The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-06

at the house of God. The world VIII
never be purified by a spotted church;
The wise king, when he had caiieu
| the religious leaders, of, the people
together. pointed out that the pun
shmen of Jehovah had fallen upon
the nation because Of its reIgious
d~eclensions and the irrelig1on OF those
! who should have been first In fldeity
to Jehovah. So the first step In the
preparation of the Passover was the
sanctificatiOn of the LeVlteS.
One cannot resist the temptation
to speculate upon what would be the
result if the ministers of religion IN
our own land were to have squarely
put up to them the responsibility for
moral and political conditions IN the
nation. Imagine all preachers off III
a retreat" for the purpose Of search
ing their own hearts with respect to
the state of the country. Would one
man see that his failure to preach
clearly the ethical teachings of the
gospel had been responsible for the
gradual decay Of the moral fibre OF
the church-member who is now a
condemned CRATER? Would the vote
buying in certain communities rise up
to condemn the ministers who had
either Winked at it, or failed to bis
ter with contemplation of Jeho-
yah the traitors Who had shared in
it? The lust for vanities and fashion,
III neglect Of the family altar, the
decline Of church-going-would these
appear at the door of the ministers
of the Most High who had failed to
make religion attractive, or to satisfy
the SOul-needs Of their people Deli
cate and dangerous as is this sub
ject, it is only an obvious and logical
deduction from the inspired story OF
how Hezekiah began to prepare for
his great Passover by calling the
nrieGf1y class IN m and
repentance.
Rallying to Jerusalem.
Despite all their defects, there was
something sublime about the Cru
sades Of the Middle Ages. They were
a magnificent conception. The rock
bottom fact was a concern for the
city and tomb of the Cruci1ed. Now
adays few persons in the enlightened
Christian churches seem to care a
straw about Jerusalem. They are not
disturbed by the infidels possession
Of the city that Jesus loved. That
ChriStian-hating and JeW-hating Mos
lens have a mosque On the site OF
the Temple seems to be Of no more
interest to the generality of Chris
tians than any other item Of travel
information. We have grown blase
and unsentimental; Jesus might weep
over the Holy City, but His present
day disciples would not stir a hand to
see that in the exigencies Of present.
day politics it would come into the
possession Of a Christian nation that
would bring liberty of worship. toler-
ance and freedom to all, with power
of the Moslem to Cypress the Chris
tan removed. The few scores Of
pathetic Jews who gather daily by the
stones of the wall Of Tenn
pie to wall over the decline Of Jeru-
salem are merely IN object Of curl
osity, rather than Of sympathy to
C~hristendOm.
Yet in Jerusalem is still. as in (
Hezekiah's time, memory, unity, and
Inspiration. / cannot escape the con-
viction, after having Travelled all Over
the Bible lands and the ancient world, |
that this strangely persisting city is
to have a new place in the plan Of
God. The city which He loved is still
to b. the rallying point of His people
everywhere. In the reunion of Chris
tendon there will be a peculiar place
for the CITY Of Zion. Hezekiah was
observing the divine order when he
summoned all Jews up to Jerusalem.
Touching a Peoples Hearts.
From North and South came the
Jews TO the great Passover. They
trough offerings so lavishly that the
force of priests was. inadequate to
handle them; rea religion always ex-
presses itself in giving. There can
not be a revival Of religion in a mig
gardly church,: or If there is, it will
be by driving out the spirit of mean
ness. Christianity costs a man noth-1
ing to get, but it costs him his all
to keep. Closed purses close hearts.
1t is the open land that God fills with
blessing In this national revival
there was a feast of generosity. Small
wonder the people were glad; there is
no gladness in life for stingy souls.
It is when we give that we get. Sew
en- lay were not long enough for the
keeping of this feast, so another
seven days was added. It was like a
great family reunion-a reunion with
the heavenly Father first. and then
with the brethren. Old disagreements
were forgotten: at the house Of God
tho oortc Of tho nnnn1o of Cod wore