Earlier text: CHRIST'S COMMISSIONA WOE COMING UPON SOME WHO DESIRE THE DAY OF THE LORD.
By D. T. Bourdeau
TEXT: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?” Amos 5:18–20. WHEN the Lord pronounces a woe, he means a woe, and not prosperity and happiness; and the woes that the Lord sends are terrible, and it is of the highest importance that we escape them. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31) for having slighted his love and proffered mercy, and despised his promises and warnings. IN OUR text the Lord pronounces a woe against those who desire the day of the Lord. And yet we find in other passages of Scripture that the Lord encourages his people to desire that great day, and to hasten its coming by their desires. (2 Pet. 3:12, French translation.) Can it be that there is a contradiction on this point? By no means. The word of God is not yea and nay, but yea and amen to the glory of Him who cannot lie and deceive his creatures. It cannot be that in this passage those are intended who desire the day of the Lord, viewing it in the light of Holy Writ, and preparing to meet it. Those are here addressed who desire that day, and yet entertain erroneous views as to its nature,—views which lead them to neglect the necessary preparation to meet it. This is clearly seen from the language of our text. The Lord, having pronounced a woe against some who desire the day in question, immediately asks, “To what end is it for you?” implying that those whom he is addressing are entertaining the hope of receiving advantages which they shall not receive. The Lord continues: “The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.” And to show the importance of this truth, he repeats it: “Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?” Here, as in other portions of Scripture, darkness represents mourning, distress, and the judgments of God, while light is an emblem of joy and happiness. Speaking of the day of the Lord, Joel says: “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.” Joel 1:15; 2:1, 2. Describing the same day, Zephaniah says: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the tempest and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zeph. 1:14–18; 2:1–3. These scriptures show that distress, anguish, and destruction shall be the portion of sinners when that great day shall come; that in view of this fact all the inhabitants of the land are exhorted to tremble; that even the meek, the very best of the earth, are commanded to seek the Lord,—to seek righteousness and meekness. It is not an ordinary work to prepare for that day when it is near. Not only must it be proclaimed as near, but it must also be heralded just as it is described in the Scriptures of truth, as being a day of darkness, distress, and terrible judgments; a day which shall bring destruction to the masses of those then living upon earth, because they shall not have previously striven to forsake their sins and enter in at the strait gate. But the Lord foresaw and teaches in our text that the day under consideration would be viewed in an entirely different light, as a day of light and glory, of great blessings and spiritual advantages, not only to the just, but also to sinners, who, according to this theory, can be more easily converted in that period than they can at the present time. And is not this precisely what a large number of professed Christians teach in our day? But if God has told the truth (and who will dare deny it), to cherish such a doctrine is “as if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.” It is preparing the way for a terrible disappointment. It is desiring to be delivered from the lions of the miseries of this life, only to meet that which is a thousand times more painful and more to be dreaded,—the terrible judgments of God, the last plagues of his just and fierce wrath. For how can we be stimulated to prepare for the day of God, if we believe that in that day it will be much easier to seek and serve the Lord than it now is? Let us hear further from the word of the Lord on the nature of that great day: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13:9. “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver [the idols of his silver, Heb.], and his idols of gold [the idols of his gold, do.], which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Chap. 2:20, 21. See also Eze. 7:19. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.” “The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage.” Chap. 24:1, 3, 19, 20. “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.” Jer. 4:23–25. “The slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord.” Chap. 25:33–37. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7:22, 23. “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Chap. 24:37–39. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:2–4. “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8. “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:14–17. “And the remnant [of the wicked] were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse [Christ at his coming], which sword proceeded out of his mouth; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Chap. 19:21. This does not look like a converted world meeting Christ at his coming; nor like a glorious reign on the earth commencing with the second advent. Neither will there be a possibility for the conversion of sinners in the day of God; for even the remnant of them shall be destroyed at the opening of that dread day. All the wicked who will then be alive shall be destroyed, and the saints shall be caught up to the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, to reign there with Christ one thousand years. This will be a reign of judgment over the wicked before their resurrection. John 14:1–6; 13:33–36; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; Rev. 14:1–3; 15:2; 19:1; 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:1–3; Matt. 19:28. During the thousand years the earth will be in no condition to be inhabited by saint or sinner. At the commencement of the day of God the earth shall be “utterly broken down” and “removed out of its place;” it shall be “without form and void,” the cities, walls and monuments of the nations having fallen, and islands and mountains having been moved out of their places. Surely the earth will then present the aspect of a great deep or abyss (Rev. 20:1, 3; Gen. 1:1, 2), and will be a fit place for Satan, the cause of this disaster, who during the thousand years can reflect on the death that awaits him at their close, in the lake of fire. The chain with which Satan will be bound during the thousand years is a symbol of his inactivity. In this respect he will be like a criminal bound with chains. He will have no one to tempt. His hands will be tied. At the end of the thousand years this chain will be broken by the resurrection of the ungodly, who will again give him occupation. At the opening of the day of God, the waters are turned into blood (Rev. 16). The great earthquake changes the course of streams and rivers, and other bodies of water, producing great disorder everywhere. Pools and large bodies of blood will be seen on every hand. From these will arise poisonous odors, corrupting the atmosphere. And is this to be the home of the saints during the thousand years? Blood to drink, and a polluted atmosphere to breathe! Never! Surely those who escape the plagues just before Christ’s coming will not drink the vials of God’s wrath at and beyond the second advent! Again, what shameful inconsistency those are guilty of, who, while admitting that the final conflagration of our earth shall take place at the end of the thousand years, pretend that during that time it will be inhabited by saints and sinners while the latter are being converted. According to their theory, the saints will possess and improve at least a part of the earth during the thousand years, and at the close of the thousand years their possessions and the fruit of their labors during that period will be destroyed! This doctrine is unreasonable, and is unworthy of Him who is too wise to devise a plan involving such inconsistencies. The heritage of the saints shall never be marred; they shall possess it eternally; and the wicked shall never profane it. Let us not be deceived as to the nature of the day of the Lord, lest we be found saying, “Peace and safety,” when sudden destruction is about to come, and the day of the Lord come upon us as a thief (1 Thess. 5); and lest the woe Jehovah has pronounced in the words of the text fall with crushing weight upon our heads. Let us desire the day of the Lord, just as he has described it in his word, and make suitable preparation to meet it, bearing in mind that not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of the Father who is in Heaven. Matt. 7:21. Let us not be satisfied with a form of godliness, while we are destitute of its power. Having a correct theory of the truth will not save us; and mechanically, tastelessly performing certain external duties will not shelter us from the woe that is coming. Our hearts must be right with God; we must act from right motives; we must connect with God and Heaven, and taste the sweets of communion with God, have a sense of his love, and the powers of the world to come. We must have religion in the closet, in our families, in the church,373 and in our relations with the world, else we shall be terribly deceived in the day of God, in having to exchange temporal pains and woes for the venomous, deadly sting of that serpent sin, whose wages is death,—death without a ray of hope,—death without reprieve forever. Whatever may be our advancement in piety, let us seek the Lord; let us seek righteousness and meekness, and perfect holiness, by keeping more and more perfectly the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, that we may be hid in the day of the Lord’s fierce anger. THE EFFECT IN TURKEY OF GLADSTONE'S SUCCESS.
The unexpected result of the elections in England has produced a profound sensation throughout the East. A belief has heretofore existed in Turkey, not unlike that prevalent in the Southern States prior to the war, when cotton was called king, and England was supposed to be its obedient servant, that the existence of the Ottoman empire is essential to the safety of British India, and that the policy of the English Government must of necessity be pro-Turkish and anti-Russian. The advent to power of a new school of politicians, with a programme opposed to the traditional policy of British statesmen, has consequently produced the utmost consternation and bewilderment in official circles here. The idea of an Anglo-Russian alliance for the settlement of the Eastern question is one so utterly novel that the Turks fail to realize the results which accrue from it to the fate of their empire. They are thrown out in all their calculations, and have to provide for an entirely new political combination. The most immediate effect has been a change in their attitude toward England. It has now become plain that the reluctance which has been shown to receive advice from the British government, and the obstacles which have been raised to all measures of reform, have contributed to the downfall of the late Conservative Administration. Had Lord Beaconsfield's government been able to point triumphantly to the efforts made by Turkey to carry out the spirit of the treaty of Berlin, and frankly to enter upon the path of reform with the advice and assistance of England, it is possible that the elections would have resulted very differently. As it is, the Eastern policy of the Conservative government has been a complete failure. One of the strongest weapons in the hands of the Liberals has been the taunt that the Philo-Turkish party in England have been deceived and betrayed by their friends, and that results have justified the predictions of those who called the Turk “unspeakable.” It is therefore feared here that a new and uncompromising policy will be adopted toward Turkey, and that a concerted action will be arrived at between England and one or more European powers, by which the Porte will be coerced into those measures of reform which the English government has contented itself hitherto with mildly recommending. In anticipation of this unpleasant contingency, the Ottoman Ministry are beginning to bestir themselves in the hope of depreciating any such interference, but in so vague and feeble a manner that I fear it will not be of much avail. The internal evils have got almost beyond cure, and they have been increased rather than mitigated by the financial measures which have recently been adopted. The most appalling accounts of famine and distress reach us from all parts of the empire, and telegrams appealing for help are raining in from the provinces. In Armenia especially, whole villages are starving to death, and even money, if it could be sent to them, is of little use, for there is no corn to buy. The consequence is that this destitute population will be quite unable to pay any taxes, and a large diminution of revenue will of necessity result. Many parts of the country are almost given over to brigandage, people being driven to organized robbery as a means of self-preservation. While Moslems and Christians are alike starving in Asiatic and some parts of European Turkey, the Christian Slavs of Eastern Roumelia and Bulgaria are not backward in contributing their share of horrors, in the shape of “atrocities.” In the district of Kirjaldi, we have accounts of the male population of some of the Moslem villages being stripped and severely beaten; of a hundred and four women and girls violated, some of whom were brutally mutilated and murdered; of five villages burned, and of wholesale appropriation by Christians of Moslem property. In Bulgaria, the Moslem population is being starved and driven out of the country by the oppression and injustice of the local government. Serious riots take place between the Greek and Bulgarian inhabitants of Eastern Roumelia, the latter being determined, if possible, to expel from the country, by a process of ostracism, their Greek co-religionists. From Albania the news reaches us that the population of the districts about to be ceded to Montenegro are in revolt, and are determined to resist to the uttermost by force the transfer of their territory; from all which it is clear that the Eastern question will provide abundant occupation to the new government in England as well as to the Porte. Vague rumors also arrive from Arabia and the Hedjaz of a movement on a large scale among the Bedouin Arabs who have been excited by the recent assassination of the Grand Sheriff of Mecca, and who are also suffering from want, and have upon more than one occasion levied large contributions on some of the towns on the banks of the Euphrates. There is, moreover, the Greek frontier question still to be settled, and there can be little doubt that it will be solved in the way least satisfactory to the Turks, who will probably now be compelled to cede to Greece, in addition to the territory already partly agreed upon, the valuable province of Janina, against the cession of which to Greece the Conservative government in England firmly protested. The strongly pronounced Slav and Hellenic sympathies of Mr. Gladstone and his adherents will now be allowed full play, and it will be curious to watch the attitude which will be adopted by Germany and Austria under these new circumstances. The Slav population of Bosnia and Herzegovina recently annexed by Austria complain bitterly of the treatment to which they are subjected by their new masters, and profess that if they cannot be independent they would rather be Russian than Austrian. Whereas, the late Conservative government in England was distinctly committed to a German and Austrian alliance, as opposed to a Russian, French, and Italian combination, the Liberal government is no less distinctly committed to a Russian, French, and Italian combination, as opposed to a German and Austrian alliance, and in addition to this, to a policy of protecting and freeing Christian nationalities in the East. The claims of Slavs, Greeks, and Armenians will, it is to be presumed, therefore receive their immediate attention. Indications are not wanting that the German and Austrian governments are already alive to the dangers of this change of front, and are seeking to detach Russia from France upon the old basis of a tripartite holy alliance. The disappearance from the political arena of Prince Bismarck's great enemy, Prince Gortschakoff, may facilitate this reapportionment, but it will be found probably beyond even the German Chancellor's power to reconcile the conflicting interests of Austria and Russia in the Slav nationalities; each will desire to control them, while England will strive for their uncontrolled independence. One of the first efforts probably on the part of the Liberal government will be to bring about the annexation of Eastern Roumelia to Bulgaria, and the hopes of the Slavs are so highly excited in this direction that addresses have been pouring in upon Mr. Gladstone, congratulating him on his success at the late elections. Meantime rumors are rife here of a change in the Cabinet. The policy of the present Turkish Prime Minister is recognized by all patriotic and far-seeing Turks as totally inadequate to the emergency with which he has to deal, and his method of conducting public affairs so far has not been such as to inspire confidence. It is earnestly hoped that before long he may be replaced by a man more competent to grapple with the present critical state of matters, supported by a Parliament which should to some extent share his responsibilities with the Prime Minister, and the names of Khazneddin and Mahmoud Nedim are in everybody's mouth. We have been so long on the eve of important changes and great events that it seems futile to go on predicting them, but the impression is so general that the present situation is too strained to last, that I should not convey a true idea of public sentiment if I did not refer to them.—Correspondence of N. Y. Sun, Constantinople, April 23. In discussing the two cyclones which visited the Bay of Bengal in October, 1876, Mr. Elliott, meteorological reporter to the government of Bengal, incidentally gives some idea of the cyclonic forces which are developed by such storms. The average “daily evaporation” registered by the Bengal instruments in October is “two inches.” The amount of heat absorbed by the conversion of this amount of water daily over so large an area as the Bay of Bengal, is enormous. “Roughly estimated,” said Mr. Elliott, “it is equal to the continuous working power of 300,000 steam engines of 1,000-horse power.” A simple calculation will show that it suffices to raise aloft 45,000 cubic feet of water in twenty-four hours from every square mile of the bosom of the bay and transport it to the clouds which overhang it. When we extend the calculation from a single square mile to the area of this whole Indian Gulf, the mind is lost in the effort to conceive the force which, in a day's time, can lift 50,000,000 tons! Yet it would be easy to show that such figures, fabulous as they seem, do not adequately represent the cyclonic force of a single storm.—London Times. ASTONISHING EUROPE.
By Editor
WHILE our period of youth and growth and development lasts, we shall never cease to furnish cause for astonishment to the countries of Europe. “Fifteen years ago,” says the London News, “any one who had ventured to predict that in 1879 the United States would not only have paid off a considerable portion of its public debt, but be also in a commercial and financial position to draw upon the gold reserves of Europe as it is doing, would have been treated as a lunatic. But there was no such prophet. At that time men of great commercial and financial experience did not hesitate to say that the debt could not, and would not, be seriously dealt with, while the marvelous development of American production which we have witnessed during the last few years was not so much as imagined.” Our London contemporary takes this retrospective glance in the course of an article on the withdrawals of gold from England and France for the United States, in which it does not attempt to conceal its uneasiness at the prospect, the amount of gold shipped to this country since Aug. 1 having been about $70,000,000. A look into the past is interesting, sometimes, and furnishes instructive contrasts. In May, 1865, not quite 15 years ago, just when the Confederacy was tumbling to pieces, the London Times copied and indorsed a statement of the Journal of Commerce, that if our national debt was not paid in two years it would be in danger of repudiation. The Times denounced this statement as an “abominable libel upon the American people,” and said that the debt was “as sure of being paid as next winter’s snows are to melt.” At that time the rebel cotton loan, which was quoted at 17 after the fall of Richmond, had fallen to 11, on receipt of the news of Lee’s surrender, and loyal people in this country were heartily enjoying the groans and wry faces of the victimized rebel sympathizers of Lombard street. Our five-twenties had come up from a little above 50 to 65 or 70 in the London market in less than a month. That was the moment when the sunshine first broke through the clouds. At home, national hope was high. The daily subscriptions to the new seven-thirty loan astonished everybody. On the 1st of October, 1865, the debt of the nation, less the funds in the Treasury, was $2,741,390,922.11. The last debt statement, issued the first of the present month, showed the debt to be374 $2,016,049,722.83, a reduction of $725,341,199.28 in less than 15 years, or at the rate of $48,356,079.95 a year. This looks as if there was a pretty deep determination in this country that the debt shall be “seriously dealt with.” It is creditable to our London contemporary that it sees in this not only a reason for complimenting the people of the United States, but also substantial ground for self-congratulation by English-speaking people everywhere.—N. Y. Times. Not the least striking feature of the present European situation is the fact that all the men who control it, and who are struggling so energetically to maintain that control, are so far advanced in years as to preclude all hope of their living to see their cherished schemes realized. Prince Bismarck is 65, Prince Gortschakoff 82, Lord Beaconsfield 74, the Czar 62, the Emperor William 83. Yet these graybeards are still as eager as boys in the pursuit of their several objects, and amid the present pause between two acts of the great political drama, the din and bustle of preparation are audible enough. England is shaking herself free from the circus policy of her charlatan Premier. France is renewing her anti-Jesuit war of 1845. Italy is building monster iron-clads, not without thoughts of Trieste and the Austrian seaboard generally. Greece is fuming over the still unsettled “frontier question.” Turkey, true to her time-honored creed of promising everything and performing nothing, is making every effort not to carry out the reforms to which she has pledged herself. . . . Russia is standing on her guard, with one eye bent on the Nihilists and the other on Herat. Austria, divided between her fears of Russia and her hopes of fresh booty in Turkey, is stooping to conciliate the despised Roumanians, and to clasp the hand that struck her down in 1866; while Germany, sliding back foot by foot into the pipe-clayed despotism of Frederick the Great, is laying fresh burdens on her overtaxed people, “to promote national interests,” and preaching peace and good-will toward men from the mouths of 30,000 additional breech-loaders.—N. Y. Sunday Times. HOME DUTIES AND CAMP-MEETINGS.
By M. J. Pierce
The camp-meeting season has again come. The majority of our people will attend a camp-meeting this year, and some are now making the preparation. But while we are cutting, fitting, and making clothing that we may present a becoming appearance, how many are preparing their hearts to receive the good influences of these yearly gatherings, where we expect to spend a few days in seeking the Lord and in hearing his word expounded? We shall be pointed to the law of God as a guide to our feet, and the life of our dear Saviour as our example. Are we prayerfully examining our hearts, and seeking to get in a position where the Lord can bless us at the commencement of these good meetings, or even at our homes before we start? Much has been said about carrying gloom into camp-meetings by neglecting to confess wrongs at home. May we each see our duty in this respect, and be active in performing it, with hearts full of love for God and our fellow-men. Many parents manifest very little interest for their children while at home, and young people seem almost entirely unconcerned about the future life and the things that are coming upon the earth. As these parents come to meeting year after year, and listen to the earnest and faithful servants of God, their hearts are touched, and with tears they begin to look up their children, and to plead with them to come forward and take their stand with the followers of Christ. Could more love and care be manifested at home, it would take less urging at these good and profitable meetings to move the hearts of the young. Let us wake out of sleep; let us have a hungering and thirsting after righteousness while at home, and not have to spend the largest part of the camp-meeting in doing a work that we ought to have done before. The neglect of duty at home always has to be regretted, and will sooner or later be deeply repented of. We profess to love the precious truths for our time; let us manifest this love at home, and we shall then have a winning influence over our young friends. Oh, how we want to see our dear ones all saved in the kingdom of God! We hope to see them converted at our camp-meetings. We know the truth will be preached with power; but our influence at home is sometimes more powerful than many of us are aware of. Let us pray that we may get our hearts and minds, as well as our persons, ready for the meeting.