River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-10-22

! the soul. This city of Samaria had
once rejected Jesus. He asked a
nights lodging and they would not
give it. Weary with the journey, he
had to press on, for he would not
thrust himself upon them. Whether
| they remembered this treatment Of
| the Master or not, we cannot tell, but
it looks as if they tried to make
amends for it. We should remember,
however, that they rejected Jesus be-
| fore his death; he had not then been
lifted up; they had not felt the mag
netism of his love on Calvary. After
Philip had preached that he had died
for them and risen from the dead,
their hearts yielded to the drawings of
gratitude. There is always joy in
feeling that you treat another right,
and there is sorrow in the conscious
ness that you have dealt unfairly.
Have you rejected the Lord Jesus III
/ the past? Make amends for that;
receive him now. Think quietly for
moment of the love that was shown
| in the death on the cross, and simply
let your heart yield itself to the mag
netism of that love. To resist is to do
violence to the noblest that is in you;
to yield is to let the noble assert it.
self.
Joy in Obedience.
There was the joy of needing the
word of God. "The people gave heed
to those things which Philip spoke"
and we learn in the fourth verse what
he spoke. He was one of those who
went everywhere preaching the
word" His mission was not to preach
about the word but the word itself.
Tell the people Gods word and it will
fill them with joy. Raise questions
about the word and you will fill them
with gloom. Discussing the compost
ton of bread will not feed hungry
man; give him bread and satisfy his
hunger Analysing the waves of
sound will not thrill the soul with
music. Speak the word of God to the
people and their hearts will respond
to the truth and make music akin to
the harmonies Of heaven.
Joy Of Wealth.
If you would have the Joy of wealth,
study the Bible. If you would impart
that joy to others, proclaim to them it's
| teachings. A member of the English
| parliament was a merchant with many
| burdens, and he determined to take
vacation for two weeks. He in
structed his confidential clerk to send
| to him only kilograms and cablegrams,
opening and answering such letters as
he deemed important. In large mail
of letters, circulars and papers there
came an unstamped envelope which
the clerk placed among the unimpor-
tant correspondence. After the vaca
ton was over, the merchant, feeling
one day that he had leisure, decided
to look through the pile of mail rub
bish which he had on hand. He
opened this unstamped envelope and
found in it a communication from the
queen of England offering him a bar
onetcy and giving him 80 days In
which to answer. Twenty-eight days
had passed and only two remained.
He fastened to answer the commun1-
cation and received the honor with
thankfulness. How near he came to
missing what he considered the great
est honor of his life! And so it is
with many of us. In the Bible is the
heritage of wealth and honor beyond
any bestowed by the crowned heads of
earth. Shall we place this book among
the common things to be neglected?
If so, we shall turn away from the
richest heritage ever given to man. 1t
is here we learn that we are heirs Of
God and Joint heirs with Christ.
Joy of Fellowship.
There was the joy of fellowship in
the word. The people with one &C.
cord gave heed unto these things
which Philip spake. Sharing our joy
with others increases it, as sharing
our sorrow with other diminishes it.
The miser boards his wealth and is
miserable; the philanthropist shares
his wealth with others and is happy.
We have no right to become misers in
boarding the wealth of Gods word;
we should share the comfort and joy
we receive from it with others. We
have in this Bible a batch of letters
from heaven. We read them for our.
selves and rejoice, but when we tell
| their contents TO OluSES d1u see the
Joy it gives to them, our joy is in
| creased. This is the secret of the
happy time we have in our prayer meet
ings. 1t is the fellowship of truth, en-
riching others with the wealth that
God has given us.
There was the joy of seeing God
work. Hearing and seeing the mira
Giles which he did" Commentators
| think that the hearing refers to the
words which Philip spoke, and the see-
| ing to the miracles which he did.
There is a miracle of word as well os
of deed. The people heard miracles
of speech from the lips of Paul, Spur
geon and Whitfield. God spake His
words of revealed truth through the
men who committed their lips to
Him. The people saw the deeds
which God wrought through Philip
and they rejoiced. 1t rests one to see
| power at work.
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