THE VICTORY LIry Vv. MAHOOD DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY = Gift of Dr. & Mrs. James H. Semans THE VICTORY LIFE (Specially Adapted for New Converts) BY J. W. MAHOOD, Evancenisr Author of “THE ART OF SOUL-WINNING,” Etc. “*Tn all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us”’ “Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’’ ¥ CINCINNATI: JENNINGS AND GRAHAM NEW YORK: EATON AND MAINS Co mg Mather, ELIZABETH MAHOOD, WHO IN OHILDHOOD AND YOUTH TURNED MY STEPS TOWARD GoD AND HEAVEN; AND Ex mg Wife, MARY MIRIAM MAHOOD, WHO SHARES WITH ME THE TOILS AND JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED AUTHOR'S NOTE. Tue New Convert must be given a proper viewpoint if he is to live a useful Christian life. He must come to see the possibilities in this life, and to desire its highest ideals. He must learn quickly that victory is possible. - The lapse of some into lives of indifference and worldliness, so soon after a religious awak- ening, is often due to lack of a true conception of what the Master expects of them, and of what the Christian life really is. That the newly awakened soul may be helped to live the Victory Life, this volume is written. It is arranged in twelve chapters— a study for each of twelve weeks following the revival. In the weekly Converts’ Class, one chapter may be reviewed and discussed, the Bible character for the week studied, and the memory verses recited. THE PLAN 2 Week 1. Tue Victoryor Prayer, - - - 17 Week 2. Tue Vicrory oF PRAIsE, - - ~ 27 Week 3. Tue Victory or Fairs, - . - 87 Week 4. Tue Victory orLovre, - - - 46 Week 5. Tue Victory oF OBEDIENCE, - - 54 Week 6. Tue Victory or CouRAGE, - - 63 Week 7. Tue Victory oF ZEAL, - “ - =. 3B Week 8. Tue Victory or SetF-SacriFICcE, - 81 Week 9. Tue Victory or SUFFERING, > - 80 Week 10. Tue Victory or Purity, - - - 97 Week 11. Tue Victory or TEMPERANCE, - - 105 Week 12. Tur Victory or PowER, = - = 112 FOREWORD. Tue Christian Life is the only Victory Life. Sooner or later, life from any other standpoint means defeat. And who wishes defeat? “Vic- tory, or Death!” has been the battle-cry of many a patriot; but when Jesus Christ walked forth from the tomb in Joseph’s garden, leading captivity captive, he had made possible abso- lute and eternal victory for every citizen of his kingdom. Our victorious Lord has said, “ Lo, I am with you alway.” With this assurance, we deed not fear the mightiest legions of death and hell. Now, with confidence, every child of God may shout, “We are more than con- querors through him that loved us.” The redemptive and saving work of the Son of God is perfect. He is “able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” Many professing Christians go stum- bling from one defeat to another, instead of going from victory to victory. Did we all appropriate divine grace and strength, so gen- erously provided by the sacrifice of Calvary, we might all say, at the sunset of earthly life, 9 10 Tuer Victory Lirr. “T have fought a good fight; I have kept the faith.” A good Presbyterian lady, the daughter of a minister, wrote this author a note, in which she said: “I have long stood on the border, and looked over into the Victory Land. Now I have come into full possession; I am conscious of daily victory through Christ.” The new convert must not think of the Christian life as a playground, or a picnic. Every step of the way will be contested by the devil and his legions. We have enlisted under Emmanuel’s banner, not for dress-parade, but for a mighty warfare; and we shall soon discover that ** Angels our march oppose, Who still in strength excel; Our secret, sworn, eternal foes, Countless, invisible.’’ But our glorified Leader has provided an in- vincible armor (Eph. vi); and if we but fol- low him closely, he will lead us from victory to victory until the Crowning Day. a a WEEK 1. THE VICTORY OF PRAYER. Cuaracter Stupy: Jesus. (Gospel by Luke.) Memory Verse: But thou, when thou pray- est, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matt. vi, 6.) We can never know the privilege of prayer, nor the victory of prayer, until we have stud- ied the prayer-life of the Son of man. He taught his disciples to pray by example as well as by precept. On the mountain-side, keeping the Morning Watch; in the wilderness, battling with the tempter; in the temple, with the shadow of the cross on his pathway; in lonely Gethsemane, in the throes of his agony; and on Calvary, praying for his enemies with ex- piring breath, Jesus teaches us to pray. He triumphed when he prayed. Somay we. The ages prior to the Savior’s coming had recorded 18 14 Tue Victory Lirs. many victories for prayer. Time would fail to tell of Enoch, and Abraham, and Jacob, and Elijah, and David, and Daniel. In the Old Testament the man of prayer is always the man of power, and the man of power, always the man of prayer. But Jesus showed us how we may all walk with God, and al/ have power with God. Jesus taught seven great lessons in prayer, which every young Christian should learn: 1. God delights to hear and answer the prayers of his children. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?’ This lesson is emphasized in many places in the Bible. “The prayer of the upright is his delight.” “The eyes of the Lord are upon the right- eous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” “ And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Having been pardoned and adopted into the family of God, no earthly parent is more con- cerned for his children than is our Heavenly Father for us. This lesson has been emphasized again and Tur Viorory oF PRAYER. 15 again in human history. During the last hun- dred years there has been no more illustrious example of the prayer-life than that of George Mueller, of Bristol. This man of God built up a great system of orphanages; housed, clothed, and fed thousands of children; while God, in answer to fervent prayer, always pro- vided the means. The work of J. Hudson Taylor, of the China Inland Mission, may also be studied with profit, if we wish to see how God can take care of his own and provide for their needs. But we have been so faithless and unbeliev- ing when our Heavenly Father is more anxious to give than we are to receive! In a certain home was a little girl of seven, who had been dumb from infancy. Her mother was dead, and her father, a wealthy business man, was unwilling to allow his child to be sent to a deaf-and-dumb institution. By a sort of sign- language, they understood each other. But it became necessary that the father should be absent in Europe a whole year. Friends ad- vised that the little girl be placed in a home for the deaf and dumb; which was done, the father thinking she would be taught the sign- language, but never dreaming that she would be able to speak. The year had passed, and on 16 Tue Victory Lirs. a certain day the child was told that her father was coming for her. She stood at the window until she saw him coming up the walk. Then she ran out and threw herself into his arms, and, putting her lips to his ear, whispered, “Papa, I love you!” The man was startled, and overcome with joy. He fell upon the walk, and they carried him in. But all day long he laughed and cried be- times for joy, as he said, “She has spoken, and she says she loves me.” But our Heavenly Father loves us as no earthly parent can pos- sibly love; and in his Word he tries to make us understand his delight when we, who have be- come his loving and obedient children, speak into his ear our assurances of love and our petitions for help. 2. We are to ask in the name of Jesus. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do.” What confidence is this the Savior has in us that he should give us the free use of his name! The clerk who has been authorized by his employer to use his name must have the confidence of that employer. But here Jesus Christ has given us access to his eternal riches. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman says that after a revival campaign in his own church he was much worn in body. His official board gave Tue Victory oF PRAYER. 17 him a month’s vacation for recuperation. He was about to leave for the Far West when a member of his Church called and placed a slip of paper in his hand. Dr. Chapman thought it a letter of introduction to some friend in the West, but to his surprise found a check prop- erly signed, with the space for the amount left blank. The pastor thanked his friend, but said, “Is there not some mistake?” “No,” said the gentleman, “you just keep that check, Dr. Chapman, and when you need money fill in the amount and it will be honored.” Jesus Christ has given us access to the riches of heaven by the free use of his name. All the infinite re- sources of grace and wisdom and glory are at our disposal. But the most pitiable thing on earth is that there are so many professing Christians who are poor and miserable and naked, while the Lord has given access to such bounty. 3. We are to ask in faith. “Therefore I say unto you, all things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.” And what is faith but tak- ing God at his word—counting it done. Our Heavenly Father would sooner let every star fall from heaven than disappoint a soul who trusts in him. To absolutely trust God and 2 18 Tuer Victory Lire. stand upon the promises without a doubt is to be invincible. “All things are possible to him that believeth.” Upon a narrow mountain pathway a traveler followed his guide, until they came to where a ledge of rock jutted out across their way. The guide sprang nimbly around it, but the tray- eler hesitated. Then the guide, stooping down and putting his hand by the side of the rock, said: “Now, stepon my hand, and then around on the path.” “I will not do that,” said the traveler; your hand might not be able to hold me, and I would be dashed to death.” “Never mind,” said the guide, “that hand never lost a man.” The hand of Jesus Christ never failed to rescue and save and keep the man or woman who trusts in him. It is ours, then, to believe when we pray, and he will not, he can not, disappoint us. 4. We are to take time to prevail with God. This lesson is emphasized in Luke xviii, 1-8. It had been emphasized many times in the his- tory of Israel. Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Covenant at Jabbok’s brook, until the break of day, and prevailed. And the Son of God left us an example in prevailing prayer when on the mountain by night he poured out his soul to the Father, and when in Geth- Tue Vicrory or PRAYER. 19 semane he endured the agony, and by prayer prevailed. That men may now prevail with God has been proven again and again in the history of the Christian Church. John Knox knew this secret, and no wonder the wicked queen feared his prayers more than an army. Martin Lu- ther spent two hours in prayer each morning, and having prevailed with God, feared not the whole Roman hierarchy, but could say, “I will go to Worms if there be as many devils there as there are tiles upon the housetops.” George Whitefield lived in the atmosphere of prayer, and tens of thousands were converted under his ministry. O, this blessed ministry of intercession! Stephen prayed and Saul of Tarsus was con- verted; Monica prayed and her son was deliy- ered from the prison house of sin. In a little town in Scotland the Christian people spent the whole night in prayer, and the next day, in an open-air service, five hundred people were converted. Many years ago some godly people in Massachusetts, who were distressed for the unsaved, spent an entire night in prayer, and the next day when President Edwards preached on “Sinners in the hands of an angry God,” men seized the pillars of the church as if to 20 Tue Victory Lire. prevent their feet slipping into hell. Over a hundred years ago a number of students in Yale University rose up each morning before daybreak, and, through the long winter months, pleaded with God for a revival. The revival came, and it is said that every student in the University surrendered to Christ. Dr. J. G. K. McClure tells about an invalid woman residing at Springfield, Illinois, who had been bed-ridden for seventeen years, and was almost helpless. For many years she had been praying to God in a general way to save souls. One day she asked for pen and paper. “She wrote down the names of fifty-seven ac- quaintances. She prayed for each of these by name three times a day. She wrote them let- ters telling them of her interest in them. She also wrote to Christian friends, in whom she knew these persons had confidence, and urged them to speak to these persons about their soul’s welfare and to do their best to persuade them to repent and believe. She had unques- tioning faith in God. In her humble, earnest dependence upon him she thus interceded for the unsaved. In time every one of those fifty- seven persons avowed faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior.” And did we have more men and women now who understood the secret of pre- Tue Victory oF PRAYER. 21 vailing with God revivals would break out everywhere, and the kingdom of our Christ would come speedily. 5. We are to pray to get victory over tempta- tion. “Pray that ye enter not into tempta- tion.” (Luke xxii, 40.) Many a man is utterly defeated in the battle with sin who would have triumphed had he met the temptation with prayer. Had the disciples who went with their Master into Gethsemane, on that eventful night, been praying instead of sleeping, they would not have forsaken their Lord so hastily, nor have suffered the shame of denial. It is when the devil catches us without the armor of prayer that he makes his deadly as- saults, and overcomes us. When the lamp of prayer burns low the soul is most easily snared. There is many a despairing one who cries out, “Tniquities are too strong for me,” or, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ who, if he would fly to Christ in this hour of temptation, would find at the mercy-seat victory and joy. An old-time Methodist class-leader used to give this advice to the new converts in his class: “When you are tempted to do wrong look up and say, ‘Jesus, help me, and he will always hear.” Many a \victory has been won 22 Tuer Victory Lire. by observing this simple rule. It is said of Robert Hall that, as a lad, he had a violent temper. One day he was so troubled that he went into a quiet place to pray. He said: “O, Lord, calm my mind.” His prayer was an- swered. He gained the victory over his pas- sion, and in after days was known as a man of sweet and gentle disposition. 6. We are to have stated times and seasons Sor special prayer. “Enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secrct, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.” Of Jesus it is said: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” And if our divine Lord needed to keep the Morning Watch, how much more do we. No man or woman can afford to enter into the duties and conflicts of daily life with- out first waiting before God in the secret place for Bible reading and prayer. All Christians should keep the Morning Watch. Nor can we afford to neglect family worship. Every home should have its altar, where the family may gather at least once each day. In these busy days many family altars have been thrown down, and in their stead have risen, as Tue Victory or PRAYER. 123 in Israel’s days of backsliding, altars to gold, and lust, and worldly amusement. And God pity the home from which children and young people go out into the world without the mem- ory of a family altar. After General Clinton B. Fisk was married he became so engrossed in business that he almost forgot about God, until one evening his little three year old daughter came and knelt at his knee to say her evening prayer. The young father was embarrassed to hear the child say “God bless papa and mamma.” But he was more embarrassed when she climbed on his knee, and putting her arms about his neck, said “Papa, why don’t you pray?’ Mr. Fisk put the child down without answering her question, and went off to the bank to balance his books. When he came home that night he said to his wife, “Jenny, did you hear the question that Mary asked me to-night?’ “Yes, Clinton, I heard it,” said Mrs. Fisk. “ Well, wife, I’ve been thinking it all over, and I’ve concluded that with God’s help we will have the prayer in this home we ought to have. If you will get the Bible, we will begin now.” They did so, and never afterwards did Clinton B. Fisk neglect family worship. Nor can we afford to neglect the week night 94 Tuer Vireaae Lirr. prayer-meeting. At least one evening each week between Sabbaths should be sacredly set apart for this purpose. It is essential to spirit- ual development, and, when neglected, is al- most sure to result in loss of spiritual interest and growth. No mere social occasion, nor society engagement, should be allowed to in- terfere with our attendance upon this week night means of grace. 7. But the real secret of victory in prayer is abiding in Christ. “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” “He who -prays well must live well.” The mere repeti- tion of words is not prayer, and will avail nothing. There must be a Christ-centered life and a sincere desire behind every prayer. But how many seem satisfied with the mere form of prayer, instead of having the Christ-life! A lady, who was absent from home for a few days, had left her little four-year-old girl in charge of the nurse. One day, while the little tot was playing about in the kitchen, the cook stumbled over her, and spoke sharply to her. She ran upstairs, crying. Presently the nurse came in from the laundry, and went to search for the child. She found her asleep on Tuer Victory or Prayer. 25 the floor of her mother’s room, hugging her mother’s old red wrapper. When she awoke, the nurse asked what she was doing with the old red wrapper. The child replied, “ Well, I wanted my mamma, and when I could n’t have my mamma, I wanted something like my mamma.” How many are contented with the mere garments of prayer—the form of words! No wonder many prayers go unanswered. Mr. Moody once related this incident con- cerning his own little son: “My wife came down one evening and said she had had some trouble with one of the children. He was not willing to obey, and he had gone off to bed without asking her forgiveness. I went up and sat down by the side of the little child, and said, ‘Did you pray to-night? ‘I said my prayers.’ ‘Did you pray? ‘I said my prayers.’ ‘ Did you pray? ‘Well, papa, I told you that I said my prayers.’ ‘Yes, I heard you; but did you pray? “* Well, now, said I, ‘Are you going to go off tosleep without praying? After astruggle he said, ‘I wish you would call mamma.’ She came up and was glad to forgive him, and then he wanted to get out of bed and pray. He had ‘said his prayers,’ but now he wanted to ‘ pray.’ ”» 26 Tue Vicrory Lire. How few there are who really abide in Christ, and have his constant fellowship! So little Bible study, and so little meditation! When we are doers of the Word as well as hearers, then we keep his commandments; and Jesus said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.” Christ, then, has full possession of us, and we have yielded in complete submission to his blessed will. Then we become invincible. We prevail with God. So did Daniel, and Paul, and Knox, and Lu- ther, and Wesley, and Catherine of Sienna, and David Livingstone; and so may we. WEEK 2. THE VICTORY OF PRAISE. Cuaracter Stupy: David. Memory Verse: I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Psa. xxxiv, 1.) Song is the language of victory. The soul that sings triumphs. Singing, when not pros- tituted from its holy purpose, is divine. Could we poor mortals only hear a little better, or could this earthy wadding be removed from our ears, we might enjoy the music of the skies. For it may be that God has set all the swinging worlds to some glorious symphony; and it may be that the morning stars still shout their hallelujahs. God would have us live lives of praise. The devil has very little chance to get into a heart that is resonant with holy song. That eccen- tric but consecrated Welsh preacher, Christ- mas Evans, has left us a beautiful illustration of the power of Christian song. He says: “I saw the unclean spirit, rising like a winged 27 98 Tux Victory Lire. dragon, circling in the air, and seeking a rest- ing-place. He spies a young man in the bloom of life and rejoicing in his strength, seated on the front of his cart, going for a load of lime. ‘There he is! said the old dragon. ‘His veins are full of blood, and his bones of marrow; I will throw into his bosom sparks from hell; I will set all his passions on fire; I will lead him from bad to worse, until he shall perpetrate every sin; I will make him a mur- derer, and his soul shall sink, never again to rise, in the lake of fire’ By this time I see it descend with a fell swoop towards the earth ; but, nearing the youth, the dragon heard him sing: ““* Guide me, O thou great Jehovah! Pilgrim through this barren land: IT am weak, but thou art mighty ; Hold me with thy powerful hand. Strong Deliverer, Be thou still my strength and shield!’ ‘A dry, dry place this, says the dragon; and away he goes. But I see him again hovering about in the air, and casting about for a suit- able resting-place. Beneath his eye there is a flowery meadow, watered by a crystal stream, and he descries among the kine a maiden about eighteen years of age, picking up here and Tua Vicrory or Praise. 29 there a beautiful flower. ‘There she is!’ says Apollyon, intent upon her soul. ‘I will poison her thoughts; she shall stray from the paths of virtue ; she shall think evil thoughts and be- come impure; she shall become a lost creature in the great city, and at last I will cast her down from the precipice into everlasting burn- ings. Again he took his downward flight; but he no sooner came near the maiden than he heard her sing the following words, with a voice that might have melted the rocks: “** Other refuge have I none; Hangs my helpless soul on Thee ; Leave, ah! leave me not alone; Still support and comfort me.”’ ‘ This place is too dry for me,’ says the dragon, and off he flies. Now he ascends from the meadow, like some great balloon, but very much enraged, and breathing forth ‘smoke and fire, and threatening ruin and damnation to all created things. ‘I will have a place to dwell in, he says, ‘in spite of decree, covenant, or grace.’ As he was thus speaking, he beheld a woman, ‘stricken in years,’ busy with her spinning-wheel at her cottage-door. ‘Ah, I see!’ says the dragon; ‘she is ripe for destruc- tion; she shall know the bitterness of the wail which ascends from the burning mar! of heli!’ 30 Tue Victory Lire. He forthwith alights on the roof of her cot; when he hears the old woman repeat with trembling voice, but with heavenly feeling, the words, ‘For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee.’ ‘This place is too dry for me,’ says the dragon, and away he goes again. . . . ‘In yonder cottage lies old William, slowly wasting away. He has borne ‘the heat and the burden, and altogether has had a hard life of it. He has very little reason to be thankful for the mercies he has received, and has not found serving God a very profit- able business; I know I can get him to “curse God and die.”’ Thus musing, away he flew to the sick man’s bedside; but, as he listened, he heard the words, ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.’ Mortified and enraged, the dragon took his flight, saying, ‘I will return to the place from whence I came.’” The Bible emphasizes in many places the value of holy song. Look at that scene in the history of Israel when God commanded Je- hoshaphat to set a choir of singers in the fore- front of his army; and as they sang, the Moab- Tuer Victory oF PRAISE. 81 ites and Ammonites melted away, smitten of the Lord. This recalls an incident in the battle of Waterloo, when, at a critical moment, Welling- ton discovered that the valiant Forty-second Highlanders were wavering. Instantly the Highland pipers were summoned to the firing line, and when those Scottish heroes heard the first strains of that martial music, they recov- ered themselves, reformed quickly in line, and, with a wild cheer, swept the field before them. Christian song has won many victories. Charles Wesley was once seized by a mob who carried him toward a bridge, intending to throw him into the river. But, as they went, their prisoner began to sing, and before the bridge was reached they put him down, and melted away. And was there not in this little incident a prophecy of how the Gospel hymns written by this saintly Christian poet should be the means of deliverance to many an im- prisoned soul? In his letter to the Colossians, Paul gives some explicit directions regarding singing. He tells us the purpose of song, how to sing, and what tosing. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and 32 Tur Victory Lirs. admonishing one another; in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” The purpose of Christian song is to edify and help others; not to entertain, but to teach and lead to a better life. Singing, with such a purpose, will have the inspiration of victory in it, and will have a charm for the soul, and a quickening imflu- ence upon the whole life. He who has once heard such singing, will easily recognize it again, for, compared with it, all other is like sounding brass. In that old, old story of mythology the si- rens sang so sweetly that the sailors in the ships, passing near, were charmed from their posts of duty, the vessels were wrecked, and the sirens gathered the spoil. When Ulysses came near he gave orders that his sailors’ ears be filled with wax, and then had himself bound to a mast, and so passed the island safely. But, when Orpheus, in search of the Golden Fleece, sailed near, he sang a sweeter song than sirens ever knew, and his sailors heeded not the music from the shore. So there may be in Christian song a power and a charm that will make all the world’s songs seem like the silliest nonsense. The voice that has been touched and tuned by the Spirit of God, thus having - Tuer Victory or Praise. 83 in it a heart melody, will possess a holy charm and inspiration. When Mr. Sankey was becoming famous as a gospel singer, the musical critics were quoted to prove that he knew little about music, and that his voice was untrained; but the Holy Spirit had put into that voice an element of power to touch human hearts such as no trained choir could ever hope to have. How much of the singing in our churches is a mere performance, and a mockery of holy worship! Singers are often trained, not to sing intelligently and helpfully, but to display the compass, the force, and elasticity of the voice, “squealing up to high C or down to low V,” while the words might belong to almost any language known to earth for aught the con- gregation can tell. And this prostitution of sacred song for the sake of entertainment, bears fruit in the desire for the introduction of all sorts of novelties into the churches to catch the curious. A great daily paper of New York City recently gave space to an editorial sug- gested by the introduction of a whistling solo as a part of the service in a prominent church of that city. The paper calls it a distinct step forward in “church vaudeville,” and tells how heartily the young lady was encored, and that 8 34 Tuer Victory Lirs. she responded with “The Mocking Bird.” Shame on the church and pastor who will per- mit such sacrilege in the place, and at the hour dedicated to holy worship! Paul says that we are to sing spzrztwal songs. How often the service of worship has been spoiled, and how often the Holy Spirit has been grieved by some silly sentimental ditty either before or after the sermon! At a large young people’s convention, an eminent minister preached a helpful and powerful sermon on the Holy Spirit. At the close of the sermon many were in tears, and the only fitting post- lude would have -been a consecration hymn, and a consecration prayer. But no sooner was the preacher seated than a young lady stepped to the front of the choir loft and began to sing something about “a little bird at sea,” in which there was neither sense nor devotion. And will it be wondered that the blessed effects of the sermon were largely dissipated, and a service which might have resulted in great and lasting good was shorn of its influence and power? Paul said, “Rejoice evermore,” and again, “In everything give thanks.” In the midst of the most adverse conditions Paul lived the life of praise, and was victor, Look at the two Tue Victory or PRAIsE. 85 missionaries in that old Philippian prison. They had been cruelly scourged and then thrust into a cell, and their feet fastened in the stocks. In a strange city, in a dark, damp prison cell, in the midst of bitter foes, yet Paul and Silas held a praise service that lasted until midnight. Then God sent an earthquake to loose their bonds and set them free. And if we would learn to rejoice in our prison cells of disappointment and sorrow and_ persecution God would set us free. Goethe’s mother used to say that when her son had a grief he turned it into a poem and so got rid of it. And we might turn our sorrows into hymns of praise, and find the burden gone. An aged man who had been a remarkable gospel singer went to the hospital for an opera- tion for cancer of the tongue. Before the anesthetic was administered he held up his hand and said: “ Wait a minute, doctor, I have something to say to you. When this is over will I ever sing again?” The doctor could not speak for emotion. He simply shook his head, while the tears filled his eyes. The sick man understood. He appealed to the doctor to lift him up. The doctor did so. Then he said: “I’ve had many a good time singing God’s ~ praises. I have one song to sing which will 36 Tue Victory Lire. be my last on earth. It will be a song of grati- tude and praise to God.” Then from the op- erating table he sang: **¢T’]l praise my Maker while I’ve breath, And when my voice is lost in death, Praise shall employ my nobler powers: My days of praise shall ne’er be past, While life and thought and being last, Or immortality endures.’ ” WEEK 3. THE VICTORY OF FAITH. CuHaracter Stupy: Moses. Memory Verses: Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. (Heb. xi, 1, R. V.) By faith Moses, when he was grown up, re fused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daugh: ter; choosing rather to be evil entreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fear- ing the wrath of the King: for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. (Heb. xi, 24-27.) And this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith. (John v, 4.) There is a faith that is essential to all civil- ization. Without it society and commerce and every happy home would fall in pieces. That 87 38 Tue Victory Lirs. which God has made the condition of our sal- vation is the most important element in all man’s relations with his fellows. Indeed, the man who proposes to go through life without faith will have a hard time. 2 “Tn an English town,” says Dr. A. C. Dixon, “a report got out that the bank was about to fail. Five hundred people ran for their depos- its on the same day. The pastor of the dis- senting Church in the town was invited by the bank directors to meet them. They said to him, ‘Sir, if these people press us to the wall, they will lose their money. If they don’t press us, we will pay every dollar.” The pastor said, ‘I will help you; I have some money, and I trust you’ He went home, got his money, came to the bank door, and, standing on the step, said, ‘Friends, you all know me; I have been living here twenty-five years, and I believe in this bank. Here are three hun- dred pounds that I am going to deposit. I believe the bank is good.’ In less than thirty minutesevery one of those people had dispersed, and the bank was saved by faith. Unbelief as to that bank was about to ruin it. The moment faith was implanted, the bank was saved. Railroads are saved by faith. Steam- boats are saved by faith. Your business, friend, Tue Vicrory or Fairs. 39 is saved by faith. Every good thing on earth is saved by faith. And when the infidel rails at the religion of Jesus Christ because we are saved by faith, he is railing at every institu- tion that this country holds dear.” And if it be easy for us to accept human testimony or authority, why should it be diffi- cult for us to accept a higher testimony—the witness of God himself? But that is faith— taking God at his word. Faith begets confidence and trust. Dr. T. L. Cuyler illustrates clearly when he says: “When a miner looks at the rope that is to lower him into the deep mine, he may coolly say, ‘I have faith im that rope as well made and strong.’ But when he lays hold of it, and swings down by it into the tremendous chasm, then he is believing on the rope. Then he is trusting himself to the rope. It is not a mere opinion—it is an act. The miner lets go of everything else, and bears his whole weight on those well-braided strands of hemp. Now that is faith.” Faith, in a general sense, takes in the invisi- ble world, and the entire revelation of God. It might better be called belief, being largely an intellectual act. It is possible, however, for a man to have this head faith, and be far 40 Tue Victory Lire. from being a Christian. Intellectual assent never saves a soul. Even the devils have head faith, for they “believe and tremble.” And persons are sometimes found with a mere in- tellectual belief who are living worldly lives, who doubt the divine nature of Christ, who disbelieve in the future punishment of the wicked, and who reject certain portions of the inspired Word of God. Indeed, a man may have an intellectual faith and be anything but a Christian. But justifying or saving faith is largely of the heart, and has always a single object. That object is Christ. To be sure, the intellect and will must enter into this faith. Jesus said: “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching.” (John vii, 17.) And the apostle said: “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he isa rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. xi, 6.) But it is “with the heart that man believeth unto righteousness,” and “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” This heart faith, or saving faith, is always preceded by repentance, and the Bible always gives repentance the place of priority. Tue Victory or Fairu. 41 “Repent ye and believe the gospel.” And while it is by faith we are saved, yet one with- out the other is incomplete. Having repented of our sins, faith clings to Christ as Savior with filial love and childlike trust, and takes from God, through Christ, the pardon for sin, and all other gospel blessings which he has so freely promised. Now the Bible teaches: 1. That faith is a shield. “Withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.” (Eph. vi, 16.) Read that wonderful eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and see how that glorious host of heroes and heroines “ through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteous- ness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.” In the famous Eiffel Tower there is an aerial chamber where a person may sit during a thunder-storm without the least possibility of danger. The lofty:summit attracts the elec- tric currents, and the lightnings play on every side, but the chamber is so constructed that, inside, one is absolutely safe, although sur- 42 Tue Victory Lire. rounded by an electric blaze. And faith be- comes a four-sided shield, a strong tower, a sure defense, “an impenetrable refuge, the en- chanted chamber of victory.” 2. That faith brings peace. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.” (Isa. xxvi, 3.) So many lives are not under control, but, like the drifting vessel, answer no helm! Faith -means soul-calm. Faith means self-control. Where faith is perfect, there will be no losing the temper. “Perfect peace” and the losing of the temper can not be reconciled. “And the peace of God, which passeth all under- standing, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” A living faith in Christ will bring to the door of the life a di- vine sentinel who will stand guard, and we shall be ever under control. 3. Lhat faith is a purifier. “ Purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts xv, 9.) Belief means knowledge, not the blind acceptance of some- thing not known to be true, but an intelligent and reasonable knowledge of Christ. And that knowledge can not help but purify the life. As Raphael admired and studied and be- lieved in Angelo until he partook of his genius, Tue Vicrory or Fairu. 43 so we cling to and love Christ until we become like him. A living faith will show itself in a spirit of expectancy and confidence. 1. In the daily life of fidelity to God. Of Abraham it is said, “Who in hope believed against hope.” He lived on the victory side in spite of discouragement. He overcame doubt. He believed that nothing was impos- sible with God. When Daniel Webster was speaking at Bunker Hill the great crowd thronged toward him until there began to be danger that the stand would collapse. Webster shouted, “ Keep back! keep back!” “It is im- possible,” said some one in the crowd. “ Noth- ing is impossible at Bunker Hill!” shouted the orator. And, involuntarily, the great throng moved back. So, no matter how untoward the circumstances in which we are placed, the life will be filled with the blessed expectancy of faith, and difficulties will vanish, and obstacles will be overcome. Sorrow and care and suf- fering may crowd hard upon us, but even these will cower before this triumphant confidence in God. 2. In all public effort in behalf of the un- saved. Ministers will expect people to be saved 44 Tue Victory Lirs. under the proclamation of the Word. They will look for conversions in the regular services of the sanctuary and in the prayer-meetings. The same spirit of expectancy will possess the Church membership. Sunday-school teachers and workers in the young people’s societies will ever keep the salvation of souls in the forefront of all their efforts. In a Church possessed of a living faith it will be impossible for months and years to go by and no souls be born into the new life. The humblest circum- stances and occasions will be made to serve the Redeemer’s kingdom, and be turned to the interest of immortal souls. It wasa cold, rainy Sunday night in England many years ago, and the pastor of a certain Church hesitated to go to the service. But he did go. There were only a scattered few in the pews. At first he thought to dismiss the service without any sermon, but finally went on. A boy in the gallery heard the text and the sermon, and was converted. That boy was Charles H. Spurgeon, who led thirteen thou sand people into his own Church, and was the means of the conversion of tens of thousands the world around. 3. In the hour of death. Death has no fear for the Christian who knows the fullness of Tue Victory or Farru. 45 faith. His Lord is the conqueror of death. Death is simply a translation into his presence who brought to sin and death eternal defeat, So Paul could say, “ For to me to live is Christ. and to die is gain.” ““Why be afraid of death as though your life were breath? Death but anoints your eyes with clay. O glad surprise ! Is sleep a thing you dread? Yet, sleeping, you are dead Till you awake and rise, here or beyond the skies.’ WEEK 4. THE VICTORY OF LOVE. CHARACTER Stupy: John. ' Memory Verses: Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth. (1 Cor. xiii, 4-8.) Perhaps the most beautiful of all the tradi- tions concerning the later life of John the Apostle is that which relates that, when he was an old man at Ephesus, the disciples would carry him into their place of worship and ask him to preach to them. But the aged apostle would simply say, “Little children, love one another.” And when they would urge him to tell them more of what Jesus said and did, he would say: “Little children, love one another; for all that Jesus said and all that Jesus did is ; 46 Tue Victory oF Love. 47 comprehended in these words, ‘ Little children, love one another.’ ” John is the apostle of love. It was he who remembered the Savior’s words, “ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.’ And what would we do without John iii, 16? Christ’s kingdom is founded upon love, and love triumphs. For that reason neither Mo- hammedanism, nor Buddhism, nor Confu- cianism can stand before Christianity. Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment was this: “ Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself.” And Paul was but expanding upon this command- ment when he wrote the thirteenth of First Corinthians. When we keep this command- ment of our Lord, then we shall live in the fourth chapter of John’s first letter, and in the thirteenth of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, and know the victory of Love. But there are some things which keep us out of the victory of love. 1. Evil Speaking. Naturalists tell us that the snail has its teeth on its tongue, and that upon the tongues of some snails as many as 48 Tue Viotory Lire. thirty thousand teeth have been found. The snail rolls its tongue up like a ribbon, and, of course, its teeth are very small, but they saw through the toughest leaves with ease. There are some men and women who have teeth on their tongues, and are ever ready to use them. There are pillows wet with tears, and eyes red with weeping, and hearts broken, and homes ruined, and lives blasted, all because of the unbridled human tongue. And the devil has no more remorseless instrument of torture at his hand than the tongue of the gossip, the backbiter, or the slanderer. Shame to say, some professing Christians become the ready tools of Satan, and bring disgrace upon their Master’s name, and keep many a soul out of the kingdom. On a railroad train, we fell into conversation with an intelligent gentleman of large business interests in certain Western cities. Presently our conversation turned to more serious mat- ters, and when asked whether he were a Chris- tian, said, “ No, I can not say that lam. And I do not know but that I am as good as most Church members. Now, for instance, yester- day I got on board the train to ride into Chicago, and there came into the coach and sat beside me, a woman, whom I knew very Tue Vicrory or Love 49 well, and who is prominent in Church work. She claims to be a Christian, and knows that I am not a Christian, but in all that three hours ride she did not do another blessed thing but gossip and tell tales about her friends and neighbors, until, when the train reached the city 1 was heartily glad to get away from her. Now, why did that woman who professes to be a follower of Christ, spend all the time in gossip and have nothing to say about her Master?” And who can answer that man’s question? The sin of evil speaking among Church members not only keeps many out of the victory of love, but keeps many a soul from Christ. It would be a good plan for us all to adopt the rule of Hannah More, who would say to the tale bearer, “Come, we will go and ask if that be true,” and forthwith insist that the peddler of evil tales go with her to the person gossiped about. 2. The habit of complaining keeps many out of the victory of love. Some people always look through green goggles and become chronic growlers. If they ever get to heaven they will doubtless tind many things to criticise, for here they have nurtured the grumbling spirit until it has become a part of their nature. a 50 Tue Victory Lire. There is a story about an old farmer who said that while he always put several barrels of good apples in his cellar in the autumn, yet he never saw a good apple. His wife was a frugal body, and would pick the apples over every few days bringing up the partly decayed and spotted ones for the table, so that she just kept pace with the rot in the fruit, and the old farmer had to eat partly decayed apples all winter. And some people seem to see only decay in everything. Indeed they live on the “rottenness of pessimism.” They carry about continually the spirit of complaint. Nothing suits them. The weather is too hot or too cold; the Church is too large or too small; the preacher is too young or too old; the ser- mon is too long or too short. Their faces begin to reflect their spirit and soon remind one of a coffin lid, while their words always depress, and make us wish to shun their com- pany. O! these who have contracted this habit of complaining can never know the victory of love. 3. Malice will keep us out of the victory of love. And nothing will do it more effectually. Malice begets hatred, and there is no surer, shorter way to perdition than by the way of Tue Victory or Love. 51 hatred. Malice indicates littleness of soul. How many a man has allowed envy and jeal- ousy to be his conquerors! It takes a great soul to pity and forgive. Look at David. In the cave, he came upon his bitterest enemy, Saul; he had him completely in his power; he could have taken his life in an instant. But David’s great heartedness conquered. Saul was cruel and malicious; David was magnani- mous, and had a right to be called a hero. But there are so many who allow a bitter spirit to keep them out of the victory of love, and defeat the highest purposes of life. 4. Selfishness will keep us out of the victory of love. The self life and the Christ life are opposites. Jesus said, “If any man would come after me let him deny himself.” Let self be mastered, be crucified. And, indeed, there is nothing that will help us get the mastery over self like a baptism of love. Self is touchy. Self is easily offended. Self is extremely sensitive. Self hates enemies. Self and love can not reign in the same heart. But let love come in, then self will have to go, for love will flood the heart. “The love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that was given unto 52 Tue Victory Lirr. us,” says the apostle. And self can not stay before the pouring out, or flooding, of God’s love. Love will triumph when everything else fails. “The greatest of these is love.” Love’s sacrifice will be joyously made, and love’s burden easily borne, and there will be nothing that can not be surrendered for Jesus’ sake when his love reigns. A little boy stood by his mother’s bedside. She was very ill. He held her fevered hand in his. Out in the other room was the boy’s pet canary. He loved it. It would hop on his shoulder, and eat its food from his hand. The bird began to sing. A look of pain crossed the sick woman’s face. “What is it, Mamma?” said the boy. “Does n’t the bird sing sweetly ?” “O, my boy,” said the mother, “every note is like a throb of pain.” The boy loosed his hold upon her hand. He took the cage down and went out. In half an hour he returned, saying, “It will not hurt you any more, Mamma.” He had given it away to a neighbor’s boy. Love had con- quered. And there will not be any idol, or amusement, or evil habit that we will not be willing to give up for Jesus’ sake when love reigns. Everything that would grieve our Tue Victory or Love. 53 Lord must go. O, that we might know the victory of love! To be forgotten, and neglected ; to be in- sulted, and persecuted; to be misunderstood, and socially ostracized, and yet take it all in loving silence for Jesus’ sake—that is the victory of love. To be content with humble fare and solitude, and to endure suffering patiently and sweetly for Jesus’ sake—that is the victory of love. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 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.” WEEK 5. THE VICTORY OF OBEDIENCE. CuHaracter Stupy: Abraham. Memory Verszs: To obey is better than sac- rifice. (1 Sam. xv, 22.) But I wholly followed the Lord my God. (Josh. xiv, 8.) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matt. vii, 21.) More than fifty times it is said of Abraham that he obeyed God. God expects obedience. He is our Father. He knows best what we should do and be. That we may learn this lesson of obedience well, he has emphasized it again and again in his Word. Take a con- cordance and look up all the passages that speak of obedience, and write them out. Then write out the instances where punishment is visited upon the disobedient, and you will be surprised to know how God has emphasized obedience. 54 Tue Victory or OBEDIENCE. 55 But there are other ways in which God has emphasized this law of obedience. 1. Jn that all nature obeys him. He is the Creator of all things; and every created thing, as well as every law that rules in the mighty realms of his creation, is obedient to his will. In the beginning he said, “ Let there be light,” and it was so. He said, “ Let the waters bring forth abundantly,” and it was so. He said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven,” and it was so. When the Creator of worlds was here upon earth, incarnate, he spake to the winds, and they were still; he spake to the waters, and they were calm. And see with what precision do the shining worlds above move in their “unfenced courses,” obe- dient to his will,— ‘* Forever singing, as they shine, The hand that made us is divine.’’ For astronomical science has demonstrated that no day in the last two thousand years has differed from the average day by the hun- dredth part of a second. 2. By putting into human consciousness a knowledge that it is right to obey God. Even unsaved men, unless far gone in apostasy, ad- mit that men should yield obedience to God. 56 Tue Victory Lire. And they know when we Christians are obey- ing or disobeying him. Indeed, they some- times have higher standards of obedience for Christians than we have for ourselves. In British Columbia, an American consul had done a favor for two Chinamen, whereupon one of them offered him a cigar. But the other interposed, saying, “No, no; him no smokee — him Jesus man.” Would that all “Jesus men” had as high an ideal of clean- liness! 3. In that Christ was an example of perfect obedience. He said: “ My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” “T am among you as one that serveth.” “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” “I have glori- fied thee on earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” From the be- ginning to the end of his glorious ministry the Master was under a mighty constraint to do his Father’s will. It was the ruling prin- ciple of his life. And when his work on earth was done, he could say, as he hung upon the cross, “ It is finished.” There are some things necessary to implicit, cheerful obedience: 1. Love. True obedience must proceed from Tue Victory or OBEDIENCE. 57 the heart. “The hireling obeys for interest, the slave obeys for fear, but the child obeys for love.” A little child was told to bring her father’s slippers, but she did not want to'leave her play. When she did bring them, she came without a smile, saying, “I bringed ’em, papa, but I guess you need n’t say ‘thank you,’ ’cause I only did it with my hands; my heart kept on saying, ‘I won’t.’” And that is the way some people obey. But it is easy for the child who loves her parents supremely to obey. Love makes obedience a delight. What voice is sweeter than the voice of love? If we love God with all the heart, then his voice will have more charm for us than all the voices of the world, and we shall delight in his will. Love takes all the sternness out of justice, and all the hardness out of duty. 2. The surrender of the will. We must not desire our own way but God’s way. We must let him choose for us. His will is best. If he choose for us the path of joy, we will praise him; if he choose the path of suffering, we will patiently walk in it, counting ourselves happy to suffer in his name. A willing heart is closely bound up with an obedient mind. If all God’s children were living lives of entire surrender to his will, how speedily the king- 58 Tur Victory Lirr ‘dom of Christ would come into the world! If Abu Taher, with five hundred rebel Carma- thians, could meet and repulse the thirty thou- sand soldiers of the Caliph, because every man of the five hundred would instantly sacrifice his own life at the command of his leader, what could not our Lord Jesus Christ do with the great army of professing Christians, if each was fully submitted to his will? 3. The indwelling of Christ. “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” The Master’s presence makes obedience a delight. There is a story about an aged artist who had in his studio several young men. Once he went away to be gone several days. In his absence one young man conceived a noble picture. He tried to put it on canvas, but was unable to reach his ideal. Again and again he tried, but there was always something lacking. One evening he went home all discouraged. That night the master re- turned and took a look through the studio to see what the boys had been doing. His eye fell on this picture; he saw what it lacked, aud, with a few bold strokes, he completed it. Next morning when the young man entered the studio he cried, “The master has come! Tux Vicrory or OBEDIENCE. 59 The master has come!” “How do you know?” they said. “See that picture?” said the young man. “None but the master could do that!” So the presence of Jesus will help us reach our ideals, and make obedience a joy. His pres- ence will be our inspiration. His life will be our pattern. God has a plan for every life, but he can work out that plan only as we implicitly obey him. Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, a missionary to India, describes the making of the famous India rugs, and tells how the weaver, by long- continued hand labor and closest watchfulness, is able to produce a perfect pattern. “The rug, however large it be, is woven in one piece. The warp is stretched vertically upon the sim- ple loom. There is no shuttle. There is ne beam. The weaver sits, or stands, facing the perpendicular warp. The only light in the room is from a window behind the weaver, shining over his shoulders, full upon the grow- ing rug before him. With deft fingers he runs in the different colored woolen yarns into the warp in front of him, and, with a heavy wooden comb, combs it down to its place, and, with hand shears, clips off the too long, protruding yarn. As you stand behind his back, and at one side, out of his light, watching him, he 60 Tur Victory Lire. goes on, apparently forgetful of your presence, chanting to himself from memory the pattern he is weaving in as he swiftly inserts the threads, ‘six black, three brown, five red, seven white, and so on, as the hours go by. Now and then as he completes a figure, or part of one, he steps back to take a look and see if it is perfect; but, alas, he has made a slip. Some inches down where he has not been giv- ing due heed, his pattern is marred. Heaving a sigh, he again takes his place, and laboriously takes out the last half-hour’s or half-day’s work, and more carefully builds it over, for it must be perfect or it will not be accepted.” It is God’s will that our life should be “complete in him.” He has given us the perfect pattern, but how often we mar it by disobedience! We must study the Divine Pattern more carefully, and seek more light, so shall we “be changed into the same image from glory to glory.” Now there are three distinct rewards prom- ised in the Scripture to the obedient. 1 Answered prayer. “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” “And whatsoever we ask we receive because we keep his commandments.” And here may be found the reason for many unanswered prayers. Tue Victory oF OBEDIENCE. 61 There is not behind the prayer a life of obedi- ence. God will always set his seal upon the obedient, self-sacrificing life. He has shown us again and again what he will do for the man whom he can trust. J. Hudson Taylor, of the China Inland Mission, tells the following: “In November, 1886, we spent eight days in waiting upon God. We spent days of fasting, alternated with prayer, and we were led to pray to God to send one hundred missionaries. We were led to pray for one hundred missionaries to be sent out by our English board from Jan- uary to November. We were led to ask God to give £10,000 in addition to the income of previous years, and we asked for it to be given in such a manner—in such large sums—that the force of our staff might not be occupied in keeping accounts. God answered our prayers wonderfully. He sent us offers for more than six hundred missionaries, and at the end of the year over one hundred had gone. You ask, what about the income? God did not give us exactly the £10,000 we asked for, but gave us £11,000. And the £11,000 came in eleven contributions, the smallest amount being £500.” 2. The gift of the Holy Spirit. “Whom God hath given to them that obey him.” The Holy Spirit is given for Christian service, and 62 Tue Victory Lire. his power is manifest in action. He who does not propose to obey the Master’s command to be his witness and soul-winner, can not expect this gracious gift. No wonder many professing Christians know nothing of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If they have sought this Gift it has been simply that they may enjoy them- selves, or feel better. But only when we are willing to do the Master’s bidding, and be his witnesses to the unsaved multitudes about us, can we become possessors of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. 3. Deliverance from death. “He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” “If aman keep my word he shall never see death.” Jesus is king over death. And he will never allow death to hurt his obedient children. For every child of God death has now lost its sting, and the grave its victory. WEEK 6. THE VICTORY OF COURAGE. CxHaARAcTER Stupy: Joshua. Memory Verses: Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dis- mayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (Josh. i, 9.) I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me. (Phil. iv, 13.) A story is told of the great French soldier, Marshal Ney, who, when going into battle, found himself trembling from head to foot. He stopped, and, looking down at his smiting knees, said, “ You’re shaking, are you? Well, you would shake more if you knew where I’m going to take you.” Then he rushed to the front. Courage gets the mastery of the phys- ical feelings. Courage goes forward defying fear and difficulty. These are days of hero worship. Joshua was areal hero. He never faltered. He lit- erally obeyed the command of God to be 63 64 Tue Victory Lire. stroug and of a good courage. A careful study of his life will discover some reasons for his heroism. 1. He made the Word of God his daily coun- selor. The Lord had spoken to him in these words: “This book of the law shall not de- part.out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” There is no better guide book for the daily life, and there is no book that will inspire confidence and courage like the Word of God. It is the invincible “Sword of the Spirit,” and he who would be strong must make ita part of his armor,and know how to use it. 2. He never forgot that he had real foes to face and overcome. The man who thinks of life as a mere playground is not likely to win life’s battle. Paul said, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principal- ities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wick- edness in high places.” Is it not usual for those who live nearest to God and do most for Christ to have the severest temptations? The Tue Victory or CouRAGE. 65 devil bothers but little the Churck member who is doing nothing for his Lord; and it has well been said that “ when a professing Chris- tian sleeps the devil rocks the cradle.” Only constant wakefulness, constant watchfulness, and constant resistance of evil will bring vic- tory over spiritual foes. . 3. He cultivated decision of character. We see this in his conduct when he was a member of the committee of twelve sent to explore the Promised Land. He and Caleb brought in a minority report. He had made up his mind that however mighty the enemy, and dis- couraging the prospect, it was right to obey God. Therefore he was unfaltering in his purpose. So many trifle with that imperial attribute of our nature called the will, with the result that it becomes broken down or paralyzed ; and they who have trifled become enervated and enslaved to their physical feel- ings and desires. But to thoroughly believe God, and to make his promises a part of our very life, is to make the will like adamant. 4. He acted promptly. The hesitating sol- dier never makes a good soldier. Alexander the Great, when asked the secret of his suc- cess, answered, “ By not delaying ;” and Na- poleon said, “Every moment lost gives op- 5 66 Tuer Victory Tuite portunity for misfortune.” Promptness has won many a battle where delay would have been certain defeat. When we know where the path of duty lies, to hesitate to walk in it always gives the enemy of the soul the ad- vantage. When we become conscious of any sin in the life, it is folly to delay getting rid of it. When the serpent fastened itself upon Paul’s hand in Malta, he did not say, “ Now I must shake it off gradually.” That would have been folly. He shook it off at once. We must do that when sin fastens itself upon our lives. Delay courts defeat and death. 5. He had confidence in God. That will make any mana hero. With a consciousness that God is with him a man can fight alone and chase a thousand. Elijah trusted God, and, alone defied the prophets of Baal. Martin Luther trusted God and defied the whole Ro- man hierarchy. John Knox trusted God and defied the wicked queen. When a man comes to see that God is with him, then he knows that one imperial legion is mightier than all hell’s hosts. And we need courage. 1. To make the best of life. Joshua believed the land could be conquered no matter how great the difficulties. And difficulties always Tue Victory or CourRAGE. 67 vanish before true courage. Many young peo- ple find themselves confronted by barriers that seem to defy progress to the goal of their highest ambition for usefulness. The lack of education, and the lack of means to secure an education, and the lack of helpful friends are often barriers in the way. But courage will overcome the obstacles. Dr. Russell H. Conwell tells about a poor girl who made her living by weaving. While at her work she made up her mind to be a physician. She began to study. Many ob- stacles appeared in her way. Her Christian courage overcame them. She had passed only to the tenth grade in the public schools. But in a few years that young woman was grad- uated as a physician, and she now fills a place of great usefulness and blessing. 2. To confess our sins. It is not necessary to publish all our meanness to the world, but when we have sinned against a fellow man it becomes our duty to confess that wrong to the person wronged and make restitution. And there is nothing in all the world that is more indicative of nobility of character than a read- iness to confess our sins, and show a spirit of true penitence. Yet so many fail here. Dr. J. G. K. McClure well says: “The man whe 68 Tue Victory Lirs. having sinned conquers all the passion and pride of his soul and becomes a sweet, true, pure penitent is a victor over whom angels rejoice. Thousands of men who have made a success in their own field of labor fail to win life’s best victories because they never bow before God and say, ‘ Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.’ They are as stout-hearted as the Pharisee, and as self deceived. They forget the bitternesses they have cherished toward their fellow-men, they overlook all the omis- sions of goodness that have marked their lives, they do not consider how terrible is their present and their past ingratitude to God for all his goodness to them, and so they lack that gentlest, most beautiful, and most exalting virtue of penitence.” 3. To be true to Christ. “ What would Jesus have me do?” would be a good motto for every young Christian. In these days of compromise in business life, and social life, we need men and women whose fidelity to Christ will be unswerving. And we have some. There are Joshuas who would lose a right hand, or a right eye, rather than deny their Lord. A Christian wholesale merchant, who had been taking an active part in a temperance cam- paign, was confronted by the agent of a cer- Tue Victory or CovurRaGE. 69 tain retail firm who informed him that unless he would cease his temperance crusade this retail firm must withdraw their trade. , The wholesale merchant looked the agent straight in the eye as he said, “You go and tell your firm that my goods are for sale, and not my principles.” William E. Dodge, the great phi- lanthropist, was at one time a member of a railway corporation that proposed to run Sun- day trains. Mr. Dodge objected, and, when he saw he was in the hopeless minority, he said, “Well, gentlemen, you can run Sunday trains, and you can put a banner on every engine with the inscription, ‘We violate the law of God for the dividends,’ but, as for me, I am out of it.” And he at once withdrew from the company. We need a whole generation of men in business life, and women in social life, who will be always uncompromising in their fidelity to Christ. 4. To rebuke sin. When Joshua stood be- tween Ebal and Gerizim, and had drawn that wonderful picture of God’s goodness and faith- fulness, he said then to the people, “ Now you may serve other gods,” “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.” Then 70 Tue Victory Lire. Joshua rebuked them, declaring that they had sinned and gone after other gods, and that unless they would put away these strange gods, God would not forgive them. It is not always easy to speak out against sin, and warn the people. Even in these days it often means reproach. And many people find it easier to let the devil have his way than to oppose him. But unrelenting, eternal hos. tility toward all forms of sin is the only con- sistent attitude for the follower of Christ, whether in pulpit or in pew. We need to have more of the spirit of the Old Testament prophets who dared rebuke iniquity, and who flamed with a quenchless zeal for righteousness. Rowland Hill used to say that there are some preachers who treat popular sins “as a donkey mumbles a thistle—wery cautiously.” A fear to offend, or provoke opposition or criticism, has robbed many a man of his usefulness. In a certain Eastern city may be seen a weather- vane representing Gabriel, with long, flowing robes and trumpet in hand. But the strange thing about this Gabriel is that he always appears blowing with the wind. This age needs men who will dare to blow agaist the winds of the world’s ways and fashions, if they be contrary to a useful, consistent Christian Tue Vicrory or Covracz. 71 life. St. Chrysostom is said to have had a vision in which he saw the altar rails crowded with angels listening to the sermon. And if we could always preach, and teach, and live with an open heaven before us, how quickly the hosts of sin would be defeated, and Christ would be enthroned! 5. To win our dear ones to Christ. There are some who are dear to us who might have been won to Christ ere now had we only had courage to win them. But instead of helping them to the Savior, we so often compromise - with them in sin, and those whom we should have won lose their confidence in the sincerity of our Christian profession. A woman came to her pastor one day to ask him to pray for her husband, but on the following Saturday night she left the revival-meeting and went with her husband to a ball. Let no one sup- pose that that woman could bring her husband to Christ. When we are living a consistent life ourselves, it is much easier to have courage to help others to a better life. There are mul- titudes who might be saved could we talk with them frankly and lovingly about the most im- portant interest of life. Dr. J. W. Chapman says that when he was in college another stu- deat asked permission to room with him. 72 Tue Victory Lire. After they had been together for nearly two years, his room-mate said, “Why have you never spoken to me about my soul?’ Said Mr. Chapman: “I did not know you wanted me to speak to you upon this subject.” “Why,” said the young man, “for that very purpose I came to room with you. I knew you were a Christian, and I wanted some one to talk to me about my soul. I thought you would, but you have never said a word.” Young Chap- man could not help him then. Another won him to Christ. WEEK 7. THE VICTORY OF ZEAL. Cuaracter Stupy: Elijah. Memory Verse: Whatsoever thy hand find- eth to do, do it with thy might. (Eccl. ix, 10.) President Roosevelt, speaking at a Bible So- ciety meeting, told a story connected with the ministry of Dr. Adams, at one time pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, New York, which Church Mr. Roosevelt attended when a boy. Dr. Adams had a little grandson, and it was known that the boy was very much afraid to enter the big church alone. The family seemed unable to discover the reason for his fear. One day, however, Dr. Adams went into the church, and took the boy with him. The little fellow held tightly to his grandfather’s hand, and gazed about anxiously as they walked up the long aisle. On reaching the pulpit, the boy said, “Grandpa, where is the zeal?’ “The what?” asked Dr. Adams. “The zeal?” repeated the little fellow; “why, 78 94 Tur Viocrory Lire. don’t you know?’—‘The zeal of thine own house hath eaten me up.’” Then it dawned upon the pastor that this little fellow, having heard that passage of Scripture quoted, had concluded that the “zeal” was some hideous monster which haunted the inside of a church. The President thought that the zeal would never eat up some Church members, and, if it did, it would find thin picking on their spir- itual bones. Life is essential to zeal; and zeal, to enthu- siasm. When the Church has lost her enthu- siasm, she has lost her life. “Fervent in spirit,” said Paul; literally, “ boiling in spirit.” And all great moral and religious movements have been characterized by this fervency, this in- tense enthusiasm. Look at Pentecost. What enthusiasm was there! what zeal for souls! Study the spirit of the martyrs, and the re- formers, and the Covenanters, and the Wes- leyans. Indeed, in all the world’s realms of achievement, nothing great is ever accom- plished without enthusiasm. The tendency of this cold, critical age of doubt is to discourage religious enthusiasm. Some good people are afraid of revivals where anything like emotion is manifested. But the emotions that create enthusiasm are God-given, and are to be culti- vated. There can be no great revival that Tue Victory or ZEAL. 75 does not appeal to, and move through, the emotions, as well as the intellect and will. And God pity the Church that discourages enthusiasm! There will not be enough zeal in that Church to win one soul to Christ. Ina certain city is a Church of six hundred mem- bers, where, in two whole years, not a single soul has been converted. The pastor discour- ages emotion, and emphasizes intellectuality and culture. The services are cold and formal, and the pews, for the most part, empty. Such a Church has only a name to live. To be sure, there is a zeal which is not ac- cording to knowledge, and which is fruitful of fanaticism, wild fire, vulgarity, and vagaries of many kinds. Of this let us beware. “For I bear them record,” said the apostle, “that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowl- edge.” One fruit of the Spirit is love; and “love doth not behave itself unseemly.” When people are led into ridiculous and repellent conduct, it is not the Holy Spirit who leads. The spirit of darkness, the delusions of a dis- ordered brain, or a zeal not according to knowl- edge, is responsible. There were some prominent points in Elijah’s character, a brief study of which may help us to a more intelligent zeal for Christ. 76 Tuer Victory Lirr. 1. Singleness of aim. He had one work— to awaken Israel from her sin and lethargy, and thus to glorify God. All his efforts were directed toward this goal. Many Christian workers scatter too much to be eminently use- ful. They try to do many things, and do nothing well. Their aim is divided. They can not be depended upon for efficient service. Their work is always only half done. The pastor who is afflicted with many such helpers is to be pitied. His work will be continually hindered. Paul said, “This one thing I do.” He concentrated. He persevered. So must we, if our lives would tell for God and for humanity. 2. Fearlessness of spirit. Three times Eli- jah speaks to wicked Ahab with a marvelous fearlessness and directness. His are no hon- eyed words nor fawning apology for truth. He is God’s messenger, and what cares he for what men may say about him, or doto him? David’s words might well have been spoken by Elijah, “In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid: what can man do unto me?’ What can a half-hearted or vacillating man do? No- body will be inspired and helped by him toa better life. Nobody will believe in him. But the man with a fearless spirit—the dead-in- Tus Victory or ZEAL. 77 earnest man—will overcome all obstacles, create confidence, revive courage, and lead others on to success ? 3. Unbounded confidence in God. Only once did Elijah’s spirit fail. Then he sought the wilderness, and there, under the desert shrub, and afterwards on the side of lonely Horeb, God taught him that his call was to work, and not to flight. And did we always trust our Heavenly Father, we would never forsake the post of duty, nor turn cowards upon the world’s great battlefield. Instead, we would be valiant in the fight, and scorn to compro- mise with the world. Now, true Christian zeal will manifest itself: 1. In an untiring opposition to all forms of sin. Elijah was “zealous for the Lord of hosts.” And when tidings came across the Jordan that the wicked Jezebel had thrown down the altars of the Lord, and had slain the prophet, it was time for Elijah to act. He hated idolatry, and he dared to stand single handed to stem its tide. There is a loud call to-day for men like Elijah who will dare to op- pose perpetrators of evil and arraign them at the bar of God. In his old age, Mr. Wesley said: “Near fifty years ago a great and good man, Dr. Potter, then archbishop of Canterbury, 78 | Tue Viorory Lirs. gave me an advice for which I have ever since had occasion to bless God: ‘If you desire to be extensively useful, do not spend your time and strength in contending for or against such things as are of a disputable nature, but in tes- tifying against open and notorious vice, and in prompting real spiritual holiness.’ ” And yet before we undertake to rebuke evil we should be sure to have such an unction of the Spirit of God that we will do it with such wisdom and tactfulness as Jesus would do it. 2. In an earnest effort to save souls. The zeal of the disciples on the day of Pentecost resulted in the salvation of three thousand. It was not Peter’s sermon alone that produced such marvelous results, but the effort of a praying, spirit-filled Church. Doubtless, at the close of the sermon, every member of that first Christian Church went here and there, up and down the thronging streets, speaking to the people privately, and leading them to Christ. They all became personal evangels to the unsaved. Some good people spend a great deal of zeal in a selfish way. They meet together, and enjoy themselves in song and testimony, but do little to save the perishing ones all about them. A young man, a medical student, complained that Tuer Viorory or ZEAL. 79 while his father was a member of the Church, and always made much demonstration in class- meeting, and in times of revival, yet had never frankly and lovingly talked to him about his soul. 3. In love and fidelity to the Church. Any zeal that leads people to turn their backs upon, and rail at, the Church of Jesus Christ, is not Christian zeal. It is of the pit. “Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” True love for Christ will manifest itself in love for his Church. And that will mean fidelity to all the means of grace, and to the men who are sent of God to minister in holy things. They who possess this precious gift of Christian enthusiasm will be the most devoted attendants upon the public services, and will be the faithful pastor’s most loyal supporters. 4. In enthusiasm for the Bible. We need, in these days, a new enthusiasm for the Word of God. Too many preachers and Sunday- school teachers are using the Bible as if it needed apology. And their defense is of such a nature as to sow unbelief. They “handle 80 Tue Victory Lire. the Word of God deceitfully.” They bring discredit upon the very message they are sup- posed to proclaim. Such can never have a real enthusiasm for the Book of books. We must believe the Bible with all the heart, and accept it as the inspired Word of God—the God breathed Word—for such it claims to be. It is God’s Word. It is the message from’ heaven. “very Scripture inspired of God is also profit- able for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness.” (2 Tim. ii, 16.) “For the prophecy came not in the old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Pet. i, 21.) The man who believes the Bible with all his heart will speak words that glow with intensity and courage, while the man who thinks he must apologize for some parts of the Holy Scriptures will have no power to lead men and women into a life of victory. Whether he be a minister, or a col- lege professor, or a Sunday-school teacher, his words will become wearisome and will lack the sacred fire that touches hearts and glorifies lives. The most brilliant scholarship will avail nothing unless it is accompanied with an un- wavering assurance as to the truth of God’s Word, and a glowing zeal for its study. WEEK 8. THE VICTORY OF SELF-SACRIFICE. CuHaracter Stupy: Barnabas. Memory Verszs: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. (Matt. xvi, 24.) He that find- eth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt. x, 39.) The glory of the Athenian was the literature of his people. The glory of the Roman was the martial spirit of his nation. But the glory of the true Christian is his likeness to his Master. The same traits of character must be reproduced in him. And no trait of character is more noticeable in the life of the Son of God than his self-sacrifice. Every day of his earthly life was full of self-denial for others. And he said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Jesus taught that, to live the Christ-life, one must put selfish desire and am- bition under foot, and devote the whole being 8 81 82 Tue Victory Lirs. to God. And he taught, too, that this may be done in any honorable vocation in life, and that the life will be larger and truer and nobler be- cause of such a consecration. Our home, our occupation, our possessions, our talents, our comforts, must all be brought to the cross. Then, when the old self-life is crucified and put behind us, we begin to live the new, blessed life of entire surrender. “He that loseth his life shall keep it unto life eternal.” Barnabas is a beautiful example of self-sacri- fice. He gave up all to follow Christ. To trace and study the brief sketches of his life, is to get glimpses into the life of a master Christian. By grace, he had gotten the victory over self, and lived the life devoted to Christ. When we have won the victory over self, then many gracious results will follow in the life. 1. Persecution for Christ's sake will be joy- Sully endured. See how the early Christians suffered for their Master’s sake! They went | to the fiery stake and the den of wild beasts with a shout of triumph on their lips. They remembered the Savior’s words: “ Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all mann of Tue Victory or Se.Fr-SacrIirIce. 83 evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your re- ward in heaven.” And in these days the young Christian must often have to meet the jeers of those who are still in bondage to Satan. But in the suffering of persecution will be developed the strength of Christian char- acter. “The trying of your faith,” says the apostle, “worketh patience” — that is, endu- rance. Happy, therefore, is he who patiently and sweetly suffers for Jesus’ sake, for out of the suffering will come the glory and strength of Christian manhood and womanhood; and, by and by, will come the crown and the kingdom. 2. Evil associates will be given up. “ Where- fore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. vi, 17, 18.) Many young people have lost their souls rather than give up their old companions in sin. Jesus said, “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off;’ meaning, not to literally cut off the hand, but, for his sake and our own good, to break with every association that hinders our spiritual growth, or dishonors 84 Tue Viotory Lire. our Lord, even though it be as dear to us as the right hand. “For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God.” (2 Cor. vi, 14-16.) It is said that ninety-five out of every hundred arrested for crime to-day admit that evil associates led them astray. Three-fourths of the domestic infelicity in this country is a direct result of young people disregarding this plain admoni- tion and warning of Scripture. The spirit of self-denial and love for the Master will lead us to give up every evil association for his sake. 3. Injurious amusements will be gladly sur- rendered. When the life is entirely given to Christ, the itching for demoralizing amuse- ments will be removed. The desire for Christ- like character and Christlike service will crowd out the world-spirit. But in the lives of many professing Christians the world-spirit still holds sway, and the barrenness of soul and lack of spiritual perception and enjoyment may often easily be traced to indulgence in some questionable amusement. Some one says Tuer Victory or SELF-SAcRIFICE. 85 that there are Church members much like Lazarus when he came forth from the tomb. He had been raised from the dead, but he was still bound hand and foot with the grave- clothes of the old life. There are many pro- fessing Christians who still wear the garments of the old worldly life, and have no liberty, no power, no victory. There are two very emphatic reasons why Christians should re- nounce certain amusements: (a) Because they hinder spiritual growth. As the love for worldly pleasure increases, the love for and appreciation of spiritual things decreases. This is an invariable rule. Oc- casionally some young person is heard to say of the theater, or the dance, or the whist party, “O, what’s the harm?’ That is always an indication of a low spiritual life. Rather let us say, “What’s the good,” or “Can I glorify Christ in doing this?” John Wesley’s mother once wrote him in college: “ Would you judge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of a pleasure, take this rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; what- ever increases the authority of your body over your mind—that to you is sin.” 86 Tux Victory Lire. (b) Because they make others to stumble. Dr. L. W. Munhall says that before he entered the ministry he went to a theater one night to please a visiting friend. Next day he meta young man to whom he had frequently spoken about the Christian life. He invited him again to be a Christian. But the young man looked at him and said, “I never want you to speak to me on the subject again. I saw you in the theater last night, and I have little confidence in aman who professes to be a Christian and was found in a questionable place of amuse- ment.” “I never won him,” said Dr. Munhall. “He gradually drifted away from the Church and from Christ and I met him in the West, a hopeless wreck.” During a revival-meeting in a certain city church, a lady who was a member of the Church came and knelt at the altar of prayer as a penitent. When the pastor inquired why she had come, she said, “ Well, yesterday, I asked my husband to come with me to Church, and he said, ‘No thank you, I am not accus- tomed to go to Church with gamblers” He knew that I had been playing whist for prizes. His answer startled me and pained me, and I have made up my mind that if I ever see my Tue Vicrory or Setr-SAcRIFICE. 87 husband converted I must get right myself.” In another city a young man, a confirmed gambler, confessed that he had gotten the fascination for gambling at the whist parties in his own mother’s home. Some parents will have a dreadful record to meet at the judg- ment bar of God. Paul said, “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no meat while the world standeth.” Paul would sacrifice his personal liberty for others’ sake. And in this he showed the spirit of his Master who con- stantly denied himself to save others. 4. We shall not be found seeking the easy places in the Master's service. We shall gladly endure hardship for Christ’s sake and for others’ sake. Ministers in good health will- not be seeking easy appointments and “soft snaps.” Sunday-school teachers will not com- plain about the drudgery of the work. Any service for Christ will be a privilege. We shall begin to see that to be sent of God to difficult fields of labor, and difficult places of service, is to be highly honored of our King. He may be preparing us for some glorious mission in another world in the years to come, and the self sacrifice here is but for the testing and the developing of our characters, fitting us 88 Tue Viorory Lire. for realms where we shall be kings and priests unto God. So Jesus said, “He that findeth his life shall lose it; but he that loseth it for my sake shall find it.” 5. We shall acknowledge and remember our stewardship. Our earthly possessions will be held not as our own, but as the Lord’s, and we shall seek to use them for his glory. “Bar- nabas, having a field, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” In the early Church we find the spirit of so- cialism—Christian socialism. Asa rule, many of the men who pose as socialists to-day are not those who are dividing their own goods with those who have none; but are always aspiring “to appropriate to themselves a part of the goods of others,” and there is in their lives little of the spirit of self sacrifice. When Charles G. Finney was holding a series of meetings in Rochester, N. Y., he was met in the vestibule of the building one eve- ning by a noted lawyer of that city who handed him a paper, saying, “ I deliver this to you as a servant of Jesus Christ.” Mr. Finney took the paper, and when he had opportunity to examine it, found it to be a quit claim deed, regularly signed and sealed, whereby this law- Tue Victory or SELF-SACRIFICE. 8Y yer had turned over to Jesus Christ every- thing he possessed ; his home, his family, his money, his time, his talents, his all. His sub- sequent life attested the sincerity of his conse- cration. The only satisfactory way to hold earthly possessions is to acknowledge the Di- vine ownership, and the human stewardship in all earthly things. WEEK 9. THE VICTORY OF SUFFERING. CHARACTER Stupy: Job. Memory Verses: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. (2 Tim. ii, 12.) For our light affiiction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (2 Cor. iv, 17.) In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John xvi, 33.) Christ is peerless in the realm of suffering. There is none like him. Read that fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and behold the man of sor- rows. And he has glorified suffering. It has become a royal insignia of his kingdom, for “unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Phil. i, 29); and “if we suffer, we shall also reign with him” (2 Cor. ii, 12). Christ triumphed through suffering. “It be- came Him for whom are all things, and by 90 Tue Victory or SuFFERING. Y1 whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salva- tion perfect through sufferings.” (Heb. ii, 10.) There is an infinite pathos in the fact of the loneliness of the Supreme Sufferer. We do not suffer alone. We have friends who care for us and love us. And we have a Savior’s presence and comfort, as had the martyrs of old. But Christ suffered alone. “I have trod- den the wine press alone; and of the people there was none with me.” Even his disciples forsook him and fled. Job was, in this respect, a type of Christ. There was a sense in which he suffered alone. He was denied even the love and sympathy of his wife. But he had the presence of a living Redeemer, and, in con- fidence, he could say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust him.” Through him Job finally won the victory. And we may have the vic- tory. The pathway of suffering may be for us the triumphal way. It may be dark and lonely now, and we may not be able to understand why it should be so. But some sweet day, **Above the rest this note shall swell, My Jesus has done all things well.” Now let us learn: 1. That suffering may be a precious means 92 Tue Vicrory Lirs. of grace. To some God says, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Many a life has been sweetened and purified and ennobled by sorrow and pain. Had a piano nerves where it has strings, the tuning process would be a painful one. But only when it is properly tuned is it responsive to the sensitive touch of the great musician. So we need to be brought into tune with the Infinite. And often the tuning process may be painful, but we are be- ing made responsive to the Divine touch. It is often in these hours of pain that we get new visions of the larger and better life. Dr. Gunsaulus, the great Chicago preacher, has been a great sufferer. This is his testimony: “JT have suffered an inch off my leg, but if I had to suffer it all again, and, in addition, to crawl across the continent on my hands and knees in order to get the conception of truth and life which has come to me through this discipline, I would gladly do it.” Let us not resent, then, whatever tears and suffering and struggle may come to us. They are working out for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. When John saw the shining throng before the throne, he was told that they came out of great tribulation and had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Tue Victory or SUFFERING. 93 Lamb. Often the best that is in us can not be brought out until we enter the furnace of afflic- tion. Look at Joseph. How he trod the path- way of suffering in preparation for the premier- ship of Egypt! In slavery, in prison, in severe temptation, the highest type of manhood was developed. It was so, too, with Moses. For forty years he was in humiliation, a fugitive, and a humble sheep herder. Yet here Moses was in training for lofty services. There is an interesting story of a great singer. Her praise was on the lips of all. They said, when she sang, “It is beautiful!” But a man who heard her said, “I wish I could break her heart!”—a ruthless wish, to be sure. But the time came when her heart was broken. She married a worthless husband. He brought her to penury and sorrow. She never sang in public after her marriage, save at a concert given for char- ity. But when she did sing, it was more than a mere vocal exhibition. There was such pa- thos and soul-moving power in every word that people wept and shouted. Before, the people had only perceived the beauty in her singing; now, they felt the power. 2. That affliction may be the means of salva- tion to the unsaved. God does not send afflic- tion. God sometimes permits affliction; but 94 Tue Victory Lire. always for our good. Many a man would never have been saved had it not been that the loud knocker of affliction was heard on his heart’s door, warning him of his danger. A brilliant lawyer pointed to a little pair of shoes on the mantel in his home, and said, “Until the little feet that once filled those shoes went to walk on the streets of gold, I never prayed or believed in Jesus Christ. Now he is my All in all.” A woman who had lost her hear- ing, but who, previous to her affliction, had led a worldly life, said, “I would not have my hearing back for the whole world, if it meant that I must live the old life again, for through the loss of my hearing I have been awakened to see the miserable life that I was living, and to give myself to God.” And a thousand times better that God should permit some affliction to come into our life than that we should go stumbling down the steep road to perdition and be lost forever. 3. That however great the suffering, God will gwe grace to sustain. “My grace is sufficient for thee,” is his promise. Every suffering one may hear him say, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” With such a promise, what sorrow or persecution can hurt us? Tue Victory or SUFFERING. 95 Edward Payson Hammond was once speak- ing before a convention of the Colored Baptist Association of New England, when he told the story of a poor Negro boy, who, in the days of slavery, had learned to read from an old-fash- ioned spelling-book, given him by his master’s son. Later, he secured a New Testament, and, through reading it, was converted. Then he began to go to the neighboring plantations on Sundays, and read and talk to the colored people about Jesus. His master, who was a wicked man, heard of it, and said to him, “Jack, I hear you have been away preaching.” “Yes, Massa, I must tell sinners how Jesus died on the cross for us.” ‘“ Well, Jack, if I ever hear of you going off preaching again, I will tie you to that tree, and flog all the re- ligion out of you,” said the cruel man. Jack knew that what his master said he would do; but next Sunday he was on the plantation, preaching again. Next day his master almost killed him, but on the following Sunday, unable to stand erect because of his bruised back, Jack was again talking to the colored people about Jesus, and saying, “ Massa may kill me to- morrow; but, if he does, I will not suffer more than the Savior did for me when he died on the cross.” Another flogging followed on Mon- 96 Tuer Victory Lire. day; but next Sunday Jack was preaching again. Next day, when the cruel master raised his whip to strike the boy, he hesitated, seeing the back all lacerated and scarred. “What do you do it for, Jack?” he said. “ Nobody pays you for it, and you know I will whip you.” “O, Massa,” said the boy, “I’s going to take all these scars up to Jesus, and show him how faithful I’s been, ’cause he loved me, and died on the cross for you and me, Massa.” The whip fell from the Master’s hand as he ordered the boy to the cotton-field. About three o'clock a messenger came running, saying: “ Massa’s dyin’! Come quick, come quick, Jack!” Jack found his master lying on the floor of his room, crying: “I’m sinking down to hell! O, Jack, pray for me!” That afternoon he was converted, and a few days later gave Jack his freedom papers, saying, “Go and preach the gospel wherever you will, and the Lord’s bless- ing go with you!” When Mr. Hammond had finished this nar- rative, an old colored man rose, and in trem- ulous tones said, “I am Jack, and Mr. Ham- mond can not tell you what I suffered, but God helped me to pray for my master until I saw him converted.” WEEK 10. THE VICTORY OF PURITY. Cuaracter Stupr: Joseph. Memory Verses: Keep thyself pure. (1 Tim. v, 22.) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James iv, 7.) We are in a sinful world, with the destroyer of all that is pure always on our track, and yet we may live stainless lives. Jesus Christ has shown us the way, and will give us the vic- tory. He was tempted like as we are, but he overcame. He taught us that we must not rush into temptation, but avoid it. Many are trapped by sin because they have dallied with sin. No man has any right to willfully walk into temptation. There is only one condition when we must not flee from temptation, and that is when it lies across the pathway of duty. Then we are to “put on the whole armor of God,” and fight it, and overcome it. Jesus 7 97 98 Tue Victory Lire. gave no quarter to sin; neither should we. We are to “resist the devil.” And he who has abandoned his life to Jesus Christ will have strength to do this. Over- coming grace is promised. The divine Spirit, when he takes possession of us, will empower us so that victory shall be ours. And the Lion of Judah will break every chain, And give us the vict’ry again and again. There are in these days many enemies to purity of life. 1. The modern theater. By its unreal life, by its jeers at temperance and religion, by its innuendo, and by its frivoluous treatment of the marriage relation, the theater is starting its thousands on the way to perdition. A prominent actor recently made the statement, that, next to the Church and the school, the theater was a vehicle of education and culture. Yes, forsooth! Education in crime! Culture in vice! Look at the pictures on the bill-boards which boys and girls stand and study—pic- tures of murder and bacchanalian riot. Look at the levity with which human life and the most sacred relations of the home are treated on the stage. This is education after the old Roman type. This is culture with a vengeance. Tue Victory or Puriry. 99 This is a fine school for training in true man- hood and womanhood, where we look upon men and women dominated by the basest pas- sions, and where the vilest characters, reeking with crime and villainy, become stars and heroes and heroines. This is the school in which many young people are getting their ideas of life to-day, and the more of this edu- cation they acquire the less regard they have for the sanctity and purity of the home. Dr. J. M. Buckley gives five reasons why no young Christian should attend a theater: 1. The Churches are opposed toit. 2. The theater is opposed to the Churches. 3. Theplays,as a usual thing, are immoral. 4. The players, as a usual thing, are immoral. 5. No theater goer is an active soul winner. 2. The modern dance. This is the favorite amusement of wicked men and women. Lib- erties are taken which would not be allowable under any other circumstances. And while to some the dance may have nothing harmful, yet there are multitudes whose lives are un- doubtedly turned into the ways of shame and death through its influences and associations. As a rule, when love for the dance increases, love for Christ and his work decreases; and no young Christian can afford to engage in 100 Tur Victory Lire. any form of amusement that takes the keen edge off his spiritual appetite, and cools his love for the highest and best in Christian life and service. Nor can any disciple of Jesus Christ afford to dally with any pleasure that has been hurtful to the lives of so many others, and is so given over to the world loving, and sin loving in every community, as is the modern dance. 3. The unrestrained imagination. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” The devil traps multitudes of people through the im- agination by getting them to harbor unclean thoughts. And these thoughts, having been given possession of the mind, soon refuse to leave. An old man, who was the very picture of despair, said: “I have the scars of sin on me. In my young manhood I lived a wicked life, and now my mind is full of evil thoughts, and my imagination like a nest of unclean birds.” And we can scarcely conceive of a sight more pitiable than of that old man beg- ging to be saved from his evil thoughts. Only by letting the Spirit of God have the right of way in our hearts and thoughts in youth can we keep the imagination clean. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Tue Victory or Porrry. 101 4. Foul mouthed men are the enemies of purity. There are found in almost every com- munity men who stand on street corners, whose breath is foul with whisky and to- bacco, who tell filthy stories and use obscene language. These men are fiends in disguise. As the devil fish clouds the water all about it in a few seconds, so these men infect whole communities with their filthiness, and should be shunned as we would shun a deadly viper. There are three things which every young man and woman must do to know the victory of purity. 1. Observe personal cleanliness. A daily bath would help many a man to fight against wrong, and to have high ideals. The observance of some of the old Jewish laws regarding phys- ical cleanliness would be taking a long step toward purity of life. The great Joseph Par- ker, of London, once gave some young people some good hygienic advice as follows: ‘“ Wash yourself! Is your face yourself? Or if you even include your neck, is that yourself? When I say wash yourself, I mean yourself— not merely your brow and two inches on each side of your nose, but really and properly your- self, from the crown of your head to the sole of your feet, and do it every morning; not now 102 Tue Victory Lirs. and then according to the temperature, but as regularly as the morning comes.” That eminent Scotch physician, Dr. Aber- nethy, was once visited by a man who wanted the doctor to prescribe for him. After exam- ination, the doctor said: “ Have you a large tub at home?” “Yes.” “Then put it in a room. Fill it two-thirds full with water, as hot as you can bear it. Get in. Take a bar of yellow soap; rub it over your body. Presently you will see a white foamy substance come all over you. Rub thoroughly, and wash off the lather. Then rub dry with a towel. Repeat this twice a week.” “ Why doctor,” said the man, “ that sounds as if you were telling me to take a bath.” “Just so,” said the doctor. “My fee is five guineas. Good day.” 2. Commit the life to God. His power can make us what we ought to be, and keep us. Dr. Talmage used to tell a story about John Newton, whose fame as a preacher is known to all. “While a profligate sailor on ship- board, in his dream, Newton thought that a being approached him and gave him a very beautiful ring, and put in upon his finger, and said to him: “ As long as you wear that ring you will be prospered; if you lose that ring you will be ruined.” In the same dream an- Tue Victory or Poriry. 103 other personage appeared, and by a strange infatuation persuaded him to throw overboard that ring, and it sank into the sea. Then the mountains in sight were full of fire and the air was lurid with consuming wrath. While John Newton was repenting of his folly in having thrown overboard the treasure, an- other personage came through the dream, and told him he would plunge into the sea and bring that ring up if he desired it. He plunged into the sea and brought it up, and said to Newton, “ Here is that gem, but I think I will keep it for you, lest you lose it again;” and John Newton consented, and all the fire went out from the mountains, and all the signs of lurid wrath disappeared from the air, and John Newton said that he saw in his dream that that valuable gem was his soul, and that the being who persuaded him to throw it over- board was Satan, and that the one who plunged in and restored that gem, keeping it for him, was Christ.” 3. Shun the appearance of evil. Do not dally with sin. Do not try to see how near you can go to the pit without falling in. There is an oft-told story of a gentleman who adver- tized for a coachman. To the first man who applied he said: “How near could you drive 104 Tue Victory Lire. to the edge of a steep embankment without going over?” The man replied, “I could drive within six inches.” The next man was asked the same question, and replied, “Three inches, sir.’ The third replied, “I would keep as far from the edge as possible.” “You are en- gaged,” said the gentleman. After John B. Gough had been forty years a teetotaler, he said, “ Rather than eat a piece of mince pie flavored with brandy, I would cut off my right arm. I would no more touch it, knowing my physical and moral weakness for drink, than I would be willing to touch a lighted match to a keg of gunpowder.” And no man or woman can afford to dally with sin. “No compromise” must be our watchword if we would know the victory of purity. WEEK 11. THE VICTORY OF TEMPERANCE. Cuaracter Stupy: Daniel. Memory Verses: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Cor. x, 31.) And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. (1 Cor. ix, 25.) What a sad waste of precious gifts and op- portunities is everywhere apparent! What lives are squandered through following unholy appetites and passions! Let jails, and peniten- tiaries, and reformatories, and houses of refuge, bear witness. Robert Browning makes the old grammarian to spurn the thought of living until he had first learned how to live. But there are so few who learn how to live. See the multitudes who weakly yield to the temptations of appe- tite and lust, and go down into the whirlpool of destruction. And so subtle are these tempta- 105 106 Tur Victory Lirs. tions that unless the grace of God shall com- pass us about, we are in constant danger. If we would know the victory of temperance we must resolve to live at our best. To have any lower ideal is to court defeat. We shall surely be confronted by difficulties and dis- couragements. Every step of the way may be a conflict, but, doing our best, by the grace of God we shall get the victory. Under the supremest difficulties, men who have sought earthly honors have won them. The year be- fore his death, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote: “For fourteen years I have not had a day’s real health. I have wakened sick and gone to bed weary. I have written in bed, written in hemorrhages, written in sickness, written worn by coughing, written when my head swam for weakness. I am better now, and still few are the days when I am not in some physical distress. And the battle goes on—ill or well is a trifle, so as it goes. I was made for a contest, and the Powers have so willed that my battlefield should be this dingy, in- glorious one of the bed and the physic bottle. I would have preferred a place of trumpetings and the open air over my head. Still I have done my work unflinchingly.” And shall not we who seek an immortal crown, who are Tur Victory or TEMPERANCE. 107 children of the Heavenly King, do our best in fighting life’s battles? But if we would do our best for Christ and humanity: 1. We must not tolerate in our lwes any unholy appetite. The will must be strength. ened to resist evil appetites. “If thou be a man given to appetite,” said the writer of the Proverbs, “put a knife to thy throat;” that is, take heroic measures. Do not dally with an evil appetite, or an evil habit. Cut it off, even though it be like cutting off a right hand,— break with it at once. But there is many a man who has yielded so often to an evil appetite that he is now its slave. No human power can save him. In a great assembly-hall in a large city, the Holy Spirit had blessed the preacher’s message until intense conviction rested upon the people. In the after-meeting a man was seen to be sob- bing. When the minister spoke to him he said: “Do not ask me to sign the pledge. I have signed it thirty-six times. The last time I opened a vein in my arm and signed it with my own blood, but even that did not avail. Is there no deliverance from this awful curse?” he cried. Then the minister pointed him to Christ, and told him of his power to save. 108 Tur Viorory Lirs. Seon the poor drunkard threw himself upon Christ’s grace and mercy and found deliver- ance from his chains. And there is help for every man who casts himself upon the strong arm of a living Savior. His own pledges and good resolutions may fail, but if he will submit himself to God, and absolutely trust Christ, he will speedily get the victory. 2. We must put away even the doubtful things—the weights that hinder us. “Let us lay aside every weight,” said the apostle in his letter to the Hebrews. There are many things that may be weights, or hindrances, to our own spiritual progress, or to the progress of others. Often the weight consists of an acquired appe- tite for some opiate, or for tobacco. And ey- erybody should be familiar with the physical effects of narcotics and inebriants. Inevitable physical and mental weakness awaits those who become the slaves of these acquired appe- tites. The tobacco habit seems to be increasing among men to-day; and multitudes of boys and young men are having their physical health undermined and their blood poisoned through the use of cigarettes and tobacco. A man can not be at his best, either physically or spiritually, who becomes a slave to tobacco. Tue Viorory oF TEMPERANCE. 109 Then, too, the wastefulness of the habit should be seriously considered. There is many times as much money puffed away in tobacco smoke every year as is given in a century by the largest Churches for the world’s evangeli- zation. A prominent business man in a certain city smoked four cigars a day. He discovered that he could buy a New Testament with the price of a cigar. So he gave up the cigars, and gave away four New Testaments every day. But let us learn now from Daniel some help- ful lessons in temperance. 1. He was uncompromising. The temptation to compromise must have been strong in those early days of his captivity. When tempted to live the luxurious life, many things would seem to make it easy for Daniel to yield—his youth, the social customs, official rank, and ab- sence from home. But nothing moved him. “He purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.’ Then, when he faced the lions’ den, he was only asked to suspend his prayers for thirty days. How easily that could have been done! But Daniel would sooner go thirty days without food than thirty days without prayer. There was absolutely no spirit 110 Tue Victory Lire. of compromise in his nature. He would be true to God, no matter what men would say or do. We need a whole generation of Dan- iels to-day. . 2. He was cheerful. Daniel was a captive, yet he never complained. There was no whin- ing nor grumbling about his lot. He would, by God’s grace, make the best of it. The habit of complaining grows on a man until he becomes a chronic growler. The skies soon come to appear always dark, and then it is an easy matter to yield to some evil appetite or passion. Let the man who would know the victory of temperance live much in the sun- shine. Let him practice cheerfulness; or, bet- ter, let him have so much of the sunshine of God’s love in his heart that cheerfulness will become a habit of his life. 3. He was prayerful. It was his rule to ob- serve stated seasons for prayer. Nothing could turn him from this purpose, not even the lions’ den. By constant communion in prayer, he had come to live so near to God that he feared not the faces of men or lions. He could stand before Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, or Darius, and rebuke iniquity, for he knew that God was with him. And his prayerful life made his Tur Victory or TEMPERANCE. 111 public life incorruptible. The man who talks much with God in the secret place of prayer will be likely to live a clean life in any voca- tion in which he may serve. Prayer and tem- perance go hand in hand. If men would only keep their windows open toward heaven, how they would learn self-mastery ! WEEK 12. | THE VICTORY OF POWER. CHARACTER Stupy: Peter. Memory Verses: And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts i, 8.) And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. (Acts iv, 33.) Be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. v, 18.) The crowning glory of the gospel dispen- sation is the presence and leadership of the Holy Spirit. He makes all other triumphs possible; he teaches how to pray; he inspires faith ; he sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts; he clothes with power. In the Old Testament days, now and again, God chose some man for eminent leadership. and the Holy Spirit made that man his temple. For instance, it is said in the Book of Judges. 112 Tur Victory or PowrEr. 113 that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; literally, “The Spirit clothed himself with Gideon.” In like manner the Spirit took pos- session of Moses, and Othniel, and Jephthah, and David, and Zechariah. But the promise was given of a day when the Spirit would be poured out “upon all flesh.” The time would come when, to all believers, would be given this precious gift. That promise was fulfilled at Pentecost. The entire waiting Church was filled, and to every one was given a tongue of fire. In the new Testament times, as to-day, men and women were possessed with evil spir- its. These evil spirits filled them and con- trolled them. But at Pentecost the Holy Spirit of God entered the lives of the disciples to fill them and control them just as surely and completely as the seven evil spirits had once controlled Mary of Magdala. He took possession of Peter, and he, who had been too cowardly to confess Christ before a maid, now fearlessly proclaimed him to the assembled multitudes. No more denial of his Lord. Peter now began to live the victory life. He faced that vast throng and-boldly preached Christ crucified. And not only was this marvelous change wrought in Peter, but “ they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” 8 114 Tue Victory Lire. It is therefore the high privilege of every Christian to be Spirit-filled. Indeed, no man or woman can live the normal Christian life without the fullness of God’s Spirit, and the greatest need of the world to-day is for men and women in every vocation who are living the life of complete abandonment to the Spirit of God. A glorified Savior needs not only Spirit-filled ministers and missionaries, but Spirit-filled bankers, and lawyers, and physi- cians, and teachers, and students, and carpen- ters, and blacksmiths, and railway men, and housewives,—men and women in every field of the world’s labor who have become the temples of his Spirit. A young preacher called on Hiram Gough, the devout old shoemaker, and said, “I am glad that a man in a humble position like yours can be a Spirit-filled Christian.” “Don’t call this position humble, young man,” said the shoemaker. “O, pardon me!” said the preacher; “I did not mean to reflect upon what you do for a living.” “Never mind, never mind!” said the shoemaker, when he saw the young man’s embarrassment. “You didn’t hurt me, but I was afraid you would hurt the Lord Jesus Christ; for I believe that the making Tuer Vicrory or Power. 115 of a shoe is just as holy a thing as the making ofa sermon. And I think that some day the Lord Jesus will take one of these pairs of shoes and hold them up in the light of the judgment throne that men and angels may see just what kind of shoes I made. And perhaps he will hold up one of your sermons. And, if it is then seen that I have made better shoes than you have made sermons, I shall have a higher place in the kingdom than you.” Whether Hiram Gough was literally right or not in his opinion may be a question, but the Spirit of God will ennoble and glorify any honorable vocation, and help us to do the best work. God is using the Spirit-filled people to-day. That is why we sometimes find him using the weak things and the foolish things in prefer- ence to the great and the wise. For the Spirit of God can more easily use a man who has little learning and culture, but who has become his temple, than he can use the learned and the cultured who depend upon their learning and culture for success. What the Spirit of God seeks most to-day is availability rather than ability. And when the Spirit’s power comes into a human life, then “a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a 116 Tue Victory Lire. strong nation.” Let God but have his own way in human hearts to-day, and he will raise up men like Moses and Elijah and Paul. When the Holy Spirit has his way there is always a forward movement. In many places the church has halted and lost her aggressive- ness. The Spirit has been grieved. The Pen- tecostal power is wanting. Yonder is a heavily loaded street-car going up a steep grade. Half way up it stops. There is a motion backward. The motorman has all he can do to keep it from running down hill. What is the matter? The trolley is off the wire. Connection has been broken. And it would seem as if many pastors are wholly occupied to keep the Church from going backward. They are working on the back brakes. The great need of many professing Christians is that the connections may be repaired so that the Holy Spirit, filling them with his power, may keep them moving steadily forward. But to know the victory of power: 1. We must believe in the personality of the Holy Spirit. So many seem to think of the Spirit as a mere influence, like electricity or gravitation. But the Spirit of God is a living person, a divine person, the third person in the blessed Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. And Tuer Victory or Power. 117 his presence and personality in the world to-day is just as real as was the presence and /person- ality of the Son of God. In the Acts of the Apostles he is everywhere recognized as the leader in all the affairs of the Church. 2. We must have a real desire for his full- ness. No half-hearted desire will suffice. Christ will not give his Ascension Gift to the indiffer- ent. The ascended Lord did not keep that little group waiting in the upper room ten days because he was not ready to send the Comforter, but rather that they might come to desire this Gift above all things else, that Christ might be glorified in their lives. And we must have the same intensity of desire. Then God is ever ready to fulfill his promise. “Tf ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” 3. We must be emptied of the spirit of the world. The Holy Spirit will never come in his fullness into a life where Christ can not have supremacy. When the Holy Spirit is not re- ceived in answer to fervent prayer, there is probably some worldly way, or worldly amuse- ment, or worldly ambition, that hinders his coming. In his “ Quiet Hour Talks,” Mr. 8. D. 118 Tux Victory Lire. Gordon tells about a sleepy little town some- where in the mountains. The citizens ran a pipe up the hills to a lake of water. “As a result, the town enjoyed a bountiful supply of water the year round without being depend- ent upon the rainfall, which is very slight there. And the population increased, and the place had a regular Western boom. One morn- ing the housewives turned the water spigots, but no water came. There was some sputter- ing. There is apt to be noise when there is nothing else. The men climbed the hill. There was the lake full as ever. They exam- ined around the pipes as well as possible, but could find no break. Try as they might, they could find no cause for the stoppage. And as days grew into weeks, people commenced moy- ing away again, the grass grew in the streets, and the prosperous town was going back to its old sleepy condition when one day one of the town officials received a note. It was poorly written, with bad spelling and grammar, but he never cared less about writing and grammar than just then. It said in effect, ‘Ef you’ll jes’ pull the plug out of the pipe about eight inches from the top, you’ll get all the water you want.’ Up they started for the top of the Tue Victory or Power. 119 hill, and dug into the pipe, and found the plug which some vicious tramp had inserted. Not a very big plug—just big enough to fill the pipe. Out came the plug; down came the water freely; by and by came back prosperity again.” A single questionable amusement, or an unconfessed sin, or any ambition that con- flicts with the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom will become the “plug” that keeps us from the enjoyment of the fullness of the Spirit. 4, We must remember that the Holy Spirit is given for service. When he took possession of the early Church, he began to work through them and by them in glorifying Jesus. Through Peter and John he healed the lame man. He made Stephen to triumph. He sent Philip to Samaria, and consecrated Paul and Barnabas missionaries. To speak of the Holy Spirit as a mere blessing sounds almost like blasphemy. He is the living, faithful, divine Leader, work- ing in and through the Church, convicting the world of sin, and always glorifying our as- cended Lord. And when he comes into our lives it is that he may give us power to get the victory over all sin, and to glorify Christ in ever-valiant service. 120 Tur Victory Lire. CONCLUDING WORD. The battle now, but soon the final victory! The life of faith now, but soon the blessed vision of the Glorified! The cross now, but soon the crown! Above the unfolding clouds our glorious Lord shall soon appear. ‘“ Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him!” Again and again did he intreat watchfulness. He is surely coming again to receive us unto himself. And we shall see him and hear his “ Well done!” Soon every tear shall be wiped away, and every sadness dis- pelled, and every sorrow forgotten, and all earth’s woes exchanged for the triumph of the glorified. And soon these stammering tongues shall join in heaven’s coronation shout: “HattecvsAn! Tur Lorp Gop Omnrpeorent Reignetu!” “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and maj- esty, dominion and power, both now and ever! Amen.” DATE DUE DEMCO 38-297 wi L£€22S2100 alll mM