Review and Herald, Vol. 29, No. 20. (4/23/1867)

Review and Herald

Apr 23, 1867

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 23, 1867

The Sermon.

By E. B. Saunders

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, PREACH THE WORD 2 Tim iv. 2.

SELF-DECEPTION.

BY ELD. E. B. SAUNDERS.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matt., vii, 21–23.

THERE is much of deep interest and importance to us in these words of our Lord. Some of them will extinguish the last ray of hope in some poor mortal, possibly in you or me, kind reader, and how we ought to study to shun the fearful doom to which these words will consign a portion of our race. It is dreadful to think that some with whom we have walked in this life, our friends, or relatives, or neighbors, will, some of them, fail of everlasting life; some of them will tremble and faint when the dread words, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity,” are pronounced; and will you and I be clear? will their blood be found on our garments?

The fearful state of deception into which some will fall is fully brought to view in the text. They are not worldlings, or the ungodly, who are deceived, but professors of religion; those who have professed to obey God, to love him, and forsake the world; but how are they deceived! They have lived on, day after day, trusting in a mere profession of the truth, but wake up at last when the sweet voice of mercy is hushed, and no mediator to atone for their hypocritical sins. They lived on, day after day, trusting in an old experience which they had years ago, when they first started to serve the Lord. Yes, their names were even on the church-book, and they rested as well satisfied as though they had been in the Book of Life. But, says one, “This is not my case; the Lord has given me evidence that he accepts of me—he has granted wonderful answers to prayer, insomuch that those sick nigh unto death have been raised up; and those possessed of devils have been healed; and my labors have been wonderfully blessed, so that even miracles have been wrought by the touch of my hand, &c.;” thus boasting of their attainments and their authority to the disgust of the meek and simple-hearted follower of Jesus. This is not an impossible case; for our Lord testified that some of these self-deceived would boast of their wonderful works even down in the solemn hour of Judgment; and the writer has heard men of the Mormon faith boast of these same things. But the words of the text do not apply to the Mormons alone. We meet daily with many professors who are unwilling to keep the plain commandment of God, because the Spirit, they say, does not teach them. Being unwilling to take the plain word of God which he has given to all as an evidence of his will, they require a personal evidence, as though they were the especial favorites of Heaven, and the Lord must notify them personally or they cannot believe.

Such are self-deceived, and lack that meekness which is characteristic of the genuine Christian. They have thought of themselves and compared themselves among themselves till they proudly think that they are too good to be lost. And many of these self-deceived have not even obeyed the simple requirements of the gospel, have neglected the ordinances of the Lord’s house, and yet boast of greater attainments than the trembling but obedient child of God. But simple obedience to gospel ordinances will not save, no, some of the self-deceived did all that, and yet were hypocrites at heart. Many made only a mockery of obedience. Instead of bringing a bloody offering, like righteous Abel, they bring of the fruits of the ground, or something different, which they thrust before the Lord as a substitute. Will he accept of them who do thus?

A profession of even the truth and a name with the true people of God will not save some; they will fail because they lack that thorough work in their hearts necessary to fit them for Heaven. Some will even keep all the commandments outwardly, and yet not be truly converted to God, their hearts not being renewed by the grace of God: such will certainly fail of eternal life. It was seemingly a small offense that prevented Moses from entering the promised land, and even smaller sins may keep you or me, dear reader, from the kingdom of God. Simply keeping the letter of the law will not excuse us; there are crimes of a less degree comprehended in the “great things” of the law, which, if unrepented of, will be the ruin of many who now bid fair for eternal life. Murder is a great crime, and we shudder at the thought of being guilty of such a deed, yet we may have a small spark of hatred in our hearts toward our brother, which, if the fear of consequences was removed, Satan might fan into a flame which would end in blood. Adultery is a revolting crime that we detest, yet we may cherish a desire which circumstances might fan into a fierce flame that would consume us both soul and body. Idolatry is an offense which we think none but an ignorant heathen would commit. Yet we who profess to be getting ready for translation may have an inordinate attachment for our farms, our money, or our flocks and herds, which is hateful in the sight of God. Honor thy father and thy mother is one of the commandments of God, yet I fear that some of us will come short in this. We may think we do, yet the Lord knows all the disrespectful words and looks given to those who have tenderly cared for us all our lives. Angels counted the stingy pittance allowed so grudgingly to support the tottering age of those who have loved us all our life long. Angels have made the shameful record against some of us, and it will stand against us in the great day, unless heartily repented of and forgiven. Angels recorded that sneering expression you made when your neighbor’s good deed was spoken of in your presence, and they also noticed your envious look when his good fortune was told you, and in the great day it will appear against you, unless you repent. It will be remembered in that day when we expect mercy and pardon, that we have not heartily forgiven those who trespassed against us, that we have borne a grudge against our brother, sometimes even after he had prayed us to forgive him. “If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Let us examine well our cases while Jesus lingers in the heavenly sanctuary, so that we may not come down to the great day covered with sins which God hates, and the Bible condemns. It may be asked how we are to test ourselves that we may know? Apply the truths of God’s word to our cases, and see if we fill the measure; examine our deeds in the light of the Bible, and see if they bear fruit to the glory of God. Old experiences, flights of feeling, and frames of mind, will not be valued very highly in the day of trial. The value of a tree is not reckoned from the amount of leaves it may bear, nor from its gaudy blossoms, but by its fruit—ripe, perfect fruit; so professors of religion are not valued for their staying in society, or in the church book, or for their saintly looks and long-drawn words, but for their faith and love, their deeds which tended to benefit their race and improve themselves in the sight of God.

Saying, Lord, Lord, will not save us, yet many do but little else. Such are generally proud of their attainments, and boastingly assert that they are saved. The obligation to keep God’s commands is not felt by such. The Devil has encased them in a truth-proof armor. They have such an assurance that they

are right, that the word of God is only a secondary matter with them. Such generally study the epistles of John more than other portions of scripture, and greatly pervert that which they read. They have much to say about sanctification and being saved now, and of obtaining the blessing of sanctification instantly in answer to prayer. The evident deception of such leads me to offer a few thoughts on Christian assurance.

1. It is no sure ground of assurance that God is pleased with us, because we had strong, exciting, or peculiar feelings or exercises at our conversion, so strong or peculiar that we never forget them, being always ready to relate them. They may have been genuine, yet such feelings are often experienced by the wildest fanatics, as some of us have witnessed during the last fifteen years. Such exercises are common to Spiritualism and other forms of error. True saints may have peculiar exercises, caused by the Spirit of God, but it is not safe to rely on such evidences when we judge of our spirituality.

2. It is no just ground of assurance that God is well pleased with us, because we yet have at times peculiar feelings, or are much drawn out in prayer. These feelings may be caused by a genuine Christian assurance, but they should not cause that assurance. Any careful observer will often see those living in known sin, very eloquent in prayer, or see them much excited during a great revival, and yet their lives are not reformed. Sometimes they will commit grievous crimes before the series of meetings closes.

3. It is no just ground of assurance, that we at times feel great joy, love, peace, &c. Those who with shouts of joy spread their garments before our Lord when he rode into Jerusalem, thought they loved him; but how soon they forsook him. So with Peter, who thought he could die for his Lord; yet how soon he denied him. The stony-ground hearers received the word with joy.

How often we see those living in known sin get very happy, often shouting “glory,” “hallelujah,” “praise the Lord,” &c. They forget that Satan can counterfeit these feelings, and that it is for his interest to make us confident that we are accepted when we are not. The apostle Paul prays for grace to be with “all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.”

We should not judge at all of our own state by our feelings. A happy flight of feeling may be from our enemy, to blind our eyes. But we may judge of ourselves by comparing our works or actions with the word of God—by our fruits. This should be the test of our characters, for a tree is known by its fruit, not by its leaves or blossoms. If our profession leads us to obey God—to yield him a loving obedience in all things, it is a better sign of our state than a loud profession, happy flights of feeling, or the singularity of our conversion.

A willing obedience is the best ground of assurance we have. Those who profess to know God, and have fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ, while they are living in known sin, are self-deceived; no matter what remarkable circumstances transpired in their conversion, or in their after experience. “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in him.” 1 John ii, 3–5. The same apostle, after discoursing on love being manifest by works (chap. iii), and showing that we cannot love God and hate our brother, says, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Here deeds are insisted on as the true sign of genuine love; such deeds of love and obedience become a source of assurance to our own hearts, “and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him.”

If we are not able to perceive such indications of love in our behavior, our own hearts will witness against us, and God, who knoweth more than our hearts, will also condemn us. “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” But if we see in our actions that which indicates love to God (obedience), it becomes a source of confidence. “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” Then we have confidence to make known our wants unto God, and he is gracious to answer our petitions, not because of our great experience, but “because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

The apostle Paul speaks of the “full assurance of hope,” and also speaks of the cause which produced this assurance, and we shall find that he does not contradict what we have just learned from the epistle of John; for he, too, makes works the ground of assurance. “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end.” Heb. vi, 10, 11. He also mentions works as a cause of rejoicing in ourselves. Gal. vi, 4.

Far be it from us to reject all feeling, but to place it where it belongs, and not give it an undue weight when we examine our own hearts. To think that we are right simply because we enjoy our minds, or because we at some point of time experienced a great blessing in answer to prayer, or on some occasion great liberty in prayer, or because we felt a great change in us at conversion, is building upon sand, and our hopes may be blasted in the great day of trial. These things are right in the right place, and it is our privilege to enjoy such things, but let us not make them the foundation of our hope. Nor would we expect to save ourselves by our works, but simply judge of our progress in the Christian race from works of love and obedience wrought from pure motives.

Pure religion, then, does not consist in flights of feeling, great discoveries in grace, and fluency in prayer, but in works of love to God and man. Jas. i, 27. Those who fail to do the word, are spoken of as self-deceived. Jas. i, 22. Those who speak as though they were on very intimate terms with the Lord, and yet knowingly break his commandments, are self-deceived; such profess great love, but such love will be consumed when they are cast into the furnace of affliction.

Obedience is the true sign of love, both to ourselves and others, and is the ground of our confidence toward God. But if we reserve one darling lust, or knowingly retain one idol in our hearts, or refuse to obey God in one thing, we cannot appear before him expecting to receive anything from his hand. “Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” Ps. cxix, 6. God requires the whole heart.

The grand sign of our being Jesus’ disciples, and of our love for him, is obedience to his commandments. “If a man love me, he will keep my words.” John xiv, 23. Making a profession of religion does not make us disciples of our Lord, but our bearing fruit to the glory of God. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be my disciples.” John xv, 8. We become disciples of our Lord when we conform to his ways, or our ways to his will; when we leave the paths of sin to seek God with the whole heart, taking delight in his ways, and joyfully turning our steps therein. When we become disciples of Jesus, there will be a change, yes, a thorough reformation commenced in us. The love of this world, and its vain show will depart from our hearts, and we shall commence a reform in all our habits of life, so that in whatsoever we do, whether we eat or drink, we shall do all to the glory of God. And his will will fill a large place in our hearts. Our idols—trinkets, dress, love of fashion, intemperate appetites, lusts, foolish and filthy conversation, slovenly ways, and lazy habits, will all be laid aside. When we see such a reform going on in ourselves, it is better evidence that we are not far from the kingdom of God than all the wonderful exercises of mind and feeling ever permitted to fallen man. When we do these things, the law of God will become our rule of life, and to honor him will be our highest ambition. When we thus get the rubbish away from the door of our hearts, the gentle Saviour will come in and sup with us and we with him. Then we shall know what it is to have sweet communion with God, and genuine feelings of acceptance; then we can say, He is mine and I am his.

But our danger, as a people, is not from trusting too much in feeling, but from a lack of it. We are inclined to go to the opposite extreme, and trust too much in a theory of the truth. Many among us have taken hold of the truth, but the truth has not taken hold of them. They lack that experience in the things of God which they must have to be saved. Many of us do not wrestle in prayer like Jacob, do not agonize and plead for pardon and acceptance. A blessing hangs over us, such as man never yet experienced, but our lukewarm prayers fail to call it down. Unless we get awake to our condition, the dreadful words “I never knew you” will be spoken to some of us.

We must have a personal experience in the things of God. We must earnestly seek him for ourselves, and not rest satisfied until we get the evidence that he accepts of us. The evidence that we love God is found in our joyful obedience to his word, while the evidence that he loves us individually, arises from faith in his promises, and some tokens of his favor. It is one thing to feel that we love God, and quite another to feel that he loves us. Should we obtain such a feeling, we need not reject it, but look well to the ground from whence it springs. When we feel that God loves us, we shall be bold soldiers in his service, and feel, like Paul, “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Though we may constantly fear to offend God, the fear of man will be gone. With the knowledge that our Father in Heaven has sent his love upon us, we can endure trials cheerfully. Now we are ready to murmur and complain for the loss of our earthly treasure. A little money lost, a little property taken, or some of our loved friends laid in the grave to rest through the fearful scenes before us, will cause us to murmur. We do not endure hardness as good soldiers, but are too easily disheartened. But we are not left without some encouragement; we are pointed to the prophets, and especially to faithful Job, for an example of suffering affliction—Job, a man that had all of this world that heart could wish, so that he was the richest man in all the East. His family was large and prosperous, he having seven sons and three daughters; children to whom he doubtless looked for comfort and honor in his old age, and whom he loved just as tenderly as you or I love our children. And he who loved God so dearly, would certainly love his fellow-men. This man was honored by his countrymen so that he was a judge among them, and his word settled all disputes; so that as far as this world was concerned, he lacked nothing. Well, amid all his prosperity, calamity overtook him; not the loss of one or two dear children, or a few oxen, but a terrible, crushing blow; all his children, and all his property and honors were swept from him in one day. Fire and robbers swept off his property. This could have been borne; but his dear children whom he had watched over from their birth, and for whom he had often prayed, were crushed to death in the ruins of their elder brother’s house. How do you think Job felt? Do you think that he was indifferent to his great loss? Can we suppose that he was ready to give up his faith in God, and murmur? We might have done so, but Job did not. I expect that this man of God fell upon his face and in agony besought God for grace to endure this great affliction. His words of holy resignation ought to silence all murmurers to the end of time, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” But his affliction did not stop here. We might suppose that he had suffered all that human nature could endure; but not; in his anguish at the loss he had sustained, the hand of disease is laid upon him. Painful boils break out upon his body, not one or two, but from the sole of his foot unto his crown, so that he loathed himself and regretted that he had been born. He even longed for death, but it came not. And to crown his calamities, his wife, one that had, doubtless, given him good counsel for many years, uses her influence

to get him to curse his Maker.

Did he yield to this great temptation? His body, and consequently his mind, was weak through disease, and Satan was using all his powers to cause him to give up his faith in God; but he nobly endured the trial. His words express his confidence. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

Let us compare our trials with Job’s, and how insignificant they appear! Yet the little perplexities we have to meet often cause us to almost despair of life, and some of us are ready to give up our faith under the slightest trials. If our faith in God is so easily shaken, how can we endure unto the end? “If ye have run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, how canst thou contend with horses?” If the slight current of opposition we now meet is likely to overwhelm us, what will we do when the floodgates of persecution are opened? But God will give us strength according to our day, if we live out all the light shining on our pathway. If we walk in the light, we shall have light all the way through; but if we falter, and faint, and doubt, we shall be left to grope in darkness, being deceived as to our state, till the scales fall from our eyes on hearing the dreadful words, “I never knew you.”

Some take hold of present truth as one takes a dose of nauseous medicine; they believe against their will. Such do not run with alacrity in the way of truth; they are urged on step by step; they doubt this doctrine, and that point of truth, even when they have all the light that any have. Such will wake up in the great day to find their case hopeless. They have spent their lives in doubting, and never put their shoulder to the burden to help the cause along, but thought so much on their doubts and notions, that they failed to get that experience requisite to final acceptance at the bar of God.

We who live so near the end of time, have a great work to do, in order to be prepared for translation. Only two of all that ever lived in this world have been thus honored; only two walked so near the Lord that he condescended to save them without their seeing death. We profess to be getting ready for like honors. Shall we fail, or will we walk with God, like holy Enoch, or zealous Elijah, firmly trusting him as we trust a dear friend? Think you that Enoch or Elijah were half-hearted or doubted that the work in which they engaged was the work of God? Do you think that they were translated with little or no experience in the things of God? Did a mere profession save them? We have but a short time in which to make the great preparation; hence, we must work fast, and may our work be thorough, that the words of the text be not spoken to us. Amen.

WALK IN THE LIGHT.

By S. E. LINDSLEY.

“Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” John xii, 35.

“WALK while we have the light,” He saith, While it illumines the way, Neglect it not lest it depart, And leave no guiding ray.

Walk in the light! O parley not, With the deceitful one, Only by faithfulness can we Expect his snares to shun.

Walk in the light! for darkness great, Will surely take its place; If we reject the smallest part, The Lord will hide his face.

Walk in the light! Oh! solemn charge, Come let us all obey; Though twilight yet, we’ll follow on, ’Twill lead to perfect day.

Walk in the light! as fast as given; ’Tis thus our faith is tried, In this way only can we be Made white and purified.

’Tis thus by walking in the light, That we shall overcome; For Jesus’ coming be prepared, And rest with him at home.

S. E. LINDSLEY.

March 17th 1867.

PARENTAL DUTIES.

By C. A. Osgood

Most parents, in a civilized land, realize the duty, the necessity, of providing for the physical wants of their children. To neglect to do this is regarded as unkind, as very wrong, and justly so. But children have mental and moral natures to be cultivated, to be provided for. And some professing the Advent faith are insensible with regard to the duty of bringing up their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Children are ignorant of divine things; they need to be instructed. They are ofttimes wayward, they need to be corrected. They are often self-willed, they need to be brought into subjection to rightful authority. God has intrusted them to the care of their parents, to train them, and to instruct them. In the days of Moses, God said to the Hebrew nation, “These words which I command thee shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou liest down and when thou risest up, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way.” These children who are living now, near the close of probation, when God purposes to “turn the hearts of the children to the fathers,” need religious instruction as much and even more than those who lived in the days of Moses. The things to be taught are the words which God has commanded. Glorious words, words of awful import are these. God’s commands are “holy, just and good.” These are adapted to the wants of the young as well as the old. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word?” These commands are to be taught, not carelessly, or occasionally, but diligently, “when thou liest down,” the last thing at night; “when thou risest up,” the first thing in the morning. The truths of God should be the great subject of discourse, “when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way.” This is reasonable, because God’s revealed truth, is the most precious, the most important of all truths. It is able to make mankind, young and old, “wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” This saving power children need. Why should people spend their early years, in ignorance, without God and without a well-grounded hope in Jesus Christ? Why should they lose these years, so precious, in the service of sin and Satan?

But children need more than teaching. Their wills need to be subdued, their waywardness to be corrected. God has given parents authority to command, and children are commanded to “obey their parents in the Lord.” It is not only the duty of parents to give the word of command, but to enforce obedience. Of Abraham God said, “I know him that he will command his household and his children after him, and they shall do justice and judgment.” But Eli did not do so. He reproved his sons for evil doing, yet he “restrained them not” when they “made themselves vile,” and God signally manifested his displeasure toward both father and sons for their conduct. Alas! how many parents imitate Eli, reprove their children, sometimes very earnestly, but never restrain them! And how many more permit them to go on in wrong courses without even reproving them! In these last days, according to the prediction of Paul, children are emphatically “disobedient to parents.” And why is this? Mainly because parents have neglected to enforce obedience. The favorable time to begin to do this, when the child first begins to understand the parent’s will, is passed by; the child is permitted to have his own will in opposition to that of the parent; and thus commences his career of disobedience. Many parents think that when the children grow older they will do better; that they will have more regard for the wishes of the parents, but in most instances they find, as time passes on, that the unsubdued will grows and strengthens, as the children grow older, until the parents are brought in subjection to the children, and God’s order is reversed. Thus parents are, to a great extent, the occasion of this state of things.

Children are subject to many follies. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” A faithful parent corrects his children in whom he delights; but the unfaithful one lets them go on in their course of folly to destruction. The child who has his own way is a great trouble to himself, to his parents, and to all around him. He can not live long in the world without having his wishes crossed, and whenever this takes place he becomes exceedingly unhappy.

The duty of parents is expressed in these few words, “Train up a child in the way he should go.” To train, means much more than to give a little advice occasionally, or to make a few listless, casual efforts toward disciplining children. To train persons to become skillful mechanics, or learned men, requires constant, patient, long-continued effort, and so it is with regard to preparing men to become soldiers. Children are disposed to go wrong; they wish not to be restrained, but like the wild colt to go where they please and do what they please. To train them to become obedient and useful is laborious, and requires persevering effort in the right direction. How are soldiers trained? Does every one do as he pleases? No. Order must be observed. Superiors must be obeyed. Order is Heaven’s rule too. There must be order in the family. Obedience not once or twice merely, but always. And without order no family can be a happy one. How pleasant it is to behold a family, where order reigns, where each member moves in his or her proper sphere, where parents truly love their children, and children love to obey their parents. To no people are these things so important as to those who are looking for the speedy coming of our Saviour, and who believe it necessary to keep the commandments of God in order to be ready to meet him. There is but a brief space of time for the young or the old to prepare for this great event, before it will be too late. How earnestly they should choose those to whom is entrusted the care of children, labor and pray for their salvation. One of the commandments of God is, “Honor thy father and thy mother.” Those who live, and continue to live, in neglect of the duties required in this fifth commandment, will be unprepared for that day. Besides, children need to be trained to be helpers in proclaiming this last message of mercy. Those families where the children are unruly, if they profess present truth, cast a shadow, a dark one, over the truth, and may hinder some from embracing it. But those who have faithful children, and otherwise walk worthy of God, will shed a glorious light around them, that others will see, and be led to “glorify our Father in Heaven.” C. A. Osgood.

“HOW RICH BEN ADAM IS.”

[This little poetical parable contains so beautiful a moral, that, for the sake of it, we can easily overlook the poor theology contained in the last stanza.—Ed. REVIEW.]

Ben Adam had a golden coin one day, Which he put out at interest with a Jew; Year after year awaiting him it lay Until the double coin two pieces grew, And these two, four—so on, till all the people said, “How rich Ben Adam is!” and bowed the servile head.

Ben Selim had a golden coin that day, Which to a stranger asking alms he gave, Who went rejoicing on his unknown way. Ben Selim died too poor to own a grave; But when his soul reached Heaven, angels with pride Showed him the wealth to which his coin had multiplied.

PAY IN ADVANCE.

By C. L. PALMER

Let us do our work well by doing it right; let us pay for our paper before we read it. I hope we pay for our food before we eat it, and our clothing before we wear it out; why should we ask the cause of God to credit us a whole or half a year when we pay the world and worldly-minded men promptly? Do we not owe God for past and present blessings? Then let us be diligent in the business of paying for our paper even though it cost a little self denial. I think this matter of letting our accounts run year after year while we read the paper weekly, is almost a denial of faith. Forgive me if I speak plain; I would not wound were I not certain there was occasion, and that there is a healing balm for all such wounds. The Saviour said to the young man, “Sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and come and follow me;” and the professed people of God certainly ought to pay their debts, and not shame these servants of God who have the care of the publishing department, by compelling them week after week to send out requests to pay up. How does this look to the opponents of truth? How does it appear before God? I would ask, Is it any better because you owe it to the cause of God whom you profess to love above all earthly things and to honor by obedience, than to owe to the tradesmen of your town? I ask, is it honest to take a paper week after week and never pay for it? I always feel a desire when handing a person a Review to examine, like blotting out the article which says to delinquents, Pay up. And must it always be so? Must this shame and disgrace abide with you who have formed the habit? or will you each one say, I will from this time forever reform in this thing. C. L. PALMER.

Morality Without Religion

—Morality without religion is only a kind of dead-reckoning—an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the distance we have run, without any observation of the heavenly bodies.

Regular Diet Over Physic

A regular diet cures more people than physic.

Pray Without Ceasing

Pray without ceasing.

Deceitfulness of the Heart

By Scott

Selected for Review by A. C. H.

Deceitfulness of the Heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”—Jer. xvii, 9, 10.

The heart here means the dispositions and desires, the result of the understanding, will and affection, reciprocally influencing each other, “The heart,” not of this or that man, but of fallen men in general, is declared to be deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Every man is naturally disposed to dissimulation, self-flattery, and hypocrisy, in an inconceivable degree; every man is liable to be imposed upon by his own heart; and this deceitfulness is more dangerous to him, than any external artifice and deceit. The pride of the heart leads men to form false estimates of their own real and comparative character and conduct, and to think far better and more highly of themselves than they ought.

The love of the pleasure and profit, resulting from the favorite sin, betrays every man into deception respecting its criminality, and his own guilt and danger; his understanding is thus bribed to frame excuses and palliations of it; he is led to call it by some soft name, and his conscience is thus seduced into connivance. The enmity of the heart to the holiness of God, and his righteous sovereignty, betrays men, in a variety of ways, into fallacious reasonings about his perfections, and their obligations to him, against the divine original of the sacred scripture, or against its obvious meaning; against the strict and spiritual precepts and awful sanctions of the law; against the humbling doctrines of the gospel or their holy tendency; and against the measure, rule, and consequences of the future Judgment. To this deceitfulness of the heart, all partial and erroneous decisions of the conscience are, in a great measure, to be ascribed; with the self-preference, which is universal in all uncon<span></span>verted men; and alas, remains, and exerts its influence, though it does not reign, even in the converted.

The irrational propensity of the most atrocious criminals to palliate their vices, and to value themselves on some imagined virtues, or exemptions from this or other vice; and the gross absurdity of men's boasting of the goodness of their hearts, when forced to allow the wickedness of their lives; though they must be conscious, that their wicked inclinations and imaginations have been, and are, immensely more numerous than their actual sins; spring from the same source.

Hence also originates the universal propensity of men to be confident in hasty resolutions of amendment, under sudden terrors or pangs of conscience, or when the near prospect of death affrights them, though they have found them as changeable as the wind, in all former instances. In a word (for the detail would be endless) the deceitfulness of the heart is the only cause, that any man doubts of its being “desperately wicked,” and capable of every kind and degree of impiety, iniquity, enmity, cruelty, or sensuality, which ever was committed, or can be conceived. For the history of the world and of the church, yea, universal experience and observation, demonstrate, that the heart of every man is naturally so wicked, that were he left wholly to himself, in suitable circumstances of temptation, and gradual seduction from one thing to another, by the artifice of Satan, he is capable of committing any crime, which ever was perpetrated on earth, and with every possible aggravation. But like an artful villain, who conceals, that he may the more certainly perpetrate his base purposes, “the heart is so deceitful in its desperate wickedness,” that it is wholly unsuspected by most men respecting themselves; even though they are aware of the artfulness and sinfulness of other men, and suspicious of them to excess. But he, who believes the testimony of God, learns to watch his own heart, as he would a servant, who, he was credibly assured, was a concealed robber or thief; and he will in a course of years, and by a variety of painful experiences, comparing what passes in his mind with the divine law, and praying to be taught of God to know himself, infallibly learn the truth of this harsh and offensive decision, in his own case. He will perceive that this is the exact picture of his own heart; and hence he will deduce many most important instructions to direct his conduct: But no man can penetrate to the depth of this desperate evil. The more the subject is studied the worse the heart of man will appear; yet much must remain unknown, both in our hearts, and in the hearts of others, which could only be discovered by our actually being placed, in all the infinite variety of possible circumstances and temptations. As this cannot be done with any man, nor the result be made fully known to a finite understanding; so God alone, who knows entirely, and searches thoroughly, the heart of man, is perfectly acquainted with the extent of its desperate wickedness. And he proves and tries men's actions, to bring forth into practice what he sees in the heart, whether of sin which is naturally there, or of the grace which he has communicated; that his decisions may appear to his creatures, (what they uniformly are in themselves) the result of infinite justice, wisdom, truth and mercy.—Scott.

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