Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 9, 1869
MOSES.
By John Nevins Andrews
THE BEAUTY OF THE CHILD MOSES.
Stephen tells us that Moses was in infancy “exceeding fair.” Acts vii, 20. We learn from Moses and from Paul that this was one thing which prompted his parents to attempt, at great risk to themselves, the preservation of his life. Ex. ii, 2; Heb. xi, 23. But the providence of God had something further in view in giving to this child such surpassing beauty. His life was to be saved by it. When his mother could no longer conceal him, she placed him in the frail ark by the river’s brink, exposed to the crocodiles of the river, and to the still more cruel Egyptians, in whose hands Israel then was. It was necessary that Moses should be educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Acts vii, 22. That he might have such instruction and advantage, it was the purpose of God that he should be brought up in the family of Pharaoh. The providence of God alone could bring this to pass. And so the anguish-stricken parents, with many prayers and tears, are at last obliged to expose this lovely child to his fate by the river’s brink.
But God had his eye also upon the child Moses. It was not the fierce monster of the river, nor the hard-hearted officers of Pharaoh, who were to find that ark of bulrushes with its helpless inmate. The daughter of Pharaoh, who had a woman’s tenderness, was the one to find this most expressive testimonial to the cruelty of her father, and the bitter servitude and cruel anguish of the Hebrews.
She opened the ark, and there lay the most beautiful babe that she had ever beheld. How expressive one sentence of that story: “Behold, the babe wept.” Ex. ii, 6. It was an appeal that she could not resist. The story was comprehended by her in a moment. “This is one of the Hebrew’s children.” The beauty, innocence, and cruel fate, of this tender infant plead so powerfully in his behalf that this princess determined to adopt him for her own child, and to confer on him all that the wisdom of Egypt, then the most advanced of any nation, could give. Behold with reverence the providence of God.
THE MOTHER OF MOSES.
The devout and honorable women of the Bible are not a few. Their memory is fragrant with deeds of piety, humility, and self-sacrifice. Among these ancient worthies, the mother of Moses must be assigned a conspicuous place. What she was able to accomplish for the cause of God, by a wise improvement of a brief, but precious, opportunity, can never be estimated by the human mind; never at least till the day of Judgment shall open everything to our view.
The sister of Moses was watching him from afar, when Pharaoh’s daughter took him from the ark. With admirable tact she responds to the remark of the princess, that this was a Hebrew child, by offering to find her a nurse of the Hebrew women. And so it came to pass that the mother of Moses received wages for the care of her own child. The mother heard those words, “Take this child away and nurse it FOR ME, and I will give thee thy wages,” not simply as the words of the princess, but as the voice of God addressed to her. How admirably she performed this work, let the life of the man whose character she thus formed, answer. How faithful to reward this labor of love shall He be, who, in his providence, assigned the task, the day of Judgment shall reveal.
It appears that little beyond the period of helpless infancy did Moses remain under the care of his mother. So soon as the child was of sufficient age to be a source of pleasure to his new mother, he was relinquished to her hands. She trained him in all the manners and customs of the Egyptian court. She educated him in the wisdom of the Egyptians. He lived in an atmosphere of wickedness. He was a member of the family of a heathen king. He was surrounded by everything calculated to make him only a man of the world, whose interest is in this life alone.
But in the midst of all this imminent peril, God preserved Moses. The ground of his heart had been preoccupied. The good seed had been sown by that faithful mother, and tended with such care that the thorns were not able afterward to choke it.
The mother of Moses taught him that he was a Hebrew child. Rather she taught him the knowledge of the God of the Hebrews. She taught him the vanity of all false gods. She instructed him in the principles of virtue and righteousness. She taught him the promises of future blessedness that were cherished by God’s afflicted and cruelly-enslaved people. She impressed on his tender mind the infinite value of eternal things, and the unsatisfactory and uncertain nature of the things of this life. She fixed in his mind the value of that reward that shall be given at the last day, and, under God, formed in his heart the purpose to secure it. She turned his youthful feet into the testimonies of the Lord. She laid the foundation of the noblest character, whose full-length portrait is drawn in the Old Testament. Her work was wrought in God. May we not say of her “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.” Servant of God, well done.
THE CONDITION OF ISRAEL IN THEIR EGYPTIAN BONDAGE.
The providence of God led Israel into Egypt. Even to Abraham, God had announced the fact, that his posterity should be subjected to this cruel servitude. Gen. xv. The iniquity of the Amorites had to be filled up before God could drive them out before his people. The people of God must become numerous enough to fill the land when it should be given them. Each of these things required time. Where should God keep his people while this time was wearing away? He chose Egypt as their place in which to wait for the time of the promise. That they might be compelled to remove thither he suffered a terrible famine of seven years to come upon the land adjacent to Canaan. To prepare the way before the family of Jacob, he overruled the wickedness of his sons to send Joseph into Egypt. That he might be fitted to act as the honored ruler of Egypt, and by his wisdom preserve the nation from destruction, and provide an asylum for his father’s family, he was sold as a slave, and, on a false accusation, he was cast into prison, and his limbs shackled with iron. Ps. cv, 17–22. God wrought a mighty deliverance by his hand. Israel was honored in Egypt with great honors. But God’s people cannot bear very much prosperity. This is not their rest. When they are in danger of forgetting that fact, he kindly sends them affliction. So he did for Israel in Egypt. Otherwise they would have clung to Egypt in preference to Canaan. So a king arose that knew not Joseph. A generation of Egyptians arose that forgot the immense debt of gratitude the nation owed to the Hebrews. The spirit of jealousy and intense cruelty filled the Egyptian people. They ground the Hebrews into the dust. They attempted to destroy every male child. They made their lives bitter with cruel bondage. The Hebrews had no rights left them which an Egyptian was bound to respect. Thus Israel was made willing to leave that cruel land.
THE EDUCATION OF MOSES IN THE COURT OF PHARAOH.
Moses had a work to perform greater than had ever fallen to the task of mortal man. The most extraordinary endowment of miraculous powers was requisite for the accomplishment of the work which Providence82designed that he should perform. But it is worthy of the most thoughtful observation that this man who was to receive the richest possible manifestation of spiritual gifts, was first to be trained in all the knowledge and wisdom of which men were in that age possessed. His case was in this respect an exact parallel of St. Paul’s, as also in the greatness of the work performed by Paul and the miraculous powers bestowed on him for its execution.
“Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in words and in deeds,” Acts vii, 22. We ought to honor that noble lady who thus unselfishly bestowed on Moses all that Egypt could give of wisdom and instruction. No pains were spared to render his instruction perfect. Whatever was known to the wisest men of Egypt was poured out to Moses. And it was not something bestowed in vain, or upon a mind incapable of benefit. He became mighty in words and in deeds.
What he thus received was far enough indeed from qualifying Moses to lead forth the people of God. He needed another and a higher kind of training, where patience, humility, self-denial, and communion with God, should be learned. But let those who despise the knowledge of human science consider that the greatest men of the Old and New Testaments, respectively, Moses and Paul, were each of them, in the providence of God, prepared for their work by the most complete instruction that their times could bestow.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HEBREW CHILDREN.
How cruel is Satan! How bloody and how awful the conduct of his most faithful servants. How vast the distance that an angel, the highest in all the heavenly host, must fall to become the instigator of such deeds of wickedness as fill the history of man! Sin wrought this infinite change in that exalted being who once walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Eze. xxviii. Beware of this terrible evil. What has ruined Satan will also ruin others who are guilty of it.
When Jacob went down into Egypt it seemed to have been the turning point in his captivity. That is to say, his long-continued afflictions, which may be traced directly to his sin in the case of Esau, were closed up forever. The chastisement of his sin had wrought in him repentance so deep and thorough that the rod of God was now withdrawn. His sojourn in Egypt was the period assigned by Providence for his ripening for the kingdom of God. His sun set in heavenly brightness. It was some time after this before the prosperity of the Hebrew people ceased. But the change came at last, and a terrible change it was. Joseph and his services were all forgotten. And not only this, but even rigorous cruelty was added to the wicked ingratitude of the Egyptians. See Ex. i.
The king of Egypt made slaves of the Hebrews, lest, by-and-by, they “get them up out of the land.” What made him think of such a movement on their part? Beyond all doubt he had heard that Israel expected, by-and-by, to return again to Canaan. He was determined that they should not. So by one edict, he reduced them to debasing servitude. Yet how short-sighted was all this! Had the Hebrew people continued to enjoy prosperity in Egypt, it is difficult to see how that God himself could have induced them to leave it with all its good things, and to undertake a tedious journey, at best, through a terrible wilderness to reach Canaan, and by force of arms drive out the well-armed hosts of the Canaanites. They certainly would have shrunk from such an undertaking. So God caused the wrath of man to praise him. He suffered a wicked king to stir up their nest so that they could no longer remain in it.
The king of Egypt, finding that the people increased even more rapidly in their bitter servitude than before, next ordered the destruction of all the male children of the Hebrews. Every one of them, he enacted, should be thrown into the river.
The king of Egypt thought by this means to blend the Hebrew people with the Egyptians, and to prevent their existence as a separate people. But Satan, who stirred up his mind to this cruel project, had something else in view. He knew that the time of deliverance to the Hebrews was at hand. He had no doubt that God was about to raise up their deliverer. Satan hoped to destroy this deliverer as soon as he should be born. What he attempted in the case of the child Jesus, he had tried before in the case of the child Moses. Thank God it failed each time. And now, see how impotent is Satan’s malice. It was needful that Moses should be educated in Pharaoh’s court. This very edict, which Satan undoubtedly instigated, especially to destroy Moses, was the very means whereby Moses was raised to the place he needed first in the king’s court, and whereby the utmost advantage of earthly wisdom would be secured to this noble child. Let us have stronger faith in God.
JOSEPH AND MOSES.
It is a great error to suppose that God’s providence has only one form in which to manifest itself. This is very far from being true. Not only do the providential manifestations of the Almighty take great variety of form, but it is even true that some of them are almost the opposite of others. Joseph, called of God virtually to the throne of Egypt, and Moses, called of God to forsake it, when it was within his reach, are illustrious examples of this. Each had a work to do, and each did that work wisely and well. That Joseph might rule over Egypt with humility and in the fear of God, he was reduced to slavery, and next cast into a dungeon, with iron fetters on his limbs. Ps. cv. When patience, humility, and submission, had been learned, he was called from that prison to rule over Egypt. It does not appear that he ever forgot the lesson he thus received, but that with humility and singleness of heart, he ruled in the fear of God, and exercised the high trust which Providence assigned him.
Moses was called of God to spend his early life, even to mature manhood, in the royal court, and probably as heir-presumptive to the throne of Egypt. But God did not call him to ascend that throne. He called him to cast his lot with the most oppressed and degraded people in the land. The sacrifice was as great a one as it is ever possible for man to make. Nobly did Moses make it, and never does there once appear a sign of regret that he had made so great a change. His life presents as noble an example of disinterested benevolence as it is possible to find. It is God’s prerogative to call men to his work. It is folly in men to think some other duty besides that assigned them of God, would be better for them. It is folly also to measure ourselves by others, or others by ourselves. Let every man fulfill with faithfulness the work assigned him by Providence, and leave the rest to God. The day of Judgment will reward every man according to his works.
J. N. ANDREWS.
(To be concluded in two weeks.)
TRUTH WILL ENDURE.
By R. F. COTTRELL
They that do evil ever hate the light,
In darkness they their evil deeds would hide;
But he that doeth truth, ’tis his delight
To do such deeds as will the light abide.
John iii, 20, 21.
The holy law of God is true entire;
Each of its precepts was distinctly heard,
When God’s own voice proceeded from the fire,
And trembling Sinai to its base was stirred.
Ps. cxix, 142, 151; Neh. ix, 13; Ex. xix.
The doers of that law shall stand the test,
When that same voice both earth and heaven shall shake,
The Sabbath law as well as all the rest
Survives the ordeal of the burning lake.
Rom. ii, 12–16; Ps. xcvi, 13; Heb. xii, 26.
That fire that shall dissolve this sin-cursed earth,
In which all liars shall their portion take—
The throes preceding nature’s second birth—
In God’s eternal law no change shall make.
2 Pet. iii, 7–13; Rev. xx, 9; xxi, 8.
Long as the renovated earth shall stand,
Each of its sacred precepts shall endure;
From week to week throughout that holy land,
All flesh immortal offer worship pure.
2 Pet. iii, 13; Isa. lxv, 17; lxvi, 22, 23.
Ye who one precept of God’s law evade,
Changing the truth of God into a lie;
Beware! lest thou a liar shalt be made,
And with the liar shalt be doomed to die.
Dan. vii, 25; viii, 12; Rom. i, 25.
But ye who love the truth, that truth shall be
Your shield and buckler in the evil day;
The pearly gates swung open ye shall see,
Enter and reign with Zion’s King for aye.
Ps. xci, 4; Isa. xxvi, 2; Rev. xxii, 14, 15.
R. F. COTTRELL.
REPORT FROM BRO. CANRIGHT.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
It has been a long time since I have reported in the paper, yet I have been trying to do something in the cause all the time. Soon after Bro. and Sr. White were with us at South Lancaster, Mass., in December last, I went to Richmond, Maine, and worked some seven weeks with Bro. Waggoner. As the way did not seem to open for further labor, I returned home Feb. 5. When I left home in December, my wife was sick, but doing well, as we thought; but she was soon taken worse, and has suffered exceedingly for over two months. Some of the time it seemed that she must die; yet it appeared to us to be the work of the enemy to draw me from my work. I knew that she had the care and sympathy of the church and friends, who would do all they could for her. So for weeks I worked on, hoping and believing that God would hear our prayers, and help us. Still she grew worse, till they followed James's directions, chap. v. “The Lord heard prayer.” She was relieved of her pain, and in a great measure of her disease. From that time, she has been gaining steadily, and growing stronger, till she is now able to work some. We feel very thankful for this token of God's mercy to us. We feel more than ever that our lives should be devoted wholly to God. Never did we find so kind friends as the brethren and sisters at South Lancaster were during my wife's sickness. They did everything that could be done for us. We feel deeply grateful to them all for it. Such a time shows who are friends indeed.
As soon as I came home, I was taken sick myself with a sort of epidemic that has prevailed very extensively in New England this winter so far as I know. However, with proper water treatment, I soon recovered, so that after a week's stay at home I left again, Feb. 12, for Blakeville, N. H., where Brn. Haskell and Rodman had been holding meetings for a few weeks. There appeared to be quite an interest there, and several had come out on the Sabbath. I think that the brethren have done well, and will see fruit of their labors if they have patience and perseverance to hold on there.
I stayed there one week, and helped them some, and tried to find an opening near by, but did not. So I came to New Ipswich last Friday, and obtained a hall and commenced meetings there last Sunday. Brn. Gould and Hastings live near this village, and have long wanted meetings here. That was why I came. It is a place of some 500 inhabitants, I should judge. Is rather a rich, popular place. The Advent was preached here in '44, and a good company of believers raised up; but since that, there has been no Advent preaching in the place. Of course the people look upon Adventism as a failure. However, this was the best opening I could find, so I went to work, hoping in God for success. I have had four meetings, and my congregation has increased from 40 to 140. I have sold each evening from $1 to $2 worth of books. This looks encouraging.
I learn that the people are becoming considerably excited over it, and say that they want to hear it through. I hope they may continue to feel so. But my experience of three years in New England does not allow me to expect a great deal. If I can live so that God can work through me, I hope to see some embrace the truth here. A few with those here would enable them to have regular meetings. May God hear their prayers and grant it.
I feel very small and weak myself. I know that unless God shall specially help me, I can do nothing but injury to the cause. If God can use me at all I shall be very thankful. I never felt a deeper sense of the holiness and majesty of God, the hatefulness of every sin, and the nothingness of humanity, than now. My soul is astonished that the great God could ever save such wicked sinners as we are. Pray for us that he may bless his own truth.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
New Ipswich, N. H., Feb. 25, 1869.
REPORT FROM BRO. A. C. BOURDEAU.
By A. C. Bourdeau
When we were holding meetings in Roxbury, a few weeks ago, as mentioned in my last, four had embraced the Sabbath in a new place, and others were investigating. But while a good work was thus going on, it was soon seen that the enemy was also busy in doing his work; for in a very short time, in order to prejudice the minds of the people against us, and against the truth, some were supplied with two small pamphlets, one in which is advocated the no-law theory to get rid of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment; and the other in which an attempt is made to falsify the visions. I had disposed of nearly all the books and tracts that I supplied myself with when we started on that tour; yet I was glad that I could then hand out our works on the law, and Sabbath, and Bro. Smith’s excellent work in answer to objections to the visions. Thus the opposition was quieted in a measure.
In comparing our works with those of our opponents on these points, the candid, even among unbelievers, readily see a difference between them, not only in regard to the consistency of the positions which are held out in these different works; but also in regard to the kind of spirit which characterizes them. On one hand, with a meek and gentle spirit, God’s law is magnified, his holy Sabbath is called “a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable;” and the testimony of Christ is confirmed in the church, etc. While on the other hand, with a bitter spirit of opposition, God’s law is laid aside and rejected, his holy Sabbath is profaned, and prophesyings are despised. And the worst feature of this is, that those who are the most actively engaged in this work of opposition are persons who profess to be looking for the soon return of the Lord; thus they “make war with the remnant, . . . which83keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
While we were in Roxbury and Braintree, the brethren received us very kindly, and their faith was greatly strengthened in the truth. From there, Jan. 27, we drove thirty miles, crossing over the Warren and Lincoln Mountains to Bristol. On our way we spent two hours in visiting at our aged brother, James Allen’s, in W. Though Bro. A. has recently buried two sons who loved the present truth, and is now deprived of their help in his very old age, he holds on to the Sabbath, loves the truth, and his hope is in God.
At Bristol I held three meetings. A thaw at that time made it unfavorable about holding more meetings. We had a profitable time with the brethren and sisters there, who are trying to hold fast the profession of their faith. We were glad to see Sr. Everts’s son still trying to endure faithful, and to hear another youth speak for the first time in these meetings, who seems very determined to be a humble follower of Jesus. A favorable improvement is manifest among the brethren in B.
I will notice one point: A little more than a year since, I found several of them feeling so poor that they could hardly afford to take the REVIEW, and were very reluctant to endorse our views on Systematic Benevolence; and further, they had for years questioned the propriety of church organization. Now they received the REVIEW as a welcome messenger, and have already paid liberally two quarters on their s. B. pledges for the year, up to the cent.
On reaching home, Feb. 1, we found our kind parents, who, during our absence from our family, have the charge and care of things at home, and our children, sick with cold and fever—an epidemic which is raging considerably in these parts this winter.
The next day, at an evening prayer-meeting with the church here, pledges were made by the brethren and sisters, to assist Bro. James White in circulating Life Incidents as in his judgment the work should be given, amounting to $161.60. Since then, others here have added to this, so that the figures now stand, $190.60.
Owing to an unusual depth of snow, badly drifted, we did not fill our appointment for the 6th and 7th inst., in Sutton, P. Q.
I have an increasing desire to be wholly the Lord’s, to keep humble, low at his feet, and to overcome everything that is unlike Jesus, that I may wear the overcomer’s crown at his appearing.
A. C. BOURDEAU.
Bordoville, Vt., Feb. 20, 1869.
MEETINGS IN ILLINOIS.
By T. M. STEWARD
As anticipated in my last report, I attended the Quarterly Meeting at Albany, Jan. 30 and 31. It was very stormy, so but few from other places came. We held our meetings in a new hall the brethren had rented to hold their meetings in. Our meetings commenced Sabbath morning, and closed evening after 2d day. I preached seven times, and had two social meetings. The people came in to hear, and the interest increased to the close. Some attended and became interested who had been ranked among infidels because they could not endorse the conflicting views taught by the opposing clergy of these days. But when they saw that there was such a thing as harmonizing the Bible, they became interested, and thought more of the Bible than ever before. They are intelligent, and have a reverence for God and for truth. May the Lord lead them out of darkness into his marvelous light, and establish their going. The church was encouraged. May the Lord bless this little church, and make them pillars of truth. The subject here was the sanctuary, and the coming of Christ. We were glad to meet Bro. Olds and Bartholf from the Little Prairie church. Our last meeting was a solemn one as we presented the signs of Christ's coming. The Lord will bless this meeting. I then returned to Rockton, scattering tracts by the way, and praying the Lord to bless the seed sown.
On sixth-day, I went to Johnstown Center as requested in REVIEW. The brethren are scattered, and the church was in a distracted condition. I hardly knew what to do, but asked the Lord to direct, and when our meeting commenced, I was surprised that I could not fix my mind on any particular point of doctrine, but I was led out in exhortation on the importance of heeding what we had learned lest we let them slip; and very soon it was evident the Good Shepherd was there to call by his loving voice the erring sheep back to the fold. The anxious countenance and the flowing tears told who were interested in the work of preparation. In our second meeting there was a rending of heart and not the garment, and the scattered and torn ones came back weeping and confessing to the fold, and renewed their vows to go to work in earnest to right their wrongs, and with all diligence to prepare for the impending Judgment.
We tried to right things as far as we could, and left them much encouraged. The idea some have entertained of disbanding, I hope will be forgotten, and all press together and let their light so shine that others may see their good works, and glorify their Father in Heaven.
From this place, I went to Back Woods to visit the lonely ones there. Held one meeting with them, and then took Bro. Olds and came to my new field of labor, and have just commenced with a fair prospect of accomplishing something if the Lord will help, as I trust he will. The work is still onward in Roscoe. There is a general interest through this part of the country to hear, and new calls are coming in from all directions. Pray for us. In hope of life. Amen.
T. M. STEWARD.
Belvidere, Ill., Feb. 18, 1869.
REPORT FROM BRO. STERLING.
By J. G. STERLING
It is a long time since I have ventured to occupy any space in the columns of the REVIEW; but that all may know my whereabouts and what I have been, and am now, engaged in, I will say that soon after January 1, I went to Douglass, near the lake shore, and spent a few days. I found the brethren and sisters there in a discouraged condition. But some were not ready to yield the ground to Satan. The Lord answered our united prayers, and we hope Satan's purposes of turning some away from the truth they once loved, were frustrated. At least I left them in much better spirits than I found them. They were desirous that I should continue my labors among them, but I left for home that I might be present at the dedication at Otsego, and there have the privilege of being benefited through the labors of Bro. and Sr. White. Before reaching home, I learned of the postponement, and concluded to labor some about home and return to D. immediately after the Otsego meeting. As Bro. and Sr. White arranged to return and continue their labors, I concluded to remain, especially as I did not meet the brother who was to take me back. During the meeting I met Bro. Strong, who has been laboring for some weeks past near Wayland, in this county. I concluded to go with him instead of returning to D., first, because he needed assistance, and, secondly, because I thought it better for me to labor with some one, than to go alone. Suffice it to say, then, I came here, Feb. 10, since which time I have done what I could to aid in the good work. Bro. Strong of course does the principal part of the preaching. I will here add in behalf of Bro. Strong, that he has been laboring here since the middle of December. He has met with all sorts of opposition from the orthodox ministers and churches about here. Some who endorsed his sentiments while presenting the prophecies, were sternly opposed when he presented the law. A Baptist deacon who thought every one could see that Bro. Strong had the truth if they would be honest, fled the track when the law and the Sabbath were presented, and in one of his own meetings, I am told, said, “I would to God Almighty that Eld. Strong had never set foot into this school-house.”
But the best of all is, God is with us. There is a company of about thirty keeping the Sabbath here now, and others that are quite favorable. The lectures having been somewhat interrupted by opposition, it will take more time to complete the work than would otherwise have been required. Among the interruptions, I may mention that a person known as “Rev. Hamilton,” a phrenological showman, was invited to preach an opposition discourse. He succeeded in getting the house from Bro. Strong. Opened his services by prayer to a being he called Father, Mother, Sister, Brother,—God. In the course of his remarks, he said that Mr. Miller preached that Jesus would come in 1844. His preaching was founded on the Bible, but proved false; but, he added, Jesus did come in 1847 through spiritual manifestations. He then poured forth such a tirade of abuse on the orthodox churches as is seldom equaled.
We are now laboring principally in an adjoining town, returning occasionally to the old field. Last Sabbath, Bro. Strong spoke on the health reform, with encouraging results.
J. G. STERLING.
Moline, Mich.
“SOW BESIDE ALL WATERS.”
By C. E. Chipman
Let us sow beside all waters precious seeds of truth and love;
God will send to bless our efforts rain and sunshine from above.
Let us sow beside all waters; though the waves are rudely tossed,
Heaven will guard the scattered treasure—not one germ will e'er be lost.
Let us sow beside all waters; though affliction swell the tide,
God will aid our trembling footsteps, and through every trial guide.
Let us sow beside all waters, though in sadness and in tears,
Heaven will mark our weak endeavors, and will calm our rising fears.
Let us sow beside all waters, pass not by one tiny rill,
Trusting Him who giveth increase, he can all our hopes fulfill.
Let us sow beside all waters; though in sickness and in pain,
Asking God for strength to labor, we shall never ask in vain.
Let us sow beside all waters, though the soil be parched and bare,
Plant the rose upon the desert, it may blossom even there.
Let us sow beside all waters; waste no precious time in sleep,
Never falt'ring, never wav'ring, if we faint not we shall reap.
C. E. CHIPMAN.
Battle Creek, Mich.
Mystery of a Christian.
1. He liveth in another. He is wise in another. He is righteous in another. He is strong in another.
2. He is very low in humility, but very high in hope. He knows he is undeserving of the least mercy, yet he expects the greatest.
3. He is in the world, but not of the world; in the world as a pilgrim, but his conversation above.
4. He is meek, but vehement; meek in his own cause, yet vehement in the cause of God, as Moses, who was dead to affronts, deaf to reproaches, and blind to injuries. He will comply with anything that is civil, but with nothing that is sinful. He will stoop to the necessities of the meanest, but will not yield to the sinful humors of the greatest.
5. He works his own salvation with fear and trembling. He works as if he were to live here always, yet works as if he were to die to-morrow.
6. When he is weak, then he is strong. When he is the most sensible of his own weakness, and most dependent on Christ's strength, then he stands the safest.
7. When he is the most vile in his own eyes, he is the most glorious in the eyes of God. When Job abhorred himself, then God raised him. When the centurion thought himself the most unworthy, Christ said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
8. He is content in this world, yet longs and prays for a better.
THE WARFARE OF SECTS.
Though we all profess to own one Lord, one faith, one baptism; though Jesus Christ never was, and never will be, divided in himself; yet the followers of Jesus Christ have in all ages been sadly divided among themselves; and what has rendered the case more to be pitied is, that they have generally been divided about the circumstantials of religion, they have generally received one another to doubtful disputation, and embittered one another's hearts by talking about those things which they might either do or not do, either know or not know, and yet at the same time be the true followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. I am verily persuaded that this is the great artifice and engine of the Devil.—Whitfield.
Returning Good for Evil
MAKE not an enemy of your friend by returning evil for good; but make a friend of your enemy by returning him good for evil.