spirits are spent. O how welcome is a shower to the thirsty ground! Hence the little hills are said to "rejoice on every side, yea, to shout for joy and sing when a shower comes."-Psa. lxv. 12. But never were showers of rain so sweetly refreshing to the thirsty earth as gospel showers are to gracious souls-they comfort their very hearts. What joy was there in Samaria when the gospel came to that place!-Acts viii. 8. It revives the soul; it is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and a very jubilee in the heart. The prayers of saints are the keys that open and shut the natural clouds, and cause them either to give out or withhold their influences. "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months: and he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."-James v. 17. God has subjected the works of his hands to the prayers of his saints.-Is. xlv. 41. "I WONDER AT ITS POWER." MEN often express their admiration at the power of Prayer is also the golden key which opens the mys- intellect, at the power of oratory, and at the power tical gospel clouds, and dissolves them into sweet of money. But there is a power more wonderful in gracious showers. God will have the whole work of its effects than either of these, of which men are sadly the ministry carried on by the prayers of his people. ignorant. It is the power of prayer. And whatever They may tell their people, as a great general once will aid us in rightly prizing our privilege of approachtold his soldiers, that he flew on their wings. "Praying a throne of grace ought to receive our grateful for me," said the great apostle, "that utterance may consideration. Such an illustration of the value of be given me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to prayer may be found, it is believed, in the happy exmake known the mystery of the gospel." Yea, by perience of one of Christ's servants, who has recently the saints' prayers it is that ministers obtain the success and fruits of their labours. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you." And thus you have the metaphor opened. O that these truths may come down in sweet showers upon the hearts both of ministers and people! - Flavel's Husbandry Spiritualised. NOW! 66 BY THE REV. T. L. CUYLER, PHILADELPHIA, STANDING, a few days since, by the bedside of a man who was sinking in the agonies of Asiatic cholera, he turned his glassy eyes upon me, and said: “A few hours more, a few hours more to prepare!" Thirty minutes after, I met one of his neighbours hurrying through the streets towards the undertaker's. Poor J was already in another world. How often had the unhappy man heard from my pulpit, "Now is the accepted time;" but never had I proclaimed that warning to him so earnestly as he did to me in that dying cry, "A few hours more, a few hours more!" And from a thousand death-beds comes the same thrilling announcement every day. "Now is the accepted time," echoes in the ear of every living man. To the impenitent man, the voice proclaims, Now is the time to make your peace with God. To the minister of Christ it says, Now is the time to press the religion of the gospel on every conscience. To the church-member it says, Now is the time for prayer and earnest labour, for mayhap the Judge standeth at the very door! "Seek religion now," was the advice of a young man to his brother in the State of M. The one thus appealed to had been somewhat thoughtful, but strove to parry his convictions. That very night he had engaged to attend a dancing party, and before he set off, he solemnly promised the anxious brother, who was pleading with him, that "as soon as that entered into rest. R Hattained to the age of fifty-eight years. During nearly thirty years of his life he was a professed disciple of Christ. His early religious experience was of the most clear and decisive character, and he ever after manifested a high appreciation of his Christian privileges. As a man of business, he employed the powers of a sound and comprehensive mind in every enterprise, with a characteristic earnestness. Being always of feeble health, and under the necessity of great activity in order to preserve his life, he was thought by some, who knew him but partially, to be too eagerly devoted to the world. But he could not always resist the encroachments of a complicated disease. Six months before his death he was obliged to relinquish every active pursuit, and to retire to the privacy of his own home, there to suffer and languish under the most excruciating pains. It was only one month before his dissolution that he gave up all hopes of recovery, and regarded a speedy death as inevitable. And though he felt persuaded that it would be well with him beyond the grave, still it was his desire to experience more full and distinct manifestations of the Saviour's love. For this he resolved to pray. He earnestly besought the Lord, that within one week from the time at which his resolution was formed, he would grant him a gracious answer. His supplications were fervent and persevering, until midnight of the fourth day, when he obtained a blessing far greater than he had desired. The splendours of heavenly glory illumined his soul. A holy calm, an inexpressible sweetness, and joy unspeakable seemed to pervade and surround his whole being. He awoke his companion, that she might rejoice with him. And he earnestly desired that his children might be called, that they too might share in his joy. His title to celestial mansions was more than clear-he felt that heaven was already begun on earth. Nor did those joys pass away with the night. They were an earnest of everlasting blessedness, and continued until the hour of his departure. It was the writer's high privilege to converse with him repeatedly after that memorable night. His peace was as a river, and he seemed to himself to be THE SOLITARY WITNESS. lost in an ocean of blessedness. He was amazed at the wondrous communications of Divine love, and yet it seemed strange that he could have consented to live so long without them. "Until now," said he, "I never had such conceptions of the power of prayer." "I wonder at it." It was his earnest desire and prayer to depart and be with Christ. But that was the only request that was, for a time, denied him. "If I pray," said he, "for grace to sustain me and for love to fill my soul, the Lord grants me more than I desire. But if I ask him to take me to himself, he does not hear my prayer." Thus he lived until that prayer was also heard. Not one doubt or fear in regard to the future disturbed his mind. Not one cloud obscured the visions of his faith. All was peace and joy. Nor did his glorious prospect diminish at all his interest in the happiness of those whom he was about to leave. After counselling his family respecting their future welfare, he said to them: "Do not mourn for me when I am gone. I shall be happy, and I want you to be happy. I am going where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. Be happy while the Lord shall continue you in this world, and when he shall call you home to glory, I shall be there to bid you welcome." Nor was he forgetful of the prosperity of the church to which he belonged, and of which he was an officer. "Tell the brethren," said he," that I never had such conceptions of the power of prayer as now. The Lord has granted me every thing that I desired. Tell them that there is no need of their living at such a distance from God. They can have just as much of the Spirit as they want." And his message to the impenitent was this: "Tell them that there is no need of their being lost-none whatever. But (said he) they must be regenerated, or they can never be prepared for the heavenly world." Reader, he was no dreaming enthusiast of whose experience the above is a very imperfect description. He only proved the power of prayer, and it is an interesting thought that it may be your privilege to do the same. O pray for yourself! BROKEN PROMISES. "But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him."-1 CHRON, XXXii. 25. How many, like Hezekiah, on being restored from distressing illness, fail to render the life-service of thanksgiving promised when death seemed near ! "Oh, if I ever get well," said a professing Christian father who had neglected family worship and the religious instruction of his children, "if I ever get well, this house shall be dedicated to God." God rebuked the disease, and he began to recover. When he first rose from the sick-bed, he was too feeble to enter upon the long-neglected duty. As he gained strength, his reluctance to erect the family altar increased. He again fell back upon his fancied want of capacity for the service, and the voice of family prayer was unheard in his dwelling. "Whether the child recover or not," said a father who was watching with intense solicitude by the bed-side of a beloved daughter, "my life shall be different from what it has been." God spared the child. Perhaps some emotions of gratitude were felt by the father, when permitted to carry his child forth to inhale the breath of spring; but ere the bloom of health had fully returned to the cheek of the child, the father had become as worldly-minded as before. 287 Were these cases solitary ones, or is it characteristic of our race to fail to render to God according to the benefits bestowed? How is it with the reader? Can he remember solemn vows made in the hour of trouble, forgotten when that hour had passed away? What has he rendered unto the Lord for the benefits done unto him? what return has he made for the unspeakable gift of the Son of God? MOFFAT THE MISSIONARY AND HIS DR A. and the excellent Moffat had been engaged in a missionary service in the North of England, and returned for repose to the house of a friend. They met in the room an aged minister named Caldwell. In the course of conversation, Moffat adverted to his mother, for whom he entertained the most devoted regard. Mr C., whom Moffat did not know, not even his name, mentioned that he perceived he was a Scotchman. "Yes," said the missionary, "the scenes of my boyhood and youth in my native land are dear to me. I often think of them when far away among the heathen. I often think of my excellent mother leading me when a little fellow from Cannon Shore to Falkirk to the Independent meetinghouse, to hear an excellent minister, Mr Caldwell." He then spoke with enthusiasm of his mother, of the minister, and of the impressions he had received then and there. The venerable listener rose up with tears coursing down his cheeks, and exclaimed, "Can it be! Are you little Bobby Moffat? Is Moffat the missionary the little fellow whom his mother used to lead to my meeting-house in Falkirk, when many years ago I was the minister there?" The mutual recognition, and embrace, and rapture, may be better conceived than described. The venerable Cald. well had not till then identified the little boy with the man who has done so much for Africa. May there not be many such blessed surprises when the Christian minister enters his rest, and "his works do follow him"? THE SOLITARY WITNESS. SOME years ago, a missionary went to a heathen village in India; but no one there would attend to his words. When he went away, he left one New Testament behind him, in the shop of a native. It was but a single seed cast into a bad soil, and he feared that it would be thrown aside, or else that its sacred leaves might be used to wrap up tobacco, rice, or salt. But no! The eye of God was upon that book. Like Lot in Sodom, like the captive maid in the house of Naaman, that New Testament was a solitary witness for Jehovah in the midst of idols and idolaters; and it became a light to them that sat in darkness. Some of them it led into the way of peace. Soon after it was left, three or four heathens came to that shop. They saw the strange book. They asked that they might read it. They took it home. As they heard what it told them about God and man, sin and salvation, hell and heaven, they wondered, they trembled, they believed. A church was formed in that village, and two of those who borrowed that Testament are now preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.-Juvenile Missionary Magazine. SELF-CONCEIT. YOUNG people, at the period when they are acquir ing knowledge, are very liable to self-conceit, and thus, by their own folly, defeat the great purpose of instruction, which is, not to make them vain, but wise. They are apt to forget that knowledge is not for show, but for use, and that the desire to exhibit what they know, is invariably a proof that their acquirements are superficial. Besides, like most other faults, self-conceit is no solitary failing, but ever brings many more in its train. They who are very desirous to shine themselves, are always envious of the attainments of others, and will be ingenious in discovering defects in those who are more accomplished than themselves. The vain have no rest unless they are uppermost, and more conspicuous than all around them. The most interesting pursuits cannot render retirement agreeable: concealment to them is wretchedness. There is no generous sentiment, no amiable disposition, no warm affection, but is chilled and blighted by the secret influence of self-conceit; and perhaps there are none who more frequently or more effectually transgress the spirit of that great commandment of the law, to love our neighbour as ourselves, than the vain. How many are there who, while they would tremble at the idea of defrauding a companion of any part of her property, will not scruple to use a thousand little artifices to rival and supplant her in the opinion of others! thus endeavouring to rob her of that which she probably values much more. There are three things which those who are conscious of indulging this fault would do well to remember First, that self-conceit is always most apparent in persons of mean minds and superficial acquirements: a vain person may, indeed, be clever, but can never be wise or great. Secondly, That however they may suppose this weakness to be concealed within their own bosoms, there is no fault that is really more conspicuous, or that it is more impossible to hide from the eyes of others. Thirdly, That it is highly offensive in the sight of God, and wholly inimical to moral and religious improvement. Now, is there any gaudy weed who would fain become a sterling flower? Let such be assured that this wish, if prompted by right motives, and followed up by sincere endeavours, will not be in vain. But let it be remembered, that such a change can never be effected by merely adopting the colours and affecting the attitudes of one. This would be but to become an artificial flower at best, without the grace and fragrance of nature. Be not, then, reader, satistied with imitation, which, after all, is more laborious and difficult than aiming at reality. Be what you would seem to be: this is the shortest, and the only successful way. Above all, "be clothed with humility; and have the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit "for of such flowers it may truly be said, that "Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."-Jane Taylor. THE VOYAGE. I HAVE often seen young and unskilful persons sitting in a little boat, when every little wave sporting about the sides of the vessel, and every motion and dancing of the barge, seemed a danger, and made them cling fast upon their fellows; and yet all the while they were as safe as if they sat under a tree, while a gentle breeze shaked the leaves into a refreshment and a cooling shade and the unskilful and inexperienced Christian shrieks out whenever his vessel shakes, thinking it always a danger, that the watery pave ment is not stable and resident like a rock; and yet all his danger is in himself, none at all from without: for he is indeed moving upon the waters, but fastened to a rock. Faith is his foundation, and hope is his anchor, and death is his harbour, and Christ is his pilot, and heaven is his country; and all the evils of poverty, or affronts of tribunals and evil judges, of fears and sad apprehensions, are but like the loud wind blowing from the right point-they make a noise and drive faster to the harbour: and if we do not leave the ship, and jump into the sea-quit the interests of religion, and run to the securities of the world--cut our cables, and dissolve our hopes-grow impatient, and hug a wave, and die in its embraces-we are safe at sea; safer in the storm which God sends us, than in a calm when we are befriended by the world.Taylor. Fragments. HUMILITY is the low but broad and deep foundation of every Christian virtue.-Burke. WELL arranged time is the surest mark of a well arranged mind.-Sat. Magazine. WE write our mercies in the dust, but our afflic tions we engrave in marble; our memories serve us forgetful of the former.-Bishop Hall. too well to remember the latter, but we are strangely THE best ground, untilled, soonest runs out into rank weeds. A man of knowledge, that is either negligent or uncorrected, cannot but grow wild and godless.-Bishop Hall. WISE sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.-Thoughts in the Cloister and Crowd. THERE can be no end without means, and God furduty of joining our own best endeavours. The orinishes no means that exempt us from the task and ginal stock, or wild olive-tree of our natural powers, was not given us to be burnt or blighted, but to be grafted on.-Coleridge. above what is human!-Seneca. O HOW Contemptible is man, unless he is advanced ours. READING furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge; it is thinking makes what we read We are of the ruminating kind, and it is not enough to cram ourselves with a great load of collections; unless we chew them over again, they will not give us strength and nourishment.-Locke. How often do we sigh for opportunities of doing good, whilst we neglect the openings of Providence accomplishment of most important usefulness. Dr in little things, which would frequently lead to the Johnson used to say, "He who wills to do a great deal of good at once, will never do any." Good is done by degrees. However small in proportion the benefit which follows individual attempts to do good, a great deal may thus be accomplished by perseverance, even in the midst of discouragement and disappointments.-Crabbe. CHRISTIANS possess what Archimedes wanted; they have another sphere on which to fix their hold, and by that means can be enabled to move, to influence, and to benefit this present world of transitory enjoyments, a world which is in reality safe and precious to those only who use it without abusing it, and are ever looking beyond it to a building of God, a home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. 289 LIMITING THE LORD. BY THE REV. JOHN MILNE, PERTH. LIMITING the Lord-is this possible? Have God's creatures the power to straiten and hinder him in the exercise and display of his glorious perfections? It is indeed a strange and monstrous sin, yet we find that Israel committed it. In the 78th psalm it is said, "Yea, they turned back, and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." The Lord had brought them safely and triumphantly out of Egypt, even to the borders of Canaan, and he commanded them to enter it and possess the land. But they would not go in, they turned back; and thus it is said they limited the Lord. They hindered him from doing them the good which it was in his heart to do; so that, instead of going on from victory to victory, till they sat at rest every one under his vine and his figtree, they had to spend nearly forty years in the howling wilderness, until almost the whole of that generation miserably perished. By this conduct they also hindered the Lord from attaining the glory which he sought, and which was his due. He had brought them thus far with the avowed purpose of giving them possession of the promised land; and when, by turning back, they prevented him from doing this, they made him appear as if he were weak in power, or infirm of purpose, and thus they opened the mouth of the adversary to reproach and blaspheme. They limited the Lord. This was Israel's sin. minister seasonable strength and consolation, they will make you fully furnished unto every good work. And they who have most diligently obeyed the exhortation have found the promise literally fulfilled. When they have delighted in the law of the Lord, and meditated on it day and night, they have become like trees planted near the rivers of waters, and all that they did has prospered. But we will not search the Scriptures, we have other things to do, other books to read. Is not this neglect or formal perusal of his word a limiting the Lord? It is hindering him from making us wise and holy. Again, he has set up a throne of grace where he constantly sits ready to hear and answer whoever comes. He says, "Ask and ye shall receive;"" in every thing make request;" he who seeketh findeth;" "he who spared not his own Son, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" But though he thus waits to be gracious, yet comparatively few really or regularly obey his invitation. O restrainer of prayer! are you not limiting the Lord? He says, "Ask and I will give," but you will not ask; and thus, as far as you can, you put it out of his power to bless you. He has set his blessing on the Sabbath. He has said," Remember to keep it holy ;" and has promised that if we do turn away our foot from the Sabbath, not walking in our own ways, nor finding our own pleasure, nor speaking our own words, then we shall delight ourselves in the Lord, and he will cause us to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed us with the heritage of Jacob his servant. But multitudes of professing Christians will not thus sanctify the Sabbath. They think their own thoughts, speak their own words, follow their own pleasures, and walk in their own ways. Is not this limiting the Lord? They hinder him from circumcising their heart to love him, and from making them signal examples of spiritual prosperity. God has put honour upon his house. He has made it his favoured place of meeting with men, But is it not ours also? Do we not limit the Lord by hindering him from making us as wise, holy, useful, and happy, as he has both the power and the will to make us? Let us see. He says, "Believe on me"-I am Emmanuel, Jehovah-Tzidkenu, God in Christ, reconciling the world; trust me for things spiritual-atonement, righteousness, peace, grace, eternal life; trust me also for things temporal-preservation, guidance, food, raiment, and every real and needed good. But though he has given us such manifold assurance and evidence of his good-will and ability to save and bless, yet we will not trust him, but prefer depending on our-where, as a shepherd, he finds and feeds his selves, hanging on the creature, and leaning on an arm of flesh. O practical, habitual unbeliever! are you not limiting the Lord? You are hindering him from giving you peace, as a flowing river. Again, he says, "Search the Scriptures." They will be a lamp to your feet, they will flock. He has said, "Faith cometh by hearing," and he wishes that we should enter his sanctuary with joy and expectation, confidently looking for a blessing, and saying "We shall surely be satisfied with the abundance of his holy place." But many have little esteem for God's sin of limiting the Lord. We are closing his open hand, arresting his onward progress, and making Him who is as rivers of waters appear as if he were a land of drought and darkness. We are destroying ourselves, and dishonouring the Lord. THE OLD PLOUGHMAN. AFTER his admission into the church, he formed an treated him with great kindness: and such was his attachment to public worship, that he allowed neither the heat of summer nor the frosts or snows of winter to prevent his regular and punctual attendance. But it was when singing the praises of the Lord that he was most powerfully excited, having a passion for music, and a strong melodious voice, not much injured by the desolating havoc of age. No descriptive language can do justice to his appearance when thus engaged, especially on one occasion when the congregation was singing the following verse of a favourite hymn : house; they come to it neither desiring nor expecting to be saved. It may be said now as formerly, "He can do few mighty works." Is not this limiting the Lord, first to make his ordinances empty by our indifference and unbelief, and then to despise them because they are empty? God says, "Thou shalt remember all the way that the Lord thy God led thee in the wilderness these forty years, to humble thee and prove thee, and show thee what is in thy heart." And if we would heedfully and prayer-intimacy with several of his fellow-members, who fully consider the ordinary incidents of our daily life, we should find them full of instruction. Every turn in our lot, every up and down, would be like the opening up of a new page illustrative of our own character and ways, or of God's character and ways, or probably of both. But few of us will take this solemn, right view of life. In the eager pursuit of our own objects we think not of the purposes for which God is shaping our course and ordering our steps. Is not this a limiting the Lord We hinder him from making us humble, and causing us to grow in self-knowledge and acquaintance with himself. Once more, God says, "Ye are the salt of the earth;" "ye are the light of the world :" "go ye unto all the earth, and preach the gospel to every creature." And doubtless, if we gave ourselves really and heartily to this work, he would make us as successful now as he made his people at the beginning. But there are few, I fear, who really care for the souls of men, and who are making any wise or persevering effort for their good. There are fewer still who really take part in mission-work, going forth in spirit, identifying themselves with missionaries, rejoicing in their joys, grieving in their sorrows, and upholding them with their prayers. Is not this neglect of the work of God a limiting the Lord, preventing him from making us his war-axe and his battle-bow wherewith to smite the kingdoms of darkness? I fear that this is a very common sin, and I am sure that it is a very heinous one. It is utterly contrary to God's gracious nature. He is good, and he does good. He is a fountain eternally springing up, and overflowing and filling the universe with life and light and joy. But this sin cramps and fetters his divine exuberance, and makes him like a man astonished, or as a mighty man that cannot save. The Church at present abounds in complaint. I think it should rather abound in confession. We should lay our hand on our mouth, and our mouth in the dust, and confess our scarlet "Lo, the great High Priest ascended, Can do helpless sinners good." He stood erect, with his hands resting on the pew, and his eyes closed, yet allowing the tear of penitential joy to steal silently out and trickle quietly down his deep furrowed cheek; and when the last stanza of the verse, "None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good," was repeated in full chorus, he caught the inspiration of the hallowed fact, his countenance indicating by its varying expression the deep feeling of his soul as he raised and mingled his loud and sonorous notes with the harmony of the great congregation. My numerous engagements had prevented me from when, feeling anxious to ascertain what progress he having any conversation with him for many months; had made in knowledge and in grace, I met him by appointment at John Dean's cottage. He was still the same man as when I first saw him, but he looked at least ten years younger, his voice was firmer, his eyes brighter, and he was now capable of sustaining a lengthened conversation with a degree of ease and facility of expression which astonished me. "I suppose you would not like to go back to your native village and live as you used to do?" 66 But I Why, sir, methinks no happy spirit would like to come out of heaven to live on earth again." "You often think of how you used to live?" "I think of it with sadness and horror. know'd no better then. What a mercy that I was not taken for death when my poor wife died!" "What thoughts had you of God?" "I didn't think about him much; but when I did, I thought he was a great mighty Being, who never cared nothing at all about what we said or did." |