INDEX. 42 PAGE 325 304 21 164 25, 164, 187, 250 276 100 301 301 84 335 221 333 249 5 and Romanists on Murder, &c., 253; Salvation by Grace, 252; Trowel, 53; Vox Dei, 53. 31 292 215 burton, 307; C. F. Webb, 137. 160, 217 76 243 100 208, 237, 265, 293, 321 ; Mr. Whittaker, 19. . PAGE . Palestine Explorations 52, 299 58, 86, 114, 142 106, 192, 223, 248 160 217 161 324 305 78 193, 246 79 160, 217 30 332 57 61; Mr. William Hatton, 285; Mr. Knight, 10; Mr. Miller, 257; Mr. S. Turner, 173; Mr. Vine, 313; Mr. Warburton, 117. 274 162 131 50 20 . . POETRY. 73 24 197 236 THE CHRISTIAN'S MONTHLY RECORD. ADDRESS. To the Spiritual Readers of the “ Christian's Monthly Record." Dear Brethren and Sisters,—The Lord, by Jeremiah, says, “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins;" and if we may speak of you as of ourselves, there is no prayer ascends out of your hearts more fervently or more frequently than that of David:"Search me, O God, and know my heart; tryme, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in way everlasting.” And again: “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” And while we thus cry to the Lord to search us and examine us, we are led to search and examine ourselves; and, feeling what there is within, wo many times wonder what David could mean when he said, “ If there be any evil way in me;" for we often seem to have nothing else but evil in us; our very reins are corrupt. And as to our carnal inclinations, "Swarms of ill thoughts their bane diffuse, Proud, envious, false, unclean; Some unsuspected sin.' David must have been altogether different to us, we think, or he could not have put an if in his prayer; he would have felt enough evil to poison a world. No, brethren; no. David in no way differed, in this respect, from us. In one place he tells us his iniquities were a burden too heavy for him (Ps. xxxviii. 4); day and night God's hand was heavy upon him. And, well knowing the deceitfulness of his heart and his proneness to wander from his God, often had he to pray that his footsteps might not slide, and that the Lord would guide his ways. In the 57th psalm he feels that his heart was fixed; he could and would, he said, sing and give praise. But in the 86th psalm he seems to feel that his heart was divided, -not altogether fixed upon God, but partly apon something else. Hence he says, “ Unite my heart to fear thy name." “Teach me thy way, O Lord," and " I will walk in thy truth.” Look here, brethren. The blessed Spirit must have indited that prayer, for he appears to have instantly answered it; and hence David exclaims, " I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart [not divided); for great is thy mercy to JANUARY. 1881. B me of the wards me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. 0! What a depth of iniquity he must have felt within when he thus acknowledges that he deserved the lowest hell! Well, brethren, "as face answereth to face in a glass, so the , heart of man to man;"—so the heart of God's people to God's people; all here have, in this respect, to pronounce the same Shibboleth.” They all, in a greater or lesser degree, feel that they are deserving of " the lowest hell;" they all feel that none but the same Christ can save them, and that none but the same blessed Spirit can guide them into all truth and hold up their steps in his precepts, which they sincerely love. We are not fond of trying to amend our present excellent translation of the Holy Scriptures, though it must be admitted that some passages might be more clearly expressed than they are; and as to the passage before us, “If there be any wicked way in me,” some, as Dr. Gill says, render it, see if there be in way of an idol.” And we like that rendering much. We firmly believe that David was not conscious, when he penned that prayer, of having an idol in his heart set up against God. And while we write, we believe we can appeal to the Lord, and say, “ Search us, and try us, and see if we have an idol in our heart against thee; and if we have, make us know it, for we are not conscious of it. We believe that, as to any idol, thou hast. our undivided heart. We can cheerfully give up all for thee. "Nothing but Jesus we esteem; Our soul is here sincere; To us is also dear." But, alas! We well know that even before we lay down our pen, the world, or some creature or thing in the world, may creep in, and almost make us wish we had not written what we have. But what we have written we have written; and it shall stand, for it is true - The world now drops its charms; We freely with it part. And give him all our heart.” Brethren, how is it with you? We hope some of you can respond, • Bless the Lord, we can say the same! Time was when the world was everything to us; now it is nothing, and less than nothing. We struggled hard to stick to it; but, as was the case with David, God's arrows had entered into our heart, and so pierced us that we were made to feel what an awful state we were in; his light shone into our souls, and we saw the pit yawning upon us. We were searched and tried, and made to feel and confess that we had sinned against God with a high 6 |
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