"9997d7c3-476e-4c73-a403-210d12d26e40"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1619192"@en . "British Columbia Historical Books Collection"@en . "Palmer, Henry Thomas"@en . "2015-04-09"@en . "[1893?]"@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0222327/source.json"@en . "218 pages ; 20 cm"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " ^\t \"\u00E2\u0099\u00A6\"\nBjbfc* k>.*v* |\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2ec. I\n tf//z\n A MARVELLOUS\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2:'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0:. EXPERIENCE.\nCONTAINING\n%iQh\nFOR\nCHRISTIANS, SCEPTICS,\nAND WORLDLINGS.\nBY H. T. PALMER\n\Dancou\>ert 3B.G.\nTrythall, City Printing Works, 50 Cordova Street\"*\n CERTIFICATE.\nVancouver, March^27th, 1893.\nO DO HEREBY CERTIFY, that the things\n*-J written in this Book, referring to my visit to\nanother world, and experience of leaving the body on\ndifferent occasions, in March, A. D. 1888, and the\nnine visions which God has given in answer to prayer\nin connection with this work, were positively realized\nby me, and that it is not fiction, superstition, or fancy.\nAnd, furthermore, that this work has been written\nunder the influence resulting therefrom ; written\nunder the directions of God, through the key of communication, for the advancement of His kingdom,\nand for his glory : in whose presence I place my signature ; whereby I certify to the above statement.\n(Signed) Henry Thomas Palmer.\n3Yis\narmy: for his camp is very great : for he is strong\nthat executcth his word I for the day of the Lord is\ngreat and very terrible ; and who can abide it ? \"\n19. \"Yea, the Lord-will answer and say unto his\n 58\npeople, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and\noil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith : and I will no\nmore make you a reproach among the heathen.\"\n20. \"But I will remove far off from you the\nnorthern army, and will drive him into a land barren\nand desolate, with his face toward the east- ^ea, and\nhis hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink\nshall come up, and his ill savour shall come up,\nbecause he hath done great things.\"\nHow natural it was for the people who were looking\nfor the day of the Lord to expect a grand time\u00E2\u0080\u0094a\ntime of rejoicing for saints and sinners\u00E2\u0080\u0094having a\ngreat earthly kingdom set up to monopolize all other\nnations, and to be filled with earthly treasures. They\nthemselves were to b e fed and clothed with the richest\nand best of earthly blessings ; yes, all the good things\nfor self; but death and destructions for others.\nOh, how natural for the unregenerated soul to think\nthus, and to expect the pure love of God to descend\nto cultivate and feed their carnal nature with just\nwhatever they desired and how hard it was for them\nto see the real condition, of their own circumstances.\nHow hard to see the cruel monster of death, the\nleprosy of sin, the nature of self, of hate and of pride\nwhich had seized the human family, and by which\nthey themselves were separated from their God, not\nonly from the glorious presence of God in Heaven\nabove, but even from an Eden upon earth. As th\n 59\n*\nt*\nday of the Lord found those people in darkness,\nso it finds the rejectors of Christ to-day : but the\nRose of Sharon, the Star of Bethlehem is shining\nthrough the clouds, and awakening the dead ones to\nlife ; and, as the Lord warned them of the terrible\ndestruction as written in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th\nverses and spared them because they repented, so He\n-is warning people of the second death\u00E2\u0080\u0094a home in hell.\nAll who repent, by turning to the Saviour, are being\nsaved from the powers of satan, saved from the nature\nof devils, saved from a home in hell. Can God be\nperfect in love and allow sinners in Heaven ? We\nanswer, No. Could Heaven be pure and holy if a\nparticle of jealousy were there? Could Heaven be a\nhome of perfect love and pleasure if hate's cruel bands\nwere there ? Could Heaven's perfect harmony exist if\nsin's vile discord were allowed to clog the wheels?\nOh, no. The justice of man's reason . answers, No.\nMan's nature answers with unerring proof that sin\nand righteousness are mighty powers. Powers that\nare opposed one to the other, even in this world\nThe embodiment of the powers of sin is a living\nnature, therefore no sin could exist on earth unless\nman became sin. Then it is plain that the sinner is\nsin, the embodiment of sin, while he by.nature rejects\nthe Saviour's mercy and therefore could not dwell in\nthe presence of God. As sin.and liate are opposed to\nlove and righteousness, so Heaven and hell are op-\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 6o \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nposed by their very nature. To exclude the sinner\nwho rejects the Saviour's love from entering Heaven\nonly manifests the boundless perfect love of God ;\njust as a parent would exclude from his-family one\nwho has the leprosy, because he loves the rest, so\nGod's love is manifested in banishing sin from Heaven.\nCan God be perfect in mercy and cast sinners into\nhell ? We answer, Yes, perfect ; perfect in mercy as in\nall His attributes; perfect in mercy as in all His\nworks ; perfect in mercy as in love and in justice.\nWas God perfect in mercy when He paid the law's\ndemands upon the cross for fallen, sinful man ? When\nHe freely suffered in our stead, not only for a part, but\nthe whole world, so that every one who cometh into\nthe world are redeemed. \u00C2\u00A7 Therefore as by the offence\nof one judgment came upon all men to condemnation ;\neven so by the righteousness of one the free gift came\nupon all men unto justification of life\" (Rom. v, 18).\nYes ; it was boundless mercy brought the blessed\nSaviour down to man's condition, to break the bars of\ndeath, to satisfy eternal justice and to connect once\nmore to earth the glorious ladder whose steps are\nmade of mercy, love, and justice all combined. It was\nmercy, love and justice that brought the King of\nGlory down to seal it to earth, with his own blood ;\nthat, ascending from the tomb, he himself might\nmake the way to take us with Him to the glories of\nHis home above. Now He invites, and draws poor\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 6i \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nsinners to the shelter of His fold ; and none can taste\nthe pangs of an eternal hell without they first reject\nHis offered mercy. No soul is lost without he first\nrefuses to climb the wonderful ladder of mercy, leading from earth to Heaven. The soul that beholds the\nlove of Jesus Christ bleeding on the cross for him and\ncoolly spurns the offered mercy, spending his life for\nsatan and the world, is past repentance. Like Judas\nhe goes beneath the law that seals his doom, and sends\nhimself to the place for which he has, by his own\nchoice, prepared. By nature he is only fit to dwell\nwith devils in the jaws of hell, not because God's\nmercy, is not full and free, but because the man has\nno mercy on himself and must go to the place he has\nchosen.\nWhat is hell ? Hell is the abode of the devil and\nhis followers, who once enjoyed the glories of Heaven,\nwho became sin and were cast out. They were partakers of the goodness of God, and fell after partaking\nof. the Tree of Life, the presence and love of God.\nThey having sinned under such light, knowing so well\nwhat they were doing, became hardened, fixed in their\nnature, just as Adam and Eve would have been, had\nthey been permitted to partake of God's presence and\nlove, after they had sinned. They must live for ever\nin a nature which kindness cannot change, which cannot be restored to love again and fitted for Heaven.\nEven if the love of God, as shown upon the cross,\nE.\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 B \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nwere extended to them as it is to man they would not\nbe changed ; they might believe but not be made any\nbetter ; not born again, not fitted for Heaven ; their\nnature of hate would not be changed to love. If trying to do good to some men in this world, is like\n(t casting pearls before swine,\" it must be worse to\ntry to do good to devils, the nature of whose being is\nhate and darkness, void of every particle of love or\njustice. | Give not that which *is holy unto the dogs, -\nneither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they\ntrample them under their feet, and turn again and\nrend you.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Matt, vii., 6. If you were to place a\nnumber of savage bull dogs all together in one\nroom for the purpose of doing them good, to\ngive them food and shelter, and, as soon as\nyou have turned them in, you . gave them plenty\nof good meat to satisfy their hunger, what\nwould be the result of your kindness ? How would\nyou be rewarded for your love to the brutes ? Why,\nthe chances are, that they would tear each other to\npieces instead of the meat; and the rage and fury of\ntheir nature would enable them to fight until many of\nIk\nthem were dead, or dying, and so their suffering\nwould be very much increased instead of lessened.\nThey would turn their abode into a prison of suffering,\nhate, and slaughter, but that could not be compared\nwith the awfulness of hell, for, although they might\nexperience the fire of pain unto death, as they are\n -63 -\nbeing torn into pieces, yet the brimstone is not there\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094the pain is only physical not mental. They are\nnot filled with the eternal fire of remorse, like devils\nand fiends, over a lost Heaven, a ruined life, a lost\neternity. They only think of the present moment\nand are not fired with the horrors of eternal ruin.\nIt is evident that God permits ruling powers to\nhave their own way in hell, as on earth, or in Heaven.\nEph. iii., 10 : \" To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be\nknown by the church the manifold wisdom of God.\"\nAlso, Eph. i., 21 : \"Far above all principality, and\npower, and might, and dominion, and every name\nthat is named, not only in this world, but also in that\nwhich is to come.\" So that there are principalities\nand powers in Heaven above as well as on this earth,\nand God has established laws and fixed rules by\nwhich angels, men and devils are controlled ; by\nwhich the wicked are judged and punished, and the\nrighteous judged and rewarded.1 As the rewards are\ngreat and eternal, so the punishments are great and\nlasting.\nIn visions, I saw as it were the regions of hell,\nwhere the beings resembled man in form ; whose\nvisage was dark and cruel, having a ghastly gfey appearance, who spent their time in fighting and torturing each other. I was permitted to see but not to\npass the inner gates. There was no light to brighten\n !:{''\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 ' - 64 - :j|- ' ' .\nthe dark abode, but I could see without a light, just\nas some birds and animals can see in the dark. I\ngazed with horror at the mustering ranks of devils, as\nthey formed in battle array and became as beasts or\nelements of fury and vengeance, devouring each other\nuntil they were tormented to the last degree of suffering, whose bodies, though torn asunder, would unite\ntogether again as though drawn by gravity. There\nwas no dropping blood or wasting tissues. It was fioT\nmortal and could not bz annihilated. I saw rank\nafter rank undergoing the continual process of torture,\ncompelled by each other to their awful fate, as if\nunder rules of order and controlled by some higher\npowers of darkness, as well as their own dark cruel\nnatures. And again, as I with others, crossed a\nvacant apartment, just beyond the wall or line of\nsafety, we were surrounded by devils who impeded\nour way, and by wild threats, tried to stop and take\nus into their awful hell of hells, but did not stop us\nwhile we made towards the place of safety. As I\nleaped across beyond their reach and turned and saw\none of my company, who had lingered just a moment*\n. seized and dragged to an awful doom. It seemed to\nme that this world is that vacant apartment, and that\nhe who rejects the Saviour is the one who lingers and\nis doomed to hell as his eternal home, to endure the\nawful fire of its brimstone that never wastes or, ceases\n I -6s -\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nto exist, and cannot cease while devils have the nature\nwhich is theirs.\nThe torments of hell, called fire, existed before that\nwhich man recognizes as being fire; and the Lord\nhas ordained that man should call both by the same\nname, so that we might know something of the awful\nsufferings of the torments of hell. When men get\nenraged and fight and stab each other through and\nthrough, do you think as you watch them suffering in\nthe agonies of death.that God is not merciful because\nthey suffer so ? Oh, no, you understand that God has\nmade a law which they have broken, therefore they\nmust suffer. It cannot be othervvise ; they suffer the\nburning pain, lit by the fires of hell. A material fire\nmay be fed by wood, brimstone, oil, or other substances united, which waste away and are consumed ; but\nthe fires of hell are fed by a brimstone that does not\nwaste away and is not consumed\u00E2\u0080\u0094a brimstone composed of sin's black fountain\u00E2\u0080\u0094hate, deceit, remorse,\nand jealousy ; all united, flaming up into the furies of\nan awful hell that does not cease and never can.\nAre you saved, dear reader ? Saved ! and can you\nrest at ease, and watch a neighbour, a friend or foe,\nmake his bed in such an awful hell ? Can you ? Then\nyou better examine your own heart and see whether\nthe love of God is dwelling in your soul or not. If\nnot, you had better go to the beautiful fountain for\ncleansing \ to the beautiful fountain of love, and get\n ft\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 66 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nfilled with love and the Spiric, and aroused to a higher\nsense of your privileges and of your responsibilities,\nand so be led forth to work and to victory.\nAnd again, I saw just inside the regions of the\ndamned, one whose features resembled that of a\nwoman, standing with back to a pillar or black lookinsr\nwall, fixed to remain there, with arms fastened behind\nand the appearance of hell stamped upon her visage,\nalthough not down into its awful ccntr?. She represents the moral man, who tried to be honest with his\nfellow-man, and, morally speaking, was a very good\nliving person, but rejected eternal life, and the law of\nGod is still resting on him, which Jesus suffered to\nsave him from by changing his nature and paying his\ndebt ; but he refused the offered grace and is debarred\nfrom entering heaven, and is just by the borders of\nhell awaiting the final judgment. Are you, dear\nreader, gliding down life's rapid river in the boat of\nmorality and respectability, for your Saviour, expecting them to save you from hell. Then, stop. Oh,\nstop, just now, for you may enter the rapids of death\nwith only a moment's warning and be left to a fate\nlike hers to await at the portals of hell in the place of\nthe lost, instead of seeing the Lord in the Heavens,\nwhen the trumpet shall sound, calling you to the\nglories of Paradise, to await with the redeemed ones\nof earth, the same great day of final judgment, when\nthe last sound of the trumpet is given. That is now\n -67 -\ncalling, and will then have called the last saint and\nsinner from time into eternity. Then the books of\nremembrance will be opened and the wicked be sentenced to hell and the righteous to Heaven with perfect\njustice, for God is not a respector of persons.\nAnd again, I was shown just inside the entrance, or\none of the many large doorways. ' Some beings appeared to be doing something with large vessels, like\nboilers foaming with heat ; and a little nearer the\ndoorway, lying on the material below, was a being\nfixed in a large dark-looking covering, or skin, filled\nwith liquid, which embalmed the whole body. The\narms were bound to his side. He kept up a continual wailing, and one of the \"beings every few minutes\nwould rush at him, cursing and pounding him in the\nface, because of the noise of the wailing. So they\ncontinued without stopping, which shewed the awful\nnature of a devil, the brimstone of hell, and of its fire.\nThe furious hate, remorse and cruel vengeance of\n^devils and fiends is the brimstone that never ceases ;\nnever is consumed ; and the fire is its effects* that is\npoured out by the decrees of God. James iii., 6 :\nI And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is\nthe tongue among our members, that it d'efileth the\nwhole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature ;\nand it is set on fire of hell.\"\nAs in this world there is a cause for every effect, so\nit must be in-that world of torment. A few sparks of\n i\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 68 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthe fires of hell may be felt even in this world, where\nsin's cruel hand has touched the golden cords of life.\nIn all His works, which we call nature, God has made\nlaws that cannot be broken, without the penalty for\nthe breach is paid in full. If in childhood the arm is\ncrushed and amputated, the arm and all its usefulness\nis gone for ever, and the man must suffer the loss all\nthe days of his life. The law of eternal justice demands it. Cut a small nitch in the body of the sma'l\nsappling, and' in thirty years after you may find that\nit is a large mark on a large tree. The tree you have\nspoiled must remain spoiled for ever, as the punishment due for the law that was broken. Destroy the\neyes of man or beast, and they must remain in darkness, never again to have sight restored ; perpetu d\ndarkness is the equivalent which the law demands.\nA severe punishment it is, yet it must be paid. The\nmiser spends his life in hard, weary toil, stowing away\nhis money and his goods, feeding and clothing himself with a beggar's portion, hoping soon to enjoy,\nwhat he has saved. So he keeps on plodding and\nhoping until his life is spent; but the sword of vengeance is cutting all the time and giving justice what\nhe claims, for God has made the line of demarkation\nthat satisfies plain justice throughout creation. If we\nfollow the miser's life of broken laws, we find the\npunishment attending every breaeh. First, he thinks\nmore of the gold and silver lent him than he ought,\n - 6g - .\nanditis placed in a box or a bank by his ow-n hands,\nnever to be used by him again, but kept for another.\nSecond, all the good things which God has provided\nand placed within his reach are practically rejected ;\nbecause he is too stingy to use them for good to himself or his friends; and, as a punishment he loses\nthe blessings for ever. Third, he meant to be rich,\nhappy and free ; but, with his money stowed away,\nhe was poor all his days : his food, his raiment and\nhis pleasures were limited, and he was always longing\nfor more property and money. The brightest as well\nas the dullest boy, who sips the drunkard's social glass\nis tainted by its touch ; each separate glass winds\naround his conscience, his taste, and his will, as the\nspider winds it web around its prey, leaving each time\na thin dark band of death, which, if continued, will\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0complete its work in moulding his character and seal\nhis doom. Each glass of poison seals its own brand\nupon the nerves, the taste, and the brains ; and any\nlaw in nature broken thus, can never be again as\nthough it had not been. God's laws in nature cannot\nbe broken without the penalty is paid ; the punishment inflicted. He who rejects the Saviour's love\ncannot have the love of God in his own heart; nor\nhave eternal life while eternal death is living in his\nsoul. He cannot serve God and mammon ; neither\ncan he have eternal life and eternal death reigning\ntogether. As we find that God's decrees of punish-\n M\n|:\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 70 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nment for sin, in breaking laws of nature are very\nsevere and always executed, so, also; the broken laws\nwhich spoil the character of the soul is always punished, and cannot escape. The perfect law of justice\nwhich says the soul that sins shall die, is united by\ncalvary's cross to the perfect law of mercy, which\nsatisfies justice ; and says that whosoever will, may\nfor a look at the cross have everlasting life, the\npresence of God in his soul.\nRev. xxii., 1,2. \" And he shewed me a pure river\nof water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the\nthrone of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the\nstreet of it, and on either side of the river, was there\nthe tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits\nand yielded her fruit every month : and the leaves of\nthe tree were for the healing of the nations.\"\nThe river, clear as crystal, is pure as Christ was\npure, and flows from the wonderful fountain of God's\nlove and mercy, right from the throne of God and of\nthe Lamb, down to a lost and sinful world ; from the\nCreator to the created ; from Heaven to earth ; down\nuntil it reached the depth of calvary's cross. All who\nare immersed in its waters are baptized with the\nspirit of God and the fire of love.\nIn Bible language, waters mean people, not in a\nphysical sense; not the bodies, but the spirit; the\nlife, the nature, the souls. \" And in the midst and on\neither side of the river,\" meaning the flowing together\n \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 71 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nof the waters, is \" the Tree of Life,\" God with man.\nChrist has arisen from the dead and is become our\nlife, administering to those who accept his atoning\nsacrifice, his spirit; the bread of life, through the\nHoly Ghost, making them one in spirit, and one in\nredemption, redeemed from the curse of the law.\nChrist is the true vine, and we are the branches,\nthrough whom, He, the Tree of Life, bears fruit;\nthe fruit of .righteousness ; that we through Him\nmight become sons of God and heirs of Heaven, and\nso escape from the adversary of our souls, having life\nand peace and joy for evermore. If you refuse this\nwonderful salvation and reject the Saviour's love ;\njust to follow the allurements of the world ; and\nnibble at the gilded bait of the adversary of your soul,\nbe sure that your doom lies in his hands and he will\ndrag you down to hell, because you choose it to be so.\nWhatman seeks most, he may obtain; but must\nsuffer the consequences. If you sow the seeds of love,\nyou reap the same. If you seek after righteousness,\nybu shall obtain the fruits it yields in this world, and\nrich reward for all eternity. Then follow Jesus now,\nwherever He may lead, and strive to do His blessed\nwill, for it is life unto your soul (yourself) for evermore. If you sow the seeds of hate and sin, bitter\nwill be the harvest you shall reap ; for every one\nshall be rewarded according to the deeds done in this\nbody, whether they be good or evil. If you accept\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 w\n-\nChrist as your Saviour, you will have a-'mansion\namongst the greatest or among the least in the kingdom of Heaven, according to the life you now live,\nthe preparation you now are making. If hell is your\ndoom, you will be deep down in its centre, according\nas your nature has been prepared and hardened by\nsin ; for to whatever extent it is permitted to touch\nthe nature, it taints the soul. Is he brave who is\nafraid to do the right ; afraid to refuse the social\nglass, though he knows that for him it contains a\npoison ; afraid to speak a word, to save a fellow from\neternal ruin ; afraid to acknowledge Jesus Christ as\nhis Saviour ; afraid to die because he has not been\nbrave enough to accept (by turning from the devil)\nthe crown of life, and is therefore not prepared;\nafraid that someone might see him running away\nfrom real danger although he knows he ought to do so.\nWho\u00E2\u0080\u0094like the ostrich, sticking its head under the\nsand through fear, because the huntsman is coming at\na distance\u00E2\u0080\u0094is hiding beneath the sinking sands of\nchance, waiting with silent fear, hoping that the day\nof death and-judgment may not be near: so he\nawaits just where he is, trusting to chance which\nseems to sooth him, until the trumpet sounds, and his\nprivilege of accepting is past ; his nature se. for ever.\nHis fear comes suddenly upon him in reality and\nsatan claims him by eternal laws, which God has\nmade, that bar him out of Heaven. Jli\n He lost the Father's greatest gift,\nThe Son of God, to set him free,\nWho, in his nature's fate is fixed,\nFixed in the great eternity.\nHe lost the great Redeemer's love,\nThat freely flaws from Calvary,\nAnd, by God's never changing law,\nHas sealed his own dark destiny.\nHe lost far more than mortals know,\nOf endless light, and glorious life with God,\nWhere love's sweet manna of living blessings flow,\nWho, rejecting Christ, his wandered far abroad.\nHe lost a pardon, its value none can tell,\nWho longed not for the pearly gate,\nBut travelled in the ways of hell,\nFeeding his soul on sin and hate.\nHe lost much nore than man may think,\nIn the wondrous gift, God's own beloved Son :\nWhen trifling, slept on death's dark brink,\nTill days of grace on earth w^re done.\n\u00C2\u00AB S-*{1?\u00C2\u00AB\nHe lost much more than time reveals,\nBy added wealth of centuries on earth,\nFor ceaseless rolling ages swell,\nThe one long night that seals his birth.\nHe robbed himself of all but hell,\nIts nature and its fires that burn,\nAnd fellowship with fiends to dwell,\nFor he the Saviour's love doth spurn.\nF.\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 74 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nHe robbed himself of all that's good,\nBy following o'er the sinking sands,\nFeasting on that which is not food,\nBut husks of sin, from satan's hands.\nHe robbed himself of light and life,\nAnd drinks the power of sin below ;\nHe struggled in the world's vain strife,\nWith selfish aims, for peace, which none can know.\nWhich he has lost ? Lost! because he hardened his\nheart against the Holy Ghost; and against the\ngracious invitations of the loving Saviour; refused\nsalvation by rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. Joel\nii., 20: \"But I will remove far off from you the\nnorthern army, and will drive him into a land barren\nand desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and\nhis hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink\nshall come up, and his ill savour shall come up,\nbecause he hath done great things.\" The Lord\npromised to drive the enemies of that people far off,\nto the east sea ; or to a distant heathen people, who\nknew nothing of righteousness, where there was nothing to destroy ; and where he, the destroyer, would be\nexposed for his iniquity; the punishment of the\nsins of a wicked people would have been sent\nupon them, had they not repented by turning from evil. There are people to-day hardening\ntheir hearts against the mercies of God, while He is\noffering to drive their enemies far away and to set\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 75 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthem at liberty ; liberty from self, and from their\nbesetting sin ; and liberty from the drink demon, or\nliberty from the slums ; liberty from fornication, or\nliberty from lying deceit ; liberty into the glorious\nlight of gospel truth, light that shows the awful nature\nof sin, and what great things it has done to destroy\nand blight its victims. Oh, if you are among that\nnumber, accept the offered mercy, by starting now!\nJust now! to follow where Jesus leads, that you too\nmay escape from those adversaries and receive the\nblessing of the Lord in your soul. Then will He lead\nyou in the beautiful path of righteousness, to feast as\nwe and many others are feasting, upon the sweet pas^-\ntures of His presence, by the beautiful rivers of the\nwaters of life. Awake ! you who are sleeping on the\nsinking sands of sin. Awake! \"-for the bands of love\nand mercy will quickly be severed by the knife of\njustice. Then the cords of hell, that are now fastened to your soul, will drag you down into the awful\nabode of the lost. Awake ! don't stop to look at\nothers faults until you are lost in hell. Don't stop to\nargue with satan, who once was an angel of light, lest\nhis deception hinder your escape, and you be crushed\nbeneath His. vengeance. Don't wait to consider\nwhether you are good enough or not,, while death is\nlurking in your soul. Never put off till to-morrow, nor\nrest until you have peace through accepting Christ,\nthat speaks your sins forgiven ; the fellowship of love\n : . - 76 - -,. -\nto God, that gives you joy of heart, a fountain of\npleasure in this life, and glory beyond this strife of sin\nagainst righteousness. Every follower of God must\nface this strife in this world, while there is a soul unredeemed, while there are dear ones to be saved from\nthe destroyer ; dear ones who are watching your life,\nif you are a Christian, and expecting your aid. Oh,\nChristian, be true to your God, to your brother, your\nsister. .Be true to those who need salvation, who are\ndrifting to an awful doom. Be earnest in lifting up\nthe Saviour, that they might look and live ; lead them\ntD the fountain of living waters of life, that they with\nyou may rejoice and be glad in the Lord for evermore.\nThen, great will be your reward. Every act of love\nand mercy done by you, in the name of Jesue Christ,\nfor a fellow creature is but another touch of the\nMaster's will, fitting and preparing you for a higher\nmansion, a higher life with God. For as man is prepared by nature, when he leaves this world, so his\nglory will kbe great or small, and a mansion accordingly suited to him in Heaven ; or his guilt fixed upon\nhim, and a place prepared in hell. Matt, xxv., 40-46 :\n\"And the King shall answer and say unto them,\nVerily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it\nunto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have .\ndone it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them\non the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels j\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 77 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nFor I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I\nwas thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in : naked, and ye clothed\nme not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.\nThen shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when\nsaw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or\nnaked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto\nthee ? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily, I\nsay unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the\nleast of these, ye did it \"not to me. And these shall\ngo away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous unto life eternal.\"\nI Ye have done it unto me.\" It is not the mere act\nthat is valued and rewarded by the Lord, in giving a\ncup of cold water in the name of Christ, but the\nnature of the love in which it is given. The nature\nthat rejects the Saviour cannot give even a cup of\ncold water in His name ; For, unless given in love, not\nselfish affections, but the love of God, it is not given\nin His name. However fine the outward show, or lip\nprofession, it will not be accepted of God, unless it is\nlove from the heart. Oh, the awful meaning of those\nwords\u00E2\u0080\u0094| Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting\nfire '\u00E2\u0080\u00A2'\u00E2\u0080\u0094that sentence, like a burning flame will fill the\nbeing with fire of hell. To see himself barred out of\nHeaven and given over to devils, because he.chose it\nso, will fill the soul with fire that ceases not to burn\nand torment him, with the fires of hell in the presence\n 78\nof his God, and the holy angels before the judgment\nbar of God. How important then that we each one\nsearch our ways and see if we are preparing to hear\nthe welcome home \"ye have done it unto me.\" Or,\nwill it be I depart from me ye cursed \" \" inasmuch as\nye did not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to\nme.\" We are either preparing to suffer the second\nseparation from God, or to enjoy the glories of His\npresence for ever. How great is the question, Where\nam I going to spend eternity ? In a better world, or a\nworse one than this. Happy are they, and blessed,\nwho beneath the shadow of His presence upon the\nRock of Ages- can read through Christ their titles\nclear to mansions in the sky. It is placed within the\nreach of all to do so, but he who seeks an entrance\ninto Heaven on his own merits, through fear of hell\nfire, and has no other motive to be a Christian than\na selfish one, can never be a Christian by nature, only\nby name. .He who is prompted to be good only\nthrough fear of punishment can never be good by\nnature. The fearful and the unbeliever shall be\nturned into hell. Love casteth out fear. He who\nwants salvation because he wants to be better in his\nown nature, and asks the Lord to make him so, expecting what he asks for, receives the blessing every\ntime ; for he cannot ask thus without faith. When\nhe repents by turning away from sin and follows\nwhere Jesus leads accepting Christ as his personal\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 79\nSaviour, he receives the blessing of peace and\npardon, and hath eternal life ; not thinks he has, but\nhas eternal life. To be a Christian because one wants\nto be, is not hard, but easy ; to accept the Saviour's\noffered mercy is not hard, but easy, if you really want\nto do so. While you halt between two opinions the\nway is hard. Some who want to have eternal life\nthrough Jesus Christ the Saviour, are snared by satan,\nwho gets them to halt and wait until to-morrow.\nThey wait with good intentions for a time, which\nnever comes, and are lost.\nRom. vi., 16-23 : * Know ye not, that to whom ye\nyield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are\nto whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of\nobedience unto righteousness ? But God be thanked,\nthat ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed\nfrom the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became\nthe servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh : for\nas ye have yielded your members servants to unclean ness and to iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now\nyield your members servants to righteousness unto\nholiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye\nwere free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then\nin those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the\nend of those things is death. But now being made\nfree from sin, and become servants to God, ye have\n 8a \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nyour fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.\nFor the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is\neternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.\"\nIf you yield to the influence of sin, you by obedience\nbecome a servant of sin ; and, until you are made\nfree by the blood of Christ, you live in its atmosphere\nand are a servant of satan. Just as the waters of a\nriver take the boat towards the ocean, so sin drags\nthe soul towards hell ; but, blessed be God, who hath\npitied our helpless condition and changed the whole\natmosphere above, and sent, a gentle breeze to drive\nus back up the current of the waters\u00E2\u0080\u0094a breeze which\nflows above, with power to stop our downward speed,\nand drive our little barque upwards, on the course of\nlife's fitful river, towards the pearly gates of Heaven.\nIf we will but hear his voice; and change the helm\nand raise the willing sails mercy's breeze to ca'ch and\nset us free from the powers of death below, then we\nare free. No longer are we the servants of satan,\nobedient unto death, but servants of the King of\nKings, children of our Father and our God ; heirs\nthrough Jesus Christ to the new Jerusalem above,\nwhere glory fills the soul, for His presence will be\nthere, and that will be Heaven's highest glory, its\ngreatest joy. All may taste the joy of His presence\nhere, even here, where we cannot see Him as He is.\nThen we shall see Him face to face, and, if we know\nand love him now, we shall know and love him then\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 8i \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nwith a higher, purer love. Oh, shall we not hear the\ncall and accept His mercy now ! Why spend our time\nin sin, and let life's chances pass forever? Why live a\nlife on earth that will yield the fruits of repentance in\nthe fires of hell ? If not already saved, oh do not rest\nuntil you are ; nor cease to strive with all yeur might\nto live a life of obedience unto righteousness. You\ncan find no fruit that is good in sin ; none but those\nwhich blight, and curse the soul. But the fruits you\nreap from serving God are holiness and everlasting\nlife. \"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God,\nis eternal life.\" Sin, when embodied, is a living\nmoving, nature of cruel, jealous, hating, covetous\ndeceit ; and he who is sin, is a child of satan, inasmuch\nas satan is the father of lies. We cannot go to\nHeaven without the new birth, through the blood and\nresurrection of Christ, for by the character of our\nnature God will judge and give everyone a place in\nthe ranks which his character marks for him. The\njoys which sinners find in sin are but the sweetened\ncoatings of the fiery pills of hell, for its pleasures\nquickly pass and leave a deadly sting to fester in the\nsoul. Each little act af sin, each little hate, is but an\nadded drop to make the bands of hell more firm, until\nthe being is a nature lost through sin and turned\naway from God. We pray for you who read, fearing\nthat some, even some who read this book, may drink\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 82\nof sin till life is past, and Heaven to them is lost, for\never lost.\nRom. v., 6-13 : \" For when we were yet without\nstrength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.\nFor scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet\nperadventure for a good man some would even dare\nto die. But God commendeth his love toward us,\nin that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.\nMuch more then, being now justified by his blood, we.\nshall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when\nwe were enemies, we were reconciled to God bv the\ndeath of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we\nshall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we\nalso joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by\nwhom we have now received the atonement. Where -\nfore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and\ndeath by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for\nthat all have sinned : For until the law sin was in\nthe world : but sin is not imputed when there is no\nlaw.\nDuring the old world, before Christ, man did not\nknow God as we do, but were down in darkness from\nwhich they could not rise. Without the light of life\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthe Sun of our souls\u00E2\u0080\u0094neither can the sinner or the\nheathen of to-day know God. They were in the dispensation when God ruled by Angels ; but we are in\nthe dispensation of the Kingdom of God. Then men\nknew but little of the indwelling of the love of God,\n His presence, His mercy and justice. Therefore they\ncould not receive the image of God in their character,\nnor receive the Holy Ghost the Comforter ; they could\nnot know God's boundlessdove, for they did not behold in Him the one who would take their nature on\nHimself and weep over a fallen world, of which He\nHimself would become a part that they might be\nraised. They could not say as we can, \" He has borne\nour sins Himself, and has paid our debt on the Cross,\nhas finished.the work.\" They saw no victory over\nsin for sinners won ; they did not even understand the\nmeaning of the sacrifices, the types of Christ, who\nwould die upon the cross for them, for they had not\nstrength to see their own lost and ruined state. They\ncould not realise the fact that they were Satan's property, and that Heaven to them was lost and lost for\never, unless redeemed ; therefore could not receive the\nnew birth, from selfishness and hate to love and righteousness. But we can see and know of a Saviour's\nlove, and have strength to grow in grace, the love\nwherewith He hath loved us, because His love is manifested in our behalf, reconciling us to Himself, baptising us with His own nature of love, and thereby fitting us for the indwelling of His presence, giving\npeace and rest, and preparing the mortal for immortality and Heaven, and satisfying God's laws'of divine\neternal justice. If those in darkness were held responsible for this life and are now reaping what they have\n \fV\n- 84 - I\nsown, how much more are we responsible, who have\nthe light of God shining upon us, if we do not use our\ntalents for His glory ? They had a few blessings or\ntalents, but we have many/ Much more perfection of\ncharacter will be required of us, for every one must\nrender an account according to the blessings lent him.\nThen search your own nature diligently and prepare\nto meet the Lord, for the time is near at hand when\nyou must leave this life to meet the Judge who knows\nyour every thought, who will say to Christ's rejectors,\nI Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire.\" \" But God\ncommendeth His love to us in that while we were yet\nsinners, Christ died for us,\" and rose that we. might\nhave the resurrection power and be created for another\nworld. Before man's fall, he was created and fitted\nonly for this world, but was intended for another ; his\nnature was such that he would yield to the first temptation and sin. He was not yet fitted for the paradise\nabove, to which he was intended to go and spend eternal ages. His flesh and blood like all things of time\nwere to change anel ripen, like the ears of corn, and,\nfalling asleep to crumble into dust once more, to await\nthe resurrection morn, for which the soul also should\nwait in paradise above. If prepared for death, then it\nshall be clothed upon with an immortal glorious body ;\nbut if not prepared to meet the Lord, must wait in the\nborders of hell, to be clothed in its body of sin, to burn\nin its fires, and wail in its torments of woe*\n - - - 85 - . v ;\u00C2\u00A7 ,\nStop now, and think ! Prepare, oh, prepare, for\nsoon you must meet with the King to be judged !\nThen don't fail; don't fail, to prepare ! In the day\nthat Adam sinned, he died ; but his body, did not\ncease to live, he himself died. The nature of his soul,\nthat would have admitted him into paradise above,\nwas dead, and he was changed. Before the fall, he\nwas happy in the presence of God ; after, he was not\nso and was unfitted for paradise below as well as that \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nabove. In the face of eternal justice, he had become\nanother creature ; to renew that soul to life again is\nto create a.soul for Heaven, which is the second and\nall important creation in connection with us. In this\nsecond creation, we each one have a part to act, \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 by\nwhich we stand or fall, a test of love to gauge our\nworth, to mark us wheat or tares. I Wherefore, as by\none man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,\nand so death passed upon all men, for that all have\nsinned.\" But Christ now offers pardon. Will you by\nany means reject it and be doomed ? Oh, don't reject\nthe Saviour's love, but accept Him now. Just now,\nbefore it is forever too late. Prepare now to meet the\nLord thy God.\nAs the sinner and his sins are one,\nOr as poverty and want collide,\nSo Christ's rejector, quite undone,\nSatan has bound in sin and pride.\nG.\n w.t\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 86 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nEach evil thought, the product of a cause within,\nIs marked and seasoned by a devil's breath ;\nIgnorance yields, but pride and sin,\nAnd broken laws an endless lingering death.\nAnd laws abound to bless mankind,\nLaws both of good and evil,\nThat we through them might be refined ;\nCreated saints to dwell in Heaven.\nRom. viii., 6. \"For to be carnally minded is death;\nbut to be spiritually minded is life and peace.\"\n7. \" Because the carnal mind is enmity against\nGod : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither\nindeed can be.\"\n8. I So then they that are in the flesh cannot\nplease God.\"\n9. \" But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,\nif so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if\nany man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of\nhis.\" '. j - v - Jf,\n10. I And if Christ be in you, the body is dead\nbecause of sin ; but the Spirit is life because of\nrighteousness.\"\n11. I But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus\nfrom the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ\nfrom the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies\nby his Spirit that dwelleth in you.\"\n12. I Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to\nthe flesh, to live after the flesh.\"\n11\n - 87 -\n13. \" For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die :\nbut if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of\nthe body, ye shall live.\"\nTo be carnally minded is to long for the things of\nearth in preference to the things of Heaven ; to have\na nature that will sell the truth in order to obtain\nearthly blessings ; to love evil rather than good, that\nis carnal, that is death. Such are dead to the likeness\nand image of God, dead to the presence of the Holy\nGhost, dead to the nature of love and meekness that\nfits a soul for Heaven, the white robe and the wedding\ngarment. Carnally minded, dead in sin, not the same\nnature, therefore not the same creatures that they\nought to be ; instead of being in harmony with God's\nlove, and thereby with His divine will, they are at\nenmity against God, for they are not subject to the\nlaw of God, for by their very nature, they cannot be.\nTo be spiritually minded is life and peace, happy in'\nthe presence of God, like the child at its parent's knee,\nbecause love casteth out fear. If we are in the flesh,\nwe cannot please God, because we are spiritually dead\nwhile the flesh predominates, leading the soul into\nsinr and controlling the man ; therefore, the soul is\ndead unto righteousness and can do nothing ; and\nthe body is alive unto sin, through the consent of the\nenslaved, dead soul. So then, they that are in the\nflesh cannot please God. You are not of the Spirit\nwhile you have the nature with which you came into\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 88 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nlift\nthis world ; not in the Spirit unless you have the\nSpirit of God dwelling in your heart ; and, if Christ\nbe in you, the body is dead, because of sin, but the\nspirit is life because of righteousness. He that raised\nup Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. The\nsceptic and the freethinker may doubt this marvellous\nfact, to which the writer and countless thousands of\nother redeemed ones can testify and do know by personal experience of the change, the quickening power,\nof the new birth, from death unto life, from sin unto\nrighteousness, our mortal bodies quickened, sanctified,,\nset aside from sin, having God in our souls. This is\nno mere theory of the writer's, but the practical personal experience of many. The infidel may argue\nthat he knows as much as the sanctified child of God\nabout the love of God, the presence of God, and the\nwill of God towards men, because he has studied and\nread a great deal about the works of God ; and that\nnature is his God, for nature, the works of the Creator,\nare received by him as Go J, instead of the Creator\nhimself. But alas, he who is blind from his birth\ncannot see the beauties of land or sky, with their lovely flowers and beautiful star-decked Heavens, until\nhis sight is given. He may argue that he knows as\nmuch as any one else, because he lives and feels the rays\nof the sun and enjoys life in his own way, and so the\ninfidel may think that he knows as much as the\n - 89 -\nchild of God, the sanctified one, whose nature has\nbeen changed, who is following the Lord ; led on by\nthe Holy Ghost, the Comforter, drawn out into a life\nof righteousness by wonderful cords of love, the love\nand fellowship of God with his soul. But he who\nlooks upon some deeply hidden unintelligent thing, in\nnature, as God knows nothing of the realities of the\ndivine evidences of the Christian experience of the\ntrue child of God, for he is blind and dead, to those\nglorious blessings, and out of Christ; he finds no\npeace, no satisfaction, no rest for his soul ; for our\nCreator, has ordained that it should be so in order\nthat man might search for and have the true riches,\nin the character of his nature that fit him for another\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094a better, purer life beyond, where joys will never\nfade and love will never cease. You may educate a\nmortal with the highest learning of the present age\nand elevate him to earth's highest pinnacle of fame ;\nbut, apart from God, you cannot give him peace to\nsatisfy the longings of the soul. Education has never\nchanged a sinner to a saint, and never will. Honor,\nwealth or fame, have never changed a nature from\nhate to love and never can. It is ordained that\nnothing but the love of God\u00E2\u0080\u0094as revealed by the great\nsacrifice in our behalf, the great freewill offering of\nthe Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost\u00E2\u0080\u0094should redeem us from the curse of sin and the power of the\nlaw and create a soul for the paradise above and the\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 90\nglories of Heaven, which is God's chosen plan for\ncreating sons and daughters for Heaven, giving them\nhis own life, his own image and nature, and an inheritance in eternal glory. Then, how awful must it be to\nmiss the mark of our high calling and lose the life\nwhich is hid w ith Christ in God\u00E2\u0080\u0094 so freely offered to\nall\u00E2\u0080\u0094for whosoever will may come and drink of the\nlife-giving fountain of the love of God. If God had\nopened any other door to Heaven for us, excepting\nthat of love and free grace, or permitted us to enter\nthat door under any other merit than our own personal love, and personal responsibility to God, the responsibility of loving God for His love to j us, - and of\n-accepting and following Him, we could not enter as\nsons and daughters, but as aliens. Not born of God,\nwe would be fitted for no purer world than this, having\novercome no powers of evil through Christ; we would\nhave no wedding garments, no oil of love in our souls.\nIn fact, we would not be fit for Heaven, therefore\nthere is no other way whereby we can be saved, and\nthat is why it reads in\nRev. v., 3 : \" And no man in heaven, nor in earth,\nneither under the earth, was able to open the book,\nneither to look thereon.\"\n4.JI\" And I wept much, because no man was found\nworthy to open and to read the book, neither to look\nthereon.\"\n5. \" And one of the elders saith unto me. Weep\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 9* \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nnot: behold the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of\nDavid, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose\n. the seven seals thereof.\"\nMan hath broken the law and man must pay the\ndebt; but since no man could do it, Christ became\nman, that he might redeem and create us for the\nhome above. No other plan would do ; for, if men\nwere taken into Heaven like machinery and placed\nthere regardless of his own will, without his own efforts\nor consent, he would not be worthy of a home in the\npresence of God and the Holy Angels, and could not\nbe happy there. The sinner, even in this world, is\nnot happy in the presence of God and often shuns\neven the house of the presence of God, because of his\nown guilty nature.\nIn a vision, the writer was in the interior of a large\nbuilding which was stocked with earthenware\u00E2\u0080\u0094dishes\nof various kinds and sizes. The owner, a merchant,\nwas eagerly purchasing more, although he had in\nstock all he needed and more than he could, pay for ;\nhe was therefore in trouble on account sof the debt\nwhich resulted from reaching for too much at a time,\nand yet he was buying more. But he was not more\nfoolish than those people who are not seeking first\nthe kingdom of Heaven, but the things of earth ; seeking in eager haste for things that must pass away so\nsoon, in preference to the eternal riches that never\nfade. Although they cannot pay.God for one of the\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094. g2 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ntrue real blessings, which they are receiving, they\ntransgress His law and sell the truth 'and their own\nsouls for fleeting, fancied pleasures that lead to hell,\nand which departing leaves a sting of death upon the\nsoul. I saw men, also, who came into the place ;\nthat were small, withered and black. My sister-in-law\ninformed me that one of them who had just gone out\nhad been her mother's slave in the old country. I\nsoon learned that her mother was the earth and that\nit represented the one who seeks first the things of\nthis earth and was a slave to sin and the world, which\nhad been so effectually stamped upon him\u00E2\u0080\u0094the\nnature of the likeness of his soul before God. He had\nlived in the old nature, under the law of sin, a slave to\nthe flesh, the devil, and the world to which he had\ngone to reap the fruits of the deeds done in this body.\nThen a neighbour came in, who was in trouble, and\nwould not sit nor rest for one moment; his shoes were\nvery thick and hard, made of sole leather all over, and\nhurt his feet very much. He kept asking me about a\nbond, and would not explain just what he meant, and\nsoon went out. I knew the man to be one of good intentions, who hoped to go to Heaven at last, yet he\nwas serving satan, in bondage to sin, and represented\nthose who are saved through the atonement of Christ,\nas was the thief on the cross, who was saved ; though\nas by fire, redeemed from hell. All his life's privileges\nwere consumed\u00E2\u0080\u0094gone forever\u00E2\u0080\u0094and he must appear\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 93 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nempty handed before the great judgment throne, to\nrender an account and to receive his reward, which\ncannot be the glorious eternity that might have been\nhis; for he will, by nature, if saved, be among the\nleast in the kingdom above. No wonder that the\nshoes of a backslider fit tight, when his soul is encased\nin the coils of the world. No wonder that he knows\nnot a moment of rest, or peace in God, when he questions the bond of satan's claim upon his immortal\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 soui- ills\nRomans viii.,13. \" For if ye live after the flesh, ye\nshall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the\ndeeds of the body, ye shall live.\"\nPsalm xcii., I. \" It is a good thing to give thanks\nunto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O\nmost High :\"\n2. To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.\"\n3. \" Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon\nthe psaltery ; upon the harp with a solemn sound.\"\n4. \" For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through\nthy work : I will triumph in the works of thy hands.\"\n5. \" O Lord, how great are thy works ! and thy\nthoughts are very deep.\"\n6. 1 A brutish man knoweth not ; neither does a\nfool understand this.\"\n7. 1 When the wicked spring as the grass, and\n 1*1;\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 94 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nwhen all the workers of iniquity do flourish ; it is that\nthey shall be destroyed for ever :\"\n8. I But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.\"\n9. \" For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine\nenemies shall perish ; all the workers of iniquity shall\nbe scattered.\"\n10. I But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of\nan unicorn : I shall be anointed with fresh oil.\"\n11. \"Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine\nenemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the\nwicked that rise up against me.\"\n12. I The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree :\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nhe shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.\" |||\n13. \"Those that be planted in the house of the\nLord shall flourish in the courts of our God.''\n14. \" They shall still bring forth fruit in old age ;\nthey shall be fat and flourishing ;\"\n15. \" To shew that the Lord is upright ; he is my\nrock, and there is no un righteousness in him.\"\nGalatians iii., 7. 1 Know ye therefore that they\nwhich are of faith, the same are the children of\nAbraham.\"\n8. I And the scripture foreseeing, that God would\njustify the heathen through faith, preached before the\ngospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations\nbe blessed.\"\n9. I So then they which be of faith are blessed with\nfaithful Abraham.\"\nill\n - . \u00E2\u0080\u0094 95 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 : .\".p;;\n10. \" For as many as are of ,the works of the law\nare under the curse : for it is written, Cursed is every\none that continueth not in all things which are written\nin the book of the law to do them.\"\n11. \" But that no man is justified by the law in the\nsight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live\nby faith.\" . ' \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 - ' \u00C2\u00A7-; '%\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 - \u00C2\u00AB\n12. | And the law is not of faith : but, The man that\ndoeth them shall live in them.\"\n13. I Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the\nlaw, being made a curse for us : for it is written\nCursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.\"\n14. 1 That the blessing of Abraham might come on\nthe Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might\nreceive the promise of the Spirit through faith.\"\nOnly those, who are of faith, are the children of\nAbraham, not meaning those of the same nationality\nbut those of the same faith. Abraham believed God\nwith a natural,- satisfying, therefore living faith, and\nwas blessed. The Israelites, believing that God accepted them through their sacrifices, were saved, although they understood not the great sacrifice that\nwas to come, of which their obedience and sacrificial\nordinances were typical. In faith they were ohildren\nof Abraham, and now all who accept Christ as their\nown personal Saviour are of faith, therefore in faith\nare children of Abraham, the seed of whom shall be\nmore than the sands of the sea for number. ^The\n ^ill\nif'\n-. .-96- \ 1\nkingdom of Israel, a^s existing on earth to-day, is\ngrander, nobler and larger than it ever was before,\nand is working in the beautiful rays of the Light of\nGod, as reflected through the Sun of our Soul.\nIn the old dispensation, before Christ, while its\npeople were chiefly composed of Jews, it stood beneath\nthe cloud of separation from its God. Theirs was\nbut faith in a Saviour yet to com?. Our faith is\nsealed with the glorious sunshine of His presence in\nour souls. Theirs was in types and symbols. Ours,\nthe substance, the love, the life restored again. Yet\nall, both Jew and Gentile, through faith are one : one\nin Christ\u00E2\u0080\u0094the Israel of God. Do we wonder that the\nJews of this present age so completely fail to see and\nrecognize the way in which God has established His\nkingdom ? Fulfilled His laws and promises to the\nworld through them, a chosen people, chosen not to\nbe the grandest, richest, or most independent, nation\non the earth, but chosen and used to fill His special\nmission, that they might have eternal life secured\nfor them and all mankind, used as instruments to\nbless all nations ? Do we think it marvellous that\nthey remain a distinct and separate people from all\nothers ? Yet it is perhaps not so marvellous after all,\nwhen we know that it is their choice. They do not.\nwant to realize that all their sacrificial types and emblems were ended and completed on Calvary's cross ;\nwere wound up and finished in Christ; that the old\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 97 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nworld ended and this new one begun. They chose\nto be a separate people and God has said that they\nwould be so ; they reject God's plan of salvation and\nlose its blessings, because it is their choice. They\nlook no higher than an earthly kingdom and an\nearthly king, expecting to be justified before God by\ntheir own good works ; to get a nature of love and\njustice, the image of God's nature, by wearing a heavy\nyoke of bondage, and so to grind down their nature\nof evil by force. How miserably they failed ? Instead\nof growing in love, they grew in hatred, until they\ncould murder a man for a small offence, whether they\nwere sure of his guilt or not. Even the Sanhedrim,\ntheir highest assembly of justice could rush upon the\ninnocent Stephen and murder him without law or\njustice, because his speech offended. So then, bondage\ndoes not purify the nature (ioth verse) \" For as many\nas are of the works of the law are under the curse :\nfor it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not\nin all things which are written in the book of the law to\ndo them.\" (nth verse) \" But that no man is justified\nby the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The\njust shall live by faith.\" Christ has died that we\nmight live through faith, by accepting of God's mercy,\nbut only the just, those who have a desire to do the\nwill of God have the promise of this verse. (Gal. ii.,\n21.) I If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is\ndead in vain.\" We know that law and bondage does\nH.\n I\n111\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 9B \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nnot cultivate love and righteousness ; but rather a\nnature quite opposite. In Gal. iv., we find Abraham's\ntwo sons given in allegory, representing the two covenants (24th verse) \" the one from the mount Sinai,\nwhich gendereth to bondage, which is Agar,\" (25th\nverse) \" For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and\nanswereth to Jerusalem \" (not the buildings but the\npeople), \" which now is, and is in bondage with her\nchildren.\" To-day those who seek for righteousness\nand the peace of God, out of Christ, are within that\nmountain's darkness, held by the bondage of its law.\n(26th verse) I But Jerusalem which is above is free,\nwhich is the mother of us all.\" (28th verse) \" Now\nwe brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.\"\n\" The just shall live by faith.\"\nPsa. xci. 1st. The state of the godly. 3rd. Their safety. 9th. Their\nhabitation, nth. Their servants. 1 -\n2. \"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and\nmy fortress : my God; in him will I trust\"\n3. \" Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of\nthe fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.\"\n4. j|\" He shall cover thee with his feathers, and\nunder his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be\nthy shield and buckler.\"\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 99 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\n5. \" Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by\nnight; nor for the arrow that flieth by day ;\"\n6. \" Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.\"\n7. \" A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten\nthousand at thy right hand ; but it shall not come\nnigh thee.\"\n8. \" Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and\nsee the reward of the wicked.\"\n9. I Because thou hast made the Lord, which is\nmy refuge, even the most High, thy habitation ;\"\n10. I There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall\nany plague come nigh thy dwelling.\"\n11. 1 For he shall give his angels charge over thee,\nto keep thee in all thy ways.\"\n12. \" They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest\nthou dash thy foot against a stone.\"\n13-H\" Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder :\nthe young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample\nunder feet.\"\n14. I Because he hith set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him : I will set him on high, because,\nhe hath known my name.\"\n15. I He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I\nwill be with him in trouble ; I will deliver him, and.\nhonour him.\"\n16. I With long life will I satisfy him, and shew\nhim my salvation.\"\n 100 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nRom. iii., 24. \" Being justified freely by his grace\nthrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus :\"\n25. I Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,\nthrough the forbearance of God ; \"\n26. \"To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness : that he might be just, and the justifier of him\nwhich believeth in Jesus.\"\n27. \" Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. By\nwhat law ? of works ? Nay : but by the law of faith.\"\n28. I Therefore we conclude that a man is justified\nby faith without the deeds of the. law.\"\n29. I Is he the God of the Jews only ? is he not\nalso of the Gentiles ? Yes, of the Gentiles also : \"\n30. \" Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the\ncircumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through\nfaith 1\n31. I Do we then make void the law through faith ?\nGod forbid : yea, we establish the law.\"\nWhy is there redemption in Jesus Christ, whom\nGod has set forth to be a propitiation, through faith\nin his blood ? And, why on account of Christ's righteousness, does God forbear towards the repenting\nsinner, remitting his sins that are past and receiving\nhim as a child\u00E2\u0080\u0094an heir to Heaven ? Is it not because\nChrist, as a great God of love attracting the sinner,\nfills his soul with love, and so prepares him for God's\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 IOI\npresence ? Is it not because Jesus paid his debt, that\nhe, through asking in faith, receives remission for\nall past sins, and because of the change in his nature,\nthat he is adopted into the family of God ? It is\nthrough Christ's righteousness being manifested in\nour behalf that our salvation is complete ; that we are\ncreated and made meet for the kingdom of Heaven,\nand in the crucified and risen Saviour is the only\npower upon earth, that can teach man to love his\nenemy and his neighbor as himself; the only power\nwhich gives a nature of love that is free from selfish\nmotives. It is the sacrificing love of Christ that\ndraws man out from sin and hate, and brings him\nnear to God. (28th verse) \" Therefore we conclude\nthat a man is justified by faith without the deeds of\nthe law.\" Christ has satisfied the law, by paying its\ndemands, and therefore, as many as enter into Him,\nby faith, through love, partaking of the nature of God,\nare free with Christ, who hath taken our place : therefore we may have eternal life, but we must WILL to\nhave it, otherwise it cannot be ours. We must WILL\nto have the new birth with a will that is willing to put\noff the old man ; with all\u00E2\u0080\u0094even the very appearance\nof\u00E2\u0080\u0094sin ; and to become a new creature in Christ.\nBut, before you can have a will like that, you must\nbelieve God's word, that Christ is the Saviour and\nthat you are by nature under the condemnation of\neternal, unchanging justice ; cursed by sin, debarred\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 102 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nfrom the presence of God, who loves your soul and\nexpects you to receive the wedding garment. Have\nyou, dear reader, slighted\u00E2\u0080\u0094directly or indirectly\u00E2\u0080\u0094the\nSaviour's love, refused his call, rejected his pardon,\nand so refused eternal life. If so, then you are under\nthe claims of hell. It owns you for its victim, however good your character may be. Your doom is\nsealed, unless redeemed. For character has no passport to take you into Heaven. You must accept\nGod's offered mercy by deciding to follow Jesus, and\nby following wherever He may lead. Then you will\ngo in the path of the righteous, by the rivers of life,\nperfumed with sweet roses of love, and tinged with\nthe red crimson blood which He shed, riving life to\nyour soul and a right to a home in His presencea bove.\nThen you will be prepared for that home; but you\nmust follow in little things as well as in big ones, and\nall the time as well as at the hour of prayer; ever\npraising the Lord with thanksgiving. If you want\nto be a Christian, the way is easy and natural. No\ntrouble at all. When you really want to be\u00E2\u0080\u0094when\nyou decide to accept and follow Jesus just as his\napostles did\u00E2\u0080\u0094then He will lead you sweetly and gently through the gates of mercy into the New Jerusalem\non earth, where you will find peace, joy and pleasure,\nthrough the presence of the Lord, with your soul.\nHe will lead you onward and upward, into the glory\nof His presence, to a higher, purer life in Heaven\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 io3 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nabove. When a man wills to be good, he chooses his\nsurroundings to correspond with his will. You may\nsee it in his actions. You may hear it in his words,\nor find it in his text book. For an example, the\nfollowing copied from a War Cry, gives the observing\nreader an idea of the nature of the desires and will of\nCommandant Booth :\nA LEAF FROM THE COMMANDANT'S DAILY TEXT\nBOOK, On August 13th, 1892.\nI Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of\nhope.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Zech. ix., 12.\nI God is a refuge for us.\u00E2\u0080\u0094For who is God, save the\nLord? and who is a rock, save our God. .The name\nof the Lord ib a strong tower ; the righteous runneth\ninto it, and is safe.\nI The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble : the\nname of the God of Jacob defend thee. The beloved\nof the Lord shall dwell in safety by him ; and the\nLord shall cover him all -he day long and he shall\ndwell between his shoulders. The eternal God is thy\nrefuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms ; and\nhe shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and\nshall say, destroy them.\nI Israel then shall dwell in safety ; for He hath\nsaid, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. God is\nin the midst of her ; she shall not be moved ; God\nshall help her, and that right early.\nI The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 104 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nshall I fear : the Lord is the strength of my life ; of\nwhom shall I be afraid ? for in time of trouble He\nshall hide me in His pavilion : in the secret of his\ntabernacle shall He hide me.\n\" Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength\nto the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm,\na shadow from the heat. Happy art thou, Oh Israel:\nwho is like unto thee, Oh people saved by the Lord.\"\nPsa. xxvii. ist. David sustameth his faith by the power of God.\n4th. By his love to the service of God. 9th. By prayer.\nA PSALM OF DAVID.\nPsalm xxvii., 1. | The Lord is my light and my\nsalvation ; whom shall I fear ? the Lord is the strength\nof my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ? \"\n2. \" When the wicked, even mine enemies and my\nfoes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled\nand fell.\"\n3. I Though an host should encamp against me,\nmy heart shall not fear : though war should rise against\nme, in this will I be confident\"\n4. \" One thing have I desired of the Lord, that\nwill I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the\nLord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of\nthe Lord, and to enquire in his temple.\"\n5. I For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in\nhis pavilion : in the secret of his tabernacle shall he\nhide me ; he shall set me up upon a rock.\"\n6. \" And now shall mine head be lifted up above\nmine enemies round about me : therefore will I offer\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 105 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nin his tabernacle sacrifices of joy ; I will sing, yea, I\nwill sing praises unto the Lord.\"\n7. I Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice : have\nmercy also upon me, and answer me.\"\n8. I When thou saidst, Seek ye my face ; my heart\nsaid unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.\"\n9. \" Hide not thy face far from me ; put not thy\nservant away in anger : thou hast been my help ; leave\nme not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.\"\n10. I When my father and my mother forsake me,\nthen the Lord will take me up.\"\n11. I Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in\na plain path, because of mine enemies.\"\n12. \" Deliver me not over unto the will of mine\nenemies : for false witnesses are risen up against me,\nand such as breathe out cruelty.\"\n13. \"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the\ngoodness of the Lord in the land of the living.\"\n14. I Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, and\nhe shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the\nLord.\"\nThis vast world of human thought and action was\nintended to be but a transient home, where mortals\nwith immortals dwell\u00E2\u0080\u0094a refinery for the soul, intended to bring forth saints and fit them for another world.\nThis life, so full of joys and pleasures, deep and rich,\nis always mixed with misery, grief and pain. Here\nevil is permitted to exist, to teach man right from\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 io6 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nwrong, that he might overcome the evil with the\ngood, and that he might be born again ; created a\nbeing for the New Jerusalem above ; crowned with\nthe life, the spirit and the resurrection of God's own\nglorious Son. As sons of God, and-one in Christ, we\nhave the resurrection power\u00E2\u0080\u0094through his free grace\nbestowed\u00E2\u0080\u0094if we will but accept His grace. To-day\nthe multitude who are accepting and receiving the\nnew birth into the kingdom of the Israel of God, is\nlarger and grander than ever it was before.\nBut, there is the other side\u00E2\u0080\u0094the evil with the good\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094which makes the earth similar to a military school,\nwhere every soldier puts on his armour and learns the\nways of war. So every pupil, in this more important\nschool of life, put on their armour and responsibility\nas soon as they knovv right from wrong, good from\nevil ; and, in tender years, start out under the quick\nmarching orders and heavy drill of battle, which cannot cease until some fatal shot or sabre stroke free\nthem from their earthly robe, which must moulder in\nthe dust until the trumpet sounds that ushers them\ninto the presence of God who gave them being. So,\nboth wise and foolish virgins march on in one vast\nmultitude, through time into eternity. The teeming\nmillions of this earth, like the marshalled armies of\ntwo opposing nations is divided by the laws of God's\neternal justice into two classes : the Godly who are\nwise ; the bad who are foolish.\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 107 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nConsider the army of the godly and the path on\nwhich they march\u00E2\u0080\u0094the good path\u00E2\u0080\u0094the way of wisdom,\nlove, faith, hope, and charity ; these are the beautiful\nhills all bright with the presence of God. He has set\nthem to mark the standard of the pilgrims' righteousness, to elevate their life, that they might be sanctified\nand set aside from the tempter's power. Sometimes\nwe find it hard to climb these hills to nobler character,\nbut our Leader always gives strength sufficient for the\nday and helps the willing, earnest traveller onward to\nconstant victory, over sin. Above this noble army,\nyou behold the cross of Jesus : ever drawing them up\nto the measure of his own great boundless love. Their\npath is far above the deadly paths of sin and darkness\nof the world, and has a peace which the world does not\nknow and cannot give. You watch a little closer and\nobserve that the great majority grow stronger and\nstronger all the way, until safe on Canaan's shore.\nWe will follow for a few moments along the footprints of the average child of God, to see his life, his\ncharacter, and his victory, through Christ the Lord.\nBorn like other sinners, with a nature that seeks after\nevil, he spends about fourteen years of life in sin, and\nrepresents the average sinner, and is kept from crime\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094only by the fear of man. He has no rest from sin,\nbut feels a longing for some better life ; he has no\nfuture prospects until looking up, he beholds the Star\nof Bethlehem and the lower lights that burn along the\n '\n#\ne!v<\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 108 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Iff\nChristian's way, and beholds the Son of God upon the\ncross, and knows it was for him ; to give him life and\nset him free, that the Saviour suffered there. His\nheart is touched with a living spark from off the altar.\nHe asks for pardon and receives new life, believes, has\nfaith in God, and repents by turning away from sin,\nand seals his obedience by willingness to be with\nChrist baptised; therefore he is born again and\naccepted of the Lord. The love of God so fills his\nsoul that the remainder of his life is spent in service\nof the King of Kings. The g^spjl seeds grow year by\nyear within his nature, leading him higher and higher\non the beautiful hills, which comprise the mountain of\nthe Lord, called Zion. At last with life's journey\nalmost over, he sits upon the banks of Jordan, rejoicing\nin the Lord, praising and blessing God for the way he\nhas been led, just waitingthe command of the Master's\ncall, that he might enter the beautiful gates of the\neternal paradise above.\nIn the gospel dispensation of Christ's kingdom on\nearth, all must be of the same spirit of love in Christ,\nor they are not of the Israel of God ; all must have\nthe same faith in Christ as their personal Saviour, or\nthey have not eternal life ; and all must have the\nspirit of obedience in love to G:>d, or they cannot\nbelong to the New Jerusalem on earth, and must enter\nGod's presence at last, as the foolish virgins, without\nany spiritual growth in grace of character. The Jew\n4\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 109 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nmust become as the Gentile, and the Gentile must\nbecome as the Jew, and the heathen as the Christian ;\nall of one spirit, born again made one in Jesus Christ\nin order to be heirs of Heaven. The heathen Gentile\nmust be lifted above his sins\u00E2\u0080\u0094his idol worshipping\nand superstitions ; saved from his fiendish nature of\nignorant hate and selfishness, with its awful work of\nslaughter; of slavery, tyranny and martyrdom ;\nchanged, like Saul of Tarsus, from a nature that\ndragged to their death all who were opposed to his\nclaims unto a nature of love and good-will towards all\nbefore he is a child of God. The learned Jew must\nbe raised above his selfish claims for earthly power,\nabove his nature that required the bondage of all the\nJewish laws, to teach him obedience to the Lord and\nmake him the natural man ; serve the purpose which\nGod intended him to serve., Before Christ, God,\nruled man by law and justice ; but now, through love\nand justice. Christ came a mightier king than the\nJews expected, but their nature was too corrupt and\nearthly to see his glorious mission, though he gave\nhimself a ransom to make them free from the bondage\nof sin. He brought them light and life everlasting,\nwhile they expected only a kingdom of temporal\nblessings. Their nature was dark and sinful, but on\nthe cross the Saviour said, J Father forgive them, for\nthey know not what they do.\" Their eyes were\ncovered as witli a veil that they might not see the\n Hi\n- 110-\nTree of Life, which was protected with the flaming\nsword of the presence of God ; nor eat of its fruits,\nwhile their hands were red with the blood of the innocent ; for if they had tasted of the love of God in\ntheir souls and saw His glory, as the saints and\nprophets did, then they would accept no forgiveness\nfrom the Father, but would live for ever in their hardened nature, unchangeable, like devils, whom love and\npardon never can renew or change.\nBut the veil of the law of bondage was rent and the\nTree of Life is not protected from the Israel of God,\nfor Christ, our advocate, has passed beneath the sword\nof justice in our stead. It pierced His browT, His\nhands, His feet, His side, before He gained for us admittance to the presence of the Father. All who now\nbeh6ld His love to them are kindled into love. The\nnature of His own do live, like Him, through His\natoning death and resurrection power, for they have\neternal life; not a temporary life, but fixed upon the\nsoul. We, therefore, do not need the law of bondage,\nbut of love and justice, to make us serve -the Lord,\nwhich to the Israelite of Christ's new kingdom is an\neasy, a glorious Service ; but, to the Jew in bondage,\na heavy burden of hard service, which he cannot perform. No man, by trying to keep the law, can work\nout his own salvation. Law does not change his\nnature; it does mould his actions and change his\ncourse in life, but never fits him for the courts of\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Ill \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nHeaven. James ii., 10 : \" For whosoever shall keep\nthe whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is\nguilty of all.\" James iv., 17 : \" Therefore to him that\nknoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is\nsin.\" Sin is therefore a nature of selfish, ignorant\nrebellion against God's will and is opposed to all that\nis good. It deadens the conscience and hardens the\nheart, and is the seal by which satan is permitted to\nmark his willing victims ; but, glory to God, the seal\nis broken, and every one who will accept His grace\nare free. Are you among the foolish virgins ? Are\nyou slumbering beneath the power of sin, refusing to\nobey the loving entreaties of the Lord, willing, to\ntread the enchanting path that leads to hell, because\nyou are not inclined to believe that God's word is true,\nor that the path to Heaven is a reality, though the\nlives of millions do testify that it is ? Then you are\nnot fulfilling the mission of your life, as do the insect,\nthe fowl, or the beast, which fulfil their mission as\nGod designed. The ant, though it has never seen a\nwinter, is made to build its home and to stow away\nthe necessary food for the winter's use. The bee also\nselects its home for shelter, gathers the material, and\nconstructs the cells to hold the honey which it gathers\nto feed on through a winter of which it knows\nnothing. What of the spider ? It prepares not for\nwinter and it is not necessary that it should, but it\nprepares for its daily food as God intended it should.\n 112\nM\nIB\nIts system is made to be fed on flies and insects ;\ntherefore, it is not provided with wings to fly from\nflower to flower, as the bees, nor a long extended bill\nto sip the sweets which God has placed within their\nlittle bosom, nor a system which can refine and prepare the honey for the cells. With a wonderful system of manufacturing organs, the spider produces the\nmaterial, of which it carries a constant supply with\nwhich it builds its own web and it is perfectly suited\nto catch its food, that it might live and fill its little\nbut important mission on the earth. If the spider's\nappetite called for honey, it could not easily get the\nfood it needed. As with the spider, so it is with\nevery creature. The body is always made capable of\nsecuring the right material to' feed and clothe, and so\nsatisfy its own longings. God has made all things\nperfect in themselves for themselves. The trees, the\nfowls, or the beasts care not for .he morrow, as man\ndoes, for the future. They perform their daily mission\nin perfect harmony with the design of God's perfect\nwill, while man in his spiritual life is not made like\nthem to obey God's will, but is held responsible for\nthe life he spends. If man goes in the ways of hell,\nagainst the grace of God, trampling under foot the\nlove of Christ, then he runs to his own destruction\nand God will hold him responsible under laws which\ndo not change. If God's laws in temporal things demand of us the awful forfeit of the penalty in full for\n H3\nevery breach, how much more awful will it be in connection with things eternal ? If the man, who with his\nbeloved wife and fair young daughter, in the dark\ndrove carelessly over the high embankment, had to\npay the penalty by his life and mangled bodies on the\nrocks below, how much greater will be the penalty\nyou must pay for wilfully neglecting so great a salvation as Christ has died to secure for you ? How\ngreat will be the forfeit of Heaven and of eternal life ?\nWhen you know that God commands you to follow\nhim in righteousness, and when you feel the Holy\nSpirit drawing you to Jesus, it is your bounden duty\nto accept His grace and reach out, with all your\nmight, to receive the crown of life. The bird, which\nGod has ordained to fly in autumn to a. summer land\nof flowers, which it has not seen, must perish in the\nfrosts of winter if it fails to go ; and so you must\n\npraise the Lord for the thousands who are coming out\nfrom beneath the vale of satan's kingdom every day\ninto the marvellous light of Gospel truth and love,\nbeing united as one new man through Christ in God.\nThe prayer and desire of the redeemed in this world\nis that sinners, wandering from God, may be destroyed\nfrom off the face of the earth and quickened into a\nnewness of life, changed into saints of the Lord ; that\naliens from the common wealth of Israel, whether\nJews or Gentiles, who are strangers to the covenants\nof promise, \" having no hope and without God in the\nworld,\" who are \" afar off,\" may be \" made nigh by the\nprecious blood of Christ.\" I bless God because he has\nbroken down the middle wall of partition that separated the sinner from the Tree of Life, with its fruits\nof love, charity, faith and peace with God ; who has\nabolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in\nHimself of twain one new man ; so making peace,\nand that he might reconcile both unto God in one\nbody by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby ;\nand now in the word of God, preached through Him,\n 132\nwe both have access by one spirit, unto the Father.\nIf the Lamb of God, the great sacrifice slain from the\nfoundations of the world that saints might be created\nfor Heaven, was sent only to obtain a pardon for\nsinners, leaving us in our sinful nature, we would\nnever be fit to enter Heaven. But, blessed be God,\nwho with pardon demands the new birth, the final\nchange from sin unto righteousness ; and so we find\nin the sacrifice not only a ransom from the grave, a\nresurrection for the body, and an atonement for the\nseparation of the soul from God, when the Saviour\nsaid upon the cross \" My God, my God, why hast\nthou forsaken me,\" but also the hidden manna, the\nunchanging love of God, revealed in the cleansing\nblood from Calvary's Cross, and in the precious words\nwhich Jesus preached and sent his followers into all\nthe world to teach, that all might be brought into one\npeace and fellowship unto God. So we find that both\nJews and Gentiles are one in spirit, through Christ\nand no longer separate as foreigners and strangers,\nbut fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.\nIsaiah liii., 5. \" But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and with his\nstripes we are healed.\"\n6. \" All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 133 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nturned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath\nlaid on him the iniquity of us all.\"\n7. \"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet\nhe opened not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb to\nthe slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is\ndumb, so he openeth not his mouth.\"\n8. \" He was taken from prison and from judgment:\nand who shall declare his generation ? for he was cut\noff out of the land of the living : for the transgression\nof my people was h^,stricken.\"\n9. \" And he made his grave with the wicked, and\nwith the rich in his death ; because he had done no\nviolence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.\"\n10. \" Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he\nhath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul\nan offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall \"prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall\nprosper in his hand.\"\n11. I He shall see of the travail of his soul, and\nshall be satisfied : by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; for he shall bear their\niniquities.\"\nK.\n GOD'S PRESENCE WITH US.\nnil 1\n9J| MORTAL cannot grasp the height and breadth\nof the love of God any more than you can understand the endless ends of the countless millions of\nimaginary lines which pass you on every hand, of\nwhich reason says they must begin somewhere and\nhave an end. While circumstances prove them endless, and causes man's highest reason to fail in blank\nconfusion, with nature's sight, aided by the telescope,\nyou can see countless millions of miles of the s pace in\nwhich you dwell, although you cannot see it all. He\nwhose spiritual eyes are opened by gospel light, can\nsee a part of God's boundless love and glorious\npresence ; have, through Christ, the risen Saviour,\na satisfying portion of the peace He gives ; sees\nthrough Him the Father's boundless love, which surrounds the Christian in this life ; and fills his soul\nwith ceaseless hope and joys unspeakable. He feels\nand knows that the presence of the Lord is with him.\nHe looks to Calvary's cross and beholds the Saviour,\nsuffering there on earth to make him free from sin,\nto pay his ransom price, and be his advocate. We\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 135 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nknow that this is true, by personal experience, and\nthat 1 He was wounded for our transgression, was\nbruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our\npeace was upon him, and with His stripes we are\nhealed.\" Have you watched the thoughtless, unre-\ngenerated soul, while he was sinking beneath the\nwaters of affliction, approaching the gates of death ?\nHave you sought to find in him the peace of the\npresence of God ? If so, you have sought in vain.\nThe Lord does not dwell with us until our nature is\nmoulded by His own great love, the love of God;\ncleansed in the fountain of his blood. Let us not\nforget that the blessed Lord and Saviour was smitten\nfor us, was afflicted of God, that we might escape hell\nand the nature of devils, and that we might have an\nentrance into Heaven.\nGod, in love and justice, will not permit a nature\nof sin to dwell in Heaven, because He loves the angels.\nWhen all we like sheep had gone astray, following\nafter our own nature of sin, Jesus bore our iniquities\nand was afflicted in our stead, and murmured not,\nbut went as a lamb to the slaughter ; from prison and\nfrom judgment to Calvary's cross, because he loved\nus. He was able to pay our debt, because his own\nlife was sinless, and he could lay it down and take it\nagain that we might rise with Him. He gave His\nsoul an offering for sinners because He loved us\nThen, can we afford to neglect that gift of pardon, the\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 136 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ncrown of life and love, he offers, and reject our souls'\nsalvation ? If we do, we cannot escape a home with\ndevils, for Jesus did not escape the cross, but paid the\nlaw's demand, and bled on Calvary. \" He shall see\nHis seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure\nof the Lord shall prosper in His hands.\" This present\nday is the day of the Lord that is prolonged ; and is\nbiing prolonged to cease only when the jubilee of\nearth's great millennium is here, and the Lord shall\nI see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.\"\n GOD'S LAW WITH US\nI. Peter iii., 15.\n** *fi2UT sanctify the Lord God in your hearts ;\nand be ready always to give an answer to\nevery man that asketh you a reason of the hope that\nis in you with meekness and fear : \"\n16. I Having a good conscience; that, whereas\nthey speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be\nashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation\nin Christ.\"\n17. I For it is better, if the will of God be so, that\nye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.\"\n18. \" For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,\nthe just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,\nbeing put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the\nSpirit:\"\n19. \" By which also he went and preached unto\nthe spirits in prison ;\"\n20. \" Which sometime were disobedient, when once\nthe longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah,\nwhile the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is,\neight souls were saved by water.\"\n nv\n-138-\n21. I The like figure whereunto even baptism doth\noften now save us (not the putting away of the filth\nof the flesh,, but the answer of a good conscience towards God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: \"\n22. \" Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right\nhand of God ; angels and authorities and powers\nbeing made subject unto him.\"\nSanctification is a progressive state, meaning set\naside. Sanctify God in your heart, by seeking first\nand above everything else to serve and glorify God\nwith your whole life, making everything of second\nconsideration. If you accept Christ for your Saviour\nand obey Him with a willing loving obedience, you\nhave rest from a guilty conscience, a peace which is\nthe evidence of the new birth ; a change from guilt\nand from a nature of sin to righteousness and loving\nconfidence in God ; then you are sanctified, set apart\nfrom sin, but not made perfect. To sanctify God in\nyour heart should occupy the whole of the Christian\nlife, and mean a life of obedience in all things\u00E2\u0080\u0094a\nloving service to God, growing in grace and working\nout your own salvation. After, you are redeemed,\npreparing your nature for Heaven. God, in perfect\nlove, demands that none but blood-washed souls shall\nenter Heaven. Are you sanctified through Christ in\nlove to God ? Then you should strive to sanctify the\nLord God in your heart, by studying His word as\nwritten in His books, so as to answer with meekness\n R 139 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nany man that asks for \" a reason of the hope that is\nin you,\" having a good conscience, which is the fruit\nof walking in love through Christ with God, speaking\nforth the life of Christ, testifying by your actions as\nwell as by your words of the presence of God in your\nsoul. You show to the world that, since Christ has\nsuffered: \" the just for the unjust\" to satisfy the law of\nGod and to bring us to Him, you accept His grace\nand the baptism of death in the flesh, and through\nGod have been quickened with Christ by the Spirit.\nWhen Christ was put to death for us, He was quickened by the Spirit, by which He also went and\npreached unto the spirits in prison. The disobedient,\nwho had no part in the first resurrection, and were\nleft in prison until the final judgment\u00E2\u0080\u0094had they been\nobedient to God's laws of perfect justice\u00E2\u0080\u0094they would\nhave been taken into Paradise at the first resurrection,\nof which Christ was the first when He arose. They\nhad lived before Christ came and had not the privilege\nto reject His salvation, therefore were not yet lost,\nfor Christ atoned for every one and He offered them\nsalvation, for that is what He preached.\nWhile the Ark was being prepared, Noah waited in\nobedience to God, through faith, and through that\nfaith God saved him by the waters which bore him up\nand destroyed the wicked from the earth. And so\nbaptism, in a like figure, doth also now save us. Not\nthe putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the an-\n . \u00E2\u0080\u0094 140 |f|\nSwef of a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is a work of faith,\nnot to cleanse the body or the soul from sin, but a\nspiritual dipping with God into the blood that stained\nthe cross on Calvary\u00E2\u0080\u0094a token of our death with\nChrist to the world ; and resurrection with the Son of\nGod by faith through a loving obedience to the\nSaviour's command. As it is not of works, but of\nlove, faith and obedience to God, it matters but little\nwh ether you are baptised in a river or baptistry\u00E2\u0080\u0094in\nmuch or little water\u00E2\u0080\u0094whether you are sprinkled or\nimmersed. If your love and faith is pure, natural and\nsincere, God will accept your baptism as a righteousness fulfilled and give you the answer of a good conscience.\nI was immersed in the waters of a river in the State\nof Missouri. No other way would have sufficed than\nthe way of immersion, for I had been taught so, and\nGod requires that we do what we believe to be His\nwill Had I been taught that sprinkling or pouring\non was an acceptable way unto the Lord, and followed\nthat teaching, it would not have lessened my love, my\nfaith or my obedience. It would have been acceptable unto the Lord, because it is not an act of works,\nbut of faith\u00E2\u0080\u0094a loving service.\nWe find that God acknowledges baptism for\ndeparted souls, who physically could take no part\nin the baptismal form, but spiritually could ac-\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 141 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ncept it through the act and faith of another. I.\nCor. xv., 29: \" Else what shall they do which are\nbaptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why\nare they then baptized for the dead ? \" I myself, have\nused the privilege offered in that verse for departed\nbrothers and sisters in the \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Lord, who confessed the\nSaviour on their dying beds, from which they passed\nto meet their God without having fulfilled this righteousness, in obedience to the Saviour's will. We\nbelieve that every jot and every tittle of God's law\nmust be fulfilled in behalf of every one before they\ncan enter Heaven. Angels, whose majesty and glory\nare beyond our comprehension, and principalities and\npowers obey God's will. The Almighty forms the\nlaws of Heaven and earth, and appoints kings and\npriests to administer His laws of love and justice.\nHe gives each saint a mansion and a crown, or a\nplace in Heaven, according to the spiritual character\nwhen brought before the bar of eternal justice, at the\nlast great judgment-day, when Paradise will be exchanged for Heaven ; or the prisoner doomed to\nhell.\nThe fruits of the new birth is the answer of a good\nconscience toward God. It matters little what your\nfeelings are, if you believe that Jesus is your Saviour,\nand choose to follow Him. If you repent, by turning\naway from sin and confess the Lord by baptism, you\nhave eternal life abiding in you, and you eat and\n drink of the spiritual food of the flesh and blood of\nthe Son of God, which is eternal life, and God will\nraise you up at the last day, when your time on earth\nis done. St. John vi., 54 : \"Whoso eateth my flesh,\nand drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will\nraise him up at the last day.\" Then come to Jesus, as\nthe late Rev. C. H. Spurgeon advises in the following\nbeautiful hymn :\nFLY TO JESUS.\nGuilty sinner, fly to Jesus;\nHe alone can purge our guilt;\nFrom each deadly sin He frees us,\n'Twas for this His blood was spilt.\nCome and welcome;\nCome this moment if thou wilt.\nEmpty sinner, haste to Jesus,\nFor in Him all fulness dwells,\nAnd His inmost soul it pleases\nWhen a longing soul He fills.\nBe not backward ;\nHe invites whoever wills.\nHopeless sinner, look to Jesus,\nIn His death thy ransom see ;\nFrom despair His word releases,\nTrust in Him and fear shall flee,\nHigh as Heaven\nAre His thoughts of love to thee.\n GOD'S GRACE TO US.\nHebrews ii., n.\n** *|pOR both he that sanctifieth and they who are\n*** sanctified are all of one : for which cause he\nis not ashamed to call them brethren,\"\n12. \" Saying, I will declare thy name unto my\nbrethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise\nunto thee.\"\n13. \" And again, I will put my trust in him. And\nagain, Behold I and the children which God hath\ngiven me.\"\n14. \" Forasmuch then as the children are partakers\nof flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part\nof the same ; that through death he might destroy\nhim that had the power of death, that is, the devil ;'\n15. I And deliver them who through fear of death\nwere all their lifetime subject to bondage.\"\n16. \" For verily he took not on him the nature of\nangels ; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.\n17. \"Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be\nmade like unto his brethren, that he might be a\nmerciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 H5 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nto God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the\npeople.\"\n18. \"For in that he himselfhath suffered being\ntempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.\"\nSince God who sanctifies and we who are sanctified\nare all of one spirit, through Christ, He is not ashamed\nto call us brethren, and His grace\u00E2\u0080\u0094meaning favour\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nis extended to us, not because we have chosen to follow Him, but because His blood\u00E2\u0080\u0094through his grace\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nhas cleansed our heart, and His love has changed our\nnature. Inasmuch as the children of God are f partakers of flesh and blood, He also likewise took part\nof the same, that through death He might destroy\nhim that hath the power of death, that is the devil,\"\nand save us from the power of the law that would send\nus down to hell, where by law and by nature we belonged, and, inasmuch as God's free grace extends to\nsinners a pardon from Calvary's cross, comes to make\nus free. His favor also extends to guide the ransomed\nhome to be forever in His own sweet presence. How\ndoes the Saviour lead His ransomed from the gates of\nhell? By the cross, and its fountain of cleansing ; by\nthe straight and narrow way. Straight and narrow in\nregards to the sinful pleasures of this world ; but wider\nfar than earth are the real pleasures of a ChristianTife,\nthough upwards every step, there is a light above\u00E2\u0080\u0094a\nguiding star\u00E2\u0080\u0094and sweet forget-me-nots, perfumed\nwith love on every side, and living promises on which\nL.\n Ill- M'. \"~ *4^ \"\"\nto feed, like honey in the comb above each craggy rock\nover which you mount. It is the sweet manna of the\npresence of the Lord, whose promises are ever sure.\nOh, pilgrim, feed thou On them both day and night\nand they will fit thy soul for mansions fair and a crown\nof life which thou may est wear. But you must wear\nthe armour of the Lord and bear a cross, in order to\nascend the beautiful hills of Christian graces, not\nmerely as a form or a rule by which to ascend. Oh,\nno ; but to change the pilgrim's nature, from darkness\nand hate to love and righteousness, and to fit you to\ninherit a place in the Heavens beyond the hills of\nChristian duty ; to be changed from the nature described in\nRom. i., 29. 1 Being filled with all unrighteousness,\nfornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ;\nfull of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers/\n30. \" Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud,\nboasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,'\n31. \"Without understanding, covenantbreakers,\nwithout natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:\"\nLet us look at the changed nature as presented in\nPsalm xv., 1. I Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? \"\n2. I He that walketh uprightly, and worketh\nrighteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.\"\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 147 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\n3- \" He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor\ndoeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach\nagainst his neighbour.\"\n4. \"In whose eyes a vile person is contemned ;\nbut he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that\nsweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.\"\n5. \" He that putteth not out his money to usury,\nnor taketh reward against the innocent He that\ndoeth these things shall never be moved.\"\nNo ; for he has the spirit of the Lord, who said on the\ncross for His enemies; \" Father forgive them for they\nknow not what they do.\" To be changed by the\ngrace of God from a nature of death to the glorious\nimage and nature of the blessed Son of God is a\nglorious victory, a victory which none can gain in their\nown strength or merit of themselves. With the new\nbirth, from death to life, the Christian is placed upon\nthe first great standard of the platform of salvation,\nand sees before him the beautiful hills of Christian\ngraces for him to ascend. He starts with loving confidence and eager haste, and finds a cross to bear only\nwhen the nature of the old man comes in contact with\nthat of the new, which constantly occurs before he\nreaches the higher standards of grace\u00E2\u0080\u0094nearer to God.\nPerhaps he expects to reach at once the highest\nstandard and be a perfect model Christian ; but is\ntrusting more in self than on the Lord. Soon he falls\nbeneath some cruel shaft of satan's power, because,\nI\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 148 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ntrusting in self, he laid aside some of the armour of\nthe cross, and has slidden down ; but again he rises\nand marches onward. Every step now he trusts\nmore in the Lord and less in self. Every little stumbling block he passes, increases his love and confidence\nin God. As he rises higher in his spiritual life, his\nfeet are placed higher on the Rock of Ages ; until\nfrom the mountains of the Lord, where by nature he\nhas been fitted to stand, he beholds the glorious\nradiance from the City just beyond, as he crosses the\nriver from'time into eternity.\nHeb. ii., 17 : \" Wherefore in all things it behoved\nhim to be made like unto his brethren, that he might\nbe a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of\npeople.\"\nJesus came to be made like His brethren ; not like\nman in his fallen state, but like man in his highest,\nnoblest state of Christian manhood. It becomes His\nfolio (vers to strive to come up to that standard. Dear\nbrother or sister in Christ, Are you following afar off;\nwalking in your own strength ? Then the way is hard.\nJesus, who called you out of satan's ranks of sin unto\nrighteousness, is calling yet tenderly ; calling you\nhigher and nearer. Oh, why not go for a greater\nblessing ; blessing for all eternity ? Since Christ has\ndescended from the glories of the Father's presence to\nthe standard of a saint on earth, surely you cannot\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 149 --\nafford to come short of that standard of character ?\nfor it will be required of you at the judgment, when\nreceiving your eternal rewards. A mansion will be\nappointed that suits your character: prepared for you;\nnot you for it; and so your eternal glory will be according to your eternal nature. If you are saved, you\ncannot afford to be a small vessel when you should be\namong the large ones, for life's issues are eternal.\nWALK WITH THEE.\nTune - \"Not my own.\"\nNot alone, but with my Saviour\nI will tread the narrow way ;\nAll along through life's rough journey\nSaviour, I will near thee stay.\nCHORUS\nI'll walk with Thee; yes, yes..\nI'll walk with Thee; yes, yes.\nSaviour, I will walk with Thee.\nAll along through life's rough journey.\nSaviour, I will walk with Thee.\nSaviour, now my all I give Thee.\nI will share the cross with Thee,\nAnd wherever You will lead me,\nSaviour, I will follow Thee.\nAnd when on earth my work is ended,\nSaviour, this will be my song-\nBear me safely o'er the river,\nThere to join the blood-washed throng.\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 150 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 gj\nI. John i., 3. I That which we have seen and heard\ndeclare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us : and truly our fellowship is with the\nFather, and with his Son Jesus Christ.\"\n4. I And these things write we unto you, that your\njoy may be full.\"\n5. \" This then is the message which we have\nheard of him,and declare unto you, that God is light,\nand in him is no darkness at all.\"\n6. 1 If we say that we have fellowship with him,\nand walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth :\"\n7. J But if we walk in the light, as he is in the\nlight, we have fellowship one with another, and the\nblood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all\nsin.\"\n8. \"Ifwe say that we have no sin, we deceive\nourselves, and the truth is not in us.\"\n9. I If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just\nto forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness \"\n10. \" If we say that we have not sinned, we make\nhim a liar, and his word is not in us.\"\nMan need not wait until after death in order to be\na saint Anyone who accepts Jesus Christ for his\nSaviour and follows Him, is a saint of God just as\nmuch, according to his Christian character, as were\nthose saints in the Lord whom Paul commended -to\nthe Church (Rom. xvi., 15) to be received by them\n as saints. Every saint on earth has a fellowship with\nthe Lord, which always corresponds with his faith,\nobedience and love to God, and should have fellowship one with another. The Christian's fellowship\nwith God is nobler and sweeter far than all the world\ncan offer.\nIf all were Christians, in fellowship with God, man\nwould be in his natural element of Paradise, and earth\nwould drink no more the murderer's victims' blood-\nWar's cruel strife, with its deadly weapons and lingering famines\u00E2\u0080\u0094the fruits of sin, though they represent\nthe powers of hell\u00E2\u0080\u0094would cease. Our prison gates\nwould be closed to remain without a victim ; then millions, who are now employed for the purpose of maintaining justice in the world, wouid be free to work and\nthereby increase the necessaries of life. Poverty would\nbe unknown, for the liquor demon would be banished\nfrom the land. Then love and purity would reign\nsublime, while earth would be an Eden as at first.\nBut, suppose that all were wicked, having no fellowship with God\u00E2\u0080\u0094a world of thieves, of falsehood, of\nmurderers and drunkards\u00E2\u0080\u0094then the present legal\nforces would have to be enlarged. More soldiers and\npolice guards would be raised, more swords and guns\nmanufactured, more prisons built, more drunkards'\ngraves prepared to receive their victims, and more\nwives and children would die a lingering death through\ncold and hunger. More famine and pestilence, would\n be added to the suffering mass of sinners, more horrors to endure, and earth would wear the aspect of a\nhell\u00E2\u0080\u0094a place of torment\u00E2\u0080\u0094instead of a glorious Eden.\nTherefore, it is plain that for man to have fellowship\nwith God, who is our light and life, is to have all that\nis good for us to have and a fulness of joy. But, to\nhave fellowship with satan, is to walk in darkness and\nbe filled with hate and the leprosy of sin ; to taste of\nthe fires of hell in this life and be filled with them in\nthe next Yet, in the face of these facts, some people\nact and speak as if they were satisfied with the wages\nof sin and use their influence to make the world a hell\nrather than a Paradise, preparing themselves while in\ntime for eternal suffering and woe. Then, let us be\ncareful what We do, for \" if we say that we have not\nsinned, we make Him a liar, and His.word is not in\nus.\" But I if we confess our sins, He is faithful and\njust to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all\nunrighteousness.\" Jesus is tenderly calling from sin\nall who will go unto God for salvation\u00E2\u0080\u0094eternal salvation\u00E2\u0080\u0094to be saved from a home down in hell. Saved\nfrom satan, the prince of the powers of darkness\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nman's real, eternal, and awful enemy\u00E2\u0080\u0094wTho^ constantly\nseeks to draw us down to his own abode ; but, blessed\nbe God, who has paid the ransom price to set us free.\nThe price, which represents our ruined state, He paid.\nIf you reject that ransom and the Saviour's love, you\nhave no fellowship with God, and are by nature an\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 153 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nheir of eternal woe. You are filling for yourself the\ncup which satan offers, and choosing, instead of your\neternal Heaven an eternal hell.\nNow to the power of God supreme\nBe everlasting honors given ;\nHe saves from hell,\u00E2\u0080\u0094we bless His name\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nHe guides our wandering feet to Heaven.\n*Twas His own purpose that began\nTo rescue rebels doomed to die :\nHe gave us grace in Christ, His Son,\nBefore He spread the starry sky.\nJesus, the Lord, appears at last,\nAnd makes His Father's counsels known ;\nDeclares the great transaction, past,\nAnd brings immortal blessings down.\nHe dies and in that dreadful night,\nDoth all the powers of hell destroy ;\nRising, He brings our Heaven to light,\nAnd takes possession of the joy.\nI. Watts.\n IS MAN IN HIS NATURAL CONDITION,\n>BY NATURE, A DEMON?\n'HIS seemingly unnatural question, was given for\na heading in connection with the following\npreviously selected portions of scripture, in answer to\nprayer for guidance of the Lord :\nSt. John iii., u. \"Verily, verily, I say unto thee,\nWe speak that we do know, and testify that we have\nseen ; and ye receive not our witness.\"\n12. \" If I have told you earthly things, and ye\nbelieve not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of\nheavenly things.\"\n13. \" And no man hath ascended up to Heaven,\nbut he that came down from Heaven, even the Son\nof man which is in Heaven.\"\n14. \" And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the\nwilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:\"\n15. \" That whosoever believeth in him should not\nperish, but have eternal life.\"\n16. 1 For God so loved the world, that he gave his\nonly begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him\nshould not perish, but have everlasting life,\"\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 155 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\n17. \" For God sent not his Son into the world to\ncondemn the world ; but that the world through him\nmight be saved.\"\n18. \" He that believeth on him is not condemned :\nbut he that believeth not is condemned already,\nbecause he hath not believed in the name of the only\nbegotten Son of God.\"\nThe subject was manifested by a vision, and the\ncommand to use it, through the key of communication with God. We say vision, because we recognize in it an object lesson placed before the soul by\nthe agency of another power, not its own, while the\nbody was at rest.\nIf you desire to draw a beautiful object lesson to\nsuit a special purpose, and cannot do so without\nbeing assisted, you then seek that assistance. If,\nwhen the body sleeps and the mind is wandering in\ndreams, a practical lesson is given which you could\nnot conceive unaided, you may know as did the men\nof olden times that it is a vision, given for a purpose.\nIn the vision, I saw a wide road running through a\nwild uncultivated country, with some dwellings situated here and there. Just across the road I heard the\nangry voice of a furious man, ringing out in fierce\noaths upon his victim's head. The victim was his\nslave: a poor half-starved, overworked, neglected,\nfellow-man, whose features showed the lack of education, whose face was tanned red, and who seemed\n - 156 -\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nto know no claim for right or wrong. He was the\nslave of a cruel master, whose words now turned to\nactions, as I heard the whistling hum of his long cruel\nwhip, which seemed almost to burn the air in its\nspeed. He applied it hard and long upon the poor\nsuffering, silent, terror-stricken man\u00E2\u0080\u0094a brother, though\na slave. Others looking on did nothing in his behalf,\nand seemed to regard the man as but a dog ; yet he\nwas a fellow-man. The master was looked upon as\na man, although he wore the nature of a demon.\nI realized the fact that man in his unregenerated\nnature is but a demon in the sight of God's eternal\njustice and nothing but God's love sprinkled in blood\nupon the heart can change that nature, which is like a\nwild, uncultivated country. The state in which many\ndwell, though polished in their manner, their nature is\ncorrupt; though planted on this earth to grow as\nwheat, they ripen into tares, unless touched by the\nsoul-cleansing blood of atonement. Before the new\nbirth, we are children of satan : demon is the proper\nname for the nature we then possess. Unless the Son\nof Man, who was lifted up for us, not only draws us to\nHimself, but shines upon and changes us by the beautiful rays of His love, we must ripen into eternal\ndemons by nature. But, praise the Lord, millions\nhave proved that man can ripen into a saint meet for\nthe Master's use, and need not wear the nature that\ndevils wear ; nor walk with them\u00E2\u0080\u0094away from God and\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 157 ~\nHeaven\u00E2\u0080\u0094towards the gates of hell. Man's fallen\nguilty nature is like the new, uncultivated country;\nand they who choose to remain in it, rejecting the loving offers of salvation, have a living germ of sin within their soul: a nature\u00E2\u0080\u0094in God's sight, before His eternal justice\u00E2\u0080\u0094that is doomed to eternal hell, and wears\nthe name of demon. Nothing but the love of God,\nflowing in blood upon the soul from off the cross to\npay his debt and set him free, can kill the demon\nnature and take him out from his unregenerated state,\nacross the road of righteousness into the plains of\neverlasting life and peace and pleasures, beside the\nTree of Life, where living waters flow.\nSt. John hi., n. \"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We\nspeak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ;\nand ye receive not our witness.\"\n12. I If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly\nthings?\" . '\u00E2\u0096\u00A0-'\" ::|\u00C2\u00A7:\n13. \" And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but\nhe that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man\nwhich is in heaven.\"\nWithout the new birth, you, like Nicodemus, cannot\nunderstand what the new birth is ; and will not fully\nreceive the witness of His children. If you do not believe that God is the Creator of earthly things, you\ncan understand nothing of heavenly things. Before\nChrist's death and ascension to the Father, no man\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 158 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nhad ascended up to Heaven, except the Son of Man\nwhich is in Heaven, for Christ was ever in the Trinity\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost\u00E2\u0080\u0094the everlasting\nGod. Even when on earth a perfect man, Christ was\nGod and was ever with the Father, except, when on\nthe Cross He said ; \" My God, my God, why hast thou\nforsaken me.\" Oh, let us not forget, that \" as Moses\nlifted up the serpent in the wilderness ; even so the\nSon of Man was lifted up, that whosoever believeth\nin Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.\"\n\" Whosoever,\" meaning you and I ; that you and I\nmight escape the powers of hell. Jesus died for you ;\nnot to condemn you, but that, through faith, you might\nescape from eternal condemnation. Won't you, for\nyour own sake, and for Jesus Christ's sake, accept salvation ? escape from hell and gain a glorious Heaven ?\nFor \" he that believeth on Him is not condemned, but\nhe that believeth not is condemned already ;\" condemned by God's law, and his own dissatisfied nature.\nWhen drawn towards the cross, he looks with a disbelieving, doubting mind, and rejects the Saviour's love\nfor the sake of selfish pleasure and is blind to the\nawful result, receiving the dross with its poison, instead of the glories of everlasting life. To believe\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nto look and live\u00E2\u0080\u0094means to take God at His word and\nbelieve that Christ's atonement is for you ; and to\naccepfit by a simple, trusting belief, and a perfectly\nwilling, loving obedience ; knowing that faith without\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 159 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nworks is just as dead as works without faith.\nIt is written : \" And some believed the things which\nwere spoken, and some believed not.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Acts xxviii., 24.\n\" Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my\nword, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ;\nbut is passed from death unto life.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094John v., 24.\n\" Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is\nborn of God : 1\u00E2\u0080\u0094I. John v., 1,\n\" To him give all the prophets witness, that through\nhis name whosoever believeth in him shall receive\nremission of sins.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Acts x., 43.\nI Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though\nnow ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy\nunspeakable and full of glory.''\u00E2\u0080\u0094I. Peter i., 8.\n\" He that believeth not God hath made him a liar;\nbecause he believeth not the record that God gave of\nhis Son.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094I. John v., 10.\nI If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your\nsins.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094John viii., 24.\nI He that believeth not is condemned already,\nbecause he hath not believed in the name of the only\nbegotten Son of God.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094John hi., 18.\nI He that believeth not the Son shall not see life ;\nbut the wrath of God abideth on him.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094John iii., 36\nWhich portion is yours, life or death?\n\" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt\nbe saved.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Acts xvi., 31.\n The day that remains of life, encircled by the\nmoving wheels of time, like a flickering torchlight\nsending forth its rays of good or evil, may in an\ninstant cease, and you be ushered into the presence of\nyour God ; or it yet may last a week, a month, a year,\nor a hundred years, or even more. But, when it has\ngone and you stand, at your last fleeting moment,\nupon the Rock of Ages, and behold the gates of\nParadise ; or, in horror, see the gates of hell ; the\npast, though it were a hundred years, will be as nothing in itself, but lost. All lost in you, condensed into\na character, and stamped upon your soul ; marking\nyour eternal destiny ; the destiny that you are forming now. Grace is all of God. If you reject His\ngrace, the character of your nature will be only sin.\nSin, which you of yourself cannot change. You have\naccepted or rejected the Lord, and are walking with\nGod, or with the devil. Building the nature of your\nown eternal being, preparing for a home above, or a\nhome in the dark regions of woe. Which are you\ndoing ? You are nearing an endless home. Where\nshall it be ? An eternal home of love and pleasure, or\nsorrow and hate. Without the new birth, you can do\nnothing good ; can lay no treasures up in Heaven.\nThe most important of all things in life is the new\nbirth; the love of God in the heart ; love, unto\nobedience to Him ; being changed from a demon to\na saint. Why should a man be proud, though sur-\n 161 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 rounded by worldly honors and clothed in. fine garments, glittering with golden gems and diamonds rare,\nif in his soul there is a demon\u00E2\u0080\u0094though small and\nmasked\u00E2\u0080\u0094that claims him for a child of hell ; lower\nthan the lowest beast on earth ? Why should he be\nproud? His pride is vain; his folly the maddest\ncrime. Walking in pride to an eternal doom. Walking in satan's alluring mists ; knowing not when God\nshall call him and his doom be fixed ; forgetting the\nprice which Jesus paid for his redemption. He sees\nnot the cross in his own behalf, feels not the blood,\nand will not have it sprinkled on his heart. : He is too\ndead to be dissatisfied with self, and will not hear the\nvoice of the Son of God; for \"they that hear shall\nlive.\" As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He\ngiven to the Son to have life in Himself, and hath\ngiven Him authority to execute judgment also, because\nHe is the Son of Man, and God in him raised Himself up from death in our behalf, and broke the bands\nof law that sealed the tomb, and became the first fruits\nof the first resurrection. So now we who in Christ\nfall asleep in death\u00E2\u0080\u0094death to the body, but sleep to\nthe soul which is raised, when the body is really dead\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094are quickened into a spiritual body ; awakened in\nParadise, to await the final judgment of reward.\nHaving been raised in the first resurrection they have\npassed the judgment of condemnation. Our blessed\nSaviour told the people before His death and resur-\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 l62 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nrection, not to marvel that \" all who are in their\ngraves should hear His voice and should come forth ;\nthey that have done good unto the resurrection of life,\nand they that have done evil unto the resurrection of\ndamnation.\" The resurrection time is called an hour ;\nbut that hour extends from Christ, the first fruits of\nthe first resurrection, to the last resurrection, when\nGod shall judge the world and execute judgment upon\nthe wicked and reward the righteous. (II. Cor. v. 10.)\nBy searching the scriptures you will find that there\nare two resurrections and one judgment. Blessed are\nthey who have part in the first resurrection. Since\nChrist took our place as the sinner, He came under\nthe law that doomed man to the first death, of separation from God, therefore He said \" I can myself do\nnothing, as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just,\nbecause I seek not mine own will but the will of the\nFather who hath sent me.\" If Jesus Christ, in your\nstead, could not obtain salvation for you without undergoing the whole penalty of the demands of justice,\nhow shall you escape if you neglect to accept the\ngreat salvation secured for you at so great a price ?\nHow deep the folly and black the ignorance of him\nwho serves the devil and reaps the wages of sin, especially after seeing others, who have served the devil,\npaid with the sufferings of hell, as the)' passed from\nthis world to another. Oh, how mad is his folly who\nfollows after sin with its separation (death) from God ?\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 j$$ \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nchoosing misery and woe, instead of righteousness\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nlove and joy and peace, and everlasting life. Then\nseek, dear reader, to follow Jesus ; follow close where\nHe may lead. Know that every command\u00E2\u0080\u0094the\nsmallest is as the greatest\u00E2\u0080\u0094all just alike demand\nobedience in love. Then follow in His way, for\n\u00C2\u00A7 obedience is better than sacrifice \" to God.\nBE STILL.\nBy Horatius Bonar, D. D.\nBe still, my soul! Jehova loveth thee ;\nFret not, nor murmur at thy weary lot;\nThough dark and lone thy journey seems to be,\nBe sure that thou art ne'er by Him forgot.\nHe ever loves thee ; then trust Him, trust Him still;\nLet all thy care be this, the doing of His will.\nThy hand in His, like fondest, happiest child,\nPlace thou, nor draw it for a moment thence ;\nWalk thou with Him, a Father reconciled,\nTill, in His own good time He call thee hence.\nWalk with Him now, so shall thy way be bright\nAnd all thy soul be filled with His most glorious light.\nFight the good fight of faiih, nor turn aside,\nThrough fear of peril from on earth or hell:\nTake to thee now the armour proved and tried,\nTake to thee spear and sword. Oh, wield them well !\nSo shalt thou conquer here, so win the day,\nSo wear the crown, when this hard life has passed away.\nTake courage, faint not, though the foe be strong.\nChrist is thy strength ; He tightest on thy side ;\n Swift be thy race; remember 'tis not long\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe goal is near ; the prize He will provide ;\nAnd there from earthly toil thou resteth ever ;\nThy home on the fair banks of life's eternal river.\nHe comes with His reward ; 'tis just at hand ;\nHe comes in glory to His promised throne.\nMy soul rejoice ; ere long thy feet shall stand\nWithin the city of the blessed One.\nThy perils past, thy heritage secure,\nThy tears all wiped away, thy joy for ever sure.\n THE NEW LIFE.\nIsaiah lv., I.\n44 *fR%0, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the\nwaters, and he that hath no money ; come\nye, buy, and cat; yea, come, buy wine and milk\nwithout money and without price.\"\n2. I Wherefore do ye spend money for that which\nis not bread ? and your labour for that which satis-\nfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye\nthat which is good, and let your soul delight itself\nin fatness.\"\n3. 1 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear,\nand your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of\nDavid.\"\n4. \"Behold, I have given him for a witness to the\npeople, a leader and commander to the people:\"\n5. 1 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou\nknowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall\nrun unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for\nthe Ho!y One of Israel ; for he hath glorified thee.\"\n6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call\nye upon him while he is near ;\" |\u00C2\u00A7j|\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i66\n7. p\" Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto\nthe Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to\nour God, for he will abundantly pardon.\"\nThe new life\u00E2\u0080\u0094the life which is hid with Christ in\nGod\u00E2\u0080\u0094is a mysterious stumbling block to the infidel,\nthe sceptic, and the moralist, because they choose to\nfollow sin. They know nothing of its meaning as a\nreality and judge only by sight or hearing, but never\nby practical, personal experience. They have never\ntasted of it, though they may have professed to do so.\nThey never knew the Bread of Life or drank of the\nliving water, the water which Jesus invited the woman\nof Samaria to drink of (John iv., 14), which \" if any\nman drink he shall never thirst again,\" because he\nwould have in him eternal life. Eternal life ! the very\nname indicates its nature, for it would not be eternal\nlife if it were to cease to be. God, our Creator, knows\nthe seeds that will grow into fruits of eternal love and\nbeauty\u00E2\u0080\u0094the likeness of Himself who changes not. He\ngave you Intelligent, reasoning faculties, for which you\nare responsible. He draws you to Himself by love's\nstrong cords of mercy, laden with eternal blessings\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nlife and peace and pleasure. If you reject God's loving mercy, His eternal laws of unerring justice must\nsever the cords and cut you down as a cumberer of the\nground. But you may be saved, if not already. Study\nwell the following verses, for they are worthy.\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 167 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\" For this is good and acceptable in the sight of\nGod our Saviour ; who will have all men to be saved,\nand to come unto a knowledge of the truth.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094I. Timothy ii., 3-4. \" \u00E2\u0080\u009E#\nI Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever\nliveth to make intercession for them.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Heb. viiM 25.\nI For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him\nmight be saved.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094John iii., 17.\nI For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that\nnot of yourselves : it is the .gift of God :\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Ephes. ii., 8\nI For the Son of man is come to seek and to save\nthat which was lost\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Luke xix., 10.\n\" Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the\nsin of the world.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094John 1., 29.\n\" Neither is there salvation in any other : for there\nis none other name under heaven given among men,\nwhereby we must be saved.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Acts iv., 12.\nI For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto\nsalvation.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Romans x., 10.\n\"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord\nJesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath\nraised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nRomans x., 9.\n\" Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the\nearth \"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Isaiah xlv., 22,\n _ t.68 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 m\nBeside the above precious passages of scripture,\nthere are many others calling you into the new life, of\nwhich millions have testified ; not only by words, but\nby actions ; not merely for a week or a month, but for\nyears ; glorifying God with their whole lives, rejoicing\ncontinually in the service of God.\nThe writer also can add his testimony, which he\nwill endeavor to give in a plain, simple way, hoping\nthat it may in some way help to remove some of the\nmists'that cloud the mind of some earnest readers,\nwhose experience may, in some respects, be as his\nown has sometimes been.\nAt my mother's side, in childhood days, the Saviour\non the cross was presented for the first time to my\nview, and the first bright spark of living fire\u00E2\u0080\u0094the fire\nof love which I have, never lost\u00E2\u0080\u0094touched my soul\nand left its image there. Then I looked upon Jesus\nChrist as the Saviour of the world, and hoped that\nHe would soon be mine, but failed to secure the\nblessing. I spent my childhood days with that living\nspark upon (not within) my soul, and that hope within my heart, which helped to mould my nature and\nkeep me from the ways of sin. I had not the joys of\na Christian, though I believed that Christ was the\nSon of God and the Saviour of the world, because I\ndid not seek salvation in earnest. I was disobedient\nto God's will and sought for sinful pleasures in the\nworld, which did not satisfy the longings of the soul.\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 169 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nYears rolled on and stronger grew the cords that\ndrew me to the cross ; until at last, in early youth,\nI approached the mercy seat. I got to the feet of the\nLord alone, in the closet. I simply asked in faith for\npardon and the blessing of a new heart; when a\nloving obedience to God was added unto my faith. I\nreceived the Holy Ghost the Comforter; and the\nLord took possession of my soul and filled me with\nHis presence. Then a deep, rich peace and pleasure\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094a joy, not an excitement\u00E2\u0080\u0094a love to God and man,\ngrowing stronger, broader and calmer, day by day,\nwas mine. But, alas, my obedience was not yet made\nperfect unto God, whom I had not yet confessed\nbefore men as my Saviour, although I knew that it\nwas my duty to do so. I put it off day after day,\nthrough a bashful ignorance, thinking that others\nwould laugh, or that there would be a better chance\nanother time to tell of my conversion, of my love to\nGod, and of my great desire for the salvation of my\nfriends and neighbours. At last I resolved to obey at\nonce the voice of God and wait no longer. Just then\nanother stumbling block appeared and the way of\nduty was made harder still. Satan was permitted to\nspread another net; and make me think that my\nschoolmates and friends would not believe me, and I\nfancied that if I said that I was born again, saved a\nyear ago, they would think me foolish ; and so I was\nhindered.by mountains, that were only mountains of\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 170\nIII\nmist, because my nature was not right and my will was\nnot fully subject to the will of God. It costs more than\nyou might think to cure a nature of such mad folly-\nIf you have a like experience, I ask you to step forward like the Israelites who crossed the Red Sea ;\nand your stumbling blocks will move like the waters ;\nfor God will clear the path when you press forward in\nobedience to His will. Those trials would not have\ntroubled me if the standard of my nature was above\nthem, but it was not It had to be cultivated before I\nwas enabled to overcome or go any farther, and it cost\nme much precious time and golden opportunities.\nMy youth was spent, not like the prodigal son, but\nlike the one who wasted all his time in slumbering\ndisobedience to his Father and laid up no treasure in\nHeaven. But soon I reached to early manhood ; got\na higher sense of duty and sought a closer walk in the\npresence of the Lord ; made a full surrender of\nobedience to His will and then received again the\npeace and joy of consecration, the fellowship which I\nso long had lost. Disobedience took away my peace\nbut not the new born nature of eternal life, for the\nSaviour ever lives to intercede for me. Because I\nthirsted for a closer walk with God, He enabled me\nto overcome and filled me with the wine and milk of\nHis own presence. I had been spending my time for\nthat which did not satisfy, and lost the wine and the\nmilk. He who made the everlasting covenant with\nme gave the victory, and made me to be more than\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 171 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nconqueror, feeding my soul upon that which was good\nand making me to delight in the fatness of His\nblessing.\n| Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye\nupon him while he is near : \"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Isaiah lv., 6.\n\" Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the\nLord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our\nGod, for he will abundantly pardon.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Isaiah lv., 7.\nThen Jesus drew me up and made me to ascend\nthe beautiful hills ; to the higher standard of the\nChristian life ; to gain the precious pearls of character;\nto lay up treasures which never can be lost ; to realize\nthat obedience unto God is better far than sacrifice ;\nto be set aside by the sanctifying process of His love ;\nto learn obedience to His blessed will and follow all\nthe way ; not pare, but all the way, wherever He may\nlead. God's way of righteousness and love has always\nproved to be the way of peace and pleasure. The\nChristian's pathway never should be hard and rough,\nfor when it is the Christian is himself the cause ; his\nnature is not right and conflicts with the perfect way\nof peace. Every time that he is chastened he receives\na blessing, though he may think it but a curse. It\nmoulds his nature in accordance with the Perfect\nArtist's will, and helps to fit him for his eternal home\nabove, giving him who has the new life here the\nnature demanded of the child of God, as found in\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 172 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMatthew v , 44. \" But I say unto you, Love your\nenemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them\nthat hate you, and pray for them which despitefully\nuse you, and persecute you ; \"\n45. \" That ye may be the children of your Father\nwhich is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on\nthe evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just,\nand on the unjust.\"\n46. \" For if ye love them which love you, what\nreward have ye ? do not even the publicans the same?'\n47. \" And if ye salute your brethren only,-what do\nye more than others ? do not even the publicans so? '\n48. I Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father\nwhich is in heaven is perfect.\"\nAlthough you cannot grow to perfection in every\nrespect, yet you may grow to perfection in love and\nobedience to God, having perfection in this one most\nimportant virtue : wearing as a child of God the pearl\nof love, the image and likeness of God ; so being\nperfect in yourself, even as God is perfect in Himself\nTo attain this highest of human virtue, you must\nalways walk with God, wearing the attitude of praise\nto Him all the time, feasting upon the fatness of His\npresence.\nPsalm cxxi., 1. \" I will lift up mine eyes unto the\nhills, from whence cometh my help.\"\n2. I My help cometh from the Lord, which made\nheaven and earth,\"\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 !73 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\n3. I He will not suffer thy foot to be moved : he\nthat keepeth thee will not slumber.\"\n4. \" Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither\nslumber nor sleep.\"\n5. I The Lord is thy keeper : 'the Lord is thy\nshade upon thy right hand.\"\n6. \" The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the\nmoon by night.\"\n7. I The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:\nhe shall preserve thy soul.\"\n8. I The Lord shall preserve thy going out and\nthy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.\"\n OBEDIENCE UNTO SALVATION.\n<^T is reasonable and just, so far as man can judge\n+J or know of law and justice, that the first great\ncord in God's great plan of redemption that should\ntouch the soul, is the cord of obedience. The rod of\ndisobedience first smote and drove him from his earthly Paradise and broke trie cords of love, which linked\nhis heart to God, his living head. It sowed the seeds\nof rieath within his soul, for which the Saviour's death\natones ; for now the soul, though dead by nature\nthrough guilt and sin, may live again the moment\nthat obedience and faith is rendered unto God. As\nthe invitation was given to the smittenl Israelites to\nlook upon the brazen Serpent and be healed, so the\ncommand is given unto man to look to Jesus Christ\nand live ; and he who will not look, must stay beneath\nthe endless death that seals his doom.\nFaith and works are dead, when one is without\nthe other. Neither can live unless supported by an\nobedience that is prompted by love; love that is\nperfect in itself, even as God is perfect in himself.\nHow precious then is that loving obedience, which is\nthe ground work of every Christian's nature ? The\nfaith which is encircled by it is a living faith and is\nalways united with works ; always looking for blessings ; always taking God at His word and having the\n assurance of His presence. \" I am the vine, and ye\nare the branches : he that abideth in me and I in him,\nthe same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me\nye can do nothing.\" You do not abide in Christ unless your nature is conformed to His will, drawing\nyou out in search after God's commands to do them\nfor His glory. It is not only your privilege to have\nthat nature, but it is your bounden duty. You are\nblessed with .faculties of reason, for which you are\nheld responsible, and must suffer the eternal consequences if you do not honor and serve God with a\nservice of love. No matter how bad your nature is,\nyou are commanded to partake of the nature of love,\nwithout which you cannot be fitted for Heaven ; and\nit all depends on your own will ; whether you obey\nGod or not (1. Cor. x., 31.) If you would be engraft-\ned into Christ you must seek to obey. His will.\nJohn xv., 7, 8. \" If ye abide in me, and my words\nabide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be\ndone unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye\nbear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.\"\nAnd again in John xiv., 12,13, 14. \"Verily, verily, I\nsay unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I\ndo shall he do also ; and greater works than these shall\nhe do ; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoevcr\nye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father\nmay be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing\nin my name, I will do it.\"\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 iy6 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\n15. \" If ye love me, keep my commandments.\"\nAnd in John xvi., 23. \" And in that day ye shall\nask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,\nWhatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he\nwill give it you.'\n24. I Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name :\nask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'\n25. These things have I spoken unto you in\nproverbs : but the time cometh, when I shall no more\nspeak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew \"ycai\nplainly of the Father.\"\n26. \"At that day ye shall ask in my name : and I\nsay not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you :':\n57. I For the Father himself loveth you, because\nye have loved me, and have believed that I came out\nfrom God.\"\nYou find that a Christian's life is full of duties,\nwhich can only be performed by a loving obedience\nto God, and a continual abiding in Christ. If you\nabide in Christ, it is placed within your reach to do\nmighty works, through Christ in God ; but you must\nhave the natural, living, loving, abiding faith of perfect\nobedience through Christ in God, or you can do\nnothing. The Lord has given the promise that if you\nask anything of the Father\u00E2\u0080\u0094not of Himself\u00E2\u0080\u0094but of\nthe Father, it shall be done unto you. \" If ye ask\nanything in my name I will do it.\" \" Hitherto ye\nhave asked nothing in my name : ask and ye shall\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 177 ~\nreceive,\" but you must have an expecting faith. If\nyou have never asked the Father, in Christ's name,\nfor a clean heart, a new nature, why not ask Him\nnow ? not to-morrow, but now ! He will give you the\neverlasting blessing ; then will be performed in you\nthe greater work\u00E2\u0080\u0094the work of having a dead soul\nraised to life, and fitted, through the risen Saviour, for\nthe indwelling of the Holy Ghost; brought into\nthe kingdom of Heaven, which is established here.\nJohn xvi., 26. 1 At that day ye shall ask in my\nname: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the\nFather for you :\"\n27. \" For the Father himself loveth you, because\nye have loved me, and have believed that I came out\nfrom God.\"\nYou have been redeemed and are serving the Lord;\nthen serve Him with an obedient heart; obeying what\nseems to be the smallest commands, for they are the\nlarge ones in disguise, and on them you are building\nyour nature. How inspiring to His beloved children,\nare those precious w;ords of Jesus : \" I say not that I\nwill pray the Father for you, for the Father loveth\nyou, because ye have loved me and believed that I\nhave come out from God.\" The Father is waiting to\nbestow each needed blessing, but you must ask in\nJesu's name ; and in faith, not doubting, and render\nto Him the obedience which love should constrain the\nChristian to give. You cannot tell the greatness of\nN.\n it \" \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 -178 -_\nthe possibilities which God has placed within your\nreach through those promises. Not only the writer,\nbut many others as well, have realized that these\nprecious promises have been fulfilled in their behalf\nwhen they have complied with the conditions of the\npromise. In order to make it more plain to the\nreader, I will give the following case of my own experience, which to some will only appear as a dream\nyet it was an answer in full to my petition.\nThe promise is \" whatsoever ye shall ask in my\nname, I will do it-unto you.\" Relieving that promise\nI asked God, in Christ's name, to show me a vision\nthat would guide my thoughts and give character to\nwhat I was about to write. The faith was merely a\ntrusting faith, the fruits of past experience, and so, according to my faith, because that I reajly expected it\nthe Lord granted my petition within a few hours, by\nplacing before the eyes of my soul, while the body was\nunconscious in sleep, a road running east and west,\nwhich appeared to have been much travelled, and was\nfenced on the south side with a good, strong, high\nfence, and on the north with one that was partly\nbroken down. A number of persons, including myself,\nwere on the north side, some distance from the road.\nThe country, was wild and flat, with here and there a\nfew bushes and shrubs. Near us there was a ferocious beast with legs and head like a bull, which\ncould stand like a bear on its hind feet. We seemed\n If l79 \u00E2\u0080\u0094;\u00E2\u0080\u009E\nto know that we had no business there and as we attempted to leave the beast showed fight and chased\nus. I, with one of my companions, ran quickly and\nkept going until we reached the fence. As I was\nahead, the brute followed more especially after me,\nbut I reached the fence and bounded to the other side.\nAs I did so, the brute ran to where the fence was low,\nto jump over, and suddenly a club was placed in my\nhands. I knew not how, but knew my duty was to\nfight for life and freedom, and obeyed ; and kept the\nmonster back from crossing the fenc*e. My companion had reached and caught hold of the fence, but\nwould not climb over, although I kept telling him to\ndo so. He thought that the brute was going to get\nover also, and lingered in disobedience to the call of\nduty instead of climbing over, and helping to beat the\nenemy back. Therefore he, as a disobedient coward,\nfailed to escape. As I crossed over the road, and\nclimbed the higher fence over into the country on the\nsouth, which God had blessed with safety and freedom,\nI saw my poor companion seized by the monster.\nThen the vision was over, but not to be forgotten or\nmisunderstood.\nThe wild north country is the nature of sin. The\nbeast represented satan, seeking whom he may devour,\nand we the sinners who wander off from God. The\nmiddle road was but to show man's earthly paradise ;\nhis state of innocence, where before the northern fence\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i8o m\nwas brdKen down by disobedience, at the first, man\nknew no danger and felt no guilt, for God was there to\nbless him all the time. When, through disobedience,\nhe broke down the northern fence, satan came in, and\nhe was driven out a captive into the cold, dark nature\nof the world of sin. Since that fall, the road of innocence is travelled only by infants who have no under,\nstanding, idiots who know not good from evil, and\nheathen in their gross and awful darkness. He who\nknows God's will and dares to remain upon the road\nof danger, must fight in his own strength against the\npowers of sin that drag him down, because he lives in\ndisobedience to the Lord's commands, and fails to\nclimb the higher fence into the sunny land of spiritual\nblessing, protection and safety. The higher fence\nalong the south to be mounted, is the standard of the\ncross ; to accept the blessed Saviour of the world as\nyour Saviour ; and the southern country is the standard of the life that is hid with Christ in God, basking\nin the pavilion of His presence, beneath the sunshine\nof His love.\nYou may find God's offered mercy for the obedient\nin Jeremiah ill., 12-18. The awful fruits of disobedience is not only found in the Bible, and seen in the\nvision, but reaped by millions of victims daily, because\nthey wander into sin..\nGod commanded His servant (Jeremiah iii., 12.)\nsaying: \"Go and proclaim these words toward the\n -i8i\nnorth, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith\nthe Lord ; and p will not cause mine anger to fall\nupon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I\nwill not keep anger forever.\"\nThey were driven away because they would not\nobey the voice of the Lord.\n14 \" Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord ;\nfor I am married unto you : and I will take you one\nof a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to\nZ-* >J i'^'st-'-S\nion.\nIsrael had wandered in disobedience from God and\nwa? cast off as a corrupt and heathen nation. The\nwhole world, both Jew and Gentile, were one in the\nsight of God ; one body of sin unto death, excepting\na few, \" two of a family and one of a nation,\" who were\nunited by love unto God, who would hear and obey\nHis commands and live. It was so when Jesus came\nand called His people from the cold north world of\nsin, for they followed Him against the foe, and crossed the line over the walls of difficulties into the new\nkingdom of love, light and blessing which He has\nset up ; but the majority did not enter in; they went\nonly as \" two of a family and one of a nation,\" and\nthe Lord gave them Pastors according to His own\nheart, and fed them with knowledge and understanding- :\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0:' \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 '-\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 . : \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 - ' \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0-, v.. ' :i# .-\n16. \"And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith\n -182 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthe Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord : neither shall it come to mind:\nneither shall they remember it; neither shall they\nvisit it; neither shall that be done any more.\"\nAnd it has come to pass; for the kingdom has\nmultiplied aud we see no more the ark of the coven-\nenant of the Lord. Those things are forgotten and\nare done no more.\n17. I At that time they shall call Jerusalem the\nthrone of the Lord ; and all the nations shall be gath*-\nered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem :\nneither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.\"\nAnd we call Jerusalem the Throne of the Lord, and\nall nations are gathering unto it, to the name of the\nLord, serving and praising God. Israel is no longer\nmerely the name of a people mixed with saints and\nsinners, for none but they who love and serve the Lord\ncan enter into His most perfect rest.\n18. \" In those days the house of Judah shall walk\nwith the House of Israel, and they shall come together\nout of the land of the north to the land that I have\ngiven for an inheritance unto your fathers.\"\nAnd now the time has come when all nations are\nuniting, and coming together out of the land of the\nnorth, in every part of the world, unto the New\nJerusalem, the City of our God.\nRomans viii., 33. \" Who shall lay any thing to\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 183 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthe charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth.\"\n34. \"Who is he that condcmneth ? It is Christ\nthat died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even\nat the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.\"\n35. \" Who shall separate us from the love of\nChrist ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,\nor famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword ? \"\n36. I As it is written, For \"thy sake we are killed\nall the day long ; we are accounted as sheep for the\nslaughter.\"\n37. \" Nay, in all these things we are. more than\nconquerors through him that loved us.\"\n38. I For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor\nlife, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor\nthings present, nor things to come,\"\n39. I Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,\nshall be able to separate us from the love of God,\nwhich is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\"\n SATANIC POWER\nftJATAN'S privilege, as the prince of the powers of\ndarkness, to tempt and draw men to hell is\nlimited by eternal laws, which he cannot break, in\nkeeping souls from God.\n\" And the Lord said unto satan behold all that he\nhath is in-thy power only upon himself put not forth\nthine hand.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Job i., 12.\nI Behold he is in thine hand ; but save his life.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nJob ii., 6.\nAlthough satan is limited in his.power over you, you\nare not limited, but are permitted to follow and serve\nhim to the extent of your own will. If you willingly\nplace your hand within satan's grasp, he, your arched\nenemy, is permitted to lead you through the very\ngates of hell, because you close your ears to mercy's\nwarning voice.\nThis subject was selected through the key of communication with the Lord. I expected to explain\nsome important point of doctrine ; or to write on wars,\nfloods, and pestilence. I asked the Father, in the\nSaviour's name, to show me by a vision\u00E2\u0080\u0094if it was His\n _;i '. - 185 - . t\nwill\u00E2\u0080\u0094the nature of that which I should write. I was\nshown that same night, five different stages of a sinner's life Under satanic power. First, the moral man\nand the beginner in early youth seeking after the vain\npleasures of sin'. Second, the established deep-dyed\nsinner. Third, the sinner guilty' and ashamed before\nGod. Fourth, the sinner seeking for light. Fifth, the\nsinner seeing himself lost, helpless, and in satan's\npower, but lying at the mercy seat for the great physician's cure.\nThe first seemed to represent the prodigal spending\nhis substance in riotous living. We had met for a\nseason of mirth at a gayly spread banquet. There\nwere guests both old and young. Sometimes all were\nfull of pleasure ; sometimes dull and sad. There was\na change. Some began to want for the richness of the\npast scene, I, with others, went after something else.\nI knew not what. Soon we reached the second stage,\nwhich represented the established sinner. We wandered among rocks and hills, surrounded by walls so\nhigh that they seemed to shut out the very light of\nHeaven. All seemed dark and dead. No living thing\nexisted there, except beings like ourselves. We heard\nthe rumbling of distant thunder drawing near\u00E2\u0080\u0094peal\nafter peal, the lightning flashed and the place trembled. I saw that the walls around were heated almost\nto a glow, and seemed to know that we were victims\nin a monster furnace\u00E2\u0080\u0094a home of death\u00E2\u0080\u0094and were\n m 186 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 m\nanxious to get out, but saw no way. Someone led a\nfew of us to where we, by ascending a platform, were\nenabled to escape. One at first refused to step on it,\nbut at last we all ventured ; then we travelled on a\nlong platform, but the way was easier than before.\nSo it is in serving God. Every step towards the right\nmakes the next one easier. The way was changed.\nWe were no longer seeking the pleasures of what we\ncould see, but were eagerly marching on to the third\nstage of the vision. Following some guide, we reached a path leading through a garden to a large house\nsurrounded by a plantation of fruit trees. We halted\nat the gate and did not like to enter, but were finally\npersuaded to do so. As we approached the house,\nsome of the inmates, who were quite superior to us,\ncame out to receive us. We were ashamed and guilty-\nI kept looking at myself and found that I wore the\ngarments of a wild Indian :\u00E2\u0080\u0094a dirty grey blanket and\nother things to correspond. The vision changed just\nhere and I experienced another stage. I was sitting\nby the fire upon the hearth in a large empty room adjoining the main building. A lady came to me, who\ntold me of a physician who was- in the next room that\nhad promised her some money on account of some\ncases of small pox with which she had in some way\nbeen connected. I could not understand just what\nshe meant. She said that she was waiting and kept\npointing, to the door opening into the apartment where\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 187 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nhe was. Not understanding just what she meant, I\nat last requested her to open the door, which she did,\nand went in as I thought on my behalf\u00E2\u0080\u0094like\nMoses who interceded for the Israelites before\nGod. Soon I experienced the last stage of the vision.\nI was lying helpless upon the hearth in charge of a\ndoctor, who was cleansing my mouth with a long iron\ninstrument. My throat was like an open sepulchre.\nMy garments were foul. I was diseased and putrified\nall through and yet did not know it until the very\nlast.\nThe vision I am certain was in answer to my\nprayer. It showed the devil's power to draw a sinner\ndown to hell, and then stop him from returning back\nto God. It showed the empty folly of a life of sin\nand the bitter fruit it yields. It showed the blindness\nof the dead in sin and the great responsibility of those\nwho should lead them from a lingering endless death.\nIt showed the awakening influence of the fire of love,\nand that the heart's door must be opened only at the\nsinner's own request. It also showed the dreadful\nvileness of the nature of the sin disease, which blights\nthe soul and renders man helpless, completely undone,\nand unable to save himself from the devil's grasp.\nThe mightiest influence of satanic power, which\nGod permits the devil to exert, is not sufficient to force\nthe weakest sinner to remain in sin against his own\nwill. The deadliest seeds which satan plants, are de-\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 188\nposited in the garden of innocence, the soil of early\nyouth. Go into the home, the school, or wherever\nthe young are forming their characters for life, and\nyou will see, if you look with the eyes of understanding; that seeds of both good and evil are being sown\namong them ; that some receive the good seed while\nothers receive the bad. The seeds of faith and charity\nare from God and reflects His nature in His children.\nThe seeds of deceit, selfishness and hate are from\nsatan and reflect his nature in his victims. Each seed\nrepresents a tree of living character, the fruit of which\nis good or evil, and mu\u00C2\u00BBt render the soil a living paradise, or a dark and dismal home where devils rule.\nWoe unto the parents who allow satanic power to\nmould the natdre and stamp the character of children\nin their care. Woe unto the parents who fail to do\ntheir part, by not saving their children from their deadly foe. Each little soul has communication with the\npowers of Heaven or the powers of hell. The\nguardians are responsible for the connection of the,\nwires over which the child holds communication. If\nyou give a child the glittering wires which convey the\nelements of hell, the nature of the child will correspond with the things of hell, because the petrifiying\ninfluence of satanic power will be conveyed to bind\nthe soul in living cords of sin. The victim will be\nrendered low and grovelling in his aims, with a selfish\npride, ashamed to do the right; a guilty nature-^?\n jg xgg j\u00C2\u00BB\nthe nature which rejects the Saviour's love. Protect\nthe child from evil, by placing in his hands those\nwires which convey the love of God from Calvary's\ncross into the soul, and it will form the nature which\naccepts the Saviour's mercy and receives His pardon\nand eternal life : the nature and life of God ; a love\nthat elevates ; a peace that ennobles ; a knowledge of\ninnocence, which does away with pride and guilt; a:\nfaith, a hope and a charity, which will reflect the\nimage and character of God. The man or woman\nwho does not seek to know and do the will of God,\nas written in His word and in his works, is not fit to\nbe a guardian over, children. You may prove this by\nfollowing but the life and character of the child who\nis raised under the influence of parents who are degraded and low in character; who rob, drink and\ngamble ; who fight and curse, and whose child like the\nguardians grows under-satanic power into the nature\nof a demon. You may prove it aJso by the child of\nluxury, whose parents, seek the wealth and pleasures\nof the w orld ; whose life is moral, but whose religion\nis a form; who do not follow after righteousness\nand are not particular to act the truth before their boy ;\nwho use deception, which he knows to be a lie in\nform, if not in word ; who promise punishment for\nwrong, but seldom fulfil their promise ; who give him\nhis own way and indulge his every wish. The child\nacts mean to a companion, and his parents think him\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 190 ^-\nsmart. So parents often give these glittering wires\nof death and do not see the influence of satanic power\nwhich they convey until the very soul of their offspring is bound with the cords of hell. They feed\nhis mind with novels, light and trifling, exciting and\nprofane. In early youth, the actions of his nature\nfill their hearts with sorrow and dim their eyes with\ntears. Once the parents were anxious that he might\nbecome a polished gentleman of worldly fame, but\nwere ashamed to tell him of the love of God. They\ndid not \" seek first the kingdom of Heaven,\" but of\nearth ; they did not strive to cultivate his nature in\nrighteousness. Now their only hope is that he may\nbe simply worthy to be called a man. They spared\nthe rod in childhood and failed to obtain obedience ;\nhe is not ashamed of evil conduct, and does not fail\nto blight the lives of father and mother and rend their\nhearts by his low, selfish tyranny. This is not the case\nBfereJy with one or two families, but it is the bitter\nexperience of tens of thousands. Satan plants the\nbitter seeds of death early in the heart, which grow\ninto the most deadly vines of his own nature, which\ncan be destroyed only by the sprinkling blood from\noff the altar of atonement, through the grace and love\nof God. Give your child freedom in all things, to\nsatisfy the lusts of his own nature\u00E2\u0080\u0094all that his heart\ndesires\u00E2\u0080\u0094and you place in his hands the glittering\nwires that connect his soul with hell and guides the\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 191 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nhelm that runs the vessel into the harbour of destruction. Through this influence the thrones of earth,\nin ages past, have been occupied by living monsters\nwho held the sceptres of tyrants ; despotic monarchs,\nwhose hands were red with the blood of their fellow-\nmen, whom they burned at the stake, thrust through\nwith daggers, or mangled to death in some brutal\nform ; just to rob them of their possessions. Here we\nfind the fruits of satanic influence ripened from childhood into the devil's own nature\u00E2\u0080\u0094men changed into\ndemons. The influence of love\u00E2\u0080\u0094conveyed on the\nwires of righteousness through the cross, which unites\nthe soul with God\u00E2\u0080\u0094ripens into a heavenly nature of\nlove, like Christ, the ever living pattern to draw mankind to the Father. John vi., 45, \" It is written in the\nprophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every\nman therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of\nthe Father, cometh unto me.\"\nThere are but few persons who know how to culti-\ntivate the nature of a child, to make its character\nnoble, who do their duty in accordance with the responsibility which diat knowledge brings. Many\nChristians, and even ministers\u00E2\u0080\u0094trusting too much to\ntheir own everyday conversations and sermons from\nthe pulpit\u00E2\u0080\u0094miss the mark, lose their influence and\nfail to improve the nature of their children. They do\nnot take time for a daily t confidential, friendly talk, to\nteach them the way of righteousness ; to point them\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 192 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nto the Saviour and the love of God ; to teach them of\nthe works of God and God's eternal justice ; and so\nwin their affections and cultivate their character.\nThe youth must sometimes mingle with those whose\ninfluence is degrading ; and, unless his guardians have\nhold upon his affections and the principles of uprightness have been instilled into his nature and he is daily\nkept by the influence of their counsel, he will go astrayj\nThe Saviour commanded His disciples to feed His\nsheep and His lambs. If you feed a child with wisdom and a proper training he will dwell in the courts\nof the Lord.\nI was shown in avision in connection with this lesson\nof- progressive sin under satanic power, a wanderer,\nwhose soul was death through sin, his body poisoned by\nliquor and weakened with debauchery. His friends\nhad deserted him, his wealth was gone, his body\nbloated and weak. He wandered from place to place\na beggar and sought for a home of shelter and rest\nbut.found none. Since childhood he had wandered\nfrom God, primarily through the sins of his parents\nwho had failed to use the influence necessary to keep\nhim in the path of righteousness.\" He represents the\nchild who was permitted to rest beneath the influence\nof satanic power until he arrived at manhood, to drink\nthe bitter dregs of death as countless thousands have\nalready done. I saw, also, a w.oman and some well-\ndresbed,noble-loaking children\u00E2\u0080\u0094travellers\u00E2\u0080\u0094who came\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 193 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nto a place that was guarded on the north side by high\nhills that were almost perpendicular. Steps lead up\ntoward the top in many places. At the end of each\nthere was a place decorated and made to look as if\npeople were living there. Just here the woman\nwent on ahead, and left the children to amuse\nthemselves as they chose. Soon some of them commenced to climb the steps. As many as attempted\nwere lost, or fell before they reached the top, arid were\nnearly killed. The woman came back too late to endeavor to rescue them from their perilous condition :\nsome were lost and others nearly dead. Then the\nvision was ended. Its meaning still remains and\npoints every reader to the great necessity of guarding\nwell the life of every child against satanic power.\nThousands in the journey of life have been carefully watched and guarded against all danger until\nthey reached the cold chilly mountains of sin, where\nthey were confronted with the great problems of the\nissues of life. Then they were left withou the influence of the guardian to teach them the way of\nrighteousness and point them to the Saviour. They\nwere left to climb the hills of sin to the yawning\nprecipice above the gates of hell, or walk along the\nnarrow path that leads to God. Left without the\nblessing of a loving guide. The child who enjoys the\nprivilege of a friendly confiding talk with his parents,\nor guardiaris, every day ; to whom he can tell all his\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 194 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ncares and troubles, hopes and pleasures, and receives\nin return the advice of loving friends, becomes attach-\ned to them with ties of strong affection, and his\nobedience is prompt, because prompted by love. His\ncomrades tempt him to play the truant, but he never\nplays it ; he is asked to smoke, and coaxed to take\nhis first glass of liquor, but never yields ; for he has\nlearned the ways of wisdom, and escapes the tempter's\nsnare. He is invited to the ball and theatre, by (in his\nestimation) the fairest of all girls\u00E2\u0080\u0094the one he loves\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nand before he answers \" No,\" he seeks advice. Perhaps he is shown the effects of attending those places\nthrough some young man of his acquaintance, who\nneglects his duty, spends his money and looses his\nsleep night after night, who thus robs his system of\nhealth and his mind of a desire to study. That young\nman is poor, sickly and miserable, because he yielded\nto the tempter's snare at first and took the poisoned\nbait, which holds him at so great a cost. After looking such a cabe squarely in the face, the youth is ready\nto answer \" No,\" even to the girl he loves the best. In\nearly youth, he accepts Jesus Christ for his personal\nSaviour and not only obeys his parents, but renders\nan obedient trust to God, because his nature is pre--\npared to receive the love of God and his mind to understand the things of God. He realizes himself a\nsinner and asks for pardon, because he wants to be a\nChristian and have the peace of God. He. takes God\n 195\nat His word and knows that he is pardoned, regardless of his feelings, because God says it is so. Soon\nhe has the full assurance of the Saviour's love, and\nlabours in the vineyard for the glory of the Lord and\nthe good of his fellow-man. He meets with many\nkinds of wanderers from God, among the rest, is the\neducated infidel, by whose arguments he is baffled,\nnot because of the truth, but the shrewdness by\nwhich it covers the truth. Although he knows what\nGod has done for him, of the glorious change which\nGod has wrought in him, he cannot express that\nknowledge in words sufficient to convince the sceptic,\nnor meet his studied theories. Therefore he is discouraged, but never falls, for he goes to the Lord and\nfinds new strength. Perhaps the infidel has said that\nthere is no God, and that all things came to exist by\nchance and were not created ; that evolution was a\nfactor, but could not tell how, or show any foundation\nfor his theory. He says that we must judge the past\nby the present evidences. With these statements by\nhimself unanswered, the youth stands but a moment,\nthen seeks the guiding hand of those who can lead\nhim through the satanic mists of infidelity ; he finds\nsome one who is better able to explain the works of\nGod, called nature, and to expose the groundless\ntheory of evolution. That friend begins, perhaps, to\nexplain that we and our surroundings are the works\nof God and therefore God exists ; and that if we, as\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 196 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthe infidel says we must, judge the past by present\nevidences\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nOn Saturday night I left off writing just here, wondering what I could write that would represent facts\nsuch as a father ought to teach his sons, in order to\nsave them from the blighting influence of those\nlearned, shrewd, sceptical infidels, who do not really\nbelieve their owrn statements. I asked the Lord to\ngive me words to write and before the morning had\ndawned I saw a vision from which I awoke with these\nwords fixed on my mind. \" It is easier to have the\nfalse than the true theory. The false is connected\nwith the imagination of the heart, which is continually\nwrong. Truth is built on facts. Buy the truth and\nsell it not.\" Those words were stamped upon the\nmind just I was waking. I cannot tell by what means,\nbut I know that it was the influence of a power beyond\nmy own\u00E2\u0080\u0094-words revealed instantly\u00E2\u0080\u0094bearing on the\nsubject, for which I had asked for guidance to write.\nAs the substance of a vision is of less importance\nthan the lesson to be taken from it, I will leave the\nvision in the background and show more especially\nthe fulness of its meaning as revealed to me. A Tree\nwith an apple, which came up through it and hung on\na little stem through which it also came was shown\nthrough the vision as a miracle. Small birds, hens,\nand an ostrich, a sandy desert and eggs, were also\nbrought before me. The words before mentioned\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 197 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nkept sounding in my mind and the fact came to me\nthat if an egg comes from an ostrich, and an ostrich\ncomes from an egg, one must have been created first in\nsome other way,\u00E2\u0080\u0094and the questions came, Which was\nfirst ? and Who made it ? By studying these important questions according to an in.fidel's Own rule of\njudging the past by the present, we find that an ostrich comes from an egg\u00E2\u0080\u0094then the egg existed first;\nand if we judge the past by the present, we decide for\na positive fact that no ostrich's egg could form of itself in the shifting sands in a short time, ready for\nhatching; and th it if the egg existed first, it was\ncreated in a different .way to the present form of\nbeing layed there ; and so there must have been a\ngreat breach in the theory of evolution, when the first\neggs were made tu hatch hens aand rooster chicken.\nAll would have to be accomplished in a few weeks,\nor the eggs would have been spoiled ; therefore, it is\na fixed certainty that evolution had nothing to do\nwith forming the first chicken. Not only is this fact\nestablished by the very nature of things ; but by the\nevolutionist's own statement. But, suppose he goes\nback on his own theory, and says that the first ostrich,\nor hen, did not come from an egg, but was evolved\nfrom something he does not know what; then I\nwould like to know how a hen happened to be evolved the same time as the rooster, which are two distinct\nbirds ? When and how did the great breach in the\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 198 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nsystem of the theory of evolution occur in changing\nthe plan of the formation and birth of hens, roosters,\nand of all the other birds ? Is it reasonable to think\nthat at one time they were brought into the world born\nlike animals, and, by changing from one generation\nto another, each century they grew larger, until at\nlast there was a full-sized hen ; that they then stopped suddenly and changed their natural process of life\nand commenced to be hatched from eggs ? The thing\nis ridiculous, and not worthy of a second thought from\none whom God has blessed with common sense.\nThen it is very clear that.the theory of evolution had\nnothing to do with the creation. Further there must\nhave been two formed at the same time : one to hatch\na male bird and one a female bird. If you say the\nfirst generation of ostriches were born and not hatched, then there must have been a great breach in the\ntheory of evolution when they commenced to be\nhatched. The thing is contrary to nature, and altogether ridiculous to those who know God as their\nCreator. The same is true of hens and roosters,\nwhich come from eggs, and according to the theory of\nevolution have always come from eggs. I want to\nask, Who made the first two eggs which must have\nbeen formed in a few hours and kept at a certain heat\nfor days ; one made to hatch a rooster, the other a\nhen ? or, Who made the first hen and rooster, or any\nother bird ?\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 199 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nWe find that the apple, in the vision, which came\nthrough the tree and formed into that fruit\u00E2\u0080\u0094like the\negg of the ostrich\u00E2\u0080\u0094bears that particular seed or life\ngerm ; therefore the tree grows from its own kind of\nseed ; and, if we judge the past by the present works\nof nature, which God has made, the first tree had no\nseed to grow from and was created by other means\nthan that which man knows or has any trace of, unless\nhe finds it in the boundless wisdom and power of\nAlmighty God, who touches the dead clods of the\nelements and moulds them at His will into living\nmonuments for His glory. While man has no evidence to prove that evolution has ever created a single\nthing at the beginning, we have proof by man's own\ntestimony, not only that of the twelve Apostles, but\nhundreds who also ate of the elements which God\ntouched by the power of His wisdom and formed into\nbread, by which the five thousand were fed. Jesus, in\nthat miracle, not only created bread, but gave it to the\npeople, that a part of it might become a part of their\nown bodies ; and many other mighty works also were\nperformed by the Lord before the people. He who\nbelieves in evolution, as the creator of the works of\nGod, does not believe in God, nor in the united testimony of his fellow-man, but trusts in the imaginations\nof his own heart, which is at enmity with God. God's\nways, though mysterious to us, are always perfect ;\ntherefore they who are at enmity with Him are wrong\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 200\ncontinually. \" A man's heart deviseth his way : but\nthe Lord directeth his steps.\" Prov. xvi., 9.\nIf all the children of this generation had facts relative to God's works\u00E2\u0080\u0094similar to those given in connection with the vision\u00E2\u0080\u0094thoroughly stamped >upon their\nminds, the world would soon be'free from the blighting curse of sceptical infidelity. If I could give to the\nmillions of this generation, who claim not Christ for\ntheir Saviour, my own experience, that they might\nknow for themselves the fulness of the love and peace,\nwhich the presence of God brings into the soul; the\nwonderful things I have received through faith in communication with God ; and the marvellous change the\nnew birth\u00E2\u0080\u0094not a fancied new birth, but the new birth\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094makes in a sinner's nature ; not the nature of the\nflesh but of the heart; then the world would serve\nthe Lord. Then Paradise would practically be\nrestored to earth, as it will be when the millenial\ndawn is fully ushered in, and the lion and the lamb\nshall lie down at peace together ; for satanic power\nwill be bound by laws of righteousness.\nIn order to save the nations most successfully from\nthe deadly influence of satan, its children must be\ntaught the ways of righteousness, the love and justice\nof God ; and the vile cruelty of sin ; then will they\nbuy wisdom and sell it not.\n A LITTLE WHILE.\nA little while ! 'Tis ever drawing.nearer\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe brighter da'wning of that glorious day.\nBlest Saviour, make our spirits' vision clearer,\n^tnd guide, O guide us in the shining way.\nA little while, O blessed expectation !\nFor strength to run with patience, Lord we cry ;\nO hearts up leap in fond anticipation ;\nOur union with the Bridegroom draweth nigh.\nSelect.\nJude 19. , \" These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.\"\n20. \" But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on\nyour most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,\"\n21. I Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking\nfor the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal\nlife.\" '. ' . : Ijj\n22. \" And of some have compassion, making a\ndifference :\n23. \" And others save with fear, pulling them out\nof the fire ; hating even the garment spotted by the\nflesh.\" \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\n24. I Now ijnto him that is able to keep you from,\n 202\nfalling, and to present you faultless before the\npresence of his glory with exceeding joy.\"\n' 25. \" To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory\nand majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.\nAmen.\"\nIn the twenty-five verses of this epistle of Jude,\nthere exists a great chasm fixed between the nature\nof those who live under satanic influences and those\nwho hold the wires which convey the influences of\nthe life of God into their lives. \" But ye, beloved\nbuilding up yourselves on your most holy faith, pray-\nin the Holy Ghost.\" Prayer is the great cable of\ncommunication with Heaven, upon which to cling\nwith the arms of faith and through which to eat of\nthe hidden manna and imbibe the nature of Christ.\nThe precious promise of our Heavenly Father is \" ask\nand ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened\nunto you, seek and ye shall find.\" And multitudes\nhave asked in faith, and, according to their faith,\nhave received a fulness of the precious hidden manna, of a life hidden with Christ in God. But, alas,\nthere is the other side of humanity: those who handle\nthe wires of communication with the powers of satan\nand receive from him the very brimstone of his nature\nthat will help to light the fires of death, which dieth\nnot, whose nature, is described in this epistle.\n16. I These are murmurers, complainers, walking\nafter their own lusts ; and their mouth speaketh great\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 203 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nswelling words, having men's persons in admiration\nbecause of advantage.\"\n17. \" But, beloved, remember ye the words which\nwere spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus\nChrist;\" ' ;\n18. \" How that they told you there should be\nmockers in the last time, who should walk after their\nown ungodly lusts.\"\nThere are two classes in this world, the living and\nthe dead, having eternal life or having eternal death.\nJesus said to His hearers\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"\u00C2\u00ABthe time is coming and\nnow is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son\nof God, and they that hear shall live,\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094(John v., 25.)\nDuring the eighteen hundred and sixty-two years\nwhich have passed since those words were spoken,\nmillions have heard that glorious call and have been\nraised to a newness of life, living members of the\nbody of Christ on earth, whose souls were cleansed in\nthe atoning blood, and robed in the beautiful garments\nof Christ's own nature. The great majority of those\nhave left this earthly tabernacle, and, having passed\nfrom death unto life before the body died, were made\nthrough Christ to be partakers of the first resurrection ;\nand are therefore this day with Him in Paradise.\nJust here, you meet the most solemn of all important questions. You must face it ; or soon it will face\nyou, when it is too late. Have you that life that is\nhid with Christ in God ; or the death with satan, that\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 204 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 ;fj\u00C2\u00A3\nnever dies ? There are only two conditions\u00E2\u0080\u0094life or\ndeath. Which is yours? If you have not decided\nfor* yourself, then satan is deciding the question for\nyou, deciding that you shall be his victim of horrible\ntorments, through all eternity. Do not be deceived,\nGod is not mocked ; whosoever you choose to serve in\nthis life, you must serve in the life beyond, because\nyour nature will correspond to those by whom your\nsoul is fed. Do not be deceived, but rest assured that\nif the nature of sin is not killed by the cleansing blood,\nyou can never enter into the kingdom of Heaven.\nGod has so loved you, that He has taken your nature\nof sin unto death, and died your death for you and\nfor me. Whosoever will may receive His wonderful\ngift of freedom and life with God, because He was\nable to fulfil the law for you, and then raise Himself\nup. He has created a first resurrection, by which\nthrough the law, millions have received that gift.\nHave you received it ? It means to you everlasting\nriches and pleasure, and glory and honor and Paradise\u00E2\u0080\u0094an endless union with the family of God. It\nmeans the glorious privilege to grow in grace, in\nwisdom and in beauty for ever, in the presence of the\nLord our God. It means all that is valuable to you.\nIs it true that you are slumbering away your life\nwhich might end to-morrow? Are you missing the\nonly Perfect Gift that life is worth living for? If you\nare rejecting Christ, then you are missing positive-\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 205 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nly the only riches for which life is truly worth living.\nIf you reject the gift of life, you had better not have\nbeen born. But, if you have accepted Christ's atonement and* received the presence of the Holy Ghost,\nthe love and fellowship of God, then you have a little\nforetaste of the joys of Paradise, and know that you\nare born of God. Your nature is changed, for now\nyou love the brethren, and long to bring sinners to\nthe Saviour. Your nature, once so cold and dead,\nnow seeks to awaken others, that they too might find\nyour precious Saviour. Through that longing in your\nnature, you know that you have a new nature, quickened by a living spark of the Spirit of the Lord, and\nyou know that this living fire of love is from Him, for\nGod is love. His very presence fills your soul with\nlove. Having this fact\u00E2\u0080\u0094a living reality in your soul\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094that God who created you by the word of His\npower to live in this world as a mortal, has also recreated you, by the travail of His own soul unto death\nto be a saint\u00E2\u0080\u0094a member of His kingdom, a child of\nGod, having the glorious promise of a home in\nHeaven. How careful should you be to live near the\nSaviour that He might use you in His vineyard in\nbringing others to the light, the cleansing fountain\nthat they may be awakened also to ^eternal life and\n. with you enjoy the glorious blessings of the love of\nGod. Saved from the diseases of the soul, the leprosy\nthat unfits the soul for Heaven. Saved from sin's\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 204 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ndegrading, hating nature and the darkness it brings\nupon the victims of its powers, and the horrors of an\nendless home with devils. It is worthy of all your\nkeenest efforts, and of all the services of all your life\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094though you live a million centuries\u00E2\u0080\u0094to be the\nmeans of bringing one to Jesus Christ. To dwell with\nHim in His glorious pavilion for endless ages, for the\nend of the million centuries would certainly come.\nYou will certainly be rewarded by the nature of your\nwork of love ; built up in your own character and fitted for a higher mansion in His presence. \" He doeth\nall things well.\" You will be rewarded by the uniting\ncords of love\u00E2\u0080\u0094the everlasting bands which unite his\nsoul with yours\u00E2\u0080\u0094the soul of him jwhom you, through\nChrist, have brought to God. You will be rewarded\nby a victory over sin and hell, and satan's power\u00E2\u0080\u0094an\nendless victory. A crown of life will be received\nthr^pgh Christ by the one whom you have led to the\nprecious, cleansing fountain. You will be rewarded\nin the presence of God and of the holy angels.\nI He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I\nwill be his God and he shall be my son.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Rev. xxi., 7.\nI And others save with fear, pulling them out of the\nfire : hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.\"\nJude 23.\nThe meaning of the facts, in connection with this\nlast verse cannot any more easily be understood by'\nman than can the endlessness of an endless eternity.\nThe fire referred to is as endless as eternity in its du-\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 207 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nration. The spots of the flesh are as endless as the\nfires which they create within the soul, whose garments\nare spotted with them ; and\u00E2\u0080\u0094because they are a\nliving, growing nature, a part of the soul\u00E2\u0080\u0094they must\nexist with the soul. There is no way to change the\nnature of that disease excepting God's way. There\nis no physician who can cure the disease of the\nsoul, excepting the Great Physician, who has satisfied\nthe law's demands, and who can drive out the old\nnature by placing a new life within, and so create a\nsaint for a mansion in the heavenly world.\nI And now unto Him that is able to keep you from\nfalling, and to present you faultless before the presence\nof His glory with exceeding joy.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Jude 24.\nTo Him, dear reader, let all the services of your\nlife be given ; that at last you may have the glorious\nmansion prepared for you, made to suit the character\nof your being, where\u00E2\u0080\u0094knowing as you are known\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nyou can better sing the praises of the King of Kingr.\nDo you not know some wanderer from God, rejecting\nthe Saviour's love; some model sinner whose garments are spotted by the flesh, who believes that all\nthe blessings he receives are gifts from his Creator,\nbut never renders thanks to God, even for one single\nblessing, because he knows that the only kind of\nthanks which can reach God must come from a sincere, obedient heart. Someone who thinks that he is\ngood enough, because his hands are not red with his\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 2o8 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nbrother's blood, or his nature stained with guilt through\nthe coveted goods of his neighbour, which he has\nstolen ; good enough because his nature is yet concealed\u00E2\u0080\u0094like the flower within the bud\u00E2\u0080\u0094in its satanic\ngarments, and is not yet bloomed out into its real\nnature before the world. Someone to whom satan\nsays \" You are as good as lots who profess religion.\"\nOne who does not know the difference between a pro-\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nfession of religion and sanctification unto God.\nIf you do know such an one, dear fellow Christian\nit is your bounden duty before God to work and watch\nand fight and pray for his salvation ; striving with all\nyour might to save with fear, pulling him out of the\nfire ; for if he is allowed to slumber beneath that deadly influence of satanic nature, until he is suddenly cut\noff from the earth, or even before, satan will unfold\nthe garments and reveal his own image\u00E2\u0080\u0094the likeness\nof satan\u00E2\u0080\u0094in the nature of his suffering victim. Think\nof a loved on e being cradled in the arms of death by\nsatan's power and prepared for eternal torments, being\nmade a demon\u00E2\u0080\u0094to be tormented by the fiends whose\nhatred and vengeance is poured out upon each other\nthrough endless ages\u00E2\u0080\u0094and you not trying to save him;\nto awaken him that he might see the true nature of\nhis mad folly, and escape from hell.\nDaniel xii., I. \" And at that time shall Michael\nstand up, J:he great prince which standeth for the\nchildren of thy people : and there shall be a time of\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 209 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ntrouble, such as never was since there was a nation\neven to that same time: and at that time thy people\nshall be delivered, every one that shall be found\nwritten in the book.\"\n2. \" And many of them that sleep in the dust of\nthe earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and\nsome to shame and everlasting contempt.\"\n3. \" And they that be wise shall shine as the\nbrightness of the firmament; and they that turn\nmany to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.\"\n4. \" But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and\nseal the book, even to j the time of the end : many\nshall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be\nincreased.\"\n5. I Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there\nstood other two, the one on this side of the bank of\nthe river, and the other on that side of the bank of\nthe river.\"\n6. I And one said to the man clothed in linen,\nwhich was upon the waters of the river, How long\nshall it be to the end of these wonders ? \"\n7. I And I heard the man clothed in linen, which\nwas upon the waters of the river, when he held up his\nright hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware\nby him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time,\ntimes and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all\nthese things shall be finished.\"\nP.\n 2IO\n8. ii And I heard, but I understood not: then said\nI, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? |\n9. I And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the\nwords are closed up and sealed till the time of the\nend.\" > . : ... ., . .\n10. \" Many shall be purified, and made white, and\ntried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly : and none of\nthe wicked shall understand; but the wise shall\nunderstand.\"\n11. \" And from the time that the daily sacrifice\nshall be taken away, and the abomination that\nmaketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand\ntwo hundred and ninety days.\" SB\n12. \"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to\nthe thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.\"\n13^1\" But go thou thy way till the end be: for\nthou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the\ndays.\" , \"_\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nFive hundred and thirty-four years before Christ,\nthe Lord spoke unto His servant Daniel and told\nhim of the coming Saviour, and the mighty events to\nbe accomplished for man and for the glory of God.\nThe revelations as given to Daniel\u00E2\u0080\u0094so long before\nthey were fulfilled, in reference to the things in connection with the above verses\u00E2\u0080\u0094are most wonderful,\nwhen compared with the fulness with which they have\nbeen fulfilled. J\nTo study God's words without prejudice^ as given\n 211\nto us through Daniel, and to catch fhe nature of their\nmeaning in connection with their fulfilment, is to be\nable to read the words which were closed up and\nSealed till the time of the end. Sealed to every one,\neven to Daniel himself, who heard but understood not,\nand was told, in reply to his question, to go his way,\nfor the words were closed up and sealed till the time\nof the end.\"\nI. | And at that time shall Michael stand up, the\ngreat prince which standeth for the children of thy\npeople : and there shall be a time of trouble, such as\nnever was since there was a nation even to that same\ntime : and at that time thy people shall be delivered,\nevery one that shall be found written in the book.\"\n| And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great\nprince which standeth for the children of thy people.\"\nEven at that very time, Jesus Christ, the Prince of\nPeace, was standing in behalf of the people whose\nsacrifices were accepted through the great sacrifice of\natonement to be made once for all. \" And there shall\nbe a time of trouble, such as there has not been since\nthere was a nation.\" During the one thousand two\nhundred and ninety days of Christ's labor, the fiercest\ndifficulties had to be faced and overcome in order\nthat God's kingdom might be established. The\nreligion of many of the people was but a form, void\nof the light and love of God, and gave them the cruel\nnature of demons. The great battle of sin and right-\n 212 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\neousness was fought, and the glorious victory of man's\nredemption was won through Christ, who sets us free.\nThere is deliverance from satan for every one who will\naccept, and receive the image of God stamped upon\ntheir nature. ute\n2. \" And many of them that sleep in the dust of\nthe earth shall awake some to everlasting life, and\nsome to shame and everlasting contempt.\"\nMany who slept in the dust of the earth should\nawake, and through Christ many have been raised\nand made partakers of the resurrection, some unto\nlife everlasting and some unto shame and everlasting\ncontempt. Which shall it be for me ? is a question\nwhich none should fail to ask their soul while searching their own heart. Which shall it be? Heaven\nand life and joy ; or hell and shame and death ? Will\nyou be counted among the number, when Christ shall\nmake up His jewels. Will you shine as the stars for\never and ever ? If you are serving the Lord, through\nlove, and striving to turn many to righteousness, you\nmay know that it is well with your soul ; but, if you\nare serving satan, be assured that you will have shame\nand everlasting contempt.\n3. \" And they that be wise shall shine as the\nbrightness of the firmament; and they that turn\nmany to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.\"\nOh, how awful is his condition, who lives unconsciously the life of a hypocrite before the world ! Who\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 213 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nis saved like thesthief on the. cross, but has very little\nof the love of God in his soul, because he allows the\nworld, the flesh, and the devil to trample upon the\nseed sown there. His life does, not correspond with\nhis profession, therefore he becomes the shame of the\nchurch, and a contemptible hypocrite to the world,\nbecause he is not careful to walk in close communion\nwith the Lord. His spiritual influence is dead ;\nstrangled to death by his actions.\" He may be saved,\nlike the thief on the cross, but his life on earth is\nlost, and he may be saved, though as by fire. \" As\nthe tree faUs, so it shall- lie.\" He that teaches, by\nwords or b^ actions, contrary to the word of God shall\nbe the least in the kingdom of Heaven ; while they\nthat turn many to righteousness shall shine as the\nstars for ever and ever. Are you a stumbling block\nto the samer or a hindrance to the seeking soul ? If\nyou are, them awful is your condition, for your heart\nis divided and tainted by sin. Have you professed to\ntjai?e Jesus Christ,.j^st because you wanted to, although\nyou were not willing to give up all your sins, which\nyou really love*naore than: righteousness ? If so, then\nyour religion; is but a form, a cloak, a counterfeit,, and\nyou hase nothing but its forms, and the example. of\nyour fellow Christians to guide you; and^: therefore,\nyou cannot stand, for yjsaut have not given up all to\nfoik>w Ckrist You must turn from sin and, trusting\nJesus, fodJbw- whecexer He may lead. Your lilk will\n - 214 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthen be grand and glorious, througli time, and all\neternity.\n4. I But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and\nseal the book, even to the time of the end, many\nshall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be\nincreased.\"\nThe book was sealed until the time of the end, and\nno man could understand it until Christ, the Mighty\nPrince, the Son of God, broke the seal and did away\nwith the daily sacrifices of the old dispensation.\n5. \" Then I Daniel looked, and behold, there\nstood other two, the one on this side of the bank of\nthe river, and the other on that side of the bank of\nthe river.\"\nTho river which Daniel saw, represents the river of\nlife, which flows from the throne of God. The man\non this side of the river, meant the people before\nChrist; and the man on that side, meant the people\nafter Christ.\n7. I And I heard the man clothed in linen, which\nwas upon the waters of the river, when he held up\nhis right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and\nsware by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a\ntime, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people,\nall these things shall be finished.\"\nWe need not doubt the fact, that the man clothed\nin linen, which was upon the waters of the river, who\n 2K\nheld up both his hands unto Heaven, represented\nChrist, and that the \" time, times, and a half time,\"\nwas the last three and a half years of Christ's ministry,\n' and when the forty days were accomplished after the\nresurrection\u00E2\u0080\u0094during which time the Lord visited and\nstrengthened His people, and scattered them abroad\nfilled with the power of the. Holy Ghost\u00E2\u0080\u0094then all of\nthese things were finished.\n10. I Many shall be purified, and made white, and\ntried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly : and none of\nthe wicked shall understand ; but the wise shall\nunderstand.\" fflm\nMillions have been purified and made white, and\ntried since the Day of Pentecost. To-day the wicked\ndo wickedly, and do not understand the Spirit, the\nlove of God, or the plan of salvation ; because they\nare under the mists of satanic power.\nii. | And from the time that the daily sacrifice\nshall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh\ndesolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred\nand ninety days.\"\n12. \"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to\nthe thousand three hundred and five and thirty days \"\nJust as soon as Christ commenced to teach the\npeople, then there was no more need of the daily\nsacrifice, for Christ was \" the light of the world.\" So\nthat Jesus must have laboured for His Kingdom one\nthousand two hundred and ninety days against the\n 2l6\nabominations of satanic powers that were raised against\nHim, before He said on the cross \"it is finished.\"\nil Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh, to the\nthousand three hundred and five and thirty days,\"\nwhich would be forty-five days after the resurrection\nand five days after the ascension, and must hasse been\nthe Day of Pentecost for which the disciples w^ce\nwaiting, and in which they received the blessing of\nthe presence and the power of the Holy* Ghost.\nThen was the great mission d\u00C2\u00A3 Christ, the kingdom of\nthe Son of God, established in our behalf, and then\nwas the end of the days when Daniel wouM stand in\nhis lot.\n13. \"But go thou thy- way till the end be: for\nthou shafc rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the\ndays.\" \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 -:|. -\nIn this chapter we have clear evidence of the facty\nthat God sees the future as you see the past, and the\nthings that shall come to pass are known to Him\nthousands of years before. Therefore, in God's sight,\nthey exist as realities, in the same way as that wnich\nyou saw yesterday exist as a reality in your sight. If\nit were nofc so, then God could not have'given to\nDaniel this wonderful history of the coming Saviour.\n IN CONCLUSION.\n\u00E2\u0099\u00A6IIAAVE you carefully read each page of this book*\nand read it as a study, without a prejudice ?\nIf you have, it must have left its footprints upon your\nsoul, never to be erased ; which, if cherished, will help\nto form in you the nature of God's own glorious\ncharacter, when you are born again. For that which\nhas been, can never be as though it had not been, in\nforming character.\nAre you a sceptic ? Then Jesus has invited you to\nthe marriage supper of the Lamb. Oh, will you not\ncome and enter His great pavilion of love and peace,\nand everlasting glory ? Jesus is waiting yet. Will\nyou not come ? Must you forever argue and live for\nthe world and for satan, your deadliest enemy ?\nAgainst your Saviour and friend, Creator and God ?\nCan you rest without this question being settled ?\nAwful is your case, if you sleep beneath the venom\nof your foe.\nAre you a Christian\u00E2\u0080\u0094born of God\u00E2\u0080\u0094who has carefully read without a prejudice? Has not some living\nspark from off the altar, lit up J your soul ? not\nmerely to help you walk the narrow way, but to help\n F-\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 218 \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nyou shine more brightly the reflected light from the\nCross, that others may look and live.\nAre you a worldling? One whose soul is wrapped\nin garments spotted by the flesh, who loves the way\nof evil better than that of righteousness ? You have\nnot read carefully without a prejudice, because your\nheart is at enmity with God. You read the blessed\nBible as a book for others and not exactly meant for\nyou. You are therefore prejudiced in your own favor,\nand, though you wear the brightest character, you\nmust walk in darkness, unless your soul is kindled\nwith the life, and light and love of God. Although\nyou have read beneath the shadow of this veil of\nprejudice, yet some living seeds of \"ftre\u00E2\u0080\u0094the fire of\nHeaven\u00E2\u0080\u0094may linger in your soul and may it never\ncease to burn until the old nature is all consumed and\nyou are born of God\u00E2\u0080\u0094a living burning flame of the\nfire of the love of God.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Amen.\nTrythall, City Printing Works, Vancouver, B.C.\n :w\nJ\n "@en . "Other Copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/47167349"@en . "Books"@en . "BV4950 .P2"@en . "I-1080"@en . "10.14288/1.0222327"@en . "English"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "Vancouver : Trythall City Printing Works"@en . "Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca."@en . "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. BV4950 .P2"@en . "Salvation"@en . "A marvellous experience. Containing light and food for Christians, sceptics, and worldlings"@en . "Text"@en . ""@en .