WHY should men delay to break any bad habit? they all know that it grows stronger by each repetition. Nothing is more foolish than to say, “I know I ought to stop, and I will next New Year's day.” The man who cannot stop to-day cannot to-morrow. The drunkard never reforms to-morrow; the spendthrift never saves to-morrow. The boaster who says, “I can if I will,” is the one who cannot will, and therefore never does. There is but one remedy for a bad habit, and that is to stop the thing now. He who says, “I will not do it for three months,” is not grappling the habit at all. He only fights the battle who says, “Never more; the thing is wrong.” The only infallible cure for an absorbing bad habit is to put an absorbing good one in its place. A love of bad company is not cured by no company, but by good company; bad reading gives way, not to no reading, but to good reading. Dissipated men must become earnest Christians, not mere professors, to make their reformation sure.—Sel.
An Item for Parents.
AT the General Conference of Seventh-day Baptists, in the discussion of Sabbath-school work, it was stated as a matter of observation, that “those boys who were compelled to go to church and to sit with their parents, when small children, whether they liked it or not, are the young men who to-day are to be found in church and Sabbath-school work; while those who went or not as they felt like it, are to-day nowhere.” And this testimony will be corroborated by the experience and observation of every thinking Christian. Take the children to church and teach them how to behave when there. If you do not, the chances are that they will never learn.—Baptist Teacher.
Education and the Meaning of Duty
No PLAN of a child's education (nor of an adult's education) is worth much, which leaves out of its vocabulary the word “duty.” That word is simply another form of the word “debt,” and the aspect under which it presents life is not that of self-pleasing or of self-pampering, but that of rendering to God the things that are God's, and to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's. “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price;” and therefore not your own culture, nor even your own salvation is to be the chief end of your activity, but to do the things which are “due” to God, and which we rightly name “duty.”—S. S. Times.
A Good Scholar in the Sabbath-School Class
A GOOD scholar is one of the best of teachers in a Sabbath-school class. A scholar who is studious and attentive, and manifestly of a loving spirit, is a living illustration of his teacher’s teachings, and thus is an instructive example before the other scholars in the class. Make a note of this.
Mother Attempts Drowning Infant Under Drink's Influence
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in New York is continually bringing to light cases of most harrowing suffering and shocking degradation which have their origin in strong drink. One of these of recent occurrence was a case wherein a working man, the father of five children, entreated an officer of the society to help them to save his youngest child, Annie, eight months old. The wife and mother, in a drunken frenzy, had resolved to drown the child, and for that purpose had started for one of the piers. The father and officer finally overtook her, and the officer seized her just as she had reached the middle of the Thirteenth Street pier and was about to throw the child into the river. The rescued child was given to the father, and the drunken mother was sent to Blackwell’s Island for six months. It transpired that another child of this wretched woman, aged 14, had some months before been sent to the House of Refuge for stealing to get “drink-money” for his mother!—Ex.
Effects of Smoking and Drink on Future Generations
Can a nation, already enfeebled and effeminated by smoking, long endure the strain of hard drink? What kind of children will the next generation be? A man with an inflamed stomach, a swollen head, and unsteady nerves may know enough to turn off the gas when he goes to bed, but he will be exceptionally fortunate if his children have sense enough to do anything at all.—New York Herald.
Saloon-Keepers Among Iowa Criminal Convictions in 1881
IT is claimed that out of 1,360 criminal convictions in Iowa during 1881, 671 of the criminals convicted were saloon-keepers. It is not stated how large a proportion of the remaining number were saloon-haunters.
The Day of the Sabbath.
CAN WE KNOW IT?
THERE is scarcely another subject in the Bible which is made so plain as that of the Sabbath,—the day of the Creator’s rest, which he sanctified for man’s observance. Nothing concerning it is left uncertain or obscure. Every declaration of the Scriptures on that subject, whether it regards the day selected, the work commemorated, the sanctifying or setting apart for observance, the commandment, or the honor which God bestowed upon it, all is unmistakable in its import, if we walk by the old Protestant rule: “The Bible, and the Bible alone.”
But among the churches of this age, in current theology, there is no subject made more obscure; not another upon which there is such general agreement to ignore the plain words of God and substitute something else in their place, and yet such general disagreement as to the reason for their action. If we could call together a hundred representative men from all the churches of the land, and have them, each in turn, give their reason for keeping Sunday, it would be Babel reproduced! Each would contradict his neighbor, and all would agree only on one point, namely, that they would not keep the day indicated in the commandment of God.
Having noticed some of the positions taken by religious teachers on this question, we will now take a survey of the field as presented in the Bible. That there may be no possible chance to set aside the testimony by evasions in regard to loss of time, unknown changes, etc., we will divide the history of the world into three periods: 1. From creation to Moses; 2. From Moses to Christ; 3. From Christ to the present time.
1. When the Sabbath was made there was but one computation of time in the history of the world; that was the week of seven days. No other origin of the week can be given than that given in the first two chapters of Genesis. It was the week as counted by Jehovah, for man had then existed only a fraction of a week. The Sabbath was not counted as the seventh day of the month, or the seventh day of the year. It was not a day of rest coming every thirtieth day, or every three hundred and sixtieth day, but every seventh day. It stood related as to time only to the six days which preceded it.
And it was not man’s Sabbath, man’s rest, because it did not commemorate man’s work. It was the Sabbath of the Lord God. He rested upon that day “from all his work which God created and made.” It was founded on the work and the choice of God alone.
“And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” This word bless signifies to praise or exalt as well as to prosper. It indicates the delight which God took in his work and its memorial (Comp. Ex. 31: 17), and the honor which he bestowed upon it. “To sanctify means ‘to set apart to a sacred use.’” God separated it from the other days, reserving it for himself, to his glory, not to be used by man for his work, as were the other six. Of course he could not have sanctified it or set it apart, separated it from the other days, guarded it from desecration by common use, without giving Adam definite information as to how he was to regard it; how he should and how he should not use it. Com. Ex. 19: 12, 23, etc.
Genesis is a book of history, not of law. It gives valuable information concerning law and obligation, but only historically. That book shows that time was reckoned by weeks in the days of the patriarchs. The knowledge which Adam obtained in Eden by converse with the “Lord of the Sabbath,” could not have been forgotten before the days of Moses, for Adam himself lived more than one-third of the whole period. But were we to admit that the Sabbath was entirely lost during the first two thousand five hundred years of the world’s history, that would not leave the question of the day in any doubt since that time. But we have no such admission to make, for nobody claims such a thing.
But, can it be proved to a certainty that the seventh-day Sabbath, the rest-day of Jehovah, was known by Moses and the children of Israel? We raise the question to bring the matter forcibly to the mind of the reader, and that we may show how easily it may be answered in the affirmative. In Ex. 16 mention is made of the Sabbath to or of the Lord, and it is called the seventh day. The seventh day, and the Sabbath, were the only methods then known of designating the last day of the week. The days of the week were known only by their numbers; they had no names, except the seventh which was named the Sabbath, or “the day of the rest.” Any other seventh day but the seventh day of the week had to be specified, as the seventh day of the month. Either the seventh day, without any qualifying term, or the Sabbath, specifically pointed out the last day of the week.
2. But the matter is not left even with these facts known to the people. When God proclaimed his law in person, with his own voice, in the hearing of all the people, he renewed the commandment of the Sabbath with the other parts of the moral law. When he wrote the “ten words” upon the tables of stone with his own finger, he gave this precept, and identified the Sabbath which he commanded to Israel as the day of his rest which was blessed and sanctified, as in Gen. 2: 3. He said and he wrote, “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” and he commanded them to keep it holy. And he gave the reason in full, in the following words: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Now divesting one’s self of all prejudice, and taking “the Bible, and the Bible alone,” would it be possible for any man to draw from these words of the Creator himself any conclusion but this: that the seventh-day Sabbath or rest-day which God commanded from Sinai, was the same day which he blessed and sanctified, as recorded in Gen. 2: 3. It is identified by every particular; and not one particular stated can be applied to any other day. And if any one yet doubts that it is the same day, let him consider and answer this question: If the original or creation Sabbath, the rest day of the Lord God, is not identified in Ex. 20, what language could God have used if he had intended to identify it? Will some doubter answer this without a cavil?
Here we will notice that the testimony of the Bible is uniform on the subject of the Sabbath. It knows but one day of the Sabbath. It never speaks of any other. The custom of calling different days the Sabbath, or of speaking of different weekly Sabbaths, never originated in the Bible; it was never derived from statements or facts found in the Bible. The patriarchal Sabbath; the Jewish Sabbath; the Christian Sabbath; as terms of distinction these are “the speech of Ashdod;” the Bible knows nothing of them. The rest-day of Jehovah, the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, is the one and only Sabbath of the holy Scriptures.
The blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day at creation were not the only acts of the Almighty to put honor upon his memorial rest-day. When he released his people from the house of bondage that they might serve him, Ex. 8: 1, and declared his holy law, obedience to which is the only true service and the proof and essence of love to him (1 John 5: 3), he wrought many miracles to attest his regard for his holy day, and to inspire respect and reverence for it in the hearts of his people.
(1) When the manna fell, which was by a miracle, it fell six days, but did not fall on the Sabbath. In this manner God again sanctified or separated his holy day from the other days and from secular uses.
(2) When the manna was kept over night it corrupted and became a mass of worms; but when it was kept over from the sixth day to the seventh it did not corrupt but remained good for food on the Sabbath. Without attempting to trace this point further, we find that, beside the commandment, and the rebukes frequently uttered, in the space of forty years the Lord wrought at least four thousand one hundred and sixty miracles, and all to put honor upon the seventh-day Sabbath! Can he have “the mind of the Lord” who casts reproach upon it and dishonors it? See Isa. 58: 13, 14. No other institution—nothing else ever committed to his creatures—has received so much honor from God as his holy day, the seventh-day Sabbath. And it pains us to write that no other institution which God ever gave to man has been the object of so much reproach and contempt. “An enemy hath done this.”
3. Very briefly we will now examine the testimony of the New Testament. Here we find frequent reference to “the Sabbath day,” without any explanation or qualification. It contains no intimation of any other but the old and well-known institution—the Sabbath of the Lord—the seventh day. A new Sabbath or a change of the Sabbath, is not even hinted at in its pages; there is not ground for a plausible inference in their favor. It has been asserted that the Jews lost the Sabbath when they went into Babylon. If so, is it not exceedingly strange that they knew it so well, and were so well agreed upon it, when they returned to Jerusalem? In the days of Ahasuerus (B. C. 510) the Jews were scattered in one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia, Est. 8: 9, and in the days of the preaching of the gospel, there were found in Jerusalem devout Jews out of every nation under heaven. Acts 2: 5. Yet there was not a shadow of disagreement among them in regard to the true day of the Sabbath. No; the Jews did not lose the Sabbath in going into Babylon, but it is very evident that many professed Christians of the present age have lost the Sabbath by going into Babylon! We respectfully invite them to come out of Babylon, and turn their faces toward Jerusalem, and they will have no difficulty in finding the Sabbath.
But against all cavils we are “thoroughly furnished” by the plain words of the New Testament. In this the Sabbath is as clearly identified as it is in the commandment of God given from Sinai.
(1) The Sabbath kept by the followers of Christ was kept “according to the commandment,” Luke 23: 54-56. But the commandment enjoins the seventh day—the identical day upon which God rested when he made the heavens and the earth; and which, for that reason he blessed and sanctified. They could not keep the commandment by keeping another day—a day upon which he did not rest, which he did not bless and sanctify, and which he never commanded anybody to keep.
(2) This Sabbath was identical with the Sabbath set apart at creation; it was the last day of the week. This is made sure, placed beyond the possibility of doubt, by the fact stated that it was immediately succeeded by the first day of the week. Matt. 28: 1; Luke 24: 1. The plea now set up by some that the day so called by the evangelists was not the first day of the week, but the original seventh day, is contrary to the harmonious testimony of both Testaments, and a long stride toward infidelity, inasmuch as it impeaches the veracity both of the evangelists, and of God himself in his commandments.73
(3) No other day but this, the seventh day of the week, was recognized in the New Testament as the Sabbath. The apostle James in the council at Jerusalem, said that Moses was “read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.” Acts 15:21. But it is conceded by all that the Jews did not meet for worship in the synagogues on the first day of the week. Therefore the expression in Acts, “every Sabbath day,” does not include the first day of the week. Thus in the New Testament we have the seventh day clearly identified as the Sabbath, and the first day as clearly excluded from that title. And no other day than the seventh day was ever given the title of the Sabbath of the Lord, or the Lord’s day, in all the Scriptures. Taking “the Bible, and the Bible alone,” and we have the truth firmly established, that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” The first day is exalted to be the Sabbath by tradition, unnecessary inferences, and popular feeling, which collectively give expression to the carnal mind! Read Rom. 8:7.
4 We might say much to prove that the Sabbath has not been lost or changed since the time of Christ, but it is not necessary. One indisputable fact is sufficient. The record of eclipses before the beginning of the Christian era, and the calculation of the same by astronomers of the present day, prove positively that their week was the same as ours; that which was called the seventh day of the week then is called so now. Bishop Haven was right: there is indeed no reason to deny that the day which the Jews regard as the seventh day is the identical seventh day sanctified at creation.
And now, dear reader, what will you do with these truths—with God’s commandment? The time will come when you would give the world to stand in harmony with God’s commandments. Eccl. 12: 13, 14. Now you have the opportunity to choose; then you will not. Improve your time now.
Three Series of Sevens in Revelation
Questions.
1. Why are three series of sevens given in the book of Revelation, covering the same period of time, the gospel dispensation?
2. Is there sufficient reason for the belief that the period given to the seven last plagues is not as long as that of the other series of sevens? R. Y. H.
ANSWER, 1. God has given to his servants a threefold means of “knowing the time,” by the three series of sevens in the book of Revelation. That they do cover the entire dispensation there is no room to doubt. We shall not stop to argue this point now. The difference of the three series it is interesting to note. (1) The seven letters are just what their titles indicate: “To the churches.” They contain instruction given to, and really a history of the condition of, the church from the ascension of Christ to his second coming. (2) The seals contain a history of the church also, essentially differing from that previously given. The seals show the church as it stood related to the nations of the world; largely under persecution. They do not contain such counsel and instruction as are given in the letters. (3) The trumpets contain a history of the nations, or earthly powers; not of the church. Thus are given three parallel lines: first, the church; secondly, the church and the world; thirdly, the world.
2. The evidence is clear and unmistakable that the plagues occupy but a short period of time, under the seventh trumpet, after the Third Angel’s Message is given, and after probation has closed. That they are after the message is proved by comparing Rev. 14:9-12 with 16:1, 2. The first plague falls upon those who are denounced in the message. That they are after probation closes is seen by comparing Rev. 15:5-8. According to the type there was no priestly service when the temple was filled with the glory of God. Ex. 40:34, 35; 1 Kings 8:10, 11. In the antitype the temple in Heaven is filled with the glory of God, and no one entered there during the pouring out of the plagues. Doubtless the threat in the message, that they “shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation,” refers to this fact that there will be no longer offer of mercy when the plagues are poured out. Dr. Conant’s note to the Bible Union translation is impressive, namely, that the expression literally, “mixed, unmixed,” Rev. 14:10, signifies that it is mixed with everything that is terrible, and unmixed with anything that is tolerable.
Happy are they who heed the message, and are thus saved the terrible fate of drinking of that cup of wrath, soon to be poured out.
3. Please explain 2 Cor. 12:1-4. Was it a vision? G. L. H.
The answer is given in the text. Verse 1 says: “I will come to visions and revelations of God.” That he was recounting his own experience in vision is proved by verse 7, in which Paul says: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh.”
4. Will you explain 1 Tim. 5:24, and oblige, J. T. C.
Two views are held in regard to this text. That most generally given by commentators is that it is a continuation of the instruction of verse 22, in regard to the laying on of hands. That is, that some men’s characters are so well understood that delay for consideration is not required, etc. The “Bible Commentary” says it may refer to the Judgment of God, but that that view does not so well accord with the context.
In this we are inclined to differ with it. The apostle’s remarks here are not at all connected, verse 23 having no relation to verse 22, and verse 24 having no necessary connection with either. Verses 24 and 25 are closely related, but a new subject is immediately introduced after them. If the chapter contained a dissertation or discourse on the subject of the qualifications of those to be ordained to the ministry, the case would appear different. To our mind the comments usually given on the text seem unnatural and forced. But the words are forcible and appropriate if referred to the future Judgment. Some men’s sins are open, confessed, taken by our high priest to Judgment, and there blotted out. And some retain or hide their sins; the priest does not take them into the sanctuary to blot them out; but they “follow after,” that is they are left to fall upon the sinner’s head after the Judgment is past, and it is too late to put them away. We know from the Scriptures that this is the truth, and we think that it is the truth taught in the text.
General Meeting at Healdsburg.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THIS meeting, continuing from the 3d to the 13th, was in many respects the best meeting ever held in this State. The attendance was even better than was anticipated, as meetings in California in the winter season are not usually very well attended. However, nearly all the churches in the central and northern part of the State were represented at this one.
Four interesting meetings of the Tract and Missionary Society were held; even this number did not afford opportunity for transacting all the business that should have been considered. Any one who attends the sessions of our Conference and our Missionary Society year after year, in other States as well as in this, cannot fail to be impressed with the fact that this is a growing work. Every year we are increasing our facilities, and broadening our plans for work, and still we fall far short of the necessities of the case. The progress of the cause within the last year alone, should teach us that God is leading in this work, and that he is only waiting for us to manifest our faith in a practical manner, in order to grant us his blessing in still greater abundance. We must not limit the work of God, for his plans are far in advance of what our feeble faith has been able to grasp.
The resolutions that were passed recognized the fact that the territories adjoining the Pacific Coast States afford a large field for the carrying on of missionary work by correspondence. These territories are being rapidly settled by a good class of people, and there is as yet no reason for those of our people who cannot go into the harvest-field in person, to think that there is nothing for them to do.
Besides this, the representatives of the various churches made earnest calls for help, not alone in the churches, but in the adjoining country. A gratifying feature of these calls was that, with few exceptions, those making the call pledged themselves to care for any minister who might be sent to their locality, and also to give their own time to visiting and canvassing. It is a source of regret that the scarcity of laborers makes it impossible for more than one in twenty of the calls for ministerial help to receive immediate attention. We are not sure, however, but that this is in the order of God, that our people may give themselves individually to the work. Each one must pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers, and must realize the obligation resting upon him to do his part toward answering his own prayer. The work must largely be done by corresponding, canvassing, and Bible-readings, and could all the brethren and sisters in the State have been present as the appeals for help came in, we are sure that the number taking the special course at the College would now be doubled.
A class for practical instruction in the art of canvassing was organized by Eld. W. C. White, which met as often as the frequency of other meetings would allow. Those who attended these exercises gained much valuable information as to how to properly present the SIGNS, Good Health, etc. Canvassing is getting to be an important factor in the advancement of the Third Angel's Message, and the canvasser needs a special preparation for the work, as well as does the minister. Nothing that can be used to assist in spreading the light of the truth should be lightly esteemed.
There were but eight sermons delivered during the whole ten days' meeting,—one each by Elders Healey and Boyd, two by the Editor of the SIGNS, and four by Mrs. E. G. White. Although these sermons were listened to with great attention by many not of our faith, their object was not especially to unfold doctrine, but to give instruction in vital godliness, and stir up the minds of believers to an appreciation of the importance of the present hour. The fact that we are now living in the antitypical day of atonement, and that Christ, our high priest, will soon cease pleading for sinners, was emphasized, and made a deep impression, which we hope will be lasting. If we could keep this solemn thought constantly in our minds, what carefulness it would produce in our daily life, and what zeal in the Master's work! As in the typical day of atonement, we should afflict our souls, and humble ourselves before God.
A noted feature of this meeting was the Bible-readings, of which there were thirteen. These were upon the following subjects: Second Advent, Sabbath, Spiritual Gifts, Tithing, and the Sanctuary. The deepest interest was manifested in these readings, and much good was done. Many who had not previously paid tithes, were fully convinced of their duty in this respect, and publicly resolved to pay to the Lord his dues. An aged gentleman from the East was detained in the place during the meetings, and attended regularly. At the close he said that although he was at first much prejudiced against the views of Seventh-day Adventists, the constant appeal “to the law and to the testimony,” had completely74disarmed him. He acknowledged that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and expressed his intention to walk in the light. There can be no doubt that Bible-readings, judiciously conducted, are destined to become a powerful auxiliary in spreading the knowledge of the truth. When brought face to face with a plain “Thus saith the Lord” on every point, candid persons cannot do otherwise than yield assent. As the gentleman above-mentioned said, “An infidel might raise objections, but a believer in the Bible certainly cannot gainsay such testimony.”
The prayer and social meetings were, from the first, seasons of special interest. Each morning, except Sabbath, a social meeting was held at six o'clock. The first two were simply for the ministers and missionary workers; after that all were invited. Another one was held each day at nine o'clock A. M. At all of these social meetings Sister White was present, contributing largely to the ultimate success of the meeting. Her plain and pointed testimony was well received, and the Spirit of the Lord moved many to make humble confession of past wrongs. Special labor was put forth for the spiritual advancement of the Healdsburg Church. Some difficulties of long standing were happily adjusted, the brethren and sisters resolving henceforth to love not “in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” All felt that if this had been the only object gained, the meeting would have been a grand success. We hope that the earnest exhortations to keep the mind fixed upon Christ, that the increasing knowledge of his love may produce corresponding love and humility in the heart, may be acted upon by all.
On the last Sabbath afternoon, after a sermon by Sister White on Love to God, fifty-five persons came forward, asking the prayers of God's people. The number included both backsliders and those making their first start in the Christian life, and of all ages, from the little child to the gray-haired man. These repaired to a side room in the College building, where every one bore a good testimony.
The closing social meeting on Sunday morning was one of the best we ever attended. The spirit of thanksgiving to God prevailed, and the meeting was a veritable praise service. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me,” says the Lord. As Christians we do not praise the Lord enough. The idea seems to prevail that we must overcome all sin before we have any right to praise God. But the truth is, that we cannot overcome the first sin without the help and blessing of God, and as soon as we feel the least of his blessing, it is our duty to praise him. By praising God for what we have, we keep our hearts warm, and in a condition to receive more of his blessing. Surely “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.”
At the close of this service, several expressed a desire for baptism, and after the next service, the congregation repaired to the water, where eighteen souls were buried with Christ by baptism. Of this number, ten unite with the Healdsburg Church; of the latter number, seven are College students. The series of meetings closed with a sermon by the Editor of the SIGNS, on “The Rest that remains for the people of God.”
Every part of the meeting was profitable, and its influence on the cause in this State can never be fully known until the Judgment. We hope that many other churches in this Conference may have the privilege of a like experience. E. J. W.
Duties of the Present Time.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
THERE never was so important a time as the present. The destiny of thousands of souls hangs in the balance, and God has done for us everything that he could do to impress the mind with the importance of the hour. By prophecy he has lifted the vail and revealed to us what is about to take place. There is before us a conflict such as has never been experienced by any people living upon the face of the earth. For thirty years we have looked forward to the time when, in this land of liberty, men would be persecuted because of their religious faith, and already some are being imprisoned because they conscientiously keep the commandments of God. A brother writes from the South: “Bro. Mitchell served thirty days in prison in this county for no crime but working on the first day of the week to honestly provide bread for his family, after he had faithfully worshiped and served God on the Sabbath.” Earthquakes, tornadoes, and cyclones are sure precursors of a terrible storm that is about to burst upon the shelterless heads of the wicked. A short time more and the time for laboring for the salvation of souls is over.
Our brethren in California, and in some other portions of the country, have done well in putting forth efforts to establish institutions of learning, and to provide means for missions, and place our publications before those unacquainted with our faith. We say have done well, when we compare it with years previous and with some other denominations, but when our zeal and our efforts are compared with the zealous labors of the apostles we as yet are far behind. Who is there that will follow apostolic example in giving their lives for the promulgation of the truth we profess, or are even willing to take joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that in heaven they have a better and a more enduring substance? Who would glory in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon them, and take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake, and labor in weariness and painfulness, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness?
Are there any who have done for the cause of truth as Zaccheus, who was rich but gave half his goods to the poor? Who will even75sell their possessions at a sacrifice to advance the cause of truth in this time, or will leave their farms and their merchandise and enter the work of God, as has been done in the history of the past? If we wait until the Lord opens the way before us, without our making a special effort, we shall wait until the Judgment. If we expect that Satan will not present obstacles before us, we shall be greatly mistaken. He is on the track of every one who has the cause of God at heart, and who is desirous to do something to advance its interests.
Men are wanted and women are wanted to enter the great harvest-field, and that immediately. Men who have made a success of life, and are capable of managing large farms, or carrying on large business successfully, are wanted to take responsibilities connected with the cause. Who will do this at the present hour, and step into the vacant places and say, Here I am, send me? Missions are to be opened in Australia, New Zealand, and other portions of the earth. They should be opened immediately. And are there not financial men, as well as ministers, who will volunteer to go and manage the financial interests? There are men among us who could open a mission and carry it forward with the aid they might receive in the mission, did they make their circumstances bend to the cause of Christ. When as much earnestness is put forth to dispose of what some men have, and give themselves to God, as they have put forth to accumulate what they possess, then we shall see God work as we have never seen him in the past.
It is men like Joseph of Arimathea, who are ready to come to the front in a time of great perplexity, that are wanted now. The disciples who had followed the Saviour in his travels in Judea, did not have influence with Pilate to give the body of the Saviour a decent burial; but Joseph stepped in and fulfilled an important prophecy, “He made his grave with the rich.” His name and that act were enrolled by angels and preserved in the archives of Heaven. It is a no less important work which God has committed to his people at the present time. It is not only men that say, “I go, sir,” that are wanted, but men that go. Men whom God has called for an important work, and then wait for the way to open and difficulties to be removed before they move forward, will wait until it will be forever too late. We had better do a little at the time when that little is needed than wait to do a great deal and never do anything. The field is white already to harvest, and where are the laborers? There seems to be a power to stupefy and paralyze the best energies of the soul upon many who profess the solemn truth for this time. God has laid upon his people the responsibility of giving the truth to others, and the blood of souls will be found upon the skirts of many garments unless we arouse to a state of activity, and put forth every effort in our power to advance the interests of the cause. S. N. HASKELL.