Earlier text: Death and the ResurrectionReasonable Service.
By A. Smith
“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. Is it not reasonable to suppose, if an opportunity be offered us to become re-instated in the Edenic glory which we have lost by sin, that we will do the utmost in our power to secure the proffered good; that we will pursue that course of action that best harmonizes with Edenic purity? Knowing, as we do, that perception and volition are largely affected by physical conditions, will we not conform strictly to hygienic principles in the exercise of all our bodily functions? Our bodies may become temples of the Holy Ghost; but no impurity can exist where he abides. Our life and health depend largely upon what we eat and drink. We cannot serve God as well when diseased in body as when in the enjoyment of sound health. Is it not reasonable, therefore, that we should be required to seek, and maintain, our highest moral, mental, and physical well-being. The food upon which swine are fattened effects the texture of their flesh in a marked degree;—corn-fed pork being hard and firm in texture; shack or mast-fed, oily; and slaughter-fed, soft and flabby, quickly putrefying. A horse fed upon corn will fatten; but, if fed upon oats, he will have more muscular strength. A dog fed from his master’s table, and kindly treated, will be gentle in disposition; but if fed upon raw flesh, he will become fierce and quarrelsome, and more subject to hydrophobia. The boa-constrictor is a dangerous antagonist when hungry; but when fed to repletion, a child might walk up to it with safety, and strike off its head. Overfeeding stupefies both man and beast. It is the acme of bliss for a hog to gorge himself with filth, and then lie in a slough and grunt. The Esquimaux gorge themselves with walrus blubber, and grow fat, and stupid, activity only returning with a scarcity of provisions. With the belle, in the interior of Africa, obesity is associated with beauty; and when seeking a matrimonial alliance, she suffers herself to be shut up in a small room, and fed upon dough made from the seeds of a plant indigenous to the country, until she reaches the maximum dimension, and avoirdupois. Belles of America use rouge to give to their cheeks a glow of apparent health and beauty of which intemperance has deprived them; and they will eat cloves and other spices, to disguise a bad breath, when a proper attention to diet would generally remove the difficulty. I once heard a lady remark, when a friend complimented her upon her healthful appearance, “I am quite healthy; the flesh of my arms is hard and firm.” Another remarked, “My flesh is soft and flabby; my health is not good.” Doubtless their dietetic habits had something to do with their physical conditions. Fruits, vegetables, and grains, supply to the human system all the nutriment that it requires. Had man never sinned, no animal would ever have been slaughtered for his use; nor will there ever be in the new earth. It cannot be that the blessing of God will fail to attend our efforts to return to that which we have lost by sin. All that we can do must be done, on our part, and then God will save us by a miracle of his grace. Was not the blessing of God more manifestly with Daniel in his abstemiousness, than with the quail-eaters in the camp of Israel? Every exertion, mental, or physical, wrung from the system by stimulants, exhausts a portion of its vitality. Flesh-meats possess this quality in a small degree. Alcohol stimulates the muscles of the system; so also does chocolate, in a small degree. Coffee stimulates the blood, especially that portion of it that nourishes the animal passions; oysters, cloves, &c., have a similar effect. Tea affects the nervous system, and dries the skin. Tobacco is filthy, and prolific of disease. The use of tea, coffee, tobacco, and most of the condiments now in use, were unknown to the ancients. Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, to guard against private excess, ordained that all meals should be eaten in public. Their food consisted of black broth or soup, coarse bread, cheese, and figs. No flesh was eaten at their entertainments, and no rude or immoral conversation allowed; but sallies of wit were permitted. Upon the Roman athlete, strict temperance was enjoined. He was required to eat that which he did not like, to abstain from all delicacies, observe regularity in diet and exercise, use no wine, and restrain the animal passions. After entering the list, he might not only fail to win the prize, but might receive bodily injury and insult. Those who won the game, received a crown of laurel, pine, or parsley, which quickly withered away. Pugilists and circus actors of the present day go through a similar course of training. They do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.—PAUL. Fullness of bread was a sin of Sodom; and gluttony in the days of Noah, finds a counterpart in the excess that abounds in the days of the coming of the Son of man. Is it not our duty fully to escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust, and so cleanse our bodies that we may present them to God, an acceptable and living sacrifice? It is our reasonable service. A. SMITH. Light: Present Truth Through the Generations
By Calvin Green
Not only has our kind Benefactor given light to enliven and beautify nature, but an inward light is provided to gladden the soul of the righteous and the upright in heart. None but those who seek this light and joyfully walk in it, are blessed and benefited by its gentle rays. From the fall of man, until the present time, God has provided this light for his people. Each generation has had its present truth, to accept or reject; and to the righteous it has been the light to keep and guide them in the way to Heaven. Ancient Israel had their offerings and sacrifices, to keep them near to God; the ribbon of blue, to keep them a distinct people, and a healthful diet, which rendered them strong to endure hardship without complaint. Prosperity attended them while heeding these lights given, while disaster and defeat were their portion when they disobeyed the precepts of Jehovah. When Jesus came, he introduced new truths and new light, but the humble lessons of the wise Teacher were repulsive to the self-righteous Jews. They rejected the light, crucified the Son of God, were cast off, and became extinct as a nation. The veil to this day has not been removed, so they wander in darkness. The light of truth visited the darkened regions of Europe, and for a time paganism yielded to its beneficent teachings. But ambitious men and proud monarchs loved not the humble way pointed out by a wise and just God, so they followed their own ways, and in their zeal, thought to bring all men to conform to their views. Darkness soon covered the earth, and, for generations, the feeble rays of light were only seen amid the fastnesses of the Pyrenees, and occasionally in other parts of the land, when some bold reformer dared to expose his life for the truth. During the “dark ages,” ignorance and superstition enshrouded the minds of men like a funeral pall, and the powers of darkness prevailed against the light. Like the surges of the sea, persecution swept millions of the devoted light-bearers from the earth. But the prayers of God’s people were treasured up in the sanctuary of Heaven. The time drew near for the destroyer to be destroyed. From a monk’s cell at Wittenberg, and a shepherd’s cot in the Alps, came the humble instruments to proclaim the truth, and bear aloft the light that gives life and peace to the repentant sinner. Error trembled and darkness fled before it. Justification by faith in Christ, and not works, was the light given by God in the Reformation. The light that truth sheds forth upon her devoted followers, never made the heart of man more glad than when it broke the shackles of error and destroyed the power Romanism had so long held over the minds of men. Since then, from time to time, new truth has emanated from the same great source of light to gladden the hearts of men. But it is for us in these last days to understand the final mystery of man’s salvation. New truths and greater light have been reserved for this age and generation. The commandments of God—in which a breach has long been made—and the testimony of Jesus are to be the burden of the church triumphant. The Spirit of prophecy, pointing out sins and errors, and making known new duties, will be manifest. Those rejecting this light, after a clear conviction of its necessity and importance in the last church, and those neglecting the reproofs given, will alike come short of the favor of God. The time is near at hand when the earth will be lighted by a message that will startle and alarm the world. But first, a few tried ones, like the remnant of Gideon’s army, must be fitted to proclaim this message. Not all who profess this truth will share in this blessing; but those who obey from the heart may hope to be chosen of God to awaken a sleeping church and save a remnant to hail the advent of a soon-coming Saviour. Yes, all the light of the past is ours, and additional rays are shining on our pathway. Let us then heed the admonition of our Lord, “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” In the 18th chapter of Revelation, John saw an “angel come down from Heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Again, we read in Spiritual Gifts, “I saw angels hastening to and fro in Heaven; they were descending to earth, and again ascending to Heaven, preparing for the fulfillment of some important event. Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to earth and unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message; and great power and glory were imparted to the angel. And as he descended, the earth was lightened with his glory. The light which went before and followed after this angel penetrated everywhere.” Now, when I see the means that are put in operation to scatter the light of present truth, broadcast throughout the land, and see how fast the way is being prepared for the loud cry, I think that this mighty angel is about to descend to earth; and the thought that it may be so, sends a thrill of joy through my heart. When I see the spirit of labor and consecration which is settling on the church, I think, Is not this the very work to prepare them for the refreshing? God has sent the spirit of labor on the church as they press into the work. They feel perhaps more than ever before the want of entire consecration to God; of a living, active faith, a faith that takes God at his word, that, while we pray for his blessing on the efforts put forth for conviction to rest upon those who investigate, the seed sown may spring up in every honest heart. It must, and will have a great tendency to draw us nearer to the Lord, to seek a higher state of grace, and to be guided in judgment, and fully fitted for the work. While angels might rejoice in this work, God has committed it to his people. How many will seek a preparation and engage in this closing-up work? May God speed on the work. C. LAWTON. Adams Center, Jeff Co., N. Y. God's Dealings with His Creatures.
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” asked an eminent servant of God in the opening pages of revelation, Gen. 18:25; and when all is finished, the redeemed, looking over all God's dealings with man, exclaim with fervent lips, “Just and true are thy ways thou king of saints.” Rev. 15:3. It is objected that we should raise no question regarding the justness of the doom to which God may devote any portion of our race; because we are not able to judge of his ways. Of things with which we are imperfectly acquainted, or which are above our comprehension, this is undoubtedly true; but respecting our relation to God, the light in which he looks upon sin and the disposition he will finally make of it, he says to us, “Come let us reason.” We are never called upon to form an opinion or a decision in regard to things respecting which we are incapable of judging; but we are called upon to reverence God, as a God of love, wisdom, justice and mercy. We must therefore be capable of judging of his character, his mercy, his love, his wisdom, and his justice. Are these characteristics displayed in his future dealings with the wicked, according to the view generally promulgated by the churches of the present day? The question to be decided is this: Is an eternity of torture so intense that the severest pain a person can suffer on earth is but a faint shadow of it, any just punishment for any conceivable amount of sin committed by the worst of men, during the brief period of our mortal life? What is our present life? Something for which we did not ask; something given us without our knowledge or consent; and, in the forcible language of another, “Can any abuse of this unasked for gift justify the recompense of an existence spent in unending agony?” Between the sins committed in this finite life, and the fiery torment of hell continued through numberless millions of ages, and then no nearer its end than when the first groan was uttered, there is a disproportion so infinite, that few attempt to rest that eternal misery on merely the sins of the present life; and they endeavor to vindicate God's justice in the matter, or at least to apologize for his course, by saying that the sinner continues to sin, and that is the reason why he continues to suffer. The guilt of all the sins done in the body are soon expiated in the fiery flame; but then they must suffer for the sins committed after they left this mortal state, and commenced their life of agony in hell. And here they are represented as sinning faster than the inconceivable woe of hell can punish. It is affirmed of them, as quoted from Benson last week, that “they must be perpetually swelling their enormous sums of guilt, and still running deeper, immensely deeper, in debt to divine and infinite justice. Hence after the longest imaginable period, they will be so far from having discharged their debt that they will find more due than when they first began to suffer.” In like manner Wm. Archer Butler, in his sermon on Future Punishment, says:— “The punishments of hell, are but the perpetual vengeance that accompanies the sins of hell. An eternity of wickedness brings with it an eternity of woe. The sinner is to suffer for everlasting, but it is because the sin itself is as everlasting as the suffering.” Do the Scriptures anywhere thus speak? Do they not affirm, not once or twice, but over and over again, that the punishment of the future is for the sins of the present time? It is for the sins in which the sinner dies, not for what he commits after death, that he is to suffer future retribution. Eze. 18:26. The works for which we are to be brought into judgment (and for no others can we be punished) are the works of this present life. Eccl. 12:14. And Paul testifies, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10. It is for the sins done by human beings in the body, in this present life, not for what they will commit as lost spirits in hell, that they are to answer at the judgment seat of Christ, and for which they are to receive a just retribution. And if everlasting misery is thought to be too much for this, we are not at liberty to throw in post-mortem sins to balance the excessive punishment. If eternal torment cannot be defended as a just punishment for the sins of this present life, it cannot be defended at all. To illustrate: Suppose in an earthly tribunal the judge should sentence a criminal to a punishment altogether too severe for the crime of which he had been guilty, and then should endeavor to justify his course by saying that he gave the sentence because he knew that the criminal would deserve it by the sins he would commit after he went to jail! How long would such a judge be tolerated? Yet this is the very course attributed by learned doctors of divinity, to the Judge of all the earth, who has declared that he will do right. On the supposition that eternal torture is to be inflicted as the penalty for a life of sin in this world, were man asked if God's conduct in this respect was just, his own innate sense of justice, not yet wholly obliterated by the fall, would prompt him to a universal and determined, No! The framers of different religious systems have felt this, and seem to have searched sharply for some avenue of escape from the fearful wrong of this horrid theory. So Plato had his Acherusian lake from which at least some of the wretched sufferers in Tartarus, after a purgative process might issue forth again to the upper air. Augustine following Plato in his notion of an abode of unending pain for some, had also his purgatory from whence others might find a road to Heaven. Rome has only a purgatory, the fires of a finite period, for the millions within her communion. Origen conceived of a purgatory wider than Plato's, Augustine's, or Rome's, from which all should at length be restored to the favor of God. The churches of the Reformation have generally accepted of Augustine's hell, but denied his purgatory. In the Protestant denominations therefore we have this doctrine in its most horrid aspects. And it is no marvel that many who have felt compelled by their creed to accept it, have shrunk from its advocacy, and have tacitly, if not openly, confessed that they could heartily wish it were a lie. Saurin at the close of one of his sermons thus speaks:— “I sink, I sink, under the awful weight of my subject; and I declare, when I see my friends, my relations, the people of my charge,—this whole congregation, when I think that I, that you, that we are all exposed to these torments; when I see in the lukewarmness of my devotions, in the languor of my love, in the levity of my resolutions and designs, the least evidence, though it be only possible or presumptive, of my future misery, I find in the thought a mortal poison, that diffuseth itself through every period of my existence, rendering society tiresome, nourishment insipid, pleasure disgustful, and life itself a cruel bitter. I cease to wonder, that the fear of hell hath made some melancholy, others mad; that it hath disposed some to expose themselves to a living martyrdom, by fleeing from all commerce with the rest of mankind, and others to suffer the most terrible, violent torments.” Albert Barnes, the well-known preacher and commentator, speaks on the same point as follows:— “I confess when I look upon a world of sinners and of sufferers; upon death beds and grave-yards, upon the world of woe filled with hosts to suffer forever; when I see my friends, my parents, my family, my people, my fellow-citizens; when I look upon a whole race all involved in this sin and danger, and when I see the great mass of them wholly unconcerned, and when I feel that God only can save them, and yet he does not do it—I am struck dumb. It is all dark, dark, dark to my soul, and I cannot disguise it.—Sermons, pp. 124, 125. Such is the effect of the doctrine of eternal misery with some, according to the confession of its own advocates. No one can say that such effects are either good or desirable. And why does it not have this effect upon more? We answer, it is because the lips only mechanically assent to what the heart and reason either will not try to realize, or else do not seriously believe. Says Bishop Newton:— “Imagine a creature, nay, imagine numberless creatures produced out of nothing . . . . delivered over to torments of endless ages, without the least hope or possibility of relaxation or redemption. Imagine it you may, but you can never seriously believe it, nor reconcile it to God and goodness.”—Dissertation, No. 60. But the majority are affected by it far differently. Every better emotion of their nature revolts at the idea, and they will not accept it. They cannot believe that God is thus cruel, tyrannical, revengeful, implacable; the personification, in short, of every trait of character, which when seen in men here, we consider unmistakable marks of debasement and degradation; and believing the Bible and Christianity to be identified with such teaching as this, with equal promptness they too are rejected and cast away. But here we need not enlarge. Probably no one will read these lines under whose observation some case has not come of persons driven into skepticism, yes, driven and held there, by the popular doctrine of eternal misery—a doctrine which has been well described by a Christian writer, as “a theology that is confused, entangled, imperfect, and gloomy; a theology which, while it abundantly breeds infidelity among the educated classes, fails to spread through the body of the population, and but dimly, or only as a flickering candle enlightens the world.”—I. Taylor. But how is it with the view we have tried to present? Quite the reverse as our own observation proves. Instances have come under our immediate knowledge of persons who, when they saw the divine harmony of God's system of government, as brought to view in his word, when they saw the just and reasonable disposition which the Bible declares that he will make of all those who will persist in rebellion against him,—a disposition in which justice and mercy so beautifully blend, have been able to take that Bible and say for the first time in their life they could believe it to be the book of God. And believing this, they have been led to turn their feet into its testimonies, and strive by obedience to its plain requirements to escape a doom which they could see to be just, and therefore knew to be certain. This has been the experience of many. Let, then, the impression no longer exist, and the assertion no more be made, that these views tend to irreligion and infidelity. Their fruits everywhere show just the reverse. Can it then be wondered at that we should be solicitous to disabuse the minds of the people in this respect? Shall we not have a zeal for the Lord, and be untiring in our efforts to wipe off from the book and character of God, the aspersions which are by this doctrine cast upon them? God represents himself to his creatures by the endearing name of Love; he declares that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy, long suffering and slow to anger, not hasty to execute sentence against an evil work, not gratified in any manner by the death of the wicked, and not willing that any should perish; he declares that he delighteth in mercy, that he will not contend forever, neither be always wroth. And can it be that while thus representing himself to the inhabitants of earth, he was kindling fiery torture on multitudes of wretched beings in the dreary regions of hell, feeding their flame with his incensed fury, preserving and tormenting them in infinite indignation, exerting all his divine attributes to make them as wretched as the capacity of their nature would admit, and maintaining a fixed purpose to do this through the endless ages of eternity! If not, “what a portentous error must it be!” How fearfully is his character misrepresented! What a bold and audacious libel is uttered against his holy name! The root and trunk of all this, is the “taken-for-granted” position that the soul is immortal. But search through your Bible and see if you find it so. See if you will not rather be prepared to exclaim with the eminent commentator, Olshausen, that “the doctrine of the ‘immortality of the soul,’ and the name, are alike unknown to the entire Bible.” Comment on 1 Cor. 15:19, 20. See if you can find the death that never dies, and never-dying soul. If not, we ask you to reject the idea at once as a most dangerous and destructive error. Men are thus rejecting it. The leaven is working in the public mind. Men are growing suspicious of the truth of a declaration, first uttered by a not over-truthful character in Eden, perpetuated thence through heathenism, and at last through the medium of the mother of harlots, disseminated through all the veins and channels of Orthodoxy. But truth will work its way up, however deeply the rubbish may have been heaped upon it; and before the bright rising of its light, all antiquated superstitions and traditional dogmas will lie exposed in their native deformity. Benjamin Franklin and Horace Greeley.
By R. M. Kilgore
These great men in some respects served well the day and generation in which they lived, and no period has been more eventful than that which is bounded by the years of their activity. Franklin, in 1772, witnessed the commencement of the century which terminated as Horace Greeley, in 1872, closed his earthly career. The contrast between the ages in which they lived is doubtless greater than that between any other since time began. The growth of our own country, the increase of its population, the accumulation of its wealth, and its abundant resources, well illustrate the rapid strides with which the world is moving. Then, about two million of souls constituted the population of the United States of America; now, its numbers can be set down at thirty-nine million. Then, it had no treasury that it could call its own; while in 1872, its expenditures are reported to have been three hundred and seventy-seven million, four hundred and seventy-eight thousand, two hundred and sixteen dollars ($377,478,216), while its receipts amounted to four hundred and eighty-four million, four hundred and two thousand, five hundred and seventy-three dollars ($484,402,573), and the total valuation of the United States for 1869, was twenty three billion, and four hundred million dollars ($23,400,000,000). Then, it was without resource; now, its extensive commerce, its numerous manufactories, shipyards, arsenals, &c., and its unparalleled agriculture, producing food for its living millions of man and beast, show that its resources are exhaustless. Then, it is stated that Benjamin Franklin, the Post master General of the American colonies, by appointment of the crown, made his official inspection of the principal routes in his gig. The report from the same office in 1872 shows a total of seven thousand, two hundred and fifty-nine (7,259) post office routes in operation, aggregating in length two hundred and fifty-one thousand, three hundred and ninety-eight (251,398) miles, which would require six years and a half of incessant railroad traveling, at the rate of one hundred and twenty miles per day, to pass over the routes. And the total weight of the mails exchanged with European countries exceeded eight hundred and twenty tons. Though Benjamin Franklin reached heavenward, caught and tamed the lightning, Horace Greeley lived at a time when it could speak the English language; and employing it as an agent, could converse with a friend in the old world as if face to face. While the Prussians were throwing their missiles of death into Metz, he could inform the numerous readers of the New York Tribune that a terrible battle was raging in France. At the same time that the devouring element was doing its work, the buildings falling, and the volumes of flame and smoke were ascending, he knew that the news-boys, in the streets of London and Paris, were screaming Fire! Fire! and announcing that Chicago and Boston were in flames. He could also have witnessed the destruction completed, and the work of rebuilding in progress, in the same time it would have taken to inform the people in Benjamin Franklin’s time that such calamities had occurred. Benjamin Franklin was compelled while journeying from place to place to ride in his gig, or trudge along on foot. But Horace Greeley could step into one of Nahum’s chariots at New York city and in seven days find himself safely landed at San Francisco. And should he continue his journey westward, he could reach his family again in New York city, from the east, having made the entire circuit of the world in eighty-five days. In speaking of the number of years that he lived, the New York Herald says:— “Horace Greeley, aged sixty-one years and nine months,” will probably be the record on the great publicist’s tombstone. But comparison of the life which he lived with that of Benjamin Franklin shows the life of Horace Greeley to have been that of a Methuselah. Franklin thought himself lucky if he crossed the Atlantic in thirty days, or made the journey from Philadelphia to the city of his boyhood in ten days; while in Horace Greeley’s time a trip to Europe had become so trivial an event that on one occasion when he had business in London, he sat at his desk preparing copy for the next day’s Tribune until the half hour before the steamship cast off her moorings, and then, with hardly a “good-bye” to anybody, he picked up a valise full of clean linen, and trudged off as though on a mere flying visit of a few weeks to a friend. It was not uncommon to see the great editor at his desk on Sunday, and hear from him by telegraph in Wisconsin or Minnesota on the next Saturday; and whenever any important action on the tariff was pending in Washington, the clerks in the Tribune counting-room were often really unable to tell a visitor whether he was in his little room up-stairs or in the federal city. He was an unremitting reader, and whether traveling from New York to San Francisco or taking a momentary rest after writing one of his pungent leaders, he studiously informed himself of the actual condition of the civilized world as reported by the telegraphers of the day. Thus steam and electricity gave him years on years of knowledge that Franklin could not command. Add to this the wonderful fertility of a brain which could, as Horace Greeley did in his late visit to the west, make in a single day twenty-two such speeches as many men would have required months to prepare, and we may make a faint estimate of the number of years that he really lived.
Why this contrast? Why these facilities of communication, and modes of traveling, and all the wonderful inventions that have appeared37 within the last fifty years? Why this development of the arts and sciences, and methods of imparting instruction? Why this array of light that is shining forth from the pages of God’s prophetic word, dispelling the mist and darkness of past ages? The only answer that can be given is, that God has lifted the seal that closed those prophetic pages, and the time has come for many to run to and fro, and knowledge to be increased. Dan. 12:4. The world has reached the “time of the end;” and as if impelled by the power of gravitation, the nearer it reaches the termination of its race its speed is accelerated. The apostle Paul said that in the last days perilous times should come, because he saw that then iniquity would abound, and evil men would “wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” That men would be “heady” and “highminded;” that they would forget God and despise those that are good, and in their mad lust to get gain and to satiate their love for “pleasure,” would rush headlong until the world would be at last within the coil of the vortex, having no power to escape, but rushing “round and round the fatal circle of absorbing ruin.” The fields are already ripening for the reapers. Dear reader, remember that this is but a short work. Harvest is soon over. Are you saved? If not, can you answer why? Will you raise the bitter lamentation, the harvest is past, and the summer is ended, and I am not saved? “Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” “But if you still this call refuse,
And all his wondrous love abuse
Soon will he sadly from you turn,
Your bitter prayer for pardon spurn.
“Too late! too late!” will be the cry—
“Jesus of Nazareth has passed by.”
Webster City, Iowa, Jan. 1, 1873. Thefts Never Enrich, Alms Never Impoverish
Thefts never enrich, alms never impoverish, prayers hinder no work. Our Daily Record.
By E. J. Burnham
A RECORD of our acts is kept in the book that shall one day be opened, and by which we shall be judged. It is not the great events of our life that constitute this record, but our daily acts. The new year is a very popular time for examining this record. Many persons live carelessly; but when the new year opens, they confess their sins, and make resolutions to do better. But all the events of the year cannot then be fresh in their minds. Evening affords a suitable time for this work. It is like settling the details of an account from the day-book, and not the generalities as found in the ledger. We do not forsake God at once. It is done gradually. If we make religion a daily work, we may hope to have continually an evidence of our acceptance with God. If we watch against the first approaches of evil, we may so order our lives that our own hearts will not condemn us; then shall we have confidence toward God. We may make each day, as it passes, a stepping stone to a higher Christian life, but not without a careful, daily self-examination. And first let us ask, Is there nothing recorded against me for this day's acts? In all that I have done, have I had an eye single to the glory of God? We have met temptations to day, but how have we met them? If we have given way to them, even a little, there is no better time to confess and forsake our faults, and ask pardon for them, than the close of the day. And if we have gone far from the right, and are weary and despairing, toiling through forbidden paths, “now is the accepted time.” We cannot repent too soon. What have we done for the Master? For each of us there is work to do in the great harvest field. All are not strong men, to wield the sickle, or to bind the sheaves, but the smallest and the weakest, even a child, can glean the ears that fall. If it is but little we can do, let us be diligent; for by diligence we may win the approbation of the Master. He knows how weak we are, and will require no more of us than we can do; but, if we are idle, leaving our work for other hands, or a more convenient season, we shall bring no sheaves to the Master, and cannot hope to hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Are we walking in the light? It shines upon our pathway, clear and full. Do we heed it? or are we careless of the words that God has spoken? He is leading us very kindly, as a shepherd his tender lambs. There are no heavy burdens laid upon us. “My yoke is easy and my burden light,” says the Saviour. If the yoke frets us, the fault is in us, for we are told that our God pitieth us “like as a father pitieth his children.” “He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.” We shall not find the road so rough, if we keep close to the Shepherd. There are severe tests before us, and our kind Father gives us light ones at first, as we can bear them. He who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb will uphold us, and guide our feet. Only one step at a time is required of us, and he will give us strength to take each succeeding step, if we trust in him, and follow his directions. If we will not bear slight tests, how can we expect to stand when the time of trouble comes, that is to try them that dwell on the earth? Solomon was a great and wise king in Israel, but he did not heed the admonition of God, and he became an idolater. Said the Lord, of his people, “Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I also will reject thee.” It is not safe to disregard God. But those who by “patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, and immortality,” will find that in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, and, in the end, will share his glorious rest.