Review and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 8. (8/15/1878)

Review and Herald

Aug 15, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 15, 1878

MRS. BARNEY'S SERMON.

Strangely enough the cellar stairs preached it, at least they contributed that very important part,—the application. Sister Searls had furnished the text in the morning, then the sermon might have gone on from firstly to forty-seventhly without Mrs. Barney's notice, had it not been for the cellar stairs.

Mrs. Barney was hurried that day; she was always hurried, and it was warm and uncomfortable in the sunshiny, stove-heated kitchen where she was hastening to and fro, and growing fretted and tired without slackening her speed. Nealie, standing at the ironing table, was also tired.

“There's so much to do,” she said, wearily. “I don't see why we need to do baking and ironing both in one day. It makes such a crowd, and we could have left one for to-morrow.”

“To-morrow will bring work enough of its own,” answered Mrs. Barney, quickly. “Besides, if we should get the work all out of the way the first of the week, a whole day to rest in would be worth something.”

“But then we shouldn't take it for resting just because it would be a whole day, and something else could be crowded into it,” murmured Nealie, to whom one hour now looked very inviting, and that possible day in the future very uncertain.

The mother did not answer, and the young girl's hand moved more slowly over the damp muslins as her gaze wandered away to the hills where great trees were throwing cool shadows. How pleasant the shade and greenness were! The desire to bring it nearer suggested another thought to Nealie. “Some vines would be so nice at this window, mother. I could plant them if you would let Tim dig a little spot out there.”

“Yes, but if we ever get the house fixed up as we want it, we shall have shutters at that window.”

“But we don't know when we can do that, and the vines would be so pretty now,” urged Nealie.

“Pretty? Well, yes, if we had the whole yard trimmed and laid out as it should be. I hope we shall have it some day; but a stray vine here and there seems hardly worth fussing over when we can't have the whole done.”

Nealie sighed, but was silent, and Tim came in with an armful of wood.

“Nealie,” he said, pausing near the table, “if you'd just sew this sleeve up a little. The old thing tears awful easy, and I just hit it against a nail.”

He spoke low, but Mrs. Barney's quick ears caught the words.

“That jacket torn again, Tim! I never saw such a boy to tear things to pieces! No, Nealie can't stop to mend it now, and I can't either. I've been intending to get you a new one, but there doesn't seem much chance to make anything new while you contrive to make so much patching and darning on the old.”

Mrs. Barney shut the oven door with a snap. Tim was the hired boy, kind-hearted but careless, and he was rather discouraging. Board and clothing sometimes appeared to her a high price for his services. “Hurry now, and pick some currants for dinner,” she said.

Tim took the tin pail pointed out to him, but did not hurry as he passed with clouded face down the walk. The thought of a new jacket would have been pleasant a few minutes before, but it had suddenly lost its attractiveness. The boy drew his bushy brows into a scowl and as soon as he was out of sight of the house, threw himself upon the grass and began his currant picking in a very leisurely style. Then it was that sister Searls drove up in her rattling old buggy, with a horse that was, as Tim said, “a regular old revolutionary pensioner.”

“If I can't have fine horses and carriages, I can take a deal of comfort with these,” was always sister Searls's cheery comment upon her equipage. She had an errand at Mrs. Barney's and had stopped on her way to the village. A plump, rosy-faced little woman she was, not young, only that she belonged to the class of people who never grow old: neatly dressed, though it was but that old poplin made over, Mrs. Barney wondering a little that she should have taken the trouble, when she surely needed a new one.

“This room is too warm to ask any one to sit in,” she said apologetically, placing a chair for her caller just outside the door. “When we are able to have the house altered to suit us, I shall not have a stove here in summer.”

“In the meanwhile you have this cool porch. What a pleasant place it is,” said sister Searls, admiringly. “Yes, if one had time to enjoy it,” answered Mrs. Barney, with an uneasy little laugh. “I'm so hurried, trying to get everything about the place in just the right order, that I don't have time.”

“Take time, sister Barney, take time!” said Mrs. Searls, smiling, but earnestly. “Make the most of what you have while you are working for something better. Do not crowd out any little sweetness you have, to make room for some great pleasure that's farther off. You see,” she added, blushing a little, as if her words needed excuse, “it's something I had to learn myself, years ago, never to trample on daisies in a wild chase after roses. The roses I have not found, but the daisies have been enough to make the path bright.”

Mrs. Barney looked upon her in some perplexity, as she took her departure. She had listened with one-half her mind on the loaves of bread in the oven, and the other half did not fully comprehend what had been said.

“Daisies and roses! I don't see what any sort of a flower has to do with wanting a new kitchen! But, there! I suppose ministers' wives, even if they are only ministers' wives, hear so much talk that it comes natural to them. Bits out of old garments, like as any way. Dear me! I don't get much time for poetry in my life! I'm sure of that. How Tim does loiter!”

Tim, meanwhile, had sauntered out from among the bushes, and was engaged in untying the old horse that Mrs. Searls had fastened as securely as if it could be induced under any circumstances to run. He was moved to this act of gallantry, partly because he really liked the cheery little woman, and partly because he heard Mrs. Barney's call, and was in no haste to go to the house.

“That will do, thank you, Tim,” said sister Searls, nervously anxious to expedite his steps in the way of obedience. “I think Mrs. Barney is calling you.”

“Yes'm; she 'most always is,” answered Tim, philosophically, pausing to arrange the harness with painful deliberation.

“But, my dear boy,” urged sister Searls, reading something in the knitted brows, “you really should try to please her and help her all you can, you know. She is kind to you.”

“Oh yes, she's kind! Only when I see one of her kindnesses a-coming I dodge; it generally hits a fellow hard enough to be uncomfortable,” responded Tim. Then, having relieved his feelings by this statement, his conscience pricked him slightly, and he added: “You see she's always in such a hurry. She can't come and bring 'em; she has to pitch 'em.”

Mrs. Searls meditated as she drove down the country road.

“Well, I never thought of that before, but I do suppose that's why the Bible speaks of the Lord's ‘loving kindness’ and ‘tender mercy’—because there's so much kindness in the world that isn't one bit loving, and so much mercy that is only duty and not tenderness. I'll tell Josiah that.” For it happened that while the good minister pored over his books and studied theology, his wife, going here and there, studied humanity. And though he cooked his own sermons, she often seasoned them.

The baking was done at last, the currants picked, and Mrs. Barney's dinner ready.

“For the bounty bestowed upon us may we be duly grateful,” murmured Mr. Barney, with head bowed low over his plate. Then he looked up and remarked that he was tired of a steady diet of ham and eggs, and didn't see why they couldn't have a little variety.

“You would see if you had to cook in the hot kitchen as I do,” responded Mrs. Barney more shortly than her wont. “I am glad to have whatever I can get most quickly and easily. When we have a summer kitchen, we can begin to live as other people do.”

“If we ain't all old as Methuseler,” complained Master Tommy in an undertone which was perfectly audible. “Anyway, the chickens will be if we can't have any cooked till that time.” He had sniffed the odors of the baking on his homeward way from school, and settling his juvenile mind upon chicken-pie for dinner had been grievously disappointed.

Warm and weary with the morning's work, the questions and suggestions fretted Mrs. Barney. She felt wounded and aggrieved, too, as she moved about silently after dinner. No one seemed to see that she cared as much for things nice and comfortable as did the others, she said to herself. She cared far more, indeed, since she was willing to do without much now, and work and plan for the sake of having things all that could be desired by and by. How many present comforts and conveniences she had foregone for that. Those very cellar stairs, toward whose dark, tortuous steps she was tending, were an example; they could scarce be more illy built, or in a more inconvenient place. Mr. Barney had wanted to remove them; but she would not allow him to incur the expense, because a second removal might be necessary when the house was thoroughly rearranged. No, she had preferred to submit to the discomfort all this time.

Too long a time it proved; for even while she meditated, an insecure board slipped beneath her feet, plunging her down the narrow stairway against the rough stone wall, and then upon the hard floor of the cellar. One swift moment of terror, the crash of dishes that fell from her hands, a flash of excruciating pain, and then she knew nothing more. She did not hear Nealie's wild cry from the room above, nor see her husband's pale face as he lifted her in his arms.

When she returned to consciousness a strange voice—the physician's—was saying,—

“No bones broken, though it's a wonder her neck wasn't, falling in the way she did.”

Slowly she opened her eyes upon a confused mingling of anxious faces, wet cloths, and bottles of arnica and camphor, and gradually she comprehended what had happened, and her own condition—not dangerously injured, but bruised and lamed, with a sprained ankle that would keep her a prisoner for some days at least. It was a sudden pause in her busy work, an enforced rest. She scarcely knew how to bear it, for a moment, as she remembered all she had planned to do, until a second shuddering thought suggested that she might have left it all forever; then she grew patient and thankful. Yet it seemed strange to be quietly lying on the lounge in the best room, the room that had been kept so carefully closed to preserve its furniture until an addition to the house should transmute it into a back parlor; to watch through the open door, only a spectator, while Nealie flitted to and fro in the kitchen beyond, spreading the table for tea.

How good the children were that evening, and how thoughtful her husband was, coming to her side again and again to talk or read to her. They had not found much time for talking or reading together these late years, she and David; she had always been so busy when he was in the house. She had dreamed of a leisure time coming, though, when they should have many evenings like this, except the illness or accident coming to mar her plans, or of death suddenly ending them. But it flashed upon her now how many loving words and offices and daily enjoyments had been crowded out of their home, and in that brief retrospective glance she understood the meaning and the earnestness of sister Searls's entreaty.

“Why, it's all kind of real nice and jolly—if you wasn't hurt,” declared Tommy, unable to express his enjoyment of the pretty room, and the unusual family gathering any more clearly.

Tears gathered in the mother's eyes, but she had found her clue and meant to follow it. She had ample time for thought in the days that followed, when she was only able to sew a little, now and then, on garments for Tim, or look over seeds for Nealie's vine-planting; and slowly but surely she learned her lesson, and brought it back to health with her—to gather life's pleasantness as God sends his sunshine—day by day.—Interior.

HE LEADETH ME.

Psalm 23.

In “pastures green”? Not always; sometimes He Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me In weary ways, where heavy shadows be;

Out of the sunshine warm and soft and bright, Out of the sunshine into darkest night, I oft would faint with sorrow and affright.

Only for this—I know He holds my hand; So, whether led in green or desert land, I trust, although I may not understand.

And by “still waters”? No, not always so; Ofttimes the heavy tempests round me blow, And o’er my soul the waves and billows go.

But when the storms beat loudest, and I cry Aloud for help, the Master standeth by, And whispers to my soul, “Lo, it is I!”

Above the tempest wild I hear him say, “Beyond this darkness lies the perfect day; In every path of thine I lead the way.”

So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair I dwell, or in the sunless valleys where The shadows lie—what matter? He is there.

And more than this: where’er the pathway lead, He gives to me no helpless, broken reed, But his own hand, sufficient for my need.

So, where He leads me, I can safely go; And in the blest hereafter I shall know Why in His wisdom He hath led me so.

—Selected.

Hearts Kept Padlocked: Expressing Affection in Life

“Hearts more or less, I suppose,” says Principal Sharpe, “most of us have; but we keep them so close-cased and padlocked—we wear an outside so hard or dry—that little or none of the love that may be within escapes to gladden those around us. And so life passes without any of the sweetening to society that comes when affection is not only felt but expressed.”

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

THE question here propounded is pre-eminently important, and the facts that cause us to introduce it are sadly abundant. It will be very likely remarked, If there be such facts, name the persons and places identified therewith. This we have done more than once, and the same result has been reached. It has not pleased those “at ease in Zion.” We choose for the present our own methods of performing our duty, and hope we have lived long enough to be considered able to decide such questions intelligently and correctly. At any rate, we certainly know how to do the best we can with our present capabilities. We are fully persuaded that there must be a reform. We mention a few facts which lead us to this conclusion.

A responsible brother, a pastor well known in our denomination, says that a prominent official in his church, a Sunday-school superintendent, and a steward, and a trustee, publishes a Sunday paper, and the boys in the school are out till 8 A. M. on Sunday, selling the same. Another is a politician, and plays cards in saloons for beer, but don't attend prayer-meeting or class-meeting. The most wealthy and aristocratic member of the same church, whose house is the home of the bishops when they visit the place, plays cards, but for fifteen years has not been in a class or prayer-meeting. These three men are stewards and trustees, and using a common mode of expression, “run the church.”

We are informed of another person who is known to have more to do with fixing the appointments in a prominent city than any other one man in it, that is largely interested in the rum-selling interest. In the same city, the wife of a leading member of the church was sick, and the sickness it was feared would be “unto death.” But God in mercy restored her, and the first place she went to after her restoration was the theater. The reason for this was, the daughter was to take part in some private parlor readings, and it was deemed desirable she should have an opportunity of hearing some distinguished performer on the stage. This, of course, is the result of “parlor readings,” etc.

Another case in the same locality is that of a local preacher who accompanies his sons to the theater, they having contracted a taste for theatrical performances by “parlor readings,” and Sunday-school exhibitions. The father says he can't restrain them from going, and goes to watch over them, and keep them from being harmed.

Two superintendents of Sunday-schools in the neighborhood can say nothing to the boys in their schools against the use of tobacco and rum, because they themselves are addicted thereto. The cases we refer to include the “better class,” as they are designated. They are the men who serve on church committees, and select pastors whom the bishops are expected to appoint.

We do not pretend that such matters are general or common. But we aver they are by no means rare or uncommon.

We quote a declaration made by one of our chief pastors, Bishop Peck. In a recent discourse, published over his own signature in Zion's Herald, he says: “There is, for instance, a general impression that many members are not useful, not holy in life, not worthy representatives of practical Christianity, really a burden, and not a help to the church. But the extent of this sad fact is not seen, that the cold, worldly, or indifferent in our midst are really a large majority, and that the church is compelled to bear the reproach of a vast multitude of sinful men. Nor is the peril of these brethren fully appreciated. It comes to be considered so much a matter of course, that the evil is looked upon as irremediable; and the few go on to bear the burdens and do the work which belongs to the many, and charity becomes indifference. Discipline is hence rare, and finally impossible. An attempt to expel even the incorrigible awakens surprise, and even bitter opposition. Crimes, ‘sufficient to exclude a man from the kingdom of grace and glory,’ come to be considered venial, and the pastors and members who attempt a godly discipline, become the accused, persecuted criminals. Let me distinctly, but with tender concern, say, that this represents a fact so large as to explain, to a great extent, our failures in church reforms and Christian power, and to call for the most rousing, pathetic, and persistent appeals from the pulpit and the press.”

The reader will please remember that this sad picture is drawn by a bishop of our church. To us, if true, it would be no more significant than if uttered by the humblest individual connected with the body. But most of people deem Bishop Peck of much greater importance than Jesse T. Peck, and for their consideration, we wish to emphasize the fact that it is Bishop Peck who makes these fearful declarations. It is not the extreme and enthusiastic individual who happens to be the editor of this journal, that says these strong things, but a man sufficiently conservative to be called to the office of a bishop in the church. Doubtless the words were well considered, and the facts were thoroughly canvassed, before they were made public. The good bishop certainly knows what he affirms. Of the correctness of his representation no candid and intelligent person will have the slightest doubt. In this state of things, we repeat the inquiry with which we started, “What is to be done?”—Methodist Paper.

If we might be allowed to answer the question proposed at the head of the foregoing article, we should say, in view of its statements, that about the only thing to be done is to obey the prophetic injunction of the Scriptures, and proclaim, “Babylon is fallen; come out of her, my people;” thus endeavoring to save some from the wreck that is inevitable in the near future.

THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF CHRIST.

The following confession of faith, signed by John Bunyan and forty other elders, deacons, and brethren, and approved by more than twenty thousand others, was presented to King Charles II., in London, 1660. They declared, “We are not only resolved to suffer persecution to the loss of our goods, but also life itself, rather than decline from the same.” Where are the Baptists of 1660?

“Art. 22. We believe that the same Lord Jesus who showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs (Acts 1:3), which was taken up into heaven (Luke 24:51), shall so come in like manner as he was seen go into heaven. Acts 1:9, 11. And when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory (Col. 3:4); for the kingdom is his, and he is the governor among the nations (Ps. 22:28), and king over all the earth. Rev. 5:10. The kingdoms of this world (which men so mightily strive after here to enjoy) shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ. Rev. 11:15. For all is yours (ye that overcome this world), for ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. 1 Cor. 3:22, 23. For unto the saints shall be given the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven. Dan. 7:27. Though, alas! how many men be scarce content that the saints should have so much as a being among them; but when Christ shall appear, then shall be their day, then shall be given unto them power over the nations, to rule them with a rod of iron. Rev. 2:26, 27. Then shall they receive a crown of life, which no man shall take from them, nor they by any means be turned or overturned from; for the oppressors shall be broken in pieces (Ps. 72:4), and their vain rejoicings be turned into mourning and lamentations, as it is written Job. 20:5, 7.

“We believe that there will be an order in the resurrection; Christ is the first fruits, and then next, or after, they that are Christ’s, at his coming; then, or afterward, cometh the end. Concerning the kingdom and reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we do believe that he is now in Heaven at his Father’s right hand, so we do believe, that at the time appointed of the Father, he shall come again in power and great glory; and that at or after his coming the second time, he will not only raise the dead, and judge and restore the world, but will also take to himself his kingdom, and will, according to the Scriptures, reign on the throne of his father David, on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem; forever.

“We believe that the kingdom of our Lord will be a universal kingdom, and that in this kingdom the Lord Jesus Christ himself will be alone visible, supreme king of the whole earth.

“We believe that as this kingdom will be universal, so it will be also an everlasting kingdom that shall have no end, nor cannot be shaken; in which kingdom the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus shall receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls; where the Lord is they shall be also.

“We believe that the New Jerusalem that shall come down from God out of Heaven, when the tabernacle of God shall be with them, and he will dwell among them, will be the metropolitan city of this kingdom, and will be the glorious place of residence of both Christ and his saints forever, and will be so situated as that the kingly palace will be on Mount Zion, the holy hill of David, where his throne was.”— Crosby’s Hist. of Baptists.

WHAT SHALL WE RECEIVE?

By J. N. Ayers

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22: 12, also Rom. 2: 6. Yes; we shall receive just what is right, according to what we have done, as all our work is faithfully recorded. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. 20: 12. Oh, what a solemn thought! that we must soon render up our account, and that we shall be recompensed for only what we have done. All our good intentions, all our resolutions, all our faith, all our anxiety for others, will do us no good unless they have led to zealous work. We shall not be rewarded according to what we feel, or what we intend to do, or what others do in spite of us; but according to our works.

Suppose a farmer should employ a man during harvest, promising to give him whatever was right for his labor, and that man should make loud pretensions of what he wanted to do, and lament that so much grain would be lost because of idlers, complaining because the faithful laborers did not follow his ideas in everything, and suppose he should pursue this course from day to day throughout the harvest, neither working himself nor allowing others to work, so that by his idleness much of the grain should be lost, what wages ought he to receive at the settlement? Would not the employer be justified in charging him for damage, and not allowing him anything for the time he spent? Certainly he would.

Now if the laborer would be held responsible in that case, how should we expect the Lord to deal with us who have entered his vineyard to labor, if we allow the fruit (souls) to perish all around us, and do not put forth earnest efforts to save it? Not only ministers, but every member of the tract society has entered the great vineyard, and all will soon be rewarded according to the work done. Hear Christ talk to the idlers. Matt. 20: 6-7: “Why stand ye here all the day idle? Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.” So all are expected to engage in the labor of saving souls. If you are not a minister, it is your duty to become a working member of the tract society. You can use your means in the cause of God, or you can devote your time to its advancement; but the Lord wants you to work, if you would receive a reward when he returns to settle with his laborers.

Now one word to those who belong to the T. and M. army of Kansas. Have we rightly used the means God has placed in our hands to save souls? What have we

been doing with the strength God has given us? Has it been used in the Lord’s cause? or have we employed it selfishly in trying to gain more of this world’s goods? What do we intend to do the present quarter? In view of all the blessings God has given us this season, can we feel clear while our neighbors are unsaved? The harvest is almost past, are we ready to render our account, and receive wages according to what we have done? “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Rom. 14: 12. If we should be called upon to render our account before the close of the present quarter, what would be our wages? Should we hear the welcome: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”? or should we hear instead: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”? Matt. 25: 21, 41.

Fellow-soldiers marching to the Judgment, we shall soon be there. Soon we shall hear the voice of the great Commander, dividing the army into just two divisions. One division will be the blessed; the other, those who are accursed. One division will be led by King Jesus, and will inherit the kingdom prepared for those who love him; the other will be driven away into outer darkness. The one will receive life eternal; the other will go into the lake of fire, which is the second death. Oh, how can we do without the reward of the faithful? and how can we endure the punishment that will be inflicted on the wicked? Let us strive to be found in the former class; and let us labor that others, through our instrumentality, may be numbered among the redeemed. Let each one settle in his own mind what he will receive.

J. N. AYERS.

Garnett, Kansas, July 25.

“AND THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT THERE.”

By I. S. Olive

[Lines written on seeing a picture of the “New Jerusalem.”]

O lovely land of beauty! O glorious land of light! In which is seen no darkness, to which there comes no night; O city so enchanting! O tree of life so fair! O gates of pearly whiteness! shall we thy glories share?

O wall of stones most precious whose radiance ne’er shall pale, O streets with golden pavements, whose brightness ne’er shall fail, O waters of that river proceeding from God’s throne, O place of joy and gladness, in which is heard no moan,

Where pain, or grief, or sickness shall trouble us no more, Where tears, and fears, and partings eternally are o’er! No sunlight there is needed: the Lord his light bestows; No moon to rule the night, for there God’s glory flows

In streams of light unceasing. The gates are open wide; Glory and honor enter, and evermore abide. O home of joy and gladness! O city out of sight! We see by faith thy beauty; we long for thy pure light.

Father, whose love so boundless permits an entrance there, Saviour, whose care so precious those mansions shall prepare, Look down on one so erring, who strives thy law to keep, Who often fails and falters, who often waits to weep.

Help, gracious Lord, the weakness of one who mourning waits, And grant to me an entrance through those fair pearly gates. May all who love thy statutes obtain admittance there, And find a home of rapture within that city fair.

Prescott, Wis., July 17, 1878.　　　　　　　　　I. S. OLIVE.

GETTING TURNED AROUND.

By Joseph Clarke

Sometimes the wisest of men, in their travels in countries and places new to them, become bewildered as to the points of the compass, and it seems to such persons that the sun rises and sets differently from its usual regular course: all order seems set aside, and the sun has taken a strange freak, and has chosen a new course in the heavens. So, to one sailing along the coast the land seems to move past, and the boat seems to stand still; and to many minds it is a matter of certainty that the sun does revolve daily around the earth.

So of customs and habits: to the tobacco or opium or whisky consumer, it seems clear that he lives only by the vile habit which is really killing him. To the Sunday observer, all other days are working days, and Sunday is the only Sabbath; indeed, to him Sunday is the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. To another, a few drops of water sprinkled upon an infant is baptism; to another, this rite is the circumcision of the new covenant. To one, death is the new birth, and the resurrection; to another, a block of painted wood is a god; to another, Mohammed is a true and living prophet; to another, Mary is the mother of God, and a very convenient lady intercessor. So it is; the many are bewildered and turned around, like the man who has lost his compass. Joseph Clarke.

IMMORTALITY NOT A CURSE.

By N. W. Vincent

THERE is something grand and hope-inspiring in the very word immortality. It is the opposite of mortality. It denotes a state free from death. So blessed is it that we are taught that God is its source, and its only absolute possessor. John 5: 26; 1 Tim. 6: 16. But if all who fail of the heavenly kingdom shall from age to age seek death and it shall flee from them, as in the case of some mortals during the one hundred and fifty years' sounding of the first woe trumpet (Rev. 9: 6), it follows that immortality will be to those lost millions a curse; a curse irremediable, eternal; a curse that will nourish the plant of sin in God's universe forever; a curse that will make rebellion, deformity, discord, pain, and anguish existing, horrid realities to eternity.

In Rom. 2:7 we are taught to seek after immortality as associated with honor and glory. It cannot, therefore, be a curse. It is the crown of life of the Holy Scriptures. It was not given to the fallen angels, nor to the lost of our race at the beginning of their probation, with the divine foreknowledge that it would ultimately be an endless curse. It was reserved for the overcomer. Let us seek for it by patient continuance in well-doing; then it will be sure for us “at that day” “when the Chief Shepherd shall appear.”

N. W. VINCENT.

THAT IS PERFECTLY NATURAL.

By Wm. Ostrander

THAT is perfectly natural. How often is this expression made use of even by those who profess to be followers of Christ. And is it an extravagant conjecture to say that many will come up in the Judgment deceived, on account of their having said and done those things that are perfectly natural? Take that person who is naturally covetous, will he ever be able to enter through the gates into the city of God, unless the Spirit of the Lord eradicates every covetous desire from his heart? And what is true of the covetous person will also be true of the intemperate, jealous, licentious, fault-finding, or eccentric person.

It may be that some will feel to take issue with me in regard to the last-named character. I apprehend that when the people of God attain to the high state of oneness described by our Saviour in that memorable prayer that his followers might be one even as he and his Father were one, then those eccentricities and peculiarities now so prominent even among Seventh-day Adventists will all be laid aside. Then indeed shall we be a peculiar, chosen people unto the Lord, separate and distinct from the world, but joined together in a perfect, harmonious union. Wm. Ostrander.

MISSIONARY WORKERS OF A. D. 27 AND 1878.

By D. A. R.

The gospel of Christ is the same in every age, although the manner of advancing it may differ at different periods. The slow facilities for locomotion and communication that met the demand eighteen hundred years ago would be inadequate to the present emergency.

Ours is an age of wonders, and many of the numerous inventions of to-day are just what is needed to advance God’s holy truth, and should be used for this purpose. But our rail-cars, steamboats, telegraphs, express companies, etc., would never warm the world without self-sacrificing missionary workers. These different agencies are means through which the workers can strike a blow that will be felt from pole to pole.

A missionary worker does not labor from love of gain or honor. His love for precious souls impels him to a course which often brings the reverse of this. He does not stop to see what the advantages will be to himself, but, like the man who would save his fellow from imminent danger, he rushes to the rescue with all the strength at his command. Let us become imbued with such a spirit, and God will bless our efforts. It is the motive that leads us to do all in our power, which God looks at and weighs. The two mites of the poor widow were more in his sight than all the “much” cast in by the rich, because she had done all in her power, while they had not. The idea of missionary workers is not a new one. Some may think that it originated with Seventh-day Adventists, but this is a grand mistake. I do not suppose that Paul had books on present truth to scatter, or that Timothy obtained subscribers for a pioneer paper, the probabilities are that they did not, yet they were true missionary workers.

After Christ had been baptized he was seen walking alone by John and two of his disciples. John exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Mark the result: “And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” They went home with him, and no doubt he instructed them in the missionary work; for the next we learn is that one of them got his brother interested in the truth and brought him to Jesus. Also the Saviour called Philip, and he would not rest; the newly found truth was too precious to enjoy alone, so he goes in pursuit of somebody to whom he can impart the same. The first one he finds who seems interested is Nathaniel. He tells him his simple story, and Nathaniel, having an honest heart, embraces the truth.

Thus, missionary workers have ever labored in the cause of the Master. Men have possessed the missionary spirit all along down the stream of time. In the providence of God, it is our lot to have the honor of living when missionary operations are being closed up, and like a mighty corporation, are preparing to shut down. We have much difficult work to finish before it closes. Who will work now? Who will lift a little harder? Rise a little earlier in the morning, if need be? In short, who will be a missionary worker in deed and in truth? D. A. R.

BIBLE LESSONS FOR YOUTH.

LESSON X.—ABRAHAM IN CANAAN.

QUESTIONS.

Where was Abraham obliged to go soon after he arrived in Canaan?
Why was he obliged to go to Egypt?
How were Abram and Lot prospered in Egypt?
On their return to Canaan what were they obliged to do?
Why were they obliged to separate?
How did Abram manifest his generosity?
What choice did Lot make?
Where did he pitch his tent?
Where did Abram dwell?
What is the southern part of the valley of the Jordan called?
What were in this vale?
What were these cities called?
How many kings made war with the cities of the plain? Gen. 14.
What was the reason of the battle?
On hearing of this, what did Abram do?
When did he overtake the victorious army?
What did he do when he overtook them?
Whom did he meet as he was on his way home?
Who was Melchisedec?
What did he bring forth?
What did he do for Abram?
What did he tell him?
What did Abram give Melchisedec?

SYNOPSIS.

Abram had not been in the land of Canaan long when there came such a famine that he was obliged to go to Egypt and dwell there till the famine was over. While Abram and Lot were in Egypt, the Lord prospered them so that they both became rich; and on their return to Canaan they were obliged to separate, in order to find pasturage for their cattle. Abram generously gave Lot his choice, and he chose the plain of Jordan, and pitched his tent toward the wicked city of Sodom. Abram dwelt in the plain of Mamre, near Hebron. The southern part of the valley of the Jordan is called the Vale of Siddim. In this vale there were cities, called the cities of the plain. The kings of these cities were beaten in battle, and many of the people, with their most valuable goods, were carried away by their enemies. Lot and his family were among the prisoners. Abram, on hearing of this, armed his servants, and being joined by some powerful friends, pursued the army. Having overtaken them in the night, he rescued the prisoners and their property, and returned with them toward Hebron.

On his way back, Abram met a strange person, called Melchisedec, king of Salem. Melchisedec was the priest of the most high God, and he brought forth bread and wine, and blessed Abram, telling him that it was the God of Heaven that had given him victory over his enemies. Then Abram gave Melchisedec a tenth of all the spoil that he had taken.

HOLLAND

In the last number of LES SIGNES DES TEMPS, Eld. Andrews has an interesting paragraph in regard to the cause among the Hollanders. Freely translated, it is as follows:—

“Our brother Velthuysen, in Holland, labors with activity and zeal to lead the people to obey the commandments of God. He writes us that from time to time he is rejoiced at the success of his efforts, whether in preaching or in the work of publishing. Many persons, he says, study these subjects with interest. A brother, a captain of a vessel on the Baltic Sea, bears a faithful testimony in favor of the memorial of the Creator. Aboard of his ship, no matter where he is, and despite the opposition which he encounters, he keeps the rest-day of God, and each Sabbath assembles his crew with him in the cabin for divine service. Being brought in connection with other Holland sea captains, and many other persons, he has an opportunity to make known his faith, which he does, leaving the results with the Lord. This good news [adds Eld. A.] encourages us to work while it is yet day. Everywhere the Lord has his faithful servants. Let us unite our efforts, and be not weary in well-doing, knowing that our work will not be in vain in the Lord.”

Continue reading: KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE TRACT SOCIETY