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Review and Herald, Vol. 36, No. 26.

The Case of Baruch

Review and Herald

Dec 13, 1870

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 13, 1870

The Case of Baruch.

By George Ide Butler

THERE are many interesting circumstances recorded in holy writ, of the life of the prophet Jeremiah. He seems to have passed through many scenes of peculiar trial. At least, there are more recorded of him than of many of the other prophets, a record of whose lives is left us. He was designed of God to fill a prophet's position, even before his birth. Chap. 1, verse 5. Yet when the time came for him to enter upon his work, he shrunk from the great responsibility, and felt his utter insufficiency to do the work God had called him to. He was a man of humility; yet God placed this man over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant. A great work, surely. God brought him into a position where he must confront all the proud, wicked men who were rulers in Jerusalem, and were leading the people to ruin. It was, perhaps, as dark and discouraging a period in the history of the Jewish nation, as any recorded. The whole current was running rapidly to rebellion and destruction. From the king on his throne to the meanest subject, all seemed bent on idolatry. Even the priests consecrated to the service of the Most High, led on in this wickedness. “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” Fearful question. In the nation, “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.”
In this state of things, which in many respects resembles our own time, Jeremiah, who felt that he was “a child,” was called to act. And through the influence of the Holy Spirit, this naturally-timid, diffident man was made “a defensed city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.” Jeremiah fulfilled his work. God would warn the people of their extreme danger, even in their great wickedness. He always desires to save men from ruin. Jeremiah, as long as he could get access to the people and their rulers, sought the most public places to warn them. By-and-by the princes get tired of his presence, and cause him to be shut up in prison. Now God provides another agency. Faithful Baruch writes out the words of the prophet in the prison, and goes and reads them in the ears of the princes and people. Baruch seems to be a man every way worthy of attending upon the prophet of God. He seems to be possessed of the same fearless spirit, the same faithfulness.
The king takes the roll from which Baruch had read, and burns it up, as if to show his contempt of God's prophet. Again Baruch writes down the same words in another roll, and wicked Zedekiah is threatened with the special judgments of God for burning the former. Yet all the warnings and threatenings seem to have no effect upon the people. Finally Jeremiah is cast into the dungeon, where he sinks in the mire. Josephus, in his account of the transaction, says that he sank to his neck in the filth and slime. Surely these were dark days, when apostasy and wickedness triumphed. But God brought his faithful servant out, and spared his life.
No doubt Baruch rendered to Jeremiah all the service he could through this persecution; for we again read of him in the 43d chapter, as being very intimately connected with the prophet. When the remnant of the Jews who were left from the captivity in Judea, went down to Egypt contrary to the directions of God by the mouth of Jeremiah, even after they had inquired of him, we find them charging the prophet with being influenced against them by Baruch. Evidently he was intimately connected with him in the work of God. This was a serious charge. While Jeremiah professed to be speaking the word of God, they pretended he was speaking what Baruch would have him speak. God punished these wicked men for this great sin, and caused their utter destruction. A similar charge has been made in our day by some who profess to accept the manifestation of the spirit of prophecy in our midst, and yet claim, when things have been brought out contrary to their expectations and wishes, that those intimately connected with it have influenced its decisions. It is hard to see how any more serious charge could be made against that which purports to come directly from God. It is absurd to suppose that God would choose a medium through which to speak directly to any people, when another, and perhaps contrary, influence could step in and palm itself off as the manifestation of the Spirit and work of God. The devil may thus work in copartnership; but God, never. It seems that anciently there were just as much suspicion and unbelief concerning the mission of those whom God has called, as in our own day. Evidently many of the people did not accept Jeremiah as a true prophet.
We have another mention of Baruch in the 45th chapter of Jeremiah; and it is this to which I desire to call especial attention. The first verse informs us that he had written all the words of the prophet in a book; but it seems he felt that he had greater sacrifices to make than he felt able. And no wonder; for if he had shared the adversities of the prophet Jeremiah, he had trials that were heavy, certainly. He says, “I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.” Jeremiah says to him, “And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. For, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh,” &c.
The prophet seems to bring to view an important principle here. When great judgments are descending upon the heads of the people, when a time of great calamity comes, God's servants who are called to act a part in his work, should not look for an easy time for themselves, or expect great things.
The same principle is brought to view in Elisha's words to Gehazi, after the healing of Naaman, when he went and received gifts at the great man's hands. Elisha told him the leprosy of Naaman should cleave to him and his seed. He says, “Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards?” &c.
It was a time of great affliction and heavy judgment. How sadly out of place for God's especial servants, sent to warn the people of their dangers and their sins, to be getting rich in such a time of distress, and to be receiving gifts and luxuries. So of Baruch. The prophet would not have him expect to have great things, but show those who were sinners that they were laboring for something else than the good things of this world; in short, that they were willing to wait for them till the everlasting reward should be given.
It really seems to me that here is a practical lesson for those of us who are proclaiming the last message to the world. Either we are the basest of hypocrites, or we believe that this generation will receive God's terrible judgments. Those around us who neglect God's warning, will feel his unmixed wrath; and we are set apart to warn the people of these things. The most solemn warning in the Bible is committed to our hands. If these things are true, not only our words, but every act of our lives, should be in strict accordance with our profession. “Is it a time to receive money and garments?” Is it a time for us to get rich? “And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not.” It seems to me, the moment we take upon us the work of proclaiming the solemn message of warning to the world, we should forever renounce the idea of making money for ourselves, of becoming rich in this world's goods. Men are watching us closely to see whether we believe what we preach; and there is manifest inconsistency in preaching that the world is soon to perish, that the great day of God is just upon us, while laying up treasures here. If we do not believe this, certainly we should not preach it; ifwe do, we should act accordingly. We should show all our brethren with whom we mingle, and who will be influenced by our example, that we are not anxious for their money; and our lives should ever show a hatred of covetousness and everything like it. In short, we should show that the eternal, enduring riches of Heaven are what we are seeking, and not the perishable riches of this world.
GEO. I. BUTLER.

NOTHING TO DO.

“Nothing to do!” in this world of ours, Where weeds spring up with fairest flowers, Where smiles have only a fitful play, Where hearts are breaking every day.
“Nothing to do!” thou Christian soul, Wrapping thee round in thy selfish stole; Off with the garments of sloth and sin! Christ thy Lord hath a kingdom to win.
“Nothing to do!” There are prayers to lay On the altar of incense, day by day; There are foes to meet within and without, There is error to conquer, strong and stout.
“Nothing to do!” There are minds to teach The simplest form of Christian speech; There are hearts to lure with loving wile, From the grimmest haunts of sin’s defile.
“Nothing to do!” There are lambs to feed, The precious hope of the church’s need; Strength to be borne to the weak and faint, Vigils to keep with the doubting saint.
“Nothing to do!” and thy Saviour said, “Follow thou me, in the path I tread.” Lord, lend thy help the journey through, Lest, faint, we cry, “So much to do.”

The Spirit of Meekness.

By C. A. Osgood

Meekness is that grace which enables its possessor to be submissive to the will and providences of God; that yields and obeys when God commands, however much the command may be contrary to his own natural inclinations. In times of deep affliction, it keeps him resigned and quiet. Those who have this spirit can, and do, meet perplexities, annoyances, opposition, reproach, and abuse of every kind, with a mind calm and unruffled. A “meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price.” It adorns the Christian character. It beautifies the man, woman, or child, who wears it. It makes the doctrine of God look more lovely to those who look on, than it otherwise would. It tends to draw people toward the truth. He who suffers reproach for Christ, and remains unmoved when all manner of evil is spoken against him falsely, shows forth the excellency of true religion. He who loves his enemies, does good to them that hate him, and prays for them that despitefully use him, and persecute him, is an illustrious specimen of the power of grace, which will sometimes transform enemies into friends. God highly prizes the spirit of meekness. Those who possess it will be his in that day when he shall make up his jewels.
Our Saviour said of himself, “I am meek and lowly in heart.” This was seen in his conduct toward his disciples, bearing with their dullness of perception, their slowness in understanding his teachings, and the teachings of the prophets. Also did it appear in an eminent degree in his conduct toward his enemies. He endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, patiently. “When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously;” and when about to die by the cruelty of his enemies, he cried out, “Father, forgive them.” Jesus bids us learn of him, with the promise, “Ye shall find rest to your souls.”
Those who occupy places of great responsibility, need this grace in a large measure. They need great energy of character, and at the same time, great meekness. They meet with many hindrances, many disappointments, and many times, with much opposition. Moses needed to be “the meekest man on the earth.” Time after time he goes to Pharaoh’s court, and demands, in the name of God, the release of the Israelites. Many times he fails of securing this. And when they are released, the great work of leading them into the promised land, devolves upon him. When this people are released from bondage, the habits they had formed in Egypt cling to them. They are not yet cured of their idolatrous inclinations. They earnestly desire the flesh-pots of Egypt. In times of trial, they murmur against Moses, and accuse him of bringing them out into the desert that they may perish. They rebel. They are ready to stone him. For forty long years this numerous people are a source of labor, care, and distress, to him. And what is his return for all this? When God threatens to destroy, he pleads with God that they may be spared! Through all his severe and long-continued trials, “he endures, as seeing Him who is invisible.”
The ministers of Christ, especially in these last days, need much of this spirit. They are called to instruct the ignorant, many of whom are slow to learn the truth, and some of them unwilling to learn it at all. Frequently these ministers are obliged to meet unreasonable and wicked men; men of corrupt minds, gainsayers, etc. Paul says (2 Tim. 2: 24–26): “The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth.” Those who teach the natural sciences are obliged to be patient. And so the work of teaching divine truth is a slow and laborious work. Those who oppose the truth cannot be gained by sharp or angry words, ridicule, or harsh and overbearing manners. Impatience, and uneasiness of spirit, drive opposers farther off; and sometimes honest inquirers, too. Patience, kindness, and meekness, may win and save them. We ought to give to those “who ask us, a reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear.”
In laboring to reclaim backsliders, meekness is necessary. Paul, in writing to the churches of Galatia, said: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.” The overbearing spirit cannot restore the erring. The humble, meek, and loving spirit of those who realize that they themselves are not beyond the reach of temptation, has many times effected this, and no doubt will do it many times more.
Parents very much need this grace, in order to secure their own peace and happiness, and also that of their children. “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” “Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Fretting and scolding, reproachful sayings, and undue severity, sour young minds, provoke them to anger, discourage them from trying to do right, produce alienation of feeling, and so hinder their salvation. But the spirit of meekness and love, manifested by parents toward their children, tends to increase the affection of children toward their parents.
We should endure persecution and reproach with meekness, as Jesus did. Thus multitudes who have lived before us have done. “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.” “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator.”
We should receive reproof with meekness. Said the psalmist, “Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil that shall not break my head.” When the Lord sent Nathan to him to reprove him for his guilt in the case of Uriah, he did not get angry at the servant of the Lord, but meekly replied, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Thus should we receive the reproof the Lord sends us, with meekness and patience.
We need to be in possession of this grace at all times, especially in these last days. As time advances, and the trials of the last days thicken upon us, we shall need this excellent grace more and more. Good are the promises of God to the meek. “The meek will he guide in judgment.” “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” Let us then seek meekness and righteousness, that we may gain an inheritance with the righteous, in the renewed earth.
C. A. Osgood.
Rochester, N. Y.

Oppressors, Beware!

By R. V. Lawrence

“And so I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun.”
Man has always had a disposition to oppress his fellow-man. Magna-Chartas have been wrung from the hands of tyrannical kings; despotisms have been overthrown by the indignant people; systems of slavery have been destroyed at the cost of rivers of blood—but still, oppressions “are done under the sun.” A race of monied tyrants has sprung into existence in this land, and slaves yet toil for naught.
It came to light lately, that a man has, for eighteen years, driven a New York omnibus, for the sum of one dollar and fifty cents a day. To find cheap rent, he located his family in Brooklyn, miles away from his scene of labor. Consequently, it is one o'clock before he can get home, get his supper, and retire to rest. At four o'clock, his wife calls him up, he eats hurriedly, and hastens off to his work. So for eighteen years, he has had to steal one or two dollars a day from his employers, in order to get bread for himself and family. “Why don't he leave, and get more remunerative employment?” For a hundred miles around New York, the labor supply is greater than the demand; and the poor man, for eighteen years, has not had money enough above his daily wants, to move his family to a locality where labor is plenty and wages good. But God keeps a day-book between employer and employee. The curse of a just God is on the money extorted from that oppressed family.
There are domestics, too, in many a so-called religious family, who never know what Sunday is. Hot dinners must be served up, though the servants never hear a sermon. The gourmandizers must be satisfied, though the souls of the domestics starve.
The writer knows of a church—a splendid, respectable, aristocratic, ritualistic, Methodist (!) church—whose members fancy, doubtless, that they are on the through-line for Heaven. Go out, on Sunday morning during the sermon, to the rear of this church, and you will see some dozen splendid barouches, with their drivers sitting on the boxes, smoking, reading New York Sunday papers, or joking; while their masters within are humbly listening, or intoning the lesson. One of these drivers says Sunday is his hardest day. Is the gospel plan such, that in order to get these rich men to Heaven, these poor drivers must be sent to hell? Not exactly. Does God see these oppressions that “are done under the sun”?
There are great clothing establishments, owned and conducted by Christian (!) men, that give out work to sewing women, paying thirty, or forty, or fifty cents for making a coat, a vest, or other garment, and receive for the same work, from their customers, two, and sometimes three, dollars. These merchants get rich in a few years, and retire, to eat, drink, dress, and ride, while the poor women stitch on wearily, day and night, allowing themselves but a few hours' rest—hardly getting bread enough to keep soul and body together, until they break down and die. Slaves in fact, but not in name. Does God know anything about these wrongs?
Grain speculators, too—some of them leading men in our churches—get control of the grain market, and up go the prices. True, God made bread plenty, but men make it scarce. And now, all these men and women, that are building up colossal fortunes for men that have not heart enough to pay more than forty cents where they ought to pay a dollar, have to pinch and stint themselves and children—and perhaps, under temptation, steal—in order that grain speculators may grow rich and build lordly palaces on our avenues, on commanding points along our rivers and bays, and cottages at fashionable watering-places.
Does God see all this? Yes; and he is coming, after a little, to adjust these accounts. A great deal of the money earned by these poor people, has been put in with the bricks into the above-named splendid palaces, and lavished on the dresses and turn-outs of these oppressors, and God will come ere long to rectify the matter. The poor and oppressed, if they live in the fear of God, will be paid, if not in money, in the enjoyments of religion here and hereafter. But what of the ill-gotten fortunes? Let the history of the Southern slaveholders answer. God has been down into the South some eight years, settling the accounts of the oppressors and the oppressed. It is a very old account—been running some two hundred years—and is not easily adjusted. In searching for the earnings of the oppressed, kept back so long by fraud, God has had to tear down, burn, and destroy with shot and shell, many houses, towns, and cities. A million or so of lives have also, in one way or another, been demanded to make the account balance; and, judging by the disturbances in the land, and the crushing debt still hovering over us, the God of eternal justice is not yet fully satisfied.
Let oppressors everywhere know that God has pledged himself to stand by the humble poor. If you are ready for a fight with Omnipotence, then let the lash fall on the poor.—R. V. LAWRENCE, in Earnest Christian.

“Pray and Pump;” or, Faith and Works.

In a seaman's prayer-meeting, lately, in New York, one of the speakers thanked God that he had been a sailor. He had been in some tight places at sea, but he never hid his religion, or lost his confidence in God. He had learned to call upon God in trouble, and had not been disappointed. But then, faith must be joined with practice. Praying only, without using effort, is not enough.
“We were once,” said he, “driven to great straits in a gale. The wind blew a perfect hurricane, and our ship sprung a leak. It seemed as if we must go to the bottom in a few minutes. Our men worked hard at the pumps. The water gained on us. Death stared us in the face. I ran down below, and on my knees asked Jesus to save us, and give me a token. I opened my Bible, lying before me, and Isaiah 41:10, met my eyes. The words are these, and the first I saw: ‘Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed; for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’”
“‘That was enough. I ran on deck and told the men. I said, ‘Men, we are going somewhere, but we are not going down.’ I reported to them what I had asked of the Lord, and how he had answered me. “‘Now,’ said I, ‘men, pump and pray, and pray and pump.’ And they did it with a will. And we pumped and prayed our vessel into Cork, as I believe, in answer to prayer and promise. But what is the use of praying, with a leak in the ship, without pumping? It must ever be, work and pray, and pray and work.’—Sel.

The Art of Not Hearing.

By Moravian

THE art of not hearing is fully as important to domestic happiness as a cultivated ear, for which so much time and money are expended. There are so many things which it is painful to hear, many of which, if heard, will disturb the temper, and detract from contentment and happiness, that every one should be expected to take in or shut out sounds at will. If a man falls into a violent passion, and calls me all manner of names, the first word shuts my ear, and I hear no more. If in my quiet voyage of life I am caught in one of those domestic whirlwinds of scolding, I shut my eyes, as a sailor would furl his sail, and making all tight, scud before the gale. If a hot and restless man begins to inflame my feelings, I consider what mischief these sparks might do in the magazine below, where my temper is kept, and close the door. Does a gadding, mischief-making fellow begin to inform me what people are saying of me up town, down drops the portcullis of my ear, and he cannot get in any further.
Some people are very anxious to hear everything that will vex or annoy them. If it is hinted that any one has spoken ill of them, they instantly set about searching and finding it out. If all the petty things said of one by heedless or ill-natured idlers, were brought home to him, he would become a mere walking pin-cushion, stuck full of sharp remarks. I should as soon thank a man for emptying on my bed a bushel of nettles, or setting loose a swarm of mosquitoes in my chamber, or raising a dust in my house generally, as to bring up to me all the tattle of a spiteful people. If you would be happy, when among good men, open your ears; when among bad men, shut them. It is not worth while to hear what your servants say when they are angry; what your children say after they have slammed the door; what a beggar says whose petition you have rejected; what your neighbors say about your children; what your rivals say about your business or dress. I have noticed that a well-bred woman never hears an impertinent remark. A kind of discreet deafness saves one from many insults, and from much blame.—Moravian.

The Ugly Cast Out.

HERE is a man, says Beecher, that has had a quarrel. He never has lost a chance to say an ugly thing, or to have an ugly thing said against him; and his wife and children have taken it up, and here is a set of families that have warm times. They are as spiteful as cats and dogs; and they throw sparks like a blacksmith’s forge, all the time. And yet this man is a roaring good Christian. He goes to meeting. There is a revival; and his religious feelings are all aglow. And it is all right. He does feel just as he says he does. There is no hypocrisy in his profession. He takes his hymn book, and the minister happens to be fortunate, and the hymn comes right home, and circumstances concur, and the electric influences are favorable, and the meeting is a joyous one, and he won’t go home until twelve o’clock. He has sung twenty hymns; and he does feel as though he could not keep himself on the ground. “A little more, Lord,” he says, “I shall fly away.” Now I want to see if to-morrow he will go to that neighbor, and say, “Look here, my dear fellow, we are wrong—at any rate I am, whether you are or not. I have been ugly. Forgive me. I had such a good time last night that I must clean my heart. My pride must come down, my vanity must come down, and I must be reconciled to you.” He did have a good time, and that is the sign that the feeling which he experienced was genuine. That he roared his hymns joyfully was no sign of it; that he had an ecstasy of prayer was no sign of it; but that, having that elevation, he changed it to a moral purpose; that out of that feeling he wrought garments of duty; that out of that experience he came back to his fellow-men more sympathetic, more gentle, more humble, more Christ-like—ah! that was a sign that the feeling was a genuine one.—Sel.

Stand Firm.

By Dr. Haven

At the critical moment, in the battle of Waterloo, when everything depended on the steadiness of the soldiery, courier after courier kept dashing into the presence of the Duke of Wellington, announcing that unless the troops at an important point were immediately relieved or withdrawn, they must yield before the impetuous onsets of the French. By all of these the Duke sent back the same spirit-stirring message, “Stand firm!”
“But we shall perish!” remonstrated the officer, “Stand firm!” again answered the iron-hearted chieftain.
“You’ll find us there!” rejoined the other, as he fiercely galloped away. The result proved the truth of his reply; for every man of that doomed brigade fell, bravely fighting at his post.
What an example is this for the Christian contending under the blood-stained banner of the cross! Shall the worldling maintain his position at all hazards, for merely earthly considerations, and the follower of the meek and lowly Jesus dare nothing for the boon of eternal life? God forbid! His pathway should be lighted up by the flame of divine love, and in the strength of Christ he should press manfully on from conquering unto conquest. If he will only continue to act thus, he will eventually achieve a glorious victory over his last foe, and be able to shout the paean of victory in that kingdom where the sound of weeping never comes, and where the weary are at rest.—Dr. Haven.

Bible Salt.

The Rev. John Hall, D. D., in the last number of the American Messenger, has the following valuable remarks on, “Salt is Good.” They have the true Christian savor. He says:
“Salt is good.” See that young Christian girl, sweetening the life of her family, softening the hard language of her father when he is “bitter” against his wife, keeping good influences over the younger brothers and sisters, and by her love and gentleness making their home happy, and keeping one strong plea for Christ and religion constantly before their minds.
“Salt is good.” See that salesman in the store, truthful in an air of falsehood, sober in his language where all the rest swear, and pure in his life when all else is vile; laughed at sometimes by the rest, when they are in a merry mood, but always sent for when they are sick and dying.
“Salt is good.” See that little company in the village that has just grown up around “the works,” gathering on Sabbath for worship, collecting the children for Sabbath-school, drawing in the parents, one now and one again, living down the ungodliness of those roving and reckless workmen, and conquering the place for religion and virtue.
The Lord give us more and more of this salt in homes, and villages, and cities; for it is the one healing element cast “into the spring of the waters”—as with Elisha at Jericho—that will keep away barrenness and death.

How to Break One's Self of Bad Habits.

UNDERSTAND clearly the reasons, and all the reasons, why the habit is injurious. Study the subject until there is no lingering doubt in your mind. Avoid the places, the persons, and the thoughts, that lead to temptation. We are responsible even for our thoughts. Frequent the places, associate with the persons, indulge the thoughts, that lead away from temptation. Keep busy; idleness is the strength of bad habits. Do not give up the struggle when you have broken your resolution once, twice, ten times, a thousand times. While there is life there is hope, and that only shows how much need there is to strive. When you have broken your resolution through lack of firmness and moral sense, just think the matter over, and endeavor to understand why it was you failed, so that you may be on your guard against recurrences of the same circumstances. Do not think it a little or an easy thing that you have undertaken. It is folly to expect to break off a habit in a day which may have been gathering strength in you for years. Be manly, be brave. Learn to say, No, and to stick to it.

Praying for the Poor.

We are taught in the Bible to pray for the poor; but in the Scriptures a great deal more is said about giving to the poor than about praying for them. Probably no class of people are more frequently remembered in prayer than the congregation of the Lord's poor; and yet it is to be feared that most of those who pray for the poor, do but little, if anything, to supply their wants.
A farmer whose cribs were full of corn, was accustomed to pray that the wants of the needy might be supplied; but when any one in needy circumstances asked for a little of his corn, he said he had none to spare. One day, after hearing his father pray for the poor and the needy, his little son said to him: “Father, I wish I had your corn.”
“Why, my son, what could you do with it?” asked the father. The child replied:
“I would answer your prayers.”
We can answer our own prayers oftener than we think. With regard to the poor, Jesus says: “Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good.” How many answers to prayer depend on our willingness to do good?—Sunday-School Times.

The World's Doom.

The North British Review thus comments on what it is pleased to call, “The doom of the world:” What this change is to be, we do not even conjecture; but we see in the heavens themselves some traces of the destructive elements, and some indication of their power. The fragments of broken planets, the descent of meteoric stones upon the globe, the wheeling comets wielding their loose material at the solar surface, the volcanic eruptions on our own satellite, the appearance of new stars, and the disappearance of others, are all foreshadowings of that impending convulsion to which the entire system of the world is doomed. Thus placed on a planet which is to be burned up, and under heavens that are to pass away, thus treading as it were on the cemeteries of former worlds, and dwelling in the mausoleums of other planets, let us learn lessons of humility and wisdom.

The Riches of the Mind

THE riches of the mind are the best ornaments for the body.

Close of the Volume.

By Editor

It has been customary to say a closing word as the record of each volume was made complete. It is natural, on such occasions as the close of a volume, the close of a year, or special anniversaries in one's life, that the mind should pause a moment for reflection; that it should take a brief retrospect of the past, and form new resolutions for the future. At the close of the thirty-sixth volume of the REVIEW, what shall be said to its friends and patrons? The event will doubtless suggest many thoughts to their own minds. The REVIEW is the organ of the cause of Seventh-day Adventism. The utmost importance therefore attaches to it, and it should be made a most efficient means in the work. All its friends may exert a great influence in its favor, either in extending its circulation or in furnishing interesting matter for its columns; and all may properly ask themselves whether they have in the past done all they could have done in this respect. We have no fault to find with any. Many have done well, to whom the thanks of all lovers of the truth are due. But cannot all do better in time to come? Is not the time, the occasion, and this means of advancing the truth, worthy of more than ordinary effort, just now, on the part of all interested in the work? All have doubtless read, with great interest, the suggestions of Bro. White in the last REVIEW, in reference to enlarging and otherwise improving the paper at the commencement of the next volume. It is now designed to carry out these improvements at the time specified. Hence, now is the time for every one interested in the prosperity of the REVIEW, to take hold to work in its behalf as never before. As he well remarked, the period of its mission, at longest, is but brief, and it should be the best religious paper in the world. We believe that all its readers will feel like now uniting their efforts to make it such.
The REVIEW is the only paper advocating the third angel's message of Rev. 14, the message that immediately precedes the second appearing of the Son of Man. It alone, therefore, of all the Advent papers published, occupies a consistent position on the Advent question. During the comparatively long period of its publication, how many ignoble theories of men have we seen crushed into their mother dust by the stately tread of Time! Men, groping in blindness, have set time after time for the Lord to appear; they have marked out certain revolutions to transpire at a certain time; they have set up an insignificant personage as the man of sin, the Antichrist, the destined monarch of the world, &c., and have pathetically appealed to Time to prove them correct. But he, as it must seem to them, like a careless, blundering Jehu, has passed right over their daintily-constructed theories, and trodden them out of sight in his onward march. The past history of these interpreters is but an accumulation of misapplied prophecies and demolished theories.
Under no such incubus of multiplied failures does our cause labor. On the contrary, every passing year confirms and strengthens our position. With tenfold more confidence can the great features of present truth be now set forth than they could even a few years ago. Is God giving time that this system may consolidate into a glorious Gibraltar of strength, and that its advocates, disciplined by experience, may go forth like giants in its defense?
And if the REVIEW is indeed giving the true fulfillment of the third message of Rev. 14, and the next event to follow this work is the appearing of the Son of Man on the great white cloud, the fact that we have reached the close of Vol. 36, is a startling one. All these volumes are like so many milestones to show us how far we have come on the last stage of our journey, how far we have progressed in the proclamation of this last message. The work is a short one; how near must we then be to its close! With an earnest purpose, unwearied efforts, and firm faith in God, let us labor on in the brief but great work before us, until truth has accomplished its mission, and the warfare is closed.
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