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Review and Herald, Vol. 39, No. 18.

Present Condition of the World

Review and Herald

Apr 16, 1872

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 16, 1872

Present Condition of the World.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
The population of the globe in 1869, as given in the New American Cyclopedia, Art. Man, was thirteen hundred millions (1,300,000,000). Of these, eight hundred and twenty millions, nine hundred and twenty thousand (820,920,000), are heathens and idolaters, having no faith in the Bible, nor in the God of the Bible. What a picture! At this very day, two-thirds of the whole human family in the darkness of heathenism, without God and without hope in the world!
Nor is this all. Of the remaining one-third, one hundred and sixty millions (160,000,000) are Mohammedans, the devotees of the false prophet Mohammed, who utterly reject the Christian religion and the God of Christians. Besides these, there are five millions (5,000,000) of Jews who reject Christ, and are further from receiving the gospel than the heathens themselves. This leaves three hundred and fourteen millions (314,000,000), that is, less than one-fourth the population of the globe, who are nominally Christians!
But let us notice a little further who these Christians are. Sixty-six millions (66,000,000) of them belong to the old Greek Church. These have so far apostatized from true Christianity, are so far sunken in superstition, ignorance, and degradation, as to be regarded by Protestants as being little better than heathens. They cannot be counted as Christians. In addition to these, there are one hundred and sixty millions (160,000,000) of Roman Catholics. We all know too well what they are—Christians only in name. All Protestants regard them as the worst enemies of the cross of Christ, and so they are. Hence, these also must be thrown out as not really Christians.
This leaves only eighty-eight millions and eighty thousand (88,080,000) of Protestant Christians in the world—less than one in fourteen of the entire population. But even this number includes, excepting the Catholics, the entire population of all the Protestant nations; so that children, unprofessors, infidels, spiritualists, Mormons, and persons of no religion, are numbered as so many Christians! How many, then, of these eighty-eight millions are even professors—church members? A recent writer states that the entire number of Protestant church membership is only sixteen millions three hundred and fifty thousand (16,350,000). That is, taking the entire population of the world, out of every thirteen hundred inhabitants only sixteen are professed Christians!
But if we now inquire still further what proportion of these church members are actually real, Bible Christians, it will diminish this number very much more. Probably we should be making a very charitable allowance, if we reckon one half the church members as real Christians. This would give us only about eight millions (8,000,000) of Christians in the world out of a population of thirteen hundred millions (1,300,000,000), or only eight out of every thirteen hundred! This is not a very flattering prospect for those who expect the immediate conversion of the world!
But let us look at the present condition of the world from another point of view. What is its present tendency so far as faith and the fear of God is concerned? It is a sad fact which comes to us in all the papers, is noticed by all public men, and is painfully prominent in all classes of society, that unbelief, infidelity, and even blank atheism, are rapidly growing in all parts of the world. Of Buddhism, the great religion of India, Japan, &c., a recent writer says:—
“If ever there was a religion going to decay and ruin, it is Buddhism in Japan. Its temples and shrines are being deserted. The number of its priests has decreased nearly one third within five years. Geography and chemistry are sapping its foundation. Sintoism, a cultured and intellectual atheism has taken its place.”—Christian Union.
We could rejoice at the downfall of this false religion, if something even worse were not taking its place. Henry Ward Beecher says:—
“It is also a striking fact that the Buddhists, though they do not co-operate with the atheists of Christendom, are, in fact, atheists. Max Muller and others regard them as absolutely so; others regard them as excluding God from the possible objects of knowledge, and regarding only law, after the manner of Herbert Spencer, whilst they neither affirm or deny his being. Practically, they may, therefore, be counted on the side of atheism.”
We now turn our eyes to Christian lands, and here it is plainly seen that the tendency of modern science, and frequently its avowed object, is to create skepticism with regard to the Bible, unbelief in religion, and atheism toward God. Every reader knows that many of the most prominent scientists of the day, as Huxley, Darwin, Agassiz, &c., are avowed infidels. That this is no mere scare-crow of our own, gotten up for effect, will readily appear from the remarks of prominent men. Professor Tayler Lewis, in the Christian Statesman of Feb. 15, 1872, makes the following truthful statements:—
“The positive, aggressive character of irreligion, is the peculiar feature of our age. Such, indeed, was always its nature, but time is bringing out its open development in a way which the most worldly stolidity will soon find itself incapable of denying.
“An atheistical party is rising in this country. Religious dogmas, it is said, are changing their character. Whether that be so or not, it is certainly true that the assaults of unbelief are assuming strange and monstrous forms. We call it the atheistical party, because it goes very far beyond anything that has heretofore been called infidel or deistical. It has passed beyond questions of orthodoxy, once so called, beyond difficulties in relation to the Bible and its inspiration; it assails the very being of a God, in any sense that possesses the least moral or religious value.
“It used to be a question, we have sometimes heard it debated, whether there ever really was, or could be, such a thing as an atheist. Lord Cherbury denied it; the old English infidels all denied it; even Voltaire held such a belief to be a rational impossibility. But it is a question no longer. There is an increasing number of men in England, Germany, France, and America, who fearlessly avow the name. ‘There is a still greater number, fast treading in their steps, who evasively defy nature, but to the utter exclusion of prayer, of providence, of worship, of everything, in short, that associates with itself the ideas of reverence and responsibility. It can no longer be disguised that atheism, blank atheism, with all its desolating horrors is becoming the characteristic of modern unbelief. It is fast sweeping all the more timid forms of doubt into its bottomless abyss of darkness.’”
Horace Greeley, in the N. Y. Tribune, confirms the above facts thus:—
“Science and literature alike rejoice in augmented treasures which they proffer with open hand to all. But there is no corresponding progress in our average moral culture; nay, the number of those who blend the knowledge of a Humboldt with the ethics of Dick Turpin or Jonathan Wild, would seem to be rapidly increasing. That one is master of many sciences and many tongues, affords no trustworthy assurance that he may not at any moment stand forth an Aaron Burr in lack of principle, and a Rulloff in revolting hideous crime.”
Such men as these do not make such statements without sufficient facts to warrant them. Here is another witness of good authority:—
“The science of our age is intensely skeptical. It throws more and more doubt upon accustomed religion, and strives more and more to make it appear that there is nothing in it beyond mere forms of doctrine, and that the question of the day is whether there is any religion at all, or any God whatsoever.”—H. W. Beecher, Friday evening, Aug. 23, 1871.
In one of the most popular and influential papers of the day, I find the following:—
“STATISTICS OF ATHEISM.
“The statistics of the various religious bodies are carefully taken. But of atheism, one of the most powerful elements of the coming future, no accurate statistics have ever been taken. But in order fully to comprehend the conflict before us, we need an accurate idea of the extent and power of the great atheistic movement of the age. But to obtain the needed statistics is a matter of no small difficulty. We know that the followers of Comte are avowed atheists, but we know not exactly how many of them there are. Those who ignore God as out of the range of possible knowledge and as acting only in law, are many, but how many we cannot say. We know that the leading founder of the International was an atheist, and that atheistic lectures are delivered in England under the auspices of that association, and probably extensively in other lands, but we know not the number in that association, or the opinions of all the members. One thing, however, is clear, that the atheistic element has very great power in Christendom, and is preparing for a conflict more fearful than most Christians anticipate.”—Christian Union, Jan. 10, 1872.
That such are the facts in the case, no well-informed person can doubt. The strong tendency of the present day is to drift away from faith in God, in the Bible, and in religion. The very fact that spiritualism, which ridicules the Bible, scoffs at Christ, and mocks at the God of the Bible, has made such rapid progress and found such vast numbers of ready followers, is plain evidence of the general unbelief which exists in the public mind. And many who talk very profoundly about God remove him so far from human affairs as to leave no chance for practical faith in him.
Even the Jews, who have always had such correct ideas of God and such strong faith in him, have, of late, drunk deep into this spirit of skepticism with the others. The personality of God, the advent of the Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem—all these cardinal doctrines, always so dear to the Jewish heart, are now being given up for simple deism and free religion, or rationalism. In their late Rabbinical Conference, Dr. Myer said:—
“That he is opposed to any stereotyped form of prayer, because prayers are addressed to a personal God, in whom he does not believe.
Dr. Wise put his belief in this form: ‘The idea of a personal God, accepted in theology as a technical term, is not Jewish at all. The God of the Bible is the Jehovah, i. e., the Infinite and Absolute, the Substance and Essence of all that is, was, and will be. This Cause of all causes, this Understanding supreme, Love, Justice, and Holiness universal, cannot be thought of or even imagined as personal. Theology bases the idea of a personal God upon the doctrine of incarnation.’ With this statement, The Jewish Messenger, while asserting that ‘these conventions are mischievous,’ are animated by ‘a migratory desire,’ ‘tend to weaken all religion, and lead the young to become infidels,’ is nevertheless so far in accord, as to declare that ‘every child in Israel is aware of’ its truth. The Jewish Times, also, though a bitter opponent to the Convention, says delightedly of Dr. Wise’s definition, ‘This time he is logical.’”
In the Christian Union, Jan. 31, 1872, we find the following, touching the present condition of the Jews:—
“It is a very interesting question, to what religious issues they are tending. In the Jewish Messenger, of this city, edited by the Rev. S. M. Isaacs, are some very interesting views of the course of religious thought and practice among them. Nothing is said of conversions to Christianity. It is tacitly assumed that they do not occur, and, so far as we are informed, they are not numerous.
“The second great fact is that, as to the synagogue itself, there is a division of the Jews into three parties. One, of those who are conservative of old forms and habits in synagogue education and worship; another, of those who, in education and synagogues and worship, conform to progressive American ideas; a third, of those who, under the name of ritualism, propose to drop all the externals of Judaism, and retain only a pure deism, not differing essentially from the absolute religion of Theodore Parker, or that of the Society of Free Religionists.”
“Of the second system, he thus speaks:
“‘What is the modern system? To adopt every means to attract worshipers; the ritual to be revised, abridged, and rendered suitable to modern ideas. The advent of a Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, the ingathering of Israel—these subjects, which a vast majority in Israel deem important, were to be expunged from the Prayer-book, but in their stead vocal and instrumental music were to form adjuncts to the service.’
“‘The tendencies of this system, as set forth by him, are to throw off finally all that is peculiar to the Jewish ritual, and to retain only the spiritual deism of the third party. One Jewish clergyman is a vice-president of the Free Religious Society of Boston. The Jewish Times copies in full from the index the prospectus of the course of free religious lectures in Boston, and gives it a conspicuous position, as if in sympathy with it. The efforts of Christians to produce united prayer for the conversion of the Jews to Christianity the Jewish papers treat with ridicule.’”
This is a dark picture for those to contemplate who expect the conversion of the Jews to Christianity and their return to old Jerusalem. Their whole tendency is directly the other way.
But this infidelity of the age is not confined to scientific men, worldlings, and Jews. It largely pervades the professed church, from the old mother to her latest child. Look at the following picture of the spiritual condition of the herds of the Roman church. It is from Rev. Mr. Langdon, of Florence, Italy:—
“Break through but the thin surface crust of names and forms, and old associations, and the fact is revealed that there is nothing spiritual left; that Romanism is thoroughly materialistic, and that it has practically brought Christian Italy back to its own ancient paganism. But for the instinctive habit they have of using the word Christian, as implying, if not as being synonymous with, the highest cultivation and enlightenment, many of the first publicists of Italy would, very probably, admit it in so many words.
“Who can be a fairer judge than that venerable statesman and philosopher, Count Terenzio Mamiani? He is a Roman. He was one of the pope’s own trusty friends, one of his lay cabinet. He occupied a similar position as the colleague of Cavour. No living Italian writer stands more eminent in the esteem of his countrymen. His wisdom is reverenced in the Italian Senate, and he was the relatore, or chosen spokesman, of the special committee of that body, to which was lately referred the law of the Papal Guarantees; and he is, what is so rarely found among his peers, a sincere and devout Catholic. Such is the man who wrote to me on the 30th of October last, in a letter already published: ‘It is to be feared that all this [effort for reform] comes too late. Romanism has at last produced in Italy three deplorable results; and these are superstition in the lowest populace, indifference in the other classes, infidelity in the greater part of the thinkers and writers.’
“In fact, Christianity is not generally looked upon, either by ecclesiastics within, or by the laity without, the church of Italy, as a system of principles governing the heart, the conscience, and the inner life, so much as a politico-social system, allied to a state of society which has passed away, when it was the right of the one to rule, and of the other to minister to their ambition. Indeed, I have the story from the best authority that a veteran diplomatist, who had long been accredited to the Papal Court, said that of some eighty-three Cardinals whom he had personally known, perhaps three really believed in the divine origin of Christianity; and it is well known here that some of the most valued ecclesiastical officials of the Holy See are men, not only without any religious character whatever, but of such notoriously disgraceful moral character that they are not received in respectable Roman society.”
How much faith in God, how much vital Christianity, how much spiritual life, is there in such a putrid carcass as that? Yet this includes one hundred and sixty millions of professed Christians!
The condition of religion in France is thus set forth by the correspondent of Evangelical Christendom:—
“The year has opened with cries of alarm, not to say despair, from almost all quarters. As months pass, the sounding-line has time to sink deeper and deeper into the gulf of national failure, and still thereport is, fathomless! More than this, all who raise their thoughts above immediately surrounding events, and take a survey of Europe, come to the still more fearful conclusion that all European nations are hurrying toward the same abyss.”
Of the English church, Dr. Cummings remarks:—
“I believe that one-half of the professors of the gospel are nothing better than practical infidels.”—Time of the End, p. 183.
The eminent Baptist minister of London, Mr. Spurgeon, puts the case in even stronger terms, thus:—
“The Church of England seems to be eaten through and through with sacramentarianism; but non-conformity appears to be almost as badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought better things are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the faith. Through and through, I believe, the very heart of England is honey-combed with a damnable infidelity which dares still go into the pulpit and call itself Christian.”—Record.
1. We regard this widespread infidelity as a sign of the times, indicating that the coming of the Son of Man is near at hand. Says Jesus, “Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18: 8. This language strongly indicates that at the second advent there will be just such a state of things as we now see. Here is another passage of similar import: “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Rev. 12: 12. Many other passages show that the devil will have great power over men in the last days.
2. Let us notice still further what the Lord has said will be the general condition of the world in the last days at the time of the end. If there is any one thing plainly foretold, it is that a wonderful increase of knowledge will mark the time of the end. Dan. 12: 4: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” No ordinary increase of knowledge will fulfill this prophecy. It must be so rapid, so extensive, so uncommon, that that age shall be distinguished above all others in this respect. Otherwise, it could not become a sign sufficiently marked to be noticed in prophecy. Are our days thus distinguished above all others? Every intelligent schoolboy knows that they are. But listen to a few testimonies from eminent men on this point. The Chicago Republican, March 14, 1872, says:—
“The most striking characteristic of our times is the rapid strides which the world is making in science, general intelligence, and inventions.”
The Phrenological Journal for April, 1871, says:—
“Never was there such activity of invention within the history of mankind as at the present day.”
Horace Greeley, in the Tribune, thus confirms this:—
“In the education of the intellect, mankind have made great strides since the birth of this century. Whether we regard the number taught, or the knowledge imparted, the progress made, has been marvelous.”
Take one more witness. The Union Handbook, for 1870, bears this testimony:—
“The great facts of the nineteenth century stand out so conspicuously above the achievements of any preceding century that it would be affectation of humility not to recognize and speak of them.”
We might multiply these extracts to any extent, but it is not necessary. This sign is clearly fulfilled. There can be no ground for doubt.
3. The political condition of the nations is another marked sign of the times. The Revelator thus foretells the angry, warlike, fighting condition that the nations will be in when the Judgment is at hand. Rev. 11: 18: “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged.” The prophecy is a plain one. The time for its fulfillment is unmistakable. Are the nations now in such a condition? Every well-informed reader knows that the great effort of every nation is to be as well prepared for war as its neighbor, or even better. The least provocation is sufficient to stir up a bloody war. See the Franco-Prussian war as a good illustration. See the efforts that are being made by all nations to improve, and invent, weapons of destruction. Nothing will gain a man greater praise and renown than inventions in this line; and in no direction has invention been more active than in this. See also the millions upon millions paid annually by every nation to maintain their vast armies and navies, build vessels of war, forts, &c. A hundred fold more is paid for these than for the gospel of Christ.
“ARMAMENTS OF EUROPE IN 1869.—Baron Kuhn gave, in the Austro-Hungarian Parliament, the following statement: “France—Army, 800,000; National Guard, 550,000; total 1,350,000. North and South Germany—Army, 1,000,154; Landwehr, 228,963—1,229,117. Austro-Hungarian Monarchy—Army, including Navy and reserves, 800,000; Landwehr and Border troops, 253,000—1,053,000. Russia—Army, 827,350, local and irregular forces, 639,650—1,467,000. Italy—Army and National Guard, 480,461. Grand total, 5,579,578 without including Spain, or Portugal, or Belgium, or Holland, or England herself, or the three small nations in Northern Europe. These would certainly swell the sum total to at least seven millions. What a host to guard the armed truce that statesmen call Peace, and all to keep reputed Christians from robbing and slaughtering one another.”—Cincinnati Times.
This criticism on the facts stated is well deserved. All the prophesying of peace, both by blind watchmen and interested politicians, is a mere sham. There is about as much truth and sincerity in it as there was in the famous saying of Louis Napoleon, “The empire is peace.” Here is a picture of the condition of European nations as they are to-day:—
“And looking at Europe only, the horizon appears dark with the threat of endless wars still to come. Between the different peoples there is hate, and jealousy, and dread. On every government the question of national armament presses as of first consequence. If France ever grows strong, she has a debt of vengeance to pay to Germany. The neighbors of the new empire are full of suspicion as to her intentions. She may prove moderate and forbearing, but no nation dares trust to that. Men do not believe that Russia ever gives up the hope of winning Constantinople. England is sensitive and sore at her loss of influence on the continent. Italy does not feel secure against an attempt to re-instate the pope and turn the wheel establish a French Government under clerical influence. The great wars of the last decade have made an appeal to the sword a familiar idea to all. Perhaps at the present moment the best guarantee of peace is the general fear of Germany’s strength. To light the flames again, it is not even necessary for Germany to be aggressive. Let her neighbors believe that she is so, and combine against her, or let Russia and Germany jostle, and the crash would come. No one of these events appears very improbable.”—Christian Union, June 21, 1871.
What could better describe the condition of the world than the language of the prophet: “The nations were angry”?
4. Moral corruption, as we may well suppose, is at the bottom of all this. The prophets, Jesus, and all the apostles, unite in foretelling that immorality and wickedness will be another characteristic of the last days. Says Christ, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matt. 24: 37. Here is a record of how it was in the days of Noe: “And 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.” “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” Gen. 6: 5, 12. So, says the Lord, will it be in the last days. In speaking of the time when “the Redeemer shall come to Zion” and the Lord “shall put on the garments of vengeance,” the prophet draws this dark picture of the moral state of the world: “Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth,” &c. Isa. 59: 14, 15. Paul, also, lifts his warning voice thus: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,” &c. 2 Tim. 3: 1–5.
That this state of society has come, the press of the whole land, both religious and secular, unite in testifying. It comes to our eyes and our ears in every day life. We see it in domestic life, in business transactions, in public office, everywhere. Men are false to the most sacred trusts. No one dares trust his neighbor. Listen to what thoughtful, observing men are saying about this. The Methodist thus speaks:—
“The truth is, we are alarmed for the country. All the great centers of public life seem to be, not merely decaying, but rapidly rotting.”
H. W. Beecher, Aug. 23, 1871, in the Christian Union, thus states his fears:—
“Men who are constitutionally anything but croakers, confess and lament the low standard of morality which prevails in commercial and social life. This rot is eating into the sense of honor everywhere, and there is no magic circle which it may not penetrate.”
The American Messenger (1871) exclaims:—
“Corruption, within a few years, has eaten into the very life of the nation. Each party charges it upon the other. The public ear is getting used to the public charge. The public conscience is growing torpid.”
The N. Y. Evangelist adds its testimony:—
“Where rulers are virtually irresponsible, and violence and lawlessness, like that illustrated by the brutal assaults so frequently recorded in our daily papers, riot in their impunity, the very earth feels the curse that rests upon it, and approximates in value to real estate in Sodom on the eve of its overthrow.”
Yes, indeed, Sodom, on the eve of its overthrow, is a fit illustration of the condition of most of our cities. Take New York as an example. History hardly furnishes a record of such gigantic crimes of every hue as are being developed there. Judges on the bench, officers in the most responsible places, men in the highest ranks of society are bought and sold like merchandise. Fraud, treachery, defalcation, adultery, prostitution, theft and murder, are of so frequent occurrence as to receive only a passing notice. Will not God visit for these things?
Is there any reasonable hope of improvement? If the professed church of Christ were alive, separate from sin, and devoted to the work of the Master, there might be some hope. But, alas! this tide of corruption has swallowed up the church as well as the world. Pride, covetousness, love of the world, and lack of real faith in God is about as visible in the church as out. Is there vitality and power enough in this dead carcass to stem this mighty flood of corruption, turn back the tide, and save the world? Never. There is one hope and only one: the advent of Jesus to destroy these sinners and save his people.
5. As another prominent sign of the last day, just before the end the gospel was to be preached to all nations. In answer to the question as to what should be the sign of the end of the world, Matt. 24: 3, Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Verse 14. When will the end come? When the gospel has been preached to all nations in all the world. This is a plain prophecy. Now let us look for its fulfillment. The Phrenological Journal, Oct., 1871, says:—
“The whole heathen world is dotted with missions, each reproducing in miniature the same processes that have marked the general church. . . . Three-fourths of the earth’s surface is under Christian government and influence, including the probable future great centers of the world’s population.”
This looks very much as though the above prophecy were about fulfilled. On this subject an eminent minister and editor says:—
“Now, having looked at the causes which are at work for the spread of Christianity, let us look a little at the field into which it has been carried. The whole world has been ransacked and explored; there is not now a corner on the globe where Christianity is unknown. And the missionaries that have been, now for half a century, at work have leavened almost every quarter of the globe.”—H. W. Beecher.
Thus, within the last half century, God has remarkably fulfilled this sign of the end. Little or nothing was done in missionary operations till within the present century. But now, all at once, missionary stations have sprung up in all parts of the world, and missionaries of the cross with the light of the Bible have penetrated to the darkest corners of the globe. What is the meaning of all this? We are not left to guess and speculate. Our Master has told us plainly that when this shall come to pass, “then shall the end come.”
But will not these agencies convert all the world and thus introduce the millennium? No; for, 1. There is no scriptural promise of such a thing. 2. The teaching of Christ is directly opposed to it. He says it will be a sign not of the conversion of the world, but of its end. 3. The present state of the church, as shown above, utterly forbids us to hope for such an event. There is more prospect of the world converting the church. 4. We have abundantly proved that the whole tendency of this age is directly in the opposite direction—to unbelief and atheism instead of to faith and Christianity. 5. The effect of Christianity upon the world in the past forbids us to look for such an event. Look a moment at facts. For several centuries Egypt was blessed with the presence of the pious old patriarchs, such as Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, &c. But they did not improve the opportunity God gave them to learn his will; and now for ages darkness has wholly settled over them.
No country ever was, or ever can be, so highly blest as was Palestine. Prophets, apostles, and the Son of God all lived and taught there. What they could not do, we certainly cannot hope to accomplish. What a glorious light they once kindled in old Canaan! But where is it now? Gone out in total darkness, so far as that land is concerned. They had their day, their opportunity, but did not improve it. The gospel light passed on and left them in Egyptian darkness.
Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, for ages enjoyed the labors of such men as Paul, Polycarp, Jerome, &c. They too finally turned away from God and he left them to their own ways while the light of the gospel passed on to other countries.
How is it with Greece and Rome now? Sunk in ignorance, superstition, and degradation, there is not a darker corner on the globe. Even China presents a more promising field for Christians than these.
How is it with Germany where Luther and the Reformers labored? It is renowned for its skepticism and rationalism.
And now America is enjoying just what all these other nations have once had; namely, the clear light of the gospel. But if time should last a few centuries where would we be? Just where these other nations now are. The man who denies this, must do it against all the history and facts in the case.
The gospel never proposed to convert nor save all nations, but only “to take out of them a people for His name.” Acts 15: 14. The gospel has now made the circuit of the globe. It has been offered to all nations. Only a few out of each have ever received it; the rest have rather been hardened by it. Now all things indicate that the end is at hand when this long controversy shall be closed. Reader, let us watch, discern the signs of the times, and so be ready for the coming of our blessed Lord.
Monroe, Iowa, March 26, 1872.

HEAVENLY GLIMPSES.

By R. C. Baker

Our mortal eyes have never seen, Our mortal ears have never heard The glories of the world unseen, Prepared for those who love the Lord.
The Holy Spirit doth reveal A foretaste of immortal bliss; Some rays of heavenly light and joy Reach from that brighter world to this.
Faith lifts the soul above the earth To those bright realms of bliss afar,— Dispels the mist of doubts and fears, And sees the gates of Heaven ajar.
By faith we view the pearly gates, Swung open wide to let us through; The wall of rainbow-tinted gems Looms up to our enchanted view.
We see the crystal waters flow— Laving the banks of golden ore,— And Eden’s fair, life-giving tree Whose branches reach from shore to shore.
There Sharon’s fadeless roses bloom— There deathless beauty ever reigns,— No tint of death no foul decay, Upon those ever-verdant plains.
No sin, no pain, no death, no tears, These are forever wiped away. No night through all the endless years, God’s glory makes perpetual day.
My soul enamored, longs to soar, From all earth’s sorrows to be free. Oh! shall I tread the blissful shore, And stand beside the crystal sea?
Yes, in the strength of love divine I must—I will that glory share. O Saviour! take this heart of mine; Me for that glorious rest prepare.
R. C. BAKER.

Society as it Is.

By H. B. Hastings

In this age, when evil moves with lightning speed, we have sharp work to keep up with the times, because the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. Satan, with his cunning craftiness, knoweth that he hath but a short time. We have looked in vain for righteous laws to be enacted by men who fear God, and seek to establish justice and put away abominations out of the land.
And can we suppose God will bear longer with us than with other nations, who have wickedly departed from him, if we persist in rebellion against him? Oh! could the veil be lifted, and the heart of this nation laid bare, how would every true follower of Christ shrink back with horror and cry in the language of the prophet, “Our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us. Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter.”
If this was the condition of Israel of old, surely this scripture is applicable to these times. “For our transgressions are with us, as for our iniquities we know them.” Though one great evil of human bondage has been removed, intemperance, licentiousness, and other attendant sins follow.
As the country advances in civilization and wealth, vanity and folly increase with it. While in portions of the land, ignorance prevails, poverty and degradation attend it. And if the government of the land is committed to men who seek for worldly honor and wealth, and who indulge in wicked practices and do not care to know the wants and needs of the people; who fear not God, neither regard man, but, like Solomon, allow evil to spread abroad, that they may plunge into luxury and drink the cup of pleasure; surely we can hope for nothing good in the future, but, on the contrary, may expect a total departure from the living God, with infidelity and all other abominations as a national consequence.
Intemperance follows pleasure, and prevails to a fearful extent, feeding the lusts of the flesh and fanning the flames of licentiousness, leading to crimes, robberies, murders, and every evil work; filling the land with sorrow and distress, and making the world a hell of iniquity for vast portions of the human family.
We hear the voice of wailing and the moans of the sorrow-stricken, rising on every breeze, telling of the corruptions of society, and the fearful progress sin is making among us.
If only those who partake of the poisonous cup were the sufferers, we might perhaps hold our peace. But the welfare of others is at stake. Our children are in danger. Men and women are rushing into the vortex of ruin with fearful haste, and we are called to tears, lamentation, fasting and prayer.
The fires of iniquity are kindled to a mighty flame, and no human power can arrest its terrible march. On, on it travels leaving ruin and blackness behind, sweeping away not onlythe impious and profane, but even those within the pale of the professed church of Christ. Pastors and people are guilty, and the infidel looks on and strengthens himself in impiety and unbelief. These are critical moments for this nation, and may be attended with fatal consequences. O ye heralds of the cross, why slumber and sleep over the iniquity of the land? Put forth united efforts for God and humanity. Cry aloud and spare not, and show the people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins: Do not be saying in your hearts, my Lord delays his coming, and be found smiting his men-servants and maidens, and eating and drinking with the drunken, so that the day come upon you when you are not looking for it. Oh! keep not back when danger is near, lest certain destruction overtake the people unawares, and you be found guilty. The streams of justice and righteousness are poisoned at the fountain-head and send out their polluted streams from sea to sea.
Let the fountain be cleansed, the idols be ground to powder, the license of indulgences be rebuked, and the true worship of Christ set up, and let our religion be true and honest, and prosperity may be prolonged.
But if we are governed by men who practice, tolerate and approve of the indulgence of the most detestable sins and abominations the world has ever known, letting them loose upon community without restraint, then woe to the nation, and woe to our sons and daughters who are fast tending downward to folly and shame. Our cities, towns, villages and families are filled with enormous evils, and many are made wretched and desolate. Our court rooms are thronged with divorce cases, and the whole land mourneth.
Let us draw near to God and confess our sins, that our iniquities may be forgiven, and our transgressions may be blotted out; that when the King of kings comes we may be found ready subjects for a righteous government. God grant that we may see what is before us and sound the alarm.— H. B. HASTINGS, in Woman and her Work.
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