Let those who are instrumental in bringing one sheep into the fold of Christ on earth remember that they add one harp to the chorus of heaven, I want an even strong desire, I want a calmly-fervent zeal, To snatch them from the verge of hell, And love them with a zeal like Thine;- The sheep for whom their Shepherd died. The soul of man is a building of God: He hath laid out the treasures of His wisdom, power, and goodness in this noble structure; He built it for a habitation for Himself to dwell in : and indeed such noble rooms as the understanding, will, and affections, are too good for any other to inhabit. But sin hath set open the gates of this hallowed temple, and let in the abomination which maketh desolate. All the doors of the soul are barred and chained up against Christ by ignorance and infidelity: He seeks admission into the soul which He made, but findeth none. A forcible entrance He will not make; but expects that the will shall bring Him the keys of the soul as to its rightful owner. Consider what two petitions Christ couples together in His prayer; when my body, which every day is hungry, can live without God's giving it daily bread, then and no sooner shall I believe that my soul, which daily sinneth, can spiritually live without God's forgiving it its trespasses. The soul can only be satisfied in the fruition of God. The favour of God, the renewed image of God in the soul and communion with Him-these are blessings I must daily desire and seek. Study. THERE are more men ennobled by study than by nature.— Cicero. If you devote your time to study you will avoid all the irksomeness of life; nor will you long for the approach of night, being tired of the day; nor will you be a burden to yourself, nor your society insupportable to others.-Seneca. The more we study, the more we discover our ignorance. The love of study, a passion which derives fresh vigour from enjoyment, supplies each day, each hour, with a perpetual source of independent and rational pleasure. One of the best methods of rendering study agreeable is to live with able men, and to suffer all those pangs of inferiority which the want of knowledge always inflicts. Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring, for ornament in discourse, and for ability in the judgment and disposition of business. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them, for they teach not their own use; but there is a wisdom without them and above them won by observation.-Bacon. Other things may be seized with might or purchased with money, but knowledge is to be gained only with study. The accuracy of study is of far greater importance than its extent. There are three gradations in the modes of study-hearing, teaching, writing. It is a good and easy method to hear; it is a better and easier to teach; and the best and easiest of all is to write. The object of all studies should be, neither celebrity, advantage, nor knowledge for its own sake, but furniture to enable you to serve God in your generation. We must be careful that all our studies draw us to the Bible, instead of merely drawing the Bible to our studies. He that will deserve the name of a Christian must be such a man as excelleth through the knowledge of Christ and His doctrine; in modesty and righteousness of mind, in constancy of life, in virtuous fortitude, and in maintaining sincere piety towards the one and the only God, who is all in all.-Eusebius. Though the study of the Bible must be for the present and for some time the centre of all studies," says Dr. Arnold, "there is meanwhile no study of whatever kind which will not have its share in the general effect. At this time in the maturity of mankind, as with man in the maturity of his powers, the great lever which moves the world is knowledge, the great force is the intellect. St. Paul has told us that 'though in malice we must be children, in understanding we ought to be men.' If we have made mistakes careful study may teach us better." But when deserted by ungrateful friends, No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en; In brief, sir, study what you most affect. The better we pray the better we study. Omit either and the other is lost labour Who studies ancient laws and rites, Tongues, arts, and arms, and history, Selden, before he died, sent for Archbishop Usher and Dr. Langbaine. He said that he had surveyed most part of the learning that was among the sons of men; that he had his study full of books and papers of most subjects in the world; yet he could not recollect any passage out of infinite books he was master of wherein he could rest his soul save out of the Holy Scriptures; wherein the most remarkable passage that lay most upon his spirit was TITUS ii. 11-14. Thy testimonies are my study."-Ps. cxix. 99, P. V. Sympathy. "REJOICE with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."-ROM. xii. 15. "Having compassion one of another."-1 PET. iii. 8. Thus wrote two of our Lord's Apostles as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Horace says: The human countenance smiles on those who smile, and weeps with those who weep." Virgil writes: "Not being untutored in suffering, I learn to pity those in affliction "-the words of Dido, the reputed foundress of Carthage, to Æneas, the Trojan hero. A modern writer, therefore, well may say— "For with a soul that ever felt the sting Of sorrow, sorrow is a sacred thing." Next to love, sympathy is the divinest passion of the human heart. He is therefore rightly called a Christian who is ready to help all. Jesus Christ said (MATT. xv. 32): "I have compassion on the multitude;" and on three occasions it is written of Him that He was "moved with compassion" :— His heart was made of tenderness, And overflowed with love. Seneca says: "When you see a man in distress, acknowledge him at once as your fellow-man." One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. A brother's sufferings claim a brother's pity. While we are in the way let us bear one another's burdens that we may rest together at the end of the way. Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn. But wiser he whose sympathetic mind He that is not concerned that his brother should not perish is in danger of perishing himself. The generous heart Should scorn a pleasure which gives others pain. The Portuguese Andrada continued in an African prison, and laden with fetters that he might continue to console his fellowprisoners. This he preferred to his own personal freedom. The nature of this passion is to put us in the place of another in whatever circumstances he is in, and to affect us in like manner; so that this passion may, as occasion requires, turn either on pain or pleasure. I must so cultivate this passion in my own home, that it may be true of me-figuratively, of course-as it was of some sympathetic soul, whose friend thus spake or wrote to him "And thou away, the very birds are dumb." Let me never need these exhortations: And from the prayer of want and plaint of woe, oh, never, never turn away thine ear -and make not an hungry soul sorrowful; neither provoke a man in his distress. I must always feel for others, and always help all I can. Affliction's A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss! The inward fragrance of each other's heart. Let us cherish sympathy. By attention and exercise it may be improved in every man. It prepares the mind for receiving the impressions of virtue; and without it there can be no true politeness. Nothing is more odious than that insensibility which wraps a man up in himself and his own concerns, and prevents his being moved with either the joys or the sorrows of another. Oh! let pity lead to action, For the world is full of need; I must remember that Sympathy without relief Is like mustard without beef. If I manifest my sympathy with my neighbour by my words. only, I lay myself open to this just reproach— His mouth and heart are wide apart. 'Tis woven in the world's great plan, Should spring from sympathy. |