Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-09

| WIFE, weary, sat GOWN OlSnedTteIeu " weep.
| She was leaving the happy scenes OF her
! past life and going among strangers; her
husband tried to comfort her. but still she
| wept. He reminded her of the verses,
| in Him, and He will bring it to pass"
and God will provide" But still she wept
There was an arbor in q garden near BY
Gerhardt went out into the moonlit sum-
mer night. He felt a great and holy calm
and sure reliance upon God 1t was then
| that he sat down and wrote the hymn that
has grown SO familiar to US:
Commit thou all thy griefs
Who earth and heaven commands; AZ
Who points the clouds their course, teG'
he shall direct thy wandering feet. ~
Thou ae s On the er Eord r eIy wa" tx
FiI on His work thy steadfast eye,
So shall thy work be done dome:
l. Hope and be undismayed;
He shall LIT up thy head"
That night two gentlemen came riding to
| the inn inquiring for Paul Gerhardt with
message from the Duke Christian, who
| wished to express his sympathy in the
poets persecution and Affections, and In
that city his home. Gerhardt thanked the
| messengers and went to his wife with a
| beaming face. telling her the news and
giving her the hymn he had written IN the
vides. Did 1 not bid you trust in God and
| all would be well7''
mo one doubts how we receive the bless
| ings of Abraham righteousness, justifca-
| tom; all are agreed that it is by faith
Being justified by faith (Rom.. v:I. But
how blind we are to see. how slow to take
| it in, in spite Of the plain declarations OF
the Scripture that the promise OF the
| Spirit is in like manner received by faith!
, The Holy Ghost is the gift Of the Father
faith There is the whole matter in nut
| shell. OF all sublime things in Gods SUBJ
| lime Book there is surely not sublimer
| than this, that a cleansed and consecrated
| claim and receive the fullness Of the Spirit
the greatest gift that even the exalted
| Christ has in His power to bestow upon
His people Be filled with 1nd the rs Spirit dan
mand Is in the passive voice. Be filled
that is, Let yourself be filed The full
ness is pressing in upon you. only let 1t
in! Receive it, and it is yours 1t
to fill Go on your way now, reckoning
| that you are filed. and God will make the
reckoning good. 1t is yours to keep be-
lieving 1t is Gods to keep you filled.
Stagger not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but be made strong in faith, CIV
ing glory to God."-John MacNeil.
Faith is the root and assurance the
fower."-Bishop Ryle.
Jesus was the heir of Abram, not merely
because he was his descendant, but be-
cause, like Abram. He was full of faith.
God was the atmosphere of His life.
Israel or of Adam that Jesus responded to
God and lived with Him as His God. Not
by specially Jewish rites did Jesus ap-
proach and rest In God, but by what Is
Father, by loving obedience, by faith and
submission. And thus We. too, may be
joint heirs with Christ and possess God.
And If we think of ourselves as left to
reversible natural laws; If we begin to
pray very heartlessly as If He who once
listened were now asleep or could do moth
ing; If our life seems profitless, purposeless
and all unhinged then let US look back to
this sure promise of God, that He will be
our God; our God, for, II Christ's God,
then ours; for If we be Christ's, then are
we Abrams seed and heirs according to
the promise. How few in any given day
are living on this promise; how few at
tach reality to Gods continuous revelation
of Himself, the reality in this worlds
transitory history; how few can believe in
the nearness and observance and love of
| God; how few can strenuously seek to be
holy or understand where abiding happi-
| here Yet who knocks at this door? Who
makes, as Christ made, his life unity with
| God, undismayed. unmurmuring, unreluc-
tant, neither fearful Of God, nor disobedi-
God has said, I will be thy God Do you
! believe these things, and can you forbear
| to use them? Do you believe that 1t Is
| open to you. whatsoever you are. 10 nave tne
that He may use all His divine nature in
your behalf; have you conceived what 1t
is that God means when He extends to you
this offer, and can you decline to accept it,
can you do otherwise than cherish it and
seek to find more and more In 1t every
day you live?"-Marcus Dods.
Applied Truth.
christian faith is a grand cathedral.
with divinely pictured windows. Stand
ing without, you see no glory, nor can pos
sibly imagine any; standing within, every
ray of light reveals harmony of unspeak-
able endors."-Nathaniel Hawthorne.
once prepared as a present to Saxon
queen When she opened the shell by
secret spring she found yolk OF gold
Touching the secret spring within, the gold lei,
en- yolk flew open, disclosing beautiful
bird. Pressing the wings OF the bird,
on its breast was found crown, while
upheld by spring like the rest was
ring of diamonds which fitted the finger
of the princess herself. Some one has
| Hkened this story to many promise with
| in a promise that we find within the Scrip
lures, the silver around the gold the gold
around the jewels. Yet how few Of Gods
II
discover the crown Of His promise or the
ring of His covenant. 1t requires the eye
of faith to discover the precious treasures
within.
How to Help the Leader.
Tell in what Abraham's faith seems to
you most sublime and what part of his
| life story is most helpful to yourself.
PARALLEL PASSAGES.-Romans, Nv:
| 20; Hebrews, x:23; Galatians, ii:16; 1 Co.
| rinthians, xvi:13; Colossians, ISL; Mat
thew, xiv:S1; Luke, xix:7;' Galatians, iii:
HINTS TO THE LEADER.-The En-
deavor Hymnal-1O IL, SO, AZ, 173, 294.
Have the different points in Abrahams
life taken up briefly. Let several MEM
hers be appointed beforehand to prepare
| the facts, each giving a lesson to be
drawn from the portion Of the story about
| which he has studied. Ask members to
! liken Abraham's life to thei rOwn. and see
| the points of similarity and difference.
Have much prayer for faith. Be sure to
| have Faith Is the Victory sung, the
| meeting joining in the chorus II the verses
are taken by soloists.
| Trust on with faith unfailing,
| Though never dark the sky,
| Though the sea thou art swiftly sailing