Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Nov 29, 1883
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
Nehemiah Desires to Restore Jerusalem.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
NEHEMIAH, the Hebrew exile, occupied a position of influence and honor in the Persian Court. As cup-bearer of the king, he was familiarly admitted to the royal presence, and by virtue of this intimacy, and his own high abilities and tried fidelity, he became the monarch's counselor. Yet in that heathen land, surrounded by royal pomp and splendor, he did not forget the God of his fathers or the people who had been intrusted with the holy oracles. With deepest interest, his heart turned toward Jerusalem, and his hopes and joys were bound up with her prosperity.
Days of peculiar trial and affliction had come to the chosen city. Messengers from Judah described to Nehemiah its condition. The second temple had been reared, and portions of the city rebuilt; but its prosperity was impeded, the temple services disturbed, and the people kept in constant alarm, by the fact that its walls were still in ruins, and its gates burned with fire. The capital of Judah was fast becoming a desolate place, and the few inhabitants remaining were daily embittered by the taunts of their idolatrous assailants, “Where is your God?” The soul of the Hebrew patriot was overwhelmed by these evil tidings. So great was his sorrow, that he could not eat or drink; he “wept and mourned certain days, and fasted.” But when the first outburst of his grief was over, he turned in his affliction to the sure Helper. “I prayed,” says he, “before the God of Heaven.” He knew that all this ruin had come because of the transgressions of Israel; and in deep humiliation he came before God for pardon of sin and a renewal of the divine favor. He addressed his petitions to the God of Heaven, “the great and terrible God;” for such the Lord had shown himself to be in the fearful judgments brought upon Israel. But with a gleam of hope, Nehemiah continues, “that keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and observe his commandments.” For repentant and believing Israel there was still mercy.
Faithfully the man of God makes confession of his sins and the sins of his people: “Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee; both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.”
And now, taking fast hold, by faith, of the divine promise, Nehemiah lays down at the footstool of heavenly mercy his petition that God would maintain the cause of his now penitent people, restore their strength, and build up their waste places. God had been faithful to his threatenings when his people separated from him; he had scattered them abroad among the nations, according to his word. And Nehemiah finds in this very fact an assurance that he will be equally faithful to fulfill his promises. His people had now returned in penitence and faith to keep his commandments; and God himself had said that if they would do this, even though they were cast out into the uttermost part of the earth, he would gather them thence, and would cause the light of his countenance again to shine upon them. This promise had been given more than a thousand years before; but it stood unchanged through all the centuries. God's word cannot fail.
Nehemiah's faith and courage strengthen as he grasps the promise. His mouth is filled with holy arguments. He points to the dishonor that would be cast upon God, were his people, now that they have returned to him, to be left in their state of weakness and oppression.
Nehemiah had often poured out his soul thus before God in behalf of his people. Day and night had he offered this prayer. And as he prayed, a holy purpose had been forming in his mind, that if he could obtain the consent of the king, and the necessary aid in procuring implements and material, he would himself undertake the arduous task of rebuilding the ruined walls of Jerusalem, and seeking to restore the national strength. And now in closing his prayer he entreats the Lord to grant him favor in the sight of the king, that this cherished plan may be carried out.
Four months he was compelled to wait for a favorable opportunity to present his request to the king. During this period, while his heart was oppressed with grief, he constantly endeavored to carry a cheerful and happy countenance. In his seasons of retirement, many were the prayers, the penitential confessions, and the tears of anguish, witnessed by God and angels; but all this was concealed from human sight. The regulations of Eastern courts forbade any manifestation of sorrow within them. All must appear gay and happy in those halls of luxury and splendor. The distress without was not to cast its shadow in the presence of royalty.
But at last the sorrow that burdened Nehemiah's heart could no longer be concealed. Sleepless nights devoted to earnest prayer, care-filled days, dark with the shadow of hope deferred, leave their trace upon his countenance. The keen eye of the monarch, jealous to guard his own safety, is accustomed to read countenances and to penetrate disguises. Seeing that some secret trouble is preying upon his servant, he suddenly inquires, “Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.”
This question fills the listener with apprehension. Will not the king be angry to hear that while outwardly engaged in his service, the courtier's thoughts have been far away with his afflicted people? Will not the offender's life be forfeited? And his cherished plan for restoring the strength of Jerusalem—is it not about to be overthrown? “Then,” he says, “I was very sore afraid.” With trembling lips and tearful eyes he reveals the cause of his sorrow,—the city, which is the place of his father's sepulcher, lying waste, and its gates consumed with fire. The touching recital awakens the sympathy of the monarch without arousing his idolatrous prejudices; another question gives the opportunity which Nehemiah has long sought: “For what dost thou make request?” But the man of God does not reply until he has first asked the support of One higher than Artaxerxes. “I prayed,” he says, “to the God of Heaven.”
A precious lesson is this for all Christians. Whenever we are brought into positions of difficulty or danger, even when surrounded by those who love and fear not God, the heart may send up its cry for help, and there is One who has promised that he will come to our aid. This is the kind of prayer that Christ meant when he said, “Pray without ceasing.” We are not to make ejaculatory prayer a substitute for public or family worship, or for secret devotion; but it is a blessed resource, at our command under circumstances when other forms of prayer may be impossible. Toilers in the busy marts of trade, crowded and almost overwhelmed with financial perplexities, travelers by sea and land, when threatened by some great danger, can thus commit themselves to divine guidance and protection. And in every circumstance and condition of life, the soul weighed down with grief or care, or assailed by temptation, may thus find comfort, support, and succor in the unfailing love and power of a covenant-keeping God.
Nehemiah and Artaxerxes stand face to face,—the one a servant, of a down-trodden race, the other the monarch of the world's great empire. But infinitely greater than the disparity of rank is the moral distance which separates them. Nehemiah has complied with the invitation of the King of kings. “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me.” He has enlisted in his behalf a power in whose hand is the heart of kings, even as the rivers of water, and who “turneth, it whithersoever he will.” The silent petition sent up to Heaven was the same that he had offered for many weeks, that God would prosper his request. And now taking courage at the thought that he has a Friend, omniscient and all-powerful, to work in his behalf, the man of God calmly makes known to the king his desire to be released for a time from his office at the court, and be authorized to build up the waste places of Jerusalem, and to make it once more a strong and defended city. Momentous results to the Jewish city and nation hung upon this request. And, says, Nehemiah, “the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me.”530While Nehemiah implored the help of God, he did not fold his own hands, feeling that he had no more care or responsibility in the matter.
With admirable prudence and forethought he proceeded to make all the arrangements necessary to ensure the success of the enterprise. Every movement was marked with great caution. He did not reveal his purpose even to his own countrymen; for while they would rejoice in his success, he feared that they might, by some indiscretion, greatly hinder his work. Some would be likely to manifest a spirit of exultation which would rouse the jealousy of their enemies, and perhaps cause the defeat of the undertaking.
As his request to the king had been so favorably received, he was encouraged to ask for such assistance as was necessary to carry out his plans. To give dignity and authority to his mission, as well as to provide for protection on the journey, he secured a military escort. He obtained royal letters to the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates, the territory through which he must pass on his way to Judea; and he obtained also, a letter to the keeper of the king's forest in the mountains of Lebanon, directing him to furnish such timber as was needed for the wall of Jerusalem and such buildings as Nehemiah proposed to erect. Nehemiah is careful to have the authority and privileges, accorded him clearly defined, that there may be no room for complaint that he has exceeded his commission.
The example of this holy man should be a lesson to all the people of God, that they are not only to pray in faith, but to work with diligence and fidelity. How many difficulties we encounter, and how we hinder the working of Providence on our behalf, because prudence, forethought, and painstaking are regarded as having little to do with religion. This is a grave mistake. It is a religious duty to cultivate and to exercise every power which will render us more efficient workers in the cause of God. Careful consideration and well-matured plans are as essential to the success of sacred enterprise to-day as in the time of Nehemiah. If all who are engaged in the work of God would realize how much depends upon their fidelity and wise forethought, we would see far greater prosperity attend their efforts. Through diffidence and backwardness we often fail to secure that which is attainable as a right, from the powers that be. God will work for us, when we are ready to do what we can and should do on our part.
Men of prayer should be men of action. Those who are ready and willing, will find ways and means to work. Nehemiah does not depend upon uncertainties. The means which he has not he solicits from those who are able to bestow. All the world, with its riches and treasures, belongs to God, although it is now in the possession of wicked men. If his servants take a wise and prudent course, so that the good hand of God may be with them, they can obtain the means they need to advance his cause.
NEARER.
By May E. Warren
“Nearer, my God, to thee,Nearer to thee;E’en though it be a crossThat raiseth me.”
What solemn words to utter!
What a prayer of trust, as well!
What reaching toward the mountain
Where holiness doth dwell!
What yielding all to the Father,
Believing he knoweth best!
What cup, be it joy or sorrow,
Must to our lips be pressed!
And oh, when the clouds drift over,
And places grow strangely steep,
To feel we are getting nearer,
And to trust instead of weep!
How many can sing in gladness,
When all their sky is fair!
But the mind that was in Jesus
Alone can pray this prayer:
Nearer, nearer, my God, to thee.
Who would carelessly sing?
Nearer to God is blessedness
Which only trust can bring.
How oft ’tis the cross that raiseth
The soul most near to God!
How oft is the face most lifted
Beneath the chastening rod!
Nearer, yes, we shall get nearer,
Who to the King belong;
Prayers are the steps that shall reach him,
Be they speech or silence or song:
Blessed each day to be nearer,
And every night more near;
And every thought grow sweeter
And plainer, his voice to hear.
“Nearer, my God, to thee,Nearer to thee;E’en though it be a crossThat raiseth me.”
—May E. Warren.
An Appeal from Italy.
By Editor
[The following we received from Prof. Pettingell, with a request to publish. He says: "I hope you will find it practicable to use it even for the information it contains, if for no other reason." We trust it will prove of interest to our readers.—EDITOR SIGNS.]
THE case of Rev. Mr. Dening, English Missionary in Japan, from whom the Church Missionary Society have withdrawn their support for his adherence to the Bible doctrine of immortality only in Christ, is known to the friends of the cause in this country. A committee has been formed in England who have assumed his support, and he still continues at his post.
Also the case of Rev. Charles Byse, of Brussels, who has recently been tried for the same heresy, and excluded from the Evangelical Synod, and whose house of worship has been taken from him, the great majority of his church and congregation adhering to him, has been published and commented on in several of our papers. He has rented a hall, and still continues his faithful labors with encouraging prospects. But for the present he is obliged to depend in part upon pecuniary help from abroad. Dr. Petavel of Geneva, and Rev. Mr. White of London, who are also interested in supporting Rev. Mr. Dening, are trying to do what they can to aid Mr. Byse in his work in Brussels.
Now comes an earnest appeal of the same sort from Italy. We ought to be thankful for the evidence we have that the truth for which we are laboring is extending and gaining adherents all over the world. But it lays upon us additional burdens and responsibilities, and gives us an opportunity of proving our faith by our works. The friends of this cause in this country are very generally pecuniary to weak, and very much scattered. No doubt we all feel that we have all and more than we can well do, to meet the pressing demands of this cause in our own several localities and in our own country. But still, we may do something out of our poverty in behalf of our common faith in other parts of the world. The formation of the committee proposed does not seem to me practical in our scattered and divided condition. But I should be very happy to be made the medium of sending such contributions as our Christian friends in different parts of this country may find it in their hearts and in their power to give to our brother in Italy. It seems to me, in view of the responsibilities already assumed by our friends in England, and especially in view of the fact that this brother has hitherto been supported by an American society, that his appeal to us comes with a peculiar force. The letter below, which I have translated for publication, speaks for itself, and needs no explanation. Let it be carefully read. Let us all at least pray for him, as he requests, and if the Lord shall dispose and enable any to send me contributions of money for him, whether large or small, I shall gladly acknowledge them and faithfully transmit, as he has designated.
J. H. PETTINGELL.
739 Corinthian Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.
TORRE PELLICE, Italy, Oct. 22, 1883.
REV. MR. PETTINGELL: In the latter part of last April I received a letter from Dr. Petavel, informing me that he had written to you concerning my position and work. But as my position was not decided, and my work in the cause of conditional immortality had not been commenced, and as I was waiting to be free, I preferred to postpone writing to you.
I am a Baptist Evangelist in the service of the Southern Baptist Convention of Richmond, of which society Dr. G. B. Taylor of Rome, is the agent in Italy. After considerable correspondence with him on the subject of my new views, he asked me if I would promise to keep absolute silence in public and in my private conversation on this subject. I replied that I could not. Then he informed me of his grief, and his fear that it would be an obstacle to the continuance of my relations, adding that he could not take upon himself the responsibility of either dismissing or retaining me.
Then I requested him to send all our correspondence to the committee. This he did. I asked of the committee entire liberty in my preaching. They replied that this could not be granted, in view of their position as dispensers of the funds of the Baptist Union, which would not permit them to employ their funds in support of preaching which set forth doctrines contrary to those of their church.
Thereupon I offered my resignation. Fifteen days after this my place in the Baptist chapel here was filled by another minister. Dr. Taylor came to install him. Everything passed off pleasantly, Dr. Taylor simply informed the congregation of the facts in the case, without any direct allusion to the doctrine in question. I thanked the committee and its representative. Dr. Taylor closed by saying, "I have suffered much, and still suffer on account of this rupture, but if anything could console me, it is the fact that everything has been done in the most perfect charity, and without the loss of mutual esteem and friendship."
Notwithstanding this, I remain a Baptist, and a member of this church. I frequent their meetings and often take part in them. Meanwhile I have entered on my special work. I have rented a hall in a neighboring locality, at St. Jean Pellice, where I was a minister of an independent church from 1865-69, and where I have many friends. I opened this place of worship yesterday, Oct. 21, with a special discourse to an audience of forty persons. I hope soon to open another also, at Torre Pellice, which is the chief place in the Vaudois Valleys. I am intending also, to give lectures in the principal towns of Italy, and to lay the question before the Italian public generally.
Now I write you, dear sir, to solicit your interest in my work. My English friends will provide for the wants of myself and family through the year upon which I have entered. Dr. Petavel and other friends are assisting me in the payment of the rent of our places of meeting. But it is absolutely necessary to publish some popular tracts to make known our views among all classes of the people, both in this locality and throughout Italy. I am just now about issuing a strong brochure in reply to the accusation of "Materialism" [in the sense of infidelity]. For this work Mr. White has given me 250 francs, but it will cost twice this sum. Could you, dear sir, institute a committee for the publication of French and Italian tracts, either original or translated from the English?
I speak three languages, and could translate from the English into both of the others. You might send me tracts which you judge worthy of translation, and if they are adapted to our country I would cheerfully translate them. Our friends in England will also send me some. It is only on this condition that one can hope to do anything. Will you kindly interest yourself in this project, to form a committee, and if the effort succeeds, send your contributions to Rev. Edward White, or to Dr. Petavel, who are in correspondence with me, and who, being nearer here, could oversee the work. Hoping that we may be able to have a pleasant exchange of letters, I salute you in Jesus Christ,
OSCAR COCORDA.
P. S.—Could you send me your work on "Immortality?" Pray for me. O. C.
Which Shall It Be?
By Harriet M. Morris
I AM sadly conscious that thousands of mothers are so over-burdened that the actual demands of life, from day to day, consume all their time and strength. But, 'of two evils choose the least;' and which would you call the least, an unpolished stove or an untaught boy? Dirty windows, or a child whose confidence you have failed to gain? Cobwebs in the corner, or a son over whose soul a crust has formed so strong that you despair of melting it with your hot tears and your fervent prayers?
I have seen a woman who was absolutely ignorant of her children's habit of thought, who never felt that she could spare a half hour to read or talk with them. I have seen this woman spend ten minutes in ironing a sheet—there were six in the washing—one hour in fluting the ruffles and arranging the puffs of her little girl's 'sweet white suit;' thirty minutes in polishing tins which were already bright and clean; forty minutes in frosting and decorating a cake for tea, because 'company' was expected.
When the mother, a good orthodox Christian, shall appear before the great white throne, to be judged for 'the deeds done in the body,' and to give in her report of the Master's treasures placed in her care, there will be questions and answers like these:—
'Where are the boys and girls I gave thee?' 'Lord, I was busied in keeping my house clean and in order, and my children wandered away!'
'Where wert thou while thy sons and thy daughters were learning lessons of dishonesty, malice, and impurity?'
'Lord, I was polishing furniture and ruffling dresses and making beautiful rugs!'
'What hast thou to show for thy life-work?' 'The tidiest house, Lord, and the best starching and ironing in all our neighborhood!'
Oh! these children! these children! The restless, eager boys and girls whom we love more than our own lives! Shall we devote our time and strength to that which perisheth, while the rich garden of our child's soul lies neglected, with foul weeds choking out all worthy and beautiful growths? Shall we exalt the incidents of life to the rank of a purpose, to the shutting out of that work whose results reach beyond the stars?
Fleeting, O mother! are the days of childhood; and speckless windows, snowy linen, the consciousness that everything about the house is faultlessly bright and clean, will be poor comfort in that day wherein we shall discover that our poor boy's feet have chosen the path that shall take him out of the way to all eternity.—Harriet M. Morris, in Woman's Journal.
Happiness Depends on Conduct
OUR happiness and misery are trusted to our conduct, and made to depend upon it.
THE FOOL HATH SAID.
By Edward Willett
“THERE is no God!”—an easy thing
For any fool to say.
The fool hath said it in his heart
This many and many a day.
“Prove this and that!” the fool demands.
“Explain eternity!
Reveal to me that awful form
Which mortals cannot see!”
Of microscope and telescope
The limits we can find;
The limit of the human eye,
The limit of the mind.
What we perceive is all that is,
The sodden fool insists;
Beyond the limit of our ken
Nothing at all exists.
But any fool must still admit,
If any fool reflects,
That there are many things unknown
Except by their effects.
We do not know the life within
The merest blade of grass,
Nor can we see the vagrant winds
That lightly come and pass.
Nor form nor size the lightning has;
We only feel the stroke.
An unseen force, we hold and bind
And tame it to our yoke.
We mortals boast of what we know,
Exalting reason's throne,
While there is, far beyond our reach,
An infinite unknown.
The lessons of eternal space
The fool takes not to heart,
And all the endless universe
He gauges by a part.
If he could pass his narrow bounds
And freely range abroad,
He must confess that all he sees
Are but effects of God.
—Edward Willett, in Independent.
Humility.
By E. Hilliard
The Saviour came to our earth to save the lost. So interested was he to rescue man from the ruin to which, through the fall, he was doomed, that he eagerly watched for every opportunity to turn the mind of the sinner toward Heaven. Whenever he saw a poor, afflicted mortal reaching forth to touch but the hem of his garment, or crying after him for help, he was ready to relieve.
One day as he was traveling through the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, a woman of Canaan, being in the same coast, came crying after him to have mercy on her, for her daughter was grievously vexed with a devil. Not a word does the Saviour utter in reply to her entreaties. The Master’s silence develops the spirit of perseverance and earnestness in her, and also the spirit that is in the hearts of his disciples. They did not have that deep love for the suffering that the Master had, and becoming weary of hearing those pitiful tones, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David,” they besought the Master to send her away.
The lovely Jesus, who was always touched with the cry of distress, gave his disciples to understand that it was just such poor, worthless creatures that he came to save; so he replied, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The woman, drawing near to him, worships him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
The Master, wishing her to fully realize her unworthiness, said to her, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it unto the dogs.” She did not become offended with an answer that set forth in such strong terms her humble condition. Nor did she, like many, of to-day, when they see their true condition, fall into despair. Acknowledging the truth of the Saviour’s statement, and willing to take the same place at his feet that the dog occupies in his master’s dwelling, she said, “Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” The heart of our blessed Lord was touched, and he exclaimed, “O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt; and her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
The Lord requires that we shall see and acknowledge our sins; then that we shall seek him in great earnestness and humbleness of heart, and in faith believing that he can and will help us. Medford, Minn. E. Hilliard.
The Ways of Humility
The ways of humility are admired by all; but few, however, attain to the practice of this virtue.
New York Sunday Laws.
By L. C. Rogers
THE Sunday laws of the old statute in their new dress in the Penal Code have, on this dragon’s head, developed two lamb-like horns as follows:—
Sections 272 and 273: “An attempt by means of threats or violence to compel any person to adopt, practice, or profess a particular form of religious belief, is a misdemeanor.” “A person who willfully prevents, by threats, or violence, any person from performing any lawful act enjoined upon, or commended to such person, by the religion which he professes, is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
This is the reverse of the ancient fable of the ass in the lion’s skin—it is the dragon in the dress of the lamb. The Sunday laws enforced, commit the very “misdemeanor” here defined, and it looks for all the world as though these two sections were thrust in here as a “blind,” but it is a bungling attempt of the authors of this new Sunday law, the New York Sabbath Committee, to cover their tracks. Notice the following facts:—
First: The old statute was a mere “police regulation,” and as such, even, was sufficiently dangerous to religious liberty, and yet it did not go so far as to call the Sunday the “Sabbath, or holy time.” It did not recognize its “religious uses.” The things which it prohibited were not defined to be interruptions of the “religious liberty of the community.” It did not place the Sunday on religious grounds at all, but the new Penal Code has changed the statute in all these, and in other similar particulars, and leaves no doubt as to what the animus of this charge was, or who are its real authors.
Second: Section 260 says, “A violation of the foregoing prohibition is Sabbath breaking.” The Penal Code makes the first day of the week to be the “Sabbath,” set apart to rest and religious uses and as holy time.
Sections 259 and 264: And “all manner of servile labor, except in works of necessity or charity,” invokes a fine of $10, and imprisonment for five days. What is this but an attempt by means of threats or violence to compel persons to adopt and practice a particular form of religious belief? They are forced to “adopt and practice it,” whether they believe it or not. John, the revelator, saw a “beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.” Rev. 13: 11. Is not this new Sunday law of the Penal Code the very “critter”? But this law is based on an assumption, and that assumption is false.
Section 259 says: “The first day of the week being by general consent set apart for rest and religious uses, the law prohibits,” etc. There is no such “general consent” outside of the churches to “set apart this day for religious uses,” and very little consent by the mass of church-goers, for the greater part of the day is devoted to the novel or the newspaper, to rambling, riding, and visiting to the park, the public library, the beer gardens, or country resorts and recreations, and many of the clergy uphold and patronize some or all of these departures from the “rest and religious uses” of the day. This law then is an attempt on the part of the few advocates of the “Puritan Sunday” to enforce their religious views and practices upon the entire community. How strange it is that the spirit of the nineteenth century should have compelled the bigots of the old world to lay down the weapons of their prosecution and permitted our young and free America to take up and use these very weapons! But the attempt to enforce these Sunday laws of the Penal Code ought to prove a failure, and it will. The very persons who want this law enforced are not willing to sacrifice their convenience to its rigors. They must have their pint of milk and pound of meat on Sunday, if on no other days, and their newspapers as well. But how could they have these and other necessaries and luxuries of life if the law in question was rigidly enforced? “Live and let live.”—L. C. Rogers, in Sabbath Recorder.
Esau and Jacob Reconciled
By Matthew Henry
PARTICULAR notice is taken of the amicable agreement of Esau and Jacob, in solemnizing their father’s funeral, to show how wonderfully God had changed Esau’s mind (since he vowed his brother’s murder), immediately after his father’s death. God has many ways of preventing bad men from doing the mischief they intended; he can either tie their hands, or turn their hearts.—Matthew Henry.
Do Not Judge by Appearances
Don’t judge a man by the house he lives in, for the lizard and the rat often inhabit the grandest structures.
Love.
By Joseph Clarke
“He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4: 8. Very many texts might be adduced to prove that love is a virtue inseparable from the Christian character. Love is one of the ingredients which form the fine gold spoken of in Rev. 3: 18, and from what is said in that chapter to the Laodicean church, we may infer that one great cause of the lukewarmness existing, would be a want of this love; for the fine gold is placed first; and we believe that the fine gold alluded to here, is union of faith and love. “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,” Rev. 3: 18, is the language of the Revelator. Here this is placed first on the list of graces. Peter, in his arrangement of the Christian graces, also puts faith at the foundation: “Add to your faith virtue.” See 2 Pet. 1: 5. Now as Paul asserts that faith worketh by love, and we are assured that true faith is mixed with love, we must believe that faith without love is a dead faith.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might,” is the plain command of God. See Deut. 6: 5. Can we love God too much? or can we begin too soon? Can we take a single step in the Christian life, or maintain, or attain to, a single Christian grace without this love? Can we do anything acceptably to God in the absence of this love? When Israel heard God announce his law from Sinai, they fancied in their hearts that it would be easy to obey; but when the terror was withdrawn, their zeal abated; there was no love to God or to his law to anchor them to his throne. Some suppose that because Peter enumerates the graces, placing charity last, that this grace is not to be expected of those commencing the Christian life. They suppose that these graces must be laid as a mason lays his layers of stone, or brick, or marble, in due form.
Now the object of Peter, here, is to bring out to view these graces in order, relatively.
A person truly converted to God, will manifest all these graces in a greater or less degree, as soon as they are called for by circumstances. Often in the hour of his enlargement, his conduct is an illustration of each of them; but Peter would have each of these cultivated, and would have the attention of all drawn to them.
A Christian will not merely cultivate one of these graces to-day, another to-morrow, but each receives its due share of attention day by day. Charity, the last in his enumeration, is woven into the daily experience of the man of God, from the first of his experience; and faith, the first in Peter’s list of graces, is as much cultivated in the last of the Christian life. We cannot classify the various graces just as we would in mechanics. No; for love and faith are the cement and strength of, and ingredients in, all the graces. Take away love from the Christian, and he is a dry tree, a barren heath, a desert. Without love, his benevolence becomes but a drudgery, and his prayers become hypocrisy.
From the plain testimony of John, we have no reason to hope in God’s mercy, unless we love God, and our brother also. Here, then, is the grace of charity; love to the household of faith, even to the most imperfect. Not that this can exist alone, but they are all mutually dependent upon each other; and the better developed the Christian virtues are, the more perfect will the grace of charity become. No one of these graces can stand long alone. They all uphold, strengthen, and encourage each other; and often we cultivate those most difficult to attain, by the assiduous cultivation of the others which come up like the reserve of an army to the relief of the weaker portion. So that if we despair of one point, let us look the more closely to the others, with at least the forlorn hope of victory.
What can we attain to, then, without love? Whom can we help without love? Would you take a mote from your eye with a penknife, or with a needle? As soon may you correct the erring without love.
This love does not weaken the column of truth. We say it strengthens and polishes the pillars of wisdom, and settles and confirms the wandering and wayward in the path of truth. It restores the erring, and wins the froward from the influences of evil. JOS. CLARKE.