Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 21, 1856
LIGHT IN DARKNESS.
By H. L. H.
Unto the upright there ariseth Light in the darkness.Ps. cxii, 4.
WHILE the Royal Preacher at Jerusalem surveyed with solemn sadness the unrighteousness of the human family, and sought in vain for men of strict and perfect rectitude, he exclaimed, "Lo, this only have I found that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Eccl. vii, 29. That man's primal condition was one of uprightness is evident. A contrary supposition involves the blasphemy of charging the Creator with the making of unholy things. But that mankind are not now upright is equally evident. By the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they lost their uprightness, and all their many inventions have never repaired that self-inflicted injury.
How, then, shall man, so fallen, become upright, and secure these forfeited blessings which are consequent upon uprightness? For an answer to this question we refer to the words of David. "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent of the great transgression." Ps. xix, 7-13.
Thus by being cleansed "from secret faults," and kept back "from presumptuous sins," man may become upright before God. But in order to this we "must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," with all the heart, and, washed from our sins, "in his own blood," we shall be written among the upright unto whom light ariseth.
Having thus become upright, the individual shares innumerable blessings. "The generation of the upright shall be blessed." Ps. cxii, 2. His uprightness is first within. He is "upright in heart," but with David he can say "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart," he walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness." He then learns by blessed experience that "light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Ps. xcvii, 11, and with David can say, "my defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart." Ps. vii, 10. Hence he will not fear the wrath of the wicked who "bend their bow . . . that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart." Ps. xi, 2, and though now "the just upright man is laughed to scorn," [Job xii, 4,] it shall not be so forever, for "upon the wicked God shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright." Ps. xi, 6, 7. "For the Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory; and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Ps. lxxxiv, 11.
Such is the condition of the upright. Pardoned, washed in the blood that cleanseth from all unrighteousness and made meet for the service of God. His course is upright, his heart is upright, his conversation is upright. He fears no reproach, he flees from no danger, he walks honestly and fearlessly "as in the day." His heart is fixed trusting in the Lord, and his steadfast hope is like an anchor to the soul. He walketh uprightly and walketh surely. Prov. x, 9. As he journeys he finds that "the way of the Lord is strength to the upright." Prov. x, 29. And he goes rejoicingly on towards his brighter home. In the midst of perplexities he rejoices in the promise that "the integrity of the upright shall guide them," and in difficulties and dangers he believes that "the righteousness of the upright shall deliver them." Prov. xi, 3, 6. He fears God, and, standing forth from the society of fawning sycophants and purse-bought flatterers, he looks up to God to learn his duty, and then in the integrity and independence of moral uprightness, he goes forth to do it at every hazard, if he may but win the approving smile, and at last the joyous welcome of that God whom he serves.
And what is the portion of the upright? Is it grief or gladness? is it gloom or glory? is it darkness or is it light?
They judge wrongly who applaud the man that exhausts his garners in feasting and rioting, while they pity him who, amid storm and sunshine casts his seed into the fertile field. The prodigal may seem the richer now, but when he shall beg in destitution and have nothing, then he who sowed in cold and weariness and tears, shall find in the ripening plenty which crowns his harvest-fields, the reward for all his toils. So they may seem happier who for a little while devour with swinish greediness the vapid pleasures of this world, and sport themselves in lust and wickedness, but the harvest of corruption which they shall reap at last shall finally undeceive them, though too late for remedy.
The righteous then are content with fewer joys until the toils are past. "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Ps. xcvii, 11. His light and gladness are sown, not reaped; growing, not ripened; standing, not gathered and garnered. Hence his present sorrow. The fruits of heavenly joy are now acid and bitter, until the sunshine and rain shall have ripened them in all their treasured richness in the Paradise of God. So he may well be sad. What matters it; if weeping doth endure for a night, if joy cometh in the morning and the mornings gray already lights the heavens! What matter if privation and scantiness be felt for a few brief days, if the eternal harvest is already ripening on our view? Will not the morning's endless joy wipe out the memories of night's brief sorrow? Will not the angelic songs, as they shout the harvest-home swallow up the sighs and crying of him who sowed in tears?
But at present the upright are in gloom. The wicked rejoice—they walk in the flickering light of a phantom-fire, and in the sparks which they have kindled—but their transient lustre shall fade in the gloom of despair—"the blackness of darkness forever and ever." They, though in the light, are children of darkness—the righteous though in the darkness, are the children of light." They walk in the light, as Christ is in the light—they put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, they "are not of the night nor of darkness," and their sun though briefly obscured, shall soon burst forth in the unclouded and unsettling splendor of perpetual day. To the sinner there cometh gloom on all his glory, but "to the upright there ariseth light in the darkness."
We shall find this sentiment true in the present spiritual conflicts of the people of God. We have proved this very many times. O, how often have sorrows rolled like a shoreless ocean around us. How often has the heart grown sick and sad while darkness like that of Egypt seemed thickening every hour, and our failing strength seemed unequal to our pressing needs; and when in the depth of our anguish we lifted our despairing cries to God, O then, how sweet the answer that broke the silence of our woe. "Fear not, I am with thee . . . hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary." "I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee." Thus to the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. Thus when he is tried he comes forth as gold—thus when the122enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard.
We see it again in the providential dealings of God with his faithful servants. Joseph goes into Egypt as a slave—this is darkness—he presides over Potiphar's house, this is light. He is cast into chains and lies in prison and distress, this is darkness; but he comes forth by God's good providence to rule next the king and to preserve Egypt and his own family. The three Hebrews are condemned to die, this is darkness, but light arises, they walk unscathed amid the burning flames, and emerge honored by God and man. Daniel is condemned to death and hurled into the lion's den, and this is darkness; but God's angel shuts the lion's mouth and Daniel comes forth unharmed to enjoy greater power than before, this is light. Job is smitten of Satan, forsaken of God, stripped of wealth, derided by his wife—upbraided by friends, insulted by foes, his heart broken with grief: this is darkness, out of it light arises, and in the peaceful possession of seven-fold blessings he rejoices again in the favor of the Lord. Stephen is dying beneath the stones and curses of infuriate foes; but light arises and he said, "I see Jesus at the right hand of God," and he fell into sleep, so sweet that no fury of man or devils could disturb the soft repose. Peter is lying in prison bound, to-morrow he must die; this is darkness; but light arises out of it; the door opens, the angel enters, the Apostle goes forth and the upright in heart rejoice in the Lord. Paul and Silas are in a Phillipian jail, red from the lash, their feet in the stocks, their hearts sad; this is darkness; but they pray, they sing—the prison trembles, the jailor is converted, the stripes are washed, the ruler humbled, the saints comforted, and they go on their way rejoicing that "unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." Paul is tossed by the winds for fourteen days upon the stormy Mediterranean, but an angel stands by him; light arises, and God gives him the lives of all that are with him. John is an exile on Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Christ, away from friends, brethren and privilege, but there light arose out of darkness, vision after vision unfolded the changeful fortunes of the church and world, until finally the harp-notes of the ransomed stirred his heart with floods of liquid melody the sunlight of eternal glory burst full upon his view and, anticipating the joyous scene, the only words which could tell the fullness of his ardent longing, were, "Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus!" Thus did light arise out of darkness, and the gloomy hills of Patmos became radiant as the very gates of heaven—and he who had looked upon it as only an abode of dreary exile found like the slumbering patriarch in Bethel that "God was in the place."
And how oft have we seen the wrath of man thus made to praise the Lord. In the hour of the saints' extremity the mercy of the Lord has appeared, and just when the wicked were hoping for our downfall, deliverance came. How strangely their schemes were thwarted and their purposes overturned, and on the upright who in despairing hope had committed his cause to God, how sweetly did light arise out of darkness! Ah! let not the wicked triumph, nor glory while there lives an Omnipotent God who beholdeth the upright with love, and who will not suffer his feet to slide.
And when poverty and sickness comes on, when there is but a handful of meal in the barrel, when hunger, and want, and sickness are heaped upon us, when the cold world and a colder church look heedlessly on—when Priest and Levite pass on the other side, how sweetly does the light arise as some dear disciple of the Lord comes to our relief, and when God's wondrous providence supplies our needs and teaches us, by tokens known to those that trust in God, that "the very hairs of our heads are all numbered." So too, when the business of this world has bound us in chains or plunged us in sorrow—when we see no way of escape from the whirlpool that sucks us down—then how often light ariseth and the trembling expectation that "the Lord will provide" is changed to the exulting exclamation "the Lord is my strength and my song—he also is become my salvation."
In nature's last extremity, in the darkness of death's valley, and the gloom of death's shade—in the hovel of adversity or in the abode of comfort, in the desert, in dens and caves—in the damp and noisome prison-house, in the flame of the faggot-fire, or where ever the child of God has met and has struggled with his last enemy, the grim king of terrors, there has light arisen out of darkness. When all earthly lights are quenched, when the gloom of despair settles sadly over the wicked who "is driven away in his wickedness," then "the righteous hath hope in his death," and in the certain prospect of a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, he can sweetly fall asleep in Jesus with the light of hope glancing into the darkness of the sepulchre, and the glory-beams of eternity bursting in auroral splendor along the clouds and gloom of time. Thus "unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." And we can, with joyful interest, "mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." We may take a broader glance, and view the same principle in the dealings of God with his chosen nation in ancient times.
Egypt was to them a place of darkness, but light arose, and they bade adieu to bondage and went forth to worship God. The Red sea's border was to them a place of darkness, as Pharaoh urged his infuriate hosts in hot pursuit, but light arose—the Red sea was divided, and soon they sang the song of victory upon the distant shore. Mizpeh was a place of darkness when Philistia's haughty lords gathered their swarming myriads against repentant Israel; but Samuel prays—unto the upright there ariseth light, peal upon peal of thunder rolls above their heads—lurid lightnings glance among the invading ranks until they flee, and from rejoicing Israel the shout goes up, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Again, when the countless hosts of the Assyrians gathered around Jerusalem and the boastful Sennacherib poured forth his insulting blasphemies and threats, it was a time of darkness—but when God heard the cry of Hezekiah, and his angel went forth and laid an hundred and eighty-five thousand dead upon the plain, and sent the rest affrighted to their homes, then light arose out of darkness, and Israel could rejoice in peace and quietness beneath the divine protection. Babylon was a place of darkness, but when in the midst of riot and revelry Belshazzar was slain, the captives who had wept by the Euphratean waters felt that the chains were bursting, that light was rising, and a voice was saying as in the days of old, "Let my people go!" The cruel decree of Haman overshadowed the nation with gloom; but light arose—God wrought deliverance by Esther, and the malice of Satan was defeated by the love of God.
We may take a still wider view and comprehend the universal church of Jesus Christ. We see them scattered, oppressed, persecuted, dejected and disconsolate. We see them subjected to innumerable sufferings. We see them in dungeons and chains. We see them in bondage and affliction. But in all this, light ariseth, even the glorious light of hope. The scene of groaning and bondage, and depression, will be over, the agonies and sorrows shall have an end, and when the unjust with their kingdoms, sceptres, diadems and thrones are ground to powder and swept from the earth as by the bosom of destruction, then "the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning." Ps. xlix, 14. In that morning, when the light that has been "sown for the righteous" shall blaze forth in the beauty of its final harvest, it shall be seen that the darkness of the upright has for ever passed away. The curse shall be removed, the power of the oppressor broken, the prince of darkness dethroned, the groaning creation delivered, and Christ the head of his redeemed and glorified church, shall be enthroned amid the shouts of the rejoicing Universe.
Christ hath abolished death, but it is prospectively. Christ hath brought to light life and immortality, but the immortality is not yet "put on," and the life is yet "hid with Christ in God." Now the church is in the gloom of death's sentence, or in the darkness of its execution. Our treasures are in the mouldering tomb—our hearts' idols are rotting in loathsome sepulchres—our joys are turned to dust and ashes beneath the valley's clods. Our dearest friends are so vile and putrid that we would not
touch them. A nauseous stench comes up from those whose flesh was fresher than a child's. The cheek that glowed with roseate beauty is but a festering mass of filth—and where the eye once glanced in love, the death-worm revels and corruption reigns. And this is death—it has rifled our homes, and slaughtered our friends, and crushed our hopes, and blighted our joys, and made this world a waste and howling wilderness to us. Our eyes are dim with weeping, and our hearts are broken with grief and still the work goes on; while we write he reaches for our heart-strings; while we read the death-lock of the grasp is upon the friends that we love best. O how the church of God, for nigh six thousand years, has fallen like serried grain before the mower's scythe—how few are left—nothing but the gleanings remain. But shall the sword devour forever? Shall death make an utter end? Is there no healer of the breach, no deliverer of the captive hosts who have slept in chains so long?
Yes even here, "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." There is death—there shall be resurrection. There is sorrow, there shall be joy. The reign of the destroyer shall cease, the thrall of the monster shall be broken, countless myriads shall emerge from the grave in angelic beauty, and stand forth, glorious before the throne of God. And of prostrate death whose sting is now in every heart, and whose victory is in every dwelling, it shall be inquired in tones of lofty and perpetual triumph, "O death, where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory?"
Such are some of the illustrations of the great truth of light for the upright, which sparkle like stars of brightness along the dreary night of ages past, and which spread like a sea of glory into the illimitable future. The full development of light is future—the exceeding "weight of glory" is yet unrevealed. But it shall be revealed. Out of the darkness of human oppression and misrule shall come a purer era when the desire of all nations shall appear, and "he that ruleth over men shall be just, ruling in the fear of the Lord, and he shall be as the shining of a morning without clouds"—as a Sun that shall never descend from its meridian brightness to scenes of darkness and gloom. And in that morning the upright shall have their dominion and their glory. For the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be "given to the people of the saints of the Most High whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." The upright, long lost with the troubled tumult of an unrighteous world, shall there find their congenial element in that "new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." Here the sorrows that have swelled his bosom shall subside, and the rivers of water that run down his eyes "because they keep not the law" shall be forever dried up. The voice of the oppressor shall be heard no more, and the weary captives and bondmen shall be forever free.
The ruinous work which death has carried on, lo, these many centuries, shall be undone "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," and countless myriads, brilliant as dew-drops from the womb of the morn, shall soar to meet the Lord as on the lightning's wing. The ransomed church in all her congregated glory shall out-sing the ocean's billows, and the echoes of her lofty anthems shall burst like peals of mighty thunder along the distant heavens.
And if upright, we shall be there! You and I, reader, may prove after our earthly experience of sorrow, that "unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." You and I, may shine then, as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever. But are we upright? Are we walking in the fear of God? Have we been pardoned and cleansed from secret faults? Are we then upright in the sight of the Lord? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness shall abide in God's tabernacle. The upright shall remain in the land when wicked doers are cut off. Let us see to it that we are upright in heart, and in walk—let us watch that we be found in Christ at last. Let us be penitent for our sins and clad in Christ's righteousness—so unto the upright light shall arise out of darkness and our sun shall no more go down. Reader, will123you be there? Writer, will you be there? Grace be with you all. Amen.
H. L. H.—[Cross and Crown.
THE DOOM OF THE BEAST.
Rev. xiv, 11, 12 "And they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus."
O Lord! what glorious songs
Of new and solemn sound
From Thy redeemed shall burst,
And through heaven's vault rebound,
When on the Mount the Lamb shall stand
Surrounded by that holy band.
O Lord! on that great day
May we stand forth confessed
'Mong those Thy name who bear
Upon their brows impressed,
Who, undefiled by Papal snares,
Are the Lamb's guileless followers.
O Lord! throughout the world
The glorious gospel, zeal
Is preached on every shore,
A witness unto Thee;
While forth Thy mandate dread is gone,
Which tells the doom of Babylon!
O Lord! may we prepare
Thy judgments to adore;
For angels of Thy wrath
Now o'er the nations soar,
And all who serve the "Man of Sin"
Shall feel Thine awful curse begin.
O Lord! may we, Thy saints,
The faith of Jesus keep,
And to the end endure
Those trials dark and deep;
Thus, when "the earth is reaped," may we
Among Thy ripened harvest be.
O Lord! may we escape
Thy dreadful anger, when
The wine-press of Thy wrath
Is stamped on guilty men.
And all who love the "Beast" are sent,
With him, to hell's last punishment!
Family Devotion.
Of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it was said on their removal from one place to another "there be builded an altar unto the Lord." Of Abraham, God himself said, "I know that he will command his household after him." Did God overestimate his character? By no means. See how he trains up the youthful Isaac; and how earnestly he prays, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" Witness also the piety of Eliezer his steward. How earnestly he prays at the well for the guidance and blessing of Almighty God. Whence did this man learn his religion? How comes it to pass that he prays to the only true God? Where, but in Abraham's service?
Isaac, too, showed himself to be a man of prayer and true piety. View him walking in the fields at eventide for meditation and prayer. In later years, when Esau had married two ungodly wives, (this act was "a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebecca,") contrary to all their prayers and instruction. To many professed Christians in our day, this would have been no grief at all, provided the young ladies had each possessed a fortune. It would have been cause for joy. Why is this? Why should a patriarch under that starlight dispensation show more ardent love to God and true concern for his children, than a Christian now, living under the full blaze of Gospel light? Their concern was not to be thought religious but to be religious. The piety they possessed was daily strengthened by their secret prayers and family devotions.
Of Job it is said, "when the days of his sons' feasting were gone about, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings, according to the number of them all; for Job said, it may be, my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." A high encomium is this truly. And yet the Holy Ghost has thus been pleased to dignify the character of Job. His religion came not by fits and starts, not like some streams which swell and burst their banks and carry all before them; then sink down so low that the weary traveler can scarcely slake his thirst. The religion of Job was more like the river, deep and wide, which flows noiselessly along, refreshing and fertilizing every region through which it passes, until lost in the mighty ocean. His piety was regular as the rising sun. Thus did Job continually.
Ought the piety of Christians now living to be of a lower grade? Should they neglect to command their households after them? Are they to be less concerned than were these patriarchs? If they needed prayer continually, how much more do we? They honored God in their families; God honored them with his presence and blessing here.
This train of thought has been suggested from the fact that a large number of professed Christians wholly neglect reading the Scriptures and praying in their families. Others attend to this only once in the day. Some, only occasionally; they put it aside for any little business which seems to interfere. Others, again, avoid it when visitors or strangers are present. Is this right? Is this the way to train up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Who can wonder that so many children of religious parents go astray, and dishonor and disown the religion of their fathers? If these things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? If the professed disciples of Christ treat this matter lightly, what may we expect from the world! If the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?
This duty of constant, regular family devotion is no unmeaning service. Neither is it one we can throw away and take up at pleasure. It is equally binding as public worship. Does the latter increase our knowledge of Christ and his will? So does the former. Does the latter cause our hearts to flow with love to our fellow Christians? So does the former. Does the one bring heaven and its joys to our souls? So does the other remind us of the whole family in heaven and earth.
It is enjoined on Christians "to show piety at home." How can they do it, when there is no altar erected to God in their households, or when the altar is thrown down? The God of Israel commanded his people to follow him fully. Does Christ require less of the Christian? His words are, "Except a man take up his cross daily, and follow me, he cannot be my disciple."—Journal and Messenger.
James says, "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Jas. iv, 4. By this we can see that a love for the world and a gratification of the carnal mind with its lusts and appetites hinders our growth in grace, destroys our peace and interrupts our communion with God, and hinders us from making that spiritual improvement which is so necessary to our peace and salvation. It destroys our confidence in God and in our brethren. It makes us faithless and unbelieving; and in short we become "enemies of God."
To grow in grace these connections must be dissolved; our early contracted habits must be forsaken however near and dear they may be to us. It will take all to win Christ. We must "crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts."
Says John, "Love not the world neither the things that are in the world: if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him." If the love of God is not in us can we grow in grace? Then let us beware how we live. Let us be sure we do not love the things in the world; for John adds that "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but it is of the world, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." 1 John ii, 15, 17.
What is the love of the world? It is an indulgence in worldly pleasures, such as going to balls, theatres, circuses, concerts, shows or parties of pleasure, or in joining in any worldly amusements; for going to or joining in any of these things is to indulge in the spirit of the world, which is contrary to the Spirit of Christ; and for any to indulge themselves in any of these worldly amusements shows conclusively that they are still in the possession of the carnal mind, which, says Paul, is at enmity with God, and is not subject to his law, neither indeed can be.
Says the compassionate Redeemer in the last prayer he offered up whilst on earth for the welfare of his church, "I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil." They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. John xvii, 15, 16. Says Paul, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Gal. vi, 14.
If we are not of the world, as the Son of God says of his followers, we should not be running after worldly amusements and seeking every way to gratify the carnal mind. Those who do gratify the inclinations of the carnal mind, show by their works that they are not the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; for if we are truly his people, the world will be by him crucified unto us, and we will show it in our daily walk and conversation. We shall act as though we were pilgrims and sojourners here, instead of dwellers on the earth.
The Christian has enough to do amid the perils of these last days, when Satan is working with power, and signs, and lying wonders, and is going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and when evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived; in such times as these the Christian has enough to do to look unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. We must be decided. The times demand the decision. Our minds must not be divided between the service of the world and the service of God. We should not stand halting between two opinions. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot have the spirit of the world and the Spirit of Christ, and if we have not the Spirit of Christ we are none of his.
Solemn indeed is the time in which we are living. See the awful judgments that hang fearfully over the world. The unmingled wrath of God in the seven last plagues, is soon coming as a destruction from the Almighty.
The decree will soon go forth, He which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. There will be no such thing as reversing this sentence. How many will come up to that day and cry there bitterly, and bewail their misspent lives. Brethren, renounce the world and the spirit of the world for the Spirit of Christ. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 Cor. vi, 17, 18. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Chap. vii, 1. And now little children, abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
J. M. MCLELLAN.
Hastings, July 27th, 1856.
Faith
By Dr. Chalmers
FAITH.—The starting point of obedience is faith; but what I want is, that you start immediately; that you wait not for more light to spiritualize your obedience; but that you work for more light, by yielding a present obedience up to the present light which you profess; that you stir up all the gift which is now in you—and this is the way to have the gift enlarged, that whatever your hand findeth to do in the way of services to God, you now do it with all your might. And the very fruit of doing it because of His authority is that you will at length do it because of your own renovated taste. As you persevere124in the labors of his service, you will grow in the likeness of his character. The graces of holiness will both brighten and multiply upon you. These will be your treasures for heaven too—the delights of which mainly consist in the affections and feelings and congenial employments of the new creature.—Dr. Chalmers.
The Existence of Deity Shines forth in His Works.
Observe the variety of voice, features, and hand-writing among men. Had man been formed by any but a wise God, this variety could scarcely have existed. The same structure of parts would have produced the same effects. But now we never find two faces exactly alike, nor the tones of two voices alike, nor the hand-writing of two men alike. Children of the same family differ in their features. The same parental voice is before them for imitation, and hundreds are taught by the same writing-master.
Were it not for their variety, constant confusions would occur in society. Men could not distinguish their friends from their foes, nor would written contracts furnish any security. But now we distinguish men by their features in the light, by their voice, in darkness, and their writing, when distant. Surely, this must be the arrangement of a great, intelligent cause.
What is the atmosphere of our globe? A subtle, penetrating fluid, necessary to the existence of plants, of animals, and of men, promoting health and comfort in all orders of creatures upon the earth, and adapted by its constituent elements to this end. It is the medium by which the birds are borne aloft on beauteous wing: the organ of sound now breaking forth in all the majesty of the rolling thunder, and now, delighting the ear, in the soft and harmonious tones of the instrument and the voice; carrying through all places, by reflection, the light of the sun, and modifying its influence upon vision, by the early and the latter twilight; again, roused into violence, and forming the blast, the storm, and the hurricane to disperse and purify the noxious vapors that otherwise would make the globe one entire burying-field. Would any, upon reflection, be so bold as to assert that a substance surrounding the earth, and yet so different from the earth itself, and subserving such important ends, happened to come into existence? Does it not display contrivance and design? Who is the contriver? Whose is the mind that designed this instrumentality? Intelligent nature with one voice exclaims: "This Being is God!"