Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 3, 1881
EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
The fulfillment of Hannah's vow to dedicate her child to the Lord, was not deferred until he could be presented at the tabernacle. From the earliest dawn of intellect she trained his infant mind to love and reverence God, and to regard himself as the Lord's. By every familiar object surrounding him she sought to lead his thoughts up to the Creator.
When separated from her child, the faithful mother's solicitude did not cease. He was the subject of her prayers. Every year she made him a little coat, and when she came with her husband to the yearly sacrifice, she presented it to the child as a token of her love. With every stitch of that coat she had breathed a prayer that he might be pure, noble, and true. She did not ask that he might be great, but earnestly pleaded that he might be good. Her faith and devotion were rewarded. She saw her son, in the simplicity of childhood, walking in the love and fear of God. She saw him growing up to manhood in favor with God and man, humble, reverent, prompt in duty, and earnest in the service of his divine Master. And while the Lord accepted the precious offering from that mother's hand, he did not forget to repay the sacrifice. Hannah was blessed with other children to educate and train for Heaven.
Samuel's youth was passed in the tabernacle solemnly devoted to the worship of God; yet even here he was not free from evil influences or sinful example. The sons of Eli are described in the sacred word as "sons of Belial." They feared not God, nor honored their father; but Samuel did not seek their company nor follow their evil ways. It was his constant effort to make himself what God would have him to become. This is the privilege of every youth. God is pleased when even little children devote themselves to his service; they should not be discouraged in their efforts to become Christians.
The youth will not become weak-minded or inefficient by consecrating themselves to the service of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The youngest child that loves and fears God, is greater in his sight than the most talented and learned man who neglects the great salvation. The youth who consecrate their hearts and lives to God, have in so doing, placed themselves in connection with the Fountain of all wisdom and excellence.
Early brought to minister in the tabernacle, Samuel had even then minor duties to perform in the service of God, according to his capacity. These were at first very humble, and not always pleasant, but they were performed to the best of his ability, and with a willing heart. His religion was carried into all the business of life. He regarded himself as God's servant, and his work as God's work. His efforts were accepted, because they were prompted by love to God and a sincere desire to do his will. Thus Samuel became a co-worker with the Lord of Heaven and earth. And God through him accomplished a great work for Israel.
If children were taught to regard the humble round of every-day duties as the course marked out for them by the Lord, as a school in which they were to be trained to render faithful and efficient service, how much more pleasant and honorable would their work appear. To perform every duty as unto the Lord, throws a charm around the humblest employment, and links the workers on earth with the holy beings who do God's will in Heaven. And in our appointed place we should discharge our duties with as much faithfulness as do the angels in their higher sphere. Those who feel that they are God's servants will be men who can be trusted anywhere. Citizens of Heaven will make the best citizens of earth. A correct view of our duty to God leads to clear perceptions of our duty to our fellow-men.
Parents should bring up their children in the love and fear of God, remembering that they are younger members of the Lord's great family entrusted to the parents to be educated and trained for Heaven, and to be required again at their hands. Let children be taught that every act of life is important. It is strengthening habit and forming character. If all the daily duties are performed in the fear of God, they will be done with fidelity, and the life-record will be such as can pass the test of the Judgment.
Would that every mother could realize how great are her duties and her responsibilities, and how great will be the reward of faithfulness. The mother's daily influence upon her children is preparing them for everlasting life or eternal death. She exercises in her home a power more decisive than the minister in the desk, or even the king upon his throne. The day of God will reveal how much the world owes to godly mothers for men who have been unflinching advocates of truth and reform,—men who have been bold to do and dare, who have stood unshaken amid trials and temptations; men who chose the high and holy interests of truth and the glory of God, before worldly honor or life itself.
When the Judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened; when the "well done" of the great Judge is pronounced, and the crown of immortal glory is placed upon the brow of the victor, many will raise their crowns in sight of the assembled universe, and pointing to their mother say, "She made me all I am through the grace of God. Her instruction, her prayers, have been blessed to my eternal salvation."
Samuel became a great man in the fullest sense, as God estimates character. Many whom the world calls great, fall far below the divine standard. They lack the very elements of true and noble manhood: Men of giant intellect and brilliant genius, men before whom the world bows in willing homage, have prostituted these precious gifts of God to the service of the arch-deceiver. The name of Byron stands high in the literary world. God gave him great natural abilities; had his powers been rightly directed, he might have been a blessing to society. But his talents were not consecrated to God. The purity of Heaven did not permeate his life or breathe forth in his literary productions. Many of his works lead to immorality and irreligion. They reveal the true character of the man—corrupt in taste, depraved in heart. He rejected the service of God, and chose to ally himself to Satan.
Gibbon, the renowned historian, was not a great man according to God's standard. He was endowed with great intellectual powers, that he might make known to his fellow-men the knowledge of God. But Satan prepared his snares for this man, and he became entangled in the meshes of skepticism. His works breathe insinuations against God and against the world's Redeemer. He improved every opportunity to destroy confidence in the Bible and the Christian religion. Eternity alone can reveal the amount of harm wrought by his writings. The world pronounces Gibbon a literary success. God pronounces him a failure.
A beneficent Creator endows men with intellectual powers, that, consecrated to his service, they may become co-workers with Christ and angels in the work of human redemption. Yet how many, like Byron and Gibbon, employ their talents to pervert the simplicity of truth, and bring contempt upon the Christian religion, as unworthy the attention of intelligent men. Those who are engaged in this work little know what they are doing. But in the day of Judgment how fearful will be their accountability.
Intellectual power, when opposed to the principles of true religion, becomes a minister of vice. Its influence tends to deface the image of God in man, and to bring him down to the level of the brute creation. Whatever tends to banish thoughts of God from the mind becomes a curse, not only to the possessor but to all within the sphere of his influence. Better would it be for the gifted skeptic, better for the world, to be deprived of the brilliant talents that are devoted to the service of Satan. The greater the gift perverted and abused, the greater will be the evil wrought and the greater the condemnation in the day of final reckoning.
Despite the many sovereigns to whom men profess allegiance, all mankind are serving one of two masters—the Prince of light or the Prince of darkness. Samuel served the former, the sons of Eli the latter. The characters of these persons, standing out in such striking contrast, represent the two great parties into which the world has been divided since the fall of Adam—the servants of Christ and the servants of Satan. God has ordained that with families and nations or with individuals, virtue is the basis of happiness, vice the foundation of woe and misery. In all the history of nations, wherever righteousness has been cherished, union, peace, and prosperity result; where greed, selfishness, and irreligion reign, weakness, degeneracy, and corruption follow.
A constant warfare is still waged between vice and virtue. Wherever we turn, the battle goes on unceasingly. Infidelity is rearing its head in vaunted triumph, and crime of all grades is crowding in on every side. Multitudes of the youth are swept away by the overwhelming tide of evil. In every earnest Christian heart the question rises, "Why, oh, why, in a land of Bibles and Christian teaching, can the adversary of souls exert over our youth a power so mighty, so unrestrained?" The reason is apparent. Parents are neglecting their solemn responsibility. They are not earnest, persevering, and faithful in the work of training their children for God, restraining their evil desires and enforcing obedience to parental authority, even in infancy.482
Young men should be trained to stand firm for the right amid the prevailing iniquity, to do all in their power to arrest the progress of vice, and to promote virtue, purity, and true manliness. The impressions made upon the mind and character in early life are deep and abiding. Injudicious training or evil associations will often exert upon the young mind an influence for evil that all after-effort is powerless to efface. The character of Napoleon Bonaparte was greatly influenced by his training in childhood. Unwise instructors inspired him with a love for conquest, forming mimic armies and placing him at their head as commander. Here was laid the foundation for his career of strife and bloodshed. Had the same care and effort been directed to making him a good man, imbuing his young heart with the spirit of the gospel, how widely different might have been his history.
It is said that Hume the skeptic was in early life a conscientious believer in the word of God. Being connected with a debating society, he was appointed to present the arguments in favor of infidelity. He studied with earnestness and perseverance, and his keen and active mind became imbued with the sophistry of skepticism. Ere long he came to believe its delusive teachings, and his whole after-life bore the dark impress of infidelity.
When Voltaire was five years old, he committed to memory an infidel poem, and the pernicious influence was never effaced from his mind. He became one of Satan's most successful agents to lead men away from God. Thousands will rise up in the Judgment, and charge the ruin of their souls upon the infidel Voltaire.
By the thoughts and feelings cherished in early years, every youth is determining his own life history. Correct, virtuous, manly habits formed in youth will become a part of the character, and will usually mark the course of the individual through life. The youth may become vicious or virtuous, as they choose. They may as well be distinguished for true and noble deeds as for great crime and wickedness.
Young men of to-day may become as precious in the sight of the Lord as was Samuel. They may have their names enrolled in the book of life, to be looked upon with pleasure by the Monarch of the universe and the angelic host. By faithfully maintaining their Christian integrity, the young may, like the noble Luther, exert a mighty influence in the work of reform. Such men are needed at this time. God has a position and a work for every one of them.
If the young men in our cities would unite their efforts to discountenance ungodliness and crime, their influence would greatly advance the cause of reform. It is the privilege and the duty of every youth, as an angel of mercy, to minister to the wants and woes of mankind. There is no class that can achieve greater results for God and humanity than the young.
Let none entertain the thought that the religion of the Bible is weak and unmanly, the effect of fanatical zeal or superstitious fear. Many of the young refrain from entering the service of Christ because they are unwilling to confess themselves Christians before the world. They are ashamed of Jesus, ashamed to acknowledge and obey his authority. Such persons view religion from the worldling's stand-point. On this rock thousands have been wrecked.
God is the sovereign of the universe, and should we be ashamed to acknowledge our allegiance to him? The holy angels are engaged night and day in his service. The highest order of beings in all the universe bow before the throne of God with songs of grateful, joyous praise. Is there aught in such service that can detract from man's true dignity? Saith the Lord, "Them that honor me I will honor." The service of God is the highest, noblest work that can engage the powers of men or of angels.
The world is sick, and yet not unto death;
There is for it a day of health in store.
From lips of love there comes the healing breath,—
The breath of him who all its sickness bore,
And bids it rise to strength and beauty evermore.
Evil still reigns; and deep within we feel
The fever and the palsy and the pain
Of life's perpetual heartaches, that reveal
The rooted poison, which, from heart and brain,
We labor to extract, but labor all in vain.
Our skill avails not; ages come and go,
Yet bring with them no respite and no cure;
The hidden wound, the sigh of pent-up woe,
The sting we smother but must still endure,
The worthless anodynes which no relief procure.
All these cry out for something more divine,
Which the worst woes of earth may not withstand;
Medicine that cannot fail—the oil and wine,
The balm and myrrh, growth of no earthly land,
And the all-skillful touch of the great Healer's hand.
Man needs a prophet; heavenly Prophet, speak,
And teach him what he is too proud to hear.
Man needs a priest; true Priest, thy silence break,
And speak the words of pardon in his ear.
Man needs a king; O King of kings, at length in love
appear!
—Horatius Bonar.
THE GOSPEL HOPE.
By J. N. Loughborough
BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND.
ST. PAUL, in writing to Timothy, calls "Christ our hope." 1 Tim. 1:1. A true gospel hope must center in Jesus Christ as the object, being, or agency, through whom the promises of God concerning man are to be carried out. "We are complete in him." Without him we "can do nothing," and really are nothing. He is the "Alpha and Omega." Alpha to the Omega is the more ancient form by which the Greeks expressed their alphabet, Alpha being the first Greek letter, and Omega the last one, in the alphabet. From the Alpha to the Omega was from the first letter to the last, or, in other words, the whole alphabet. So Christ is the Alpha and Omega. He is the Alphabet of God's plan and purposes concerning man. As the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet, arranged in various combinations, constitute literally the words of the Bible, so the subject matter of the plan of salvation, treated of in the Bible, is Christ arranged in various forms as the being through whom God's purposes concerning man will be carried out.
As Christ was employed with the Father in the work of creation (Col. 1:16; St. John 1:3), so also is the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45, 47), through whom the restitution of all things, God has promised, will be carried out. The Father "has given him authority to execute judgement also because he is the Son of man;" so also the Father "has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as he has given him."
Christ, then, is in the promises of good, and in the threatenings of judgment. He is the root and center of the great plan of atonement devised for the rescue of man, and, in fact, he is the grand source of all the bliss and joy promised to the faithful. Christ is the agent by whom, and through whom, all is to be accomplished. With this view of the subject, we see, then, that the Bible itself is Christ arranged in his various offices, form, and work. As we would arrange the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet in their various combinations to form a book, so we see how Christ is the Alpha and Omega of God's plan. When we say, Christ is our hope, it embodies all that is in Christ, or is to be brought about through Christ, whether in this world or in the world to come.
In pursuing our inquiries respecting him, and of what is accomplished by him, we find ourselves, in some respects, in a similar position to the ancient prophets in their researches concerning him. St. Peter said of them, "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 1 Pet. 1:10, 11. A hope in Christ, then, embraces all that is wrought out for us by Christ till the glory of God is fully revealed in his people, by their being brought to their eternal rest in his kingdom.
Of our hope in Christ St. Peter bears further testimony in the same chapter: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. 1:3-7. We see, then, that our hope of final reward is in Christ, to be revealed through him when he shall come again.
Abraham was among the ancient ones to whom God made revelations respecting the hope in Christ. St. Paul says that God "preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Gal. 3:8. We may well understand how it is that those promises made to Abraham form so sure a basis to our hope. It is because Christ is the true seed mentioned in those promises, and through whom those promises are to be accomplished, and because those sure promises relate especially to those things to be accomplished by the Saviour after his coming, and after the resurrection of his people.483
St. Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews says, "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things [God's word and God's oath] in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." Heb. 6:13-19. It is Christ that is within the veil.
Our hope is inspired and strengthened in its consolations, because the promise to Abraham was made so sure, and takes such firm hold of those things promised through Christ. He is in fact the true seed to whom these promises are made. St. Paul, when writing to the Galatians said, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. 3:16. We may conclude, then, that the blessing of all nations in Abraham's seed relates more especially to the way of pardon, hope, resurrection, and life eternal promised through Christ to all that believe in him. As St. Paul says, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise," and, "They which be of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham." Gal. 3:9, 29.
Now we may more clearly understand the speech of this same inspired apostle, delivered as he stood before Agrippa, "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead." Acts 26:6-8. Festus, in declaring this case of St. Paul to Agrippa, said the case related to "one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive." Acts 25:19. It was not simply that St. Paul taught that Christ was alive which so stirred the Jews, but, as was stated in the commencement of this wrath of the Jews against the apostles, they were "grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead." Acts 4:2. We have a sample of the manner of such preaching in St. Paul's sermon recorded in his first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 15. Having proved that Christ has risen from the dead he goes on to claim that there will be a resurrection of all God's people from the dead by the power of Christ the risen one.
The hope of the promise to Abraham which contemplates Christ as the seed, and believers in Christ as "joint heirs with him," (Rom. 8:17) not only involves in its accomplishment the resurrection of the dead, but relates to a state beyond the resurrection. When St. Paul plead for the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham before the Saducees who denied the resurrection of the dead, he well knew they might say, "Abraham is dead and the prophets are dead" (St. John 8:52, 53), so he wisely said, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" This was really a forcible way of saying God will give the fathers a resurrection in order that what was promised to them may be accomplished.
In saying that our hope is to be consummated in the resurrection we do not mean to intimate that no benefits are now derived by those who hope in Christ. He said of himself, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." St. John 10:10. Through faith in Christ we now obtain strength, and are enabled to do what we could in nowise do without him. See Rev. 5:6. "Your life is hid with Christ in God." Col. 3:3. He is the vine and it is our privilege, by the patience and faith in his blood, to become branches of that vine, partaking of its virtue through the Spirit, so that we can in truth say, "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20.
Our Saviour has told us that unless we abide in that vine—unless we maintain a union by faith with him—we "can do nothing." Separated from Christ how soon we become like the dry and withered branches plucked from the vine.
The hope in Christ gives us, indeed, strength and courage here, so that we may say, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so but we glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom. 5:1-5.
Amid all our earthly sorrows, trials, and privations, we may derive consolation from the hope. "He that ploweth should plow in hope; and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope." 1 Cor. 9:10. Some of the greatest joys of the Christian in this world are derived from a contemplation of the blessings promised in the future world.
"How sweet to reflect on those joys that await me,
In yon blissful regions, the haven of rest,
Where bright holy angels with welcome shall greet me,
And lead me to mansions prepared for the blest."
From such contemplations we may rise with St. Paul to say, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God [i. e., for their reward, to be given them in the resurrection.] For the creature was made subject to vanity [death], not willingly [not by our own choice], but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Rom. 8:18-25.
It is then the privilege of believers in Christ to now receive the Holy Spirit as a source of strength, and that it may be in us "a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
St. Paul states, "If Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom. 8:10, 11. That Spirit of God, obtained through faith in Christ will not only give energy for his service here, even changing our characters, but in the resurrection, at Christ's second coming, our vile bodies will be changed by it, and fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body." Phil. 3:20, 21.
We see, then, that the Scriptures proceed upon the ground that a hope was fully opened up to us in the work of Christ at his first advent, and that this hope, which is to the tempest-tossed spiritual mariner here "an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast," is to be consummated when our Saviour shall come again. St. Paul makes this statement of the case, when writing to the Hebrews, "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; but unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28.
Have you, reader, made this Saviour your Saviour? Can you say for yourself, The gospel hope is my hope, for Christ is my source of strength; my life now, and by joint heirship I shall be partaker of his glory hereafter? When this is your condition then may you indeed sing,
"Oh, glorious hope! Oh, blest abode,
I shall be there; and like my God."
The Post of Honor and Duty
By T. Edwards
Whatever our place allotted to us by Providence, that, for us, is the post of honor and duty. God estimates us not by the position we are in, but by the way in which we fill it.—T. Edwards.
Not an Easy Life
Not an Easy Life.—Dr. Johnson once said: “I do not envy a clergyman’s life as an easy life, nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life.”
SONS OF GOD.
By Rev. T. L. Cuyler
TITLES are much coveted in this world, although some of them are as worthless and paltry as the tinsel paper cap worn by a school-boy. When God confers a title it means something. None is more to be coveted than the endearing appellation of "Sons of God." This means adoption into the royal family of Heaven. If it was a great honor for a Hebrew foundling to be taken from a basket in the Nile into the imperial palace of Egypt, what a supreme honor is it to be picked up in beggarly rags of sin and guilt and to be "renewed after the image of God," and adopted as his child! Adoption is an act of God's free grace whereby he receives us into the number and gives a right to all the privileges of sonship. The nature of this sonship is spiritual. It requires a new heart, and a likeness more or less distinct to Jesus Christ. Happy the man or woman in whom this family likeness is so strong as to be recognized by every one. Those early Christians bore such a clear, unmistakable stamp in character and conduct that others "took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus."
Beloved, now are we the sons of God. This is a rich and right royal relationship. It brings three glorious privileges—prayer, provision and protection. What we ask we shall receive; the prayers of a true child of God have this peculiar power, they "avail much" with him. As we parents furnish good raiment and shelter to our children, and numberless comforts, so God prepareth a table for his sons and daughters, and garments for them to wear, and maketh their cups to run over. They are under the shadow of his wing, and while they abide there, Satan and all his demons can do them no harm.
They are also "led by the Spirit." He leads them to clearer views of truth, to a deeper knowledge of themselves, and guides them in difficult decisions as to duty. I do not believe that a Christian ever asked God honestly and fervently for guidance in a time of perplexity and was ever left wholly in the dark. Where he leads it is always safe to follow. God has led many a faithful child up steep cliffs of difficulty and over some hard, thorny paths, and into the valley of the death-shade, but never once into the smooth, velvet pathway of self-indulgence. That is not his way. He sometimes lays on the rod of correction, sometimes chastises sorely, but this is only to get the self-conceit, or pride, or unbelief out of our hearts. God's school has a corps of skillful teachers, and the tuition is often costly, and some hard lessons are learned through eyes swimming in tears—but he graduates ripe and wonderful scholars into glory. "What can my heavenly Father mean by taking away that sweet daughter of mine?" inquired a heart-stricken friend of me lately. I could not answer, only that God makes no mistakes in his loving discipline; but I have already seen such blessings that the "rod had honey in it." Tears sometimes water graces wonderfully. The pruning-knife makes the clusters on a Hamburg grape-vine all the larger and the more luscious.
God knows all his own children. Their names are all in their directory. He never commits the strange blunder of Benny Franklin's mother when she did not recognize her own son in the grown-up youth who came to her door unexpectedly on a stormy night and asked for lodgings. He knows where his poorest and obscurest children are—in their attics or on their beds of poverty and suffering. The aged negro in his hut said to his pastor, "Sometimes God comes and feeds me wid a spoon; and den I tells him to keep a place for ole Johnson up at his big table in glory."
If sons, we are heirs. The child adopted from an Orphan Asylum into a rich man's family becomes an heir to the estate. Better still, we are "joint-heirs with Christ." His glory shall be ours. The crown on Victoria's head ennobles her own person. Jesus is the head of his ransomed Church, and the crown that flashes on his brow will be the joy and luster and diadem of us all. Do you doubt this? Then turn to that verse in the book of John which declares—"The glory which Thou gavest me I have given them."
God takes great delight in the affections of his children. He loves to have us love him. When we keep his commandments at severe cost and sacrifice, it is a savor of a sweet smell unto him. Little at the best can we do for him, but he repays with a smile that is worth more than a kingdom. By and by he will bring us home; and it will be a great day when we are introduced among such relatives as Paul, and Isaiah, and John, and the other men and women of whom this world was not worthy. Beloved, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called THE SONS OF GOD!—Rev. T. L. Cuyler in Christian at Work.
An Ex-Nun’s Statement
An ex-nun makes the following statement: I was seventeen months in a convent in Paterson, N. J., under the Superior, Sister Mary Joseph. Before I was in her convent six months, I, with my own eyes, saw that Sister Mary Joseph was not worthy of the name of woman, and to her I had to kneel every time I spoke to her, and had to confess to her once a week.
Resist the Devil
"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
On Pride and Accusation
MEN are sometimes accused of pride, merely because their accusers would be proud themselves, were they in their places.
Shorter Hours, Greater Productivity
By Christian Union
THE New York Times gives some interesting facts tending to elucidate a truth of which overworked Americans would do well to take note; namely, that too many hours of labor as surely impair productive industry as too few. Massachusetts is the only ten-hour State in the eastern cluster of textile districts, but the production there, per loom, per spindle, or per man, is not less than in other States, nor are wages less. A number of mills have actually reduced to ten and yet, paying the same wages as in the neighboring eleven-hour mills, have found their product and their profit satisfactory and not reduced by the change. A manager whose cotton-mill was running thirteen hours a day, and producing 90,000 yards of cloth a week, persuaded the directors to allow a reduction to eleven hours, and the weekly production rose to 120,000. In Switzerland similar results are reported. One mill reduced to ten hours, and the owners were surprised to find that the amount of wages paid by the piece remained the same as it had been under eleven hours. Another added an hour to the twelve, and the increased production hardly paid for the light. Work with a fresh brain, a cherry heart, and a vigorous body, always pays better than work with an exhausted brain, a depressed heart, and a worn-out body.—Christian Union.
LOOKING UNTO JESUS.
By James W. Alexander
I CONCEIVE it will be important to counsel all believers, especially those who are young and simple-hearted, to beware of perplexing their minds with the high points of this subject. Look at Christ. There fix the eye of your mind. Be not overmuch anxious to discern what belongs to one nature and what to the other. Fix your contemplation on this person. Behold him dying, behold him reigning. There is no danger of going astray when, in your common thoughts and prayers, your whole soul goes forth to a single undivided object, Christ. Are you feeling for his support and resting on his sympathy like a man? You do well; he is bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh. Are you praying to him as God? You do well; you do no more than dying Stephen, who said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;" "for he is God over all blessed for ever." If you wish the grand secret of religion couched in a single maxim; if you would learn how to be reconciled, and how to abide so; if you would be holy and happy, take this rule: Look to Christ. Just so much piety have you, as you have Christ in your thoughts. Study the person of Christ. As you would diligently traverse a great domain, every part of which you were bound to know, so set yourself to expatiate upon the character and personality of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Scriptures. Begin the New Testament, and never stop reading it over and over, with this very thing in view, to learn more and more of Christ. His own light will shine on his own glorious countenance, and as you read again and again, you will see its lineaments radiant with higher and higher illumination; each adorable feature will be more distinct and familiar; you will know it better, as the face of a friend, of a brother, of a Christ, for all other words come short; you will feel the fleshy tablet of your heart receiving the rays from this "shining in the face of Jesus;" and as you feel the reflection of this Sun of righteousness, you will own an unwonted glow. Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, you will be changed into the same image. The work of inward assimilation is going on. As you hold the soul by loving contemplation in these beams, the pencil of heavenly light is drawing Christ's image within you. The table of your heart is becoming his best and most cherished portrait. Desist not, then, from such study of his person as shall cause you day by day to be more reflective of his image.—Dr. James W. Alexander.