Signs of the Times, Vol. 1, No. 24. (4/22/1875)

Signs of the Times

Apr 22, 1875

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Apr 22, 1875

The Sermon.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

TRY THE SPIRITS.

BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER.

"BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1.

That truth lies between extremes, is an old saying. On the subject now under consideration we find opposites of error; some accept every manifestation of power as from the Spirit of God, or from good spirits, while others discard every manifestation of spirit power as evil. One class overlook the injunction of the text; they do not "try the spirits whether they are of God," but accept all without discrimination. The other class ignore the command given through Paul when he was speaking of the Spirit, to "prove all things; hold fast that which is good." They will not take the pains to prove anything of the nature of a manifestation of the Spirit; they reject all and without a trial.

The first class are again divided into two parties, and to these we will at present give our attention. One of these parties is easily disposed of. It embraces all the Spiritualists of this age. That the media possess power, or are possessed by spirits, no one will deny who has examined the facts of their manifestations, and studied the prophecies which relate to them.

N. P. Talmadge, an eminent and noted Spiritualist, in the preface to the book entitled, "Healing of the Nations," claimed that 1 Cor. 12 is fulfilled in Modern Spiritualism, but in the enumeration of the gifts which he copied from that chapter, he carefully excluded every sentence from which we can learn that all divine manifestations are by "one and the self-same Spirit." This is a sufficient condemnation of all the theories and phenomena of Spiritualism, for that, instead of "a diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit," we find a great diversity of spirits. Spiritualists do not occupy, either in theory or practice, the position of God's people upon whom he is pleased to bestow the gifts of his Spirit. They deny Jesus Christ, through whom alone "the promise of the Spirit" is given. Nothing more is needed to show that their gifts are spurious. The Scriptures represent them as "seducing spirits," and their teachings as the "doctrines of devils." We cannot deny their power; for they are again spoken of as "the spirits of devils working miracles."

The other party to which we have referred is composed of the "Latter-day Saints," or Mormons. They have always claimed to have the gifts among them. The fact of their making this claim has, perhaps more than all else, created a prejudice against the truth, and brought this important doctrine into disrepute. These differ from Spiritualists in that they profess faith in Christ, and preach and claim the power of the Spirit only as a fulfillment of the promises of the gospel. And because of this claim and their profession of strong faith in Christ and the gospel, many are led to believe their gifts are genuine. But when we "try the spirits" by the gospel standard we shall find that these also are mere counterfeits of the gifts of the gospel. There are certain rules to determine their character, given by the Saviour, which we will now examine.

"Beware of false prophets." A true prophet has a gift of the Spirit of God. False prophets may be of two kinds; mere pretenders, having no gift at all, or having a spurious gift by an evil Spirit. The Saviour says, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." We will make this our first ground of examination.

1. The Mormons are well known to be egotistical and boastful of their gifts. Anywhere and everywhere they are ready to thrust their claims upon our notice. But boasting is excluded by the law of faith. Humility and meekness of spirit can alone secure the blessings of the Spirit of God.

2. Not only the boastfulness of their profession, but also the fruits of their lives have been inconsistent with the teachings and spirit of the gospel. They have manifested a spirit of worldly selfishness, and a disregard of the rights of others which is the reverse of that self-denying love to our neighbor which characterizes the true followers of Christ. Joseph Smith, the founder, leader, and prophet of their sect, set up a bank in Kirtland, Ohio, which proved to be a swindling concern. At Nauvoo a city charter was obtained and he became Mayor of the city. He placed his followers on a war footing, and was Commander-in-Chief of the "Nauvoo Legion." His conceit and ambition were so unbounded that he even announced himself a candidate for President of the United States! Outlaws were protected in the city over which he presided with despotic power. Freedom of speech was not allowed; a press was destroyed which was established with the avowed purpose of exposing the iniquity of the place; and the mob was screened, and it was openly talked by the leading men that no opposition press would be allowed in the city. They disregarded and even denied the rights of "the Gentiles," as they called all who were not of their number. And their history at Salt Lake has shown a condition of despotism, oppression, and immorality even worse than at Nauvoo.

3. In regard to the influence of their pretended gifts we will relate the substance of a conversation held a few years since with an aged person living in Northeastern Ohio, not far from Kirtland. He was a Morman while Smith was in Kirtland, and remained a Mormon up to the time of our acquaintance with him. He admitted that there was iniquity among them in Kirtland, equal in amount to what common report had it. "But," said he, "those wicked ones were not Mormons. They came among them for selfish purposes, and whenever their wrongs were found out and they professed to repent, the church was obliged to retain them."

Our answer was that the gifts of the Spirit were given for the perfection of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. They professed to have all these gifts. Where then was their discernment, that they could not detect hypocrisy, and expose wickedness, and so put it from their midst?

He replied that it was reasonable to suppose that where all the gifts existed the church should have been purified to a greater extent than it was there. He said he could not understand it.

The explanation is easily given: Their gifts were spurious; they were not of the Spirit of God, and did not tend to purify the body, or to perfect the saints. The spirit of error was with them from the beginning, and it showed itself in both their doctrines and practices. The Roman hierarchy never showed a greater love for worldly pre-eminence, or greater disregard for the moral and legal rights of those who opposed them. It was truly fortunate for the peace and security of the people that they were not permitted to grasp the power which they coveted, and which they strove to obtain. They emigrated to Utah only because they would not live in peace with their neighbors, and because their leaders would not submit to the laws of the land, they sought a place where they could rule without restraint. We speak only those things which are well known to be true, and we are willing to leave it with the candid that the evidence of their fruits is all against the genuineness of their gifts.

It is true that there are two parties of Mormons: Within a few years Joseph Smith, Jr., has headed a party repudiating Brigham Young, denying his authority and opposing some of the abominations of Salt Lake. But Brigham Young succeeded Smith at Nauvoo, and was long recognized as the head of the Mormon people, and even now those who oppose him are a small minority. Young's authority was established on the ground of the succession, and the assumption that he was gifted with prophetic power. Now if this was all a mistake, if the whole body of "the Saints" were deceived in regard to the claims of Young, as the other party assert, if the gift of prophecy was not conferred on him, then it is proved that their argument respecting the gifts is no evidence that they are a people of God, or, in other words, that their gifts are genuine. The claims of the two parties, that of Utah and that of Illinois, are based on the same arguments respecting the gifts and the same assumption that the gifts are manifested among them. Therefore that argument, and their claim that they possess the gifts, are shown to be no evidence in their favor. Each denounces the other, while both stand on the same ground. Some have been led to believe that they have the true faith because of their gifts, but it is shown that we must determine their standing by some other rule of judgment.

The Saviour has given that rule in Matt. 7:21-23. This is a continuation of his warning against false prophets. He says:— "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven."

By this we are taught that faith in Jesus Christ will not procure an entrance into the kingdom of Heaven without obedience to his Father. Having thus introduced the time and circumstance of entering into the kingdom, he continues:— "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Granting again all that the Mormons claim, that they prophesy in the name of Jesus, and in his name do many wonderful works, this text shows positively that that fact is no evidence that they are his followers. All this profession is made by those who work iniquity, and who are, therefore, commanded to depart from him when the faithful enter into the kingdom. Compare Matt. 25:34-41. To make more clear the application of the

text above quoted we notice two points:—

1. Iniquity is lawlessness, or law-breaking. So the original means. Greenfield defines it, "violation of a law, iniquity, improbity, sin;" from "anomos, lawless, without law, not subject to law; violating the law, wicked, impious, a transgressor." So it is given in the Emphatic Diaglott. And so we find it in Ex. 20:5, 6, the second commandment: "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." Observe the contrast; hatred is placed in opposition to love, and iniquity, in opposition to keeping the commandments of God. Therefore those described in the text are they who cry to Jesus, Lord, Lord, but do not keep the will of his Father—they do not keep the law of God. They unite the profession of faith and the claim of the gifts of the Spirit, with iniquity or disregard of the commandments of God. And it is a fact which has lately been confirmed to us by reading and by conversation, that the Mormons take antinomian ground, teaching that the commandments of God are abolished. Said the wise man, "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." They who keep the law are happy; they do not perish. They who transgress the law, or work iniquity, have no vision from God; they perish, for Jesus will say to them, "Depart from me." No matter how loud their profession; no matter how "many wonderful works" they do in the name of Jesus, they are still self-deceived; their gifts are described in Ezek. 13 as a vain vision and a lying divination. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Prov. 28:9. He that rejects the law of God, his religion is vain. How, then, shall God bestow upon him the precious gifts of his Spirit? We repeat what we have said, antinomianism and the Spirit do not—they cannot—go together.

2. We admit that the gifts were lost to the church because of apostasy; and as she recovers from the darkness by true, genuine reform, the gifts shall be restored. This is according to the teaching of the Scriptures. But we insist that they are not restored among the "Latter-day Saints;" or Mormons. Their "fruits" stand as their condemnation.

The restoration is brought to view in Rev. 12:17. "The remnant" here spoken of are the last state of the church; the same that are spoken of in Rev. 14:12, just before the Lord Jesus comes to reap the harvest of the earth. This remnant "have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Now the angel said, in Rev. 19:10: "The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." This is sufficient proof that the church in the last days will have the Spirit of prophecy. But this company is also said to "keep the commandments of God," as it is also said of them in Rev. 14:12, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This, surely, is not fulfilled in those who "make void the law through faith;" see Rom. 3:31; who professedly substitute the faith of Jesus for the commandments of God, instead of keeping both together.

But this is the position of the Mormons; they reject the law of God; they make void the commandments by their traditions, and are therefore workers of iniquity. Their profession of faith in Christ will not save them in the day when he comes to give to the little flock the kingdom. Their gifts will not procure his favor, because their lives are not right in his sight. Their spirit is a spirit of error leading to darkness and delusion. "By their fruits ye shall know them;" not by their profession; not even by their wonderful works in the name of Jesus, for these are nothing without obedience to the law of the Father.

We have seen that in the second commandment love of God is associated with keeping his commandments. In truth there is no love where obedience is lacking. Says an apostle, "This is the love of God that we keep his commandments." Love and obedience are inseparable. This enables us to appreciate the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 13:1, 2:—

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling symbol. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing."

Now we discover the harmony between the words of our Saviour in Matt. 7, and the words of Paul in the above text. Bearing in mind that iniquity is violation of the law, and love is the keeping of the law, the Saviour shows that to prophesy and to do wonderful works in his name will not secure an entrance into the kingdom to such as work iniquity. Likewise Paul says that the gift of prophecy and faith to remove mountains is nothing without the love of God.

These Scriptures apply to the Mormons more directly than to any other people of this age. They have never occupied the position of those who are pointed out in the word of God as preparing to meet the Lord at his appearing. They have not fulfilled the prophecy of the remnant in any particular. And we entreat all who have been tempted to regard them as the people of God because of their supposed possession of the gifts, to "try the spirits whether they are of God; to examine more closely the words of the Saviour in Matt. 7:15-23; and to study more carefully the position of the remnant who are accepted of the Lord when he comes to give the kingdom to his little flock. And let us each individually see to it that we are of that number "who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

"Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

The Righter of Wrongs.

By Penny Post

Lo! where are God's judgments for sinning And what are the wages for shame? She is pampered with gold and fine linen, She hath laughter and joy at beginning, And afterward riches and fame. By my vengeance that never knows sleeping, By the terrible wrath of my rod, I will bring down her beauty with weeping, Saith the Lord God.

She is fair as the earth after showers, When the spring and the summer first meet; She is queen of all seasons and hours, She is crowned with a crown of glad flowers, And princes have knelt at her feet. With tears and sharp anguish hereafter Shall my wine-press of anger be trod, When for glory she reaps scorn and laughter; Saith the Lord God.

One is walking, and no man doth heed her, In the silent by-ways of the earth: She is hungry, yet no man doth feed her; She is weary, yet no man doth lead her; She is small and accounted no worth. She is walking with weeping and fasting, In the same weary way that He trod. I will crown her with joy everlasting, Saith the Lord God.

The world and its pleasures turn from her, And no man shall weep when she dies; She lacks glory, and worship, and honor, No beauty hath God placed upon her, To kindle the light in men's eyes. Look up, all the bonds will I sever, That bound thee so close to the sod, Thou shalt rest in my bosom forever, Saith the Lord God. —Penny Post.

Christ and the Millennium

By Dr. Cumming

The Millennium. LET me answer another question which has perplexed Christian minds, pious and devout minds. Will this personal advent be ushered in by a series of mighty reformations, great and holy changes, a church pure, a world at peace; and on earth all concord and covered with millennial glory? In other words, will the millennium bring Christ, or will Christ bring the millennium? I candidly admit there are devout and cultivated minds who think that a thousand years of perfect peace and happiness throughout the world—the result of the triumphs of art, of science, of sound policy, of gospel preaching, and of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit of God—will precede Christ’s advent. If this be true, we shall be able to tell the very day and hour when he will come; because, if we know when the thousand years begin, we shall know when the thousand years will end, and then we shall be able to say that that very day Jesus Christ will come.

But the Scripture does not seem to warrant any such expectation. As the day does not usher in the sun, but the sun emerging from beneath the horizon, brings in all the brightness of meridian day; so Christ will bring the millennium, not the millennium will usher in Christ. The view I take is not that we are to look for a millennium on earth, but that we are to look for the personal and glorious advent of the Son of God. That personal advent is not a thing buried deep down in uncounted ages, so far off that no living man in this generation may anticipate it. Such a conception of the day of Christ is most unscriptural. Faith in a personal Christ is salvation; hope in a personal Christ is a joy unutterable and full of glory. Our religion is not accepting dogmas, but resting on Christ. Salvation is not belief in the atonement, but belief in Christ. "What must I do to be saved?" "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." So hope is not the hope of the millennium, but the hope of Christ; it is not the hope of an improved condition of the world, but the hope of him who comes to revolutionize and to glorify it.

How much progress have we made in 1800 years? We mourn and we are ashamed to own that Christianity upon the bosom of our world is merely a bright patch on the bosom of an area of immeasurable barrenness and darkness. The gospel now is not for the conversion of the world, but for the calling of the people out of the world to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. How striking are the words of the Master: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world"—to be followed by its conversion? no; but, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." In this very prophecy is one of the most striking signs. As soon as it is clear that the gospel has been preached and the Bible translated into the tongue of every nation, kindred, people, and tribe, we may believe that the harvest of the earth draweth near. That there is to be no millennial blessedness before Christ comes seems plainly deducible from the Saviour’s own words. Weighty words worthy of the name are not man’s arguments, but what the Holy Ghost saith unto the churches.

Let us hear what the Saviour says: "He that shall endure unto the end"—the end of this world; enduring means conflict, trouble, temptation, and trial—"shall be saved." Again, "To him that overcometh will I give a crown of glory." Then there are battles to be fought, and victories to be won. A distinctive mark of this dispensation is, "All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." If you never suffer anything on account of your allegiance to Christ, that allegiance wants the most brilliant credentials of its depth, its force, and reality. Again, "In the world ye shall have tribulation," and again, "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." The shining throng that appear on the margin of the sky, ascending from the depths of the world along the steeps of glory, are thus described: They, at that very time, the end of the dispensation, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

But there is a second series of texts that still confirm what I have said. Our Saviour says, "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." In other words, at his second advent the world will be in the same condition morally that it was in when the deluge ascended from the depths, and the windows of heaven opened, and a vast population was swept from its surface. What was its condition in the days of Noah? For in what they were in the days of Noah we have the prophetic picture of what it will be just upon the eve of His own personal and glorious advent. "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." "All flesh had corrupted its way, and there was none righteous, no, not one." The Saviour says, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth?" It is doubtful if faith here means saving, Christian faith; it is more probably faith in his second glorious advent. If so, it would teach that there will be people who will be saying, "Oh! that cannot be; where is the promise?" In the second epistle of Peter we have a most perfect picture of what the condition of the world just upon the eve of our Lord’s advent will be. "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying,"—what? "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation;" therefore they argue, all things will continue as they are forever. "Where, then, is the promise of his coming?" Now such are the marks of the condition of the world at the time that the Saviour comes; the first series indicating that suffering will continue to be the portion of the church and people of God; the second series indicating that the world will be full of wickedness as in the days of Noah.

There are texts that prove that the visible church is to exist in an imperfect condition till Christ comes, but in the millennial day the church will be perfect and beautiful, as a bride adorned for the bridegroom, and Christ, the bridegroom, present. Let us ascertain what is the picture of the church till that time. "The field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one;" both grow together until the harvest; but what is the harvest? "The harvest is the end of the world;" not "world" in the sense that it is the end of this creation. In another discourse I will show you that this earth is never to be destroyed; the hills are everlasting, the earth is to endure forever. The words translated "the end of the world," literally mean, "the winding up of the age, the dispensation, the economy." Here is the mixed condition of the church, tares, and wheat, unto the end, unto the end of this dispensation. That is evidence there will be no millennial state before Christ comes.

The prophecy also teaches us a great lesson. We may not expect a pure church upon earth at present. Many people try to make one; they think if they collect together that they will have a pure church. In the first place they can’t do it; and in the second place, those they believe to be elect prove not always to be so; and in the third place, it cannot be, for the Master has said that the tares and wheat will grow together until the harvest, and they that try to pull out the tares, or rather they that try to separate the wheat and to leave the tares, find that they have bound up in their sheaves as many tares as wheat, and that they have not created a perfect church, but only another denomination of tares and wheat, or imperfect men.

Another evidence that our Lord’s advent is to be first, and a millennium second, is the fact that there will be a great apostasy overspreading the whole of this dispensation, beginning at his first advent, and ending only at his second. That apostasy is described in the 2nd chapter of the second epistle to the Thessalonians. It plainly delineates the papal power and corporation, nor is it one of the least suggestive signs of the times that that system is trembling on the verge of its destruction. In England it is trying to secure its last foothold for it has concentrated its whole disposable force upon this country. Archbishop Manning, a very eloquent man, writes, "England is the fortress of heresy; if we can strike down Protestantism in England, it dies throughout the world. It is a warfare of detail. England once converted to the Roman Catholic faith will be the great missionary to illuminate the world." I don’t believe in the truth of his prospects, or in the probability of his success; but certain it is that the progress the church of Rome has made in this country is greater than we can desire.

The pope nevertheless is trembling on his throne; the emperor telling him that the French bayonets must soon in succession retire. (This was written in 1866.) Meanwhile the poor priest so despairs and desponds, that he has not even nerve and heart to try to raise a few miserable battalions out of his own people in order to defend his throne and protect him from the fury—the shepherd from the fury of his own sheep. If ever the papacy was in jeopardy, almost fatal, it is now.

The second advent of Christ is to destroy this system—"Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."

Whether this system, however, to which I have referred, be delineated in the 2nd chapter of the second epistle to the Thessalonians, I will not now discuss; it would take too long. But this is enough for my present purpose; a great apostasy began in the days of the apostles, and is to last until consumed and wasted to a skeleton by providential causes, and is finally crushed by the personal appearance of Christ. The Greek word translated, "destroyed by the brightness of his coming," is litterally, "the epiphany," of his own personal presence." Certain divines say it does not mean a personal advent, but a spiritual. Let us take the same Greek word in other passages, and see what it means. "The coming of Titus;" that means Titus’ personal coming. "The coming of Stephen;" that means Stephen’s personal coming. We read in another epistle: "The glorious appearing of the Son of God, the Saviour." So in Daniel we read that a power is to continue until the Judgment sit, and it is destroyed unto the end. Now whatever that system be, identify it with the papacy or not, it is a dark, overshadowing superstition, in which a chief shall exalt himself above all that is called God, changing laws and seasons, sitting in the temple of God as if he were God; whatever that power be, it is a power of darkness that is to stretch from the cross onward to the crown, and only to be destroyed, finally destroyed, by the Saviour’s personal appearing. That alone is decisive proof that no millennium of joy, and holiness, and happiness, precedes the Saviour’s advent.

These seem to my mind conclusive reasons that the millennium, or whatever you call it—a thousand years of blessedness, Paradise restored, are to succeed, and not precede, Christ’s second advent.

Do we set our hearts upon that glorious advent? Man needs hope. Read Campbell’s beautiful poem, "The Pleasures of Hope," the most classic in the English tongue, and you will see that without hope, the mainspring of the noblest actions and the fountain of the purest pleasures are both swept away. What is your hope? Is it the blessed and the glorious hope? Common eyes do not see it, and unanointed hearts do not feel it. To common eyes the street-lamps outshine the distant stars; but by anointed eyes the lamps of the street will never be mistaken for the luminaries of the sky. This world’s eyes are set upon the dim, flickering, twinkling lights that they think are all; but a Christian’s heart rises above the world, and looks beyond the world, and looks for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour.

"A faithful minister," says Mr. Newton, "declared that he was never conscious of making so little headway in proclaiming the truth as when death and the certainty of death were the great theme." He was asked again, "Is there any one theme or topic in handling which you feel you make less impression on your hearers than any other? His answer was, "It is very strange; I don’t exactly understand it; but I seem never to be so unsuccessful in my preaching and ministry as when I begin to preach upon the certainty and nearness of death." Why? Because it is not the Lord’s way of preaching: Show me in the New Testament death appealed to as a motive force for the highest and noblest personal devotedness. But if you were to find one instance of that, I will find you many of that I am now speaking of. For instance, do you need to be stirred to repentance? What is the gospel way? "God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;" the Lord Jesus Christ.

Does the Christian need to be stimulated to progress? What is the motive force? Is it death? No—"That when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." Would you desire to reach to the highest possible reward, and thus to persevere in doing good without fainting? The motive force is, "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Would you be persuaded from being ashamed of the cross, or, in other words, stimulated to glory in the cross? What is the motive force? "Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of my words, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." Would you increase patience in suffering? "Be patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." If you would wish to have the whole gospel in the most beautiful words, it is, "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men; teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;" now what next? "looking for blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." And so much is the case that this hope of the second personal advent of our Lord is constantly set forth as the most distinguishing and exalted grace in the Christian character.

For instance, the apostle says, "Ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" as if that were the crowning grace. "Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Again says the apostle, "There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." You will be astonished as you read the New Testament looking for the evidence of this, at discovering the space it covers on the sacred page. Richard Baxter, the eminent, learned, and pious Nonconformist of two centuries ago, was so struck with the force of these texts, that he said, "If I were but sure that the trumpet would sound, and the dead would rise, and the Lord would come, before the period of my life, it would be the joyfulest time in the world to me." How very beautiful, and how suggestive of what is joyous, and sanctifying, and blessed. Joanna Baillie, the poetess, gives the picture of a maiden whose betrothed had gone in the days of the Crusade to the Holy Land. He was given up by thousands for lost, but she never gave him up; and every day, as the sun set on the little island on which she lived, she lighted the watch-fire, and looked with anxiety across the Mediterranean Sea, if she could catch the gleam of a white sail upon the distant horizon. The true church never gives up the hope of His coming. The world believes he is dead, while it ignores what he adds, "I was dead, but I am alive evermore." The true church keeps the watch-fire burning in her heart; looks by faith and hope across the wide waste of waters, and he will come the second time unto her unto salvation. Beautifully does Keble, the Christian poet sing,

"Thus bad and good their several warnings give Of His approach, which few may see, and live. Faith’s ear with awful still delight Counts them like minute bells at night, Keeping the heart awake till dawn of morn, While to her funeral pile this aged world is borne."

"But what are Heaven’s alarms to hearts that cower In willful slumber deepening every hour; That draw their curtains closer round, The nearer swells the trumpet sound? Lord, ere our trembling lamps sink out and die, Touch us with chastening hand, and make us feel thee nigh."

Daily Duty

An elevated purpose is a good and ennobling thing, but we cannot begin at the top of it. We must work up to it by the often difficult path of daily duty—of daily duty always carefully performed.

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