Your ShelfYour Projects

Signs of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 15.

The Taking of Jericho

Signs of the Times

Apr 14, 1881

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 14, 1881

The Taking of Jericho.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
As Joshua withdrew from the armies of Israel to meditate and pray for God’s special presence to attend him, he beheld a man of lofty stature, clad in war-like garments, with drawn sword in his hand. Joshua did not recognize him as one of the warriors of Israel, and yet he had no appearance of being an enemy. In his zeal he accosted him, saying, “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the Captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”
The glory of God hallowed the sanctuary, and for this reason the priests never entered the place sanctified by the divine presence with shoes upon their feet. Particles of dust might cleave to them, which would desecrate the holy place. Therefore the priests were required to leave their shoes in the court, before entering the sanctuary. In the court, beside the door of the tabernacle, stood a brazen laver, wherein the priests washed their hands and their feet before going in to minister before the Lord. All who officiated in the sanctuary were required of God to make special preparation to enter the place where his glory was revealed.
It was the Son of God who stood as an armed warrior before the leader of Israel. It was the One who had conducted the Hebrews through the wilderness, enshrouded in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
In order to impress upon the mind of Joshua the fact that his visitor was no other than Christ, the Exalted One, he said, “Put off thy shoe from off thy foot.” He then gave to Joshua instructions for the taking of Jericho, that mighty stronghold whose idolatrous inhabitants had so long defied the God of Israel.
Encouraged by this fresh assurance of divine support, Joshua proceeded to marshal the hosts of Israel. In the foremost ranks were placed a chosen body of armed men, not now to exercise their skill in warfare, but to believe and obey the instructions given them from God. Next followed seven priests with trumpets. Then the ark of God, surrounded by a halo of divine glory, was borne by priests clad in the rich and peculiar dress denoting their sacred office. The vast army of Israel followed in perfect order, each tribe under its respective standard. Thus they compassed the city with the ark of God. No sound was heard but the tread of that mighty host and the solemn peal of the trumpets, echoing among the hills and resounding through the streets of Jericho.
With wonder and alarm the watchmen of the doomed city marked every move, and reported to those in authority. They knew not the meaning of all this display; but when they beheld that mighty host marching around their city once each day, in all the pomp and majesty of war, with the added grandeur of the sacred ark and the attendant priests, the impressive mystery of the scene struck terror to the hearts of priests and people. Again they would inspect their strong defenses, feeling certain they could successfully resist the most powerful attack. Many ridiculed the idea that any harm could come to them through these singular demonstrations on the part of their enemies. But others were awed as they beheld the majesty and splendor of the procession that each day wound grandly about the city. They remembered that the Red Sea had once parted before this people, and that a passage had just been opened for them through the river Jordan. They knew not what further wonders God might work for them. They kept their gates carefully closed, and guarded them with mighty warriors.
For six days the host of Israel performed their circuit around the city. The seventh day came, and with the first dawn of light, Joshua marshaled the armies of the Lord. Now they were directed to march seven times around Jericho, and at a mighty peal of the trumpets to shout with a loud voice, for God had given them the city. The vast army marched solemnly around the devoted wall. All was silent as the dead, save the measured tread of many feet, and the occasional sound of the trumpet, cutting the blank stillness of the early morning. The massive walls of solid stone frowned darkly down, defying the siege of men.
Suddenly the long procession halts. The trumpets break forth in a blast that shakes the very earth. The united voices of all Israel rend the air with a mighty shout. The walls of solid stone with their massive towers and battlements totter and heave from their foundations, and with a crash like a thousand thunders, fall in shapeless ruin to the earth. Paralyzed with terror, the inhabitants of Jericho, with all their men of war, offer no resistance, and the hosts of Israel march in and take possession of the city.
How easily the armies of Heaven brought down the walls of that proud city,—that city whose mighty bulwarks forty years before struck terror to the unbelieving spies.
The word of God was the only weapon used. The Mighty One of Israel had said, “I have given Jericho into thine hand.” If a single warrior had brought his strength to bear against the walls, the glory of God would have been lessened, and his will frustrated. But the work was left to the Almighty; and had the foundation of the battlements been laid in the center of the earth and their summits reached the arch of heaven, the result would have been all the same, when the Captain of the Lord’s host led his legions of angels to the attack.
Long had God designed to give the city of Jericho to his favored people, and to magnify his name among the nations of the earth. When he led Israel out of bondage, he purposed to give them the land of Canaan. But by their wicked murmurings and jealousy they had provoked his wrath, and he had caused them to wander for weary years in the wilderness, till all those who had insulted him with their unbelief were no more. In the capture of Jericho, God declared to the Hebrews that their fathers might have possessed the city forty years before, had they but trusted in him.
The history of ancient Israel is written for our benefit. Paul says, “But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
Many who profess to keep God’s commandments, as did ancient Israel, have hearts of unbelief. Favored with great light and precious privileges, they will nevertheless lose the heavenly Canaan, even as the rebellious Israelites failed to enter the earthly Canaan.
As a people we lack faith. Few would in these days follow the directions of God, through his chosen servant, as obediently as did the armies of Israel at the taking of Jericho. The Captain of the Lord’s host did not reveal himself to all the congregation. He communicated only with Joshua, who related the story of this interview to the Hebrews. It rested with them to believe or doubt the words of Joshua, to follow the commands given by him in the name of the Captain of the Lord’s host, or to rebel against his directions and deny his authority.
They could not see the host of angels marshaled by the Son of God who led their van; and they might have reasoned: “What unmeaning movements are these, and how ridiculous the performance of marching daily around the walls of the city, blowing trumpets of rams’ horns meanwhile! This can have no effect upon those strong and towering fortifications.”
But the very plan of continuing this ceremony through so long a time prior to the final overthrow of the walls, afforded opportunity for the increase of faith among the Israelites. They were to become thoroughly impressed with the idea that their strength was not in the wisdom of man, nor in his might, but only in the God of their salvation. They were thus to become accustomed to putting themselves out of the question and relying wholly upon their divine Leader.
Would those who to-day profess to be God’s people conduct themselves thus, under similar circumstances? Doubtless many would wish to follow out their own plans, would suggest ways and means of accomplishing the desired end. They would be loth to submit to so simple an arrangement, and one that reflected no glory upon themselves, save the merit of obedience. They would also question the possibility of conquering a mighty city in that manner. But the law of duty is supreme. It should wield authority over human reason. [Faith is the living power that presses through every barrier, overrides all obstacles, and plants its banner in the heart of the enemy’s camp.]
God will do marvelous things for those who trust in him. The reason why his professed peoplehave no strength, is that they trust so much to their own wisdom, and do not give the Lord an opportunity to reveal his power in their behalf. He will help his believing children in every emergency, if they will place their entire confidence in him, and implicitly obey him.
There are deep mysteries in the word of God, there are mysteries in his providences, and there are mysteries in the plan of salvation, that man cannot fathom. But the finite mind, strong in its desire to satisfy curiosity, and solve the problems of infinity, neglects to follow the plain course indicated by the revealed will of God, and pries into the secrets hidden since the foundation of the world. Man builds his theories, loses the simplicity of true faith, becomes too self-important to believe the declarations of the Lord, and hedges himself in with his own conceits.
Many who profess to be children of God are in this position. They are weak because they trust to their own strength. God works mightily for a faithful people, who obey his word without questioning or doubt. The Majesty of Heaven, with his army of angels, leveled the walls of Jericho before his people. The armed warriors of Israel had no cause to glory in their achievements. All was done through the power of God. Let the people give up all desire for self-exaltation, let them humbly submit to the divine will, and God will again manifest his power, and bring freedom and victory to his children.

OUR OWN.

By Julia E. Lloyd

BY JULIA E. LLOYD,
ANDREW, when news of Messiah, To his heart began to unfold, “First went and found his own brother And brought him to Jesus,” we’re told.
Thus, thus would we do by our kindred: We have loved them so long and so well, When our hearts know the joy of believing, We hasten the tidings to tell.
“Oh friends! there is opened a fountain Where our souls may be made pure and white, And all may be freed from transgression, And walk in a glorious light.
“Together we watched o’er our loved ones And wept bitter tears o’er their clay. Oh joy! the Redeemer is coming To drive death’s dark shadows away.
“Oh hasten! dear friends, for time waits not; Oh come! for Christ’s arms are spread wide, There are voices to win and to help you, And hearts full of love by your side.”
We eagerly watch and we listen— Will they heed not the offered grace? Will they linger and loiter and perish? Will they turn from a Saviour’s embrace?
The eyes that have looked on us kindly— Will their light forever be dim? And the voice that has been to us music— Will it join unto eternity’s hymn?
Will the ransomed ones meet through the ages, And these in forgetfulness lie? Oh teach them, blest Spirit, to choose now The pathway of life, lest they die!
East Oakland, Cal.

THIS GENERATION.

By Wm. Penniman

BY WM. PENNIMAN.
The following quotations will show the condition of the entire religious world, also the fulfillment of Luke 18:8, and that Christ's coming is near at hand:—
“Ernest Renan says the French working people are profoundly skeptical. Father Hyacinth says very many are Spiritualists—a faith closely allied to skepticism in this country.”—Independent, Aug. 28, 1879.
The Interior (Chicago) declares that “the enemy—the Rationalists—have possession of nine-tenths of the secular press, besides their own avowed organs.”—Independent, Dec. 11, 1879.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1877, Rev. Dr. Henderson, of San Francisco, Cal., said: “Vice can now out-vote virtue. There never was a greater blasphemy than vox populi, vox Dei. This would be true, if the people were virtuous; but being vicious—the majority—the true maxim would be, vox populi, vox diaboli.” —Signs of the Times (Cal.), Dec. 11, 1879.
Rev. S. J. Stewart of Fitchburg, Mass., says that “New England orthodoxy is a mixture of Puritanism, revivalism, tradition, rationalism, and Antinomianism. To put it in a more practical form, its oracles are like an illustrious theological professor or two, a religious newspaper, a certain noted lecturer, and a great revivalist.”—Church Union, Dec. 13, 1879.
An editorial entitled, “Days of Doubt,” in the Christian Union, Jan. 10, 1880, asks: “How shall we help dispel the cloud of irreligion now settling down upon our otherwise blessed country?” We read again, “To the thoughtful it seems that all the world lies entrenched in Doubting Castle; for does not the so-called highest culture condemn all belief in the supernatural or superstitious?” And the same paper says that by the pens of Ingersoll's and Tyndall's disciples “the foundations of faith are being sapped, and the pulpit alone does not appear to stem or turn the tide of Ritualism now sweeping over the land.”
“There is something intensely sad to a thoughtful mind in the drift of the European mind away from religion. In Germany, the leading intellectual classes utterly ignore it. Science and the interpretations of nature have made supernaturalism seem a dream of the past, a myth.”—Christian Union, Sept., 1872.
“Rev. Dr. Presence, in a letter to the Christian World, laments that the political state of France is an image of its ecclesiastical condition. Protestantism is utterly disorganized. The Reformed Church is divided into two parties.”—Christian Guardian, Jan. 23, 1878.
The Alliance, July 19, 1879, speaking of the spread of skepticism, says: “Rationalism is almost the national belief of Germany. France is full of infidelity. Skepticism is found on every hand. The problem of how to deal with skepticism is the one that now presses upon the Christian thinker.”
“In England, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham, in a pastoral letter, January, 1878, says: “The old Catholic traditions are fast dying out, and we have free-thinking disbelief in Christianity and open infidelity. The most depraved systems of atheism, invented by the most corrupt imaginations of Germany and France, have found their sponsors in England.”
A London letter to the Cincinnati Enquirer says: “Seven-tenth of the divinity professors, teachers, students, and others, at Oxford University, believe not in a devil, or future rewards and punishments, and the remainder doubt the existence of God. It is a farce to fancy that Oxford is the seat of learned Christianity.”—Boston Journal, Jan. 9, 1878.
A recent number of the Illustrated Christian Weekly says: “It cannot be denied that in the moral and religious tone of society at large, all the world over, there has been a deterioration, a failure to respond to former remedies of increasing and notable character. The average Christian conscience has lost much of its tenderness, and does not hesitate to act upon principles which even a generation since would have accepted with great hesitation.” Then it solemnly inquires: “Is there, then, some general cause which is affecting the world morally and spiritually, as well as physically? Are we drawing nigh to the ‘last days’ when ‘perilous times shall come?’”
“The decrease of theological students in the universities of Germany is so great that there is an insufficiency of candidates for the pulpit. In Berlin there are over eight hundred thousand Protestants, but only thirty-four churches and ninety-five ministers. Twenty thousand persons are buried every year without any religious service.”—Religious Exchange.
“In Switzerland matters are not in a good state. Rationalism has cut deeply into all the Cantonal Protestant churches. Its fruit is seen in the scarcity of candidates for the ministry. The church has literally no creed, and is honey-combed with heresy and unbelief.”—Correspondence N. Y. Observer, October, 1878.
From Japan, Rev. Mr. Davis writes: “We are in the midst of a mighty battle. It is a battle between Christianity and infidelity. The thinking minds in Japan, the scholars and officials, are becoming overwhelmingly infidel Epicurean. There is not a theory that has been advanced by opposers and disbelievers of Christianity which is not rife here. Darwin, Huxly, Spencer, Mill, Strauss, Renan, Buckle, etc., are read and advocated. One meets them everywhere.”—Boston Journal, May 25, 1878.
Theodore Cuyler, speaking of the dearth of revivals this year (1881), says: “The dearth of revivals has left the great Evangelical bodies of the land almost at a stand-still as to numbers. The falling off in church attendance over the land is undeniable. All attempts to conceal or falsify such facts are both cowardly and criminal.”—Independent.
Talmage, in a sermon published in The Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times, Dec. 23, 1880, having recently made a tour through many of the cities, speaks thus of the spiritual condition of our country: “What is the religious condition of Pittsburg, I asked? They answered, dead. Of Cincinnati? Dead. What is the religious condition of the cities of Virginia? They answered, dead. Of Lexington? Dead. Here and there we can see a few struggling into the kingdom of God, but the vast multitude going right on their way. An eminent clergyman of Kentucky told me during the last week, ‘If some sweeping revival does not pass over the country, the church of God will go under.’ I found beautiful churches wherever I went, rapturous music, eloquent ministers, but the old work of saving souls seems to be going out of fashion. Mr. Talmage has only given the condition of a few of the cities and of a small portion of our land. Is it not so in nearly all the large and small cities all over the world? Is it any wonder that vital godliness and the revival spirit is dying out, when fashionable worship is conducted as a writer in the New York Tribune represents: “Now the worshipers one after another glide in; silks rattle, plumes wave, satins glisten, diamonds glitter, and scores of forty-dollar handkerchiefs shake out their perfumed odors! What absurdity to preach the gospel of the lowly Nazarite to such a set! The clergyman knows better than to do so. He values his fat salary and handsome parsonage too highly. So with a velvety tread he walks all around the ten commandments, places the downiest pillow under the dying profligate's head, and ushers him with seraphic hymning into an upper-ten heaven.” We fear that Mr. Talmage and many other popular preachers do not see the cause of this great spiritual dearth. They do not seem to realize that the coming of the Lord “is near, even at the doors,” and that Satan has come down “having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Rev. 12:12. This is why there is so little “faith on the earth.” We must strive harder to resist this power, and agonize more and more to enter in at the strait gate. Many preachers do not do this, and this is why they “walk all around the ten commandments.” The saying, “Like priest like people,” is generally true, so if the preachers walk around the law, the people will follow them.
Speaking of “What has not been Done,” the Life and Light for Woman, of October, 1880, says: “After eighteen hundred years, the proportion of professed disciples of Christ to the whole mass of mankind is no larger than when Constantine took the throne.” “Out of the sixty million of so-called Protestants, vast numbers are mere ritualists or formalists, coming into the church as they would go into the army, at a given age! Out of all nominal Christians on earth to-day, there may be ten million who give clear evidence of actual regeneration. Millions are depending on dead works or a dead faith. Four-fifths of the nominal membership of our churches add nothing to their real power, they are either a dead weight or a positive hindrance to the advance of the gospel. A most startling fact in our church life is absence of personal service in saving souls. Multitudes of professed disciples are absolutely neglecting the unsaved about them. The question of personal responsibility is scarcely considered. In hundreds of cases when the question is pointedly put, “Do you know that you have been instrumental in leading one soul to Christ?” it is only to hear the sad confession that no effort has been made in that direction. Irreligion and infidelity are alarmingly prevalent. A godless learning and atheistic science have never had so many and so distinguished disciples. What does this mean? It means that in the race for worldly treasure and pleasure, in the worship of mammon, in the loss of a vivid sense of the reality and verity of spiritual and eternal things, in the lack of power to prevail in prayer, in the loss of that concurrent witness of a holy life—mightier by far than any witness of the lips—we have lost power to convert souls!”
This is an age of astonishing worldliness, and it cannot be better expressed than in the language of Dr. Griffon: “The world! the world! the world! This is the object which engrosses every care; this is the supreme deity that is adored. Buy and sell, and get gain—out with the thoughts of death, away with the Judgment and Heaven—my farms, my merchandise; I will have them, though the earth tremble under my feet, and Heaven weeps blood over my head.”
Again, an age of great wealth or of heaping up of earthly treasures is to precede Christ's second coming. “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James 5:3. The prophet Isaiah, also speaking of the time that immediately preceded the setting up of Christ's kingdom, says: “Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures.” A recent issue of the Pittsburg Dispatch, speaking of the “World's Gold,” says: “Thirty years ago the entire stock of gold coin was only a little more than $3,000,000,000; at present it is $705,500,000,000. But the increase was made during a few years, and the past decade has added little to the stock.” Think of the wonderful increase of $702,500,000,000 in thirty years, or during a few years! The poet has truly said, “Men toiled, and sweat, and bled for gold.”
We have quoted quite lengthily to show that the lack of faith is wide-spread in the world; we might also prove the thirst for gold or wealth just as extensive.
This is not only an age of doubt, worldliness, and covetousness, but also an age of crime of every description, and has been justly called the “age of murder” on account of the terrible increase of this crime in these “last days.” It may not be wide of the mark to say that one-halfor three-fourths of the matter of secular newspapers of the day are records of crime. It will take hundreds of volumes to record the woes of intemperance which is not only flooding and cursing our own land, but also the enlightened nations of the earth. Volumes to record the woes of licentiousness of every description. Volumes to set forth the evils of the dark dens of infamy, and of secret, soul-and-body destroying sins. Volumes to portray the evil influences of the damning flood of obscene books and papers which is spreading over the country. Volumes to record the wide-spread evils of ritualism, Romanism, Mormonism, and other wrong isms too numerous to enumerate. In short, it seems almost impossible to enumerate and classify the evils of the world. It might possibly have been done in the days of Noah when the “earth was filled with violence” (which implies very much), but now that “man has sought out many inventions,” it is a very difficult task.
But we must not forget to mention that this is a pleasure-seeking age. Oh, that it was confined only to the world; but alas! it embraces the professed followers of Jesus Christ. “Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God,” is one of the sixteen sins which characterize hypocritical professors of Christianity, or those which have the “form of godliness but deny the power thereof,” in these “last days.” The theatre seems to be one of the chief sources of amusement to this class. Now that Dr. Talmage, one of the most popular preachers of the day, proposes to remedy the evil by calling it “The Spectacular” (it is not really an effort to reform the drama itself but to put gentlemen and women on the stage, also D. D.'s and deacons), no doubt the love for this kind of entertainments will rapidly increase; especially as he says (see New York Semi-Weekly Tribune, of Feb. 1, 1881, also Dr. Talmage's sermon on the “Spectacular” in Christian Herald, of Feb. 3, 1881): “Christianity is going to take full possession of this world and control its maxims, its laws, its literature, its science, and its amusements.” The Doctor has certainly forgotten, or ignores, what Pollock, the Christian poet, has said, in “The Course of Time,” p. 140:—
“The theater was, from the very first, The favorite haunt of sin, though honest men, Some very honest, wise, and worthy men, Maintained it might be turned to good account; And so perhaps it might, but never was, From first to last it was an evil place; And now such things were acted there, as made The devils blush; and from the neighborhood, Angels and holy men, trembling, retired.”
What would Pollock say now if he was alive, on seeing it “turned to good account,” and “holy men” the actors?
In regard to men being “lovers of their own selves,” it can not be better expressed than it is by a certain humorist (omitting the bad spelling and pronunciation): “The first thing a man thinks of is himself, the second thing he thinks of is himself again, and the third thing he thinks of is himself once more.”
(To be Continued.)

AGE AND THE MINISTER.

When the minister becomes fifty years of age the churches do not want him—if he have a charge, they are thinking and perhaps planning to get rid of him. When he is best qualified for his work, the people refuse him. In other professions age is valued. The physician, for example, the counselor, the merchant, the great men of the age, have all passed this line so fatal to the clergy. The great work done has been done by men beyond this line. Plato said that no man who was less than fifty years of age should be entrusted to teach others.
Why is this age so fatal to the clergy? It is because the people do not value age and experience; because they love to be practiced upon by the young preacher. They feel that a man of age has more knowledge, more experience, and cannot be so easily governed by the people; a young man is cheaper; there is a better chance for their daughters with him; they are afraid that the man of years may grow helpless on their hands and they be obliged to support him; they like flowers more than fruit. It is owing to a weakness in churches, and is a grievous wrong to the church and to the ministry; it is evidence of a low state of Christian experience.
If a minister is disqualified for his office by becoming fifty years of age, let the church be consistent and remove all the professors in her seminaries, all the secretaries of her boards, and all her elders and deacons beyond their dead line.

REMARKS UPON OTHERS.

There is a practice common in many households and among familiar acquaintances which ought to be thought about and then done away with forever. It is not only contrary to good sense, but a due regard for politeness and the observance of good manners demand that it shall not be indulged in. It is the practice of remarking upon each other's looks. It is bad enough in the family, where the questions and the searching glance are the expression of kind feeling, unless, indeed, the apparently anxious inquiries as to how you have slept, and how you are feeling this morning, are about as meaningless as the remark upon the temperature; but it is absolutely insupportable from any one but a very dear friend. Who has not had the experience of going out for a walk, or into a neighbor's house, and being greeted with the assertion that she is not looking well? “Seems to me you are pale to-day,” or, “I think you are! You have been sick, haven't you? You don't look as you did last summer.” The truth very likely being that you are stronger and weigh more than at that time. It is a great confession of weakness, but I have gone home from a walk out of which the sunshine has all been taken by some such thoughtless remark, and have looked in the glass to see if I could discover the sign of some fatal disorder. “John is not well this summer, and I am troubled about him; but don't tell him he doesn't look well,” said John's wife to a friend; “he is so nervous that it makes him downright ill to be spoken to in that way.”
It certainly is not kind, and it may be very injurious. Suppose that he does look wretchedly, it does not help the matter to force him to dwell upon it. St. Paul evidently knew what he was about when he repeated that great lesson of his, all embodied in the word “rejoice,” and it seems we need to have it shouted down to us from the hill-top to-day. Were it not for the fact that we are constantly meeting with expressions of the kind mentioned, it would seem that we do not need to be told how necessary is cheerfulness in the family, in the street, and wherever we may be. A generous concealment of our own trifling ailments and a laudable desire to help others to bear their troubles, and possibly to forget them, ought to characterize our every-day life. The people who deal so lavishly in commonplace phrases of pity, remind one of the little boy of three years old, who upon being told to be silent unless he had something to say, looked up to his mother with wide-open, innocent eyes, and said, “But, mamma, I want to talk when I haven't anything to say.”—New York Evening Post.

DEATH

By Joseph Clarke

BY JOSEPH CLARKE.
To say that all men are mortal and must die is only what all know. Evidence of this fact is continually before all; the soldier becomes so conversant with death that its terror seems to depart.
We see death before us in the universal decay of animal and vegetable life, and in nature everywhere; but it comes nearest to us when a dear friend is laid low; when we feel its slow but sure advance in our own systems; in our decaying teeth and failing sight; we feel it in our pains and weariness; in failing memory, and desire for quietness and prolonged and frequent rest.
Once we were young and vigorous. No labor was too hard or prolonged; we could bear the loss of sleep or accustomed food, and, with little sleep, we could pass on in the race of life. Not so now; death has been at work, stealthily sowing the seeds of decay; but we believed it not; we could not suppose for a moment that our vigor of mind or of body would ever succumb; no, our step would continue firm and elastic, our mind would continue strong, and we would never become blind or deaf. But death smiled at our conceit, and now looks complacently upon our gray hair and shriveled face.
Hard is the hand of death, unfeeling his heart; no tear ever moistened his cheek, or caused him for a moment to loosen his grasp. Without a scruple, he hurls his darts; and most defiantly he holds his scepter. Most proudly he sits upon his throne; but happily it is written of him that his power has a limit, that his throne is soon to be vacant, and his scepter is soon to rust in the earth, like that of fallen tyrants of old. Then death will be swallowed up in victory. Take courage, O dying saint, the Conqueror is soon to appear.

RIGHT VIEWS OF CHRIST.

By Spurgeon

Some say they love Christ as an example. Quite right; you cannot have a better. But Jesus Christ will never be truly known and followed as an example—you will never be able to carry out the project—unless you first of all know him as making atonement for sin. Men have looked on Jesus Christ from one point of view and another, and now there is no book more likely to sell than a “Life of Christ,” although no life of Christ has been written yet. All the lives of Christ that are written when put together are not enough to make one drop of soup, whereas the four evangelists are a whole bullock. They have not got any juice in the whole put together. The pen of inspiration has done what all the quills in the world will never be able to do again, and there is no need that they should. There must be in every true picture of Christ the color of the red. He is never in our eyes so majestic and so surpassingly beautiful as when we see him bearing “our sin in his own body on the tree.”
Now, let this be your idea of Christ then—that he has redeemed you. We must regard Christ's redemption as the basis of everything, we must stand on the work which he has performed. Christ is a labyrinth without a thread; he is a day without a sun, until you know him as a Redeemer. Atonement spells the word, but you have spilled the letters on the floor, and you cannot make out the character of Christ until you have learned the words, “Atonement by blood.” “He hath redeemed us.” That is the grandest song in Heaven. Christ is exceedingly precious to you when you once know him as a Redeemer. —Spurgeon.

GOD'S WORD.

It is a singular mistake to suppose that the sin of the Pharisees and scribes was in clinging to the law without “progress” in its interpretation. Their condemnation by our Lord was on the ground that they “made void the law by their traditions.” That is to say, they had discerned so much “new light breaking forth out of God’s word,” and had piled it up in such Talmudic heaps on the pure and simple Old Testament as to hide and quench it. It is precisely what so many “free” and “liberal” souls who have outgrown the gospel, are doing to-day. They are substituting commentary for Scripture, superseding the commandments of God by the traditions of men. The Pharisee was accused, because he thought he could improve upon the Bible. And the very last warning of the New Testament is, “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.”—Christian Intelligencer.

DR. CUYLER ON THEATERS.

By Dr. Cuyler

I do not affirm that every popular play is immoral, and every attendant is on a scent of sensualities. But the theater is a concrete institution, and must be judged in the gross, and to the tremendous extent it is only a gilded nastiness. It unsexes womanhood by putting her publicly in male attire; too often in almost no attire at all. One of the most eminent living actresses declares that she only enters the theater to enact her part, and has but little association with her own profession. A converted actor once pointed me to a play-house in which he used to perform, and said, “Behind those curtains lies Sodom!”
But there is a popular amusement which involves the promiscuous contact of the sexes in miscellaneous parties and in the ball-room, and this is fraught with terrible peril to purity and to Christian character. It inflames passion. It kindles salacious thoughts. It breeds extravagance in dress, late hours, the spirit of envy, and many other lusts which war against the soul. It promotes self-indulgence, which is a growing bane and curse to the church.
Is the dancing hall a department in the school of Christ? Shall our daughters cease to emulate the example of Dorcas and Lydia, and learn to play the part of the daughter of Herodias? The whole trend of the promiscuous dance is against moral purity and spirituality.

Kind Words

KIND words are among the brightest flowers of earth. They help to convert the humblest home into a paradise; therefore use them, especially around the fire-side circle. Try the power of kind and loving words, not only when visiting among your friends, but when at home.
Continue reading: THEN WE SHALL APPEAR