The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 15, 1866
Aion.
By Stephen Pierce
And shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev. xx, 10.
THIS, with one or two scriptures of similar import, have held the minds of some honest seekers after truth to the conclusion that the wicked must endure exquisite pangs of endless suffering.
The mind of the writer was from his youth by these scriptures confirmed, and at times forced to this dreadful conclusion for years after embracing the Sabbath. Nor was there but temporary conviction from all the brethren had then said or written in the explanation of these passages, until at a certain time while examining the word AGE in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, to ascertain its duration, I found, to my surprise, as a corresponding word in the Greek, the word Αἰών [aion] the original of the word ever, in the above passage referred to.
This led to an examination of Rev. xx, 10, and chapter xiv, 11, in the Greek Testament; the last of which in our version reads, "The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever." By this examination, it was found that in each case the original word translated "ever" was in the PLURAL number. This opened a field for further investigating thought. And the query arose in the mind, Can the word eternity or even forever, in the nature of things, admit of a plural? The conclusion was, it can not; for no word expressing infinity can. For this reason, for instance, infinite space covers all space; hence there can be but one infinite space, because there can be no further place for a second infinite space to occupy. On the same principle, the idea of a plural is forever excluded from a word which expresses infinite duration. Because infinite duration comprehends all possible duration. Hence there can be but one. Therefore the nature of things forbids that any word in the plural in any language should ever express the idea of infinity. If the word in the original expresses more than one forever or eternity, ought not the translation into English to express the same?
The Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge, says, "It might as well be contended that forever cannot properly mean unlimited duration, because another ever may be added to it, as that aion must necessarily mean a limited duration, on account of its admitting a plural form of expression." To this we reply that, though there is another "ever" added in our translation, it is not added in the original, it being a repetition there, but not in a manner to involve the idea of addition. Inspiration did not place the word "and" there, nor can it be supplied without confusing the sense. The inconsistency of applying the plural to a word expressive of infinity has just been shown, we trust satisfactorily; and this the Encyclopædia admits respecting the word eternity; and why not in respect to the word forever, if it expresses infinite duration?
This discrepancy of plural in the original, and singular in the translation, prompted to the further investigation of the word aion in other parts of the New Testament,—an example of which was found in 1 Cor. x, 11. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition on whom the ends of the world have come." An instance somewhat similar in its structure to the preceding, is found in Heb. ix, 26. "Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin, by a sacrifice of himself." Here, again, the word aion in both these instances is in the plural, as it is in the examples of the two scriptures quoted; but the word world rendered from it in both instances is singular.
Why these things were so was for a long time a mystery; but a solution of that mystery was at length found. In all the above instances, had the translation been according to Dr. Webster's view of the sense of that original word, there would have been no need of rendering these plural words in the singular. But before proceeding to an illustration of this point, some inquiries intrude upon the mind. 1. If the Holy Spirit, in the last two scriptures, meant to express in the Greek, the idea of a plurality of words, should not this idea of plurality have been conveyed to us in the English? 2. Should not two or more objects properly expressed in the Greek, when translated into English, express two or more objects in this language also? 3. If we had the history of two or three men written in the French language, conjointly in one volume, and it should be translated into English, Spanish, German, and various other languages, should it in these languages respectively mean the history of but one man?
Now it is infallibly evident to all that the two last instances could not be translated by any word which expresses endless duration, because the end of aion is most clearly expressed in both instances. To speak of the end of endless duration, would strike every mind as the height of absurdity. Therefore a word must be selected which will not wholly destroy, nor too much confuse the sense; but as the original is in the plural, it would seem to be too vague for definite instruction respecting this world, hence the plural is dropped and the singular substituted.
All this perplexity might have been saved if translators had understood, as Mr. Webster did, that "age" was the word corresponding in sense with the original. Then the plural would not have injured the sense at all, and it would have read as follows: "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition on whom the ends of the AGES have come." It may be asked, What ages? We answer, all the ages of probation. Paul in this chapter is instructing Seventh-day Adventists, upon whom the ends of the ages would surely come.
Heb. ix, 26, some have thought, proved Christ's first coming to be in the end of the world; but by a transposition, we see that "in the end of the world," or ages, sin is to be put away. "Now once hath he appeared by a sacrifice of himself, to put away sin in the end of the world, or ages." But ages in this instance closes at a later point of time than that in 1 Cor. x, 11. That closes with probation, this with the destruction of the wicked. Sin is then forever put away.
The word "ends" being plural, renders it mysterious; and the inquiry may be made, How many ends will the world have? Others might inquire, May not the world have as many ends as the age? Yes. But not as many as the "ages" have; and especially if these are the ages of probation. For there will then be as many ends as there are individuals who die in the Lord in this message; and one more. That is the time in which mercy ceases to be proffered to sinful man.
In these passages we now see what consistency of sense can be made from the original, when viewed in the light of the great Lexicographer, who, in the history of the world, perhaps, never had an equal, as a philologist, or a superior as a linguist. Not that he believed as we do,—he believed in the endless sufferings of the wicked: hence his testimony bears greater weight than it otherwise would. With his sense of the word aion in the scripture which heads this article, we may give opponents the privilege of translating the Greek preposition εἰς (eis), the worst they can against our belief:—for instance, they may call it for, through, or during, if they please. It will then read, "And shall be tormented day and night, for, through, or during the ages of ages." Not that we claim this rendering of the preposition correct; but if the most of our translators now extant are correct in the rendering of this word, then ours is; and this is the worst opponents can make it for us.
If they bring this translation to us, and ask what we understand by the expression, "ages of ages," we say, that the word age, means as long as the creature lives to whom it is applied. And if every man shall be rewarded according to his works, then there will be a multitude of these ages of suffering186the pangs of the second death, the cause of which, is the misimprovement of the ages of probation. Consequently these ages of suffering, are with great propriety called the "AGES OF AGES; being ages of punishment for ages of probation unimproved.
When the consistency of this expression of inspiration, which before was too horrible for contemplation, was discovered, it was a source of marvelous admiration. Learned Universalists, and the author of "Bible vs. Tradition," had previously given similar translations, without an explanation, but the great question was, Whether their authority was sufficiently high to be relied upon. But here we bring as high, and perhaps the highest authority this world can give, as a foundation of our conclusion. Having recently an opportunity to see Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon, it was found that after they had defined the word, they quoted the above scripture and translated it, "Unto the ages of ages; or forever and ever."
There is a proneness to force upon this expression the idea of endless duration. The peculiar sense of the preposition unto, forces this sense upon it. And by this rendering, instead of its being the time in which the wicked suffer, it is a period all beyond that time. And if that word unto is a correct rendering, then their suffering reaches only to the commencement of the eternal age; and of course their suffering must be limited in its duration, as Bro. J. N. L. has well shown. Thus we see the truth has sure defense by taking the sense of that one word according to Mr. Webster, let these scriptures in other respects be translated as they may.
Again, if unto is the right rendering, we do not see why the first instance of the word aion following should not be in the singular, there being but one age beyond, and that the endless ultimatum of all the improved ages of probation. For if the plural were admitted, then we admit a variety of ages to those concerning whom it is said, "they shall be as the angels, and shall die no more." And if various ages of the same beginning must have various terminations, then there would be a variety of terminations to that kingdom concerning which it is said, "There shall be no end." Unless, as the Encyclopædia would have it, that this plural is an "intensive." But we are unable to conceive of the necessity, or even propriety, of an intensive being applied to any word expressive of infinity, since there is no possible chance for any increase or addition.
There has been a great perplexity in the minds of many in regard to the true sense of the word aion, because lexicographers have given it a variety of very different definitions; such generally as the following: duration, finite or infinite; unlimited duration, eternity; a period of duration, past or future; time, age, lifetime; the world, the universe, &c. Now if this Greek word corresponds in sense with our word eternity, or forever, as they are generally defined in our English Dictionaries, then such definitions, as duration, finite time, age, lifetime, world, universe, &c., must all be incorrect; there being no terms expressive of limited duration, nor any word expressive of anything but that of time, made use of in our Dictionaries to define these words; for every definition there, gives the idea of endless duration. Therefore we have satisfactory evidence that these words do not correspond in sense.
We admit, however, that in the Bible the word "forever" is used in many instances to express limited duration, as the brethren have sufficiently shown; but the reason is, that it was rendered from original words, which more usually expressed limited duration, and in many instances the subject matter is such that the sense of the word is fully shown to be but limited.
The inquiry will arise in the minds of many, how can the word age have so many definitions as are given to this Greek word? We answer, all but the last two can be very easily and consistently given to it. For instance, when speaking of a mortal being, it may be with strict propriety that any of those definitions expressing limited duration may be applied, such as duration, finite, a period of duration, past or future, time, age, lifetime, &c. But when the age of an immortal being is referred to, then it is strictly proper for any of those definitions which express endless duration to be applied to them.
As it respects the last two, world and universe, it is wholly unnecessary that any such definitions be given, as there are other Greek words which amply supply their place; and if these definitions can be consistently given, they are merely an imperfect or secondary sense of the word defined; as in Matt. xiii, 39; xxiv, 3, where it speaks of the end of aion, translated the end of the world. It strictly means either the end of the age of the world, or the end of the gospel age—all of which amount to nearly the same, although the words rendered from this are very dissimilar in sense.
Now aion either corresponds in sense with our words forever and eternity, or it does not. If it does, why have not the most distinguished lexicographers, such as Johnson, Webster, and Worcester, so informed us? Or rather, why have any of them informed us to the contrary? And why especially is it in many instances so used in the Bible as to forever exclude that sense from it, whereas it may invariably be translated age without discovering the least inconsistency of language?
STEPHEN PIERCE.
Stuartsville, Minn.
The Hundred-Fold.
By Vesta N. Cudworth
How gain God's blessed poor,
With persecution, loss,
The fiery trials kept in store,
To help them bear the cross,
The furnace for refining
The dim, unburnished gold,
To make it pure and shining,
Their promised hundred-fold?
When foes have slandered him,
And made the world believe,
Their lies, he prays for them,
And all their wrath defies;
He sings as sweet as ever,
And walks erect and bold;
Enjoys a peaceful slumber,
And gets a hundred-fold.
In storms he lies so low,
He scarcely feels their breath;
The waves like mountains flow,
He fears no danger, death,
'Tis true they may engulf him,
So darkling and so cold;
But a strong Arm is round him,
He gets a hundred-fold.
He sees in blessed vision,
While others shriek with fear,
That dangers have their mission,
And death is always near.
He's in the plan of mercy,
In Heaven is stored his gold,
In Christ is always happy,
And gets his hundred-fold.
Vesta N. Cudworth.
State of the Dead.
By J. F. Hammond
BRO. SMITH: While reading the discussion between Eld. Hull and Eld. Cottrell, on the Nature and Destiny of Man, it brings to mind the expression of a Methodist minister at the camp-meeting at Willimantic, Ct., last fall. I spent one evening in hearing a sermon on the destiny of the wicked. He said, "When a wicked man dies, his soul goes right to hell, and suffers in hell fire till the general judgment; then his body is resurrected, and his soul comes out of hell, and is united to the body, and then both soul and body are sent back to hell to suffer to all eternity!" In proof of this he quoted Rev. xx, 10. What awful work has tradition made with the word of God. I am surprised to find that a Seventh-day Baptist, who claims to take the Bible for his "rule of faith and practice," should adhere so closely to the traditions of the man of sin. I will here give a few extracts from the Most Reverend Dr. James Butler's Catechism, published in New York, 1850:
"Q. Where did Christ's soul go to after his death?"
"A. It descended into hell. Ap. Cr."
"Q. Did Christ's soul descend into the hell of the damned?"
"A. No; but to a place of rest called Limbo. Acts ii, 24, 27; Ps. xv, 10."
"Q. Who were in Limbo?"
"A. The souls of the saints, who died before Christ."
"Q. Why did Christ descend into Limbo?"
"A. St. Peter says, to preach to those spirits that were in prison; that is, to announce to them in person the joyful tidings of their redemption. 1 Pet. iii, 19."
"Q. Why did not the souls of the saints, who died before Christ, go to Heaven immediately after their death?"
"A. Because Heaven was shut against them by the sin of our first parents; and could not be opened to any one, but by the death of Christ."
"Q. When did the souls of the saints, who died before Christ, go to Heaven?"
"A. When Christ ascended into Heaven."
On page 19, of purgatory it says:
"Q. What is purgatory?"
"A. A place of punishment in the other life, where some souls suffer for a time, before they can go to Heaven. Matt. xii, 32"
Truly, what a great difference there is between the teachings of the Catholic church and the Bible. When men are willing to throw away all selfishness, and the commandments of men, how clear the light of God's holy word shines forth. The following passages show the state of the dead in the Bible:
Ps. cxlvi, 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."
Eccl. ix, 5. "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."
Eccl. iii, 19. "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath."
Verse 21. "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward."
Oh, how astonished I am that the Seventh-day Baptists should cleave to such folly, that the soul goes right to Heaven or hell at death, when no more proof is found in the Bible for it than for Sunday-keeping. The teaching of both is the work of the Man of sin. Thanks be to God for the glorious light that is now shining upon all the willing and obedient, relative to the dogmas of the old Catholic church. May God help us all to walk in the clear light of truth.
J. F. HAMMOND.
Providence, R. I.
Talks to Young Men.
A MESS OF POTTAGE.
It was a small price that Esau took for his title to the inheritance, and his right as Isaac's first-born son. One savory meal, one hour's gratification of appetite, a piece of bread, and a few beans or lentiles, a brief refreshment, longed for, enjoyed, and gone,—and for this he sold his birthright, and lost his heritage.
But foolish as men may count this ancient sensualist, who gave his inheritance for a single meal, the pottage business is by no means obsolete,—nay, it seems to flourish greatly in modern days. And the trade in birthrights is also extensive and active.
Manhood, honesty, nobility, purity of soul, fellowship with God and with his kings and priests whom he has already anointed, and whom he soon will crown; the heavenly hope, the eternal inheritance, the joys unspeakable, and the bliss immeasurable,—all these things are the birthrights which men barter away, the treasures which they squander, the priceless gifts wasted by foolish hands.
And what messes of pottage Satan furnishes, savory and smoking hot, to tempt the appetites of gluttonous fools. To one he gives wealth, gilt playthings, toys, and trinkets. To another he flings the sop of luxury, and bids him eat and drink and riot on. Here for a moment's sensual pleasure, a man perils his all; there for an hour of wild exhilaration, another drains the cup that biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Here for the kiss of a painted prostitute, or the harlot's vile embrace, the fool sells his birthright, and takes disease into his body, rottenness into his bones, remorse into his heart, death for his doom, and perdition for his portion.
In an hour the pleasure is past. In a day all has faded away, and loathing comes to take the place of lust. But in that short hour, innocence, purity, peace and honor, all are gone. Tears cannot efface the stain; regrets cannot obliterate the dark memories that haunt the soul; years cannot unburden the conscience of its load. The pottage was savory, but the birthright is gone!
Ah, how many to-day curse the pottage, and wish their birthright back once more! How many others go to sell their birthrights, and taste the hellish compound that Satan brews. To-day warnings are useless; to-morrow regrets will be vain. Now Satan says "no danger;" to-morrow the sneering fiend hisses in our ears, "too late."
Bitterly did Esau rue his brief indulgence. Earnestly did he seek to undo the fatal act; but he found no way to change the settled purpose, though he sought it day and night with tears. Bitterly have others lamented the same fatal error. Peace gone, innocence gone, purity gone, honor gone, the birthright gone, and nothing to show for it but loathsome memories, broken health, and a conscious meanness and self-abhorrence, which makes life a burden and death a leap in the dark.
And for all this misery there is but one possible remedy, but one relief. The good God pities even such lost men as these, and offers to purge and cleanse and pardon even them. Will you come to Him? "Whoso covereth his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy."
Pour out the sins that burn within your tortured breast, and give yourself forever to the Lord. This is your only hope. You have sold yourself for naught, you shall be redeemed without money. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth you from all sin. By that alone can you regain lost innocence and peace and rest.
But beware of sensual delights. Flee youthful lusts. Hate even the garment spotted by the flesh. Solemn is the apostolic charge, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know now that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." Heb. xii, 14–17.
Never did sensual pleasure hold supreme sway than amid the proud and idle gluttons of the cities of the plain. Their filthy conduct daily vexed the righteous soul of Lot, and their unlawful deeds made sad the hearts that yet remembered God. But when the sulphurous cloud of smoke, and the lurid storm of fire came down, what availed it all? Where were the rioters, the adulterers, the gluttons, the harlots, then? What availed the memory of guilty pleasures, amid the tormenting vengeance of eternal fire?
And what shall guilty pleasures avail you, when all the world shall be overwhelmed as was Sodom, and destroyed like Gomorrah? Those cities are set forth as an example to other sinners, that they may know their swift approaching doom. For, "As it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Luke xvii, 28–30.
"Thus shall it be" when in the midst of the world's high carnival of pleasure, shall burst the awful terrors of the day of doom. Too late will men curse the fatal pottage, and seek with tears the birthright of the sons of God. But all in vain. The decision made in an hour of sensual passion, is bound as with the chains of destiny. The inheritance is lost. The birthright is gone. The crown shines upon another's brow, and for the poor degraded sensualist, there only remains abiding shame, everlasting contempt, and the dread perdition of ungodly men. Oh man! Young man, take heed to your ways, while you make earth's perilous paths. One fatal step, and you are gone! Beware how you dally with sin. Beware how you trifle with temptation. Beware how you boast of your strength. Beware how you confide in your safety. "Blessed is the man that feareth always." Flee from every taint and stain of sin. Hide yourself in the everlasting Rock. Trust in the Saviour and in his cleansing blood and all-sufficient grace, and you shall be a conqueror in the fight of faith, and wear the crown of victory at last.—The Christian.
The Judgments of Women.
In a conversation I once held with an eminent minister of the church, he made this fine observation: "We will say nothing of the way in which that sex usually conduct an argument; but the intuitive judgments of women are often more to be relied upon than conclusions which we reach by an elaborate process of reasoning. No man that has an intelligent wife, or is accustomed to the society of educated women, will dispute this. Times without number you must have known them to decide questions on the instant, and with unerring accuracy, which you had been poring over for hours, perhaps with no other result than to find yourself getting deeper and deeper into the tangled maze of difficulties. It were hardly generous to allege that they achieve these feats less by reasoning than a sort of sagacity that approximates to the sure instincts of the animal races; and yet there seems to be some grounds for the remark of a witty French writer, that when a man has toiled, step by step, up a flight of stairs, he will be sure to find a tortured woman at the top; but she will not be able to tell how she got there. How she got there, however, is of little moment. If the conclusions a woman has reached are sound, that is all that concerns us. And that they are very apt to be sound on the practical matters of domestic and secular life, nothing but prejudice and self-conceit can prevent us from acknowledging. The inference, therefore, is unavoidable, that a man who thinks it beneath his dignity to take counsel with an intelligent wife, stands in his own light, and betrays that lack of judgment which he tacitly attributes to her."
The Life-Boat's Last Turn.
“It's the last turn she'll make,” said William to his friend, as they stood on the cliff and watched the life-boat, as she was bringing to the shore a part of the crew and passengers of a wrecked vessel. “It's her last turn, for the storm has so increased that ere they reach the wreck again, she will have gone to pieces.”
It is a sad sight to look upon a vessel helpless amid the rocks, and broken by the fury of the waves. It is still more sad to know that those foaming waters will be the winding-sheet of loved and loving ones, and that though we may pity, yet we cannot save them. But even these are trifling horrors compared with those that hang about a lost and shipwrecked world.
Six thousand years ago this world, misguided by a treacherous pilot, and misled by wrecker's baleful lights, left the true course of obedience and blessing, to sail upon the dark and treacherous billows of sin and unbelief. The voyage has been one of peril. God's curse has smitten where his blessing smiled; and rocks and shoals, and quicksands and dangers, have been thick on every hand. The storms of blood and crime, and tyranny and anarchy, the tempests of calamity, distress, and indignation, have beat upon this weary world, till it lies helpless and hard by the lee-shore of perdition. She has gained no peaceful port, for peace is not bestowed upon a world of sin. And every signal for a pilot has only brought to her some treacherous foe; and every effort to gain a harbor, has only left her further from the heavenly port.
The world is lost, ruined, wrecked, without God and without hope. And the storms give no tokens of abatement, nor are there signs of sunnier skies, or calmer waters. The world must go down—down amid the engulfing billows of destruction and perdition, down amid the dissolving fury of nature's final fires. And men who cling to it shall share its doom. Brave hearts, strong hands, wise heads, cannot avert the dire calamities that mark “the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
But yet, thank God, there is hope; hope for perishing man, even in this world that lieth in the wicked one, and that is reserved unto fire against the coming judgment day. For though the ruined vessel, with her costly freight, must sink, yet her perishing passengers may be rescued from the shattered wreck.
The launched life-boat of God's mercy is tossing amid the white-capped waves, the Captain of Salvation directs it in its course; it mounts the fiercest billows, and rocks lightly amid the hugest waves; it skims the waters like a sea-bird, and defies the fury of the storm. No burden can sink it, no shock can shatter it, no surge can whelm it, no rock can destroy it. Manned by a crew that know no fear, and dread no danger, it hangs about this ruined, sinking world, to take her passengers to land. In it there is room enough for all who will come. And to every passenger on board this fire-doomed world, the invitation goes out, “Come on board the life-boat and be saved.” Money cannot buy a passage, labor cannot earn one, tears cannot procure one, toils cannot deserve one, honors give no right to claim one; but you may come on board and welcome: the passage is free, without money and without price. Wealth did not induce the Captain of Salvation to peril all for you. Grace, not pay, was the motive, and thanks, not reward, must be the return.
And there is room enough for all; but you must leave your luggage all behind. The life-boat carries no freight! The miser's money, the worldling's wealth, the fop's fashions, the drunkard's jug, the sinner's lusts, the Pharisee's self-righteousness, the formalist's good works, the rafts you have been building, the spars you have clung to, the life-preservers you have invented, all must go by the board. The life-boat will take you, and nothing more. You must trust in that, and nothing beside. Christ must be all or nothing to your ruined soul.
Room is plenty, but time is scant. The hours glide swiftly by. Death hastens, and judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and damnation slumbereth not. The life-boat's last turn will be made, no man can tell how soon. In such an hour as we think not, “the Son of Man cometh.” There will be an end of calling and refusing, an end of entreaties and hardening the heart against them. The last day will come, and with it comes the Christian's joy, the sinner's doom. And before that day shall break in storm and thunder on the world, there will be other “last things.”
There will be the last scoff, the last mockery, the last sinful jest, the last careless hour. There will be the last scene of riot, the last day of pleasure, the last nightly revel. There will be the last meeting, the last sermon, the last exhortation, the last warning, the last fervent prayer, the last solemn song. And then,
“Oh, then, the judgment throne!
Oh, then, the last hope gone!”
To-day may be the life-boat's last turn for you. These words may be your last invitation. Oh, let it not be in vain! I beseech you, come on board the life-boat! Trust your all in Jesus' hands. Come and be saved. But you must leave the world. You must forsake the wreck. Time presses. You must make the final choice. You cannot cling to the wreck, and yet be saved in the life-boat. You cannot serve God and Mammon. You cannot have the friendship of the world, for it is enmity with God. You must forsake all to follow Christ. Will you do it? Will you leave all and live, or keep all and perish?
God will not destroy a lost world unwarned. The long suffering of God is salvation to guilty men. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.” Matt. xxiv, 14.
Friend, beware how you reject God's invitation. Beware how you cling to a shipwrecked world till the life-boat makes her last turn, lands her passengers on the heavenly shore, and leaves you to wait and perish amid the terrors of the day of final doom. “Behold now is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation.”
Music.
By Susan Elmer
THERE'S music in the raging wind,
That sweeps the mountain high,
And music in the lowly vale,
Where gentle zephyrs sigh.
There's music in the gentle stream,
That winds along the vale,
And music on the boisterous deep,
Where daring seamen sail.
There's music in the cataract,
Where the white surges dash,
And music in the thunder's voice,
Where forked lightnings flash.
There's music in the song of birds,
When wintry months are past,
They seem to say, We're happy now,
For spring has come at last.
There's music even in the pond,
Music in falling rain,
When vegetation springs to life,
That long has dormant lain.
There's music, too, in gentle words,
What strength they can impart,
How oft have words of sympathy,
Consoled the mourner's heart.
There's music in the prattler's voice,
Music in fervent prayer,
And in the wanderer's songs of praise,
There's music everywhere.
There's music in the realms of light,
Amid the radiant throng,
That music flows from seraphs' harps,
And from the victor's song.
Susan Elmer.
Ashfield, Mass.
“I Don’t Believe.”
By R. F. Cottrell
THIS is the creed of infidels and skeptics. Prefix I don’t believe to every statement of revelation, to every article of Christian faith, and you have their entire creed. They never tell us what they do believe. They labor to destroy the Christian faith, and offer us nothing in its stead. They would pull down our house and leave us with no shelter at all. Their labor is unproductive, and is no benefit to any one, unless, from the fact that “misery likes company;” they would be glad to see others as poor and houseless as themselves. But we prefer to remain in our comfortable home until some one shall offer us a better one.
But open infidels are not the only ones that hold this creed. You will hear it from many a professed Christian. Say they, “I don’t believe” it makes any difference what day we keep; “I don’t believe” it makes any difference whether you are immersed or sprinkled; and “I don’t believe” it makes any difference what a man believes. Still they would probably admit that belief in the Christian religion is preferable to belief in Paganism or Mohammedism.
Our Lord Jesus Christ made our belief of some importance. Said he, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” None of our Christian friends who talk so much of non-essentials, will hold that baptism is of more importance than faith. And if faith is thus essential to salvation, it would hardly be consistent that the belief of a lie would do just as well as the belief of its opposite, the truth. In fact we read of some being left to “believe a lie that they might be damned.”
A Christian who has scripture for his faith will tell you what he believes, and sustain his belief by Bible proofs. But when they adopt the infidel’s creed, and say, “I don’t believe,” you may be sure it is because they hold some faith or practice for which they have no Bible proof. If they are substituting something else for what the Bible requires, they tell you “I don’t believe it makes any difference.”
When I hear one say, as I did yesterday, “I don’t believe it makes any difference what a man believes,” it leads to reflections like these: It would make a vast difference with me. I would not choose to live in a community who believe that murder, adultery, and theft are no crimes, but are perfectly right. My Christian friends who occasionally use the skeptic’s creed will agree with me in this. Well, these crimes may look worse to you than Sabbath-breaking, because they come a little closer to self. But he who breaks one of God’s commandments sets aside the whole authority of Him who is the Author of the whole law. Who has a right to say of any one of his commandments, “Is it not a little one?” Matt. v, 17–20.
R. F. Cottrell.
Is it So?
By R. F. Cottrell
HAVE we reached the time when a religious journal, and one professing the Advent faith too, can publish a challenge to others to discuss a matter of dispute in its columns, and then, when the challenge is accepted, coolly decline it on the ground that \"our regulations will not allow of a discussion in the Crisis;\" and besides this, withhold from its readers the fact that the challenge had been accepted; thus giving the impression that the opposition had not confidence enough in their cause to risk a fair discussion of its merits?
As this sad fact came to my knowledge through the REVIEW, I could not help contrasting the fairness and liberality of the World's Crisis with that of others. Eld. N. V. Hull invited me to the discussion of the question of man's nature and destiny, in the REVIEW. I accepted of it on condition that it should be published also in the SABBATH RECORDER; whereupon its columns were readily and freely opened to our discussion.
And not only so, but during our discussion I have written a number of articles for the RECORDER on other subjects, calculated to invite inquiry into our peculiar faith as Adventists, and its liberal editor has given them a conspicuous place in the editorial department of his paper. For this he is entitled to, and has, my sincere thanks.
The inquiry comes up, Why this marked contrast? I will say what suggests itself to my mind as the answer, and leave the question open for a better solution, if there is a better. I have thought then that faith in the entire law of God makes better men, more upright and honorable, than the faith that that law has been in part or wholly abolished.
R. F. COTTRELL.
On Giving.
By Jos. Clarke
Nothing can be more beautiful than union, harmony, justice, and equality, in our families and communities in bearing public burdens.
In a well-regulated family, each individual has his portion of labor to perform; even the little child of five or six years, has some little daily labor to do at its proper time. In communities the expenses of the public are cheerfully borne by the tax-payers, and thus it is the heaviest burdens are easily borne, and the heaviest expenses are cheerfully and certainly met.
Thirty years ago the most of Wood Co., Ohio, was literally overflowed with water at certain seasons of the year; and so level is this section that even rivers and creeks need to be conducted by ditches in order to prevent their spreading over a vast extent of country. But no individual could bear the expense of such labors as were presented, and so proper laws were soon made by the legislature, and by an equal system of taxation, immense systems of drainage are perfected, and lands once worthless are now sought after with eagerness, and the overflowing streams are taught to flow in more regular channels; and to haste away to the lake. Beautiful farms adorn the landscape, and herds and flocks graze peacefully, where a few years since the fish from Lake Erie sported in freedom. And all this was done by a people impoverished by floods, and often immigrating hither during the fine autumn, when these prairies bloomed in almost Eden beauty. But alas, the freshets of Spring turned their fine fields into vast pools. After years spent in individual and disconnected, unsystematized effort, often spending thousands in this vain attempt, the people were ripe for any good plan of union, and now witness the result of union.
If union is strength in temporal matters, how much more in spiritual things? In the plan of Systematic Benevolence, we have the best possible plan of equality in bearing burdens, and who can estimate the good yet to come of this plan—this plan so heartily adopted by the church and so cheerfully entered into.
Let us go on, even if there is no immediate call for the funds, there will no doubt soon be a call for all we have laid by in our S. B. funds. Let none of us bury our talent in the earth, but improve it as our Lord has directed.