Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 25, 1883
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
Christian Unity.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
(Concluded.)
CHRISTIANS should regard it as a religious duty to repress a spirit of envy or emulation. They should rejoice in the superior reputation or prosperity of their brethren, even when their own character or achievements seem to be cast in the shade. It was the pride and ambition cherished in the heart of Satan that banished him from Heaven. These evils are deeply rooted in our fallen nature, and if not removed they will overshadow every good and noble quality, and bring forth envy and strife as their baleful fruits.
We should seek for true goodness, rather than greatness. Those who possess the mind of Christ will have humble views of themselves. They will labor for the purity and prosperity of the church, and be ready to sacrifice their own interests and desires rather than to cause dissension among their brethren.
Satan is constantly seeking to cause distrust, alienation, and malice among God's people. We shall be often tempted to feel that our rights are invaded, when there is no real cause for such feelings. Those whose love for self is stronger than their love for Christ and his cause, will place their own interests first, and resort to almost any expedient to guard and maintain them. When they consider themselves injured by their brethren, some will even go to law, instead of following the Saviour's
Even many who appear to be conscientious Christians are hindered by pride and self-esteem from going privately to those they think in error, that they may talk the matter over in the spirit of Christ, and pray for one another. Contentions, strife, and lawsuits between brethren are a disgrace to the cause of truth. Those who take such a course expose the church to the ridicule of her enemies, and cause the powers of darkness to triumph. They are piercing the wounds of Christ afresh, and putting him to an open shame. By ignoring the authority of the church, they show contempt for God, who gave to the church its authority.
Paul writes to the Galatians: "I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
False teachers had brought to the Galatians doctrines that were opposed to the gospel of Christ. Paul sought to expose and correct these errors. He greatly desired that the false teachers might be separated from the church, but their influence had affected so many of the believers that it seemed hazardous to take action against them. There was danger of causing strife and division which would be ruinous to the spiritual interests of the church. He therefore sought to impress upon his brethren the importance of trying to help one another in love. He declared that all the requirements of the law setting forth our duty to our fellow-men are fulfilled in love to one another. He warned them that if they indulged hatred and strife, dividing into parties, and like the brutes biting and devouring one another, they would bring upon themselves present unhappiness and future ruin. There was but one way to prevent these terrible evils, and that was, as the apostle enjoined upon them, to "walk in the Spirit." They must by constant prayer seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which would lead them to love and unity.
A house divided against itself cannot stand. When Christians contend, Satan comes in to take control. How often has he succeeded in destroying the peace and harmony of churches. What fierce controversies, what bitterness, what hatred, has a very little matter started! What hopes have been blasted, how many families have been rent asunder by discord and contention!
Paul charged his brethren to beware lest in trying to correct the faults of others, they should commit sins equally great themselves. He warns them that hatred, emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, and envyings are as truly the works of the flesh as are lasciviousness, adultery, drunkenness, and murder, and will as surely close the gate of Heaven against the guilty.
Christ declares, "Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea." Whoever by willful deception or by a wrong example misleads a disciple of Christ, is guilty of a great sin. Whoever would make him an object of slander or ridicule is insulting Jesus. Our Saviour marks every wrong done to his followers.
How were those punished who in olden time made light of what God had chosen as sacred to himself? Belshazzar and his thousand lords profaned the golden vessels of Jehovah, and praised the idols of Babylon. But the God whom they defied was a witness of the unholy scene. In the midst of their sacrilegious mirth, a bloodless hand was seen tracing mysterious characters upon the palace wall. Filled with terror, king and courtiers heard their doom pronounced by the servant of the Most High.
Let those who delight to trace words of calumny and falsehood against the servants of Christ remember that God is a witness of their deeds. Their slanderous touch is not profaning soulless vessels, but the characters of those whom Christ has purchased with his blood. The hand which traced the characters upon the walls of Belshazzar's palace, keeps faithful record of every act of injustice or oppression committed against God's people.
Sacred history presents striking examples of the Lord's jealous care for the weakest of his children. During the journeying of Israel in the wilderness, the weary and feeble ones who had fallen behind the body of the people, were attacked and slain by the cowardly and cruel Amalekites. Afterward Israel made war with the Amalekites and defeated them. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." Again the charge was repeated by Moses just before his death, that it might not be forgotten by his posterity: "Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary, and he feared not God. . . Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."
If God thus punished the cruelty of a heathen nation, how must he regard those who, professing to be his people, will make war upon their own brethren who are worn and wearied laborers in his cause. Satan has great power over those who yield to his control. It was the chief priests and elders—the religious teachers of the people—that urged on the murderous throng from the Judgment Hall to Calvary. There are hearts to-day among the professed followers of Christ, inspired by the same spirit that clamored for the crucifixion of our Saviour. Let the workers of evil remember that to all their acts there is one witness, a holy, sin-hating God. He will bring all their works into Judgment, with every secret thing.
"We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself." As Christ has pitied and helped us in our weakness and sinfulness, so should we pity and help others. Many are perplexed with doubt, burdened with infirmities, weak in faith, and unable to grasp the unseen; but a friend whom they can see, coming to them in Christ's stead, can be as a connecting link to fasten their trembling faith upon God. Oh, this is a blessed work! Let not pride and selfishness prevent us from doing the good which we may do, if we will work in Christ's name, and with a loving, tender spirit.
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Here, again, our duty is plainly set before us. How can the professed followers of Christ so lightly regard these inspired injunctions? Not long since I received a letter describing a circumstance in which a brother had manifested indiscretion. Although it occurred years ago, and was a very small matter, hardly worthy of a second thought, the writer stated that it had forever destroyed her confidence in that brother. If that sister's life should show, upon review, no greater errors, it would be indeed a marvel, for human nature is very weak. I have been and am still fellowshipping as brethren and sisters those who have been guilty of grave sins, and who even now do not see their sins as God sees them. But the Lord bears with these persons, and why should not I? He will yet cause his Spirit so to impress their hearts that sin will appear to them as it appeared to Paul, exceedingly sinful.
We know but little of our own hearts, and have but little sense of our own need of the mercy of God. This is why we cherish so little of that sweet compassion which Jesus manifests toward us, and which we should manifest toward one another. We should remember that our brethren are weak, erring mortals, like ourselves. Suppose that a brother has through unwatchfulness been over-borne by temptation, and contrary to his general conduct has committed some error; what course shall be pursued toward him? We learn from Bible history that men whom God had used to do a great and good work committed grave sins. The Lord did not pass these by unrebuked, neither did he cast off his servants. When they repented, he graciously forgave them, and revealed to them his presence, and wrought through them. Let poor, weak mortals consider how38great is their own need of pity and forbearance from God and from their brethren. Let them beware how they judge and condemn others. We should give heed to the instruction of the apostle: "Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." We may fall under temptation, and need all the forbearance which we are called to exercise toward the offender. "With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
The apostle adds a caution to the independent and self-confident: "If a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. . . Every man shall bear his own burden." He who considers himself superior in judgment and experience to his brethren, and despises their counsel and admonition, evinces that he is in a dangerous delusion. The heart is deceitful. He should test his character and life by the Bible standard. God's word sheds an unerring light upon the pathway of man's life. Notwithstanding the many influences which arise to divert and distract the mind, those who honestly seek God for wisdom will be guided into the right course. Every man must at last stand or fall for himself, not according to the opinion of the party that sustains or opposes him, not according to the judgment of any man, but according to his real character in the sight of God. The church may warn, counsel, and admonish, but it cannot compel any to take a right course. Whoever persists in disregarding the word of God must bear his own burden,—answer to God for himself, and suffer the consequences of his own course.
The Lord has given us in his word definite, unmistakable instructions, by obedience to which we may preserve union and harmony in the church. Brethren and sisters, are you giving heed to these inspired injunctions? Are you Bible-readers, and doers of the word? Are you striving to fulfill the prayer of Christ, that his followers might be one? "The God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God." "Finally, brethren, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
HELP IN CHRIST.
By Thomas Cogswell Upham
'Tis true the road we do not know,
And sometimes feel afraid to go;
But Christ, our Master, goes befor,
And where 'tis rough will help us o'er.
'Tis sometime rocky, sometimes steep,
Or leads o'r foaming waters deep,
With cliffs that frown above our head,
And snares beneath, and pitfalls spread.
But though it seems a dangerous way,
Let not our ready steps delay,
So long as Christ, our Leader, knows
The snares and dangers which oppose.
We do not know what's known to him;
His eye is bright, though ours be dim;
To him the way is straight and clear,
Then let us follow without fear
—T. C. Upham, in World's Crisis.
Certainty of Christ's Personal Coming.
In the Christian Union of December 28, Lyman Abbott speaks thus of the coming of Christ:—
But it is a strange and inconsequential logic which concludes that he will not come again because history has perpetually baffled all this irreverential guess-work. If there is not to be a future and more glorious revelation of Christ to men, then all the prophetic revelation of the Scripture is falsified, and the Bible is no book of divine promise. The prophecy of a first coming of the Messiah is not so clear in the Old Testament as the prophecy of a second coming is in the New Testament. It is the hope held out to his church for the future. It is explicitly reiterated and promised by Christ. It was unmistakably the anticipation of his apostles. It is made by both the basis of many a practical exhortation. The disciples are bid to be ever hastening toward the coming of their Lord; to live soberly in this present life, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing; to be as virgins, with lamps trimmed and burning, that wait for the bridegroom; to be as stewards keeping their trust till their King returns to receive their accounting. Are they oppressed? They are to be patient unto the coming of the Lord. Are they in sorrow? They are to comfort one another with the hope of the day when the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout. Are they weary of waiting? They are warned against scoffers who ask, Where is the promise of his coming? With this hope Christ comforts his disciples ere he departs from them. With this the angels again encourage them after his resurrection. It is idle to attempt to interpret these prophecies by the gradual and invisible appearing of Christ in the spiritual experience of his own disciples. The exegesis which can thus explain away the words of Scripture, can at will make nothing out of something, and something out of nothing. The one appearing is gradual, the other is to be sudden like a stroke of lightning; the one is invisible, the other shall be seen of all men; the one is without observation, the other with a shout and the sound of a trumpet; the one is recognized only by believers, and sometimes with difficulty even by them, the other shall bring terror to the foe and triumph to the friend of Christ. I would not put undue emphasis on the emphatic words of the angel at the time of the Ascension: "This same Jesus which is taken up into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven;" but if they do not indicate a far different manifestation of Christ from any we have seen in the gradual development of a Christian spirit among men, words have no meaning.
Christians for the World—Not of It.
By Dr. Cuyler
THERE was a prodigious significance in that intercessory prayer of our Lord on the eve of his sufferings: “I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil.” The preservation of the world from moral ruin depended on the preservation of the church of God. “Ye are my witnesses,” said the Master. The followers of Christ were to be his representatives; the visibility of Christ on earth was to be in the persons—in the acts and lives of those whom he had redeemed to be a peculiar people, zealous in good works. They were to be a wholesome leaven, penetrating the whole mass of humanity; they were to be the salt of the earth, preserving society from putrefaction by the savor of pure godliness. “Let your lights shine!” To “shine” means something more than the possession of a renewed heart or the enjoyment of an inward peace. It signifies the luminous reflection of Christ in character and conduct.
This world cannot afford to have Christians degenerate or become demoralized. No city can afford to have its gas apparatus so damaged as to leave its streets in darkness; or its sanitary system so neglected as to leave it a prey to typhoid fevers or cholera. Divine grace is imparted in order to purify its possessor; and he, in turn, is to do his part to purify the community. If he fails, the community is the loser. We, who profess to call ourselves Christians, ought to know that the world expects us to stand for righteousness, and never to compromise; to act as disinfectants and to maintain our savor; to hold them up, and not to be dragged down by them. If all the Christianity in existence were to become bankrupt in character, even the scoffers themselves would be frightened. Sneer as they may, they expect us to stand by our colors. Our desertion of God and of the right would not only disgrace us; it would alarm even the ungodly. “If this world is so bad with the Christian religion,” said the shrewd Franklin, “what would it be without it?”
A personal incident will illustrate this self-reliance which the people of the world have in the people of God. A young man, who professed Christian, was seeking to win the hand of a young lady of wealth. His suit did not prosper, and one day she said to him: “You know that you are a Christian, and I am a gay girl, very fond of the pleasures of the world; and I am forced to suspect that his religion would be a stumbling-block to his success in winning her.” He was deeply grieved by him. He accordingly applied to the officers of his church (which must have been loose in its joints) for a release from his membership. They granted it. “Now,” said he to her, when he met her again, “the barrier is removed. I have withdrawn from my church and I do not make any profession to be a Christian.” The honest-hearted girl turned on him with disgust and horror, and said to him: “M——, you know that I have led a frivolous life and I feel too weak to resist temptations. I determined that I never would marry any man who was not strong enough to stand firm himself and to hold me up also. I said what I did just to try you; and, if you have not principle enough to stick to your faith, you have not principle enough to be my husband. Let me never see you again.”
Whether this incident be actual or not, the lesson it teaches is beyond dispute. The world expects Christians to stand by their colors; when we desert them, we not only dishonor our Master and ourselves, but we disappoint the world. Conformity to the world will never convert it. “Come out and be ye separate,” saith the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing.” Even if the world could succeed in bringing the church down to its own standard of opinion and practice, it would only work its own moral destruction. It would extinguish the light-houses which illuminate its own channels; it would destroy the spiritual leaven which Christ has ordained and prepared to save human society from corruption.
The demand of this time is not to lower the claims of God, but to elevate them; not to weaken the authority of divine inspiration, but to reinforce it; not to unloose obligations to Bible creeds, but to tighten; not to accommodate Christianity to the thought and fashion of the times, but to keep it stoutly and steadily up to its primitive standards. Not only must we stand fast to the faith once delivered to the saints, but to the practices enjoined in God's word. The church of this day is in no danger of excessive Puritanism. The peril is in the opposite direction. Conformity to the world is weakening the backbone of the church, and thus far diminishing its power to lift the world up toward God. “If thou wouldst pull a man out of a pit,” said quaint old Philip Henry, “thou must have a good foothold, or else he will pull thee in.”
In no direction should Christians make their testimony more emphatic than in the line of righteous living. The sin of modern civilization has been well described as “making more of condition than it does of character.” The very essence of Bible religion is to make character and conduct the test and evidence. By their fruits ye shall know the tree good and the fruits shall be the core of Christ's practice. He “gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people.” The Revised Version adds that “that he might purify unto himself a people for his own possession.”
Our first duty is to him, and the most effectual way of serving Christ is to be the moment we betray him we empty ourselves of all reforming power. When the salt has lost its39flavor, it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. When a Christian so conducts himself as to be despised by his unconverted neighbors, he inflicts upon them an incalculable injury. He confirms them in unbelief. He brings Christianity into contempt. He poisons the well from which they ought to draw good influences. “Ye are my witnesses,” said our loving Lord and Master; but what if the witnesses swear falsely?
In commerce and trade Christianity has its indispensable place, and God's people their sphere of usefulness. The Golden Rule is the true Christian's yard-stick; commerce becomes a cheat if it is disused or broken. When a church member defaults or turns swindler, he repeats the sin of Judas. Christ is betrayed, and men's faith in Bible integrity is so far shattered. A Christian merchant, manufacturer, or mechanic has a call to serve Christ and save his fellow-men as much as any gospel minister. Every ounce of leaven has its place.
Social life (with increase of wealth) has a trend toward demoralization. Luxury enervates. Popular amusements become sensualized and offer their temptations to the church. “Be ye not conformed to the world” applies to the stage, the ball-room, the wine-cup, and to everything that would turn God's earth into a “Vanity Fair.” Conformity to the world amounts (in the end) to more than the corruption of Christ's church. It puts out the light which Christ kindled; it destroys the very leaven which he has prepared to purify, and sweeten, and save a “world lying in wickedness.”
The Spirit the Only Guide.
THE Christian Union having printed several articles on "What to Believe about the Bible," a correspondent, who says that for thirty years he lived a skeptic, and believed in the infallibility of human reason as a guide in religious matters, gives his testimony as follows. We think he has the right idea of the matter:—
Do not Christian teachers sometimes undertake the work which alone belongs to the Spirit, in trying to prove the divine origin of the Bible and the plan of salvation to people ruled alone by "human reason," and by so doing place "a stumbling-block" in their path?
It seems to me that teachers too often ignore the work that the Holy Spirit must perform on a person before he can understand or believe the truths taught in the Bible, and thus are led into controversies that are positively injurious to the cause of Christ.
The Bible and my own experience teach me that the carnal mind, which is the natural mind guided by "human reason," cannot understand the spiritual teachings of the Bible. I believe thousands of honest skeptics have gone down to the grave unbelievers because the teachers of Christ's mission have failed to impress the truth upon the minds of their hearers that it is through the agency of the Holy Spirit above that they can understand the Scriptures.
It makes no difference how learned a man may be, how perfect his reasoning powers the Bible, with all its saving truths, will remain a sealed book to him except he will become "as a little child," in order to receive the Spirit, "which only can guide him in the way of all truth," "which will teach him all things." "For no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." "The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit." "They are foolishness to him."
To me one of the greatest as most unanswerable proofs of the truth of the Bible, and that the plan of salvation is of divine origin, is that, from the fall of Adam to the establishment of the Kingdom on the day of Pentecost, it is in almost every particular directly contrary to any plan that human reason unguided by the divine Spirit could have devised, and therefore the Bible is not a reasonable Book to any one that has not been "born again."
It seems to me that Christ's interview with Nicodemus should be carefully studied by Christians before they attempt a controversy with skeptics.
The Spirit the Only Guide.
By Editor
The Christian Union having printed several articles on “What to Believe about the Bible,” a correspondent, who says that for thirty years he lived a skeptic, and believed in the infallibility of human reason as a guide in religious matters, gives his testimony as follows. We think he has the right idea of the matter:—
Do not Christian teachers sometimes undertake the work which alone belongs to the Spirit, in trying to prove the divine origin of the Bible and the plan of salvation to people ruled alone by “human reason,” and by so doing place “a stumbling-block” in their path?
It seems to me that teachers too often ignore the work that the Holy Spirit must perform on a person before he can understand or believe the truths taught in the Bible, and thus are led into controversies that are positively injurious to the cause of Christ.
The Bible and my own experience teach me that the carnal mind, which is the natural mind guided by “human reason,” cannot understand the spiritual teachings of the Bible. I believe thousands of honest skeptics have gone down to the grave unbelievers because the teachers of Christ’s mission have failed to impress the truth upon the minds of their hearers that it is through the agency of the Holy Spirit above that they can understand the Scriptures.
It makes no difference how learned a man may be, how perfect his reasoning powers, the Bible, with all its saving truths, will remain a sealed book to him except he will become “as a little child,” in order to receive the Spirit, “which only can guide him in the way of all truth,” “which will teach him all things.” “For no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.” “The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit.” “They are foolishness to him.”
To me one of the greatest as most unanswerable proofs of the truth of the Bible, and that the plan of salvation is of divine origin, is that, from the fall of Adam to the establishment of the Kingdom on the day of Pentecost, it is in almost every particular directly contrary to any plan that human reason unguided by the divine Spirit could have devised, and therefore the Bible is not a reasonable Book to any one that has not been “born again.”
It seems to me that Christ’s interview with Nicodemus should be carefully studied by Christians before they attempt a controversy with skeptics.
The Knowledge of God.
By Evangelical Messenger
The knowledge of God is gained by living much with him. If we only come across a man occasionally, and in public, and see nothing of him in his private and domestic life, we cannot be said to know him. All the knowledge of God which many professed Christians have, is derived from a formal salute which they make him in their prayers, when they rise up in the morning, and lie down at night. While this state of things lasts, no great progress in Christian life can possibly be made. No progress would be made even if they were to offer formal prayers seven times a day, instead of twice. But to try to draw God into your daily work, consult him about it; offer it to him as a contribution to his service; ask him to help you in it; do it as to the Lord and not unto men; refer to him in your temptations; seek a refuge under the shadow of his wings until the tyranny of temptation be overpast; go back at once to his bosom, when you are conscious of a departure from him, not waiting till night to confess it, lest meanwhile the night of death should overtake you, or you should lose time in your spiritual course; in short, walk hand in hand with God through life (as a little child walks hand in hand with its father over some dangerous and thorny road), dreading above all things to quit his side, and assured that, as you do so, you will fall into mischief and trouble.
Seek not so much to pray as to live in an atmosphere of prayer, lifting up your heart momentarily to him in varied expressions of devotions, as the various occasions of life may prompt, adoring him, thanking him, resigning your will to him many times a day and more or less all the day; and you shall thus, as you advance in this practice, and it becomes more and more habitual in you, increase in that knowledge of God, which fully contents and satisfies the soul.—Evangelical Messenger.
An Empty Spoon.
A young minister, who was quite self-satisfied with his own discourses, was always very curious to know what others thought of them. The Lord permitted him to gratify his curiosity one Sabbath evening as he was passing the cottage of an humble but pious laborer. The good man was kneeling with his family, and the young minister paused a moment to listen. He was thanking the Lord for their spiritual mercies, and for the blessed Bible on which their souls might feed, "for thou knowest, O Lord," he said, "that we have been fed this day out of an empty spoon."
Sunday-school children are often fed the same way, by people who undertake to address them.
"Now children," said a learned gentleman, "do you desire to know what it is that you all want—every one of you? I will tell you. You want"
The Sick Man of the East
By Editor
The "Sick Man of the East" has been a long time dying, but there are of late fresh signs of the inevitable, though long-delayed dissolution, and with it the collapse of that false religious system upon which the Ottoman empire has rested. Murder and crime in the palace, riot and anarchy among the people, in the imperial city, and misrule and misery everywhere within the Turkish empire, are among the signs of rapid disorganization. An observing correspondent of the New York Tribune writing from Constantinople, says, "One cannot prognosticate the rate of dissolution in a mass that is already jelly-like in respect to consistency. But it is safe to say that fifty years have not seen such languor, such flabbiness of body and mind, as has befallen the Turkish body politic since Tel-el-Kebir and its destruction of the Pan-Islamic idea. * The destroying forces at work in Turkey become more and more evident every day, and the fact that this ancient empire has close before it new disasters, becomes more certain."—Lever.
INTELLECTUAL ENDOWMENTS.
By Robert Pollok
"ONE man there was, and many such you might
Have met, who never had a dozen thoughts
In all his life, and never changed their course;
But told them o'er, each in its customed place,
From morn till night, from youth till hoary age.
Little above the ox which grazed the field,
His reason rose. So weak his memory,
The name his mother called him by, he scarce
Remembered; and his judgment so untaught
That what at evening played along the swamp,
Fantastic, clad in robe of fiery hue,
He thought the devil in disguise, and fled
With quivering heart and winged footsteps home.
The word philosophy he never heard,
Or science; never heard of liberty,
Necessity, or laws of gravitation;
And never had an unbelieving doubt.
Beyond his native vale he never looked;
But thought the visual line, that girt him round,
The world's extreme; and thought the silver moon
That nightly o'er him led her virgin host,
No broader than his father's shield. He lived—
Lived where his father lived; died where he died;
Lived happy, and died happy, and was saved.
Be not surprised; he loved and served his God.
There was another, large of understanding,
Of memory infinite, of judgment deep,
Who knew all learning and all science knew;
And all phenomena in heaven and earth,
Traced to their cause; traced the labyrinths
Of thought, association, passion, will;
And all the subtle nice affinities
Of matter traced; its virtues, motions, laws;
And most familiarly and deeply talked
Of mental, moral, natural, divine.
Leaving the earth at will, he soared to heaven,
And read the glorious visions of the skies;
And to the music of the rolling spheres
Intelligently listened; and gazed far back
Into the awful depths of Deity;
Did all that mind assisted most could do;
And yet in misery lived, in misery died,
Because he wanted holiness of heart.
A deeper lesson this to mortals taught,
That not in mental, but in moral wealth,
God excellence placed; and only to the good,
To virtue, granted happiness alone.
Admire the goodness of Almighty God;
He riches gave, and intellectual strength
To few, and therefore none commands to be
Or rich or learned; nor promises reward
Of peace to these. On all He moral worth
Bestowed, and moral tribute asked from all,
And who that could not pay? Who born so poor
Of intellect so mean, as not to know
What seemed the best; and knowing might not do?
As not to know what God and conscience bade?
And what they bade, not able to obey?
And he who acted thus fulfilled the law
Eternal, and its promise reaped of peace;
Found peace this way alone; who sought it else,
Sought mellow grapes beneath the icy pole;
Sought blooming roses on the cheek of death;
Sought substance in a world of fleeting shades.
—Pollok's Course of Time.
Feed My Lambs
an organic law and a fundamental basis!" It is quite doubtful whether the children duly realized their wants. Said another good minister to the children, "I will now give you a summary of what I have been saying." Here the children's pastor hinted in a whisper, that "summary" was too hard a word. "Your pastor tells me," continued the orator, "that you do not understand the meaning of summary. Summary, my little friends, is an abbreviated synopsis."
Do not feed the little ones from the empty spoon of high-sounding words. That is far from following the Master's direction, "Feed my lambs." If you have no good, earnest word that will come home with power to their souls, keep silent, and do not take up golden moments that others might use with profit to perishing souls.
-Selected.
Lessons of Providence.
By R. F. Cottrell
BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
God teaches men by his providence. Happy is he who learns the lessons which God designs to teach. But, alas! how slow is fallen human nature to learn.
All that we have is the Lord's. We are only stewards of the gracious gifts of God. We ourselves are not our own. Our being is of his bounty; and, besides this, after we had forfeited life, we were bought with a price. By sin we lost all claim to life and all its blessings. But these have been purchased by the blood of Christ; therefore we owe all to the favor of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then it is, as the apostle says, "our reasonable service," not only to hold the gifts of Providence as stewards, but "to present our persons a living sacrifice." All that we have should be held upon the altar, ready to be used in the cause of God—the benevolent work of human salvation.
But when the cause of God calls for means we are apt to say, We would like to help, but we cannot spare the means. We see no way that we could spare five or ten dollars, and meet the calls and just demands against us. But Providence, perhaps, soon demonstrates to us that we can spare ten times as much. Lightnings, tornadoes, and hail may burn or demolish our buildings, destroy our crops in the field, or our beasts. Sickness in our families may hold us from our labor and bring additional expenses. Other calamities may befall us. In such ways we may be taught that we can spare hundreds, instead of tens. Still we may live and want none of the blessings that are needful for us.
The design of God's adverse providences is to teach us benevolence and liberality. Those are happy that learn the lesson and heed the instruction. But sad is the case of those upon whom it has the contrary effect.
The Majesty of Bible Precepts.
THERE is no weakness in them. No one of them is emasculated by the modern prefix, "try." The Bible says, "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded." "Cease to do evil, learn to do well." "Depart from evil and do good." And thus through the whole book from Genesis to Revelation, a moral precept is never prefixed with the enfeebling "try," now so universally common.
Just think of the Bible saying, Try to depart from evil! Try to cleanse your hands, ye sinners! Try to speak the truth to one another! And instead of "Do not kill," "Do not steal," "Do not commit adultery," suppose we had, Do try not to kill! Do try not to steal! Do try not to commit adultery! It is time to stop experimenting in morals. None of it is from above. It is all from beneath, a device from the devil to break down the force and majesty of the precepts of the Bible.
That glorious Book never uses the word "try" in any such connection. It knows nothing of experimental morals. "Try" is never properly used except where a failure may be justifiable. A failure in morals never was and never can be justified.
The Frequency of Earthquakes
SINCE 1843 an average of 575 earthquakes a year has been known to occur. Mallet has collected the records of 6,830 earthquakes which took place over a period of 3,456 years previous to 1850; but 3,240 of these occurred during the last fifty years. It seems, therefore, that our earth is almost constantly shaking at some point, and no part of the world is entirely free from tremors of some degree. Professor Milne has recently urged that the study of earthquakes should receive more attention in countries little subject to their visitations. Such countries may at long intervals be shaken by earthquakes of a severe character, and it is suggested that even the stable ground of England may not be secure against disturbance by convulsions as calamitous as that which suddenly swept away 60,000 of the inhabitants of Lisbon in 1755.—Exchange.
Homes Like Harps
Homes are like harps, of which one is finely carved and bright with gilding, but ill-tuned, and jarring the air with its discords; while another is old and plain and worn, but from its chords float strains that are a feast of music.