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Signs of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 18.

A PRAISEWORTHY EXAMPLE

Signs of the Times

May 12, 1881

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 12, 1881

A PRAISEWORTHY EXAMPLE.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
AFTER Joshua had executed the divine sentence upon Achan, and had thus turned away from Israel the wrath of God, he was commanded to marshal all the men of war and again advance against Ai. The armies of Heaven now fought for Israel, and their enemies were put to flight.
Mindful that their only hope was in obedience to God, Joshua now assembled all the people as Moses had commanded, and rehearsed to them the blessings which would follow their obedience to the law, and the curses that would fall upon them should they disregard it. Then he repeated before them the law of ten commandments, and also all the statutes and precepts which Moses had recorded. Again Joshua led Israel forth to battle with their enemies. The Lord wrought mightily for his people, and their armies pressed forward, gaining fresh courage with every victory.
Seven years after their entrance into the promised land the whole congregation assembled, and the sacred tabernacle, which had been so long borne with them in their journeyings, was permanently set up at Shiloh. The land was now divided among the several tribes, and the conquest went on with renewed vigor, until "Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war." The glorious promises which God had made to Israel had been fulfilled. "There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass."
Joshua now summoned the men of war who had chosen their inheritance on the east side of Jordan, and commended them for their courage and fidelity. They had fully kept their pledge to Moses, having shared all the conflicts of their brethren, and now they were at liberty to return to their families and their homes.
As these tribes were to dwell at a distance from the tabernacle, Joshua feared that they might lose their interest in its services and thus be led to depart from God. With deep solicitude he exhorted them: "Take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."
When these tribes had returned to their possessions, they united to erect a large altar near the place where the Israelites had miraculously crossed the river. This altar was not designed for sacrifice or worship, but simply as a witness that, although separated by the river, they were of the same faith as their brethren on the other side, and were entitled to equal privileges in the tabernacle at Shiloh and the services there performed.
Although those who engaged in erecting this altar were actuated by the most worthy motives, yet it threatened to cause serious difficulty between them and their brethren across the Jordan; for the latter, hearing what had been done, supposed that this altar was designed to take the place of the tabernacle at Shiloh, and that it would thus lead the people away from the true faith and bring the wrath of God upon the whole nation.
The congregation of Israel became excited and indignant, and determined to make war upon the offenders at once. But men of caution suggested the better plan of sending a representative from each tribe to require an explanation of their motive in erecting this altar. Phinehas the high priest, and ten princes, one from each tribe, were sent. They considered the guilt of their brethren already proved, and met them with sharp rebuke. They accused them of rebelling against the Lord, and bade them remember how the wrath of God had been visited upon Israel for joining themselves to Baal-Peor. Notwithstanding the terrible judgments upon the guilty on that occasion, many were still cherishing the same sins, and Phinehas and his companions feared that their brethren, being surrounded by the worshipers of this idol, might again be led to partake of their iniquity.
The Lord had positively commanded that no sacrifice should be offered except at the door of the tabernacle. In behalf of all Israel, Phinehas stated to the children of Gad and Reuben that if they were unwilling to abide in that land without an altar for sacrifice and worship, they would be welcomed to a share in the possessions and privileges of their brethren on the other side. Again he warned them not to depart from God. Achan and his whole family had perished because they transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and for that one man's sin, all the congregation of Israel had suffered. What, then, would be the dire result if that large company should be disobedient to God?
The Reubenites and their associates courteously permitted Phinehas to finish his discourse before attempting to make their defense. Then they replied to his accusation in a manner which not only does them the highest credit, but teaches a forcible lesson of Christian forbearance. They expressed no anger or resentment at the ungrounded suspicions and sharp rebukes of their brethren; but in the most sincere and solemn manner they declared their innocence, and appealed to the Lord, who knew their hearts, to testify against them if they were at fault, declaring that if guilty of the sin attributed to them, their lives would justly be forfeited.
Then they proceeded to explain their motives and intentions in the building of the altar. They had feared that in future years their children might be excluded from the tabernacle by their brethren on the other side, as having no part in Israel. Then this altar, erected after the pattern of the altar of the Lord at Shiloh, would be a witness that its builders were also worshipers of the living God.
The ambassadors readily accepted this candid explanation and expressed great joy that the hearts of their brethren were still true to the God of Jacob. The tidings were immediately carried back to the congregation of Israel, and all thoughts of war were dismissed, and the people united in heartfelt rejoicing and praise to God.
Had the suspected tribes stood upon their dignity and answered their accusers in a defiant manner, war would have been the result, and many lives must have been sacrificed. But their willingness to explain, their forbearance and courtesy, settled everything without a rupture.
Upon their altar the children of Gad and Reuben now placed an inscription pointing out the purpose for which it was erected, and they said, "It shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God." Thus they sought to prevent future misunderstanding concerning their religious faith and their connection with Israel, and to remove anything which might be a source of stumbling to their brethren.
The difficulties and misunderstandings that still arise among the people of God are often similar in their nature and results to those that threatened to prove so disastrous to Israel. The ten tribes were filled with fear lest the people whom God had accepted as his own, should become divided in interest and worship, hence their promptness in rebuking at once the supposed defection of their brethren. Yet in that very effort to maintain the honor of God and the purity of Israel, we see what serious and even fatal results might have followed from a simple misunderstanding.
Men who were honestly seeking to promote the cause of true religion were misjudged and severely reprimanded. The wisdom manifested in their course under these trying circumstances is worthy of imitation. What great evils might be averted if such a course were followed by the members of all our churches. An individual may be unjustly suspected or censured by his brethren, but he should not for this reason yield to anger, or cherish a desire for retaliation. Such an occasion furnishes an opportunity for the development of the precious grace of meekness and forbearance.
Care should be exercised by all Christians, to shun the two extremes, of laxness in dealing with sin on the one hand, and harsh judgment and groundless suspicion on the other. The Israelites who manifested so much zeal against the men of Gad and Reuben remembered how, in Achan's case, God had rebuked the lack of vigilance to discover the sins existing among them. Then they resolved to act promptly and earnestly in the future; but in seeking to do this they went to the opposite extreme. Instead of meeting their brethren with censure, they should first have made courteous inquiry to learn all the facts in the case.
There are still many who are called to endure false accusation. Like the men of Israel, they can afford to be calm and considerate, because they are in the right. They should remember with gratitude that God is acquainted with all that is misunderstood and misinterpreted by men, and they may safely leave all in his hands. He will as surely vindicate the cause of those who put their trust in him, as he searched out the hidden guilt of Achan.
How much of evil would be averted, if all, when falsely accused, would avoid recrimination, and in its stead employ mild, conciliating words. And at the same time, those who in their zeal to oppose sin have indulged unjust suspicions, should ever seek to take the most favorable view of their brethren, and should rejoice when they are found guiltless.
The great diversity of religious faith, and the alienation of feeling existing among professed Christians, are serious hindrances to the progress of the gospel. Happy will it be for God's people when they shall be able to unite zeal and firmness with meekness and forbearance.As religious controversies are usually conducted, they are productive of more harm than good. In many cases there is manifested so little Christian humility and forbearance that the unbeliever is confirmed in his doubts and prejudices. Sinners are gratified to see the differences and animosities existing among the professed followers of Christ. Many of the unconverted point to these wrongs to excuse their own neglect.
It is the will of God that union and harmony should exist among his people. Our Saviour prayed that his disciples might be one, as he is one with the Father. It should be our constant aim to reach this state of unity; but to do this we are not to sacrifice one principle of truth. It is through obedience to the truth that we are to be sanctified; for while Jesus prayed that his followers might be one, he prayed also, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." We are exhorted to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace. This is the evidence of our discipleship. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another;" and conversely, our Saviour desired that his disciples might be one, that the world might know that the Father had sent him. What a thought! that the love and unity among Christians are presented as proof of our Saviour's divine mission to the world.

FROM A SERMON.

By Julia E. Lloyd

BY JULIA E. LLOYD.

ONE thing of all the woes that might await me, I could not, could not bear. One thing that would be sent by powers that hate me, I must not, must not share.
I can bear weary pain and want and losses; For these will sometime end: Not long, not long the time of care and crosses, On earth we sadly spend.
I calmly speak, and know what I am saying; For grief my heart has torn, Sad, minor music on its strings oft playing, Yet I have firmly borne.
But Oh! to hear Christ's words of dread decision— "I know you not; depart!" Gone all the hopes of blessed life elysian, That oft had filled my heart!
Loved friends to meet in resurrection never! No harvest sheaves in sight! Gone glorious sun and moon and stars forever! Gone each blest ray of light!
I cannot bear that he who now is pleading In my behalf above, Shall leave his gracious work of interceding, No more to plead in love.
But I may share faith's blest and full fruition, A robe of righteousness; The Saviour's love and faithful recognition, When he his own shall bless.
East Oakland, Cal.

THIS GENERATION.

By William Penniman

BY WM. PENNIMAN. (Continued.)
The following from The Traveler's Record, published at Hartford, December, 1880, taken from Detroit Free Press, will give some idea of recent storms on the lakes: "Do you know what it is to be at sea with a gale blowing eighty miles an hour? You may read of the wrecks which today strew the shores of every lake; you may read of the rigid bodies cast up on the sand, you may cast your eyes over hulk and spar and battered plank, but yet you cannot realize the fury of that awful gale of Saturday. Vessels on Lake Michigan were bowling along before a topsail breeze, when almost in a moment, the gale came howling down from another quarter, bringing a terrible sea with it. Sails were split into ribbons before a rope could be loosened, and masts went overboard like broken sticks. No man living ever saw such waves on our lakes before. In an hour after the gale set in they were running twenty-five feet high, and they ran with the speed of a race-horse. The gale caught them as they reared up, and tons of foamy water were broken off and hurled down into the trough, to mingle with the base, of the next wave. One of the largest propellers on the lakes, standing twenty feet out of the water, had to put about before the gale was an hour old, and even while running before it at full speed the waves swept over her entire decks. Seamanship availed but little. Schooners were almost picked up bodily by the wind and flung ahead, and the biggest barks were knocked about like chips. When day broke Saturday morning those out at sea must have realized the wrath of death. Every plunge of an ordinary schooner rolled floods of water over her decks, to pour from the scuppers as she climbed at an angle of forty-five degrees. Men had all they could do to save life without moving a finger toward navigating their crafts. The loudest shout could not be heard two feet away, and the roar of the sea was awful to hear. The passengers on the Alpena were roused from sleep when the gale reached her. It brought such a sea that no one could have slept longer. When the fourscore souls aboard were told that death was near, they looked out on that howling, roaring, hungry sea without a shadow of hope that one of them would ever land again. Rafts and boats would have been blown about like feathers. Life preservers buoyed up corpses until they were cast ashore to be identified. Those who put them on in the final grasp for life could not have lived an hour in the keen wind and icy water. Men who lived out the gale still speak of it with terror. Only once again will the door of death open wider to them. Spars and bulks are beating to pieces on the rocky shores, and beaten and disfigured corpses are thrown upon the sandy beach, to be wept over and buried. It was the wrath of death turned loose upon the wild wastes, and that a single vessel escaped destruction seems almost a miracle."
Still these wonders and terrible events continue to come on both land and water. The Chicago Tribune of Feb. 16, 1881, comments thus upon "A Year of Horrors": "If good old Mother Shipton, instead of frightening timid people with the prophecy that the world would come to an end in 1881, had announced that it would be an extraordinary year, and that the natural elements would be in unusual commotion, involving vast destruction of property, and entailing great human suffering over wide areas, and that an era of casualties would set in occasioning severe loss of human life; and that violence, murder, and suicide would run rampant, she would have hit much nearer the mark. There yet remains ten months and a half of the year, and if the destruction which has been caused during the past six weeks continues in anything like the same proportion for the rest of the year, it will be set in all future time as the year of horrors." The winter seems to have accumulated its ravages since the first of January. Fierce blizzards have continuously swept down from the arctic regions via Manitoba, piling up snow almost mountain high, and burying many victims beneath its avalanches, while numerous others have frozen to death, exposed to its pitiless blasts. Continuous rains have inundated the Pacific coast, and have washed out several mining towns. The ice gorges have burst with great violence in the thaw, and flooded Washington, Toledo, and other cities, involving damages to property that amount to millions. A large part of New Orleans has been under water for days. Innocent little brooks and creeks in the rural districts, that have barely life enough to run in the summer, have been transformed into raging torrents, and have swept away mills, farm-houses, bridges and fences, and have inundated quiet country villages. Railroads have been blocked up, and supplies of food and fuel have grown scarce, and prices have mounted upward with astonishing velocity. The ocean has been strewn with wrecks. Not satisfied with their damage in their own region, the snow blizzards have crossed their natural boundaries and devastated unfamiliar regions killing the fruit. Disease has followed in the path of these extraordinary natural manifestations, and epidemics of scarlet fever, small-pox, diphtheria, and other diseases, have spread with fearful fatality. Every element of destruction seems to have been let loose. In this country alone the railroads have killed 102 persons, and severely maimed 120 others. By marine disasters 470 persons have lost their lives. By explosions and other casualties 205 persons have been killed in this country, as reported by the telegraph which only takes cognizance of larger casualties. Not content with the loss of life by natural and unavoidable causes, eighty wretched persons in this country have taken their own lives, and 118 others have been murdered in six weeks' time, and these figures only include those whose names have been mentioned in the telegraphic news, which, of course, only includes part of the whole number." It is no wonder that the editor of the Chicago Tribune calls this the "Year of Horrors," when the first six weeks have set in so ominously.
We read (Isa. 29:6): "Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire;" and in Acts 2:19: "And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, fire, and vapor of smoke." We give one or two testimonies from the many which might be cited showing the fulfillment of these prophecies. The Detroit Post, under the head of "The Great Fires Supernatural," says: "Those who were exposed to the terrible tornado during which Chicago, Peshtigo, Manistee, White Rock, and other towns on Lakes Michigan and Huron were burned, testify nearly unanimously that 'the air seemed to be on fire.' These words are almost invariably used in describing the phenomenon. The fire did not spread gradually from tree to tree and house to house, but a great sheet of flame, overcoming them like the clouds, and moving with the rapidity of a hurricane, rushed upon them without warning. It surrounded them. The atmosphere seemed filled with fire. Many people who inhaled the hot air fell dead. Corpses were found without a trace of fire upon them, or even upon the clothes which still covered them. There were frequently no marks of fire among the adjacent trees and fences. Many were killed in compact masses as if by a blast of death. They were found huddled together away from trees and buildings. Fish were killed in the streams by the intense heat. Many of these people believed that the last day had come; as well they might. The roaring of the whirlwind which preceded the blaze sounded enough like the last trump to suggest a prelude to the final catastrophe. The black midnight sky suddenly burst into flame."
The following account of "a storm of fire" will be found in "Facts for the Times," p. 180:— "Milwaukee, Oct. 15.—Later accounts from northern Wisconsin confirm all previous reports and rumors. The loss of life in the neighborhood of the burnt district of Peshtigo will reach over 1,800, and 15 per cent. of those injured can not recover. The fire tornado was heard at a distance like the roaring of the sea. Balls of fire were soon observed to fall like meteors in different parts of the town, igniting whatever they touched. People rushed with their children in their arms for a place of safety, but the storm of fire was upon them, and enveloped them in flames, smoke, and cinders, and those unable to reach the river were suffocated and roasted alive. This terrible scene happened on Sunday night, the 8th of October, already made famous by the Chicago horror. The fiery cyclone swept over a tract of country eight or ten miles wide. Every building, fence, and all the timbers were licked up clean by the tongue of fire. The town of Peshtigo numbered 2,000 inhabitants, one third of whom perished in that fearful night. Reports from the east shore of Green Bay place the loss of life as high as at Peshtigo."This is not only an age of wonders, but also an age of great disasters. The grand and truthful thought that the Almighty rides upon the storm is the consolation of the Christian. The fearful and fateful bolts of wrath descend upon land and sea. The swift lightning, the swelling flood, the tempest of fire, the crushing ice, the destructive cyclone, gaunt famine, the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the quaking earth testify alike to a power which man can not control and to the instability of even the earth on which he stands.
One of the greatest wonders of the nineteenth century is that there are so many who do not see the hand of God in these wonders. If the news should come to-day that the whole eastern continent had become an ocean, no doubt some of the skeptics, scientists, and philosophers of our land would attribute the calamity to natural causes, and probably the great mass would not heed the warning, thinking our hemisphere all right for thousands of years. But denying God's hand in this great event, should it happen, would be no more strange than that men will blaspheme God under the pouring out of the seventh and last vial of wrath upon the earth. Rev. 16:21.
Another remarkable sign of the end is the fulfillment of Nahum 2:3-5, in which the prophet says: "The chariots shall be with flaming torches (margin, or fiery torches) in the day of his preparation." Mark that the prophet says, in the day of his preparation. As the railroad is a modern invention (the first in the United States was constructed in 1833) and as there is abundant evidence that this is the time of which the prophet speaks, this can also be numbered among the latter day signs. Adventists are not the only ones who see the fulfillment of the prophecy in the railroad car. Talmage preached in Brooklyn, N. Y., on the Tay-bridge disaster, and took for his text Nahum 2:4: "The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways; they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." The Inter-Ocean reports him as saying: "If that be not an express train under full headway at night, what is it? While reading the text you hear the clasp of the car coupling, the roar of the wheels, and the terrific velocity which at any night may be heard on the iron track between New York and Buffalo, between Cincinnati and Pittsburg, between Charleston and Savannah, between Edinburg and Dundee."
Events which are especially connected with the people of God and are now taking place, plainly teach that "in the day of his preparation" the end is near. As the opening of the seven seals represents a completeness in the events of the Christian age, the seven trumpets and the seven last plagues, the fullness of the woes and of the plagues upon the earth; so the seven churches correspondingly represent the condensed and entire history of the Christian church to the end. Rev. 3:14-22 is Christ's message to the Laodiceans. This message should be read prayerfully and heeded by all of God's people, as it will prepare them for the final judgment. Laodicea signifies "the judging of the people"; or, according to Cruden, "a just people." The language, "These things saith the Amen," implies that this is the final message to the last stage of the Christian church, and brings to view the closing scenes of probation. (See "Thoughts on Revelation," pp. 58-73.) The first and second angel's messages have already gone forth, and the third or closing message is now going before the world, to "peoples, nations, and tongues." Nahum's chariots and ocean steamers are carrying hundreds of tons of reading matter far and wide, and the living teachers have gone into nearly all parts of the earth.
It is during the Laodicean stage of the church and the sounding of the seventh trumpet that Rev. 11:19 is fulfilled: "And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." A condensed and yet comprehensive view of the events included in the opening of the temple is as follows, on page 200 of "Thoughts on Revelation": "The temple is opened; the second apartment of the sanctuary is entered. We know it is the holy of holies that is here entered; for the ark is seen, and in that apartment alone the ark was deposited. This took place at the end of the 2300 days, when the sanctuary was to be cleansed, the time when the prophetic periods expired, and the seventh angel commenced to sound. Since then the people of God have seen by faith the open door in Heaven, and the ark of God's testament there. They are endeavoring to keep every precept of the holy law written upon the tables therein deposited. They have received the reed, and are measuring the temple, the altar, and them that worship therein. They are uttering their last prophecy, before nations, peoples, and tongues. And the drama will soon close with lightnings, thunderings, voices, an earthquake, and great hail."
The reader who is not already familiar with these truths is earnestly requested to read and compare carefully Isa. 56:2; 58:12, 14; 8:16; Rev. 7:1-8; 14:9-12 with what is now being fulfilled. In short, do not these texts teach that a reformation is to take place in the last days bringing people back to the observance of the ancient Sabbath? The context of the texts referred to in Isaiah teach plainly that these texts refer to the last days, when men have got their feet upon the Sabbath and are trampling upon God's law, and that God in mercy is restoring his seal to his broken law. Rev. 7:1-8 describes the rising or ascending message, and the company sealed. Rev. 14:9-12 describes the terrible fate of those who reject the message, and again brings the company to view who have patience, and keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
The very fact that such a work is now going on, and that God is restoring his seal to his broken law, and that thousands are receiving it in their foreheads (minds) preparatory to the coming of Christ; that the dragon is wroth with the woman, and has gone forth to make war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ; that the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10), is now in the church (teaching that this is the last generation); and that while comparatively few are receiving the genuine seal, the evidence is continually increasing that millions will soon receive the counterfeit "mark (Rev. 13:16) in their right hand or in their foreheads," are strong proofs that the end is near. As there seems to be no end to the evidence which might be given that the end is near, we will briefly close this part of the subject by giving a brief synopsis or recapitulation of some of the principle signs of the end, enumerating some facts or events which have not already been presented. We are living in the time of which the prophet Isaiah speaks (Isa. 24:5, 6): "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth;" in the time when "they will not endure sound doctrine," but "shall turn away their ears from the truth" "unto fables," 2 Tim. 4:3, 4; when perilous times have come, 2 Tim. 3:1-8.
(To be Continued.)

PAINFUL FACTS.

PERHAPS no age in the Christian era has been so badly cursed with the spirit of compromise as our own. Satan seems to have abandoned the idea of crushing out the church by persecution: he now seeks to court her favor, and thus secure by flattery what he could not gain by force. The most plausible arguments are employed to induce the people of God to give up their positive testimony against popular sins. The arch enemy has no serious objection to the multiplication of churches, provided he is allowed to dictate the policy on which they are to be run. His mightiest energies are exerted to form a peaceful alliance between the church and the world. If he can succeed in dazzling the church with worldly blandishment, decking her with worldly vanities, and setting her on a chase after worldly pleasures, he is abundantly satisfied.
Oh, when shall we have in this favored land a revival of religion so radical and scriptural as to cure the churches of their pride and their pleasure-taking propensities? Considerable effort is made every winter, in almost every community, to arouse the people to a sense of their imperiled condition. Special meetings are held, special sermons are preached, and not unfrequently special "revivalists" are employed to add the weight of their influence in converting sinners from the error of their ways. That some good results from these various efforts we are glad to believe; but the joy of gratitude is too often mingled with sadness, as the spirit of revival seems to be so easily and so soon supplanted by the spirit of revelry. What is the trouble? Can we never get the old gospel plow in deep enough to break up the "fallow ground?" Must we continue the yearly process of skimming over the surface, and as the result, reap more noxious weeds than grain?
There appears to be a set purpose on the part of many members in our churches—and those too, who strangely assume to be the only "evangelical" churches in the country—to run these institutions on a worldly-policy basis. They seem willing, if not anxious, to lower the Christian standard to the level of those who are confessedly the enemies of God. A few earnest souls enter their protest against the persistent attempt to form a partnership between Christ and Belial, but their pleadings are either hushed or ignored, and policy proves to be mightier than piety. The prayer-meeting is too often a dry and poorly attended affair, but the place of festivity rings with the joyous shouts of the interested throng. Something is wrong.
Satan himself chuckles in triumph when he beholds consecrated temples of worship turned into scenes of feasting, hilarity, gambling and worldly traffic. More or less of these foolish and piety-killing performances almost invariably accompany church fairs and festivals. But it is not on this account alone, that they are to be condemned. They are wrong in principle. God's people are called to a higher and holier work; they are to renounce the world, deny themselves, and be zealous of good works. Real Christians are expected to support the Lord's cause from the love they bear to it, without any necessity for an appeal to the stomach. When the professed followers of God project a splendid spree, of course the fashion-following and pleasure-loving will gladly pay their money to participate in the fun; but the more thoughtful of the unconverted that are enticed to such places, will retire from the scene with the solemn and perhaps ineffaceable impression that Christianity is a humbug! Alas for the cause of Christ, when it falls into the hands of such representatives.
It was long ages ago predicted that in the last days "perilous times" should come. One indication of such times was to be the fact, that those "having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof," would be "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." Judged by this test of inspiration, where are we to-day? Instead of the church converting the world, is it not terribly true that the world is converting the church? The moral aspect is truly alarming. It is high time for the church to disavow all allegiance to Belial, and to swear eternal fealty to Christ.—Bible Banner.

THE BATTLE OF MAGOG.

By Phinehas Bailey

HARK! all ye brave soldiers of Jesus Immanuel; The war-whoop of Satan distinctly I hear: Gird on the whole armor; behold the bright banner Of Jesus, our Captain and Saviour, is near.
The last dreadful battle of Magog is gathering; And Hell's broad battalions are mustering around; The church is divided; but few are decided; While preachers and people are proving unsound.
The ranks of opposers are rapidly filling With hypocrites, scoffers, and proud Pharisees. While Christians are sleeping, destruction is sweeping, And threatening all who are in Zion at ease.
Spread over wide regions, are Satan's black legions, The beast and false prophet are leading the van; Now joined is the battle, the war arms do rattle, While the blood of the martyrs is drenching the land.
The saints, in great numbers, now wake from their slumbers, And loudly lament for the witnesses slain; They call on the Saviour, implore his kind favor, The cause of his people and church to sustain.
Then swift and stupendous, with thunders tremendous, The Saviour is seen coming down from the skies; The foes are soon scattered, their bulwarks all shattered; The church now triumphant in grandeur will rise.
When earth shall be drained, the dragon fast chained, The beast and false prophet imprisoned in hell, No more shall deceivers seduce unbelievers Against the commandments of God to rebel.
—Rev. Phinehas Bailey, 1841.

"WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS."

"WE shall see him as he is." Glorious anticipation! how it should strengthen our hands while fighting "the good fight of faith," and comfort our souls when wounded in the conflict. Here the clouds sometimes hide the face of our Redeemer, and we remember then that once the Father's face was hidden from him. Sometimes shadows and mists, growing out of weakness of faith and the infirmities and imperfections of our natures, in a degree separate from "the joy of the Lord," which is our "strength." We do not always dwell in the unclouded brightness of the Sun of Righteousness. There are times, even, when the "Father's House" seems far away; and as our thoughts stretch on to the years which lie between us and our eternal home, we grow faint in spirit at the prospect of continuous trial and temptation; we are ready to say with David, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."
What, then, shall cheer us in moments of despondency? The remembrance that at the end of the journey, the goal of the race, we shall see Jesus; "we shall see him as he is"—as he is to us, a compassionate, loving Redeemer; the Pardoner of our sins, the Sanctifier of our nature, the faithful, tender Shepherd of the sheep, the Guide of our pilgrimage, and our Welcomer at the gate of the city of God.
"We shall see him as he is" to the angels—a glorious King, the Lamb upon Mount Zion, the receiver of praise from every tribe and tongue. No thorns on the majestic brow, nor wounds in the hands, no more of grief and humiliation; but as the crowned monarch of rejoicing thousands, who ascribe praise unto him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood.
And more—oh, soul-sustaining thought! "we shall be like him." These poor, earth-weary natures, worn with conflict, and bearing the marks of "many a storm, of many a fray," shall be transformed, by his own will and power, until they reflect his image and likeness. Serene and effulgent with his divine calm, there will be no traces left upon the brows of the saved of the storms through which they have passed, the memory of which shall only form the theme of more rapturous praises. Strong with a strength to be nevermore shaken, because nevermore tried, what fields of unattained glory lie before them! Pure as the light of that pure heaven shall be every heart, and there will be heights of knowledge to scale, and depths of love to sound, through the grand, eternal ages. While, then, "we look not at the things which are temporal," let us ever bear up our spirits with this reflection, "we shall be like him." So, Moses-like, may we endure, as seeing him who is invisible.—Sel.
Continue reading: IS SIN ETERNAL?—NO. 2.