Earlier text: Evidences of Christianity"BECAUSE thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev. iii, 17.
Those adressed in this text are self-deceived. They think their condition is very well, when it is very ill. We see the greatest contrast possible between their supposed, and real state. They say they are rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, because they verily believe this is the case, when in fact they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. If it be said they are hypocrites, professing what they are not, we reply that the phrase, "and knowest not," vindicates them from the charge of designing hypocrisy. They may possess a good degree of honesty, yet be perfectly deceived. Then it is a well-sustained fact that it is possible for the human mind to be brought under a complete deception in regard to spiritual things, and at the same time the person possess a good degree of sincerity. Deception has been Satan's specific work ever since he told that artful lie to Eve, and deceived her, and brought ruin upon the race. It has been his object to make fallen men believe that their condition was better than it really was, and lead them to build themselves up on false hopes, and to feel secure while upon the brink of ruin. He has sometimes broken out in wrath, and the millions of the just who have fallen in death in different ages have been the special victims of his ire; but his grand scheme to sink men in perdition has been to lead them to rest upon false hopes, and to murmur against those whom God sent to reprove their wrongs and lead them to walk in the counsels of God. His power to deceive those prone to wander from God has been almost without limitation. We propose to give two examples from the Old Testament. 1. The conduct of the children of Israel while Moses was with God forty days receiving the law. They were acquainted with the fact that God had wrought miracles by the hands of Moses and Aaron to convince their heathen master that he should let his Israelitish slaves go free. They saw the dreadful plagues upon the Egyptians, and knew they were stripes from the God of heaven to humble their oppressors, and to effect their freedom. They saw the waters of the Red Sea part, and the land appear through it, upon which their mighty host passed over dry shod. They witnessed the drowning of their pursuers, who in their blindness and desperate thirst for slavery, even ventured to enter the channel of the sea that God had miraculously opened for the escape of his people. All this they witnessed. It would seem that by every cord that heaven could employ they were bound in allegiance to the living God, the maker of the heavens and the earth. Yet we see them in the absence of their chosen leader but forty days, falling into base idolatry. Aaron yields to their wishes, the golden calf is made, the people worship it, and ascribe the victories of their deliverance to it! Oh! what an insult to God! But there stands Aaron as calm as heaven, drifting on the tide of popular opinion into the gulf of infidelity and idolatry. The people must have felt that they had a splendid minister—so mild, so yielding to their wishes—and doubtless it would have given them great satisfaction to have made him a popular donation party. All might have gone on very finely for a while had it not been for what they must have regarded as the impious interference of their absent leader. Moses appears with the tables of the law in his hands. He beholds the idolatry of the people, and, overwhelmed with a keen sense of their dreadful apostasy, he casts the tables of stone from his hands and they brake. It is even said of Moses that his "anger waxed hot," and with this impulse he cast the tables of stone from his hands; yet the record does not show that God reproved him for this. He was a mortal man. He had just come from the presence of God, imbued with the highest sense of that pure worship which he required. In the greatest contrast with every feeling of his being, he beheld the base idolatry of his people, and was overcome. In this he did not sin, but rather the facts stand out upon the sacred record as a memorial of his keen and exalted sense of the purity of the worship of God. But no doubt the people in their blind idolatry were disgusted with the apparent rashness and impetuosity of Moses, and many an Israelite was ready to cry out, "What a bad spirit he manifests," and turn to the conduct of Aaron to show a commendable contrast. And is it not astonishing that the people of Israel should apostatize so soon? that in the short period of forty days so complete a revolution should take place with them? We might safely suppose that the manifestations of almighty power in connection with their deliverance were sufficient to stamp upon their memory, and their faith, the facts of the existence of the God of heaven, and their duty to worship him, not to be effaced during their lifetime. Such a revolution of sentiment outside of religion, with any people of equal magnitude, could not take place in less than forty years. Then why this fearful revolution in only forty days? It was one which would affect their present prosperity and their eternal interest. Why this rash, sudden, desperate movement toward perdition? Their experience, though rich in witnessing the manifestations of the power of God, was brief, hence they were illy prepared to stand trial. And God was about to establish in their midst his law, and a system of worship. Satan knew this, and summoned his legions to hover about God's people in the absence of their leader, and turn their minds to idolatry. These facts are a striking illustration of mortal weakness, the dangers of inexperience, and of the power of the Devil. 2. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and their sympathizers. It is said of them, Num. xvi, 2, 3, "And they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?" This rebellion appears to be the result of too low a standard of holiness with a portion of the people, and their being inflamed by the spirit of jealousy toward Moses and Aaron, who were laboring to bring them up to a higher standard. This is very evident from rebel testimony: "Ye take too much upon you," say the rebels, "seeing the congregation is holy every one of them." They had a low standard. They were deceived, and deceiving one another, and were irritated at the efforts of Moses and Aaron, who wished to improve their condition. They felt confident that they were rich and increased in goods and had need of nothing, and knew not that they were as the sequel proves, wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. The facts are of such peculiar interest to the subject that we quote largely. Verses 4-7, "And when Moses heard it he fell upon his face: and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to-morrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. This do: take you censers, Korah and all his company, and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord to-morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi." Verses 23-38, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram: and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart I pray you from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children!" And Moses said, Hereby shall ye know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men: then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them, fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder: for they are hallowed. The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for the covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. As we read the above record of God's punishment of jealousy and rebellion against his chosen instruments, and see how he signally approved of them before all the people, and as publicly manifested his anger upon their opponents, we might suppose that this would forever put an end to rebellion, and that the people would humbly honor the men whom God had honored as their leaders. "But," the record reads, verse 41, "on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the congregation of the Lord." Jealousy and rebellion first originated with Satan, and caused his fall from a position among the highest order of intelligences in heaven. Legions of sympathizing angels fell with him. But this heavy blow did not cure the rebellion. Next Satan caused the fall of man; and he and his angels have ever since been carrying on a warfare against God, Christ, holy angels, and the loyal and faithful of earth, by inspiring fallen mortals with jealousy and rebellion against the government of heaven. This rebellion can be cured only by exterminating the first great rebel, and all his sympathizers, whether they be angels or men. Such is the nature of rebellion, as we trace its history with the professed people of God down to the present time, that it seems incurable. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 1 Sam. xv, 23. Satan inspires men with the spirit of rebellion, and they are more or less insane, and sometimes act like mad men. This insanity and madness is seen in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and in Israel's swift departure from the living God, while Moses was absent from them but forty days. We trace this spirit of rebellion all the way down the sad history of the church to the perilous times of the last days, when Satan's malice is turned in ten-fold fury against those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Here we may expect the unconsecrated, self-deceived to fall under the power of Satan and manifest an insane madness and rebellion against the work of God, which can hardly find a parallel in the past. But God, in the use of the pure testimony and the rod of affliction will purge his people from all this, and they will yet stand forth united and true. Eze. xx, 35, 38: "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there I will plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels."
Which are among you, I exhort. 1 Pet. v. Organization has set apart in the church an order of men called elders; one in each church to take the lead in worship, &c., when messengers are not present. This order of men are generally lay members, and upon them rests somewhat of responsibility. The church on all common occasions looks to them to go in and out before them; and if they fail to come up to the work, how is the loss to be made up? If they are cold and formal, if they are behind their flocks in spirituality, if the elder is wrong and sullen, or stiff and distant, or rough and short, or bitter and arrogant; or noisy, or empty, or officious, or overbearing, or hasty, or unteachable, or envious, or conceited, or self-confident, or supercilious, or rash, or unsociable, or ignorant and willful, or unrefined, how it pierces the hearts of his brethren. Peter is clear in his exhortation to the elders, that they should be ensamples to the flock. O, how blessed it would be to see all the elders examples in everything good and praiseworthy! But it must be so. The church cannot go backward, but forward; and when the leader or elder takes the lead in all that is good, when his example is blameless, then the church grows in grace, and knowledge, and power; but when the church must drag its leader, or elder, then its movement is not a natural one, and it cannot thrive. Satan works systematically against the people of God; and when he weakens the elder of a church, he knows he has done the church itself a great injury. The nation is suffering untold damage from the weakness, and imbecility, and corruption, among its army officers. Let it not be so among us. Let us as a people arise, and for this let each elder strive for the victory. Let us study the best means of doing good to our brethren; how we can be most acceptable to them while we are at the same time faithful to our duty to God. Let us study 1 Pet. v. Let us ponder upon it. Let us get into the work with the whole heart. We want more vigor, more of the Spirit of God, more strength, more power from on high. When we see an army supplied with competent, disciplined officers, we say it is sure to win the day; but if its officers are slack, and ill-conditioned, all predict its downfall. Let us each feel the burden of souls, and the burden of the message. Let us mourn as much the fall of a member, as if a favorite son had fallen into the enemy's hand. I have seen an elder almost crazy at the loss of a favorite child, but he could tell of the fall of the members of his flock unmoved. The church can arise, and will, when all its parts work in union. Brethren, let us move forward, not by doing some great thing, but in all the simplest acts of life and duty, infusing into all the life and vigor of the Spirit of God, in humility and godly fear. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I recollect that, when a lad, I was crossing the East River, from New York to Brooklyn on a very foggy day, in a ferry boat. My father, and several other individuals belonging to the same company with myself, were desirous of going to Flushing, on Long Island, to attend a meeting. It was necessary, therefore, to cross the river early, and when we arrived at the foot of Fulton street, we found that the steamboat had just left the wharf. Being unwilling to wait for its return, we made a party, with the passengers on the wharf, sufficient to tempt the ferrymen to put off in a small boat, and convey us across the river. The ferrymen hesitated for some time, but at length the offer of a sufficient reward induced them to set out. The reason of their objecting to starting was, that the thick fog rendered the passage uncertain. They could scarcely see from one end of the boat to the other; and much they feared that they would lose their way, and row about the river for several hours to no purpose. At length we set out, the ferrymen magnifying the difficulties of the passage as much as possible, in order to enhance the value of their services. When we first left the wharf, a stranger stepped toward the stern of the boat and took the helm. Every eye was fixed on him who had assumed this responsible station, from which every passenger had shrunk. But now that one of their number had seen fit to take the command of the boat, on whose skill and knowledge solely depended the success of our little voyage, every one was disposed to criticise him. There could be no doubt that if he failed to bring us safely to the landing place on the opposite side of the river, he would be obliged to endure the reproaches of every one who had embarked. Indeed, it was soon perceived that some were unwilling to wait for his failure, before they gave vent to their feelings. Thinking it a matter of certainty that he could not find his way to the ferry stairs during a fog as impenetrable as midnight darkness, they began to murmur in anticipation. The ferrymen were first to evince their uneasiness, by casting glances at each other, which were noticed by the passengers, and regarded as prognostic of ill success. One of the passengers then asked the stranger at the helm if he did not think he was going too far up the river. The stranger at the helm bowed, and made answer that if any other gentleman present wished to take the helm, he would resign it to his charge; from which it was readily inferred that so long as he held his place, he intended to be guided solely by his own judgment. This answer silenced complaint for a time, as no other individual felt disposed to relieve him of his responsibility. But the uneasiness of the passengers increased as we proceeded; and when we became entirely surrounded by a fog, and no object in sight by which our course could be directed, the murmurs and conjectures of the little company were audibly expressed. “Why don't he put the helm up?” said one, nestling in his seat. “We shall come out somewhere near the navy yard,” said another. “He had better let go and trust to the ferrymen,” said a lady present. “Why don't he keep the tiller to him?” said an elderly black woman, anxiously. As the stranger paid no attention to these remarks, his silence was set down for obstinacy; and I am afraid that a few observations were added which somewhat exceeded the bounds of civility. The stranger evidently heard these injurious observations, for he made answer again, that if any gentleman wished to take the helm, he would resign it to his hand. Just about this time, a dark object appeared on the water, and as it became more visible through the fog, it was recognized as a vessel which lay at anchor between the landing places on each side of the river. This convinced every one that, so far, the pilot had gone as correctly as if the bright sun had shone unclouded upon the river; and silence was at once restored. All murmurs were hushed; satisfaction appeared upon every countenance. But the vessel soon faded again in the mist, and again nothing but fog and water surrounded us. Dissatisfaction once more prevailed, and the steersman received a great many instructions in his duty, to which he paid no heed, and only returned the answer as before, that he was willing to resign his station to any one who would accept it. After a great deal of fretting and needless discomposure, the travelers perceived land dimly emerging through the dense fog of the morning. Shapeless and unusual as everything appeared, it is no wonder that some imagined they had reached the navy yard, about a mile above the landing place. But all our doubts were at end when the prow of the boat struck the ferry stairs, and we discovered that the stranger had conveyed us straight as an arrow to our point of destination! Many years have passed away since the occurrence of this event, yet occasions which have taken place have frequently brought it to my recollection. When I find fault with the ordering of Providence; when I hear men undertake to account for his decrees who maketh darkness his pavilion, and whose ways are past finding out; when I see the good distressed, and apparently ready to murmur at the decrees of heaven, I remember the man at the helm, and say to myself that, however inscrutable may be the great Father of life, and however he may suffer darkness and doubt to overshadow our souls, he knows what is better for us, and in the end makes all things work together for good to those who love and trust him. We have a Pilot at the helm of the universe who can see through the mists that will envelop us, and will bring his ransomed people safe to the haven of eternal rest.—The British Workman. FEAR is the great bridle of intemperance, the modesty of the spirit, and the restraint of gayeties and dissolutions; it is the girdle to the soul, and the handmaid to repentance, the arrest of sin, and the cure or antidote to the spirit of reprobation; it preserves our apprehensions of the divine majesty, and hinders our single actions from combining to sinful habits; it is the mother of consideration, and the nurse of sober counsels, and it puts the soul to fermentation and activity, making it pass from trembling to caution, and from caution to carefulness, from carefulness to watchfulness, from thence to prudence; and by the gates and progresses of repentance, it leads the soul on to love, and to felicity, and to joys in God that shall never cease again. Fear is the guard of a man in the150 days of prosperity, and it stands upon the watch-towers and spies the approaching danger, and gives warning to them that laugh loud, and feast in the chambers of rejoicing, where a man cannot consider by reason of the noises of wine, and jest, and music; and if prudence takes it by the hand, and leads it on to duty, it is a state of grace, and an universal instrument to infant religion, and the only security of the less perfect persons; and in all senses is that homage we owe to God, who sends often to demand it, even then, when he speaks in thunder, or smites by a plague, or awakens us by threateningness, or discomposes our easiness by sad thoughts, and tender eyes, and fearful hearts, and trembling considerations.—Jeremy Taylor. Human Inventions in Religion.
By Uriah Smith
THE following remarks concerning Nadab and Abihu, who offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not, are applicable to all branches of worship where human institutions have usurped the place of the divine, or where people are scrupulous in performing that concerning which the Lord has given no commandment. The reader is requested to keep in mind the traditionary institution of Sunday-keeping, while he reads. U. S. "Though the punishment of Nadab and Abihu may appear severe, because the sacred text does not specify clearly the nature and extent of their crime, we may rest assured that it was of such a nature as not only to justify, but to demand, such a punishment. God has here given us a full proof that he will not suffer human institutions to take the place of his own prescribed worship. It is true this is frequently done, for by many what is called natural religion is put in the place of divine revelation; and God seems not to regard it; but though vengeance is not speedily executed on an evil work, and therefore the hearts of the children of men are set to do wickedness, yet God ceases not to be just; and those who have taken from or added to his words, or put their own inventions in their place, shall be reproved and found liars in the great day. His long-suffering leads to repentance; but if men will harden their hearts, and put their own ceremonies, rites, and creeds, in the place of divine ordinances and eternal truths, they must expect to give an awful account to Him who is shortly to judge the quick and the dead. "Were the religion of Christ stripped of all that state policy, fleshly interest, and gross superstition, have added to it, how plain and simple, and may we not add, how suitable and glorious, would it appear! Well may we say of human inventions in divine worship what one said of the paintings on old cathedral windows, Their principal tendency is to prevent the light from coming in. Nadab and Abihu would perform the worship of God, not according to his command, but in their own way; and God not only would not receive the sacrifice from their hands, but, while encompassing themselves with their own sparks, and warming themselves with their own fire, this had they from the hand of the Lord—they lay down in sorrow, for there went out a fire from the Lord, and devoured them. What is written above is to be understood of persons who make a religion for themselves, leaving divine revelation; for, being willfully ignorant of God's righteousness, they go about to establish their own. This is a high offense in the sight of God. Reader, God is a Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in Spirit and truth. Such worshipers the Father seeketh." Clarke's Closing Note on Lev. x. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”—Hebrews ii, 3. God has provided a great and glorious salvation,—a salvation for sinners who are lost, ruined, and undone. This salvation is revealed in the everlasting gospel, and is to be received and enjoyed by simple faith. It is a salvation from sin, in its guilt, power, and consequences; a salvation from hell with all its horrors, and which is perfected in heaven amidst the glories of the beatified. It was devised by infinite wisdom in the covenant of peace; it was procured by the life, labors, and death of Jesus : and it is now offered to sinners without money and without price. Whosoever will, may come and receive this glorious salvation. But many neglect it. They trifle with mercy, let the most glorious opportunity slip, and then in intense agony have to exclaim, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." To prevent this, the apostle proposes the question, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” If we neglect to secure an interest in it now, how shall we escape the terrible storm of wrath that shall fall on the ungodly? or how shall we endure the punishment due to our transgressions ? A slighted Saviour, a neglected salvation, a lost heaven, will embitter beyond the powers of calculation the pains of hell. That we might have been saved, and would not,—that we were offered salvation, and refused it,—will fill us with the bitterest regrets and most tremendous agony. Oh! my soul, if found among those who neglect Jesus, slight the gospel invitation, and treat God with contempt, what wilt thou do? Art thou safe? Safe now, and safe for ever? Remember you can only perish by your own act and deed ; death is but the just wages of sin. “Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the day that I shall deal with thee?”—Ezekiel xxii, 14.—Sel. Importance of a Correct System of Belief.
[SINGULAR as it may seem, the writer of the following article is a believer in Sunday-keeping, Immortal-soulism, Infant Sprinkling, the Trinity, Reward at death, &c., &c. How can he harmonize all these with the sound remarks presented below?] All nations have their systems of belief. These are all more or less correct, as they are directed by revelation and a desire for the truth. Few nations have lived but what have incorporated some great truths as well as great errors into their national faith. These have exerted a powerful influence upon them for good or evil. As nations have their systems of belief, so have individuals. And here is presented an endless variety—from the Christian who subscribes to all the great doctrines of the Bible—to the bold atheist, who rejects them all. Let us see the importance of a correct system: 1. All fundamental errors in doctrine, will lead to errors in practice. We have all seen men whose belief was better than their practice, but how seldom do we see one whose practice is better than his belief. As the stream will not rise above the fountain, so a man's practice will not rise above his belief. Hence, if we believe wrong, we shall do wrong. Suppose we believe there is no God. Then we should not seek him; neither love nor obey him; should disregard his word; the calls of his Spirit and the voice of Providence; and neglecting all preparation for the future, live and die like brutes. Or if we believe that all men will be saved; then we need not keep the law, or repent of our sins, for all is safe. If we believe that the Sabbath is abolished, who will keep it? This principle holds good in other things. The ancients believed that the earth was fixed, and the sun and moon revolved around it—hence, all their maps and charts were made on this principle. The Romanist, believing that man can pardon sin, and the Virgin Mary hear his prayer, acts accordingly. The Jew, believing in a Messiah to come, rejects the true one. 2. All errors in belief, leading us to act, will meet with disappointment. Let us illustrate: Suppose we believe that riches will make us happy. This will lead us to set our hearts upon them, and to neglect God and his requirements, but in the end we shall find that, "This world can never give
The bliss for which we sigh." And the heart that once beat with pleasure at the shining prospect, will be pierced with many sorrows. Suppose we believe the command to "love our neighbor as ourselves," is abolished, we should be led to disregard his rights, and perhaps to follow Cain and take his life; but soon the prison walls will show how much we erred. Or that we can break the laws of our physical nature with impunity, but how soon will sickness tell the sad mistake we made. Or that there is no future state. This would lead us to neglect the interests of the soul and all preparation for another life; to seek happiness only in the present, and to stifle all the aspirations of the soul for another state of action. But I need not pursue this thought; enough has been said to show that if our faith is wrong, we shall be disappointed. 3. We are accountable for our belief. Many have adopted the opinion that it matters but little what we believe, if we are only sincere. This seems very plausible at first sight, but what does it really amount to? Let me ask, Can we believe anything without being sincere? And can a man's sincerity change facts? But we remark, that God has given us his word containing a system of truths to be believed and obeyed, with fearful penalties attached if we do not; and if in but fair to suppose if we use the means that God has given us, we may all believe them. Hence if we do not have a system of faith that is in the main correct, it will be our own fault. Doubtless most of the infidelity in the world, is owing to a want of investigation with a desire to find the truth. A celebrated infidel confessed he had never read the New Testament with attention. Dr. Beattie was appointed by his infidel club to collect all objections he could find against Christianity; but before he had completed the task he became convinced of the truth of religion, and boldly renounced his infidelity. So would it be with many, if they would seek after the truth. But if men close their eyes against light and choose darkness, by rejecting those truths that God has written on the earth beneath our feet, and on the heavens above, as well as those revealed in his word, will they not be guilty in the sight of God for this, their unbelief? See the words of Scripture.—"Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved; and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Now we gather from this subject that it is as bad to believe wrong as it is to do wrong; and that we have as much right to do the one as the other. It is true that we are at liberty to believe as we choose, as well as to act; but not think God will ask us by and by why we have believed and done thus! Now if the above reasons are valid, we see at once the importance of having a correct system of belief. Let us beware what we believe!—y.—Standard Bearer. No one muscle of the body, no one set of muscles can be continuously used, without an eventual paralysis, or total loss of power, until restored by rest. But if one class of muscles be employed for a time, then another while the former is at rest, the two thus alternating may be kept in motion, without the slightest fatigue, for hours together. A child may even cry with the weariness from walking; but present him suddenly with a beautiful little wagon, and allow him to take hold of it and draw a companion over a smooth road, the offer will be accepted with alacrity, and the amusement will continue for a time, equal to the walk, without any complaint of being tired; on the contrary, there will be a freshness of action, new and delightful. Many a traveler has rested himself from151 riding on horseback or in a carriage, by alighting and walking a mile or more; simply because a different combination of muscular action is brought into play; either a new set of muscles, or an action of old ones in a different direction; all going to show that the muscular system, the whole body, will have rest, or must prematurely perish. Precisely alike is the law of the mind, whose faculties are various. A man who thinks intently upon a single subject becomes incapable at length of concentrating his thoughts upon that subject to advantage, and instinctively lays down his book, his model, or his pen to take a walk. The attention of the French government has lately been drawn to the alarming fact, that "one in every ten of the scientific branches of the army finishes his course in a lunatic asylum, in consequence of the severe attention to mathematical training." The rector of the training college of Glasgow says, from long and extensive observation, that he "will undertake to teach a hundred children in three hours a day as much as they can possibly receive; that is, when a child has been kept at study three hour, its brain becomes incapable of pursuing it further advantageously, until rested. These things show that unless mind and body both have rest, both will be destroyed; and to save both Divine wisdom issued the precept "in the beginning," "On the seventh day thou shalt rest." It was no arbitrary command; it was an injunction fraught with wisdom and benevolence.—Hall's Journal of Health. Do Not Censure Without Knowing.
Do not censure without knowing ;
Oft is hid a noble mind,
Worthy of our love bestowing,
Where we least expect to find ;
Many a heart in kindness beating,
Making solitude its own,
With no kindred spirit meeting;
Lives unloved, because unknown. Should you feel inclined to censure
Faults you may in others view,
Ask your own heart, ere you venture,
If that has not failings too.
Let not friendly vows be broken,
Rather strive a friend to gain ;
And a word once kindly spoken,
Finds its passage home again. Do not, then, in idle pleasure,
Trifle with a brother's fame ;
Guard it as a gilded treasure—
Sacred as your own good name,
Do not form opinions blindly,
Hastiness to trouble tends ;
Those of whom we've thought unkindly,
Oft become our warmest friends. "WARN them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all." It is comparatively easy to bear and to endure, especially in a righteous cause; but this is not the apostle's meaning. He says, "Be patient toward all." That is what is not easy. It is well it was not Peter who said this. He knew he had need to address an exhortation to himself. Peter was not educated to patience. Somebody who has been in the East says that the Galilean fishermen are the most profane and passionate of men; every word, every breath, is an oath. People change very little in those countries; and it is to be supposed that Peter when he was accused of being a disciple of the despised Nazarene, and recognized as such, fell back into his old habits, through fright and anxiety, and began to curse and to swear to show he was in earnest. No, Peter did not exhort men to patience. But it was Paul, the apostle, the chosen, the scholar, the preacher; and to be patient was a lesson he had learned through much trouble. Well might he, the man of powerful intellect and cultivated mind, feel the need of the precept, "Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all." It is a hard lesson to learn. "There are some things we can bear; others are beyond our power of endurance, and we own it so. If we are very magnanimous we can bear abuse, especially if we are conscious it is undeserved, and so be patient under it all. But to be maligned, to be misrepresented, misunderstood, or falsely accused, and yet be patient, is not an easy lesson to learn. How can we take it patiently when we feel that they ought to know better, perhaps do know better, and give way either to unreasonable prejudice or a love of abuse? And yet Paul the apostle makes no reservation: "Be patient toward ALL." Well, we will try. We have not the temptations of Peter, nor the sore trials of Paul; and what Paul bore, by the grace of God we can bear. Only we wish people would be right-minded and reasonable! So they will be in that day when we also are perfect. Then we shall have no need of patience.—Sel.