with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.'

At the precise moment when the conclave broke up for the night, Deacon and Mrs. Deacon Hardpack were engaged in their evening devotions. The deacon was reading from the fourth chapter of Ephesians: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

He closed the book with a vicious suddenness, and sprang up and began pacing back and fourth in the little kitchen.

"Why, Jonas! what in the world has come over ye?" quavered his good old wife, in shocked surprise.

"It's this 'ere Latter Day Saint business," snarled the old man. "I wish I had never heered 'em preach at all. My Bible don't read like it used ter do. No matter where I open it, I hit some of their doctrine. Last night, it was about the sick sendin' for the elders. Night afore, it was the angel flyin' in the midst of heaven. To-night, it's apostles and prophets."

"Never mind, Jonas," soothed the old lady, "you know, as Mrs. Barker says, we have apostles and prophets. 'Our church,' says she, 'is built on 'em.'"

The old man halted a moment, and peered at her from under his bushy brows, "Yes, we've got 'em-dead ones! Why not have a dead pastor? Tell me that. A tombstone's a right smart cheaper than a salary."

"Mrs. Barker says, too," soothed the old lady again, "that it says, 'God gave apostles to some, and pastors to some.' Mrs. Barker says he gave some to one church an' some to another."

"Well, then," retorted the old man, "he must a thought a lot of the Latter Day Saints. He give them the whole outfit, apostles and all, an' we only got pastors and evangelists."

The good wife laid a fluttering hand on his arm. "Jonas, if they're right, why not join 'em? You know our church says, 'Where the Bible speaks we speak.'"

"They're not right," flared the contrary old deacon, "they ain't got a thing that we ain't got."

"Of the resurrection of the dead."

A solemn and earnest spirit had settled over the little conclave. The Thursday evening session was opened with prayer, and closed with singing and prayer.

"The subject of the resurrection is one that interests all men," began the elder. "Centuries ago, Job asked the question, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' It is a question that deals with the beyond, and we can get the answer by revelation only."

"That is what we wish," replied Luther. "We wish to know if the Scriptures teach a literal resurrection of the dead."

"Do you believe that Christ actually arose from the dead, with a real, though glorified body?" asked Elder Pratt.

"Yes," answered Luther.

"Well, you know the statement, found in 1 Corinthians 15: 20, that Christ became the first-fruits of them that slept'; others, then, are to follow him in the resurrection. Also, you remember the statement that 'as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive.' Through the wiles of Satan, physical as well as spiritual death came into the world. If Christ does not conquer both, and restore man, body and spirit, to his former estate, or higher, he will not have won a complete victory over Satan; and we are told that he came into the world for the express purpose of destroying the works of Satan.

"Biblical references to support my view are so numerous that I can not read them all; but I will read two from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. First I will read Job 19:25, 26, 'For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.' You see Job got the answer to his question.

"Now I read from Isaiah 26: 19, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.'

"This earth," cried the elder, deeply moved, "was not intended for a graveyard. Some day she will hear the trump, and, realizing her mission, will cast out the dead and become the home and not the cemetery of men.

"But now turn to the New Testament, and we will read from Luke 14: 14: 'And thou shalt be blessed; for they can not recompense thee for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.'

"Next let us read 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17: 'But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.' "Here we find mention made of the first resurrection, and gather the idea that there are at least two. In the twentieth chapter of Revelation, the first resurrection is again mentioned as the 'resurrection of the just.' There, as in the passage just read, it is stated that this resurrection is to occur at the coming of Christ; for the Bible clearly teaches the literal second coming of Christ, who the angels said was to come in like manner as he went away, that is,

personally, literally, clothed with glory and power. This twentieth chapter of Revelation states that after their resurrection the 'just' shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years, the great millennial reign, when Satan shall be bound; 'but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.' This seems to make the order of the resurrections plain and easily understood. It gives us a comprehensive view of the great and farreaching work of our Savior."

Standing, the little congregation sang:

"The saints shall wear robes as the lilies,
When Jesus returning again,

Shall bring back the rose to the valleys,
And plant the fruit-trees on the plain."

"And of eternal judgment."

Donald and Minnie were leaning upon the front gate of the Luther home; the air was balmy and the sun shone brightly, yet he had the manner of sheltering her from storms and tempests. Finally, when Mrs. Luther had three times called Minnie to supper, Donald prepared to depart.

"I think I'll not be over to-night," he remarked; "this subject of eternal judgment sort of stands me off. It makes me think of evenings when I had played truant, and was coming home to settle with father."

"But," laughed Minnie, "there is another side to the question. When you had been good all day, you rather liked to come home to your father's house, did you not? And, anyway, we know that in the beyond we will all get justice."

"Now, perhaps that's what I don't like. I have heard of one man who was on trial, and the lawyer, wishing to hearten him up a bit, assured him that he would get justice. He replied that was what was worrying him."

Minnie smiled at the anecdote, but, not to be diverted said, "Well, why not live all the time so that we will not be afraid of the judgment?"

Donald leaned a little nearer, and whispered, "I believe it would be easy, if I could always have the right kind of company."

If there was a hidden meaning in the answer, the young man gained nothing, for the next moment he had no company.

Nevertheless, Donald was present at the evening session. "Do you understand," began Sidney Luther, by way of opening the conversation of the evening, "that there is to be a day of general judgment of all men?"

"Certainly; in Acts 17: 31, we read, 'He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." There are special dispensations and preliminary judgments in individual cases, but there is a day appointed to judge all men. It is quite fully described in the twentieth chapter of Revelation. There we learn that this final judgment is to follow the second resurrection. It is to be so complete and universal, that the Revelator describes it thus: 'And

I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.'

"Here in this life," said the elder, "men are brought before the judgment bar, and, if guilty, they are punished. We do not hear of men being tried and rewarded for good deeds. But the judgment day here spoken of will bring not only punishments but rewards. Notice, also, that it is plainly said that men shall be judged according to their works, not alone according to their professions of faith and love, a thought that is repeated in Matthew 16: 27.

"How can that be, think ye?" broke in McBernie, "when there are only two places; one of reward and one of punishment? There are all kinds of lives, from the worst up to the best."

"Perhaps," answered Elder Pratt, "you have held the orthodox idea of heaven and hell to be the only idea. But I think that you will find that God has a variety of punishments to fit all offenses, and a reward to suit each individual case."

"That may well be," said McBernie; "give us the scripture, man."

"Well, I'll read from the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians: 'All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.'

"Here," went on the elder, "we have at least three glories mentioned, the glory of the sun, the glory of the moon, and the glory of the stars, and the statement that it shall be like that in the resurrection, that the lesser glories that God shall bestow shall differ as the stars differ in splendor.

"There will also be degrees of punishment, as is shown by the language found in Matthew 11: 21-24, where Christ is speaking to Bethsaida and Chorazin, and tells them that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for them."

"I'll confess," said Luther, "that such a presentation of the final judgment shows the justice and wisdom of God in a far better light than we have been accustomed to think when listening to some sermons on the subject."

"What else could be true?" cried the elder, springing to his feet in his earnestness. "Let me use an illustration. We will say that we have a line of men reaching across this room. They stand shoulder to shoulder. The meanest man that ever lived stands at the foot of the line. They are graded on up until the best

man that ever lived heads the line. Now tell me where I can put my hand down in this line, and say that all on this side shall go to a never-ending hell, and that all on that side shall go to eternal bliss? All the way along, the men are graded up, scarcely an inch apart, morally. Now, that is the proposition that God faces, and only his wisdom can solve it. He finds all classes, from the worst to the best. Will he put his hand down here, and say, "This man, who has escaped hell by the thickness of my hand, shall go to heaven and share an eternal glory,' equally with the best man that ever lived, who heads the line? Will he say, 'This other man, on the other side, who has missed heaven by the thickness of my hand, shall go to hell and suffer for ever,' equally with the worst man that ever lived? No! There would be men there with manhood enough to stand up and protest against such a judgment. We do better here. We try to make the punishment fit the crime, even in our police courts. We try, even in our schools, to give credits that are deserved. God is not less just than man, and he will reward or punish according to the deserts of each individual. What concerns us most, though, is to secure the highest reward; and it can be obtained only through the atonement of our Savior and a life of righteous obedience to his gospel. Such an idea of the final judgment holds out an incentive to live and to work; no mere nominal church membership will suffice. What a comfort to those who really serve God! They do not look forward in fear toward the day when they shall stand before God! But oh, what an ordeal awaits the unfaithful, who shall stand stripped to the soul before God, and realize that all his judgments are just!"

The elder seated himself, and the talk ran on, in a subdued, eager way, for a long time.

Finally the little assembly arose, and Sidney Luther prayed, "Our Father, we implore thy divine guidance. We have met here and have canvassed some subjects pertaining to thy gospel. So far as we can see, the doctrines that this man has presented are in harmony with thy word. They seem designed to take men from the dawn of faith even to the very judgment day. If they are indeed true, confirm them to us unmistakably. If he is indeed a servant of thine, and comes with the restored gospel, show it to us so that we may know. And, Lord, if we do learn that his message is true, we do pledge ourselves to accept it at whatever cost. Amen."