Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 9, 1858
THE DESTINY OF THE WICKED:
By M. Hull
A Discourse given at Russiaville, Ind.,
Nov. 8th, 1858.
BY M. HULL.
(Concluded.)
We will now turn to Isa. lvii, 16; "For I will not contend forever with the wicked, neither will I be always wroth." O, says the Universalist, there comes in the glorious doctrine of Universalism; "God is gracious in mercy, and plenteous in goodness, and will not cast off forever." 1 Chron. xxviii, 9. "If thou seek him he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off forever." But the text informs us that God will not be always wroth. Where will his anger cease? In a universal salvation? No. God says, Isa. x, 25, "For yet a little while and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction." But to return to the text: "I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made!"
We will examine that prophecy upon this subject. Eze. iii, 18-21. "When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand; yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul."
In order to find what is the meaning of the terms die and death, alive and live, turn to Eze. xiii, 19: "And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?" In Eze. xviii, 4, he says, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." In verse 20, the same words are repeated with the addition, "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." Some try to limit this to the first death, but it will not apply there, for verse 21 says, "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die." In this life we find that they that turn from their sins do die, the same as those who do not. In verse 26, you will find the death spoken of is not as some suppose, a death of sin; but says he, "when the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them, for his iniquity that he hath done, shall he die."
The death in sin is what we call a natural, temporal, or corporeal death. There are but two states; one is in sin, the other in Christ. The one is under the law, the other is under grace. In Christ there is no sin. Therefore he who is in Christ is not in sin. Then he who dies out of Christ, dies in sin and afterwards dies for sin. Again in verse 27, it is stated, "When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." Verses 31, 32; "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel, for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves and live ye."
But one asks the question, Can you find the term annihilation in the Bible? No. I do not believe in annihilation, but I will find just as near annihilation as I believe. In Obadiah i, 16, it is stated that "they shall be as though they had not been." If that be true, they cannot be in torment unless they were before they came into existence. But one asks us why we do not come to the New Testament. We answer we are willing to risk the whole issue upon the New Testament Scriptures. We are willing to risk it all with Paul, who shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God—who fully preached the gospel of Christ,—kept back nothing that was profitable, knowing the terror of the Lord, persuaded men. What did he preach? Was he in the habit of telling men that they had deathless spirits, undying souls, or immortal entities which must survive in a conscious state of existence, after the death of the body, and, if wicked, go to hell, and roll there eternally—writhe in endless night and woe? No. Paul never used one of these phrases; notwithstanding he preached many long sermons, and wrote thirteen epistles, we have no record that he ever said, "immortal soul," "deathless spirit," or "endless hell." Therefore, this cannot be a part of the "gospel of Christ," "counsel of God" or "terrors of the Lord." It cannot be profitable or Paul would not have kept it back. The harshest language Paul ever used in his preaching, was in Acts xiii, 46. "It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." If they do not want eternal life, they need not have it; the apostles would turn to the Gentiles and see if they would have eternal life. He does, however, in verse 41 of the same chapter, use harsher language than that which we have read; but he quotes it from the prophets. "Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you."
We will now examine his writings and see what he says on the subject of the doom of the wicked. Rom. i, 28-32. He is here describing a character, and while I read the description, I want you to see if you can think of language to describe a worse character than the one Paul had his mind on.
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful."
Surely if any class is worthy of eternal torture it is the one Paul has up here. But verse 32 describes his doom: "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death."
Why are they worthy of death? Because "the wages of sin is death." In Rom. ii, 7, Paul promises eternal life to them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality. Chap. vi, 21-23. "What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed, for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
They that served sin, served for wages. Now the question is, Will they get their pay? God says, vengeance belongeth to me, I will repay. If the sinner does not get death, God is bankrupt to all eternity; from the fact that they have served for wages, and God has refused to pay, by keeping them endlessly alive.
In Gal. vi, 7, 8, he says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that18shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." James' testimony is just to the point. In chap. i, 15, we read, "When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin; and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." Why does sin bring forth death? Because the "wages of sin is death." In chap. v, 20, he says, "Let him know that he that converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."
Here let me talk for a few moments on the justice of God, and how gloriously it makes the character of God shine out! God is not such a tyrant as we suppose him to be. It is true he has brought us into existence and given us a few short years, and we are forced out of existence. But do you want life? You have had the trial of it for a short time, and if you like it, the conditions are easy upon which it is to be obtained. If you do not like it God leaves you just where he found you. He found us in dust and ashes and leaves us there. This is a glorious system—a good system. It is a plan where mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. God works upon the same principle that you and I would work. We buy a piece of land, and the good timber we preserve and use, but that which we cannot convert to our use, we roll it into heaps and burn up. So God does with the tares; they are gathered in bundles to be burned up.
We will notice one or two objections, and then leave the subject with you. In Jude i, 7, it is said, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
The vengeance of eternal fire must result in destruction. To illustrate, we will suppose some persons, for some crime, will suffer the vengeance of an immense fire; do we not understand that they will be burnt up? Many of the christian martyrs suffered the vengeance of an immense fire—it always resulted in their destruction. But in answer to the query, what became of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, every member of this congregation will say they were burned up. Peter says "they are an example to them that should after live ungodly." Lest some one should doubt this being the true application of the text, we will hear Peter's testimony. 2 Pet. ii, 4-6, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [tartarosas] (not a place of punishment, but a place where they are reserved to see whether they are worthy of punishment or not) and delivered them in chains of darkness to be reserved unto the judgment, and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example to those that should after live ungodly." This text positively states that the turning of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, was an example to them that should afterwards live ungodly. The first verse of this chapter says, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift (speedy) destruction. Swift destruction cannot be eternal torment."
Universalists talk a great deal about Christ's coming to seek and save that which was lost, giving his life a ransom for the world, &c., but that does not affect the question in the least. Here are some who are bought with the blood of Christ, who are going to be swiftly destroyed. Notwithstanding a universal salvation was provided, Paul says, [Heb. ii, 3,] "how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" He also shows the possibility of destroying one for whom Christ died. Rom. xiv, 15. But to return to Peter. He says, [2 Pet. ii, 12,] of these same false teachers, "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things they understand not; and shall utterly (or entirely) perish in their own corruption." Here we have four phrases made use of which show the impossibility of their being made endlessly alive. (1.) "Natural brute beasts." (2.) "Made to be destroyed." (3.) "They shall utterly perish." (4.) "Their own corruption."
Now the definition of the word perish, and we will close. I tell you of a house that burned down, and say that one man perished in the flames. You all understand he was burnt to death in the flames. I tell you another man perished in the water. You always understand he was drowned. Of another who perished with cold. You understand he was frozen to death. I know Webster says that perish in a theological sense, means what it does not in another sense. I know nothing of but one kind of sense, and that I denominate common sense. If you will turn to Luke xiii, 2-5, you will find perish implies literal death. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you nay; but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them; think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you Nay; but except ye repent you shall all likewise perish." In Matt. viii, 25, the disciples say, "Save Lord, we perish." Is it possible that the disciples thought they would be eternally tormented in the sea? Verse 3. "And the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters." Think you the whole herd of swine will be eternally tormented in the sea?
I have now tried to establish the doctrine of destruction. If I have not done it, I ask you what language can do it? Do you ask for the words die and death? I have found them. Will the word perish teach destruction? I have got it. Is there any meaning in the words destroy, destruction, consume, perdition, second death, shall not be, shall be as though they had not been, shall be smoke and ashes, &c., &c.? I have found them all. If the texts I have read have not established the doctrine that the wicked shall not be, can language be made to teach the idea, if it were true? All I have to say is, investigate the subject carefully. Prepare for an inheritance in the land when the wicked "shall be as though they had not been."
LIFTING THE SOUL TO GOD.
By Quarles
"Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul." Ps. xxv, 1.
Fountain of light and living breath,
Whose mercies never fail nor fade;
Fill me with life that hath no death,
Fill me with light that hath no shade;
Appoint the remnant of my days
To see thy power, and sing thy praise.
Lord God of gods, before whose throne
Stand storms of fire! O, what shall we
Return to heaven, that is our own,
When all the world belongs to thee?
We have no offering to impart,
But praises and a wounded heart.
O thou, that sitt'st in heaven, and seest
My deeds without, my thoughts within,—
Be thou my prince, be thou my priest,
Command my soul, and cure my sin;
How bitter my afflictions be
I care not, so I rise to thee.
What I possess, or what I crave,
Brings no content, great God, to me,—
If what I would, or what I have,
Be not possessed and blest in thee;
What I enjoy, O, make it mine,
In making me, that have it, thine.
When winter fortunes cloud the brows
Of summer friends, when eyes grow strange,
When plighted faith forgets its vows,
When earth and all things in it change,
O Lord, thy mercies fail me never;
Thy boundless love is mine for ever.
[Quarles.
THE CRUCIFIXION.
[Bro. Smith: I send you the following affecting account of the crucifixion of our beloved Redeemer, which I took from a work entitled, Biblical Antiquities, Vol. 1.—By John W. Nevin. J. A. Wilcox.]
Crucifixion was a common method of punishment among several ancient nations, especially the Persians, Carthagenians and Romans. It was according to its use with the latter people that the Jews became acquainted with it, and it was because he was put to death by Roman authority, that the Lord Jesus Christ was made to suffer its cruel torture. John xviii, 31, 32; xii, 32-34. The cross was employed among the Romans as a punishment for robbers, assassins, and rebels. Slaves especially, when they were guilty of great offences, were put to death in this way. Hence, crucifixion was held to be the most shameful and degrading death which a man could suffer. The cross, in public opinion, had in it even more of disgrace and reproach, than the gallows now has with us. It was therefore an exceeding humiliation which the blessed Redeemer, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, consented to endure, when "being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even the death of the cross." Phil. ii, 6-8; Heb. xii, 2. So great was the degradation of such a death esteemed to be, universally, that a most powerful prejudice against the gospel was everywhere excited, on account of its author having suffered the shame of dying in this way. The Gentiles were ready to treat the apostles with contempt for preaching a religion, that offered salvation by the death of a man that had been crucified; and it continued long after to be a taunting reproach cast upon Christians, that their leader, whom they worshiped as a God, had expired as a malefactor on the cross. The scandal of such a death was no less in the estimation of the Jews; and besides, they considered the person who suffered it to be accursed of God, according to the law in Deut. xxi, 23, which declares every one that is hanged upon a tree to be thus made a curse. Gal. iii, 13. To trust in such an one as the great Messiah and Saviour, was therefore in their view the greatest madness and folly. 1 Cor. i, 23, 24. The apostles on the other hand, and all such as were led by the Spirit of God to lay hold of eternal life by faith, gloried in their Master's cross. What to others seemed shameful and vile, they esteemed most precious and worthy of all admiration. In the face of the world, they counted all things but loss for the sake of Christ and him crucified. Rom. i, 16; 1 Cor. ii, 1, 2.
When the sentence, thou shalt go to the cross, was passed by the magistrate upon any one, the unhappy man was in the first place stripped of all his clothes, with only a single covering left around the loins, and severely scourged with rods or whips. So cruel was the scourging, that death sometimes took place under it. After this treatment, which in a great measure took away his strength, he was compelled to carry the cross on which he was to be hung (and it was by no means a light burden) to the place of execution. This was commonly a hill near the public road, not far out of the city or town. As he passed along the way to this place, smarting with pain, and ready to faint by reason of the dreadful stripes he had already received, and groaning under the weight of his own cross, the unfeeling rabble loaded him with insult, mockery, and wanton cruelty. Having reached the appointed19spot, the infamous tree, as it was sometimes called, was taken from his shoulder and firmly fixed in the ground. It consisted of a piece of timber standing upright like a post, not generally more than ten feet high, and crossed by another considerably smaller, either altogether at the top, so as to resemble in its whole form the letter T, or only a little distance below it. The person to be crucified, having been presented with some kind of stupifying drink, to deaden the sense of pain, was then lifted up, and nailed to the fatal wood by four large spikes, driven one through each hand and foot. The hands were fastened to the cross piece, with the arms stretched out and raised somewhat above the head; the feet, to the upright beam, drawn towards the ground. To prevent the hands from being torn away from the nails by the weight of the body, there was a short piece of wood made to stick out from the middle of the beam just mentioned, for the sufferer to sit upon. Hence, he was sometimes said to ride upon the cross, or to rest upon the sharp cross. On the cross piece directly over his head as he hung thus exposed to the gazing multitude, an inscription or title was fixed, declaring in large letters, the crime for which he was thus punished. In some cases the condemned person was nailed to the cross before it was set up, and so lifted up together with it, when it was raised and fixed in its proper standing position. The first method, however, seems to have been the most common. The execution was performed by four soldiers, each of them, driving one of the spikes, who it appears, had a right, on account of this service, to the garments of the man that was put to death. John xix, 23, 24. In this awful situation the victim of the cross was left to suffer, till death came to relieve him from its power. This, however, did not take place commonly till the third, and frequently till the fourth or fifth day. Mark xv, 44. While any signs of life appeared, the cross was watched by a guard. After death, the body was often left hanging till it wasted away with corruption, or was devoured by birds of prey and ravenous beasts; (for it was generally so low that these beasts could reach at least the lower part of it.) In the province of Judea, however, it was allowed to depart from the general practice by way of indulgence to the Jews, with whom it was not lawful to leave a malefactor's body all night upon a tree or any sort of gibbet. Deut. xxi, 23.
Among them, therefore, crucified persons were buried on the day of their crucifixion; and their death, on that account, was hastened by other means, such as kindling a fire under the cross, letting wild beasts loose upon them, or breaking their bones with a mallet. In the case of our Saviour, no such means were necessary; he died in a few hours; but to be sure that he was really dead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. John xix, 31-35.
Such was the manner of death which the Lord of glory humbled himself to endure, when he laid down his life for a sinful and ruined world. His crucifixion was attended, while it lasted, with all the circumstances of indignity and horror that usually accompanied the punishment. But it was marked, besides, with peculiar and extraordinary inhumanity, such as common custom was not acquainted with. It was a scene of the most unfeeling insult and cruelty, from its commencement to its close. Jews and Gentiles joined to accomplish the work of shame and awful guilt. In the high priest's palace it began. There, we are told, the Son of God was treated with the most bitter hate and malicious scorn. They insulted him by spitting in his face; they buffeted him; they covered his eyes and then struck him with the palms of their hands, saying, in mockery of his claim to be the Messiah from heaven, Prophecy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? Matt. xxvi, 67, 68. When sent to Herod, the proud prince with his men of war set him at naught, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe. Before Pilate's bar, the chief priests and elders accused him, in language of bitterness and reproach, of the worst crimes; charging him with sedition and blasphemy, and representing him to be a malefactor whose guilt cried loudly for the heaviest vengeance of the law. The multitude without, excited by their religious rulers, insisted with tumultuous and violent cry that he should be sentenced to the cross.
The governor, though he had no doubt of his innocence, at length gave way to their importunity, and ordered him to be scourged, as a preparatory step to his execution. The Roman soldiers then caused the work of wanton mockery to be renewed. In derision of him, as one that aspired to be a king, they stripped him, and put on him an old robe of royal color; and when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand for a scepter; and they bowed the knee before him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews! Then they spit upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head, cruelly forcing the thorns to pierce it on every side. Thus arrayed, exhausted, and torn with the stripes of the scourge, and disfigured with blood trickling from his temples and over his face, the governor brought him out before the people, hoping that they might yet be moved with pity by such a sight, and consent to his release. But the cry of priests and people was renewed with unrelenting rage, Crucify, crucify him! Away, away with him! And when he seemed determined to let him go on account of some new conversation which he had with him, a loud threat was sounded in his ears: If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend.John xix, 1-12. This overcame his resolutions: he knew the emperor, Tiberius Cæsar, was a most suspicious and jealous prince, and ever ready to listen to charges of treason and opposition to his authority, that were brought against inferior rulers in the empire, and it was not at all unlikely that an accusation against himself, such as the Jews threatened, might if carried to Rome, be enough to ruin him. Accordingly for the sake of worldly interest, he resisted all the remonstrances of conscience, and ordered the execution to proceed. So they led him away to be crucified. Bearing his cross, and ready to sink under its weight, he went forth through the city toward the place of death, insulted, derided and abused no doubt, by the surrounding multitude, the whole way.
His strength, however, was found before long to be so far taken away by his sufferings, that he could not possibly support his burdens. As they came out of the gate of the city, therefore, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, that was coming from the country and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. When they had reached Calvary, they offered him the stupifying liquor, (which he refused to drink) and nailed him to the dreadful tree, placing him between two malefactors, as if he was not only of the same infamous character, but vilest of the three. It was probably as they were driving the spikes through his hands and feet, that he lifted to heaven that affecting prayer: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do! The four soldiers who fastened the nails, with cold blooded indifference, took his raiment as their spoil, and parted it among them in his presence. While he hung, tortured with anguish through all his frame, he was assailed on every side, in the most hard-hearted manner, with taunting irony and scornful ridicule.
"They that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it again in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross! Likewise, also, the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save! If he be the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver now, if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God." It was surely an awful spectacle, when the Holy and Just One was thus subjected to anguish and loaded with reproach, by sinful mortals.
The pain that was suffered in crucifixion was exceedingly severe. By reason of the scourging, the back was all torn with wounds, and these being exposed to the air, became, by their inflammation, a source of keen distress. Because the hands and feet abound particularly with nerves, which are the instruments of all feeling, nails driven through these parts could not fail to create the most lively anguish. The body was placed, moreover, in an unnatural position, the arms being stretched back, in order to be nailed to the cross piece above, in such a manner as to produce an oppressive feeling of uneasiness and constraint through the whole breast, which became, in a short time, an occasion of indescribable misery. This position, of course, could not be altered in the smallest degree, and the least movement which the sufferer might be led to make, must have served only to provoke new torture from every wound. The cross, therefore was full of cruelty as well as of shame, and might well be dreaded.
But are we to suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ could not endure its horrors with as much ease as many of his followers, through the assistance of his grace, have been able to endure the same or similar anguish of body in their deaths? Whence then, that extreme anxiety and dismay with which he was filled in view of his last sufferings? What was the cross, the thought of which produced such agony in the garden of Gethsemane, when he prayed that if possible, it might pass from him, and sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground? What was the cup which, when he was drinking it, wrung from his bosom that piercing cry of sorrow, My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? Ah! the terrors of the cross were but a feeble representation of the horror that compassed his soul from another quarter. There was wrath laid upon him by a righteous God, for the guilt of sin. It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and put him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin, because the great work of redemption which he had undertaken required it. "He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, and laid on him the iniquity of us all; therefore he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." Isa. liii, 4-11; 2 Cor. v, 21; Heb. ix, 28; x, 4-13; 1 Pet. ii, 22-24.
Having considered what it was literally to bear the cross, we may without much difficulty understand what it signifies figuratively. It can mean nothing less than to be ready to undergo the severest hardship, to face the most formidable danger, and to lay down even life itself if the sacrifice should be required. Such a cross-bearer every follower of Christ is commanded to be. Matt. x, 38; xvi, 24. And he may not dream that his faithfulness will not actually be brought into trial. The way to heaven is through much self-denial, labor, and tribulation.
Generation.
By O. Nichols
A GENERATION denotes a particular class of people that have arrived at an age to know between good and evil, at the commencement of a certain period, and who are connected with the history of the events of that period. The children of Israel that came out of Egypt are an example. "Surely there shall not one of those men of this evil generation see that good land, save Caleb and Joshua; they shall go in hither. And the Lord made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all that generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed."
"Moreover your little ones, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in hither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it." Deut. i, 35-39; Num. xxxii, 13; Heb. iii, 10.
The next generation that succeeded, were their "little ones, and their children which in that day" they came out of Egypt, "had no knowledge between good and evil." They entered into the possession of Canaan with Caleb and Joshua. "The elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the works of the Lord that he did for Israel," were a remnant of this second generation.
"And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he did." Judges ii, 6-10.
Here are three successive generations of Israel named, and probably Caleb and Joshua, the remnant of the first generation, lived to see the children of the third generation.
"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh." Eccl. i, 4.
In every successive period of about twenty-five years, another generation arises and takes the place of its predecessor; but the preceding generation does not all pass away at the end of the first period; a remnant of the aged will remain until after the third generation has arisen. In every period there are three generations—a remnant of the aged, and their successors, and the younger, or third generation. The definition of "pass away," is "to vanish, to disappear. In this sense we usually say pass away, to die; to depart from life." Webster—definition of pass. v. i.
O. NICHOLS.
Dorchester, Mass.
THE PATIENCE OF GOD.
By J. Bruce
How wonderful it is! Think what he hears, and sees, and yet though immaculately holy, so that sin is infinitely offensive to him, and infinitely powerful, so that he can punish it, how he spares! Take the oaths that are uttered. He hears them all, and they roar up in one horrid chorus to the skies. Take the cries which wrong and outrage extort from widows, orphans, and the oppressed. He hears them all, and how—as Abel's slaughtered corpse called from the ground—must they pierce his ear, and demand vengeance! The blood which is unjustly shed—drawn from the veins of innocence—he sees it all and it is sufficient to make rivers. What a foul stench reeks up from the corrupt cities, dwellings, and hearts of depraved humanity! And it all mounts to him. And yet ye spares—keeps back the struggling thunders. How amazing his patience! He is a God and not man; and therefore his compassion fails not.—J. Bruce.
THE DAILY LIFE.
By Martha Whiting
For my part, I am not so much troubled about my future state, as about my present character in the sight of a holy and heart-searching God. To live a holy, self-denying life, I conceive to be of the first importance. It is by the daily lives of christians that Christ is either honored or dishonored.—Martha Whiting.
How Far Controversy is to be Avoided
By Owen
A good work it is, no doubt, to pare off all unnecessary occasions of debate and differences in religion, provided we go not so near the quick as to let out any of its vital spirits.