for? What led her? The love of Jesus. So when Jesus is revealed, we go and try to bring others to him. She confessed all her sins, Jesus had laid her low, he had broken her heart with the manifestation of his love. Jesus alone can reveal himself, and he does it by his own blessed Spirit. Here was his doctrine, conduct, meekness, patience, long suffering; but these did not do it. Power to search the heart did not do it. His own word did not do it. The secret power of the Holy Ghost working with the word did it. It is wonderful to observe how reasonably the Spirit works, and yet how forcibly. Where the word of a king is, there is power; it comes not as the word of man, but works effectually. Oh, beloved! it is not a large congregation, this may be made up of dried bones; it is broken hearts, self-condemnation, sitting at the feet of Jesus, that proves the Spirit's work. Before Jesus reveals himself he strips the sinner. He stripped her of father Jacob's well, and all outward circumstances. God keep you from trusting in externals. I would not have your death-bed if you do. He stripped her of her sins, and then he revealed himself. We must be taught in the same school; we pray, and we do well; but forget not the mode of his operations; he strips, empties, and brings down, then he makes himself known. Observe the glorious truth, how God's grace is herein unfolded. Is this any excuse for sin? It cannot be. Are you Pharisees? they were Christ's greatest enemies, and had most to do with his death. My dear brethren, let me repeat, he only reveals himself as he breaks the heart, as he lays us low; but if a man is living in sin, he will have no revelation of Christ while so doing. An excuse for sin! it is most humbling and sanctifying, and it is recorded for two objects, that God's glory is his grace, and that salvation is not of works, but from first to last of grace; and to encourage the chief of sinners to come to Jesus, to assure them of a free welcome. Oh, the words of our Lord in the 10th verse, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." My brother, are you the vilest in the house-a desperate character? here is blessed encouragement, holy encouragement. Rest short of nothing but the revelation of Christ to your souls. We are glad to see you in God's house; but rest not short of this. I am no advocate for enthusiasm; but it is only a scriptural, holy unfolding of Jesus from God that will lead to God. Precious appropriating views of the Son of God were desired by Paul (Phil. iii. 9); why? because he knew him so well, loved him so well. Oh, that Jesus would now manifest himself to all our souls! NO COMPLAINING. "Wherefore doth a living man complain ?"-Lam. iii, 39. Complaining is a bad business. It is unbecoming in a sinner, and it is unworthy a saint. Complain! Why, have we not all more than we deserve? If we had our desert, should we not be debarred every comfort, should we not be excluded from hope,—and would not our portion be in the bottomless pit? Complain! What with so many mercies, surrounded by so many sources of pleasure, and with such a bright prospect before us! Complain! No, let us leave off immediately if we have begun, and determine, in the Lord's strength, not to begin if we have not. They who complain much to men, have very little to do with God; for prayer will make us leave off complaining, or complaining will deprive prayer of all its life and power. But you have had losses. Well, suppose you have, look at what you have left, as well as at what you have lost. You have life, you are a living man; you might have been cut off, for you have no right to life, you lie absolutely at God's mercy. You might have been a corpse, a lost soul; but you are not, therefore do not complain! You have hope; for be as vile as you may, the gospel lays a foundation for your hope. Believing in Jesus, your sins will be pardoned, your losses will be sanctified, and your soul will be saved. Hope is a light in the darkest night, an anchor in the most terrific storm, and a pillow for the weary head in this trying world. Look to Jesus, and hope for all you need, for all he has promised, for all that can really do you good, but never complain. You have many mercies,-new mercies every morning,-the same mercies renewed every day. All you have is from mercy. You are not entitled by law to the slightest alleviation. All flows to you from the kind heart of God, on the ground of the glorious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have national mercies, home mercies, and heart mercies; and not only so, but if you walk with God, your mercies will be endless; thank God then, and take courage, but never complain. You have opportunities to do good, and if you have a kind and benevolent heart, you will esteem this no small favour. You may visit the sick, and comfort them; you may relieve the poor, and cheer them; you may teach the young, and benefit them; you may induce persons to attend God's house, and perhaps instrumentally save them. You may do good every day, and do good at little cost, and in a variety of ways; up, then, and work for the good of others, but never complain. Never complain, for what good will it do? It pays no debts,-performs no duties, heals no wounds,-removes no troubles,-relieves no sorrows, -conquers no foes,-procures no blessings. It never did any good to the complainer, or to those who listened to the complaints. It is pure unmixed evil. Turn your complaints into prayers, pour them into the bosom of God, and then good will come from them, but in no other way. Complain! Why, what evil will it prevent? Will it keep away poverty? Will it scare Satan? Will it banish doubts? Will it calm the spirit? Will it smooth the rugged path? Never. It will add to every burden, -increase every sorrow,-strengthen every foe,-darken every prospect, weaken every grace, and fill you with unbelief, self-piety, and pride: mourn then before God, but never murmur at any thing that comes from God; bear your trials patiently, but-never complain. Upon what principle can you justify it? Surely there is nothing in God's nature, in God's book, or in God's ways, that will justify your complaining: there is nothing in your state, or circumstances, or prospects, that will justify your complaining. Complainers are bad companions, worthless church members, and inconsistent christians, therefore-never complain. "Oh, sir," says some one, "if you knew my afflictions, disappointments, fears, and foes, you would not wonder at my complaining." Yes, I should, for ten to one if you would have had so many trials but for your complaining disposition. If you love complaining, you will never want something to complain about; and if you complain under your present troubles, expect greater. You have no real cause to complain while you have so many mercies left you, and if you were only grateful for what you have, God would soon give you many more. He loves to heap favours upon the grateful; but who likes to assist those who are everlastingly complaining? Some complain of their husbands, others of their wives, others of their children, others of their parents, others of their employment, others of their residence, others of their neighbours, others of their friends, others of their wants, others-of what? Where shall I end? Complainers and complaints are endless. But "wherefore doth a living man complain ?" Sin procured all he complains of. Grace would turn the greatest cross into a blessing. Brethren, let us check the complaining spirit in ourselves, for if we do not it will grow upon us. Pastors are complaining of people, and people of pastors, and both pastors and people of deacons, and what good does all this do? Let us admonish, expostulate, entreat, reason, and pray; this may do good. Let us look over the catalogue of the mercies we have in hand, and the property we have in hope, and then complain if we can. Rather let us seek grace to be grateful, humble, diligent, and devoted to God; let us cast our sorrows where God has cast our sins, and let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Hear what God says, and act upon it, and complaining will soon die a natural death, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God" (Psalm 1. 23). JAMES SMITH. THE WORDS OF JESUS. BY A WORKING MAN. "And they remembered His words."-Luke xxiv. 8. Who can wonder that the words of Jesus Christ should be remembered? It would be a wonder if they should ever be forgotten. Those now referred to were farewell words, and the farewell words of friends are generally tender and impressive; they are long remembered, and never fail to call up the image of our absent friend, and revive our affections. But the last words of a dying friend remain indelibly fixed in our hearts. They follow us through all the changing scenes of life, awaken a thousand lively emotions, and fill the soul with a gush of feeling not to be described. Now, Christ is the wisdom of God. He came from heaven to reveal the truth concerning our lost condition, our salvation, and the state of our souls in the future world. Hence these words of Christ retain their interest through all ages, and are equally applicable to all the human race. No change of circumstances can supersede them, or deprive them of their interest. They are all true, and contain the most important truths for every one to know. The words of Christ are the only words of pure and unfailing consolation to sinful mortals, and on that account are entitled to perpetual and universal remembrance. All the consolation we enjoy in this life from books and friends, from honours, or riches, or science, is frail and temporary. The sources of it all, are human, fallible, and fluctuating, and will one day be exhausted or dried up. But the words of Jesus Christ spring up in our hearts as a well of waters. They comprehend the whole of our nature; they go to the root of our miseries and sufferings; they reach the source of all our ills and errors; they work within the soul the most wonderful and the most glorious of changes. The words of Jesus Christ, like pure gold, will bear the severest trial. How have they been sifted by jealousy, criticised by malice, assailed by infidelity, and tried in every possible way by the suspicions of friends, and the hostility of foes! But still they retain their unblemished excellency, their unimpeachable truth and authority. They are still worthy of all acceptation. In trials and afflictions, the Saviour's words are encircled with a glory they never had before. They teach us by experience the emptiness and deceitfulness of the world's promises, and demonstrate the stability of that foundation the Saviour has laid for our hopes. Let the word of Christ, then, dwell in you richly in all wisdom. It will be a shield in temptation, a consolation in suffering, which will never fail. How often has the remembrance of a verse, or a single word, or the bare recollection that there is such a book as the bible, stopped men on the eve of yielding to temptation, and armed them against it, and made them more than conquerors through Him that loved them. The Lord's word is sure for evermore. Not one jot of it shall fail. The assurance of this will bring relief to the soul in every trial and every temptation. In the strength of this assurance may you live; in the confidence of it may you die; in the anticipation of its everlasting accomplishment may you welcome the day which will present the world in flames, the Judge on his throne, and all souls awaiting his final award. EARTH'S SUNNY SPOTS. BY MRS. A. L. ANGIER. What though we wander in a maze What though we number weary hours, Still may we find, to cheer our hearts, Though on the present, with its cares, And o'er the page of future years, Yet, early days of childhood's mirth, What heart remembers not, When hope's bright dreams made all so fair, Earth seemed one sunny spot. The heedless foot may press the flowers, Then hast thou felt, amid the gloom, If to the humble couch of pain, And poured upon a wounded heart If thon in prayer hast meekly bent, Within the lowly cot; Then thou hast in life's desert proved Thyself a sunny spot. Then, what though down the stream of time, Thy bark be rudely driven, Thy Pilot's hand is ever near, To guide thee safe to heaven. Earth's weary children then shall find When, every care forgot, They calmly rest secure from fears The grave a sunny spot. 1 Biblical. INFIDELITY TESTED BY FACT. BY THE REV. SAMUEL MANNING, Of Frome. No. 7. PRACTICAL RESULTS. If the design of this series of papers had been to examine Christianity as taught in the Gospels, and exemplified in the character of its Teacher, nothing could be more conclusive than a view of the practical results it is adapted to produce. Let it, on the one hand, be shown what are the wants and necessities of humanity, and, on the other, let the most perfect ideal of man and of society which we can conceive be suggested, and it might easily be shown that the principles and precepts of christianity, fully carried out, would meet all those wants, supply all those necessities, and bring about that state of perfection. But we have to do, not with the possible, but with the actual ascertained results of the christian system-with the Gospel as it has acted through the Church in History—a far more difficult and less satisfactory topic. Let it be, in the first place, remembered, that no system can be justly held responsible for that which it denounces and condemns. This is so very obvious a truism, that the adducing it may raise a smile, but it is one constantly forgotten in the arguments of the infidel. Wars and persecutions have been waged in the sacred name of religion, and professedly in behalf of Him who came to bring "peace on earth and good will among men." These things are not only opposed by the whole spirit of the gospel, but are explicitly condemned by its letter. Yet the infidel persists in charging these acts upon that system, whose social laws are summed up in one requirementthou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. As well might we charge darkness upon the sun, as hold the religion of Christ accountable for these deeds of bloodshed and crime. Again, let it be borne in mind that nothing can be expected to act where it does not exist-that a cause can only be expected to produce results to the extent in which it is allowed to operate. The immorality and vice which yet pollute society, therefore, cannot be charged upon the gospel, unless it can be shown that its principles exist, and are in active exercise, in the hearts of them that "do such things." The infidel points to the conduct of those who call themselves christians just as they call themselves Englishmen, and he asks, what are they better than heathen? We reply, what are they more than heathen? The limited reception the gospel has met with, perfectly accounts for the smallness of the results it has produced. In the third place, we remark, that in so far as the gospel has been allowed to act, its results have been wholly beneficial. Compare the condition of society in the present day, with that of nations who, without christianity, attained the very highest pitch of civilization. In them slavery existed to an extent of which we can form a very faint conception. Nor was the propriety of slavery so much as questioned. It was assumed as the undoubted right of the conqueror to enslave the conquered. War was waged avowedly for purposes of aggrandisement, without even the pretence of justice or right. Infanticide was practised openly, whenever the maintenance of children became burdensome to the parents. Drunkenness, fornication, incest, and unnatural crimes, were scarcely deemed improper. Gladiatorial shows were the favourite amusement of the whole Roman people. Ladies of the highest rank and refinement looked on with intensest interest, as the arena streamed with the blood of dying combatants. The announcement that "christians were to be thrown to the lions," would fill the amphitheatre with all the wealth and fashion of Rome. It has been shown, by indubitable evidence, that the description given by Paul of his contemporaries in the 1st of Romans, is no exaggeration, but a plain literal statement of fact. Now it must be admitted, that in all these respects, there has been an immense improvement, and that the improvement is still progressive, under the influence of Attica, with a population of 528,000, contained 400,000 slaves. Other Grecian states were even worse. + The Flavian Amphitheatre, which was frequently thus crowded, would accommodate 100,000 persons. See Tholuck on the Nature and Moral Influence of Heathenism. |