Good Things in the Signs
By Editor
There are many good things in the SIGNS this week. There are every week, for that matter. Will not our readers help us to more rapidly increase its circulation? We give in our Home department a good story by Hart Hall. Professor Griggs' article on nature study did not come to hand this week in time. The articles will be resumed next week. The two following are “Magnetism and Electricity” and “Sound.” A Mine of Wealth.—Do you wish a veritable mine of Bible instruction, a great spiritual helper which will continually unfold to you new beauties of the Word of God and the life of Christ? If you do, then purchase and read, “The Desire of Ages.” There is no book apart from the Bible that equals it. It is a wellspring of blessed instruction. The Name.—There appeared in the SIGNS a few weeks ago, in the Mission department, a little sketch entitled, “The Name.” It told in a simple touching manner the power of the name of Jesus to save a shipwrecked soul. There has been such a call for that paper that we have published the article in tract form, as a number of the Apples of Gold Library. It is just the thing for Christian workers everywhere. See advertisement on page 11. Martin Luther, the four hundred and eighteenth anniversary of whose birth was celebrated by Lutherans November 10, was a mighty figure in the great Reformation of the sixteenth century; but he was not the One, nor the only one used. The One in that Reformation who is worthy of all honor is Jesus Christ. The Reformation was of Him—all that was true. All that was not of Him, all that was of man, was not true, and utterly failed of its purpose. God used Martin Luther, but He also used John Wickliffe, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague before him. He used William Tyndale, and Ulric Zwingli, and others, as truly as He used Martin Luther. If the Protestant church had followed the principle of adherence to the Word as sole authority, there would not have been the multitude of churches to-day which we now see. There would not have been the clamoring for civil power which is so evident among Protestant denominations. Luther rejected the aid of the civil magistrate. Why do his followers seek it and use it? The Protestant church has much light now that Luther had not, but it is, as a whole, a long way behind Luther in living up to the light. One of the latter-day characteristics, as given by Paul in 2 Tim. 3:1-5 is that of wilfulness. Men are said to be “heady” or “headstrong,” not willing to take counsel or advice. O, there is so much of it. Young men and women think they know it all, and despise the advice of parents and friends. They do not realize that “he that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul; but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.” Nevertheless it is true. It Would Not Be Hard if It Were There.—Oftentimes it is stated, as in a leaflet before us, that some one will prove that Sunday is the only Bible Sabbath. But the some one does not do it. If a Bible-Sabbath man is asked for proof that the seventh day is the Sabbath, he need only reply in the words of God’s eternal law: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Now if the Bible Sabbath is the first day, why do not its advocates present the proof? It would not be hard to do if the proof were in the Bible. But it is not there; and that is why we have so many fanciful theories and contradictions among Sunday advocates.