Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 11, 1880
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
A GLORIOUS VICTORY.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
FILLED with hope and courage by their conquest of the Amorites, the armed hosts of Israel eagerly pressed forward, and, still journeying northward, they soon reached a country which might well test their courage and their faith in God. Before them lay the powerful and populous kingdom of Bashan, crowded with great stone cities, that to this day excite the wonder of the world, sixty walled cities, and unwalled towns without number, being contained in an area not much longer than an ordinary English county. The houses were built of huge black stones, hard as iron, and even more enduring, of such stupendous size that no human force which could have been brought against them in that country would have been sufficient to batter them down. It was a country filled with wild caverns, lofty precipices, yawning gulfs, and rocky strongholds.
The inhabitants of this land, descendants from a race of giants, were themselves of marvelous size and strength, and so distinguished for violence and cruelty as to be the terror of all surrounding nations; while Og, the king of the country, was remarkable for size and prowess, even among that giant race.
In this hour of peril, Moses could have confidence only in God. He alone could subdue their enemies. But the aged leader trembled for Israel. How would they conduct themselves? He remembered how they had been terrified at the mere description of the giants by the men who spied out the land of Canaan thirty-eight years before. He called to mind how often Israel had failed, and how God had given them up to the power of their enemies. What a horror of disaster and defeat must be the result, should they distrust God now!
But the cloudy pillar moved steadily forward, and following its guidance the Hebrew hosts advanced, past cities and towns of these rock houses, to Edrei, where the giant king, with all his forces, awaited their approach. Og had skillfully chosen the place of battle. The city of Edrei was situated upon the border of a table-land rising abruptly from the plain, and covered with jagged, volcanic rocks. It could be approached only by narrow pathways, steep, and difficult of ascent. In case of defeat, his forces could find safe retreat in that vast labyrinth of rocks, where strangers, attempting to follow them, would be lost.
Confident of success, the king came forth with an immense army upon the open plain; while from the table-land above, which, as far as the eye could reach, was like a natural fortress, were heard shouts of defiance, and along its whole extent were seen the glittering spears of unnumbered thousands, eager for the fray. When the armies of Israel beheld the lofty form of that giant of giants towering above the soldiers of his army; when they saw the mighty hosts which surrounded him, and the seemingly impregnable fortress, behind which unseen thousands were entrenched; and then looked upon their own aged leader, his head whitened with the snows of a hundred and twenty years; when they considered their comparatively unarmed and defenseless condition,—the hearts of many in Israel quaked with fear.
But Moses was calm and firm: he was following the directions of a higher general, and however much he might distrust the armies of Israel, the God of Israel, never. The Lord had said to Moses, "Fear him not; for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon."
The calm faith and intrepid bearing of Moses, and his words of hope and courage, inspired the hearts of Israel with confidence in God. They felt that from him alone could they expect deliverance. They trusted all to his omnipotent arm, and they were not disappointed.
Not mighty giants nor walled cities, armed hosts nor rocky fortresses, nor all combined, could stand before the Captain of the Lord's host. The Lord led the army; the Lord discomfited the enemy; the Lord conquered in behalf of Israel. That entire force, with Og, their king, were destroyed; and the Israelites soon took possession of the whole country. Thus was blotted from the earth that strange and powerful people, who had given themselves up to iniquity and abominable idolatry.
The report brought back by the spies who were sent to view the land of Canaan, was in many respects correct. The cities were walled and very great, and the sons of the giants who dwelt therein were a powerful race, in comparison with whom the spies were like mere pygmies. It was on hearing this report that the people, instead of trusting in God to overthrow their enemies, rebelled against him, and declared the conquest of Canaan an utter impossibility, in their wild frenzy of passion and unbelief, even appointing a captain to lead them back to Egypt, and attempting to put to death the only two of their number who still possessed faith and courage. It was then that the judgment had been pronounced against Israel, that all above twenty years of age should die before reaching the promised land. Ere the Hebrews were led the second time to the borders of Canaan, this judgment had been fulfilled. The bodies of all that rebel host were buried in the wilderness.
In their contests with Og and Sihon, the people of God were brought to the same test beneath which they had so signally failed nearly forty years before. But the trial was now far more severe than when God first commanded them to go forward and their cowardly hearts refused to obey. There was then no army to oppose their progress or to strike terror to their souls. The difficulties which were then to be encountered in the discharge of duty were not nearly so great as now. The clouds that then darkened the path of faith became more dense and forbidding while they were halting and doubting and standing still, refusing to go forward when commanded to do so in the name of the Lord. When the word came again to Israel, Go forward, they must, if they would possess Canaan, advance against violent, skillful, and well-equipped armies.
They now remembered how once before, when they had marched out to battle, they had been routed, and thousands slain. But they had then gone in direct opposition to the command of God. When for their unbelief he had doomed them to perish in the wilderness, they were seized with horror and remorse; and, still as rebellious as ever, they determined to gain by their own power what God had declared they should not possess. They went out without Moses, God's appointed leader, without the cloudy pillar, the symbol of the divine presence, and without the ark. What marvel that they were utterly defeated!
But now, as they go forth to battle, Moses is with them, strengthening their hearts with words of hope and faith; the Son of God enshrined in the cloudy pillar, leads the way; and in their midst, accompanied by priests and Levites, is borne the sacred ark. Well may they be of good courage; they are following the command of Heaven, Go forward; and victory, complete and glorious, is theirs.
All the experience of Israel has a lesson for us, who are living in the last hours of time. We should carefully consider their course of action and the dealings of God with them, and then imitate their virtues, while we shun those acts which brought upon them his displeasure. This mighty God of Israel is our God. In him we may trust, and if we obey his requirements he will work for us in as signal a manner as he did for his ancient people. It should be the most earnest study and continual effort of modern Israel to bring themselves into close and intimate relationship with God. Then with the mind quickened, the perceptions sharpened, they will discern his infinite power and overruling providence in all his dealings with man, and in all his created works.494
Unseen by human eyes, God's power is constantly exercised for our good. When scientists seek to separate the works of nature from the immediate and constant manifestation of divine power, they are at sea without a compass. Every soul who cherishes the light which God has given will recognize him foremost in all his interest and in all his business. Skeptics may multiply doubts, and scoffers may rail; but the true Christian calmly reposes in God, being assured that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all who diligently seek him.
Every one who seeks to follow the path of duty will at times be assailed by doubt and unbelief. The way will sometimes be so barred by obstacles, apparently insurmountable, as to dishearten those who will yield to discouragement; but God is saying to such, Go forward. Do your duty at any cost to yourselves. The sea of trouble which threatens to overwhelm you will open as you advance, revealing a safe path for your feet. The trials and difficulties which seem so formidable, which fill your soul with dread, will vanish as you move boldly forward in the path of obedience, humbly trusting in God.
There are daily, important duties for every soul; not one is excused. The present duty must be done now; for the time is short, and opportunities once lost will never return. There is danger in one moment of hesitancy in face of difficulties. God will be a light to the meek, the humble, the thankful and obedient; but he is a cloud of darkness to the selfish, the proud, the impatient, and the murmuring ones. Sooner or later, light will shine forth upon the pathway of those who hold themselves ready to go when and where Christ leads the way.
Every step in life should be that of faith, of love, of consecration! We should walk in the light, as Jesus is in the light. Christ offers to walk with us through all the journey of life, and cheer our way by his presence. If we do not avail ourselves of his companionship, it is our own fault, our own loss. If we grope in darkness, it is because we refuse the presence of the only one who can make our way bright and joyful. We need to cultivate that faith which works by love, and purifies the soul. Our greatest danger is in harboring unbelief, and neglecting to cherish the precious love of Jesus.
LOVE TO A CRUCIFIED JESUS.
By Joseph Stennett
By Joseph Stennett, Minister of Pinner’s Hall Seventh-day Baptist Church, A. D. 1690—1713, and author of the hymn,
"Another six days' work is done,
Another Sabbath is begun."
I own I love; 'tis no uncomely fire
That kindles in my breast intense desire;
I hate myself that yet I love no more;
And yet I more than love—for I adore.
'Tis not just features, sparkling eyes, or air,
That makes the object I admire so fair:
'Tis one exploded for deformity
By others, has ten thousand charms for me.
'Tis not the lily damask'd with the rose,
That does these bonds upon my soul impose:
Whom others in the vilest terms deride,
I lovlier think than all the world beside.
Myriads of hearts, should they to love conspire,
Can ne'er enough this lonely one admire.
Who ever has a heart to give, is free;
Our happy loves shall fear no jealousy.
The more this perfect beauty shall pursue,
The more is paid to whom all hearts are due.
But would you know to whom I make these vows,
To whose victorious charms my spirit bows?
O turn your eyes to calvary, and see
A bleeding Saviour on a cursed tree.
That languid countenance, those dying eyes,
Those trembling lips that utter doleful cries;
That fainting head with thorns encircled round,
With streams of blood for wreaths of jewels crown'd;
Those sacred hands that always grace implor'd
Those tender feet with rugged irons bor'd;
That sacred body bruised, and covered o'er
With dying sweat, purpled with native gore;
That soul that bore th' unsufferable weight
Of a world's sins both numberless and great.
See crimson streams flow from his wounded side,
To wash those very hands by which he died.
Behold my dying Lord, and disapprove
My choice; say, who has charms like him, I love?
THE PRESENT TRUTH.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
V. The warning message will last through one generation—then the Lord will come.
God does not give his warnings to those who do not need them; hence, when a warning is given, it is always given to that generation which will live to see the event of which they are warned. It was so in the days of Noah, and in other cases.
God does not give his warning to one generation and let them pass off the stage of action, and then bring his judgments on another generation.
But the very generation who hear the warning will live to see the consummation of it. The signs will be given, then will come the proclamation based upon those signs. In Matt. 24, after giving the signs which should mark his second coming, Christ says, “Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.” Verse 32. Yes; when we see the leaves putting forth, we all know that summer is at hand. “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Verse 33. When are we to learn this parable of the fig-tree? Answer. When we shall see all these things. This locates the time of which he is speaking, viz., when these signs have appeared. Luke gives it thus: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Chap. 21:28. When are they to look up and know their redemption is nigh? When these things begin to come to pass. Nothing could be plainer than that. See verse 31. “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Now of what time is he speaking? It seems as though the blindest might see that it is the time when these signs shall appear. He says that when these signs do appear, then we may know that his coming is near, even at the door. The next verse tells how near. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matt. 24:34.
What generation? Not the generation he was talking to, as some have foolishly argued; but the generation he was speaking of, viz., that generation which shall see these signs come to pass. Because he says “this” generation, it does not necessarily follow that he meant the generation then living. Ps. 95:10, furnishes a similar use of the phrase, this generation. “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” The psalmist says, “This generation,” and yet he was speaking of the generation which came out of Egypt five hundred years before. See Ps. 2:7: “I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” “This day have I begotten thee,” says the psalmist. Was Christ begotten upon the day that the psalmist penned that? Certainly not. This language was quoted by Paul, and applied to Christ’s resurrection a thousand years afterward. Yet the psalmist says, “This day.” How could he properly say, “This day”? Because his mind was carried forward to the time when that event should occur, and, speaking of that time, he says, “This day,” that is, the time under consideration. So Christ, when he says, “This generation,” means the generation of which he was speaking, the one that should see the signs. In all the prophecies it is the general style of speaking to use the present tense for the future.
Now we inquire for a moment, What has come to pass in our days? This thing has not been done in a corner. Everybody knows that for the last thirty-five years or more, there has been a class of people preaching that the Lord is coming in this generation. They have met with bitter opposition, with scoffing and ridicule, with persecution and slander, yet they have steadily gone forward and faithfully warned the world of the coming events. During the last thirty-five years, books and tracts upon this subject have been scattered by the million, like the leaves of the forest, in every part of the world, till there is scarcely a school-district where they have not reached, or a school-boy who has not heard the proclamation; and there are to-day, scattered all through the land, not less than one hundred thousand souls who are expecting the immediate advent of Christ.
I appeal to the reader, whether this proclamation has not been extensive enough and long enough to fulfill the prophecies and condemn the world? Paul says that Noah, by his preaching, condemned the world, Heb. 11:7. But compare that a moment with this. He had no one to aid him in that work; but here are thousands engaged in this. He had no printing presses to publish his message; now, we have a score of them constantly aiding in this. He had not a tract; now, we have them by the thousands. He had not even a Bible; now, there is one in every house. He had no railroads or steamboats to facilitate his traveling; now, we can go to the ends of the world in a few days’ time. If, then, one man, without a single colporter, without a paper, without a tract, without a Bible, by his single voice alone, condemned the millions of that generation, even the whole world, how much more will the proclamation here given condemn this generation. Suppose, for a moment, that the Lord should come in this generation; would they not be without excuse? Could they say that they had not been warned? They might say that they did not believe that the warning which they heard was from God, and that would be all that they could say. The antediluvians might have said the same, and all others who have been warned and rejected the warning.
Dear reader, we pray you to lay these things to heart, and do not pass them by lightly. It may be that God is in this work after all. If you have not seen signs and evidences of the near coming of the Lord, is it because none such have appeared? or is it because you have not been watching for them? If not, give your attention to them. Do you know what are the signs of the last days? The Bible has given scores of them. Could you name a dozen? Might not many of them take place right before your eyes and you not know that they were signs of the last days, simply because you have not studied the Bible sufficiently on this point? May the Lord help you to wake up before it is too late to embrace present truth.
Look at it from our stand-point a moment. The Lord is coming; signs are everywhere appearing; the warning is sounding through the world; a people is being gathered out, waiting for his coming; the awful events of the Judgment and the plagues of the last days are about to burst upon us; the mass of the world are asleep; a worldly church and ministry are telling them of the golden age soon to come. If these things are so, what is your duty? Is it not to regard the signs, heed the warnings, and join the little band who are trying to arouse the world concerning their impending doom?
Do you say that if we believe in Christ, we shall be saved whether we believe these things or not, granting that they are true? Do not deceive yourself so. Faith that God accepts is that which accepts the special work which God causes to be done in our day. Look at the past and learn from that. God sent Noah with a warning to that generation. Then that was their present truth. No one before that had ever been required to hear or believe that truth. Hence they thought it was of no consequence, and so rejected it. Noah was left alone to struggle on and bear the whole burden and reproach of the work. But they all perished and the event proved that Noah’s message was of God. Now all are ready to praise Noah and have great faith in his work.
But by and by God sends another special message and additional truths through Moses. He, too, meets most determined unbelief and bitter opposition even from the chosen people of God. They murmured at him, threatened to kill him, rebelled against his authority, etc. See Num. 16. Now ask those very men if they believed Noah’s message, and they would profess the strongest faith in Noah and his work. The reason is this: After a work is all done, the sacrifices all made, the opposers put down, the victory won, and the event demonstrated that it was God’s work, then it is an easy matter to shout for the victorious party. It requires no sacrifice, no risk, no faith, to accept that.
So when the Lord sent Elijah, Jeremiah, or any of the prophets, the people held them in doubt, or opposed and persecuted them. Yet those same people had unbounded faith in, and devotion to, Noah, Moses, and all the prophets who lived before their own day. And so again after these holy prophets had delivered their message and sealed it with their blood, the following generations would awake to the fact that they were God’s servants. Then they could not do enough to praise and honor them. Says Jesus: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.” Matt. 23:29, 30. These prophets had been put to death by their fathers; but now when the event had proved beyond doubt that they were sent of God, these hypocritical time-servers were loud in their praises and eager to honor them. But notice, there was now no risk, no sacrifice, in doing this. They flatter themselves that if they had lived in the days of these martyrs they would have believed them and suffered with them. But see! these very men turned right around and killed God’s own Son! They had strong faith in all God’s servants and their works in the past; but when it came to their own time, they did just as all had done before them; they took the popular side, the easy side, where there was no sacrifice, no persecution. Their faith was wholly in things of the past for which others had suffered and died.
But they were blind to the all-important work of God in their own time. This they did not and would not see. They thought that their faith in the work of God in the past would save them.
As to this Jesus, they did not know whence he was; and the baptism of John, they could not tell whether it was from Heaven or of men. But they believed Moses, the prophets, etc., and that was enough. It had saved their fathers, and it was good enough for them. Here is where men deceive themselves. A man may believe all the works of God in the past, but if he rejects the special work for his own time, he will be rejected by God. Faith in present truth, a faith which will lead a man to obey it, to give his life for it and to aid it with his means and influence; that is a live faith, a faith that will save a man and gain him a great reward in the kingdom.
What is the use of faith? It is to lead a man to work. James 2. Faith that does not lead a man to work is dead. When does God call upon men to have faith? When he has a work to be done among men. In what does he require them to have faith? In the work he has to be done in their day, for in this they can assist; not in some work in the past which others have done, and which does not need their help or sympathy now. The present truth, the present work, and faith in the present work, which leads men to engage in and support the present work—this is what has always been pleasing to God—this is Bible faith.
A dead church and formal professors always have great faith in God’s workers of the past, but only contempt and persecution for his work in the present. Reader, be careful. All your talk about faith in Christ and what he did and suffered in the past will avail you nothing if you reject his work for the present time. As we have shown, the coming of the Lord and a special preparation for it is now the present truth. Will you take a part in it?
WOODEN, OR GOLDEN?
By Alexander Clark
SOME one asked Boniface, the martyr, whether it were lawful to give sacramental wine in a wooden cup. "Time was," said he, "when there were wooden chalices and golden priests; but now there are golden chalices and wooden priests."
The remark has as keen significance this day, as then. In that olden time there were officials in the church who attempted to gain men's confidence and devotion by outward circumstances, by pomp, and profession, and bold ado about the495altars. Yet when wooden chalices were introduced, and services were conducted in a more unpretentious way, the ministry lost none of its dignity.
This calling is not designated by any uniformity of garb, or flashy furniture. The truth of the gospel is evermore better than its comeliest apparel. Poor and simple of address, many a minister of Christ Jesus stands in a lowly place, unseen and unknown by the masses, and yet the royal insignia of Heaven is upon him, and angels move in ministries about his humble mission. The Master himself was poor. The chosen apostles wore the everyday garb of toil. A large salary, and a towering spire, do not insure success or respect for the minister. He is esteemed, if really, for his works' sake, and for the sake of the cause he represents. Good livings, do not always command good hearings and true believings. Downright piety is more than highest promotion. The cross was wooden; but the crown is gold.—Alexander Clark.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
By J. H. Pettingell
BY J. H. PETTINGELL.
THERE are three general views entertained by Christian men on this question of the Resurrection, namely:—
1. That at death the body dissolves, and the spiritual part of man, released from its confinement, goes to its own place in the other world, and there remains in conscious happiness or misery till the resurrection, when it re-enters its own body, made fit for its permanent occupancy, and with it, after the Judgment, enters upon its eternal state of joy or sorrow.
2. That the spiritual part of man, at death, leaves its material body forever behind, and in a kind of immaterial, ghostly body peculiar to it—"an elimination of a non-atomic enswathement of the soul," as Dr. Warren says—enters at once upon its eternal state.
3. That there is a complete suspension of consciousness from death till the resurrection; that when Christ shall come to judge the world, all the dead will be raised and live again; the wicked will then or thereafter be utterly destroyed, and the righteous, in their spiritualized bodies, made incorruptible and immortal, like unto his own glorious body, shall live and reign with him forever.
The first theory or hypothesis is that of the whole Papal Church. The Reformers brought it with them as an heir-loom, with no essential modification, out of this church, and it remains to this day the belief of a majority of the Protestant world. But it is evidently fast losing its hold on intelligent inquirers, and cannot stand the test of careful examination in the light of either reason or revelation.
The second is the view advocated by the Swedenborgians—though they hold to a somewhat more substantial spiritual body than some others. It is also that of so-called "Spiritualists" generally, by whatever other various names they may be known. It seems to have been the doctrine of the ancient Greeks and Romans, as it is indeed now of the pagan world, who believe in no other resurrection.
The third is, we think, that which is taught in the Scriptures throughout, and especially by Christ and his apostles, and which was held by the early church, until its faith was corrupted by the coming of Plato's philosophy, which required a new construction to be put upon the language of God's word. It has been held by not a few from that time till now, in spite of its unpopularity. William Tyndale, the martyr, held it. Bishop Whately advocated it. Dr. Delitzsch maintains that it is only by a miraculous or abnormal provision, arising out of the economy of redemption with a view to a future resurrection, that man is kept from absolute extinction during this interval. The Second Adventists, with some exceptions, hold it, and so do those generally who believe in the immortality of the righteous only; who now have come to constitute a large and rapidly increasing company in all our churches.
I have no room here to set forth the argument for this issue, and can only remark in the briefest manner that it seems to me to harmonize with the teachings of reason and Scripture better than any of the other views.
Science affords no evidence that the soul of man, whatever it may be, can maintain a conscious, active life, and fulfill its functions apart from the body upon which it now so evidently depends; but much to the contrary. Science insists on the complete unity, solidarity, of man. He is an integer in his birth, in his life, and in his death. Scripture teaches that man sinned as one individual unit; that he was condemned as one individual unit; that he was redeemed as one individual man; that he will be raised as one, and immortalized and glorified as one—body, soul, and spirit together. We have no authority from nature or Scripture for believing that a man lives naturally after he dies, much less that he does not actually die at all. The transmission of life from one to another by propagation is a natural process; but for the individual to die, and yet continue to live, or to live again after dying once, is contrary to every analogy of nature; it reverses the very meaning of the word death. The Bible teaches that death is the fruit of sin, and would be the final end of all life it not for the special interposition of Divine Providence through the redemptive work of Christ; that the resurrection of man from the dead is a miraculous, supernatural event.
On this account it represents death as a sleep, and the resurrection of the dead as a future event—not future merely to those now living, but future to those already dead—and as a simultaneous rising: "They that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," etc. "Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise." "Christ the first-fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming." "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day; and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing." "That day," "the last day," "the end of the world," are repeatedly referred to as the time when the dead shall be raised and the righteous rewarded. It is then the net is to be drawn, and the good fish separated from the bad; then that the wheat is to be gathered into the garner, and the chaff burned up.
The Athenians believed in a ghostly state after death, but when Paul preached a resurrection from the dead they were offended; and so did Agrippa, to whom Paul said, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible that God should raise the dead?" The resurrection of the dead was a new, Christian doctrine—pre-eminently such—and was so regarded by the Greeks, Romans and others to whom it was preached. Their view of the after-life, which is substantially the one I am opposing, cannot properly be called a resurrection, but rather an ascension or assumption. It is a virtual denial of this cardinal Christian doctrine. It is against this sort of philosophy that we are specially warned in the Scriptures.
I entirely agree with your correspondent when he says that "the idea of a day of Judgment is inseparably connected with the resurrection of the body, and this last with the suspension of being [consciousness?] from death till the resurrection." And the only argument that he brings against this view is that it involves "the dreary notion of an age-long sleep," etc. The force of this objection might be admitted were the dead supposed to be conscious while waiting for the coming of their Lord. But if they are utterly unconscious of the lapse of time there is no apparent waiting on their part. The waiting is only on the part of the living. Practically, the very next moment after one's death, his Lord comes to call him, so that in fact the dead enter at once and together into glory; they depart not to prolong a dreary waiting, but to be with Christ. The voyage is not a dreary one, but the transition is apparently instantaneous.—Christian Union.
EGYPTIAN WATER-CARRIERS.
"The gift of God! the gift of God!
Who will buy the gift of God?"
Such is the cry of the picturesque-looking water-carrier, as he goes about the streets of Egypt with his water-skin thrown over his shoulder, during the season of drought, when the water, from its preciousness, may well be called as it is, the gift of God; for, in their language, the two terms are used interchangeably to express the one thing, the gift of God meaning water, and water being the gift of God. During the heat, and before the Nile has overflowed its banks, the poor especially realize how valuable a thing it was when given in abundance, and recognize it emphatically as the "good gift" which "cometh down from above."
As the water-carrier goes along his way—now coming into a wealthy part of the town—a rich man, thinking of the need of the poor, and wishing to bestow a kindness on them, steps out of his mansion, and pays the man for all the water he has, desiring him to go into the poorest quarter and give it away.
The man gladly hastens off, and reaches a lane where the poorest have their dwellings, and now altering his cry, instead of saying, "Who will buy the gift of God?" he cries out:—
"The gift of God! the gift of God!
Who will take the gift of God?"
We can imagine how gladly the poor, thirsty ones gather around him, and how there would be no delay before the empty vessels were brought out of their houses to be filled. "Give me a drop!" "Remember me!" "Fill up my pitcher!" "Let me have a draught!" and such like eager appeals in beseeching tones would make the water-carrier think how best he could dispose of the precious liquid; and, while glad-dening him to be the bearer of so free and prized a gift, it would go to his very heart that he had not enough for all.
What a grand picture we have here of the "water of life," which is offered "without money and without price," to every one that thirsteth. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Jesus, our "rich man," has paid for the water for which our souls were dying of thirst; and as we have no money, it would be a hopeless case indeed, for us, if Jesus in his love and in his pity, had not thought of our need, and come, not only to purchase it for us, but actually to bring it with his own hands to our parched lips.
But with Jesus there is enough, and to spare. The fountain of his grace never fails,—the stream of his grace is never dried up,—no one need be afraid of being sent away empty, for "every one" is invited; and it will never be exhausted till the last poor, thirsty sinner, who has felt his need, has come for an unfailing supply of the gift of God. "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." John 4:10. "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14.—The Truth.
The Education of Children
Do you ask what will educate your son? Your example will educate him; your conversation with your friends; the business he sees you transact; the likings and dislikings he sees you express; these will educate him. The society you live in will educate him; your domestic circle will educate him; above all, your rank, your situation in life, your home, your table, will educate him. It is not in your power to withdraw from him the continual influence of these things except you were to withdraw yourself from them also. Education goes on at every instant of time; you can neither stop it nor turn its course. What these have a tendency to make your child, that he will be.—Barnes' Monthly.
Learn Something Useful Every Day
NEVER retire at night without being wiser than when you rose in the morning, by having learned something useful during the day.
NEVER SATISFIED.
"Johnny, come here," said Dr. Fry to his little boy, who was playing on the carpet in the dining-room; "here is an apple for you."
It was so large that he could hardly grasp it. Dr. Fry then gave him another apple which filled the other hand.
"Here is another," said he, giving the child a third.
Little Johnny tried hard to hold it between the other two, but could not succeed; it rolled away across the floor. On seeing this, he burst into tears.
"See," said Dr. Fry to a lady who was present, "here is a child with more than he can enjoy, and yet not satisfied. My child is just like us all. We are ever seeking to possess more and more of the world's treasures, and yet we are never satisfied. Oh! that we were equally in earnest in 'grasping' the promise of the gospel."