I was pleased the other day with a story which an aged Scotch minister told me about an old Scotchman, who, many years ago, was on his way to a meeting of the people of God held in a tent, or some such temporary structure.
The old pilgrim was poor and ill clad, and partly deaf; but he trusted in the Lord whom he served, and rejoiced in his kind providence. On his way to the meeting, he fell in with another Christian brother, a younger man bound on the same errand, and they traveled on together.
When they had nearly reached the place of meeting, it was proposed that they should turn aside behind the hedge, and have a little praying before they entered the meeting. They did so, and the old man, who had learned in everything to let his requests be made known unto God, presented his case in language like the following:—
“Lord, ye ken weel enough that I’m deaf, and I want a seat on the first bench if ye can let me have it, so that I can hear thy word. And ye see that my toes are sticking through my shoes, and I don’t think it is much to your credit to have your children’s toes sticking through their shoes, and therefore I want ye to get me a pair of new ones. And ye ken I have nae siller, and I want to stay there during the meeting, and therefore I want you to get me a place to stay.”
When the old man had finished his quaint petition, and they had started on, his younger brother gently suggested to him that he thought his prayer was rather free in its forms of expression, and hardly as reverential as seemed proper to him in approaching the Supreme Being. But the old man did not accept the imputation of irreverence.
“He’s my Father,” said he, “and I’m weel acquainted with him, and he’s weel acquainted with me, and I take great liberties with him.” So they went on to the meeting together.
The old man stood for a while in the rear of the congregation, making an ear-trumpet of his hand to catch words, until some one near the pulpit noticed him, and beckoning him forward gave him a good seat upon the front bench. During the prayer the old man knelt down, and after he arose, a lady who had noticed his shoes said to him,
“Are those the best shoes you have?”
“Yes,” said he, “but I expect my Father will get me a new pair very soon.”
“Come with me after the meeting,” said the lady, “and I will get you a new pair.”
The service closed, and he went with her to her house.
“Shall you stay during the meeting?” said the good woman as they went along.
“I would, but I’m a stranger in the place, and have nae siller.”
“Well,” said she, “you will be perfectly welcome to make your home at our house during the meeting.”
The old man thanked the Lord that he had given him all the three things he had asked for; and, while the younger brother’s reverence for the Lord was right and proper, it is possible that he might have learned that there is a reverence that reaches higher than the forms and conventionalities of human taste, and which leads the believer to come boldly to the throne of grace to find all needed help in every trying hour.—Baptist Weekly.
DON’T READ THIS.
CAUSEUR knows that he will deserve and win the thanks of all managing editors if he can but impress these few simple rules upon the minds of those who write occasionally for the press:—
1. Write upon one side of the leaf only. Why? Because it is often necessary to cut the pages into “takes” for the compositors, and this cannot be done when both sides are written upon.
2. Write clearly and distinctly, being particularly careful in the matter of proper names and words from foreign languages. Why? Because you have no right to ask either editor or compositor to waste his time puzzling out the results of your selfish carelessness.
3. Don’t write in a microscopic hand. Why? Because the compositor has to read it across his case, at a distance of nearly two feet. Also, because the editor often wants to make additions and other changes.
4. Don’t begin at the very top of the first page. Why? Because, if you have written a head for your article, the editor will probably want to change it, and if you have not—which is the better way—he must write one. Besides, he wants room in which to write his instructions to the printer as to the type to be used, where and when the proof is to be sent, etc.
5. Never roll your manuscript. Why? Because it has a tendency to madden and exasperate every one who touches it—editor, compositor, and proof-reader.
6. Be brief. Why? Because people do not read long stories. The number of readers which any two articles have is inversely proportioned to the square of their respective lengths. That is, a half-column article is read by four times as many people as one of double that length.
7. Have the fear of the waste basket constantly and steadily before your eyes. Why? Because it will save you a vast amount of useless labor, to say nothing of paper and postage.
8. Always write your full name and address plainly at the end of your letter. Why? Because it will often happen that the editor will want to communicate with you, and because he needs to know the writer’s name as a guarantee of good faith. If you use a pseudonym or initials, write your own name and address below it. It will never be divulged.
9. “These precepts in thy memory keep,” and, for fear you might forget them, cut them out and put them where you can readily run through them when tempted to spill innocent ink.
Causeur’s word for it, those who heed these rules will be beloved and favored in every editorial sanctum.—Boston Transcript.
THE PRESENT.
By Milton C. Wilcox
The present is often spoken of as the “watching and waiting time.” It is also the working time. Satan is trying to lull us to sleep. We are on the “enchanted ground,” breathing its potent, deadly atmosphere. The sensation is pleasant; we do not like to be disturbed. Like the sluggard, we murmur, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;” and the time passes, the morning dawns, the Sun of Righteousness rises in all his glory, and we awake to find ourselves shut out. “So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth; and thy want as an armed man.” Prov. 24 : 33, 34.
It matters not what great professions we may make, nor how much we may desire to do, if we make no effort ourselves. “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.” (See also Matt. 21 : 28–31.)
The curses, not the promises, belong to the idler. “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Judges 5 : 23. The divine injunction is, “Go labor in my vineyard.” And the plaudit that will greet the faithful laborer at the end will be, “Well done.”
God accepts no half-hearted service. What we can do just as well as not does not show any love or devotion to Him who hath loved us, and given himself for us. Yet we drift along day by day as though we believed that all God requires of us is to work for him in our “spare time,” when it does not interfere with other affairs. It was a sacrifice for our Lord to leave Heaven—to suffer and die, and those that are gathered when he comes will be those who have made a covenant with him by sacrifice. Ps. 50 : 5. God has given us talents and means to use in his service, and he will require his own with usury. May we awake to our true condition, put on more of the spirit of Christ, and render to him the service due. Brethren, let us be found doing his work.
MILTON C. WILCOX.
WRESTLING THE SCRIPTURES.
By A. Smith
“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Cor. 2:2.
After the third angel’s message, bearing upon its front the Sabbath reform, has been given in a new place, and the minister has left for a new field of labor, the opposing element often follows with a discourse from the above text, which is made to convey the impression that all doctrinal or prophetic Scripture not bearing directly upon the points in question is excluded, as unworthy of attention.
But we ask, Did Paul, by this short paragraph, certify his intention to confine his preaching to the narrow limits which these opposers of the truth have circumscribed for him? We think not, if his declarations in Rom. 16:25, 26, and elsewhere, are of any force. “Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.”
In Rom. 15:4, Paul declares the Scriptures to have been written for our learning; and in verse 14 of the same chapter he commends his brethren for the extent of their knowledge of these things.
Again, the great apostle commends Timothy for his thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, and commands him, by the most solemn injunction, to “preach the word.” At another time we find him, Sabbath after Sabbath, reasoning with both Jews and Gentiles from the Holy Scriptures.
On the subjects of the Second Advent and the Judgment, Paul is very explicit in many of his epistles. When he visited Athens, a sister city of Corinth, he reasoned of righteousness and a Judgment to come, in terms that moved the city.
Is it possible that the great apostle to the Gentiles would leave a Christian church which he had been instrumental in raising up, in profound ignorance of some of the most important and solemn doctrines of the Bible? Let modern divines who oppose the truth affirm this if they will; but we invite every candid reader to search the Scriptures for himself, and especially to study Paul’s epistles, and we believe he will not fail to discover the obvious meaning of the text. The subjects of Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection are as broad as the field covered by Bible truth; and the frown of Heaven will doubtless rest upon those who, from selfish motives, limit their application.
A. SMITH.
Be Industrious
BE industrious. Improve each day as if you expected to die on the morrow. Indolence, debt, and disease are brothers.
He wished his manuscript returned,
But failed in time to ask it,
And felt indignant when he learned
It had climbed the golden basket.
—Court Journal.
Angry Feelings in Teachers and Pupils
ANGRY feelings in a teacher begot anger in a pupil, and if they are repeated day after day they will at last rise to obstinacy, to incorrigibleness.
Excessive Caution
The man or woman whom excessive caution holds back from striking the anvil with earnest endeavor, is poor and cowardly of purpose.
The Sabbath and Marriage
THE first institution vouchsafed to our race was the Sabbath, the next marriage. So give your first thought to Heaven, the next to your wife.
The Tendency Toward Pantheism
The tendency to merge the universe and man in God, to make all things Deity and Deity all things, is the peculiar pantheism of the present day.
The Present Day
the present day.
You can never catch the word that has once gone out of your lips; therefore, take care what you say. Never speak an unkind word, an impure word, a profane word.
Feed My Lambs
MR. SPURGEON is reported to have said that the manner of some clergymen in addressing the young made him think they must have understood the Lord to say, “Feed my camelopards,” rather than “Feed my lambs,” and the hit was a capital one.
The Life Was a Capital One
the life was a capital one.
Two of the most precious things on this side of the grave are reputation and life. And yet, strange to tell, the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the first, and the weakest weapon of the second. Be more anxious, therefore, to deserve a good name than to possess it.
Truthfulness and Good Thoughts
Be anxious, when you relate anything, to tell it just as it occurred. Never vary in the least degree.
Good thoughts, like rose-leaves, give out a sweet smell if laid up in the jar of memory. —Spurgeon.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Does the pronoun “him,” in the expression, “even him,” in 2 Thess. 2: 9, refer to “that wicked,” or to the Lord? As there are supplied words, should they be left out altogether? C. A. W.
Ans. They should be left out altogether. The words “whose coming,” in verse 9, refer to the coming of Christ. A strictly literal word for word translation of verses 8 and 9 would be, “And then shall be revealed the lawless one whom the Lord shall consume by the spirit of the mouth of him, and shall destroy by the brightness of the personal presence of him [verse 9] of whom the personal presence is at the time of the working of Satan,” &c.
In reference to the query on Gen. 6: 6, we would say that the expressions, “it repented the Lord,” and “it grieved him at his heart,” can denote no more than that the Lord finds it necessary to change his purpose because his original design is not carried out. So far from these expressions proving God to be a fickle, changeable being, as the infidel claims, they are the very evidence that he is not such a being. If it had not repented him that he had made man, and if it had not repented him that he had made Saul king, then the infidel might have claimed with some reason that God is a changeable being. For, from the very beginning, God’s revealed principle of action has been to uphold and sustain the obedient, and to cast off and destroy the disobedient. Thus: “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Jer. 18: 7–10.
God made man upright, and designed, on condition of his continuing so, to sustain and support him; but man had so utterly apostatized in the days of Noah that only eight righteous persons could be found; now according to the unvarying principle on which God acts, he must “pull down and destroy” the race, because they had done evil and obeyed not his voice. Hence it is said that it repented him that he had made man. But if God, notwithstanding man’s apostasy and rebellion and continual insult to his throne, had decided to change his principle of action, and pay no attention to man’s rebellion, but still let him live, sustaining him by his power and bounty, then he would have shown himself either a weak or a changeable being; he would have aided and abetted rebellion against his own throne; he would (if for the sake of the argument we may be allowed the irreverent expression) have shown himself unworthy to be the ruler of the universe.
Just so in the case of Saul. The principles of God’s actions are undeviating and inexorable; but man, by a change of action on his part, brings himself into a different relation to God, and a different attitude before him, for the very reason that God does not change, as man changes. This is the only kind of repentance that exists on God’s part.
“PREMILLENNIAL ADVENT OF CHRIST.”
By Roswell F. Cottrell
Under this heading, a writer in the Evangelical Messenger expresses surprise that leading and popular ministers, from the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, should take a part in the Prophetic Conference at New York, since, as he says, “Judging from the speeches and addresses delivered at the conference, the view of the second coming of Christ set forth is essentially the same as that advocated by Second Adventists, the followers of Miller.” Of the fact that Adventists were not represented in the conference he says, “While it gives greater weight to the influence of the conference among other Christian bodies, it will give Adventists a better opportunity to make capital out of the fact and transactions of the conference, of which they will not fail to make use.”
He says, “The utter failure of the predictions from the prophetic ‘key,’ which it was thought had been discovered by Wm. Miller, in 1843, and again in 1854, relieved the public mind from all its anti-scriptural strain, but not from all its evil effects.” By the “prophetic key” I suppose he means the key to the prophetic periods of time. Has the year-day theory of computation really failed? Does the fact that Adventists were wrong in expecting the coming of Christ in 1843 or 1844 prove that the period of 2300 days, upon which they had based that hope, cannot be computed, and, consequently, is of no use and might better have been left out of the Bible? It proves no such thing. The key of interpretation of the prophetic periods, has been demonstrated. It has not failed. The 2300 days ended in the past. No one now opposes this fact. Christ did not come, but the computation holds good. The time of his coming is unknown, because it is unrevealed. But still the word of God is of use to those who will use it. The giving of the period which should reach to the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, has not proved an utter failure. Wm. Miller had no part in the movement of 1854, for he was dead years before that. That movement was a demonstration of the folly of men, and was a confirmation of the original position on dates.
The writer’s objection to receiving the views of the Prophetic Conference is that “the whole matter rests on prophecy;” that “the divine utterances on the subject are not very clear; and that therefore the conclusions arrived at must be regarded as human deductions from mysterious ‘sacred utterances.’” What a pity that “sacred utterances” on so important a subject should be so mysterious, so wanting in clearness! Cannot the writer see that he makes the “utter failure” of which he speaks a failure on the part of the Divine Being to foretell with clearness the things which he manifestly attempted to foretell?
But our friend finds much difficulty from the fact that “there are different comings of Christ spoken of.” He says, “The difficulty is to find to which coming a passage refers.” There can be but one second coming of Christ; and this was yet future when the apostle said to the Hebrews about A. D. 64, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28. This evidently is not his coming to his disciples, before they had “gone over the cities of Israel.”
In regard to the assurance expressed in Matt. 24:34,—“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled,” we say, No one has yet seen “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” and therefore “this generation” does not allude to the generation then present, but to the generation described as existing at the time when the predicted signs in the sun, moon, and stars should have been fulfilled, and thus become matters of historic fact, as it is at the present day. Neither the given signs, nor the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven, were seen by the generation when living, hence the Saviour spoke of a generation then future, or his asseveration, made emphatic with a “verily,” has failed of fulfillment. For a Christian to place the blessed Saviour in such a light, rather than to believe what he plainly says, is the best aid and comfort to infidelity that he can possibly give.
Again our writer says, “When Christ says, ‘There are some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom,’ Matt. 16:28, it appears from what followed that he referred simply to his transfiguration.” To this we only reply, Amen!
We fail to see how Peter “spoiled one of the finest prophetic utterances for premillenarians, by applying Joel 2:28–32, to the scenes of Pentecost.” On that day was a remarkable beginning of the fulfillment of that prophecy; but that there was a complete fulfillment of Joel 2:28–32 on that day, is not sustained by the facts as stated in Acts 2; and to make its entire fulfillment at that time, is about equivalent to saying that the last days are all 1800 years in the past.
Our friend further says, “In the year 66, Peter found scoffers ridiculing Christians for the failure of their predictions, saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming?’” Not exactly so, my friend. The apostle simply said that “there shall come in the last days scoffers,” mocking, and taunting believers with the failure of their expectation with the question, “Where is the promise of his coming?” It is possible that we are in the last days; and there are now two sides to the advent question, premillennial and postmillennial. On which side are the scoffers more liable to be found? All can see at a glance. And though believers may have been tried with hope deferred, they will still hold on to the promise: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.”
Is it not strange that men of mind will, in contradiction of the plainest testimonies of Scripture, and all its warnings to watch against a surprise in the day of Christ’s coming, deliberately place themselves on that side of the question which will insure a surprise, should he come in their day! “The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.” The danger is not on the side of those who are looking for his coming.
The chief error of the Prophetic Conference, as we view it, is that they claimed that the coming of Christ is imminent, without appealing to signs fulfilled and warnings given, which are so clearly promised in the word of God. All that is promised in prophecy to precede that day will certainly be fulfilled. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars were promised, and on earth distress of nations and perplexity. See Luke 21:25. Warnings also of the approach of that great and terrible day are promised to the inhabitants of the earth. See Joel 2:1, and Rev. 14:6–12. “That day shall not come,” till these signs and warnings have been given. Consequently, no one can scripturally claim that Christ may come at any moment, unless he can point to the fact that these warnings have been proclaimed to earth’s inhabitants.
There is a people who believe they see and hear the last message, that of Rev. 14:9–12, going abroad to the nations of the earth. Throughout these United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in nearly all the countries of Europe, also in Egypt and in the isles of the great ocean, there are people who believe that they have heard this last warning, and are aiding in the work of publishing it to others in the regions beyond. Let all do as did the noble Bereans,—receive the word with readiness, and search the Scriptures daily, whether these things are so. The bare possibility that this is divine truth is enough to awaken the deepest interest. All should hear when the Lord speaks.
R. F. COTTRELL.
Looking Forward.
By A. S. Hutchins
NOTWITHSTANDING we are now shivering with the piercing cold of winter, the fast-flying moments bear us on toward our tent season. Military prudence and foresight have an adage, “In time of peace, prepare for war.” And why may we not, at this early date, say a word about tent labor for 1879?
These questions revolve in my mind: How many tents will run in Vermont the ensuing season? Who will go with them to labor, with hearts filled with love and anxiety, for perishing souls? In this great and all-important work, shall we depend upon our own feeble help? or may we look to the General Conference for a strong and experienced man for the term of one or two years? “Run, speak to this young man,” has been ringing in my ears for days. And while I speak to this young man, I would also speak to that one.
Of late, the prospect for laborers in our State has brightened, and we have thanked God, and taken courage. A few of our young men are at the College in Battle Creek, studying with a view to consecrating their time and strength to the service of God. One brother has been there about one year. It has been the mind of himself and companion to return to their native State, and, in some branch, engage in the work of the Lord. Another brother is there, who, for his first effort, rendered good service with the tent last season. Hoping for his return, we have located him in our minds with one of the Vermont tents for 1879. With the spirit of consecration and the help of holy angels, he may win souls to the Saviour.
But a sound comes from the sunny West, telling us that these brethren are urged to labor in some of the strongest Conferences among S. D. Adventists. As we have thought of that young man, associate, or acquaintance, who would lead these young men from our poor and feeble Conference, we have reflected: Oh! for some Nathan85to utter a parable to those who have “flocks and herds many.”
As these brethren have, perhaps, no especial local interest to call them back, they may leave us, but I doubt it.
“To study self is earnest work,
And poise the scale with care;
And weigh the motive for each work
That we’re achieving here.”
In view of the great number of Vermonters found in the Western States, a certain politician once said, “Vermont is a good State to be born in, but the people soon emigrate from it.” This we have found to be true with respect to our ministers, especially if men of talent and usefulness.
Every one acquainted with the facts, knows that for the last twenty years or more there has been a heavy tide of emigration of Sabbath-keepers from our State westward, bearing away strong men and means; while there has not been a large accession of numbers to our churches.
The last time Eld. James White was in Vermont, in speaking of some of the Western States he remarked: “I shake hands with more Vermonters there than persons from any other State.” And still the sound is, “gone West,” and “going West.”
True, the great cause is a unit wherever the message of the third angel sounds. Truth is the same, and fully received into the heart and reduced to practice, it produces similar changes in thought and action, and is fitting up a people everywhere for translation into the everlasting kingdom. We would not cherish selfishness, nor give countenance to that spirit that would do nothing for the support of the cause unless the truth can be preached at our own doors. Still, the success attending tent-labors in our State last year, justifies the conclusion that with sufficient help something may be done to gather souls here. Our plea is for Vermont. And may we, as churches and individuals, be saved from apostasy, and then work as we should, and the cause of truth will arise. Yes, it will.
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Feb. 28, 1879.
INFATUATION
In reference to the Sunday movement in Louisville, Ky., a notice of which we gave in REVIEW No. 8, the Christian Statesman of Feb. 20 says:—
“We cannot but think this argument would have been stronger if the Scriptural term—the Sabbath, or the Lord’s day—had been employed to designate the day of rest.”
The terms Sabbath and Lord’s day are indeed Scriptural terms for the true day of rest, God’s day, the seventh day of the week. But they are not Scriptural terms to designate the first day of the week, which the Statesman has in mind. And the Statesman well knows this. It knows that the Scriptures nowhere, and in no single instance, call Sunday the Sabbath. It knows also that the Lord has in no sense whatever ever claimed the first day of the week as his, and hence that it cannot in any Scriptural sense be called the Lord’s day. And yet it has the audacity to talk about “Sabbath” and “Lord’s day” as Scriptural terms for the first day of the week. Again it says:—
“Its positions, moreover, are greatly weakened by the attempt to sustain and vindicate the Sabbath law of the State, without respect to the authority of God, and purely on physiological and social grounds.”
What the Statesman calls the “Sabbath law of the State” is simply the civil law for the first day of the week; and this it calls weak without the authority of God; but here it also well knows that there is no “authority of God” in its behalf. Where is the divine law, command, injunction, or direction, for regarding the first day of the week as the Sabbath? It does not exist, and no man is reckless enough to claim it. Yet they tacitly assume it, and speak and act as though it did exist. The fact is, the great weakness of the Sunday cause is, that it has no “authority of God” to support it; and its friends know and feel it. What, then, shall be done? As they seem determined to cling to the groundless institution, without regard to evidence, they can do no better than to assume the needed authority with the anxious hope that the ruse will succeed. But that artifice is too thin to conceal the inherent weakness of the argument; and none will be taken by it but those who want to be—those who, as the prophet says, “love to have it so.”
A REMARKABLE MISSIONARY WORKER.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
I HAVE recently visited Abram Clymer of Bluffton, Allen Co., Ohio, who, though confined to his bed, is yet an active missionary worker. He is fifty-nine years of age, and has been an invalid for twenty years. For ten years he has not been out of the room where I visited him. He has lain upon his back for five years, unable to move any part of his body except his head, shoulders and arms. He cannot so much as turn from one side to the other. His hip-bones are out of joint, and both his limbs are entirely helpless. He has contrived various ways to ease his sufferings, which are very great.
By the means of a pulley at the head of his bed he can lower and shut the window at his will, and thus ventilate his room. Just over his head is a lamp, which he can reach and light, and he is thus enabled to read and write. By the side of his bed he has, within his reach, pen and ink, writing materials, a knife, and other useful articles, papers, books, tracts, and the like. On one side of the bed hangs the ten commandments, on the other The Way of Life and other appropriate religious pictures.
His whole soul is indeed swallowed up in the love of the Lord and his truth. This is his constant theme and study. He takes and reads all our papers and books. He talks about the present truth to all who come in, and loans or sells them reading matter. Besides this, he has an extensive correspondence, and sends off a large number of papers and tracts to all parts of the country. Among other items, his report for the last quarter shows that he has obtained one subscriber for the Signs, given away twenty Annuals, distributed thirty-two periodicals, given away 1,230 pages of tracts, and loaned 6,329 pages. This is only a part of his missionary work for the last three months.
Bro. Clymer is cheerful and contented, and really appears to enjoy life. This remarkable case should teach us some lessons. 1. It shows what a man can do in the work of the Lord under the most adverse circumstances, when his heart is in it. Will not such cases as this condemn others who have ten times the opportunity to work, and do not do a tenth as much? 2. It shows us that worldly prosperity, health, and strength are not necessary to contentment and happiness. Bro. Clymer is really much more contented and happy than many others who have good health and all the comforts of life. If we are inclined to murmur at any circumstances we may be in, such cases should teach us thankfulness to God for the blessings we have. D. M. CANRIGHT.
THE CURSE OF THE LAW.
By R. F. Cottrell
At Newfane, N. Y., it was my privilege recently to hear our beloved brother, Eld. J. N. Andrews, speak of our blessed Redeemer as bearing the curse of the law of God for us; and though the thought was not new, yet it seemed to be set forth in a new and striking light. Shall I attempt to give an outline of the view?
In 1 Cor. 2:2, the apostle said he determined to know, or to make known, nothing among the Corinthians “save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” He not only preached Jesus Christ, but he emphasized his preaching of Christ by the fact that he was crucified, as if there was an importance in that peculiar form of death. There are various ways of inflicting the death penalty, by stoning, by beheading, by poisoning, etc., etc.; but a peculiar manner of death was the lot of Him who would die a sacrifice for man’s transgressions, and thus redeem him from the curse of the law.
As recorded in John 12:32, 33, Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” See also chap. 18:31, 32. If the Jews were to put Jesus to death according to their law, they would stone him; but if Pilate, a Roman governor, were to order his execution, crucifixion would be the mode of death. Why must Christ die in this peculiar manner? Because he must bear the curse that is due to the sinner for his transgressions of the law of God.
“It is written,” said the apostle, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Gal. 3:10. And in verse 13 he says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”
Behold the Son of God condescending to leave Heaven and voluntarily receiving in his own person the curse that was due alone to the transgressor of God’s law. He acknowledged that law to be holy, just, and good. But when the full weight of the curse was felt, in the withdrawal of his Father’s face, he cries in agony, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Now the sinner may return to God and be saved. By repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, he may be delivered from the curse which is justly his due; and by patient continuance in well-doing, seeking for glory, and honor, and immortality, he may gain eternal life, instead of receiving the wages of sin, which is death. He is redeemed, or bought back from the curse of the law, if he will accept of the redemption, which has cost so much, on the conditions of the gospel.
But if he refuses or neglects this great salvation, not complying with the given terms, the curse still rests upon him; and if he would know the meaning and terribleness of that curse, let him contemplate the scene of Calvary, the cruel cross, and the untold agony which wrung from the heart and lips of the Son of God the heartrending cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” If such was the woe that fell upon the innocent Jesus when he had taken the place of sinful man, what wailing, and sorrow, and unavailing woe, will be the portion of those who have trodden under foot the Son of God, slighted his offered pardon, and received at last in their own person the full weight of the curse of God and his violated law, which is justly their due. To their other sins they have added that of slighting the salvation so freely offered through the blood and agony of the pure and holy Son of God. Think on these things, and accept this Saviour while yet you may.