Earlier text: ESCAPE FOR THY LIFEEffects of Novel Reading.
By R. C. Baker
Too much can hardly be said against a practice so pernicious in its results. As one who has seen and felt its evil influence, I would offer a few words of warning, especially to the young and unsuspecting, against falling into a habit so bewitching, and yet so detrimental to their best good. The world has become so flooded with light and sensational literature that the young are pretty sure to be ensnared, unless they understand its evil tendency, and have a fixed principle to let it alone. I will try to show some of the evil effects of this kind of reading. Novel reading acts upon the mind as stimulants do upon the nerves. Stimulation is followed by depression and languor. So the intoxication of the mind is succeeded by a corresponding depression of spirits and disinclination for mental labor. How many fine intellects have been irreparably injured, if not totally ruined, by this fascinating, mind-destroying practice. Reading merely for amusement weakens the powers of the mind, and renders it incapable of strong concentrated effort. The thoughts are scattered and changeable, and soon weary of continued mental labor. Thus, solid, substantial reading soon becomes distasteful and insipid; the mind is constantly on the stretch for excitement, and will not be satisfied with sober history, or plain matter-of-fact philosophy. And not only so, but the sober realities of life, the daily recurring duties; the monotonous round of cares, trials, and perplexities incident to this mortal state, seem more grievous and unbearable, after reveling in the voluptuous dreams of the novelist. The blessings so lavishly showered around us by an Almighty hand are overlooked and undervalued. The poor infatuated dreamer is constantly looking ahead for something out of his reach. Like the mirage of the desert, it bewilders, fascinates, tempts and deceives him, but never brings sweet content or lasting happiness. And this is not all. The judgment not yet matured by experience, is warped and blinded by these false and glaring pictures of life. The inconsistent and exaggerated views of love and marriage, which are engendered by those bewildering romances, is no doubt a fruitful source of many unwise and unhappy unions. Reason and judgment are laid aside; impulse and fancy alone are consulted. The poor victims of a foolish infatuation wake up to find their idols clay, and life a stern reality, without strength or fortitude to bear its ills and sorrows. Pure, unselfish love, with mutual forbearance for each other's faults, they know nothing about. The splendid air castles they built have vanished into air; and so great is their disappointment that they overlook, and forget to be thankful for, the blessings they actually possess. But the worst feature of all is, the spiritual apathy induced by reading these foolish stories. The mind loses all relish for the Bible, and for sacred things. The moral sensibilities become blunted. The influence of the Spirit of God is effectually warded off. It is impossible for the mind to take hold of the solemn truths of the book of God, and realize them as they should be realized. The mind that has so long fed upon husks, and vanity, and lies, cannot all at once appreciate sober, candid truth; much less can it love to dwell upon the plain, unvarnished facts revealed in the word of God. As you value eternal life, pass by the chaffy literature of the day. It may seem harmless and fascinating, but it lures to destroy. You may not discover the “trail of the serpent” in those charmingly written pages; but I know that the “bewitching spell” shuts out God, and Heaven, and eternity. I have felt the power of the enchantress, and I know whereof I affirm. The anguish of mind I have undergone, the follies I have committed, the darkness of despair I have been in, in consequence of false ideas received from reading novels when very young, it would be inexpedient if not impossible for me to describe. Many and severe have been the conflicts to overcome the evil habit since I undertook to be a Bible Christian, and to cultivate a love for, and interest in, the sacred truths of God's holy word. But I am afraid I never shall see and feel so vividly and clearly the importance of the truth as I should if the powers of my mind had not been so perverted in my youth. I regret my folly, and would most affectionately warn the young against falling into the pernicious habit. I feel like a bird escaped out of the snare of the fowler. The providences of God have hedged me in on every hand and kept me from falling into irretrievable ruin. I feel that I am a miracle of God's mercy and providential care. Dear young friends, I understand the temptations of youth. Satan has many snares for your inexperienced feet. I feel a deep interest in young people. But I can tell you, from sad experience, that the dreams and hopes of youth are vanity. You will never be happy while you are dreaming of earthly good. Life is full of trials and disappointments. Discipline your minds to meet them bravely. Above all things, give your hearts fully to Jesus; he is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Upon him you can lavish your hearts' best affections, and secure a friend that will never fail you. He is infinitely worthy the adoration of our hearts. Oh! for grace to love him as we ought. A Plea for the Ten Commandments.
“At the present day, the ten commandments are having a hard time of it,” suggested a friend recently. It was an odd way of putting it, but the idea is important, and worth considering. Are these old mandates obsolete? Have the tables of the law become fossils? Is it to be deemed a piece of old fogyism to regulate our conduct by the ten commandments? That young America does not like these antiquated leading strings is sufficiently patent. Money and Fashion and Pleasure are very popular divinities, foisted idolatrously into the place where the first commandment puts the living Jehovah. The good, old precept about honoring father and mother is tabooed utterly in many home circles. The Sabbath is kept holy after a very queer sort of keeping, and in a way that reveals the vaguest and loosest notions of sanctity. “Thou shalt not kill,” as interpreted in the New Testament, finds many violators of whom our laws take no cognizance. And “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” is conveniently ignored by many who would be shocked if their Christian integrity were to be directly questioned. Would it not be well to give these commandments a little more airing in our papers and pulpits? Do they not need re-exposition and practical enforcement? Surely their observance has a very close connection with piety. Indeed, piety is out of the question, without faithful and constant effort to observe them. Yet we fear there are multitudes of professed Christians who have little conception of the binding obligations of the commandments, and are utterly unaware how “exceeding broad” they are. Take this matter of bearing false witness. How fearfully prevalent it is in society. Downright falsehoods—deliberately uttered lies—embrace not a tithe of the violations of this law of God. Truth withheld is sometimes a worse deception than a direct misstatement. The essence of a lie is not in what is said, but in the intent to deceive. Lying hearts are just as much an abomination to God as lying lips. We may be liars, when every word uttered is the exact truth. We may be liars, and yet say nothing. A look may be a lie. Silence may be a lie. If we make false impressions, with intent to deceive, purposing to deceive, we are guilty of falsehood. Yet think what trickery, what guises, what shams, what pretense, what withholdings of truth, what flippant misrepresentations, what so-called “white lies,” there are in the world! As if a lie could be washed to purity because it concerns a trifle? All lies are as black as the devil, who is the father of them. All liars, unless penitent and forgiven, shall have their part with him who first deceived the woman in Eden. Yes; let us ventilate these old commandments. They are serviceable yet. If they are “having a hard time of it” in these days, let us see to it that their claims are more faithfully pressed to the conscience and the heart, and they doubtless will be given greater heed. The “go-easy” piety, that makes profession of faith and love, without obedience, is of the garnished and sepulcher sort, full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Send the ten commandments sweeping down through our hearts and lives, and many of us might feel, to our hurt and healing, the force of their strong, broad negatives.—American Presbyterian. THE HARVEST IS PAST.
By H. L. Hastings
Great God, since thou givest a day of probation,
Prolonged for our good, and yet vanishing fast;
Oh! shall we reject every chance of salvation,
And heedlessly hasten to perish at last?
Shall we stand lamenting ’mid sorrow and anguish,
The mercies rejected and spurned to the last?
Oh! shall we take up with the dread lamentation
“The summer is ended—the harvest is past”? In the day of thy judgment, shall we stand before thee,
Heart-stricken with sorrow and doomed to despair?
Oh! shall the bright radiance that tells of thy glory
Devour us as stubble, nor linger, nor spare?
Shall we to whom blessings and mercies are given
To fit us to dwell in God’s kingdom at last,
Unfitted for earth and rejected by Heaven,
Lament as we perish, “The harvest is past.” Great God, we would turn while thy vengeance delayeth,
And yield to thy love ere we bow to thy wrath;
Oh! list to each sinner who earnestly prayeth,
And guide them from folly to wisdom’s blest path.
So when all the world shall be rocked in commotion,
And storms of red vengeance fall fiery and fast,
Oh! then may we praise thee with heavenly devotion,
And dwell with the saints when “the harvest is past.” O God, our hearts yearn o’er the hosts that surround us,
Who tread the dark path and afar from thee roam,
Who sigh ’mid the sorrows that sometimes have bound us,
Afar from thy presence, from joy, and from home.
Lord, send out thy light and thy truth, we implore thee,
And hasten thy work, while probation flies fast,
Bring hosts of poor sinners to bow down before thee
That they may be saved when “the harvest is past.” Thou who art beholding in mercy and kindness,
Thy creatures who stray from the pathway of peace,
Who grope in their darkness and stumble in blindness,
Oh! wilt thou not bid all their wanderings to cease?
Oh! lead them to Jesus, whose love shall enlighten
And scatter their gloom while time’s shadows shall last.
Then shall their glad pathway eternally brighten,
And shine like the sun when “the harvest is past.”
—H. L. Hastings. More of Christ.
By H. N. Powers
Those who call themselves Christians need more of Christ. How few, comparatively, who believe upon him grow up to a symmetrical manhood in his service! How few feel that they are called saints—their vision filled with his exceeding beauty—self and sin crucified—like a hymn melodious with joy even amid dark and rugged ways! More of Christ is needed by preacher and people, by the lofty and the lowly, the wise and the unwise. The multitudes who grope in spiritual ignorance, who stagger under their burdens, who shudder with their fears and woes, who are gliding toward terrible vortices in the giddy whirl of business and pleasure, need more of Christ. More of Christ would make that sad home bright, that wavering soul steadfast, that mourning heart glad, that burdened conscience light, would impel to merciful labors that selfish nature, and make those who stand apart in enmity clasp forgiving hands. More of Christ would smite down sectarian walls, strip the covering from the ecclesiastical shams, hush the whine of cant, blow soft winds of refreshment to weary wanderers, win outcasts to the fold, wipe stigmas of exclusiveness and mammon from the church, lead the joyous flock by still waters, and make the desert blossom as the rose. More of Christ is what we all want in our hearts, our homes, our churches, our business, our politics, our schools, our literature, our art, our government—more of his sweet, holy, courageous, sacrificing spirit—more of his patience, his love, his tender appreciation of man. Yea, we want him as our own precious Redeemer, whose blood cleanseth from all sin.—H. N. Powers, D. D. The Crown Piece in the Collection Plate
A young man having put a crown piece into “the plate” in Edinburgh church by mistake instead of a penny, asked to have it back, but was refused. In once, in forever, “Aweel, aweel,” grunted he, “I will get credit for it in Heaven.” “Na, na, said Jeems, the doorkeeper, “ye’ll get credit only for the penny ye meant to gi’e.” Read the Text.
By James White
SEVERAL times the writers for the REVIEW have been requested to open their Bibles and copy from them, whenever they quote texts for publication. This is the only way to secure accuracy, and to save trouble to the editor, printer, and proof-reader. Our oldest speakers, who are most familiar with their Bibles, very seldom write a text from memory for the REVIEW. The Scriptures are so often misquoted that we all are in danger of following erroneous renderings; and sometimes, when we think our memory cannot fail us, we find, on examination, that we have made a mistake of some short word, which may materially change the reading. Let all who write for the REVIEW, either write from the open Bible, or compare their manuscripts with the Bible before sending it to the Office. There is one reason for doing as here suggested which has not, to my knowledge, been referred to directly. They who quote from memory, and therefore often follow popular renderings, are in danger of following popular errors, and of losing much of the beauty and benefit of the texts they aim to quote. Of this I was forcibly reminded, while examining an article in which Rom. 8:28 was given as follows: “And we know that all things shall work together for good to them that love God.” Now that word “shall” is an addition to the text, and gives a meaning to the promise quite different from that contained in the Scripture, as written by the inspired apostle. It throws the work into the future; but the text has it in the present. The lesson I would try to enforce on this subject is this: Do not overlook present blessings. Many texts are unappreciated; many promises are suffered to lie concealed, because of a careless reading. We will notice a few. The text under consideration says, “All things work together for good.” But the general opinion on this subject is shown by inserting the word “shall;” that is to say, though it is bad for the present, it shall, at some future time, work for our good. But, with this view, it is difficult to maintain that spirit of confident submission which more naturally springs from a knowledge of the present care of our Heavenly Father in our trials and afflictions. We are very prone to complain, and to think that God has no care for us, because we are suffered to fall into afflictions. And we need just such an assurance as is given in this text, when read correctly, to realize that our God is “a very present help in trouble.” Ps. 46:1. Again, it is written, “Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” Here again a present benefit of tribulation is recognized. Rom. 5:3, 4. It is an undisputed truth that exercise gives strength; and how should patience be exercised without crosses and tribulations? Some think they have much patience while everything goes to suit them; but when trials arise, they declare their patience is exhausted! But not so. The trial makes manifest their spirit, and proves that patience has not yet been developed in their experience. And this idea is presented again in 2 Cor. 4:17: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Here unbelief manifests itself, saying, My affliction is not light, nor momentary; it is very heavy, and of long continuance. My trials are so great that they overcome my faith and fill me with discouragement! Then, surely, your afflictions work against you, not for you. But this is not a Christian, but a worldly, experience. What is the matter? There is a qualifying declaration here of which we should not lose sight. The apostle continues, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen;” that is, while “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Chap. 5:7. It is only when the eye of faith is fixed on the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” that we can realize—can feel that our afflictions are light and but for a moment. When viewed alone, they seem almost past all endurance; when contrasted with a far more exceeding weight of glory, they are light; with eternal glory, they are but for a moment. Compared with eternity, “what is your life? it is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” But, “When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.” Can this be so? Why not? Thousands and millions of years of glory will leave all eternity yet before us! What a thought! or rather, whose thought can reach the greatness, the fullness of the promised glory? We shall need eternity to realize the wondrous love of God, and of his beloved Son, in bestowing such glory on sinful mortals. And eternity itself seems insufficient to recount all the wonders of his grace. And if God “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” James says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” This, then, is also a necessity; and though it may be a “fiery trial,” it will but consume the dross and purify the silver. Were there no dross, no fire would be needed to refine. Were we all right, no correction would be required. But in our condition, with our surroundings and dispositions, we should never be fitted for the society of angels, for the purity of Heaven, without trials and crosses. Said the Saviour, “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” And the mourner says, “If I could feel the comfort, then I could believe in the blessing.” But that is not faith. You need not wait till joy takes the place of mourning; “Blessed are they that mourn.” The blessing is upon them while they are mourning, and “they shall be comforted.” They who walk by sight will not trust the promise for the blessing; they must have the comfort of mind now or they will not believe. But faith is willing to trust and wait; it says, “My rest is in Heaven, my rest is not here.” It finds consolation in doing the will of God, in crosses, in trials, in affliction, and in sorrow. Other texts might be mentioned to illustrate the idea herein taught. But why particularize? The whole scope of the Scriptures, the entire gospel plan, is but an evidence of God's willingness to help the weak, the helpless, and undeserving. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” And we know that a father pitieth his children most when they are in trouble and affliction. “So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” How easy to suffer and to bear “all things,” when we know that they “work for” us, and are the means of making manifest our Father's care! “Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are big with mercy, and shall break
With blessings on your head.” “The International-Communism.”
In a lecture under this title, by F. P. Garesche, of St. Louis University, delivered in the Hall of the Mercantile Library of that city, the doings and intentions of that powerful and dangerous International organization are clearly set forth. Mr. G. seems to understand fully whereof he speaks. These things are full of significance for those who are watching the signs of the times. The following are extracts from the lecture:— “It is not new to the world—not the creation of our generation; it was born in 1789, when men enrolled the long chart on which they said were inscribed the discovered ‘Rights of Man.’ . . . That revolution was engendered, even as the one that is impending, of profligacy and tyranny, in that previous age of corruption, which was the effect of a tyrant State, wreaking its power upon an enfeebled but protesting church. . . . That revolution, born in blood, arose, shaking its gory locks, and astounding the world as it gazed upon the monster that it had itself engendered, and which it could no longer control. “In our day, it has enlarged its sphere, multiplied its organizations, and withal, bound them so closely together that it seems already the universal republic which it desires to found. “The purposes of that Internationale—that league of associated workingmen throughout the world—of which they tell us there are eight hundred thousand members in this country alone, and from six to seven millions in all Europe and America—the purposes of that Internationale, or Communism, are the abolition of all religion, and all individual rights of property. How do I know it? Because they have told us so. They are no cowards; they dare avow what they strive to maintain. In their infidel congress at Brussels, at Geneva, and in that other of Naples, in their official papers, the Egalite of Geneva, and generally throughout the world—London, France, Germany, and America—they assert plainly that they will not have a God who is the God of the rich as well as of the poor; they will not have a religion that speaks of meekness and of suffering; that bids them hold their hands back from the property of those who have, while they themselves have not. They will not hear of virtue: they will not hear of vice. They will not admit any restraints on those passions that are boiling within them—on the greed that seeks its sensual pleasures; on that anger that creates its victim. They have acknowledged it, they have printed it, they have never denied it.” Worthy of Notice.
By Jos. Clarke
In the preface to the History of the Reformation, by J. H. M. D’Aubigne, page 20, in a note of the translator, it appears that a Universal History of Protestantism was written by Theo. A. D’Aubigne, a refugee at Geneva, and published at Amsterdam, in three volumes folio, in the year 1626; and, in the preface to this history, the author bequeaths to his children the task of finishing the work, or of completing the history he had partially traced out, and he actually prescribed to them the spirit in which he would have it performed, thus:— “I would give them that law which I acknowledge myself; that in seeking the glory of this precious instrument, their principal aim should be that of the arm which has prepared, employed, and wielded it at his good pleasure. For all praise to princes is unreasonable, and misplaced, if it has not for leaf and root, that of the living God, to whom alone belongs honor and dominion forever.”
Here, then, after more than two hundred years have elapsed from the time of the elder D’Aubigne making this bequest to his posterity, his will is executed in the most thorough and practical manner, by one of his descendants, the excellent J. H. M. D’Aubigne. To be capable of doing this, it was necessary for many qualifications to become united in the character of the historian, and it was indispensable117also that he possess means, and influence, and opportunity, all of which Providence supplied. Who can doubt the hand of God present, to fulfill the will of the elder D’Aubigne? Another point worthy special notice in the preface to the third volume of D’Aubigne’s History, is this: speaking of the nations who have upheld and are still upholding the papacy, he notices the decay of such nations; while such nations as England, and Prussia, and Russia, which the pope has done his best to destroy, have increased in wealth and influence, in the face of the opposition of the papal power; and he utters a prophetic warning, thus: “Here, too, is a lesson for that France with which the author feels himself so intimately connected by the ties of ancestry.” “Should France, imitating her different governments, turn again toward the papacy, it will be, in our belief, the signal of great disasters. Whoever attaches himself to the papacy, will be compromised in its destruction.” Was not this a prophecy? What Is Revealed Religion?
By J. H. W.
Religion, primarily, signifies a system of worship. In those lands where Christianity is recognized, the word is generally restricted to the worship of God. The religion of pagans is, of course, the worship of idols. But when we speak of “revealed religion,” we refer solely to the worship of the true God, according to his own requirements, as revealed to his creature, man. The highest form of worship, and the only true worship of God, is obedience. Without this, all professions are vain, all forms but mockery. When Saul presumed to worship God contrary to his requirement, he was informed that “to obey is better than sacrifice.” 1 Sam. 15:22. And Solomon said, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Prov. 28:9. The Saviour taught the same thing, saying, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in Heaven.” Matt. 7:21. And again, he declared their worship vain who taught the commandments of men, and made void the commandments of God. Matt. 15:6, 9. And all the Scripture shows that the difference between the righteous and the wicked is the difference between obedience and disobedience. 1 John 3:4–8. The commandments of God were revealed from Mount Sinai, by his own voice, and written by his own finger. That they were so revealed there could exist no doubt; the manifestation of power and glory was so wonderful that not a doubter was left in all that vast assembly. That they were a rule of obedience, is evident from their phraseology: “Thou shalt;” and Moses said of them to the Jews: “which he commanded you to perform.” Deut. 4:12, 13. Alexander Campbell, in his debate with Bishop Purcell, said of the ten commandments, that, not only in the Old Testament, but in all revelation, they were considered the synopsis of all religion and morality. And this is a just remark, for all moral duty is epitomized in them. And all writers on morality, of any eminence, have spoken to the same intent. Webster calls them the moral law. And as God is moral Governor, they must be the law of his government; and this honor he put upon them by revealing them in person. But a curiosity in theological literature has lately fallen under my notice. A man in Central Indiana, a preacher among the Disciples, or Campbellites, has for some years tried to render himself famous as a debater; and this seems to be the highest ambition with most of that class of preachers. He has had many debates, and by many of his denomination is considered a man of great ability and power. Some time since, he sent three propositions to our brethren in Howard Co., one of which is as follows: “The law commonly known as the law of ten commandments never was any part of revealed religion.” “A. WALKER.” Whether Mr. Walker meant that the Lord never revealed the ten commandments, or that he commanded them, but never intended that they should be obeyed, is a query. It is doubtful whether he knew what he meant himself. But comment is needless. J. H. W. N. Liberty, Ind., March 15, 1872. Pleasing Others by Listening Rather Than Talking
WERE we as eloquent as angels, we should please some men, some women, and some children, much more by listening than by talking. Dull Men Hide Hidden Worth
DULL men are to be closely studied. Their qualities, like pearls, lie out of sight, and must be dived for. “Men Love Darkness.”
By Roswell F. Cottrell
WHY should men love darkness rather than light? Why choose to be in ignorance of truth which they might know? Why should Christians be so determined that the day of the Lord shall come, upon all, the saint as well as the sinner, as a thief in the night? The antediluvians, though warned, “knew not until the flood came and took them all away.” Jerusalem was laid in ruins and the Jews driven out among all nations, because they “knew not the time” of their visitation. They might have discerned the signs of the times, if they would, but they chose to be ignorant rather than repent of their sins. They loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. With these examples before them, why should men of these days shut their eyes to the signs of the approach of the great day of the Lord, contending that no one can know anything of its approach? They remember the text that says, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man,” but they have no use for the one that says, “When ye shall see all these things, KNOW THAT IT IS NEAR, even at the doors.” They are not willing to know that it will be disastrous to them to have that day come upon them unexpectedly. “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and THOU SHALT NOT KNOW what hour I will come upon thee.” “The Lord of that servant shall come in a day WHEN HE LOOKETH NOT FOR HIM, and in an hour that HE IS NOT AWARE OF; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.” Signs have been given, that the believer may know when the day is near. Those signs have been fulfilled. Do you know it is near, even at the doors? If you do not, you must either deny the historic facts of the fulfilment of the signs, or you are an unbeliever in regard to the most solemn and positive assurance of Jesus. One who professes to believe his sacred word of promise, and does not, is a hypocrite. Such, of course, will have their portion with those of their class. Why will men deliberately choose to have that day come upon them as a thief, when we are assured that it will be a day of “sudden destruction” to that class, which “they shall not escape”? 1 Thess. 5. Why not choose rather to be of that class to whom the apostle says, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief”? Why not choose to be “children of the light”? Why choose to “sleep as the others” (see the German), and be surprised and taken as in a snare? Why choose darkness? Jesus says men love it “because their deeds are evil.” This was doubtless true of the people before the flood and of the unbelieving Jews in the day of Christ; but can it be true of professed Christians? Can it be that they are not willing to know that the second advent is at hand, because they are unwilling to forsake popular sins, heed the warning that is being given, and so get a preparation for that day? Is this the reason that they are not willing that Christ should come “in our day”? The last warning which God has promised in prophecy (Rev. 14: 9-12), to be given just before the coming of the Son of Man to reap the harvest of the earth, strongly carries the impression that this will be the case. A warning so fearful implies great danger. There is great danger that even the worshipers will be worshipers of the beast. But for the danger, even to the elect, no such warning would have been promised. But it is promised, and not only so, it is having its fulfilment. And those who know this fact, know also that most professed Christians are very averse to accepting the “commandments of God” of the message. It is being more and more demonstrated that “men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” R. F. Cottrell. The End at Hand.
By G. W. A.
IN a stirring little tract, “The End at Hand,” based upon these words of Christ, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come,” are the following paragraphs, relating to the wide diffusion of the advent sentiment. G. W. A. “Surely God has surrounded this last message of gospel truth with many divinely appointed tests, and scriptural proofs of its heavenly origin and final triumphant fulfillment. It has made its circuit around the earth, witnessing to all nations, by incontrovertible proof, that their time to rule this world is nearly ended, and that a Prince of heavenly birth is about to take the universal throne and reign in righteousness forever. “The people of Europe, Africa, and America, have heard the assuring utterances that the end is at hand. The Orientals, far toward the sun-rising, Chinamen, and Japanese, have heard the startling sound of coming judgment. “Its Heaven-commissioned messengers, pale with a sense of awful responsibility, have tremblingly gone forth from the shepherd’s fold, the blacksmith’s anvil, the statesman’s hall, and the theologian’s sanctum, unitedly to proclaim, in the name of the carpenter’s son, a speedy change of earth and earthly scenes. Then Armageddon’s battling legions shall sink beneath war’s last reddened wave, and death’s charnel-house open, as the sainted hosts come forth, clad in royal robes of heavenly splendor. “Its sweet tones of promise, and thundering notes of warning, have mingled, as they rolled through palace and temple, over snow-capped mountains and sunny plains, amid palm branches and olive groves, warning alike kings and slaves, thrilling the heart of this generation with glorious hope and terrible fear. It bears the seal of Heaven’s court, stamping the impress of divine assurance upon every righteous forehead. “O swift-winged angel, carrying the last message of mercy ‘to every nation and kindred,’ still mercifully hover over us, and send forth the mighty truth, ‘The hour of his Judgment is come!’” Adventism—An Anecdote.
By E. Goodrich
It seems that quite a popular feeling or sentiment has obtained that Adventism is a new thing under the sun, a kind of mushroom thing, which, having grown up in a night like Jonah’s gourd, is destined also to perish in a night. The following incident may serve to illustrate public opinion, and Bible facts: Some twenty years ago, while visiting friends in the State of Illinois, the following anecdote occurred. It was a warm and cloudy day in early wheat harvest, a day too wet either to cut wheat, or plow out corn (for Illinois farmers plow corn as late as wheat harvest), that quite a number of neighbors gathered at the house of the friends where I was staying. After talking upon several pleasant topics, the weather, the fine growing crops, prairie farming compared with woodland farming, and, as it was known that I was an Adventist, the subject of Adventism and the second coming of Christ was introduced. There happened to be present a kind of ex-preacher, a man who had preached, and did even then sometimes preach and exhort. He seemed to take the lead in talking, and appeared anxious to learn what Adventists believed. Thus, perhaps, twenty minutes or half an hour was occupied in discussing the various points of Advent faith, asking and answering questions. At this point, the conversation slackened, and the elder, as if to recover some lost thought, but in reality the better to secure the attention of those who were listening, stopped, and, looking round upon the friends, and elevating his eyebrows with a very knowing look, as much as to say, I know all about it, turned and said, Can you tell me who first preached this doctrine? He was a shrewd man, and all this time he had been asking questions, not for information, but to make a telling thrust against what he believed a modern heresy. He seemed to think that only one answer could be given to the question, viz., William Miller. But another answer could be given. William Miller, it is true, preached the doctrine of the second personal advent of Christ, yet he was not the first. And hastily passing over in my mind, the facts that John Wesley, Martin Luther, all the apostles, and New-Testament writers, the Saviour, and all the Old-Testament prophets, had preached this doctrine, my mind rested on Enoch, the seventh from Adam. And my countenance, if not my words, may have betrayed the satisfaction that I felt in answering him, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, I believe was the first to preach this doctrine, as we read in Jude 14, 15: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” The reply that he made, “Oh! well, I know, I know that,” could not relieve him from the embarrassment under which he was placed by the unexpected answer that was given. And it seems a matter of great surprise that so many who have the Bible, and read it almost daily, should be so ignorant of its teachings, and so prejudiced against the doctrine of the second personal advent of Christ, and those who advocate it, as to associate them with every modern humbug, Mormonism, Spiritualism, Free-love-ism, &c. Indeed, no doctrine contained in the Scriptures is more plainly, positively, and fully taught, than that of which we are now speaking; yea, the entire volume of prophetic truth may be divided into two grand divisions, viz., those prophecies that pertain to the suffering of Christ, and those that speak of the glory that should follow. The sufferings of Christ cover the entire period of his incarnation, humility, and death. The glory that should follow contemplates his resurrection, his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and his coming again in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, to reward every man as his work shall be. And many of those same prophecies that speak of his humility, speak also of his exaltation. And how any one having, and reading and professing to believe, those scriptures, can ridicule the doctrine of Christ’s second advent to earth, is a most unaccountable mystery.