.I (lnclt1nbent OJ St. Jmnes's, Ryde, Isle oj Wigllt.) - The Gospel ...

742 The Gospel Magazine
lasting light," for the days of our mourning shall be ended. But
" where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" "Woe unto you
that desire the day of the Lord! To what end is it for you? the day
of the Lord is darkness, and not light.... Shall not the day of the
Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness
in it" (Amos v. 18-20) to the unregenerate, careless man?
What, then, is the special call to us who are of the day during this
Advent season? Is it not the call to watchfulness, to wakefulness?
To us comes now with living meaning the Apostle's spirited charge in
Eph. v. 14-16: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are
evil." It is an exhortation to the whole man and to a living man:
"Awake-arise-see-walk." And it is a twofold exhortation. It
is an exhortation not to be unduly engaged and occupied with the
concerns of this dying existence, the dead things of this temporal life.
This is the exhortation as it affects ourselves. It is also an exhortation
to us with regard to others. Could living Christians "sleep" with
dead souls around, if the Lord's cry, " Behold, I come quickly," were
always ringing in their ears? We must speak to dead souls; God's
word is, " Give them warning tram Me." "Whether they will hear,
or whether they will forbear," we must speak. We can not waken
them, we can not give them life. But we can warn them though we
{lan not waken them, and we can "walk" among them instead of
" sleeping" like them-" walk circumspectly." Shall we not seek
grace to " redeem the time" with all the energy of our whole being?
May we be enabled to be "zealous" because we ourselves" know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
Brixton.
ELEANOR CONYERS BOWER.
HOME-CALLS DURING 1914.
IT has been the sacred custom of the writer for some years past, as
another volume of the GOSPEL MAGAZINE is closed, to make special
allusion to the beloved saints of God, known more or less to us, who
have been called Home during the year.
This year one feels utterly unable for the task, and upon extremely
solemn ground. What of the ravages of the present world-wide war!
What of the multitudes hurried into eternity-many of them
doubtless redeemed from among men and now adorning Emmanuel's
crown. Beloved, the Day, the long-looked for Day, is surely at hand.
Let us seek to walk soberly, circumspectly, and show that we are
looking for and hastening unto the Coming of our Deliverer, Ransomer,
and Saviour.
In this spirit and attitude we refer to the Home-call of such an
eminent servant and standard-bearer as Mr. W. H. Seagram, of whom
his beloved friend, Mr. John Wood, says in his forcible way: "One