Earlier text: SECRET PRAYER SUCCESSFULLY MANAGEDREFORM AND THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY.
By Editor
THERE is a class of so-called reformers who are in reality fatalists, and the number is increasing very fast. The Spiritualists are taking this position. Infidels and Universalists have advocated the view that man is a creature governed by motive as irresistible as the locomotive is impelled by steam. In 1829 a debate was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, between Alexander Campbell and Robert Owen, an extract from which was recently given in the Review. On account of something published by Mr. Owen, Mr. Campbell published an appendix to the debate, in which he speaks of this doctrine as advocated by Mr. Owen; as this species of infidelity is often put forth by those who justify wrong, and deny human responsibility, we give the following extract from Mr. Campbell's appendix; it is a complete refutation of the theory. "The materialist, or philosophic necessarian, who says that the earth is one immense prison, and the laws of nature so many jailers, and all mankind prisoners, bound in chains which cannot be dissevered, or to speak without a figure, who says that the actions of all are so unavoidable as the ebbing and flowing of the sea, or the waxing and waning of the moon, can never rationally be a reformer. For what could he reform? He could not pretend to reform nature, nor any of its laws. On Mr. Owen's principles, the present state of the world is perfectly natural and unavoidable. Nature in the regular operations of cause and effect has issued in his trinity of evils, religion, matrimony and private property. Now if nature has gone wrong, and man, without free agency, has landed in religion, matrimony and private property, how unphilosophical is the philosopher of circumstances, who would preach up the necessity of a change in society, when he cannot change necessity!! "It is a climax in the eloquence of absurdity which Mr. Owen is aspiring after. He preaches that all things are just as they must be. The uncontrollable laws of nature have issued in the present system of things; and yet, he would have us to make things as they ought not to be, that is, he would have us to abolish religion, matrimony and private property, which his own eternal and unchanging laws of nature, in their necessary and uncontrollable operations, have originated and established. On Mr. Owen's theory, all things are natural and unavoidable. It is mother nature working by her own laws, and yet he would make us all matricides!!! If Mr. Owen is not stranded here, there is not a shoal in the universe. From all eternity, according to Mr. Owen's theory, particles of matter have been in incessant agitation, working themselves up into ten thousand times ten thousand forms. A few of them at one time produced a Nimrod, a Pharaoh, a Moses, a Cyrus, a Nebuchadnezzar, an Alexander, a Julius Cæsar, a Buonaparte, a Paul, a Robert Owen, and a few such manufacturers of human character. Not one of them could help being born, nor being such characters, nor producing such effects on society. Blind and omnipotent nature cast them forth as she does so much lava from a crater of a volcano. She tied them fast in adamantine chains of exorable fate, and gave them no more liberty to act than a peak of Teneriffe to emigrate to New Harmony. Yet, surpassing strange as it is, this singular piece of inanimated matter, called Robert Owen, which required old nature in her laboratory six thousand years to produce, would now teach us to rebel, and become seditious against the queen of fate, and would have us claim and take the liberty from nature of forming human beings to our own mind, and of checking the powers of nature, and in fact, of binding her fast in her own cords, so that we shall abolish religion, matrimony and private property; put queen nature into jail at New Harmony, and never let her out on parol of honor as long as grass grows or water runs. "Mr. Owen is, without knowing it, or intending it, the greatest advocate of free agency I have ever known, for he would have the present generation to adopt such arrangements and so to modify the circumstances that surround them as to prevent the goddess nature from having it in her power ever to make another religious animal, another wedding, or to use the words mine and thine. And yet the chorus of his new music77 is, that we have no more liberty to act than Gibraltar has to perch herself on the state house of Ohio. Such a philosopher is my good-natured friend Mr. Owen. "Questions in arithmetic may be differently stated, and give the same result. Error may be exposed from every point of the compass, but from some points more clearly than others. We shall now make the mechanics understand the sophistry of Mr. Owen. Suppose a carpenter's square or rule is not what it purports to be, will not every measurement he makes with it be erroneous, and all his conclusions be false? But how shall we test the pretensions of the square? We may compare it with many others, but they may all be incorrect. We may prove it by geometry. This is an infallible test; but there are only a few geometricians, and none but they can understand the proof. If the square is still disputed, how will its pretensions be settled to the comprehensions of the community who are interested in the matter? We want some plain, palpable, common-sense way of deciding the matter. What shall it be? This way perhaps: all will agree that all the substances, all the superficies of all things in the world are not perfect squares or straight sided figures. All will agree that there are some crooked or irregular figures, superficies or substances in the world. Now if any instrument purporting to be a square or straight edge should always give the same result, represent all things alike, make every superfice a perfect square, every surface a smooth surface, and every figure a straight sided figure, all would agree that such a rule or square was a false test, too flexible pliant or otherwise defective. Such results would condemn the instrument in the estimation of every human being who could think at all. "Now for the application. Mr. Owen invented a measure, rule or instrument for deciding the qualities of human actions. This rule, he says, is an infallible one. We compare it with all others, but he says they are incorrect. We are then compelled to test it by the abstract science of mind; but few understand this science. What then shall we do? The community must have some way of deciding this controversy. We shall give it to them in this similitude before us. All will agree that all actions are not alike moral, useful, worthy of admiration or gratitude and of imitation; in a word, that all actions are not alike good and commendable. All will also agree that whatever rule will make all actions alike good, commendable, worthy of admiration, gratitude or imitation, is a false rule. So far the analogy is perfect and unexceptionable. Mr. Owen's rule makes every figure a perfect square or every action alike commendable, and, indeed, alike useful. His proof is very short and simple too. It is this: Nature is always right. She never errs. The laws or acts of nature oblige all men to act as they do. The laws of nature are all necessary laws. The laws of nature brought Mr. Owen half around the globe to meet me on the stage of debate in Cincinnati. They carried him down the Ohio. Necessity compelled Mr. Owen to plead the cause of infidelity, and me to plead the cause of Christianity. We both obey nature, and both our actions are perfect squares, are perfectly right, equally moral and commendable, when measured by the same rule—that is, Mr. Owen's rule. If Mr. Owen had made a hundred infidels and I a hundred Christians, by our debate, it would have been equally commendable, good and useful. Every Christian is necessarily so, every infidel is necessarily an infidel. Nature cannot go wrong, and therefore Mr. Owen's rule is an infallible one. If she produces two effects diametrically opposite, at war with each other, it is all right, moral, useful and good. He is only the sinner who counteracts nature. But Mr. Owen's rule makes himself and me equal sinners. He wishes to prevent nature from making Christians by throwing circumstances in her way. She laughs at him, however, and throws his circumstances back into his face, asking him who made circumstances!! But he has not discernment to feel her satire, or her irony. He laughs too, and thinks not that he has been the cause of all her mirth. He thinks that nature laughs with him, not at him. But to this conclusion the rational must come: that whatsoever rule gives the same decision on two cases, diametrically opposite, must be as false as a square that makes a straight line and a curve equal straight lines." J. H. W. OBJECTION TO ENTIRE CONSECRATION.
I'm afraid, says one, that the idea of entire holiness will have the effect to lift up and exalt the mind, and when one has attained to this standard as he supposes, he will not be willing to see and confess his faults, and will try to justify himself on the ground that he is a holy person. Now dearly beloved brother, I see you judge in the matter from what you have seen in the past. You have seen a people who took just this course, but your mistake lies in this: you do not take into consideration the fact that those who have fallen into this dreadful state of morals are not subject to the perfect law of God; they live at random, while they profess to be holy. It is very painful to see an enlightened person, with his foot upon God's holy Sabbath, preaching holiness. It seems like jargon. It is like a discord in music. It pains the cultivated ear. And so with any other sin. He who lives in the practice of sin, in the breach of that holy law of God, is ill fitted to be an advocate of holiness. It is an inconsistency, a blot. But here we have published in our ears the message of the third angel, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, coming from Jehovah, a celestial message, which is to prepare a peculiar people, who must get the victory over the beast, and all the errors pertaining thereunto. Here is a perfect standard given us, and the faith of Jesus, with the ministry of angels to aid us in attaining to that holiness, without which we cannot stand in the trying time foretold by the prophets, the time of the end, when many shall be purified and made white, as the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary closes; and he that is holy must be holy still, while he that is unholy will then find it too late to become holy; mercy will then have passed away, and what then will be the situation of him who falls short of the perfect rule? But to illustrate what is meant by a full and entire consecration of one's self to God, we will suppose that:
A. is a man of immense wealth, and he is too a person of force and ability, and truth, and he is frequently engaged in purchasing old, dilapidated, worn-out farms, and by his skill and force and ample means, he brings them up into the highest state of cultivation. Soon as he gets a clear title of a farm, he sets carpenters at work erecting proper buildings, he hires men to rebuild the fences, he starts ploughs at work, which thoroughly and deeply loosen the soil, unaccustomed to such thorough treatment, and soon those fields once barren and sterile, or damp and cold, and uninviting, now smile with verdant and luxuriant crops and herbage, while herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, rejoice in the wonderful change. Every one knows that if A. buys a farm he will immediately set to work recruiting it; all feel sure what A. will do with such exhausted, ruined lands. Now suppose A. agrees with C. to buy his farm, and gets a bond to that effect, think you he will set his men and his means at work, on that bonded estate? Not he. Or suppose he gets a mortgage, or any claim of such a kind upon an estate, think you he would set to work upon such a prospect? Not he indeed! No he will wait till C. gives him a clear warranty deed, recorded, an indisputable title; then you will see affairs begin to move. Now here is the idea: God will have a clear deed of the sinner's heart, his talents, his money, his all, before he will work for him in power in this matter: it must be without reserve, perfect, entire. Do this, dear brethren, give all to God, place all upon the altar; you need a thorough work done; deed it all cheerfully, voluntarily, and then see what God will do for you. THE latest intelligence from three of the Western Tents is very cheering. Bro. Hull, in a business letter of the 16th inst., from Vernon, Iowa, says: "The Lord's cause is onward here. The truth is gaining ground. It triumphs. The interest is on the increase. I have preached myself down, and am taking twenty-four hours rest. Twenty-one were immersed to-day. There will be a good church here. May the Lord's work move on." Bro. Cornell, in a private letter to us of the 12th inst., from Rome, Iowa, writes: "We are still at Rome, having large audiences every night. Several have decided to obey the truth. Nothing is talked of as a topic but the present truth. "Last evening Dr. Lucas spoke two hours against the Sabbath, and this evening Bro. Snook replies. "July 13. Last evening was a time long to be remembered. The Tent was full, and Bro. S. had freedom. Never was a man's theory or practice more thoroughly riddled, than was Dr. L.'s. "July 16. Yesterday there were thirty-eight waggon loads from the country. The interest was good. Brn. from Fairview and Anamosa, and one load from Lisbon, were here. We remain here another week. About fifteen have decided on the truth. "I have just heard from Marion the second time. There are fifty-three in fellowship now. Four more have left the Baptists. Nine are waiting for baptism. About one hundred attend every Sabbath. Bro. Gray reports the best meetings he ever attended." Bro. Loughborough, in a letter to his wife, of the 16th inst., from Marquette, Wis., writes: "We are still here in Marquette, with a deep interest in the meetings, a crowd to hear, and a solemn conviction on the people. About twenty have already come out on the truth. Others are deciding every day. Among those who have come out is a deacon of the Baptist church, and the Methodist class-leader. Preachers are enraged, cold-hearted professors think it's the work of the Devil, and we feel the truth of the hymn, "Wicked professors make light of the cross,
And Babylon trembles for fear of her loss." "The work has only fairly begun here. We hope to see a rich harvest of souls. The Spirit of the Lord seems to be moving on the people. A general conviction pervades the community that we have the truth. It is difficult to tell yet how many have come out. "Bro. Thurston and Bro. M. Welcome are here laboring with us. I find Bro. Welcome has been misrepresented to me. He is embracing point after point of the truth, and I think will come out all straight after awhile. He has given us quite a lift here." One exceedingly encouraging feature in this great work is that when churches are brought out and established on the truth, they generally, with the aid of the REVIEW and other publications, and an occasional visit from one of our preachers, hold on their way and grow stronger and stronger. Bible religion possesses a saving power. Amen. J. W. PERVERTING SCRIPTURE.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
It is not strange that the mass of the people have such erroneous ideas of the teachings of the Bible, considering the trust and confidence they have in their ministers, many of whom seem to care only to please the people and get their patronage. If the Bible does not sustain their doctrines, they will vary a text to suit their own liking, and repeat it so, until the people believe it to be genuine scripture. A Methodist minister here, in a sermon quoted Rev. xxii, 18, thus: "If any man add unto the words of this book, God shall add unto him eternal woe!" Query. Did he not bring the curse of that text on his own head? I think he did. Another man while preaching a funeral sermon went on to tell about the immortal souls' leaving the body at death, and going away to glory, just as though it was all scripture, and then added, Peter says, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Now this is the language of Paul, and not Peter. And what are the words he refers to? Hear him: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." I Thess. iv, 13-18. How different are the words of Paul from those of the preacher, and yet they were received for the truth. It is a fact that we cannot often hear a sermon, unmixed with home-made scripture. Tell a man that a soul that sinneth it shall die, and you are answered, "Why, don't the Bible say they shall die the death that never dies, or some like expression?" which they verily think is Bible. THE HOUR OF PRAYER.
By M. D. Byington
To the Christian, what is more sacred than the hour of secret prayer? What so sweetly calms the soul to rest, unburdens the weary spirit, smoothes the rugged pathway of life, and fills the mind with that heavenly peace which passeth knowledge as the hour when the spirit seeks communion with God. Those only who daily draw near to God know its worth and have proved its value. It is a shelter against the tempests of temptation and adverse winds to which the heart is ever exposed, while trying to seek that path which the Saviour has said is straight, and the gate which is narrow. However straight this path may prove, and into whatever narrow windings it may lead, humble prayer in faith to Him whose ear is ever open to the cry of the righteous will disperse the darkness, and his mercy uphold when their feet have well nigh slipped. But this is not the only value of prayer. If we would finally enter the gates with the righteous nation that keepeth the truth, if we would have it said to us, "Well done faithful servant," and finally secure a treasure in heaven where moth will not corrupt nor thieves break through and steal, it must be by consecration to God, and with fervent and effectual prayer. Those who seek the wealth of this world are not content with the comforts of life. The carnal mind is constantly reaching out after more and more, until the will is wholly engaged in laying up a treasure that soon waxeth old. The Christian who is seeking for an immortal treasure is not satisfied with now and then a foretaste of it, but is constantly reaching out for more and more of the heavenly manna. When new conflicts present themselves, he does not fold his arms and say, God will do it; but the sentiment of his heart is, I am unworthy, yet Jesus has paid the full price for my salvation. He has promised to hear me when I call upon him. He bids me come and plead all my wants before him; and if I seek his glory, sooner will heaven and earth pass than one of his promises remain unfulfilled. He carefully traces each motive lest it lead to some selfish end, and consecrates all anew to God. As each care is cast upon the Lord and his grace implored, as each petition comes up before the throne, though yet unredressed, and as assurance is felt that it is heard in heaven, what better prepares the mind to go forth and act for God, facing all the unseen obstacles with holy confidence. Perhaps the mind goes out for the salvation of a dear friend, a parent, brother, sister, or companion. The promise of God is, "Ask and ye shall receive." Though to the outward sense hope is vain, yet there is a God who heareth prayer. Perhaps months and years elapse ere the work is done. Yet the faithful soul pleads still and trusts the promise, pleading with still more fervency, "I will not let thee go." Then how the heart expands and enlarges, awaiting the realization of its faith. He who has promised to turn the hearts of children to their parents and parents to their children, will perform. Ask and it shall be given you. And whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by his Spirit which he hath given us. Till All Is Left, Christ Is Not Fully Followed
Till all is left, Christ is not fully followed. THE LORD SPEAKETH.
By S. ELMER
It is truly to be lamented while the last merciful message is going forth, a message which is to prepare a people for translation, and one that will seal the doom of all those that still persist in rejecting it, that so many are prejudiced, and so much so that they will close their ears and shut their eyes to all the plain declarations of God's word. They are ready to converse freely about their worldly interests, will do almost anything to secure the perishable things of earth, but when told it is the will of the Lord that they keep all his commandments, just as he has left them on record, and that the Saviour is soon coming, although it can be proved so plainly by the word of God, they don't wish to hear a word about it. Could such but realize it was the Lord that speaketh, that the scale was soon to be turned forever, that death or life depended on the rejection or reception of these all-important truths, how careful would they be to heed them. But whether they will hear or forbear the Lord will have those that will fearlessly proclaim the truths of these last days. He that once spake amidst such awful grandeur from Sinai's burning mount, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son. In the fulfillment of the signs he has spoken to us in the sun as it went forth covered with a dense cloud, turning noonday into midnight darkness; in the moon as she appeared in her bloody hue, and in the stars as witnessed on that memorable night, resembling showers of fire falling to the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. We also witness the fulfillment of the prophecy spoken by the Lord to the prophet Joel, chapter ii, 30. This is seen in what are generally called the northern lights. How often as we have stood gazing at the columns of smoke as one after another have rolled up, have we been reminded of that day that shall burn as an oven. Again he speaks by the judgments that stalk throughout the world: Solemn voices now are calling,
Speaking to us from afar,
Telling of the doom of nations,
Of the last and final war.
Mighty earthquakes, with tornadoes,
Notes of sorrow strike the ear,
Perils both by land and ocean,
All proclaim the end is near. Shall the Son thus speak and man refuse to listen? Will he sleep on till aroused by the burning wrath of Jehovah? Oh stay vain man! Reflect! Hast thou an arm like God? What wilt thou do in the day of visitation, in the day when the heavens and the earth shall shake, in that day when thine injured judge shall appear in awful majesty to take vengeance on all those that love not his appearing? Oh be entreated to make him thy friend now, by keeping the commandments of God and the requirements of this same Jesus who is now pleading for you. You have no time to lose. Even now the spirits of devils are working mightily through the land, and now the cry is going forth, Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Come then be of that number, then with them you can exclaim, "Lo this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us." S. ELMER.
Ashfield Mass. ANGER.—"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go, lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul." Prov. xxii, 24, 25. One who has had a long contest with an enemy, may be expected to be somewhat awake to the power and malice of such a foe. I regret much to say that this has been my besetting sin, and even when enemies opposed the present truth, my anger has often been kindled against those who with false assertions, and bad logic, strove to evade or overthrow the truth. But I now see that this is all of evil. It is opposed to the sweet, melting, subduing influences of the Spirit. Anger is not for the followers of the loving Jesus. It is not agreeable to the kind persuasive words of the third angel, who with mild but terrible language, warns the world of the mark of the beast, and of the plagues. Anger is not the spirit of the angel who is to lighten the earth with his glory, as he cries, Babylon is fallen; come out of her my people. No, no; sweet and inviting is his message, though awful in its denunciations. Anger has no part in its proclamation. O come sweet messenger of peace, and fill our hearts so full of the good Spirit that there will be no place for anger in our bosom; for indeed anger is of itself a curse, as it opens all the flood-gates of evil: so when its opposite, the love of God, enters the heart, there is no place left for sin. O then let us overcome evil with good. Anger excites to fury, kindles the worst passions, drives the lovely and the good away, grieves the spirit of truth, hardens the heart, overturns good designs and resolutions, makes the heart ache, and prostrates also the bodily strength, alienates earthly as well as heavenly friends, turns good into evil, makes a fruitful land a wilderness. O it makes the whole heart and head sick, to think of it in all its causes and effects. Worst of all, it is contagious. Then avoid the angry man as you would the pestilence. No matter if it is a brother; until he governs his temper, avoid him; it will do him good. And ye, O ye fathers, provoke not your children to anger, nor allow it to dwell in your or their bosoms one moment. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 1 Sam. xv, 23. Every one has his weak points, and all have their peculiar besetments, but here we have the words of the prophet Samuel, in proof that rebellion and stubbornness are crying and heinous sins, and Saul, the king of Israel, having added stubbornness to rebellion, was rejected from being king. Saul was commanded to utterly destroy the Amelekites, and he, failing to do this and having a way of his own which he pertinaciously and stubbornly thought the best, acted accordingly, not imagining that he was passing through a test which was to decide his destiny and future well-being, and that upon this act hung, as it were, his throne and kingdom, as far as he and his family were concerned. But it is more than probable that Saul had paved the way for this final decisive act, by a long course of obstinacy and self-willed conduct, so that when he failed here, it was, in fact, only one link in the chain of perverseness, which he had been forging for a long time. Perhaps it might have been a natural besetment, a family trait, not subdued in childhood. No matter for this, he should have taken the more pains to subdue it. God will make no allowance for sin; he requires perfect obedience, he makes no exceptions in favor of natural besetments. O stubbornness is indeed a hateful sin. How it closes up the avenues of the heart! How it keeps the angels waiting in painful suspense! Rebellion is its twin sister. Then, O my brother or sister, if you are tempted with these sins, think of Korah and his company, who added rebellion to stubbornness, and were engulfed in the yawning earth. Think of Saul who lost his kingdom and fell in disgrace. Do not be stubborn, lest good angels should be bid to depart from thee, and attend upon some David instead of thee. Some have a great prejudice against Millerism. I wish all such could have heard this idea stripped of its gloss, and this advent movement compared with the preaching of Noah before the flood, as I once did. We came to the conclusion that those who are ashamed of Millerism would very probably have been ashamed of Noahism, had they sat under Noah's preaching before the deluge. "Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?" Job xxxi, 34. The scorn of the world! The contempt of the world! Such is the language of some who are striving to be among the 144,000! Think, O timorous saint, of the moral courage of Job, the perfect man! Think you he would have been styled a perfect man, if he had been afraid of scorn—the scorn of the world? Take it joyfully, courageously, bravely. There will be a change in public opinion by and by, when the scorners will cry for the rocks and mountains to cover them. Do they scorn the Sabbath Adventist? And did not Pharaoh scorn Moses at one time? No doubt his opinions changed somewhat, when his passage through the Red Sea was so suddenly obstructed. Do they scorn thee, beloved saint? Bear it nobly, gladly; only a little while; this moral courage was the great beauty and strength of Job's perfection and patience. Parents, do you sing, and cause your children to sing at every morning's family worship? If so, they will learn many musical lessons a year; and if you neglect this important, pleasant and light duty, and your children should fail to learn to sing, who do you think will have to answer for the neglect, and consequent irreparable loss? Suppose that my character is aspersed, shall I plead my own innocence? What if I am ceaselessly blamed, shall I fret and discompose myself until patience is gone and passion takes its place?79 Shall I go out on the pursuit of justice? Shall the Christian take his cause into his own hands? Shall he plead his own cause? Job, the patient man, was in deep affliction, from trouble and sorrow, his friends turned his accusers, and were tormenting his mind with keenest anguish; appealing to God he says, "Behold now have I ordered my cause, I know that I shall be justified." Says David when in trouble from bitter foes, "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me." With such a confidence we may go on in the duties of life, serving God, cheerfully and fearlessly, for while we are doing his work he will defend us, but if we come down from the work to defend self, he will leave us in darkness. CONTENTMENT.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
"BE content with such things as ye have." Heb. xiii, 5. Truly this is a timely admonition in these last days of peril, murmurings and unbounded selfishness. I have often thought that there never was a time when murmurings and ingratitude were so universal as the present. Satan is sly and crafty, and always on the alert to assault every individual at the weakest point. And he certainly finds many, very many, weak and unguarded in this particular. How many families has he entered by this same spirit and forever destroyed their peace and harmony! How many churches has he scattered and torn in the same way! Alas! he is too successful in this method of carrying forward his last great deceptive work, because the Spirit of the Lord cannot dwell where this is cherished and indulged; neither can the ark of God abide under a roof where it predominates. Why not with the apostle learn to be content in whatsoever circumstances we are placed? He knew what it was both to abound and to suffer need. It is hardly to be supposed that any under the third message have suffered from hunger and privation, as he did while preaching the good news of a risen Saviour, and hear his grateful conclusion: "Having food and raiment let us be therewith content." 1 Tim. vi, 8. The words of our Lord also have a close bearing upon this point: "And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind; for all these things do the nations of the world seek after." Luke xii, 29, 30. Yes, the world has gone wild after feasting, and fashion, and extravagance in everything, and "what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? or what communion hath light with darkness?" Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you." 2 Cor. vi, 14, 17, 18. Let the world think strange of us, if they will, because we run not to the same excess with them. If we are rich we have nothing to spare to gratify the flesh; for it is the Lord's means placed in our hands to advance the interests of his cause. If poor we may rejoice, and "be content" even with that, because God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, and also has left the precious promise, that if we do good and trust in the Lord, we shall be fed. Ps. xxxvii, 3. At least our bread and water will be sure. True we may not share as largely in the good things of this life as when all our energies and interests were there, neither as largely as some of our brethren. But what of that? The Lord knows how to temper every one for the kingdom. Perhaps we are proud and high-minded, and must be brought through adversity to humble us. We know by experience that prosperity does not bring us near to God, but it is when every earthly source of comfort fails that we are brought to feel our entire dependence upon him, and repose with confidence in his promises. But if tribulation works impatience, what will the trial of our faith in this respect profit us? While the children of Israel were on trial, they murmured against God, and desired to return into the land of bondage. And what was the result? They were destroyed in the wilderness. And what is the apostle's admonition to us? Neither murmur ye as they also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Just so sure as we fail where they failed, we shall share their fate. May the Lord help all those who have planted their feet upon the firm platform to shun this snare by a reconciliation to their lot, saying with Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."
E. J. W. A HOME ON THE NEW EARTH.
By A. L. Wilkinson
TRANSPORTING thought! with joy replete,
How do thy glories sweetly greet
And ravish faith's undaunted eye.
What zeal and aspiration high
Is kindled in the pilgrim's heart,
When lone, in sadness, and apart
From joys and comforts of this life,
And weary of this world's vain strife;
Its tiresome cares, and sorrow's tears,
Its pains and groans, and haunting fears,
The stealthy tread of th' last great foe,
Whose prisoners daily are laid low;
And all the ills that meet him here
That make this life a desert drear.
To think of a home of perfect peace,
The New Earth fair, with Eden face,
To range its fields of living green,
Where ne'er a blight will more be seen!
The curse will then be all removed,
And by our Lord 'twill be approved.
For 'twill be then, as we are told,
A glorious, bright, enduring world.
And the eternal God will then,
Take his abode and dwell with men.
O ransomed earth! thou hast no woes,
We would on thy fair breast repose;
We long for rest, thy rest, sweet rest,
To be by our Creator blessed
With life immortal, bliss complete,
Then we will worship at his feet.
There'll be no sorrow, there no groans,
No widow's sigh, nor orphan's moans,
No prisoners there in dungeon damp,
No warriors' march with murderous tramp,
No aching limbs, nor fevered brow,
No treacherous foe with vengeful vow,
No lovely face laid cold in death,
No poisonous, pestilential breath,
No blighting frosts, nor scorching sun,
No midnight black, nor clouded noon,
No fierce tempestuous hurricane,
Driving and raging o'er the main;
'Twill all be peace, naught will destroy,
And the redeemed shall all employ
Their harps to praise the King of kings,
While hallelujah sweetly rings
Through all the joyous ransomed throng,
Loud uttered as from angel's tongue. A. L. WILKINSON.
Owasso, Mich. Present truth sheds a light on our pathway,
Respecting the gifts and commandments of God;
Error is known 'neath the clear light of noonday,
Sin is reproved and the saints feel the rod.
Every one must be tried by this touchstone—
Nothing but holiness can stand the test,
This truth will search out the seat of corruption,
Tear open wounds—but its probing is blest.
Rod of the Lord, I will fly when I feel thee,
Unto those arms that were forced to chastise;
Thou art an angel of mercy to teach me
How to return, and at last win the prize. If to the uplifted hand I draw nearer,
Lighter and lighter the strokes that I feel,
And God's requirements seem manifold dearer,
When I can see how he wounded to heal.