SUCH is the appellation of the children of God in the relation they bear to their fellow-men while passing through this world as candidates for immortality. Upon the tablet of the Christian's daily life are inscribed thoughts, words, and acts, that are more or less open to the gaze of mankind, who readily trace the intricacies of the inscription, and pass judgment favorable or adverse to the religion of the Bible.
What carefulness, then, ought to characterize the deportment of the Christian in public and private life, knowing that such weighty responsibility rests upon him as a representative of divine truth. The fact that heavenly angels are ever near to encourage or reprove, should be an incentive to purity of speech and holiness of life. The little child, if a lamb of Christ's flock, is watched over with tender solicitude by a holy angel, and in every act of its life it should consider whether it would be approved by that pure guardian, who ever beholds the face of our Heavenly Father. Matt. 18:10.
The mother, moving amid the duties of the domestic circle, may improperly consider her life a blank in the volume of Christian achievements, and, desponding, relax her diligence at the post of duty Heaven has assigned.
But no influence in the Christian world is more potent for good than that of the domestic circle where religious principles control its operations; and who has greater influence to mold the plastic mind of children than their own loved mother?
Most of the great and good men that have blest the Christian church and the world, owe their greatness to the benign influence of their childhood's home. Christian mothers, you are living epistles whose indelible character may, if you will, with joy be traced by your children and others, even though you should pass away. Christ is the vine, and his people are the branches. John 15:5. If they abide in him, they bear fruit. Verse 5. See also Gal. 5:22. They are holy. Rom. 11:16. They are temples of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 3:16. And they are attended by angel guards. Heb. 1:14. The daily life is an inscription read by men whereby they judge concerning this truth.
Reader, what have you transcribed for the gaze of men and angels? How read they concerning you? and how judge they through you concerning the faith you profess? A. SMITH.
AROMA, ILLINOIS.
By D. T. Bourdeau
THIS town is on the Iroquois River, toward Papineau. I have now given thirteen discourses in two school-houses, and some are receiving the truth. We hold our first Sabbath meeting Feb. 7. We are in a stronghold of spiritualists, and two of my discourses last Sunday were against spiritualism. At the close of my first discourse, I was attacked by three spiritualists, and spent more than an hour answering questions and arguments. Strength and clearness were granted me for the occasion. As the result of this effort, and of one made at another point the same day, many minds were helped, and some who were leaning toward spiritualism took their stand against it.
Feb. 5. D. T. BOURDEAU.
BLOOMINGTON, ILL.
By J. F. Ballenger
I CAME to this place Jan. 16, and held meetings over Sabbath and Sunday. On first-day we held a business meeting, to consider the subject of canvassing the city for our periodicals, and also the propriety of making an effort to build a church in this place. We gave some instruction with reference to canvassing, after which several brethren and sisters volunteered to engage in the work. Accordingly the city was districted, and each was assigned his section in which to solicit subscribers for the SIGNS, Good Health, and the Instructor. Since coming to this place we have visited the brethren at Grinley, Mackinaw, Tremont, and Leroy. With some of them we held public services; with others this was impracticable, the brethren being unable to meet together on account of bad roads. We visited them at their homes, however, and with one or two exceptions found them awake and ready for every good word and work. Before the holidays we held some meetings in the neighborhood of Mackinaw. Three took their stand to keep the Lord's Sabbath.
J. F. BALLENGER.
COMPROMISE, ILL.
By E. O. Hammond
COMMENCED meetings in this place Dec. 28. The Disciple preacher was inclined to oppose us from the beginning; he was anxious for a debate on the law question. At his regular appointment he attacked us on the "Law and Sabbath." We took notes, and after he dismissed his congregation we called them to order, and took a vote as to whether we should review him. Nearly all present voted for the review, which was undertook, we think, with good results. We are now giving a course of lectures in an adjoining neighborhood, with a good interest. The interested ones from the other district attend here also, and the prospect looks fair for good to be done in the name of the Lord. Bro. J. L. Dickson, who was licensed at our last Conference, is teaching school here, and assists in our meetings. He was formerly a member of the Disciple church, but was convinced on the Sabbath question by reading the debate between Elds. Waggoner and Vogel.
Feb. 10. E. O. HAMMOND.
WATAUGA COUNTY, S. C.
By L. P. Hodges
I HAVE distributed in this county a great many tracts and papers; and since my return to my home, I have mailed “ United States in Prophecy,” “ The Truth Found,” and other tracts and pamphlets. As the result, two more have commenced keeping the Sabbath, and others are interested. I visited a Sabbath-keeping family in the South-western portion of this county, and spoke twice. The Lord gave me liberty, and some are interested. We hope to see others here take their stand on all the commandments of God. The quarterly meeting of the Watauga church, Jan. 3, 4, was very encouraging. The Lord helped in speaking. All paid some of their s. s. One united with us in church fellowship, and others will join us at our next quarterly meeting. Here in the mountains of North Carolina we need a good S. D. A. minister. It takes patience to labor here, but I am convinced that a great deal of good could be accomplished. L. P. HODGES.
ADMAH, NEBRASKA.
By A. J. Cudney
The meetings here continue to be well attended. I think as many as fifteen have commenced to obey the truth, eight of whom have signed the covenant. We had a meeting last Sabbath, with about thirty in attendance. Bro. Clausen has rendered valuable assistance in laboring among the Danes.
A. J. CUDNEY.
DORCHESTER, WISCONSIN.
By N. M. Jordon
I commenced a series of meetings in the town of Sherman, about six miles east of Loyal, Clark Co., Jan. 19. The meetings were held in a log school-house in the woods. The attendance was not large, as there were but few inhabitants in the vicinity; but the interest was good from the beginning to the close. The meetings were continued for two weeks, and the Lord blessed his truth. Eight commenced to keep the Sabbath.
Feb. 9. N. M. Jordon.
LUCAS, WIS.
By A. E. and A. M. Johnson
WE began meetings at Lucas, Dunn Co., Jan 25. Had a good hearing. When the weather was moderate, our congregations averaged about seventy. Calls for labor came in from all directions. The country was stirred, and the dust was brushed from off their Bibles to see if these things are so. One minister preached last Sunday on the Sunday question. He said Moses became angry and broke the tables of the law; so there is no law now. Christ rose on Sunday, so we may keep that day. His own people say they could not find text or point to his sermon. Some of the people have raised money (so we are told) to send for a Disciple minister to preach against us. Sunday, Feb. 8, we closed our meetings here for the present. Sixteen signed the covenant.
A. E. AND A. M. JOHNSON.
DURAND, WIS.
By T. B. Snow
We closed our meetings here Jan. 19. Three persons embraced the truth; two of them signed the teetotal pledge, and the other the anti-whisky and tobacco pledge.
VERMILLION, NEW YORK.
By M. H. Brown
Our meeting here was a very encouraging one, brethren being present from Roosevelt, West Monroe, and Parish. Bro. Wheeler rendered us timely assistance. A forward movement was made in introducing the volumes of Spirit of Prophecy and in the T. and M. work and health and temperance work, and in securing more fully the adoption of the tithing system. We think the truth gained a signal victory at this meeting.
M. H. Brown.
THE FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS.
By Mrs. Thompson
MUCH has been said and written of that fragrant blossom of the heart, true friendship. Although Tupper declares “that man to be a marvel, whom truth can write a friend,” yet experience bears rich, though it be rare testimony to the depth, and sweetness, and constancy, embodied in a friend.
Friendship is like the lilac crocus of autumn. Its roots lie deep. It is delicate, yet lasting. Like a fine ether, it pervades the soul. Sacrifice, sincerity, love, and intuition, stand ministering at its altar, and ascend in fragrant incense. Like the rays of the glorious sun, it drinks up the miasms of distrust, and covers defects and deformities with a garment of beauty.
In a beautiful intimacy we express what there is divine in our natures; and in proportion to the refinement of the soul, and its kindship to heaven, is the capacity for a perfect friendship. Who can tell what the strong, steady flame has done to brighten the dark passages wherein human hearts have walked!
But if we speak thus of earthly friendship, how wondrously inviting and beautiful must be the friendship of the Lord Jesus! That name that has awaked the sweetest lyres of the ages, and been uttered in the purest aspirations of worship—the ONE NAME, which is above every name—which has fired alike for conflict, and soothed for suffering!
If capacities for human friendship are according to the fineness and delicacy of the fiber of the soul, what then must be the capacity of the Infinite Heart! What range and sweep in that strong, gifted, confident soul? What delicacy, imagination, appreciation, deep insight, and perfect sympathy! This friend, when he enters the warp and woof of another life, dedicates himself to that life as completely as though no other existed. He makes his interests his own, using his divine nature to give skill, and scope, and success to the heart that feels him there.
There is no mystery in the workings of this heavenly friendship—it is nowise different from your sweetest earthly intimacies, only in that it is stronger, higher, more effective, more consoling. It enters the soul with a sublime consciousness of a presence which, without dissecting and analyzing, one knows is there, making loneliness a myth. It is a friendship which, though complete in each individual need, is adapted to every sphere of human experience. All thought and action, labor, science, and art, are met and stimulated by his flexible mind.
Under the influence of this mighty friendship every form of sin has been conquered; suffering and anguish have been met with martyr-like patience; poverty has been borne with courage and hope, insult with meekness, bereavement with a smile, care and toil with a song, and sacrifice with open arms. It has armed weakness with strength, despair with hope, and indolence with energy. By it noble-souled men and delicate-fibered women have suffered the loss of all things joyfully, that they might lay claim to this Friend of friends.
Ah! blessed friendship! Blessed Lord Jesus!—Mrs. Thompson in Ladies' Repository.
Preaching and Prayer
PREACHING AND PRAYER.—An American pastor saw his preaching extraordinarily blessed. For twelve years he had a revival in his church every year. He was himself surprised at such success, until one evening, in a prayer-meeting, one of the brethren stated that for some years he had been in the habit of praying every Saturday until midnight, that on the morrow the preaching of his pastor might find its way to the people's hearts. We should, without doubt, see more fruits of the numerous sermons which are preached Sundays, if every minister had one friend who took really to heart his pastoral work, and presented it without ceasing at the throne of grace.
A sermon of a Scotch preacher (John Livingston) was the means of the conversion of five hundred persons in one day. But it should be said that a large number of Christians had devoted all the preceding night to prayer for this object. Let us not forget that the Holy Spirit alone can make preaching efficacious, and that he is sent in answer to the prayer of faith.
TEMPERANCE IN NEVADA.
The subject of temperance having been agitated for some time here, and the temperance elements becoming fully aroused to the importance of the movement, it was determined to make an effort to save the rising generation from ruin, even if the older ones could not be reached. A meeting was called for this purpose Feb. 1, at St. Clair, at which a society was fully organized with a membership of twenty-three, most of whom signed the teetotal pledge.
On motion it was voted to adopt the constitution and by-laws of the California Health and Temperance Association for our State Society, and the following named officers were duly elected; President, Jackson Furguson; Vice-President, Wm. Harmon; Treasurer, J. W. Allen; Secretary, J. W. Bond.
Ours is the only organization of the kind in the county; but we hope to extend this work until our influence shall be felt in every grog-shop in the State.
Alcohol is used here to an enormous extent, and other filthy practices indulged in until many have lost sight of the first principle of common decency; others have become disgusted with themselves and wish to break off their useless habits; and no longer squander their means, but be men; these especially need the temperance organization to help them in their efforts to reform.
We are in great need of a helper here, one who can lecture and extend the work throughout the State, and we hope to secure the labors of such a person and thus save many souls from ruin. J. W. Bond
ITEMS OF NEWS.
—Victor Hugo is 78 years old.
—London has 872 Anglican churches.
—A revolution is in progress in Venezuela.
—The Czar is threatened with softening of the brain.
—Dean Stanley has just completed his 62d year.
—The Herald relief fund now amounts to $237,100.
—Forty inches of rain to date this season at Shasta.
—The distress in Ireland is declared to be on the increase.
—Prof. Nordenskjold purchased 6,000 volumes while in China.
—Seven hundred million oranges are consumed in London yearly.
—The sloop Pearl and all her crew are reported lost off Cape Hatteras.
—From eight to ten persons are dying daily of yellow fever at Rio Janeiro.
—At Atlantic, Iowa, 120,000 bushels of corn were burned in an elevator.
—The Czar wishes a state of siege proclaimed throughout the Empire.
—A freshet on the Tennessee river has done considerable damage at Nashville.
—England, Germany and France acknowledge the independence of Roumania.
—Heavy floods are reported in the provinces of Galicia, Asturias, and Biscay, Spain.
—Monday, the 23d inst., was quite generally celebrated as Washington's birth-day.
—The Duke D'Audifret-Pasquier has been received into the French Academy.
—The boring of the St. Gothard Tunnel will probably be finished inside of two weeks.
—Kearny has taken up a collection to build a gallows on the San Francisco sand-lots.
—The Southern Baptist Mission in Rome has been recognized by the Italian Government.
—At Bainbridge, Pa., Charles Lane killed his wife, and then poisoned his three children and himself.
—Three wood-choppers were crushed to death by a snow-slide near Franktown, Nevada, on the 21st inst.
—In the coal mines of Northern Illinois, colored men are being secured to take the place of striking miners.
—One-third of the business portion of Brewster, N. Y., was destroyed by fire on the 24th inst. Loss $160,000.
—The Imperial Cotton Mills, at Derby, Pa., were burned on the 19th inst. Loss, $50,000; insurance, $25,000.
—According to the last Year Book of the denomination, there are 1,136 Congregational ministers without a charge.
—A formidable insurrection has broken out at the chief city of Abyssinia, and the king has fled to collect an army.
—The steamer Assyria, from New York for London, lost 105 head of cattle during the recent severe storm on the Atlantic.
—The spoon factory of Holmes, Booths & Hayden, at Waterbury, Conn., was burned on the 20th inst. Loss $150,000; insurance, $82,000.
—The Republic of Liberia has peaceably annexed an important territory on its interior frontier known as the Kingdom of Medina.
—Mrs. Augustus Carto has started a Chinese Mission school in New York, and has ten promising Mongolian youths under her tuition.
—During the past week the State has been visited by heavy and general rains. At Santa Barbara ten inches fell in thirty hours.
—Baron Von Schell, Privy Chancellor, has committed suicide, his mind being affected by the explosion in the Winter Palace.
—The Krupp foundry at Essen, Germany, turns out 300 cannon of the largest caliber per month, and frequently doubles that number.
—The Board of Health of San Francisco have declared the twelve blocks comprising Chinatown in such a condition as to be a public nuisance.
—By the explosion of shells in the arsenal at Valparaiso, on the 27th of January, twenty persons were killed and half the building destroyed.
—The House Committee on Foreign Affairs has reported favorably on a bill appropriating $300,000 for the relief of the famine in Ireland.
—De Lesseps has arrived at New York from Panama. His estimate for the cost of the tide-level canal is $160,000,000, and the time required for its completion, eight years.
—Archbishop Purcell the ecclesiastic embezzler, is living in the Brown County Convent, Ohio, and is represented as being utterly broken down in health and spirits.
—Frank Lawrence, a Vermonter, insured his father's life, for $11,000, and then administered prussic acid to him, causing death. The parricide has been arrested.
—The severest snow-storm ever known in the Northwest is reported from Bismarck, Dakota. But three trains from the East have reached that point since Feb. 1st.
—The party of brigands who recently stopped the railroad train between Andalusia and Madrid, and endeavored to secure the Government treasure, have been captured.
—A London newspaper correspondent who visited the Western Islands in a government ship carrying provisions, reports considerable distress, but no immediate danger of starvation.
—A fire on Broadway, N. Y., on the 20th inst., destroyed property to the value of more than a million of dollars. Well covered by insurance. Two firemen were killed by the falling buildings.
—The steamer California, on its last trip from San Francisco to Sitka, met very rough weather on leaving the mouth of the Columbia and was obliged to put into Victoria in a disabled condition.
—The whole number of students enrolled in the Battle Creek, Mich., College for the term beginning Dec. 31, 1879, is 328. All but 16 of the 286 in attendance last term returned for the winter term.
—A new iron steamer, the Columbia, 332 feet long, 36½ feet beam, and 23 feet depth of hold, built for the Oregon Steamship Company, was launched at Roach's ship-yard, Philadelphia, on the 24th inst.
—Thirty passengers arrived at Fargo, February 25, from the snowbound train, walking eight miles. The Bismarck workmen have used up five locomotives. Breaking snow in the cuts is like battering a stone wall.
—A petition containing 3,200 signatures was lately presented to Dean Stanley, protesting against the erection of the proposed monument to Prince Louis Napoleon in Westminster Abby. The Dean refuses to alter his decision.
—Rev. Edward Cowley, late manager of the "Shepherd's Fold," New York, has been convicted of cruelly ill-treating and starving children under his care, and sentenced to one year in State prison and $250 fine—the extreme penalty of the law.
—Near Claysville, Pa., James Morrell, a divinity student who desired to inherit the family property, locked his father and five sisters in their rooms and fired the house. One sister escaped and aroused the neighbors in time to save the rest of the family.
—The Democratic party has taken upon itself the excision of the Mormon cancer from the body politic. Senator Garland of Arkansas has introduced a stringent bill for the suppression of polygamy, which the party proposes to push through immediately.
—The Nihilist Committee have notified the authorities at St. Petersburgh that it will be unnecessary for them to make arrangements for illuminating the city on the anniversary of the Czar's accession to the throne as the Nihilists propose to do this after the fashion that Nero illuminated Rome.
—In later accounts regarding the explosion in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburgh, ten soldiers are reported to have been killed and sixty wounded. But four pounds of dynamite were used. The Duchess of Edinburgh telegraphs to Queen Victoria that neither the Czar nor herself were terrified by the explosion. The Czarina, who was in a remate portion of the palace still remains unconscious of the disaster.
Elder Waggoner Improving
By Editor
We are glad to learn that Elder Waggoner is improving under treatment at the Rural Health Retreat, near St. Helena. It is now expected that he will be able to return to Oakland next week.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
By Editor
The Signs is our missionary paper, and is circulated everywhere. One brother here in California during the year 1879 sent away upwards of 2,700 copies, and he has a large, interested correspondence with people in several countries besides our own. Our V. M. Societies are constantly receiving letters expressing appreciation of the papers sent them, and not a few come here to this office. We give a few extracts from some recently received:—
A gentleman writes from Kansas: “I have been a reader of the Signs of the Times for over six months, and I love the paper dearly. I have now received the last number, and at the present time I am unable to pay for it in advance, but if you will send it for a year I will pay for it before the time expires. I have accepted the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Myself and wife are the only ones here who observe the Bible Sabbath. We have been persecuted on every hand, have been charged with infidelity for holding for the Sabbath, but we have contended earnestly for the truth, since embracing it. We very much desire that some minister may come here to present and defend the truth.”
Another writes from Georgia: “Through some unknown friend in the State of New York, I have been favored with a copy of your paper. Some of the views advanced on the advent are very suggestive. For the unity of all Christians, in love and fellowship, when sectarianism shall be known only in name, and the church shine forth in purity as a bride adorned for the bridegroom, is the prayer of your humble servant.”
Another, writing from New York, says: “I am very much pleased with the Signs of the Times. I have read with care, and find very many useful lessons which have enabled me to understand more clearly the subject of the immortality of the soul; also the quotations are the most correct of anything I have ever read. Light is thrown all through the dark passages of the Scriptures. I have handed the papers to my neighbors for perusal; some are highly pleased with them, and read them over and over again. If you continue the Signs to me I shall accept it as a great favor. I am a member of the Wesleyan church. I have much reading matter and ought to be influential in the cause of Christ, doing good when and where I can. May the Lord be with you and crown you with success.”
A lady writes from Wisconsin: “Please send me the Signs of the Times for one year. I enclose $2.00. An old schoolmate in Minnesota has sent me the paper for more than a year, and I truly thank God for her kindness. I am keeping the Lord’s Sabbath, and have been for nearly a year. I loaned the papers to one of my neighbors and she has sent some of them to a daughter in Kansas, and all three of us are trying to keep the commandments of God. We feel as though we could not get along without the Signs.”
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT.
By Editor
"Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully," (margin, negligently). Jer. 48:10.
RECEIVED FOR THE SIGNS.
$2.00 EACH. C H Gilbert 7-7, Mrs Mary Umberhind 7-7, Mrs Wm M Lake 7-9, A F Horning 7-7, J A Wetmore 7-7, G W Voris 7-7, Dexter B Moore 7-7, Frank Sealy 7-7, Eliza Thayer 7-7, Jesse Booth 7-7, Frank Maddock (2 copies) 7-7, J Osborn 7-7, T S Doble (2 copies) 7-7, Mrs O F Metcalf 7-1, Maria Vickery 7-7, D C Phillips 7-7.
$1.00 EACH. Ellen M Abbot 6-31, W H Woods 7-5, Thomas Porter 7-7, Will Cline 7-7, E M Crandall 7-7, Taylor Walker 7-7, J W Whitaker 7-7, S A Wheeler 6-21, S A Green 7-7, A W Ricord 7-7, James Marble H 7-7, Stanberg 7-7, Silas S Warren 7-7, Mrs F Mitchell 7-7, B S Woodruff 7-7, Erick Peterson 7-7, Tabitha Gardiner 7-7, Lydia Hatch 7-7, A T Humphry 7-7, Mrs Chas Mosher 7-7, R H Brown 7-7.
MISCELLANEOUS. Wm Dumont 3.50 5-32, Wm Preston 1.50 7-7, C W Magranis 1.25 7-7, E A Dickenson 1.25 7-7, M A Colby (2 copies) 3.25 7-7, Caroline Maynard 50c 6-31, Mrs M E Hales (11 copies) 11.00 7-7, C K Ackley (4 copies) 4.00 7-7, Adelia P Grover (42 copies) 42.00 7-7, Mrs Julia Hawkins (4 copies) 4.00 7-7, A E Haughton (11 copies) 11.00 7-7, Albert Taylor (3 copies) 3.00 7-7, Sarah Harris 50c 6-31, Mr Dimmick 50c 6-31, J W Moore (4 copies) 4.00 7-7, Mrs E Slocum (5 copies) 5.00 7-7, Mrs S P Brown (5 copies) 5.00 7-7, Ann Taylor (2 copies) 60c 6-21, David Hescock 50c 6-31, Mrs Sarah Clapp 50c 6-31, John Pierson 50c 6-31, Mrs Harriette Mount 31c 6-19, J O Hopping 31c 6-19, M J Hemstreet (2 copies) 62c 6-19, Mrs Ida Ragsdale 1.50 7-7, John Mayo 25c 6-19, H E M Cune 25 6-19, D Stewart 25c 6-19, S Garnett 25c 6-19, O C Agee 25c 6-19, John Brinkerhoff 25c 6-19, Marks Levey 50c 6-31, Mrs T J Russells (3 copies) 3.00 7-7.
OAKLAND CHURCH.
W R H Avery 1.50.
RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT.
Ohio T and M Society 78.20.
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
HOW WILL IT AFFECT THE RIGHTEOUS?
In response to the cry which was heard out of the land of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night?" the watchman responded, "The morning cometh and also the night." Isa. 21:12.
There are two very different classes of persons in the world, and there are two very different conditions before them into which they will respectively enter. Before one class there is a dark and interminable night; before the other a glorious and unending day. These classes are the righteous and the wicked; and the event that constitutes the dividing line between their present and their future, is the second coming of Christ.
Before the wicked, unless they shall repent, there lies a state of such despair, remorse, and punishment, that, compared with their present state, it is as night compared with day; but before the righteous there lies a state of such surpassing happiness and glory that, compared with their present state, it is as day compared with night. This present state which the righteous and wicked both share alike, in which the righteous, aside from their heavenly hope, have no less of happiness, and no more of sorrow, than the wicked, is to the wicked a period of joyous day preceding a dismal night, their condition here is so much more favorable than what it will be hereafter; but to the righteous it is a period of gloomy night preceding a glorious day, their condition here is so infinitely below what it will be in the paradise of God.
We noticed, last week, how the coming of Christ will affect the cases of the wicked. It leaves them no hope. It is the end of all their pleasures, their ambition, their wealth, their power. It turns their laughter into mourning. It fills their cup of joy with the gall of bitterness. And amid the convulsions in which our world shall go back to its original chaos, they shall be swept from the face of the earth.
Now let the reader imagine conditions which are infinitely the opposite of all these, and he will have some idea of what is given to the righteous at this time. To them it is the consummation of their blessed hope. Titus 2:13. It introduces them to that condition in which there are pleasures forevermore. Ps. 16:11. It is the fulfillment and satisfaction of their highest ambition. Phil. 3:12-14. It puts them in possession of that wealth which the Lord promised when he said, "All things are yours." 1 Cor. 3:21. It gives them the most glorious power a man can covet; for they triumph over death. 1 Cor. 15:57. It turns their mourning into laughter and shout and song. Luke 6:21. It takes their cup, and extracting every trace of bitterness, it fills it to the brim and runs it over, with exuberance of joy. Isa. 35:10. And amid the destruction of all things below, borne upward on the wings of those celestial beings revealed to us as the "morning stars;" and "the sons of God," Job 28:7, they will rise to be forever with the Lord. Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:17.
Sinner, we do not ask you which company you will wish to be with then. There is no question about that. We know well enough how it will be. But the decision must be made before that time; and the fearful probability is that you will put it off too long. We therefore ask you to decide now, and act accordingly.
1. The coming of Christ is to the righteous the hope of salvation. While the wicked are calling to the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the presence of Christ, the righteous gladly exclaim, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Isa. 25:9.
2. The coming of the Lord is the hope of the righteous dead; for it brings the resurrection. The resurrection is sometimes spoken of aside from its connection with the coming of Christ, and the promise of that event is ample and sure; but there are other scriptures which show the inseparable connection between these two events, and that the resurrection cannot take place without the coming of Christ. See John 5:28, 29; 1 Thess. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52.
3. The coming of Christ brings the Christian's reward. Behold, I come quickly, he says, and my reward is with me to give every man as his work shall be. Again the Lord, instructing his disciples in regard to their recompense for good deeds done to the poor, said: "And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:14. No other time of reward is given in the Scriptures, except at the coming of Christ, and the resurrection of the just.
4. The coming of Christ brings the overcomer's crown. The great apostle to the Gentiles thus speaks: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim. 4:7, 8. The "day" of which he speaks is the day of Christ's appearing, and the crown is for all such as love that event.
5. The coming of the Lord ends the Christian's exile, terminates his pilgrimage, and brings him home to the many mansions of the Father's house. John 14:2, 3; Heb. 11:13-16; Rev. 22:14.
6. It is by this means that the absent members of Christ's body are gathered to their living Head, and brought to enjoy his personal presence forever. When the disciples were filled with sorrow at the thought that their Master was soon to leave them, he bade them not to be troubled; for, said he, "I will come again, and receive you to myself, that [in order that] where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3. Paul, after telling the Thessalonians that the righteous would be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at his second appearing, says, "And so [in this manner, or by this means] shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17. And John says, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2.
Since, then, the Christian's hope is thus all laid up in the coming of the Lord, is it any wonder that it should be loved and longed for by all his people? Their hearts being filled with love for him, there is no enmity but union between them. Feeling that he is their friend, they rejoice in the prospect of soon entering into his presence.
All the difference between the righteous and the wicked is summed up in this one sentence—Christ an enemy, and Christ a friend. The one class have followed the leadings of the carnal mind, and have continued their opposition to him, and their alienation from him. The other have yielded to his holy requirements and have found his forgiveness and favor. So the thought of his coming fills the wicked with alarm, but the righteous with joy. And the manifestations of the day of his appearing, which to the righteous will fill the whole Heaven with untold splendors, will be to the wicked sharp arrows of indignation and wrath; and the brightness of his coming, to the righteous a glad vision of "the King in his beauty," Isa. 33:17, will be to the wicked a "consuming fire." Heb. 12:20.
Let us share in the lot of the righteous; for though they may be in this life poor, humble, unhonored, and unknown, the portion of their inheritance hereafter is glory and blessedness forever. "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Matt. 3:43.
U. S.
DUTY OF PARENTS TO THEIR CHILDREN.
By Ellen G. White
THE youth of our day are ignorant of Satan's devices. Parents should therefore be awake in these perilous times, working with perseverance and industry, to shut out the first approach of the foe. They should instruct their children when sitting in the house, or walking by the way, when rising up or lying down. It should be line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. The mother's work should commence with the infant. She should subdue the will and temper of the child, and bring its disposition into subjection. Teach it to obey, and as the child grows older relax not the hand. Every mother should take time to reason with the child to correct its errors, and patiently teach it the right way.
Christian parents should labor to instruct and fit their offspring to become the children of God. Strict discipline may at times cause dissatisfaction, and children will want their own way; yet where they have learned the lesson of obedience to their parents, they are better prepared to submit to the requirements of God. Thus the training received in childhood influences the religious experience, and molds the character of the man.
When children decide to leave the pleasures of the world, and become the disciples of Christ, a great burden is lifted from the hearts of parents. But the labor and care should not cease at this point, since the children have but just commenced the warfare against sin in all its forms, and specially need the watch-care and counsel of faithful parents. They should encourage the children to confide in them and unburden to them their trials and griefs. Parents will thus learn to sympathize and pray with them, and they will be encouraged to press on in the way of life, trusting in God.
Children would be saved from many evils if they were more familiar with their parents. Parents should encourage in their children a disposition to be open and frank, and come to them with their difficulties, and lay the matter just as they view it before their parents, and ask advice of them. Who are so well calculated to see and point out their dangers as godly parents? Who can understand the peculiar temperaments of their own children as well as they? The mother who has watched every turn of the mind from infancy, and is acquainted with the natural disposition, is well prepared to counsel her children. Who can tell as well what traits of character to check and restrain, as the mother, counselled by the father?
Children who are Christians will prefer the love and approbation of their God-fearing parents above every earthly blessing. They will love and honor their parents. One of the principal studies of their lives should be, How can I make my parents happy? But children who do not receive right instruction, have but little sense of their obligation to their parents. It is often the case that the more parents do for them the more ungrateful they are, and the less they respect them. Children who have been petted and waited upon, always expect it; and if their expectations are not met, they are disappointed and discouraged. This same disposition will be seen through their whole lives, and they will be helpless, leaning upon others for aid, expecting others to favor them, and yield to them. And if they are opposed, even after grown to manhood and womanhood, they think themselves abused; and thus they worry their way through the world, murmuring and fretting because everything does not suit them.
Parents should deal faithfully with the souls committed to their trust. They should not encourage in them pride, extravagance or love of show. Habits formed when very young, are not easily forgotten. Parents should commence to discipline the minds of their children while very young, to the end that they may be Christians. Let all your efforts be for their salvation. Act as though they were put in your care to be fitted as precious jewels to shine in the kingdom of God. Beware how you lull your children to sleep over the pit of destruction, with the mistaken thought that they are not old enough to be accountable, and are not old enough to repent of their sins and profess Christ.94
Many precious promises like the following are recorded for those who seek the Lord early: "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Eccl. 12:1. "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me." Prov. 8:17. The good Shepherd still entreats: "Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Teach the children to seek the Lord while young and thus devote the best of their strength to his service.
We are living in an unfortunate age for children. A strong tide is setting downward to perdition, and it needs more than childhood's experience and strength to press against the current, that would bear them down. All who have a desire to yield their hearts to God and obey his requirements, Satan will try to perplex, and overcome with his temptations, that they may become discouraged and give up the warfare.
Parents, help the children. Watch continually to cut off the current, and roll back the weight of evil which is pressing in upon them. The children cannot do this of themselves. Parents can do much. By earnest prayer and living faith they may bind their children upon the alter, and thus secure the watch-care of guardian angels; the guiding hand of God will lead them through the perils of the last days, and bring them off victorious over every foe. MRS. E. G. WHITE.