S C R I B N E R ' S M A G A Z I N E Important ... - Rparchives.org

THE CHRlStlAK NATION.
Vol, 59.
Prayer Meeting Topic,
PRAYER MEETING TOPIC
FOR OCT. I, 1913.
By Rev. J. G. iMcElhinney.
Subject: Invitations. Rev. 22:17.
Psalm,
lOTi version vv. No.
27
1-5
65
35
7
93
34
6
87
41
45
9
10
"3
122
78 I 20s
91 I 249
COMMENT.
The Lord has many wise ways of
prevailing on sinners to accept the
Gospel offer. He invites, be promises,
he warns, he urges,, he
threatens and pleads, in fact he
leaves nothing undone, which
might in any way influence sinners
to come tO' Christ.
I. MANY.
The invitations of the Bible to
sinners to come to Christ are
many in number. They are found
by tbe dozen. Scarcely a book in
the Bible witbout a gospel invitation.
In the Old Testament the
prophecies, particularly, abounc'
with them. The New Testament
is teeming with them from Matt.
to Rev.
It is exceedingly interesting to
note the great variety of ways in
which the Gospel offer is presented
in the Bible. Take for example
tbe one in Gen. 7:1, and
consider Noah as a type of the
sinner. God says to him, "Come
thou into the ark." The considerations
in favor of his entering
the ark illustrate in a remarkable
manner, the circumstances of every
sinner. The invitation is a
command. The ark was ready.
The door was open. Tbe danger
was imminent. There was no other
way Of escape. He alone
would be to blame if lost.
Another interesting Old Testament
invitation of tbe same kind
is the one found in Gen. 45 '.g.
where Joseph sends thi^ message
to his father: "Come down unto
me, tarry not." The reasons why
Tacob might notlbave 'accepted the
invitation, and the reasons for accepting
it, were such as are common
to sinners when the gospel
invitation is presented.
Christ when here on earth presented
His invitation to sinners in
story form, in tbe parables which
he spake, as "tbe great supper"
and the "prodigal son." It is
profitable just to look up the number
of times God says "come".
II. SUITABLE.
tine cannot imagine a sinner in
circumstances in which he could
not find some invitation suitable
to his individual case. If the sinner
hungers or thirsts salvation is
the bread and water of Hfe, :a
great supper or a feast. If he is
tired it is rest from the burden of
sin—the rest that remaineth for
t'-e children of God. God invites
the children: "Come ye children.''
He invites the poor, "and
he that hath no money." He invites
the ordinary sinner to the
abundance of His gracious provis'on:
"whosoever will let him
take the water of life freely."
III. ENCOURAGING.
Xo one needs encouragement
more than a sinner. Satan is constantly
on the lookout for some
thing to put in the mind of the
weak sinner to hinder him in any
purpose he might have to seek
tetter or higher things. But when
Satan says to tbe sinner "you are
too deep dyed in sin," Christ says,
"come now let us reason together
: though your sins be as
scarlet they shall be as white
as snow; though they be red
like crimson they shall be as
wool." When S'atan suggests that
lie has lived too long in sin to
hope for pardon, Christ encourages
the sinner by assuring him
that "He is able to save them to
the uttermost that come unto God
by him,'' and by the illustration of
the thief on the cross. When'
Satan would hinder by hinting to
the sinner that he has no-thing to
bring, nothing to offer, Christ assures
him that salvation is "witbout
money and without price."
Let the sinner also read for his
encouragement EzekJ 33:11-16.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S TOPIC.
(Concluded from pi.ge 2)
16:17: Ps. 112:0; 116:12; Rom.
10:15.
"^ HINTS FOR TALKS.
In this day of missions, is saving
right beyond the point of provision
for old age?
Flow can we increase our cheerfulness
in giving?
Is money equally indispensable
in home and foreign work?
Has increase of Christian wealth
equaled increase of missionary opportunity?
Has giving?
Flas any churcb been burt when
it does not yet give the tenth?
Why is giving to missions unmentioned
in the New Testament?
Honestly, it frightens a person
when he hears all the talk about
giving. Synod's appropriations
for this year, wben added to home
expenses, do seem large. But the
fact of the matter is tbat we are
excited mainly on the same
grounds as tbe man who complained
that his wife was always asking
him for half a dollar. He declared
that at this rate s'he would
soon ruin him. "But," he was
asked, "do you ever give her one?"
No, he never did. That is about
the way we are being ruined.
Last year our appropriations increased,
I believe, ten cents a
member. Tbe truth is that our "My feet were greatly swollen,
church is not giving the tenth, and my right arm was shrunken and
we will Iby no means be ruined twisted inward, the fingers of my
till we reach that proportion. If right hand were clenched anc
we would cease looking at the could not be extended except witi
sum total of the appropriations great effort and pain. Nothing
and begin, to consider whether we seemed to give me more than tem
personally have reached the safe porary relief. •
and sane and century-tested proportion
of tbe tenth, our fears for about 30 years previously, i'|
"Now, during all this time anc'
would be allayed. If you do not drank daily an average of 6 cup:,
like to be "coldly calculating" of strong coffee—rarely missing ;i
calculate a tenth] and then give
more as blindly as you think; best.
Paul said that if it comes to a
ninch, God is able to minister
bread for food, yes, and multiply
the seed sown beyond that, and
increase the fruits of our righteousness.
If cheerfulness is lacking,
God can give tbat grade; and
v.'hat we need to do is not to lessen
our giving but to use means
to increase our cheerfulness. Let
us go back to the previous essentials,
and seek missionary information.
Let us look more deep-
Iv also into tbe needs of our own
hearts, and thus gain knowledge
of the fearful need of those -.vho
do not know how to escape from
=in. Our very lack of cheerfulness
in giving ought to terrify us.
What if we are growing covetous!
Perhaps the love of Christ is not
in us.
Paul bere proposes a way to
>\'ork for the realization of tbe copy of the little book, "The Roa^
first part of the Lord's prayer, to Wellville."
"Our Father wbich art in heaven, Postum comes in two forms:
hallowed be thy name." We, by Regular Postum-must be we
onr gifts may cause thanksgiving
to abound toward our God. And
why should we not seek to et-?'
all the help we can in rendering
boiled.
Instant Postum is a soltrbl|
greater thanks to God? We have
-"td enough, for we are offeri'^
thanks for Him who, while we
were yet sinners, died for us.
"Thanks be unto God for His m-
speakable gift." Is our heart in
the thanks? Then there will our
treasure be also. If our heart
wanders, let us read agam the
story of Gethsemane. Only when
our heart is filled with love can
we rightly apportion our money '
GROWING STRONGER
^
t
Apparently with' Advancing Age,
"At the age of 50 years I col-;
lapsed from excessive coffee drink-,
ing," writes a man in Mo. "For;
four years I shambled about with,
the aid of crutches or cane, most
of the time unable to dress myself
without help.
meal.
"i\Iy wife at last took my casi
into her own hands and bough
some Postum. Sbe made it ac
cording to directions and I likei
it fully as well as the best high^
grade coffee. ,
"Improvement set in at oncf
•
In about 6 month* I began t(.
work a little, and in less than :,
year I was very much better, im^
proving rapidly from day to da}
I am now in far better bealth tha'
most men of my years and ap
parently growing stronger wit_'
;iclvancing age.
"I am busy every day at som
kind of work and' am able t
keep up with tbe procession with,
out a cane. Tbe arm and hand ths,
were once useless, now keep fa
ahead in rapidity of movement an
beauty of penmanship." ^
Name given by Postum Co
Battle Creek, Mich. Write ^
l)owder. A teaspoonful dissolvf
auickly in a cup of bot water an(
with the addition of cream ani
snear, makes a delicious beveraginstantly.
"There's a reason" for Fostun,.