332 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



a struggle to live makes men worth living. Men 

 who work with brain or band against odds grow 

 strong, and turn the currents of the world's life and 

 history. Christian life developed in the midst of 

 hardships is rugged. 



One danger whicli seems to threaten religious 

 progress tc-day is the absence of real hardship in 

 Christ's service. Christ's side is fast becoming the 

 popular side; men see that it is to be the winning 

 side. Science has advanced with tremendous strides 

 during the last hundred years: but religion has taken 

 two steps to her one. In 180O there was one Christian 

 In 14; in 1880, one Christian in 5. Statistics which 

 seem to be accurate give the number of Christians 

 in the world at more than 403,000,000, against half 

 that many in 1800, which means that there have 

 been more conversion'; to Christ in the past 80 years 

 than occurred during the ISJO years previous. There 

 is great encouragement in these figures, written on 

 the dial of God's providence. 



But there is danger in them too. Religion is gain- 

 ing almost entire control of our schools of higher 

 education. Take one fact: During the last fifty 

 years, the Christian colleges in America have in- 

 creased tenfold; other colleges, three and one-half 

 fold. The students ia Christian colleges in 1880 were 

 70 per cent of the entire number. In other colleges, 

 30 per cent. To-d\y the numbers from Christian 

 colleges have iuereased from 70 to 83 per cent, and 

 those in other colleges have fallen off from 30 to 17 

 per cent. At this rate Christianity will monopolize 

 all the schools of higher training within a few years. 

 The very air is vocal with the fulfillment of prophe- 

 cy, "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, * * * 

 until he come whose right it is, and I will give it 

 him" (Eze. 21:27). He is coming. Men begin to real- 

 ize it. It will be just as successful to "lift up a 

 puny, human hand against him in the day of judg- 

 ment," as it is to-day. One might as well attempt to 

 dam Niagara with feathers, as to stop the progress 

 of this on-coming kingdom of righteousness. But 

 the final victory will come through the God-directed 

 efforts of the mountaineers ia Christian life — those 

 who live well up to the north. Christ knew the daii- 

 gers of success as well as of opposition, and yet he 

 offered this prayer for us: " I pray not that thou 

 shouldst take them out of the world." Every legiti- 

 mate occupation is an open door for Christian use- 

 fulness. If you are in a shop or store, you may 

 reach those whom others fail to reach. You meet 

 the same companions daily. Your work unites you. 

 You learn their life's history, bit by bit. You have 

 common temptations. The Lord has placed you in 

 this little world; there is your Christian work, as tru- 

 ly as your daily task. Be ambitious to rise ; fit your- 

 self for a larger field ; but do the best Christian work 

 possible, where you are. 



There is a second part to this te.xt- The Savior 

 not only prayed that his followers might be left in 

 the world; but that they might be kept from the 

 evil. The world is evil, as truly as it is busy. It is 

 not the work of Christians to bring the standards of 

 righteousness, which God has given us, down to 

 men, but to lift men up to these standards. The 

 object of revelation is to present motives whi^h 

 shall keep us from sin. This prayer of Christ is not 

 a petition for the impossible. The Savior m^ant 

 just what he said—" keep them from the evil." This 

 very standard of righteousness is possible, because 

 it is the Lord's standard. His strength is promised 

 his followers. The disciples were not to be kept by 



supernatura power, granted in some miraculous 

 way, but through their faith in their Lord's help and 

 promises, and their own plain Christian endeavor. 

 It was only ns they put themselves into God's hands, 

 and strove earnestly to keep his commandments, 

 that they fulfilled the conditions of being kept. The 

 life-boat saves a ship's crew from drowning. They 

 would have gone down with the wreck but for the 

 life-boat; they would have gone down notwithstand- 

 ing the boat, had they refused to get into the boat. 

 " He who does the will of the Father, shall know of 

 the doctrine." If we pray, "Lead us not into tempt- 

 ation," and then run where temptation is, we can 

 not honestly add, " deliver us from evil." 



The Lord uses moans which are not at variance 

 with our nature. He keeps us by awakening love 

 in our hearts to.^ard him. What does love do? It 

 leads us to imitate those whom we love. The re- 

 semblance is often surprising between those who 

 have spent years of happy married life together. 

 They grow even to look alike. Love imitates its ob- 

 ject. So those who love Christ unconsciously imi- 

 tate him. They grow more and more like him. This 

 imitative power of love is one of the means which 

 God uses to keep us from the evil of the world. But 

 love also seeks to please the one upon whom it rests. 

 Saciifices are readily made, that the person loved 

 may be gratified. 



A recent writer has said, "The enthusiasm of love, 

 directed by good sense and sustained by holy princi- 

 ple, has made men victors in the severest trials, as 

 they have grasped the banner and pressed forward 

 in the name of the Lord." There is, then, this un- 

 conscious imitation of Christ, and there is also the 

 voluntary effort to please Chn:ir ; this twofold pow- 

 er of love which reaches us in the world. 



These are by no means the only methods which 

 the heavenly Father uses in answering Christ's 

 prayer; but I desire particularly to emphasize this 

 power of the love for Christ in keeping us from evil. 

 If we can only grasp this thought; if we can only 

 have in our hearts this l^v^-, it will hold us amid the 

 temptations of life as a needle is held to the pole. 



In conclusion, let me say that this scripture teach- 

 es that Christians are not to seek escape from the 

 hardships of lie by retirement. Their place is 

 among men. The gospel is for those who are busy. 

 Its very object is to keep busy men from the evil 

 which is in the world. It is powerful, because it pre- 

 sents the powerful love of Christ, and awakens a 

 corresponding love in the soul. Paul stood on a rock 

 in the midst of the tossing sea of uncertainties and 

 temptation <»h9n he could honestly say, " Nay, in all 

 these things are we more than conquerors through 

 him that loved us; for I am persuaded, that neither 

 death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 

 powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 

 height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be 

 able to separate us from the love of God which is in 

 Christ Jesus our Lord." 



There you have it, friends ; God wants 

 you rightjn this busy world, probably right 

 where you are now. That is, so far as out- 

 side thinjis are concerned. OF course, he 

 does not want you among any sin and wick- 

 edness that is of your own making, but 

 he wants you to battle manfully with the 

 sin and evil of the world. Are you on that 

 rock on which Paul stood V Do you feel 

 every day that, through God's guidance, you 

 can say you are more than conqueror V Po 



