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Signs of the Times, Vol. 14, No. 2.

General Articles

Signs of the Times

Jan 13, 1888

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 13, 1888

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

TRUE RELIGION.

WHAT is true religion? It is to love God with all the heart, and our neighbors as ourselves. This is the whole duty of man. To reach this high standard of character should be the absorbing purpose of every soul. How shall I love God with all my heart? What means are provided for fixing my affections on high and heavenly things? Love to God must be cultivated daily, by calling to mind the great love that God has manifested toward us in giving us his well-beloved Son.
We should try to comprehend the wonders of this amazing sacrifice. We should dwell on the marvelous love of our Redeemer till our stony hearts are melted in contrition and gratitude. The love that stirred his bosom enabled him, the spotless Lamb of God, to become an offering for the guilty transgressor of his Father's law. It sustained him in his purpose to save the fallen race, amid their heartless ingratitude and scorn. It strengthened him for temptation, reproach, torture, poverty, shame, and death. Oh, the unfathomable depths of redeeming love! who can sound this mighty deep?
When we make redemption the subject of our meditation, and try to comprehend the vastness of the plan of salvation, and to realize the unutterable love of Him who has died for us, our hearts will be subdued and softened, and we shall yield them wholly to our Saviour. We shall fall at his feet in adoration, exclaiming, "My Lord and my God!" A more than human love is wakened in the soul, through the knowledge of the wonderful love of Christ to one who has rebelled against his rule and grieved him by transgression. The sinner who has felt the power of Christ's cleansing blood, has a deep and abiding sense that he owes his all to that Saviour who has purchased him with his own precious life. All who have this consciousness and appreciation of the love of Christ, will esteem it the highest privilege of their lives to devote every power of their being to his service. The transforming grace of Christ moulds the desires of the heart, and there is a ready willingness to make any sacrifice for the truth's sake.
Those who love their Redeemer will rejoice at every opportunity to share with him in humiliation, shame, and reproach. The love they bear their Lord makes suffering, for his sake, sweet; and they know that if they suffer with him they shall also reign with him in his glory. This experience of suffering for Christ's sake is absolutely essential to the spiritual life of the Christian. There can be no true, vital godliness without seasons of trial and grief. We are chosen in the furnace of affliction, and the trial of our faith is more precious than gold.
Many claim to love God while they fail to cherish love toward their brethren; but genuine love to God will testify to its real existence by love to our fellow-men. Those who love God will reveal the tender, compassionate spirit of Jesus to all that are around them. They will love their brethren, because they are the members of the body of Christ. They will love the sinner, because he is the purchase of the blood of Christ; and this love, abiding in the heart, will display itself by earnest labor to benefit and bless all with whom they associate. They will yearn for the salvation of men, and will lead others to the fountain that has refreshed their own souls.
The love of Christ will not make us less fit for actual life, but will enable us to adapt ourselves to the wants of others, and will develop highly practical fruit in our daily experience. It is not a weak sentimentalism. It is not of that cheap order that is earthly and sensual, leading to debasement of the soul and defilement of the character. It is not of earthly, but of heavenly origin. This love is elevating in its nature, enduring and ennobling, shedding rays of beneficence upon all within the circle of its influence. God, through his Son, has sent down this heavenly love to unite us with himself. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." Let us ponder this divine love, that we may become changed, and may reflect this precious attribute of the character of our Redeemer. We shall be in less peril of placing our affections on unworthy objects.
The disciple John became a possessor of this divine love. The regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit renewed his heart. He came under the power of the love of Christ, and the knowledge of this love awakened a depth of affection that, by its infusion through his heart, wrought a transformation of character. The warm affection of John was not the cause of Christ's love for him. The Saviour had loved him before this affection had an existence; but the unmerited kindness of his Lord had kindled love in the breast of the disciple.
John's natural character was marked with imperfections. He was impetuous, and resentful under injuries. When the Samaritans refused to entertain his Lord because they thought he favored the Jews more than he did them, John wanted the insult to receive immediate retribution. His spirit was stirred with revenge, and he said to his Master, "Wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?" Jesus looked upon John, and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
Revengeful thoughts and words are contrary to the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus. It is not always easy to bring our feelings under control. The human heart needs to be guarded continually, that we may not cherish a spirit unlike that of our divineLord. It will be impossible for us to bear insult and harshness with loving forbearance and patience unless we drink of the spirit of Him "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again." It is natural for us to think when we are falsely accused that we must retaliate and show our contempt of the traducers, but this is foreign to the meekness of our Redeemer. We must not allow one revengeful thought to arise. Sorrow and indignation may fill our hearts for a season, because souls are deceived and misled by these falsehoods; but it will not help matters to cherish unholy anger, and it will not be cherished where the forgiving love of Christ has imbued the soul.
The prevalent opinion that John was naturally of a meek and yielding character is proved, by a study of his life, to be erroneous. He had high ambitions to be first in the kingdom of Christ. He had decidedly rebuked one who was casting out devils in the name of Jesus, because he was not in their company. He had strong traits of character, not weak and vacillating, but self-assertive and ambitious for honor. Jesus taught the needed lessons of humility and patience. He manifested, in contrast to John's violent spirit, calm consideration and forbearance. John was a learner in the school of Christ. As the character of the divine One was manifested to him, he saw his own deficiency and was humbled by the knowledge. The strength and the patience, the power and tenderness, the majesty and the meekness, that he beheld in the daily life of the Son of God, filled his soul with admiration and love; but he was not simply an admirer; he showed his appreciation by imitating the divine characteristics of his Lord. His revengeful, ambitious temper he yielded to the moulding power of the Spirit of Christ. He set his soul to copy the lovely Pattern and become like Him who is meek and lowly of heart.
This is the sure result of association with Jesus. As we meditate upon his character our hearts are drawn out in love, desire awakens to become like him whom we love, and, by beholding, we become changed. When Christ abides in the heart, the whole nature is transformed. Everything that defileth is banished from the soul's temple. Lust, base passions, impure thoughts, pride, inordinate affections, revenge, retaliation, covetousness, envy, all these are prohibited; and what we once loved, now we hate; for we become new creatures in Christ Jesus. Christ's Spirit, Christ's love, softens the heart, subdues the soul, and raises the thoughts and desires toward God and Heaven.
The truth we claim to believe should make us better men and women in our home life, in our church relations, in our business, and in our intercourse with our friends and neighbors. Unless this result is manifested, we should examine ourselves to see what is hindering the sanctifying influence of the truth from accomplishing its work of purification in our lives. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." Our characters must be moulded after the divine model, that we may have an elevating influence on all with whom we associate. "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
Had Peter practiced the lessons that Christ presented during his ministry, he would never have apostatized and denied his Lord; but we thank God that, although in his weakness he did forsake his Master, he thoroughly repented and was forgiven. The lessons which he had failed to take to heart were learned and made practical in his life, and at last he who had deserted his Lord counted it too great an honor that he was permitted to suffer shame and death for his sake.
How different it was with Judas. He had been in the society of the great Teacher. The same privileges were granted to him as were bestowed on Peter and John; but how did he respond to the light? Like many of this day, he professed to be a follower of Christ, but failed to identify his interests with the cause of his Lord. He listened to the lessons of Christ, but he made no change in his character. He did not seek to rid himself of his selfish penuriousness by sacrificing for the advancement of the cause he claimed to espouse. He cultivated a spirit of greed, till the desirableness of Christ and Heaven was eclipsed. This plague-spot in his soul spread, like a destroying leprosy, till the whole man was corrupted. Noble liberty was left to wither. Every unselfish purpose was darkened, until the hope of obtaining a few paltry dollars led him to betray his Saviour.
How many are repeating these mistakes, because they do not profit by the example of those who have followed this course in the past! They are not doers of the words of Christ. They do not conform their lives to his divine instruction. Those who have the greatest deformities of character, may have the greatest grace. The highest seat will be awarded to those who, through appropriating the promises of God to themselves, attain the greatest likeness to Christ.
A longing, hungering desire takes possession of the soul that is conforming to the divine standard. Oh, to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God! Oh, that heavenly light may illumine the pathway! Oh, for deeper draughts of the well of salvation! This is the constant cry of the heart to God, and the promise is that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.
It is the love of Jesus in the soul that enables the Christian to count all things as loss, to endure toil, to rejoice in sacrifice, and to suffer reproach for the truth. Love for Jesus is the motive power of the life-work, and the sustaining strength for every duty.
While the love of God makes its possessor meek and lowly of spirit, and eradicates all hatred and revenge, and all that is unholy, it will not leave the Christian without power to oppose wrong and rebuke sin. If dangerous errors threaten the faith, through the efforts of deceived church-members or false shepherds, they will be met and opposed with decision. The soldiers of Christ must be like sentinels on guard, watching on the walls of Zion. They must defend the faith once delivered to the saints, and press back the powers of moral darkness with determined energy and will.
The disciple John, while he has written many chapters on the subject of love, speaks very decidedly to his brethren on the duty of rebuking error. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God," is his decision; and he instructs them not to receive such a one into their houses or bid him Godspeed.
We must arm ourselves with the Spirit of Christ, stand in defense of the truth, and yet do this whole work of honoring God and resisting evil without having a spirit of retaliation arise in our hearts. Every warning in the word of God is to be heeded, every instruction followed, that we may keep our souls in the love of God. We must oppose error for Christ's sake and for the sake of the purchase of his blood, that God may be honored, his ways vindicated, and souls saved from the fast-hastening ruin that is to overwhelm the world. Christ is our example in all things. We must consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest we be weary and faint in our minds. We must go forward, exemplifying in our lives the principles of true religion, that we may be living epistles, "known and read of all men;" that we may love God with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves.

A TIMELY PRAYER.

“I will run the way of thy commandments.” Ps. 119:32.
WHEN from thy path I wander, Lord, Oh, hedge my way around, And plant thine angel with his sword Where snares and sin abound!
When to thy throne my prayers ascend, Sift well what I entreat, And from the chaff, oh condescend To separate the wheat!
When 'twixt two paths I halt, decide Thyself for me the way; Compel me closer to thy side, Nor suffer me to stray.
If 'gainst thy strength, Almighty One, My weakness I would fling, Give me to view thy glorious throne, And bow before my King. —Selected.

HUMILITY.

By F. E. Bowen

MUCH is said concerning meekness and true humility all through both Old and New Testaments. The Saviour himself gave many lessons upon this important subject. He first set us an example when he besought his Father to let him suffer death in man's stead. God, through his Son, had created all things; and the Son stood next to the great I AM. "Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." Col. 1: 15, 16.
All things were created for him. Every creature that fails to worship and praise the Son, dishonors the Father, and entirely loses sight of the object for which he was created. As we meditate upon the wonderful love the Saviour manifested for us when he left the royal courts above and came to this world, our hearts ought to flow out to him in tender love and grateful praise.
Unless we feel our dependence, and, like the publican, come before the Lord with humility of heart, we shall never be heard of him. The prophet Micah describes the manner in which we should appear before the Lord, and what he requires of us: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Peter, in speaking of our duty, says: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt youin due time." "Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble."
It is God's plan that this work of humiliation should be done by ourselves. But in case we fail, he, in mercy, permits afflictions to come until we feel our dependence and can come unto him with true humility of heart. When Job, after his afflictions, came to realize his unworthiness before God, he exclaims, "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:6. Lest Paul, through abundance of revelations, should become exalted, God placed a thorn in his flesh that would help him to realize his own weakness.
The disciples, at one time, were perplexed to know which one of them should receive the greatest honor in Christ's kingdom. To teach them that this spirit of desiring the supremacy must be overcome, the Saviour took a meek child and placing it in their midst, said: "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven."
Do we have trouble at home or in the church? If so, someone is lacking this child-like humility. When we think our rights are trampled upon and our reputation injured, the natural heart at once rises up for revenge. But the thoroughly converted man will exercise a meek, forgiving spirit toward the offender. Before we are able to forgive, we necessarily have to humble ourselves, lowering behind the pride and ambition which prompt us to contend so earnestly for our rights.
Oh, that we might get some of the humble spirit which our precious Redeemer possessed! "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself [again], and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. 2:6-8.
This same Jesus, who so humbled himself, will soon come seated upon his righteous throne with great power and glory. Then every knee will bow and every tongue confess his name. But in awful bitterness of soul they realize that it is too late. The time they should have been confessing their sins and humiliating themselves before God, was spent selfishly seeking their own pleasure, and now the door of mercy is forever closed.
Meekness does not flow naturally from the carnal heart. It must be earnestly sought for. "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." Zeph. 2:3. F. E. BOWEN.

GATHERING OF ISRAEL.

By C. P. Bollman

Two weeks ago in an article in these columns, it was clearly shown that the terms, "all Israel," and "the whole house of Israel" (Rom. 11:26; Eze. 37:11), refer to the redeemed out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, whether they are Hebrews by descent or not. But even when this is admitted, as it must be by all who accept the testimony of the Scriptures, there are some who still insist that there is yet to be a gathering of the literal seed of Abraham to the land of Canaan. This, however, the Scriptures certainly do not teach.
All the promises of the gathering of Israel made since the exode come under three heads: (1) Promises which were fulfilled in the return of the Jews from Babylon; (2) promises which were never fulfilled because the conditions were not met by the people; (3) promises of the final gathering of Israel when "the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting [not transient, or passing] joy upon their heads;" and when "they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
The promises which come under the first of these heads are much less explicit than are those which come under the second and third heads. In Jer. 25:11, 12 we read: "And this whole land [Canaan] shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon," etc. Here is an implied promise of the restoration of the Jews at the end of the seventy years; and so Daniel understood it, as we learn from his prayer recorded in the ninth chapter of his prophecy. Ezra and Nehemiah give a full account of the return of the Jews under this promise.
Jer. 17:24-27 clearly comes under the second head. By tracing the history of the Babylonish captivity, we learn that the people were not all carried away at the beginning of the captivity, B. C. 606; and five years later, B. C. 601, the Lord made this conditional promise that if they would serve him and hallow his Sabbath, then there should enter into Jerusalem "kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David," and the city should stand forever. But if they would not hearken unto God and hallow his Sabbath, he said: "I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." The people did not turn from their wickedness and hallow the Sabbath, as God required, and the threatening was fulfilled, while the promise was forever forfeited. The people rebelled against the governor whom the king of Babylon had set over them, and in the year B. C. 588 the king of the Chaldeans came again against the city (2 Chron. 36:17) and "slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age," "and they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof." Never from that day forward was "Israel" an independent people; and never will they be again till He comes whose right it is, and then the kingdom will be given to Him; and He shall sit upon the throne of David, ruling, not over the literal seed of Abraham, but over the children of the promise.
There are other promises similar to the one just alluded to, but it will not be necessary to notice them in detail, for in the light of the hints already given almost anyone can, with a little study, determine to which class each promise belongs. We will therefore notice, somewhat hastily, some of the promises which come under the third head.
It will scarcely be necessary to more than remind the intelligent reader that the Hebrews were a typical people; they were not all peopleof God, nor were they the whole people of God. Their offerings pointed forward to Christ, and their land—the land which God gave them—was only an earnest of the whole world, which was promised to Abraham and to his seed (Rom. 4:13), and which will be given to those for whom it is prepared, when the words of our Saviour are fulfilled, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Though often called the land of promise, Canaan was not all that was embraced in the promise; nor was its possession by the twelve tribes the fulfillment of the promise. The promise, as shown by Rom. 4:13, embraced the world; and from the eleventh of Hebrews we learn that it had not been fulfilled when the apostle wrote that epistle. After recounting the sufferings and the victories of the people of God in all the early ages of the world, the apostle says: “These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.” Heb. 11:39. What then? Has the promise failed? By no means; for God has promised to bring “the whole house of Israel,”—all who are Christ’s,—up out of their graves and bring them into the land of Israel, and that which he has promised he will surely perform.
But when will Israel be gathered? and when will the promise to Abraham be fulfilled? Verse 40 gives us a clew to the answer to this question. The apostle says: “God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect.” The apostle’s “us” means those who are alive when the Lord comes, and the making “perfect” clearly refers to the change which is to take place in the righteous at the appearing of our Lord and Saviour. Just what this change is we learn from 1 Cor. 15:51–53 and 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. In the first of these texts we learn that “we shall not all sleep,” that is, we shall not all die, “but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” In Thessalonians the apostle tells us a little more about this matter; he says: “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 air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” And it is thus that all the redeemed, “the whole house of Israel,” are together made perfect, made immortal.
It will be observed that the language of the apostle includes all the people of God, both living and dead. He says: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed;” not some at one time and some at another, but all shall be made perfect together, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” And this event is clearly the same referred to by the Saviour when he said, concerning himself: “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt. 24:31. As shown in a former article, the elect are Israel, and this is the only gathering of Israel yet to be accomplished, of which the Scriptures speak. This is the time when “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. 8:11.
The apostle testifies (Gal. 3:29) that all who belong to Christ, no matter in what age they lived, “are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise;” but the great majority of these are dead, many of them have been dead for ages, and as their inheritance is an eternal inheritance, as they are to “inherit the land and dwell therein forever,” it is evident that they must first be “made perfect,” made immortal; and this we have seen takes place at the second coming of Christ, at the beginning of the thousand years spoken of in Rev. 20:4, 5. It is at this time that the angels are sent to gather the elect, who are then caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to ever be with their Lord, and to reign with him a thousand years. But this part of the subject must be discussed in another article.
C. P. BOLLMAN.

Gather Sunshine About You Instead of Clouds

GATHER sunshine about you instead of clouds.—Selected.

THE QUEEN'S PRAYER

By Fannie Bolton

BY FANNIE BOLTON.
["Oh! keep me innocent, make others great."—Queen Caroline Matilda.]
The palace of the king sent stately towers To shape 'gainst heaven's blue; Its walks were garlanded with lovely flowers Of daintiest form and hue. The noble queen of Denmark, young and fair, Stood where the lilies wait; Their sweet suggestion grew into a prayer, "Oh! keep me innocent, make others great."
The towers, looming up, had not such charm As the lilies at her feet. "Make others proud, but let me do no harm; Make others rich, but let me be but sweet, Pure as the flower, whose simple grace is fair, Rarer than grandest state, Whose holy modesty my soul would bear. Oh! keep me innocent, make others great."
And fair temptations, in their guise of grace, Came, bending to the queen. The rose but deepened in her saintly face, And grew her noble mien. She saw the gilded sin received and loved By lords and dames of state; But angels saw her lips, as white they moved, "Oh! keep me innocent whate'er my fate."
Was the queen gay? Ah, no! her lord the king Was all unworthy truth. He fell from vice to vice. How could she sing, Seeing his sin and ruth? Her soul went out to lift and bear its part, To shape the nation's fate; But ever grew the hunger of her heart. "Oh! keep me innocent as here I wait."
And was it just to answer that sweet prayer That she was sent away A worse than widowed wife, 'mid want and care, To nevermore be gay? For, like a broken flower the king had worn And flung aside in hate, So she, the flower of Denmark, felt his scorn Because she was so innocent and great.
The sorrow of the good our Saviour knew. His heart was stainless white. He is the Light that lights men to the true, The Voice of noble right. His precious blood he shed to make us clean, And shall we hesitate To pray to him, as did that lowly queen, "Oh! keep me innocent whate'er my fate"?
Oh! great is innocence. Its course is true. Its power is like the stars. It urges on and on, and triumphs through All hindrances that debar. 'Tis white as heaven's lilies, sweet as love; It wears a crown of light; And Heaven's eternity alone may prove The unfeigned beauty and the power of right.
Oh! keep me innocent, the bloom God loves, Let that be on my heart. Fairer than flowers' loveliest, daintiest hues, Richer than gems of art. E'en if alone, unknown, misjudged, I stand Like Him who bore men's hate; For Heaven but counts the pure in heart as grand; The innocent alone are crowned as great.

THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY.

By Samuel T. Spear

THE great questions of life relate to the existence, character, government, and providence of God, and to man considered as the creature of his power and subject to his law. What one shall eat and drink, and wherewithal he shall be clothed, where and how long he shall live, what shall be his position among men, whether he shall die rich or poor, known or unknown to fame—all these matters are of but trifling importance, when compared with the questions that relate to God, and what man is in his relation to God, and what awaits him when he retires from this earthly scene. Who is God? What are his attributes? What are his feelings toward the human race? Has he established a moral government over men? and if so, what are his requirements? Is there forgiveness with God for sinners? and if so, in what way may it be secured? What is man as the subject of his law? and what are his duties to God? . . . These are the supreme questions, and so appear to everyone who properly considers them. . . .
The judgment of the race is, and ever has been, that mere reason exercising itself upon the field of nature, without any special help from God, is not adequate to the solution of these questions. . . . The human mind is theistic in the sense of operating toward God, and in that of being loaded with impressive thoughts in regard to him; but, in all its operations upon a purely natural basis, it stops short of the final mark. It does not go far enough to find a resting-place and satisfy itself. It does not get God near enough to answer its own wants. . . . The religion contained in the Bible adjusts itself to this fact. There is not a word in that book that proceeds upon the hypothesis that its contents are the discoveries of reason, or were placed there by reason. The assumption of the Bible in regard to itself is just the reverse of this. “Thus saith the Lord” is the label which it puts upon its contents. The theory of the New Testament is that the Old Testament contains the oracles of God; that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost;” that God “at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets;” that the sacred writings composing the Old Testament were “given by inspiration of God;” in a word, that the law and the prophets and the psalms came from God and are stamped with his authority, and are not the creations of human reason. The gospel of Christ, according to the New Testament, is “the glorious gospel of the blessed God;” and this gospel “at the first began to be spoken by the Lord himself, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.” . . . The Bible, in short, assumes to be the word of God, and speaks to men as such. . . .
The one thing then to be done with the book is to read it, to understand it as far as possible, and, alike with the head and the heart, to bow to it as an ultimate and absolute authority on all the subjects of which it speaks. Chief Justice Marshall was one of the greatest judges this country ever produced; and, as he sat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, and held the Federal Constitution in his hands, he treated it as “the supreme law of the land.” Its authority he never disputed; and the only questions he ever raised in regard to it related to its meaning and application. He did not make that Constitution, and it was not his prerogative to change it, and was his duty to obey it. And in like manner should the Bible be treated by everyone who believes God to be its author. This faith, by its very terms, makes it “the supreme law;” and there is to be no question as to the truth of its teaching.
Faith is not to be disputing its own affirmation. Having affirmed, it is to stand there and accept as true what the Bible declares to be true. . . . God himself is always good authority for whatever he affirms; and reason never rises higher, and never acts more reasonably, than when it simply believes God. The question is not whether it can explain everything, or answer all possible objections, but whether the Bible puts its imprimature upon a fact or a doctrine. This attitude of mind toward the Bible as the supreme and final authority on all matters relating to religion, intensified and wrought into the very warp and woof of the soul, and thus living as a felt reality, is an indispensable condition of the power of the Bible to control thought, to sanctify the life, and impart comfort to the heart. We must believe with unhesitating confidence, believe right on, believe always, and believe forever, or we shall know but little of this power. Those who really knowthis power are not the disputatious cavilers, not the self-wise doubters asking more questions than they can answer, and not the open and undisguised infidels, but the simple-minded children of faith who have acquired the happy and hallowed art of being content with what the Bible says, and to whom a single promise in that book is worth more than all the speculations of the wisest men who ever lived. . . . These are the happy men, the happy Christians, who, whether they are scholars or not, know how to believe, and in this sense are the children of Abraham. This great secret of the Lord is with them and in them. . . . Reason is not, and God is, their supreme and sovereign guide. His authority in the book divine settles all questions for them. Here they rest, and here find peace and comfort as nowhere else.—Samuel T. Spear, D. D., in Independent.

THE PERFECT LAW OF GOD.

1. WHAT is the character of God's law? "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Ps. 19:7.
2. How was the law conveyed to man? "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 5:22.
3. To what people was the law intrusted? "What advantage then hath the Jew? . . . Much every way; chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Rom. 3:1, 2.
4. How many commandments does God's law contain? "And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:13.
5. How is the fourth commandment the key-stone of the whole code?—It shows to man that he who created the heavens and the earth is the only true God.
6. What did God give as a sign between him and his chosen people? "Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. 20:12.
7. How long is the Sabbath to continue a sign? "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever." Ex. 31:16, 17.
8. How did the Saviour magnify the law? "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." Ps. 40:8.
9. What did Christ say of the law? "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:17, 18.
10. How did he briefly state the commandments? "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. 22:37-40.
11. For what did Christ teach his disciples to pray? "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven." Matt. 6:10.
12. Are God's commandments then obeyed in Heaven? "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word." Ps. 103:19, 20.
13. What is the sure word of prophecy that this prayer will finally be fulfilled? "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Dan. 7:27.
14. When will this prophecy be accomplished? "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 11:15.
15. What has God promised concerning the earth? "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. . . . Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy." Isa. 65:17, 18.
16. What prophecy will then be fulfilled? "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Hab. 2:14.
17. Will the Sabbath exist in the new earth? "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:23.
It is thus evident that the Sabbath, although down-trodden, and though the utmost human genius be employed to destroy it, will yet survive the purifying fires of the day of the Lord, "in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up," (2 Pet. 3:10); for "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail."

AUGUSTA W. HEALD

By Augusta W. Heald

The Right Kind of Independence

THE independence which is defiant and blustering is disagreeable always, and usually lacks that degree of self-confidence which it assumes to have attained. The independence which wins, because it merits, respect is calm, dignified and even-tempered. It does not underestimate the value of the approval of others, but it cannot be driven to do anything which it sees to be unworthy of itself in order to secure that approval. Its temporary comfort may be diminished while it is misunderstood, but its foundations are not disturbed. We are what we are, whether we get credit for being or not, and God knows it. There is no slavery more miserable than the bondage of those who continually are asking, in timid concern, "What will people say?"—Selected.
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