1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



895 



Our Homes and My Neighbors. 



If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you. ye 

 sliali asli wliat ye will, and it shall be done unto 

 you.— John 1.5:7. 



Although I profess to be a Christian, and to 

 believe in the Bible, the text "I have chosen to 

 talk about to-daj\ the one just above, is one 

 that has troubled me more or less all the years 

 of my Christian life. Now. you may think it is 

 a Htile singular when I tell you that, although 

 it has troubled me. it has, at the same time, 

 been a joy and comfort to me. It has troubled 

 me. because I do not exactly understand how 

 the promise can be fulfilled. Notwithstanding 

 this. I believe it is tmc: and every year I live I 

 see more and more verifications of its complete 

 truth. You may remember that the same 

 promise, or very similar promises, occur many 

 times in the Bible. In fact, we find the same 

 promise a little further along in the same chap- 

 ter: nay. more: ""Whatsoever ye shall ask my 

 Father in my name, he may give it you." When 

 I am called upon to read portions of the Bible 

 containing these promises, especially if skeptics 

 are present, there has always been a tempta- 

 tion to skip them: for I fear they may ask me 

 to explain them, and I could not do it. Of 

 course. I can explain them somewhat; but if an 

 unbeliever should press me closely, he would 

 get me into a tight place. \o my great surprise, 

 however, no one with whom I have ever talked 

 has asked me to explain such promises, nor 

 have the}' even alluded to them. .A^ll that Rob- 

 ert Ingersoll has ever directed against tlie Bible, 

 it seems to me, is lame' and trifling compared 

 with what almost any professing Christian 

 might point to in the Bible if he should choose. 



Of course, I am aware of the light that com- 

 mentators and theologians have given us in 

 making the woi'ds plainer. Foremost is the 

 condition of the promise. If we afticZc in Christ 

 Jesus, and his woids abide in us. are the condi- 

 tions made in the outset: and who is there who 

 has fully complied with these conditions"? Mi\l- 

 ler has. perhaps, come as near to it as any one; 

 and God has honored him by giving him tenfold 

 — nay. we might say a hundred or a thousand 

 fold, more than he ever expected oi- dreamed of 

 when he began pi'aying his prayers of faith. 

 When Miillei' was converted he was straight- 

 way filled with intense longing to do something 

 for the orphans and outcasts of the great city of 

 Lon<lon. He wanted money to purchase food 

 for their bodies. But this was really only a 

 secondary thought with him. His very sou! 

 hiinied with a desire to bring these poor chll- 

 di'en to Jesus: therefore he was unconsciously 

 fulfilling the conditions in the fore part of our 

 text: therefore he had faith to ask: and the 

 whole world is standing in astonishment at 

 what God has done for and through him. He 

 did not ask rich men, nor did he ask miyhody 

 for what he wanted. He asked God only, and 

 the money came. After the work was well under 

 way. and people could see the fruit of it. it is 

 not so very strange that the money was forth- 

 coming fi'om the pockets of both believers and 

 unbelievers. But it seems next to a miracle 

 that he received sums of money for this work 

 at its outset, even before he had lifted a finger 

 to the work, in simple answer to prayer. The 

 whole point of the promise seems to rest on the 

 condition or state of heart of the one who prays 

 or asks. You may say. "■ Where, then, is the 

 trouble with the little text".'" I want to .say. 

 first, that I am very sure there is no trouble 

 with the text. The real trouble is not with the 

 text, hut with us poor doubting mortals. We get 

 in a hurry to see the answers come: and then 

 many good people are praying for things that 



seem right and proper, and yet God does not see 

 fit to answer them — I mean, from a human 

 point of view. There are widows in our land 

 who are straining every nerve, and perhaps suf- 

 fering for food for themselves and their little 

 ones— widows whoseem devout and really faith- 

 ftil servants of Christ, and yet they are obliged 

 to suffer. Yes, and there are children who pray 

 in faith believing: and yet. according to human 

 sight and perception, their pi'ayers do not seem 

 to be answered. But while I say it, a glimpse 

 of light comes in here after all. "The children 

 that have for years pi'ayed and suffered have 

 many times become great and good men and 

 women: and may it not be that in this way 

 the prayer was answered? God knew what 

 was best for them, and answered their prayers 

 — yes. really answered by withholding that for 

 which they asked, and giving them something 

 better, may be years after. We are told that, 

 in foreign lands, people are now starving on 

 account of the scarcity of food. Of course, this 

 very scarcity of food brings us better prices for 

 our' products: and even though they suffer, 

 their suffering, in an indirect way. or, per- 

 haps, I should say. the very thing that causes 

 their suffering, brings prosperity to us. Now, 

 many of these people are doubtles.* Jiving, to 

 the best of their ability, up to the light they 

 have. Why does God let them starve and die 

 if this be true"? Well, most of us have learned 

 that God permits many things to get very 

 wrong indeed ttnless we. his children, set to 

 work to right them. The world can not be 

 brought to the light of Christianity unless we 

 spring forward and help to do it. We must 

 work as well as pray. As we grow older we find 

 that God has honored us by placing the respon- 

 sibility upon our shoulders, of disseminating 

 Christianity and civilization. 



Now, you may think my mind runs in a rath- 

 er singular channel when I tell you what I 

 have in mind. When my faith is brightest, and 

 when I have been prayiiig for the influences of 

 the Holy Spirit most earnestly, this little text 

 looks to me like a great unexplored region. You 

 remember with what wonderful faith and per- 

 sistence Columbus urged the reason of his be- 

 lief that there was another world across the 

 great seas. He saw away into the future, and, 

 with almost a prophetic eye, rose above the 

 rest of the civilized world about him. Even 

 when everybody else was discouraged and gave 

 up. he stood alone undaunted, and pushed on; 

 and what a rewai'd was his I His hopes were 

 realized and his prayers were answered. God 

 gave him a glimpse "of a new world, no doubt 

 brighter and grander than he in his highest 

 enthusiasm had ever dreamed of. And, dear 

 friends. I am firmly convinced that a new 

 world lies before us. just as great and won- 

 derful, and that it is to he found through this 

 little text, and other like wonderful promises 

 in God"s holy word. But I was moved to write 

 on this subject by an incident of a few weeks 

 ago. Ours is not a peach region around here. 

 Vei'y few nice peaches are raised in this sec- 

 tion of country, thei'efoi'e they have to come to 

 us. \\ hen we havo them, from a distance, say 

 from the lake shore, perhaps forty or fifty miles 

 away. A few weeks ago a carload of peaches 

 came to Medina. A man came with them, and, 

 with the help of teams, scattered them, not only 

 all over our touui, but all over the county. 

 Even in little towns, or at the cross - roads 

 \vhere nice peaches are tmknown. a fine assort- 

 ment, tastily arranged in a pretty wagon con- 

 structed for the pui'pose, was handed out to 

 those who could afford to pay for them. They 

 were assorted in regular sizes, as oranges are 

 assorted. The smallest were sold as low as .50 

 cents a bushel, and then went on up, according 



