There are sure to be many in such a congregation as this who have visions
of the good they hope to do; and there is a spirit of native generosity
in almost all which makes them shrink from the thought of doing harm to
another soul.

Well, then, in this thought of your influence, conscious and unconscious,
your first and constant prayer will surely be: "Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

The effective servant of God is always the man who has been prepared and
purified by the vision of God in his own soul.

If, then, we desire to contribute some good to our society and no evil,
we must take care to keep our hearts open to the cleansing influences of
the spirit of holiness, so that no habit of sin shall cast its dark
shadow around us, or vitiate that atmosphere which is inseparable from
our personal life.




IX. SOWING BESIDE ALL WATERS.


"Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters."--ISAIAH xxxii. 20.

These words form part of a great prophetic vision. The prophet is
standing among his countrymen like a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem.
And far away, as he looks, the distant horizon of his stormy sky is