Signs of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 49. (12/13/1910)

Signs of the Times

Dec 13, 1910

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 13, 1910

Important Articles in This Number

By Editor

Mighty Evidences of Conversion (Burning the Books of Magic) . . . . 3

Christ's Coming and the Everlasting Inheritance . . . . . . . . 4

The Church During the Dark Ages (The Revelation Studies) . . . . 6, 7

The Sabbath in Israel . . . . 8

Christmas: Its Origin and Character . . 9

The World's Christian Citizenship Conference . . . . . . . . 10

The American Federation of Catholic Societies . . . . . . . . 11

Questions and Answers . . . . 2

(For full Table of Contents see last page)

Schedule for Week Ending December 24

Sunday: December 18 — James 1-5 Monday: December 19 — 1 Peter 1-4 Tuesday: December 20 — 1 Peter 5; 2 Peter 1-3 Wednesday: December 21 — 1 John 1-4 Thursday: December 22 — 1 John 5; 2 John 1; 3 John 1; Jude 1 Friday: December 23 — Psalms 120-131 Sabbath: December 24 — Psalms 132-138

IN this week the general epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude are covered. These are not written to any special class, but to the people of God who are scattered abroad. The author of the epistle of James is evidently the brother of our Lord, as James the brother of John was early slain by Herod, according to Acts 12.

THE epistles of Peter were written by the apostle, and those of John by John the evangelist, the beloved disciple, the brother of James. The epistle of Jude is written by one who calls himself the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer seems to have been a brother of James, the one who wrote the epistle of James. There is a striking parallelism between that and the second epistle of Peter. There are two things in it which belong to this epistle alone; one is the conversation between Michael the Archangel, and Satan; and the other, the quotation from Enoch.

THE first epistle of John is general to all the children of God, showing us just what the love of God is, and what our love ought to be toward Him, issuing in faithful obedience to His commandments; the second, to some Christian lady, supposed to typify the church; and the third, to a beloved friend and disciple Gaius. All of them abound with exhortations to love; and all of them show that love is not mere sentimentality, but faithful devotion and obedience to God. Psalms 120-138 conclude the week.

"IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YE."

By Editor

This Inquirers' Department is conducted for the purpose of helping those who are studying the Bible. The answers are oftentimes only suggestive. They are never to be considered infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. The writer who may answer them does not consider that his opinion is infallible. He will simply give the best that he has, and plead with the inquirer to search the Word. Such questions only will be answered as, to the editors, seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. We can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. No letters are answered which do not contain the name of the writer. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

3303.— The Craving for Sin

You speak in an article of "days of agony to some" in overcoming sinful habits. Are we worshiping a powerless Christ? Do you think it incredible that He can remove the craving for sin? C.

No, we do not think it incredible at all; we know that He can do it, but we do know that He does not do it always. We do think that it would be a general, perhaps universal thing which would be done if the soul could rightly relate himself to God, could see the sin in all its awful sinfulness, could be more willing to die than to continue in sin, and then by faith grasp the fulness of Christ's power. Sometimes there is not simply the momentary cleansing, but there is the character to be formed which God has in mind, and in that character which He is forming He wants help for other characters that are forming; consequently He permits His children to fight hard battles in order that they may know how to help others who are fighting hard battles. It has been well said by one of experience, "Never pray for victory unless you are willing to fight the battle." Another one has said that God expects of the soul who is overcoming, as much effort on his part as tho he had it all to do himself, tho he could do nothing; and yet trust in God as tho he expected that God must do all for him. Our blessed Lord took upon Himself the sins of humanity, just what the sinner himself must pass through. If we want to know something of what His feelings were, read the 22d Psalm, prophetic of Him in the flesh. Read Heb. 5:7-9, and the glimpse of His experiences as revealed in the Gospels. He poured out His soul with strong crying and tears even unto death, not that He expected that His agony, His prayers, His tears would help or purchase what He desired, but that His desires were so great that they led Him to do those very things; and so He was, so are we in this world. We are to be followers of the Master. If He gives us faith to grasp the complete victory instantaneously, let us praise God for it and be ready for the next. But let us not permit that victory once so easily gained to lift us up in self-righteousness in any way, or lead us to condemn our less fortunate brother seemingly who may be passing through a Gethsemane. In both cases God may give equal victory.

3304.— Ancient Customs of Dress

By Editor

Is not 1 Cor. 11:6-15 binding on us now? It certainly does not mean that one's hair is a covering according to the first verse of the last clause.

It would be very difficult to understand what the apostle says here and in other places, unless we know what the custom was in the times in which he wrote. It certainly would not seem to us that even this should bind the Corinthian brethren, as indicated by verse 16, "But if any man seemeth to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." There were certain customs among the heathen concerning their prophetesses and teachers in the wearing of their hair and their general appearance. Unseemly things were done, things which were disgraceful and disorderly, and confusion came into their assemblies in consequence. What the apostle wishes is that these things should not come into the Christian church. The whole sum of it is that the gifts of the Spirit of God ought to teach order, system, proper decorum, and seemly behavior. The whole thing is summed up in verse 40 of chapter 14, "Let all things be done decently and in order." So the actions and appearances and dress of women ought to be in harmony with these general rules. There is one thing that is profitable which it seems that we ought to gather from this scripture. The general principles of every great truth of God are always binding. Inasmuch as the apostle gives us no particulars, no definite instructions as to how hair ought to be worn, we certainly do not feel ourselves bound by his instructions to any particular mode; but we ought to receive in our hearts the principle of modesty and reverence which is here inculcated.

3307.— Instruction to the Early Christians

By W. B.

From Acts 15:21 it does not seem that it was necessary to instruct the people concerning things strangled and blood on account of the Jews' reading Moses. In verse 24 it says that certain ones were subverting them by commanding them to keep the law. W. B.

"Things strangled" and blood were among the "necessary things" prohibited. They were considered degrading and unwholesome. Certain ones who were subverting the early converts, were commanding them to keep the law as a means of justification from sin. If man can, by his works, justify himself, then Christ died in vain. The epistles to the Romans and Galatians met this wrong teaching. There is no justification in the keeping of the law, and those who taught it subverted the Gospel. The Christian obeys God not to be justified, but because he is justified.

3305.— Resurrection of the Wicked and Their Destruction

By Editor

Please publish proof from the Bible that there is one hundred years between the resurrection of the wicked and their destruction.

There is no positive proof of this. It may be, however, naturally inferred from Isa. 65:20, a text which has been frequently explained before. Taking the context of Isa. 65:20 and what is said in Revelation 20 there seems to be good reason to believe that the one hundred years refers to the time between the resurrection of the wicked and the time when they are destroyed forever.

3306.— Seventh-day Adventists and Universalists

By Editor

Enclosed is an article published in Sent of God in which one calls Seventh-day Adventists "offshoots of Universalists." Please state if this is true. And is it also true that Seventh-day Adventists teach the remarriage of divorced parties without Biblical reason? J.

First, if the writer knew anything about Universalism or Seventh-day Adventism, he knew that what he said was absolute falsehood. If he did not know it he ought not to have said it. Seventh-day Adventists have always taught conditional immortality and life only through Christ. This view is abundantly sustained by the Scriptures, and is the only thing that will meet Universalism on the one hand or eternal torment on the other. Universalism sets aside in its ultimate the absolute justice of God, while eternal torment or eternal life in misery makes Him a horrible tyrant without mercy, compassion, or justice, while the Scriptural view is that which appeals to the reason of every true heart. If man does not want life enough so as to use it in the way of the Giver, he is deprived of the precious boon.

Second, regarding marriage, Seventh-day Adventists believe the words of our Saviour in Matt. 5: 32, "Every one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery." The same thing is stated in Matt. 19: 9: "Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery." It is nonsense to read the text as the above paper presumes: "But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife which can not be except for fornication and marry another committeth adultery." It is a perversion of the scripture. The scripture reads just as clearly to leave out the supplied expression "it be," as in the A.R.V. Man and wife can separate and obtain legal separation for other causes, but divorce to a Christian should be based on the one cause given in the above scriptures.

3308.— Christ the First-Fruits

By Editor

Christ not having died and been raised from the dead, how could Elijah and Moses come before Him? As I understand, Christ was the first to go to heaven.

But it nowhere says that Christ was the first to go to heaven. It does say that He is "the first-fruits of them that slept," called that Because He is the preeminent One among those raised from the dead, and (2) He is the One virtually by whose merit all others are brought from the dead. Ephraim was called the first-born, not because he was that, for Manasseh was the first-born, but Ephraim had the preeminence. Israel is called the first-born altho literally Esau was, but Israel had the preeminence. So Christ is the preeminent One, "the First-born of the dead," "the first-fruits," because He is the preeminent One through whom all come back from the dead, through whom all is life. The expression in John 3:13 refers not simply to ascending to heaven, but ascending to heaven and coming back to give the message of God. Christ is the only One who has descended out of heaven to give God's message.

The Burning of the Books on Magic

By Mrs. E. G. White

THE temple of the goddess Diana at Ephesus, noted for its size and splendor, was one of the wonders of the world, and was the pride of both the city and the nation. The idol itself was but an uncouth wooden image, on which were inscribed characters and symbols that were supposed to possess great power. When pronounced, these mystic words were said to accomplish wonders; when written, they were considered a potent charm to guard their possessor from robbers, from disease, and even from death.

In the days of the apostles, the city of Ephesus was famed for the worship of the goddess Diana and the practise of magic. There were many devotees of magic arts, and numerous and costly books had been written in explanation of these mysteries. Here, in this stronghold of superstition and sorcery, the apostle Paul labored for several years. And the power of God was mightily displayed through His servant in the healing of the sick and the casting out of evil spirits.

The miracles wrought by Paul in the name of Jesus created great excitement among the Ephesians. And certain Jewish exorcists, believing that the sacred name acted as a charm, determined to cast out evil spirits by the same means that the apostle had employed. Seven brothers, the sons of Sceva, a chief priest of the Jews, were of this number. Finding a man who was possessed of an evil spirit, they addressed him, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth." But the evil spirit answered with scorn, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" And the man who was possessed attacked them, and overcame them, "so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." Their discomfiture was soon known to Jews and Gentiles throughout Ephesus; and it furnished unmistakable proof of the sacredness of the name of Jesus, and of the peril incurred by those who would invoke it while they had no faith in His divine mission.

Many who had hitherto heaped reproach on the name of Jesus, now dared not breathe that name aloud. A large number, convinced that Jesus was all that Paul claimed Him to be, determined to receive the Gospel. These openly renounced the practise of sorcery, and acknowledged their secret arts to be satanic and deceptive. They brought together the costly books on enchantment, containing the mystic symbols of Diana and the secrets of their art, and burned them in the presence of the people. The value of the books thus sacrificed was estimated at fifty thousand pieces of silver, equal to about ten thousand dollars.

These books contained rules and forms of communication with evil spirits. They were the regulations for the worship of Satan, directions for soliciting his help and obtaining information from him. The system of magic, or sorcery, then extant, was the same as that which in this Christian age and nation is known as Spiritualism. In Paul's day many were deceived by this satanic delusion, and many are deceived to-day by the same power. Satan finds access to thousands of minds by presenting himself under the guise of departed friends. The Scriptures of truth declare that "the dead know not anything." Their thoughts, their love, their hatred, have perished. The dead do not hold communion with the living. But Satan—true to his early cunning, when in the form of a serpent he deceived the mother of our race—employs this device to gain control of the minds of men.

And "magical books" have not been confined to the apostolic age, or to nations that are called heathen. The freedom of the press has been taken advantage of to spread abroad the influence of this baleful literature. Could all the modern productions of this class—all the publications of Spiritualism—be treated as were these magical books of the Ephesians, one of Satan's most successful avenues by which to gain access to the souls of men would be cut off.

This incident was placed on record that it might serve as an important lesson for every age. When convinced that their magical books were false and pernicious, the Ephesians were unwilling to sell them, and thus place temptation in the way of others. The power of truth triumphed over their prejudices, their favorite pursuits, and their love of money; and tho it involved a great personal sacrifice, they promptly burned the records of divination.

The Ephesians directed their efforts against the very sin of which they were guilty. Do the people of God in this age take a similar course? There are many who

do not. They manifest supreme devotion to their money, their business, their houses and lands. The covetous man fosters his love of gain. The sensualist is wedded to his darling passion. The ambitious man worships fame as his idol. These love their cherished objects of pursuit more than they love God. They are idolaters. But those who thus venture to cherish the sin which they love best are tampering with Satan's bewitching sorcery. The enchanting power of temptation has paralyzed conscience and blinded reason, so that they do not perceive their danger. The magical books have not been destroyed.

When the truth is presented to the understanding, and exerts its sanctifying power upon the heart, the sins which once reigned in the heart will be put away, that Jesus may occupy the soul-temple. If covetousness has been indulged, it will be given up. If ambition or love of the world has captivated the senses, a higher attraction will break its power. Deceit, falsehood, impurity, will be cleansed from the heart. He who maintains his allegiance to Christ, can render no service to Christ's bitterest foe.

A Radical Conversion

When the Ephesian converts burned their books on magic, they laid the ax to the root of the tree. They showed that they hated that which they had once loved, and loved that which they had once hated. The light of truth, shining into their minds, had convinced them of the unlawfulness of their arts, and had stirred their souls with abhorrence of their unholy deeds. However earnest and vigilant they might have been to correct other evils, had they spared this one sin they would eventually have yielded their faith.

Such a change as was wrought in these Ephesians by the preaching of the truth will ever attend true conversion, and is the best evidence of a genuine work of grace in the heart. The world and the church have a right to expect such proof of conversion as was given by the Ephesians,—proof that a new moral taste has been created. You, dear reader, may not have practised sorcery, you may not have tampered with Spiritualism; but remember that "to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey." If you indulge in any practise forbidden in God's Word, you have yielded obedience to Satan; you are his servant.

A Decided Change

A person may not be able to tell the exact time or place of his conversion; yet this does not prove him to be unconverted. Said Christ to Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Tho the work of grace is silent and almost imperceptible, it may be fully as effective as when its operations are more apparent. But if the heart has been renewed by the Holy Spirit, the life will bear witness to the fact. "By their fruits ye shall know them." Light and darkness are not more distinct than are the states of the converted and the unconverted. A change will be seen in the character, the habits, and the pursuits. The contrast will be clear and decided between what they have been and what they are.

The infidel, when converted, will abhor the books that led him to doubt the Word of God. The dissolute man who has purified his soul by obedience to the truth, will not, from curiosity or habit, venture into the haunts of dissipation; neither will he permit his mind to dwell on the familiar scenes of vice. He will be awake to his danger, shunning temptation himself, and warning others of its subtle and bewitching power. The converted man will not only resist evil, but he will, so far as possible, place himself beyond the power of Satan's devices. Followers of Christ, have you burned the magical books?

The Master's Coming

By Charles L. Taylor

VII. Its Relationship to the Everlasting Inheritance

UST so surely as Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, so surely all that was lost by sin will, as foretold by prophets, be restored when He comes in glory at the end of the world. What was lost?

Life and Innocence

All will admit, without question, that by sin man lost his life. "In the day that thou eatest thereof," said Jehovah, "thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2: 17. And the apostle, by inspiration, wrote, "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5: 12.

Without doubt all will readily admit also that in the fall man lost his righteous innocence, his moral purity. The wise man wrote, "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Eccl. 7: 29. God made man "after His own image." But when sin entered, man became a slave to wrong, alienated from the life of God, and no longer possessing in his character the attributes of righteousness.

The Restorer

Now the Son of God was given to restore lost life; "for God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3: 16.

The Son of God was also given to restore to man "the image of God,"—the righteousness of Godlike character. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." Rom. 5: 19.

The gift of Christ restores to man both righteousness and life; and when Jesus shall come again these blessings shall be finally and irrevocably fixed as a part of man's inheritance. This much is absolutely plain, and so simple that a child can understand. But even the child that has learned that Christ takes away sin and gives to man life, will ask, even as he has asked, But where are people going to live when Jesus comes?

The story of Paradise involves not only the loss of man's life and righteousness, but the loss of his beautiful home, the loss of Paradise itself; and the story of Paradise lost suggests always that other story of Paradise restored. Who has not heard of Milton's poem that seeks to bring before the mind the complete story of redemption? And where will we find a real Bible student who knows not that the Eden dominion must be given back before the great Gospel plan shall have been perfectly fulfilled?

From the day that man was driven from the garden there have come to him through the revelations of prophets views of that day when the "Seed" should come, through whom and to whom earth itself should be restored. They have been made to understand that the coming of the Christ would bring them back into full possession of all that was given them at creation. In other words, they have been led to see that recreation through the Lord Jesus meant not only to create man for the home, but to create home for the man. And they have understood fully that the grand "restitution of all things" shall take place at the second coming of the Son of Man and the end of the world. Acts 3: 20, 21.

The Dominion Regained

God's promise to Adam, to Abraham, to David, to Paul, invariably included the thought of the restoration of the home,—the lost dominion.

To the Christian church the apostle wrote, saying, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3: 29. And the Abrahamic promise, as recorded in Gen. 13: 14-17, included the entire world; for the letter to the Romans plainly declares, "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Rom. 4: 13. Thus we see that all men finally saved through Christ are sharers in the promise to Abraham, the promise of an earth inheritance.

Bible writers are all a unit in showing that Paradise shall be restored at the end of all things earthly,—at the second advent. This is only natural, for so long as earthly kingdoms continue, so long as sin and sinners have a place, the everlasting kingdom can not be established. But when Christ shall come, then the kingdoms of this world become His. Rev. 11: 15. By His voice they shall then be destroyed (Rev. 2: 25-27), and become like chaff that flies before the wind (Dan. 2: 34, 35), and then His kingdom shall fill the whole earth.

We have already seen, in other articles, that the second advent is the time of reward for all, for both sinner and saint. But what shall be the word of Jesus to His people when at His appearing He welcomes them into glory? Ah, almost His first word calls their mind to the lost Eden possession. The record is: "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." "Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25: 31, 34.

King of Kings

This shall be indeed the "restitution of all things." Man is caused to live, man is made to be righteous, to man is given his home. And all is fully and forever granted at the coming of Jesus.

The second coming of Christ shall reveal Him as King of Kings. Rev. 19: 16. It was to be King that He came into the world. John 18: 37. The first Adam was made king, but failed; the second Adam shall be made King, and as the Son of Man, the Head of the human, He shall reign forever and ever. Rev. 11: 15. Through Christ's sacrificial offering at His first advent, through His priestly ministration, through His kingly exaltation, God's great earth-plan is finally accomplished, and in company with His people He enters the eternal blessedness of a restored Paradise.

The Capital City

The center of His great earthly reign shall be the New Jerusalem, which shall descend from the heavens. Rev. 21: 2. In that glorious city of life shall be His throne. Rev. 22: 3. There shall be the River and Tree of Life. Rev. 22: 1, 2. And unto Him, in that city, shall be brought the glory and the honor of the nations of the saved. Rev. 21: 26. But tho eternally and incomprehensibly exalted, Jesus shall always continue to be a Son of Man; and like as Adam at the first, He shall reign under the higher and greater dominion of the Father Himself. 1 Cor. 15: 28.

With the establishment of the kingdom of God upon earth there comes the final eradication and elimination of all sinners and of all sin. The day of the Lord is "the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3: 7. For "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shalt melt with fervent heat, the earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3: 10. The purifying fires of Jehovah's presence shall sweep old earth from center to circumference, from pole to pole; and when that fire shall have completed its work of destruction, there shall remain nothing to remind the people of God of former days. Even Satan himself shall perish at the rebuke of God, and so the affliction of sin shall not rise up the second time. Nahum 1: 9.

A Clean Universe

There shall then be a clean universe. The "people also shall be all righteous." Isa. 60: 21. Both men and angels shall be in absolute harmony with the King, and from every part of His great dominion there shall go up a blessed chorus of heartfelt praise. The prophet wrote, "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. 5: 13.

Blessed day, hasten on! Come, Jesus, come quickly!

What can we do, dear reader, to bring about a speedy coming? In what way can we assist the Master to complete earth's preparation? First of all, we can make full surrender of our lives. We can lay aside every weight. We can confess every sin. We can ask for and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We can in the power and demonstration of a Spirit-filled life and message give our influence and teaching to the warning of our fellow men. We can make every day a day of faith and prayer in behalf of God's great mission fields, knowing that when this Gospel of the coming kingdom shall have been preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations the end shall then come.

This is the time to place our entire life within the provisions of the blessed hope, and with unalterable purpose and fixed eye hasten forward to the day when the opening heavens shall reveal Him whom we love.

Faith and the Fruit of Good Works

Good works do not bring forth faith, but they spring from faith, or, in other words, are the fruit of faith. Faith lays hold of God's promises and makes their inherent power our own, so that the power we possess by faith is not natural power, but supernatural, even the power of the Spirit of God. We cooperate with God by submitting our will to His, to wait, to do, to suffer; and God then works in us "to will and to do of His own good pleasure."

Will It Pay to Be a Christian?

By W. C. Mathewson

INSPIRATION instructs us to avoid "foolish questions;" but there are questions in no sense foolish, among which is, Will it pay to be a Christian?

In contemplating any worldly business enterprise, it is a wise question to ask, Will it pay? The question under consideration pertains also to life in this world. Instead of hastily answering, It does not pay, let us submit the question to others who have invested time and money, patiently waiting for results. Job replies, "Tho He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (chapter 13:15), virtually saying the Christian's advantages are more valuable than life itself.

The psalmist sings, "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Ps. 84:10. The advantages of being only in the door of the house of God, are greater than the luxury of owning a habitation.

Solomon, the wisest of the earthly wise, said of the wisdom of Christian service, "She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her." Prov. 3:15.

Testimony might be multiplied should we question the pilgrims along the way. Let us propound the question to the greatest Teacher the world ever had, the One who is the Source of all knowledge and truth. He replies, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matt. 16:26.

Paul responds, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out." Rom. 11:33. Peter also says, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, . . . might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:7. Eternal things are more than temporal. The great Teacher declares, "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Luke 12:15.

Observation and experience teach all who are willing to be taught that perfect health, physical strength, mental power, and peace of mind and soul, are indispensable factors of real enjoyment, without which a life spent in wealth, ease, and luxury can not be a success.

How few in this life are happy, using the term in its accommodated sense; and in its perfect sense none are truly happy. The happiness of those who live in sinless realms can bear but little resemblance to the inhabitants of a fallen world. O the vast eternity! No guilty conscience! Nothing to disturb our peace of mind or health of body. Joy unutterable immortalized! Can we appreciate these eternal realities? Can we fully comprehend the joyful fact that they are ours? — No; but we can know and feel, and confidently reply, It pays to be a Christian.

Continue reading: VII. The Church in Thyatira