p. 1 | Untitled article by Jos. Clarke

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 16, 1864

Sabbath Meditations. No. 5.

By Jos. Clarke

THE necessity of well-ordered meditations, and regulated thoughts is apparent; as a man thinks in his heart, so he is: the act is but the ripe fruit, of which the inward frame of mind, the daily meditation, was the blossom.

He who meditates well has business for all times and seasons; he has entered upon a study which is not barren of joys, nor stinted in its extent. He has entered upon a study which will enlarge upon his hands, and while it will require his constant care, will be less and less burdensome the more he carries it out in practice. But if he fails to carry out his good intentions, his good thoughts will quietly forsake him, and his heart will become neglected more and more, until

thorns and thistles cover its choice fields, and its walls of defense are broken down.

The man who meditates as he should, whose heart is well kept, has within him an impartial court, at the bar of which, every evil thought, every evil desire, is summoned, and condemned, and banished. Every besetment is outlawed, and every active force of the mind is mustered to keep guard, and every avenue of the soul is closed at which the enemy might gain admittance.

The keeping of the heart implies the power to think, to arrange; to not only hold in check the evil, but to so command the mind that evil shall depart, while the mind dwells upon good and holy and pure thoughts, which thing cannot be tolerated where Satan reigns, who, with his myriads of evil agencies, is continually at work to disturb the contemplative mind, to pollute the purity of holy thoughts, and to confuse and disarrange the well-connected train of ideas, especially if these tend toward reform.

Many, especially those whose advantages of education have been limited, are almost strangers to mental discipline, and hardly have an idea of the powers and mechanism of the mind. Such, perhaps, in many instances, hardly know what is meant by a well-connected train of thoughts; and often the wildest flights of excitement and fanaticism arise from a neglected but powerful intellect, and an uncultivated and ignorant mind. While on the other hand, many a ripe scholar is just as neglectful of the keeping of the heart, although his mental faculties are kept in working order.

Ignorance is no bar to the keeping of the heart, if the individual is disposed to enter upon the work, although he may have to learn many things to him formerly neglected. Neither will the mental culture of the ripe scholar warrant to him a well-kept heart, unless he bends his energies fully to the work.

Mental culture will facilitate this heart work, if it is heartily applied; and the most ignorant may learn, if he will, how to guide his thoughts, and restrain his wayward mind. As the horseman curbs his often willful and restive steed to the track, and in his efforts always resolves upon the victory, how persistently he piles rein and whip and spur, until his beast (bent, perhaps, on mischief,) obeys not only with precision, but with evident pleasure. So the Christian, the overcomer, says within himself, There is no retreat in this work; conquer I will. Soon his mind yields cheerful obedience, and the acts follow in the train. Willing hands and willing feet obey the dictates of the well-trained mind, and as he presses on, he spontaneously cries out, I delight to do thy will, O God.

He who thus keeps his heart is no longer wholly ignorant; he has the key of knowledge, and has entered upon an education, which will go on step by step until the brighter day will unfold to him such realities of wisdom and knowledge, such advantages as all the learning of earth could not afford.

Often people find it difficult to call up their thoughts when they desire so to do. Thoughts spring up within, but when they attempt to lay hold of them and retain them, lo, they are flown like flocks of birds which alight near you, so near that you fancy you may capture them, when the slightest motion in that direction frightens them, and they are gone. So with many people's thoughts.

The pursuits of Christianity furnish the best possible means for the highest moral and intellectual culture. "Watch and pray" is the motto of those who seek for holiness of heart and life, and this is the best and most perfect method of mental culture, as it brings the mind into subjection, and as Satan has great difficulty in knowing the thoughts of a good man, this gives a great advantage to such a person. While the bad and evil person is at any moment in danger of having his mind thrown into disorder from unseen agencies; and even the good man, if he lays down his armor, is in the same danger; so that devotion to God is the only safeguard to Mansoul, as Bunyan graphically surnames the city, in his incomparable allegory, called "The Holy War." From such considerations those who think to be Christians without mental labor, must see their error.

This preparation fits the mind for intellectual pursuits, where such pursuits are desired, and breaks up and deepens the soil. Thus we see in all ages the great majority of successful teachers of schools and universities, leaders in reform, pioneers in learning, are from the ranks of the people of God. True, here and there an Atheist or an Infidel soars high, but these are exceptions. The greatest stars which have shone in the world have been men of God, whose works do most withstand the teeth of time, as Moses, Solomon, Ezra, Daniel, and Paul, and we must not pass over Abraham, who was the greatest man of his age. Let scoffers smile at this array of talent; it is all they can do.

Where did Egypt get her love of learning? Was not the first lesson upon astronomy given to the Egyptians by Abraham? and did it not pass thence and leaven the empire of Babylon? How does it happen that the Greeks surpassed all the neighboring nations? Was it not in consequence of their proximity to the land of Palestine, from whence rays of light emanated with power and glory? We are in error if we suppose the Israelite of the age of Solomon was the sordid wretch which the Jew of the nineteenth century develops. And Rome! Is it not patent to all, that the subjugation of Greece by that power, caused a revolution in the Roman manners, from the rough cast of the ancient Romans to the refined manners of the Periclean age?

Thus the captive Greek conquered his conqueror. And was not this one design of Jehovah while he purged his own peculiar people by banishing them to other lands, that they, while in affliction and sorrow manifesting the graces of God's people, thereby completely refined the manners of their conquerors, and being scattered from time to time among the leading nations of the earth, served a two-fold purpose: First, that of chastening to themselves, and second, the refining and enlightening of the nations by whom they were captured.

Look at Joseph in the court of Pharaoh, preceded by Abraham, and followed by Moses. Probably these three persons had more to do with the elevation of Egypt in science, refinement, and art, than all other agencies combined. Not less Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, each in turn leavened by the power of noble captives taught of God.

Such considerations as these lead us to appreciate Christ's words, "Ye are the salt of the earth."

Rise, then, O captive in an enemy's land, gird on thine armor, and shine as in the ancient days.

JOS. CLARKE.