The Lutheran visitor. (Columbia, S.C.) 1869-1904, October 13, 1871, Image 1

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C\, March 1 P»te, Marcii ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE B APTI8 M"~EPHE81A NS IV: 5. \ h Train, on ?h, & Bail COLUMBIA, S. C„ FRIDAY. OCTOBER 13. 1871 OLD SERIES, VOL. V--N0. 162 Ephesus in particular was warned in 8fc. Pnnl’s prophetic knowledge. In a land of religions liberty, and in an enlightened age of the world, we can form bnt a faint klea what it then cost to confess Christ. I am fearfnl \ve do not jnalire this ns we should, nor is our gratitude to God in pro- I>ortion to the magnitude of our privileges. But the early Christians esteemed it a glorious privilege to lay down their lives for Christ, and some martyrs mentioned in the epis tle to the Hebrews, would not even accept deliverance when they might have procured it, so highly did they estimate the permission to under martyrdom for their Redeemer. But they did not reflect that God accepts the Willing spirit, when lie does not consider the actual sacrifice neces sary ; and if we wilftdly throw away our lives when his providence Indi cate# it to be his will and pleasure that we shall live to work or suffer for him, it is no martyrdom, but s selfish persistence in oqr own de sires ; we are doiug our will—not God’s—and cau not claim the reward promised tq suffering imposed by him. But we think there is no danger of running to that extreme in this pleasnre seeking age. m. k. a (To hr Continued.) same terrific spei-tre which hud atood told me that aome mouths inevioua be had left a distant part of the country, where the n* strain U of the gospel were around him, la hope of being permitted to gtv*‘ free reins to the propensities of a sinful heart in a place where be was not known. Hat the spirit of God had followed him, and he was more wretched than ever. 1 pointed him to the Lamb of God wbone blood clean noth from all sin, and aneured him that there lie might find rest fur hit soul. We then kneeled together and prayed and wept. I know him in years long after, lie had resisted (be rails of the Spint, and his miad bad settled down amid the cold calculations of the prraetit world. I never then knew him but (Mice In feel the claims of God u|hxi him. This ana at the funeral of a favorite daughter. It was of abort ruulinaancr. The bus incus of the world soon absorbed him, and he died apparently ui uucmt cert*. I lumtiou Ukm- cases, not Immune they are unusual, bat bemuse they ace so couiuiou. The great daugcr, iu all such mars, lira iu the deceit I'uiueas of the berfti. If its inmost recesses could br scrutinised, it would always be found that such in dividuals, uotwithstanding their anx iety, arc not really desirous or wd hug si that tiaw to comply with the terms of the gospel. Their thoughts are even thru upou the future. They mtcud at another and a future tuuc to pursue the subject. Present dread of the evuarqueuer of sin, and uot hatred of it |H\MapU their prayer*. And their promise* of amendment are Imt as Uribes offered in hope of thereby stay ing the execution of di vine justice. It is the wry spirit of him who, while trembling iu view of a judgment to coluc, said, **Go thy way for this time; a ben 1 have a oouvenient mcammi. I. will call fur thee.- '%?e| it i» a dangrrou* and uusciiplund notion to MipisMM* that the work of salvatiou upon the soul require* a long s*mI tedious process. The way for the ftiuuer’s acvriMaocr is all ac coiu|4i.<d»ed (Mi the |>.u t of the Ha viour. lie has made reconciliation fur iniquity and brought in ciriiut uig righteousness. He bmr our sius in his own body on the tree. While upou the cjxkis, he sakt: It is fin ished ! He only requires us to helices and Iw Mini And the inomeut wc receive him with (Mir whole heart*, that moment we becniae heirs of life. There is no mo*mi, except in our wives, why wc uiay not receive Oirt*t ’ and lie eternally saved while w*e sit (Mi (Mir neats in the bouw of G«nI, or while leading his word by our firesides, ur while kneeling in oar clonet*. (’hrist is mighty to nave, and the Spirit in promised to help our infirmities. Many a year ago, a y oung mother with her first l*»ru ti|sm her lap, lis tened with intense interest to the story of the cross. She felt that to obtain an iuterest in the Saviour wmild lie more desirable than all the treasures iu the Indies. When urged to acrept of that Saviour, she asked, “(’au a person at any time become a Christian T She was answered that she might at that moment, tieforeshe rose from her neat, If she wonkl jant give her heart to the Saviour. Strange umI strong emotions filled Iter I sworn. * He who aloue can read the heart can tell what |mumci1 them. But the future of her Itfo afforded • reason to believe that she did them find bun of whom Moses iu the law and the prophets did write. Near the same time, another who was living without God and without bo|te in the world was urged to re flect upon the danger of losing her soul, and besought without delay to secure its salvation. The emotions of her mind oviuced that she believed the importance of tbene great truths. Her friend, when leaving, entreated her to retire |o her room, to read the third chapter of John, to kneel down and to pray with all her soul for that change which the Saviour declared to be essential to seeing the kingdom of God. Not long after, site ap prared before the session of the f’htirch, was received a member, and after more than forty years of a con sistent Christian life, she en toted, as we truit, upon that mat which re maineth for the people of God. That individual dated her first religious impressions to that conversation and to that visit to her room. Think uot that there is anything new or struuge in such case*. As Jesas was pausing through Jericho be saw a uiau in a sy camore tree. He looked up and said: “flsochoo*, make haste and come down,- and be made haste and came down and re ceived the Havionr joyftilly. On an the lbrm of godliness, but deny the power thereof. At best, their char acter seems but negative, aud noth ing more. Chimp OK THE EVIL. if this evil be so prevalent, delu sive aud dangerous, it behooves all those who feel they have uot religion enough, and those who wrs gradually drifting away from their former steadfastness, to look seriously aud promtly into the matter, lest the dis astrous consequences of such a course overtake them. lit additiou to the radical cause, there are various proximate causes for the decline of vital religion iu the soul of uian, as also for hinder ing men from seeking after and fully embracing it. With some, timidity is the insidi ous foe which deters them from fol low ing Jesus closely. There are, however, two kinds of fear, both of which are criminal. Some do uot commit themselves to the tSaviouria * cause, lest they should uot bold out unto the end. They sec others go back ami walk uo more with him, and so they fear they may he like unto them. They enter uot ui*uu the grand enterprise, thinking they may fail. They engage uot in the strug gle, lest they should uot overcome. They begin not the race, fearing they might not win the prise. They do not seem to know that, iu this great contest, “the race is uot always to the swift, uor the battle to the * Iron g. That God givetb i*ower to tIn* faint, and to them that have uo might be inereasetb strength.’’ How signally is the conduct of such re proved by the merchant aud men of this world, who venture all and risk everything, eveu life itself, in the enterprise in which they are engaged. “Now they do it to obtaiu a corrupt ible crown, but we au incorruptible.” Tiie other kind of fear is still more crimiual. It is the fear of reproach for the sake of <’hrist. Those nnder its influence are uot w illing to take up their enma and follow their Lord. They fear toeiicouuter the ridicule of friends aud compauious, or that their world prospect* may be injured, if they are too religions. They do not, as did Moses, “choose rather to suffer aftiictiou with the peoud* of God, than to eqjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.- Neither can they adopt the heroic lauguage of Paul: “Yea, doubtless, and I rount all thiugs but I (Mis for the excellency of the knowl edge of Christ Jesas my Lord, for w hom I have suffered the loss of all things, snd do count them but dung, that I may w in Christ.- And thus they live at a great distanoc from their best frieud. The prevaloocy of a worldly spirit has, also, a mighty iuflueuce over a large portiou of professing christiaus, iu this third quarter of the nine teenth century, and is destructive to their spirtuality of iniud. The vani ties, siuful pleasures, cares, anxieties, aud even the law ful duties of life, without perpetual watchfulness, ex ert » bliglitiug, deadeuiug influence over them. This world is the en chanted region through which they must travel, Snd they can uot become proof against iis fascinations, without a full aud entile dcieruiiunUon, iu the strength of Omnipotence, to serve God at any cost; neither can spirit- hovah, by the prophet: “Can the Ethiopian change his akin, or the leopard his spots f then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do eviL” But that which is impossible with man is possible with God. He can change “the shadow of death into the morning," and “torn our captivi ty as streams in the south.” Is there any reason w hy those who have long lived tar from the Saviour should always remain at a great distance t or, because they have walked wrong all their lives, that they should never walk right I Return, then, O wau- derer, aud cease thy wanderings! Arouse, O slothful, indifferent, aud careless Christian, from thy fearftil state of dreamy slumber! “Think uot of rent, though dream* be sweet; Start up and ply your heavenward feet.” before him on his wedding day again appeared, clothed In tea fold horror*. “Gome, come without delay,” waa his first salutation. When attempt ing to plead for longer days, he waa instantly silenced. “But where," asked he in a trembling vofoe, “where are thy promised warnings f* “Thun hast had them." “When F* asked he, in a volet* of despair. “Goeat thou to the house of God f* “I am lame ami ran not walk.* “Readeat thou the word of tlodf* M I am blint) aud ean not see." “Heareat thou the won! of God read by others f* “Alas flam deaf and ean not hear.” “Thou hast had thy warnings,” replied the unyielding messenger, anti with one stroke of bis tremendon* ary the, lie cut him down. Rentier, 1 shall not |Miuae to an swer any questions on the stove. I will only say that it is intended to poiut out something of the iwoeeas by which myriads in every age pa*a (Mi to endless |M*nlition. God baa so formed onr minds that we ean not but acknowledge the justice of Ida law uor the claims of his gtaqwt. Our eotiM-iences join with the wurd and spirit of God in urging npon ua the nereasity of prv|»sration fnr that world where nothing that de- flleth can enter. We know that God is holy, that uugrla air* holy, ami that the spirits of the just made perfect are holy ? snd yet, with a fall knowledge and eonvietioa (»f these great truth*, million* put off preparation until death arrests them, and {daces them hi the presence of God to hear their doom and sink to hell. The writer has, for more than half a century, witnessed case* beyond his ability to number of primas whose mind* were at on* time awak ened to see, as with a *uubram. the necessity of that holmes* without which no man shall are the Lord, who, after all relapard into nucon cent, and to all human appearance died hardened winner*. Iu my early years, 1 waa lor week* almost daily at the lied*|de ot a kind neighbor dnnng an illnea* from which tie was not expected to reem ec. Though his life hail been what we call mural, hi* inind awakened to perceive that be [omowhI not one element of that holiness which the Hcripturew represent as essential to au iliodr in the presence of God. He prayed, and requested other* to pruy, that be might bo s|mml to lead a life of entire devotedne** to hi* Creator and Redeemer. Hi* de sire* seemed no earnest and iats promise so sincere, that ra my ig norance and mexjiericiRK* I could entertain no doubts of his Iwtug a renewed man. Health at leugth returned. For a short season, he remembered his promise*. But by degrees all hopeful sign* dnmpprured. He lived many year* in forgetfulness of God. and died without hot*. At a later |M*riod, and in the early year* of my ministry, s young mnh of the legal profession, when prostra ted by, disease, evinced great concern •for his immortal Interest. He saw himself utterly unprepared for a world of holiness, lie sought my inatme tion*,*roy counsel*, and my |(rarer*. His promises of a life of devotedness to God, in the event of hi* recovery, wen* abundant, and to all ap|**ar anoe, very sincere. In his ease also, I entertained a strong hope of a rad icsl change. Bnt, alas, no sooner had his health fnlly returned thAn his promises vanished like the morning cloud and the early dew. Forgetful ness of divine thing* increased as the years rolled on. He became intern perste and died a sot I do not wish, however, to convey the impressions that seasons of sick ness and calamity are the only times when warning* are gtveu and the Spirit’s calls are resisted. Often amid the glow of hralth snd the vi vacities of yonth a voice reaches tin* sinner’s conscience, saying to him, For all these things God will bring thee into judgment, and at the same time bidding • him to flee flrotn the wrath to come. At other times, a still small voice whispers in the soft est tones of beseeching mercy, Come, away from a workl of sin, and secure the joys of an immortal life I These seasons may he neglected or they may be improved. Instance* illustrate troths. Once, while seated in my study, a man of more than ordinary bestow- meuts of mind, in vigor of years ami health, and when no outside care* were pressing ujou biro, called upon me to unburden the anxieties of his soul. Agony was depicted upon a countenance naturally placid. He other occasion, as be was passing the receipt of custom, be saw a man named Matthew sitting there, ne asith unto him, “follow mesnd he arose and followed him. . Had Zaceheus eon tinned in the tree or Matthew retained bis scat for even a few hour* after the Saviour’s rail, w ho can tell what would have been the cousequencew to them T The Ms- viour would have passed on. He ia the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. He now, by his word ami Hpirit, calls ss really as he did iu the days of the flesh. Have you, dear reader, ever tell the BpiritHi rail, or do you even mart If so, let not the golden moments {Miss. lift np your heart sew, snd without one reserve say. Here, Isml, I give myself sway! Ask that the Holy Bpirit may now seal your sal ration and receive you into an ever lasting covenant. The Spirit snd the Bride *av, < ’onte! While (tod invite*. bos I4r*t the day! Hew >wrH the r**pel'• (-harming *e*nd! Gsum at user, haste, oh! ha*te sway. While yet a luutfouiug bod t» found! IS PUBLISHED RY FKJIYA" BY | lE <fe MILLER ..... 6 15 a * 8 05a ......... 0 15-* -..--....10 07 a 1 50 p 4 05 n 5 55 p BARTLETT, ■of Ticket Agent reran Strictly In Advance. ,.nf annum....,«••......ff3.50 ix month*....l.A 1.35 Mini tt x Widow* of Miiiieterx, .'il T logical Student*. .1 9.00 sub*r wre who fail to remit at ; extii! »tk>n of their Milwcnp- mjx rri he charged per annum 8.00 » net r i *nu>* are entered (Si the »ub lmnb^ 8.n | Jwne », 1871. t f'tner Train. 1 -7 40 a h’ 20 p —8 20s --8 40 p t and Aceontmoih toys excepted), - -7 50 p — ....6 45 a -...7 10p -..........8-00 si dation Train wi lumbiaa* former! iys and Saturday* )tioah ok, without the* first payment 3v»4v SI WSPAPKH DECI*IOX8. Any P rson who take* a paper reg- ly njo* the poet oftlcO—whether <ii- ^ toih i name or another’s, or whether as ait icribed or not—is responsible he rnj . ,.’ 1 If a p “rson orders hi* paper discou- ed V must pay all sm*an»*res, or pCbiis ier may conpun*- to send it Power from on High. Extract from a speech of Daniel West, at a missionary meeting in Cornwall, some years since, and worthy of special atleuliou now : “The conflict between Christ aud Baton thickens every day; but they knew on which side the victory would be, for the Lord hath spoken it. *Tbe whole earth shall be filled with my glory.’ The difficulties which the Church now encountered were in tended to bring its members up to a holier aud purer manhood, to a lof tier aud more vigorous faith in God. “The necessity of the Holy Spirit’s influence, in reference to the world’s conversion, is the great troth which the Head of the Church is teaching his people iu the present day. He is teaching his church that in the midst of all his Divine things, in the midst of all her enterprises, skilful as may be her plans, admirably as she may arrange her forces, gifted as may be her agencies, all these apart from the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, are in this matter of men's salvation just nothing. There max be in the'preaching of the Gospel a clear exhibition of the troth, its de livery eloqueut and powerful; but all this, apart from the Holy Bpirit’s influence, is bat as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. For it is juot truth that saves man; but it is Di vine truth divinely applied. The Church w-auts, if 1 do not greatly mistake, iu the present day, a clearer aud deeper apprehension ot the necessity of Divine power, in order that there should be au in-gathering of souls to Christ, both at home aud abroad, greater than we have ever before witnessed. This is what God iu his providence is now teaching his Church; and when, iu answer to prayer, the promised showers shall descend upou the heritage of God, then shall the wilderness blossom as the rose, aud the world’s population turn by thousands and by millions from Satan to God.” mtentfonal farad. Five cent* per quarter remit anoe* snd communication* to drtas d to Rxv. A. R. RUDE, D.D., Columbia, 8. C. RAILROAD. lue Ridge Railroad * excepted Half-Hearted Professor* of Religion It must Is* obvious to every re- Ifective mind, w beu looking through the rank* of professing chriMtian* iu almoat every community, that there ore to he found not a few who, like I’eter in his degeneracy, follow the Suxioor afar off. The flvra, how ever. of all such Christian* are ex- (Vedingly problematical, exception able and unsatisfactory. We can uot venture to affirm that they are not Christian*, nor can we confident ly place them with the true follower* of the I«aatb. They may attend the sanctuary from Sabbath to Sabbath, and mingle with the fieople of God. Thc> may lie upright, moral, unit* ble, and |Mm«M many traits of character w hich are k>\*ely and at tractive; but they have never, a* yrt, unreservedly committed them aclxea to Christ and hi* canar. Neither are tbene person* to br considered entirely hyitocriticoi or deceptive; indeed, one reaaon urged by them for not fully identifying themselves with the cause of the Redeemer to, lest they should appear to be what they feel they are not. They must, therefore, have at least some faint aud feeble desire* in ref erence to the Haxiour of sinners, his ways, hi* service, For the Lutheran Visitor. tie Church.—For the Young, NOTICE A'-writer of a former age relate# something like the following: In an Easteni clime lived a young man of virtuous habits and marked charac ter. Ou the evening of his wedding day, after the nuptials had been solemnized, he retired alone to a pri vate apartment to give relaxation, for a few moments, to his exeited feeling*. While reclining on a couch, whether iu a dream or some strange reverie, he saw, or seemed to see, a figure of stern and awful a*pect, standing near his feet, with an enor mous scythe hanging by his side. No sooner had his eye falien ujkmi the mysterious visitant than it ac costed him in the following words: “I am come, O young man, to con vey thee to the unseen world. Rise artd come away.” In agony inde scribable, the young man pleaded for his life. “Spare me, oh ! spare ine at this time," said he, “as I have just reached that point in my life to which i have looked forward as the crowning period of ray earthly hap piness. Take me not away, 1 be scech thee, at this time.” After a short pause, the “strange spectre re plied : “Thy request is granted. Rut remember, I will come again. Be thou ready.” So saying, it vanished from his sight. With feelings of unwonted solemni ty, the young man returned to the gay circle he had left. He assumed an air of cheerfulness, and mingled his voice with the voices of the giddy throng. Ere long/ he imagined it had been only a dream, and, like a dream, it was soon forgotten. Time rolled on. The busy scenes of life engroased his thoughts. Pros perity smiled. Wealth poured her treasures around him, until he liegnu to ask, Wliat shall 1 do, because 1 have uo room when' to bestow my fruits f But in the mids^jnf these things, on a certain day, to his unutterable surprise, the same gritu s|>ectre stood before him, and with a voice that reached his inmost soul, addressed him, saying, “C’ouie, come without delay; accompany me to the pres ence of thy Maker ami .Judge.” In he replied, “I am DRY GOODS! ousting to $20 and n (mg Part of * a superfluous to inform ructed youthful readers •rd Jesus founded his earth—the lilst upon the Mic or Christian church, to stand impregnable I assaults until the end 1 • u * ’eter, by divine inspira- “Tbou art the Christ, the > living God,” and tAut bs« Charges. ITER & SONS, ORE, MD., to meet the wants omers at a distance. lion, promptly tend imples of the New- ionable Goods, of I Domestic Manu al all time* to sell ices, than any house mn the largest anti of the church. Then he insti ll his K>]y sacraments, Baptism the D rd’s Supper^ and apjioint- iis apo! ;Ies ami other teachers to laitn ' le gltkl tidings of free “inptioi iu all laqtta and to all ooi J nd then with the parting f aud ? glowing iheaven’s own to his Father mfaetnrers in the ■ope, and importing direct to Baltimore kies promptly sup edletior still xvnrm n his >viug lips, riot con 'eyed him hfe nat ve’heaven, tow dis appointed Were the |M>or :ipk*s, * io thought the kingdom ' Bp* 1) be restored to all the nitlve | lory of Edeuic beauty, their ti -esome waiting and their t ledul ;ed expectations at last he croi ned xvith a reward of eh.i hum in conception can form adjeqna e idea. But tjw* Holy rit soon iescemled upon them on diy of Pentecost^ which evefit still con memorate in onr church, they rere tanglft what great iga thej mast snfter for the Lord’s r, and 3 rhat a sta]>eudous work »t be i erfomied ere their glad es;and visions cotild be realized, ucy im lediately addressed them es to i his work with great en- > joy fend success. Yon know “migt ty the Word of God grew prosp red, 71 and that numerous lie* of the London l ottty for cash, and ire able and willing Ten to Fifteen FIT tlian if we gave let specify the kinds Ye seep the best i>f goods, from the tly. fed by the cash will noLESALE Buyers •t the Stock in onr Department. Ad- ISTER&SONS, r e*t Baltimore St.. hi* people, and then* appear* to br iu them “some good thing toward* the Lord (kid of towel Moreover, they at time* cast a longiag eye over the sweet fields of Hving green and placid rivers of true religion, and instinct ively admit that * 4 fier ways are ways of pleasantneaa, anil all her paths are peace, 1 " and plaintively exclaim. "WmII G<mI that I werr there r* And >*et they nevertheless remain undecided, uusatisfied, and walk at a great distance from him who alone oak! solve all their diHibts, and gix*e them test and salvation. But there is another class, who are outwardly identified with the cause of religion, having a name itud a place ia the church rogister, and are thu* proftosedly repres«*ntatives of the Saviour iu the world. But, alas! how poorlx and imperfectly they represent him ! IIow cold, how iiullfferent, how worldly they app«*ar! Although they wear the sweet name of Christian, yet how little do they resemble Christ! They follow him afar off. With regard to the former of those classes, they have w hat may la* (owed an imperfect development of piety ; aud with the latter, if they ever possessed vital religion, it is in n state of decay. But both classes an* virtually iu the same condition, x*ix; at a great distanoc from him who is our leader and true exemplar. Hiere is a state of physical disease which will illustrate their case. The patient has a languid circulation of the blood, a diminished vitality, a morbid actiou, of all the functions of life, and although the pathologist may uot be able to pronounce defin itely the disease to be orgauic, yet the body is declining and laugntah- ing, and every pulsation of the heart Think of This!! iSB T'! 30,000 tory of the Franco- t 60 day*. It now of the Red Rebel ■nearly 600 pages Ministerial Poverty.—It is thought by many very good people that it is a beneficial thing to keep preachers quite |K»or. They say it makes them humble and nil that. But it isn’t often that such advisers are willing to take their own prescrip tions. While it may be a means of grate for preachers to be j*oor, they are fiu from thinkiug poverty would advance themselves on the road to heax eu. A good deacon once sakl to the wite of a clergyman, whose sal ary was small, that it was a good thing for ministers to have limited mesons. It teuded to iucreosc their faith aud to make them more, spirit ual. To which it was replied that if it were a good tbiug for ministers, why not for the deaoous, aud for the other members of the church T—Cen tral Presbyterian. ! heretofore. Pri<y. ttc works, writtcB iu nh and Freneh, are I illustrations, and, liming to be official, !-li. Broekett’s, in i-rman, is the most Reliable, cheap sml nt. Look to yonr Iv andyoo can coin [iDSPEED & CO., York; or 148 Lak*’ Jews a id Gentiles. Looking at toriely f ro m a human point of tbeii success seems most re- fkkble, when the formidable ob- Jles wit t which they hail to eon* andl the obscurity of the r<jnienl i selected to promulgate I fiTith, the absence of wealth. Mm*, latronage, or any of the pijsries usually employed to pro- ^ s d< fired end, are taken into R iderat >n; but our! surprise i* [gather abated when li e remember \ t*t words of our Lord ^ ‘‘1 rn with yon al way, even RJU»e i nd of the World,” and his ^ r $unij q power caused the suc- f at wh ch we marvel. Then the Ml tr iths and doctrines pro- F®fd w< re of such a nature as to x FOUNDRY N 1837- Superioi- (. school*. Ac., n>» ETAL—Copper , and mounted koVED ROTASt lustrated catalog kNDCZEN f-.TIFT et, Cincinnati, u. 23—IF vigorous health ; aud to attempt to keep alive the flame of devotion in the soul while iu the world, without habitual cotnmuuiou with the Father of our spirits, would' be equally peri lous aud impracticable. However much yon are comiMdled to eugage iu the world'* buainOKs. aud are agita ted with its perplexities, to neglect the soul is like a man hastening to his daily labor without food, or a soldier marching to the batcfe field without weapons of war. Guard, therefore, sedulously, against the in fluence of this world; overcome* it, or it will overcome you. **Oh! watch and fight and pray, The battle ne'er give o’er; Renew the conflict every day, And liefi) divine implore." Long-eoutinned habits, also, have a strange iqjlueuce oxer professiug Christians, aud sometimes are impen etrable barriers Uf their nearness to Christ. Tliose who have settled down iu a state of iudiffereuoc, aud have loug followed the Saviour at a great distance, seem to regard this as on argument for not getting nearer to him. It is wall known that habit boeomes almost a part of oof being, and it is next to impossible to break up or overcome it. Hence said Je* intense horror, unprepared. My numerons avoca tions have seemed to demand all my energies. They have occupied all my thoughts. Give me longer time, aud I shall make ready for the world of which you speak ” After an aw ful pause the spectre replied, “Agaiu I spare thee for a time. Bnt this is thy last reprieve. I shall come again, and there will be no postpone ment.” “When may I ex(>ect thee F asked the trembling man. “That time I may uot tell,” waa the reply. “But may I not look for at least oue warning before thy next approach T* “1 will give thee three,” said tbe spectre, and disappeared. Badness for a season reigned iu the bosom of the man of worldly cares. But this again wore away, and his affections clung still tnorc closely to the things of time. Many snmmers aud winters came and jmihs- edMway. ^When thoughts of a future world presented * themselves, they were speedily dismissed as nnwel come intruders. At length he was set'll a mail of feeble frame, of infirm step and hoary hairs. At this stage, aud' very unexpectedly to him, the in Prices. W p|K3? Family Prayer.—Robert Hall, bearing that some worldly minded persous objected to family prayer as taking up too muefi time, said that what might seem a loss will be more tliau colupcus&ted by the spirit of order aud regularity which the stated observance of this duty tends to pro dace. It serves as au edge and bor der, to preserx e the web of life from uurax elliug. (‘The curse ot the IxhtI is in the house of the wicked, but he blesseth the habitation of the just.” , STEVENS, , Stevens & ) nature and Deal tnber. )RE, Md- irooms, No-3S § PVntswandKro [■ fST* tS uR Vi < nder that they have met, i > to meet, with opposition “Beating funeral inxrclie*. to the grave.” Bo these imperfect and decliniug specimeus of Christianity, although not at open ‘enmity against God, yet they are not clearly aud uumistakiv If cx'er.they a an was not willing to ^ his long established au- a id yonr New Testament i what severe persecution cl endured, even from the ci ieut. Jew* and Gentiles uted the chjurch of ChriRt. ti al history vill inform you at ;r extest how it has snf- [>t i from the adversaries ai d the “grievous wolves” S‘> lust tvhich the church of It is very beautiful ia see bow the God who has bound* his world iuto a grand harmony by its very diversity has arranged for thiss ame end in his church, by giving the members their different faculties of work. * bly at peace with lxifki possessed real attachment to the Sa viour and his cause, they “hax*e left their first love.” They are not wholly giveu up to the service of Satan and the present evil world; yet they are uut heartily surrendering themselves to the service ot Christ They hav# A son! may go to Christ, though with a trembling heart, and may truly receive Christ, thongh-witb a trembling baud.