Review and Herald, Vol. 26, No. 1. (6/6/1865)

Review and Herald

Jun 6, 1865

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 6, 1865

Sanctification: or Living Holiness.

By D. T. Bourdeau

BY ELD. D. T. BOURDEAU.

(Continued from Vol. XXV, No. 8.)

THE TONGUE.

We should not indulge in foolish talking and jesting, which, as Paul says, are not convenient, but should rather give thanks. Eph. v, 4. Again he says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Chap. iv, 29; Col. iv, 6.

A good remedy for foolish talking and jesting is, giving thanks to the Lord. Foolish talking, jesting and joking are generally indulged in, when the mind is cheerful and feels well; and cheerfulness is good if it is rightly used. If any one has reason to be cheerful it is the Christian; and how appropriate it is to thank the Lord when we feel well. To do this, would keep our minds on the Lord and prevent us from talking foolishly. Says James, "Is any merry? let him sing psalms." James v, 13. Singing psalms and giving thanks unto the Lord, and speaking with grace, and in a manner to edify, would be more profitable and would leave a greater and more lasting satisfaction than to engage in a vain, empty, filthy and foolish conversation. Many have had to weep over foolish and trifling expressions; but no rational person was ever known to weep over a pure, elevating, graceful and instructive conversation.

The tongue should be employed in exalting and defending the truth, and in giving a reason of our hope. In doing this in a proper manner, we can be a blessing to ourselves and to others. "A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth." Prov. xii, 14. Again, "The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life." Chap. x, 11. It invigorates, refreshes and gladdens the hearts of many. "A wholesome tongue (or the healing of the tongue, margin) is a tree of life;" and "the lips of the wise disperse knowledge and feed many." Prov. xv, 4, 7; x, 21.

But the tongue should use knowledge aright. Prov. xv, 2. To use knowledge aright, we must speak right words at the right time, in the right manner, with the right spirit and actuated by right motives.

"The tongue of the just is as choice silver." Prov. x, 20. Its words are choice words. They are well chosen. Among the many things that could be said on different occasions, we must speak the proper things,—the things that are needed and that can be understood and appreciated; the things that will glorify God and do others good. Those who speak promiscuously, and say all they know on every occasion, cannot be said to use knowledge aright, and must injure and be a disgrace to any honorable cause in which they may engage. In this way the cause of truth has often been brought into disrepute by its professed friend.

"A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it till afterward." "He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit (or a cool spirit, margin)." Prov. xxix, 11; xvi, 27. He is swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. James i, 19. "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise." Prov. x, 19. See also chap. xxix, 20; Eccl. v, 1-7.

Said Christ on a certain occasion, "I have yet many things to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them now." Jno. xvi, 12. We are so weak and our minds are so limited, that we cannot bear the whole truth at once. We must first learn and practice the alphabet of truth, and then we are prepared to understand and learn more truth and more difficult portions of truth. And we should learn from our own weakness and experience and from the dealings of the Lord with us, how we ought to deal out knowledge to others. To deal out difficult portions of truth at first, and present too many new ideas at once, would clog and confuse the mind of our hearers, and perhaps make them conclude that we have a confused mass of ideas, and give them an unfavorable opinion of the truths we advocate.

"A word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Prov. xxv, 11. It often operates like a good medicine administered at the right time and in a proper manner. A physician who would be successful in his line of business, must first consider the physical condition of his patients and the nature of their diseases, and then he is prepared to administer unto them the proper kind of medicine. So he who would be successful in doctoring sin-sick souls, should first consider the moral condition of his patients and the nature of their moral diseases, and then he can tell what portions of truths are adapted to their respective cases, and at what time and in what manner they should be presented. And wise and successful is the person that can give to each a portion of truth in due season.

Some are not prepared to bear the same portions of truth that others can. Some can receive at one time and under certain circumstances, what they cannot receive at a different time and under different circumstances. Some need to be cheered and encouraged; others need to be checked. Some cases and circumstances call for sharp (yet meek) rebukes; others for moderate rebukes. Some cases call for open reproofs; others for secret reproofs. But every truth and every case should be handled with love.

There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence. "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." Prov. xvii, 28. There are many seasons when we ought to keep silence; and in many instances by speaking when we ought not to speak, we use knowledge wrong.

We use knowledge wrong when we say much about the truth, and yet obey not the truth. It would be wiser to talk less and live better. Those who have much to say about the truth, but whose lives do not agree with their profession, may be compared to a farmer who extols the qualities of a certain apple-tree in his orchard, and immediately presents a basket of miserable apples to those that hear him. If his hearers are not acquainted with him or with the tree he extols, they will say, The tree is bad and his taste is perverted; or he knows the tree is bad and wishes to deceive us. Many, not having an understanding of the truth because they have not examined it, will judge of the truth by the fruit that those bear who profess it; and if the fruit is bad, they will conclude that the profession or theory is also bad. True, this is not a logical conclusion. But we see how necessary it is for those who talk the truth to live out the truth.

Knowledge is used wrong when the truth is constantly urged upon others, as though all success depended on much urging. In this way, many are wearied and disgusted, and made to feel that too much of one thing is good for nothing. Let us remember that God has something to do in enforcing the truth, that we cannot do. We should give God a chance to work by his Spirit and good angels, and should not get in the way and retard the progress of truth by overacting and going beyond the limits assigned unto us. If a clear presentation of truth, backed up by a consistent life and the spirit of truth, will not convince the honest, and lead them to action, what will?

Knowledge is used wrong when the truth is used as a club, and to get the ascendancy over others. By this course, honest souls are driven away from the truth and oppose it, who would otherwise ponder and receive it. We must not feel like a certain class whom David represents as saying, "With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?" Ps. xii, 4. It is not those who whip and drive souls who are accounted wise. The wisest of men says, "He that winneth souls is wise."

Knowledge is used wrong when the truth is spoken from selfish motives, to get worldly gain, or to receive the praise of men, &c. Those who speak the truth from such motives, and with such objects in view, may prosper with those who love smooth things, as long as they keep in a

popular channel, and speak the whole truth, with the glory of God and the good of souls in view, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear, and many will lose their worldly support and the praise and honor of men, to receive the salary of those who have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God; viz., persecution, reproach, want, privation, the loss or and praise that come from God, with the promise of eternal life in the world to come. Doubtless if all who now profess to preach the truth were shut up to this salary, not a few would leave off preaching to adopt some other avocation.

Those who have an undue anxiety to fill the place of teachers while they overlook the necessary qualifications to teach the truth, would do well to consider the following instruction of James. 'My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation,' or judgment, margin. James iii, 1. Mr. Whiting's translation reads as follows: 'My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that as such we must receive greater condemnation.'

"The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth knowledge to his lips." Prov. xvi, 23. If we are careful to think before speaking, and with reference to speaking, we shall have more knowledge and know how to use it. We shall know when to keep silence, and when, what and how to speak, and will keep our souls from troubles. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles." Prov. xxi, 23. "He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile." 1 Pet. iii, 10.

Dear reader, if so much depends on the right use of the tongue, let us see to it that we weigh our words. Let us keep our mouths as with a bridle, and take heed to our ways that we sin not with our tongues.

BODILY CLEANLINESS.

It may be thought by some, that this point is foreign to the subject. But its bearing on the subject will be readily seen, if it can be shown that bodily cleanliness is a duty enjoined by the Lord on his people. Now this is shown by the following New Testament scriptures: "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints. . . . For this ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." Eph. v, 3, 5, 6. "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh." 2 Cor. vi, 1. "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." 1 Thess. iv, 7. "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness." James i, 19.

Again, when God separated the children of Israel from other nations that they might be a holy people unto himself, he enjoined upon them physical cleanliness, by enacting and enforcing certain laws on diet and on physical purifications. By these laws the Israelites were commanded to wash their bodies and their garments when they had become unclean, and were made to see the propriety of keeping their persons, their garments and their dwellings clean. And they saw the importance of being clean when they appeared before the Lord. Now God cannot be less particular with us in this respect than he was with his ancient people. He is as pure and holy now as he was then, and requires his people to be pure and clean in body as well as in mind.

God's requisitions respecting bodily cleanliness, are not merely arbitrary, but are grounded on reasons connected with health, self-respect, respect for our fellow-creatures, and respect and reverence for the Creator.

To attend to bodily cleanliness by washing the body and its garments occasionally, is highly conducive to health. Filthiness genders disease and corruption. Many diseases are caused by suffering the pores of the skin to be clogged with filth and dirt. When the pores are thus clogged they fail to do their work, viz., to throw off by perspiration, impurities which would remain in the system and eventually injure the body, by hindering the circulation of the blood and producing various diseases.

But let the body be washed with pure water, and with proper exercise, the pores will fulfill their function, the circulation of the blood will be helped, and nature will be more apt to keep off disease.

But to keep our bodies pure, we must not only wash the body and its garments; we must divest ourselves of all impure physical habits, and see to it that we eat clean food, and breathe pure air, and that our dwellings and all that pertains to them, be kept clean; and healthy results will follow. Thus we see that cleanliness should be attended to as a matter of self-preservation.

To attend to cleanliness evinces self-respect and respect for others. By neglecting cleanliness, we show a lack of respect for our own persons, and for those with whom we associate, and dishonor the Creator. Lovers of purity cannot look with complacency upon persons of filthy habits, neither can they fully delight themselves in their society. And will the Holy Spirit and good angels approbate and delight to abide with filthy persons? When persons who love taste and purity expect a visit from those whom they respect, how natural it is for them to clean up, that they may be in a condition to receive them. So should we purify our bodies as well as our minds, that we may be in readiness to receive the Holy Spirit and the ministration of good angels, and to worship the Lord with his saints.

Nature itself teaches us that we should keep our persons clean. Even individuals of unclean habits, who have not entirely lost their fine feelings and sense of propriety, will appear ashamed when they fall in with the clean and tidy unawares. And how would they feel if they were introduced into the presence of the pure in Heaven. Yet known to the Lord is the condition of all; for all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Real filthy persons are unrefined in their taste for, and discernment of, spiritual things, and cannot fully appreciate the pure and elevating truths of God's word unless they reform by addicting themselves to clean and refined physical habits. And though we may to a certain degree attend to physical purity without being pure in heart, yet we cannot be said to be wholly sanctified if we neglect bodily cleanliness.

(To be continued.)

Shall We Meet?

SHALL I meet thee, my brother? in Eden restored, To purity, loveliness, beauty and bloom? Where God and the Lamb shall be ever adored, And joyfulness flourish unsullied by gloom?

Shall I meet thee, my brother, where sorrow and crying, And pain cannot enter, and death shall not be? Not a pang ever felt—no drooping, nor sighing— Where all are immortal, and happy and free.

Oh! say, shall we meet?—or shall one but be there? Shall I be excluded, and you win the prize? Or I and not you, or shall neither appear Triumphant with saints when to glory they rise?

I mean to be there, through the Master's rich grace! My brother, my brother, be this thy resolve! Oh think of the bliss, to behold his bright face, While ages on ages their courses revolve!

Enduring the cross, and despising the shame, My brother, my brother, like Christ let us be! The crown keep in view, and in Jesus' name, The end of the conflict in glory we'll see!

Luther and the Advent.

THE following extracts from the works of Luther, will show his views of the second coming of Christ.

"In the year 1541, when, during a very beautiful spring, everything flourished and bloomed, Luther said to Justus Jonas: 'If only sin and death were absent, we would be satisfied with such a paradise. But it will be much more beautiful, when the world and the old state of things will be entirely renovated, and an eternal spring begins, which will be and continue forever.' The computation of those who confidently fixed the year and the day of the final judgment being once referred to, he said: 'No, verily, the text is too plain in Matt. xxiv: Concerning the day and the hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels in Heaven, but alone, my Father; therefore, neither I, nor any man, nor angel, can fix the day or the hour. I believe, nevertheless, that all the signs which are to precede the last day have already happened. The gospel is preached throughout the world; the child of perdition is revealed, and destroyed in the hearts of many; the kingdom of Rome is declining to its fall; all the elements and creatures are in commotion, and declining; there is no longer any love or fidelity on the earth, and Christ may come when he may, he will find but a small flock of believers; excess in eating and drinking, the practice of usury, anxious cares, covetousness, extravagance in dress and building, and all manner of irregularity, verily being as prevalent now as they were at the times of Noah; wherefore, I conceive that the signs preceding the last day are fulfilled. Unless it should be that Gog and Magog, together with the Papacy, should yet be crushed and destroyed previously, in a temporal respect too, and that particular and supernatural darkness should perhaps be witnessed in the sun and moon, as was the case at the death of Christ, and that the gospel should, previously to the last day, be banished from all the churches, schools, and pulpits, and be found only with pious heads of families, within their four walls, as it was in the times of Elijah, and as it verily almost seems it will be now. Otherwise, everything is fulfilled which is to precede the last day. Methinks Christ our Lord is already publishing his summons in Heaven, and the angels are preparing for the journey, and because during these six hundred years all the great and marvelous events of which Elijah prophesied, have occurred in the spring and about Easter, I trust Christ will also appear about Easter, and cause his voice to be heard in a morning tempest, and then, with one stroke, confounding the heavens and the earth, in a moment of time, transform the living, raise the dead, create a new heaven and earth, hold his judgment in the clouds, wholly fulfill the Scriptures, together with his last; It is finished; THIS WE AWAIT." (Meurer's Life of Luther, pp. 573, 574.)

"The world has grown very stubborn and headstrong, since the revelation of the word of the gospel. It begins to crack sorely, and I hope will soon break and fall on a heap through the coming of the day of judgment, for which we wait with yearnings and sighs of heart." (Table Talk, chap. 4.)

"Some, in explaining the passage, 'other sheep I have,' say, that before the latter days, the whole world shall become Christians. This is a falsehood forged by Satan, that he might darken sound doctrine, that we might not rightly understand it. Beware, therefore, of this delusion." (Com. on John x, 16.)

"The world is as it ever has been, the world, and desires to know nothing of Christ. Let it go its own way. They continue to rage and grow worse from day to day, which, indeed, is a solace to the weary soul, as it shows that the glorious day of the Lord is at hand. The world is given up to its own ways, that the day of its destruction and our salvation should be hastened. Amen—so be it."

"May the Lord come at once! Let him cut the whole matter short with the day of judgment, for there is no amendment to be expected." (Life, p. 348.)

"I see no other prayer that is fitting, but only this,—thy kingdom come." (Ib. p. 348.)

"Let us not; therefore, be wanting to ourselves, disregarding the most diligent premonition and prophecy of Christ our Savior; but seeing in our age the signs foretold by him do often come to pass, let us not think that the coming of Christ is far off. And now let us look up with heads lifted up, and let us expect our Redeemer's coming with a longing and cheerful mind. For though the signs may seem uncertain, yet no man can despise them without danger; seeing there can be not only no danger, but also great profit; if, reckoning them as true, thou shalt prepare thyself to meet thy Savior; that is, if bidding farewell to present things, thou shalt be wholly taken up with the kingdom of God that is coming. Let us follow certain things, and the signs we have lately seen brought forth; let us not doubt but that they are true signs of the last day, lest we stumble with those profane men of the world, and meet with sudden destruction, when we shall promise nothing but quietness to ourselves." (Quoted from the London Q. J. of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 445.)

More Than We Want,

And All for Nothing.

"So you won't give me anything!"

"You needn't have put it in that way; I've got nothing to give," said Allan Barrow. "Nobody gives to me. I get nothing but what I work for and pay for, and it's rather hard to come upon such folks; you should go to them as you may say that gets plenty for nothing, and have more than they want."

And old Allan Barrow leaned both his elbows on his garden fence, and turned away from the person he spoke to.

The person he spoke to was a grayheaded man, in workman's clothes. He carried a little book in one hand, and in the other held a pencil, ready to write.

"You have told me of two sorts of people,"

said Silas Pyne, "that I don't expect to meet with—those that have nothing but what they pay for, and those that have more than they want."

"Very likely," said Allan; "but there's some of both in the world, for all that; I've got nothing but what I pay for, but I haven't got more than they want."

Silas smiled and shook his head.

"What d'ye shake your head at?" asked Allan, gruffly.

"Why at the mistake you're in, friend," answered Silas, "in thinking you pay for everything."

"Make it out it's a mistake, and I'll give you leave to put me down five shillings in your book," said Allan.

"Thank you," said Silas, "but before I begin to do it, will you just give me a draught from your well? It's the best water anywhere about."

"That it is," answered Allan, readily getting a cup for him. "And it's a prime thing for me, that can't drink much of anything else."

"Aye; what would we do without water," said Silas, taking a deep draught, "when you come to think how it comes into all the things that keep life together."

"Oh, it's wonderful useful," replied Allan, "may be the most useful thing in life."

"As to that," said Silas, "we couldn't live in it, though we couldn't live well without it. Air, good fresh air, is the thing we couldn't by any means do without."

"And for that," said Allan, "you'll never have finer than this as blows over the common. I take it, it's worth ten years of life to be in a good air."

"You are right there," said Silas, "and I should say you're a proof of it; you look as firm as a rock, and as red as a rose."

"Not amiss," said Allan; "never knew much about sickness."

"And yet you've lived many years," said Silas.

"Just up to threescore and ten," answered Allan, nodding.

Silas began to write in his book.

"What are you putting down?" asked Allan.

"Your name for five shillings," said Silas; "didn't you say that I should have it if I could prove that you had things more than you want, that you neither worked nor pay for?"

"Yes, but you've never begun to do that yet," said Allan.

"What do you pay for air?" asked Silas.

"Pooh! nonsense!" said Allan.

"For water?" said Silas.

"Pooh!" said Allan again.

"For health, and having been brought through threescore years and ten?" continued Silas.

"Oh, as to them—of course we never count up the things that God gives us," said Allan; "I wasn't thinking of them."

"No, friend; few people do think of them," said Silas. "The best blessings—I mean those belonging to this life—are such as cannot be bought with silver or gold; and they are freely given to the rich and poor without any difference—yes, and more than they want—and are taken as matters of course, without any praise or thanks to the Giver. Come, now, I have shown you that you don't pay for the things that you couldn't live without, and I could tell you of many more—can't you find in your heart to give something to give poor sinners, young and old, a knowledge of the better blessings of salvation through Jesus Christ? Surely, such a thank-offering would be but becoming."

"Well," said Allan, putting his hand in his pocket, "I'm not against giving you a trifle, but I didn't know you was going to talk that way, at what I said about the five shillings."

"Name your own sum," said Silas. "Give what you will, it must be trifling, looking at what you have received. I've told you of four blessings that the Bank couldn't buy; aren't they worth a shilling apiece? "

Old Allan smiled, and taking out two half crowns, "Well, and there's a fifth that's worth another; and a friend that is faithful to mind one of one's duty; so you needn't scratch out my name; here's the five shillings."—Cottager.

Inhuman Treatment of Prisoners.

No chapter in the history of the civil war in this country is more terrible than that which records the cruelty and neglect, systematically inflicted by the rebel authorities upon the Union soldiers in their hands as prisoners of war. The treatment of these unfortunate men, who were heartlessly deprived of the necessaries of life, would be incredible, were it not abundantly substantiated by testimony that cannot be doubted. The secrets of the prison house are coming to light. Official documents found in Richmond since its capture prove that the barbarities practised upon our soldiers, against which the rebel surgeons professionally protested, were part of a settled plan, and deliberately sanctioned by the authorities at Richmond. It is heart-rending to read the records of the results of this inhuman treatment, in the tens of thousands left to die the lingering death of starvation, and in the perhaps worse condition of those who have been spared to be exchanged. Dr. C. R. Agnew, a distinguished physician of New York, and one of the standing Committee of the United States Sanitary Commission, gives this testimony to the condition of the returned prisoners sent to Wilmington, N. C.:

"Filth, rags, nakedness, starvation were personified in their condition. Many of the men were in a state of mind resembling idiocy, unable to tell their names, and lost to all sense of modesty, unconscious of their nakedness and personal condition; some of them moving about on hands and knees, unable to stand on their gangrenous feet, looking up like hungry dogs, beseeching the observer for a bite of bread or a cup of water. Some of them hitched along on their hands and buttocks, pushing gangrenous feet, literally reduced to bone and shreds, before them. Others leaned upon staves, and glared from sunken eyes through the parchment-like slits of their open eyelids into space, without having the power to fix an intelligent gaze upon passing objects. Others giggled and smirked and hobbled like starved idiots; while some adamantine figures walked erect, as though they meant to move the skeleton homewards, so long as vitality enough remained to enable them to do so.

"To see the men who remain here in hospital would move a heart as hard and cold as marble. Their condition is that of men who have for months suffered chronic starvation. Their arms and legs look like coarse reeds with bulbous joints. Their faces look as though a skillful taxidermist had drawn tanned skin over the bare skull, and then placed false eyes in the orbital cavities. They defy description. It would take a pen expert in the use of every term known to the anatomist and the physician to expose their fearful condition. Many of them cannot muster physical power enough to bite a hard cracker, or stomach to digest beef or pork. Many, alas, will go to the cemetery to lengthen the lines of graves now so long. May God in his infinite mercy forgive the creatures who have done this horrid thing."

Men During Business Hours.

THE social nature of the man of business may be said to be under a cloud during business hours. Under the pressure of numerous and varied responsibilities, his genial qualities, whatever they may be, are necessarily held in abeyance. Expect nothing of him when he is in harness, save the gait and style of action that belong to the business course. He is running against time, and has no leisure for curveting and caracoling.

Your idler who drops in upon the business man during the burden and heat of the commercial day is apt to find him “grumpy.” Grumpy is an epithet which the do-nothings of the world are rather fond of applying to pre-occupied men whose working moments are too precious to be wasted in ceremony. Ask the untimely counting-house visitor if he was treated with incivility, and he will probably answer—“Why, no, not exactly with incivility; but Mr. So-and-So was short and abrupt in his manner, and he did not even invite me to sit down.” Most worshipful trifler whose object it is to kill time, while that of the gentleman you were so uncivil as to annoy, is to make the most of it, how do you suppose Mr. So-and-so would get through his herculean daily labors if he were not short and abrupt in his questions and replies? Should he ask every bore who calls upon him to sit down, how many chairs do you think he would need in his office? Do you imagine he would transact his private business in the midst of a crowd, or that if he sought golden opinions from you, or such as you, by doing the agreeable when he might be doing the profitable, he would achieve fortune or the respect of the business world?

Search the Scriptures.

I HAVE somewhere read of a silver egg once curiously fashioned for a present to a Saxon queen. Within the outer case was found a yolk of gold. Open the yolk and there was discovered the form of a beautiful bird, bright plumaged with precious stones. Press the wings of the bird, and it flew open, displaying a crown, jewelled and radiant. And still inside of the crown, sustained by a spring, was a ring of diamonds just fitted to the Princess' finger.

Thus is it with every promise of the gospel. There is a covenant within each covenant; there are decrees within decrees; there are purposes within purposes. How much of the gospel is lost because it is not studied. How few even of the most intelligent believers ever find their way far enough within the springs to gain the crown for their own wearing, or the ring of God's choicest love for themselves.

God with Us.

THERE is nothing like the consciousness of Immanuel for men that are fighting the battles of life. Give me, of all mottoes, "God with me." Oh that I might write on my child's cradle, "Immanuel—God with us." Oh that I might write it on the threshold of every child's entrance into wedded life, "Immanuel—God with us."

Oh that I might write it on the garments that my child wears, so that they should flame all over to the eyes of faith the same motto, "Immanuel—God with us." Oh that I might write it on every book and task, "God with us." Oh that it might be inscribed on every fear and sorrow, "God with us."

I would see gleaming in the first light of the morning those words, "God with us;" and at evening, when the sun goes in glory to his rest, I would have borne back to my eyes upon its last rays the same words, "God with us." And in the silence of the night I would still have running through my mind the thought of "God with us." Always and everywhere I would have for my motto, "Immanuel." And every man who has this reality will feel, "What lack I! If God be for us, who can be against us?"

"Glorify the Lord in the Fires."

AMONG the many illustrations of Scripture which Whitefield often introduced into his sermons, one is truly worthy of record.—Preaching from the words, "Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires," Isa. xxiv, 15, he says: "When I was some years ago at Shields, I went into a glass house, and standing very attentively, I saw several masses of burning glass of various forms. The workmen took one piece of glass and put it into one furnace, then he put it into a second, and then into a third. I asked him: 'Why do you put that into so many fires?' He answered me: 'O, sir, the first is not hot enough, nor the second, and therefore we put it into the third, and that will make it transparent.' 'Oh,' thought I, 'does this man put this glass into one furnace after another, that it may be rendered perfect?' O, my God, put me into one furnace after another, that my soul may be transparent, that I may see God as he is."—British Workman.

Mothers, Go to Jesus

You, mothers, with your never-ceasing round of cares and troubles—yea, many things weighing so heavily on your hearts that you never divulge to others—let me entreat you to go to Jesus. This you can do at any moment. Flee to him; go and disclose all to him. He will lighten you; he will help you on; he will take off your burden, and put a song in your mouth.

The New Volume.

By Editor

The Review enters this week, for the twenty-sixth time upon a new volume. Compared with any previous occasion of this nature, the circumstances that now surround us, and the prospects before us are most favorable and encouraging.

1. This volume finds upon our books a larger list of subscribers than has existed at the commencement of any previous volume.

2. Interest among the people on the great truths which it is the mission of the Review to advocate, is not diminishing, but increasing: the field of its operations is not contracting but constantly expanding.

3. The little silent messengers, the books and papers, are doing a greater work than ever before. Instances are more numerous of persons' receiving the truth by reading alone, never having heard the living preacher. Truth is mighty, and these little preachers, bearing forth their precious burden so calmly and patiently, never shrinking from duty, nor becoming discouraged by opposition, nor cast down by reproaches nor impatient at the foolishness of their opponents, are finding their way to many honest hearts.

4. There are no dissensions in our midst threatening to rend the body. The people of God are united as perhaps never before, in obedience to the injunction of the apostle to all be of the same mind, and joined together in the same judgment.

5. The harvest is ripening all around us, ways are opening and calls for help coming in from all directions.

6. The course of events in all quarters of the globe, and in all departments of life, is such as to furnish an irresistible confirmation of our position. We are publishing truths of which there were to be signs in heaven above and earth beneath, in nature and among men, in the natural, political, and moral worlds. If from all these sources, or any one of them even, we were meeting with a denial of our faith, if they were disproving instead of confirming our position, how this would be calculated to discourage, unnerve, and dishearten us. But how is it? On every point we are beholding more than we could have expected from the signs of the times. We are almost startled at the sudden and rapid fulfillment of prophecy. No one can doubt unless he persistently shuts his eyes to events transpiring all around. We have but to look into the prophetic word, and open our eyes to facts that everywhere lie plain and open before our faces, to see that the last remaining outlines of prophecy are being filled, and the great consummation is drawing near.

We have thus briefly glanced at six particulars, any one of which, singly, would be sufficient to cheer and encourage us forward in this great work; but existing as they do, all together, what limits shall we place to our courage, or what bounds to our zeal? Shall we let our hope grow dim, or our faith die? Shall we falter or become weary? Be this the language of every heart, We will arise, for now it is high time to awake out of sleep.

As for the Review, it is not yet what we wish to see it. We hope for a great improvement during the coming volume. Shall not this volume be the best that has yet been published? We will do what we can, and will you, brethren and sisters, upon whom much also depends, do the same? We have thrilling themes to occupy our thoughts and pens, we have glorious hopes to express, and we have infinite rewards to which to point each other on. Let the Review be filled with these, to comfort the discouraged, refresh the weary, revive the faint, strengthen the weak, and make the strong still stronger for the work of God.

May the Review expose uncompromisingly all error, and hold up faithfully the truth. May it reveal and warn against the by-paths of fanaticism and sin, while continually pointing forward in the strait and shining path that leads to glory.

And when the remnant shall finally reach the holy hill of God, and plant their feet in everlasting security on the banks of eternal life, as they review the means by which they have been enabled to accomplish the heavenly journey, may they have it to say that the Review has been an encouragement and a help to them in reaching that glorious place.

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