Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 4. (1/22/1885)

Signs of the Times

Jan 22, 1885

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 22, 1885

The Cripple Healed.

By Mrs. E. G. White

AFTER the death of Christ, John became a faithful, ardent laborer for his Master. For a time, judging from the world's standpoint, the Christian faith was well-nigh extinct. Its Author had died on the cross as a malefactor, and his handful of obscure disciples were covered with reproach. But John and his brethren were not disheartened. Obedient to the word of their Lord, they remained in Jerusalem until after the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Then, endued with power from on high, they preached a risen Saviour; and multitudes came out to listen, many of whom were healed of their diseases, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, that name so hated among the Jews.

Soon after the apostles commenced their public ministry, a notable miracle was performed by Peter and John. As they were one day going up to the temple, at the hour of prayer, they saw lying at the Beautiful gate, a poverty-stricken cripple, above forty years of age, whose whole life had been one of pain and infirmity. This poor man had long desired to go to Jesus and be healed; but he was far removed from the scene of the Great Physician's labors, and when at last he prevailed upon kind friends to carry him to the gate of the temple, it was only to find that He in whom his hopes were centered, had suffered a cruel death.

His disappointment excited pity, and he was daily laid at the gate of the temple, that those who went up to worship might be moved to give him a trifle to relieve his wants. As Peter and John were passing, he asked alms of them. The apostles regarded him with compassion. "And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us." The eyes of the beggar were raised to the pitying ones bent upon him. "Silver and gold have I none," continued the apostle, "but such as I have give I thee." The poor man's countenance, which had fallen when Peter declared his own poverty, grew bright with faith and hope as he heard the words that followed: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."

As Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up, he felt through his frame the thrilling influence of divine power. "Immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he, leaping up, stood and walked," and entered with Peter and John into the temple, "And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him."

Seeing the miracle that had been performed, the people flocked together in the temple, and the apostles embraced this opportunity of preaching to them the gospel of Christ. While Peter addressed them in one part of the temple, John spoke to them in another part. The apostles disclaimed the merit of the good deed done, giving all the honor to Jesus of Nazareth, whose instruments they were. They spoke plainly of the great crime of the Jews in rejecting and putting to death the Prince of life; yet they were careful not to drive to despair those whose consciences were aroused. They declared that the Holy Spirit was calling upon them to repent of their sins, and be converted; and that through the mercy of Christ, their transgressions could all be canceled.

As the apostles preached that Christ had been raised from the dead, and that through his death and resurrection he would finally bring up all who sleep in the dust, the Sadducees were deeply stirred. They felt that their favorite doctrine was in danger, and their reputation at stake. The captain of the temple, and some of the other officials were Sadducees; and they arrested the two apostles, and put them in prison, as it was too late for their cases to be examined that night.

The Jews were astonished that the disciples could perform miracles similar to those they had seen wrought by Jesus. They had supposed that when he died, all such wonderful manifestations would cease. But here was this man who had been a helpless cripple for forty years, now free from pain, and rejoicing in the full use of his limbs.

The following day Annas and Caiaphas, with the remaining members of the council, came together, and Peter and John were brought before them. In that very room, and before those very men, Peter had shamefully denied his Lord. All this came distinctly before his mind as he now appeared for his own trial.

The members of the council remembered Peter's cowardice when his Master was before them, and they flattered themselves that he could be intimidated by threats of imprisonment and death. But the impulsive, self-confident Peter who denied Christ in the hour of his greatest need, was a very different man from the Peter who was then before the Sanhedrim for examination. He was no longer a proud boaster; he had been converted, and had become distrustful of self. He was filled with the Holy Spirit; and through its power he had become firm as a rock, and was ready with modest courage to honor the name he had once disowned. He would embrace this opportunity of redeeming his former cowardice, and removing the stain of his apostasy.

Unable to deny that a miracle had been performed, and yet unwilling to admit that it had been done by divine power, the council demanded, "By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?" Peter replied: "Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel," "be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole."

Peter then referred to the prophetic words: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner." He made the application of the psalmist's words unmistakably plain. The priests and scribes, who were in authority in the church, were themselves the builders; and, says Peter, He whom you have set at naught, whose divine character you have failed to see, is become the head of the corner. He is the desire of all nations; his is the only "name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

It is difficult for us to comprehend the degree of grace and courage required to enable the apostles to make such a confession of faith before the bigoted and prejudiced rulers of a bigoted and prejudiced people, who had done to the Lord what their wicked hearts had listed, and were ready to repeat their acts of cruelty on the persons of his followers. Peter's fearless avowal of the source whence his strength was obtained, and his bold accusation that in the person of Jesus of Nazareth they had crucified their promised Messiah, appalled these priests and rulers. They had supposed that these ignorant fishermen would be awed and embarrassed when confronted by the priests, the scribes, and the elders; but, amazed at the boldness of the apostles, they "took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

In order to conceal their perplexity, the priests and rulers ordered the apostles to be taken from the room that they might counsel among themselves. They all agreed that it would be useless to deny that the impotent man had been healed through power derived from the Crucified One. They would gladly cover up this fact by falsehoods; but the miracle had been performed before many witnesses, and was already widely known. Thousands had embraced the new doctrine, and both Pharisees and Sadducees were convinced that if these teachers were permitted to go unchecked, their own authority and influence would be in greater danger than when Jesus himself was upon earth. They felt that the work of the apostles must be immediately stopped, or so many would believe on Jesus that they would be held guilty of the murder of the Son of God.

The rulers would gladly have destroyed the apostles, but they feared the people, knowing that "all men glorified God for that which

was done." So when Peter and John were again summoned before the council, they were dismissed with threats of severe punishment should they continue to teach, or work miracles, in the name of Jesus. Undaunted by the threats of their enemies, these noble men declared that their work had been given them of God; they were his witnesses, and could not forbear to speak those things which they had seen and heard.

As soon as they were released, they sought their brethren, who, knowing the malignity of the Jews, were filled with intense anxiety. The joy of the believers was great that the apostles had escaped uninjured, and all united in thanksgiving and prayer to God. Their petition was not that they might be delivered from the power of their enemies, nor that they might be released from duty because of the peril that threatened them, but that they might have greater strength in the work of the ministry.

"And now, Lord," they prayed, "behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus." They had no desire to glorify self, but sought to exalt Jesus, and to rescue souls from everlasting ruin.

Here is an example of noble, disinterested devotion to the work of God; and what was the result? As their prayers were ascending to Heaven, the answer came. The place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They went forth to their work with renewed zeal, speaking the word of God with convincing power, so that daily there were large additions to the church.

Such courage and firmness, in the path of duty, as was manifested by Peter and John and their co-laborers in the gospel ministry, is rare indeed; yet the church cannot attain to any great degree of prosperity without it. Their example, with that of others who have been eminent for their good works, should kindle our ardor, and awaken generous emulation. There is a wide field in which to work. Sinners are perishing all around us; and every one who has named the name of Christ should feel under solemn obligation to do everything possible for their salvation. To bring a sinner to Christ, is to elevate, dignify, and ennoble the whole character of such an one, and make him a blessing in the home, in society, and in the church. Is not this a work that is worthy of our highest powers?

I KNOW NOT THE HOUR OF HIS COMING.

By Ezra Hallock

I KNOW not the hour of His coming; I know not the day nor the year; But I know that He bids me be ready For the step that I sometime shall hear.

I KNOW not what lieth before me, It may be all pleasure, all care; But I know at the end of the journey Stands the mansion He went to prepare.

And whether in joy or in sorrow, Through valley, o'er mountain, or hill, I will walk in the light of His presence, And His love all repining shall still.

I KNOW not what duties are waiting For hands that are willing and true, And I ask but the strength to be faithful, And do well what He gives me to do.

And if He should bid me stand idle— Just waiting—in weakness and pain, I have only to trust and be faithful, And sometime He'll make it all plain.

And when His voice calls, in the morning, At noontime, perhaps, or at night, With no plea but the one, Thou hast called me, I shall enter the portals of light. —Ezra Hallock.

Philosophy of Miracles.

(Concluded.)

WITH this point in view, the design in the management and character of the miracles in Egypt, is interesting and obvious. Notice, first, the whole strength of the magicians' skill was brought out and measured with that of the miraculous power exerted through Moses. If this had not been done, the idea would have remained in the minds of the people, that although Moses wielded a mighty miraculous power, it might be derived from the Egyptian gods, or if it was not thus derived, they might have supposed that if the priests of those idols were summoned, they could contravene or arrest the power vested in Moses by Jehovah. But now, the magicians appearing in the name of their gods, the power of Moses was seen to be not only superior to their sorceries, but hostile to them and their idolatrous worship.

Notice, second, the design and adaptedness of the miracles, not only to distinguish the power of the true God, but to destroy the confidence placed in the protection and power of the idols.

The first miracle, while it authenticated the mission of Moses, destroyed the serpents, which among the Egyptians were objects of worship, thus evincing, in the outset, that their gods could neither help the people, nor save themselves.

The second miracle was directed against the river Nile, another object which they regarded with religious reverence. This river they held sacred, as the Hindoos do the Ganges; and even the fish in its waters they revered as objects of worship. They drank the water with reverence and delight, and supposed that a divine efficacy dwelt in its waves to heal diseases of the body. The water of this, their cherished object of idolatrous homage, was transmuted to blood; and its finny idols became a mass of putridity.

The third miracle was directed to the accomplishment of the same end,—the destruction of faith in the river as an object of worship. The waters of the Nile were caused to send forth legions of frogs, which infested the whole land, and became a nuisance and a torment to the people. Thus their idol, by the power of the true God, was polluted, and turned into a source of pollution to its worshipers.

By the fourth miracle of a series constantly increasing in power and severity, lice came upon man and beast throughout the land. "Now if it be remembered," says Glieg, "that no one could approach the altars of Egypt upon whom so impure an insect harbored; and that the priests, to guard against the slightest risk of contamination, wore only linen garments, and shaved their heads and bodies every day, the severity of this miracle, as a judgment upon Egyptian idolatry, may be imagined. Whilst it lasted, no act of worship could be performed, and so keenly was this felt that the very magicians exclaimed, "This is the finger of God."

The fifth miracle was designed to destroy the trust of the people in Beelzebub, or the Fly-god, who was reverenced as their protector from visitations of swarms of ravenous flies, which infested the land, generally about the time of the dog days, and removed only, as they supposed, at the will of this idol. The miracle now wrought by Moses, evinced the impotence of Beelzebub, and caused the people to look elsewhere for relief from the fearful visitation under which they were suffering.

The sixth miracle, which destroyed the cattle, excepting those of the Israelites, was aimed at the destruction of the entire system of brute worship. This system, degrading and bestial as it was, had become a monster of many heads in Egypt. They had their sacred bull, and ram, and heifer, and goat, and many others, all of which were destroyed by the agency of the God of Moses. Thus, by one act of power, Jehovah manifested his own supremacy, and destroyed the very existence of their brute idols.

Of the peculiar fitness of the sixth plague (the seventh miracle), says the writer before quoted, the reader will receive a better impression when he is reminded that in Egypt there were several altars upon which human sacrifices were occasionally offered, when they desired to propitiate Typhon, or the evil principle. These victims being burned alive, their ashes were gathered together by the officiating priests, and thrown up into the air, in order that evil might be averted from every place to which an atom of the ashes was wafted. By the direction of Jehovah, Moses took a handful of ashes from the furnace (which, very probably, the Egyptians at this time had frequently used to turn aside the plagues with which they were smitten), and he cast it into the air, as they were accustomed to do; and instead of averting evil, boils and blains fell upon all the people of the land. Neither king, nor priest, nor people, escaped. Thus the bloody rites of Typhon became a curse to the idolaters; the supremacy of Jehovah was affirmed, and the deliverance of the Israelites insisted upon.

The ninth miracle was directed against the worship of Serapis, whose peculiar office was supposed to be to protect the country from locusts. At periods these destructive insects came in clouds upon the land, and like an overshadowing curse they blighted the fruits of the field and the verdure of the forest. At the command of Moses these terrible insects came—and they retired only at his bidding. Thus was the impotence of Serapis made manifest, and the idolaters taught the folly of trusting in any other protection than that of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

The eighth and tenth miracles were directed against the worship of Isis and Osiris, to whom, and the river Nile, they awarded the first place in the long catalogue of their idolatry. These idols were originally the representatives of the sun and moon; they were believed to control the light and the elements; and their worship prevailed in some form among all the early nations. The miracles directed against the worship of Isis and Osiris, must have made a deep impression on the minds both of the Israelites and the Egyptians. In a country where rain seldom falls, where the atmosphere is always calm, and the light of the heavenly bodies always continued, what was the horror pervading all minds during the elemental war described in the Hebrew record!—during the long period of three days and three nights, while the gloom of thick darkness settled, like the outspread pall of death, over the whole land, Jehovah of hosts summoned nature to proclaim him the true God—the God of Israel asserted his supremacy, and exerted his power to degrade the idols—destroy idolatry, and liberate the descendants of Abraham from the land of their bondage.

The Almighty, having thus revealed himself as the true God, by miraculous agency, and pursued those measures, in the exercise of his power, which were directly adapted to destroy the various forms of idolatry which existed in Egypt, the eleventh and last miracle was a judgment, in order to manifest to all minds that Jehovah was the God who executed judgment in the earth.

The Egyptians had, for a long time, cruelly oppressed the Israelites, and to put the finishing horror to their atrocities, they had finally slain, at their birth, the offspring of their victims; and now God, in the exercise of infinite justice, visited them with righteous retribution. In the mid-watches of the night, the "angel of

the pestilence" was sent to the dwellings of Egypt, and he "breathed in the face" of all the first-born in the land. In the morning, the hope of every family, from the palace to the cottage, was a corpse. What mind can imagine the awful consternation of that scene, when an agonizing wail rose from the stricken hearts of all the parents in the nation! The cruel task-masters were taught, by means which entered their souls, that the true God was a God not only of power but of judgment, and as such to be feared by evil-doers and reverenced by those that do well.

The demonstration, therefore, is conclusive, that in view of the idolatrous state of the world, and especially in view of the character and circumstances of the Israelites, the true God could have made a revelation of himself in no other way than by the means and in the manner of the miracles of Egypt; and none but the true God could have revealed himself in this way.—Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation.

What Reformers May Expect.

By S. S. Times

It is vain to expect to do any real work of reform in the world without making enemies for yourself. You may start with the firmest intention to attack only the wrong, and not those who are involved in the wrong; but the moment you begin to smite the idol, that moment its priests cry out with pain. The truth is that abuses are maintained in the world because it is to some one's interest to maintain those abuses; therefore, you can never attack a wrong without attacking the worldly interests of those concerned in the maintenance of the wrong. But it would be a great mistake for you to conclude that you must attack no evil, because it would involve you in a conflict with those with whom you would prefer to remain at peace. It may often be your duty to incur the enmity of others, because you are called to be God's worker for the destruction of some giant, or some apparently pigmy form of evil. All that you need care for is to be sure, first, that the thing you oppose is an evil, and secondly, that you are a person whom God calls to aid in its destruction. These things settled, you can safely let God take care of the consequences.—S. S. Times.

Hard-Easy Questions.

By Epsilon

The compound adjective, hard-easy, is not an absurdity when we consider that these questions are put to two classes of people; viz., those who "received not the love of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:10), and those who are led by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13).

Abraham is the "father of the faithful," to the end of the world. Why did God say, "Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws?" Gen. 26:5.

Why did God proclaim the ten commandments with his own voice, write them with his own finger on durable stone, and have them kept beneath the mercy-seat in the most holy place?

Why does the Redeemer say, "Whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven"? Matt. 5:19.

Why does he say, "But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments?" Matt. 19:17.

The Saviour teaches that on the two great commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Can anything that is not "holy," "just," and "good," hang on these two great precepts?

Why does Paul teach that the doers of the law shall be justified? Rom. 2:13.

Why does he say, "What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God"? Rom. 3:19.

Why did he not say, What things soever the law saith, it saith to the Jews who are under the law; that the mouth of every Jew may be stopped, and every Jew may become guilty before God?

Why does he say, "By the law is the knowledge of sin"? Rom. 3:20.

Why does he teach that we do not make void the law, but on the contrary establish it, through faith in Jesus. Rom. 3:31.

Why does John say, "Sin is the transgression of the law"? 1 John 3:4.

Why does Paul say, "The strength of sin is the law"? 1 Cor. 15:56.

Why does James say, "There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy"? James 4:12.

2 Thess. 2:4. Does the Spirit of prophecy justify the Roman Church in exalting itself above God, by setting aside the law of the "one Lawgiver," and making itself the Christian's lawgiver?

The last scene of the long dragonic war against the true church is against what people? See Rev. 12:17.

Is the two-horned beast that "spake as a dragon" the dragon's last agent in the long war against the true church? Rev. 13 and 14:12-15.

This great prophecy, the book of Revelation, warns the true church against Romanism, from the beginning to the very close of the Christian dispensation. Why does it not also assist popular preachers, who go around warning the people against "Judaising teachers" who keep the true seventh-day Sabbath, or Lord's day?

The Jews falsely accused Christ of violating the Sabbath. Why did they not afterwards accuse his disciples of violating it.

When Paul was a prisoner, the Jews tried to defame him. Why did they not charge him with violating the Sabbath?

Would those Jews in Rome have been so friendly to Paul if he had been a violator of the Sabbath? Acts 28:17-25.

The Christians in Jerusalem worshiped in the temple. Acts 3:1. Would the Jews have tolerated them if they had been violators of the Sabbath?

Why is the seventh day called simply "the Sabbath" in the book of Acts, and elsewhere in the New Testament?

Why does the apostolic church not inform us that "the first day of the week" is the Christian Sabbath?

None dispute that the Sabbath was the Lord's day in the past dispensation. Where are we informed in the Bible that it is no longer the Lord's day?

What Are Christians For?

A CHRISTIAN lady, who was engaged in work for the poor and degraded, was once spoken to by one who was well acquainted with both the worker and those whom she sought to reach, and remonstrated with for going among such a class of people.

'It does seem wonderful to me that you can do such work,' her friend said. 'You can sit beside these people, and talk with them in a way that I do not think you would do if you knew all about them, just what they are, and from what place they come.'

Her answer was, 'Well, I suppose they are dreadful people; but if the Lord Jesus were now on earth, are they not the very sort of people that he would strive to reach? And am I better than my Master? Would he feel himself too good to go among them?'

A poor, illiterate person, who stood listening to this conversation, said with great earnestness and simplicity, 'Why I always thought that was what Christians were for.'

The objector was silenced, and what wonder? Is not that what Christians are for? If not, then in the name of all that is good what are they for? —Sel.

It is rarely that an applicant for favor in any sphere does not ask the intercession or mediation of some one who is supposed to have favor with the one in power, and to have sympathy with the one in need. This longing of the soul is of the very nature, and it is provided for in grace. 'There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;' and that 'man Christ Jesus' said emphatically, 'No man cometh unto the Father but by me.' Only as we seek and have the intercession of Jesus in our personal behalf, have we any well-grounded hope of forgiveness from God; but Jesus 'is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.' —Sel.

A LITTLE girl once explained the golden rule to her sister after this fashion: 'It means that you must do everything that I want you to do, and you mustn't do anything that I don't want you to.' And that is precisely the explanation that many older people give.

The Bible Explained by the Creed.

By R. F. Cottrell

EACH Christian denomination professes to take the Bible as the true guide, but take it as explained by the creed. The creed, it is said, is founded on the Bible and is in perfect harmony with it; but it explains its doctrines so that we can understand them clearly. It seems, then, that the creed is the more important book of the two, since we could not understand our duty without it. Would it not be wisdom, then, to drop the Bible entirely and have no more contention about it? That book is the great bone of contention. Suppose we let it alone, and so have peace.

It is a serious fact that all creeds and disciplines are virtually placed higher in authority than the Bible, since disputes concerning the understanding of the Bible must be settled by the creed. It was so with the Jews. What they were pleased to call the oral law, or the traditions of the elders, was preferred by them to the written law, because it explained the latter and supplied its deficiencies. But our Saviour told them that they made the word of God of none effect by their traditions. Is it not just so with creeds? Of the Jews, Prideaux says:—

"For they own a twofold law—the first the written law, which is recorded in the holy Scriptures, and the second the oral law, which they have only by the tradition of the elders. And both these they say were given them by Moses from Mount Sinai, of which the former only was committed to writing, and the other delivered down to them from generation to generation by the tradition of the elders. And therefore holding them to be both of the same authority, as having both of them the same divine original, they think themselves to be bound as much by the latter as the former, or rather much more. For the written law is, they say, in many places obscure, scanty, and defective, and could be no perfect rule to them without the oral law, which, containing, according to them, a full, complete, and perfect interpretation of all that is written in the other, supplies all the defects, and solves all the difficulties of it. And therefore they observe the written law no otherwise than according as it is expounded and interpreted by the oral law."

This is a good illustration of the various creeds of Christendom. All are guided by the Bible, as they understand it; and they understand it just as the creed or discipline explains it, though it be in direct contradiction to the word of God.

The Jews transgressed the commandment of God and made it of none effect by their tradition. See Matt. 15 : 1-9. They contradicted and set aside the fifth commandment by their tradition. Almost every creed in existence contradicts the fourth commandment of the same law. The commandment says the seventh day is the Sabbath; the creed says the first day is the Sabbath. The creed is followed, and the word of God is made void. Tradition says that the Sabbath was changed, at the resurrection of Christ, from the seventh to the first day of the week. The Bible says nothing of this; but the commandment remains as first given, and consequently requires just what it always did.

From the multitudinous contradictory creeds, all claiming to teach the doctrines of the Bible, has arisen the common saying that the Bible is like an old fiddle—you can play on it what tune you please. This is a slanderous imputation, though somewhat apt. It is by fingering the fiddle that it plays different tunes; and if men will keep their fingers off the Bible, it will tell a straight story. R. F. COTTRILL.

Teach Us to Pray.

By John Orr Corliss

NONE of us know how to pray as we ought. Even the disciples of our Lord besought him for the knowledge of what they lacked in this direction. It is altogether probable that they had forms of prayer, and methods of approaching to God, before they made their request of the Master. But upon hearing him address the Father, they were deeply impressed with the solemn manner, and the appropriate words of the occasion, and felt their need of instruction. Perhaps they had not before had a just sense of the power and majesty of him whom they addressed, and consequently they had not approached him with that humility and fervor that would honor God, and bring his blessing to them.

The Lord did not let their request come to him unheeded. The form of petition he taught them has ever since been used by old and young, as most expressive of our daily needs. How brief that prayer, and yet how complete! It is free from repetition, and is therefore a model of faith. On this point, the Saviour gave special instruction: "Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." Matt. 6:7.

From this expression one may learn that God does not hear a prayer more readily for the repetitions which it contains. It is not necessary to coax the Lord to do for us. When we have asked, as taught by our Saviour, it is our privilege to believe that God will bestow, if it is for our good. "Ask and ye shall receive." It then becomes duty for us to wait and trust; and though we may wait long, it is but a test of our faith; still we should trust.

Repetitions, then, are always useless; they are vain. Sometimes they may amount to blasphemy. One should therefore use the name of God, even in prayer, with due consideration, and becoming reverence. It is said that the Jews anciently did not use the real name of Jehovah in their petitions to him. Having a sense of his infinite majesty, they feared to speak his holy name, lest it should be done without honor and reverence. They substituted, therefore, another word as a name by which to address the Creator.

Who shall decide the motive of our Saviour in omitting the name of that high and holy Being in the opening of that noble prayer? One thing is certain: he did omit the name, but instead, taught us to say: "Our Father which art in Heaven." The name of him whom he teaches us to call "Father" is withheld, but he immediately adds: "Hallowed be thy name." That name is holy; speak it not except in reverential awe. The too frequent use of it even while praying, can but beget undue familiarity and irreverence.

When praying in the presence of others, we should study brevity. It is not wisdom to tell the Lord a long story about general matters, of which he knows infinitely more than we can think. It displays a lack of genuine humility; and tends to presumption. Besides it is injustice to those who worship with us; because by so doing we take time that properly belongs to others, and might be used by them in prayer. Again, such long prayers bring weariness, and consequent dullness, to the meeting. If the model were followed that our Saviour gave when he taught his disciples to pray, more prayers, and more acceptable worship, would be offered in prayer-meetings.

It is not necessary to always repeat the exact words of that prayer, though at times it may be very beneficial to do so. In his instruction, the Saviour first endeavoured to guard his hearers against certain existing abuses, as praying on street corners, and offering long prayers, in which set expressions were repeated. Then said he: "After this manner therefore pray ye." In other words, be devout, be humble, be brief.

Be just the opposite in every way of those whom I have mentioned.

"Be ye thankful," wrote the apostle to the church at Colosse. Again he exhorts (1 Thess. 5:18): "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." If one desires favor of God, he should be thankful for blessings already received; otherwise he demands something for which he gives nothing in return. Our blessings do not come because we give something in exchange, yet the gift is required from us, because it shows our attitude before him who bestows the favor. It is reasonable, then, that if we expect answers to our petitions, we should express gratitude for blessings already received.

Exercise faith. The Lord is not pleased to have any one pray to him otherwise. The apostle says that "without faith it is impossible to please him." It would be useless mockery to ask a fellow-man for that which we had no faith he was able or willing to bestow. How much more is it a dishonor to God to ask favors of him, and be faithless, knowing as we must that he reads our minds. Why not then approach him trustingly? He knows our needs. "Be careful [distracted; confused] for nothing," says the inspired exhortation; "but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Phil. 4:6. Thus we see that it is our privilege to trust God, when overtaken by matters calculated to distract or confuse us. It is well, however, to note that even under such circumstances the conditions require that no murmuring shall have place in the heart, but that thanksgiving shall accompany the petition offered.

It is also important that we thoroughly examine our hearts, and the fruits of our past lives. "I will therefore," wrote the instructor of Timothy, "that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." No secret sin should be cherished; no remnant of malice or jealousy entertained toward any; no lurking doubt should be allowed to dim the faith. These and all such conditions must be met if prayer avails. Let all who would succeed in the Christian race give heed to the instructions of the inspired word, lest they forfeit the blessings of this life, and the bliss of the world to come.

J. O. CORLISS.

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