Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 25, 1871
The Judgment.
By Dr. Cumming
All men who believe in a God must believe in a Judgment to come. Indeed, it is scarcely possible to evade or to escape the necessity of such a conviction. There are in social life inequalities that need to be leveled or equalized—wrongs to be righted, the incidental success of the guilty to be explained, and the sufferings of the good that demand rectification somewhere and at some time. There is enough in the present world to prove that the Judge still acts in it; but there is enough also to show that judicial decisions do not universally take place and govern it. In man himself there is a court of justice, a ceaseless assize; his affections, intellect, and judgment, the assessors, and conscience the sublime and solemn court in which decisions are ceaselessly enunciated upon every act; decisions that are premonitions, warnings, and presentiments of the great assize—that last judicial act which winds up a world that has gone deeply wrong, and introduces a world that shall be everlastingly right.
There is also in every man's soul a belief which he cannot thrust down, or with all his efforts, when so disposed, eject, that it ought to be, or will be, well with the righteous, and that it ought not to be, and will not be, finally well with the wicked. There is in all, acting with less or greater force, a sense of moral responsibility. The sensitiveness of a nerve to a pin-point is not more real than the vibratory sensitiveness of conscience to right or wrong. This is that sensibility in man which he never can quench. He may drug it with opiates so that it may be lulled and stupefied for a little; he may overwhelm it by the excitements of sense, and sight, and taste, and sound, and so keep it at a distance; but when the sweet sounds are laid, and sense is sated, and the pleasures and excitements of the world are laid, the once hushed and drugged conscience will speak out, and reason of righteousness, and temperance, and judgment, with a power that has ere now made the lions of monarchs shake and the faces of the bravest grow pale. The pope in his bull has condemned, and execrated, and pronounced to be heresy, any man's believing in what is called liberty of conscience, and with which he links the liberty of the press and the liberty of worship. Liberty of worship certainly the pope can put down wherever he is a power, and he has in fact put it down in Rome. The liberty of the press he also restrains. But the poor old priest is sadly at fault when he dreams of putting down liberty of conscience; for he can't do that. The conscience is the holy of holies in the human breast, on which no hand but the hand of the Almighty can be laid. He may prevent us speaking what we think, or writing what we believe, or worshiping according to rites we prefer; but he never can prevent us thinking, feeling, and knowing, in the sanctuary of the conscience, whence there may rise a purer, and a holier, and more acceptable worship than the incense, and pomp, and meretricious splendor, of St. Peter's, can raise to the Almighty. The conscience is in its place an anticipation of the judgment-seat.
We feel that judgment is a reality in the future, because judicial decisions are frequent, however imperfect, in this world of ours. What the pagan called his Nemesis, is, translated into Christian language, the present judicial action of God on earth. The wrong that is done in one generation is reproduced with portentous effect in the sufferings of the next. The iniquity of to-day has constantly somewhere its echo in the retribution of to-morrow. Crimes perpetrated in the gray past in silence and in secrecy sooner or later come into the broad daylight of the future. “The sinner's sin shall find him out.” What are the moldering ruins of Jerusalem, with not one stone left upon another that has not been shattered or thrown down, but a proof of this solemn historic Nemesis? What are Babylon, Palmyra, Thebes with its gates, Rome with its capitol, Athens with its Parthenon, broken, dismantled, and in ruins, but specters projected from the past which teach mankind that while righteousness exalteth a nation, sin is the shame and the ruin of any people?
There is, however, a book that tells us in plainer terms, though not perhaps more impressively, that there is a Judgment, the Judgment of the great day, “the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men,” the revelation of the righteous judgment of God; “the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his coming.” “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment.” “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
What is the nature of the future Judgment? The popular idea, the prevalent and popular idea, is that the day of Judgment is a sort of scene like an assize in a country town in England, only on a larger scale; that it is the Mediator or Saviour seated on the judgment throne, hearing accusations and excuses, and sifting character, and pronouncing decisions in the line of the character that has been developed in the past conduct of mankind. This is a popular fallacy; it is not scriptural, it is not true. In order to get at the correct meaning, let us first try to ascertain what is the language of Scripture respecting it. It is remarkable how little both preachers and hearers look to the Bible for its own explanation of itself. We too fondly take up a popular notion, and keep it. This is allowing tradition to supersede Scripture. We accuse the Romish Church of giving heed to traditions; but the fact is, there is a great amount of traditions current among us, and we often think that to be Scripture which consists of floating, airy inventions, that have neither a place in God's word, nor any consistency with its clearest enunciations.
A judge in holy Scripture is not what we understand by a judge, one presiding at an assize, appointed by the queen to try prisoners. According to the Scriptures, he is a ruler, a king, a governor. Sampson, Jephthah, and Samuel, are called “the judges,” and they judged Israel for a series of years. How did they exercise their functions? Let us try to find out from the word of God. They executed the sentence of the law; but they also protected the rights of the people, punished criminals, maintained the authority of law, in short, were royal judges, sovereigns, kings, or rulers. That such was the meaning and nature of their office is plain from such passages as these. The elders of Israel said, “We will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us”—here is the judge—“that our king may judge us and go out before us, and fight our battles”—here also is the office of a king. And again they said, “Make us a king to judge us.” In Ps. 67, “Thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth”; here is also the office of the judge. Again in Isa. 9: 6, 7, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.” In Jer. 23: 5, the prophecy is, “A king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” Another prediction of the Saviour, in Micah 4: 3, is, “He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations.” And Jesus himself says, in Matt. 19: 28, “Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration”—that is, what shall take place then—“when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Just as the Son of Man in the time of the regeneration, or restitution of all things, sits upon the throne, judging, that is, performing the office of a judge; so you, the twelve apostles, shall sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus, the judge of Scripture is the sovereign, the ruler, governing the people, executing the law upon the criminals, and distributing rewards. In fact, he is a judge with royal prerogatives and investiture.
Having thus ascertained what judgment is—namely, rule, and not simply examination of character; government, not simply trial or test, or judicial process; let us proceed to ascertain what the day of Judgment is. God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man”—namely, Jesus Christ—“whom he hath ordained.” Is this a literal day? Does it mean a period of twenty-four hours? Certainly not. The popular notion is that it is to be a twenty-four hours' work, or a twelve hours' work, very short, very severe, very decisive, and then it will pass away forever. The word day in Scripture is used in a very different sense. I ask, therefore, your attention not to my opinion, but to the passages in Scripture that cast light upon this subject. God took six days—take these days in any sense or as representing any length of time you please—to arrange this earth for the new dynasty of man that was to take possession of it. But in the second chapter of Genesis, at the fourth verse, we find these six days called, “In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field.” So that the whole period of six days during which God brought forth all recorded in Genesis to have been created by his power, is included in one period—called the day in which he did so. In the Psalms the period of forty years in the desert is called “the day of temptation”—“the day of temptation in the wilderness.” In the inspired prediction of the life of Jesus, and the influence of his doctrines upon earth, it is said, “In that day shall there be a Root of Jesse.” And in contrast we have, “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.” The day of salvation has lasted 1865 years; the day of Judgment corresponds to the day of salvation, and it, too, will be a period far longer than twelve or twenty-four hours; it will probably be a period of a thousand years, synchronous with the millennium, and during that day will be the period of the great judicial process or retribution.
The very word in which we glory, which is our great glory—is a judicial word. What is meant by “justification”? It is a forensic term. A man is placed, if I may use a human illustration, in the criminal's dock; he is tried: if the jury bring in a verdict—not the Scottish one, “Not proven,” which leaves a little of the stain behind; but, “Not guilty,” then the man is perfectly acquitted; he becomes justified; it is a judicial act, a forensic term. There is a process of judgment, so far, going on even in the church now; for what does the Saviour say? “He that believeth in the Son is not condemned; but he that believeth not is judged”—for that is the literal translation—“already.” And again, the Redeemer saith, “Now is the Judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Still, God “hath appointed a day, in the which,” as a judge—and we have already explained the character, the attributes, and the action of a judge—“he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead”; or as it is explained in a parallel text, the Father “hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man.”
The period of a thousand years, called in popular phrase the millennium, called in Scripture the future rest that remaineth for the people of God, is in all probability contemporaneous or synchronous with what is always called in Scripture the day of Judgment. Like a day, from which the figure is taken, it will have its morning when the Sun of Righteousness will rise, and awaken first the sleeping, pious dead of countless generations, and change in the twinkling of an eye the pious living into his own glorious likeness; and it will have its evening, when after the thousand years are finished, the dead that never received, or rather the dead that when living rejected the gospel, shall be judged, and cast into that retribution in which God shall judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained—Jesus Christ.
A very able American writer upon this subject says, “There seems a duality,” that is, two, “in every fact that is recorded in the Bible. For instance, there is a duality in the resurrection—the first resurrection, which is of believers; the second resurrection, which consists of unbelievers. There is a duality in the law—love to God and love to man. There is a duality in the book of Revelation; the bride, the Lamb's wife, the heiress of eternal blessing; and the woman on the seven hills, drunk with the blood of saints, whose doom is perdition. There is a duality in the nature of Christ; he is God as well as man. There is a duality in the Saviour's advent—he came to suffer, he will come again to reign. So there is a duality in the millennial dispensation, or in the Judgment day—at its beginning the resurrection of the pious dead and the glorification of the pious living; at its close the rest of the dead, who lived not till the thousand years were finished.”**
Shall we be numbered with the unregenerate raised dead, or with the regenerate risen dead? Shall we be numbered with the living that believe, or the living that believe not? If I had no prescription for your eternal happiness, I never would mention these things. Often when anything of this sort of mine is printed, either with my consent or without it, the newspapers say, How dreadful to speak of such things! how dreadful to think that anybody is going to hell! how dreadful to preach these things! It is very sad, no doubt. But a thing does not cease to be true because men put cotton in their ears, and refuse to listen to it. A fact is a fact, whether we believe it or not. If a God the most merciful and loving has stated it, how dare any of his ambassadors refuse to echo it? But if I had nothing to say better than that, and behind that, I would try to be silent. The gospel does not speak to men in order to trouble them, or to alarm them, or to vex them, but in order to make them happy. There is not one for whom there is not instant pardon, instant peace, the certainty of everlasting joy, if he will only accept it. And the only cause of the ruin of a human being is no decree damning him, no predestination crushing him down, no reluctance on God's part, no insufficiency in Christ's work; the whole thing is in these words, “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.” “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever”—is elect? No. Whosoever reformeth? No. Whosoever repenteth? No. Whosoever has done nobody any harm? No. Whosoever is very charitable? No. Not one word of this sort; but “whosoever will, let him,” say to the contrary who may, “take the water of life freely.”
With Milton we would cry: “O Thou, the ever begotten Light and perfect image of the Father, who is there cannot trace thee in thy beamy walk through the midst of the sanctuary, amidst these golden candlesticks which have long suffered dimness? Come therefore, O Thou who hast the stars in thy right hand, appoint thy chosen priests to minister before thee, and daily to press and pour out the consecrated oil into thy holy and ever burning lamps. Thy kingdom is now at hand. Thou standest at the door. Come forth out of thy royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the earth. Put on the visible robes of thy imperial majesty, for now the voice of thy bride calleth thee, and all creatures sigh to be redeemed.”—Dr. Cumming.
The “Religious Amendment” and the “Christian Sabbath.”
By R. F. Cottrell
LET no one imagine that those who are calling for a religious amendment of our National Constitution, so that it shall “respect the sanctity” and “require the observance” of the “Christian Sabbath,” intend in the least to abridge our “Christian liberty” by binding all to the observance of a definite day. They too well know the steps of that reasoning by which they have come to the conclusion that the fourth commandment is fully obeyed, both in spirit and in letter, by keeping the first day of the week, or even any one day in the seven. They know that the earth is round, and constantly revolving, and consequently, that days are slippery, unreliable things, being always on the move. Considering this, of course they will not be so silly as to undertake, by human legislation, to do that which the law of God has failed to do; namely, to bind all to the observance of one particular day. They are aware of the impracticability of observing the same specific time as holy or sanctified, from Boston to San Francisco, since there are three hours and twenty minutes difference in the beginning and ending of the day in these two cities; so that, before the Californians are fairly awake on Sunday morning, the Boston bells are calling the people to the place of worship. They know too, as well as any one who would teach them, that if a person cross the Pacific Ocean, either eastward or westward, he will either gain or lose a day, as the case may be; and therefore, since many of our people are addicted to travel, there might soon be as many Christian Sabbaths in the United States as there are days in the week. Of course these men must be aware of the obvious and almost unpardonable folly of attempting to dictate to all the observance of a particular day.
It is true that some ignorant persons may be silly enough to claim that there is in fact no practical difficulty in observing a definite day as the Christian Sabbath throughout the United States, or even the whole world; that from Maine to California there is no disagreement in the reckoning of the days of the week—all know when Sunday146comes; that, in fact, the men of both continents, Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, and Pagans, are in perfect harmony in numbering the days; so that a person may travel from Oregon eastward to China or Japan and back again, and repeat the journey a thousand times, if possible, and yet not gain or lose a day, nor find himself out of harmony with the people of any nation of the whole world in respect to the days of the week; that in this respect there is more difficulty than there would be if the earth were “as flat as a pancake.”
But how manifest is the folly of these sticklers for a definite day, when we consider that it is always possible that somebody will cross the Pacific, and perhaps a number of times, and in different directions; and in so doing, who knows but they will get the days so mixed up that nobody can tell which is which?
All this is as well known to those who ask for the recognition of the Christian Sabbath in our National Constitution, as it is to anybody else; and therefore any one can see the absurdity of thinking that they will ever think of attempting to bind our free and enlightened citizens to the observance of a definite day. For since they admit that “the essential point” in the Sabbath commandment is “the proportion of time,” namely, “one day of rest after six of labor,” it is reasonable to expect, as one of their ablest writers has expressed it, that “the very freedom and universality of the gospel dispensation would lead us to think that the precise day of the week on which the Sabbath should be kept,” would not be “insisted on.” Therefore, let all be assured that these men are too enlightened and liberal, and understand their own freedom under the gospel too well, to insist on the observance of a definite day, thus binding a yoke upon the disciples which neither they nor their fathers have been able to bear. Of course they will not presumptuously attempt to change the commandment of God, which, as they hold, does not designate a particular day, but leaves to all the freedom of choice, so as to bind all to the particular day which they are pleased to choose. God’s law needs no improvement. If he had thought it best for all to agree on a particular day, he would have appointed it. Let no one imagine for a moment that these men will set about the impious work of supplying the deficiencies of God’s law, a work so insulting to the great Lawgiver, as well as so contrary to their own creed.
Reader, please pardon the irony; but let it be an eye-opener to the fallacy of that argument, which claims that God has not in the fourth commandment appointed a definite day of the week; but that its claims are fully met by keeping the Roman Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of the seventh day named in the commandment, which all intelligent persons know is the day commonly called Saturday. Be not deceived; but open your eyes to the “irrepressible conflict” that is evidently before us, and take your stand, while you may, to “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Choose to obey God rather than men, by keeping the day which he has appointed, and so escape his threatened wrath by braving the wrath of men, who undertake to legislate for God, and compel all to fall down and worship the image which they shall be pleased to set up. See Rev. 14: 9–12; 13: 11–15; and 12: 17. The test is inevitable, and the time is at hand. On which side will you be found?—R. F. COTTRELL, in Sabbath Recorder.
FOR WHAT ARE WE TOILING?
For what are we toiling, dear friend, you and I,
As we mark the swift years in the hours that fly?
When we close up the page with another year done,
Have we finished the battle, the victory won?
No! still as the days in their swift flight move on,
We gird on our armor, the contest unwon;
Now hopeful, now fainting, our earth-weary souls,
We stem the wild billow that over us rolls.
For what are we toiling? When senseless and dumb,
To our bed in the greensward we slowly come,
Shall this be the end of our joys or our fears,
The toil of a lifetime, the struggle of years?
For what are we toiling, ’mid doubting and strife?
Is it merely to live, that we cling unto life?
As we add day to day in the path we have trod,
Are we nearer the kingdom, and nearer to God?
Music of Solomon's Temple.
The disentombing of Assyrian sculptures, and the deciphering of Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions, have opened new fields of investigation in almost every department of knowledge. Among the branches of science that have shared in these discoveries, that of music has been benefited largely. The accounts of ancient musical instruments were vague, and our ideas, especially of Hebrew music, were confused, till recent sculptures and paintings have been brought to light, which delineate the musical instruments of the early oriental nations, and in a number of cases veritable specimens have been disentombed.
Such, for example, is an Egyptian harp found in Thebes, with its strings yet perfect enough to vibrate again, after a silence of three thousand years. The more recent investigations prove that the parent of all known musical science was Assyria. From the Assyrians, the Hebrews, and the Egyptians, and, indeed, all Eastern nations, derived their knowledge of music. The unveiled monuments show that, in the time of Sennacherib, music was a highly cultured art, and must have continued through generations.
This polished nation used a harp of twenty-one strings, the frame of which was four feet high, which accompanied minstrel songs, or was borne in the dance. The lyre of tortoise shell, double pipe, the trumpet, drum, and bell, were common. Even of the bag-pipe, representations have been discovered, though none of stringed instruments, like the violin, played with the bow. In all delineations of social or worshiping assemblies, musical instruments very like our modern ones have a prominent place.
The Hebrew music, at the time of the exodus, was purely Egyptian; but it was much modified subsequently, by associations with Asiatic nations. In the temple of Jerusalem, according to the Talmud, stood a powerful organ, consisting of a wind chest with ten holes, containing ten pipes, each pipe capable of emitting ten different sounds by means of finger-holes, so that a hundred sounds could be produced by it. It was provided with ten pairs of bellows and ten keys, so that it could be played with the fingers. According to the rabbis it could be heard a great distance from the temple.—Sel.
The Baptists and the City Bribe.
By Editor
The expression of our opinion with regard to the acceptance of that land grant from the city by the Baptist Alms-house Society, seems to have disagreed with our reverend brother of the Examiner and Chronicle. He tells us that our remarks were “flippant and impudent.” Well, that is very sad. Nevertheless, our remarks were true, and time will fully justify every word we said. The acceptance of those lots by the Baptist ladies, who were urged thereto by the editor of their most influential denominational paper, has given the death-blow to all hopes of reform with regard to subsidizing religion. All efforts to stop the flow of public property into sectarian channels are likely to be in vain, now that so conspicuous a precedent has been established. The Methodist ladies are already exercised over this very subject, and a discussion is going on among them as to the acceptance of some lots that have been offered them. Their clergy have given good advice in the matter; but it is not at all likely that good advice will prevent the final and fatal consent being given.
This is a matter in which precedent counts for everything; and a fatal precedent has been supplied. The Baptists must take the responsibility of having done more to gratify the Ring, and endow the Roman Catholic church in this city, than had previously been done by any Protestant communion. The little sop thrown to them, and hastily snatched at, closes their mouths against the giving away of whole squares to that church, which, by its votes, virtually controls New York. And the same act will have its mischievous influence upon the other Protestant sects, who hitherto have withstood the blandishments of the city government, and protested against this alienation of city property to sectarian purposes. That the lion’s share will gravitate inevitably and always to the Romanists, while an occasional trifle is thrown to the rest, no one can doubt. And, when after years of this sort of thing, the balance comes to be struck, it will be seen how one-sided the distribution has really been, and how cheaply the Protestant recipients have sold their honor.
Rev. Dr. DeWitt, and the most respectable clergymen and laymen who signed the letter printed by us the other day, probed the question to its very quick when they said: “It would certainly be a shrewd device of our rulers to enlist the great Baptist denomination in the defense of their system of religious gifts.” Against the counsels of those to whom we all are accustomed to listen with reverence and respect, and in the face of general public opinion, this “great Baptist denomination” has, by the act and votes of a paltry few of its members, “enlisted itself” on the side of the crafty Ring. It may be “flippant and impudent” in us to say this; but the fact is obvious to every one.
We regret that the Baptists have pioneered this reactionary and demoralizing movement; for, considering their grand old record of sturdiness as against the encroachments and seductions of secular power, this sale of their birthright for a mess of pottage is utterly inexcusable. But the deed is done, and there can be but one more discreditable thing behind, and that is the attempt to palliate the wrong-doing, or shirk its responsibility. In spite of the disclaimer of the Examiner and Chronicle, we repeat that we have good reason to know that the body of the Baptist denomination repudiates the action taken by these ladies and their few friends, and not to adduce any other proof of this fact, we ask Rev. Dr. Bright to note that the comments made by Boston and Philadelphia Baptist papers upon this transaction place his paper in a position of solitude in sustaining this scheme of fraternization with the ring.—N. Y. Observer.
Our Littleness.
IN the midst of our manifold doings, and exultant over the successes we gain, we are prone to self-glorification. Nor is this strange. It becomes a man to think well of himself. It is fit that he should take some pride in the things he accomplishes. Unless he does this, he will very likely lose all heart in his work, and, thoroughly discouraged, will fall away into idleness and inanition.
But when we come to put ourselves and our accomplishments first and foremost in our thought continually—when we are unduly lifted up in the belief that our power is mighty and our doing irresistible—then are we in most positive danger. Then should we pause and measure ourselves by a truer measurement than the little successes we so much magnify. Then should we go out somewhere amid God's marvelous works, and see how in comparison our own doings dwindle into insignificance.
Human greatness is a little thing, at the best. Exalt it as we may, if we judge it as it ought to be judged, it seems of small importance. It is pleasant to think of some deed done that wins a world's applause and the nation's honor; but what avails it after all? Does it render us any the less creatures of mortality and victims of the grave? Will it help us to make fight against time, and defy his ravages? Sad indeed is it for the man who can stand out under the stars, or pace the vessel's deck alone in mid-ocean, or look up at stupendous mountain-piles, and glorify himself in his own heart. Sad, because some time there will come such a sense of individual littleness into his soul as shall well-nigh crush him. Sad, because in his mistakenness, he will walk on in his feeble strength and at length fall hopelessly. Sad again, and doubly so, because trusting in himself so implicitly, he will miss the truer strength which trust in divine greatness will surely bring, and at the last, in his weakness and littleness, will bewail his foolishness with bewailings all the more touching for being futile.—Rural New Yorker.
Perilous Times.
By Ellen G. White
BY ELLEN G. WHITE.
The unbelieving world will soon have something to think of beside their dress and appearance; and as their minds are torn from these things by distress and perplexity, they have nothing to turn to. They are not prisoners of hope, and therefore do not turn to the Stronghold. Their hearts will fail them for repining and fear. They have not made God their refuge, and he will not be their consolation then, but will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh. They have despised and trampled upon the truths of God's word. They have indulged in extravagant dress, and have spent their lives in hilarity and glee. They have sown to the wind, they must reap the whirlwind.
In the time of distress and perplexity of nations there will be many who have not given themselves wholly to the corrupting influences of the world and the service of Satan, who will humble themselves before God, and turn to him with their whole heart, and find acceptance and pardon.
Those among Sabbath-keepers who have been unwilling to make any sacrifice, but have yielded to the influence of the world, are to be tested and proved. The perils of the last days are upon us, and a trial is before the young which they have not anticipated. They are to be brought into most distressing perplexity. The genuineness of their faith will be proved. They profess to be looking for the coming of the Son of Man, yet some of them have been a miserable example to unbelievers. They have not been willing to give up the world, but have united with them, have attended picnics, and other gatherings of pleasure, flattering themselves that they were engaging in innocent amusement. Yet I was shown that it was just such indulgences that separate them from God, and make them children of the world. God owns not the pleasure or amusement-seeker as his follower. He has given us no such example. Those only who are self-denying, and who live a life of sobriety, humility and holiness, are true followers of Jesus; and such cannot engage in, and enjoy, the frivolous, empty conversation of the lovers of the world.
Isa. 3 was presented before me. I was shown that this prophecy has its application to these last days; and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens, and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust, and long for an experience in the things of God which they failed to obtain.
Something about Wheels.
THE Vermont Chronicle relates the following incident about a sermon which might probably be repeated with profit: “A brother in the ministry took occasion to preach on the passage in Luke 16:10—He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” The theme was, that men who take advantage of others in small things, have the very element of character to wrong the community and individuals in great things where the prospect of escaping detection or censure is as little to be dreaded. The preacher exposed the various ways by which people wrong others; such as borrowing; by mistakes in making change; by errors in accounts; by escaping taxes and custom-house duties; by managing to escape postage; by finding articles and never seeking owners; and by injuring articles borrowed, and never making the fact known to the owner when returned.
“One lady the next day met her pastor, and said, ‘I have been up to Mr. ——’s, to rectify an error he made in giving me change a few weeks ago, for I felt bitterly your reproof yesterday.’ Another individual went to Boston to pay for an article not in her bill, which she noticed was not charged when she paid it.”
“A man going home from meeting, said to his companion, ‘I do not believe there was a man in the meeting-house to-day who did not feel condemned.’”
“After applying the sermon to a score or more of his acquaintances, he continued: ‘Did not the pastor utter something about finding a pair of wheels?’”
“‘I believe not, neighbor A. He spoke of keeping little things which had been found.’”
“‘Well, I thought he said something about finding a pair of wheels, and supposed he meant me. I found a pair down in my lot a while ago.’”
“‘Do you,’ said his companion, ‘know to whom they belong? Mr. B. lost them a short time ago.’ The owner was soon in possession of his wheels.”—Sel.
Gratitude.
It is:
The music of Heaven in the soul.
One of the fairest and most useful flowers in the garden of the soul.
An assemblage of graces—the gathered honey of the choicest flowers.
A mirror of the soul, reflecting the image of its several benefits.
A bright rainbow in our spiritual atmosphere, displaying the various colors of the rays that call it into being.
Like the orange tree dropping its golden fruit upon the earth whence it derives its nutriment.
Like the verdant willow bending gracefully its boughs to kiss the waters that refresh its roots.
Like a tidal wave returning all its gatherings to the ocean whence it flowed.
Like a sunbeam sparkling on the waters, and then darting by reflection heavenward.
Like an infant with its joyous countenance smiling back its mother's love.
An awakened echo in the heart, responding to the voice of its benefactor.
The vibration of the soul's harpstring under the soft touch of God's realized benevolence.—Standard.
Fear of Judgment.
JEROME used to say that it seemed to him as if the trumpet of the last day was always sounding in his ear, saying, “Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment.” The generality, however, think but little of this awful and important period. A Christian king of Hungary being very sad and pensive, his brother, who was a gay courtier, was desirous of knowing the cause of his sadness. “O brother,” said the king, “I have been a great sinner against God, and I know not how to die, or how to appear before him in judgment.”
His brother, making a jest of it, said, “These are but melancholy thoughts.” The king made no reply, but it was the custom of the country, that if the executioner was to sound the trumpet before any man’s door, he was presently led to execution. The king, in the dead hour of the night, sent the executioner to sound the trumpet before his brother’s door, who, hearing it and seeing the messenger of death, sprang into the king’s presence, beseeching to know in what he had offended. “Alas! brother,” said the king, “you have never offended me. And is the sight of my executioner so dreadful, and shall not I, who have greatly offended, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of CHRIST?”—Rural New Yorker.
Pray and Give.
“THY prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.” Acts 10 : 4.
A practical philanthropist, who picks drunkards out of the mire, gets them washed and clothed, and restored to their right minds, once visited a poor widow on a cold winter day. “Have faith in Christ,” said one, “he will help you.” Quoth the practical man, “It is not faith in Christ she lacks; she has as much of that as you or I; it is wood she stands in need of. Her faith will not save her with the thermometer at zero. Do you think the Saviour will come and tip up two feet of wood at her door? No such thing. She has got faith, but wants fire-wood.”
The missionary went his way; there was no more that he could do. The practical man had the wood there in an hour.
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 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!
Religion as a Quality of the Whole Person
A MAN'S religion is not a part of him, but is a quality of the whole of him. Having its own life-spring and stream, it fertilizes the whole field of his being. It makes his business safer, his scholarship wiser, his manhood manlier, his joy healthier, his strength stronger.