A SABBATH-SCHOOL superintendent, wishing to have a great commemoration of the happy Christmas time, built up tier after tier in the spacious cathedral, and arranged trees between them, hanging cages of canaries among the fragrant branches. Over the cages, he suspended blankets. When the time arrived, and the children filled aisles and transepts, and the charmed spectators crowded the galleries, all at once the blankets were lifted, and the sunlight, the warmth, the fragrant trees, woke up the slumbering birds, who broke forth in tuneful song, filling the whole space with delicious music. To complete the charm, the children raised their harmonious voices, and gallery on gallery swelled the great volume of melody as it ascended in that grand song, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name!”
Christ is building tier on tier in the temple of the heavens, where he is suspending the caged birds of melodious voices among the invisible groves of the tree of life. Soon will the high day arrive, the angel’s trump sound, and the blankets of the grave be raised, and the warmth and light and beauty of Heaven will waken every tuneful power, and the assembled angels and archangels will sing with the redeemed and astounded saints, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name!” filling the whole Heaven with one volume of unequaled song, great as the voice of many waters and of mighty thunder, harmonious as the concert of ten thousand harps.—Bishop Thomson’s “Evidences of Revelation.”
Motives of Gratitude.
By President Nott
Man, so fearfully and so wonderfully made, was not left unprotected and unprovided for, an outcast on the earth. On the contrary, by day and by night alike, an Eye has watched for his happiness that never slumbers—an arm has been stretched out for his defense that never tires. It is that arm that sustains him during the helplessness of childhood, that shields him amid the perils of youth, and props his enfeebled constitution, when sinking beneath the infirmities of age. For none are mercies conveyed by accident. It was God that kindled that sun that lights the laborer by day, and planted those stars that guide the wanderer by night. His are those showers that bring forward the harvest, and his those dews that ripen the vintage. The good and the bad alike experience his care, and subsist upon his bounty. Not even the veriest wretch can deny that God has fed and clothed him—that he has nourished and brought him up. And are there no motives in these considerations to induce rebellious man to return to his allegiance? Is God, then, a friend that may be forgotten? His mercies, too; deserve they no requital? Ah, shall this earth of ours be cursed forever with the crime of cold ingratitude?—and yonder heavens, which have witnessed God's goodness, always hear him say, in reference to the race and the abode of man: “There, in that ungrateful world, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me?”—President Nott.
The Stewardship of Wealth
ONE SAYS, “I will give to-morrow,” to excuse himself from giving to-day. Alas! do you know whether you shall be alive to-morrow in this place? Another says, “I am poor, I have need enough myself for all my means.” Yes, you are poor, you are destitute, but it is of love, of benignity, of faith, and of mercy. A third says, “Whom do I wrong? I keep only mine own.” I ask you, From whom did you receive those riches? and whence did you bring them? Did you not come naked from your mother’s womb, and shall you not return naked to the dust? Whence did this wealth come? From chance? What is this atheism? If you confess that you received it from God, why did it fall to your lot rather than another’s? God is not unrighteous in the unequal division of property among men. Why are you rich and that man poor? It is that you may receive the reward of dispensing your goods faithfully, and that the poor may receive the recompense of his patience. When, therefore, you appropriate to yourself that wealth which belongs to many, and of which you are only the steward, you act unjustly. —Basil.
A Quaker’s Practical Question
A QUAKER, once hearing a person tell how much he had felt for another who was in distress, and needed assistance, dryly asked him: “Friend, hast thou felt in thy pocket for him?”
Sympathy.
By Adams
He who has had experience of great and sore trials, and has borne them well, is the most cheerful companion to a sorrowing heart. Having sounded the depths of affliction, he can best guide his friend in them. Desponding Christian, in the river of Death, said to Hopeful, “I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head; all His waves go over me.” Hopeful said, “Be of good cheer, my brother; I can feel the bottom, and it is good.” Having partaken of the affliction and of the consolation, such a one can bring a smile of peace and even joy upon a careworn soul, when prosperous friends would only deepen the gloom. Let the angel of the Lord encamp around me to deliver me, but give me the “Man of Sorrows” for my friend. I want a friend who has been “stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.”—Adams.
Spiritual Faith Opposes Carnal Reasonings
SPIRITUAL faith always opposes carnal reasonings.
Why are God's Favorites, Man's Favorites?
IN this life are found two classes of human beings, and two grades of happiness. There are those whom God has bountifully blessed, and those whom He has apparently forgotten. One has the pleasure and happiness therefrom of possessing many of the most fascinating gifts given to mortals and added always to these the kindliest smiles and gifts of love from man. The other, stinted and limited at birth with talents and abilities, is shunned and frowned upon by most of those they meet. To one, happiness is offered in abundance; while the other plans and contrives, sighs and wishes for the bright light of joy to lighten his pathway. Now to whom much is given, of him much is expected. But do we see the one with ten talents giving to his neighbor who has only one talent? No. He sits with content on his brow, admired and praised, the great recipient of man's favors. All bow before him, because God has made him a special heir of nature's bounty, instead of his giving to those less favored of his mighty inheritance. He forgets that many are the passing poor day-laborers, or the humble housewife, economizing her scanty supplies to give to one whom God has already given enough. Why is it that people pass the pale, scarred face with scornful look and give their sweetest smiles to the peerless beauty? Does she that has much need more? Would it not be better to smile on the disconsolate, care-worn face than on the face beaming with happiness? If God has made their life pleasant, need man try to do more? Is it his favorites who need to be cheered by Christmas gifts? I watch the many that come and go from the Christmas tree, and note the ones that oftenest go. Are they the poor laundress and kitchen maid, the blind and lame, the orphan and invalid, the humpback and tawny face? No. God has passed by these, and so has man. But the bright faces, the graceful figures, the heirs of wealth and renown, come and go ladened and loaded with gifts of love and pride. These are remembered. It seems a pleasure to give to those who have, and a duty to those who have not. But are we not doing these things in commemoration of Christ? And did he forget the poor, the halt and despised? Did he bestow his charities only on the great, the rich, and beautiful? Then do we not honor man more than Christ, when we give to the fortunate and forget or neglect the unfortunate? Are we not rejecting the great example given to us when we leave the homeless and motherless to map out their own happiness without the encouraging of those whom God has generously favored? Think of it and let man's favors fall where they are needed; where they will inspire and encourage, where they will lift the gloomy curtain of despair and let in the soft, warm rays which come from the kindness of loving friends.— Vt Gazette.
Gathering with Christ.
By Ester Olsen
When Christ was on earth, he wrought many miracles, so many that the scribes and Pharisees feared his influence on the people. They were greatly troubled when they found that he was mightier than they, and that so many people believed on him and turned from their doctrines and practices; and they accused him of many things and sought to slay him. Thus they did because they could not bear the plain teachings of Christ and the word of truth.
Jesus could read their hearts. He knew how they loved Satan’s delusions and hated the light that he had brought into the world, and he often reproved them for their unbelief and hardness of heart.
On one occasion, when replying to them, he said: “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.”
And now the question comes home with force to each of us, In which class am I? Am I gathering with Christ? or am I scattering abroad? Does my influence tell on the side of truth? or on the side of error? We cannot stand on neutral ground. We are either for Christ or against him. We are either seeking our own benefit, or, like our perfect Pattern, seeking to do good to others. Jesus came to save the lost. He toiled, and suffered, and denied self. Let us examine our own hearts and see if we are willing to work. James says that “faith without works is dead,” and I really think that is one reason why so many are troubled with unbelief. They are not willing to work or suffer, but think that the Lord can do it all. We cannot stand still in our spiritual experience. We are either moving forward or backward. The enemy is always at work, and when we are off our watch he takes the advantage of us and leads us into error.
How necessary, then, that we are always watchful, that we work for Jesus, and that we strive to gather with him. However high or low our station in life may be, we all can do something. We are responsible for the light that is given us; for Christ says to us, as well as to his first disciples, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” He has not placed us here to live for self, and benefit only self; but, as he sends light to shine upon our pathway, he wants us to give it to those around us in our daily life and by our example. This we shall do, if our life is hid with Christ in God.
When we closely examine ourselves, are our walk and conversation such as becometh Christians? Christ says that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” The psalmist says, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.”
Again, Christ says, “The tree is known by its fruit.” And so are we known, not by what we say in meeting, not by our long and well-repeated prayers, but by our daily walk and conversation. How earnestly we should strive to keep our hearts right, to be cleansed from all sin, to possess that lowly spirit which the Saviour had, and to have the love of God abiding in us, so that we can bear fruit to the honor and glory of God, and by our example can save some poor, wandering soul.
Jesus came to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel; and on our account he has been tempted and tried, and has suffered the most shameful death. He has said that through him we can have eternal life, but it is on condition. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Let us crucify self, pride, and vanity, and live humble, so that we can have a gathering influence on those around us, and bring perishing souls to Christ. Let us honor him with our lives, so that it may be said of us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
ESTER OLSEN.
Battle Creek.
THE ONE HOPE.
By James White
(Concluded.)
TEXT.—“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph. 4:4–6.
God is the same in every age. He has ever been ready to make sinners holy. He is no more ready in the nineteenth century than in the first. The devil is not changed, only, shall I be permitted to say, that he is a very dull scholar, if he has not advanced in skill during eighteen hundred years. It is just as hard to wrench sinners from his grasp as it was eighteen hundred years ago, if not a little harder. Human nature has not changed, only for the worse. Man’s moral sense of heavenly things is becoming weaker and more blunted, and the task of making men believe and turn to Christ is growing harder. And here we are, with all these difficulties, plodding our way along in that portion of the world represented by the feet and toes of iron and clay; and yet the church is singing the world asleep with this song of the golden age and the world’s conversion.
Please view the gospel as an experiment. Abraham had the gospel. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. The patriarchs preached to the world, and lived godly in the world. Was the experiment tried of the conversion of men? And what has it done? A few were saved. The prophets received their light direct from Heaven, and had as mighty a testimony to bear as any men that have lived since that time. Daniel stood forth as a man of God aided of Heaven. Behold him in the lion’s den. What a miracle of preserving grace! See the three worthies passing through the fiery furnace. It was enough to strike the world with awe! They came out without the smell of fire upon their garments! Has there been anything more wonderful since Christ? God was with Noah in the ark. What an everlasting check we might suppose was there made to sin. Only a few saved in the ark! Only a few! Lot was a righteous man. And when commanded to flee, as God was about to destroy Sodom, we hear the plea raised, Would not the city be saved if there were fifty righteous persons found there? Yes. If forty-five be found? Yes. If forty be found? Yes. Can the city be saved if thirty be found? Yes. Twenty? Yes. Ten? Yes. But there were not ten righteous persons in Sodom. There was not salt enough in Sodom to save it. Lot had to flee.
We might refer to the wonders wrought in the past. See the children of Israel, as the Red Sea opens before them. See them pass over Jordan dry shod. See them march around Jericho, blowing their simple rams’ horns. Myriads of unseen angels are sent down to prostrate the mighty walls of Jericho.
Notwithstanding the prophets were mighty, the patriarchs and prophets were endowed with power from on high, and their works, their teachings, and the truths which they taught, were demonstrated with miracles, but few would believe.
In due time, the great Teacher comes. Never man spoke like this man. Never were such miracles seen as were wrought by him. Never such preaching heard as he uttered! Never was there such a minister as he! What power attended him! See him, as he goes into the temple with a scourge of small cords. See the buyers and sellers rush out, overturning the tables of the money-changers and those that sold doves. Were they frightened at this Nazarene with the simple whip in his hand? No. It was the power of God that attended him that caused them to flee. They cared no more for his whip than they would for this pointer in my hand. But divine power was with him.
Behold him in all the tenderness of his soul weeping at the grave of Lazarus. You hear his voice, “Lazarus, come forth;” and he that had been dead four days came forth. What a proof of divine power was that! We might suppose that the country all around would have been converted at once, if conversion of all men were possible. But after he had borne his testimony, and after he had wrought his miracles, the result of all his preaching was only a handful of disciples. Behold him sitting upon the eminence of the mount of Olives, looking down upon the city. The divine Son of God, in tears, gives utterance to his grief in these words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Matt. 23:37, 38.
They might have come to him; but they would not. They heard his teaching, but followed him not. The masses rejected him. The gospel, says Paul, is a savor of death unto death, or of life unto life. The gospel will save a few, and the gospel will condemn the masses and seal them to destruction.
Behold the Son of God, as in tenderness he wept at the grave of Lazarus! With what pleasure he ministered to his handful of disciples. He works miracles. He feeds the multitude in the liberality of his soul. His work was done. How oft would he have gathered his people! All Jerusalem might have been gathered, but they would not. Then said Christ, “Behold your house is left unto you desolate.”
The apostles were sent out with a commission from their Leader. They received power from on high. Gifts, and mighty signs, and wonders of the Holy Ghost, were to follow them during their ministry. Now, if it were possible to convert the world in any age, why do we not find, with this grand experiment of the gospel, that it succeeded in the days of the apostles? They come to this village and preach. They go to that place and labor. Signs and miracles follow, but few believe.
If it is possible to convert the world at any time, then why not possible to convert some one town, some one city, some one hamlet, some one village? But did the apostles succeed in this? You cannot point, in the history of the church, to any one city, any one village, or any one town, where all were converted.
Martin Luther and his associates were men of power. God was with Luther. He was enabled to bring over some to Christ. But look over old Germany to-day. Pass into England, and over all Protestant Europe, and can you point out one city, one village, or one town, where all have become Christ’s? In this grand experiment of the gospel, in which all the means and agencies of Heaven are employed, we do not find that in any one locality has it succeeded in converting all the people. My dear friends, if the gospel was designed to convert all men, then, thus far, it has proved a failure, with dubious prospects for the future.
But, as we have shown, the prophets of the Old Testament have pointed to no such a hope. Jesus Christ and his apostles did not hold out to the church any such hope.
But there is another hope cherished by the church, equally false; and that is, that at death the Christian enters Heaven. Hence, in all the popular sermons of the day, you are pointed to death for your reward, when your joys will commence. “Death,” as the poet sings, “is the gate to endless joy.”
That which the apostle has represented as man’s last enemy, is made his best friend. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Death, the last enemy of the just, is destroyed by the first resurrection. How oft have we heard, on funeral occasions, or when our friends have fallen asleep in Jesus, “They have gotten the victory over death. They have finally come to the point where death, their best friend, has cut the string of mortality, and let the immortal soul free.” This we regard as a false hope. The Scriptures nowhere sustain it. The Scriptures do not represent that the Christian obtains any victory at death. It is true that the Christian, having lived a life of holiness, as he comes nearer to the end of his probation, and to that period of sleep in Jesus, may triumph in hope of the glory of God. It may be for the benefit of surviving friends, and as a matter of comfort in the church, that the evidence be given that the deceased was prepared for such a change. The Spirit of God may rest down upon him, and with his last breath he may shout the high praises of God.
The Christian may rejoice that death is soon to bring his sufferings to an end; but all this does not constitute proof that death lets the supposed immortal part in man free from the body to ascend to the heavenly world, while the body shall be carried to the grave. The experiences of Christians, triumphing in the last hour, does not prove that there is an immortal part in man that at death takes its flight to the glories of the heavenly world. The theology of the church being wrong, the experiences in the church have been mistaken. It is consistent with the character of God that thus our dying friends may leave evidence to show God’s approval of a holy and godly life.
I have said that the Christian does not gain victory over death in the last moments of dissolving nature. To illustrate: A person in middle life becomes diseased from wrong habits. Death threatens him, and he becomes a temperate man, and lives according to the laws of life and health; and, as the result, death is averted for a season. He is now holding the victory over death, in a certain sense. While he is pursuing such a course, death is still struggling for him. But he, by temperate living, is pushing death into the future. Death is compelled to stand back, and let him live to a good old age. So far, he is getting victory over death. But according to the fatal decree, the hour at last comes for his dissolution. Now, says Death, you can put me off no longer. Death advances. It matters not who the person is. It may be Abraham. It may be a holy apostle, a reformer, a Luther, a Wesley. Death advances, and as the holy man of God yields to his power, why not desire that the strife should cease, and, as did the venerable Wesley, exclaim, “When will the weary springs of life stand still?” He had lived a holy life, had finished his course, and now must die. Death claims him as his victim, and lays him in the grave. Death is the victor now.
Instead of the dying Christian getting victory over death, this is the hour of death’s triumph, according to the decree of God on account of sin and man’s fallen condition. But, glory to God in the highest, life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel. The grave will not long hold the sleeping just. We hear Paul proclaim the victories of the Son of God over death, in these triumphant words: “Behold I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. . . . Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
At the last trump, and not at death, victory comes to the Christian. It is then that the Christian gets victory over death, being free, forever free from his power. He then exclaims, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
We hear, by way of Patmos, Rev. 1:18, the Life-giver, saying, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell [the grave] and of death.” Jesus Christ, crucified on Calvary, passed into the tomb, and was raised by the power of the Father, triumphing over death. As he arose, he seized the keys of death and the grave, and with triumph ascended on high. Death may hold a Luther, a Wesley, a Miller, until the hour when the triumph of sin, and Satan, and death, must cease at the descent of the King of kings in glory, to unlock the tombs, open the graves, and bring forth all the just, who have felt the last sting of death, and over whom the grave holds the victory. Hear that universal shout from the redeemed, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” It is then, and not at death, that the Christian has the victory over death. But the apostle has spoken directly upon this point: “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen.”
There were those in Paul’s day who questioned the resurrection of the dead, the same as the spiritualists and others do at the present time. “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen.” The apostle makes the one to depend upon the other. If Christ is raised, the dead will be raised; but if Christ is not raised, the dead will not be raised.
The gospel of the resurrection of the dead is all based upon the resurrection of Christ. “Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ; whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.”
The apostles took their lives in their hands and went forth to preach the gospel. That gospel was based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ; and Paul reasons, that if Christ had risen, then the dead would be raised; but if the dead were not to be raised, then Christ was not risen. Then their faith and their preaching were vain. But Christ had risen from the dead. The gospel was a reality, because the dead would be raised.
The next verse contains a tremendous conclusion, to which I wish to call your attention: “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” But, says popular theology, Abraham triumphed in faith, and his immortal soul went home to Heaven. And there is Lazarus in his bosom in Heaven. And should there be no resurrection, Abraham is well enough off; Abraham is saved. The popular view teaches that Abraham, Isaac, and all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and saints of all ages are eternally safe in Heaven. Then, what does Paul mean by saying, If the dead rise not, then is your faith vain and our preaching vain, and that they who have fallen asleep in Jesus are perished? According to this testimony, if there is no second advent of Christ, Abraham, Noah, Lot, and the apostles, and the martyrs have all perished.
A certain minister in Ohio, in speaking of the second advent and the resurrection, said: “I do not see any need of a resurrection, since all the good of past ages have gone to Heaven, where there is fullness of joy.” And if I believed with this Ohio minister, I would say the same. It is not worth while to have our Lord come back here after this body, if all go right to Heaven at death, where there is fullness of joy. Why trouble the old bodies which the dying saints were so glad to get rid of, when death, “the gate to endless joy” (?) freed them from those bodies and let them into Heaven? If there is fullness of joy there, you cannot make it any fuller. If there are pleasures forever, will it be any better to have the old bodies there? Why need the Son of God, attended by all the holy angels, descend from Heaven in matchless grandeur and glory, and the voice of the archangel shake open the grand old sepulchers of the patriarchs, and the graves of the prophets and apostles, martyrs and saints, small and great, simply to call forth old bodies they were so glad to leave behind, when, according to popular orthodoxy, they all went to Heaven at death?
The hope of the gospel, the one hope, the one grand hope to which all the light of revealed truth centers, is the second advent of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the dead. If there be no resurrection of the dead, they that have fallen asleep in Christ are perished. That is the last of them. Death, in the last hour of dissolving nature, seized them, took them into its embrace, bore them to the tomb, and there they sleep, and to them death will be an eternal sleep, unless the Lord himself shall descend and wake them to immortality. But the Lord will come and unlock the prison house, and will call forth the righteous dead, clothed with immortality.
This was the hope of Adam, of Abel, of Noah, and of Job, who says, “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet, in my flesh shall I see God.”
This was the hope of the prophet Isaiah, who says, “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust.”
This was the hope of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” This is not one of our blessed hopes, as though we had others; but it is the blessed hope—the one hope, the hope of the gospel, the hope of the church of all ages.
And what a scene that will be, when Jesus, the great Life-giver, comes with all his holy angels. When the graveyards will be shaken, and the graves opened, the dead raised, the living changed! What glory and triumph! Those who have slept, whether it be one, two, three, or four thousand years, will all wake up together. And they will have no more realizing sense of the lapse of time than that person who had lain there only a day.21After sleeping perfectly eight hours, we awake, unconscious that any time has elapsed. Some people start back at the idea of unconsciousness in the grave. But is there anything unpleasant in sweet sleep? Why draw back at the thought of sleeping in Jesus? in hope of being awakened to glorious immortality? The Life-giver will come down the blazing vault of heaven to wake up all the just ones. He will appear, leading on his hosts. He comes to a grand halt in mid-heaven. He surveys the earth, that has been receiving the righteous dead for six thousand years. Their names are all written in Heaven. Angels have had their charge to watch over them. A repenting Adam had his angel; Abel, his; Noah, his; and so on, through all succeeding centuries. All the candidates for everlasting life have a guardian angel. Martin Luther had his; Miller, his. Christians of every age have had their guardian angels, to watch them during their lives. But now, the grand controversy is over. The work of watching, guarding, keeping, is done. The hour of triumph is here. Christ is in mid-heaven, and all the holy angels with him. All the guardian angels are there. They survey the earth, with its countless graves of the righteous saints, to be opened with one blast of the trump in the hand of the Son of God. The universe, as it were, stands waiting. The angels then are sent forth. They go to the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west. Each guardian angel is sent to the very grave of the saint he guarded during his life. That angel that stood by Paul in all his trials—how joyfully will he go to the grave of Paul! That angel that guarded the great reformer, Martin Luther, that saved him in perils of his time, will joyfully hasten to the grave of that noble servant of Jesus Christ. And that angel that stood by William Miller, as he labored and suffered—for which he was paid in reproaches—will take his place at the humble grave in Low Hampton, N. Y., waiting for the final summons.
Thus, the angels are detailed in every direction. See them hastening forth on wings of light. They take their position at the grave’s mouth. The voice of the Son of God is heard. It is heard everywhere. The shock is everywhere felt. The graves everywhere open, and the countless millions of saints come forth clothed in immortality. Behold at every grave the guardian angel and the guarded saint! The last thought of the dying saint was that last twinge of death, and fear of the grave.
Have you not witnessed, at the death-bed of the dying saint, that last twinge of pain? But now, they wake up. They resume the current of their thoughts just where they left off at the moment of their death. And they now exclaim, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Victory is upon every immortal tongue, while the angels are bearing them through the air, up to meet their Lord. The whole earth around is ringing with victory, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Now, the saints have gotten the victory over death.
J. W.
Tarry at Jerusalem.
By John Nevins Andrews
SUCH were the words of Christ to his disciples, on an occasion of the greatest importance. The work which they were commissioned to perform among the nations of the earth, was urgent in the extreme. But they were not themselves in a fit condition to enter upon it. They must first be endued with power from on high. For this, they were commanded to wait. When it came upon them, they spoke not simply with their natural powers, but with the special help of the Spirit of God.
There is, in this, a lesson for ourselves. Men must not go out to minister in sacred things till they are first soundly converted to God; nor even then, till they receive an unction from on high. Then they will not be discouraged at trifles; no, nor at serious obstacles. They will not count their lives dear unto themselves. They will be able to endure with patience the contradiction of sinners. They will not seek to be greatest, nor strive for the mastery over others. Their words will burn like fire in the dry stubble. Self will not be their theme, for they will preach, not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.
Without doubt, we need in our own cases this transforming power. And what we thus need, God is not only able, but willing, to supply freely and graciously. We should most earnestly seek for this divine assistance. Remember that the apostles did not wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a state of carelessness, or absorbed in worldly business. They continued in prayer and supplication. And this very work it becomes us to enter upon with an earnestness, and a singleness of purpose that is suited to the magnitude of the responsibilities which we have to bear. J. N. A.
Impure Literature.
By James White
We have received from Hon. C. L. Merriam, M. C., from New York, a copy of a speech made by him in the United States House of Representatives, on a bill for the suppression of the circulation of obscene literature, &c. The facts presented in this brief speech are truly startling. Mr. Merriam says:—
“It is terrible to contemplate that more than six thousand persons are daily employed in a carefully organized business, stimulated to activity by all the incentives that avarice and wickedness can invent, to place in the schools and homes of our country, books, pictures, and immoral appliances of so low and debasing a nature that it would seem as if the brute creation itself would turn from it in disgust.”
The extent of this business may be better appreciated when we learn that within one year, by the sole efforts of Mr. Anthony Comstock, of New York, there were destroyed in that city, “obscene photographs, stereoscopic and other pictures, more than 182,000; obscene books and pamphlets, more than 5 tons; obscene letter-press in sheets, more than 2 tons; sheets of impure songs, catalogues, handbills, &c., more than 21,000; obscene microscopic watch and knife charms and finger-rings, more than 5,000; obscene negative plates for printing photographs and stereoscopic views, about 625; obscene engraved steel and copper plates, 350; obscene lithographic stones destroyed, 20; obscene wood-cut engravings, more than 500; stereotype plates for printing obscene books, more than 5 tons; obscene transparent playing cards, 5,500 to 6,000; obscene and immoral rubber articles, over 30,000; lead moulds for manufacturing rubber goods, twelve sets, or more than 700 pounds; newspapers seized, about 4,600; letters from all parts of the country, ordering these goods, about 15,000; names of dealers in account books seized, about 6,000; list of names in the hands of dealers, that are sold as merchandise, to forward catalogues and circulars to, independent of letters and account books, seized, more than 7,000.”
Parents and guardians have no idea of the amount of such corrupting trash that is introduced among the students in all the large schools in the land. On this subject the following statement is made:—
“Among the seizures made in New York, are found twenty separate orders recorded on the books of a dealer, coming from the librarian of a public school in one of our proudest Western States.”
This is absolutely shocking. The “Prison Association” of New York, report that the traffic in these articles was never so great, or so systematically organized as at present. Houses of ill-fame and Insane Asylums are filled with the fruit of this business; as such vile reading and pictures not only corrupt, but destroy. Surely we have fallen upon “perilous times;” and the workers of this iniquity are emboldened by the knowledge that thousands in the land are publicly denouncing the marriage tie, and large conventions of spiritualists, often largely composed of people passing for “respectable,” unblushingly indorse the doctrines of Mrs. Woodhull. The signs of the times are giving a new commentary on the words of the Saviour: “As it was in the days when Lot went out of Sodom, so shall it be when the Son of man is revealed.”