Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Oct 18, 1883
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
The Reformation During Luther's Imprisonment.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
WHILE Luther was safely hidden in the fortress of Wartburg, how did his strange absence affect the world? All Germany was thrown into consternation. Inquiries concerning him were heard everywhere. Even his enemies were more agitated by his absence than they could have been by his presence. The wildest rumors were circulated. Many believed that he had been murdered. There was great lamentation, not only by his avowed friends, but by thousands who had not openly taken their stand with the Reformation. Said the people, "Never more shall we behold him. Never again shall we hear that bold man whose voice stirred the depths of our hearts." Many bound themselves by a solemn oath to avenge his death.
The Romanists saw with terror to what a pitch had risen the feeling against them. Though at first exultant at the supposed death of Luther, they now desired to hide from the wrath of the people. Those who were enraged against him when he was at large, were filled with fear now that he was in captivity. "The only way of extricating ourselves," said a Roman Catholic, "is to light our torches, and go searching through the earth for Luther, till we can restore him to a nation that will have him."
The edict of the emperor seemed to fall powerless. The papal legates were filled with indignation as they saw that it commanded far less attention than did the fate of Luther. "The ink of the signature," said they, "has scarcely had time to dry, when, behold, on all sides the imperial decree is torn to pieces."
The Reformation was constantly gaining in strength. Increasing numbers joined the cause of the heroic man who had, at such fearful odds, defended the word of God. The people said, "Has he not offered to retract if refuted? and no one has had the hardihood to undertake to refute him. Does not that show that he has spoken the truth?"
The seed which he had sown was springing up everywhere. Luther's absence accomplished a work which his presence would have failed to do. Other laborers felt a new responsibility, now that their great leader was removed. With new faith and earnestness they pressed forward to do all in their power, that the work so nobly begun might not be hindered.
But while the Reformation was progressing steadily and surely, Satan was not idle. Baffled in all his previous efforts to destroy the work, he adopted another plan of operation. He now attempted what he has attempted in every other reformatory movement,—to deceive and destroy the people by palming off upon them a counterfeit in place of the true work. As there were false christs in the first century of the Christian Church, so there arose false prophets in the sixteenth century.
A few men, deeply affected by the excitement in the religious world, imagined themselves to have received special revelations from Heaven. Refusing to be guided by the word of God, they gave themselves up to be controlled by feelings and impressions. Instead of heeding the apostle's injunction to walk by the same rule, and mind the same things, seeking to be in harmony with those whom God was leading, they determined to move out independently. They claimed to have been divinely commissioned to carry forward to its completion the Reformation but feebly begun by Luther. In truth, they were undoing the very work which he had accomplished. Luther had presented to the people the word of God as the rule by which their character and faith should be tested. These men substituted for that unerring guide the changeable and uncertain standard of their own feelings and impressions.
"What is the use," asked they, "of such close application to the Scriptures? Nothing is heard of but the Bible. Can the Bible preach to us? Can it suffice for our instruction? If God had intended to instruct us by a book, would he not have sent us a Bible direct from Heaven? It is by the Spirit only that we can be enlightened. God himself speaks to us, and shows us what to do and what to say." Thus did these men seek to overthrow the fundamental principle on which the Reformation was based,—the word of God as an all-sufficient standard of faith and practice. By this act of setting aside the great detecter of error and falsehood, the way was opened for Satan to control minds as best pleased himself.
In the town of Zwickan arose one claiming to have been visited by the angel Gabriel, and instructed concerning matters which was forbidden to reveal. A former student of Wittenberg joined this fanatic, and at once abandoned his studies, declaring that he had received from God himself the ability to explain the Scriptures. Several other persons who were naturally inclined to fanaticism, united with these men; and as their adherents increased, the leaders effected an organization, being desirous, they said, to follow the example of Christ, and claiming that in them prophets and apostles were restored to the church.
The proceedings of these enthusiasts created no little excitement. The preaching of Luther had aroused the people everywhere to feel the necessity of reform, and now some really honest persons were misled by the pretensions of the new prophets. Those especially who had a love for the marvelous, united with the fanatical party. But the heresy was promptly met by workers in the cause of the Reformation. The pastor of the church of Zwickan was a man who exemplified in his own life the truths preached by Luther. He tested all things by the word of God, and therefore was not deceived by these pretenders. He resolutely resisted the delusions which they were seeking to introduce, and his deacons supported him in the work.
The fanatics, opposed by the officers of the church, set themselves against all the established forms of order and organization. Their passionate appeals aroused and excited the people, who, in their zeal against the Romanists, proceeded to violence. A priest bearing the host was pelted with stones, and the civil authorities, being called upon to interfere, committed the assailants to prison.
Intent upon justifying their course, and obtaining redress, the leaders of the movement proceeded to Wittenberg, and presented their case before the professors of the University. Said they, "We are sent by God to teach the people. We have received special revelations from God himself, and therefore know what is coming to pass. We are apostles and prophets, and appeal to Dr. Luther as to the truth of what we say."
The professors were astonished and perplexed. This was such an element as they had never before encountered, and they knew not what course to pursue. Said Melancthon, "There are indeed spirits of no ordinary kind in these men; but what spirits? None but Luther can decide. On the one hand, let us beware of quenching the Spirit of God, and on the other, of being seduced by the spirit of Satan."
Doctrines that were in direct opposition to the Reformation were put forth by these men, and the fruit of the new teaching soon became apparent. The minds of the people were diverted from the words of God, or decidedly prejudiced against it. Both the University and the lower schools were thrown into confusion. The students, spurning all restraint, abandoned their studies, and the States of Germany recalled all that belonged to their jurisdiction. Thus the men who thought themselves competent to revive and control the work of the Reformation succeeded only in bringing it to the very brink of ruin.
Luther at the Wartburg, hearing of what had transpired, said with deep concern, "I always expected that. Satan would send us this plague." The Romanists now regained their confidence, and exclaimed exultantly, "One more effort, and all will be ours." A prompt and determined effort to check the fanaticism was the only hope of the Reformation.
And now there rose throughout all Wittenberg a cry for Luther. Never were his sound judgment and inflexible firmness more greatly needed. Neither the mild and peace-loving elector nor the timid and youthful Melancthon were prepared to cope with such an enemy. Professors and citizens alike felt that Luther alone could guide them safely at this important crisis. Even the fanatics appealed to his decision.
Luther received numberless letters describing the different phases of this new evil, and its baleful results, and earnestly entreating his presence. He perceived the true character of those pretended prophets, and saw the danger that threatened the church. All that he had endured from the opposition of both the pope and the emperor had not caused him such perplexity of mind or anguish of soul as did this deceptive work now linking itself with the Reformation. From the cause itself had arisen its worst enemies. Pretended friends were tearing down what he had labored at tremendous odds to build up. The very truths which had brought peace to his troubled heart had been made the cause of dissension in the church.458
In the work of reform, Luther had been urged forward by the Spirit of God, and had been carried beyond himself. He had not purposed to take such positions as he did, or to make so radical changes. He had been but the instrument in the hands of infinite power. Yet he often trembled for the result of his work. He had once said, "If I knew that my doctrine had injured one human being, however poor and unknown,—which it could not, for it is the very gospel,—I would rather face death ten times over than not retract it."
And now a whole city, and that city Wittenberg itself, is fast sinking into confusion. The doctrine taught by Luther had not caused this evil; but throughout Germany his enemies were eagerly charging it upon him. In bitterness of soul he sometimes asked, "Is this to be the result of the great work of the Reformation?" Again, as he wrestled with God in prayer, peace flowed into his mind. "The work is not mine, but thine own," he said; "thou wilt not suffer it to be corrupted by superstition or fanaticism." But the thought of remaining longer from the conflict in such a crisis, became insupportable. He determined to go forth and meet the disturbing element that threatened so great damage to the cause of truth and righteousness.
SONG OF PRAISE.
By Mrs. J. L. Colegrove
BY MRS. J. L. COLEGROVE.
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.” Ps 145:3.
I THANK thee, Lord, for eyes to see
The beauteous things of earth;
For ears to hear melodious sounds,
And words that speak thy worth.
Such sweet, bright views of woods and sky,
Of glen and water-fall,
Of fragrant flowers, O Lord my God,
Thou mad'st and lov'st them all.
And fruits that grow so rich and ripe,
And home, and rest, and fire;
And guardian watch, and truest peace,
My gratitude inspire.
So many hopes, so many joys;
So many years of grace,
So many gleams of truth and light,
The shining of thy face.
Forgiving love—O precious boon!
A father's pitying care;
And promises that I may claim,
A kingdom I may share!
Accept, ere life is gone, O Lord,
My highest meed of praise;
And still more fill my grateful heart
In my remaining days.
Prescott, Ark.
The Sabbath Message.
By J. D. Pegg
BY J. D. PEGG.
"AND worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Rev. 14:7.
Thus ends a solemn message which was to go to "every nation, kindred, tongue, and people." In this message it is stated that the "hour of the judgment of this God is come. The thought is suggested that a false god—a rival of the true God—existed, and that it required a proclamation from the true God to warn his subjects of the danger of unintentionally rendering homage to the false one. The proclamation goes as far as the danger exists. The jurisdiction of the true God is pointed out, and the basis of his authority made known, by the statement that he "made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters;" hence his right to rule and judge. To worship anything upon which the eye can rest is to "worship the creature rather than the creator," for the true God made everything, "visible and invisible." The Sabbath was given to keep this fact prominently in the minds of all, and as long as this sacred day was kept as commanded, rival gods found no worshipers. "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you [Ex. 31:13-17; also, Eze. 20:20], that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Thus God would erect a barrier between his people and false gods.
Moses understood the many temptations that would come to his people, and, just before his death, he places them on their guard against idolatry, telling them that when God gave them the ten commandments he did not appear visibly before them, that they saw no form, and that to render worship to any visible object would be to "corrupt" themselves; and especially does he warn them against lifting up their eyes to the sun, moon, and stars in homage and worship. Deut. 4:14-19. Sun worship was practiced even before the time of Moses by the heathen. Job knew of the sun worship, which, if indulged in, would be a denial of the "God that is above." Job 31:26-29. Jeremiah promised Israel a permanent continuation of their nation if they kept the Sabbath (Jer. 17:22-27); but warned them that if they kept it not, the city should be devoured. But the people refused to heed his warning, and said: "As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven" [the sun]. And, in reply, Jeremiah tells them that for this their land is a desolation. Jer. 44:15-23. So that through forgetting God by disregarding his Sabbath, and by going into a form of sun worship, Jerusalem was once destroyed.
Manasseh once introduced the same form of idolatry into the temple—"And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord"—for which a curse rested upon them. See 2 Kings 21:1-9. This form of idolatry was very prevalent at the time of Christ among the heathen, as it had been during all the centuries from before Moses' time, as shown by the scriptures referred to.
That many forms now so common in the Romish church can be traced back through Pagan Rome, Grecia, Medo-Persia, and Babylon, is not questioned; and, indeed, it is a matter of note that the Revelator, in describing the papal beast, gives him the characteristics of all the above nations, by saying he had the mouth of a lion (Babylon, see Dan. 7), the feet of a bear (Medo-Persia, Dan. 7), and the body of the leopard (Grecia, ibid.). That the papacy is now, or was during the Dark Ages, only baptized paganism, is admitted as a fact. See "Wharey's Church History," page 24.
The dragon of Rev. 12, it is admitted, represents pagan Rome; the mongrel beast of Rev. 13, papal Rome. In Rev. 13:4 it is stated that full-fledged Romanism "worshiped the dragon," or drew forms of her worship from the heathen, which, as we have said, came through many heathen nations whose lives were prolonged but their dominion taken away. One form of heathen origin was sun worship, or perhaps the observance of the day dedicated to the sun. This form early crept into the church, but, as of old, the Sabbath was first forgotten. And it is a sad fact that among the first departures of the church from the purity of its worship was the neglect of the Sabbath. The earliest writers we have after the days of the apostles fully declare as much. This opened the way for the introduction of the old rival of the Sabbath-day Sunday.
The first edict in favor of Sunday observance was passed by one who was, at the time of its passage, very strongly tinctured with the heathen custom, if not an open devotee to sun worship. "But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the sun, the Apollo of Greek and Roman mythology, and he was pleased to be represented by the symbols of the god of light and poetry. . . . The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine." See "Gibbon's Rome," vol. 2, page 251. This law, says Mosheim, made the Christian people more careful to regard it. By edicts and anathemas, the Sunday soon crowded the Sabbath into obscurity, where it has remained until to-day.
Daniel saw in vision that this power should "think to change times and laws," and they should be given into his hands for 1260 years. See Dan. 7:25. After the expiration of the time in which they were to remain in his hands, a proclamation was due to the world, which would bring the danger of worshiping a rival god to the minds of the loyal servants of the true God. And this proclamation is given in the words of our text and onward. It points out the true God by giving, as the basis of his authority, his creative power, which the Sabbath commemorates, and pronouncing a curse upon those who worship the "beast."
To worship the beast would be to acknowledge his authority as being superior to that of the true God. The true God says "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work," &c. The papal beast says: "How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days? Ans. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of," &c. See "Abridgement of Christian Doctrine," page 53. "The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay in spite of themselves to the authority of the church." See "Plain Talk," page 213. In Rev. 13:12 we read that the two-horned beast "causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast." And (verse 16) that he causeth all to receive a mark in the right hand or forehead, that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark of the beast.
Now is it not a fact that, when the true Sabbath comes, God is not honored by a cessation from labor on his holy day; but when the day comes which has so long been a rival of the Sabbath, even the earth is made to do homage by resting from the hand of the laborer. And the right hand, which on the seventh day disregards the true God and his Sabbath, and toils on, stops to do homage on the day of the rival god, thus receiving a mark of a false god. The message goes to the earth; the truly loyal heed it and obey, keeping the true God in mind and honoring him by observing his holy day; and it is said, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.
The matter of the observance of one day in preference to another may seem to the reader to be a small matter; yet if in this small matter you are found to reject the true God and to do homage to a false one, it then becomes important. Have you heard the message? then look well to your ways, for a bitter curse rests upon the disobedient.
Maine’s Low Tobacco Expenditure
SOMETHING is the matter with Maine. While the average expenditure per capita for tobacco, in the entire Union, is one dollar, in Maine it averages but seventeen cents. And yet they tell us that wherever men are prohibited from strong drink they fly to other excesses.
Working for Jesus.
THE honesty which is necessary in every-day buying and selling appears discarded, and lotteries, grab-bags, and other auxiliaries are employed in churches, to the dishonor of the Christian cause, and oftentimes to the encouragement of the young to subsequent evil courses. And yet not sinful! God help his people, who are becoming entirely blind.
The world sees differently, and the New York Times gives us a key to their knowledge concerning them, and proves them sinful. It says: "The Texas Siftings defends the crowds who thronged to the late prize fight between Wilson and Sullivan. Church fairs encourage grab-bags, lotteries, and various other gambling devices. At a church fair in this State not so long ago, the young ladies sold kisses to the highest bidder for cash, and that variety actors assist in making church fairs successful, is getting to be a very common occurrence, in some of our larger cities. Under these circumstances, may not the time come when a soft-glove matinee between two bruisers will be one of the chief attractions of an entertainment to lift a mortgage off the church?" The world in this makes them sinful, and looks to an increase in that direction. Brethren, does the work of Jesus ever bring real, deserved reproach?
But, says one: "That church entertainments have been overdone and mismanaged, no reasonable person can doubt; but whether their existence should be called in question, is another point." Churches have now reached a point in their experience in this matter where they are inclined to stop and reflect. After such deliberation, some, no doubt, will cast all overboard. Others will go on as heretofore, and still others of us are inclined to weigh the subject with candor, "and then blow away the chaff and retain the wheat only." Thank God for this much. But that was the cry in the North New Jersey Association, about six years ago, when our beloved Judson and Lodge drew a resolution condemning these non-scriptural practices from beginning to end. They were asked to reconsider; and how some of our hearts beat as they left the main audience room to do so, and wondered whether they would falter. They returned with no compromise. They could not make it less strong. What they had written must remain. How we thanked God for the unfaltering purpose, as far as they were concerned. But there were some warm speeches, sad to say, against it; and it was proposed that they be carried on in halls instead of the meeting-houses.
But the resolution said nowhere. It was not adopted. Since then it has grown worse; and a grain of "wheat" is not yet to be found, but all "chaff." Well may devoted ministers and laymen pray "that God will defend his cause." Away with your entertainments where you get a reward for your money, and pray for a willing, self-denying offering unto your God! Away with your "kitchens," full of pots and kettles, before you soil your heavenly dress! Away with your oysters, cakes, and dainties, lest you make your belly your god! Away with church parlors and comfortable trappings before you become at ease in Zion! Away with stiff necks and unbended knees, and let "my house be a house of prayer"! Away with spurious books which fill our libraries, and give the children the bread of heaven! Away with the impression that a meeting-house filled with hypocrites, worldlings, is the church! Away with speculative preaching and universal salvation, and give us the simple truth.
— Watch Tower.
The Case of Job.
By G. C. Tenney
THE patriarch Job, as an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience, is perhaps without a parallel. Speaking of that affliction the apostle says, "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end [or purpose] of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." At first thought we would hardly choose this experience as an example of pity and mercy. But we cannot always judge of the character of an affliction by the affliction itself, but by its intended purpose. The infliction of pain or loss for idle or vindictive reasons is cruelty. And if God's purpose in afflicting Job was simply to gratify Satan, or show him how much a man could stand, it would be more difficult to reconcile this treatment with the idea of pity and mercy. If these kind qualities were the object they must have been contained in the purpose rather than the infliction. An illustration of this may be had in the case of the surgeon who, in order to save life, imposes pain and loss upon his patient. His motive cannot be discerned in the use of the knife and saw. If these only were considered, we would rank the operator with the assassin. The merits of a surgeon are always estimated by his skill and his purpose. So with the Lord in the case of Job, and in all our cases.
A difficulty in this case may still present itself, as the Lord said that Job was a "perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil," before these afflictions were brought upon him. What, then, was their use? By studying his character as it is afterward brought out, we discover that Job's heart was clean and his intentions were right. He earnestly endeavored to make his life right. So well did he succeed, in his own estimation, that he was willing to be "weighed in an even balance." But there existed a fatal flaw in his character, which was pointed out by Elihu and confirmed by the Lord as the sin of self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. God would have Job feel his dependence upon him who alone can save.
It was a difficult lesson. He suffered the rending of affection's strongest ties, the loss of all his wealth. His earthly honor and friendship were sacrificed. His wife turned her influence against him; and when no more could be done, affliction laid its hand upon his body till he cursed in bitter anguish his day. Human sympathy sat seven days in silent astonishment at his grief. His heart maintained its integrity to God, and from the depth of his suffering, come those grandest of words, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Still he adds to this saying, "but I will maintain [argue] mine own ways before him." He evidently realized that God had an object for his good, as he says, "I shall come forth as gold." And he did. At last, from his deep humility, he cried out, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
O what a blessed result. God always loved him, but the increase of his love is only faintly expressed in the increase of his blessings over those of former years. Christ says, "Ye are the branches," and "my father is the husbandman." "Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." The husbandman uses his knife on the fruitful vine. We may be sincere in our purposes and endeavors to glorify God, and be unconscious of our faults till the pruning-knife reveals them to us. "The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." God does not willingly afflict nor grieve his children. He chastens us "for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness." Every affliction may be sanctified to a good purpose, and produce a good result. It is while in a humble position that we best learn what God's will and our duty are. We should not receive our afflictions, crosses, and trials as a matter of fact; but should try to learn what are the faults they reveal, and then by repentance to put them away.
G. C. TENNEY.
Modern Politeness and Cigars
We saw a specimen of modern politeness, the other day. Two gentlemen were going up in an elevator. A lady came aboard, and both men took off their hats, but continued to puff the smoke of their vile cigars into her face.—Lever.
Injuries.
By EPSILON
A MAN, wishing to pass through a pasture, tore off a picket to get into the inclosure and another picket to get out. What commandment did he violate? He violated the spirit of the second table of the law, Honor parents, Do not kill, etc. For the intent of this table is, do not injure others, but try to benefit them. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
But did not Christ give the two great commandments to supercede the ten? No; the two great commandments were given long before the Christian dispensation. Deut. 6 : 5 reads : “And thou shait love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Lev. 19 : 18 reads : “Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord.” Many precepts are given in Lev. 19. These two great laws give the spirit of the two tables of the ten commandments. If they do away with the ten commandments now, they did the same in the Jewish dispensation. That law of the Levitical priesthood is abolished, no Bible reader doubts; but to abolish the ten commandments would be to abolish sin. It would puzzle any one to tell how to keep the spirit of a law and violate its letter. As Paul says, We should serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter. But it is a great mistake to suppose that the spirit of the law leads us to violate the letter. EPSILON.
ALONE.
By S. J. G. Thayer
BY S. J. G. THAYER.
ALONE! yet not alone, my God, thy hand is leading me;
Let me not murmur at the rod that brings me nearer thee.
Let me behold thy smiling face, though all the world may frown,
For when I share thy saving grace, I cannot be cast down.
O Father, comfort thou my heart; life's ills have rent it sore,
And time no healing does impart; it rankles more and more.
Oh, lift me up above these snares, oh, fix my thoughts on high;
I would forget these small affairs, and let them all pass by;
I would forget what others do, whenever they do wrong,
And have my heart attuned anew,—filled with a new, sweet song.
My Tower of Strength, O be thou still my comfort and my stay;
Submissive to thy righteous will, let mine be day by day;
And when the clouds are lowering down, and sun forgets to shine,
And evil seems to wear the crown, and all its force combine,
Oh, then how sweet it is to know there is a calm retreat,
Where foaming billows cannot go,—beneath the mercy-seat!
There let my longing heart abide, there let it ever rest,—
Above earth's ceaseless, surging tide, above the billowy crest;
And let me hear above the roar, and din, and clash of will,
That voice,—aye, hear it o'er and o'er,—still speaking "Peace be still."
Alone! ah, did I say alone? A mighty host is here!
Shall I the loss of friends bemoan when Israel's God is near?
The sea divides at his command, the haughty are made low;
In him the weakest child can stand against the mightiest foe:
Ah! 'tis the sweetest joy to know,—I feel it o'er and o'er—
That wheresoe'er we're called to go, he goeth on before;
The pillar moves by night, by day; it stands when we should rest;
And we may follow in this way, and be forever blest.
It is not best the path should wind beside the cooling stream;
It is not best that we should find things ever what they seem;
So prone are we to take our ease, so prone to glide along,
We need the mountains, and the seas, the host of Egypt strong.
'Tis only when we're thus shut in, we test the power above,
And learn to trust through thick and thin, and, trusting, learn to love.
Sometimes the furnace glows with heat,—there seems no draft of air;
With burning coals beneath our feet, we sink in deep despair,—
We sink, and then there comes to mind a furnace once before,
Where three were cast in, but to find not only three, but four.
And oh, the fourth! my heart be still! let every murmur cease;
To-day as then he will fulfill his promises of peace.
Then let me trust, then let me wait, yes trust and wait on Thee,
And if the storm that comes be great, great will the rescue be.
When I recall thy wondrous love, O Father all divine,
In the great gift sent from above,—a Saviour to be mine,—
Then my weak heart grows strong and brave, my faith takes hold on thee;
For since thou gav'st thy Son to save, what wilt thou keep from me?
When I compare my crosses all, with dark Gethsemane's woes,
Ashamed am I, they look so small; each bitter tear that flows
Is witness that self is not dead, though painful is the thought,
And Christ is not my living head, though with his blood I'm bought.
O let me lose myself in thee, my Saviour and my friend,
Then calm, or troubled be the sea, thou'rt with me to the end;
And, having thee, all will be right, unmoved my heart will rest
Above the storms, above the blight, peaceful, serene, and blest.
Losing Time.
By Raymond F. Cottrell
TIME is too precious to be lost. This has ever been the case; but as we near the close of our probation, the value of the few fleeting moments that remain seems to be greatly enhanced. A great work is to be done; and the time is short in which it may be done. Evil tempers are to be subdued, and a perfect victory over selfishness, self-will, and sin is to be gained, and a work of benevolence and philanthropy to be done.
Are we improving our time? Are we doing the work necessary to be done, to make our calling and election sure? That brother or that sister that is filled with the spirit of fault-finding, murmuring, grudging, and rebellion, is losing time—precious time, that cannot be recalled. This bitterness must be got out of your heart, or you are lost. The time you spend in nursing your own evil disposition, by magnifying the faults of others, real or supposed, is worse than lost; instead of advancing, you are drawing back to perdition. The doubts of the truth and work of God which you cherish, while you murmur against his chosen instrumentalities, are sinking you down, and disqualifying you to do the work so necessary to be done for your own salvation. You are drawing off your sympathy from the cause and work of God. Satan is pleased; for you are giving yourself over to his influence and becoming his willing servant. Oh, that I might arouse you before it is too late to retrace your steps and make your peace with God. While you remain in your present condition, the chances against you are increasing. You are losing time! Be entreated to at once set about the work of redeeming the time. Humble yourself. "Have faith in God," Have faith in his work. Gather with Christ, and not scatter abroad. God will do his work right; and he is the judge of all. Bring yourself into harmony with the work of God; rejoice in its increase and extension in all the earth; and make a determined and persevering effort to do the work God has given you to do, now, while it is called to-day.
R. F. COTTRELL.
The Post of Duty the Place of Safety.
By S. S. Times
ONE'S safety often depends on one's location. But to decide as to the place where safety may be found requires more than a surface judging; it is not to be settled by outside appearances. A fresh illustration of this is given in the fact that several refugees from Alexandria were engulfed in the recent earthquake at Casamicciola, on the island of Ischia, in the Bay of Naples. They had fled for their lives from an imminent danger. They lost their lives in a place of fancied security. It is not for us to say that they were wrong in leaving Alexandria and in seeking a refuge at Casamicciola. But it is for us to learn anew that we cannot always be sure of safety by a change of location. An old army commander was accustomed to say, as he saw a younger officer dodge his head at the whistle of a bullet, "You foolish fellow, you'll dodge right into the way of a bullet." And there was a suggestion of a great truth in that pungent comment. If you have a duty to do, stand fast to it or push ahead in it, without fear or flinching. There is no safer place in the world than the place of duty. Alexandria in the hour of the massacre, or in the days of cholera, is a better place, a safer place, for the man whose plain duty is there at that time than Casamicciola could be for him. Any place where duty is, is a safe place for one to stand—or to fall. Any place outside of the path of duty is a place of danger in the safest time.—S. S. Times.
THOUGHT AND DEED.
You cannot reason your heart into purity. A single day’s work in such a task would make more progress than a century’s words. If thinking is not followed by doing it is like a plant that promises well, but never comes to fruitfulness. It is a very easy matter to think of doing great things, of making great sacrifices for others' good, of being charitable and helpful to your fellow-men, but to have this thinking blossom out in noble deeds is quite another thing. Many think of doing good, while few set out to frame their thoughts in living deeds.
Done Unto Me
By Epsilon
THE words, “ Done unto me,” would lighten all burdens, if they were remembered.