Earlier text: EXAMINATION OF T. M. PREBLE'S FIRST-DAY SABBATH“What is this that he saith, ‘A little while?’” John 16:18. Oh! for the peace which floweth as a river,
Making life’s desert places bloom and smile!
Oh! for the faith to grasp Heaven’s bright “forever,”
Amid the shadows of earth’s “little while!” “A little while,” for patient vigil keeping,
To face the stern, to wrestle with the strong;
“A little while” to sow the seed with weeping;
Then bind the sheaves, and sing the harvest song. “A little while,” to wear the robe of sadness;
To toil with weary step, through miry ways,
Then to pour forth the fragrant oil of gladness,
And clasp the girdle round the robe of praise. “A little while,” midst shadow and illusion,
To strive by faith, love’s mysteries to spell;
Then read each dark enigma’s bright solution,
Then hail night’s verdict, “He doth all things well.” “A little while,” the earthen pitcher taking
To wayside brooks, from far-off fountains fed;
Then the cool lip its thirst forever slaking
Beside the fullness of the fountain-head. “A little while,” to keep the oil from failing;
“A little while,” faith’s flickering lamp to trim;
And then the Bridegroom’s coming footsteps hailing,
To haste to meet him with the bridal hymn. And He who is himself the gift and giver,
The future glory and the present smile,
With the bright promise of the glad “forever,”
Will light the shadows of the “little while.” The Other Side of the Question.
By Carrie B.
MUCH has been said and written about “Woman’s Sphere” and “Woman’s Duties.” “Hints to Wives” and “Hints to Mothers” stare at us from every newspaper corner, to say nothing of whole volumes devoted to the same subject, wherein the various social obligations of the weaker sex are discussed at length. This is all very well, and I hope the wives and mothers will profit by it, and do the work God has given them the best they can. Still the thought has sometimes dared to suggest itself to my mind, that there was another side to the question; and that it was “a poor rule that wouldn’t work both ways.” Doubtless it is all right and proper, and I am very much in favor of it myself, that the wife should greet her husband with a pleasant smile when he returns home at night, weary and depressed with care, from his daily labor. And I hope he will appreciate it, and return it with interest; for it is possible she may be weary and careworn too, and need the cheering influence of kind words and pleasant smiles from him. I have known a husband after an absence of several days, during which the whole burden of care and labor, in-doors and out, rested on his feeble wife, to enter his dwelling; and his wife looked up, hoping at least for a pleasant “good evening” from the lips she loved. But he did not so much as look at her. A friend whom he had not seen for two weeks, perhaps, happened to be in, whom he greeted with a hearty shake of the hand, and with whom he entered into pleasant conversation. Was that wife to blame if her eyes filled with tears, and her thoughts went back to the early years of her married life when he thought no society so pleasant as hers? Is she to be greatly censured if her heart ached a little, and secretly yearned for the old, loving words of the by-gone days? Did that husband have any idea of the shadow he cast on the spirits of his wife? Not till reflected back on himself, and then he did not mistrust that he was the cause of it. She dare not open her heart to him, for he would only be vexed that she was so silly as to care for such trifles. He knows not that he is shutting out the sunlight, and letting in the shadow, when he despises the small, sweet courtesies of life. He would stare at you with surprise and indignation if you should venture to hint that he treated his wife unkindly. He has no idea of doing any such thing. He conscientiously intends to do his whole duty by his family. He works hard to provide for them a comfortable subsistence. He wonders that his wife is dull and melancholy, and perhaps blames her for it. She toils on mechanically through her daily round of duties, year after year, growing old and faded, and almost hopeless, but he is blind to everything but her faults. As for the cares, and anxieties, and sufferings, mental and physical, that she endures as the mother of his children, he takes it all as a matter of course. They elicit no tender words of love and sympathy. Though he promised to love and cherish her once, it is so long ago he has nearly forgotten it. Somehow or other, I cannot get the idea out of my head that the wife and mother who faithfully tries to do her duty, has a right to expect some love and sympathy from the father of her children. I do not see how he can be a Christian and not feel the burdens she has to bear; and if he does feel them, will not that feeling sometimes find utterance in words? “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Will he treat her opinions with contempt? and trample on her womanly feelings? and despise her weakness? She cannot help it that she is a woman, and has a woman’s loving, sensitive nature. God made her so, and designed that she should have a softening, refining influence over the rougher and sterner nature of man. Man’s strength and woman’s tenderness should so blend in the marriage tie as to form a perfect union; so that it may truly be said of them, “They twain are one flesh.” “He that loveth his wife, loveth himself.” Right here, in the home circle, is the place for us to show whether the principles of the religion of Jesus Christ actuate us or not. A home where love is, and none but kind words are spoken, is a place where angels love to dwell. “Indirect Influence.”
By Chas. L. Boyd
“A CASUAL analogy convinceth, when a mind beareth not argument.” Many times the mind of those with whom we associate is, for some cause, prepared to resist any argument in favor of present truth. Shall such be compelled to listen to us? Can we favorably impress their minds with what they would not hear? Perhaps some inconsistencies in our life have given an unfavorable impression of the truths which we would impress; and although the mind may be proof against argument, we may, by the aid of promised strength, live out, before them, the precious truths of the third angel’s message. An occasional hint, shrewdly thrown out, may make an impression which will move the spirit, and open a channel of thought which may lead to investigation and perhaps to the Lamb of God and a knowledge of the truth. That huge and massive rock has resisted the storms and thunderbolts of ages; yet the silent stream at its base is undermining its foundation. The strongest argument may be resisted; but a holy, godly life will make an impression. We have a duty to do, a work to perform; the result is to be left with God. Who of us but can remember the effect on our mind in our childhood, of an action, a word, and even of a look? A kind word or look when in trouble, has cast a ray of sunshine along our path, which has lighted up many a cloudy day. But an angry word or an unkind look, when we were doing our best, caused a wound in our drooping spirits which it took long years to heal. Thus a prejudice was formed either for or against the person, and perhaps the society to which they belonged. We know not what impressions have been formed of Sabbath-keepers by the influence which we have exerted; nor shall we know till the Judgment reveals it. Shall we then find that we have been a stumbling-block in the way of some who might otherwise have been saved? Or shall we find that our words, our ways, our deeds, and all our influence, have been such as to leave a godly impression? What influence in regard to the truths which we profess are we having on our neighbors and associates? We profess to be Adventists! believers in the soon coming of our Lord and King. Are our lives a living witness that we are sincere in our profession? There are many times when a direct exposition of our faith may not be advisable, but a zealous ardent, and holy life will be a living testimony in its favor. CHAS. L. BOYD. 'Tis but little I can do!
Let this be my effort still,
Ever to be kind and true,
Ever watchful against ill,
Doing, Lord, thy holy will. 'Tis but little I can say;
Let me ever keep in mind
Something true, to speak each day,
Spurning every word unkind;
So thy favor I may find. 'Tis not long I have to stay,
Health and life will soon be gone;
I've no time to throw away,
Sin and trifling I must shun;
Life's grave duties must be done. In this busy world of ours
Good and evil are abroad;
To restrain all evil powers,
To urge forward right and good,
Equal service is to God. Count not things as small or great;
Rather count as wrong or right;
On the right side throw your weight,
Feeble be your blows or strong,
Be your service brief or long. Order in the Church of God.
By Editor
In the civil government, in the army, in the school, in the large work-shop, in the mercantile house, and, in fact, wherever men may be associated together for the purpose of advancing worldly interests, complete organization and order are regarded of first importance. Much more is order needed in the church of God, where eternal interests are at stake. What we want is, that order in the church, carried out by all its members, which, if applied to worldly things, would appear reasonable and right. We are not so unfortunate as to entertain the idea that good, sanctified common sense is at war with the things of the Spirit of God. And we long since became disgusted with the miserable pretensions of those who carry out their fanatical and distracting notions under their gauzy pretensions of being led by the Holy Spirit. Now, if the Old and New Testament teachings of organization and order in the church of God be set aside, then their peculiar course may receive full license. But, with the Bible in our hands, while we retain our senses, nothing can be plainer than that, in the battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil, we should be instructed by the lessons of order and discipline found in both Testaments. The order of the Bible is God’s order. And we affirm that God’s order is in perfect harmony with God’s Spirit, and that those who have a spirit that does not agree with the strictest organization, discipline and order of the word of God, are just so far possessed with an evil spirit. As a people, we are far from being what we may be. And, probably, the cause we labor to build up suffers more from want of united action than from all other defects. Sluggish and stagnant waters become impure, while action purifies them. Our Conferences and our churches must be put in working order. We are deeply interested in the reports from Elds. Van Horn and Pierce. These men are adapted to the work of feeding the flock of God, and setting things in order; and there is no State where such labor is more needed than in Michigan. Our young preachers cannot do this work. Our people should not call our young men from new fields. Neither should our ministers labor with the churches, unless sent to them by the Conference Committee. We need men to go throughout the churches, collect dues on our periodicals, obtain subscribers for them, solicit means from all our people who are able to take stock in our institutions, and form tract societies. And no one should go about this work unless set about it by the Conference Committee. And we would here state that we have not ministers that can be spared to do all this work. We fear that there is a premature, haphazard movement in the State of New York, that will result in no real good. When ministers have proved themselves to be in possession of moral, intellectual, spiritual, and physical power, and good judgment sufficient to wake up an interest, lead men and women to the truth, and make them into a well-organized, active church, then, and not till then, will be time for them to consider the propriety of entering other men’s labors, in visiting those churches in their Conference in which they had no part in bringing them into existence. And we protest against the practice of men, who have not raised up and built up a single church, dabbling in their style of labor with other churches. General Conference will take these matters in hand, and then our State Committees can appoint men for this work. And we would suggest that in all our State Conferences there are ten men who can do this work, where we have one minister qualified, or who has the moral courage to do it in a thorough manner. Those who labor among our churches should have a complete list of our subscribers to REVIEW, Reformer, and Instructor, and should settle with delinquents wherever they go. And they should have complete lists of stock-holders in the Publishing Association, and Health Institute, and amounts held, and should labor to the point that all our people take stock in these institutions according to each one’s ability. They should also investigate each member’s ability to pay Systematic Benevolence, and see to it, as far as consistent with a system of benevolence, that every one, who should, comes right up to the figures. This is the work to be done in our churches everywhere. Ministers, with the exception of a few aged men, who have not sufficient moral courage, and power of endurance, to do this work, nor to labor in new fields, have no business in visiting our churches. From all parts of the country the Macedonian call is heard, “Come over and help us.” From Maine to the Pacific coast the want of laborers is felt. And it is a fact that we have but very few real laborers, and these are fast wearing out. It is true that we have quite a respectable number of accredited ministers; but when you count up the real laborers, they are hardly a score. In full view of this fact, we look out upon the vast fields all ripe for the harvest and hear the calls from all quarters, “Come over and help us,” with feelings unutterable. Laborers are wanted in all parts of the field. Elder Ingraham should have one of our ablest and best ministers with him in Minnesota. One is wanted in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Maine, while the New England and Michigan Conferences should have two each of our ablest men. These are needed in an extreme sense, in order to continue tent operations in summer, and to secure any considerable amount of additions to our numbers at other seasons of the year. And yet there is not a man that can be spared from any point in the wide field now occupied. And besides these, ten real laborers are wanted in each of the Eastern, Middle and Western States at this very moment. And then, there are openings in Kentucky, Virginia, and others of the Southern States. We have worthy brethren scattered all through the Western States and Territories, who are calling for help. And it is not an uncommon thing for men in western localities, who learn of us by our publications, or otherwise, to get up petitions for a minister to be sent to them to teach our views, and in the long list of petitioners there may not be the name of a single Sabbath-keeper. Will not our active young men be stirred by such facts as these? As we view these things in the light of the real facts in the case we are led a hundred times to inquire with feelings of deepest solicitude, What can be done? God has committed to our people a sacred trust in his truth. He has blest our publishing interests wonderfully. And we not only have books, and means with which to publish; but God has helped men to bring out his truth in our works with clearness and force. He is also opening the way for us, and preparing the public mind in a thousand places that we cannot at present occupy. There is a fault on our part, as a people, or we should have laborers to enter fields providentially opened. What shall be done? The New England Conference has surplus funds, and two large preaching tents for summer use. They ask for two of our ablest men. They will support them well, and will cheerfully co-operate with them. Bro. and sister Canright would be more than welcomed to this Conference. If Bro. Haskell leaves to labor in other States in establishing tract societies, and to bring about united action in sustaining the cause in its various departments, others must come to the New England Conference. And the Maine Conference must have help. But little has been done in Maine besides what has resulted from the labors of those men who have been sent to the State by the General Conference. We are, however, very glad to learn that Eld. J. B. Goodrich is nobly battling in Aroostook County with considerable success. But what has very much discouraged our faithful brethren in Maine, who have ever stood ready with their means to help the cause, has been the course taken by some of their preachers. They seemed content to visit round and round with the little churches raised up almost entirely by others. They have manifested but little interest to break new ground, and raise up new churches, and, at the same time, they have, by their jealousy, fault-finding, and failure to co-operate, stood directly in the way of those ministers who were sent to that State by General Conference. This has caused disunion, and has embarrassed ministers from other States, so that they have not been able to accomplish half so much as they would have done had these men never taken their stand with us. And our most valuable men, Elders Cornell, Andrews, and Canright, who have done nearly all that has been accomplished in Maine, have left the State in discouragement. Our people in Maine have finally taken their stand not to spend their S. B. funds in the support of any man who cannot go out into new fields in that State, as did Cornell, Andrews, and Canright, and bring men and women to the knowledge of the truth. When men can do this, and lead those who are the fruits of their labors up to a state of intelligent, harmonious action with the body, then they have proved themselves competent to labor with our churches, or anywhere else. The cause needs men who can either labor in new fields with success, or who can wisely and well bring our churches up to harmonious action and spiritual strength. The cause has no use for men who can do neither. Somebody has worked, and God has worked with them, the past twenty years, in bringing out fifteen thousand Sabbath-keepers, and fighting the battles for Organization, Systematic Benevolence, etc., etc. And we would say to untried, and unsuccessful ministers, that not a tithe of the territory in the United States alone has been canvassed. There is as good ground to work on that has never been broken as anywhere our churches have been raised up. And now that the present truth is brought out and made clear, in our publications, and things are made ready to their hands, is it too much for our Conferences to ask of these ministers to go out into new fields, as the pioneers of the cause did when the fields were all new? Then we had no publications, and opposition was stronger than now. All we can ask of these ministers is to do as others have done before them. And we are very glad that circumstances are more favorable for them. About ten years ago, D. M. Canright came nearly forty miles to converse with us on the subject of preaching. After talking with him an hour, relative to his convictions of duty, of the responsibilities of the ministry, and advising him to make up his mind to be, by the grace of God, a first-class preacher, we gave him a Bible and a set of charts, and told him to go right out into some place where our views had never been preached, and when he became satisfied that preaching was not his calling, to bring the Bible and the charts back. In a few weeks, we heard from the young stripling down in Indiana, bringing men and women to acknowledge and obey the Lord’s Sabbath. In about six months we met him at General Conference, and inquired of him, Where is the Bible? and where are those charts? Have you brought them back? “No, sir,” was the reply, “you have lost them.” We would like to lose more in just this way. This young man went right out into new fields, and stayed out, and read, and studied, and preached, and wrote, and read, and preached, and studied, and he could not help growing up a strong man in God and in his word. Maine must have help. The brethren in Maine will be glad of the labors of any of our living, active preachers; but they would be exceedingly glad of the labors of Bro. and sister Canright. We are glad to see some coming up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. But there are more than one hundred men among us who should give themselves more or less to the work. There is a class of men among us who have reached the years of experience and ripe judgment, who should consecrate themselves to the work as helpers. These can visit our churches, set things in order, and do the same work Bro. Haskell has been doing in the New England Conference, better than our ministers can, with the exception of a very few of them. We have men enough to do this work without taking evangelists from their specific calling. And, then, there are scores of young men who could become able ministers of the word, if they would give up the world, and give themselves to study, and to God fully. God’s Spirit is moving on the minds of some; but they hesitate, and hold back. Are they waiting for some miraculous evidence? We suggest that they will never have any. Generally, Satan gives these to the men he deceives. The voice of the Lord speaks to men, everywhere, who have the capacity, and aptitude to teach, and who love God, his holy law, and who love salvation through Jesus Christ, and who love poor sinners. “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” “Go ye, also, into the vineyard.” “But,” says some cautious friend, “Would you not have men wait until they feel the ‘woe is me if I preach not the gospel,’ upon them?” Certainly, certainly. But will some one tell us what this “woe” is? What does it say to a man? How does it feel? What is to be learned by it? Those who are waiting to feel it, should have it described to them. We once heard a very sensible minister say, that Satan called more men to the ministry than the Lord did. We believe it. These unfortunate men who labor under the mistaken idea that they are called to the ministry, have an indefinite and inexplicable something which they call a “woe-is-me.” They cannot define it. It tells them nothing in particular. They feel that they must preach. That is all. Now, we simply set this indefinite something down as an imposition of Satan.205 And we confess that we do not see how any young man—if he has the ability to make life a success, and is apt to teach, who comes near enough to God to feel his holiness, the holiness of his law, and the value of the great salvation provided by Jesus Christ, and who loves poor sinners, and realizes that we are in the time of the last message, upon which the destiny of the world hangs—can help feeling the “woe” upon him. It is true that Paul had a special calling. His was an especial work, under peculiar circumstances. Others may have had especial evidences; but they are exceptions, and not the rule. As a rule, that which has moved men to enter the Lord’s vineyard, has been a high and holy sense that they were bought with the precious blood of Christ, and should be wholly his, and that their time and strength should be devoted to the work of saving sinners, one of whom, when saved, would be of greater value than all the treasures of this poor little world. Men who come near enough to God to see, and feel, and know, these great facts, have intelligent convictions of duty. With them the “woe is me if I preach not the gospel,” is something that exists, and virtually speaks to them, and moves them out in an intelligent manner to consecrate themselves to God, and prepare themselves for the great work. Those who have found pardon of their sins, and are the adopted sons and daughters of the Almighty, who are bought, and brought nigh by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and who rejoice in hope of the glories to be revealed at the second advent, and hope on the immortal shores, are debtors. And in no way can they approximate toward paying the debt, only by a life devoted to the work of bringing others to Christ. The grace of God had brought Paul greatly in debt to the world. “I am debtor,” he says, “both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians, both to the wise, and to the unwise. So as much as in me lies, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.” Rom. 1:14, 15. The apostle would exert the powers of his entire being in paying the debt he owed to the world in consequence of the grace of God that had come to him. This constituted, in a great measure, at least, the “woe is me” that rested upon Paul. In the gift of the Son of God for sinners, in his pardoning love which the repenting sinner is permitted to feel, and in the promised future glory and reward of the faithful saved, are reasons almost infinite why men and women should feel that they are in debt to sinners, and why they should devote their powers to the work of their salvation. Those who do not realize their indebtedness are utterly disqualified to work for God. Those who do, at such a time as the present, have all the woe upon them that they need, and should tarry no longer. “Go labor in my vineyard,
There’s resting by-and-by.” Laborers are wanted. And again we call the attention of our people to the subject of brief courses of instruction in the present truth, and the best methods of teaching it, for the benefit of those young men and young women who feel that the grace of God has made them debtors to sinners, and that they must devote themselves to the last message of mercy to the world. These courses of instruction should be held in several States during winter and spring. We suggest that the expenses of the teachers be met by General Conference, and that those churches who may invite the course to their place, board free all those who are worthy, and whose limited circumstances make it a duty to board them free. May God give our General Conference wisdom to treat properly this great and important question of want of laborers. Our visit to Washington, N. H., Nov. 18, 19, was attended with exposure in reaching the place by a tedious route from which we have not yet recovered. But, notwithstanding, we had an excellent meeting. We were exceedingly gratified to meet old, tried friends, and to hear their cheerful and decided testimonies for the Lord and his truth. We enjoyed an excellent visit to our very dear friends at Richmond, Me., Nov. 25 and 26. Some of their number were absent, so that the number present on the Sabbath was small; but we had an excellent meeting. Mrs. W. had a good hearing evening after the Sabbath, notwithstanding the rain. First-day morning, the old Reed meeting-house was at least half full of attentive hearers, the most of whom had distinct recollections of our lectures in that place nearly twenty-nine years since. We were very happy to again stand before this people in the enjoyment of freedom, with no evidence of existing prejudice. Mrs. W. spoke in the afternoon and evening with freedom. Here, where all manner of evil has been said of us to cut off our influence, in the providence of God, we were treated with kindness and respect. At this place we dwelt upon practical subjects, which seemed to take a strong hold of the hearts of the people. We were very glad to meet our old and much-esteemed friend Curtis, and several other gentlemen, who told us that they heard our lectures in 1842. Several of them invited us to their homes. We now design to spend much of 1872 in Maine, and hope to be able to visit many of the places of our former labors, and speak to the people again. We were disappointed with the attendance at South Norridgewock, it being much larger than we expected. Notwithstanding the severe cold, quite a number came in from Kendall’s Mills, Fairfield, Skowhegan, Cornville, Athens, New Sharon, &c., so that our congregation on the Sabbath numbered more than one hundred. On first-day, the large house of worship was nearly full. We spoke twice, and Mrs. W. three times. The brethren seemed greatly encouraged. Our proposition to spend much time in Maine the next year, where we can be free from the cares at Battle Creek, that we may write several books, and speak to the brethren in different places on the Sabbath, meets their hearty approval. We design to give appointments for Maine soon. Mrs. W. is in the enjoyment of excellent health, and is in good spirits, and is making considerable progress on her second volume. This will be far the most interesting and important book she has written. We are having a jubilee. Our greatest embarrassment is our inability to comply with the many calls in different parts of New England, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, &c. Had our friends in New York written sooner we should have spent one Sabbath in that State on our way to General Conference, instead of Vermont. We can meet the brethren in New York at one or two points on our return immediately after Conference. Fire and Flood.
By Uriah Smith
The earth is becoming paralytic. It is like the poor epileptic who was brought to our Lord to be healed, who ofttimes fell into the fire and oft into the water; with only this difference, that the earth is in fire and water at one and the same time. While our Western States were kiln-dried by long weeks of cloudless sun, and then swept by fiery cyclones and burning tornadoes, which sent balls of fire like bullets through hickory plough-handles, and melted the pennies in men's pockets, and took the life of every living thing within reach of their blasting breath, other parts of the country have been soaked with continuous rains, and damaged with uncommon floods. And other parts of the world besides our own have been subjected to extremes of this nature. From China the papers bring the following report:— “ . . . In the north of China there have been inundations of a very destructive character. In New-Chiang 20,000 square miles were submerged, and 1,000 people were drowned. . . . A terrible typhoon visited the region of Macao on the 2d of September, and, besides doing immense damage to property, destroyed 300 lives. . . . U. S. minister Low has returned to Pekin, and the Corean expedition appears to have been given up.” And now, as if all the caloric in our atmosphere had been expended in the recent preternatural fires, winter has set in with uncommon fierceness and unusually soon. A Detroit Post, of last week, says:— “The fierceness with which winter has assailed us here is not local. In London, the cold has been so sharp, the air has bitten not only so “shrewdly” and “eagerly,” but so savagely, that seventeen persons perished in one night. In the West, on the other hand, in Utah, the snow is reported to be ten feet deep. Day before yesterday it was only three degrees above zero at Duluth, and thirteen at Marquette, and thirteen in Portland. The poor will suffer many hardships, and the demands upon the benevolent will be more exacting than ever.” More and more apparent is it becoming that the only hope of nature, or of the race, is in the promised Redeemer. Earth will never be healed of her maladies, till he shall return and set things to rights in this disordered realm. And let the day not be long in coming. The Cost of Human Salvation.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
Who can estimate the value set upon our race? the wondrous love, the amazing condescension, the infinite sacrifice, the immense labor and intense interest and solicitude, on the part of Heaven, manifested toward a sinful and rebellious, degraded and ruined race? No human pen can describe it, and inspiration fails to impress the human heart with a just appreciation of it. It is beyond the reach of finite comprehension—too vast to be measured by such beings as we are—yet, if we would, we could see enough of it to cause us to admire the plan, adore and praise its Author, and to the utmost of our limited capacity, reciprocate the love of God, and show by our actions that we enter into the spirit of the plan, and are willing to labor, sacrifice and suffer, in the work of salvation to sinners—a work in which the Father, the Son, and all the heavenly host are engaged. Yet, though we cannot measure the love of God, nor comprehend the vastness of the sacrifice and labor on the part of Heaven, let us attentively consider the wonderful plan which “the angels desire to look into.” Man had sinned, and had forfeited all, even life and being. God would be just in cutting him off and consigning him to oblivion. But his tender pity and compassion led him to devise a plan for his redemption and salvation. The divine Son enters into the plan with such unbounded love and zeal as to offer himself to be a sacrifice for the sins of men, so that the just law of God should be honored, and at the same time sinful man be saved. The plan is devised, the Son of God is to leave his glory and come to earth to labor, suffer, and die at the hands of those he came to save. And this, though amazing, is not all. He that could bring worlds into existence at a word, who spake, and it was done, devotes as many thousands of years to the salvation of our ruined world as there were days spent in its creation. We might speak of the wonderful humiliation of the Son of God, his labors and suffering on earth, his agony in Gethsemane, and his cruel death on Calvary; and the theme could never be exhausted; but we wish to speak more particularly of his incessant care and watchfulness during the whole period of man's second probation, his work of intercession and of judgment at its close. Who has weighed this matter with sufficient care? Who has ever valued the cost of our salvation, as demanding the active energies of the divine Son of God for six thousand years? Who has estimated the intense solicitude of our Advocate with the Father, and the guardian care of the Shepherd and Bishop of souls, listening to the prayers and watching the conduct of every individual of the countless millions of our race who have sought his intercessions during this whole period? And who has considered his sorrows and his long-suffering as he has so frequently been crucified afresh, even by his professed friends, and put to open shame? But he has not been the only one employed in this vast and protracted work. The angels of God, who desired to look into the plan, and share in the work, and whose number is no less than “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,” have been sent forth as ministering spirits to minister to those who should be heirs of salvation. Think of their constant watchfulness, their extreme solicitude and tender care during all this time. And since there is joy in Heaven among the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth; think of the grief of those kind messengers of mercy over the sins and apostasy of those they have labored to save. As a consequence of giving an individual probation to the innumerable hosts that have peopled the earth for six thousand years, a day of reckoning, a general Judgment, must come at the close. And, with this consummation in view, the records of men's lives must be kept, the books must be written which are to be opened in the Judgment, when every man shall be judged according to his deeds, as they are found written in the books. What a vast amount of labor, even for ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels! And all this to save fallen man justly condemned to death, who might have been consumed in a moment by the word of Him who spake him into being! Oh! matchless love and condescension! How great the cost of human salvation! How infinite the sacrifice, and how vast the labor of love expended upon so vile and sinful a creature! And what return do we make? How is this costly salvation, proffered to our race, esteemed? How is love so amazing, so divine, reciprocated? How was the Prince of salvation received, and how have his most devoted followers been treated? How has this costly salvation been slighted by a majority of our race? But let us come a little closer. What return has been made by those who have coveted this great salvation so dearly purchased? How loth, even, to leave their sins! And instead of inquiring, How can I reciprocate such matchless love?—by what labor and sacrifice can I show how highly I value the immense labor and sacrifice that this salvation has cost?—the inquiry has rather been, how little may I do, and yet share in the fruits of all this labor and sacrifice? and how far may I follow my sinful propensities, my carnal appetites and pleasures, and yet not miss of this salvation, which cost so much! “Is this the kind return?
Are these the thanks we owe?” thus to abuse such wondrous love, and slight the sacrifice of the Son of God, his untold agony and immense labor of love? Shame! shame!! to that person that halts at duty, and inquires, Is this a saving ordinance? May I not omit this duty and still be saved? Can such a one share in this costly salvation? “O God, my inmost soul convert.” Let me feel it a precious gift, not only to believe on his name, but to suffer for his sake. Let me share in the labor, and partake of the sufferings, of Christ, and of those who shall be heirs of eternal glory. Bring me not into the society of Jesus, angels and martyrs, till I have, in some degree, appreciated this divine love, and shown by my works that I value the great salvation, which has cost such immense labor, suffering, and sacrifice. R. F. COTTRELL.