Perhaps Mrs. Madison was not so much to blame for the inveterate habit of fault-finding into which she had fallen. One's natural disposition must be taken into account, as well as the circumstances which tend to develop internal traits. She was several years beyond her teens at the time of her marriage, and during the three years of her wedded life, no children came to spread confusion and disorder where all was prim and proper, and her husband was trained to such habits of order and exactness that some of the uncharitable neighbors said he left this world to find a place where comfort was not entirely sacrificed to order and precision. After his death she had only herself to care for, and there was no reason why she should not have everything to her liking. But if the mother of a family did not have her garments as fashionably made and elaborately trimmed as did this worthy lady, she made no allowance for the deficiency, but at once began to criticise and find fault. For instance, when she entered the house of her neighbor, Mrs. White, and found that lady making a dress for her daughter, with which the young girl was highly pleased, she exclaimed: “Why did you not get a different shade, Mrs. White? This color was worn last year, and this overskirt is too short for the latest style.”
“This shade is very becoming to Louise,” said Mrs. White.
“The darker shade would have been just as much so, and a great deal more fashionable,” returned Mrs. Madison, intent on carrying her point.
“I thought it very pretty,” said the young lady, looking at it regretfully.
“So it is; but when you can have the latest style, of course it would be better,” said Mrs. Madison. “Is not that basque too long to suit Louise’s form?”
“Long basques are very much worn,” said the mother, uneasily.
“True; but the form must be taken into consideration. I am sure she would have looked better in a shorter one.” And after having made the girl discontented with what had previously given her so much pleasure, Mrs. Madison took her leave.
She met a little boy with a happy and contented look, and accosted him with, “Good morning, Johnny. You have a new suit of clothes, I believe.”
“Yes, ma’am,” answered the child, with a smile.
“Why didn’t your mother make the sleeves shorter?”
“I won’t wear it out this year; and she thought they looked very well now, and would do after I had grown some,” replied the child.
“I would have made it to fit properly now. Those sleeves look very slovenly.”
The smile faded from the child’s countenance, and he walked slowly onward.
And this habit of making people unhappy by fault-finding seemed to be a part of her nature. “Mrs. A. did not keep her house in such order as she ought;” and this, coming to the ears of the overworked woman who had so much to do that she was obliged to forego the pleasure which it would have given her to have had everything in tasteful order about her premises, caused her to burst into tears, and lament the unequal burden which she was compelled to bear.
One night Mrs. Madison dreamed that she had “Crossed the stream whose narrow tide
The known and unknown worlds divide,” and stood upon the other side, looking around upon the strange and beautiful scenery. Suddenly she saw an angel approaching, as if to welcome her to the land of souls; but as he drew near, true to her nature, she asked, “Why do you wear those old-fashioned white wings? They are all out of style. The very first angel I ever heard of wore white wings, and I am sure that seal-brown trimmed with cardinal red would be much nicer.”
The angel looked at her with an expression of pity, and she continued: “Your wings should have been made long enough to trail slightly, and been tipped with some rich color, at least. I had expected to see everything in good taste here, after all the imperfections I have been harassed with during my life; but not even here do I find it.”
“Madam,” said the angel, “your own dress is not appropriate to this place.”
“Why not?” she asked. “I am sure that every fold and every gather has been carefully studied, and every part measured with the most conscientious exactness.”
“You have neglected to wear an important garment, and none can abide here without it,” replied the angel.
“And what is that, may I ask?”
“The mantle of charity,” replied the angel; “and you will turn to the left, where the portals will open at your coming, and enter the realms where it is not required.”
“The mantle is but little worn; indeed, it has been entirely cast aside by some of the most fashionable people; and I am surprised at finding the inhabitants of this realm so much behind the times. However, it may be better in the region to which I am assigned.”
She advanced in the direction indicated by the angel. The massive doors swung open, and she found herself in a country so new and strange that she was filled with astonishment. A creature having a seal-brown body and cardinal red wings came to meet her.
“Welcome, my dear madam,” he said, with a bow that shook the heavy black plumes upon his head. “Accept the thanks which I tender you in the name of our great master, for the services which you have rendered.”
“I am not aware of having served you in any capacity whatever,” replied the lady, coldly; for in spite of the fashionable colors which he wore, the creature was not at all prepossessing.
“O my dear madam, you underrate your abilities. The object for which we labor is to cause unhappiness in the world; and although the privilege of creating war and bloodshed has been denied you, you have done what you could, and caused discord and bitterness where all would have been harmony and happiness had it not been for you. There are places which dire disasters, such as famine and pestilence, overlook; and the work of sowing discord in pleasant places is very important, and attended with results scarcely inferior.”
“I disclaim all praise which you bestow upon me. I have never done this work,” exclaimed Mrs. Madison, gazing with increasing terror upon the disagreeable-looking visages of the beings with seal-brown bodies and cardinal red wings who began to gather around her.
“Did you not cause Mrs. White’s daughter to find fault with her mother after the poor woman had worked with aching head and weary fingers upon that dress? And did you not destroy the child’s happiness over his new suit, and make Mrs. Brown dissatisfied with the pattern of the new carpet her husband bought, to please her, by sacrificing a great many personal comforts, and tell Minnie Lee that the book of poems presented by her father was bound in old style, thus robbing the treasure of half its value? Tell me, if you can, my dear madam, when you have lost an opportunity of creating unpleasantness, or been guilty of bestowing happiness.”
“I have given a great many times for charitable purposes,” answered Mrs. Madison.
“We can easily overlook that,” quickly replied the strange being, “for giving publicly only serves to conceal your real nature, and whenever you bestowed alms upon a private individual, you did so with a manner which made it almost as hard to accept your gift as to do without it. You have never donned the real mantle of charity, and went among the sick and suffering with tender compassion and cheering sympathy, nor tried to reconcile the discontented with their lot, by directing attention to the bright side, nor driven despondency from their sinking souls with words of cheer and hope. Tell me, if you can, when you have been guilty of bestowing happiness upon any living being by an act of direct self-denial.”
Mrs. Madison tried in vain to recall an instance of this nature, but she had always considered it a duty to take care of number one.
“You have served us well,” continued the strange being; “and our great master has commissioned me to tender you a position second only to my own. You will rank above all the bright and shining beings which you see around you.”
Mrs. Madison glanced with a sensation of horror upon the brilliantly-clad creatures who trailed their flaming robes, and waved their glaring wings, and scowled with sullen envy.
“Mercy on us!” shrieked the terror-stricken woman. “Not another moment will I remain with such a set of vulgar, disgusting wretches! Old-fashioned angels are a thousand times better! I will return this instant!”
“Madam, you cannot retrace your steps. You found fault with the most perfect beings which God ever made, and were allowed to pass on to a more congenial realm. Not being satisfied here, you will pass on to another region; and should you find fault with that, you will be given another chance.”
Another ponderous door swung back, and Mrs. Madison saw another set of beings in garments with fashion so intensified as to be hideous and disgusting, with colors of flame, and heathenish ornaments, and with repulsive and scowling features, and discordant voices. A sound of fierce contention, with shrieks of baffled rage, fell upon her ear, and she drew back with a groan of horror; but suddenly recollecting that if she found fault with this region, she might be consigned to worse, she stood trembling upon its portal.
“Pass on,” commanded the being who had welcomed her to his domain; and with a shriek of terror Mrs. Madison awoke.
There was a change in her conduct after that, which people attributed to a real change of heart, and gave the new minister credit for having transformed a selfish and fault-finding woman into a sincere and consistent Christian whom the mantle of charity became exceedingly well. But Mrs. Madison kept her own counsel.—Isadore Rogers, in The Ohio Farmer.
LOOK UNTO JESUS.
He was despised and rejected of men; his life was sought for by Herod; he was tempted by Satan; hated by the world which he came to save; set at naught by his own people; called a deceiver and a dealer with the devil; was driven from place to place, and had not where to lay his head; betrayed by one disciple and forsaken by all the rest; falsely accused, spit upon, and scourged; set at naught by Herod and his men of war; given up by Pilate to the will of his enemies; and a murderer preferred before him; he was condemned to a most cruel and shameful death; was crucified between two thieves; was reviled in the midst of his torments; had gall and vinegar given him to drink; suffered a most bitter death, yet submitted with patience to the will of his Father.
We should take all things that befall us as coming from God’s providence, for our particular profit. And though they are evil in themselves, yet as he permits, or does not think fit to hinder them, they may be referred to him.
God no sooner discovers in our hearts an ardent desire of well-doing, and of submitting to his will, than he prepares for us occasions of trying our virtue; and therefore, confident of his love, we should receive cheerfully a medicine prepared by a physician that cannot be mistaken, and cannot give us anything but what will be for our good.
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Matt. 10:22. It is absolutely necessary that we be first partakers of his sufferings, and then of his glory.
“The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.” Matt. 10:24. He who keeps this saying in his heart will never complain of what he suffers, nor seek for any other way to save himself but by humiliation and the cross.—Sel.
“SAY IT.”—The Duke of Wellington often remarked that those gentlemen who had been trained in the business correspondence of the East India Company made the best diplomatic writers in the English service. They wrote clearly and precisely what needed to be said, and nothing more.
Dr. Nicholas Murray, famous twenty years ago for his pithy and effective style, used to tell with great glee how he acquired it. When he was a student in Williams College, he thought he could write well, and took a composition to Dr. Griffin, the president, expecting commendation for its eloquence. President Griffin glanced through the first sentence, and said, “Murray, what do you mean by this sentence?” He answered modestly, “I mean so and so, sir.” “Then say so, Murray;” and across line after line went the broad pen, erasing what Murray thought the most eloquent passages. Passing to other sentences, “Murray, what do you mean by this?” again asked the merciless critic. With a trembling voice the answer came, “Doctor, I mean so and so.” “Please just to say so,” was the quick reply.
When the reading was ended, the beautiful manuscript was spoiled, and the erased portions nearly equalled what was left unmarked. Dr. Murray always maintained that those simple words, “Say so,” made him a writer. —Youth’s Companion.
TWILIGHT THOUGHTS.
By Ella Wheeler
The god of the day has vanished,
The light from the hills has fled,
And the hand of an unseen artist
Is painting the west all red.
All threaded with gold and crimson,
And burnished with amber dye,
And tipped with purple shadows,
The glory flameth high.
Fair, beautiful world of ours!
Fair, beautiful world, but oh,
How darkened by pain and sorrow,
How blackened by sin and woe!
The splendor pales in the heavens
And dies in a golden gleam,
And alone in hush of twilight,
I sit, in a checkered dream.
I think of the souls that are straying
In shadows as black as night,
Of hands that are groping blindly
In search of the shining light;
Of hearts that are mutely crying,
And praying for just one ray,
To lead them out of the shadows,
Into the better way.
And I think of the Father's children
Who are trying to walk alone,
Who have dropped the hand of the Parent,
And wander in ways unknown.
Oh, the paths are rough and thorny,
And I know they cannot stand;
They will faint and fall by the wayside,
Unguarded by God's right hand.
And I think of the souls that are yearning
To follow the good and true;
That are striving to live unsullied,
Yet know not what to do.
And I wonder when God, the Master,
Shall end this weary strife,
And lead us out of the shadows
Into the deathless life.
—Ella Wheeler.
HOW TO MAKE MONEY.
By J. S. Hoyt
“HERE is the rule for making money, applicable alike to all classes: ‘Be diligent,’ ‘behave yourself,’ practice the ten commandments, and keep the golden rule in your left coat pocket, nearest the heart.”
The foregoing sentiment was uttered by Prof. C. D. Wilber in an address to the people of Harlan Co., Neb., Aug. 20, 1879. S. D. Adventists may find in it a useful hint.
J. S. HOYT.
EDUCATION
By Bronson
SHOULD give us command of every faculty of body and mind; call out all our powers of observation and reflection; change the creatures of impulse, prejudice, and passion, to thinking, reasoning, loving beings; lead to objects of pursuit and habits of conduct favorable to the happiness of every individual, and of the whole world; multiply all the means of enjoyment, and diminish every temptation to vice and sensuality: and true education will do all this.—Bronson.
SAD MISTAKES.
By Stephen N. Haskell
To yield to the gratification of carnal desires, and thus compromise divine blessings, is a great mistake, although otherwise life may be embittered by the self-denial. Esau had an experience of this kind. He well knew that the blessings and privileges of the birthright were from Heaven; but this fact was overlooked in his desire for food.
“And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage: for I am faint. . . . And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me. And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.” This was a deliberate surrender of God’s blessing for the gratification of appetite. At a time when he was hungry and faint, for one morsel of meat he sold his birthright. “Afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” Gen. 25: 29-34; Heb. 12: 16, 17. All for one morsel of meat! How insignificant it must have looked to him when it was all over. But his mistake was fatal.
It is a mistake to indulge in sin of any kind, thinking that we can recover ourselves from it when we please. Solomon tried to do this. He said in his heart, “Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure.” He gave himself unto wine and to lay hold on folly, and whatsoever his eyes desired he kept not from them. He yielded to his friends and worshiped other gods. He voluntarily went upon forbidden ground, thinking that he was able to recover himself. He deeply repented of this course at the close of his life. A dark cloud hung over him, and he found himself in the meshes of the net in which Satan had ensnared him. His life ended in bitterness and sorrow. The Lord had appeared to him twice, but he sinned and displeased God, and brought trouble, distress, and the frown of God upon himself. There are many who are following in the steps of Esau and Solomon. The Judgment will reveal the awful nature of the mistake they are making.
It is a mistake to bury our talents in the earth by devoting them to worldly pursuits, especially at this time when the cause is languishing for the assistance we may render it. This is the117time in which to labor, to devote our energies to the carrying forward of God’s work. There are many who have means which, with a little effort, might be placed where it would aid in carrying the truth to thousands, and the persons themselves would not be deprived of a single comfort thereby. It would add stars to their crowns in glory. But many reason that they have already done something, and that if others would do as much as they, it would be sufficient. They are making a sad mistake. “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”
Christ has purchased a home in glory for man; and that he may prove himself worthy of it, he has lent him talents. If he devotes these talents to the glory of God, he thereby makes friends with angels, and secures to himself the true riches; if not, he makes a mistake the magnitude of which he will realize when he hears the awful words, “Thou wicked and slothful servant.”
Many possess the ability to teach the truth, and to advance the cause by their influence in different ways, but mistake in being anxious to first make provision for themselves and families. Our Saviour says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
It is a serious mistake to withhold our means from the cause of God while we live, with the idea of giving it to the Lord when we die. Past experience shows that in nine-tenths of such cases the cause never gets it. If an effort is made to secure it, it is lost in litigation. Such matters can be arranged while the person is in health, and thus all this trouble be prevented. Those who do not follow this course will find that they have been unwise. This is more especially true of the aged, who are tottering on the brink of the grave. “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when ye fail, they [the angels] may receive you into everlasting habitations.” To fail to do this, and yet dream of Heaven, is like beholding a mirage in the desert, which will prove a fatal delusion.
S. N. HASKELL.
THE LORD OF THE SABBATH.
IN a number of instances in the New Testament, Christ proclaims himself Lord of the Sabbath day. And there is no mistaking the day that is meant: it is the seventh day of the week, the ancient Sabbath of Jehovah, which had come down from paradise. But nearly all Christendom have now enthroned another day, the first day of the week, as the Lord’s, because they claim that Christ is Lord of it.
Now it is not a little amusing to notice how marvelously the signification of the expression, “the Lord of the Sabbath,” changes as it is applied to those different days. For instance, in the little tract, “One Hundred Facts about the Bible Sabbath,” it is argued that Christ was Lord of the Sabbath “to sustain and protect it.” This tract, it seems, fell into the hands of one B. D. Haskell, of Haverhill, Mass., whereupon he came out in the Messiah’s Herald of Feb. 19, 1879, in a fiery charge against said tract, accusing the author of “handling the word of God deceitfully,” and claiming that Christ was “Lord of the Jewish Sabbath to abrogate it, and he has so done.”
But lo! this same B. D. H. is a zealous partisan of the Sunday Lord’s day, believing that Christ is Lord of that day. We accordingly wrote him, inquiring in what sense he considered Christ the Lord of the first day of the week, when and how that day became the Lord’s day, etc. To these questions he refused to reply, choosing rather, like some other writers of that class, the ignominious course of keeping himself concealed behind his paper breastworks, and carrying on a guerrilla warfare in ambush. He did, however, condescend, instead of returning fair answers to plain and appropriate questions, to hurl imperiously at our head a few solemn admonitions to “confess in penitence before God, and deplore your offense, and receive pardon” for contending that Christ is Lord of the Sabbath to sustain and protect it.
Nevertheless the question remains, In what sense is Christ the Lord of the Sunday? What does the expression signify when applied to that day? Now behold the inconsistency of these Sunday advocates. When the seventh day is spoken of, lo, Christ is Lord of it to abrogate and abolish it! but when Sunday is the day in question, presto! what a change! then he is Lord of it, hallelujah! glory! to establish, confirm, exalt, honor, and sanctify it! Oh, shame! where are thy blushes at the trifling these men are guilty of when handling a sacred institution of the Lord our God?
Our Saviour, by proclaiming himself Lord of the Sabbath, bestowed upon it the highest honor. He acknowledged it an institution of Heaven. He showed the intimate relation existing between himself and it. Was this to indicate that he had abolished it? How absurd. God declared of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he was not the God of the dead, but of the living. He would have considered it a dishonor and reproach to his name and government to call himself the God of those who had passed hopelessly out of existence. So we may say of Christ and the Sabbath. He would not proclaim himself Lord of a dead institution, or one that was soon going out of existence. That would be a dishonor to his name.
The argument of our opponents on Matt. 12: 1-8, either nullifies itself, or leaves those who use it on the side of the wicked Pharisees who accused Christ of breaking the Sabbath, and hence charged him with being a sinner. Thus they say that Christ was justifying his disciples in doing that which was contrary to the Sabbath law, and gave as a reason that he was Lord of the Sabbath, which proves that he had abolished it.
But hold! this was some two years at least before the cross; and the Sabbath was in full force, and any desecration thereof was sin, up to that time, as all admit. Therefore all that Christ did, or justified his disciples in doing, was strictly in accordance with the Sabbath law, or else he was a sinner and the minister of sin! Our friends may take this latter view if they think it safe. But if he was only doing what was strictly according to the Sabbath law, then his words that he was “Lord of the Sabbath,” cannot, except by willful perversion, be taken to indicate that he was relaxing its claims, or that he designed to do so, but only as showing why he was so solicitous to defend it against the abuse and superstition of the Pharisees. Any attempt to dispose of this matter otherwise simply shows the perversity and malignity of that carnal heart which Paul says is not subject to the holy law of God, and cannot be.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
42.—THE JEWS AND HADES.
Was the word Hades considered by the Jews as meaning the spirit world? A minister here so declared, quoting from Josephus in proof. G. W. R.
ANS. According to the essay of Josephus, if he correctly represents their views, they so regarded it. But what they thought, or what they taught, has no more to do with our views, that is, we are no more to be influenced by them, than by the views of the old monks of the dark ages on the doctrines of the Sabbath and the immortality of the soul. The Jews had fallen into many errors, and by their traditions had made void even some of the commandments of God. We have all the authoritative writings which they had on which to base our belief, that is, the Scriptures; and our appeal, at all times and on all questions, is to them, in preference to traditions of darkened Jews or apostate Christians. The question is not, what say the monks? what say the fathers? or what say the Jews? It is simply, what says the word of God?
43.—A HALL FOR A CHURCH.
When we rent a hall in which to hold our meetings, is it right to rent it for a band of music to practice in? or for the Methodists to hold pound socials (really lotteries), festivals, &c., when the Methodist minister would not hold them in their own church, not thinking it was right? Is the hall, while we hold it, the same as a church? A.
ANS. If entire control of the hall is held by the society, we should regard it the same as a church, not to be used for any purpose for which it would not be proper to use a church, certainly not for church fairs and festivals, nor for any gatherings which would defile the room with tobacco juice, or otherwise render it unclean.
ANS. Genesis (compared with Heb. 11:5) and Kings declare positively that Enoch and Elijah have been taken up from this earth into Heaven without seeing death. If John is speaking simply of going up into Heaven, and declares that no man has so ascended, limiting it to this idea, then there is a contradiction. But is this the subject in John 3? Christ is here teaching Nicodemus in regard to heavenly things, and says, “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.” Verse 11. “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” Verse 12. Then comes the statement of verse 13: “And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but he that came down from Heaven, even the Son of man which is in Heaven.” Now what is the subject under consideration? What has the simple declaration that no man has ascended up to Heaven to do with the matter of his discourse, which is receiving instruction from Heaven. It is evident that this idea of gaining knowledge from Heaven, is the only one involved in the declaration; that is, No man hath ascended up to Heaven, to return and bring back information from thence, except He who came down from Heaven, even the Son of man, who, so far as his knowledge of heavenly things is concerned, was the same as if even then in Heaven. Paul uses a similar expression, but immediately explains it, thus: “Who shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above :).” In a similar sense we believe the expression is used in John 3:13: “And no man hath ascended up to Heaven,” that is, to bring back knowledge from thence for his fellow-men. In this sense there is no conflict between this passage and Genesis and Kings; for Enoch and Elijah did not ascend, or rather were not taken, to Heaven for this purpose. We may add that John 3:13 implies a voluntary action under the will and control of the man: “No man hath ascended,” of his own will, purposely, voluntarily. But this was not the case with either Enoch or Elijah: they were taken up passively.
ANS. Many other verses naturally belong with the verses referred to, which would be too lengthy to quote in full. The reader will therefore please turn and read them with the context. Remembering, then, that Ezekiel was with his people in captivity when his prophecy was written, let us consider its natural and evident meaning. The great object which that people would have before their minds, would naturally be their deliverance from captivity. Is it not, then, in reference to this that God speaks by his prophet? For verse 24 says: “I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” Then follows the promise of a great spiritual blessing to be bestowed upon them, in the language of the verses referred to, set forth under the figure of sprinkling clean water upon them, and cleansing them from all uncleanness. (The false use of verse 25 in reference to baptism is exposed in Bro Waggoner’s work on that subject, pp. 32, 33.) Various promises are enumerated to the close of chapter 36. In chap. 37 the resurrection of the dead is described; and this sublime event is set before them as a fit representation of their glorious restoration, which God had then in mind. Then follows, in chapters 38 and 39, a statement of how God would deal with their enemies, in the famous prophecy concerning Gog. Then from chapters 40–48, the remainder of the book, is given a description of a wonderful sanctuary which God proposed should be erected among them. But this prophecy was conditional. The condition is expressed in verse 11 of chapter 43: “And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them,” etc. But they were not ashamed, Jer. 6:15, and so, the condition never having been complied with, the prophecy never could come to pass. It has long been a settled question that all this prophecy of Ezekiel concerning the sanctuary was a conditional prophecy, never fulfilled because the conditions were never complied with. See this point discussed in the late work on the Sanctuary, pp. 162–166. The query we now propose is, Does not this conditional prophecy extend back beyond chapter 40, even as far as chapter 36? If so, it includes, and disposes of, those much vexed chapters concerning Gog, the 38th and 39th of Ezekiel. Then we have there simply a description of the way in which God would have punished the enemies of his people, had the latter done what he proposed to them. As they did not thus do, those chapters never have been, and never are to be, fulfilled. But God’s purposes are not to be thwarted or marred in the least degree on this account. He changes his plan of action somewhat to suit the exigencies of the case. He breaks, to be sure, the captivity of his people, but not so fully nor gloriously as might have been. He prolongs the time. He throws in another dispensation. He now works toward “the eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Eph. 3:11, in another manner; and Gog and Magog do not appear again in prophecy till the end of the one thousand years of Rev. 20:8; to be disposed of then, in the manner there described, and not as they would have been had the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39 been fulfilled.
1. To what does Ps. 102:18 refer? 2. Does Luke 18:1–8 have a special reference to the time just before the coming of the Lord? C. P. B.
ANS. 1. Probably to the gathering out from the Gentiles of a people for the Lord. Rescuing these from their lost condition is likened in Scripture to raising them to life from the dead, or new creating them. 2. We think Luke 18:1–8 represents the earnest importunate prayer of the people of God, just before Christ comes, and shows by contrast with the unjust judge, how surely God will avenge his people who cry unto him.
WHO WILL ANSWER?
About a month since, a controversy sprung up in Quincy, Mich., over the right or wrong of running a pleasure steamboat on Sunday. Three ministers of the place are reported to have forbidden the captain to run the boat. Whereupon a non-professor closes up an article in the Quincy Times on the subject with the following tough questions for the Sunday-keepers:—
1. On what authority do they rely, who assert Sunday to be a day more holy unto the Lord than the day he blessed and sanctified, or any of the secular days of the week?
2. How came the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath—the day God blessed and sanctified, to be supplanted in its character as a “holy” day, by the first day of the week, Sunday?
3. Point us to the record where God ever appointed or recognized any other than the seventh day—the Sabbath, as a day of rest, to be kept holy, etc.?
I ask these questions in the strong hope that some one, learned in historic lore, will withdraw the veil and enlighten us by a truthful exposition of the above questions.
We venture to say that our friend’s questions have not been answered yet; and they can only be answered truthfully by saying that, 1. There is no authority for saying that Sunday is more holy to the Lord than his own sanctified day; or that it is holy at all in any other sense than the other secular days are. 2. It is not by divine authority that the seventh day has been supplanted by the first day of the week. This work has been wrought by the “man of sin,” coming in gradually through the working of the mystery of iniquity. 3. There is no record that God ever appointed or recognized any other day than the seventh as a day of rest to be kept holy. The questions admit of no other answers. This is a great practical subject. Now will our friend as candidly consider what the Lord of the Sabbath requires of him in this matter.
CALIFORNIA CAMP-MEETING.
By Joseph Harvey Waggoner
We are encamped upon the best ground ever occupied by our people in California. The shade is all that can be desired. Large spreading oaks completely overshadow the large tent, which is 60 by 96 feet. There are about one hundred tents up. Almost all the churches in the State are well represented. Several teams came from Fresno and Tulare counties. The Fresno camp-meeting made them long for more; and for this some drove over the dusty plains about three hundred miles. May they receive a blessing according to the effort they have made.
The meeting commenced the 17th, but all day on the 18th teams and tents were coming. A good feeling seems to prevail, and we confidently look for good results. An earnest desire is manifested to see the work advanced. There is evidently a mind to work, among the people, and we believe the work will go forward.
Who will be president? is an interesting question in the camp; and the earnestness with which the question is asked shows that they realize their need, and are anxious to remedy the difficulties under which they labored the past year.
The interest deepens at every meeting. This afternoon a large number came forward to seek a nearness to God, and to consecrate themselves anew to his service. Bro. Haskell is having good freedom, and is hopeful.
We are praying that this meeting may be a great and lasting benefit to the cause of present truth. J. H. WAGGONER.
Healdsburg, Sept. 19.
WRONG ASSOCIATIONS OF IDEAS.
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
In the matter of soul and spirit, care should be taken to avoid forming ideas which are not wholly founded on fact.
The traveler who had conceived sublime thoughts about the scenery of Switzerland, but who happened to visit that country when it was rainy and foggy, and ever thereafter associated gloomy thoughts with that beautiful land, made a mistake. But such a mistake is of much less account than those mistakes which are committed at the sacrifice of Bible truth.
There are those who, believing that man has an immortal spirit, which thinks and acts independently of the body, find passages where spirit signifies angel, as in Acts 23:8, 9; or phantom, as in Luke 24:37, 39; Matt. 14:26; Mark 6:45-49, and they hastily conclude that the spirits of the dead, in the fabulous sense of that expression, are intended. And this false impression will follow them in their entire investigation of this subject, unless it is corrected.
As to Acts 23:8, 9, we think that Heb. 1:7 will shed some light upon it, giving us a clue to its true meaning. In this text Paul, speaking of angels, certifies, “Who maketh his angels spirits.” The French translation reads, “Making winds his angels.” Not that winds, in the common acceptation of that term, are angels, but that God has given angels, who are real, tangible beings, the faculty of doing their work either visibly or invisibly, that is, without manifesting their form. In the latter case they are like the wind, that does its work without our seeing it. They can serve in this manner, or can manifest the light and glory of Heaven with which they are clothed, and which resembles the brightness of the sun when it shineth in its strength, or a flame of fire. Read Matt. 28:3, 4; Luke 24:4; Judges 13:19, 20. This enables us to understand the difference that is made between angel and spirit in Acts 23:8, 9.
As to Luke 24:37, 39, where it is stated that on a certain occasion the disciples were frightened, believing that they saw a spirit, Mr. Greenfield in his Greek Testament puts in the margin of that passage, phantom, indicating that this word is found in Griesbach’s Greek Testament. And that phantom is the proper term appears from the fact that the same word, (phantasma) is found in Matt. 14:26; Mark 6:45-49, where a similar fright of the disciples is recorded, when, on another occasion, Jesus met them walking on the sea. It was while speaking of a phantom, a being that exists only in the imagination, or an appearance produced by a fallen angel, that Jesus said, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Neither Christ nor the evangelists speak of the spirits of the dead in these passages. In fine, no inspired writer ever speaks of the spirits of the dead in the superstitious and deceptive sense of that expression.
D. T. BOURDEAU.
VERMONT CAMP-MEETING.
By A. S. Hutchins
Several circumstances combined to give us a less number of tents and campers at our meeting this year than when the meetings were held at Morrisville. Yet we have reason for gratitude for as much interest as was manifested, and for so good apparent results. More might have been accomplished, and the general interest of the meeting improved, had all been on the ground at the opening of the meeting.
We were thankful for the presence and labors of Bro. Butler and W. C. White. The Spirit of God aided Bro. Butler and C. W. Stone, in preaching the word. The tract and missionary work, the cause of temperance, and the Sabbath-school interest received a good share of attention. In regard to each of these branches many useful and practical things were said by Bro. Butler and White, showing us the importance of a united effort to redeem the time and save souls by working in the opening providence of God. Many witnessed a good profession. May none die spiritually from inactivity; but let us take hold of the work in all its branches, and by “reason of use have our senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Several young men are girding on the armor in our Conference, whom the Lord will bless and make useful if they keep humble, grow in grace, and are led by the unerring counsel of Heaven. Others see and confess the truth, who may win souls to Christ. I am impressed with the thought that if as a people we are not better both in the present and future for our recent camp-meeting, we are verily inexcusable. May our future fidelity and devotion of heart to the cause of God bear a favorable testimony here.