to undertake constructive work of exceptional scope and power for the highest of world enterprises? If it was not waste for the flower of our colleges to die for democracy, is it waste for the best to live for the extension of that which alone can make democracy safe? In the presence of the millions who have lived the stern and simple life in order that Red Cross and Liberty Loans may be supported, we blush to mention the paltry sum of one dollar and twenty-two cents which is, at present, the average church member's contribution to the Kingdom overseas. We have been living at a time when men saw that it is quality of life, not quantity, that really matters; when death was but an incident in the great fact of eternal life; when the very indifference to human flesh made men assured that there was something vastly more. Men at the front had it out with death; they counted the cost; and were living from high principle and sense of sacred duty. By all means, let us be ready to pay the cost of being a Christian, but let us not be over conscious of the cost.

What the noblest souls crave is not recognition of their sacrifice, but that the cause for which they suffered shall be upheld and carried forward. Just this is the cry voiced by Colonel John McCrae:

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard, amidst the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch. Be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

1. "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." If some person should

say to you that this in the mouth of a modern church member is pure cant, how would you meet his criticism?

2. What does the modern Christian lose and what does he gain by professing Christianity?

3. What did Christ teach that his disciples should lose and should gain?

4. Do the last two questions indicate that Christianity is at its core selfish? How could you show that it is not?

5. Give some example of where appeal to heroism has brought a great response.

6. Give several illustrations of progress that has come (a) without sacrifice, (b) with sacrifice.

7. What did it cost Israel as a nation to become ready for international service? In Egypt? In the wilderness? As a kingdom? In captivity? After the Restoration?

8. In what ways have we as a nation paid the cost of preparation for international service?

CHAPTER IX

A Sense of Vocation

Resolve, power, fruitfulness develop in that life which is conscious of a call from God. No Christian can come to his greatest world significance without a keen sense of close personal relationship to God and of ready response to his will. As we look through the Old and New Testaments we find God laying his hand on one man after another, calling him to some special task-for each piece of work is special for some man. Now it is a herdsman, now a courtier, who is calledmen who, like the disciples, come from every rank of society and possess all grades of ability. The Bible shows us how God has used men and women of every kind to do his will and gives us the assurance that he is still calling helpers of the most varied kind. The world Christian will not be one to drift into his place in life, but will be ready to fulfil the conditions which will enable him to perceive his vocation from God.

Ninth Week, First Day: Abraham-A Call to Enlarged Horizons

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar.-Heb. 11:8, 9, 13.

There is something distinctly modern in the way in which Abraham was called forth to "a land not his own." The pressure came on him to break with old ties, old associations, old ways of life, and set out for another land. Such a call still

comes literally to those world Christians who, as missionaries or as pioneers in commerce, feel led to serve God in other lands. They, too, know what it is to set one's face toward a distant and unfamiliar land. But in another way this call comes to each of us, not necessarily to change our abode or our outward mode of life, but to enlarge our horizon, to live in interest and imagination in other lands than our own. It was no easy matter for Abraham to set out from the old, familiar, luxuriant life of nature and of man on that rich alluvial land between the Tigris and Euphrates. May we on our part not hesitate, when we hear God's call, to enter through knowledge and sympathy into lands that are not our

own.

We note, furthermore, that "he went out, not knowing whither he went." These are the circumstances under which God's call often comes to us. We have an unmistakable feeling that God is leading us away from our present manner of life or our present plans. The direction we are to take is plain, but what that direction is to lead to is by no means plain. It took faith for Abraham and it still takes faith for any man to launch out from old moorings when the next port is unknown., Faith rises to the highest when without sight we obey-when we follow truth and righteousness without fear as to the Spirit's leading. The significant factor in such situations is the confidence that there is Someone who is going along as guide.

"Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene-one step enough for me."

But the most striking clause in these verses is the following: "Abraham, when he was called, obeyed." Back of this simple sentence are some fundamentals that should characterize every world Christian of the present day. It is plain that Abraham was in touch with God; he was living so that he could hear the call; it was a natural and normal thing for God to speak; and when God had once spoken, there was unhesitating obedience. An imperative need in these days is that each

one should have a vivid realization of God. If God does not seem close to you now-even if you have never had this experience-remember that this is your birthright as a child of God. And if response to the inward leading is hard, recall that long line since Abraham whose ears have caught the voice of the living God. After so many examples of faith down through the ages, it ought to be easier for us than for the man of Ur to detect and to trust the still small voice within.

Ninth Week, Second Day: Gideon-A Call to Those Who Criticize

And the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? but now Jehovah hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian. And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. . . . But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.Judges 6: 11-16, 34.

Could any paragraph be more full of complaint and doubt than Gideon's first response to the angel? “If Jehovah is with us" seems to indicate some doubt as to God's continued care. What other explanation was there of all that had befallen them? "And where are all his wondrous works" definitely raises the question of God's present interest or power. "But now Jehovah hath cast us off" seems as definitely to be the expression of one who had lost his faith in God's dependable

ness.

And yet something else was there-righteous indignation,