The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-12-23

SuA4ASu mOClVGs, Cu0 Cru6SC sort OF IN
dependence, and fellowship with
Gods greatest servant, his Only Be
gotten Son.
Z. The Time of the Judges.-Un-
f~aithfulness always suffers, not be-
IL God is arbitrary, but because
unfaithfulness is a cause of which
suffering is an effect. Israel forsakes
Jehovah, and the record says that
God therefore forsakes Israel. But
that Is only one way of putting it.
God could not have one attitude for
the disobedient and the dutiful. That
were to be a respecter of persons.
But if the unfaithful will turn back
to the God he has forsaken he will
find that God is anxious to restore
the old relationship and communion.
He waits to be gracious.
8. Worlds Temperance Lesson
The essential barbarism of intemper-
ance is one of it's strangest marks.
When you think ~connectedly about it
it seems incredible that it should be
a vice of civilized-to say nothing of
Christianized peoples. That it is so
Is one of the proofs that civilization
of itself is not a moral movement.
Unless there is some great moral
force to keep equal pace with civil
ization, the more civilization the
worse. And the only sufficient moral
and ethical force in the world is the
gospel of the grace of God.
8. Gideon and the Three Hundred.
The world owes much to it's minori-
ties. Says the self-satisied man:
"But we are in the majority !"
"Then," answers the philosopher,
"1ook well to your cause. 1t must
have something wrong about it"
That is exaggeration, but it is a
wiser attitude than a complacent re-
lying on mere numbers. The really
wise man finds out, not which is the
stronger side according to the cen
sus, but which is the better side ac-
cording to Gods standard. Then
he e%nlists, knowing not only that God
is the stronger, but that his soldiers
can always be unafraid.
10. Ruth and Naomi.-Ruth chose
the better part. She chose with full
understanding of the consequences.
She chose to be rich in love and life,
even though it meant poverty in al
most all else. She was led from love
of Naomi to the service of Naomi's
God. She chose for life. Her choice
is a perfect pattern of what young
peoples life-choice should be, choos-
ing the spiritual and eternal rather
than the material and temporal.
IL. The Boy Samuel.-Samuel had
a wonderful, divine call. So had
Isaiah. So had Saul of Tarsus. Few
of us have such a vivid summons to
surrender and service. Sometimes
we are inclined to envy those whose
conversion was so marked by the
| overwhelming power of God. But the
vital thing in all these calls was not
the outer phenomenon, but the an
swer that was made to the call. AS
Paul said ~afterward: II was not dis
obedient to the heavenly vision"
Everyone has a call of God inviting
him to Gods life. The circumstances
vary, but the essential call never
does. And the answer is the thing
that counts.
10. Christmas Lesson.-The great
lesson of the Christmas story IS the
lesson of Gods grace. In all the OBJ
servances of the day it should be re-
membered that Christmas Is as init
mately connected with the plan of
salvation as is Easter. There is dan
ger of obscuring this thought IN the
Genera giving and receiving of gifts.