Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 26, Number 9, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 4 May 1904 — Page 7

Spiritual Counterfeiting Putting the World?* Pros* in the Place Os Cod’* Cold. Sermon by tbc “Highway and Byway" Preacher.

Chicago, Sunday, May 1,1904. Te>xt:—"So Shlshak, king of Egypt, came up agaJnst Jerusalem, and took away the treasure of the house of Jehovah, and the treasure of the king’s house; fie took all away; he took away also the shields of gold w hich Solomon had made. And King Rehoboam made In their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, that kept the doors of the king’s house. And it was so, that, as oft as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the guard came and bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.”—ll. Chron. 12:9-11.

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OLD shields possessed, but lost. Brass shields made and displayed. The base and common substituted for the predious and pure. The counter felt taking the place of the genuine. The false appearing in the light of the ' true. This is an epitome of the life of King Rehoboam. Heir to the glory,

riches, honor and power of Solomon, his father, he had great opportunities and possibilities before him. At the mature age of 41 he began his reign, but “he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him,” and within five years’ time the Judgment of God had fallen upon him by the hand of Shishak, king of Egypt, who came up against Jerusalem with an immense army, and captured all the fortified cities of Judah and looted the treasure city, Jerusalem. The magnificent temple which Solomon had builded and furnished with its golden vessels and gold-covered furniture was stripped of its treasure. The king’s palace did not escape In the raid, and all that was precious was carried off. Among the things specially mentioned as being seized by Shishak and his army were the 300 shields which Solomon had made of beaten gold. Three pounds of pure metal had gone Into each shield. These shields were in the hall of the house of Lebanon, and were carried by the guard which attended the king when he went from his palace In state procession to the temple to worship.

11 H 0 shield was symbolic and sug- . gestive of the Divine protection, and the gold from which they were made was Indicative of that purity which God deBired in His people. Mere display is never pleasing to God. He is not to be flattered and appeased by glitter and show. The flashing of those magnificent gold shields in the sunlight as the' king passed In royal state to pay his vows unto his God was not pleasing and acceptable to God, unless every blazing shield proclaimed the protection God gave to His children who were pure and sincere in their worship. As every part of the temple service and worship was significant and symbolic, so we are warranted in believing that Solomon in making these shields of gold for the decoration of the walls of the beautiful house of Lebanon, and for carrying when he went to the temple, desired to convey the thought of purity and the Divine protection. And these were the shields which came into the possession of Rehoboam, and which we have reason to suppose he took delight in displaying and using because his vanity was gratified. Although he had forsaken the law of Jehovah and drawn all the people away with him in heathenish and idolatrous practices, nevertheless it is to be presume that he continued his stately and magnificent processionals to the temple, flanked on either side by the splendidly caparisoned guard bearing the 300 glittering, golden shields. So it continued through five years. Five years of glorious display, but meaningless worship. Five years in which God patiently waited, and then the judgment fell and the king was stripped of all his treasure.. BUT although Rehoboam had lost the golden shields, he was not to be denied the vainglorious pleasure of his parade to the temple and return. The 300 shields must flash in the sunshine as of yore and dazzle the eyes of his people. The 300 shields,in the hands of the guard must circle the temple door and must tell a waiting people that their king was within worshiping The 300 shields must open to receive him as he reappeared and must move Cn stately magnificence back to the palace. And to gratify this passion for display, having lost the gold shields, he “made in their stead shields of brass.” This may appear on the surface like a very innocent and proper procedure on the part of the king, ft may seem that in so readily and quickly adapting himself to the circumstances of his misfortune he displayed skill and wisdom, but when we consider what these shields signified, and the circumstances which culminated in their confiscation by a heathen king, we shall begin to understand the real meaning of the making of the brass shields and be able to make deductions that will teach important lessons. m HERE are three periods or epochs X in this experience of Rehoboam—the possession of the gold shields; the loss of the gold shields, and the making of the brass shields. And under these three divisions we wish to consider our topic: Spiritual Counterfeiting. Rehoboam was a counterfeiter, and people to-day are prone to commit the same error and sin. Losing God’s gold, there is the temptation to substitute for it the world’s brass. We put

(Copyright, igog, by J. M. Edson.)

the base for the pure, the false for the true, the counterfeit for the genuine. The glitter and display of externalities are of more real concern to us than the spirit and purpose which should lie behind them. The Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day had learned the art of counterfeiting. They had lost God’s gold, and unwilling to lose the glamour of the outward display of their religion they substituted the base metal of their own fusing. They made for themselves shields of brass that they might mase the same show and appear to have lost nothing. They cared more for what the eyes of man saw than for what the all-seeing eye of God beheld. And so with Rehoboam, and as with the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day, so with multitudes of people to-day. Glittering shields must be had and the world's brass is eagerly taken and used, when God’s gold is not to be had because of sin. Rehoboam might better have gone without shields altogether after he lost the gold ones than to have substituted the brass ones of his own making. Why should he try to make it appear that he had lost nothing by Shishak’s raid? Why should he proudly hold his head aloft and flatter himself with the glitter and display which he had enjoyed before his sin and punishment? And why should people to-day, having forfeited the gold of God’s favor and presence, seek to ignore the loss and substitute therefor the brass shields of their own making? It HE Possession. —Rehoboam posX sessed shields of pure gold. They constituted a rich treasure which had been committed to his hands. They typified God’s protection, and the gold from which they were made was symbolic of purity. Their possession was a sign of God’s favor and blessing. Gold shields for Rehoboam when he came into the kingdom, and gold shields for you and me when we enter the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rich treasures committed to our hands. Gold shields typifying the protection of God and His purity. Ah, how we delight in their possession! We have them hung about the walls of the palace of our heart, and we delight to take them down and march with them to the temple of our God, where we may worship Him. Gold shields of protection promised to them that love and obey Him. Gold shields of purity, because through the blood of Jesus Christ we are made clean and Hia righteousness and purity are counted for us. Purity and protection—what more can God give? Within these two are comprehended all that God has to give to the trusting soul. Purity is God-like-ness. And the Christian attains that condition or quality in two ways: By imputation and by acquirement. Through the cleansing and transforming power of Jesus’ blood the sinner is made pure. That is, Jesus, having borne the punishment of our sin, is able to throw over us as a mantle His righteousness and purity. Apart from Jesus Christ there can be no purity in God’s sight. If God sees in us Christ, He sees purity and holiness. If by faith the heart lays hold of Christ, by that act of surrender and obedience we become possessed of His purity and righteousness, and God, in beholding us, sees not the marred and scarred life, but His precious Son, behind Whom the sinner takes refuge. Thus is His purity and righteousness imputed unto us.

THE Shield of Protection. —This is offensive and defensive. It Implies the surrounding presence of God which shields from every danger, which nerves for every conflict, which sweetens every joy, which soothes every sorrow, which intensifies and deepens every relationship and responsibility of life. This is what God’s protection means. It includes everything essential to the welfare and enjoyment and success of life. The child enjoys the protection of its father, and this protection comprises shelter, food, clothing, as protection against exposure, hunger and cold. It includes provision for the best welfare and needs, and development of the child as well as a shielding from the dangers that lurk on every hand to harm and destroy. God speaks of holding us in the hollow of His hand. And Jesus in His last prayer with His disciples reported to the Father that He had guarded them and not one of them had perished save the son of perdition, who never really belonged to Him. The protection of God is of a three-fold character; Offensive, defensive and intensive. Offensive as that protection enables us to grow from weak and immature babes into full-statured and' strong saints ready for aggressive warfare in His name. Defensive in that He prevents the world, the flesh and the Devil, the iniquitous trinity, from crushing to eternal destruction. When talking about His righteous servant Job, God said to the Devil: You may test him to the point of taking his life, but upon his life you shall cot even lay so much as your finger. Peter wa3 in imminent peril of utter annihilation by the Devil, but Jesus prayed for him and set the bounds of the Devil’s power over him. And it is so with God’s children always. They are kept from utter defeat and destruction. His protection is defensive. And God’s protection Is intensive. It gives the sunshine and the rain, the rich soil and the tender care which are essential to the deeper rooting lA Him and the pushing upward of thetrumk and branch and the bearing of much fruit for Him. A larger growh, God says, and He deepens the soil of our experience apd enriches it and mellows it so that ths

roots can spread far and wide and obtain nourishment and drink deep of the hidden springs of refreshing. More fruit, God says, and He cuts away the dead and useless branches, He purges the branches of fruit-bearing possibilities, He sends the dew and gentle shower and the warm sunshine as they are needed. This is the intensive protection of God. And these are the gold shields of the Christian. GOLD Shields Lost. Rehoboam was the proud and happy possessor of 300 gold shields. But the day came when he lost them. He was stripped of his treasures. His house was left desolate. Sin had been eating like a corroding acid at the very roots and vitals of his and the nation’s life, and within five years we hehold Shishak and his hosts sweeping down upon Judah and Jerusalem and taking away those things which had been the glory and delight of the king. The gold shields typifying God’s protection and purity were lost. And the Christian sometimes, yea, often, loses his golden shields of God’s purity and protection. His heart is stripped bare of the splendid treasure. Sin, as in the case of Rehoboam, has crept up, and up, and up into the life until the enemy has come and stripped us of the purity of the presence of Christ and carried off Into a far country the sense of the protection of God. The gold shields lost. Rehoboam forsook the law of his God, and the entering wedge, I am inclined to believe, was a mere perfunctory discharge of his religious obligations. He lost sight of God, he forgot the meaning of those shields of gold and gloried only in their external beauty and richness. He delighted in the magnificent procession to the temple only because the glitter and show of the golden shields went with him. And from the hollow pretense of formalism is only a step into positive and destructive sin. He forsook God in spirit, and he soon forsook the law of God as well

fIIHE Brass Shields. —When Re--L hoboam lost his shields of gold he made him shields of brass that he might continue his glittering displays and march in magnificence to the temple. He was willing to put the base instead of the pure. He would be satisfied with the false now that he had lost the true through sin. He would substitute his counterfeits for the genuine. And oh, how many, many Christians who are doing that very thing! Sinful indulgence has robbed them of that first flush of purity which came with Jesus into their hearts. Sin has come as a gigantic barrier between themselves and God. What shall they do? Admit their condition to the world and their fellow worshippers? Miss the glitter and display of outward show and discharge of religious obligations? What if God does see their desolate condition? What if He does know that the gold shields have been lost? It is of what men think and say, which is their concern. The genuine are gone, but there must be the glitter and display still. And so they make for themselves shields of brass. They use the base metal of their own endeavor to construct shields that will glitter and flash. They will have something to display when they go forth to worship. The counterfeit must take the place of the real. They must keep up appearances with men, even though ths chamber of their heart is bare of the precious shields. Brass shields! Are you, oh, Christian, bearing about with you a brazen shield which flashes before the eyes of your fellow men and appears to them as l he purity and protecting presence of God, but which you know is a base ajd wicked sham’ Away with it! Better no shield than the counterfeit shield of brass! BUT you need not be without tho shields you have lost through sin Rehoboam never recovered his shields of precious gold. They went into Egypt never to return. He could never get them back. But, thanks be to the gracious and merciful Heavenly Father, He will replace the lost golden shields with others as precious and genuine as those we have lost. He will give us back the purifying presence of the Christ, He will shelter us about with His blessed three-fold protection. But not if we dare to resort to spiritual counterfeiting. Not if we put brass of pretense and deceit for the precious pure gold of His coinage. Away with the brass shields I Cast them aside as the peril of your very soul? Give up the glitter and display and sit alone in the desolate chamber of your heart! God will come to the penitent heart and forgive! He will come to the heart that has lost but that longs for the genuine instead of the counterfeit, and He will hang upon the palace walls of your heart the golden shields of His purity and protection. Perhaps you have been counterfeiting without being really conscious of the deceptive work. The heart is deceitful above all things and leads astray so often. Many a dear soul perhaps has fallen into the mistake of Rehoboam without being really conscious of it. Without the purpose of being a hypocrite or deceiver. But let me warn you to examine yourself and see whether they are the gold shields God has given you which you are bearing about, or whether they are the brass ones you have made and substituted for the genuine when yon lost them through sin. You have felt ypu must keep up appearances with men and have made yourself shields or brass. Cast them aside, oh, precious soul! Get the genuine! You may be able to deceive the eyes of men. Polished brass does look like gold, Lut you cannot deceive God, and it is with Him you have to do, It is His holy presence into which yon must come some day. Then quit Spiritual counterfeiting and posses yourself with the genuine gold of God’s mintage! ”1 counsel thee to buy of Me gold, refined by Are, that thou mayest become rich.” God has the gold; you can get it nowhere else. Then buy of Him.

Beauty, Size and Sentiment of the World’s Fair It Is Larger and More Beautiful Than Any Other Exposition Ever Given.

When President Roosevelt touched the electric key at the white house in Washington, which set in motion the machinery of the world's fair at St. Louis, he not only opened to the world the greatest display of the arts of peace the world has ever known, but he gave to the nation a fit climax of a eentury of growth of that vast territory west of the Mississippi—the Louisiana territory. When, at the swing of a lever, 90,000 gallons of water per minute was released to flow over the beautiful cascades in front of Festival hall, there was completed the most beautiful exposition picture the world has ever seen, a picture that will live in the mind of every visitor to the great fair. Chicago had its Court of Honor, its stately palaces set against a background of the blue waters of Lake Michigan; Buffalo had its wonderful illumination, its 'dusk of evening brightening into day again as the countless thousands of twinkling lights brought back the effect of the rising sun, but these pictures, beautiful as they were, have been surpassed by the glory of the cascades, the foaming waterway, rushing downward from the colonnades surrounding Festival hall, to the great lagoons, with their myriad colors, intersecting the wonderfully beautiful grounds in all directions. Just as this newest of expositions

PALACE OF LIBERAL ARTS. WITH UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDING AT END OF LAGOON AT WORLD’S FAIR. ST. LOUIS:

surpasses all others in beauty, so, also, does it in size. One thousand two hundred and forcy acres, literally covered with the treasures, the productions, the curiosities of .j world, tell the story of the fair in a sentence. No one visitor will ever see it all, though he spent the full time the exposition is open at the task. An exposition which cost $50,000,000 before its gates were opened to the public; an exposition to which 52 nations from all corners of the world have sent their best for the people of the world to look upon; an exposition two miles long and one mile wide; an exposition, that is twice the size of any other to which the public were invited; an exposition that is larger than the three previous large American expositions combined. Such is the exposition with which St. Louis celebrates the centennial of the Louisiana purchase. But the men responsible for the exposi’ion do not wish that it should attrac* by its size alone. They have builded for beauty, as well as for bigness. and who can stand iff the center of tin great par o’----" wither.! being aroused to a pitch of enthusiasm by the beauty that surrounds him? It is the beauty, rather than the size of the fair, that first appeals to him. Another thing that appeals to the American, the man who loves his country, is the sentiment the exposition stands for It is a sentiment that is fully exemplified In the imposing heroic statuts of the states that stand on either side of Festival hall. These statues typify, not the states of the east, but those of the west, the states carved out of the Louisiana territory, the states that stretch from the gulf to the Canadian border, from the Mississippi to Puget sound; states that have within a eentury of time been builded out of the wilderness. It/ is for these the exposition has been builded; it is these again that have made the exposition possible. The lesson they teach is written deep in the history of the nation. To attempt an -Itemized description cf the wonders this expos..ion has brought to the doors of the people of the central west is impossible in the space of a newspaper article. Twelve thousand car loads of exhibits found space within the great palaces. It is almost Impossible to realize what such a statement means until one has gone from building to building, from exhibit to exhibit. Nor is the space in the building wasted. Every- niche is filled with E.raething of interest, and the demand was for almost double the amount at the disposal of the authorities. Some idea of this may be had from the, statement that the breakfast food manufacturers alone asked for more space than would have filled' ail the Agricultural building, covering 19 acres of ground, and with four miles (7 aisles. To pick even the more Interesting exhibits is almost- an impossibility, though among them might be men-

tioned the largest pipe organ ever manufactured, with 145 stops and pipes five feet in diameter and 32 feet long; four acres covered with agricultural machinery; the largest natatorium on earth; ten acres of roses; ten acres of live game; the largest engines ever built; a floral clock covering a quarter of an acre of ground, and of which the minute hand weighs over a ton. Such items but give the general idea of the entire fair. It is all big, it i8 all beautiful, it is all Interesting. The exposition management is not boasting of the “Pike.” They wish the visiting public to remember the fair by what might be termed its legitimate portion, its wealth of educational exhibits, and yet. who would say that the shows along the ‘“Pike” are not educational in their way. -On it are villages of every sort, and amusement features of every description. Five million square feet of entertainment. Among outdoor shows, that are not to be confounded with those of the “Pike,” may be mentioned the reproduction of the City of Jerusalem and the forty acres of Filipinos. Among the most interesting of tho many features of the fair are the various government exhibits housed in the Government building which is SCO feet long by 250 feet wide. Every function of the government is exemplified in this building. Among these

exhibits is a complete government mint for the manufacture of coin, but at St. Louis Uncle Sam is making instead of coin gold souvenir medals, but the process is the same as if the product was legal tender. While Uncle Sam has a monopoly on the moneymaking business he guards the privilege jealously and does not risk the precious dies, which put their imprints upon dimes, dollars and eagles, to leave their place of keeping. Besides a mosern coining press, from which drops a bright medal at every click, is a- screw press built in 1795 and used at that time to stamp small coins. There is also a hammer 120 years old and a small pair of balances formerly used in the Philadelphia mint. Comparing these with the improvements made in the last 100 years reveals how much easier it is now for Uncle Sam to replenish his treasury than it was when he was young in the business. All of the machines used in the plant are driven by independent direct current motors, th- power for which i-s transformed from 550 volts to 2'20. Thu for all heating operations, such as annealing, melting, etc., i3 manufactured by an independent plant situated outside the building, and so arranged that it can be controlled in the exhibit. These machines were designed and built especially sor — this purpose. First of the series of devices composing the plant is a furnace which supplies a heat of 2,000 degrees F. for the melting of metal alloys. Here the metal is cast into ingots and washed in a dilute “solution of sulphuric acid to free the surface from copper oxide. The ingots are then run through the rolling mill and reduced in thickness from one-half an inch to eighfCfive thousandths of an inch. This mill is operated by a 50 .horse power motor. After rolling the strips are heated in the annealing furnace to soften them for the cutter. Processes used In the making of paper money are altogether different, for it is here that the printer and not the machinist and founder serves a usefulness. In another section of the big Government building at the world’s fair there is a fully-equipped bank note printing plant. In the Palace of Transportation may be seen a full size section of the great tunnSh- which runs from Jersey City under the Hudson river, under New York city at Thirty-fourth street, and under the East river to Long Island, a distance of eight miles. It illustrates the tremendous work and millions of dollars expended upon one or the greatest engineering works of modern times. A great laboratory for testing the power, efficiency and economy of locomotives is also in this building. Locomotives will be under full steam and full speed in this laboratory, the greatest show of locomotive testing ever conceived and costing a quarter of a million dollars

A Negro’s Retort. Among the employes of the bureau of engraving and printing is a negro who has been in the bureau for many years and who is noted for good humor and a certain degree of-wit. A few days ago an Irishman, also employed in the bureau, after having encountered the negro "in debate,” remarked: “Jim, you must be an Irishman.” “Ob, go 'long,” replied Jim. “It is bad ’nough to be a nigger.”—Philadelphia Ledger. “Why,” exclaimed the surprised suitor, “what is the so|a <loin<i in the vestibule?’ The pretty girl blushed. ’ Rapa said we remained so long in the vestibule saying good night that it would be much better to make love here and fcay ‘good-night’ in the parlor.”—Philadelphia' Record. WILD WITH ECZEMA 0 Anil Other Itching, Burning:, Scaly Eruption*, 'with Loss of Hair— Speedily Cured by Cutieura. Bathe the affected parts with hot water and Cutieura Soap, to cleanse the surface of crusts and scales and soften tiie thickened cuticle; dry, without hard rubbing, and apply Cutieura Ointment freely, to allay itching, irritation and inflammation, and soothe and heal; and, lastly, take Cuticura Resolvent Pills to cool and cleanse the blood. A single set, costing but SI.OO, I is often sufficient to cure the most tortur- • ing, disfiguring skin, scalp and blood humors, with loss of hair, when all else fails. The\hero of anew novel is worth $400.000,000. It wouldn’t he sale to bet tliafc the author is worth more than $399.08. — Boston Ulobe. Shake Into Your Shoes Allen’s Foot-Ease. It cures painful, swollen, smarting, sweating feet. .Makes new shoes easy. Sold by all Druggists and Shoe Stores. Don’t accept any substitute. S.iniple FREE. Address A. S. Olmsted, Lo Roy ,>. Y. The cynic is a man who sees his own heart and calls it the world.—Chicago Tribune. When Baby Has the Croup Give Hoxsie’s Croup Cure. No nausea. 50a In the bright and shining lexicon of political candidates, many are boomed and few escape being boomeranged.—Judge. ONE DOLLAR WHEAT. Western Canada’s Wheat Fields Produce It—Magnificent Yields—Free Grants of Land to Settlers. The returns of the Interior Department show that the movement of American farmers northward to Canada is each month affecting larger areas of the United States. Time was, says the Winnipeg Free Press, when the Dakotas, Minnesota ana lowa furnished the Dominion with the main bulk of its American contingent. Last year, however, forty-four states and districts were represented in the official statement as to the former residence of Americans who had homesteads in Canada. The Dakotas still head the list, with 4,005 entries, Minnesota being a close second with 3,887, but with the exception of Alabama and Mississippi and Delaware every state in the Union supplied settlers who, in order to secure farms in the fertile prairie country of Canada, became, citizens of, and took the oath of al-' legianee to, the Dominion. Last year no less than 11,841 Americans entered for homestead lands in Canada. From the Gulf to the Boundary, and from ocean to ocean, the trek to the Dominion goes on. Not only the wheatgrowers of the central Mississippi valley, but the ranchers of Texas and New Mexico, and the cultivators'' of the comparatively virgin soil of Oklahoma, are pouring towards the productive vacant lands of the Canadian North-West. It is no tentative, halfhearted departure for an alien coun* try that is manifested in this exodus; it has become almost a rush to secure possession of land which it is feared, by those imperfectly acquainted with the vast area of Canada’3 vacant lands, may all be acquired before they arrive. Tnere is no element of speculation or experiment in the , migration. The settlers have full information respecting the soil, wealth, the farming methods, the laws, taxation and system of government of the country to which they are moving, and they realize that the opportunities offered in Canada are in every respect better and greater than those they have enjoyed in the land they are leaving. Canada can well afford to welcome cordially every American farmer coming to the Dominion. There is no question but that these immigrants make the most desirable settlers obtainable for the development of the prairie portion of the Dominion. Full information can be had from any authorized Canadian Government Agent whose address’will be found elsewhere. Spring flowers are sometimes grown with steam heat. —Washington Star. WOMEN’S WOES.

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