Earlier text: Christ Our ModelConstantine and His Favors to Christians
By Editor
MOSHEIM was not wont to speak harshly of Constantine, yet he speaks as follows of his favors to the Christians for which a few have been willing to think that he was a true believer in their religion:— “Constantine, therefore, in obedience to the commands of his father, as he himself admits, in his edict, preserved by Eusebius, wished to be accounted a worshiper of the one God. And yet, when occasion seemed to require it, and lest he should alienate the minds of the people and soldiers from him, he supplicated the gods, gave thanks to them, and offered them sacrifices and gifts. . . . Such being the character of Constantine, before his conversion to Christianity, I fully believe that the favors he conferred on the Christians, from the very commencement of his reign, did not proceed either from his humanity and justice, or from any love for the Christian religion, but were owing solely to his desire to establish his own authority in the empire.”—His. Com., p. 450. Stanley, in harmony with his quotation from Niebuhr, makes this excuse, that Constantine’s life “describes the religion of many in that time;” yet this affords no great relief to the dark picture which his life presents, for it was his patronage of the church, his secularization of Christianity, hiding its inherent simplicity under the pomp of his court, and enforcing conformity with all the weight of imperial power, which led to the very things to be condemned in the bishops as well as in himself. For it cannot be shown that this was the state of the church before he made Christianity subservient to his own ambition. And Stanley himself proves all this, as the following shows:— “His leading idea was to restore peace to the church, as he had restored it to the empire. [His object was to preserve the peace of the empire.] In the execution of this idea two courses of action presented themselves to him, as they have to all ecclesiastical statesmen ever since. . . . In him both the latitudinarian and the persecutor may find their earliest precedents. . . . No scheme of comprehension has been broader, on the one hand, than that put forward in his letter of advice to Alexander and Arius; and on the other, when this failed, he still pursued the same end, with the same tenacity, by the directly opposite means of enforcing uniformity, to us long familiar, but first introduced by him into the church, the hitherto unknown practice of subscription to the articles of a written creed, and the infliction of civil penalties on those who refused to conform.”—Stanley, pp. 294, 295. This testimony makes Constantine the instigator of the Nicene creed, and goes to show that the Inquisition was built upon the foundation laid by him. Certainly the legacy which he left to the church does not entitle him to the reverence of those who love Christianity in its purity, and we are led to marvel at the credulity of those who style him “the first Christian Emperor.” Had his life been marked with the practice of Christian morals, we could give him credit for sincerity of heart even in introducing such roots of evil into the church. Marsh speaks as follows:— “The sincerity of the man, who in a short period effected such amazing changes in the religious world, is best known to him who searches the heart. Certain it is that his subsequent life furnished no evidence of conversion to God. He waded without remorse through seas of blood, and was a most tyrannical prince.”—Marsh’s Eccl. Hist., period 3, chap. 5. It will not be considered out of place to give the testimony of Gibbon, who speaks only in harmony with that of so many reliable Christian authors:— “Crispus, the eldest son of Constantine, and the presumptive heir of the empire, is represented, by impartial historians, as an amiable and accomplished youth. . . . He deserved the esteem, and he engaged the affections of the court, the army, and the people. “This dangerous popularity soon excited the attention of Constantine, who, both as a father and as a king, was impatient of an equal. Instead of attempting to secure the allegiance of his son by the generous ties of confidence and gratitude, he resolved to prevent the mischiefs which might be apprehended from dissatisfied ambition. . . . By all the allurements of honors and rewards, he invites informers of every degree to accuse without exception his magistrates or ministers, his friends or his most intimate favorites, protesting with a solemn assertion, that he himself will listen to the charge, that he himself will revenge his injuries. “The informers, who complied with so liberal an invitation, were sufficiently versed in the arts of courts to select the friends and adherents of Crispus as the guilty persons; nor is there any reason to distrust the veracity of the emperor, who had promised an ample measure of revenge and punishment. The policy of Constantine maintained, however, the same appearance of regard and confidence toward a son, whom he began to consider as his most irreconcilable enemy. . . . The time was now arrived for celebrating the august ceremony of the twentieth year of the reign of Constantine; and the emperor, for that purpose, removed his court from Nicomedia to Rome, where the most splendid preparations had been made for his reception. Every eye, and every tongue, affected to express their sense of the general happiness, and the veil of ceremony and dissimulation was drawn for a while over the darkest designs of revenge and murder. In the midst of the festival, the unfortunate Crispus was apprehended by order of the emperor, who laid aside the tenderness of a father, without assuming the equity of a judge. The examination was short and private; and it was thought decent to conceal the fate of the young prince from the eyes of the Roman people; he was sent under a strong guard to Pola, in Istra, where soon afterward he was put to death, either by the hand of the executioner, or by the more gentle operation of poison. The Cæsar Licinius, a youth of amiable manners, was involved in the ruin of Crispus; and the stern jealousy of Constantine was unmoved by the prayers and tears of his favorite sister, pleading for the life of a son whose rank was his only crime, and whose loss she did not long survive. The story of these unhappy princes, the nature and evidences of their guilt, the forms of their trial, and the circumstances of their death, were buried in mysterious obscurity; and the courtly bishop, who has celebrated in an elaborate work the virtues and piety of his hero, observes a prudent silence on the subject of these tragic events.”—Pp. 158–161, chap. 18. The following remark of Gibbon is neither harsh nor uncharitable considering the occasion of it:— “According to the strictness of ecclesiastical language, the first of the Christian emperors was unworthy of that name.”—P. 249. Neander, the justly celebrated church historian, is not a whit behind Gibbon in his condemnation of the life of Constantine. He does not hesitate to ascribe his acts in favor of Christianity to deception and a lust for power. He says:— “Constantine must indeed have been conscious that he was striving, not so much for the cause of God, as for the gratification of his own ambition and love of power; and that such acts of perfidy, mean revenge, or despotic jealousy, as occurred in his political course, did not well befit an instrument and servant of God, such as he claimed to be considered; but there was here the same lamentable self-deception, the same imposition upon one’s own conscience, which is so often to be seen in the mighty of the earth who wear religion as their motto, and which, in their case, so easily insinuates itself and gains the mastery, because it is so difficult for truth to find its way through the trappings of pomp which surround them; because they are approached by so many who, blinded themselves, dazzled by this splendor, blind them still more in return; and because no one has ever got access to them who had the impartiality or the courage to discover to them the cheat, and teach them how to distinguish between outward show and truth. Thus was it with Constantine. And what wonder that he should proceed under such a delusion, when even Eusebius, one of the best among the bishops at his court, is so dazzled by what the emperor had achieved for the outward extension and splendor of the church, as to be capable of tracing to the purest motives of a servant of God, all the acts which a love of power that would not brook a rival, had, at the expense of truth and humanity, put into the heart of the emperor in the war against Licinius; and of even going so far as to represent him as giving out the orders of battle by a special divine inspiration, bestowed in answer to his prayers, in a war that beyond all question had been undertaken on no other grounds than those of a selfish policy.”—Pp. 22, 23, vol. 2. The testimonies thus far presented speak of his life in such general terms as to cover the periods both before and after his reputed conversion. We now offer a few which speak more particularly of the latter part of his life, after his profession of faith in Christianity. Neander relates as a fact, to which many have referred, that he embraced the faith of the Christians because the bishops offered him that consolation which the pagan priests, on account of the enormity of his crimes, refused to give him. These are the words of Neander:— “When at length he began to feel the reproaches of conscience, he inquired of the Platonic philosopher, Sopatros, or, according to others, of heathen priests, what he could do to atone for his crimes. It was replied to him that there was no lustration for such atrocious conduct. At that time an Egyptian bishop from Spain became known at the palace, through the ladies of the court. He said to the emperor that in the Christian faith he could find a remedy for every sin; and this promise, which soothed the conscience of Constantine, first led him to declare decidedly in favor of Christianity.” With these facts before us, we do not wonder at the estimate put upon his Christianity by Neander in the following words:— “It is most probable that, carrying his heathen superstition into Christianity, he looked upon baptism as a sort of rite for the magical removal of sin, and so delayed it, in the confidence that although he had not lived an exemplary life, he might yet in the end be enabled to enter into bliss, purified from all his sins.”—Church History, p. 29. Montreal Cathedral Relics Declared Not Genuine
It may well cause a sensation, and a deeply painful one in Roman Catholic circles—the announcement made at a high mass in the Montreal Cathedral the other day, that a number of relics brought from Rome in 1880 by Monseigneur Fabre, bishop of Montreal, are not genuine, and that his lordship has been victimized by a Jewish relic-merchant of the Holy City. This is very sad—and the pathos of the thing lies in the fact that these bones have been working several very satisfactory miracles during the four years they have been adored. It was wicked in that Roman Shapira to sell old tibiae and fibulae and clavicles for sacred relics which were not sacred, but very, very secular. But the bones are not wholly blameless. They ought not to have worked such miracles. It is a satisfaction, though, to know that the osseous reminiscences have been destroyed by order of the pope. We hope never to record like imposture on the part of any old bones again.—Christian at Work. The Way of Peace.
By G. D. Ballou
Not long since an individual who had been listening to sermons on the law of God said, “Before I went to those meetings I had peace, but now my peace is all gone and I don't enjoy life any more, and I don't want to hear another word about the Sabbath question.” We have met similar cases before. Professed Christians often come to a stand-still in their growth in spiritual knowledge. In this condition they may have a degree of peace, but it is not always that “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” which is the true believer's lot. By and by the test comes. New light dawns upon the mind, and with it come new crosses; then, if theirs is peace from God, there will be continued and increased “peace in believing and joy in the Holy Ghost.” The thought of being able to render more perfect service to the Father in Heaven, and endure something more for Christ's sake, will arouse anew every energy of the being. Many will say, “Can I not be saved without keeping the Sabbath, or without being immersed, or without believing that the second advent is near?” The Scriptures give no warrant that any will receive final salvation except those who diligently walk in obedience to all the light that shines to them. Those who excuse themselves by such questions are evidently seeking an easier way than the way of the cross. They evidently want a cheap salvation. The question really seems to be, “How little can I do to show my fealty to Heaven, and finally squeeze through into the kingdom?” There is nothing noble about such a course of action toward One to whom we owe our all, both here and hereafter. The question should be, How much can I do for God and Christ and humanity? All the saints will have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom because they have gained the favor of Heaven through willing, whole-hearted service. We are to love God with all the heart, soul, might, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. When I see people turn away from plain truth, which makes duty very clear, at the risk of losing all their peace of mind here, and eternal life in the future, I can account for it only on the strength of the great truth stated in Rom. 8:7: “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” There are two ways to peace for those who are resisting their convictions of duty. The first is by stifling the voice of conscience until the Spirit of God withdraws, and we are left with a feeling of self-complacent ease and self-satisfaction. This is one way and one kind of peace, but it is not the “peace of God which passeth understanding.” It is Satan's substitute, or counterfeit, and he who comes in possession of it, and retains it, does so at infinite cost. There is no doubt about a person being able to so stultify and deaden his moral judgment that he may be at ease while pursuing a course of sin. But what a loss such will suffer! These self-deceived souls will cry at last, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” But Jesus will say unto them, “I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7:22, 23. Another way of peace is set forth in the following Scriptures. Ps. 119:165: “Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them.” Isa. 48:18: “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” If those who are seeking for peace, while living in open violation of the plain commands of God, would only surrender to God, and cease praying to be excused from some duty because its performance involves the bearing of a heavy cross, they would soon have that perfect peace which none can possess only those whose minds are stayed on God. Isa. 26:3. To the soul whose moral sensibilities are not yet fully blunted and dulled by open transgressions, the violation of the law of God can bring only unrest, sorrow, and condemnation. On the other hand, obedience, in harmony with the example of Jesus, will bring that peace and joy which the world cannot know, because it is ministered by angels from the presence of Him at whose right hand is fullness of joy and pleasures evermore. The pathway of thorns, the way of the cross, though it may be unpleasant to the carnal nature, will prove in the end to be the way of peace. Jesus trod the way of self-denial, and only in following him will his children find permanent joy and lasting peace. Reader, may the peace of God that passeth all understanding, keep your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Phil. 4:4-9. G. D. BALLOU. Over and over again,
No matter which way I turn,
I always find in the Book of Life,
Some lesson I have to learn.
I must take my turn at the mill,
I must grind out the golden grain,
I must work at my task with a resolute will,
Over and over again. We cannot measure the need
Of even the tiniest flower,
Nor check the flow of the golden sand
That runs through a single hour;
But the morning dews must fall;
The sun and summer rain
Must do their part, and perform it all
Over and over again. Over and over again,
The brook through the meadow flows,
And over and over again,
The ponderous mill-wheel goes.
Once doing will not suffice,
Though doing it be not in vain;
And a blessing failing us once or twice,
May come if we try again. The path that has once been trod,
Is never so rough to the feet;
And the lesson we once have learned,
Is never so hard to repeat.
Though sorrowful tears may fall,
And the heart to its depths be driven
By the storm and tempest, we need them all,
To render us meet for Heaven. —Sel. The Way, Truth, and Life.
By EPSILON
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6. As I meditate upon these precious words of my Redeemer, my hope of eternal life, a voice is borne upon the wings of time from the ages of the past saying: “Thou mayst believe that Jesus is the way, and the truth; but thou mayst not believe that Jesus is the life. Behold thou wast made immortal at thy conception, or else at thy birth. ‘Ye shall not surely die.’ Thou art independent of Jesus in regard to immortality. Can God destroy that immortal soul, the real man, that is within thee? Thou seest man die and return to dust; but ‘Dust thou art’ not, neither ‘unto dust shalt thou return.’ Canst thou have two immortalities? Can there be two infinite spaces? ‘The gift of God is eternal life’ at thy conception, or else at thy birth.” O thou voice borne upon the wings of time from the ages of the past, surely thou art the voice of him whose head shall be bruised by the seed of that woman whom thou didst think to murder. Out of thine own mouth, thou art convicted of falsehood. Thou hast said, “Thou mayst believe that Jesus is the way, and the truth; but thou mayst not believe that Jesus is the life.” Hath Jesus said that he is the life, and yet is not the life? Then how can he be the truth? And if he is not the truth, how can he be the way? EPSILON. Will You Have True Riches?
By R. F. Cottrell
WHAT shall a man be profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own life? Eternal life is set before us on the conditions of repentance, faith, and a life of faithful obedience to God. He that gains eternal life in the world to come, gains everything that is desirable; but he that loses it, loses everything. What a wretched choice men are making! They boast of making good bargains, while they are selling their birthright for a mess of pottage. He only is truly the gainer who secures a part in the world to come. All else is loss. Reader, are you laying up a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life? If so, you are on the road to riches and true honor. There will be no end to that life. A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, a thousand million of years may pass away, and an eternity of life and bliss is yet before us. If we may secure this, what folly to lose it for the riches or honors of this fleeting life. Give me a part in the world to come, if it be at the loss of all things, even of life itself. He that loses his life for Christ’s sake shall find it. Shall we make a whole sacrifice to God? The Lord help us to do so. He that has not force of character sufficient to break from his evil habits, his debasing appetites and passions, how shall he hope to secure the precious boon of life? He is selling eternal life for less than a meal of victuals, for this would prolong life a little, while his indulgence is cutting it short. It is time to be awake to these things. We have had light, line upon line. Are you heeding it? When do you intend to heed it? If you are neglecting it, you are losing time, losing life. R. F. COTTRELL. The Church Courting the World.
By Howard Crosby
THERE is no more mistaken notion than that the religion of the Mosaic covenant was a ritualistic religion. It had a ritual, certainly, brimful of Messianic symbol, but its whole core was spiritual. The love of God and of one's neighbor was the inward principle which formed its heart. To compare such a religion with the mere outward rites of paganism and Romanism, is to compare light with darkness. God is a holy God, and he will have his people holy; and if they substitute a ceremonial for holiness, his holy wrath will certainly fall upon them; and in this blow, not only those will fall who, like Eli's sons, commit gross wrongs, but those also, who, like Eli, through indulgence or apathy, fail to rebuke and resist the evil. Let us take this lesson to ourselves to-day. The church of God is to-day courting the world. Its members are trying to bring it down to the level of the ungodly. The ball, the theater, nude and lewd art, social luxuries with all their loose moralities, are making inroads into the sacred inclosure of the church, and as a satisfaction for all this worldliness, Christians are making a great deal of Lent, and Easter, and Good Friday, and church ornamentation. It is the old trick of Satan. The Jewish church struck on that rock. The Romish church was wrecked on the same. And the Protestant church is fast reaching the same doom.—Howard Crosby. Growing Dangers of City Life in London and New York
By Observer
The St. James’ Gazette, London, says: “Murders of the most atrocious character are now common incidents, and there probably never was a time when, if the truth were told, life was so unsafe in London as it is at the present moment.” And it is probably true also of New York. There are parts of the city where it is very unsafe for any one to go without protection. And private citizens are driven to the employment of watchmen to guard their homes, though the police of the city are supposed to be caring for the same property at the same time.—Observer. Spirit and Method in Controversy.
By E. S. Atwood
In our time, as in Paul’s, hearty conviction is a prerequisite of power. Men must know whereof they affirm if they are to have influence. It is not the truth which we touch with our finger-tips, but the truth which we grasp firmly and hold solidly, that in our handling of it is made “mighty through God.” Mere speculation or half faith are worth little. They have neither flame nor edge, and the men who have no surer weapons with which to encounter the positivism of a sinful world are beaten in advance. The men of mark in history have been men of strong convictions. Their assurance that they stood as defenders of immutable truth transfigured them. This question of method is a perplexing one. How can we best get a leverage upon men? What is the wisest way of dealing with their prejudices? How can we inspire them with confidence in the unselfishness of our purpose? By what persuasion can we lead them to honest consideration of the truth? Certainly not by assault. It is human nature for men to antagonize those who antagonize them. The efficient Christian worker, instead of assuming superior sanctity or intelligence, puts himself on a level with the mass, owns a common frailty, emphasizes common needs, and shows the way to a common salvation. It is because he is a man as well as they, he argues, that what satisfies his wants will satisfy theirs. Men are moved by that sort of appeal. For souls thus prepared, the light of God shines:151 through methods thus originated the power of God works; and so the heavenly kingdom comes, and the divine will is done, and men are saved, and Christ is glorified.—E. S. Atwood, D. D. NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
Paul had not been disobedient to the heavenly vision. In Damascus, in Jerusalem, throughout all Judea, and subsequently among the Gentiles, he had been a preacher of repentance and conversion towards God, and a life consistent therewith. This was why the Jews had seized him in the temple and tried to tear him to pieces; but in this and every danger God had helped him, and the testimony which he bore to small and great was no blasphemy, no apostasy, but simply a truth in direct accordance with the teachings of Moses and the prophets, that the Messiah should be liable to suffering, and that from his resurrection from the dead a light should dawn to lighten both the Gentiles and his people. Paul was now launched on the full tide of that sacred and impassioned oratory which was so powerful an agent in his mission work. He was delivering to kings and governors and chief captains that testimony which was the very object of his life. Whether on other topics his speech was as contemptible as his enemies chose to represent, we cannot say; but on this topic, at any rate, he spoke with the force of long familiarity, and the fire of intense conviction. He would probably have proceeded to develop the great thesis which he had just sketched in outline—but at this point he was stopped short. These facts and revelations were new to Festus. Though sufficiently familiar with true culture to recognize it even through these oriental surroundings, he could only listen open-mouthed to this impassioned tale of visions, and revelations, and ancient prophecies, and of a Jewish prophet who had been crucified, and yet had risen from the dead and was divine, and who could forgive sins and lighten the darkness of Jews as well as of Gentiles. He had been getting more and more astonished, and the last remark was too much for him. He suddenly burst out with the loud and excited interruption, “You are mad, Paul; those many writings are turning your brain.” His startling ejaculation checked the majestic stream of the apostle’s eloquence, but did not otherwise ruffle his exquisite courtesy. “I am not mad,” he exclaimed with calm modesty, giving to Festus his recognized title of “your Excellency”; “but I am uttering words of reality and soberness.” But Festus was not the person whom he was mainly addressing, nor were these the reasonings which he would be likely to understand. It was different with Agrippa. He had read Moses and the prophets, and had heard, from multitudes of witnesses, some at least of the facts to which Paul referred. To him, therefore, the apostle appealed in proof of his perfect sanity. “The king,” he said, “knows about these things, to whom it is even with confidence that I am addressing my remarks. I am sure that he is by no means unaware of any of these circumstances, for all that I say has not been done in a corner.” And then, wishing to resume the thread of his argument at the point where it had been broken, and where it would be most striking to a Jew, he asked, “King Agrippa, dost thou believe the prophets? I know that thou believest.” “Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” The noble prisoner, with perfect dignity, said, with all the fervent sincerity of a loving heart, “I could pray to God that whether in little or in much, not thou only, but even all who are listening to me to-day might become even such as I am, except”—he added, as he raised his fettered hand—“except these bonds.” They saw that this was indeed no common prisoner; one who could argue as he had argued, and speak as he had spoken, one who was so filled with the exaltation of an inspiring idea, so enriched with the happiness of a firm faith and a peaceful conscience, that he could tell them how he prayed that they all—all these princely and distinguished people—could be even such as he—and who yet in the spirit of entire forgiveness desired that the sharing in his faith might involve no share in his sorrows or misfortunes—must be such a one as they never yet had seen or known, either in the worlds of Jewry or of heathendom. But it was useless to prolong the scene. Curiosity was now sufficiently gratified, and it had become clearer than ever that though they might regard Paul the prisoner as an amiable enthusiast or an inspired fanatic, he was in no sense a legal criminal. The king, by rising from his seat, gave the signal for breaking up the meeting; Bernice and Festus, and their respective retinues, rose up at the same time, and as the distinguished assembly dispersed they were heard remarking on all sides that Paul was undeserving of death, or even of imprisonment. He had made, in fact, a deeply favorable impression. Agrippa’s decision was given entirely for his acquittal. “This person,” he said to Festus, “might have been permanently set at liberty, if he had not appealed to Cæsar.” Agrippa was far too little of a Pharisee, and far too much of a man of the world, not to see that mere freedom of thought could not be, and ought not to be, suppressed by external violence. The proceedings of that day probably saved St. Paul’s life full two years afterwards. Festus, since his own opinion, on grounds of Roman justice, was so entirely confirmed from the Jewish point of view by the protector of the temple, could hardly fail to send to Nero an elogium which freely exonerated the prisoner from every legal charge; and even if Jewish intrigues were put in play against him, Nero could not condemn to death a man whom Felix, and Lysias, and Festus, and Agrippa, and even the Jewish Sanhedrim, in the only trial of the case which they had held, had united in pronouncing innocent of any capital crime.—Farrar’s Life of Paul. The Sabbath-School
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—APRIL 7.
Inheritance of the Saints.—Review.
1. What must characterize every follower of Jesus? 2. What is promised to those who have this grace? 3. How does God manifest his pleasure in his people? “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. 4. Do his people now possess the kingdom? Quote proof. 5. What and how extensive is the kingdom that is to be given to those who love God? “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Dan. 7:27. 6. Who has the disposal of this dominion? 7. To whom was it first given? 8. What was the condition of the dominion at that time? 9. What can you say of man at that time? 10. Did man retain the dominion intrusted to him? 11. By what act did he lose it? 12. To whom was his dominion forfeited? 13. By Adam’s submission, what title did Satan acquire? 14. How much power does Satan claim for himself? “And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it.” Luke 4: 5, 6. 15. Did Christ acknowledge Satan’s claim? “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Luke 4: 8. 16. Who is absolute ruler of the world? “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Ps. 24:1. “And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” Dan. 4:25. 17. What must be done before the meek can possess their promised inheritance? E. J. W. Earth Restored as the Inheritance of the Redeemed
By J. O. C.
This earth was not created in vain; it was formed to be inhabited. Isa. 45:18. Had man proved loyal to God, he would never have tasted death. Transgression brought death (Rom. 5:12), and the loss of his original inheritance. The plan of redemption was devised to redeem, or restore man to his former position, and contemplated not only the rescue of man himself, but all that he lost through the fall. Luke 19:10. God promised Abraham the earth (Gen. 13:15, 16; Rom. 4:13); and Christ promised the same to his followers. Matt. 5:5. By believing in Christ, we become the children of Abraham, and heirs with him of the redeemed earth. Gal. 3:16, 29. Finally, Christ will come, and change this earth, and cause the righteous to inherit it (2 Pet. 3:10–14), when it becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Rev. 11:15. J. O. C. Health and Temperance.
By J. O. Corliss
The Increasing Demand for Tobacco.
OUR attention has been called to an item in the Grocer and Country Merchant published in San Francisco. In its issue of January 30, 1885, a wholesale firm in that city publishes what it terms “The actual progressive scale of our tobacco trade,” from the commencement of 1877 to the close of 1885. The first year’s sales were but 6,840 pounds, but the business has constantly and rapidly increased until the actual sales for the year 1884 were 171,332 pounds, or nearly eighty-six tons! Think of this! A single firm increasing its sales on the one item of tobacco alone twenty-five fold in eight years. The amount sold the last year, at twenty-five cents per pound, represents nearly $43,000. We may safely count the reported increase of sales by this firm as an index of the business of hundreds of other firms in the same trade; and as fearful as the yearly aggregate of tobacco sales might appear, could we ascertain it, we would then have but a faint idea of the colossal sum actually paid out each year for the vile stuff in its various forms. Cigars and cigarettes are sold by the hundred or thousand, and are not represented in the pounds of tobacco reported sold. While many chew the filthy weed, comparatively few are seen smoking it in pipes on the streets. Not so however with cigars; hundreds who would be ashamed to be seen smoking a pipe, smoke cigars publicly without restraint. Little boys too, some so young that they can hardly talk plain, emboldened by the example of fathers and older brothers, puff the sickening smoke of their villainous cigarettes in the faces of all whom they meet. Just think of the uncounted thousands that are worse than wasted each year at the shrine of tobacco. Why do so? Tobacco is neither food nor clothing; the use of it does not contribute to one’s health nor usefulness. On the other hand, it is a deadly poison, which, when taken into the system, contaminates the blood, and slowly but surely destroys the life forces. Who does not know that a few drops of nicotine taken into the stomach will destroy life? The following from the Ukiah Press, of Mendocino County, this State, relative to the death of a citizen, will illustrate the deadly effects of this powerful virus upon the system:— “Though aged, Mrs. Chandler was quite strong and hearty, and bid fair to live to a ripe old age. In cleaning a pipe a few days before her decease, she stuck the wire she was using into her finger, the nicotine from which produced blood-poisoning. After two days of suffering, her physician removed the finger, but the poison had taken too deep a hold of her system, and she expired after lingering about forty-eight hours. She was conscious to within a few hours of death, and, though suffering intense agony, bore her pain with fortitude and courage.” A poison so powerful as this certainly has no business in the human system in any form. And he who would encourage its general use, because he may reap a profit from its sale, should be held in the same estimation as the man who deals out whisky for the same purpose. Why may not temperance lecturers find here a fruitful theme upon which to display their eloquence. Surely something ought to be done to stay the tide of evil that must certainly follow an increased demand for the filthy and poisonous weed, tobacco. J. O. CORLISS. IN Kansas City the proprietors of an immense wholesale and retail liquor trade recently went into bankruptcy. Their liabilities were over $500,000. They made a statement to their creditors, and this is a part of it:— “Perhaps the firm would have survived even these disasters, if others had not struck it at almost the same time. A large, valuable, and remunerative trade had been built up at great expense in the neighboring States of Iowa and Kansas. “The constitutional amendments prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in those States did not only almost destroy that trade in the latter part of 1881 and the early part of 1882, but merchants, taking advantage of the popular feeling and temper of the courts, became remiss in their remittances for goods previously bought, and collections by process of law became almost impossible.” And yet a certain D. D. persists in affirming that prohibition in Kansas—one of the States mentioned above—is a “screaming farce.” These liquor-men, on the contrary, seem to lament it as a pretty serious tragedy.—Home Gazette. A Lesson on Tobacco From a Child
THE superintendent of schools had been addressing a school of young children against the use of tobacco, when a small boy raised his hand and inquired: “Please may I ask Mr. — a question?” “Yes,” replied the teacher. “Well, what for do you smoke?” The superintendent turned red and had not much to say. The little fellow had noticed that the examination papers, when returned from the superintendent’s office, were highly perfumed with tobacco smoke.—Fitchburg, Mass., Sentinel. AN ex-mayor of Denver, Colorado, is reported as saying: “Whenever we extend the saloon limit a little, we have to add to the police force. And everybody doesn’t seem to realize that the extra policeman costs more in a month than the saloon nets in a year.” The liquor-license system is, even in dollars and cents, a loss to any municipality, besides the great injury involved in other respects to the public welfare. THIRTY-TWO deadly poisons are used in the manufacture of wine. Of all poisonous liquors in the world, Bourbon whisky is the deadliest. Strychnine is only one of the poisons in it. A certain oil is used in its manufacture, eight or ten drops of which will kill a cat in eight minutes and a dog in nine minutes. Wholesale dealers dare not drink the stuff they sell. A CRUST in the open air makes more blood than a roast of beef eaten in a close room.