Review and Herald, Vol. 24, No. 13. (8/23/1864)

Review and Herald

Aug 23, 1864

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 23, 1864

Sanctification: or Living Holiness.

By D. T. Bourdeau

BY ELD. D. T. BOURDEAU.

(Continued.)

SANCTIFICATION OF THE LIFE.

The life also must be sanctified. "The word of God," says Paul, "is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul (life) and spirit." Heb. iv, 12. The life should be spent in the service of God, and we should be willing to lay it down for the sake of the truth, if the cause of God demands it. But we should avoid rashness, and see to it that we wear not our strength and energies, and sacrifice not our lives, unnecessarily. Our lives are precious, and we are responsible to God for the use that we make of them. We should not sin against God by suffering and sacrificing our lives when the truth and the glory of God do not require it. There is much suffering that is in vain and worse than lost, that is not for God and his truth. Many lives have been squandered in the cause of error. Many lives have been sacrificed to vain and trifling objects, to other gods besides the true God.

Christ willingly spent his strength and energies, suffered and laid down his life. But this was not in vain. The redemption of a fallen world was at stake. And he says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matt. xvi, 24, 25.

He that sets out to walk in the path of holiness, must make up his mind to deny himself, and suffer for Christ's sake. He that saves his life and ease at the sacrifice of the truth, shall lose eternal life; but he that loses his life and ease for the sake of Christ, shall find it; i. e., shall find eternal life. "For what," says our Saviour, "is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul (life)? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (life)?" Verse 26.

We should not count our lives dear when the truth, the glory of God, and eternal life, are at stake. These should be dearer to us than life, and we should gladly suffer for the sake of Christ who has suffered so much for us. This did the early Christians.

Says Paul, "For thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh! For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." "In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." "Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Rom. viii, 36; 1 Cor. xv, 31; 2 Cor. iv, 9; xi, 23-28; Acts xx, 24; xxi, 13.

Millions of saints have shown that their lives were sanctified by laying them down for God and his truth; and though we may not now be tested as they were, yet we may know how far our lives are sanctified by our willingness to suffer in the cause of truth. If we are unwilling to deny ourselves and suffer for God now, we certainly would be unwilling to lay down our lives for his sake.

While looking over his sufferings Paul said, "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." Phil. i, 12. Paul was confident that Christ would be magnified "whether by life or death." He believed that if he lived, he should glorify God and advance his cause through suffering. He also believed that if he died, his death would be gain to the cause of Christ. He looked not for his own ease, and did not feel free to choose life or death.

It was so with the holy martyrs. They knew that the grace and courage they showed here while suffering would strengthen the saints, and induce others to enlist in the cause they loved, and were willing to sacrifice their lives, knowing that they should find them again, reign with Christ, and have a rich reward in his kingdom.

SANCTIFICATION OF THE BODY.

We have now come to an interesting and important branch of the subject; to a branch which has been neglected by those who make sanctification a hidden and mysterious work, a work which is shut up in the heart, and which no man can recognize only as it is displayed in boastings or peculiar raptures.

From what we have said on the mind, it can be readily seen that we do not overlook heart work or the sanctification of the mind. But how may we know whether a genuine work is performed in the heart? How may we know whether the mind is sanctified or not? Says the great Teacher, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Matt. vii, 16-18.

It is the fruit that a tree bears that determines whether it is good or evil, and it is by the fruits or works of men that we are to judge whether they are good or evil, sanctified or unsanctified. The fruits or works of men indicate the condition of their hearts, and these fruits or works cannot be wrought and brought to light without the exercise of the physical faculties.

But says one, We are sanctified by faith. Answer. We admit that we are sanctified by faith; but what is the nature of genuine faith? Does faith confine sanctification to the heart, and exclude good works? The simple definition of Bible faith is confidence in the word of God. Faith takes hold of the truths of God's word. Now the Scriptures are very explicit on the necessity of being rich in good works. They teach us that Christ gave himself for us that he might purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, and that we should let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, and be led to glorify our Father who is in Heaven. Titus ii, 14; Matt. v, 16.

The candid and consistent will acknowledge sanctification as they see it carried out in the lives of men. They look at the works, and so does the Lord. To the seven churches, representing the seven different stages of the Christian church, Jesus says, "I know thy works." Rev. i-iii. The works of men are recorded in Heaven, and it is according to these works that they shall be judged. Rev. xx, 12.

Genuine faith is operative, and is made perfect by works. James ii, 22; Gal. v, 6. It is a Bible declaration "that faith without works is dead." James ii, 20. And a dead faith will not sanctify a man.

To the Romans Paul writes, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Rom. xii, 1. Here is an exhortation for the brethren at Rome to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, etc. A living sacrifice will show signs of life.

To the Corinthians Paul writes, "I therefore so run not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

I Cor. ix, 26, 27. In this text we see the necessity of keeping the body under, and bringing it into subjection, i. e., into obedience to God and his truth. If Paul failed to do this he would run as uncertainly, fight as one that beateth the air, and be a castaway.

But to come more directly to the subject we will consider the principal parts and faculties of the body, beginning with

THE SENSES,

Which are five in number, and which are commonly designated as follows: hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and feeling. It is through the senses that ideas are conveyed to the mind. The senses are, as it were, roads through which ideas travel to reach the mind. The sanctification of the senses consists in closing them against sinful impressions and ideas and in opening them to useful and holy impressions and thoughts. Close your senses against unholy impressions and thoughts and they will not be so apt to invade your mind, and you will better resist the temptations of the enemy. Shut your windows and thieves will not so easily enter your dwelling.

Job made a covenant with his eyes that he might not sin. Job xxxi, 1-5, and David prayed, "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in the way." Ps. cxix, 37. He also said, "Mine eyes fail for thy word." "Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness." "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes." Verses 82, 123; ci, 3.

"The ear of the wise," says Solomon, "seeketh knowledge." Prov. xviii, 15. It is attentive to the word of God. But those whose hearts are opposed to God's ways do not love to listen to the truth. They love to hear smooth things, and will not hear the law of the Lord. Isa. xxx, 8-11. Paul speaks of some who "shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Tim. iv, 4. But the wise man says, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Prov. xxviii, 9.

Christians should set a guard on all their senses. By doing this it will be easier to fix the attention on holy thoughts, and keep the mind from wandering. The mind is often in danger of being diverted from proper thoughts by the senses; and Christians cannot keep the Sabbath aright while they carelessly open their senses to those secular objects and impressions which have interested them during the six laboring days.

Especially should inexperienced children and youth be taught with regard to the right use of the senses, and see the necessity of receiving right impressions. It often becomes necessary for children as well as older persons to shut their eyes and stop their ears against sin. The ears were not made to feast on error and the foolish and simple conversation of the wicked; neither were the eyes designed to behold and feast on vanity. Christ often said to his hearers, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Again he said, "Blessed are your eyes; for they see; and your ears, for they hear." Matt. xi, xii. It was indeed blessed to see Christ and the works that he performed, and to hear his rich instructions. But is it not also blessed to see the glorious work that is now going on under the last message of mercy? and to hear the messengers of truth speak in reference to our whereabouts and the necessary preparation to stand amid the perils of the last days, and to meet the Son of man at his coming? God grant that we may duly appreciate our privileges, and realize the blessedness resulting from a proper use of all the senses.

THE APPETITES.

The all-wise Creator has implanted in our natures certain appetites, and it is evident that they were designed to help in perpetuating our existence, in promoting our well-being, and in carrying out the great object for which we were made.

As the appetites are peculiar to the body, it is clear that they were made to be governed by reason. Their very nature forbids the idea of their leading the man, and shows that they should be in subjection to the higher faculties of our beings. But in consequence of the fall and the inroads that sin has made in the children of men, the appetites are naturally inclined to go beyond the limits assigned unto them, and usurp the authority of the higher faculties. Sanctification brings the appetites within their proper limits—under the direction and control of enlightened reason.

Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of God. Now to do this we must, as far as possible, eat and drink that which is sanitary, and avoid intemperance. We should consult the stomach and the state of the health more than the appetites; for it is not always what suits the appetites the best, that is most conducive to the health of the body. We should select for the appetites, and cultivate and cherish a taste for healthy food.

We should eat and drink more for need than for pleasure. If pleasure is the great end we have in view, then we do not eat and drink to the glory of God, but to the glory of our appetites. Then eating and drinking becomes an inordinate action, because it is not in the way to the end for which it was designed.

In view of these principles what shall we conclude concerning those parents who are almost constantly humoring their children in satisfying their appetites with so many niceties which injure the health and undermine the constitution? Are they not guilty of creating in them unsanctified appetites? Would it not be better for those parents to select good, plain, wholesome food for their children, and feed them only when they really need food, though it may not suit the taste so well at first?

And what shall we say of the appetite for spirituous liquors which dethrones reason, degrades the body and the mind, and has brought so many to an untimely grave? Are those who possess this appetite sanctified?

And shall we overlook the appetites for tea and tobacco? Were these articles made to be used as they are now used? No candid person who has given this subject a careful perusal will say that they were. These herbs, like all other stimulants, nerve up the system and leave a depression behind. Besides, tobacco is a rank poison, as it has often been proved; and the poisonous ingredients with which tea is often prepared, add to the impropriety of using it as a beverage.

But we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, as we have seen, and if the common use of tobacco does not produce filthiness of the flesh, what does?

But if the appetites for tea, tobacco and spirituous liquors should be overcome because they injure the health, should not the appetites for unhealthy meats or other hurtful articles be overcome for the same reason?

The Saviour, while giving a description of the last days, says, "As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." Luke xvii, 26, 27. It was not wrong for the Antediluvians to eat and drink to maintain their existence; and marriage was as sacred and honorable in the days of Noah as it was when God instituted it in Eden. The great sin of the Antediluvians consisted in going to excess in these things. And is it not so with the masses at the present times? Look at the excess in eating and drinking. Look at those persons of good health whose exquisite taste accepts only the nicest of food, and often causes much perplexity to those who are called upon to satisfy it. Look at the pains taken, and the means expended, and worse than thrown away, to suit the taste and palate, as though the great object of life was to eat and drink and enjoy the pleasures of the appetites.

The Scriptures are very clear on the importance of governing the appetites. Our first parents fell, in lusting after and eating the forbidden fruit. The Israelites were not satisfied with the plain, wholesome manna: they loathed this bread from Heaven, longed for flesh, and murmured against God, and awful consequences followed. And we are told that "these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted." 1 Cor. x, 6.

The sons of Eli were not satisfied with sodden or boiled flesh: they wanted raw flesh, that they might roast it with fire. It was not unlawful to desire meat roasted, but when it was appointed to be boiled, they refused it, thus evincing intemperance and a nice palate. "Wherefore," says the record, "the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for men abhorred the offering of the Lord." 1 Sam. ii, 12-17.

Prov. xxiii, 1, 2. "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee; and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite;" or as the French translation reads, "else thou shalt put a knife to thy throat, if thy appetite rules thee." And what can be the meaning of this wonderful proverb, unless it is this, that he who sits to eat with a ruler (before "dainties" or "deceitful meat," verse 3), and suffers an unsanctified appetite to control him, is guilty of the same crime that he would be if he literally cut his throat with his knife? That is, he is a self-murderer. He must feel the effects of his excess sooner or later.

Some followed Christ for the loaves and fishes; but he said unto them, "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." Jno. vi, 26. We are admonished to not be like Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Heb. xii, 16. We should take heed lest we lose eternal life and the rich blessings connected with it, for the gratification of unsanctified appetites.

Christ is a pattern of self-denial. "When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered." And the tempter came to him and said, "If thou be the Son of man, command that these stones be made bread." How trying this must have been to the Son of God. How refreshing a morsel of bread would have been to him in his exhausted condition. But did he yield? No: It was forbidden fruit. He answered, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. vi.

When famine comes on the earth according to the word of the Lord, Joel i, 14-20, many articles that are now used will have to be dispensed with, and is it not consistent to deny ourselves now and overcome those appetites that injure the body and the mind, and prevent many from desiring and appreciating the lasting pleasures enjoyed in the service of God? Shall we be prepared to meet the Lord if we are slaves to lust?

(To be continued.)

Be Free.

By E. W. Darling

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John viii, 36.

BEWARE that the freedom that Jesus once gave thee, The blood-purchased freedom, thou dost not resign, To man or to passion, or any usurper— Beware lest their meshes around thee entwine.

For, ever insidious, the influence of evil, Keeps urging approaches where least we expect, Like snares that surround us before we take warning; And naught but a Saviour's kind care can protect.

Then follow thy Saviour and keep his injunction, To watch and to pray lest temptation should come, Stand firm in thy freedom, stand free from pollution, And so shall thou safely arrive at thy home.

E. W. Darling.

Changes in Forty Years.

By W. W. Crane

[BRO. WHITE: The following article with the above heading is clipped from the American Wesleyan. It shows that some have an eye to the way the Christian world is drifting. Oh, that many might see the sinking condition of popular religion, and get on board the life boat, before the ship goes down.* How can any hope for the conversion of the world! and if they should be converted to the fallen standard of modern, self-styled Christianity, what would be the advantage?

R. F. COTTRELL.]

THE love-feast was spiritual. Devout men and women arose in rapid succession and spoke earnestly of faith and love. For a short time with my eyes shut I was back in my fancy forty-one years, in a love feast in the old Meeting House, at Victor, N. Y., with Goodwin Stoddard presiding. Cyrus Story and Andrew Prindle sat by him, with grave looks, in homespun of brown and gray. Their white hats, with low crowns and broadbrims were on the altar table, where father Calkins sat with his long raven locks covering his shoulders, and there arose and spake as a patriarch.

As I looked over the assembly, all bonnets were alike in form and color; how plain and simple, and yet beautiful; so natural and useful; nothing about them gay, and nothing needless. How clear and earnest the singing, mingled with shouting and weeping. Opening my eyes dispels the vision. I find myself not in Victor, N. Y., in 1823, but in Jackson, Michigan, in 1864. Father Stoddard, Story, Prindle and Calkins are all dead, and that humble, holy, and devout assembly have passed away.

With them all peculiarities of dress have passed

away, and I can distinguish no one as a Methodist by hat or bonnet, by coat or shawl; and as all distinction has ceased, the door stands open, and all go in alike. I however hear nearly the same expressions of faith, zeal, and love, as I heard forty years ago.

Now the Presiding Elder gives his text. I am all attention, for he is a very eloquent man. The pastor has just prayed that the sermon might come direct from the mouth of God, and from my heart I said amen; but what was my disappointment, to find that it was not even to come direct from the mouth of man, as every word lay written on the desk. The theme was "The witness of the Spirit," and my soul panted for the outgushing of the speaker's soul, from holy union with the Lord. Instead of that, he read a sermon, good as Wesley's, but no better; and I felt that I might as well be at home with a volume of Wesley in my hand. The sermon was able, and the reading perfect, yet on every side through the large assembly, dullness became apparent; several fell asleep and others seemed absorbed in thoughts of anything but the Witness of the Spirit; and I felt to exclaim, Reading sermons will never convert the world.—W. W. Crane.

God Giveth thee Power to Get Wealth.

Who among the rich and wealthy believes this saying? Who gives wisdom, understanding, skill, bodily strength, and health? Is it not God? And without these how can wealth be acquired? Whose is providence? Who gives fertility to the earth? And who brings every proper purpose to a right issue? Is it not God? And without these can wealth be acquired? No. Then the proposition is self-evident: it is God that giveth power to get wealth, and to God the wealthy man must account for the manner in which he hath expended the riches God hath given him.

The Morality of our Times.

If God brought a whole family of his chosen people into Egyptian bondage for many generations, till they numbered 600,000 men besides women and children, for the sale of one brother, what reward is adequate to a wholesale traffic in human flesh and blood of both black and white? Not only has southern slavery been tolerated, encouraged and defended with all its cruelties, by Church and State, but many of our white brothers and sons have been thrust into the market, bought and sold, not for the cultivation of cotton! but for the slaughter and hardships of war! at prices ranging far above that paid for Joseph or Christ! Joseph was sold into bondage for "twenty pieces of silver!" but our Saviour to the slaughter for "thirty!" But speculation stops not here.

Men's principles are sold to the highest bidder, and scarcely does an aspirant for office gain his desired position, but money, fraud and rum put him there!

With such a state of affairs before us, is it to be wondered at, that gambling, intemperance and wantonness are not only winked at as "necessary evils," but are ACTUALLY LICENSED INSTITUTIONS! ENCOURAGED AND DEFENDED!

These filthy, national reservoirs, like so many lowland mud pools, have a thousand inlets, which are daily drawing the rising generation within their unhallowed embrace, to send them forth reeling with intoxication! poisoned with vice! scattering licentiousness and crime in every direction!

Each of these sink-holes of sin must have a sewer or outlet through which to pour its revenues into the laps of our civil, religious and martial officers, to meet their enormous salaries.

What! though widows and orphans go mourning up and down our streets, filling our ears with their heart-rending cries?

What! though speculators hold the staff of life above the reach of God's suffering poor?

What! though intemperance is making wretched, thousands of once peaceful, happy homes?

What! though licentiousness is setting on fire the course of nature, and blasting forever the characters and hopes of the rising generation?

What of all this if our leading men can still boast of prosperity?

We are called a Christian people with liberal views!

We can find every thing in the Church that can be found in the world! Never were Church and State officials under better pay!

There is a wonderful charity that calls black, white; and puts darkness for light. While God says "He that saith to the wicked, thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him.">—Earnest Christian.

Meeting at Ayersville, Ohio.

By H. A. St. John

By request, I will give a brief report of this meeting. According to appointment, Bro. Hutchinson from Orwell was with us. Three of our dear friends from Leipsic were all that came from abroad. The first meeting commenced on Sabbath evening, about the going down of the sun. Two prayer and conference meetings on the Sabbath, commencing respectively at 11 A. M. and 2 P. M. The Lord met with us in these meetings with his good Spirit, for which we feel to praise his holy name.

On Sunday at 10 A. M. Bro. Hutchinson spoke to us about an hour upon the subject of baptism, showing its place and relative importance in the glorious plan of redemption, clearly evincing from the Scriptures that it was highly essential, and not to be neglected by those who wish to enjoy the full favor of God as dear children; showing also that baptism, in order to be valid, must be preceded by these necessary prerequisites, namely, genuine faith and repentance: the latter word to be taken in its broadest sense: meaning not only a godly sorrow for sin, but a reformation, or turning away from the same; giving us to understand further, that God had nothing superfluous or non-essential in his Book.

He enjoyed freedom in speaking, and the Brn. and sisters were edified and instructed. After the discourse we repaired to the Maumee River, distant eight miles, where we had a quiet and pleasant time in witnessing five willing souls buried with their Lord in baptism, who arose, as we hope and trust, to walk in newness of life. Four of these belong to the Instructor family.

The last meeting of the series was held in the evening, and it was one which will be long remembered by all present. Hardly an eye but what was suffused with tears. The Spirit of God was there. At the close of this meeting we had an accession of six members to our little church. We all feel strengthened and encouraged. The first meeting was good, the second better, and the last the best of all.

We believe those meetings are just what the Brn. in Ohio need. We hope our Committee will be enabled to keep them up; but in order that they may do this, our Brn. every where should give them their hearty co-operation and support.

To the lonely ones, who have not been interested in attending these meetings, let me say, You lose much. Be sure that you try to meet with the remnant as often as is practicable, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. For it is by this means that we can exhort and encourage each other with words of good cheer.

H. A. ST. JOHN.

Ayersville, Ohio.

Beside the Railroad Track.

On its straight iron pathway the long train was rushing, With its noise and its smoke and its great human load; And I saw where a wild rose in beauty was blushing, Fresh and sweet by the side of the hot dusty road.

Untrained were its branches, untended it flourished, No eye watched its opening or mourned its decay, But its leaves by the soft dew of heaven were nourished, And it opened its buds in the warm light of day.

I asked why it grew there, where none prized its beauty? For of thousands who passed none had leisure to stay; And the answer came sweetly, "I do but my duty, I was told to grow here by the side of the way."

There are those on life's pathway whose spirits are willing To dwell where the busy crowd passes them by; But the dew from above on their leaves is distilling, And they bloom 'neath the smile of the All-seeing Eye.

They are loved by the few—like the rose, they remind us When tempted from duty's safe pathway to stray, We, too, have a place and a mission assigned us, Though it be but to grow by the side of the way.

Civilized Heathens.

By G. W. A.

THE Rev. E. H. Chapin, one of the most popular preachers in New York City, in a neat little volume entitled, "Humanity in the City," discourses thus pointedly in reference to the heathenism of his own town. G. W. A.

"No one needs to be told that there are savages in New York, as well as in the islands of the sea. Savages, not in gloomy forests, but under the strength of gas-light, and the eyes of police men; with war-whoops and clubs very much the same, and garments as fantastic, and souls as brutal, as any of their kindred at the antipodes. China, India, Africa? will you not find their features in some circles of the social world right around you? Idolatry? you cannot find any more gross, any more cruel, on the broad earth, than within the area of a mile around this pulpit. Dark minds from which God is obscured; deluded souls, whose fetish is the dice-box or the bottle; apathetic spirits, steeped in sensual abomination, unmoved by a moral ripple, soaking in the slump of animal vitality. False gods, more hideous, more awful, than Moloch or Baal; worshiped with shrieks, worshiped with curses, with the hearth-stone for the bloody altar, and the drunken husband for the immolating priest, and women and children for the victims. I have no terms of respect too high for the brave and conscientious men who carry the gospel, and their own lives, in their hands to distant shores. But surely, they need not go thus far to seek for the benighted and the debased."

A Sad Spectacle

A SAD SPECTACLE.—We will not dwell upon the glaring hypocrisy of standing before the font of baptism, bedecked in all the puffery of fashion, and solemnly vowing to "renounce the Devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same," nor will we picture the sickening spectacle presented by troops of regimentated communicants, marching in laced, hooped, and bedizened grandeur through the "long drawn aisles," wheeling with a sailing sweep before the altars, and then meekly (?) kneeling to receive the emblems of the broken body and shed blood of our Lord. Terrible, indeed, must be the moral and mental perversion that sees nothing in such scenes but a "decent regard for appearances," and a proper respect for the world. If it be possible to paint a panorama which shall, in one sad view, embody the deepest degradation of the church, and the highest triumph of the powers of darkness, you have it in such life-scenes. Such scenes are exhibited in our cities nearly every Sabbath. Admission gratis—if one is well dressed.—Christ and Adornments.

Exhorting Prayers

By Pacific Methodist

EXHORTING PRAYERS.—Don't exhort when called on to pray. It is very well to exhort at proper times, and under proper circumstances. But when on your knees, ostensibly addressing Jehovah, it is not the time to exhort. Stand up on your feet and look at the audience, and talk right to them, if you have anything to say to them; but when you pretend to pray, pray.

Creation

CREATION is a book which the nicest philosopher may study with the deepest attention. Unlike the works of art, the more it is examined, the more it opens to us sources of admiration of its great Author; the more it calls for our inspection, and the more it demands our praise.—Buck's Theological Dictionary.

Training the Complete Person

By Samuel Smiles

CuLTIVATE the physical exclusively and you have an athlete or a savage; the moral only and you have an enthusiast or a maniac; the intellectual only and you have a diseased oddity, it may be a monster. It is only by wisely training all three together, that the complete man can be formed.—Samuel Smiles.

Hospital Duties.

As non-combatants who are not able to pay the $300 commutation money, are allowed to serve in the hospitals or take care of freed men, a sketch of hospital duties may be of interest. The following is by Geo. Dawson of the Albany Evening Journal:

"The business of the day begins at five o'clock. At that hour the nurses busy themselves in cleaning spittoons, washing the faces and arms of the patients, sweeping out the wards, and making everything tidy. Meanwhile, the dressers are at work, cleansing and bandaging the wounds, causing intense pain by the necessary probings, pressures, plasterings, &c., and a great deal of comfort by their generally cheerful reports to the patient of the improvement perceptible. If they do not always tell the truth, they are pardonable, for it would be very cruel to reveal every bad symptom, so long as there is hope of ultimate recovery. By 7 o'clock everything is ready for breakfast, which is of three classes: Regular, which is for the mass of the patients, well enough to eat heartily; special, which is for those whose wounds or health require more delicate food; and extra, for those (generally officers) who pay their dollar a day for subsistence. Each class of food is substantial and excellent, well cooked, and neatly served. The stomach would be very

delicate which would revolt at any of it.

After breakfast, there is more sweeping and mopping, bed-changing, &c., and two or three times a week a general scrubbing. At regular intervals through the day, there is a distribution of milk-punch, beef-tea, stimulants of various kinds, medicines, &c., according to the directions for the day, placed at the head of the bed of each patient. Dinner at 12, supper at 6, and the retirement of the day, nurses and the extinction of lights at 9. Then come the night-watchers and silence. For hours together, sometimes, there is the stillness of death—when you can hear the tread of a mouse; and yet, amid this stillness, there is a vast deal of pain, quietly and uncomplainingly borne by the noble fellows who have suffered in battle. God bless them for their heroism in the field, and for their equal heroism on their weary couches! A grateful country will remember and reward them. Throughout the night, at fixed hours, there is the distribution of medicines and stimulants, the wetting of bandages, and such other attentions as are required for the comfort of the patients. And so wear away the long weary hours of the night."

Who is my Neighbor?

By Editor

IN REVIEW No. 8, present volume, we expressed the opinion "that a 'neighbor' in the Christian sense, is determined by the same rule that Christ gave in Matt. xii, 50, to determine who was his brother and sister and mother; namely, whosoever should do the will of his Father which was in Heaven." As this appears to have called out some discussion of the subject, one class taking the ground that the word neighbor is to be taken in its absolute sense, and applied universally; and others that it should be restricted, and applied to a particular class only, we add a word more concerning it.

By speaking of neighbor in the "Christian" sense, we intended to imply that there is another sense in which the word is sometimes to be taken, as we believe there is: one is an absolute, unlimited sense, the other limited. For instance, when we read in the ninth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," we believe it is to be taken absolutely, meaning every one and any one with whom we come into any sort of relation; for it would be wrong for us to bear false witness against any one, whatever might be his character, or the relation that he sustained toward us. But when it is said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," we think the term is to be restricted to a particular class, for the following reasons:

1. The original command, as it was given to the Hebrews as they came out of Egypt, had reference only to the people of that nation, not to the stranger who was among them. This appears from a few verses of Lev. xix, verse 16: "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor." "Thy people" and "thy neighbor," here meaning, if we mistake not, the same thing. Verse 17: "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." Here "thy brother" and "thy neighbor," are synonymous expressions. Then occurs the injunction to love our neighbor as ourselves, as follows: verse 18: "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people: but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Here "the children of thy people" and "thy neighbor," are clearly the same. We thus have plainly before us, the extent of the injunction as first given.

In commenting upon this in the New Testament, the Saviour illustrates the principle by the parable of the good Samaritan, showing that the neighbor to the man who fell among thieves, was, not the thief who had assaulted and robbed him, nor the priest and Levite who passed by his needy condition with indifference, but he who showed mercy to him and supplied his wants.

2. We are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves; and although we are commanded to love our enemies, we are never commanded to love them to this extent.

3. We are to do good to all men, but especially to them who are of the household of faith. Gal. vi, 10. This shows a plain distinction between the household of faith, and the world generally. The claims of the former take precedence over all others. We are to do them good especially; or, in other words, to love them as ourselves.

But if we are to do good to all men, and to extend love to our enemies, but still in a less degree than we do to those who are with us in the faith, to what extent shall we do this? Answer. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." "Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you." Rom. xii, 20; Matt. v, 44.

Have we not all felt that the ties of truth were stronger even than the ties of blood; that they who did the will of our Father in Heaven were in the Christian sense, our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and neighbors.

Still, there need be no controversy on this subject. Let those who believe that all men are their neighbors, act toward them as we are commanded to act toward our neighbors. And let those who believe that they are to love as themselves, only those who are with them in the faith, still be careful to extend to all others those acts and sentiments of mercy, charity, kindness and goodwill which the Scriptures enjoin.

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