1882 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



571 



were raising a barn, and were short of help. 

 ISIake yourself useful, just as you did in the 

 morning getting the good wife and children 

 ready to go. Of course, you know I don't 

 mean you should be oflicious, but just take 

 liold of every thing you are asked to do, 

 and do it the very best you know how ; and 

 when you are crowded with responsibilities 

 and commissions, thank God ; for it is him 

 you are serving, and his house you are help- 

 ing to care for. 



Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will 

 be still praising thee.— Ps. 84:4. 



By all means, attend the church prayer- 

 meetings, and, in short, all prayer-meetings 

 where your pastor expects to be, and where 

 he expects and wants to see you. IsTever 

 speak ill of one of the otlicers of the church, 

 and do not allow a remark in your family, 

 detrimental or derogatory to one of thehi. 

 Don't speak of the minister, or allow him to 

 be spoken of in a critical way. Don't com- 

 pare God's servants by saying, or allowing 

 the children to say, " 1 think Mr. So and so 

 preaches better than "—some other minister. 

 Tell them we are no more to compare min- 

 isters than we are to compare our children. 

 Just imagine how it would sound for your 

 mother to say, '' I like John ever so much 

 better than Mary." Be loyal to the Church, 

 loyal to yourselves, and loyal to God. 



Who is there who has not, some time or 

 other, been tempted to think of withdrawing 

 from the Church? Satan whispers, " You 

 are doing more than anybody else, and are 

 not half appreciated." Nobody speaks to you, 

 or takes any notice of you, perhaps, at 

 times. The Church may have all gone into 

 something that does not seem right to you, 

 and Satan whispers again, that all the rest 

 are wordly, and following after their own 

 selfish plans, while you alone are pure and 

 holy. It would serve them just right, if you 

 were to stand up and protest against the 

 whole piece of iniquity. Suppose you tell 

 them that, if they do as they propose, you 

 will never set foot inside the church doors 

 again. Whew! Do you think one can talk 

 like that, or even think like that, and be a 

 Christian? It may be one way of waking the 

 Church up, but it certainly is very far from 

 the way to induce the Church to'' put on her 

 strength." Would such a course help to 

 make the Church strong ? People who have 

 yielded to temptations like these are the ones 

 who have weakened the churches down until 

 they fell to pieces— until they were not only 

 sleeping, but dead. Is one "who stands in 

 such an attitude helping the Church to put 

 on her beautiful garments? The spirit that 

 the Master taught is always beautiful in its 

 holiness and purity, even under trying emer- 

 gencies ; but there is never any thing beau- 

 tiful and lovable about threats, and they are 

 never a part of the implements of warfare 

 that a Christian uses. It is next to an im- 

 possibility, that the Church should all be 

 mistaken, and you alone right. There are 

 good conscientious people in the world be- 

 sides yourself, and very likely there are a 

 good many in your church who are just as 

 faithful as yourself. To be sure, there are 

 differences of opinion, and this it is that 

 gives the Church its strength. How long 



would a tree in full leaf, exposed to the win- 

 try blasts, stand if the roots were all on one 

 side, or if it had only a single root? Well, 

 you are one of the roots ; your neighbor is 

 another, and, all together, you hold the old 

 tree firmly against a blast from any direc- 

 tion. Well, do you imagine that a tree 

 would ever stand any firmer by having one 

 of its roots cut off, even if the one to be tak- 

 en off were a poor one? There is a chapter 

 in Matthew that tells us how to fix differen- 

 ces, not only in the Church, but also among 

 neighbors. 



Once during one of our prayer-meetings a 

 stranger came in from the court-room near 

 by. ^Vhen an opportunity was offered for 

 him to speak, he remarked that he had been 

 several days away from home, and had 

 longed for the companionship of Christian 

 people. He spoke of the wonderful differ- 

 ence between the spiritual atmosphere of the 

 room of law and that of the Church of God. 

 He said that the contrast was greater than 

 he could well describe, and he thanked God 

 for the privilege of being among those who 

 worshiped God. This, my friends, is the 

 "beautiful garments" that should always 

 adorn the Church. These garments are in 

 our keeping. Strength and beauty. We may 

 be strong to resist the inroads of Satan, and 

 at the same time we may wear the beautiful 

 garb of gentleness, love, and charity. 



How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! 

 -Ps. 84:1. 



Also in the chapter in which our text is, 

 we find, — 



How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of 

 him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth 

 peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that pub- 

 lisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God 

 reigneth!— Isaiah 53:7. 



Some years ago an intemperate man was 

 reclaimed. He arose in meeting, and asked 

 to be allowed to be one among them. For a 

 time he was all that any one could have 

 asked; but in time he drifted back, and 

 seemed to have deserted his Christian frieiids 

 and the Church. I visited him and had a 

 long talk with him. Of course, such a man 

 would make excuses, but I fear the poor fel- 

 low had some grounds of complaint in one of 

 the excuses he made. He said there had 

 been so much quarreling in their church of 

 late, that it wasn't pleasant for him. With 

 sadness and a bowed head he said it, and 

 then was silent. From reports that came to 

 the outside world, I fear there was some 

 truth in it. Very likely this dissension was 

 on points of doctrine, or some like unim- 

 portant matters, while here was a soul going 

 to ruin because those beautiful gai-ments 

 were being dragged in the mud. May God 

 help us, as a people and a nation, that we 

 may be able to keep up the integrity and 

 purity of the house of God ! 



While on this point I wish to give you a 

 little bit of real life. When the country was 

 new, my father came into the wilderness and 

 settled on a new farm. As is usual with 

 the early surveys, things were not quite as 

 accurate as they might have been ; and 

 years afterward there was some dispute 

 among the neighbors in regard to boundary 

 lines. On the principle, that right harms 



