LO, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.-Dan. iii. 25. : BRETHREN, if you are called into the furnace of affliction, above all take care with whom you walk there, and how you walk. If you enter the furnace in your own strength, much more from fanaticism or obstinacy, you may suffer, and even be burnt up there: but if you enter in a holy fear, to glorify God, and to avoid sin, to be a light to a dark world, depending upon Divine promises, then you will enter according to the will of God, and you will overcome. The Christian will honour God; and he will be honoured by God. -Cecil. Christ will sit as a refiner; and, when He puts us into the fire, we should say to Him, "This trial, this fire, is thy servant. Command it to purify; and let my bonds be burnt thereby. (Dan. iii. 21.) Command it to burn up my lusts, my corruptions, and to set my soul at liberty."-Ibid. My soul, repose beneath the wing Of thy dear Shepherd, Lord, and King; C. M. (On the Loss of a Devoted Wife).-" My heart and body wept for many days; and even now, although the first ebullitions of weeping and grief have passed away, I cannot look back to those days of trial and affliction without weeping; but I have experienced what St. Paul writes to the Corinthians :-For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our consolation aboundeth by Christ. I would not wish that the Lord had otherwise dealt with us; for His stroke is a blessing, and His chastisement is glory throughout." This meek female disciple, among her last words, said :-" Do not praise me in your account of my last hours; but tell our friends that the Saviour has pardoned me, a poor and miserable sinner!”Rev. Dr. Krapf, May, 1844. 12 PREACHING CHRIST CRUCIFIED. GOD forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.-Gal. vi. 14. SPEAK out: preach, preach Christ and Him crucified; scatter the seed. * * For that man will be accounted most to be glorified in Christ now reigning, who has learnt to glory in Christ once crucified. 66 'Wherefore, let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord!" But in what Lord? In "CHRIST CRUCIFIED." Where there is humility, there is majesty; where weakness is, there power is: where death, there life. Would you attain to the one, beware and scorn not the other. * Be not ashamed of the Cross of Christ; inasmuch as it was for this thou receivedst the sign of the Cross itself on thy brow.-S. Augustine. O take thy Saviour's Cross, the nails and spear, Quarles. The Missionaries of the United Brethren among the Greenlanders began their labours by endeavouring to convince them, by many philosophical arguments, of the existence of God, and to give them some notion of the Divine perfections; but no good followed. The missionaries changed their ground, and represented Christ dying, "the just for the unjust," to bring us to God; they pointed to the crucified Redeemer, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world!" They preached GOD THE SAVIOUR, and they succeeded; they preached mercy through the blood of atonement, and seized upon the hearts of the Greenlanders; they exalted JESUS on His atoning cross; and then they drew these savages unto Him!-Rev. K. W. Mathews, Church Missionary Anniversary Sermon, May 1, 1822. The chief, Jowett, at a missionary meeting at Kautotche, New Zealand, Dec. 1, 1851, said:-"My friends, although I am not an old man, I have tasted human flesh. Some years ago, it was sweet; the Gospel came, and I would not receive it. I then went to Turanake, and I again tasted human flesh; but it was no longer sweet. Why was it not as sweet as it was before? It was now bitter to my taste. It was the Gospel that told me it was wrong." PRAYER FOR THE HEATHEN. 13 IN every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.-Mal. i. 11. ¶O THOU Saviour of the world, who wast sent to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel, have respect unto the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the abodes of cruelty. O let Thy righteousness be openly showed in the sight of the heathen, and let all the ends of the earth see Thy salvation. Bless Thy servants to whom Thou hast committed the ministry of reconciliation. Make them mighty in the Scriptures. Let utterance be given them, that they may open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, and to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Let them be an example both to Jew and Gentile, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in purity. And, as it is Thou alone that giveth the increase, we beseech thee that Thy hand may be with Thy servants, so that all may turn unto Thee, and Thy name be great among the heathen, from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same. So mayest Thou be glorified, O Father, in Thy Well-beloved, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.-J. Swete, in part. Pity the nations, O our God, Watts. Joseph Fenn, a young man of Nellore, baptized by that name—a name dear to the South Indian Mission-thus describes his feelings upon applying for baptism:-"He who delivered Noe from the flood by keeping him in the ark—He who raised Joseph next the throne from captivity and the depth of the old well,—when I was buried in the destructive pit of Heathenism, was moved by His own arm to take me out, and raise me up to hear and believe His promise, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest;' and now my desire to be sheltered in His ark is no less than that which would be the longing of a traveller athirst to drink, while travelling through a wilderness where there is scarcity of water. The people who know of my desire make it a subject of talk and ridicule; but I draw consolation from the words of my Saviour, For my sake if ye are reviled and persecuted, happy are ye.'"-Rev. W. Adley. 12 PREACHING CHRIST CRUCIFIED. GOD forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.-Gal. vi. 14. SPEAK out: preach, preach Christ and Him crucified; scatter the seed. * *For that man will be accounted most to be glorified in Christ now reigning, who has learnt to glory in Christ once crucified. "Wherefore, let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord!" But in what Lord? In "CHRIST CRUCIFIED." Where there is humility, there is majesty; where weakness is, there power is: where death, there life. Would you attain to the one, beware and scorn not the other. * Be not ashamed of the Cross of Christ; inasmuch as it was for this thou receivedst the sign of the Cross itself on thy brow.-S. Augustine. O take thy Saviour's Cross, the nails and spear, Quarles. The Missionaries of the United Brethren among the Greenlanders began their labours by endeavouring to convince them, by many philosophical arguments, of the existence of God, and to give them some notion of the Divine perfections; but no good followed. The missionaries changed their ground, and represented Christ dying, "the just for the unjust," to bring us to God; they pointed to the crucified Redeemer, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world!" They preached GOD THE SAVIOUR, and they succeeded; they preached mercy through the blood of atonement, and seized upon the hearts of the Greenlanders; they exalted JESUS on His atoning cross; and then they drew these savages unto Him!—Rev. K. W. Mathews, Church Missionary Anniversary Sermon, May 1, 1822. man, The chief, Jowett, at a missionary meeting at Kautotche, New Zealand, Dec. 1, 1851, said:-" My friends, although am not an old I have tasted human flesh. Some years ago, it was sweet; the Gospel came, and I would not receive it. I then went to Turanake, and I again tasted human flesh; but it was no longer sweet. Why was it not as sweet as it was before? It was now bitter to my taste. It was the Gospel that told me it was wrong." PRAYER FOR THE HEATHEN. 13 IN every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.-Mal. i. 11. ¶O THOU Saviour of the world, who wast sent to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel, have respect unto the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the abodes of cruelty. O let Thy righteousness be openly showed in the sight of the heathen, and let all the ends of the earth see Thy salvation. Bless Thy servants to whom Thou hast committed the ministry of reconciliation. Make them mighty in the Scriptures. Let utterance be given them, that they may open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, and to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Let them be an example both to Jew and Gentile, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in purity. And, as it is Thou alone that giveth the increase, we beseech thee that Thy hand may be with Thy servants, so that all may turn unto Thee, and Thy name be great among the heathen, from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same. So mayest Thou be glorified, O Father, in Thy Well-beloved, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.-J. Swete, in part. Pity the nations, O our God, Watts. Joseph Fenn, a young man of Nellore, baptized by that name—a name dear to the South Indian Mission-thus describes his feelings upon applying for baptism :-"He who delivered Noe from the flood by keeping him in the ark-He who raised Joseph next the throne from captivity and the depth of the old well,-when I was buried in the destructive pit of Heathenism, was moved by His own arm to take me out, and raise me up to hear and believe His promise, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest;' and now my desire to be sheltered in His ark is no less than that which would be the longing of a traveller athirst to drink, while travelling through a wilderness where there is scarcity of water. The people who know of my desire make it a subject of talk and ridicule; but I draw consolation from the words of my Saviour, For my sake if ye are reviled and persecuted, happy are ye."-Rev. W. Adley. |