Review and Herald, Vol. 37, No. 20. (5/2/1871)

Review and Herald

May 2, 1871

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 2, 1871

INCREASING FORETOKENS OF THE END.

By Dr. Cumming

“And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”—Matt. 24: 3.

“What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” What was his answer? It is really most important that we should attend to this. Did he say, “You have no business with such questions. It is fanaticism to expect to understand what it is folly to ask of me”? Such is the way the world still meets such questions. But why should ministers shrink from any portion of God’s inspired word? If a minister preaches upon subjects external to the Bible, you may justly find fault with him; but if what he preaches be what is written in the Bible, you may dissent from his conclusions, or you may believe his logic is defective; but you cannot find fault with him because he discusses what the Master himself has given and inspired for our learning. Having seen that the Saviour himself does not denounce the question of the apostles as improper, nor refuse an answer as inexpedient, let me proceed to adduce some of those signs about which they inquired, and which the Redeemer said would indicate the approaching advent of the Prince of Peace, and the end, not of the earth, for the earth is made everlasting as the heavens, but of this present economy or dispensation. Of course those who think the present arrangement an optimism, that death, and sickness, and sorrow, and pain, and bereavements, are all perfectly natural and as it should be, are so far satisfied. But there are hearts of a nobler beat and deeper sensibility—hearts that feel in their inmost recesses that things are not as they were, nor as they will be. Things most surely are not as they were, for Paradise was the representative model of the earth 6000 years ago; and things are not, thank God, as they will be; for, according to prophecy, a day comes, be it near or be it remote, when, under a new decree, the wilderness shall rejoice, and the solitary place shall blossom like the rose, and the lion—strange inversion of scientific belief—shall eat straw like the ox.

We are not prophets, gifted and ordered to predict the day. The caricaturist and the skeptic may say so; but no intelligent writer on prophecy pretends to predict what shall be, not merely next year, but for to-morrow. What, then, do we profess to do? To show by induction, which is a scientific process, from the divine premises before us—God’s word—what is revealed as to the signs and phenomena that will precede the second glorious advent of Him in whose personal coming every Christian upon earth believes. Every member of the Church of Scotland accepts the apostle’s creed; in the Church of England the worshiper repeats the apostle’s creed; and both communions profess to believe that he will come again to judge the quick and the dead. What, therefore, we profess to attempt is carefully to collect the signs of his nearing advent, as these are enunciated by himself or by the apostles; and to leave hearers and readers in the exercise of common sense, of impartial judgment, to compare the signs as they are thus enumerated in the word, with facts and phenomena as they rise above the horizon in the world, and to conclude that we are not, or are proximately, near “the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world,” or of this dispensation.

The great sign our Lord specially states is, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” What must fair and impartial criticism infer from these words? Just this, that as soon as Christianity has been fully addressed to every “nation,” not every individual, the end will arrive. The words are very definite and exact; as soon as Christianity has been addressed to every nation over the whole world; not after converting every nation, for this is not said, but as a message, or “witness,” then shall the end come. What we have to answer is not whether the sign be a proper one or not, for those that believe the words of Christ cannot entertain such a discussion; but, is there any evidence that this gospel has been preached “to all nations” in the world, so as reasonably to exhaust the prophecy? I will not dogmatically pronounce, but I will state the following simple historic facts: First, up to April, 1857, 35,690,000 copies of the word of God, in 152 languages, had been prudently sown over the whole world. If I include the American Society, 160,000,000 of Bibles, in 200 languages and dialects, have been disseminated in various ways and in recent years over the length and breadth of the world. I do not think there is a nation or a segment of a nation, with any sort of social organization or speaking the dialect of a language, which has not the word of God, or at least a portion of it, in its own tongue; so that the witness has been given, though the conversion of the people has not followed from it. Some still living may have read that when Wilberforce announced the fact of Carey, the Baptist missionary, going out to preach the gospel in India, the House of Commons, which we should suppose to be the concentration of wisdom, scoffed and sneered at a converted cobbler setting out to convert India. Carey was a shoemaker. God put it into his heart to undertake the work; and gloriously, but silently, he replied to the sneer by sowing seeds in India, which bishops, and presbyters, and great men after him, have been privileged to reap. After the Baptist Missionary Society, that noble institution, the London Missionary Society, was organized. After it, in rapid succession, came the Church Missionary Society of England, the Church Missionary Society of Scotland, the Wesleyan and the Moravian Missionary Societies; and receiving altogether an annual revenue of nearly half a million, they are most faithfully—let skeptics sneer, let Romanists find fault—and most successfully, preaching the gospel as a witness, not without incidental conversions, over all the world, to every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. The Bible Society, the most revolutionary society in the world, has lately received a most noble credential. That poor, restless, unhappy man, Pius IX., the present head of the Roman Catholic Church, enumerates in his Encyclical, among other “pests” of the earth, as the first and greatest pest of all, the British and Foreign Bible Society. This was not said by the pope in a private passion to his private friends. It is enunciated as an infallible proposition; so that every Roman Catholic who does not believe the British and Foreign Bible Society to be a pest, ceases, ipso facto, to be a member of the Roman Catholic Church. By the action of these Societies, the walls of China have been thrown down; Hindostan or India, with its 180,000,000, has had the gospel preached to it as a witness; and I believe that under the presidency of that most remarkable man, Sir John Lawrence, who for two years was a member and seat-holder in my church, before he received the reins of India in his hands, the gospel will enjoy a freedom and make a progress in that peninsula, such as it has never reached before. Africa, through the labors of Livingstone, and Dr. Barth, and Speke, and Grant, has been traversed. It can be said truly that Christianity has been preached there at least as a witness. The gospel has penetrated even Japan. A hundred years ago the Jesuits took possession of Japan, and made converts by thousands of the Japanese; but their conversion consisted entirely in sprinkling water on the brow in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Such Christianity had no root in the heart or the head, and the consequence was, that not very long ago, every Jesuit and Roman Catholic Christian was expelled from Japan, and the Japanese resolved that the cross should not be seen, nor Christianity be heard, within the precincts of their islands. There is not a nation upon the earth, amid polar snows or under equatorial suns, that has not heard the gospel preached, and in its own tongue the word of God freely circulated, so that we may expect the blessed day soon to arrive, when, in the language of the great missionary bishop,

“——o’er our ransomed nature, The Lamb for sinners slain, Redeemer, King, Creator, In bliss returns to reign.”

We are led to believe, from all that is written in the word of God, that toward the end there shall be an era of intense apathy and unconcern on the part of the world to the hope of Christ in particular, and to Christianity itself in general. Our Saviour tells us, “As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” He states in another passage in Luke 17: 28–30, “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all; even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Now what was the condition of the world in the days of Noah? Not a condition of positive infidelity, in the sense of intellectual opposition to the origin and claims of religion; but when eating, which is proper, became a life; when drinking, and marrying, and giving in marriage, rose to be the dominant and the absorbing passion of all. “Perimus in licitis;” “We perish in things that are lawful.” It is not so much by doing what is wrong as by indulgence to excess in what is lawful that men become irreligious and sinful. This is a most important test. What is the condition of the age in which we live? Is it not intense speculation, extreme absorption in the gains and glories of the world? Thousands thinking first in the morning and last at night, what will bring the highest per centage? It is not sinful to make the best use of one’s money—God forbid that I should say so—but what I complain of is, making this the main thing, the all-absorbing passion. The tendency, one grieves to say, of all speculation beyond what is legitimate and within the limits of one’s profession, is to exercise an absorbing influence upon the heart, the conscience, and the life. The end of business is to live, not to grow rich; you don’t live to eat, you eat to live; you don’t become merchants in order to become millionaires and retire, but in order to live according to your station, and bring up your family, and do good according to your means and opportunity in the world. But when business comes to be an exclusive passion—How shall I get soonest rich? How shall I be able soonest to retire, and to have my country-seat, and to give up the smoke and the din and the noise of London? What in its place and measure is reasonable, becomes the one all-absorbing thing; how contrary is all this to the beautiful answer to an important question in a little catechism that people might with advantage all learn: “What is the chief end of man?” What would be the exchange answer? To get rich. What would the counting-house answer? Make the most money that we can, and as speedily as possible leave. What does that catechism answer? “The chief end of man is to glorify God on earth, and enjoy him for ever in Heaven.” Whatever, therefore, supersedes that end, whatever runs contrary to it, may be good in its origin, but it is wrong in its development; for it is perverting and destroying the chief end and object of man. The Saviour tells us such will be the condition of the world, before he comes again. There will prevail intense absorption in things lawful, but illicit and sinful in excess. Matthew Henry, that quaint, but incomparable, commentator, says, “That time which men think the most improbable and the most unlikely, and therefore feel the most secure, will be the time when the Lord shall come again.”

Another evidence, or “sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age,” is great moral deterioration in the social condition of the nations of the earth. We read in 2 Tim. 3, these words: “This know also, that in the last days”—mark, he is speaking of a period future to him—“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” The word “perilous” alone is most suggestive. “For,” says the apostle, “men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” These are signs or marks of the last days of this dispensation. I do not venture to deny the immense elevation of the people of the nineteenth century in arts, in literature, in science, and in charitable acts and liberal sacrifices. But there are under-currents and side-currents of a very different kind. It would seem that the darkness grows darker while the light grows brighter—contrast giving intensity to the age. I would not exaggerate, but the newspapers constantly record murders of the most atrocious and sanguinary character. The press has registered so many great crimes recently that one is driven to give up reading the history of incidents so shocking, so revolting. That there is intenser piety in the world than there ever was, none dare deny; but if I may judge from the organs of public opinion, there seems to be an amount of gross wickedness and great crime which do appear to me unprecedented in the annals of modern civilization. We can confirm what Paul predicts, if confirmation were needed, by what St. Peter says: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?”—the very thing that the apostle is proceeding to speak about, as much as to say, What a fool you are, “Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” Let the most careful student print or publish a sermon or book upon the meaning and interest of prophecy, and he will find a great portion of the secular press rising up in fierce fury to denounce him, and the caricaturists turning sacred truths into idle jibes and jests. The world gets up in arms the moment one ventures to assert that its present estate will not last forever, or to point to the signs that the Redeemer’s coming draweth nigh. But how interesting that these very scoffers are so far proofs of the fulfillment of the prophecies. “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

Another sign is, Christ will come amidst great social convulsions, revolutions, national upheavals, and disturbances. The words of the Saviour are, “There shall be upon the earth distress of nations.” This is the universal condition of the nations. “And then,” says the Saviour, in the midst of these, “shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory.” What is the inner condition of the whole world? Just what I have faintly intimated. Every nation feels itself insecure. Every nation is revising its navy, its army, its weapons of offense and of defense, expecting war, but not sure in what quarter of the sky the war-cloud will appear darkening the light of day, paying the largest rewards to the men that will invent the most powerful and most destructive engines of war. When war next comes, Trafalgar, Alexandria, the Nile, the Peninsula, Waterloo itself—nay, the Crimean War, will be but the battles of pigmies in comparison of the battles of Titans likely soon to be. What do we find predicted in the Apocalypse? It says that under the sixth vial, when the voice rings down from heaven, “Behold, I come as a thief,” unclean spirits go out to gather the nations and the kings of the nations together “unto that great day,”—it is in our translation “battle,” but the Greek word is not mache, which is “a battle,” but polemon, which is, “a war”—“to gather the nations unto that great war of Almighty God.” Does it not look as if all nations were making ready for a war that they believe, if we may judge from their preparations, will be on the most gigantic scale, and fraught with the most terrific issues? There is not a king in Europe at this moment that has not his hand upon his sword-hilt; there is not a Cabinet at this moment that is not discussing the navy, and the army, and the weapons that they are to wield. Do not these things look very much like the fulfillment of the prophecy, “Distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth;” or, as it is said in Matthew, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”?

And then he adds, “And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” It is no doubt true that there have always been earthquakes; but the problem every reader must solve is their greater or lesser frequency and intensity during the last 15 years. I do not say that every earthquake is the sign that this dispensation is about to close, and Christ about to come, nor that every pestilence is so; but the Saviour knew when he pronounced his prophecy that there had always been famines, there had always been earthquakes; and yet he says these shall be marks of the nearness of his advent. It is not occasional instances, but frequent and terrible ones, constituting the aggregate of all the features described in prophecy and meeting their application in the age in which we live. There will also be pestilences. I remember the pestilence in 1849; I was in the midst of the cholera in various districts of the metropolis. In 1854, the cholera appeared again, more circumscribed, but from what I saw of it, in far greater intensity. The cattle disease—no importation from abroad, but the creative action of a new condition of the air, brought into action by a depraved sanitary condition—has startled all Europe. Recently the Black Death, the old plague, crossed the Ural Mountains and entered Russia; the last report made to the French Government was that the condition of St. Petersburg was deplorable, and that 70 out of 100 were stricken down by this pestilence alone. It is moving, they report, toward the frontiers of Germany, or westward, like all plagues in its direction. The fulfillment of that prediction, “And pestilence in divers places,” is thus undeniably seen. But what should be our place? Our refuge should be the 91st Psalm, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” He who has his heart filled with trust in God, and his hope rising beyond the stars, and goes forth and does his duty, such a one is much safer than those people that run away and leave the post of duty to those that dare fulfill it.—Dr. Cumming.

HOLD ON! HOLD IN! HOLD OUT!

Hold on, my heart, in thy believing, The steadfast only wins the crown; He who when stormy waves are heaving Parts with his anchor, shall go down. But he whom Jesus holds through all Shall stand, though earth and Heaven shall fall.

Hold in thy murmurs, Heaven arraigning, The patient sees God's loving face; Who bear their burdens uncomplaining, 'Tis they that win the Father's grace. He wounds himself who braves the rod, And sets himself to fight with God.

Hold out! There comes an end of sorrow, Hope from the dust shall conquering rise, The storm foretells a sunnier morrow, The cross points on to Paradise. The Father reigneth! cease all doubt! Hold on, my heart! Hold in! Hold out!

Man’s Creation.

By O. R. Fassett

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7.

This is the original record of the creation of man in the beginning, and as written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be gainsayed nor refuted successfully. There it stands defying the ingenuity and wisdom of the world to alter the fact. Human vanity and pride must come down to the conclusion that “we are dust,” and animated with “the breath of life,” and “living souls.”

“Man, formed of the dust of the ground.” Man’s whole organism is of “dust;” his bones, his muscles, his nerves, all the tissues of his material body, his internal organs, the brain itself, and the organs of sight, of hearing, of smelling—man’s whole constitution is of “the dust of the ground.” How marvelous the transforming power of God, who has created every part of the human body, so diversified in character, of one material. And not only so, but “out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air” (Gen. 2:19); though “all flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.” 1 Cor. 15. Modern chemistry by analysis proves the above scriptural declaration to be true, and confirms the word of God. “The human body submitted to this test proves to be a combination of carbon, hydrogen, lime, and all those materials of which dust is composed.” If we need further proof, the results of death in the dissolution and decomposition of the body are a confirmation. The archaic phrase, “dust thou art,” is verified with all the sad facts connected with the departed dead under the one sentence following the original transgression, “unto dust shalt thou return.” Here is a three-fold proof demonstrating man’s constitution beyond all possible cavil.

“Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (lives). The plural noun is in the original. Not to intimate a two-fold nature in man, or man a dual-being, as maintained; but because it is that “breath of life” (lives) which is common to all living, breathing animals, “all in whose nostrils is the breath of life.” Gen. 7:22. “For they have all one breath.” Eccl. 3. On the dissolution of man in death, the scriptural declaration is verified—“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Eccl. 12. All that is constituted of “dust” returns to dust. That which is superadded to “man,” “the breath of life,” i. e., “the breath of the spirit of life,” does not return to dust, but “unto God who gave it.” Not in conscious entity; for there is no conscious entity in “the breath of life,” the ruah, which God breathed into man’s nostrils. If there is, as it leaves the body in death, then there must be in “the breath of life” of all living, breathing creatures; for “they have all one breath” (ruah). Eccl. 3. “Man became a living soul.” “Man”—“soul.” When alive, “a living soul;” when dead, “a dead soul.” Not an “immortal soul;” but simply “a living soul,” like all living animals, “every beast of the earth.” Gen. 1.

“The phrase ‘living soul’ is repeatedly applied to the inferior order of animals; it would seem to imply the same, therefore, when spoken of beasts.”—Prof. Bush. “A general term to express all creatures endued with animal life.”—A. Clarke. “A generic term for living creature.”—Prof. Stuart. “The idea is that God infused a portion of himself, of his own divinity, into the human body. If the proof is sought in the phrases ‘breath’ of life’ and ‘living soul,’ these do not prove anything, for both of them are applied, in the first chapters of Genesis, to brutes, and prove the same things concerning them.”—Dr. Bagnal. “Adam became a ‘living soul,’ that is, a living man.”—Columbian Bible, foot-note. “It seems as if the most proper idea resulting from these words is, that Adam became a living man.”—Union Bible Dic. “A general term for all living animals, on the land and in the sea.”—Bible Union Translators’ foot-note.

Against all this astounding proof, men are trying to maintain what is utterly and hopelessly impossible, and they are destined to fail, to their eternal confusion; and that is, “the dual nature of man,” or that man is a “dual being,” “possessed of a body, and an immortal soul,” or an “immortal spirit” which survives the death of the body, and exists in consciousness independent of the body. The discussion upon this subject has brought down the argument to a very small point with the more intelligent and advanced advocates; and this will be seen by the following extract from the work of Prof. Dods—“Immortality Triumphant.” It should be known that Dr. John B. Dods has written on the “Philosophy of Mesmerism,” “Philosophy of Electrical Psychology,” and has many other works now extant; besides, was invited to give a course of lectures before the members of the Senate and House of Representatives in Washington, for his great learning and eloquence.

The force of his argument will be seen to greater advantage when I quote the following scripture, which lays the whole subject matter before us—“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16:25, 26. Dr. Adam Clarke says: “On what authority many have translated the word psuche in verse 25, life, and in verse 26, soul, I know not; but am certain it means life in both places.”

“I extended my arguments,” says Dr. Dods, “to the whole animal and vegetable creation, and include them in the vast and boundless theme of immortality. I desire it to be distinctly understood that whenever I use the term life, mind, or spirit, I mean one and the same thing, differing only in the degrees of intelligence, sensation, or motion, in the individual existence to which I may apply them. I hold all life, whether animal or vegetable, to be a species of mind [the italics are his] in some one of the ever varied links composing the vast chain of being, and consequently immortal.

“If mind is not an immortal substance or being, but the result of an organized brain, then death is certainly the end of man, and human immortality is but a visionary dream!”

Yes, here is the issue: “Mind [i. e., life] is not an immortal substance or being.” This is a thing which can never be proved. Our argument founded on scriptural declaration is “triumphant” above his “immortality triumphant.”

But he proceeds: “This is making mind to be the effect of an organized brain, even as motion is the effect of the mechanism of a watch. Destroy the mechanism of the watch, and the motion is gone. Destroy the organism of the brain, and mind is no more! Surely this is a contemplation of gloom as profound as the end is melancholy.”

Of course it is; for death is a dread calamity which has befallen us as a race for sin; and without hope in God and the resurrection, we might well despair. But we do not despair, in view of death, “as those who have no hope.” Thank God, Jesus lives; and because he lives, we shall live also. He is risen the first fruits of them that sleep. But is not the brain the organ of thought? If it is not, why do we have to carry about such a quantity in our heads? If it is, then with its destruction the mind must cease. “In that very day his thoughts perish.” He still remarks: “As life therefore possesses an independent existence, as an organized substance of exceeding subtlety, so it must be the cause of organism.”

Where would such a thought lead, carried to its legitimate conclusions? The life of an animal, and of a plant, or vegetable, is its own creator! Furthermore, “the life” of “a vegetable,” and “all animals,” he regards as an “immortal,” “organized substance.” Then when a vegetable dies, its life exists as an entity with “a degree,” as he says, of “intelligence!” When any animal dies, as a horse, dog, cat, serpent, worm, insect, “the life” exists as “an organized substance!” Of course he, and all others, are driven to this very point; for “life” is “the soul,” and the soul is the life of any animal.

All we have to do, then, is to determine whether the life of anything living is an “immortal, conscious, organized substance, of exceeding subtlety,” or not, whether in the body or out. If it is, then we may glory in “immortality triumphant,” without a Redeemer, and all living, animate existences being “immortal, will survive the destruction of the corporeal fabric, triumph over the ruins of death, pass into a future state, clothed in an electrical body, and expand and brighten in mental and moral capacity without end.” Pp. 39–41, 48, 88.

Surely, what strange fancies will not men take up with when they war against the word of God, and in their boasted wisdom reject “the foolishness of God,” which “is wiser than men.” Give me the Bible still, rather than human philosophy, and the vain reasonings of men; and give me the blessed hope of “a better resurrection,” through a glorified, coming Redeemer, at the last day, to die no more.—O. R. FASSETT. In World’s Crisis.

Does God Exercise Special Care over His People Now?

By Restitution

No BIBLE reader will deny that God’s people, in the ages covered by the divine record, have enjoyed his care and protection. This is too apparent to be denied. They have not only been the recipients of his general beneficence with the rest of mankind, but in addition, have received special favors. The patriarchs, prophets, Israel, the apostles, and primitive disciples, all were specially cared for by the divine Being. This they knew, and hence they trusted in him. This David acknowledged when he said, “They that know thy name will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” Ps. 9: 10.

But it is denied by some, that in this age, or during Christ’s absence from the earth, God exercises any special care over his people. This opinion seems to be founded mainly on the fact that now we see no miraculous interference, or angelic service rendered, as in former times. It does not follow, however, that because there is no outward or visible manifestation of God’s care, that therefore he does regard or assist his children. This idea seems to us derogatory to the character of God, and detracts from the truth and honor of his word. God is the Creator of all things, and as such, he has a general care and supervision over all the works of his hands, and is the great Father of all. But his people claim a closer relationship—they are taught to address him as “Our Father, who art in Heaven.” This is special, and implies special favor. If there is no present advantage to be gained by this endearing connection, then we are at a loss to understand many precious promises of the word.

We live in an era of the world when the arts and sciences flourish, and progress is the order of the day; but this increase in knowledge has only tended to infidelity. And to the shame of the Christian world be it said, that the church is largely imbued with its spirit. The earthly has ignored the heavenly—the flesh the spirit—the human the divine. God may be recognized as the great first cause; but he is looked upon as far away, and only operating through law, and that it is in vain for any one to look for his special favor. But it was not so in ancient times. Everything was referred to the hand of the Lord. David recognized and acknowledged God’s care and protection. He it was who delivered him from the mouth of the lion and the paw of the bear—he it was who saved him from the persecuting hand of Saul, and from the prowess of Goliath of Gath; and it was not to his own skill or valor that he ascribed anything. No! he called all his powers to “bless the Lord, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercy; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Ps. 103: 1–5.

Some seem to think, at least so it appears from the way in which they talk, that the saints of old always had some visible token of God’s care over them, and hence they refer to the ministration of angels, of which we read in so many places. But we should not forget that these messengers of the Lord were sent on extraordinary occasions, in order to convey his word, or execute his will; and those special cases cannot legitimately be cited as illustrating the common experience of the people of God, even in the ages when those visitations took place.

When the Lord promised his people that he would be with them and bless them, are we to understand that he would be visible to them, or his working always known? This promise was made to both Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 26: 3, 24), and was fulfilled, and in numerous other cases; but we cannot suppose that Jehovah was any nearer or more present with them than any other of his saints, who have lived in other ages, or who may be alive now. The psalmist David says, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” Ps. 145: 18. And Moses, Israel’s great lawgiver, asks, “What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?” Deut. 4: 7. The Lord is near to his people, according to this language, when they call upon him in a proper manner—near to hear and answer their prayers. If this is not so, then we cannot understand many portions of the word. What mean such statements as these: “The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.” “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry”? Of what avail or benefit to have the

Lord’s eyes upon us, and his ears open to our cry, unless it be to help or protect. Hence we again read, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” The Lord hears to save and deliver.

Ah! says one, this is all well enough, and was true in by-gone ages, but will not apply now. God heard his people then, and delivered them, as we have evidence in many instances. He did this on many extraordinary occasions; but we have no reason to expect that he will step out of his ordinary course at the present time. But we ask whether we are to regard answers to prayer, which God’s people have experienced in all ages, as always extraordinary or miraculous. Were there none of the ordinary kind? And if there were, why not some of the same kind now, since God is unchangeable?

We think the Scriptures teach that the saints of this age are just as precious, and as much the objects of his care and protection, as in days of old.

Our Saviour taught his disciples that God was their Father, and that his care would be exercised on their behalf. Hence he taught them to pray to him; to ask and they should receive; to trust in him; to have faith and confidence in his power and willingness to supply their wants. And he illustrated this by his own conduct. The apostles, too, in their epistles, inculcate the same doctrine. Peter says, “Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.” Paul exhorts: “Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.” And again: “Be content with such things as ye have; for he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” But how can we exercise this trust in God, if we cannot believe that he is our Father, and near to help us? Surely, we lose all the comfort such confidence is calculated to give. John writes: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.” And James says, We have not, because we ask not; or we ask and receive not, because we ask amiss.

Oh! let us trust God more, confide in his care; believe that he is near, and not afar off, and that he is our God and Father. We need his care and love now, just as much as saints have done in other ages. And there is nothing to hinder us from drawing on his mercy, but our unbelief. God is “the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.” “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” Then let us draw near unto the Lord, and he will draw near unto us, and we shall experience with the psalmist that he is both “a sun and a shield, and will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”—Restitution.

For Backbiters.

WHEN any one was speaking ill of another in the presence of Peter the Great, he at first listened to him attentively, and then interrupted him. “Is there not,” said he, “a fair side also to the character of the person of whom you are speaking? Come, tell me what good qualities you have remarked about him.”—Methodist.

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