Signs of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 10. (3/8/1910)

Signs of the Times

Mar 8, 1910

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 8, 1910

God's Assurance

Luke 11:9-13

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; Seek, and ye shall find; Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?

Job

By Editor

3070.—Job. Gen. 46:13.—L. V. E.—No, the Job of Gen. 46:13 was not the Job of the book, the old Idumean patriarch. Read as in the American Standard Revised Version, instead of “Job,” “Iob.” There are many names similar in the Old Testament referring to entirely different individuals. You will find some of them repeated over and over again on different characters. The two names come from different words in the original.

Matt. 10:23 was answered last week.

3064.—The Day of Crucifixion

By Editor

I understand that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday and rose from the dead on the Sabbath day, as the sun went down, which is called Saturday now. How do you explain it? We are told in the Roman Catholic Church that Jesus was crucified and died on Friday and rose the first day of the week. How could Jesus die on Friday and then rise on the first day of the week? for He tells us in Matt. 12:40 that He must remain in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. L. D. J.

1. It does not make a thing true or untrue if the Catholic Church teaches it, or any other body of people. There are a good many truths which the Roman Catholic Church holds. The question is, Does the claim stand the test of the Word?

2. “Three days and three nights,” according to the common Bible usage, does not mean absolutely seventy-two hours. “Day and night” is an expression used for a day. It may be only a part of a day, and yet is many times called a day. It may be only a part of a day and a night on each end of the period and a whole day between. It would still be called, in the common acceptation of the term, “three days and three nights.”

3. “The heart of the earth” does not mean the grave necessarily. It is the only place where the expression is used in the Bible, and it is purely arbitrary to say that it means the grave, and that therefore Jesus must be three days and three nights in the grave.

4. To us it seems very clear that “the heart of the earth” means in the hands of the powers of earth. Satan is the “prince of this world.” Jesus tells us just before His arrest by the power of Rome, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:30. Again, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” John 12:31. There began the three days and three nights when our Lord was placed in the hands of the powers of darkness. Previous to that His time had not yet come. Now His time had come. The events which were to fall within these three days are given again and again as His betrayal, mocking, crucifixion, and the third day He should rise again—the third day from the time when He was betrayed into the hands of men. Just a little after, Jesus said that the crisis of this world had come, and that “the prince of this world” should “be cast out.” The traitor found Him in the garden with His disciples; and as they came to take Him, our Lord said, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” That is, the hour of the power of darkness began right then when they came to arrest Him; and this too is in harmony with what our Lord said in John when He prayed, “Father, save Me from this hour.” He asks, “What shall I say? Shall I say, Father, save Me from this hour?” But He must suffer for man, and so He resigns Himself into God’s hands, and declares, “But for this cause came I unto this hour.” And there began, in that hour, the awful time of agony which could end only with His resurrection. That arrest seems to have been on Thursday night. The time then included all of Friday, all of Sabbath, and a part of the next or first day. Mark reads concerning that first day, 16:9, “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week.” The Syriac New Testament has it very clear, “And on the first day of the week He arose.”

5. But what of Matthew 28:1? That ought to be interpreted by the other Gospels, and this is very easily done by connecting the 66th verse of the chapter previous, to the first verse of the 28th chapter. In the original there are no chapter headings, no verses, nothing to separate those clauses; and so we read, “So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch in the end of the Sabbath.” That is what the Jews did. They were so anxious that Christ should not arise from the dead that they even overcame their compunctions of false Sabbath-keeping, and went to Pilate and demanded that they have a watch so that He would not rise from the dead. And so this watch is set in the end of the Sabbath; but as the first day of the week began to dawn came the resurrection.

6. It seems to us that this understanding of the text makes it clearer than any of the other various methods by which men seek to bolster up something which would make Christ rise on the Sabbath day, just as tho that would make the Sabbath a holy day; just as tho His rising on the first day would make the first day of the week the Sabbath! The “Thus saith the Lord” is worth more than a great many imaginations of men.

Adah and Zillah

By N. J. E.

3065.—Adah and Zillah. Gen. 4: 23.—N. J. E.—We have no record anywhere else of Adah and Zillah. They were two wives of Lamech. Polygamy had begun as early as that. The speech is not clear. He may have slain but one person,—“I have slain a man for wounding me, and a young man for bruising me.” Told in poetical style the thought is repeated. Possibly, of course, there were two; but we would gather that it was one. There are those who contend that the man whom Lamech slew was Cain; but that is all guesswork. The thought of the latter part of the song is that if one should be punished for slaying Cain, who killed his brother unprovoked, in cold blood, surely one should be avenged for slaying Lamech, who slew a young man in self-defense. Cain slew out of the pure selfishness of his heart; Lamech slew to save his life; somebody had already wounded him. It might be considered just to slay Cain, inasmuch as he was a manslayer; but it could in no wise be considered just to slay Lamech, when he had only defended his own life, and that resulted in the slaying of a young man.

Please Be Definite.

By Editor

For instance, a question comes to us asking us to be so kind as to explain the meaning of the latter part of “the 28th verse of Hebrews.” But the question is not definite enough so that we may know what chapter is referred to. There are five chapters in Hebrews which have 28 verses or more: chapter 7, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, chapter 12. If our correspondent will tell us what chapter is referred to we will be glad to answer the question if we can.

3063.—The First Day of the Week

By Editor

What bearing has Acts 20:7 on the controversy between the advocates of the first and the seventh day as the Sabbath? “Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”

SINCERE INQUIRER.

The text has absolutely no bearing, or should have no bearing, whatever, on the controversy. In the first place, the day is not called by a sacred title in any way. We are not told that Paul or the disciples observed it as a sacred day. He was on a tour visiting the disciples. He had to accommodate himself to the times when he could meet with them, and his modes of travel. He came to Troas in five days, and there stayed seven days. The seventh verse records a farewell meeting. Before he left, they came together to break bread. Possibly it was the Lord’s Supper; not necessarily so. That first day of the week began on what is our Saturday night, for the day began at sunset. First, Paul preached to them, continued his speech until midnight; then a young man becoming sleepy fell out of the window and was killed, taken up dead. Paul brought him to life; went back again; then broke bread, and talked a long while, even till break of day, and so departed. Now what is there in this that would indicate that that was a Sabbath? If Roman time was reckoned, and that was the same as our Sunday evening, and the breaking of bread was the Lord’s Supper, it did not occur on that Sunday evening at all. The breaking of bread did not come until after midnight. That would have been on Monday. So that the breaking of bread, if it constituted a day holy or indicated a custom, ought to be held after midnight on Monday morning. But as the day began with evening, the breaking of bread did not occur on what would be called the Bible first day night. The record gives us more than this. It shows just how Paul and his companions kept that day. Paul journeyed about twenty miles across the isthmus from Troas to Assos; and Luke and his companions had gone on before, taking the ship around the peninsula. That is the whole record—every part of it. It probably would not have been mentioned at all but for the notable miracle that Paul wrought while at Troas.

3066.—Cain's Marriage.—N. J. E.

By N. J. E.

As to whether Cain was married when he went to the land of Nod or not we do not know. His wife was at least his sister. Many years elapsed after his slaying of Abel evidently before he married his wife. Great spaces of time are covered sometimes in a few verses of Scripture. The land of Nod was immediately East of Eden, adjoining. Whether Adam’s descendants had scattered into that land, or whether they still remained on other sides of Eden, we know not. It is really immaterial whether they had found a place in the land of Nod or in some other section of the earth at that time. The Lord does not reveal anything to satisfy our curiosity. He tells us that Cain was married, and then gives us some of the descendants of Cain, in order that we may see just how wickedness continued and in what it resulted.

3067.—The Apostolic Church; Where Found.

By J. R.

There are two marks given concerning the church which will be translated when the Lord comes—the remnant church, found in Rev. 12:17. That church keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus Christ. In the 14th chapter and the 12th verse we read again of that same body who shall be looking for the Lord when He comes, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Those are the great characteristics which God gives to His remnant church. When you find the people that are doing that, you certainly have a twofold assurance that they are the true apostolic church, or better, the church of Jesus Christ.

Whatsoever Thy Soul Lusteth After

By N. J. E.

3068.—“Whatsoever Thy Soul Lusteth After.” Deut. 14: 26.—N. J. E.—Take in the context, please. That will help very much. Note that this was spoken to the Lord’s people, who were doing His will, who were observing His feasts, who were keeping His ordinances. Taking into consideration this fact, we can readily understand that their souls would not lust after things that were wicked and wrong. They were simply to carry their money with them, and have a real joyful, good feast together. The passage implies no more. They had no such strong drinks in those days as we have now. There were no distilled liquors in the days of Israel.

3069.—What Was the Mark? Gen. 4:15.—

By Editor

3069.—What Was the Mark? Gen. 4:15.—

N. J. E.—That we do not know, nor do we know of any one who knows what mark God set upon Cain. It was that which branded him in a twofold sense: first, that he was the one who slew his brother; and secondly, that the punishment of that murder rested with God. The Revised Version reads, “And Jehovah appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.” That is, Cain was to make himself known by a certain sign that others would recognize.

The Power of the Spirit

By Prof. L. A. Reed

IN the first chapter of Genesis we read the record of the creation, and as a part of the record, these words, "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

The word "moved" comes from a Hebrew word, "to flutter," or "brood." It gives us the idea of energy, of vibratory power, of life-producing impulse.

"By the Word of the Lord," we are told, "were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." "The breath of His mouth" is but another expression for the Spirit of God; and in this poetic repetition we find that the Word states the work and the Spirit supplies the energy. Or as another scripture gives it, His Word "it hath commanded, and His Spirit it hath gathered them." Or as Christ formulated it, "The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life." In the book of Job we read, "By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens."

At creation, when God said, "Let there be light," there was light; perfect obedience on the part of nature in responding to the perfect Word of God. "He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast." Ps. 33:9.

In a similar manner when Daniel, weak, without strength, and without bread, as the record reads, stood before the angel, "then there touched me again one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he spake unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me." Dan. 10: 18, 19.

All the beauties of nature speak of the wisdom and power of God; for by His Spirit they were created.

The Mighty Word

This is always the operation of the Word of God. The might of God resides in that Word, and when obeyed there is in that Word all the power, all the might necessary to carry out that Word.

Consequently when God says, "Be joyful and rejoice evermore," in the command is the power to make it true. All it needs on our part is faith to obey it.

As Paul says, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Rom. 8:2. And this is the law of its operation.

Of God's Word, the following statement is made: He "calleth those things which be not as tho they were." God can do this and yet not lie, for the simple reason that when He calls a thing which is not as tho it were, it immediately obeys and is all that He said of it. God's commandment makes true the thing He commands. Everything that God wills is contained in His Word, and when the Word speaks that thing, that thing then must exist.

There is one exception. God refuses to invade the will of man. He allows every man to choose for himself whether the Word shall prevail in his life or not; therefore it is necessary for you and me to say whether the power of God's Word shall operate in the life or not. If you say it shall, then it will, for all power in heaven and earth is back of it; yea, is in it, to make it prevail, to make it be indeed exactly what it is, everywhere and always the almighty Word of God.

Not a Theory

And so when Christ entered the upper chamber, and breathed upon His disciples, and said, "Peace be unto you," it was something more than a mere formality. He was giving a peace not as the world gives, but a condition of mind that the world could neither give nor take away; and "great peace

have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them."

The Word not only gave existence to the world, but it still maintains that world; it still upholds it. Heb. 1:3. And this world will stand until the time when God's Word shall shake the heavens and the earth, and that shaking will remove everything that is not in accordance with the pure Word of God. Heb. 12:26-29.

When that great shaking takes place, the assurance to the believer is that there shall remain a kingdom which can not be shaken, a kingdom that can not be moved; and the consolation to the Christian is as stated in the Word, 'Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that can not be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well pleasing to God with reverence and awe.' Verse 28.

'Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.' 'All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.' 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.' This is the power which is for every child that trusts in the Lord. It is the power of God's Word; it is the power of God's Spirit. It is the power that built this world; it is the power that still upholds this world; it is the power that will bring in the new kingdom, the everlasting inheritance; and it is this same power that immortalizes God's children, and causes them who do the will of God to abide forever.

The Promise of the Spirit

By W. A. Spicer

JESUS knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father.” But His thoughts seemed to be more with His children in this world than upon the glories His eyes were soon to behold by the Father’s throne. “Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”

There is the love that clings until death. He came into the world to suffer because He loved His children, wayward and sinful tho they were. His heart of love so bound Him to His own in the world, that the thought of leaving them was relieved of sadness only by the knowledge that it was best for them. “It is expedient for you that I go away.” For our sakes He came into the world. For our sakes He returned to heaven. For us He is coming again. His thought is ever for His children.

In His prayer with the disciples, He prayed: “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. . . . While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name.”

We can catch in the tone of the voice the longing to cling to His own and keep them. But He knew that He must go — that it was expedient for them that He should. So He prayed, “Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me.”

The Spirit to Be Sent

Just as He had kept them while with them, He prayed that the Father would keep them. Well He knew that in the counsels of God the eternal Spirit was to be sent to be the companion and helper of His children. This was to be more to them than even His personal presence could be in the flesh of humanity.

The promise had been made through the prophets. Isaiah had written:

“And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever. Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isa. 59:20, 21; 60:1.

This was that “promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4) for which Christ told His disciples to wait at Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit, to be sent in fulness of blessing after Christ returned to heaven, was to be to believers what Christ’s personal presence was to John and Peter and all who walked with Him and leaned upon Him and were comforted by Him in the days when He lived among men.

They grieved like children about to be orphaned when He spoke of leaving them. But He said: “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans.” John 14:16-18, margin.

Therefore He could say, “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” John 16:7.

The Fulfilment

The promise was fulfilled. On the Day of Pentecost the Comforter was sent to abide with believers. Peter said of Christ and His promise on that day, “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” Acts 2:33.

The promise was not for believers in that day alone. In Christ’s prayer He said, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word.” And when on the Day of Pentecost the people cried out, “What shall we do?” Peter said to them: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2:38, 39.

Every believer may claim and receive the blessed Spirit as he claims every promise of God from the forgiveness of sins onward in Christian experience. God’s love bestows what we need. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate [Comforter] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” And there is not only a Comforter in heaven, but a Comforter on earth, the Holy Spirit, “whom God hath given to them that obey Him.” Acts 5:32.

The blessings of the Holy Spirit must be earnestly sought for and claimed in faith. But to those that seek is the promise that they shall find. The earthly parent loves to give gifts to his children. “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”

We have reached the last days. It is the “time of the latter rain,” the “times of refreshing” “from the presence of the Lord,” when soon He “shall send Jesus Christ.” Acts 3:19, 20. Now is the hour of the outpouring of the Spirit in more blessed fulness, and the Lord exhorts us: “Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain.” Zech. 10:1. The soul that hungers and thirsts shall be filled. “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring.” Isa. 44:3. The blessed Comforter is come.

“O spread the tidings round wherever man is found, Wherever human hearts and human woes abound; Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound: The Comforter has come.”

The Secret of the Saints

To play through life a perfect part, Unnoticed and unknown; To seek no rest in any heart But only God's alone; In little things to have no will, To own no share in great; To find the labor ready still, And for the crown to wait;

Upon the brow to bear no trace Of more than common care, To write no secret on the face For men to read it there; The daily cross to clasp and bless With such familiar zeal As hides from all that not the less Its daily weight you feel;

In toils that praise will never pay, To see your life go past; To meet, in every coming day, Twin sister of the last; To hear of high, heroic things, And yield them reverence due, Yet feel life's daily offerings Are far more fit for you;

To woo no subtle, soft disguise To which self-love is prone; Unnoticed in all other eyes, Unworthy in your own; To yield with such a happy art That no one thinks you care, And say to your poor, bleeding heart, "How little you can bear!" — Author Unknown.

The Inestimable Gift

By A. O. Tait

ONE of the choicest and best gifts of our heavenly Father is that of His Holy Spirit. The value of the Spirit of God among the sons of men is of such a character that the Master said of it while here upon earth: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send Him unto you." John 16: 7.

It was expedient that the Lord go away and send the Comforter to us. It is better for us to have the Spirit of God with us, than that Christ should be on earth in person, as He was during His ministration in Judea nineteen hundred years ago. We may not be able to understand all about why this is so, but we may know that it is so because the Master says it in His Word. And more than this, we may have the experience of knowing it to be so, and thus confirm to ourselves the truth of the Word by tasting of its fulfilments.

The mighty power of God is communicated to His children through His Spirit. The Saviour says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, that will I do. If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world can not receive; for it beholdeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you desolate: I will come unto you." John 14: 12-18.

Mark the possibilities that are open before the believer through the promises in the foregoing words. "The works that I do," says the Master, "shall he do." The wonderful life that the Lord lived, and the mighty works that He Himself did, are all for the true believer. Such is the plain statement of the promise. It may seem too good or too great to be true; but it is the promise just the same, and it is therefore within reach of the faith of every one who will stand on the naked truth of God.

Greater Works

But notice how the promise expands. Not only is the promise given that the believer is to do the works of the Master, but it is added, "And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father." The Saviour desires that the blessed enjoyment He experienced in His life of faithful work for His Father, shall be enjoyed also by every one of His followers. And so He not only tells them that it is their privilege to do the works that He did, but they may even do "greater works." What a wonderful wealth of promise, and how many professing Christians are living far, far below their exalted privileges and opportunities!

We receive this great gift by asking. "And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." If we ask it in His name, the Master assures us, "That will I do." But it must be asked in His name. To be asked for in His name, the thing requested must be in harmony with His character. And when the request is granted it will glorify both the Father and the Son. Definite principles of righteousness are laid down; and when these are followed, the request of the disciple of Christ is granted, even to the extent of mightier works than the Lord Himself did.

Since Christians have such a mighty source of power awaiting their demand and reception, why is it that they will resort to so many of the expedients that are frequently employed for the advancement of His cause? Why do they institute various amusements and things of that kind to raise money and to try to draw people to the church, when our Father in heaven has given us freely, for the asking and the receiving, the very Spirit and power that were in His own Son?

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4: 3. Giving way to the lusts of the flesh debases and destroys. There is no real pleasure in following the gratification of fleshly appetites and passions; for the final outcome is only disease, wreckage of manhood, and death. Hence the Lord, who is seeking to give us only the good, wherein lies true happiness, always places His gifts upon the condition that we take our stand with the right before He endues us with the gift of the Spirit. Many of His temporal blessings, like the rain and the sunshine, He bestows upon all alike; but the unmeasured gift of His Spirit can only be given to those who ask according to His will.

"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom. 5: 1-5. The Holy Spirit of God coming into the life, fills the soul with an indescribable blessing, and puts one in touch with the very Fountainhead of power. There are many, many professing Christians who are living along without knowing anything about this power in the life. They have not had an experience in the love of God that is shed abroad through the Holy Spirit actually coming in to take possession of the whole life, to mold and fashion it after God's own order.

The individual who has this experience, is growing in grace and truth day by day, and instead of his religion being to him an irksome duty, he finds it the delightsome joy of his life.

The Narrow Way

By Sunday School Times

BUT was there ever a way so roomy, so magnificently spacious? The largest souls that ever lived have found it more than ample for all their going. What room there is in it perpendicularly, straight up! To a man who was walking in it, and whom it had led into much outward constraint, they said, "Your room is very narrow." "Aye," he answered, "but it is very high." It has a clear, unobstructed view of the sky. Over the broad way are the overarching trees of lust or desire or intrigue or ambition or self. You get only broken glimpses of the heavens there. For days and months and years you do not see them at all, and clear and whole you never do see them. But so long as the soul is really in the narrow way, the path of consecration, of love, of service, there is nothing that interrupts the upward look. In fact, the narrower the path, the farther the reach and the clearer the vision. So deep amidst cañons, so constricted, seems our life, so shut in and shut out, that we feel as if we were down at the bottom of a well. And down at the bottom of that well the stars come out. It is a telescope, and shuts off the confusing earthlights, allowing only the celestial lamps themselves to shine in. What glimpses of heaven have been caught in this "Royal Gorge" of the narrow way! It was here that Bunyan got his vision of the pilgrim on his journey heavenward. Here Milton soared to the heights of his great argument. To Luther, driven in, and almost distracted by the countless oppositions and disasters of his struggle for the soul's liberation, it was given here to look up and see the invisible pillars of God's grace and power which uphold the heaven. Hemmed in by the rocky coast and unquiet waves of Patmos, here John beheld the New Jerusalem. There are no such visions in the broad way; it is all one glare of conflicting lights and baffling mists. You never suspect that the stars are above it. There is no upward reach.—Sunday School Times.

Behold, He Shall Come

SHALL we know Him if we see Him When He comes? Shall we fear Him, shall we flee Him, When He comes? Shall we love Him and believe Him, Will His own at last receive Him, Or will slighting coldness grieve Him, When He comes?

Shall we dare to stand before Him When He comes? Shall we worship and adore Him When He comes? Or will pride presume to try Him, Will our craven fear deny Him, And our sins cry, "Crucify Him," When He comes?

May our feet be swift to meet Him When He comes! May our hearts leap up to greet Him When He comes! May our lips be fit to sing Him, May our hands be clean to bring Him All we have, and all to crown Him, When He comes! — Author Unknown.

Continue reading: The Work of the Holy Spirit in Conversion