“SIN is the transgression of the law.” This is God’s definition of the awful, hateful, abominable thing known as sin. Sin is an insult to God. It does despite to His grace, and crucified His Son. It has caused all the heartache and suffering to which the human family has fallen heir. Its slime and ooze is seen everywhere. It is the sexton that digs your grave and mine.
Some one has truly said that “every burning tear, every corroding care, every piercing remorse; the sighs and moans of lazar houses reeking with putrefaction and death; the shrieks and wails and clanking chains in hospitals swarming with maniacs; and the curses and blasphemies of dungeons where guilt rots and raves — these, all these, are but feeble reverberations of those dismal truths, ‘Sin reigns unto death,’ ‘Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.’”
Yet awful as it is, it is simply the transgression of God’s law — the result of disobedience, of a failure to hearken to the commandments of God. From Sinai’s burning top the Saviour spoke to quailing humanity the precepts of His law — handed down the code, the transgression of which is sin.
In keeping His commandments there is great reward, and through Jesus’ blood there is everlasting deliverance from the awful consequences of sin.
G. B. T.
A RESIDENCE ON FOURTEENTH STREET, NEAR THE BEACH, GALVESTON, FOLLOWING THE RECENT STORM THAT DID SO MUCH DAMAGE IN THAT CITY
QUESTION CORNER
By Milton C. Wilcox
CONDUCTED BY MILTON C. WILCOX, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA
NOTE.—This department is for the purpose of helping Bible students. Answers must of necessity be brief, often only suggestive, never exhaustive, never infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. Such questions only will be answered as seem to minister to the mission of the paper. Questions of the same import cannot be answered repeatedly in the same volume. Name and address must be given, not for publication, but as evidence of good faith and to insure reply by letter if thought best. It is well always to inclose stamp, not stamped envelope, unless answer is desired by letter alone.
173 — QUESTION ON THE RETURN OF THE JEWS
To my mind, the following scripture indicates that the Jews must accept the Christian religion before the final wind-up can come, whether that be of a certain age or of the world. You, of course, know that the Greek word aion in Matt. 24: 3, rendered “world,” means “age”; that the Greek word for “world,” as you understand that term, is cosmos.
In Dan. 8: 13, the question is asked of one of the saints, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” In the following verse we have the answer, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” On these I ask the following questions:
(1) Is not a prophetic day one year? (2) Does not the he-goat mean Alexander the Great? (3) Has not the sanctuary been trodden down since his reign, or since B. C. 334? That would place the cleansing of the sanctuary in A. D. 1966. (4) Does not the cleansing of the sanctuary mean the return of the Jews into God’s favor, or their accepting Christianity? I do not mean their restoration to temporal power as a nation. (5) Does not Paul state, in the eleventh chapter of Romans, beyond a doubt, that the Jews as a people shall come back into God’s favor before any change in the present order of things takes place? You will notice that Paul represents the chosen people, or Israel, by the olive tree. In Christ’s time, the native branches, or the Jews, were broken off on account of unbelief, and the gentiles were grafted in because of belief. In process of time, the gentiles will be broken off, and the Jews grafted in again. The gentiles will be rejected, and the Jews reelected. Verse 27: “This is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” At the rate the gentile church is going away from God into indifference, I think that about 1966 A. D. would be the proper time for the cleansing of the sanctuary at the rejection of the gentiles and the reelection of the Jews. B. L.
Yes, the word aion means “age,” and the term cosmos refers to this world in its present arrangement. We have other Greek words which refer to the world also—ge, the earth, and oikoumene, the inhabited earth. The world has consisted of a series of ages, and by and by the great eternal age will come. This is the teaching of the Scripture. Now as to the questions:
1. A prophetic day is one year. This seems to be clearly taught by Eze. 4: 4-6. As God symbolizes long-existing kingdoms by short-lived beasts, He symbolizes the time of the existence of these kingdoms by shorter periods of time, of which one day stands for a year.
2. The he-goat refers to Grecia, but not to Alexander the Great. The great horn is the first king, and the horn represents Alexander; the goat means more—Grecia.
3. The sanctuary has not been trodden down since his reign. Really, that is not the question. The question is not, How long from that time will it be? but, “At what time shall the sanctuary be cleansed? Until what particular time in the future does the vision reach? The answer is, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” The definite beginning of that is not indicated in that immediate connection, because the vision was not then explained. We must go to the ninth chapter to get the explanation of this; and there we learn, in verses 24-27, that a definite portion of the two thousand and three hundred days was cut off upon the Jewish people—marked off upon them. That portion marked off upon the Jewish people was cut off from the twenty-three hundred days, and forms a part of the great period. The seventy weeks would be seventy weeks of years, or four hundred and ninety years. At that time, God would be through with the Jewish people as a special people. The beginning of that period, and therefore of the twenty-three hundred days, is marked by the decree or commandment which goes forth to build and restore Jerusalem. This decree is made up of three decrees of the Persian kings—Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes (Ezra 6: 14)—which did not go forth until the last and fullest of the decrees of these kings was issued, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus (Ezra 7: 7). The decree is given in full in that chapter. It provided not only for the restoration of the temple, but for the restoration of Jerusalem itself, of its worship, of its government, giving the Jews the privilege to control and govern, and even to inflict capital punishment if necessary. The seventh year of Artaxerxes the king was 457 B. C. Two thousand and three hundred years from that time would reach to A. D. 1844. The definiteness of that period is marked by our Lord’s coming, manifested as the Messiah in A. D. 27, dying upon the cross in A. D. 31, and by the cutting off of the Jews in A. D. 36, leaving 1,810 years, which ended in 1844. (See Bible Students’ Library, No. 128, “Christ Our Advocate, His Ministry in the True Tabernacle.” 10 cents.) The vision extends from the restoration of God’s true worship under Ezra and Zerubbabel to the restoration of His true worship under the great threefold message of Rev. 14: 6-12.
The sanctuary therefore cannot refer to the earthly sanctuary. That has long since been destroyed. It must refer to the sanctuary where the ministration of the true priesthood is carried on. During that age, the center of worship was in Jerusalem; but after the crucifixion of our Lord, He ascended on high, and began His work as High Priest in the sanctuary above. See Hebrews 8 and 9. Consequently the sanctuary to which the prophecy refers cannot be the Old Testament sanctuary, where were offered the sacrifices of bulls and goats and the blood of beasts, but must refer to the sanctuary that was typified by those things, where our Lord Himself ministers the virtue of His own precious life.
The cleansing of that sanctuary must refer to the same thing as the cleansing of the ancient sanctuary—the putting away of the sin of God’s people, and the deciding as to who are the people of God and who are not. The ancient cleansing of the sanctuary, as told us in Leviticus 16, was literally a judgment day among God’s people yearly. It typified the great judgment once for all in the closing days, which began its investigation in 1844. It therefore does not have reference in any way to the Jewish people or to any people, but to the closing of our Lord’s work. When Christ comes, the dead will not be raised and then judged. They will have been judged before they are raised from the dead. This is shown in Luke 20: 35 and in 1 Cor. 15: 51-54. Before the righteous are raised, they are accounted worthy to be raised, which shows that judgment has passed upon them before they are called from the sleep of death. Thus we read in 1 Corinthians that the righteous dead are raised incorruptible.
4. Therefore the cleansing of the sanctuary cannot mean the return of the Jews into God’s favor, or their accepting Christianity. Our querist says, “I do not mean their restoration to temporal power as a nation;” but if the prophecies that are often cited as evidences of the return of the Jews are to be literally fulfilled, they do mean the restoration of the Jewish people as a nation in their own land. But this would set aside all the work that our Lord and Saviour Himself has done.
5. It is impossible to take up fully, in this department, the question of the return of the Jews. However, we will state briefly some of the principles involved. First of all, some of the prophecies regarding the Jews and their restoration are conditional. These conditions are very clearly and emphatically stated by one of God’s own prophets to the Jews:
“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Jer. 18: 7-10.
These conditions are abundantly confirmed in other prophecies.
Secondly, some of the promises which God gave to that people were fulfilled in the restoration from Babylon, and would have been fulfilled in far larger measure if the Jews had only complied with the conditions. Take for instance Ezekiel, chapters 36 to 48. God would have restored all His people at that time, would have brought back those who were scattered throughout all the nations of the world, would have restored them to the mountains of Israel, would have dwelt among them with such glory as they had never seen; a new and far greater sanctuary would have been built, they would have been victorious over their enemies, and God’s glory would have been manifest among His people in the sight of the nations; but the Jews failed to meet the conditions on which the promises were based, and the result was that only about forty thousand returned from the captivity, and God’s promises in their fullness were not realized.
It is true, as our querist says, the Jews were cut off because of unbelief. The gentiles came in because of faith. That is the teaching of Romans 11, and that is the teaching of the whole New Testament wherever these things are mentioned. Another consideration worthy of note here is that when the gentiles accept of Jesus Christ, they are no longer gentiles, but Israel; and just as long as they fail to accept of the promises and covenants to Israel, they have no place in God’s great plan of salvation; for all the blessings to the world come through Israel. See Rom. 9: 4, 5: “Who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.” Therefore without Christ, the gentiles are separate, “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Eph. 2: 12. And the same connection shows us that when they do accept of Christ, they are “no more strangers and sojourners, but . . . are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone.” Verses 19, 20.
Further, these blessed privileges are not told us in the ancient prophets, and he who reads from the ancient prophets alone is bound to go astray; for the apostle expressly tells us, in this same epistle, that God had made known to him the mystery by revelation, “which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to wit, that the gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” See Eph. 3: 5-6. This makes it very clear that there is absolutely no distinction between Jew and gentile in Christ Jesus. All are the true Israel of God. This too is stated in Rom. 9: 6-8: “For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel; neither, because they are Abraham’s seed, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed.” And in the tenth chapter, the eleventh and twelfth verses: “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon Him.”
Consider the original meaning of “Israel.” It had come to mean to the Jews simply a descendant from Jacob, but that was not the divine meaning. The divine meaning was, one who had faith in God, who prevailed with Him. The fleshly heir of Isaac was Jacob, the supplanter.589The true heir of the promise was Israel, the prevailer. Read the story in Gen. 32: 22-30.
Now this is the thought throughout Romans 11. First of all, the apostle wants it understood that “God did not cast off His people which He foreknew.” And he gave as a proof of this that he himself, a Christian, was an Israelite of the seed of Abraham and of the tribe of Benjamin. He also shows that God had a remnant in the time of Elijah, even though the vast mass of the Hebrews were cast off because of their sins. But in the fifth verse he tells us on what the remnant is based: “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” But it is by grace and not by works; it is by promise and not by the flesh.
The prediction of the breaking off of Israel is given by Jeremiah. The fulfillment came at last when every tribe, as a tribe, turned from the Lord. But the Jews as individuals were not broken off. Paul demonstrates that in his own life. About one third of them accepted of Christianity, and they were God’s remnant; and all those who came in from the gentiles were equally God’s children, as the scriptures before quoted prove, as does also Gal. 3: 29: “If ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.”
What is meant then by the “fullness” of Rom. 11: 25? It certainly cannot mean that all the Jews would be saved; and yet if the fullness referred to the Jewish people as a people, it would naturally include them all. You could not call this a fullness which took in only about a third.
As regards the fullness of the gentiles, if it referred to men, it must take in all the gentiles; but no one claims that. To what, then, does the “fullness” refer? Read the verse: “For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fullness of the gentiles be come in.” This hardening did not include all Israel, as before remarked; for about one third of the Jews at the time of Christ accepted of the gospel. But the nation itself rejected Him, and the nation itself was cut off. But what was the fullness? The fullness is found in Christ Jesus. This is expressly stated in Col. 1: 19: “For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell.” Therefore through Him the reconciliation is made by the blood of the cross, through Him, whether things upon the earth or things in the heavens. He is the one hope of all, whether Jews or gentiles. Thus we read in John 1: 16 of the Jews, “For of His fullness we all received, and grace for grace.” All who accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, as did the early disciples, received of His fullness. In Col. 2: 9, 10 the same thing is taught regarding the gentiles—“For in Him”—that is, in Christ—“dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Him ye are made full.” In Him therefore is found the fullness of the gentiles.
In God’s great overruling wisdom and power, the very rejection of the Jewish nation was used as a means of extending His gospel to all the world, and to every one on an equal basis. No longer was it necessary to keep that people together after the Seed had been manifested. The gospel was offered to all the world, and all who accepted it became the Israel of God. “Salvation is of the Jews.” John 4: 22. The receiving of that salvation makes one himself a Jew, a true Jew, Rom. 2: 28, 29. The only hope there is for the Jews, then, is for them to come to God by simple faith. They have the same hope as the gentiles, and nothing else; consequently the apostle’s warning in Romans 11, verse 20. He declares that the Jews were broken off because of unbelief, not that the gentiles might be grafted in, but because the Jews let go of the life of God. Hence the gentiles should not be high-minded, but fear; for if Israel, the natural branches, were not spared, the scions that had been grafted in, if they rejected the stock, could not be spared; and if the Jews continued not in their unbelief, they should be grafted in again. The twenty-sixth verse tells us that all Israel must come in in that way, and “so all Israel shall be saved,” that is, by faith. Verse 20. There is no other way. God wants all the world—Jew, gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond and free. All are lost without Him. All can come in on the same basis. Therefore the last great message that God sends out to the world goes to every kindred and nation and tongue and people—Jew as well as gentile, black as well as white; for there is no distinction with Him. Christ died for all.
Raised Up from His Deathbed
By David Paulson, M. D.
Was Lying at Death’s Door—The Undertaker Was Sent—A Season of Earnest Prayer, and Immediate Return to Health
By DAVID PAULSON, M. D.
Elder R. A. Underwood, whose experience is related in the following article, is a veteran minister of the gospel. He is a plain, matter-of-fact, practical person, and is not given to excitement in the least. His word is taken at par wherever he is known. Therefore his experience, as he told it to Dr. Paulson, is most encouraging indeed, because of the reliability of the source.
Editor.
WHEN I was at the recent Missouri camp meeting, Brother R. A. Underwood told me about a severe illness in early life, and of the inspiring and immediate response to the prayer of two humble but earnest workers who knelt at his bedside in that critical hour. Believing that the account of this incident will be as helpful and encouraging to many others as it was to me personally, I am taking the responsibility of passing it on to the large circle of SIGNS readers just as he told it to me.
PUZZLED PHYSICIANS CONSULT
“It was away back in 1873. Shortly after being exposed to measles, I was out all day in a terribly cold blizzard. I was just then breaking out, and I became so thoroughly chilled that before night I was suffering from a severe cold, and the measles had struck in, and I became deathly sick. In about two weeks’ time, I was so low that I could only speak in whispers. When my bed had to be changed, I was carefully lifted out by two men.
“A little later, I began to suffer the most excruciating pain across the small of my back, and a spot about as large as my hand turned black. The physician who had my case in charge believed that mortification was about to set in. Three physicians were called in counsel, and none of them held out any hope for my recovery.
TOLD THE UNDERTAKER TO COME
“Miss Reynolds, to whom I was engaged to be married, had been with me for two weeks, assisting constantly in my care. Brother Sanford Rogers was the elder of the church to which I belonged, and he also had come in to help care for me. Finally I failed so rapidly that the doctor told Miss Reynolds and the members of the family that if they wished to say anything to me, they better say it without delay, and that as he returned to the village, he would tell the undertaker to come out to the house to lay me out, because I could not possibly live over two hours at the most.”
“I’VE GOT HIM”
“Immediately after the doctor left my room, I seemed to see, standing at the foot of my bed, a tall personage whose features in every way showed marked intelligence, but with a keen, shrewd eye that would almost pierce you through. With a sort of hellish grin, he pointed to me, and said, ‘I’ve got him.’ The impression made on my mind was that this was the devil contending for my life.
“Standing about three feet nearer to me, at the side of my bed, was another being, the most beautiful I have ever beheld. With a wave of his hand, he seemed to be warning away the one standing at the foot of the bed, and said, ‘Not so sure!’
“As I had given my heart to God, I was not afraid to die, but the impression was left on my mind that in some way the devil would triumph if I did die. When this being at my bedside made the wave of his hand, the whole scene passed from my vision. As far as I know, I was in my right mind. I was not asleep; it was not a dream.”
“YOU WILL NOT BE WITH US LONG”
“Miss Reynolds, having heard what the doctor said, came in directly and knelt by my bedside. In a whisper she said to me, ‘Rufus, do you know how sick you are?’ In a low whisper I said, ‘Yes.’ Miss Reynolds continued, ‘I feel you will not be with us long.’ I answered in a whisper, ‘A very short time, unless God heals at once.’ Then I said, ‘Ellen, have you any faith?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ Then I asked her to call in Brother Rogers to join her in prayer for my recovery.
“She went to the door and called him. He replied he would be there in a few minutes. She said, ‘Don’t wait, for in a few minutes it may be too late.’ He came running, thinking that I was dying, and then she told him that I had requested that they pray for my healing, and also told him that the doctor said I could live only two hours.”
TOUCHED WITH HEALING POWER
“They both bowed at my bedside. I shall never forget Brother Rogers’s brief prayer. He asked, in substance, that if it could please God and glorify His name, the angel of the Lord might touch me that instant with healing power. No sooner had those words been spoken than the pain that was then so severe, as if it was cutting me in two, ceased instantly, and a thrill of power went through590my being. I rose to a sitting posture in the bed, and with a clear voice said, ‘Praise God, I shall live, and not die.’ Brother Rogers closed his prayer with a word of thanksgiving. Then Miss Reynolds began to pray that the Lord might heal me. I said: ‘Ellen, do not ask the Lord to do what He has already done. Just thank Him for it.’
“I had not slept a moment for nearly three days. I had apparently been in the very agonies of death; but now I said to Miss Reynolds: ‘I am all right now. God has healed me, and all I desire is to be left alone so that I may sleep. I would like to rest.’”
“Within half an hour, the village undertaker, accompanied by another man, came to lay me out, as the doctor had informed them that I would be dead by the time they reached the house. Miss Reynolds told him, as he came in, that I was better, and that she did not think he would be needed; but he insisted on staying, and said he would look after me.”
“IT BEATS THE DEVIL”
“I persuaded Miss Reynolds to retire, as she had lost much sleep. About midnight, her anxiety led her to come down to see how I was getting along. She asked the undertaker, ‘How is Mr. Underwood?’ I shall never forget his remark. He was a profane man, and he said: ‘Miss Reynolds, it beats the devil. I came here to lay this man out, and he just gets up and helps himself. When I watched over him a week ago, he couldn’t help himself in the least.’ Miss Reynolds remarked: ‘It has beat the devil. Mr. Underwood has been healed.’”
EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER
The Bible recognizes various remedial agencies, such as baths in the case of Naaman, fig poultice for Hezekiah, clay ointment and hydrotherapy for a certain blind man whom Christ met, regulation of diet for Timothy; but it also recognizes the prayer remedy, and assures us that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16.
And whenever we are brought face to face with sickness and suffering, we should feel it a privilege, no matter what else is done for the patient, to commit the case to the care of the great Healer of both soul and body.
“We are to be guided by true theology and common sense. Our souls are to be surrounded by the atmosphere of heaven. Men and women are to watch themselves; they are to be constantly on guard, allowing no word or act that would cause their good to be evil spoken of.”
MOTTOES, MOTTOES
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BOOK NOTICES
The Pacific Coast by Pen and Camera
JUST now, many people are visiting the Pacific coast, from all parts of the world, and particularly from the various parts of the United States. Many of them are especially desirous of seeing the most interesting places, and of enjoying the finest scenery that may be afforded among the mountains and rivers of this great section of our continent.
Among the books that have been printed giving such information, none are superior, if indeed any are equal, to two volumes prepared by John H. Williams, the one entitled “Guardians of the Columbia,” and the other, “Yosemite and Its High Sierra.”
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Persons purchasing these volumes will without any question realize that they have secured some rare treasures. Our visitors from the East will have something very beautiful to show their friends, and the volumes will be helpful to them in refreshing their memories when they undertake to tell of some of the things they have seen while visiting among the mountains and along the rivers of this portion of the continent; while the resident of the Pacific coast will be glad to find in these books, pictured out and described, many scenes that he possibly may not be able to visit personally. Even if he has been able to see them, he will enjoy these volumes, because of the help they will give him in keeping the treasures of nature in mind.
“The Guardians of the Columbia” is furnished in three styles. The edition de luxe is $2.50, and the library edition is $1.50, with sixteen cents added for postage. The news stand edition on light paper is seventy-five cents, with eight cents extra for postage.
“Yosemite and Its High Sierra” also comes in three styles of binding, the edition de luxe at $2.50, the library edition $1.50, but the news stand edition is one dollar. Sixteen cents is the charge for postage on the first two styles, and eight cents on the news stand edition. Address the author and publisher, John H. Williams, at 424 Sheldon Building, San Francisco, California, or at Provident Building, Takoma, Washington.
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Ministry of Angels
By I. H. Evans
By ELDER I. H. EVANS
ARE ANGELS the souls of the departed, the disembodied spirits of the dead, or a higher order of beings than man? Were they created? And what is their place in God’s great family? Are there evil angels as well as good angels? And if so, were they so created, or have they apostatized from their former sinless state? If they did apostatize, how and when did it come about? May they not have access to the minds of mankind, and thus cause some of the phenomena of modern spiritism which are puzzling scientists to-day? Was Satan himself an angel at one time? If so, how did he become the archdeceiver, the enemy of all righteousness, the devil?
Do we each have a guardian angel? If so, what are his duties? Are there really such beings as recording angels, who keep records of our words and acts for reference in the future Judgment, or are all such references merely spiritual terms, which we, as finite beings, cannot fully grasp?
All these and many other questions of similar import regarding angels and their work are considered in the book that is just coming from the press, entitled “Ministry of Angels,” by Elder Evans. To those who are acquainted with the author’s clear, direct way of speaking and writing, it is unnecessary to say that this is a volume of unusual interest and importance. The following chapter titles show the order in which the subject is treated:
ANGELS EXISTED BEFORE MAN
ANGELS REAL CREATED BEINGS
THE FALL OF HEAVENLY ANGELS
A HIGHER ORDER THAN MAN
NUMBER OF THE ANGELS
GLORY OF THE ANGELS
POWER OF THE ANGELS
RAPIDITY OF ANGELS’ MOVEMENTS
THE GUARDIAN ANGELS
THE RECORDING ANGELS
AGENTS IN DIVINE REVELATION
ANGEL MINISTRY TO ABRAHAM
ANGEL MINISTRY TO JACOB
ANGEL MINISTRY TO ISRAEL
JESUS AND THE ANGELS
ANGEL MINISTRY IN THE GOSPEL
ANGELS AND THE SECOND ADVENT
ANGELS AND THE REDEEMED IN GLORY
The book contains 227 pages, has a beautiful frontispiece representing an angel guarding two small children from imminent but unsuspected danger, together with engraved chapter headings and title page. Bound in heavy paper, 35c; cloth, 75c. Prices ten per cent higher in Canada. Address your tract society, or
Pacific Press Publishing Assn.
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Signs of the Times Premium Offers
By James Cochran
Proposition No. 1
“Signs of the Times” Weekly the balance of the year 1915 and all of 1916 with “Questions and Answers” for $2.00.
To the SIGNS OF THE TIMES Family:
Proposition No. 2
“Questions and Answers” Free to any individual paying for five or more SIGNS mailed to different addresses for a year.
You are wondering why a whole page in the SIGNS has been turned over to the circulation department. Possibly you think it is for the purpose of exploiting the good qualities of the SIGNS, but it is not. The day is past when we have to spend much time and energy telling of the good features of this paper. Its value is thoroughly established. We want to tell you about one of the most interesting and helpful books that was ever printed by any publishing house. The title of the book is “Questions and Answers.” For more than thirty years there has been a department in the SIGNS known as the “Question Corner.” Many hard and puzzling questions have been answered in this department. Difficult texts of Scripture have been forcefully and clearly explained. Something like three hundred of the hardest questions, with the answers, have been reset and printed in book form, bearing title as given above. It contains two hundred fifty-six pages, with topical and Scriptural index. “Questions and Answers” has never been placed on the market except as a premium with the SIGNS; no price has ever been fixed. Its value as a technical work, for such it is, would be about $2.50. A short time ago we sent a copy to one of our most critical readers. His response as given below, indicates his estimation of the book:
“I think it is indeed a valuable book. I have wondered more than once why the splendid answers to these various puzzling questions which have been printed in the SIGNS from time to time have not been put out in convenient reference form, and I am sure the people everywhere will welcome it as just what they have been looking for.”
How can I secure a copy of “Questions and Answers”? has been asked many times in the past few months. We have this extraordinary offer to make:
The SIGNS one year and the book — — — — — — $2.00
The SIGNS two years and the book — — — — — — 3.50
Two SIGNS one year and the book — — — — — — 3.50
SPECIAL OFFER
Five SIGNS one year to one person with the book — — — — — — — — $6.00
Five SIGNS one year to separate addresses and one book — — — — — 6.25
EXTRA SPECIAL OFFER
The SIGNS for the rest of 1915 and all of 1916 and one book — — — — — $2.00
We are sure many of the readers of the SIGNS will take advantage of the offers made. Send your subscription to our representative in your state.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, James Cochran, Circulation Manager.
Proposition No. 3
“Questions and Answers” Free with each church club of five or more copies ordered for a year. This book makes a valuable addition to any church library.
Proposition No. 4
“Questions and Answers” Free to any individual paying for a club of five or more SIGNS for a year mailed to private address or with church club.
As a “Fetish or Formula”
DR. FRANK CRANE, in the Christian Herald, most truthfully says: “Millions follow Christ as a sort of fetish, or formula of salvation, or rigmarole of superstition, who have not the slightest conception of His program of life.”
“Jesus had the kind of courage that can wait, suffer, bear insult, and be crucified.”
And the reason why so many people believe that the world is getting better all the time, and that we have whole “Christian nations,” is because they have not risen above the “fetish” and “formula” and “superstition” plane, to learn from practical experience the life of the blessed Christ, who is the Prince of peace. The Master has uttered the warning: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7:22, 23.
