The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1889-02-27


with the blessings of the Gospel of the
kingdom. 1t is true these blessings are
not in the possession of all men and are
not near to all men. They are not near
to those who never heard of them. There
are millions of poor heather who have
never heard of the living and true God,
nor of His Son, Jesus Christ.
AN OBJECT LESSON.
I have in my study map of the world
made, not to show the boundaries of States
and empires, but to show the boundaries
of the kingdoms oflight and darkness. The
parts of the world inhabited by heathen
nations are marked with shaded lines
and look dark on the map. The parts
occupied by Christian nations are indi-
Gated by white spaces. But the dark
part of the map is much larger than the
lighter portion of it. 1t makes one sad
to look at it. 1t appeals to the heart
through the eye, and is enough to fill
the heart with grief and the eyes with
tears. Then at the bottom of the map
there are some plain figures stating the
number of Christians in the world com
pared with the number of heather. Three
hundred and ninety million of Christians,
counting all who call themselves by that
name-Protestant, Greek, and Roman
and eight hundred and fifty million of
heather. We cant say that the king
dom of God has come nigh unto those
who do not even know there IS such
kingdom. But this is not true of those
who live in Christian lands. To all such
l. may be said, the situation of the hea-
then world is deplorable; notwithstand-
ing, the kingdom Of God has come nigh
unto yOu. 1t has come nigh unto all who
have been taught that God is a Spirit, in
finite, eternal, Interchangeable in His being
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, good
ness, and truth. 1t has come nigh to all
who have been assured that "God so
loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
on Him should not perish but have ever
lasting life
HOW GOD REVEALS HIMSELF.
Before any part of the Bible was writ.
ten, God revealed himself to men in
dreams and vlsions-manifested himself
in glorious forms which they could see
spoke to them in voices which they could
hear and understand. In this way God
came nigh to the patriarchs; to Moses in
the vision of the burning BUSH to all
Israel on Sinai; to Isaiah when he saw
the Lord, high and lifted up, His train
filing the temple After while the time
came when holy men spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost, and when
they wrote what they spoke for the in
struction OF the world to the end of time.
Now that we have the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testament, we have book
which teaches us what we are to believe
concerning God, and what duty God re-
qulres OF man. 1t was of this book that our
Lord spoke when he said, "Search the
Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
eternal life" The very command to search
the Scriptures implied that they could be
understood by those who read them with
reverence, with teachable spirit, and
with prayer for the illumination of the
Holy Ghost. Many things in the Bible
are mysterious, but the things necessary
to our salvation are 80 plain that child
can comprehend them. The Bible has
been translated into go many languages,
and Is printed go cheaply, that every
one who wants il Gao obtain copy, and
read in his own tongue the wonderful
works of God. Therefore, if you have
the book which tells you of the true God;
Of the way sin can be pardoned of how
sorrow may be comforted and sanctifed
of how Heaven may be secured however
it may be with others, you may be sure
of this. that the kingdom Of God has
come nigh unto you.
THE TRUE LIGHT.
A great statue was presented by France
to the United States. It is called Lib
erty Enlightening the World" but no
lamp whose rays stream from a light.
house standing on the shores of the sea
can send its beams very far into the dark
ness. But the Bible is the luminary
which can scatter the darkness which
shrouds the whole earth. So the apostle
says: "Ye do well that ye take heed to
1t as to a light shining in dark place,
till the day dawn and the day star arise
in your hearts
VALUE OF A LEAF.
It is most interesting to notice how
even a small part Of the Bible, how sin
gle leaf or verse sometimes lets the light |
of salvation into the benigbted mind.
a missionary who lived in India tells |
Us of a half-csste Hindu woman who |
found leaf Of the Bible and was SO In
terested in what she read that she sought
for more, and having obtained q comm etc /