I have a fellowship of hearts For the Lord on whom I wait. So I ask Thee for the daily strength, And a mind to blend with outward life. If Thou be glorified. And if some things I do not ask I would have my spirit filled the more And careful less to serve Thee much There are briars besetting every path; And an earnest need for prayer; In a service which Thy love appoints There are no bonds for me, For my secret heart is taught "the truth” And a life of self-renouncing love Is a life of liberty! BIBLE QUESTIONS. 49. Who once sat up all night weeping and praying, because of a friend of his who had sinned? 50. Who had to build a city with their swords and spears in one hand, and their building instruments in the other? 51. What description of Nineveh is given in the Bible, which shows it to have been a large city? 52. Which of the prophets foretold that Christ should be sold for thirty pieces of silver, and what was to be done with the money? 53. The children of Israel wandered for 40 years in a desolate wilderness: how were they supplied with food and clothes all that long time? 54. On what piece of water did our Lord walk? and who, does Job say, is the only one who can do such a thing? 55. What does Jesus say, is "life eternal," and how is it to be obtained? 56. What are the "wages of sin ?" ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF LAST MONTH. (41.) The war of the five kings with the four: Gen. xiv. (42.) Lev. xxv. 39, 44, &c. (43.) By being deceived by Laban respecting his wife: Gen. xxix. 25. (44.) Jubal: Gen. iv. 21. (45.) Sisera: Judges iv. 17, 21. (46.) Zeph. i. 12: it should have been, "settled upon their lees." (47.) 2 Cor. vi. 14. (48.) To have our "hearts enlarged:" Ps. cxix. 32. THE FRIENDLY VISITOR. LOOK UP! It was once in crossing the ocean, that, as the booming waves in the hazy distance heralded an approaching gale, a young sailor was sent up to the mast-head to aid in putting the ship in trim to meet the shock. The poor lad had scarcely reached the giddy height, when, looking down into the boiling deep, he trembled, and was just ready to fall. At that moment the captain, who was standing upon the quarterdeck, seeing the danger, shouted to him at the top of his voice, "Look up!" waving his hand; "I say, look up!" It was a timely warning; the boy looked up, his reeling brain became steady, and he was saved. But for that, he would have plunged into the abyss and been lost. This incident is full of instruction. In the providence of God, cases every day occur where there is no other relief or safety but in looking up. A large and dependent family is suddenly bereaved of a husband and a father. The heart-stricken widow is overwhelmed with grief and anxious forebodings. The prop on which she leaned has fallen, and what will become of her babes ? All around is dark; she is ready to sink, and no relief comes till she looks up in prayer and trust to the widow's God and the Father of the fatherless. Then the storm passes over, the sun shines out, and the more she looks K up, the sweeter and more confiding her trust in God's great and precious promises. Oh, how many sink in hopeless despondency under their afflictions, who might be sustained and "brought out into a large place," if they would only look up-if they would in daily humble prayer cast all their burdens upon Him who careth for them, and has promised all who will confide in Him, "I will never leave nor forsake you!" A sinner is awakened by the Spirit of God to a sense of his guilt and danger. The threatenings of the law thundering in his ears terrify him. When he looks around for deliverance, he sees the sword of divine justice "turning every way." Like the sailor-boy upon the reeling mast, he looks down into the awful gulf, and he trembles, as well he may, for "fiery billows roll below." In this peril and extremity, what is he to do? He cannot save himself. The storm grows blacker, his shattered bark is ready to founder, and it seems to him he must perish, as he certainly must, if he continues to look down into the blackness of darkness which is yawning to receive him. But a voice from heaven cries, "Look up! trembling, guilty sinner, look up! Look unto Me, and be saved." It is the voice of Jesus Christ, who is able to save to the uttermost all who truly repent and trust in Him. The despairing sinner raises his eyes and listens, scarcely daring to believe that the voice was directed to him. He hears it again and again, "Look up, or you are lost for ever!" The Spirit draws him to Christ, and he is saved. No other power could still the tempest; no other arm could deliver him. Struggle as long as he will in his own strength, the sinner will only sink deeper and deeper in "the horrible pit and the miry clay." What multitudes, is there reason to believe, perish because they will not heed the voice of mercy and look up to heaven, whence alone help can come ! So with the backslider, however much alarmed he may be, he will never recover himself; he must look up, or he will continue to slide and be irretrievably lost. In the penitent language of the Psalmist must he mourn: "Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord!" and he must pray, "Lord, hear my voice; let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared." And when from any cause one is mourning under the hiding of God's face, there is no relief but by looking up, in humble, fervent, believing prayer; trusting in God, in His wisdom, His power, His mercy, His promises. "Prayer makes the darken'd cloud withdraw, FUNERAL IN TURIN. NOTHING tells more the state of public feeling in Italy than a Protestant funeral. Till very lately it would scarcely be endured; but the times are wonderfully changed. At Nice, some time ago, as already stated, 600 followed a pious Protestant to his grave, and listened most attentively to an address in the churchyard for an hour. And on the 21st of June last there was a similar funeral in Turin, of which the following is an account: There died a pious workman, who was a member of the Waldensian Italian Church in Turin. He was buried the next day, Sunday. The part where he lived is crowded with the lowest of the people. The piazza before his house was choked with people, and even a large court near his humble dwelling was filled with persons, curious to see how Protestants bury their dead. Some bigots were there, who tried to terrify the women, by asserting that the devil would appear. The minister presented himself, and was received with respectful silence. He entered the little chamber where the corpse was laid, and the people pressed towards the door and window to see who was present. The minister opened the Bible, and read, in a loud voice, the 1 Thess. iv. 13, and following verses. He then addressed a serious and touching exhortation to the assembled multitude on the passage he had just read, and concluded with a prayer, which drew tears from many eyes. The procession set forth towards the burying-ground; about 200 Turin workmen, converts to the Gospel, following, two and two, the funeral bier, while others followed from curiosity. On arriving at the burial-ground, the minister having read Luke xviii. 32, 33, began to speak, and compared the world to Sodom, and worldly people to Lot's wife. He described their miseries, the shortness of life, the uncertainty of the moment of our death. He spoke of the happiness laid up for the Christian in the world to come, and of Christ as the only door, the only way of entrance into heaven, and that we must be His sheep, and listen to His voice in the Gospel. While the minister was speaking, a period of thirtyfive minutes, it rained tremendously; but, of about 400 persons standing around, uncovered, not one went away; with so much interest did they listen to the word of God. I observed many weeping, and others greatly moved. The poor people are deceived by the priests into the belief that when Protestants preach they blaspheme God and Jesus Christ; but when they hear such sermons for themselves, they are the more edified in proportion to their previous prejudices. WE are ever in danger of being led astray by using a style of language beyond our actual experience. Every religious denomination has a number of expressions peculiar to itself, and one is liable to adopt such, without being able practically to enter into their meaning. Hence the importance of bearing in mind that Christianity is not a mere set of expressions, but a divine reality; a living, acting, powerful influence, infusing itself into all the feelings and affections of the soul, and exhibiting itself in the life. Now one of those forms of expression most frequently used and little understood, is "Communion." Communion with God constitutes the soul and life of the Christian, and it is, therefore, of great importance that he should clearly and distinctly understand what it means, and in what it consists; and, moreover, that he should carefully guard against anything like a counterfeit of it. If one were asked to give a definition of communion, we might reply, it is simple entrance into the thoughts of God; and as the thoughts of God find their grand centre in Jesus, to be able to enter into His thoughts about Jesus constitutes the highest order of communion for the soul. God has highly exalted the blessed Jesus; and when we are enabled through the Spirit to do the same, our thoughts are in happy fellowship with God's, and this is what we should seek for. But we should remember that communion with God is a very different thing GOD. from communion with a Christian Church, be it ever so sound in doctrine, or pure in practice. However, the point to be particularly remarked is the importance of real, personal communion with God, apart from the aid derived even from divine institutions. We must look upon communion as a pure, abstract, independent, holy thing, above and beyond everything earthly. "The hour cometh, and now is, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." Again, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Under the law, there were four things essentially necessary before acceptable worship could be offered: 1st. A priest of the pure seed of Aaron-pure in race, and pure in person; (a man might be of the seed of Aaron, but yet if he had a single bodily imperfection, a single personal blemish, he dare not approach to offer the bread, or stand at the altar of his God.) See Lev. xxi. 21. 2nd. This priest should hold in his hand a pure censer-a censer of gold. 3rd. He should place on that censer pure incense. 4th. He should burn this incense with pure fire from off the altar. It is hardly necessary to remind the Christian reader that these things were typical. We must be washed from our sins in the blood of the Lamb; and thus be made priests unto God before we can approach the altar. |