" The prophets that have been before, prophesied of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophe- sieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him." (Jer. xxviii. 8, 9.)
Let us learn from our Lord's opening prediction to be moderate in our expectations. Nothing has created so much disappointment in the Church of Christ, as the extravagant expectations in which many of its members have indulged. Let us not be carried away by the common idea, that the world will be converted before the Lord Jesus returns, and the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord. It will not be so. There is nothing in Scripture to justify such expectations. Let us cease to expect a reign of peace. Let us rather look for warn Let us cease to expect all men to be made holy by any existing instrumentality — schools, missions, preach- ing, or any thing of the kind. Let us rather look for the rise of Antichrist Himself. Let us understand that we live in a day of election, and not of universal conversion. There will be no universal peace till the Prince of Peace appears. There will be no universal holiness till Satan is bound. It may cost us much to hold such opinions as these. But there is not a church or congregation on earth, whose state does not show that these opinions are true, and that while " many are called, few are chosen." It may bring on us the unkind remarks and the un- favorable judgment of many. But the end will provo who is right and who is wrong. For that end let us wait patiently. Let us labor, and teach, and work, and pray, But let it not surprise us if we find our