Signs of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 2. (1/10/1906)

Signs of the Times

Jan 10, 1906

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jan 10, 1906

BLESSING IN OBEDIENCE

(Psalm 1)

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor standeth in the way of sinners,

Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers.

But his delight is in the law of Jehovah;

And on His law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,

That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also doth not wither;

And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The wicked are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous;

But the way of the wicked shall perish.

IN OTHER LANGUAGES

By Editor

As the result of recent importations and purchases we present the list of tracts and pamphlets in the ITALIAN, JAPANESE, and GERMAN languages. Other lists will follow later.

ITALIAN TRACTS

Sabbath of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $.04 Brazen Serpent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 The True Sabbath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 First Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 The Bible Sanctuary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Is the End Near? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Christ and Roman Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Two Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02

ITALIAN PAMPHLETS

Return of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Sufferings of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Glorious Appearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Steps to Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

ITALIAN BOOKS

Steps to Christ, Cloth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

JAPANESE TRACTS

Way of Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 New Testament Sabbath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 True God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Second Coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03

JAPANESE PAMPHLETS

Glorious Appearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Steps to Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Marshalling of Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

GERMAN TRACTS

Alarm of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Are You in Darkness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Bible Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Bible Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Brief Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Candid Admissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Can We Know? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Christianity and Persecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Christian Sabbath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Departing and Being with Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 End of the Wicked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $.01 1/2 Fire Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 First Angel's Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Full Assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 God's Memorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 How Esther Read Her Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Is the End Near? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Law and Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Millennium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Name, the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Old and New Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Our Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Perfection of Commandments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Perpetuity of the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Present Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Prophetic Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 Prophetic Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Righteousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Rome's Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 1/2 Sanctuary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Scripture References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Second Angel's Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Seven Reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Seventh-day Adventists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Senator Crockett's Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Seventh Part of Time Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Signs of Our Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Sinner's Fate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Spiritualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Sufferings of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Testimony of the Prophets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Thief on the Cross and Spirits in Prison (New) . . . . . . . . . . 02 1/2 Three Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Two Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Two Thrones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Veil Removed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 We Would See Jesus (New) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 What Do These Things Mean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 What the Gospel Abrogated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2 Way to Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Wine and the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 1/2 Without Excuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1/2

All of the foregoing may be obtained by addressing, # PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., # Mountain View, Cal. 1109 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, Mo. 285 Salmon Street, Portland, Ore. Nearly all are carried by the following agencies, REVIEW & HERALD PUB. CO., 222 North Capitol Street, Washington, D. C. Battle Creek, Mich. SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, 1025 Jefferson Street, Nashville, Tenn. Fort Worth, Texas. INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, College View, Neb.

Terms of Subscription.

By Editor

Per Year, post-paid . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.50 Six Months, 75 cts. Three Months, 40 cts. To Foreign Countries, per year, $1.75.

SPECIAL TERMS.

By Editor

1. One new yearly subscription and one renewal, or two new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $2.50.

2. Two new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or three new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $3.25.

3. Three new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or four new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $4.00.

Sample copies sent on application.

SPANISH TRACTS.

By Editor

In addition to the Italian, Japanese, and German publications noted on this same page, we have just secured the following in Spanish:

TRACTS.

Agony of Christ . . . . . . . . . . $ 00¼ Christ Our Righteousness . . . . . . . 00½ Benefits of Bible Study . . . . . . . . 00½ Coming of the Lord . . . . . . . . . . 00¼ Gift of God to Man . . . . . . . . . . 00¼ Great Commandment . . . . . . . . . . 00¼ Is the End Near? . . . . . . . . . . . 00¼ Living by Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 Price of Our Salvation . . . . . . . . 00¼ Temptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00¼ What Must I Do to Be Saved . . . . . . 00½ We Would See Jesus . . . . . . . . . . 02 Signs of Our Times . . . . . . . . . . 02

PAMPHLETS.

By Editor

Captain of Our Salvation . . . . . . 15 Gospel Primer (Board) . . . . . . 25 Gospel Primer (Cloth) . . . . . . 50

Address the publishers of this paper.

HOLIDAY NUMBER "OUR LITTLE FRIEND."

By Editor

Words of commendation are coming in from every side for the Holiday Double Number of OUR LITTLE FRIEND. Not only is it a double number, but it has a beautiful colored cover with an illustrated poem on first page. It begins a series of articles entitled, "Uncle Ben's Gold Mine," an Australian story by the author of "Uncle Ben's Cobblestones." All subscriptions should begin with this number, so that not a single link in the chain of stories Uncle Ben is going to tell may be lost.

The price of this number itself in lots of ten or more is 2½ cents a copy. Order from OUR LITTLE FRIEND, Mountain View, Cal.

"WONDROUS LOVE."

Mr. H. H. Winslow has just printed another edition of his beautiful song "Wondrous Love." Copies may be obtained at 25c. each or $2.00 a dozen by addressing him at 285 Salmon St., Portland, Ore., or Pacific Press Pub. Co., Mountain View, Cal.

AS A YOUTH.

THE record of our Lord's child-life is very brief: "And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him." Luke 2:40. That is all we need to know. The apocryphal accounts of His childhood and youth, the miracles He is said to have wrought, bear on their very face the stamp of falsity.

BUT from this brief record we may know that His mother was faithful to her task; that the ancient injunctions were to her living precepts; that the holy commandments of God were in her heart; that she taught them diligently unto her son, talking of them in the house, repeating them while walking by the way, teaching them when lying down and rising up. He grew up a healthy lad, with right, temperate habits of eating and drinking, which the Scriptures taught. Of one of His disciples it was said, "From a child thou

hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation." 2 Tim. 3:15. Even so Jesus knew the Holy Scriptures, and the wisdom of God filled Him. In knowing God's Word He understood "righteousness and justice, and equity, yea, every good path; for wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall watch over thee; understanding shall keep thee; to deliver thee from the way of evil." Prov. 2:9-12. All these graces of character, like guardian angels, kept the soul of the child.

WE next read of Him when he was twelve years of age and became one of the Bene hat-torah, "sons of the law." Then the boy was supposed to enter consciously upon the responsibility of forming character and serving God. It marked a critical period in His life. He now, according to the custom of His people, became legally responsible, and must meet in that responsibility the unfoldment of His larger life.

IT was the custom of His parents to go every year to the Passover. The father must attend three feasts; the mother was obligated to attend the Passover only. Jesus may have gone with them before; but those visits were incidental. This was the critical age, and the boy felt it. His larger life must take hold on larger knowledge. He became so absorbed in this work that His parents went away, leaving Him in Jerusalem, yet supposing that He was in the company. They went a day's journey toward Galilee before they missed Him. How like many who profess His name to-day! How often the cares and pleasures of this life crowd out all thought of Him upon whose care and love we are absolutely dependent!

THEY sought in the caravan and found Him not. They started back to Jerusalem, looking by the way. They reached the city, and searched there for their Son, but three days were well-nigh spent before they found Him in the temple, among the doctors, or teachers, listening to their instruction and soliciting more by asking questions. The very questions He asked indicated the depth of knowledge, His love for the Word.

His mother gently reproves Him, "Child, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold,

Thy father and I sought Thee sorrowing." How His question reveals her own carelessness concerning the precious charge God had committed to her—"How is it that ye sought Me? Knew ye not I must be in My Father's house?" As much as to say, You should have had a better understanding of my mission. Of all places you should find me here in my Father's house, of all things, my Father's business; and in all these you should have been anxious to have me where God required me to be. There should have been no need of your seeking me; you should have been with me. No wonder that the doctors were amazed. They had never before seen or heard such a child.

Leaving Jerusalem He returns to Nazareth. Like the obedient son that He is, He is "subject unto" His parents. "And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." What further record is needed? Constant growth physically in healthful, temperate living, in outdoor air, in working at the carpenter's bench. Constant growth mentally and spiritually feeding upon the Word of the living God. What God's Word did then in the boy Jesus, it will do now through Jesus in every other boy when parents and boy cooperate with God as did those of old.

PARENTS, above all things store your children's minds with the eternal, saving truths of God's Word. Nothing will so expand the mind, quicken the perceptions, increase the intellectual powers, as the study and treasuring of the Bible. Do not borrow trouble as to their learning other things. The study of the Word will help in all good pursuits. The power which kept Him from temptation when the devil most fiercely assailed was the Word. Matt. 4:1-10. The power which will keep our children must also be the Word. "Where-withal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy Word." "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee."

A LOGICAL CONCLUSION.

By G.

THE observance of the Lord’s day [Sunday] is founded not on any command of God, but on the authority of the church.—Catholic Sabbath Manual.

The Baptists claim to base all doctrine on a “Thus saith the Lord,” but they concede the foregoing Catholic statement, as a few quotations will show:

There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath was and is not Sunday. It will, however, be readily said, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties, privileges, and sanctions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I ask, Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament—absolutely not. There is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution.—Dr. Hiscox, author of the Baptist Manual.

Commenting upon this statement, the Examiner (Baptist) said:

While the positions taken in the essay seem to be incontrovertible, the statements were startling to many who had not carefully examined the question.

Yet the “statements” were made in a ministers’ conference, which adds to the significance of the fact that “there were many who had not carefully examined the question.” That is just where the trouble comes—with both ministers and layman—they take the Sunday institution for granted, without careful examination for themselves, and unwittingly follow in the wake of Rome. So long has this lack of careful examination been rife that men, even those who profess to follow the Word implicitly, have come to the conclusion that, in the matter of Sabbath observance, it makes no difference whether they have a “Thus saith the Lord” or not. It is more popular, hence more convenient, to go with the multitude. On this point another quotation from the Examiner is pertinent:

Some Baptists are fond of demanding a “Thus saith the Lord” for everything, and profess to accept nothing for which explicit authority can not be produced from the Word of God. Probably not a reader of this paragraph would be willing to follow this principle to its legitimate conclusion. It would involve the immediate return to Sabbath worship, the abolition of Sunday-schools, etc.

And the editor himself shows that he is one of the number described in his editorial, tho he is a recognized leader in the denomination. By himself declining to follow the Protestant, and especially Baptist, doctrine “to its legitimate conclusion,” he deliberately chooses to continue in the popular Roman departure from that principle—with his eyes open. Then

what may we reasonably expect but that he and those whom he leads will follow the principle of departure “to its logical conclusion”—the lap of Rome? G.

NO GERMAN-AMERICANS.

By G.

THE emperor of Germany has the reputation of being eccentric, and it sometimes appears that he is so, almost to the danger line. However, he occasionally makes a point that is worth considering. It is said that not long ago he received a request for an interview from some one who claimed to be a German-American. The emperor dictated a reply that he did not recognize the existence of such thing as a German-American. If the gentleman would make his application as a German or as an American, perhaps it would be granted.

And herein lies a fundamental principle: one can not be a citizen of two countries at once. To change one’s allegiance from one government to another, and then claim favor from the one renounced because of former adherence, is not consistent. The emperor was right—the man must be either a German or an American to be entitled to favor.

This principle is doubly significant in the Christian citizenship. One can not be a soldier of Christ and be entangled with the affairs of this life. 2 Tim. 2:3.

To formally renounce the world and espouse the cause of Christ’s kingdom, and then claim favor of the world because of having been a worldling in the past, would be hypocrisy. A world-Christian is even more incongruous than the claim to being a German-American.

Christ recognized this principle when He said, “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad.” The man who professes to be a Christian, yet curries favor with the world, can not be depended upon in any campaign against the corruptions of the world.

Again the Lord says: “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and mammon.”

These are days of strenuous pursuit of material gain; the spirit of it pervades every phase of life. The Lord has warned us of it, leaving us without excuse. We know it is upon us because He has warned us. And the warning is given especially to God’s people, because they are in danger of being engulfed by it. Luke 17:26-30; James 5:1-9. The Mammon-Christian will not be recognized in the judgment; the individual will be counted as one thing or the other. Where will you stand?

A SIGNIFICANT CONTRAST.

By G.

AS Rome continues to win influence with the secular powers of earth, and as professed Protestantism continues to imitate her in order to compete for that influence, it is well to note the contrasts between her idea of conquering the world and the Gospel idea of winning sinners to Christ.

For this time one instance will suffice to illustrate the contrast. When King Otho was crowned as the sovereign of Italy in A.D. 962, at Aix-la-Chapelle, the archbishop officiated in the grand cathedral. Among the insignia to be bestowed was the sword and belt, and on handing these to the newly-made king, the archbishop said: “Take this sword, destined to repulse all the enemies of Christ, and to confirm with most lasting power the peace of all Christians.”

When Christ met the chief of all enemies, He overcame solely by the Word of God. Matt. 4:1-11. When Peter would “repulse the enemies of Christ” with a sword, the Master told him to put it up, and immediately healed the injury he had wrought, telling him that “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matt. 26:52.

Some years later the apostle Paul gave this inspired counsel: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” In specifying the various arms, he mentions but one offensive and defensive weapon—“the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” He also gives us the general assurance that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal;” nevertheless they are “mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” The reason that we are not to use carnal weapons is, that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” Our enemy is a spiritual enemy, and therefore must be subdued by spiritual weapons.” See 2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:11-18.

The foregoing contrast between the church-and-state policy of Rome and the principles inculcated by the Gospel of Christ is worthy of serious consideration by those who are aiming in various ways to elicit the power of civil government for the enforcement of religion. The appeal to such power is simply an appeal to the sword; for the only power any human government has to enforce anything is the knowledge that somewhere behind it is sufficient physical force to back its decrees.

“The peace of all Christians” is “confirmed” by faith in Christ. Rom. 5:1.

Continue reading: THE INTER-CHURCH CONFERENCE ON FEDERATION