p. 3 | Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Thursday, June 24, 1880)

Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

Thursday, June 24, 1880

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, June 24, 1880

THE LORD'S DAY; OR STRONG PROOF IN FAVOR OF THE SABBATH.

By Daniel T. Bourdeau

BY ELD. D. T. BOURDEAU.

In A. D. 96, the beloved apostle, while giving the circumstances under which he received the Revelation, wrote, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Rev. 1: 9, 10.

All believers in the Bible must admit that John wrote these words by inspiration. He was “in the Spirit,” wrapped in heavenly vision, when the truths of the book of Revelation were communicated to him, and it was with the aid of the Holy Spirit that he penned these truths. He therefore used the very words designed to convey the mind of God, who was giving instructions for the church, till the end of the Christian dispensation. It is also a fact worthy of notice that the truths he was communicating are the “Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him.” Verse 1. God is speaking to us through his Son. Here we have the united authority of God and his Son. There is not a word that is superfluous, nor a thought that we can dispense with.

It was, therefore, necessary for us to know that John was in the Spirit in the isle of Patmos, that he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and that there is a day that belongs to the Lord in this dispensation. John was in the Spirit in a particular place and on a particular, definite day, the Lord’s day. And the fact that there is a Lord’s day in this dispensation involves an obligation to consecrate a day unto the Lord. For we cannot show that a day is the Lord’s without refraining from our own secular work upon it, and employing it in the nobler work of the Lord. This scripture is a complete refutation of the doctrine which teaches that there is no Sabbath for the Christian age. It is also a refutation of the idea that the Lord claims every day; for if every day was the Lord’s day, then John would mean that he was in the Spirit and had his vision every day! Upon the same principle we might say that he had his vision in every place. No; there is definiteness in this matter. The very place and the very time are mentioned.

But which day is the Lord’s day? John does not say, “I was in the Spirit on one of the Lord’s days,” as though there were at least two different Sabbaths, but, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Now, the Bible, being a sufficient rule of faith and practice, must give us light as to what day is the Lord’s day, and if we find a day that the Lord claims as his own, we will necessarily have to conclude that it is the Lord’s day mentioned in our text. God, speaking through his immutable law, says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20: 10. He reserved it by sanctifying it in Eden before the fall. Gen. 2: 2, 3; Matt. 5: 17–19; Rom. 3: 31; James 2: 8–12. This is the Lord’s holy day (Isa. 58: 12), the day of which Christ styles himself the Lord. Mark 2: 28. And there is no other day that God or Christ claims under this dispensation. It was, therefore, on the holy Sabbath that John was in the Spirit. And if the Sabbath was the Lord’s day at the close of the first century, it is the Lord’s day in 1880.

If, as some claim, the first day was made the Lord’s day by our Lord Jesus Christ, would he not have said so either in his lifetime or through his followers who wrote by inspiration after his death? But even in this case we would be in a dilemma; for several scriptures show that there is but one weekly Sabbath or Lord’s day (Acts 13: 42, 44: 18: 4; Rev. 1: 10), and establishing the first day as a Lord’s day would give us a second Lord’s day or weekly Sabbath. And to represent that the day that the Lord reserved and commanded to be kept by us as a memorial of creation, has, by divine authority, been replaced by one to be kept in memory of the resurrection, would be to represent that divine authority clashes with numerous declarations of Scripture which show the unchangeable nature of that law of which the Sabbath is a part. Deut. 5: 29; Ps. 111: 7, 8; 119: 152, 160; Isa. 51: 6, 7; Matt. 5: 17–19; Rom. 3: 31; 7: 7–12; James 2: 8–12; Rev. 12: 17; 14: 12; 22: 14.

Christ was very careful to institute all the ordinances of the new covenant, and to give them special force by his own example, as in the case of baptism and the Lord’s supper. But so far as the record of inspired writers is concerned, Christ did not so much as mention the first day in his teachings. Much less do we find that he ever claimed it as his own, and that he and his disciples kept it as the Lord’s day.

Nor did the apostles have the audacity to attempt to make of the first day the Lord’s day. Had they tried to do this, they might have been justly branded as apostates. A testament is of force when the testator is dead. The New Testament, or will, was sealed and confirmed by the death of Christ; and Paul says that when a covenant is confirmed “no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.” Gal. 3: 15. How, then, can men teach that the apostles instituted a new Lord’s day after the resurrection of Christ? This would be breaking Christ’s will after his death, to insert in it a new clause. A similar act in human affairs would be regarded as a heinous crime, and its author would have to pay a heavy penalty. It would be considered a sacrilege for an heir to selfishly change the just and merciful will of his father after his death, and he would have to suffer for doing so.

Under a false show of erudition in the Greek, some will seize the fact that the Greek word rendered “Lord’s” and applied to day in Rev. 1: 10, is also used in 1 Cor. 11: 20, and is there applied to the supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they hastily conclude from this fact that a special day of the Lord Jesus, and not the day of the Lord Jehovah, is intended in Rev. 1: 10. This is strange reasoning, and does violence to the principles of language and common sense; it is a miserable deception played upon a people under the pretense of scholarship!

Let us for a moment imagine ourselves in the Old World, where “there are lords many.” We pass the residence of a man of wealth and influence, and, observing his fine carriage, say, “This is the lord’s carriage.” We go on a little farther, and on the estate of another rich man we notice a valuable horse, and say, “This is the lord’s horse;” and thereafter one who had heard both these remarks says, “Now you were mistaken as to the ownership of the horse. It is the lord’s horse and the carriage is the lord’s carriage, and we know the carriage belongs to the first man you visited; therefore the horse does not belong to the second man, but to the first!” This would be no greater abuse of language than to say that because the word “Lord’s” is used in reference to the Lord’s supper, it must, when used in Rev. 1: 10, mean a new day belonging especially to the Lord Jesus, and not at all the day of the Lord Jehovah, the only Lord’s day under the Christian economy.

But does the genius of the Greek language really require that we apply the term κυριακή, in Rev. 1: 10, to Christ? By no means. In Greek, as well as in English, Lord’s or lordly may be applied to other things than to those which belong to Christ. But there is a principle which is true in all languages, and

which permits us to apply the term in question to Jehovah; namely, that the tense of an adjective or qualifying word which is derived from a substantive, must be determined by the aid of that substantive. Take, for example, the words office and official. The official duties of a person are the duties which grow out of his office. Let us apply this principle to the case before us. We have κυριακή, lordly, which is derived from κυριος, Lord, and κυριος is applied in the original to God the Father as well as to Christ. David, speaking of Jehovah and of Christ, says, “The Lord [κυριος, the Father] said unto my Lord [κυριω, the Son; it is the same noun as the first, only it is in a different case], Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Matt. 22: 44. Other texts could be quoted in support of this point.

(Concluded next week.)

THE CONSCIENCE AND FUTURE JUDGMENT.

I sat alone with my conscience, In a place where time had ceased, And we talked of my former living In the land where the years increased.

And I felt I should have to answer The question it put to me, And to face the answer and question Throughout an eternity.

The ghosts of forgotten actions Came floating before my sight, And things that I thought were dead things Were alive with a terrible might.

And the vision of all my life Was an awful thing to face— Alone with my conscience sitting In that solemnly silent place.

And I thought of a far-away warning Of a sorrow that was to be mine, In a land that then was the future, But now is the present time.

And I thought of my former thinking Of the Judgment day to be, But sitting alone with my conscience Seemed judgment enough for me.

And I wondered if there was a future To this land beyond the grave; But none gave me an answer, And no one came to save.

Then I felt that the future was present, And the present would never go by, For it was but the thought of my past life Grown into eternity.

Then I woke from my timely dreaming, And the vision passed away, And I knew the far-away warning Was a warning of yesterday.

And I pray that I may not forget it, In this land before the grave, That I may not cry in the future, And no one come to save.

And so I have learned a lesson Which I ought to have known before, And which, though I learned it dreaming, I hope to forget no more.

So I sit alone with my conscience In the place where the years increase, And I try to remember the future In the land where time will cease.

—London Spectator.

WHAT ROMANISM IS DOING.

By William Penniman

BY WILLIAM PENNIMAN.

How to prevent the encroachments of the religious power of the papacy on the secular domain, is a question which has agitated modern Christendom for ages. The question whether the governments of Catholic countries and the Romanists of Protestant ones shall be under the power of the civil arm of the respective countries, or under the control of a hierarchy deriving its existence and receiving infallible direction from a priest living at Rome, may yet be decided by the wager of battle. The flames of civil war, and the fires of the inquisition were kindled by the agitation of this question in former times. It is estimated that from fifty to one hundred millions were slain during the papal supremacy.

The root of the evil is not yet exterminated. The embers of those awful conflagrations are slumbering, and the winds of strife may yet fan them into a fresh conflagration. According to prophecy, the papacy is not destined to regain its former power. The word of God says, “But the Judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” Dan. 7 : 26. Although it cannot regain its former power, yet it is determined to make trouble, and in a certain sense is already making it. While this power seems to be waning in Europe or in the East, it is evidently, as facts show, wonderfully increasing in the United States. It is no doubt the policy of this hierarchy to keep Protestants ignorant, as far as possible, of the official positions which are held by Catholics in this country. It has been stated that fifty per cent of State, including army, officers, are Catholics. But this percentage is no doubt too high. It will be safe to say that a large percent are.

Some may inquire, How shall we combat this widespread and growing evil? The only answer is, Not by carnal weapons,—for Paul says, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,”—but by the “sword of the Spirit,” which is the word of God. This word, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, and which, in the days of Luther, gave the papal beast a severe wound, can in the hands of God’s servants wound it again. In fact, the papal power is every day receiving wounds by the same sword, and its influence is thus held in check till the work of God’s people is accomplished in the earth. This sword, which is a “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” and which opens and exposes the corruptions of the papal system to the very core, Romanists have long tried to destroy; but—

“Truth crushed to earth will rise again; The eternal years of God are hers.”

The Bible is the foundation of civil and religious liberty. If this obstacle could be removed, priestcraft would reign triumphant. The Roman clergy know that intelligence is the life-blood of liberty. Political parties are mere tools in their hands, by which they manipulate legislation in their favor. They will form an alliance with any party which will enable them to accomplish their sectarian purposes. The great object of the Roman Catholic secret oath-bound societies is to hold the ignorant dupes of popery where the Roman clergy can most easily control them.

“’Tis ignorance mainly binds the people in chain, ’Tis this the empire of folly maintains; Vice shrinks from instruction like darkness from light, And despots shun noontide, and covet the night.”

We will next give a few specimens of Romish intolerance, quoting first from a Catholic paper published at St. Louis. The Shepherd of the Valley has not forgotten the cardinal and long-cherished doctrines of Romanism, as the following extract shows: “Protestantism of every kind, Catholicity inserts in her catalogue of mortal sins; she endures it when and where she must; but she hates it, and directs all her energies to effect its destruction. If the Catholics ever gain—which they surely will do—an immense numerical majority, religious freedom in this country is at an end.”

The Shepherd subsequently, as proof of the approval of its sentiments, added: “Amongst our Catholic contemporaries, the Catholic Herald was almost alone in its strictures; others, as the Pilot, copied our article and indorsed what we said. The character of our journal was not called in question, and no editor, we think, has ever ventured to make our own character the subject of debate. We told the truth, and nothing but the truth; and it is not fair to sacrifice us to the prejudices of ill-instructed and timid Catholics, or of heretics whose delicate nerves a bold statement of Catholic doctrine may happen to shock.”

This was published in the Shepherd, and fully indorsed by the archbishop, in the following words: “The Shepherd of the Valley is published with my approbation, and I recommend it to the support of the Catholics of this diocese. “† PETER RICHARD, “July 7, 1853. Archbishop of St. Louis.”

The bishop says again, “Heresy and unbelief are crimes; that is the whole of the matter. And in Christian countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all the people are Catholic, and where the Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, they will be punished as other crimes.”

A few years ago the Protestant chapel in Rome was suppressed, and the worshippers were threatened with the tortures of the Inquisition. The Pittsburg Catholic Visitor, referring to its suppression, gives us another specimen of its intolerance, as follows: “For our own part, we take this opportunity of explaining our hearty delight at the suppression of the Protestant chapel in Rome. This may be thought intolerant, but when, we would ask, did we ever profess to be tolerant to Protestantism, or to favor the doctrine that Protestantism ought to be tolerated? On the contrary, we hate Protestantism, we detest it with our whole heart and soul, and we pray that our aversion to it may never decrease. We hold it meet that in the Eternal City no worship repugnant to God should be tolerated, and we are sincerely glad the enemies of truth are no longer allowed to meet together in the capital of the Christian world.”

How long would it be before Protestant chapels would be suppressed in this country, had popery the power? Brownson, the great apostle of American popery, who had the indorsement of twenty-five bishops and Pope Pius IX., said: “The liberty of heresy and unbelief is not a natural right. . . . All the rights the sects have, or can have, are derived from the State, and rest on expediency. As they have in their character of sects hostile to true religion [popery], no rights under the law of nature or the law of God, they are neither wronged nor deprived of liberty if the State refuses to grant them any rights at all.”—Brownson’s Review, October, 1853, p. 456.

Then intolerant sentiments are taught on both continents. We give these specimens to show what the papacy is about to do, or, at least, what it is trying to do.

SACRIFICE AND REWARD.

By J. Q. Roy

BY J. Q. ROY.

THE prospect before the remnant people of God is most cheering, most glorious. We talk of overcoming, of gaining eternal life; we cherish the hope of being among that redeemed company that shall “return and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads,” but how little we realize what will be the emotions of the finally saved. What will they be but joy unspeakable and full of glory? Freed at last from all the terrible effects of the curse, they may range the glorified plains of the earth renewed, with none to molest or make them afraid; they may explore the vast, almost boundless universe of God, and this throughout a never-ending eternity. Oh, ravishing thought! Oh, glorious prospect! Truly, “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

“Behold,” says the beloved John, “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God;” and says the apostle Paul, “If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ;” and Peter continues: “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.” “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

“Oh, glorious hope! Oh, blest abode? Shall I be there, and like my Lord?”

Soon the bright realities of the heavenly world will burst upon our astonished vision. Soon

“Hope shall change to glad fruition, Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.”

Soon all the woes and miseries of earth will be in the past, and

“God’s own soft hand shall wipe the tears From every weeping eye.”

Can we reasonably cherish such a hope as this? Let the apostle answer: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things.”

But between us and the realization of this hope is a work to be accomplished,—the work of warning a world shrouded in darkness, and of rescuing souls from the terrible bondage of sin. This work God has graciously committed to us. From the commencement of the carrying out of the grand scheme of human redemption, the spirit of sacrifice has been its most prominent feature, if not its very foundation stone. We may dwell with admiration and profit upon the love of God as manifested in the gift of his only Son to die for a ruined race, but language fails to express, our minds can form no adequate conception of the infinite

sacrifice then made. This same spirit of sacrifice must and will continue to be a characteristic of the work, and must be possessed in some degree by every one who successfully engages in it. Is it not reasonable to conclude that, other things being equal, they will be most successful who have most of this spirit?

The privilege of making sacrifices to help forward the work of God in the earth, is among the most precious vouchsafed to mortals; for “every sacrifice made for Christ enriches the giver, and every suffering and privation endured for his dear sake, increases the overcomer’s final joy in Heaven.”—Testimony No. 29.

Selfishness, of which every other sin is the legitimate offspring, if allowed to exist in the heart, works like leaven, overpowering and subduing every good trait. Like a moral cancer, it eats out the spiritual life, and must ultimately result in ruin and eternal death. Viewed in this light, every law of our being, not excepting that of self-preservation, must cry out against it as against an intruder and usurper.

As this evil is the source of every sin, so from its opposite,—noble, disinterested benevolence,—spring the rarest virtues and the most worthy deeds. Every means that shall assist in subduing and expelling the one, and in cultivating and strengthening the other, whether agreeable or the reverse, should be regarded as a choice blessing. Among these, that of sacrificing to sustain the precious cause of God, and thus to benefit and save souls for whom Christ died, is the most effectual. Hence the conclusion is justified that it is one of the most precious gifts of God to mankind, and thus the great apostle seems to regard it. Shall we cultivate this grace? Shall we improve this privilege?

That the great God should condescend to notice us, and at a sacrifice so great, to devise a plan whereby our lost race can obtain pardon and salvation, calls for deepest self-abasement on our part, and for that gratitude which can be expressed only by an entire surrender of all to God. Says the apostle Paul, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12:1. Reasonable indeed! and why? Let the apostle answer: “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” Chap. 11:36. “In him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28. “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. Every one must concede that not only are we under everlasting obligations to serve God, but all considerations—our best present and eternal interests—demand that we should serve him.

“And who, then, is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?” This question, asked by David of ancient Israel, seems hardly appropriate for us who are blessed with so much greater light. That any should hesitate to answer it, is evidence of the terrible depravity of the human heart, and shows how effectually mortals can be blinded to their best interests; but what shall we say when those who have been called out of darkness into the clear and marvelous light of present truth, murmur at the trials by the way, and add insult to base ingratitude by regarding anything short of the whole heart as a suitable offering to present to God? Alas for poor human nature! trammelled by sin, blinded by Satan, deceived by a wicked heart, too often is it thus. Who are prepared, like Joshua of old, to answer this question unqualifiedly? Those who have been half-hearted in that service? those who have tried to serve God and mammon? those who have been afraid of burdens and sacrifices? No, no; but those who, having tried, know from happy experience that it is not “vain to serve God;” that the yoke of Christ is easy and his burden light. Such, with Paul, “glory in the cross of Christ,” and are glad that “unto us it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake,” assured that if they “suffer with him, they shall also reign with him.”

The work of God is moving forward in the earth, and all who will, are permitted to have a part in it. The rich may give of their abundance, and thus transfer their treasures to the heavenly world. The poor are not denied the privilege, but may make sacrifices proportionately great, and become “rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom.” We are dealing with a just God, one who estimates the gift according to the sacrifice of the giver; and the same Saviour who regarded with approval the gift of the poor widow, will accept, as a token of love, a similar sacrifice on the part of his followers to-day. As anciently, so now, even our deep poverty may abound unto the riches of our liberality. All may prove the sincerity of their love; all may make to themselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness by laying up treasure in Heaven. O inestimable privilege! O enduring treasure! God has intrusted to us talents, and if we are unfaithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give us that which is our own? After we have given ourselves and all that we have to the service of God, then can we in truth adopt the words of David: “For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” In close connection with these words occurs this expression: “I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart.” Ah! this is the point that we do well to consider. God is trying us. He says to us, “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” The gold and the silver are his. Are not we his people by right of creation, by redemption, by adoption? God grant that it may be so. With these temporal things our Heavenly Father is trying us, and with these very things he invites us to prove him. By the use we make of them we are developing character, deciding our destinies.

Little need be said here of the fearful consequences of appropriating these things to our selfish gratification. The clear light from the word of God is shining upon this point. Again and again we have been instructed and admonished in relation to our duty, and though many of us are slow to heed these counsels, and seem only partially aroused to the sinfulness and sad results of our course, yet the Lord waits. Nor does he wait in silence, allowing us to follow unchecked the bent of our depraved nature, but his chastening hand is often upon us; and though we have the comforting assurance that “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,” yet may we not expect that if we fail to learn the lesson these chastenings are designed to teach, more severe will be the chastening, thicker and faster will fall the blows, until, because of our stubbornness, forbearance shall cease to be a virtue, and of us it shall be said, “He is joined to his idols; let him alone.” Thank God, this is not now our condition. Still the Lord waits, and to us the gracious invitation is extended, “Return unto me.” Need we ask wherein, when the cause of God is languishing, and the work intrusted to us is crippled even in our midst, and for want of the very means lent us of God for carrying it forward? “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.”

Dear brethren and sisters, we do not wish to disguise the fact that the way to Heaven is straight and narrow, rough and thorny. It is true that “self-denial and the cross stand all along the way.” But are we called to bear the cross? it is that we may wear the crown. Does our Heavenly Father invite us to prove him with temporal things? it is that he may open the windows of heaven, and pour us out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Does the Saviour counsel us to sell that we have, and give alms? it is that we may provide for ourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the Heavens. In a word, it is to prepare to change worlds. Would you know who will inherit all the rich promises found in the word of God, and who will be gathered when to the heavenly messengers is given the commission, “Gather my saints together”? It will be those who have made a covenant with God by sacrifice.

Certain it is, that did we look at this matter as we ought, we should talk less of duty, more of privilege,—less of sacrifice, more of the glory beyond. Does Satan suggest that the sacrifice is too great? Are you tempted to turn your back on the suffering, bleeding cause of Christ? “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

“Oh! think of the Master, worn and faint, Whose meek lips uttered no complaint! Who toiled for thee, ’mid the noontide heat, And sought no rest for his weary feet.

“Work with thy might, ere the day of grace Is spent, and the night comes on apace, The Master has given his pledge divine, Who winneth souls like the stars shall shine.”

HE CAME TO SAVE SINNERS.

By Chas. J. Butler

I was once far away from the Saviour, And as vile as a sinner could be; I wondered if Christ, the Redeemer, Would save a poor sinner like me.

I wandered on in the darkness, Not a ray of light could I see; And the thought filled my bosom with sadness: There's no hope for a sinner like me.

But there, in that dark, lonely hour, A voice sweetly whispered to me, Saying, “Christ the Redeemer hath power To save a poor sinner like thee.”

I listened, and lo ’twas the Saviour, That was speaking so kindly to me; I cried, “I’m the chiefest of sinners; Canst thou save a poor sinner like me?”

I then fully trusted in Jesus; And oh, what a joy came to me; My heart was o’erflowing with praises, For he saved a poor sinner like me.

No longer in darkness I’m walking, For the light is now shining on me; And now unto others I’m telling How he saved a poor sinner like me.

And when life’s journey is over, And I the dear Saviour shall see; I’ll praise him forever and ever, For saving a sinner like me.

—Chas. J. Butler.

NOW

“A VESSEL had been thrown upon a rocky coast, and the captain and his wife found themselves on a ledge, scarcely raised above the waves which dashed around them. They were not far from shore, but rugged rocks and boiling surges intervened. Ropes were thrown to them by the people on shore, but unless they took the opportunity of a wave going in, which would carry them over the rocks, they were sure to be dashed in pieces. The captain, of course, wished his wife saved first, and put the rope securely around her, the people on shore standing ready to draw her out. He anxiously watched the waves till he saw a great one rushing in, and he called out to his wife, ‘jump!’ But she hesitated. It was only a moment, but that moment was fatal. She jumped, but it was to meet the returning wave, which dashed her against the sharp rocks, and she was drawn out a corpse.”

The waves of opportunity have come to us hour by hour, day by day, year by year, till by their constant occurrence we seem to think they will always be ours. One of these glorious, saving waves is just now passing us; but we linger, falter, shrink, and still remain in our perilous condition. Another comes, and still we hesitate; another, and still another, till the last has passed; and, dashed upon the rocks of procrastination and unbelief, we sink to a hopeless grave. How many with dying breath have gasped, “Too late, too late!”

Once the weary feet of the Saviour trod the cities, villages, plains, and mountains of Judea. At night the mountains echoed with his prayers; by day he taught in their streets the way of life and peace. Golden opportunity, choicest of centuries—yet not improved. They remained in ignorance and in sin, and

Divinity wept over them, saying, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belonged unto thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes.” Too late! Their doom is sealed, and the desolate city and nation speak to us to-day to beware of neglecting present opportunity. There were things which belonged to their peace. They could not possibly have peace without. They sought them not. There are things which belong to our peace. We may learn what they are. Every day brings such an opportunity, and still of many of us it is said, “The way of peace they have not known;” and shortly humanity and Divinity may weep over us, vainly lamenting that in our day, the time we might have known, we knew not.

Say not, “To-morrow shall be as this day, and more abundant.” Think not a more convenient season will ever come. “Boast not thyself of to-morrow, whereas thou knowest not what the morrow may bring forth.” Think not with any degree of certainty it is yours. There are millions upon millions of slumberers in the dust for whom we may mourn without hope, who have as strongly hoped for the morrow as you. While you plunge deeper and deeper into sin, you are lessening the probabilities of repentance. You are sowing seed that will yield a bitter harvest, and if, through his infinite mercy, you are saved at last, yet you cannot gather with Christ that which while in sin you separate from him. “He that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.” There are some even now, it may be, who through your influence and example have delayed repentance, who have already passed beyond pleadings, prayers, or mercies.

In a Southern hospital lay a soldier in the agonies of death. A kind friend lingering near, kindly and repeatedly asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” thinking he might wish some parting word sent to loved ones absent. At first no answer; but at last, fixing his glazed eyes upon her in their agony, he asked, “Can you undo?” Then he told how a praying lad came from a praying mother to the army; how he taught him to swear, and in battle he saw him fall with an oath upon his lips. “Can you undo?” Ah! no; not the loving Father himself could do this. But he can forgive the repentant, the thief, the murderer, she that bathed his feet with tears in the depths of her sorrow; whosoever, any, all may come, if they come now, ere life has fled.

Are you teaching others to swear, to cheat, lie, drink, gamble, join in the pleasures of sin? or by word or example are you teaching them to neglect salvation to-day? While it is called to-day, harden not your heart, but let it soften under the rays of His Spirit, that through its holy influence you may be led safe beyond the wrecks of time to the safety of eternity.—Domestic Journal.

ETERNITY

By Mrs. L. D. A. Stuttle

BY MRS. L. D. A. STUTTLE.

I have often wondered how a person in full possession of his reason could turn his back upon all that is good and desirable in this life, and give up all hope of a life which is eternal, for a few days, or years at most, of reckless folly. I can never cease to wonder that one should barter away, for so small a consideration, a whole eternity of happiness!

Eternity! what a thought! Volumes might be written upon it, and yet the mind be unable to fathom its full import. How much would we give to live ten thousand years in a land where there was nothing to annoy us, and where our noblest aspirations would be realized? Yes; how much would we give? Ten thousand years is a long time, longer than old earth has existed. We would be willing to sacrifice very much to enjoy the bliss of Heaven as long as this. But what is promised to the overcomer? Ten thousand years of life? twenty thousand? a million? No; “He that believeth on me,” says Christ, “shall never die.”

Can we, will we, turn our backs upon all this, and calmly, deliberately, choose death rather than life? Oh, that these feeble words of mine might arrest the attention of some poor souls, before they make the fearful choice of the road which leads only to misery and death. The promise is only to the overcomer. “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Saved, eternally saved! Glorious prospect! blessed hope! God grant that the glad words be said unto us at last, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

Vernon, Mich.

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