Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 23, 1857
PLAIN TRUTHS.
CHRISTIANS derive their ideas of Truth from two sources. First: Scripture—Second: Tradition. Truth may be obtained by either of these means, just as water may be obtained from the spring where it bubbles up in its freshness—or from the aqueduct along which it is carried to our doors. Scripture is the fountain—Tradition is the aqueduct—both have water—both should have equally good water, as it is from one source. But while the spring is always good, the aqueduct sometimes becomes defiled. So Scripture is always true, and Tradition is sometimes true, also, but not always. Scripture is the perfect standard, and Tradition is right as far as it agrees with Scripture, and no farther.
Most men get their faith below the fountain—so it becomes sometimes somewhat impure—hence it appears various in form—or in taste and color, and the only way to tell whose bucket has pure water in it, is to go at once, and compare it with the fountain. And even then men will sometimes contend that though the water looks like that in the fountain, yet it could not have come from there, or some one else would have known it before—and then the only way to convince them is to go to the fountain head, and trace the stream directly down, and thus show not only that the Scripture teaches certain doctrines, but also that the Church for ages past have believed them, and rejoiced in them. To do this work fully would require volumes: It has been done to some extent by various persons, particularly in a work entitled "The Voice of the Church," and I shall now do it very briefly in these few pages. I shall first advance such propositions as seem to be true: I shall then sustain them by the Word of God, and shall finally, where it seems needed, quote from noted and well-known writers, showing that they held the same opinions. Among other things, I find in the Scriptures the following
PLAIN TRUTHS.
I. This world was originally created by God very good, with all that it contained.
PROOF. Gen. i, 31. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. Ps. civ, 24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works: in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. Eccl. iii, 11. He hath made everything beautiful in his time. Job xxxviii, 4-7. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
II. The world and its creatures were in consequence of man's transgression subjected to the curse, and to a state of sorrow and vanity.
PROOF. Gen. iii, 17-19. Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return. Eccl. i, 2-8. Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher, all is vanity. . . . All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Eccl. ii, 17, 22, 23. Therefore I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrow, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This also is vanity. Rom. viii, 22, 23. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but we ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
III. There is yet to be a very glorious condition of affairs on earth, when sin shall cease, and sorrow shall have an end, and the glory of God shall be revealed.
PROOF. Num. xiv, 21. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Ps. lxxii, 18, 19. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. Isa. xi, 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isa. xl, 5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isa. lv, 12, 13. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn, shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar, shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
IV. This world will never be converted to God by the preaching of the gospel before the coming of Jesus Christ; but will continue perverse and ungodly, persecuting the people of God till Christ shall come again the second time.
PROOF. 2 Tim. iii, 1, 12, 13. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.—Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Pet. iii, 3. There shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts. Matt. xiii, 24-30, 36-43. Didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the Devil; the harvest is the end of the world, [age,] and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world, [age.] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
PROOF FROM THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH.
Hermes says, This world is as the winter to the righteous men, because they are not known, but dwell among sinners; but the world to come is as summer to them.
Justin Martyr, A. D. 150, said, The princes of this world . . . will not cease from killing and persecuting those that call on the name of Christ, till he shall come again, and destroy them all, and render to every man according to his deserts.
Tertullian says, Truth wonders not at her own condition. She knows that she is a sojourner upon earth; that she must find enemies among strangers; that her origin, her home, her hopes, her dignities are placed in heaven.
Said Chrysostom, The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. Attend with care to what is said. He said not when it hath been believed by all men, but when it hath been preached to all. For this cause he also said, 'for a witness' to the nations, to show that he doth not wait for all men to believe, and then for him to come; since the phrase, 'for a witness' hath this meaning—for accusation, for reproof, for condemnation of them that have not believed.
Calvin on Matt. xxiv, 30, says, There is no reason why any person should expect the conversion of the world, for at length, [when it will be too late and will yield them no advantage,] they shall look on him whom they have pierced.
Luther, on John x, 11-16, says, Some in explaining this passage say, that before the latter days all the 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.
Said Zuingle, We cannot make a heaven upon earth,—and Christ has taught us that we must let the tares grow up along with the wheat.90David Pareus, 1590, said, It is a thing never to be looked for, that the whole earth shall become Christian; since the enemies of the church, together with anti-Christ, shall not cease but at the last coming of Christ.
John Knox, A. D. 1550, speaks of Christ's coming 'To reform the face of the whole earth, which never was, nor yet shall be, till that righteous King and Judge appears for the restoration of all things.'
Dr. A. Clarke says, Probably no such time shall ever appear, in which evil shall be wholly banished from the earth, till after the day of judgment when the earth having been burnt up, a new heaven and a new earth shall be produced out of the ruins of the old, by the mighty power of God—righteousness alone shall dwell in them.—Notes on Rev. xx, 2.
Matthew Henry says, As long as the world stands there will still be in it such a mixture as we now see there is of good and bad. We long to see all wheat and no tares in God's field; all corn and no chaff in God's floor; but it will not be till the time of ingathering, till the winnowing-day comes; both must grow together until the harvest. There is no remedy but that wicked people will do wickedly; and such people there are and will be in the world till the end of time.
Increase Mather says, And when we pray, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,' we pray for the day of judgment; for then, and not till then, will the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Cotton Mather says, For when our Lord shall come, he will find the world almost void of true and living faith, [especially of faith in his coming,] and when he shall descend with his angels, what else will he find almost, but the whole church, as it were, a dead carcass, miserably putrefied with the spirit, and manners, and endearments of this world. . . . They indulge themselves in a vain dream, not to say, insane, who think, pray, and hope, contrary to the whole sacred Scripture and sound reason, that the promised happiness of the church on earth will be before the Lord Jesus shall appear in his kingdom. They who expect the rest promised for the Church of God, to be found anywhere but in the new earth, and they who expect any happy times for the Church in a world that hath death and sin in it, these do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the kingdom of God.
Whitefield says, As it was formerly, so it is now, and so it will be to the end of time; he that is born after the flesh, the natural man, does and will persecute him that is born after the Spirit, the regenerate man. Notwithstanding some may live in more peaceful times of the Church than others, yet all Christians in all ages will suffer persecution. The enmity of the serpent, . . . will continue to rage and show itself in a greater or less degree to the end of time.
V. This world is destined to be melted and purified by fire, which shall consume the works of man.
PROOF. Deut. xxxii, 22. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and it shall burn to the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Isa. lxiv, 1, 2. O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! Mal. iv, 1. For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 Pet. iii, 7, 10-12. But the heavens and earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
PROOF FROM THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH.
Cotton Mather says, But this word of God is in my mind like burning fire shut up in my bones; nor can I any longer forbear, but must again and again denounce this doom to the earth, sufficiently prepared for the fire, a sorceress condemned to the flames, yea, though some Nero should command me to be burned in the flames, I will not cease to preach and foretell, with an earnest voice, the dissolution, renewal, and purification of the world by fire.
Dr. A. Clarke thus remarks, The present earth, though destined to be burned up, will not be destroyed, but renewed, and refined, and purged from all moral and material imperfections, and made the endless abode of happy spirits. But this state is certainly to be expected after the day of judgment.
VI. This globe is to be restored, renewed, or regenerated, and made glorious by the power of God.
PROOF. Isa. xxxv, 1, 2. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.
Isa. lxv, 17-19. For, behold I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Matt. xix, 28. Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Isa. li, 16. I have covered thee in the shadow of my hands, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Isa. lxvi, 22. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
Acts iii, 19, 21. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Heb. ii, 5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world, [oikumene, habitable earth] to come, whereof we speak. 2 Pet. iii. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Rev. xxi, 1, 5. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. . . . And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new.
PROOF FROM THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH.
Methodius, bishop of Tyre, A. D. 270 says, It is to be expected that at the conflagration, the creation shall suffer a vehement commotion, as if it were about to die; whereby it shall be renovated, and not perish; to the end that we, then also renovated, may dwell in the renewed world free from sorrow. Thus it is said in Ps. civ, 'Thou wilt send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou wilt renew the face of the earth.' For seeing that after this world there shall be an earth, of necessity there must be inhabitants; and these shall die no more, but be as angels, irreversibly in an incorruptible state, doing all most excellent things.
Said Jerome, God will make new heavens and a new earth, not other heavens and another earth, but the former ones changed into better.
Said Gregory the Great, Others are not to be created, but these same renewed. Eccl. iii, 14. They will pass as to their present figure or appearance, but as to their substance, they will remain forever.
The Council of Nice, A. D. 325, says, We expect new heavens and a new earth, according to the Holy Scriptures, at the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. And then, as Daniel says, 'The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom,' and there shall be a pure earth, holy, a land of the living, and not of the dead, which David foreseeing by the eye of faith, said, 'I believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,' the land of the meek and humble. Christ says, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,' and the prophet says, 'the feet of the meek and humble shall tread upon it.'
Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, A. D. 350, says, Adam received the doom, 'cursed be the ground; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee.' . . . For this cause Jesus wears the thorns that he might cancel the doom; for this cause also was he buried in the earth, that the cursed earth might receive, instead of the curse the blessing. Our Lord Jesus Christ then comes from thence with glory, at the end of this world in the last day. For this world shall have an end, and this created world shall be made new; for since corruption, and theft, and adultery, and every sort of sins have been poured forth over the earth, and blood has been mingled with blood in the world, therefore that this wondrous dwelling-place may not remain filled with iniquity, this world shall pass away, that that fairer world may be made manifest.
Said Augustine bishop of Hippo, A. D. 390, By the change of things the world will not entirely perish or be annihilated. Its form or external appearance, will be changed, but not its substance. The figure of this world will pass away by the general conflagration. The qualities of the corruptible elements of which our world is composed, which were proportioned to our corruptible bodies, will be entirely destroyed by fire; and the substance of those elements will acquire new qualities which will be suitable to our immortal bodies, and thus the world by being more perfect, will be proportioned to the then improved state of the human body.
Says the martyr John Bradford, writing from his dungeon, A. D. 1550, Now every creature travaileth and groaneth with us; but we being restored, they also shall be restored: there shall be new heavens, new earth, and all things new.
John Calvin says, I expect with Paul a reparation of all the evils caused by sin, for which he represents the creatures as groaning and travailing. . . . strictly speaking, Christ will come, not for the destruction of the world, but for the purposes of salvation.
Says Dr. Thos. Goodwin, A. D. 1650, God doth take the same world that was Adams, and make it new and glorious. . . . Read the prophets and you shall find promises of strange and wonderful things, of glorious times, and that here upon earth.
Says Milton,
The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring,
New Heaven and earth, wherein the just shall dwell;
And after all their tribulations long
See golden days fruitful of golden deeds.
Says Baxter, I believe there will be a new heaven and earth, on which will dwell righteousness.
Says Bunyan, None ever saw this world as it was in its first creation but Adam and his wife, neither will any see it until the manifestation of the children of God; that is, until the redemption or resurrection of the saints. But then it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Says Doddridge, Let this illustrious day come, even with all its horrors. We shall go from the ruins of a dissolving world, to the new heavens and new earth, wherein righteousness forever dwells.
Says Charles Wesley on Isa. lxv, 17:
Come, Divine effectual power,
Fallen nature to restore;
Wait we for Thy presence here,
Long to see Thy throne appear.
Bid the new creation rise,
Bring us back our Paradise.
Now our universe create,
Fair beyond its first estate,
When Thine eyes with pleasure viewed,
When Thy lips pronounced it good;
Ruined now by sin and curst,
Speak it fairer than at first.
(To be Continued.)
HYMN OF TRUST.
By Sigourney
My God, I would not doubt
Thy wisdom or thy grace,
Although the clouds may sometimes veil
The brightness of thy face.
I would not dread the hand
That doth my life control,
Even if the instruments are sharp
That search and try the soul.
I would not shrink to yield
The treasure or the friend,
That in thy plenitude of love,
Thou didst vouchsafe to lend.
I would not e'er forsake
The strength that cannot fail,
A poor, blind wanderer of the dust,
An atom on the gale.
I would not plant my hope
Where all things change and die;
But, anchored on thy word of truth,
Look upward to the sky. [Sigourney.
A Prayerless Christian.
“A PRAYERLESS Christian!” These words are contradictory. I do not understand what they mean. I can as easily conceive of a perfect harp without strings, or a flowing fountain without water, or a sun without light, or a living man without a soul, as a Christian without prayer. Doubtless many professed Christians live without prayer.
A Christian without a closet! and who does not pray to his heavenly Father, who seeth in secret! A Christian parent without a family altar! O! do not dream of such a thing; speak not such contradictions. Why, a prayerless parent robs his children of a pious example—robs his own soul of the mercies of God, and robs his Divine Master of the homage of his heart and the obedience of his life. And can a robber be a Christian?
“But do not real Christians sometimes neglect prayer for a season?” I fear they do. This is the reason of the weakness of their faith—the dullness of their religious feelings—the irregularity of their lives. This neglect of prayer among real Christians is the cause of so many “backsliding in heart,” and falling frequently into scandalous sins. I must think that David was neglecting prayer when he indulged in that horrible course of sin which stained his religious character. Peter neglected to “watch and pray,” and fell into the “snare of the Devil.” To attempt to live at all without prayer, is awfully dangerous. A desire to live without prayer, is a convincing evidence that you are either now backsliding, or are not a Christian. In such a desire is the entering in of the enemy. Harbor not the desire then, for one moment; but seek to know what it is to “continue instant in prayer.”
Pious reader, I wish to add the following observations to the foregoing extract, for your consideration:
“I have no time to attend to private prayer, family devotions, or the weekly prayer-meetings.” No time! what, then, becomes of your time? No time to attend to the various duties of prayer, and yet time enough to jest and joke whole hours together! You find time to labor for the “meat that perisheth;” can you find no time to labor for the “meat that endureth to eternal life?” You have time to visit your friends and neighbors, and receive visits from them; have you no time to visit your closet for prayer, nor the weekly prayer-meeting? You spend time in talking politics; have you no time for communing with your heavenly Father in daily supplication? Consider this. Are you really sincere when you say, “I have no time for prayer?” If you are sincere, may a merciful God have pity on you; for you are in fearful danger of losing your soul. If you are not sincere, but only seek an excuse to quiet conscience, and hide your great inconsistency, let me kindly ask you, how dare you utter a deliberate falsehood on so solemn a matter? Look at the unreasonableness of the plea. For what does God allow you time? Certainly not that you should waste it in idleness. If you will you can find time to pray. “Redeem your time;” then you can have leisure to attend to all the duties of prayer. “Gather up the fragments” of your passing hours, and you need never complain for want of time. But if you cannot do otherwise, let company—let the world—let every earthly concern go, rather than rob your soul, and your Redeemer, of time enough to pray.
“But my mind wanders so, I cannot collect my thoughts to pray.” Is it possible? Do you think so little on the importance of prayer—the value of your soul—the duty you owe to God, and the necessity of holiness—as not to be able to collect your thoughts on these great concerns? For your soul’s sake, awake from your deadly slumber, and beseech God to enable you to feel more deeply concerned; then you can fix your anxious heart and wakeful mind on “the one thing needful.” Remember, we begin to be Christians when we begin to pray; and we continue to be Christians only so long as we lead a prayerful life. “Pray or perish,” is the doctrine of the Bible. Pray or backslide, is the testimony of universal experience. Better, infinitely better, suffer martyrdom than cease praying.
“But I have been so unfaithful.” This is much to be lamented. But how will you remedy the evil? You confess your sinful neglect; now forsake the same, and God, who is “faithful and just, will forgive you, and cleanse you from all this unrighteousness.” You never can heal the breach now between your soul and God by continuing your neglect of prayer. Be assured of this; and go penitently to Christ—go now, delay may prove your ruin.
“But my business is of such a nature that I cannot attend regularly to my closet and family devotions.” Serious reader! If this really be the tendency of your worldly occupation, it is a snare to you, and continuance therein is a great offense against God. I advise, persuade you, hereby, to abandon such a calling at once, lest you be “weighed in the balance, and be found wanting” in the last day. Surely you have not forgotten that “you cannot serve God and mammon.” “No man can serve two masters.” Plead not bodily wants; “for they that fear the Lord shall want no good thing.” But perhaps your avocation need not interfere with your duty in respect to private and domestic prayer; nor with the claims of the Church on your time, and attention to her ordinances. It may be that your coldness of heart, and want of spirituality, is the cause of your business seemingly interposing a barrier to your devotional habits. Your calling may be, in itself, lawful; but perhaps you are so intent on accumulating wealth, that your business governs you, and hurries you into forgetfulness of God and religion. If this be true, you lay reproach on your occupation, when you should honestly take the condemnation on yourself. Depend upon it, you will gain nothing by being a slave to your business. Besides, you deprive yourself of the peace of a pure conscience, and the joy and assurance of God’s favor. Take for your motto the holy resolve of a pious mechanic: “The Lord, first, and my customers next.” Place the vast concerns of eternity always before the trivial affairs of time, and your business will be no hindrance to your piety. Meditate on the following portions of the Word of eternal truth: “Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he will give thee the desire of thine heart.” “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” To remove your anxiety and needless fear, hear the Saviour of the world: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” If the second consequence follow, then your love of the world drags you away from the hallowed closet—from the sacred altar of family prayer, and from the holy scenes of the weekly prayer-meeting: ay! drags you away from the cross of Christ to bow at the hellish shrine of mammon. Is it true? Can it be possible that I am addressing an idolater, in the person and character of a professor of the religion of Christ? “Covetousness, which is idolatry,” stamps upon you this heathenish character, if you are a slave to the “love of the world.”
“I cannot enjoy myself in secret prayer,” said an apparently sincere, but really lifeless professor, “and I cannot bear the cross in family prayer; as for the prayer-meeting, I have no delight in it.” I fear this language describes the experience of a numerous class of professors, “who are at ease in Zion.” Indeed, it may be that the very one who now reads this tract, is in such a deplorable situation. Let me reason with you. If you dislike the duty and place of prayer, you dislike Him who enjoined this duty on you. “Why call ye” Christ, “Lord, Lord, and do not the things he says unto you?” “If you love him you will keep his commandments.”
“You cannot enjoy yourself in the closet?” This is because you do not enjoy the Lord there. And you do not enjoy the Lord there because your heart is estranged from him. The closet is the vestibule of heaven, where the Lord comes to give audience to, and commune with his sincere disciples. And if you dislike to meet the Lord of mercy in the closet, how can you expect to meet the judge of all men in the last day? The grand difficulty lies in the wretched state of your heart. Be persuaded, then, by an unknown friend, to “enter into thy closet, and pray to thy Father,” for his forgiving love and regenerating grace; then you will know the heavenly delights of secret prayer.
Why should you shrink back from the cross of family prayer? Surely your duty and eternal welfare require you to bear it. Is it because you live so irreligiously before your family? This, likely, is the true state of the case. If so, immediately confess your fault, to them and God, and reform without delay. Erect this night the altar of domestic prayer, and the blessing and favor of an approving heaven will abide upon you. There is profit as well as pleasure in it. Try it, “for thereby good shall come unto thee.”
Once more: Why is not the social prayer-meeting a delight to you? This is a great question. Let us seek for the true answer. It cannot be the nature or duties of this meeting which render it irksome and unpleasant to you. Nay, friend, the fault is in your spiritual deadness. Perhaps you go to meeting and do not “stir up your heart to take hold on the Lord in prayer.” You indulge in wandering thoughts, and uncharitably sit in judgment on your zealous brethren, and forget that you must pray fervently for a blessing on yourself, before the meeting can be profitable to you, however much others may enjoy it. Is the prayer-meeting cold? Lay not the blame on others. But look to yourself, and plead for the outpouring of the Spirit. You will thus be strengthened and revived, while others will catch the electric flame of love and joy from your heart, and all will be edified. Thus “bear your own burden,” and you will have no want of delight in the exercises of the prayer-meeting.
And now, Christian friend, permit me, in conclusion, to urge upon you the importance of living a life, in all things harmonious to the sentiments involved in your prayers.
When you pray to be “delivered from all evil,” how inconsistent and sinful is it for you to run into all evil. Many pray, “Lord, lead me not into temptation,” then thoughtlessly rush into the “snare of the Devil.” If you expect this prayer to be answered, you must avoid evil of every kind, and never venture on to the ground of the vigilant adversary of souls. Rest assured, if you do not help yourself, the Lord will not help you.
Again: It is common for many professors to pray for light and truth, and yet rarely ever read the Bible—the fountain of light and truth. Such prayer involves the obligation to “Search the Scriptures,” a portion of which should be read every day. It also includes the duty of religious meditation, and an effort to improve the talents given to us. In no other way can this prayer be answered, and we “see light in the Lord’s light,” and know the truth which will sanctify us and make us free.
Furthermore: Many pray the Lord to convert their irreligious friends and neighbors, yet they never recommend religion to them—never warn them of their danger—never invite them to church, and never point them to the Saviour of sinners. Hence their labor in prayer is in vain.
Again: Many pray, “Lord, make me holy,” &c., yet frequently indulge in unholy tempers—sinful words—vain thoughts—neglect many duties, and strive not to keep themselves pure and unspotted from the world. Reader does this meet your case? I pray you, “be not deceived; God is not mocked.” To pray to be saved from all sin involves a cordial hatred of sin, a sincere desire after holiness, a faithful striving to overcome and destroy all impurity. Your prayer will, then be hindered, unless you forsake all sin—secret, social, and public. “If I regard,” that is, cherish, allow, harbor, “iniquity in my heart,” says the Psalmist, “The Lord will not hear me.” To pray for the comfort and quickening influence of the Holy Spirit, and yet refuse to be led by him, but be led by the spirit of pride, ambition, and the spirit of the world, and grieve the good Spirit by levity and selfishness, and yield not to his heavenly promptings, is a great drawback, if not positive obstruction, to the growth of the soul in religion. In the heart of such a professor the Holy Ghost will not dwell.
Christians often ask for blessings which they do not believe, at the time, they will receive. “They receive not, because they ask amiss.” This is but little short of solemn mockery. It is at least a sin of great magnitude; “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Much is lost in the enjoyment, holi-92ness, and power of the church on this very account. Rise, then, against this crippling sin, and put the monster down by a vigorous faith. Do you ask how? View your doubts as traitors and enemies of your soul; struggle courageously against them, and pray daily for, and strive to exercise, an evangelical faith in Jehovah's truth, in Christ's merits, and in the all-sufficiency of saving and supporting grace. When you pray, firmly believe the promise and patiently wait its fulfillment.
Try the three following rules for making all the duties of prayer not only profitable, but delightful:
1. pray frequently. Become familiar with the duty by frequent repetition of it. Make it the religious business of life—a daily exercise. Daniel prayed 'three times a day.' The Psalmist, 'morning, noon, and night.' You have need to pray as often as they did. Indeed, the soul ought to be feasted as often as the body is fed.
2. Pray regularly, that is, statedly. Have your stated seasons for prayer. Irregularity will make any duty, any enterprise, any calling, irksome and repulsive. Experience teaches that regularity, which embraces constancy and perseverance will render that pleasant which was at first barren of interest, and afforded little or no pleasure.
3. And last, but not least, when you pray, seek for holiness, rather than happy feeling. Pray for purity of heart; happiness will follow as a consequence. It is selfish to pray and serve God for happy feelings. Pay, then, more attention to your faith, and the spiritual state of your heart, than to your variable emotions. Do not be struggling and praying to get rid of your trials, but pray for grace meekly and patiently to bear them. Pray to keep a pure conscience, and although 'in the world you may have tribulation, yet in Christ you shall have peace.' I leave you, fellow-pilgrim, by urging you to try the important experiment, remembering that the immortal destiny of your soul hangs on the momentous issue.—Methodist Tract.