The Reformed Presbyterian Standard and also 0\ir ... - Rparchives.org

Young People's Topic
FOR SEPT. 20.
By Rev. A. A. Johnston.
Share Your Blessings. Heb. 13:16-
21.
Psalms.—118:18-20, No. 315; 16:4-8,
No. 29; 103:1-4, No. 273; 136:1-4, No.
373; 98:1-4, No. 262.
Parallels.-Matt. 5:6; Ps. 32:1-2;
Ps. 119:1; Ps, 16:11; Ps. 25:12-13; Ps.
34:8-10; Acts 16:34; Neh. 1:7; 1 Chr.
16:34; Rom. 12:13; Eph. 4:32; 1 Pet.
3:9.
None of us realize how great are
the blessings which God showers .upon
us day by day. When we remember
the condition of millions of people
all over the world and then meditate
upon what God has done for us, then
we are led to asknowledge gratefully
"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant
places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."
TME CHRISTIAN NATION. Vol. 61.
Spirit "shall teach us all things."
We should thank God, that so far thine iniquities; who healeth all thy Again, "Howbeit, when he, the
He has blessed our land with peace. diseases; who redeemeth thy life Spirit of truth, is come, he will
According to newspaper reports, Em­froperor William has called out all men with loving kindness and tender mer­
clinging to the poison that stole
destruction; who orowneth thee
bling, nervous, physical wreck, yet
guide you into all truth; for he
between nineteen and forty-five. They cies; who satisfleth thy desire with shall not speak of himself; but
away my strength. I mocked at
must leave their peaceful occupations,
laying aside the plow, locking It would be a heartless thing to
Postum and would have none of it.
good things."
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall
he speak."
up the shop, for the fearful business lavish all these .blessings upon ourselves
when so many are in need.
cup of piping hot Postum for my
"One day my sister substituted a
Again we may quench the Holy
of carnage and slaughter. Think what
Spirit:
it means to mothers, wives, sisters God earnestly desires us to share them
morning cup of coffee but did not
and daughters! Fathers and sons, with his other children, not so richly
blessed as we are. "But to do good sures. It is possible to put out a fire
2. By indulging in carnal plea­
tell me what it was. I noticed the
whose strong arms should be supporting
dependent loved ones, buckle on and to communicate, forget not; for
lichness of it and remarked that the
by throwing upon it material that
the knapsack and march to the front. with such sacrifice God is well pleased."
Let us give our means and time,
not tell me I was drinking Postum
'coffee' tasted fine but my sister did
will serve to dampen it. It is not
There, behind forts and breastworks,
stand trained soldiers who deliberately
turn their merciless guns upon the "Not what we give, but what we using a damp cloth. Take a cloth
but above all, let us give ourselves for
difficult to greatly reduce a blaze by
for fear I might not take any more.
"She kept the secret and kept giving
me Postum instead of coffee un­
gray uniforms, and as the gun swings share,—
of this kind and carelessly throw it
back and forth, the scythe of death For the gift without the giver is bare." over the fire and see how -quickly it
til I grew stronger, more tireless,
reaps great swathes of courageous
is greatly reduced.
men. In millions of homes there will Prayer Meeting Topic
got a better color in my sallow
Xow brethren, let us think of our
be heard -the quiet weeping of widows
cheeks, and a clearness to my eyt^,
and orphans for those who never will
then she told me of the health-giv­
return, and instead of .peace and
laughter and happiness, the black figure
of poverty and anxiety will settle
down. Death is now a common visitor
in every hamlet in Europe. Hardly
a home will be safe from its ravages.
But turn to another picture nearer
home. Shriver, in his book, "Immigrant
Forces," tells of a boarding
house he visited one evening. There
was but one room. "From wall to
wall, a line was stretched and the air
was fetid with the odor of dank, drying
clothes. Six double beds were
ranged about the four sides of the an epistle is usual with the apostle.
room. Ten men lived in this single Among these excellent and helpful
room." The owner of the boarding exhortations, we find our text.
house was groaning on one bed, his
"Quench not tlie Spirit.'' The figure
face twisted into a curse, because
he had driven a pick through the employed is that of fire. Herein the
tender ligaments of his foot. "Two Holy Ghost is likened to a flre,not
little girls peered fearfully above the an uncommon figure for the Holy
covers; the sixth bed belonged to
Spirit in tbeBible.
them. * * * On the next adjoining
bed a woman was sitting. * *
In our outline of this subject we
She swayed her body to and fro, seeking
to quiet, somewhat roughly at in which it is possible for us to
hare mentioned a number of ways
times, a little fretting, white and wizened
baby. The baby was chewing at may do:
quench the Holy Ghost. This we
its hand desperately. It was hungry."
The picture of this place—for no one
1. By withholding suitable fuel.
could call it a home—is a very common
one. There are hundreds of
thousands like it in the slums of our
great cities and in the shadows of
our packing houses. There are millions
of igorant foreigners who were
accustomed to the running brooks and
green fields of Europe (for most of
our immigrants are peasant farmers)"
who now are driven mercilessly in
hot, dusty mills, to return at even to
cheerless, gloomy tenements. The
child life in such a place must necessarily
be dwarfed and stunted.
But how different is our condition.
Abundant food, recreation and amusement.
Fresh air, shelter and raiment.
Godly, loving parents, education and
happiness. Friends, books and the
Church of God. Then above all, Jesus
Christ, our Savior, peace of heart and
eternal life. How wonderful are our
blessings!
You remember how David tied his
blessings up in bundles lest he might
forget them. "Who forgiveth all
SEPTEMBER 23rd, 1914.
By the Rev. J. M. Johnston
Subject.—"Quench not the Spirit."
1. Thess. 5:19.
1. By withholding suitable fuel.
2. By indulging in carnal plea.-
sures.
3. By seeking only wordly ends.
Parallel passages—Eph. 4:30,
Isa. 7:13, Isa. 63:10, Ps. 51:11,
John 3 :5, Gal. 4 :29, Rom. 8 :15.
In the closing part of this chapter
we find a number of short exhortations.
This manner of ending
There are different ways in extinguishing
a blaze. This we all
know from our own experience. It
ma}- be done by withholding any
more fuel. As soon as we do that,
the fire begins to die down. It must
ha\'e fresh fuel if it will live.
Xow let us think of our attitude
towards the Holy Spirit in the same
light. One of the more frequent
ways of quenching the Spirit is just
to deny him any more suitable food.
This may be done in different ways.
Should we refuse to read and study
our Bibles, should we refuse to go
to the Sabbath school, should we
refuse to listen to the preaching of
the AVord,- then we would be withholding
from the .Spirit suitable
fuel. In the Gospel, according to
John, we are told that the Holy
treatment of the Holy Spirit in the
same light. The man given to worldliness
is not the one who shall be
ing, nerve-strengtliening life-saver
she had given me in place of my
filled with the Holy Ghost. He is
morning coffee.
too carnal for the Spirit to take up
"From that time I became a disciple
of Postum and no words can
his abode in him. The damp rag of
a worldly life is resting upon him.
do justice in telling the good this
Let a crowd of Covenanter young
cereal drink did me. I will not try
people give themselves over to
to tell it, for only after having used
many of the social pleastres of our
it can one be convinced of its merits."
day and they simply make it impossible
for the .Spirit to enter tb^m.
Ten days' trial shows Postum's
Dancing and going to theatres are
power to rebuild what coffee has destroyed.
some of the places which we have in
mind. These things serve like a wet,
Their names- are on the roll of the
church and they go occasionally but
that is about all. They are thinking
all the time. about their worldly
possessions, liow they can increase
them.
Now that is another way of
quenching the Holy Spirit. That
we may be filledwith the Spirit we
must completely empty oiiiselves of
the world, its pleasures and it possessions.
In no sense are we to iiave
our hearts set upon these things. To
our mind this is one. of the frequent
ways of "grieving the Holy Spirit.''
Let us, brethren, just empty ourselves
of everytliing we know to be
in any way offensive to God, and
pray Him to fill us with the Spirit
Let us be careful that in none of
these ways we be guilty of quenching
the Holy Spirit.
SISTER'S TRICK
But It All Came Out Right. •
How a sister played a trick that
brought rosy health to a coffee fiend
is an interesting tale:
"I was a coffee fiend—a trem­
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
Creek, ilich. Read "The Road
cold blanket to a dickering blaze.
We cannot hang on to these things
to AA'ellville," in pkgs.
and "be filled with the Spirit" at
Postum comes in two forms:
the same time.
Regular Postum—must be well
Again we may quench the Spirit: boiled. 15c and 25c packages.
3. By seeking only worldly ends. Instant Postum—is a soluble pow-^
Too many men belong to the church der. A teaspoonful dissolves quickly
but live the entire life of the world. in a cup of hot water and, with
cream and sugar, makes a delicious
beverage instantly. 30c and 50c
tins.
The cost per cup of both kinds is
about the same.
"There's a Reason" for Postum.
—sold by Grocers.