p. 132 | The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 9 (Thursday, February 26, 1880)

RELIGIOUS IDIOTS.

Dr. Seguin, the great authority on all that relates to idiocy, regarded this unhappy condition as a state of prolonged childhood, in which the graces of infancy have departed, while the feeble development of body and mind remain. When we see the babe playing with his fingers and his toes, grasping at the sunbeam that falls on his cradle, trying feebly to walk, but unable to stand steadily, we are amused, interested; it is natural, it is childlike. Suppose that when five or ten years have passed, we see the child, and he is still where he was; still playing with his fingers, still amused with the sunbeam, and still feebly tottering. We start back in horror, exclaiming, “The child is an idiot.” For we know that progress, growth, is the condition of health, bodily and mental.

Are there not among us religious idiots; persons whose spiritual growth has stopped in their infancy, who have never grown? We meet a young convert; his views of the truth are but immature; his faith is but feeble; he has to struggle against the old man within, and against temptation without. Often his struggles are vain and he yields to temptation: his devotions are fitful and irregular; for devotion is not yet a habit with him; he has to force himself toward it with an effort. But all these things do not discourage us; rather, they arouse our sympathy, our affection, our prayers.

Years pass on; we meet the same convert. In his capacity for business, there has been a growth; he can make more money than he could; his mind has grown. But as to his religious nature, there has been no progress; his knowledge of the Lord’s word has not enlarged; his faith is just as weak; his self-denying benevolence is no larger; it is just as hard for him to deny himself as it was; he has gained no power of pleading with the souls of men; he has gained no power in prayer; he is just as much the victim of temptation. His benefactions are just what they were. He gave then a dollar with a struggle; and with the same struggle he gives a dollar now. It is just as hard for him to forgive injuries; just as hard to withstand the solicitations of fashion; just as hard to forego worldly pleasure, to repress anger and passion. What shall we say, what can we do, but start back, and exclaim, “A religious idiot!”

Have you grown? Are you growing? Are you gaining victories? Is your present light so clear and bright that you look back on the period of your conversion as but the dawn? If not, then must not you be regarded as a case of religious idiocy?—Selected.

PERSONALITY OF THE DEVIL.

[Republished by request, from REVIEW of June 26, 1856.]

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Jas. 4:7.

UNIVERSALISTS deny in toto that there is now, or ever was, such a spiritual being as the devil, either real or personal; and contend that all the idea designed to be conveyed by that word is a personification of the principle of evil, in its various forms. It is applied in a metaphorical sense, they tell us, to various objects, such as human nature, the Roman government, wicked men,—such as Judas,—the lusts of the flesh, etc., etc., but in every case it is to be understood as a figure of speech, and nothing more.

This figure was known, in days of old, and designated by many titles, expressing his character, attributes, and offices. He was called “Abaddon,” “Apollyon,” “Belial,” “Accuser,” “The Beast,” “The Angel of the bottomless pit,” “The great Dragon,” “Beelzebub,” “Deceiver,” “The Evil One,” “The God of this world,” “A Murderer,” “A Liar,” “The Prince of this world,” “The Prince of the power of the air,” “The Old Serpent,” “The Devil,” “The Father of lies,” “The Tempter,” “Satan,” and “The Prince of Devils!” Rev. 9:11; 12:10; 19:19, 20; 12:7, 9; 1 Pet. 5:8; Matt. 12:24; John 17:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; John 8:44; 2 Cor. 6:15; 1 John 3:8; Eph. 2:2; Eph. 6:11; Matt. 4:3.

He must truly have been an extraordinary metaphor, possessing doubly as many names as the Almighty himself! And I will disprove the existence of God, as a real personal being, upon precisely the same principle that Universalists make out the devil to be nothing but a figure of speech, a personification of a mere principle of evil! If, because Judas was called “a devil” (John 6:70), and Peter “Satan” (Matt. 16:23), there is therefore no other devil except Judas and Peter; then, according to the same logic, because Moses was called “a god” (Ex. 7:1), and Abraham “Lord” (Gen. 18:12), there is therefore no other Lord God except Abraham and Moses! If, because God is said to perform many wonderful and mighty works, he is therefore a real being, and not a personification of a good principle; then, according to the same logic, the devil must be a real being, and not a mere personification of an evil principle; for many wonderful works are, in the Scriptures, ascribed to him. He appeared in the presence of God, and they held a conversation together concerning Job. Mark the fact: they conversed together; and if it be consistent to say that one was a mere principle of evil, the other was nothing but a mere principle of good!

Again, he caused a wind to blow down the house on Job’s children, and kill them; brought the Sabeans upon Job’s oxen, who took them all away; caused the fire of God to fall from heaven, and burn up all of Job’s sheep; and finally he smote Job with sore boils, from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. If this was all done by a figure of speech, they must have had rather a savage sort of metaphors in Job’s time! This same figure of speech conveyed the Saviour around from place to place, conversed with him, quoted Scripture, fell from Heaven like lightning, broke chains and fetters; he had power to cast men into prison; to walk about as a roaring lion; to work miracles; to overcome seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew; to bind a woman eighteen years; to possess a herd of two thousand swine, and drive them down into the sea, and drown them; he is in possession of a kingdom, is to be judged at the last day, was conscious that there was a time coming when he would be punished, confessed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, is finally to be tormented in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death: and, strange to tell, all this is spoken of with reference to an Eastern metaphor, a figure of speech; and not any real being, visible or invisible, either in Heaven above, earth beneath, or the waters under the earth! Job 1; 2; Matt. 4:6; Rev. 13:13; Rev. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:8; Acts 19:16; Luke 10:18; Luke 13:16; Mark 5:12, 13; Matt. 12:26; Mark 5:4; 2 Peter 2:4; Rev. 20:10; Matt. 8:29.

If the devil, possessing all the foregoing characteristics, and performing all these wonderful exploits, be nothing but a metaphor, a mere principle of evil, then I defy a Universalist to prove that God is anything more than a mere principle of good, the opposite of evil; and that the Bible is anything more than a mere principle of humbuggery!

God and the devil are always spoken of in the Scriptures as exact opposites, just as much so as are the principles of good and evil. God is the author of truth, and the devil is the father of lies. God is the Father of lights, and the devil is the Prince of darkness. Hence we read: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.” “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.” “What

concord hath Christ with Belial?” “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” “Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God.” “If God were your Father, ye would love me.” “Ye are of your father the devil.” Matt. 6:24; 1 John 3:8–10; 1 Cor. 10:20; 2 Cor. 6:15; John 8:42–44.

All good, as the reader can discover from the foregoing quotations, is ascribed to God; whilst the devil is spoken of as the author of all evil. Now, as God is not merely that good principle of which he is the author, neither is the devil that evil principle of which he is the author. Is the principle of evil the author of itself? If so, then the principle of good must be the author of itself, and consequently all the God there is in the universe! Just as certain as God, the author of good, is a real being, just so certain is Satan, the author of evil, a real being, and not that evil principle of which he is the author. Thus, upon the principle that the devil can be philosophized into a figure of speech, or a personification of a bad principle, can the Almighty Jehovah be figured out of existence as a real being, and proved to be nothing more than an Eastern metaphor, or a rhetorical flourish.

But let us try some of the real significations of the devil, according to Universalism, such as the wicked Jews, the Roman government, Judas, Peter, human nature, the lusts of the flesh, the carnal mind, etc.

The best plan of testing a doctrine, is to substitute the definition for the word itself, and see what kind of sense it makes. We shall thus give the Universalist theory of no-devil-logic a fair trial. “And his fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those that were possessed with Roman governments, and he healed them.” Matt. 4:24. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Roman government and his angels.” Matt. 25:41. “And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon: and after the sop, Satan entered into him.” John 13:26, 27. Or perhaps Judas entered into himself, since he was as much of a devil as Peter was! and of course before that he was out of himself! “Resist Satan, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary Satan, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Peter hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat.” Luke 22:31. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Rom. 16:20. “There was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” 2 Cor. 12:7. “And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb: and it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.” Luke 11:14, 15. “We are of your father Satan, and the lusts of Satan will ye do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him.” John 8:44. “And he asked him, What is thy name? And the human nature answered, My name is legion, for we are many. And all the human natures besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave; and the human natures went out, and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were choked.” Mark 5:9–13. “As they went, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed of a human nature; and when the human nature was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.” Matt. 9:33. No wonder the people would marvel, that a man could speak after his human nature was cast out of him! “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven human natures.” Mark 16:9. I wonder how many she had left! “And the Lord God said unto the carnal mind, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” Gen. 3:14. The carnal mind must surely have a singular mode of traveling, and live upon extraordinary diet! “And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and he laid hold on the lusts of the flesh, that old carnal mind, which is Judas and Peter, and bound them a thousand years.” Rev. 20:1, 2. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the lusts of the flesh. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the lusts of the flesh came to him, they said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered the lusts of the flesh, and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the lusts of the flesh taketh him into the holy city, and placeth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus answered the lusts of the flesh, It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the lusts of the flesh taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give unto thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus, Get behind me, thou lusts of the flesh; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the lusts of the flesh leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” Matt. 4:1–11. Had Christ no lusts of the flesh before the devil came to him? And after the devil left him, had he no more lusts of the flesh? If his own lusts, or his own carnal mind, was the devil that tempted, was he not sinful? He certainly was: “because the carnal mind is enmity against God.” Rom. 8:7. His lusts were most unquestionably sinful, if they were the devil that tempted him; for that which is holy will not try to tempt any one into wickedness! When the Pharisees told Christ he had a devil, it was looked upon then, and always has been, by professed Christians in all ages, as sheer blasphemy, until Universalists have recently made the discovery that the Pharisees told the truth, and that Christ had just as big a devil as anybody!

If the devil which came to Christ, and went away from him, was not a real being—nothing but a figure of speech—then what were the angels, which came to him after the devil left him? If they were nothing but metaphors, then how can any man on earth prove that Christ was a real being? He cannot do it, as we have two metaphors against the idea, and there is just as much reason in supposing that Christ was a metaphor, as either of the others! But if the angels were real beings, and Christ a real being, how can it be supposed that the devil was nothing but a figure of speech, when he had fully as much to do in the performance as any of them?

“Yet Michael the Archangel, when contending with the lusts of the flesh, he disputed about the body of Moses.” Jude 9. Thus, according to Universalism, a spirit had a contention with the lusts of the flesh, and the Saviour teaches that “a spirit hath not flesh and bones.” Luke 24:39. If Universalists, to avoid this absurdity, should prefer the ground that the Archangel did not contend with his own lusts, but with the lusts of Moses’ dead body, still it will not help them; for they teach that when the body dies, the lusts of the flesh become extinct; and thus the Archangel was found combating something that had no existence, and fighting, as Paul says, like one that beats the air!

“And there was war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels.” Rev. 12:7. As the dragon and his angels were nothing but figures of speech, it is not likely that Michael and his angels were real beings! Thus we have two mighty armies of figures, meeting in battle array on the plains of Heaven, with two great metaphors at their head as commanders in chief!

“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, even the lusts of the flesh are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld the lusts of the flesh as lightning, fall from Heaven.” Luke 10:17, 18. “And no marvel, for the lusts of the flesh is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Cor. 11:14.

From the foregoing, we discover that the lusts of the flesh does not suit exactly, as a definition for the devil; but we shall turn the matter, and try it the other way. If the devil means lust, of course then lust means the devil.

“Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not devil after evil things, as they also deviled.” 1 Cor. 10:6. “When the devil hath conceived, he bringeth forth sin.” James 1:15. “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your devils.” James 4:3. “Abstain from fleshly devils, which war against the soul.” 1 Pet. 2:11. “All that are in the world, the devil of the flesh, the devil of the eyes, and the devil of life, are not of the Father.” 1 John 2:16. “The world passeth away, and the devil thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2:17. “The flesh devils against the Spirit, and the Spirit devils against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other.” Gal. 5:17. “But they that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Tim. 6:9. “That ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.” Eph. 4:22. “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.” 2 Tim. 3:6. “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” 2 Tim. 4:3. “How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.” Jude 18. “Flee also youthful lusts.” 2 Tim. 2:22. “And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusts, and all men of valor.” Judg. 3:29. Thus, according to Universalism, we have divers kinds of devils, such as “foolish lusts,” “ungodly lusts,” “deceitful lusts,” “fleshly lusts,” “hurtful lusts,” “youthful lusts;” and as all positive adjectives imply their opposites, we must also have another class, such as “wise lusts,” “godly lusts,” “spiritual lusts,” “peaceable lusts,” “old lusts,” etc., etc., and the Lord only knows how many more kinds of devils there are, if Universalism be true!

I wish here to answer a very common objection, which Universalists almost universally urge upon this subject. “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” Christ “was in all points tempted like as we are.” James 1:14; Heb. 4:15. Hence, the conclusion is, that the devil which tempted Christ was his own lusts. But we have examined Christ’s temptation, and have found that the devil which tempted him could not possibly have been his own lusts; for it is most absurd to suppose that his lusts were away from him forty days, came to him, stood before him, got behind him, and finally left him for good and all! Hence this objection cannot be well founded. But, says one, how will you dispose of it? Easily enough! “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.” But who is the tempter? Who is the enticer? Not his own lusts, certainly; for they are the principle by which he is induced to partake of the temptation, after it is presented! But who presents it? That’s the point. The answer is, the devil! Is he who presents the temptation, and that principle which leads you to partake of it, after presented, one and the same thing? Not exactly! James does not say that a man’s lust is the tempter. Here is where Universalists mistake the whole matter. Let us illustrate it. Suppose, reader, a worthless and abandoned spendthrift comes to you, and lays every possible inducement before you, to entice or tempt you to leave your work, and go with him to the grog-shop. You resist at first, knowing that such a course of conduct is utterly repugnant to your profession as a Christian. But “your adversary, the devil,” through that wicked agent (as all wicked men are agents for the devil), still persists in his devices, and taxes the last coffer of his sagacity, in order to lure you from the path of duty. Your old contracted love for ardent spirits—that lust of the flesh, which you had once overcome—is now excited and roused, and finally you yield the point, and are led away captive by the devil at his will! Now any man, with half an ounce of perception, can see that lust is not the tempter, or enticer; yet, when the temptation is presented by the devil, either personally or by human agency, and we give way to it, then is the time that we are “drawn away of our own lusts and enticed.” Thus would the Saviour have been tempted, had he yielded to the proposals of the adversary—he would have been “drawn away [not tempted] of his own lusts; but “tempted of the devil!” The fact that Christ had all the lusts of the flesh before the devil came to him that he ever had, and that he retained them all after the adversary left him, ought to be of itself sufficient to convince any man that the devil which tempted him was not his lusts; and this being so, it follows that the Scriptural doctrine of the devil is against Universalism; although the devil himself may be in favor of it!

In conclusion we remark, that there is not a text in the Bible which speaks of the devil as being the lusts of the flesh; no, not one! But suppose there were a text which figuratively applied the term devil to the lusts of the flesh; if this proves that there is no real personal devil, and that the lusts of the flesh is all the devil there is, then it follows, according to the same logic, because Paul says concerning some fellows who were the enemies of the cross of Christ, “Whose god is their belly” [Phil. 3:19], that there is therefore no other God in the universe except the belly! If this were all the God the Bible held out, methinks that atheists among Universalists would be scarce!—Universalism against Itself, pp. 252–261.

TOBACCO

A LATELY DISCOVERED PARABLE.

THEN shall the kingdom of Satan be likened unto a grain of tobacco-seed, which, though exceedingly small, being cast into the ground, grew, and spread its leaves rank and broad, so that huge and vile worms found a habitation thereon. And it came to pass, in the course of time, that the sons of men looked upon it, and thought it beautiful to look upon, and much to be desired to make lads look big and manly. So they put forth their hand, and did chew thereof. And some it made sick and others to vomit most filthily. And it further came to pass that those who chewed it became weak and unmanly, and said, We are enslaved, and cannot cease from chewing it. And the mouths of all that were enslaved became foul, and they were seized with a violent spitting; and they did spit even in ladies’ parlors, and in the house of the Lord of hosts. And the saints of the Most High were greatly plagued thereby. And in the course of time it came also to pass that others snuffed it; and they were taken suddenly with fits, and they did sneeze, with a great and mighty sneeze, insomuch that their eyes were filled with tears, and they did look exceedingly silly. And yet others cunningly wrought the leaves thereof into rolls, and did set fire to one end thereof, and did look very grave and calf-like; and the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever.

And the cultivation thereof became a great and mighty business in the earth; and the merchantmen waxed rich by the commerce thereof. And it came to pass that the saints of the Most High defiled themselves therewith; even the poor, who could not buy shoes, or bread, or books for their little ones, spent their money for it. And the Lord was greatly displeased therewith, and said: “Wherefore this waste! and why do these little ones lack bread, and shoes, and books? Turn now your fields into corn and wheat, and put this evil thing far from you; and be separate, and defile not yourselves any more; and I will bless you, and cause my face to shine upon you.”

But with one accord they all exclaimed: “We cannot cease from chewing, snuffing, and puffing; we are slaves.”—Selected.

MODELTOWN WANTS A PREACHER.

By A Member of the Official Board of Modeltown Church

Dear Brother Sentman: As this is about the time when the ministers are naturally looking around for the next lightning place, I thought I would lay before them Modeltown. I will say first of all that what I may write I wish it distinctly understood has in it no reflection upon either the former ministers or the present one; because this appointment we know stands well in the Conference, and has always been fortunate in having excellent ministers sent us, some of whom have fulfilled all reasonable expectations.

1st. Then, we want a man who not only preaches man's responsibility to an independent God, but thoroughly believes it, feels it as he feels the danger to a blind man walking toward a precipice, or some one's house on fire; one who feels it in his very bone and marrow, to whom God's word, “The soul that sinneth it shall die,” has a force and meaning.

2d. We want a man who preaches because he cannot help it; one who feels his commission resting upon his soul, and who believes God's word to Ezekiel, 18th and 23d chapters, were meant for him as well as the prophet.

3d. We want a man who understands the definition of Jesus to be one who shall save his people from their sins. The experience of the church is that a preacher who believes that Jesus came to save his people in their sins never has any revivals of religion. He assumes a sinful life for himself, and of course for his people. We want one to whom the sentence of Holy Writ, that God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, and Paul's benediction, blameless at his coming, were not merely thrown in to fill up or round a period, but were guide-posts to show us the possibilities in Christian character. “Higher” is his watchword for himself and his flock.

4th. We want a man of good common sense and mother wit, whose zeal is so tempered with discretion that he will not do harm where he would do good, of fair manners, address, and tact, both in the parlor and pulpit. We would like him to know when in a parlor that all four legs of the chairs are for use. There are ministers who never prayerfully studied any good book of etiquette; but at every gathering of ministers some ladies have to bemoan the breaches of common politeness in floors dirtied with litter and tobacco juice, and curtains scented up for a month afterward with the horrid odor of stale tobacco smoke. The minister should be a model Christian gentleman, the pattern for good manners as well as good morals in every household he enters. I know a minister, though not now in this section, whose house manners were so bad that he was the dread of our housewives. No one wanted a second visit from him.

5th. As to his gifts, we are a plain people, and if he will come to us as Paul did to his charge, determined to know nothing among us but Christ and him crucified, we will be satisfied though he never heard of Darwin nor Ingersoll, and does not know any ology but theology; and is old-fashioned enough to draw his illustrations from the wells whence Christ drew his. Those were the things that were within the range of the knowledge of all the people. If he had undertaken to show us the extent of his knowledge, I am thinking much of the Bible would be of little use to us.—A Member of the Official Board of Modeltown Church.

Self-Sacrifice Better Than Selfish Wealth

By Alliance

—It is better to be a beggar with a spirit of self-sacrifice than a Croesus wrapped about with a many-millioned selfishness. Self-sacrifice is the key of life, the golden key of Heaven.—Alliance.

SOWING AND REAPING.

By Ellen E. Chase

The farmer sat by the ingle, The work of the day was done; At her little wheel the good wife The silvery flax-threads spun.

The children had gone to dreamland, Molly, and Lu, and Chris; Wee baby Bess in the cradle Had cuddled down with a kiss.

But blustering winds went tramping O’er desolate wastes of snow, For the Ice king ruled relentless, That winter of long ago.

There had fallen through all the region, A blight upon grain that year; Yet the farmer said to the good wife, “There is nothing for us to fear.

“We’ve enough for bread and for planting,— Enough, but nothing to spare: ’Tis a year to be glad and thankful For food and the clothes we wear.”

“What is it I hear?” said the good wife, “That moaning beside the door.” But the good man answered, laughing, “’Tis the rough wind, nothing more.”

“Nay, nay,” said the good wife softly, “Some creature in pain, I wis; May the dear Lord pity the needy Such a terrible night as this!”

As she opened the door, the rude wind Rushed past her with jeers, but, lo! A man, at the very threshold, Lay stiff in the drifting snow.

Oh, deft were the hands and tender That won him to life again; And they knew in the gaunt wayfarer, A neighbor, far down the glen.

“It was never the chill,” he whispered, “Nor wind, with its pitiless roar: ’Twas the hunger-wolf that followed To slay me beside your door.”

Then he told of the wan wife, waiting, The famishing children’s cries: He had begged in vain for a little From the store of the worldly-wise.

When the first faint dawn from the hill-tops, Looked over the wastes of snow, From the farmer’s fire the neighbor, With blessings, had turned to go.

“May never the wild wolf, Hunger, Come near to your door,” he said; “May the dear Lord, out of his largess, Your table with bounty spread.”

And he bore to the wan wife, waiting, And the children that cried in vain, From the farmer and the good wife, A plenteous gift of grain.

Again had the farmer gathered His harvest, from hill and plain; And the song of the reaper followed The creaking of bending wain.

“I have never seen,” said the good man, “Such a wonderful yield as this;” And the good wife answered softly, “’Tis the blessing of God, I wis.”

—Ellen E. Chase, in Christian Weekly.

PROFITABLE READING.

By Albert Stone

BY ELD. ALBERT STONE.

I WISH to say to the brethren and sisters that I am in sympathy with the plan of simultaneous reading that has been recommended in the REVIEW; and though circumstances are not favorable to my entering into it in all respects according to the plan proposed, yet I am with much interest giving my personal attention to the reading and prayerful study of the books among us which are the result of the spirit of prophecy.

I have been familiar with most of them in the past, and have been blessed in their perusal; yet I wish to speak of the result, thus far, of my present reading. This commenced in November. Feeling that I needed a closer walk with God, my interest soon became intense. I was convicted that my spiritual condition was precisely that of the Laodicean church, brought to view in Rev. 3:14-17. My anguish of spirit was very great, hardly surpassed by that which I experienced sixty-four years ago when the Lord, by his Spirit, laid before me my lost and undone condition as a sinner. I involuntarily exclaimed, “What have I done for my Lord?” The religion of my past life appeared thin and vapory. I realized that with my present ratio of advancement, I should never reach Heaven. The Lord heard prayer, and came to me with a measure of relief and comfort, for which I bless and praise his holy name.

In view of what the Lord has wrought for me through the Testimonies, first and last, I bless his holy name.

Eden Mills, Vermont, Feb. 9.

TRUSTING AND DOING.

ONE morning, many years ago, a shabby young man, who would now be denominated a tramp, was shown into the study of a rural minister.

“Well, my friend, what can I do for you?” inquired the old minister, looking up from his newspaper. “You appear weary; pray sit down.”

“Thank you, sir,” replied the other, gladly seating himself in an arm-chair. “I have walked the shoes off my feet looking for work, and spent what little money I had; and as I arrived here in the village a stranger, I thought that you might know of some one who would employ me. I’ll work at anything, for I’m almost in despair. I did n’t know that a healthy young fellow could come as near starvation as I have been.”

“Are you hungry now?”

“No, sir; I begged my breakfast of an old colored woman, and then cut some wood for her; but I was so weak I could scarcely handle the ax.”

“Do you trust in God?”

“I should have died long before this if I had n’t, sir. I’m a Christian, and I teach in Sunday-school at home.”

“Have you been very anxious about the salvation of souls as you traveled along?” inquired the old man, glancing at him over the top of his glasses.

“No, sir; I have not. I have thought of nothing but my old father and mother, and of getting work; but I have trusted in God.”

“Just hear this,” invited the minister, turning the leaves of a Bible at his elbow: “‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.’ Do you believe this? Have you ever read this?”

“It sounds familiar to me, and I believe it, certainly.”

“Then you see where the trouble has been; you have obeyed but half the injunction; you have trusted in God, and forgotten to do good. Now, as you are looking for work this morning, will you take this bundle of tracts with you, and when you have distributed them return to me?”

“I will take them with pleasure,” returned the young man, rising; “but will you not direct me to some one?”

“No; the Lord will take care of that, if you are in earnest,” smiled the minister, shaking his hand cordially.

With a more hopeful heart, Henry Weston passed into the street, where he distributed many of the tracts among the children on their way to school. Some of them hesitated, glancing at his ragged clothing, but his smile and pleasant word reassured, so that not one gave a refusal. Stopping before a shoe-store he saw an old man standing in the door-way. Selecting “A Closer Walk with God,” from his package, he handed it to him, saying, “Will you please read this, sir? My old father is very fond of it.”

The old man glanced at the tract and then at him.

“Seems to me, young man, you’d better spend your money for shoes instead of tracts,” he said gruffly.

“They were given to me to distribute as I go about looking for work,” he answered gently.

“Then why did n’t you ask me for work?”

“I intended to, but something in your manner reminded me of my sick old father, three hundred miles from here, and so I gave you the tract that he liked.” Henry was passing on, when the old man detained him.

“Come into the store and choose a stout pair of shoes, my son; and I’ll trust the Lord to pay me for them.”

Silent with surprise, Henry followed him, and was soon fitted with a pair of stout shoes, and after warmly expressing his thanks, hastened on his way.

Entering every store, he asked for work, being courteously treated by all; but as his stock was running low, he decided to inquire at some of the handsomest dwelling-houses. On a lawn under a tree he found a feeble old lady sitting alone; touching his old hat he laid “Light at Eventide” upon her lap, and was turning away when she faintly recalled him.

“Will you stop a moment? I am curious to know how one so poor as you are has time to distribute tracts. Will you excuse the question from an old lady?”

Removing his hat he told her his story, scarcely repressing his tears when speaking of the new shoes.

“Would you accept a suit of clothes that belonged to my son, who has lately died?” asked the old lady at its close. “They are nearly new, and will fit you.”

Gratefully accepting them, he went to the house with her, and was shown into a room where he was allowed to choose a whole outfit, from stockings to collar and necktie. After arraying himself in the neat business suit, he told his benefactress that in his old clothes he asked for the humblest employment, but now he should ask for any office short of the Presidency.

With his last tract he entered a large carpenter’s shop in a side street, that had escaped his notice. “Will you please accept this?” he asked, laying “What is Eternity?” on a desk before which a middle-aged man stood figuring.

“What is time? is of more consequence to me, just now,” he replied. “I’m short of a hand to-day.”

“I’m a carpenter, looking for work—”

“Just go to work on that sash in the corner there, and I’ll decide upon your wages when I see what you are worth.”

At noon Henry entered the old minister’s study.

“Excuse me—you have the advan—Why, it’s the young fellow that did good as well as trust in the Lord!” almost shouted the minister. “I knew the Lord would keep his promise. Now, come and have some dinner, and tell me all about it.”—S. S. Times.

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