Earlier text: Thoughts on Daniel—Chapter XIMissionary Spirit.
By John Nevins Andrews
[From Les Signes des Temps.] THE spirit of the Christian religion is a missionary spirit. It leads those who are the disciples of Christ to a life of active effort, and of constant sacrifice in behalf of those who are yet in their sins. The Christian cannot make his own personal interest the principal object of his life. He is not his own, for he has been bought with a price. Christ has given his life for him. The Christian must devote his life to the service of Christ. The Son of God has undertaken to seek and to save that which was lost. He asks the co-operation of all those who have found the pardon of their sins through his blood. He calls some men to devote all their time and all their strength to this sacred work. He wills that others should spend a part of their time in worldly business; but it is not that they may lay up treasure upon the earth, but that they may be able to render pecuniary assistance in the work of God. He calls these persons to be men of strict integrity; to be just in all their transactions; to be honest; to be truthful; and to recommend the religion of Christ by the excellence of their lives, and by the uprightness of their conduct. Though they are men of business, they are not to make that business, however honorable and just it may be, the one occupation of their lives. They must be diligent, economical, active, and prudent; but they must take time for the direct service of God. They must have time for secret prayer, and for family prayer, and for the reading of God's word, and for public worship, and for missions of mercy toward those who are in affliction, and toward those who know not God. They can give, perhaps, but a limited amount of their time to this sacred work, but they can find sufficient time to do much if they have a heart to engage in it; and the excellence of their lives, and the integrity of their conduct, will give them an influence that will win many souls to Christ. Their light will so shine that others will see their good works, and glorify their Father who is in Heaven; and there will be for them at the last day an infinite reward. But some men are called to devote their whole lives to the ministry of the Word of God. Their work is the most sacred and the most honorable of any which God has assigned to mortal man. They are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech men through them. It is for them to set forth the invitations of the gospel, and the threatenings of the law of God. They must make known the riches of the grace of God; the infinite mercy of Christ; the excellence of the Christian religion, and the length and breadth and depth and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. They must suffer affliction, and gain the victory in those afflictions, so that they may be able to comfort any that are in affliction. They must be an example of the excellence of those truths which they teach to others. Their experience must be in advance of those to whom they preach, in order that they may lead them forward in the things of the Spirit of God. They must not consult their own pleasure nor their own ease. They did not enter the Christian ministry to obtain a livelihood, but to discharge a sacred responsibility. They must give account to God for their time, for their strength, and for the talents which God has committed to their trust. They must not waste their time, because this is the most sacred commodity that God has committed to men. It is not days alone that are precious, but hours also, and moments; and time must not be treated as though it were of no value. If the minister of Christ wastes his time, he not only sets a bad example, but he almost always wastes the time of those with whom he is associated. God shows his sense of the value of time by dealing it out to us in minute atoms; and he calls upon us to redeem the time because the days are evil. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Work while the day lasts; the night cometh in which no man can work. It is not for the minister of Christ to spend his time in the manner most agreeable to himself, but in that which will be most useful to the cause of God. Nor will it do merely to be busy in trifles. Some time must be given to things of small consequence, but they must be quickly dispatched, and the great matters which pertain to the ministry of the Word of God must have the chief place. It is a great sin for a minister of Christ to waste his own time or that of others. We must give account to God for the time which we spend, and we must be able to show that, with the exception of time for necessary rest, we have been active in the sacred work to which God has called us. Our lives are but a vapor that appear for a little time, and then vanishes away. The missionary spirit will prompt the minister of Christ to carry the message of truth to those that are in darkness. This work is generally found to be painful, but it is the principal work of the servant of Christ. He must go to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and carry to them the precious truths of the Word of God. He cannot wait till these persons desire to receive him, for, in most cases, this time will never come. He must press through the obstacles which Satan puts in his way, and must seek access to those who are perishing in their sins. He will be mocked by some, and cruelly treated in many ways, perhaps by the most of those whom he seeks to save. But these things must not move him, and he must not count his life dear unto himself. Some will be reached and saved, and these will be stars in his crown of eternal rejoicing. Our Lord Jesus Christ left the glory of Heaven to become a missionary to our earth. He endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and finally suffered a cruel death, that he might save those who were enemies to God. It is possible for us to co-operate with him in the effort to save lost men, if we arm ourselves with the mind that was in him; and when the work is finished, we shall enter into the joy of our Lord. They that turn many to righteousness will shine as the brightness of the firmament, in the kingdom of God. Can We Keep the Sabbath? No. 2.
By John Nevins Andrews
ONE of the most common objections that people urge against keeping the Sabbath, is that it is peculiar, and that very few people observe it. There are two classes of people who make use of this argument. The first class attempts to make capital out of it against the Sabbath, and argue that since the Sabbath is observed by so very few people, it cannot be right, assuming that the majority must be right. The second class believe that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, but have not the courage to live out their convictions of duty. They say, “If everybody else would keep the Sabbath, I would be glad to do so too.” The first class might easily be convinced if they wished to be. Let us see to what absurdity the theory that the majority must be right will lead us. Less than four hundred years ago it was the universal belief that the earth was flat, and that it was stationary. For hundreds of years no one had thought of questioning this belief; and when, finally, a few bold spirits ventured to advance the idea that the earth is spherical, and that it moves, they were regarded as fanatics and dangerous heretics. But the proof that the earth is round was convincing, and now all enlightened nations hold to that belief. Now if it be true that the majority must be right, we must conclude that several centuries ago the earth was really flat, but that, as people advanced in knowledge, it gradually assumed its present shape. Many other conclusions, equally absurd must be accepted if we hold to the theory that whatever is popularly believed is right. But the advocates of that theory rarely urge it on any subject except the Sabbath. The truth is that the opinions of men have no effect whatever on facts. Men’s opinions change, but truth is always the same. Those who dare not venture out alone to obey the truth, may have their faith strengthened by considering some cases that are on record. Paul says in Rom. 15:4, that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” The eleventh chapter of Hebrews contains a list of notable men. We are referred to Noah, who “walked with God” in an age when the “wickedness of man was great in the earth,” and “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” It must have been no slight effort for Noah to face the world with such an unpopular truth as that the world was to be destroyed by a flood. No doubt he was jeered at in a most unmerciful manner, and considered a fool, but the event proved the wisdom of his course. Had he waited for people enough to accept the truth for that time to make it respectable, before commencing to build the ark, he would have been drowned with the rest. Abraham is another individual who is held up as an example of faith. I think we do not generally realize the full extent of the sacrifice that he made when he obeyed the command, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.” His father’s family, as we learn from Joshua 24:2, 3, were idolaters. No doubt he had to endure much opposition and ridicule from his relatives, for thus leaving them and going away with apparently no object whatever, without even knowing where he was going. No one who starts out to obey God in these times, can have a darker prospect, to all outward appearances, than Abraham had. Had he drawn back, instead of becoming the father of all the faithful, his name might never have appeared among them. Other instances might be cited indefinitely. Who does not honor those moral heroes, and who has not wished that he might be even like them, and be accounted worthy to share in their reward? Well, who is there that cannot? They were men, subject to weaknesses and temptations the same as men are nowadays. They lived in the world, associated with their fellow-men, and transacted business, the same as men do now. How, then, did they become so honored of God? Simply because they were willing to be regarded as peculiar; they thought more of God’s approval than they did of the applause of men. For this we hold them in high esteem, yet we shrink from doing what we commend in them. We may, however, be like them if we will, for their cases are recorded, as Paul says, simply for our encouragement. We shall find, if we study carefully, that the Bible says much in favor of peculiar people. The Jews were brought out from Egyptian bondage that they might serve the Lord and be a peculiar people. Paul says in Titus 2:14, that Christ “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” The apostle here speaks especially to those who are “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” It seems, then, that the people of God need not hope to become popular in these days any more than in the past. Christ was very unpopular, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:11. Very few believed on him, and they were of the most despised class, and at the last even these forsook him, while he suffered the most bitter persecution. And what does he say to his disciples? “The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Those, then, who are waiting for truth to become popular before accepting it, will wait in vain. One thought in regard to this expression, “peculiar people.” The idea is not meant to be conveyed that people are to strive to make themselves conspicuous by their peculiarity. The people of God are peculiar simply they are “zealous of good works,” in a time when men (professed Christians) are “lovers of their own selves,” “despisers of those that are good;” etc. 2 Tim. 3:1-5. Christ was peculiar in this respect, yet he was a pattern of humility. This people are to be like him; not despised on account of individual peculiarities, but because of their steadfast adherence to truth. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” John 15:18, 19. Who is not willing to suffer with Christ? When he endured so much for us, can we not endure a little for him. If it were possible for us to get to Heaven without any suffering, would we not feel ashamed to say that we had never suffered for him? We have also this to comfort us; that whenever we suffer for the truth, he suffers with us, and accounts all injury done to his people as done to himself. And to crown all we are assured that “if we suffer we shall also reign with him,” and that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” E. J. W. The Deceitfulness of Sin.
By R. F. Cottrell
YES, the apostle has well expressed it; the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is a deceiver. She promises largely, but her promises are false and deceptive. Persons sin because they hope to gain something by so doing: but he that sins is the loser every time. Our mother Eve thought the fruit of the interdicted tree was very desirable as an article of food, and to make one wise. She imagined it would be great gain to transgress the prohibition of her Maker. But what a mistake! What an almost infinite loss! The groaning of the earth under the curse for six thousand years, and the utter perdition of the great majority of our race, are the sad results. The murderer, the adulterer, the thief, and the false witness, hope to be the gainers by the course they pursue. Wealth, or pleasure, or the gratification of a malicious, revengeful heart, is the bait which they so eagerly seize; but in the end their gain is loss, their pleasure pain, and their self-gratification torment and sorrow. The sinner promises himself that at some future time he will turn to God and serve him; but he postpones it, because he cannot afford to lose what he is now gaining by sin. His sinful pleasures must be followed, and wealth and fame must be sought and obtained; and then, after giving the best of his time and life-energies to the service of Satan, he proposes to serve the Lord! What a mistake! He is losing all the while. Instead of being better prepared to serve God in the future, he is continually disqualifying himself for his service, and traveling with continually-accelerating speed in the downward road to perdition. And here is the professor of religion who is convinced of his obligation to keep the Lord's Sabbath, which he is now breaking. He would obey God if it would not cost him so much. He cannot afford to lose what he is now gaining by sin. Perhaps he imagines that the service of sin will so enrich him that at some future time he will be able to serve God. Or perhaps he imagines that obedience to God will destroy his influence in the Christian world, and that he can do much more good in the cause of Christ to remain in disobedience and sin. This is not a fancy sketch. The sentiment has been openly expressed by apparently pious Christians. “It goes so hard against the grain,
They hope the Lord will not complain,
At least, he’ll not send me to hell,
If I keep Sunday pretty well,
I’ll make it up some other way.
But, pray, do let me keep first-day:
Who keep the seventh are so few,
It seems to me ’twill never do;
I’ll serve the Lord with all my might,
Do anything besides, that’s right,
I’ll go exhort, and preach, and pray,
But only let me keep first-day.
It makes no odds as I can see,
If one is kept as’t ought to be;
And now the prospect looks so bright,
I think I’ll risk it, wrong or right.” Oh, the deceitfulness of sin! to cause men to believe that they can serve God better by breaking his commandments than by keeping them! One could hardly believe that Satan could persuade any person that such a conclusion was truly logical; but facts testify that it has been done. You wonder, my brother, my sister, that any one could be so deceived as to think that sinning against God would prove a real benefit, not only to themselves, but to the cause of God; that telling lies would advance the truth, the illegal means being sanctified by the holy motive, as Papists have held; but let me ask you if you are not deceiving yourself in the same way. Do you not imagine, sometimes, while you are covetously grasping after worldly gain, and heaping up treasures on earth, that you are preparing yourself to do a great amount of good in the cause of the Lord at some future time? And when inclined to follow the foolish and wicked fashions of the world, do you not flatter yourself that it will give you more influence for good in the world? Or, if you are too indolent and careless to make a decent appearance in the world, do you not flatter yourself that you are crucifying self, and glorifying God by your slackness? If you are laboring beyond your strength and breaking down your constitution to accumulate wealth, are you not doing it for the cause? Or, if you are squandering your time and means through idleness, are you not doing so in honor of Him who said, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth? Are you all engrossed in business, so that you have not time for the duties of religion at home, and are not qualified for the worship of God on the Sabbath, so that, should you get into meeting, you fall asleep? Is it not because an apostle has bid you, Be diligent in business? Is not this your excuse for not being “fervent in spirit when serving the Lord?” Or, if you are slack and careless in your worldly matters, is it not because the Lord has said, Take no thought for the morrow? Is there anything gained by cheating your neighbor that you may give it to the Lord? or robbing God of his tithes and offerings that you may consume it upon your desires? Is there anything gained by fretting because things do not go right in the family, in the church, or in the world? On the other hand, is anything gained by regarding real wrongs with stoical indifference? Will deception and guile profit us in the end? Will it profit us to make the world first in our affections for a time, in order to make the service of God all, at some future time? In short, will anything benefit us but to be honest with God, honest with our neighbors, and honest with ourselves? Will anything be gained by shirking our duties and responsibilities, or postponing them to a more convenient time? No!188 Idleness is a moral gangrene, procrastination is the thief that steals our time, our pride and worldliness is vanity, and our ill-gotten wealth will eat as doth a canker. Sin flatters to decoy. Its promises are deceptive. Oh, that all might realize that nothing is gained by it, but everything lost. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Heb. 3:12, 13. Seaman's Mission, San Francisco.
By H. C. Palmer
REPORT OF LABOR FOR MARCH.
Ship M—. This ship, we believe, will be the first one leaving San Francisco that will keep the Sabbath. The letter in No. 13 of the SIGNS explains the feeling of those interested on board. The sail-maker was a captain some years ago, but his certificate was stolen, and he became a ship missionary in Scotland, and followed that work for about ten years. Before leaving Scotland in the ship M—, a man who had been here before told him of the seventh-day people, but did not advance any doctrinal points. When the ship was first visited, and the object of the visit explained, he said these were his views some time ago, but they were in such crude formation that he was waiting for more light. As each point of the faith was brought to his notice, his interest was very great. A man in the forecastle was also much interested. An appointment was made at my house, to examine the truth more fully. The steward, sail-maker, and sailor, came accordingly. Their hearts were full. They walked all the way (three miles and a half), and back again. Extra reading matter was given, and the principal points of our faith explained. Their joy was unspeakable; we had a profitable season of prayer, and the presence of the Spirit was in our meeting. It was a happy time; all joined in supplicating the throne of grace for strength, and they went their way rejoicing. The next evening, about nine o'clock, the steward and sail-maker came to buy "Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation." Their minds were full of anxious inquiry. They had read a little more, and were hungry for the truth. The ship had moved still farther from where our house was. They could not afford to ride, for they would lose the opportunity to converse, so they walked back again. On the Sabbath following, the sail-maker came and spent the afternoon in investigating, and explaining the course he intended to pursue on board. He was well versed in the Bible; a little explanation to his willing mind was sufficient to enlighten certain erroneous views. The final visit was on the Sunday following, and the prophetic chart, with the explanations given in the books purchased, enabled him to understand their import. He said he would give more thorough study before venturing to explain. The Captain is as much interested as any of them, and the spirit of investigation fully aroused. He spends much of his time in the sail-maker's work-room. He reads from our works in his cabin, and comes to tell the sail-maker of what he discovers; and this is what gives us so much hope, for he is fully convinced, and seems eager to obey. When he gets out to sea these men will have more opportunity to press their own wants upon him, and, by so doing, feel certain he will do what is right, and honor God's sacred day fully and faithfully. Others in this ship are favorable to present truth. Our prayers are needed for all on board. Ship T—. Man in forecastle believes the seventh day is the Sabbath. Ship C—. Carpenter and apprentice interested. Ship B—. First mate, and men in forecastle, interested. Gave extra reading. Barque I—. Cabin boy (colored) much interested. Gave extra reading matter. He was, for a young boy, very spiritually minded. He said he prayed three times a day; and, also, that on investigating he would ask the Lord to direct him, and, if what he read corresponded with the Bible, he would accept, and trust to the Lord to help him. He was very much impressed, and said he would write. Ship I—. Steward much interested; he was in the pantry when the first mate urged some questions on the truth, which were answered in accordance with Bible evidence. He came out and said he wished he had a Bible, and that he could have some passages marked that had been quoted. He got his Bible, and some extra reading matter. Ship I— F—. First mate and steward interested. Steamer S—. The steward has read our papers some time; he said no one could keep the Sabbath in his position. He said he would make one more passage in the steamer, and then live ashore. He promised to come to the church, and seemed determined to make a start for keeping the commandments of God. Pray for him. Ship C— C—. Steward interested. Will investigate and report. Ship B—. Cook and apprentice interested. The cook gave our papers to his brother-in-law in Liverpool, England, and he, being a deacon, was so very much impressed that he gave them to several members in the church, for them to read, and they have to wait for their turn to get them. A good package was sent to him. Let us pray for the increase. This last month has been one of rejoicing. May our divine Lord purify us so that we may be imbued with his Spirit in all we do. When we receive such help as he has vouchsafed to us in the past, let us take courage and press on. May God be glorified and praised for such manifestation of his presence, and blessing on this work. There is no trouble in engaging interested listeners to hear the truth; and it shows us how careful we must be in advancing it, not in our own strength, but in prayerful mind and submission to the will of our heavenly Father. God answers prayer. When we can exalt his name and vindicate his truth, he will help us in our work; and this mission needs all the spiritual help it can get, by the united prayers of God's people. The rapid strides the message is making all over the world, ought to arouse us all to greater activity, for we, as a people, are known and spoken of more than we have any idea of. The near coming of the Lord is preached in the parks of the old countries, but not in the churches. Unordained men do what many of his paid servants do not. Could there be a more favorable time for missionary work than the present? Some ministers in Scotland say they dare not preach their private views, for they would lose their living; so the uneducated and sincere do it for them. The Spirit of the Lord is striving with men, and we can see the evidence of it in the missionary work. Our prayer is, Lord, may we continue to do thy work, and have thy Spirit to direct us, so that, by obedience to thy will, we may be instrumental in thy hands to direct some to thy heavenly kingdom. H. C. PALMER. UNDER this heading the Advance publishes the following interesting experience of an old subscriber. It is a very good supplement to the “Sermon on Tithes,” which we printed last week:— I started out in life on a very low basis in all respects. Avarice was the mainspring to all effort. I had nothing but my hands and energy to rely upon; but by industry and economy accumulated the sum of $5,000. I then felt that189 when I had secured $10,000, my anxiety for gain would be checked. But when that point was reached, I decided to get what I could and hold it with a firm grasp. The matter of giving to any object, however worthy, was not in my line. In this way I continued until my thirty-fourth year, being completely immersed in worldliness, and dead in trespasses and sins. But at this point, God in his wonderful love, reached clear down to me, and by the light of the Holy Spirit, showed me my ruined condition. I felt my case hopeless for a while, until Jesus Christ revealed himself to me as an almighty Saviour, able to save to the uttermost. I joyfully accepted the proposed salvation, and my first inquiry was: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” My first thought was that I would let go the “muck rake,” and give my entire time and energy to proclaiming to others the precious salvation I had found. But God was pleased to direct me into a wiser course. At this time I was worth about $30,000; and was engaged in a business that gave me an income of $3,000 per year. It came to me as an inspiration to stop accumulating, but to make what money I could, and after meeting the necessary expenses of my family, to devote the surplus to objects of Christian beneficence. I have pursued this course for nearly fifty years, and by close economy have been able to give about thirty-five per cent. of my annual income to such objects of charity as God and my own conscience approve. I believe that in this department of life and work, God has lifted me out of self, and led me to adopt a better course than is generally followed by my Christian brethren. Aside from its being scriptural, it tends to lift the individual giver above the parsimonious, “Don’t-know-as-I-have-anything-to-spare-now” spirit, which is so prevalent among even Christian givers. I thank God from the depths of my heart, that he led me into systematic beneficence. Converting the Heathen.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
Not long since Bishop Huntington published a letter in the New York Evening Post, on "The Onondaga Reservation," giving an account of the moral condition of that tribe. The picture he draws is certainly not a pleasant one to contemplate as existing in a professedly Christian country. Here are some of his statements:— "Agriculture as a science is unknown. A few framed and painted houses are built by Christians, but the pagans are for the most part content with huts and cabins. Fences are rude. Roads are scarcely passable. Rubbish litters the dooryards. Swine roam at large. Meals are irregular. The women cling to heathen styles in dress and manners. They are made to work in the field. The worship is a howling superstition. Wedlock is neither respected nor practised. The men exchange their female companions, or 'wives,' from time to time as they do their cattle. Home is a word without a meaning. The dreary monotony of an ill-supplied animal existence is broken only by coarse amusements. The annual feasts disgrace the settlement—the 'Green Corn Dance' and the 'White Dog Sacrifice.' Decent whites who have gone from curiosity to see these grotesque ceremonials, have hurried away with their children, before the spectacle was over, disgusted and appalled. They saw the license of the ancient mysteries without their refinement or athletic discipline. Such things take place yearly in the heart of the State of New York; and hitherto they have been scarcely alluded to in the sermons and appeals, the journals and assemblies, where Christians are besought to take pity on a foreign heathendom, and money is given to send missionaries of Christ to all the corners of the earth. Immature and vicious visitors of both sexes are attracted to their unclean orgies, ending in drunkenness and pollution." What makes the matter the more discouraging, is the Bishop's statement that for twelve years the Protestant Episcopal Church has had a mission established at the Reservation. The Methodists have also had a missionary there. For twelve years these missionaries have been laboring for this tribe of Indians, only three hundred and fifty in number, and no results appear. What is the trouble? Missionaries are successful in India, China, and Africa, among the most benighted tribes; why are they powerless with a little band surrounded with the blessings of civilization? The thought occurs to us that possibly those who are so opposed to the restriction of Chinese immigration, on the ground that if they are allowed to come they can be reached more effectually with the gospel, are not laboring for the best interests of the Chinese. A large majority of the inhabitants of this country make no profession of religion whatever, and of those who do, a large per cent. bring no credit to their profession. But the heathen do not discriminate, and look upon all the white race as Christians, and regard all the actions of white men as the legitimate outgrowth of Christianity. There is no reason why they should not do so, for it is one of the fictions with which nearly all are pleased to console themselves, that this is a Christian nation. When the heathen receive the gospel in their own land, they see its teachings exemplified by those who teach it. It makes no difference that they are surrounded by millions of degraded persons, for these profess nothing better; but when they hear it in a so-called Christian country, and see the vast amount of iniquity on every side, they naturally lose all confidence in Christianity, and are confirmed in their heathenism, while the more enlightened become infidels. At this rate, when will the world be converted? E. J. w. The Missionary.
By Noel Hall
Bring in the tithes, bring in the tithes,
The hovering blessing haste to claim;
Or gold, or incense, corn, or wine,
Bring to the honor of his name—
The giving One, whose law demands
Thank-loans, returned into his hands. Bring in the tithes, while faith is warm,
And love rehearses all his grace;
While zeal inspired, would fain go forth,
And bear his fame from place to place;
Your work, his treasury to fill—
The Lord's, to bless you as he will. Let love essay its best to bring
Unto the altar of the Lord
Itself, its gems, its precious things,
And, bringing, find a sweet reward;
Behold, your offerings freely given,
Before you know, 'tis almost heaven! The word stands fast, "Bring in the tithes,
Fill up my house with sacred store,
And prove me now; see my full hand,
From Heaven's open windows pour
A blessing that is past compare—
Reward of giving blent with prayer." A glad and willing sacrifice
This day, this hour makes haste to bring;
Lo, even while you come—surprise!
Because you've brought unto the King,
Your gifts elect, he all restores,
Himself, his riches, all are yours.
—Noel Hall. "My Mother in Jail."
By The Watchword
"Did you put my mother in jail?" asked a little tot of a girl, while she pushed her sunbonnet back, and looked from one officer to another, as she stood in the Philadelphia Central Police Station. She was but a child, so young that she could hardly speak plainly, and so small that a policeman had to help her up the steps at the station house. "Did you put my mother in jail?" The officers stared at the little waif; they had arrested a tangle-haired woman who spoke four languages in her rage, and fought the officers like a fury, and they did not dream that this was her child; but it was. The little thing seemed so innocent and pure. They did not want her to see her mother caged like a wild beast behind iron bars; but the mother heard her voice and called for her, and so they swung open the corridor door and let the little creature in. She went to the cell door, looked in and cried:-- "Why mother, are you in jail?" The mother shrank back ashamed, and the child dropped on her knees upon the stone floor, clung to the iron door, and prayed:-- "Now I lay me down to sleep, and I hope my mother will be let out of jail." The strong men had a strange moisture about their eyes as they gently led the little thing away; and when the case came into Court, his honor whispered to the woman to go home, and, for her child's sake, behave as a mother should. Perhaps she will do so—unless she will meet with some one licensed to deal out for "the public good" that which makes fathers act like brutes, and mothers forget the sucking child. Perhaps she will prove a true mother—unless some honored and respected citizen gets her crazy on a dram, on which he makes a profit of six cents. Strange things are done in this world; but few are more strange than the wonders wrought by this devil's draught, which in an hour turns love to hate, calmness to frenzy, quiet to confusion, and a mother to a fiend. In an address on "Biblical Literature in Colleges and Universities," published in the Sabbath Recorder, Dr. T. R. Williams speaks as follows of the incentives to, and opportunities for, the spread of religious literature in this country:— "But there is another reason why this claim of Biblical literature should be granted. The interests of Christianity demand it. There are tens of thousands of communities in our own country which have no one to teach the word of life. More than one-half of the population of the globe groping in pagan darkness, with not one teacher for a million souls. Now, when we reflect that all these millions must be saved or lost during the years of this one generation, the demands for more laborers become intensely imperative. Where shall the world look for these laborers, unless it may look to our colleges and seminaries of learning? But how shall these institutions which exclude the Bible from their studies, prepare young men and young women to lead lost souls into the light of the gospel? If this study was wisely encouraged, many young people would be found with hearts and talents for eminent usefulness, who are now left to waste their lives on vain hopes and fruitless efforts. "Never did a grander possibility open before any people on earth than opens before us as a people in this country. History has no record like that which is being made in our land at the present time. The stirring, independent spirits of all the nations are flocking to our country for homes." Preparing for the Lord’s Table
By H. Osgood
It is not the reading of special books or the setting apart of certain days that prepares us for rightly coming to the Lord's table; but the truest preparation for that service is the every-day life, the constant abiding in Christ. With such a life, we can never eat and drink unworthily.—H. Osgood. The Enduring Words of Christ
By Dean Stanley
You never get to the end of Christ's words. There is something in them always behind. They pass into proverbs, they pass into laws, they pass into doctrines, they pass into consolations; but they never pass away, and after all the use that is made of them, they are still not exhausted.—Dean Stanley. Communion with God and Reverence
The more communion we enjoy with God, the more we reverence his majesty and adore his perfection. There were seventeen plain drunks before the Mayor to-day.—[Monday's News.] SEVENTEEN plain drunks! A plain drunk means that a man has just poured poison into himself until his mind is blotted out, reason dethroned, his eyes two, wild, glassy, windowless abodes from whence come not one ray of reason—just a wild, vacant stare. His limbs, too, have lost their strength, his legs will not hold up his limp body, and he reels and totters and staggers, but he does not resist the officer as he jerks him roughly along. If when the officer cuffs and pushes him, he were to swear, that would be drunk and profanity; or if when he shoves him along he were to make the least resistance, then the officer would mash his skull with his mace, and that would be drunk and resisting an officer; or, if while crazed with liquor, the man were to go howling and roaring like a fiend into his home, and strike to the floor his poor, starved, broken-hearted wife, that would be drunk and wife-beating. But these seventeen men were just drunk. They have drank liquor until it has become a disease with them. The sober, Christian people of the city have licensed men with “good moral characters,” to sell for money a deadly poison, and these men, with “good moral characters,” sell a slow, deadly poison until it takes possession of its victim, and literally eats him up, body, mind, and soul; it even tears his clothes off and covers him with filthy rags; it breaks his wife’s heart, and starves his little children until they cry for bread. All this the good, moral Christian men know. So do the men with “good, moral characters.” Last Sunday seventeen men, poisoned by this deadly stuff until they were as powerless to resist it as a man starving to death for a drink of water would be powerless to pass the well at the post-office, went into these good moral characters’ places of business, and mind you on Sunday, bought and drank poison until they were thrown into the calaboose, where they remained until Monday, when they were dragged before the Mayor and fined about fifteen dollars each. Some of them could pay it, but it took the bread out of their famished children’s mouths. Some of them have no money—they will go to jail, or the stone pile, while their wives wash to get money to buy food to keep the children from starving. All this in civilized, Christianized Indianapolis, with her more than seventy churches.