Earlier text: The Empire of GreciaNOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By A. T. J.
BEN-HADAD had gathered together a great host and had besieged Samaria till the famine had become terrible. So scarce had grown the food that an ass' head sold for eighty pieces of silver (about $44), and at last women were found who had eaten a child. When the king heard of this, he determined to kill Elisha, but when he came to where Elisha was, then Elisha said: "Thus saith the Lord, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof." "AND there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate; and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come,583 and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die." When men were found to be lepers the law was that "the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." Lev. 13:45, 46. THE famine being so great in the city, these men of course could obtain no food from there, and as they were about to perish any way, they concluded that nothing greater than that could befall them even though the Syrians should get them; but if the Syrians should happen to favor them, and give them food, their lives would be saved. So they determined to go. "AND they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians; and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host; and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life." IT is easy for the Lord to spread terror amongst men. Several such instances are given in the Bible. Gideon will be remembered, with his three hundred men with their pitchers and torches, and how that, all of a sudden, the breaking of the pitchers and the glare of the torches put the 135,000 Midianites to flight in terror. Judges 7. And "the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir" came up against Judah when Jehoshaphat was king. The children of Judah were all gathered together in the wilderness Tekoah, and Jehoshaphat "appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another." IT is not alone in the Bible, nor alone in Bible times that such things have occurred. The Lord has done just as remarkable things for his people in later ages as he did in those ancient times. After the Papacy had put to death John Huss and Jerome of Prague, it set about to extirpate all the heretics of Bohemia. For this purpose crusade after crusade was set afoot, only to be defeated in disgrace. At last in A. D. 1427, the pope had succeeded in gathering together an army of nearly 200,000 men. "Led by three electors of the Empire, by many princes and counts, and the legate-a-latere of the pope," this great host invaded Bohemia, entering it in June. "The Bohemians marched to meet their invaders. They were now within sight of them and the two armies were separated only by the river that flows past Meiss. The crusaders were in greatly superior force, but instead of dashing across the stream, and closing in battle with the Hussites, whom they had come so far to meet, they stood gazing in silence at those warriors hardened by constant exposure, and begrimed with the smoke and dust of battle, and seemed to realize the pictures of terror which report had made familiar to their imaginations long before they came in contact with the reality. It was only for a few moments that the invaders contemplated the Hussite ranks. A sudden panic fell upon them; they turned and fled in the utmost confusion." FOUR years afterward another army was raised for the invasion of Bohemia, to destroy the followers of the doctrines preached by Huss, and for which he had been cruelly and treacherously burned at the stake. This time—the fifth of these crusades—130,000 men swept into Bohemia. "On the first of August, 1431, the crusaders crossed the Bohemian frontier, penetrating through the great forest which covered the country on the Bavarian side. They were brilliantly led, as concerned rank, for at their head marched quite a host of princes, spiritual and temporal. . . . The feelings of the Hussites as day by day they received tidings of the numbers, equipments, and near approach of the host, we can well imagine. Clouds as terrible had ere this darkened their sky, but they had seen an omnipotent Hand suddenly disperse them. . . . They reflected, however, that victory did not always declare on the side of the largest battalion, and, lifting their eyes to heaven, they calmly awaited the approach of the foe. The invading host advanced, 'chanting triumph before victory,' says Lenfant, and arriving at Tochan, it halted there a week. . . . Forming in three columns, the invaders moved forward. Procopius fell back on their approach. . . . His design was to lure the enemy farther into the country, and fall upon him on all sides. On the morning of the 14th of August, the Bohemians marched to meet the foe. . . ." "The enemy were encamped near the town of Reisenberg. The Hussites were not yet in sight, but the sound of their approach struck upon the ear of the Germans. The rumble of their wagons, and the war-hymn chanted by the whole army as it marched bravely forward to battle, were distinctly heard. Cardinal Cesarini and a companion climbed a little hill to view the impending conflict. . . . The cardinal and his friend had gazed only a few minutes when they were startled by a strange and sudden movement in the host. As if smitten by some invisible power, it appeared all at once to break up and scatter. The soldiers threw away their armor and fled, one this way, another that; and the wagoners, emptying their vehicles of their load, set off across the plain at full gallop. . . . The army had been seized with a mysterious panic. That panic extended to the officers equally with the soldiers. The duke of Bavaria was one of the first to flee. He left behind his carriage, in the hope that its spoil might tempt the enemy and delay their pursuit. Behind him, also in inglorious flight, came the elector of Brandenburg; and following close on the elector were others of less note, chased from the field by this unseen terror. The army followed, if that could be styled an army which so lately had been a marshaled and bannered host, but was now only a rabble rout, fleeing when no man pursued." The cardinal succeeded in rallying a few of the flying soldiers. "They stood their ground only till the Bohemians were within a short distance of them, and that strange terror fell upon them, and the stampede became so perfectly uncontrollable, that the legate himself was borne away in the current of bewildered and hurrying men. He left behind him his hat, his cross, his bell, and the pope's bull proclaiming the crusade—that same crusade which had come to so ridiculous a termination." "This was now the second time the strange phenomenon of panic had been repeated in the Hussite wars. The Germans are naturally brave; they have proved their valor on a hundred fields. . . . There is here the touch of a divine finger—the infusion of a preternatural terror. So great was the stupefaction with which the crusaders were smitten, that many of them instead of continuing their flight into their own country, wandered back into Bohemia; while others of them, who reached their homes in Nuremburg, did not know their native city when they entered it, and began to beg for lodgings as if they were among strangers."—Wylie's History of Protestantism, book 3, chap. 17. IT is impossible to read this narrative and not see in it a perfect likeness to the panic of the Syrians in this lesson. Rome and the Emperor Sigismund had treacherously burnt the saintly Huss, and the scholarly Jerome, and now sought to destroy their innocent brethren, and God wrought for his people here as veritably as ever he did in the world. God's wondrous workings for his children are not all confined to the times in which the Bible was written. He is the same Mighty One still. There is still a God in Israel. YES, and still there are men as unbelieving as that "lord" upon whose hand the king of Israel leaned when Elisha said that "to-morrow about this time" there should be such plenty in the gates of starving Samaria. Still there are such ready to say, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven might this thing be." But yet for all the unbelief of men, the fact remains that God leads, and works for, his people. And yet for all the unbelief of men, every part of the word of God will be fulfilled as literally as was the word of Elisha that day. The four lepers went and called to the watchman of Samaria, and told the city, by him, that the Syrians had fled and left everything; then a company was sent out to learn whether it were really true, and they returned and confirmed the word; then the whole city poured out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." 2 Chron. 20: 20. FIRE takes long to die out. You can never tell from what heap of cold gray ashes a flame may start up, to begin or to renew a conflagration. Many of the most destructive fires have taken their origin from inflammable material left too near some heap of seemingly dead ashes; and often when the wearied firemen have left the steaming ruins behind them, they are recalled because the flame has started anew from some rubbish heap where all was supposed to be extinguished. Yes, fire takes long to die out. You may think that you are safe from the fire of this or that temptation, because the dead, gray ashes have shown no sign of life. But take care that you do not bring inflammable materials too near them. A gust of passion, a breeze of memory, a wind of ambition, may blow the dying ash into a live coal, and the live coal may carry the fire to the things which are your best and dearest. A little forgetfulness, a little heedlessness, and next you may hear the roar of a flame which your own unaided effort will not extinguish. What is the preventive? Only the most careful watchfulness, only the most earnest care. These half-dead ashes are dangerous chiefly because you see no danger in them. Be on your guard against them—carefully, prayerfully—and they will indeed have for you no peril.—Sel. Thought Shapes Character
By Dugald Stewart
EVERY man has some peculiar train of thought which he falls back upon when alone. This, to a great degree, moulds the man.—Dugald Stewart. Its Own Best Evidence.
By Editor
WHEN a skeptic expressed a wish to examine the evidences of the inspiration of the Bible, and asked what book on that subject he should read, his friend promptly advised him to read the Bible. He thought he was not understood; and as the Bible was the subject to be investigated, he again asked what work on the inspiration or credibility of the Bible he should read. And again he was told to read the Bible. The reason given for this advice is, that they who oppose the Bible seldom know much about the Bible. The advice was taken, and the skeptic—an able lawyer—was converted to the faith of the Holy Scriptures before he got past the twentieth chapter of Exodus. Indeed, this chapter was the turning-point; the completeness of the moral law carried conviction to his heart, thus proving the words of the psalmist, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." The method pursued with this skeptic we heartily indorse. No book of "evidences" has evidences equal to those which the Bible itself contains. The following is from the account of a Protestant laborer in Paris:— I go as often as possible to the clubs, where, besides grotesque insanities, odious blasphemies are uttered. I succeed sometimes in getting the floor. I am not permitted to speak long; and what I say, I can utter only amidst a horrible din. But I thus come in contact with simple and misguided souls, and am able to do them good. I found myself in one of these meetings, by the side of an honest workman who wore the insignia of Free Thought—L. P.—Libio Pense—and who asked me whether I also was a Free Thinker. "No," I answered him, "I am a Protestant pastor." Oh, a Protestant pastor, he rejoined, quite astonished. "I like the Protestants; but I don't like their book, the Bible." "No, but I know that it is an immoral book." "If it was immoral you would have read it." "Ho! how do you know that?" "Because I know the human heart. I am sure you have read all the realistic novels of the day." "Very well! take this Bible, I offer it to you gratuitously. Read some pages of it. I will meet you here again to-morrow night, and you will let me know what conclusion you have come to." The next day my friend was there. "We must never judge of things which we don't know," said he to me. "This book is good. I want them to read it at my house." I asked permission to go and see him at his house, where I found his wife also very happy to possess "so good a book." I exhorted them not merely to declare that the book was good, but to realize its contents and power in their lives, in order to exhibit its excellence to those who surrounded them. All this house now serves the Lord, and has already become the light of two neighboring families which also belonged to the society of Free-Thought, which they have hastily abandoned. We have known infidels—reading, intelligent infidels—who had stood for years against the arguments and evidences of able authorities, yield up all their infidelity on hearing a few discourses on the fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. The best antidote for infidelity that we have ever known is the preaching of the "present truth;" and this because it is the present truth, and opens the Bible more clearly to the understanding than does any other system of "divinity." In this position we are sustained by the words of our Saviour himself. In a parable in Luke 16, a request is made to "father Abraham" to send Lazarus from the dead to convince certain ones of their errors, and to lead them to avoid the consequences thereof. Abraham is made to reply: "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." But another kind of evidence was still insisted on: "Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." Then comes the important answer: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." This is no hyperbole—no strong expression to point a moral—but a plain statement of a plain fact. In proof of this we notice two facts:— 1. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was raised from the dead. Did this convince the enemies of Jesus of his Messiahship? Did they then yield to his claims as being sent from God? Not at all. It was not a question of proof with them; it was a question of the will. Their intellect could not yield, because their hearts would not yield. Instead of acknowledging their error, they sought to destroy the evidence which stood against them. "But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus." John 12:10, 11. Jesus had told them that they would believe him if they had had faith in the writings of Moses. John 5:46, 47. And Paul said that they had condemned Christ because they knew not the voices of the prophets. Acts 13:27. The words of Christ proved to be literally and strictly true; if they would not hear Moses and the prophets, no kind of evidence would move them; they would not believe even though one rose from the dead. We notice in all the New Testament that "the Scriptures," words of Moses and the prophets, are the last and sole resort of all the writers and speakers. "It is written," was the end of all controversy. If any rejected the teachings of the Scriptures, no effort was made to convince them by other means. They evidently had the same estimate of the power and sufficiency of the sacred writings that the Saviour presented in Luke 16. The Scriptures were recognized as the word of the Lord. To reject the Scriptures is to reject the word of the living God; and if they will not believe him, to whom will they listen? How shall the heart be reached if it turns away from the words of the Holy Spirit. In addition to the above we may cite the case of our Saviour in meeting the Sadducees when they reasoned against the resurrection. His answer was: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." He appealed neither to philosophy nor science; nor did he reason to make it appear possible or plausible to their understanding of things. These have nothing to do with the question. It rests altogether on the divine veracity and the divine power. The Scriptures—the word of God—say the dead will rise from the dust of the earth where they are sleeping; and the power of God is sufficient to fulfill his word. If any doubt either the Scriptures or the power of God, then they may doubt the resurrection; but not otherwise. They who believe the Scriptures, they who trust the power of God, who created man of the dust of the earth, must believe that he will restore him though he is returned to the earth; they must believe that "thy dead men shall live;" that they will be redeemed from the power of the grave. Who realizes the value of that precious, heavenly gift, the Bible? "The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." Ps. 12:6. It may be further noticed that all these testimonies to the value of the Scriptures, are so many indorsements of the Old Testament in this dispensation. They who reject the Old Testament, as many blindly do, must reject all the testimonies of Christ and his apostles in favor of "the Scriptures," for they referred always and only to the Old Testament when they spoke of the Scriptures. The New Testament without the Old is but a partial revelation of God's work to man. The New rests upon the Old as its strong support, its infallible witness. "Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." Prov. 30:5. The Lord's Sabbath Definite.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
"THE great majority of Christians believe that the fourth commandment only requires the observance of one day in seven, and that it leaves the children of God at liberty to select the day, and they accordingly accept the first instead of the seventh day, because tradition and the habit of the church have hallowed it."—Christian Union.
We quote these words simply because they do express the belief of the "great majority of Christians," and therefore in what we say it may not seem that we are beating the air. We wish to call attention to the fourth commandment, and to the popular belief concerning it, in such a way that all who desire truth may be able to discern it. 1. What reason have the great majority of Christians, or any class of people, whether few or many, to believe that the fourth commandment requires the observance of one day in seven, and not a definitely specified day? Is not the commandment plain enough in its declarations and injunctions? Let us read it and see. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Literally it reads, "Remember the day of the Sabbath." That certainly carries the idea of definiteness. Our attention is called not to "the Sabbath institution," but to "the Sabbath day." It is "the Sabbath day," indicating that there is only one, just as we say the Lord, for while there be "lords many," to us "there is but one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things." Different people may have Sabbaths of their own, but the Bible knows but one Sabbath. Having indicated that there is but one Sabbath, and that it is a definite day, the commandment goes on to tell what day the Sabbath is. "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." Here is definiteness. The Sabbath is "the seventh day." Note that it is not said, nor are we warranted in saying that the Sabbath comes, or did come, on the seventh day, but that the Sabbath is the seventh day. The seventh day and the Sabbath are inseparable. When God said, "Remember the Sabbath day," it was the same as though he said, "Remember the seventh day." And after it has been stated that "the seventh day is the Sabbath," when it is said that "God blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it," we know that God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. This point is made emphatic in Gen. 2:3, to which the commandment refers: "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." If any one thinks there is any doubt as to which day of the week the seventh day is, in him consult the almanac, the dictionary, or the first man he may meet on the street. Ask your neighbor some Sunday morning, "What day of the week is to-day?" and without an instant's hesitation he will answer, "The first." Read the extract at the beginning of this article, where it is said that "the great majority of Christians" observe the first day of the week instead of the seventh; and knowing585 that "the day called Sunday" is the popular day of "rest and recreation," you can have no trouble in counting and determining which is the seventh day. That there may be no possibility for doubt, we will state another point, which has often been noted. The crucifixion of Christ, as is generally conceded, was on Friday; the record says, "And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on." Luke 23:54. "And the women . . . followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher." Luke 23:55, 56; 24:1. No first-day advocate ever dreams that these events did not occur in order on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; all concede that the day on which the women rested was the seventh day of the week, because it immediately preceded the first day of the week. Therefore it is as clear as a mathematical demonstration that the fourth commandment declares the seventh day of the week to be the Sabbath. Now then, we ask, What right have "the great majority of Christians" to believe that the commandment requires simply one-seventh portion of our time, and not rest on a definite day? What right has anybody to so believe? None whatever. There is no excuse for such a belief on the part of one who can read the commandment. 2. Suppose that the commandment did leave it optional with us, as to which day we would observe, what would be the result? Nothing but confusion. If the commandment does not specify any day to be observed, then one person has as much liberty of choice as another. If it were so, then no man would have any right to reprove another for differing with him. Every man would be a law unto himself. It is a fact, however, that the majority of people do not believe that the commandment leaves to individuals the choice of selecting the day upon which they will rest; if they did so believe, they would exercise their right, and there would not be the uniformity which we now see. If there is uniformity of practice, some one must be recognized as competent to declare which day must be observed. This leads directly to popery, and it is a fact that Roman Catholics are the only Sunday-keepers whose practice is consistent with their profession. Given these two things, indefiniteness in the commandment, and the desirability of uniformity of practice, and a pope is an absolute necessity. For ourselves we will accept no pope, nor the dogmas of a pope, and the commandment does not lay us under any such necessity. It is as plain and definite as Infinite Wisdom could make it. 3. The people have accepted the first day, "because tradition and the habit of the church have hallowed it." And that is indeed all the hallowing that the first day of the week has ever received, and that is just none at all. Can the custom or decision of any man determine the sacredness of a day? No. Can the custom and decision of two men hallow the day? No; and so all will say. Then the question arises, How many men does it take to reverse the decrees of God, and make wrong right? If in comparison with God the inhabitants of the earth "are as grasshoppers" (Isa. 40:22), and all "the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance," yea, even as "less than nothing, and vanity" (verses 15, 17), then the custom and decision of a majority of the people of the earth, or even of all of them, are of themselves of no more account than the custom and decision of a single man. Man is sinful; he cannot hallow anything. Even if he were perfect, his power to hallow anything would be no greater. The mightiest angel in Heaven could not hallow any day which God had not hallowed. "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Ps. 62:11. The "tradition and the habit of the church," when contrary to the word of God, are of no more consequence than the tradition and habit of infidels or pagans. Compare the two days. Of the seventh day of the week it is said that "God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it." The most that can be said of the first day of the week, is that "tradition and the habit of the church have hallowed it." God hallowed the seventh; man "hallowed" the first. Reader, which will you choose? Whom will you obey? "Choose you this day whom ye will serve;" whether the Lord Jehovah, or the apostate church of Rome. May God help you to remember that under all circumstances "we ought to obey God rather than men." "Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My People."
By Alonzo Trévier Jones
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." This is the word of the Lord by the prophet Isaiah. The Lord knows our trials, our afflictions, our troubles, and in his great pity sends comfort. "Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." Job 5:6, 7. Trouble is the common lot of all men. Who in this world is free from it? None. And the Lord, knowing our frame, remembering that we are dust, says, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people." Paul, in contemplating this, exclaims, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Cor. 1:3, 4. The Bible is a perfect storehouse of all the needs of human experience, and trouble is as universal as is the human race. "Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." Job 5:6, 7. Solomon, in considering the oppressions that are done under the sun, said: "Behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter." Eccl. 4:1. It is bad enough to be oppressed, but to be oppressed and have no comforter is terrible. It is true that there are many such, but it is equally true that there need not be any such; for all that are oppressed, all that are afflicted, all that are troubled, may do as one of old, "I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause," and he, "the God of all comfort," will "comfort all that mourn." His tender mercies are over all his works. It is a fact that the Lord has not, in his word, told us to do anything without telling us how to do that thing. It is so in this. He has not only told us, "Comfort ye my people," but he tells us how to comfort them. We will notice an example or two. In John 13 to 18 we have Jesus's last talk to his disciples before his crucifixion. He was about to leave them to go again to his Father, and in John 13:33 he said: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me; and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you." This is a very important statement, "Whither I go ye cannot come." But not only that, the Lord refers us to something else, "As I said unto the Jews, . . . so now I say to you." Therefore to obtain the full meaning of this word, whither I go ye cannot come, we must find what it was he had said to the Jews. The only place in which he spoke these words to the Jews is John 8:21: "Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go, ye cannot come." This it is to which he referred in John 13:33. "As I said unto the Jews, Whither I go ye cannot come; so now I say to you." Therefore, so far as going to the Lord is concerned, it is positive by his own words, that his disciples have no pre-eminence above men who die in their sins. When Jesus said this to his disciples, they were troubled. Could it be possible that they who had left all and had followed him; that these whom he had chosen out of the world; that these whom he had loved unto the end; could it be possible that they, after all their experience with him and his love for them, should now be left on the level of those who die in their sins? Why should they not be troubled? He had asked them once, "Will ye also go away?" and Peter had replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life?" and now after having trusted in him for eternal life, to be told that when he should go away, they could not go where he went, that was enough to trouble them. But Jesus did not allow them to be long troubled thus. He comforts them. He said: "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3. This relieved them of all their trouble on that point, this was comfort indeed. And, mark you, it is the Lord's own word. It is Christ's own message of comfort to his disciples. And that message of comfort is, although it be that "whither I go, ye cannot come," any more than can men who die in their sins, yet, "I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also." And this word "that" shows that it is only by his coming again that his children can ever be where he is. Now why should the Saviour, who loved his disciples so tenderly, stir up this trouble in their hearts? They were with him when he told the Jews, "Ye shall die in your sins, and whither I go ye cannot come." They understood the full force of that fearful sentence. Now why should he plunge them into fear and trouble, by saying the same thing to them, and this too, by the phrase, "As I said unto the Jews," so emphatically that they could not possibly misunderstand him? Why was this done? The sequel shows plainly that it was for the purpose of making such an impression upon them as they never could forget; and so to fix ineffaceably upon their minds the truth that without his coming again, there is absolutely no hope of ever being where he is; and thus to set them in view of one event as the consummation of all their hopes, and that event the coming again of the Lord. That is the comfort of Christ himself. Another instance: The Thessalonian brethren were sorrowing because some of their number had died. And now the Lord, by Paul's pen, sends them comfort. And what is his comfort? The same that Jesus gave to his disciples, for it is Jesus who sends this. Here it is: "The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:16-18. That is the comfort the Lord gives to the sorrowing. And any other under such circumstances is false comfort. It is not only his comfort to us, but it is his command that we comfort one another with these words. Once more: In 2 Thess. 1:6-10 Paul speaks to those "who are troubled," and his comfort is that "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, . . . when he shall come to be glorified in his586saints, and to be admired in all them that believe . . . in that day." This is the comfort of God: The Lord is coming. "I will come again." "The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven." "The Lord shall be revealed from Heaven." "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." A. T. J. Coos County, Oregon.
By Charles L. Boyd
IN company with Elder John Fulton, I went to Coos County two weeks ago. The church there is shut in by itself, by the Coast Range and Pacific Ocean, and has enjoyed but little association with others of like faith, or of ministerial labor since its organization. We found the brethren grounded in the truth and very anxious for its promulgation in their secluded country. We labored both in public and from house to house. The preaching was designed to instruct those not of our faith, and to lead the church to raise high the standard of godliness. Our efforts seemed blessed of the Lord in both these directions. Some worldly associations will be severed, which I think will give the church a stronger hold on the divine arm. Last Sunday four willing souls were baptized in the Coquille River, and, with one other, united with the church. One or two aside from these have decided to keep the Sabbath, and will, we trust, soon unite with the church. Others are undecided. We need one or two good colporters to labor faithfully up and down these rivers. Brother Fulton, though not in health to do much preaching, rendered valuable aid in the meetings and also in visiting. He thinks the climate here has done more to restore health and strength than all the medical treatment which he had previously received. He remains there for a time, while I am on my way to Jackson County. CHAS. L. BOYD. Douglas Co., Or., Sept. 16, 1885.