Obrazy na stronie
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When man had been created, and out of him his bride,
The Tempter entered Eden and talked with her-aside :
He spoke of wondrous knowledge and thus beguiled her heart,
She ate the fruit forbidden and gave the man a part.

Adam was not deceived and utter death incurred,
As God before had spoken and man before had heard;
Then man was straightway exiled with his less guilty wife,
And driven forth from Eden-debarred the Tree of Life.

Most justly were they banished from Eden and the Tree,
But mercy marked the margin of that divine decree;
For sin has thus a limit and shall not reign alway,
Nor man in sin and sorrow live on and on for aye.

And ere the man was exiled with his less guilty wife,
The words of doom were spoken on one with sin most rife ;
The Serpent, the Deceiver who caused the deadly deed,
Was told of his destruction by Woman's wondrous Seed.

Outside the bounds of Eden a sinful race arose,

Brought forth both weak and mortal and heirs of many woes; The Episode of Evil thus moved along its way,

Led by the power of darkness until the judgment day.

SECOND PART.

The Woman's Seed predicted in greatest mystery came;
God-Son of God-incarnate, and JESUS was His name ;
The Serpent saw Him human in feeble infancy,

And straightway sought to slay Him, thro' Herod's enmity.

Incensed with subtle hatred the Serpent sought the Seed,
And found Him in a desert when at His utmost need ;
But there in human weakness He signally prevailed,
O'er all the power of evil wherewith he was assailed.

Filled with the Holy Spirit-the Son of God confessed,
He went about in mercy relieving the distressed;

The oppressed by that old Serpent he healed and filled with joy,.
And in due time will utterly the devil's works destroy.

The fierce and final conflict upon the cross was waged,
While holy angels witnessed-while men and devils raged;
The Serpent struck the Seed then, and sorely crushed his heel,
But of his own destruction he then received the seal.

For Jesus triumphed gloriously over all his mighty foes,
And spoiled the hosts of evil who 'gainst the right arose ;
The Episode of Evil He brought beneath His sway,
And, dying, wrought redemption on that victorious day.

He rose again immortal-He reigns in life on high,
No more to veil His glory, nor lay His power by;
And thence the life eternal He gives in love most free,
Life, soon to be completed in immortality.

THIRD PART.

By grace of God the Father we now in Christ believe,
Through Him from God the Father we life and good receive;
To Him the Father gave us-His joy and just reward,
And by all saints and angels He's honoured and adored.

In Christ we have redemption-redeemed by His own blood;
And now are we the children of God-the living God;
By Christ too represented before our Father's face;
And thus are shown the riches of God's abounding grace.

Our Lord will come in glory-almighty power is His,
To chain that ancient Serpent, and bind him in th' abyss:
Then will He crown with glory His chosen, ransomed Bride,
She, like her Lord, immortal, and seat her near His side.

He then will rescue Israel, and save them by His grace-
Will save in loving kindness that ancient chosen race:
Jerusalem shall then be the centre of His sway,

And all Earth's kings and princes His mandates must obey.

Evil shall then be shackled by His Almighty hand,
And good in rich abundance flow from Immanuel's land
Rebellion must lie prostrate, nor dare lift up its head,
For Christ's majestic glory will fill his foes with dread.

:

Messiah's righteous sceptre shall rule o'er all the earth,
And peace, with plenteous blessing, shall fill the scene with mirth:
All Israel then shall triumph and glorify their king-
Adore Jehovah-Jesus, and of His conquests sing.

FOURTH PART.

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But when Messiah's kingdom of " thousand years" is past,
Then shall the ancient Serpent be loosed to do his last;
Deceived by him the nations will all their might employ,
Against the holy City-but God will them destroy.

Then comes the final judgment before the great white throne,
And all ungodly sinners their righteous Judge shall own-
The Judge whose sentence limits all sin and suff'ring too,
And yields to men and devils nought but their righteous due.
Then will the Seed of Woman-the Firstborn from the dead,
Tread down that ancient Serpent, and bruise his evil head;
Will crush him to destruction, and all his works destroy,
While saints and angels triumph with shouts of holy joy.

The Episode of Evil till then moves on its way;
But at that consummation it shall have passed away,
All evil shall have perished-shall never more be found;
And highest good shall flourish-beatitude abound.

The universe all perfect-made one in Christ the Head,
Shall praise with holy fervour-praise Him who once was dead;
Praise Him who died to conquer-praise Him who came with might,
"To terminate the evil, and diadem the right."

Then will the Son surrender his mediatorial sway,
And unto God the Father most loving homage pay,
While myriads of immortals His wondrous ways extol,
So that, in absoluteness, "God may be all in all."
Mannamead, Plymouth.

W. MORRIS.

CORRESPONDENCE.

SIGHING FOR RELIEF. DEAR SIR,-In the course of the discussions which have been taking place among the United Presbyterian clergymen here, over the case of Mr. Macrae, of Gourock, many things have been said, deeply suggestive of the utter perplexity in which the traditional dogma of endless misery has landed its advocates; but none more significant than the following words of Dr. Joseph Brown, of this city. After deprecating the "presumption of Mr. Macrae's" sitting in judgment, on the Divine " government "(which, by the way, was scarcely what Mr. Macrae was doing in denouncing a misrepresentation of the revealed method of that government)-Dr. Brown went on to say:-" He did not wonder that Mr. Macrae had felt the burden of the punishment of the lost. They had all felt that that was the burden of the Lord; and the longer he lived and preached, he felt more the burden, and spoke upon that subject with a tremulousness and solemnity on his spirit that he did not remember to have

felt when a younger man. He felt the burden of the Lord, but he dared not forbear proclaiming what he believed to be the truth. They would all feel it a relief if they could, on an honest interpretation of the Bible, come to the conclusion that sin and misery would ultimately perish in God's universe. If, on an honest and conscientious interpretation of the Scriptures, they could come to such a conclusion, that would be such a relief, that he thought a man might be willing to sacrifice his position in any Church in Christendom in order to enjoy that comfort and the joy of preaching it."

It is impossible not to sympathise with the venerable speaker in his distress. Yet it seems to me that the wished for "relief," is found in his own words, had he but the wisdom or the courage to apply it. He wishes he could believe "that sin and misery would ultimately perish in God's universe" — by which term he means, become extinct, come to an end, cease to be. Suppose, then, that he apply to the Scripture

most persistent of hallucinations, which bids Dr. Brown, and his fellows maintain that sinners are imperishable-in spite of the combined and emphatic testimony of both the silence and the speech of Scripture to the contrary.

M. W. STRANG.

use of the same term, the "interpre-
tation" he would have us put upon
it in his own lips. He would then
be able both to warn and to persuade
men without the overwhelming sense
that he was charged with a message
whose justice he could scarcely
venture to defend. He would be
able to proclaim the true burden of
the Lord against the impenitent Mount Florida, Glasgow.
heavy, doubtless, as all threats of
penalty must be, yet credible-
"Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish." (Luke xiii. 3, 5;
also 2 Peter ii. 12.) And with
what fresh meaning would he be
able to beseech men to betake them-

selves to the fountain of life, opened
up in the love of Him who came
into the world, "that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life!" I know
of nothing which can prevent the
acceptance of such a method of
interpretation as "honest and con-
scientious," except that strangest and

CONSTABLE'S WORKS.

DEAR SIR,-I have several copies on hand of my works on “The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment" and "Hades." I

should be glad if the friends of the
truth would help me to circulate
the above at 3s. 6d. per copy, post
free. Apply with post office order
or stamps to

REV. HENRY CONSTABLE,
34, St. Thomas Road,
Hackney, E.

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THE

RAINBOW:

A Magazine of Christian Literature, with Special Reference to the Revealed Future of the Church and the World.

THE

SEPTEMBER, 1879.

CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY ASSOCIATION.

HE Second Annual Conference of the above Association will (D.V.) be held in Maberly Chapel, Balls Pond Road, Kingsland, London, N., on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, September 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 1879.

The following is the plan of services and meetings to be held on the occasion :

SUNDAY, August 31st.- Special sermons will be delivered in the London District, in the chapels shown in the "Visitors' Guide."

MONDAY, September 1st.-A meeting of the "Central Board" to prepare reports and digest of business. Tea at 4. Meeting at 5 p.m.

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10.30 a.m. Meeting of Delegates and Subscribers. (At cach day's (morning) meetings, the President, Henry J. Ward, Esq., of Liverpool, will preside.)

1.30 p.m. Public dinner, tickets 1s. 3d. each. (N.B.-Dinner
will be provided each day of the Conference at the same time
and price.)
3.0 p.m. Public meeting. Chairman-Rev. W. Leask, D.D.,
who will also preside at each day's (afternoon) meetings.

Paper by Rev. Henry Constable, M.A., late Prebendary of Cork,
Conditional Immortality Tested by Admitted Doctrines."
Paper by Rev. Thos. Vasey, of Bridgnorth, "The Fall; its Effects
on the Nature and Constitution of Man, and his Redemption
therefrom."

N.B.-At the afternoon meetings twenty minutes will be allowed,
following each paper, for questions or remarks thereon; the
reader having the right to reply.

C C

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