the Quiet Zffibur
“Christ’s Easter Message.”
AND he said unto them, Thus it
is written, and thus it behooved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from
the dead the third day;
And that repentance and remis
sion of sins should be preached in
his name among all nations, begin
ning at Jerusalem.
And ye are witnesses of these
things.—St. Luke 24:46-48.
“Have You Decided ?”
/CHRISTIANITY is not some
^ great overpowering emotion
which sweeps into the heart with
an irresistible power; it is a ques
tion calling for earnest considera
tion and calm decision on the part
of each individual. Just as a man
sits down and counts the cost of a
house when he wishes to build, so
he must decide whether or not he
can afford to invest his life in the
world and its passing pleasures,
when there is offered to him a part
nership with Jesus Christ, with in
ducement for future gain.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and
knock,” the Master says, and “if
any man hear My voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with Me.”
Did you ever stop to think that the
special responsibility of opening
the heart-door is ours alone? We
must make the decision. Outside
He waits for admittance, knocking,
pleading for a place within; but He
will never force an entrance, nor
come as an unwelcome, uninvited
guest.
**.Dirty Business”
/c OSSIP is a dirty business and
''-lyou cannot handle dirt without
becoming more or less besmirched.
Gossip is a pestilence; gossip is
a contagious fever that, like a
chronic disease, eventually becomes
incurable.
The news hunger of the gossip is
seldom satisfied and, surprising as
it is, cannot always be legitimately
(if we may use the word) ap
peased ; so that eventually the prac
tice of extraordinary exaggeration
becomes an obsession, and the gos
sip is himself harder hit than the
victim of his unwholesome inter
est.
Unhappiness, in many forms, be
falls many people as the result of
gossip; and there is this to remem
ber : that the gossiper is often a
victim of his own mean practices,
at the hands of other gossippers.
How abominable is the habit of
gossip, and how destructive, since
it works injuriously both ways, on
the victim and on its dispenser.
Let us cultivate the habit of
speaking well of our neighbors.
“We Plead Christ’s
Righteousness
KjO man ever lived who could
A ^ truthfully come pleading his own
worthiness as a reason why God
should hear and answer his peti
tion. But all men may come plead
ing the righteous life and the
spilt blood of Him, who, while be
ing the Son of God and the Creator
of the universe, was yet the Son
of man—who was born of a
woman, was tempted as we are
tempted, suffered as we suffer, and
died for our sins -on the cross, that
we might have His righteousness
imputed to us, and His life be
stowed on us.
1
“Easter Song.”
Snowdrops! lift your timid heads,.
All the earth is waking;
Field and forest, brown and dead,
Into life are waking.
Snowdrops! rise and tell the story
How He rose, the Lord of glory.
Lilies! lilies! Easter calls!
Rise to meet the dawning
Of the blessed light that falls
Through the Easter morning;
Ring your bells and tell the story
How He rose, the Lord of glory.
Waken, sleeping butterflies!
Burst your narrow prison!
Spread your golden wings and rise,
For the Lord is risen;
Spread your wings and tell the
story
How He rose, the Lord of glory.
“Forgiveness and Kind
ness.”
T7ORGIVENESS, persisted in;
1 kindness, persisted in, are like
a habit. They become easier day
by day.
“Blessings Passed on to
Others”
AN aged minister died. It was
** found that he had tied up his
written sermons and piled them
neatly away. On the top he had
written, “Where has the influence
of all the sermons I have preached
gone?” Below this question he
had written the word “Over,” and
turning the cardboard they found
the answer, somewhat in this form:
“Where are the last year’s sun
rays? They have gone into the
fruits and grains and vegetables to
feed mankind. Where are last
year’s raindrops? Forgotten, of
t arse, but they did their gracious
and refreshing work, the influence
of which abides. The Christian
sermons once preached ha^e gone
into lives to make them better,
nobler, more Christlike, and more
fitted for heaven.” We are happy
that other lives besides those of
pastors have their gracious influ
ences living somewhere. If we but
remembered this, how anxious we
would be to extend our helpfulness.