Review and Herald, Vol. 33, No. 9.
DEATH, SIN, AND THE LAWPage 1
DEATH, SIN, AND THE LAW.
By John Nevins Andrews
TEXT.—“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” 1 Cor. xv, 55. These words are weighty and impressive; yet they are seldom pondered, and their force is not generally perceived. Death is personified, as though it were a living monster. It has a sting with which it inflicts deadly wounds. That sting is sin. There is an irresistible strength to the strokes of this sting. That strength is the law of God. This is a remarkable association of terms. Look at them; Death, Sin, the Law. Yet how closely connected are they to each other! Death is the wages of sin. Rom. vi, 23. Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John iii, 4. If there were no law, there could be no sin. Rom. iv, 15. If there were no sin, there could be no death. Rom. v, 12; Jas. i, 15. The existence of death is proof that sin exists. The existence of sin attests the continued authority of the law of God. Death is a terrible reality. Sin, the source of death, is that all-pervading moral pollution that covers the whole face of the earth as completely as did the waters of the deluge. The law of God is that perfect rule of right which expresses the will of the Lawgiver, and represents his sovereign authority. It forbids sin. When sin is committed, it demands the death of the transgressor. That demand must be fulfilled. Death can never be banished from our world till sin is exterminated. Sin can never be brought to an end but by the utter destruction of the transgressors. But death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. 1 Cor. xv, 26. All other enemies shall be destroyed first. Sin is destroyed when every transgressor suffers the just penalty of the law, and ceases longer to exist. Death ceases when the last sinner has died, and only immortal beings remain alive. Death and sin are in perfect accord. Sin deceives, and death destroys. Sin and death do business in partnership. The firm will never be dissolved till both the partners are buried in one common grave. Death and sin belong to one firm. But let none suppose that the apostle, by mentioning a third party, the law, in such intimate connection with sin and death, makes the firm include the law. No; by no means. Death and sin are united heart and soul; but sin and the law are in deadly antagonism. One or the other must perish. The law of God is simply the righteous will of the sovereign Lawgiver. Sin is rebellion against that authority. Death is the consequence of that rebellion. God's controversy with man is because he is on the side of the law, and man is on the side of sin. There never will be peace until one party prevails. If sin could prevail against the law, and overthrow it, there could be no peace; for sin can never bring peace to the transgressor. Satan and all his servants are strangers to peace. But the issue of the controversy is not doubtful. The law shall prevail; and wrong-doing shall be overthrown in the person of all wrong-doers, when death shall be their portion in the lake of fire. Rev. xx, 11–15; xxi, 8. Let us consider these three mighty forces; death, sin, and the law. The law is the eldest; sin, the next in age; and death is the youngest. Sin owes its existence to the transgression of the law; and death is the child of sin and Satan. The law of God in a mutilated form exists by nature in the hearts of men. So Paul teaches in Rom. ii, 15. This law upon the heart is precisely the same as that law which God gave to the Hebrews. See verse 14. What man has by nature in an imperfect condition, in consequence of the fall, he had in its perfection while he was an unfallen being. That is to say, the first man in his innocency had a perfect copy of the law of God upon the heart. This copy of the law in the natural heart is what responds to the truth of the moral law when it is preached. It is the basis of conscience. That which mars and obliterates the law to a greater or less extent in the natural heart, is the carnal mind, which is enmity to the law of God. Conversion is nothing more than the removal of this carnal mind, and the perfect writing of the law of God in the heart. So the new covenant promises to forgive the sins of the people of God, and to write the law in their hearts. Jer. xxxi, 33; Heb. viii, 10. Then the redeemed will have as perfect a copy of the law upon their hearts as Adam had before the fall. Paul alludes to this writing of the law upon the heart when he speaks of the epistle of Christ written “not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” 2 Cor. iii, 3. This law was proclaimed by the great Lawgiver in person under circumstances of glory, and majesty, and terror, such as the second advent alone can parallel. Compare Ex. xix, 16–20; 1 Thess. iv, 16; 2 Thess. i, 7, 8; Matt. xvi, 27. It was written in ten precepts upon two tables of stone. These were placed beneath the mercy-seat. By this was indicated the fact that man had broken this law, and needed pardon. As the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, the lesson taught by these sacrifices was that a sin-offering was to be made that could answer the demands of the law of God. So Jesus came with the law of God in his heart. Ps. xl, 8; Heb. x, 5–9. He came not to take away the law, but to take away sin, the transgression of it. Matt. v, 17–19; 1 John iii, 4, 5. He kept the law of God. John xv, 10; 1 John iii, 5. Then he took the curse of the law upon himself (Gal. iii, 13), being made a great sin-offering. 2 Cor. v, 21. Then he ascended on high, to become a priest for us in that heavenly temple where the ark of God's testament abides. Heb. viii, 1–5; Rev. xi, 19. He offers to forgive men's sins. He also offers to take away the carnal mind, and to write upon the heart a perfect copy of the law of God. He purposes that the life of every man shall be brought into such perfect conformity to the law of God, that the righteousness of the law, i. e., the right-doing commanded in the law, shall be fulfilled by them. Rom. viii, 3, 4. So James represents the law of God as obligatory in every precept. James ii, 8–12. He further teaches that we shall be held as transgressors of the whole law if we violate one precept; and that we shall be judged by the law of God. The gospel is a remedial system designed to bring men into conformity with God's great rule of right. When the gospel has done its work, then men shall be brought up to the Judgment, and be acquitted or condemned, according as they shall be found in conformity to, or in rebellion against, the law of God. The law is God's great rule of right, and by it sin is shown. Rom. iii, 20. The law of God condemns every member of the human family. Rom. iii, 19. The law is not made void, but established by the justification of men through faith. Rom. iii, 31. The law is written in the heart and mind of the subjects of the new covenant. Jer. xxxi; Heb. viii. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; and when men are converted by the law of God, their conduct is brought into exact conformity to it. Ps. xix, 7. If men would enter into life, they must keep the commandments. Matt. xix, 17. Whoever obeys the commandments, and teaches men66so, shall be highly esteemed in the kingdom of Heaven; while those who act otherwise, shall meet a different reward. Matt. v, 17–19. Making void the commandments of God, to keep the traditions of men, is very displeasing to God. Matt. xv; Mark vii. Finally, the law of God is perfect, spiritual, holy, just, and good. It is established in truth and uprightness, and stands fast forever and ever. Ps. xix, 7; Rom. vii, 7–14; Ps. cxi, 7, 8. Such is the character of God's great rule of right, the moral law. Now let us consider the second of the three great forces named by Paul. Sin is that all-pervading moral darkness and evil with which our world is enshrouded as with the pall of night. By one man's transgression, this great horror of darkness came upon the human family. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the wrong did not consist in some inherent evil in the fruit, but in the violation of the principles of morality which the transgression involved. The motive set before them was, to become elevated to the rank of gods themselves, a plain violation of the first commandment. To do this, they were induced to commit an act of robbery, Mal. iii, 8, to rob God of that which he had expressly withheld from them, when he had given them the fruit of every other tree. And before they plucked the fruit, covetous desires had been excited in the heart. It is certain that they did, by the act of eating the forbidden fruit, directly violate several precepts of the moral law. The test was made with reference to fruit. The action involved the principles of morality and righteousness. Adam and Eve dared to rebel against God. The motives of each for doing thus are fully laid open to our view, in the Bible. Eve believed Satan rather than God; Adam loved his wife more than God. Sin entered our world, and it has ever since been an all-pervading pestilence, poisoning the very air, and polluting every corner and every foot of our earth. Sin is a short word, but it comprehends all unrighteousness. Every crime, every evil deed, every act of wrong-doing of every kind, are all embraced in this great ocean of iniquity. Nor are the acts of men all that there is to sin. These make its existence visible; but it exists in the motives, purposes, and desires, of the heart. Here, alas! is the great fountain of evil. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Sin is a disease of universal prevalence. No one born of Adam's race has escaped its terrible infection. Nor is there any man free from this fatal plague of the heart, except such as have sought help from the great Physician of souls. His blood can cleanse from all sin. He undertakes the cases of all who heartily repent, and unfeignedly believe in him. Sin is that dreadful plague represented by the leprosy in the law of Moses. Lev. xiii; xiv. Like that, it is in its own nature, and so far as human means are concerned, an incurable disease. Like that, also, it is infectious. It communicates itself to all who come in contact with it. Like the leprosy, also, it eats up its victim alive. Like that terrible disease, it has its chief seat within, and pollutes the fountain of life, as well as makes the outer man an object of disgust and shame. But sin is not merely to be viewed as a terrible, pestilential disease. It is a mighty force organized for active warfare against God. It is armed rebellion against the Almighty. It is high treason against the government of God. It is the principle of wrong contending with right for a place in the universe. Rather, it is wrong struggling to extirpate right, and take the whole universe of God to itself. The law represents God's authority. Sin represents the rebellion of the wicked against that law. Were it not for the gospel, which attempts to save the rebels by making them penitent, and taking away their sin upon terms honorable to God's law, the struggle between sin and the law would long since have resulted either in the subversion of the law, or in the destruction of sin by the utter destruction of all transgressors in the lake of fire. The final conflict between sin and the law of God remains, therefore, to be witnessed; but the issue of that conflict is not doubtful. Death is the third, in the order of existence, of the three great forces named by Paul. Death is the result of sin, and sin is the transgression of the law. Death, therefore, is the last of the three to come into existence. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” Rom. v, 12. Death owes its existence to sin. Had not sin reared its head in rebellion, death would never have found a place to step its foot. Sin is the source of death, and death is the punishment of sin. The first man opened the door of his house by transgression, which otherwise death never could have entered. But death has entered by his fault, and passed upon all men. Nor is this all. Men are exposed by their own fault to die the second time. Nor is this hard to explain. To the human family, God has granted two probations. The first was given in a state of innocency, and man was subjected to trial, that he might become confirmed in virtue. In this trial he made a disastrous failure. He sinned against God. By his sin he brought death into the world. He forfeited his right to live. But before he was actually turned back to the dust from whence he had been taken, mercy interposed, and granted to him a second probation. This time he is on trial to recover his lost innocence, and also to become established in virtue. Had he been left at the close of his first probation without interposition of mercy, death would have made a final end of him, and the race would have been utterly exterminated. God lengthened out to him a dying life, and this dying, forfeited life is what he is able to transmit to his posterity. So death, as the consequence of Adam's sin, is the inevitable portion of all his family. Saint, sinner, and infant, alike bow their heads in death. But men have something to fear besides the consequences of Adam's transgression. They are on probation now, each one for himself. Each man must overcome, and gain eternal life, or, for his own transgression, receive the just penalty of his sins, the second death. From this death there is no resurrection. Probation shall never be granted to mankind again. They have failed this time, not merely in Adam, their head, but each for himself in his own proper person. So there remains the fearful penalty of the law for every impenitent transgressor. John describes the resurrection of the wicked to the second death, at the end of the 1000 years, in the following words: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. xx, 13–15. Here is the awful end of the wicked. If any should reply that these are still dead when given up to be devoured by the lake of fire, I answer that this is a mere quibble, unworthy of the acceptance of serious men. The sea gives up the dead that have long since been dissolved in its waters, that they may be cast into the fire. But if they are dead when they are given up, of what consequence is this mighty bringing forth of dead bodies? Hades, the place of the dead, also gives up all its inhabitants. But on the non-resurrection theory, they are still dead. This, however, is not all that is said. Death gives up the dead; and when death gives up the dead, they will not be dead any longer. This cannot be denied. And this is all preparatory to the sentence of the Judge, and the retribution of the lake of fire. Then death and hades, in the person of their guilty inhabitants, shall be cast into the lake of fire. Or as the earth itself shall melt and be dissolved, hades itself, in the depths of the earth, shall feel the devouring fires; and death itself shall die when the last victim of its power shall cease to exist. Death began its reign upon our earth, and here it shall forever cease to exist. But death shall never end till sin itself shall be destroyed. The law of God is in every particular exactly right. Sin is inexcusably wicked and wrong, and that in every point. Death is the penalty of sin, and is the terrible consequence of wrong-doing. Right and wrong have struggled for the mastery for the whole period of our earth's existence. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, has seemed to have the advantage. But the struggle shall last only for the time that man is upon probation. Then wrong shall be overthrown and right shall prevail. Then shall sin be put down in the person of all transgressors, and right, as represented by the law of God, shall prevail and gloriously triumph. The gospel saves men from sin, and brings them into conformity with the law against which they have sinned. But when it has done its whole work for guilty men, it steps out and leaves men to the just demands of that law which they have violated. Then it will be found that the law of God shall make swift work in the utter destruction of sin and sinners. Thus it is seen that the law of God is in deadly antagonism against sin, its determined and inveterate foe. How then can the law be called “the strength of sin?” If we observe the peculiar figure used by Paul, it will not be difficult to understand this expression. Death is the great foe which cuts down our race with terrible destruction. Sin is the sting with which he is able to strike down the sons of men. The law of God arms the blow with deadly force. Now if we drop the figure we may state the truth which the apostle would teach us in these few words: Because men are guilty of sin against God, the law of God demands their death. Sin makes death the portion of the transgressor; and the law of God demands the infliction of the penalty. While death lasts we may be sure that there is sin; and while sin exists we may be certain that the law of God continues in force. Nay, the law is to witness the overthrow of sin, its deadly enemy, in the person of every wicked man in the lake of fire. When sin and death have ceased forever, God's law, the great rule of life, still exists, and all the nations of the saved will be in perfect subjection to it, and God be all in all. Paul's words do show beyond dispute that the law of God is in existence with its full authority at the resurrection of the just. Nor can this reference to the law of God as that which inflicts death upon the transgressor, be understood as referring merely, or even chiefly, to that death which Adam brought upon mankind. No, by no means. For that which God's law threatens is the death of each sinner for his own personal transgression, and this is the second death in the lake of fire. How terrible the fate of the wicked. Death, the great destroyer of our race, with sin, his fatal dart, shall, by the terrible energy of God's law, lay low the impenitent transgressor. The wages of sin is death, and this dreadful hire the law of God shall pay. Nothing then can be more certain than that the law of God inflicts the second death. The Christian can say, O death, where is thy sting? But the sinner shall fall before its deadly sting, armed as it shall be with the strength of the law of God. Oh! to be over yonder In that land of wonder, Where the angel voices mingle, and the angel harpers sing! To be free from pain and sorrow, And the anxious, drear to-morrow, And to rest in light and sunshine in the presence of the King! Oh! to be over yonder! My yearning heart grows fonder Of looking to the east, to see the day-star bring Some tidings of the waking, The cloudless, pure day-breaking; My heart is yearning—yearning for the coming of the King. Oh! to be over yonder! Alas! I sigh and ponder. Why clings my poor, weak heart to any earthly thing? Each tie of earth must sever, And pass away forever; But there's no more separation in the presence of the King. Oh! to be over yonder! The longing groweth stronger, When I see the wild dove cleave the air on rapid wing; I long for their fleet pinions To reach my Lord's dominions, And rest my weary soul in the presence of the King. Oh! to be over yonder, In that land of wonder, Where light and life and sunshine beam fair on everything! Where the day-beam is unshaded, And pure as He who made it— The land of cloudless sunshine, where Jesus is the King. Oh! when shall I be dwelling Where the angel voices swelling In triumphant hallelujahs, make the vaulted heavens ring? Where the pearly gates are gleaming, And the morning star is beaming; Oh! when shall I be yonder, in the presence of the King? By Dudley Marvin Canright
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” By some it is claimed that these words teach that after the book of Revelation was given, God would never give any more revelations to men. If a prophet should now come with revelations from God, they say it would be adding to the words of this book, and hence he would bring the curse upon him as stated in the text. In this we think that they greatly mistake the meaning of the text. It warns against adding to, or taking from, the words of that particular book; that is, they must not be altered in any way. If God should give another revelation, and have it written out, it would not be adding to the words of this book. It would be another book entirely. Similar language is used with reference to other portions of the Bible. Thus, Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, says, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the67Lord your God which I command you.” Chap. iv, 2. Would any one argue from this that all the Bible which was written after Moses wrote these words, was spurious because it was adding to the words of Moses? By no means. What was written after this, was not adding to Moses’ words, nor altering them in the least. Yet the objection which is brought against all revelations from God after the book of Revelation was closed, may with equal reason be brought against all revelation after Moses wrote his books. So I read again in Deut. xii, 32, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” Again, in Prov. xxx, 5: “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Has every revelation this side of Proverbs been adding unto the words of God? No one will take such a position; neither can we say so any more truthfully about the words in Rev. xxii, 18, 19. A NOBLE WORK.
By W. H. Ball
While attending the meeting recently held at South Lancaster, Mass., by Bro. and Sr. White, I was led to realize as never before the greatness of the work in which they are engaged. One important branch of their work seems to be to search out and hunt up the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This is a noble work; and in view of the reproof given by God to the shepherds of Israel for neglecting to attend to this work, see Ezek. xxxiv, 1–11, I think its importance cannot be overestimated. Says Jesus, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The man that leaves his ninety and nine sheep in the wilderness, and goes into the mountains in search of one that had gone astray, is no hireling, but is a faithful shepherd. A hireling would have reasoned thus: There is but one sheep gone, and I shall not trouble myself to go into the mountains and woods to hunt up one poor, weak, foolish sheep, that ought to have known better than to leave the fold. It may go. Not so with the good shepherd. No sooner does he learn that one sheep is missing than he immediately starts off in pursuit of it; and if perchance he find it, what then? Does he begin to beat the poor creature for leaving the fold, and causing him so much trouble? By no means. With joy he approaches the poor sheep, and if he finds it too weak to travel, he carefully takes it in his arms, or lays it upon his shoulders, and bears it back to the fold, rejoicing that the lost sheep is found. He rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety and nine which went not astray. Says the Great Shepherd, “I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance.” How many poor souls have wandered away from the fold of Christ, and been left to perish because there was no good shepherd to search them out and bring them back. Thank God that some are taking hold of this work. We have a wonderful exhibition of the care and faithfulness of God’s dear servants in hunting up the lost sheep in my own case. I had wandered far away from the fold, and had no desire nor expectation of ever returning. And when Bro. and Sr. White and Bro. Andrews came to hunt me up (a little more than a year since), they found me bitterly opposed to them and their mission. I was right upon a turning point, was about casting my interest in with an opposition paper, and its supporters. I had written an article for that paper, stating if it could be enlarged and issued weekly, that I would be one of fifty to pay $10 a year for it until it could be sustained at a more moderate price. But seeing an appointment in the Review for a meeting at our place by Bro. and Sr. White, I decided to withhold sending my article until I heard what they might have to say concerning my case, but had no idea that I should change my mind in the least, nor that I should be benefited by their labors. In this state of mind, of course, I was all ready when they arrived to show fight. My combativeness was fully aroused, and I manifested strong opposition. The chances to win me back to the fold again, seemed small indeed; yet the Lord’s servants labored and toiled on with untiring energy to bring me back. It was not until near the close of the meetings that the scales fell from my eyes, and I saw that I had been opposing the work of God, and cruelly wounding the hearts of his dear people. After witnessing in a large degree, and sharing somewhat of the blessing of God which attended the labors of his faithful servants, I decided to ground my weapons of rebellion, and with humble confession find my way back to the fold, and ask for some humble place among God’s people. I have been laid hold of, as it were, and pulled out of the fire—have been rescued from the power of Satan. My conversion (as Bro. White stated at the Lancaster meeting) is truly remarkable. I question if an instance can be found in the history of Sabbath-keeping Adventists, of an individual’s going so far into the regions of doubt and unbelief, and manifesting such bitter hatred and opposition to this work as has the writer, that has ever been rescued from the snare of the Devil. Elds. Snook and Brinkerhoff (poor souls) were led to see, and deeply feel, their wrong course, and came back and made humble confessions of their wrongs; and from the deep humility which seemed to be manifested on their part, we should have thought they would be the last men to think of ever going into rebellion again. But in a very brief space of time, we find them engaged again in their rebellious work, manifesting tenfold more of the spirit of the dragon than before. We have the case of D. W. Hull. He, through the influence of S. and B., entered the rebel service. But the Spirit of God showed him his mistake, and he came back with a confession of his wrongs, and requested all those who thought of going into rebellion to write to him before taking the fatal step. But within about eight and forty hours from this, we find him again in the rebel ranks, giving vent to his wicked and rebellious spirit. The last we heard of the poor man he had drank down the “strong delusion,” Spiritualism, and Satan had him fast within the meshes of his net. How will it be with the writer? Shall I, after all the Lord has done for me, prove true to him, his cause, and his people? or shall I, like the individuals just mentioned, again go into rebellion? Perhaps some fear for the latter. But years of hard and energetic labor in the service of Satan, with nothing but darkness and spiritual death for rations, has given me an experience, and taught me a lesson not soon to be forgotten. If I should, with the light I now have, be left of God, and again go into rebellion, my case would be perilous indeed. My only safety is in living near the Lord, where he can keep me from falling as others have done. The Lord has done a great work for me during the past year, and if any poor mortal has reason for deep gratitude of heart to God for his forbearance, longsuffering, and tender mercies, I most certainly have. I have labored to some extent the past year to correct my wrongs, and counteract my wrong influence, but find it to be no easy task. I have learned that it requires a lifetime to undo the injury that may be done to the cause of God in one hour with the pen, aided by Satan. I fear I never shall be able to right all the wrongs I have committed, therefore, must trust alone in the merits of the blood of Christ for pardon and salvation. PRIDE—ITS RESULTS.
By A. S. Hutchins
THE sin of pride is repeatedly rebuked in the strongest terms in the Holy Scriptures. It is a characteristic of the Devil. 1 Tim. iii, 6. Ezek. xxviii, 17. “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Prov. xxi, 4. It is hateful to God and to Christ. Prov. vi, 16, 17; viii, 12, 13. And those who foster this heinous sin in their hearts, are an abomination to the Lord. Mark the language: “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.” Prov. xvi, 4. It defiles man, and hardens the mind. Mark vii, 20, 22. Dan. v, 20. Pride is a hindrance to seeking God. “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” Ps. x, 4. All who are thus deceived and misled, will be brought to debasement and final destruction. “A man’s pride shall bring him low.” Prov. xxix, 23. “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Chap. xvi, 18. Alas then! for false teachers, [1 Tim. vi, 3, 4.] and all the haughty and rebellious of this last generation of men. How certain, how terrible their reward! With these scriptures before us, can the Christian say with the worldling, “We need pride enough to be decent?” God is well pleased with decency and order. Yea, he enjoins it upon us. “Let all things be done decently and in order.” Now a refined taste, a sanctified judgment, and a good sense of propriety, will lead to the observance of this important injunction, without pride of heart, or an appearance of pride. God assures us, that with the “lowly is wisdom.” “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” Ps. xxv, 5. “Oh! love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.” Bishop Simpson on Hygiene.
Bishop Simpson, in laying the corner-stone of the Vineland (N. J.) Seminary, expressed, in a paragraph, a whole volume of meaning on the subject. "I am satisfied," he said, "that many, perhaps a large proportion of us scarcely live one half our days. We have not studied the laws of health, and are constantly violating them. We suffer our systems to grow old when there is no absolute necessity for it. We fail to comprehend the relations of the circulation of the blood to our well-being. We fail oftentimes to have happiness in our families, because we do not understand the effect of impaired nerves, and oftentimes chide when we ought to pity, censure when we ought to encourage and cheer, and mistake the little worryings and restlessness which give rise to, possibly, the hasty expression, for unkindliness of feeling; in ourselves, from hour to hour, we have clouds and despondency, that would not be there if we understood ourselves as we ought, and if we understood our friends and families as we should." LET men be taught to know there is as much religion in the good, robust, rejoicing, enthusiastic singing of God's praise, as in the sedate and doleful style that is usually styled the most devotional; let them know that the earnest prayer need not be a drawling jeremiad; let them feel that good gospel-preaching may be in a sprightly delivery of pleasant truths, more than in a whining recitation of inanities; let them believe that Christianity is a live thing, that it is in sympathy with the active, rejoicing spirit of our humanity, and it will be better commended to their acceptance. Seriousness ought always to characterize the Christian. But seriousness does not consist in sullenness, moroseness, nor even in the sobriety that drives away smiles and the taste for rational pleasures. He is most serious who best brings an earnest, healthy, rejoicing nature to the performance of his duty. Men are most beautifully serious when truthful smiles are playing on their lips, and when their whole countenances are lighted up with a benignant joy. It ought, therefore, to be the effort of professing Christians to pass through the world so happily as to light it up and fill it with joy. They ought to sing in the midst of judgments, and to sing loudly and cheerily and constantly amid their marvelous benefits. We pass to a kingdom, out of sadness and sorrow, where there will be no sorrow nor sighing. Passing to that place, let us cultivate the spirit that is to distinguish us when we arrive there, and show that we do really begin our Heaven on the earth.—United Presbyterian. Hope is the sweetest friend that ever kept a distressed being company; it beguiles the tediousness of the way, all the miseries of our pilgrimage. It tells the soul such sweet stories of succeeding joys; what comforts there are in Heaven; what peace, what joy, what triumphs, what marriage songs and hallelujahs there are in that country whither she is traveling, that she goes merrily away with her present burden. THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL.
CHAPTER II, VERSE 39. (CONTINUED.)
“And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” The use of the word kingdom, here, shows that kingdoms, and not particular kings, are represented by the different parts of this image; and hence, when it was said to Nebuchadnezzar, Thou art this head of gold, the kingdom, not the king, was meant. The succeeding kingdom, Medo-Persia, then, answers to the breast and arms of silver. It was to be inferior to the preceding kingdom. In what respect? Not in power; for it was its conqueror. Not in extent; for Cyrus subdued all the East from the Ægean Sea to the River Indus, and thus erected the most extensive empire that the world had, up to that time, seen. But it was inferior in wealth, luxury, and magnificence. Whether it was designed as the fulfillment of the prophecy or not, it is at least an interesting co-incidence that the kingdom answering to that portion of the image where the two arms are located, was composed of the union of two nationalities, the Medes and Persians. And this is rendered the more significant from the fact that this feature is distinctly marked in the other symbols representing the same empire, namely the bear of chapter vii, and the ram of chapter viii. This fact is not observable in reference to the fourth kingdom, and the two legs, as we shall see, cannot be taken to represent two divisions of an empire. Viewed from a scriptural standpoint, the principal event under the Babylonish empire, was the captivity of the children of Israel; so the principal event under the Medo-Persian kingdom, was their restoration to their own land. Two years after the taking of Babylon, Darius, the uncle of Cyrus, to whom Cyrus, as an act of courtesy, had assigned the first place in the kingdom, died. In the same year also died Cambyses, king of Persia, Cyrus’ father. By these events, Cyrus was left sole monarch of the empire, B. C. 536. This year, which closed the seventy years’ captivity, witnessed the famous decree of Cyrus for the return of the Jews, and the rebuilding of their temple. This was the first installment of the great decree for the restoration and building again of Jerusalem, which was consummated in the seventh of Artaxerxes, B. C. 457, and marked the commencement of the longest and most important prophetic period to be found in the word of God. After a reign of seven years, Cyrus left the kingdom to his son, Cambyses. Eight monarchs, whose reigns varied from seven months to forty-six years each, followed in order till the year B. C. 335, which found Darius, the last of the Persian kings, upon the throne. This man was of noble stature, of goodly person, of the greatest personal valor, and of a mild and generous disposition. Had he lived at any other age, a long and splendid career would undoubtedly have been his. But it was his ill fortune to have to contend with one who was an agent in the fulfillment of prophecy, and no qualifications, natural or acquired, could render him successful in the unequal contest. Scarce was he warm upon the throne, says history, ere he found his formidable enemy, Alexander, preparing to dismount him from it. The cause and particulars of this contest, we need not stop to follow. Suffice it to say that affairs were brought to a decisive issue at the battle of Arbela, B. C. 331, in which the Grecians, though only one to twenty in number, as compared with the Persians, being entirely victorious, Alexander thenceforth became absolute lord of that empire to the utmost extent ever possessed by any of the Persian kings. “And another third kingdom, of brass, shall bear rule over all the earth,” said the prophet. So few and brief are the inspired words, which involve in their fulfillment a change of the world’s rulers. Grecia now comes upon the stage as the third of earth’s universal empires. After the fatal battle which decided the fate of the empire, Darius still endeavored to rally the shattered remnants of his army, and make a stand for his kingdom and his rights. But he could not gather, out of all the hosts of his recently so numerous and well-appointed army, a force with which he deemed it prudent to hazard another engagement with the victorious Grecians. Alexander pursued him on the wings of the wind. Time after time did Darius scarcely elude the grasp of his swiftly-following foe. At length, two traitors, Bessus and Nabarzanes, seized the unfortunate prince, shut him up in a close cart, and fled with him as their prisoner toward Bactria. It was their purpose if Alexander pursued them, to purchase their own safety by delivering up their king. Hereupon Alexander, learning of Darius’ dangerous position in the hands of the traitors, immediately put himself with the lightest part of his army upon a forced pursuit. After several days’ hard march, he came up with the traitors. They urged Darius to mount on horseback for a more speedy flight. Upon his refusing to do this, they gave him several mortal wounds, and left him dying in his cart, while they mounted their steeds and rode away. When Alexander came up, life was extinct. As he gazed upon the corpse, he might have learned a profitable lesson of the instability of human fortune. Here was a man who, but a few months before, possessed of many noble and generous qualities, was seated upon the throne of universal empire. Disaster, overthrow, and desertion, had come suddenly upon him. His kingdom had been conquered, his treasure seized, and his family reduced to captivity. And now, brutally slain by the hand of traitors, he lay a bloody corpse in a rude cart. The sight of the melancholy spectacle drew tears even from the eyes of Alexander, familiar though he was with all the horrible vicissitudes and bloody scenes of war. Throwing his cloak over the body, he commanded it to be conveyed to the captive ladies of Susa, himself furnishing the necessary means for a royal funeral. For this generous act let us give him credit; for he stands sadly in need of all that is his due.