Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 27, 1883
Walk in the Light.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
The present is a time of dense darkness to the world; but the true light is shining, and God, in his great mercy, has permitted us to behold its brightness and to walk in its guiding rays. We are favored above any other people upon the earth. Our spiritual blessings are more and greater than have been granted to the church in any previous age.
What makes me tremble for the professed believers in present truth, is the fact that they do not appreciate the light, and follow its guidance. With all our opportunities for spiritual advancement, we are not, as a people, wise, humble, and holy. As the Lord caused the pillar of fire to shine upon ancient Israel, so has he shed upon us the light of his truth. He requires us, as rational, accountable beings, to walk in the light. If we refuse to do this, our light will become darkness, and the darkness will be in proportion to the light rejected.
We are living in the time when Christ is about to close his work of mediation in our behalf. All should now closely examine their hearts to see whether they are in the faith. Instead of indulging doubt and unbelief, they should humble themselves before God, cultivate faith in his word and his work; and labor earnestly for the salvation of souls. It is no time now for caviling, dissension, and disunion. Where these exist, we may know that self is not dead. Those who have received the truth into the heart will be so filled with joy and gratitude, and so absorbed in the desire that others may share its great blessings, that they will lose sight of petty doubts and evil surmisings. In their disinterested labor for the salvation of souls, they forget self and selfish interests. Instead of acting the part of Judas the betrayer, or of Peter when he denied his Lord, they earnestly seek to follow the example of Christ, and carry forward the work which he came on earth to do.
When I think how strong we might be if we would take hold of the strength of the Mighty One, and then see how weak we are, because we do not claim the promises of God, my soul cries out in anguish, "Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach;" "wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?"
There are among us many who profess the truth, but who refuse to be crucified with Christ. The Author of our salvation labored and suffered for us. His whole life was one long scene of toil and privation. He could have done as many of his professed followers choose to do; he could have passed his days on earth in ease and plenty, and appropriated to himself all the pleasures and enjoyments of this life. But he sought not his own comfort or gratification; he lived to do good, to save others from shame, suffering, and ruin. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Can those who are partakers of this great salvation, who are objects of this wondrous condescension, this infinite love, cherish one feeling of dissatisfaction or indulge one murmuring thought, because they are not free from trials, toils, and conflicts? Do we desire a better portion in this life than was given to our Lord? Can we not yet comprehend the great privileges which are ours through the grace of Christ? If Jesus had not died as our sacrifice, and risen again as our Mediator, we could never have known peace, never have felt joy; we must have experienced the horrors of darkness and the miseries of despair. Then let only praise and gratitude to God be the language of our hearts. All our lives we have been partakers of his heavenly benefits, recipients of the blessings of Christ's atonement; therefore it is impossible for us to conceive the hopeless state of ignorance and misery into which we had fallen and from which the Saviour raised us. When we feel the pains, the sorrows, the bereavements to which we are all subject, we should not, by one murmuring word or thought, dishonor our Redeemer. In the hour of trial and affliction let us consider that we cannot tell how much greater our sufferings would be, had we not a compassionate Saviour; we cannot determine how much less we suffer than our sins deserve.
Oh that we might, as a people, seek the Lord as never before! Oh that we might renounce our sins, break down our pride, and with contrition of soul cast ourselves unreservedly upon Christ, believing that he accepts us just now, not because we are worthy, but because he died for us. God grant that all who have named the name of Christ may depart from iniquity! All that God could do for us has been done. Jesus is now looking upon the people for whom he suffered and died, and is saying, What more can I do for my vineyard than I have already done? Can we wish to be free from trials and reproach for the truth's sake? Can we look upon Him whom our sins have pierced, and not be willing to share his humiliation?
Our sins mingled the bitter cup which he drank in our stead, that he might put to our lips the cup of blessing. He endured the cross, despising the shame, that he might reconcile us to God, that whosoever would come unto him might take of the water of life freely. In view of the cross of Christ, can you, my brethren and sisters, wish or expect to enter his kingdom in any other way than through much tribulation? We have a work to do which we have neglected. We do not love to follow where Jesus leads the way. Our heavenly Father requires of his church and people according to the grace and truth given them; and his requirements are just and right. All these must be fully met, or in the Judgment they will condemn the transgressor.
All who profess Christ are accountable for the talents committed to their trust. Christians must stand on that elevated ground which the truth has for ages been preparing for them. To meet the mind of the Spirit of God, we must exhibit to the world, in character and works, that union with Christ which is in accordance with the light of sacred truth now shining upon us. It is not the lack of knowledge and understanding that at the last day will condemn Seventh-day Adventists, and banish them from the presence of the Lord; but it is the truth that has reached the understanding, the light that has illuminated the soul, which will witness against us, if we turn away and refuse to be led by it. If we were blind, we would have no sin; but the Lord has given us great light, sacred truth has been unfolded to our understanding; yet we have not been wise unto salvation, we have not advanced in knowledge and true holiness according to the light and truth which has been bestowed upon us.
God has been very merciful to you, my brethren and sisters in California. Great light has been shining upon you; but you have a great work to do for yourselves before you can share largely of his blessing. Many are seeking to smooth over and excuse sin, instead of striving, with all their hearts, to put it away. Such must be thoroughly transformed in character and in life. When they seek earnestly to meet the high standard of the Bible, then will the Lord be to them a present help in every time of need. But how few will bear the test when examined by the light which God has given them. A deeper heart-work must be experienced by many, or they will drift into the deceptions of Satan. Their works must be wrought in God.
Oh that my dear brethren and sisters would make sure work for eternity! There is no hope, no remedy, except in confessing and forsaking our sins, and with full purpose of heart turning unto the Lord.
The time has come for us to take advance steps. We should beware lest a selfish, covetous spirit shut out the blessing of God. The Lord calls upon us to give of our means to support his cause. He requires more of us than merely the payment of the tithe. The message is to go forth, "Sell that ye have, and give alms." Those who have large farms should begin to cut down their possessions. There is earnest work to do for God, and we are far behind his opening providence. Recall all the mercies and blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon you, and consider that he has made you stewards of his goods. Then let each one examine himself and see if he is honoring the Lord with his substance. We should come before him with both thank-offerings and sin-offerings. Our obligation to God is endless. His work must not languish for want of means. His claims must be met first, at whatever cost or sacrifice. It is time for those who have large possessions to cut down the principal, that God's work may be extended in foreign lands. Throughout our own country also there are fields that have not yet been entered, and where the truth should be proclaimed.
John Wesley once preached a powerful sermon on the use of money. He laid down three rules: "Make all you can; save all you can; give all you can." To acquire and not save is improvidence. To hoard up money, adding land to land, and house to house, is covetousness and idolatry. To make and to save in order to give in support of the cause of God, is obeying the command of Christ, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."
Those who have not hitherto felt the claims that God has upon them, should now begin to act. God calls for all to act a part in the closing work for sinners. Let every needless ornament, every extravagance, every selfish indulgence, be given up, and let all these little outgoes, these tiny streams, flow into the Lord's treasury. Let us remember continually what Jesus has done for us. He for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Let us do our duty faithfully, and then trust ourselves and all we have to the hands of God. He wants not only ours but us. None can render effectual service unless they do the work he has left for them to do, and then leave the result wholly with him.
Oh that those to whom have been intrusted so great and solemn truths would manifest corresponding faith! They should trust their work in the Lord's hands, pleading upon their knees for wisdom and guidance, and then, instead of taking the burden all back, and seeking to plan and execute in their own strength, and groaning because they are overburdened, let them leave it with the Lord. Amid a life of constant activity they will thus find rest to their souls. That which they trust with him they are not to fret and worry about. Those who really trust in God will find the rest he has promised, will find his yoke easy and his burden light.
If the Lord had a company of workers who would rely wholly upon him, he would accomplish a great work through them. One could chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. The Lord is a mighty helper. If we trust in him, we shall have rest and peace. The language of the soul should be that of joy and gratitude. If we have dark chapters in our experience, let us not keep their memory fresh by repetition. Forgetting the things that are behind, let us press forward to the things that are before. Cultivate only those thoughts and feelings which produce gratitude and praise. If you have been wronged, forget it, and think only of the great mercy, the loving-kindness, the inexpressible love of Jesus. Learn to praise rather than to censure. If you meet with insult and abuse, do not become discouraged, for Jesus met the same. Go forward, doing your work with fidelity. Store the mind with the precious promises of God's word, and hold sweet communion with him by frequently repeating them. Cease fretting, cease murmuring, cease finding fault, and make melody to God in your hearts. Think of everything you have to be thankful for, and then learn to praise God. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth God."
If all our mourning, and fretting, and complaining were presented before us as written in the book of records, what a sight would we behold! How astonished we would be to see and understand our real thoughts and feelings—naught but unhappy complainings.
I entreat you never to utter one word of complaint. Weave into the warp and woof of your experience the golden threads of gratitude. Contemplate the better land, where tears are never shed, where temptations and trials are never experienced, where losses and reproaches are never known, where all is peace, and joy, and happiness. Here your imagination may have full scope. These thoughts will make you more spiritually minded, will imbue you with heavenly vigor, will satisfy your thirsty soul with living water, and will impress upon your heart the seal of the divine image. You will be filled with hope and joy in believing, and the Comforter will abide with you forever.
COME HOME.
By Marianne Farningham
O God, the way is very long,
And storms are rough and wild;
And who shall tread the ways of earth
With garments undefiled?
But unto laden weary ones
Thou sayest, "Come unto Me;"
And, like a tired child seeking rest,
So I come home to thee.
The tasks of life are hard to do,
And great the stress and strain
On those who toil from morn till eve
Hindered by fear and pain,
But ever, for a little space,
Some respite there may be,
And with a sigh of glad content
Thine own come home to thee.
In these school-days there is such din
Of voices all around;
The teachers strive together,—"Here"
They say "can light be found."
And baffled souls grow sore afraid,
And only pray to see—
But always 'tis a lighted way
Through which we come to thee.
Sometimes alas! we keep away
And strive to do and bear
Without the solace of thy love,
The comfort of our prayer;
But thy reproaches are so soft,
Thy pardon is so free,
That only joy is given to us
When we come home to thee.
Coming to thee is coming home,
And what is Heaven but this!
Give to us then whate'er thou wilt,
And all our life is bliss;
We work, endure, and weep, and pray,
And all the shadows flee,
Since evermore, where'er we stray,
Lord, we come home to thee.
—Marianne Farningham.
Two Houses of Israel.
By N. Field, M. D.
SOME think that in some way Isa. 8:14 involves a difficulty or contradiction according to the way I understand the Jew question.
On that verse I will remark that all the posterity of Jacob were originally called Israel. After the division of the nation into two kingdoms, one was called the kingdom of Judah, and the other the kingdom of Israel, from the fact that a large majority of the nation composed it. Sometimes it was called Ephraim, or the kingdom of Ephraim, because the tribe of Ephraim occupied one of the most eligible sections of the territory, extending from the Mediterranean Sea on the west to the river Jordan on the east. The capital of the kingdom was always within the bounds of Ephraim. This is another reason why it was sometimes called Ephraim. Jer. 31:9, 10, 20.
But the kingdoms were both really composed of Israelites, and might with propriety be sometimes called the two houses of Israel. Still, however, the distinction was kept up under the titles of Israel and Judah. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria 725 years before Christ, and the people were carried into captivity to the Assyrians. In the year B. C. 588, or one hundred and thirty-seven years after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Chaldeans, and the people went into captivity for seventy years. Thus ended both kingdoms.
Now I am asked, What has become of the ten tribes? Where are they? I answer, Nowhere at all. There is no such a people on the earth. They are a dead nation, as much so as the Assyrians and Chaldeans. The present race of Jews, dispersed among all nations, are all that remain of the natural seed of Jacob. They are called “Israel according to the flesh.” See 1 Cor. 10:18.
It is supposed by the Judaizers that the ten tribes left the Assyrian empire, and went off into some unexplored part of the earth. There is not one particle of truth in this supposition. There never was a tribe lost in a literal sense. All the tribes were in the land of Canaan when the Saviour made his first appearance to the Jewish nation. When he sent out the apostles to preach, he told them not to go in the way of the Gentiles, but to confine their mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who were then in Judea, but lost in one sense of the word. These are the people the Judaizers are looking for.
By way of comforting them on their fruitless search, they are hereby referred to the fact that the apostles found them more than eighteen hundred years ago. All the tribes were in the land at the first advent, and continued in it until the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and their final dispersion among all nations. Their genealogical records were lost in that terrible calamity, consequently their tribal character ceased. They were all merged into one common stock, since known as Hebrews, Jews, or Israelites.
As I have written somewhat extensively on this subject several years ago, it is not necessary to go over the same ground again. But I will say that after the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, and the issuing of his decree of emancipation, remnants of all the tribes returned and formed one nation and one kingdom, subsequently known as the kingdom of Judea. Assyria, the place of the ten tribes, was geographically the same as the Chaldean or Babylonian empire. Cyrus, king of Persia, succeeded to the government of all the provinces of those conquered empires. Chaldea swallowed Assyria, and Persia swallowed up Chaldea. The decree of Cyrus applied to all Israelites in his vast empire.
Jeremiah is extensively quoted to prove a future return of Israel and Judah to the land of Canaan. This is a strong delusion, misapplication, and perversion of his prophecies. So far as Israel and Judah are concerned, his prophecies have been fulfilled. I refer to the fiftieth chapter of his prophecy for proof of this statement. I would add that all of every tribe never returned, but a remnant of each did, as foretold by Isaiah (10:20–22). Such as remained in Babylon melted away in the native population. They did not all return at once, but continued to return for years.
I will close with a few historical facts, which will forever refute all arguments of the Judaizers. Two hundred and fifty-nine years after the return from Babylon, at the request of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, the Jewish Sanhedrim sent down to Alexandria seventy-two learned Jews, six from each of the tribes, to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek language, which translation we have to-day, known as the Septuagint. Now I want some learned stickler for the restoration of the ten lost tribes to tell me how the Sanhedrim could have selected six men of each of the twelve tribes if ten of them were not in the country, but lost to the knowledge of the world? This historical fact forever explodes the theory of the lost tribes.
Another fact worthy of note is that at the dedication of the second temple, all the tribes were present, and twelve he-goats were offered for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes. Ezra 6:17. Now, why should a sin-offering be made for ten of the tribes if they were lost and unknown to Judah and Benjamin? The tribe of Judah never made such an offering for the ten tribes when they lived in the land. Why should it be done at the time stated by Ezra? The reason is that the tribes returned under the decree of Cyrus, and were present when the offering was made.
We are told (Luke 2:36, 37) that Anna, a prophetess, was of the tribe of Asher, one of the lost tribes according to the Judaizers. I will not pursue the subject any farther now, but simply add that the natural Jews have not a promise in the Bible of any future blessing, unless they obey the gospel. God has bestowed upon them every temporal blessing he ever promised them. They now stand upon the same footing with the Gentiles. If they become Christians, they will be Abraham’s seed and heirs to what God promised him. They will then be the true Israel, who own the land of Canaan, and indeed the whole world of which Abraham was made heir.—N. Field, M. D.
Brewers’ Banquet Without Beer
A NOTICEABLE feature of the brewers' banquet at their late congress in Detroit was the absence of beer and the presence of stronger drinks, which beer, according to the "new light" reformers, is to displace. It has been said that no brewer drinks American beer, and the brewers' banquet would seem to confirm the assertion.—Christian at Work.
An Answer to Prayer.
By H. T. Williams
Bishop Bowman gives the following instance of answer to prayer from his own experience:—
“In the fall of 1858, while visiting Indiana, I was at an annual Conference where Bishop Janes presided. We received a telegram that Bishop Simpson was dying. Said Bishop Janes, ‘Let us spend a few moments in earnest prayer for the recovery of Bishop Simpson.’ We kneeled to pray. William Taylor, the great California street preacher, was called to pray, and such a prayer I have never heard since. The impression seized upon me irresistibly, Bishop Simpson will not die. I rose from my knees perfectly quiet. Said I, ‘Bishop Simpson will not die.’ ‘Why do you think so?’ ‘Because I have had an irresistible impression made upon my mind during this prayer.’ Another said, ‘I have the same impression.’ We passed it along from bench to bench until we found that a large proportion of the Conference had the same impression. I made a minute of the time of day, and when I next saw Bishop Simpson he was attending to his daily labor. I inquired of the Bishop, ‘How did you recover from your sickness?’ He replied, ‘I cannot tell.’ ‘What did your physician say?’ ‘He said it was a miracle.’ I then said to the Bishop, ‘Give me the time and circumstances under which the change occurred.’ He fixed the day and the very hour, making allowance for the distance—a thousand miles away—that the preachers were engaged in prayer at this Conference. The physician left the room and said to his wife, ‘It is useless to do anything further, the Bishop must die.’ In about an hour he returned, and started back, inquiring, ‘What have you done?’ ‘Nothing,’ was the reply. ‘He is recovering rapidly,’ said the physician; ‘a change has occurred in the disease within the last hour beyond anything I have ever seen; the crisis is passed, and the Bishop will recover.’ And he did.”—The Wonders of Prayer, by H. T. Williams.
Accountability for Leisure and Possibilities
An ancient moralist has said, “An account must be given not only of our labor, but also of our leisure.” Impressive thought! We are responsible not merely for what we do, but for what we might have done. Possibilities are placed before us that we may make them actualities.
Meditation on Divine Truth
By Bishop Hall
It is not the bee's touching on the flowers that gathers the honey, but her abiding for a time upon them, and drawing out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most on divine truth, that will prove the choicest, strongest Christian.
A Sweeping Condemnation Considered.
By G. D. Ballou
IT is well known to all the readers of the SIGNS that there is at the present time a large class of people engaged in the work of religious reform, who are endeavoring to teach the people "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ"—in other words, sorrow and contrition for the transgression of God's law, and faith in the merits of Christ's blood to atone for such transgressions. It is well known, too, that this people have on the very front of their banners, and as their rallying cry, "The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Their sole endeavor is to lead men and women to prepare for the coming of Jesus, by turning away from their sins, taking him as their advocate and friend, and walking in his example of perfect obedience to the law of the Father.
As a natural consequence of these principles, it is not strange that this people should cry out against any and every violation of the law of God—the ten commandments. It is not strange that they should raise the voice of warning loud and clear against the violation of that commandment which alone brings God to view as the maker of the heavens and the earth. The Sabbath commandment being the one which all classes, both professors and non-professors, are trampling under foot with such utter disregard, will certainly be honored and defended by a people who are trying to follow the example of Christ and his apostles. Wherever they go their work is to turn men away from every sin. To accomplish this their first effort is to lead the people to understand their relations to God and to show their loyalty to the Creator of the universe, by keeping his holy day in commemoration of the work of creation.
But because they teach that the fourth precept of the decalogue is binding on all men in all ages, just as the other nine, and show this by plain statements of Scripture, they are accused of judaizing and proselyting, and not working to convert people but only to get followers. To discourage people from favoring such a work, it is said that none who unite with this people are ever converted, and that keeping the fourth commandment is no part of conversion. These accusations are very uncharitable, not to say unchristian, and coming as they often do from a people the results of whose revival methods show that not more than one in twenty of their professed conversions prove genuine, they betray great weakness on the part of those who make them.
Is it really true that turning from sin to obey the commandments of God, and especially the fourth commandment, is not a work of conversion? Let us see. Suppose a man in your community has been accustomed to violating the third commandment—taking God's name in vain. This has been the one great sin of his life. Suppose there is also another man in your community who has been given to lying—breaking the ninth commandment. Nobody trusts the man's word, and every one despises him for his duplicity. Now suppose your church should have a revival and the blasphemer should profess faith in Christ and publicly renounce his blasphemy and fully reform, and suppose the liar should renounce his lying and profess faith in Christ, and prove himself a true friend and neighbor, would not you and all other good people rejoice for months over the conversion of these men? would you not call them really converted, and if they were the only fruits of the revival would you not think it had been a profitable season to your community?
And now suppose again that a Seventh-day Adventist minister should hold meetings in a community of sinners and was successful not only in turning men from the sins of lying and swearing, but also from the sin of Sabbath-breaking, leading them to accept of Jesus as their advocate and friend, and follow his example, who will stand up and say that such men are not converted?
Conversion is turning away from sin and seeking pardon through Christ. It is not a strange and unaccountable feeling that possesses us instantly and makes us holy in a moment. Conversion is turning from our own wills and ways and obeying God's will and walking in his way. It is walking by firm principle and not by feeling.
Who shall say that those who turn away their feet from trampling on God's holy day—the seventh day of the week—and are trying to make that preparation of heart and life which is necessary to meet the Lord Jesus when he returns—who shall say that such are not converted men? Surely none who are led by the spirit of God will bring such an accusation.
G. D. BALLOU.
"In That Form."
By R. F. Cottrell
WHEN a minister of the gospel says he thinks the ten commandments are not now binding in that form in which they are given in the Old Testament, does he not know that he is quibbling? When he pretends that the Saviour, in Matt. 5, made them either more or less than they ever had been, don't he know better? Does he really believe that those "of old time" could hate a brother and not be a murderer, or look upon another's wife with impure desire and not be an adulterer in heart?
If the ancients, as he pretends, might indulge hatred and lust, and yet not be murderers and adulterers in God's sight, as judged by his law, the decalogue, then there will be two classes in Heaven, one with the heart all unconverted, living in hatred, lust, and covetousness, though not committing the very acts of murder, adultery, or theft, and the other class living under the new "form of the law," as given by Jesus, which demands that the heart itself be cleansed from every sinful desire, made holy and pure, like Jesus and the angels, whose society they are fitted for by this genuine and thorough conversion.
If such two classes of character are to be admitted there, it will necessitate a partition more formidable than the Chinese wall. But if none but the truly converted are saved, then the law of God was just as broad as it is now, when David said by the Spirit, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;" and those who argue that Christ enlarged or diminished that law are either self-deceived, or wicked deceivers.
The truth is, Cain was a murderer before he shed his brother's blood, and David was an adulterer when he formed his design in regard to the wife of Uriah. And our friends might know, if they would, that all such silly evasions of the law of God, as it is, would never have been resorted to had not "the church (of Rome) put in place of the Sabbath the day we now call Lord's day." But to sustain this change of "times and laws" by the "man of sin," no one would now argue that Jesus changed the decalogue in the least.
R. F. COTTRELL.
Perpetual War.
SAYS our Saviour "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace but a sword." Matt. 10 : 34.
Our Lord here recognizes the fact that a large majority of mankind will not accept the truth, and the consequence will be perpetual war. But does not the prophet call the Christ the Prince of peace? Isaiah 9 : 6. Did not the angels sing at his birth, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good-will toward man"? The time of peace on earth has not yet come, nor need we expect it till all things are put under the feet of the Prince of peace. The great war between truth and error has long been raging, and the storm will continue until Christ our Lord appears.
Men cry, "Stop that preaching of immersion! Stop that denying of the immortality of the soul! Stop preaching, that 'the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God!' These things are non-essentials. You create divisions and bitterness. What difference does it make what we believe if we are sincere?" No, we cannot stop. Your efforts to gain peace by trying to suppress the truth will be unavailing. The word of God was intended for the dividing wedge between the lovers of truth and the lovers of error, and it is surely doing its work. It would be as easy to change the course of the planets as to overthrow the purposes of God. There have ever been, and will continue to be, those who "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints." Jude 1 : 3. God will record these as his own. Those who love the error serve the father of the lie, and violate the first commandment. For God is the God of truth, and the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. John 14 : 16, 17. EPSILON.
Freedom Through Doing Right
WHEN the man, listening to his conscience, wills and does the right, irrespective of inclination or of consequence, then is the man free, the universe open before him. He is born from above.
Fear Not, Little Flock.
By Mrs. A. K. Hersum
THE worldly-minded and lovers of pleasure may fear and tremble as the storms and pestilences of the last days thicken around us like gathering clouds, but the little flock of God's true people have no cause for alarm from this source, but, since the dear Saviour has taken special pains to inform us of those signs which were to tell when the glorious event of his coming was near, will feel like making the preparation which must be made to get ready for the coming of the Lord. In Luke 21, Christ tells us that there shall be in many places earthquakes, famines, pestilences, fearful sights, and great signs, with distress upon the earth among nations; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. But to his faithful, trusting people he says, "Be not terrified, but look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh."
As we read the precious word of God and then look at the world around us, we can see these signs rapidly fulfilling, and we know that what we do must be done quickly; and as the world around us is lying in wickedness, we should feel like girding on the armor anew, and connecting very closely with the "living Vine" so that our efforts to save the perishing may be crowned with success. God will bless our efforts to save our fellow-men, in proportion to our devotion to his cause and the sacrifice we make for the good of others. I feel that we must be terribly in earnest if we would be among the little flock at last.
ATTENTIVE students of the word may see that the reference in Jude 11 to "the way of Cain," points to worship and not to murder. Abel's worship is commended and Cain's condemned, in Heb. 11:4. The epistle addresses professed worshipers and not murderers, mere formalists who mingled in the "feasts of charity." Cain was a type of the flesh, or of the natural man. He acted in worship, upon the self-willed and æsthetic impulse of his nature. He rejected God's symbol of blood, and in will-worship offered what, in the judgment of the natural man, was far more suitable and pleasing—the fruits of the earth, probably decorated with flowers. Through these rather than the blood, he proposed to worship God. No stretch of imagination is required to see "this way of Cain" in many of our modern churches. Nor should we fail to see that such practices violate the second commandment, as interpreted by our standards, which forbids "all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and anywise approving any religious worship not instituted by God himself." If we begin to introduce at option new forms and symbols, where shall we pause short of Rome? If flowers and fruits are in churches simply for æsthetic admiration, they detract from spiritual worship and impression. If symbols or aids, they dishonor the blood, and savor of idolatry. . . . The Reformers, guided by the word and Spirit, abolished the high ecclesiastical art of Rome. Who now supposes that the elaborate musical performances in our chapels of ease and entertainment are inspired by the Holy Spirit, or that they promote spiritual worship? Are they not especially intended to raise pew stock in the world's market, and so often inspired by brandy, vanity, and irreverence, that the proverb is everywhere heard, "The devil is in the choir"? Instead of keeping our young people from the opera and the theatre by these unblest entertainments, the number attending has increased five or tenfold since this worldly policy was invented. We are thus giving them horrid poison, and whetting their carnal appetites for the real thing, found in the play-house, among professionals. In such an atmosphere of showy forms, and in the awful presence of wealth and pride, professional peril overhangs the head of any preacher who earnestly presents the humbling doctrines of the gospel, rings out the three great R's and warns sinners to "flee the wrath to come."—E. P. Marvin, in Messiah's Herald.
Faith Versus Morality
By Charles Spurgeon
Teaching men morals is as though I had a clock that would not go, and I turned around one of the cog-wheels. But faith takes the key and winds up the main-spring, and the whole thing runs on readily.