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moil. GREENSBOROUGH/WRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1854. OIWMDMK 1LI THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28.18H. The moment I preceived the difficulty, I vise you, now to accept salvation, while it ciples who read this article: but we have many of the distressed and sorrowing of' rested calmly upon Christ, my anxiety the heathen, who have material forms or fled, and sweet tranquillity stole over my is presented to you—while the God is striving Selected from Friends Review. TUB HIDING PLACE. Thou art my hiding place, Q Lord! In thee 1 fix my trust; Encouraged by thy holy word, A feeble child of dust, I have no argument beside, And ’tis enough—the Saviour (iicd— My Saviour died for me. When storms of fierce temptation beat, And furious foes assail, soul. I seemed resting onhis bosom, and, there, panting, exhausted, scarcely daring to breathe, lest I should fall again, I lay, feeling that he bore me in his arms. This was the thought which filled me with calm delight. I need no longer struggle with difficulties, external or internal, for Christ will go with me and bear me over them in bis arms, as the mother bears her child over obstructions which it cannot surmount. sprit of misgivings about its being of any use, bo- every condition have been blessed by this : images, can only be addressed in prayer > inimitable preacher. where the image is. Jehovah, our God, with your spirit. For cause the really small disciple is the last to-morrow, it may have taken its everlast- person to suspect his own diminutiyeness. ing flight, morrow. I say—Reader, beware of to- He would not dream this article had any May God bless and save you is the prayer of your, Affectionate, fellow youth; J. E. Miller. Grove cottage, Prince Edward V1. ^relation to him, hence the shot would fly harmless over his head : we will therefore, leave him, hoping that to some of our readers this account of the small disciple shall at least be of some advantage. Due- West Telescope. Alexander, Sept. 3d, 1854. inimitable preacher. 5. It isa preacher of peace. It has a message of peace for all—“Peace on earth.” “Follow peace with all men,” is an express ly enjoined duty thatcan be put down by no one, however rich or great-—and another, Aly hope, within the veil: From strife of tongues, and bitter words, My spirit flies to thee ; Joy to my heart the thought affords My Saviour died for we. When mortal strength is vain, A body racked with pain : Ah ! what could give the sufferer rest, Bid every murmur flee, But this the witness in my breast, And when thy mighty voice commands This body to decay, And life, in its last lingering sands, Is ebbing fast away! And faint, and tremblingly, Oh I give me strength, in death, to speak “ My Saviour died for me!” For the Message. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, j My dear fellow Youths: By the permis- : sion of the worthy Editress of the Mess- i age, I will relate to you the means, wherc- ' by, I found grace in the sight of God, j and also some feelings, that were aroused i in my breast, by that “ unspeakable gift.” : About six years ago, I professed religion, I professed it, truly, but I do not believe - to this very day, that 1 possessed it. How- , j ever I united myself in the bonds of Christian union to the Methodist church. ■ I maintained my position for only a short time, I had a great aversion to being called a members of “the Christian church,’’wilhout having the witness where-; : - 1 might testify to my belief in “the For the Message. A SMALL DISCIPLE. There are small disciples. Wo have seen them. If our readers never saw them we are glad. We will give a brief description of one, hoping they may be profited by the picture. The small disciple has little acquain tance with the Bible. If the actual worth of that book could have been an incite ment to a large acquaintance with it, or the earnest injunction of its Author to study it had prevailed, there would have been much knowledge of it. But they have both failed. The scriptures are a territory into which he has taken only- now and then a hasty ramble. Longand and diligent journeyings there, to Jearn what might be known, has never been practiced; hence a very small circleof ideas From the Guide to Holiness. PERSONAL EXPERIENGE. One morning about ten o clock, a dear brother came into my room, and after talking with me for an hour or two, left pie with a feeling similar to nothing which I ever experienced, save that which I felt ip the hour of conversion. 1 saw pgain the beauty of God in Christ, and trusted in him fully, not as then, for the Salvation of my soul, but for its sanctifi cation. I knew that I might look to the Lord Jesus as my friend, who would come to my help in the time of emergency, and I felta great reposing of my soul in his keeping to save it from the penalty of the law, but this bad bp.cn all. The work of overcoming sin in t|ie soul, and of thus 1 preparing it for heaven, I thought Christ had committed to me, and I had b.egg ac customed to look forward to life, as one unbroken scries of struggles in the effort . to accomplish the task. At death I thought Christ would finish what I had left undone; but until then I must do bet- ; ter myself, and “work out my own saL . vation.” I use this language still, but in , would embrace all his knowledge of the blood of the Lamb.” Nevertheless I was' lively oracles, voi-y young and also unacquainted with A TT . .... He is very sparing in his attendance Lie APIs and devices of the great enemv .,. .., , u P° u Christian privileges. Custom, and ot souls. Being considered as an expell- , . ; ■ r 1 r , i ' perhaps other motives, make him acquaint ed member of the church, I returned to , - , , * , ed with the Sanctuary on the sabbath,but my former vices, aml am sorry to relate, , . , /neisseldomdiscernibleonotherocca- vhat 1 was a great deal worse, as regards 1 1 , „ , sions. he only had the heart to turn morality,.than I was before. Notwitb-: ■ , „ , i . , , , . , into all the tat pastures that are open to standing the Lord had preserved a preci- > - , • 1 t r 1 7 7 - H 1 1 1 , him, he might find ample food, and in- ous blessing for me. Had I been dealt: $ 1 ’ with as 1 deserved, I would have been: crease in spiritual stature, 3. His prayers are small. suddenly cut off, and my soul buried in 11 P ra y ers are smalL The whole the awful pit of everlasting woe and mis- ) heart and s0ul “ n0t in tbl ‘™ 1 ™>7 a part erv. Mercv intervened, and viewed in 0f ;t: and " 11 ™ but a sma11 P" 1 ° f the my behalf. But instead of accepting the i 1 ““‘ * ’ r- 1 cannot be otherwise than small. calls of divine mercy, I turned a deaf j ear to her entreaties. Justice again,' They would have executed his work had it not been for the earnest supplications of di vine mercy. I persevered with untiring ) assiduity in my sinful course, and was. rapidly traveling the road to ruin. I) knew that I was tottering on the vory verge of hell, and was convinced that I .coqid only be saved, by the instrumentali ty of the religion of Jesus Christ. Still I would not make any effort to escape the impending wrath of God. I prayed once. do not go largely forth, expanding and increasing, as they must from a heart all on fire with love and zeal. They are fet tered and cramped, and dwarfish. There is nothing of the giant about them. 4. His. faith is small. A grain of mustard seed is too large an object for the comparison. ^If his faith filled but that small measure, one would not be long in learning that man’s spiritual strength.— But he has only dim visions of eternal things. Instead of soaring upward as on a different sense from what I formerly i in a while; bqt I did not pray, as becop;- gave to it. My friend convinced me that - es one so near the brink of ruin. I offer- the work which I was undertaking was cd my supplications to the Almighty in a useless. 1 was endeavoring to perform careless manner, I had a hope that he that which was comprised in the office of would answer my prayers but did not Christ. Sanctification, heassured me,was as | truly the work of Christ as salvation. It. startled me, though joyfully, and at first I ! could not believe it. He insisted that' Jesus had bought with his blood the privi- j have faith enough to believe it, therefore they were not answered. A protracted moeting, was being held, near where I reside; I attended it. Notwithstanding my wickedness in the sight of God, I lis- legege of fitting his soul for heaven, as tened very attentively to the plan of God j truly as be bad that of eventually saving ■ as be was proclaiming the sacred truths j it from bell. He quoted the passage in } from the pulpit. Every sermon be de- j which ChriA is declared to be not only livered seemed particularly applicable to eagles’ wings, be grovels and preeps. If you were to place him beside some of the men of strong faith that may be found in Zion, you would be surprised at the contrast. §. He is very small, also in his chari ties. They are drops, small drops, and not very near together either. We have heard one commended who gave all that she had, which w a s a large donation ; and of others who have given themselves ; and of others who have dope what they could, all this is large and noble. But this dis ciple was never found in such company. our wisdom, but our sanctification and ) my situation. I began to reflect on my ) It is pitiful to see one who is so largely redemption—other passages in which danger, when I saw so many persons en-i indebted to God’s beneficence, as a dis- Christ is described as icorkiny in vs the j deavouring to secure their soul’s salvation, ciple, one whose profession implies so good pleasure of the Lord,Ac.’ and assured ' The spirit of God wrestled with me day ' much—and one whose hopes embrace so me that in the case of salvation, my part [ and night, still I would not yield to it large and glorious an inheritance hereaf- was to trust in him for that which I desired, until I heard the minister relate a cer- ter, so small in his charitable contribu- While he conversed, the character of, tain case, which happened under his own I tions. Charity ought to be one of the Christ bad been expanding and unfolding, till it seemed most beautiful. Still I felt that I was not confiding in him, and asked my friend how I should do so. Then, said be, you are making a zcork of trusting, and are fancying that until you do something you call trusting, Christ will not receive you. Simply look to Christ and rejoice in him, leaving with him your soul, that observation, in which a gentleman resisted ! largest of his christian graces: indeed, the spirit of God to such a degree, that Paul would have disciples abound in it so it finally took its everlasting flight. This | much, that it should be like a mantle, alarmed me and I resolved to obtain the j covering and binding together all the other pearl of great price. I went up to the al- chrisqan. graces—-Lhe very bond of per tar, and before the sun had lowered itself ' fectness. We wish this desciple had heark- behind the western horizon, I could testi fy with joy that the Lord was gracious. Thanks be to God ! Praises to his holy he may sanctify it,just as you would leave 1 name! Perhaps, dear reader, you are in , it with him to be saved, or just as you the same situation that I was. If you arc ened to Paul. What a noble position be might have held, compared with the sorry spectacle he now presents ! Now, because all these things are true, 1 we do not see how we can call the person would confide to me any business which you by words that proceed from my heart, I any thing else than a small disciple. We knew Iwas fully competent and willing to now advise you to turn from your sinful looked about for a better perform giving up all anxiety concerning it. ! course. It will be more difficult for you could not find one. The name, but scriptures I saw that he had exposed the true nature to obtain the blessing, tomorrow than it is 1 speak of growing in grace, and of •of the difficulty, and as I saw the snare of to-day. Then why not try and obtain it rising unto the measure of the fulness of ^atan, I felt as I never felt before, the now ! I know you are about to say that Christ;” but it has not been so in this utter hopelessness of ever escaping, unai- you do not feel like it. ded, from nets so refined, and so cunning ly laid. It seemed as though he had thrown a fine invisible silver wire around my soul, and thus, unperceived, was de taining me from Christ, while I sought first to put forth the effort of trusting. Then if you have 1 case. We have to tax charity heavily, to not the right feeling in your breast, -ask hope he ever began to grow at all. We God, with an earnest heart, and he will trust there is some life in what so .nearly give it you. Remember the rule. “ Do resembles a dead body; but all the indica- not defer until to-morrow, what ought to tions are so small, that we cannot but be done to-day. You know you ought to have anxiety. We should like to make be saved to day. Then, Reader, I do ad- a personal address to all the small dis- From the Christian Messenger. “THE BIBLE IS MY PREACHER.” I Said an aged disciple of Jesus, yester- ' day, while speaking of being unable to at- I tend meeting, “ Others can go to meeting; ! I cannot; but I have a preacher at home; • the Bible is my preacher.” Aad who has . a better preacher ? thought I, as I medita- ' ted on the saying while walking home- ■ wards. I might rather ask, Who has so I good a preacher? Let him go the world j over, and he will not find the like. I 1. It is a plain preacher. The doc- I trines are plain, especially such as are es- i sential to the well being of the hearer; ; and the language in which they are spoken j is plain. No pompous, newly coined words are used, but such as can be com- I preheuded by the unlearned as well as the learned. The meaning is plainer. It says not one thing while it means anoth er. When it speaks of God’s hating sin and loving holiness, it means so. When it declares that coldnes^or lukewarmness, or the “putting on of gold,” whether it be rings, necklaces, chains; or “costly ap parel,” are inconsistant with the Christian profession, there can be no reasonable doubt of the meaning of the same. .So, also, when it affirms that “without holiness no ) “As much as lieth in you, live peace-ably with all men.” i 9. It is a preacher of holiness. It gives , no quarter to sin, whether in heart or life, in politics or religion. “Be holy,” is the j text and sermon to every ago and name. ' Jt gives no leave for the merchant to play I his tricks of trade, nor for the common j dealer in the affairs of life to cheat a little, if need be, to get the best end of the bar- is omnipresent, and all places are alike unto him. The housetop, the verdant field, the mountain solitude, the ocean shore the wooded wilderness, the naked desert, the noisy street, the densely thron ged market-place—all, all are alike unto him, and no man can be where he cannot give vent to the aspirations of a quickened soul, at least in secret sighs, or broken ejaculatory utterances.—Dr. Duff. man can see the Lord,” the meaning equally clear. 2. It is a faithful preacher. There is is no softening down of the truth to save a shock to the head or the heart of the of- lenuer. .mere is no passing uvei «. ^^ gain, but preaches purity of heart honesty of life to high and low. 7. It is a preacher of benevolence. convetous man can sit at ease under its and No ser- mons, nor while away his time asleep, be cause it makes him feel; it touches his treasure, his purse, and heart, of course. Yet, what wholesome lessons of benevo lence it teaches—“more blessed to give than to receive;” who believes this ? Few, I fear. Then it is taught, one must give as God has prospered him. What excel lent doctrines, how reasonable and right. And what shall I say more of its glori ous preaching? Indeed, time would fail me to enumerate its wonderful teachings. Thrice happy, then, is that person, wheth er theaged saiptor the youthful Christian, who has such a preacher, and who loves and practises its precepts—happy for ever. A. L. Cooper. Capot, Map 8, 1854. WHAT IS PRAYER ? Every minister of the Christian sane tuary is, or ought to be, in a high and i peculiar sense, a man of prayer; but ■ let us never forget that acceptable prayer j is not limited to him. For, what is pray- ' SI . £ ra X cr ^^ after all, but the breath because its professor is honourable among | the direct and necessary outgoing and men, or rich in the gold and silver of j emanation of the quickened spirit. Let earth. All must be exposed. Though a the soul be effectually touched by Divine fine article of dress, splendid equipage, or costly furniture is condemned, no matter -.—there is no shrinking. If a man be covetous, hates his brother, or deals dis honestly with his neighbour, he can find no place of concealment—he must be ex posed. So, also, every good is encour aged, as faithfully as the evil is condemn ed. 3. It is a. pozcerful preacher. “ The Word of God is powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discer- ner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” What other preacher is found equal to this, even to discern “the thoughts apd intents of the heart.” Jt has pointed arrows and sharp swords for the guilty. None are so stout-hearted but they must fall beneath its power, either to be raised in newness of life, or to remain slain for ever. It is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. Who can stand before such a preacher? Where ) grace, and immediately jt lives, howev- ' er feebly; and, living spiritually, it must I and will breathe out its heavenward desir- i esand wishfullongings;and thissoul-breath- lingis the very essence of prayer. One j friend may pray for another, in the sense j of intercession, as a friend, but not for an- j other vicariously, as a hired or appointed j priestly substitute. To pray in this man ner is to pray by proxy; and to pray to God by proxy, as tens of thousands of mere formal, superstitious worshippers are now doing, is in itself, as absolutely pre posterous and useless as for a man to eat or drink by proxy, or to breathe by proxy, or sleep, or walk, by proxy. If there be a particle of physical life in a man, he must eat, drink, breathe, sleep, walk, and perform all other corporeal functions, for himself; otherwise, it is a sign either that there is no life in him, or that it will soon expire. So itis with the soul of man. If [it be awakened by the Spirit of God, it ) must pray and perform all other spiritu- : al functions for itself; and if it do not, it From the American Messenger PAUL’S PREEMINENCE AND THE SE CRET OF IT. “I labored more abundantly than they all.” This was his preeminence. This he regarded as among the greatest “signs i of an apostle.” And well he might; for even his Master and Exemplar sard, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” “I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh, when no man can work.” Must Christ work, who created all things, John 1, and “upholdeth all things by the word ofhis power,” Heb. 1, and who by that simple word expelled diseases and demons, and raised the dead; and must not we ? “Work - therefore, “abundant labor,” stands high among the “signs of an apostle,” and not only so, but among the “signs of a Chris tian;” for our highest distinction and pur est glory, as well as our clearest evidence of Christian character, lies in our resem blance to Christ. We follow a working- Redeemer, and we must be working disci ples. The more, “abundantly” any man “labors,” if he “works the works of the Father,” the more nearly and manifestly does he resemble Christ, to whose “image” it is the glorious dignity ofthc child of God to be “conformed.” Rom. 8. What then was the secret of Paul's preeminence? “Ilowbeit, not I, but tlu grace of God which was with me.” This H# t w^.« 1 stOertra about unto Illyricum, fully preached the gospel of Christ.” If Paul was eminent, it was “grace” that made him so. And that grace is just as free to you, and to me. “He giveth more grace.” Let us then “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may find grace to help us,” and then pour out that grace in “abundant labors” for God and the souls of men. Is not this the sweetest life on earth, and the surest path to heaven. p can one hide from such mighty searchings? j is a sure and infallible sign either that Alas! it will search him out even unto the ends of the earth. 4. It is a compassionate preacher. None can be more so. It “ feels for other’s woes.” Though it slay the wicked, even so that none escape, it has always a word of consolation for the penitent. Never was such a one passed by unnoticed. The sorrowing, too, are always met with a blessing, be they ever so unknown among men. And whoever heard of a mourner that remained uncomforted who was wil ling to receive consolation in humility? Were ever the distressed left without timely aid, dr the dying without support, who sought it? Was every one tried or tempted who could not find deliverance? Ob, how many broken hearts have been bound up. How many been comforted, and how have been set at liberty, tears have been dried up. mourners have many enslaved and how many This no tongue can tell, no language can convey. It is written on many thousands of hearts, and can be communicated only in the language of eternity. There it will be revealed Row many abodes of misery have been visited and made happy how many of thecastdown have been lifted up and saved, and how there is no spiritual life in it, or that it is fast lapsing into inanition or total extinc tion. As there are no exclusively authorized persons, so neither are there any exclusive- : ly authorized forms, for prayer. Is it not 1 true that the very babe, not yet able to ■ speak in accurate grammatical style, or j even to lisp a single intelligible sentence, 1 can make its wants thoroughly known to 1 the loving mother by sighs and cries, if in I no other way? And so with the babe in [ j Christ. In the absence of distinct verbal I J utterances, there may be heartfelt sighs, . and groanings which cannot be uttered, J but which reach and pierce the ears of God, and, clearly apprehended by him,! are answered, and soon return with richest blessings. In like manner, there are no i exclusively authorized times for prayer. : The God whom we worship is not like the I feeble dependent God of the blinded pa- ! gan, who needs sleep and rest, and who! Christianity alone can reconcile the two opposite qualities, self-abasement and elevation, lowliness and dignity, the be ing nothing and becoming every thing. Can we silently bear, or ingeniously ex tenuate, the faults and mistakes of our own party, while we are all zeal and emo tion to expose, censure, and condemn what is amiss in others? When we first enter into the divine life, we propose to grow rich; God’s plan is to make us feel poor. When a Christian goes into the world because he sees it in his call, yet while l;e feels it also his cross, it will not hurt him. A man, truly illuminated, will no more despise others than Bartemeus, after his own eyes were opened, would take a stick and beat every blind man he met. I set no value upon any doctrinal truth, farther than it has a tendency to promote practical holiness. To be humble, and like a little child, afraid of taking a step alone, and so con scious of snares and dangers around us as to cry to Him continually to hold us up that we may be safe, is the sure, the infalli ble, the only secret of walking closely with Him. Those who pray “ Forgive us our trespas ses as we forgive them that trespass against us,” and yet are implacable, pray to be damned ! Humanist Libels of Common Schools.— The Cleveland Leader asserts that the Papist editor of the Chicago Tablet, in a lecture delivered at Joliet, Ill., gave this libel on our Common Schools. “The therefore must have special times for his ) Common schools of America are fountains service. Our God, the Good Shepherd of i of prostitution and crime, and all manner Israel, neither slumbereth nor sleepeth. ) of indecencies and immoralities are practie- ThePsalmist could rise at midnight topraise cd in them; J know it to be so, because I him. Neither are there exclusively thorized places for prayer. The god was educated the first 20 years of my life
The Olive Branch (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Sept. 28, 1854, edition 1
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