In the beginning of Moses' work before the Egyptian king, the miracles that God had commissioned him to perform were counterfeited by the wise men and sorcerers of Egypt. Satan thought to overthrow the influence of the servant of the Lord by making it appear that what was being done was not beyond their power of magic. But there came a time when God circumscribed their power, and their folly was made manifest before all. It was clearly shown that power belonged unto the Most High alone.
And so we are told by the apostle: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. . . . Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was." 2 Tim. 3:1-9.
The foregoing text is introduced by telling us some things that would appear in "the last days." And among these things to be seen are certain characters who will resist the truth, just as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses. Jannes and Jambres are the names of two of the leading magicians of Moses' time; hence this text makes it clear that all the powers of magic and sorcery will be brought by Satan against the truth in the last days.
And these magical powers will not be some mere cunning or sleight-of-hand. Real miracles will be performed by those who resist the truth. Carefully study the following prophetic words upon this point: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matt. 24:23, 24. Here is the positive and plain prediction that false Christs and false prophets will "show great signs and wonders." And when God speaks of great signs and wonders, there will be something manifested that is not only great but real.
But do not overlook the fact that the "signs and wonders" are wrought by "false Christs and false prophets," and of course they are wrought for the purpose of deceiving. And so powerful and convincing will be these signs and wonders that the very elect will be in danger of being deceived. God has foretold this, and He does not prophesy things except they shall come to pass.
Take another scripture upon the same subject: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming; even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:8-12.
There are several things that should be carefully noted in the foregoing text. In the first place, it reveals the fact most clearly that the coming of the Lord is "after," or, as in the Revised Version, "according to," "the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." How plain this is! The Lord tells us in the most direct language that Satan will work powerfully with signs and "lying wonders." A "lying wonder" is some wonderful thing that is done to lead men to believe a lie. And so it is said in the text that Satan's wonders are "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."
Another important point to be observed in the foregoing text from Thessalonians is that these lying wonders are wrought "in them that perish." And it is "because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." The Saviour prayed to His Father, "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth." John 17:17. God's Word is the truth; and it is the truth that sanctifies. The Lord has filled the world with His written Word. Bibles have been multiplied in all the languages and in most of the tribal dialects of the whole earth. And our heavenly Father is thus placing His truth within the reach of all. Yea, it is being urged upon every one. That Word exposes all of these lying wonders of Satan; it also condemns every sin that the arch deceiver has been able to lead men to commit. How important and necessary is it, then, that we should lose no opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the Bible, so that we may know how to detect every delusion which Satan has prepared for these last days!
Cecil Rhodes
ONE of the Englishmen who is talked about very much in connection with the South African War is Mr. Cecil Rhodes. We are fortunate enough to have secured a good portrait of him, direct from London, and present it herewith, believing that our readers will appreciate it. Mr. Rhodes has been one of the most prominent persons in laying hold of the resources of South Africa in behalf of Great Britain, and when the war broke out it found him in Kimberley, at which place he has been kept by the besieging Boers, until the present time. His life would speedily be taken should he fall into Boer hands.
THE temperance committee of the Presbyterian General Assembly have sent a protest to President McKinley against the sale of liquor in new territory, praying that he consider the matter at once and give the committee some recognition of its action. The communication says: "The unfurling of our national flag should be to those peoples the pledge of the starting of influences that shall be elevating and in every way beneficent. And surely the hope of such results seems justified in view of our avowal of disinterestedness and philanthropic motives in entering on the recent conflict with Spain. Disappointment has come from the discovery that a vast stream of intoxicating drink from American distilleries and breweries is being poured into our newly-acquired possessions. The official records at Washington show that the amount of alcoholic liquors exported to those countries has doubled in six months."—Union Signal.
CALL FOR A NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY
A CONFERENCE was held at Chicago, December 31 under the auspices of the Young People's Temperance Federation of America. From the address to the public adopted on this occasion we take these leading paragraphs:—
"We believe the fulness of time to have arrived when the eternal principles of justice, mercy, and love, as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, should be embodied in the political economy of our nation and applied in concrete form to every function of our government, national, state, municipal, and local."
"We believe that the most direct means of accomplishing this end is the formation of a political body of united Christian men and women, who shall use their elective franchise for the selection of able, worthy, and conscientious public officials, who will seek in their respective positions to perform the functions of government in the spirit of the Man of Galilee."
"We therefore call for a national assembly of Christian men and women of legal age, representing every State, Territory, and possession of the United States of America, to meet in the city of Rock Island, Ill., on the first Tuesday of the month of May [May 1], in the year of our Lord 1900, at the hour of 10 A.M., for the purpose of formulating a plan for national political action."
At this national assembly the test of eligibility to a seat as delegate will be—
"Actual personal attendance at the conference and satisfactory answer of the following question: Have you been elected as such delegate by a parliamentary body of your fellow-citizens, and do you believe in the application of the principles of Christ to the government of the United States of America?"
In connection with a move of this character it is well to first inquire, What are the principles of Christ? and what would be their effect upon a civil government? In seeking answer to these questions it must be borne in mind that civil government is only a temporary expedient because of sin, designed to preserve a modicum of order in the world while the Gospel is being proclaimed. Men would not be subject to God's government and law, which are executed by the power of love; therefore they must be, for a time and for a special purpose, subject to government and law executed by force.
The principles of Christ are set forth, briefly and concisely, in these words: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12. Note also this expression of principle: "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." Chap. 20:25-28; also Mark 10:42-45; and Luke 22:25-27. Again, we read from the Word of Christ, "I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matt. 5:39.
Applying these principles to civil government, the government of the United States never could have existed. When the colonists were oppressed, they would not have resisted. When smitten on the right cheek, they would have calmly turned the other. That is the way that Christ did when He was mistreated and smitten. In a sinful world, composed of selfish, ambitious people, no human government could stand very long on these principles. How long could the government of the United States stand if it should give its life for the benefit of some other government or land? Suppose it had cost the life of this government to ransom Cuba, would any one have deemed the war a practicable measure? Even the decrees of God in reference to different governments could not have been carried out on Christian principles. It was His decree that all nations should come under the jurisdiction of Babylon—an ambitious government sustaining the most idolatrous religion—and most of the nations, including even Judah, resisted this decree. Now suppose Babylon had taken the position, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," how much would she have done in the way of subduing those rebellious nations,9according to the Word of the Lord? Afterward the Lord raised up Cyrus the Persian—another heathen—to overthrow Babylon. And in this the combined forces of the Medes and Persians were not doing as they would have desired the Babylonians to do to them.
When God Himself instituted a civil government among His people, He did not base it on that idea; for He sent them to destroy several other nations, which was not doing by them as the Israelites would have had them do to Israel.
There is nothing in this world that so flagrantly misrepresents Christianity as the selfish, tyrannizing, grasping policy of the so-called Christian nations. And the more powerful they become, and the louder their profession of Christianity, the further they depart from the Golden Rule. Not one of them knows any limit of aggression excepting the danger signal,—the limit of conscious physical power and expediency. Therefore no civil government could long stand on the non-resistant Christian principle and wield any influence among nations. It would simply be tolerated by others as long as it would be to their selfish interests to so tolerate it.
A really Christian government would be utterly impracticable unless it were universal. Such a government Christ will set up at His coming; but it will not be a civil government, as the necessity for that expedient will then have ceased, because of the destruction of sin and sinners. The kingdom of Christ will be administered under the law of God: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," and "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The government of Christ is one of love; so where it is in force there will be no use for civil government, or government by force. The law of love, which is written in the hearts of all true Christians, will be the all-prevailing law, and it can not be administered by force. Therefore such a government never can be established or conducted by political means. All attempts to do so come of total misapprehension of the function of civil government or the principles of Christian government.
PRIESTS MAY BE ALLOWED TO MARRY.
A DESPATCH from Rome says "the pope is contemplating an order permitting the priests of the Catholic Church to marry. The first step has already been taken in the encyclical to the bishops of South America, in which permission is given to the priests there to take wives unto themselves."
The Rome correspondent quotes leading Catholic authorities, who stand close to the pope, to show that it is one of Leo's desires and purposes to abolish the decree making the celibacy of the priests compulsory. Leo has studied the difficulties that stand in the way of uniting "all Christendom," and has concluded that the regulation which does not allow the priests to marry is one of the things to be gotten rid of.
It is said that the pope considers it too revolutionary to make a universal decree allowing the priests to marry, so he will take it by countries gradually. The order making it all right for priests in South America to marry is one of the first steps, and other like decrees respecting other countries are to follow later.
Why is it that men and women do not see the inconsistency of submitting so servilely to the will and ideas of a mere man. The pope may be accredited with shrewdness, but, after all, he is nothing more than a man. And when that man is clothed with such powers, and his whims and decrees are received with all the adoration of worship, it in reality makes a god of the man. And why do men not see it? Certainly at heart there must be thousands upon thousands of Catholics who are not satisfied with such doctrines and beliefs. Let all such take the Bible for themselves and learn God's real truth direct from Him.
But it should not be overlooked that the object before the pope in granting the priests the privilege of getting married is to "unite Christendom." And of course his notion of a "united Christendom" is to have every one brought to the acknowledgment of the Catholic Church. And if history teaches anything, it shows that as soon as the Catholics, or any other religious body that is seeking political power, gain sufficient strength, they become very intolerant and oppressive in their work.
In the same despatch from Rome it is stated that a reconciliation between the pope and the Italian Government is about to be effected. The despatch says of this prospective government: "It would be as useful for the Quirinal as for the Vatican. In the presence of the dangers which menace the Italian State, especially Socialism, the Roman Church would be a valuable ally."
In all the countries of the world the Papacy is seeking to spread the belief that she is necessary to the State in quelling the turbulent elements that are seen to be coming up everywhere. And it is astonishing to observe with what rapidity the doctrine is being entertained by the leading men of State.
The first part of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation contains a prophecy of the Papacy. In that prophecy it is shown that the papal head was to receive a "deadly wound." This was literally fulfilled when the influence of the Reformation so completely broke the power of the Roman pontiffs that it became possible for the French in 1798 to make a prisoner of the pope reigning at that time. It looked then as if the Catholic power was forever gone. But the prophecy says that "his deadly wound was healed."
Here is a plain prophecy of the restoration of the Papacy. And do you not see how rapidly it is being fulfilled? But this last triumph of the Papal Church will be of very short duration; for it is one of the last signs that show that the end of time is reached, and that the coming of Christ is right at hand.
"STRENUOUS LIFE" IN OUR COLLEGES.
WE see in our morning paper of December 14 that the freshman class of Amherst College tried to have a class dinner at a Springfield hotel last evening—that seventy-five of the sophomore class, dressed in football suits, went down to Springfield to break it up—that they found the hotel guarded by the Springfield police—that the sophomores attacked the police in the hotel corridors, using whisky bottles as weapons—that one sophomore wrested Patrolman Littlefield's club from him and struck the policeman on the head with it, inflicting a severe wound—that two of the patrolmen were knocked out, etc. These are the young men being educated for the "strenuous life" recently so highly recommended to our college students by the governor of New York. How much more bravely the Japanese soldiers and sailors would have fought in China if they had only been properly instructed in regard to this "strenuous life"?—Geo. T. Angell, in Our Dumb Animals.
A BILL has been introduced in Congress providing that the sabbath (Sunday, we suppose) nearest the 15th of February be made Maine memorial day. The memorial is of the battle-ship Maine, that was sunk in Havana harbor, which event was, more than anything else, the cause of the war with Spain. We suppose the idea of having the memorial on a Sunday, instead of on the anniversary day, is that it may be made an occasion for patriotic services in the churches. In this way the "righteous indignation" of our "Christian nation" against Spain may be perpetrated. A suggestive text for the occasion would be: "I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matt. 5:39.
ON the night of January 19 all the southern part of Mexico was severely shaken by an earthquake. Much damage is said to have been done at Guadalajara and Colima. The earthquake traveled across the country to Vera Cruz, the shock being comparatively light at the latter place. Earthquakes are being much more frequently felt. Any one who observes passing events can not fail to have noticed this. But we have seen nothing as yet, compared with what is before us. The prophets have foretold that the earth will reel to and fro like a drunken man, and all the cities are to be broken down. The great day of the Lord is right at hand, and most terrific will be the upheavals in nature as the time draws on.
THE empress dowager of China urges the governors of Chinese provinces to offer rewards of extraordinary value for the arrest of the revolutionary leaders who are seeking to re-instate the deposed emperor. She recommends that if they can not be taken alive, ample rewards be offered for their bodies. An account of the revolution that is being stirred up may be found in the Missions department of this paper.
THE Mazet committee in its majority report says that New York is "the most perfect instance of centralized party government yet known; government no longer responsible to the people but to a dictator; the central power not the man who sits in the mayor's chair, but the man who stands behind it; the powers of government prostituted to protect criminals, to demoralize the police, to debauch the public conscience, and to turn governmental functions into channels for private gain." The New York World says the foregoing "presents a truthful picture of New York City as it is governed to-day."
PRESIDENT KRUGER's statement that if England conquered the Transvaal she would have to pay a price that would stagger humanity continues to be most literally fulfilled. In the attack on Ladysmith January 6, 800 British and 2,000 Boers were killed and wounded. And this is not considered to have been a decisive battle. General White's condition, altho he succeeded in repelling the attack of the Boers, is said to be more critical since the battle than it was before; but what fearful slaughter! Can these be the times when the nations are learning war no more?
MRS. ROSWELL SMITH, 73 years old, and the widow of the late Roswell Smith, founder of the Century Publishing Co., died at her home in Tolosa, New York, on January 21. Her maiden name was Annie Ellsworth, and she it was when a girl of 17 who sent that first, and now famous, telegraphic message, "What hath God wrought!" Her father, Henry L. Ellsworth, was a special friend of Prof. S. F. B. Morse, and it was these two men who induced Congress to grant the $30,000 for the construction of the trial telegraphic line between Washington and Baltimore.
THE famine still continues in India, and the outlook grows more and more appalling. It is said that 50,000,000 people, 22,000,000 of them in British territory, are now without food. Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, plaintively states that while in 1897 hundreds of thousands of pounds were contributed by Great Britain, and "the world shared our sorrow," the government of India has now to struggle alone, because the whole thoughts of those at home are centered in South Africa. It is believed that the condition is far worse than the government is willing to admit.
THE Mexican earthquake of January 19, noted elsewhere in these columns was observed at the Lick Observatory. For three-quarters of an hour near midnight Professor Tucker was unable to observe the reflection from the mercury basin used in meridian circle work, on account of the slow movements of the ground. He concluded that an earthquake was in progress somewhere. The motion was not perceptible with any of the other instruments.
THE Brussels correspondent of the daily Chronicle says that he has learned from authentic sources that the Boers have between 85,000 and 90,000 men in the field. What terrible things may yet be done in further fulfilling President Kruger's prophecy, that the price that England will have to pay for the Transvaal will stagger humanity!
THE bloodshed and strife over the political controversy at Frankfort, Ky., have become so alarming that the ministers of all denominations in that city have united in setting apart a day for fasting, humiliation, and prayer, to beseech the Lord to so move upon the minds of the warring factions that no more lives may be taken.
OFFICIAL reports just reaching this country give detailed accounts of terrible floods in Northern Japan during December. Thirty-five towns in one district alone were devastated.
A DECISIVE battle has been fought between the Yaqui Indians and the Mexican general, Lorenzo Torres. The Yaqui chief and 200 of his best fighting men were killed.
DAVID G. COLSON, who shot Lieutenant Scott in the political fight at Frankfort, Ky., on January 16, is the fifth one of the six Colson brothers who has killed a man.
THE latest reports state that the British are steadily advancing upon the Boers, and it is also said that the advance is being fiercely opposed.
