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Review and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 22.

THE WORK AND THE WORKERS

Review and Herald

May 28, 1914

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 28, 1914

THE WORK AND THE WORKERS

By Editor

Why not earn your way to your local camp meeting by selling Life and Health, Liberty, or the Protestant Magazine? Write your tract society about the matter today.
The ladies of the W. C. T. U., the Anti-Cigarette League, the leaders of the Boy Scouts, and other temperance organizations will help you distribute a large number of copies of the June or “Antitobacco” number of Life and Health. Visit them today.
Read what Luther Burbank, leading scientists, physicians, and business men say about tobacco, cigarettes, and alcohol. All in the twelve sledge-hammer articles against tobacco, found in the beautiful June Life and Health. Five copies, 25 cents; 20 for $1.00; 50 for $2.00. Order today.
Every public-school teacher should have the privilege of reading Life and Health, Liberty, and the Protestant Magazine for at least one year. Special price on the three mailed to one teacher one year, $1.90—regular price, $2.35. Same rate also applies to public libraries and Y. M. C. A., W. C. T. U., and other public reading rooms.
Hon. William Sulzer, ex-governor of New York State, writes thus of the June number of the Protestant Magazine: “Send me to my office, 115 Broadway, New York City, as many copies of the magazine as you can spare. I can make good use of them. Am looking forward to reading the article with much interest.” The article referred to is entitled “Governor Sulzer, Tammany Hall, and the Roman Catholic Church; the Hierarchy and the Public Schools”—an eleven-page, illustrated write-up of Prof. W. W. Prescott’s two-hour interview with Mr. Sulzer. An eye opener for Protestants!
In the Baltimore Catholic Review for May 16 (official organ of Cardinal Gibbons) are found two long articles, measuring 12 and 22 inches respectively, referring to the Protestant Magazine, especially the May number. Speaking of Congressman Tribble’s success in preventing the appointment of more navy chaplains, one article says: “It is more than probable that Mr. Tribble’s protest against the increase of chaplains was inspired by an article in the May number of the Protestant Magazine, published in Washington. As stated on previous occasions, this periodical belongs in the same class as the Menace. . . . There are many Catholics throughout the United States who honestly believe that the present torrent of anti-Catholic literature flooding the country is not harmful, but those in Washington know that it is.” Who will assist in sending this magazine for one year to our congressmen and senators? For $3.00 we will send it to five for one year. Send your orders through your tract society, please.

Three of Twelve Ringing Antitobacco Articles by Eminent Authorities in the June “Life and Health”

Did you ever stop to think that the men and yes, the women, of this nation are burning up over TWELVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS’ worth of TOBACCO every year? This would buy 300 loaves of bread for every man, woman, and child in the country, or THIRTY THOUSAND MILLION loaves. Placed end to end, these loaves would extend a distance of SIXTY MILLION MILES, or two thirds of the distance from the earth to the sun. It would take the great wheat-producing State of Kansas SIXTEEN YEARS to produce wheat enough to pay the ANNUAL TOBACCO BILL OF AMERICA! To put it another way, the annual TOBACCO FIRE represents a loss of $370,000,000 MORE THAN ALL THE OTHER FIRES IN THE COUNTRY PUT TOGETHER! When millions of smokers are daily striking matches and burning up the equivalent of millions of loaves of bread, is it any wonder that TEN MILLION AMERICAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN GO TO BED HUNGRY EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK? Then think of the other great fires caused by careless smokers, also of the effect of tobacco upon the MIND and the BODY and the MORALS! These and many other phases of the GREAT TOBACCO EVIL are FULLY PICTURED AND DISCUSSED in the June or “Antitobacco,” “Antialcohol,” and “Antifly” number of Life and Health. Other regular features: “Healthful Cookery,” “Questions and Answers,” etc. ORGANIZE AN “ANTI-CIGARETTE LEAGUE” OR AN “ANTI-TOBACCO LEAGUE” IN YOUR CHURCH, AND LAUNCH A STRONG CAMPAIGN NOW against this great soul-destroying and property-destroying evil. GET YOUR CHURCH TO ORDER 1,000 COPIES (only $40.00) TODAY. Get several members to order 50 copies ($2.00), or even 20 copies ($1.00), to sell in your vicinity. SEND THIS MAGAZINE TO TEN FRIENDS FOR SIX MONTHS ($3.00), OR TO FIVE FRIENDS FOR ONLY $1.50. Address your tract society, or Life and Health, Washington, D. C.

CIGARETTES A USE OF CRIME

By Abraham Bowers

ABRAHAM BOWERS
This article first appeared in the “Scientific Temperance Journal”
Some years ago I was a teacher of boys awaiting trial in the Cook County jail in the city of Chicago. Prior to that time, I had
“divide up,” the crowd would surround him, take them away, and pass them to the tier below for tobacco and wrappers. If a suit of old clothing was sent in to a destitute boy, he had to be watched to

A Morning Soliloquy

By A. SMITH

A. SMITH
“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” Ps. 139: 17.
WHEN I awake each morning, I should look upon the day before me as possibly my last one of life, and fill its precious moments with golden thoughts and deeds. My character is as a flower vase to be filled with roses and lilies from the garden of God’s love (Gal. 5: 22-24) or with Satan’s weeds from the fields of sin. Every pure thought, and word, and action, fragrant with the grace of humility in Christ, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Shall I then fill my vase today with these mementos of Eden? or shall I fill it with the devil’s weeds of unkind or impure words and deeds? Shall I make myself generally disagreeable and unkind to my associates, and self-conscious of guilt toward my God?—No, let me rather throw out the offensive weeds, cleanse my vase in the fountain for sin, and fill it with the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit.
I have not a moment to lose. When Christ comes, my character will be fixed beyond all change forever. The Holy Spirit will never place the seal of the living God upon the impure-minded man or woman, nor the jester or foolish talker, nor the lover of unholy amusements; for that would sanction such evil things in heaven.
“May my angel’s record, every closing day, Shine with love’s bright moments all the way.”

The Wonderful Book of Romans

By Milton C. Wilcox

MILTON C. WILCOX
The book grows upon one as he studies it. Somehow the lodes of the mine do not work out, the great veins are not exhausted. The farther one follows the “leads” and the deeper he goes in this marvelous mine, the richer it becomes.
Romans is one of the great clusters in God’s coronet jewels. How the great words of Scripture abound! Take the awful word sin, for instance. It occurs in the New Testament in various forms of noun and verb and in the adjective sinful 266 times; its awfulness is represented in Romans 58 times. Hebrews comes next with 29, 1 John with 27, and John with 26. God’s law in these last two books is set over against the sin.
Another awful word is wrath, from orge. In the New Testament it is found 31 times; 11 of these are in Romans. Wrath, final in its consequences, is the inevitable result of sin.
Judge (noun and verb) and judgment occur in the entire New Testament 175 times; 22 times in Romans. The Gospel of John exceeds, containing the word 26 times; 1 Corinthians, 25 times. Romans is third.
But all the great jewels are not on the somber side. While 1 John and the Gospel by John exceed in the number of times love (agape) is used,—46 and 45, respectively,—Romans has 14 of the 242 times it occurs in the New Testament.
Romans leads in faith, 39 times of the 247; Hebrews coming next with 32, Galatians with 22, James with 16.
Hope is found in all the New Testament 55 times; 15 of these are in Romans, Acts coming next with 8.
The word gospel, God’s good tidings, is mentioned in Romans 13 times of the 102 it is found in the New Testament. Little Galatians comes next with 12.
The New Testament uses the word goodness 9 times, 6 of these being found in Romans.
God wishes to give his children assurance of some great and vital fact, and the words much more are used by the Spirit 21 times in the New Testament, 7 of which are in Romans.
Adoption occurs 5 times; 3 of these are in Romans.
But Romans is preeminently a book of grace and mercy. It glows, scintillates, sparkles, and shines with their exceeding beauty. The latter word is found in the entire New Testament 62 times; 12 of these are in Romans. Luke comes next with 9. Grace occurs 129 times, and 22 of these are found in Romans. 2 Corinthians comes next with 13, then Ephesians with 12.
Grace, mercy, and faith are the keys of the book. Remembering this, the “hard” passages become easier, the obscure places plain. For God’s great purpose concerning his creatures is always consonant with grace. He emphasizes his awful sovereignty in chapter 9: 11-21; and as we reverently read, our human hearts tremble. But let us never forget that from the fountain of the Godhead flow the streams of grace and mercy. His purpose in the stating of his power, his will, is not to discourage us nor to begloom the way; it is that we may know, may forever know, that the salvation is not of ourselves. We cannot buy it; we cannot earn it; we do not deserve it. It is all of him, of his love, of his abounding goodness. This is the lesson that God wouldteach us in the book of Romans: We are saved by grace, by God’s undeserving favor to sinners. His purpose does not include our destruction. He wills not that any should perish. He elects (over-chooses) no one to sin, no one to condemnation, no one to be a vessel of wrath. His call, his choosing for us, is always to salvation, and salvation in the only way it can be made effective—through mercy and grace. And we can make it effective in our case by choosing, simply choosing with all the heart, God’s way. Then he can use us. So he used Israel, so he longed always to use Israel. He bestowed upon them all the privileges and covenant blessings that he might reveal in them and through them his power, and publish abroad his name. For the same twofold purpose he raised up, or brought to the throne of Egypt, Pharaoh: “That I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth.” But the proud king would not choose God’s way. This did not thwart God’s purpose in the ultimate; but it removed Pharaoh from that purpose. So he will make the wrath of man to praise him; but that is not in his purpose. The Egyptian king would not learn it; unbelieving Israel would not learn it. Shall we who are closing our studies in the wonderful book learn it? Shall we learn that we are sinners, condemned to judgment and wrath by his holy law, with no power to change our just sentence? Shall we then learn that his grace abounds over the sin, his mercy over our misery, his power over our weakness, his righteousness covers our iniquity, his life triumphs over our death in sin? “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching.” John 7:17.
O reader, do not leave the book behind! Take it with you; enshrine it in the heart, drink of its hidden springs of life in all the weary way—the joyful way—to the kingdom.
Mountain View, Cal.

Love as King

By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
O for the love that imbues the soul And makes it compassionate, pure, and whole! O for the touch that the stranger hand Of an alien may understand! Such that may enter the Beautiful Gate And give to the beggar who there may wait A holier gift than silver and gold To bring him healed to the Shepherd’s fold. So shall the desert and barren field Their blossoms of Sharon roses yield, And out of the rock will a fountain flow To quicken the thirsty land below.
Soul, from thy searching for love like this Comes benediction of hallowed bliss; For love sublime in effulgent light Seeks temples within earth’s darkest night, And yearns to dwell in your heart and mine With healing balm of grace divine. He there will only abide alone; No other monarch can share his throne. So cherished, he will not e’er depart, But banishing self, will rule thy heart; Ennobling, this holy presence will stay,— The love theme of ages, thy King for aye.

The Reward of Faithful Service

By Ellen G. White

Early Counsels on Medical Work—No. 9

The Reward of Faithful Service

MRS. E. G. WHITE
I was shown that the physicians at our Institute should be men and women of faith and spirituality. They should make God their trust. There are many who come to the Institute who have, by their own sinful indulgence, brought upon themselves disease of almost every type. This class do not deserve the sympathy that they frequently require. And it is painful to the physicians to devote time and strength to this class, who are debased physically, mentally, and morally.
But there is a class who have, through ignorance, lived in violation of nature’s laws. They have worked intemperately and have eaten intemperately because it was the custom to do so. Some have suffered many things from many physicians, but have not been made better, but decidedly worse. At length they are torn from business, from society, and from their families; and as their last resort, they come to the Health Institute, with some faint hope that they may find relief. This class need sympathy. They should be treated with the greatest tenderness, and care should be taken to make clear to their understanding the laws of their being, that they may, by ceasing to violate them and by governing themselves, avoid suffering and disease, the penalty of nature’s violated law.
Dr. B is not the best adapted to fill a position as physician at the Institute. He sees men and women ruined in constitution, who are weak in mental and moral power, and he thinks it time lost to treat such cases. This may be so in many cases. But he should not become discouraged and disgusted with sick and suffering patients. He should not lose his pity, sympathy, and patience, and feel that his life is poorly employed when doing for those who can never appreciate the labor they receive, and who will not use their strength, if they regain it, to bless society, but will pursue the same course of self-gratification that they did in losing health. Dr. B should not become weary nor discouraged. He should remember Christ, who came in direct contact with suffering humanity. Although, in many cases, the afflicted had brought disease upon themselves by their sinful course in violating natural law, Jesus pitied their weakness, and when they came to him with disease the most loathsome, he did not stand aloof for fear of contamination; he touched them, and bade disease give back.
“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”
Here is a lesson for us all. These lepers were so corrupted by disease that they had been restricted from society lest they should contaminate others. Their limits had been prescribed by the authorities. Jesus comes within their sight, and in their great suffering, they cry unto him who alone has power to relieve them. Jesus bids them show themselves to the priests. They have faith to start on their way, believing in the power of Christ to heal them. As they go on their way, they realize that the horrible disease has left them. But only one has feelings of gratitude, only one feels his deep indebtedness to Christ for this great work wrought for him. This one returns praising God, and in the greatest humiliation falls at the feet of Christ, acknowledging with thankfulness the work wrought for him. And this man was a stranger; the other nine were Jews.
For the sake of this one man, who would make a right use of the blessing of health, Jesus healed the whole ten. The nine passed on without appreciating the work done, and rendered no grateful thanks to Jesus for doing the work.
Thus will the physicians of the Health Institute have their efforts treated. But if, in their labor to help suffering humanity, one out of twenty makes a right use of the benefits received, and appreciates their efforts in his behalf, the physicians should feel grateful and satisfied. If one life out of ten is saved, and one soul out of one hundred is saved in the kingdom of God, all connected with the Institute will be amply repaid for all their efforts. All their anxiety and care will not be wholly lost. If the King of glory, the Majesty of heaven, worked for suffering humanity, and so few appreciated his divine aid, the physicians and helpers at the Institute should blush to complain if their feeble efforts are not appreciated by all, and seem to be thrown away on some.—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. III, pages 178-180.
Many who come to the sanitarium for treatment are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and thus not only are they healed in body, but the darkened chambers of the mind are illuminated with the light of the dear Saviour’s love. But how much more good might be accomplished if all connected with that institution were first connected with the God of wisdom, and had thus become channels of light to others. The habits and customs of the world, pride of appearance, selfishness, and self-exaltation too often intrude, and these sins of his professed followers are so offensive to God that he cannot work in power for them or through them.—Id., Vol. IV, page 576.
God designed that the Sanitarium which he had established should stand forth as a beacon of light, of warning and reproof. He would prove to the world that an institution conducted on religious principles as an asylum for the sick, could be sustained without sacrificing its peculiar, holy character; that it could be kept free from the objectionable features that are found in other institutions of the kind. It was to be an instrumentality in his hand to bring about great reforms. Wrong habits of life should be corrected, the morals elevated, the tastes changed, the dress reformed.—Id., page 582.
The physicians are in a position where, should they exert an influence in accordance with their faith, they would have a molding power upon all connected with the institution. This is one of the best missionary fields in the world; and all in responsible positions should becomeacquainted with God, and ever be receiving light from heaven.
There should be awakened in the hearts of the physicians especially a most earnest desire to have that wisdom which God alone can impart; for as soon as they become self-confident, they are left to themselves, to follow the impulses of the unsanctified heart. When I see what these physicians may become, in connection with Christ, and what they will fail to become if they do not daily connect with him, I am filled with apprehension that they will be content with reaching a worldly standard, and have no ardent longings, no hungering and thirsting, for the beauty of holiness, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.—Id., pages 557, 559.
The prosperity of the Sanitarium is not dependent alone upon the intelligence and knowledge of its physicians, but upon the favor of God. If it is conducted in a manner that God can bless, it will be highly successful, and will stand in advance of any other institution of the kind in the world. Great light, great knowledge, and superior privileges have been given. And in accordance with the light which has been received, but has not been improved, and therefore is not shining forth upon others, will be the condemnation.

Are Christians, “Under Grace,” to Keep the Law?

[The following excellent article was written by the editor of the Sunday School Times, and published in that paper Jan. 3, 1914. While the writer employs some forms of expression which might properly be modified, the argument on the whole is clear and conclusive.—Ed.]
FROM what are we freed by our Christian liberty? Wherein is a Christian freer from the law of God today than were the children of Israel upon whom God through Moses laid the strict requirements of his clearly defined law? Our recent Sunday school study of the Old Testament law has given rise to profitable inquiry into these questions. An Idaho reader asks, “To what extent are Christians under grace bound by the ten commandments?” And another reader enlarges the question in the following letter:—
“In what sense are we who are under grace not under law?
“There are a great many who say they do not have to keep the Sabbath (Christian sabbath), and they quote this passage (Rom. 6:14): ‘Ye are not under law, but under grace,’ and say that Christ has made us free from the law. Do they not use their liberty for an occasion for the flesh?
“The commandments were observed before the law was given; should they not be established, and have greater force with us today?
“Jesus said that one jot or one tittle should in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Was the law fulfilled by Christ on the cross when he said, ‘It is finished,’ in the sense that we should not observe it?”
While God remains God, his moral law will be binding upon all who would have any part in his life. God’s moral law is eternal; it is an expression of his very being. As such it can no more be abrogated than can God himself.
Jesus put his own seal on the law when, as the inquirer points out, he said, “Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.” “Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill.” “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
And the Holy Spirit through Paul put his seal upon the law. To the Romans Paul wrote: “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. . . . For we know that the law is spiritual.” And Paul was writing as a Christian to Christians.
Yet over against the eternal obligation of the law is the blessed truth that since Christ came, and died for us, and rose again, and joined us to himself by his Holy Spirit, we are not under law, but under grace. But what does this mean? It means that we are not living in the age or dispensation when, because of the hardness of their heart, men were allowed to suppose that they could be saved by keeping the law, but we are living in the age when God has revealed to the world that men can never be saved by keeping the law, but only by accepting a Saviour who has kept the law, and who will enable them, after saving them, to keep the law. “Under the law” men sought to keep the law in order to be saved. “Under grace” men keep the law because they are saved; they are saved in order that they may keep the law. They are not saved because they obey; they obey because they are saved. Their keeping of the law is never the test of their salvation; it is an outcome of their salvation. The test of their salvation is always and only their acceptance of a perfect, law-keeping, life-giving, empowering Saviour, Christ Jesus. “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.” Rom. 4:5. There is our salvation by faith, not by works. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance [or, requirement] of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3, 4. Thus our salvation results in works that we could never have done until we were saved. In the old dispensation men worked for eternal life; in the new, men work from eternal life. Life then was the goal of works; now it is the starting of works.
A fact that we are in danger of overlooking as we think of those of the old dispensation who lived “under law,” is this: the Old Testament saints were never saved because they kept the law. Israel as a whole, like the natural man today and in every age, thought they could be saved in that way. And God met them on their own ground. He offered them the law, not as a means of salvation, but to show them the hopelessness of their keeping the law, and their need of his grace. So the law was their schoolmaster to bring them unto Christ, that they might be justified (not by works, but) by faith. Gal. 3:24. No Old Testament saint was ever justified by works. His way of salvation was “under grace” just as much as ours, but he lived in an age when God’s people were brought “under law” in order to teach them what they insisted on learning that way. The individual Old Testament saint was always and only saved by faith, through the grace of God, by the same Christ who saves us, though Christ’s earthly work was not then done. They “drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:4. “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. . . . David also pronounceth blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works.” Rom. 4:3-6. That the man-invented dispensation of law was a failure as far as concerned man’s being saved by the law, is plainly shown. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. . . . But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. . . . God is one, and he shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith.” Rom. 3:19-30. In the Old Testament it was law first and grace afterward; and in the New Testament it is grace first and law afterward.
We must, of course, distinguish clearly between the ceremonial law of the Old Testament and the moral law. The eternal requirements of the moral law are always binding upon God’s people; but the details of ceremonial law which typified Christ’s atoning and cleansing work were done away with when Christ, their great antitype, completed the work which he came to do, and which they foreshadowed. The believing Old Testament saint, saved by grace, was under the obligation of a ceremonial law from which we have been freed because Christ fulfilled and finished all that the ceremonial pointed to. But, while we are freed from the ceremoniallaw, the obligation to keep the moral law rests even more heavily upon us who live in the enlightened age of grace than upon those who were living, by men’s own choice, under law. We have in fulfillment in Christ that which they had at the best only in prophecy. Their belief may have given them, through Christ, the same divine power to obey the law that we now have in him; but we live in the noonday light of the revelation of his consummated work; they moved in the twilight of yet unfulfilled hope. “Not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things;” for “the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them.” 1 Peter 1:10-12.
Our Lord’s triumphant word on the cross, “It is finished,” declared the fulfillment of that which he had come to earth to do: the supernatural work of atonement and cleansing to which the Old Testament ceremonial pointed was completed, and therefore all further necessity for such ceremonial was done away with, as the rent veil in the temple signified; the perfect keeping of the moral law, on earth, in man’s stead, was finished; and the final releasing to men of that divine power whereby they themselves, after his resurrection and ascension and gift of the Spirit, could, in union with Christ, keep the law of God, was accomplished. But we must never suppose that Christ’s words, “It is finished,” meant our release from the obligation of keeping God’s eternal law; for such a release would be our cutting off from fellowship with God.
So our Christian liberty, while freeing us from the “under law” bondage of supposing that our law keeping can save us, also sets us free to keep the law because we have been saved. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus gives us freedom to live in unswerving and joyous obedience to the eternal moral law of the ten commandments; and this includes, of course, Sabbath observance,—our recognition of the day of rest-privilege which God ordained when he created the world.
Christian liberty brings us into the most exacting and the gladdest constraint in the world,—the constraint of the love of Christ to live, under grace, in obedience to the law of his Father and ours.

Sure Evidences of Acceptance With God

By M. S. HUBBELL

M. S. HUBBELL
OFTEN in visiting the homes of our brethren and sisters who are struggling with the doubts and perplexities of this life, we hear such expressions as, “I feel so unworthy and sinful that at times I wonder if God has not rejected me, for he says, ‘My Spirit shall not always strive with man.’ I try so hard to do what I feel I should, and fail so miserably that it seems useless to continue the struggle.” Another will say: “If I could only be like Brother So-and-so, I should know that I was pleasing God, for I am sure that if any one gets to heaven he will, because he is so good, so gentle and patient, always the same, bringing a ray of sunshine with him, and leaving joy behind.” Still others will say: “I feel so cold and indifferent at times that I cannot realize that I am really looking for Jesus to come, or sense the importance of the message we are supposed to be bearing to the world. I sometimes feel inclined to think that my case has been tried and my name rejected.”
Too often such doubts are permitted to prey upon the minds of God’s people; too often do we allow our minds to brood over obstacles placed in our way by the enemy, the destroyer of peace; but these are only the outworkings of his plan to deceive us and accomplish our ruin; and if we do not resist his power by turning to Christ for strength to meet the temptation, our ultimate destruction is sure. The work of death is gradual. By constantly keeping before our eyes the mist of doubt and unbelief, Satan causes us to lose sight of the reward, and subtly leads us on to certain doom.
To such comes the longing call of the Spirit of life: “Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Christ tasted death for every man. He was assailed with doubts of every description by the enemy of souls, and fiercer by far was the battle in that heart than ours can ever experience. Because Satan well knew that upon the result of that battle depended his only hope of perpetuating his reign of sin, he fully realized the necessity of pressing upon Christ the full weight and force of his mighty genius and power to tempt men to sin. Knowing his dominion over the flesh by right of the conquest of Adam, and the natural longings of the flesh as an inherent consequence of that conquest, he exerted every art at his command to overcome the Son of God.
But Jesus, knowing all this, and feeling his helplessness and the absolute necessity of dependence upon his divine Father for power to resist, appealed with all his heart to God for the needed help, and received it; thus he, having taken part in our flesh and blood, has suffered with us, and being tempted in a far greater measure in all points, is abundantly able to succor us who are tempted.
Beloved, listen! You who are doubting the love and longing embodied in that call, you for whom the Spirit is making intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered, did you ever stop to think that your concern about your spiritual welfare, your desire to lead a better life, or your feeling of condemnation, is certain evidence that the Spirit is calling, that he is still striving with you? Have these gracious words ever burned their way into your weary mind or left their impress on your aching heart: “No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him”? Are not those secret longings of your hungry heart for the bread you see others have, an evidence that the Father is drawing you?
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” Have you ever had an only son? Can you realize what it would mean to you to see that son mocked, falsely accused, shamefully abused, and finally put to death by a rebellious and ungrateful people whom he had been striving to save from a fearful death? Could you bear to see him struggling along for years, enduring the misrepresentations, insults, and contradictions against himself of shame and contumely, in sorrowful but patient silence?
Our Heavenly Father did. But what for? Listen: “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Do you believe? If so, then that means you; for he says “whosoever believeth.” The call is, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely;” and he says, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” My brother, my sister, that call is for you. Those are sure evidences that your probation has not closed, a positive assurance that you will be accepted if you will only believe his promises of life and come while it is yet called today, leaving doubt and unbelief behind.
God has no pleasure in those who persist in unbelief; but his heart is open to those who by faith claim his promises, plead for forgiveness for their failures, and press on in firm assurance of faith that victory is sure, and who in childlike simplicity commit themselves to him who is able to keep them against that day. “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” And if we believe, then “are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
When we feel no condemnation in our hearts, then we know we are accepted, for “if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God;” and we know we are the sons of God “because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” These constitute the evidences of his Spirit’s striving with us, and of our acceptance with him. “Therefore let us come boldly unto the throne of grace,” knowing that “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Will you not lay aside all unbelief, refuse to listen to any doubt suggested by the enemy, accept the Saviour’s gentle call, and come? Continued prayer, abiding faith, and a steady striving for the mastery are our only safeguards. Believe and press on; the end is not far away; already the watchman is heralding the dawn.

“Let Us Not Therefore Judge One Another Any More”

THIS is the conclusion which the apostle Paul reaches from the argument which he makes in the fourteenth chapter of Romans regarding the question of brethren judging one another. He teaches that the strong should bear the infirmities of the weak; that no one should judge or set at naught his brother, but that all should realize that the whole human family shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ; that instead of our giving account each to his fellows, at last “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” In view of these things, he urges, “Let us not therefore judge one another any more.”
This was seasonable advice for the church at Rome, where controversies over trivial questions threatened to separate the believers. It is quite as seasonable for the church of God today, because we see at the present time the same tendency to pass judgment upon others. In this is shown the weakness of poor human nature. We erect our narrow standards, and then seek to gauge our fellows by them.
Suppose from the believers in this message there could be eliminated all spirit of unkind criticism, what a revolution would be witnessed in our ranks! What unity of purpose and of spirit would possess the believers! It is possible to effect a transformation of this kind. It was for this unity that Christ prayed, for which he still ministers his blood in the sanctuary above.
Let us pray God to take out of our hearts all spirit of superiority, of unkind criticism. Let us speak good of our fellows rather than ill. The cultivation of this spirit in the days to come will go a long way toward bringing about that unity in the church of God which must precede the outpouring of the Spirit.
It was only as the disciples of the early church put away their differences and pressed together in heart and spirit that the experience of Pentecost was made possible. We shall come to the Pentecost in our experience only by the elimination of sin from our lives in the same way.
Continue reading: A Truce of God