Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 20, 1856
ON KEEPING THE HEART. No. 6.
By Flavel
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.—Proverbs iv, 23.
IV. The fourth season, requiring our utmost diligence to keep our hearts, is the time of danger and public distraction. In such times the best hearts are too apt to be surprised by slavish fear. If Syria be confederate with Ephraim, how do the hearts of the house of David shake, even as the trees of the wood which are shaken with the wind. When there are ominous signs in the heavens, or the distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring: then the hearts of men fail for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. Even a Paul may sometimes complain of "fightings within, when there are fears without."
But, my brethren, these things ought not so to be; saints should be of a more elevated spirit; so was David when his heart was kept in a good frame: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" Let none but the servants of sin be the slaves of fear; let them that have delighted in evil fear evil. Let not that which God has threatened as a judgment upon the wicked, ever seize upon the hearts of the righteous. "I will send faintness into their hearts in the land of their enemies, and the sound of a shaking leaf shall chase them." What poor spirited men are those, to fly at a shaking leaf! A leaf makes a pleasant, not a terrible noise; it makes indeed a kind of natural music; but to a guilty conscience even the whistling leaves are drums and trumpets! "But God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love and of a sound mind." A sound mind, as it stands there in opposition to fear, is an unwounded conscience not weakened by guilt: and this should make a man as bold as a lion. I know it cannot be said of a saint, as God said of Leviathan, that he is made without fear; there is a natural fear in every man, and it is as impossible to remove it wholly, as to remove the body itself. Fear is perturbation of the mind, arising from the apprehension of approaching danger; and as long as dangers can approach us, we shall find some perturbations within us. It is not my purpose to commend to you a stoical apathy, nor yet to dissuade you from such a degree of cautionary preventive fear as may fit you for trouble and be serviceable to your soul. There is a provident fear that opens our eyes to foresee danger, and quickens us to a prudent and lawful use of means to prevent it: such was Jacob's fear, and such his prudence when expecting to meet his angry brother Esau. But it is the fear of diffidence, from which I would persuade you to keep your heart; that tyrannical passion which invades the heart in times of danger, distracts, weakens and unfits it for duty, drives men upon unlawful means, and brings a snare with it.
Now let us inquire how a Christian may keep his heart from distracting and tormenting fears in times of great and threatening dangers. There are several excellent rules for keeping the heart from sinful fear when imminent dangers threaten us.
1. Look upon all creatures as in the hand of God, who manages them in all their motions, limiting, restraining and determining them at his pleasure. Get this great truth well settled by faith in your heart, and it will guard you against slavish fears. The first chapter of Ezekiel contains an admirable draught of providence: there you see the living creatures who move the wheels (that is, the great revolutions of things here below) coming unto Christ, who sits upon the throne, to receive new instructions from him. In Rev. vi, you read of white, black, and red horses, which are but the instruments God employs in executing judgments in the world, as wars, pestilence and death. When these horses are prancing and trampling up and down in the world, here is a consideration that may quiet our hearts; God has the reins in his hand. Wicked men are sometimes like mad horses, they would stamp the people of God under their feet, but that the bridle of providence is in their mouths. A lion at liberty is terrible to meet, but who is afraid of a lion in the keeper's hand?
2. Remember that this God in whose hand are all creatures, is your Father, and is much more tender of you than you are, or can be, of yourself. "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye." Let me ask the most timorous woman whether there be not a great difference between the sight of a drawn sword in the hand of a bloody ruffian, and of the same sword in the hand of her own tender husband? As great a difference there is between looking upon creatures by an eye of sense, and looking on them, as in the hand of your God, by an eye of faith. Isa. liv, 5, is here very appropriate: "Thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name;" he is Lord of all the hosts of creatures. Who would be afraid to pass through an army, though all the soldiers should turn their swords and guns toward him, if the commander of that army were his friend or father? A religious young man being at sea with many other passengers in a great storm, and they being half dead with fear, he only was observed to be very cheerful, as if he were but little concerned in that danger: one of them demanding the reason of his cheerfulness, "O," said he, "it is because the pilot of the ship is my Father?" Consider Christ first as the King and supreme Lord over the providential kingdom, and then as your head, husband and friend, and you will quickly say, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul" This truth will make you cease trembling, and cause you to sing in the midst of danger, "The Lord is King of all the earth, sing ye praise with understanding." That is, Let every one that has understanding of this heart-reviving and establishing doctrine of the dominion of our Father over all creatures, sing praise.
3. Urge upon your heart the express prohibitions of Christ in this case, and let your heart stand in awe of the violation of them. He hath charged you not to fear: "When we shall hear of wars and commotions, see that ye be not terrified." "In nothing be terrified by your adversaries." In Matt. x, and within the compass of six verses, our Saviour commands us thrice, "not to fear man." Does the voice of a man make thee to tremble, and shall not the voice of God? If thou art of such a timorous spirit, how is it that thou fearest not to disobey the commands of Christ? Methinks the command of Christ should have as much power to calm, as the voice of a poor worm to terrify thy heart. "I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as the grass, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker?" We cannot fear creatures sinfully till we have forgotten God; did we remember what he is, and what he has said, we should not be of such feeble spirits. Bring thyself then to this reflection in times of danger: If I let into my heart the slavish fear of man, I must let out the reverential awe and fear of God; and dare I cast off the fear of the Almighty for the frowns of a man? shall I lift up proud dust above the great God? shall I run upon a certain sin, to shun a probable danger? O keep thy heart by this consideration!
4. Remember how much needless trouble your vain fears have brought upon you formerly: "And hast feared continually because of the oppressor, as if he were ready to devour; and where is the fury of the oppressor?" He seemed ready to devour, yet you are not devoured. I have not brought upon you the thing that you feared; you have wasted your spirit, disordered your soul, and weakened your hands to no purpose: you might have all this while enjoyed your peace, and possessed your soul in patience. And here I cannot but observe a very deep policy of Satan in managing a design against the soul by these vain fears. I call them vain, with reference to the frustration of them by Providence; but certainly they are not in vain as the end at which18Satan aims in raising them; for herein he acts as soldiers do in the siege of a garrison, who to wear out the besieged by constant watchings, and thereby unfit them to make resistance when they storm it in earnest, every night rouse them with false alarms, which though they come to nothing, yet remarkably answer the ultimate design of the enemy. O when will you beware of Satan's devices?
5. Consider solemnly, that though the things you fear should really happen, yet there is more evil in your own fear than in the things feared; and that, not only as the least evil of sin is worse than the greatest evil of suffering; but as this sinful fear has really more trouble in it than there is in that condition of which you are so much afraid. Fear is both a multiplying and tormenting passion; it represents troubles as much greater than they are, and so tortures the soul much more than the suffering itself. So it was with Israel at the Red Sea; they cried out and were afraid, till they stepped into the waters, and then a passage was opened through those waters which they thought would have drowned them. Thus it is with us; we, looking through the glass of carnal fear upon the waters of trouble, the swellings of Jordan, cry out, O they are unfordable; we must perish in them! But when we come into the midst of those floods indeed, we find the promise made good: "God will make a way of escape." Thus it was with a blessed martyr; when he would make a trial by putting his finger to the candle, and found himself not able to endure that, he cried out, "What! cannot I bear the burning of a finger? How then shall I be able to bear the burning of my whole body to-morrow?" Yet when that morrow came he could go cheerfully into the flames with this scripture in his mouth: "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine; when thou passest through the waters I will be with you; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt."
6. Consult the many precious promises which are written for your support and comfort in all dangers.
These are your refuges to which you may fly and be safe when the arrows of danger fly by night, and destruction wasteth at noon-day. There are particular promises suited to particular cases and exigencies; there are also general promises reaching all cases and conditions. Such as these: "All things shall work together for good," &c. "Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged, yet it shall be well with them that fear the Lord," &c. Could you but believe the promises your heart should be established. Could you but plead them with God as Jacob did, ("Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good," &c.) they would relieve you in every distress.
7. Quiet your trembling heart by recording and consulting your past experiences of the and faithfulness of God in former distresses. These experiences are food for your faith in a wilderness. By this David kept his heart in time of danger, and Paul his. It was answered by a saint, when one told him that his enemies waylaid him to take his life: "If God take no care of me, how is it that I have escaped hitherto?" You may plead with God old experiences for new ones; for it is in pleading with God for new deliverances, as it is in pleading for new pardons. Mark how Moses pleads on that account with God. "Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, as thou hast forgiven them from Egypt until now." He does not say as men do, Lord, this is the first fault, thou hast not been troubled before to sign their pardon; but, Lord, because thou hast pardoned them so often, I beseech thee pardon them once again. So in new difficulties let the saint say, Lord, thou hast often heard, helped and saved, in former years; therefore now help again, for with thee there is plenteous redemption, and thine arm is not shortened.
8. Be well satisfied that you are in the way of your duty, and that will beget holy courage in times of danger. "Who will harm you if you be a follower of that which is good?" Or if any dare attempt to harm you "you may boldly commit yourself to God in well-doing." It was this consideration that raised Luther's spirit above all fear: "In the cause of God (said he) I ever am, and ever shall be stout: herein I assume this title, 'I yield to none.'"
A good cause will bear up a man's spirit. Hear the saying of a heathen, to the shame of cowardly Christians: when the emperor Vespasian had commanded Phidias Priscus not to come to the senate, or if he did come, to speak nothing but what he would have him; the senator returned this noble answer, "that he was a senator, it was fit he should be at the senate; and if being there, he were required to give his advice, he would freely speak that which his conscience commanded him." The emperor threatening that then he should die, he answered, "Did I ever tell you that I was immortal? Do what you will, and I will do what I ought. It is in your power to put me to death unjustly, and in my power to die with constancy." Righteousness is a breastplate: let them tremble whom danger finds out of the way of duty.
9. Get your conscience sprinkled with the blood of Christ from all guilt, and that will set your heart above all fear. It is guilt upon the conscience that softens and makes cowards of your spirits: "the righteous are bold as a lion." It was guilt in Cain's conscience that made him cry, "Every one that findeth me will slay me." A guilty conscience is more terrified by imagined dangers, than a pure conscience is by real ones. A guilty sinner carries a witness against himself in his own bosom. It was guilty Herod cried out, "John Baptist is risen from the dead." Such a conscience is the devil's anvil, on which he fabricates all those swords and spears with which the guilty sinner pierces himself. Guilt is to danger, what fire is to gun-powder: a man need not fear to walk among many barrels of powder, if he have no fire about him.
10. Exercise holy trust in times of great distress. Make it your business to trust God with your life and comforts, and then your heart will be at rest about them. So did David, "At what time I am afraid I will trust in thee;" that is, Lord, if at any time a storm arise, I will shelter from it under the cover of thy wings. Go to God by acts of faith and trust, and never doubt that he will secure you. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee," says Isaiah. God is pleased when you come to him thus: Father, my life, my liberty and my estate are exposed, and I cannot secure them; O let me leave them in thy hand. The poor leaveth himself with thee; and does his God fail him? No, thou art the helper of the fatherless: that is, thou art the helper of the destitute one, that has not to go to but God. This is a comforting passage. "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord;" he does not say, his ear shall be preserved from the report of evil tidings, he may hear as sad tidings as other men, but his heart shall be kept from the terror of those tidings; his heart is fixed.
11. Consult the honor of religion more, and your personal safety less. Is it for the honor of religion (think you) that Christians should be as timorous as hares to start at every sound? Will not this tempt the world to think, that whatever you talk, yet your principles are no better than other men's? What mischief may the discovery of your fears before them do! It was nobly said by Nehemiah, "Should such a man as I flee? and who, being as I am, would flee?" Were it not better you should die than that the world should be prejudiced against Christ by your example? For alas! how apt is the world (who judge more by what they see in your practices than by what they understand of your principles) to conclude from your timidity, that how much soever you commend faith and talk of assurance, yet you dare trust to those things no more than they, when it comes to the trial. O let not your fears lay such a stumbling-block before the blind world.
12. He that would secure his heart from fear, must first secure the eternal interest of his soul in the hands of Jesus Christ. When this is done, you may say, Now, world, do thy worst! You will not be very solicitous about a vile body, when you are once assured it shall be well to all eternity with your precious soul. "Fear not them (says Christ) that can kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do." The assured Christian may smile with contempt upon all his enemies, and say, Is this the worst that you can do?
13. Learn to quench all slavish creature-fears in the reverential fear of God. This is a cure by diversion. It is an exercise of Christian wisdom to turn those passions of the soul which most predominate, into spiritual channels: to turn natural anger into spiritual zeal, natural mirth into holy cheerfulness, and natural fear into a holy dread and awe of God. This method of cure Christ prescribes in Matt. x; similar to which is Isaiah viii, 12, 13, "Fear not their fear." But how shall we help it? "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Natural fear may be allayed for the present by natural reason, or the removal of the occasion; but then it is like a candle blown out by a puff of breath, which is easily blown in again; but if the fear of God extinguish it, then it is like a candle quenched in water, which cannot easily be rekindled.
14. Pour out to God in prayer those fears which the devil and your own unbelief pour in upon you in times of danger. Prayer is the best outlet to fear: where is the Christian that cannot set his seal to this direction? I will give you the greatest example to encourage you to compliance, even the example of Jesus Christ. When the hour of his danger and death drew nigh, he went into the garden, separated from his disciples, and there wrestled mightily with God in prayer, even in agony; in reference to which the Apostle says, "who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong cries and tears, to him that was able to save from death, and was heard in that he feared." He was heard as to strength and support to carry him through it; though not as to deliverance, or exemption from it. O that these things may abide with you, and be reduced to practice in these evil days, and that many trembling souls may be established by them.—Flavel.
Two cannot walk together
Unless they are agreed;
If one would travel westward,
The other must accede.
One chooses to walk crooked,
The other to walk straight,
This cannot be effected,
Unless they separate.
Light cannot dwell with darkness,
They cannot be agreed;
For if the one advances,
The other must recede.
Christ has no part with Satan,
They ever must be twain;
And there is no agreement
With God and idols vain.
So those who are disciples
Of Christ the blessed Lord,
Must choose companions only
Whose faith and hopes accord.
No partnerships whatever,
With others should be made;
Lest Christians prove apostates,
And Christ should be betrayed.
One loves the blessed Saviour,
And longs for his return,
While on affection's altar
The fires celestial burn.
The other loves the present,
All earthly his desire—
A constant jet of water
Extinguishes the fire.
And if we speak of union
Which severs that of birth,
A tie that brings communion,
Most intimate on earth,
Two cannot walk together,
Unless there be accord;
Therefore the great Apostle
Says, "Only in the Lord."
R. F. C.
Language of the Bible
DR. GUTHRIE makes the following remarks on the strong language of the Bible, touching the condition of the ungodly:
"There are terrors enough in the Bible to make a man's hair stand on end. Surely, were God but for one moment to let this world hear the weeping and wailing of the lost, that sound more terrible than Egypt's midnight cry, would rouse the student at his books, arrest the foot of the dancer in the hall, stop armies in the very fury of the fight, and, calling a sleeping world from their beds, would bend the most stubborn knees, and extort from all the one loud cry, Lord, save me, or I perish! Still it is not terror which is the mighty power of God. The gospel, like most medicines for the body, is of a compound nature; but, whatever else enters into its composition, its curative element is love. No man yet was ever driven to heaven; he must be drawn to it; and I wish to draw you. The gospel has terror in it, no doubt. But it is like our atmosphere—occasionally riven by the thunder, and illuminated by the fatal flash—it is, at times the path of the stealthy pestilence—charged with the element of destruction, and impregnated with the seeds of disease; but how much more is it not a great magazine of health filled with the most harmonious sounds, fragrant with the sweetest odors, hung with golden drapery, the pathway of sunbeams, the womb of showers, the feeder of flowing streams, full of God's goodness, and the fountain of all earth's life! And, just as in that atmosphere which God has wrapped round this world, there is much more food than famine, much more life than death, so in the Bible there is much more love than terror.
"The terror is not only subordinate to love, but subservient to it. God, indeed, tells us of hell, but it is to persuade us to go to heaven; and as a skillful painter fills the background of his picture with his darker colors, God puts in the smoke of torment and the black clouds of Sinai, to give brighter prominence to Jesus, the cross of Calvary, and his love to the chief of sinners. His voice of terror is like the scream of the mother bird when the hawk is in the sky. She alarms her brood that they may run and hide beneath her feathers; and as I believe that God had left that mother dumb, unless he had given her wings to cover her little ones, so I am sure that He19who is very pitiful, and has no pleasure in any creature's pain, had never turned our eyes to the horrible gulf unless for the voice that cries, Deliver from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom. We had never heard of sin had there been no Saviour; nor of hell had there been no heaven. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof; and never had Bible light been flashed before the eyes of the sleeping felon to wake him from his happy dream, but that he might see the smiling form of Mercy, and hear her, as she says with pointing finger, Behold I have set before thee an open door."
Contentment, or the Happy Secret.
Reader, are you contented? perfectly and resignedly? Then you are a happy one. A contented mind is a continual feast, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Paul understood this happy secret. Hear him; "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." You have trials! Well, who has not!
Joy and pain to all are given,—
In the cup of human life,
E'en as in the April-heaven,
Smiles and tears are still in strife,
Think not that alone thou weepest,
By some present grief opprest;
When in happy dreams thou sleepest,
Other sad hearts long for rest.
You have trials. They are the common lot of all. Bear them patiently, and with submission to the will of God. Think not that they are needless. You may derive good from them. You have met with disappointments and who has not? Before you complain, think how much worse it might have been. Cannot you see that, in times past, disappointments have turned out to be mercies? Had your wishes been gratified, they would have proved your loss, perhaps ruin. God crossed your purposes, and saved you. Wait patiently, and, like Job, you will see the end of all dealings with you.
You have sustained losses. It was best that you should. In the end you will see it. Even now you will find your loss gain, if you will see your all of unhappiness in God. One smile from him compensates for any loss. You are poor. So is the multitude—so was Christ. He had not where to lay his head. Your dwellings are comfortless, children poorly clad, you may not be able to educate them as you wish. These are sad trials. Make known all your requests to God. He can raise up for you friends and benefactors. He hears the young ravens when they cry. You have sickness and pain. Don't repine; be cheerful. Show to those around you that religion can sustain, and comfort, and bless under all circumstances in life. Be not over anxious about the event. It will work for your good. Perhaps you need nothing more from the hands of God than this sickness and pain. You will arise from that bed a better man.
You have had bereavements. Loved ones have been taken from you, and you will see them no more around your hearthstones. It is a sad thing to lose those whom we love. But there is One who, in all our afflictions, is Himself afflicted. He knows how dark and desolate your home is in the absence of the one who has been taken from it. But do not murmur. It is all right and will do good. Be cheerful, be contented. Pray without ceasing. Be it sufficient that the Father's will has been done in "this cup," and let His name be glorified.
Happiness is all around thee,
If thou seek'st for it aright;
Darkness doth not so confound thee,
That thou canst not find the light,
If the humblest flower springeth,
In the pathway thou dost tread,
Unto thee some joy it bringeth,
Catch its fragrance ere 'tis fled.
Sadly when thy spirit sigheth,
'Neath its weight of anguish bowed,
And upon thy heart there lieth
The dark shadow of a cloud,
Look thou up in faith to Heaven,
God will give thee strength to bear
All that unto thee is given
Of distress, and grief, and care.
When thy cup o'erflows with gladness,
Lift thy thankful heart above;
If opprest with fear and sadness,
Trust thy heavenly Father's love.
Thou shalt know each hidden reason
When thine earthly work is done;
Praise him then, in every season,
For the shadow and the sun!
[Golden Rule. Selected for REVIEW.]
A Gem.
[Extract from St. Augustine's sermon on Lazarus and Dives.]—"It were no bad comparison to liken mere rich men to camels or mules, for they often pursue their devious way over hills and mountains, laden with Indian purple, with gems, aromas, and generous wines upon their backs, attended, too, by a long line of servants, as safeguards on their way. Soon, however, they come to their evening halting place, and forthwith their precious burdens are taken from their backs, and they, now wearied and stripped of their lading and their retinue of slaves, show nothing but livid marks of stripes. So, also, those who glitter in gold and purple raiment, when the evening of life comes rushing on them, have naught to show but marks and wounds of sin impressed upon them by the evil use of riches. Shakespeare says,"
—"If thou art RICH, thou art poor;
For like an ass whose back with ingots bowed,
Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee."
The Irvingites.
Edward Irving was one of the most eloquent and popular preachers of England during the early part of the present century—a preacher whose manner had in it so much of the solemnity and grandeur of the old prophets as to draw to his church the nobility and statesmen, although their sins and follies were rebuked with the utmost severity. He went down to his grave under a dark cloud; but he left disciples, who took his name, and continue to the present time. A correspondent of the N. Y. Evangelist gives the following account of them:—
"Of the Christian sects which owe their origin to the nineteenth century, the Irvingites are perhaps the most remarkable, both for their system and the personal characters of their members. They disclaim the name by which they generally go, and call themselves the 'Catholic and Apostolic Church,' not in an exclusive sense, however, but simply as belonging to that body, which embraces all the baptized. So far from professing to be another sect in addition to the numerous divisions of Christians, they believe themselves called upon to reunite the scattered members of the one body of Christ. They hold that the peculiar offices and supernatural gifts of the apostolic church were intended to be perpetual; that they have not been entirely lost, but greatly impaired by the fault of the church; and that they are now revived again in their midst, in order to prepare and perfect the church in holiness for the second coming of the Lord, which is near at hand.
"They have twelve apostles, not elected or ordained by men, as they believe, but called, sent forth, immediately by God—(one of them, Mr. Drummond, is at the same time a member of the English Parliament, a rather singular combination of offices)—and under their supreme guidance a number of prophets, evangelists, angels, presbyters and deacons. They acknowledge only the three ecumenical creeds, the Symbolum Apostolicum, Nicæno Constantino-politanum, and Athanasianum. They agree doctrinally more with the Roman Catholic system, while their personal sympathies are more with the Protestants, especially the Episcopalians and Lutherans. Their liturgy is a very skillful compilation of the old Catholic prayers, and the whole worship is of the high liturgical and ceremonial order, as much so almost as the Roman mass. But it is conducted, of course, in the vernacular tongue, and leaves room at the same time for the manifestation of the extraordinary gifts of the brethren, such as prophesying and speaking in tongues. Their progress thus far has been rather slow. The obligation of the tithe, and especially their high claims as to the revival of real apostles, stand in their way. They now number thirty-two congregations, with about 600 members, in England, and some small congregations in Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, France, and in the State of New York."
Excellent Thought
EXCELLENT THOUGHT.—The princely-minded Sutton, founder of Charter-houses, used often to repair to a private garden, where he poured forth his prayers to God: "Lord, thou has given me a large and liberal estate; give me also a heart to make use thereof."
The Freedom of Christian Obedience
SOME persons think of obedience as if it were nothing else, and could be nothing else, than servitude. And it must be admitted, that constrained obedience is so. He who obeys by compulsion and not freely, wears a chain upon his spirit which continually frets and torments, while it confines him. But this is not Christian obedience. To obey with the whole heart, in other words, to obey as Christ would have us, is essentially the same as to be perfectly resigned to the will of God; having no will but His. And he must have strange notions of the interior and purified life, who supposes that the obedience which revolves constantly and joyfully within the limits of Divine Will, partakes of the nature of servitude. On the contrary, true obedience, that which has its seat in the affections, and which flows out like the gushing of water, may be said, in a very important sense, to possess not only the nature, but the very essence of freedom.
Seek Holiness Rather Than Consolation
SEEK holiness rather than consolation. Not that consolation is to be despised, or thought lightly of; but solid and permanent consolation is the result rather than the forerunner of holiness; therefore he who seeks consolation as a distinct and independent object, will miss it. Seek and possess holiness, and consolation (not perhaps often in the form of ecstatic and rapturous joys, but rather of solid and delightful peace,) will follow, as assuredly as warmth follows the dispensation of the rays of the sun. He who is holy, must be happy.
Victory Over Self
True peace of mind does not depend, as some seem to suppose, on the external incidents of riches and poverty, of health and sickness, of friendship and enmities. It has no necessary dependence upon society or seclusion; upon dwelling in cities or in the desert; upon the possession of temporal power, or in a condition of temporal insignificance and weakness. Let the heart be right, let it be fully united with the will of God, and we shall be entirely contented with those circumstances in which Providence has seen fit to place us, however unpropitious they may be in a worldly point of view. He who gains the victory over himself, gains the victory over all his enemies.
Christian Self-Denial
Christian Self-Denial.—"The essential inherence of self-denial in the Christian system, is a doctrine that has faded," or appears to be fading "from the consciousness of the Church." Self-denial "is the distinctive characteristic of Christian activity as opposed to a life of mere nature, or of absolute wickedness. It excludes on the one hand all penances and self-righteousness, and on the other, the love of ease and self-indulgence."
The Spirit of the Times
By Editor
Taking our general literature, the secular press, and even a large share of our religious publications, as exponents, we cannot resist the impression that a superficial and a worldly spirit has come to be the temper of the times.
A Calm and Prayerful Mind
In whatever you are called upon to do, endeavor to maintain a calm, collected, and prayerful state of mind. Self-recollection is of great importance. "It is good for a man to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." He who is in what may be called a spiritual hurry, or rather who runs without having evidence of being spiritually sent, makes haste to no purpose.
Life Is a Battle, Not a Triumph
Our life is a battle, not a triumph. When we triumph in Christ here, yet we have soon to fight again. The great triumph, after which we shall rest, is yet to come.
Prayer Drives Away Trouble
Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer, and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble.