Sacrifice—Accepted.
I once saw two paintings in Amsterdam. The first was a picture of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, with the priest officiating. The sacrifice was on the altar and under it a burning fire; but the remarkable thing was that the smoke did not rise, but fell to the ground. Thereby the artist wanted to indicate that God does not accept such sacrifices. Why not? The second painting gave the answer. It showed Christ on the cross. The Old Testament sacrifices have lost their meaning, because He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. At best they were only shadows; Christ is the reality.
Sacrifice—Living.
A noble youth of Rome, discovered that the Son of God had loved him and given Himself for him. Realizing something of the greatness of this love, that had been set upon him apart from any merit of his own, he asked of Hermas: “What can I do in return for such love as this?” The old Christian took the young convert and showed him something of the sins of Rome, showed him the need of souls, and the need of a Savior such as he had found. “Here,” said he, “you will find an altar and here you may become a sacrifice.”
Safe and Happy.
Boy of 8, full of fun and happiness, knocked down by a motor and died. Happy, but not safe.
Saint—a definition.
A little boy was attracted by the stained glass windows in Westminster Abbey and the lovely colors they reflected on the floor. He was told the figures in the windows were those of old time saints. Some time after he was asked who saints are, and replied: “People through whom the light shines.”
Saint—a definition.
A Sunday School boy’s definition of a ‘saint.’ “A bloke who does good when nobody’s looking.”
Satan—Influence of.
In California two men were working, some distance apart, at an outcropping of coal in a mountain canyon. One of them noticed a break in the ledge of earth overhanging the place where they stood, and knew an avalanche of soil would fall. He shouted to his comrade to run, and jumped himself to a place of safety. Looking back, he saw the other had not moved, but stood gazing at something on the side of the hill. The ledge fell, burying him under it. He managed to dig him out alive, but seriously injured. A large rattlesnake had thrust its head out of a crevice in front of him, and its gaze had hypnotized him and made him helpless to move. He knew his danger but was paralyzed under the spell of the snake’s eyes.
—Current Anecdotes
Satan—Proof of his Defeat.
No nation can do as it pleases in, or demand a passage through, another country (compare Israel and Edom) until it has conquered it. Christ meeting us in the air is proof of the overthrow of Satan.
Scorner Silenced.
A young sergeant, speaking in the mess room of a Glasgow barracks, was proclaiming loudly his scorn for what he called religion, and affirming that he did not believe in God at all, when a lad at the back stood up and said: “Would you mind telling me, Sergeant, who it was I saw you praying to on the shore off Narvik?” The truth, however unwelcome at the moment, could not be denied, and only confirms the fact that “there are times when we all pray.”
Sects—Religious.
On a high road near Penrith I met a large flock of sheep. After this flock had passed me, I noticed a man running towards me at full speed, waving his arms and shouting wildly. Thinking a wild bull was following him, I went forward. He tore past me at a tremendous pace, and joining the shepherd of the flock, they opened the nearest gate and drove the sheep into a field. I thought I might assist, being alarmed at the evident urgency of the case. Now what do you think was the danger? Mad bull, or runaway horse? Neither. Another lot of sheep and lambs, traveling in the same direction was coming, and the shepherds were afraid lest they should join, and walk together for the rest of the journey as one flock.
RUSSELL ELLIOTT
Seed—unwittingly sown.
Thorwaldsen, the celebrated Danish sculptor, returned to Denmark with wonderful works of art chiseled in Italy. When unpacking, straw was scattered. Next summer flowers from gardens in Italy were blooming in Denmark from the seeds thus unwittingly sown. Do we sometimes feel like straw?
Self—Battle with.
Epitaph at Chichester: “Here lies an old soldier whom all must applaud: He suffered much hardship at home and abroad: But the hardest engagement he ever was in Was the battle with self, for the conquest of Sin.”
Self-centeredness.
An American preacher said: “I was on a high mountain with a company of people on the lookout tower, and a vast panorama of country spread out around.
Suddenly a high-pitched feminine voice cried out: ‘That’s where I live’—pointing to a little speck of a house hardly discernible. People could not but laugh at the ridiculous self-centeredness.” It was like the giving out of a hymn about one’s own personal joy and peace at the Lord’s Supper.
Self-centeredness.
Miss Gordon-Cumming tells how, when traveling in Japan, one night as she and others stood on the steps of the hotel, they heard a call that came again and again out of the forest, like me, me, me. They called it the Me-bird. (There is a Me-bird that is calling in every heart, the Me-bird that is always wanting some one to stroke it down, the Me-bird that never likes to see any one in front of it). After a while, on inquiry, they found that what they had thought was a bird was only a crawling insect that made the curious sound with its wings. (We have thought of the life of self-cultivation as a bird with wings that was going to carry us up into the blue, and it is only a crawling insect that grovels on the ground).
C. LEES
Selfishness.
Switzerland and Afghanistan are landlocked countries; no sea, no harbors, no ships sailing away or coming in, carrying goods or passengers. Some people are landlocked; selfish; bound up in themselves; no outgoing to others.
Self-satisfaction taken for Devotion.
“Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what I am,
I have overcome my temper,
And become a lamb.”
Sermons—Brilliant but Fruitless.
The story is told of a famous English surgeon who, on one occasion, visited France and was asked by a notable surgeon of the country how many times he had performed a certain wonderful feat of surgery. He replied that he had done it thirteen times. “Ah, but Monsieur, I have done it one hundred and sixty times,” said the Frenchman. He then asked: “How many lives did you save?” “I,” replied the Englishman, “saved eleven out of thirteen. How many did you save out of one hundred and sixty?” “Ah, Monsieur, I lost them all; but the operation was very brilliant.”
This can be truly said of many today who set themselves up as “ministers of the Gospel.” You ask them how many souls have been saved, and they reply: “Oh, none, but the sermons were wonderful—yea, brilliant.”
Service—Glow of.
Two plowshares, made by the same blacksmith, were bought by a farmer. One was used at once, the other was laid by and became rusty. One was bright through being used.
Service—Too big for.
During the American War of Independence some soldiers were laboring to raise a great log of wood. Someone came along, and, seeing a soldier standing by, asked why he was not helping them. Drawing himself up, he answered: “Don’t you know that I am the Corporal?” He was too big to serve. The visitor said: “If you won’t, I will.” The job was soon finished, and the Corporal asked: “And who may you be?” “I am General Washington.”
Service by Proxy.
A Christian man lay dying. Conversing with a Christian visitor, he said: “My life has been a mistake. I have given an occasional pound to help on the Lord’s work at home and abroad. But I have tried to serve the Lord by proxy. I have generally been at my place at meetings, and been interested more or less in hearing what others are doing, but I have had no heart for His service myself.”
Signs of the Times.
A little boy, whose parents were abroad, was told that they were coming home in the autumn, when the leaves fell from the trees. When autumn came it was his delight to walk in the woods, kicking the fallen leaves, and thinking: “They will soon come now.”
Signs of the Times.
An elderly woman finds that it is beyond her failing strength to keep house for herself, and gratefully accepts the offer of a home in the beautiful residence of a friend. She is told that any day the motor may be sent to take her to her new home, so that she must be prepared for the move at any time. She is further informed that her kind friend has bought not only the cottage in which she had lived, but the whole row of which it was a part, and that all are to be pulled down to make room for some purposed improvements. The old lady is assured, however, that the work of destruction will not be begun until she is safe in the house of her friend.
The days pass, and the motor has not come for the poor old lady. But one morning she notices that a couple of ladders have been laid on the ground near the end cottage. Further down there is a pile of planks, and half a dozen wheelbarrows. During the day a cart arrives with a score or more of men with picks and shovels. What is happening? It is evident that preparations are being made for the destruction of the cottages. These preparations have nothing to do with the old lady’s removal to her new home. That promise stands good, whether the cottages are away or not. But it happens that the workmen are just about to begin their work of clearance. The ladders, planks, barrows, picks and shovels are “signs of the times,” though they have nothing to do with the old lady’s removal. They show that what is to follow her removal is about to take place. She concludes, therefore, that the motor which is to fetch her will now not be long in coming.
Sin—Besetting.
A Christian gentleman said he was the victim of a besetting sin. “When I don’t want to yield to it,” he said, “I go to God, and He always strengthens me to resist. But sometimes I want to yield. Then I banish the thought of God, only to be filled with gnawing remorse afterward.”
Sin—Doom of.
A man was spraying some fruit trees with a liquid to save them from the blight. One tree, covered with the blight, he passed by. “That tree will have to be burned,” he said, “it is past curing.” A tree that cannot be saved from the blight cannot be saved from the flames. A person who cannot be saved from the love of sin cannot be saved from the doom of sin.
Sin—Effects of.
A workman stole a radium capsule from an industrial welding and testing laboratory. That person had virtually signed his own death warrant and was certainly endangering others. A radium expert said that anyone who carried the radium in his pocket for even fifteen minutes would almost certainly die within a year from the effects of the deadly rays.
None of us is carrying a deadly radium capsule in his pocket, but we have within us something even more deadly; something which attacks our soul and leads us eventually to eternal destruction. It is sin which permeates our whole nature, alienates us from God, subjects us to His wrath and punishment.
Sin appears just as harmless as that little radium capsule. Its effects are not evident at once. Sin slumbers within us. We live with it every day. It seems so harmless because it apparently causes us no discomfort or trouble at all.
Sin—Marks of.
One of the most famous pictures in the world is The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci. The artist sought long for a model for the Savior, and at length found one in Pietro Bandinelli, a chorister in the Cathedral. Soon after, Pietro went to Rome to study music, and fell among evil companions, and gave way to drink and all manner of vices, which left their mark on his once noble countenance. The painter went on with his picture till all the Apostles were painted in except Judas. He wanted a thoroughly evil, debased-looking man, as a model for him. At last he met one particularly villainous, and secured him as a model. After painting in his face, he learned it was the same Pietro. Grace does the opposite; it transforms and beautifies the life.
Sin will find you out.
Willie and his sister had had a quarrel, and it ended with his mother coming and sorely chastising her son, much to his sister’s satisfaction. He thought, however, he would have his revenge upon her, so when the opportunity arose he stole her doll. To get rid of it was the problem, so he took a spade, dug a hole and buried it. Questioned over and over again, he said he knew nothing of its whereabouts. A short while after came the rain, and it was followed by bright, warm sunshine. Under this influence, the doll began to grow, to his mother’s surprise and Willie’s consternation. His sin had found him out, for the doll was stuffed with oats. He was faced with his theft and lies, and he learned his lesson: “Be sure your sin will find you out.”
Singlemindedness.
In the old days of slavery in the United States, when men escaped from their masters, they knew that the Pole Star would lead them north to Canada and freedom if they followed it. They had to travel by night for fear of being captured, and therefore they learned little of the geography of the country. As they hastened through the woods they did not stop to collect botanical specimens. As they flitted through the towns, they had nothing to do with municipal politics. They minded one thing, the Pole Star.
Sonship—Privilege of.
The Danish missionaries at Malabar set some of their converts to translate part of the Scriptures. When they came to the passage that says believers are sons of God, one of them was so startled that he laid down his pen, exclaiming: “It is too much; let me rather render it: ‘They shall be permitted to kiss His feet.’”
Soul—Influences on the.
Many men’s souls are like omnibuses, stopping to take up every interest that beckons to them from the footpath.
Soul-Winning—Effective.
A preacher prepared a sermon for a skeptical lawyer in his congregation. He was converted and the preacher, delighted, asked what in the sermon had specially touched him. “Not your sermon at all. I was going over a brief while you were preaching. But after the service old Aunt Chloe had hard work getting down the icy steps. I helped her, and when we parted she said: ‘O massa, I do wish you loved my dear Lord Jesus.’ I could not get that out of my mind. I went to my office; it still clung to me. I threw myself on my knees and gave myself to Christ.”
Soul-Winning—Effective.
In his early days Samuel Chadwick, best known as Principal of Cliff College, was sent as a lay pastor to a small town in Lancashire. The Chapel was derelict and the congregation was very small. He had been told that if he preached good sermons he would soon attract the people. This advice was followed but nothing seemed to happen. On one particular Saturday night he went over the sermon prepared for the following day when God spoke to him.
Attending to His voice, the sermon was burnt and in complete dependence on his Lord he preached, with the result that seven souls were saved. This was the start of a period of blessing in the place. Among the convicted was a young man from Lincolnshire.
He was unable to read or write, but was anxious to pull his weight in the great work that was going on, so he went to Mr. Chadwick and asked him to help him. He was given some form of service and made a mess of it. Other tasks followed, but in all he proved himself to be incompetent. Nothing daunted he again asked for work, but this time Mr. Chadwick as a wise man said: “Go to your Master and ask Him to set you on.” Some time later he turned up at the 7:00 a.m. prayer meeting on a Sunday and asked those present to pray for the task he was just about to undertake. It was to go to the house of some notorious blackguards and invite them to the service that evening.
Soul-Winning—Effective.
At a Gospel meeting a timid old lady felt that she ought to speak to two young men, but hesitated. Finally she did, but so awkwardly that they laughed at her. They were roommates and in the night one heard the other sigh. “What’s the matter?” “I am disgusted with myself for the way I treated that old lady. It was a hard thing for her to come and speak to us.” The other agreed, and both knelt, and were converted. One became a preacher; the other a business man who radiates a Christian influence all around him.
Spirit—Energy of the.
The difference between a Christian who lays hold of God and is energized by His Spirit, and one who does not, is the difference between a springing well and one which is choked by some obstruction.
Spirit—Gift of the.
Said a friend: “I would not give you my spirit if I could.” “Why?” he was asked. “Because you would know too much about me if I did. But God has given to us His Spirit that we might know all about Him.”
Spirit—Indwelling of.
A lady said she was longing and praying for the Holy Spirit. Her friend replied: “The other morning I was searching for my stocking, till suddenly I discovered that I had it on!”
Spirit—Power of.
A young man flung himself down on a lawn near a fountain, and watched the jet of water sparkling in the sunlight. Said he to himself: “That stream of water is like my life. I seem to get the better of my habits; I rise up to a certain height in my endeavors; but then I come down again. Again I try with might and main to overcome my evil tendencies, and I succeed for a while, then down I come again.”
Then he looked higher than the stream of water, to the clouds hanging suspended in the sky. And he mused: “Those clouds were once dirty water lying in the ponds and elsewhere; but the mighty power of the sun descended on that dirty water, and has lifted it up and keeps it up in the form of vapor. O for a power,” he added, “that will lift my life up, and keep it up!”
Spirit—Sealing of the.
In Morocco sacks of corn in the market, when bought, are sealed by the purchaser while he goes for his donkey. Then he returns; claims them, and carries them off.
Spirit—Sealing of the.
When a besieged city capitulated to the Roman army, before a general looting was permitted, some commissioners passed through the place and sealed certain desirable things for the Emperor, thus marking them as his personal property, destined for the palace.
Spirit—Striving of the.
A talented pupil of Raphael was painting a beautiful picture. He was unable to portray the delicate features of the person he was painting. Discouraged and weary, he sat before the canvas and went to sleep. Raphael entered the studio, saw the young man and the picture, and understanding his difficulty, took the brush and painted the beautiful features. When the young man awoke he saw what had happened, and was grateful though ashamed.
When we are sad and discouraged, because we so imperfectly portray the Master in our lives, and the noble qualities—gratitude, patience, gentleness, unselfishness—are hardly discernible, it is then that the Holy Spirit strives to reveal the image of Christ to us.
Spirit—Striving of the.
A kind-hearted doctor sat by the bedside of a youth, and told him his end was near. With a despairing expression, he said: “I have missed it at last.”
“What have you missed?” asked the doctor.
“The salvation of my soul.”
“Oh, don’t say that. Do you not remember the thief on the cross, how he turned to the Savior at the last moment?”
“Yes; I remember him, but he never said to the Holy Spirit, ‘Go Thy way,’ but I did. And now He is saying to me, ‘Go thy way.’”
He lay there gasping and with vacant, staring eyes, continued “I was awakened, and anxious, but I did not want to be saved then. Something seemed to say: ‘Do not put it off; make sure of salvation.’ I said to myself: ‘I will postpone it for the present.’ And I did. I have missed it at last.”
And so he died.
Star in the Window.
The American Civil War to suppress slavery cost thousands of lives. Every family which gave a son was entitled to put a card with a star in a window of the home. A boy gazed up at the stars and said: “Father, did God give a Son, too?” “Yes, my boy, and for the same cause as those in whose windows you see stars: to emancipate slaves.”
Storm—Beyond the.
Two friends were on holiday in Switzerland. One decided to remain at the hotel at the foot of the Rigi. The other went up to the top of the mountain by the railway. A heavy tempest swept the valley; the one who remained there telegraphed: “Awful storm raging here.” The answer came: “Come up here; we are above the storms.”
Stranger—The.
There is a pleasing story of how the father of Matthew Henry, the Commentator, won his bride. He was a Presbyterian Minister; she, an only daughter, heiress to a considerable fortune. Her father objected. “You see,” he said, “he may be a great scholar and an excellent preacher, but he is a stranger; we do not even know where he comes from.” “True,” replied the girl, “but we know where he is going, and I should like to go with him.”
Subjection to God.
God made light to rule the day and the night. He would teach us subjection to Himself and to His word, and that we are under authority. The lawlessness of man is a sorrowful contrast to the obedience of the day and night to the lights which God set over them.
H.F.W.
Sun—Facing the.
Alexander the Great had a wonderful horse, Bucephalus, which no one could tame. The soothsayers predicted that the man who could tame and mount Bucephalus would become conqueror of the world. Alexander—then a young man—took him in hand, and, after many attempts, discovered the secret of his restiveness. He could not bear to see his own shadow; it made him start with fright. So Alexander turned his face to the sun; then he could not see his shadow, and thus the horse was tamed.
Sun—Transforming Power of.
Ruskin remarks on the latent possibilities of thick, black mud on the road outside a busy manufacturing town. It is composed of soot, clay, sand and water. The clay particles may become sapphire, reflecting lovely blue rays of light. The sand, with its silica, may be opal. Soot may be transformed (but not by human means) into diamonds, and water into a snowflake. Wonderful power of the sun to do all this.
Surety for Us.
A visitor wished to spend three weeks in Tokyo. On the second day a question came from the police: “Who stands for you?” He had to have a well-known Japanese to stand as surety who, if he broke the laws, would be punished, even if his crime merited death. (No “if” with us!)
Surrender—Peace of Complete.
You possess a priceless jewel and are burdened with anxious care, and will continue to be as long as you keep it. You commit it to a safe deposit vault, and are relieved. Something has happened to the jewel, and to you. But you have other valuable property stocks and bonds, etc., and you are worried about them. You take these also to the vaults, and your worry ceases. When you make a complete committal you will have complete peace.