It has been the Christian privilege of the writer to be personally acquainted with Brother Uriah Smith since the early autumn of 1853. For nearly half a century this relationship has been very intimate, while both were connected with our denominational publishing work. And while thus associated, many are the pleasant personal experiences which can be recalled.
From 1853 to the present, as is well known, Elder Smith has served most efficiently as editor of the REVIEW AND HERALD. And from his pen came luminous expositions of divine truth, and words of faith and good cheer for believers in the closing work of the gospel. Upon him also more than others devolved the perplexing task of meeting and answering the knotty objections of those not friendly to the third angel's message.
But it was Brother Smith's genial social nature which so especially endeared him to those with whom he came in contact. In the Review Office, in the church, and in social circles, it was always pleasant to be associated with this dear brother. Being naturally of a buoyant and social turn, he made friends everywhere, whether at home, in the church, or abroad in the field.
In former years, in the days of his physical strength, when it was known that Elder Smith was to fill the desk, the people with one consent flocked to the meeting. And his pleasant voice, though not strong and sonorous, was always heard with great distinctness in the largest assemblies. And it has been a cause of no little grief that of late our beloved brother has felt to excuse himself altogether from pulpit labor. But the sequel proves that he knew best.
In former years Brother Smith was prominently connected with the Sabbath-school work in his home church. For a very long time he served either as teacher in the Bible class or as superintendent. It was here in the Sabbath-school that those ideas were first brought out which later appeared in the well-known volume, “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation.” For years also he conducted the singing in the Sabbath-school, as well as in the meetings of the church.
But his personal labor is over. He fell at his post, with the armor on, while prosecuting his accustomed duties. Of his work it may be truly said, He has fought the good fight, he has finished his course, he has kept the faith. How the dear people of God, at home and abroad, will miss those inspiring articles that came from the pen of Elder Uriah Smith! And to use the words of another, it may also be added, “Could all those who have been convicted, comforted, and converted through his instrumentality be brought into one body, there is no question but that they would constitute an assembly of no small magnitude.” Such is the fruit of a consecrated life.
“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit.” But let us ever remember that those who die in the Lord are only such as have lived in the Lord.
G. W. AMADON.
Native Newspapers in India
THERE are six hundred native newspapers in India, all of which, with the exception of about half a dozen, are bitterly opposed to Christianity.
Catholic Skyscraper Planned for Chicago
The Catholic Mirror reports that a project is on foot among Catholic leaders in the West to erect a “skyscraper” in the heart of the business district of Chicago, “to be occupied largely by the Catholic societies of Chicago.”
Omaha Labor Union Protests Judge McPherson
The Central Labor Union of Omaha, Neb., has formulated a protest against the appointment of Judge McPherson, of southern Iowa, to a place on the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, on the ground that he is “a bitter enemy of labor and the rights of the masses, and a firm friend of every contention made before him by the great corporations.”
The Pope’s Jubilee
For several days the secular papers had much to say about Pope Leo's jubilee, which began February 20, and celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of his elevation to the papal throne. In the Catholic Mirror of February 28 we note some interesting statements regarding the ceremony in St. Peter's church with which the celebration was ushered in.
Into the “hall of beatification,” which was densely filled with a great concourse of people of all nations, the pope was borne in his chair on the shoulders of eight men, after the usual manner. He was dressed in red. We quote from the Mirror:—
The pope himself, wore gorgeous robes, and had the triple crown on his head. He bestowed his benediction right and left as he passed through the cheering concourse. . . . Subsequently the presentation of gifts occurred, including the gold tiara, the jubilee present of the Catholic world, which cost twenty-five thousand dollars; the gold medal and the symbolic keys. The tiara is a love offering to the pontiff from Catholics of all countries. The three crowns stand superimposed in high relief to represent the triple power of the papacy. Just beneath the highest crown is a medallion of the divine Redeemer as the Good Shepherd. This crown bears the inscription: “The King of Kings and Lord of Those Who Rule.” The second crown bears the words: “The Good Shepherd Will Feed His Flock.” On the last crown is the inscription: “Thou Art Peter, and Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church.” . . . In addition to the gold tiara, gifts of forty thousand dollars and many other sums in cash were presented to the pope.
Thus before the world are repeated, on this “jubilee” occasion, the blasphemous pretensions of the pope, in taking to himself titles that belong alone to God. But the day is at hand when God will vindicate his name and his servants before all people.
— J. F. Robson
By J. F. Robson
Affliction
The purest gold is wrought by fiercest flame,
And best of all and greatest men are those
Who nobly fight and strive, and overcome
The greatest sorrows and most powerful foes.
The grandest skies are cloud adorned, and so
The noblest lives have times of grief and care,
Of tragic heart break, and of aching woe,
Of silent suffering, and unuttered prayer.
These do not mar the beauty of the life;
But must endue it with a sacred power;
Sorrow ennobles, not degrades the strife,
And makes the sickly bud a glorious flower.
Our joys and sorrows lead to one great end,
Unseen, but certain through the dazing strife,
Endue the faltering steps with upward trend,—
All are but stepping stones from death to life.
— J. F. Robson
The Worth of Souls
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
God’s servants need a realization of the value of souls. Christ died for human beings. His sacrifice on the cross is the measure of their value in God’s sight.
Of the high priest of Israel we read, “Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.” What a beautiful and expressive figure this is of the unchanging love of Christ for his church! Our great High Priest, of whom Aaron was a type, bears his people upon his heart. And should not his earthly ministers share his love and sympathy and solicitude? As ministers labor in connection with one another, they are to follow the example of Christ, manifesting his tenderness, his kindness, his courtesy, his love.
Christ as the great high priest, making a perfect atonement for sin, stands alone in divine majesty and glory. Other high priests were only types, and when he appeared, the need of their services vanished. “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.”
“After he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,” he “sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. . . . Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. . . . And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.”
Let human beings, subject to temptation, remember that in the heavenly courts they have a high priest who is touched with the feeling of their infirmities, because he himself was tempted, even as they are. And let those in positions of responsibility, especially, remember that they are subject to temptation, and wholly dependent on the merits of the Saviour. However sacred the work to which they may be called, they are still sinners, who can be saved only through the grace of Christ. One day they must stand before the throne of God, saved by the blood of the Lamb, or condemned to the punishment of the wicked.
Human beings are Christ’s property, and they are not to be treated with disrespect because they do not follow the lines of action that men have marked out. Men err. Often they mark out false lines and set up false standards. But O how thankful I am that the Lord never makes a mistake! Those who follow his leading will never be disappointed. They will never be led astray.
How grieved Christ is by the lack of love and tenderness manifested by his people in their dealings with one another! He notes the words, the tones of the voice. He hears the harsh, severe judgment passed on those whom he, in infinite love, is presenting to the Father. He hears every sigh of pain and sorrow caused by human harshness, and his Spirit is grieved.
Apart from Christ we can do no good thing. How inconsistent, then, it is for human beings to exalt themselves! How strange that any should forget that they must repent, in common with their fellow men, and that those whom they condemn with severity may stand justified before God, receiving the sympathy of Christ and the angels.
Let God’s messengers act as wise men. Let them not lift up their souls unto vanity, but cherish humility. “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Let no one be sharp and dictatorial in his dealing with God’s workers. Let those who are inclined to censure remember that they have made mistakes as grievous as the mistakes which they condemn in others. Let them bow in contrition before God, asking his pardon for the sharp speeches that they have made, and the unchristlike spirit they have revealed. Let them remember that God hears every word they speak, and that as they judge, so they will be judged.
Christ is pleading the case of every tempted soul, but while he is doing this, many of his people are grieving him by taking their stand with Satan to accuse their brethren, pointing to their polluted garments.
Let not the criticised ones become discouraged; for while their brethren are condemning them, Christ is saying of them, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. By creation and by redemption thou art mine.
God’s word is, “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood.” Show all men respect, even though they do not reach the standard you have set for them. They may have made mistakes, but is your life faultless? Have you censured your own errors as severely as you have censured the errors of others?
Christ Our King
Before God’s servants take up any work, they are to pray to him in all humility, and with a sense of their dependence on him, realizing that they must be worked by the Holy Spirit. They are to guard against setting themselves up as kings, because if they attempt to do this, they will dishonor the Lord, and make a failure of their work.
Man’s ingenuity, his judgment, his power to execute, all come from God. To God’s service they should be devoted. The principles of the Bible are to control the Lord’s servants. His workers are ever to do justice and judgment, steadfastly keeping the way of the Lord. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” Make this the point round which your life centers, and then all things needful will be given you. Put the Redeemer’s interests before your own or those of any other human being. He has bought you, and all your powers of mind and body belong to him.
Christ is our King—he who is called, “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” And he is not only our King, but our Saviour. To him you may go with your burdens. However great your sin, you need not fear repulse. If you have injured your brother, go to him, and confess the wrong that you have done him. Clear away the difficulty that exists between you and him. When you have done this, come to your King, asking him for pardon. He will never take advantage of your confessions. He will never disappoint you. He has pledged his word to forgive your9transgressions and to cleanse you from all defilement. The names of his people are written in his book of life.
Remember that Christ is our only hope, our only refuge. He “bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” “If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
Without Guile
By W. A. Gosmer
W. A. GOSMER
As the hour of human probation hastens to its close, the test of character comes correspondingly closer. The striving to bring every faculty of the being into the perfection of obedience, becomes more intense. It is also found that the experience of yesterday or of last year will by no means suffice for the requirements of to-day. The experience of the yesterdays stands related to the experience of to-day, only as a stepping stone to greater heights of righteous living. Nothing less than constant advance is called for at this time, and that with rapid strides. This is necessarily true as it stands related to the closing moments of God’s judgment hour; for “only a moment as it were remains in which to prepare for eternity.”
The magnifying of God’s holy law in our hearts at this time, reveals to us something of the wonderful scope of the commandment, which is “exceeding broad.” The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, “is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, . . . and is a discerner [judge, German] of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” And as such, never will be satisfied until it can bear witness that our every thought has been brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
As the whole duty of man, commandment-keeping embraces the inward thought as well as the outward action. This is brought to view in Rev. 14:5, 12.
Of the remnant people it is written: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” and, “In their mouth was found no guile.” This is of far deeper import than the mere utterance of deceit, wickedness.” So that not only is of men, proceed evil thoughts, . . . deceit, wickedness.” So that not only is that deceit which is uttered by the lips, but “deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil.” Prov. 12:20. This being true, evil thinking is guile. It is simply a manifestation of the carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of God. But as “the thoughts of the righteous are right,” and as we are admonished to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so the mind, the thought, which is renewed, which is created in Christ Jesus unto good works, is subject to that law which is the judge of wrong thoughts. And the love which is the fulfilling of the law “thinketh no evil.” As this is true, so the carnal mind, which is not subject to the law, does think evil, and is subject to the judgment of the law. Again: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;” for “all unrighteousness is sin.” Therefore the unrighteous thought is sin, and as sin is the transgression of the law, unrighteous thoughts come under the condemnation of that law.
But there is an underlying principle back of all this; the evil thought, which is guile, deceit, has for its foundation the original sin. Sin was conceived in false premises and based on wrong conclusions. It originated in wrong thinking toward another, in order that self might be exalted. And having a false basis for its origin, it required nothing less than deceit to propagate it. Lucifer reasoned that if he could tear the Monarch of the universe from his throne, he himself could occupy that throne. This was a false conclusion; for it was putting the creature in the place of the Creator. To carry out this misconception, deceit and misrepresentation naturally came into requisition; and all for the sole purpose of exalting self. Thus Lucifer became the father of all deceit; for “when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.” And as wrong conclusions, misrepresentations, deceit, guile, were only the expression of self-exaltation, in the very origin of sin, it still remains that evil thinking, which is guile and deceit, are but the outcome of the desire to exalt self. So guile is self-exaltation. And more than this; self-exaltation is self-deification, and is far removed from commandment-keeping; for it is idolatry. This is the mind of self-exaltation, of evil thinking, of guile; it is the mind that “is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;” this is the mind that “abode not in the truth;” for “thy law is the truth.”10
On the other hand, the mind of Christ is the very expression of the self-renouncing love of him, “who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” As a perfect commandment-keeper, Christ’s self-abasement was complete. Perfect commandment-keeping, therefore, is complete self-abasement. As sin originated by wrong thinking, that self might be exalted, so the finishing touch of commandment-keeping will be in the absolute abasement of self, which is the bringing into captivity of every thought to the obedience of Christ. Such commandment-keeping as this, is the key to the reception of the Holy Spirit in all its fullness; for it is written: “We can receive of Heaven’s light only as we are willing to be emptied of self. We can not discern the character of God, or accept Christ by faith, unless we consent to the bringing into captivity of every thought to the obedience of Christ. To all who do this, the Holy Spirit is given without measure. In Christ ‘dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full.’” Here, then, is the secret of the last great outpouring of the Holy Spirit: perfect obedience, perfect fullness; “of one accord;” “of one mind;” “doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself. . . . Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
“Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” “and in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”
The Philosophy of Giving
By J. S. Washburn
J. S. WASHBURN
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Jesus has here stated the very foundation principle of the gospel—the principle that actuated his ministry and his entire life. He thought it not a thing to be grasped, to be retained, to be on an equality with God. He was rich, but became poor that we through his poverty might be rich. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.” It is the joy of heaven to give the very joy of the Lord. From the throne of God flows out to all creation forever and ever the swelling flood, the river of life, ever fresh; and in him who receives the Lord by faith there is the well of water springing up to everlasting life, flowing out to refresh the thirsty and dying.
Remember that he who would receive from God must give to men. God gives to us that we may give to others. He who refuses to give will no longer receive. All nature in heaven and in earth enforces and illustrates this divine truth. The sun receives the clear shining of the glory of God that he may reflect the light upon his family of worlds. The sun, moon, and stars were made “to give”—to give light by day and by night. The mighty ocean receives the rivers of water in order that from this great reservoir the mists may rise to form the cloud, to give rain on the earth, that the earth may yield her increase to give life to all the living creatures on the earth. Nothing lives or dies to itself. The flower blooms in beauty, sends out her delicate perfume, not for herself, but for man. That which lives not to give, lives in vain. He who does not give wisely and well does not truly live. The science of living is the science of giving. Giving is life. Refusing to give is death. He who does not give will soon cease to receive—will stagnate, die.
See that slimy pool, dead, and breeding from death and malaria! Why?—Because it has no outlet. So is he that lives only to himself, who will not give to others, fearing that he himself shall have nothing. But turn from this loathsome death and decay to this gushing, singing, mountain stream, clear as crystal. Why this marvelous difference? I will tell you. The mountain stream forever flows onward, outward. There is an inlet because there is an outlet. There is an inflow because there is an outflow. The stream flows in only as it flows out, and as rapidly as it flows out. This is God’s philosophy of giving and receiving. It is blessed to receive only as we give to others that which is received. He who would have the heavenly riches must sell and give.
The Lord sent Elijah to a poor widow, who had just enough food for one last meal for herself and her son, yet in the face of this terrible poverty, the prophet requested that she should make him a “little cake first,” and after that she should make for herself and her son. And as long as she thus made the cause of God, in the person of Elijah, first, so long was there an abundance to preserve her life and the life of her son, while all about them those who lived only for themselves were dying. Truly, in this the Elijah message for to-day, this miracle will be repeated for all who have the faith of Jesus, the translating faith of Elijah. He who has freely received will freely give, and he will receive all that God has for him when he gives all he is and has to the cause and for the cause of God.
Sing the Promises of God
In ancient times the Lord made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass over, and thus “the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion.” They shall come with loud acclamations, with singing and gladness. “But,” you say, “there is to be long wandering in the wilderness of sin before that can take place.” Not a bit of it. That was not at all God’s plan for Israel, but was the result of their unbelief. You see, they stopped singing, and began murmuring. That is the secret of their wandering in the wilderness.
Keep on singing, not a forced song, but a song from the heart because God is your strength and your song and your salvation, and you will find that these “songs of deliverance” that compass you about will be a shield that will protect you from every assault of the enemy. This is not theory, but fact that has been demonstrated. The power that divided the Red Sea is the power that is ours every day in our struggle to escape from the bondage of sin. He that believeth on Christ shall not be confounded. The “exceeding great and precious promises” of God make us partakers of the divine nature; therefore sing them.—Selected.
Living for God
By John M. Hopkins
JOHN M. HOPKINS
Every one who studies the Word of God well knows that it always and everywhere inculcates the principle of industry and faithfulness in every honorable worldly pursuit. Shiftlessness and carelessness and indifference find no approval on the sacred page. Jesus said, “Occupy till I come.” And his wise counsel has always had an application, and will have as long as time and opportunity last. Whatever the natural gift, or qualification, or acquirement, or privilege, the Lord imparted it for a wise use.
But while this is true, it does not follow that the Lord would have his people so completely absorbed in earthly pursuits as to forget him and heaven. Instead, all our most cherished undertakings should be entered into and carried forward only with reference to him and eternity. He who divorces the Lord from his business robs it of its chief delight. It is in him that “we live, and move, and have our being.” “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.” If we would at all times consider that in our secular, as well as in our spiritual work, we are “workers together with him,” it would lend a wonderful charm to life. To be associated with the God of heaven—what companionship! What a blessed co-partnership! God in our business, our toil, our hopes, our all! Sweet, blessed life!
And I have often thought of those who assume all of life's burdens, who dig and delve for many hard, long, eventful years, accumulate many acres and many thousands of earth's possessions, become weary and worn, perhaps prematurely, then die and leave it all. Live unloved, and die unlamented, unwept—what a sad, unsatisfactory life is this! No God, save the god of this world; no love, save the selfish love of self; no rest, no joy, no heaven!
Not long ago I knew a man of this type. He had been a very hard-working, industrious man, and had accumulated many thousands. He had an indomitable will, and great perseverance. At one time he lost a fortune of two hundred thousand dollars. But did he become discouraged and give up the battle for gold?—Never! Rather, he appeared to enter the strife with more determination than before. I knew his history for more than thirty years, at least much of it. At one time we were standing together on an eminence; he raised his arm, shaking with old age and palsy, and pointing off to the north and east, remarked, “In that direction I can look over twelve hundred acres of land, all my own. I possess seventeen thousand acres of land, and do not owe more than twenty-five dollars.” I saw him again; he was anxiously contemplating buying another farm that joined one he then owned. As I had done before, I tried to introduce Jesus and eternal life. “I have no time to talk about that to-day,” he replied, and feebly tottered away. He was then more than eighty years old. In a few months the poor old man died, and was buried, not on any part of his vast estate, but with even the poorest. I think as I write, what a sad sequel to a hard, unhappy, unloving, unloved life! Who has his vast estates to-day? Who even cares for and cherishes his memory? The fact is that his former townsmen rush along scarcely mindful that he ever lived. And this pen picture simply illustrates the lives of thousands.
How much better the life that has God in it,—the busy, industrious life, the successful, accumulating life, but the life that accumulates to dispense, to bless.
And e'en the life unblest with gold
Is oft the life of joy untold;
for when Christ is in the heart, when his blessed peace and life-giving presence are with us, directing, strengthening, encouraging, and cheering, even the life of toil and poverty is a life of joy, and the end thereof is peace.
Then let us bring God and heaven into our lives. “Occupy till I come.” Be earnest, industrious, honest, God-fearing, God-loving men and women. Associate Christ and heaven with all your endeavors, and your life, in any station, will be blessed and successful, and eternal life will be assured.
The Motive and the Reward for Service
By J. B. Blosser
J. B. BLOSSER
ACTIVITY in the great work of soul saving is the result of a union with Christ. The earnest effort of the individual Christian to reach the perishing sinner is the manifestation to the human eye of the love that is throbbing in the great heart of God for the purchase of the blood of Christ. It is the love of God, “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us,” that prompts us to do acceptable service for him. There may be abundant activity prompted by other motives than the love of God; but such zeal will not advance the work of God in the earth. The Jews manifested a zeal seldom surpassed; but the “one proselyte” that they won was “twofold more the child of hell” than themselves. Selfish zeal for the advancement of the theory of the truth and the building up of a denomination should not be confounded with a “love of the truth” and an earnest effort to give its saving qualities to others, and so advance the kingdom of God. The latter will receive its reward “at the resurrection of the just;” the former will receive its reward in this life, even the praise of men. “Verily . . . they have their reward.”
What Is the Reward for Service?
We might first inquire what it is not. It is not “eternal life;” for in Rom. 6: 23 we read, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So eternal life11is a gift, and not a reward for service. The reward is not the home we shall receive in the earth made new; for, “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3: 29. This valuable gift comes by “inheritance.” Our reward for service is plainly stated in Matt. 25: 21-23; “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” This is given when “the Lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.” Then it is that he will “reward . . . every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22: 12. Then it is that they will enter into the joy of their Lord.
But what is the “joy of the Lord” at that time? Zeph. 3: 17 tells us: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” He sees “the travail of his soul,” and is satisfied. This was the “joy that was set before him,” that enabled him to endure “the cross, despising the shame.” Heb. 12: 2.
Then if we are to enter into his joy at that time, we must first go and “trade” with the ability God has given us to win souls for him; then we can come again with rejoicing, bringing our sheaves with us. Those who, amid trials and difficulties, win souls for the Master by loving service, will be rewarded by partaking with Christ in the joy he has over the souls thus rescued. “They that be wise [“teachers,” margin] shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Dan. 12: 3. Paul tells us that those souls he had won for the Master was his “glory and joy.” 1 Thess. 2: 19, 20. This, then, should be the reward for which we should seek. This is the hope set before us. This was what inspired Moses to esteem “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” Heb. 11: 26.
Reading the Bible
By J. Stalker
I WELL remember the first time in my life I ever read a whole book of the Bible through at a stretch.
It was in France. I was in a town where there was no Protestant service. In the early morning I attended the Roman Catholic church; but, the worship being over about breakfast time, I had the rest of the day on my hands.
Having sauntered out of the town, and cast myself down on a green knoll, I began, by mere chance, to read the Epistle to the Romans. I read one chapter; but instead of stopping there, as I had been accustomed to do, I read a second, and then a third. By degrees I was caught in the current of the great argument, which swept me irresistibly along.
Then I forgot everything except the delicious impact of the crowding thoughts and the kaleidoscopic vistas opening out on every hand, till at last I came out, excited and overawed, at the close of the last chapter.
That experience was a revelation to me of a new way of finding interest in the Bible. I saw that a book of the Bible is a unity—the discussion of a single great theme. In the light of this whole, all the parts become luminous, the meaning of every verse being manifest when it is seen in its place as the bridge from what goes before to what comes after.
Ever since that day I have cultivated this method of reading the books of the Bible, and it has brought me untold profit and satisfaction.—Rev. J. Stalker.
Is Future Punishment Eternal?
By Wm. Penniman
WM. PENNIMAN
If we carefully consider a few quotations on the subject of eternal punishment, we shall see how the mind is influenced by early education, and also that the truth shines more clearly in contrast with erroneous theories.
Learned ministers, to oppose the doctrine of the destruction of the wicked, say, “If it is all right for God to afflict for sin an hour, or a year, as facts show that he does here on earth, then it will be just to afflict eternally; the principle is the same.” This is strange logic. If it is right for a father to chastise his son for five minutes for bad conduct, does it follow that he has the right to chastise him for five hours, or five years? A word to the wise is sufficient.
The late Joseph Cook said, “It is not the best way to teach the truth of future punishment, to say that a man is punished forever and ever for the sins of that handbreadth of duration we call time.” He also said, “If there is eternal sin, there will be eternal punishment.” It seems that Mr. Cook was in favor of handling the subject carefully. Why, then, believe a doctrine which can not be plainly preached? Paul did not shun to declare “all the counsel of God.” Acts 20: 27. There must be something wrong somewhere. Mark that Mr. Cook did not say there is eternal sin, but, “If there is eternal sin,” etc.
When Satan, the evil angels, and all the wicked are destroyed, the universe will be clean. Then there will be no more sin, “no more death, . . . neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21: 4.
“The Jewish church,” Mr. Cuyler says, “and all Christian denominations, with the exception of a few so-called Protestants, have believed in future retribution and in the eternity of punishment. These articles are found in all their confessions of faith, and this constitutes very strong evidence that they have read the Scriptures aright on this point.”
We regard Mr. Cuyler as an able writer and a good man, yet we think he has not, owing to the education received in the theological schools, read his Bible so nearly “aright” as some of the “so-called Protestants.” He seems to take it for granted that the Jewish church is orthodox on the punishment question. If it could be proved that they have not accepted the doctrine from pagans or papists, the originators of it, the position would have more weight; but did not the Jews have much erroneous theology at the time of Christ? The Sadducees did not believe in angels or spirits, and denied the resurrection. Then may not the Jews have had erroneous ideas of the extent of the punishment of the wicked?
A prominent Methodist theological professor has lately published a book in which he undertakes to show that suffering may be eternal, and yet of a nature so mitigated as to be blessedness compared with extinction of being. If God so mitigates the punishment, why not admit the sinner into heaven?
In essays read before a theological seminary, the question was not in regard to the truthfulness of future punishment, but “whether the Congregational polity should recognize anything else but the endlessness of punishment.” The only argument used was, “If endless punishment is not true, then Christ died in vain, or came into the world on a useless errand.” No doubt most of these erroneous views can be accounted for on the ground of wrong education, and also wrong definitions and their introduction into creeds.
Christ’s mission was not in vain if the sinner does not suffer eternally. He died that man might have eternal life; and he would have us give diligence to make our “calling and election sure;” for so an entrance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1: 10, 11.
Defending the Bible
The best possible way for Christians to defend the Bible against the attacks of its enemies is by so obeying it as constantly to exemplify its teachings. It is said of Jesus, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” It is as true of his followers as of himself that the life conformed to the will of God illumines the darkness of the world around it. The world soon tires and sickens of holiness in the abstract,—holiness as a doctrine or a theory,—but holiness in the concrete never loses its power to excite human interest, and to confound opposers of the truth. When Christians generally shall have come to obey their Bibles in all things, great and small, thus becoming “living epistles known and read of all men,” infidelity will have been dispossessed of its chief vantage ground, despoiled of its most effective ammunition, and rendered powerless in all its enginery of warfare against the Holy Scriptures.—The Free Methodist.
The Life That Resists Desire
“It is easy enough to be prudent
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of
sin
Is luring your soul away.
But it’s only a negative virtue,
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor
of earth
Is the one that resists desire.”
The Child’s Face
By Ernest Warburton Shurtleff
THERE’S nothing more pure in heaven,
And nothing on earth more mild,
More full of the light that is all divine,
Than the smile of a little child;
The sinless lips, half parted
With breath as sweet as the air,
And light that seems so glad to shine
In the gold of the sunny hair.
O little one, smile and bless me!
For somehow — I know not why —
I feel in my soul, when children smile,
That angels are passing by.
I feel that the gates of heaven
Are nearer than I knew,
That the light and the hope of that
sweeter world,
Like the dawn, are breaking through.
— Ernest Warburton Shurtleff.