o the service of the god of
this world. So it was when John the Baptist made his appearance. See
how his name shines out to-day! Eighteen centuries have rolled away,
and yet the fame of that wilderness preacher shines brighter than
ever. He was looked down upon in his day and generation, but he has
outlived all his enemies; his name will be revered and his work
remembered as long as the Church is on the earth.

Talk about your field being a hard one! See how Paul shone for God as
he went out, the first missionary to the heathen, telling them of the
God whom he served, and who had sent His Son to die a cruel death in
order to save the world. Men reviled him and his teachings; they
laughed him to scorn when he spoke of the crucified One. But he went
on preaching the Gospel of the Son of God. He was regarded as a poor
tent-maker by the great and mighty ones of his day; but no one can now
tell the name of any of his persecutors, or of those who lived at that
time, unless their names happen to be associated with his, and they
were brought into contact with him.

Now the fact is, all men like to shine. We may as well acknowledge it
at once. Go into business circles, and see how men struggle to get
into the front rank. Everyone wants to outshine his neighbor and to
stand at the head of his profession. Go into the political world, and
see how there is a struggle going on as to who shall be the greatest.
If you go into a school, you find that there is a rivalry among the
boys and girls. They all want to stand at the top of the class. When a
boy does reach this position and outranks all the rest, the mother is
very proud of it. She will manage to tell all the neighbors how
Johnnie has got on, and what a number of prizes he has gained.

Go into the army and you find the same thing--one trying to outstrip
the other; everyone is very anxious to shine and rise above his
comrades. Go among the young men in their games, and see how anxious
the one is to outdo the other. So we have all that desire in us; we
like to shine above our fellows.

And yet there are very few who can really shine in the world. Once in
a while one man will outstrip all his competitors. Every four years
what a struggle goes on throughout our country as to who shall be the
President of the United States, the battle raging for six months or a
year. Yet only one man can get the prize. There are a good many
struggling to get the place, but many are disappointed, b