THE SUPERNATURAL IN RELIGION.
By Editor
IN this age when a form of godliness prevails without the power, when the professed churches of God are content with a dull and dead monotony, believing that supernatural manifestations of God's power in the form of miracles ceased with the age of the apostles as no longer necessary to the progress of the gospel;—in such a time we are agreeably surprised to find sentiments like the following in one of the prominent religious journals of the day, which a sister has kindly selected for the REVIEW. But we are decried as Mormons for believing in the perpetuity of the influence and gifts of the Spirit. This article will remind such that they have a controversy on this point with others besides ourselves—those, too, whom they will regard as having clearer views and sounder judgments than they would be willing to accord to us. But the real question with all the candid will be, Does the Bible teach according to the view here presented? And if we become satisfied that it does, shall we give up or suppress a truth merely because a party of fanatics and impostors have seen fit to incorporate it into their creed? But to the article, which speaks as follows:— For the last hundred years the tendency has been to divorce from religion, as much as possible, its supernatural or miraculous character. This skeptical leaning is in great measure the reaction arising from that excess of credulity which culminated in the excitements of the Salem witchcraft. Since that spell was broken, the backward tide has been so strong, that any one avowing his belief in the possibility, at the present day, of demoniacal possession in a real, tangible form, would only be a subject of ridicule. To preserve, however, the integrity of our belief in inspiration, it has been found necessary to admit that such possessions did take place in former times. Miracles, the result of divine interposition, are placed on the same footing. Those which are found recorded between the lids of the Bible, are recognized as authenticated facts, while all others are set down to the score of superstition. It has at length become an axiom, among Protestant denominations generally, that miracles ceased with the apostles. It is easy to see that this opinion, pushed to its legitimate consequences, is calculated to give infidelity the advantage. The same reasons which induce us to discredit the existence or possibility of supernatural events in our own time, will operate to the discredit of supernatural events in former times. While we turn with incredulity from the strange experiences and wonderful providences narrated by our fathers, we forget that the more advanced skeptic is but carrying out the same rule of judgment when he rejects the testimony of the sacred writers. He has but stepped over the precipice, while we stand on the brink. Year after year witnesses the passing over of thousands from a philosophical Christianity to downright rationalism. This is the abyss into which our popular theology is certainly plunging us. But we discover some signs of a change for the better. There is a ripple on the surface, as if some angel were troubling the waters below. Minds are in a state of unrest. Christians are becoming weary of the increasing worldliness of our existing Christianity, and are sighing for the return of a more primitive faith. Our religious and theological reviews have recently given unusual prominence to the discussion of this and kindred topics. Bushnell's work on Nature and the Supernatural has done much to awaken inquiry. The last number of the Christian Review maintains the common doctrine that miracles have ceased, and yet admits the continuance of special providences in answer to prayer. Between these and other miraculous interpositions, it would be difficult to draw a line of distinction. The Biblical Repository for July has an excellent article on Evangelical Faith, showing the supernatural character of the change involved in that term as used in scripture. Another article in the same number, reviewing Boardman's Higher Christian Life, is less satisfactory. The writer, Rev. J. J. Abbot, while he is expert in detecting crudities and inconsistencies in the work he is reviewing, appears to us very unfortunate in attempting to account for its popularity. The cause of that popularity is to be found in an impression on the minds of Christians, far more general than Mr. Abbot is aware of, that the attainment of a more scriptural and elevated piety than the church at present enjoys, is not only to be prayed and hoped for, but to be expected. So long as our faith is so immeasurably behind that of the primitive disciples, we must expect there will be a dissatisfaction, a struggle to break the prison, a groping, this way and that, for some opening by which to emerge into a sunnier atmosphere, and clearer gospel light. We find in the Independent of last week a very sober and judicious view of the supernatural in Christianity, as connected with "the prayer of faith." An incident taken from Neander's "Memorials of Christian Life," is related of Cæsarius, Bishop of Arles, who emptied his granary of the last kernel to feed a large number of prisoners whom he had ransomed, in faith of a supply on the morrow. The next day three ships laden with corn, arrived from the Burgundian kings. Upon this the Independent remarks: Here is one of the eminent examples, long after the times of the New Testament, yet in the comparatively early ages of Christianity, of those "answers to prayer" which, if not miraculous, are yet too extraordinary to be anticipated by mere human sagacity from the natural course of things; and of that faith on the part of the petitioner, which transcends a mere general confidence in the divine Providence, is specific in its expectations, and cannot be justified by the operation of human reason alone. Numberless examples may be cited from the records of piety in all ages. To this effect our readers may at once recall the history of Augustus Hermann Francke, the founder of the orphan hospital at Halle, and the autobiography of the devout physician, Heinrich Stilling. William Huntingdon, the noted Antinomian preacher, though a less amiable religionist, gives instances not to be overlooked in his "Bank of Faith." Facts of this kind are too well attested to be disputed or questioned on the score of evidence. They are too numerous to be set aside as of no account, under the name of accidental co-incidences. We see not how they can be consistently either denied, or ascribed to chance, as not agreeable to reason, by those who at the same time admit similar facts recorded in the Bible. Certainly the Bible nowhere intimates that answers to prayer, like those which are related in its pages, might not be expected in later times, and always. It gives no shadow of reason for supposing that there may not be, at all times, believing and effectual prayer for events which are reckoned most improbable, and even miraculous. On the contrary, the apostle James argues to the power of prayer in general, from the example of Elijah's influence in procuring first the drouth and then the rain, urging that he was "a man subject to like passions as we are." James v, 17, 18. We need not even stop to distinguish, in this connection, between miraculous events, and those unprecedented and extraordinary, since, besides our liability to error in that discrimination, the fate of the petitioner remains to be accounted for in the latter case as in the former. In a word, with devout Christians it ought not to "be thought a thing incredible" that sometimes now, as of old, prayer offered with confidence as to the specific result, is found to be the condition of events otherwise improbable or impossible.
The answers to prayer recorded in the Bible are among its most striking miracles. If these divine interpositions are continued, there is no reason why we should deny the possibility of others. It is sometimes said the occasion for miraculous interpositions is removed, now that the canon of scripture is closed, and any further testimony to the truth of revelations is therefore unnecessary. But the idea that miracles had no other office than that of witnesses to the truth of revelation is154not borne out by an examination of facts. The objects of the scripture miracles were various. Sometimes, indeed, their chief use appears to have been to carry conviction to the minds of the spectators; but this is by no means the case universally. If their only design were to convince the doubting, the need for them at the present day would be quite as great as in any former period of the world. The question of miracles is simply one of evidence. Upon adequate evidence, we are required by sound philosophy to receive the miracles of former times as readily as any other recorded facts. On the same evidence and with the same readiness we would believe in a miracle of the present day. To withhold assent, in opposition to testimony, on account of the natural incredibility of an event, is to assume the ground of Hume. Whatever comes to us properly attested, we must believe, or sink to the grossest atheism. Nor can we rationally deny the possibility of satanic influence over the men of the present generation more than over generations past. Sorcery, demoniacal possession, and lying wonders have been a reality in other ages of the world, and they may, for aught we know, be yet again developed. Many prophecies evidently point to periods in the future, when the agents of the prince of darkness shall be stimulated to unwonted interference with the affairs of men. Let the veil between the seen and unseen be removed, and we should see even now, and everywhere, the footsteps of the great adversary, the Devil, who, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. And if supernatural agency is exerted upon man for purposes of evil, much more may we feel assured that divine interference will not be withheld when necessary for our good. The encouragements to prayer in the New Testament are often expressly based on a direct promise of special divine intervention. The direction to pray over the sick, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord, accompanied with the promise that "the prayer of faith shall save the sick," implies a supernatural cure which cannot be distinguished, in any respect, from other miraculous interpositions. Nor is there any intimation in the sacred text that such prayers, or the corresponding answers, were to be confined to apostolic times; the exhortation was a general one, enforced by a general principle, the admitted efficacy of the prayer of a "righteous man;" not a sinlessly perfect being, for even "Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are," yet his prayer shut heaven for three years and six months, because that prayer was offered through the Spirit, in accordance with the will of God. If it be asked whether the Christian can offer this effectual prayer for a special object at pleasure, we answer, No; the doctrine of Scripture plainly is, that this efficacious faith is a special gift, communicated for special objects, by the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. The marked and decided instances of divine interposition in answer to prayer are at present rare, and that the alleged miracles of Papists, Mormons, and Spiritualists are gross interpositions, we readily admit. But were it true that we could not point out a single supernatural event, or special interposition of Providence, it would by no means prove that such manifestations never occur, or that they may not be expected in the future history of the church. It would only prove the weakness of our faith, and the dimness of our spiritual vision, compared with the faith of primitive times. We are perhaps disposed to look upon the miraculous occurrences of former days as being more numerous and common than they really were. We ought to remember that the extraordinary interpositions recorded extend over long periods of time, and that, with the exception of the Saviour's miracles, but a comparatively small number were witnessed by any one generation. Those that did occur were carefully recorded and preserved for the instruction and encouragement of God's people. Apostles healed the sick, cast out devils, spake with tongues, but they did not do these things always and everywhere. Sickness and death did not disappear at their approach; Paul was obliged to leave his friend Trophimus sick at Miletum. It was but once in his life that he was miraculously preserved from the bite of a serpent; but once that he was caught up to behold the glories of the third heavens: and then it was necessary that he should be buffeted by a messenger of Satan, to keep him from being exalted above measure. Nor was it upon all the disciples that supernatural gifts were bestowed; all were not workers of miracles; all had not the gifts of healing; all did not speak with tongues; all did not interpret. If we took more pains to verify and place on record the various instances of gracious divine interposition that occur in our own times, and were more studious in searching the "Banks of Faith" which our fathers have left us, we should probably be convinced that in no age of the world has God left his people without occasional manifestations of his special presence and favor, by tokens that are fully entitled to be regarded as supernatural. How many useless prayers we say,
Because our lives our prayers belie;
Because devotion dies away,
As on the air the echoes die! The lips may utter holy words,
And tremble with the form of prayer;
May charm the ear like singing birds,
And seem an angel's praise to share. And yet, unless a life of love,
Which fain would bless the world, be ours,
In vain we lift our hearts above,
Though worshiping in Eden bowers! Our life, our love, give soul to prayer,
Faith wings it to the mercy seat;
Wins it divine acceptance there,
And pours heaven's treasures at our feet! SATAN'S DEVICES.
By Wesley
1. The devices whereby the subtle god of this world labors to destroy the children of God—or at least to torment whom he cannot destroy, to perplex and hinder them in running the race which is set before them,—are numberless as the stars of heaven, or the sand upon the seashore. But it is of one of them only that I now propose to speak (although exerted in various ways), whereby he endeavors to divide the gospel against itself, and by one part of it to overthrow the other. 2. The inward kingdom of heaven, which is set up in the hearts of all that repent and believe the gospel, is no other than "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Every babe in Christ knows we are made partakers of these, the very hour that we believe in Jesus. But these are only the first-fruits of his Spirit; the harvest is not yet. Although these blessings are inconceivably great, yet we trust to see greater than these. We trust to love the Lord our God, not only as we do now, with a weak though sincere affection, but "with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength." We look for power to "rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks;" knowing "this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us." 3. We expect to be "made perfect in love;" in that which casts out all painful fear, and all desire but that of glorifying him we love, and of loving and serving him more and more. We look for such an increase in the experimental knowledge and love of God our Saviour, as will enable us always "to walk in the light as he is in the light." We believe the whole mind will be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; that we shall love every man, so as to be ready to lay down our life for his sake; so as, by this love, to be freed from anger, and pride, and from every unkind affection. We expect to be cleansed from all our idols, from all filthiness, whether of the flesh or spirit; to be saved from all our uncleannesses, inward or outward; to be purified as he is pure. 4. We trust in his promise, who cannot lie, that the time will surely come, when, in every word and work, we shall do his blessed will on earth, as it is done in heaven; when all our conversation shall be seasoned with salt, all meet to minister grace to the hearers; when, whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, it shall be done to the glory of God; when all our words and deeds shall be "in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God even [to God] the Father, through him." 5. Now this is the grand device of Satan, to destroy the first work of God in the soul, or at least to hinder its increase, by our expectation of that greater work. It is therefore my present design, first, to point out the several ways whereby he endeavors this: and secondly, to observe how we may retort these fiery darts of the wicked one, how we may rise the higher, by what he intends for an occasion of our falling. 1. I am, first, to point out the several ways whereby Satan endeavors to destroy the first work of God in the soul, or at least to hinder its increase, by our expectation of that greater work. And, 1. He endeavors to damp our joy in the Lord, by the consideration of our own vileness, sinfulness, unworthiness; added to this, that there must be a far greater change than is yet, or we cannot see the Lord. If we know we must remain as we are, even to the day of our death, we might possibly draw a kind of comfort, poor as it was, from that necessity. But as we know we need not remain in this state, as we are assured there is a greater change to come, and that unless sin be all done away in this life, we cannot see God in glory,—that subtle adversary often damps the joy we should otherwise feel in what we have already attained, by a perverse representation of what we have not attained, and the absolute necessity of attaining it. So that we cannot rejoice in what we have, because there is more which we have not. We cannot rightly taste the goodness of God, who hath done so great things for us, because there are so much greater things, which, as yet, he hath not done. Likewise, the deeper conviction God works in us of our present unholiness, and the more vehement desire we feel in our heart of the entire holiness he hath promised, the more are we tempted to think lightly of the present gifts of God, and to undervalue what we have already received, because of what we have not received. 2. If he can prevail thus far, if he can damp our joy, he will soon attack our peace also. He will suggest, "Are you fit to see God? He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. How then can you flatter yourself, so as to imagine he beholds you with approbation? God is holy: you are unholy. What communion hath light with darkness? How is it possible that you, unclean as you are, should be in a state of acceptance with God? You see indeed the mark, the prize of your high calling; but do you not see it is afar off? How can you presume then to think that all your sins are already forgiven? How can this be, until you are brought nearer to God, until you bear more resemblance to him?" Thus will he endeavor not only to shake your peace, but even to overturn the very foundation of it; to bring you back, by insensible degrees, to the point from whence you set out first, even to seek for justification by works, or by your own righteousness,—to make something in you the ground of your acceptance, or, at least, necessarily previous to it. 3. Or, if we hold fast, other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, even Jesus Christ; and, I am justified freely by God's grace, through the redemption which is in Jesus; yet he will not cease to urge, "But the tree is known by its fruits: and have you the fruits of justification? Is that mind in you which was in Christ Jesus? Are you dead unto sin, and alive unto righteousness? Are you made conformable to the death of Christ, and do you know the power of his resurrection?" And then, comparing the small fruits we feel in our souls with the fullness of the promises, we shall be ready to conclude, Surely God hath not said that my sins are forgiven me! Surely I have not received the remission of my sins; for what portion have I among them that are sanctified? 4. More especially in the time of sickness and pain, he will press this with all his might: "Is it not the word of Him that cannot lie, Without holiness no man shall see the Lord? But you are not holy; you know it well; you know holiness is the full image of God; and how far is this above, out of your sight? You cannot attain unto it. Therefore all your labor has been in vain. All these things you have suffered in vain. You have spent your strength for naught. You are yet in your sins, and must therefore perish at the last." And thus, if your eye be not steadily fixed on Him who hath borne all your sins, he will bring you again under that fear of death whereby you were so long subject unto bondage, and by this means, impair, if not wholly destroy, your peace, as well as joy in the Lord. 5. But his masterpiece of subtlety is still behind. Not content to strike at your peace and joy, he will carry his attempts farther yet: he will level his assault against your righteousness also. He will endeavor to shake, yea, if it be possible, to destroy, the holiness you have already received, by your very expectation of receiving more, of attaining all the image of God. 6. The manner wherein he attempts this, may partly appear from what has been already observed. For, first, by striking at our joy in the Lord, he strikes likewise at our holiness: seeing joy in the Holy Ghost is a precious means of promoting every holy temper; a choice instrument of God, whereby he carries on much of his work in a believing soul. And it is a considerable help, not only to inward, but also to outward holiness. It strengthens our hands to go on in the work of faith, and in the labor of love; manfully to fight the good fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal life. It is peculiarly designed of God to be a balance both against inward and outward sufferings; to lift up the hands that hang down, and confirm the feeble knees. Consequently, whatever damps our joy in the Lord, proportionally obstructs our holiness. And therefore, so far as Satan shakes our joy, he hinders our holiness also. 7. The same effect will ensue, if he can, by any means, either destroy or shake our peace. For the peace of God is another precious means of advancing the image of God in us. There is scarce a greater help to holiness than this, a continual tranquillity of spirit, the evenness of a mind stayed upon God, a calm repose in the blood of Jesus. And without this, it is scarce possible to grow in grace, and in the vital knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." For all fear (unless the tender, filial fear) freezes and benumbs the soul. It binds up all the springs of spiritual life, and stops all motion of the heart towards God. And doubt, as it were, bemires the soul, so that it sticks fast in the deep clay. Therefore, in the same proportion as either of these prevail, our growth in holiness is hindered. 8. At the same time that our wise adversary endeavors to make our conviction of the necessity of perfect love an occasion of shaking our peace by doubts and fears, he endeavors to weaken, if not destroy, our faith. Indeed these are inseparably connected, so that they must stand or fail together. So long as faith subsists, we remain in peace; our heart stands fast, while it believes in the Lord. But if we let go our faith, our filial confidence in a loving, pardoning God, our peace is at an end, the very foundation on which it stood being overthrown. And this is the only foundation of holiness, as well as of peace; consequently, whatever strikes at this, strikes at the very root of all holiness: for without this faith, without an abiding sense that Christ loved me, and gave himself for me, without a continuing conviction that God for Christ's sake is merciful to me a sinner, it is impossible that I should love God: we love him, because he first loved us; and in proportion to the strength and clearness of our conviction that he hath loved us, and accepted us in his Son. And unless we love God, it is not possible that we should love our neighbor as ourselves; nor, consequently, that we should have any right affections, either towards God, or towards man. It evidently follows, that whatever weakens our faith, must, in the same degree, obstruct our holiness. And this is not only the most effectual, but also the most compendious way of destroying all holiness. Seeing it does not affect any one Christian temper, any single grace or fruit of the Spirit, but, so far as it succeeds, tears up the very root of the whole work of God. 9. No marvel, therefore, that the ruler of the darkness of this world should here put forth all his strength. And so we find by experience. For it is far easier to conceive, than it is to express, the unspeakable violence wherewith this temptation is frequently urged on them who hunger and thirst after righteousness. When they see in a strong and clear light, on the one hand, the desperate wickedness of their own hearts, on the other hand, the unspotted holiness to which they are called in Christ Jesus; on the one hand, the depth of their own corruption, of their total alienation from God, on the other, the height of the glory of God, that image of the Holy One, wherein they are to be renewed; there is, many times, no spirit left in them; they could almost cry out, With God this is impossible! They are ready to give up both faith and hope; to cast away that very confidence, whereby they are to overcome all things, through Christ strengthening them; whereby, after they have done the will of God, they are to receive the promise. 10. And if they hold fast the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end, they shall undoubtedly receive the promise of God, reaching through both time and eternity. And here is another snare laid for our feet: while we earnestly pant for that part of the promise which is to be accomplished here, we may be led unawares from the consideration of the glory which shall hereafter be revealed. Our eye may be insensibly turned aside from that crown, which the righteous Judge hath promised to give at that day to all that love his appearing; and we may be drawn away from the view of that incorruptible inheritance which is reserved in heaven for us. But this also would be a loss to our souls, and an obstruction to our holiness. For to walk in the continual sight of our goal, is a needful help in our running the race that is set before us. This it was, the having respect unto the recompense of the reward, which, of old time, encouraged Moses, rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Nay, it is expressly said of a greater than he, that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, and despised the shame, till he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Whence we may easily infer, how much more needful for us is the view of that joy set before us, that we may endure whatever cross the wisdom of God lays upon us, and press on through holiness to glory. 11. But while we are reaching to this, as well as to that glorious liberty which is preparatory to it, we may be in danger of falling into another snare of the Devil, wherein he labors to entangle the children of God. We may take too much thought for to-morrow, so as to neglect the improvement of to-day. We may so expect perfect love, as not to use that which is already shed abroad in our hearts. There have not been wanting instances of those who have greatly suffered hereby. They were so taken up with what they were to receive hereafter, as utterly to neglect what they had already received. In expectation of having five talents more, they buried their one talent in the earth. At least, they did not improve it as they might have done, to the glory of God, and the good of their own souls.—Wesley. "RAP HIM AGAIN, SHARPLY."
It was near sunset when I found myself at no great distance from a cottage, which had attached to it a piece of waste ground, partly surrounded with a fence of high boards. While looking up at the many colored clouds in the direction where the sun was declining in the sky, my attention was arrested by the sound of repeated blows, which appeared to be struck on a soft substance. Blow followed blow in such a regular manner, that they reminded me of men threshing in a barn with a couple of flails, only the sound was much duller than that made by threshers. All at once the blows ceased, and then I heard a man cry out, "Rap him again sharply, for he has a deal of dust in him yet." The moment I came to the end of the high fence, I saw a large carpet stretched on a rope between two poles, and two men beating it with all their might. The mystery was now made plain, and I no longer wondered at the words, "Rap him again sharply, for he has a deal of dust in him yet." Now the thought may be considered a little fanciful, but it did occur to me that most of us have required, in our time, as hearty a drubbing as the carpet had received. "Yes," said I, "we all need to be tried, and chastised, and humbled, for we are proud, and selfish, and worldly-minded, we think much of earth, and little of heaven; much of ourselves, and little of our heavenly Father; and beating is not more necessary to a dusty carpet, than trial is to those whose hearts are cleaving to the dust. Now considering the matter in this light, the wonder is not that we are beaten, but that we are not always being beaten. Not that we should have affliction, but that we should ever be free from affliction, for we bring it upon ourselves by our transgressions. No earthly power can ward the coming blow,
Sorrow and sin through life together go. Truly we have all been dealt with very tenderly; what mercy is mingled with the seeming severity of the words of the Holy One, when speaking of his people: "If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." Ps. lxxxix, 31-33. As I returned from my pleasant walk, at the very moment that I re-passed the cottage and the high fence, the same voice which I heard before, cried out, "There! let us take him down now, for he looks all the better for his beating." "Well," thought I, "the beaten carpet was not at all likely to be forgotten by me before, but now it is pretty sure to be retained in my memory. That it looks the better for being beaten, I have no doubt at all. My evening walk has not been in vain, for I have at least obtained a subject of reflection." If we all more steadily believed that the rod is meant to purify us, or in other words, to get the dust out of us, we might then sit more quietly under the merciful corrections of our heavenly Father. How does this apply to you, my readers? Have you been beaten, and are you the better for it? Have any of you been visited with trouble, and can you say, "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept thy word. . . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes." Ps. cxix, 67, 71. Look up! look up! when troubles frown,
That God may send a blessing down. Hardly do I think that any of us reflect sufficiently on the value of our daily cares, which are, perhaps, after all, as necessary as our daily bread. When they draw us to our heavenly Father, we have indeed reason to be thankful for them. Sweet it is in the day of calamity, and the hour of trial, to be able to cast all our cares on Him who careth for us. Sweet in the confidence of faith,
To trust His firm decrees;
Sweet to lie passive in his hands,
And know no will but His. Oh, the buffetings and beatings through which many of God's people have passed! Look over a small part of the "bill of fare," if I may so call it, of St. Paul's afflictions: "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." Yet all these were blessed to him! You must think over this subject, and see if you cannot turn it to more advantage than I have done. The words of holy writ are very encouraging: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."156Heb. xii, 5, 6. And again : "No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." Heb. xii, 12. This little adventure of the beaten carpet often occurs to my remembrance, and especially so, when any expected evil is overruled for good, or when my heart is humbled by any passing trouble. Again and again do the words appear to sound in my ears, at one time producing a smile, and at another an emotion of a much deeper kind: "Rap him again sharply, for he has a deal of dust in him yet," and "There! let us take him down now, for he looks all the better for his beating."