and a house of prayer erected, there the name of God is recorded, and his promise is sure. He will come and bless the people who assemble there for his word. No greater blessing has God given to men than the glorious gospel of his grace. Wherever it comes, it sheds light on all around. It holds forth Christ, who is the Sun of Righteousness, the light of the world. The beams of divine truth, when they shine into any place, disperse the mists of ignorance, error, and prejudice; and if the natural light is sweet and pleasant to our eyes, how much more the light of divine truth? How happy are they who know the Lord, and are illumined with the rays of spiritual light ? "The gospel is, moreover, a healing medicine for the diseased souls of men. It is an effectual remedy for maladies incurable by any other means. It is the balm of Gilead, and Christ is the great Physician, who has procured the remedy, and knows how to apply it. Suppose your families were down with some fatal disease, which baffled all the skill of physicians, and one should come among you who pos sessed a sovereign remedy, which no other knew or could administer-how would the dwelling of such a physician be surrounded? and from morning to even ing applications would throng around him. Well, spiritual health is more important than bodily; and men are all deeply diseased with the mortal leprosy of sin, though many are insensible of their miserable condition. How desirable to have a dispensary in your midst, where all may come and be gratuitously supplied with medicine, which will heal their souls! Such a dispensary will be a gospel Church in the midst of you." FOR MINISTERS. UNITING A DIVIDED CONGREGATION. IN former years, we knew a minister of the gospel, now entered upon his rest, who was amiable, devout, and eminently prudent. He received a call by a bare majority to a congregation that had been split into parties by a previous feud, and contrary to the advice of some, who predicted an unhappy result, he accepted it, and directed his steps to his future field of labour. He proceeded in his appropriate work as if all were his friends; he visited all; bore all the rebuffs he met with in the truest Christian spirit, and by persevering in this course, and letting his light shine, he won the hearts of his bitterest opponents, healed all difficulties, and eventually had the pleasure of seeing himself surrounded by a people who had but one heart and mind, who loved him while he lived, and made great lamentations over his premature death. We have heard of another who accepted a call under very similar circumstances, but not with similar qualifications. He listened to all the idle gossip that was afloat, thus permitting the people to keep alive the exacerbation of existings feeling by perpetually talking of their mutual wrongs; his partisanship was sought by both parties, and by imprudent concessions he gave to each ground for believing that he had special sympathy for them, until at length he was trusted by neither. He had tried the plan of worldly policy, instead of that of the watchful, devout, diligent, and prudent minister of the gospel; and when asked by a friend, some time after his settlement, if he had succeeded in uniting his people, he promptly answered, Yes-I have succeeded in uniting them to a man against me! In introducing men into the ministry, any evidence of habitual imprudence in a candidate should be as serious a bar as want of intelligence and want of piety. BREAD UPON THE WATERS. his father the necessary aid for prosecuting studies A Swiss boy of remarkable promise was refused by for which he had a strong predilection. The good pastor of the parish in this emergency came forward and furnished the necessary means; the boy was sent to the university, and in the course of time rose to the highest eminence among scientific men. His name has no superior in his department. Many years had passed away, and the Swiss boy thus befriended was now, with place and pay equal to the distinction which his studies had won, a resident of the American continent. He lived solitarily, amid plenty. But reverses had come upon his ancient friend, the benefactor of his youth. Religious persecution had visited his native Canton de Vaud, and the Swiss pastor, now an old man, had been driven from his flock, without home or the means to procure venerable man an invitation to share with him his one. The scholar lost no time in transmitting to the purse and table; the invitation was accepted, and, added to the pleasure of having given to the world a man of science, the Swiss pastor had the happiness of proving in his own experience the truth of that Divine promise, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, and after many days thou shalt find it." HOW TO RUIN A SON. 1. LET him have his own way. 2. Allow him free use of money. 3. Suffer him to roam where he pleases on the Sabbath. 4. Give him full access to wicked companions. 5. Call him to no account of his evenings. 6. Furnish him with no stated employment. Pursue either of these ways, and you will experience a most marvellous deliverance, or will have to mourn over a debased and ruined child. Thousands have realized the sad result, and have gone sorrowing THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. 457 A CALL TO PRAYER. [WE commend the following Paper, proposing | new wounds are inflicted. The ministry has union in prayer among all Churches from the 23d to the 31st December inclusive, to the attention of our readers. It has been already extensively circulated, and the season will doubtless be very generally observed.] "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God."-JONAH i. 6. It is proposed that the saints of God in all lands and Churches should unite in prayer.* The Lord has affixed a special promise to agree ment in prayer, even among two of his children, and it is on this sure promise that the present agreement is founded. The proposers connect no virtue with this agreement beyond what that promise gives; but they think that such a promise does warrant their agreement during a specific period, and that such an agreement is one of the best methods of calling attention to that promise, as well as of acting upon it. Many things call for such an agreement or union among the people of God. Chiefly the following:: little power. Saints are not built up, and sin ners are not converted. Sabbaths are unrelished, sanctuaries are unprized, the communion of saints is not enjoyed, the worship of God has become vapid, the lives of saints are barren Sectarianism, politics, worldliness, sel fishness, censoriousness, are too visible among "Be watchful, and strengthen the thing which remain that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” us. 3. The state of the World. It is ripening for the fire of judgment. Ungodliness is written over it all. Its kingdoms overflow with crime. Antediluvian wickedness is rife amongst us. Vileness, worse than Sodom's, is familiar over Europe. Atheism defies the God of heaven Blasphemy utters its scoffs. Philosophic pride pours out its great swelling words of vanity. Cruel despotism on the one hand, that hates liberty and light, and would turn every kingdom into a dungeon; and on the other, wild lawlessness, that mocks authority and speaks evil of diguities, and proclaims the sovereignty of the people-are the two sad extremes that meet our eye in glancing over the stormy breadth of the continental sea. It is in the midst of this rude turbulence of evil and wretchedness that the voice comes forth-the voice of untiring love" Fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of his judgment is come." Let us arise, then, and call upon our God, for the time is short. 1. The state of our own Nation. It is casting off the fear of God, and disowning the name of Christ. It is blotting out the difference between truth and error, light and darkness. It is placing Antichrist on a level with Christ. It is cherishing Popery. It is rushing headlong into infidelity. It is despising the Divine laws. It is spurning God's Sabbaths. It is rushing into crime of every name-lust, murder, perjury, sedition, hatred, strife, and all shapes of evil. It laughs Church of God! To thy knees! Cry aloud at God's judgments. It refuses to humble it--rest not-sleep not. Up and plead-“ How self under his heavy rod. . . . . 2. The state of the Churches. Life is low in all of them. The pulse beats feebly, as if vitality were nearly gone. Spirituality is at ebb amongst us. We pray little, we praise little, we confess little, we walk with God but distantly and tamely, if at all; we are shrivelled and worn out, ready to faint, unfit to do great things for God. Love has grown cold. Unity is broken up. Old wounds are not healed, and * It is expected that at least an hour, morning and evening, should be spent in prayer. Eight o'clock has, in former years, been the hour agreed upon. public meetings for prayer. There should also be long, O Lord!" Awake from thy long sleepbe in earnest. Saints of the Most High! Unite for prayer. Let no differences or suspicions hinder such a union. In such an agreement let all divisions be forgotten. Do not grudge the time. It is well spent, though it were many days longer. Meet together: stir up each other. Linger not, for the night has begun to fall. HINTS FOR HELPING TO SPEND THE PROPOSED It would be well that we began the season with solemn humiliation, spending the allotted hours of the first day in confession of sin. Texts such as the following may be helpful:Sins of our nature. Ps. li. 5. Ps. xiv.; Eph. ii. Sins of our lives. Jer. xliv. 4. Esther iii. 15; Unconcern for souls. Jer. viii. 21; xiii. 17. 3-9. Resisting Him. Acts vii. 51; 1 Thess. v. 19. The second and third days might be spent in laying the state of the nation before God, in some such way as the following:Our sins as a nation. Jer. iii. 25; Dan. ix. 8; Amos ix. 5-10. : Ungodliness. Ps. xxxvi. 1-4; Mal. i. 6-10. Unthankfulness. Dan. v. 22, 23; Rom. i. 21. Not giving heed to God's dealings. 1 Sam. xii. 6-25; Jer. xi. 7–10. Contempt of Christ and his Gospel. Matt. xxiii. 37; Luke x. 13. Licentiousness. Jer. v. 7-9; Hos. iv. 1, 2. Lawlessness. Ps. xii. 4. Selfishness. 1 Cor. x. 24; Phil. ii. 4. Like Tyre, and Sidon, and Capernaum. Mat xi. 20-24. Like Israel. Lev. xxvi. 14-39; Isa. v. 1-24. 14-20. blessing on the land. Zeph. ii. On its rulers. Num. xi. 16-25; 1 Kings iii. 5–15. Its ministers. Exod. iv. 10-17; Deut. xxxiv. §. On the faithful. Jer. xv. 19-21; 2 Peter i. 16. On the unfaithful. Ezek. xiii. 2-16; Mic. iii. 11. On God's people. Phil. i. 9-11; Heb. xiii. 20, 21. On the unconverted. Zech. xii. 10-14; 1 Tim ii. 1-4. Schools. Exod. xiii. 8-16; Deut. xxxi. 12, 13. Sabbath schools. Deut. vi. 6, 7; Ps. lxxviii. 2-8 Revivals in every part. 2 Chron. xv. 1-15, Ps. lxxxv. 1-9. In our large towns. 2 Chron. xxx. 13–27; Acts viii. 8. Deliverance from covetousness. 10-16; Heb. xiii. 5, 6. Eccles. v. From Sabbath-breaking. Exod. xvi. 23–30; Isa. lviii. 13, 14. From its ungodliness. Josh. xxiv. 14–27; Judg x. 10-16. Its merchandise sanctified. Isa. xxiii. 18. Zech. xiv. 20, 21. Overthrow of Popery. Col. ii. 18-23; Rev. xviii. 1-24. Of Socialism and Infidelity. 2 Pet. ii. 10-22 Jude 8-19. Prayer for a spirit of repentance. Lev. xxvi. 40-45; Ezek. xviii. 30-32; Jonah iii. 1-10. Of reformation. Judges x. 10-16; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3-33. The fourth and fifth days might be given to the consideration of the condition of the Churches the state of religion in them, and in all our congregations, as well as in our own persons. Confession and humiliation. Ps. lxxix.; Ezek. xx. 43. Unthankfulness for privileges. Ps. cvi. 6,7; Jer. ii. 5-7. Not broken for sin. Jer. vi. 15; Hos. vii. 14. Not heedful of God's dealings. Ps. Ixxviii. 17-32. Not improving chastisements. Amos iv. 6–12; Rev. ix. 20, 21. A CALL TO PRAYER. Our unbelief. Ps. lxxviii. 22; Matt. xiii. 58. Disobedience. Judges ii. 1-5; Dan. ix. 10. Worldliness. Amos vi. 3-5; 2 Tim. iv. 10. Indifference to sin. Jer. ii. 35; 1 John i. 8-10. Want of love to the saints. Phil. ii. 20; 1 John iii. 16, 17. Want of pity for souls. Jer. ix. 1; Luke xix. 41, 42. Selfishness. Matt. xvi. 24, 25; Rom. xv. 1–3. Backsliding. Judges ii. 19; Ezek. xx. 7–13. Following strange doctrines. Deut. xii. 30; 2 Tim. iii. 6, iv. 3. Unconcern about God's glory. Amos vi. 6; Phil. ii. 21. Indifference to the coming of the kingdom. 2 Sam. vii. 1, 2; Hag. i. 4. Grudging our substance to Christ. 6,7; Hag. i. 3-9. 459 Life and warmth. Hosea xiv. 5-7; Rev. iii. 2, 3. Unity, love, and peace. ix. 5-15. Brotherly kindness. John xiii. 34, 35; 1 Cor. xiii. Counsel and guidance. Ps. xxv. 4-9; Jer. xlii. 2, 3. God's presence. Lev. xxvi. 11-13; xxix. 42-45. i. 13. Removal of hindrances. 1 Sam. vii. 3. Song v. 1; Rev. Joshua vii. 1-26; Kept from foxes and wolves. Song ii. 15; Acts xx. 29. For the minister. Jer. xxxi. 14; Rom. xv. 30. God's people. Isa. lxvi. 5; Heb. xiii. 20, 21. The unconverted. Isa. lviii. 1; Acts xvii. 30; Rom. ii. 3-9. Parents, teachers, children. Isa. liv. 13; Jer. xxxii. 39. Enlargement of our borders. 1 Chron. iv. 10; Ps. lxxi. 21. The sixth day might be occupied with prayer, its wretchedness, its ungodliness, its infidelity, in reference to the state of the world-its sin, 2 Cor. ix.its superstition, its idolatry, its misgovernment, its disorder, and its need of deliverance. Prayer also should be made for its kings and kingdoms; for all its nations, for the rulers and the ruled; for the speedy fulfilment of God's purposes concerning it. Disobedience. Deut. ix. 6-27; Isa. xxx. 15. Indecision. 1 Kings xviii. 21; Matt. vi. 24. Wearying God. Isa. vii. 13; xliii. 24; Mal. ii. 17. Thanksgiving for mercies. Exod. xv. 1–21; 1 Sam. ii. 1-10. For souls saved. Matt. xi. 25; 1 Thess. ii. 13; Confession of the world's sins. Gen. iv. 9; iii. 9. Plead for the Spirit. Song iv. 16; Joel ii. 21-27. For pardon. Ps. Ixxix. 8, 9; Jer. xxxi. 33. For God's return to us. Ps. lxxx. 14; Isa. lxiii. 15-19. For cleansing. Ezek. xxxvi. 25-31; Zech. xiii. 1. The turning away of God's anger. Isa. xl. 1, 2; liv. 7, 8. The light of his countenance. Num. vi. 23-27; Isa. lx. 19, 20. The healing of our hurt. Jer. xxx. 17; xxxiii. 6. Hag. i. 2-11. Prayer for the Spirit. Isa. xxxi. 15; lii. 10. For the preaching of the Gospel. Isa. lv. 10, 11; Matt. ix. 36, 37. Ingathering of the remnant of Israel. Jer. li. 50; Rom. xi. 5. The Gentile election. Acts xv. 14; Rom. xi. 11-24. All missionaries. Acts iv. 29, 30; Eph. vi. 19. The coming of the Lord. Ps. xiv. 7; Rev. xxii. 20. The downfall of Antichrist. Isa. xi. 4; 2 Thess. ii. S. Ruin of Israel's enemies. Ezek. xxxviii. 8-23; Zech. xiv. 3. Destruction of idolatry. Isa. ii. 18-22; Hab ii. 18-20. Restitution of all things. Acts iii. 21; Rev. xxi. 5. Reign of the Saints. Rev. v. 10; xx. 4. The seventh day might be given to prayer for all ministers and missionaries throughout the world, that they may be men such as were in apostolic times, and that their labours may be blest as in these early days. Confession of their sins. Jer. xxiii.; Ezek. Prayer for them. Rom. xv. 30; Col. iv. 3. Faithfulness. Prov. xiii. 17; 1 Cor. iv. 2. That they may have love to Christ. John xxi. Love to souls. 2 Cor. ii. 4; Gal. iv. 19. 1 Thess. ii. 10. the Church of God all that it ought to be on v. 19. For having grieved Him away from our land, On the land. Ps. lxxxv.; Isa. xxxii. 15. On all classes of men. On the unconverted. Joel ii. 28; Acts ii. Prov. i. 23; Ezek. On the young. Ps. cxliv. 12; Isa. xliv. 3. As the Spirit of conviction. John xvi. 8-11; Of conversion. John iii. 5-7; Titus iii. 5, 6. Of understanding of the preached word. Of joy and peace. Rom. xiv. 17; xv. 13. Of all graces. Isa. xi. 2; Gal. v. 22–25. The ninth day might be spent in thanksgiving as well as prayer-thanksgiving for past mercies, thanksgiving for all the love wherewith we Jer. have been loved. Mal. ii. 6; Their visiting. 2 Chron. xvii. 9, 10; Acts xx. 20. The conversion of unconverted ones. Jer. That God may not visit the land for their sins. That they may fulfil their ministry. Acts xx. 24. The eighth day might be given to prayer for the Holy Spirit, that He would not be grieved away, but would put forth his power, making Thanks for the Father's love. Eph. i. 3; For the gift of his Son. 2 Cor. ix. 15. For saving us. Ps. lxxxvi. 12, 13; 1 Tim. For pardon and acceptance. Eph. i. 6; Rev. For holiness. Rom. vi. 17; Jude 24. For peace and comfort. 2 Cor. i. 3-6; 2 Thess. ii. 16, 17. For hearing prayer. Ps. xxxiv. 1-6; cxvi. 1-7. For the hope of the inheritance. Col. i. 12-14; 1 Peter i. 3-5. For his goodness to our land. Ps. cxxxv.; cxlvii. 1-7. |