Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 14, 1881
VICTORY AT LAST
By E. G. White
General Articles.
VICTORY AT LAST
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
W HEN Gideon stood at the head of thirty thousand men to make war against the Midianites, he felt that unless God should work for Israel, their cause would be hopeless. At the divine command the Hebrew force had been reduced by successive tests, until there remained with him, only three hundred men to oppose that countless multitude. What wonder that his heart sunk within him as he thought of the conflict of the morrow.
But the Lord did not leave his faithful servant to despair. He spoke to Gideon in the night season, and bade him, with Phurah, his trusty attendant, go down to the camp of the Midianites, intimating that he would there hear matter for his encouragement. He went, and waiting there in darkness and silence, he heard one soldier, just awakened, relate a dream to his companion: “Lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tent lay along.”
The other answered in words that stirred the heart of that unseen listener, “This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.”
Gideon recognized the voice of God speaking to him through the words of these Midianitish strangers. His faith and courage were greatly strengthened, and he rejoiced that Israel’s God could work through the humblest means to abase the pride of men. With confidence and hope, he returned to the few men under his command, saying, “Arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.”
The apparently powerless condition of that little company of Israelites, compared with the vast host of the enemy, was fitly represented by the cake of barley bread. But as that loaf overthrew the tent upon which it fell, so would the handful of Israelites destroy their numerous and powerful enemies. The Lord himself directed Gideon’s mind in the adoption of a plan which the latter immediately set out to execute. He divided his three hundred men into three companies. To every man was given a trumpet, and a pitcher containing a lighted lamp. He then stationed his men in such a manner that they surrounded the entire camp of Midian. They had been previously instructed how to proceed, and at midnight, at a signal from Gideon, all the three companies blew their trumpets, uncovered their lamps, and broke the pitchers, at the same time shouting, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” The light of three hundred lamps, piercing the midnight darkness, and that mighty shout from three hundred voices, suddenly aroused the sleeping army. Believing themselves at the mercy of an overwhelming force, the Midianites were panic-stricken. A terrible scene of confusion ensued. In their fright they fled in all directions, and mistaking their own companions for enemies they slew one another.
As the news of Israel’s victory spread, many who had been sent to their homes returned, and joined in the pursuit of their fleeing enemies. Gideon also sent messengers to the Ephraimites, requesting them to seize the fords of the Jordan that the fugitives might not escape eastward.
In this terrible overthrow, not less than one hundred and twenty thousand of the invaders were slain, and so completely were the Midianites subdued that they were never again able to make war upon Israel. A remnant of fifteen thousand who managed to escape across the river, were pursued by Gideon and his faithful three hundred, and utterly defeated, and Zebah and Zalmunna, two Midianite princes, were slain.
Nothing can happen in any part of the universe without the knowledge of Him who is omnipresent. Not a single event of human life is unknown to our Maker. While Satan is constantly devising evil, the Lord our God overrules all, so that it will not harm his obedient, trusting children. The same power that controls the boisterous waves of the ocean can hold in check all the power of rebellion and of crime. God says to one as to the other, “Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.”
What lessons of humility and faith may we not learn as we trace the dealings of God with his creatures. The Lord can do but little for the children of men, because they are so full of pride and vain glory. They exalt self, magnifying their own strength, learning, and wisdom. It is necessary for God to disappoint their hopes and frustrate their plans, that they may learn to trust in him alone. All our powers are from God; we can do nothing independent of the strength which he has given us. Where is the man or woman or child that God does not sustain? Where is the desolate place which God does not fill? Where is the want that any but God can supply?
The psalmist represents the presence of the Infinite One as pervading the universe. “If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” We can never find a solitude where God is not. The ever watchful eye of Omniscience is upon all our works, and although he can marshal the armies of Heaven to do his will, he condescends to accept the services of frail, erring mortals.
Because of the pride and ambition of the children of men, God has chosen to perform his mighty works by the most simple and humble means. It is not the men whom the world honors as great, talented, or brilliant, that God selects. He chooses those who will work in meekness and simplicity, acknowledging him as their leader and their source of strength. He would have us make him our protector and our guide in all the duties and affairs of life.
His care for the works of his creation is unwearied and incessant. When men go forth to their daily toil, as when they engage in prayer; when they lie down at night, and when they rise in the morning; when the rich man feasts in his palace, when the poor man gathers his children about the scanty board, each is tenderly watched by his Heavenly Father. No tears can be shed that God does not notice. There is no smile that he does not mark. Those to whom he has committed important trusts he regards with vigilance. All their actions and most secret motives must pass his scrutiny. He has bestowed upon them all their talents and abilities, and he will hold them to a strict account for the improvement of these gifts. If they attain success, it is because the God of wisdom has prospered them.
The Majesty of Heaven works by whom he will. His providence sometimes selects the humblest instruments to do the greatest work; for his power is revealed through the weakness of men. We have our standard of reckoning, and by it we pronounce one thing great, and another small; but God estimates not according to the standard of men; he does not graduate his scale by theirs. We are not to suppose that what is great to us must be great to God, and what is small to us must be small to him.
He who upholds the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity, at the same time cares for the wants of the little brown sparrow that sings its humble song without a fear. He cares for everything and sustains everything throughout the universe that he has created.
If we would but fully believe this, all undue anxieties would be dismissed. With humble prayer and trusting faith, we would seek counsel from God in all our plans and purposes of life. Then all our acts would be governed by discretion, our energies would be rightly directed. Then our lives would not be so filled with disappointment as now; for everything, small or great, would be left in the hands of God, who is not perplexed by the multiplicity of cares, nor overwhelmed by their weight. We should then enjoy a rest of soul to which many have long been strangers.
NOT LONG.
By Mrs. L. D. A. Stuttle
BY MRS. L. D. A. STUTTLE.
MASTER, my heart is sad,
When wilt thou come?
My soul is filled with fears,
Mine eyes with bitter tears,
Oh, take me home.
Dost thou not see my heart?
Dost thou not know
My sorrow and my grief?
Haste, Lord, and bring relief
From all my woe.
Master, why dost thou stay?
O Lord, how long
Ere thou wilt come to reign,
Dispel earth's blight and pain
And bitter wrong?
See'st thou how many choose
The pathway broad?
My hope is well-nigh dead,
My courage almost fled;
How long, O God?
Temptations press me sore,
The foe is strong;
Yet, ere my courage dies,
My wayworn spirit cries
O Lord, how long?
Hark! through the dreary night,
Gloomy and wild,
I hear these blessed words,
Sweeter than song of birds,
"Not long, my child."
Say to the trembling soul,
Tried one, be strong;
Though dark thy stormy ways,
Courage! thy Lord delays
Not long—not long.
Vernon, Mich., June 15, 1881.
A CHEERFUL GIVER.
"I was once attending a missionary meeting in Scotland," said a minister in making an address. "There it is the custom to take up the collection at the door as the people go out. A poor woman, in going out, dropped a sovereign into the basket. The deacon who held the basket said, 'I'm sure you cannot afford to give as much as that.' 'Oh yes, I can,' she said. 'Do take it back,' said the deacon. She replied, 'I must give it. I love to give for Jesus' sake.' Then the deacon said, 'Take it home to-night, and if, after thinking it over, you still wish to give, you can send it over in the morning.'
"In the morning I was sitting at breakfast with the deacon, when a little note came from this woman; but the note contained two sovereigns. 'You won't take them?' I said to the deacon. 'Of course I shall,' said he. 'I know that good woman well. If I send them back, she will send four next time.'"
This was indeed "loving to give."—Examiner and Chronicle.
Teaching Children Self-Government
The object of parental government is to teach the child to govern himself; and the faster you can bring him to the knowledge of self-government the better, even if he gains that knowledge by making mistakes. Allow a large margin for the child's weaknesses, and for the mistakes that spring from those weaknesses; and let him find out his own mistakes, and learn for himself the way back again to the right course.
IS SIN ETERNAL?—NO. 8.
By J. N. Loughborough
BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, OF SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND.
THERE is no support for the theory of “Eternal Hope” in claiming the paternal relation of God to the sinners, in their punishment; for as we have just seen, that relationship does not exist until they accept Christ. If I understand correctly Canon Wilberforce’s discourses, he claims that the sinner is to be punished for the full extent of his sins, and that it is this punishment which is to so soften and subdue the sinner that he will accept Christ. With this view, then, his sonship commences after his punishment is ended. How then is his punishment the “chastisement” of a son for correction before he is a son?
As a sample of proof texts used to substantiate this theory of “remedial punishment” to the ungodly, we instance one used by the Canon in his first discourse: “And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him.” Matt. 18:34. In commenting on this he said: “The duration of the sufferings of the wicked in hell shall be commensurate only with the burden of their wilful sin and when they have paid the uttermost farthing, or, in other words, when the will is conquered, hell will have done its work, and its souls shall be admitted into the regions of the blessed.”
After reading the above, the following thoughts crowd upon the mind. The Canon claims that the sinner by actual suffering has paid the “uttermost farthing” due for his sins. If the debt is fully paid and he still alive, he must then be free from debt, free from sin, and of course no longer is a condemned sinner, but a subject of Heaven. A question now arises, to whom, or to what is he to ascribe his salvation? Not surely to forgiveness in the blood of Christ. If he has himself paid the debt there is no forgiveness about it. A paid debt is not a forgiven debt. The claim is that he has paid the debt by sufferings; if so, then the sufferings canceled the debt, but the sufferings were the powers of hell that got hold upon him; as stated above, “hell will have done its work.” Is he to ascribe the glory of his salvation to the torments of hell? Is it he that has endured the torments, shall he then ascribe the glory of his salvation to himself, and glory in his power to endure the torments of hell? If he is to ascribe the glory of his salvation to Christ, it seems to me with the above theory it would be giving thanks to Christ for permitting him to go to hell and work out his own salvation by enduring its pains.
The question arises on the text itself, Was this parable of Christ given to illustrate the torments of hell in their remedial and purifying character, or for some other purpose? If we turn to verse 21, we shall learn just what called it forth: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother trespass against me and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times; but until seventy times seven.” Then follows the parable, telling that the lord of the servant committed him to prison for a debt of £1,875,000 that had once been forgiven, because he would not forgive his fellow-servant in distress a debt of about £3 2s. 6d. Our Saviour’s own application is, “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” St. Matt. 18:35. We see, then, the subject in the dealing of brother with brother; the spirit they should possess in the church of Christ to forgive wrongs when confessed by the erring. The statement of the case seems to be that if we do not possess a forgiving spirit toward a repenting brother we shall lose the forgiveness we may already have obtained from God. This seems also to quite agree with the statement of the prophet Ezekiel, “When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered, but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.” Eze. 33:13.
This parable, then, while it shows the certainty of God rejecting at last even those who once enjoyed his favor, if they foster an unforgiving spirit, is nevertheless silent as to the result of that final punishment. As already shown by other scriptures, they shall “not be,” and “be as though they had not been.”
While commenting on this text (Matt. 18) the Rev. Canon incidentally referred to another scripture as favoring his theory. It is that speaking of “paying the uttermost farthing.” We will look at these words of our Saviour as recorded by St. Luke. We read: “When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.” St. Luke 12:58, 59. The same occurs in St. Matthew’s record of Christ’s discourse upon the mount. He calls it agreeing with the adversary, and calls it the payment of “the uttermost farthing.”
If we accept the Canon’s interpretation of these texts and call the magistrate in this case “God the judge of all,” to whose bar we are hastening, who is the adversary with whom we are to “agree.” I read in St. Peter’s epistle, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. Am I to understand Christ to advise us to agree with the great adversary of souls, while on our way to God’s judgment, lest he deliver us up to God? Every candid reader says, nay, and so say I; still if the sequel of the case relates to the final Judgment the advice would seem to be with reference to our greatest adversary while we are in the way.
I would suggest that the text does not refer directly to future punishment or its results, but that it is one of our Saviour’s lessons for practical every-day life here. In this case, as upon many other occasions, he instructed his hearers to pursue that course of action which would be the source of the least trouble to them, and make for peace. The burden, then, of this text with its corresponding one in St. Matthew is to show us the importance of making all due concessions to those who would bring us before magistrates, seeking thus to be released from them, rather than be involved in perplexing suits at law which might result in our adversary—the prosecutor—committing us to prison until his claim was fully satisfied. The principle of this case is the same as in St. Matt. 5:40, “And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.” That is, meet his claim if at a sacrifice, rather than be involved in contentious lawsuits. I see not how the text can be made to prove that the fires of hell are to purify sinners at last, and fit them for Heaven, for that is not the subject of our Saviour’s remarks.
Those who maintain the theory of “Eternal Hope” seek support for their doctrine of the final salvation of all in what the Scriptures say of the “restitution,” especially the words of St. Peter: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19–21.
One would most readily conclude, on reading the above scripture, that whatever may be comprehended in the “restitution” it is necessary to repent, and be converted in this world in order to be a partaker of the benefits of that restitution. It should also be borne in mind that the text does not say, the restitution of all men, or of all beings, but “restitution of all things.” Some have said, if it is the restitution of all things of course that will include all men, even if it does not say all men. We must observe with care, it does not say that “all things,” indiscriminately, are to be restored, but it is to be “the restitution of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” The question as to what is to be restored must then be limited by that concerning which all the prophets have spoken. There is a work of restitution concerning which they have spoken, but it is not the restitution to God’s favor of those found in rebellion and sin against him at the Judgment, but a removing from the earth of the curse which has been brought upon it in consequence of sin. It is well expressed by St. Peter in his epistle: “Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:12, 13. Here is a restoring of the earth to its Eden beauty, to become the final abode of the saints. Such a restitution has been spoken of by the prophets in clear and explicit terms. They have not told us that the ungodly shall be made partakers in that restitution, but, as expressed by St. Peter, “It shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” Acts 3:23.
In the fifth of his eight discourses, Canon Wilberforce gave us what he undoubtedly regarded one of his strongest arguments, based upon the words of St. Paul, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:21. He said, “We should be doing violence to the word of God if we ascribed a lower and less extensive potency to the death of the second Adam than to the disobedience of the first, that it was in accordance not only with all God’s dealings, but also with the indications of an enlightened reason that the recovery of all men through Christ should be analogous to, and co-extensive with, the ruin of all men through Adam.” He quoted, to give strength to his position, the words of St. Paul to the Galatians: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Gal. 3:8), and said he asked them to dwell only on the closeness of the parallel and the sharpness of the antithesis in the words selected as his text, and to judge whether, by every rule of honest criticism and unbiased common sense, the word all in one case does not mean the same as the word all in the other. This wonderful and comprehensive passage predicated of all, without exception, that they should be made alive; and in its true and highest sense to be made alive was to be brought into conscious fellowship with God, by the spirit of his love, power and wisdom.
It is undoubtedly true, as stated by the Canon, that the word all used with reference to the second Adam is the same as the all used with reference to the first Adam, and that all mankind are in some way affected by the death of Christ. How they are affected is the real point of interest before us.
The meaning of being “made alive” must be gained by a correct understanding of the death that men die in Adam. If the death is a spiritual one, then the making alive from that death would be quickening into a spiritual life, and bringing into “conscious fellowship with God,” as claimed by the Canon; but if the death in Adam is a literal death and dissolution of the body, then the making alive in Christ would have direct reference to a literal resurrection from the dead. That the latter is the real meaning of the text appears from the fact that the words are found in a chapter devoted entirely to the subject of the literal resurrection of Christ and the benefit to be derived therefrom, and especially the literal resurrection of his people from their graves, from a condition into which they went as mortal, corruptible beings, but from which they come forth incorruptible and immortal.
Home Should Be Our Heaven
NEVER give all your pleasant words and smiles to strangers. The kindest words and the sweetest smiles should be reserved for home. Home should be our heaven.
"GREAT FEAR CAME UPON ALL."
By The Christian
WHEN Ananias and Sapphira, for lying to God, had been smitten with his curse, we are told: "Great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard those things." "And of the rest durst no man join himself unto them."
It was a solemn thing to join God's church; it is a light thing to join man's. The church at Jerusalem at that time was not a safe place for hypocrites, liars, or deceivers. There are persons who find safe quarters in many churches to-day, who profess to be as poor as Ananias and Sapphira did, and who have kept back quite as large a proportion of the price, but who are yet unscathed by the curse. There are churches, connection with which is sought as an open avenue to wealth, honor, fame, respect, and business advancement; but the true church of God should be a band of men and women so holy, so pure, so faithful, and so imbued with the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost, that hypocrites would find no attraction there, and worldly men would fear to profane that temple where God himself dwells and walks, and reveals his grace and power.—The Christian.
PATIENCE AND CHARITY.
“OH, don’t I wish there was a patience shop; wouldn’t I just buy some,” said Susan, somewhat excitedly.
“Well, I think you ought to be a profitable customer,” sarcastically exclaimed her brother Arthur
“You’re a mean fellow,” responded Susan, “and if there was only a charity store, you ought to spend all your money there.”
Mrs. Miles heard these remarks, and, instead of upbraiding her children, suggested that possibly an investment in both patience and charity might be good for each, and expressed the belief that she knew where both might be secured.
The young folks were eager to know what mother meant, and Susan, who had been greatly troubled by a self-imposed task of work, and had lost her stock of patience over it, begged her mother to tell her where she might obtain a fresh supply.
Her mother said something about a certain great man, named Paul, who once wrote on the subject. He said that tribulation worketh patience, and she proceeded to show her children that trials and troubles, vexations and annoyances, were permitted by God in order that his people might learn to exercise patience. No amount of money would buy patience; but if all our perplexities and difficulties were committed to God in prayer, we should find that as each storm serves to make the trees take firmer root-hold, so all unpleasant circumstances should serve to make the grace of patience take stronger hold in the heart. Patience, moreover, was not an earthly possession. She said, “It must come from him who is called the God of patience, and who will give this, and everything else that is good, to those who ask him in sincerity.”
Much more was said about patience, and Arthur and Susan read, at their mother’s request, all the verses in the New Testament that contained the word, and they profited by the exercise. At the close Susan said she felt as though she had a little more patience now, and she proposed to ask God to help her take care of it. Then some conversation was held about charity, of its preciousness in God’s sight, as shown in the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, which was read. The children also hunted up some verses from the first epistle of St. John, about loving our brethren, and Arthur determined that he would seek the gift of charity.
As the mother was called away to other duties, and the young people were left alone, they said almost in the same breath, “Well, I really do believe there is a patience and a charity store after all; only God keeps it.”
This incident occurred so recently that I am not prepared to say how far Susan and Arthur have improved in these respects, but I know that their resolutions were made heartily, and I trust they may so be kept.—Sel.
YOUR BOY.
You do not know what is in him. Bear with him; be patient; wait, feed him, clothe him, love him. He is a boy, and most boys are bad. You think him light-hearted, and fear he is light-headed as well. But remember he calls you father. When he played in your lap you fondly hoped he would some day be a great and useful man. Now that he has grown larger, and his young blood drives him into gleeful sport, and makes him impatient of serious things, rattling, playful, thoughtless, you almost despair. But don't be snappish and snarlish and make him feel that you are disappointed in him. He is your boy, and you are to live in him. He bears your name, and is to send it on down the stream of time. He inherits your fortune and fame, and is to transmit them to generations to come.
It cannot be otherwise. A daughter divides your fortune, transmits less of your fame, and loses your name. A boy is more nearly yourself than anything else can be. It is through your boy you go down in history; through your boy you are to act upon the generation that is to come.
It may be difficult to govern him, but be patient; he may seem averse to everything useful and good, but wait. No one can tell what is in a boy. He may surprise you some day. Hope. Let him grow. While his body grows larger and stronger, his mental and moral nature may expand and improve.
Some boys are men in stature but are still boys in mind. It may be so with your boy; and if so there is reason for hope. In such cases there is often great outcome. The body is the tree, the mind, the fruit. It is well for the tree to take deep root before it is loaded with fruit; then the fruit will be the more and better.
Educate your boy. You may think money spent in that way is money spent in vain. There is nothing in him; he has no pride, no ambition, no aspiration. You don't know. No one can tell what is in a boy. Besides, there may be an unkindled spark, an unfanned flame, a smouldering fire, a latent energy, which the teacher's rod may stir, the association with books and men may develop and direct, and thus start your boy a going, with such energy and determination, that no power on earth could stop him short of the topmost round in the ladder of fame.
If you cannot educate him, let him educate himself. That is the best way. That will make him strong, a giant with whom no one dare interfere. Such are the best men in the world. The greatest benefactors of the race have stooped their shoulders to bear burdens, have carried hands hardened with rough labor, have endured the fatigue of toil. Many such are in our minds now. Labor omnia vincit. “Labor conquers all things.” The old Roman was right. We see it in a thousand instances. Labor makes the man. No boy ever came to be a man, the noblest work of God, without labor. This is God's great law; there is a divine philosophy in it. Let your boy work; if he will not work, make him work. There is no progress, no development, no outcome, no true manhood without it. We must work.
A wild, rattling, thoughtless boy of the days of yore is in our mind's eye. Who would have thought it? He is a strong, active, efficient, untiring Baptist preacher, of large influence in another State. Another a successful physician, occupying a good position in this city, and a Christian gentleman.
Father, be kind to your boy. We know what a mother will do. Thank God, a mother's love, a mother's prayers follow us still; and the memory of her anxious tears shall never fade out during the succession of years. Finally, but not least, pray for your boy. God hears prayer. Do the best you can, commit all that you cannot do, to God, and hope. Never despair, for no one knows what is in a boy.—Reflector.
THE EARTH—PAST AND PRESENT.
WHAT the world was at first bears testimony to what it shall be at last. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.” Man was very good. He was made in the image and likeness of God—a faithful mirror reflecting the wisdom and goodness of his Creator. God's great design in all his great works is the manifestation of his own glory. God's glory is then manifested when the thing formed answers exactly the end for which he formed it. Man in Paradise gave this response; he was very good. He was qualified to appreciate the divine perfections of Jehovah, who had made all things for himself, to proclaim his wisdom, grace, and power. His intellectual and moral powers were perfect. God's law was in his heart. The will of God was to the will of unfallen Adam, what the pole is to the needle—it was full of attraction, and the heart of the creature followed that attraction with a spontaneouness of love without effort. All his affections and passions were in submission to, and in accord with, the will and law of his God. Love stood before the altar, and pouring on the sacred incense, kept up the hallowed flame. Holy fear with reverential awe, bowed before the sanctuary where as yet no veil had hid the presence of the Deity. Joy told its raptures in hosannas of never-ceasing praise, and sought on earth to join these songs which angels poured forth before the throne of God. Hope was not there. Man had nothing to hope for. He was full. His blessedness was perfect.
The inferior creatures were all very good, each in its kind answering the object of its creation; and all in peaceful subjection to man, and in harmony with one another. The wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the cow and the bear, the lion and the ox, all met in peace before Adam, to receive their names from him, and whatsoever he called each of them that was their appointed title. Their food was the herbs of the field. There was no occasion for the shedding of blood, or the infliction of pain, no touch of conception, no trace of death. The trees and shrubs and flowers were very good, presenting proofs innumerable of the tenderness and loving kindness, as well as exquisite skill of Him who made them all. There was no drawback, no disturbing phenomena, no shattering storm, no nipping frost or blighting fog to cause the least embarrassment in the mind of their thoughtful human master concerning the character of God, that had made the scene. Oh! what a glimpse of the world as it shall be, in this transient scene of the world as it was; it was pleasing to him that made it, and he will make it pleasing to himself again. This lovely scene was transient, it is true; but though transient, it was real. And brief as it was, it has left behind it the imperishable lesson, namely, that there is no necessary connection between matter and sin, matter and decay, matter and death. The connection we now experience is an adventitious one, brought in by sin, and to be driven out by righteousness. It is no way inherent, whether it be the globe we tread upon, or that of which man is formed; and the lesson here taught, I repeat, is that there may be matter where there is no sin.—Selected.
A TRUE INCIDENT.
WHEN the Boston train came steaming into the depot, the crowd rushed for seats. As a band of recruits mounted the platform, they shouted back to their friends who had accompanied them to the train, the various slang phrases they could command, interspersed with an oath now and then. As the train moved off they pushed each other into the car, where many ladies were seated, including a Mrs. B— and her two boys. Then the oaths came out thick and fast, each one evidently trying to outdo the others with profanity.
Mrs. B— shuddered for herself and her boys, for she could not bear to have their young minds contaminated by such language. If the train had not been so crowded she would have looked for seats elsewhere, but under the circumstances, she was compelled to remain where she was.
Finally, after this coarse jesting had continued for nearly an hour, a little girl, who, with her mother, sat in front of the party, stepped out timidly from her seat, and going up to the ringleader of the group—a young man whose countenance indicated considerable intelligence—she presented him with a small Bible. She was a little delicate-looking creature, only seven or eight years old, and as she laid the book in his hands she raised her soft eyes appealingly to his, but without saying a word went back to her seat.
The party could not have been more completely hushed if an angel had silenced them. Not another oath was heard, and scarcely a word was spoken by any of them during the remainder of the journey. The young man who had received the book seemed particularly impressed. He got out of the car at the next station and purchased a paper of candy for his little friend, which he presented to her. He then stooped down and kissed her, and said that he would always keep the little Bible for her sake.
The little girl's mother afterward told Mrs. B— that her child had been so troubled by the wickedness of these young men, that she could not rest until she had given her little Bible, which she valued so highly herself.
THE MORAL LAW.
DR. ADAM CLARKE thus speaks of Scripture. To say that Christ's personal righteousness is imputed to every true believer, is not scriptural; to say that he has fulfilled all righteousness for us, or in our stead, if by this is meant the fulfillment of all moral duties, is neither scriptural nor true; that he has died in our stead, is a great, glorious, and scriptural truth; that there is no redemption but through his blood is asserted beyond all contradiction in the oracles of God. But there are a multitude of duties which the moral law requires, which Christ never fulfilled in our stead, and never could. He has fulfilled none of these duties for us, but he furnishes grace to every true believer to fulfill them to God's glory, the edification of his neighbor, and his own eternal profit. The salvation which we receive from God's free mercy, through Christ, binds us to live in strict conformity to the moral law; that law which prescribes our manners, and the spirit by which they should be regulated, and in which they should be performed.—Golden Censer.