Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 18. (5/1/1900)

Review and Herald

May 1, 1900

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 1, 1900

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.

“And beside this,” the apostle continues, “giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” As man works on the plan of addition, adding grace to grace, God works on the plan of multiplication. Peter declares, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”

“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But a profession of faith without corresponding works is nothing. “He that lacketh these things is blind, and can not see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

This is a description of a professed Christian who lives a life of sin. He grieves the Lord Jesus, and puts him to open shame because he manifests a character after the similitude of Satan. He retains the same objectionable traits of character that he had before he claimed to have received Christ. Indulging his corrupt tendencies, he forgets to be a doer of the Word. He does not eat the flesh nor drink the blood of the Son of God. He does not practice Christ’s words nor do his works.

Then comes the conclusion: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fail: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” This is the life-insurance policy that every one may have. “Wherefore,” the apostle says, “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.”

For a man to be effectually saved, the truth of the Word must be inwrought in the soul. It is a power that works inwardly to bless the soul of the receiver, and outwardly to bless the souls of others. Take the Word just as it reads, and be a doer of it. The Holy Spirit works with the consecrated soul who searches the Scriptures.

Now, just now, is our great opportunity to study the word of life. The hearts of many in this world are hungering for the bread of life and thirsting for the water of salvation. They desire to know the Scriptures; they desire to know what the word of God says to them. The Holy Spirit is impressing their hearts, drawing them to the bread of life. They see everything around them changing. They come to hear the Word just as it reads. They desire to build upon a firm foundation; and therefore Christians are counseled to be always ready to give a reason of the hope that is in them, with meekness and fear.

A clear, faithful testimony must be borne by every shepherd of the flock of God. The state of the heart is to be our first concern. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Mere speech is nothing. Preaching the Word, and then working contrary to that Word, makes it of none effect. Lip knowledge, forms and ceremonies, are of little value if Christ does not abide in the soul. We are to watch for souls as they that must give an account. We are to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts. Then we shall be men and women of faith and prayer and power. There is a great work to be done. The heart must be faithfully sentinelled, else pride and rebellion will bear rule within. Evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will wander in its own homemade fog, all the time charging upon some one else the result of its own unchristian course of action.

The living Word must dwell in us richly, else we can never sanctify the Lord God in our hearts. We must live by the Word, and take self in hand, closely examining ourselves to see whether we love God, or are bound up in our own conceit. Every heart that is not subdued by grace is treacherous, and will lead to ruin.

What privileges are ours if we will only believe and walk humbly before God, ever seeking to learn his will concerning us. The graces of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness—are the fruits that a life hid with Christ in God will produce. As a people who have had great light, we should be far advanced in spirituality and holiness. “Neither pray I for these alone,” Christ said, “but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” By manifesting Christlike love we present to the world the credentials that God sent his Son to this earth to save the human race. It is our privilege so fully to partake of the divine nature that we may be one with Christ as he is one with the Father. When this is so, Christ can confess us before God and before the heavenly angels.

Christ prayed for his disciples and for us, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” We have need of all the spiritual help that we can obtain in order to do the work to be done in this world. Satan is taking the world captive through the use of tea and coffee, liquor and tobacco. The mind is dulled by the use of narcotics. Can any one make an impression on a man who is drunk? A drunken man is unable to distinguish between right and wrong, because the enemy has control of his brain. He has sold his reason for that which makes him mad. He has no sense of what is right; for the liquor he drinks is so drugged that it makes him insane. Satan spread a net for his feet by tempting him to take the liquor poison, and he knows no more what he is doing than a madman.

The result of liquor-drinking is demonstrated by the awful murders that take place. How often it is found that theft, incendiarism, murder, were committed under the influence of liquor. Yet the liquor curse is legalized, and works untold ruin in the hands of those who love to tamper with that which ruins not only the poor victim, but his whole family.

Intemperance is widespread. How much man’s senses are perverted by the use of liquor and tobacco it is impossible to say. Judges, senators, lawyers, the men who frame the laws of the land, are many of them working under

the stimulus of liquor. What safety is there in their management? Are the men who command the great ocean steamers, who have the control of railways, strict temperance men? Are their brains free from the influence of intoxicants? If not, the accidents occurring under their management will be charged to them by the God of heaven, whose property men and women are. Liquor-drinkers are under Satan’s destroying influence. He presents to them his false ideas, and no confidence can be placed in their judgment.

As the time draws near that is to decide the destiny of every soul, Satan will make strenuous efforts to corrupt the race. But Christ gave his life to save human beings. He pledged his divine word to work in behalf of humanity.

He was Commander of the heavenly host, but he left the royal courts to come to this earth. Laying aside his kingly crown, he stepped from his exalted position, and took upon him our nature, that by his own life he might pay the ransom for every soul.

Yes; Christ gave his life for the life of the world. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He gave his Son to be the propitiation for the sins of men and women. How many appreciate this sacrifice sufficiently to touch not, taste not, handle not, accursed, intoxicating beverages? Who are co-operating with Christ by practicing temperance in their lives, by keeping their tables free from all that will intoxicate?

The Lord calls for workers who are partakers of the divine nature, who have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. He would have every man to step forth in his God-given manhood, every woman in her God-given womanhood. He desires them to stand forth like faithful sentinels, to keep back the tide of moral woe, to break the fetters that are binding human beings in slavery. God calls upon his ministers to do faithful work in presenting the great curse that man himself is manufacturing. From every pulpit the message should be heard, “Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”

FRUITION

By Keble

We scatter seeds with careless hand, And dream we ne'er shall see them more, But for a thousand years Their fruit appears, In weeds that mar the land, Or helpful store.

The deeds we do, the words we say, Into still air they seem to fleet. We count them ever past, But they shall last To the dread Judgment day, And we shall meet.

I charge thee by the years gone by, For the love's sake of brethren dear, Keep thou the one true way, In work and play, Lest in that world their cry Of woe thou hear.

— Keble.

BUSINESS

The King's Messenger.

Does business interfere with the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts?—No, not by any means. The absence of it may; for idleness is an atmosphere in which the Holy Ghost will not reside. In this age of the Holy Spirit, work is the order of the day,—not work to gain an eternal reward,—not that by our service we can secure a higher or richer place in the hereafter,—not that by means of our labor here we lay up for ourselves a richer treasure there. But by being in business, for and with the Executive, we develop our lives, we come into a relationship with our Creator, and do what we can through his direction in making this world brighter and better for our living in it, and preparing it for the coming and residence of its owner and King.

Business is now done to make money out of it. Money is the motive. The dollar is the wheel that moves. We worship the almighty dollar. Business should not be transacted on these sordid lines. We should be in business to bless, and of course we shall be blessed. Business should be done with delight, done unto Him. The golden rule should be its guide—done for others as for ourselves, done as unto the Lord. We help ourselves best by helping others. The best way, the most pleasant and profitable way, to do business is to do it unselfishly. We, as Christians, live in every other way but Christ's way. The Christian world, in its business transactions with heathendom, brings no honor and glory to itself; rather otherwise. Rich Christians act badly toward poor Christians, and the poor as meanly to the rich and to those who are poorer. The times are sadly out of joint. There is to be great reform in business. New lines are necessary, a new departure is needed. No more eye-servers as men-pleasers, but in singleness of eye seek the good of others, and the glory of God.

Business is a blessing; blessed is the man or woman who has plenty of it. Miserable is the man or woman who is not kept busy. Idleness, inactivity, indolence, is the mud in which the spawn of evil takes birth and multiplies. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” and slothfulness is sin. Get a business that pays. If you have none such, make it. Go out into new lines, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. He has a lot of untried avenues for usefulness and wealth. He is opening them up, and the best days to make a successful business are these.

A Holy Ghost business man or woman of to-day, possessed of wisdom, strength, tact, and power, the gift of the Holy Spirit, is the highest style of humanity made.

THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

By Clarence Santee

CLARENCE SANTEE.

(Marshalltown, Iowa.)

The Sabbath question, and the asserted change, is an important question. Has the Sabbath been changed? Is there a record of the change? By what authority was it changed? If life itself depends on our allegiance to the word of God (and Christ says his words are “spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63), then we wish to know what God has spoken. There is a strange diversity among writers upon this momentous subject. For instance, I have before me a tract printed by the American Baptist Publishing Society, and written by G. S. Bailey, D. D., entitled, “The First Day of the Week, and Not the Seventh, Is the Christian Sabbath, the Lord’s Day.” The writer promises to make this statement good, by Scriptural authority. I have also before me the Watchman, a Baptist paper, which, in reply to a correspondent, says: “The Scripture nowhere calls the first day of the week the Sabbath. There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course any Scriptural obligation.”

I turn to the Baptist Church “Manual,” and read (Article 12): “We believe that the Law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government.” To this we say, Amen. But can the same fountain send forth sweet water and bitter?

The first proposition in this tract is as follows, “The disciples of Christ began the religious observance of the first day of the week immediately after the resurrection of Christ, and Christ himself was present with them, and gave them his sanction and blessing.”

Proof, John 20:19. Please turn and read. Were the disciples gathered to honor the resurrection, or were they not? If they were, would this constitute a sufficient command to change the “unchangeable rule of his moral government?”—Certainly not. If they were not, then the proof fails utterly. Why, then, were the disciples together? and what were they doing at the time when Christ appeared to them?

First, they lived together. Acts 1:13: “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.”

Second, they were at that very time eating their supper. Mark 16:14. This was after he had appeared to the two who went into the country. Verse 12; Luke 24:13–30. The disciples did not at that time believe that Christ had risen from the dead. Mark 16:12–24. When he appeared, he “upbraided them with their unbelief, . . . because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” The two returned late in the evening. Luke 24:29, 33–36. While they told of their meeting with Jesus, “Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” Verse 36. “But they were terrified and affrighted. . . . He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? . . . Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. . . . When he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.” Verses 37–40; John 20:19, 20.

Thus we see that honesty in dealing with God’s word compels us to relinquish the idea that they were celebrating, or honoring in any sense, the resurrection of Christ. And if they were not, then of course they could not have been keeping the day as a Sabbath, nor in any other way, in honor of that event. The proof is positive that they did not believe that he had risen. While the two were traveling on foot (Mark 16:12), seven and one-half miles to Emmaus, the others were keeping close at home, with doors shut “for fear of the Jews,” and thus was spent the first day after his resurrection.

I quote again: “We have no account of their meeting again until a week later, ‘after eight days’ according to Jewish reckoning. . . . Now why was this meeting on the first day of the week, on the second Lord’s day? and why was it specifically mentioned as on the first day of the week?”

Allowing that all men are honest, we can excuse such wholesale manufacture of Scripture, only by believing it to be extreme ignorance of the Bible on the part of the writer. The last quotation has no foundation whatever. The meeting “after eight days” was neither on the next First-day, nor was it “specifically mentioned” as on that day. Not even an inference can be drawn from a single text to uphold the assertion of any mention of that day in connection with this meeting, much less a “specific” mention of it.

Now to the text, John 20:26: “And after eight days again his disciples were within,” etc. The first time he appeared to the eleven was at the close of the first day after his resurrection—Sunday night. Seven days from that time would bring us again to Sunday night, eight days to Monday night, and “after eight days” would carry us near the middle of the following week, no certain day being mentioned. It was not the day, but the fact that Thomas, who doubted, was present, that caused the Saviour to appear, in order to remove those doubts. John 20:27, 28.

After citing the proofs already quoted, the Doctor inquires, “What higher sanction could Jesus give to these meetings for worship on the first day of the week, than this change from the seventh day to the Lord’s day?” What, indeed! Though the New Testament writers were Christians, and writing for Christians, yet not one has given a more sacred title to this day than simply “the first day of the week.”

The day is mentioned eight times in the New Testament, as follows: Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2. The first six times refer to the day of Christ’s resurrection: and it is stated positively that upon that day they did

not believe in his resurrection; hence, did not keep the day in honor of that event. So far as we have the record, Christ never took upon his lips any mention of that day.

We now turn to the only recorded religious meeting held on that day. Acts 20:7–13. Paul had been at Troas seven days. Verse 6. They then came together for an evening meeting. Verse 8. Paul preached to them while his companions went down and started their ship around the promontory between Troas and Assos. Verse 13. While Paul was holding a farewell meeting with them, his companions were laboring. The day, according to the Bible, begins at evening. Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, etc. When does the evening begin?—At sunset. Mark 1:32. Then the meeting at Troas, being held in the dark part of the first day (Acts 20:7, 9), must have been held on what we term Saturday night.

They had all rested the Sabbath day “according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56.

Then Paul’s companions, after the “sun was set,” take the ship, while he holds this meeting. On Sunday morning he also takes his journey of nineteen miles across from Troas to Assos. Acts 20:11, 13, 14.

Did they not break bread on the first day of the week?—Yes. Did that make it a Sabbath?—No. Christ instituted the breaking of bread on Thursday night. 1 Cor. 11:23, 24. The apostles broke bread daily. Acts 2:46. Paul broke the bread at Troas between midnight and morning of the first day. Acts 20:7–11. But these things in no way changed the “unchangeable rule” of God’s moral government, which still reads, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”

(Concluded next week.)

PROPHECY FOR THE LAST DAYS.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

S. N. HASKELL.

(Concluded.)

Are there any special reasons that would lead the prophet to pray on this occasion? The visions recorded in the last six chapters of Daniel were given near the close of his life. His life had been a success as a man of God; and as a statesman holding the highest office that could be held, except the position of king on the throne, in the grandest of all earthly kingdoms. No fault could ever be found with Daniel or his associates except concerning the law of their God.

At the close of the vision in the seventh chapter, Daniel was much troubled, his countenance changed in him, but he kept the matter in his heart. Dan. 7: 28. At the close of the vision in the eighth chapter he said that he “was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” Dan. 8: 27. The ninth chapter closes with Jerusalem desolate and the Jews scattered, after rejecting the Messiah. And while the prophet could understand the words of the angel; with the burden of his prayer for the return of his people from the Babylonish captivity still on his heart, he failed fully to comprehend their meaning. Remembering that Christ had said, “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision,” he set his heart to fast and pray until he should understand it. On this occasion, under these circumstances, it was Christ who first appeared to Daniel. Dan. 10: 5–9.

The first words of the angel to the prophet deserve more than a passing remark: “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved.” Again he said, in verse 19, “O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong.” These are most wonderful words to be spoken to a mortal man like ourselves, by the angel who stood in the presence of God. What was Daniel doing when the angel came and spoke these wonderful words?—He was fasting and praying that he might understand the prophecies, which the angel had repeatedly said were for the last days. If God thus showed his approval of the prophet’s seeking an understanding of the visions that were given for the people in the last days, can he approve of those who are now careless and indifferent about understanding them?—Most assuredly not. Here is a lesson that every one should lay to heart.

Again: in the ninth chapter, after studying the books of Jeremiah to understand the vision of the eighth chapter, he set his face “unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.” “And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” Verses 20–23.

Three times are the words, “Thou art greatly beloved,” spoken to Daniel. In each instance it was when he was fasting and praying to understand the vision. To whom did these visions relate?—To those living in the “last days;” to those living in the “time of the end.” I ask in the name of reason, Should not we who live in the “time of the end” be interested in these prophecies? Should we not teach them to our children? And further I ask, Can we be among the wise referred to in Dan. 12: 10 if we are not especially interested in these prophecies? God forbid that these prophecies should ever be regarded as out of date by any professing to be Seventh-day Adventists.

Here are practical lessons upon which the salvation of ourselves and our children depends. There has been a drifting away from the old landmarks. Other subjects and other themes have absorbed our interests until even the charts representing the prophecies are of no use in some instances. We can not ignore these fundamental principles and expect to enter the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem. Side issues have arisen, and they will continue to arise, until one can hardly tell what is piped or harped. But here, in the book of Daniel, is food, precious food to feed the flock of God. Let the truth for this time be dwelt upon, and it will become the basis of character. It will produce steadfastness of purpose, which the allurements of pleasure, the fickleness of custom, the contempt of the world-loving, and the heart’s own clamors for self-indulgence, are powerless to influence.

Let us consider further the ninth chapter of Daniel. Here the angel explains the twenty-three hundred days. He says that seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, were cut off for the Jewish people, thus reaching to the time when the disciples went everywhere preaching the word. Acts 8: 1–5. The fulfillment of this was to “seal up the vision and prophecy.” It was to make sure the twenty-three hundred days. He then divides the seventy weeks into three shorter periods—seven weeks, or forty-nine years, for the building of the wall in troublous times, which was fulfilled to the letter, dating “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem;” sixty-two weeks from the time the wall was built, or sixty-nine weeks, four hundred and eighty-three years, from the going forth of the commandment, reached to the Messiah the Prince. Messiah signifies “anointed.” John 1: 41, margin. This anointing was by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10: 38); and took place at the time of Christ’s baptism. Luke 3: 21, 22. Then in the midst of the seventieth week, or three and a half years from his baptism, in the spring of 31 A. D., he was crucified. Dan. 9: 24–27.

It was the same angel who appeared to Zacharias, with the following words: “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and

thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb [on temperance his position was the same as Daniel’s]. And many of the children of Israel shall be turned to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him [Christ] in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Zacharias asked, “Whereby shall I know this?” “To the question of Zacharias, the angel said, ‘I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings.’ Five hundred years before, Gabriel had made known to Daniel the prophetic period that was to extend to the coming of Christ. The knowledge that the end of this period was near, had moved Zacharias to pray for the Messiah’s advent. Now the very messenger through whom the prophecy was given had come to announce its fulfillment.

“The words of the angel, ‘I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God,’ show that he holds a position of high honor in the heavenly courts. When he came with a message to Daniel, he said, ‘There is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael [Christ] your prince.’ Of Gabriel the Saviour speaks, in Revelation, saying that ‘he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.’ And to John the angel declared, ‘I am a fellow servant to thee, and with thy brethren the prophets.’ Wonderful thought—that the angel who stands next in honor to the Son of God is the one chosen to open the purposes of God to sinful men.”—“The Desire of Ages,” small edition, page 103. It was the same angel who appeared to Mary, and it is the same angel through whom the Spirit of Prophecy comes to the remnant.

Again: on page 263 of “The Desire of Ages:” “The burden of Christ’s preaching was, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ Thus the gospel message, as given by the Saviour himself, was based on the prophecies. The ‘time’ which he declared to be fulfilled was the period made known by the angel Gabriel to Daniel. ‘Seventy weeks,’ said the angel, ‘are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.’ If the reader of these lines will in connection with this read the twenty-third chapter of “The Desire of Ages,” he will receive much light on this point.

Was it not this same angel who stirred the mind of the “Low Hampton farmer,” William Miller, to study these prophecies and proclaim the second coming of Christ? The message of Christ’s second coming, like the first, is based on the prophecies. The time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, the hour of his judgment, is the ending of the twenty-three hundred days, of which that portion we have considered, relating to Christ’s first advent, is only a part. Again, on page 265, of “The Desire of Ages:” “Christ urged upon his disciples the importance of prophetic study. Referring to the prophecy given to Daniel in regard to their time, he said, ‘Whoso readeth, let him understand.’ After his resurrection, he explained to the disciples in all the prophets ‘the things concerning himself.’” If it was necessary then, is it not important now? Can Bible language make it more forcible?

John the Baptist went forth in the spirit and power of Elias to prepare the way of the Lord, in his first coming, and to turn the people to the wisdom of the Just. He was a representative of those living in the last days, to whom God has intrusted the same work; namely, to prepare a people for the second coming of Christ. It is the same divine agency; it is the same work that preceded Christ’s first advent, which the Jews, because they knew not the time of their visitation, rejected in the person of John the Baptist. This led them to cry, “Crucify him, crucify him.”

The same prophecies come to us. We profess before the world that this work has been committed to us. Should there not a voice go forth from this people that would arouse the nations? “Men whose faith is weak and wavering are not the ones to carry forward the work at this important crisis. We need the courage of heroes and the faith of martyrs.”

Another thought connected with this prayer of the prophet is worthy of being considered—the result of his prayer. It brought Gabriel from heaven to this earth to move on the heart of a wicked king to answer it. And when he failed to move the king to accomplish the work, the Lord Jesus Christ came down to assist him. Both these persons from the heavenly courts visited Daniel in person. And Gabriel said, “Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.” In other words, he would continue to work with the kings of Persia until they had accomplished the work that God raised them up for in answer to the prophet’s prayer, and then the prince of Grecia would come and overthrow that kingdom.

Here also is an important lesson. We are in the closing scenes of this world’s history. And the four angels of the four winds hold the elements of war and strife for the sealing of God’s servants. Prayer will move the arm of God to do this in behalf of his cause on the earth. How many realize this? It certainly is not those who take no special interest in the study of the prophecies that pertain to this time. Our privileges and opportunities are great, so are our responsibilities. The time just before us will reveal who are faithful now. May the Lord enable us to realize the time in which we live, so as to prepare for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven.

LOVE DEMANDED.

By H. W. Reed

H. W. REED.

(Milwaukee, Wis.)

God’s law demands supreme love to God from all his children, yes, from all created intelligences. Now the question is, How can we show that love which the law demands? We will allow God to answer this, which he does in 1 John 5: 3: “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”

This is the love of God, and it is shown by our obedience. Children show their love to their parents by rendering obedience to them. A child who has true parental love will not continue in doing that which is forbidden by the parent. It may have ignorantly disobeyed the loving parent; but when informed of its disobedience, it will then cease to disobey, and instead will render cheerful obedience.

So it has been, and to-day is, with thousands of God’s dear children. They have ignorantly disobeyed one of God’s commands. This has been done in respect to the fourth commandment, as the testimony of thousands of honest Christian men and women has already testified.

A person need not be a prophet in order to say that before long, thousands of confessions of having ignorantly violated the Sabbath commandment will be made. Through ignorance many have violated the law of God by observing the first day instead of the seventh, but now as light is coming to the honest in heart, they will see their error and turn away from it. Such will render supreme love to God, in harmony with the requirements of the divine law.

Fragrant Lives of Love and Goodness

“The lives of those who are connected with God are fragrant with deeds of love and goodness. The sweet savor of Christ surrounds them; their influence is to elevate and bless. These are faithful trees. Men and women of this stamp of character will render practical service in thoughtful deeds of kindness, and earnest, systematic labor.”

RANDOM STATEMENTS.

By John Norton Loughborough

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

By random statements I mean those without the proof being presented, and even such as are mere guesswork, asserted on the thought of the moment, and which may not only lack evidence, to sustain them, but which on careful thought will be found contrary to fact. As an illustration, I will refer to a statement I heard a minister make in the pulpit. Speaking of the second coming of Christ, he said: “It is a very important subject, one spoken of in every book and chapter in the Bible.” As to the effect of such an assertion upon thoughtful minds, even candid ones, we had an illustration at the close of the discourse. One of his hearers remarked, “That was a rash statement. I would like to know where he would find the coming of Christ mentioned in the book of Esther.”

What I wish especially to speak of in this article is an item that is being extensively copied in religious prints; namely, that “there are thirty-six thousand distinct promises in the Bible.” Now it is true that the Lord has made “a great many promises, and ‘exceeding great and precious’ ones,” but the number given above is rather doubtful. When I first saw this item, I said: “I do not see how that can be; for at one time, in reading the Bible through by course, I made a list of chapter and verse of direct promises there made, classifying them as those relating to the present state, and those referring directly to the future. I did not have any thirty-six thousand in my list; but considerably less than two thousand. One thing I did learn by the count which was a happy surprise to me, and that was that there are at least three times as many promises relating to the present as there are to the future. All right. The present world is where the battles against evil are to be fought. The rewards in the future world are in the Lord’s hands. He doeth all things according to his own word. That word will never pass, though the heaven and earth should fail.”

Again: I thought, “Thirty-six thousand promises, I believe that is more than the number of verses in the Bible; and surely every verse is not an expressed promise to say the least, whatever may be implied even in the statement that ‘all God’s commands are enabling,’ being assurances of help to those yielding to obey him.”

To test this matter I made a careful examination of the Bible with this result: In the Old Testament there are twenty-three thousand five hundred and fifty-six verses. In the New Testament seven thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven, or a total of thirty-one thousand five hundred and thirteen. In many of these verses we have threatenings of God’s wrath against sin, and his denunciations of evil. We could hardly count those as “precious promises” to his people. Then we have many verses, and in some cases whole chapters, of simply names of persons. This will be seen in the records of Adam’s posterity; the descendants of Noah’s sons; the posterity of Esau, Jacob, Reuben, Aaron; names in the courses of the priests, and the heads of Israel; names of places of Israel’s journeyings; nations, cities, and kings taken by the Israelites; names of David’s great men, etc. Twelve chapters of 1 Chronicles—over five hundred verses—are nearly all names of persons. In Ezra and Nehemiah are lists of the leading ones who went up from the captivity, and of those who had married strange wives. In the New Testament is a genealogy of Christ, as well as lists of names in some of the epistles. In the cases of names mentioned above there are more than fifteen hundred verses, which would reduce the total of promises to about thirty thousand verses. This would be six thousand less than the number of promises claimed.

Instead of accepting such wonderful “random statements,” and passing them on as verity and truth, it certainly would be well first to give them a little candid thought. I can say that the tracing of this matter was not to me a mere problem of arithmetical figures; but in this journey through the Scriptures many precious gems of truth shone out with greater luster than ever before.

The Warfare Against Self

“THE warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, and being clothed with humility, possessing that love that is pure, peaceable, and easy to be entreated, full of gentleness and good fruits, is not an easy attainment. . . . The soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in knowledge and true holiness. The holy life and character of Christ is a faithful example. His confidence in his heavenly Father was unlimited. His obedience and submission were unreserved and perfect. He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister to others. He came not to do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. In all things he submitted himself to Him that judgeth righteously.”

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