Signs of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 11. (3/11/1908)

Signs of the Times

Mar 11, 1908

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 11, 1908

Beyond To-day

By Flora C. Warren

Beyond the moment's blinding, fitful impulse,

Full many days of golden pleasures lie;

Beyond the heart's deceiving, restless current,

Are peaceful streams, and fountains never dry.

Beyond the darkened thorofares of evil,

Beyond the haunts of folly and of gloom,

Are vernal fields, and heaven's sunlight glory

Shines full and free o'er never-ending bloom.

To-day proud Earth may draw mirth-robes about her,

And beckon all to join and God forget;

To-morrow hears the mourning sigh of sadness

Beneath the shadow of a vain regret.

Beyond to-day are songs of love and gladness;

Beyond to-day—sweet life and purity;

O weary one, leave all to Earth her pleasure,

Beyond to-day is Heaven full and free.

With Our Inquirers

By Editor

"If ye will inquire, inquire ye."

[All questions to this department will be answered which to the editors will seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. The same question can not be answered repeatedly in the same volume. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. It is well always to enclose a stamp for reply.]

2412.—Husband and Wife.

Will you please explain the full meaning of Gen. 2:24? Is it right for a man to compel his wife to live with his father and mother when they do not agree at all? Should they not have a home of their own?

Go back a little. Verse 20 of Genesis 2 tells us that when the Lord purposed to make woman He made her a help meet for man—not a helpmeet (one word as usually quoted)—but one fitted to be man's companion, the complement to the man; not one below man, or the Lord would have taken her from the feet; nor one above man, or the Lord would have taken her from man's head; but the Lord represented her as being taken from man's side, a companion with him. Verse 24 declares that in their marriage, in the sense primarily given, that he should be all to her and she all to him, even to the forsaking of father and mother.

In answer to the last question of our correspondent, we would reply by a most emphatic affirmative. More misery has been brought into families by the parents endeavoring to keep the young couple with them than can be imagined. Of course the young wife will make mistakes; she will not do work like the husband's mother. The husband himself, if with the wife's parents, will not do just as somebody else would do. The very best way for them to learn to correct their blunders and find out each other and come into harmony with each other, is for them to set out alone, in a home by themselves, with occasional visits from the relatives and friends. Of course at such times advice will always be given, but father and mother should not feel hurt or slighted if the young husband and wife act upon their own responsibility. By thus doing they learn.

Now this instruction may not apply to all cases. Sometimes a mother-in-law is the very best thing in the world for a young wife, one who is wise and tactful and knows how to win and hold and welcome as a daughter the wife of a son. Sometimes a father-in-law is wonderfully helpful. But these are exceptions rather than the general rule.

2413.—The Spirit of Man and the Spirit of the Beast. Eccl. 3: 21.

What does it mean about the spirit of man at death ascending upward and the spirit of the beast descending? Do we not read that the spirit returns to God who gave it, and that as this spirit returns to God, consequently we shall know as we are known?

The wise man is simply giving us the facts of death. Verse 19 declares that that which befalls the sons of men befalls the beast, as the one dieth, so dieth the other. So in that respect man hath no preeminence over the beasts; all go unto one place; all are of dust, and all return to dust. And then he asks the question, "Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward?" So far as man can see or science can teach, there is no difference; and yet in chapter 12:7 he tells us that when a man dies the "dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it." Now the real question is, What is the spirit? How did God give it? In Gen. 2:7 we are told that God gave it as "the breath of life." Man was complete before God gave it, an organized being; the breath of life caused him to be a living being. It did not come to this man whom God had formed as an intelligent entity; it came simply as life, vitalizing him, making him a living, thinking being. When it goes back to God it goes back in the same way as it came, simply as life, and leaves the man dead; and therefore we are told that "his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."

Ps. 146:4. He will not live again until he is called at the time when Christ comes, when the dead shall be raised. Then and not till then shall we know as we are known. Then and not till then will the good be rewarded. Matt. 16:27.

2414.—Individual Communion Cups.

Do you not think it would be better to have individual communion cups in these days when there is so much disease, especially throat and lung diseases?

There are many who so think, and in not a few churches thruout Christendom, of many denominations, individual communion cups are in vogue. That they are more hygienic, more cleanly and neat, there is no question, and yet so far as the writer can recall he never heard of a case where disease was communicated by the communion cup. Naturally the writer has a feeling of prejudice against them, and yet at the same time when there are so many devoted, earnest children of God who feel that they are the better thing, he certainly would not count it essential to differ from them. It is true that the views of some who are weak affect their faith in the power of God to preserve them from disease, while others look upon it in this way, that when we can prevent anything of that kind of ourselves, and when all the wine is taken from the one receptacle, why is it not just as proper to pour it out into individual cups as to pass it to individuals from several glasses, especially if the church is large? And really we can see no argument against it.

2415.—Multitudinous Wives. Deut. 17: 17; 1 Kings 15: 5, the last part.

How do these scriptures harmonize? In Deuteronomy plurality of wives is forbidden. See 1 Kings 15: 15, the last part.

The thought is evidently that David, who did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, had a plurality of wives. It is true that David had a plurality of wives, and it is true that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as far as he saw. Whenever he was reproved of God, whenever his wrong course was pointed out to him, he repented and humbled himself before God and did just what God asked of him. But he did not see all things, any more than did Abraham or Jacob, but his heart was to do right, and God accepted him because of his fulness of purpose. See 2 Chron. 16:9.

2416.—Mohammedans a Subject of Prophecy.

Are the Mohammedans a subject of special prophecy? If so give reference to the prophecy.

Revelation 9 clearly refers to the Saracens and the Mohammedans. If you wish a full exposition of it, we refer you to "Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation," by U. Smith. We have not space in this department to give it attention.

2417.—Free Will and Repentance. Matt. 11: 23-25.

If Sodom would have repented under the preaching of Jesus, how can it be said that everything that could be done for man's salvation, consistent with free will, was done?

Evidently as mighty works could have been wrought in Sodom as in Capernaum, as there is no limit to the power of God; and yet all that He does is done with wisdom and prudence. Eph. 1:8. He uses no unnecessary power. There certainly was light sufficient and grace sufficient in the days of Sodom to save men out of that awful condition. It was certainly enough to save Lot and bring him out of the awful corruption for a better start in life. It would have been true with all the others if they had listened to Lot's words. Of course, if the overwhelming power of God had been wrought among them, it would doubtless have terrorized them. The thought of the text, however, is this, to our minds, Capernaum sinned against far greater light than did Sodom, and therefore Sodom's award in the judgment will be far less than will be that of Capernaum. We may not understand all the reasons as to why God deals as He does, but we may truly believe that all have sufficient grace, if rightly employed, to insure salvation, tho, of course, all are not equally favored. It is the heart, the motive, that God requires. 2 Cor. 16:9. Sometimes the work of God is hindered by others, by the conditions of the state or government in which souls may live, or by a long line of ancestry which have persistently shut away God from their knowledge. It is certainly much easier to see the reasonableness of God's justice in all this from the simple viewpoint that the wages of sin is death, and not eternal life in misery.

2418.—A. W. J. H.—Those who are saved in all ages are saved by the same means, the mighty power of God thru faith. Faith sometimes was manifested in one way, at other times in another way. Abel manifested by his offering the sacrifice which typified the coming Redeemer, and he showed his faith in One who was to die that he might live. Those who have faith in Christ now look back to Him as the Lamb slain on Calvary, but who pleads for us in heaven above. It is only thru Christ and His character and His offering that we are saved, and the power that is furnished to believers of God, by which they are enabled to exemplify Him in their lives, is the power of the Spirit. There have been changes in ceremonies necessitated by developments in the plan of salvation, but there has been no change in God's great moral principles of His plan for saving men.

2419.—Cain's Wife.—Gen. 4: 17.—In reply to Bible Band No. 640: (1) There are two theories as to Cain's wife. One is that he married another of Adam's children, who must have been a sister. Objection against intermarriage in that early day before the race was corrupt and when the blood was pure would not be so strong as in later ages. Another theory is that God created for Cain a wife as He did for Adam. This would not at all militate against the idea of all the race springing from one pair. (2) The angel who wrestled with Jacob (Gen. 32:24), was the Archangel Michael, the Son of God. This the very record itself shows clearly. He is spoken of in Ex. 23:23 as "Mine Angel." Note also the dignity conferred upon Him in verses 20 and 21. See also Isa. 63:9.

2420.—Alpha and Omega. Rev. 1: 11.

I notice that the expression, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last," is omitted in the A.R.V. Can you give a good and Scriptural reason for this?

Evidently our inquirer has reference to Rev. 1:11. The reason why it is omitted is because it is not in the best Greek copies. Dean Alford says, "It is omitted by all old manuscripts and versions." Evidently it was introduced by some of the later copyists, first as a gloss, and afterward copied in the text by mistake. It does not alter any essential teaching of the scripture, however.

2421.—A. B.—1 Thess. 5: 23; Heb. 4: 12; Matt. 10: 28.—In these scriptures soul and body do not mean the same thing. Both terms have at least three different meanings in the word of God, as has been stated before. Here three separate things are indicated: the body, the flesh; the soul, the physical life; the spirit, the spiritual life. The sons of God referred to in Genesis 6 were the descendants of Seth who were faithful to God, and who called themselves by the name of the Lord, according to the margin of Gen. 4:26.

Christ the Teacher and Healer

By Ellen G. White

“That which to the earthly mind was a desolate wilderness, to the spiritual mind becomes a land of living streams.”

The Bible a Revelation of God's Glory.

THE whole Bible is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ. Received, believed, obeyed, it is the great instrumentality in the transformation of character. It is the grand stimulus, the constraining force, that quickens the physical, mental, and spiritual powers, and directs the life into right channels.

The reason why the youth, and even those of mature years, are so easily led into temptation and sin, is that they do not study the word of God, and meditate upon it, as they should. The lack of firm, decided will-power, which is manifest in life and character, results from neglect of the sacred instruction of God's word. They do not by earnest effort direct the mind to that which would inspire pure, holy thought, and divert it from that which is impure and untrue. There are few who choose the better part, who sit at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary, to learn of the divine Teacher. Few treasure His words in the heart, and practise them in the life.

The truths of the Bible received, will uplift mind and soul. If the word of God were appreciated as it should be, both young and old would possess an inward rectitude, a strength of principle, that would enable them to resist temptation. Let men teach and write the precious things of the Holy Scriptures. Let the thought, the aptitude, the keen exercise of brain power, be given to the study of the thoughts of God. Study not the philosophy of man's conjectures, but study the philosophy of Him who is truth. No other literature can compare with this in value.

The mind that is earthly finds no pleasure in contemplating the word of God; but for the mind renewed by the Holy Spirit, divine beauty and celestial light shine from the sacred page. That which to the earthly mind was a desolate wilderness, to the spiritual mind becomes a land of living streams.

The knowledge of God, as revealed in His word, is the knowledge to be given to our children. From the earliest dawn of reason they should be made familiar with the name and the life of Jesus. Their first lessons should teach them that God is their Father. Their first training should be that of loving obedience. Reverently and tenderly let the word of God be read and repeated to them, in portions suited to their comprehension and adapted to awaken their interest. And above all, let them learn of His love revealed in Christ, and its great lesson:

"If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

Let the youth make the word of God the food of mind and soul. Let the cross of Christ be made the science of all education, the center of all teaching and all study. Let it be brought into the daily experience in practical life. So will the Saviour become to the youth a daily companion and friend. Every thought will be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. With the apostle Paul they will be able to say:

"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

An Experimental Knowledge.

Thus thru faith they come to know God by an experimental knowledge. They have proved for themselves the reality of His word, the truth of His promises. They have tasted, and they know that the Lord is good.

The beloved John had a knowledge gained thru his own experience. He could testify:

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life (for the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."

So every one may be able, thru his own experience, to "set his seal to this, that God is true." He can bear witness to that which he himself has seen and heard and felt of the power of Christ. He can testify:

"I needed help, and I found it in Jesus. Every want was supplied, the hunger of my soul was satisfied; the Bible is to me the revelation of Christ. I believe in Jesus because He is to me a divine Saviour. I believe the Bible because I have found it to be the voice of God to my soul."

An Aid in the Study of Nature.

He who has gained a knowledge of God and His word thru personal experience is prepared to engage in the study of natural science. Of Christ it is written, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men." Before the entrance of sin, Adam and Eve in Eden were surrounded with a clear and beautiful light—the light of God. This light illuminated everything which they approached. There was nothing to obscure their perception of the character or the works of God. But when they yielded to the

tempter, the light departed from them. In losing the garments of holiness, they lost the light that had illuminated nature. No longer could they read it aright. They could not discern the character of God in His works. So to-day man can not of himself read aright the teaching of nature. Unless guided by divine wisdom, he exalts nature and the laws of nature above nature's God. This is why mere human ideas in regard to science so often contradict the teaching of God's word. But for those who receive the light of the life of Christ, nature is again illuminated. In the light shining from the Cross, we can rightly interpret nature's teaching.

He who has a knowledge of God and His word thru personal experience has a settled faith in the divinity of the Holy Scriptures. He has proved that God's word is truth, and he knows that truth can never contradict itself. He does not test the Bible by men's ideas of science; he brings these ideas to the test of the unerring standard. He knows that in true science there can be nothing contrary to the teaching of the word; since both have the same Author, a correct understanding of both will prove them to be in harmony. Whatever in so-called scientific teaching contradicts the testimony of God's word is mere human guesswork.

To such a student, scientific research will open vast fields of thought and information. As he contemplates the things of nature, a new perception of truth comes to him. The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. Both make him better acquainted with God by teaching him of His character and of the laws thru which He works.

“To Him That Overcometh”

By Emma Hildreth Adams

By Emma Hildreth Adams

SEE that vast throng, that strangely mixed multitude, that striving host of human beings—afflicted, worn, weary of burden-bearing—pressing toward some point of release; toward some spot where wasting struggles shall cease; toward some rich supply house where gnawing want shall be felt no more, and where gladdening rest awaits.

Once many of them were intrepid, feared not conflict, even invited contest. But now, from the hearts of a countless number is dying out, or has fled altogether, that priceless quality of mind called courage. Broken by the pitiless grinding of these momentous days, by destructive habits, by preying sorrows, or by multiplied failures, they have lost hope, lost uplifting of heart and spirit, lost tone of character, or, in the words of Him who had the seven stars in His right hand, they are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

Hence, a thing saddening even to mention, numbers of them enter, every day, upon the age-long slumber, either amid the welcoming waters of the sea—as happened but a few days since, near where these lines are penned, when, hidden by the shadows of evening, and allured by the gentle songs of the pearly waves, a young woman gave her life up to the Pacific,—or by other of the myriad unlawful methods of exit from this world, they take that which does not belong to them—their life—forgetting, if they have ever known the fact, that they are not their own, that for them a great price has been paid—the precious blood of Christ.

The Unspeakable Advantage.

Ah, what unspeakable advantage would accrue in these hours of woful temptation, could all such wearied, hopeless, will-less, yet possible, sons and daughters of the divine Father but lay hold of some of the thrilling, inspiring promises which sparkle like jewels in the second and third chapters of the Revelation! They are pledges made by Him who walked amid the golden candlesticks; made by Him, who, during His life on earth, was tried in all points like as we are; made by Him, who, on Calvary tasted death for every man.

Constellation of Promises of the First Magnitude.

Observe, O sorely tried ones, how brilliant a constellation of stars of the first magnitude these promises form. Note how they glow and scintillate with divine tenderness, mercy, sympathy, and love for all those who “have borne, have had patience, and have not fainted.”

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it.” “He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations . . . and I will give him the morning star.”

“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of My God, . . . and I will write upon him My new name.”

The Exalted Climax.

And now, the highest privilege, most exalted condition, most gratifying, most coveted reward of all—“To him that OVERCOMETH will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.”

O, who, bruised by the cruel blows of this world, appalled by thought of possible hardship yet to come, helpless before the furious winds of adversity; may not thru heroic faith in those marvelous promises gather fresh courage, a new instalment of soul energy, and resolutely turn the back upon every thieving temptation to shorten this life and thus rob himself of this promised honor, triumph, and blessedness!

Righteousness and the Law.

By T. E. Bowen

RIGHTEOUSNESS is imputed by God to every humble believer on Jesus Christ. This is the gift of God. Man's heart is described as being "deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?" Hence no righteousness that can be accepted of Heaven can be found in this unclean fountain. It must proceed from another source apart from the human heart.

But, praise the Lord, there has one righteous Life been lived here on earth! One born into our family, even a Son, given us by the Most High—He hath wrought out the problem for us, making it possible for vile sinners to be cleansed and made righteous—not by works, lest man should boast, but thru faith.

Nothing whatever that we can do, apart by itself alone, can atone for the least or smallest sin. But "faith," which "worketh by love," can purify the heart. God counts that man righteous who, by faith, believes in and accepts for himself the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and confesses continually his sinfulness and unworthiness.

Notice how beautifully this is set forth in this scripture:

"For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace thru the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth [observe that God, the highest authority in the universe, does this] to be a propitiation, thru faith, in His blood, to show HIS righteousness [not ours; for we have none] because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of His righteousness at this present season: that He might Himself be just, and the Justifier of him that HATH FAITH IN JESUS. Where then is the glorying? It is excluded. By what manner of law? of works? Nay; but by a LAW OF FAITH." Rom. 3: 23-27.

Then faith hath a law. That is, the true faith in Jesus, that which justifieth the sinner, has some sort of test by which it is measured

to prove absolutely, before every enemy that might rise up to challenge, that it is genuine, and will receive the approval of Heaven. This point is vital. For altho we may think we have the righteousness of Jesus, think ourselves ready to enter thru the gates into the city, unless God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Saviour, and the heavenly intelligencies whom God has associated with Himself in passing upon the characters of men, so think and so rule, our thinking we are righteous passes for nothing. God will deal impartially with every sinner. Hence, there must be a universal law, a universal test, by which every character must be measured. What can this be? Has the Bible told us?

"But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, BEING WITNESSED BY THE LAW and the prophets; even the righteousness of God thru faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction." Rom. 3: 21, 22.

Here the secret is revealed. That same law mentioned, "apart from" which a righteousness had been found (because of the sinfulness of our flesh which had become weak and ineffective), becomes now the main witness in the heavenly courts of justice to testify to the genuineness of this righteousness wrought out for us by Jesus Christ.

But it is the same law given upon Mt. Sinai. It is not altered even by a jot or a tittle. While it condemns our pretended righteousness as unrighteousness, it testifies that Jesus' righteousness is genuine. Those ten holy words, that same spiritual law proclaimed by Christ Himself from Sinai, stand for the witness, become the test for that righteousness which is imputed to every one who believes in Jesus.

How thankful every trembling sinner should be that God has not permitted His law to be changed by any human devising. If He had, no soul could be saved. For an imperfect—changed—law could bear only an imperfect testimony, and hence might reckon as righteousness that which God could not, or would not, admit into His kingdom. Then truly we should have to come to that condition where no "flesh could be saved."

But no. God's perfect law remains unchanged. It witnesses to that perfect life Jesus lived for you and for me. He kept every precept of this law. At the close of His earthly life, no man, no fallen angel, could convict the Son of God and our Elder Brother of sin. Therefore, while every one has sinned—broken this law—Jesus did not. And because He did not, we may be saved—but not while knowingly transgressing any precept of this same law Jesus kept. By His grace, we can keep it, too; for He is able to strengthen us to do so, by His might in the inner man, to the glory of His own dear name.

Therefore, the righteousness that will pass the final test will be a righteousness in full harmony with God's holy, unchanged law. The one is the counterpart of the other.

Dear reader, in the light of these sacred truths, what possible part can the Sunday-keeping practise of the world have in making up a righteousness that will meet the approval of Heaven? Sunday-keeping nowhere enters into the life of Jesus Christ, that Life by which righteousness was wrought out for us; neither does the Sunday-sabbath form any part whatever of God's divine law by which all righteousness must be measured.

Will it not be worth while for you to stop now and ponder this point very carefully? Can you afford to risk obtaining eternal life by trusting in something which has the appearance of giving you life, when in fact it possesses no claim whatever upon the righteousness of God, found alone in Christ Jesus, and without which no man can be saved?

My Old Bible.

By George E. Tack

FRIEND of my youth, when the world seemed young, And the spring-voice lured me on, A golden thread with promise pearls strung, And a light to eternal dawn!

Oft have thy promises kept my feet Past the flower-grown fields of sin; Spoke to my heart with assurance sweet, In the great world's glamour and din.

Traced on the leaf by a mother's hand Are the words to her loved first-born, Which link my thoughts to the past like a band, And the future's golden morn.

Star of my life's morn, o'er brimmed with light From the throne of the God of love— A lamp to guide my feet thru the night, A path to the world above.

Worn are thy pages from constant use; And traced with many a mark Where promises flashed on my eager eyes, And gleamed like a star thru the dark.

And when, in the hour of trial or wo, I see fondest hopes depart, I'll joy in the Lord and rejoicing go With thy words hid deep in my heart. GEORGE E. TACK.

God's Laws.

By C. S. Robinson

ONCE, as I entered the observatory of Harvard College, at the close of a day, a friend who had led me there asked that I might be shown the new instrument that had just been introduced. The professor replied courteously, "Yes; I think there may be time enough yet for him to see a star if you will find one." My companion "found one" by looking in a worn book of astronomical tables lying there on the desk, and replied quietly, "There is one at 5:20." So in a hurried instant the covering was stripped off from the great brass tube, and prone upon his back, under the eyepiece, lay the enthusiastic professor. While my friend stood by, with what seemed a tack-hammer in his hand, I noticed that he kept his eye on a tall chronometer clock near us.

Suddenly two sounds broke the impressive stillness; we had been waiting for the stars. One was the word "There," spoken by the professor; the other was the tap of the hammer on the stone top of the table by my companion. Both occurred at the same instant,—the same particle of the instant,—they were positively simultaneous. But the man who spoke the word could not see the clock; he was looking at the star that came swinging along till it touched the spider-web line in his instrument; and the other man who struck the hammer stroke could not see the star; he was looking at the second-hand on the dial-plate. When the index in its simplicity of regular duty marked twenty minutes after five, there fell the click on the stone; and then, too, there came on in the heavens, millions of miles away, one of God's stars, having no speech, but rolling in on time, as He bade it ages ago!

Then I was invited to look in, and see the world of light and beauty as it swept by the next fiber in the tube. But afterward I went curiously to the book, and found that it had been published ten years before, and that its calculations ran far away into the future, and that it had been based on calculations 1,000 years old. And God's fidelity to the covenant of nature, here now almost 3,000 years after David had made the nineteenth psalm, had brought the glorious creature of the sky into the field of Harvard College's instrument just as that patient clock reached the second needed for the truth of the ancient prediction. Need I say that those two professors almost wondered, so used to such things were they, at the awestruck devotion, the hushed reverence, with which I left the room?—Dr. C. S. Robinson.

The True Missionary.

By Eliza H. Morton

'TWAS long ago the Saviour came To minister to man, To carry out in daily life Salvation's wondrous plan.

He healed the sick, He comfort gave, He spake a kindly word To those with weary, wounded hearts, To those He knew had erred.

No malice in His heart was felt, Tho buffeted and scorned, Tho spit upon, and with the thorns And purple robe adorned.

And so must we thus walk in peace And union with our God, No matter what may come to vex Our souls, for Christ is Lord.

And He will give the needed strength, His life our life may be, His Holy Spirit shed its power O'er all our ministry.

Then let us gather in the sheaves; Behold, the fields are white, And in this precious harvest-time Our forces all unite.

Remember time is hastening on, The days are gliding by, 'Tis ours to lift the standard up, The truth to magnify.

Full soon the heavens will open wide Our Saviour to reveal, And if unfaithful here below What anguish we shall feel.

But if straight onward is our course Thru trials and thru pain, All seeming loss will prove at length But everlasting gain.

We see by faith the mansions fair, The gleaming, pearly gates; O soul oppressed, yet faithful still, A crown for thee awaits. ELIZA H. MORTON.

The Infidel's Sermon to a Preacher.

By Peter Stryker

NEVER shall I forget the remark of a learned, legal friend who was at one time somewhat skeptical in his views. Said he to me: "Did I believe as you do, that the masses of our race are perishing in sin, I could have no rest. I would fly to tell them of salvation. I would labor day and night. I would speak it with all the pathos I could summon. I would warn and expostulate and entreat my fellow men to turn unto Christ and receive salvation at His hands. I am astonished at the manner in which the majority of you ministers tell your message. Why do you not act as if you believed your own words? You have not the earnestness in preaching that we lawyers have in pleading. If we were as tame as you are, we would never carry a single suit."

A decade of years has passed away since that remark was made. I bless God it was addressed to me. It put a fire into my bones which I hope will burn as long as I live. God preached a stirring sermon to me that day by the mouth of that infidel lawyer.—Peter Stryker.

Saloons and Workingmen’s Homes

By P. M. Arthur

If it were not for the saloons, I think that seven-tenths of the working men would have their homes instead of paying rent.—P. M. Arthur.

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