Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 16, 1881
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
DEFEAT OF SISERA.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
IN the northern part of the land of Canaan, near Lake Merom, lay the possessions of Jabin, king of Hazor, and one of the most powerful and formidable of the enemies of Israel. In the days of Joshua, this monarch united with other kings against Israel, but was utterly defeated and his city was burned.
After some years, however, the Canaanites recovered from their defeat, and rebuilt the city. A new king, Jabin, reigning like his predecessor in Hazor, rose into great power. The commander of his armies, Sisera, was an able and successful general. His forces were well equipped and powerful, including nine hundred chariots of iron.
The Israelites, having again separated themselves from God by idolatry, were grievously oppressed by these enemies. The property and even the lives of the people were in constant danger. Hence the villages and lonely dwellings were deserted, and the people congregated in the walled cities. The high-roads were unoccupied, and the people went from place to place by unfrequented by-ways. At the places for drawing water, many were robbed and even murdered, and to add to their distress, the Israelites were unarmed. Among forty thousand men, not a sword or a spear could be found.
For twenty years, the Israelites groaned under the yoke of the oppressor; then they turned from their idolatry, and with humiliation and repentance cried unto the Lord for deliverance. They did not cry in vain. There was dwelling in Israel, a woman illustrious for her piety, and through her the Lord chose to deliver his people. Her name was Deborah. She was known as a prophetess, and in the absence of the usual magistrates, the people had sought to her for counsel and justice.
The Lord communicated to Deborah his purpose to destroy the enemies of Israel, and bade her send for a man named Barak, of the tribe of Naphtali, and make known to him the instructions which she had received. She accordingly sent for Barak, and directed him to assemble ten thousand men of the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, and make war upon the armies of King Jabin.
Barak knew the scattered, disheartened, and unarmed condition of the Hebrews, and the strength and skill of their enemies. Although he had been designated by the Lord himself as the one chosen to deliver Israel, and had received the assurance that God would go with him and subdue their enemies, yet he was timid and distrustful. He accepted the message from Deborah as the word of God, but he had little confidence in Israel, and feared that they would not obey his call. He refused to engage in such a doubtful undertaking unless Deborah would accompany him, and thus support his efforts by her influence and counsel. Deborah consented, but assured him that because of his lack of faith, the victory gained should not bring honor to him; for Sisera would be betrayed into the hands of a woman.
Barak now marshaled an army of ten thousand men, and marched to Mount Tabor, as the Lord had directed. Sisera immediately assembled an immense and well-equipped force, expecting to surround the Hebrews and make them an easy prey. The Israelites were but poorly prepared for an encounter, and looked with terror upon the vast armies spread out in the plain beneath them, equipped with all the implements of warfare, and provided with the dreaded chariots of iron. These were so constructed as to be terribly destructive. Large, scythe-like knives were fastened to the axles, so that the chariots, being driven through the ranks of the enemy, would cut them down like wheat before the sickle.
The Israelites had established themselves in a strong position in the mountains, to await a favorable opportunity for an attack. Encouraged by Deborah's assurance that the very day had come for signal victory, Barak led his army down into the open plain, and boldly made a charge upon the enemy. The God of battle fought for Israel, and neither skill in warfare, nor superiority of numbers and equipment, could withstand them. The hosts of Sisera were panic-stricken; in their terror they sought only how they might escape. Vast numbers were slain, and the strength of the invading army was utterly destroyed. The Israelites acted with courage and promptness; but God alone could have discomfited the enemy, and the victory could be ascribed to him alone.
When Sisera saw that his army was defeated, he left his chariot, and endeavored to make his escape on foot, as a common soldier. Approaching the tent of Heber, one of the descendants of Jethro, the fugitive was invited to find shelter there. In the absence of Heber, Jael, his wife, courteously offered Sisera a refreshing draught, and opportunity for repose, and the weary general soon fell asleep.
Jael was at first ignorant of the character of her guest, and she resolved to conceal him; but when she afterward learned that he was Sisera, the enemy of God and of his people, her purpose changed. As he lay before her asleep, she overcame her natural reluctance to such an act, and slew him by driving a nail through his temples, pinning him to the earth. As Barak, in pursuit of his enemy, passed that way, he was called in by Jael to behold the vain-glorious captain dead at his feet,—slain by the hand of a woman.
Deborah celebrated the triumph of Israel in a most sublime and impassioned song. She ascribed to God all the glory of their deliverance, and bade the people praise him for his wonderful works. She called upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God had wrought for Israel, and to take warning not to do them harm. She showed that honor and power belong to God, and not to men, or to their idols. She portrayed the awful exhibitions of divine power and majesty displayed at Sinai. She set before Israel their helpless and distressed condition, under the oppression of their enemies, and related in glowing language the history of their deliverance.
The destruction of Sisera and his forces, effectually subdued the Canaanites. After this, the land had peace forty years. But prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God.
"MASTER, SAY ON!"
By Frances Ridley Havergal
MASTER, speak! Thy servant heareth,
Longing for thy gracious word,
Longing for thy voice that cheereth;
Master, let it now be heard:
I am listening, Lord, for thee;
What hast thou to say to me?
Master, speak in love and power;
Crown the mercies of the day,
In this quiet evening hour
Of the moonrise o'er the bay,
With the music of thy voice;
Speak, and bid thy child rejoice.
Often through my heart is pealing,
Many another voice than thine,
Many an unwilled echo stealing
From the walls of this thy shrine;
Let thy longed-for accents fall;
Master, speak! and silence all.
Master, speak! I do not doubt thee,
Though so tearfully I plead;
Saviour, Shepherd! Oh, without thee
Life would be a blank indeed;
But I long for fuller light,
Deeper love, and clearer sight.
Resting on the "faithful saying,"
Trusting what thy gospel saith,
On thy written promise staying
All my hope in life and death;—
Yet I ask for something more
From thy love's exhaustless store.
Speak to me by name, O Master,
Let me know it is to me;
Speak, that I may follow faster,
With a step more firm and free,
Where the Shepherd leads the flock,
In the shadow of the Rock.
Master, speak! I kneel before thee,
Listening, longing, waiting still,
Oh, how long shall I implore thee
This petition to fulfill!
Hast thou not one word for me?
Must my prayer unanswered be?
Master, speak! Though least and lowest,
Let me not unheard depart;
Master, speak! for Oh, thou knowest
All the yearnings of my heart;
Knowest all its truest need;
Speak! and make me blest indeed.
Master, speak! and make me ready
When thy voice is truly heard,
With obedience glad and steady
Still to follow every word.
I am listening, Lord, for thee:
Master, speak! O speak to me!
—Frances Ridley Havergal.
EMOTION AN AID TO RELIGION.
By Independent
AN intellectual age has assumed, too hastily, as we think, that powerful emotion hinders the perception of truth, and fills the mind with passion, when its whole energy should rather be absorbed in dispassionate observation. This view is brought forward to tell against religion, which is so much a matter of the heart and where the sentiments and affections play so important a part. We are bidden to distrust the views of life, truth, and duty which open to us in exalted moments of spiritual communion.
There is every difference between a mind filled with passion and disqualified for reasonable action, and that state of high emotion which is awakened by the kindling effect of the truth which the mind is endeavoring to apprehend. Isaac Newton described eloquently the glowing enthusiasm amid which he pursued his investigations. It is fair to doubt whether, with a cold mind, he could have made the intellectual spring which was required to raise him above all other minds and lead the world's intellect on the path of discovery.
So, in ordinary matters, the utmost that any one can do will be accomplished when emotion adds strength to his powers or raises them to their highest point of achievement. Why should we distrust the aid which awakened feeling brings to religion? Is divine truth so open and so easily attained that a cold mind can trust itself to explore it thoroughly, or even sufficiently? Shall we deny that those deep emotions which the contemplation of religious themes and the cultivation of religious sympathies awaken will raise the power of the mind to grasp spiritual realities and classify its intellectual atmosphere?
The indulgence of mere sensation may drug the higher powers of the soul; but, without emotion, it is vain to hope to raise the whole man to the limit of his ability or to bring the totality of his capacities into operation. Of all subjects in the world, then, we are not to contemplate religion with the pure white light of reason alone. It requires aid from an awakened and glowing heart. When the spirit descends and love glows, the eye enjoys its most "precious seeing." But when the heart is cold, and the spirit fled, and the mind turns passionless to these themes, then is the time to doubt yourself.—Independent.
IS SIN ETERNAL?—NO. 5.
By J. N. Loughborough
BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, OF SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND.
THE third text which is taken to prove eternal suffering, reads, "The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever." Rev. 14:11. In this case, torment is spoken of as the portion of the finally impenitent. According to our Saviour's testimony, this torment, or the "stripes" upon the wicked will accord with the magnitude of their guilt. "That servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes." Luke 12:47, 48. This does not disagree with St. Paul's statement, "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23. Comparing these texts we should conclude that the fate of the ungodly will be the second death, and that each will also receive torment or stripes according to the amount of willful, personal sins committed by them. We notice also that this torment of our text is said to be "in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." St Paul says of the punishment, "Destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." A comparison of these texts will show that the torment is to end, not in the conversion of the sinner, but in his destruction.
David said of the wicked (Ps. 37:20), "The enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." While thus consuming they are tormented. The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, not that they are to be tormented eternally, but a complete and final work is accomplished on them. After thus consuming into smoke there is no resurrection to again unite these dissolved elements and bring them to life. No! The smoke ascends up forever.
The fourth text is Rev. 20:10, "Tormented day and night forever and ever." A casual reading of this text might seem to convey the idea of eternal torment to the devil and his hosts of sin. Let us look at it carefully and see if it will bear such construction. This scene is presented as transpiring "in the lake of fire." In this lake of fire, as we have already learned, the wicked are to die the second death. Here the sinner is to meet his "perdition," 2 Pet. 3:7, illustrated by the reduction of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes. 2 Pet. 2:6. The devil is one of those said in the text to be tormented forever and ever. St. Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews says Christ was manifested that "through death he might destroy" the devil. Heb. 2:14. If the devil is to be destroyed with all his works; and if the strong (Satan) is to be as tow, and his work (sinners), as a spark, and are both to burn together with none to quench them (Isaiah 1:31), what can be the meaning of the statement that in the lake of fire they are to be "tormented day and night forever and ever"?
The Greek here is Ais tous aionos ton aionon.Aionos and aionon are both in the plural number. How is this? To give it a rigidly literal translation, following the form of the text, we should have them tormented day and night forevers of forevers. If one forever in the text means eternal, what is the force of it in the plural? Are the wicked and the devil to be tormented eternities of eternities? This cannot be, for there is but one eternity—duration endless. This Greek word aion—age—here rendered forever must then be understood in this case in its literal sense of age, or period, and that period here is of less duration than endless, because there cannot be a multiplication of eternities. It has been by some scholars translated "for ages of ages." In that case the obvious meaning would be this; they have periods of torment in the lake of fire corresponding to the periods of their sin, and this would accord with the words of Christ respecting the few and many stripes. Let it be borne in mind that this torment of the ungodly is in the presence of Christ, (Rev. 14:11), and that this torment must close as they are to be destroyed from his presence. 2 Thess. 2:8, 9. To be out of God's presence must be out of existence. See Ps. 139:7-10.
It is further claimed that the wrath of God abiding on the sinner must mean that the wicked are to exist eternally, and be conscious of God's wrath. Is this a necessary conclusion? "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36. Before adopting any hasty conclusions from this text it may be well for us to examine what the Bible says of the wrath of God, and what that wrath will do for the sinner. 1. The Scriptures declare that the anger of God will cease. 2. The effect of that anger on the sinner is to be his destruction and not his conversion.
On the first point, the cessation of God's anger, we read (Ps. 103:8, 9), "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide; neither will he keep his anger forever." "He retaineth not his anger forever, because he dealeth in mercy." Isa. 57:16. "For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made." This text shows plainly that if God's anger were to be continued, it would be the destruction of all his creatures both spirit and soul. For this reason he declares that his anger shall cease. We now inquire second, Is the fact that his anger is to cease, any source of encouragement to those who shall be found at last impenitent? Is the wrath of God of such a nature that it is to accomplish their salvation? What saith the Scripture? We read, Ps. 56:1, "Who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?" and in Nahum 1:6, "Who can stand before his indignation? Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?" In Zeph. 3:8, "For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."
What is this indignation of the Lord which is to be poured at last upon all nations? This we may learn by turning to Isa. 26:20, 21. "Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."
We see, then, that this greatest manifestation of God's anger against the ungodly, when he pours out his indignation upon them, will be at their final resurrection, for it is at a time when "the earth shall no more cover her slain." Though this wrath of God abides on the sinner, he will not be always contending with them, but, as expressed in Isa. 10:25, "For yet a little while and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction." The fact that the wrath of God abides on the sinner is a proof that they are not restored to God's favor, and is another strong evidence of their utter destruction.
One of the latest publications in Southampton, on the subject of future punishment, is a pamphlet of 24 pages from the pen of Rev. C. E. Steward, Vicar of St. Peters, entitled "Divine Punishment, and the Larger Hope." I should denominate the production an apology for the "Eternal Hope" theory, as put forth by Canon Wilberforce. Although the writer of the pamphlet does not declare himself as fully with the advocates of eternal hope, he certainly wishes us to understand that probably the doctrine is true. He claims that punishment is only of a reformatory character, and so is like the fatherly corrections of the parent who hopes to reform the wayward child.
His position is unmistakably against the doctrine of eternal conscious suffering to the wicked. In speaking of the tendency of the age to the more liberal view of the fatherly dealing of God with all his creatures, he inquires: "Is it not inevitable, then, that to an age saturated with such ideas, the doctrine of eternal torment should assume the proportions of simply the most gigantic difficulty in the Bible, or out of it?"
He takes the position that what is called punishment in the Scriptures, is no direct infliction from God, but only a natural spiritual "consequence," as physical dissolution is a necessity of the human constitution. He says, "The misapprehension to which I refer, is this: that the so-called punishment of sin need be anything else than its natural results; that it involves any annexed or super-added infliction, being the simple consequences of spiritual disorganization." To express his thoughts in our own words, it would be that the mental anguish of the sinner will be measured by the time it takes him to spiritually die; the same as the duration of the physical pain consequent upon the physical disease of the body. The interval of time left to the sufferer for the subject to be brought forth for judgment may be so long that he may choose to repent, thus meeting the theory of the Larger Hope, which denies the doctrine of eternal torment. Enoch, who lived 365 years, was translated, so the truth of the matter of age, which is the reason why the ungodly are not destroyed at the blast, is illustrated. Enoch, being one of these who lived to old age, often the subject of comment upon such subjects. It may be that God is like "God merciful, and the Lord ready to take vengeance." Who serveth him not? Is he to anger, to acquit the guilty?
The question must necessarily arise, from a logical standpoint. If the condition of man after death is existence without consciousness, then we are experiencing the same amount of pain or pleasure, which mean we are in a state of non-existence. Archbishop Trench in his letter on the subject says, "but more than this," he adds: "If the soul is not worn out by persistent suffering, it requires to make a figurative statement of destruction." The idea of the Larger Hope is that the soul is not destroyed, but exists in a state of unconsciousness, which is a form of annihilation, or a state of cease to exist.
With this view of annihilation as the logical conclusion, I beg the reader to carefully study the Scriptures. I have never though that the conscious existence of the wicked is formed in the mind of the form of the Larger Hope, that they are to "be as though they had not been."
We trust that all, gross as it appears, restitution will be accomplished. The work is in God's hands. The sin, which God will punish, is a God of mercy, but an overruler as with his host forever.
It seems that this life is but a—builded or have been to go there being-rooted a dreadful though we do not strument. The ress much church instrumen great d is all harmony.
Trials Prepare Us for Eternity
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
It seems to me the trials and temptations of this life are all making us fit for the life to come—building up a character for eternity. You have been in a piano manufactory: did you ever go there for the sake of music? Go into the tuning-room and you will say, "My dear sir, this is a dreadful place to be in; I cannot bear it; I thought you made music here." They say, "No, we do not produce music here; we make the instruments and tune them here, and in the progress much discord is forthcoming." Such is the church of God on earth. The Lord makes the instruments down here, and tunes them, and a great deal of discord is easily perceptible, but it is all necessary to prepare us for the everlasting harmonies up yonder.—Spurgeon.
The Punishment of the Wicked
ease of the body, depends on the length of time intervening before physical dissolution. We are left to infer that by this spiritual death he means the subduing and conversion of the sinner, as set forth by advocates of "Eternal Hope." These may be consoling thoughts to those who do not choose to repent now; but he who advocates this theory of no "execution" against the sinner, will meet in his readings of the Scripture, many denials of his theory. One in particular, I will notice. A statement made by that holy man, Enoch, who "walked with God three hundred years," and was, therefore, more likely to know the truth of what he stated, than those in this age, who would frame their theory to human reasonings. St. Jude, when comparing the ungodly to wandering stars, "to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever," says: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all." Jude, verses 14:15. To this, we may be allowed to add one other testimony: "God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked." Nahum 1:2, 3.
The Vicar makes some admissions, which we must notice. On page 13, he says: "The theological literalist indeed, must admit that the condition of the lost is never represented as an existence at all. 'Destruction,' 'death,' and the like, are expressions which require to have a certain amount of force put upon them, before they will mean 'keeping alive forever in pain.' Hence, Archbishop Whateley, after showing that the letter of Scripture makes not for eternal misery, but more for the final extinction of evil souls, adds: 'On the whole, therefore, I think we are not warranted in concluding, as some so persistently have done concerning this question, as to make it a point of Christian faith to interpret figuratively, and not literally, the death and destruction spoken of in Scripture as the doom of the condemned, and to insist on the belief that they are to be kept alive forever.' Unless destruction means preservation, the rigid adherence to the letter involves the doctrine of annihilation; it certainly does not really countenance eternal existence in misery."
With the exception of the use of the word annihilation in the above quotation, I think its conclusion must commend itself to every candid reader of the Scripture. Annihilation is not a Scriptural term, so I prefer not to use it. Although the wicked may become extinct as conscious beings, the matter of which they were formed is not annihilated, but changed in the form of its existence. The Scripture terms are that they shall "die," "perish," be "consumed," "be as though they had not been," etc.
We think the theory of the final salvation of all, grows out of a misapprehension of the real work of Christ, and what is to be accomplished by it. They claim that Christ's work is to restore all the finally impenitent to God's favor, and thus clear the universe from sin, while we suppose the Scriptures to teach that God will bring upon the sinner the most merciful punishment that will meet their deserts. He is a God of love, but he cannot look upon sin with any allowance. Hab. 1:13. He is a God of mercy, but as he has threatened the wicked with an overthrow, may it not be death, in their case, as with Pharaoh? "But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; for his mercy endureth forever." Ps. 136:15.
SILENT FORCES.
By Rev. A. Clark
WORKMEN in the stone quarries sometimes find a very hard kind of rock. They pick little grooves for the iron wedges, and then, with great sledge hammers, drive and drive the wedges into the flinty rock. And yet, once in a while, they fail to divide the solid mass. The iron wedges and the sledges prove useless, and the workmen wonder at the stubborn rock. But there is yet another way. The iron wedges are removed from the narrow grooves. Then the little wooden ones of a very hard fibre are selected. The sharp well made wooden wedges are first put into water. They are then inserted in the grooves tightly, while wet, and water is kept in the grooves, and no sledge is needed to drive them. They would break under the severe blows of the ponderous hammer.
But the workmen just let the wet wedges alone. They will draw what the driven iron failed to do. How so? The damp wood swells. The particles must have room to enlarge. And the granite heart of the rocks cannot withstand this silent influence. In a little while the solid rock parts from top to bottom and the workmen's will is accomplished. It is often so in other things. What noise and visible effort fail to do, some quiet power, when applied, will surely accomplish. Teachers may remember this fact in mechanics, and manage some very stubborn natures by the application of the silent forces. The iron and the sledge hammers often fail; but tears, prayers, and a patient example never fail.—Rev. A. Clark.
THE SERMON OF "DICK" THE CANARY BIRD.
By J. Hyatt Smith
A LITTLE STORY WITH A BIG MORAL.
WHEN I was settled in Cleveland, I had a pet canary whose name was "Dick." He and I were on the most intimate terms. We roomed together; his cage was inside my cage, for he knew no home but my study. I always gave brother "Dick" the largest liberty, even granting him an "open door," when once in the room with my cage door closed. How often he used to sit on my slipper and eat his seed supper, and sing "grace" in his own bird way. In the midst of the preparation of my sermon, I would hear a sort of an interrogatory chirp, and "Dick" would be right at my elbow on the desk, those little bead eyes on me, and the chirp evidently saying "Hyatt, how are you getting along?" He was a bird of Baptist habits with that little bath-tub of his, and sure I am that he and I enjoyed much "close communion."
However, as a faithful chronicler of my departed friend—for dear "Dick" has long since died—I must say that he had one prominent, and to me, cruel failing. Although we were on terms of all possible intimacy, and never exchanged an unkind chirp or word, there was one positive disagreement which no manifestation of love on my part could remove. So often as I would put my hand into his cage to fill his seed cup, simple "Dick" would hop down from his perch and pick my fingers. All my acts of love could not convince him that the taking out of that seed cup was right. The cup filled and restored to its place, then all was right again, and "Dick" would feed his fill, and repay his master with a song of praise.
Preacher "Dick!" Dear, feathered brother! How often I think of your seed-cup sermon! It is daily repeated by my featherless brethren. When the heavenly Master sends "the snow and the rain upon the earth to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater," what murmurings and complaints do I hear. "Isn't this abominable weather!" "What is the use of all this snow and rain?" And in the autumn, when the harvests come in, and barns are filled to bursting, how loudly my featherless brethren sing the harvest hymn!
It is a rare exercise of faith to sing the song when the hand of infinite love appears in life's strange cage to fill our seed cup. Foolish Dicks that men are to pick the fingers that come only to "give us this day our daily bread." Oh, for a faith that can trust the hand, anticipate the gift, and sing when the seed cup seems to go away!—J. Hyatt Smith.
SHUT IN.
By Methodist
SHUT in, shut in from the ceaseless din Of the restless world, and its want and sin; Shut in from its turmoil, care, and strife, And all the wearisome round of life.
Shut in with tears that are spent in vain, With the dull companionship of pain; Shut in with the changeless days and hours, And the bitter knowledge of failing powers.
Shut in with dreams of the days gone by, With buried joys that were born to die; Shut in with hopes that have lost their zest, And leave but a longing after rest.
Shut in with a trio of angels sweet, Patience and grace all pain to meet, With faith that can suffer and stand and wait, And lean on the promises strong and great.
Shut in with Christ! Oh, wonderful thought! Shut in with the peace his sufferings brought; Shut in with the love that wields the rod. O company blest! shut in with God. —Methodist.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
By Charles L. Boyd
BY ELD. CHAS. L. BOYD.
WHEN about to leave the disciples, the Master soothed their sorrow with the assurance that the separation of which he had spoken should be followed by his return. Do we inquire, "When is he coming?" No definite time is given to satisfy our anxious mind; but he has given certain signs which are to indicate that it is near. And this is one of the most interesting themes toward which we can turn our attention.
To know the day when this "blessed hope" will be realized has not been granted to men nor to angels. The prophets who foretold, even the angels who taught the prophets, whom Peter (1 Pet. 1:12) says desired to look into the hidden things of God, were never permitted to know when that day shall burst upon a wondering world.
On the mount of ascension the angels reiterated the promise that Jesus shall come again. To those who inquire how he is coming, the angels answer, "In like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven." Clouds of glory received the risen Saviour; angels of God conducted him to the right hand of the Father. Clouds of glory will then form the stairway for the descending Lord.
Yes; he is coming. Blessed truth. From the signs we may not learn the definite time, but we may learn what great events are past which were once the subject of prophecy; what are future, and between which of these our lot is cast.
In journeying from New York to San Francisco there are certain great cities through which we must pass. The names of these cities and their respective distances from New York we know; between which of these cities we are at any time we know; but the exact distance to the next city we may not know.
The terminus of this probationary journey is that city whose walls are of jasper, whose gates are of pearl, whose streets are paved with gold, and whose King is the Redeemer of the world. The prophets foretold five great kingdoms; four temporal, the fifth eternal. By a knowledge of the signs of the times we may know between which of these kingdoms our lot is cast.
The Jews were rejected of God because they were carelessly ignorant of the signs of the times. The same dangers which proved their ruin are threatening us.
Let us seek to so relate ourselves to God and to so understand his word, that, being warned by their overthrow, we may be saved from falling over the same stumbling-stone of ignorance and unbelief.
TRIBULATION.
By Wayland Hoyt
THERE is a latent poetry in this word which, besides being very beautiful, will assist us to discover the use and design of tribulation.
It is an Oriental harvest time. There is the threshing floor. It is hard and smooth and broad—formed of the living rock or of earth closely trodden together. Here come the reapers bending beneath their loads of gathered grain. They cast the grain down upon that threshing floor. And here comes the tribulum—that is, the threshing instrument. It is a heavy wooden platform. On the under side it is studded thick with bits of broken flint or with savage iron teeth. Oxen are yoked to it. See, they drag it back and forth over the prostrate grain. Now look; all the wheat sheaves are sadly bruised and split. The wheat itself is broken out from the enfolding and useless straw. Every where on the threshing floor you can see multitudes of clean kernels. Now they push aside the straw. Now with fans they blow the chaff away. There lie the wheat kernels—the real thing they have been after through all the sowing and the reaping and the threshing, fit now to be ground and manufactured into bread for human use. But they could not have gotten the wheat had it not been for the tribulum.
Tribulation takes its name and meaning from that instrument—the tribulum. Tribulation is the divine threshing of man. And Christ tells us that in this world we must have it. The world is a threshing floor, and on every threshing floor, there is tribulation. Blows of pain must break off the evil husks, hindering what is good and noble in us. The useless straw must be beaten away from the golden kernel.
“Now no chastisement, for the present, seemeth to be joyous, but grievous,” says the Scripture. Threshing is never pleasant. “Nevertheless, afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby”—the true and valuable grain appears.—Rev. Wayland Hoyt, D. D.
"THOUGH THE EARTH BE REMOVED."
The traveler Humboldt gives an interesting account of the first earthquake he witnessed. He was at Cumana, in South America. The first shock came after a strange stillness. It caused an earthquake in his mind, for it overthrew in a moment all his life-long notions about the safety of the earth. He could no longer trust the soil which up to that day had felt so firm under his feet. He had only one thought—universal, boundless destruction. Even the crocodiles ran from the river Orinoco, howling into the woods; the dogs and pigs were powerless with fear. The whole city seemed "the hearth of destruction." The houses could not shelter, for they were falling in ruins. He turned to the trees, but they were overthrown. His next thought was to run to the mountains, but they were reeling like drunken men. He then looked toward the sea. Lo! it had fled; and the ships, which a few minutes before were in deep water, were rocking on the bare sand. He tells us that being at his wit's end he looked up and observed that heaven alone was calm and unshaken. Many strange things are yet to come upon the world—earthquakes, overturnings, upheavings. But amid them all, the Book tells us the Christian shall look up to the Heavenly One: "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever," and to his heavenly home which cannot be moved.—Selected.
The Doctor and His Tongue
SNIPPED.—Dr. John Gill was a wit, and often used it in disciplining his flock. An old lady, a member of his church, once called upon him with a grievance. The Doctor's neck-bands were too long for her ideas of ministerial humility, and after a long harangue on the sin of pride, she intimated that she had brought her scissors with her, and would be pleased, if her dear pastor would allow her, to clip them down to propriety. The Doctor not only listened patiently to her lecture, but handed over the offending white bands for her to operate upon. When she had cut them to her satisfaction and returned them, it was the Doctor's turn. "Now," said he, "my good sister, and you must do me a good turn also." "Yes, that I will, Doctor; what can it be?" "Well, you have something about you which is a deal too long, and causes me no end of trouble, and I should like to see it shorter." "Indeed, dear sir, I will not hesitate; what is it? Here are the scissors; use them as you please." "Come, then," said the sturdy divine, "good sister, put out your tongue."
The Sun and the Creator
WHEN the Emperor Trajan insisted on Rabbi Joshua showing him God, who he said is everywhere, the Rabbi led him out into the open air and said, "Suppose you first look upon one of his ambassadors," and bade him look at the sun. "I cannot see," said Trajan, "the light dazzles me." Then said the Rabbi, "Thou art unable to bear the light of one of his creatures; how then couldst thou look upon the Creator? The sight would annihilate thee."
Imitating Great Men’s Faults
NEVER attempt to convey the impression that you are a genius, by imitating the faults of distinguished men. Because certain men were poor penmen, wore long hair, or had other peculiarities, it does not follow that you will be great by imitating their eccentricities.