Signs of the Times, Vol. 9, No. 46. (12/6/1883)

Signs of the Times

Dec 6, 1883

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 6, 1883

Nehemiah Secures the Co-operation of the People.

By Ellen G. White

THE royal letters to the governors of the provinces along his route, secured to Nehemiah an honorable reception and prompt assistance. And no enemy dared molest the official who was guarded by the power of the Persian king and treated with so marked consideration by the provincial rulers. Nehemiah's journey was therefore safe and prosperous.

His arrival at Jerusalem, however, with the attendance of a military guard, showing that he had come on some important mission, excited the jealousy and hatred of the enemies of Israel. The heathen tribes settled near Jerusalem had previously indulged their enmity against the Jews by heaping upon them every insult and injury which they dared inflict. Foremost in this evil work were certain chiefs of these tribes, Sanballat the Horonite; Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian; and from this time those leaders watched with jealous eye the movements of Nehemiah, and endeavored by every means in their power to thwart his plans and hinder his work.

Nehemiah continued to exercise the same caution and prudence which had hitherto marked his course. Knowing that bitter and determined enemies stood ready to oppose every effort for the restoration of Jerusalem, he concealed the nature of his business until by previous observation he had been enabled to form his plans. Thus he was prepared to secure the co-operation of the people and set them at work before his enemies had opportunity to arouse their fears or their prejudice.

Yet, although he had been so highly favored of God, Nehemiah did not move out in an independent, self-sufficient manner, as if able to carry everything by his own ability. He selected a few persons whom he knew to be worthy of confidence, and to them he made known the circumstances which had led to his visit, the object to be accomplished, and the plans which he purposed to employ, and secured their assistance in his important undertaking.

On the third night after his arrival, the burden weighing so heavily upon his mind as to preclude sleep, he rose at midnight, and with a few trusted companions went out to view for himself the desolation of Jerusalem. Mounted on his mule, he moved about by moonlight, surveying the ruined walls and broken gates of the city of his fathers. Painful were the reflections that filled the mind of the Jewish patriot. Memories of Israel's past glory stood out in sharp contrast with the marks of her present degradation. Because she had not taken heed to the word of God, because she had not received reproof, and corrected her ways, she had been left to be thus reduced in power and honor among the nations. The people for whom God had wrought wondrously, had trifled with their privileges, set at naught his counsels, and joined themselves to idolaters, until he had withdrawn from them his special presence and protection.

With sorrow-stricken heart, that visitant from afar gazes upon the ruined defenses of his loved Jerusalem. And is it not thus that angels of Heaven survey the condition of the church of Christ? Like the dwellers at Jerusalem, we become accustomed to existing evils, and often are content to do nothing to remedy them. But how do they appear to the eye of one divinely illuminated? Would he not, like Nehemiah, look upon ruined walls, and gates burned with fire?

Are not every where visible the shameful tokens of backsliding from God and conformity with a sin-loving and truth-hating world? In these days of darkness and peril, who is able to stand in defense of Zion and show her any good? Her spiritual state and prospects are not in accordance with the light and privileges bestowed of God.

The same reproofs are applicable to her to-day as to the people of Israel when the Lord said by his prophets, "Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins."

In secrecy and silence, Nehemiah completed his circuit of the walls. He declares, "The rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work." In this painful survey he did not wish to attract the attention of either friends or foes, lest an excitement be created, and reports be put in circulation which might defeat, or at least hinder, his work.

Nehemiah devoted the remainder of the night to prayer; in the morning there must be earnest effort to arouse and unite his dispirited and divided countrymen. Although he bore a royal commission requiring the inhabitants to co-operate with him in rebuilding the walls of the city, he chose not to depend upon the mere exercise of authority. He sought rather to gain the confidence and sympathy of the people, well knowing that a union of hearts as well as hands was essential to success in the great work which he had undertaken. When he called the people together on the morrow, he presented such arguments as were calculated to arouse their dormant energies and to unite their scattered numbers.

They knew not, neither did he tell them, of his mournful midnight circuit while they were sleeping. Nevertheless that very circumstance contributed greatly to his success. He was enabled to speak of the condition of the city with an accuracy and minuteness that astonished his hearers, while the actual contemplation of the weakness and degradation of Israel, deeply impressing his heart, gave earnestness and power to his words. He presented before the people their condition as objects of reproach among the heathen. The nation once so highly favored of God as to excite the terror of all surrounding countries, had now become a by-word and a hissing. Her religion was dishonored, her God blasphemed.

He then told them how, in a distant land, he had heard of their affliction, how he had entreated the favor of God in their behalf, and how, while praying, the plan had been formed in his mind, of soliciting permission from the king to come to their assistance. He had asked God that the king might not only allow him to go to Jerusalem, but invest him with authority and render the help needed for the work. His prayer had been answered in such a manner as clearly to show that the whole thing was of the Lord. And having thus laid the matter fully before them, showing that he was sustained by the combined authority of the Persian king and the God of Israel, Nehemiah put to the people directly the question whether they would take advantage of this favorable occasion, and arise with him and build the wall.

This appeal went straight to their hearts; the manifestation of the favor of Heaven toward them put their fears to shame. With new courage they cried out with one voice, "Let us rise up and build."

The holy energy and high hope of Nehemiah were communicated to the people. As they caught the spirit, they rose for a time to the moral level of their leader. Each, in his own sphere, was a sort of Nehemiah; and each strengthened and upheld his brother in the work.

There is need of Nehemiahs in the church today,—not men who can pray and preach only, but men whose prayers and sermons are braced with firm and eager purpose. The course pursued by this Hebrew patriot in the accomplishment of his plans is one that should still be adopted by ministers and leading men. When they have laid their plans, they should present them to the church in such a manner as to win their interest and co-operation. Let the people understand the plans and share in the work, and they will have a personal interest in its prosperity.

The success attending Nehemiah's efforts, shows what prayer, faith, and wise, energetic action, will accomplish. Living faith will prompt to energetic action. The spirit manifested by the leader will be, to a great extent, reflected by the people. If the leaders professing to believe the solemn, important truths that are to test the world at this time, manifest no ardent zeal to prepare a people to stand in the day of God, we must expect the church to be careless, indolent, and pleasure-loving.

Among the first to catch Nehemiah's spirit of zeal and earnestness were the priests of Israel. From the position of influence which they occupied, these men could do much to hinder or advance the work. Their ready co-operation at the very outset, contributed not a little to its success. Thus should it be in every holy enterprise. Those who occupy positions of influence and responsibility in the church, should be foremost in the work of God. If they move reluctantly,

others will not move at all. But "their zeal will provoke very many." When their light burns brightly, a thousand torches will be kindled at the flame.

A majority of the nobles and rulers of Israel also came nobly up to their duty; but there were a few, the Tekoite nobles, who "put not their necks to the work of their Lord." While the faithful builders have honorable mention in the book of God, the memory of those slothful servants is branded with shame, and handed down as a warning to all future generations. In every religious movement there are some who, while they cannot deny that it is the work of God, will keep themselves aloof, refusing to make any effort to advance it. But in enterprises to promote their selfish interests, these men are often the most active and energetic workers. It were well to remember that record kept on high, the book of God, in which all our motives and our works are written,—that "book" in which there are no omissions, no mistakes, and out of which we are to be judged. There every neglected opportunity to do service for God will be faithfully reported, and every deed of faith and love, however humble, will be held in everlasting remembrance.

Against the inspiring influence of Nehemiah's presence, the example of the Tekoite nobles had little weight. The people in general were animated with one heart and one soul of patriotism and cheerful activity. Men of ability and influence organized the various classes of citizens into companies, each leader making himself responsible for the erection of a certain portion of the wall. It was a sight well pleasing to God and angels to see the busy companies working harmoniously upon the broken-down walls of Jerusalem, and it was a joyous sound to hear the noise of instruments of labor from the earliest dawn "till the stars appeared."

Nehemiah's zeal and energy did not abate, now that the work was actually begun. He did not fold his hands, feeling that he might let fall the burden. With tireless vigilance he constantly superintended the work, directing the workmen, noting every hindrance, and providing for every emergency. His influence was constantly felt along the whole extent of those three miles of wall. With timely words he encouraged the fearful, approved the diligent, or aroused the laggard. And again he watched with eagle eye the movements of their enemies, who at times collected at a distance and engaged in earnest conversation as if plotting mischief, and then drawing near the workmen attempted to divert their attention and hinder the work. While the eye of every worker is often directed to Nehemiah, ready to heed the slightest signal, his eye and heart are uplifted to God, the great overseer of the whole work, the one who put it into the heart of his servant to build. And as faith and courage strengthen in his own heart, Nehemiah exclaims, and his words, repeated and re-echoed, thrill the hearts of the workers all along the line, "The God of Heaven, he will prosper us."

A WORD TO THE WEARY.

By Charlotte Murray

OH, give me a word, blest Master, That I may repeat for thee! A message to one who needs it; Entrust it, dear Lord, to me! And teach me that I may say What thou shalt desire to-day.

O mourner! whose tears are falling So fast on the cheerless sod, Who feelest the world is empty, Aye, almost without a God; Look up, there is one Friend left; Thou art not of Christ bereft;

He feeleth for all thy sorrow, His heart knoweth all thy grief; He yearns to afford thee comfort, To give to his child relief. Look up, though thine eyes be dim, And pour out thy woe to him.

In love he withdraws thy treasure; I know not the reason why; Perchance he may tell thee softly, When none but himself is nigh; And then, with a sob of peace, Thy bitter distrust may cease.

Hush! listen, for he is speaking: "Be still, my poor child, be still; I might not have dealt more gently, Oh, doubt not my holy will. The portion is hard to take, But drink it, for my dear sake.

"I once drained the cup of sorrow, To save thee from untold ill; My child, wilt thou not then trust me, Though thou canst not trace my will? Believing that I know best, Come unto me and rest." —Charlotte Murray, in Sabbath Recorder.

General Articles.

"All These Things Are against Me."

By Rev. W. M. Taylor, LL. D.

ALAS, poor Jacob! He was, indeed, brought very low when he could speak thus; and though we may not vindicate him for murmuring, we understand his state of heart too well to think of upbraiding him for thus giving way to the bitterness of his grief. He that is without sin among you let him cast the first stone at him; for myself, I have been too often in the same condemnation with him to allow myself to judge him with harshness. It is very easy for those who take no thought of his affliction, or who have themselves known no serious sorrow, to speak loftily of his weakness, and utter biting things about his unbelief; but when we remember how he was situated and what he had suffered, we shall admit that his emotion was, at least, natural. Blameworthy no doubt it was. But it is God's to measure the blame, while it is ours to sympathize with his sorrow, and to be instructed by his despair. For many years he had carried in his heart a grief, which was all the more consuming because it was unspoken. His favorite son had been taken from him under such circumstances as left him in terrible uncertainty as to his fate. He had the apparent evidence, indeed, that an evil beast had devoured him; and there was at the same time the knowledge that his other children, so far from sharing his sorrow, rejoiced in the absence of the envied son.

Then there came upon him and his family a sore famine, which compelled him to send for supplies to Egypt, where Simeon had been in some mysterious manner detained as a hostage for the appearance of Benjamin; and now, when the pressure of scarcity was again felt, the necessity of letting his youngest son go, coupled with the possibility that he might never return, fairly overcame the patriarch, and he sobbed out in broken utterance these despairing words: "Me ye have bereaved of my children; Joseph is not, Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me."

But natural as this outgush of feeling was, it was essentially atheistic. He makes no mention of God in his exclamation. He speaks angrily to his sons, as if they had done it all, and doubtless, knowing what at that time he did not know, we cannot but admit that they had been grievously to blame; but he has no reference here to him who on the memorable night at Bethel had said to him, "I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land." For the moment he has forgotten how the Lord had led him at first to Laban's house, and had given him prosperity during his twenty-one years sojourn in Padan-aram; how he had cared for him when he left his father-in-law; how he had mollified the rage of the offended Esau; how he had blessed him at Peniel by giving him rightfully as a suppliant the birthright which he had formerly sought wrongfully as a supplanter; and how he had protected him at the time when the violence of some of his sons might have drawn upon him the vengeance of the Shechemites. Was it indeed so, that all these things had been against him? We see, indeed, that after awhile, when his sons were in the very act of bidding him farewell, he came back to his trustfulness, and offered for them this prayer: "God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin; if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." But, at first, when the full shadow of his trouble passed over him, his faith was, for the moment, eclipsed, and his God was for the time forgotten. But so it is with men still. The mercies of a life-time are ignored in the bitterness of a single trial, and God, who has been our friend for years, is accounted our enemy, because of some severe affliction which has come upon us; or we forget him altogether, and throw the blame on some external cause, even as in the blind passion of the instant I have seen the workman fling away his tool, because he could not get it to do just as he wished. We remember not, faithless as we are, that God does not change toward us with the changing aspects of his providence, but that he is as really our friend when we are plunged in trial as when basking in prosperity.

The surgeon has a stern aspect, and, apparently an unfeeling hand, when he cuts into the flesh or amputates a broken limb, but he has a loving heart, and the patient trusts him the while, hoping for recovery as the result. Even so in knowing God's heart toward him, and remembering his past dealings with him, Jacob might have had confidence that after and out of this sorrow there would come a richer joy. But he had forgotten God for the time, and so it was no wonder that he said, "All these things are against me."

But atheistic as this sentiment was, it was also quite untrue. These things were not against him. They were really working for his after good. They were onward steps in that process by which he was to recover his long-lost son, and was to have conferred upon him those years of happiness which, as we read the story, we are apt to call the Sabbath of his life, with its rest, its thankfulness, and its joy. Oh, how he would upbraid himself for these hasty words in later days, when he went to see Joseph in his palace and took his grandsons on his knees; and when at length, he shall enter the heavenly land, and see God's purpose running through his life, I can imagine him saying, "Now I know the thoughts of thy heart towards me, and bless thee, that they were thoughts of peace and not of evil to give me this expected end."

We all feel that there are times when we are prone to fall into this despair. We all acknowledge, too, that such a state of mind is sinful. Yet, perhaps, the very next affliction that comes upon us, be it bereavement, or temporal misfortune, or distress of whatever sort, will draw from us this wailing cry. Let us see, therefore, what considerations we may draw from this Book, or from our own experience, wherewith we may fortify ourselves for the resistance of the strain of this temptation. The storm is always trying to the mariner, but it is not nearly so formidable to him who has a well-appointed vessel and active crew, as to him whose ship is ill-found, and whose sailors are disabled by intemperance. If, therefore, we would stand the strain, we must have everything in readiness for meeting it when it comes. Now there are some truths which, treasured up in the memories of our hearts, would keep us from sinking into Jacob's despair.

First of all we have the unqualified assurance that God is the friend of his people; and that he is directing and controlling all things for their highest good. Again and again he has said to his own, "Fear not, for I am with thee," and he has declared that he will "never leave them nor forsake them." Nay, to make assurance doubly true, he has appealed to the most stable things in nature, saying, "The mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, who hath mercy upon thee." Nor is this all; in one of the most beautiful passages which the Old Testament contains, he represents himself as the author of his people's trials, while at the same time he sets forth the reason why he sends them, and describes the gracious results which flow from them. "Therefore,"—that is, as the previous verse makes clear, because she forgot God,—"therefore, behold I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her, and I will give her vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope, and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of Egypt." Now, all these declarations, and a hundred others which might be quoted, are not mere utterances of courtesy or of course. They are the words of him who is the truth, and who is able to bring to pass that which is good for us, and to perfect that which concerneth us. He is the great center of providence. "Of him, and to him, and through him, are all things." He doth according to his will in the armies of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. All things, the tiniest as well as the most stupendous, are under his control, and what he promises he is able to perform. He does not say what he does not mean, neither does he pledge himself to anything which he cannot carry through. "He is God, and beside him there is none else." Now, with such assurances from such a Person, why should we ever fall into despair? We can trust the word of a fellow-man, though that has often enough been falsified; we can rely upon an arm of flesh, though we know that it is feeble and finite as our own; why, then, do we not confide in God? Is it because he is unseen, or because we do not understand his workings? Nay, surely, for not seldom our trust reposes on men whom we have not seen, and frequently our faith in them remains even when we do not comprehend their designs. Why, then, should we distrust the Lord? Let us but hold fast to the conviction that the God of Jacob is our refuge, and then it will be easy to sing all the rest of that spirit-stirring forty-sixth psalm.

We Do Not Pray Enough.

FELIX NEFF once made the following comparison: "When a pump is frequently used, but little pains are necessary to get water—the water pours out at the first stroke, because it is high; but if the pump has not been used for a long time, the water gets low; and when you want it, you must pump it a long while, and the water comes only after great efforts. It is so with prayer; if we are instant in prayer, every little circumstance awakens the disposition to pray, and desires and words are always ready. But if we neglect prayer, it is difficult for us to pray; for the water in the well gets low."

A Single Careless Movement

By Sabbath Recorder

EVERY one knows what it is to have written a letter or performed some other work requiring time and painstaking care, and then to have spoiled it by a blot or a wrong move made in a moment of time. So it is in life. To build a character is the work of many careful years; to mar or destroy it is often the result of a single careless movement.—Sabbath Recorder.

Why Do Men Die?

By R. F. Cottrell

MUCH fault is laid upon the God of the Bible because he lets men suffer and die, and this, in many instances, by those who extol the god of Nature. To those who reject the God of revelation, and deify Nature or any other fancied god, it is a sufficient answer to say that the god they admire is just as cruel—that he permits just as many to suffer and die—as the God of the Bible.

As I was speaking recently of the mercy and tender compassion of the Lord, that “like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him,” I was met with this objection: Thousands upon thousands have been and are suffering and dying of famine. The Almighty God of the Bible could, if he would, prevent all this by a single word of his power, and give them food; but he does not; therefore—

Now the great aggregate of all this suffering is indeed terrible to contemplate; but, as individuals, each one only suffers all that his nature is able to endure, and is relieved by death. And such has been the lot of all the countless millions that have lived from the beginning of the world to the present generation, with but two exceptions. The question, then, is resolved to this: Is it right for God to permit men to die?

Our Bible informs us that God allowed our race to choose between obedience and life, and disobedience and death. Our first parents sinned, and death followed. “The wages of sin is death.” At this point God might have given over the race to death and oblivion; but his tender mercy devised a way to redeem man from death by a resurrection, and the Father accepted the voluntary offer of the Son to assume our nature and die for us; so that, being redeemed from the death into which we had fallen, we might, as individuals, have another probation, that by faith and obedience and patient endurance we might have everlasting life in a world to come. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The provision is made, and all are invited freely to come. We may become the children of God by faith in Christ. We are saved by faith in Christ. We are saved by faith and hope. Death still is the lot of the righteous, as well as the wicked. It is at the resurrection of the just that the saints are actually redeemed from death. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible; . . . then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

It will be seen in the end that God has dealt with our race in great mercy. He withheld not his Son, but gave him up for us all. We are his children by creation, but have become the children of the devil by doing his works. Still we may become the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”

God has done, and will do, the very best for us that he can. He gives us the privilege of becoming sons of God and heirs of eternal life. And “like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.” R. F. COTTRELL.

Postal Jottings.—No. 6.

By Henry Vesey

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH. Ex. 48 : 33. This is the climax. This is the joyous thought with regard to the new heavens and the new earth, the holy city, the new Jerusalem,—“The Lord (will be) there.” Speak not merely of its precious stones and jasper walls, of its pearly gates and golden streets, but make known that the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Rev. 21: 1, 2, 22, 23. The glory of God will lighten it, and the Lamb will be the light thereof. Listen! “Behold the tabernacle of God will be with men, and he will dwell with them,” not to tarry for a night, not to walk there simply in “the cool of the day,” (Gen. 3 : 8), but to be their constant light and joy. Rev. 22 : 5. Oh joy of joys! He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among the 144,000, who will have come out of the great tribulation (Greek), and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7 : 14, 15.

Can we have Jehovah-shammah written over our homes to day? “The Lord is there,” is he, beloved? Is love reigning in our homes, yours and mine? Does God dwell with us? “With that man will God dwell, who is of a contrite and humble spirit.” Is. 57 : 15. If evil thoughts are allowed in our hearts, if we are proud and worldly, God cannot dwell with us. If our children are disobedient and quarrelsome, evil angels are about us and God is not here. Oh let us personally and socially seek the Lord, both parents and children seek him, that the name of our homes may be, “THE LORD IS THERE.” HENRY VESEY.

Battle Creek (Mich.) College.

WE ARE COMFORTED.

By S. J. G. Thayer

BY S. J. G. THAYER.

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” Isa. 40:1. “And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” John 14:16.

THE time is dark and perilous, and dangers press around, Far as our vision reaches, great evils do abound. The restless, cheerless present, with all its wants and woes, Is but a faithful mirror, the future to disclose. As first-fruits to the harvest, or gleanings when its o'er, So is the world’s commotion but drops which come before The heavy pouring shower; the storm is just ahead; But Jehovah is our refuge—and we are comforted.

Our path is marked out for us—a bright and shining way; It leads up from the darkness to everlasting day. It’s neither smooth nor flow’ry, and thorns may pierce our feet; But if we’re faint and weary, the resting will be sweet. Perchance some heavy cross must needs be borne along, And, though our hearts are aching, some soul-inspiring song May soothe some other heartache—may lift some drooping head; Then let us do what good we can, for we are comforted.

The little child, when starting upon the untried way, Finds comfort in the sunshine, among the flowers, at play. When he has felt the stinging of nettles 'mong the flowers, And mother heals the little heart—it’s sunshine after showers. So we are comforted to-day; Jesus has healed our woes; He takes the pains upon himself, and gives our hearts repose, Whatever ills beset our way, where’er we’re called to tread Though dark and deep the waters be—still we are comforted.

We part with those who love us—to whom our hearts are bound— We close their eyes in silence, and lay them in the ground. Oh, who shall tell the anguish of every mourning heart, Or paint the dreary loneliness when from the loved we part? And yet in all this darkness there comes a gleam of light; We scarce can see for weeping, so blinded in our sight; The Lord of life is coming—he comes to raise the dead; We lift to him our tearful eyes—and we are comforted.

Oh, there is many a heartache of which we may not tell, And brightest hopes are buried, without a tolling bell; And tears are shed in silence, and pains too deep for tears Are borne without complaining, through long and dreary years. But in it all and through it all, we see the guiding hand; Above the boiling crucible behold the Saviour stand. And if ’tis through the wilderness our weary feet must tread, We only follow where he leads—and we are comforted.

But whence comes all this comfort, this balm for every grief? Where the unfailing fountain that ever brings relief? And is there on life’s desert—this dreary tangled wild— A cheering bright oasis for every longing child? Yes, all can find by seeking, the never failing spring— Free as the air we’re breathing—if we our idols bring And lay them down at Jesus’ feet, and follow him instead. There is no woe he cannot reach; we shall be comforted.

O, Comforter divinely sent! O Presence from above! Visit thy waiting people, and fill them with thy love. O, Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in thy wings, Attract to thee our downcast eyes, whence all our comfort springs. Light up our darkened vision, our foolish hearts make wise; And make our light affliction a blessing in disguise. Oh come, we wait to welcome, for thou hast surely said Thy waiting, trusting people, shall all be comforted.

Joy cometh in the morning—the night is almost o’er; And in the restitution, that bright eternal shore, They that have sown with weeping shall reap an endless bliss, And, in the blessings of that home, forget the griefs of this. And so our hearts are joyous, the wormwood and the gall Are sweetened by the presence of him who says that all, Yes all, shall work together for good to those who tread The pathway of the righteous—and we are comforted.

Faithfulness in Little Things

THOSE who, while their beginning is small, are humble and honest, contented and industrious, are in a likely way to see their latter end greatly increasing; he that is faithful in a little shall be intrusted with more; he that is faithful in that which is another man's shall be intrusted with something of his own. Jacob, who had been a just servant, became a rich master.

Small Engagements.

How much the brightness of Christian honor is dimmed by inattention to "trifles," has by contrast an illustration in the following bit of history:--

Sir William Napier was one day taking a long walk near Freshford, when he met a little girl, about five years old, sobbing over a broken bowl. She had fallen while bringing it from the field to which she had taken her father’s dinner, and she said she would be beaten for having broken it; then, with a sudden gleam of hope, she innocently looked into his face, and said, “But ye can mend it, can’t ye?” Sir William explained that he could not mend the bowl, but the trouble he could mend, by the gift of a sixpence to buy another.

However, on opening his purse, it was empty of silver, and he had to make amends to meet his little friend the same hour next day, and to bring the sixpence with him, bidding her, meanwhile, tell her mother she had seen a gentleman who would bring her the money for the bowl next day. The child, entirely trusting him, went on her way comforted. On his return home, he found an invitation awaiting him to dine in Bath the following evening, to meet some one whom he especially wished to see. He hesitated for some little time, trying to calculate the possibility of giving the meeting to his little friend of the broken bowl, and of still being in time for the dinner-party in Bath; but, finding that this could not be, he wrote to decline accepting the invitation, on the plea of a “pre-engagement,” saying to one of his family as he did so, “I cannot disappoint her, she trusted me so implicitly.”

Hints for Young Christians.

NEVER neglect daily prayer; and when you pray, remember that God is present, and that he hears your prayers. 1 John 5:14.

Never neglect daily private Bible-reading; and when you read, remember that God is speaking to you, and that you are to believe and act upon what he says. All backsliding begins with the neglect of these two rules. John 5:39.

Never let a day pass without doing something for Jesus. Every morning, reflect on what Jesus has done for you, and then ask yourself, "What am I doing for him?" Matt. 5:3–16.

If you are ever in doubt as to a thing’s being right or wrong, go to your room and consider whether you can do it in the name of Jesus, and ask God’s blessing upon it. Col. 3:17. If you cannot do this, it is wrong. Rom. 14:23.

Never take your Christianity from Christians, or argue, because such and such people do so and so, that therefore you may. 2 Cor. 10:12. You are to ask yourself, "How would the Lord have me act?" Follow him. John 10:27.

Never trust your feelings, or the opinions of men, if they contradict God’s word. If authorities are pleaded, still, "let God be true, but every man a liar." Rom. 3:4.—Sel.

Don't Live on Feeling.

It may be helpful to some humble disciple who is disturbed because he cannot keep his religious feelings up to his ideal of what they should be, to be told that the distinguished Wilbur Fisk was troubled in the same way in the earlier years of his Christian life.

Having opened his heart to the saintly Timothy Merritt, of precious memory, this gentleman said to him, “I think you make a christ of your feelings. You do not expect that Christ will bless you unless you have a peculiar kind of feelings. But Christ does not bless you because you have peculiar feelings, but because you believe in him. Make a christ of nothing but Christ.”

These wise words are “apples of gold.” The reader would do well to let them direct his mental eye away from his own perturbed heart up to the face of the ever-living Christ.—Ex.

Punishment for Educated Criminals

By Editor

INTELLIGENT and thoughtful people will approve the refusal of Governor Hamilton of Illinois to pardon Charles W. Angell, the embezzler of the Pullman Palace Car Company, who was sentenced for ten years from February, 1879. The fact that a criminal is well educated, and has had more than ordinary advantages in life, does not make his crime less deserving of the full penalties; in fact, the majority of the people would wish him punished more severely.

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