THE DAY OF REST.

Mataura Ensign, 17 October 1908, Page 4

THE DAY OF REST.

EDITED BY THE REV. T. PAULIN. THE CRUCIFIED IS VICTOR NOW! They had their wav, leagued Sin and Hell; Thoy thrust the Son of God From His own world, with scorn and stroke; They pierced Him through, His heart they broke — His life-blood dyed the sod. They set their keepers round His tomb; They shrieked their paeans o'er His doom; That day was Hell's one festival!

Silent, aghast, Heaven's legions stand; The Mighty gives no sign: He sees them do their worst; their hour He shortens not in wrathful power, Nor checks their work malign. The stone is sealed. From cruel sight The stricken mourners shrink, "Tis night Such night as never darkened land!

Hark! o'er the still, dark tomb below, The Mighty gives tho word. The angels flash, the stone is hurled, And 10, upon a ransomed world Steps forth the Son of God! Life, they had vainly prisoned there; Not Hope lay buried, but despair— The Crucified is Victor now! Ve ransomed, shout! With Him ye rise— Ye share that Easter morn: Ye tread a world redeemed with blood; Ye stand where Christ that morning stood, Heirs to His victory horn. Leave yp the graves of vanquished sin, The splendors of His triumph win— Put on the armor of the skies [ —J.R.

God has promised to satisfy—hut He did not promise when. God has time enough, and so have you. • God has boundless resources, and His resources are yours. Can you not trust Him? Trust and wait. He knows what is best for you, He has reasons for denying you now but in the end Ho will satisfy.— Maltbie D. Babcock.

So many, many roads lie traced Where wanderers may stray— Hands tu-iuing, wonviugc, ilitGrl^eod, Roads sorrowful and gay. Running through countryside and town, They climb the mountain steep, Through storied realms of far renown Unceasingly they creep. When silver moonlight floods the nights— O hark! across the sea, These roads, the wanderer's delights, Are calling you and me, Singing their challenge sweet and clear, For wanderers to roam; Rut, all at once, 1 only hear The road that leads me home. MAN'S BEST WORK. It is a noble tiling.to stand facing a large audience in a great cause; to put great, forceful, burning thoughts into their minds that will work out in future good. It is grand to engineer a great mechanical feat, as the building of a stupendous bridge, or a tunnel a canal to bring the wafers of a river out upon a barren upland, thus to mako tho desert to blossom as the rose, and to produce food for millions of people. It is a worthy work to engage in the practice of law, to stand and plead tor justice and right before judge and jur.y, It is Christlike to minister to the. sick, the helpless, the crippled, and the deformed ; to sit at the bedside and apply that which will bring balm and relief to those tortured by pain; and to restore men to health and usefulness.

It is a grand thing to be able to write. great poems that will charm, instruct, ami inspire men, as, for example. " Vbanatopsis," "The Psalm of 1-iie." "A Man's a Man for «' That." "Breathes There a Man with Soul so Dead," or "The Hecesnomsl." It is a magnificent tiling to : tand at the head of affairs in the hum- ot a nation's crisis, to have a mind filled with just thoughts toward all persons involved, and be able to say the right words, and to do the right things in just the right way to meet that crisis. Yet need 1 tell you that the best work of man is the work, of soul-win-ning, which finds its noblest exposition in the work of the ministry? There is no work so noble as this- To turn a man from a sinner into a saint is, of course, the work of God alone, through His Spirit and the merits of Jesus Christ, but to be the channel through which that Spirit can work is man's noblest employment. If I could turn one young man or young woman to choose this vocation, laying all these more popular ones aside, or making them entirely secondary to the main object of saving souls lor God's kingdom, laying all of self on the altar lor that purpose, I would feel that I had done one humble deed for the dear Master, and my reward would come in seeing in His kingdom the saved ones He lias brought with Him. I plead with you as God pleads with you through His Spirit, pot to resist His call to this His noblest work. You may have the gilt of oratory. You may be able to charm with song, or music, or pen, or brush, or chisel. You may be hopeful of great attainments in law, literature, or mechanics. You may yet tunnel Dover's Strait or Gibraltar's. You may rear a bridge over a large river. You may work out a cure for tuberculosis or cancer. Your voice may ring | out over a cultured audience in great halls. Your articles for the Press may be sought by the leading magazines of I the day. You may write a poem that will sing in men's hearts around the world. Whatever you achieve "will perish soon, but if you "turn many to righteousness," you will shine as "the stars lor cv<r and ever."—E. Ij. Paulding, M.0.. in 'Youth's instructor.' THK G F.I?MAN EMPEROR ON PEACE. The German Emperor, in a speech at Strassbnrg recently, made a reference to interna i.iiuiiil pea to which will be read with approval by statesmen in every country in Europe. Possibly we may hear in this short speech an echo of.the. conversations recently held between the Kaiser and our peace-loving King. The Emperor remarked that "the peace of Europe rests on too solid foundations to be easily upset bv the incitements of calumnies provoked bv envious and ill-disposed individuals." Ho believes that security is based in the first place on the responsibility felt by princes and statesmen, who feel it a sacred duty to preserve the peoples

entrusted to their guidance. Tito disposition of nations also tends to the development of a pacific rivalry. Lastly, the Emperor claims that pence is assured by the German power on land and sea. It was not to be expected that the Emperor should hold out any hope of a limitation of armaments, and while Germany continues to increase her navy at tho present rate, some anxiety must inevitably bo felt by neighboring Powers. It is no secret that tho naval position has been revolutionised since the Russo-Japanese war by the creation of "all big-gun" ships of the Dreadnought ships. "With tho appearance of the Dreadnought on the water, naval programmes and naval estimates of battleships underwent a radical reconstruction. Some experts go so far as to say that it is only vessels of the Dreadnought and Indomitable type which would bo of use in naval warfare. Non-Dreadnought ships, it is claimed, would simply disappear out of calculation. According to tho present German naval programme, there will, in 1920, be sixty ships of these formid-. able new types, and it is the prospect of this feverish development of German ship-building which has caused anxiety to statesmen at Home. Tho maxim of the moment in Admiralty circles is that only Dreadnoughts count. While it is admitted that wo have to-day many more ships in the aggregate than Germany, this superiority in numbers would vanish, it is argued, as soon as Germany lias a Dreadnought fleet ready. The Government have promised that our naval strength shall at all costs bo maintained in full superiority, and this necessary care for national defence involves no menace to peace on our part. The Emperor's speech, though lionsctly pacific- in intention, affords little encouragement to those who had imagined that at the Hague Conference, or at any other time, tho German people would agree to a limitation of armaments.

BEFORE PROGRESS. So far as we have observed, steady, persistent progress is preceded by a bright and blessed discovery of tho graco of the Lord Jesus, and of tho power of God to work in us by His Holy Spirit all the good pleasure of His will. The ways of tire Spirit are not learned at once, and the Christian in his <ftnflict with the world, the ficsli, and the devil, with sin. temptation, end evil habits, too often sets out with a misconception of the way in which lie is to resist. He tries to make his own armor, instead of taking the whole armor of God; he knows not how lie is to get deliverance, unless it lie by resolutions, efforts, self-easligntion, tears, and prayers. He consecrates himself, but the consecration does not get done. It is one thing to have a map of the way. and another to pursue it. especially if you are a paralytic. See this in Rom. vii. 14-20.

But, haply, there comes a day when he perceives that Christ's method of sanctiiicatiou is just as much adapted to our nature as His method ot justification. He discovers that what he has all along failed to find in himself he hies in Christ, who is to him what the vine is to tho branch. Christ is bin sanctiiicatiou, and Christ is with him every moment that he believes, to give him victory over temptation and sin. In a ,word, lie discovers, as he never had done previously, that in Christ are given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He finds himself in a new world; the burden that rolls from him is greater than that which rolled from him when ho found forgiveness. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but lie that beliovoth that Jesus is tlie Son of God!'' l ' Is the work completed : J No, indeed. He has found a mine sufficient for all future needs; but lie must get from it what ho needs as he mods it. Now, tho thousands of exhortations, i:e. (ructions, warnings, appeals, that'stand in single file all the way through Ihe Epistle; start into a significance- am; an emphasis never perceived ho;':;:-o. As each one knocks at his heart it iinds « quick response. Through Christ si reiigthening him lie can do all thine.-.. He feels most profoundly the necessity of

getting the whole Word of God oxternise.d in him. He has abiding s-anctih-cation only as lie is abidingly vigilant. This vigilance is spontaneous, because of the love of God in his heart. Hev. ticorgo liowoti.