The Lutheran visitor. (Columbia, S.C.) 1869-1904, August 04, 1871, Image 1
ufl«an !
IS PCBU8HRW
Under the S«B
FHir>AY
m i Cuh, Strictly in Advance.
i)ny per unuum•••«*-•••
obv MX month#. 1.35
iuwtera, Widow* of Minister*,
Theological 8todbnt*t.I 3.00
ibecHber* who fail to remit at
exp ration of their HShernp-
5, w 11 be charged per annum 3.00
newtaames are entered on the sub
ktu book, without the tliwl payuieut
Religious,
Inplifhed its end
F'to its senses. !
reviving rain, si
>ver
tlntned the more lv
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lou itless, too, by th<
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ONE LORD. ONE FAITH, ONE B APTI8 M"-E PHE 81A N8 IV: &
* .COLUMBIA, S.C., FHIdHTa’GUST 4. 1871.
OLD SERIFS, VOL V.~N0. 152.
M
iwstapkb HKCisihx*. v
Any beraon who take* 11 jpmr reir-
fron the poet office- whether di-
to 1 i» name or another 1 *, or whether
i m iscribed or not—iq rt*|H>n*it4e
i payment.
A lerson order* hi* paper dimon-
h i uuiAt pay all ai rearugee, or
sr may contiuui to *eml it
nt i* made, am collect the
amount, whether the ‘ paper i*
j i the office or not.
ourt* haw deckle 1 pat refn-
e newspaper* amt periodical*
k> post office, or rekiKmng and
them uncalled for, is! ptim<i fnrir
if intentional fraud; i
Five cent* per quart* r.
iDcesand communication* to
„ to
Ret. A. R. RlTlfl£,!|>.r>.,
t WmibWb, S. C.
Whit
I*et its
Am ah Down
think of Elijah being down
! Elijah, the bold prophet,
talked to royalty as it it were
(uhich it was;) who defied
and all her Haul-roaring
; Who rode through the land
eodqnefor with the very clouds
icaven at his command—this
ah in the "“blues !
of human nature!
carefully. ,
prpphet has just achieved^the
lobs miracle on Carmel, that
wootl-clad height. God
his fife down to Consume
and lick ttp the water
trench, lifter Baal’s prophets
screiiming and bleeding
Nrte in jrain for liine hours,
miracle o inverted Ahab and
4 k , • ~
repnsenJtat ve body of Israel,
acto I as jrn ge and juty at this
trials They became Baal’s
[on t ie spot,’ ami they
they Ite sntie God’s friends,
they f’ere mistaken ; their
not go as far as
ere only converted
t converted to .Je-
lijah made j the same mistake
jiftfA m. He thought they were
I j ions men from tlnit moment
the king used his authority to
e I kid-prophets to death,, nnd
lending Israelites executed the
Isentence. His sanguine mind
lobtry at an end in Israel, and
" folding its place fti the pub-
The forty-two months’
conld now’ cease. It had
rad had
irays for
{ down it
rid *s Ahab in hi* chariot twen-
o Jezreel, his r< yal city ;
Stea I of the chariot, 1 with his
bitted np and his hccirt all
|ng ike a very boy for gflbdne**,
ithe prophet, his |>owe rtrtl frame
el of Es-
tvat rain.”
tenlpest to
i stops at the snbi rbs while
rit es on to his pah ,cei. Poor
>! “the heaven was blafck with
a id there was a g
fynn the welcome
most unwelcome cjne* in his
ue. The weak k
of great things when lie tells
cf the scene on 0* rmill; but
bd the tigress. V* e do not
th< particulars of th i domestic
only that Ahab car tie oft’ sec-
Ahab’s conver ion rapid -
Ijved.
h id not been nigh l-tirae, the
q leen would have t ought and
Elijah at once. As it Is, she
him early on tl $ morrow,
tn<l him after Baal’t prophets.
% wrath lets out he secret.
M* not hold in he ■ j desire to
jtbfe prophet. Her i hprudence
E ijab. His hope*
md now we see
kt aiming for dear
| at Samaria, through
P<h d», and never stopping till
to Beersheba, hundred
kli f' V|y ‘ ^liat a flight was hisj
k‘ ^ ^ k VVOH ^^ m,t evcn * n good
k,fl ^osaphat’s dominions! He
,f,< * h) feel that Jezebel and all
^ p l were at his heels. Bcorsheba
e,, d of the desm t, but he is
^ here. He has tired llis sei
I'. vni with t'yp or thre^vf||V
■ :! > I
are col-
hy hero-
fd to the
Benjamin
running, and the poor fellow can not
go any farther; but his master must
get out into the wilderness some
thirty miles before he can feel se
cure.
There he ia at last, pretty thor
oughly fagged in bwly uud miud.
He site down uuder a brootu bush;
it is a scanty shade in the hot sand.
Anybody who |;aa been iu that de*
ert knows how sand aud rock kelp
one^another to make the landscape
dreary. There oertaiuly was not
much to cheer Elijah in the typogra
phy. From Jeacbel to the Tih desert
was like going from BcyHa to Cha
rylHlis. “Hav attah l” he cries,
which is the Hebrew’ for a last gasp.
“This is too much! oh, Lord, take
away uiy life; fori am uot better
than my fathers.” I supiiosc he
meant the old Israelites who died in
that desert six hundred years before.
Perhaps there was a little taint of
self righteousness in his humility.
However that may be, the prophet,
like a - little child, cried himself
asleep. Such is the picture of hu
man nature, wheu grace gives out in
a saint or prophet.
But now we have another picture.
“ Elijah is touched by aonie one.”
He awakes. Is it a Bedouin f or a
hyena's nose T He looks around aud
sees nolnsly. But he surely heard
the words, “kum echo P* (arise, eat!)
Y\ by, then* at his head is a cake and
a jar of water. There isn’t much
more of Elijah just then than the
physical man. He cats aud drinks
aud goes to. sleep again. Perhaps
he didn't trouble himself about the
“hpw” or “who” of the cake aud
water. But in the morning he is
nudged again. He now awakens
fully. A breakfast is ready for him.
More than that. The Lonl himself
speak* to him, (perhaps in human
tbnn,) and a jourm-y to Sinai is or
deied; another hundred miles of
bleak desert; ami this breakfast is
to suffice for the whole way, as well
as for his temporary residence ou
that Mosaic spot.
The pnqdiet is rea—nred. The
Lonl has not forsaken him. It was
he who had forgotten the Is>nl.
Under that broom bush b«* had learn
♦tl how very, very weak man is, and
how very, vary g«*»d God is.
When we are cast down lH*cnn*c
■ t
our hopes are blasted, let us, with
Elijah’s story before ns, remember
that God never wished ns to confide
in onr air castles, but in him. We
hail no bnstuess to build thorn* ens
ties. The Is>rd is onr dwelling
place.—America* .Vcssrsijrr.
The Greatne* of Small Thing*.
God frequently invests the acts of
a plain and common man with a
|>ow«*r of connections and remote re
lations that travels productively into
the future, after the man himself has
retired from this earthly scene. In
this way little things as well as great
may make tyir lixes sublime.
As an example, let ns cite the cam*
of a wandering peddler, who, rflore
than two- centuries since, called
at the honsc of Baxter’s father, and
there left a religious book, which the
youthful Baxter read, and by which
he was first awakened and then con
verted to the goS|H*l of Christ. This
was thn first result of that accidental
visit. Baxter, becoming a Christian,
in due season gave to the world re
ligious writings, that being studied
by Doddridge, were the chief means
in forming liis spiritual character,
and this was a uecond result of the
peddler's visit. “The Bise aud Pro
gress of Religion,” written by Dod
dridge, was owned of heaven to the
conversion of VVilberforce, the phi
lanthropist ; and thus we come to a
third result in tjie advancing series.
“The Practical View of Christian
ity,” coining froiti the pen of Wilber
force, brought I**igh Richmond to a
knowledge of tl^e truth; and heuce
a fourth result was added. Leigh
Richmond wrote “The Dairyman’s
Daughter,” producing a little work
which has been read by millions,
and by Gqd honored to the salvation
of a great many souls. Behold this
series of providences, beginning
with the simple aud apparently un
important act of an humble peddler,
placing that act iu relations truly
wonderful, and finally crowniug it
with a significance that we have no
capacities to measure. Withdraw
the lift* <^f that peddler aud the little
thing which lie did from the series,
and perhaps the whole wonld It*
gone. His act, viewed iu connection
with the sequel, impressively shows
that a great result may have its iu
cipient germ iu the bosom of a very
small cause. • -
lu reudiug the book of Ecclesiastes,
I have boeu much struck with the
frequeut occurrence of this ex pres
•ion, M Vmder the «aa.” It occurs
tweuty nine times iu this I took of ten
chapters, and uowhere else iu the
Bible. “Uuder the heavens” Is thrice
mentioned, and “upon the earth”
four times.
I have wet chriatiaiis who have
been sadly perplexed by several ex
pressions in this book which seem so
contradictory to other |mrt* of Scrip
tore. Infidels have also exultingly
brought some of its detached sen
teuoes as sanctioning their bias
pbemiea. Legalists and Uuitariaus
have quoted some of its prece|ds
as proving their mau exalting and
God dishonoring doctrines. Woridly
professor* 1 have heard using its
verses as warrant Aw their woridli-
uess, and an excuse for their pruc
tiess.
That little expression “seder the
ess," is the thread on which the
whole I>ook is crystallised. If we re
member this, we shall have not the
slightest difficulty in meeting infidel
opposition or work! hearted profrs
sion. Bolomou was the wisest as he
was the richest king, try ing all that
was “under the sun.” The Holy
Spirit has, in these few chapters,
with divine accuracy, given us His
ex|ierieiiee; and “what can the man
do that cumeth alter the kingf” He
had plenty of money, and all the re
sources where men think pleasure is
to he found “under the sun”—wine,
music, works, vineyards, gardens,
orchards, frnit trees, water-pools,
iservants, |Mtsaessions of cat tit*, silver,’
gold, peculiar treasures, men singers,
women singers, musical instruments’
of all sorts—in abort, whatever bis
eyes desired he kept not from them.
(cha|x tL) A better collection could |
not be brought together to any man
“nuder the son.”
Blit was he not a foolish young
man, who, in the midst of aM, could
enjoy none I Nay; he did enjoy
Ffiem. aud wisely enjoyed them, for
he says he did enjoy all, *vet ac
quainting mine heart with wisdom.”
But in such multiplied snarers of
pieusare did In* not tarry too long at
the enjoyment of one side of his ua
tore, and leave some other corner
untried f Nay; he ftMind a season
for everything, (chap, iii.) For lov
tug, for hating, for laughing, for
weeping, for dancing, for monrning
—for all he had a time. He saw that
after all he had tried **wiwfer the #**"
he was no liettcr than a beaat; for as
we look at a man and a Is-ast “asder
the run,” a commou grave slmts out
equally the light of the snu from the
horse and his rider.
It is “aadrr the »»a,” that tin* out
ward eye sees, and if the things seen
arc all that we are to have, there ia
nothing better than what Nolomon
says—“Behold that whieb I have
turn : it is giss! and comely to eat
and to drink, and to enjoy the gtsal
of all liis lalmr that he taketli under
the sun all the days of his life, w hieli
God giveth him ; for it is bis parlitm. 1 *
The things seen give eating, drinking,
and enjoyment of lalior (as a !a*ast)
as the only |iortion. This ia the
nitmmHm /mjmnm, or the highest good,
according to what was seen by the
greatest philosopher as lookiug at
things "•under the »»*."
As to the higher part of mau, “no
man knoweth either love or hatred
by all that ia before him.” No; we
hove to look abort us, not before us
for that. By what ia before us we
cau be asked to remember our
Creator, but will not be turned to our
Redeemer. Heuce, “under the •**,”
we find men scarcely dan* to rise
above the names Creator, Providence.
And wbeu we do remember this great
Creator, as creatures under His suu,
we flud that the conclusion of all, the
ultimate limit we can reach, is know
ing His demands upon us; as His
demands in their own place and na
ture on a tree or an animal; His de
mands ou ns as creatures—the whole
duty of man (which no man ever did
or can do) is to “fear God and keep
His commandments.”
This wisest aud richest mau found
“wader the am a” no profit in all Ids
labor; nothing new; wicked men in
judgment; oppression of the right;
folly aud wisdom going to the same
end; chance seeming to regulate all;
many sore evils consequent; and, in
short, the beginning, vanity; the
middle, vanity; the end, vanity.
The Alpha and Omega of all “wader
the #wa”—vanity of “vanities.”
How complete is the change when
we turn to contemplate Him who
comes from fur above the snu, who
created the snu and the earth, and
♦leeccuded to the earth from His
rainbow-circle throne. When He
came lie did not reveal the Creator;
He was the Father. He was the
last test of all “wader the awa.” The
whole work! has uow been brought
in guilty before God. Man's duty
was by the commandments to receive
Christ, instead of which they gave
Him a cross. We seek not for love
or hatred now before its. God Is
love, sud God wsa manifest in the
flesh. Perfect love, perfect light.
Eternal life has been here from above
the suu. Hatred against sin baa
been seen, as nowhere else it can be
seen, w beu, made sin for os, the sin
less one drained the cup of the wrath
of God. Love for the sinner has been
seen, as nowhere else it can be seen,
in that (( Uod ho loved the world that
lie gave his ouly begotten Hon, that
whosoever believed in Him should
not perish, bat have everlasting
life.”
We that have believed in the Hon
have now got a most straugr and
auotualoux jMisitiou "under the *«*.”
“As He ia, so are we in this world.”
As the Son of man dead, risen, and
now in heaven in the fullnees of Ills
Fath«*r» love, so are we in this world.
We have nothing whatever to do
with what is "under the *ws,” beyond
getting through this world as simply
as {Miasibte. “ If ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things (in the
worldf no! but) which are sheer,
where Christ aitteth on the right
hand of God ; art yoar affections on
things ("under the run f no, bat)
shore—mot on things ou the earth,
for ye are dead, and your life is hkl
with Christ iu God.” What is the
occasion of all the worldly walk of so
many professors, yea, of many true
Christians ? The original cauV, of
course,.is found in this, that all chria
tutus have in them the old Adam
nature, tiarhangrd uud unchange
able, that lusts against the new, that
abhors thf things unseen ami the
walk by faith, that feeds npon the
thing* seen, feasts on and revels ia
this present work!.—Itrithh Hermid.
A Pastoral Handsaw.
his head are “many crowrus;” and 1
one of those—the crown of his Fath
er’s love—be hath already placed ou
the head of your ransomed soul,
it,” th«jr sag, Wbat crowns of pearls, gems, jewels,
gold or glory ar»i to be compared to
the crown of the Lord's loving kind
ness f is there a crown in all the
nui verse of the Eternal to surpass
the crow u of hi* owu love t Believer,
this crown is alrnuly on your soul.
Do yon not begin to realize some
thing of it* eternal weight T Surely
you feel it to be ian]K>s*ible to forget
this uns|ieakahlc lienefit f The best
crown is already yours. Then, “all
is yoursT Oh! “that ye would walk
worthy of God, who hath called you
unto his kingdom and glory”—
Crowned already.
The pastoral handsaw is an iustrn
incut that It not nurd om him, but
one that he use*. It is an iustru
incut that, I always keep, snd often
use to trim my sliaile trees or fruit
trees, or repair something shout the
bonse or stshk*. Bnt it. is not of this
that I would s)>eak, although a neigh-
Imr to whom I lent it fiually returned
it after mauy weeks, no dull that I
could not use it.
One of the ♦alitor* of thar Monthly.
in tire sprightly “Miscellany,” tells
us of s sou of Kriti who sawed off a
hoard on the end of w hich he was
sitting, and sawed lietwcen himself
and the baikling, and fell to the
ground aud broke his neck. We
laugh at the folly of such mi act,
although we may pity tire sufferer.
Now I have known ministers guilty
of just such foil). They saw bet w een
themselves and the chttrcli, aud cat
the connection and fall disastrously
to the ground.
The relation between pastor snd
people is a very close sud trawler one,
ami ought to be lasting. Bnt bow
embellishing a story, and setting it
ofi with high ook>n---especially if he
himself is the hero—that the profane
yotlng men do not hesitate to call it
“lying.” “He
“like an old sailor.” But he saws
awuy until be cuts the plank off, aud
lets hitnaslf down, decidedly the
Wffft for the fall
I know another, also a mau of
more than ordinary powers iu the
pulpit, aud a very good pastor, who
has a way of retiguamg, aud threaten
ing to leave him people every’ little
white, lie eucourages “calls,” and
they come, and are heralded lit rough
the pajiers. Home say he only does
It to get his people to raise his salary;
others that it is from personal vanity,
aud that be is ambitions of fame, ami
likes to have It published that be has
been called to much aud such a dis
tinguished church. These “calls"
frequently tarn oat to be no “calls”
at all—only letters «f inquiry from
some friend as te whether be would
come if called by the church. Bnt
be is gradually sawing sway, aud in
a few years be cuts the connection,
sud is gone.
Another owes the saw of worldly
engagemrnta\U} sever this sacred Ue.
He is so devoted to bis farm, or hi*
merchandise, or bis worldly business,
ss to neglect his great work of sav
ing souls. He buys s little place oat
of town, snd devotes himself so con
stanUy to its improvement, as to
lose bis iaterest in the people of hi*
charge, and they lose their interest
iu him. He cau not visit the sick,
or attend the prayer meetings, or be
consulted by those in any trouble,
or do much pastoral work, and so be
falls off.
Then there is the dull saw that
the |MMttiw brings into the pulpit. It
•hies md cut. His sermons have no
foror in them. He does not study.
He has used up the small stuck he j
fead on hand wheu be first caam.
There is a great falling off in the
matter aud the manner. His matter
common place, and his manner
c*»kl and formal. He snows upon
the people, and they snow back upon
him. He is drowsy snd so are they.
He is hmlf asteep, and some of them
are wholly asterp. And ao, after a
while, even with this dull instro
meat, he saw* himself off.
Again there is the rsspwsg. teuriug
saw, that is brought into the pulpit.
He does not feel satisfied with the
state of things. He is not satisfied
with the church, its coldness aud
worldlineas; and 1m* is not altogether
satisfied with himself. He fifes up
hi* old saw with a very coarse file;
and tears away at the sins of the
people, more ia anger than in pity—
preaching terrors without tears, and
law without love, and giving go*]**)
doctrines without the oil of grace,
and pouring ou the Balm of Gilead—
boiling but, ami making a great fuss
without real fervor, and a loud noise
without much exerntion. But still
he saws sway, and instead of cuttiug
off the dead limbs, ami those that
have “nothing but leaves,” be cut*
himself off, snd is guiirv—interior.
A Brahmin’s Testimony.
Crowned Already.
Believer, you often read, and hear,
easily it ia sundered in these days! i and sometimes speak of your crown
How short are most of the |Mu>tomtee of life, and yonr crown of glory, Mid
intbeWrat! How few can number
twenty years! In some churches
they change pastors almost ss often
as our Methodist brethren. 1 am
the only pastor in this Presbytery
who has tieen settled twenty years.
Home times this is the fault of th«
people. They have “itching ears.”
They want a new voice. They are
tired of the sound of the old bell.
Hut often it is the fault of the min
ister himself. He has. his faults as
well as the private members; and
one duty of the religions press ia to
point them out. The old prophets
rebuked the son of Levi very sharp
ly. They charged home their siua
npon them. We have no clasa of
propbtta, antes* oar religious press
act aa such. But preachers edit
them, and preacher* write for them
chiefly, Mid they don’t like to expose
each other’s fault*. “A fellow-feel
ing make* them tcondroua kind.”
I know a ministcsmrbo ia talented,
and a good preacher, but who rarely
stays more than two years in a place.
When ik the pulpit they think lie
never ought to go oaf; and when
out that he never ought to go in.
The saw that he o*es is atory telling.
He is excessively fond of telling
anecdotes, ami some of them are not
overly modest* lie delight* to
gather a crowd at the street corners, 1
or iu a store, or paldfe office, and
keep them iu a roar of laughter for ;
hoars. He often has such a way of I
Mr. rhamberlain, of the A root
(Dutch Hefortued) mission, India,
having secured the erection of a
building for a free reading room at
his station, Muduapiliy, reports, in
the Hotter, au occurrence of much
interest, thus: *
An incident occurred this (Wed-
nesday) evening, which has made
a profound impression on my mind.
At the close of the lecture, which
was attentively listened to by au
audience of one hundred and eighty,
oomiKmed of Brahmins, merchant*,
farmers, artisans, officials, and stn-
dent*, and which I concluded with a
short prayer, ss I took my hat to
come away, a Brahmin, one of the
best educated in the place, arose aud
jxditely asked |>ennission to say a
word. He said:
“Behold that mango tree on yon-
der loadside. Its frnit is approach
ing to rqien*-**. Bears it that frnit
far itself, or for it* own profit!
From the moment the first ripe
fruit* turn their yellow side* toward
the morning snn. until the laid
mango is jielted off, it is assailed
with shower* of sticks and stones,
from boys and men and every |msser-
| by. nntil it stands bereft of leaves,
with branches knocked off. and
j bleeding from many a broken twig.
And piles of stones underneath, and
Hubs snd sticks lodged in it* boughs,
i are the only trophies of its joyous
crop of fruit. Is it discouraged!
I hie* it cease to bear fruit f Ikies
it say, ‘If I am barren no one will
pelt me, and I shall live in peace f
Not at all. The next season the
budding leaves, the beauteous flow
ers, the tender fruit, again appear.
Again is it jielted. ami broken, and
wounded, lint it goes on bearing, and
children’s children pelt its branches
aud eqjoy its fruit.
“That is a type of these missiona
ries. I have watched them well,
and have seen what they art*. What
do they come to this country for!
What tempts them to leave their
parent*, friends and country, and
come to this, to them, unhealthy*
climate ! Is it for gain or profit that
they comet Some of us country
clerks in government office* receive
more salary than they. Is it for the
sake of an easy life ! Bee how they
work, and then tell me. No. They
*eek, like the mango tree, to bear
fruit for the lieneflt of others, and
that though treated with contumely
and abuse from those they are liene-
fiting. .
“Now look at this missionary.
He came here a ' few years ago, leav
ing all and seeking only our good
He was met with cold looks and sus.
picious glances, and shunned, and
avoided and maligned. He sought
to t<dk with us of what he told us
was the matter of most importance
in heaven or eArth, and we wonld
not listen ; but he was not discour
aged. lie started a dispensary, and
we said, l^et the I’ariahs take his
medicines, we won’t; but in the
times 'of onr sickness and distress
and fear, we had to go to him, and
he healed us. We complained if he
walked through our Brahmin street*,
bnt ere long, wheu our wives and
daughters were in sfekness and an
guish, we w«*jt and ©egged him to
come even into onr inner apartmeuts,
and he came, and our daughters and
wives now smile njion us in health.
Has he made any money by it!
Even the cost of the medicines has
not been returned to him.
“And now, in spite of our opposi
tion, # he has bought this site, snd
built this beautiful room, and Air
nished it with the choicest of lore
in many languages, and put in it
ncwsi»a|K‘rs ami periodicals which
were inaccessible to us before, but
which help us now to keep np with
the world around us anff tuiderstand
passing events; and he has placed
to sit in, and lamjis for us to read
and write by in the evenings. And
what does be get for all this ? Doe*
be mak<- money by this free reading-
room ! Why, we don’t even pay for
the lamp-oil consumed night by night
as we read.
“Now what is it that makes him
do all this for us! It ia his Bible.
I’ve looked into it a good deal, at
one time and another, in the different
languages I chance to know. It is
just the same in all laugaage*. The
Bible—there is nothing to compMx?
with it in all onr sacred books for
goodness and purity, and holiness
and love, and for motives of action.
Where did the English speaking peo
pie get all their intelligence, and
euergy, and cleverness, and (lower !
It is their Bible that give it to them.
And now they bring it to us aud say,
‘This is wbat raised ns: take ii and
raise yourselves.’ They do not force
it npou us as the Mohammedans used
to their Koran, but they bring it iu
love and translate it iuto onr lan
guages, aud lay it before ns, and say,
‘Look at it Read it Examine it
aud see if it is not good.’ Of one
thing I am convinced- Do w bat we
will, oppose it as we may, it is. the
Christian's Bible that will sooner or
later work the regeneration of this
land.”
yon often seem to feel and think that
yon cannot be happy until you olv
tain these from yonr Isml in a future
inheritance. But are there not other
crowns which must precede these!
Are there not crown* for n* on earth
aa precion* as any to be found in
heaven! Is there anything in heav
en more precious than “the precious
blood of Christ” with which your
soul has tieen redeemed f This pre
cions blood—to the sprinkling of
which we are come, by simple faith
—hath made you a king and a priest
unto God. As such, are you uot
crowned already t Now listen to the
voice of words which are nigh these
—even in the heart that belteveth
unto righteousness! “Blees the Lord,
O my sonl, • • • who forgiveth
all thioe iniquities; who heateth all
thy diseases; who redeemeth thy
life from destruction ; who erowneth
thee with loving kindness aud tender
racrctea.” (Pa. di t L, 4.) O my soul!
what more can you want than this f
All your iniquities forgiven (Hob.
vifi: IX); all yoar diseases boated by
his stripes (I Peter U: 34); your life
redeemed from eternal destruction
through his blood (Epb. i: 7); and
yoar head crowned with a double
crown—the materials of which are
his own loving kinducas and tender
mercies. All of grace, through faith,
• • • “the gift of God F Look,
believer, yonder come* yonr “faith
tnl and true” Redeemerand -on J hen* tables to write on, and chairs
Scripture Reading.
The daily, regular aud solemn
reading of God's holy word, by a
parent before his children, is oue of
the most powerful means to direct
them to Christian life. It is a con
stant dropping, and it wears its
mark into the living rock.
A family thus trained can not be
iguorant of the word. Properly
read, the w hole Scriptures come re
peatedly before their minds. The
most heedless child must receive aud
retain some portion of the sacred
wont. The most forgetful w ill treas
ure up some passages of Holy Writ.
The ocutraat between families Unis
instructed, and those where the word
of God is never heard, is very strik
ing; aud he who neglect* this dut,\
does his children a wrong, and robs
them of a blessing, the importance
of which he can hardly estimate.
The word of God thus hidden in
the heart of a child from infancy,
enters iuto the very texture of: the
mind. Involuntarily its sacred teach
ings are recollected iu after life; aud
though jn years of manhood, the
child may wander wide and far, yet
the recollections of the hour of pray
er, the open Bible, the sacred word,
read with reverent voice, the bended
knee, and the earnest supplication
that arose at morn and eveutide,
will often be a holy charm, to keep
him from the (laths of sin and folly,
and lead him iu the way of life aud
truth. Aud when, in the Providence
of God, the child is jiermitted to
take his place as the head of u new
family, the memories of home ami
the home altar will go far toward
making his house also a house of
prayer, his home a place of (H-ace
and blessing.
The Trustful Spirit
God has marked implicitness and
simplicity of faith with peculiar ap
probation. He has done this through
the Scriptures, aud does so daily in
the Christian life. An unsuspecting,
unhesitating spirit he delights to
honor. He does not delight in a
credulous, weak, aud unsteady mind.
He gives full evidence wheu he calls
and leads; but he expects to find in
ns a disposed heart. Though he
gives us uot the evidence of sense,
yet be gives ns snch evidences as
w-ill be heard by an open ear and fol
lowed by a disposed heart “Thomas,
because thon hast seen me thou hast
believed, blessed are they that have
not seen, and yet believed.” We are
witnesses of what an open ear and a
disposed heart will do in the world.
If wealth is their pursuit; if a place
presents itself before them; if their
persons, 'families, and affairs, are the
object, a whisper, a hint, a proba
bility, a mere change is a sufficient
ground of action. It is this very
state of mind with regard to religion
which God delights in and honors.
He seems to put forth his hands, and
to say: “Put thy hand into mine;
follow all my lcadiug; keep thyaalt
attentively to every turn.”
Wait Patiently on God.—It is
becoming of a dutiful child, when
he hath uot presently what he writes
for to his father, to say, “My father
is wiser than I: his owu wisdTom
will tell him what aud wheu to semi
me.” O Christian! thy heavenly
Fathi t_ has gracious and wise rea
sons, which hold His hand for the
present, or else tbon hadst hoard
from Him before uow.