tonight, would you go to be with Him?”

You would, if all your sins were forgiven. Let me implore you to be like our little friend Florrie, tell Jesus what a sinner you are, and ask Him to wash all your sins away in His most precious blood, and He will do so.

ML 08/20/1936

Jacob's Return to Bethel

Genesis 35

There were some things which Jacob’s family and servants brought from the far country which were not good. Those were the images, or idols, which they had prized so much. When God told Jacob to go to Bethel, where he had slept on the stone and dreamed, and there make an altar, Jacob thought of the images and knew they were wrong to have, and told his family and servants to bring them to him. So they brought the images and also all the earrings from their ears, and Jacob buried them all under an oak tree at Shechem.

Then they went to Bethel. So Jacob was safely back to the place to which God had said lie would bring him. He built an altar there, and the Lord again told him that his children should someday have all that land and be a great nation.

Jacob did not stay at Bethel, but went to live at Hebron which is in the south part of Canaan, where his father Isaac lived, who was still alive and lived to be one hundred and eighty years old.

Once in a prayer to God, Jacob said, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed” (Genesis 32:10). These were true words, for Jacob had done many wrong, things, and because of them had sorrow; but in one way he had been right; he had believed all God’s words to him and prized them. So God could bless him and He gave him a new name, Israel, which means “a prince.” Afterward he is sometimes spoken of as Israel and sometimes as Jacob.

ML 09/20/1936

Jesus Loves You

“Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14.

Little children, Jesus loves you,

He loves you—yes, indeed;

Why, He came from heaven on high

He came to meet your need.

Think! He laid aside His glory,

To come to earth below,

To save our souls front misery,

And everlasting woe.

Jesus died for you, dear children,

To put your sins away,

And fit you for His home in heaven

In everlasting day.

Yes, Jesus died on Calvary,

Upon that cross of shame,

That you might ever happy be—

O, blessed he His name!

O, come to Jesus, trust in Him,

He waits to meet you now;

His precious blood cleanses from sin,

And washes white as snow.

ML 09/20/1936

Beach Pleasures

I wonder how many of you children have been to the beach in the summer time, — if you have not been to a beach along the oceanside, maybe it was one by some lake shore. What fun the boys and girls do have at such places wading, bathing, and swimming! ‘Did you ever try jumping the waves as they come rolling toward you?

We surely ought to feel what tiny, weak creatures we are, when we see all the mighty works of God about us; just look at the heavens above you, the miles upon miles of land around you, and the great bodies of water which divide continents—do these things not show us God’s power?

Yes, and the love of God is shown, too, by permitting the lost as well as the saved to enjoy all these beautiful things—how unworthy any of us are of them!

How we should love the Lord for all His goodness; these are gifts we can have only as long as we live clown here, but God’s greatest gift to us is His Son, Jesus Christ. It is Jesus alone Who can make us happy for both time and eternity. All these other gifts will fail to bring comfort or peace unless we know Him.

“BY THE WORD OF THE LORD WERE THE HEAVENS MADE; AND ALL THE HOST OF THEM BY THE BREATH OF HIS MOUTH.” Psa. 33:6.

“He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: He layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done: He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psa. 33: 7,8,9.

ML 09/27/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 2

In verse 1 a believing remnant is owned of God. Hosea is directed to “Say unto your brethren, Arnmi (“My people”) and to your sisters, Ruhamah (“Having obtained mercy”). Some had humbled themselves before God because of their sins and the sins of the nation, and to these He had respect; they were His people, while Israel as a whole was worshiping idols.

Verse 2: “Your mother” is Israel, and Jehovah was her Husband (Jeremiah 31:32), but now, because of her turning to the idols of her heathen neighbors, He cannot acknowledge a relationship to which she has been habitually untrue. (Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2 and 3; Ezekiel 16 and 28; 2 Kings 17:7-23, 23:26-27, etc). Hosea was used to recall to Israel their departure from God, but their after-history has shown that though several prophets were raised up at this time, their testimony was unheeded by the mass of the people.

Verse 4: “Her children” are the separate kingdoms of Israel and Judah as already seen in Ezekiel 23. Forgetful of God, who had brought them out of Egypt to be to Him a people of inheritance (Deuteronomy 4:20), they had gone after idols. The “lovers” of verse 5 were these false gods, owned by Israel as the source of the blessing’s enjoyed. (See as an example of this 2 Chronicles 28:23).

Verse 6: In mercy, God would hedge up the way with thorns, and fence guilty Israel in with a wall, so that they should not find it easy to go on in ungodliness. 2 Kings 15 and 16 give the circumstance’s which God employed to that end: attacks from the neighboring nations and conspiracy and murder within Israel. There were moments when the voice of conscience stirred the people to a measure of repentance (verse 7), but there was no permanency about it, and God had resort to famine (verse 9). (See 2 Chronicles 20:8). Worse days were however to come, for though there were godly kings (over the two tribes of Judah only) the nation knew no lasting repentance. The ten tribes were soon removed into captivity, and the two tribes ere long followed them, fulfilling the promise of verses 10-13.

Verses 14-23 await their fulfillment in the day to come, when God will bless His earthly people in such measure as they have never known heretofore. First they are to be “allured” by Him, and brought into the “wilderness”, where He will speak to their heart (see margin). This points to the time of trial and of searching. judgment through which both the Jews and the long lost ten tribes will be passed. See Ezekiel 20:10-26, 33-49, verses 33-38 relating to the ten tribes who will be dealt with before they reach the land of their forefathers, while the two tribes will be judged within its borders.

The valley of Achor was a scene of judgment when the children of Israel first entered the promised land (Joshua 7:24-26). Equally unsparing will be the judgments yet to fall upon Israel, but a remnant will be saved, so that the valley of Achor (trouble) will be a door of hope. Then shall they know Jehovah in their hearts, and no longer in an unbelieving profession. His name will be “my Husband” instead of “my Master”, —a term also used for a husband in the Old Testament.

ML 09/27/1936

Lydia, and Her Colored Text

Happy evenings in the old home, when, under my mother’s watchful eye, my sister Lydia and I sat drawing and painting texts for the sick and suffering ones in the hospital, which we visited once a week, giving little presents to the sufferers, and speaking a word of cheer to them.

My sister Lydia had a very pretty colored text, upon which she had spent great pains. The words of it were,

“The gift of God is eternal life.” Rom. 6:23.

When Lydia handed the text to a cripple girl, who had been for many months in the hospital, she smiled, and pressing the text to her bosom, said,

“O how I love that text. It was the means of my salvation when I was a girl at school, and, although I am no longer able to run and enjoy life, as I was then, I have the gift of eternal life in my possession, and I enjoy it day and night.” Then patting Lydia’s cheek, she gently said,

“I hope the dear child who has taken such pains to paint this pretty text, has received God’s gift for herself, and knows that she is saved too.”

Lydia said nothing in reply, but that word of the sick girl troubled her, as it afterward did me. The fact is, we had been so accustomed to hear of Jesus, and, from our earliest years, to learn and respect texts about Him and His great salvation, that it was taken by most of our friends for granted that we were both children of God. But grace does not “run in the blood”; therefore, although our parents were both earnest Christians, and made it their study to bring us up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, we had to be saved just as other sinners.

Lydia was troubled after that question. At first she thought it was rude, but, as she thought over it, she saw it was quite a proper and a needful question to ask. She told me in our bedroom one night, that she was not saved, for she had not received the gift of God. Although I was Just as she was, unsaved, I said,

“Then do receive it, Lydia, and you will be saved.”

I believe it was either then or soon after, that my sister really took Christ as her personal Saviour, and when we next visited the hospital, she could tell the one who had first spoken to her, that she had now the gift of eternal life as her own. Lydia was a happy Christian, and it was chiefly through her clear testimony and Christ-like life, that I too was led to the Saviour. Now we are both happy in the knowledge of His love, that He has saved us, and that we shall dwell with Him and all our loved ones in glory.

It may be some of my young readers are as Lydia and I were in our early years—well taught in the Word, able to repeat it, make texts from it, —and yet unsaved. We had not then received the gift of God, which is the real beginning of the Christian life. Have you?

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

ML 09/27/1936

Which Boy Told the Lie?

They had arrived at the seaside, and had enjoyed themselves sailing toy boats, donkey riding, sand castle building, and in many other ways.

This morning two boys were quarrelling, and their mother came to settle the difficulty. She could not find which was the one to blame. At last she said,

“Well, I shall find out at the judgment day which of you told the lie.”

A few nights after, there was a dreadful storm, which blew the roof off the house. The little boys were frightened, and began to pray. When the mother opened the bedroom door, the boy who told the lie cried out,

“Mother, if it’s the judgment day, it was me that told the lie.”

Remember the Bible says, “For every idle word that men (or boys) shall speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment” Matt. 12:36. Get right with God now. With a contrite heart, accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, and you will be saved now, and safe forever in Eternity.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2.

ML 09/27/1936

Jacob's Twelve Sons

Genesis 37:1-12

There were twelve sons in Jacob’s family: the two youngest were Joseph and Benjamin, who stayed with the father; but the ten oldest had charge of the large docks and herds, often keeping them on lands some distance from the home at Hebron. They were grown men at this time and very rough and evil in their lives, caring not to honor God or for the wishes of their father.

When Joseph helped his brothers with the care of the flocks, he saw their evil ways and told his father of them. It was right for Joseph to tell his father, but it made his brothers hate him, and they would not speak well to him. They also envied Joseph because they knew their father loved hint very much and had given him a line coat, made in many colors. Such a coat was different from what the others had, and better, and was it mark of special favor.

Then Joseph had two dreams which angered them-still more; and we next read how wickedly they treated him and what they did to his coat. Do you know how old Joseph was at this time? If not, read verse 2 of our chapter.

Below are the names of Jacob’s twelve sons; Some are very easy, although some are hard. Learn all of them if you can, as they are used many times after this in the books of the Old Testament, and all are in the New Testament, except one. Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Levi, Judah, Gad, Asher, Is-sa-char„ Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.

ML 09/27/1936

Yes! All This for You

Question:

Will Jesus bless me if I come

Just as I am today?

I am so sinful and so weak,

And like a sheep I stray.

Answers:

Yes! yes! He calls you to Him now

His words are, “Come to Me!”

He will in no wise cast you out,

His grace is full and free.

Question:

Will Jesus save my guilty soul?

Will He forgive my sin?

Will He remove my every fear,

And give me peace within?

Answer:

Yes! yes! He suffered on the cross,

Himself for us He gave;

That we might peace and pardon know—

That He the lost might save.

Question:

Will Jesus fit me for His home,

To dwell with Him on high?

If He should come to call His own,

Or I am called to die?

Answer:

Yes! Jesus’ blood can make you white,

And fit in heaven to be

With Him above, in perfect love,

For all eternity.

“In whom we have redemption through His blood, evert the forgiveness of sins.” Col.1:14.

ML 09/27/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for August

“The Children’s Class”

1.“If I had not come,” etc. John 15:22.

2.“When Jesus heard,” etc. 11:4.

3.“And there are also,” etc. 21:25.

4.“Jesus-saith unto him,” etc. 14:6.

5.“Jesus knowing,” etc. 13:3.

6.“As thou halt given,” etc. 17:2.

7.“And Pilate wrote,” etc. 19:19.

Bible Questions for October

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in ‘Acts,

Chapters 15-28.

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “The will of the Lord be done.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Christ must needs have suffered.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

4.Write m full the verse containing the words, “Persuading them concerning Jesus.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “The first that should rise from the dead.”

6. Write in full the verse containing the words, “Both of the just and unjust.”

7. What is said as to the mother and father of Timotheus?

Answers to Bible Questions for August

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.By doing whatsoever He commands us. John 15:14.

2.Of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment. John 16:9-11.

3.“That He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Jno. 11:52.

4.Follow Him. Jno. 21:22.

5.By the Word of God. Jno. 17:17.

6.That we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that we might have life. Jno. 20:31.

7.Because he is not of the world. Jno. 15:19.

Bible Questions for October

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Acts,

Chapters 15-28

1.In what way were the Bereans “more noble?”

2.On what two occasions does the apostle own that he was wrong?

3.What verse marks God’s final turning away from Israel nationally in the gospel?

4.What verse shows a fulfillment of Mark 16:18?

5.What double testimony did Paul bear to both Greek and Jew?

6. Why did Lydia get the blessing?

7. How was the jailor to be saved?

10/04/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 3

If it was hard for Hosea to marry such a person as he had been told Gomer would prove to be (chapter 1), now that her character had come out in full display it cannot have been pleasant for him to go on with her again. She cannot now be owned as his wife, but Hosea is to love her as “a woman beloved of a friend, and an adulteress.” He bought her to himself for the price of a female slave (verse 2), and told her, “Thou shalt abide (literally “sit”) for me many clays; thou shalt not commit lewdness, and thou shalt not be to a man; so I also toward thee.”

This action on Hosea’s part toward his fernier wife was an illustration of the love of Jehovah for the children of Israel though they turned to other gods and loved, as it is said, flagons of wine (really cakes of grapes, or raisins offered to the “queen of heaven”—see Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:19). Though estranged from His earthly people because of their sins, He yet cares for them; has not finally given them up.

Verse 4 in a remarkably brief summing up, describes the condition of the earthly people of God, following the rejection of their Messiah. For many centuries now the children of Israel have remained a nation without a king or prince, or any sort of government. Nor have they offered the sacrifices required under the law of Moses, the reason being that their genealogies are entirely lost, so that they do not know who among them are of the priestly family.

They are not idolaters any more— “without image” (or idol statue); “without teraphim” (domestic idols, used in some way for divination). They are “without ephod” too, a part of the priestly garb worn when inquiring or professing to inquire of God, or an idol; there is no priesthood, and God does not acknowledge Israel now as His people.

The description exactly fits the present state of the Jews, —a nation which continues to exist, century after century, in the face of the lurking jealousy, and at times sharp persecution, of the Gentiles among whom they seek to live; having no national home of their own, except in the limited measure in which Palestine has, particularly of late, appealed to them apart from faith in God. What a witness to the truth of the Bible is the Jewish people today!

Verse 5 promises a return; they shall seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall turn with fear toward Jehovah and toward His goodness, at the end of the days. (See Romans 11).

It was not given to Hosea to tell of the preaching of the gospel of God’s grace to Jew and Gentile alike; we know that when Israel was set aside because of the cross of God’s beloved Son, a new work was begun, —the gathering out by the Holy Spirit of a people for heaven, who know God as their Father, and Israel’s Messiah as their exalted Lord and Saviour.

ML 10/04/1936

The Bird That Answered

A lawyer had a cage hanging on the wall in his office in which was a starling. He had taught this little bird to answer when he called it. A boy named Charlie came in one morning. The lawyer left him there while he went out for a little. When he returned, the bird was gone. He asked the boy,

“Where is my bird?” Charlie replied that he did not know anything about it. The gentleman said, “But Charlie, that bird was in the cage when I went out. Now tell me where it is.”

Charlie declared he knew nothing about it; that the cage door was open, and he guessed the bird had flown out. The lawyer called out,

“Starling, where are you?” The bird spoke right out of the boy’s pocket, and said,

“Here I am.”

Ah, what a fix the boy was in. He had stolen the bird, and had hid it, as he thought, in a safe place, and told two lies to conceal his guilt, and now comes a voice from his own pocket that told the story of his guilt. It was testimony that could not be denied. The boy had nothing to say. The bird was a living witness that he was a thief and a liar.

The boy Charlie is only one of millions in this world. Examples of him are to be found in all classes of people; young, old, male and female. Every human being has a conscience, placed by the living God deep clown in the bosom of the soul.

As the bird answered when the lawyer called it, so when God speaks by His Word, every conscience answers, telling the same story of guilt and rebellion against Him,

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23.

Yet how strange that men, boys, women and girls, deceived by sin and Satan, foolishly think they can hide their guilt, and like Charlie make one excuse after another which, if honestly faced in God’s presence, are but wicked lies. Ah, clear reader, does not your conscience, in response to God’s convicting word, respond,

“I am here, guilty of thousands of sins?” This is the language of a repenting soul, and nothing short of this will satisfy a holy God. Then, turning to the Saviour, Jesus, find in Him the Refuge for your helpless soul.

“This Man receiveth sinners,” Luke 15:2.

Refuse Christ, and His precious atoning blood, and throughout the endless ages of eternity you shall learn the truthfulness of this very solemn verse,

“Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:48.

By accepting Christ as your personal Saviour, you can sing with the redeemed.

ML 10/04/1936

"I Love Jesus"

Some years ago, when at a Sunday school, in a large town, Mr. K.— spoke to the children, and told them about the love of the Lord Jesus. He then addressed himself to the little ones, and said,

“Now I have told you of the love of Jesus, I should like to know if there is anyone here who loves Him?”

For some time all was silent as if everyone was thinking about this important question; when a little girl Helene was her name, rose up and said: Mr. K—, I love Jesus!”

Dear children, do you love the Lord Jesus? The Word of God says,

“I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me.” Proverbs 8:17.

ML 10/04/1936

Joseph's Dreams

Joseph had two strange dreams: First he dreamed that he and his brothers were binding grain in the field when, suddenly, his brothers’ sheaves, or bundles, all stood up around his sheaf, and bowed to his sheaf. He told the dream to his brothers, and they asked if he meant he should rule over them, and they were very angry with him.

Then Joseph had another dream and in this dream he saw the sun, and moon, and eleven stars bow to him. When he told the dream to his father and brothers, they thought him very proud to dream that others should bow down to him.

But it was not because Joseph was proud, but it was the Lord Who gave him the dreams; for tine find when we read more about Joseph and his brothers that his dreams really told what did happen years later, and only the Lord can tell truly beforehand what is to be. God was teaching them by the dreams to, know His power, so they would trust Him.

ML 10/04/1936

A Mother's Love

How a mother yearns for her little one, and often carries a sad heart. She enters into all the joys and sorrows of her clear one, and seeks to help and comfort in every possible way.

Dear boys and girls, you cannot conceive what your dear mother has gone through for you, from your babyhood up. Your many joys and sorrows have been hers, she has sacrificed much for you, and yet in all her love and care for you, there is One who has a much deeper love, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:10.

“THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH: BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETEAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” Romans 6:23.

ML 10/04/1936

The Pilgrims

Over 300 years ago, some Christians suffered persecution in England, so some of them fled to Holland. They were well treated there, but they determined to seek a count; where they would be able to worship God as they wished.

Their eyes turned toward America as such a country, so in July 1620 a little company of them sailed from Delft Haven in Holland, to Southampton in England, where the little ship, Mayflower, was waiting to convey them to the New World. They were now called Pilgrims, on account of their wanderings from one place to another.

They felt themselves to be pilgrims and strangers there, and sought a country of their own.

In what we may call God’s Roll of Honor, (Hebrews 11) in speaking of those whose lives have been marked by some act of faith, it is said: “These all died in faith.... and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

And now, dear boys and girls, and older ones, too, who are the Lord’s, are we showing by our words and ways, that we, too, are pilgrims and strangers here?

Do we declare plainly that we seek a country a better country—that is, a heavenly one?

“FOR OUR CONVERSATION (citizenship) IS IN HEAVEN; FROM WHENCE ALSO WE LOOK FOR THE SAVIOUR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.” Phil. 3:20.

ML 10/11/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 4

With this chapter we enter upon the second and larger part of Hosea’s prophecy, containing a series of addresses to Israel in regard to their sins, written with the pen of the Holy Spirit.

The first word of our chapter is “Hear” — “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel.” It is God who speaks from the pages of the Bible. Who will give attention to what He says? Luke 11:28, John 5:24; Matthew 7:24, 25, 1 Thess. 2:13 among many passages, testify to the value of hearing His word.

God had a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, and the ground of it is plainly told in verses 1 and 2. Since Hosea’s day, the controversy has become much more weighty; man in all his sins now stands exposed before God. (Romans 1:18-3:20). And the Son of God has come into the world, has been rejected and slain. Now the heart of a Saviour God is revealed. (John 3:14-18). Yet men do not believe.

It is in the New Testament that God makes known how He can save the lost, but lie was delivering souls from the power of Satan, making them His own, all through Old Testament days. Was there an ear to hear, or an eye that looked to Him? Then did He bless with salvation, for faith has ever been acceptable with God, and without it, it is impossible to please Him. (Hebrews 11:6).

When God is given up, and false gods take His place in the heart (for everyone has an object or objects for which he lives), there is moral decline also, though it may be covered up for the good opinion of one’s fellows. Apparently there was not much attempt to hide their evil ways when Hosea gave his testimony.

And what of this day, reader? With an open Bible, and the preaching of the gospel, has the world now a different character than it had in Hosea’s day?

Because of the unjudged evil in Israel, the land, the beasts, the birds, and even the fishes, were to be affected (verse 3). It was by man that sin came into the world, and the whole creation has suffered by reason of it. Prophets, priests and people were all guilty; none need accuse another (verses 4, 5).

Verses 6-11: Israel had stood in a priestly character before God, but should do so no longer; a holy God cannot go on with a people whose heart is set on sin. Idolatry had taken hold upon them, and in its train came immorality (verses 12-14).

Verses 15-18 distinguish between the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom, and the two tribes which clung to David’s line. Israel was about to be removed into captivity; let not Judah trespass! Gilgal, the starting point from which the land was taken by Joshua, had altogether lost its character, and instead of Beth-el (house of God) we read of nearby Bethaven (house of idols, or house of iniquity). Ephraim (Israel—the 10 tribes) was joined to idols; let him alone! Solemn decision, but fully called for.

The end of verse 18 has been translated, “her great men passionately love their shame.” (N. T.)

ML 10/11/1936

Fear and Its Remedy

In a farm house at some distance from any town, lived two dear children of God with their one little girl of about three years of age. They were not rich in this world’s goods, and their house was small, having only one bedroom in it, but they dearly loved the Lord Jesus, and their hearts were large.

One night, quite late, a servant of the Lord Jesus knocked at the door, and asked for shelter and a night’s rest. Most gladly they took him in, and gave him the only bed there was in the house, well pleased for the sake of Him he served, to put up with the personal inconvenience it gave them.

Their little girl was fast asleep in the cot at the bottom of the bed when they showed their guest where he was to rest. With care, so as not to wake the little sleeper, lie undressed and went to bed.

In the morning quite early he woke, and lay thinking of the Lord and His love. Suddenly a little white figure stood up in the cot at the bottom of the bed, and looked over, expecting to see the well-known faces usually there. To her amazement, a strange face looked upon her. Their eyes met. Like a statue for a moment she stood gazing with a fascinated look of fear. Then the little frame quivered with excitement, and the startled look gave place to one of deep inquiry. The little lips parted, and in lisping words she quietly asked,

“Do you love Jesus?”

“Yes, my child, Jesus is my Master,” fell softly on her ear.

Her face settled into a look of happy repose, and without another word she lay down in her cot again, covered herself, and went off to sleep.

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, in a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,

And drives away his fear.

ML 10/11/1936

Take Him at His Word

A little girl whom I knew was one of the brightest I have met. Look at her happy face, then hear the story of how she passed from darkness to light, from death to life.

One Sunday night, at the close of a Gospel meeting, a servant of the Lord said,

“If any one goes out of this meeting unsaved, he or she will be trampling the Lord Jesus under his or her feet.”

As I was passing out of the hall door I thought to myself, what a terrible thing it was to trample Jesus under my feet!

Two weeks after that I was very much troubled about my soul, but did not wish any one to know it. I did not go to the meeting that night, and to put away the thought of eternity, I began to play. For the time being I forgot the fact that I had to die and pass into eternity to meet a holy God; but when bed time came I was deeply troubled again, and began to wonder how I could be saved.

As I lay awake—for I could not sleep— I heard father and mother talking in the next room about the Lord’s Coming. Father said,

“Well, I wish the Lord would come before morning.” When I heard this I cried.

“O, mother, if Jesus comes before morning I won’t go with Him to Heaven. “Father answered and said,

“It is your own fault, because you won’t receive Jesus as your Saviour.”

Mother brought me a Bible. I opened it and read the 5th chapter of Romans, but the light did not come from that. Then I turned to John 3:16 and read it thus:

“For God so loved (me), that He gave His only begotten Son, that if (I) believe on Him”—I stopped here and asked mother what that word “believeth” meant, and she replied,

If I said I would give you a cent, you would take me at no, word, would you not?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” she said, “the Lord Jesus offers you the gift of eternal life; don’t you think He’ll give it to you?”

At that moment I grasped the truth, that the Lord Jesus died that I might have eternal life; and could finish the glorious verse, “that if (I) believeth in Him, (I) shall not perish, but (I) shall have Everlasting Life.”

Now I am satisfied with the Lord Jesus, and happy in the knowledge that my sins are all forgiven, and understand the meaning of

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.

Surely if this little girl was saved and satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ, any other girl, or boy either, may be the same. Will you read Romans 3, verses 20 to 23, and learn your lost condition; then read verses 24 to 26 and learn how God saves the lost; then put your name into John 3:16, and you may say as she says,

“I am happy in the knowledge that my sins are all forgiven.”

Will you accept the Lord Jesus Christ, and will you do so now?

ML 10/11/1936

Joseph Sold

Genesis 37:13-30

One day Joseph’s father told him to go and see how the older brothers were getting along with the flocks at Shechem, which was many miles from their home at Hebron. When Joseph reached there he could not find them, and a man told him that they had moved to Dothan. So Joseph kept on, and it must have seemed a long way to go alone.

His brothers saw him coming, and their hatred of him was so very great that they said to each other, “Come, let us kill him, and cast him in sonic pit, and say some evil beast hath devoured him!” But Reuben, the oldest brother, had pity for Joseph and he told them not to kill him, only to put him in the pit. He thought he could later get Joseph out and send him back to his father.

So when Joseph came up, to his brothers, they took hold of him roughly; pulled off his nice coat, and quickly threw him into a pit. It must have been a deep one, hut “there was no water in it.” They said, “We shall see what will become of his dreams!” They cared not for his pleadings to them, and sat down to eat their meal (Chap. 42:21).

Just then they saw a company of men on camels coming along. They knew they were traders who often bought slaves, and Judah said, “Let us sell our brother”, and the others were willing (only Reuben does not seem to have been with them then). So they got Joseph out of the pit, and for twenty pieces of silver sold him to the traders who took Joseph with them to Egypt. And the cruel brothers were well satisfied with their wicked deed, except Reuben, who felt very had when he came back and found Joseph gone.

ML 10/11/1936

Searching the Scriptures

Many youthful heads are bending

O’er the sacred Word,

God of mercy, through those pages

Let Thy voice be heard.

While the children thus are searching,

Give the trustful look;

Let them find Thy Son, Christ Jesus,

In Thy precious Book.

Guide, O Lord, the tiny fingers,

Rivet fast the sight.

Shed from truths of Thine unfolding,

Rays of living light.

While each little mind is working,

May the heart take hold

Of the grandest, oldest story

Ever known or told.

Bless this effort made to lead them

To Thy Word alone;

Teach them by Thy Holy Spirit,

Make them all Thine own.

Keep, O Lord, these little children,

Guard them with Thy love;

Lead them home to dwell forever,

With Thyself above.

ML 10/11/1936

"Thou God Seest Me."

We can all understand the meaning of the picture. The little girl has been left alone, and thinking no one saw her, has made tip her mind to help herself to the sweet, ripe grapes which hang so temptingly over the edge of the vase.

She looks as if she is saying to the parrot,

“Do you see me, Polly?”

Yes, the bird sees her, and there is Another who sees her too! God’s eye is upon us always, and He sees all our actions, hears all our words, and knows all our thoughts.

Perhaps someone had taught the parrot to say the words, “I see you,” and now they bring to the little girl’s mind the sin she is about to commit.

I hope she stopped in time and clambered down the chair, leaving the grapes untouched, and thus was saved from being a thief; what a good thing it was that the parrot should remind the little girl of the naughty thing she was going to do in time to prevent it.

“THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE IN EVERY PLACE, BEHOLDING THE EVIL AND THE GOOD.” Prov. 15:3.

ML 10/18/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 5

Priests, people, and rulers were alike in sin against God. Instead of “being witnesses for Him in a world given up to the worship of idols, they were a snare on Mizpah (“watch tower”) and a net spread upon Tabor (“mountain height”).

Verse 2 should be read, “And they have plunged themselves in the corruption of apostasy” (or, “with sacrifices do they go deeply in revolt”), “but I will be a chastiser of them all.”

It was vain to suppose that God did not see and hear all that was going on in the kingdom: “I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from Me.’’ The use here and later of both names for the ten tribes is significant of the height from which they had fallen, Ephraim meaning “doubly fruitful,” and Israel “prince of God.”

Their doings did not allow them to return to their God; they were devoted to sinful practices, “and they have not known”, or rather they know not the Lord (verse 4). They had known Him in earlier days of their history, but the service of Satan attracted them and God was given up.

Pride (verse 5) is one of the three things that give the world its character before God (1 John 2:16). It is again spoken of in connection with Ephraim in Hosea 7:10. One of the earth’s greatest monarchs has testified to what he had proved in his own experience, that “those that walk in pride God is able to abase.” (Daniel 4:37). Israel and Ephraim were shortly to fall by their iniquity, but Judah was to fall also, having profited not at all by the punishment of the ten tribes.

The time was at hand when they would go to seek Jehovah (verse 6), but it would be too late to find Him. There comes a time when a long-suffering God will shut the door of mercy.

“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him. while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6.

In Noah’s day there were few that gave heed to the preaching, but when the door of the ark was shut by God, and the flood came, few indeed of the despisers of divine mercy that did not wish they were safe inside.

There would be alarm in Gibeah, Ramah, and Beth-aven, but Ephraim was ordained to desolation. Judah too would be punished (verse 10), but at this time Ephraim led in sin, and in self-will he walked after the commandment of man (or, the king) (verse 11).

When the two nations saw that their power to resist an enemy was gone, Ephraim sent to the king of Assyria for help; but their case was of God, and no human arm could deliver them. Had they humbly sought the God of their fathers, deliverance would have been theirs, but now there was to come to pass that word of Proverbs 29:1:

“He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

Yet in the coming day for Israel’s recovery, the last verse of our chapter will be fulfilled.

ML 10/18/1936

A Word for Jesus

Little Annie, five years old, went one day to a new Sunday school. She heard there that someday—perhaps very soon —Jesus is coming down into the clouds, and that those who, love Him will be caught up to meet Him there, and will go with Him to heaven.

The next Lord’s day Annie’s little sister M, four years old, went to the same school. The teacher was asking each dear little girl the question, “How do you think we can get to heaven?’’ Some said,

“By believing in Jesus.” Others, who did not yet understand the way of salvation said, “By being good.” When it came to little M.’s turn, she said,

“Jesus will take us.” The teacher on inquiring learned that little Annie had gone home the Sunday before and told her younger sister, M. the beautiful story of Jesus’ coming. Dear little M. remembered the good and wonderful news. And though she misunderstood the teacher’s question, she was ready with an answer most beautifully true.

I hope, dear children, you will be like little Annie, and tell to others the blessed things you learn about Jesus.

“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” Prov. 20:11.

It will please the Lord if you are trying to serve and please Him.

ML 10/18/1936

"He Redeemed Me!"

The tears of a slave girl just going to be put up for sale many years ago drew the attention of a gentleman as he passed through the auction mart of a Southern slave state. The other slaves of the group, standing in a line for a sale like herself, did not seem to care about it, while each knock of the hammer made her shake. The kind man stopped to ask why she alone wept, and was told that the others were used to such things and might be glad of a change from the hard, harsh homes they came from, but that she had been brought up with much care by a good owner, and she was terrified to think who might buy her.

“Her price?” the stranger asked. He thought a little when he heard the great ransom but paid it down. Yet no joy came to the poor slave’s face when he told her she was free. She had been born a slave, and knew not what freedom meant. Her tears fell fast on the signed parchment, which her deliverer brought to prove it to her. She only looked at him with fear. At last he got ready to go his way, and as he told her what she must do when he was gone, it began to dawn on her what freedom was. With the first breath she said.

“I will follow him! I will serve him all my life.” And to every reason against it she only said, “He redeemed me! He redeemed me! He redeemed me!”

When strangers used to visit that master’s house; and noticed, as all did, the loving, constant service of the glad-hearted girl, and asked her why she was so eager with unbidden service night by night and day by day, she had but one answer, and she loved to give it,

“He redeemed me! He redeemed me! He redeemed me!”

“And so,” said the servant of Christ, who spent a night on his journey in a Highland glen and told this story in a meeting where every heart was thrilled, “Let it be with you. Serve Jesus as sinners bought back with Blood; and when men take notice of the joy that is in your looks, of the way you serve, of the love that is in your tone, the freedom of your service, have one answer to give— ‘He. redeemed me!’”

ML 10/18/1936

Little Annie's Answer

Some years ago, while awaiting the arrival of a gentleman upon whom I had called, a little girl came running into the room, and seeing a stranger she looked rather shyly at me; but after a few kind words we soon made friends. One of, the first questions I put to her was, “Do you love Jesus?” she readily replied,

“Yes, I do.” I then said, “Do you think that Jesus loves you?” She looked up in my face and slowly answered,

“I am quite sure He does.”

What a beautiful answer! Does the little boy or girl who is reading this, love Jesus? I am sure He loves little children as much now as He did when He was on earth, and took them up in His arms awl, blessed them. For He is the same loving Saviour “yesterday and today, and forever.” Heb. 13:8.

ML 10/18/1936

Joseph's Coat

When Judah and the other brothers sold Joseph, they kept his coat, and, killing a goat, they clipped the coat in the blood. Then they carried it home to their father, and did not tell him what they had done, but said, “This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.” Jacob knew the coat, and said, “It is my son’s coat; an evil beast path devoured him.” And he wept and sorrowed greatly for Joseph. But Joseph was not dead, although it was many years before his father saw him again.

How wicked the brothers were to act as they did, and all because they would but be sorry for their own sinful ways! They kept the hatred to Joseph in their hearts till it grew more and more.

But God cared for Joseph in Egypt and you will like to read of him there, and of how his brothers at last had to own their sin to him.

The story of Joseph always makes us think of how the Lord Jesus was also hated. He said, “They that hate me without a cause” (Ps. 69:4), and He was sold for but a little more than Joseph—for 30 pieces of silver.

20 pieces of silver are said to have been worth about $12.00, and you can easily count about how much 30 pieces would be worth.

ML 10/18/1936

The Bible

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Ps. 119:105.

There’s no book like the Bible,

God’s precious word of truth;

The comfort of the aged,

The guide and guard of youth.

Refrain:—

We won’t give up the Bible,

As others say we should;

For they have never found us

Another half so good.

There’s no book like the Bible,

The Father’s holy Word,

The Son’s unchanging witness,

The Spirit’s mighty Sword.

There’s no book like the Bible.

It shows the past so well

Makes known God’s present purpose,

And doth the future tell.

There’s no book like the Bible,

For every time and place;

The book for every nation,

Of every clime and race.

There’s no book like the Bible,

Then may we live it more,

And cling yet closer to it,

Than we have done before.

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” Ps. 119:9.

ML 10/18/1936

The Happy Lambs

Do you see these little lambs skipping so merrily about? Lambs and sheep are most gentle creatures. They would not harm anyone.

In John 1:36 Jesus is called the “Lamb of God.” Because the lamb is such a meek and gentle creature, it was a suitable type of the meek and lowly Jesus, who offered Himself as a lamb to God for your sins and mine. In Isaiah 53:7 we are told,

“He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.”

Just as a sheep is so quiet when being led away to be killed, or when the shearers are cutting its wool, so Jesus went into death and endured the most terrible suffering without drawing back—without murmuring. And all this, dear reader, for you, that you might not suffer the deserved punishment of your sins. Do you love Him in return for such great love?

“REDEEMED WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, AS OF A LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH AND WITHOUT SPOT.” 1 Pet. 1:18, 19.

ML 10/25/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 6

Now the prophet, speaking according to the mind of God, and linking himself with his people, pleads with them:

“Come and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten and He will bind us up.”

God had not entirely and forever given them up, though their sins were enough to have cut them off from any further hope of His favor.

Surely there is a present-day application of this appeal! What lack of affection for the Lord is noticeable now among His heavenly people! What neglect of the Word of God! What worldliness! Come and let us return into the Lord!

Verse 2 points to an interval before God would turn again to His earthly people—an interval during which He would present the gospel of His grace to Jew and Gentile alike, and the Church would be formed; though of this Hosea knew nothing. See John 2, where “the third day” is evidently a foreshadowing of the millennial blessing of Israel. The language of the verse brings to mind the Lord’s death and resurrection; it is a token to Israel that as their messiah rose again after two days, their nation will be revived by divine power also.

In verse 3 the meaning is more clearly expressed thus:

“And we shall know, we shall follow on to know the Lord (Jehovah); His going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and He will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth.” (N.T.) Such is Israel’s bright prospect when born again.

In verse 4 it is God that speaks:

“What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do unto thee, Judah?”

Their goodness was as short lived as a morning, cloud and as the dew. Therefore, He had sent to them the prophets, “hewing” and “slaying” the people by the keen edge of the Word of God. In the latter part of the 5th verse read “My judgments”, instead of “thy judgments”. “Mercy”, in verse 6, is the same word in the Hebrews as is translated “goodness” in verse 4. God delights in the ways of His people that are consistent with His own character; it is the heart that He seeks, and not an exhibition of empty religion.

Verse 7 is rightly read with the marginal note; “They, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant.” Adam and Israel were alike in being offenders against God’s declared order. To Adam there was a commandment (Genesis 2:17), and he broke it. From Adam to Moses there was no law. (Romans 5:12-14).

Verses 8-10 show the true and hopelessly had state of Israel (the ten tribes), and the last verse points to Judah’s as calling for judgment. It is rightly read,

“Also for thee, Judah, is a harvest appointed, when I shall turn again the captivity of My people.” The “harvest” will be a time of searching judgment.

ML 10/25/1936

A Christian Soldier

A Chaplain of the army once related an incident of a young soldier who, on one occasion, had consulted him on the subject of prayer.

“Last night,” said the young man, “before getting into bed, I knelt down and prayed; suddenly my comrades began to throw their hoots at me, and raised a great laugh.”

“Well,” replied the chaplain, “but suppose you defer your prayers till you get into bed, and then silently lift up your heart to God.” A week or two afterward the young soldier called again.

“Well,” said the chaplain, “you took my advice, I suppose? how has it answered?”

“Sir,” he answered, “I did take your advice for one or two nights, but I began to think it looked rather like denying my Saviour, and I once more knelt at my bedside, and prayed as before.”

And what followed?”

“Not one of them laughs now, sir; fifteen kneel and pray too.”

“I felt ashamed,” added the chaplain in narrating the story, “of the advice I had given him. That young man was wiser and bolder than myself.”

“Whosoever shall he ashamed of Me and of My word, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father’s and or the holy angels.” Luke 9:26.

ML 10/25/1936

Little Curly

Little Curly was four years of age, and a very intelligent child she was, with golden curls all over her head, and large blue eyes, which often opened very wide when she was surprised. And she was very much surprised one day, when Miss Norten—a young lady, who was staying with her mother—asked her if she had ever heard of the loving Saviour, who died for sinners old and young. The dear child did not know who Jesus was, for her mother had not taught her even to say a prayer when she went to bed.

Miss Norten was astonished at the child’s ignorance, and taking her upon her knee said,

“Why, Curly darling, I teach little boys every Sunday about Jesus, and that beautiful home He has gone to prepare for little children who love Him.”

“O!” said Curly, “I thought you taught your little boys their letters, for I learn my letters at school.”

“No, darling,” replied Miss Norten, “on Sunday I teach them of Jesus, who came down from heaven, and who died to wash away our sins. He says to all little children, ‘Come unto Me,’ and He will forgive you every naughty thing you have done, and by-and-by take you to that beautiful home, beyond the bright blue sky, for He lives up there.”

“O, up there in the blue sky, I can’t see Him,” exclaimed the child, eagerly gazing through the window. “Did you come down from the blue sky to tell me of Jesus? Do you live up there, when you’re at home? Mother said you came by train; she did not say you came down from the blue sky!”

“No, Curly darling, I did not come down from the sky, but God must have sent me, I think, to tell you of His Son Jesus, and His love. So you must listen to me. One day, a very long time ago, God sent His Son down from heaven to this earth. His Son came into this world to seek and to save sinners. His name was called Jesus, because He saves His people from their sins. Jesus, who was once a little child, like you, grew up to be a man, going about doing good, healing all the poor, sick people, and blessing little children, and doing all sorts of loving things. But men did not love Him, and one day they nailed Him to a cross, and there He died. But now He lives in heaven, and everyone, great or small, who trusts Him, has his sins forgiven. But, if people do not trust Him, He cannot take them to His beautiful home, for no one may enter that holy and beautiful place where Jesus lives who is sinful and wicked. All who trust Him He forgives every naughty thing they ever did, and by and by takes them to His home to be forever with Him.”

“But shall I die if I love Jesus?” said Curly.

“No, darling. We love Him because He first loved us, and when we love Him, we try to please Him by doing good, and by obeying His words,” answered Miss Norten.

“O! then I should like to trust Him,” said Curly, “and if I do die He will take me up in the bright-blue sky, and I will tell mother and Teddy of Him, too, and they will love Him, to come to that beautiful home with me, won’t they? And will you tell them all about it, Miss Norten?”

That night, for the first time, Curly was taught to pray to God. She could not understand at first what Miss Norten meant when she asked her to kneel before she got into bed, but on being told that God could hear her, she willingly repeated the infant petition.

The Lord Jesus loves little children, and we do not doubt that He sent the message about Himself to this little child, who had never heard of Him, nor been taught to pray to Him.

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.” Isaiah 40:11.

ML 10/25/1936

Joseph in Prison

Genesis 40

Joseph was seventeen years old when taken into Egypt and there sold to the captain of the king’s guards to work in his house. Joseph did his work so well that after awhile his master gave him charge of all he had in his house and fields. Joseph believed that God could see him and was honest and right in all, while his master was away.

But one day an evil story which was not true, was told of Joseph to the captain, and because of this he put him in prison, bound with chains, “whose feet they hurt with fetters” (Psalm 105:18).

God knew the wrong done to Joseph and caused the prison keeper to favor him. He must have unbound him, as we read that he trusted all the other prisoners to Joseph.

After this the king became angry with two of his head servants and sent them to the prison. One night these men each had a dream which they spoke of to Joseph and he told them God could give the meaning of them.

One, who had served wine to the king, called a butler, dreamed he saw a vine, having three branches with clusters of ripe grapes, which he dreamed he pressed into a cup and gave to the king. Joseph told him the dream meant that in three days he should again serve the king, and asked him to think of him then and speak to the king to free him also from the prison.

The other man, the king’s baker, said he dreamed he was carrying three baskets on his head, and in the top basket were cakes for the king which birds came and ate. His dream, Joseph said, meant that in three days he would be punished.

Just three days after this, the king sent for the butler to come serve him again in the palace, but the baker he had hanged. So you see God had given Joseph to understand the right meaning of the dreams, and we would expect the butler would be happy to ask the king to free Joseph.

“Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.”

ML 10/25/1936

Blessed Saviour

O! what has Jesus done for me?

He pitied me—my Saviour.

My sins were great; His love was free;

He died for me—my Saviour.

Exalted by His Father’s side,

He pleads for me—my Saviour.

A heavenly mansion He’ll provide

For all who love my Saviour.

Jesus, Lord Jesus—

Thy Name is sweet, my Saviour,

When shall I see Thee face to face,

My wondrous, blessed Saviour?

ML 10/25/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for September

“The Children’s Class”

1.“Ye stiffnecked,” etc. Acts 7:51.

2.“And we are,” etc. “ 5:32.

3.“Then remembered,” etc. 11:16.

4.“Then had the,” etc. 9:31.

5.“Confirming the souls,” etc. 14:22.

6. “And now, Lord,” etc. 4:29.

7. “Ye men of Israel,” etc. 2:22.

Bible Questions for November

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Romans,

Chapters 1-8

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “While we were yet sinners.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words; “The riches of his goodness.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Witnessed by the law and the Prophets.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “That it might be by grace.”

5. Write in full the verse containing the Words; “Them he also glorified.”

6. Write in full the verse containing the words, “Yield yourselves unto God.”

7. To what classes of people did the Apostle Paul consider himself a “debtor”?

Answers to Bible Questions for September

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.“Thru much tribulation.” Acts 14:22.

2. Whosoever believeth in Him. Acts 10:43.

3.(1) Christ, (2) Things concerning-the kingdom of God, (3) Name of Jesus Christ, (4) The Word of the Lord, (5) The gospel. Acts 8:5, 12, 25.

4.Lying. Acts 5:3.

5.“Until the times of restitution of all things.” Acts 3:21.

6. Pentecost. Acts 2.

7. Jesus Christ. Acts 4:10-12.

Bible, Questions for November

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Romans, Chapters 1-8

1.What is to be the believer’s attitude toward sin in the flesh?

2. What is to be the believer’s attitude toward the law of Moses?

3.What can separate us from the love of God?

4.What chapter gives us God’s picture of the Gentile world?

5. What chapters give us God’s condemnation of the Jew?

6. Name three things by which we are justified, and give the references.

7. What is the three-fold portion of David’s blessed man?

ML 11/01/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 7

When God, who is rich in mercy, would stretch forth His hand to heal, the iniquity. of Ephraim and the wickedness of Samaria are discovered. Samaria was the seat of government; front it the kings who led the people in God’s dishonor ruled the country.

Hosea was the last prophet among the ten tribes, and his long-period of testimony—evidently exceeding 60 years (see chapter 1:1) must have ended not far from the time when they were made captives of the Assyrian conqueror, in B.C. 721 (2 Kings 18:9-12).

Chapter 7 thus unfolds the true moral character of that people at the end of their possession of the land bestowed on them by God’s favor—no more to return there until they shall have been recalled by divine power at the Lord’s appearing.

They practiced falsehood, and thieves within and robbers without carried on their doings apparently unchecked. These evidences of Satan’s service were early introduced into the world; are increasingly common in our day and will continue until God interferes in judgment.

It is significant that a lie was the means whereby Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44) deceived Eve in the garden of Eden, thereby robbing God of the confiding trust of His creatures, and indeed robbing Him of the world, the fair creation of His own hands, Satan is still a thief, robbing men (did they but realize it!) of all he can, as witnessed by Mark 4:15 and Luke 10:30; and all false leaders among God’s sheep are thieves and robbers, like their master (John 10:1, 8, 10).

“They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness” (verse 2)—how true of the present age! Today few are concerned when they are told that God, who offers salvation to all, will ere long become the Judge of the world; then “the books” will be opened, and the dead will be judged out of those things which are written in them according to their works (Rev. 20:12-13), even to “every idle word” (Matthew 12:30).

The whole nation is shown to be devoted to wickedness (verse 8). Immorality —fruit of the nation’s turning away from the true God, and in those clays associated with the worship of idols—abounded. It appears to be gaining ground rapidly nowadays. (Verse 8): Ephraim mixed himself among the peoples—the nations of those who knew not God, from whom Israel was designed to be separate (Exodus 19:6; 34:12-16).

The latter part of verse 13 should be read, “And I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.” The time came when they cried out because of the distress in which they found themselves (by reason of sin), but it was not a cry addressed in sincerity to God, when they howled upon their beds. Trouble did not turn their heart to Him any more than His mercy, and though they had called (in vain) on Egypt for help, they would be overwhelmed by the Assyrians, and in the day of their dire calamity the Egyptians would deride them (verse 10).

ML 11/01/1936

The King Is Listening

I am going to tell my little readers of a good way to learn their lessons, for I know how it will please the dear little hearts that get worried over their lessons sometimes.

A little girl found her lessons very hard, and this is how she overcame and learned them: Her mother was having her taught music, and poor little May seemed so dull at learning, and she often shed a little tear at the thought of practicing, when she would rather be playing out of doors. Her mamma tried in every way to make her try harder, but the poor little girl could not take an interest in it.

One day, when she started to practice, her mamma was astonished to hear how well she was playing, and came into the room, saying,

“Why, May dear, that was splendid. You are improving. You must be trying harder.” Little May, looking around to her mamma with a pleased face, said,

“Well, I tried to make myself believe the king was listening, and so I played my best for him to hear.”

She always tried the plan after this and soon overcame all her difficulties, for, you see, dear children, she was playing for the king to hear.

Now, I want my readers to try this plan too, but not to think of an earthly king who cannot hear.

There is a much greater King, the “King of kings” in heaven, who really can and does hear. He hears every little word and sees every little act. He sees your lessons, and the little tasks your teachers or parents give you to do, so how careful and how watchful you should be that your work is done for such a great King to see!

Have you ever thought that a King, the Lord Jesus Christ, is watching you all clay long, and listening to all you say? Yes, clear children, He is, and it grieves Him when you do or say that which is not right.

Remember, He is looking and listening, and He wants you to tell Him all your troubles, for He loves little children.

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong: in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” 2 Chron. 16:9.

Children’s prayers He loves to hear,

Children’s praise delights His ear.

11/01/1936

Two Dreams of a King

Genesis 41

Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had two strange dreams; he dreamed he stood by a river and saw seven fat cattle come up out of the water and feed on the meadow grass; after them came seven poor, lean cattle who ate the fat cattle. Next, he dreamed he saw a stalk of grain with seven nice, full ears; and seven thin, withered ears came on the stalk and devoured the good ears.

These dreams greatly troubled the king and none of his wise men could explain them. The chief butler heard about this and remembered how, two years before, in the prison, Joseph had given the right meanings of his and the baker’s dreams. He told the king, who at once sent for Joseph to be brought, When Joseph stood before the king, Pharaoh said,

“I have heard of thee, that thou canst understand a dream.” Joseph answered, “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer.”

The king then told his dreams. Joseph said that God had given them for Pharaoh to know that there were to be seven years of great plenty in the land when much grain would grow, more than the people could use, but after those good years would come seven years of famine when the people and cattle would have no food unless it were saved clueing the good years.

The king believed that it was God who had shown Joseph this, and therefore he would be the one best able to direct the storing of the grain and all other business of the land.

So, instead of Joseph any longer being a slave, or shut in prison, he became the high ruler of Egypt, next to the king; was given new clothes and the king’s own ring, as a mark of power; and rode in the chariot after the king, honored by all the people. He was also given his wife and had a home of his own.

Joseph was thirty years old at this time. Do you know how many years since he came to Egypt a poor slave boy, sold by his brothers? In Psalms 105, it says of Joseph:

“The king sent and loosed him; ... .and let him go free... He made him ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.”

In the New Testament we read of Joseph, that God was with him, and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh (Acts 7:9, 10).

ML 11/01/1936

Tabby's Injured Paw

Our picture shows us a cat with an injured foot, and, we wonder how it came to be so.

The girls sympathize with their playful companion, and are wanting to care for the foot.

Do you know, little reader, that we often get into trouble by doing wrong things, and whenever we wish to harm another, we deserve to have that harm come to ourselves.

On the other hand, if one tries to harm you, be patient, and do not return evil for evil.

As Christians and little followers of Jesus, we will have to suffer much wrong and unjust treatment for His sake.

“BE NOT OVERCOME OF EVIL, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD.” Rom. 12:21.

ML 11/01/1936

Oxen Plowing

What an odd sight we have before us! I’m sure none of you children have ever seen real oxen plowing a field; yet this kind of work, which today is clone by horses and machinery, was really clone by oxen years ago.

Your father may not be a farmer, but I am sure he is working each day to supply you with food, clothing and a home. Why is it that people have to labor so day by day to get these things? We get the answer to this in Gen. 3:17-20. God said to Adam,

“Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.”

We are the children of Adam, and have that same sinful nature. God wants us to think of this, and to remember that this world still has the curse of sin upon it. But Jesus has died to redeem you out of this world; His blood was shed on the cross to put away your sins; do you believe this?

Own Him as your Saviour now. He cares for you, and can make you truly happy even in the hardest tasks you may he called to do.

Then children, Jesus is coming very soon to call all His redeemed out of this world. Are you ready to meet Him?

“THEY THAT WERE READ WENT IN WITH HIM TO THE MARRIAGE: AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT.” Matt. 25:10.

ML 11/08/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 8

In Scripture the trumpet is used symbolically as the voice of God, whether to call His people together; or to sound an alarm; or to publicly proclaim His rights (Numbers 10; Joshua 6; Isaiah 27:13; Jeremiah 6:17; Matthew 21:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:10; Revelation 8). In Hosea 8:1 it is used to announce judgment about to take place on the hearers.

The responsibility—woefully neglected, however—of the 12 tribes as God’s earthly people, is plainly, set forth; nor is the promise of judgment ever found in Scripture without the occasion for it being plainly stated. Who was to be the agent of God in judgment is not said: “He shall come as an eagle against” (not merely the nation but) “the house of the Lord”, and the occasion for this action is given in the latter part of the first verse. “Trespassed against My law’’ is hardly sufficient to express the meaning of the original Hebrew; it is really “they have rebelled against My law.”

The righteousness of God and His holiness demand that sin be punished, but, as we know from many scriptures, there had been ample warning given; mercy had long been shown, and was slighted, too. Now with swiftness, seeing the prey front afar, as an eagle or vulture, an enemy would attack the nation that professed the name of Jehovah, but in heart had forsaken Him.

As generally in Hosea, the ten tribes are chiefly in view, but what was true of them was in substance. true of Judah also, though the latter still clung to the house of David their king. It is mere profession in verse 2, just as, in our own times, the unconverted call upon the name of God when alarmed, as though entitled to call Him “my God” apart from heart belief in His word. But God is a discerner of hearts, and they who cry “My God, we know Thee”, had cast off good; therefore the enemy should pursue them (verse 3).

Independence of God (characteristic of mankind ever since the fall of Adam and Eve) marked the course of the ten tribes, and their kings had almost no regard for Him; out of their wealth they made themselves idols, that they might be cut off (verse 1). So the calf, or calves, which the rulers of Israel had made as a substitute for the worship of the true God at Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28; 2 Kings 10: 20; 17:16; Hosea 10:5), gave this wayward people no help in time of need; it should, in fact, be broken in pieces.

In the end of verse 5, the best reading is “how long will they be incapable of purity” (or innocency). Israel had sown the wind, and should reap the whirlwind. They had coveted the ways of the ungodly, and were now to be captives among them. They should begin to be straightened under the burden of the king of princes (verse 10 N.T.)

“They shall return to Egypt” (verse 13) refers to the state of the nation as recorded in the early chapters of Exodus; back into slavery of like kind were the ten tribes about to go, though the scene of it would be Assyria. Israel had forgotten his Maker, and built idol temples; Judah relied on walled cities for protection, and forgot God also, but their day of reckoning was to come.

ML 11/08/1936

"Jesus Died for Me"

A Japanese Christian convert, speaking to his countrymen, said, “Believing that Jesus died will not save anybody, it is just a fact of history; believing that Jesus died for me, will save anybody; that is an act of faith.”

Which is it with you, dear young reader, a fact of history, or an act of faith?

“All the fitness Christ requireth

Is to feel your need of Him.”

“I never thought it have made me so happy to belong to, Jesus,” were the words of a dear young girl who has only lately tasted the joy of being the Lord’s. We are all living at a very solemn time. Would it not make you very happy to know that you were safe, quite, quite safe? Would you not he glad to be able to say,

“No bomb or shell can o’er me burst

Without my God permits it first;

Then let my heart be kept in peace—

His watchful care will never cease.

“No bomb above, no mine below

Shall cause my heart one pang of woe:

The Lord of Hosts encircles me,

He is the Lord of earth and sea.”

Decide for Christ today. There is no time to lose. On every hand Bible-loving, Bible-reading Christians agree in believing that the return of the Lord is very near. Christ is as really coming to claim His own, as in lowly grace He came long ago to be the babe in Bethlehem’s manger. Then those who have fallen asleep in Jesus will be raised, and His living saints changed. Those who are not taken to glory will be left for judgment. In which company will YOU be found?

“Soon that voice will cease its calling,

Now it speaks, and speaks to thee,

Sinner, heed the gracious message,

To the blood for refuge flee.

Take salvation—

Take it now, and happy be.”

ML 11/08/1936

"And I was one of Them"

A little girl in my class was asked one day to write clown what she knew about Jesus, and, although very busy dung the week, she wrote down a long list or those things which she could remember, and about the middle of her list she put the following sentence, which pleased me very much:

“Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, and I was one of them.”

Can you say this, my dear young reader? Although young, she knew that Jesus had come to save her. Do you know it? And why did she know it? Simply because site believed what God had said about her, that she was lost, for God says,

“All have sinned;” “There is none good: no, not one.”

She not only classed herself among the lost, and believed that. Jesus came to seek and to save that which. was lost, but she believed that He had found her, and saved her. Can you say with her,

“Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost, and I was one of them?” The little girl took her place as a lost sinner. If you do not, salvation is not for you.

The jailor at Philippi cried out from the bottom of his heart,

“What must I do to be saved?”

Now the Lord will save you in the same way as He saved the jailor and the little girl, that is, without money and without price, for we read,

“By grace are ye saved.... and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

O! if you have not yet, clear young friend, come to God as a lost sinner, come now, this very moment—come to Jesus now; just as you are, and be sure He will save you, for He has said Himself,

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Then doubt not your welcome—

“But take, with rejoicing, from Jesus at once The life everlasting He gives, And know, with assurance, you never can die, Since Jesus your Substitute lives.”

ML 11/08/1936

Then She Is Rich

This was the remark of a little Sunday school boy, who was visited by the teacher. The teacher, on leaving him, observed that she was going to visit a poor sick woman.

“Does she love the Saviour?” inquired the boy.

“Yes,” was the reply, “I hope she does.” “Then she is rich,” replied the boy. And was he not right? He that loves Jesus, and has Him for his Saviour and Friend, must be rich.

“For your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Cor 8:9.

ML 11/08/1936

Seven Years of Plenty and Seven Years of Famine

Genesis 41:46-57 and Genesis 42

There came seven good years in Egypt, just as the Lord had shown Joseph, when ever so much grain grew in the fields: the people had all they could use, yet each year there was ever so much left. Each harvest Joseph had all the grain not needed, stored in safe places in the towns; at first they kept count of the measures, but every year so much more was brought that at last they did not keep, count; we read it was “as the sand of the sea.”

Then seven years of famine came, just as the Lord had also shown Joseph, when the grain did not grow and people had not enough to make bread. They came to the king-for grain, and he told them, “Go to Joseph”, for he had charge of the great storehouses.

In other lands there was this bad time of drouth and famine also, and people came to Egypt to buy grain. One day ten men came from Canaan and stood before Joseph. At once he knew that they were his brothers; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. They bowed down to the ground before him, as was proper to such a high ruler, and Joseph remembered his dreams of their sheaves bowing to his sheaf. But he did not tell them who he was, nor let them know he understood their language but spoke by an interpreter. And they did not think of this great man being the boy they had sold for a slave over twenty years before. They asked to buy grain to take home to their families, and told of their aged father and of a younger brother.

Joseph said he would prove if they were speaking truly, or if they were spies who had come to see the land, and he had them all put in prison for three days. This seems a hard way to treat them, and Joseph really longed to treat them kindly, but he had wisdom to know they needed to think of their past wrong doings, which had been very wicked; and it did make them sorry, as you will see if you read verses 21 and 22 of Genesis 42nd, for they spoke of how they had not cared for Joseph’s cries at the pit.

Joseph overheard their talk, and turned away to weep. Then he had their sacks filled with grain; their money put back inside; and let them return home, all excepting Simeon, whom he kept bound, until they should come back with the youngest brother to prove their story was true.

ML 11/08/1936

Love the Bible

Love the Book of God Eternal,

For its sacred pages care;

Have no friends who scorn or hate it,

None who sneer at what is there.

Fear not to confess it faithful,

For its truths to stand and dare;

God will honor all who reverence

All that He has spoken there.

ML 11/08/1936

The Temptations of the Devil

These pigs are being driven to market.

Rowland Hill, a Christian who was an earnest preacher, told that he once met a drove of pigs on one of the narrow streets of a large town, and, to his surprise, they were not driven, like these we see today, but quietly followed their leader.

That singular fact excited his curiosity, and he pursued them, until they all quietly entered the place where they were to be butchered. He asked the man how he succeeded in getting the poor, stupid, stubborn pigs so willingly to follow him, and he told him the secret.

He had a bag of beans under his arm, and kept dropping them as he went along, and so they followed after him, picking up the beans, though not knowing where their journey would end.

“Ah! my, dear friends,” said Rowland Hill, “the devil has his bag of beans, and he knows how to suit his temptations to everyone, He drops them by the way, and the unsaved are led captive, and, if grace does not prevent, he will lead them into their doom, and keep them there forever.”

How very different this is from the “Good Shepherd” and His Sheep. He goes before the sheep, and they follow Him, for they know His voice. He knows them every one, and they are not, like the poor pigs, being lured to their death; but He gives His sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shalt any man pluck them out of His loving hand (John 10).

“ENTER NOT INTO THE PATH OF THE WICKED, AND GO NOT IN THE WAY OF EVIL MEN.” Prov. 4:14.

ML 11/15/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 9

The chapter begins with a warning-to Israel against rejoicing exultantly like the Gentiles, and goes on to tell the doom of the nation. The false gods of the heathen had been installed as their own when they turned away from the living and true God, and they had received their grain and fruit as their pay for serving the idols (verse 1).

But the God they had dishonored and disowned had decreed that the corn floor and the winepress should not continue to provide for them, and the new wine should fail them, for Israel was no longer to dwell in His land. They were to return to the condition in which their forefathers had lived in Egypt, and in Assyria they would eat what was unclean (see Leviticus 11).

There they would pour out no offerings of wine, nor would their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. No more could they go into the house of Jehovah; what would they do in the day of assembly and in the day of the feast of the Lord? If, to escape the Assyrian captivity some should flee to Egypt, they would find it a place of burial. Nettles were to possess their pleasant things of silver; thorns would be in their tents.

The days of visitation, of recompense, long foretold, were come, and Israel would know that, at least. They had considered God’s prophets and spiritual or inspired men as fools and mad; now, because of the greatness of their iniquity, and the great enmity, they would find their false prophets to be what they had unjustly said of the true.

“The days of Gibeah” (verse 9) refers to the bad state of things in the times of the judges (Judges 19). In verse 10, God speaks of Israel when He took them out of Egypt; as they neared the land He had promised them, they were enticed, through the wicked prophet Balaam, to commit wickedness with the daughters of Moab and to join in the worship of their false gods (Numbers 25 and 31). These occasions of Gibeah and Baal-Peor exposed the badness of the natural heart, and the memory of them should have kept the children of Israel from a repetition of such sin, but it had not.

Ephraim’s glory was about to fly away as a bird. Unsparing judgment would fall (verses 12-10). Ephraim was planted, like Tyre, in a beautiful place, but his children are to be brought forth to the slayer. Gilgal (verse 15) had been a place of goodly remembrance in Israel; it was there that the reproach of Egypt was rolled off the people by the rite of circumcision upon their entering the promised land, and thither they had returned after expeditions in its conquest (Joshua 5: 9, 10, 14). But its former character before God had now been wholly lost (Hosea 4:15; 12:11; Amos 4:4; 5:5).

“Wanderers among the nations” (verse 17) is a term exactly suited to the condition of Israel today, no doubt as true of the ten lost tribes as of the Jews.

ML 11/15/1936

Undeserved Kindness

In a certain boys’ school, there was gloom on most of the boys’ faces. The cause of this was that they had not been diligent with their lessons, in fact they had been more or less tiresome all the week, and nearly all their names were on the black list.

The boys knew what that meant, that instead of being free to go off for games that afternoon, they would have to stay in and work out so many sums.

It was no wonder, therefore, that the boys took their places with rather long faces, and when twelve o’clock came, and the black list was placed on the principal’s desk, there was silence in the room.

The principal scanned the paper and then his face grew grave, and looking round he said,

“Boys, this has been a very sad week. You must have given your teachers much trouble and been very disobedient. Your impositions must be entered in the book. You will have to stay in and work this afternoon. I am very sorry.”

Just at this moment one of the teachers stepped up to the desk and laid a large packet of papers upon it.

“What is this?” inquired the principal.

Replied the teacher, “They are the boys’ sums all worked out. It has been a very bad week, and we have had a hard time of it; but we thought perhaps if we worked out all the boys’ impositions for them, they might be more careful in the future not to get any.”

“Are they all here?” asked the principal.

“Yes, sir, all here and all corrected,” was the answer.

“But, the rule of the school is that no one must work out another boy’s sums.”

“We know it,” was the answer; “but we thought, that if a teacher worked them out it might be accepted.”

The boys began to cheer; but the grave face of the principal warned them to desist.

“Boys,” said he, “your teacher’s kindness reminds me of the kindness of God to us who have sinned against Him. They have paid the debt you owed, they have done it all; but before you can get forgiveness, each boy whose name is on the black list must accept for himself what has been so kindly done for him, by signing his name upon a paper thanking the teachers for their kindness and grace. This must be done within the next quarter of an hour, and any boy who fails to sign must work out his sums himself.

Before the time of grace was up, every boy’s name had been placed upon the paper. The boys were most eager to accept what had been done on their behalf, and to receive the pardon. The name of the boy who had only one sum to do was there just as much as the one who had two or three. Thus there was no difference between them.

Do you not see, dear reader, that this is an illustration, though a feeble one, of what the Lord Jesus has done for us? We are all sinners, and our names stand, as it were, on God’s black list, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the Lord Jesus died on the cross to provide a ransom, that He might set the sinner free.

Have you, then, signed your name and thanked Him for what He has done? If not, do so now, and His joy will fill your heart.

“Through this MAN (Christ Jesus), is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things.” Acts 13:38, 39.

ML 11/15/1936

Do You Love Your Bible?

Having the Scriptures at all times within our reach, we are in danger of losing sight of their value. We read that in the days of Samuel the Word of the Lord was precious (1 Samuel 3:1).

How precious it must also have been in the thirteenth century, when a written Bible, in nine volumes, was sold to W. de Howton, for a sum equal in value to about $2500.00 of our money, and when it would have taken a laboring man fourteen or fifteen years to earn sufficient to purchase such a copy of the Scriptures!

Now many a man can earn, in one day, enough to buy two or three Bibles; but, if he does not take the advice given in the first of Joshua; and take heed to the call in the first of Proverbs, he might as well be without the Scriptures. To have them, and neglect to read them daily, is to possess that which condemns; for no one can prosper in his soul who does not make the Word of God the man of his counsel (Psalm 119:24).

David says, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee,” and, again, “I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved. I rejoice at Thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them. My soul hath kept Thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.” Ps. 119:11, 47, 162, 165,167.

ML 11/15/1936

The Story of Joseph's Silver Cup

Genesis 43, 44, 45

The second year of famine was in the land and Joseph’s brothers came again to Egypt to buy grain, and stood before him. This time the youngest brother, Benjamin, was with them, and Joseph longed much to make himself known to him, but he waited. He had Simeon brought out of prison, and a meal prepared for them all at his own house. At the meal each was seated according to his age, and they wondered much how this could be known.

Early the next morning they started for Canaan with their sacks filled with grain, and in one sack the servant had put Joseph’s silver cup. When only a short ride from the city, the man overtook them, asking for his master’s cup. They set down their sacks for him to search, and when he opened Benjamin’s sack, there was the silver cup!

So they all turned back and came again before Joseph, bowing themselves to the ground. He said they could go home, only Benjamin must stay and be his bond servant. The brothers felt how this would grieve their aged father. And Judah begged most earnestly to stay as a servant instead of Benjamin. You remember Judah was the one who had first wanted to sell Joseph for a slave, and had no pity either for him or for their father.

Now Joseph saw that his brothers cared for their father, and he could no longer wait to tell them who he was; but said to them, “I am Joseph, whom ye sold into Egypt.” The brothers were full of fear and shame to hear this, and could not answer. But Joseph spoke most kindly, forgave them, and told them they were to bring his father and their families to live in Egypt until the other five years of famine were ended. So he sent them home with wagons and presents, and best of all, the good news to Jacob that his son Joseph was alive, and a governor in Egypt.

The story of Joseph’s love and forgiveness to his cruel brothers is very wonderful. Read it all in the chapters in Genesis.

ML 11/15/1936

"I Am Thine"

Blessed Saviour, I am thine;

O, what grace, what power divine,

Purchased by Thy precious blood:

Thus I’m made “a child of God.”

Naught shall take away from me

That blest bond of unity,

Which I hold with Christ the Lord,

Since I’m made a child of God.

O, that blessed, happy thought,

To know that Jesus Christ has taught

This heart of mine to lisp and say,

“Lord Jesus, come, no more delay.”

Yes, blessed Saviour, soon Thou’lt come,

To take Thy waiting people home,

That we may there forever be

Thrice happy, blessed Lord with Thee.

ML 11/15/1936

Little Mary

Little Mary was an orphan, born and brought tip in a great city, but after the death of her parents she went to live with a relative in the country. On the evening of her arrival there, she was allowed to sit outside the cottage and eat her supper of bread and milk, in full sight of the sea with its rolling waves.

This was a great treat to Mary, who had never lived in the country before; but ere she began her supper, she did not forget to thank God for having taken her there in safety, and for the food before her. For Mary had learned to know and love the Lord Jesus as her Saviour, and she loved to think of Him, knowing that it is through Him, God gives us all things. The Scripture says,

“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.” Rom. S:32.

“O, GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD; CALL UPON HIS NAME.” Psa. 105:1.

ML 11/22/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 10

We have before noticed the references to Israel as a vine. Psalm 80, Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 2:21 and John 15:1-5 show the nation’s failure to yield fruit to God, and they being set aside, Christ is the true vine. Israel was an empty vine, —one which “emptied” itself in wood and leaves, but gave forth no grapes. He brought forth fruit unto himself, i.e., there was prosperity in the kingdom, but it was turned to their own advantage, and to an increase of idolatry (verse 1).

Verse 2: Their heart was divided; they knew a responsibility to God, but gave the honor due to Him to their idols; they would be ‘found guilty, and altars and images—tokens of idolatry—would be cut off and spoiled.

Verse 3: In the last years of Israel’s history, their king was in prison (2 Kings 17:4, 5); they realized that this happened because they feared not God, hut instead of this circumstance humbling them with other distresses then occurrent, they brazenly said, “What then should a king do for (not to) us?”

The immediate cause of Israel’s being carried off into captivity, was their being untrue to a covenant with the Assyrian king; so was it also, later on, with Judah. Both acknowledged the dominant power of the east—Assyria at this time, Babylonia a century later—and both broke their pledge by negotiating with the ruler of Egypt (2 Kings 17:1; 2 Chronicles 36:13). Thus judgment sprang up as the hemlock in the furrows of the fields, for as a man soweth, so shall he also reap.

Verses 5 and 6 deal with Jeroboam’s golden calves, called the calf of Samaria in chapter 8, and here the calves of Bethaven (house of vanity or house of idols). These tokens of idolatry—powerless in the day of trouble—now to be mourned over, with fear in the heart (for the false gods whom men have set up in place of the true God have always been revengeful beings) were to be carried to Assyria a present to king Jareb (or, the contentious king).

Verse 9: Gibeah was referred to in chapter 9, but here is in even more solemn connection. Israel had sinned “from the days of Gibeah”, when the tribe of Benjamin was almost destroyed because of flagrant sin. At that time Israel had stood firmly; the battle against the children of iniquity did not overtake them, but afterward there was grave decline, as we know. Verses 10 and 11 speak of the judgment impending.

The peoples (Gentiles) were to be gathered against Israel when they are bound for their two iniquities (Jeremiah 2:13). Ephraim had been diligent in service, but not for God; He would make them to draw, or to bear a rider (N.T.). Judah, too, was to be brought down to labor for others; thus Jacob (the whole of the 12 tribes) was to till the ground for the peoples.

The chapter closes with an exhortation to turn to God; plowing wickedness had been followed by reaping iniquity, and then by eating the fruit of lies; far worse was the day near at hand. Shalman (verse 14) is believed to have been Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, but Beth-arbel has not been identified. Beth-el (house of God) was the location of one of the golden calves, and is elsewhere called Bethaven, house of vanity, or house of idols.

ML 11/22/1936

How Jimmie Was Saved

Jimmie, lived with his aged grandfather, a poor shepherd nearly eighty years old, whose wife and children were all dead. During the day Jimmie tended the flock, accompanied by Watch, the faithful and much-loved sheepdog; and of an evening he read aloud of the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep.

One day Jimmie left the flock, and on his return found four of the sheep missing, Hastening home he told his grandfather, who said,

“The sheep are probably gone to the right side of the mountain to reach the other pastures. Go, look for them there, my child, and make haste, for it will soon snow. Then bring home your flock quickly.”

Away the boy ran. The snow began to fall, slowly at first, and then harder. Soon nearly everything was hidden from view.

At home the grandfather had begun to regret having sent the boy alone; for he well knew the danger of his losing his way and freezing to death. For a long time the old man sat near the window, listening anxiously for the expected footfall. When the clock struck seven the old man fell on his knees in the deepening darkness, and prayed God to restore his poor child.

He was about to start to call upon a neighbor, named Mackie, when he heard a scratching at the door. It was Watch.

When the aged shepherd opened the door, the dog ran a little distance and then came back, showing that he wanted to lead the way to where his young master was.

The grandfather went without delay to his neighbor, who started off at once to find the missing boy.

On they went as fast as Mackie could go, Watch always keeping ahead impatiently urging him on. Suddenly he stopped and while whining loudly, he dug furiously in the snow. As Mackie came up he heard a feeble voice saying, “Help me, save me,” and saw little Jimmie’s head above the snow.

With some difficulty Mackie took him out and carried him home. There he put him to bed and rubbed his benumbed limbs while his kindly wife fed him hot porridge, Old Robin, the grandfather, whose heart was lifted up in thanksgivings to God for saving his boy, watched near the bed.

The next morning Jimmie was much recovered, and while Watch lay at his feet at the breakfast table, he told the story of what had befallen them.

Jimmie had searched along the mountain side, until, stumbling from weariness, he had fallen into the hole where he had been found. Watch had tried to drag him out, but failing, he ran off to the cottage and scratched for help. When left alone, Jimmie had cried to God to take him out of that dreadful place.

Thus two prayers were answered; two persons had cried to God in their trouble, and were heard. It reminds us of the passage in the Psalms,

“They fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.” Psa. 107:12, 13.

There is no sorrow, no trial, no difficulty in which the believer cannot look up to God, and count upon His loving kindness and tender care.

ML 11/22/1936

The Fisher boy's Bible

In days when Bibles were not so cheap or so plentiful as they now are, a fisher boy was very anxious to procure a Bible of his own. He went to a Sunday school, but he had no Bible at home, nor had he any money to buy himself one. But Pattie prayed to God to find him a Bible, and God heard his prayer.

One day while he was wading in the sea, gathering bait for his father’s fishing lines, he saw a book floating on the water. On picking it up, he found it was a Bible, which had evidently been lost from a passing ship. Pattie rejoiced in being the possessor of God’s blessed Book, and read it eagerly. He was saved, and became a true follower of Christ, and he tells to boys and girls in the Sunday school, the story of Jesus and His love.

What a grand thing it is to be saved, and a lover of the Book of God, while you are young. This is the only way to a holy, happy and useful life, and there is no other way to God and to heaven but through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6.

ML 11/22/1936

A Move to Egypt

Genesis 46

At first when Jacob’s sons returned home to Canaan, saying Joseph was alive and a great ruler in Egypt, Jacob could not believe it to be true, hut when he saw the wagons and all Joseph had sent, he was willing to go to him.

So Jacob, his eleven sons and all their families started the journey to Egypt. In all, there were seventy-five persons (Acts 7:11) which made a large company. And they took their flocks and herds with them. At night they rested at Beersheba, near the border of the land of Canaan, and there Jacob offered a sacrifice to God, and God there spoke words of comfort to him, again promising that his children should become a great nation.

So this was a very important move, and these people did become very great, and are known as “Children of Israel”, because, Jacob had also the name Israel. Look on a map of Canaan, or Palestine, as now called, and see where the way would be to go to Goshen, in northern Egypt, where Pharaoh said they could live and have food for themselves and their hocks. And the men were given charge of the king’s cattle, also.

When Joseph heard that his father had reached Goshen, he went to him; and that was a happy time to them, after so many years separated.

Jacob lived in Goshen the rest of his life and told his twelve sons and Joseph’s two sons what God’s blessing would be for them. After he died, all his sons went to Canaan for his burial, then returned to Egypt.

Joseph lived to be one hundred and ten years old. Before he died he told his children and all his kindred that God would surely take them again to live in Canaan. This shows he believed God’s promise, and you will later learn how this came true.

ML 11/22/1936

A Beautiful Home

The Saviour, Jesus, is gone to prepare

Such a beautiful home in the sky,

And He says He will come,

And lead to that home,

Every sinner that’s born from on high.

And happy amid this bright joyous throng

Shall many a little one sing,

May I join them, and raise

My voice to the praise,

Of the Giver of every good thing.

I’d like to go to that Heaven so bright,

For joy beams, in that World, on each face,

But if there I would go,

On earth I must know

As my Saviour the Lord of that place.

ML 11/22/1936

"Tom" And the Frog

Did you ever see anything so funny,—a cat carrying a frog in his mouth? You perhaps, say, “I have seen cats catch mice and birds.” Yes, and so have I, but never did I see a cat catch a frog!

It seems that this cat, “Tom”, to amuse his mistress would bring in a toad or a frog, and lay it at her feet, his eyes round and glaring, and his tail as stiff as a poker. The poor creatures used to squeal piteously, but as Tom never harmed them, when let go, they would hop away into the garden.

No doubt, our little readers could tell many interesting and cute tricks their cats and kittens have done. They are very graceful in oh their movements, and often make one laugh.

The cat is one of God’s dumb creatures. You and I are God’s creatures, but of a higher order. God gave to man intelligence, and so man is responsible to God for what He does and says.

God has given His Word to us, and in it He tells you and me that we are sinners, and that we need a Saviour, and that He loved us and sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for us on the cross, and that there is no other way for sinners to get to heaven than by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

“I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE: NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME.” John 14:6.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.

ML 11/29/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 11 and 12

How great had been the moral decline in Israel since “he was a child”—since the days of Moses, and Joshua, and David! The latter part of verse 1 is in Matthew 2:15 applied to the Lord in connection with His being brought out of Egypt like the nation of Israel. As we have seen in many of the Psalms, and in Isaiah, notably, He identifies Himself in grace with that nation which has altogether lost its title to be considered the earthly people of God, but will yet be blessed in a marvelous way through. Him whom they despised and put to death.

Verse 2: Though loved by God, and the objects of His favor, they sacrificed to idols.

Verses 3, 4: He led them through the desert, cared for them all through that forty-year journey, but they did not know, nor understand what He did for them.

Verses 5-7: Now at the close of Ephraim’s history as a kingdom they had incurred the anger of their master, the ruler of Assyria, and were looking to Egypt for a refuge, but God had determined otherwise; they would not return to Himself, therefore the Assyrian should be their king, and the sword would visit their land.

Verses 8, 9: Such is the marvelous grace of God to the utterly unworthy, that He loves His people with an unchanging affection.

“How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?”, He says to this nation which had long since given Him up, choosing rather the worship of idols and the moral corruption of the heathen. Admah and Zeboim were cities near to, and destroyed with. Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 29:23.).

Verses 10, 11 await for their fulfillment, —Israel’s day of blessing.

The last verse of chapter 11 and the first of chapter 12 go together, the chapter division being faulty. If Ephraim is to be blessed, as promised in the sure word of God, it will not be because of anything in themselves that might be thought to win for them His favor (Ezekiel 36:22, 32).

In verse 2, Judah is brought in, and thus “Jacob” (i.e., the whole of the twelve tribes springing from the patriarch) was to be punished according to his ways. Jacob had been exceedingly self-seeking in his course; there was much of the energy of nature about him, though he was a child of God by faith.

Genesis 82:24-31 is referred to in verses 3,4 and 35:1-15 in verse 5. These passages tell of the faithfulness of God, His interest in His people and His purpose to bless them, though trials must beset them on the way.

Ephraim’s character is further dwelt upon in verses 7 and 8, yet blessing will be his in the end (verse 9). Verse 11 speaks of idolatry in Gilgal, the place connected so intimately with Israel’s first arrival in the land of their inheritance. In verses 12 and 13 the wayward people are reminded that God had protected both their patriarchal head and their forefathers, when enemies would have done them ill.

ML 11/29/1936

"O! God, Save Me."

Johnny went one Sunday evening to a gospel meeting. He was about ten or eleven years old; and as the preacher showed from the Scriptures that all, young and old, rich and poor alike, were guilty and lost before God, and must perish, unless they came to Christ and were saved; that no one was fit for God’s presence unless washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ, Johnny trembled.

He became much alarmed as he listened to these solemn truths from the Word of God; but he was alarmed, not for himself only, for he had a father and mother, he had sisters and brothers—one sister had been ill for years, with no hope of getting better—and little Johnny was greatly alarmed for them all, for he felt certain none of them were saved, or fit for the presence of God.

When he returned home from the service, his parents could see he was much distressed; his little heart was too full to tell them what was the matter. When he went to his room, they heard him making a noise as if talking to someone; and curiosity led them to go quietly to the door and listen, when they soon heard what it was that seemed to be almost breaking poor little Johnny’s heart. They heard him crying earnestly to God for himself, for them, for his brothers and sisters, “O God, save me! Save me! O God, save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters! Make them all fit for Thy presence.”

The parents returned from the door greatly affected by their little boy’s earnest prayer to God for them, and became deeply aroused about their lost condition before God. The brothers and sisters all, one after the other, became most anxious about their souls’ salvation; and the answer God gave to Johnny’s prayer was this, that, when the writer visited them later, he found the whole household were saved, excepting poor little Johnny himself.

But on this occasion the Lord blessed the word to him, and gave peace to his troubled heart; so that at the close of the gospel meeting, in the evening, with a bright, shining face he looked up. and exclaimed,

“O sir, I am saved and happy!”

Now, readers, what I have written about little Johnny are facts, not imaginations; and I would ask you earnestly, “Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour? He died, in love, for sinners. God raised Him from the dead, and has crowned Him with glory and honor. He is a mighty, loving Saviour; He delights in saving sinners; He turns none away who come to Him; and whether young or old, rich or poor, there is no heaven for you, unless you are cleansed by His precious blood.

“It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Lev. 17:11.

“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.

ML 11/29/1936

"Could I Keep the Good News?"

Many years since, a New Zealand girl was brought to England to be educated. She became a true Christian. When she was about to return, some of her playmates endeavored to dissuade her, saying,

“Why go back to New Zealand? You are accustomed to England now, and it suits your health; besides, you may be shipwrecked on the ocean; and everybody there will have forgotten you.”

“What!” she said in reply, “do you think that I could keep the good news to myself? Do you think that I could be content with having pardon, peace:, and eternal life for myself, and not go and tell my dear father and mother how they may be saved too?”

“Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” Mark 5:19.

ML 11/29/1936

How Joseph Spoke for God

The people of Egypt worshiped the sun and idols they made, but you notice in the stories of Joseph, that he spoke to them of the Lord God, and showed he believed in Him. His master knew he did; so did the prison keeper, the butler, and the king and his great men. To his brothers, Joseph said, “I fear God,” and to Benjamin he said, “God be gracious unto thee.” When tempted to do wrong, he said that sin was against God. When asked to interpret the dreams, he could have taken the honor to himself, but rightly gave it to God.

Where did Joseph learn of God, of his greatness and that He was holy? We do not know of his having any written words, as we have. But we read that his father, Jacob, took all his household when he worshiped God at Bethel (Genesis 35), and he must have told them God’s words. Joseph was then a young buy, and, later, at Hebron he may have also learned of God from his grandfather, Isaac. He surely would have heard how the ram was offered instead of Isaac.

Joseph did not forget all when in the heathen land, and the Lord helped hint to do the right. If we remember this of Joseph, it will help us to speak of the Lord to some who do not know Him.

When all was well with Joseph he gave the praise to God, as we learn by the names he gave his sons, Manasseh, meaning, “forgetting:” and Ephraim, “fruitful,” because, he said, God had made him forget his sorrows, and blessed him in the land of his trouble.

Best of all, Joseph’s life and ways make us think of the Lord Jesus, who was tread so wickedly by His own people, yet spoke for God, and is like Joseph, ready to forgive. As Joseph was made a great ruler, so the Bible tells us the Lord Jesus will one day take the place of Ruler of all the earth.

And now we are to trust in the Lord Jesus as the only one who can save us, just as the people in the dreadful famine were told to “go to Joseph.”

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (but the Lord Jesus) given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.

ML 11/29/1936

"Thou God Seest Me."

From the glorious heaven,

Where the angels are,

God looks down on children,

Seeth them afar.

Heareth all they ask for,

All the night and day;

Watches like a father,

All their work and play.

As a father giveth,

So He gives them bread;

Saves them out of danger,

Watches by their bed.

Tell all little children

Of God’s constant care;

That He loves and pities

Children everywhere.

ML 11/29/1936

Answers to Bible Questions for October

“The Children’s Class”

1.“And when he,” etc. Acts 21:14.

2.“Opening and alleging,” etc. 17:3.

3.“Testifying both,” etc. 20:21.

4.“And when they,” etc. 28:23.

5.“That Christ should,” etc. 26:23.

6..“And have hope,” etc. 24:15.

7.“Then came he,” etc. 16:1.

Bible Questions for December

“The Children’s Class”

The Answers are to be found in Romans,

Chapters 9-16

1.Write in full the verse containing the words, “The preaching of Jesus Christ.”

2.Write in full the verse containing the words, The riches of his glory.”

3.Write in full the verse containing the words, “O the depth of the riches.”

4.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Things which make for peace.”

5.Write in full the verse containing the words, “Put on the armor of light.”

6.Write in full the verse containing the words, “The grace that is given to us.”

7.Does faith come by seeing or by hearing?

Answers to Bible Questions for October

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

1.They searched the Scriptures. Acts 17:11.

2.Reviling the high priest. Acts 23:3-5; appearing to Pharisaical prejudice. Acts 24:21.

3.Acts 28:28.

4.Acts 28:5.

5.Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:21.

6.Because she attended to the preached Word. Acts 16:14.

7.By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31.

Bible Questions for December

“The Young People’s Bible Class”

The Answers are to be found in Romans, Chapters 9-16

1.How are we to overcome evil?

2.What are we to do with our bodies?

3.What sister was recognized as a valuable servant to the Church?

4.How long is blindness to rest upon Israel?

5.What is to be the Christian’s attitude toward the powers that be?

6.How do we get saved?

7.What verse shows that Christ is God?

ML 12/06/1936

Bible Lessons

Hosea 13 and 14

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel, but he trespassed through Baal, and he died” (N. T.).

It is a short moral history of the foremost tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel. The Scriptures do not tell of any great accomplishments by the tribe of Ephraim, but they had the firstborn’s place (Jeremiah 31:9; 1 Chronicles 5:1; Genesis 48:13-20); the fact that Joshua was an Ephraimite (Numbers 13:9), and that Shiloh, where the tabernacle and the ark of God were first placed (Joshua 18: 1; 1 Samuel 4:3) was in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim, would naturally lead to pride among the people.

But the worship of Baal, god of the Canaanites, which had gone on during the time of the Judges, was given royal recognition when Ahab became king (1 Kings 10:31-33) with, his capital in Samaria. Of him it is written that he did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were bore him.

And new (verse 2) “they sin more and more”; the testimony of Hosea regarding the moral state of Israel is complete and unanswerable. Judgment was certain, and it would be overwhelming (verses 3, 7, 8, 13, 15, 10). Nevertheless God remembers mercy; He is Jehovah their God from the land of Egypt, where He redeemed them from the cruel slavery of the taskmasters. In verse 4 “thou hast known no God but Me” is more accurate translation.

Verse 10: The marginal note in most Bibles gives the correct reading: “Where is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities?” Verse 14 is an unconditional promise: “I will ransom them ... ..I will redeem them ... .” Death is the wages of sin, but the day approaches when “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” will have its full realization.

Chapter 14 is a lovely close for this remarkable book. “O Israel, return!” True repentance is foreseen in verses 2 and 3; what a change from the state which required their God to say “No more mercy”, and “not My people” (chapter 1)!

Verses 4-7 tell of the profound depth of God’s grace which will be seen in the restoration of Israel in the coming day. Then shall Ephraim say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” (Compare chapter 4:17).

This word of Ephraim’s, yet to be spoken, draws forth the comment of their God,— “I have heard him, and observed him.” Then we hear the Ephraim to be speaking again,— “I am like a green fir tree,”—symbol of the unfailing beauty of Israel in the Millennium; and God responds ‘From Me is thy fruit found’, for there will be fruit for God in that day in the ways of His earthly people.

The last verse is a comment on the whole of Hosea’s prophecy. They that are wise will understand, and the just shall walk in the ways of Jehovah, but the transgressors shall fall therein.

“Hosea” means “deliverance”, and his brief prophecy has exposed the wickedness of the human heart and revealed the astonishing depths of divine grace to meet man’s dire need. No other book of the Bible surpasses Hosea in passionate pleadings to lost, ruined man to give heed to God who must deal in judgment unless there be true repentance.

EXTRACT

Have you received Christ? Then you are entitled to all that is in Christ. His fullness is your fortune, and it pleases Him to see you make use of it, and try to live up to it.

ML 12/06/1936

Robbie's Rescue

A bright Christian boy, in telling us of his conversion, said.

“I was nearly drowned when I was a child of four years, and I never forgot the warning I got then of how uncertain life is. Playing with some other little boys, catching minnows on the edge of a lake I fell in, and would most likely have been drowned but for a faithful dog who always accompanied me. Immediately ‘Prince’ heard my scream he plunged into the water, caught me by my clothes, and held my head above water until a boat was put out and I was saved by another, who was both able and willing.

This incident of my childhood may illustrate to you, clear boys and girls, your state and how you may be saved. I was perishing and I could not save or help to save myself. Prince, through the mercy and providence of God, kept me alive, but he was of himself unable to bring me to a place of safety.

I needed a Saviour, able and willing, to come to me where I was and to put forth His strong arm and lift me out of my perishing condition. That Saviour is Jesus, and He is brought near to you in the gospel. Jesus died that you might live. He came forth to seek and save the lost, and now in Heaven He waits to put forth His saving power to save all who believe in Him. Can you say He has rescued you?

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15.

ML 12/06/1936

Patience

Just look at these two dear children, patiently watching till a little fish will come and bite, and then they will take it to their mother to cook for them. They wait and watch, and that is the hard thing for them to do, for children like to be on the go, and see all they can.

There was no one so patient as the Lord Jesus, and there was no one more tried then He, but He never failed. How wonderful to see perfection in every way with Him. Wherever we may view Him, whether it is in lowliness, meekness, gentleness, love, obedience, grace, etc., He is the only perfect One in every respect.

We will find that we are unable of ourselves to be patient, although some are more patient than others, but if we have the Lord. Jesus as our Saviour, we then can go to Him, and He will enable us to be gentle and patient, and if we want to be more like Him, He will enable us to be so.

“BE PATIENT TOWARD ALL.” 1 Thess. 5:14.

ML 12/06/1936

The Angels Who Obey God

There are ever so many wonderful stories about angels in the Bible, and we learn that they live in heaven, but come to earth when sent by God.

They are His messengers, so we read of what they did or said, but not of how they look, except of the glory of their faces, as in Matthew 28:3.

The angels, called Cherubim, came to guard the tree of life in the garden of Eden.

There were very many times when an angel came with words of comfort to someone. The most wondrous message of all was brought by the angel to the shepherds, to tell them the Saviour was born, —and was a message for all people.

Angels have also been sent for the punishment of sin, and we are told they are again to come for that sad work (Matthew 13:41, 42; Revelation 16).

So we learn of the greatness and power of angels, yet we are not to worship them. They worship God and His Son (Hebrews 1:6) And we need not look to see them now, because we have the Lord’s messages in His Word. Yet He may still use them as He wills (Hebrews 1:14).

It is nice to know that the true angels see the joy of God and the Lord Jesus when any one on earth comes to Him for salvation, repenting and owning his sins, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10.

ML 12/06/1936

The Angels Who Disobey God

There are angels who do not obey God, although knowing well His greatness and glory. In pride they have tried to make themselves greater.

Someone may tell you that they are only fairies, but God speaks of them in the Bible as most wicked beings and warns us of them. The leader is called Satan, and by the serpent spoke to Eve to make her think God’s words were not true, and still tries in different ways to have people believe what is not true.

But if we truly believe God’s words and trust Him, we will not think or do Satan’s way (Ephesians 6:16, 17).

God has told us that at last Satan and all the wicked angels are to be shut up forever and ever, where they can no more tempt people to sin (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

ML 12/06/1936

The Holy Scriptures

How needful it is that we should seek to know what God has revealed to us in His Word, seeing that, first of all, it can make us wise unto salvation. It lets us know about the blessed Saviour that God has given to die for us, so that we can be sure of having an eternity of happiness with the Lord Jesus, instead of an eternity of woe, with the devil and his angels.

If we have accepted Christ as our Saviour, then we need not stop there, but take that blessed Book to guide us in all our ways.

“It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

May you, dear reader, prize the Word of God highly, meditate upon what it says, and have it as a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path.

“BLESSED ARE THEY THAT KEEP HIS TESTIMONIES, AND THAT SEEK HIM WITH A WHOLE HEART.” Psa. 119:2.

ML 12/13/1936

Bible Lessons

Joel 1

There are no indications in the prophecy of Joel of the time in which he wrote, but it is believed that he prophesied during the latter part of the long reign of Azariah, or Uzziah, who was king of Judah from B. C. 810 to B. C. 758 (2 Chronicles 20). Joel’s name means “Jah is God”, which may be translated, “The Supreme Being is God.” Hosea was concerned chiefly with the 10 tribes of Israel, and Joel, about the same time, with the 2 tribes of Judah.

A series of calamities had recently come upon the land, the like of which had not been known before, First came the palmer-worm, then the locust; next appeared the canker-worm, and lastly the caterpillar, as they are here called; it is supposed that all four belonged to the locust or grasshopper family, the first one being a sort of grub or caterpillar, and the others flying or leaping insects; between them everything that grew out of the ground was devoured.

The theme of Joel is the yet future day of the Lord, and the prophet was used to arouse the people of Judah to consider it, taking, in chapter 1, the locust invasion for an illustration of it. As to the time then present, the unprecedented scarcity was of God, and was meant for Judah’s warning. He had given them a good land, a land where they were to eat bread without scarceness, where they should lack nothing; but He had also told them that such calamities as the drought that had now overtaken their country would be theirs if they did not hearken to His voice (Deuteronomy 8:7-9; 28:15, 38, 39, 42). In verses 6,7, the locusts are spoken of as a nation, come up on Jehovah’s land; no doubt this was in view of the destructive enemy of the last clays, spoken of in chapter 2, and for this, verses 15 to 20 of our chapter prepare the hearers of the prophecy. It was Jehovah’s land, His vine and fig tree (verses 6 and 7); and His people should never forget their relationship to Him, their debt to Him, whether they be Israelites under the law, or believers of the present dispensation of grace.

Thus verses 13, 14 present a call for the deepest lamentation because what was clue to God (verse 9) was withheld. A fast was to be appointed, a holy day; a solemn assembly was to lie proclaimed, and old and young were to be gathered to the house of Jehovah their God, to cry unto Him. Would that there were more of the spirit of this today!

In verse 15 the day of the Lord, or day of Jehovah, is first spoken of, and what follows to the end of the chapter gives something of the character of that day. Nearly all of the Old Testament prophets speak of that day; it is the period in which the world will be judged by God, when He will no longer work unseen, but will take it in hand openly, and put down evil, afterward, establishing and visiting with His blessing what has His approval on earth. The second and third chapters develop the subject.

ML 12/13/1936

The Strange Fur

A short time ago a lady purchased a beautiful fur for the winter days, which was sent to the house neatly packed in a box. She showed it to her younger sister, who greatly admired it and stroked it gently with her fingers, wishing it was her own to wear. She thought of a wedding to which she had been invited, and wondered if her sister could be coaxed into lending her the fur for the occasion.

“Dear Gladys, will you let me wear it that once?” she pleaded. Consent was given on condition that great care should be taken with it.

The wedding being over, the young lady laid the burrowed fur on her sister’s bed. A little later she heard her go to her room and call.

“I think you might have taken more care, Mabel, than to have thrown my new fur on the floor,” she said severely.

“Indeed, I did no such thing,” replied the girl. “I put it on the bed. I should not be so ungrateful as to throw it on the floor.”

“That is where I found it,” said Gladys, as she placed it back in the center of the bed.

No one entered the room again till bedtime, when Gladys saw the fur had gone. They hunted everywhere in consternation, and at last found it on the floor underneath the bed.

“What an extraordinary thing,” said its perplexed owner as she hung it on a peg in her wardrobe. The next morning when Gladys opened the cupboard the fur was on two pegs instead of one.

“I shall return it to the store,” she said. “I cannot understand the mystery of this bewitched thing. I shall ask that it may be exchanged for one which stays where it is put.”

Accordingly, it was sent back to where it had been bought. In a few days a letter arrived for Gladys from the manager. It ran thus:

“Dear Madam,

“You may be interested to know that the fur you returned to us has been unpacked, and found to contain under the lining a small living snake.”

Mabel shivered. The warmth of her neck had roused the unnoticed little creature from its slumber, and its wriggles accounted for the strange behavior of the fur.

Have you a something in your heart hidden under the lining of your nature which makes you behave badly and disobey your parents and teachers? The Bible calls it “Sin that dwelleth in you.” Accept Christ as your own. Saviour, and your sins will be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

Instead of the snake of sin He will put His Holy Spirit within you and cause you to walk in His ways and obey His Word. The change can only come when you have owned yourself a sinner, and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who has died for you, to save you for eternity.

“He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life.” John 3:36.

ML 12/13/1936

How Old Must I Be?

How old must I be before I can be a Christian?”

It was a little girl who asked the question of her mother.

What do you think the mother would say? What would you reply if a brother or sister or friend of yours asked you about it?

Why the younger you are when you come to the Saviour, the better it is. He loves to bless the little ones like you, and He never sent any one away saying, O! you are too young, you must wait until by and by.

It is said that the Lord “called” little Samuel to Himself. Yes! four times over He came near the child and stood and called him. And when Samuel answered Him, He made Samuel His messenger.

The Lord blessed Joash the eight years old king.

The Lord blessed the little children who were brought to Him.

He called a little boy to Himself and took him in His arms.

He blessed little Timothy and made him His servant.

And He will bless you if you come to Him today.

You need not wait until you are grown up. You need not wait another day or even another hour. He will receive you now as you sit reading this little message about Him. He will bless you, and make you a blessing, and send you to tell of Him to others.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor 6:2.

ML 12/13/1936

Idols

You have seen pictures of the queer looking shapes made of wood or stone, or some of gold, silver, or brass which people. in many places kneel and pray to. Some are made like people, often with very ugly faces, some like animals. There are large ones in their temples and small ones for the homes. Some are made tiny to wear on a chain about the neck.

The people think these idols can help them in sickness and trouble, and pray for this. They also think these images become angry and send them had storms, fever, and such. They bring them the best things they can of fruit, flowers, and other presents to try to win their favor. Oil and spices are burned before them, also animals. We could not count the cruel things that have been done to try to please the idols. How sad and foolish to pray to what cannot see or hear!

The Bible tells us the reason they do this is that once they knew of the God of heaven, Who, with His Son, made all things and sees and knows all. But they did not want to praise Him, and began to have such sinful, foolish ways.

Some of these poor people are now glad to hear of the Saviour, and they destroy the images and also their ornaments of charm, and are so much happier. The Lord said:

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.” Exodus 20:4, 5.

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

They have mouths but they speak not;

Eyes have they, but they see not;

The have ears, but they hear not;

Noses have they, but they smell not;

They have hands, but they handle not;

Feet have they, but they walk not;

Neither speak they through their throat.” Psalm 115:4-8.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21.

ML 12/13/1936

The Lambs of Christ

Each lamb of Christ is purchased

By precious blood;

Each lamb of Christ is nourished

With heavenly food;

Each lamb of Christ is tended

With loving care;

Each lamb of Christ is destined

Life’s home to share.

How happy to be folded

Upon His breast!

His purchased lamb, there ever

In peace to rest;

To fear no condemnation

Since He has died;

To have full salvation—

To none denied.

Dear child, and art thou loving

This precious One?

Art thou, by faith, rejoicing

On God’s dear Son?

Fly to His loved embrace,

He waits for thee;

Accept His offered mercy,

And happy be.

ML 12/13/1936

Homeless

I am sure we would all much rather look at a pleasant scene, than a sad one, but we know the world is full of sadness, and it is well that we should see all things just as they are.

We do not need to go far from home to find such conditions, for we have them in all these large cities, and if we consider how the Lord of glory left His home above just to meet us in all our need, then our hearts will go out to others also, both for their temporal needs, as well as the welfare of their immortal souls.

The main thing is their eternal welfare—the salvation of their souls, and then we may do what we can to help in their temporal needs.

“And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.” Isa. 58:10.

“HE THAT HATH PITY UPON THE POOR LENDETH UNTO THE LORD; AND THAT WHICH HE HATH GIVEN, WILL HE PAY HIM AGAIN.” Prov. 19:17.

ML 12/20/1936

Bible Lessons

Joel 2:1-27

In Numbers 10, verse 9, on the occasion of war, an alarm was to be sounded. It is this that is referred to in the first verse, and Zion, God’s Holy mountain at Jerusalem, is in view, with all the inhabitants of the land called on to tremble, because the day of Jehovah’s coming, is at hand.

In the verse mentioned, in Numbers 9, there was a promise of deliverance from enemies, and this took place on the first appearance of the Assyrian (2 Kings 18 and 19); here, as often in the prophetic Scriptures, there is first a partial fulfillment, the complete fulfillment awaiting a day still future.

This chapter, then, is principally concerned with the future appearance of the Assyrian in the land of Israel. There is today no nation called Assyria, but there will be again, when the Old Testament prophecies are being fulfilled, the Jews being then in Palestine under the protection of European nations. At that time, the power of which Isaiah speaks as the Assyrian, and Daniel as the king of the north, will descend on Palestine with a vast army, and Jerusalem will be captured (Zechariah 14). It will be a judgment from God on the apostate Jews; thus verse 11 speaks of the attacking forces as His army, His camp.

Fearful will that day be in the land of Israel, and in Jerusalem, as verses 2-10 make plain. Yet mercy is offered (verses 12-14). For those who will seek it with true repentance, the way is open (verses 15-17).

The trumpet blowing in verse 15 is that provided for in verse 30 of Numbers 10, but it will be seen that it is now to be associated with the alarm of war in verse 9 of that chapter, tile congregation (the believing remnant of the Jews) in faith claiming the promise of the latter part of that verse: “Ye shall be remembered bore the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.”

Nor will faith’s pleading be in vain (verses 18-27); the answer of God is worthy of Himself, and the fullest earthly blessing will be theirs who truly seek His face. They are “Children of Zion” (verse 23), and gladness and rejoicing are their portion thenceforth; prayer will have given place to praise (verse 20). Again, as of old, God will dwell in the midst of Israel, their God, nor will they seek another.

In verse 20 the “east sea” is the Dead Sea, and the “utmost sea” is the Mediterranean. The last clause of this verse should be read as in the marginal note, “because he hath magnified himself to do great things” (See Isaiah 10:12-1S). In verse 24, “fats”, is vats. Verse 25 refers to the Assyrian, of whose coming the locust plague of chapter 1 was an illustration.

ML 12/20/1936

A Shepherd Boy

A traveler from a commercial house, walking from one town to another, was joined by a man passing the same road. The traveler was a Christian, and he saw with regret that the conversation of the man with him was of a light and trifling cast, often bordering on profanity; and resolved to take the first opportunity of slipping away from so unprofitable a companion. Before, however, such an opportunity occurred, they reached a part of the country where the road separated. Uncertain which way to take, they proposed to inquire of a shepherd boy, who was reclining near the spot with a book in his hand. The man, disposed to exercise. his wit on the simple peasant, thus addressed him,

“Halloo! my lad: what book are you reading?”

“The Bible, sir!” was the reply.

“The Bible! so! so you read that in hopes to find out the way to heaven?” “Yes, sir!”

“Very well; that road if neither know nor care anything about: you tell me, if you can, the road to S.; and I will leave you to dream about the other at your leisure.”

“That, sir,” pointing-with his crook, “is the road to S.; and the road to heaven, blessed be God, is so plain that the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein’ “ (Isaiah 35:3).

“Well said, simple shepherd,” thought the pious traveler, and raised his heart in gratitude to the Lord, how true it is that “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, ... .that he that glorieth should glory only in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:23-31.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.

ML 12/20/1936

The Owls and the Pennies

Willie had two pennies: one he planned to spend at a nearby store; the other, to put in a box which was placed on the breakfast table each Lord’s Day morning, and in that was put any money the family saved, to buy Bibles for those who had none, to teach them of God.

But, while playing, Willie lost one penny. When getting ready for bed at night he told his mother of the lost penny. She asked him which penny was lost. He opened his hand, looked at the one penny, then said, “I think this penny is mine.” “Then it must be God’s penny that is lost,” said his mother, as she kissed him “goodnight” and went downstairs.

In a big-hollow tree near the house were some owls with their baby owls, and Willie liked to listen to their cries. Soon he heard the call, “Tu-whoo-tu-whoo!” It sounded to Willie, as though they were calling about his two pennies and asking whose penny he had, He thought of what he could buy at the store with a penny; then, someway, he thought of children, his mother had told of, who had never heard of the Lord. Jesus, and needed men and Bibles to tell them.

So when the owls again called, “Tu-whoo-tu-whoo?” Willie said to himself, “It was my penny that was lost.”

He was now getting very sleepy but once more he heard the call, “Tu-whoo-tu-whoo!” And this time he answered aloud,

“This is God’s penny”, then went happily to sleep.

Next morning he hurried to his mother, with the penny in his hand and told her, “It was my penny that was lost: this is God’s penny.” She was very happy to hear Willie say this.

So when the little box was placed on the table, Willie eagerly dropped in the penny. His father, too, had heard about the lost penny and told Willie he had decided the best way, to give to God first.

Willie was only five years old then, but when he grew to be a young man he gave what was more than money—he went himself to Central Africa, leaving friends, home, and comforts, to teach the people of the Saviour. He sometimes spoke of the night when he thought the owls asked about his pennies and was never sorry for the choice he made.

“He which soweth sparingly shall reap, also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully,”

“God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Cor. 9:6, 7.

ML 12/20/1936

God's Great Works

God made the sky that looks so blue;

He made the grass so green;

He made the flowers that smell so sweet

In pretty colors seen.

God made the sun that shines so bright,

And gladdens all I see;

It comes to give us light and heat,

How thankful should we be.

God made the pretty bird to fly;

How sweetly has she sung;

And though site flies so very high,

She won’t forget her young.

God made the cow to give nice milk;

The horse for me to use;

I’ll treat them kindly for His sake,

Nor dare His gifts abuse.

God made the water for my drink;

He made the fish to swim;

He made the tree to bear good fruit;

O, how should I love Him!

But more than all, His precious Son,

He freely gave to die,

That I, though sinful, might be saved,

And dwell with Him on high.

12/20/1936

The Meaning of Names

The names given to people and places in the Bible times were not chosen for the sound, as people now do, but because of a certain meaning. Some of them God Himself gave, as to the first man Adam, which means “earth”, and you know God made him from earth.

The names for the Lord also have important meanings to teach us His power or His help. Just as the name given to the Son of God when He was horn to this world was “Jesus”, because it means “One Who Saves”.

So we can know that God has lessons for us to learn in names, and when you know the meanings you will find it very interesting to notice how well the name suits something about the one named.

We will give a short list, all found in Genesis, and if you look in the margin of your Bible or a dictionary you will find more.

Adam means “earth;” Eve means “mother of living,” Noah means “rest;” Abraham means “father of many,” Isaac means “laughter,” Jacob means deceiver,” Israel means “Prince,” Esau means “hairy.”

The first place named in the Bible was “Eden”, which means “a delight.”

Abraham named a well near which he lived, Beer-sheba, which meant in his language, “the well of the oath.’’ An oath was a solemn promise. Later Isaac and Jacob also lived near this well, and the Lord there spoke to them, promising to give all the land of Canaan to their children. Farther south there was another well named by a poor slave woman, La-hai-roi, and that meant, “Thou God seest me.” When any one said the name of that well, he would know that there was no one too poor or sad for God to see and comfort.

So when the people said those names to each other, they were really reminding one another of God’s love and promises. They were the same to them as Bible texts are to us, and we may still learn from those names to trust in the same Lord, who still loves and comforts, and who sees us also in our everyday places. He is the everlasting One (Genesis 21:33).

ML 12/20/1936

Winter Sports

School is out, and the boys and girls waste no time in running out to play in the snow. There are all kinds of sports to be enjoyed, —skating, sleighing, but best of all, snowballing.

See them aim at the target, and see where the balls have landed.

Johnny was very proud when he succeeded in hitting the target.

But there is one thing he will never be able to do by his own endeavor, and that is to make himself fit for heaven, He may try ever so hard to “be good,” and it is right that he should be, but unless he is washed from his sins in Christ’s precious blood, Johnny will never be in that bright home above where Jesus is.

The Lord Jesus knew how helpless men, women and children are to save themselves, and in His great love, He said, I will go and make them fit for heaven. I will die for them that they may live. So He did, and all we have to do now is to accept Him as our Saviour, and thank Him for it. Is He yours? Have you thanked Him?

“BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED, THROUGH FAITH; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES. IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.” Eph. 2:8.

ML 12/27/1936

Bible Lessons

Joel 2:28-3:21

“And it shall come to pass afterward”,—after the fulfillment of the promised judgments and the blessing of Israel in their land as described in verses 1 to 27,— “that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh” (verse 28). “All flesh” takes in the saved Gentiles as well as Jews, for though Israel will, during the Millennium, stand in very close relationship with God, a countless number of Gentiles will then be blessed also (Revelation 7:9, 10).

This passage in Joel was referred to by the apostle Peter in Acts 2:16-21, to convince the incredulous multitude that what had happened that morning was not human excitement, but exactly according to the greatest favor God has promised for the coming kingdom, namely, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He did not say that what they saw and heard was the fulfillment of the prophecy, nor was it, but of the same nature.

The Holy Spirit in Old Testament times came upon “holy men of God” who “spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21.), but He did not indwell believers until the day of Pentecost (Acts 2); in His power they have all been baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles (1 Corinthians 12:13), and are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2: 22); beside much more that the Scriptures reveal regarding His present work, He is the earnest of the believer’s inheritance (Ephesians 1:14 These blessings are peculiar to the present dispensation, and the passage in Joel does not promise any of them to the earthly saints who will be in the Millennium.

Verses 30-32: In our times, no signs are given but that of Jonas the prophet (Matthew 12:39-40), but when the present day of grace is over, and God is about to show His power, there will be wonders, warning the world of what is to come (See Revelation 6, and following chapters).

In that day many who have not heard God’s present message of salvation, will be delivered from the coming wrath. 2 Thessalonians 2:11,12 closes the door against the neglectors and rejectors of the gospel now made known.

When the Lord descends to this earth, the mighty Conqueror over all His foes, He will “bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem” (chapter 3, verse 1), and they will be a free people in their own land. There will be a judgment of the Gentiles for their treatment of Israel from the earliest oppression of them, down to the last.

Verses 9-12 bid the nations come to the valley of Jehoshaphat, prepared with all their resources, both of fighting, equipment and of men; God’s mighty ones, the angels, whom the Lord in. His hour of trial would not call to His aid (Matthew 26:53) will be there to meet them.

Two symbols of judgment, found again in the Revelation 14 are used here; —in reaping the harvest there will be made a separation between the objects of mercy and the objects of wrath, but the winepress speaks only of vengeance upon the wicked. The nations here referred to are evidently those headed by the Assyrian of the last days.

The prophecy closes with a glowing description of the land of Israel in the Millennium, when the judgments are executed and peace reigns. Egypt will suffer, and Edom much more, because of past guiltiness concerning Judah.

ML 12/27/1936

How Johnny Accepted the Invitation

A young girl came bounding into the room with a little note, saying,

“Here, Johnny, is an invitation for you to Mrs. V.’s;” and in a second little Johnny’s eyes sparkled at the thought of such a treat, “But is it for me?” he said to his sister, for though the little fellow had often heard of the wonders of the magic lantern and of the cakes at Mrs. V,’s children’s parties, he had never been invited before in all his life; And why do you think he had not been asked before?

His brothers and sisters had often been. Was he a very naughty boy? Was he a poor little sick child? These were not the reasons. Johnny was too little to be asked before, but this year the invitation, so neatly written upon the pretty pink paper, said, “all the children.” So there could be no mistake; Johnny was one of the children—one of the all; he was therefore quite sure he was invited, and was full of glee.

He counted the days, almost the hours, till the wonderful evening should come; he talked about it to his mother, his nurse, and to everybody he met when he was out for a walk. He even told some persons whom he had never seen before that he was going to Mrs. V.’s. He had only one fear, and that was, lest perhaps anything should happen to hinder his going. Indeed I feel sure little Johnny enjoyed thinking about going to the party more than the party itself, and fancied it would be much more wonderful than it really was.

The Bible is God’s letter to us; it is full of the story of His love; in it the way of salvation and of happiness is plainly and simply told. And all its blessings are ours the moment we stretch out the hand of faith and take God’s Word as His very word to us.

Jesus said, “Come unto Me, ... and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28.

“Come; for all things are now ready.” Luke 14:17.

ML 12/27/1936

"Mamma's Wee Son."

Samuel was such a bright pretty little boy, just such a curly headed, bright eyed little fellow, as you would like to play with. He was a good child, too, and tried to obey his mother, whom he loved very dearly. One thing his mother liked him to do every day, was, to repeat over all the beautiful verses, which hung round the kitchen. Lemuel did not mind doing this. though sometimes the words, seemed long and hard to him. He did his best to repeat the texts after his dear mamma, and before he was quite four years old, he could say seven or eight verses from the Bible, quite correctly.

It is a great thing for children to learn to repeat Scriptures when they are young. The Lord tells us in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy,

“These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.” And again when the Apostle Paul was writing to his dearly beloved Timothy, he reminds him, that

“From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Lemuel’s mother not only taught her little son to repeat the verses, but she explained to him what they meant, and I think he understood a good deal of what she told him, though he was so young. One verse he used to love to repeat was this,

“Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

Lemuel’s, mother taught him that the One who loved, was Jesus, and the one He loved and died for, was little Lemuel, Mamma’s wee son. Lemuel thought this was very nice, and when he said the verse, he always said it in this way,

“Who loved me, (Mamma’s wee son) and gave Himself for me (Mamma’s wee son).”

I wonder whether you could say this verse and put your name in, for you know He loved you and gave Himself for you, as well as for little Lemuel.

Is it not a blessed thing-to think that Jesus loves you, and loves you so much that He gave Himself for you? He did not give money or gold, or precious things, that would not have cost Him anything, but He came down here, and gave Himself.

“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” Isa. 53:5.

ML 12/27/1936

The Book of Genesis

At school you study the early history of the world, written as men think correct. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, which means “beginning”, we have the beginning of the world’s history, told as God gave it (2nd Peter 1:21). So this must be the most important of all histories. Let us review a few of its first facts.

We read God created the heavens and the earth, but are not told when, or how old the earth is, only the words, “In the beginning.”

Afterward God gave light and divided the light from darkness, we read, “The evening and the morning were the first day.” Count and you will find those words, “the evening and the morning” six times, giving the wondrous work of God each day: He divided the sky and earth; separated the land and waters, causing grass, plants, and trees to grow; set the sun, moon, and stars to be bearers of light; called forth the creatures of the sea and the birds; and the last day called forth the land animals and created the first man and woman.

The seventh day He rested, completing the first week of time, days of part light and part darkness, the same as days now, only we count a full day from midnight to midnight, and it was then counted from sunset to sunset.

The first date given is that Adam was 130 years old when his son Seth was born, showing God counts time for us from the age of the first man, not from creation.

You may read in some books of those first men being cave men, who had no wisdom and fought the animals with clubs. But those who wrote that had not carefully read Genesis which says the first man, Adam, had control of the animals, as had other early men (chap. 9:2). The second man, Cain, built a city, and early men had harps and worked in brass and iron (chap. 4:17, 21, 22), all showing intelligence.

From Genesis we learn the sad fact of the first sin of listening-to doubts about God’s care, and then believing what was not true (chap. 3). As there were more people, sins also increased, and because of this the different languages came, and the nations were divided.

Perhaps the most important facts to learn from Genesis are that God watched over people; talked with them; told them of a sacrifice for sin; and that He was ready to forgive all who believed Him.

When here on earth the Lord Jesus many times spoke of what is told in Genesis: of the forming of the first man and woman; of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Lot and his wife; of the destroying of Sodom: of Isaac and of Jacob. So He knew those accounts were all true and important, and anything we hear or read which doubts the book of Genesis is untrue.

Genesis 1:27, and Matthew. 19:4.

Genesis 4:8,and Matthew 23:35.

Genesis 7, and Luke 17:26, 27.

ML 12/27/1936

Messages of God's Love: 1936

Table of Contents

Answers to Bible Questions for November

Bible Lessons

In Everything Give Thanks

God's Creation

Come to Jesus

Sparrows

Bible Lessons

Redeemed

Gaining a Crown

Peggie's Letter

God Looks Down

A Life Boat

Bible Lessons

Lured to Death

A Text on a Post

Keep Little

O, Children, Come!

The Sheep Fold

Bible Lessons

What Can I Bring to God?

Whosoever "Will"

"My Book"

"I Know I'm Saved"

"The Children's Class"

Bible Lessons

"Me, Too"

At Their Best

Death and Life

A Winter Scene

Bible Lessons

The Colonel's Story

The Blood of Christ

"I Can't Help Loving Jesus"

Sparrows

Bible Lessons

Mary's Wish

Reggie's Mistake

"Will Jesus Bless Me If I Come?"

Dear Grandfather

Bible Lessons

I Am Not My Own

A Solemn Word

"He'll Come Soon"

"Come unto Me"

Answers to Bible Questions for January

Bible Lessons

Escaped from Prison

Mamie's Way

Little Mother

Rest

Snow Balling

Bible Lessons

A Shepherd Boy

Little Edna and Her Blocks

His Love to Me

Feeding

Bible Lessons

A Big Raven

A Child's Simple Faith

"How Shall I Ask Him?"

What She Saw

My Best Text

Great Grace

God Feedeth Them

Bible Lessons

"Only Once More!"

"I Give Him a Text"

Faith

Is Jesus There?

The Gazelle

Bible Lessons

Lost! and Knew It

"Isn't It Nice?"

"The Third Finger of the Left Hand"

"Praise Ye the Lord"

Answers to Bible Questions for February

Bible Lessons

The Sailor Boy