Signs of the Times, Vol. 9, No. 44. (11/22/1883)

Signs of the Times

Nov 22, 1883

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 22, 1883

The Saviour Glorified.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

CHRIST had sojourned in the world for thirty-three years; he had endured its scorn, insult, and mockery; he had been rejected and crucified. Now, when about to ascend to his throne of glory—as he reviews the ingratitude of the people he came to save—will he not withdraw his sympathy and love from them? Will not his affections be centered on that world where he is appreciated, and where sinless angels adore him, and wait to do his bidding? No; his promise to those loved ones whom he leaves on earth is "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Before his conflict, he had prayed the Father that they might not be taken out of the world, but should be kept from the evil which is in the world.

Jesus led the way to the vicinity of Bethany. He then paused, and they all gathered about him. Beams of light seemed to radiate from his countenance, as he looked with deep love upon his disciples. He upbraided them not for their faults and failures; but words of unutterable tenderness were the last which fell upon their ears from the lips of their Lord. With hands outstretched in blessing them, and as if in assurance of his protecting care, he slowly ascended from among them, drawn heavenward by a power stronger than any earthly attraction. As he passed upward, the awe struck disciples looked with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. A cloud of glory received him out of their sight, and at the same moment there floated down to their charmed senses the sweetest and most joyous music from the angel choir.

While their gaze was still riveted upward, voices addressed them which sounded like the music which had just charmed them. They turned, and saw two beings in the form of men; yet their heavenly character was immediately discerned by the disciples, whom they addressed in comforting accents, saying, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven." These angels were of the company that had been waiting in a shining cloud to escort Jesus to his throne; and in sympathy and love for those whom the Saviour had left, they came to remove all uncertainty from their minds, and to give them the assurance that he would come to earth again.

All Heaven was waiting to welcome the Saviour to the celestial courts. As he ascended he led the way, and the multitude of captives whom he had raised from the dead at the time when he came forth from the tomb, followed him. The heavenly host, with songs of joy and triumph, escorted him upward. At the portals of the city of God an innumerable company of angels awaited his coming. As they approached the gates of the city, the angels who were escorting the Majesty of Heaven, in triumphant tones addressed the company at the portals: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!"

The waiting angels at the gates of the city inquire in rapturous strains, "Who is this King of Glory?" The escorting angels joyously reply in songs of triumph, "The Lord, strong and mighty! The Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!" Again the waiting angels ask, "Who is this King of Glory?" and the escorting angels respond in melodious strains, "The Lord of hosts! He is the King of Glory!" Then the portals of the city of God are widely opened, and the heavenly train pass in amid a burst of angelic music. All the heavenly host surround their majestic Commander as he takes his position upon the throne of the Father.

With the deepest adoration and joy, the hosts of angels bow before him, while the glad shout rings through the courts of Heaven: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing!" Songs of triumph mingle with music from angelic harps, till Heaven seems to overflow with delightful harmony, and inconceivable joy and praise. The Son of God has triumphed over the prince of darkness, and conquered death and the grave. Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming: "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever!"

He is seated by the side of his Father on his throne. The Saviour presents the captives he has rescued from the bonds of death, at the price of his own life. His hands place immortal crowns upon their brows; for they are the representatives and samples of those who shall be redeemed by the blood of Christ, from all nations, tongues, and people, and come forth from the dead; when he shall call the just from their graves at his second coming. Then shall they see the marks of Calvary in the glorified body of the Son of God. Their greatest joy will be found in the presence of Him who sitteth on the throne; and the enraptured saints will exclaim, My Beloved is mine and I am his! He is the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely!

The disciples returned to Jerusalem, not mourning, but full of joy. When last they looked upon their Lord, his countenance shone with heavenly brightness, and he smiled lovingly upon them. Those hands that had so often been stretched forth in the act of blessing the sick and the afflicted, and in rebuking demons—those hands which had been bruised by the cruel nails, were mercifully extended, as though in the disciples they embraced the whole world, and called down a blessing upon all the followers of Christ.

Beams of light seemed to emanate from those dear hands and to fall upon the watching, waiting ones.

The most precious fact to the disciples in the ascension of Jesus was that he went from them into Heaven in the tangible form of their divine Teacher. The very same Jesus, who had walked, and talked, and prayed with them; who had broken bread with them; who had been with them in their boats on the lake; who had sought retirement with them in the groves; and who had that very day toiled with them up the steep ascent of Olives,—had ascended to Heaven in the form of humanity. And the heavenly messengers had assured them that the very same Jesus whom they had seen go up into Heaven, should come again in like manner as he had ascended. This assurance has ever been, and will be till the close of time, the hope and joy of all true lovers of Christ.

The disciples rejoiced, not that they were deprived of their Master and Teacher, for this was to them a cause for personal mourning rather than joy. But Jesus had assured them that he would send the Comforter, as an equivalent for the visible presence. He had said, "If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father." They rejoiced because Jesus had brought out salvation for man; he had answered the claims of the law, and had become a perfect offering for man; he had ascended to Heaven to carry forward the work of atonement begun on earth. He was the Advocate of man, his intercessor with the Father.

When the disciples returned to Jerusalem alone, people looked at them, expecting to see in their faces expressions of sorrow, confusion, and defeat; but they saw there gladness and triumph. They did not wail over disappointed hopes, but were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. The priests and rulers were at a loss to understand this mystery. After the discouraging events connected with the trial, condemnation, and ignominious death of their Master, the disciples were supposed to be defeated and ashamed; but they now came forth with buoyant spirits, and countenances beaming with a joy not born of earth.

They told the wonderful story of Christ's glorious resurrection, and ascension to Heaven, and many believed their testimony. The disciples had no longer a vague distrust of the future; they knew that Jesus was in Heaven; that his sympathies were unchanged; that he was identifying himself with suffering humanity, receiving the prayers of his people; that he was pleading with God the merits of his own precious blood, showing his wounded hands and feet, as a remembrance of the price he had paid for his redeemed. They knew that he would come again, escorted by the heavenly host, and they looked upon this event, not as a dreaded calamity, but as an occasion for great joy and longing anticipation. They knew that he would stand again upon the Mount of Olives, while the Hebrew halleluiahs should mingle with Gentile hosannas, and myriads of voices should unite in the glad acclamation of "Crown him Lord of all!" They knew that he had ascended to Heaven to prepare mansions for his obedient children, and that he would return and take them unto himself.

With joy the disciples related to their brethren the news of their Lord's ascension. They now felt that they had a Friend at the throne of God, and were eager to prefer their requests to the Father in the name of Jesus. They gathered together in solemn awe and bowed in prayer, repeating to each other the assurance of the Saviour, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." During the ten days

following the ascension, they, with one accord, devoted the time to prayer and praise, waiting for the descent of the Holy Ghost. They extended the hand of faith higher and higher, with the mighty argument, "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

He who considered it not robbery to be equal with God, once trod the earth, bearing our suffering and sorrowing nature, and tempted in all points like as we are; and now he appears in the presence of God as our great High Priest, ready to accept the repentance and to answer the prayers of his people, and, through the merits of his own righteousness, to present them to the Father. He raises his wounded hands to God, and claims their blood-bought pardon. I have graven them on the palms of my hands, he pleads. Those memorial wounds of my humiliation and anguish secure to my church the best gifts of Omnipotence.

What a source of joy to the disciples, to know that they had such a Friend in Heaven to plead in their behalf! Through the visible ascension of Christ all their views and contemplation of Heaven are changed. Their minds had formerly dwelt upon it as a region of unlimited space, tenanted by spirits without substance. Now Heaven was connected with the thought of Jesus, whom they had loved and reverenced above all others, with whom they had conversed and journeyed, whom they had handled, even in his resurrected body, who had spoken hope and comfort to their hearts, and who, while the words were upon his lips, had been taken up before their eyes, the tones of his voice coming back to them as the cloudy chariot of angels received him: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

WE LOOK FOR THE SAVIOUR.

By A Lady of Hull

I CANNOT tell, I may not know, When Jesus will be here; But some day, when we least expect, I know he will appear. Then, Lord, may I be washed from sin, And pure and spotless be, That I may look for thee with joy, And long thy face to see.

I should not like him when he comes, A wandering lamb to find; If I were idle, selfish, proud, Untruthful, or unkind,— How I should try to hide my face, And from his presence flee! I could not look for him with joy, Or long his face to see.

Lord Jesus, as the years go by, And thine own day draws near, O make me know that I am thine, For then I need not fear. If I am cleansed and kept from sin, From Satan's power set free, Then I may look for thee with joy, And long thy face to see. —A Lady of Hull.

Address to the Baptists.

We proceed to address those of you who regard the sabbatic law as having been nailed to the cross, and consider the first day of the week as an institution entirely new, regulated as to its observance wholly by the New Testament.

You, whom we now address, are exempt from some of the inconsistencies which we have exposed; but your theory labors under very serious difficulties, and is to be regarded, on the whole, as more obnoxious to the interests of religion than the one we have been considering.

According to your position, the New Testament recognizes no Sabbath at all. Do not start at this charge. That it is repugnant to your feelings, we allow. You have never thought of anything else than entire abstinence from labor on the first day of the week. It is your day of rest as well as worship. But on what ground do you make it a day of rest? What example have you for doing so? What law of the New Testament requires you to lay aside all your secular business? As sin is the transgression of the law, and where no law is, there is no transgression (1 John 3, 4; Rom. 4:15), how do you make it appear to be sin to work on the day in question? It is by the commandment that sin becomes exceeding sinful. Rom. 7:13. By what commandment do you make it appear sinful to work on Sunday? These are questions of the highest importance.

Now suppose one of your brethren attends public worship on the first day of the week, and—to make his conformity to what is supposed to be apostolic example as perfect as possible—participates in the breaking of bread. He then goes home, and labors diligently till the day is closed. By what law will you convince him of sin? Not the law of the Sabbath as contained in the Decalogue, for that you hold to be abolished. Not any law of the New Testament which says, "Keep the first day of the week holy; in it thou shalt not do any work," for there is no such law. Not the law of apostolic example, for there is no proof that the apostles ever gave such example. The very utmost that you can with any show of reason pretend of their example is, that they met together for worship and breaking of bread. To this example, your brother has conformed to the very letter—who can say he has not in spirit also? What now will you do with him? "The Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants." The Bible, therefore, is the rule by which he is to be tried. Convict him of sin by this rule, if you can.

But the case becomes still more difficult, when you come to apply it to those who are without the pale of the church. We have already seen that apostolic example concerns merely the ordering and arrangement of the church. Attempt now to convince the unbeliever of sin in working on the first day of the week. In order to do this, charge apostolic example upon him. What is his reply? "I know not," says he, "that I am bound to imitate them in this matter. How does it appear that I am? I will admit, for argument's sake, that they celebrated the resurrection of Christ on Sunday by religious worship; but they also broke bread and partook of it by way of celebrating his death. If their example binds me in one particular, why not in the other? Prove to me," says he, "that any but the church assembled on the first day for worship, and I will do so too. But in the absence of all such proof, I must conclude that their example has nothing to do with me; unless, indeed, you can make it appear that their example and practice were in conformity to some law, which commanded them as rational creatures, independent of their relation to Christ and his church. When you can produce that law, then I shall feel bound to obey it, and imitate the apostles in their obedience to it; but not till then." Such is the reasoning by which an unbeliever may set aside all your attempts to charge sin upon him. Where, brethren, is your law, which like a barbed arrow, pierces the very soul, and fastens guilt upon the conscience? Where is that law which speaks out its thunders, saying, "Thus saith the Almighty God, the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, It is the Sabbath day; in it thou shalt not do any work?" To throw aside the law, which cuts and flames every way, reaching soul and spirit, joints and marrow, in order to deal with the ungodly by mere apostolic example, is like muffling the sword, lest it should give a deadly wound. Apostolic example is indeed powerful with those whose hearts have been made tender by the Spirit of God, but with others, powerless.

We are persuaded, brethren, that your conscientious scruples about laboring on the first day of the week never resulted from the mere contemplation of apostolic example. Such example, it is true, is all the law you acknowledge; but this is the theory you have adopted since you came to maturity, and began to think for yourselves. Your scruples have an earlier and different origin. They commenced with your childhood, when you were taught to consider the day as holy time. It was then carefully instilled into your mind, that God had, by express law, forbidden you to desecrate the day, and that you would incur his displeasure in case you should do so. The idea was then imbibed, that if you did not keep the day you would violate the fourth commandment. This idea has grown with your growth, and strengthened with your strength. It has obtained such commanding influence over your feelings, that you cannot comfortably forbear keeping a day of rest, though your theory does not require it. Even to this day, a strong impression rests upon your minds that the fourth commandment contains much of moral excellence—too much to be thrown altogether away, notwithstanding your system of theology teaches its abrogation. Such is the true secret of your tenderness of conscience. Apostolic example has in reality nothing to do with it. Following the secret monitions of conscience, your prosperity is promoted in spite of your theological system. But sound reason discovers that your experience and your theory are in opposition to each other. Some of the more thinking ones among you are aware of this, and are continually aiming at such a modification of their theory, that their experience will harmonize with it. But be assured that there will be an everlasting conflict, till you are brought to acknowledge fully and heartily the claims of the Sabbath law.

We are aware of that system of theology which regards the New Testament as furnishing the only code of laws by which men are bound since the death of Christ. We have looked at this doctrine with attention; and so far as the order, government, and ordinances of the church are concerned, we admit its truth. As the laws and ordinances of the Jewish church were determined by the Old Testament, so the laws and ordinances of the Christian church are determined solely by the New Testament. Therefore, we should say at once, the argument is yours, if the Sabbath were a church ordinance. In such case, however, none but the church has a Sabbath.

But the question is not concerning church ordinances. In these we follow the New Testament as closely as yourselves. The question is concerning an institution which has respect to mankind at large—to man as man; for the Saviour teaches us that the Sabbath was made for man. Now, it will be a very hard matter to prove that when men as rational creatures are concerned, the only code of laws by which they are bound is the New Testament. Let us put the matter to the test. How will you prove that it is unlawful for a man to marry his sister, his daughter, or any other of near kin? The New Testament utters not a word on the subject. It is not enough to say, It is implied in the law which forbids adultery; for it must first be proved to be a species of adultery to do so. Nor will it do to say, The common sense of mankind is a sufficient law on the subject; for the moment we suppose that its unlawfulness is to be determined in this way, we abandon the argument that the New Testament is the only code of laws, and resort to the common sense of mankind as furnishing a part of the code. But if the common sense of mankind shall furnish a part of the code by which we are bound, who shall undertake to say how large a part? Besides, on this principle, the book of divine revelation is not complete and perfect. It is a lamp to our feet only in part, and the common sense of mankind makes out the deficiency! You are, therefore, driven to take your stand again upon the New Testament. Finding you there again, we repeat the question, How do you prove by your code that a man may not marry his sister? It is impossible. You must, of necessity, look to that division of the Scriptures usually called the Old Testament; for the New says not one word about it.

Let us turn now to the 18th chapter of the book of Leviticus, and we shall find a collection of laws exactly to the point. "None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him," &c. Verse 6. The degrees of kindred are then expressly marked. Will it be objected, that these laws were given particularly to the Jews, and to no other people? We admit they were given to the Jews, as indeed was the whole system of revelation in that age; but we cannot admit that they concerned no other class of people; for it is expressly shown in that chapter, that the matters of which they took cognizance were regarded as abominations in the Gentiles. Because of such things, the fierce wrath of Jehovah came down upon the Canaanites, and they were cast out of the land as loathsomeness. Verses 24, 30. If these things were viewed as abominable in the Canaanites, they surely were not ceremonial pollutions. They were not mere Jewish laws. The fallacy of the doctrine is therefore sufficiently exposed.—From the Seventh-day Baptists.

Couple Heaven with It.

An aged Christian had paused to rest himself as he trudged along under a heavy load on a warm summer day. An acquaintance had just accosted him, when a splendid carriage rolled past, in which a haughty man rode, whose whole appearance bespoke a life of luxurious ease.

"What do you think of the Providence of which you sometimes speak?" said an acquaintance. "You know that that is a wicked man; yet he spreads himself like a green bay-tree. His eyes stand out with fatness; he is not plagued as other men; while you, believing that all the silver and gold is the Lord's, serving him and trusting in his providence, and toiling and sweating in your old age, get little more than bread and water. How can you reconcile this with a Providence?"

The aged saint looked at the questioner with amazement, and, with the greatest earnestness, replied: "Couple Heaven with it! couple Heaven with it, and then?" Yes, that addition sweetens many a bitter cup, and enriches many a poor lot. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal."—Times of Refreshing.

The Widow’s Two Mites

Some people, because they cannot give as much as they would like to, will not give anything. But this was not the way with the poor woman, noticed by our Saviour, who cast two mites into the Lord's treasury.

A Solemn Appeal.

By Editor

THE Lincoln, Nebraska, State Journal kept a reporter in the field every day during the camp-meeting of Seventh-day Adventists at Crete. His reports were very favorable, even complimentary, and the synopses of discourses quite liberal. From the Journal report of a discourse by Mrs. E. G. White, we take the following:—

We are standing as a brand in the burning. What a position we are in! The whole world is in darkness. Deception is prevalent everywhere; and here is the remnant church taking its stand on an important truth. I wrote these great truths out in my fourth volume, I felt that we are not ready and I said to my son, I must go. He argued that I ought not, when my health was so poor, but I felt that I must go and talk once more at our meetings. If I could only tell you how my heart is stirred when I feel that the time is at hand, and so many are unprepared. We have no time to devote to frivolity, to backsliding from God. We must be preparing to walk through time and eternity. The work is going on in the sanctuary, yet how sensual, how sleepy, how indifferent we are. How much our young men and our young women could do! What rich experience they could have! It seems sometimes as if there were a paralysis upon our people; that they do not realize how near they are to the end of the earth. We need more standard-bearers. We need more missionaries to go forth into the world.

We feel at this hour we ought to understand our position in history and prophecy. We want to know if you understand this as well as you do your wheat-fields and your cattle and your hogs, whether you are purifying yourselves line upon line and precept upon precept. So many look upon confession of Christ as a step down. But O, what could be a greater privilege than to be a child of God, children of the heavenly King. This is not taking a step down, not making a sacrifice. I have been engaged in this work forty years. I have fainted down upon the floor for want of food, with an infant in my arms. I have known poverty. I have laid dear ones in the grave, but I have never made a sacrifice. I have been letting treasures go here, but I have put them in the bank in Heaven.

But Christ has made a sacrifice for us. Christ, the majesty of Heaven. We make no sacrifice. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. I have proved it for forty years.

Mothers and fathers there is a great work devolving upon you—to instruct your children aright. When you do not do this, you have imposed a terrible burden upon them. They grow up with their characters deformed and crooked, and they must be all made over again. In allowing children to be disobedient you are teaching them to be rebellious against the commands of God. The first missionary duty you have is to your families. You will see the power of God when you begin the work in your families. It will do more than all the preaching. A family that has moral backbone will sway and not be swayed. Work just as earnestly with your family as with those outside. Are you afraid to talk with your children because your fretful and impatient disposition has alienated you from them? Then mend. Bind them to you by the golden words of love. All this fretting and fault-finding is the work of Satan. What a world this would be if we were all true Christians.

YEARNINGS.

By Mrs. Stratton Beers

MUCH more Christ-like would I be, More like Him who died for me. May his love shine through my eyes, Into mind and make it wise.

May my voice in accent sweet, Tell his saving power complete. Daily grow my life more pure; Like an anchor hope more sure.

May the voice of God's dear word, In my ears more oft be heard; All my walk with it accord, Each step shown me by my Lord.

Daily may I less and less, Trust my own self-righteousness! May his Spirit fill me quite, Putting "self" all out of sight.

May I grow by his dear grace, Into likeness of his face; And when the glad "shout" shall sound Without blemish I be found, Waiting with a sweet surprise To be "caught up to the skies." —Mrs. Stratton Beers, in Sabbath Recorder. Oakland, Cal., Sept. 3, 1883.

Which Is It?

By R. F. Cottrell

Is the book of Revelation a hidden mystery, or a revelation? Is its meaning "concealed under the apostle's words"? or are these words used by the spirit of God "to show to his servants" that which was to come to pass in the future? The following extracts are taken from notes and comments in a family Bible. After stating some views that have been given by expositors on the seals and trumpets of the book of Revelation, the author speaks of chapters 10 and 11 in this way: "On comparing the affair of the book with Dan. 8 and 9, and Eze. 2 and 3, several things appear to be similar in both, but no exposition can be given of their meaning." Then he says:—

"The remainder of the book has been, and continues to be, the source of controversy; and questions have been raised upon it that have distracted the Christian world. Into these we shall not enter, because we hold it to be quite impossible that mortal man can explain the mystery concealed under the apostle's words."

Now compare this idea of a "mystery concealed" under inexplicable words, of which "no exposition can be given of their meaning," with the declarations of the Spirit itself concerning the nature and design of the book—"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. . . . Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein."

What the Spirit of God calls a revelation, that is, something revealed, men call an unexplainable mystery; and that which "God gave" to show to the servants of Jesus Christ future events, they hold to be a "mystery concealed," something of which "no exposition can be given of its meaning." If this be so, the reader is not "blessed," for he does not understand it, and cannot; it is in vain to try. And he cannot "keep those things which are written therein," for he does not know what they are. The fearful warning and threatening of unmingled wrath against those who shall worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark, he cannot heed, because it is impossible for him to know what is meant by these terms; and the commandments of the message (Rev. 14:9-12) he cannot keep, not knowing what they are. And he may, with apparent modesty and reverence, conclude, with our author, that as the commandments of God have been, and still are, a "source of controversy," questions having been raised upon them "that have distracted the Christian world," it is better not to enter into these, it being quite impossible for mortal man to understand what God requires.

Look at it. High Heaven has sent us a letter, and has pronounced a special blessing upon those who read it and heed its behests. But the receiver says he cannot read it, it is impossible to understand it, and therefore he will not be to blame if he does not heed its injunctions. If this position is true, of course he is not to blame. But is this the way to treat a communication from God? Did you ever receive a letter from a dear friend, pronounce it impossible to read it, and so not try? I never gave up in that way. Our editor forwarded a communication to me which he said he could not read; and I did not blame him for not taking time, in the midst of his pressing duties, to decipher it; but by a determined effort I mastered it. And can we not take the time, and make the effort, to read the last great prophecy of the book of God, especially as he has pronounced his special blessing upon the effort? Oh, that men professing godliness would cease to insult the Majesty of Heaven, by treating what he has communicated to us for our good, even for our eternal salvation, as an incomprehensible mystery!

R. F. COTTRELL.

Self-Reflection and Righteous Living

HE who reflects upon his own conduct and daily walk, faithfully dealing with himself, setting his own affections and thoughts in order, will have so much to do that he will find little time or disposition to do wrong.

"Our Father."

By William N. Glenn

THE Saviour of the world taught his disciples to address his Father as their Father. All disciples, from that day to this, have the same privilege. This is the closest imaginable relationship both to the Father and the Son—"heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ." Just in proportion as we realize the affectionate consideration of a father for his children, will we appreciate the tender, loving care of God for his creatures. Yet it is impossible for us by such a comparison to understand fully our Heavenly Father's regard for us; he is more willing than earthly parents to give good things to them that ask him.

We can contemplate God as the Creator of the universe; we can admire his wonderful works in calling into being myriads of worlds, and maintaining the equilibrium of their movements and relations to each other, and in some small degree comprehend his wisdom and power. We can contemplate his mercy, when a small part of his domain had fallen under the power of the enemy, that prompted him to provide for its redemption, even at the sacrifice of his Son; and we can see that it is in keeping with his kind providence, and lay hold of the situation by faith. We can contemplate him as a stern judge, dealing in strict justice, and stand in awe of him, realizing that in and of ourselves we have no claim to anything short of the full penalty of the law. We can perhaps come nearer comprehending him in this light than in any other.

But there is one sense in which we entirely fail to lay hold of him. We fail in taking him as our Father, and dealing with him as such from day to day. This seems too much for our small stock of faith. We nominally accept the situation of children, we formally call the Almighty our Father, at stated times and under certain circumstances; but when it comes to practically carrying out the relationship, we come far short. If we could but realize this close connection, and trust him implicitly, believing that the gold and the silver are his, and the cattle upon a thousand hills, and that he is more willing to give than earthly parents are, how much trouble and worry it would save us.

How much peace of mind, growth in grace, and sweet communion with Heaven we might enjoy, if we could practically believe that the God of the universe is our Father indeed. There would be no lack for want of asking, or failure through asking amiss. When we read the parable of the prodigal son, we at once feel that he acted wisely in returning to his father's house, where he knew there was bread enough and to spare, even though he only contemplated the position of a hired servant; yet how many are failing to profit by the lesson of the parable. How many are starving upon husks, in the daily companionship of demoralizing habits, away from the family circle, just for lack of faith to go daily to the Father's house, where there is enough and to spare, to be had for the asking.

When our children apparently fail to reciprocate our intended kindness, and come short of appreciating what we designed for their good, and become peevish because they cannot have their own way, and manifest a disposition for the time to withdraw from our confidence, we feel that they are very ungrateful and even foolish for standing in their own light, and debarring themselves of pleasure they might otherwise enjoy. Yet we do the same things ourselves, in a more aggravated and inexcusable manner, by our daily lack of childlike confidence in the Heavenly Father. While we professedly acknowledge him as our Father, we act very much the part of unruly children, who are impelled to obey from a fear of punishment rather than from a sense of duty or a spirit of love. "Nearer, my God, to thee," must become a sentiment of the heart as well as a song in the mouth, if Christians will maintain their standing through the temptations of the last days. W. N. GLENN.

Character Becomes Fixed in This Life

By Phillips Brooks

"Do NOT delude yourselves with a hope that sometime in the future there will be some mighty force impelling you towards holiness, stronger than those already existing. God's grace has done all that it possibly can for the soul's salvation in the gift of his well-beloved Son, and whoever shuts the door of his heart against the Saviour now, makes the choice forever. Character becomes fixed in this life."—Phillips Brooks.

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