Earlier text: AN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENONIs Eternal Torment the Basis of the Work of Christ?
Dr. Enoch Pond, in an article in the Congregationalist against Universalism, takes the long-accepted position on the infinity of sin, and the consequent endless duration of woe to the sinner. He argues that nothing less than this could have induced God to give his Son, or the Son to die, for human redemption. The Independent replies to Dr. Pond in the following manner. There is an approach to the truth in these remarks that shows that the doctrine of eternal torment is losing its hold on the minds of the Christian world. Could they but see that there is no necessary connection between eternal punishment and eternal torment, and that eternal death—not eternally dying and never dying—is the penalty of the divine law, it would bring light where all is now dark, and give relief where there is a longing of heart for relief from the oppressive thought of infinite woe—eternity of sin in the universe of God. “With great respect to Dr. Pond, we wish to record our emphatic dissent from the line of argument here taken. To say that nothing short of the eternal misery of the whole race could have prompted God to send his Son into this world is to say what we have no means of knowing to be true, and what we have many reasons for believing to be untrue. It is entirely conceivable that a calamity somewhat less appalling than this might have moved the Infinite Goodness to interpose in behalf of suffering and sinning men. To arrest the progress of error, to stay the floods of misery, to hasten the deliverance of men from the bondage of sin, might have been a sufficient motive for the work of Christ.” “Suppose that the human race were lying in wickedness and that the work of restoration, if going on at all, were going on very slowly. By the light of nature, by the moral retributions of God’s government, and by the influence of the Spirit which has always visited the race, all men might have been saved from wretchedness and transgression in the infinite ages of the future. But long generations would pass before this result could be secured through these agencies. Now, must we suppose that God, looking down from Heaven upon such a condition of humanity, would be touched with no feeling of compassion, no desire to help these struggling creatures of his hand, no wish to hasten their emancipation from the thralldom of sin? Would he turn away in entire indifference from such a spectacle, giving as the reason of his unwillingness to interpose Dr. Pond’s excuse, that the poor wretches would by-and-by, after some millions of years, escape from their bad condition; and that, therefore, the Sovereign of the worlds was not called upon to do anything for their relief?” “It seems to us that to impute such principles of action to God is greatly to dishonor him. To say that no man can see why Christ should come into the world unless men were in danger of eternal misery is greatly to limit our conception of the Infinite Love. We can see many reasons why he might have come if no such calamity had been impending. There were calamities enough and dire enough under which the race was suffering to have touched the heart of God with pity, even if eternal woe had not been threatened. To have alleviated in some degree these calamities, to have checked but in part the progress of sin, to have shortened the bondage of the slaves of passion and vice, might well have brought the Son of God to earth. If he had known that such a manifestation of the eternal love of God as he might make in the flesh would remove the alienation and fear with which men regard their Maker, and would draw them unto him by a mighty attraction, he would have had an ample reason for his incarnation.” “The assertions of Dr. Pond rest upon the old notion that only an infinite evil, such as the eternity of suffering would be, could require an infinite sacrifice, such as the offering of the Son of God was; but this coarse, commercial calculation is utterly at variance with all right thoughts of God. The Eternal Goodness does not stand chaffering with mortals, determined not to expend his love except for an exact equivalent. He loves them because it is his nature to love them. He saves them because he finds infinite joy in saving them. To say that he would consider the cost of his sacrifice too great a price to pay for their deliverance from a woe which might last millions of years, but would at length terminate, is to assign a bound to his goodness, which no man has any right to do.” “We wish we could say that we do not believe in any punishment that is eternal. We have tried hard to doubt it; but the facts of human nature which stare us in the face summarily dispose of our skepticism. Spiritual death, the obliteration of the faith faculty, the utter paralysis of that part of our nature by which we hold communion with God—this seems to us a phenomenon which cannot be disputed. And, as a man may lose his eyesight and be hopelessly blind, so we believe he may lose his spiritual vision and abide forever in darkness. Spiritual death when it is finished becomes eternal death. The freedom which God has given to men involves the possibility of destruction; and we cannot doubt that the possibility in many cases becomes a fact.” “Nevertheless, we do not believe that the doctrine is essential to every conception of the gospel. Christ might and would have come to save us from our sins if there had been no danger of eternal woe. Hell is not the sole basis of the kingdom of Heaven.” THE land of the Khedive is likely soon to rival in greatness the ancient kingdom of the Pharaohs and the Ptolemies. Modern Egypt cannot, it is true, compare with ancient Egypt in the number of its inhabitants, for Diodorus tells us that the latter contained 30,000 towns and villages, while Herodotus says that in the reign of Amasis there were in Egypt 20,000 cities. What successive sovereigns, however, from Sesostris to the caliphs failed to effect, or accomplish only in part, has been completely achieved under the rule of the Khedive by the opening of the Suez Canal, while Alexandria and Cairo are fast becoming cities of palaces, and the wealth of the country is every day increasing. Western prejudice attributes the present ignorance of the Mussulman population of Turkey to Islamism, and concludes that the religion of Mohammed is a bar to all human progress. Any one, however, who visited Egypt ten years ago, and could now see the vast improvements that have been and are still being made by the Khedive would at once have his prejudices very much modified, if not altogether removed. He would see the harbor of Alexandria, the finest, probably, in the world, crowded with the shipping of all nations, with a new break-water and new docks in course of completion, warehouses filled with cotton, grain, and other agricultural produce ready for export, railways in operation or in course of construction—everywhere, in fact, the signs of increasing civilization and prosperity. He would see Alexandria itself more like a European than an Eastern city, with its magnificent buildings and its “Place des Consuls,” that exceeds in size and beauty any square to be found in Europe. He would see the land, irrigated by the Nile’s overflow or by means of machinery, everywhere teeming with rich crops of wheat, maize, barley, beans and peas, clover and flax, rice, sugar-cane, tobacco, and cotton, coffee, indigo and madder; the gardens producing apricots in May; peaches, plums, apples, pears and carobs in June; pomegranates, lemons, and dates, in August; oranges in October, sweet lemons and bananas in November, and the mulberry and Seville oranges in January. In olden times, we know there was “corn in Egypt,” now there is also “cotton in Egypt,” and cotton, too, of the best description. Even six years ago there were not less than two hundred steam-ploughs at work in cotton cultivation. Every mechanical aid to production has, in fact, been made use of, and the result is an enormous increase of wealth both to the people and their ruler. The romance of travel in Egypt is fast disappearing. A new bridge has been recently built by the Khedive over the Nile, so that travelers can now go direct in carriages from their hotel to the pyramids without being obliged, as formerly, to cross the river in boats and finish the excursion on camels or donkeys. The old “dahabeah,” or Nile boat, is giving way to the comparatively luxurious Nile steamer, and the charms of that dreamy epicurean life, floating up and down the great river, will soon become a memory of the past. No more encampments beneath the myriad star and the wondrous sky of an Egyptian night, amidst the labyrinth of pillars, obelisks and fallen temples of Luxor or Karnak. Instead of, as heretofore, passing the night on land under a tent, the traveler now sleeps in his comfortable berth on board the Khedive’s steamer, and “does” the Nile in three weeks, instead of three months as in the palmy days of the dahabeahs. During the winter of 1871, before the steamers began to ply, the price asked for a first-class boat was from $450 to $600 a month for three or four months; while now, the voyage—585 miles—from Cairo to Philae, a few miles above the first cataract, and back again, can be made by the passenger steamers on the Nile belonging to the Khedive administration at a cost of $520, including steamers, living, guides, and all other necessary expense.—N. J. Mechanic. SINNER, hast thou wandered far
From thy Father's happy home?
With thyself and God at war?
Turn thee, wanderer, homeward come.
Hast thou wasted all the powers
God for noble uses gave!
Squandered life's most golden hours?
Turn thee, sinner, God can save. Is a mighty famine now
In thy heart? yes, in thy soul?
Discontent upon thy brow?
Turn thee, God can make thee whole.
He can heal thy bitterest wound,
He thy gentlest prayer can hear;
Seek him, for he may be found,
Call upon him, he is near. —Sel. The Eloquent Preacher.
By Charles Lee
As fashion, the great idol of millions, is worshiped in all kinds of ways and by all classes of people, it has not failed to affect the hearts and minds of mankind to desire and call for fashionable individuals to present to them the holy word of God in a fashionable way. This is carried out under the name of “eloquence.” How often do we hear from the lips of even such as profess to be the children of the Most High God: “Is he a man of great eloquence?” “He was a splendid orator!” etc. It seems to be the prevailing spirit of the present time, so even the honest and upright before God have to guard against its influence, especially the young preachers. I will relate an instance how I was once deceived by that delusion of Satan, and how it affected me, and the cause of God, that other young preachers in our ranks may beware of the deception. Somewhere about a year ago, as I stopped in a city over one Sunday, I went to a Methodist meeting to hear a “smart” and “eloquent” speaker. A great crowd of fashionable people was present, and the speaker did all in his power to call the hearers’ attention and to suit their tastes. As I was listening to the “well-sounding phrases” and looking at the “pretty ways” in which his body was turned at every emphatic word in a sentence, I began to make up my mind that I was no preacher at all, and I had now either to quit preaching entirely, or to become as eloquent as the speaker before me. I resolved within myself to choose the last. As I came back to my Advent friends, among whom I had formerly labored, I proceeded in carrying out, as nearly as I could, the eloquence that I so highly admired in the speaker, and his pretty manners. My friends looked at me kind of strangely, but no one said anything to me. I thought within myself that I, from time to time, gained more “eloquence,” and began to wonder why my friends did not say anything to me in regard to it. There was a true-hearted old lady who always used to come to me after the meetings were closed and shake my hand, and thank me for the good meeting we had had. She did not now act at all as she did before, and that rather awakened me on the subject. I began to realize that there was something wrong; and, as I read in the book of God about Jesus, the great heavenly preacher, how his sermons were based upon the simple way of nature, and that his greatest aim was to make God, his Father, known unto his hearers, I could plainly see that instead of presenting the God of the Bible to my hearers, I had tried all I could to present myself, and as a consequence turned the preaching of the truth of God into mere farce. May God forgive me my sin. “Blessed Is He that Considereth the Poor.”
A RUDDY-FACED, fair-haired young man, presented himself at the Mission House the other day, requesting the names of five poor families upon whom help would be well bestowed. He declined leaving his name, saying that he was a tradesman and a poor man, obliged to work hard all day, and often nearly all night, but he had promised the Lord when he became a Christian, that he would give to him one-tenth. of all he earned, and was now about to make the first offering. Five names were soon selected from the long list on our visitor’s book. Being furnished with envelopes, he placed ten dollars in each, and set out on his mission of love. “I would rather go myself,” said he; “it may do me good, and I may wish to give further help.” We can follow him in thought to homes of struggling poverty. The first, perhaps, the one where a suffering father, through a long and painful illness, reaped the reward of iniquity, and at last, though he died a Christian it is hoped, left a widow and forlorn family an inheritance of crime only in frail bodies and dwarfed and warped minds. Another widow, who, though once surrounded with comforts, is now with the utmost effort able only to keep the wolf from the door. Another and another and another who repeat the same tale of poverty, privation, and woe, borne in silence and obscurity—to whom such a visitation as this is like an oasis in the desert, and spreads verdure forward and backward through the dreary years. God bless this young man. Such as he will be the future George Peabodys and Howards of our country. A generation of such would banish the foul stains of crime from our city, and give the righteousness that exalteth a nation.—Advocate and Guardian. Trusting Christ's Blood Alone for Salvation
THE greatest sinner who trusts only in Christ’s blood will assuredly be saved. The best man in the world who trusts his own goodness will be lost. The Ark and the Mercy-Seat.
By James White
In the sanctuary of the first covenant, the ark and the mercy-seat were placed in the holiest of all, and were connected, the mercy-seat being placed on the ark. Heb. 9:1–5; Ex. 25:10–21; 26:33, 34. And if one exists in the heavenly sanctuary, of which Christ is a minister (Heb. 8:1, 2), most certainly both exist there. How natural and reasonable the view that the ark containing the commandments of God the Father, which are the rule of man’s life, should be closely connected with the mercy-seat where mercy and pardon may be found through the blood of the Son of God for the transgression of that holy law. Christians have had much to say relative to the mercy-seat, as really existing in the present dispensation; but they have been almost silent about the ark on which it rests. The mercy-seat has been dwelt upon with pleasure. The servants of the Lord have pointed to it as existing in Heaven as really as God and Christ, and saints have, in their prayers and songs of praise, mentioned the mercy-seat with great delight. And why not preach, pray, and sing about the ark containing the ten commandments, as well as the mercy-seat which rests upon it? Those who will examine the subject will find as much evidence for the existence of the ark in this dispensation as the mercy-seat. The apostle Paul, in speaking of the first covenant sanctuary (Heb. 9:1–5), mentions the first tabernacle, or holy place, and its furniture, also, “the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all,” where the ark and mercy-seat were placed. An account of the typical sanctuary, its two holies and furniture, is given in Exodus. The idea of a mercy-seat in Heaven, in this dispensation, is obtained from the law of types and Paul’s commentary upon that law, contained in his epistle to the Hebrews. The apostle declares that the priests of the law served “unto the example and shadow of HEAVENLY THINGS.” Speaking of the cleansing of the typical sanctuary, also the cleansing of that sanctuary in Heaven of which Christ is a minister, Paul says: “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Heb. 9:23, 24. In this manner, the apostle shows that the earthly sanctuary, its holies and furniture, were patterns of the true in Heaven, consequently, the mercy-seat must be there. Hence it has been dwelt upon with great delight as really existing in Heaven as much as the literal person of Jesus. And thus they have sung: “There is a place where Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads;
A place than all besides more sweet,
It is the blood-bought mercy-seat. “Ah! whither should we flee for aid
When tempted, desolate, dismayed?
Or how the hosts of hell defeat,
Had suffering saints no mercy-seat?” Now, there is precisely the same evidence in the law of types, and the epistle to the Hebrews, for the existence of the ark of the ten commandments in this dispensation, that there is for the mercy-seat. Let those who doubt, search and see. It would be considered infidelity to doubt the existence of the mercy-seat, and fanciful to believe that the ark of God is in the heavenly sanctuary. Let one dare teach that the mercy-seat has the ark still to rest upon, and he will be called a fanatic, and represented as fallen from grace if he keeps all the holy precepts contained in that ark. It would be unreasonable to believe that the mercy-seat exists, and reject the ark, if there were as much evidence for one as the other; but it is a fact that there is more evidence that the ark of the ten commandments exists in Heaven than that there is a mercy-seat there. “And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ARK of his TESTAMENT.” Rev. 11:19. “And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the TESTIMONY in Heaven was opened.” Rev. 15:5. Is the ark, mentioned here by John, empty? If it is, how can it be said to be “the ark of his testimony”? Is not the testimony, the ten commandments uttered by Jehovah, in the heavenly sanctuary? If it is not, why does John mention the “tabernacle of the testimony in Heaven”? Let it be here understood that John had this view of the heavenly sanctuary A. D. 96, about 26 years after the typical sanctuary was destroyed. We have given two texts of plain Bible testimony that prove the existence of “the ark of the testimony.” And it is a fact that there is not one such text in the New Testament to prove that there is a mercy-seat. Let those who have much to say relative to the mercy-seat, and think us fanatical for believing that the ark exists, pause a moment and look at these facts. With great delight we make mention of the ark of God, as well as of the mercy-seat, and believe that both exist in this dispensation. We love the mercy-seat, before which our merciful High Priest now stands ready to plead the case of those who come to him in sincerity and truth, and why not love the ark of God also beneath it? Those who do, may with propriety sing: “From every stormy wind that blows,
From every swelling tide of woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat,
’Tis found beneath the mercy-seat.”
J. W. The Laodicean Church.
By Ellen G. White
THE people upon the mountain prostrate themselves in terror and awe before the unseen God. They cannot look upon the bright, consuming fire sent from Heaven. They fear that they will be consumed in their apostasy and sins. They cry out with one voice, which resounds over the mountain, and echoes to the plains below them with terrible distinctness, “The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.” Israel is at last aroused and undeceived. They see their sin and how greatly they have dishonored God. Their anger is aroused against the prophets of Baal. With fearful terror, Ahab and Baal’s priests witnessed the wonderful exhibition of Jehovah’s power. Again is heard, in startling words of command, the voice of Elijah to the people, “Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And the people were ready to obey the word of Elijah. They seized the false prophets who had deluded them, and brought them to the brook Kishon, and there Elijah, with his own hand, slew these idolatrous priests. The judgments of God have been executed upon the false priests; the people have confessed their sins, and have acknowledged their fathers’ God; and now the withering curse of God is to be withdrawn, and he will again refresh the earth with dew and rain, renewing his blessings unto his people. Elijah addressed Ahab, “Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” While Ahab went up to feast, Elijah went up from the fearful sacrifice to the top of Mount Carmel to pray. His work of slaying the pagan priests did not unfit him for the solemn exercise of prayer. He had performed the will of God. After he had, as God’s instrument, done what he could to remove the cause of Israel’s apostasy, in slaying the idolatrous priests, he could do no more. He then intercedes in behalf of sinning, apostate Israel. In the most painful position, he bowed with his face between his knees, and most earnestly supplicated God to send rain. Six times successively he sent his servant to see if there was any visible token that God had heard his prayer. He would not become impatient and faithless because the Lord did not immediately give the token that his prayer was heard. He continued in earnest prayer, sending his servant seven times, to see if God had granted any signal. His servant returned the sixth time from his outlook toward the sea, with the discouraging report that there was no sign of clouds forming in the brassy heavens. The seventh time he informed Elijah that there was a small cloud to be seen, about the size of a man’s hand. This was enough to satisfy the faith of Elijah. He did not wait for the heavens to gather blackness, to make the matter sure. In that small, rising cloud, his faith hears the sound of abundance of rain. Elijah’s works are in accordance with his faith. He sends a message to Ahab by his servant, “Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” Here Elijah ventured something upon his faith. He did not wait for sight. “And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” Elijah had passed through great excitement and labor through the day; but the Spirit of the Lord came upon him because he had been obedient, and had done his will in executing the idolatrous priests. Some would be ready to say, What a hard, cruel man Elijah must have been! And any one who shall defend the honor of God at any risk, will bring censure and condemnation upon himself from a large class. The rain began to descend. It was night, and the blinding rain prevented Ahab from seeing his course. Elijah, nerved by the Spirit and power of God, girded his coarse garment about him, and ran before the chariot of Ahab, guiding his course to the entrance of the city. The prophet of God had humiliated Ahab before his people. He had slain his idolatrous priests, and now he wished to show to Israel that he acknowledges Ahab as his king. As an act of special homage, he guided his chariot, running before it to the entrance of the gate of the city. Here is a lesson for young men who profess to be servants of God, bearing his message, who are exalted in their own estimation. There is nothing remarkable they can trace in their experience, as could Elijah, yet they feel above performing duties which appear to them menial. They will not come down from their ministerial dignity to do needful service, fearing they are doing the work of a servant. All such should learn from the example of Elijah. His word locked the treasures of heaven, the dew and rain, from the earth, three years. His word alone was the key to unlock heaven, and bring showers of rain. He was honored of God as he offered his simple prayer in the presence of the king and the thousands of Israel, and, in answer, fire flashed from heaven, and kindled the fire upon the altar of sacrifice. His hand executed the judgment of God in slaying eight hundred and fifty priests of Baal; and yet, after the exhausting toil of the day, he who could bring down fire from heaven, and bring the clouds and the rain, after a day of most signal triumph, was willing to perform the service of a menial, and run before the chariot of Ahab in the darkness, and wind, and rain, to serve the sovereign he had not feared to rebuke to his face because of his crimes and sins. The king passed within the gates. Elijah wrapped himself in his mantle and lay upon the bare earth. After Elijah had shown such undaunted courage in contest between life and death, after he had triumphed over the king, priests, and people, we would naturally suppose that he would never give way to despondency, or be awed into timidity. After his first appearance to Ahab, denouncing upon him the judgments of God because of his and Israel’s apostasy, God directed his course from Jezebel’s power to a place of safety in the mountains, by the brook Cherith. He honored Elijah by sending food to him morning and evening, by an angel of Heaven. Then as the brook became dry he sent him to the widow of Sarepta and wrought a miracle daily, to keep the widow’s family and Elijah in food. After he had been blessed with evidences of such love and care from God, we would suppose Elijah would never distrust God. But the apostle tells us he was a man of like passions as we, and subject, as we are, to temptations. Ahab related to Jezebel the wonderful events of the day, and the wonderful exhibitions of the power of God, showing that Jehovah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, was God, and that Elijah had slain the prophets of Baal. This woman was hardened in sin, and she became infuriated. Jezebel, bold, determined, and defiant in her idolatry, declared to Ahab that Elijah should not live. That night a messenger aroused the weary prophet, and delivered the word of Jezebel, in the name of her pagan gods, that she would, in the presence of Israel, do to Elijah as he had done to the priests of Baal. Elijah should have met this threat and oath of Jezebel with an appeal for protection to the God of Heaven, who had commissioned him to do the work he had done. He should have told the messenger that the God in whom he trusted would be his protector against the hatred and threats of Jezebel. But the faith and courage of Elijah seemed to forsake him. He starts up from his slumbers bewildered. The rain is pouring from the heavens, and darkness is on every side. He loses sight of God. He flees for his life as though the avenger of blood was close behind him. He leaves his servant behind him, on the way, and in the morning, he is far from the habitation of man, upon a dreary desert alone. “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah should have trusted in God who had warned him when to flee, and where to find an asylum from the hatred of Jezebel, secure from the diligent search of Ahab. The Lord had not warned him, at this time, to flee. He had not waited for the Lord to speak to him. He moved rashly. God would have shielded his servant, and would have given him another signal victory in Israel, in sending his judgments upon Jezebel, had he waited with faith and patience. Weary and prostrate, Elijah sat down to rest. He was discouraged, and felt like murmuring. He said, “Now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” He feels that life is no more desirable. He expected, after the signal display of God’s power in the presence of Israel, that they would be true and faithful to God. He expected that Jezebel would no longer have influence over the mind of Ahab, and that there would be a general revolution in the kingdom of Israel. When the threatening message which has come from Jezebel is delivered to him, he forgets that God is the same all-powerful and pitiful God that he was when he prayed to him for fire from Heaven, and it came, and for rain, and it came. God had granted every request; yet Elijah is a fugitive, far from the homes of men, and wishing never to look upon man again. How did God look upon his suffering servant? Did he forsake him because despondency and despair had seized him? Oh no. Elijah was prostrated with discouragement. All day had he toiled without food. When he guided the chariot of Ahab, running before it to the gate of the city, he was strong of courage. He had high hopes of Israel, that, as a nation, they would return to their allegiance to God, and again be reinstated in his favor. But the reaction which frequently follows elevation of faith, marked and glorious success, was pressing upon Elijah. He was exalted to Pisgah’s top, to be humiliated to the lowliest valley in faith and feeling. But God’s eye is still upon his servant. He loves him no less while he is feeling broken-hearted and forsaken of God and man, than when, in answer to his prayer, the fire flashed from Heaven, illuminating Carmel. Those who have not borne weighty responsibilities, who have not been accustomed to feel very deeply, cannot understand the feelings of Elijah, and be prepared to give him the tender sympathy he deserves. God knows, and can read, the heart’s sore anguish under temptation and severe conflict. As Elijah slept under the juniper tree, a soft touch and pleasant voice aroused him. He starts at once in his terror, as if to flee, as though his enemy, in pursuit of his life, had indeed found him. But in the pitying face of love bent upon him, he sees not the face of an enemy, but a friend. An angel of God has been sent with food from Heaven to sustain the faithful servant of God. His voice says to Elijah, “Arise and eat.” After Elijah had partaken of the refreshment prepared for him, he again slumbered. The second time the angel of God ministers to the wants of Elijah. He touches the exhausted, weary man, and in pitying tenderness says to him, “Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.” Elijah was strengthened, and pursued his journey to Horeb. He was in a wilderness. He lodged in a cave for protection at night from the wild beasts. Here God met with Elijah through one of his angels, and inquired of him, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” I sent thee to the brook Cherith, I sent thee to the widow of Sarepta, I sent thee to Samaria with a message to Ahab, but who sent you this long journey into the wilderness? And what errand have you here? Elijah mourns out his bitterness of soul to the Lord. “And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” Then the Lord manifests himself to Elijah, showing him that quiet trust, and firm reliance upon him, will ever find him a present help in time of need. The servant of God may have courage, knowing that he has a pitying Heavenly Father who reads the motives and understands the purposes of the soul. Those who stand in the front of133 the conflict, who are reined up by the Spirit of God to do a special work for him, will frequently feel the reaction, when the pressure is removed, and despondency may press them hard, and shake the most heroic faith, and weaken the most steadfast minds. God understands all our weaknesses. He can pity and love when the hearts of men may be as hard as flint. To wait patiently and trust in God when everything looks dark, is the lesson his servants must learn more fully. God will not fail them in their integrity. E. G. W. “OPEN AIR MEETINGS”—AT—ELDRIDGE PARK,
By J. H. W.
Sunday Afternoon, June 29, 1873. Updegraff’s full Brass Band will be in Attendance Cars on the Erie Railway will leave Water St. Crossing at 3.30 P. M., stopping at Depot and Washington Avenue Crossing, and will run every thirty minutes to the Lake, up to 5 P. M., and returning, will leave the Lake as soon as services are over, and will run every thirty minutes up to 7.30 P. M. Fare each way, 5 cents. Round trip, 10 cents.” There can be no doubt of this notice accomplishing the object of modern preaching—gathering a crowd, and producing a temporary sensation. But who of all the curiosity seekers will go home from their Sunday trip more deeply impressed with the sinfulness of their own hearts, and the vanity of earthly things? How many will mistake the excitement of the day and occasion for religious interest? The Judgment day will rend the veil from this sensational and pleasure-loving piety, to the consternation of many deceived ones. It is no pleasure to notice the declension of piety in the churches around us. But it is a duty to mark the fulfillment of prophecy, and to heed its warnings. The Saviour said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” We are in danger from these surrounding influences. “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” It is natural to conform to custom; it is crossing to break away from the ways and influence of our neighbors, especially if their influence is that of professed Christianity. Let us, while beholding these things, heed the divine admonition, “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.” 2 Pet. 3:17. J. H. W.