Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-07
Christian Endeavor Hour
For Sunday. April S.

Conducted by Grace Livingston Hill-Lutz.
Topic Our Pledge and How TO Keep It." Mat
thew xxvii:20; Eceesiastes VIII; Psalm He
Matthew, xviii :2o-Teaching them to OBJ
serve all things whatsoever 1 have com
manded you: and, 10, I am with you al
way, even unto the end of the world.
Amen.
Ecclesiastes, v:1-keep thy foot when
thou goest to the house of God, and be
more ready to hear than to give the sacri-
fee or fools: for they consider not that
they do evil.
2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anything
before Cod for God is in heaven. and
thou upon earth: therefore let thy words
be few.
8. For dream cometh through the null
ttude OF business: and fools voice is
known by the multitude of words.
4. When thou Vowest a vow unto God
defer not to pay It; for he hath no pleas.
ure in fools: pay that which thou hast
vowed.
) Better Is IT that thou shouldst not
VOW than that thou shouldst VOW and not
pay.
Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy
ilesh TO sin; neither say thou before the
angel that 1t was an error: wherefore
should God be angry at thy voice and de-
stroy the work of thine hands?
Z. For In the multitude of dreams and
many words there arevalso divers vanities;
Psalms, l:6-IIaye mercy upon me-
GOD. according to thy loving kindness;
according unto the multitude of thy ten
der mercies blot out my transgressions.
The Lesson.
Our pledge is simply the putting into
plain, tangible form the "aIl things what
soever have commanded YOU of Jesus.
DR.. Gibson says: We can imagine the
feeling of bewilderment and helpiessness
with which the disciples would listen TO
their marching orders, until all was.
changed by the simple and sublime assur-
ance at the close: And 10, I am with you
Away. even unto the end of the worldr
This assurance is perhaps strangest of all,
as given TO company, however small. who
were to be scattered abroad in different III
rections, and who were commissioned IN eo
to the very ends of the earth. How could
ii be fulfilled? 70 the deyo1it reader
or TINS gospel 1t is as IL his Lord had never
left the earth at all, but had suddenly
clothed himself with omnpresence so that
however far apart His disciples might he
scattered in His service, each one of them
might at any moment see His face and
hear His voice of cheer and feel His touch
of sympathy, and draw on His reserv, az
power. Thus was 1t made quite plain how
they could keep in closest touch with Him
TO whom was given all authority in heaven
and on earth"
sure nave peen the discussions over this
dear pledge Of ours. aud yet every one Of
us who has honestly taken II has realized
what a help 1t has been. True, we have
felt its hampering hand at times when we
grew to be filled with the cares of this
earth. but was not that just what the
pledge was made for? Is not that the very
secret of Its help to US?
None need urge that the pledge is i'm
possible to be kept SO long as it contains
that clause: Trusting in the Lord Jesus
! Christ for strength / promise HiU1"-for
surely He win never fall insomuch as we
remember He has promised to be close be-
side us even unto the end of the world. :,
II we could but grasp that truth we sta,,ia
have no further trouble In keeping our
pledge God with u.s. close at hand to help
US. every moment, why. we sshould wish to
please Him all the time; we should delight
TO read His word that we might listen to
His voice; we should be. constantly in
prayer that we might be speaking with
Him-not heartless repetitions Of words