Review and Herald, Vol. 51, No. 3. (1/17/1878)

Review and Herald

Jan 17, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 17, 1878

JACK SPROUT'S CONVERSION.

By Sel.

Jack Sprout swore a terrible oath. In fact, he swore quite a number of oaths; for he was very angry. It was nothing wonderful for Jack Sprout to swear, even in the presence of his wife; for he was sadly given to the habit of using profane language. And yet Jack was a good husband, an indulgent father, an industrious man, an accommodating neighbor, and he possessed many other excellences of character which might have made him a valuable member of society, had it not been for certain loose habits which had marked his course from childhood. His parents had been careless and profane before him; his father had been a tough, rough customer; so Jack naturally enough came up in the same track. But he was good-looking, and kind-hearted, and genial, and social, and so he had gained for a wife one of the very best maidens of our town, as well as one of the handsomest.

Master Freddy Sprout, aged five years, stood by his mother's side, with a sadly begrimmed and tear-streaked face, and his story was, that Solomon Gordon had whipped him with a stick, and the boy's legs still bore a few slight tokens of the castigation. Two other boys had come home with Master Freddy, and their testimony corroborated that which the sufferer had given. Freddy, with some of his playmates, had been throwing stones at Mr. Gordon's dog, and one of the missiles hurled by Freddy had hit the animal and caused him to howl with pain. Of course the stone thrown by such a tiny hand could not have inflicted much injury upon the canine brute; but Solomon Gordon loved his dog, and when he saw what had been done, he caught Master Freddy and gave him a thrashing; for be it known that Solomon Gordon was just such another man as Jack Sprout—warm-hearted, generous, and neighborly, but rough, uneducated, strong-willed, and impulsive.

Jack Sprout put on his hat and prepared to sally forth. His lips were pale and tightly compressed, and the huge muscles in his arms worked like bundles of ropes.

“Dear Jack,” pleaded his wife, “don't go out now.”

“Let me alone, Abby. No man shall strike a child of mine without having a chance to strike me. I shall go and see Sol Gordon, and I'll give him such a licking as he won't forget in a hurry!” And Jack closed the sentence with a terrible oath.

“No, no, Jack, don't go. What good will it do? Wait until you are more cool.”

“Pshaw! Go away, Abby. There is not power enough on earth to save Sol Gordon from a drubbing, and I'll give it to him before the sun goes down.”

And as Jack Sprout looked at that moment he gave awful evidence that he was able to make good his word; for a more magnificent structure of framework and muscle was not to be found in the town.

“Dear Jack,” cried the wife, taking her husband by the arm, “O, do listen to me one moment. Freddy is not much hurt, and he ought not to have thrown stones at Gordon's dog. You know both Solomon and his family set everything by the dog, and he would not bark at the boys if they did not plague him. If you go and find Gordon as you are now, you will only make matters worse. O, I wish you would drop it.”

Jack only shook his head and smiled one of those smiles which are so terrible upon the face of an angry man.

“O Jack, if you would only try the effect of kindness upon Solomon. He is a good man at heart”—

Jack interrupted his wife with a derisive sneer.

“Don't laugh at me, Jack. I tell you it would be better to do so than to resort to blows. If you were attacked I would not blame you for fighting to protect yourself, but this is not a case that calls for your strength of muscle. There is a higher and nobler strength that you can use now.”

“O ho!” uttered Jack, “you are preaching. You are giving me some of your Sunday-school lessons. But I don't want 'em. You may experience religion as much as you please, but you mustn't preach the stuff to me.”

“Jack,” spoke his wife, with a stern solemnity, “have I been any worse since I have begun to have an interest in religious things?”

“No, Abby, you were good always.”

“Then why will you not listen to me? If you will stay with me now—if you will wait until your anger is cooled—and then go and speak kindly to Solomon Gordon, I give you my solemn word that you will feel a thousand times better than you will if you”—

But Jack would not hear his wife out. He had sworn that he would thrash Solomon Gordon, and he would keep his word. His temper was at the boiling point, and he was fairly aching to get his hands upon the man who had dared to strike his boy; for Freddy was his pet, and every blow that had been laid upon the child's body had been a mark of fire upon his own heart. So he put his wife away from him, and hurried from the house, slamming the door after him.

Away went Jack Sprout with rapid, heavy strides; and had Solomon Gordon fallen in his way just then he would most assuredly have been severely beaten; for though Solomon was a strong, bold man, yet Jack was a very Hercules.

But Jack was destined to get pretty thoroughly cooled off before he met the object of his wrath. As he approached the bridge that spanned the river just below the falls, he heard loud cries of alarm, and upon hurrying forward he found that a boy had fallen from one of the projecting timbers into the water. He looked over the railing and saw the little fellow just coming to the surface of the foaming, boiling flood—a curly-headed boy, just about the age of his own darling Freddy—stretching forth his tiny arms in an agony of despair. It was a terrible place, that seething, roaring pool, where the waters of the great river came pouring down from a high dam, but Jack did not hesitate; he forgot his enemy,—forgot everything but the danger of the little one,—and only stopping to kick off his boots and throw aside his coat, he leaped down into the angry flood. He caught the boy in his arms, and then struck out for the shore. It was a mighty conflict, but the strong man persevered. More than once those who had gathered upon the rocks had reason to fear that neither the man nor the child would come forth alive; but Jack held his own against the mad torrent, and finally reached the shore, where many hundreds were ready to help him. As for himself, a few minutes' rest so far restored him that he was able to walk; and he had sustained no injury save a few trifling bruises. And as for the boy, he had come forth in safety; for Jack had held him above the water during all the time of his struggle.

And when Jack Sprout had regained his breath and was able to speak, he looked to see the boy he had saved, and he saw that it was Andy Gordon, a bright-eyed, curly-haired, red-faced boy, not a year older than was his son Freddy.

“Where's papa?” asked the dripping child.

“He is coming,” answered some one in the crowd.

Jack looked up and saw Solomon Gordon coming,—Solomon, pale and terror-stricken,—and with all possible haste he seized his coat and boots, and hurried away. He could not meet Solomon Gordon then.

“Mercy! What is it, Jack?”

Mrs. Sprout was alarmed. Her husband was dripping wet, his step was tottering, his breathing was labored, and there was a livid mark upon his forehead as though he had received a heavy blow.

“It is nothing, Abby.”

“Has Solomon”—

“Pshaw! D'ye think Solomon Gordon could have done this? I have been in the river. A little boy had fallen from the bridge right into the flood beneath the falls. I jumped in and brought him out.”

“Alive?”

“Yes, alive and unhurt,” replied Jack.

“Oh, thank God! Whose child was it, Jack?”

“Don't stop to ask questions now, Abby, but make me a cup of hot, strong tea, while I get on some dry clothes. My soul! I think I had a narrow dodge of it.”

Jack put on dry garments, and when he had rested a while, he drank his tea, and in the course of an hour all traces of exhaustion had passed away.

“I tell you, Abby, I have had a good many tough jobs in my day, but I never had one like that before. A weaker man than I am, could never have brought out that child alive.”

“Oh, how grand it is, Jack, to use one's strength in such a cause. But whose child was it? Do you know?”

Before Jack could answer, the outer door was unceremoniously opened, and Solomon Gordon entered the apartment. Abby shrank back in alarm when she saw how pale and excited the man looked, and how he trembled; for she did not notice the moist, brimming light that shone in his swollen eyes.

“Jack,” spoke the newcomer, in a gasping manner, at the same time holding out both his hands. He choked and stammered, but presently gained strength to add, “O my God! what can I say? Jack! Jack!”

Here the stout man broke fairly down, and burst into tears.

Jack, almost as much affected as was his visitor, arose and took the extended hand.

“Never mind, Sol. It's all right.”

“No, no,” cried Gordon. “It isn't right. It never can be right. Oh! what can I do? Jack, if I could only go back to where I was this morning! I beat your child for a trifling thing, and you have saved mine from a terrible death, saved him almost at the expense of your own life. Kill me if you will. Beat me, Jack. Do anything you like, only forgive me, so that this saving act of yours shan't be always like a heap of coals upon my head.”

And then with a sudden impulse,—under the influence of an emotion such as he never before experienced,—Jack Sprout said,—

“Solomon, I tell you it's all right. You have no more reason to thank God that I saved your child than I have. When I went forth from my house I was full of wrath and madness, and curses were upon my lips and in my heart. I would have sought such revenge as the wild beast seeks. Is it not better that I found your little Andy in the flood? and is it not better that my great strength was used in saving his life? I forgive you, Sol, from the bottom of my heart. And now I say, It's all right.”

And so was cemented a friendship holy and lasting.

Seemingly slight perturbations in the current of a man's life sometimes work marvelous changes for good or for ill.

“Abby,” said Jack Sprout,—it was late in the evening and they had been sitting for some time without speaking,—“I believe I am converted. Saul of Tarsus, that you read to Freddy about last Sunday, was not more suddenly brought to light than I have been. Really and truly, there is more virtue in kindness than in enmity; it blesses everything and everybody. He who bestows it is as much blessed as he who receives it.”

And then the wife, with her arm placed gently around her husband's neck, kindly said,—

“Dear Jack, wouldn't we both be happier if we would try to live by the blessed rules laid down by our Saviour?”—Sel.

The End of Life.

By Erastus W. Ellsworth

Thou dost amaze me that thou dost mistake The wandering rivers for the fountain lake. What is the end of living?—happiness? An end that none attain, Argues a purpose vain.

Plainly, this world is not a scope for bliss, But duty. Yet we see not all that is, Or may be, some day, if we love the light. What man is, in desires, Whispers where man aspires.

But what and where are we? what now—to-day? Souls on a globe that spins our lives away,— A multitudinous world, where Heaven and Hell, Strangely in battle met, Their gonfalons have set.

Dust though we are, and shall return to dust, Yet, being born to battles, fight we must; Under which ensign is our only choice, We know to wage our best, God only knows the rest.

Then since we see about us sin and dole, And some things good, why not, with hand and soul, Wrestle and succor out of wrong and sorrow,— Grasping the swords of strife, Making the most of life!

Yea, all that we can wield is worth the end, If sought as God's and man's most loyal friend. Naked we come into the world, and take Weapons of various skill,— Let us not use them ill.

Arouse thee, man! Shake off this hideous death! Be man! Stand up! Draw in a mighty breath. This world has quite enough emasculate hands, Dallying with doubt and sin. Come—here is work—begin!

Come, here is work—and a rank field—begin, Put thou thine edge to the great weeds of sin; So shalt thou find the use of life, and see Thy Lord, at set of sun, Approach and say, “Well done!”

This at the last: They clutch the sapless fruit, Ashes and dust of the Dead Sea, who suit Their course of life to compass happiness; But be it understood That, to be greatly good, All is the use.

— Erastus W. Ellsworth.

LUTHER'S ARGUMENT WITH SATAN.

LUTHER says: “Once upon a time the devil said to me, ‘Martin Luther, you are a great sinner, and you will be damned.’ ‘Stop! stop!’ said I; ‘one thing at a time. I am a great sinner, it is true, though you have no right to tell me of it. I confess it. What next?’ ‘Therefore you will be damned.’ ‘That is not good reasoning. It is true I am a great sinner, but it is written, “Jesus Christ came to save sinners;” so, I shall be saved! Now go your way.’ So I cut the devil off with his own sword, and he went away mourning because he could not cast me down by calling me a sinner.’

Where God Places Me: My Appointed Corner

WHERE God puts me is my appointed corner.

WHICH?

By D. A. Robinson

WHICH is a relative pronoun, third person, singular or plural number, neuter gender, and, in the text below, is in the nominative case. “Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.” Col. 2:17.

We go back to the preceding verse to find the antecedent of this pronoun “which,” and learn that the apostle closes up that verse with a reference to the sabbaths; which fact, says the objector, proves the abolition of the weekly Sabbath. Before we draw so hasty a conclusion, let us look at a few facts.

1. What does Paul mean here by a shadow? All must agree that he has reference to those things that shadowed forth the world’s Redeemer. This leads us to inquire, When were such shadows introduced? The ready answer is, Not till there was a necessity for a Redeemer; or, in other words, not until man had fallen, and needed redeeming.

2. The weekly Sabbath was instituted before the fall (see Gen. 2:2, 3); consequently it cannot be a shadow, but is a memorial of creation, pointing back to that event. Ex. 20:8–11.

3. By turning to Lev. 23, we learn that the Jews had seven annual sabbaths. These were not embodied in the moral code of ten commandments, but in the law of types, shadows, and ordinances. These sabbaths were called “her sabbaths;” but of the weekly Sabbath the Lord says, “My holy day;” “The Sabbath of the Lord thy God;” &c. Isa. 58:14; Ex. 20:8–11.

Now, we wish to ascertain the real meaning of Paul’s words. Does he give us to understand that the Lord’s Sabbath was nailed to the cross, or that it was “her sabbaths” that were thus treated? Before examining his words let us consider a prophecy found in Hosea 2:11: “I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.” This places the matter beyond dispute. It was her feast days, new moons, sabbaths, &c., that were to cease; and these are the very days Paul has under consideration. Thus he says: “Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. . . . Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” Then, to prevent any misunderstanding, he adds, “Which are a shadow of things to come.” Was the weekly Sabbath a shadow? Most certainly not. It was instituted before the fall of man, which fact places it back of all shadows; so we find it pointing back to creation, and not forward to the cross. Were the annual sabbaths shadows? They were, and pointed forward to Christ.

Then we have two kinds of sabbaths in the Bible, the Sabbath of the Lord, which is the seventh day, and the shadowy sabbaths pointing to Christ. One of these two kinds was abolished; we urge the reader to decide which. See Col. 2:17.

D. A. ROBINSON.

WHICH BUT?

By Chas. C. Lewis

Go INTO almost any social meeting, and you will hear expressions like the following: “I am still trying to serve God in my weak way; but—” “I have, in times past, enjoyed much of the love of God; but—” Or, “I know I ought to consecrate myself fully to the Lord, and sometimes I feel as though I could almost do so; but—”

Ah, that little word but! what a world of meaning it suggests! Used as above, it means doubt, darkness, discouragement, indecision, a whole catalogue of states of mind that hinder the Christian’s progress. But, my dear brother, there is not the slightest need for using the word thus; for “all the promises of God in him [Christ] are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

Just turn “but” around and see how it shines! “To be sure, the enemy may try to destroy me; but Jesus has said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’” “I may be weak; but has not Jesus said, ‘My strength is sufficient for thee?’” “There are some things that look dark, and I know not just how they will come out; but the voice of the prophet comes to me with power, saying: ‘Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? . . . He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall [without the help of God]; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’” Isa. 40:28–31.

Used thus, the word gives joy, peace, light, hope, and comfort. Which way, dear reader, will you use it?

CHAS. C. LEWIS.

ARGUMENTS FROM IGNORANCE.

Those persons who believe nothing but what they can see, are likely to have very short creeds. Those who credit nothing which they cannot understand, make their ignorance the measure of their faith.

It is related that Louis XIV. of France, sent an ambassador to the King of Siam, who told that monarch that in France the cold was so intense at times that men could walk upon the water, which sometimes became firm enough to bear up an elephant. The thing seemed so absurd, so contrary to all experience and observation, so utterly impossible, that the king took the story for an insult and threatened the ambassador with instant death. He knew too much to be deceived by such stories,—in Siam water never became hard!

There is an account of an Indian who was sent by his tribe to Washington, and on his return, while relating the wonderful things he had observed, he declared that he had seen the white people fasten a great ball to a canoe, and so rise into the clouds and travel through the heavens. This story, so absurd, so unreasonable, so contrary to all experience, was at once pronounced impossible, and a young warrior instantly leveled his rifle and shot the Indian dead, regarding him as too great a liar to be allowed to live.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the man who had declared it possible to print forty thousand newspapers in an hour on a single press; or to travel over the country at the rate of a mile a minute; or to send a message or ask a question across the Atlantic Ocean and receive an answer within an hour's time, would very likely have been considered a lunatic or a liar; and yet all these things come within the scope of our observation to-day. The impossibilities of the by-gone years have become the common occurrences of the present time; and if men are so ignorant of their own powers that they would a few years since have counted a man a liar for declaring what they themselves are believing and doing to-day, what shall we say of

those who presume to limit the Holy One of Israel, and deny the power of God, the Creator of the world. He who formed this earth at first, can do what he will with it; and He who has made man in his own image can restore his vanished life, and bring him back again from the dust of the silent sepulcher. “For with God all things are possible.”—The Christian (Boston).

WHAT ADVANTAGE HAVE THE JEWS?

By John G. Matteson

The Jews have no advantage whatever. Are they not despised by all men? And to brand a custom as Jewish is the same as to call it low and mean.

Thus the unbelieving world think. And many so-called Christians agree with the world in this. But the Holy Scriptures testify to the contrary:—

“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way; chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Rom. 3:1, 2. God chose the children of Israel from among all the tribes of the earth to keep his oracles, and this charge they have fulfilled faithfully. The unbelieving Jews despised God, and crucified his Son; but the Lord has always had a remnant among them, who have loved his commandments and believed in the Messiah.

Our Saviour himself says that “salvation is of the Jews.” John 4:22. Truly, the word of God has come from the Jews, and has illuminated the whole world.

The apostle witnesses concerning the Jews as follows: “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.” Rom. 9:4, 5. This he applies to the believing Jews; for he says, “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Verses 6–8.

It is not one covenant only (the old covenant) which belongs to the Jews, but the covenants. These must be at least two. Therefore the Scriptures testify that God has made the new covenant with the house of Israel. Heb. 8:10. Have we received another giving of the law, another service, other promises, another glory, and another adoption? Is there another Heavenly Father, and another new earth besides that promised to Abraham and Isaiah? Heb. 11:13, 16; Isa. 65:17. Is there any other commonwealth under the new-covenant dispensation than the commonwealth of Israel? Eph. 2:12. Is it not, then, the greatest honor to be fellow-citizens with the righteous Jews, and to share with them in the blessed hope, and in the covenants of promise? Verses 12, 19.

Shall we be ashamed of our Saviour because he was a Jew? Then we must also be ashamed of the Sabbath, because it is called Jewish. Oh, how restricted and narrow-minded is that spirit which has so great an influence on the Christianity of our day. Men serve God as far as custom and practice allow, but no further. They wish to escape the cross, because the cross comes first when one dares, in his morals and religion, to go further than the world. The traditions and customs of the papacy are defended, because they were once delivered unto men, while the doctrines and commandments of God are bitterly opposed.

They will not keep the Sabbath of the Lord, because it is not commanded anew in the New Testament; but they do consider it a sin to work upon the first day of the week, which is not forbidden either in the Old or the New Testament. Some attempt to prove that all days are alike, and that no one may judge us concerning holy days and sabbaths; but at the same time they brand Sabbath-keepers as having gone greatly astray. They say that it is dangerous to regard days and times, and they apply this to those who keep holy the Sabbath of the Lord; but they do not consider it dangerous to regard the first day, which the Bible has not appointed to holy use, as holy time.

Our Saviour was a Jew; the prophets and apostles were all Jews. The believing Jews are the natural branches of the true Christian olive-tree. Shall we despise them? Shall we disregard their promises, and covenants, and service, and the giving of the law? God forbid. We have no faith that abolishes or changes the law (the moral law, the ten commandments, which make known sin; Rom. 7:7), but faith establishes the law. Rom. 3:31.

The Lord be praised for all the blessings he has permitted to come to us from the Jews. Oh, that we might be united in the closest union with the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and above all with our dear Saviour, as well as with all the believing children of God. May we, with all the true Israel, have a part in the adoption, and at last in the eternal glory.

John G. Matteson.

Straws: The National Liberal League and the Religious Reform Association

By S. B. Whitney

STRAWS.—NO. 2.

A short time ago a gentleman spoke in the hall where we were lecturing, in the interests of the National Liberal League, setting forth its principles and aims. He alluded to the convention recently held in the city of Rochester, and stated some of the reasons for the formation of the league. He said the proportions and importance being assumed by the Religious Reform Association are such as to awaken alarm in reflecting minds for the safety of the distinctive features and characteristics of our free government, and prompt and energetic measures must be resorted to, to avert the danger.

He was introduced by an officer of the Liberal League of Tompkins Co., N. Y., who was quite active in the gratuitous distribution of tracts and documents published in the interest of the movement. It was shown that local leagues are being rapidly formed, and the movement is becoming quite general, leading men of all classes declaring themselves strongly in its favor; and it is evident that the public mind is being aroused, and individuals are taking sides in the controversy, according to their inclinations or convictions, as the case may be.

It is, however, evident that the Liberal League will only serve to precipitate the pending crisis; for the extreme secular views advocated, the well-known spiritualistic, skeptical, and even atheistical tendencies of many of those actively engaged in the movement, will have the effect to excite the disgust and indignation of those who take the religious side of the controversy, and will inspire them with greater zeal and energy in their operations, and furnish them with a plausible pretext, and a powerful appeal to the religious prejudices of the the masses against those who are advocating the present truth, and urging the claims of God’s law, in opposition to the enforcement of man-made institutions by legal enactment. S. B. WHITNEY.

The Army of the Lord.

By W. E. S.

“Among men, those who faithfully serve the Lord, obeying his voice, constitute his army on earth.” “Enlistments are still in order.”

I say amen to the above from Bro. Cottrell, in REVIEW No. 23, last volume. Having been a soldier for the Union, I appreciate most intensely those passages of Scripture that speak of the Christian course as a warfare, and of Christians as soldiers. The first duty of a soldier is loyalty. After taking the oath of allegiance, and subscribing to it, thus enlisting in due form in the service, desertion becomes one of the greatest crimes. By enlisting, the soldier surrenders his entire service for the time stated, even to the laying down of his life if the cause demands it. Hence obedience to the orders of his superior is one of the highest virtues, and disobedience is justly punished with severity.

Courage comes next among the qualifications of a good soldier. It enables him to stand in the ranks, heedless of all but duty, while loved friends and comrades are falling on all sides. In connection with watchfulness it enables him to serve in the important position of picket or advance guard. Placed far from the cheerful camp fire where rest his weary comrades after the arduous duties of the day, he knows no rest or sleep. Duty keeps him awake, while courage enables him to pace, without fear, the lonely path marked out for him to tread, piercing, with watchful eye, the surrounding gloom, ready to sound the alarm the instant danger approaches.

Within the camp are learned the various arts of war, such as moving in harmony, keeping step, and preserving order in all the various evolutions necessary to the highest state of perfection in the service.

Endurance is another very important qualification, enabling the soldier to bear the deprivation of food and rest, and to survive the hardships of the march.

These virtues, with patience and cheerfulness, will endear him to all with whom he comes in contact; and when found in the soldier of Christ, and perfected by grace, will enable him to enter into that warfare whose weapons are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, with great boldness and a certain prospect of victory. W. E. S.

THE POWER OF INFLUENCE.

By V. Morrow

It is, probably, the result of a certain law of nature implanted in the human heart, that a common sympathy of existence seems to unite the human family. At any rate, we know it to be a fact that even a look has its influence. “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend,” says the wise man, and how often, in our own experience, have we seen this exemplified. A momentary glimpse of a cheerful, happy face, as in meeting and passing a friend in the street, has the effect of adding buoyancy to our own feelings; while the sight of one telling of tears and sorrow touches a chord of sympathy in our hearts which drives out thoughts of gayety, and changes the whole current of our meditations.

While it is true that this silent influence is too unmistakably felt for its existence to be denied, its potency for good or ill cannot compare with that exerted upon our friends and associates by our words and acts. It is impossible for us to know just how far we are able to sway the feelings of others, yet we may safely conclude that every one of our words and every thing we do, is liable to be noted by some one of our associates, and allowed due weight, especially if it be on the wrong side of the balance. In view of this, how careful should we be as to the character of those words and acts!

In the providence of God, we have been enabled to behold the light of truth as it shines forth from the blessed Book. Do we prove by our actions that we love it, and are grateful for its light? We all have friends whom we would not have stumble over our misguided steps and fall into ruin, and perhaps they are watching us to see if the truth which we profess has a sanctifying influence upon our lives. Shall we not be seen walking in its beautiful precepts? If we are, it may be that some, at least, seeing our good works, shall be constrained to glorify our Father who is in Heaven.

V. MORROW.

Chariton Co., Mo.

REV. DR. EATON ON THE SABBATH.

The day of rest was appointed by God at the beginning of man's history.
It was observed by the patriarchs and the early church.
It was incorporated in the ten commandments, and placed on a parity with other moral precepts.
It was largely insisted on by the prophets, who also prophesied of it as belonging to New Testament times.

5, It was honored by Christ, who also spoke of its sanctity in days to come.

* * * * * * * *

God designed its perpetual observance. The Sabbath is a golden bow of promise, resting one of its extremities in paradise, amid the fresh flowers of Eden, spanning the whole history of time, and resting its other extremity on the Mount of God, amid the perennial flowers of Heaven. And when the sum of the results of all instrumentalities ordained upon earth for the salvation of men and the glory of the Great King are published from before the throne, next to the Bible and the preaching of the gospel this blessed Sabbath will be crowned with eternal honor, as the pearl of days, and the bright jewel amid all the days of the week, through whose light and quietness and peace men are attracted to the cross, and from the cross up the steps of time to the land of eternal rest. So may this rest-day be beautiful and valuable, until working days are all over, and all things ready for the great change, when the elements shall melt, and God's hand shall roll up the scroll of the heavens, and the grand, eternal jubilee be kept around the throne! —The Delaware Signal.

WILL IT PAY?

By J. N. Ayers

WILL it pay to use tobacco, and allow wife and children to stay away from church for want of suitable clothing? Will it pay to stay away from meeting for fear the minister will say something against this filthy habit? Will it pay for one who should be an example to the flock, one who must give an account for the church of which he is overseer, to set them an example, which, if followed, will shut them out of the kingdom? Will it pay to become a slave for so filthy a thing as tobacco? A hog will not touch it, yet a man addicted to its use will beg for a chew or smoke. Many a man has even killed himself with it,—committed murder for his god tobacco.

Will it pay to make a public nuisance of one's self? Many times we have been forced to turn away, sick and disgusted, when conversing with persons who use the weed. And has any one a moral right to poison with the stench of tobacco the common atmosphere which all must breathe? Is it not a sin to do so?

Says Dr. Pratt, “Surely, if the dictates of reason were allowed to prevail, an article so injurious to the health, and so offensive in all its forms and modes of employment, would speedily be banished from common use.” All, even those who are its greatest slaves, admit that the use of tobacco is an unclean habit. See that tobacco-user try to talk. His mouth is so full of the foul juice that it is sprinkled in every direction, and if you are close to him, you will be likely to get some of it in your eyes and on your shirt bosom. Yet we often see young men, and even women, using the filthy, sickening weed. But turn to the word of God, and learn from it that no “unclean person . . . hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Eph. 5:5. Will it pay to give up our inheritance for the pleasure we enjoy here in making ourselves disgusting to every clean person?

Is not the use of tobacco filthy? Yes; we need not stop to picture to you the barroom or the smoking-car. Where is the lady who would like to spend an evening in either? What does the word of God say about filthiness? In Ps. 14:2, we read, “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.” Now hear the result: “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy [or, as the margin reads, stinking].” James exhorts us to “lay apart all filthiness.” James 1:21. And Paul says, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Then if we would be holy (and we must be, if we ever see the Lord; Heb. 12:14), we must rid ourselves of this habit.

Turn again to your Bibles, and read Jude 8: “Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh.” So if a person is guilty of any filthy habit he defiles himself. 1 Cor. 3:16, 17: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

Tobacco is intoxicating. I am aware some will take issue with me here; but inebriation is as plainly the consequence of tobacco-using as of whisky-drinking. To be drunk it is not necessary that a person should be wholly delirious or insensible. There are degrees in drunkenness, and when a man takes into his system any given quantity of either whisky or tobacco, he is drunk just in proportion to the dose. A man is just as truly drunk when he has taken sufficient tobacco to produce a feeling of pleasant exhilaration as when he has taken enough whisky to cause him to wallow in the ditch. The difference is only in the degree. No man is entirely sober while under the influence of any narcotic or stimulant.

Tobacco is one of the chief causes of intemperance. An eminent physician says that the United States pays enough every year for tobacco to clothe and educate all her children, and to keep a pastor in every church. Read Gal. 5:19: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, . . . drunkenness, revellings, and such like. . . . They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Will you still go on using tobacco through 1878? Did it pay you last year? Will it pay this year?

You say, I cannot quit using tobacco; I wish I could. What will you do with your pipe and quid when Jesus comes? Do you think you can hide them? What will you do with that foul breath? Can you get rid of it in a moment? If you were offered $5,000,000 to stop, would you not do it? Jesus offers you eternal life, which you can enjoy forever and ever. I know you can leave off the use of tobacco; for I was once as great a slave to the habit as you can be. But when I saw that the promise was only to the “overcomer” (Rev. 3:21), I determined to stop using tobacco at once and forever; and, by God's assisting grace, I am now a free man. During the past year, I have seen men between seventy and eighty years old, who had used it all their lives, give it up, and they are now rejoicing in their freedom.

Never experiment, and try to taper off. The taper always runs the wrong way. Stop at once. There is no danger that it will kill you. Are you a Christian? Go to Christ in prayer; he will help you. Use no antidote or substitute.

It will not pay to allow the devil to lull you to sleep, and rob you of eternal life.

J. N. AYERS.

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