THE sixth seal is the one which embraces in the number of its momentous events, the coming of the Son of man, and the end of this present world. Its opening was to be marked by the occurrence of a mighty earthquake. Rev. vi, 12. This event occurred on the first of November, 1755, and is known as the great earthquake of Lisbon. It is a significant fact that all the great events given as signs and precursors of the end of all things, have been instinctively associated, in the minds of the people at the time of their occurrence, with the great day of which they were the forerunners. It was so with the falling of the stars in 1833; it was so with the dark day and night of 1780; it was also so with the great earthquake of 1755. The following particulars concerning an event which holds so prominent a place in both prophecy and history will be of interest to all. U. S.
“On the 1st of November, 1755, a few minutes before 10 A. M., the inhabitants of Lisbon were alarmed by several violent vibrations of the ground, which then rose and fell several times with such force that hundreds of houses came toppling into the streets, crushing thousands of people. At the same time the air grew pitchy dark from the clouds of dust that rose from the crumbling edifices. Many persons ran down to the river-side, in the hope of escaping to the shipping; but the water suddenly rose some yards perpendicularly, and swept away everything before it. The quay, with nearly two hundred beings standing on it, all at once disappeared. Large ships, which were lying high and dry, floated off, and were dashed against each other, or carried down the river. In every direction the surface of the water was overspread with boats, timber, casks, household furniture, and corpses. The scene on land was yet more horrifying. Churches, government buildings, and private houses, were all involved in the same ruin. Many thousands of trembling fugitives had collected in the great square, when it was discovered that flames were spreading in every quarter. Taking advantage of the universal panic and confusion, a band of miscreants had fired the city. Nothing could be done to stay the progress of the flames, and for eight days they raged unchecked. Whatever the earthquake had spared fell a prey to this new calamity. 'It is not to be expressed by human tongue,' writes an eye-witness, 'how dreadful and how awful it was to enter the city after the fire was abated; and looking upward one was struck with horror at beholding dead bodies, by six or seven in a heap, crushed to death, half buried and half burnt; and if one went through the broad places or squares, nothing to be met with but people bewailing their misfortunes, wringing their hands, and crying, 'The world is at an end.' If you go out of the city, you behold nothing but barracks, or tents made with canvass, or ship's sails, where the poor inhabitants lie.'
“Another eye-witness is still more graphic. 'The terror of the people was beyond description: nobody wept—it was beyond tears—they ran hither and thither, delirious with horror and astonishment, beating their faces and breasts, crying misericordia, the world's at an end; mothers forgot their children, and ran about loaded with crucified images. Unfortunately, many ran to the churches for protection; but in vain was the sacrament exposed; in vain did the poor creatures embrace the altars; images, priests, and people, were buried in one common ruin. . . . The prospect of the city was deplorable. As you passed along the streets, you saw shops of goods with the shopkeepers buried with them, some alive crying out from under the ruins, others half buried, others with broken limbs, in vain begging for help; they were passed by crowds without the least notice or sense of humanity. The people lay that night in the field, which equalled, if possible, the horrors of the day; the city all in flames; and if you happened to forget yourself with sleep, you were awakened by the tremblings of the earth and the howlings of the people. Yet the moon shone, and the stars, with unusual brightness. Long-wished-for day at last appeared, and the sun rose with great splendor on the desolated city in the morning. Some of the boldest, whose houses were not burnt, ventured home for clothes, the want of which they had severely felt in the night, and a blanket was now become of more value than a suit of silk.'
The following testimony shows the extent of this terrible visitation to have been wider than that of any similar one on record:
“The earthquake happened on November 1, 1755, and its sphere of action embraced many cities and States. St. Ubes was totally destroyed. At Cadiz the sea broke down the outer wall, flooded the town, and drowned some hundreds of persons. The Cathedral of Seville was seriously damaged, several houses overthrown, and many persons injured. The shock was felt, indeed, throughout the whole of Spain, except in Catalonia, and also in Germany. In many parts of Great Britain the water in lakes and ponds was violently upheaved, and ebbed and flowed over the banks. A solemn fast was consequently commanded to be observed on the 6th of February next ensuing, in the hope to avert, by prayer and penitence, a similar calamity from this country. A ship at sea, 100 leagues to the westward of Lisbon, had her cabin windows shattered to fragments, and many vessels in deep water quivered as if they had struck against a rock. In Morocco the effects of the shock were most disastrous. In Mequinez two-thirds of the houses were destroyed, and above three hundred in Fez. A caravan of two hundred persons going along the coast from Sallee to Morocco were overwhelmed by the sea, and a still more numerous caravan was swept away by the sudden rise of the inland rivers. In France and Holland earthquakes were repeatedly felt during the entire month of November, and occasionally even in December." Wonders of the World, p. 299.
Stand Still.
By E. S. W.
It is not in the providence of God to do anything for his people that they can do themselves; but when they have done all that they can do, they should then cry unto the Lord in their extremity, and patiently wait his time, stand still, cease to trouble themselves about that which they cannot help, or about that which they cannot remove by their own actions or exertions. Their extremity becomes God's opportunity; and if for their good, he will work for them.
Christian travelers in their journey through this world frequently find themselves in strait places, and at times their way appears to be entirely hedged up. When this occurs, instead of turning about or seeking some by-way to lead them around the difficulty, they should heed the injunction to stand still and wait for the Lord to open the way for them.
The children of Israel, in their flight from Egypt during their wanderings in the vicinity of the Red Sea, passed through a deep defile in the mountains till they suddenly came in full view of the Red Sea. Here their way seemed to be entirely hedged up. Before them was the Red Sea, whose white-capped waves were rolling before them, and lashing in their fury the rock-bound coast. On either side they beheld ragged and inaccessible rocks, which reared their heads almost to the clouds. There appeared no outlet, no way by which they could proceed, and the order was given to pitch their tents and await the direction of the Almighty. As they were thus silently encamped in this gloomy place, those in the rear heard behind them the rumbling of chariot-wheels and the tramp of an armed host, and soon beheld in the distance the waving of banners and the glitter of arms. They now for the first time became aware that they were pursued.
What consternation and alarm spread through that vast encampment as the news became general that Pharaoh and his host were upon them. Now mark their conduct: instead of crying to God for deliverance, they commenced upbraiding Moses for bringing them out, as they supposed, to perish in the wilderness. They said in irony, "Because there were no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?"
And as is generally the case with those who are disposed to murmur and complain, they taunt him with what they had said, and what their better judgment would have dictated: "Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness."
No doubt there was great commotion in that vast camp as the Egyptian host drew near. Some probably were essaying to climb the sides of the mountains, some running here and some there, while others were for going back and throwing themselves before Pharaoh and entreating his pardon. All was confusion and excitement, and that vast assembly swayed to and fro like the angry waves of the sea before them. But while all this confusion was prevailing among the people, there was one in that vast assembly whose head was clear, and whose presence of mind had not forsaken him. His trust was not in the arm of flesh, but in the living God. It was Moses, the servant of God. When in the midst of the commotion, his voice is heard above the din of confusion, "Stand still!" There is a momentary lull in that great concourse of people. Again is heard distinctly above the roar of the waves and the noise of the excited host, "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!" All is quiet now, and attention. Immediately follows the command of the Almighty to his servant Moses, "Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." Moses, by the command of the Lord, stretches out his rod over the sea, it is divided, and the fugitive host passed through on dry ground. Thus the extremity of the children of Israel became God's opportunity; and, as we are informed that "whatsoever was written aforetime was written for our learning," may we not reap a lesson of instruction from this portion of their experience?
We are no doubt approaching close places in our pilgrimage; and at this time, no doubt to many the way appears hedged up. Look in which direction they may, there appears no way of escape; on either hand appear impassable barriers. Before them is the difficulty; behind them is the Devil and his host. "What shall we do?" "What can we do?" are the exclamations we hear on every hand; and as they begin to be hemmed in closer and closer, like Israel of old, they commence to murmur, and complain, and to find fault with God's chosen leaders who have led them through defiles between the mountains of error on either hand, and in which in turning a point they have come suddenly upon what to them appears to be an impassable sea of difficulties. Hold! brethren. Will you not profit by the experience of the children of Israel, and cease your murmurs and your complaints? Heed the injunction, "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." Do not go back, nor attempt to move forward until the way opens before you, and all will be well.
This cause is in the hands of the Lord, and he will take care of it. He has not brought us out thus far to perish, neither has he withdrawn his Spirit from us, but in his own good time he will make all things plain. In all the Christian graces, "go forward;" but in matters you do not understand, and where the way is hedged up, until you get light and the way is open, "stand still." E. S. W.
Tattling.
By J. Clarke
A WEAK but persevering brother has heard that Bro. — (a bold and rather confident one) has said a pretty hard thing about him, and it troubles him terribly. He thinks and thinks about it, and dreams of it, and has felt bad about it for weeks; and finally it has magnified itself so in his weak, sickly mind, that it gives a gloomy cast to his countenance and conversation, even his form seems bent a little more than usual.
The expression of the brother who made the wound was at least useless and severe; but he meant no harm in particular, and was probably sorry he made it in a moment from the time it escaped his lips, and if Bro. Tattle who stood close by had said something to disapprove the expression at the time it was made,109and then expelled it forever from his own mind, God would have forgiven it, and Bro. Tattle would have gained himself the more desirable name of Bro. Peace-maker.
But alas! in this case Satan controlled the tongue of Bro. Tattle, which, by the way, is never so glib as when retailing scandal, and so he improved the first fair opportunity of instilling this poison into the diseased mind of the weak brother.
O it makes one sick at heart to think of it! What needless, unnecessary, uncalled for trouble this tattling produces! It is bad, bad! There is not a good feature in the whole work of carrying from one to another what is said.
Contrast the foregoing with the course of Bro. Peace-maker. Everybody knows he will keep his counsel, and his tongue is so free from poison that you may say to him, or rather confide to him, what you please. He will no more speak what will do mischief, than he would throw a nest of hornets into your face. If you speak well of a person, he might possibly tell the person of the compliment, unless he thought it would tend to inflate vanity, then he would be sure to hold his tongue.
Bro. Peace-maker's mind is just like a good fanning-mill: it separates the chaff from the wheat, and you would think, to hear him quote what his brethren say, that he must have wise and good brethren; for if they say anything chaffy, or if there is foul seed in their conversation, he tells them, if any one, and straitway he forgets the bad, his mind only retaining the good. He sifts and sifts, and with a good strong wind, directly from Solomon's Proverbs, he blows out the chaff. While poor Bro. Tattle is like one standing at the tail of a fanning machine: he gets covered with dust and chaff, and goes off with his pockets full of foul seed.
J. CLARKE.
The Nation's Scourge.
BAD as matters are beginning to be in the North, it appears that they are immensely worse in the South. A lady who left Richmond on the 12th of Aug., 1862, writes to the N. Y. Times that
“There were never so many human beings in that city before as when she left, but a great proportion of those within the limits of the town are sick and wounded soldiers. The hospitals may be counted by hundreds. She has been in the daily habit, for months past, of going to minister to the sick and wounded. All the ladies in the city did this—the wealthy and high-born, the poor and lowly, all seeming to try their utmost to alleviate the sufferings of the Confederate soldiers. Our informant says she performed her labors from motives of pity for the poor fellows; but if she had been possessed of no feelings of humanity for them, she thinks she would have done something as a matter of policy; inasmuch as if any woman was found to be lukewarm in the cause, she was immediately suspected and closely watched.
“Such is the extremity in which all classes of people are placed, that no considerations, except the great one of life and death, are of any moment. This is the one grand, all-absorbing thought, ‘How shall we prolong our lives until our enemies are overcome?’ Business matters are not thought of, except so far as they tend to the solution of this problem. Famine is staring them in the face, and disease, in the form of a slow fever of the typhoid character, is wasting the army and carrying off daily scores of soldiers and others in the city. The army in and about the capital has been for the last two months upon half-rations, and a sight of the forms of the half-fed, half-clad soldiery is, as she represents it, a pitiable and disgusting spectacle. No attention whatever has for months been paid to the sanitary condition of the city. The habits of a portion of the soldiers are filthy to the last degree, and soap and water are, in most instances, strangers not to be introduced or tolerated in the camps, and too often in the hospitals.
“Added to this there has been for a long time past, a scarcity of provender for the mules and horses connected with the army. Owing to their ill-fed condition, the famished brutes very often drop down in their tracks from sheer exhaustion. Wherever they fall they are permitted to die and decay. No attempt is made to remove them—no effort used to cleanse the streets of that loathsome mass of decaying matter, which thus rapidly accumulates.
“The whole atmosphere in and around the city she represents as highly charged with this horrible malaria, and, to use her own expression, ‘the air seems thick with disease, and heavily laden with death.’ Every tobacco warehouse—and the city is full of them—is used either as a hospital or a prison. In addition to these, a very large number of wholesale stores and other buildings have, since the week’s battles in front of the city, been appropriated to the use of the sick and wounded.
“Food is very scarce and very high. For three months past, no citizen, however wealthy, has been able to procure a particle of fresh meat of any kind; what little of that article could be obtained, was given to the sick soldiers. The only vegetables which our informant has seen there since the beginning of June, were a few half-grown cabbage heads, all of which were readily sold for the sum of $2.50 each. The only kind of meat is salt pork, which, though not really putrid, has a taste so bitter and rancid that no one can eat it unless nearly starved. Tea cannot be had at any price. Three months ago, our informant purchased a pound of ordinary 6 shilling tea for the sum of $15, since which time none could be obtained. There was a little coffee in the market, at from $4 to $6 per pound. The only article of food which can be obtained readily, and at any where near an ordinary price, is flour; but the citizens are in constant fear lest their supply of this be suddenly cut short, in which event starvation and famine will meet them face to face.”
"The Perfect Man."
By C. Monroe
“MARK the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.”
Such is the man who walks with God here, and will walk with him on the plains of light hereafter. A picture of heaven itself—sweet to behold! Blessed are the eyes that see, the soul that bears the lovely image—a sight to which, alas! most eyes are strangers yet, being “few and far between.”
Such a man leads a faultless life, or aims to do it; and by thus doing hopes to be found a member of that church which is one day to appear before God without spot and blameless. As “to err,” however, “is human,” he may in some things fail. This is his grief, and not imputed as to others. Holiness is his element, and if, by any means, for a little moment, he is forced out of it, it is as disagreeable to him as the atmosphere to the fish. No creature can feel at home except in its own genial element.
In a world so full of obstacles, it is a “perfect man” that never stumbles; or, if he does, his Guide is ever at hand to help him, and bear him on to his heavenly home. Is he tried? Of course he is. This is a state of trial; but his trials are no injury to him. Though grievous, they work for his good; for he loves God, not a little, but supremely. Does he suffer? Amen, Jesus suffered too. By this both are made perfect, and both crowned victors in the coming kingdom.
Now, dear reader, suppose we have such a man, a friend of ours here on earth—and must it be mere supposition?—and are called to take the parting hand, and close his eyes in death, with what feelings should we perform this last mournful office? Our hearts might bleed, and tears like rivers flow; but not for him who dies, so safe, so ripe for heaven. No, he needs them not. His work was well and faithfully done. Shall ours be so?
He sleeps in Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life. How sweet his slumbers are! His was a life of seriousness, devotion, prayer, and praise. To Christ he lived, in him he died, and in that blest image will surely rise again, crowned with glory, shouting victory over death and the grave, to die no more.
We mourn our friend—not lost—no, such an one cannot be lost. His life is safe with Christ in God; and he will soon appear with him in glory. Nevertheless, so long as it holds him a prisoner there, we may water his grave with our tears. It is well. Jesus wept at the grave of a beloved friend. Our tears result from a law of nature, of friendship, of love—from a sense of the loss we have sustained—that we shall see his face no more; and, perhaps, never look upon his like again; but God wipes our tears, and we are consoled with the sweet thought, if faithful, of soon meeting him again, and all the friends of God, in a world of joy, where death is unknown, and tears shall never flow, clad in immortal beauty and loveliness.
Such, dear reader, is the life and death of “the perfect man;” and what is the use and improvement we will make of an example so rare and precious? Will we at once seize upon a life equally pure and devoted? If such be our life, such will be our end—safe, peaceful, and happy. Which may God grant for Christ's sake. Amen.
C. MONROE.
Waldo, Me.
Response from Lapeer, Mich.
Bro. White: The following resolutions were adopted at the regular church meeting on the first first-day in August, 1862:
Resolved, That we respond to Bro. White's suggestions under the head of "Systematic Labor," in Review No. 8. We can report that we are "organized," and that it is good to move out in the order of the Lord; and we propose that, if "some good preacher will make it his head-quarters here at Lapeer, so that when he returns to his family, now and then, we can have preaching," we will provide a parsonage for him and his family to live in, and we will try to do our duty in regard to their support.
Resolved, That we ask for a quarterly conference to be established here, this being the most central point among five churches: the church at Thetford is about twenty-two miles north-west; the church at North Branch is about twenty miles north-east; south and south-east is the church at Oakland, twenty-five miles; and the church at Shelby is about thirty miles. The difference in the roads will more than overbalance the difference in the distance. We believe the interest of the cause and the general good of the churches call for early attention to this subject. We are living in a time when we need counsel, and an opportunity to counsel with each other. May the Lord guide us aright.
By order of the church.
WM. S. HIGLEY, JR.
Lapeer, Mich.
Unnecessary Burdens.
By L. EGGLESTON
Now is the trial of our faith in the great Ruler. As we see the storm-cloud of civil war lowering over the land, our faith in the Lord and earnestness in his great work should increase; for has he not said these things betoken his coming? We must now lay aside every hindering weight, and be stripped and harnessed for the work before us.
Some of us do not turn wholly to the Lord, but are too much inclined to rely upon an arm of flesh. Here is lack of trust. A popular writer says, 'Some pray like this, \'Our Father, give us this day our daily bread, and to-morrow, and next day, and next year, and for fifty years to come; and lest thou shouldst forget, or neglect to answer, we have undertaken to look after the matter ourselves.\''
Many are not content to live for the present, taking no anxious thought for the morrow, but are so constantly tried with cares for the future as to lose much of their spirituality and enjoyment of religion. Carrying such a burden does not help us on our way. These earthly things must be given up if we ever get ready for the kingdom; and it will be better to do it willingly when the sacrifice will be acceptable, than to wait till we are obliged to let them go, and then perhaps, lose the inheritance.
L. EGGLESTON,
Winspear, N. Y.
The Christian’s Daily Concerns
THREE things should be thought of by the Christian every morning: his daily cross, daily duty, and daily privilege; how he shall bear the one, perform the other, and enjoy the third.
Thoughts for Perilous Times.
By M. H. L.
"Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for me?"
Has not God promised that all things shall work together for good to them that love him? Has not God said that the hairs of your head are all numbered? Did he not protect the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace? Has he not promised with every temptation to make a way of escape? also to suffer none to come but such as you shall be able to bear? As your day is, so your strength will be. The same God that delivered them when the decree went forth that all who did not fall down and worship the golden image set up by the king, should that same hour be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace—has the same care now over his true servants that he then had.
He has not lost one attribute of his nature. He is still Love, Justice, Mercy, and Truth, and delights in those who are striving to reflect his image.
As fiery trials are the ordeal through which every Christian must pass, to prove of what sort his work is, therefore in these very things give thanks, and count it all joy that an opportunity may be given you to fall into divers temptations, knowing that the trial of your faith worketh patience, and patience, experience, and experience, hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in the heart.
The same God that protected Lot when his righteous soul was vexed from day to day with the unlawful deeds and filthy conversation of the Sodomites, is able to keep God's remnant servants holy, blameless, and undefiled, amid the corrupting influences of camp life, should any be called to that test.
When the Lord was about to destroy Sodom, the angels laid hold of Lot's hand, bidding him haste and escape to the mountains, as they could do nothing until he was gone. Think you that God has forgotten to be gracious now? that his angels have lost their strength to protect, defend, and lead from danger? No! no! God sitteth in the heavens, and from the height of his pavilion beholds the children of men. He is about to set a mark upon those who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land, and when he has sufficiently tried his ransomed people, he will stay the hand of the wicked, which is the sword of the Lord, even as he did in behalf of his ancient people, when he commanded them to drive out their enemies from the land he gave them to inhabit. No weapon formed against a child of God can prosper, no matter how it is formed, or where, or by whom; it cannot prosper.
In order to be thus entitled to the preserving power of God, let us see to it that we are in reality the light and salt of the earth. Let us add to our faith, virtue, and to this all the other Christian graces, then we shall not be blind, but be enabled to see afar off, and, through the telescope of God's word, clearly discern the deliverance of every one whose name is written in the book. Dan. xii. M. H. L.
Henceforth thou Shalt have Wars.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars." 2 Chron. xvi, 9.
These are the words of Hanani the seer, to Asa, king of Judah, who had made a league with Benhadad, king of Syria, and taken up arms against Baasha, king of Israel. It seems that Judah had a pique at Israel, ever after the ten tribes revolted, and there was constant war between them except in the reign of Asa, when the land was quiet ten years. Asa took advantage of this time of peace to wall and fence the cities of Judah, and prepare an army of fifty-eight thousand mighty men of valor, that he might be prepared for an attack from an enemy at any time, from any quarter.
Zerah, the Ethiopian, was first that came out against him, with a host of a thousand thousand, and Asa was neither terrified nor daunted, but set the battle in array against him: then cried unto the Lord his God, and said, "Lord, it is nothing for thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go out against this great multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee." 2 Chron. xiv, 11. So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and his small army, and they fled, and Judah pursued them and took a great spoil. It is this circumstance that the prophet refers to, and reproves Asa for trusting in the king of Syria instead of the name of the Lord, when he had proved him to be a present help in time of need. And he tells him that by this act he had turned aside the purposes of the Lord; for the Lord had designed to give the king of Syria into his hands.
It is true that Asa overcame Baasha, and drove him from building Rama, which he had commenced, to prevent other nations from joining Judah against him; but what was the result? It brought disease and death upon himself, and war and bloodshed upon his successors.
How sad a history is this: that one so highly favored of God should come to this untimely end—should become angry with the prophet of the Lord, and put him in prison, oppress the people, and finally die without God. Do not such considerations for ever forbid the idea of "once in grace always in grace?" Most emphatically. It is a fearful thing to go blindly along in the world, without knowing whether God approves or disapproves of that in which we are about to engage; but still more dangerous is it to persist in doing a thing that God has forbidden. If we do this, we cannot expect the Lord to be our strength and deliverance. Although Asa had once been in high favor with God, no doubt he was conscious of having disobeyed him, and therefore felt that he had no right to his strength or direction at last. He well remembered that the word of the Lord had come to Rehoboam, saying positively that he should not go up to fight against his brethren, the children of Israel, and also that the Lord had taught his people all the way through, that they should make no agreement or league with the nations round about. He had undoubtedly disregarded these two precepts at least.
The Bible every where abounds with promises to God's people; but we can only claim them upon conditions of obedience and uprightness, and our hearts must be perfect toward the Lord if we would lay hold of his strength to save us in the trying scenes before us, in which the Lord only can be the hope of his people.
The prophet not only told Asa that he had done foolishly, but that from henceforth he should have wars. Would not this charge apply with equal force to this nation? They have for a long time considered themselves as a nation that did righteousness, and delighted in approaching to God, when, at the same time, they are without his special favor or protection, because their heart is not perfect toward him; and truly from henceforth they shall have wars. There will be no more abiding peace. Only a little while will it be hushed up by the third angel who cries, Hurt not the earth till the servants of our God are sealed. For all nations are to drink of the wrath of God, and Sheshach shall drink after them. E. J. W.
Earth is ever Changing.
By F. M. Bragg
EVERYTHING is blighted. We naturally cling to some seeming bright spot, but it is soon darkened by some ill of this inconstant life. All is fluctuating. To-day we have near and dear friends—to-morrow they may be gone. Man, like earth's scenes of nature, is changing. Some seem ever unsettled. They appear to have no fixed principle of action, but vary as feelings and the surrounding circumstances may admit. They love and rejoice in the truth to-day; to-morrow they take a course at variance with it. We meet them as friends; they seem courteous and kind; our voices unite in sweet heart-felt praise and love in the precious truth. Again they are strangers. No love unites, but coldness and distance separates. It is distressing to meet such who profess to keep the commandments of God and faith of Jesus. Poor human nature! heir of blind prejudice and cruel animosities. Earth's sons and daughters have fallen. The grace of God alone can rectify and bring them back to purity and peace.
Soon earth's changing scenes will cease. All characters will have been forever formed, perfect or imperfect, and the reward given as their works shall be. May my works be those of the righteous, that his reward may be mine.
The psalmist says, "Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him." God is unchanging. We can trust in him. He is ever the same. How precious! He is a shield and buckler; a shelter from the storm (just about to burst upon this guilty world). He is a rock in a weary land. He is a great and mighty God, who will soon give his faithful, trusting children rest in life eternal, in the Holy City, where all will be pure and heavenly.
"When foes surround my path,
Mustered in rage and wrath,
To make me fly;111To catch me when I rove,
Or make me trembling move,
Be Thou still nigh.
Blest Saviour, do not leave me ever,
But guide me by thy gracious favor,
Counsel I need and aid.
Friends have their trust betrayed,
Snares for my feet are laid,
On Thee my hope is stayed,
Now and forever."
F. M. BRAGG.
Cambridge, Wis.
An Old Poem.
O! it is hard to work for God,
To rise and take his part
Upon this battle-field of earth,
And not sometimes lose heart?
He hides himself so wondrously,
As though there were no God;
He least is seen when all the powers
Of ill are most abroad.
Or he deserts us at the hour
The fight is almost lost;
And seems to leave us to ourselves
Just when we used him most.
Ill masters good; good seems to change
To ill with greatest ease;
And, worst of all, the good with good
Is at cross purposes.
It is not so, but so it looks;
And we lose courage then;
And doubts will come if God hath kept
His promises to men.
Ah! God is other than we think;
His ways are far above,
Far above reason's height, and reached
Only by child-like love.
The look, the fashion of God's ways
Love's life-long study are;
She can be bold, and guess, and act,
When reason would not dare.
She has a prudence of her own;
Her step is firm and free;
Yet there is cautious science, too,
In her simplicity.
Workman of God! O lose not heart,
But learn what God is like;
And in the darkest battle-field
Thou shalt know where to strike.
O, blessed is he to whom is given
The instinct that can tell
That God is on the field when he
Is most invisible.
And blessed is he who can divine
Where real right doth lie,
And dares to take the side that seems
Wrong to man's blindfold eye!
O, learn to scorn the praise of men!
O, learn to love with God!
For Jesus won the world through shame,
And beckons thee his road.
God's glory is a wondrous thing,
Most strange in all its ways;
And of all things on earth, least like
What men agree to praise.
Muse on his justice, downcast soul!
Muse, and take better heart;
Back with thine angel to the field;
Good luck shall crown thy part.
God's justice is a bed where we
Our anxious hearts may lay,
And weary with ourselves, may sleep
Our discontent away.
For right is right, since God is God;
And right the day must win;
To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin.
Pre-Millennialism.
By Graves
WHAT is the doctrine called pre-millennialism? Simply,
2. That there will be no millennium until the second coming of Christ. Proof: Dan. vii, 21, 22.
Here we see that war was made upon the saints by the little horn, or the Papacy, until the coming of Christ. The Papacy exists and persecutes until Christ comes again; and there can be no millennium while the Papacy exists. This a conclusive proof.
Who can wrest these scriptures to teach the idea that a thousand years of millennial glory will precede the second coming of Christ, or that when he comes, no sin or sinners will be found upon the earth? We believe that,
This subject is certainly worthy of close and prayerful study. We may not believe what we please on this subject, nor treat it lightly, without sin; for it is one of a most solemn, practical, and useful character. Mark the prominence given to it in the New Testament; in the teachings of the Saviour, in all his discourses, parables, and exhortations. But Christ gave a glorious representation of his future glory, as well as that of his saints in the resurrection state, on the mount of transfiguration. The three disciples were there in the unglorified flesh, the representation of the nations that are saved, who will walk in the light of the New Jerusalem; the glorified Saviour; Elijah, who was translated, and his body changed instantaneously, as the representative of the living saints, who will be caught up and changed; Moses, dead and buried, and raised again, the representative and pledge of the resurrection of the saints.
In the institution of the Lord's supper we are called upon to testify our faith in the second advent of Christ, showing forth, as we do in it, our “Lord’s death till he come.” Without faith in our Saviour’s personal coming, we cannot rightly partake of the supper.
Then by the ascension of the Saviour is expressly exemplified and taught the fact and manner of the Saviour’s second coming. Read Acts i.
That the apostles gave it equal prominence in all their writings, see the quotations we have already made.—Graves.