Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 33, No. 12.

LOVE OF THE WORLD.

Review and Herald

Mar 16, 1869

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 16, 1869

LOVE OF THE WORLD.

By James White

BY ELD. JAMES WHITE.
TEXT.— “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 i, 15.
The connection is indeed interesting. “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.”
These are the words of the beloved John. He dwells much upon the subject of love. Love abode in him. His nature was in harmony with love. Grace had refined and elevated him until it was easy for him to love.
He addresses the people of God in terms of affection. His age, perhaps, makes it proper for him to address the church by the term of little children. Tradition says of him, that in his old age, when not able to rise to address the assembly, seated in his chair, he would repeat these words, “Little children, love one another.”
What he says of young women. Those in the morning of manhood and womanhood, possessing strength of intellect as well as physical strength, have in them power to gain victories. “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” Young men are called to enter the army to fight the battles of their country. And because of the strength of their years, those who have not yet reached the noon of life, are the very ones that the church have a right to look to as valiant in the cause of Jesus Christ. In the spiritual warfare with Satan and his angels, these are the ones who should succeed. “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and have overcome the wicked one.”
But, with most young men and most young women, time and strength are regarded altogether too valuable to spend in the service of their Master. And instead of entering into this spiritual battle, and gaining victories to save themselves, and to become strong, to be of use in riper years, we find them loving the world, and the things that are in the world, and giving the best of their lives to the service of the Devil. This is a frightful fact existing in the church. And it should be a matter of mourning to the church. She may well put on sackcloth of hair, and mourning, that the very strength of the church, or what should be the strength of the church, is spent almost exclusively in the service of the world, and of Satan.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” The apostle makes a distinction. World, here, refers to this globe. In the following verses, I think, is given an idea of the distinction which the apostle had in his mind: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” The world, perhaps, means this earth, this globe, with all that God has created upon it. And the things that are in the world may refer to the works of men, that which is termed by the apostle, the lust of the flesh, that which the flesh lusts after, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”
The Scriptures deal in strong terms. These strong terms are sometimes qualified by other revealed facts. The Scriptures must be understood in harmony. When correctly understood, there is found to exist a perfect harmony throughout. The apostle would not give us to understand that all our powers to love are to be absorbed in the Father, and that no portion of our love, or any degree of our love, may be bestowed elsewhere. The husband is commanded to love his wife; we, therefore, are led to the position that the Father is to receive our supreme love, and that wherever it is proper and right that our affections should rest, it should be in a lesser degree.
God is love. The principles of his moral government are founded in love. And it is in the mind of the great God to do all his creatures good. He requires of us supreme love. Yet a man may love his wife. God commands him to do this. Christians may love a world of sinners lying in wickedness, because the word of God teaches that they should do it. The Christian may even love his enemies. It is no more than what Christ told him he must do. We may love this place consecrated to the worship of God. It is right that we should. Creatures that God has formed, who are dependent on us to live, may share a portion of our affection. Some particular location may have many claims to our special regard. There may be associated with it things that make that place especially dear to us. In a proper degree, to love that spot may be right.
But in the text, the love of the Father is put in contrast with the love of the world, and the love of the things that are in the world. We are not sufficiently sanctified to God to bestow our love always as we should. We are living in an age of extremes, and we ourselves are prone to be extremists. If we would ever bear in mind, as in duty bound, to love God supremely, and love everything else in a subordinate sense, it would be better for us.
The object of the apostle, as I regard it, is to strike against the great evil that existed in the church in his day, and has existed ever since, namely, a growing disposition in the hearts of the disciples of the Lord, to love the things of time and sense, to love these supremely, and to love God in an inferior sense.
I am not disposed, this morning, to halve this matter, and try to run around plain facts. The church generally love this world supremely, and love God in an inferior sense. Could the matter be reversed—could they love God as they love the world, and could they love the world as they now love God—then we might have proper proportions.
I love to hear that remark that we have frequently heard in substance like this: “We should bestow our love, and should put forth our efforts, in proportion to the value of the objects of our pursuits.” For a moment, think of the duration of the next life, of the glory of the next world, and the reward of the future state. And then think of the brief duration of this mortal state. Are our efforts, our devotions, proportionate to the objects we are seeking? Then we would serve God a thousand times where we would serve the world once. And we would love the world but a thousandth part as much as we love Heaven, and the things of God. Our lives should be in harmony with the words of Scripture, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all things shall be added unto you.” We do not do it. We do not obey Christ in this respect.
The history of the church is a sad one. It has been hard to bring men and women up to the standard. When God, in past ages, has undertaken to try his people, to prove them, they have most always sunk beneath the trial. And instead of coming out gold, they have come out dross. This is the sad history of the church. Probably there is not a more beautiful character brought out in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, than that of Abraham. And yet the world and its spirit had a most powerful influence upon the patriarch. And he, yielding to it in the form of polygamy, suffered his character to be terribly marred. Oh! what a living shame!
God has, in every age, tried his people. And it is his plan to try men in reference to the great prevailing sin of the age in which they live. This was so in the case of Abraham. The sin of the world then wasnot covetousness, and pride, and vanity, and the love of money, which curses the men of the present generation. But the great sin then was, a plurality of wives. Why! a king was not half a king unless he had from ten to a hundred wives. We speak now of the heathen kings. Polygamy was as popular then as it is now at Salt Lake. A man now is not half a Mormon unless he has sufficient wealth to have at least half a dozen wives. But polygamy was as wrong in the days of Abraham as it is now at Salt Lake. The whole system is entirely opposed to God’s plan. If his plan had been that a man should have two or three or half a dozen wives, why did he not take out of the side of Adam, two or three or a half dozen ribs, and make as many wives for him. Instead of this, he took one only. That was God’s plan. The great men in Abraham’s day, the kings about him, had a plurality of wives. This was their pride. This was their glory. This was their greatness. Abraham was truly a great man, and oh! what a living shame that the weakness of his nature should lead him to bend to the popular crime of his age, and that that noble character which shines out from the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, should become marred. What a terrible shame! But it only shows how dangerous is unlawful love of the world, and the things that are in the world.
With the history of this matter all should be familiar. It is wonderfully interesting. God promised Abraham that he would make his seed as the sand of the sea in number. The promised Heir of the world was to come through his seed. And yet Sarah, his wife, in her age, was childless. Did Abraham believe God? Certainly. And there was the promise of God that he would make him a great nation. Wonderful. He is perplexed. But finally Sarah has a son at the age of ninety years. Isaac is born. It was, however, a miracle of divine power. Here stands the patriarch at the age of one hundred years, and his wife Sarah at the age of ninety, and the child of promise is born unto them. I say it was a miracle.
But prior to this time, Abraham passed a terrible trial. Prior to the birth of Isaac, he was in great perplexity as to how this thing could be. Abraham waits, and his perplexity increases. Here are all the nations around him just glorying in the popular vice and sin of the age, polygamy. It was as common for a man to have a plurality of wives as it is now for a man to have only one wife. This was the existing state of things. Wherever Abraham turned his eyes, it was polygamy. Wherever Sarah looked around her, it was polygamy. It was the glory of the age. The Devil comes along and tempts Sarah. She goes to Abraham and says, Now Abraham, my age forbids the fulfillment of the promise; but here is my maid, Hagar, take her to wife, and let the promise of God be fulfilled. Abraham yielded. Oh! what a living shame!
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” If he had stood where he might have stood, and had clearly seen God’s plan in the beginning, that one man and one woman only should constitute the head of every family, he would not have been tempted. But the power of example around him influenced him in his perplexity to the popular sin of the time. And what a miserable family trouble followed. Hagar despised her mistress. Isaac is born. Then came the rivalry between the two women, Hagar and Sarah. Hagar had the idea that her Ishmael was to be the child of promise. Sarah, now that Isaac is born, believes him to be the child of promise. What a miserable family fuss! And just such things are ever the result of error. How embittered was Abraham’s life. He has to send Hagar away, and his own son, Ishmael.
I now carry you back to the point I first introduced before the birth of Isaac. The birth of that son was a miracle. But why did not God work this miracle, if a miracle it must still be, when Sarah was fifty, or sixty, or seventy, years of age? God could have wrought a miracle then, just as well as when she was ninety years old—just as well as after Abraham had fallen into the sin of polygamy. Why does God suffer his servant Abraham to thus fail? Let me say, friends, God tries every man. God tests every man. He will not admit any one to the kingdom of Heaven before he has been tested. God, I say, could have wrought a miracle, and Isaac been born when Sarah was sixty, or seventy, and Abraham been saved all this perplexity. And the sin of falling into polygamy might have never rested upon Abraham. But he is no respecter of persons. Abraham must be tested as well as other men. But, unfortunately for him, he did not stand the trial.
Follow me now for a moment. And you that are acquainted with the matter, will be able to follow me. And you who are not, I advise to become acquainted with it before the sun goes down. The promised heir was to come through Abraham. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, reaches the age of eighty-nine, and is yet childless. Her age now forbids the idea of her having children. She finally has a son at the age of ninety. The birth of that son is a miracle of God’s power. God designed it so. It would have been so, of course, if Abraham had been true, and never taken Hagar. But just think how splendidly would Abraham’s character have shone out from the Bible, had he not fallen at all. Just think of it. Here is the promise that his seed should be as the sands of the sea; yet his own wife, and the only one he ever should have had, is childless. She reaches the age of eighty-nine years, and yet there is the promise. God is sending his angel, repeating the promise over and over again, which promise was that his seed should be as the sand of the sea. Had Abraham stood the test, how much trouble it would have saved him. And he would have stood out as one of the noblest characters in the word of God. And the skeptic would not have grown bold over his wrong, to fling insult in the very face of Heaven. “There,” says the infidel, “is the father of the faithful, cherishing two wives!” What a living shame that Abraham should thus fall!
But God is good. God was merciful to Abraham, although he had become stained with the popular crime of his age, and marred his holy character. The God of Heaven gave him a chance to redeem the time, to redeem his character, and to place it higher in the estimation of Heaven than if he had not fallen. How is this? Can Abraham redeem the past? God has a plan by which he may. At a later period he says to the patriarch, “Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” What father’s heart would not have revolted at this, the most terrible test that God ever brought upon mortal man! Its equal cannot be found.
The aged patriarch obeys. He does not open the matter to Sarah. He fears the result of such a course. He well remembers what witchwork Sarah made when she persuaded him to take Hagar. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering; so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of Heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.”
God did not say to Abraham, Take Isaac, and go to the mountain, and build an altar, and put on wood, and put Isaac upon it, and act just as though you were going to slay him, and just as you are ready, I will call to you, and tell you to hold, I have provided a ram instead. It was no such farce as this. The apostle says that Abraham accounted that God was able to raise Isaac up, even from the dead. He had no other idea than that he was to slay his son. And now his only hope is, that God would raise him from the dead.
Oh! what a desperate position is this to which the patriarch is driven! He is an extremist. How wild! He is mad. But God had pushed him to just that very position. Just such an extreme was necessary in his case; and if he stands the test, then he will redeem the past. Abraham must now be an extremist. There is no other way. God watches from Heaven, as the silversmith watches the ore in the furnace, lest the precious ore shall be destroyed. He watches until the dross is all separated from the pure metal. So God looked on as Abraham was passing through the trial. But Abraham staggered not at the promise. He builds the altar. He places the wood. He binds Isaac and lays him upon it. He raises the knife. But just as the fatal blow is about to fall, a voice from Heaven calls, Hold, Abraham, it is enough. You have proved yourself true. You have redeemed the past. It is enough. Blessed be God! What a happy day is this for Abraham. The cords are loosed from happy Isaac, happy that his father has met the mind of God, and receives the approving smiles of Heaven, without sacrificing his life. They come down from the mountain rejoicing, and the circumstances of the case are written out for the good of the church. All the scenes of Mount Moriah are recorded, and in the heavenly record, Abraham now stands higher than if he had not fallen into the sin of polygamy.
It was the influence of the world, that threatened the patriarch all through his life, as well as it threatens us. In one particular he stained his character. God gave him a chance to wipe the stain off. He did it, by faith in God. And he stands as the father of the faithful. In the next life you may look around upon all the honors that shall stand upon the plains of deliverance, and Abraham’s palm will be the most beautiful. His crown will shine with the greatest glory. For of all those that have fought in the warfare of faith, none will have stood such a test as the patriarch. Among all the faithful his crown will be the brightest. He has fully redeemed the past. What an encouraging view this is to present to those who have marred their lives in the past, by wickedly departing from God. He gives them an opportunity to redeem the time, and to come out as gold, and to have the heavenly record stand in the eyes of God, and Christ, and angels, fairer than if they never had fallen.
Now Abraham’s case is not an isolated one. True, it is a marked case. It was a shameful fall, and a glorious victory. But the case of every child of faith will resemble that of the father of the faithful.
God has designed to bless this people, located at Battle Creek, greatly. He has given evidence of this. In times of backsliding, and even rebellion on the part of many, he has sent his servants into your midst, and as it were, over the heads of the church, sinners and backsliders have been brought to Christ. The scenes of the past year—the visits to the Kalamazoo to bury the new converts with their Lord in baptism, these front seats filled with backsliders and sinners, testify to what I am telling you, that God has had great blessings for his people in Battle Creek. He has reproved you. The great sin among you has been the love of the world, and of the things that are in the world. The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. These cover almost everything that is sinful.
There are those in this church that have been covetous, loving the world, gathering the world, and have shut up their bowels of compassion against the poor, the suffering, and the needy. These things have been reproved. God has given you a chance to redeem the time. There are those who love to gratify the lust of the eye in their dress, and in their appearance. For this pride of life, and lust of the eye, they have been reproved. They have had an opportunity to redeem the past. There are those in whose hearts has been inspired an extreme love of worldly amusements.Singing is not to be objected to by any means, if held subordinate to the principles of true religion. Would to God that we all sung. But it has been turned to a bad account. And then various other amusements have been advocated as being healthful, innocent, and even necessary. It has been stated that if you take them away from the young, there would be a vacancy which nothing else could fill, and they would run to ruin. This is one of the Devil’s arguments. Just get these things out of the mind, and I can present work enough before the young, work just in harmony with the teachings of my Lord. These young men and women, that should be strong to overcome the wicked one, can be engaged in more noble work than playing checkers, or any of these little, simple plays, that do not amount to a row of pins. These young men and young women should be gaining victories in the work of God. And to come down to these small things is a living shame. Come, young men, and young women, search up the destitute and needy. Visit those orphans, who are, perhaps, brothers and sisters in the church. Go search for these children. Go to these in the name of your Master. Are they ignorant? Give them books. Do they need to be taught right principles, how to shun the evils in the world? You are just the persons for this work.
“I have written to you, young men [and it is as good for young women, as for young men], because ye are strong, and have overcome the wicked one.” Cherish love of these things, and your playing croquet, checkers, and the like, will look to you like small business for Christians. Go, young friends, and search these out. Try to lift them up. Get your strong arms, young men, and young women, beneath them, and lift them up. Are they in want of clothing? Get them clothing, and bring them to the house of God. Are they in want of instruction? Have your assemblies, not for the fortunate ones, but for the poor, the halt, the lame, and the ignorant; and there you may do good in leading them on to goodness and morality. “I have written unto you, young men [and I do not believe the apostle would object to my adding young women also], because ye are strong.” It is your strong arms, that we want to lift in the cause.
I have said that a man that loved money, and had been stingy with the orphan, stingy with the unfortunate, and had a cold, rigid heart toward the poor, had been reproved. Such have had a chance to redeem the time. They should have been about it. And the men and women that have had a love for folly, dress, and the vanities of life, had better have been in haste to get rid of these things. And there are some young men, and some young women, in this church, who are as full of this kind of trash as an egg is full of meat. They have been reproved over and over again. God would have them to redeem the time.
Abraham, and the test brought to bear upon him, may be taken as an example of many I am addressing. God pushed Abraham to the position where he was an extremist. Nothing could blot out the stain upon his noble character but to be pushed to the position where he stands forth as an extremist. The man who has had a love for the world, and that young woman whose life has been as aimless as a butterfly’s flight, and these young people who have had all their powers burnt up in some of these simple plays, God would have become extremists, on the other side. And the very best thing they could do to correct themselves of the weakness in the one direction is to stand forth decidedly in the opposite direction. God requires it. Nothing else will fully satisfy the Spirit of God but for you to prove yourselves, and show that you stand entirely aloof from the sins into which you have fallen.
God gave Abraham a chance to fully redeem the past, and vindicate his character, that he might stand upon the sacred record as one of the most excellent characters therein written. The patriarch improved it, and came off a victor. There are those in this congregation who have failed to come up to the doctrine of Christ. But for the sake of the increase of the cause of God located in this city, when hearts were set against his work, he reproved those in the wrong, and has turned the current of things in another channel. His name be praised for what he has done. Then he left you to redeem the past. But have you done it? Did he lead Abraham, after he had made mistakes, to take an extreme position to blot out the stain upon his character? Then you would be fully justified to become extremists. I would explain myself here. I mean just this: That man who had an extreme love for money, has had opportunity to redeem that by extreme liberality. That person who has been unfeeling toward the orphan, has had a chance to redeem the past by having a great care and regard for them. Has he done it? And those that have been running to pride, and dress, and folly, have they redeemed the past?
Now, friends, just place yourself in the position of right. Let the heavens gather blackness. Let all hell be astir. Let what will come, be men and women for God. There are ways leading in all directions out into the world. Here is a young theater in this city. Should any Seventh-day Adventist be found there, I should feel like putting on sackcloth. When you hear of any visiting that place, please buy a weed for my hat.
It is time we knew where we were. When we get into the right position, copious showers of God’s blessing will come upon us, and we shall not be as dead as door nails.
May the blessing of God rest upon us. May the truths we have spoken rest with deep weight upon your minds. Amen.

“FAINT, YET PURSUING.”

Bound for the better land, Why should we slumber, Or in the vineyard stand, Only to cumber? Sands of life are running fast, Let us be doing, Be like heroes of the past— “Faint, yet pursuing!”
What though we wander here, Midst doubt and dangers? Soon shall the shore appear, Where these are strangers, Where the pilgrim’s broken staff, Needs no renewing; Wine for wormwood shall we quaff— “Faint, yet pursuing.”

MENTAL IMPROVEMENT.

By Joseph Clarke

As a general thing, we think too little of the cultivation and improvement of the mind. A man has land, he improves it; money he has, he puts it out at interest; stock, he sees that it is always growing; but his mind he considers a servant, to be used in his own interest. His mind is employed, worked, burdened; or he does not perchance stop to think of the fact that his mind is capable of improvement.
Property, riches, honor, fame, may all take wings and fly away; but a well-stored, well-cultivated mind, will last, and will continue to shine when youth, beauty, and wealth have all passed away; and more than this, will not mental culture go with us when we enter the celestial world, if we are so happy as to attain to it?
Men toil, and strive, and tug, at the perpetual round of life's labor, and year in, and year out, they are slaves, though in a free country; they toil and sweat, and often even when they have attained a competence, they only know how to toil on and on, forgetting that they possess minds capable of endless improvement.
So common is this, that if it happens that one more thoughtful, leaves the common beaten track, and lives in simple style, that he may have time to think a little of the affairs of the mind, he is considered much behind in the race of life. He has no money at interest, no fine houses or farms to rent, but is content with a competence. Surely he must lack common sense, say the wise and prudent of this world.
But we do not think of censuring any one on this head; we only suggest that it is, as we believe, every one's duty to cultivate the mind daily, old as well as young. And speaking of this, we would inquire if premature old age is not sometimes caused by this very thing, too much physical labor, and too little real mental culture.
It is a well-known law of nature, that neglect of any physical or mental endowment, causes the decay of the neglected capacity. Thus the singer may neglect his vocal powers, and he soon loses his musical talent. The mechanic may lose his skill, by ceasing to practice his trade. And so of every kind of business. It is the constant practice of the same which makes the skillful workman.
Now it often happens that, when people become a little in years, they imagine they must grow old, lose sight, hearing, memory, and at the slightest notice they have of this, they imagine the time has come; and committing their affairs to others, they sit down in apathetic slumber of mind, become dull and torpid as to life's affairs, and suppose it is all chargeable to old age. We admit that old age brings decay; but not so soon as it often comes to the timid and despondent.
That the culture of the mind tends to lengthen life, and to strengthen the mental powers, is proved by the lengthened lives and usefulness of such men as have most consistently, judiciously, and continuously, improved the mind; and hundreds of such men are now living; which is, we think, fair evidence of the correctness of this position.
There are various ways of improving the mind. Circumstances may debar some from such a course of study as they wish. To such, some other mode of improvement is suggested by the necessities and exigencies of the occasion. Again, another consideration presents itself. It is this, that men's minds are varied in their tastes and capacities; one is for deep and thorough investigation; another skims more swiftly over the surface, but returns again to plow deeper the next time; one is the deep subsoil plough, another only ploughs the light stubble just below the surface; or one is like the elephant shaking the earth as he walks, another is like the light deer, which glides softly but swiftly by.
But much as minds differ, they need in a certain sense, the same preparation and early training. Failing in this, they suit themselves to circumstances, and the nearest available means and mode of improvement. Benjamin Franklin gained his high position by varied and extensive reading; and he was a remarkably rapid reader. Sir Isaac Newton attained to eminence by deep study and research.
In religious matters, one peruses the Bible with caution and care, comparing parallel passages; slowly but surely removing seeming difficulties and objections. To him the reading of the Bible by course would be of little benefit compared with the mode he has adopted. To another the study of the Scriptures is accomplished by often reading them by course. To such an one, it may be more habitual and natural to get the sense by often reading the sacred text; and by so doing the whole Bible becomes familiar. And as he often reads it in this manner, it becomes a part of his being. Like an elegant and finished painting, it becomes impressed upon his mind, in all its grandeur and truth, sublimity and beauty; and every fresh perusal, brings out some new beauties, not before seen.
The writer of this must confess himself of this latter class; but had he in the past formed a habit of study in his reading, it might have been otherwise. Not long since, a man of erudition and deep piety, made this remark in a private letter to a friend: 'I am now studying the first chapter of Genesis.' He was not saying, 'To-day, I am studying this chapter,' but, 'It is my study at present;' and he is a man of large, comprehensive mind, capable of rapid work. Think of this, ye who are content to shine along the surface.
But with regard to mental culture, our age is teeming with theories as to the best modes and means of improving the mind. We fall back upon the tried and proved testimony of the Bible: 'Seek first the kingdom of Heaven.' First fill the mind with heavenly light and wisdom; then there is a foundation to build upon; and when the mind, purified by grace, does acquire wisdom and knowledge, it shines with far greater luster and beauty, as the sky always seems more beautiful, when clouds and mists are cleared away.
JOSEPH CLARKE.

Sincerity.

Sine, “without,” and cera, “wax”—from these two Latin words is sincerity derived.
It means pure honey after it is extracted from the substance that surrounds it.
I gather this from De Sales, a pious French writer, who has given us such treasures of thought in his works.
I had never analyzed this word. It has a new and more beautiful meaning to me from this time. If one says of a person, “He or she is sincere,” I feel that the individual is to be trusted; that the character is free from all duplicity, is frank, earnest, pure, artless. How blessed to find such a soul! May we not all attain to this sincerity? Is it not possible by God’s grace? All things are possible with God.
Let us ask for his Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, and so to sanctify them that they may be sincere without offense.
It is so happy to feel that God loves us, and that men trust us.—Christian Banner.
Continue reading: THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL