Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 21, 1858
Watch Night.
By R. F. C.
In times gone by, it became a custom among a pious class of persons to meet together for watching and prayer and religious exercises on the evening of the last day of the year, and continue the exercises till the midnight hour was past, thus ending the old year and beginning the new in the worship of God. This was certainly much better than to spend the same hours in carnal festivities and giddy mirth, and doubtless God was pleased with, and smiled upon those godly persons who thus chose his worship in preference to the fleeting pleasures of a vain and thoughtless world. The Holy Spirit came into these assemblies and the saints were refreshed and feasted by faith on the enduring joys and festivities of the heavenly country to which they were bound, and in view of which, they confessed themselves pilgrims and strangers on the earth.
Those times are past; we are amid the perils of the last days, Babylon is fallen, and is fast becoming the hold of every foul spirit. Yet men are disposed to hold on to the form, though the power is wanting. They are disposed to follow the beaten track of tradition and venerate the customs of their fathers, while they will not yield to the clearest truths of God's word, if those truths do not harmonize with the "traditions of the elders." Consequently the watch night is still observed, and the watch meeting held, by those that esteem the form.
To watch and pray is always right, and to begin the year aright is always commendable. Yes, it would be well to commence every day with the exercises of devotion. But the enlightened mind cannot have any great veneration for the commencement of the Roman year. Still the end of the year brings to mind the rapid flight of time, and it is a good time to try to renew our diligence in the cause of God, and resolve, in the strength of the Lord to make greater progress during the remainder of our probationary time.
But the day ends, and another begins at the setting of the sun. Hence it is easy to commence each day with the worship of God. We need not watch for the midnight hour in order to hail the first moments of the new day. Consequently darkness still rests upon those minds that begin the day at midnight. And thus in the darkness of night, and the still greater darkness of their minds they watch and wait for the new day which had already commenced ere their watching began.
We are repeatedly admonished to watch in reference to the coming of the day of the Lord; but it is greatly to be feared, nay, it is positively certain, that, to those that walk in the path of blind tradition, that day will come as a thief. Before they are aware and ere they begin to watch, that day of recompense will have begun. But to those that watch, that day will not come as a thief. The pathway of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day; but the way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at what they stumble.
The Lord help the writer and the reader to watch and walk as children of the light. To watch now, and not defer it till the vengeful day is begun, and we then find that we are too late! R. F. C.
Hewing.
By J. Clarke
"Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets." Hosea vi, 5.
WHEN a man has timber to hew for building or other purposes, he sends his workmen to the forest to select the proper material. The hewers having put a sharp edge upon their axes, being provided with line and rule, proceed to cut down the chosen trees. The rough bark is then taken off to enable the line to be drawn in so plain a manner that it can be easily seen. Next the scorers cut notches in the timber just to the line, and split away the blocks between, and then score the uneven places to make it possible for the hewer to smooth the side with his powerful broad-axe. But mark the hewer as he speaks to one, You, A., cut too deep; to B., you do not score to the line; to C., your work is not level. Thus he trains his hands, until a flat surface is obtained upon two sides, when the stick is laid upon the other side, and the line is again drawn, the same process is repeated, and a noble piece of square timber is produced. Still the hewer is perhaps displeased at the marks left, because of the want of skill in scoring, though it will answer the purpose designed.
Or perhaps allusion is made to quarrying and hewing stone, which is first selected from the solid rock, free from fracture, and having been cut away from the mass, it is hewed, smoothed and polished for it designed place.
So we, blocks from the quarry of nature, or as trees of the forest, are cut down by the axe of conviction, are now being hewed and polished by the grace of God in Christ, are being fitted for a place in the glorious temple above. Are we willing to be hewed by the prophets? Perhaps we are only cut down and the line drawn. Will we shrink now just as the work has commenced, and lose the labor already laid out? or as the block from the quarry, just broken from the ledge. Can we stop here just as the work of hewing has begun?
Or perhaps the block is hewn, but not fitted for its place, not polished, and now is the time to exercise patience and receive those finishing labors which are necessary for our final perfection and triumph. Ah! says one, When will this hewing process be over? We keep the commands of God. Let us bear in mind so long as we are in this mortal body, the work of hewing and polishing must go on, and not till this mortal puts on immortality, will the work be finished.
Beware of inaction and sloth. We must grow in grace. Here a knot of impatience, there a corner of vanity, must be removed. Thus the polishing progresses, and while life lasts there is something to do rectifying the disorders into which sin has thrown us.
Those who are hewing will take care to work to the line, not a blow beyond. Many a piece of timber has been ruined by bad workmen. We find this spoiled timber almost everywhere. Every part of the human forest is strewn with ruined timber. Some merely cut down and decaying, some hacked or hewed without rule or line, thus rendered unfit for use. Hardly a tree but the false prophets have injured.
The quarry is filled with shapeless, unsightly blocks, hewed without regard to rule. They are at present wholly unfit for the building, with few exceptions. Oh, what reckless waste! Let the prophets beware. Rather let the material alone, than work to its ruin. But mourning alone will not give shape to these materials. The hewers will find enough to do. O for patience to hear the hewing.
J. CLARKE.
The Sabbath Question.
[The Israelite, at whose office we procured the translation and stereotyping of our German Sabbath Tract, speaks as follows concerning the Sabbath Institution and its supporters:]
It is a stubborn fact, that ever since the reformation, the Church is more or less powerfully but constantly active, to purify herself from the Heathen elements and embellishments, which amalgamated with her original spirit in the days of her worldly dominion. Also this is a fact, that the United States of America is the land emphatically, where this great work must be accomplished; for here for the first time since Christianity has existed, liberty of conscience has become a practical truth. Every man has the privilege to think for himself in matters of religion, or even to establish a sect of his own. We just begin, as it were, to think for ourselves, and we have gone pretty far already. This is especially the land for the development of the religious ideas and sentiments, because in Europe the oppression to which the Church lends an aiding hand, and the hypocrisy of the priests have rendered religion odious, while here a due deference toward it is maintained. It cannot be denied, that many blunders are made in this process of develop-82ment, a great many ridiculous theories and doctrines come to light, extravagant and futile creeds are set into the world; still, on the whole, this struggle of theories, ideas, creeds and sects, as it goes on in this country, leads to truth.
When the Church purifies herself of her Heathen elements, she must come back to her origin—Judaism. This will be done perfectly. The constitution of the U. States has already embraced the leading principles of the political laws of the Mosaic dispensation, even to such an extent that it excluded the Church from any and every participation in the popular government. Previous to this event even in the very infancy of this country the Puritans, adopted the Mosaic law as their sole guide in political government.
As regards the sects of the Church, the Unitarians, many Universalists and New Presbyterians deny the doctrine of the Trinity, and adopt the Mosaic dogma of the Unity. The Universalists like the Hebrews, believe the final salvation of all men without distinction of creed. Many eminent divines and sects deny the resurrection of the body and the last judgment day, and maintain the resurrection consists of the immortality of the soul, and the judgment day is perpetual. The original sin and hence also the redemption by the death of Jesus is boldly denied by all the reform organs. The Seventh day Baptists and a large and respectable sect, whose organs are the The Review and Herald, at Battle Creek, Michigan, and other papers, keep the Mosaic Sabbath.
The friends of this latter sect have issued a tract in English and German in favor of the Mosaic Sabbath, and against Sunday keeping. We believe we render a welcome service to our readers, in reviewing the principles arguments of the tract.
This tract sets out with the religious axiom (if we are allowed this term,) that the divine Law must be the sole guide of man in all his actions, and this will be the standard of judgment at the judgment day. It quotes the words of the Apostle, "by the law is the knowledge of sin." The next premise is, that the ten commandments are God's law, the law of the Covenant. From these two premises it follows, that every man believing in the revealed religion must observe the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord.
The Sabbath, as commanded in the Decalogue, is not a national institution of the Israelites, because it was instituted prior to the existence of that nation, viz., after the creation of the world was finished, when God rested, blessed and sanctified this day as a day of rest for all men. In the fourth commandment reference is made to this very fact, "For in six days God made heaven and earth, and rested the seventh day." Here the author of the tract forgot to notice the passage of the Decalogue, [Deut. v, 15,] "And thou shalt remember, that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and God thy Lord brought thee out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, therefore God thy Lord commands thee to make the Sabbath-day." From this it would appear that the Sabbath was intended to be exclusively a national institute of the Israelites. But this passage gives not the cause for observing the Sabbath, this has been done before, it only intends to give a cause to the command of "That thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest like thee," with which the previous verse concludes.
The tract then sets forth, that the Sabbath is not a type of redemption, which as some Christian divines suppose, was superseded by the work of Jesus. For the Sabbath points not to a future but to a past event, to the finishing of the creation and God's rest. This event and the day instituted to commemorate it, would have remained the same, if Jesus had never come. The day itself remains the one blessed and sanctified by the Lord, even if none should observe it. For the same reason the Sabbath-day can never be changed; for the fact that God rested the seventh day and sanctified it as a day of rest, to man can never be undone, and the divine law itself contains no provision, which entitles to a change of day. Here the author of the tract should have referred to the words of the fourth commandment — where the accusative and the definite — point to a certain well known day, which is applied in verse 10, to the seventh day again with the definite — so that the day is evidently fixed. Hence among Israelites the Sabbath-day could only then be changed, if the Old Testament contains a provision to this effect, which is not the case. Among Christians this change could only be made by the authors of the New Testament, who, as the tract before us proves, have not done so.
Jesus has not changed the Sabbath; for no mention is made of such a change in the New Testament, and he is reported to have said that he kept the Father's commandments. John xv, 10. "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John iii, 4. He maintained to have come not to abolish, but fulfill the Law. The author of the tract could have proved with certainty, that Jesus observed the Sabbath. For he not only had several controversies with the Pharisees whether this or that is lawful to be done on the Sabbath-day, but even taught his disciples a germ in regard to the Sabbath, "Man is not here for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath is for man." He justified himself when plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath. What better justification could he have than the change of the day which he made, if he had changed it? Finally when he was placed before the high priest, the gospel tells, that witnesses, even false witnesses, were sought, in order to condemn him to die. If he had changed the Sabbath-day, they would certainly have brought evidence to establish this fact, which would have been sufficient to condemn him to death, as the Bible ordains, "Whoever defiles it (the Sabbath) shall surely be put to death."
The tract then examines the several objections of Christian divines to the Sabbath among which the chief point is that the alleged resurrection of Jesus took place the first day of the week. But the New Testament nowhere ordains that the day of resurrection should be kept holy, or that this day should supersede the day of the Lord.
If, indeed, the Sabbath day had been changed by the new dispensation, the Apostles and the early church should have kept the Sunday which is by no means the case. As regards the Apostles, it is evident from Luke xxiii, 56; Acts xiii, 14, 27, 42, 45; xvi, 13; xvii, 2; xviii, 1-4; that the Apostles always observed the Sabbath, nor had they a right to do otherwise, as their master kept the Sabbath holy. As regards the early church, there is plenty of historical evidence to substantiate the statement of the learned Wm. Tyndale, who writing in the sixteenth century said, the Sabbath was changed by men. Dr. Henry acknowledges that the first day of the week is not called the Sabbath in the Bible. Bishop Cranmer (born 1489) said, they observed the Sunday according to the judgment or will of the magistrates. Melanchthon, the friend of Martin Luther, confessed, that the Sunday keeping was not founded on any apostolic law, but rested solely on tradition. Neander says, "The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance; and it was far from the intention of the Apostles to establish a divine command in this respect; far from them and the early apostolic church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century, a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin."
It was not kept in England and Scotland till the thirteenth century, although Christianity was introduced and societies formed in Scotland as early as the fifth century, and in England, it is probable, in the first century. Parliament was held in England on Sunday until the time of Richard II, when at the instigation of the Roman church it was adjourned till the following day, and Sunday-keeping was established by law; and since that time many Sabbath-keepers have suffered severe persecutions because of their adherence to the Sabbath of the Bible. Laws for the observance of Sunday were, through the influence of the Pope of Rome, passed in England before that time, but on account of an aversion to the change on the part of the people, they were not effectual.
The American Presbyterian Board of Publication in Tract 118, states that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath did not cease till it was abolished, after the empire became christian, i. e., till the Bishop of Rome became omnipotent. Therefore, the Waldenses who never submitted to the authority of the Pope, according to the testimony of Mosheim, (Vol. I, p. 332,) of Robinson in the history of Baptism, and Jones in his Church History, they observed the Hebrew Sabbath as late even as Charles XII of France, and long afterwards.
It is evident that the Sunday is a Popish institution, and that there is no cause in either the Bible or the early history of the Church for the violation of the Hebrew Sabbath as we observe it. The whole Christian community with the exception of a few are Sabbath-breakers. "Remember the laws of Moses my servant," &c., is the last word of the last prophet, which none should forget.
CALL ME NOT BACK.
SPEAK not to me of honors now :
Speak not of things so vain—
I've parted with them all, nor would
I take them back again.
They all are gone—though once so dear,
How worthless now to me!
Since soon in judgment to appear,
My God, I turn to thee.
Speak not to me of fortune now;
Speak not to me of fame—
I ask no laurels on my brow,
No earthly, empty name;
The shame alone I now would bear
Of him who died for me;
That when again He shall appear
I may remember'd be.
Speak not to me of those who loved
Me when in folly's maze;
Nor of the hours of sinful mirth,
We spent in other days:
We've parted since—a long farewell
I've taken of them all;
Then hail me not—in vain t'will be;
I cannot heed the call.
O, tell me of that brighter shore;
That promised, better land;
Where they who meet will part no more,
A happy, shining band.
But tell me not of earthly toys,
So fleeting, and so vain;
I've parted with them all, nor can
I take them back again. [Sel.
SELECTIONS.
By Presbyterian
Censoriousness.
Do professing Christians exclude censoriousness from the catalogue of sins? We should judge so, from the extent to which some of them practice it, and their apparent unconsciousness, whilst indulging it, that they are doing any wrong. Some who make a loud profession, and are terribly scandalized at other people's sins, are sinning in this way all the time. It is the staple of their conversation. They can never talk about things, but only about people, and this to present their characters in the worst possible light. There are certain persons in almost every community, with regard to whom any one may positively conclude without any further information, that he is the object of their animadversions whenever he is so unfortunate as to be the object of conversation where they are present. They do it in his hearing as to the absent; why should he not share the same fate when his back is turned? The butcher knife is always in their hands; why should it not be thrust into him?
Unsparingly do they cut and mangle the good names of their neighbors. A word of praise spoken of any one, however meritorious, is but the signal for these vultures to bring out their tainted morceau as a set-off to the compliment. None escape their leprous touch, except the favored few whom they are pleased to regard as special friends. No presence can silence their busy tongues. The pent-up gall and acid must find constant vent. The unfortunate husband of a censorious wife is doomed to listen from day to day to doleful acrid diatribes on the stupidity of Mr. A., the extravagance of Mrs. B., the bad housekeeping of Mrs. C., the pretension and snobbishness of Mr. D., the frivolity of Miss C., the unruly children of Mrs. E., the dull sermons of Dr. F., the neglect of pastoral duties of Dr. G., or the ambition of the Rev. Mr. H. Even in the presence of her own children she cannot refrain from laying the lash on any and every body, and other guests are entertained with the same edifying conversation.—Presbyterian.
Do a Little.
Many a Christian destroys his peace and usefulness because he is not willing to do little things. He wants to speak and pray well, eloquently, edifying, or not at all. Because he cannot do some great thing he won't do anything. He must sit in the highest seat or nowhere. Now, no brother is fit to do large things unless he is willing to do little things. He must be faithful in the least, or he will never be useful in the greatest. Can you make a good minister out of a poor layman? or a good deacon out of a man who is unwilling to do the least honorable duties of the church? If all were willing to add a little to the interest of prayer-meeting, a Sabbath-school, or covenant meeting, or to the strength and influence of the church, there would not be so many praying to be excused. If we were willing to be weak, make simple prayers and speeches when we can do no better, we should pray oftener, better, and in every way do more good. Happy is the man who is willing to do a little, to be the servant of all, a door-keeper, bell-ringer, fire-builder, lamp-lighter,83anything that will serve Christ in the house of God.
Weighing The Evidence.
A CLERICAL correspondent of the Presbyterian relates an account of a recently deceased jurist, which is interesting. This man had been for many years a Judge of the Supreme Court of a southwestern State. His learning, sagacity, integrity, and morality gave him a very high position in the community. But, while an attentive hearer of the gospel, he was not a professor of religion. On one occasion the clergyman who had had some previous acquaintance with him, having concluded his call, was about to withdraw, when the Judge said to him, with emotion, "Sir, I have good news for you. Although I feel myself the unworthiest of them all, I am, I trust, one of the children of God." As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears, and he proceeded to give me a narrative of his case. He had been for years undecided, if not sceptical in regard to the Bible. Feeling himself advancing in age, he determined to decide the case for himself once and for ever. He gave one year to an investigation of scripture, and the evidence for and against it exactly as he would have done a complicated and important case laid before him as Judge of the Supreme Court. After a full, calm, impartial examination, he deliberately decided that the Bible was from God—was all it professed to be. He then felt the clear obligation to believe and to act upon its teachings.
A little while he hesitated in regard to what was faith in Christ—puzzled by its very simplicity. But the Holy Spirit completed his work by opening his eyes to see and acknowledge Christ as his Saviour; and after some months of serious consideration of that part of Christian duty also, he became a member of the Presbyterian Church in the place in which he lived. If all sceptics would only thus weigh the evidence, how surely would they attain the like precious faith of God's elect?—Christian Intel.
Preaching to the Point.
Passing along one Wednesday night—for evening at the South, is our afternoon—in Montgomery, Alabama, I stepped into the Presbyterian lecture room, where a slave was preaching:
"My bredren," says he, "God bless your souls, 'ligion is like the Alabam river! In spring, come fresh, an' bring in all de ole logs, slabs an' sticks, dat had ben lyin' on de bank, an' carry dem down in de current. Bymeby de water go down—den a log catch here on dis island, den a slab gets cotched on de shore, an' de sticks on de bushes—and dare da lie, with'rin' and dryin' till come 'nother fresh. Jus' so dare come 'vival of 'ligion—dis ole sinner bro't in, dat ole backslider bro't back, an' all de folk seem comin', an' mighty good times. But, bredren, God bless your souls; bymeby 'vival's gone—den dis ole sinner is stuck on his ole sin, den dat ole backslider is cotched where he was afore, on jus' such a rock; den one after 'nother dat had got 'ligion lies all along de shore, an' dare dey lie till 'nother 'vival. Beloved bredren, God bless your souls, keep in de current."
I thought his illustration beautiful enough for a more elegant dress, and too true, alas! of others than his own race.—Christian Herald.
The Kind of Holiness Needed.
By Editor
An improved type of holiness is in demand to take the place of the effeminate, emotional, tender-footed, cowardly, parlor-holiness, so much in fashion in some parts of the country. We want a holiness which has in it some of the stern, earnest, self-denying, sin-hating, devil-fighting courageous spirit of the prophets, apostles and martyrs; a holiness that turns its back upon the blandishment of pride, that loves Christ's poor, pleads for the oppressed, and thunders the curses of the holy law in the ears of proud oppressors; a holiness that has fire in it to consume sin, mercy in it to weep over sinners, and love in it to bear them to God; a holiness that is full of the martial spirit, and is ready to march up to the strongholds of iniquity in the face of the enemy's fire.
The Peace of God.
By British Messenger
How very few attain and preserve in their consciences, the sense of God's being perfectly at peace with them! It ought to rule there always and by all means; but, for want of it, they afford continual occasion for a legal and unbelieving spirit to rob them of their peace, and thereby distress them in their hearts. As guilt comes in love goes out. What weakens the cause must also weaken the effect. Love with its fruits must decrease in proportion as the believer withdraws his heart-dependence from God. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."—British Messenger.
Sympathy for the Erring.
By Arthur's Home Magazine
Of how much of our indignation against even a deliberate wrong would we be disarmed, if we could know for ourselves a tithe of all the sorrow, and trouble, and disappointment the poor erring heart had passed through! What efforts are made in youth to stand up against the pressure of the world, and how, when fallen, from miscalculation, or an over confiding nature, or want of tact, it bravely rose up and tried again; and when hard necessity came and drove it to the wall, how it looked around for help, and waited, still striving to stand upright, and fell while striving; and even when fallen, how it yearned for one more chance to rise and be a man, how loth at last to give up all for lost!—could we but see a thousandth part of these struggles, as they rend our brother's bosom, and almost break his heart, how should it disarm us of our vindictiveness, and incline us even, to run to him, and raise him up, and stand by him, and with god-like forgiveness bid him, "Try, try again!"—Arthur's Home Magazine.
A Decrease.
By Editor
THE editor of the Presbyterian, at Philadelphia has been looking over the records of the Congregational Association in Connecticut for the last year. He remarks:
"But what is still more surprising, the whole number of church members reported in 1849, was 41,070; and the whole number in 1857, only 37,929, or an actual decrease, for the eight years, of 3,041, and this, notwithstanding the fact, that within that time, 6,606 had been added by letter—thus seeming to show a decrease, so far as additions by profession are concerned, of 9,647, or no less than 1,205, per year for the eight years! And further still, the baptisms of children reported for every one of these years averaged less than three to each church in the state!"
The Last Chance.
A TRAVELLER who was pursuing his journey on the Scotch coast, was thoughtlessly induced to take the road by the sands as the most agreeable. This road, which was safe only at low tides, lay on the beach, between the sea and the lofty cliffs which bound the coast. Pleased with the view of the inrolling waves on the one hand, and the abrupt and precipitous rocks on the other, he loitered on the way, unmindful of the sea, which was gradually encroaching on the intervening sands. A man, observing from the lofty cliffs the danger he was incurring, benevolently descended, and arresting his attention by a loud halloo, warned him not to proceed. "If you pass this spot, you lose your last chance for escape. The tides are rising. They have already covered the road you have passed over, and they are near the foot of the cliff before you, and by this ascent alone you can escape." The traveller disregarded the warning. He felt sure he could make the turn in the coast in good time; and leaving his volunteer guide, he went more rapidly on his way. Soon, however, he discovered the real danger of his position. His onward journey was arrested by the sea. He turned in haste, but to his amazement he found that the rising waters had cut off his retreat. He looked up the cliffs, but they were inaccessible. The waters were already at his feet. He sought higher ground, but was soon driven off. His last refuge was a projecting rock; but the relentless waters rose higher and higher—they reached him—they rose to his neck—he uttered a dispairing shriek for help, and no help was near, as he had neglected his last opportunity to escape. The sea closed over him; and it was the closing in upon him of the night of death.
An incident like this has its pregnant moral. How many travellers are there on the coast of time, amusing themselves with the surrounding scenery as they pass along! They are beset with dangers of which they are wholly unmindful. They are warned and importuned against proceeding in their present course. One only narrow way of escape is pointed out to them, which they are besought to take before it is too late. They laugh at the predicted danger, and pursue their way. The crisis at length comes—inevitable ruin stares them in the face. Worse dangers than a roaring sea, inaccessible cliffs, and a relentless tide, surround them. They have disregarded and passed by the cleft rock in which they might have taken refuge; and now, surprised by the sudden and surrounding death, they shriek for help in their bewilderment, and sink hopelessly in the raging flood.—Sel.
Selections from—Provisions for Passing over Jordan.
Not only am I sensible of the deficiency of my affection for my Jesus, but I feel the deficiency of my affection for my fellow-men. I need more of that long-suffering and gentleness, and meekness, which are equally the fruits of the Spirit with love, joy, and peace. That thou my soul, mayest hereafter through grace be constrained to act a more consistent part, remember that the least violation of these graces, especially that the least species of resentment towards those who have injured thee, though it may be unmixed with ill-will, and though it amount only to the withdrawing of thy good feelings from them, will prove a great hindrance to thee in making thy provisions for passing over Jordan. With such a spirit, thou canst not ask thy Father to forgive thee thy trespasses, as thou forgivest those who trespass against thee; for this prayer in appropriate words, would be, Lord, be pleased to treat me in the same manner that I treat those who have injured me. If ever, my soul, thou feelest the least spark of resentment, or if thou art in danger of acting contrary to the long-suffering, and the gentleness, and the meekness of the gospel, flee to Calvary. Hear thy Saviour, under the severest provocations from his enemies, crying out, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do," and learn from this prayer to hush every angry passion to peace.
Welcome afflictions, welcome trials, welcome pains, so that they do but lead me to my Jesus.
O what a precious fountain is the fountain of my Redeemer's blood.
“Bethesda's pool is not like this,
Nor heals nor cures such leprosies,
Nor Siloam's stream, nor Jordan's flood,
Could in my heart seem half so good:
’Tis Jesus' blood, that crimson sea,
That washeth guilt and filth away.
To this dear fountain I'll repair
With all the wounds and pains I bear;
I'll keep my station near its side,
And wash and drink and there abide;
Nor from the sacred streams remove
Till taken to their source above.
O that I might plunge into the fountain of my Redeemer's love, be covered over with it, and drink in its fullness.
Hell, earth and heaven all tried the strength of the love of thy Jesus to thee, my soul; and all thy sins and imperfections and ingratitude and thy forsaking and forgetting him have tried it; but they have never been able to quench it.
Dwell much, my soul, in Gethsemane. Dwell much at Golgotha; for nothing is so powerful to work a lively faith, and a joyful hope, as an attentive consideration of thy Lord's unutterable merits. Nothing has so great a tendency to wean thee from an undue attachment to a vain world, as the habitual remembrance of his extreme agonies.