Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 16. (4/17/1879)

Signs of the Times

Apr 17, 1879

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Apr 17, 1879

General Articles.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

The Scripture Doctrine of a Future Life.--No. 14.

ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

SHALL BE BURNED UP.

The meaning of the word burn is too familiar to every reader to need a definition. Look a moment at its use in the Bible. Samson's firebrands "burned up both the shocks, and also the standing corn." Judges 15:5. Job's servant said, "The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep." Job 1:16. "Our holy and beautiful house . . . is burned up with fire." Isa. 64:11. The king "burned up the city." Matt. 22:7.

And so in numerous places. A thing burned up is totally destroyed and reduced to ashes. The Lord says "he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. 3:12. "Whose end is to be burned." Heb. 6:8. Gather together "the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them." Matt. 13:30. "For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1.

THEY SHALL BE CONSUMED.

Consume: "To destroy by separating the parts of a thing by decomposition, as by fire; to destroy and annihilate the form of a substance."—Webster. When a thing is consumed it is reduced to ashes. "There came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering." Lev. 9:24. "And cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire." Jer. 36:23. "The gates thereof are consumed with fire." Neh. 2:3.

Knowing what the people would understand by this word, the Lord often tells them that the wicked shall be consumed. Thus: "They that forsake the Lord shall be consumed." Isa. 1:28. "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth." Ps. 104:35. "The enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Ps. 37:20. "Consume them in wrath, consume them that they may not be." Ps. 59:13. "Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongues shall consume away in their mouths." Zech. 14:12.

THEY SHALL BE DEVOURED.

Devour: "To eat up: to destroy: to consume with rapidity and violence."—Webster. We give two passages to show its Bible use: "There went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them." Lev. 10:2. "Some evil beast hath devoured him." Gen. 37:20. This word again the Lord uses to describe the condition of the wicked: "Fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Rev. 20:9. "Fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Heb. 10:27. "The fire shall devour them." Ps. 21:6. "They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." Nahum 1:10.

SHALL GO INTO PERDITION.

Perdition: "Entire loss or ruin; utter destruction."—Webster. This again is a very strong word to denote utter destruction. "None of them is lost but the son of perdition." John 17:12. "Which drown men in destruction and perdition." 1 Tim. 6:9. "We are not of them who draw back unto perdition." Heb. 10:39. "Against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 1 Pet. 3:7.

CUT ASUNDER.

"Shall cut him asunder." Matt. 24:51.

CUT DOWN.

"They shall soon be cut down like the grass." Ps. 37:2.

CUT UP.

"As thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire." Isa. 33:12.

CUT OFF.

"I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord." Ps. 101:8. "For evil-doers shall be cut off." "They that be cursed of Him shall be cut off." "The seed of the wicked shall be cut off." "When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." "The end of the wicked shall be cut off." Ps. 37:9, 22, 28, 34, 38. "The wicked shall be cut off from the earth." Prov. 2:22. "Every one that stealeth shall be cut off." Zech. 5:3.

CUT IN PIECES.

"Let them be as cut in pieces." Ps. 58:7.

ROOTED OUT.

"The transgressors shall be rooted out of it" (the earth). Prov. 2:22.

CHASED OUT.

"He shall be . . . chased out of the world." Job 18:18. "He shall be chased away as a vision of the night." Job 20:8. They "shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind." Isa. 17:13.

PASS AWAY.

"As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away." Ps. 58:8.

How could the utter destruction of the wicked be more clearly stated or more forcibly illustrated than in the above scriptures? Added to these are the declarations over and over made that the soul itself shall die, and that the wicked shall be no more. Thus: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18:4. "And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body." Isa. 10:18. "Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matt. 10:28. Equivalent to this is the declaration that the wicked shall be burned up, so "that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1.

Several times it is directly stated that the wicked shall be as nothing. "Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and thou shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught." Isa. 41:11, 12. Obadiah's language is still stronger. He says, "They shall be as though they had not been." Obad. 16. And so the Psalmist says, "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be." Ps. 37:10. Again he exclaims, "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more." Ps. 104:35.

Such an array of positive testimony as there is for the utter destruction of the wicked can hardly be produced for any other doctrine of the Bible, even though it be the plainest one. Who, in the face of all these facts, can doubt that the Bible teaches that the wicked shall come to an end?

The covering which we shall use is,

V. That after the wicked are burned up, the earth will be purified and restored to the righteous.

Having proved that the wicked are burned on the earth at the day of judgment, if we can now show that the earth will be restored to, and inhabited by, the people of God, we shall have demonstrated that the wicked must cease to exist, even though the Bible had not so expressly declared it.

For if the very place where the wicked are punished is finally occupied by the people of God, how can the former exist then in a lake of fire? We think Obadiah must have it right, that "they shall be as though they had not been."

There are but two opinions concerning the destiny of this earth. One is, that it will be the final abode of the saints; the other is, that it will be burned up—entirely consumed, and cease to exist. It will be seen at once that either theory is equally fatal to the doctrine of eternal misery; for if the earth ceases to exist, the wicked must come to an end with it; as we have already seen that they will never leave this earth. And if the earth is inhabited by the saints, then again we see that the wicked must cease to exist, as they cannot both occupy it in the eternal state at the same time.

But, as there is plenty of evidence on this point, we will now proceed to show that the fire which burns up the wicked will purify the earth and restore it to its primitive beauty. Peter says, 2 Pet. 3:7, that the earth is "reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." In verses 10–12, he says that the heavens and the earth shall melt with fervent heat, and the works in the earth shall be burned up. Then what? Ans. "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new [or renewed] heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." First, the earth is melted and purified; then comes forth the new earth where the righteous dwell. Verse 13. John describes the same scene in Rev. 20:13–15; 21:1–5: "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." "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."

Here we first see the lake of fire formed by the melting of the earth; and the next thing is, a new earth comes forth from the purifying fires. Verse 5 says, "Behold, I make all things new," not all new things, as some would have it. This old earth is to be made over new again, just as a founder would cast a new stove from the iron of an old one. In Isa. 24, we have a description of the same event. First is a description of the earth in its desolate and dissolved state, verses 1–20, then the glorious reign of the Messiah. Verse 23. In chapters 34 and 35, the same event is spoken of. Chap. 34 describes the dissolving of the heavens, the melting of the earth, and forming of the lake of fire and brimstone. See especially verses 4, 8–10. Chapter 35 opens with a description of the new earth: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose," &c. Please read the whole chapter. That the saints shall inherit the earth is abundantly taught in the Bible. Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. 5:5. Daniel says that the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints for an everlasting kingdom. Dan. 7:27.

The testimony in Mal. 4, before read, first speaks of the "day that shall burn as an oven," and says that it will burn up the wicked; then he says that the righteous shall go forth and tread upon the ashes of the wicked. Thus he introduces the righteous as dwelling on the earth immediately after the wicked are destroyed. See also Matt. 13:37–43; Heb. 12:26–29. I would especially call attention to Ps. 37. In it David speaks of the time when the wicked will be rewarded, i. e., burned up on the earth, and contrasts this with the inheritance of the saints. We see by this that as soon as the wicked are consumed, the saints possess the earth.

"Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." Verses 1, 2. When they are withered, where will the righteous be? Ans. "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Verse 3. Again: "For evil-doers shall be cut off [then where will the righteous go? Ans.]; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." Verse 9.

In verses 10, 11, he draws another comparison: "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." As soon as "the wicked shall not be," "the meek shall inherit the earth."

Once more: "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. . . . For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth." Verses 20–22. Here we learn that as soon as "the enemies of the Lord shall consume into smoke, "such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth." So in verses 28, 29: "The seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever."

We have a similar comparison in verse 34: "Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it."

In this psalm it is declared of the wicked that "they shall wither as the green herb," "shall be cut off," "shall not be," "shall consume into smoke," "shall perish," "shall be destroyed," "end shall be cut off," &c., &c. But of the righteous it is declared three times that "they shall inherit the earth," three times that "they shall dwell in the land," that "their salvation is of the Lord," and "their end peace." In Ps. 104:35, David, while contemplating the time when "the sinners shall be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked shall be no more," exclaims, "Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord." Then will be fulfilled Rev. 5:13: "And every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever."

Thus we see that the Bible contemplates the time when God's universe will be free from sin and sinners. Who, as he looks forward to this glorious event, can refrain from joining with David in saying, "Bless the Lord, O my soul"?

To recapitulate: We see that the Bible not only declares that the wicked shall be burned up, consumed, devoured, &c., &c., but that the time and place of their destruction is so defined as to demonstrate that they can have no existence after it is accomplished. Then we plainly see that the Holy Scriptures do not teach the pagan doctrine of an eternal hell of conscious misery for undying sinners. That is a dogma brought into the church from heathenism as has been abundantly shown.

THE WEB OF LIFE.

By Mrs. M. J. Smith

Oh! strange web of life, I would loose thee to-night, And lay down the shuttle and rest for awhile; For the thread I fill in maketh shadows too dark, And the warp and the woof shrinks with tears—all the while.

I cannot let go, but the web of the past, I loose from the beam with a tremulous hand; There's a quiver and thrill at my heart as I gaze, And see how uneven the figures are planned.

Oh! strange web of life, in childhood so bright, So filled with the promise of beautiful things, So evenly woven while guarded by love, Ere time hurried child-hood away on his wings.

How memory's doors are unlocking to-night, The past with its joy and its sorrow appears; Where blessing and prayer and hope all unite, But threads that were golden, are cankered by tears,

What beautiful hope has been woven in here, What holy resolves are clustering there; How even again is the ground-work of life, How soon overlapped by the thread of despair.

Oh! hands e'er so tired, thou canst not lay down The shuttle that filleth thy life-web so fast; It seemeth not well to grow weary at noon, And willing aside all thy duties to cast.

Weave in good resolves with more beautiful hope, With faith in God's promises toil with thy might; With Christ to assist thee thy fingers may yet, Weave a glorious web ere the coming of night. MRS. M. J. SMITH. Washington Heights, Ill.

Earnest Endeavor Over Excessive Caution

The man or woman whom excessive caution holds back from striking the anvil with earnest endeavor, is poor and cowardly of purpose.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY

By Ellen G. White

BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS AND SATAN AND HIS ANGELS.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

JACOB AND ESAU.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

God, who knows the end from the beginning, knew, before the birth of Jacob and Esau, just what characters they would both develop. He knew that Esau would not have a heart to obey him. When he answered the troubled prayer of Rebekah, informing her that she would have two children, he presented before her the future history of her two sons, that they would become two nations, the one greater than the other, and the elder would serve the younger. The first-born was entitled to peculiar advantages and special privileges; he possessed honor and authority, in the family and the tribe, next to that of the parents; he was regarded as especially consecrated to God, and was selected to fill the office of priest; and he received a double portion of the father’s goods.

The two brothers were very unlike in character. Isaac was pleased with the bold, courageous spirit manifested by Esau, who delighted in the chase, bringing home game to his father, with stirring accounts of his adventures. Jacob was the favorite son of his mother, because his disposition was mild, and better calculated to make her happy. He had learned from his mother what God had taught her, that the elder should serve the younger, and his youthful reasoning led him to conclude that this promise could not be fulfilled while his brother had the privileges which were conferred on the first-born. And when the latter came in from the field, faint with hunger, Jacob improved the opportunity to turn Esau's necessity to his own advantage, and proposed to feed him with pottage, if he would renounce all claim to the birthright; and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob.

Esau had taken two wives of the idolatrous Canaanites. This was a source of deep sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah, for they well knew that God had commanded their fathers not to intermarry with idolaters, and they had fully understood the care and anxiety of Abraham that Isaac should marry a wife of his own nation and faith. Isaac was now more than one hundred years old, the infirmities of age were upon him, and his sight had grown dim. Esau was still his favorite son, and notwithstanding Isaac had been made acquainted with the purpose of God, he determined to bestow the benediction upon his first-born. He called Esau, and, as he supposed, privately made known his wish that he should prepare him venison before the bestowal of the blessing, in accordance with the custom of making a feast upon such occasions. Rebekah had been divinely instructed that Jacob was to be in the direct line through which the promise would be fulfilled in the birth of the Redeemer. She was confident that her husband was going contrary to the will of God, and that no reasoning could change his purpose, and without due reflection she determined not to allow the father’s partiality for his eldest son to avert the purpose of God; by stratagem she would obtain the blessing for Jacob. As soon as Esau had departed on his errand she called her youngest son, and related to him the words of Isaac, and the necessity of action on their part to prevent the accomplishment of his designs to bestow a blessing, finally and irrevocably, upon Esau. If Jacob would follow her directions he might obtain the blessing, as God had promised. As Jacob listened to his mother’s plan he was at first greatly distressed, and assured her that in thus deceiving his father he would receive a curse instead of the desired blessing. But his scruples were overborne, and he proceeded to carry out his mother’s suggestions. The plan was successful; he obtained by fraud that which, had he shown the proper trust in God, he would have received as his right.

It was not his intention to utter a direct falsehood, but once in the presence of his father he thought he had gone too far to retreat. From that moment he felt poor in heart, he was weighed down with self-condemnation. In grossly deceiving his blind, aged father, he had lost his nobility and truth. In one short hour he had made work for a life-long repentance. This scene was vivid before him in after years, when the wicked course of his own sons oppressed his soul.

The unrighteous course of Jacob and Rebekah produced no good results; it brought only distrust, jealousy, and revenge. Mother and son should have waited for the Lord to accomplish his own purpose in his own way, and in his own time, instead of trying to bring about the foretold events by the aid of deception. If Esau had received the blessing which was bestowed upon the firstborn, his prosperity could have come from God alone; and he would have granted him prosperity, or brought upon him adversity, according to his course of action. If he should love and reverence God, like righteous Abel, he would be accepted and blessed. If, like wicked Cain, he had no respect for God, nor for his commandments, he would be rejected of him, as was Cain. If Jacob's course should be righteous, the prospering hand of God would be with him, even if he did not obtain the blessings and privileges generally bestowed upon the firstborn. Rebekah repented in bitterness for the wrong counsel which she had given to Jacob, for it was the means of separating him from her forever. He was compelled to flee for his life from the wrath of Esau, and his mother never saw his face again. Isaac lived many years after he gave Jacob the blessing, and was convinced by the course of his two sons, that the blessing rightly belonged to Jacob.

In the providence of God the unerring pen of inspiration withheld not the mistakes and sins of good men. The sin is unsparingly brought to light, and also the just judgment of God. Because of his transgression, Jacob became a fugitive from his home, compelled to serve a hard master for twenty years. A cruel fraud was practiced upon him in his marriage with Leah, his ten sons deceived him as he had deceived his father, and for many years he mourned over the supposed death of Joseph. All these years Jacob was a recipient of God’s favor, yet he had sown a crop that he must reap; neither time nor repentance could change into golden grain the vile weed sown. This view of the matter makes it of the highest consequence that in words and actions we move in conscious integrity, for "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

As Jacob pursued his journey, a stranger in a strange land, he sadly pondered the events which had transpired as the result of his own transgression. At night he lay down to sleep with the canopy of heaven as a covering, the earth his bed, and a stone his pillow. A compassionate God, who ever pitieth the woes of men, saw the lonely fugitive, troubled and perplexed, fearing that God had forsaken him because of his injustice, deception, and falsehood. In a vision of the night, the Lord manifested himself to Jacob. He saw a ladder, the base resting upon the earth, the top round reaching into the highest heaven even to the throne of God. The Lord himself, enshrouded in light, stood above the top of the ladder, and angels were ascending and descending upon it.

As Jacob gazed with wonder upon the scene, the voice of God was heard, saying, "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." Jacob awakened from his dream, and exclaimed in solemn awe, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." He looked about as if to again catch a glimpse of the heavenly messengers, but above him was only the blue, star-gemmed firmament, his head was still resting upon the rocky pillow. The ladder was gone, and the angels were no longer to be seen; but the voice of God was still echoing in his ears, with the promise now to him so precious. He felt indeed that angels of God, although unseen, peopled the place; that God was looking down upon him with compassion and love. Filled with holy awe and amazement, he involuntarily exclaimed, "How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this the gate of Heaven."

The meaning of this ladder is explained to us in the words of Christ to Nathaniel, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." The atonement of Christ links earth to Heaven, and finite man to the infinite God; for through Christ, the communication that was broken off because of transgression, is resumed with man. Sinners may find pardon and be visited by mercy and grace.

When the morning light appeared, Jacob arose, and taking the stone upon which his head had rested, he poured oil upon it, in accordance with the custom of those who would preserve a memorial of God’s mercy, that whenever he should pass that way, he might tarry at this sacred spot to worship the Lord. And he called the place Bethel, or the house of God. With the deepest gratitude and love he repeated again and again the gracious promise that God’s help and presence would be with him; and then, in the fulness of his soul, he made the solemn vow, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God; and this stone which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."

God’s presence is not confined to the splendid edifice. Jacob's humble resting-place had been consecrated by a manifestation of divine glory. God has often made sacred the hillside, the caves of the earth, the forest, the humble barn, the cotton tent. Each has become a tabernacle where he meets and blesses his servants, who are humbly seeking after truth, and peace, and righteousness. But the grandest cathedral, the marvel of architecture, if it incloses pride, dead forms, and hollow hypocrisy, is repulsive in the sight of God, who seeketh such to worship him as worship in spirit and in truth.

With a heart overflowing with love to God, and making melody in harmony with the happy songsters, Jacob went forward on his journey. He felt indeed that the presence of the Unseen was with him, and that angels were his companions.

Jacob felt that God had claims upon him which he must acknowledge, and that the special tokens of divine favor granted to him demanded a corresponding return. In like manner, every blessing bestowed upon us calls for a response. The Author of all our mercies should receive, not only gratitude, but tangible returns. Our time, our talents, our property, should be, and will be by every true Christian, sacredly devoted to the service of Him who has given these blessings to us in trust. When special deliverance has been wrought for us, when new and unexpected favors have been bestowed upon us; we should not accept them with indifference and with careless, thankless hearts.—God would have us follow the example of Jacob, and pledge to the Lord in return for all his mercies. (To be Continued.)

Church Amusements.

By P. R. Russell

One of the alarming signs of the times is the amazing and widespread mania for church amusements, both to please the young and raise funds out of unwilling pockets for religious purposes. The infection seems to have spread into nearly all denominations, from the Papists on one side to the utter Liberal on the other. Fun-making and hilarity are the great attractions, to allure the young—not to Christ, but to social intercourse, at “our meetings,” and enable the cunning sharpers in Zion to sponge a little money out of their leaky pockets. There are many insurmountable objections to this, as church work, and among them I will suggest the following:—

These amusements are gotten up, in general, on a kind of false pretense. The plea generally is, with the showmen and women who start up and run these frolics, that it is for the benefit of the young folks, to interest them in meetings, form a more intimate friendship with them and the church; but the whole tendency is in the opposite direction from that of interesting them in strictly religious meetings. The appetites and passions catered to are morbid, and the more they are pampered by nocturnal banqueting and hilarity, the more the morbid passions are developed, and habits of conviviality become fixed; the more the mind is fascinated, the less and less is thought or cared for the solemn and serious matters of public worship or personal repentance or the soul’s salvation. So far from being satisfied with an occasional “good time” in the line of convivial pleasures furnished by the church, they naturally run more and more to these entertainments, whenever there is an open door. So far from doing good to the young, these operations in Zion repel them, harden their tender hearts against serious impressions, and plunge them deeper and deeper in the slough of supreme worldliness and voluptuousness. By running plays and midnight frolics for our young folks, we naturally erase all the good, serious impressions we seek to make on their minds by Sunday-school lessons and preaching the gospel; and when they go out into the world, free from home restraints, we may reasonably expect they will, as they do, to a great extent, drop out of the circle of the church goers, and that Sunday will be the gala day of the week for hilarious amusements.

The cheat is, if possible, still more glaring. The real object generally, on the part of the caterers is, not simply to amuse the young, as a benevolent operation, but to sponge money out of their scanty pockets to pay bills that should never have been contracted, or should be cheerfully paid by those who are resorting to these miserable shifts to get rid of their own obligations. The young are passing through the perils of a transition from childhood to manhood, and they need kind care and good training. They need restraints and salutary lessons on self-denial, the bridling in of their passions and appetites. But if the churches, and all the secret fraternities and clubs in town, in addition to all the traveling shows, spread the fascinating entertainments as traps before them, and all seek to draw them in as the spider does the fly, what chance is there for them to save either money or character? They should learn, if possible, to say to these charmers, with their siren song, “No, No; I have better business on hand.” —P. R. Russell, Baptist, in Messiah’s Herald.

Obedience, the First Duty.

Suppose a Christian man is hired to watch at night in a large factory in a closely built village. He has agreed to be there from sundown until morning. His task is a very simple one. It is only to walk back and forth in the long rooms, and to go up and down the high stairways, keeping his eyes open, ready to put out the first show of fire, or to sound an alarm in danger. It seems to him a very insignificant work. On all sides sinners are impenitent, and souls are perishing. Oughtn't he to be up and doing in the Lord's cause? This is prayer-meeting night. He will go over and say some earnest words to his sluggish Christian brethren, to arouse them to action. He may be the means of a revival in that village. He quits the factory and goes to the prayer-meeting. His exhortation is cut short by the cry of fire. As he walks among the smoking ruins of that village the next morning, it may occur to him that he would have done better had he attempted less; that as watching was his business, he ought not to have allowed even praying or exhorting to interfere with his watching. It was because Saul, in worship, sacrificed sheep and oxen which he had been sent to destroy, that the Lord rejected him from being king of Israel. Saul thought those sheep were so fat, and the service of worship was so delightful, that surely God would be pleased to have him stop his work of slaughtering and enter on religious exercises. "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" (Is that the question you are asking? you ought to have known the answer.) "Behold to obey is better than to sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Saul did a great many evil things in his day. The one thing for which he was deposed from his kingship was the worshiping God when he had no business to worship; when he had another work to do, a work which he had no right to quit in the hope of doing something better--something more distinctively religious. The Lord is no better pleased to-day with the shirking of one's plain duty under the plea of doing religious service, than he was in the days of Saul.—S. S. Times.

The Complaining Preacher.

SOME years ago, a pastor of a small church in one of the villages of Indiana became exceedingly discouraged, and brooded over his trials to such an extent that he became an inveterate grumbler. He found fault with his brethren because he imagined they did not treat him well. A brother minister was invited to assist him a few days in a special service. At the close of the Sabbath morning service our unhappy brother invited the minister to his house to dinner. While they were waiting alone in the parlor, he began his doleful story by saying: "My brother, you have no idea of my troubles, and one of the greatest is, my brethren in the church treat me very badly."

The other propounded the following questions:—

"Did they ever spit in your face?" "No; they haven't come to that." "Did they ever smite you?" "No." "Did they ever crown you with thorns?"

This last question he could not answer, but bowed his head thoughtfully. His brother replied: "Your Master and mine was thus treated, and all his disciples fled and left him in the hands of the wicked. Yet he opened not his mouth." The effect of this conversation was wonderful. Both ministers bowed in prayer and earnestly sought to possess the mind which was in Christ Jesus. During the ten days' meeting the discontented pastor became wonderfully changed. He labored and prayed with his friends, and many souls were brought to Christ. Some weeks after, a deacon of the church wrote and said: "Your late visit and conversation with our pastor have had a wonderful influence for good. We never hear him complain now, and he labors more prayerfully and zealously."

The Bible says: "Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser." The above incident is another which shows the power of the Gospel as seen in Christ's sufferings, to subdue pride, and cast out discontent. Read Matthew 27, or John 19, to any fretful, gloomy or discontented Christian. This will be as efficacious as the balm of Gilead.—Christian Press.

[FROM JOHN WESLEY'S MISCELLANEOUS WORKS.]

By John Wesley

A DIALOGUE

BETWEEN A PREDESTINARIAN AND HIS FRIEND.

"Out of thine own mouth."

TO ALL PREDESTINARIANS.

(Concluded.)

FRIEND.—Did God then fore-ordain the sins of any man?

PREDESTINARIAN.—"Both the reprobates and the elect were foreordained to sin, as sin, that the glory of God might be declared thereby." (Zanchius de Nat. Dei. p. 555.) "The reprobates" more especially, "who were predestinated to damnation and the causes of damnation, and created to that end, that they may live wickedly, and be vessels full of the dregs of sin." (Piscator Contra Tauffium, p. 47.)

F.—But surely the sins of the elect were not fore-ordained?

P.—Yes, but they were; "For we neither can do more good than we do, nor less evil than we do; because God from eternity has precisely decreed that both the good and the evil should be so done." (Piscatoris Responsio ad Amicam Duplicationem Comradi Vorstii p. 176.)

F.—I understand you as to God's decreeing sin. But how is his irresistible power now concerned in the sins of men?

P.—"God is the author of that action, which is sinful, by his irresistible will." (Dr. Twisse, pars 3, p. 21.)

F.—How do you mean?

P.—"God procures adultery, cursings, lyings." "He supplies wicked men with opportunities of sinning, and inclines their hearts thereto. He blinds, deceives, and seduces them. He, by his working on their hearts, bends and stirs them up to do evil." (Pet. Martyr. Ver. Comment, in Rom. pp. 36, 413.) "And thus thieves, murderers, and other malefactors are God's instruments which he uses to execute what he hath decreed in himself." (Calv. Inst. b. 1, c. 17, s. 5.)

F.—Do you not then charge God himself with sin?

P.—No: "God necessitates them only to the act of sin, not to the deformity of sin." (Twissi Vindiciae, pars 3, p. 22.) Besides, "when God makes angels or men sin, he does not sin himself, because he does not break any law. For God is under no law, and therefore cannot sin." (Zuinglius in Serm. de Provid. c. 5, 6.)

F.—But how does God make angels or men to sin?

P.—"The devil and wicked men are so held in on every side with the hand of God, that they cannot conceive, or contrive, or execute any mischief, any farther than God himself doth not permit only, but command. Nor are they only held in fetters, but compelled also, as with a bridle, to perform obedience to those commands." (Calv. Inst. b. 1, c. 17, s. 11)

F.—This is true Turkish doctrine, and ought so to be exploded as that used to be in these words:—

"I do anathematize the blasphemy of Mohammed, which saith that God deceiveth whom he will, and whom he will he leadeth to that which is good. Himself doeth what he willeth, and is himself the cause of all good and all evil. Fate and destiny govern all things." (Niceius Saracenita.)

P.—Nay, our doctrine is more ancient than Mohammed; it was maintained by St. Augustine.

F.—Augustine speaks sometimes for it, and sometimes against it. But all antiquity for the four first centuries is against you, as is the whole Eastern Church to this day; and the Church of England, both in her Catechism, Articles, and Homilies. And so are divers of our most holy martyrs. Bishop Hooper and Bishop Latimer in particular.

P.—But does not antiquity say, Judas was predestinated to damnation?

F.—Quite the contrary. St. Chrysostom's express words are, "Judas, my beloved, was at first a child of the kingdom, and heard it said to him with the disciples, 'Ye shall sit on twelve thrones'; but afterwards he became a child of hell."

P.—However you will own that Esau was predestinated to destruction.

F.—Indeed I will not. Some of your own writers believe he was finally saved, which was the general opinion of the ancient fathers. And that scripture, "Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated," plainly relates not to their persons but their posterities.

But, supposing Esau or Judas to be damned, what is he damned for?

Pred.—Without question, for unbelief. For as we are saved by faith alone, so unbelief is the only damning sin.

F.—By what faith are you saved?

P.—By faith in Christ, who gave himself for me.

F.—But did he give himself for Esau and Judas? If not, you say they are damned for not believing a lie. This consideration it was which forced Archbishop Usher to cry out, "What would not a man fly unto, rather than yield that Christ did not die for the reprobates; and that none but the elect had any kind of title to him; and yet many thousands should be bound in conscience to believe that he died for them, and tied to accept him for their Redeemer and Saviour? Whereby they should have believed that which in itself is most untrue, and laid hold of that in which they had no kind of interest."

P.—But what then do you mean by the words, election and reprobation?

F.—I mean this; First God did decree from the beginning to elect or choose, in Christ, all that should believe to salvation. And this decree proceeds from his own goodness, and is not built upon any goodness in the creature. Secondly: God did from the beginning decree to reprobate all who should obstinately and finally continue in unbelief.

P.—What then do you think of absolute, unconditional election and reprobation?

F.—I think it cannot be found in holy writ, and that it is a plant which bears dismal fruit. An instance of which we have in Calvin himself; who confessed that he procured the burning to death of Michael Servetus, purely for differing from him in opinion in matters of religion.

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