It is an acknowledged truth that the greater the light the greater the sin in rejecting it. This is applicable alike to individuals, to nations and to the world. The course of man since the fall has been a downward course. As the world has grown old, so has evil increased. The dominion of the Prince of the powers of the air has become more universal and more strong. But man may not plead as an excuse for their sin, the increase of evil; for as a redeeming feature in their history, and a means by which they might have escaped if they would, light has been proportioned to the evil by which they have been surrounded. Yet from generation to generation, as by descending steps have the race gone down into the depths of iniquity and guilt. The generation of Noah reached a degree of corruption, previous to that time unknown, and they were swept away by the flood. The aggravated sins of the cities of the plain brought down on them the vengeance of burning fire. Yet mark the language of Christ to the people of the generation in which he was revealed. He pronounces woes upon them; for if Tyre and Sidon and Sodom and Gomorrah had had the light which they had, they would have remained unto that day; yet it shall be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than for them. They who in their self-righteousness protested that they would not have slain the prophets were to finish their transgression by slaying the Son of God the Lord of the prophets. Upon them was to come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias whom they slew between the temple and the altar. Thus stood that generation the guiltiest of any that earth had then beheld—guiltiest because rejecting the greatest light. But how will that very race whom Christ denounces as serpents and a generation of vipers, rise up in judgment with the people of the present day and condemn them. The downward tendency of man since the days of Christ has been no less rapid than it was before; and though all prophecy and the experience of all past ages shed their joint light upon the present time, yet darkness covers the earth and grosser darkness than ever, still covers the people. And not only have the wicked world in general sunk to so low a point of moral degradation, but worst of all and most heinous in the sight of Heaven, those who profess to be the followers of Christ are joined with them hand in hand. The leaven of the mystery of iniquity which had begun to be manifest in the days of Paul, has accomplished a fearful work. Especially has the church felt its deadly influence and departed from its original purity. As the Prophet says, they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Suppose one of the disciples who lived in the days of Christ, when by all true Christians God's law was reverenced and obeyed, and the teachings of the gospel heeded, suppose he could now come forth and behold the condition of the world. With what emotions would he contemplate those who claim to be followers of Christ, and profess to obey the teachings of the gospel. How would he exclaim when he saw them breaking the everlasting covenant, despising and trampling under foot the holy Sabbath; when he saw that they had become a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord; when he saw them corrupting the ordinances of the Lord's house; when he saw them joining with the spirit of the world, and cherishing all those evil principles which reign in the children of disobedience, and giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils—how then would he join his voice with the blood of martyrs and cry, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not take vengeance on them that dwell on the earth! How long may the world go on insulting God, and trampling upon the majesty of his holy law! Not long may they thus continue. Their judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
In this great Babylon, is to be filled up the iniquity of earth. Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. In her is to be found not only the blood of prophets of which the Jewish church was found guilty, but also the blood of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth.
And as in her is filled up the cup of guilt and iniquity, so in her punishment will be filled up the wrath of God. So the third angel announces her doom; a threatening of vengeance more dreadful is not to be found. So will her plagues, death, mourning and famine, come in one day; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. U. S.
The Two Laws.
By Waitstill Phillips
[The following is an extract from the Sabbath Manual by Justin Edwards. Although the author advocates a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, based only however on those inferences which are commonly adduced in favor of that view, he nevertheless admits the seventh day as the true Sabbath from the creation to the cross. The following on the two laws is to the point, and will be read with interest by all those who are established on the true position in regard to the Lord's Sabbath. And we would especially recommend the perusal to those who are disposed to abolish one of the most obvious distinctions found in the Word of God, and blend the royal law, written in the tables of stone, with the ceremonial laws given by the hand of Moses.]
UNDER the Jewish dispensation were incorporated two kinds of laws. One was founded on obligations growing out of the nature of men, and their relations to God and one another; obligations binding before they were written, and which will continue to be binding upon all who shall know them, to the end of time. Such are the laws which were written by the finger of God on the tables of stone, and are called moral laws.
The other kind, called ceremonial laws, related to various outward observances, which were not obligatory till they were commanded, and then were binding only on the Jews till the death of Christ.
There were also two kinds of Sabbaths, or days of rest. One was a day of weekly rest; and the command to keep it holy was placed, by the Law-giver, in the midst of the moral laws. It was called, by way of eminence, "The Sabbath." The command to keep the other sabbaths was placed by the Law-giver among the ceremonial laws, because it was like them, as the command to keep the weekly Sabbath was like the laws with which it was associated. One class were fundamental, permanent, universal moral laws; the other class were local, temporary ceremonial laws. One had their origin in the nature and relations of man; the other in the peculiar circumstances in which, for a time, a peculiar people were placed. One would be binding in all ages, upon all who should know them; and the other would be binding only upon the Jews till the death of the Messiah.
The Jews, at the coming of Christ, being in a state of great spiritual darkness and grievous apostasy from God, did not well understand the nature and object of their laws. Often they overlooked the spirit, and were superstitiously devoted to the forms. Some, after they embraced the gospel, thought that the ceremonial as well as the moral laws were binding. Others, more enlightened, thought that they were not. This led to contention among them. Paul, in the fourteenth chapter of Romans, presented such considerations as were adapted to lead them, in this matter, to a right decision.
"One man," he says, "esteemeth one day above another. Another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord;125and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it." Both mean to honor God, and he will accept them. But what day does he speak of? "The Sabbath" of the fourth commandment, associated by God inseparably with the moral laws? Read the connection. What is it? Is it, one man believeth he must worship Jehovah; another, who is weak, worshipeth idols? One believeth that he must not commit murder, adultery or theft, and another thinks he may? Were those the laws about which they were contending, and with which were connected the days that he speaks of? No; about those laws there was no dispute.
But "One believeth that he may eat all things," (which are nourishing, whether allowed in the ceremonial law, which regulated such things, or not;) "another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him." Those were the laws about which they were contending, and with regard to which the Apostle was giving them instruction. It was not the moral, but the ceremonial laws; and the days spoken of were those which were connected, not with the former but with the latter.
So, in the second chapter of Colossians, "Let no man judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths." The sabbaths spoken of are not "the Sabbath" associated with, Thou shalt not commit murder, or adultery, or theft; but the sabbaths associated with meats and drinks, and new moons, which were, indeed shadows of things to come. But to take what he said about those sabbaths which were associated by God with ceremonial laws, and which the Apostle himself, in this very discourse, associates with them, and apply it, as some have done, to "the Sabbath" which God associated with moral laws, is wrong.
"Blotting out" he says, "the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, nailing it to his cross." But the day of weekly rest from the business and cares of this world, for the purpose of worshiping God and promoting the salvation of souls, is never spoken of in the Bible as being against men, or contrary to them. No; it always was, and always will be, for them. That Sabbath was made for man, not against him.
To take what the Apostle has said about those sabbaths associated by God—and by Paul himself also, in the very discourse in question—with ceremonial laws, and apply it to "the Sabbath" about which he was not speaking, and which God has associated with moral laws, is utterly wrong. No honest lawyer, that understands his business, will ever interpret laws in that way. Concerning those "carnal ordinances" which the apostle speaks of, which were against men, and which stood in meats and drinks, and new moons, and divers washings, sabbaths and other things, which were not designed to be permanent, we say, with Paul, "Touch not, taste not, handle not."
While with regard to spiritual ordinances, "the Sabbath" and the moral law of which it forms an inseparable part, we say, and we feel with the Lord of Paul, "It was made for man." The Saviour came not to destroy that law, but to fulfill it; and in preaching the Gospel, neither he, nor Paul, nor any minister, who preaches like them, ever makes void that law, but always establishes it. And till heaven and earth pass away, it will not pass away.
God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, not that the moral law should be abolished, but that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled in them that walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And thus only will the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus make them free from the law of sin and death. Thus it has been, and thus it will be. Those men, wherever found, will delight in the law of God after the inward man. God, according to his promise, will write it upon their hearts, and they will have respect to all his commandments. The Sabbath will be to them a delight. The holy of the Lord will be honorable, and they will honor him by devoting the day, not to purposes of worldly business, traveling or amusement, but to his worship, and to the spiritual good of men.
Says the celebrated Dr. Chalmers, "We never in the whole course of our recollections, met with a Christian who bore upon his character every other evidence of the Spirit's operation, who did not remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. We appeal to the memory of all the worthies who are lying in their graves, that, eminent as they were in every other grace and accomplishment of the new creature, the religiousness of their Sabbath day shone with equal lustre amid the fine assemblage of virtues which adorned them. In every Christian household, it will be found that the discipline of a well-ordered Sabbath is never forgotten among the old lessons of a Christian education; and we appeal to every individual who now hears us, and who carries the remembrance in his bosom of a father's worth and a father's piety, if, on the coming round of the seventh day, an air of a peculiar sacredness did not spread itself over that mansion where he drew his first breath, and was taught to repeat his infant hymn, and lisp his infant prayer. Rest assured that the Christian, having the love of God written in his heart, and denying the Sabbath a place in his affections, is an anomaly that is nowhere to be found. Every Sabbath image, with every Sabbath circumstance, is dear to him. He loves the quietness of that hallowed morn. He loves the retirement of this day from the din of worldly business and the inroads of worldly men. He loves the leisure it brings along with it; and sweet to his soul is the exercise of that hallowed hour, when there is no eye to witness him but the eye of Heaven, and when, in solemn audience with the Father who seeth him in secret, he can, on the wings of celestial contemplation, leave all the cares and all the secularities of an alienated world behind him."
And sweet especially is the hour when his communion and fellowship are truly with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. Then in joyful anticipation of the time when, with the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven, he shall see him as he is, and be like Him, his joy may emphatically be said to be full. And in the keeping of his Sabbaths, with their attendant means of grace, and in the discharge of the various and appropriate duties of life, God will guide him by his counsel, and afterwards receive him to glory; and then will he raise him from glory to glory, to endless ages.
"The Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life."
SOME say, "The letter killeth: let us not mind that much lest we be killed: let us seek after the inward light, the Spirit that giveth life. Much study of the written Word is dangerous," &c. Such I think understand not whereof they affirm. "The letter killeth." The letter of what? Of the New Testament, the context answers; and the sequel of the chapter, shows, that the letter of the New Testament is what was written and engraven in tables of stone, that is, the Decalogue, or ten commandments. This is according to what is written in Jer. xxxi, 33. After those days saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, &c. and what law can that be, but that which Jesus Christ sums up in two commands: to love our God and to love our neighbour. The above prophecy, Paul applies to the New Testament dispensation. Heb. viii, 10; x, 16. "The law then kills, condemns, curses, knows no mercy." Not too fast. The law is properly an impress of the character of its great author, our Creator and our God. Is he good, long-suffering, gracious, merciful? So must his law be. He must demand the like characteristics of us, and there is an implied obligation on his part, to be the perfect pattern of all he requires of us. The second commandment closes thus: "Showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." Is there here no mercy? Nay, to my mind, the law is replete with mercy. Ay, but what say you to those previous words of the second commandment. "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:"—Ans. Mark the last words: of them that hate me; and learn a principle, just and equal in the divine government. Sinner, hater of God, dost thou approve of the crimes of thy father, or of any of thy ancestors; dost thou inherit the wages of their iniquity, and shalt thou escape the just judgment of God? Saint, lover of God, dost thou approve of the righteousness of thy father, or of any of thy ancestors, and dost thou willingly inherit from them, the poverty, the shame, or the reproach which a wicked world heaped upon them for their piety; and shalt thou not with them be blessed? God's ways are equal. Are we sinners? all the sins that we approve of, become in a sense, our own: for the commandment is exceeding broad, and reaches to the thoughts and intents of the heart. Are we saints? We are partakers of all the righteous acts of which we approve, and which we would perform if we could. Does the law kill, or condemn the sinner? and is it not a mercy that it does? It cuts up by the roots his self-righteous hopes, and makes him despair of being saved otherwise than by the grace, and mercy of God. Being thus killed by the letter, he is now, for the first time prepared to be made alive by the Spirit of the New Testament, that is, by the mercy grace, and love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The sinner repents, looks up, prays to God, confesses his sins, and believes in Jesus Christ. His heart is broken. His heart is changed. It receives the impress of God's law, so that he loves it; loves God, loves saints, and pities sinners. Condemnation, to him, ceases; for he is freely justified by faith in Jesus Christ. The ministration of the Spirit, whose fruits are faith, hope, and love, remains. He has passed from death unto life; old things are passed away, and behold all things become new. Not, that God, or his law, or his people, or the earth has passed away, but he sees with new eyes, and in new light, a God whom he adores, a law which he loves, and a people whom he fellowships.
WATSTILL PHILLIPS.
Cuba, Fulton Co., Ill., 1854.
BE NOT OFFENDED.
By Bickersteth
Do not be offended at the reproaches to which the professed expectation of the coming of Christ exposes you, from all classes of men. It is the generation truth, that is, the one which is peculiarly important in this generation, and opposes the whole stream and current of men's opinions by the simple testimony of God's word, and therefore it is the truth every where spoken against. A well instructed Bible Christian will not be stumbled at this, and when he has carefully searched the foundations, and is perfectly satisfied that he has the word of God to rest upon, will hear with the utmost calmness the charges of the Millenarian epidemic, dangerous novelties, fanciful schemes, and a thousand other names by which men will endeavor to swamp all these truths without coming to the plain statements of scripture.
The most painful thing is, when the truly pious join in these things, and like Peter to his Lord, say, (Matt. xvi. 22.) Be it far from thee; but he who once himself has been thus prejudiced, and has seen in his own painful, past, personal experience, that prejudice has neither eye nor ear, will readily make allowance for such a state of mind, and by patient forbearing, and loving manifestation of the truth, commend it to the consciences of all men.—Bickersteth.
A Warning to Christians.
Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, shall be saved. Matt. xxiv, 10-13.
It is well known that seasons of great and general excitement, whether arising from political or other causes, are fraught with danger to the mental stability of many individuals. There are times when some dreadful epidemic seems to seize hold of the minds of men, when a blind excitement pervades all classes; and few escape the infection. Times of war and revolution are eminently such, and tend greatly to unsettle men's minds, to work them up into an unhealthy, feverish state, creating a morbid desire for an unwholesome stimulus. When events occur which powerfully effect the general mind, when nations are roused into energetic and unwonted action; when old-established and world-wide systems are verging on dissolution, then is the individual mind, even of the man of God, liable to be unbalanced, to lose, as it were, its foothold, and be silently but surely borne away, by the passion that sways the hour, into the gulf of forgetfulness of God; such times were impending when Jesus replied to his disciples' question, and the same warnings and injunctions given them, will apply to all similar occasions. "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." "See that ye be not troubled; in your patience possess ye your souls," that is, in patient continuance in well-doing, possess the mastery over your own minds: be not carried away by the prevailing spirit. Be watchful and prayerful. Such is the tenor of some of the injunctions, given in view of the approaching evils.126It will be evident to all who take notice of the course of public and political events, and who does not, in these latter days, when so many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased? that events of no common import are about to transpire. The voices of the prophets, with one consent, testify that national convulsions; famines, pestilences, earthquakes, &c., must precede the much-desired era of rest and peace under the Messiah. The proclamation of Joel rings in our ears, "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; assemble and come all ye nations, and gather yourselves together round about." We already see the greater part of the world in arms, and we look also for the crumbling to pieces of an old established system, corrupted from its original, divine simplicity, grown old in wantonness and crime, joined with the rulers of the world in an unholy union, that they might "eat up God's people, as if they were bread;" we look for the day when the proud shall be abased, and the Lord alone be exalted. But the overthrow of Babylon will be mighty, and how many noble beings will be involved in her fall? As it is said in the book of Daniel, "Many of them of understanding shall fall through seducers, who shall cleave to them by flatteries."
Whether these things are at hand or not, the fact remains; a war spirit is abroad, a spirit of hatred and delusion. It is its contaminating influence that we fear—it is the demoralizing influence of familiarity with the ideas of war and bloodshed—it is the unhealthy excitement, the bitter party spirit, that is, evil, and causes evil to spread.
Let it not be said there is no danger to Christ's disciples from these causes. There is danger; because "when iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Such are the mysterious and inexplicable sympathies which bind man to man, which forbid a separate and isolated interest, that we catch unconsciously the prevalent tone, and we know not till the mind is warped and unsettled, and thus, being in an unhealthy state, it is ready to receive and to conceive evil. The moral scourge is more destructive even than the pestilence.
In extraordinary times, God will grant to his chosen, extraordinary help. Of this blessed truth we have many assurances; but our space forbids their transcription. The reader may turn to Job v, 17-24; Isa. xxxiii, 10-17; Ps. xxxiii; and many other passages to the same purpose.
In view of the evils which are certainly coming upon us, and of others which may be near, how ought the believers in Jesus to be drawing closer and firmer, the bonds of christian and brotherly love, so that united, they may the better resist the insidious approach of disaffection to the cross of Christ. That, united, they may watch over and strengthen one another; and by keeping aloof from the spirit of the world, "build themselves up in the most holy faith," and "having done all, to stand with their loins girt about with truth, their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and their hearts filled with the love of God; praying always, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, as well as themselves."
The time must come when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, when the veil which custom, reserve, or prudence has drawn over the faces of most of men, shall be torn away. Then will "the sinners in Zion be afraid," then will "fearfulness surprise the hypocrites," Isa. xxxiii, 14. The words of Jesus, "many shall be offended, and shall betray one another; and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold"—ring the death knell of many a fair profession.
Let then the followers of Jesus, who are seeking for glory, honor and incorruptibility, bethink themselves, and in view of the dangers to which the tone and stability of the individual mind is exposed, from the stir and the excitement, and the party spirit, now working amongst the people; let them exercise caution, watchfulness and prayer; let them use self-denial, self-possession, self-control, and faith in God's promises; let them be earnest and diligent in every good work, that they may be marked out as people who look beyond the present world, and who recognize the hand of God in all events. Let them not be led away by the spirit of the time, but strive the more earnestly to live "soberly, righteously and godly, in the present world, looking for the appearing of the great God and our Saviour. And may the Lord direct their hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ."
—Moncrieff's Expositor, Scotland.
Truth Vindicated.
By Editor
[Bro. Lindsey from Vermont writes:—While in Canada I found an old book entitled Truth Vindicated, written upwards of 60 years ago, with the following word to a Sabbath-breaker, which I think is applicable to the present time.]
Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Have you forgotten who spoke these words? Or do you set him at defiance? Do you bid him do his worst? Have a care. You are not stronger than he. Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth; but wo unto the man that contendeth with his Maker; he sitteth on the circle of the heavens, and the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers before him! Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. It is not thine, but God's day. He claims it for his own. He always did claim it for his own, even from the beginning of the world. In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. He hallowed it; that is, he made it holy; he reserved it for his own service. He appointed that as long as the sun, or the moon, the heavens and the earth should endure, the children of men should spend this day in the worship of him, who gave them life and breath and all things. Shall a man then rob God? And art thou the man? Consider, think what thou art doing. Is it not God who giveth thee all thou hast? Every day thou livest, is it not his gift? And wilt thou give him none? Nay, wilt thou deny him what is his own already. He will not, he cannot quit his claim. This day is God's. It was so from the beginning. It will be so to the end of the world. This he cannot give to another. O render unto God the things that are God's. Now! To-day, while it is called to-day!
For whose sake does God lay claim to this day? For his sake or for thine? Doubtless, not for his own. He needeth not thee, nor any child of man. Look unto the heavens and see, and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him? If thy transgressions be multiplied, what dost thou unto him? If thou art righteous, what givest thou him? Or what receiveth he at thine hand? For thine own sake therefore, God thy Maker doth this. For thine own sake he calleth thee to serve him. For thine own sake, he demands a part of thy time, to be restored to him that gave thee all. Acknowledge his love. Learn, while on earth to praise the King of heaven. Spend this day, as thou hopest to spend that day which never shall have an end.
The Lord not only hallowed the Sabbath-day, but he hath also blessed it, so that you are an enemy to yourself. You throw away your own blessing, if you neglect to keep this day holy. It is a day of special grace. * Awake, arise, let God give thee his blessing! Receive a token of his love! Cry to him that thou mayest find the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus! You do not know how many more of these days of salvation you may have. And how dreadful would it be, to be called hence in the abuse of his proffered mercy. O what mercy hath God prepared for you, if you do not trample it under foot. What mercy hath he prepared for them that fear him even before the sons of men! A peace which the world cannot give; joy, that no man taketh from you; rest from doubt and fear, and sorrow of heart; and love, the beginning of heaven. And are not these for you? Are they not purchased for you by him who loved you, and gave himself for you? You a rebel against God! You who have so long crucified him afresh! Now look unto him whom you have pierced! Now say, Lord, it is enough. I have fought against thee long enough. I yield, Jesus Master, have mercy on me.
On this day, above all, cry aloud and spare not, to the God who heareth prayer. This is the day he hath set apart for the good of your soul, both in this world and that which is to come. Never more disappoint the design of his love, either by worldly business or idle diversions. * Let his love be ever before your eyes. Let his praise be ever in your mouth. You have lived many years in folly and sin. Now live one day unto the Lord.
You have heard of God's judgments even upon earth against the profaners of this day, and yet these are but as drops of that storm of fiery indignation which will at last devour his adversaries. O my friend know the privilege you enjoy. Now remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Your day of life and of grace is far spent. Make haste to use the time you have. Improve the last hours of your day. Now seek the things which make for your peace, that you may stand before the face of God with pleasure for ever.
The Lord Cometh!
Yes the Lord cometh. Behold he cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. He cometh forth of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the fire, and as waters that are poured down a steep place. He cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall weep and wail because of him. As He ascended into heaven, even so this same Jesus cometh in like manner—He cometh with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. He cometh with power and great glory—in all the glory of his Father, and with all his holy angels; and he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
He cometh in that great and dreadful day of the Lord—that great day which is near, and hasteth greatly; in that day when the mighty men shall cry bitterly—that day, which will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasting and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, and a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and high towers. He cometh in that day when the trumpet shall be blown in Zion, and an alarm sounded in all God's holy mountain; and when all the inhabitants of the land will tremble. He cometh in that day which shall burn as an oven, when all the proud, yea, and all who do wickedly, shall be as stubble; and He that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts. And he cometh in that day of the Lord which will be cruel both with wrath and fierce anger; which will come as a day of destruction from the Almighty, when all hands will faint, and all hearts melt; when God will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; when the arrogance of the127proud will cease, and the haughtiness of the terrible be laid low; when God will lay the land desolate and destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Yes, the Lord cometh. He cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, glorious in his apparel, travailing in the greatness of his strength, speaking righteousness and mighty to save. He has trodden the winepress alone, and of the people, there were none with him; he will tread them in his anger, and trample them in his fury; for the day of vengeance is in his heart, and the year of his redeemed is come.
"Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
Let the field be joyful and all that is therein;
Then let all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for He cometh!
For he cometh to judge the earth!
He shall judge the world with righteousness!
And the people with his truth!!"
Yes, He cometh; and he that cometh will come and will not tarry. He says surely I come quickly; and who will not respond—Even so come, Lord Jesus? He cometh to reign; to try every man's work of what sort it is, and to render to every man according as his work shall be. He cometh to cleanse the earth, to beautify it and purify it, to make the wilderness like Eden, and the desert like the garden of the Lord.
How important it is, that we should meditate on his coming; that it should be the subject of our nightly prayer, the burden of our morning thoughts, and the theme of our noon-day conversation. It should occupy our sleeping, and our waking hours. How solemn the thought that the Lord COMETH! Those words should be in our hearts continually, and we should teach them diligently to our children; we should talk of them when we sit in the house, and when we walk by the way; when we lie down, and when we rise up, and when we are about our daily occupation; we should bind them for a sign upon our hand, and a frontlet between our eyes, and write them on the tablet of our hearts; we should engrave them on the posts of our houses and on our gates; and say to all continually, The Lord cometh. He cometh as a refiner's fire, and as fuller's soap; and who shall stand when he appeareth.
"Pray without Ceasing."
This commandment or exhortation ought to be obeyed, and may be obeyed. O what a lack there is of realizing the importance of prayer! Much is said about it, but we do not feel as we should. If one is wanting in true wisdom, lively faith, or sinew of religious character, he frequently complains, and wonders what is the matter, but forgets that he neglects a necessary earnestness and frequency of closet prayers. When such a one does kneel down to pray, perhaps he does not resolve, like a wrestling Jacob, "I will not let thee go unless thou bless me." Is not the fault here? The soul wants food. Prayer time is its meal time. No wonder, then, that the soul is weak, that will not eat heartily—that is not in earnest at prayer. But if the fault is not here, is it not because the seasons for prayer are too few and far between? No wonder that the soul droops that is only seldom at the table of heavenly manna. Of such a one, there may be danger of death by famine, of the "second death." O that professors could see the evils of neglecting prayer! But there is another, and perhaps a more common way, of bringing barrenness to the soul, and that is, not so much the want of seasons of earnestness or of going alone often to pray, but the habit of going forth from the closet without remembering the voice heard there, without improving the grace, and using the strength received there. In short, it is the habit of rushing out of the closet into the whirl of worldly business, without carrying along the spirit to "pray without ceasing," without watching unto prayer, so that ten minutes after enjoying a blessing on his knees, the careless soul is so plunged into the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life that it is difficult for him to say whether he enjoys any religion. Dear reader, will you allow me to ask you to look back on your past life, and see if this has not sometimes been the case with you.