charity have we going up with our prayers? It may be you give from patriotism-love for your country. I am glad of it. I rejoice in it; but why must you have your pay down in amusements, and raffles, and theatres, and dances? Why can't you trust Christ for at least a part of your reward? 4. If you would have given easy, give cheerfully. I have an impression that a kiss which your little child runs to give you is far sweeter than one given you because you sternly command it. And does not our Saviour so esteem it? "God loveth a cheerful giver." Does He love any other giver? If you shrug your shoulders, and scowl, every time you are called upon for charity, you do not give cheerfully. Give grudgingly, and you lose it all. You have nothing but pain in giving, and you will have no reward hereafter. You would not grudge to give the Saviour a meal of victuals, or a warm garment, or to carry Him off eight or ten miles to preach, would you? You would not grudge to wash and bind up the wounds of Paul and Silas, bleeding from scourging, would you? Then why not meet every call that humanity makes, as Christ did-promptly and cheerfully. "I will come and heal him." What I mean is, that you should cultivate the habit of giving cheerfully, and it will then be easier every time. Try being a collector one year, and see how you will find some all ready, handing to you cheerfully, wishing it were more, thanking you for calling, while others look and act as if you had come to rob them, and they must buy off with as small a sum as they possibly can. You feel that the hill of Zion which you are raking has become a fern pasture. My dear brother and sister in Christ, I beg you not to sit for the picture of "the covetous man, whom the Lord abhorreth." The pen of inspiration hath written but few texts more fearful than that. Youth and Childhood. LITTLE WILLIE TURNER. My dear young friends, I should like to tell you something about a little boy whose name was William Samuel Turner, but who is now in heaven with Jesus, whose words he used often to repeat, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." Now, little Willie, for that was the name by which he was called, was a handsome little fellow with flaxen-coloured hair, and an open and thoughtful countenance, which bespoke a mild, good-natured disposition. Though only five years old, he loved to accompany his father to the Sunday School, where you might have seen him seated on the right hand of his beloved parent, observing the boys; and, if they had misbehaved themselves, he would tell his father how wrong it was of them, and that Jesus could never love such naughty boys. I fear that even the big boys not only offend Jesus by their behaviour, but even the better boys; for little Willie was so troubled, that in the evening he would "pray God to bless the naughty boys, and make them good." Yes, Willie was too good a boy to feel comfortable, when he saw others disobedient. When at home, he would sacrifice almost anything rather than displease his brothers and sisters, or that they should act unkindly. He was a lover of the truth, and knew that Jesus heard every word that was spoken. He was so kind that he could never bear to see anyone punished, and would plead that they might be forgiven. He used to say, "Mamma, God does not err, but we do." Willie was always attentive to God's word when read, either at the house of God or at home, and would listen attentively during the time of prayer. One evening, when his papa was at home poorly, he was seen going up-stairs; when asked what he was about, he replied, "I am going to pray to Jesus to make papa better." He would not go to bed in the evening, nor come down in the morning, without first kneeling at his bed-side and offering up prayer, neither would he partake of any meal without asking a blessing. So you see, although Willie was only five years old, Jesus suffered him to go unto him in prayer, and answered his prayer, and made him the kind little fellow he was. Do you, my young friends, pray God to make you good, like little Willie? If not, do so this very day, and then God will make you a blessing to yourself and your friends. On the ninth day November last, Willie was taken ill. Afraid to grieve his father and mother, he did not complain much, because he was too gentle to hurt their feelings. However, he became worse and worse, until the doctor was called in to see him; when the doctor feared he would not get better. This, of course, was a great grief to his parents, who, after a week's time, thought they had better have another doctor besides the one they had; still, although two doctors attended little Willie, Jesus Christ, wanted him. On the 24th day of November, about one o'clock in the afternoon, he closed his eyes, when angels were suffered by Jesus to take his soul to heaven to be with Him, who has said, "Suffer little children to come unto me." In conclusion, my dear young friends, I wish to ask, do you love your Bible and God's House, and the Sunday School? Do you wish to be truthful, obedient to parents, and loved by all your friends? If so, go to Jesus, who will suffer and be glad to hear your prayers. It is Jesus only, who can make you happy, like Willie, who loved to respect His name in rhymes and prayers. I believe you, too, would like to go to heaven; then begin now to learn the way. God might want you away from the earth very soon; Willie was as well as you last year, but is better now because he is with Jesus. Should Jesus take you, a flower in the bud, you would bloom with all the more beauty under the Sun of Righteousness in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father; and, like Willie, leave friends behind who would never forget the good example left them by you, which is better than leaving many riches, because riches will fly away, whilst a good example abideth for ever. May God bless this to you! Believe me, dear young friends, Miscellaneous. OUR CHAIRS. AN eminent physician, speaking of our chairs, remarks that they are too high and too nearly horizontal. We slide forward, and our spines ache. The seat should be fifteen or sixteen inches high in front for men, and from eight to fourteen inches for children and women. The back part of the seat should be from one to three inches lower than the front part. This last is very important. The depth of the seat from front to Yours affectionately, back, should be the same as the height. The chair back is likewise unphilo sophical. The part which meets the small of the back should project further forward. Instead of this, at that point there is generally a hollow.. This is the cause of much pain and weakness in the small of the back. The present seats produce discomfort, round shoulders, and other distortions. Cabinet. IMPORTANCE OF THE UNITY OF DOCTRINE AND LIFE TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH. BY PASTOR BAUTY. DOCTRINE manifested by the life, and life springing from doctrine, such are the two sides of my subject. I. Doctrine is the whole of the teachings of God, revealed in Scripture. Life is the effect of this doctrine on the mind and heart. It is rather to be felt than defined. Within, it is love to God and our neighbour, along with hatred to evil; without, it is the manifestation of the power of Christ, compelling the sinner to cry, "What shall we do?" But can doctrine be separated from life? Alas! it may be transformed into a cold orthodoxy, and that happens, first, by an exaggerated reaction against error. When the Gospel is preached for the first time it is opposed by unbelief and self-righteousness, which both affirm the natural strength of man for good. If the evangelist always confronted these errors as the Gospel does, doctrine would never be separated from life. But the Gospel is preached in a fragmentary, and consequently imperfect manner. Paul appeals to the judgment of the Corinthians: "I speak as unto wise men," and the Book of Acts praises the Bereans for searching the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. We do not speak to men about mankind as the Bible does. Are we showing them their incapacity for good? We make an abstraction of the numerous appeals addressed to them in Scripture, and of declarations, like the following, of St. Paul: "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." Wishing to be more evangelical than the Gospel, we prepare a reaction in favour of infidelity and Pelagianism. 2. Doctrine may be separated from life by vain refinements and subtle distinctions made for the purpose of guarding the truth. This kind of orthodoxy prescribes the very words we must use. All is regulated for us, even to the very physiognomy and the monotonous tones of a lifeless faith. Hence arises a reaction against doctrine-people's minds pass to a vague and almost imperceptible system of dogmatics. This is how we return to dead morality, to sermon upon conversation, on temper, to " the gentleman in black, who says very proper things," as Le Maistre phrases it. From one refinement to another, we come to fear certain lessons taught in the Bible, of which we dread the exaggeration. Strange shortsightedness! Will people not see in the Bible what we are hiding from them? Explain, do not suppress; do not be afraid of the promise, "Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, he shall not lose his reward;" nor of Paul's declaration to the Corinthians, "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly;" nor of that other, "He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, His righteousness remaineth for ever." One of the most excellent liturgies in the burial service suppresses the latter part of Rev. xiv. 13-"Their works do follow them." Our works follow us, but do not precede us. It is the grace of God which He crowns in us. To be complete is the true way of combating error. "I have heard say," writes Vinet, "that at the period when certain doctrines have fallen into disuse, it is upon them that we must insist." Such is not my opinion. I think we ought to show all, and to show all at once. Truth is truth only when it is complete. 3. Doctrine is separated from life by a mode of preaching different from that of Jesus Christ and His apostles. The Bible insists on the moral consequences of faith, and we are apt to suppress them. It speaks of love to God, and we leave that love to the mystic. Sometimes the Bible supposes faith. "Who 66 shall abide in thy tabernacle? He that walketh uprightly." Or in these words of Jesus, They that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life." The Bible goes the length of telling us, Be ye not drunken with wine." But we do not like following it on this road. It threatens with death those who walk after the flesh, and we do not threaten. We only wish to convert, and not to guide. And again, as regards conversion, we have our methods. One is on the look-out for the timid-minded only; another sees only brands to be plucked from the burning. Terrible method! I knew a man to whom the assurance of salvation had become a snare, and who was more afraid of losing his assurance than of sinning. But, at length his eyes were opened, and then he was satisfied with what he received from grace day by day. An orator said, " He who wants more than the charter, less than the charter, any thing else than the charter, is a traitor to his country." So say we. He who wants more than the Bible, less than the Bible, anything else than the Bible, runs the risk of going astray himself, and of leading others astray. Doctrine is separated from life by-4. Theological temerity. Uzzah was struck dead by the Lord for his boldness. How many Uzzahs are there not in theology? But we must explain ourselves. We are not of those who believe that there can be no good theology, and who, to prove it, make a great deal of bad. All honour to our ancient symbols! But what we fear is, the definitions and the decisions of the time when life was ebbing away, and by which men tried to go beyond the symbols. Who can tell the evil that the period of lifeless orthodoxy in Germany, and the disputes upon "sufficient grace" in France, did to souls? The reaction provoked by Spencer, by taking a direction opposed to that which that pious man expected, led to Rationalism. The revival in French Switzerland found doctrine forgotten. II. There is no life without doctrine. But this is denied by some. Hence I have to deal with Anti-Doctrinalism. In past ages, when language had nothing of our mysticism, people said Christian ethics stand on their own basis. At present antidoctrinalism borrows from the Bible the words, life, regeneration. As for doctrine, it is designated by terms which mean narrowmindedness. In the last century every attack upon doctrine went by the name of philosophy, now it goes by that of science. Let us explain the term life. For the anti-doctrinalists it is synonymous with morality; but there is a religious morality of which the gens d'armes and the code serve as guarantee; and a philosophic morality, which is either epicurean or stoic, according to its instincts. We only speak of that life which has its source in Jesus Christ; and we affirm that that life is inseparable from doctrine. There are different classes of anti-doctrinalists: 1, the sceptics-the declared enemies of doctrine-whose morality does not rise above the observance of the civil laws; 2, those who see that morality ought to be connected with a religious faith, but who are little concerned whether this faith be Buddhist, Jewish, or any other; 3, those who retain something of faith in Jesus Christ, but whose belief can be reckoned by degrees, up from that of the Vicaire Savoyard to faith in miracles; 4, the mystics, who admit the doctrines of the Bible, but who, from fear of man, do not present it directly, but substitute for it mere speculations.-The speaker then confined his remarks to the two classes lastmentioned, and spoke of Christ as the only source of life, and of the Word and ordinances as the only means of grace and of individual regeneration.] |