Newspapers / The Semi-Weekly Citizen (Asheville, … / Sept. 3, 1891, edition 1 / Page 3
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THE TABERNACLE PULPIT. A LUWO't DRAWN FROM THE FAMINE IK EGYPT. Tlie Remarkable Cotijuucltou of H I It crop In America aud a .Hcarcitjr In Europe Call to Mind m Cale In Joaepb'it Time. Brooklyn. Auk- .HO.- The cabled re ports of meager harvests in Europe aud the memory of the vast crops of ripen ing rai n which Dr. Taluiiige saw during his recent tour in the west, have emu 'bined to turn his thought bock to tliat -patriarchal time when all the world sent to Egypt to buy corn, and to sug gent a Gospel lesson His text is Gen. zliii. 3. "Ye shall not see my face ex cept your brother be with you " This summer, having Browsed eighteen of tlie United States, north, south, east and west, I have to report the mighti est harvests that thin country or any othei country ever reaied. If the grain gambler? do uot somehow wreck these harvests we are about to enter upon the grandest scene of prosperity that America Las ever witnessed. Hut while this is so In our own country, on the other side of the Atlantic there are na tions threatened with famine, and the most dismal cry that is ever heard will I fear be uttered, the cry for bread. 1 pray God that the conf rant between our prosperity and their want may uot be as sharp a in the lands referred to by my text. There was nothing to eat. Plenty of corn in Egypt, but ghastly famine in Canaan. The cattle moan big in the stidl. Men. women and children awfully white with hunger. Not the failing of one crop tor one summer, but the tailing of all the crops for seven years. A nation dying for lack of that which is so common on your table, and so little appreciated; the product of harvest Held and grist mill and oven ; the price of sweat and anxiety and struggle - bread! Jacob the father has the last report from the flour bin, aud be finds that everything is out. aud he Buys to his sous. "Hoys, book up the wagons aud start for Egypt and get something to eat." The fact was. there was a great corn crib in Egypt. The people of Egypt have been largely taxed in all ages, at the present time paying lietween 70 and 80 per cent, ol their products to the government. No wonder in that time they had a large corncrib and it was full. To that crib they came from the regions round about those who were famished some paying for corn in money: when the money was exhaust ed. paying lor the corn in sheep and cattle, and horses and camels; and when they were exhausted, then sell ing their owu bodies and their fam ilies into slavery THK JOI'KNKT TO RGYPT. Tlie morning for starting out on the crnwade for bread has arrived. Jacob gets his family up very early But be fore the elder sons sturt they say some thing that miikes him tremble with emotion from head to foot aud burst into tears. The fact watt that these elder sons had once before been in Egypt to get com, and they hull been treated somewhat roughly, the lord of the corncrib supplying them with corn, but saying at the close of the inter view, "Now. you need not come back here for any more com unless you bring something better than money eveu your younger brother Benjamin." Ahl Benjamin that very uaiue was suggestive of all tenderness. The mother bad died at the birth of that sou a spirit oouiiug and another spirit going- and the very (bought of part ing with Benjamin must have been a heart break. The keeper of this corn crib, nevertheless, says to these older sons, "There is no need of your com ing here any more for corn miles you bring Benjamin, your father's darling." Now Jacob and his family very much needed bread ; but what a struggle it would be to give up this son. The orientals are very demonstrative in their grief, and I bear the out wailing of the father as these older sons keep reiterating in his ears the announce ment of tlie Egyptian lord. "Ye shall not see my face unless your brother be with you." "Why did you tell theiu you had a brother?" said the old man, complaining and chiding them. "Why, father," they said, "he asked us all about our family, and we had no idea he would make any such demand upon as as he has made." "No use of ask ing me." said the father, "1 cannot, I will not give up Benjamin." The fact was that the old man had lost children , and when there has been bereavement In a household, aud a child taken, it makes the other children In the household more precious. So the day for departure was adjourned and adjourned and adjourned. Still the horrors of the famine Increased, and louder moaned the , cattle, and wider open cracked the earth, aud more pal lid became the cheeks, until Jacob, In despair, cried out to his sons. "Take Benjamin and be off." The older sons tried to cheer up their father. They said - '.'We have , strong arms and a tout heart, and no barm, will come to Benjamin. We'll see that1 he gets back again." "Farewell I" said the young men to the father. In a tone of assumed good cheer. "F-a-r-e-w-e-l-1 1" said the old man . for that word lias more quav ers in it when pronounced by the aged than by the young. V ', THK DKMAND FOB bKKIAMIH. Well, the bread party the bread em bassy drives up in front of , the. corn cr;b of Egypt ; These eorn cribs are filled with Wheat, barley and corn In the husk, for those who have traveled In Cauauu and Egypt know that there la corn there corresponding with oar liiiiaa- iimuzm, - H una I -the Jouruey Is ended. The lord of the oomcrib, who is also the prime minister, comes down to these arrived , travelers and says 'Dine with, me today, . How. is your fatherl Is this Benjamin, the younger brothel whose presence I demanded V The travelers are introduced into the palace They are worn and lied listed of the way. aud servunts come in with a basin of water in one hand and a towel in the other, mid kneel down lie fore these newly arrived travelers, wash ilig off the dusl of the way. The butchers mi. I poulterers and caterers ol the prime uiinistei prepare the repast The guests are seated in s'uall groups, two or llii'ee at a table, the food on a tray, all the luxuries from imperial gardens and orchards and aquarium? and aviaries are brought there aud are tilling chalice and platter. Now is the time for this prime mm ister. if he has a grudge against Benja-! uiin. to show it Will he kill him. now that he bus him in his hiiudsf Oh. no! This lord of the corucrib is seated at his owu table, and he looks over to the table of his guests, and he sends a por tion to each of them, but sends a larger portion to Benjamin, or. as the Bible quaintly puts it. "Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs." Be quick and send word back with the swiftest camel to Canaan to old Jacob that "Benjamin is well . all is well, he is faring sumptuously . the Egyptian lord did not mean murder and death, but hi, mufint i lull tiirni,ii Mini IiIm ti Iimii lit. I announced to us on thai day. Ye shall not see my luce unless your brother be with you ' THIS WOHXli IJSDKIt A f.'fKSR. Well, my friends, this world is fam ine struck of sin It does not yield a single crop of solid satisfaction, it is dying. It is liuugei bitten The fact that it does not. ennnot. feed a man's heart wax well illustrated in the life of the English comedian. All the world honored him did everything for him that the world could do lie was ap nlauded in England and applauded in the United States. He roused up na tions into laughter He had no equal. And yet. although many people sup posed him entirely happy, and that this world was completely satiating his soul, he sits dowu aud writes- "I never in my life put ou a new hat that it did uot rain and ruin it I never went out in a shabby coat liecause it was rain ing and thought all who had the choice would keep indoors that the sun did not burst forth in its strcte.-th and bring out with it all the butterflies of fusbion whom I knew and who knew me. 1 never consented to accept a art I hated, out of kindness to another, that I did not get hissed by the public and rut by the writer. I could uot take a drive foratew minutes with Terry with out being overturned and having my el bow bone broken, though my friend got off unharmed. 1 could not make a cov enant with Arnold, which I thought was to make my fortune without making his instead, than in an incredible space of. time---1 think thirteen months 1 earned for him twenty thousand pounds and for myself one. I am per suaded that if 1 were to set up as a beggar every one in my neighborhood would leave off eating bread. " -That was tlie lament of the world's comedian and joker All unhappy. The world diil everything for Lord Byron thut ft could do. and yet in his last moment he asks a friend to come aud sit down by him and read, us most appropriate to his case, tlie story of 'The Bleeding Heart." Torrig'ano, the sculptor, executed, after months of care and curving, " Madonna and the Child." The royal family came in and admired it. Everybody that looked at it wits in testacy, but one day, after all that toil, and all that admiration, be cause he did not get as much com pen sation for his work as he had expected, he took a mallet and dashed the ex quisite sculpture into atoms The world is poor couieiisiition. poor satisfaction, poor solace. Famine, famine, in all the earth, uot for seven years, but for six thousand. But, blessed be God there is a great corncrib. The Lord built It It is in another land. It is a large place. An angel once measured It, and as far as 1 can calculate it in our phrase, that corn crib is fifteen hundred miles long and fifteen hundred broad and fifteen hun dred high; and it is full Food for all nations '"Oh I" say the people, "we will start right away and get this sup ply for our soul." But stop a moment; for from the keeper of that corucrib there comes this word, saying, "You shall not see my face except your broth er be with you." in other words, there Is no such thing as getting from heaven pardon aud comfort and eternal life, unless we bring with us our divine brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming without him we shall fall before we reach the corncrib, and our bodies shall be a por tion for the jackals of the wilderness, but coming with the Divine Jesus, all the granaries of heaven will swing open before our soul, and abundance shall be given us. We shall be invited to sit in the palace of the king and at the table, and while the Lord of heaven is apportioning from his own table to other tables he ,will not . forget us, and then and there It will be found that our Benjamin's mess Is larger than all the others, for so It ought to be. "Worthy is the lamb that was slain, to receive blessing and riches and honor and glory and power.",, .)...,,. WHKN WILL TOO KKKOKMl I want to make three points,,, Every (rank and common seuse man will no knowledge, himself to be a sinner What are you. going' U do with your ainst Have them pardoned, you say Howl Through the mere :, ti.i What do you .uieau--by. . the . mercy of Hod 1 Is it the letting down of a bar for the admission of all', without re spect to character? Be not deceived! I see a soul coming dp to the gate of mercy and knocking at the corncrib of heavenly supply.- And a voice from within says. "Are yon alone?" The sinner replies. ''All alone." The voice from within says. 'Yon shall uot see my pardoning face unless your Divine Brother, the lord Jesus, be willi you." Oh. that is the point at which so many are discomforted There Is no mercy froiu God except through Jesus Christ. Coming with him we are accepted. (Joining without flim we are refected. "Peter put it righk in his great sermon before the high priests, when he than dered forth "Neither is there sulva tion in any other. There is no oilier name given under heaven among men whereby we may be saved." O anx ious sinner' O dying sinner' O lost siunerl all you have got to do is to have this Divine Benjamin along with you. Side by side, coming to the gate, all the storehouses of heaven will swing open before your anxious soul. Am I right in calling Jesus Benjamin? Oh, yea Rachel lived only long enough to give a name to that child. ;d with a dying kiss she called him B(ni Afterward Jacob changed Ins name., and he called hmi Benjamin. Tlie meaning of the name she gave was 'Son of my Pain." The meaning of the name the father gave was "Son of my Right Hand." Aud was not Christ the son of pain' All the sorrows of Rachel in that hour, when she gave her child over into the hands of strangers was nothing compared with the strug gle of God when he gave up his only Son. The omnipotent Cod in a birth throe! And was not Christ appropri ately called "Sou of the Right liaud!" Did not Stephen look into heaven and see him standing at the right hand of God? And does not Paul speak of him as standing at the right hand of God making intercession for us? O Benjamin Jesus' Son of pang. Son of victory! The deepest emotions of our souls ought to be stirred at the sound of that nomenclature In your prayers plead his tears, his sufferings, his sorrows and his death. If you re fuse to do it. all the corncribs and the palaces of heaven will be bolted and barred against your soul, and a voice from the throne shall stun you with the announcement. "You shall uot see my face except your brother be with you." NO SOLAIJK IN THIS WOULD. My text also suggests the reason why so many people do not get any real comfort. You meet ten people, nine of them are in need of some kind of condolence. There is something in their health, or in their state, or in their domestic condition, that demands sympathy. And yet the most of the world's sympathy amounts to abso lutely nothing. People go to the wrong crib, or they go in the wrong way. When the plague was in Rome a great many years ago there were eighty men who chanted themselves to death with the litanies of Gregory the Great lit erally chanted themselves to death, and yet it did uot stop the plague. And all the music of the world cannot halt the plague of the human heart. I come to some one whose ailments are chronic, and I say. "In heaven you will never be sick." Thut does not give you much comfort. What you want is a soothing power for your pres ent distress. Lost children, have you; I come to tell yon that in ten years er haps you will meet these loved ones be fore the throne of God But there is but little condolence In that One day is a year without tbem, and ten years is a small eternity What you want is a sympathy now present help. 1 come to those of you who have lost dear friends, and say- "Try to forget them. Do not keep the departed al ways In your mind." now can you forget them when every figure in tlie carpet, and every book, and every pic ture aud every room calls- out their name. Suppose 1 come to you and say by way of condolence, "God is wise." "Oil," yon say, "that gives me no help." Suppose I come to you and say, "God. from all eternity, has arranged this trouble." "Ah!" you say, "that does me no good." Then I say, "With the swift feet of prayer go direct to the corn crib for a heavenly supply." You go. You say, "Lord, hclpme; Lord, comfort me." But no help yet No comfort yet It is all dark. What is the mat ter? 1 have found. You ought to go to God and say "Here, O Lord, are the wounds of my soul, and I bring with me the wounded Jesus. Let his wounds pay for my wounds, his be reavements for my bereavements, his loneliness for my loneliness, his heart break for my heart break. O God I for tlie sake of tlie Lord Jesus Christ the God. the man. the Benjamin, the broth er -deliver my agonized souL O Jesus of the weary foot ease my iatigue. O Jesus of the aching head, heal my ach ing head O Jesus of the Bethany sis ters, roll away the stone from the door of our grave " THK PKKVKN'T, KKFKCTtJAL PRAVKR. That is tlie kind of prayer that brings help, and yet how many of you are getting no help at all. for the reason that there is in your soul, perhaps, a secret trouble. You may never have mentioned it to a single hmuan ear, or you may , have mentioned. It to some one whq is now gone away, and that great sorrow is still hi your soul. After Washington Irving was dead, ' they found . a little box that contained a braid of hair and a miniature, and the Dame of Matilda 1 1 oilman, and a memorandum! of hei denth. and a re-' iimrk koiii. iig like t!u "The world ' i ne 1 went into... the country, but loinui.no peace in . solitude. I tried to go into society, but I found no peace in socie ty. There has been a horror hanging over me by night and by day. and I am afraid to be alone." How many unuttered troubles! No human ear has ever heard the sorrow. U troubled soul, I want to tell you that there is one salve that can cure the wounds of the heart, and that is the salve made out of tlie tears of a sym pathetic Jesus. And yet some of you will not take this solace; and you try chloral and you try morphine and you try strong drink and you try change of scene and you try new business associa tions and everything and anything ra (her than take the divine companion ship and sympathy suggested by tlie words of my text when it says. "You shall not see my face again unless your brother be with you." Oh. that you might understand something of the height and depth aud length and breadth and immensity and infinity of God's eternal consolations. I go further and Hud in my subject a bint as to the way heaven opens to the departing spirit. We are told that Heaven has twelve gates, and some people infer from that fact that all tlie people will go in without reference to their past life. But what is the use of having a gate that is not sometimes to be shut? The swinging of a gate im plies that our entrance into heaven is conditional. It is uot a monetary con dition. If we come to tlie door of an exquisite concert we are not surprised thut we must pay a fee, for we know that Hue earthly music is expensive; but all the oratorios of heaven cost nothing. Heaven pays nothing for Its music. It Is all free There is nothing to be paid at that door for entrance, but the condition of getting into heaven is our bringing our divine Benjamin along with us. Do you notice how often dying people call upon Jesus? It is the usual prayer offered the prayeroffered more than all the other prayers put to gether "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." One of our congregation, when asked in the closing moments of bis life, "Do you know us?" said; "Oh. yes. I know you. God bless you. Goodby. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and he was gone. Oil, yes. in the closing moments of our life we must have a Christ to call upon. NO SALVATION OUT OF CHRIST. If Jacob's sons had gone toward Egypt, and had gone with the very finest equipage, and had not taken Ben jamin along with them, and to the question they should have been obliged to answer, "Sir, we didn't bring him, as father could not let him go; we didn't want to lie bothered with him," a voice from wirtiin would have said: "Go away from us. You shall not have any of this supply. You shall not see my face because your brother is not with you." And If we come up toward the door of heaven at last, though we come from all luxuriance and bril liancy of surroundings, and knock for admittance, aud it is found that Christ is not with us, the police of heaven will beat us back from the breadhouse, saying, "Depart, I never knew you." If Jacob's sous, coming toward Egypt had lost everything ou the way; if they had expended their last shekel; if they had come up utterly exhausted to the corncribs of Egypt, and it had been found that Benjamin was with them, all the storehouses would have swung open before them. And so, though by fatal casualty we may be ushered into the eternal world: though we may be weak and exhuusted by protracted sickness-if, in that last moment, we can only just stagger aud faint and fall into the gate of heaven it seems thut all the corncribs of heaven will open for our need and all the palaces will open for our reception, and tlie Lord of that place, seated at his table, and all the angels of God seated at their table, and the martyrs seated at their table, and all our glorified kindred seated at our table, the king shall pass a portion from his table to ours, and then, while we think of the fact that it was Jesus who started us on the road, and Jesus who kept us on the way, and Jesus who at last gained admittance for our soul, we shall be glad if he has seen of the trav ail of his soul and been satisfied, and not be at ull jealous if it be found that our divine Benjamin's mess is five times larger than all the rest. Hail I anointed of the Ixrd. Thou art worthy. My friends, yon see it is either Christ or famine. If there were two banquets spread, and to one of them only you might go. you might stand and think for a good while as to which Invitation you had better accept; but here it is feasting or starvation. If ft were a choice between oratorios you might say, "1 prefer the 'Creation' " or "1 prefer the 'Messiah.' " But here it is a choice between eternal harmony and everlasting discord. Oh, will you live or die? Will you start for the Egyptian corncrib or will you perish amid the empty barns of the Canaanitish fam ine? "Ye shall not see my face except your brother be with you." Climate and Brain Wright. The average weight of the brain of man bears a definite relation to the climate in which he lives, a higher brain weight being found in cold than in warm owuntrles. In proportion to their stature the Lapps have the largest beads In Europe, the Norwegians next then oouie the Swedes, Germans, French and Italians. In the Arab the head is found to be smaller than any of the above, while In the far north there ex ists a eople called Chuga tabes, whose heads are remarkably large. 8t Louis OpiHtin v A COUPLE OF PRACTICAL JOKERS. And Row They Put Up a .Inb on Ooa ol Their Friends with s Short Memory. "Hello, old man! By George, I'm glad to see you. Harold! Where have you been all these years;" The speaker was a well dressed younj: fellow with the air of a man about town, the other had n far nway look In his eyes and seemed to be a dreamer Both were in evening dress, coming out ol a Broadway theater between the acts "Well, really, sir," answered gentle man No. 2 witli dignity, "you have the better of me. I seem to remember your face, but somehow 1 cannot place you." "What, you don't remember me five years a-ro when we both belonged to the Sci i.iblers' club' You don't reiuem I er those games of pool when you al ways got stuck f" "I certainly did belong to the 8eril biers' club ;.ud used to get stuck there at pool dov. i for that matter but I don't remember you." Gentleman No. 1 laughed, but pro vokingly and persistently refused to ii'. -close his idem it v No. I kept up a rattling lire oi reniiu .seence. telling his friend so much about his (No. 2's) past life, mentioning name. and places in prolusion, and giving such a mass of detail that the othei could no longer doubt that they had been acquainted somewhere in the past where he could not say This was very aggravating, not U say mortifying, and yet in vain di No 'i rack his brain for some clew un til the personality of his tormentor He began to wonder if he had not struck a confidence man. who would presently broach matters financial and proceed to negotiate a loan "Do you remember your trip to Paris in the summer of 1887?" Hnallv asked No. 1 "Yes. Did I meet you there?" "Well. I should say so Don't yon remember taking the Misses W to the opera? I joined you in the box that evening. Don't yon reineinbei the rackets we had with George and Billy, and all that. Oh, come now you must remember that." No. 2 shook his head mournfully "I remember all about George and Billy and the Misses W , and all the rest of it. but I can't remember you. I beg your pardon, but I can't." "Well, don't you remember our meet ing at Saratoga in 1888? You were there with your cousin, and she and 1 had a desperate flirtation See. I've got her picture here in this locket. Now then, Harold, old boy. you must know me." Harold stared at the locket speech less. There, sure enough, were the fa miliar features of his Cousin Nellie, one of the belles of New York, hanging on the watchchain of this fellow, whom he did not know from Adam. "Where did you get that picture?" "From Miss Nellie herself, of coirse; see. here is tlie inscription she had put there. 'Nellie to George. ISSfl.' " Gentleman No. 2 was thunderstruck. This was reully too much, not to re member the fiance of his own cousin. He was overcome with confusion, and there is no telling how much further things might have gone had not two other young fellows approached at that moment holding their sides with laugh ter. They were the identical George and Billy referred to "Harold, old mail." said George, when he hud recovered his gravity, "let me introduce our excellent friend. Mr. Henry , who never was in Paris in his life,' and who nevei be longed to the Scribblers' club, and who detests pool, and who very improperly borrowed this locket from mu to put up a job on you. See?" New York Her aid. How to nivl.le a Cellar In the City. In a cellar where there is a furnace it is a great help to household manage ment to have a portion of the cellar divided from tlie furnace portion by a tight board partition, with a padlocked door opening into it. The boards used may be rough and cheap, costing t wo cents a foot, but tlie partition must be tight, so as not to admit the warm air from the furnace. Under ordinary cir ;u instances tlie expense need uot be over ten dollars, and in many cases wen less. In this cold cellar the vegetables and apples, butter and preserves may be kept, and even in the city the uncom fortable habit of living from hand to mouth might be changed to a gi-eat de gree. Here tlie time honored vinegar barrel or keg may have its place, giv ing out its supply of "pure cider" vine gar whenever needed. Near by should be the swinging shelf and cupboard, and the old time feeling of plenty and comfort which the memory of the well filled cellars of country homes always brings, would return to the household. Harper's Bazar. ConfUHml. An editor a very positive and some times sharp spoken man was ap proached timidly one day by a proof reader, who said, "Excuse me, sir. but you have used a word here which i don't find in the dictionary." "What is it?" said the editor, brls f ling up aud looking a little fierce. 'You say; In this case it was the of Hce that sook tlie man.'" "Well, what is the matter with It?" "I don't find 'sook' in the dictionary," ' " 'Book Why, it's the past tense of The editor paused, and then looked sheepish. "(Jueer." he said, after re fleeting a moment, "how that nionosyl lable got Into my head. Sook ! I guess you may change It to 'sought.'" Youth's Companion. THE CHILDRI PURHAPI, LESSON IX. INTE.Mlrl,t SERIES, SJEPTfcve. Oesperadoesrob rejLtortheEeUon,Jowk ye,terday -Commit Vracs, 33- bers was cap Xet jntaa I. -Cv,ty miles from tov Ret. D. M. tearna.,r tne 8toietl I Compiled from lessnn Helper vjession. He permission of U. s. Hoffman, publirrell. adelphia.1 heriff Jack- 8L "Then said Jesus ui those Jet who hacf believed on Him, If ye coutiuuet on the word, then are ye my disciples indef enraged He Is still at .lenisnlrni tench inytm and temple (verse 'i), and itisjustHlterthm and of tabernacles. being 32 "And ye shall know the truth tbe truth shall make yon free '' To know the truth is to know tius for He is the Truth (rli;ip. xiv, C). "lulLTIJ kluHvfiud and Jesus Christ is life i-n-rn (chap, xvii, 3) There is a vital couuectio between Jesus, the Living Word, and thi A written word which tells nf Him and l full of Him Acquaint now thyself with liim and be hi pence (Job xxii. 21 j 33. "They answered Him, Yu Oe A bra- -ham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man How oaves! thou, ve shall be niiule I reef , Being only natural men, they understood not His spiritual sayinga, for it seemed foolishness to tbem (I Cor. ii, 14). 84. "Jesusanswereil them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committetb sin is tlie servant of sin." As tbe Spirit through Paul bos said, "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye oliey. whether of sin unto death, or of oliedirnce unto righteousness." And the servsula ol siu are free from righteousness ( Rom. vl. 16. 22). 35. "And tbe servant abideth not in tbe bouse forever, but the Sou abidetb ever." In these words He seenis to curry us back to the story of Ishmael and Isaac, of which Paul makes so much in (Jul. iv . 21-31. bringing out the difference between that which is bom of the flesh and thai which is born of the Spirit, to which also Jesus made much reference in His conversation with Nicodemus 38. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free ludeed. '' By an outward conformity to the law they thought to obtain righteousness, not understanding that the law, so holy and just and good, could not possibly give life to a sinner, but could only condemn him (Horn, iii, 19. 20; Gal. iii. 21, 22) 87. "I know that ye are Abraham's seed, but y seek to kill me. because my Word bath no place in you. " They were children of Abraham by nat ural descent, but they were not like Abra ham spiritually, for Abraham rejoiced in the Christ (verse AH), bat they wanted to kill Him. 88. "1 speak that which 1 have seen with my Father, aud ye do that which ye have seen with your Father." As to His Father, He was continually peaking of Him, proclaiming that the Father sent Him, and that He said and did only what tbe Father taught Him; that tbe Father was with Him, and that He al ways pleased the Father, that to know Him was to know the Father. 39. "They answered aud said unto Him, Abraham is our Father. Jesus saitb unto them. If ye were Abraham's children ye would do tbe works of Abraham." They still cliu to the Idea of natural descent being sufficient, but John the Bap tist had taught them the folly of saying, "We have Abraham to our father" (Math, iii, 9); and on a previous occasion Jesns had taught at Capernaum that many would come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom, while many who thought themselves entitled to do so would be cast into ouuir darkness (Math, viii, 11, 12). Only they which are of faith are true chil dren of Abraham (Gal. iii, 0, 7; Horn, iz, 7; ii, 28, ')), and wherever there is faith like that of Abraham there will be works to correspond (Jos. ii. 21-23) 40. "But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, w'lich I have heard of God This did not Abraham." 41. "Ye do tbe deeds of your father. Then said they to Him. We be not born of fornication, we have one Father, even God." In lsa. Ixiil, 10; lxiv, 8, we find these words, "Doubtless Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: Thou, O Lord, artour Father, our Redeemer: Thy name is from everlasting." "0 Lord, Thou artour Father; we are the day, and Thou our pot ter; and we all are the work of Thy hand." 42. "Jesus said unto thema If God were your father ye would love me, for I pro ceeded forth and came from God; neither came 1 of myself, but He sent me." The Lord bad said through Malachl, "A son honoreth his father and a servant hia master; if then 1 be a father, where is mine honor (Mai. i, 6)t And in John v, 23, Jesus had said, "He that honoreth uot the son, honoreth not the father which hath sent Him." 43. "Why do ye not understand my speech f even because ye cannot hear my word.'' "Through faith" is the only way to un derstand (Heb. xi, 8), and if the disciple understood not many things till after Pentecost, even though they believed in Him (chapter xii, 1A; xiv, 9), how could these people understand anything when they had no fnlth in Him whatever. 44. "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." He had twice told tbem that they acted like their father (verses 38, 41), and uow He ays plainly who their father is. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode uot in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lis, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar aud the father of it." Here is tbe character of their fathe., a murderer from the beginning and the father of all lies aud liars, and Jesus, who utters these words, is not judging by ap pearauces but by tbe hearts of those whom He addressed, for He read the heart (John li, 25; vii, 24; Isa xJ, 3). 45. "Aud because I tell yon the truth ye believe nie not." Paul asks, "Am 1 therefore become your enemy because I tell yon the truth?" (Gal. tv, ltt). Truth is to a heart that loves lies like salt to a wound unhealed, or like a strong light to weak eyes. 46. "Winch of you convince! h meofslnf And if 1 say tbe truth, why do ye not be lieve mer" ' They could not convftt Him of sin, for there was no sin in Him; He knew no sin; He did no sin; He was without sin (I John Ui, 5; II Cor. v, 31; I Pet. Ii, 22). 47. "He that is of God heareth Clod's words; ye therefore hear them not, be cause ye are not of God.'' r Nut of God, not of my sheep, neltMaf , part nor -lot In the matter (chapter z, 26; Acts viii, SI). There shall in no wise enter . Into it anything that defileth, neither what soever worketh abomination or maketh a . lie, but tbey which are written, In the , Lamb's book of life (He v. zzi, 27). Let the ?uestions earnestly search our hearts: "Am of Godr Do 1 love to hear His Wordf ; Are His words more to me than any other . wofds .
The Semi-Weekly Citizen (Asheville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 3, 1891, edition 1
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