It was five years (A. D. 403-408) from the time that the Visigoths retreated from Italy at the first invasion of Alaric, till their return in their second invasion of the Western Empire, from which they never retreated. During these five years, Alaric was strengthening his forces, and the Emperor Honorius was most effectually weakening the empire. And to the efforts of Honorius were added the effects of the invasion of Radigaisus. When the Visigoths, after the battle of Verona, in A. D. 403, had retired into Illyricum,—
"Adversity had exercised and displayed the genius of Alaric; and the fame of his valor invited to the Gothic standard the bravest of the barbarian warriors, who, from the Euxine to the Rhine, were agitated by the desire of rapine and conquest. He had deserved the esteem, and he soon accepted the friendship, of Stilicho himself. Renouncing the service of the emperor of the East, Alaric concluded, with the court of Ravenna, a treaty of peace and alliance, by which he was declared master-general of the Roman armies throughout the prefecture of Illyricum, as it was claimed, according to the true and ancient limits, by the minister of Honorius. The execution of the ambitious design, which was either stipulated or implied in the articles of the treaty, appears to have been suspended by the formidable irruption of Radigaisus; and the neutrality of the Gothic king may perhaps be compared to the indifference of Cæsar, who, in the conspiracy of Catiline, refused either to assist, or to oppose, the enemy of the republic."—Dec. and Fall, chap. 30, par. 22.
The "ambitious design" here referred to was an expedition against Constantinople, which Stilicho had proposed, as Gibbon suspects, more with the purpose of getting Alaric and his barbarians engaged as far as possible from Italy, rather than from any real wish to make the conquest of the capital, or of the provinces of the East. "This design could not long escape the penetration of the Gothic king, who continued to hold a doubtful, and perhaps a treacherous correspondence with the rival courts; who protracted, like a dissatisfied mercenary, his languid operations in Thessaly and Epirus, and who soon returned to claim the extravagant reward of his ineffectual services. From his camp near Æmona, on the confines of Italy, he transmitted to the emperor of the West a long account of promises, of expenses, and of demands; called for immediate satisfaction, and clearly intimated the consequences of a refusal."—Id.
The Senate and Honorius, by the advice of Stilicho, who alone knew the weakness of the empire, granted to the demands of Alaric, a subsidy of 4,000 pounds of gold, which, for the time being, satisfied the avarice of the Visigoths. But now the faithful minister of the emperor, and of the empire, who had twice delivered from the barbarians both the emperor and Italy, and who was still the only stay of falling Rome, Stilicho, was sacrificed to the treacherous ambition of a crafty rival. "The crafty Olympius," who exercised a splendid office, and "who concealed his vices under the mask of Christian piety, had secretly undermined the benefactor by whose favor he was promoted to the honorable offices of the Imperial palace." By representing to Honorius that Stilicho "already meditated the death of his sovereign, with the ambitious hope of placing the diadem on the head of his son Eucherius," Olympius succeeded in supplanting Stilicho in the mind of the emperor, and "the respectful attachment of Honorius was converted [May, A. D. 408] into fear, suspicion, and hatred."
At the instigation of Olympius there were massacred of the friends of Stilicho, "the most illustrious officers of the empire; two Prætorian prefects, of Gaul and of Italy; two masters-general of the cavalry and infantry; the masters of the offices; the quæstor; the treasurer; and the domestics. The intelligence of the massacre of Pavia filled the mind of Stilicho with just and gloomy apprehensions; and he instantly summoned, in the camp of Bologna, a council of the confederate leaders, who were attached to his service, and would be involved in his ruin. The impetuous voice of the assembly called aloud for arms, and for revenge; to march, without a moment's delay, under the banners of a hero, whom they had so often followed to victory; to surprise, to oppress, to extirpate the guilty Olympius, and his degenerate Romans; and perhaps to fix the diadem on the head of their injured general. Instead of executing a resolution, which might have been justified by success, Stilicho hesitated till he was irrecoverably lost. He was still ignorant of the fate of the emperor; he distrusted the fidelity of his own party; and he viewed with horror the fatal consequences of arming a crowd of licentious barbarians against the soldiers and people of Italy. The confederates, impatient of his timorous and doubtful delay, hastily retired, with fear and indignation.
"At the hour of midnight, Sarus, a Gothic warrior, renowned among the barbarians themselves for his strength and valor, suddenly invaded the camp of his benefactor, plundered the baggage, cut in pieces the faithful Huns, who guarded his person, and penetrated to the tent, where the minister, pensive and sleepless, meditated on the dangers of his situation. Stilicho escaped with difficulty from the sword of the Goths; and, after issuing a last and generous admonition to the cities of Italy to shut their gates against the barbarians, his confidence, or his despair, urged him to throw himself into Ravenna, which was already in the absolute possession of his enemies. Olympius, who had assumed the dominion of Honorius, was speedily informed that his rival had embraced, as a suppliant, the altar of the Christian church. The base and cruel disposition of the hypocrite was incapable of pity or remorse; but he piously affected to elude, rather than to violate, the privilege of the sanctuary. Count Heraclian, with a troop of soldiers, appeared, at the dawn of day, before the gates of the church of Ravenna. The bishop was satisfied, by a solemn oath, that the Imperial mandate only directed them to secure the person of Stilicho; but as soon as the unfortunate minister had been tempted beyond the holy threshold, he produced the warrant for his instant execution. Stilicho supported, with calm resignation, the injurious names of traitor and parricide; repressed the unseasonable zeal of his followers, who were ready to attempt an ineffectual rescue; and, with a firmness not unworthy of the last of the Roman generals, submitted his neck to the sword of Heraclian."—Id., chap. 30, par. 23-25.
"The incapacity of a weak and distracted Government may often assume the appearance, and produce the effects, of a treasonable correspondence with the public enemy. If Alaric himself had been introduced [Sept., A. D. 408] into the council of Ravenna, he would probably have advised the same measures which were actually pursued by the ministers of Honorius. The king of the Goths would have conspired, perhaps with some reluctance, to destroy the formidable adversary, by whose arms, in Italy, as well as in Greece, he had been twice overthrown. Their active and interested hatred laboriously accomplished the disgrace and ruin of the great Stilicho. The valor of Sarus, his fame in arms, and his personal, or hereditary influence over the confederate barbarians, could recommend him only to the friends of their country, who despised, or detested, the worthless characters of Turpilio, Varanes, and Vigilantius. By the pressing instances of the new favorites, these generals, unworthy as they had shown themselves of the names of soldiers, were promoted to the command of the cavalry, of the infantry, and of the domestic troops. The Gothic prince would have subscribed with pleasure the edict which the fanaticism of Olympius dictated to the simple and devout emperor: Honorius excluded all persons, who were adverse to the Catholic church, from holding any office in the State; obstinately rejected the service of all those who dissented from his religion; and rashly disqualified many of his bravest and most skillful officers, who adhered to the pagan worship or who had imbibed the opinions of Arianism.
"These measures, so advantageous to an enemy, Alaric would have approved, and might perhaps have suggested; but it may seem doubtful whether the barbarian would have promoted his interest at the expense of the inhuman and absurd cruelty which was perpetrated by the direction, or at least with the connivance, of the Imperial ministers. The foreign auxiliaries, who had been attached to the person of Stilicho, lamented his death; but the desire of revenge was checked by a natural apprehension for the safety of their wives and children; who were detained as hostages in the strong cities of Italy, where they had likewise deposited their most valuable effects. At the same hour, and as if by a common signal, the cities of Italy were polluted by the same horrid scenes of universal massacre and pillage, which involved, in promiscuous destruction, the families and fortunes of the barbarians. Exasperated by such an injury, which might have awakened the tamest and most servile spirit, they cast a look of indignation and hope towards the camp of Alaric, and unanimously swore to pursue, with just and implacable war, the perfidious nation, that had so basely violated the laws of hospitality. By the imprudent conduct of the ministers of Honorius, the republic lost the assistance, and deserved the enmity, of thirty thousand of her bravest soldiers; and the weight of that formidable army, which alone might have determined the event of the war, was transferred from the scale of the Romans into that of the Goths.—Id., chap. 31, par. 1.
(To be continued.)
Ask the Important Question.
REV. HARLAN PAGE once went into his school to inquire into the spiritual condition of his teachers. Coming to one of the young men, with a roll-book in his hand, he said, "Shall I put you down as having hope in Christ?" "No," was the answer. "Then," said the good man, tenderly, "I will put you down as having no hope." He wrote in the book and passed on; but the Holy Spirit spoke through the words to the young man's soul, and he gave himself to Christ. A timid teacher, after having pressed home the truth contained in the lesson, "The Friends and Foes of Jesus," said to a young lady, who had joined the class recently, as she held her hand at parting, "Are you a friend?" "I am afraid not." "I want you should be." That was all. But more than a year afterward, that scholar said to her, "Your words that day followed me until I was constrained to be a Chritian." Gently, affectionately, earnestly ask those given into your keeping if they are walking in the strait and narrow way. A single question may save a soul.—Illustrator.
Respect for the Scriptures.
By F. C. Monfort
RESPECT for God's word places it above all creeds and criticism. Where its language is plain, discussion should end. Men who commit themselves to creeds rather than to truth, may be compelled, like Balak the son of Zippor, to shift their ground or seek new deliverances; but the true student will resolve all questions into "What say the Scriptures?"—Rev. F. C. Monfort, D. D.
Rulers Who Heed Lies
"If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked."
The Christianity of the Old Testament.
By Prof. G. H. Schodde, Ph. D.
HISTORICALLY and doctrinally the Old Testament is the foundation of the New. To attempt to understand the gospels and the epistles without Moses and the prophets is like trying to erect a house without first having laid a foundation. This great truth is clearly recognized by Christ, and with him by the whole New Testament revelation, both directly and by implication. His coming is declared to have taken place "in the fullness of time," that is, when the gradual unfolding of God's plan for the redemption of mankind, of which development the Old Testament is the history and record, had reached such a stage that the central character in this kingdom of God on earth could appear in the flesh and find all things ready for him and his gospel. It is this idea of the kingdom of God on earth, and its unfolding in time, that forms the connecting link between the two Testaments and gives them their pivot and unity. They are both the records of one development, but describe this development in two phases. They accordingly belong together, and neither can be understood without the other.
Such being the inner relation and connection between the two Testaments, according to Christ and the New Testament, who are the best exegetes of, and the best commentary on, the Old Testament, it is no more than a natural conclusion that the same great principles of salvation which are the characteristic marks of the religion of the New Testament should also be found to prevail in the Old; and that the Christian gospel should be found to be the controlling factor in Old Testament religious life, however darkly and inadequately it might be expressed formaliter. And in fact an examination of the Old Testament religion, as this is laid open to us in the positive teachings and the actual religious life of the best representatives of genuine theocratic life, reveals the fact that the great truths of sin, repentance, and acceptance of God's grace through faith, which are the leading truths of Christ's gospel, were also the central and fundamental ideas of Israel's religion. The object of God's special covenant with Abraham, and later with Abraham's family and nation, and the selection of the peculiar means of a theocratico-political government, separating his people from all the surrounding nations, was to implant in Israel, and to develop in the religious life of this people, the great truths of salvation that are common to both dispensations.
His education of this one peculiar people, in his own way and manner, was to make through them the great gospel truths the lessons of history. The law was by no means the principle of the Old Testament covenant, nor did it directly or indirectly teach the doctrine of legal righteousness. Christ himself says (Matt. 23:23) that the weightier matters of the law were "judgment, mercy, and faith." And Paul (Gal. 3:24) says that the law was intended to be a "schoolmaster unto Christ." The law was then not to be, as later Rabbinical Judaism understood, or rather misunderstood it to be, a corpus of behests, the obedience to which entitled the person to the claim of righteousness and satisfaction for all transgression. The law had a deeper purpose. It was not an end in itself, but only the means to an end. Its aim was, by showing to the children of the covenant what the sum of duties were which God, by virtue of their sinful condition and of the special covenant relation, could and did claim from them, to lead them to a recognition of their actual state and relation towards God. It was intended to convict men of sin. Its purpose was in the old covenant the same as in the new; the great difference, however, being this, that in the old, on account of the theocratical government in Israel, in which the whole life of the Israelite was under the direct guidance of Jehovah, there was added to the moral law, which holds good for all times and for all men, a large number of laws teaching the theocratic life of the people. For them these ceremonial laws were of equal importance with the moral; but in the new dispensation they have fallen away, with the outward theocracy which they necessarily accompanied. The distinction between moral and ceremonial law is, then, not one formally stated in sacred Scripture, but one made by the course of development in the kingdom of God on earth. But the object of the law, in Israel's religious life, had as its first aim the conviction of sin, and as its further object, the directing of the repentant sinner to the mercy-seat.
For this, too, was evidently within the scope of the law. The Giver of the law manifestly never supposed that those living under it could ever comply with its commands, but that they would become unfaithful to their covenant relation, and would forfeit the blessings of this relation. The law, therefore, brought with it the sacrificial system of atonement and pardon, and thereby visibly represented to the eye of repentant faith the willingness of Jehovah to receive back into favor those who returned with contrite heart for their former disobedience. The system of the law, in its complex character, thus brought to life in the hearts of the faithful Israelites the fundamental truths of sin, repentance, and pardon through God's grace, and directed them on the paths of faith.
Hand in hand with this goes prophecy. The prophets, not only the literary prophets of later date, but also the earlier prophets, beginning with Moses himself, were the special ambassadors of God sent to direct and guide Israel in the growth of her national and religious life; and in the performance of this duty, it was their work to inculcate the great principles of this faith under the various vicissitudes of the wonderful history of this people. Yet their preaching at all times is a call to repentance to those who had departed from the landmarks set up by their covenant relation, and a promise that a return in contrition would find Jehovah full of grace and mercy. It was also within the sphere of prophecy to proclaim, with constantly growing clearness, the advent of the Messiah as the objective basis of this free grace of God. In the famous fifty-third chapter of Isaiah this Messianic gospel reaches such a height that the reader would suppose that the prophet had stood on Mount Calvary, and not that he had lived seven hundred years before that time.
The lives of representative men under the old covenant show the power of these great principles of Israel's faith. Their grandest expression we find in the psalms; these are the finest exposition in word and spirit of the central truths that filled the heart of the faithful. And here it is that we hear the gospel of sin, repentance, faith, and grace, uttered in such clear tones that none can mistake their meaning. These sacred songs show, as indeed the whole Old Testament does, that there was a Christianity before Christ, and that there were Christians before the day of Pentecost. There is indeed a difference between the two Testaments; but it is one of degree rather than of kind. They both describe the gradual unfolding in history and in the hearts of men of the great truths of salvation; the one describing this growth in its preparatory stage, and in a manner suitable to this stage; the other pictures it in its fullness and splendor after the Word had become flesh.—Prof. G. H. Schodde, Ph. D., in Old Testament Student.
Preparing for War.
By Christian at Work
It certainly does not seem as if the millennium of peace were very near, if we may judge from the signs of the times. Human nature seems, as it were, to be exhausting itself in the search after newer and deadlier weapons of warfare. The latest outcome appears to be a new torpedo, invented by Mr. Brennan, an Australian, and offered by him to the British Government. Preliminary trials have taken place, which proved so satisfactory that the Admiralty have agreed to adopt the torpedo as a part of the national armament. The torpedo is on a new principle. It is shot forth at marvelous speed, estimated by some observers at fifty miles an hour, impelled by a steam engine. It uncoils, as it goes, wires revolving inside the machine. These wires are connected with different propellers, so that the torpedo can be steered from the engine with great accuracy, and it has actually performed journeys of 2,000 yards, working in and out amongst the shipping, finally to be let go to strike the object aimed at, while the wires are drawn in for future use. The operator stands on the top of the fort and directs the course of the wheel. The same thing could be done from a ship. It is even practicable to stop the messenger in full flight, and send it on again. Jets of light are produced by some chemical agency, and are to indicate the position of the torpedo at night; but, being screened in front, are visible only to the observers in the rear.—Christian at Work.
The Value of Smiles.
WE were deeply impressed the other day with the value of smiles. Sitting in the Sabbath-school room, a lady stepped forward at the superintendent's request, to act as substitute for an absent teacher. It was a dark, gloomy day, and a dumpish, grumpy set of boys faced that teacher. They were in a "don't care" mood. Their teacher had deserted them; the superintendent was very slow in recognizing the fact; he had not once consulted them as to whom they would prefer; it was a plain case that nobody cared for them or showed them any respect, and they were resolved to show none to anybody. She stepped into the doubly-dark corner and smiled. It wasn't one of your goody-goody face smiles, thin and vapid, that seem to say, "Just see how nice I can be when I try." It was a heart-smile. The face had nothing to do with the smile except to wear it; and though it was a plain face it beamed, it shone. Why, the smile seemed even to light up the dark corner of that basement Sabbath-school room! The boys caught it and smiled too; they could not help it. They could not explain how; but they were fairly captured by the smile, and declared they never had such a teacher before, or such a lesson, though it was the driest lesson of the quarter. Can I explain it? Yes; it was sympathy—genuine, Christ-like sympathy—that sat on that woman's face; and when a soul filled with such love smiles, it goes straight to the heart, where mere superficial amiability—facial deceitfulness—disgusts.
Our Teacher's Journal.
Confession unto Salvation.
By Charles S. Pomeroy
Nothing so surely consumes the health and vigor of the soul as acting an unfelt part, like a pretender to piety on the one hand, or an unrepentant worldling, constantly denying his holiest convictions, on the other hand. Utter what you do not believe, and less and less will you be capable of really believing anything sound and true. Pretend what you do not feel, or stifle what you do feel, and feeling will die out. It is an inevitable law of retribution. Our emotions seek appropriate outward expression. Grief utters itself through tears; mirth speaks through laughter. So religious life, though seated in the soul, must have certain forms wherein to reveal itself. The attempt to make it dispense with these would do much to destroy it entirely.—Rev. Charles S. Pomeroy, D. D.
“Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High.” Ps. 50: 14.
The Advent Near.
By Editor
IN opening this subject we called attention to the most prominent objection urged against the faith that the advent of the Lord is near, which is, that the millennium must first come, and the world must first be converted. We offered (1) our reasons for believing that we may know to a certainty respecting the truth of any great doctrine of the Bible; and (2) we presented some of the plain Bible proofs that the modern doctrine of the millennium, or the conversion of the world, is not taught in the Scriptures, but that the contrary is plainly taught therein: The plain, decisive words of Christ and of Paul were quoted, which directly contradict that theory; and a large number of texts were also given corroborating their statements. The most plausible argument in favor of that theory that was ever adduced was examined and disproved. From all this we claim that the conclusion is unavoidable that the doctrine of the millennium, now so popular, does not present any objection to the faith that the coming of the Lord is now near, even at the doors. We now proceed to fulfill our promise to give further evidence to the same effect.
The Saviour gave Scripture examples as illustrations of the truth on this subject, as to the import of which we cannot be mistaken. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17 : 26-30.
In each of the cases here presented by the Saviour a sufficient warning was given that the calamities were impending. Noah preached to many concerning the coming of the flood, and showed his faith in the proclamation which he was required to give, by building an ark. It was this that gave power to his preaching, for it was this that condemned the world. Heb. 11 : 7. Lot also was commanded to warn his kindred of the coming destruction of the city. But to them "he seemed as one that mocked." Gen. 19 : 12-14. Thus it is seen that, although they knew not until the evils came upon them, their ignorance was worthy of all blame, for they might have known. But they did not wish to know; they would not know. Their overthrow was deserved, for they willfully rejected the word which the Lord in kindness sent to save them. "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."
Paul also says that "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." For this reason men will be saying, "Peace and safety," even when sudden destruction is impending. That day will indeed come upon them as a snare—as a thief in the night. But the apostle, speaking to the brethren, continues: "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5 : 2-4. And so also Peter, when discoursing of the Lord's coming, and the day of judgment and the perdition of ungodly men, says "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;" and after recounting some of the events connected therewith, speaks to his brethren who will see that day, saying, "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter 3. They will look for him (Heb. 9 : 28); they will know the time (Rom. 13 : 11); they will see the day approaching. Heb. 10 : 25. Compare chap. 9 : 28, and 10 : 36-39. All this is necessary to show a parallel between the days of Noah and of Lot and the day when the Son of man is revealed.
When the Saviour was answering the request of the disciples to tell them what shall be the sign of his coming, and of the end of the world, he used the same language and gave one of the examples that we have quoted from Luke 17. He said: "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24 : 37-39. But to those who will hearken to his words he says: "When ye shall see all these things, know that he is near, even at the doors." Verse 33. This is imperative; they are commanded to know. Now if they may know when it is near, because the Lord sends a message of warning; and if they are commanded to know, because the Lord requires that his word shall be heeded, and yet do not know, who will say that their destruction is not just? And this shows positively that the world will not be converted before his coming.
A word more for those who plead that we will not and cannot know anything about the time of the Lord's coming until he comes. In the days of Noah and of Lot, some knew that the events foretold were immediately impending, and by that knowledge were enabled to make their escape from the calamities of those days. And all who did not know were "taken away," or destroyed. "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." It has been shown that the world may know, because the warning will be given; and that some will know, for they will not be in darkness; they will heed the warning; they will know the time; they will see the day approaching.
Against the doctrine of the world's conversion, and in favor of the truth that the dispensation will end in a time of great perils and great declension of piety, we present two more points. It must and will be admitted that the seven trumpets of Revelation, chapters 8-11, reach to the end of this age. Events under the seventh trumpet prove this, such as the anger of the nations; the coming of the wrath of God; the time that the dead should be judged, and of giving reward to the saints. But the last trumpet introduces a woe upon the earth, and not a blessing; the anger of the nations, and not peace; and it is easily proved that the seven last plagues, in which "is filled up the wrath of God" (Rev. 15 : 1), are poured out under this trumpet. This point cannot be evaded by allowing a period of apostasy after the millennium; for the man of sin exists from the "falling away" to the Saviour's coming; and the last three trumpets are all woe trumpets, and not the last alone. See Rev. 8 : 13; 9 : 12; 11 : 14.
We have noticed the Saviour's interpretation of the parable of the tares of the field, Matt. 13. In that he says that the children of the kingdom and the children of the wicked one will grow together until the harvest, which is the end of the world, and when the end comes the separation will be made by the angels, who are the reapers. In Joel 3 : 9-13, the last days are brought to view, even unto the harvest. This scripture is exactly parallel with Rev. 14, 15, and 16. There is war and not peace in the last days. There is abounding wickedness, and not prevailing righteousness, in the last days. Joel 3 : 13 says: "Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great." "The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels."
Now we return to notice another point in the objection which we have been considering. It is this: "We cannot consent to the doctrine of the advent near, because many eminent men give interpretations to the prophecies which forbid our accepting it." We first reply that no man, however eminent and great in the eyes of the world, has any right to offer his interpretation of prophecies as a sufficient offset to the many positive scriptures which have been presented against their theory of the world's conversion. It savors neither of wisdom nor of reverence for a man to frame a system of theology, or devise interpretations of the prophecies, which contradict the plainest principles and the most positive declarations given by Christ and his apostles. And secondly, we say that their interpretations are not sustained by the very scriptures which they profess to interpret. We have time and space now to notice but a single instance.
It is inferred, and extensively preached, that because the heathen will be given to Christ, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession (Ps. 2 : 7, 8), that therefore he will convert and save them all. Against this we urge (1) that he never yet has converted and saved all the nations of the earth. Myriads of heathen have gone down to death and to darkness unconverted and unsaved. And (2) this psalm does not intimate that he will ever convert them, but it teaches the very opposite. Verses 8 and 9 read as follows: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." We safely appeal to all that the only idea presented here, consequent upon the gift to the Son of the nations of the earth, is that of their destruction, and not at all of their conversion. Many a fine sermon on verse 8 would be utterly spoiled if the preacher would read verse 9 in connection. But the people love to hear "smooth things;" they love the cry of "peace and safety," and the ministry conform to the popular desire. At another time we will further trace this idea of the destiny of the nations when they shall be given to Christ.
Church Discipline—Question.
By Editor
"A BROTHER has been disfellowshipped, but still attends the meetings, and frequently speaks in social meeting, exhorting the brethren to holiness of life, etc. His attitude toward the church is rather boastful and defiant, and his influence tends to discord. Should he be silenced, and if so, how?"
This question presents to our notice an evil which is often found, and which needs to be dealt with decidedly and promptly. It is the duty of the elder to protect his church from an influence which tends to discord. It is his duty to see that the vote of the church in disfellowshiping a member shall be respected.
1. We are to take for granted that the action of the church in disfellowshiping him was right and necessary; that the church was justified in so doing.
2. It is the duty of the church to stand by its own action. By suffering its action to be disregarded, or by sympathizing with those who disregard such action, the church virtually says that its action was wrong; in effect, it places itself under condemnation. This is too plainly the case to require argument. If the vote to disfellowship was wrong, it ought to be rescinded and confession made. But if it was right, then consistency and justice require that the vote be maintained in letter and spirit; justice to the215church, to the cause of truth, to the community before which they act, and to the erring individual.
3. It is the duty of the elder to see that the action of the church is properly carried out. If a person persists in speaking in the meetings after being disfellowshipped, when it becomes evident that strife and discord will be the result, he should be requested to desist, or, if necessary, he should be rebuked. And of course the church should uphold its officer in administering the rebuke. Care should be exercised that it be done in the right spirit; if it is not, the enemy will take advantage of it, and the discord and strife will be increased.
4. We have known, as we have elsewhere noticed, an individual to be disfellowshipped when there could not exist a single doubt that the action was right, and yet he was permitted to speak in the meetings until, by his insinuating and plausible method of pleading for sympathy, he gained control of the feelings of almost the entire church. The consequence was just what was to be expected; the church was nearly destroyed.
5. In the case in question, there can be no doubt that the action of the church was right. If the church had erred, if the man were in the right, he would pursue a far different course from that described. He would then show that he valued the privileges of church membership, and the importance of church discipline; in a brotherly, Christian manner he would try to convince the brethren of their wrong, or present the case to his Conference for investigation.
6. If he had the spirit of a brother indeed, and really valued the privileges of the meetings, he would manifest humility under the action of the church, whether that action were right or wrong. He would examine his own heart and take no step to injure the church by intruding upon it in a manner which he could but know would prove repulsive. If a person is disfellowshipped and assumes a defiant air, manifesting self-confidence and a spirit of self-justification, we think no further proof is needed to show that he has no place in the church, until, by humility and confession, he has proved that he is converted.
7. We request those who are specially interested in such cases to read again our remarks on church organization being necessary to carry out the New Testament directions, and concerning those who think they live good Christian lives just as well out of the church as in it. The church being the body of Christ, all his members must be in it. He who stands outside of God's order and assumes a boastful and defiant attitude toward those who are in that order, manifests great pride of heart, and shows that he is self-loving, and not cross-bearing. We pity the person; we pity the church and its officers who have to deal with such restless spirits.