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BREVITIES

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 2, 1861

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 18, No. 6.

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BREVITIES.

By J. Clarke

WHAT people say is of not much consequence. God's approbation is better than the favor of kings. Public opinion is changeable; at one time it crucifies Christ, and honors law; at another, it honors (ostensibly) Christ, and crucifies law. Alternately it supports error and truth, as best suits its caprice. At one time it banishes Cicero, next takes him to favor again, borne on the shoulders of the people. Public opinion is fickle as the wind. He who relies upon it leans upon a staff which will break and pierce his hand. A nation may endorse error, it will fall; truth will stand without supporters, and a peasant who loves and retains and practices the truth, is more in the sight of God than nations who hate the light.
Humbly inquire of God concerning duty. Time cannot be too highly valued. Employ it all in performing the will of God. What is done in Sodom will be done quickly. Then ere the angels urge their departure, clear thyself from the blood of souls.
It is safe to pray God to draw the line between the two armies; to lead out all impostors and foes in disguise, to bar the doors against the insincere and the dishonest, and to exhort the wise to trim their lamps.
From past experience it appears that the discipline of the church is ineffective and loose, until Ananias and Sapphira fall; and the best discipline is in crying to God to interfere, then it will stand.
When you sigh, be sure there is a cause for it. Sometimes people sigh over trifles, while real dangers are unnoticed.
No matter how great your hurry is, do not act nor speak while in a pet. Wait till you are calm. There never lived a person whose judgment was sound while in an angry or pettish mood. All sin perverts the judgment: none more so than anger.
Be careful not to encourage fanaticism; and let us ask for wisdom from above that we may be able always to decide justly. It would be lamentable indeed to fall into the snare many have fallen into, viz., denying the work of the Spirit. Let us move forward in the deep work of internal and external reform, in unison with the Spirit that dictated and fulfills prophecy.
It is a cheap way of stifling the voice of reproof, by crying out fanaticism. So did the Jews; so did the popes and cardinals of the dark ages, when a sturdy reformer stood forth to reproove. All radical reformers have been branded as fanatics.
Would Paul have directed the converted Ephesians to go back into the temple of Diana, to please their friends? Did Christ direct his followers to continue their offerings, after the vail of the temple was rent? And shall we, having come out of Babylon, return again for fear of reproach? Do right, and God will take care of the consequences.
"You and we." There is a great deal of importance attached to the right use of these pronouns, in exhortation; and when the pronoun we, or us, is appropriate and fitting, let us be sure to use it; to use the pronoun you in such cases is not as acceptable.
Offer the best. It was a law among the ancient people of God to sacrifice the best of the flock and herd, those which were without blemish. Now if I appropriate the earliest hour of morning (the best of the day) to arranging my worldly affairs, who gets the best? "They that seek me early shall find me." "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."
It would be discreditable to a professed statesman not to understand the constitution of the United States; yet it is no disgrace to a preacher now-a-days, to be ignorant of the decalogue.
A pilot who would ignore the science of navigation, would soon be forced to seek some more appropriate calling; yet a spiritual guide may ignore the prophecies, which span the arch of time, and yet retain popularity, and command the richest benefice.
A sleepy candidate would command no votes; so a lukewarm christian should expect no blessings.
The blind carnality of the world would be simply ludicrous were it not for its far-reaching effects, and its guilt and disasters. This world has always hated and destroyed its best friends, and loved its foes. In its hatred to prophets and good men, and in its dread of reforms, it is matchless. Barabbas is to them better than Christ; tradition is superior to the word of Jehovah; a monk is better than Copernicus; and a lying Jesuit is a peer, but Galileo is a criminal; the sun must go round the earth, and truth must hang on the gibbet, while error banquets in lordly halls. A golden calf does very well for a god while Moses is in the mount conversing with God; but when he comes down, how is their merriment turned to lamentation.
Many men will think nothing of buying a library of romance, and light reading; and while they expend large sums in equipage and showy adornments, would think some time before they would buy a coat or a school-book for an orphan.
Sometimes we are so ambitious to do great things, we neglect to perform minor duties; and perhaps at times we are so anxious to obtain greater blessings, we neglect to praise God for what he has done for us already.
It is claimed that certain circumstances might make it right to harvest on the Sabbath. The same argument would prove that under a certain pressure, it would be justifiable to kill, steal, perjure and covet.
J. CLARKE.