Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-09


familiar hymn which we sing SO
often. and which is very dear to
many OF us. Though we know
it SO we'll however. let US read
it over slowly and prayerfully. sentence
comforts. If Miss Hankey never did
anything else but write this hymn and
its companion. Tell Me the Old, Old
Story" she has earned the gratitude of
all Christians. and has comforted
thousands of whom she will only know
In that land where all things are re-
vealed
For just in proportion to the value
man places upon Gods redeeming love
for him will he desire to tell others the
story. 1t is a divine instinct in humanity
to bring to others the JOY and the blessed
ness which have come to the individual.
Selfshness is not a natural but an ac-
quired trait and the reserve which some
Christians have and which holds them
from ever saying a word about their
Christianity to others is not instructive.
but forced. by the unhappy experiences of
life. Christ in His parallels makes the
man who lost his sheep and the woman
who lost her money call together friends
and neighborS to rejoice with them when
the lost was found. He put it into the
heart Of Andrew to call Peter and bring
him to his Lord and into the heart Of
Philip to bring Nathaniel. The greatest
good Of our lives must be confessed, and
we must bear witness of It, And that is
why our Master spoke those wonderful
words. "WhOsoever shall confess Me be-
fore men, him will l confess also before
NY Father which Is in heaven (St.
Matt, 1O:32). For this confession made
publicly Is a proof of the reality of the
love and gratitude and faith which make
~ fnY rhriS m
the, whole advancement OF the Gospel is
placed upon man. under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. The church grew in
the early days. and 1t has grown since.
Christ to go and preach. II the apostles
had kept the good news to themselves
nay, we can so back to the apostles
If the shepherds and the wise men had
Bethlehem, where would the joy of the
world have arisen?
We can measure the strength and real
ity of our Christianity by the vehemence
of our desire to make all men children of
God That desire may express itself in
various ways, but it must express itself
lin some way il we are really the chill
dren of our Father. the redeemed OF
Christ. He who leads us into all truth
will show us how best we can bear our
must If we expect to have our dear
Savior confess us before His Father
now and at the last great day as His
own children. We will discuss methods
in a moment. Let us now think OF the
necessity of the desire and the action.
For first, a man cannot be sure of his
own salvation unless he seeks to save
others. We are saved to serve: and IT
we have no desire to serve and make
no effort to serve it must logically fol-
low that upon salvation has failed to
produce it's natural results. Second,
there can be no real enjoyment of our
religion or OF our communion with God
unless we seek to save others. The
essence Of true happiness lies in three
things-first. In a deep love for God: sec
ond in conscious obedience to Him. not
only by refraining from doing those
things which He forbids. hut also i'm do
ing the things He asks us to do: and.
third in helping others to a safety and
forgiveness which we know they need
as we'll as we. He who tries to do these
things and desires to do them has Chris
tan. happiness. and he alone. Third.
There can be no growth in the Christian