STUDY I. ENTRANCE INTO CHRISTIAN LIFE.

"But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. x. 8-10.)

"And I say unto you, Eyery one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God." (Luke xii. 8, 9.)

PART 6. STEPS IN ENTERING THIS FRIENDSHIP

(Continued).

(e) Confession.

ONE of the laws of growth in friendship is expression. "That which is covered and unexpressed must die" is not only the dictum of psychology but also of every man's practical experience. If I wish to get free from a temptation I do not continue to say to it, "I will forget you," for each time I say that the very expression makes the temptation clearer and more definite in my mind. The psychological way of fighting a temptation is to transfer our thought to some other subject which is powerful enough to absorb us, thus helping us to forget the evil, to cover it up and let it die.

Herein lies one of the supreme values of Christianity : it gives us the supreme object of the world on which we can center our thought-even Jesus Christ. The best way of fighting temptation is to center our thought on the matchless personality of Christ.

The feeling of friendship which does not find expression will die. If you and I are friends and yet I am unwilling to

give expression to that friendship, it will atrophy. If I slip out of the room quietly when some one else enters, just to keep from being seen in your presence, my friendship will soon perish. A friendship which is not deep enough to be worth acknowledgment is a worthless matter.

A great many people are trying to live the silent Christian life. Like Nicodemus, they come to Jesus by night. Like him, they say that it is better to live than openly to profess; but alas! like him also, when the testing time comes their silent, unexpressed friendship has not that robustness and strength which enables them to stand boldly for Christ. Many seem to think that Christ's demand for open confession is a purely arbitrary demand. Not so; it is founded on the very nature of our being. Christ does not arbitrarily stand at the door of the kingdom and refuse us entrance unless we will confess him. He never does things arbitrarily. But Christ does stand at the door and say that you cannot grow in fellowship with him unless you are willing to be open and above board in your friendship; and he says this because that is the very nature of our being.

One of the serious dangers of our time is that we shall so far recoil from false expression, hypocrisy, and over-profession that we shall be unwilling to give expression to the real convictions of our lives, and hence fail to fulfill a law of our being without which no friendship can grow. One of the most important forms of confession is publicly joining the Church; for to become a Church member does not essentially mean the subscribing to creeds and dogmas, but the affiliation of our lives with the body of men and women who are trying to make Christ known.

Personal Thought: Have we ever thought it just a little unmanly to stand openly for Jesus Christ? Is this because we are ashamed of the manhood of Christ, or because we are ashamed of our own manhood? If it is the latter, will the refusal to avow our desire to be Christ's friend help us to grow into such a character that we need not be ashamed?

STUDY I. ENTRANCE INTO CHRISTIAN LIFE.

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Rom. xii. 21.)

"I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the needy: and the cause of him that I knew not I searched out." (Job xxix. 15, 16.)

"And he answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them." (Luke vii. 22.)

PART 7. STEPS IN ENTERING THIS FRIENDSHIP

(Concluded). (f) Service.

ANOTHER fundamental law of life is service. That which does not serve must die. If I tie my hand down to my side and let it remain there for a year, when I remove the bandage the arm will hang lifeless and dead. It has atrophied because it has not served. If you and I are friends living in the same house, and you are launching a great altruistic scheme, the impulse of friendship will be to serve you. But suppose I say I am too busy; suppose I say there is no money in that for me; suppose I refuse to give you counsel or encouragement; what will happen to my friendship? It will die, of course. It costs something to be a friend to a man, and one cannot pay the price in cheap coin. The only coin that will circulate here is time, thoughtfulness, love, life. One reason why so many of us have few friends is that we are not willing to pay the price. We would pay money—anything— except that final and supreme thing which it takes to have friendship-the giving of life in loving service. Perhaps this is why so many men and women cannot or do not find happiness in the home life. It costs life to be the kind of man or woman that will make the right conditions for a friendship as husband or as wife. Not infrequently one of the parties is unwilling to pay the price, and no real friendship can live.

To be a friend of Jesus Christ means service. The very essence of Christianity is that we shall share with our brother that which we have. No man can be a Christian who will not serve in Christ's kingdom; and our field of service is among men who are Christ's brothers and God's children. "For I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat. . . Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me." (Matt. xxv. 35, 40.)

Now this is not simply a dictum of religion; it is a fundamental law of our being. That which does not serve dies. It is because so many have neglected to heed this law that they have found themselves without any abiding consciousness of a friendly relationship with Christ. In personal conference with hundreds of college men to whom religion has come to have no meaning, I have almost always discovered the fact that such men had not been workers. They had not served in Christ's kingdom, hence their soul life had died. If I am to be your friend, I must serve you where I can. I may not be able to give you large sums of money, but I can give you sympathy, I can speak a good word for you, I can do whatever my ability allows, and no more is needed. If we are to be Christ's friends, the fundamental law of our being demands that we serve. We cannot disregard this law and grow in friendship. We may not be able to preach a great sermon, or lead with power in public prayer or give great sums of money to missions, but we can stand as a witness for Christ; we can invite a friend to go with us to Church; we can help a friend to form the habit of daily Bible study. We can do whatever our ability allows, and nothing more is required.

I think this is the authentic sign and seal
Of Godship, that it ever waxes glad

And more glad, until gladness blossoms, bursts
Into a rage to suffer for mankind,

And recommence at sorrow: drops like seed

After the blossom, ultimate of all.

Say, does the seed-corn scorn earth and seek the sun?

Surely it has no other end and aim

Than to drop, once more to die, into the ground,

Taste cold and darkness and oblivion there:

And thence rise, treelike, grow through pain to joy,

More joy, most joy-do man good again.

-Browning's "Balaustion's Adventure."