The Work of God in Korea.

If we, children of God, have learned our lesson aright, we can say in all sincerity, as well as sadness, "In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing." We have learned therefore to look elsewhere than in ourselves for what satisfies the renewed man. In Christ is our all, and that not only satisfies, but it becomes in us " a spring of water, springing up unto eternal life." Of poor, craving souls it makes us a praising, worshiping people.

But if we have been brought into a good land- " a land flowing with milk and honey "-it is also a land full of enemies. We are in danger on every side, and need therefore to "put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

Having learned the grace of God, and the wonderful privileges it confers, is there not the danger- the imminent danger-of forgetting, or neglecting, its corresponding responsibilities ? Under the fear of this, we had it upon our heart to use the year-end to call upon God's people, both as individuals and as local assemblies, to take the matter deeply to heart, and consider it before God.

While thinking of this, a paper by Mr, William Barker, Editor of Simple Testimony, comes to our hand, and we give it in part to our readers because such an object-lesson tells better than all else what characterizes a people devoted to Christ. Brethren, may it indeed tell upon all our hearts and lives!

May we, as we see such sweet fruit in others, ask ourselves conscientiously, What have the interests of Christ cost me during this year ? What has gone forth from us as a local assembly toward those interests ? Have we prayed for laborers in the Lord's harvest ? Have we strengthened the hands of those in whom we have confidence as being already sent of Him ?

Mr. Barker says :

"Our readers will have heard from time to time of the work of God in the kingdom of Korea. It may interest them to know how things go on there at the present moment; so we give a few particulars drawn from a recent report-not issued by any one laboring in Korea, but by one who went there to see with his own eyes the true state of things, and whether the accounts that had been given were borne out by actual facts.

"The Koreans are passing through a period of national humiliation owing to their country having come under the control of the Japanese. Poor they have long been-made so by the long-continued exactions of the official class; so that the majority of the people live from hand to mouth. And recent changes tend to intensify their poverty rather than relieve it. Yet these troubles, instead of embittering the Christians' lives, are accepted as being the will of God for them, working for their good, and fitting them for the high spiritual destiny to which they believe they are called. Not their eternal destiny, of course, but the place they are destined to fill in connection with the work of the Lord in their own and other lands.
"The Korean Christians-those of them who, for various reasons, travel through the country-proclaim everywhere the gospel they have received and wherein they stand. The persecuted Christians of Pentecostal days who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. In like manner these Koreans, some of whom are traders and peddlers, in pursuing their ordinary callings, preach the glad tidings even to the utmost boundaries of the kingdom. They cannot help doing so:the love of Christ impels them.

"A striking feature in the spiritual life of the Koreans is their intense love for the Holy Scriptures. They study the Bible as God's message, and seek to fashion their lives according to its high and heavenly teaching. Besides this individual love for the word of God, it is the habit of many congregations to devote the early part of the Lord's day to united Bible study.'We have seen,' says the writer of the report, ' as many as two thousand women gathered together in one building fox this purpose.'On asking where the men were, he was told that when the women had finished and were gone, two thousand men would take the vacant seats. Nor was this a solitary instance. Six other places in the same city were visited on the same day, and the same sight was seen, with this difference-the numbers were limited to eight or nine hundred persons, owing to the seating capacity of the buildings not being great enough to take more. And this is not all. Many of the Korean Christians arrange to spend from two to four weeks together at some convenient center for the prayerful study of the Scriptures, availing themselves of the help of some foreign servant of Christ better instructed than themselves. Last year, at different centers, nearly ninety thousand Koreans came together for that purpose. It seems almost incredible. But such was indeed the case; and those competent to judge attribute the vigorous life of the Korean Christians to their great love of the Bible. And doubtless they are right.

"Nor is prayer neglected. The week-night meeting for prayer (the barometer of a rising or falling church, as it has been well called) is not forgotten. On one bitterly cold night in December, with snow falling thick, some eight hundred people were found gathered together at their customary weekly prayer-meeting. And there would have been many more had it not been that an epidemic of influenza was raging. No Christian ever dreams of being absent, and many who have not yet confessed Christ will not keep away.

"Another happy feature is their interest in the Lord's work in other lands. To this, in their deep poverty, they contribute largely. They believe that God is training many of them for evangelistic service, especially in China and Japan. Nor is this their own thought alone. Many servants of Christ believe that the Korean Christians are destined to play an important part in the carrying out of God's purposes of grace in reference to those adjacent lands. God grant that it may be so!"

Christmas.

We would at this time call the attention of our readers to a little i6-page booklet entitled Christmas. It is not new, but its matter is ever new, and richly adapted to the season. It will refresh the Christian soul to read it; and the reading of it will urge its distribution, which, if with fervent prayer, will yield fruit. It will be found at the Depots everywhere. If not, it will be sent direct by our publishers at 18 cts. per dozen or $1 per 100 postpaid.

A Warning.
The following reaches us with the request to give it publication :

Dear Mr. Editor :

Will you kindly warn the readers of your magazine against a work called "The Book of Knowledge; the Children's Encyclopedia. " It is cleverly written and attractively illustrated, but it is full of evolutionary teaching. We bought it for our family, but upon finding it full of such teaching we, as Christians, and therefore believers in the Scriptures, were constrained to reject it. F. H. W.