There Is a Spirit in Man

Man is a complex being—a mysterious conjunction of matter and mind, a wondrous collection of energies and instincts, of appetences and aspirations. He belongs to the physical and to the spiritual, to the visible and to the invisible, to the temporal and to the eternal. Amazing creature, Who shall explore the labyrinths of thy nature? Who shall explain the enigmas of thy history? Who shall fathom the depths, or scale the heights of thy destiny? He only who called thee into existence, and who has made thee the reflection of His own immortality. In His light we discern thy subtle nature, thy varied capabilities, and thy lofty destiny. And shall we scorn His teaching? That were "high treason" against the Majesty of heaven. And shall we confound the distinctions of things, and level the ethereal spirit with the dust? That were to raise onr fratricidal hand against the brotherhood of man. No, precious, priceless spirit, we dare not thus dishonour thee. Thy retrospections and thy anticipations, thy hopes and thy fears, thy joys and thy sorrows, thy projects and thy pursuits, proclaim thee superior to the dull clod, and destined to pass the narrow limits of earth, and to expatiate in the immeasurable fields of immortal existence: there thy god-like powers will be fully developed, and thy capabilities of observation, enjoyment, and action, will find ample scope and appropriate objects. Stretch forth thy pinions, O "bird of Paradise!" shake off the dust of this vain world, and prepare to take thy flight to the realms of boundless being and blessedness.--W. Jones

Human Discovery and Revealed Truth

Though the Bible is not a revelation of science, it may be expected to be free from error, and to contain, under reserved and simple language, much concealed wisdom, and turns of expression which harmonise with natural facts, known perfectly to God, but not known to those for whom at first the revelation was designed. This expectation is just; and in both respects the Bible presents a striking contrast to the sacred books of heathen nations.--Anon

Prayer's Message

Prayer hath her message. Away she flies, borne on the sure and swift wings of Faith and Zeal, Wisdom having given her a charge, and Hope a blessing. Finding the gate shut, she knocks and cries, "Open, ye gates of righteousness, and be ye open ye everlasting doors of glory! that I may enter, and deliver to the King of Jerusalem my petition." Jesus Christ hears her knock, opens the gates of mercy, attends her suit, promiseth her infallible comfort and redress. Back returns Prayer, laden with the news of consolation. She hath a promise, and she delivereth it into the hands of Faith—that were our enemies more innumerable than the locusts in Egypt, and stronger than the giants, the sons of Anak, yet Power and Mercy shall fight for us, and we shall be delivered. Pass we then through fire and water—through all dangers and difficulties, yet we have a messenger, holy, happy, accessible, acceptable to God, that never comes back without comfort—Prayer!—Thomas Adams

The Setting Sun

There is a splendour peculiar to the meridian sun. There is a majestic and uncontrollable energy and boldness, with which it spreads light and blessedness on all around. The sun shining in its strength is a grand and exhilarating sight. But there is a still deeper interest attendant on its decline; when the warm and mellow tints of evening soften the dazzling brightness of its ray; and when surrounded, but not obscured, by clouds, and rich in a golden radiance, on which the eye lingers with chastened and inexpressible delight, it sinks below the horizon. It is with similar feelings that we regard the faithful servant of God, when he comes towards the close of a long, consistent, and useful life. We watch with a very tender interest the terminating scene of his pilgrimage; and survey with a more sublime veneration the holier radiance which gilds his declining years.—Ed. Craig

Strongest When Helpless

Stumbling proves undoubtedly our tendency to fall but it proves also our capacity to stand erect. Had we been lying supine we could never have stumbled. The very fact of our fall should increase our dependence upon God. God's assurance in this case is man's strength, as well as his caution. The very knowledge that he upholds us enables us to rise. If it were not so, or if it were a mere matter of human pride, the mere act of our infinite disgrace in sinning against him would keep us prostrate. But when we feel our nothingness, as was once said, we have nothing to fear. When we lose ourselves, we save ourselves. When we hang only on the Lord, we can alone have strength.--Anon

Remembered Happiness

Mankind are always happier for having been happy; so that if you make them happy now, you make them happy twenty years hence, by the memory of it. A childhood passed with a due mixture of rational indulgence, under fond and wise parents, diffuses over the whole of life a feeling of calm pleasure, and in extreme old age is the very last remembrance which time can erase from the mind of man. No enjoyment, however inconsiderable, is confined to the present moment. A man is the happier for life from having made once an agreeable tour, or lived for any length of time with pleasant people, or enjoyed any considerable interval of innocent pleasure.--Sydney Smith

Men Ought Always to Pray

In this precept—to pray always —there is nothing of exaggeration, nothing commanded which may not be fulfilled, when we understand of prayer—the continual desire of the soul after God! having, indeed, its times of intensity, seasons of an intenser concentration of spiritual life, but not being confined to those times; since the whole life of the faithful should be in Origen's beautiful words, "one great connected prayer;" or, as Basil expresses if, "prayer should be the salt, which is to salt everything besides." "That soul," says Donne, "that is accustomed to direct herself to God on every occasion; that, as a flower at sunrising conceives a sense of God in every beam of his, and spreads and dilates itself toward him, in thankfulness, in every small blessing that he sheds upon her; that soul who, whatsoever string be stricken in her, bass or treble, her high or low estate, is ever turned toward God;—that soul prays sometimes when she does not know."—Trench

Learning Hymns

As soon as a little child commences speaking, it is not too early to begin teaching it the sweet simple hymns which devout hearts have composed and compiled for " the little ones at home." They may not now be fully understood, but they will be remembered, and after-years may prove their benefit. Any truth is more easily retained, especially by children, when expressed in simple verse. What a rich treasury that mind possesses which has a memory well stored with scriptural hymns, adapted to every circumstance in life! What Christian would not sooner part with his earthly wealth, than have them all for ever blotted from his heart?--Anon

Your Child Is Immortal

That child must live for ever. Its existence is endless as the life of its Maker. There lies concealed in that frame, clasped to a mother's bosom, and so feeble that the evening breeze might seem sufficient to destroy it, a living spark which no created power can ever extinguish! Cities and empires shall rise and fall during coming centuries; but that infant of yours will survive them all! The world and its works shall be burnt up, and the elements melt with fervent heat; new systems in the starry heavens may be created and pass away; but your child will live amidst the changes and revolutions of endless ages, which will no more touch or destroy it than the wild hurricane can touch the rainbow that reposes in the sky, though it may rage around its lovely form. When eras that no arithmetic can number have marked the life of your child, an eternity will still be before it, in which it shall live, move, and have its being! What think you, parents, of having such a creature as this under your roof and under your charge,— and that creature your own child? Consider,—


Your child must live for ever in bliss or woe. It must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. It must be for ever lost, or for ever saved. It must be with God and Christ, with the angels and saints, loving and beloved, a glorious and majestic being; or for ever wicked and unutterably miserable, with Satan and lost spirits! I am assuming, of course, that it here attains such an age as makes it fully responsible to God; for if it die in infancy, I believe it will be saved through Jesus Christ. But to know that your babe, though dead, actually lives somewhere with Jesus; or that, if living here, it is yet capable of becoming one of God's high and holy family in his home above for ever,—may well deepen within you a sense of its personal value! Now, whether your child—should it be spared some years on earth—shall live for ever in joy or sorrow, depends upon what it believes and does in this world. It is how it lives here, which must determine where and how it shall live hereafter. Is that not a solemn consideration for you? And is it not more solemn still, when yon remember, that you, more than any other in this world, shall, under God, fix your children's fate for ever? The reason is plain; inasmuch as their character for time, and therefore for eternity, is affected chiefly by the manner in which they are trained by you in their early years. By your words and life, by your example and your instruction, you are most assuredly every day making use of what is to them, for many a day, the greatest power on earth, to give their souls, when most easily impressed, that stamp which they will retain for ever. Have a care, then, how you train them up.--Anon

Little Things

Great virtues are rare: the occasions for them are very rare: and when they do occur, we are prepared for them; we are excited by the grandeur of the sacrifice; we are supported either by the splendour of the deed in the eyes of the world, or by the self-complacency that we experience from the performance of an uncommon action. Little things are unforeseen; they return every moment: they come in contact with our pride, our indolence, our haughtiness, our readiness to take offence; they contradict our inclinations perpetually. It is, however, only by fidelity in little things that a true and constant love to God can be distinguished from a passing fervour of spirit.--Fenelon

Too Late

How like the sound of the fresh earth upon the coffin-lid fell those words upon my ear and heart. The physician had been hastily summoned to the bedside of my dear and only son, upon whose fair forehead lay the dew of death. He had been suddenly stricken, and we knew not how to give him up; and, hoping against hope, we sought to save him. The physician turned to me, saying, "It is too late."

Ah, thoughtless youth, seeking for earthly happiness, death will one day come to thee. Thou mayst not be prepared for it. The stern messenger may come to thee as he did to little Charles, with no voice of warning, and summon thee before the Judge; and then, with the thought of misspent hours, and a vision of eternity before thee, thou mayst exclaim, "Would to God I had thought of this hour, and prepared for it; but now it is too late,—eternally too late!"--Anon

Side Winds

I have heard that a full wind behind the ship drives her not so fast forward as a side wind, that seems almost as much against her as with her; and the reason, they say, is because a full wind fills but some of her sails, which keep it from the rest, that they are empty; when a side wind fills all her sails, and sets her speedily forward. Whichever way we go in this world our affections are our sails; and according as they are spread and filled, so we pass on swifter, or slower, whither we are steering. Now, if the Lord should give us a full wind and continued gale of mercies, it would fill but some of our sails—some of our affections—joy, delight, and the like. But when he comes with a side wind,—a dispensation that seems almost as much against us as for us,—then he fills our sails, takes up all our affections, making his works wide and broad enough to entertain every one,—then we are carried fully and freely towards the haven where we would be.--Owen.

Love Thinketh No Evil

The divine virtue delights to speak well and think well of others; she talks well of their good actions, and says little or nothing, except when necessity compels her, of their bad ones. She does not look around for evidence to prove an evil design, but hopes that what is doubtful will, by further light, appear to be correct. She imputes no evil as long as good is probable; she leans on the side of candour, rather than that of severity; she makes every allowance that truth will permit; she looks to all the circumstances which can be pleaded in mitigation; suffers not her opinions to be formed till she has had opportunity to escape from the midst of passion, and to cool from the wrath of contention. Love desires the happiness of others, and how can she be in haste to think evil of them?--Anon

Sick Bed Reflections

It is a mistake to suppose that a man's mind is in a better state to attend to religion when he is sick than when he is well. It may not have its ordinary clearness and vigour. But a fit of sickness affords this advantage, that it makes a break, a chasm in a man's life, and gives him a chance to start anew. It cuts him off from bad companions, and gives him time for reflection. It opens his eyes to the vanity of the world, and forces him to look at the stern realities of death and of an eternal state. The rich and the gay, as well as the poor and wretched, have to die, and go to their Judge. The tomb stands open for them all. Eternity wraps in a dark doad the foremost of this mighty procession. No wit or frivolity can deceive him long with the dream of life or happiness. No wealth can buy a ransom from the grave. In view of these things, man is forced to reflect soberly on his course of life. If it has been bad, he must suffer the bitter reproaches of conscience and the fears of a hereafter. While thus saddened and depressed, there is hope of an abiding religious impression.

But if these reflections pass away with the sickness that occasioned them, —if the solemn vows of the sick-bed are forgotten at the first moment of restoration to health,—the effect is to kill religious sensibility. No man can be, after such seasons, as he was before. The renewal of a wicked course, after breaking off for a time, doubles the probability of eternal ruin, by its aggravation of guilt and its hardening influence.--Anon

The Raw Material of Scandal

Mr. Wilberforce relates that at one time he found himself chronicled as "St. "Wilberforce" in an opposing journal, and the following given as an instance of his Pharisaism." "He was lately seen," says the journal, "walking up and down in the Bath Pump-room reading his prayers, like his predecessors of old, who prayed in the corners of the streets to be seen of men." "As there is generally," says Mr. Wilberforce, "some slight circumstance which perverseness turns into a charge or reproach, I began to reflect, and I soon found the occasion of the calumny. It was this:—I was walking in the Pump-room in conversation with a friend; a passage was quoted from Horace, the accuracy of which was questioned, and as I had a Horace in my pocket, I took it out and read the words. This was the plain 'bit of wire' which factious malignity sharpened into a pin to pierce my reputation." How many ugly pins have been manufactured out of smaller bits of wire than even that!--Anon

Hear the Word of the Lord!

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."— (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.)

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple: the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightcuing the eyes: the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned : and in keeping of them there is great reward."—(Ps. xix. 7—11.)

"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."—(John v. 39.)

Men's Duties

Men's proper business in the world falls mainly into three divisions:— First, To know themselves and the existing state of the things they have to do with. Secondly, To be happy in themselves and the existing state of things. Thirdly, To mend themselves and the existing state of things, as far as either are marred or mendable. These, I say, are the three plain divisions of proper human business on this earth. For these three, the following are usually substituted and adopted by human creatures. First, To be totally ignorant of themselves and the existing state of things. Secondly, To be miserable in themselves and the existing state of things. Thirdly, To let themselves and the existing state of things alone (at least in the way of correction).—John Ruskin

The Mother

It has been said,"that the first being that rushes to the recollection of a soldier, or sailor, in his heart's difficulty, is his mother." She clings to his memory and affection amidst all the forgetfulness and hardihood induced by a roving life. The last message he leaves is for her, his last whisper breathes her name. The mother, as she instils the lessons of piety and filial obligation into the heart of her infant son, should always feel that her "labour is not in vain." She may drop into the grave, but she has left behind her influence that will work for her. " The bow is broken, but the arrow is sped, and will do its office."--Anon

A Mother's Praters

Every one who has thought on this subject must know how great is the influence of the female character, especially in the sacred relations of wife and mother. My honoured mother was a religious woman, and she watched over and instructed me, as pious mothers are accustomed to do. Alas! I often forgot her admonitions, but, in my most thoughtless days, I never lost impressions which her holy example had made on my mind. After spending a large portion of my life in foreign lands, I returned again to visit my native village. Both my parents died while I was in Russia, and their house is now occupied by my brother. The furniture remains just the same as when I was a boy, and at night I was accommodated with the same bed in which I had often slept before. But my busy thoughts would not let me sleep. I was thinking how God had led me through the journey of life. At last the light of the morning darted through the little window, and then my eye caught sight of the spot where my sainted mother, forty years before, took my hand, and said, "Come, my dear, kneel down with me, and I will go to prayer." This completely overcame me, I seemed to hear the very tones of her voice. I recollected some of her expressions, and I burst into tears, and arose from my bed, and fell upon my knees just on the spot where my mother kneeled, and thanked God that I had once a praying mother. And, oh! if every parent could feel what I felt then, I am sure they would pray with their children as well as pray for them.


Happy the child who is blessed with a praying mother! But the privilege involves the highest responsibility. Sad will be the condition of the man who never added to his mother's prayer his own, and who heard her lessons only to neglect them!--Anon

Everlasting

All the ineffable delight, all the high prerogatives "of the saints in light," are stamped with the seal of eternity. How do we read, again and again, of "everlasting life," "eternal glory," "the everlasting kingdom," "going no more out for ever," "an enduring substance," "pleasures for evermore," "an incorruptible crown," "a kingdom which cannot be moved," "afar more exceeding and eternal weight of glory"! And why is this placed before us iu so rich a variety of forms, but that we may trust the record even when we cannot trace the hand, and cherish the persuasion that when our heavenly Father removes from us our dearest delights, he takes what is his more than ours, and transplants them to a brighter region, his providence concurring with his grace in saying, "Come up hither"?

"Remember in Prayer, a Man under Sentence of Death"

We recollect, when a boy, hearing a minister read these words from the pulpit, one Sabbath afternoon, when the congregation rose up to prayer. A man had committed murder, and he was lying in the jail, condemned to die. We have sometimes been mournfully reminded of this in a Sabbath-school. Every boy or girl who is out of Christ is under condemnation. Dear reader, when the lessons are over next Sabbath, and all the classes stand up to pray, could the teacher say of you, before he began, " Remember in prayer, a scholar under sentence of death?—Free Church Children's Missionary Record

To Save a Soul

Nothing more excellent or desirable (covetable) than to rescue a soul from death eternal: he does this who brings back his erring brother to the way of life. Wherefore this noble work is not to be neglected. We see how much our Lord regards giving bread to the hungry and drink to the thirsty; but much more precious is salvation to the soul than the life of the body. Therefore let us take care lest souls redeemed by Christ should perish by our sloth, whose salvation God does in a sense put in our hands not that we can of ourselves convey salvation, but that God by our ministration delivers and preserves what otherwise seems near to destruction. — Calvin

Good Nature Not Always Good

I perceive there is in the world a good-nature, falsely so called, as being nothing else but a facile and flexible disposition, wax for every impression. What others are so bold to beg, they are so bashful as not to deny. Such osiers can never make beams to bear stress in church and state. If this be good-nature, let me always be a clown; if this be good fellowship, let me always be a churl. Give me to set a sturdy porter before my soul, who may not equally open to every comer. I cannot conceive how he can be a friend to any who is a friend to all, and the worst foe to himself.--Anon

The Puritans--Their Dress and Manners

In the matter of dress and manners, the Puritan triumph has been complete. Even their worst enemies have come over to their side, and "the whirligig of time has brought about its revenge." Their canons of taste have become those of old England, and High Churchmen, who still call them roundheads and cropped ears, go about rounder-headed and closer cropped than they ever went. They held it more rational to cut the hair to a comfortable length, than to wear effeminate curls down the back; and we cut ours much shorter than they ever did. They held (with the Spaniard, then the finest gentleman in the world) that sad,—i.e. dark,—colours, above all black, were the fittest for stately and earnest gentlemen: we all, from the Tractarian to the Anythingarian, are exactly of the same opinion. They held that lace, perfumes, and jewellery on a man were marks of unmanly foppishness and vanity, and so hold the finest gentlemen in England now. They thought it equally absurd and sinful for a man to carry his income on his back, and bedizen himself out in reds, blues, and greens, ribands, knots, sashes, and "tripple quadruple dcodalian, ruffs, built up on iron and timber (a fact), which have more arches in them for pride, than London Bridge for use:" we, if we met such a ruffed and ruffled worthy as used to swagger by hundreds up and down Paul's Walk, not knowing how to get a dinner, much less to pay his tailor, should look on him firstly, as a fool, and, secondly, a swindler; while if we met an old Puritan, we should consider him a man, gracefully and picturesquely dressed, but withal in the most perfect sobriety and good taste; and when we discovered (as we probably should), over and above, that the harlequin cavalier had a box of salve and a pair of dice in one pocket, a pack of cards and a few pawnbrokers' duplicates in the other; that his thoughts were altogether of citizen's wives and their too easy virtue; and that he could not open his mouth without a dozen oaths, we should consider the Puritan (even though he did quote Scripture somewhat through his nose), as the gentlemen, and the courtier as a most offensive specimen of the "snob triumphant," glorying in his shame.--The North British Review

A Faithful Witness

Five years ago, a lady employed a man to put up a stove. She chose a fitting opportunity, and addressed him on his soul's eternal interests, and gave him a suitable tract. Subsequently, she had from time to time occasion for his services, when she prayerfully embraced some favourable moment for dropping an admonition or an exhortation. Time passed on, and disease, which had doubtless been some time preying on his vitals, manifested itself. There was a distressing cough, and great debility. He was obliged to abandon work. Now our friend administered to his relief and comfort, and visited his family often, to impart the consolations of religion.

Many a time did the dying man testify to the value of these humble efforts for his good. How long he had lived among the people of God, without ever been spoken to about his soul! One kind word, one little tract opens the door of his heart, and he receives the truth as it is in Jesus, by the effectual operations of the Holy Spirit, and dies in peace, commending his bereaved wife and children to his heavenly Parent. Who cannot win a soul to God ? Who is so young, so feeble, so ignorant, that they cannot say, " Come thou with us, and we will do thee good?"--Anon

Fault-Finding

There is a disposition observable in some to view unfavourably everything that falls under their notice. They seek to gain confidence by always differing from others in judgment, and to depreciate what they allow to be worthy in itself, by hinting at some mistake or imperfection in the performance. You are too lofty or too low in your manners; you are too frugal or too profuse in your expenditure; you are too taciturn or too free in your speech; and so of the rest. Now, guard against this tendency. Nothing will more conduce to your uncomfortableness than living in the neighbourhood of ill-nature, and being familiar with discontent. The disposition grows with indulgence, and is low and base in itself; and if any should be ready to pride themselves on skill and facility in the science, let them remember that the acquisition is cheap and easy; a child can deface and destroy; dulness and stupidity, which seldom lack inclination or means, can cavil and find fault; and everything can furnish ignorance, prejudice, and envy with a handle of reproach,— William Jay

A Word about Chance

Atheists tell us that there is no God, and that everything happens by chance; and then if we question them they inform us, that chance is alike cause and effect. Sometimes it was fortune, and sometimes an event which came about without being contrived, expected, intended, or foreseen. If you inquire more into the philosophy of these profound philosophers, who are too philosophical to believe that the universe had a rational Creator, or is governed by an intelligent Benefactor, they frankly admit that their favourite chance, has neither body nor soul; has neither thought, imagination, reason, will nor power; is neither good nor evil, wise nor foolish, right nor wrong.

Chance can neither walk, nor talk, love nor hate, move nor stand still! It is, in fact, an infinite, eternal, everlasting nothing; which though a nonenity itself, yet made everything that is made, and produces all the order and confusion of the universe. It exists, of course, although no Atheist or Deist ever saw, or heard it, or knows anything at all about it. It is everywhere and nowhere at the same time; it does everything, and does nothing; it fills immensity, and yet is less than the smallest atom, and has been active and passive from all eternity, although it never had any existence!

Such is chance, and such the rationality of some who call themselves rationalists. And if we go from Atheists to Deists, who deny revelation, or to Polytheists, who have never seen the Word of Life, we find nothing but absurdity every where. All idolaters and unbelievers, prove to a demonstration, that the world by wisdom knew not God; and we may well ask, as we read their works, who by searching can find out God? who can find out the Almighty to perfection? We have China and India with their antiquity; Greece and Rome with their learning; and modern sceptics, with all the wit, blunders, and follies of former barbarians and sages, to instruct them; and yet, whether we investigate the past or the present, we have the same ignorance respecting God and the universe. It is now as clear as any demonstration of Euclid, that the only book that can teach us is the Bible; for in the first chapter of Genesis we have more reason, theology, and consolation, on the great and sublime character of Jehovah, the origin of creation, and the nature of man, than in all the other books in the world. Here we have divinity, cosmology, and antropology— in a few words, written so plainly, that a clown may understand them, and so briefly, that a child, with a little effort, can commit them to memory.--Anon

Humility One Sign of Greatness

I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility doubt of his own power, or hesitation in speaking his opinions; but a right understanding of the relation between what he can do and say, and the rest of the world's sayings and doings. All great men not only know their business, but usually know that they know it; and are not only right in their main opinions, but they usually know that they are right in them; only they do not think much of themselves on that account. The slightest manifestation of jealousy or self-complacency is enough to mark a second-rate character of the intellect.—Ruskin

Cause of Infidelity

The secret cause of infidelity is perhaps invariably a darkness in the mind, produced by wrong affections, by the love of sin in the heart, by such a state of things there that the soul feels anxious and uneasy in the presence of God, and gloomy beneath the light of his attributes. Nothing bat God's Spirit can overcome that. Such a state of things will bring a pillar of cloud and darkness between the soul and God, and will make the soul desire and endeavour to see God in other lights than those in which he shines in the word of the truth of the Gospel. Hence the beginning, the existence, and the increase of error. If there were a clear, open, frank, trusting, sunny heart, towards God, there would be a clear, unmistakeable, spiritual view of God. And hence the appointed condemnation we everywhere meet with in God's Word against error and infidelity, as being not only the consequence of guilt, but in itself guilt.--Anon

A Word to Preachers

How often shall a plain sermon (when the preacher aims not to be seen, but rather to show his Lord) be blessed to the conversion, establishment and happiness, of immortal souls; while pompous orations and laboured performances shall evaporate in sound, or produce no spiritual good; or if they are remembered for a while, they are remembered not for God's glory, but for the praise of those dying creatures who made them. A poor employment this, to speak and write for the breath of worms, which is, at first, corrupt in itself, and soon vanishes into nothing.--Anon

The Best

The best—not for self, for reputation, for present admiration or permanent influence—but for God and souls; the best—not absolutely, with reference to the standard of mental capacity; but relatively, strength, materials, opportunity, scope, being taken into account;—this is the true aim and the true spirit of ministerial exertion. And if striven for with the feeling that—at best—his strength is weakness, and that his ability to achieve anything is of God, who has chosen "earthen vessels " to the very end that the excellency of the power may be not of man, the true servant of Christ will find that in his work prudence and zeal are reconciled.--Anon

Text Sparring

The diversity of Christian sects has been greatly multiplied by different religionists framing some exclusive creed on unconnected sentences and isolated texts. The mysteries which these spiritual lynxes detect in the simplest passages, which they twist and torture, remind one of the five hundred nondescripts, each as large as his own black cat, which Dr. Katerfelto, by aid of his solar microscope, discovered in a drop of transparent water. Let those who are in danger of this polemical infection, attend to the following golden aphorism of one of our oldest and most orthodox divines. "Sentences in Scripture," says Dr. Donne, "like hairs in horsetails, concur in one root of beauty and strength; being plucked out, one by one, serve only for springs and snares."--Anon

Hints of Usefulness

Be assured that things external cannot remove the evils found in the depraved heart, nor afford those supplies always needed to enable us to live before God aright. Mere human contrivance will always fall short of meeting the wants our spirit feels. Christ must be recognized as the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; and only in and through Him can we obtain that which will make and keep us right. Though the above are the honest sentiments of our heart, yet we think a proper estimate of outward means is important, inasmuch as a judicious use thereof, has a tendency to bring before the mind's eye those things we should never lose sight of. While in our probationary state we shall find ourselves surrounded with many adverse elements and things, calculated to dissipate the mind. A countermand is needed, and that is often found in the means of grace when attended to aright. And now as we are about to enter another year.I feel it on my heart to beg of the members of our Society to observe a few things, which if observed one year, would secure such an amount a good, that they would be disposed to try another, and endeavour to prevail with others to do so too.

1. Let us all resolve that once a week at least, we will stay before God in secret, until we feel, even more, of the renewing power of saving grace than we did when we were first brought to know God. This will prevent us from losing our first love.

2. Let us see to it, that the fountain from whence our conversation flows, and the root from which our action grows, be pure. This is all important.

3. Let us so examine the course we pursue before it is pursued, as to be assured that the viewing of it afterwards will be, both to us aad others, like the pouring forth of sweet ointment.

4. Let us view doubting God's truth as one of the greatest sins we can commit. Oh, how we insult Him when we doubt what He has said; God's having commanded us to believe, implies that we may believe the truth suited to our circumstances, if we will, and if we do not, the fault is our own. Did He ever command his people to do that which is impossible!

5. Let us resolve so to live every day as to secure through Christ, the abiding testimony that our ways please God. O how vast the peace attendant on those who thus live; it is such as neither health, wealth, honour, nor anything earthly can afford.

6. If possible, let us read a portion of God's word on our knees every day. Those who observe this aright, will find the word to be, as a pasture green, one in which the great Shepherd will richly feed his flock.

Admiration and Aspiration

It is a good thing to believe; it is a good thing to admire. By continually looking upwards, our minds will themselves grow upwards, and as a man, by indulging in habits of scorn and contempt for others is sure to descend to the level of what he despises, so the opposite habits of admiration and enthusiastic reverence for excellence impart to ourselves a portion of the qualities we admire. Here, as in every thing else, humility is the surest path to exaltation.—Dr. Arnold

A Brief Colloquy

"Our doctrine," said a Universalist preacher, "is certainly the most merciful; it embraces in its charity the 'whole race of man, and divests God of all appearance of that severe justice, which you say requires him to damn sinners. Surely, if you would consult your peace of mind, you would discard your gloomy views and embrace it."

"True," says the plain Christian addressed, "it seems to be very charitable; but is it true? Suppose I should trust in it, is there any way of rectifying my mistake, if in the other world I should find it to be erroneous? I feel no disposition to hazard my soul, and as Universalism will, if true, cover may case at all events, I will in the meantime trust to the good old way, of believing in Christ for salvation, and testifying my sincerity by a holy life."

The Instruction of Suffering

Never make a mistake, meet with a disappointment, suffer, lose anything which you prized, or go through any sorrow, without causing it to be a source of instruction. "Who passing through the Valley of Baca make it a well." True wisdom this, instead of abandoning ourselves to grief. Rather say, What am I to learn, be, do, as the result of this trial? So dig in the Valley of Sorrow; it is full of springs not far from the surface.--Anon

Unbelief

Unbelief, the Scriptures declare, does not arise from excusable weakness of reason, but from an "evil heart." They everywhere make belief a moral duty and unbelief a sin. If there were no sinful unbelief of God, the world's weight of sorrow and fear would mostly vanish. Unbelief is the only bar to the salvation of the soul. It is a sin against the remedy.--Anon

He Can Do It All

Christ is the Good Physician. There is no disease he can not heal; no sin he can not remove; no trouble he can not help. He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician who has never yet failed to heal all the spiritual maladies of every soul that has come unto him in faith and prayer.--Anon

All Are Needed

Undoubtedly there is room in the church for all manner of workers. The poorest and least recognized are as much needed as any. Open your watch; your eye falls on jewels there. But the sparkling jewels can not say to the modest coil of steel beside them, "We have no need of thee," for that is the mainspring. And the mainspring can not say to the tiniest cog-wheel, " We have no need of thee," for without it the works stand still. It is just so in the Church of Christ. One little worker can mar the whole by failing to fulfill his office. There is a place for each. Find your place if you are not already in it, and obey the Savior's command, "Go, work in my vineyard "—the command of a king which you disobey at the peril of losing the reward of the faithful.--Anon

The  Christian Walk

The spirit and tone of your daily walk and conversation will have great influence upon your comrades day by day. If it is what it ought to be, it will often fasten conviction on their minds, however wicked they are. Reader, how is it with you? Which way do you lead others? Are you as a beacon light set upon a hill leading others nearer to the cross? or is your lamp burning so dimly that you are a stumblingblock in the way of others? Our every-day walk and conversation in this view are of unspeakable importance.--Anon

Overcoming Our Own Sins

It is not hard to resist the devil in other folks. Many who fail to curb their own passions and prejudices, find it easy (at a safe distance) to fight the pope, or the whisky-ring, or some evil combination, or some outward error. The Scribes and Pharisees could drag a guilty woman before the Lord, but they failed to conquer their own hate and jealousy and lust. A mob, though made up of individuals who never think of fighting their own criminal faults, may wreak terrible vengeance on the crime of another. The right way to cure evil is to get every man to try to overcome his own sins. The place to begin to resist the devil is in your own heart and life.--Anon

Making Allowances

That is a very lovely disposition which excuses the faults of others, albeit severe with its own, on the plea that there is some reason, unseen and unsuspected, which, were it revealed, would go far to modify a harsh judgment. We are told of, or we observe in some fellow creature, actions which our tastes or our principles condemn; or we are pained by something which a friend says or does. Let us not only have patience, but let us also be tolerant, since we can not know all the difficulties with which another must contend, nor can we estimate the weights with which another is handicapped in the race of life.--Anon

Genuine Love

There is no salvation but by the free mercy of God; no mercy but through the mediation of Christ; no interest in Christ, except by faith in him; no justifying faith but that which works by love and purifies the heart; no love to Christ which does not include love to his people, his example, his precepts; no genuine love to his people which does not influence a man to do good to them as he has ability and opportunity.--Anon

Love, Not Contract

The Christian life is not an engagement by contract between the Master and his servant. It is the union of two hearts—that of the Savior and the saved—by the endearing ties of the most intimate love.--Anon

The Church

The church is not a select circle of the immaculate, but a home where the outcast may come in. It is not a palace with gate attendants and challenging sentinels along the entrance-ways holding off at arm's length the stranger, but rather a hospital where the broken-hearted may be healed, and where all the weary and troubled may find rest and take counsel together.--Anon

Love

The sweetest, grandest grace of the Christian life is that of love—the love that thinks no evil and is kind. Every day the heart is appealed to for an exercise of this charity that suffereth long. As the disciple of Jesus has himself been forgiven, so must he forgive. The slightest grudge against a brother impairs this chiefest grace of the soul. The gospel reaches down to the lowest lost sinner upon the face of the earth, and has the power to make him a king and priest unto God, and set him in a heavenly place. There is no limit to the down-getting and uplifting arm of Christ.--Anon

What I Was and Where I Am

Dear Reader: I once resided with 2 Tim. iii. 4, and walked in Eph. ii. 2; my continual conversation at that time is still recorded in Eph. ii. 3. I heard one day an inheritance had been purchased for me, and a description of it reached me. You will find it at I Peter i. 4. One who resides in Hebrew iv. 14 had purchased it, and paid an extraordinary price for it, but, to say the truth, I did not believe this report, as I was entirely unacquainted with the man; and long experience had taught me that strangers never give favors through love alone, and friends seldom give any favors that cost much. However, I called at 1 Tim. iii. 16. As my own prospects at Eph. ii. 12 were as bad as they could be, I found the house I sought for at 2 Cor. v. 1; and the invitations to it, which you will see put up at Isaiah lv. 1, 2, and John vii. 37, are wonderfully inviting to the poor and needy. The house has only one door, and it was some time before I saw the door at John x. 9. My permanent address will now be Gal. v. 1, but call any day at Heb. iv. 16 and you will meet me and many others. We are daily in the habit of meeting there. If you call, attend to what the servant says at Luke xiv. 22, and you may depend upon what the servant says.--Anon

Church Membership

Every Christian needs the strength which membership gives, and which follows a profession of faith. He needs the advice and support of other Christians. Being known as a Christian, he escapes temptations which would otherwise try him. Evil men let him alone, and good men encourage him. Being planted in the house of the Lord, he grows every day in strength. He is in the way of sanctification; he is in the place where God reveals himself. A Christian not in the church is a child without a home. He knows nothing of its protection, or of its enjoyments.--Anon

The Bible

No fragment of any army ever survived so many battles as the Bible; no citadel ever withstood so many sieges; no rock was ever battered by so many hurricanes, and so swept by storms. And yet it stands. It has seen the rise and downfall of Daniel's four empires. Assyria bequeaths a few mutilated figures to the riches of our national museum. Media and Persia, like Babylon, which they conquered, have been weighed in the balance, and long ago found wanting. Greece faintly survives in its historic fame; and iron Rome of the Caesars has long since ceased to boast. And yet the book that foretells all this still survives. While nations, kings, philosophers, systems, institutions have died away, the Bible engages now men's deepest thoughts, is examined by the keenest intellects, stands revered before the highest tribunals, is more read and sifted and debated, more devoutly loved and more vehemently assailed, more defended and more denied, more industriously translated and freely given to the world, more honored and more abused, than any other book the world ever saw. It survives all changes, itself unchanged; it moves all minds, yet is moved by none; it sees all things decay, itself incorruptible; it sees myriads of other books engulfed in the stream of Time, yet is borne along till the mystic angel shall plant his foot upon the sea and swear by him that liveth forever and ever that time shall be no longer.— H. N. Lane

Purpose in Trials

Life is full of trials; it should also be full of triumphs. Difficulties should be neutralized by successes. Shall we become restive, uneasy and fretful under trials? Shall we impugn the wisdom or goodness, or both, of the all-wise and beneficent Creator of the universe for permitting this state of things — not perceiving in our weakness that these very obstacles are designed by an all-wise Creator to give strength and vigor to the mind, and tone to the moral character? They furnish the discipline necessary to the proper development of both mental and moral faculties. The human mind seems to demand difficulties to fairly develop its powers.--Anon

Quotes

Do you ask, "Is Jesus man?" We point to his tears. Do you ask, "Is Jesus God?" We point to his words, "Lazarus, come forth."

Remember that holiness is not the way to Christ, but Christ is the way to holiness.

Proud hearts and lofty mountains are always barren.

Submission is the footprint of faith in the pathway of sorrow.

Nothing sets a person so much out of the devil's reach as humility.

Those who have been humbled make the most solid and useful Christians

Suffering

Carnal man, says Bishop Wilson, can not comprehend that God loves those whom he permits to suffer. But faith teaches us that the cross is the gift of his love, the foundation of our hope, the mark of his children, the evidence of title to the inheritance of heaven. But unless God sanctify it by his Spirit, it becomes an insupportable burden, a subject of murmuring, an occasion of sin.

All for Them

God loved the world; he gave his son; Jesus died, and whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. They have a righteousness wrought out for them by Jesus Christ and received by faith. They have a righteousness wrought in them by the Holy Ghost, and they have a righteousness wrought out by them in a life of obedience as the fruit and evidence of faith.--Anon

Commendation

"Youth, beauty, wit may recommend you to men, but only faith in Jesus Christ can recommend you to God."

God Is Willing

When a man gets down on his knees and prays for pardon of his sins, or for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, or for assurance of salvation, but prays for them as if the Lord would grudge to give them, can he wonder that he is not heard? Whatsoever the Lord has promised, that he is willing to bestow.--Anon

Faith

Faith is the subjective appropriation of the objective righteousness of Christ. Faith demonstrates to the eye of the mind the reality of those things that can not be discerned by the eye of the body. It is the firm assent of the soul to the divine revelation and every part of it, and sets to its seal that God is true.--Anon

Assurance Is Reasonable

Here is a true Christian daily harassed by the weakness of his faith. He shuts himself up in a prison of despondency, and fastens the windows of his cell with the gloomy bars of doubts and fears. How foolish he is! He has been redeemed by covenant blood, saved by almighty grace, pardoned by Jesus, set at liberty by the Son. Yet, spellbound by the fatal mystic power of some weird imagination, he clings to the gloomy walls of Doubting Castle. What would you say of a millionaire who went threadbare, clothed in rags and starving himself on a penny a day? Many a Christian is doing this. He passes along with limping, hesitating gait, at a sorry pace toward the beautiful gates of pearl, when there is in the divine treasury, to be had simply for the asking, grace enough to make him like Jacob of old, a very prince with God. Why thus weary life with selfimposed burdens? Go to the cross. Faith, like the enchanter's wand, will roll the burdens off the soul, and you will come away with light and happy hearts, such as become the children and heirs of a king. Do not grow weary in asking gifts of your Father. His patient ear never wearies of your requests. Never fear asking too great things of his royal hand and heart. ''Giving doth not impoverish him, neither doth withholding enrich him."--Anon

Repentance

True repentance consists in the heart being broken for sin, and broken from sin. Some often repent, yet never reform; they resemble a man traveling a dangerous path, who frequently stops and starts, but never turns back.--Anon

First the Heart

You may be very orthodox, indeed, and very sound in doctrine, but when Jesus comes into the house, he will have the best parlor—the heart. Not here in the cold garret of the brain, but there in the warm parlor of the heart, there must Jesus dwell.--Anon

Believing the Gospel

It is through believing that salvation is realized. We are saved when we believe the gospel. A gospel not believed will do nothing for us but condemn. A believed gospel saves, and saves as soon as believed. That gospel is the Holy Spirit's testimony to God's free love, and to the finished propitiation of the cross. The reception of that divine testimony is salvation. Has this salvation, O man, found its way into you? or is it still resisted? Is the evil heart of unbelief still shutting it out? Is it still appealing to you in vain? Is it still telling you the old story of the love of God, the love of Christ, but telling it in vain? Have you not yet discovered the good news which it brings to you? Are you still unsaved? Unsaved because rejecting this gospel, and refusing the free gift it brings.--Anon

Work

Personal influence and personal work is now wanted to promote the cause of Christ in the world. Giving money is a good thing, and a Christian duty. Going to church is a good thing. Setting a good example is a good thing. Cultivating all Christian virtues is a good thing, and letting one's light shine is a good thing; but, added to all these good things, should be active, personal labor. The command of the Master to work for every good cause is plain. We are required to "seek first the kingdom of God;" to "Go into all the -world;" to "watch" as well as pray, and not be "weary in well doing." Christians should work together "while the day lasts," and "fight" a good fight against all evil. How can they conquer without a conflict with sin? How can they be like Christ without imitating his working example, without "going about" to do good? We need workmen just now, and of a sort which need not and should not be ashamed to work.--Anon

Willing Service

Willingness to serve is one of the first requirements of those who are Christians. They are to believe, to submit, to be patient, meek, merciful, but they are to stand saying, "Here am I, send me." Unless one have that spirit, he will not make much progress, nor will he find his religion a joy to him. Service is demanded, and he knows it, and unless he puts himself in an attitude of hostility by direct refusal, which he is not likely to do, if he remains a Christian at all he must try in some measure to perform it.--Anon

A Happy Woman

What spectacle more pleasing does the earth afford than a happy woman, contented in her sphere, ready at all times to benefit her little world by her exertions, and transforming the briars and thorns of life into roses of Paradise by the magic of her touch? There are those who are thus happy because they can not help it. No misfortunes damp their sweet smiles, and they diffuse a cheerful glow around them, as they pursue the even tenor of their way. What their condition is makes no difference. They may be rich or poor, high or low, admired or forsaken by the fickle world; but the sparkling fountain of happiness bubbles up in their hearts, and makes them radiantly beautiful.--Anon

Trusting God

Christians might avoid much trouble and inconvenience, if they would only believe what they profess, that God is able to make them happy without anything eke. They imagine that if such a dear friend were to die, or such and such blessing were removed, they would be miserable, whereas God can make them a thousand times happier without them. To mention my own case, God has been depriving me of one mercy after another, but as one is removed, he has come in and filled up its place. Now I am a cripple and not able to move, I am happier than ever I was in my life before, or ever expected to be; and if I had believed this twenty years ago, I might have been spared much anxiety. If God had told me some time ago, that he was about to make me as happy as I could be in this world, and then had told me that he should begin by crippling me in all my limbs, and removing me from my usual sources of enjoyment, I should have thought it a very strange mode of accomplishing his purpose. And yet, how is his wisdom manifested in this. —Payson

Taking Hold and Letting Go

Peter's venture. I call it a venture, and yet it was no venture, for that implies hazard, whereas there was no risk. He was leaving a leaking, sinking boat to go on board a noble ship. Still, to human eyes, not to angels, it was a venture. Frail as the vessel was, it was to human eyes safer than the sea. Out of this vessel he let himself down into the raging sea, and began to walk. He was now wholly in the arms of Jesus; nothing between him and the waves but those everlasting arms. What his feelings were in letting go the hold of the ship we do not know, perhaps very peculiar; but, with that word "Come" sounding over the waves, why should he fear? His was the venture of faith—a faith which showed itself, not in its power to grasp, but to let go, the vessel's side—the human stay. Yes, we often speak of faith as taking hold, but here it is seen in letting go.—H. Bonar

Faith's Office

Faith is the eye by which we look to Jesus. A weeping eye is still an eye; a dim-sighted eye is still an eye. Faith is the hand by which we lay hold on Jesus. A trembling hand is still a hand; and he is a believer whose heart within him trembles when he touches the hem of his Savior's garment that he may be healed. Faith is the tongue by which we taste how good the Lord is. A feverish tongue is nevertheless a tongue. And even then we may believe when we are without the smallest portion of comfort, for our faith is founded not upon feeling, but upon the promise of God. Faith is the foot by which we go to Jesus. A lame foot is still a foot. He who comes slowly, nevertheless comes. —H. Miller

By Faith

By faith we learn to know God, what he is, and how great benefits he hath heaped upon us. For by faith we may be made the children of God; and he giveth unto us the Holy Spirit, who doth enlighten and kindle our hearts, that we may keep his law, which else of our own strength we were not able to keep and fulfill—for no man is just or righteous before God who hath not the Holy Spirit; and he who will receive the Holy Spirit must believe in Christ, for by faith we receive the Holy Spirit.--Anon

Singing Faith

Faith's life is song. She marches to battle with a psalm. She suffers with a hymn upon her lips. She glorifies God in the fires. She passes out of the world to the music of the Te Deum, and not to the dolorous notes of a dirge. She thrusts out the wailers and lamenters from the chamber of her departed, and enters the room, having none with her but the Lord, who is the resurrection and the life. Does Doubt compose sonnets, or chant hosannas?--Anon

Worth Thinking About

The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ was organized for the purpose of spreading the gospel. The great commission, ''Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," evidently implied that the glad tidings of salvation were to be spread as soon as possible, and as widely as possible. The commission was given to the church, and not to the immediate personal disciples of our Lord exclusively. It was not to cease, nor to die out with that generation. Nothing can be plainer than this. But any great charge entrusted to the church, must in a greater or less degree, be entrusted to every individual member of the church. The church is made up of individuals. It can do nothing except as its members work, and work together. Consequently, it must be plain that the responsibility of spreading the gospel is, in some degree, placed upon each individual member of the church. This conclusion can not be evaded—can not be avoided. Then what are you doing for the spread of the gospel?--Anon

Growth in Grace

In Christian life under favorable conditions there ought always to be growth, development; an increasing display of those distinguishing graces by which the disciple of Christ becomes characterized among his fellow-men.

It is to be observed that God never fails to supply the means necessary to secure the most highly developed, symmetrical and beautiful life attainable in the circumstances, for each individual professor of religion. The gifts of the Spirit and Word are richly bestowed, and the means of grace and growth are lavished about us.--Anon

What Is a Christian?

In faith, a believer. "He that believeth shall be saved." In knowledge, a disciple. "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples." In character, a saint. "Beloved of God, called to be saints." In influence, a light. "Ye are the light of the world." In conflict, a soldier. "Thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." In communion, a friend. "Henceforth I call you not servants, but have called you friends." In relationship, a child. ''The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." In expectation, an heir. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." In actual inheritance and possession, soon to be glorified. "Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate; whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."--Anon

The One Cherished Sin

Often from my window on the seashore I have observed a little boat at anchor. Day after day, month after month, it is seen at the same spot. The tides ebb and flow, yet it scarcely moves. While many a gallant vessel spreads its sails, and, catching the favoring breeze, has reached the haven, this little bark moves not from its accustomed spot. True it is, that when the tide rises, it rises, and when it ebbs again, it sinks; but advances not. Why is this? It is fastened to the earth by one slender rope. There is the secret. A cord, scarcely visible, enchants it, and will not let it go. Now, stationary Christians, see here your state—the state of thousands. Sabbaths come and go, but leave them as before. Ordinances come and go; ministers come and go; means, privileges, sermons, move them not—yes, they move them—a slight elevation by a Sabbath tide, and again they sink; but no onward, heavenward movement. They are as remote as ever from the haven of rest, this Sabbath as the last, this year as the past. Some one sin enslaves, enchants the soul, and will not let it go. If it be so, make one desperate effort in the strength of God. Take the Bible as your chart, and Christ as your pilot, to steer you safely amid the dangerous rocks, and pray for the Spirit of all grace to fill your every sail, and waft you onward over the ocean of life, to the haven of everlasting bliss.--Anon

The Loss of a Wife

In comparison with the loss of a wife, all other bereavements are trifling. The wife, she who busied herself so unweariedly for the precious ones around her; bitter, bitter is the tear that falls on her cold clay. You stand beside her coffin and think of the past. It seems an amber-colored pathway, where the sun shone upon the beautiful flowers, or the stars hung glittering overhead. Fain would the soul linger there. No thorns are remembered, save those your hands may unwittingly have planted. Her noble, tender heart lies open to your inmost sight. You think of her now as all gentleness, all beauty, all purity. But she is dead. The dear head then laid upon your bosom, rests in the still darkness upon a pillow of clay. The hands that have ministered so untiringly are folded, white and cold, beneath the gloomy portal. The heart, whose every beat measured an eternity of love, lies under your feet. The flowers she bent over with smiles, bend now above her in tears, shaking the dew from their petals, that the verdure around her may be kept green and beautiful. There is no white arm over your shoulder, no speaking face to look up into the eyes of love; no trembling lip to murmur, "Oh! it is too bad." There is so strange a hush in every room; no light footsteps passing around; no smiles to greet you at nightfall. And the old clock ticks, and strikes, and ticks—it was such music when she could hear it. Now it seems a knell on the hours through which you have watched the shadows of death gathering upon her sweet face. And every day the clock repeateth that old story. Many another tale it telleth, too—of beautiful words and deeds that are registered above. You feel—oh, how often—that the grave can not keep her.--Anon

Keeping Up the Home

Home ought to be the most pleasant and comfortable spot on earth. Better be provoking anywhere else than at home. One should never plant thorns where he has to spend so much of his time himself. A little self-denial, a habit of pleasant speaking, a consideration of the wants of others— these make home delightful. The Rev. F. E. Clark thus touches upon a habit that makes many a home insufferable: '' Oh, the eternal nagging and fault-finding and carping that go on in many a family! Every little personal, every little harmless pet indulgence, every ingrained trait on either side, comes in for a pestering fire of unpleasant remarks that prick and scarify and sting, until the house is no more fit to live in than a patch of nettles is for a tired man's bed."--Anon

Faith and Its Object

Errors in doctrine, and difficulties in practical religion, arise from separating gospel faith, ordinances and agencies from Christ. The rope could not help a drowning man, unless somebody held and drew upon the other end of it. His faith, when he grasps it, is not in the rope, but in the man who throws it to him. He does not expect to be saved by the rope, but by the man who draws him through the rope.--Anon

Christ Saves

Could the sinner realize that Christ is the cause, and faith the condition of salvation; could he look and struggle through ordinances and means to the great living, inviting, interceding Redeemer, he would soon find peace. And could the Christian always remember that Christ—Christ only—saves, and that faith—and faith only—unites to Christ, his peace would be like a river. Write in your memory and in your heart that Christ Jesus Saves All Who Believe In Him. Never forget it. Act promptly, and always upon it as the great practical truth of revelation. Then your path will be that of the just—that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.--Anon

Working on the Mind

If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds—if we imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and our fellow-men—we engrave on those tablets something which will brighten to all eternity.--Anon

Domestic Faults

Homes are more often darkened by the continual recurrence of small faults, than by the actual presence of any decided vice. The Eastern traveler can combine his force and hunt down the tiger that prowls upon his path; but he can scarcely escape the mosquitoes that infest the air he breathes, or the fleas that swarm the ground he treads. The drunkard has been known to renounce his darling vice; the slave to dress and extravagance her besetting sin; but the waspish temper, the irritating tone, rude, dogmatic manners, and the hundred nameless negligences that spoil the beauty of association, have rarely done other than proceed till the action of disgust and gradual alienation has turned all the currents of affection from their course, leaving nothing but a barren track over which the mere skeleton of companionship stalks along.--Anon

Card Playing in the Home

Playing cards for "pastime," or as an "innocent amusement" soon becomes a passion, and when once fixed, a man will forego home, family, business and pleasure, and suffer the loss of his all, for the exciting scenes of the card-table. That accomplished writer, the late Dr. Holland, of Springfield, Mass., said: "I have all my days had a card-playing community open to my observation, and I am yet unable to believe that that which is the universal resort of the starved in soul and intellect, which has never in any way linked to itself tender, elevating, or beautiful associations—the tendency of which is to unduly absorb the attention from more weighty matters, can recommend itself to the favor of Christ's disciples. The presence of culture and genius may embellish, but can never dignify it." "I have this moment," said Dr. Holland, "ringing in my ears the dying injunction of my father's early friend, ' Keep your son from playing cards. Over them I have murdered time and lost heaven.'" Fathers and mothers, keep your sons from cards in the "home circle."

Anon

What Faith in God Does

Faith justifies, because the believer's obligations to justice are all canceled by Christ, his surety.

Faith sanctifies, because the believer forsakes his own righteousness, which at best is but filthy rags, and accepts the righteousness of Christ.

Faith purifies, because it begets hope, and he who hath hope in him "purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

Faith strengthens, because the believer forsakes his own strength, which is utter weakness, and lays hold on the mighty arm of God. ''He stays on his God."

Faith gives courage, because it enables the believer to penetrate the darkest clouds, and see that there are more with him than against him; it makes him cry out, "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear."

Faith gives joy in the midst of sorrow, because it tells the believer that his light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for him "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Faith gives patience, because it shows the believer that "he is faithful who hath promised," and that "in due season we shall reap if we faint not."

Faith gives peace, because it shows the believer that, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Faith gives rest, not by and by only, but now —here—in this world of toil and sorrow, because it leads the believer, laboring and heavy laden, to him who gives him rest.
 
Anon

The Happy Life

Happy is he who has gospel submission in his will, true humility in his heart, sound peace in his conscience, sanctifying grace in his soul, due order in his affections, the Redeemer's yoke on his neck, a vain world under his feet, and a crown of glory on his head. Happy is the life of such a man. To attain this life, pray fervently, believe firmly, work abundantly, wait patiently, live holily, die daily, watch your heart, guard your senses, redeem time, love Christ, and long for glory.—M. J. A., St. Louis, Mo.

The Christian's Hope

The Christian's hope is not a feeling, but "an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which has entered into that within the veil." It is of the highest importance that we cultivate the habit of dealing with the substance of salvation, rather than with the emotions incident to it. The true policy of the Christian is to be always looking away to the object of his faith and the substance of his hope, even to Jesus, by whom we do believe in God, "that raised him from the dead and gave him glory, that our faith and hope might be in God."

The Worst Robber

When a robber takes a man's money, he leaves the man's mind and body as strong and healthy as before. But when the liquor seller takes it for intoxicating drinks, he gives that which weakens the mind, destroys the body and corrupts the heart. Which is the worse robber?

Generous Support

Preachers, whether stationed or traveling, should receive a generous support. True ministers of the gospel feel that they must preach without regard to money consideration. Like Paul, they can say: "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto mc, if I preach not the gospel." But a generous brotherhood will extend to all such self-sacrificing men a generous support. If a man is fit to preach, he is worth wages. If he is worth wages, he should receive them with all the business regularity that is demanded and enforced in business life. There is no man in the community who works harder for what he receives than the faithful minister. There is no man—in whose work the community is interested—to whom regular wages, that shall not cost him a thought, are so important.--Anon

A Preacher's Wages

Nothing more cruel to a preacher, or disastrous to his work, can be done than to force upon him a feeling of dependence upon the charities of his flock. He is the creature of a popular schism, and a preacher without influence to those who do not respect him or his office sufficiently to pay him the wages due to a man who devotes his life to them. Manliness can not live in such a man, except it be a torture—a torture endured, simply because there are others who depend upon the charity doled out to him. Good, manly preachers do not want gifts; they want wages. They need them, and the people owe them; but they take to themselves the credit of benefactors, and place their preachers in an awkward and false position. If Christians do not sufficiently recognize the legitimacy of the preacher's calling to render him fully his wages, and to assist him to maintain his manly independence before the world, they must not blame the world for looking upon him with a contempt that forbids and precludes influence. The world will be quite ready to take the preacher at the valuation of his friends, and the religion he teaches at the price its professors are willing to pay in a business way for its ministry.--Anon

Strong Drink

Gentlemen, I can not permit a question of mere revenue to be considered along side of a question of morals; but give me a sober population, not wasting their earnings on strong drink, and I will know where to get my revenue.—Gladstone to Brewers of London

Not Abandoned

God brings no man into the conflicts of life to desert him. Every man has a Friend in heaven whose resources are unlimited; and on him he may call at any hour and find sympathy and assistance.--Anon

Ardent Spirits

The habit of using ardent spirits by men in office, has occasioned more injury to the public, and more trouble to me, than all other causes. Were I to commence my administration again, the first question I would ask respecting a candidate for office, would be, Does he use ardent spirits?—Jefferson

Slander

Of all things contemptible to the feelings of good people, slander is the most to be despised. It blights hope, destroys happiness, propagates family feuds, lowers the standard of morality. Slandering is found in all grades of society. None are free in certain degrees from its contaminating influence. In all the catalogue of human evils, none are so widespreading, malignant and peacedisturbing as those growing out of slander. While other evils may affect only a limited class, all suffer alike from the miseries produced by the demon slander. Long is the list of those who are injured. The minister of the gospel, the poor, the rich, the high and low, of every country and language; all bear the sad testimony against this agent of wickedness and bitter enemy to God. Oh that the slanderer would view his fiendish work, and consider the ruin he has wrought in the happy homes of mankind, homes where sacred happiness has been transformed into a habitation of despair and wretchedness. Hope and happiness that were high as the morning star, at thy baneful touch have fled as the evening's beauty before midnight darkness. Thy foul breath is as fatal in its effects as the samiel that issues from the Arabian desert and sweeps over the land on its mission of death.--Anon

Sunshine at Home

Many a child goes astray, not because there is a want at home, but simply because home lacks sunshine. A child needs smiles as much as the flowers need sunbeams. Children look beyond the present moment. If anything pleases, they are apt to seek it; if it displeases, they are apt to avoid it. If home is a place where faces are sour, and words harsh and fault-finding are ever in the ascendant, they will spend as many hours as possible elsewhere.--Anon

Hindered Prayer

The Apostle Peter exhorts husbands and wives to love and faithfulness, that their "prayers be not hindered." Contention in the home disturbs the relation of husband and wife, not only to each other, but to God. Faithfulness to each other prepares them for communion with God. Quarrels between father and children, or brothers and sisters, disturb their religious life. So any neglect of duty in the family or in society hinders prayer. Quarrels in the church are an insurance against revival. "The Spirit, like a peaceful dove, flies from the realms of noise and strife." "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." An unforgiving spirit is not the spirit of prayer. Neither is a dishonest, or covetous, or sensuous spirit. Any sin unrepented of is a hindrance to prayer. Repentance, faithfulness in every duty, and watchfulness against temptation, are conditions of prayer.--Anon

Little Crosses

Christ comes to us morning by morning, to present to us for the day then opening, divers little crosses, the thwarting of our own will, interference with our own plans, disappointment of our own pleasures. Do we kiss them, and take them up, and follow in his footsteps, like Simon, the Cyrenian? Or do we toss them from us scornfully because they are so little, and wait for a great affliction to prove our patience and our resignation to his will? Ah! how might we accommodate to the small matters of religion, generally those words of the Lord respecting the children, ''Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones." Despise not little sins, they have ruined many a soul. Despise not little duties, they have been to many a saved man an excellent discipline of humanity.

Live Truly

If we live truly, we will have something to live for. Aimless life, no matter how busy or intense, is only an earnest waste, bringing no blessing in its progress or at its end. For me to live is Christ—that is the Christian's declaration. This one thing I do, forgetting the things that are behind, I press fonvard toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Who says that, speaks like a consecrated soul. There is a vast amount of busy religion that is without a mark; it is pressing forward, but never toward anything, and hence it produces no result.

Anticipating Trouble

People love to bring us speedily under the shadow of our doom. They fear the hour of sorrow tarries, so they run before it to speak of its coming. If we do not saddle the horse to meet trouble, some one else does it for us. When Elisha escorted his Master to the highway of heaven beyond Jordan, to wait the coming of ethereal chariots with fiery steeds harnessed in flame, the sons of the prophets must needs leave their studies at Bethel and run to meet him, with the question, "Knowest thou not, the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today?" Then a delegation waited on him from Jericho with the same question. To each he answered, "Hold ye your peace." In other words, "Mind your own business." The world is full of such babblers today, and some of them are sons of the prophets.

Known to One, Cancealed to the Other

The wise man has his foibles as well as the fool. But the difference between them is, that the foibles of the one are known to himself and concealed from the world; and the foibles of the other are known to the world and concealed from himself.—Mason

Fine Prayers

Prayers need not be fine. I believe God abhors fine prayers. If a person asks charity of you in elegant sentences, he is not likely to get it.— Spurgeon

I Know Where They Are Not

If any of you are so wise that you know all the objections to Christianity, all the hard places which faith must encounter, all the dark sayings and perplexing mysteries of the gospel, remember that it is nothing to your credit. A wrecker who lives from the goods of foundered vessels and shipwrecked crews, knows where all the dangerous rocks are along the coast, and he is always hovering about them. But the shipmaster knows more about the channel than about the reefs. A calm, self-possessed captain of a vessel was asked: "Captain, I suppose you know where every rock and shoal is along this whole coast, do you not?" "I know where they are not," was his reply, which is the more important thing. Admirable answer. If your faith is fixed in God, and your heart is wedded to his service, you will know where the dangers and difficulties and mysteries and contradictions are not. Riding peacefully upon the great deeps of his love, your greatest joy will be that you no longer live by doubts, but by affirmations.--Anon

Pray for the Preacher

A minister, surrounded as he is by temptations, is in great danger if he has not the prayers of the people of God. Without these prayers, he will be likely to accomplish little in the cause of his Master. His own devotions in the sanctuary will be formal and frigid, and the word which he preaches will be likely to come from a cold and heavy heart. There is no way in which a congregation can better advance the cause of piety in their own hearts, than by praying much for their minister.—A. Barnes

Knowledge

Cecil observes that a preacher may have little of what is called learning, but he must have knowledge. There is a knowledge of spiritual things which no book and no genius can give. The humblest Christian may have this knowledge. And it is this "light from heaven" that creates the effective preacher—the preacher who carries conviction to the heart of the sinner. Such a man discourses of spiritual things from experience, and therefore without effort. He comes before his people filled with the Holy Ghost—that is to say, with power.--Anon

Grieving and Resisting

Believers may grieve the Spirit; unbelievers resist him. The grieving may be unconscious; the resisting is always conscious.—Andrew Bonar

Being Happy

Remember that kind words and loving deeds are worth more than cold, heartless prayers. Remember that this life is too short to be spent in bitter envying and strife. Be just as happy as you can, and never let an opportunity pass to make others happy without improving it. Remember if we scatter thorns and briers wherever we go, we must expect to walk on the same; but if we scatter smiles and blessings, the same will return to us again. Remember that a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Remember that to love God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, is fulfilling the whole law.--Anon

Work

No amount of wealth sets one free from obligation to work—in a world the God of which is ever working. He who works not, has not yet discovered what God made him for, and is a false note in the orchestra of the universe.--Anon

Fidelity

The best fidelity to Christ is shown in a daily vigilant service to him in trifles, in efforts to honor him in humble, inconspicuous services, such as in good temper in families, sympathy with man and beast, honesty in business, liberality to servants, fidelity to employers.--Anon

What Sin Will Do

There was one crack in the lantern, and the wind has found it out and blown out the candle. How great a mischief one unguarded point of character may cause us! One spark blew up the magazine, and shook the whole country for miles around. One leak sank a vessel, and drowned all on board. One wound may kill the body.

One sin destroys the soul.

It little matters how carefully the rest of the lantern is protected, the one point which is damaged is quite sufficient to admit the wind; and so it little matters how zealous a man may be in a thousand things, if he tolerates one darling sin. Satan will find out the flaw, and destroy all of his hopes. The strength of a chain is to be measured, not by the strongest, but by its weakest links; for, if the weakest snaps, what is the use of the rest? Satan is a close observer, and knows exactly where our weak points are. We have need of very much watchfulness; and we have great cause to bless our merciful Lord, who prayed for us that our faith fail not. Either our pride or our sloth, our ignorance, our anger or our lust would prove our ruin, unless grace interposed. Any one of our senses or faculties might admit the foe; yea, our virtues and graces might be the gates of entrance to our enemies. Oh, Jesus, if thou hast indeed bought me with thy blood, be pleased to keep me by thy power even unto the end.—Spurgeon

Prayer

If the arrow of prayer is to enter heaven, it must be shot from the soul full bent. Prayer draws all the Christian graces into its focus. It draws Charity with her lovely train, Repentance with her holy sorrow, Faith with her elevated eyes, Hope with her grasped anchor, Benevolence with her open hands, Zeal looking far and wide to bless, and Humility looking at home.--Anon

The Gospel Will Live

People do not support the gospel—the gospel supports them. The gospel will live, whether they do, or do not, pay their five, or fifty, or five hundred dollars to uphold it. The gospel will live, whether they attack, neglect or cherish it; but without the gospel (the good tidings) there is for them no life, neither in this world nor the world to come.--Anon

Advice

Let us make God our end. The same characters as are upon the things aimed at, will be imprinted on the spirit of him who aims at them. So when God and his glory are made our end, we shall find a silent likeness pass in upon us; the beauty of God will, by degrees, enter upon our souls.--Anon

Careful Speaking

To speak ill upon knowledge, shows a want of charity. To speak ill upon suspicion, shows a want of honesty. To know evil of others, and not speak of it, is sometimes discretion. To speak evil of others, and not know it, is always dishonesty. He maybe evil himself who speaks good of others upon knowledge; but he can never be good himself who speaks evil of others upon suspicion.— Warwick

Effort and Success

Let us look unto Jesus, and not to the apparent success of our efforts. Apparent success is not always the measure of real success; and, besides, God has not enjoined success upon us, but only labor. He will ask an account of our labor, but not of our success. Why, then, should we be too much concerned about it? We must sow the seed; God will gather the fruit. If not today, it will be tomorrow. If not for us, it will be for others. Even if success were to be granted us, it would be dangerous to look complacently upon it. On the one hand, we are tempted to claim for ourselves some of the glory; on the other hand, we are too prone to slacken our zeal when we cease to see good results arising from it; that is the very time when we ought to put forth double energy. To look at our success is to walk by sight; to look unto Jesus, and to persevere in following and serving him despite all discouragements, is to walk by faith.—Rev. A. Monod

Intemperance

Sir Matthew Hale, after twenty-four years' of observation on the bench, said: "If all the murders, manslaughters, burglaries, riots, tumults, adulteries, fornications, rapes and other enormities committed in the country were represented by five parts, four parts would beyond dispute be directly due to intemperance."

The Christ Life

A man is saved because Christ died for him; he continues saved because Christ lives for him. The sole reason why the spiritual life abides is because Jesus lives. This is to get upon a rock, above the fogs which cover everything below. If my life rests on something within me, then today I live and tomorrow I die; but if my spiritual life rests in Christ, then in my darkest frames—aye, and when sin has most raged against my spirit— still I live in the ever-living One, whose life never changes. —Spurgeon

The Life Struggle

The world knows no victory to be compared with victory over our own passions. The struggle of life is between the flesh and spirit, and one or the other finally gains the ascendency. Every day and every hour of the Christian's life is this contest going on; and sad it is to think how often it is that victory is declared in favor of the earth, with its sinful passions. The Apostle Paul, after having labored long and earnestly in his Lord's service—after having done more for the spread of the truth than all the other apostles—still felt that he was a human being, and liable at any time, through the weakness of the flesh, to lose all. "I keep under my body," said he, "and bring it into subjection, lest, after I have preached the gospel unto others, I myself should be a castaway." If this watchfulness was needed on the part of this aged and long-tried servant of God, what care and diligence ought we to exercise, lest we should lose all in an unguarded hour! Our pathway through life is thickly set with snares for our feet. The seductions of passion, the allurements of vice—things to arouse our anger and stir up our heart's feelings—await us at every turn of life's devious ways, and blessed indeed is that man or that woman that meets them all without harm.

Conversation

Conversation is the daughter of reasoning, the mother of knowledge, the breath of the soul, the commerce of hearts, the bond of friendship, the nourishment of content, and the occupation of men of wit.--Anon

Keep Self Out

It is hard to keep self out, even when we are working for God. There is a constant temptation to do good things to be seen of men, or to hear the pleasant voice of human praise. This is one of the subtle dangers that belong to prominence. One who is not known, and never has grown accustomed to the voice of commendation, does not meet this temptation as does another, all of whose life is public, and whose acts are everywhere spoken of. It requires a very careful watch over the heart, in this latter case especially, to keep self out.--Anon

The Three Best Guides

A sound head, an honest heart and a humble spirit are the three best guides through time and eternity.--Anon

Self-Denial

There are many seasons in a man's life—and the more exalted and responsible his position, the more frequently do these seasons recur—when the voice of duty and the dictates of feeling are opposed to each other; and it is only the weak and the wicked who yield that obedience to the selfish impulses of the heart which is due to reason and honor.--Anon

Habitual Lying

No vice more easily than lying stupefies man's conscience. He who tells lies frequently will soon become an habitual liar, and will soon lose the power of readily distinguishing between the conceptions of the imagination and the recollections of memory.--Anon

Womanhood

There is no surer, heavier, more hopeless drag upon a manly courage and ambition than a weak, frivolous, self-indulgent wife, whose one concern in life is present pleasure. In great crises, which demand nerve and resolution, she unmans him, as did that British naval officer's wife, whose helpless terror in shipwreck so unnerved her husband and brought such disaster as to lead to a rule forbidding wives of naval officers to sail in the same ship with their husbands. Of such a woman Miss Yonge has well said that, ''when pain and anguish wring the brow," she is likely to be too much occupied with her own hysterics to be "a ministering angel." Still worse, however, than this failure at great crises is the daily drag of her aimlessness and selfishness upon his manhood. Such a wife may be amiable, affectionate, doting, indeed; so much the worse for the husband. If she were a termagant, he could harden himself against her; but when she coaxes and cries, and, like Sampson's wife, lies sore upon him, treating every self-denial which he asks her to share as a proof of coldness, and every sacrifice for honor and for conscience' sake as a fraud against her rights and those of her children, what is he to do? What he will do in nine cases out of ten is what Lydgate did when he married Rosamond Vincy—give up all high ambition for study, for research, for self-denying service of his fellowmen, stifle the voice of conscience when it demands sacrifice, and devote himself to the one sole concern of gaining, by hook or by crook, the wherewithal to keep sunshine at his fireside, by the unlimited indulgence of a frivolous woman's fancies.--Anon

A Millstone

O young woman! better were it for you that a millstone were hanged about your neck, and that you were drowned in the depth of the sea, than that you yourself should be the millstone to sink a fellow-mortal in this bottomless abyss of worldliness.--Anon

Worn Away or Washed Away?

Tis one thing to have our sins worn away from the memory, and quite another thing to have them washed away at the gospel fountain.—A. Fuller

Obedience and Love

It is a good thing to obey the law of God, but it is a better thing to love it. The former is to live a new life, the latter is to have a new heart. A slave may obey a master whom he fears and hates, but a child loves the law of a father.

Proof of Christ's Love

Oh, how different Christ's love to us from ours to him! We have not to ask him if he loves us. If any one should ever ask that question of Jesus, he would say, "Behold my hands and my feet." He bears on his body the marks of his love to us.—Nevin

Compensation

God meant our life to be a power, and he has so formed us that our noblest satisfaction is found in that which we are able to accomplish for his glory. Sorrows are the spurs which goad us to our sublimest endeavors. They freshen and purify the soul. They wake its powers into activity. They set in motion its deepest springs. They crystallize its slumbering desires into stern resolves, which, in turn, they shape into mighty deeds.--Anon

Conquer Sin
 
The greatest of all blessings is to conquer sin. If we do not conquer sin, it will conquer us. But how can we get this victory? Not by turning over a new leaf, as men say. Some of you have turned over a good many leaves, and they are blotted. You can not conquer yourself without help from Christ. Alexander could conquer nations, yet died a drunkard when thirty-two years old. But Christ comes to us all; and, if we receive him, he will give us power. Christ in the heart is the only remedy for sin. It is easy to serve God when we learn to love him. The Christian does not have to give up all pleasures, but only those that are sinful and hurtful. I have more happiness in an hour than the guilty votaries of pleasure have in a week. And this is the testimony of all true Christians. Unbelief is a great sin. It is giving God the lie. It is saying, "I respect you, but I don't believe you."--Anon