Earlier text: Thoughts on BaptismRELIGIOUS ITEMS.
By Joseph Clarke
We feel best when we feel deeply our own sins, but pardon the sins of others. We often find the path of duty by waiting as well as praying for light. It is not so much what our enemies say evil of us as what our consciences say, that gives uneasiness. We cannot please our enemies better than by wounding ourselves. We improve our judgment and correctness of thought by dealing justly and impartially with our own hearts. It is better to furnish new material for a good history, than to quarry out old scandals for an old one. There is nothing more difficult than for a person of strong passions and inveterate prejudice to be fair and truthful. Many lies are told in jest; but more are told in politeness, in business, and in negatives. Pride is often seen to triumph, just when humility is seen to weep. A firm trust in God is the best defense; and faith is always exercised and seen to best advantage, when it is accompanied by purity of life. “Panics” occur not only in the commercial world, but sometimes in the experience of good people; but in the latter case they occur not for want of capital, but for want of confidence in God. A person may stand well in many forms of trial, and yet be wholly unprepared for other tests. A desire to be wholly frank and truthful, should not prompt us to acts of impudence, in making too public things which should be confined to interested parties. The great want of this age is faith in God: a person who would exercise true faith on all occasions would be esteemed almost a fool by the average Christian world. Fear is a good element when it is controlled by the laws of God; but when it is opposed to faith it is a very dangerous element of character. Hope is a fine and pleasant characteristic, and makes a garden in the desert; but when it stands opposed to caution and foresight, it becomes a snare and leads to presumption. Love is a most necessary ingredient in Christian character; but if it is mixed with carnal emotions, it becomes a lever for Satan to use in overthrowing all that is good. Hatred is not a bad trait, provided you hate only the sin, and love the sinner. “THERE will never be agreement in the church congress on this much vexed question until a very grave preliminary question has been settled: Is there now a Christian Sabbath to which the fourth commandment applies? . . . A commandment must be obeyed at whatever risk or inconvenience.”—The Guardian. This is coming to the point. Happy will it be for the universal church when the leaders shall come to the Scriptures on the Sabbath question, and abide by their teaching. What day does the fourth commandment teach should be kept holy? Only one answer can be given, namely, the seventh day, commonly called Saturday. This is the primeval, patriarchal, Jewish, Christian, and world’s Sabbath; or rather, it is the Sabbath of the Lord our God, made for man in all ages. “A commandment must be obeyed at whatever risk or inconvenience!” Bold and startling words are these; but they have the true ring in them. Take away the stern, unrelenting inconvenience of Sunday restriction, and in three months our 30,000 Protestant Sabbath-keepers might be augmented to 100,000. But our people have set out to obey, at whatever risk or inconvenience. Paul and Barnabas “hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Why should it be thought a thing impossible for a Christian to do the same and to keep the Sabbath? The Jews keep it, and we keep it, though threatened with financial and social inconvenience. We risk much, and yet we are much blessed in keeping God’s commandments. Now, will the Guardian come to the rescue of the Lord’s long-down-trodden rest-day? After making such a frank avowal it would be ungenerous to suppose that it intends anything else than going to the root of “this much vexed question,” and vindicating only the “Thus saith the Lord” against every human quibble and invention, and in favor of the plainest commandment of the Bible. On this subject the Guardian will find that the field is the world, and that the fourth commandment is exceeding broad. “Great peace have they who love thy law; and nothing shall offend them.”—Sabbath Memorial. THE CALM DEPTHS.
By W. F. Ward
SHALLOW waters are easily muddled. After a night of storm, the waters along the beach, stirred by the winds, are black with mire and dirt. But look beyond, out into the deep water—how blue and clear it is! The white caps on the surface show the violence of the wind, but the water is too deep for the storms that sweep the surface to stir up the earth at the bottom. So in the Christian experience. A shallow experience is easily disturbed. The merest trifles becloud and darken the soul whose piety is superficial; while the most furious storms of life fail to darken or perturb the soul which has attained a deep experience in the things of God. The agitation may produce a sparkle on the surface, but in the calm depths of such a spirit reigns eternal tranquillity, the peace of God that passeth all understanding.—W. F. Ward. Trusting the Word of a Profane Man
Trust not to the promise of a common swearer; for he that dares to sin against God, for neither profit nor pleasure, will be very likely to trespass against thee for his own advantage. EUROPEAN MISSION.
By James White
The following letters from Eld. Andrews and Dr. Ribton have been received by us and read with great pleasure. We give them for the benefit of the readers of the REVIEW, especially the old friends and supporters of the cause. Here are two men wholly devoted to the work of the last message, and who deserve the prayers, sympathy, and support of all true believers. Their sacrifices are great. Their work is vast, and their reward will be correspondingly great. Those who assist them in their work will share with them the final reward of the faithful:— “VERY DEAR BRO. WHITE: I have watched the news with respect to your health with deep interest. I do not know just how it is with you, but fear that you are very feeble. I lift my heart to God every day for you. I feel great assurance that God hears my cries to him in your behalf. I pray that you may be able to find relief from the great burdens of care and toil, and that your mind may be quieted and encouraged in God. It has pleased God to make yourself and wife the special instruments in his hand of advancing his work, and of instructing his people. Do not be disheartened if you feel greatly worn in his cause. The Master that you have served is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love in his cause, and eternity is the period which he proposes to employ in showing his love and what he can do for those who are faithful in his cause. Be not sorrowful; your reward is great in Heaven. The time will come when the heavy burden will be laid down, and when the cross shall be taken from your arms, and the crown of life, with many stars upon it, will be placed upon your head. You will be satisfied then. “I send with this a letter from Dr. Ribton to you. You can see something of his spirit from this letter. I have confidence that the time will come when you will visit Europe, and we shall share your counsel, and that of sister White. We see progress in the work, and our hearts are encouraged. In Christ yours, “DEAR BRO. WHITE: I have long been desirous of writing to you directly, since I undertook the work of announcing the Advent message in Italy; but great pressure of work between preaching and correspondence on the same work, already extending into Malta and Egypt, has prevented me hitherto. I believe, however, you have seen the reports which I sent to Bro. Andrews. We were much grieved to hear of your enfeebled health last fall, but have read with great pleasure and thankfulness the news of your recovery, in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. “It would not be possible for me to describe the happiness of mind which the knowledge of the true Sabbath, the advent message, and the glorious promises of our Lord to those who keep his commandments, has conferred upon me and my family. From the time of the visit of our dear Bro. Andrews to Naples, we date our birth into the family of the ‘watchers’ of the latter days. What appalling scenes God's Revelation has opened, even now beginning on the world! And what a joy to think that in the midst of them not a hair of our head shall perish! And yet what anguish of heart to those who know these mysteries, to witness the many, even those with whom one is in daily intercourse, who close their ears to the warning and will not learn what is coming upon them. How dreadful will be their remorse when repentance comes all too late! Oh! if one had twenty voices, twenty pens, it would be all too little to proclaim the warning,—flee from the wrath to come. “And so the Spirit has urged me to exert all my humble force to raise the trumpet cry in this most unhappy and benighted land. It is no light matter to dare the mystical beast in his own head-quarters, and to proclaim the commandments of God, where they have been trampled upon for more than twelve hundred years. It is no wonder if we have had our place of meeting beset by armed assassins, or if the enemy deludes even those who have light, to become our opponents. But truth is great, and it will prevail; and the few who had the courage in America forty years ago, to raise the standard of truth in the midst of the Babylon of error, have seen it, through the all-conquering power of the Spirit of God, pass eastward; and I believe that, after going around the world, it will arrive at the place of beginning again. “Our mission here, in the midst of a people, who, until some years ago, knew not what the Bible was, and whom Rome purposely encouraged in a slavery to carnal passions, granting pardon to all sins for a sum of money, is a difficult one, as I have explained in my letters to Bro. Andrews, and as he has seen for himself. Still in six months I have been able to report some precious fruit, precious stones in the edifice, that I trust will be the means of extending the third angel's message in the land. We have now a fair prospect of so doing if it please the Lord to give us the means that are essential for the extending of the work. An Italian ‘Signs of the Times’ has become a matter of necessity, and above all things we want to establish a system of colportage. Bro. B., who wrote relating his conversion, will not be able to remain in the church in which he has been employed, and I think the Lord has given him for our work, for he has all the qualifications for it. Could we employ him, he could increase our work fourfold by house to house visiting, for with the occupation of preaching and extensive correspondence, I am unable to see half the persons I am called on to visit. I have to do all the translation from English into Italian myself, there being no one who can aid me in this; and, indeed, there is work enough to keep three persons fully occupied. We pray, then, that the Lord will give us the means to carry out the work which lies open before us, and I trust he will do it. “We read with great pleasure sister White's truly Christian book, the Spirit of Prophecy. Our Italian brethren cannot read it, but I endeavor to give them portions of it orally, in their language. When we have our Italian journal, we shall be able to give them many articles out of it. “We hope that you and our dear sister in the Lord, your wife, will give yourselves a little rest in your new home in California. It is, indeed, time after so many years of unceasing labor; and praying God to give still more blessing to your work and hers, believe me, sincerely yours in the hope of our Lord's speedy coming, May God bless our dear missionaries and fellow-laborers in Europe. J. W. WORK HALF DONE.
By Uriah Smith
The Great Teacher represents that a wise man will sit down and count the cost before he undertakes to build, to determine whether or not he is able to finish; showing us that it is no part of wisdom to begin a work and leave it, for any cause, unfinished. And who has not seen many sad monuments of miscalculation in this respect? Houses are found all over the land half-finished, perhaps entirely inclosed, perhaps only partially so, unpainted, uninhabited, windows boarded up, the buildings becoming stained and weather beaten, dark, gloomy, and desolate. Somebody has left his work half done. Somebody has miscalculated. It is a sad fact that churches may be left in the same condition spiritually. The minister may leave his work half done. A body of believers may be left like a house unpainted, with windows boarded up, receiving only damage, alike from sunshine and storm. They may be left like a knit garment unbound, almost sure to ravel to pieces when put to use. To illustrate: We hear of some churches in the West the members of which are still habitually using pork and tobacco, having never been told that these things are hurtful, and that their use is contrary to the practice of this people. Of course, with such people, tea and coffee are still household articles, wrong habits of life are uncorrected, they pay no S. B. and take very little part in the financial enterprises of the church. They do not take our periodicals, and bear no part in the circulation of reading matter. It is reported that one member, hearing casually that the use of tobacco was contrary to the practice of this people, immediately laid his tobacco aside; but another Sabbath-keeper, of the class above referred to, told him that the preacher who brought them the third angel’s message didn’t tell them anything about that, and that consequently it didn’t make any difference if he did use tobacco; and the individual then took up the practice again. That a minister professing to be giving the truths of the third message should permanently leave his converts so uninformed upon these subjects, betrays great unfaithfulness in his work. It may perhaps be pleaded that time was lacking. All these things, of course, cannot be brought out at once; and a judicious workman will watch for the right time and the favorable circumstances. But he should never consider his work done till he has either instructed them himself, or made provision for instruction from others, on these important topics. Perhaps he may say that some one else can instruct them on these points better than himself. This is a great mistake. Who does not know that the person who first brings individuals to the knowledge of the truth, has the highest place in the affections of those individuals, and the most influence with them? They will receive instruction from that person more readily than from any one else. And, more than this, it will be almost impossible for any one else to bring them forward upon reforms against which the first minister has seemed to cast an influence either by his silence, by his indifference, or by adverse insinuations. There is a great responsibility resting upon the minister in relation to this point, and to these things; and a little lack here may counteract a great deal of hard labor, and deprive him of a large reward which he might otherwise secure. The world is perishing for lack of knowledge. People everywhere need instruction. Especially to bring them fully to the truth for this time, there must be instruction, instruction, line upon line, patiently, thoroughly, faithfully given. For the minister who knows this, and yet does not do it, there remains a giving of an account of his stewardship which it would be well for him if he could escape. But little spiritual life or growth or help to the cause, can be expected from those who are left in the condition above described. But if, in connection with the other great truths of the message, they are instructed in Bible Temperance, to bring themselves into the best physical condition; and in Bible Giving, to repress covetousness and lead them to feel that they have a personal investment in the cause of truth; and if they are shown the importance of taking the periodicals, that they may be brought into communication and sympathy with all parts of the work, and feel the throbbing of all its pulses,—from such, a good report and good fruit may be expected. May the Lord help all his ministers to gather in, build up, edify, and establish multitudes of precious souls in the truth and work of these last days. And may he raise up laborers of this sort everywhere to go forth into the suffering harvest fields. U. S. “THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE.”
By Dudley Marvin Canright
When the war of the Rebellion commenced, it was supposed that about seventy-five thousand men would be sufficient to quell it in three months; but a call for these was only a beginning. Fifty thousand, and a hundred thousand, and then two hundred thousand soldiers were called for by the government; and so call after call came fast, one upon the heels of another, until finally, after a heavy draft had been ordered, President Lincoln made cowards tremble, and traitors shake by his memorable call for “three hundred thousand more.” When this call was made, every one knew that it meant business. So it has been in our work. The message was first proclaimed by half a dozen inexperienced men of poverty. It was thought, even then, that the work would be short; but how little we dreamed of its magnitude. When the number of our ministers had increased to twenty, and we had two or three tents in the field, and had one small paper, it was thought the work was well under way, and that the loud cry might soon be expected. But alas! how limited were our ideas of the work. For years we supposed our main dependence must be simply upon our preachers, and that there would never be an opportunity offered for our brethren to labor in the cause except as preachers. If brethren could not preach, the only thing left for them to do was to earn money and give that. But how rapidly circumstances are changing in this respect. Now there are openings for labor in this message in more than a score of different directions. If a person has not the ability to preach, he may be a good tent master, or singer, or Sabbath-school teacher, or secretary of a tract society; or he can teach in our school, or work in our Office of publication or in the Sanitarium. If he can do none of these things, there are still plenty of things he can do. In fact, there are so many different branches of the work rapidly springing up, which require ability, education, and consecration, that it is with the greatest difficulty that men and women are found capable of filling them, or, at least, who are willing to do it. The time was when there seemed to be no openings for ambitious young men and women who were Sabbath-keepers. It looked as though to keep the Sabbath was to shut them out from all prospect of any useful employment. They could work on a farm, and that was about all. It did look like a forlorn hope. In our heart we have pitied young Sabbath-keepers, because there were so few openings for usefulness before them. But these days are past. Indeed, they never existed. It is seen now that if the young men and women among us, a dozen or even a score of years ago, had devoted themselves to this work, had given themselves to the cause, and had stored their minds with useful knowledge, they might now have filled important places, and been of invaluable worth to the message. But some did not have faith enough then to believe that, and now they find it too late to learn. Probably each year will increase a demand for talent, for earnest laborers in this message. Look for a moment at what is needed even now, and what will it be in the near future? 1. Preachers. What urgent calls, what rich harvests, what inviting openings, are everywhere presented for live preachers to carry this message! In the East a great change is seen in the public sentiment. In the South the most promising fields are everywhere inviting our laborers. Europe, England, Scotland, Australia, and even Egypt are calling for help. Oh that we had fifty devoted men to give them immediately; but we do not have them to spare. 2. Tent companies. Every year proves more clearly that proper persons can greatly aid a preacher in giving a course of lectures. They can furnish good singing and instrumental music. They can help him in praying and exhorting, in visiting from house to house, in reporting for the daily papers, in getting up handbills, and in various ways they can promote the interest of the meetings. Not only can brethren engage in this work, but intelligent, devoted women can, in many cases, do more even than men. What an opportunity for sisters to do missionary work, if they only will. And, evidently, this work will grow upon our hands, and this class of persons will be more in demand. Who is preparing for it? Some persons make a faint effort to obtain a place, and because they are not successful give up in despair. These persons are not of the right material, or they would not give up so easily. 3. Tent masters. Experience shows that a good tent master is a very valuable aid in tent work. Tent masters can forward or hinder the work greatly. If they are what they should be,—sociable, devoted, energetic, stirring, and attentive to their business,—they will do almost as much as the preacher. Who of our young men are preparing for this work? 4. Canvassers. Where we have one canvasser in the field, we ought to have fifty. Not only can this work be made to pay financially, but it is a very convenient means of spreading the truth. It is a good school in which to learn. There is no lack of openings in this department. 5. Conference presidents. We already have seventeen Conferences, and every year must117form additional ones. The churches in each Conference are growing larger and more numerous. The business of the Conference is becoming more and more important; and every year shows that the prosperity of the Conference depends a great deal on the man at the head,—the president. Here is a position worthy of the highest ambition of any young man. It is honorable and useful. There is no lack of opportunity for a young man who has the real metal in him. 6. Directors. Here is another office of much importance. Every State must have from five to a dozen directors; and every year their office will grow more and more responsible. Where are the men preparing to fill these places? And so we might go through the list of secretaries, librarians, Sabbath-school superintendents, Sabbath-school teachers, elders of churches, deacons, systematic treasurers, and church clerks. Any one of these offices requires a person of intelligence, of energy, and of culture. The more education he has the better. But these are only a small part of the openings. Already we have three publishing houses, and how many honorable positions of trust and usefulness are connected with each office. Beginning with the type-setter and ending with the editor, how many places are there between,—secretary, treasurer, foreman, proof-reader, &c. Our offices will be growing every year, and there will be wanted persons of ability to fill these places. Indeed, it is very hard to obtain suitable help now. And new branches are constantly being added to this work. At Battle Creek we have a bookbindery, which employs a number of hands, and this branch of the work is growing rapidly. Another branch has been added lately, namely, stereotyping. Proper persons must be found to fill these places. Go into the College. There are no less than ten teachers employed there now; but the College is only in its infancy. Another large building must be added soon, and ten more teachers employed. From whence will they come? Go into our Sanitarium. Here six doctors are already overworked. Others should soon be ready to assist them, as the institution is rapidly growing. And then there are many places of important trust besides that of the doctors. About forty hands are employed in the various departments of the Sanitarium. This number must necessarily grow larger every year. God pity those young men or women who stand with folded hands, complaining that there is nothing for them to do. A hundred persons in our ranks are working beyond their strength, and work for a hundred more is suffering to be done, simply because there are no persons of ability to take hold of it. As we look at these things, our hearts are pained, and we cry to God to put the burden on somebody, and raise up individuals to help us in this work. The cause is actually suffering, and terribly suffering, for want of men and women of stir, of life, of energy, and education; persons who are not afraid to work and sacrifice; persons who are willing to commence at the foot of the ladder, are willing to do little things before they do great things, and prove themselves worthy before we trust them. The trouble is, there are plenty of persons who are ready to jump into the highest place and most sacred trust, without having proved themselves worthy, without having so much as properly filled the office of church clerk. Give them some little thing to do, and they will whine over it, find fault, and think they are misused. They are not willing to suffer any sacrifice. No; they must have big pay and a fine position before they will do anything. The Lord has no place in his work for such individuals; they may as well go somewhere else. Let us get hold of this idea: If the work goes on five years more, there will be a call for ten men where there is a call for one to-day. The work has increased in this ratio in the past, and it will in the future. Indeed, it is quite probable that the time is not far distant when we will have publishing houses in England, in the Southern States, in Scotland, and even in Australia. Every one of these institutions must have gathered around it from a score to fifty devoted workers. None but the Lord knows where these persons will come from; but we are confident that they will come. He will find them. Will our young men and women sit still, and dream away these precious hours, and allow some one to come up and take their crowns? Now, brethren and sisters, it is time we waked up to these things. Time is short. The message is soon to close. What is done, must be done quickly. If you want a part in the closing work, don’t wait much longer. Get up early, stick to it late; study hard, crowd your moments full. Said the great apostle, “Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor,” and he acted as though he believed it. What a man of energy was Paul! what a man of work! What heroic deeds he wrought! How nobly he suffered! He believed what he said,—that he was to be rewarded according to what he did. Many of us will wake up in the Judgment to find that we have lost splendid opportunities and infinite rewards, but that will be just a little too late. “Three hundred thousand more!” Let them come. Who will be the first? The loyal citizens of the North in that time of trial responded, “Here we come, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more.” Shall we have a response to the Lord’s call for more volunteers in this great and closing struggle for God and the right? D. M. Canright. State Center, Ia., March 20. CREEPING IN.
By Uriah Smith
The redeeming feature of the revival work accomplished by some of the popular traveling evangelists of the present day is that they make reference frequently to the second coming of Christ, and are directing public thought to consider it an event at hand. But the watch-dogs of error scent the heresy and raise a howl of alarm. The following we clip from The Watchman, of March 27, 1878:— “Zion’s Advocate, Portland, makes the following observation, which seems to us every way just, important, and timely:— “‘If Mr. Pentecost, in his preaching and Bible reading at Hartford, Conn., were to make frequent references to immersion as scriptural baptism, he would be called sectarian, and some one would be found to let him know that in a series of union meetings such words were entirely out of place. But let an evangelist like Moody, or Needham, or Moorhouse make frequent references to the speedy coming of Christ, and the other peculiar views which these men hold in connection with the Second Advent,—views which, to say the least, the great body of evangelical Christians regard as unscriptural,—and men hesitate to express their dissent. We think this is wrong. These errors are creeping into our churches, and it is time, it seems to us, it were understood that in a union meeting millenarian views have no place. If the evangelists cannot keep their views on this subject to themselves, let us know it, and our churches will understand what they are to expect if they open their doors to them.’” U. S. THE READING OF THE BIBLE AND PUBLIC WORSHIP.
By William H. Littlejohn
THERE is one book, and but one, which can properly be denominated the book of God. This being true, it follows, as a matter of course, that its authority, as compared with the productions of men, is as much higher as God the Creator is higher than man the creature. In all matters of doctrine and duty it furnishes a source of ultimate appeal; and to depart from its teachings would be ruin. Whether or not our views correspond with its declarations is important only as difference between the two would prove the necessity of a change of opinion on our part, in order to make our conceptions conform to the standard of Him who never errs. For if the book in question is really what we concede it to be, then there can be no doubt that we are wrong just so far as we differ from that which it declares to be true and sound. The value of such a revelation cannot be overestimated. Without it, we should all be adrift upon a sea of wild speculation, bounded only by the possibilities in the flight of human fancy. Every man would be a law to himself; and confusion and uncertainty, the most deplorable in its nature and extent, would reign in those realms of thought where unity and accuracy are absolutely indispensable to the highest welfare of all. This being true, how grateful we should all feel that God has, by making known his will, rescued us from that fatal condition of error into which men so naturally drift when left to themselves. Were there no other consideration than that of the perfect rest and satisfaction which is brought to our minds by a belief in the Bible as containing the revealed will of the Omniscient One, we should have great occasion for thankfulness. The condition of doubt and uncertainty is terrible in the extreme. We recall, as an illustration of this fact, the case of an individual, who, while upon trial for his life, having waited many days for the final verdict of the jury, thanked God when the verdict came at last,—even though it brought with it his condemnation to the gallows,—that his suspense had finally ended; reasoning that he would rather suffer the doom to which he had been condemned than to live longer in a state of doubt. But with us there is not only occasion for gratitude because of the acquisition of clear light as it regards our actual standing, but also because that light shows that there is hope in all our cases, and that if we shall act well our part, salvation will not only be possible, but also certain. In view, therefore, of the benefits which we have received and the joys which we have experienced through the information imparted to us by the reading of the Holy Scriptures, how ought we to give expression to the appreciation which we have of the goodness of God in his dealings with us, in affording us the very knowledge of which we stand in such great need? Manifestly in two ways. In the first place it will be becoming in us to make the Bible the man of our counsel and the guide of our daily lives. We should inform ourselves in regard to its contents by giving it repeated and systematic reading. In the second place, we should be untiring in our efforts to get its light and its truth before our neighbors. No opportunity for this purpose should be allowed to pass unimproved. We should ever be ready to recommend it to them, and, whenever occasion offers, to read it to them in private. Not only so, but we should also seek to bring our friends to the place of public worship, where they may not only hear it read, but also where they may listen to the minister while he may expound the same. Do you reply that it is not the custom of your pastor to read a chapter from the Bible during the public service, and that he contents himself with simply quoting his text and proof-texts therefrom? I answer that his practice is a most unfortunate one; and that proper reflection, if he loves the welfare of the people and desires the glory of God, would lead him to change his course entirely in this matter. He will agree with me that there is no use in preaching the word unless the Holy Spirit shall accompany his utterance. He will also agree with me that the Holy Spirit will be likely to carry conviction to the hearts of the people just in proportion as that which he says is in harmony with its teachings and will. But if this be so, then it follows that nothing which he can say will so fully meet the conditions which will secure the blessing of God as those words which God himself has inspired holy men to write for the benefit of a fallen race. This is true, both because the doctrines taught are necessarily correct and because the spirit in which they are uttered is unquestionably a right spirit. Should it be replied that if this be the case it would be better to dispense with the preaching altogether, I answer that this would be true, provided that men could be induced to listen to the reading of the Scriptures simply, as long and as frequently as they can to preaching and reading combined. This, however, is not the fact; and, in order to adapt ourselves to society as we find it, it is best to furnish such variety in our public gatherings as will enable us both to feed and entertain the hearers. A minister with this end in view will be able, on each occasion, to spend his time most profitably in reading a portion of the word of God, and in illustrating, enforcing, and expounding the same, or some other portion, as the circumstances of the case may seem to require. By this course, even though his sermon shall prove to be a very weak one, he will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that in the reading of a chapter those present have had the benefit of the product of the Holy Spirit, or of the words of Him who spake as never man spoke. Perhaps there never has been a time when ministers and laymen have been more fully alive to the value of Bible reading in the work of convicting sinners and edifying saints, than they are at the present time. Meetings for this especial purpose are becoming quite common, and those preachers who are most successful in saving men, give the most prominence in their labors to the word of God. We confess for ourselves that when we see a minister go into the desk, and, after singing and prayer, enter immediately, without any scriptural lesson, upon the delivery of a sermon, however good it may promise to be, we feel that he is about to feed the congregation with bread which has in it the leaven of error and weakness; whereas he might give to them something as much better as the angels’ food, or manna, provided in the wilderness by the Lord, was better than the ordinary food of the Hebrew people. There seems, also, to be a smack of egotism in the affair, since the minister, judging from appearances, concluding that he has not time enough for both the reading of the word and the sermon, decides that he will lengthen out the latter, as being more important, at the expense of the former. We always say to ourselves under such circumstances, Poor man! what a terrible mistake he is making! The Bible-reading is just the thing needed to prepare the minds and the hearts of the people to appreciate what he is about to say and to profit by it. The Bible, which is the sword of the Spirit, and which is sharper than ever was steel of Damascus, is mighty in the work of slaying the man of sin, and revealing to the hearts of all present the actual condition before God, of each listener. No man, however eloquent, can hope to utter sentences which would compare with it in this particular. It is God’s chosen instrument for this purpose; and when allowed to do its office work, it will always do it well. When we consider, therefore, that not one-tenth part, even of the professors of religion present in any congregation, read the Bible as much as it ought to be read, and when we reflect that the public service furnishes to a large share of those in attendance, through the reading of the word, the only knowledge of the Scriptures which they ever obtain, we are more and more convinced that a minister is never excusable for neglecting to read the word whenever God gives him such an opportunity for this purpose as is afforded by an assemblage of both believers and unbelievers, who are waiting to listen to his ministration.