Signs of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 17. (5/1/1884)

Signs of the Times

May 1, 1884

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 1, 1884

Dangers and Duties of the Young.

By Mrs. E. G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

IN these days, persecution and reproach for Christ's sake are scarcely known. Very little self-denial and sacrifice are necessary in order to put on a form of godliness, and have the name upon the church-book; but to live in such a manner that our ways will be pleasing to God, and our names registered in the book of life, will require watchfulness and prayer, sacrifice and self-denial. Very few of the youth know what experimental religion is. They have not a fixed principle to serve God. They sink under every cloud; they have no power of endurance. They appear to serve God; they make now and then a formal prayer, and are called Christians; but they do not grow in grace. They are not led to search their own hearts diligently, and to count the cost of becoming a Christian. As a result, they profess to be Christians without sufficiently trying their motives.

The young are often urged to speak or pray in meeting; they are urged to die to self. At every step of the Christian way, they are urged. Such religion is worth nothing. Let the heart be changed, and it will not be such drudgery to serve God. The love of dress and pride of appearance will be gone. The apostle John ex-

horts, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." Then he adds the warning, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." It is an alarming fact that the love of the world predominates in the minds of the young, and the things that are in the world, and for this reason the love of God finds no room in their hearts. God is dishonored by the frivolity and fashion, and empty, vain talking and laughing that characterize the life of the youth generally. There will be no place for these things in the heart renewed by the grace of God; but there will be an earnest, anxious seeking for the Christian graces, the fruits of the Spirit of God.

Words and acts testify plainly what is in the heart. If vanity and pride, love of self and love of dress, fill the heart, the conversation will be upon the dress, the fashions, and the appearance, but not on Christ or the kingdom of Heaven. If envious feelings dwell in the heart, they will be manifested in words and acts. Those who measure themselves by others, and make no higher attainments, are feeding on husks, and will remain spiritual dwarfs.

Many have their hearts filled with the love of self. They are not aware that the great heavenly Artist is taking cognizance of every act, every word; that their deportment, and even the thoughts and intents of the heart, stand faithfully delineated; and that old and young will have the faithful picture presented to them in all its deformity at the execution of the judgment. Those vain, frivolous words are all written in the book. Those false words are written. Those deceptive acts, whose motives were concealed from human eyes, but discerned by the all-seeing eye of Jehovah, are all written in living characters. Every selfish act will be exposed.

Solemn responsibilities rest upon the young, which they lightly regard. They should heed the injunction of the inspired word, "Obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right." "Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst live long on the earth." They should honor their parents by cheerful, loving obedience, and by doing what they can to make home happy. Often they would like to do this in their own way, by introducing amusements that lead away from God. They urge that they need something to enliven and divert the mind; and sometimes music is introduced into the home as a means of supplying this need. Music, when not abused, is a great blessing. God is glorified by songs of praise from a pure heart filled with love and devotion to him. But when put to a wrong use, it is a terrible curse. It excites, but does not impart that strength and courage which can be found only at the throne of grace. Frivolous songs and the popular sheet music of the day, which often seem congenial to their tastes, lead the mind from God.

Many seek after pleasures that prove bitter in the end. They love worldly society, where they receive praise and flattery that gratifies vanity, and fosters pride and self-esteem. They are led to believe that with such advantages and attractions as they possess, it is really a great pity for them to come out from the world and be separate. But the pleasures of earth will have an end, and that which is sown must also be reaped. Young friends, are your personal at-

traction, abilities, or talents too valuable to be devoted to God and used in his service?

"Wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Young friends, when you are restless and unhappy, it is because you have strayed from this path of peace. You are trying to find out of Christ that happiness that is found only in him. In him are no disappointed hopes. Prayer,—oh, how is this precious privilege neglected! The reading of the word of God prepares the mind for prayer. One great reason that you have so little disposition to pray is that you have unfitted yourselves for this sacred duty by reading fascinating stories, which have excited the imagination and aroused unholy passions. The word of God becomes distasteful; the hour of prayer is forgotten. And yet to have the consciousness that the eyes of the Lord are upon us, and his ears open to our prayers, is a satisfaction indeed. To know that we have a never-failing Friend in whom we can confide all the secrets of the soul, is a privilege which words can never express.

The consciousness of right-doing is the best medicine for diseased bodies and minds. The special blessing of God resting upon the receiver is health and strength. Those whose moral faculties are clouded by disease are not the ones to rightly represent the Christian life or the beauties of holiness. They are too often in the fire of fanaticism, or the water of cold indifference or stolid gloom. The words of Christ are of more worth than the opinions of all the physicians in the universe: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." This is the first great object,—the kingdom of Heaven, the righteousness of Christ. Other objects to be attained should be secondary.

Perhaps some will inquire how they are to know that they are accepted of God. The answer is, Study his word prayerfully. Lay it not aside for any other book. This holy book convinces of sin. It plainly reveals the way of salvation. It brings to view a bright and glorious reward. It reveals to you a complete Saviour, and teaches you that through his boundless mercy alone can you expect salvation. The hope of eternal life is not to be received upon slight grounds. It is a subject to be settled between God and your own soul,—settled for eternity. A supposed hope, and nothing more, will prove your ruin. Since you are to stand or fall by the word of God, it is to that word you must look for the testimony in your case. There you can see what is required in order to become a Christian. Compare your life with that of your Master, who made so great a sacrifice that you might be saved. Do not neglect secret prayer. Plead as earnestly as you would if your mortal life were at stake. Remain before God until unutterable longings for salvation are begotten within you, and the sweet evidence is obtained of pardoned sin. Do not lay off your armor or leave the battle-field until you have obtained the victory, and can triumph in your Redeemer.

Young friends, if found in the way of righteousness, you can exert a mighty influence. Ministers, or church members advanced in years, cannot have one-half the influence on your young associates that you are capable of exerting; and you ought to feel that a responsibility rests upon you to do all you can for their salvation. Those who have themselves tasted the sweets

of redeeming love will not, cannot rest, until all with whom they associate are made acquainted with the plan of salvation. You should inquire, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? How can I honor and glorify thy name upon the earth?" Souls are perishing all around us; what are you doing to win them to Christ? Oh, that you would use your powers of mind in seeking to so approach sinners that you may win even one soul to the path of righteousness! What a thought! One soul to praise God through eternity! One soul to enjoy happiness and everlasting life! One gem in your crown to shine forever and ever! But more than one may be won from sin to holiness, and the reward is rich in the kingdom of Heaven. Says the Lord by the prophet, "They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever."

CHARITY.

If we knew the cares and crosses Crowding round our neighbor's way; If we knew the little losses, Sorely grievous day by day; Would we then as often chide him For his lack of thrift and gain, Leaving on his heart a shadow, Leaving on his mind a stain?

If we knew the clouds above us Held but gentle blessings there, Would we turn away, all trembling, In our blind and weak despair? Would we shrink from little shadows Flitting o'er the dewy grass, If we knew the birds of Eden Were in mercy flying past?

If we knew the silent story Quivering through the heart of pain, Would we drive it with our coldness Back to haunts of vice again? Life hath many tangled crossings; Joy hath many a break of woe; But the cheeks, tear-washed, are whitest, Kept in life are flowers of snow.

Let us reach into our bosoms For the key to other lives, And with love toward erring nature Cherish good that still survives; So that when our Master cometh, He our loving toil shall see, And shall say “Come home, ye blessed, Ye have done it unto me.” —Sel.

The Lost-Time Objection to the Sabbath.

By Editor

(Concluded.)

II. If claim is yet made that it was lost in the days of the patriarchs, it is successfully met with the fact that it was well known in the time of Moses.

1. The manna was given to Israel a full month before the law was proclaimed on Mount Sinai. And they were directed to gather a double portion on the sixth day, because in the seventh day, which was the Sabbath, there would be none in the field.

2. There is no reason given in Ex. 16 why the seventh day was the rest day; neither does it say that the seventh day will be, or shall become, the Sabbath. On the sixth day Moses said: "To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord," or of the Lord. It was the holy Sabbath by a previous blessing and appointment.

3. That this was the original Sabbath, the Creator's rest day, is proved by the words of Jehovah in the fourth commandment. When he spoke his holy law with his own voice; when he wrote the "ten words" upon the tables of stone with his own finger, he gave this precept, and identified the Sabbath which he commanded to Israel as the day of his rest which was blessed and sanctified, as in Gen. 2:3. He said and he wrote, "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," and he commanded them to keep it holy. And he gave the reason in full, in the following words: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

Now divesting one's self of all prejudice, and taking "the Bible, and the Bible alone," would it be possible for any man to draw from these words of the Creator himself any conclusion but this: that the seventh day Sabbath or rest-day which God commanded from Sinai, was the same day which he blessed and sanctified, as recorded in Gen. 2:3? It is identified by every particular; and not one particular stated can be applied to any other day. And if any one yet doubts that it is the same day, let him consider and answer this question: If the original or creation Sabbath, the rest day of the Lord God, is not identified in Ex. 20, what language could God have used if he had intended to identify it? Will some doubter answer this without a cavil?

Here we will notice that the testimony of the Bible is uniform on the subject of the Sabbath. It knows but one day of the Sabbath. It never speaks of any other. The custom of calling different days the Sabbath, or of speaking of different weekly Sabbaths, never originated in the Bible; it was never derived from statements or facts found in the Bible. The patriarchal Sabbath—the Jewish Sabbath—the Christian Sabbath; as terms of distinction these are "the speech of Ashdod;" the Bible knows nothing of them. The rest-day of Jehovah, the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, is the one and only Sabbath of the holy Scriptures.

The blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day at creation were not the only acts of the Almighty to put honor upon his memorial rest-day. When he released his people from the house of bondage that they might serve him, Ex. 8:1, and declared his holy law, obedience to which is the only true service and the proof and essence of love to him (1 John 5:3), he wrought many miracles to attest his regard for his holy day, and to inspire respect and reverence for it in the hearts of his people.

4. The miracles wrought not only serve to identify the day, but they rendered it impossible that they should lose it or neglect it in their wanderings in the desert. When the manna fell, which was by a miracle, it fell six days, but did not fall on the Sabbath. In this manner God again sanctified or separated his holy day from the other days and from secular uses. When the manna was kept over night it corrupted and became a mass of worms, but when it was kept over from the sixth day to the seventh it did not corrupt, but remained good for food on the Sabbath. Without attempting to trace this point further, we find that, beside the commandment, and the rebukes frequently uttered, in the space of forty years the Lord wrought at least four thousand one hundred and sixty miracles, and all to put honor upon the seventh-day Sabbath! Can he have "the mind of the Lord" who casts reproach upon it and dishonors it? See Isa. 58:13, 14. No other institution—nothing else ever committed to his creatures—has received so much honor from God as his holy day, the seventh-day Sabbath.

And thus it is rendered certain that when the Jews entered Palestine, 2,553 years after the creation, they had the true, original Sabbath of the Lord. In the promised land they became a great and numerous people, a settled and established nation for over 800 years. During all this time, they had the strictest laws and regulations touching the observance of the Sabbath. When they became worldly and selfish they did not keep it as sacredly as they should have done; Jer. 17:19-24; and for this error God sent them into captivity. They did not lose the knowledge of the Sabbath; they lost the spirit of obedience. Neh. 13:15-18. And here again we notice the impossibility of losing the day. In their captivity they were scattered in one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Est. 8:9. But on their restoration the tribes were all represented among those who went up to Jerusalem; and in the days of the Saviour devout Jews "out of every nation under heaven" appeared there to keep their feasts, according to the law; yet when they came together they were in perfect agreement as to the day of the Sabbath. Not a single family had lost the day. Not a doubt exists that the Sabbath was known throughout the Levitical dispensation.

III. We have now to consider the period from the advent of the Saviour to the present time. And first we notice that the Sabbath was well known in the time of Christ. We find the Sabbath mentioned some three-score times in the New Testament, and in such a manner as to leave no room for a doubt of its identity. Jesus healed the sick "on the Sabbath day," and he said it was "lawful" to do so; that is, that the law did not forbid such works of mercy on the Sabbath. This indicates that it was the identical Sabbath day that was in the law, the seventh day. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.

Three days are mentioned in the New Testament, which stand so related to each other that it is impossible to err in regard to the position of either one in the week. Mark 15:42 speaking of the crucifixion scenes, says "it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath." Also Luke 23:54: "And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on." It was called "the preparation" day because of the order to prepare their food on that day for the coming Sabbath. Ex. 16:23.

The preparation day being past, they "rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. Of course they rested the seventh day—the very day upon which God rested when he made the heavens and the earth,—for that is the day specified and enjoined in the commandment.

And the Sabbath being past, "upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher." Luke 24:1. "And when the Sabbath was past, . . . very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher." Mark 16:1, 2. Thus we have the day positively fixed by inspiration. That Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, because it was immediately followed by the first day of the succeeding week. And the preparation was the sixth day of the week, as in Ex. 16, because it was immediately followed by the seventh-day Sabbath—the only weekly Sabbath ever given to man from the Lord.

Now the only inquiry remaining is, Has the day been lost between the time of Christ and the present year? That is impossible. We have histories covering the whole period, and the multiplicity of dates given show that there has never been any difficulty about the time. And even though months and years should be disarranged, that would not affect the identity of the days of the week.

Besides, there was a conflict of days. The Jews regarded as sacred the seventh day, while the heathen nations placed the greatest honor upon the first day, which they dedicated to the sun. After a few centuries the Mahometans arose and exalted the sixth day. Then there were three rival days, and the three parties would act as a check upon each other if one could by any means lose its day. But why consider further a thing so incredible, so far beyond the range of anything deemed possible?

We notice one more fact, which, if we had no other evidence, and were not able to show that the objection involved an absurdity, would settle it beyond all controversy. It is this: Historians have recorded numerous eclipses, giving their magnitude and the day of their occurrence. Astronomers now make their calculations and verify the history; they find that such eclipses did take place at the times recorded, on the day of the week stated in history, according to our present reckoning. And this proves that our reckoning of the week is the same as theirs. As some of these eclipses occurred before the Christian era, we know that no time has been lost, the week has not been changed, since the days of the Saviour.

Many have rested their objection on the change from Old to New Style, but they have not done it understandingly. No loss of time occurred in any respect by the change of style. The facts in brief are these: The Julian year was found to be too long, and the seasons were becoming disarranged. A new calendar was adopted in 1582, and the year was thrown back by calling the fifth day of October, as it was then reckoned, the fifteenth. But as the day of the month has no necessary connection with the day of the week, no change was made in the week. This is proved by the fact that the New Style was adopted in Rome 169 years before it was adopted in England, but the two nations were, in the meantime, in agreement on the days of the week. It is further proved by the fact that Russia never adopted the New Style, but still reckons by the Old, and yet she agrees with the other nations on the reckoning of the days of the week.

Hill's Scientific or Perpetual Calendar shows the day of the week of any given date, in both Old and New Style, for twenty centuries after Christ. It gives the following in its explanation of the method of ascertaining the day by both styles: "For instance, Washington was born Feb. 11, Old Style, or Feb. 22, New Style, 1732. It being a leap year the Dominical letter for February Old Style, was B, and for New Style, it was F. The table being entered with the former letter shows the 11th to be Friday, and being entered with the latter, shows the 22d to be on the same day of the week." No one ought to be so ignorant as to stumble on a fact so plain as this.

In the year 1865 our Consul at St. Petersburg transmitted a communication to our Government, which was indorsed by our Minister to Russia, Cassius M. Clay, which was dated both in Old and New Style, giving the reckoning of the month both for Russia and the United States. But the day of the week was the same. And, as before said, astronomy confirms it all. The days of the week cannot be lost.

If any have stifled convictions of duty, or eased their consciences, by this very flimsy excuse, we entreat them to consider the risk they take. We have far more than proved our position. Much of the evidence here given might be dropped out, and the case still be proved beyond all reasonable controversy. Taken all together, there is not the shadow of an excuse for disregarding the Sabbath of the Lord God—the seventh day. Excuses are not admissible when God calls. Luke 14:16-24. And surely, where the evidence is so abundant, so overwhelming, he who makes excuse does it at his peril.

Instead of seeking excuses, we ought to be thankful to God that he has made everything pertaining to his commandments so plain. And Paul says the law is spiritual, holy, just, and good. If we are not in harmony with it, we ought to fear lest it is because we are not spiritual; lest our hearts refuse to be reconciled to that which is holy; to that which God has sanctified, and in which he greatly delights.

EDITOR.

Nature and the Bible.

By Christian Union

We are so used to think of the Bible in the light of the New Testament that we forget some of its most precious and some of its most remarkable parts. There is no other such literature as that of the Old Testament. Look through the whole range of classic writing, and through the whole range of modern writing; although there are allusions to the supremacy of God in nature, there are no such detailed descriptions of, and no such loving, lingering glances upon, natural scenery and phenomena, as are to be found in the Old Testament. We are accustomed to look at the seasons from a purely commercial, utilitarian point of view. At the most we only leaven this with some sentiment, with some poetic feeling. In the main, most men learn to regard things in the light of selfishness. When we look out of the window in the morning, it is not to see what new phase of power God has manifested; it is not to see what is the peculiar drapery of the day (for it is not always the same); it is to see whether our purpose, of business or pleasure, is likely to be checked or favored by the weather. Everlasting egotism is that which actuates us. All through the day we estimate the weather according to its effect upon our convenience and comfort, whether we are on a journey, on an excursion of pleasure, or on an enterprise of profit. We think of the seasons and of the phenomena around about us almost always simply with reference to what they can do for us, or what they can do to hinder us. The natural philosopher, perhaps, to all this adds a still further development, because he looks at things in the light of science. The vapors have a meaning to him. Heat, cold, and the products of heat and cold, mean something to him. He notices them, but to him they are so many ideas, so many facts, so many links in the chain of a theory or system. All is mundane, all is earthly, to his thought.

The poet looks in still a third way at nature. To him light is intrinsically beautiful, it has such adaptation to the eye. The seasons have some poetry to him. But never was there such a grouping together of these in adequate measure as in the time of the Hebrew poets. The psalmist contemplated nature with great gratitude. The harvests, the flocks, the kine—all tokens of prosperity—are brought up in many psalms, and distinctly pointed out as topics for grateful thought. Summer and winter, the time for sowing and the time for reaping, are set forth in an economic point of view. And the language is poetic. The Old Testament does not contain any minute dissecting, as of an artist mind; or any scene-painting, seeming to have been done for effect; or art pictures, as they are called; or descriptive writing; but it contains that which produces the poetic sentiment, only upon the higher plane. The contemplation of natural things is not in the line of our lower tastes. The tone of mind of the Hebrews was nobler and higher than that of most occidentals. They saw natural objects in their relation to God. When they looked at the clouds, their first thought was not that they had rain for us, nor that they furnished facts for the natural philosopher, but that they were God's chariot, and that he rode on them and controlled them. The mountains and the hills were of God; summer and winter had something of God; the trees clapped their hands in praise of God. And though they did not register these things as modern science has registered them, they saw them better than it, and recognized in them argument for praise and gratitude to God.

In that spirit we should endeavor to regard the seasons. We are not merely to consider them as meant for our economic convenience. They are our servants as well as our masters. We are not to exclude the lower forms of sympathy and poetic inspiration in nature; these are right; but we are especially to see to it that we come into sympathy with nature on the higher side, as being veritably a revelation from God. For nature is as truly, though differently, a revelation from God as the Bible. The experiences of human life, the account of creation, and declarative purposes of God, are recorded in this book; but the book itself requires interpretation. The knowledge of the things to which it refers comes later in the history of mankind. This book is the torch by which we see our way back to read the book of nature. And the more we come to think of the natural world as being a part of God's record of his thoughts and purposes, the more we shall find ourselves impressed thereby, and the more company it will be to us. Not only so, it will be a sanctuary to us, and will convey to us, evermore, a sense of the presence of God.

Influence of Romanism.

By D. H. Wheeler

I HEARD a distressing story of a persecution that had gone on for years against a young man of good character in Canton Zug, a little State with its Romanist ring. He had been sentenced to prison without a chance to know the proofs of the charges, turned adrift because the State did not choose to maintain him in prison, kept in dread of a re-arrest, refused access to the books which were said to prove him a defaulter, and at the most inconvenient moments summoned to the bar to answer a demand for money. The American gentleman who told me the story in the presence of the persecuted man's wife and child, doubted whether there was another spot in Europe where such a persecution could be possible.

It is only in the small Catholic cantons that such things are possible. In Zug, the potentate was a small-minded creature managed by the priests. The line between canton Zug and canton Zurich can be traced by any one without the aid of a surveyor or a map. In Catholic Zug no paint on the houses and no school-houses by the wayside. As soon as you see a painted house and a new air of "spruceness" all about it, you will know that you are in Protestant Zurich, and you may begin to look for the school-house. There is something malign about the Catholic rule, and it looks strange to see it lording over some of the sacred spots of Swiss story and song. The Protestant city of Zurich has become the first city of the Swiss. It is less rich than some others in scenery, but its historic glories are not of Tell but of Zwingli, and all its spirit is moulded by the memories of the Reformation.—D. H. Wheeler, D. D., in Christian at Work.

Proper Regulation.

MORE attention to system and to rules of conduct is needed in some directions than in others, in every man's nature. There are things which one man will attend to, and which another man will leave undone, without special care or prompting. One man really needs to school himself to eating, or to recreation, at proper times; while another man needs to be on the watch in order to stop eating, or to go to work, at a proper time. It is common to say, that every man is by nature lazy; but it has been wittily said of some men of tireless activity that they "are too lazy to stop working;" that they lack the watchful attention to times and seasons which would make them ready to rest when only resting is in order. Similarly is it true that one man is too ready to give away money, while another is too ready to refuse a fitting call on him for help. Each man needs to know wherein restraint or pressure on himself is important to his well-doing, and wherein he can safely trust to his natural impulses or his ordinary habits of conduct. Lord Bacon said: "In Studies, whatsoever a Man commandeth upon himself, let him set Houres for it: But whatsoever is agreeable to his Nature, let him take no Care for any set Times: For his Thoughts will flie to it of Themselves; So as the Spaces of other Business, or Studies, will suffice. A Man's Nature runnes either to Herbes, or Weeds; Therefore let him seasonably Water the One, and Destroy the Other." The average boy, for example, needs no parental reminder to be always ready to heed the first tap of the school bell which announces recess or dismissal; but he does need such a prompting to be equally prompt in heeding the home bell for rising in the morning, or for coming in from play at meal-time. And the average business man can safely trust his instincts to start him out to his money-making in the morning; whereas he needs some will-pressure on him to secure family prayers at any inconvenience before he goes to his business. In fact, it is in little things as in larger that the intelligent and persistent prayer to God of every disciple of Christ should be, as that of his Master: "Not my will, but thine be done."—Sel.

The Unsearchable Words of Christ

By Dean Stanley

You never get to the end of Christ's words. There is something in them always behind. They pass into proverbs, they pass into laws, they pass into doctrines, they pass into consolations; but they never pass away, and after all the use that is made of them, they are still not exhausted.—Dean Stanley.

The Destructive Power of Hard Words

HARD words are like hailstones in summer, beating down and destroying what they would nourish were they melted into drops.

The Truth as a Defense.

By R. F. Cottrell

By a special message of the gospel, foretold in the beginning of this dispensation, the Lord is now restoring his down-trodden truth to the last generation of his people, to prepare them to stand in the "hour of temptation" and "time of trouble" which will introduce the great day of wrath. Rev. 14:9-12. These servants of God must be sealed against the day when the winds of war shall be loosed. Rev. 7:1-4. They will need the whole truth for their defense in that terrible day when our High Priest shall cease his pleading. The prophetic command for our time is, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." Isa. 8:16. The truth, to the remnant of the church, will be what the blood of the passover upon the door posts was to the Israelites in Egypt—a defense when the destroying angel shall pass through.

In view of the coming of the day of Christ, an apostle says, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end." 1 Pet. 1:13. And Jesus describes the position of his people at his coming as follows: "Let your loins be girt about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding." Luke 12:35, 36. What is the girdle for the loins? Let Paul answer: "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness." In the evil day described in Ps. 91, when thousands will be falling by the side of God's people, the truth shall be their defense. "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." And when the host of the redeemed shall approach the city of God, their final and everlasting habitation, it shall be commanded, "Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth [Heb., truths] may enter in." Isa. 26:2. How perfectly in harmony with the testimony of the risen and glorified Jesus: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14.

Since the truth is so valuable, how shall it be secured? how shall we know the truth? A spirit of submissive obedience is of more value in searching and finding the truth than anything else that can be named. "The word is nigh thee"—the word of Christ and of God. Says Jesus, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31, 32. Again, "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." John 7:16, 17. Says the Spirit which inspires God's people, "Oh, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts." Ps. 119:97-100. Concerning the time of the end, the angel said to Daniel, "The wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." Dan. 12:10. The wicked, who break God's commandments, are contrasted with the wise. In what consists the wisdom of the wise? How do they get understanding? Here is the answer: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments." Ps. 111:10.

The truth is important, because all men shall be judged by it. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14. "He cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." Ps. 96:13. "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; . . . in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." Rom. 2:12, 16.

Let us love and obey the truth, that we be not left "to believe a lie," and so be condemned, because we "believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." R. F. COTTRELL.

Very Short and Very Long.

THERE are some things very short, and some things very long. God in his word tells us of both of these, and bids us look at them.

1. Life is very short. God speaks of it as a "shadow" (1 Chron. 24:15); a "weaver's shuttle" (Job 7:6); a "flower" (Ps. 103:15); a "leaf" (Isa. 64:6); a "handbreadth" (Ps. 39:5); a "vapor" (Jas. 4:14); a "sleep" (Ps. 90:5); a "flood" (Ps. 90:5). Is not life, then, short? If it be like these, it must be short indeed.

2. Time is very short. It is made up of many lives, yet it is short. The "time is short," says Paul (1 Cor. 7:29); the "world passeth away," says John (1 John 2:17). A few years will end all.

3. The sinner's joy is short. It is but "for a moment," says Job (20:5); "The fashion of this world passeth away" (1 Cor. 7:31). He may laugh and dance and be gay, and take his ease and be merry; but his joy soon comes to an end. It fades away, and leaves nothing behind it but grief.

4. The saint's sorrow is short. It is "but for a moment" (2 Cor. 4:17). It may be heavy, and hard to bear, but it is soon over and it leaves no shadow behind. When it is done, all is joy for ever.

These are some of the things that are very short. They are spoken of by God, that you may think upon them. Will you not? Look back at the past years of your life, and look onward, and let these things that are so short—so very short—be looked at in the light of the past and of the coming time.

But there are other things that are long—very long,—so long that man cannot count them. They are forever and ever. Let us ask you to think of them also. God bids you think of them.

1. God himself. He is "from everlasting to everlasting" (Ps. 90:2). His life is throughout all eternity, for he is "the King eternal and immortal" (1 Tim. 1:17). How well for us to have this God for our God—to have him for our portion in such a changing world!

2. God's love. "The mercy of the Lord," says David, "is from everlasting to everlasting" (Ps. 103:17). The love of God changes not. His mercy never dies. His grace never grows old.

3. The life to come. It is "everlasting life" (John 3:16); there is no death in this life, and no end. He who gets it, gets it forever and ever. What must it be to have eternal life!

4. The saint's joy. At God's right hand are "pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16:11); the joy which the ransomed of the Lord obtain is "everlasting joy" (Isa. 35:10). How blessed to have joy like this—joy that shall never end! —Sel.

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