Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 15, 1883
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
Death of John the Baptist.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
(Concluded.)
IN the martyrdom of John, we have the result of intemperance. This eventful birthday of Herod should carry an earnest and faithful lesson of warning, and exhortation to Christian temperance. The lovers of pleasure should look upon the birthday feast of Herod as a warning to beware of self-indulgences and popular pleasure. Herod and his guests were partly intoxicated. Reason was servant to the baser passions. And after Herod and his guests had gorged themselves like beasts, with luxurious food, they added to their surfeiting, drunkenness. The mental powers were enervated by the pleasures of sense, which perverted their ideas of justice and mercy. Satan seized upon this opportunity, in the person of Herodias, to lead them to rush into decisions which cost the precious life of one of God's prophets.
The minds of Herod and his guests, under the effects of intemperance in eating and in drinking, were in a state of animal excitement. Herod was under the delusion that his oath, made under the excitement of feasting, dancing, and revelry, when nothing was too sacred for them to profane, must be kept. The life of one of the greatest prophets that God had sent as a messenger to the earth, was in the balance, and this company of great men pronounced sentence of death after the intellect and manhood had been sacrificed to sensual indulgence.
Herod was brought to the test before his guests. Would he lift himself up against the Lord of Heaven, and exalt his oath above the commandment of God, which saith, "Thou shalt not kill"? Would he preserve his honor and dignity as a king, and violate the law of God in sacrificing the life of an innocent man, or would he humble himself to ask his guests to release him from his rash oath? If Herod and his guests had preserved the vigor of their intellect, their minds would have been awake to sense the noble demands of justice and duty. Calm reason would have borne sway, and they would have recoiled with horror at the thought of beheading an innocent man, and he an exalted prophet of God.
When Herod commenced his feast of revelry, if one had suggested to him the part he would act before its close, in taking the life of John, he would have answered, "Is thy servant a dog that he should do this?" But, under the excitement of wine, his rash vow was made, that led to results that he would not cease to regret as long as life should last.
After the feast of Herod had ended, the effects of his intoxication and revelry had passed away, and reason had resumed her throne, the king was filled with remorse. He was constantly seeking to find relief from the sting of a guilty conscience. His faith in John as an honored prophet of God, was unshaken. As he reflected upon his life of self-denial, his powerful discourses, his solemn, earnest appeals, his sound judgment as a counselor, and then reflected that he had put him to death, his conscience was fearfully troubled. While engaged in the affairs of the nation, receiving honors from men, he bore a smiling face and dignified mien, while he concealed an anxious, aching heart, and was constantly terrified with fearful forebodings that the curse of God was upon him.
When Herod heard of the wonderful works of Christ in healing the sick, casting out devils, and in raising the dead, he was exceedingly troubled and perplexed. His convictions were that God, whom John preached, was indeed present in every place, and that he had witnessed the wild mirth and wicked dissipation in the banqueting room, and that his ear had heard his command to the executioner to behead John. His eye had seen the exultation of Herodias, and the taunting and insult with which she reproached the severed head of her enemy. And many things which he had heard from the lips of the prophet, seemed now to speak to his conscience in louder tones than his preaching in the wilderness. He had heard from the lips of the prophet that nothing could be hid from God.
When Herod heard of the works of Christ, he thought that God had resurrected John, and sent him forth with still greater power to condemn sin. He was in constant fear that John would avenge his death by passing condemnation upon him and his house. "And king Herod heard of him [Christ] (for his name was spread abroad); and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead."
The Lord followed Herod as is described in Deuteronomy, "The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear, day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see."
The life and mission of John were ended. Christ had said of him that he was more than a prophet. Again he said, "Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist." He had been executed as a criminal, not because of any guilt resting upon him, but for the reason that he had fearlessly reproved crime. His spotless life, his practical piety, his virtue and justice, condemned the dishonest and sinful lives of the Jews as well as the Gentiles.
Said Christ, in vindication of John, "But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet." Not only was John a prophet to foretell future events, but he was a child of promise, filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth, and was ordained of God to execute a special work as a reformer, in preparing a people for the reception of Christ. The prophet John was the connecting link between the two dispensations.
The religion of the Jews, in consequence of their departure from God, consisted mostly in ceremony. John was the lesser light, which was to be followed by a greater light. He was to shake the confidence of the people in their traditions, and call their sins to their remembrance, and lead them to repentance; that they might be prepared to appreciate the work of Christ. God communicated to John by inspiration, illuminating the prophet that he might remove the superstition and darkness from the minds of the honest Jews, which had been, through false teachings for generations, gathering upon them.
The least disciple that followed Jesus, that witnessed his miracles, and listened to his divine lessons of instruction, and heard the comforting words which fell from his lips, was more privileged than John the Baptist, for he had a clearer light. No other light has shown, or ever will shine, upon the intellect of sinful, fallen man, save that which was, and is, communicated through Him who is the light of the world. Christ and his mission had been but dimly understood through the shadowy sacrifices. Even John thought that the reign of Christ would be in Jerusalem, and that he would set up a temporal kingdom, the subjects of which would be holy. While John was in prison, he had contemplated Christ's taking his power and authority, and subduing the kingdoms of the world under his rule. Then he expected to be released from prison. As his expectations were not realized, he became impatient. Unbelief took possession of his mind, and he sent his disciples to inquire of Christ, "Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?" John did not clearly discern the character of Christ's kingdom. The future immortal life through Christ was not distinctly understood by him. Christ's first advent to the world was to dispel the dense moral darkness and blindness of fallen man, in consequence of sin. "The light shone in the midst of darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." The lessons of practical instruction which Christ gave the people shed a flood of light on the prophecies.
Although not one of the prophets had a higher mission or greater work to perform than had John, yet he was not to see even the result of his own mission. He was not privileged to be with Christ and witness the divine power attending the greater light, which was manifested in the recovery of health to the sick, of sight to the blind, of hearing to the deaf. He did not see the light which shone through every word of Christ, reflecting glory upon the promises in prophecy. The world was illuminated with pure light from the brightness of the Father's glory in the person of his Son; but John was denied the privilege of seeing the display of wisdom and power of God in the unsearchable riches of the knowledge of Christ.122Those who were privileged with being with Christ when he walked a man among men, and listened to his divine teachings under a variety of circumstances while preaching in the temple, walking in the streets, teaching the multitudes by the wayside, and in the open air by the seaside, and while an invited guest seated at the table, ever giving words of instruction to meet the cases of all who needed his help; healing, comforting, and reproving, as circumstances required, were more exalted than John the Baptist.
THOU ART COMING.
By Frances Ridley Havergal
Thou art coming, O, my Saviour!
Thou art coming, O, my King!
Every tongue thy name confessing—
Well may we rejoice and sing.
Thou art coming! Rays of glory
Through the veil thy death has rent
Gladden now our pilgrim pathway,
Glory from thy presence sent.
Thou art coming—not a shadow,
Not a mist, and not a tear;
Not a sin and not a sorrow
On that sunrise grand and clear.
Thou art coming, Jesus, Saviour!
Nothing else seems worth a thought.
Oh, how marvelous the glory
And the bliss thy pain hath brought!
Thou art coming! We are waiting
With a hope that cannot fail,
Asking not the day or hour,
Anchored safe within the veil.
Thou art coming! Thou art coming,
Jesus, our beloved Lord!
Oh, the joy to see thee reigning,
Worshiped, glorified, adored!
Thou art coming! Thou art coming!
We shall meet thee on thy way.
Thou art coming! We shall see thee,
And be like thee on that day.
—Frances Ridley Havergal.
Is Man Immortal?
1. Is it reasonable to suppose that God created man an immortal being, and yet has never informed us of the fact?
2. Is it reasonable to suppose that, if man naturally possessed immortality, God would require us to seek for it, as he does in Rom. 2:7?
3. Is it reasonable to suppose that, if men were naturally immortal, God's word would so plainly assure us that God "only hath immortality"? 1 Tim. 6:16.
4. Is it not far more reasonable to believe that immortality is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, as stated in Rom. 6:23?
5. Is it reasonable to suppose that words, when found in the Bible, must have a meaning attached to them which no man in his senses would ever think of attaching to them in any other book? For instance, the words life and death, when found in the Bible, must (as theologians tell us) mean happiness and misery; but, if found in any other book in the world, they would simply mean "existence" and "cessation of existence."
6. Is it reasonable to suppose that in all the vast multitude of passages in which Christ promised life, eternal life, to his followers, he did not literally mean what he said? This he could not, if all men have immortal life by nature. In that case, the wicked will live through eternity as well as the righteous.
7. Is it reasonable to suppose, in all the vast multitude of passages in which death is threatened as the punishment of the sinner, that loss of happiness is all that is meant? An unhappy man is as truly alive as the most happy being in existence.
8. Is it reasonable to suppose that Infinite Wisdom would invariably use language which was only calculated to mislead mankind, or which none but doctors of divinity could unravel?
9. Is it not more reasonable to suppose that he would give his creatures such a revelation as plain, common-sense people could easily understand?
10. Is it reasonable to believe that men go to Heaven or hell immediately at death, and then hundreds or thousands of years afterward are taken out to be judged, to determine which fate they deserve? Should we deem it right to send a man to the State's Prison for ten years, and then bring him out for trial to see if he deserved such a punishment?
11. Is it reasonable that such prominence should be given in Scripture to the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, if the soul is as capable of happiness or misery without the body as with it?
12. Is it reasonable to talk about a "death that never dies," when there is not a word in Scripture to sanction such a contradictory phrase? Would it not be equally reasonable to speak of the reward of the righteous as a "life that never lives"?
13. Is it reasonable to use so constantly, both in sermons and prayers, such terms as "immortal souls," "never-dying souls," "deathless spirits," and similar expressions, when there is not from Genesis to Revelation one single passage to warrant the use of such language?
14. Is it reasonable to say that eternal death and eternal torment are synonymous expressions (as theologians tell us)? for how then can it be said, in Rev. 21:4, "There shall be no more death"?
15. Is it reasonable to believe that a hell of fiery torment and ceaseless misery is to exist forever, when God says (Rev. 21:5), "Behold I make all things new"?
16. Is it reasonable to believe in the eternal torment of the wicked, when more than two hundred passages of Scripture plainly affirm that they shall "die," be "consumed," "devoured," "destroyed," "burnt up," "be as though they had not been," etc.?
17. Is it reasonable to believe that the righteous in their glorified state can be indifferent to, and unaffected by, the endless sufferings of countless millions of their fellow-beings; among whom would probably be found parents, children, husbands, wives, etc.?
18. Is it reasonable to believe that God is such a vindictive being that his justice cannot be satisfied with the death of the offender, but that he must be constantly pouring floods of fiery wrath upon the wretched being through the ever-rolling cycles of eternity?
19. Finally, "1. The apostle Paul is the only writer in the whole Bible who makes use of the word immortal or immortality.
"2. He never applies it to sinners.
"3. He never applies it to either righteous or wicked in this world.
"4. He never applies it to men's souls at all, either before or after death.
"5. He speaks of it as an attribute of the King Eternal. 1 Tim. 1:17.
"6. He declares that he is the only possessor of it. 1 Tim. 6:16.
"7. He presents it as an object which men are to seek after by patient continuance in well-doing. Rom. 2:7.
"8. He speaks of it as revealed or brought to light (not in heathen philosophy, but) in the gospel of the Son of God. 2 Tim. 1:10.
"9. He defines the period when it shall be 'put on' by the saints of God, and fixes it at the resurrection, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. 1 Cor. 15:52, 54; Col. 3:4.
"10. Therefore he never taught the immortality of the soul as it is now taught, and hence, when he declared that sinners should be destroyed, or perish, or die, or be burned, or devoured by fire, he did so without any 'mental reservations, or theological definitions.' In other words, he said what he meant, and meant what he said."—Pauline Theology.
I might multiply questions of this kind, but I forbear.
Men of reason and common sense, give your serious attention to these points. Read your Bibles again. Read carefully—read prayerfully. See whether these things are true or not. Dare to think for yourselves. Do not trust to commentaries. Do not build your faith on bodies of divinity. Go to the fountain-head of truth. "The words of the Lord are pure words." "The law of the Lord is perfect." This cannot be said of the writings or opinions of any man or number of men, however wise and holy they may be. To err is human. God and his truth are alone infallible. Show yourselves true Protestants, and cast away the "traditions of men." You have the Bible. The wisest and holiest of the "Fathers" had no more. Your ministers have nothing else to guide them—at least they ought not to have. "The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants." Go, then, to your Bibles, and see whether the God-dishonoring doctrines to which I have directed your attention are found there or not. Excuse me if I tell you that, however full of these doctrines human books and human sermons may be, God's book does not contain them.
Rather believe that man is mortal and condemned to die, but Christ is come that men may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10.
"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23.
QUESTIONS ON IMMORTALITY.
1. Who is immortal? Ans. "The King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God." 1 Tim. 1:17.
2. Are not all men created immortal? Ans. God "only hath immortality." 1 Tim. 6:16.
3. Is this immortality revealed by nature? or is it through Jesus Christ and his gospel? Ans. "By the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Tim. 1:10.
4. Who has power to bestow immortality upon man? Ans. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23.
5. Will God give this gift to all persons, whatever their works may be? Ans. God "will render to every man according to his deeds." Rom. 2:6.
6. What will be the end of those who obey not the gospel? Ans. "Whose end is destruction." Phil. 3:19.
7. To whom will God impart immortality? Ans. "To them who by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality." Rom. 2:7.
8. What shall be their reward? Ans. "Eternal life." Rom. 2:7.
9. Upon what conditions may we obtain this blessing? Ans. "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life." 1 Tim. 6:12.
10. When do men obtain immortality? Is it at death, or at the resurrection? Ans. "The dead shall be raised incorruptible." 1 Cor. 15:52.
11. How shall those who are not dead become incorruptible? Ans. "We shall be changed." 1 Cor. 15:52.
12. When will this change take place? Ans. "At the last trump." 1 Cor. 15:52.
13. How suddenly will the change occur? Ans. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." 1 Cor. 15:52.
14. Will this change be a change of the internal, or of the external and physical, or corruptible, man? Ans. "This corruptible must put on incorruption." 1 Cor. 15:53.
15. What, then, becomes immortal? Ans. "This mortal must put on immortality." 1 Cor. 15:53.
16. What scripture will be fulfilled when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality? Ans. "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor. 15:54; Isa. 25:8.
17. Who will be raised from the dead? Ans. "All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." John 5:28, 29.
18. Will different classes of characters arise in the resurrection? Ans. "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24:15.
19. For what purpose will the good be raised? Ans. "They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life." John 5:29.
20. To what will others be raised? Ans. "They that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:29.
21. Will a man's destiny at last be in accordance with his previous life? Ans. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7.
22. What will be the portion of the ungodly? Ans. "He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." Gal. 6:8.
23. What will be the reward of the saints? Ans. "He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Gal. 6:8.
24. Where now is the Christian's life? Ans. "Your life is hid with Christ in God." Col. 3:3.
25. How, then, should we live? Ans. "Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Gal. 6:9.
26. What will be the fate of those who sow to the flesh? They "shall utterly perish in their own corruption." 2 Pet. 2:12.
27. Is it possible for man to be utterly destroyed? Ans. "Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matt. 10:28.
28. What is the wages of sin? Ans. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23.
29. Is this death merely a bodily death? Ans. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18:20.
30. If the wicked turn away from his wickedness and do right, what then? Ans. "He shall save his soul alive." Eze. 18:27.
31. "When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquities, and dieth in them," what shall be his fate? "For his iniquity that he hath done shall he die." Eze. 18:26.
32. As he first dies in his iniquity, and then dies for his iniquity, what must this last death be called? Ans. "The second death." Rev. 21:8.
33. What is the result attained by the man who converteth a sinner from the error of his ways? Ans. He "shall save a soul from death." James 5:20.
34. What has God placed before us to excite us to action? Ans. "I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing." Deut. 30:19.
35. How does God manifest his love to men? Ans. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
36. What is our Saviour's complaint concerning mankind? Ans. "And ye will not come to me that ye might have life." John 5:40.
37. What is the command of God to all? Ans123'Cast away from you all your transgressions; . . . for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." Eze. 18:31, 32.
One Boy's Opinion.
By Editor
The following letter to the N. Y. Herald may be suggestive to some parents and teachers. We are happy to know that there are schools where the tread-mill, cramming system is not in vogue:—
"I am a German boy who goes to a public school. I find the studies not too difficult to master, but I do not get time to master them, and what education I have received during the last two years consists only of a jumble of ideas about geography, arithmetic, spelling, history, grammar, etc. I feel that these two years' education will benefit me as much in after life as my present ideas amount to about the comet. If I had time to deliberate I could master these school studies, but I have heard that lawyers and judges sometimes study a whole month attempting to master and understand the meaning of a single sentence in a book, and a poor youth like me should not, I think, be considered so dumb because I cannot master a dozen or more pages of all kinds of stuff in a few hours. An old man, who had been through college, told me the other day that if I attempted to remember all the rivers in the world and how long they were, and all the cities in the world and the number of their inhabitants, I might as well try and remember nothing else as long as I lived, for I would have to keep awake at night lest I might lose some of the names and numbers. Well, this is the kind of knowledge I have been trying to obtain for two years past, together with rules of grammar, arithmetic, etc., to learn by heart, without understanding the application of any of them. Why, I could repeat the twenty-eighth rule in a grammar used by us to the old gentleman I refer to, but he only laughed and asked me to write a sentence so as to apply the rule. I couldn't apply it until he took half an hour to show me what the general idea was although he did not seem to know anything about a rule. I would like to ask you what good my education will be likely to do me. Do you think it will fit me for business or professional life? This kind of school business makes a boy who thinks feel that he is either a fool or that somebody else is."
Where to Find the Sabbath.
By Editor
SOME people say that so many ages have elapsed since Moses' time, that it is impossible to say that our Saturday is the seventh day of the week. The Memorial has frequently taken special pains to show that the nations have always known enough to count seven—and have been uniform in their reckoning of the seven days of the week—that in divine and profane religions the number seven is sacred—too much so to be tampered with when measuring time; the reckoning of months and of years has varied, but not that of the week, which is so short, simple, and divine, that the great Author of it has preserved it intact among the nations through their own natural customs. That the week, as a record of time, has come down to our day in a perfect form, is abundantly proved by scores of ancient and modern languages. These remarks are made as preface to a definition of the term Sabbath, which our Syrian friend, N. Giamaal, Esq., kindly pointed out to us one day at the reading-room of the British Museum. The authority that describes where the Sabbath-day is to be found, is an Arabic Lexicon, in two folio volumes, by Mr. Butrus al-Bistany, a Syrian, and an eminent Arabic scholar. The title of the Lexicon is "Mooheet al-Mooheet," or Ocean of Oceans—published at Beirut in 1870. The description of the whereabouts of the day, is as follows:—
"As-Sabt—[or the Sabbath]—a day BETWEEN yom el-juma—[or day of the Assembly—i. e., our Friday] and yom el-ahad, [or First day—our Sunday]; or in a literally equivalent rendering thus: ‘The Sabbath, a day BETWEEN Friday and Sunday.'" There! "ye blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel," don't say any more that you don't know where to find the Sabbath-day!—Sabbath Memorial.
God's Promises.
By Spurgeon
Some people say, "Oh, we know we are saved, because we are so happy." It is by no means a sure evidence, for joy may be carnal, unfounded, unspiritual. Certain Christians are afraid that they cannot be in a saved state because they are not joyous, but we are saved by faith and not by joy. I was struck with the remark of Ebenezer Erskine when he was dying, and some one said to him: "I hope you have now and then a blink to bear up your spirit under affliction." He promptly replied, "I know more of words than of blinks;" that is to say, he had rather trust a promise of God than his own glimpses of Heaven; and so would I. The word of God is a more sure testimony to the soul than all the raptures a man can feel. I would sooner walk in the dark, and hold to a promise of my God, than trust in the light of the brightest day that ever dawned. Precious as the fruit is, do not put the fruit where the root should be. Please to recollect that. Joy is not the root of grace in the soul; it is the fruit, and must not be put out of its proper position.—Spurgeon.
How to Pray
An article found among the unpublished papers of the late Dr. J. A. Alexander, on "Circumlocution in Prayer," closes with the following "practical suggestions to young men who are forming their habits" in respect to prayer. They are equally applicable to all who pray in public:—
1. Let your prayer be composed of thanksgiving, praise, confession, and petition, without any argument or exhortation addressed to those who are supposed to be praying with you.
2. Adopt no fixed forms of expression, except such as you obtain from the Scriptures.
3. Express your desires in the briefest, simplest form, without circumlocution.
4. Avoid the use of compound terms in the place of the imperfect tense.
5. Hallow God's name by avoiding its unnecessary repetition.
6. Adopt the single devotional phases of Scripture; but avoid the free use of its figures, and all quaint and doubtful application of its terms to foreign subjects.
7. Pray to God and not to man.
Steadfastness.
RAILROAD managers in America are giving fresh attention to the cost of stops and starts in the running of trains. It would seem from some of the more careful estimates, that there is more of waste in this line than in any other in railway service. More power is called for, and more is wasted, in the slowing and stopping and starting of the machinery than in the free play of that machinery at its greatest speed. This is a truth that has long been noted in the use of mental and moral machinery. Every student, every thinker and writer, knows that there is no such strain in continuous mental effort as in frequent interruptions. Every intelligent observer of Sunday-school methods knows that intermissions in the school sessions, or in the teachers' meetings, the interruption of the series by recesses and vacations, taxes the machinery and wastes power as no other strain can. And the same truth is marked in the progress of personal character. The man who is "always sinning and always repenting" in his moral course, racks his moral nature to very little purpose. He who starts off with a full head of steam every new year and birthday, and then breaks up at the first way-station which comes in sight, only to start and stop again all the way along through the year, is worth very little either for a through train, or for an accommodation. It was said of Isaac, as the child of promise, that, as he grew, he "went going;" and that is the best way for any child of promise who is on the right track—to go going, instead of to go stopping and starting, starting and stopping again.—S. S. Times.
A Poor Capital.
ONCE it was remarked to Lord Erskine that a certain man dying had left £200,000, whereupon he replied: "That’s a poor capital to begin the next world with." What a failure was that man’s life. He got no good of his £200,000 in this world, and did not get himself ready for the next. What did he do? What is the grand result of his life, of his toil, of his anxious days and sleepless nights? He raked together £200,000. What did he do with it? Kept it as long as he could. Why did he not keep it forever? He died. What became of it? He left it. To whom? To those that came after, and to the squabbles of courts. If any good to the world ever came out of this £200,000, no thanks are due to him. He kept it as long as he could, and left it only because he could not carry it with him. If he had only "converted it," as the bankers say! and it was convertible into the blessings of the poor; into the sweet consciousness of having done some good while he lived; into the good hope of perpetuating his influence when he was dead and gone. But he did none of these things. He raked it together, kept it, died, left it, and it made his last bed no better.
"The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But God said unto him, Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Luke 12 : 16–21.—Selected.
Christianity and Labor.
By Presbyterian Banner
Not only did Christianity honor labor, but it immediately set about building hospitals for the benefit of the sick and injured from among working and poor people and has continued to do so until now. Infidelity never erected a single hospital. Among the many men and women going through the narrow alleys and into the houses of the poor, in all our cities and large towns, to carry bread to the hungry, fuel to the cold and medicine to the sick, cannot be found a single follower of Thomas Paine. Herr Most, however, is right in regard to the power of Christianity and the church, though wickedly and meanly wrong in charging them with hostility to the laboring classes. Christianity and the church are the great preservative forces of good order and human well being. No other institutions approach them in their influence for good upon all classes and conditions of men. A victorious army can permit itself to be abused without feeling the least resentment. Christianity can allow little knots of “Liberal Leaguers” and an occasional agitator like Herr Most to heap epithets upon it and tell lies about it without being alarmed or enraged.—Presbyterian Banner.
The Literature of the Gallows.
It seems shocking, almost ludicrous, to speak of a young man going through a course of reading as a preparation for the gallows, and yet it is literally true that impure reading has, before now, landed its victim on the last stage of the road to ruin. In the year 1829 a murderer named Stratford was executed at Norwich, and the following is the testimony, given at the time by a Christian friend who visited the convict in prison: Again and again he assures me that this falling into vicious and criminal practices was the consequence of his having imbibed mental poison from bad books—and the same assertion he repeated to several other persons. An infidel publication, long since notorious for its fatal influences over the human mind, became the companion of his private hours. He read it and adopted its principles. He rejected the Holy Scriptures, looked upon their contents as a cunningly devised fable, and to use his own expressions, gave up his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus was he left without compass or rudder, whereby to steer his course aright through the ocean of life.—Sword and Trowel.
Homes Like Harps
HOMES are like harps, of which one is finely carved and bright with gilding, but ill-tuned, and jarring the air with its discords; while another is old and plain and worn, but from its chords float strains that are a feast of music.
The Highest Applause
THE silence that accepts merit as the most natural thing in the world, is the highest applause.