II. Love one another truly with our hearts. Paul said: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” So, then, we must love truly, honestly, and freely. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.” When Christ saw the people love outwardly, not with the heart, He said: “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” We may learn from this, unless we love one another truly and honestly, we cannot get the blessing of God.
III. Love one another continually. This is like God, whose love is unchangeable. He loves us all the time, gives us our daily bread, our clothes, and all we have. He gave His only begotten Son to the world to die for us. If we hate Him, He does not hate us, but loves us still. There was once a father in China who loved his son like the precious diamond. His son did all things to dishonor his father, but his father loved him still, and would not change his love. After a time the son left his father and came to California, where he grew worse and worse; never wrote any letters to his father. At last, a friend came to California whom the father knew, and sent word by him to his son. He said: “When you meet my son please tell him for me, I love him continually. I never forget my love.” A few months after, this friend met the son. He said to him, “You are doing all things vain. The precious time is almost gone. Soon you will feel gloomy and sad. When I left home your father sent a short message to you. He said he loves you continually.” When the son heard this his face changed, his heart became like a piece of ice on the hot fire. He started at once to see his father. When he reached home, his father was so happy to see him he forgot all the wrong his son had done. The father represents the true living God; the son, the people of the world; and the friend represents Jesus Christ. The bad son leaving his father and doing wrong, is like the people of the world disobeying God and going far away from Him. God sent us word by our Saviour that He loves us continually. This word should melt our hearts and make us return to God. He will receive us joyfully and forgive us our sins.
Brethren: If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
[The third sketch, which is by Jee Gam, to whom, during his recent visit to the East, many of our readers listened with great interest, must be deferred to another issue.—Ed. Missionary.]
CHILDREN’S PAGE.
A TRIP UP THE YANG-TSE-KIANG.
REV. G. W. PAINTER.
By the last mail, I wrote that I was in Shanghai for my health. Since then, I have been up the Yang-tse-Kiang to Hankow, a distance up and back of 1,200 miles, first-class passage $8. This included board for a whole week, and it may startle you to hear that we had genuine strawberries (the first I have seen during seven years’ residence in China), which cost the steward five cash each (half a cent), and shad at a cost of $2 per pair. We always had five or six kinds of meat, and several kinds of fruit. How this could be afforded was a mystery, but to me a charming one.
The fare provoked even a sick man’s appetite, and the pure sweet river air conduced to sleep; the weather was fine, and the scenery, for one half of the route, superb. Part of the way the banks of the river were flat, and the view was cut off by tall reeds with which they were lined, but during the latter half of the upward journey the mountains rose, often abruptly from the river, not unfrequently to great heights, and it was true of some of these, what I supposed before coming to this country was true of all mountains, that they were terraced and cultivated to their summits. Much of the scenery was equal to that on the Hudson, minus the residences.