From our Exchanges

with contributions from S. M. Vernon, J. Edwin Odgers, Mark Guy Pe RSE

Not one of the twelve apostles would have left a trace in history if it had not been for the companionship of Christ, the training he gave them, his spirit that was in them. Paul might have been merely a name, as pupil of Gamaliel and rabbi, in the wilderness of Jewish tradition, if Christ had not claimed him for his own. Peter calls himself a messenger, Paul and James call themselves bond servants so wholly do they feel that their claim upon the attention of the world is that they represent their master. These were all ordinary lives, and all but that of Paul unmarked by genius or opportunity until they received the mark and became the instruments of the extraordinary, the ideal, the central man, Jesus Christ.

Christ Congregationalist and Christian World.

Much is said to-day about a coming revival of religion. For ourselves we thoroughly believe that it will come. But to our way of thinking, a revival of religion is unthinkable if it is not based on some sort of appeal to the human conscience. That has been the invariable concomitant of any revival the world has ever known that has done any good. The time cannot be far distant when the public conscience will be aroused to a fresh and vital response to the dictates of righteousness, to the judgment of men according to the laws of righteousness.—The Watchman.

A soul at peace with itself, with God, and with men will pass through the world with a song, serene and triumphant. Hate will not embitter nor opposition discourage it; poverty cast it down, nor wealth puff it up; flattery seduce it, nor frowns dismay it; adversity chill its love, nor prosperity inflame its pride; sorrow destroy its faith, nor joy lift it above the need of it; indigence cause it to hate God, nor affluence lead it to despise others; solitude cast it down, nor society corrupt it.

S. M. Vernon, D.D., in The Christian Advocate.

The God who calls His prophet gives also the power to speak. The divine hand touched the mouth of Jeremiah and gave him the prophetic words he was to utter. He was the God of Pentecost, who gave the power convicting speech unto Peter and his fellow-disciples. There is no measuring the power which accompanies the words that fall from God-touched lips.—Christian Advocate.

Paul learned that God's grace was sufficient for any trial that came to him, and so may we. He found that it was not the character of the obstacle but of the man which was all important, and that if divine strength could come to the man it did not make any difference about what the difficulties were. We may and ought to have the same experience.—The Standard.

You find the secret of the great achievement wrought by many men of no unusual endowment, in the love that refreshes and strengthens them. And the secret of the failure of many a gifted man is explained when you know how bare his inner life was of the love that nourishes and sustains.—The Watchman.

Watch, lest God's perpetually fresh revelations find your eyes closed and your soul shut; lest a spirit that might have opened to you a store of new and rich life, have roused in you possibilities of growth that may henceforward never wake again, should pass by you unnoticed.

J. Edwin Odgers.

The world expects, and rightly, that the Christian should be more gentle, and patient, and generous, than he who does not profess to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. For the sake of those who take their notion of religion from our lives, we need to put up this prayer earnestly, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults."—Mark Guy Pe RSE.

The Independent believes that "for the Church as a leader there is more demand than ever; for the Church as a follower there is no vacancy. As a duplicator, as a drag, the Church looks sadly out of place; but a Church with imagination, with ideals, will make its own place."

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