520 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



minister iu his opening prayer, by a strange 

 coincidence (as most people would call it), be- 

 gan praying for tnc. Of course, he prayed in a 

 general way, and called nobody by name: but 

 he spoke of a series of steps by A\hich sinners 

 are led, in a way that almost stai'tled me. His 

 sermon was about silent or invisible conflicts: 

 and he described ray state of mind. He spoke 

 of conflicts that our nearest friend or relative 

 knows nothing about, and never dreams of— 

 conflicts where only Got? and the 'sinner look 

 on. I commenced praying at first in a hopeless 

 sort of way. It was hopeless, because I did hot 

 really ^ra)lt to be diffei'ent. Yes. in one way I 

 did want to be different, and in another way I 

 did not. When the sermon was half over, how- 

 ever, I felt that Satan was losing his hold, and 

 that Christ Jesus was coming nearer and near- 

 er—yes, and (/carer than he had ever been be- 

 fore. Do some of you say. " Why. brother Root, 

 you have told us just such a story as this be- 

 fore"? Well, I tell it again to-day because it 

 needs telling again. In the first place, it is not 

 a safe thing for me to stay away from regular 

 church services: neither is it a safe thing for 

 you. The Bible says so again and again. An- 

 other thing, I have made a discovery since I 

 wrote before. The discovery is this: The 

 Christian always has a line right at hand to 

 tell him when he is getting out of the straight 

 and narrow path, and into crookedness. If 

 there is any thing in your life that dulls your 

 spiritual enjoyment, and seems to separate you 

 from your Savior, give it up— let it go. Jesus 

 said, '• If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off 

 and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for 

 thee that one of thy members should perish, 

 and not that thy whole body should be cast into 

 hell." You are lost if you keep on in it. The 

 arch enemy of humanity is more subtile, more 

 ingenious, and sharper, than you ever dreamed 

 he was. Peter warns us that our " adversary, 

 the devil, walketh about, seeking whom he 

 may devour." 



Perhaps some have become wearied in our re- 

 cent Sunday-school lessons by the incessant 

 idolatry and idol-worship. We are inclined to 

 think that it is a thing of the past, and that we 

 of the United States of America have nothing, 

 or comparatively nothing, to do with any such 

 thing nowadays. God objected to idolatiw, be- 

 cause it led the people away from him. Now, 

 stretch the line I have been telling you of over 

 whatever leads you away from "God: and 

 whatever leads you away from God is Idolatni. 

 It is as hateful in his sight now as was the idol- 

 atry of olden time, and we are in just as much 

 danger now as then. Making garden, raising 

 strawberries, caring for bees, and all such 

 things, may take your time and attention, and 

 may occupy a large part of your thoughts to 

 keep you busy: but so long as you can kneel 

 down and thank God for the fruits, flowers, and 

 bees, these things will come right in that line 

 that a Christian may follow. In fact, (iod is 

 pleased to see us enjoy these things, because 

 they are his gifts. A love for such industries 

 helps us to be better Christians; and a love for 

 God helps us to grow better straivherries and 

 nicer honey. There is no idolatry about it. and 

 no wrong about it— that is, generally speaking. 

 Of course, one may be injudicious in launching 

 out into such things in a headstrong way, and 

 thus wrong his I'elatives or neighbors. But the 

 world is full of simple, honest enjoyments with- 

 out listening to Satan. 



During such conflicts as I have mentioned, if 

 you let cool reason look on and decide, vou will 

 find that, eventually, the matter resolves itself 

 into two sides, with a straight, sharplii drti'icd 

 line between them. One side has Ood' and 

 Christ Jesus; the other side has the ivorJd and 



Satan. You can not well be on bof?i, sides of 

 this line. The only course is to renounce at 

 once and for ever the thing that promises to be 

 wrong and hateful. Turn your back resolutely 

 to every appeal that Satan makes. I think it 

 quite likely that he works more fiercely for one 

 who stands pi'ominently before the world, for 

 God. and for the right. He realizes that every 

 such pei-son is an enemy and a stumbling -block 

 in the way of his progress; and he leaves no 

 stone unturned to accomplish his ends. His 

 machinery, and the things that are at his com- 

 mand, are greater in variety, and more power- 

 ful, than either you oi- 1 dream of. Search the 

 Scriptures, and see if they do not tell you the 

 same thing. 



There is another part to our text that I have 

 hardly considered. One of Satan's plans is to 

 convince his victim that he is perfectly safe. 

 He persuades him that there is not a shadow of 

 a chance oi the secret being discovered. Oh 

 what folly! Go and talk with the inmates of 

 our jails, or even read the pitiful records of our 

 daily papers. It is a constant wail of "Oh! I 

 did not mea}i to do any thing wrong. I did not 

 for a moment dream that this could he the out- 

 come of what seemed so harmless, and so inno- 

 cent. Oh! what would I give— what would I 

 give— if I could have a chance to do this thing 

 over again ? " Now, you may think, my dear 

 friends, that I am taking a good deal of time 

 and space in dwelling on temptation. But Sa- 

 tan's temptations are the stepping-stones to 

 crime. If the boys and girls of America can be 

 taught to view these silent and invisible bat- 

 tles as the turning and deciding point of their 

 lives, our country shall be spared the fearful 

 record of crime and iniquity that is boiling and 

 bubbling up constantly first here and then 

 there. No neighborhood is spared. Satan's 

 captives are found first to the right of us and 

 then to the left. A ))eighb()r's family is wreck- 

 ed. By and by the world is startled by some- 

 thing that had its starting-point in lyour oion 

 liomc. Let us remember and believe that Sa- 

 tan is constantly and unceasingly going about, 

 seeking whom he may devour.' Let us recog- 

 nize the fact that he even goes away and leaves 

 you free, that he may only get an advantage to 

 trip you and entrap you unawares at some other 

 time. Let us delilierate long and well before 

 we consent to any act or thing that will rob us 

 of the peace that only God can give. At the 

 noon service a few days ago I asked the ques- 

 tion as to what is worth most to us in this 

 world. There was a diversity of replies. Some- 

 body said, '• A clear conscience.'" I should say, 

 the peace of God in your heart, and a feeling that 

 you ai-e on friendly terms with the Savior of 

 mankind, and enjoying communion with him. 



The law of thy moutli is bettei' unto me tlian 

 tliousands of gold and silver.— Psalm 119:72. 



SPECIAL DEPARTMENT FOR A. I. ROOT, AND HIS 

 FRIENDS WHO LOVE TO RAISE CROPS. 



BKEED S WEEDEE. 



Although we have had this nearly a vear. we 

 have only just discovered what a wonderful 

 tool it is. There is this about it, however— the 

 ground must be very fine, soft, and nice. Last 

 season it was nearly all the time so wet that 

 we could do nothing with it satisfactorily. 

 This year during the dry weather we got our 

 potato ground in beautiful order. It was rolled 

 and harrowed until it was soft and fine. Then 

 after the potatoes were planted the ground was 

 rolled so as to be level and smooth. As soon as 

 they were up fairly they were gone over with a 



