Earlier text: General ArticlesThe Empire of Grecia.
By A. T. Jones
EXTENT OF ALEXANDER'S RULE.
"A FEW days after the battle, Alexander entered Babylon, 'the oldest seat of earthly empire' then in existence, as its acknowledged lord and master. There were yet some campaigns of his brief and bright career, to be accomplished. Central Asia was yet to witness the march of his phalanx. He was yet to effect that conquest of Afghanistan in which England since has failed. His generalship, as well as his valor, was yet to be signalized on the banks of the Hydaspes and the field of Chillianwallah; and he was yet to precede the queen of England in annexing the Punjab to the dominions of a European sovereign. But the crisis of his career was reached; the great object of his mission was accomplished; and the ancient Persian Empire, which once menaced all the nations of the earth with subjection, was irreparably crushed when Alexander had won his crowning victory of Arbela."—Creasy's Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, Arbela, last paragraph. As the battle of the Granicus gave to Alexander all Asia Minor, and as the battle of the Issus laid at his feet Egypt, and all of Asia west of the Euphrates, so the battle of Arbela bestowed upon him all of eastern Asia, from the Euphrates to the Indus and the Jaxartes. In tracing the fulfillment of another prophecy, we shall have occasion to follow in detail, Alexander's course from the Hellespont to the utmost limits of his conquests, even as sketched by Mr. Creasy's eloquent pen. But for the present it must suffice for us simply to observe that, from about the middle of November, 331 B. C., to the month of August, 325 B. C., Alexander had accomplished all that is suggested in the above quotation, and about the month of November, 324 B. C., was once more within the gates of the city of Babylon. And in view of these facts which we have given, there can be no shadow of a doubt that the power of Grecia, as carried by Alexander the Great, was the "third kingdom of brass," of which Daniel spoke to Nebuchadnezzar. Its being the "third kingdom" was not all that Daniel spoke of it however. He declared to Nebuchadnezzar that it should "bear rule over all the earth." We have outlined the scope of his personal conquest, from the Adriatic Sea on the west, to the river Indus on the east; from the river Danube, the Black and the Caspian Seas, and the river Jaxartes on the north, to the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and lower Egypt on the south. This of itself was the greatest part of the then known earth. But the prophecy does not say that it should bear rule over the greater part of the known earth, but it does say, "over all," and nothing less than "over all" as then known, will meet the demands of the prophecy. Was it so? and can it be shown? It was so; and it can be shown. Alexander's influence was not confined to the limits described by his personal presence. As quoted by Creasy, Arrian says boldly:— "I believe that there was in his time no nation of men, no city, nay, no single individual, with whom Alexander's name had not become a familiar word. I therefore hold that such a man, who was like no ordinary mortal, was not born into the world without some special providence."—Fifteen Decisive Battles, Arbela, par. 4. This statement is probably extravagant, so far as it relates to the "single individual," but with this exception, we verily believe it to be a justifiable statement. But now to the proofs:— "Alexander being arrived within a league and a half [four and a half miles] of Babylon, the Chaldeans, who pretended to know futurity by the stars, deputed to him some of their old men to warn him that he would be in danger of his life in case he entered that city, and were very urgent that he should pass by it. . . . The Greek philosophers being told the foundation of his fear and scruples waited upon him; . . . and made him have so great a contempt for divination in general, and for that of the Chaldeans in particular, that he immediately marched toward Babylon with his whole army. He knew that there were arrived in that city ambassadors from all parts of the world, who waited for his coming; the whole earth echoing so much with the terror of his name that the several nations came with inexpressible ardor, to pay homage to Alexander, as to him who was to be their sovereign. . . . So that he set forward with all possible diligence towards that great city; there to hold, as it were, the states-general of the world. After making a most magnificent entry, he gave audience to all the ambassadors, with the grandeur and dignity suitable to a great monarch, and at the same time with the affability and politeness of a prince who is desirous of winning the affections of all."—Rollin, Hist. Alexander, sec. 18, par. 1. "So widely had the terror of his name and achievements been spread, that several of these envoys came from the most distant regions. There were some from the various tribes of Lybia [west of Egypt]—from Carthage [west of Lybia]—from Sicily and Sardinia—from the Illyrians and Thracians—from the Lucanians, Bruttians, and Tuscans, in Italy—nay (even some affirmed), from the Romans, as yet a people of moderate power. But there were other names yet more surprising—Ethiopians from the extreme south, beyond Egypt—Scythians from the north, beyond the Danube—Iberians [from Spain] and Gauls [from France], from the far west, beyond the Mediterranean Sea. Legates also arrived from various Grecian cities, partly to tender congratulations and compliments upon his matchless successes, partly to remonstrate against his sweeping mandate for the general restoration of the Grecian exiles. It was remarked that these Grecian legates approached him with wreaths on their heads, tendering golden wreaths to him, as if they were coming into the presence of a god. The proofs which Alexander received even from distant tribes, with names and costumes unknown to him, of fear for his enmity and anxiety for his favor, were such as had never been shown to any historical person, and such as entirely to explain his superhuman arrogance."—Grote, chap. 94, par. 79 (23 from the end of the chapter). "His march to Babylon steeped him still more in the intoxication of success. As he advanced on his road he was met by ambassadors not only from Illyrians and Thracians, from Sicily and Sardinia, from Lybia, and Carthage, but from Lucanians and Etruscans, and, as some said, from Rome itself. The lord of all the earth could scarcely look for wider acknowledgment or more devout submission."—Encyc. Brit., article, Alexander the Great, par. 14. "In the tenth year after he had crossed the Hellespont, Alexander, having won his vast dominion, entered Babylon; and, resting from his career, in that oldest seat of earthly empire, he steadily surveyed the mass of various nations which owned his sovereignty, and revolved in his mind the great work of breathing into this huge but inert body the living spirit of Greek civilization. In the bloom of youthful manhood, at the age of thirty-two, he paused from the fiery speed of his earlier course; and for the first time gave the nations an opportunity of offering their homage before his throne. They came from all the extremities of the earth, to propitiate his anger, to celebrate his greatness, or to solicit his protection. African tribes came to congratulate and bring presents to him as the sovereign of Asia. Not only would the people bordering on Egypt upon the west look with respect on the founder of Alexandria and the son of Jupiter Ammon, but those who dwelt on the east of the Nile, and on the shores of the Arabian Gulf, would hasten to pay court to the great king whose fleets had navigated the Erythrean Sea, and whose power was likely to affect so largely their traffic with India." "Already the bravest of the barbarians of Europe were eager to offer him their aid; and the Kelts and Iberians, who had become acquainted with Grecian service when they fought under Dionysius and Agesilaus, sent embassies to the great conqueror at Babylon, allured alike by the fame of his boundless treasures and his unrivaled valor. It was no wonder that the Carthaginians, who had dreaded, a century earlier, the far inferior power of the Athenians, and on whose minds Timoleon's recent victories had left a deep impression of the military genius of Greece, dispatched their ambassadors to secure, if possible, the friendship of Alexander. . . . The Lucanians and the Bruttians are especially mentioned as having sent embassies to Alexander at Babylon." "The Tyrrhenians also," said Aristobulus and Ptolemæus, "sent an embassy to the king to congratulate him upon his conquests." The ports of the western coasts of Italy swarmed at this time with piratical vessels, which constantly annoyed the Greek traders in those seas. These piracies had been reported to Alexander, and he sent remonstrances to the Romans on the subject. There is every reason to believe that among the Tyrrhenian ambassadors mentioned by Alexander's historians there were included ambassadors from Rome. "History may allow us to think that Alexander and a Roman ambassador did meet at Babylon; that the greatest man of the ancient world saw and spoke with a citizen of that great nation which was destined to succeed him in his appointed work and to found a wider and still more enduring empire. They met, too, in Babylon, almost beneath the shadow of Bel, perhaps the earliest monument ever raised by human pride and power, in a city stricken, as it were, by the word of God's heaviest judgment, as the symbol of greatness apart from and opposed to goodness. . . . During the period of Alexander's conquests, no other events of importance happened in any part of the civilized world, as if a career so brilliant had claimed the undivided attention of mankind."—Arnold, History of Rome, chap. 30, par. 1-3. Scene first: In the year 603 B. C., Nebuchadnezzar, king of the mighty kingdom, and builder of the wonderful city of Babylon, sits in his pleasant palace. Before him, and speaking earnestly, stands a young Jew. To the intently listening king, the young man is interpreting a remarkable dream that the great king had dreamed; he says that God is thus making known to the king what should come to pass afterward; and that one among these things would be the rise of a "third kingdom," and that this third kingdom should "bear rule over all the earth." Scene second: Two hundred and seventy years afterward, in that same great city of Babylon, perhaps in the same palace where Nebuchadnezzar had sat, there sits Alexander the Great, king of the third kingdom from Nebuchadnezzar. As there he sits upon his throne, before him stand ambassadors "from all the extremities of the earth," who are come "to propitiate his anger, to celebrate his greatness, or to solicit his protection." Now look on this picture, then on that; and no man can say that the scene represented in the second, is not the perfect consummation of that which was spoken in the first. The dream was certain, the interpretation was sure; and the fulfillment absolute. If Our Religion Is True
By Archbishop Whately
If our religion is not true, we are bound to change it; if it is true, we are bound to propagate it.—Archbishop Whately. God’s Marvellous Lovingkindness
"Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee." Worldliness of the Age.
By Dr. S. I. Prime
PHILIP HAMERTON has a chapter in his book on "Human Intercourse," in which he tries to account for the fact that people are becoming less religious than they once were. And he finds the reason to be that with the increase of knowledge and feeling, now so fully and variously developed, men and women are absorbed with the many concerns that arts and science have suggested, and are not shut up, as formerly, to religious thought and pursuit. That seems to me a very circuitous way of saying that things secular have excluded the spiritual from the minds of the people, and is merely saying the same thing over again. When the New Testament was written, the same expressions are employed that we must use to state the fact that the present usurps the mind and heart, that is, the intellect and affections, to the exclusion of the unseen and eternal. The age is worldly. And when was it not worldly? What were they doing when Noah entered into the ark? They were buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, eating, drinking, and having "a good time" each in his own way. And what else are they doing now? What other things were going on in the days of the wise king Solomon? Theaters and plays, men singers and women singers, games and shows, traffic and exchange, building and decorating, cheating and stealing, office-seeking and embezzlements, all just the same as it is now. Human nature is the same, and like begets like all the world over and always, as it was and as it will be. In those days there were also thoughtful old men who shook their heads at the frivolities and fashionable follies, as well as the wide-spread worldliness, greed, and crime of the times, and sighing said, "The former days were better than these." And the voice of inspiration rebuked those croakers, telling them they were mistaken in their judgment. In the varying conditions of human life from age to age, great changes may be noted in the manifestation of thought and feeling. The taste of one generation may not be as that of the one before it. The fashion of this world passeth away, and other fashions succeed. Religious experience varies in its development, while the truth and facts are the same to-day and forever. Seasons of religious revival are not invariably attended with the same manifestations. I remember "exercises" considered essential to sound conversion fifty years ago that are very rare now. Then the heart must be plowed up and harrowed for the implanting of saving grace. So it must be now; but the process is not the same, and the display of emotion is not so phenomenal and pronounced. There are diversities of operations by the same Spirit. The gate into the kingdom is the same needle's eye, but the strife, the conflict, and the victory are not so demonstrative. But here is the point to be made, that gate must be passed, or the Master himself, and all his apostles who took up his words, were mistaken as to the way to be saved. To miss it, to lose the opportunity, to make an infinite failure, wreck, and ruin of the soul, it is not necessary to become a pirate or a dynamiter. These are the two classes of men who come nearest in nature to the dwellers in everlasting fire. But it is not important to be like them in order to find the gate shut when you want to get in. Just stay where you are. Do only what you are now doing. Float along down the stream of a cheerful life. Eat, drink, and be merry. Buy, sell, build, plant, pray. Do that and that only, and you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven. Glory, honor, and eternal life will not drop into your hands like ripe fruit. You must be up and doing something proportioned, at least in a faint degree, to the value of that you would obtain. This is a short sermon for the times. When I see the pushing and pulling, the scramble and rush, the wear and tear of body and soul, now going on, and so much the more as the day approaches when the door will be shut against all applicants, I am amazed at the madness or folly of full-grown men who seek to move heaven and earth that they may "eat the king's bread." The greatest of men, whose loftiest ambitions have been gratified, still found an aching void within, which no power nor place could fill. "Vanity and vexation" is the legend on the scroll of fame. Yet I would not despise the wealth of good there is in riches, power, position, fame. A right mind may justly desire them. But they are not the good, and there is something better than any of them or all combined. Seek first the kingdom of God. Make sure of it. Seek it with all the heart. Get into it and be safe. Then all else you need will be yours also. American Heirs to English Fortunes.
By Editor
It is a common thing to hear of an immense estate in England, which is waiting to be distributed among the heirs, many of whom are in this country, and which will be divided as soon as one missing heir is found, when each heir will receive half a million or so. In many cases, families in this country who supposed that they were heirs to whole cities in the old country, have gone to the expense of hiring a lawyer to go to England to look after their interests. We have even known Seventh-day Adventists to become infected by the craze, and to lay great plans of how much they were going to help the cause of God when they should receive their portion of some vast estate. Up to the present, no one has ever made anything out of these claims except the lawyers, and no one else is ever likely to. In view of these things, we think the following, which we take from the N. Y. Observer, is timely. We hope it will prove effectual in stopping a few persons from throwing away their money on an idle fancy:— Keep the Mind and Heart Pure
FILL the mind with pure thoughts and the heart with spiritual motives. The chambers of imagery should be kept pure. Look to Yourselves.
By C. Pike
No one has a religion that does not need watching. The most fragrant odors need to be kept the closest corked; thus the better your religion, the more anxious Satan is to find a way to it. People's religion sometimes leaks out while they are watching others. They seem to know more about their neighbor's religion than their own. Such people are always questioning whether any has the right kind, and they are as doubtful of themselves as they are of others. "First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Business men watch against failures; so must the Christian. "What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch." Caution is highly recommended by all the sacred writers. Be circumspect as to your love one for another. Be circumspect as to your doctrine. Let it compare with the Bible in all its ramifications. You are God's advertiser. Be cautious how you advertise the doctrines which you profess to believe. If you would have others indorse your faith, live so as to commend it to others. There is a possibility of a failure, not on God's part, but on yours. Look to yourself. It is your business to know that you are all right with God. See that you attend to it first of all. If you are not all you should be, you had better not criticise your neighbor. Therefore lift up the hands which hang down, and confirm the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Men in business are constantly examining the prices of the day to know the rise and fall of stocks; thus it is the imperative duty of every professed Christian to know daily whether his religious stock on hand is at or below par value. Those who pay the strictest attention to their own account, have the least to do with others. Those who meet with a failure at last, will sustain a great loss,—both worlds gone, and all the joys attendant on an immortal life. Men fail in business, but set up and try again; not so with the man who has come to the Judgment, and finds his effort abortive. No chance then, for the door of mercy is closed. Well might the apostle say, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Saved or lost, life or death, will be the final conclusion of the existence of every mortal creature. The same will be said to the man of two talents as to the man of ten talents, "Enter thou in." Wealth, happiness, honor, rest, health, and an eternal re-union of friends, alike be given them. Look well to yourselves, and be sure your names are written in the Lamb's book of life. "Be still and know that I am God."—C. Pike. “LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, LONDON, —————, 188
The American Minister in London has been so much annoyed by American claimants to English estates that the Legation has been obliged to have the following circular printed, which is sent to all who apply for information and assistance in prosecuting their imaginary claims:— “LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, LONDON, —————, 188
“In reply to yours of ————— touching a supposed estate or property of large amount in England, belonging to the ————— family, I have to say that so many similar letters are received at this Legation that I am compelled to answer them by printed circular. “The pretended prosecution of these pretended American claims to English property is carried on with such persistence and ingenuity by the men engaged in it that I despair of being able to make their credulous victims understand what an utter imposture and delusion the whole business is. “I cannot too strongly advise you, since you have addressed me on this subject, to have nothing to do with such schemes, and especially to remit no money to their agents. But, if disinclined (as you probably will be) to accept this advice, I can only say it is all the service in my power to render you in the matter, or which, if rendered, would do you any good. “I should add further, that under the instructions of the State Department of the United States, the Legation would not be allowed to take part in the investigation of such claims, even were they supposed to be well founded in point of fact, except in pursuance of specific authority from that Department. “I am your obedient servant, “U. S. MINISTER.” Truth Is Not Always Agreeable
"Was your preaching acceptable?" was the question asked of a young man under examination for admission for the ministry. "Stop," said an aged preacher; "that is no test of his fitness for the ministry. If he preaches the truth, his preaching may be very unacceptable." Would that those searching for the best gifts would take this admonition to heart. Truth is not always agreeable, but truth is always wholesome, and, like the Master, his servants are sent to bear witness to the truth.—The Watchword. The Power of Doing Without
By George MacDonald
TO HAVE what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power.—George MacDonald. Never Defend an Error
By Benjamin Franklin
NEVER defend an error because you once thought it truth.—Franklin. NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By A. T. J.
THE real title of the subject of this lesson, as given in the "International Lessons," is "Jehu's False Zeal." But we know not by what right the lesson committee insert the word "false." And we think it is contrary to the intention of the inspired record. For we read distinctly in verse 30: "And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel." This was said to Jehu by the Lord, after Jehu had done what is recorded in the lesson. And when the Lord says to Jehu, "Thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart;" and when because of this the Lord pronounces a reward upon Jehu and upon his house for four generations, upon the throne of Israel; in view of all this we think it a very questionable piece of wisdom for the lesson committee to brand it as "Jehu's false zeal." When the Lord says that Jehu did "well;" that he did "right;" that he did according to what was in His heart concerning Ahab; then for the lesson committee to charge it up as "false zeal," is certainly, to say the least, not very far removed from charging the Lord himself with a "false zeal." We think when the Lord pronounces so plainly as this upon the merit of an action, it is best for men to confine themselves to the record. THE time had fully come when judgment must be executed upon the bloody house of Ahab. When that "still small voice" came to Elijah as he stood at the mouth of the cave in Horeb, the Lord said unto him, "Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay." 1 Kings 19 : 15-17. And again Elisha sent a young man of the children of the prophets directly to Jehu with this message: "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish;" etc. 2 Kings 9 : 1-10. According to this word, Hazael was now king of Syria, and Joram, the son of Ahab, had made war against Hazael and "the Syrians wounded Joram. And King Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria." Chap. 8 : 28, 29. Then it was that Elisha sent the young men to anoint Jehu king, that he might, according to the word of Elijah, slay him that had escaped from the sword of Hazael. And if he had escaped the sword of Jehu, then it would have remained for Elisha to slay him. The house of Ahab was devoted, and their judgment could no longer be delayed. And as Jehu came, driving "furiously," "Joram said, Make ready." And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel, and Ahaziah king of Judah, went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. THERE was that fatal field of Naboth—the monument of the united iniquities of Ahab and Jezebel. And when, on that fatal day, after the innocent blood of Naboth and his sons had been poured out, Ahab went down to take possession of the portion of Naboth, Jehu followed him in a chariot, and was there when Elijah pronounced the fearful doom of Ahab and Jezebel with all their house, and now Jehu comes to execute the judgment that day pronounced. "And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. "And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him; surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord." WHEN Jehu came to Jezreel, "Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window." She must once more assert herself, and as Jehu entered in at the gate she cried out, "Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?" But it was her last effort. The chamberlains of her palace pitched her out through the window, and so perished Jezebel. BUT Jehu's work was not done yet. The house and the prophets, and the priests, and the worship of Baal, which Jezebel had introduced, still remained. "And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much." So he proclaimed a solemn assembly for Baal, and "sent through all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. . . . And the house of Baal was full from one end to another." They were all destroyed. "And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel." Thus sin brings its fearful penalty. Warning after warning, reproof after reproof, entreaty after entreaty, had come to the house of Ahab, but all to no avail. And "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Prov. 29 : 1. "Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you." Prov. 1 : 23. THERE is another point in this lesson worthy of consideration. It is the part taken by Jehonadab, the son of Rechab. As Jehu was on his way from Jezreel to Samaria, he came upon Jehonadab and saluted him. In the midst of all the corruption and iniquity of Israel, Jehonadab had taken special precaution to keep his family pure. He had pledged them particularly that they should drink no wine, neither they nor their sons forever, etc. Jer. 35. Jehu said to him, "Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?" And Jehonadab answered, "It is." Said Jehu, "If it be, give me thine hand." And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. And he said, "Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot." And it appears that Jehonadab acted in concert with Jehu in all that followed. For he went with Jehu through the crowd of Baal-worshippers in the house of Baal, to search and see that there were no worshippers of the Lord there. This again is against the idea of Jehu's zeal being a "false zeal." IN this narrative of Jehu in his chariot, riding in his zeal to perform the righteous judgment of the Lord upon the adversaries of Jehovah in the land of Israel, we are reminded of a Greater than Jehu, who at the last is to visit the judgments of the Lord upon all of the ungodly. "Behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many." Isa. 66 : 15, 16. "For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense." Isa. 59 : 17, 18. And when thus He comes in His glory, then to every one whose heart is right as His heart is with the right, he will say, Give me thine hand, and all such will he take up in his chariot, and make them ride in his chariot. GOD is righteous. He loves righteousness and hates iniquity, and to "the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Heb. 1 : 8, 9. And to all of the children of men who love righteousness and hate iniquity, the Son of God saith, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. 3 : 21. The Sabbath-School.
By Editor
The reader will notice that the International Lesson Notes this week are dated October 18, while those of last week bore the date of October 25. These dates are correct, and the lessons are for the Sundays designated. Both articles were prepared at the same time, and by mistake the wrong one was handed out last week. Those who use the lessons received that one a long way ahead of time, but we trust that this one will not be too late to be of service to some. Preachers After Their Own Lusts
"THEY . . . will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts." If a preacher wants popularity, let him preach what his hearers already believe; at all events, let him not declare against that which they do believe. Men and women who will not go to any Christian church will clamber up into some ill-seated hall to sit by the hour hearing a weak-minded brother or a strong-minded sister rant against Christianity, or rhapsodize in praise of natural religion and spiritual affinities. And every preacher in one of these outlandish gatherings feels sure of his audience. He knows, to begin with, that all who come to hear him believe what he believes—or what he is going to say he believes. He is a preacher—"after their own lusts." This is the trouble with the theater as "a school of morals"—as some would call it. The people who attend a theater are not disposed to patronize plays which are not in the main "after their own lusts." The truths which they most need to hear cannot be proclaimed there without a danger of thinning out the audience.—Sel. How to Get Help from Church Services.
By J. R. Miller
How to get from public church services the help they have to give to us, is one of the most important practical questions to which attention can be turned. Private devotion is not enough; the honor of God and the needs of our own spiritual nature alike require associated worship. To neglect the public services is to deprive ourselves of one of the greatest aids to religious culture. No doubt there are rich possibilities of spiritual help in these services, if we know how to find it. The question is worth considering. It is quite possible to attend the church services even with commendable regularity, and yet receive no spiritual profit. There is no holy atmosphere in the house of God that is in itself medicinal or tonic to our souls. There is no filtration of grace into our hearts that goes on unconsciously and without agency of our own, while we sit in our soft pew in the sanctuary. Forms of worship, whether plain or elaborate, are empty without the sincere homage and faith of loving hearts. They carry up to God just what we put into them; they bring down to us from God just what we, with prayer and faith, draw out of them. Two persons may sit side by side, and take like part, outwardly, in the exercises of devotion; yet from one rises to God pure incense and an acceptable offering, and from the other the empty mockery of a heartless and formal service; the one goes away strengthened and blessed, and the other carries nothing away but a cold, unblessed heart. Whatever the forms of public service may be, the heart must be engaged, or the worship is vain and unprofitable. To make this article as helpful as possible, a few definite practical suggestions are offered. To begin with, thoughtful preparation for the church services will greatly increase their profitableness to those who engage in them. The very best ordinary preparation is a season of private devotion before going to the sanctuary. The heart is thus cleansed of its worldly thoughts, is opened and warmed toward God, and is in a suitable condition to enter sincerely and earnestly into the public worship. A reverent approach toward, and entrance into, God's house is a further aid to blessing in the services. We should at least know and consider well on what errand we are going to meet God,—to worship him and receive help for our own lives,—and should have our expectations aroused in anticipation of the communion with God and his people which we are so soon to enjoy, and our hearts eager with desire for the holy meeting. Our age is not reverent. Many persons enter God's house with as little seriousness as if it were a concert or a literary entertainment they had come to hear. Such persons are not prepared either to render acceptable worship or to receive needed help. We shall find in God's house just what we come spiritually prepared to find. God must be in the heart, or we shall not see God in the exercises of worship. We shall never find in the sanctuary that which we do not really seek and earnestly want to find. If we enter careless and indifferent, with no spirit of devotion, we shall carry away no benediction. If we come with longing and earnest desire to meet God, and lay our burdens at his feet, to rest and refresh ourselves in his presence, and to receive new strength from him for duty, we shall find all we wish. Another condition of help is earnest personal interest in each part of the service. There is no blessing in our being merely among true worshipers, and in the presence of God. A throng was close around Christ one day, but one only of them all was healed; and she was healed because she reached out her trembling finger, and in faith touched the hem of Christ's garment. This history may be repeated in any congregation. While the multitude throng close about Christ, those only who touch the hem of his robe will receive a blessing. Even in public services we do not worship in companies, but as individuals. One sitting close beside us may hold delightful communion with God, and receive rich spiritual refreshment, while our heart remains like a dry, parched field, receiving not one drop of rain from the full overhanging clouds. Then, after the service, we should go away thoughtfully and reverently as we came. The custom prevalent in some churches of lingering a moment in silent prayer after the benediction, is very beautiful and impressive. Church-aisle sociability, so often commended, no doubt has its pleasant side; but it certainly has its disadvantages and its grave dangers. We may greet each other cordially and affectionately in quiet tones, as we pass out, without spiritual harm; but too often the conversation runs either into criticism of the preacher or the sermon, or off on trivial and worldly themes. In either case, the good seed sown is picked up by the birds and devoured before it has had time to root. We had better go away quietly, pondering the great thoughts which the service has suggested to us, seeking to deepen in our hearts the impressions made, and to assimilate in our lives the truths of God's word which have fallen upon our ears. From the church gate back again to the closet whence we set out, is the best walk to take after the service has closed. A few moments of secret prayer will carry the blessing of the sanctuary so deep into our hearts that they will be thereafter part of our very life. Then, in the busy week days that follow, come the proofs of the helpful influences and blessings that have flowed into our lives in the Sabbath services. The food that is eaten to-day is the strength of the laborer, the eloquence of the orator, the skill of the artisan, to-morrow. The spring sunshine and rain that fall upon the dry briery rose-bush reappear in due time in fragrant, lovely roses. So sincere and true worship in the quiet Sabbath hours, will show itself in the beautified character, the sweeter spirit, the brighter hope, the truer, better living, and the holier consecration, of the days of toil and struggle that make up the week.—J. R. Miller, in S. S. Times.