Earlier text: The AffectionsAs Bro. Griswold claims no exemption for his articles from candid criticism or review (see REVIEW of May 21), we take the liberty to make a few remarks relative to the foregoing article, which, however much they may lack in critical acumen, we design shall be both candid and Christian. On two points we conceive Bro. G. has adopted wrong principles of interpretation, and hence draws erroneous conclusions. 1. We are somewhat surprised to see him referring to the instances of Christ's meeting with his disciples while here upon the earth as his coming again, every instance being counted an advent and counting up in numerical order, as second, third, fourth, fifth, &c. That Christ was personally present here on earth during his incarnation, no Christian will deny. That this may properly be denominated his first advent to this earth, because his first personal appearance among men, will be as readily granted; and that this covered a space of time, from his birth to his ascension, is equally evident. There could be no second coming, or return to this world, till he had been away from this world; and he did not go away from it after once appearing here, till his ascension. He did not go away while he lay in the grave; for he assured Mary in the most positive manner, after his resurrection, that he had not yet ascended to his Father; John 20 : 17; but he announced that he was about to ascend to Him who was the God and Father both of himself and his disciples. And when did he ascend? Forty days afterward. And during that forty days he was seen of his disciples, Acts 1 : 3; he ate and drank with them, Luke 24 : 42, 43; they handled him, verses 39, 40, while he assured them that a spirit, a phantom, that figment of heathen philosophy and the soul of modern orthodoxy, had not flesh and bones as he had; and, finally, one of their number of not a very spiritual turn of mind, even doubting Thomas, put his finger upon the prints of the nails (or was invited by his Lord to do so), and thrust his hand into his side. John 20 : 27. All these were just as real and literal transactions as any that took place before his crucifixion, or the record is not true; and if any of these constituted the second coming of Christ, then any of his interviews with his disciples before his crucifixion constituted his second coming just as much. But Bro. G. intimates that he shall not admit any such appearance as the record states. Should he deny it, many will perhaps wonder how he would define infidelity. The ascension of Christ, which terminated the period of the first advent, made his second advent possible, and when he ascended, that second advent was announced. “This same Jesus,” said the angels to the disciples who were gazing after their ascending Lord, “shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1 : 11. Our Lord himself had previously announced the object of his coming. John 14 : 3. “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.” When Christ comes the second time, his followers will all be taken into his presence to dwell with him forever. 1 Thess. 4 : 16, 17. 2. As to the prophecies quoted from the Old Testament, while the threatenings which they announced against certain nations and cities, have been fulfilled, their references to the day of the Lord certainly have not been fulfilled; for Paul declared that in his day the day of the Lord was still future. 1 Thess. 5 : 2, 3; and Peter makes the same announcement, and tells us what will take place when the day of the Lord does come; namely, “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Why, then, does the prophet refer to the day of the Lord in connection with national judgments? Because those local and limited manifestations of God's indignation against sin, suggested the more terrible and wide-spread judgments and calamities of the great day. So the prophet's eye glances from one to the other, as we sometimes see the peaks of a second range of mountains, immediately beyond the first, without perceiving the broad intervening valley, because from our standpoint the second range is in our line of vision the very next object beyond the first. So the prophet Joel, quoted by Peter, goes right forward from the day of Pentecost which was the opening of the dispensation of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 3 : 8, and the beginning of the fulfillment of his prediction, to the events with which the dispensation shall close. The doctrine of the second advent is charged with promoting atheism and infidelity. If this is correct, one or both of two things must be apparent. There must be found numbers who have become infidels from having once believed the doctrine, or it must be found that infidels appeal to this doctrine to sustain them in their position. Can those who make the charge produce any evidence of either kind to sustain their assertion? Can a man be found who will declare that he is an infidel, because he once believed the advent doctrine, or one who will defend his infidelity on the ground that such a doctrine has been preached? If he can, let his name be mentioned. But if not, is it not manifest that such charges are made without due consideration? The greater part of the confusion which exists in the theological world is directly traceable to the mystical or spiritual principle of interpretation, to which we are sorry to see that Bro. G. has committed himself. Language has a literal and figurative sense; and the figurative is always to be explained by the literal; but who can tell what is meant by the spiritual meaning of a word? How can the term spiritual be applied to language? Who can conceive of such a thing? When we look back for the origin of such an idea, is it not traceable to spiritual lunacy? We are glad Bro. G. admits that language has a natural sense as well as a spiritual sense. Shall we not, then, have the privilege of employing it in its natural sense at least half of the time? For it usually happens that on Bible subjects the spiritual sense is uniformly given, so that the language virtually has but one meaning, and that is the spiritual, leaving it no natural meaning (and we might just as well say no meaning) at all. For if Christ did not appear to his disciples after his resurrection, if he did not show them a tangible body, eat and drink before them, speak to them and ascend up in their sight; and if the day of the Lord has transpired, in which the heavens were to depart as a scroll with a great noise, and the elements to melt and the earth and the works therein to be burned up, and yet nobody has known anything about it, the Bible is in a dilemma which no resort to any spiritual meaning will in any wise relieve; for it will have to be admitted that language has no meaning; and we might as well adopt the ancient hieroglyphics of Egypt, or better still, drop all representations, and confess the utter inability of mankind to communicate ideas either by signs or sounds. We suggest that this very manner of interpreting the Scriptures has done more to foster and strengthen infidelity than all other causes combined. The Bible being revelations from divine beings (argued Bro. G. last week) its language must have a spiritual meaning. We reply, The human race for whose benefit the revelation was made, not being spiritual beings, any communication addressed to them must be adapted to their condition and have its most plain and natural sense. We discard alike both the name and idea, whatever it may be, of spiritual interpretation. It is the prolific mother of darkness, corruption, and error. There is no superstition that cannot be defended by it, and no truth of God's word, however clear, that cannot by it be dissipated into nothingness! Farewell to the Bible record of creation, the Sabbath, the law, moral government, and divine providence, the incarnation, the atonement, Christian ordinances, and gospel precepts, and even our hope of Heaven itself, if this prevails! A Quaker’s Counsel on Keeping Warm
A QUAKER gentleman, riding in a carriage with a fashionable lady decked with a profusion of jewelry, heard her complain of the cold. Shivering in her lace bonnet and shawl as light as a cobweb, she exclaimed: “What shall I do to get warm?” “I really don’t know,” replied the Quaker solemnly, “unless thee should put on another breastpin.” A FEW years ago a poor emigrant fell from a steamboat and was drowned, leaving his wife and one or two small children, who were on board, in destitute and distressing circumstances. On coming into port, the case was spoken of among a number of “river men” on the wharf, when one of them with characteristic bluntness observed, “Come, boys, let’s take a little stock in Heaven!” at the same time taking from his pocket a few shillings as his part of a contribution for the benefit of the poor widow. His example was followed by others, and a handsome present was the result of this rough impromptu exhortation. May we not hope that like the alms of Cornelius this act came up “as a memorial before God?” It is a glorious truth, whether our generous friend of the steamboat understood it properly or not, that we are privileged to take stock in Heaven. The poor widow who threw in two mites became a large stockholder, and her certificate is recorded both there and here. Reader, have you ever taken any of this stock?—Sol. Departure and Return of the Soul.
We have now examined all those passages in which the word spirit is used in such a manner as to furnish what is claimed to be evidence of its uninterrupted consciousness after the death of the body. We have found them all easily explainable in harmony with other positive and literal declarations of the Scriptures that the dead know not any thing, that when a man's breath goeth forth and he returneth to his earth, his very thoughts perish, and that there is no wisdom nor knowledge nor device in the grave to which we go. And so far the unity of the Bible system of truth on this point is unimpaired, and the harmony of the testimony of the Scriptures is maintained. We will now examine those scriptures in which the term, soul, is supposed to be used in a manner to favor the popular view. The first of these is Gen. 35:18: “And it came to pass as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni.” This is adduced as evidence that the soul departs when the body dies, and lives on in an active conscious condition. Luther Lee remarks on this passage:— “Her body did not depart. Her brains did not depart. There was nothing which departed which could consistently be called her soul, only on the supposition that there is in man an immaterial spirit which leaves the body at death.” The Hebrew word here translated soul is nephesh, rendered in the Septuagint by psuche; and it is unnecessary to remind those who read the article on Soul and Spirit (REVIEW, May 14), that these words mean something besides body and brains. They often signify that which can be said to leave the body, as we shall presently see, rendering entirely uncalled for the supposition of an immaterial spirit which Mr. Lee makes such haste to adopt. One difficulty under which we labor in meeting the popular view is that its methods of argument and definitions of terms are not consistent with each other. Thus death is described in two ways. At one time it is claimed that there is no death; that the soul lives right on, and that the term death applies only to the dissolution of the body; at another, it is claimed that the meaning of the term death is simply the separation of the soul and the body. Let us compare these views with the phraseology of the text: “And it came to pass as her soul was in departing.” Now on the supposition that death means simply the separation of soul and body, this is equivalent to saying, “And it came to pass as she was dying.” Then the next sentence the inspired writer throws in is needless, thus: “And it came to pass as she was dying (for she died).” But on the supposition that there is no death, the expression is not correct, and should be changed to read, “And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for she did not die).” The phraseology is peculiar, and is against the popular view. The expression, her soul was departing, was not of itself sufficiently full and definite; hence the clause is added, “for she died.” Therefore this latter declaration that she died, determines what is meant by the expression that “her soul was departing.” But no one would think of taking the expression “she died” to describe the departure of an immaterial conscious spirit. That is not, therefore, what is meant by the declaration that her soul was departing. What then did depart, and what is the plain, simple, import of the declaration? We call the reader's attention again to the criticism of Parkhurst, the lexicographer, on this passage:— “As a noun, nephesh hath been supposed to signify the spiritual part of man, or what we commonly call his soul. I must for myself confess that I can find no passage where it hath undoubtedly this meaning. Gen. 35:18; 1 Kings 17:21, 22; Ps. 16:10, seem fairest for this signification. But may not nephesh, in the three former passages, be most properly rendered breath, and in the last, a breathing or animal frame?” Thus, while Mr. Parkhurst admits that Gen. 35:18 is the fairest instance that can be found where nephesh could be supposed to mean the spiritual part of man, yet he will not so far hazard his reputation, as to give it that meaning in this or any other instance, declaring that here it may most properly be rendered “breath.” And this is in harmony with the account of man's creation, where it is seen that the imparting of the breath of life is what made Adam a living soul; and the loss of that breath, of course reduces man again to a state of death. 1 Kings 17:21, 22: “And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.” In the light of the foregoing criticism on Gen. 35:18, this text scarcely needs a passing remark. The same principle of interpretation applies to this as to the former. But one can hardly read such passages as this without noticing how at variance they read with the popular view. The child, as a whole, is the object with which the text deals. The child was dead. Something called the soul, which the child is spoken of as having in possession, had gone from him, which caused his death. This element, not the child itself, but what belonged to the child, as a living being, came into him again, and the child revived. But according to the immaterialist view, this passage should not read so at all. For that makes the soul to be the child proper; and the passage should read something like this: “And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the child came and took possession of his body again, and the body revived.” This is the popular view. Mark the chasm between it and the scripture record. Verse 17 tells what had left the child and what it was therefore necessary for the child to recover before he could live again. “His sickness was so sore,” says the record, “that there was no breath left in him.” That was the trouble; the breath of life was gone from the child. And when Elijah comes to pray for his restoration, he asks, in the most natural manner possible, that the very thing that had left the child, and thereby caused his death, might come into him again, and cause him to live; and that was simply what verse 17 states, the breath of life. Thus in neither of these passages do we find any evidence of the existence of an immaterial immortal soul, which so confidently claims the throne of honor in the temple of modern orthodoxy. Hints to Writers, No 3.
By Editor
MANUSCRIPT. In writing for the press, write only on one side of the sheet. The reasons for this practice are, that it is more convenient for the printers, there is less liability of mistakes in setting the type and reading the proof, the copy is less liable to become defaced, and above all, if it should be necessary to set the article, as is frequently the case, in the shortest possible space of time, the sheets can be divided and distributed among many hands. It may seem to some like a waste of paper, and especially of postage, to send articles written only on one side of the sheet. For this difficulty we can very easily suggest a remedy. Suppose you write an article covering four pages of foolscap. If you write on both sides of your paper, you use only one sheet; but if you write only on one side, you use two sheets, and double the weight of your letter. But you think that one sheet is all you can afford to use, and the postage on that is all you want to pay. What shall be done? Answer: Boil down your four pages of manuscript into two. Then you can write on one side only, still use a single sheet, pay corresponding postage, and have an article which it is safe to say, would be increased in value in inverse proportion to its length: being half as long, it would be twice as good. This boiling down process is good treatment for an article, and good practice for a writer. But to reap the benefit of it, the writer must do the work himself. Otherwise, he not only meets with a loss on his own part, but makes labor for others. A good deal of this work is done at this Office. The kettle is constantly over, and many an article goes in, as the writers are well aware. Some shrink but little, while others leave no residuum whatever, and when the boiling process is accomplished, are nowhere to be found. The liberty our correspondents grant us in this respect is gratifying; but we would rather they would do it themselves. Give us the articles ready condensed. A cake of maple sugar is preferred by any of us to six quarts of sap. It is recorded of Murray, the grammarian, that on one occasion when at school he prepared an essay, very elaborate both in composition and penmanship. He congratulated himself that he had a production which would be pronounced very nearly, if not quite, perfect. But when he came forward to the professor’s desk to receive his criticisms thereon, the professor reading over the first sentence, asked, “Murray, what do you mean by this?” Mr. Murray then stated in plain and simple language what he meant. “Then,” said the professor, “why didn’t you say so?” And drawing his pencil heavily over that, he proceeded to another sentence: “Murray, what did you mean by that?” Murray then gave, in direct language, his meaning. “Then,” said the professor again, “why didn’t you say so?” Thus he went through the essay; and, at the close, about two fifths of the perfect production was left. The rest would have been there, if, in the most direct and plainest language, he had said what he meant. This rule is indispensable: First know yourself what you mean, then say it, and stop. The Blindness of Unbelief.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
The blindness of unbelief is truly marvelous. It is only equaled by the “deceitfulness of sin.” It so paralyzes and perverts the reasoning powers that the clearest and most inevitable conclusion from established premises cannot be seen. It closes the eyes to the signs of the times. Men can discern the face of the sky, while they are blind to the clearest signs of the times. It was so eighteen hundred years ago; it is so now; unbelief is as blind now as then. The person who rejects the revelation of the Bible cannot see the evidences of its truthfulness in the fulfillment of its prophecies. Unbelief has closed his eyes. Neither can the professed believer, who scoffs at the doctrine of the second coming of Christ at hand, perceive that God has made even himself a sign of the last days; since he has plainly told us that in the last days scoffers shall arise, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? They can see no signs. Therefore, all unconscious of the part they are acting in the fulfillment of prophecy, they claim that “all things continue as they were.” The history of the world and of the church has been given in advance. The great empires have been numbered and delineated in their order. The persecutors of the church have been described, and the experience and conflicts of the church pointed out. The great apostasy and the wilderness state of the church have been portrayed, the reformation and the final characteristics of the church, her last conflict and final deliverance, have all been described. But unbelief closes the eyes to all this. Or, if a portion of the great chain of truth is seen and confessed, the most important part—that which pertains to the salvation of the believer—is shut out by unbelief. Some trace the fulfillment of prophecy in the four great empires, the rise and reign of the papacy, its cruel persecutions during the twelve hundred and sixty years of its reign, and can declare with confidence that the second advent and reign of Christ are at hand; and yet close their eyes to that which is the grand sequel to all this great line of prophecy—the third angel’s message—the only truth that can prepare them for the closing scenes of earth and for translation into the everlasting kingdom at the coming of Christ. Perhaps they have taken a part in the announcement of the first and second messages, but cannot see the third, because the commandments of God are in it. And while they wage war with these commandments, claiming that they have been abolished, they still hope to share in the deliverance and salvation of the church living at the close of probation and the coming of Christ, who are described as keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Or, perhaps they turn around and deny the fulfillment of the angel messages in our times, and thus disown the very means by which they were led to believe the advent doctrine. They are Adventists, but deny their pedigree, being ashamed of the very means which made them such. The third message was too much for them, and so they rejected the whole. Others go farther still. They accept the commandments of the third message, but that part of the faith of Jesus pertaining to spiritual gifts they will not have. And yet, while rejecting the testimony of Jesus, one of the characteristics of the remnant of the church, they fancy that they are the people described as keeping the commandments and having the testimony. And yet there are those who have ever held the commandments of the moral law. They look upon the work of God in restoring the commandments with interest. They witness the agitation upon the Sabbath question, which God in his providence has brought about to prepare the way of the third message and the final test, and they see it as a favorable opportunity for them to awake and share in the work and add to their number; but Adventism they do not like, and their eyes are closed to the obvious fact that God, in fulfillment of prophecy, has caused the final message to be proclaimed, and that but for the stir that the third message has produced, they would now be as fast asleep as ever upon Sabbath reform, doing no aggressive work in pushing out the truth into new fields. The advent message has opened fields for them, but as yet they oppose Adventism, and cannot unite in sounding abroad the message, simply because of prejudice against the Advent movement which blinds them to the clearest fulfillment of prophecy. While they rejoice in the fruit of this work, unbelief will not let them acknowledge that the work is of God. The work that exhibits the surest tokens of the hand of God, unbelief is most sure to reject. The most precious promises of the word of God are ignored, and the most logical conclusion from the premises of prophecy and its fulfillment are rejected. The very fact that God has indeed set his hand to the work and is guiding in its accomplishment, to unbelief furnishes the strongest objection against it. One class more, and I am done—the brake-men on board the train. They profess full faith in the message—the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ are both acknowledged. God’s hand is in the work, but at every step they are in constant fear that it will go wrong. These are murmurers, fault-finders; and they fail to see that that is the road to perdition. They believe in the work, but at every advance they hold back. Perhaps they acknowledge the reforms that God has introduced among us, but fear that they will advance too fast toward the goal of perfection proposed. And they use their influence to hold back others from following fully the light. With them to follow the Lord fully and freely is fanaticism. It is all right, but—but—but—. Under their circumstances it is better to conform to the world and follow its vain and pernicious habits, than to walk in the light that God has given. They indulge the hope that they will come out right in the end. They cannot draw a logical conclusion from the premises which they lay down. They cannot see that the course they are in will surely end in ruin. I do not recommend rushing to an extreme, but that every step shall be in the right direction. The man who sets out on a journey for a distant place, and comes back and stays at home every night, will never reach the end of the journey. Let there be continual advancement, and we may hope to reach the goal. It is the blindness of unbelief which hinders advancement in the work of God. The great difficulty is, unbelief is devoid of reason. It makes men blind to the most palpable truth. It cannot draw a logical conclusion from the clearest premises. Light to it is only darkness. Let those who would be saved, cultivate faith, talk faith, act faith; and faith shall give the final victory. R. F. COTTRELL. Response to a Text Inquiry
By H. M. Van Slyke
H. M. VAN SLYKE; We design to examine the texts you mention soon. WITH its open face and large caption, the REVIEW seems very much like a banner with its mottoes engraven on its front. And we read, Ps. 60: 4, “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth.” All military bodies carry flags, or ensigns, as a sign of their nationality and position. Christians are represented as soldiers, and Christ as their great captain who leads them on to victory over opposing forces. The law of the Father and the faith of his Son are the conditions of his government. Obedience to these constitutes the true soldier and loyal citizen of the King’s dominions. The distinctive feature of the Christian’s banner is, The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And how manifestly we can see the hand of God in the work, as the REVIEW goes out as a swift messenger to many lands, to gather into one, a people who will bear aloft the standard of the Lord of Hosts, under whom we fight. It is not a matter of vain speculation on which side victory will turn; for we read that our Lord is strong and mighty, and by and by the weak will be as David. Take courage, lonely pilgrim, continue to trust; for in his own time he will cut short the work in righteousness, and his children will come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. As I have seen in some families a surprising indifference to the reading of the REVIEW and a studying of the word, I have thought that were they placed for a while as the isolated, lonely ones are, they would more gladly hail its weekly visits, and cling more closely to the promises that herald the Coming One. Is his love in our hearts, and do we long for a better country, even an heavenly? Then will we not earnestly desire to hear of its approach, and hail, oh, how gladly! every indication of the triumph of the truth and the great consummation? Shall we not get so near to him that his love in our hearts will eclipse every other enterprise, while the rays of the Sun of Righteousness shall shine with undimmed splendor, “his banner over us shall be love,” and “love is the fulfilling of the law”? A. M. L.
Oswego Co., N. Y. How Shall we Labor?
By A. M. L.
THIS is a question at this time of much importance. To those who are professing to believe and obey the present truth, there is a great work committed. The responsibility that rests on each individual is immense, and may not be put off with safety to ourselves. God is able to carry on his work independently of our aid, but it is according to his great plan that we feel the burden, and co-operate in our several spheres. The cause at this time needs laborers, and while they are being called to enter the vineyard, I remember how, before the ascension of Jesus, he told his disciples to tarry “in Jerusalem,” until they were endued with power from on high. Luke 24: 49. This was to give them success in their work. And while it is now such a solemn and holy calling to God’s ministers, “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord,” I would ask if it is not as necessary that the lay members should be individually fitted up with a greater baptism into the love of the truth and the spirit of the work?—a getting near to God, a great humbling of ourselves, and searching of heart, and trying of our ways by the aid of his Spirit; getting an agonizing spirit of prayer for help against the powers of darkness, pleading, wrestling, till, Jacoblike, we prevail, our captivity is turned, we are the Lord’s free men and women, and we can say, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Oh! how willing the Lord is to help us, and how mighty! Is he not the same God that made a way through the Red Sea, the same who delivered Daniel from the lion’s den, the same who has always stood by his truth and vindicated right in all ages? When I realize the length and breadth of God’s requirements, the mighty help there is for us, the grace that is ready to be bestowed with the seeking, I am overwhelmed with a sense of our dullness, our weak faith, and our feeble love; and a desire so ardent, so longing, is begotten within me that I can say with David, As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Having obtained the necessary fitness, we shall be ready to enter the vineyard to labor as the Lord shall open the way. Different classes, presenting an almost endless variety of phase as to belief and sensibility on the great subject of man’s responsibility and future weal or woe, exist, and the inquiry arises, How shall they be reached? A minister with a good understanding of the truth can enter the desk and give an exposition of the word, it may be with demonstration of the Spirit and power, and so appeal to the understanding of his hearers that they may be convinced of the truth. A different style of labor falls upon us. We are daily casting an influence for good or evil among those with whom we meet and associate. We are individually justified or condemned by our own words, and when we realize that the effect of our words does not cease with ourselves, we are doubly guilty if they are not well-chosen. A good example of the truth lived out will be very effectual in removing prejudice where it exists. In presenting these unpopular truths, so dear to us, we may speak a word here, or hand a tract or paper there, which may create an interest and open the way for good to be accomplished. “He that winneth souls is wise.” With a sense of the worth of souls—a love for our neighbor as ourselves—every opportunity will be improved for advancing the cause of truth. Oh! can we not get the same mind in us that was in Jesus, to labor for the lost, the perishing, around us? Brother, sister, will you not, from this moment, bend all your energies in this direction, with much prayer to the Lord of the harvest for wisdom, and that our labor be not in vain? “’T is sweet to work for Jesus,
There’s resting by-and-by.” The Long-suffering of God.
By H. A. St. John
THE period of the proclamation of the last message of mercy and warning to the antediluvian world, is characterized in the Scriptures as a period when the long-suffering of God waited. Says Peter, “When once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing.” 1 Pet. 3:20. God does not visit the earth with terrible judgments, without first giving the people fair and faithful warning. For the space of about one hundred and twenty years the generation before the flood were continually reminded, by the words and works of Noah, that an awful calamity awaited the world, from which there was but one avenue of escape, namely, by true repentance. Year after year, for full six score years, did the long-suffering of God wait, while that message was doing its work among the children of men. Mercy, and a shelter from the coming deluge, were fully and freely offered to all that would bring forth fruits meet for repentance. A multitude, no doubt, embraced the message with enthusiasm at first, but the time was long, they became discouraged, lukewarm, and fell out by the way. Without doubt if all that embraced that message had continued faithful to the end Noah’s ark would have been found too small for their accommodation. And perhaps instead of one ark floating upon the waters of the flood, there would have been many. But the long-suffering of God waited—waited for others to decide for or against the message, and waited for the development of character in those that believed. But time proved that the root of the matter was not in them. How solemn that period! How momentous the consequences that hung upon the acceptance or rejection of that message! In the judgment of Noah’s contemporaries his wisdom was far below par, being regarded as foolishness, or wild fanaticism. But from our standpoint we are wont to recognize him as the wisest man of his generation. He was wiser than all others because he gave the greatest attention to that which was of the greatest importance. This in every age is the only true wisdom. As we look back upon that period when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, how apt we are to think that if we had been there we would have stood side by side with that man of God, fought the battle with him, and secured a shelter from that awful storm in the ship of salvation. But oh! how deceitful is the human heart; without the heavenly anointing who can know it? But we may test ourselves upon this point. Said the wisest teacher that ever appeared upon this earth, “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17:26. The days of the Son of man are here. The last generation is upon the stage of action; the last message of mercy and warning is being given. The evidences that we are nearing the consummating crisis of this world’s history, the second coming of Christ in glorious majesty, and the destruction of all things earthly are, if possible, a hundred-fold more clear and overwhelming than even the evidences of a coming flood in the days of Noah. We are living in another solemn period when the long-suffering of God is waiting. Peter in his second letter has much to say about the second coming of Christ. After stating that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming, and that the heavens and earth which are now, are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, he adds, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Pet. 3:9. Again, in verse 15, he says, “And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.” Thus it appears that the long-suffering of God is again especially manifested to the last generation of earth’s mortal inhabitants. More than twenty-five years of this solemn period is now in the past. For more than twenty-five years has the attention of the world been called to the fulfilment of prophecy, the signs of the times, and the soon coming of Christ. The long-suffering of God is waiting, yes, waiting, and what are we doing? Are we standing firmly side by side with those whom God has called to take a leading part in this message? Are we co-workers with Christ, and angels, and his consecrated servants, in warning our fellow-men of coming judgments, and showing them by word and example that the only way of safety is in humble obedience to the righteous principles of God’s moral government? Are we giving diligence to make our calling and election sure? Are we engaged in all holy conversation and godliness? The long-suffering of God is waiting, waiting for you, cold-hearted, worldly-minded, or lukewarm professor. Will you not arise, shake off stupidity, and put on the strength of God? Will you not seek and obtain the joys of salvation? Will you not be zealous and repent, lest you be spued out of the mouth of the Lord? And the long-suffering of God waits for you, sinner. Jesus still pleads his blood which can cleanse you from all sin. With outstretched arms he is waiting to receive you; and will in no wise cast out any that come unto God by him. Now you may find a shelter from the coming storm. The path of duty is the only safe path for you. There is perfect safety in Jesus. Then will you not flee to the place of refuge while the long-suffering of God is waiting? Soon it will be too late; too late to find mercy. The long-suffering of God is waiting for us all. It is designed for our salvation. Soon, very soon, it will be forever past. God’s longsuffering in the days of Noah came to an end. The last hour of that invaluable period of time arrived. Noah and his family alone are found righteous. They are safe in the ark. God shut them in. Too late! too late! could then be said of all the multitude without. Thus it will be again. God’s long-suffering will not last for ever. Soon sweet mercy’s hour will close. Oh, the solemn moment! Oh, for grace to wisely fill up every hour! Oh! for such a realizing sense of the danger and importance of this time, that I may ever sigh and cry for the abomination done in the land, live righteously, and walk humbly before my God. H. A. ST. JOHN.