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IBLICAL KECORDEK JOSIAH WILLIAM BAILEY, Editor. VOLUME 69, NUMBER 26. RALEIGH, N. C, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23. 1903. THE MASTER IS COME." In various shapes he comes ! When life grows difficult, and cares wax strong:, And pain and patience prove too hard a load, And grief makes sorrowful the fairest noon, And sorrows press and crowd, an armed throng, And fierce temptations lurk along the road, And day is hot, and night falls all too soon Still in these grievous things himself we see, And puzzled, trustful, murmur, "It is he." Be glad because he comes I That his blest visits are of every day, To sweeten toil, to give that toil reward; And when the summons soundeth clear and low. Let us rebuke our lagging souls and say, "It is oh, wondrous thought! it is the Lord Who deigns to claim thy help and service so! Be quick, my soul, nor mar thy high estate; Thy Lord and Master calls! let him not wait." Susan Coolidge. BEST METHODS OF BIBLE STUDY. JBY E. Y. MTLL1N8, PEESI DENT SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL 8EMINAKY. First all, I wish to suggest that the method of Bible study in the home ought to be a parental method. That is to say, the father and mother ought to guide in this matter, and it seems to me that there ought to be stated periods when the family fis such come together for the study of the Scriptures. It may not be possible for this sort of gathering to take place every day in the week, but there ought to be one or two days in which a definite period of time is devoted to this subject. A great deal may he accomplished if the father and mother will plan the matter and guide ihe children in their studies. If a little planning is done ami a little definite guidance given, a great deal of individual study can be accomplished by the various members of the household prepara tory to, and as the result of the family gathering lor study. Where? it is possible, I think it good for each child to have :i copy of the Bible which he can call his own and which he can mark, and for older members of the household who spend much of their time away from home, a pocket edition of the entire Bible or of the New Testa ment would be very useful. It is said of Glad stone that much of his study was done in brief periods of waiting between trains or between ap pointments. He carried pocket editions of great works, and utilized odd moment and accomplish ed much in this way. This leads me to suggest a further method of Bible study in the home. It is exceedingly import ant that some definite aim control these studies. My observation and experience leads me to the conclusion that the failure of the Bible to interest young people is due largely to vagueness and in defmitencss in study. IV open the Bible and read a chapter does not necessarily mean to acquire any definite information. The fact is, the more me chanical the object becomes, the less the probabil ity is that definite results will follow such a method. But if you set a group of young people to searching for something definite in a book of the Bible, you add zest to the undertaking. If you tell a company of boys to stir among the leaves that cover the ground in autumn and possibly they will find something valuable, you may enlist them a little while; but if you tell them you have lost a diamond in those leaves, and that if they find it they will be rewarded, the search will be a to tally different matter. I once set a group of young people to the task of writing me a paper in their own language, telling me all they could lea?n in the Gospel of Matthev on the subject, "The Kingdom of God." When this task was eom pletted, I asked them to write a similar paper, giving me all the information they coidd obtain from the Book of Galatians on the subject of "Faith;" and similarly with the other books of the Bible. I was amazed and delighted at the re sult, and surprised at the capacity of many young people to grasp the truth as stated in the Scrip ture language. In my own mind a cardinal prin ciple in Bible study is just this, to set a definite task before those whom we are seeking to guide. Again, I would commend most heartily the old fashioned method of memorizing Scripture. I be lieve that nothing in the end quickens the grati tude of children to parents more in after life than this habit fixed upon them. Many of the most beautiful texts of Scripture are thus fixed in the memory and are a permanent enrichment of life and character. I know one household in which the custom is for each member of the family to repeat a verse of Scripture at the breakfast table each morning. This, as you see, necessitates much hunting for the Scripture, and will, upon the tenacious memories of children, fix many vital Biblical truths. Then, too, I think the study of the Bible by books is one of the most fruitful of all methods. There are many works which have been printed, giving outlines of the books of the Bible, indicat ing the leading thought contained in the various Insoks, and these might be taken as a guide in such studies. Then, too, how fruitful would be the study of some of the great biographies of the Bible. Take the life of Abraham or the life of Moses, or that of David, or of Paul, and study the life and career of such characters. Beyond all question, such studies would prove helpful. Then, of course, the great doctrines would be studied, and this is of the utmost importance. These are of course only a few of many sug gestions that might be made. The greatest thing of all is not ways of doing it so much as the will to do it. The resolve to do this work, delib erately formed in the fear of God and with a proper appreciation of the difficulties in the way and of the advantages which will follow, atid a persistent effort to carry out the resolve, will in time bring results which will be occasion for lasting joy. SATAN'S WILES. In a sermon on Satan's Wiles, Rev. Hugh Mc Millan has this brilliant illustration: "There is a kind of lizard which lives in the sandy deserts of Arabia. Its body is so like the sand that it cannot be distinguished from it at a little dis tance. But it has on each side of its mouth a fold or skin of a very light crimson color, which the creature can blow out into the form of a round blossom and in this state it looks exactly like a little red flower which grows abundantly in the sands. Insects are attracted to this curious ob ject, mistaking it for a real flower that has honey in it for them, and they approach the mouth of the lizard without fear, when they are immediately snapped up. There is also an insect common in India which feeds upon other insects, and in order to catch them, puts on, like tin1 lizard I have de scribed, the appearance of the flower of an orchid. Its legs are made flatter and broader than those of any other insect; they are colored a beautiful pink hue and they ray out from the body of the insect exactly like the petals of a beautiful flower. Insects are deceived by this wonderful likeness to the blossoms which they frequent for the sake of their honey, and they come hero without suspicion and are immediately caught by their treacherous foe. Now this is the way in which my text tell us that Satan deceives those whom he wishes to tempt to their ruin." PROOF THAT DISHONESTY IS NEWS. That was a fine story which the Associated Press gave us the other day from the capital an account of the trip made by a young man in the employ of the Treasury Department from Wash ington to New York. He was just "a common clerk" upon a $1,S(H) salary. And to save cost of exprossage he carried $3,000,000 in signed bills from one city to the other, unbonded and unat tended. If, as the ungodly assert, "Fvory man has his price," that young fellow's price must be pret ty high. Fine as such an example is. it does not detract from bis just honor to say that we know plenty like him. That the papers gave him half a dozen lines and some embezzler of a thousand or two half a column, shows that not honesty but dishonesty is "news."- The Interior. A HINT. A journalist telegraphed his paper to know if they would accept a certain story. "Send six hundred words." "Can't be told in less than twelve hundred," protested the writer. To which the editor responded: "Story of creation of the world told in six hundred. Try it. Let our cor respondents take the hint. Western Recorder. FROM A HOriE MISSION SPEECH BY B. D. GRAY, THE NEW SECRETARY. "In Kansas City," said Dr. Gray, "I went through the stockyards. I saw thousands upon thousands of cattle. As I walked I saw a mag nificent steer. He was lying down. My! what a magnificent fellow he was. I touched him and said : 'Come, old fellow, let's see how big you are and how powerful.' He looked at me as if to say, 'Do you mean it? I'm doing very well. I don't see any necessity for getting up.' I said, 'Yes, get up, old fellow; let's see what you can do.' Now, there are not a dozen men here hardly, who could tell how that steer got up. No, his head didn't come up first. He made a motion or two with his head and then up came his great hindquarters, he snook himself and stood looking upon me. There was motion and meat and that makes mo mentum. I thought of the possibilities of that great beast, if he could be led out where they could be put into play. Oh, Baptists, get up. If your head doesn't get into play get up, shake your self, put forth the mighty powers that are lying dormant within you and press forward into the great work that God has for you to do." HK HAD NO BOOM FOR A TON OF COAL Dr. Gray sopke of our work among the negroes and said Cleveland had never uttered a greater truth than when he said "the man nearest the bur den must lift it." The negro problem must be solved by the South, we must lift the burden. And it is a burden. I need only tell you the story of Dr. Burrows. He went to an old negro and said: 'Uncle Jack, I want to give you a Christ mas present and I hardly know whether to give you a quart of whiskey, or a ton of coal.' The old man scratched his head, smiled a knowing smile and said: 'Now, boss, you know mitey well I ain' got no room 'round my house fer a whole ton or 0081.'" DOCTRINAL INSTABILITY. Christendom says that fifty thousand Protes tants in this country become Catholics every year, while no one knows the vast number of Catholics who become Protestants. A number of Protestants likewise go from one denomination to another. Baptists are not free from this free interchange. This suggests a surprising amount of doctrinal instability. Immigration explains part of it, but by no means all. Lack of denomi national training explains more. Surely we Bap tists need a new grip on our doctrines, if we are to bold our young people. This is a call for Bap tisticism or Baptistism, whatever you wish to call it. We need to emphasize anew the significance of our Baptist doctrines. We need to do it at once and earnestly. We need Baptist pride, if you will that is not bitter, but gentle and firm, winning while aggressive. Baptist Argus. RIQHT! The Baptist Standard, in discussing the success of the Methodist "Twentieth Century Fund," of $20,000,000, which the Methodists raised in 1901 1!)02, attributes it to the wide circulation of the denominational papers of that church. It says that the 1,100,00 of Northern Baptists do not subscribe to more than 140,000 copies of Baptist weekly papers; but that the Northern Methodist papers have a combined circulation of more than 560,000 copies. And hence their success. HELPFUL. One of the most helpful changes in the revised version of the Bible is found in Jude 24. The King Janus version reads "is able to keep you from falling," the revised reads "is able to guard you from stumbling." The latter expresses a spiritual truth much more comforting ami strengthening. Instead of merely saving from harm, the Lord saves from peril. Watchman. God send a blessed Christmas To every patient life; A little resting from the toil, A surcease of the strife. May Faith breathe words of gentle ehecr. Hope point to roses blowing near. And tender Love and friends sincere Make this a blessed Christmas! Selected.
The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Dec. 23, 1903, edition 1
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