The morning times., 1896-11-02
]. Spencer, Christian Church, Lexington,
SELF-INDuLGENCE.

SELFINDULGENCE.
| Nine men out OF ten will not allow W malicious
propcnsities to dominate them. Respect for
| themselves. the respect of society; the desire
| for worldly applause or indifference, re-
| strains many a hand that else would have
stained its apparent wiiiteneSs in the foul
stream of lf-.ndulg gnncc. And all This simply
in the interest of seif.-Rev. Hunter David
| son, Ep.scop.lian, Augusta, Ga.
THE LIVING GOD.
The teaching of the Bible is not merely
that there is God, WHO'S righteous
| God, supreme among the gods, but That He
| is living God, God among us; not
| God afar off, not iii the heavens more than
on earth, not among the angels more truly
| than among men, not in past history any
! more than i'll present cirCumstanCcS-liv-
| ing God among men.-Rev. Lyman Abbott,
Congregationalist, Brooklyn, n. Y.
| EVOLUTION.
| All transformations of character must
needs br gradual Men mature slowly. They
| cannot be in the April of their life what
they may i'll its mellow autumn. SanCtifica-
ton, too. is gradual. Holiness is a con-
| quest, a struggle eliminating in tlIa peace
| OF glory OF attainment. Life is a series Of
| agOnies-a Calvary which we can only
| climb on bruised and aching knees. Rev.
Malcom Dana, ,Congregationalist Brooklyn,
n. j.
| GREATNESS.
We seldom think that the old mother
| with her hands all wrinlled is as great as
the Queen of England: but she is. We
| seldom think that the old farmer with
| bronZed countenance and horny knucklcs,
| who has brought up whole family for
God, is as great as Bismarck; but he is.
| Verify, say unto you in the kingdom of
God, many who are first shall he In It, and
ltz hall In fIrgt ns,t
| EpiScopalian, Toledo. o.
TO SAVE THE NATION.
The hope of our nation lies in the church.
| If the church can he aroused from its seem
| ing state Of apathctic lethargy, if the church
| can be brought back into a condition If hu-
| mility, Confess its unraithfulfeSS and pour
| forth an earnest appeal for pardon for her
| own SINS and lie sins Of the nation, if the
| church throws off her secular and worldly
practices, then this nation is sayed.-RGv. b.
S. Kennedy, Presbyterian, Toledo, o.
THE FUTURE LIFE.
If we are immortal beings with other
! worlds awaiting us, Our training must keep
/ that fact steadily in view. This. our first
world, must he put in true perspective with
| the other worlds. This, our first werld
must he SO managed to keep us facing
toward our mighty destiny. The thoughts,
the feelings, the hopes appropriate to an
immortal career must be kept alive and
vigorous within us.-Rev. Jacob Ecob, Con
gregationalist, Denver, Col.
JEALOUSY.
While great many people are fighting
over the chaff the devil gets the wheat.
| Many in their Kindness sec perfection ,niy
in their own life and creed, while in the
conduct and creed of others they See only
faults. There is too much jealousy among
those who profess to be Gods cE o>cn fol-
lowers, which of ,en crops out into min
iSterial discourtcsy. There is not enough
brotherly love among Gods peoplc.-Rev.
l.. NJ Zimmerman, Lu ,hcran, Baltimore, Md.
SYMPATHY.
God pties the poor sinner Pity is what is
given by tn superior 10 the inferior. This is
what comesi from lofty plane to thcmanon
the low plane. II was 50 with Jesus Christ
He did not simply pity the poor sinner
while he remained in heaven, but he came
down TO earth and gave the sinner SYM
pathy. Sympathy is what we give when
we place ourselves in the place occupied
by the one with whom we sympathiZe =
Rev. W. ". Landrum, Baptist. a tlanta. Ga.
lDOLATRY.
Idolatry is not solely the worship Of n
craven image. 1t is the worship of any
earthly thin. 10 the exclusion OF GodlinesS.
To set III mind firmly upon he things ofths
the life to come is as much idolatry as the
practice of the heather. Journalism in re-
ligon and superstition are to be guarded
against. Love of money, pleasure. ease,
should never be substituted for love of God
Rev. W. S. Hanks, Methodist. Pittsburg, Pa.
MISSIONARY WORK.
The missionary spirit is the energy Of the
Holy Ghost. The laws of the spirit S opera
ton are expansion, direction or definitcn cne>s
penetration and appropriation. Missionary
work in the church must be caccompliShedac-
cording TO these laws. The law of direction
means the knowing when and where u
work. The seed must not be scattered care
lessly by the wayside. We must work fol
the souls that can be most efficiently influ
enced.-Rev. ii. E. Thompson, Episcopal
ian, Alleghany, Pa.
THE PREA CHER's MISSION.
The minister no is true to his commission
does not serve self nor does he preach to
| please men. lie who serves self is self
called, and he who serves men alone j.
usually called OF men, but he who is truly
called of God, he is but human. Thepeoplt
he serves must recognize that he is but {
human being and asliable to err as the mem
ber of the church, The pastor and his peo
pie are colaborers together with God.-Rev
w. b. Hollingshead, Methodist, Spokane
Wash.
lNFlD ELI L.
In religious life the theoretical .nfi,lelit
of such men as Ingersoll is damaging
| Christianity much less than the n!actl
cal infideity of church members who ut
terly neglect to pay their VOWS unto thu
| Lord. Their life is destructive Of faitl
and desire in those who are outside tn,
church. n its effect upon the person
himself, negligence is the beginning u
Il very marked decline, progressing fr',n
it to real Incidence, then to ii state o
helpless apathy, ending in the despair o
physical, mental and spiritual death =
Rev. Dir. Batten, Methodist, Asbury Park
n. j.
THE GREAT UNREST.
The philosophy of the age of pcssimisti
Schopenhauer is its God and Hartmann i
his prophet Science, after al! its eNcur
sions into the borderland, brings maI
back only message of despair. The fiC
) ton of the time finds nothing in the pres
ent age TO delight it, and seeks 10 escap
the present. and goes for its subject l.
A., ages long past and places most distant
Art does not delight now as of Did in por
traying the pleasant things Of nfe-th
C beauty of man and nature but ;he weirL
S the terrible, the ugly, the deformcd. Thu
in every department this dissatisfaction
a shown. Call it Anarchy, call it Socialism
C call it Communism, call it infidelity, cal
: it what you viii. These all are but ,lii
c ferent names for the same thing, hut IN
l. dications of the dissatisfaction OF the ag
!, with itself. Rev. ID. j. Stafford, Cdtholi,
!. Washington, ID. G.