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Review and Herald, Vol. 36, No. 20.

Systematic Effort

Review and Herald

Nov 1, 1870

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 1, 1870

Systematic Effort.

By W. H. Littlejohn

It must be apparent to any intelligent person, that a work so vast as that of carrying the third message to the world, can only be accomplished by a general circulation of books and tracts. This being the case, the important problem which presents itself for solution now is, How can this be brought about? At first glance, it is obvious that this can be solved only when we shall be able to meet the following conditions:
1. We must be furnished with a supply of books and tracts which set forth the various points of our faith in a manner well calculated to convince the judgment, and arouse the conscientiousness, of the people.
2. A system of colportage must be devised which shall enable us to give our publications a wide-spread circulation.
So far as the first of these prerequisites is concerned, we think that the good providence of God has furnished us with nearly everything which is necessary for the successful accomplishment of our work. It may well be questioned whether there can be found in history another denominational people who, when not a quarter of a century old, and not having reached in numbers more than 15,000 persons, could present so fine an array of books and tracts containing clear and Scripture arguments in the defense of the varied points of their faith as can S. D. Adventists.
Nor is it simply true that the arguments upon which we rely for the maintenance of our position have been so far elaborated as to enable us to successfully challenge their refutation by the religious world. The same hand which has led out a people from the mazes and mysticisms of modern theology, knowing that their work must be very extended and very brief, has, in the art of printing, in its present perfection, furnished them with every facility necessary for the accomplishment of their task. Already with our steam power press we are able to produce nineteen, neatly executed, thirty-two page tracts, in each minute, at a cost of not over two dollars per hundred. With these advantages, which, by the multiplication of presses and an increase of laborers, can be extended sufficiently to meet any demand which an enlargement of the field can create, and with a book and tract fund which the liberality of our brethren will make equal to any emergency, all that now remains is that the second condition above mentioned should be answered, i. e., that our works should be speedily and judiciously distributed wherever there can be found candid persons who are willing to read them. At present the supply is fully equal to, if not greater than, the demand, not because there are not tens of thousands who are famishing for the very bread these contain, but because they are ignorant of their existence, or because they have no means of obtaining them. How, then, we inquire again, can we be relieved from our embarrassment in this direction? Certain it is that we shall find no help in inaction. Were we to wait until a full corps of qualified colporteurs should present themselves for employment at the doors of our publishing house, we should wait in vain. It has been well said that “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” When we have exhausted every resource within our reach, then the Lord will make up any lack that may still exist. Until then, we cannot with propriety call upon him for help. Have we done this? If so, then let us cry mightily to God for the relief which the necessities of the cause demand, and which it will therefore be for his glory to afford. But if we are satisfied that we have not, then let us discover, if possible, wherein we have come short in the past, and enter upon the work of immediate reform.
It seems to us that a moment’s reflection will convince any person that we have not only failed to come up to our privilege heretofore, but that we have not accomplished in this direction one-tenth part of what ought to have been realized. The failure has not arisen from a lack of anxiety on the part of our people to do good, but from a want of knowledge of the proper manner of setting themselves at work on one hand, and on the other, a fear of doing harm through indiscretion. In the different communities where our churches are located there has been no one to lead out in the matter, and it has therefore gone by default. As an illustration of this, I have but to cite our experience in this place. Previous to last June, but very little had been accomplished in the way of getting our views before the people through the circulation of our publications. At that time we resolved upon consultation among ourselves, to determine by experiment whether this state of things could not be changed by the inauguration of organized effort. For this purpose we instituted a society adopting for its government the following constitution:
ART. I. Name: This society shall be called The Book and Tract Society of Seventh-Day Adventists in Allegan.
ART. II. Object: The object of this society shall be that of promoting the circulation of such publications as shall be best calculated to instruct the public respecting the various points of our faith.
ART. III. Officers: Its officers shall consist of a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and Executive Committee of three, of which the President shall be one; and they shall hold their respective offices for six months, or until their successors shall be duly elected, unless they remove from the place or cease to be members of the society.
ART. IV. Duties of Officers: The duties of the officers of this society shall be the same as those devolving upon persons occupying like positions in similar associations, unless they shall be otherwise limited or enlarged by the by-laws of this society.
ART. V. Elections: The regular elections of the officers of this society shall take place on the evenings of the first Monday in May and first Monday in November, unless by vote of the society some other time be designated. In case, however, of vacancy in any of the offices of the society, an election to fill the same may occur at any meeting of the society which the President, or, in his absence, the Vice President, may call.
ART. VI. Membership: Any person who is a member of the church of Seventh-day Adventists in the village of Allegan may become a member of this society by subscribing the constitution and by-laws thereof; and any person who is not a member of said church, desiring to unite with this society, may do so by a vote of all the members present at any meeting of the society, and by subscribing the constitution and by-laws as herein before provided.
ART. VII. Meetings: The regular meetings of this society shall occur at such times as the members thereof may designate in the by-laws, and special meetings may be called at any time by the President, or, in case of his absence or inability to act, by the Vice President or Secretary.
ART. VIII. Amendments: This constitution and the by-laws of this society may be amended, changed, added to, or repealed, at any meeting of the society, by a vote of a majority of those present, provided those present at such time shall represent one-third of all the members of the society.
ART. IX. Finances: The funds to be employed by this society shall be made up of such donations as may be offered by individuals from time to time, and by collections from the members thereof, either as quarterly dues, or by the levying of special taxes, such as shall be voted by a majority of the members present at any regular meeting.
ART. X. By-laws: By-laws for the government of this society, which shall not conflict with the provisionsof this constitution, may be passed by a majority of the members present at any meeting of the society.
The workings of this society have been very satisfactory. Instead of the almost absolute state of inactivity which has characterized the church heretofore, in the branch of service in question, we have put in circulation from five to eight hundred of our tracts and pamphlets. The effect of this has been as marked upon our brethren themselves as upon the community without. When they had found themselves actually engaged in useful employment which was contributing to the advancement of the interests of the cause, their gratitude has found expression not only in words, but their lives have also given evidence of its sincerity. Instead of becoming rusty upon points of doctrine, they found that in the distribution of tracts, questions would continually arise, respecting which it was necessary that they should post themselves.
Nor is this all. It has also been rendered apparent to them when engaging in this sacred work, that their personal character should be free from blemish, thus leading them to a more thorough self-examination.
In order to avoid indiscretion in the distribution of tracts, we have been in the habit of holding society meetings occasionally, at the call of the President, wherein each one has given a report of the number of tracts which he or she has distributed, relating at the same time something of a history of the manner of procedure on their part. In this way, those who have the management of the matter have been able occasionally to impart such advice and counsel as was necessary to keep all from an injudicious distribution of the tracts, while the meetings themselves have furnished an opportunity for each one to select from the general stock of publications kept by the society, such as they could use to the best advantage. And it has not unfrequently occurred that incidents and experiences have been related at such times which have been well calculated to deepen the interest of every member of the society in the work, and stimulate all to more earnest effort.
It has never been our policy to limit our labors to our own community. On the contrary, we have considered it advisable to send the tracts by mail, each individual paying his own postage, to all persons at a distance whom we think will be benefited thereby.
As a whole, we regard the thing as a complete success. We do not mean by this that no tracts have been thrown away, or that no indiscretions have been committed. On the contrary, we have no doubt that a portion of our labor has been lost. Nor do we ever expect to see a plan devised whereby it will be possible to engage in this work without the hazard of wasted means and time. This would be presuming upon penetration such as men in this state can never attain to. But we do believe that it has been vastly better both for the church and the cause that we should be employed in this manner than it would had we been altogether, as before, unoccupied. And now what we are anxious to see is, our brethren in other places, either by adopting the same system that we have, or by introducing a more perfect one, bringing all the resources of their respective churches into this most important labor of disseminating our pointed views with the greatest expedition, and in a manner the least liable to exception. When we shall witness this, and it shall be made manifest that we are doing all in our power for the accomplishment of our great mission as a people, we shall expect that the blessing of God will attend our labors, and that his unerring wisdom will lead us in devising all the ways and means which shall still be required in the further prosecution of our work.
W. H. LITTLEJOHN.
Allegan, Oct. 19, 1870.

A GERMAN TRUST SONG.

By Lampertus

Just as God leads me, I would go; I would not ask to choose my way; Content with what he will bestow, Assured he will not let me stray. So as he leads, my path I make, And step by step I gladly take, A child in him confiding.
Just as God leads, I am content; I rest me calmly in his hands; That which he has decreed and sent— That which his will for me commands, I would that he should all fulfill; That I should do his gracious will In living or in dying.
Just as God leads, I shall resign; I trust me to my Father's will; When reason's rays deceptive shine, His counsel would I yet fulfill; That which his love ordained as right, Before he brought me to the light, My all for him resigning.
Just as God leads me, I abide In faith, in hope, in suffering true; His strength is ever by my side— Can aught my hold on him undo? I hold me firm in patience, knowing That God my life is still bestowing— The best in kindness sending.
Just as God leads, I onward go, Oft amid thorns and briars seen; God does not yet his guidance show— But in the end it shall be seen How, by a loving Father's will, Faithful and true, he leads me still. —Lampertus, 1865.

The Coming of Christ is Near.

By John Matteson

“Behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.
Many years have passed away since our dear Saviour blessed the world with his divine presence, and caused “the true Light” to shine. “A little while” he abode with his own, instructed them in the heavenly truths, gave them power over all the devices and attacks of Satan, and strength to patiently endure the persecutions of a frowning world. And not only did he do this, but he promised them, before he returned to his Father, that he would come again and receive them unto himself, that they might dwell with him where he is. John 14:2, 3. And this blessed promise he has not only given to the apostles, but also to all those who through their word should believe in him. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” John 17:22.
1. But it appears that there is now more strife and division on religious subjects than ever before. People care less to understand the true import of the sacred word. They do, indeed, say Lord, Lord! but are not careful to do the will of our Heavenly Father. They preach much concerning faith, but often use the same as a hypocritical cover for iniquity. The world, the world! has filled the heart. Ministers and people grasp after riches and honor, worldly enjoyments and comforts. And when the soon coming of Christ is urged upon them, then we hear, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” Ridiculing and opposing those who wait for their Lord, they continue “to eat and drink with the drunken.” But thus they themselves become a “sign of the times.” For when this takes place, then “the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.”
The evidences that we are living in the last days, and that the second coming of Christ is near, are numerous, plain, and increase in number as the end draws nearer.
Are not wars, pestilences, and earthquakes, being multiplied? Matt. 24:7. Have not many false prophets appeared and deceived many? Verse 11. Are they not now crying, “Peace and safety,” more efficiently than ever? 1 Thess. 5:3. Prophets, whose greatest skill and strength lie in crying, Heretic! when they neither will nor can prove their own mistaken theories from the word of God. Prophets, who are strong to speak evil of others in their absence, but who will not meet a man face to face. Who win the hearts of men with sweet words and a flattering tongue, but who neglect to declare that “the great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.” Zeph. 1:14. Prophets, who can joke and jest while the wrath of God is about to be poured without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and thousands of poor deceived souls soon must weep and wail for pain and anguish of soul when the plagues fall upon their unsheltered heads. Blessed be God that some are waking up and preparing to meet the coming King. May many more be aroused before it is too late, “and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” Zech. 14:12.
3. Has not the love of many waxed cold because iniquity is abounding? Matt. 24:12. Read the news of the day. Here is a throng of records of iniquity which no man can number—records of fraud, theft, murder, fornication, and concupiscence. Surfeiting and drunkenness fill the land. The very atmosphere is poisoned with oaths and curses. And the churches; oh! what has become of the love of Christ in the churches? There many a minister is dearly paid to speak of love, while hearts are as cold as ice. How many love God more than the world, and seek to advantage their neighbor as well as themselves? Few, very few. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15. Yet these poor slaves of the world and of fashion are called members of the body of Christ! Oh, height of pretension! Well may Satan laugh, and angels weep.
4. Do not multitudes now exhibit a “form of godliness, but deny the power thereof”? 2 Tim. 3:5. Many preachers have a whole week to prepare their Sunday sermon, and yet it is so dry that it can hardly stick together. But few, comparatively, attend the meetings, and of these some sleep, and most go away just as worldly-minded, proud, fretful, covetous, and unbelieving as they came in. Many who once tasted the love of Christ, and were moved by the Holy Spirit, have gone to sleep on the enchanted ground. “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.” Luke 17:26. People will eat and drink, sing and dance, until heaven bursts over their heads, and the earth opens beneath to swallow them up. Then shall they gnaw their tongues for pain, when the time for repentance is past. Rev. 16:10, 11.
5. The “glorious appearing” of Jesus “is that blessed hope” which is set before us in God’s word. Titus 2:13. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Col. 3:4. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” 1 Thess. 2:19. “And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Pet. 5:4. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2.
6. Dear reader, do you have fellowship with God? Do you live and walk in the light of his countenance? Do you watch and pray always? Do you diligently read the word of God? Do you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Or do the things of this world concern your heart the most? Does the love of money fill your soul; or has the love of Christ penetrated your inmost heart? Has not God given unto you life, and health, and food, and raiment? Is it then unreasonable that he commands you to love him again? Has he not given his only begotten Son to die for you? and will you return unto him ingratitude and disobedience? Will you follow the world and perish with it; or serve the Lord and wait for the glorious appearing of Christ? God calls you. Jesus calls: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28. He points to the glorious crown of life. Will you turn away? Oh, come! Come to your Saviour. Repent of your sins, bend your knees in the name of Jesus. Confess your sins to your Saviour. Enter into thy closet, shut thy door, and “pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matt. 6:6. “Prepare to meet thy God.” Look to the bleeding Lamb of God. His blood cleanses from all sin. Walk in his footsteps, whether your friends will go with you or no. Satan will lead you into the lake of fire. Sin will sink you into everlasting destruction. But Jesus will save you as a brand from the fire. Come, oh, come! Follow Christ. “Keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. Soon Jesus will be revealed in the clouds of heaven, with his mighty angels, and will give you a mansion in the Father’s house, an everlasting name that shall not be blotted out, a crown of glory that can never fade. Then the world must weep and wail, when the triumphant songs of victory, from the people of God, fill the new Jerusalem with rejoicing, and their glad hallelujahs roll through Heaven’s bright dome like the voice of many waters and mighty thunders, mingled with the sweet music from the heavenly harpers. Dear reader, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.”
JOHN MATTESON.

The Chapel in the Heart.

IN your retirement, make frequent colloquies; or short discoursings with God and thy own soul. Every return of the heart in these intercourses is a going to him, an appearing in his presence, and in representing him present to thy spirit and to thy necessity. This was long since called, by a spiritual person, “a building to God a chapel in our heart.” It reconciles Martha’s employment with Mary’s devotion, charityand religion, the necessities of our calling and the employment of devotion; for thus, in the midst of the works of your trade, you may retire into your chapel—the heart—and converse with God by frequent addresses and returns.—Jeremy Taylor.

Seed Sown in Toil Yields Harvest

“SEED which is sown in toil, springs up and yields an abundant harvest; the righteous who labor in the night of trouble, receive as a reward great prosperity and joy.

Reverence and Spiritual Profit in Scripture Reading

IN reading the Scriptures, we should not be satisfied unless we have a consciousness of reverence, a feeling of deep interest, and a desire for spiritual profit.

The Christian Warfare.

By Francis Gould

The Christian life is one of warfare, of labor, and of toil. Life’s duties and life’s burdens, as they present themselves to us by the way, we are to discharge with fidelity and faithfulness; and we can have no honorable discharge until the battle is over and the victory won. When the Apostle Paul had closed up his warfare, won the victory, and laid off his armor, he says: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Tim. 4: 6-8. He was honorably discharged, he had fought life’s battles well; and he reckoned that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Rom. 8: 18. We, as followers of Christ and the apostles, should imitate his example.
The question often arises in my mind, How can we best engage in the great conflict of overcoming our sins, and have it prove a success; as it is a fact that many, very many who engage in the work, fall out by the wayside before reaching the point of certain victory. In searching the Scriptures I find that Paul throws light upon this point, and tells us the way, and the only efficient way, by which the warfare can be successfully accomplished. “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” 2 Tim. 2: 4. By this declaration, Paul wishes to illustrate the nature and character of the Christian warfare by those who take up carnal weapons here to fight in defense of their country.
When tidings of the battle of Lexington were brought to the ear of General Putnam, a man of revolutionary fame, he was a Connecticut farmer, and was ploughing in the field. He did not stop to unyoke his cattle; but leaving the plough in the unfinished furrow, gave some hasty directions respecting his affairs, mounted his horse at once, and, with a rapid pace, proceeded to the scene of action. He was a good soldier. He had such a love and devotion for his country’s cause that he disengaged himself at once from the affairs of life, and went out a free man.
It should be so with us. When the Captain of our salvation calls, we should not stop to confer with flesh and blood, but throw our whole being and energies into the work. If the things of earth engross our attention, our influence will be crippled, and our efforts fail. The language of the Saviour is very explicit: “Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting.” Luke 18: 29, 30.
Now is the time to engage with earnestness in the Christian warfare. Though we may think our fortifications strong, yet if the enemy should come and find us sleeping at our post, he will enter the fort and lead us captive at his will. We need not be at a loss to know where we are in the world’s history. Paul says that “in the last days perilous times shall come.” We are entering those perils. The catalogue of sins which Paul speaks of in 2 Tim. 3: 2-5, constitute some of these perils. “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” These sins are strikingly developed at the present time, showing plainly that we are living in the time when the words just quoted apply.
Opening prophecy reveals the end of all things at hand. Important events are transpiring even in our own country, which should stir us to diligence and duty. The two-horned beast has arisen, and is to make an image to the first beast. The two lamb-like horns, which specify the mild principles of the government, which are the toleration of civil and religious liberty, and that man shall worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience,—these principles are fast waning away. He was to speak as a dragon. That dragon voice may now be heard speaking in low tones not far in the distance. The way is being opened to establish a national religion, in which all the religious societies will unite upon one common platform upon the principal features of their religious faith, which will be established by law, among the most prominent of which will be Sunday observance. The church, clothed with civil power, will constitute the image to the first beast. It will then make war with the saints. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12: 17.
Dear brethren and sisters, how many of us will be able to stand when the decree goes forth that no man shall buy or sell save he that has the mark of the beast; or when he shall cause that as many as will not worship the image of the beast shall be put to death. May the Lord help us through vigilance, patience, and Christian fortitude, to escape the things which are coming upon the earth, and to stand before the Son of Man. FRANCIS GOULD.
Slowe, Vt.

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit.

By Cuyler

THE most neglected patch of ground will produce a bountiful crop of weeds. They grow spontaneously. But wheat must be sown, and orchards must be planted. In like manner, sin is spontaneous in the carnal heart. This is the condition, this the curse, of native depravity. The “works of the flesh,” i. e., the natural outworkings of every one’s corrupt heart, are unholy, impure, selfish, and exceeding sinful. Paul calls the roll of this ugly brood of “works of the flesh,” in the fifth chapter of his letter to the Galatians; it begins with “adultery,” and ends with “drunkenness, and revellings,” and such like.
But, in vivid contrast with these spontaneous products of the unconverted heart, he specifies the “fruits of the spirit.” Graces, such as the Bible commends, are fruit. They are not the product of native depravity; they are the product of a supernatural influence on the human soul. Holy acts grow out of something; they need a root, and have a root that inspires their life. Let some of our popular pulpits preach Pelagianism, and ignore the supernatural in religion as much as they like, they find no warrant in the word of God. That word assures us that the root of all pure, holy thought and action is the Holy Spirit. That root is implanted by regeneration. Before the divine Spirit enters the heart, there is no root to yield a single Bible grace, or ripen into the smallest genuine fruit of holiness. Are you surprised, therefore, that, when men have tried to be Christians without Christ, and tried to reach a pure spiritual life without the aid of God’s Spirit, they have lamentably failed? Just as soon might a farmer drive his harvest wagon out into a barren moor and expect to load it up with wheat-sheaves; just as soon might he arrange his fruit-barrels under a thicket of New Jersey pines, and expect to shake them full of golden pippins and ripe Spitzenbergs.
True religion is a growth, a development; but it requires a root. There can be but one such root. It is divine in its origin. The root of all true Christianity is a spiritual principle implanted by the Holy Ghost. This root is as invisible as that of an oak or an apple tree; but the tree is visible, with its beautiful efflorescence in the May, and its bountiful fruitage in October. The inward life of the apple tree overhangs the boughs with innumerable apples, which the October sun crimsons with its warm blush, and then the “good tree” presents to its owner its “good fruit” as its consummate season’s work.
There is a precise analogy between the orchard and the true church—who are “the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Christians are converted sinners. They have turned to God under the drawings of divine love. The Holy Spirit is the author of their regeneration. To take the supernatural out of our religion is like emptying the noonday of the sun. God’s word is emphatic in teaching the divine origin of Christianity in every converted heart. The believer is “created anew in Christ Jesus.” He is said to experience the workings of the “exceeding greatness of the power of God.” Men sin, and bring forth the “works of the flesh,” as naturally as they breathe; but the “FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.”
What a glorious catalogue! What an inventory of the beautiful excellences of a true Christian character! What a proof of the need of God’s Spirit in changing men radically, and in producing the only genuine graces that adorn humanity! What an argument for perpetual prayer for the presence of the Holy Spirit!
I would like to go over this tree of Christian character, and say a word about each one of these exquisite fruits of the Spirit. The first specified is Love. It well deserves the pre-eminence. The very essence of Bible religion is to “love the Lord our God with all the heart and soul, and to love our neighbor as ourself.” Our religion ought to be saturated with love; it ought to breathe out in our every-day talk as freely as in our prayers; it ought to ennoble a Christian’s business transactions; it ought to write his vote; it ought to own his purse, and be felt in the very grasp of his hand. He that loveth is born of God.
The next grace is Joy; and this is as different a thing from mere pleasure as the steady sunlight is from the brief lurid flash of the lightning. And I have never seen this grace gleam out more brightly than when carried at the prow through a midnight tempest of roaring adversities. A true child of God can “rejoice in tribulation;” can a worldling do that?
Peace is the third in the catalogue of the Spirit’s fruits. This is the calm serenity of a pardoned soul that is at rest in God. I saw a beautiful emblem of spiritual peace lately in Lake George, as it lay in hushed repose, when not a ripple vexed its stillness, when the mountains held it in their arms, and the stars of heaven were reflected in its azure depths. Such is the peace of God that passeth understanding.
Long-suffering and Gentleness are mentioned as twin graces. The literal meaning of the first word is, the power of holding still for a long time under provocation. It is the rare and beautiful grace of forbearance. Christ Jesus was its loftiest embodiment when he breathed out that divinest prayer of magnanimity, “Father! forgive them; for they know not what they do!”
Goodness is philanthropy—the sincere love of man, whatever his caste, his color, or his condition. It is Christianity on foot, with a Bible in its pocket, and a loaf of bread in its open hand. It is not the religion that suns itself on the warm side of a fashionable church; but the practical Christ-likeness that seeks out the lost on the Sabbath, going down in the diving-bell of a mission-school, to bring up rare pearls for Christ’s crown, out of the slimy depths of ignorance and sin.
But my sheet is too brief to enumerate the various fruits of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life. There is Faith, vital and transforming; and there is Meekness, that loves a low seat before the cross of Jesus. Last, but by no means least, comes Temperance. This is a grace much discussed, but too little practiced. It means self-control for our own sake, and self-denial for the good of others. When our nation is cursed and humiliated with such spectacles of drunkenness in high places, is it not time for the church of Christ to dash down that wine that “is a mocker,” and to exalt that temperance that is a fruit of the divine Spirit?—Cuyler.

Rest and Peace Found Only in Christ

God has ordained that the soul of man shall never be at rest out of Christ. He only is our rest and our peace.
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