Earlier text: THE TERRIBLE FAMINE IN CHINAWILL IT PAY?
By J. B. Goodrich
We often hear people say they want to work where they can get the best pay; and all avail themselves of any opportunity to secure a place of labor where there will be no failure in this respect. This is both reasonable and right. How often we see men work for months, and then lose their wages. Everything is uncertain in this life. But the person who enters the missionary field to work in the vineyard of the Master for the salvation of precious souls for whom Christ died, is engaged in a noble work, and the result will be glorious and the reward sure. There is no such thing as a failure in this cause; “but he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto eternal life.” Therefore, if we possess the real missionary spirit, and work in harmony with the mind of the Spirit of God, we need not fear the result. He who makes the right use of his talents and sacrifices for the truth’s sake will lay up in store for himself a good foundation against the time to come, and will be ready to lay hold on eternal life. The apostle says: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches [margin, uncertainty of riches], but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.” 1 Tim. 6:17,18. We shall soon be called to give an account of our stewardship, and the Judgment will reveal our true character; and if we are found to be the servants of God, we shall have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. It will be true wisdom for us to invest some of our capital in the cause of present truth; and it will pay, for in the end the promise will be fulfilled to us: “And that which he hath given will he pay him again.” Prov. 19:17. Brethren and sisters, let our hearts beat in unison with the spirit of this work, and let our actions show that we believe that the third angel’s message is the last message to be given before Jesus comes. We are too near the Judgment to be picking at straws. There is so much work to be done that there is not a moment to spare in fault-finding. The Lord is coming, and that very soon; and who will be ready to meet him? Those that sacrifice self and all that they have for the truth’s sake. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Ps. 51:17. Will it pay to work for the Master? J. B. GOODRICH. OUR CAMP-MEETINGS.
By N. W. Vincent
Who can doubt that the Lord Jesus meets with his people in a special manner at our camp-meetings? Is not this inducement enough to lead us to make sacrifices to attend them? When once our Saviour appointed a meeting on a mountain-side in Galilee (Mat. 28:16), what a precious privilege it was for all invited to attend it! Dear brethren, let us feel especially invited to attend our coming camp-meetings. God forbid that Satan should hinder us. Let us meet in the name of Jesus, having a full purpose to do our whole duty with meekness and zeal. Leaving worldly cares behind, let us take our children and our neighbors with us; and let us be sure that we have the blessed Christ in our company, yes, in each of our hearts. Let us remember our duty to pray for God’s ministers. Evening and morning let us pray that God will lead them, strengthen them, and greatly encourage their hearts; and that he will pour out his Holy Spirit upon all of us at our coming meetings. Let our hope be in our pitying Redeemer. Let our faith be without wavering. Soon these precious opportunities will be past forever. Can we give too much diligence to make our calling to Christ’s kingdom sure? Are we fearful of helping too freely the work of God, the cause of present truth? Christ has said, “If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.” The apostle that counted all that he had but loss that he might win Christ, assures us that “he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” Christ’s glorious appearing is near. If we are faithful he will bring us a satisfying and immortal reward. DISCUSSION IN CANADA.
By A. C. Bourdeau
About the last of March I heard a discourse by Mr. A. Hardie, Methodist preacher of Coaticook, on the subject of the Sabbath, which I reviewed that day at 4:30 P. M. At the close of his discourse I was allowed to ask questions, and to speak awhile; whereupon, in a candid manner, it was decided that a discussion should be held on the Sabbath question between Mr. Hardie and myself, in the Methodist house at Dixville, on Wednesday, April 3, in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Several ministers, and a large concourse of people attended the discussion. I led out, and held that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was made for man, and is a part of God's holy law, which is immutable. At first Mr. Hardie took the position that God changed his own law of ten commandments at the exode, after Moses broke the first tables; and that Christ also changed the moral law at his first advent. This, I showed, was contrary to plain Bible declarations, and opposed to the teachings of Luther, Wesley, Barnes, the Methodist Discipline, etc. Then Mr. H. asserted that time has been lost, that we cannot tell when the seventh day comes, and hence are only required to keep a seventh part of time. Here I reminded him of the statement he had made just the Sunday before,—that Saturday was kept for four thousand years, from creation to the cross, and that Sunday was the day on which Christ arose from the dead. And I further showed that this view was contrary to clear scriptural evidence, and the evidence of the world; for in Asia, Europe, Africa, and America all agree that Saturday is the old seventh-day Sabbath. Mr. Hardie held that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, which he was pleased to call Jewish, was abolished, and that now Sunday is kept to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. But here, again, he had no Bible proof to substantiate his position. The Holy Scriptures definitely point out the seventh-day as “the Sabbath of the Lord.” It is not called Jewish. In favor of its observance we have the example of the patriarchs, the prophets, Christ, and the apostles, who all kept it. On the other hand, there is no evidence in favor of Sunday. Dr. Neander says, “The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance.” Dr. Buck says, “It must be confessed that there is no law in the New Testament concerning the first day.” No: and the Bible nowhere shows that that day was kept as the Sabbath, either by Christ or his apostles, or by any of the primitive church. In his last address, Mr. H. left the question, made some exaggerated speeches about us and our work which candid, thinking minds could not sanction; and finally brought some sprinkling of quotations from the fathers to make it appear that those who keep Sunday are on the right track. I showed that the fathers contradict themselves, and are not safe guides; and the Lord helped in summing up the claims of his holy day. The cause of truth has gained new friends, some of whom have already decided in favor of the truth. In a certain town in Wisconsin, a certain man calling himself “evangelist” held many meetings called union meetings among Methodists, Congregationalists, Seventh-day Baptists, and Universalists. After a great many had been converted, he told his converts “not to be particular about the day of the Sabbath; for that is non-essential.” “It will not be asked in Heaven which day you kept, nor how you were baptized.” I presume his converts accepted this advice, for few, if any, have witnessed any symptoms of genuine repentance among these converts. This evangelist receives high wages from the “Young Men’s Christian Association.” This is among the movements in these days which are very suggestive. But, at present, I make no comments. Did you ever notice what a different aspect everything wears in the sunshine from what it does in the shadow? And did you ever think what an analogy there is between the sunlight of the cloudless skies, and the sunshine that gleams into the darkened chambers of the human soul? How bright and beautiful are the golden beams that break the riven clouds to lighten up the world again after a succession of dark and stormy days. How happy and peaceful are the blissful words of hope and cheer that touch the heart and fill the soul with emotions of peace and joy after a long period of sorrow. There are none living who do not, in a greater or less degree, have an influence over the earthly happiness of others. The sense of contributing to the happiness of others augments our own happiness. Unselfishness, Christian charity, and loving-kindness, are sunbeams of the soul.—Selected. As the tremulous needle, however easily affected by foreign influences, never ceases to vibrate till it finds its rest in the center of attraction; so, the sensitive soul of the Christian, too easily disturbed by external forces, finds no rest but in God. If, for a moment, the enemy is permitted to harass with accusations of guilt, in him it finds pardon and peace. In weakness it turns to him for strength; in darkness, for light; in trials, for direction. Under all circumstances, it never fails to find in God an all sufficient and sustaining portion. BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DO.
By R. F. Cottrell
The religion of the Bible consists in believing what God says, and doing what he commands. “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” Eccl. 12:14. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” Jas. 1:22, 25, 27. To obey God’s perfect law, honoring him and doing righteous deeds to our fellow-men, is religion pure and undefiled. The opposite kind of religion, of course, is impure and defiled. The religion of many consists chiefly in feeling. They do what they feel it duty to do; but they do not always feel it duty to do what God says. They say they know that they are accepted of God; for they feel it so in their very souls. “The Lord saves me, and he saves me now,” is a favorite form of expression. They know God answers their prayers, because they feel it so. On the contrary, an apostle has said, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” John 3:22. Here it is again: Blessed are they that do. Now feeling is not faith. It is all right when it is founded in faith and obedience to the word of the Lord. When a man has an intelligent faith in what God has revealed, and does what that revelation requires, he has a right to feel and to rejoice in the Lord. What is it which distinguishes the true religion from all false religions? Is it not that the truth of God lies at its foundation? True feeling, then, will always be found in conformity to this truth. Then a person must be intelligent in the truth before he can depend upon his feelings. Do not false religionists feel? Do they not manifest a religious zeal? What but the most ardent feeling of devotion could cause a heathen mother to cast her infant into the river Ganges to be devoured by the monsters of the deep? or to cast herself before the car of Juggernaut to be crushed to atoms? I think that there is feeling in every kind of religion; and therefore we will be deceived if we trust to feeling, unless we know that our faith and works are in harmony with the truth of God. The first and most pressing want of the people in these days is instruction in the truth as revealed in God’s word. They need a true foundation for their faith; and then they want a faith that will cause them to act,—to do what that word requires. Their ears have been turned away from the truth to fables. This is as Paul foretold it would be. Sensational preaching stirs the religious sentiments or faculties, producing certain emotions or feelings, and this passes for genuine Bible religion, though many of the duties therein revealed are neglected entirely, either from ignorance or unwillingness to obey. I repeat it: Truth is the thing which distinguishes true religion from every false way. The truth is in our Bibles; but in a land of Bibles the great need of the people is to be instructed in the truth. They talk of worshiping God in spirit; but they that worship him must worship him “in spirit and in truth.” The truth is in the word of God. “Thy word is truth.” John 17:17. “Thy law is the truth.” Ps. 119:142. “All thy commandments are truth.” V. 151. This refers to the moral law, the ten commandments. Every word of them is true; every jot and tittle of this law shall endure till heaven and earth pass. Matt. 5:18. Yet the leading ministers and churches of to-day are treading the fourth commandment of that law under foot. God is now pleading with them, saying, “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 58:13, 14. On the other hand, God is now sending a fearful message of warning to the nations of the earth, saying, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” At the same time he is calling the attention of all to his patient, enduring, and obedient people, saying, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” See Rev. 14:9-12. Through the influence of apostasy, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment has been disregarded, and another institution has been put in its place, according to the prophecy of a wicked power that should “think to change times and laws.” Dan. 7:25. This same power is the beast, against the worship and mark of which we are being warned. Rev. 13:1-10. The Roman popedom is the power thus foretold; and the Roman Church to-day claims that their church changed “the Sabbath into Sunday,” or “substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.” See their doctrinal works. Now the question is, Shall we follow the changes and corruptions of the popedom, or shall we keep the commandments of God? Does it make any difference whether we have the light of God’s word, and walk in that, or follow the traditions of an apostate church,141 which claims the power to change the law which God spake with his own voice, and wrote with his own finger, and to “substitute” something else in its place? In a land of Bibles, and in which God’s voice is being heard in fulfillment of the last message of warning promised in his word, will it be just as well to walk on in darkness, following the dictates of a fallen church which blasphemously claims to make laws for God, “if the heart is only right”? We have the word of the living and true God; and Jesus says, “Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” Luke 11:28. Jesus said to the apostate Jewish church, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” Mark 7:9. Is not this his voice to the professed Christian Church to-day? Let us hear Jesus. “Not every one,” says he, “that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” Matt. 7:21. Listen to his voice again, in his last benediction to his people, recorded in the book of Revelation: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14. Sabbath Discussion in Ohio.
By Joseph H. Waggoner
While in Battle Creek, in March, I received a letter from Bro. St. John in which he said that Eld. Z. S. Vail had sent propositions for a discussion, and he requested me to open correspondence with him. This I declined to do, not wishing to have anything to do with it unless it was pressed upon me. This is that Eld. Vail who had a debate of about eight days with Eld. Loughborough, in Ohio, several years ago. As near as I could learn, he has spent much of the time since that debate in boasting what he then did. On my return to Ohio I found it had been worked up so that Bro. St. John thought a discussion could not well be avoided, and it was accordingly agreed to discuss the Law and Sabbath, and the Sunday, six evenings. Before my return, Eld. V. had published his propositions in the Clyde Sentinel, one of which stated that the New Testament and church history warrant us in keeping Sunday. In our conversation he affirmed that the early history of the church was as good authority on this question as the New Testament; but being pressed upon the point he was unwilling to go before the people on that position, and changed the question, insisting, however, on the privilege of appealing to history, which was granted to him. In affirming, I first noticed the distinction of the two laws, and gave the reasons of the Sabbath institution; that it was sanctified, set apart to sacred use from creation, &c. To the surprise of all, Eld. V. did not attempt to invalidate my argument, but read what he had written beforehand, having no manner of reference to the points I had made. In regard to the word sanctify, to which I specially called his attention, he said he did not care about definitions of words, he had nothing to do with them! He said, and several times too, that Nehemiah said the Sabbath was made known to Israel at the time the manna fell, which proved that it was not known before. I read from Nehemiah, showing that this was on Mt. Sinai, thirty days after the manna first fell, as also Eze. 39:7, showing that his inference was directly contrary to the Scriptures; yet he continued to repeat his assertions. These are but examples of his course. The third evening I made the following points in the New Testament: The law is the revealed will of God. Compare Matt. 7:21-23; John 7:16, 17; Rom. 2:17-23. By the law sin is made known. It proves all the world, both Jews and Gentiles, sinners. It is not made void by the gospel. The gospel is necessarily based on it, as the gospel relates to sin, and sin is the violation of the law. And judgment will finally be by the law. Rom. 2:12, 16; Eccl. 12:13, 14. Instead of replying to these, he read from his manuscript, occupying fifteen minutes, and said he had nothing more to do, and threw up his time, not even attempting to touch one of my arguments. In all my knowledge of discussions I never knew a man to make such an utter failure. He confessed to the difference of the two laws, as claimed by me, but in his pretended argument he ignored this difference, saying it was all one law and was all abolished, so contradicting himself. He asserted that the Sabbath precept was not moral but the other nine were, but I could not, with much urging, get him to offer a reason for the assertion. I gave reasons why the whole ten are moral, and offered to examine any reason he would give to the contrary. He only said it was so; and finally said he had shown it to be so, though he could not tell why it is so. When he had obtained consent to occupy the remaining three evenings on the Sunday question, he promptly withdrew one, saying his business would not permit him to be there more than two evenings. On the first, he instituted an argument on the conditions of salvation, to show that the keeping of any day is not one of them; he said it is conceded there is no commandment to keep Sunday, and it is no condition of salvation. On this, and regarding the first question, he consumed the whole evening. Seeing his evident object, to hastily run over all his proofs and historical statements at the close, without giving time to have them examined, I took up the New Testament and examined the texts which speak of the first day. He said the primary duty under the new dispensation is, to repent. When I showed that repentance is a relative duty, and that the existence of sin, of which to repent, proves the existence of the law, as the primary rule of obligation, he tried to make the audience believe that I had said that to sin was the first duty, and to repent a secondary duty. I felt it in place to sharply rebuke such dishonest quibbling, and it told strongly on the hearers. The next evening, as I anticipated, he read a few texts, and hastily went over the usual quotations from Barnabas, &c., &c. I showed by well-accredited authorities that some of his quotations were apocryphal, and others misconstrued, to make them teach to the purpose, and he made no effort to vindicate them. So far as could be determined from his course, I think he is utterly ignorant of the facts of history with which he pretended to deal. Had he stood to his agreement, and occupied the three evenings, I had histories present from which to fully prove the fallacy of his position. I had the privilege, however, of reading some good testimonies from the fathers, such as are kept from the people by the advocates of Sunday. Amongst his own people Eld. Vail has passed for a strong man. He is unusually strong in assertions, but not otherwise. He is one of that class, unfortunately too numerous, who pay no regard to the plainest Bible statements when they stand in his way. It is always trying to the feelings to be compelled to deal with such men; yet the discussion has done good. Some who had heard of him as an able man expected he would do something to uphold the Sunday; but he really overthrew it. He conceded everything that could be asked of him, before he took up the cause of Sunday at all. People generally suppose that it is a duty to keep Sunday, and not to keep it is to incur the displeasure of the Lord. But he destroyed all that by removing it entirely from the conditions of salvation. And many heard the reasons of our faith on the Sabbath as an institution dating from the creation, who were not aware that the foundation was so strong as it was then made to appear. Some have confessed that the Sabbath argument is much clearer to their minds than it ever before appeared. And some are reading with interest who had no interest before. How many myriads of eyes are now peering anxiously into the dark future. On the cars, the other day, we could but notice the general themes of conversation. They were the present unsettled state of society, the financial depression, the scarcity of work, and the consequent prospect of want and suffering; and the chief speaker, with a lugubrious oath, declared that he did not know what these things were coming to. To him whose treasures are in this world, whose affections and hopes are here, no ray appears to alleviate the gloomy prospect. One class of people only are prepared to consider the embarrassing present and the more cheerless future, undisturbed. They are those who understand why this condition of things has occurred, and what it means; who perceive that they have reached the time of which the New Testament speaks when it says that in the last days perilous times shall come, and that men's hearts will fail them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. So the deeper the darkness, the more light for the child of God; the more troublous the times, the greater the peace and joy that may reign in his heart; not on account of the troubles in themselves considered, but because they mark the coming of the long reign of life and peace for which we wait. In the language of Wesley's hymn we can say:— “Whatever ills the world befall,
A pledge of endless good we call,
A sign of Jesus near.”
As an exhibition of the financial condition of the country, and to show how it is regarded in the commercial world, we give the following from the Boston Herald of Apr. 23, headed “A Dismal Report”:— “We have never seen a more dismal bit of reading than the return of commercial failures in the United States for the first quarter of the present year. Nothing so bad is to be found on the blackest pages of the panics of the past. Messrs. Dun, Barlow & Co. report the number of failures since Jan. 1 at 3355, and the amount of liabilities at $82,078,826. The disastrous magnitude of these figures may be measured by one fact. Since the first three-months’ statement made its appearance in 1875, Messrs. Dun, Barlow and Co. have compiled thirteen quarterly returns, and the latest is by far the worst in every aspect. Until now the highest number of failures had been 2869, during the first three months of 1877, and the heaviest liabilities had been $69,887,850, in the last quarter of 1875. The statement just issued exceeds the darkest previous record by 486 failures and by $12,190,976 liabilities. To show the swift and fearful growth of commercial decay in every section of the country, except perhaps in California, we give below tables of the number of failures and the sums failed for during the first quarter of 1878 and 1877. We append in a third column the figures for the same period in 1875, the earliest date among the quarterly reports.” Number of failures in first quarter. |
1878. |
1877. |
1875. |
|---|
| Eastern States |
539 |
418 |
356 |
| Middle States |
950 |
918 |
590 |
| Southern States |
483 |
384 |
369 |
| Western States |
1218 |
969 |
538 |
| Pacific States |
165 |
180 |
99 |
| Total |
3355 |
2869 |
1952 |
|
1878. |
1877. |
1875. |
|---|
| Eastern States |
$11,016,974 |
$6,798,408 |
$8,814,955 |
| Middle States |
32,274,606 |
23,308,354 |
18,623,146 |
| Southern States |
11,699,029 |
6,666,391 |
6,689,784 |
| Western States |
25,014,081 |
15,545,398 |
8,234,702 |
| Pacific States |
2,074,136 |
2,219,519 |
1,314,416 |
| Total |
$82,078,826 |
$54,538,070 |
$43,176,953 |
“It will be seen that since last year the failures have increased by 385 and the liabilities by $27,540,756, while within three years the present four figures show the really terrific augmentation of 1373 in the number of failures, and of $38,901,873 in the amount of the liabilities. If the totals for the whole year should bear their usual proportion to those of the first quarter, the number of failures during 1878 would rise to 11,266, and the liabilities would show a total of $295,000,000. These respective aggregates would be far greater than any on record in the commercial annals of the United States.” A CHEERING WORD FROM VERMONT.
A private letter received from Eld. Albert Stone, Eden Mills, Vt., contains the following cheering words which we take the liberty here to reproduce for the benefit of the readers of the REVIEW:— “The good cause is advancing in Vermont. Many are reading, and hearts are being prepared to receive the truth. The little church in Eden and Johnson received good additions as the fruit of our good camp-meeting at Morrisville. Our meetings, which were good before, have increased in interest since that time. “The interest in our Sabbath-school is rising. One sister over seventy years of age takes her place weekly with the little children and recites from forty to sixty verses out of the New Testament. “We rejoice in the general prosperity of the cause, and the good evidences we have that God is in the work. We sympathize with the truth and its abettors, whether they are in Europe or America, and rejoice in the hope that when the day of trial and toil shall be over, we may meet the entire family on the other shore.” “THIS GOSPEL.”
By Albert Stone
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Does this text refer to the general preaching of the gospel during the centuries of the past, or to a particular phase of the gospel that would be necessary to meet the requirements of the people of God at a particular time? It seems to us the latter. The object of the passage is to show the time of the second advent. Taking the former view, its force seems to be lost. The sound of the gospel went into all the world in the days of the apostles. Rom. 10:8. Since that time it has made the circuit of the earth, giving a second and more full testimony. According to the former view, two periods eighteen hundred years apart are given for the advent. We think the passage applies to the preaching of John the Baptist, and of the twelve and the seventy apostles. They were sent to prepare the way of the Lord’s first advent; but the particular phase of the gospel which they preached, though absolutely necessary at that time, would be inappropriate and unfitting after the death of Christ. Their preaching was limited to Judea and to the Jews, and differed, in many particulars, from the preaching that was to follow the resurrection of Christ. The first was to introduce to the Jewish nation the Messiah of the prophecies; the second was to go into all the world, and carry the good news of a crucified and risen Saviour to the perishing nations of the earth. The teaching of Christ, in this passage, seems to be that the message of John would cease at the cross, having performed its office for that time, but would be taken up again just before the second coming of Christ, and become the voice of him that crieth, not in Judea simply, but in the wilderness of all the world, to prepare the way of the Lord in his second coming to judge the world. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, to proclaim the first advent of Christ, and is a fitting representative of those who shall go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, to herald the day of wrath, and the second advent of Christ. The three angels’ messages of Rev. 14, now being proclaimed, are the Heaven-appointed counterpart of the preaching of John in Judea. As a whole, it is the most dignified and important message that God has ever sent to man. In the first instance it tested the character and decided the fate of the Jews. In the second, it will test the character and decide the fate of the last generation of men. God did not reject the Jews when they persecuted and killed his prophets, but when, last of all, he sent his Son from Heaven to save them, and they rejected and crucified him, he gave them up to their strong delusions, to believe a lie, and to drink the bitter cup of retribution. Never had unbelief been so bold and defiant. Theirs was the most astounding rejection of God’s revealed truth that ever had been. To them, it was a matter of infinite moment; yet with the proofs before them, they incurred the guilt of setting them aside. No other people had rejected so great light, no other people have endured so great punishment. Such was the experience of the Jews in rejecting the first edition of the gospel of the kingdom. What shall be the experience of the church and people of the Gentile world under the second edition? The history of the Jews is revealed as a warning to us upon whom the ends of the world are come. They would not improve upon the light given them, but instead, endeavored to extinguish it. They found an unequal warfare in fighting against God. Will a repetition of this warfare, under greater light, be more successful? If they fell through unbelief, can we stand without faith? Will not the same law that condemned them, condemn us if we are guilty of the same sins? The Jews, as a nation, had their last call. Will not the world have their last call? What if the present call, as it purports, should prove to be the last? What valid evidence is there that it is not? Is the fact that the majority disbelieve, good evidence? Then the warning given through Noah to the Old World was a false alarm; and the preaching of John to the Jews was a myth. After the examples of the past, have men yet to learn that unbelief is not a saving ordinance? If not, then let us no longer practically regard it as such. IS IT STRANGE?
By A. S. Hutchins
In the last verse of the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, we read the promise of the Saviour to the disciples as follows: “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Some men refer us to this text as proof that at some period of time prior to the death of all the immediate followers of Christ, his kingdom was set up on earth. When we point them to the transfiguration of Christ, recorded in the first verses of the following chapter, which set forth the future glorious kingdom in miniature, thereby manifestly fulfilling this promise, we are met with this question, “Is it not strange that Christ should say to the disciples in substance, Some of you will live from six to eight days?” Now if we understand the subject, the misapprehension lies right here: The Saviour designed to instruct them with reference to the glorious revelation which should be made unto them, not how long they should live. All the godly of every age up to that time had passed away without having seen the kingdom of God. They had not even seen it in miniature, as it was revealed to Peter, James, and John. Myriads of saints have since lived, who have died without the dazzling view of the glory of the future kingdom, as revealed on the mount of transfiguration. There are those now living who are watching with great interest the evidences of the soon-coming of the King in all his unveiled glory. They are looking forward in joyful anticipation to the time when “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” In this kingdom will be found the saints of every age,—those who have been translated to Heaven, and all who shall be found ready for translation at the coming of Christ, with all the truly righteous who have slumbered or may slumber in the dust. The surpassing glory enshrouding the disciples at the transfiguration of Jesus, is a lively and fitting representation of the glory which shall fill the earth in its redeemed state. Of this glory the Lord spake when he said, “As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Num. 14:21. I see nothing strange in the promise of the Saviour referred to, unless it is that he should promise so great a blessing to mortal men. Respecting this scene on the holy mount, Peter says, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty.” Who of us will be prepared to hear the King say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”? The connection of this text shows that it will be such as work and suffer with the Lord. A. S. HUTCHINS. A CASE OF PERSECUTION.
By Watchman
OUR readers have been told something about the Seventh-day Baptists of Pennsylvania, who are made to suffer under the laws of the State for living in accordance with their faith. They are quiet and orderly citizens. They rest and worship one day in each week, which is the essence of Sabbath-keeping. All this is admitted. But they are punished like evil-doers. We do not see how any Protestant, with the light of ordinary common-sense, and with Christian love in his soul, can do aught but condemn this, as an instance of gross persecution. But to our surprise, we find the following in the editorial columns of The New York Evangelist:— “Senator Jones, of our State Legislature, this winter renewed his effort of last year to procure the passage of a bill exempting from the penalties for violation of the Sabbath laws, persons who religiously observe the seventh day of the week. The effort, however, failed more decisively than before. The like result has attended an attempt since to place it in a modified form as a rider on another bill relating to public morals. The Senator is a worthy Philadelphian, of unquestioned Christian character, and there is no doubt that sincerity of conviction has led him to champion the cause of the Jews and Seventh-day Baptists. But in this State the cause of the Sabbath has, within the last year, assumed an importance which forbids any paltering with the claims of the day for a full legal protection. The country has adjusted its legislation to the apostolical ‘first day of the week.’ The dissentients are few in number, and the establishment of two legal Sabbaths (which would be the final result of the legislation sought) would be of disastrous effect upon the one institution as it is. Just now our Sabbath laws are the last of all things to be tampered with.” The editor introduces this as part of a letter from Philadelphia, but he utters no word of dissent. Had it appeared merely as correspondence, its admission to the columns of the Evangelist would have been sufficiently surprising. But when it is given the prominence of the editorial columns, and is sent forth to the world without a syllable of criticism, we must suppose that the editor approves it. The reference to the small number of those who are under the harrow is ineffably mean. If it is right to persecute ten men, it is right to persecute a million; and if it would be a crime to persecute a million, it is equally a crime to persecute ten. This is a question of principles, and not of numbers. With what conscience can the Evangelist denounce persecution in Russia and Turkey, while advocating it thus at home? With what reason can it urge Austria and Spain to protect the Protestants there, who are few in number, while lending its aid to fan the fires of religious passion in America, the home of religious freedom, on the ground that the persons made to suffer are not numerous? Perhaps our readers need to be told that the Evangelist does not represent the Romanists, but the Presbyterians, of the United States.—Watchman.