DOUBTING disciple, read these lines and take courage. Trust God, and take him with you into every-day life.
“For whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk?” This question of Jesus was put to those who thought him guilty of blasphemy when he proffered forgiveness of sins, with its attendant blessings, to a man sick of the palsy. As they doubted his divine ability, Jesus gave a token of it by saying to the palsied one: “Arise, take up thy bed and go into thine own house.” Those who had questioned his power to forgive sins could no longer question his power to give strength to a helpless body, for the man “arose and departed to his house;” and many who saw it “glorified God, which had given such power unto men.”
At that time, men seemed more ready to admit that Jesus Christ could heal the sick than that he could forgive sins. To-day the case seems reversed. Many who concede that he is a Saviour are unwilling to concede that he can heal disease or give temporal blessings according to the needs of his children. Some, even, who can trust their souls in his hands, and who expect Heaven as a gift from him, would not think of asking him to straighten out their crooked tempers, to restore the vigor of their paralyzed wills, to loosen the hold of their grosser appetites and desires; far less to aid them in choosing a wife or husband, in selecting a school for their children, in buying a suit of clothes, in driving a captious horse, in trimming a bonnet, or in breaking up a new farm. The question of Jesus ought to come home pungently to such disciples as these: “Whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk?” If he is able and willing to be our Saviour, is there any lack of ours that Jesus is unable or unwilling to supply? If he is to take us into Heaven by-and-by, cannot he take care of us on earth meantime? If he can “forgive us our debts,” cannot he “give us this day our daily bread”?
There are unbelieving scribes—not disciples—who are deferential, if not patronizing, toward Jesus Christ as a recognized Saviour of men, who count it hardly less than “blasphemy” to suppose that God has given to him, or through him to his disciples, any of those powers which are supposed to be given over irrevocably to “Nature.” There is said, by these scribes, to be no harm in trusting Jesus Christ as a Saviour; but he must not be asked to heal the sick, to send rain when it is needed, to give unusual efficacy to any human agency or mechanical appliances when God’s children are in a strait and only he can help them. To these scribes, also, the question of Jesus has its old pertinency: “Whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk?” If the forces of “Nature” stand in the way of Christ’s help of his trusting ones, why are not the powers of evil too much for him? If he cannot heal a sick body now, how can he be trusted to give eternal life to an otherwise lost soul? Deny his power as a Saviour or admit it as a helper. He may not cure every palsied one. As to that, his disciples can trust him. “Not my will, but thine be done” is ever the prayer of faith; but it is just as easy for him to say to any stricken one, “Arise and walk,” as to say to another, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Jesus can be trusted for now as well as for hereafter. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”—Sel.
Russia and Turkestan.
THE year of grace, 1873, will certainly occupy an interesting place in future chronology. It will be known to historians as an epoch of wars and rumors of wars in all portions of the world—revolutions in Spanish America, bloody encounters between the Aborigines of Oceanica and European colonists, republicanism in France and Spain, struggling against ecclesiastical and monarchical despotism on one side, and communistic iconoclasm on the other, Russia warring with the wild hordes of Turkestan, England battling with Ashantee, and Dutch settlers fighting fiercely with the Malays of Atcheen. The conflicts between civilization and barbarism in Africa, Asia, and the Indian Ocean, are of scarcely less historical importance than the civil wars in Europe, although of minor interest to the many. It can hardly be affirmed, however, that the expeditions to Khiva, Atcheen, and Coomassie have been brilliantly successful. The Dutch have been fairly worsted in Sumatra, the British are doing rather badly on the gold coast, and the Muscovite successes in Central Asia have so utterly failed to inspire the Mohammedan nomads of the steppes with a proper respect for their conquerors, that the Czar of all the Russians is, at last accounts, projecting another expedition to Khiva. It is really to be hoped that he may be enabled to spread the salutary terror of his name further than the sacred gates of distant Samarcand, and that no unpleasantness may again arise between England and Russia upon the subject of Central Asian conquest.—Cincinnati Weekly Inquirer.
A Monkey Mourns Its Dead Companion in India
FROM James Forbes’ “Oriental Memoirs,” the following interesting account is extracted: One of a shooting party, under a banyan tree, killed a female monkey and carried it to his tent, which was soon surrounded by forty or fifty of the tribe, who made a great noise and seemed disposed to attack their aggressor. They retreated when he presented his fowling-piece, the dreadful effect of which they had witnessed and appeared perfectly to understand. The head of the troop, however, stood his ground, chattering furiously. The sportsman, who perhaps felt some little degree of compunction for having killed one of the family, did not like to fire at the creature, and nothing short of firing would suffice to drive him off. At length he came to the door of the tent, and, finding threats of no avail, began a lamentable moaning, and by the most expressive gesture seemed to beg for the dead body. It was given to him. He took it sorrowfully in his arms and bore it away to his expecting companions. They who were witnesses of this extraordinary scene resolved never again to fire at one of the monkey race.—Scribner’s Monthly.
Taking Hold of the Strength of the Lord.
“LET him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.”—[Isa. 27:5.
“I think,” says one, “I can convey the meaning of this passage, so that every one may understand it, by what took place in my own family within these few days. One of my little children had committed a fault, for which I thought it my duty to chastise him. I called him to me, explained to him the evil of what he had done, and told him how grieved I was that I must punish him for it. He heard me in silence, and then rushed into my arms, and burst into tears. I could sooner have cut off my arm than have then struck him for his fault: he had taken hold of my strength, also he had made peace with me.” What encouragement has the offending yet repenting believer to take hold upon the strength of his Lord and his God!
LINES FROM THE GERMAN.
By Szl.
If God be on my side, then let who will oppose,
For oft ere now to him I cried, and he hath quelled my foes;
If Jesus be my friend, if God does love me well,
What matters all my foes intend, though strong they be and fell?
Here I can firmly rest, I dare to boast of this,
That God the highest and the best, my friend and father is;
From dangerous snares he saves where’er he bids me go,
He checks the storms and calms the waves, nor lets aught work me woe.
I rest upon the ground of Jesus and his blood,
For ’tis through him that I have found the true eternal Good;
Naught have I of my own, naught in the life I lead,
What Christ has given me alone is worth all love indeed.
His spirit in me dwells, o’er all my mind he reigns,
All care and sadness he dispels, and soothes away all pains;
He prospers day by day his work within my heart,
Till I have strength and faith to say, Thou, God, my father art.
When weakness on me lies, and tempts me to despair,
He speaketh words and utters sighs of more than mortal prayer;
But what no tongue can tell, thou God canst hear and see,
Who readeth in the heart full well if aught there pleaseth thee.
He whispers in my heart sweet words of holy cheer,
How he who seeks in God his rest shall ever find him near;
How God has built above a city fair and new,
Where eye and heart shall see and prove what faith has counted true.
There is prepared on high my heritage and lot,
Though here on earth I fall and die, my Heaven shall fail me not;
Though here my days are dark, and oft my tears must rain,
Whene’er my Saviour’s light I mark, all things grow bright again.
Who joins him to the Lord, whom Satan flies and hates,
Shall find himself despised, abhorred; for him the burden waits
Of mockery and shame heaped on his guiltless head,
And crosses, trials, cruel blame, shall be his daily bread.
I knew it long ago, yet I am not afraid;
The God, to whom I pledge my vow, will surely send me aid;
At cost of all I have, at cost of life and limb,
I cling to God, who yet shall save; I will not turn from him.
The world may fail and flee, thou standest fast forever,
Not fire, or sword, or plague, from thee, my trusting soul shall sever;
No hunger and no thirst, no poverty or pain—
Let mighty princes do their worst—shall fright me back again.
No joy that angels know, no throne or wide-spread fame,
No love or loss, no fear or woe, no grief of heart or shame;
Man cannot aught conceive of pleasure or of harm,
That e’er could tempt my soul to leave her refuge in thine arm.
My heart for gladness springs; it cannot more be sad,
For every joy it laughs and sings, sees naught but sunshine glad;
The sun that glads mine eyes is Christ the Lord I love,
I sing for joy of that which lies stored up for me above. —Szl.
Natural Immortality.
By John Nevins Andrews
By natural immortality is meant the doctrine that man is immortal by nature. This theory asserts that God gave to the first man a deathless nature, and that all who are descended from him inherit that nature. Of course this is not asserted respecting the bodies of men, but it is asserted of their souls. Every human being is, by this theory, held to be the possessor of immortality. Not only is it held that every wicked man in gospel lands possesses a deathless nature, but also that every individual of all the countless multitude of heathen is an immortal being. Several important consequences follow from this doctrine:—
First, that when each human being dies, the soul, or real man, remains alive. If the person dies in Christ, this immortal soul goes into the presence of God to dwell in Heaven until the resurrection. If he dies in sin, his soul goes into hell, into the torments of the damned, there to continue till the resurrection of the unjust.
Secondly, that when the day of Judgment arrives, these souls are summoned from Heaven and from hell to stand at the bar of the Judge for the decision of their cases.
Thirdly, that both the righteous and the wicked, being re-united to their bodies, the righteous are returned to the joys of the blessed, and the wicked to the torments of the damned.
Fourthly, that the wicked, possessing immortal, or deathless natures, shall be incapable of dying, or perishing, or being consumed, or devoured in the fire, and shall live therein to all eternity.
These things are worthy of careful thought. Here we have all men rewarded or punished before they are judged. Then we have all summoned to the Judgment after having been already assigned to their respective portions in Heaven or hell ages before this, or at whatever time the individuals died. And, finally, all the wicked shall live eternally in hell fire.
Now these conclusions necessarily follow if men are immortal by nature. For there is such a thing as death in the world, and there is a day of Judgment, and a place into which the wicked will be cast after the Judgment. These are great facts, but if men are immortal by nature, they involve these most serious difficulties.
It is true that natural immortality is supposed to be in itself a very precious and desirable doctrine. But many who hold it firmly have no definite idea of what it involves. The innumerable multitude who die out of Christ go direct at death into hell fire, and when the Judgment has sat upon their cases, they are turned into it again to live therein eternally. What makes this a most agonizing reflection to every thoughtful mind is, not merely that some of our friends are already in the place of the damned, but that millions of heathen who have had at best only the dim light of nature, must live eternally with the lost, and so also must all those children who have died in sin after barely crossing the line of accountability.
Now do not these things indicate something wrong in this theory? Is immortality so common a thing that all men have it by virtue of their existence? Must sin continue to exist as long as God shall sit upon his throne? Shall countless millions suffer either mental or physical anguish, or both, to all eternity, who, nevertheless, have had barely light enough to know, to some extent, the difference between right and wrong? Is it so light a thing in God's sight to put men into the place of the damned that he casts them in thither without waiting for the session of the Judgment? And is there afterward some doubt in his mind as to the propriety of this action which causes him to bring them forth from thence to Judgment? What questions can be raised at that tribunal that have not been settled by the direction of the Judge before men come to it, if men enter Heaven or perdition when they die?
Certainly these are serious questions, and they are asked in no uncandid spirit. Has God in creating man fixed the matter by irrevocable decree that every individual of the race shall live for endless ages? Is there no condition affixed to the privilege of living in the universe of God? Has he tied his own hands that he cannot even cause those to cease to exist who form fixed characters for evil? And is there nothing short of endless pain for every individual of our race who is not actually worthy of a place in his holy city?
It will not be a sufficient answer to this question to say that the suffering of such will be comparatively light, for endless pain, even where that pain may be for a moment, such as human fortitude can endure, is not light if it be known to the sufferer that it shall never cease. What but despair can fill such a breast? And who ever found despair a light thing?
Nor will it satisfy the inquirer to be assured that persons of comparatively small degrees of guilt shall be in some way admitted to the holy city. The Bible never speaks thus. God proposes to take into his presence only those who possess moral worth. If this be wanting, those who are found thus wanting can never pass through the gates of the city of God. This very idea that all men must live forever has caused many schemes to be originated that should either take all men into Heaven at death, or that should do it ultimately, or that should take in nearly all, or, failing in this, that should make the best place in hell and the poorest place in Heaven only one degree apart in excellence.
Now is it not lawful to inquire whether this doctrine of inherent or natural immortality is really found in the Scriptures? It involves difficulties in the very nature of things which are certainly serious enough, and which call us to thoughtful consideration. It is no subject, however, for angry disputation. The matters which are connected with this inquiry are of the most serious character, and should never be treated except in the most candid and devout spirit.
We must respect the conscientious feelings and prepossessions of those who differ with us on this subject. Indeed, to many persons, natural immortality is one of the most precious truths of the gospel. In their estimation, the man who questions it is an infidel at heart. They cannot see how any one can do this unless he denies future existence. And some even argue from it that those who do not believe man now immortal must actually, if consistent, deny the existence of God.
Such prejudices, however, are not to be despised nor to be treated with lightness. Let us consider others as we would be considered in like circumstances. We think we have something better than the doctrine that men are immortal by nature. Let us first of all show that this more excellent doctrine has made us the better for having received it into our hearts. Let us show that we are not bigots, and that we have not a bitter spirit toward those who do not agree with our doctrine. If others think that in denying natural immortality we deny the doctrine of accountability to God, and that the fear of God is not before our eyes, let our course of conduct show that they are in these things wholly mistaken.
We shall inquire concerning the true source of immortality, whether derived from Adam the first, by natural descent, or given by Adam the second, at the Judgment, to those who are by him counted worthy to receive it. We ask the candid attention of those who think differently from ourselves. We shall never give you just occasion to complain of what we say respecting the subject in dispute. If we do not show that immortality, as the gift of God through Christ, is more scriptural than is the doctrine that it is inherited from the first man, do not accept the views we offer. But if we do show that both Scripture and reason teach that immortality is to be given only to the just, and this too when their trial is finished, we ask you not to despise what we say, and not to count us enemies of Christ.
PROPOSITION 1. By the first message of Rev. 14, we are brought to the beginning of the work of Judgment; but two other messages follow, involving a probationary work, before the Lord comes; therefore the Judgment of Rev. 14: 7, transpires before the close of human probation.
PROPOSITION 2. Future rewards and punishments are determined wholly by the Judgment; hence, the bestowal of any retributive reward or punishment, must be preceded by a work of Judgment.
PROPOSITION 3. The living righteous are rewarded instantly at the appearing of Christ; for without space for any investigation of character, or decision of cases, they are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52. And preceding this change of the living, the righteous dead are raised. 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. A judgment work, therefore, of some kind precedes the second coming of Christ.
To what extent is it necessary that this work should be carried before the coming of Christ takes place? It is necessary that all the members of the human family should, so to speak, be classified; that is, that the line of distinction should be drawn between the righteous and the wicked, and that it should be determined to which class every one belongs. And whoever will think seriously upon this point a moment, will see that it is absolutely necessary that this much should be determined beforehand, inasmuch as immortality is instantly conferred upon all the righteous at the second coming of Christ; and God has not seen fit to decide by his own omniscience who are worthy of immortality, but has left the determination of that question to the investigation and decision of the Judgment, that an intelligent universe may be able to understand for themselves the righteousness of his doings.
And how far must the Judgment be carried to determine this point? It must go so far as to embrace an investigation of the life record of every individual; a record which we have every reason to infer is kept in the books above; Rev. 20: 12; for all are to be judged out of the things written in the books according to their works; and in no other way, save by an absolute exertion of God's omniscience, could each one's character and destiny be determined.
There is therefore a preliminary work of investigation of character, previously determining and deciding to which of the two classes, the righteous and the wicked, every one belongs, that must take place before the Lord comes. This is the nature of the Judgment, to the hour, or period, of which we are brought by the first message of Rev. 14. And we think enough evidence has been presented in preceding articles showing that the present generation has heard this message, to create in every mind an intense interest in the question which next arises, Are we now in the inexpressibly solemn and important period of the investigative Judgment which just precedes the revelation of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven? U. S.
Foaming out their own Shame.
By C. S.
JUDE is very explicit concerning a class of godless wretches that should infest the world in the last days. He speaks of them as those who should turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 4. What they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Verse 10. Clouds without water carried about of winds. Verse 12. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame: wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Verse 13. Murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their mouth speaking great swelling words. Verse 16. Mockers, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts, sensual, having not the Spirit. Verses 18, 19.
He says that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these that the Lord should come with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon them, and convince them of their ungodly deeds and hard speeches.
These are not past generations of apostate dead. The dishonored graves of that class are not disturbed till a thousand years after the second advent of the Lord in glory. Rev. 20: 5, 6. But here are some upon whom the Lord takes vengeance at his second coming. They live in the last generation that is to exist in the world in its present condition. We are to see and meet them. And the righteous who are waiting for the coming of Christ, are to be vexed with the beastly doings and filthy conversation of this lust-besotted class, even as just Lot was vexed with the filthy deeds of the brutal Sodomites.
But Jude says that they should foam out their own shame. This indicates an open display of their filthy dreams and shameless deeds. How this was to be fulfilled has not heretofore been so apparent. For while it has been evident that numbers were not wanting whose hearts were as corrupt as here described, a sufficient sense of decency has been left with them to restrain them from flaunting their rottenness and corruption before the face and eyes of decent people in open day.
This restraint, however, is now giving way. Spiritualists (the progressive and radical portion of them) no longer attempt to keep their iniquities from the public gaze. In public prints and in public speeches, both men and women brazenly confess themselves adulterers and adulteresses, and glory in their course.
A Boston, Mass., paper, noticing a lecture lately given in that city by a notorious spiritualist, speaks of it as follows:—
“The lecturer openly and unblushingly advocated the vilest doctrines relating to the sexual relation.
“Some of the statements contained in the lecture were of the most shameful and false character, and to repeat them would be an insult to respectable readers. The scandals in connection with the clergy were related with great gusto, and were, strange as it may appear, heartily applauded by the apparently respectable audience.
“But the greatest wonder of all was, that in this city, where art and culture is supposed to have attained its highest level, an audience of ladies and gentlemen could patiently listen to the utterance of sentiments so disgraceful and immoral, and that even ladies ventured to applaud some of the most shameful statements.
“This certainly indicates a condition of public sentiment which is alarming to say the least. In consideration of lectures like this, we are strongly of the opinion that there should be a limit beyond which the freedom of speech and of the press should not be allowed to extend. This lecture should have been suppressed by the strong arm of the law.”
Not without cause did the inspired writers point out that beastly lust would be a leading trait in the characters of these latter-day scoffers. Paul to the Philippians speaks of them as those whose glory is in their shame. Jude says, Foaming out their own shame. We have it all before our eyes. The Bible no longer wants, in the lives of the reprobate on earth, a counterpart to its most glaring descriptions of human degradation and sin. The lines in the pictures meet and correspond. The world's cup of iniquity is about full. The gangrene will become more widely diffused through society, but in any local manifestation it can scarcely become more virulent.
All this indicates the near approach of the great day. But who, as he looks at these things, does not feel to pray that it may more quickly come. O thou God of all holiness and purity, let this hell of pollution be swept from the face of the earth by that which alone can reach to its fearful depths—the red hell of thy retributive vengeance. C. S.
The True Field of Missionary Effort.
By Joseph Harvey Waggoner
It has become a reproach to Christendom, as represented by the popular churches, that, while they affect to be much concerned for the salvation of the heathen, and raise large sums of money to send men to, and support them in, heathen countries, they feel no concern for the heathen when they come near to our door. Many a man has earnestly prayed that God would hasten the time when: “Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands to thee;” and crushed under his heel in abject slavery the poor Ethiopian placed within his reach, and enacted laws making it a punishable offense to teach the Ethiopians to read God’s word!
Much money and labor has been spent to establish missions in China, but when the Chinese come by thousands to our own country, they are treated as brutes, kicked about without regard to the rights which belong naturally to even the lowest forms of humanity, and this abuse brings forth no protest from those who have apparently felt so deeply for the benighted Chinese. No effort has been made to teach them the value of our Christian and republican institutions. But they have been driven back to their own shores with stronger feelings of dislike toward the religion of Christians, and better satisfied with the traditions and heathenism of their native land.
There is a lesson on human nature contained in these facts which we shall do well to learn and profit by. Most men love to make money; and if they can be left to pursue their favorite avocations, they will often freely bestow their money upon others if the others will undertake to meet for them the calls of perishing humanity, and discharge in their stead those duties of life which call for self-denial and consecration to God and his cause.
It may appear to be singular, and yet it is truth, that men will give their money liberally for benevolent and Christian purposes, when, at the same time, they will not personally labor for those same purposes, if their worldly interests are likely to suffer thereby. They think they are benevolent—they think they have the real mission-ary37spirit, and that their feelings are unselfish and unworldly, as long as they are willing to give their means to carry on benevolent enterprises; but very often they rest under a great deception. The millionaire who puts ten thousand dollars into the treasury of a missionary society would be shocked at the base thought of going to the hovels of the suffering to minister to their wants, or of speaking words of kindness and instruction to the heathen whom he meets even in his own city. He is only a Pharisee, and has no feelings of true benevolence in his heart.
We must all remember that we are human, and are subject to like passions as other men, and are liable to fall under the same deceptions which prove their ruin. We need to be tested and proved as well as they. The tract and missionary work is well calculated to prove us; and herein we may learn whether our professed consecration to the service of God is practical or merely emotional. And some are not prepared for this test. There are those among us who are well qualified to labor in this cause, but their business will not permit; some such have a great abundance of this world’s goods, and some are making money so fast that they cannot afford the time to work for the cause of God and for perishing humanity!
I say this work is a test. Not long since, a minister visited a church and had some good, spirited meetings. The church seemed greatly awakened, and the report of their interest was so encouraging that the director of the T. and M. Society thought it would be a favorable time to introduce his work. He sent an appointment, but did not get enough of the members together to carry out the object of the meeting. I do not speak of this because I think they were sinners above all others, but to show that my moralizing is not without a point.
Another very sad mistake is made by some busy people. They think because their work presses upon them, they may be excused, and that there are those who have little or nothing to do who could do such work without any loss of time. But it will be found that they who have nothing to do—whose time drags on their hands—are not valuable workers, nor judicious managers. This cause is worthy of a good offering. It does not seem right—it cannot be right—to give to mammon the service of the industrious, the prudent, and the strong, and to leave for the service of God the improvident and the careless.
God has shown us his mind in this matter by placing at the head of the work the best administrative talent, and now it belongs to others, as the apostle has it, “to be co-workers with God.” And there is not a neighborhood where missionary labor cannot be bestowed with profit, if judiciously performed. And because it takes more consecration, humility, and self-denial, to do this work than to hire it done, it is the test we all need to fit us for the society of the angels, who “do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his words.”
J. H. WAGGONER.
No Time.
By R. F. Cottrell
No time to search for truth and the path of duty; no time to investigate the prophecies and the signs of the times; no time to hear a course of lectures; no time to read and study in search of the truth for the times. This is the excuse in these times, and it is thought to be sufficient. The world is exceedingly busy. “Hurry up” is the word everywhere. Men are driving for money; and in the eager chase after riches they are diligent. The world, the world they must have. Hence there is no time to prepare for the world to come—no time in which to secure eternal life.
The wealthy farmer has no time to read, to meditate, to pray. It is all hurry, hurry, hurry; “from early dawn to dewy eve.” He has a competency; but he wants more. So with a few hands, hired as cheaply as possible, he undertakes to do a vast amount of work; and neither he nor his hired help have any time to devote to any other object but the never-ending routine of labor. All the day, till late in the evening, is occupied in work, when, with utter exhaustion, they sink to slumber without a thought of God, of future retribution, or a world to come; and at early dawn, the same battle is to be renewed; so that no time is left for anything but work, work, work, and that continually. The mind and hands are full. Nothing more can be grasped.
The business man is still more absorbed, if possible. His mind is filled with his business, so that no room is left. Business is the first thing to employ the waking thoughts; it is business all day till late in the evening; and business is the dream of the night. Care and anxiety leave their impress upon his brow, and mark him the early victim of the grave. Thoughts of Heaven are excluded. The mind is full; it can hold no more. He has no time to think of the future. His whole being is absorbed in the present. Every power of his being is devoted to making money. And when his brief life is ended, he goes down to death a poor man. For he brought nothing into the world, and it is certain that he can carry nothing out. Heaven is lost, bartered for sordid gain. Life is spent in anxious toil and care, and no foundation laid against the time to come, and no hold upon eternal life secured.
Is this profitable? We hear of men driving a profitable business; but what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world at the loss of eternal life? Oh! that men might see. But
“The mote of earthly interest fills the eye,
And hides from view the worlds of bliss on high.”
Is there not a better way? Is it a necessity that man is doomed to incessant toil for the present world to the infinite loss of the future? We think not. Men are voluntary slaves. This chase for wealth is delusive. The imaginary wants are more than the real. As the poet says,
“Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.”
But the general response is,
“With me ’tis not exactly so,
Though ’tis so in the song.”
Some may imagine, while they strain every nerve to acquire wealth, that they are doing so to help forward the cause of God. This is delusive. A proper diligence may be used to acquire, and God be glorified in the use of the means acquired. But God is not straitened for the want of means. All that labor for him have time to pray. This excessive anxiety is for self, and not for God. Those who have health and willing hearts can do something for his cause. Those who give their minds to gain, defer their great deeds of benevolence to a future time; and that time never comes. Like other worldlings, they have no time to serve God.
Our conclusion is, since all have so little time, that little should be devoted to God and the future eternal salvation of men.