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CTÎTÎTSTIAV
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fifty Mai Contributions.
The Church at Ephesus.
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BY S. H, UEUKIX.
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directed him to Nineveh to warn
them of their wickedness, and, con
trary to duty, he paid his fare and
took ship for Tarsus, \v|ien the
mighty tempest of the sea alaruied
thecreW^t^^y'called u^irrircrr
gods. The shipmaster found Jonah
in the sides of the ship, fast asleep,
and said: “ O, thou sleeper, arise,
and call upon thy God.” When
the tempest comes .Upon Us we may
ib» ww Ar1“1
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have lieen sleeping in a vessel
bound for Tarsus. It is a journey
of our own choosing which we seek
to make*at our own expense, con-
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HKOALn
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iTj'hihaij..
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“ Awake thou that sloepeat,
Arise from the dead ;
Shake off the dull slumber
That circles thy head ;
In our last pa]>er we could not
finish the first part of Sec. 2, of the
particulars lh the apostles exhor
tdticn. Let tfs demote this one\to.
Of death’s gloomy night
didt pdrpose including the thought
■Wil
l 4 v »t the »iaia g............... —-----
f rom verses f3"td"2irWMpr^l!7"" “
Of Christ, the ♦ true light.’if ' "
Our author declares that all these
Or those of Dodridge :
reprehensible things before men
“ Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve,
tioned are exposed by the light
And press with vigor on ;
_adikh .i.nake>dto^
trary to the one which God direr- A heavenly rac« demands thy zeal,
fore evil doers hate the light and
And an immortal ciown.”
shun It. See John iii: I!), ’20) ted.
3. Sampson was a giant in
Therefore,™Awake you who sleep
“ Doctor I Want a Spade.”
llild arise from the dead, and strength. No bands would hold
A good minister, now dead, once
Christ will shine uj>on you/* Walk him ; no power of tlte Philistines
could
overcome
him,
yet
after
slay
accurately, not as fools, btit as wise
preached to his congregation a
ing
thousands
he
lay
down
in
sleep
iiu
itty
uuwii
in
öiwjj
,
pOW
'powerful scrmoii founded upon tfie
men, employing the time. See
and
the
"dëîîcâfc
TMihilF
'.lïFëUHïïr
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““ of Chri-t, “Why stand ye
words
Matt. 7 : 24, 27. The days are evil,
ilirjust, uncertain. It is by active' the hand that cuts away his here all the day idle C (Matt 20;'
efforts that we may understand the strength. To enjoy the blessed 6). The sermon did good to many,
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Lbidi Hot by istimufy- power of the Gospel of Christ we among whom was a lady who went
ting with him, but filled with God’s must stiinTl amt waHf in its'digTit; to the minister Hie fl (o' i icxF~day,
spirit.
We are gratified with as active, energetic meii. But -its ami said, ‘ Doctor, I want a spade.”
spiritual songs; singing and mak light shines in vain to those w ljp Dear reader, are you looking for a
ing melody in the heart. “Thank sleep away their days in careless spade I Do you need advice as to
how you shall work for Christ, and
ful at all times for all things, offer indiHcrence to its mandates.
4.
The
alienated
world
is
dead
in
the good of souls ? Such advice
ing our oblations in the name of
sin
or
sleeping
under
its
torpid
in
we will try to give you.
Jesils, ’’uhject t** each other in
fluence. God’s call to arouse them
Giving money to the cause of
■reverence to God.”
JJluuL
.4padu.,.wlHi.Avlux;h<
.A&akulliuu. J^.uuaulu.-.lhroiigb. the.
sleeper,” is a metaphor full of Christ. (See 2 Thess. 2.' 14). It to work. Dr. Coke, an eminent
philosophical thought. This quota first awakes men, second demands missionary, used to say every gui-
tion or allusion of Paul is found them to arise, watch and work. na that was given to carry the gos
in Isa. 11 : 1. He uses a similar When the prodigal son “ came to pel to the black population of the
expression in Rom. 13: 2; 1 Cor himself” he may be said to have West Indies, had been the means of
15: 34; 1 Thes. 5: 6. Sleep is wakened up. In that condition he converting at least one soul to
here used to indicate the condition was able to consider his destitute Christ. What a privilege for rich
or state of peril of these in sin, or condition and remember the riches Christians to give of their gold for
perhaps those who are slothful, of his father's house. This he the producing of this sublime re
careless, or not fully arouse«I to could not do while carelessly riot sult—the eternal salvation of hu
their opportunities,-, duties and ing away his means. But the man souls I But the poor Chris
privileges.
The illustration is highest or lowest place in Ms tian can also work with this‘'spade.”
striking iif its relavency when we father’s house would never have The two mites which the “ poor
remember that it is a state of inac been enjoyed By simply arousing widow cast into the treasury were
tion, of inability, of elusion and and thinking of them; he must accepted by the " Lord of the tem
peril. Indifference, and idleness arise and go; so men must become ple so now while it is an act of
— hnsuls xin which prostrates all our a rou x od not -only- enough to think •eoHdeseettsimt in the G re at Bern"
powers. Down to sleep, dreaming, of a better life, but arise and seek to employ in his cause the “gold
- is the opjiosite of awake, up. and to obtain it. But while this is true and silver ” of the rich, lie accepts
watching. In the former we are of the sinner, let us remember that with pleasure the offerings of the
unprepared, unarmed and in danger all these Scriptures to which we poor for the carrying out of the
of surprise. A great army in this have referred were addrysseil to the plan of salvation, for the eternal
condition has been . broken and djsciples of the Lord. That it is benefit of lost souls. “ Where are
slain by an inferior force which made to them in view of the vices you going so fast <” said one youth
would have given them but little which they are to shun, and the to another, as they met on West
trouble had they been" awake, virtues which they are to faithfully minster bridge. TlmX reply was,
ready and watchful. Jvmw com practice in life. These are set be “ I am going with fny father’s din
manded all to watch. Mark 13: fore us in this majestic exhorta ner, for we are building the House
3, 7; pnd this can not l>e done tion in all their intensity and fer of Parliament ’ I he boy’s part in
when prostrated in careless sleep. vency. It is painful to observe the erection of the great buildiim
their absence from the character of was not much, but he could -say
So wake up, get up and watch.
2. We find this fully illustrated many professing Christians of our “ wo are building ” the house, for it
It may be that very few was something to feed those who
in the history of Jonah. God day.
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xVefe actually engaged in the work; ,|
iliiil sd efefj pecuniary eontnbm
tionto the cause, of Christ, iiôdrèffeii
small, will do something towards
the erection of that spiritual tem-
.j, pia. iugcmfwdb' Wîd âAERgg
joy of angels, the reward of the
Redeemer, and glory of God for
ever !
T1 le__ pious instruction of the
young is another “ spade ” with
keep tlltmf iil uHmtUry its they
should.' Will’d riadiiig tills sfeclibii
of ? Paul’s exhortation to the
Ephesians'sing Bro. T. ^1. Janleson’s
beautiful song.(page 259, Revised
noble labor Robert Raikcs com
menced when he gathered his first
class of Sabbath scholars in the
city of Gloucester ! He is £he
In-nrfaeter, ttot of Britain only, but
of Europe and the world. Hayden
the great musician, said that he
was never so "conscious of the
meaning of the word sublime, as
when lie heard the -chool children
sing the Old llundreth Psalm, un
der the-^idnio "of- St Paul's -eat he
dral. What a noble fact it is that
more than two millions of children
are found in our Sabbath schools, ■„
g ratuitously taught by hund r eds '»»f!===
thousands of male and female in
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structors. Readers, why can not
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you engage in this.goo*I work ( If
you feel the love of Christ glowing .
in your hearts, go to the »Sabbath J
school, and tell of him who said, .
“ Suffer the little children to come | '
to me, and forbid tlieiii not; forpf I
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.such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Visiting the sick is another
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“ spade ” with which to work in the
I-
Lord’s vineyard.
One does not
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need great intellect or eloquence in i-.*
order to use this spade. You can
surely call upon a sick person, ami
if he is poor, carry with you a little
tea, or nourishing soup, or a nice
white loaf, and tell him of the sym
pathy of Christ and the infinite
mercy of God. You are guilty of a
great neglect of duty if you do not
sometimes visit the afflicted. What
does the apostle James say ?
“ Pure and undefiled religion be-
fore God anti the Father is thisg
to visit the -wi<low and the father
less in their affliction, and to keep
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himself unsjotted from the'world. ’
Oh, ppnder well the words of
Christ-—“ A cup of cold water, giv
en to a disciple, shall in no wise
lose its reward.” “ I was sick, a^al
ye visited me.” “ Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least
of these mv brethren, ve have done
it unto me.”
Distributing religious tracts is
another useful “ spade” for us to
work with A pious servant once
resolved to become a tract distri-
butor. She did so, and persevered
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