GOD'S WORD IN THE HEART THE POWER OF TRUE REFORM.
Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Here is the true scriptural and radical reformer, and the element of all radical and permanent reform. It is written, it is written, it is written! Thy word, mine O God, for my salvation! Thy word, mine, O God, for thy work, to do thy will, and conquer with this weapon! "Then said I, Lo, I come, delighting to do thy will, O my God! Yea, thy law is within my heart." Thy word have I hid in my heart for this purpose. "I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest." But again, lest any man should contrive out of the duty of hiding, an apology for concealing and refraining, as if God's word were to be handled deceitfully, and not manifested against all sin. "I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart, but have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation." Here is hiding and not hiding. Thy word have I hid, thy righteousness have I not hid. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might have my tongue set at liberty to declare it, that I might preach thy righteousness with my lips. That I might not sin against thee; this is the beginning, this the first element and characteristic. It is a great proof of a true hope, and of true piety, if a man loves the word of God because of its sanctifying power, and uses it, and applies it, for its sanctifying efficacy. Therefore he must apply it against sin. This is God's own great use of it in the world, to conquer sin. It must be applied to all sin; it is the agent of salvation only by conquering sin; it brings the soul to Jesus for this very purpose, for the accomplishment of this very work. The gospel preached for salvation, while the gospel against sin is hidden, will but prove a salvation in sin, not prove it. Thy word hid, that I might not sin. It is not to be hidden from sin, but manifested against it. It is to be hidden in the midst of sin, put right170into the very heart and center of sin, thrust in there; yea, a reigning sin, a popular sin, among sinners, in society, just as leaven is hid in three measures of meal, till the whole is leavened. Of course in such a case it makes a great fermentation, a great agitation, for it casts out sin, and new creates the whole material into living bread. Its special operation is against sin, and the proof of the experience of its living and abiding power is when it lays hold of sin, conquers it, casts it out. Sometimes the word must be applied as the surgeon's knife, as the sword of the Spirit, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, of the very frame and center of the soul. This hiding of the word of God in a good and honest heart is a preparation for the sowing of it in other hearts and in all the community. Hiding it in his own heart as the remedy against sin, the active agency for salvation, the power of salvation, a man is prepared to go forth with it weeping, sowing precious seed. He will go, weeping over the sins and miseries of the world, and not hating them merely. He will go with a sympathizing spirit, having compassion upon sinners, in the case of some, but making a difference, and others saving with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating the very sight and thought and nearness of their iniquities. This experience is varied. "Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake thy law." And again, "My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy word." The disregard of the word of God, but especially the perversion and defiance of it, sometimes makes righteous men, like Elijah at the trenches of Baal, on fire with the thunderings and lightnings of Jehovah. But then again, "I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy word." It is grief toward God, and jealousy for the honor of God. This is a great element. And again, "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law." It makes a tender and sympathizing being of a man, both for God and men, when God's word is hid in the heart, as well as a bold and energetic soldier. The word hid in a man's heart is a key to other hearts; and a true Christian can make even a wilderness like the garden of the Lord; a sympathizing Christian will find out other hearts, and if not find them, set the instrumentalities at work to make them. Blessed are they, whose strength, O Lord, is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them who, passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. With their weeping, sympathizing, loving hearts, they go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appearing before God, and bringing their sheaves with them. It is interesting and beautiful to note the power of Christian sympathy, and the instinctive quickness and acuteness in the discernment and discrimination of the fountains of Christian feeling and power. We have heard of water-magicians who, with their divining rods, will tap the earth; where there seems to be no sign of water, and tell you to dig, for the water is there. There is a spiritual discernment like this in true piety. Sometimes the land seems sterile as an Arabian desert; there are no wells, nor springs, nor fountains, and the heavens are like brass, and the air as a furnace, and the whole land is parched, baked, clod-hardened. But a sympathizing, living heart shall pass over that very region, and strike upon a place, and dig down, and there shall flow forth living water. There is an intuition in real love, that almost infallibly feels and knows the presence of that precious element, the hiding of that power, the place where its gushing sympathies are treasured, and knows also how to draw them forth. The well-diggers for others are those that have the well in their own hearts. It is a great power, it is the hiding of God's power, to have the word hidden in a good and honest heart. This prepares and makes the true reformer, and vain are all reformations, where the word of God, and some honest regard for his will and glory, are not at the bottom. This is the rule of all true philanthropy, what is God's will? what does God's righteousness, what does Christ's gospel require? not, what is convenient, what is expedient, but what is in accordance with God's word and will.—Sel. THE END OF THE LAW.
By F. Gould
For generations in the past, the subject of the law has been but imperfectly understood, which has given rise to many erroneous opinions, relative to man's moral condition. But for a few years past light has been shed upon this subject which opens a sweet field of contemplation upon the holy character and justice of God. It gives us correct views of the conditions of salvation, the atonement, the resurrection, the judgment, man's condition in death, and his condition after the resurrection. There are two great systems of law brought to view in the book of God. When taken together they are the embodiment of all law: The moral, and ceremonial. We have ample proof from holy writ that the moral law, the ten commandments, was instituted before the fall of man, and is perpetuated to the end of human probation. But here we are met by a class of individuals with the following expressions, namely: "Christ is become the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." "Ye are not under the law, but under grace." "Whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace," &c. They evidently take the ground for two reasons: one is, because they do not understand the subject of the law; the other because they wish to get around or dodge the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Out of the two great systems of law above mentioned, proceed several other laws, which taken separately are a law by themselves; such as the law of love, faith, works, circumcision, mind, and law of sin. If there had been no other law given but the law of love, and faith, and all those that relate to the royal law, then we might conclude that it ended at the death of Christ. Under the typical system there was no other way provided for the punishment of individual transgression but temporal death, and that without mercy, as shown in Heb. x, 28: "He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses." Deut. xvii, 6: "In the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death." But Christ steps in, takes the sins of the whole world upon him and dies, the just for the unjust, and brings life and immortality to light through the gospel; "who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." 1 Pet. ii, 24. See also Heb. ix, 15, and Gal. iii, 13. Hence we see that it was the ministration of temporal death to the transgressor that Christ became the end of. And now "because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." The great moral constitution still remains untouched. See Ps. iii, 7, 8. "The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." Ps. cxix, 142. John says "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Then we understand that the moral law was instituted in the garden before the fall of man, was confirmed amid the thunder of Sinai, as shown in 1 Chron. xvi, 17, where the law was confirmed to Israel for an everlasting covenant, passed down through the Levitical priesthood into the hands of the great High Priest, where it was again confirmed as shown by Dan. ix, 27. And he shall confirm the covenant (see Deut. iv, 13) with many for one week. Here is a nail in a sure place. He who would undertake to remove it, undertakes to overthrow God's government, and destroy the plan of salvation. With the wise man then "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.
F. Gould.
East Brookfield, Vt. "Binney's Book of Christian Experience," an old tattered volume, picked up at random by Baxter, awakened him to strong convictions of the evils of sin, and he finally found peace and hope in the perusal of "Libb's Bruised Reed." His "Call to the Unconverted" awakened and saved Philip Doddridge. Doddridge wrote his "Rise and Progress," the reading of which led Wm. Wilberforce to Christ. Wilberforce wrote the "Practical View," a copy of which being put into the hands of Leigh Richmond, while yet a stranger to the life and power of the gospel he was then preaching, brought him to seek for mercy at the cross of the Saviour. "The Dairyman's Daughter," written by him, has contributed to the salvation of thousands of souls. Thomas Chalmers, too, became the spiritual son of Wilberforce, by reading his "Practical View," while preaching an unknown Christ. A poor sailor, who afterwards became a fervent Christian and successful preacher, author of many books and hymns, the use of which are co-extensive with our tongue—Rev. John Newton, was reclaimed from his vices, by the recollection of his pious mother's counsels, and the reading of religious books. This man was the means of the conversion of Claudius Buchanan, so distinguished for his labors in the East Indies; and the "Star of the East," a book published by him, first called the attention of Mr. Judson to the missionary work, and sent him to Burmah. The sailor turned preacher was also the means of delivering Rev. Thomas Scott from the mazes of ruinous error, and of introducing him to the "Way, the Truth, and the Life." Mr. Scott prepared the commentary known by his name. Who can tell the value to the cause of God and good of men of the writing of good books?—Sel. THERE IS A WAY FOR MAN TO RISE.
Eternal Light! Eternal Light!
How pure the soul must be,
When placed within thy searching sight
It shrinks not—but with calm delight,
Can live, and look on Thee. The spirits that surround Thy throne,
May bear the burning bliss;
But that is surely theirs alone,
For they have never, never known,
A fallen world like this. O, how shall I, whose native sphere
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the Ineffable appear,
And on my naked spirit bear
That uncreated beam! There is a way for man to rise
To that sublime abode,
An offering and a sacrifice,
A Holy Spirit's energies,
An Advocate with God. These—these, prepare us for the sight
Of majesty above,
The sons of ignorance and night,
Can stand in the "eternal light,"
Through the eternal "love." HISTORY BEFORE THE FLOOD.
The Princeton Review, in noticing "Neil's Lectures on Bible History," recently published, brings out the following results from several Historical tables, showing how the longevity of the antediluvians supplied the want of historical records. A skeptical suggestion arises from the idea that the story must have passed through many narrations, and that few opportunities of comparing and correcting one account by another were enjoyed. Look at the table as illustrating these points. And, first, the number of times the story must be repeated by different persons. Noah and his three sons could receive the account of the creation at the second rehearsal, and through several distinct channels: 1. Adam could relate unto Enos for six hundred and ninety-five years, and Enos to Noah eighty-four years. 2. Adam, during six hundred and five years, could discourse it to Canaan, and Canaan could discourse it one hundred and seventy-nine years to Noah. 3. Adam could rehearse it for five hundred and thirty-five years to Mahalaleel, who had two hundred and twenty-four years to entrust it to Noah. 4. Adam had four hundred and seventy years to instruct Jared in these sublime facts, and Jared was contemporary three hundred and sixty-six years with Noah. Through these four distinct channels Noah could receive a distinct account from Adam. 5. Adam lived till Methuselah was two hundred and forty-three years old, time enough surely to obtain an accurate knowledge of all those facts pertaining to the dawn of created existence; and Methuselah lived six hundred years with Noah, and one hundred years with his three sons. 6. Adam lived to see Lamech, the father of Noah, till he was fifty years old, and Lamech lived with Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, with Shem, Ham and Japheth. Through these six channels the account could be brought down to the time of the flood. Thus Coleridge advises those who are troubled with doubts in reference to religion, no matter171how many and bewildering they may be. Read the gospels. Look at the life of Jesus. As you read you will believe. As you look, you will admire and love. And believing in Christ and loving Christ is salvation. You are desirous to accomplish the whole course at one stride. That is contrary to nature, and to that highest and sublimest order of nature—grace. Take the first step. That is so much gained at least; and having taken that, you will be all the more likely and all the more ready to take the next, and so on till you take the last, even that which crosses the threshold of glory, and the golden gates close behind you, and you find yourself within that happy abode whence “they shall go no more out.” “Walk on,” says the generous and holy Leighton, “in the way of God’s commands, though it be with weak and tottering steps. ‘Nay, but,’ you say, ‘I cannot, I can but creep.’ Well, then, even creep, so you are only in that path and going forward in it. Creeping will bring you strength to walk, and finally to run, yes, to mount up with wings as an eagle.” We have not given his remark in form but in substance. Many long years ago it met our eye in one of the fainting and reeling turns of our own spiritual life. It gave us strength. May it do the same for you! Arago says, in his Autobiography, that his master in mathematics was a word or two of advice which he found in the binding of one of his textbooks. Puzzled and discouraged by the difficulties he met with in his early studies, he was almost ready to give over the pursuit. Some words which he found on the waste leaf used to stiffen the cover of his paper-bound text-book, caught his eye and interested him. “Impelled,” he says, “by an indefinable curiosity, I dampened the cover of the book and carefully unrolled the leaf to see what was on the other side. It proved to be a short letter from D’Alembert to a young person disheartened like myself by the difficulties of mathematical study, and who had written to him for counsel. ‘Go on, sir, go on,’ was the counsel which D’Alembert gave him. ‘The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will draw and shine with increasing clearness on your path.’” “That maxim,” says Arago, “was my greatest master in mathematics.” Following out those simple words, “Go on, sir, go on,” made him the first astronomical mathematician of his age. What Christians it would make of us! What heroes of faith, what sages in holy wisdom should we become, just by acting out that maxim, go on, go on! “Then shall we know him if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning.” If the world should refuse to open its eye to the day, because it does not begin with noon instead of the first faint struggles of twilight with the dominion of darkness, it would lose the day altogether. So with the soul which does not admit with humble and thankful gladness the first flush of the spiritual dawn, the first beams of that “true light which lighteth every man who cometh into the world.” It remains in perpetual night—a night which passes at last into the blackness of darkness. But admitting and rejoicing in these morning rays, we enter on that “path of the just which shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Francke, it is said, was so full of doubts and misgivings when he began to pray, that he could only say, “Oh, God, if thou art, reveal thyself to me.” Yet that faith, so weak at first, grew by praying and trusting, and those verifications which God never fails to give to his own promises, to such a heroic strength as few examples in the history of the Church have equaled. The Orphan House at Halle and many other noble Christian works attest to this day the power of those maxims. “Try it!” “Go on, go on!”—when they are transferred from the sphere of nature to that of faith. Such is the grace and kindness of our Heavenly Father that he takes our weak beginnings, and putting into them the certainty of his own immutable purpose and the strength of his omnipotent grace, he bestows on them the fullness of heavenly blessing. He even, “discerning our thought” of penitence and return “afar off,” comes toward the returning soul, longing to embrace his wandering but now sorrowful child. “Thou metest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways.” The prodigal said, “I will arise and go to my father,”—and “while he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him, and said, This my son was dead and is alive again.” Only try it. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. The first “taste” will tempt you to deeper draughts. The first trial will, by the grace of God, encourage you to further efforts, and final perseverance. Try it. The very experiment is attended with more true enjoyment than the highest worldly success. Search the Scriptures. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to their light and power. Confess your sins, your darkness, lethargies, averseness. Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. Sit at the feet of Jesus and hear his words. If there were only one chance in ten thousand of success, the trial would be the wisest putting forth of time and effort you have ever made. But since the mouth of the Lord hath said, Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth—the success is as completely certain as it is blessed and glorious.—Independent. ARE ANY OF YOUR CLASS SERIOUS?
This was the question which the superintendent of our school put to each of us teachers at one of our late monthly meetings. My blushing answer was, "I do not know." Yes, reader, I am a Sabbath-school teacher, professedly teaching young souls the way to heaven, and yet when I was asked, were any journeying thither, I could not answer. Teacher, what would have been your answer? How many would have echoed my words? Many a serious thought or pious wish, that might be made the parent of future piety, slumbers and dies out, because the child is timid, the teacher negligent. The following Sabbath I determined to ascertain. For the morning's lesson, I took the birth, life, and death of my Saviour. I was in earnest that morning, and I spoke earnestly; tears forced their way up and hung trembling on the lash, as I dwelt on his sufferings and painful death. Ere long four pairs of eyes, that were fixed upon mine with intense interest, swam in tears; lips quivered, muscles worked, and heads drooped. I closed my Bible; and while my heart was yet filled with emotion, I drew them all closer to me and asked, "Who will love this Saviour, be a Christian, and go to heaven with his teacher?" Instantly four little hands were placed in mine, and four voices answered, "I will." Since then I have marked these boys, and I find that three, at least, gave no idle promise. Their walk and conversation proclaim them sons of God, while the fourth even now stands on the very threshold of the great household. And now, teacher, let me ask you, "Are any of your class serious?" Don't you know? Let not another Sabbath pass before you ascertain. There may be hearts all ready and waiting to receive the precious seed. Remember your responsibilities. If through your negligence any of your scholars are lost, what a sad reckoning awaits you!—Sel. CHRISTIAN CONTENTMENT.
By Lawson
CHRISTIAN contentment is opposed to murmuring against God, to distrusting and distracting cares, to covetous desires, to all mental anxiety about earthly things. It is a quiet temper of mind, relying on God's merciful providence and gracious promises, both of support and of the things which are necessary for us. This reliance is grounded upon certain principles of divine truth, as, that we brought nothing into the world, neither may we carry anything out; that this life was given us to seek a better; that these earthly necessaries are given us to preserve this life; that all besides food and raiment are not necessary; that God careth for his people, knowing they have need of these things; that if we be godly, and first seek his kingdom, he hath bound himself to give us these things; for godliness hath promise of this life, and of that which is to come. Upon these and similar principles the heart quieteth itself in God, is content with little, attends to the great business of salvation, and for these earthly necessaries casteth all its care on God. The devout believer knows that he is but a pilgrim and a stranger here, seeking after a better country; careth not much for earthly treasure, if he can only lay up treasure in heaven, and knows for certain that "godliness with contentment is great gain."—Lawson. [BRO. SMITH: The following extract is taken from the Guide to Holiness. It is part of a letter to a friend. W. W. M.] I believe there is a particular calling and place for every individual to occupy, and there he alone can do what God has commissioned him to do. If I judge correctly, no one has a right to enter any path, pursue any kind of business, or change his relations to society, without first learning the will of the Lord. There is meaning in the course pursued by holy men of old, in being unwilling to go up against their enemies till they had learned the will of the Lord. Though he does not now speak so directly as then, yet I believe he does more so than we at all times allow. We have far too little faith; we think we pray believingly when we ask the Lord to open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of his word; and yet, when our eyes are opened, fearfulness has taken hold of us, and we start back from the revelations as not of God, because, forsooth, they are so strange, or contrary to our experience, or different from what we have learned, or it may be because the church does not teach so; as if we could understand the way, the mind, the purposes of the Lord so as to dictate or decide on what are "wondrous things;" at the same time admitting we expect to be led, if led of God, in a way that we know not of. O, when shall we cease to be inconsistent with our convictions and our prayers? If we will but submit, yes, submit to God our whole being, really willing God should fulfill his promise to us, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye," there would be no real difficulty about knowing the will of God as revealed by his word, Spirit, or providences. O, let us but renounce self wholly, cease from man, look to Jesus this moment, doing just what we are this moment convinced is best, judging by the light we this moment have. Is Christ the living way to heaven? Then what a sorry, pitiful case are they in that walk in the ways of death, and despise this way of life! It is very common, and it does not cease to be the more sad because it is common, but it is so much the more grievous, that persons love death rather than life. The matter now is balanced thus: every sinner is by nature dead in sin; if he continues in that state, he dies in his sin; and dying in his sin, he dies forever for his sin. This miserable case now is to be balanced with what our Lord proffers—that he will give the light of life—that he offers to lead men to heaven—that if they will but set foot in him, set their hearts on him, lodge their faith on him, and put all their trust in him, he will guide them safely thither. What ails men, that they refuse Jesus Christ?—Traill. THE New York Herald gives some ugly statistics in regard to the voters who hold and wield the political power in New York city. The picture drawn must be a pretty correct one, of course, for we cannot conceive of one more likely to be posted up in the matter than Bennett. He says: “What, then, is the governing power in the metropolis of the Union? Freed from religious, or military, or aristocratic despotism, we seem to have attained the highest political happiness. But such is not the fact. We cannot shut our eyes to the truth, and, therefore, we are beginning to acknowledge that the governing power is the mob; and that it is a despotism worse than that of Russia or France, because it is senseless, cruel and bloody. Here we have, within ten miles of the city hall, a population of over a million of people, presumed to be eminently blessed in their political surroundings. The law guarantees to every citizen the right to choose his own rulers, as well as protection to life, liberty and property; that is, according to the common reading of the constitution of the State and of the charter of the city. But what is the fact? It is that the laws are set at naught—that the power of the mob is supreme, and that this million of people tremble before a few thousand scoundrels who ought to be in the penitentiary. These precious rulers may be classed as follows: - Superior pugilists, 100.
- Inferior bruisers, 1000.
- Vagabond shoulder hitters, 2500.
- Gamblers and touters, 2000.
- Keepers of houses of bad repute, 1500.
- Men about town, 2000.
- Thieves, swindlers and loafers, 6000.
Total governing powers, 15,100. Not a few facts have lately been published in our papers as to the ingenuity of our Christian cousins in England, dedicating fruits, chickens, birds, and other things, which would at first seem unlikely offerings, to the cause of Christ. We are disposed to write at present of a swarm of bees, which precisely half a century ago began to labor for the holy cause, and whose descendants are probably thus at work even now. In the year 1809 a new Bible association was formed at Barton, in the fens of Lincolnshire. Among others who attended on the occasion were a Mr. and Mrs. W. The lady remarked on the way, that they must contribute a guinea to the object, or somewhat more than five dollars. The husband objected to the sum as too large, saying that not even the rich gave more, and that such an act would savor of ostentation. The lady replied, “Still, if you will not give it, I will.” “And where are you to get it?” inquired the husband. Her reply was, “I have it by me. Do you not remember that you gave me a guinea with which to buy a hive of bees? I will give that guinea to the Bible Society.” “Then,” replied her husband, “you will go without your bees.” It was even so; but the lady loved the cause of the Bible more than the bees, and the guinea appeared among the most cheerful of the contributions. In due time they returned to their pleasant cottage, and what was their surprise to find on their beech tree a swarm of bees settled. Of their origin no one seemed to know, and on the following day they were carefully deposited in a hive. A few days afterward, Mr. W. suggested to his wife that the swarming of the bees under the circumstances was so remarkable that he thought they ought to dedicate their produce to the Bible cause; to this proposal the wife most joyfully acceded, and the result was two guineas the first year, and ten for the second; and for many following years these persons, and the family who succeeded them on the farm, very liberally contributed to the society from this source. It can scarcely be needful to say to the reader, “Contribute also as God hath prospered you.”—Watchman and Reflector. The Power of David’s Psalms
By Giles
PSALMS OF DAVID.—Great has been their power in the world. They resounded amidst the courts of the tabernacle; they floated through the lofty and solemn spaces of the temple. They were sung with glory in the halls of Zion; they were sung with sorrow by the streams of Babel. And when Israel had passed away, the harp of David was still awakened in the Church of Christ, in all the ages of that Church, from the hymn which it first whispered in an upper chamber until its anthems filled the earth, the inspiration of the royal prophet has enraptured its devotions and ennobled its rituals. Chorussed by the winds of heaven, they have swelled throughout God’s own holy temple of skies and stars; they have rolled over the broad deserts of Asia, in the matins and vespers of ten thousand hermits. They have rung through the deep valleys of the Alps, in the sobbing voices of the forlorn Waldenses, through the deep sand caves of the Scottish Highlanders, in the rude chanting of the Scottish Covenanters; through the woods and winds of primitive America, in the heroic hallelujahs of the early pilgrims.—Giles.