The Pulpit. .
Nothing New.
BY REV. JAMES MAPLE, Q D.
That which hath been is now^ and
that which is to be hath already been;
and God requireth that which is past.
Eccl. 5:15.
Solomon was distinguished for his
wisdom and knowledge, and has ever
been regarded as the wisest man of
the ages. He was a keen observer
of men, and had a profound knowl
edge of human nature; yet he was
but a man, and fell into gross sins.
He was awakened to a consciousness
of his sinfulness, repented, and re*
turned to God. Ecclesiastes was
written after his refer nation.
Our text reveals Solomon’s prayer
and knowledge of the philosophy of
things, and it presents a beauitful
subject for meditation and reflection.
There are three points in it.
I. That which hath been is now.
Nothing is distroye<| in the material
universe. Things change in their
forms and relations, but the constitu
ent elements remain. Flowers, trees,
and birds may be destroyed; but the
matter that entered into their organi
zation remains, and becomes parts of
other organizations. All the matter
ever created still exists. 11 may have
passed through a thousand different
forms, and organizations; but it re
mains.
This is true in the intellectual
world. The wisdom and knowledge
of the present is the fruit of the past.
The political wisdom, the civil in
stitutions, and the philosophy of the
world is the outgrowth of the study
and knowledge of all past ages. Each
step in the progress of knowledge
and practical science prepared the
way for another and greater.
This is tru^ in the moral world.
Every thought, word and action lives
not only iu the memory, but also in
their effect on others. A step in
advance does not cut us off from the
past. To-day we are what the past
thoughts, feelings, desires, purposes,
and.actions have made us. Our past,
life lives in what we are now.
We cannot blot out the p «st, and
be as though it had not been. The
evil thoughts, the sinful desires, and
wrong actions of the past are felt in
our moral nature, and seen in our
life. We have realized this in pain
ful experience, and it. often causes
anguish of' soul. Every man who
has tried ~to breack off from a sinful
life, and live as he knows he ought
has learned the power that the past
has over him.
We must meet all the past again.
It has not only become a part of our
selves, and exists in our moral char
acter ; but we must meet it in the
judgment. Rev. 20:11-12. A dying
mau expressed a great dissatisfaction
with his past life, and fearful ap
prehensions of the future. He said
that he would not be so mean as to
drink the devil’s wine all his life, and
then offer the settlings to Jesus. He
could not get over his wasted life, but
lay moaning. “If I could get back
again, back again! if 1 could be a
boy again, a^boy again.” Vain wish
Death hurried him,amid his utterance,
into the presence of his judge.
Here we see the infinite superiority
of Christianity over all other systems
of relighjfh and philosophy. It did
not grow up out of preceding religion,
and philosophies; but is a direct rev
elation from heaven.
11. That which is to be hath al~
ready been.
That which is to be already exists
in the germ out of which it is to grow.
The fruit of the next harvest is in
the germ of the seed sown. The
future oak tree exist in embryo in the
acorn, and the future man iu the
boy The future civilization and
governments of the earth exist now
ifi the truths, principles, and passi m
that are at work in the minds of men,
and are working in our schools, col
leges, and civil institutions.
Man and his future is now. in the
thoughts, impulses, desires, princi
ples, and motives that now govern
him. Gal. 6:6 8. Man is making his
own heaven, or building his own hell.
The happiness of heaven does not
come mainly from the Christians
surroundings, but from the state
of his mind and heart; and the
hottest fires of hell are in the sinners
own soul.
The future of this church is now
in the thoughts, desires, and purposes
of its members. It will be just what
these make it. As a church to-day
we are just what the past has made
us. The great reformation in Ger
many and Switzerland in the six
teenth and seventeenth centuries ex
isted first iu the thoughts, convictions,
desires, and purposes of Martin
Luther. A prosperous, happy and
useful church does not come by acci
dent or chance; but is the outgrowth
of the spiritual life of its members.
111. God requireth that tohich is
past.
He holds us responsible for our
past life. Eccl 12:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:9 10;
Acts 17:30-31. God will call us to
accouut for what we have done.
1 John 3:4. He also holds us respon
sible for what we have neglected to
do. James 4:17; Matt. 25:24-30.
The blessings that God bestows
upon the soul he intends shall remain
aud produce iruit.
REMARKS. ,
1. God governs the world now as be
has governed it in all the past, there
fore we can trust him. The orde* of
nature is the same now as in the be
ginhing. Psalms 19:1-4, 90:1-2
2. There is encouragement in our
text for the Christian worker. Noth
ing is lost. The seed sown may be
slow coming up, but it will come.
3 There is a restraining power in
the solemn t**uth stated in our text.
If we are to meet all the past how
careful we ought to be in our thoughts
and actions. When Bishop Latimer
was being tried for his life he at first
answered readily, but he heard a
pen going behind a curtain where there
was a concealed scribe writing down
all he said. Then he was careful,
and weighed all Lis words, for he
knew that he would have to meet it
all again.
Contributions.
L , . V4
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Washington Letter.
The mnch-talked about Geary
Chinese exclusion law provides that
all Chinese residents of the United
States who shall not register, as
therein provided for, on or before
May 5, 1893, shall be returned to
the country whence they came, but
no orders have been issued by the
officials of the Treasury department
for the arrest of those Chinamen who
have failed to comply—only a very
small percentage of them have done
so—with the law, and none are ex
pected until the Supreme Court
passes upon the constitutionality of
the exclusion law, which it will
shortly do, May 10, having been
named by Chief Justice Fuller as the
time for hearing arguments. Even
if the Supreme Court upholds the
constitutionality of the law there
is an obstacle to the deportation of
the Chinese, in the absence of an ap
propriation to pay the necessary
; expenses
“From,Greenland’s icy mountains,
From India’s coral strand,”
come the servants of the Master, to
tell what Christianity has done for
them and to encourage the faint
hearted to aid in extending and con
tinuing the good work. Last Sun
day Rev. S V. Kainarkai, of Bom
! bay, preached to a local congrega
tion on “India and the Gospel,” and
if his sermon lacked the well turned
periods which have made many pul
pit orators famous, it contained a
fiery earnestness that is often lack
i ing in our greatest preachers. He
told of the hard experiences of his
father, who had been converted tc^
j Christianity when he was a teach
er in Bombay school. He was a
high caste Hindoo and his conver
sion to Christianity was followed by
the complete social ostracism of him*
self and his family. But he was not
discouraged; he became a missionary
among the poor of his race and spent
his life explaining to them the truths
of the gospel and point ing out to them
the true way to live, a task which
the son has taken tip. Mr. Kainarkai
and his wife are the guests of Rev.
Dr. T. S. Hamlin, of this city.
The Good Templars, Rechabites
and sons of Jonadab have entered
into an agreement to publish a
monthly temperance paper under
the suggestive title of “No Compro
mise." Its editors are to be selected
from those organizations, and as it is
expected that they will contribute
their work for the good of the cause
the new publication will probably
live longer than its temperance prede
cessors.
A mass-meeting of all the temper
ance organizations is to be held on
the 12, inst., for the purpose of form
ing an anti-liquor league. Every
body opposed to the liquor traffic is
eligible for membership in the league.
Rev. Mr. Miller, of Reading, Pa.,
founder of the Brotheho dofAnorew
and Philip, an undenominational
organizatin of young men, formed
for Christian work, addresed a large
meeting last night, held under the
auspices of three Washington chap
ters of the organization, for the pur
pose of explaining its objects and in
creasing its membership. It is ex
pected that the result will be the
formation of several new chapters.
Correspondent.
May 3, 1893.
—
Temperance.
A composition by < allie Johnson read
before the District Meeting at Pleasant
Union, April 30, 1893.
My friends, we are here to confront
the greatest enemy of our time, to
handle the greatest living question,
and that is temperance. We im
peach this mouster and arraign him
before the bar of public judgment
and demand his condemnation in the
name of industry, robbed and beg
gered; of public peace, disturbed and
broken; of private saftey “Drink" is
a bad habit, it is perhaps the greatest
curse thqt e^er scourged this earth.
It is one of depravity's worst fruits.
Temperance is a great thing. You,
my friends, who drinks intoxicating
liquor will soon find out that it is do
ing you no good,dbut is doing you
harm. Well, my friends, if that is
your plea, I would adjure you to
keep it locked up amongst your
choicest jewels, guard it as the apple
of thine eye, and when you die and
are laid away in your coffin, be sure
that this precious document is placed
within your clammy fingers, so that
when you are called upon to con