Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-01

fluences them more. AS spiritual, pres
ence he is more near to them, as spiritual
force more real. Is there any reason why
a greater than Shakespeare or Dante. who
also walked this earth, who left great
words behind Him, who has great works
everywhere in the world now, should not
also instruct, inspire and mold the charac-
tiers Of men? l do not limit Chrst's in
1uence to this. 1t is this, 1t is more. But
Christ SO far from resenting or discourage
ing this relation of friendship, himself pro-
posed it. Abide in me- was almost His
last word to the world. And He partly
met the difficulty of those who feel its in
tangibleness by adding the practical clause,
If ye abide in me, and my words abide In
you Begin with His words. Words can
scarcely ever be long impersonal
do them, live them and you must live
Christ. He that keepeth my command
ments, he it is that loveth me- Obey Him
and you must love Him. Abide in Him
and you must obey Him. Cultivate His
friendship. Live after Christ. in His spirit,
as in His presence. Henry Drummond.
zone day in London 1 was sitting in a
dark omnibus. A man came in to examine
our tickets, and l thought to myself. You
will never be able to tell whether they nave
been punctured Alright. AS l watched,
curious to notice. he touched a little spring
on his breast, and in a tiny globe OF glass
beautiful glow Of electric light shone out
Manifestly the man could see anywhere
he saw. So we must understand that
when the heart is full of God you will ind
God anywhere and everywhere as the
miner carries the candle in his cap through
the dark cavity Of the earth and lights his
steps. Oh, men and women. that is what
we must rely upon here! 1t Is not l that
can do anything, but God, heaven. eternity
are near. 1t is not my words that shall
achieve the result, but the spirit Of God
who is as much in this assembly as Hegwas
in the upper room upon the day Of Pente-
cost. In the gentle movement Of the trees
Of the forest. can you not hear the step
detect the movement of Gods spirit at this
moment upon your hearts? l be-
lieve that If some people had been in that
very upper room itself when the holy
ghost descended. being purblind, blinded by
prejudice and passion and worldliness. they
would have heard only a noise, they would
have perceived no fame If they had been
with John on Patmos, they might have
rocks, but they never would have heard
the harping Of the angels. On the other
hand II Peter or John were sitting where
you are now, their faces would be lighted
up with supernatural light, and they would
say:
Did you not see? Did you not hear?
God is here. The great God has come
down from the heavens to bless these peo-
pie. They have asked for it. They have
claimed 1t. God has promised and He has
come. Where two or three are met am
The Spirit of God Is here, and Is working
among US also, as He hath done in other
times and places. He first convicts us of a
cold heart, of our deep need, and of our ut
ter undoneness, and then He comes Him
self and says: I am here F. B. Meyer.
How to Help the Leader.
If Jesus Christ is reality to you, If you
feel His presence in your daily life, tell
the meeting how this came to be, and what
~ Il Of haU
this blessed presence. why not ask that
others suggest how you may realize that
Christ is with you always, and what helps
they have found? Or pray that God Will
reveal Himself to lou, and that you may
put yourself int, the right attitude by low
ing Him and keeping His commands, Tor
Him to fulfill His promise to reveal Him
self to you. If you have desire IN your
heart to know Jesus in this personal way,
and have never yet done SO, you may help
yourself and others by saying that you
Parallel passages: Matthew, II %: Peter,
it'll; john. xxi:15: II Peter: NILS; John
lis; l John, VS. John, xv:1O-14; John,ii "a;
John, ii:22; Revelation, iii:2O.
Hints to the leader - The EndeaVor
Hymnal, 10. 49, AZ, "a, 81, a. y.
Have some one sing, I'm the Secret of His
Presence" found in Gospel Hymns No o.
Try to get singer who VIII Ieei tne
spiritual members together beforehand, and
after asking them to pray with you, get the
cooperation of each to be Wiling 10 SPEAK
a few words from his own heart history
telling what Jesus Christ is to him. AS
this is a conservation meeting, 1t might De
a pleasant variation to have the members
speak more informally than usual and
without the ordinary roll call out ms wiz
necessitate a good'deal of work beforehand
as YOU should see every member or the So
ciety and gain his cooperation. ASK them
to take part in the meeting in the order IN
which they sit thus you can arrange Ger
tain helpful ones to sit by shy ones, SO
that your testimony may be well dlstrlp-
uted
Ask these members to testify as to Bible
reading prayer, etc, and their relations 10
the sense of the presence of Christ. ASK
all to be very simple in their statements
Be sure to ask the absent members 10 senu
a little letter each to be read in the meet
ing. Read these yourself after tne mem M
bers present have taken part, or at the be-
ginning If you find they would be helpful
to start the right kind of testimonies;
1t may be that you will find that large
number of your members 90 not under
stand the possibility of realizing Christ
presence If so, you will need to spend
much of your meeting time in prayer az
ter having drawn from the members this
fact and their expressed. desire or lnoll-
ference for this wonderful experience and
blessing Here also you must have some
helpers prepared, ready to pray the right
word. that the right spirit may be started.
IT may be your lookout committee can 90
some preparatory work on Sunday after
noon talking with associate members, get
ting them to express wish for more
earnest Christian life, and finally bringing
them to promise to pray for this in the
meeting following their own sentence
prayers. This Is a wonderful topic, and
needs wonderful, yet simple handling. If
there are any notable saints in your
church who are universally respected as
such, get them to tell few words of how
they came to know Jesus intimately. but
beware of long talks on this subject by
Christians who are universally criticised
by their fellows. One cannot talk much of
such an inner experience who. for instance,
speaks bitterly against his fellow church
members or who is known to be not quite
true in business matters. Above all spend
much time in prayer yourself in prepara-
ton asking Jesus to show you how to
show Him to the others; and then do not
talk much about yourself, except the SIM
nlest sentence or two for your own testi-
mony as to what Christ is to you. This
meeting should have as a result a deepen
ing of the Christian life of the whole So
ciety In your opening prayer ask that
Christ will verify His promise: Where two
or three are. there am l in the midst of
them"
Earth's crammed with Heaven.
And every common bush afame with God,
But only He that sees takes off His shoes.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Thou needest not ask the angels where