Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 16, 1894
The Religion of Kossuth.
By Editor
The religion of Kossuth, the great Hungarian patriot who just passed away, is now a matter of much discussion, the Roman Catholics claiming that he received communion from a Roman370Catholic priest just before his death, although he had been a Protestant all his life. Well, supposing he did, what of it? How does this affect the truth or falsity of Roman Catholicism or Protestantism? Personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through God's word is the true basis of Protestantism and of Christianity, and great men or great names are of no weight or worth. With error, however, it is different. "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed?" was the question asked in Christ's day and in the times of all reformations. It is well to remember that in true Christianity there are "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble," but "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" "that no flesh should glory in his presence." It is all in Christ, "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." He who knows Christ will not glory in great men nor names, but in the one Man and the one name—Jesus.
Christ's Coming.
More than eighteen hundred years ago the Man of Nazareth, overlooking the holy city from the brow of Olivet, then doomed because of its sins, predicted its destruction, the end of the gospel age, and his own coming.
There Shall Be Signs.
Of the latter event he declared that it would be ushered in by premonitions and indications unmistakable to every observer. He says: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21: 25-27.
Signs Everywhere.
The above is certainly explicit. God declares that he will hang out in that generation prior to Christ's second coming (verses 31, 32) signs in the sidereal world, in the physical world, in the political world, and in the same discourse as given by Matthew and Mark, in the social and religious world. These signs are all before us; the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The same thing—the proximity of the end—is foretold by symbolic prophecy. But to understand prophecy, to trace its fulfillment in history, requires thought and study, and none but the earnest or interested seekers are likely to pursue this line of study. It requires too much time and application for the average last-day human, and so the excuse would be, "I did not understand that Christ's coming was near; I could not comprehend the prophecies."
Sun, Moon, and Stars.
Therefore, to have men without excuse, God has hung out special signs everywhere, where all may see who will, all of which have been predicted by inspiration; and the fulfillment of the prediction, and the nature of the sign itself, carry with them conviction to many of those who witness them. Take some of the prominent signs which have occurred since the birth of the last and greatest empire—America. Jesus predicted that between A.D. 1776 and 1798 there would be the darkening of the sun and moon, that is, this phenomenon would come within the days of papal persecution, after the persecution had ceased. The days of persecution began A.D. 538 and continued to 1798. The persecution of the days ended in 1776, when Maria Theresa, of Austria, granted toleration of all creeds, and the broad wings of America were spread for a shelter to the oppressed. Just after that—"immediately after the tribulation of those days" (Matt. 24: 29), "in those days, after that tribulation" (Mark 13: 24)—the sun was supernaturally darkened, namely, on May 19, 1780, noted by historians as "the dark day," and for which science can give no satisfactory reason. The following night, although the moon was at the full, was so dark that one writer says, "A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eye was equally invisible with the blackest velvet." Nov. 13, 1833, came the great meteoric shower, covering two-thirds of the earth's surface. Each of these carried to observers the conviction that they were precursors of Christ's second coming.
"Distress of Nations."
Have we seen it? Are we not now seeing it? True, there has been distress in the past, but those were in times when men did not profess the wisdom and piety they do now. Invention had not then cheapened the necessities of life. The art of production of foods and their rapid transportation to the needy communities did not then exist as they now exist. But the nations are in distress, and strong men and willing women are begging for work, and earnest souls look upon it and cry, "How long? O Lord, how long?"
"With Perplexity."
The conditions of things in the social and political world are perplexing. The wisest social and political economists, the greatest statesmen, the most ardent reformers and philanthropists, have endeavored and are endeavoring to find some way out of the difficulty, but the study, the time, the conferences, have left practical problems mostly untouched. They have, however, shown that the union between the conferees existed in only one thing, namely, that something must be done. And this is its present status; and in the meantime souls and bodies are starving and dying.
"Men's Hearts Failing Them for Fear."
And it is so. All over the earth men are waiting in fearful expectation for the unexpected. They know not what will come next. Wars and rumors of wars, labor troubles and strikes, socialism, anarchism, nihilism, in all their various forms, threaten the very foundation of order, and, on the other extreme, greed of gold and monopoly and corporation are crushing the very life from the individual.
"Perilous Times."
Yes, the times are perilous. Inspiration predicts it for "the last days." In these days it has come; and one of the great causes of it all is the condition of the professed church of Christ. For the perilous times are here, "for [because] men are lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, . . . high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 Tim. 3: 1-5. Such is the picture drawn by inspiration of the professed but popular church in "the last days." God designed her to be "the salt of the earth," "the light of the world," but she has turned from the true Light, and is walking in "the sparks of her own kindling." The very church which should have been a conservator of righteousness has turned from some of the plainest precepts of God's rule of righteousness. Her example says, "It shall be well with the wicked;" and from that example the wicked turn from God's word, and walk on in worse condemnation.
Christ Is Coming.
We do not despair. We are not pessimistic. The above are the facts, but they are omens of the coming dawn. The lovers of Christ and his truth will heed the warnings, will welcome the signs, will rejoice that he is coming, will labor for the souls in darkness, in peril, in want and misery and woe. And God is merciful, and Christ will save. Despite all the backslidings of the church, despite all the sins of man, the merciful, mightful, pitiful Christ still pleads for all to come to him for present salvation now, that he may come for them with eternal salvation then. Those who will heed his call will be glad to know that his presence is near, will welcome his coming, will greet him as the best of all best friends, and will joy in his presence with singing. "Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly."
CONDITIONS—WARNINGS—DUTIES.
By Editor
In the fifth chapter of the Epistle of James are words which are especially applicable at the present time. They are as follows:—
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." Verses 1-7.
The above scripture is a most solemn message of warning and admonition, as well as a prediction of what would be in the last days. A volume might be written upon it; we have space to notice but a few points:—
1. God warns the rich men, in unmistakable language, that miseries are coming upon them, because of their hoarded riches, which would witness against them in the days of trouble. They "have heaped treasure together for the last days." And how true it is! A generation ago a man was considered to have fabulous wealth who was worth a million dollars, and the millionaires in this country could be counted on the digits of both hands, but now they are many as compared with that time, and their riches are counted by the tens and hundreds of millions. We have not before us definite statistics of the present or past year. But in 1890 the New York Journal estimated the wealth of one hundred and sixty-six persons in this nation to aggregate the vast sum of two billion four hundred and fifty-six million dollars ($2,456,000,000), in fortunes varying from $3,000,000 to $150,000,000. One of these very men, at that time worth $135,000,000, is now estimated to be worth over $200,000,000.
Here is wealth enough in the hands of one hundred and sixty-six men to give the sum of nearly twoscore dollars to every man, woman, and child in this country. Were they to give on an average a million each to the three million deserving poor of this country, it would amount to the sum of $55 each, and it would leave these millionaires with an average fortune of nearly $15,000,000 each. But the wealth is not given. Dives lives in his luxury still, while Lazarus lies at his gate begging for crumbs.
2. The Scripture charges that these riches, in part at least, have been gotten by the oppression of the poor. "The hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud," is a general expression covering all oppression of the poor. We are aware that many of the poor are improvident, intemperate, and unwise. We believe that they have greater enemies in rum and tobacco than they have in the rich, but this does not excuse the rich. The poor man is as much justified in the indulgence of his beer, his grog, his wretched five-cent cigars, and cheap, poisonful tobacco, as is the rich in his indulgence in the rare wines and brandies and costly Havanas.
We are also aware that much is said of the "honor" of these wealthy men; that they are members of churches in "good and regular standing;" that they have sometimes helped a poor widow to a five-dollar bill, or a favored servant who has given them his life, to a mere pittance of their hoarded store; that they give a paltry thousand, hundred thousand, or half million to some great enterprise, to purchase newspaper fame, while some of their poorest employees give proportionately for the cause of Christ ten times as much every week. We are aware of all of this exploiting and glorifying of wealth, this worship of plutocracy; and, oh, the meanness of it all!
The laws are framed in the interest of the rich, and in the interest of the great, greedy, graceless corporations and monopolies they control, which voraciously swallow up the business of every small dealer and tradesman, and drive into poverty thousands who might have won a competence and have been self-supporting. The record books of Heaven will sometime reveal the gigantic crimes in the name of law, and in despite of law, which these "irresponsible, soulless" corporations have committed, and at God's bar individual men shall give account. Political, commercial, marital, social crimes have been revealed in every State and in every large municipality against these last-day plutocrats; public opinion has been shocked for a little, and then the glitter of gold has silenced church and State and press. And the terrible drama—tragedy—goes on, while the great Juggernautic car of Mammon crushes underneath its wheels the poor, the weak, the needy, the more honorable.
3. We do not mean to say that there are not honorable wealthy men, for there are some, men who hold wealth and all that they have as a stewardship from God. There are dishonorable poor. But the wealth has controlling interests, and the poor are often what the rich have taught them to be, or, from a human standpoint purely, compelled them to be. But God holds the wealthy responsible for the way they have used their means. He tells them that the cries of those oppressed by them have entered into his ears. Further than this, these rich men have not heeded the distress around them. They have "lived in pleasure upon the earth, and been wanton;" they have nourished their hearts, as in a day of slaughter; they have spent in feasting, for purely selfish pleasure, while professing the religion of Jesus Christ, that which would have fed the starving and afflicted poor, weeping under the cold shadows of their mansions or famishing in the wretched hovels for which furniture has been sold to pay rent to the devotees of Plutus and Bacchus. But God remembers it, and his judgment surely cometh. Take the following words, ascribed to Dr. Herbert Burrows, bishop of Westminster, London, preached three years ago Christmas, as a picture of what is:—
"For years I have been one of you. My home was not where Christ's home was, with the masses, but with the classes who have an abundance of this world's goods. I have lived with the fashionable, with the wealthy, and I have been a dignitary of a church of the rich, and not of the poor. Without a protest I have mixed in the society of men and women whom Christ would have denounced as he did the scribes and Pharisees. In the house of lords I have silently sat side by side with the whore-mongers and adulterers, and as silently have I welcomed as my personal friends high-born women—some of whom I see before me to-day—with whom no decent workingman will allow his wife and daughter to associate."
"I have seen among you, spreading like a canker, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, and, instead of reproving you, as Christ would have done, I have taken refuge in generalities, and have not dared to denounce your individual sins. All this while there was going on around me in this huge city and through the land the surging, toiling life of humanity, the sorrow, the suffering, the poverty, the disease, the sin and shame which I realize but dimly, as something apart from my own existence, but for which I at last see clearly you and I have been, up to the present time, mostly to blame. We and our class have kept back by fraud the hire of the laborers who have reaped our fields; we have lived in pleasure on earth and been wanton; we have nourished our hearts, while we have starved the bodies of those to whom we owe the very bread we eat and the clothes we wear, and now we are condemning and killing at our very gates the people whose articulate cry is entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, whose faithful servants we pretend to be."
Take again the present condition of things in our own land—a land where there is an abundance of all that is needed to eat and wear. Look at the thousands in all our large cities who have been for months longing, begging for work, pawning from time to time furniture, books, clothing, for a morsel to eat, while wife and children grew day by day pale, pinched, and eager eyed for the absolute need of what the wealthy could have spared and never have missed. Look at the "industrial regiments" recruiting in all parts of our country, with their strange mixtures of politics and religion, of fanaticism and superstition, but with a terrible sense of need. Authorities place them under arrest; the light and heartless laugh at their uncouth appear371ance; religious papers call them "fools," but have they not a cause? What shall they do? They have tried everything that worldly wisdom suggests; they are refused the privilege of what they are willing to do,—spending brawn and brain and life, if need be, for the needs of life,—they are ready to try anything which promises relief. Foolish they may be, but let no man call them fools till he has been where they are. Yet before God, and in the light of his word, we would rather share their responsibility to-day than that of the rich, rolling in his lavish treasure and hoarding his gold, unmindful of his neighbor’s needs.
4. But these things bode peril. The crushed worm will at last turn. The peaceable poor without higher hope will turn anarchist. Slavery to rich men is breeding hatred; hatred is breeding contempt for the religion which the rich profess; and thousands are preparing to cast off all restraints, and say, as has been said before, "There is enough for all; let us go and take it." These are the perils which confront the rich. These are the miseries sure to come. Men may close their eyes to the black cloud rising rapidly above the horizon, but it will not prevent the coming storm. God and his law have been trampled underfoot by the professed church of Christ, and the harvest is almost ready for the reaping. Laugh who will now, but God has spoken; tomorrow will bring weeping to those who do not heed his warnings.
5. But will the poor be justified in this?—Nay, not before God. This earth is not all. This is not the only life. Christ is our example. "Consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself." "Be patient, brethren, therefore [for the reason that Christ has undertaken your case], unto the coming of the Lord." "Patiently endure;" Christ did. Let no Christian join in these methods of worldly warfare, which in the end will result in disappointment and crime. Do all you can, by faithfulness, prudence, and economy, to earn an honest living. Help all the needy you are able; but bear, as did Christ, the oppression, the robbery, the injustice of men who are beyond the reach of ordinary justice and its regular channels. Commit your cause to the God of heaven. He has said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." In Christ alone is our hope. All else is failure.
PLEA FOR CLOSING THE FAIR ON SUNDAY.
By Editor
WHEN the Midwinter Fair was first proposed, the ministers of San Francisco and Oakland announced that they would oppose Sunday opening, and various religious societies joined them. A decision was at last reached among the ministers of the various churches, and a statement formulated into a petition, and presented to the directors of the Fair. That petition did not materialize until a few days ago. The committee to present it made an appointment with the director general and the Executive Committee, but for some reason or other he failed to meet them, and on April 4 they presented their petition by messenger, and the next day it was published in the San Francisco Examiner.
The ministers say that an examination of this communication from the churches will show that its arguments are not based on ecclesiastical grounds, although in its substantial features we believe it is in accord with the published utterances of both Protestants and Catholics, as expressed in opposition to the opening of the gates of the Columbian Exposition on Sunday. What is meant by ecclesiastical is not easy to see. It would seem that the ministers would desire that the public should understand by that that it is not religious, nor based on church opposition. But it certainly is based on religious grounds, for that they expressly state. They say they "view with alarm whatever threatens the great civil and religious institution so fundamental to the preservation of our national character and proper freedom, the Christian sabbath, commonly called Sunday." And again they speak of the "moral and religious attitude" of our State.
One of the first considerations which they present for the closing of the Fair is, "This is a Christian nation, so decided by the Supreme Court of the United States;" and, secondly, "All the great religious denominations of our country that accept the scholarly interpretations of the Bible as the standard of their faith and practice, oppose Sunday opening."
Something like six other considerations follow, all having a bearing to a greater or less extent on the religious phase of the subject. And they close by saying that if the gates are kept open, they will "protest against the act as an innovation un-American in its spirit and un-Christian in its tendencies." That is, the church people protest. Their protest is both religious and ecclesiastical.
In this carefully worded protest there is an endeavor to sail between Scylla and Charybdis, by saying that, while they oppose the introduction of the so-called continental Sunday, they do not seek to return to the so-called Puritan Sunday, and this is just where Rome stands. But the object which they seek is both un-American and un-Christian, as we have before shown, and, while a closed or open Fair on Sunday does not affect us in any way, we hope that the false claims of its religious and American character will be clearly seen. The "scholarly interpretation" of the Bible may make the seventh day the first day, but it is an interpretation which makes void the word of God. The Lord says, "Now consider what I say," not what scholars may interpret him as saying. The question is not a mere question of days, it is a question of the integrity of God’s word and of faith in that word. We hope that Christians will not be confounded by the false issues which are raised concerning it. Righteousness is right doing, and the rule of right doing is God’s law. "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a shame to any people." But following a false standard of right does not make righteousness. Sunday has no foundation whatever in God’s word. It is not only an extra biblical institution, but it is antibiblical.
A Roman Archbishop on Liberty
By Editor
A Roman Archbishop on Liberty.—The New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion gives five dinners during the year, at Delmonico’s, and its guest on April 4 was Archbishop Ireland, who gave the address of the day, of which three solid columns of nonpareil were telegraphed to this coast. The address abounds in eloquent and well-rounded phrases, and contains many fine things on patriotism and liberty. Of America he says, “It is the country of human dignity and human liberty,” principles which are as “old as the race,” but which never blossomed and bore fruit in political life until the birth of this nation, although, he says, “it was taught in the sweet religion of Christ.” That all men are equal “in its truth was as old as the race, but in practical realization almost unknown,” are the words of the archbishop. But he says “this came at last, and it came in America.” We do not suppose the archbishop realized it, and perhaps not one of his hearers at the feast did, but a more telling blow against the Church of Rome was never delivered. During more than a half score of centuries of that time when the principle was unknown to the world, the Church of Rome ruled in both Church and State. To her pontiffs bowed the various rulers of earth, and she swayed the power then which she still claims,—to depose every ruler who would not obey her dictates. And now to say that during that time true liberty and equality were not known is to lay it all at the door of the Roman Catholic Church. It certainly was not known, and Rome was responsible, and is responsible, for she holds to the same principles still. It never would have been known in these days had it not been for the Reformation. But we are about to lose it all.
Rome and Freedom of Speech
By Editor
It has been the boast of Rome, especially of late years, that she is the conservator of freedom and liberty, the founder of this nation, and the one in whose hands alone liberty is safe. The liberty which Rome grants has always been liberty to think as she does and to speak as she dictates. This has been manifest so many times that it scarcely seems worthy of notice again, and yet, under Rome’s constant protestations, people seem to forget her true character.
Ex-priest Slattery spoke on the subject “Why Priests Do not Wed,” in Odd Fellows’ Hall in San Francisco, April 4. Of course the lecturer was against Rome, but Mr. Slattery has as much right to antagonize Rome as Rome has to antagonize Mr. Slattery. But before the lecture concluded there were over 2,000 people gathered around the entrance to the hall, some of whom occasionally shouted, “Lynch him!” “Hang him!” “Kill him!” However, by the number of police on hand and the large crowd of Mr. Slattery’s own supporters, he reached the street in safety and was driven away.
“But,” said one policeman, “that was a narrow escape; only one fool was needed to start the row, and the city receiving hospital and morgue would have had lots of new business on hand.”
That is the very spirit which Rome inculcates in her followers, and for which her teachings are responsible. And she never can be successfully fought with the same weapons which are used and advocated by ex-priest Slattery and his friends. The only weapons which will successfully meet Rome are the weapons not carnal, the armor furnished by the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course to use these weapons and this armor means, when Rome has the power, persecution. But it was through suffering that Christ conquered, and his church will conquer in the same way.
HEAVEN BEGUN.
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
It was said of an old Puritan that heaven was in him before he was in heaven. That is necessary for all of us; we must have heaven in us before we get into heaven. If we do not get to heaven before we die, we shall never get there afterward. An old Scotchman was asked whether he ever expected to go to heaven. "Why, man, I live there," was his quaint reply. Let us all live in those spiritual things which are the essential features of heaven. Often go there before you go to stay there. If you come down to-morrow373morning knowing and realizing that heaven is yours and that you will soon be there, those children will not worry you half so much. When you go out to your business or to your work, you will not be half so discontented when you know that this is not your rest, but that you have a rest on the hills eternal, whither your heart has already gone, and that there your portion is in the everlasting dwellings. "Lay hold on eternal life." "Get a hold of it now." It is a thing of the future, and it is a thing of the present; and even your part of it that is future can be, by faith, so realized and grasped as to be actually enjoyed while you are yet here.—C. H. Spurgeon.
CHRIST CAME TO BREAK SIN'S CHAIN.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
"GOD so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
A great and infinite sacrifice has been made in our behalf. We are the objects of God's love, and he has shown to us that he identifies his interests with those of suffering humanity. As Christ has given himself for us, we should place a proper estimate upon the soul. He has given us heavenly endowments, done everything that a God could do, in order that we might not perish, but have everlasting life, the life that measures with the life of God. Can our finite minds grasp this great and wonderful fact?—Not unless we empty ourselves of vanity and break away from the bondage of Satan.
The mission of Christ to the world was to break the chain of Satan from the soul, and to set at liberty those that are bound. It cost an infinite price to deliver the captives of Satan from the captivity of sin. In the councils of heaven it was determined that Christ should die for the sins of the whole world. He laid aside his royal crown, his royal robe, clothed his divinity with humanity, that he might touch humanity, and yet he was not received by the world.
Goodness, mercy, and love attended his steps. He healed the sick, he comforted the desponding, brought hope to the despairing, and preached the gospel to the poor. Those who listened to his teaching did not need to consult a dictionary to find out his meaning. His words were so simple that a child could grasp his meaning. He did not take a text and then give a discourse on science, though he could have opened the mysteries of science to the world. He could have told the world that of which they had not dreamed. He did not preach from a newspaper, but he bent his energies toward one object,—the salvation of the lost. He did not build so grand a house of worship that the poor were excluded from its doors, but he sought the great thoroughfares of travel, and sought out the people, that they might hear the gracious tidings he had to bear to them. He would lead the multitudes to the seashore, and, in a fisherman's boat, would put out a little from the shore, and there preach to the people who thronged his steps.
Ministers of the gospel who believe that the end of all things is at hand, preach the gospel in simplicity to the people, preach the truth as it is in Jesus. Christ prayed before leaving his disciples, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." When the truth is received and believed, it will have a sanctifying effect upon the heart and character. Jesus came to earth that he might transform the character and develop in man the moral image of God. Oh, we must not meet Jesus unready! We do not desire that you shall miss your way. If we knew the value of the human soul, we would not be indifferent to our own salvation or to that of others.
Jesus, the Prince of life, took the battle field to meet and to contend with the prince of darkness, and to dispute his claims. From the time of his birth until he hung on Calvary's cross he warred with the evil one in our behalf. His purity of character was a rebuke to the world, and men hated him because of his divine and holy character. He did not come to our world as an angel of glory, but as a man. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and condemned sin in the flesh. With his human arm he encircled the race, and with his divine arm he grasped the throne of the infinite, linked man with God, and earth with heaven. Oh, who are there who are colabors with Christ, who are feeding the starving flock of God?
We read concerning the mission of Christ as it was announced by himself in Nazareth, and can understand what is the character of the work that the follower of Christ must do: "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." The work of Christ was to rescue those who were bowed down by the power of Satan, and to set them free from his yoke of bondage.
Then why is it that so many choose to remain bound to Satan's chariot? Why is it that men do not accept of God's promises?—The reason is that Satan is presenting to every human intelligence the temptations he presented to Christ in the wilderness, and they are carried away with his delusions. They look on the things that are temporal, and lose sight of that which is spiritual and eternal; they do not realize the value of the exceeding and eternal weight of glory. They permit the business of this life to engross their attention and to take up their time.
Christ has sent forth an invitation bidding men to the marriage supper of the Lamb, but, as it is represented in the Bible, "they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." These matters of temporal interest were of more value in the minds of those who were bidden to the wedding than the eternal weight of glory.
On every side we see that it is the affairs of this life that are engaging the minds and affections of men. Christ came to break the spell of infatuation that Satan has wrought upon the human mind. He came to bring eternity to our view, in order that we should not lose heaven out of our reckoning, but extend our vision beyond the things of this life.
Many do not know God, they do not know Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. If they did, do you think man would engage in a business that would ruin his fellow-men? Would there be found in the world the public houses that now abound on every side? Would you see men in the possession of reason going into public houses to sell it for a draught of liquor, and coming out madmen? Look at that man who has entered the public house and has come out again. Look at his bleared eyes, at his countenance, from which all intelligence has departed. His tongue is thick; his words are of a low, sensual character. His lips utter that which is degrading and profane. Nature protests that she has never made him what he is. He is the slave of habit, but Christ came that he might set at liberty those who are bound. The Lord declares, "Ye are laborers together with God;" but are these men who sell the vile poison which degrades men to a level below the brute creation, laborers together with God?
(Concluded next week.)
RESTING IN JESUS.
By John M'Carthy
BY JOHN M'CARTHY.
Thou, the covert from the tempest,
Hiding place from storm and wind,
To Thy shelter now I fly,
Knowing Thou art ever nigh;
Refuge only there I find
From the tempest.
There is sweet rest on Thy bosom,
Such as I have never known;
There reclining I have rest,
Leaning on Thy loving breast,
Kept and cherished as Thine own
On Thy bosom.
Thou of righteousness the Giver,
Canst Thy sanctity impart
To my worthless, sinful soul,
Thus to purge and make it whole
From all dross, my inmost heart,
In life's river.
E'en the burning desert dreary
Would be heaven if Thou art there;
For the fountain of Thy grace
Gladsome makes the desert place;
For Thy presence e'er doth cheer
The most weary.
Resting on Thy firm foundation,
Though earthquakes the whole world
shock,
Still securely I abide,
While I hide me in Thy side,
Thou, the sheltering, rifted Rock,
Sure Foundation.
In Thy hiding place I've nestled,
As a bird with injured wing
Seeks a nest in which to hide—
So I to Thy bleeding side
Flee, to cease my wandering,
In thee nestled.
Keep me, Jesus, daily, hourly,
Let me never go astray
Into sterile Lodebar,
But be Thou my Guiding Star.
Thus shall I through life's short day
Be Thine wholly.