The following, from Pollok's “Course of Time,” is commended to the serious attention of the readers of the REVIEW:
Great day of revelation! in the grave
The hypocrite had left his mask, and stood
In naked ugliness. He was a man
Who stole the livery of the court of Heaven,
To serve the devil in; in virtue's guise
Devoured the widow's house and orphan's bread.
In holy phrase, transacted villainies
That common sinners durst not meddle with.
At sacred feast, he sat among the saints,
And with his guilty hands touched holiest things;
And none of sin lamented more, or sighed
More deeply, or with graver countenance,
Or longer prayer, wept o'er the dying man,
Whose infant children, at the moment, he
Planned how to rob. In sermon style he bought
And sold, and lied; and salutations made
In Scripture terms. He prayed by quantity,
And with his repetitions long and loud
All knees were weary. With one hand he put
A penny in the urn of poverty,
And with the other took a shilling out.
On charitable lists—those trumpets which told
The public ear, who had in secret done
The poor a benefit, and half the alms
They told of took themselves to keep them sounding—
He blazed his name, more pleased to have it there
Than in the book of life. Seest thou the man!
A serpent with an angel's voice! a grave
With flowers bestrewed! and yet few were deceived.
His virtues being over-done, his face
Too grave, his prayers too long, his charities
Too pompously attended, and his speech
Larded too frequently, and out of time
With serious phraseology—were rents
That in his garments opened in spite of him,
Through which the well-accustomed eye could see
The rottenness of his heart. None deeper blushed,
As in the all-piercing light he stood, exposed,
No longer herding with the holy ones.
Yet still he tried to bring his countenance
To sanctimonious seeming; but meanwhile,
The shame within, now visible to all,
His purpose balked. The righteous smiled, and even
Despair itself some signs of laughter gave,
As ineffectually he strove to wipe
His brow, that inward guiltiness defied.
Detected wretch! of all the reprobate,
None seemed maturer for the flames of hell,
Where still his face, from ancient custom, wears
A holy air which says to all that pass
Him by, “I was a hypocrite on earth.”
The Sacred Writers
THE SACRED WRITERS.—One prophet speaks to us like an orator, and another like a logician. One endeavors by his eloquence to charm us, and another by his clear reasoning to convince our minds. One threatens, another promises. Here we have presented to our eyes a scepter of divine love, and there our ears are arrested by the shrill voice of the warning trumpet. We now hear a voice from Ebal, and now a voice from Gerizim. One herald of salvation points us to the smoke of torment that ascendeth up for ever and ever, and another, with tender accents of a Saviour’s love, cries out, “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?”
THE TERRORS OF THE BIBLE.
Dr. Guthrie, in his Gospel of Ezekiel, has the following striking remarks on the alarming language of the Bible.
“There are terrors enough in the Bible to make a man's hair stand on end. Surely, were God but for one moment to let this world hear the weeping and wail of the lost, that sound, more terrible than Egypt's midnight cry, would rouse the student at his books, arrest the foot of the dancer in the ball, stop armies in the very fury of the fight, and, calling a sleeping world from their beds, would bend the most stubborn knees, and extort from all the one loud cry, ‘Lord, save me, I perish!’ Still, it is not terror which is the mighty power of God. The gospel, like most medicine for the body, is of a compound nature; but, whatever else enters into its composition, its curative element is love. No man yet was ever driven to Heaven; he must be drawn to it; and I wish to draw you. The gospel has terror in it, no doubt. But it is like our atmosphere—occasionally riven by the thunder and illuminated by the flash, it is at times the path of the stealthy pestilence—charged with elements of destruction, and impregnated with the seeds of disease; but how much more is it a great magazine of health, filled with the most harmonious sounds, fragrant with the sweetest odors, hung with golden drapery, the pathway of sunbeams, the womb of showers, the feeder of flowing streams full of God's goodness, and the fountain of all earth's life! And, just as in that atmosphere which God has wrapped round this world, there is much more health than sickness, much more food than famine, much more life than death, so in the Bible there is much more love than terror.
“The terror is not only subordinate to love, but subservient to it. God, indeed, tells us of hell, but it is to persuade us to go to Heaven; and, as a skillful painter fills the background of his picture with his darker colors, God puts in the smoke of torment and the black clouds of Sinai to give brighter prominence to Jesus, the cross of Calvary, and his love to the chief of sinners. His voice of terror is like the scream of the mother bird when the hawk is in the sky. She alarms her brood that they may run and hide beneath her feathers; and as I believe that God had left that mother dumb unless he had given her wings to cover her little ones, I am sure that he who is very ‘pitiful’ and has no pleasure in any creature's pain, had never turned our eyes to the horrible gulf unless for the voice that cries, ‘Deliver from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom.’ We had never heard of sin had there been no Saviour; nor of hell had there been no Heaven. ‘Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof;’ and never had Bible light been flashed before the eyes of the sleeping felon to awake him from his happy dream, but that he may see the smiling form of Mercy, and hear her as she says with pointing finger, ‘Behold, I have set before thee an open door.’”
Obituary Notices.
By A. S. Hutchins
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.
DIED, in Jamaica, Vt., Jan. 26, 1869, Mary E., wife of Bro. Leander A. Bourn, in the 19th year of her age. Sr. Mary was a worthy member of the church in J., and has left a good evidence, to those best acquainted with her, that she sleeps in Jesus. Her loss is a heavy bereavement to her companion, who is left with an infant that knows no mother's love. Other dear friends, also, miss the loved and lost one.
A funeral sermon was preached on the occasion, last first-day, from the words of the apostle, Tit. i, 2.
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Sabbath Time
Some one, writing from Iowa Falls, Iowa, without signature, requests information respecting the commencement of the Sabbath at an earlier hour in the Eastern Continent than with us. For an answer the writer is referred to the REVIEW of July 13, containing the article of Bro. Waggoner, entitled, “Sabbath Time.”
Note from Bro. Waggoner.
By John H. Waggoner
SABBATH, August 7, I spent with the church in Olcott, N. Y. At that place I received direction to go to Boston to join Bro. Cornell. To comply with this evident duty, I had to forego the anticipated pleasure of attending the meeting in Clyde, Ohio.
I found the tent pitched in a central location in the city of Chelsea, in a pleasant, orderly neighborhood. There is evidently a good interest here, and a good feeling toward all connected with the tent. Yesterday we had a good social meeting in the tent, and a number of testimonies were given by those who have embraced the truth in these meetings. It has been very dry weather during these meetings, but to-day it rains, and our hearers are few. A good work is doubtless begun here, and the interest is spreading. The way appears to be open to pitch the tent in South Boston; but it will be impossible to say what course will be pursued until after the New England camp-meeting. We earnestly pray the Lord to direct in all things.
Letters may be sent to me for the present to Battle Creek, Mich., as they will be more certain to reach me from there while it is so uncertain where I may be in the future.
J. H. WAGGONER.
41 Shawmut Av., Boston.
Courage.
WE must have courage in God. It is a sin to be timid and fearful in his service. The power of the Almighty is pledged to uphold and sustain those who faithfully serve him. We may well distrust our own strength, and our own capacity for the work. But our own sense of weakness is no excuse for timidity and distrust. God is the strength of his people. We have only to act in him in order to be mighty with the strength of Omnipotence. We may well fear to sin against him. But when he bids us do any work, it is wicked to distrust the support of his mighty arm.
Courage in the Lord is a noble quality of soul. The Spirit of God will enable the most timid and helpless to put on courage if they will only ask it at his hands.
The Crown of Life.
This crown is designed only for the overcomers. None shall wear it but those who meet the great Adversary in battle and gain the victory. It is not for the careless and indifferent. It is not for those who flee from the cross, but for those who take it up and bear it to victory. This crown is the symbol of royal honors. It is the symbol of a reign that shall last while everlasting life endures. Precious token of victory! Priceless emblem of unending triumph! Those who suffer with Christ shall reign with him. Those who cherish the cross with unswerving fidelity, shall be rewarded with this token of his never-ending love.
“Him that Liveth Forever and Ever.”
We are in danger of reading the Bible in a careless manner. Almost every sentence contains some thought calculated to make a deep impression upon our minds. We should earnestly seek for a spirit of attention and reverence as we read the words of eternal life.
Rev. v, 14: “And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshiped Him that liveth forever and ever.” Here we have the Being we should worship pointed out by one grand fact. He “liveth forever and ever.” If all mankind by virtue of their own nature are to live thus, how does this sentence designate the object of our worship? Is it not evident that he is the only being who can of himself live thus, while all other beings have life from him as a gift, and are to live forever, or to die the second death, according as their probation determines their fitness for the one lot or the other?
Michigan Conference Reports Due
By W. C. G.
The churches and ministers of the Michigan Conference will take notice that the first quarter of the conference year has expired, and their reports are now due.
W. C. G.
Thanks for Christian Kindness
Bro. W. E. Landon, who was seriously injured by a falling tree, an account of which was given in a recent number of the REVIEW, wishes us to express his thanks to the brethren and sisters who have kindly remembered him in word and in deed. As he cannot write to them personally, he wishes them to accept this manifestation of his gratitude for their kindness, assuring them that they have his prayers that the blessing of God may rest upon them.
He is slowly recovering from his injuries, and is trying to do some light work.
Body of Death.
By Adolphus Smith
“O WRETCHED man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom. vii, 24.
The figure employed in the above text was doubtless borrowed from an ancient custom of chaining, or binding, a dead body to a living person, as a punishment for a real or supposed crime. To this punishment the victim had to submit, until the putrescent infection of the corrupt mass brought death to his relief.
By this impressive figure, Paul represents man in his unrenewed, unregenerate state. Bound by the law to the carnal mind, he finds it impossible to extricate himself, until, by the Spirit of God, he is made to realize his undone condition, and appeals for help to One who is mighty to save, and able to deliver; by whom he is made “free from the law of sin and death.” ADOLPHUS SMITH.
Tent-meeting in Owosso.
By Uriah Smith; W. H. Littlejohn
The tent-meeting in this place has closed, after continuing three weeks and four days. We have been exceedingly favored in respect to rains, all the showers of this rainy season having come between meetings as accurately as if planned for this special purpose. This has seemed providential, as from our limited time we could not spare a single discourse, and yet bring before the people all the subjects we wished to present; and we were not obliged to omit a meeting on account of the weather. But some of the evenings were excessively cold, which kept many, especially the more feeble ones, from coming out. The hurry of harvest prevented any attendance of any consequence from the country. And a secret influence was kept busily at work through the city to keep the people away, some of the ministers even forbidding the members of their churches coming into the tent. These circumstances, combined with the natural amount of prejudice that is to be met everywhere, prevented our getting a very extensive hearing. Our congregations ranged from fifty to three hundred. Among these were quite a number of constant hearers.
We gave in all twenty-seven discourses; sold $13.04 worth of books; and at the last meeting, twenty gave in their names as determined henceforward to keep all the commandments under the third angel's message. Others acknowledged themselves to be fully convinced of the truth, and promised conditionally to obey. Were it not that the camp-meeting is to be held here, we could not consent to leave the work as it is, apparently but just begun. We confidently expect to see the number of Sabbath-keepers here considerably increased as the result of the camp-meeting.
U. SMITH,
W. H. LITTLEJOHN.
The Scriptures: A River of Truth
THE Scriptures are a river of truth and love that flow from God.
Value of Eternal Life.
WHAT words can express the value of that life which shall never end? We can never even begin to appreciate its infinite worth till we have entered upon its possession. And though we can never thereafter lose it, yet how small a part of it can we ever possess! Even the immortal saints shall never know only the beginning of eternal life! For however long they be conceived of as living in its possession, there still lies before them an absolutely infinite period in comparison with which, what they have already passed is only an atom of time, a point, a moment, an instant. Life without end! What a thought that this may be ours! Life forevermore! What a length of duration is this! Our Lord gives unto his people eternal life. What a gift of infinite worth! That we may thus live, he makes us immortal, i. e., incapable of dying.
Sin being the cause of death to our race, before this deathless state is secured to the righteous, all sin must be removed from them, and all evil taken out of their hearts. Then when all is just as God would have it, and the trial is complete, the people of God are confirmed in virtue, and the seal of immortality is put upon them. The rest of mankind, being chaff, tares and stubble, are devoured in the unquenchable fire.
Appointments.
By C. A. WASHBURN; O. A. OLSON
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
The next Quarterly meeting of the Waukon and West Union churches will be held, Providence permitting, at Waukon, Iowa, Sept. 4, 1869. The scattered brethren and sisters are invited to attend this meeting.
C. A. WASHBURN.
The next Quarterly Meeting for the churches at Little Prairie, Johnstown, and Oakland, Wis., will be held at Oakland, Sept. 4 and 5. Can not a messenger be present?
O. A. OLSON.