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6 THE CHRISTIAN NATION. Vol. 69.
touched and purged with the live coal from off
God's altar; and when wicked hands have been
washed in the blood of God's dear Son; and impure
hearts have been cleansed by the Spirit's
indwelling, may we each say: "Here am I, send
me." The Holy Spirit does not dwell in the unholy
heart, nor kiss the unclean lip.
To the same Spirit must we look for the flre
of enthusiasm—the flre,that is, of God's indwelling.
We must be set on fireof a love of God and
a'love of souls. God's word must be as a flre
within our bones, so that we can not forbear.
May God fireour hearts so we must go, and when
we go, make us that we cannot but apeak the
things we have seen and heard!
Then we must have the fireof power. "Ye shall
receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come
upon you." "Behold I send forth the promise of
my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of
Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on
high." AVe possibly have been concerning ourselves
too much about influence instead of power.
"Influence" occurs but once in the Bible and then
with reference to the stars. But power—power is
what men need. "And when he had called unto
him his twelve disciples, he gave them power."
Is not Christ today calling his disciples unto
him? If in the myriads of gospel voices around
us today we discern his call, may we heed, arise
and not rest till we, too, have come "unto him."
For with him is "all authority in heaven and in
earth." And if we sit at his feet till he have
taught us and endued us, he will, if we consent,
send us forth; and the multitudes will marvel
and glorify "God, who hath given such power
unto men."
(Preached in the Third Church of the Covenanters,
Franklin and Dauphin Streets, Philadelphia,
Sabbath, August 31, 1913.)
Place.—Kadesh-Barnes.
ANALYSIS AND COMMENT.
The event of our lesson formed the turning
point in the history of that generation
of Israel which almost reached the border
of the Land of Promise, but were turned
back because of their unbelief. The event
was also typical of the future of Israel. "For
as that generation in their unbelief refused
to enter the Land of Promise when its possession
lay open before them, and as they
rebelled against God and cast off the authority
of Moses, so did their children reject
the fulfilment of the promises in Christ
Jesus, disown Him whom God had exaked
a Prince and a Saviour, and cry out: Away
with Him! Away with Him!" And as the
carcases of those who had rebelled fell in
the wilderness, so has similar spiritual judg­
(Concluded from page 4.)
in this country, from wlhich the Churches
aforenamed have sprung, ithe employment of
anything else than the Psalms in the service
of praise was stoutly resisted.
Has our Church declined so far from its
professed principles as to make the surrender
now proposed? And is the gain expected
to result from consolidation so great
as to warrant the surrender? But a few
years ago (in 1908) the semi-centennial of
our Church was celebrated by the General
Assembly with great enthusiasm and with
eulogies of the men who, in 1858, succeeded ment
in cementing a union on a solid basis between
tvi'o closely related 'branches of the
Christian Church. Is (that basis now to be
abandoned?
My conviction is that the union now proposed
would, if made on the basis commended
by the committee, or indeed on any basis
now probable, or feasible, be advantageous to
neither of the parties now directly interested.
In making this statement, I deprecate
the charge which some might make, of ill
will to the Presbyterian Church in the United
States. On the contrar}-, I cherish a high
regard for it, deeming it a powerful agency
for the maintenance and propagation of
Scripture truth. It has had its fiery trials,
but they have proved blessings in disguise. I
admire the courage and wiisdom. with which
it is settling itself to the tasks which devolve
upon it, and not least does its attitude
toward Romanism, that menace of the nations,
excite my admiration. Still it is my
firm conviction that union on the basis now
prepared would involve on our part a sacrifice
both of peace and principle without, per^
haps, muoh access of either to our respected
correspondents. The noted French poet,
Boileau, once flung at the Jesuits the hissing
sarcasm, that "they had lengthened the creed,
but shortened the decalogue." It is possible,
however, to shorten both creed and decalogue
at once.
Xenia, Ohio.
Inthe Sabbath
School
Lesson HI. Oct. 19, 1913.
By the Rev. W. A. Aikin.
THE REPORT OF THE SPIES.—Numbers
13:1-3, 17-14:25.
Golden Text.—If God is for us, who is
against us?—Rom. 8:31.
Psalms.^—95:6-9. C. .M.; 125:1-5. C. M.;
85:3-6. L. M.
Time.—^B. C. 1490. A year and a half
after the Exodus. .Vbout mid-summer.
followed upon the terrible cry: "His
blood be upon us and upon our children!"
But blessed be God, as mercy was ultimately
in store for the descendants of that rebellious
generation, so also, in God's own
time, will Israel turn again unto the Lord
and enjoy the promises made unto their
fathers." In the incident of this lesson are
to be seen some of the manifestations of the
principle of unbelief—the principle which has
so long deayed the entrance of the Church
into the kingdom of God.
I. UNBELIEF'S DETERMINATION.
(Deut. 1:22.)
"And ye came near unto me every one
of A'OU, and said. We will send men before
us, and they shall search us out the land, and
bring us word again by what way we must
,e-o up, and into what cities we shall come."
From this bit of knowledge which is supplied
by the account in Deuteronomy, we
learn that the idea of spying out the land
originated among the people of the congregation
of Israel. It came not by the word
of the Lord. The plan to investigate the
unexplored fields and untrodden paths arises
in the unbelieving mind. Faith fillsthe heart
with a quietness and ease in ^the face of
coming events that is regarded by the unbelieving
heart as an attitude that shows not
only stupidness and indifference, but also
fatalistic and suicid'al tendencies. Unbelief
at such times is om the alert and full of
plans whereby to ascertain hidden dangers
and to take steps for self-preservation. At
such times^ unbelief is bold, assertive and
domineering, while faith sits humbly by in
humility. Witness the difference in the attitude
of Christ and his disciples in the face
of His betrayal and crucifixion.
IJ. UNBEf^IEF'S PERMISSIIO'N. (v.
Num. 13:1-3.)
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Send thou men that they may search the
land of Canaan, etc." When an unbelieving
people is set upon a course of action,
the Lord sometirries permits it. In the present
instance, when Moses, who did not suspect
the distrust and unbelief of the people
in their proposal, sought counsel of the
Lord, he was directed to send spies to spy
out the land, in accord with the demand of
the people. God, "having been provoked by
their former rebellions, permitted it, and
gave directions accordingly; in order to a
^further discovery of their wickedness, the
display of His own glory, and for the instruction
of His church in all ages." When
the Israel of God insist in walking by sight
and not by faith, the Lord says, "Let them
walk in their owm counsels." Yet He adds
a word of warning, disclosing to them the
peril that, because of their self-will, is likely
to overtake them. In sending out the spies,
he warned them, saying, "Be of a good
courage." He foresaw that Israel was
about to fall into the peril of fear in the
face of the inhabitants of the land.
III. UNBELIEF'S INVESTIGATION.
(v. 17-25.)
"So they went up, and searched the land
from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as
men come to the land of Ham." The search
which the twelve spies made was thorough.
They passed through the whole length of the
land of Palestine. Entering] at the southern
boundary, the spies went to the northern
extremity. Nothing but commendation
could be said of this investigation wereit
not for the fact that it had its root in unbelief.
And so with many similar enterprises
of our day. None but words of praise could
be spoken of the research and excavations
that some of the noted scholars of the world
are willing to carry on at their own expense,
in order to find ancient manuscripts and hidflen
tables bearing on Bible history, if it