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Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 46.

WALK IN THE LIGHT

Review and Herald

Nov 13, 1900

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 13, 1900

WALK IN THE LIGHT.

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“Now is my soul troubled,” Christ declared, “and what shall I say?” The Saviour came to this world as a man, his divinity allied to humanity. He found its inhabitants under the jurisdiction of Satan, who claimed to be the god of this world. He saw those for whom he had given his life intent upon self-glorification. He saw those who should have followed their convictions of right seeking to evade the truth, which he presented to them in plain, distinct lines.
Satan rebelled against God in the heavenly courts. As no one could live in heaven in opposition to God, he was expelled. So great were his powers of deception that he carried with him a large number of the heavenly beings. With these sympathizers he came to this earth, determined to carry on the war against God. And when Christ came, he found the apostate working with the children of men, trying in every way to deceive them, that they should not obey the truth.
This filled Christ’s heart with sorrow. “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” he asked. “Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” He saw that those for whom he had labored were filled with hatred against the truth of God. For them he had stepped down from his position as Commander of the heavenly host, laying aside his royal robe and kingly crown, and clothing his divinity with humanity. Yet they despised and rejected him. They lived lives of disobedience, refusing to hear and obey the word of God. It was in view of all this that Christ said, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say [more than I have said]?” He saw the trial before him. He saw the humiliation he was to endure at the hands of the impenitent, blinded Jews. He saw that those for whom he had done so much were soon to crucify him. “For my love they are my adversaries,” he declared.
Jesus was indeed heaven’s greatest gift to our world. But the treasures of truth he brought were rejected because to receive them involved a cross. The Light of heaven, he came to this world to shine amid the darkness of sin. But the people chose darkness rather than light, and the way of disobedience rather than the path of obedience. They would not heed the invitations, the warnings, and the cautions sent them. They abused their privileges and mercies.
The climax was almost reached. The time for the Jews to take sides for or against Christ had come. The hour of grace was fast passing. The wrath of God was fast filling the cup of his indignation.
Christ saw the retribution that was to come upon the Jews as a result of their course of action,—their rebellion against God, and their hatred of the Roman power, which they were compelled to obey. Had the Jews been loyal to God, the armies of heaven would have shielded them from their adversaries. They brought their ruin upon themselves. Christ saw them mustering their forces for the defense of Jerusalem. But God was not their helper. The invisible host of heaven was not fighting in their behalf. Christ saw the beautiful temple, in which the Jews had taken such pride, consumed by fire till it was only a heap of smoldering ashes. He saw the nation scattered. He saw its rich men despoiled of the wealth gained by fraud and disobedience. He saw the people dispersed through foreign countries, the acknowledged citizens of none, a people without any sure abiding place. He listened to the wail of anguish that rose as their children’s children were hunted from place to place, always refused protection or relief. This brought such grief to his heart that he exclaimed, with tears, “Now is my soul troubled.” With quivering lips he breathed the prayer, “Father, save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, I glorify thy name.”
“Then there came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.” Christ and his disciples, with the Greeks who had received the truth, heard the words spoken from heaven, and Jesus said, “This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” It was Christ’s death on the cross that struck Satan’s death knell.
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” Wonderfully significant words! Henceforth there would be no partition wall between Jew and Gentile. The gospel would be preached to all nations. Will all hear the message of salvation?—They will; for Christ has said it. And if they obey his gracious words, they will be claimed by God in the day when he makes up his jewels. “I will spare them,” he says, “as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” All are drawn. Not one is left without conviction. Christ gives everyone evidence. But not all accept the evidence. Many show plainly that it is not evidence they want, but an excuse for disregarding a plain “Thus saith the Lord.” Instead of fearing and trembling before God, rejoicing that they have the privilege of listening to warnings and reproof, some inwardly wish that light had never come to them, to bring them to the test of decision.
“Yet a little while is the light with you,” Christ continued. “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light; that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” Whence came their hardness of heart?—Through transgression. The parable of the unfaithful husbandmen shows plainly that the Jews carried out their ambitious desires till the love and fear of God departed from them.
No one is to understand from this scripture that God arbitrarily blinded the eyes and hardened the hearts of the Jews. It was Christ’s work to soften hard hearts. But if men resisted the work of Christ, the sure result would be that their hearts would become hardened.
Christ quoted a prophecy which more than a thousand years before had predicted what God’s foreknowledge had seen would be. The prophecies do not shape the characters of the men who fulfill them. Men act out their own free will, either in accordance with a character placed under the molding of God or a character placed under the harsh rule of Satan. God tested the Jews to see if they would believe on his Son, or listen to the false charges made against him by the Pharisees, charges originating in the mind of Satan, whose effort it is to intercept every ray of divine light.
God gave the Jewish people wonderful light, wonderful evidence of his majesty, his power, his truth. It was not long since Christ had given them a crowning evidence of his divinity. He had raised from the grave a man who had been dead four days. Lazarus came forth from the tomb to testify to the mighty power of Jesus of Nazareth.
No greater evidence than this could have been given. Would not the rulers who had before been convinced in regard to the Saviour’s divinity now believe in him and confess him? Was not the miracle he had performed wonderful enough to lead them to do this? It was indeed enough to banish all prejudice even in the most unbelieving. But the hearts of the Jewish leaders were filled with the bitterest opposition, and instead of yielding to their convictions, they were maddened because Christ had done something which they could not possibly refute. In their stubbornness, self-exaltation, and proud boasting, they would not humble themselves to confess that they were in error. “Though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.”
The first step in resistance of light leads to the second, and the second to the third, until no light, however strong, no evidence, however plain, has any effect. If a man is humble and teachable, his opposition will melt away, and his heart will be softened. Christ shows him the threshold of heaven, flushed with living glory. But this glory, which softens the contrite heart, only hardens the heart that will not yield to its rays. Truth shining upon a heart determined to resist, only leads to further resistance.
“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him.” Why did they not then bring joy to his heart by acknowledging him?—“Because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” How pitiful is this statement! The maintenance of their dignity was of greater weight with them than the performance of their duty to exert an influence on the side of truth and righteousness.
The Light of the world, Christ shows us the way to heaven, pointing out the advantage of treading in the path of obedience. John bears witness of him, saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth.” “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
The time of most solemn responsibility for the Jewish nation was when Christ was among them. It was then that the last test was given to them as a nation. Light from the living oracles of God shone upon them. Jesus spoke to them, and did among them works which no man ever had done or could do. But they would not receive him. This generation is passing over the same ground. To-day Christ is saying to many, You would none of my counsel. You rejected my invitation to enlist on the Lord’s side. You chose to be numbered with transgressors. Of those who reject the truth he is saying, If you are destroyed, you are responsible. You would not come unto me that you might have life.
The tempter offers his flattering bribes to all who will listen to him. He tells men and women that if they obey the Sabbath command, they will lose their position in the world and in the church. He presents before them many objections to an acceptance of the truth, telling them that their lives will be made unpleasant, that their reputation will suffer. Thus he tempted the Jews in Christ’s day, and many who were inclined to follow the Saviour turned away from him for fear of temporal loss.
Christ has given his people messages of warning to give to the world. As these messages are presented, many are convinced of the truth. Then they begin to think of the sacrifice that obedience to the truth will involve. Truth makes its impression upon the heart, and is recommended by the conscience. But men begin to speculate. Why are there so few who believe this truth? they ask. Have any of the ministers or learned men believed it?
Many refuse to obey the truth through fear that they will lose their standing in the world. They allow the inconveniences in the pathway of truth to prevent them from following the Saviour. They do not realize that to reject truth means to lose eternal life.
The heavenly intelligences watch with intense interest the struggle between tempter and tempted. It is a life-and-death question that is being settled. Christ knows this, and before those whose souls are trembling in the balance, he holds up the sure test of obedience or disobedience, saying, “He that loveth his life”—his good name, his reputation, his money, his property, his business—“shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” He who hates the life which is lived in transgression of God’s law, he who accepts the divine requirements, leaving God to take care of the consequences, will gain eternal life. “If any man serve me,” Christ declares, “let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.”

THE ECHO.

By Charles Elmer Jenney

The word thou speakest, give it careful thought; Whose tongue the air vibrates with sudden might Must need an agile mind to guide aright, Or rue the sad discord his clang hath wrought. When long thy voice is hushed, some souls have caught The echo, and thy startled ear will smite, Thy word, thy accent e’en. Back from the height All thou hast uttered on the breeze is brought. Strange it will sound to thee, and scarce thine own. Oh, grant ’twas spoken well, for thousands hear, As echo after echo tells it o’er, Now swelling louder than thy natal tone, Then fainter, from those parts thou dream’st not near, And, dying, lives in silence evermore. — Charles Elmer Jenney.

TITHING BY FAITH.

By Walter L. Black

WALTER L. BLACK.
(Solomonville, Ariz.).
Every obligation of the gospel, every act of obedience, yes, every motive in the Christian’s life, is to be actuated by faith in Christ. “The just shall live by faith.” Gal. 3 : 11. “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” Heb. 11 : 6. Faith is the only means by which anyone may obey the teachings of Christ, or attain to the righteousness that is in him. How may we have his righteousness?—By having faith, which enthrones Christ within us; as it is written, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Eph. 3 : 17. Without him we can do nothing; we are helpless. John 15 : 5. On the other hand, Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Phil. 4 : 13. By faith the living Saviour dwells in our hearts. He says, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them.” 2 Cor. 6 : 16.
“By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” It is Christ’s present obedience that makes righteous, and not simply his obedience eighteen hundred years ago. Paul speaks about bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. 10 : 5. God works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. Phil. 2 : 13. It is true, then, that in every Christian Christ should be permitted to will and to do of his good pleasure. Oh, that we might realize that Jesus is alive in us, that he “ever liveth,” and is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever”! If Jesus taught tithing, and lived out his teaching while visibly among men upon the earth, does he not wish to live the same in us to-day, wherever he can have the opportunity? Oh, that all who profess his name would let him live the truth in them to-day! Then truly the Spirit of God would not be restrained in the least. Is it not time now to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints? Jude 3. Surely something is wrong with our faith, and Jesus is restrained in his work, when we, knowing these truths, do not obey them. Then it may be said of us, as was said of the people of Nazareth, “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Matt. 13 : 58.
Paul sums up the experience of every true Christian by saying: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2 : 20. We walk by faith, and not by sight. 2 Cor. 5 : 7. If we render to the Lord his own in tithes, by faith, we shall not be ready to look over our own interests first, to see if we have gained so much, and if we can “afford” to render to the Lord his own. Faith counts out the Lord’s money first, and renders to him “the first fruits” of our increase, and of our labor, regardless of our own plans, wishes, or failures. Faith acts just the same in the darkest hour, when business is a failure, as in the full blaze of prosperity. Faith is of God, and, like him, is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [the necessities of life] shall be added unto you.” Like all the rest of God’s promises, this must be accepted and acted upon by faith, and the results will follow.

THE BLESSINGS OF TITHING.

With every item of obedience, God has given accompanying blessings. Not only does tithing assure a blessed reward in the next world, but in this life as well. It guarantees the protection and the prospering hand of the Lord upon the property which he has graciously submitted to our care.
Here is the guaranty; and it must also be accepted by faith: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.”

PHILIP GIDDINGS

By Philip Giddings

“BEHOLD the Lamb of God.” In teaching children to read, a pointer is sometimes used to trace the words. The object of the pointing is frustrated if the attention is drawn to the pointer instead of to the words pointed at. The minister is a pointer. It is his duty not to show himself, but the Lamb of God.
He is the gateman. His business is not to keep people standing there listening to him, but to show them in to the Master. At the hospital in New Amsterdam there is a young man at the gate to let patients in to the doctor. He does his duty well only as he lets them in, with as few words and as little time as possible, to the one who can help. Let not the preacher forget he is only the usher to lead to the Great Physician, who only has the balm of Gilead. The callers have not come to him, but to the Goodman of the house. Lead them in. And though, possibly, there will be those who have come simply to while away time, and to frolic with the servant outside, let them see that you have time only for the King's business. “Behold the Lamb of God.”
Like the same tune arranged in different keys, so our sermon, texted from whatever part of Scripture, should have this one and only intent and meaning, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Indeed, I can perceive no other legitimate purpose of preaching.

PHILIP GIDDINGS

A STUDY IN THE PSALMS.

By William P. Pearce

Psalm 23.

WILLIAM P. PEARCE.
(Goshen, Ind.)
With sweet strains, pure sentiments, choice rhetoric and logic, no poem can surpass, and no ode can be compared to, this twenty-third psalm.
It is the testimony of experience, the personal pronoun being used seventeen times,—“I” four times, “my” four times, and “me” seven times. The psalm is an evidence of divine intimacy, and is a beautiful commentary on the immanence of God in his dealings with his people.
Beecher calls this psalm “the nightingale of the psalter,” in that it sings to cheer the faint-hearted, gladdens the homes of destitution and discomfort, and transforms the tear of sorrow into a smile of joy. It is also called “the psalm of faith;” for its spirit is that of a childlike trust, undisturbed by a single doubt. But best of all, it is the “shepherd’s psalm,” in which the protecting, guiding, and providing mercy of the dear Lord is seen.
Is it any wonder that Edward Irving, on his death-bed, chanted this psalm in the Hebrew language; or that the negro boy of whom Dr. Chambers makes mention, on hearing this chapter read, exclaimed, “How sweet! Oh, read that again;” or that Daniel Webster and James Carver repeated, “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me;” or that John Walsh and his companions, when banished from Scotland for their faith, before going on board the ship sang, at two o’clock in the morning, the Scottish version of these words? For there is more sweet and soothing melody, more irresistible charm and abiding comfort, more luminosity cast upon life’s highway, more luxuries spread on its table, more flowers and fragrance strewed around the cot of death, than can be found in any other chapter of its size in the Bible.
“My Shepherd.” Very few titles are as old and as comprehensive as this one. Long before David’s time, Jacob represented God in the same sense; for in blessing Joseph he mentioned “the God which fed me all my life.” Gen. 48 : 15. The word “shepherd” is made still more significant by the words which modify it. John speaks of him as the “Good Shepherd” (John 10 : 14) because of affection; Paul entitles him the “Great Shepherd” (Heb. 13 : 20) because of his power to protect his sheep; Peter mentions him as the “chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5 : 4); but best of all in my estimation, is David’s “My Shepherd.” How big that word “my” looks in this connection, and how much it means to every child of God.
“Shall not want.” How emphatic and binding. Here is a simple yet firm faith grasping the future as it looks back on the gracious providences of the past. It is supply substituted for every want; assurances of love soaring above every cloud of opposition.
A little orphan child, who was taken into a strange family, when being put to bed the first night, knelt down to say her evening prayer, and repeated the words her mother had taught her. Then she added a prayer of her own: “O God, make these people just as good to me as my dear papa and mamma were. Please do it, Jesus.” And then, after a moment’s pause, she exclaimed, “Of course you will, Jesus.” That’s it. A simple trust! And where can such a trust be found more than in this “shepherd’s psalm”?
Two reasons are here suggested for such a confidence: First, because all things are God’s; and if all things are God’s, all things are ours. Read 1 Cor. 3 : 21–23. Second, because Christ has promised to supply all our needs. Read Phil. 4 : 19.
Ten distinct things are here mentioned, in which all the necessities for a prosperous life are summed up. We shall not want repose; or drink; or restoration; or guidance; or companionship; or comfort; or food; or honor; or joy, or success. Verses 2–6.
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” “That the path to hell is paved with good resolutions,” is an assertion beyond warrant; for the peculiar nature of a good resolution is to lift up. It is the little speedy run to a big jump; the inspiration to the aspiration. True, however, many resolutions which are produced by sudden pangs of conviction, come to naught. Yet to be irresolute is to be without a fixed purpose in life. Feltham compares such a condition to an ague, which shakes not this or that limb, but convulses the whole body. The steward whom Jesus mentions (Luke 16:4) said: “I am resolved what to do;” and David tells us what he will do—“dwell in the house of the Lord forever”—dwell in that house where every sound is music, and every voice praise, and every breath fragrance, and every worshiper a saint, and where every look of Jesus will be a benediction! There, in that “house not made with hands,” may we all be, to sing—
“Worthy the Lamb our lips reply, For he was slain for us.”

CHILDREN SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO BREATHE PROPERLY.

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, in Chicago American, October 22.
In a magazine called Suggestive Therapeutics I found the following extract:—
Is there nowhere to be found a man of influence on school boards and the like, possessing a knowledge of the mere facts—
  1. That tuberculosis kills more people than the sword, pestilence, or famine?
  2. That no child was ever born into the world suffering from tuberculosis?
  3. That compulsory deep breathing in schools would wipe tuberculosis off the face of the earth in two generations?
Is it not an astounding thing that no popular educator has yet grasped the simple, ordinary, everyday truth that consumption is always preventable? The daily practice of deep breathing, acquired in childhood, will make every human being, whatever his tendency or ancestry, proof against the inroads of the bacillus of tuberculosis. There should be two half-hours given up during the day's schooling to the practice of deep breathing, in the morning and afternoon sessions.
This is a timely word of good sense. Children are being taught many useless and some disgusting things in our schools to-day, and this would be an excellent substitute for the time given to the dissection of dead cats and rabbits.
A young girl was threatened with expulsion from one of our schools for refusing to dissect animals. In another, several children fainted when a brutal woman teacher chloroformed a cat in their presence, preparatory to its dissection for the study of anatomy.
In neither of these schools was one word said to the children regarding deep breathing.
It is much more important that a child shall know how to fill its lungs with fresh air—all its lungs—than that it shall learn how many bones are contained in the body of a rabbit.
Very few persons know how to breathe. It is the first thing a human being does on arriving here, yet not one in five hundred ever learns to do it properly.
The majority of children breathe like canary birds.
I have known a boy who inherited a hollow chest and consumptive tendencies to become transformed in one year's time by being taught to inhale ten deep breaths through his nostrils—exhaling slowly—three times a day.
I have seen a palid, anæmic girl grow rosy and robust through making her walk to and from school, a breathing exercise.
She closed the lips and emptied the lungs, and inhaled while she took seven steps, and exhaled with the next seven. In a few weeks a marked improvement began to be visible in her appearance.
As a beautifier, nothing excels this fresh-air lung bath.
The lungs are composed of innumerable cells, and the majority of persons use only the “upper rooms” of this breath mansion. The lower ones are closed to the air, and are receptacles for dust and disease germs throughout life.
One of the best things our teachers in kindergartens and public schools can do is to give the children one half-hour or four quarter-hour exercises in lung sweeping.
Proper breathing is an aid to the mental and spiritual faculties as well as to the physical body. Let it become an important part of the educational system of our land.

PHILIP GIDDINGS

By Philip Giddings

“IF any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” Man varnishes the “old man.” Christ builds a “new man.” Neither civilization nor education can change the flesh. Rank, race, and riches can never cure the leprosy of fallen nature. All human endeavors, and birth, wealth, and education, can only polish sin—make a polite sinner, a genteel Gentile, change tomahawk into maxim.

PHILIP GIDDINGS

JUDGING

By John Sterling

We do not know our closest friends, Their ways we've ne'er divined, For we know not the inner thought That animates the mind.
We often say what we would do If we were So-and-so, But who can tell how he would act With mind he can not know?
And yet we judge those whom we see About us every day; Nor are we fully satisfied Unless they think our way.
We long to tell them what to do, Precisely how to live, Just how to handle their affairs, Exactly what to give.
We wonder why they will do this, And never will do that; Appointing to ourselves a place As private autocrat.
Oh, “judge not that ye be not judged.” How often have we heard This saying of the Master-mind! But do we heed the word?
Instead of looking at the mote That's in another's eye, Suppose we clear away the beam That in our own doth lie.
For when the beam is all removed, Perhaps, then, it may seem The little mote we saw so plain Was our reflected beam.
—John Sterling.

Ask God in Every Trouble

By Daniel March

Are you poor? Ask your Heavenly Father, and he will either give you riches or make poverty a greater blessing. Are you sick? Ask God, and he will either grant you recovery or give you reason to praise him forever for every pang you suffer. Are you embarrassed and perplexed in your worldly affairs? Ask God, and he will either deliver you from trouble or make it the means of bringing peace and joy into your soul. Are you in want of anything? Go to your best Friend, pour out the full tale of your sorrows into his attentive ear, and be not afraid to believe that he will give you to drink of the infinite river of his own pleasures.—Daniel March.

SOWING FOR PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL HEALTH

By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler

David Paulson and W. S. Sadler

MILK.

(Concluded.)

DIFFICULTY IN PRESERVING HARMONY BETWEEN MILK AND OTHER FOOD ELEMENTS IN THE HUMAN STOMACH.

Many have learned by experience that milk and vegetables are not an ideal combination. The reason for this is clearly set forth in the following statements by Dr. Kellogg: “Milk and vegetables are a bad combination for the reason that the vegetables, being coarse and not easily dissolved, are retained in the stomach for a considerable time. The casein, or cheesy portion, is precipitated upon the woody, indigestible vegetable fiber, and fermentation takes place. The vegetables themselves are slow to undergo fermentation when taken alone, but the adhering casein readily undergoes putrefactive changes. The hydrochloric acid, which exerts an antiseptic influence, ceases to do this after the second hour of digestion; so food retained in the stomach five or six hours readily undergoes decomposition.”

STERILIZATION OF MILK.

Milk may be more or less sterilized by several different methods:—
1. By Pasteurization, which simply means raising the temperature of the milk to 150 or 160° F., for ten or twenty minutes. By this process most of the germs are either killed or temporarily paralyzed, and yet the heat is not sufficient to produce any change in the casein of the milk.
2. By Boiling.—When milk is brought to the boiling point, more germs are killed than by simply subjecting it to a temperature of 150 or 160°; but even this is not sufficient to destroy all the germ growth; for the spores, from which new germs will hatch out, are not destroyed by the boiling temperature. Most mothers would probably think this last process an unreasonable waste of time; and yet, as a result of neglecting to give proper attention to such details, they are often compelled to care for a sick baby, and spend nights walking the floor, wringing their hands in agony, because of their inability to relieve the child’s suffering.
3. Complete Sterilization.—If it is desired to preserve milk for a number of days while on a journey, the best plan is to put it into air-tight bottles, and boil it for fifteen or twenty minutes for three successive days. A large share of the spores will hatch out the second day, and then these germs will be destroyed by this second boiling, and the rest are supposed to be hatched out by the third day, and will be destroyed by the last boiling.
4. Boiling in Solution of Brine.—Ordinary water boils at 212° F., while brine made sufficiently strong to become a saturated solution of salt, does not begin to boil until heated to 230°. If the milk is placed in an air-tight bottle, with an arrangement to prevent the cork from escaping, and then placed in this solution of brine and boiled for half an hour, not only the germs but also the spores will be destroyed. Such milk will keep indefinitely. Milk was recently exhibited that was put through this process ten years ago, at the Sanitarium Laboratory of Hygiene, and was found to be perfectly sweet. The only precaution necessary is not to remove the bottles from the brine while it is hot, as they are liable to burst. Do not remove the bottles from the vessel of brine until the brine has had time to cool.
5. Boiling under Steam Pressure.—Milk may be effectually sterilized by putting it into bottles, as already described, and then placing them in a steam boiler, where, by the application of steam pressure, the temperature can be raised to any desired height. By this process, not only the germs, but their spores as well, can be destroyed in a few minutes. This is the method usually employed when milk is sterilized on an extensive scale.

EFFECT OF BOILING ON DIGESTIBILITY.

Some of the most eminent authorities are beginning to discredit the idea that milk is to any special degree rendered more indigestible by being boiled. In fact, some maintain that the coagulum formed in the first stage of digestion is more flocculent and less bulky in boiled than in unboiled milk. See Schafer’s Physiology, page 126; Foster’s Physiology, page 24.

SUBSTITUTES FOR MILK.

Children who have to be brought up on artificial foods are usually frail and weakly. Possibly the ideal substitute for milk has not yet been produced; but if disease continues to increase among animals as it has for the last few years, it is certainly to be hoped that some substitute for mother’s milk, other than cow’s milk, may be provided, when there must be substitution.

SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM THE STERILIZATION OF MILK.

In order to keep indefinitely, milk must be thoroughly sterilized. One boiling, while it may serve to destroy the germs, fails to kill the spores; and these, hatching out the next day, again contaminate the milk. In a man’s spiritual experience we have the analogy of this. The Lord recognizes the necessity of dealing with man in different ways. This is clearly brought to view in Job 33. In the fifteenth verse the Lord represents himself as speaking unto man the first time: he speaks to the man alone, from himself. The sixteenth verse says, “He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.” Here he represents himself as sealing these instructions, or speaking the second time by sending some one else to advise the man concerning the error of his way. In the nineteenth verse we read, “He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain.” Here we find God speaking the third time, by pain and disease. All this is for the one great purpose expressed in the seventeenth verse, “That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.”
As already learned, if ordinary sterilization is not sufficient, brine may be added to the water, which will raise the boiling point eighteen degrees. So the Lord, if ordinary efforts are not successful in showing us the error of our way or the folly of our purpose, emphasizes the medium of communication—he sterilizes us in brine, as it were. Briny tears may freely flow, thus indicating the trouble of mind and sorrow of soul that we experience as a result of our inability to see the purpose of God clearly expressed at an earlier point in our experience.
The third way of sterilizing milk is under pressure. So our Heavenly Father often finds it necessary to subject his erring children to great pressure. If we fail to yield, the pressure is increased from day to day, until ultimately the greatness of the pressure under which we fail to yield our purpose and plans of sin, will be transformed from a means of correction into one of destruction. The ultimate disclosure, which will be made when the bursting point is reached, will reveal to this world and to the universe nothing but what was really within, to correct which God applied this pressure of adversity, calamity, and trial. Submission to the providence of God and the trial of our faith would have corrected these things, and enabled God finally to present us “faultless before the presence of his glory.” Failure to be thus corrected by the trial of affliction or the pressure of adversity is sure eventually to disclose, to the gaze of men and angels, both the sins and the purposes, although oftentimes secret and hidden, from which God was so earnestly seeking to deliver us.

SPIRITUAL LESSON FROM THE GERM SPORES IN MILK.

In order to keep indefinitely, milk must be thoroughly sterilized each day for three successive days. This is because of the fact that the first sterilizing, while it may destroy all germs present, does not destroy their spores, or eggs, which may be present in the milk; but by the third day these spores have all hatched out, and are then readily destroyed by the boiling temperature.
There is a lesson in this for every struggling Christian. A great effort is made to overcome wrong tendencies of character, and it would seem that the germs of sin had been destroyed. God’s fiery trials, to all appearances, had thoroughly sterilized us; and yet, to our surprise, on the morrow we find these same things creeping out in our experience. What can this mean?—It means that we still have our sinful flesh, and that there are yet the spores of sin in it; and further, that we must ever keep watch for the development of these traits of character, ever be on our guard, ready to suppress them when they appear; for even Paul said that he lived in fear lest, after having preached the gospel to others, he himself should be a castaway. It is one thing to get rid of sin, “the transgression of the law,” and another thing to be rid of sinful flesh, with its liability to transgress. The first deliverance may be effected in a moment, by simple faith in Christ; the second is one for which we wait; namely, the redemption of our bodies.
Copyrighted, 1900, by David Paulson and W. S. Sadler.

God Is Love

God is love. He has a care for the creatures he has formed. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” What a precious privilege is this, that we may be sons and daughters of the Most High, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.—“Testimonies.”
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