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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Advocate, 1900-8-23, Page 2)1tEA ev. Dr. Talmage cot.tr.se$:,....: on: preading:, the Word A despatoh from Washington eays; —Rev. Dr. Talmage Preached. from the 1 °Rowing text; 'Wootd oa that all the Lord's people were prophets." Numbers xi. 29. There is great excitement in the aneient tabetnacle. Two good ' men, by the name of Eldad and Mecla.d, be- gin topray and to it1Strliet. Not hav- ing been regularly ordained •to the work, the jealousy of "the regulars" in the service is aroused, and they Come to Moses, asking that these un - ordained men be sileneed. But Moses, instead of ,stopping them, says he wishes that all the people would go to preaching, and praying, and exhort- ing, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets!" aliPPose that every man has some controlling ideas in his life. Long ago, and before 1 saw any ppssibili.ty of carrying them out, I had born of God in my sout thea two desires: First, the establishment of a free church with the home -feeling main- tained; and, second, the establishment of a college in which private Christian men and women might be trained for usefulness. The need of such a col- lege is felt to -day throughout the whole Christian world. We . have many of the leading men of all deno- minations in Our professorate. If there is anything at all in learned titles, we have the advantage of it in our college circular. The printer fail- ed to get our circular done as soon • as expected, because, as he said, he ran out of "D.'s," and had to go to a neighbouring printing -office to bor- row a new supply of that letter. But what is human confirmation compar- ed with that which conies from God through His Church, His Providence, and His Ward? Ministers cannot do the work of the world's evangelization. What are the few thousand ministers in this country conapared to the seventy mil - Liana of the population! We are num- erically too small. Sin, with its army of drunkenness, and lust, and crime, has not yet put out hal/ of its strength, for it can beat us, anth not half try. Who is getting the victory in our cities to-day—sobriety or in- temperance? HONESTY OR FRAUD? Purity or uncleanness? Infidelity or the Gospel? Light or Darkness? Heaven or hell? If you are an honest man, you confess that the latter have gained the victory. What is the mat- ter? Are the Gospel weapons insuf- ficient? Is the sword of the Spirit dull? Are the great howitzers of truth at too short range to throw the bomlasheLls into the enemy's fortress? No! no The great want, and the only want, is more troops! Instead of five Or ten thousand ministers, we want two million men and women, sworn that they will neither eat nor sleep until they have slain iniquity. But how if you cannot get them? Sup- -poke, afte,r along wax, the President should retake proclamation for one hundred thousandemen, and they were not to baload? But the church has lot sent a thouaandth part ef its ling by the still waters of Zion, when strength, and the troops are encamp - they ought to be at the front, and would be if you gave them a chance, and made them ready for the heat and terror of the contest. Let us quit this grand farce of try- ing to save the world by a few clergy- men, and let all hands lay hold of the work. Give es in all our churches two or three hundred aroused and qualified men and women to help. In most churehes to -day, five or ten men ate compelled to do all the work. A vast majority of churches are at their wit's end how to carry on a prayer meeting if the minister is not there, when there ought to be enough pent- up energy and religious fire to make a meeting go on with such power that the minister woulct never lee missed. The Church stands working the pumps of a few nainisterial cisterns until the buckets aro dry and choked, while there are thousands of roue - tains from which might be dipped up the WATERS OF ETERNAL :LEFE. Religion will make headway in hat factories when you can send there, baptized by the spirit, a Christian hatter. We want men, in all the oe- eupations, in the name of God, to throttle the ains of their own trade. Religion will never Conquer the pliina- ber'a aMora or the mason's wall, or the earpenter's acaffolding, or the tin- tter'e roof, or the, printer's' type -loom, jntil converted plumbers and reasons, and carpenters, and planters Gerry it there. Some men are So profound in their eidueation they do not seem qualified for this Mission. You can- not send the Great Eastern up the Penobscot River. ; Profoundly ecla- eated men eeera to "draw too numb' watet" to get up etch a stream, have heard finely` eauented men, in prayer -meeting talk in settences Amtonic affluenee, yet their words fell dead npon the meeting; but when some poor, uneducated man arose, and raid, "I suppose you fellers think that laecause I don't know anything .haven't no right to speak; bat Christ has converted my soul and you know I was the mieesablest chap in town; and if God will pardon me, he will pardon you." Come to Jesus! Come Come now l—the prayer -meeting broke down with religious emotion. It is a grand thing to be accurate in speeeh; but get Out ,with your grammar if you are going to let the lack of ac- quaintance therewith keep a man 'down when God Almighty tellsehirn US get up! These men do not now feel 'Prepared for Christian work. Waking up at thirty, forty, or fifty years of age, with a desire of usefulness, they are too old to begin a regular theological course. Besides that, they have fam- ilies to support. It takes thona eight hours every day to earn a livelihood, What knowledge shot dawn they must take on the wing, loading the rifle while the barrel is yet hot from other discharges. In their undrilled state, they rise to talk in prayer-ineetinge with head down and blushing clank, as though they were talking by suf- feranee, inetead of remembering that they have a massae from` the throne of the eternal God, and that, though men HOWL WITH CONTENT'S', they must utter it. In this college we want to teach men common sense in religious met- tere. While a young man was stand- ing amid rollicking companions, full of mirth and repartee, a good Chris- tian man came and aeked him; "What is the first step of wisdom?" The young man turned and said "The first step of wisdom is for everyone to mind his own business!" A coarse answer; but it was a very abrupt question, considering the place in which it was out. There are religious pedlars who go around making a business of dis- playing their whole stock of wares iu the most obtrusive manner. It is no time, while an acco-untant is puzzl- ing has brain with a long line of fig- ures, to ask hina, ''howe,his account stands with Gad; or stop the sports- man on the playground, while running between the hunks, and ask "whether, in a religious sense, he is running the race set before him." We want tact and adaptation for his work. Some Christians try to catch a whale with a fly -rod of hornbeam, and fling a harpoon at a salmon We want private Christians to know how they may stand their ground, or go forth with. the vehemence of the Bible -dwarf when, he accosted the giant, saying, "Thou • coolest to me with a sword, and withi a spear, and with a shield ; but 1 come to thee in the name of the Lord of host, the God of the armies of Israel, Whom thou hest defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give ties eareasses of the host of the Phili- etines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; t,h,at all the earth may, know that there is a God in Israel." Let me get my sling otit! Three times 1 swing it around my head, and down thou goest, oi gianel, We want that institution to Qualify people to work amid the wretchedness and retinae of the great cities. Is any Christian man so deluded as to think that we can overcome these evils by our present way of doing thing's? Where there is one church built there are ten grogeehop,s established. Where one sermon on purity is preached there are five houses of shame built. The Church' has not touched the great evils save WIT,H ITER, LITTLE FINGER. Before you and [have the sod press- ing max eyelids, we will, under God, decide whether our children shall grow up amid the accursed surroundings of vice and shame, or come to an inherit... ance of righteousness. Long, loud, bitter will be the curse that scorches our grave if, holding ,within the Church to -day enough men, and wo- men to save the Gay, we act the coward or the drone. I wish that I could pub enough moral glycerine tun - der the conventionalities and majestic stupidities of the day to blow them to atoms arid that then, svith fifty theitsand men and women from all the cburches knowing nothing but Chriat and a desire to bring all the World. to hirn,,we might move iipon tha enemy's works. For a little While, heaven Would not have trumpets enough to celebrate the victory! We want also to qualify men for street -preaching. There are hundreds of -thousands of men evho will never come to church. The only kind of pul- pit that will reach theni is a dry - goods box or a drayman's cart at the etrect corner. We want hundreds of naen every ;Sabbath to be preaching the Gospel in our great city parks. There are, ih this hOLISO to -clay, tvvo hundred men that ought to be preach- ing. Under tieS control of this col - loge they might get the courage and the fateillty. What! you ask, " would you let them preaeh witb,out ordina- tion?" I answer, If Conferences and Presbyteries will not put their hands upon your head, then Iwould have yam ordained in another way. 1 would bake you, down into the haunts of suf- fering and crime within ten minutes walk of our best churehes, and there have you tell the story of Christ, un- til men redeemed from their cups, and WOM011, elevated from a life of pollu- tion, and children, whose bare, bleed- ing feet are on the road to death, should be, by your instrumentality, saved. Then I would have these con- verted suffering ones put their hands of ordination on your head, setting you apart for the hely ministry in the name of the Father, a,nd of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Ah 1 that would be an ordination as good as the laying on ef hands by conferences and Synods—an ordination thatnevould be most bright in the day when, " Shrivelled like a parched scroll, The flaming 4eavens together roll." SHOPPING IN CHINA. The Peculiar nethod%. Adoptet in the Eiolvery OM, Although the peculiar civilization of the Chinese has failed to provide the shops of the country with platsglass windows, mahogany counters, huge mirrors and the seductive shop walker, yet the tradespeople have methods of their own for engaging the attention of the public wortlay of notice, if not of imitation. To begin with, the cora- petition which forces down the prices of goods in this country is unknown in China. The !manufacturers, who own most of the shops, to protect: the interest of themselves and their workpeople, insist on fixing all prices, and when attacked with fits of greed combine to raise the price lists, which, to pre- vent the shopkeeper overcharging,' are posted up in the shop. All such shops belong to what we should call a union. In free hoses the prices given for an article is the result of a prolonged haggle. The Chinese are such experts„ at bargaining that shops oa, g,00cl re- pute publicly declare that they sell only at the advertised price. Why a Chinaman when haggling sholuld shout at the top caf his voice is not clear, but he does, consequently the vociferations of several hundred purchasers and the, equally stentor- ian rejoinders of the tradespeople ren- ders a Chinese shopping quarter, when the public is abroad, a veritable pan- demonium. THE AMOUNTS IN I)ISPUTE, are seldom more than a halfpenny or so, but the parties scream and g,eatieu- late as if their entire fortunes were at stake, the din appearing to be nauela louder than it really is owing to the narrowness of the streets, which are seldom more than a few feet across. Shops which decline all abatement have a signboard inscribed " ellen pu urlo chin," which means "fixed. price." Business in China. being conducted, on principles mostly unknown to the outer world, it is not strange to find that shops and warehouses are,never known by the family name of the pro- prietor. .They are distinguished by,. some sign generally the invention of the owner, who will hold long and anxious consultation with his family and friends in order to obtain a"hao," which shall embody some felicitous idea. When a new shop is opened or a newcomer comes into possession the public is made aware of what has tak- en place by long crimson streamers hanging from the signboards. The friendliness which exists between the shopkeeping class and their patn»as results in •developments of which we know nothing in this country. We shOuld smile at the tradesman who affixed a notice in his window saying that "his wife was not very well that day," or that "his father was dead." In China, in add', ion to saab written amendments, !increased p,ublicly is af- forded by white pr ash colored stream- ers being suspended from the sign- boards, The signboards are also used to re-,. cord the death of an Emperor. This is done by putting the board with its letters in gaudy red and gold into mourntaig. The paper with whieh the sides of the board are covered is not black, as it would be with us, but green, and in order that businesishall not be interfered ;with the green pa; per is dotted all over with the house's nanie. But the loyalty and grief of the shopkeeper is teetifieci to by two streamers, on whicli is inscribed "bus: leshio "---"the kingdom mourns"—are attached, to the board. A WOMAN'S QTJESTION. • The Baying Teller—I dannot Cash this', check, Madan'. She -'--Why not?. .!rher+3 isn'ta enough money here to :meet 'it. ' • Then can't you meet it, half way ? , • SHE WAS. ! Clara --What a pretty bonnet you dillael:I''tennoreorl—;Y.kte:81. bat I'm over my ear in THE S. S. LESSON. INTERNATIONAL LESSON, AUG. 26, ".1eus the Geed Shepherd." John 10. 146. ,veroe P1R.ACvao'IrCuAy,L NvOoTriElyS, . “Truly, truly." The formula with) which :Jesus was wont to prefaee important utter- 4nee's• 1`101 by th's doer. To the sheeee fold in orientel lands there 1,8 hut one, door, and the potter or shepherd watches all night beside it. In, a cave under the hill now regarded as Cal - very, north' of geentealem, the; Editor saw' a flock of sheep gathered, 'and the shepherd standing on guard at the entrance. The sheepfold. Here representing the earthly yet invisible Church' of Christ, the fold containing many flocks which are yet) one. thief and a robber. The reference is to such as become teachers of religion from evil or selfish! motives, and not in the spirit of the Gospel. Often have churches been deceived and souls led astray by mmen who claimed to be teachers of truth but were without the divine commission. 2. Enteretli in by the door. By the same door both the flock and the ehephend enter, and that door; as ex- plained below, is Christ, through whom alone is given entrance into the true Church of the redeemed in earth and heaven. Tae Shepherd of the cheep. Or, "a shepherd," as in the margin of the Revised Version. The reference here is not to Christ, but to those who teach in his name. 3. Tire porter. The porter may re- pa'esenb the Holy Spirit, by whom the Church is guided. Bub it is not essential to find a raeaning in every part 61 this parable, The sheep hea,r his voice. "The sheep" hare are not merely mei:label's of the Church, but true followers of Christ, hia.ving a spiritual recognition of the teachers who sPeaks\ in Christ's name. Are you one of Christ's flock? Have you personal acquaintance with the Lard? Leacieth them out. The ori- ental shepherd never drives, but al- ways leads, his flock; has a name for each sheep, and can call it. -SD is IL nvith the great Shepherd and so is it in 0 measure with his true under - shepherds. Do you Li: y to know thoroughly the souls committed to your care? 1. He goeth before. Keep in mind the double reference to Christ hiwself the great Shepherd, and to those who are his true representatives. The true teacher can bring his followers only where he goes before; into experi- ences that he has realized, and into a fellowship which he has enjoyed. The real leader never says "Go," but always "Come." They know hi a voice. The true followers of Christ recog- nize the true teacher of the Gospel, by the accordance of his utterances with the word, and by the inner witness to the truth. 5. A stranger. One who does not represent the true .message of the Lord, but speaks out of his OWII will. Will they not follow. Even the 'etrue disciples may sometimes be deceived for a little time, but they S00-11 dis- tinguish the false teacher from the true. Flee from him. Travelers in the East have often notieed that when they on other strangers attemptto call the flock, using the words of the shepherd, the sheep will Tun from them. 6. I-Iis parable. The word here translated "parable" is not the one se used in the other gospels, but is elsewhere translated "proverb," and refets to a saying with a, hidden' meaning. This illuetration might i properly be called an allegory. They understood not. To the Jews in gen- eral 'trlae meaning of this "parab4e" or "allegory" was absolutely unknown; and even disciples failed to understand its deeper teachings. How( fortunate' ate we who have the enlightenmenti of the Spirit upon the dark sayings of the Master I I 7. Then said Jesu.s. He went through the allegory a second time, interpreting its principal elements. 11 am the door. The door -through which the sheep enter the fold, and ;through which shepherds come, to the , 10. The thief. At that time the thief was the .Pharisee. pretending to hold the keys of the kingdom di( heaven., Now, he is the false teacher who per- verts t he G oepel. To destroy, Think what harm is being wrought by teach, ers who sow error and unbelief in the hearts of men, I am come. Teeits has already revealed himeelf as the door; now he presents 113mself also as the chief shepherd. 11. I am the good shepherd. As the Sen of man Jesus embodies ideal hu - inanity ; so as the Good S hep - herd he unites in perfection the traits of all true shepherds. Givette his life. The shepherd in orient4 lands is responsible for the sheep in his care. He must find them when lost; must if need be fight wild beasts and 'robbers to. protect them. Christ saw the CraSS always rising before his view. 12, 13. A hireling. A hired man, working, for his wages only. The re are suchprofessedly as under-shep- herdS of Christ, who preach foe a liv- ing, instead of living to preach' the gospel. Whose own the sheep are not, Ile does not love them, makes, no Ciacriide for them, cares only to shear them and to get a living out of them. The wolf. Here placed to represent every enemy of the cease of Christ. 14, 15. Know my sheep. We have a Saviour and a Shepherd who has a personal knowledge and notice of each' one among his many million followers, as though that svere the only one. Known of mine. Each true disciple knows his Lord, and has loving fellowship with him!. As the Father knoweth. The Revised Version shows the thought more clearly: "I know mine own, and mine know me; even as the Father knoweth' me,and I know the Father." The rela- tion between Christ and his flock is a,s close as that between the Father and the Son. 16, Other sheep Ihave. Here Is a hint a the songs to be gathered froma the Gentile world. Shall hear my voice. They had non heard it as yet, but were soon to 'hear it through the lips of Paul, and Timothy, andother broad- minded teachers. One fold. Rather, as in the Revised Version, "one flock." There may bemany folds for Christ's tsheep, but they all belong to one great flock. RED TAPE IN CHINA. There as In modern Tr Lands nee is a Circumlocution °nice, The Chinese Foreign Office, or Tsung-li-Yamen,cas established as a temaierary bureaAaof necessity' after the? war of 1860. It consists of elev- en aged, sleepy, incompetents, who muddle with foreign affairs. All these eleven elders have reach- ed such,Posts by steady advances. They are always septuagenarians, worn out with the exaCting, empty routine rightsI and fu.notions of such high o4. flee, and physically too exhausted by their naidnight rides to and sunrise departares from. "the palace to begin fitly the day's tedium at the dilapi- dated Tsung-li-Yamen.. The appointment fax an interviesi with the non -committal, irresponsible board must be made beforehand, the Minister and his secretaries are al- ways, kept waiting, and the inner re- ception xoom swarms with!' gaping at- tendants during an interview. Once the American minister made a vigour- ous protest, and refused to conduct any negotiations while there were un- derlings in the room, and, as it was business that the Chinese Government wished oondu.cted, the 7:11111i011S were summarily cast out—east out to the ether side of the many -hinged, lattic- ed door' s where they scuffled audibly for firstplace at cracks and.. knot- ho17. 1.10 Tother envoys would not sustain the American protest, and soon the fares 01the empty, room was played to an end, and the sesvants came in with their pipes and fans, tea and cake and candies, ' as if usual; stood about, commented on, and fairly took past in the dipleana.tie conversations,as before. An unconscionable time is always consumed in offering and arranging the -teas and sweets, and to -any direct question these celestial statesmen al- ways answer with praises of the Mel- on seeds or ginger root. sheep. It is not through the Church that we come Id Christ, but through Christ that sve 001116 into ,the Church. 8. All that ever came before me. Not those who came before Christ in time, as the Old Testament prophets' but all svho claimed to stand before him, above ,him, in authority, as do the scribes a,nd Pharisees of that day. Are thieves. Not "were thieves," bub "are thieves," shosving the reference ds to false teachers of that time. The shaeP did not hear. The true followers of G-ocl,not always as individuals, but as a Whole, possess a spiritual insight which enables thein to del ect the false and accept the true lin teaching. O. By me if any man. Through faith in Christ as our Saviour we enter in - Id fold.. He shall be saved. Outside aro the Wild boasts, within are the sheep in safe shelter. Go in rind aut. The allegory is not to be pressed with the question how one COD be tvithin the, fold and yet outside, in the pasture fields. The ineanieg is that those in Chrisiae care are safe, wherever they are. Pasture Food for the b spiritual IVIASOR BURNHAM. n a—a D1iUeiIe 4)t' fine eitisn CUflhI12lgIt 311 ieih Africa. In a recent interview in London Ma- jor I3.urtaliana, evho had just arrived from South Africa, said that, in his opinion, the diffieuity of the country and the length of Lord Roberts' line of eommunicatibris were not yet pro- perly realized at home. Instead 01 Bri- tish comnaunieations being occasienal..' ly cut in the Transvaal or Orange Riv- er State it was rather a matter for wonder that they had not been in- terrupted tin Cape Colony itsaif. Peo- ple were apt to forget that it was further from Cape Town to Pretoria than from London to Vienna, and that' the railway servide was sonaewhat dif- ferent. A Londoner did not think lightly of a journey to Aberdeen, but such a, distance would be merely a lit - tie patrol for the troops under Lord, Rciberts. A high German military att.:, thority heel stated that a .single rail- way line of five haindreci milesoonld support only forty thousand trooped 1Vith one thonsand miles of- ra'alwayi. Lord Roberts had to support 150,000, soldiers, in addition to a large civilitln, population on the line oI the route,; AP- including such towns as Bloemfontein,' johannesbairg and Pretoria. Sufficient stress had not yet 'been laid, Major Burnham 'continued, on the extreme dryness of. the South African veldt. Where in England a squadron Of oavaley could march six miles there , they could only march two. The mobil- ity of the moeunted troops was further hindered by their own transport, for each cavalry brigade was bound to, carry its forage. The column's rate of progress, therefore, was regulated by, the pace of the transport wagons It was folly to say, when the enemy hap- pened to be thirty miles distant, "Why don't the cavalry gallop in Pursuit and wipe them out." ONE THIRTY MILE GALLOP, 1 " would finish all every house in South Africa. It was narvellous to consider the thousands of miles travelled by the cavalry division, ,uncler General French, especially, when it was remema bered that the forced marches were generally done on quarter rations fax horses and half rations for the mem The secret of the greater mobility of the Boers consisted in the fact that their own native horses were stronger than the imported English ones, when the latter were fed on native food. 11 a mounted Boer had half a mile start it was practically impossible for eaEnglish trooper to overtake him. It was more likely that the Boer would increase the intervening distance. The, English commanders made use of na- tive horses whenever they cmild get them, and but for these hardly a scout could be naouiated. Major Piurnham was most favour- ably impressed by the City of London Imperial Volunteers, and said that they had astonished every one by their‘, physique and power of endurancetow Nothing coluld exceed his admiration for LorcrRoberts' colonial bodyguard, He had seen them lying down, holding their unsaddled horses, and at the sound of the bugle they had saddled up, mounted and rode past within thirty* seconds. In conlusion, Major Burnham said the scent of the future would have need of more than keen sight, and acuteness of hearing. He must be something of an engineer as well, and should be able to judge the facilities, for intrenchMents and the best posi- tions for his guns. In order to acquire the habit of seeing in the dark, men and. boys shoald he encoura,geil to play garaes at night. It was not uncona- mon in the West for inen to go out hunting at night, and he attributed 111sis own power of sight in the dark ancl acute hearing to his boyhood' training in the frontier Wars. , USELESS. A number of young women have, organized an 'anti -kissing society. Those who have seen the members say that soeh a precaution was not necese eery. , , Dr. Chase5s s the World's Greatest Cure, for Itching Skin, Eczenia, Salt Rheum ad Piles. in Id i,s„, • , - • , ver fv.as 'a remedy that was endorsed bar such an oVerwhelaning mass of evi- dence as is Dr, Chase e Ointment. Tlie remarkable eaothing, healing qualities el 1)r. Chaetaa Ointment are a .mys- tery to physicians, and, though they are slow to recognize merit in any coeshey, ihey, join lapai•Lily with people of other callinga in endorsing and re-• commending Dr, Chose's Ointment as the mast ,suaceSsful (real:merit ever devised for itching skin diseases. Rev. J. A, Inaldavin, 113aptist Minister; Arkenta Ont., writqi: "e'er over tsventy yeare I was a great aufferer from itching and protruding piles, used many remedies and un- derwent flame very poinf,u1 aurgieal opera lion, all without obtaining any peemanent benefit.. 1Vhert About to grad up. 711 ( c,apa.r n „old to use Dr. Chesee Oinernent and did so, find.. g relief at 0000 .»! eed ti ce, o needs. and sin aline's!, entirely cured The itchirig ell gone» have advised ()there to use it, belie,ving it wmild cure theen oa it has nae,” You must not think that Dr. Chase's Ointment is for piles only, but we inen. tion. (hie ailment mthe most difficult to cure of all itching skin diseases, and the disease which has never been , ahdolutely conquei:ed by 71ny other treatment. Among the ailinents far which Dr,. Chase's Ointment is being used by enures of thousanas of people svith um- vereal auccees "may be mentioned: 'Eczema, salb rheum, better, baby 'eczema, rashh , ba itch, chilbainao itching eyelids, ulcers, poisoned flesh, hurtle, scolds, sores, blind, itching, bleeding and protruding piles, and itching akin diseases of every, desert/a- tion. Dr, Cattnae's Ointment is for sale at alt clentera or sent poetpeid 00 reeeipt of pi ICe, 603tS., by Edina/aeon' Bates Cu., Toronto.