The age-herald., 1901-04-01

be able to separate us from the love of God, which Is In Christ Jesus, our Lord"
 The Worlds Attitude to Us.
 Neither this hope nor this assurance can the world give. Nay, I go further and say that amid all it's alurements and persuasions, the world never pre- tends that either this hope or this as- surance 1t can give The fact is that on one can legtimately charge deception upon the world in regard to the condi- tions 1t imposes or the rewards it prom ises It Is clean cut and definite in all the terms of it's contracts with men. In many respects it is fairer to us than are we to 1t. In our anxiety, desire and | its pleasures we rarely ever look for endeavor to possess it's gifts and enjoy ward to the end. In no compact for the service of man has the world ever made promise of continued possession for time. | of permanent enjoyment for eternity, and when by some unfavorable unforeseen turn We are stripped of one and in the exercise of Gods unalterable just decree we despair of the other, we would re- proach the world, we are justly laughed at In our calamity and mocked when our fear cometh.
 "But I now go still further and say that even the person who recognizes the conditions the world imposes and hopes l only for the rewards 1t promises, is doomed to sad and bitter disappoi1t- ment The only kind of success that is honored in the world, in affairs, business, | io1 oix md i, that succeeds.
 ''I am no pessimist. I am fully aware | of the respect the world has for probity, honesty, sincerity and truth; but I know, and so do you, that the world will have its own. Unlike Charity, it is puffed up. Business is business, Is its cry, and the only man who can confidently com mand its favors is he who is independent of its assistance, or can grant 1t favors in return.
 Tn accordance with the natural order of things and the universal law govern ing the world of action, that which ob- tains respect in the struggle for wealth, position and power is not the man, but the possession or ability that makes the man strong to assist or do. When this possession or ability takes to itself wings and flies away, the respect paid it fol- lows after and nestles upon the new perch that affords it another temporary resting place.
 Worldly Reliance.
 "In theory, my view of this matter may differ somewhat from that of some present What the actual condition Is call either upon every stirring, striving, successful man, or upon every one ce- feated and overwhelmed in his conflict with the clements of opposition and an tagonism In life, to declare. h short my brother, the man who makes the world his God and chief ally in life must always be able to stand alone! His tiod and ally will help him so long as he | needs no help. But let him totter, ard he is allowed to fall, and his God cen tinues its rule, needless of the fact that one more of its followers is lost to il and to it's respect forever! The places that once knew him now know him nc | more The friends and retainers who once | bowed at his shrine, not because of his worth, but to command his influence, have betaken themselves to the base of some other pedestal and in many cases the ruined man, made desperate by his bit ter disappointment and forsaken condi' ton, with his own hand sends himself into an eternity of misery and woe! You say the picture Is overdrawn? Indeed but little. There are many more such pictures, with backgrounds darker thar you or I would dare to draw, scattered here and there in the gallery of the worlds trophies, snatched from the hand of loyalty to manhood and obedience tc l God, than all the artists of all the ages in all their lifetime could color and frame
 The Flesh.
 And now by what authority does the flesh command us to cruelty our Lord What does it offer as an inducement to us to follow It's leading? The apostle tells us that the flesh lustheth against the spir- it. but based upon actual human ob- servation and experience, what is the re- ward of obedience to the behests of the flesh? Simply the delirium of animal de- light. ephemeral as passing shadow, de- grading as sins blackest night.
 "Does the fact that a person indulges the animal desires of his nature at every prompting of the flesh insure him a noble and perfect manhood?
 Docs it fit him to preside as the head of happy. prosperous household?
 Docs 1t make him a man, respecting himself, and in the affairs of everyday life commanding the respect of others?
 "Go ask that man reeling along the street, poison coursng through his ar teries and, with curses upon his lips, with blasphemy tainting the pure atmosphere of Gods bright universe.
 "Go ask the libertine the despoiler of the home. the gambler and the criminal in his cell. and learn, as they enumerate them, the gifts the flesh bestows upon them who recognize its authority and bow at It's shrine.
 ''It destroys manhood; it breaks and desolates the trusting heart of woman hood and dismantles and ruins the home where its votary abides! And when home loses it's virtue and charm, what else on earth is there to live for or enjoy? To the nation it's home, in their purity and hap | piness, are a bulwark of invincble strength To the individual. in this life of wear and tear, of hurry and scurry, of | scuffle and struggle, of annoyance and | antagonism, home Is the only place of refuge, home Is the only place of perfect peace, home is the only place of absolute | rest. Why the highest idea we have of