B9 ■ ■ • A;*>" I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Ch ap . _ . . _**?l>)py r i ght No..„„___. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. uot 12 i»y« DEVOTIONAL BOOKS* David cVcook. These are printed in large type, on laid paper, bound in Vellum, with ornamental designs. THE LOVE SERIES. Size, 4x5*4. Four books to help us see God's love and His desire for our love. The Gospel of Love. Love-Bound. With Jesus. The Must op Love. THE BEST SERIES. Square shape, size 5x5. Four restful books. God wants your life to be restful. Lost Crowns. Rest: or, The Song op Love. All Things New. The Secret op Happy Home Life. THE KINGDOM SERIES. Size, 2%s.b%. Jesus in four helpful aspects — as Conqueror, King-, Shepherd and Lord. The Conquest of Love. The Good Shepherd. The Kingdom of Love. Love's Servants. THE CHRISTIAN" LIFE SERIES. Size, 5x5. Four books to help one in understanding- and living a true Christian life. The World of Grace. Holiness, and Some Mistakes About It. Prayer, and Some Mistakes About It. His Name; or, Saved by a Name. Any or all of the above sent by mail, prepaid, to any address, on receipt of price, 10 cents per copy. DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING COMPANY, CHICAGO. ALL THINGS NEW. HU Ubings Bew; OR, «„ THROUGH DYING WE LIVE. By David C. Cook. CHICAGO: David C. Cook Publishing Company, 36 WASHINGTON STREET. %> c/b 167G1 Copyright, 1898, by David 0. Cook. ECtivtO. EH GMnas mew; OR, THROUGH DYING WE LIVE. What would you think of one who should build a beautiful house and then destroy it, or paint a lovely picture and then tear it to pieces? Have you never thought that this is the way God is doing? He makes, to destroy. Nothing seems to long remain the same. He clothes the trees with leaves, but within a few months strips them off. He makes the tiny bud and develops it into the beautiful flower, but the flower is no sooner in bloom than it begins to wither and fade. It seems to be so with everything in nature. It 8 All Things New. starts out, grows in beauty, and then is destroyed. Why should such loveliness be wasted? And God deals in much the same way with us. He gives us joy after joy, but each one soon passes away, never to return. The bright, sunny day is soon gone, or changed to a cloudy one. The glorious sunset fades into the darkness and gloom of night. You enjoy yourself at the concert or in some other way, but the hour soon passes. Each meeting with friends is followed by a parting. You draw many a sigh as your joys or the joys of others depart, and bitter tears may sometimes flow because the day that is just past will never return, and the joys you have had cannot again be yours. You study hard at school to acquire an educa- All Things New. g tion. Afterwards you find employment and all looks bright for a time. But sickness comes, or perhaps a labor panic, you lose your situation, and then you may even go hungry. You try to save money to build yourself a home and furnish it. Eeverses overtake you, and your money or your home is gone. Even though you succeed for a while, sooner or later you are snatched from that which you enjoy, or your joys are taken from you. You gather friends about you; loved ones nestle by your side. But one and another are taken away from you — parents and little ones, brothers and sisters, are parted; none are safe. You may be almost broken-hearted because of your losses, and you are bowed down with the weight of sor- row. io All Things New. Then, too, you yourself change. Free and joy- ous childhood gives place to manhood and old age. At last you are gone. What does it all mean? It is God's way — yes, Love's way. But why and how? Through doing so He seeks to unfold your inner life. Your body and mind should grow and develop; but within is another life, far more important to you, which He is seeking to bring to perfection. Ultimately your material body is to be destroyed for the sake of this life. What is there to do about it? Just to live, live — live aright. As you do this, the sorrow and pain are transformed and glorified. You notice that we can never have the new thing without parting with the old. The plant can have no fruit until it parts with the flower. At school you put All Things New. n away the chart and the multiplication table, to take up the reader and the arithmetic., then you hurried on to get through with all your readers and arithmetics. You do not mourn over these losses, and there is no need to mourn over the losses we have to bear as God develops our soul-life. It is this that I want you to see. There is a glad and joyous promise in the next to the last chapter of Kevelation, which I wish you would mark in your Bible. It is this: " Be- hold, I make all things new." The chapter opens with the words: " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." The second verse speaks of the holy city, the Xew Jerusalem, and most of the chapter is taken up with telling about this so- 12 All Things New. called city (the city where we see without sunlight or candle. I wish you could " behold " — could really see how it is God's plan, out of the seeming destruc- tion of each enjoyment, to build for you this im- perishable city of eternal joy. From these precious stones He would build a glittering wall of glory, and I wish you could see this wall as course after course is being laid in your life. I wish it might rise in beauty and grandeur. If you cannot understand this, try to believe Jesus' words: " Behold, I make all things new." As in loving confidence you believe, you will begin to see. We sometimes talk of God's fitting us for heaven. We are apt to misunderstand what this means. I wish I could help you to understand All Things New. ij it somewhat better. In another place in Kevela- tion, we read of a time when God's angel shall stand upon the earth and proclaim that " Time shall be no more." I think in this is contained a prophecy wonderful and beautiful. With each tick of the clock time is passing, but often you do not notice the ticking because you are so absorbed in something that you forget the passage of time. It is changes in circumstances that mark its pass- age. You mark it as, forgetful of the new, your mind is taken up with things that are passing. As you cling to things that are passing, you mark or notice their passing. But when you allow God each moment to make all things new, then to you there is no such word as time. God would give you a timeless life. Through 14 All Things New. the changes of life He would make your life changeless. I wish that above you to-day might stand God's blessed angel of change and exultantly cry of your heart that from now on, " Time shall be no more." He can and will when you have entered the timeless life. You wonder at the mystery of immortality, when all things about you seem changing and dying. Try to see in this the proof of immortal- ity. Material things must change, die and other- wise pass from your sight, that what is real of them may remain with you. As they pass before your vision, change and vanish, you may become more or less, as you will. When you grieve because of what is passing, you mar God's plan for you. All Things New. 15 You remember how the Israelites in the desert were fed by God with manna. It fell every day, and they were directed to gather a supply daily. But some tried to keep manna from the day before. They found that it became wormy. Yes- terday's manna was good only for yesterday, and to-day's manna for to-day. In the same way, God sends you new joys each day. Let the joys of to-day be used to-day. As you do this rightly, you will be more because of both those of yesterday and those of to-day. But if you mix the spoiled food from yester- day with the fresh food of to-day, you will spoil both. Loved ones should ever be loved ones of to-day, not yesterday. Blessings of yesterday will bless 16 All Things New. you only when they have entered your life as some- thing living, which cannot be taken away. For you new flowers are ever springing. Daily new joys are being sent to you. Again the sun rises in brightness and beauty. New days take the place of old ones. New beauties pass before you, but you fail to see them while you cling to their material side. If instead you learn to live rightly in the present, each new day's joys will be more because of the past. Each new flower should be more beautiful because of the flowers of the past that you have learned to love; not for what was material in them, but for the soul of beauty in each. You should see more beauty in every sunset because of each previous one you have looked upon. Loved ones All Things New. ij passed from your mortal sight should now have entered your spiritual sight. Thus your spiritual life may grow. Loved ones gone from you should be more to you to-day because of each new love. And each new love should be more as through it you have learned to love in a higher and better way. You may love all whom you can bless with your love. Many think that when a loved one is dead they are untrue if they love others. It is true that you may love others so as to forget the departed friends, but instead you should so love that those who are gone become more to you. The bee sips honey from each flower as it blooms. As new flowers open, it takes from these. It increases its store as the new flowers keep com- 18 All Things New. ing. Each blossom has its own peculiar sweet- ness. If the bee had to gather always from one flower, it would tire. Each joy that comes to you is new and different, and is a part of an eternity of joy that awaits you, if you will make it yours. There are joys which you do not taste as they pass, for numberless ones are presented to you. Many you do not recognize as joys. Some hearts have become so large that they gather much; they see true joys where others cannot. Their lives are unfolding rapidly, as God would have yours un- fold. There are ever joys enough for the largest gatherers. We see how it is God's plan in our physical and intellectual life that we should develop step by step. It is through many lessons at school and All Things New. ig at home that one advances. When a lesson is learned, a new one is given. To keep on studying the old ones, would be a waste of time. There is a great difference in the circumstances of different persons, and so in God's plans of teach- ing them. Still, each may say, " His banner over me is love," for the future for which God would fit each is to be different from that of others. I know of a boy who has unusual talent for music; friends say he ought to make a fine musician if educated aright. After he hears a piece played, he can play it quite nicely without the notes. His parents have begun sending him to a wise and accomplished teacher. She seems to have taken a great interest in the lad, but treats him in a way some would think strange. He 20 All Things New. is given sheet music to play, one piece at a time, but just as the piece is becoming enjoyable to him she takes it away and replaces it with a new one. She says it is the only way to get him to watch his playing and so keep growing in the knowledge of music, which alone can give him constantly in- creasing enjoyment. Many see God's goodness in a part of what comes to them, but few see it in everything. Yet all is intended for good. I was once told that God gave joys, and then took them away so as to wean us from them. In Colossians we are bidden to " set our affections on things above." I think this means that we should find that which is spir- itual in our joys. I do not believe God takes away our joys to wean us from them, but to All Things New. 21 enable us to enjoy them continually. When the taking away of joys weans you from them, their usefulness is spoiled. If through the teacher's changing his lesson the pupil becomes discour- aged, harm is done instead of good. God's plans for you will be more or less helpful as you are in accord with them. They may prove harmful. Some have become cast down and hope- less because of what has come into their lives and been taken away, while others have been helped and uplifted by the same. God would continually uplift each one. The difference in results is be- cause one does not give Him loving confidence, while another does. Some are ever looking at what God seems to be giving others and refusing themselves. We can 22 All Things New. grow in trust as we come to see His loving hand in everything and determine to find highest joys in each day's circumstances. Through losses God would cause losses to cease. Through separation He would sweep away all that separates. Having something in which you are interested taken away from you, ought to enable you to keep it. It is thus the school-boy acquires knowledge. He reads, closes his book, then tries to recall what he has read. You learn to acquire knowledge rapidly through experience in the pro- cess of study — looking at your book, then away, and striving to reproduce in your mind. The artist, through looking at his model and then away, learns to reproduce on canvas. See how loving God is in letting us have some All Things New. 23 things for a little while, and then taking them away while we were feeling most attached to them, instead of waiting until we had lost interest. It is when yon have become interested in a lesson that your book may be closed and the lesson recalled so as to ever remain in the memory. To have material things always with you, would be to lose the good of them forever. If the same material things were always to remain, spiritual things could never be. You are conscious of material things only through the spiritual within you. Indeed, your consciousness is your life. As material things continue, you tire of them and so you lose them. To lose all interest in things would be to lose your consciousness — lose your life. 24 All Things New. There is that which is material in everything you see, feel and look upon. But there is some- thing beyond. What does the artist mean by putting life into the picture or expression into the face? What does the musician mean by putting soul into music? What is the difference between the hand-organ and the piano? Paul tells us how we begin with a natural (or material) body, which is afterwards changed or raised to a spiritual one. He speaks of how we are first earthy, then heavenly (or like God and other heavenly beings). It is through the chang- ing circumstances of this life that God would de- velop the heavenly life. Why is it that as old age comes the strength fails, the eyes grow dim, the hearing becomes All Things New. 25 dulled, and the memory leaves us? I think it is all a part of God's plan of infinite love. Each one may rejoice to see in this the unfolding of the new life. It is right that your eyes should be bright and clear, but at best they do not give you a perfect vision. They see but a little distance. They look but one way at a time. Through them you seek to look on those you love, but often they are beyond the reach of these eyes. Distance and darkness are barriers to them, but within us are other eyes which may pierce the darkest gloom. You may dimly discern what you wish to see, shining through the face, but you long to really look upon that which you love. And as the out- ward eye is dimmed, much more perfectly should the inner eyes open. Many blind people have 26 All Things New. found and made use of this new vision as few with natural eyes do. God would have each learn to use this sight — and the sooner, the better. To the ear may come words of tenderness and love, ripples of song, and tones of joy and glad- ness, such as arouse and thrill the soul. But dis- tance separates. No sound can reach the ear from far-away friends. Then often that which you hear is not what you long for from the hearts of others. Besides, through the natural ear no lov- ing words can come from Him who is Love. No music of heaven ever sounds upon it. The joys of that world must reach the soul in another way. It is true that through the hearing we sometimes seem to catch the echo of these. And as you listen to them, your inner ear may open the wider. Some All Things New. 2j have learned to use this ear until they feel at home with God/ and, through Him, with the loved ones who have passed from the visible world. Through the voice how much of love we may convey to others in word and tone! And how much of sympathy and comfort! You should rejoice that you have this means of reaching others' hearts. But behind the voice is the heart which you seek to give with the words. We speak of putting heart into our words; but words convey quite poorly what the heart feels. By words you try to show that you — your heart — seek to touch another's heart, or that your heart is open to that of another. But you put your heart beside that of another through a spirit-union, and to this 28 All Things New. words are only helps. Through rightly doing this, you may learn a higher and better way — a way independent of words. It is true that as you grow strong in body you may be more to others and to yourself. In sick- ness and weakness of body we are apt to feel small and mean. Yet it is not for strength of body that you really care, but for strength of heart and mind. This a strong body may nourish and pro- tect. As your body is strong, it may the better care for itself and thus for you; and as the heart and mind grow, they may the better care for the body. But I wish you might understand that these grow as they come to live independent of the body; finally they are to live thus entirely. While many are much depressed by each ache and All Things New. 2Q pain, others have become exalted through bodily suffering. A few weeks ago I was asked to go and see a sick girl. Her father told me that for three years she had not known freedom from pain. When I saw her, the disease had become so bad that she could not move any part of her body or turn upon the bed. Her father had employed many phy- sicians without avail. He had tried faith-healing also. One look into her face told me that she had entered into a life above the physical. A heav- enly love, joy and peace seemed written upon her countenance. At first I thought it might be the way the light shone upon her, or something un- usual in the color or the features. I had expected to find some one in great trouble, and perhaps to jo All Things New. offer consolation. I asked her several questions about herself, which she answered hesitatingly, because of pain. I saw from her answers that her face had not deceived me. I had come to help her — but how much more could she help me! I afterward said to her father when we were alone, "Do you realize that you have an angel with you?" He smiled and answered something that made me see he knew it full well. Jesus came and went away, not to lessen men's love for Him, but to increase it; not to be farther away, but nearer. Our loved ones are taken away, that they may be more to us and more with us. If we knew the truth we would seldom murmur because of anything taken from us. Loved ones are with you at first in an imperfect way; God All Things New. ji wants them to be with you ever in the perfect way. God wants to be with you Himself in this way. We wish to keep the fading flower, not for the bit of earthly matter of which it is composed, but for the beautiful form which the life within the flower has produced. We feel a common life with the flower and with everything beautiful. Through the flower we have become conscious of unknown life and loveliness. It is not the flower we love, but the unseen life within it. We want to keep with us persons whom we have learned to love. But that which we love is not material. Sometimes, through the medium of imperfect words and looks, we have managed to convey our love to another and have drawn an- 32 All Things New. other to love us. But the words and the look were not the love, and the absence of these does not destroy the love. You can love another no matter how widely separated you may be. How little do we discern this truth and what it fore- shadows! There is an unusual stillness in your home when someone is away, but you are affected quite differently if it is someone you love; then there is a feeling of loss — it seems as though a part of you were somewhere else. You may have a feeling of relief if it is one for whom you do not care. Why do we experience these feelings when those we love are gone? Is it not because we are trying to be with them? It is heart reaching out after heart. It is hunger for heart-union. All Things New. jj Did you ever think that while those we love are with us we seem to forget them, but when they leave us our hearts go after them? Perhaps we mourn and weep because we feel we cannot be with them. But I am sure that compensation will follow. If you have a loved one near you, you do not yearn for him; it is only when the body is away that the heart goes out in its fullness toward the spirit you love. I think one reason why we fail to love very much those who are with us is because we cannot fully reach that which we love. When separated, we reach out after the loved one in a new way. This, I think, is the " earnest," or heart-union of which I have been speaking. God's thoughts for you are far higher than your thoughts for yourself. You are more to Him 34 All Things New. than your surroundings. He cares more for you than for your body. " The life is more than the meat." Let your soul-life grow. Perhaps in the past you have failed to gather true joys, so you have not been lifted up into a life of larger joys. As this is so you may have grown worn and thin. Your heart may have be- come famished. Indeed, there may have fallen over you a stupor such as comes before death to those who are starving for bread. But it is not yet too late. There are losses which cannot be repaired, but your heart may hear the words of Jesus: " Behold, I make all things new." At first you may not be able to take much food, but you will grow in strength as you accept comfort from these words and begin the life of love. Only All Things New, 35 believe Him and begin to love and trust Him in this way. Sincerely yours, J$^Y^^f THE I. A. H. CIRCLE. Do you want a charmed life? Then you should join the I. A. H. Circle. Over one hundred thousand joined the first year. It is not a society. It has no constitution, by-laws or pledges. To cover the cost of letters and hooks such as are sent free to each member, also for postage and other expenses, we charge Twenty-Five Cents Membership Fee for joining the Circle. This is all it costs. There are no dues to pay after you join. Each member is given a number. When once you have joined, you are always a member unless you withdraw. Privileges of Members. One of the chief features of the Circle is its silver ring, because wearing it as directed, when once the Charmed Life is under- stood, so greatly helps one to enter it and keep there. The ring is sent free and postpaid. But Circle members have much besides to help them. A Personal Friend to Write to.— Each one is entitled to the privilege of correspondence with Mr. Cook, the founder of the Circle. Members may write to him whenever in perplexity or trouble. Each letter so received is confidential. Each one is answered personally. No charge is made for any answer. The only expense to the one writing is a two-cent stamp to pay postage on reply. Daily Help from the Charmed Life Book. — This con- tains a letter written by Mr. Cook for each day of the month. The Letters are intended as helps for each day for a year. At the end of the first year you can receive a new book containing a new set of letters by sending five cents for the same, and again at the end of the second year. Access to a Library of Helpful Letters.— These letters, written by Mr. Cook, are upon subjects in which Circle members are most interested. They have been written in answer to questions from Circle members. Each Letter is printed in the shape of a little book. These letters, which you may keep, cost only a penny each. To this library are constantly being added new letters. Full particulars sent free. Address, DAVID C. COOK, I. A. H. CIRCLE, 36 Washington Street, Chicago. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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