Earlier text: FASTINGHow to Overcome.
By Chas. B. Reynolds
ALL have some peculiarity of mental organism which distinguishes them as much as their particular constitution of body, and both these—the particular turn or cast of mind and constitution of body—not only incline and dispose us to some kinds of sins more than to others, but render the practice of certain virtues much more easy than the practice of others. As men have their particular sins which do most easily beset them, so they have their particular temptations which do most easily overcome them. That may be a very great temptation to one which is none at all to another. The sins to which men are commonly most inclined, and the temptations which they have the least power to resist, are rightly termed their constitutional sins—their peculiar frailties, and, in Scripture, “their own iniquities” and “the sins which do most easily beset.” In order to overcome, we must study self, must become acquainted with our own peculiar temptations, and must know when, and under what circumstances, we are in greatest danger of transgressing. We must consider under what circumstances we are most apt to lose the possession and government of ourselves, on what occasions most apt to be unguarded, petulant, vain, precipitant, and then shun those conditions, avoid those occasions. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Especially must we attend to those occasions which most usually betray us into favorite vices, and consider the spring from whence they arise and the circumstances which most favor them. Very few, upon a thorough search of themselves, will fail to find that some one sin has ordinarily a greater power over them than other sins. Others often observe this if we ourselves do not. That temper or particular turn or cast of mind, which strongly disposes and inclines us to indulgence in besetments must be most carefully guarded against, and the opportunities which favor those inclinations must be resolutely avoided; for the only safe way to subdue a criminal inclination is to first avoid the known occasions which excite it, and then curb the first motions of it, and thus, having no opportunity of being indulged, it will in time lose its force and fail of its wonted victory. The surest way to conquer is sometimes to decline battle—to weary out the enemy by keeping him at bay. It is dangerous to provoke an unequal enemy to the fight, or to run into such a situation that we cannot expect to escape without a disadvantageous encounter. We but mock God in praying, “Lead us not into temptation,” if we take no care ourselves to avoid it. Watch as well as pray, alike against temptation to sin and against sin itself. It is of the utmost importance, in order to overcome, that we learn by what means of access and by what avenues, we ourselves too often approach sin, and to set reason and conscience to guard those passes—those usual inlets to vice and Satan. Watchfulness, which is always necessary, is chiefly so when first assaults are made; for the enemy is most easily repulsed if we never suffer him to get within, but upon the very first approach draw up our forces and fight him without the gates. To do this, it is necessary that we observe by what methods and degrees temptations grow upon us. Usually the first thing is the evil thought. Instead of dismissing it and fleeing at once to the Lord in prayer, the thought is indulged, the imagination is permitted to dwell upon the gratification it might afford if only it were not sin, till the imagination no longer revolts, but revels in the thought. The mind thus familiarized with sin, we begin to seek excuse for its indulgence. We study how the penalty may be avoided, how we may justify, and, when opportunity affords, perpetrate. Now, the first steps to sin are seldom thought worth our care, are sometimes scarce taken notice of, so that the enemy is frequently in possession of the citadel ere we imagined he was really in our vicinity. As the subtle enemy of mankind takes care to draw men gradually into sin, so he usually draws them by degrees into temptation. As he disguises the sin, so he conceals the temptation to it, well knowing that, were we once sensible of our danger, we would be apt to be on our guard against it. If we would overcome, we must get acquainted, not only with our most usual temptations, so that we be not drawn into sin unawares, but with the previous steps and preparatory circumstances which make way for those temptations, that we be not drawn unawares into the occasions of sin; for those things which lead into temptation are to be considered as temptations as well as those which immediately lead us into sin. The prayer taught us by our Lord makes it as much our duty to be upon the watch against temptation as under it. To effectually overcome, we must keep vigilant watch at the point of danger, the weak spots, the dangerous places. To be able to know where these are we must know ourselves. We must search our own hearts. We must no longer disguise or gloss over our own sins and shortcomings, giving our vices and failings some soothing name, but examine ourselves, and give our vices, sins, and besetments, their true titles. True, it is an irksome and very disagreeable business to turn self-accuser, to search after one's own faults, and to keep one's eyes fixed steadily upon that which it should give us deepest shame and pain to see. It is like tearing open an old wound, but it is far better to do this than to let it mortify. The wounds of the conscience, like those of the body, cannot well be cured till they are searched to the bottom; and they cannot be so searched without pain. It is better to see ourselves in all our hideous depravity, to realize the exceeding sinfulness of our sin now, than when probation shall have closed. It is far better to realize our true condition now, however sad it may be, than to cover it till the day of Judgment, when all must be revealed. Do not shut your eyes against your darling sin or be averse to finding it out. Why should you study to conceal or excuse it? Why fondly cherish a viper in your bosom? “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Prov. 28:13. It is deadly, dangerous self-flattery to give soft, smooth names to sins, in order to cover or disguise their nature. Rather lay your hand upon your heart, and thrust it into your bosom, though it come out as Moses’ did, leprous as snow. Let us no longer talk of overcoming, but up and to work. Every day tells upon our eternal destiny, and not ours alone; we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, whom we influence for or against the truth. We make great professions. Do our acts and words prove that we have been truly converted? that the truth has purified, ennobled, elevated us? Shall our light so shine that others, seeing our good works, shall glorify our Father in Heaven? None but the pure in heart shall see God. If we do not now put away our sins, they will keep us away from the kingdom and destroy us. If we do not slay them, they will slay us. If we do not give them up now, we must give up eternal life then. God help us to be honest with ourselves, to put away our sins and watch and pray, that by the mighty help of Jesus we may be overcomers, and, in the great soon-coming day of trial be found among those in whose “mouth shall be found no guile,” but who shall be without fault before the throne of God, and be admitted to dwell forever in the midst of the paradise of God. CHAS. B. REYNOLDS. Neglected Children.
By Margaret E. Sangster
I spend several hours every week with a company of children who may fairly be ranked under the title “neglected.” They are not over clean. Their clothing is thin, and rather promiscuous. Half the time they are probably very cold, and the other half hungry. Their fathers and mothers are poor, are unfortunate, are sometimes drunken; and some of those little ones are familiar with sights and sounds which would frighten the delicate, high-bred, beautiful girls who find it a labor of love every week to teach them to sew. But my experience with these little specimens of the tenement and the street has been that, considering their opportunities, they are very docile. They blossom out under loving influences as your hyacinth does when you take the bulb from the cellar and set it in the sunny south window. They repeat Bible verses and hymns, and sing—why, they sing as if they had never known a trouble or a care. Several times the thought has come to me, “Are these the only neglected children?” Not a very original thought, perhaps, but one we mothers would do well to ponder oftener than we do. It is a dreary day for the maternal heart when it takes up that desolate refrain: “They made me the keeper of the vineyard, but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” A child, coming into the world by no volition of its own, surely has a right to claim the care and protection of its father and mother. They are not released from this claim by any exterior circumstance. Whether they live in Rag Fair or Fifth Avenue, they are equally bound to take the best care they can of their own offspring. To do Rag Fair justice, it is not half so anxious to shirk the responsibility in the matter as Fifth Avenue often is. No matter how many subordinates your purse can employ, you are yourself, being parent, your child's first and best guardian. But society, business, and the church, make many demands upon your time. Even so. Meet them if you can; but if you must choose which to give your best to, and which to give your second-best, and which to let go by the board, let home and children have the freshness, the first of the day, and the closest brooding of the heart. I have known a family of dear little children, clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring, like the man in the parable, sumptuously every day, who were almost as badly off as Lazarus in the same. They were wholly under the care and influence of illiterate, vulgar, and unprincipled servants, their mother being too much engaged with company, friends, and benevolent enterprises, to do more than give them a kiss once or twice a day, and, sometimes, when they vexed her, a scolding or a slap. The mother, a brilliant, educated, and most fascinating lady, is by-and-by ashamed of her children, who are boors, unpolished, unmannerly and ungrammatical. What wonder? They were neglected, and nothing else could have been expected. Seven times one are seven. You cannot make it nine, to save your life. Some mothers neglect their children through the care they take of their outward appearance. Come what will, they must have so many little frocks, and so many little aprons, so many pies and cakes too, on the table, and so much luxury in the furnishing and adorning of their homes. Somebody and something must be put off and turned aside, and it is very likely to be the little Kitty or Johnny, who is, after all, the occasion of the parents’ greatest pride and anxiety! It is a terrible thing, though, when you really sit down and think about it, that a child, living, breathing, sentient, and which may be immortal, should ever be considered as merely a clothes-pole, or a center-piece for vain display. The class who upon the whole get the least notice taken of them, and are oftenest snubbed and hurt, are the boys. The ordinary, commonplace ones I mean, who are especially brilliant in nothing, and who are at the awkward, obtrusive age when their feet and hands are big, and they seem to have a talent for forever being in the way. Their very faces have lost the sweetness of babyhood, and have not gained the meaning of manhood. Nobody has much patience with them, and the house is so much stiller when they are out of it that even mother does not ask where they are when they slink out of sight, perhaps, after supper, God help them! Many a boy might be saved from a period of wild and reckless dissipation if only there was somebody who could see the better part of him, and care enough for it to endure the rougher outside and help him along. There are plenty of neglected boys who wear good warm clothes and have shoes on their feet. Is there one that we know? If so, let us take compassion on him.—MARGARET E. SANGSTER, in Christian Union. A PRAYER.
By J. Montgomery
Oh! if Thou art, thou knowest that I am;
Behold me, hear me, pity me, despise not
The prayer, which—if thou art, thou hast inspired;
Or wherefore seek I now a God unknown,
And feel for thee, if haply I may find
In whom I live and move and have my being?
Reveal thyself to me; reveal thy power,
Thy light, thy name—that I may fear, adore,
Obey—and, oh, that I might love thee, too!
For, if thou art—it must be—thou art good;
And I would be the creature of thy goodness;
O hear and answer—let me know thou hearest;
Show that as surely as thou art, so surely
My prayer and supplication are accepted.
—J. Montgomery. Three Watch-Words.
By A. S. Nason
“THREE watch-words for the struggling soul, These, onward, upward, Heaven.” The Christian should ever bear in mind that his is an onward, upward course. The pathway that leads up to the shining portals of the New Jerusalem is one of exceeding narrowness. Those who are walking in this narrow way have much to tempt and allure them from the path in which God is leading them. Satan is continually on the watch seeking to beguile the unwary. He points to the enchanted arbors so temptingly arrayed along the way, bidding the weary traveler rest in these vine-clad bowers, well knowing that their subtle fragrance will benumb his senses, and, throw him off his guard, and that then he will become an easy prey to his power. If the Christian remembers these watch-words, and, never turning his eyes to the right hand or to the left, pursues a straight course, looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of his faith, he will never fall. Satan may present all the arguments that his experience of six thousand years has made him master of, but they will fall powerless upon the believer’s ear. He has had a foretaste of Heaven. In imagination he has passed through the pearly gates and beheld the matchless splendor of the city of God. The voice of Jesus has thrilled his soul like divine music, and the wondrous beauty of his face has enraptured his senses. It is the privilege of every Christian to obtain a rich experience in the things of God. Salvation is full and free for those who seek it with an undivided heart. There are some professed followers of Christ who never seem to rise above the earth in spiritual attainments. They go hungering for the bread of life, sad and distressed. They do not look up to the cloud of light above their heads. They do not listen to catch the whisperings of the angels, so full of hope and consolation, and wearily they toil on in darkness. This need not be. If they would continually draw strength from the Living Vine, they would mount up on wings as eagles. Forgetting those things which are behind they would be continually reaching forward to the glorious prize ahead. Child of God, you who have been weary and heavy-laden, burdened with a load of care, do you not think Jesus pities you? He marks every throb of the distressed heart. He bids you cast on him your burden. Your frail strength is all too weak to bear it. It is crushing you to earth, shutting away the light of Heaven from the soul. Will you not be entreated to cast your care upon Jesus? He pleads with you in tenderest accents to come and rest in his arms of love. You may struggle on in your own strength, but you will never conquer so. You must yield your will to God, and leave yourself in his hands to fashion you as it pleases him, and then you will triumph over every foe. There is power in divine grace to deliver you from the most fiery trial. It is unbelief that causes you to be enveloped in clouds of darkness. O thou of little faith, take hold of thy Saviour’s arm. He will bear thy sinking form above the billows, and though the roar of the waves may sound in your ears, they will be powerless to harm you, and you can triumphantly sing, “Jesus is mighty to save.” Who does not long for perfect victory? It can be obtained—it will be—by those who seek for it as for hidden treasure. The Monroe, Wis., Camp-Meeting.
By Uriah Smith
There were in all nineteen tents on the ground, two of them forty-feet tents, and one the large sixty-feet tent. The number of Sabbath-keepers present was between three and four hundred. As the presence of the French at the Illinois Camp-meeting, and a service conducted in that language by Bro. Bourdeau, was an interesting feature of that occasion, so the presence of the Danes and Norwegians was an interesting feature of the Wisconsin meeting. Bro. Matteson conducted a service for this people every noon at the Oakland tent, in the Danish language. On Friday afternoon, Bro. White spoke on the subject of the spread of the truth among other peoples, nations, and tongues, bringing out in strong colors the fact that we are a providential people. Sister White followed in an address more especially to the Norwegian and Danish brethren and sisters, which was interpreted into their language by Bro. Matteson, sentence by sentence, as it was spoken. This was a most interesting occasion, and those brethren were greatly encouraged by what they heard. Sabbath, the 19th, was a day of great religious activity. Nine meetings were held during the day, all good and profitable. At the social meeting at 5 P. M., after a powerful appeal from sister White, over one hundred came forward for prayers, some of them manifesting very deep feeling. At this meeting we saw something of a fulfillment of Mal. 4:6: “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” One case is worthy of mention: The son of one of our brethren, a young lad, came forward. This started the backslidden father. He testified that when his son came forward, he could no longer hold back. He thought that his son, notwithstanding all the hindrance he had been to him, might go through and be accepted in the kingdom, and he be left out. Then he followed with a heart-broken confession to that son for his harsh words, and to his wife for his wrong influence in the family, earnestly seeking the forgiveness of them both. The whole congregation were in tears. May the impression of that occasion not soon be lost on him or others. On Sunday forenoon, a congregation numbering some two thousand assembled. Bro. White spoke with great clearness and freedom. The closest attention was given by all, to some of the great distinctive truths which characterize S. D. Adventists as a denomination. In the afternoon the crowd increased to twenty-five hundred or three thousand, who listened to sister White as she set clearly before them the great truths that lie at the very foundation of the good of society. She spoke with such strength and clearness of voice, that an enemy of the truth a mile away, who had kept his wife from attending the meeting, heard, and fell into a towering passion against the “Advents.” During the business sessions of the Conference, nineteen churches were represented by twenty-seven delegates, and two churches by letter. Five new churches were admitted into the Conference, making thirty-seven in all; and the membership was increased over one hundred. Their public laborers the coming year will consist of five ordained ministers and eight licentiates. Ten persons were baptized. The parting meeting, Tuesday morning, was perhaps the most solemn and impressive meeting of all. Bro. H. W. Decker was, at this meeting, set apart to the work of the ministry. The Spirit of God came down in power. During the ordination prayer and charge by Bro. White, many were deeply affected, Bro. D. being so overpowered by his emotions as scarcely to be able to retain his strength. The remarks of sister White were most appropriate. She exhorted the brethren and sisters to shun the careless spirit and jovial talk, now that the meeting was closed, and take Jesus with them to their homes. She reminded them that it might be with them as it was with the parents of Jesus of old. Mingling in the company, they lost their divine Son; and while it took them but one day to lose him, it took them three days to find him. So we may by our carelessness lose Jesus in a day, and be obliged to labor days to find him again. The result of the meeting we have every reason to believe will be in the highest degree beneficial to the cause in this State. The faithful testimony of Bro. and sister White has been appreciated by the brethren and sisters, so much so that after they had taken a vote to this effect in a business session, the whole congregation signified it by a rising vote at the parting meeting. Much prejudice has been removed from minds in this community. Quite a number of first-day Adventists were present, who have had much of that feeling against sister W. which certain leaders of that class try to excite in the minds of their hearers. But that feeling was entirely dissipated by what they here saw and heard. One example will serve as an illustration of this matter: A fine appearing, intelligent gentleman came to the tent, as the camp was breaking up, saying that he wished to take the hands of Bro. and sister White before leaving the ground. Then addressing sister W. he said, “I have had great prejudice against you, but you have taken it all away. My feelings have been excited against you by what I have heard in opposition to you and your writings. But having seen and heard you for myself, I see that God is with you. Will you forgive me for having entertained the feelings I have?” The weather throughout was all that could have been desired. No disturbance was manifested; and the good order was favorably commented upon by many who, from their past experience, had associated in their minds the idea of disturbance and disorder with all camp-meetings. We leave to-day for the camp-meeting at Eagle Lake, Blue Earth, Co., Minn. Monroe, Wis., June 23, 1875. Eternal Punishment.
By Uriah Smith
To the Editor of the Chicago Tribune:— CHICAGO, May 14.—In Monday’s Tribune appeared a sermon preached the day before by the Rev. J. W. Bain, which shows how pettifogging a preacher can be when an honest statement does not serve his purpose. His subject is the doctrine of future punishment, and is an answer to Mr. Brooke Herford’s sermon on “Common-Sense Christianity.” Mr. Herford does not believe in the dogma of endless punishment, and ventured to say so in his sermon. This red rag roused Mr. Bain, and he proceeded to gore Mr. Herford. Here is one of his conundrums: “Mr. Brooke Herford says that for God to suffer the sinner to be eternally miserable is unjust. We ask, How do you know, Mr. Herford? Can you comprehend what is right for the infinitely wise, holy, and just One to do? . . . Gather any number of criminals together, and the greater their number the more common will be their sense that to punish them adequately is unjust.” Here is an uncalled-for insinuation that Mr. Herford is a criminal. Will Mr. B. please state what crime he has committed? Or is he a criminal only in a Pickwickian sense? Mr. Herford said: “It is not possible for man, in the brief period of threescore and ten years, to sin sufficiently to jeopardize his soul for eternity.” To which Mr. Bain replies: “We know that, according to human law and the finite sense of justice, man in five minutes can commit sin enough to forfeit his liberty for ninety-nine years, or to forfeit his life.” That is true enough; but what has it to do with what Mr. Herford said? Will Mr. Bain please tell how much, “according to human law and finite sense of justice,” a man would have to sin in order to deserve the punishment of having hot lead poured into his ears continually for ninety-nine years, supposing that he could live through it? If the greatest criminal that ever lived were to be sentenced to such a punishment for one week, or even one hour, I believe that Mr. Bain himself could be persuaded to enter a mild protest. But this would be very homeopathic punishment compared to what God (according to Mr. B.) has in store for sinners when he gets them into the lake of fire. Some people are ready to condemn cruelty and torture when practiced by man; but, when God acts the fiend, it is all right, and everything is lovely. Mr. Bain thanks God that there are thousands besides Mr. Spurgeon who believe this “fearful creed.” Well, I have no wish to deprive Mr. Bain of the comfort this affords him, if he will only refrain from making false statements as to the effect of this dogma on the character of men. He claims that a rejection of it “enfeebles the character in warp and woof; the texture is soft and loose as woolen threads, . . . and men are more like empty mill-bags than pillars in society;” and that “a faithful preaching of this dread might save even the filthy debauchee, the very learned, polite moralist and infidel, and some Unitarians, from making their eternal abode there.” Where does Mr. B. get his authority for these sweeping assertions? Let us look up some of these “mill-bags.” We will take Abraham Lincoln, Charles Sumner, Horace Greeley, Samuel J. May, etc., as specimens. When we consider how feeble in warp and woof the character of these mill-bags was, and what a Pillar of Hercules Mr. B. is, we must admit “this fearful creed” is a big thing. Whether a preaching of this “dread truth” saves anybody from an eternal abode in hell or not, I have no means of knowing. What I would like to know is, does it make men honest and useful in this life, and “pillars in society”? If Mr. B. can show that all men who do not subscribe to his “dread truth” (?) are thieves, swindlers, and rapscallions, and that all who do subscribe to it are men of uprightness of character—that is, pillars—then I shall hasten to join his church and indorse his preaching. We might remind Mr. B. that God does not purpose nor threaten to inflict any punishment on the wicked which will outrage sound reason, that God-given endowment of the mind. So he says, even to the sinner himself, “Come let us reason together.” He calls upon us to recognize his justice and mercy. He must therefore have given us powers of mind, capable, when rightly used, of determining these attributes. But every conception of either justice or mercy is felt to be outraged by the idea of eternal torment. As Bishop Newton remarks, we may assent to it, but we “cannot seriously believe it, nor reconcile it to God and goodness.” It must be felt to be just and right, that they who judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life, should cease to exist, and “be as though they had not been.” And we may well rejoice that this is the uniform testimony of the Scriptures also. A Reason of the Hope.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
We are taught to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us. And certainly if we can give an answer to others, we must be able to know for ourselves on what our faith and hope are grounded. Our faith is to be tried. Each one must be prepared to stand the test for himself. He that endures to the end will be saved. Some have depended too much upon others, and have not studied the reasons upon which our faith is based. Such are in danger of being moved from their foundation. They have moved because others did; and if others fall away, they, having no root in themselves, are liable to go with them. It is to our interest to know for ourselves why we believe and hope. If our faith and hope are correct, our all depends upon holding fast; if not, the sooner it is abandoned the better. If it is correct, it must bring believers into unity. It is impossible for it to fail of this end. Then every departure from the spirit of unity is a departure from the truth. Sectarianism is a wicked thing. The heretic or factionist is rejected of God. He is self-condemned. Let all beware of a party spirit. It is not in agreement with the Spirit of God. The gathering call is sounding. “He that gathereth not with me,” says Christ, “scattereth abroad.” Have you received, as truth, the faith that God is sending out the last message—a message that is to prepare his people for the advent of Christ? How important, then, that you should be laboring to build up this truth in unity! Can you lightly give influence to a party spirit? Let all who are satisfied with the foundation of our faith and hope hold on to it. Encourage unity for the truth’s sake, and for the sake of the salvation of souls. If any doubt the foundation, let them inquire till they are satisfied, and then act accordingly. Be prepared with a reason for your position—a reason that will satisfy yourself, at least. The time is coming when you will want a foundation more firm than the ebbing and flowing of the waters, the fluctuations of others who are unsettled, and are turned about by every adverse wind. Have salt in yourselves, and have peace and unity with those who are grounded in the truth. Have you no reason but the fluctuations and caprices of other unstable souls? Then be in haste to find a better one, or give up the ship. Yes, have a reason at hand that will silence the contending waves of passion and party spirit—a reason that will make you calm in the midst of adverse squalls. If we have taken the right ship it will land us safely, if we remain on board. My advice to all is, “Don’t give up the ship.” I can give no good reason for forsaking it. Can you? Search and see. Is this the work of God, the work predicted in prophecy? If so, hold fast that no one take your crown. Eternal life and a home in the promised new earth are the prize to be gained or lost. It is all important that our faith and hope are well grounded. Let us know the foundation of our hope. Let us have a reason that will abide the storms and billows of passion and pride. Genuine and Counterfeit.
By Joseph Clarke
In all great religious reforms, it appears that Satan does all in his power to mix false experiences with genuine, and all reformers have been forced to meet this evil. Jeremiah, speaking of the great reformation in the days of the good king Josiah (see chap. 3: 6-11), says, “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.” Luther was brought face to face with the most absurd fanaticism in his own ranks; and it appears that the work on the affections by Pres. Edwards was written in view of evils existing in his day, of the kind therein mentioned. In his preface to that work he thus writes:— “During revivals of religion those persons who are engaged to defend its cause, are, in general, most exposed where they are least apprehensive of danger. While they are wholly intent upon the opposition which presents itself before them, the grand enemy of the church comes behind, and gives them a fatal stab before they perceive it. As he is not opposed by any guard, he strikes at his leisure and wounds the deeper. At such seasons, the friends of Christ are scattered, the confidence of the people of God is shaken, and their minds perplexed with doubts.”
To head off the enemy and drive him from his fortresses, Dr. Edwards does not enter upon an analysis of the heresy, and thus begin an endless discussion; but takes up the subject of the affections, and shows conclusively that true religion begins, continues, and ends, in the affections. He says in his preface: “What I now have in view is to describe the nature of the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit, and to point out the peculiar signs by which they are distinguished from everything besides, to which the mind of man can possibly be subject.” He takes for his text 1 Pet. 1: 8: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” He thus opens his argument:— “The apostle here describes the state of mind of the Christians he addressed while they were suffering those persecutions and manifold temptations referred to in the preceding verses as the trial of their faith. Such trials benefit religion. They try the faith of professors, and show whether it is genuine. They exhibit the beauty, amiableness, and excellency of true religion, which never appears so lovely as when it is most oppressed. They also tend to purify it from corrupt mixtures, establish and confirm it, and render it more lively and vigorous.”
Dr. Edwards proceeds to show the genuine fruits of love, and its manner of working. He shows the close connection there is between the5affections and the will, and the certain consequences of a defect in this matter; and he proves clearly that genuine religion has its seat in the affections. It is a significant fact that a man of Dr. Edwards’ piety and good judgment should have taken this way of meeting error. It is the only true way. It is the inductive plan. It presents us first a beautiful picture, that of love, and leads the mind on by degrees to see the objects (idols) which dim our view of this glorious virtue. Most, if not all, have some favorite idol which we love more than God. This it is that separates us from God. To get these idols out of the way, we should love God more, and our idols will then fall. We must love God fervently, cleave to him perpetually, obey him cheerfully, work for him zealously. There must be a will set and firm for God and for his truth. THE fourteenth chapter of Job is a wonderful testimony to the sleep of man in death: “So man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Verse 12. This plainly declares that the sleep of man shall continue till the heavens pass away, which Peter says, shall be with a great noise. 2 Pet. 3:10. David said he should be satisfied when he should awake with the likeness of the Lord. Ps. 17:15. So David is yet asleep, and the time for him to be satisfied has not come. Acts 13:36; 12:34. But does not the close of Job 14, forbid the sleep of the real man in death? His soul within him shall mourn. Does not this plainly indicate consciousness in death? Let us read the last two verses of the chapter:— “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Verse 21. This is the sleep of death, certainly. Now does the next verse contradict this? “But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” Verse 22. The first clause of this verse shows that the condition of man in death is not the subject matter of the verse, while his soul within him mourns, his flesh upon him has pain. This text, if it relates to man in death, proves that his flesh is in a state of conscious suffering, an idea that is absurd, and that no one believes. What then do the words of verse 22 signify? One of two views must be taken: It either relates to man before his dissolution, and is descriptive of the pains of death, or it has reference to man when raised from the dead to suffer for his sins. In the first case, it might pertain to mankind in general, i. e., to both the righteous and the wicked. In the latter case, it can relate to the wicked only. But in either view, it cannot relate to the man while sleeping in death. It is the whole man that is conscious; his flesh suffers as well as his mental nature.