The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-04-27
TRANSLATED INTO LIFE.

In an address before the BRUSH ana + Or
eign Bible Society, Rev. DR.. r. ". Dale
spoke eloquently on this topic as follows:
You translate the Scriptures into new
tongue. You print aud distribute them.
Then is your work done? No; it Is only just
beginning. That which you have translated
begins to be translated again into the life and
conduct of men whom you will never see.
The power of It Is revealed in a new faith In
God, in q new reverence for Gods authority,
in new Joy in his love. It is revealed In
habits of purity and habits Of truthfulness
and acts Of compassion.
It's revealed in the peace offamilles In new
tenderness and affection between husbands
and wives, brothers and sisters, parents and
children. 1t Is revealed in all the virtues
which constitute the strength of earthly
states, and which reveal in this mortal order
the august dignity of Gods etotnal kingdom.
These are the translations we want the
most. We want them In England as well as
every other part Of the world. We want
to see the contents of Holy Scripture trans
lated into the lives and characters OF mer-
chants and Of tradesmen. of masters and Of
working people, Of politicians and ofjournal-
lists; and God grant that every member OF this
society who has contributed to the trans
lation of Holy Scripture into the tongues
of people of foreign race may remember
that bis first duty is 10 get the Holy Scrip
lures translated into his own life in such
form that Its contents may become intelli-
gible to those who are nearest to him. Inc
real meaning of Holy Scripture is never dis
covered until that translation has been
effected. You never know the meaning of
the acorn until the acorn has appropriated
to itself the mysterious powers OF the sun
and the rain and the dew and the light and
the air. II anybody asks you the meaning
Of the acorn, point to the oak with
its massive trunk and its mighty branch
es and its pomp Of leaves. That Is what
the acorn means. II anybody asks me lot q
final proof that there is life and the very life
of God in the book that we are assembled
this morning to circulate all the world over,
I give the same answer. The best proof that
the acorn is not dead, and that God made 1t,
is that the oak comes from 1t; and the best
proof that the very life of God is in the Bible
is to be found in the Bibles power.
No, sir. you do not know what you are
really doing. You send off bales Of Bibles
from Queen Victoria street 70 India or TO
China. You are like seed merchant send.
ing bales of seed to the, farmer. II
he wants to know what 1t is doing he must
20 in. autumn and see the country covered
with the brown corn ripening in the autumn
sun. If you want to know what your
Bibles are doing, follow them in thought to
the people to whom they are sent. Measure
the moral and spiritual results which the
Bible has produced in you. What has been
done for you by the story Of the descent OF
the Eternal Son from the heights Of God to
effect our redemption by his
death for the sin of the world, by
his resurrection and ascension into
heaven and his eternal glory-what has been
done for you by these great contents OF Holy
Scripture will be done for the people OF every
land and under every sky to which your
Bibles are sent. All. sir. but II you could
follow your Bibles and discover their results
in human life and character in this world.
still you would not know the magnitude or
the work you are doing. The Word OF tue
Lord liyeth and abideth forever. 1t Is a
Divine force. Eternal life is In it. 1t cannot
reveal all its powers and all its grace under
the limitations Of these mortal years. The
Word of God In human life in this present
world is like tropical tree planted on ork.
shire moor. The life in it cannot be revealed
under these grey skies. Our winds are 100
cold, the soil is too poor for the tree to man.
ifest all It's perfection. You must carry !.
back 10 the land from which it came, lnnd
nearer the sun, before all the stateliness anu
heauty of il can be achieved and not until the
life which is rooted In the Divine Word IL
carried back to the world. from which that
Divine Word came, that it may grow in the
very light and glory of the Eternal. can we
know the power, the beauty, the perfection
that come to human nature from receiVing
the living Eternal Word Of God.
Prejudice Is the conjurer Of Imaginary
wrongs-overpowering reason. strangllng
truth, making strong men weak and weas
men weaker. God give us the large-hearted
charity which "beareth all things. believeth
all things, hopeth all things, en.iureth III
things'-which thlnketh no evil.-lJ. H.
Macduf, D. D.
Every temptation to evil temper which !:
can assail US today will! be an opportunity
to decide the question whether we shall gam
the calmness and rest Of Christ, or whether,
we shall be tossed by the restessness and
agitation of the worId.-lF. W. Robertson
THERE Is trouble In Washington
because the German minister hangs
his washing out in his front yard, to
the scandal Of passers-by. The astute
diplomat is tring to combat the cur.
cent belief that clean linen and for
a. %11afhor