p. 42 | Review and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 6. (8/1/1878)

Review and Herald

Aug 1, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 1, 1878

THE GREAT HOUSE AND THE VESSELS IN IT.

By C. H. Spurgeon

[Extract from a Sermon by C. H. Spurgeon.]

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and be prepared unto every good work.” 2 Tim. 2:20, 21.

We go inside this great house, and we at once observe that it is well furnished. Our text, however, invites us to note that it contains a number of

MEANER VESSELS,

Articles of the coarser kind for ordinary and common uses. Here are trenchers and buckets of wood, and pitchers and pots, and divers vessels of coarse pottery. Some have thought that this figure of vessels to dishonor relates to Christians of a lower grade, persons of small grace and of less sanctified conversation. Now, although believers may from some points of view be comparable to earthen vessels, yet I dare not look upon any child of God, however low in grace, as a vessel to dishonor. Moreover, the word “these” refers to the earthen and wooden vessels, and surely they cannot represent saints, or we should never be told to purge ourselves from them. If a man be God’s child, into whatever state and condition he may fall it is our business to look after him and endeavor to restore him, remembering ourselves also, lest we also be tempted; but it cannot be right to purge ourselves from the least of our believing brethren.

Besides, that is not the run of the chapter at all. The real meaning is that in the church of God there are unworthy persons serving inferior and temporary purposes, who are vessels to dishonor. The apostle does not tell us how they came there, for it was not his intent to do so, and no parable or metaphor could teach everything; neither will I stay to describe how some professors have come into the church of God, some by distinct falsehood and by making professions which they knew were untrue, others through ignorance, and others again by being self-deceived and carried away with excitement. The parable does not say how they got there, but there they are, and yet they are only vessels of wood and vessels of earth. It is no credit to them that they are where they are, for they are not vessels to honor though in an honorable place. It is no honor to any man to be a member of a Christian church if he be in himself intrinsically worthless. Though they make a minister of him, or elect him deacon, it is no honor to him to be in office if the metal he is made of does not fit him for so honorable a purpose. He is an intruder in an honorable position, and it is a dishonor to him to be where he is. It is no honor to a weed to grow in the best part of the garden, no honor to a barren fig-tree to cumber the finest ground in the vineyard. Ah, dear friend, if you are in the church of God, but not truly one of the Lord’s people, it is a dishonorable thing of you to have come there, and it is equally dishonorable for you to remain there without fulfilling that great requisite which is demanded of every one who names the name of Jesus, that he depart from all iniquity.

The vessels in the great house are, however, of some use, even though they are made of wood and earth; and so there are persons in the church of God whom the Lord Jesus will not own as his treasure, but he nevertheless turns them to some temporary purpose. Some are useful as the scaffold to a house, or the dogshores to a ship, or the hedges to a field. I believe that some unworthy members of the church are useful in the way of watch dogs to keep others awake, or lancets to let blood, or burdens to try strength. Some quarrelsome members of the church help to scour the other vessels, lest they should rust through being peaceful. The church is made up of men who are yet in the body, and it has to deal with the outside world, and sometimes the worldly men who are in her serve some purpose in connection with this her lowest need. Judas made a good treasurer, for his economy saved more than he stole. Joab was a good warrior for David, though he was by no means a saint. False professors do not make the gospel untrue, and sometimes when they have spoken it God has blessed it.

You may see, if you go down the Kennington-park-road to-day, a row of young trees planted by the road. How are they kept up while yet they are slender? Why, small posts of dead timber hold them up; and even so a dead Sunday-school teacher may yet be useful to a really Christian child, and a dead deacon may be the financial support of a living church. Ay, and there are dead preachers, too, who nevertheless serve to fill up a space, but what vessels to dishonor they are. It is a dreadful thing, however, for those who are like the posts I have now mentioned, because the quicker the young tree grows the sooner will the post be taken away, being no participant in the life which it helped to support. You see, then, that the base professors who get into the church are turned to some account by our great Master; the servants of the great house can use the wooden ware and the earthen ware for awhile for rough everyday purposes, even as mere formalists can be employed in some scullery work or another.

There is one thing noticeable, viz., that the wooden and earthen vessels are not for the Master’s use. When he holds high festival his cups are all of precious metal. “All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold.” Would you have the King of kings set an earthen pot upon his royal table? Shall the guests at his table eat from wooden bowls? So false professors are only useful to the servants, not to the Master; they serve base purposes, and are not to be seen on those great days when he manifests his glory. How sad it is that many Christians are useful to the church in various ways, but as for personal service rendered to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, in that they have no share whatever, and never can have till grace changes them from wood to silver, or from earth to gold.

Note that in these vessels of which the apostle speaks, the substance is base. They are wood, or they are earth, nothing more. So are we all by nature of base material, and grace must make us into silver or into golden vessels, or the Master cannot himself use us, nor can our use in the church ever be to honor. The wooden vessels in the church are very easily hacked, and carved, and spoiled; if a man be inclined to mischief, he can put his knife to them and can cut great notches in them, ruin their character, and render them worthless. Cunning teachers can soon take away from merely nominal Christians what they profess to believe, for they are very readily cut and hacked by those who play at such games. As for the earthen vessels, how soon they are broken. Outside of any great house there are the remains of many broken pots, which fell to the ground and went to pieces; and, I am sorry to say, we also can find enough of such relics to sadden us all. There were some in this house once who were comely to look upon, but there came a temptation and brushed them from the table, and they were shivered in a moment. Others of precious metal have endured far more shocks and tests of a severe kind, but these, being only of earth, were broken at once. Heaps of crockery accumulate outside every great house, and certainly outside the great house of Christ.

These vessels unto dishonor, though turned to some account, require a great deal of care on the part of the servants. When our fore-fathers used to eat from wooden trenchers, the time the good wives used to spend in scalding and cleaning to keep them at all sweet to eat upon was something terrible, and there are members of the church who take a world of time from pastors and elders to keep them at all decent. We are continually trying to set them right, or keep them right, in the common relationships of life. There are quarrels in their families which must be settled lest they become scandals, and these occupy the careful thought of their fellow-Christians who have to watch for their good; or they get lax in their doctrines, or foolish in their habits, or loose in their business transactions, and we have to be scouring and cleaning them times without number. Certain sorts of earthen vessels you have to be very particular in handling. Like egg-shell china, you may hardly look at them. Certain earthen vessels get dreadfully chipped unless they have dainty handling. If a brother does not take his hat off to them in very lowly style, and behave very reverently, they are ready to take offense. They feel themselves hurt and slighted when no such thing was intended; they stand upon their dignity and expect the fullest recognition of it. These are real earthen pots, very apt to be chipped, perhaps a little cracked already, and need a deal of care and trouble on the part of the Lord’s servants, lest they should go to pieces and spill everything that is put into them. True Christians are the glory of Christ, but false professors at their very best are unto dishonor. Better the smallest silver vessel than the largest earthen one; better the least of all the saints than the greatest of vain professors. So much upon the vessels to dishonor.

We are now going into the treasury, or plate room, and will think of

THE NOBLER VESSELS.

These are, first of all, of solid metal, vessels of silver and vessels of gold. They are not all equally valuable, but they are all precious. Here is weight for you; here is something that is worth treasuring, something which will last for ages, and at any time will endure the fire. Now, in real Christians, those who really love the Lord, there is something substantial and weighty, and when you get hold of them you know the difference between them and the wooden professor. Even those who do not like them—strange taste that which does not appreciate silver and gold—are nevertheless compelled to say, “That is a genuine article, worth a great deal, weighty and substantial.” Now, we shall none of us ever be vessels of silver and gold unless the Lord make us so by divine grace. Vessels of earth are things of nature, any potter can make them; vessels of wood are common enough, the cooper soon produces a pail; but a vessel of silver or of gold is a rarer thing; it costs mining and searching, furnace work and fashioning, toil and skill. On each vessel unto honor, Jesus himself has put his hand to mold and fashion it, and to cause it to be “prepared unto glory.”

On the vessels to honor you can see the hall mark. What is the hall mark which denotes the purity of the Lord’s golden vessels? Well he has only one stamp for everything. When he laid the foundation, what was the seal he put upon it? “The Lord knoweth them that are his, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from all iniquity.” That was God’s seal, the impress of the great King upon the foundation-stone. Do we find it here? Yes, we do. “If a man, therefore, purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor.” You see that the man who is the golden or silver vessel departs from all iniquity, and that is the token of his genuine character. The man who is truly the Lord’s seeks to be cleansed not only from the open sin of the world, but from the common sin of professing Christians; he labors to be purged from that which the wooden vessel and the earthen vessel would delight in; he wants to be pure within and without, he desires perfection, he labors daily to conquer every sin, and strives with all his might to serve his Lord. He is not content to have a fair appearance, as wood and earth may have, he wishes to be solid, substantial metal, purged and purified to the utmost possible degree, and fit for the highest purposes. Now, this seeking after purity is the hall mark of the King’s vessels of gold and silver.

Notice, however, that they are purged, for the Lord will not use filthy vessels be they what they may. He will only use those that are clean, and he would have his true people purged, as I have said before, not only from gross sin, but from doctrinal error, and from association with the perverse-minded. We are to be purged from Hymeneus and Philetus, and from the vain babblings of which the apostle has been speaking in the previous part of the chapter. I fear that Christian men do a great deal of mischief by their complicity with those who are teaching what is downright falsehood. If we are to serve the Lord in the matter of advancing his truth, we must be true to truth ourselves; but if we join hand in hand with others, and so form a confederacy when the very pillars of the temple are being pulled down by rude hands, it may be we shall be partakers of other men’s sins. We must be clean-handed in this matter.

And then notice that these gold and silver vessels are reserved as well as purged. They are made meet for the Master’s use. Nobody is to drink out of them but the King himself. This is the blessedness of the child of God when he comes to be what he should be, that he can sing as we did just now,—

“I am thine, and thine alone, This I gladly, fully own; And, in all my works and ways, Only now would seek thy praise.”

Brethren, I count it an honor to be useful to the meanest child of God, but I confess that the honor lies mainly in the fact that I am thereby serving the Master himself. Oh, to be used by God! This is to answer the end of our being. If you can feel that God has used you, then may you

rejoice indeed.

There are some Christians whom the Lord cannot much use because, first of all, they are not cleansed from selfishness; they have an eye to their own honor or aggrandizement. The Lord will not be in complicity with selfish aims. Some men are self-confident. There is too much of the “I” about them, and the Master will not use them. He will have our weakness, but not our strength, and if we are great somebodies he will pass us by and take some little nobody and make use of him. The Lord cannot use some men, because they are too apt to be proud; if he were to give them a little success it would be dangerous to their Christian existence; their poor brain would begin to swim, and they would think the Lord could hardly do without them; indeed, when they meet with a little encouragement, they swell into such wonderful people that they expect everybody to fall down and worship them. God will not use them, neither will he set upon his table vessels which are in any way defiled.

There must be purity, and a man may work his heart out in the ministry or the Sunday-school, but if he is practising some secret sin he cannot prosper; it is not possible that God should honor him. There may be a measure of apparent success for a time, and divine sovereignty may use the truth itself despite the man, but the man himself will not be useful to the Master. Littleness of grace and contentedness with that spiritual poverty also puts many a man aside. We must be full if God is to pour out of us to the thirsty; we must be full of his light if we are to illuminate the darkness of others. We cannot reveal to the world what the Lord has not revealed to us.

Oh, for a holy character and holy communion with God; then we shall be golden vessels fit for the Master’s use, and so, according to the text, we shall be ready for every good work, ready for the work when it comes, and ready at the work when it has come, because completely consecrated to God and subject to his hand. In this readiness for whatever comes we shall be honored. Men may despise us, as they will, but what matters it if God honors us? This height of grace may cost us a sharp experience, but must not gold be tried with fire? As thieves are most anxious to steal, not the pots and wooden vessels, but the gold and the silver, so we may expect to be exposed to greater temptations and greater persecutions than others. More grace involves more trials, but then we shall have the delight of glorifying God more. Oh, to be vessels unto honor!

Beyond the Hills.

By Bonar

Beyond the hills, where suns go down, And brightly beckon as they go, I see the land of fair renown— The land which I so soon shall know.

Above the dissonance of time, And discord of its angry words, I hear the everlasting chime— The music of unjarring chords.

I bid it welcome, and my haste To join it cannot brook delay; O song of morning, come at last, And ye who sing it, come away!

O song of light and dawn of bliss, Sound over earth and fill these skies! Nor ever, ever, ever cease Thy soul-entrancing melodies!

Glad song of this disburdened earth, Which holy voices then shall sing; Praise for creation's second birth, And glory to creation's King!

—Bonar.

DRESS: A CONVERSATION.

By John Norton Loughborough

[Republished by request, from Review of July 18, 1871.]

Mrs. A. Well, elder, I declare it is almost discouraging for persons to be picked at, and have so many stories told about them as they tell about me.

ELDER. Indeed, what is the trouble now? I am not informed in regard to the stories, and think we all have about all we can do to build over against our own house, without spending too much time in watching our neighbors. You are aware that I oppose backbiting, and claim if we see a wrong in a brother, our duty is to go to him in a proper spirit and tell him his fault to his face.

Mrs. A. Well, somebody has started the story that I “went to Mr. —’s to a dinner party on the Sabbath, dressed in the gayest manner possible.” Now, the facts are, I never went to a party at Mr. —’s house, and I never went to his house on the Sabbath. I went there one Sunday to dinner, with my son and his wife, by invitation, and I don’t think people need to find fault with that.

ELDER. Probably this can all be explained on this wise: You know some people call Sunday the Sabbath. It might have been casually mentioned, at first, that you were at Mr. —’s to dinner on the Sabbath, meaning Sunday. Others may have heard of it, and supposed it was on the seventh-day Sabbath, the day you profess to keep. We want to look upon all with all the allowance possible, and not think they are designing to injure us unless we have direct evidence to that effect.

Mrs. A. I have not so much charity, perhaps, as I ought to have, and I think it is a small matter anyway to be noticing people’s dress. I am sure I have not purchased any new dresses lately. My clothing is all old, and as for my gold chain, brooch, and cuff-buttons, I wear them when I go out into company; and it is necessary to do so, when you move in respectable circles.

ELDER. Well, sister, Christ is presented as our pattern, and we are admonished to learn of him; and there would be an amazing contrast between the silks, satins, and gold jewels of some, and the plain vesture of Christ.

Mrs. A. I think it’s small business to descend to notice such things, and I confess I do not want to associate with people who pick flaws with such little things. People that move in the circles I do, must dress accordingly, or they will have no influence.

ELDER. I have always supposed that to be a Christian was to be like Christ, and we are admonished not only to have the mind that was in Christ, but that he is given as a pattern, that “we should walk in his steps.” I should think it would be our duty to follow him, and go with the humble ones who are trying to imitate him, instead of dishonoring our profession for the sake of securing influence in what is called by men high circles. We should remember that what is “highly esteemed among men” may, after all, be “abomination in the sight of God.”

Mrs. A. My brooch and sleeve-buttons are useful articles, and I could not get along without wearing them.

ELDER. Let us see, you wear your brooch to fasten your collar. A jet, or vulcanized rubber pin, costing twenty-five cents, would keep your collar in its place, and look much more neat, plain, and tasty, than a cameo two by three inches, set on a gold plate, costing twenty-five or thirty dollars. Your gold cuff-buttons one inch in diameter are worth from ten to fifteen dollars. Your cuffs could be secured with nice jet buttons not costing over twenty-five cents.

Mrs. A. I don’t care anything about them. I’d just as willingly wear an old rag or piece of pewter as my brooch, so far as my own feelings are concerned; but then we are responsible for the influence we exert upon others.

ELDER. That is true; and you would not wear pewter or an old rag, for that would not be neat or tasty. I am glad you feel responsible for the influence you exert upon others. But, sister, have we any right to take a course to influence others contrary to the express teachings of the Bible?

Mrs. A. If your people should all dress in that plain manner, you could never gain influence over such persons as Mr. — and —. You ought to think it an honor to have people come in among you that move in such high circles.

ELDER. I don’t know as it helps the cause any to have persons espouse it that feel above the simplicity of the truth. And as for these men you mention, with all their avaricious, overreaching disposition, and pride, what could we do with them? What help would they be to us? God is not so straitened for means as to have the standard of truth lowered to gain them. I say here, that unless such men can come down to the simplicity of the gospel, I would rather they would not come among us, for it is no benefit to them, or to the cause of God.

Mrs. A. I have thought your preaching would have a better influence if you did not say anything about dress. Preach the great and glorious truths, and let these little things alone.

ELDER. Well, sister, what should I better do? “preach the word,” as Paul admonished Timothy; or cripple the truth, and come down to pander to the follies of the age? How can I do otherwise than proclaim against these things, when Paul directs that women “adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array”?

Mrs. A. That was only Paul’s opinion. You know there were some things which he said were only his opinion.

ELDER. Paul says, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” Wherever he has said anything that was not the commandment of the Lord, he has taken express pains to tell us so. Peter also speaks on this matter in a similar manner to what Paul does.

Mrs. A. I was not aware that Peter said anything about it.

ELDER. Oh, yes! Peter says, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel.” 1 Pet. 3:3.

Mrs. A. They did not mean we should not wear any gold, but that we should not go to excess and pride in these things. I don’t think, actually, that the Lord cares what we wear, if we don’t have our affections on it. I do not believe in going to excess in this thing. I never did care anything about finger-rings, and could see no use in them.

ELDER. Why was it not just as easy for Peter and Paul to say, Don’t have your affections on your dress, as to say in plain terms, not to “put on” or “wear” gold? You are aware that when people pattern after another, the tendency is for each person to go a little farther than his pattern. For instance, if you wear those articles you are pleading for, the next one might plead for four or five finger-rings; and the next one, for a bracelet; and so on, without limit. Now you say these texts condemn extremes in jewels and dress; and, as you question the manner in which I apply them, won’t you be so kind as to tell me where to lay down a line of distinction, so that, in instructing the people, they may know what is excess in jewels?

Mrs. A. Don’t say anything about it at all, let every one’s conscience be the guide in these matters.

ELDER. But, sister, you are aware that conscience is the result of instruction. To have a good conscience, the mind must be properly instructed. The poor Hindoo mother who throws her child into the jaws of the crocodile, is prompted to it by her conscience; she is instructed that he is the river god, and that his open jaws are an invitation to her to give her child to her god. Our minds should be instructed by the Bible, and our conscience be such that we should “tremble at” the Lord’s word. We should not seek to please ourselves, and bring God’s word to our terms.

Mrs. A. I think it is descending to small particulars to pay any attention to such things, and in dress I think all should be left to do as they please.

ELDER. It would be a strange way to train children, to let them always do as they please. Christians are admonished as “new-born babes to receive the sincere milk of the word,” that they “may grow thereby.” How else shall we make progress than by being admonished of our errors, submitting to the Lord’s word, and putting away our sins?

Mrs. A. Well, it will only bring the frown of other denominations upon us to be so particular.

ELDER. But are you not aware that the Methodists in their discipline protest against wearing gold, and refer to these testimonies in Timothy and Peter to enforce their position? If they fail to live up to their discipline, that is no reason why we should fail to live up to the Bible. On this coast, where there is such a tendency with the masses to go into excess in dress and pleasure-seeking, I think it is important for those who would have the Lord’s favor, and “shine as lights in the world,” to carefully seek in all things to comply with his word.

Mrs. A. I had thought of being baptized and uniting with the church, but I do not wish to connect myself with a people who are going to watch me all the time. I presume I can find somebody who will baptize me. As for organization, I am suspicious of it.

ELDER. I presume there are many who will take in members, and let them do about as they please, if they keep up a form of religion; but the question is, whether such things are going to stand the test of the Judgment. It seems to me it is the proper way to learn all our wrongs here, and put them away, that we may be prepared for the Judgment. I should not wish to belong to a church that watched me to pick flaws with my endeavors to do right. But if they watched over me for good, and meekly tried to instruct me in the right way, above all people, I should consider them my best friends.

Mrs. A. Well, I must be going. Good day.

ELDER. Sister, do not decide these matters hastily. Pray over them carefully; consider us as your friends.

The above is the substance of a conversation which occurred on the Pacific Coast between myself and a sister who had begun to keep the Sabbath, but did not see fit to give up the world. I give it in this form trusting it may lead some one to serious thought on the matter of dress, if they are inclined to the “pride of life” and the “lust of the eyes.” J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

THEY WHO SAY PEACE.

By G. V. Kilgore

All the prophecies of the Bible, and all the signs of our times tell us plainly that this is no time of peace. Everything betokens trouble just before us. And almost all the newspapers speak as though men's hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. But just as soon as a tent is pitched in any place for meetings in which these things are spoken of, the cry of “peace and safety” is sounded from the pulpits of the place and echoed back from all quarters. Those whose ears tingle with the peaceful tidings love to tell the story. “Having itching ears” to hear the truth opposed, they heap to themselves teachers of those things in which they delight.

Who are these who thus say peace and safety, while all things indicate distress of nations, with perplexity? Are they God’s chosen servants? No; they are men who resist the truth of God, men who will not preach the truth themselves, and who hinder those who do preach it. This will seem like a hard saying, yet the word of God declares that just such men will stand up to lead the people in the last days. It also declares that such men are not sent by the Lord. “They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith; and the Lord hath not sent them. . . . They shall not be in the assembly of my people; . . . because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace.” Eze. 13:6–10. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not escape.” 1 Thess. 5:3. These scriptures are speaking of our own times,—the latter days.

Hear the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Harken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; . . . no evil shall come upon you.” Now hear how the Lord speaks: “Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.” In place of peace as the false teachers say, sudden destruction is coming. “In the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets [teachers], yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way.” Jer. 23:16–22. Oh, what a fearful account such men will have to render in the soon-coming day of God! How it pains the heart of the servant of God to see the multitudes being led by such men. “O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Isa. 3:12.

Nothing is more plainly stated in the Bible than that in the last days the multitudes of professors will be looking for great peace and prosperity, supposing for a certainty that the Lord is with them, when in fact he is against them, and is about to bring the storms of his wrath upon them. “Well, why would the Lord let people be deceived in that way?”—“Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thess. 2:10–12. They reject God’s truth, and the Lord rejects them; that is the reason God lets them be deceived. Those who preach the doctrine of the temporal millennium are most strikingly fulfilling Isaiah 2 and Micah 4, which chapters plainly declare that they who preach such a doctrine are rejected of the Lord, and that such people, who are exalted on the mountains and above the hills, shall be brought low, when the Lord arises to shake terribly the earth.

Those who teach the doctrine of the world’s conversion are always sure to read or quote the words of Isaiah and Micah to prove that doctrine. But these prophets do not say, that nations shall learn war no more; that Christ shall cause all to beat their swords into plowshares; and that every man shall sit under his vine and fig-tree, and nothing shall make them afraid: but Isaiah says “many people shall go and say” so in the last days, and Micah says “many nations shall come and say” the same. Micah 4:5 shows that it is the people, and not God, who declare such peaceful stories for the last days: “For all people will walk every one in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.”

Does the Lord allow men to walk every one in the name of his god,—one going one way and another going another way? No; God says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me;” but the people (just as

the prophet predicted) in these last days say, “All people can walk every one in his own way. It makes no difference what we believe or where we belong, only so we are sincere. You may belong to this church and another to that, we will all get to Heaven at last.” Indeed, a minister of this place says it is a good thing to have different churches, so all can be suited. How this prophecy is fulfilled in the people of these last days! God does not say a time of peace and safety is coming, but the people do. And Isaiah says, “Therefore [because they say such things, and are exalted] thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines.” Chap. 2:6.

Here now we have a positive statement that God has rejected those people who teach the doctrine of the world’s conversion in the last days. He has forsaken those who use these words of peace to make people rest easy when fear is on every side. Isaiah says these people are soothsayers like the Philistines; that is, they divine out of their own hearts.

Again, the prophet says, “They please themselves in the children of strangers.” Men who have never been converted are taken into full fellowship with them, and when the truth is to be opposed they are pleased even to have infidels fight their battles for them. This was the case last summer at Humboldt, Nebraska. None of the ministers would preach on the questions presented in our tents there, but they all went out to hear an infidel defend their doctrines. They boasted of his effort. Who are those who thus have fellowship with unbelievers, or please themselves in the children of strangers? They are the same people that say, “Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord,” who say nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, and not learn war any more. Isaiah says so. And we see his words fulfilled before our eyes in these last days.

In the last verse of this second chapter the prophet says, “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” God’s people are not to hearken to the smooth stories of peace and safety. They must prepare for trials and conflicts; for Christ says they shall have tribulation in this world (John 16:33); and he never promises peace and safety until all the wicked are no more (Ps. 37; Matt. 13); until the devil is destroyed (Heb. 2:14); and until the kingdom of God is given to them. Then, and not till then, will they delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

G. V. KILGORE.

Ogden, Iowa, July 19.

A SHARP DEFENCE.

In a recent number of the Contemporary Review, Canon Farrar offers the following earnest defence to criticisms upon his recent sermons:—

“‘What do the wicked do forever in hell?’ is the question of a once celebrated catechism, which many of my readers must have learned in their childhood. ‘They roar, curse, and blaspheme God.’ Where has this teaching been repudiated? When and where, and by whom, until within the last month or two, has there been a distinct refusal by teachers of this school to indorse the sentiments of the frightful sermon of Jonathan Edwards, entitled, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God?’ ‘The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much in the same way as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked.’ Apart from the metaphor, is this to be regarded as orthodox teaching or not? Is this the God of whom we are taught that his love is deeper than that of a mother, and that his tender mercies are over all his works? Is this the God who says that he will not cast off forever? Is this the God who ‘pardoneth iniquity,’ who ‘retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy?’ If language such as I have quoted be utterly reprehensible, if it be an unconscious blasphemy against the love and pity of our Father in Heaven, why have my sermons been so vehemently attacked? I have received so many letters on the subject, from all sorts of strangers in England and America, that few living men are, I suppose, better able to estimate the character of the extreme popular view, or the hardening, embittering, inquisitorial, Pharisaical, depraving, pride and hatred-engendering influence which it exercises on the minds—not, of course, of all, but of too many of those who hold it. This was the doctrine that produced the Torquemadas, the Arnolds of Citeaux, the Sprengels of the Middle Ages. This is the doctrine which often makes the so-called religious character so little lovely and so little religious. This is the doctrine which to this day produces the dull and obstinate fanaticism of many whom we would fain win to a diviner charity.”

AN IMPRESSIVE DREAM.

By Sophia Parker

In my dream the coming of the Lord was represented to me by a train of cars. My mother and myself were waiting for the signal which should summon us to meet the Saviour at a specified place. While we were about our accustomed duties, suddenly the signal was given. There was no time to arouse our sleeping friends. We could only bid them good-by, and hasten away. If we waited for them we should miss the train, and to miss the train was to be lost.

My mother, one brother, and myself started to meet the Saviour. Already dusk had gathered over our rough, winding way, the sound of the Saviour’s train was heard rumbling through the earth, and the light that emanated from it was gilding the distant landscape. As we hurried along, I noticed that I was outrunning my mother, and she my brother; and when I thought of the trouble my mother had had, I made up my mind that I would not leave her even though I should fail to reach the train in time. I turned, and taking her by the arm urged her forward, saying every few steps, “Hurry, mother, hurry.”

Presently we came to the brow of a hill, and I was sadly thinking of my companion, my father, my brothers (for we had outrun the one that started with us), and my sisters. Oh, if they had not been left behind! My heart turned to the Saviour with a feeling, “I give them all up for thee,” and I was cheered and comforted.

When we reached the foot of the hill, we came to a door that opened to a steep, narrow flight of stairs. As I opened the door, my heart broke forth in an expectant song, “We are coming, blessed Saviour, accept of us.” I placed my mother before me, that I might assist her up the stairs. When we reached the top, we were but a few feet from the depot, we were nearly there; the train, too, was almost there, but I awoke.

It was only a dream, but the impression is lasting. As I lay pondering over it long after I awoke, questionings would arise in my mind like these, Will some of us be asleep when Christ comes? Will some of us start to run for the prize, but fail by the way? Will a few of us barely reach that better land? Such thoughts made me shudder. My parents, my brothers, my sisters, shall we not look a little more closely to our ways? Shall we not say, “Let others do as they may; as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Shall we not be up and doing while it is day? Lo, the day is far spent, and the night is at hand.

Severe trials have been ours, severe trials may yet be before us; but they will soon be over, for earth’s sad history is almost ended. These gloomy hours will soon be gone. These aching hearts will soon have ceased their painful throbbings. These days of trouble will soon be in the past; for He says, “And behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

SOPHIA PARKER.

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