Review and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 23. (6/4/1901)

Review and Herald

Jun 4, 1901

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 4, 1901

“I WILL COME AGAIN.”

By L. D. Santee

L. D. SANTEE.

The Lord will come on some to-morrow, “For so the word of Jesus said,” When saints shall bid adieu to sorrow, And earth shall no more mourn her dead.

This promise in our hearts we’re keeping; We’ve thought its meaning o’er and o’er, That whether waking, or in sleeping, We’ll go with Him, and die no more.

We’ll rise with Him where dwells no sadness; But not alone, Oh, not alone! For in the songs of joy and gladness, We’ll recognize familiar tones.

The friends best loved are reunited, With more than old-time tenderness; The starry eyes of hearts delighted, Will look in ours to cheer and bless.

And when we muse on that glad meeting With those we lost, mid tears and pain, We pray: “O God, awake the sleeping, And bring them to our arms again.”

“Hasten the time when, nature failing, Shall usher in the day sublime, When strong o’er all His foes prevailing, The Lord shall come the second time.”

SIN AND ITS RESULTS.

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.

The question is asked, How is the existence of sin reconcilable with the government of a wise, merciful, and omnipotent God? Why was sin permitted to enter heaven? Why was it permitted to take up its abode on the earth to cause discord and suffering?

It certainly was not God's purpose that man should be sinful. He made Adam pure and noble, with no tendency to evil. He placed him in Eden, where he had every inducement to remain loyal and obedient. The law was placed around him as a safeguard.

Evil originated with the rebellion of Lucifer. It was brought into heaven when he refused allegiance to God's law. Satan was the first lawbreaker.

God created Adam, and placed him in the garden of Eden. He told him that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he must surely die. Satan came to our first parents in the disguise of a serpent, and tempted them to disobey, telling them that if they ate the forbidden fruit, they would be as gods. They yielded to him. Thus sin entered the world.

God had power to hold Adam back from touching the forbidden fruit; but had He done this, Satan would have been sustained in his charge against God's arbitrary rule. Man would not have been a free moral agent, but a mere machine.

The law was given to man in Eden, "when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." But sin entered the world. And during their years of bondage, the children of Israel lost sight of the commandments. God delivered His people from bondage, and from Mount Sinai proclaimed to them His law. Look at this law. It is God's holiness made known. It is an expression of God's goodness; for it makes known what the Creator expects from His creatures.

The law of God is immutable. Were it otherwise, no confidence could be placed in his government. God rules the world in omnipotence, and all that His love inspires He will execute. He who rules the world in wisdom and love is a God who changes not. He does not abolish to-day that which He enforced yesterday.

Through all the ages Satan's work has been the same, — to make of none effect the law of God. He has infatuated men and women, leading them to mistake darkness for light, and error for truth. He began this work in heaven, and ever since, he has been trying to deceive. He tells men and women that God has abrogated all law, and will now open the gates of heaven to transgressors. He declares that his expulsion from heaven was a severe and uncalled-for action, and that those he led in rebellion may now enter into heaven; for his effort to abrogate the law has been successful, and God's government has been changed. But were this so, Satan would have done on earth that which he attempted to do in heaven, and he would therefore be entitled to the throne of heaven as the chief ruler.

Those who accept Satan's reasoning are terribly deceived. They accept a position which has no true foundation. God is unchangeable. He is satisfied with nothing short of perfect obedience. Perfection is the only title which will gain admittance to heaven. The law is the only standard of character.

The law of God and the law of Cæsar have come into collision, and will come into collision again. The question we have to answer is, Shall we obey God, or Cæsar? A great movement is now on foot to put the first day of the week in the place of the day God has sanctified and blessed. Satan works under a guise of religion, and guided by him, the professed Christian world will be very zealous in working against the law of God. Satan is leading men and women to complete the ruin he began in heaven. He is willing for the world to declare that the calamity by land and sea and the destruction by flood and fire, are because Sunday is desecrated. Herein lies his deception. He is well pleased when men and women exalt Sunday; for he has been working for centuries to place the first day of the week where the seventh should be. Of those who so zealously carry out the enemy's designs, God will inquire, "Who hath required this at your hand?" "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

Men say in regard to the Sabbath, "It makes no difference what day we keep, provided we keep the seventh part of time. How dare they substitute the word of man for the word of God? How dare they lead their fellow men away from obedience to the Creator? The Sabbath is God's memorial of creation, and had it always been observed, there would never have been an infidel or an atheist in our world.

Let man with his human theories step aside. Let the divine voice be heard, saying, "Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: . . . it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever."

Many commit themselves to a course that insults the Spirit of God, and that in the face of the convictions of conscience. They make a free choice of the wrong side. They rebel against God. Mercy is despised, and justice defied. They become spiritually palsied, not because they cannot submit to God, but because they will not. Their feet are set in the way of the froward, and they have no desire to turn back.

The flood which came upon the old world proclaimed the verdict, Incurable. The overthrow of Sodom declared the existence of a far-reaching corruption beyond the hope of recovery. Christ declared, "As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man." "Come out from among them, and be ye separate," is the call, "and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters."

The law of God is made void, and God calls upon us to stand in defense of the truth. Satan is a powerful general. He had a long experience in the heavenly courts; and he knows how to mingle right sentiments and principles with evil. He knows how to misapply and wrest the Scriptures. Herein lies the power of his deception. Thus he deceives men, and seeks to obliterate the line of demarcation between believers and unbelievers. God calls for faithful Calebs, who will stand firmly and steadfastly at their post of duty.

Our work is aggressive. We need the heavenly anointing, that our spiritual eyesight may be clear. We are living in the last remnant of time. Truth is now to be sought for as hidden treasure. The commandments of men have taken the place of the commandments of God. The Lord calls upon His workmen to watch and work and pray. Precious truths are to be recovered from the human traditions under which men have buried them. God desires His people to show a constantly increasing interest in the

things of eternity. He desires us to value more highly the favor of His friendship. Let us not become Satan's agents to belittle the solemn, important truth which we profess to believe. Let us not show an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

God did not give His only begotten Son to die on the cross of Calvary in order that man might have liberty to transgress His law. He did not pay such an expensive price to make His law null and void. The falsehood that Christ died to abrogate the law originated with the enemy of all good. By giving His life for the life of the world, Christ placed the immutability of the law of God beyond controversy. His death on the cross is an indisputable testimony that not one jot or tittle of the law shall ever fail. Hear the words of the Saviour, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." The disobedient will never find entrance there. "But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

God weighs every man in the balances of the sanctuary. In one scale there is placed the perfect, unchangeable law, demanding continuous, unswerving obedience; if in the other there are years of forgetfulness, of selfishness, or rebellion and self-pleasing, God says, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." But Christ has made it possible for us to keep the law. He lived on this earth a life of perfect obedience, that His righteousness might be imputed to us. To us is given the glorious assurance that though we have fallen through disobedience, we may, through the merits of the Son of God, hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

“UNTIL THE TIME THAT HIS WORD CAME.”

By T. E. Bowen

T. E. BOWEN.

“He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: until the time that His word came: the word of the Lord tried him.”

Joseph’s experience contains many important lessons for us, upon whom the ends of the world have come. Joseph was without blame in being sold for a servant. He was “about his father’s business” when cruel hearts conceived his captivity. He went into the dungeon in Egypt, in innocency, faithfully maintaining his integrity with his God. Why should God permit such seemingly evil things to come upon so faithful and pure a servant as he?—Oh, God had a purpose, high, precious, and exalted, which He was working out, not only for Joseph, but for the entire seed of Abraham in the earth! None but himself knew that purpose either. It was not revealed even to Joseph.

The word of God was trying him. Until the time—God’s time—came for deliverance, Joseph was left in the dungeon. He would have been glad of liberty, and doubtless pleaded earnestly with his God to release him. But the word was deferred three long years. At last the message from heaven came; it was enough. Joseph was fully tried, Egypt was ready, and “the king sent and loosed him.” Joseph’s career after that was one of royalty in the greatest nation of earth; but God had tried His servant, and the idolatries and luxuries about the throne could not move him from his loyalty to his God. Faith and patience are ours to exercise, while the purposes and times are in the Father’s hands. It needs the infinite wisdom of God to suit the purposes and times to our best good. He only knows when our tryings (trials) have accomplished their work. “Here is the patience of the saints.” “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” And we are exhorted to “let patience have her perfect work,” that we “may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” As we are brought more and more into the fiery tryings of these last days, we shall better understand what this patience means. May the Lord grant that, like Joseph, we shall humbly and patiently wait for the “time that His word” shall come to bring deliverance.

THE ALL-SUFFICIENT WORD.

By W. A. Sweany

W. A. SWEANY. (Wadena, Minn.)

“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Tim. 3:14–17.

These words correct the idea, so prevalent in the world, that the Bible deals only with spiritual things, and that Christianity consists merely of religious exercises, such as attending public worship once or twice a week, preaching, praying, singing, etc. Christianity consists of the right doing of every act of life. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do it heartily, with thy might, in the name of the Lord Jesus, to the glory of God, giving thanks in all things, unto God and the Father by Him. 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17, 23; Eccl. 9:10; Eph. 5:20.

The Bible, which contains “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:2–4), supplies every need of human experience, so that he who studies to show himself approved unto God in everything he does, will indeed be “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” 2 Tim. 2:15.

Whether in the pulpit, office, shop, kitchen, field, or wherever our work may be, there is instruction in the Bible, which, when taught, interpreted, and applied by the Spirit of God, will enable us to do everything just right, thus making us perfect, and thoroughly furnishing us unto every good work.

When we receive the Holy Ghost, He will teach us all things (John 14:26), and guide us into all truth (John 16:13), which is contained in His word. John 14:26; 17:17. Then we shall be “filled with the knowledge of His will,” and the ever-present Spirit will bring to our remembrance those things that He has taught us, and thus we shall be enabled to “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being faithful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Col. 1:9–11.

Let us, then, “search the scriptures,” and “meditate upon these things;” giving ourselves wholly to them, that your profiting may appear to all. John 5:39; 1 Tim. 4:15, 16. “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all sense; that ye may try the things that differ; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” Phil. 1:9–11, margin.

We believe and teach that the Bible is an up-to-date book, dealing with all the events and subjects that concern man, and that agitate the public mind, in religious, social, financial, and political circles, and that it is the only source of reliable and infallible information in these things.

But let us not forget that our greatest need is, not to be thoroughly posted in, and familiar with, the great questions of the hour,—although this is indeed desirable,—but rather to be able to discern and do our duty in the every-day affairs of life, in the seemingly unimportant, but really all-important, little things, “for on the right performance of little things hang great results.” “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” Standing, as we are, on the very border of the eternal world, surrounded with perils and dangers greater than have ever before beset the people of God, we need to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and having overcome all, to stand. Eph. 6:11–19. The word of God alone is able to build us up, and give us an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. Acts 20:32.

REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION IN THE LIGHT OF GAL. 6:7.

By Elmer F. Otis

ELMER F. OTIS.

God has but one purpose in allowing a man to reap the evil that he has sown. It is to correct his wrong doing. If corrected, Christ bears the reaping; but if otherwise, the intended blessing becomes in the eyes of the disobedient one a punishment. “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee.” Jer. 2:19.

We know that God absolutely controls the amount of reaping. He allows a man to suffer just so far as it is necessary to lead him to correct the evil of his ways. “I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” Jer. 30:11. As soon as the man recognizes and repents of the evil of his course, Christ assumes the consequences of his bad sowing. The reaping that follows man's sowing is God's only means by which He can correct the evil in man's life as well as reward the good. “When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity.” Ps. 39:11.

As soon as one realizes this fact, he is led to conclude that “the goodness of God leadeth . . . to repentance.” Rom. 2:4. It leads to repentance because God rebukes (punishes) the sinner for the sole purpose of revealing to him God's love.

Then what is repentance and conversion? We may say that it is the recognition that we have wandered from the right. But it includes still more. It is also the process by which we return to right ways; that is, to God. “Let the wicked forsake his way, . . . and let him return unto the Lord.” Isa. 55:7, 8. It then simply remains for the sinner to surrender his will to be used of God; for He says, “Let the wicked . . . return unto the Lord.” Then he is in an attitude where the Holy Spirit can fully use his mind and body in doing righteously.

Ezekiel says: “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.” Eze. 18:30. “God looketh upon man, and if any say, I have sinned, . . . and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” Job 33:27, 28. On the day of Pentecost, Peter said: “Repent, and be baptized, . . . and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” The Spirit of God is waiting for the repentant sinner to surrender his will. When this is done, then the latter rain will come down in its fullness, simply because men are not controlling themselves, but are being fully controlled by God.

As a result of true repentance, we are not only lifted into a higher sphere, but we obtain power to help others out of their difficulties. The

apostle Paul forcibly expressed this truth before King Agrippa when he said, “But [I] showed . . . that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.” Acts 26:20.

Let us not be satisfied with a partial experience. Shall we not claim that faith which works by love? When we do this, God can give us a grand experience.

GIDEON'S ARMY.

By Chas. T. Everson

A Type of God's People To-day.

CHAS. T. EVERSON. (Millville, Cal.)

It seems strange to us, as we read the history of the Israelites, that they should so often fall into idolatry when under a government instituted and directed by God. But this is the history of mankind from the beginning, and it will always be so; for “narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

During any period of the world's history when the Lord sifted the real Christians from among the mass of professors and non-professors of religion, we find the number of true believers exceedingly small. In the time of Noah it was only eight persons. In Sodom and Gomorrah there was really only Lot; for the rest of the family were hurried out on his account. In the time of Elijah the whole nation of Israel could produce seven thousand men; while in Christ's time the number was indeed small. At the time of the Reformation, Luther stood almost alone. Jesus, speaking of His second coming, asks the question: “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” The Testimonies have said that “not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books is prepared to close his earthly history, and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner. They are professedly serving God, but they are more earnestly serving Mammon.” If among those who are living in the blazing light of the gospel, the vast majority are serving the gods about them,—mammon, or money,—what can we expect of the children of Israel, who had sojourned for hundreds of years in the midst of idolatry? He who departs in the least degree from God, naturally follows the customs of his surroundings.

The love and forbearance of God are exceedingly great. He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” But God's forbearance and goodness are misconstrued by many as an indication that God is pleased with their present course of action. So the Jews viewed it; for instead of the goodness of God leading them to repentance, they concluded that if God was not pleased with them, He would not shower so many blessings upon them. This we are in danger of doing at the present time. Instead of thinking that we are a favored people because God has given us so many special Testimonies, we ought to conclude that we have received them because we are neglecting to study the truth for ourselves; for it is all in the Bible.

At the time when Gideon is brought to view in the Scriptures, the children of Israel were in subjection to the Midianites. God allowed them to be conquered by this people in order to show them their utter helplessness without Him, that they might see the error of their ways, and return to Him. While these trials were no doubt exceedingly sore to them, yet God mercifully allowed trials to come, as this was the only way in which He could aid His people. But immediately when they realized their helplessness and called upon God, He was ready to deliver them. God is not only always ready, but is yearning to help the sinner; for He says, “Before they call, I will answer.” When the sinner is turning his thoughts toward the Father's house, God is already answering him, for it is He who gives him a desire to return home. Before the prodigal could make his confession, the father had already answered his desire, and that more abundantly than he could have asked.

The reason for the Lord's choosing Gideon to do the work of leading His people to victory is found in Gideon's own words. When the angel came and spoke to him, he answered: “Wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” Here was a man who realized his inability and unworthiness, and therefore God could use him. There are two reasons why God cannot use a self-confident man: if God should give him victory, he would take the glory that belongs to God to himself, and this would hinder the people from seeing the Lord's power, and being drawn to Him. It would also so exalt the man that he would be in danger of losing his own soul.

That Gideon might be sure that God had called him to lead the Israelites to victory, he asked that he might prove it by placing a fleece on the ground, and that the fleece might be wet in the morning and the ground dry, and that the next morning the conditions should be reversed. It seems that God was not at all displeased with Gideon's request, but granted it to him.

God gives to us the privilege of proving Him, and ascertaining for ourselves that He will do whatever He has said. He says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Here God gives every one an invitation to prove Him, and see whether He will not do what He has promised. He does not ask any man to accept Him upon another's testimony, but He says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” A person might try ever so hard to explain to another how honey tastes, but he could not make the other understand it; but he who tastes for himself knows more about it than any one can tell him. So it is with salvation. One cannot appreciate its sweetness till he tastes and proves it for himself.

When Gideon made a call for volunteers to throw off the yoke of oppression, there was a good response made; for thirty-two thousand men assembled. But this was a small company compared with the vast army of the Midianites. But still God said they were too many. There were too many of the wrong kind. These were not men who were really ready for battle, but from a sense of duty they had assembled. This is evident from the fact that when those who were afraid were asked to leave the ranks, twenty-two thousand went home. Still, the Lord said, “The people are yet too many.” Many who remained were such as should have gone with the twenty-two thousand, but were ashamed to own up to being afraid. So God himself had to rid the army of these in such a manner that they could not know just what method of drinking

water God desired.

But it was not without its significance; for even in such a simple matter as the drinking of water the natural disposition asserted itself. Those who were rejected displayed what was in them by this simple act: they got down on both knees and lapped the water. Their natural disposition was to be engrossed in themselves. They took a comfortable position, and cared nothing for the enemy, only for self-gratification and comfort. On the other hand, the ones whom the Lord chose were minutemen. They drank simply to sustain life, and were ready for action at any time. They knelt on one knee and lapped, putting their hands to their mouth; they could look ahead, and be ready for battle in a moment.

God wants minutemen to-day. He could have used the thirty-two thousand to win the battle as easily as the three hundred, if they had all been like the three hundred. God desires to use every man in His army that is available. But He can do more with three hundred than with thirty-two thousand who are not trusting Him. If God had taken into battle the entire army as it was, the three hundred true followers would probably have been scattered among the others; and as soon as the fearful ones saw the enemy, they would flee, and no doubt carry the three hundred with them, and thus the battle be lost. But God wanted the true men to stand together, unencumbered by material that was worse than useless. Then they could not but win.

God has an army to-day that is fighting His battles. But they, too, are too many. Not too many numerically, for it has not reached the number to be attained,—one hundred and forty-four thousand,—but there are too many of the wrong kind. The Lord says that we are in the shaking time, when this army is being reduced. Not one in twenty are really ready for the final conflict. Some, like the men of Gideon's army of old, will withdraw themselves from the army, and are doing so. Others, God will have to shake out by a test whereby they cannot longer live under a cloak of deception. But there is no necessity for any one to leave the ranks or be shaken out, if he will become right before God. God is no respecter of persons, and He will make up the number from the ones who are now in the army if they will let Him. But He cannot allow those that are fearful, or those who must carry all the comforts of the world with them, to remain in the army.

If God should leave all in the army in the condition they are in at present, when the persecutions begin, and we are imprisoned and are compelled to flee to the mountains, and live in the caves, what would the fearful and the ease-loving among us do? They would forsake the army, and perhaps discourage the honest ones. Persecution would be waged more severely against the true followers, as the opposers would see that some relent under persecution. This would lead them to suppose that they could likewise easily conquer the rest. Those who loved ease and high living, would murmur and sow discontent when they were compelled to live in solitude and discomfort and partake of only bread and water. So God, in justice to both the true and the untrue, must shake out those that are unwilling to surrender all.

The only instruments that the three hundred used to conquer the vast host of the Midianites, were a lamp in an empty pitcher, and a trumpet. Of course it required faith to go out without a sword or armament of any kind to meet such a vast army. If a company should attempt such a thing to-day, they would be regarded as fanatics of the worst type. But all it required was the faith to go and stand where God placed them; then they did not need to fight at all: the enemy destroyed themselves. The men who will go through to victory and stand upon the sea of glass, shall be likewise equipped. Gideon's army's equipment is but a type of the real, which is brought to view in 2 Cor. 4:7: “For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” Here a person is compared to an earthen vessel that contains the power of God.

As Gideon's army of old had empty vessels which contained a lamp, or a light, so we are to be empty earthen vessels, with the light of the Holy Spirit in us. Then, however bright the light shines, we shall remember that it is the light that is shining, and not the earthen vessel. We shall always know that we are simply earthen vessels, and all the glory is due to the light—the Spirit of God—which fills them. When we learn the lesson that the excellency is all of God, and that we are nothing and never will be anything, then we are ready to battle in the final conflict, and to come out victorious. Then we shall be prepared to sing the song of victory through the power of Christ, for we shall realize that He is all and in all. When we become empty of self, and filled with the Spirit of God, then the battle will be won by standing still and seeing the glory of God. Now is the time to get ready.

CHRIST'S SECOND COMING.

By Rena Seat

RENA SEAT.

(Trinity Mills, Tex.)

One of the most solemn, and yet glorious, events spoken of in the Bible is that of Christ's second coming to complete the great work of redemption. A precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in the promise of His appearing, who is the resurrection and the life, to bring home again His banished.

The doctrine of the second advent is the very keynote of the sacred Scriptures. From the day when the first pair turned their sorrowing steps from Eden, the children of faith have waited the coming of the promised One to break the destroyer's power, and bring them again to the lost paradise. Holy men of old looked forward to the advent of the Messiah in glory, as the consummation of their hope. Enoch, only the seventh in descent from the dwellers in Eden, he who for three centuries on earth walked with God, was permitted to behold from afar the coming of the Deliverer. “Behold,” he declared, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. The patriarch Job in the night of his affliction, exclaimed, with unshaken trust: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: . . . in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19: 25–27.

The coming of Christ to usher in the reign of righteousness, has inspired the most sublime and impassioned utterances of the sacred writers. The poets and prophets of the Bible have dwelt upon it in words glowing with celestial fire. The psalmist sang of the power and majesty of Israel's King: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: . . . He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people.” Ps. 50: 2–4. “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad . . . before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.” Ps. 96: 11, 13.

The prophet Isaiah says: “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 26: 19; 25: 8, 9.

God’s Bow of Promise

“WHEN we see the bow in the cloud, we can think that God himself is looking at the same token of His covenant, and He will remember us in all our afflictions and perils, as He remembered Noah. Let the tempest rage, and all earthly calamities sweep over us in resistless storm, still we can hope and rejoice if God will hang out His bow of promise and of peace upon the cloud, to show us that He is thinking of us, and that our deliverance shall come in the fullness of time.”

TRUTH IN SONG.

Will you send out the gospel of Jesus Christ, In harmony true and strong? Will you send out the message to suffering man, Embodied in sacred song?

Oh, much has been spoken and written and sung, And error has thus been taught! On the wings of song has been carried along A message with error fraught.

The good and the true must be written and sung, Pure words from the Scripture page. The power of the Spirit His message will seal As truth for the present age.

Then write ye and sing in the strength of the King, Inspired by His living touch; And give to the world, with love's banner unfurled, The message ye love so much.

In the power of the Spirit, with fire-touched thoughts, In wondrous rhythm and ring, You can write, when inspired, all your God desired; In the power of His truth, for age and for youth, Your words shall carry along The message of Jesus, the gospel of life, Embodied in sacred song.

—Selected.

AS HE HATH COMMANDED.

By D. A. Ball

D. A. BALL. (Ellicottville, N. Y.)

“EXAMINE yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves,” is the exhortation of Paul in 2 Cor. 13:5.

Criticising others will sap our spirituality, but we may reserve the right to criticise self; and if our actions are compared with the Word, where God’s requirements are found, we shall be profited by it.

The devil is clever at counterfeiting, and is highly pleased that mankind should have a form of doctrine, and the nearer it resembles the genuine, the better satisfied he is with it. I am sometimes surprised to see how numerous his incursions are, how cunningly they are devised, and how well mankind is satisfied with them.

The Sabbath is one of the fundamentals of religion,—the test of loyalty to God. The devil sees there would be no hope of success if he should try to induce men to give up the observance of a day, so he selects a day which is just as far from the one the Lord has named as possible; for the Lord has selected the last day of the week, while Satan has chosen the first,—six days apart from the nearest point. God says, Work six days, and rest the seventh; Satan says, Rest one day, and then do the work. After he has instilled it into the minds to do this, he will inspire men to come to the defense of it by infusing his own spirit into them; and when their pet theme is assailed, and they are unable to meet the argument with a “Thus saith the Lord,” they clamor for law to compel men to act as they desire them to.

Now do you regard this as too strong ground to occupy? Let me refer you to two scriptures, Ex. 20:8-11 and Mark 16:1, 2. The former makes the day definite in the Old Testament, and the latter in the New; for none who read can fail to see that the Sabbath passes in the New before the first day begins.

Baptism is laid down by Paul in Hebrews as one of a quartet of doctrines that compose the foundation of the Christian religion. Here again, instead of trying to uproot the foundation, Satan tries the easier way, that of counterfeiting, and in this he has succeeded better in name than in nature; for while baptism was to represent the burial of Christ and His resurrection from the dead, we find nothing in the nature of sprinkling which would remind one of the event that it commemorates. The Lord’s estimate of this ordinance will be seen in Luke 7:30. The Pharisees and lawyers, in rejecting it, rejected the counsel of God, against themselves and there is danger of our doing the same thing in this day of increased light and knowledge.

The Lord’s Supper is another ordinance of the New Testament, and the wisdom of God is seen in selecting the emblems to represent the bruised body and spilt blood. No one can look upon the red wine without being reminded of crimson blood; and the bread is just as appropriate to represent His body. The bread is made of grain, which grows out of the earth; the body was formed from the ground also. You sow a kernel of grain, and all you get out of the seed sown is the life. Christ says, in John 12:24, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

There is danger of our ignorantly falling under the censure of the Lord, as expressed in Mal. 1:7, where He says, “Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar.” Then we to-day will use the words of ancient Israel, “Wherein have we polluted thee?” Paul says Christ is our passover, sacrificed for us. Anciently the Israelites were to subsist upon unleavened bread while they observed the feast. Leaven, being the result of a decaying process, cannot well represent the body of Christ, as He was not dead long enough for corruption to take place. Fermented wine also shows corruption in the thing it represents,—a thought too repulsive to be entertained in the mind for one moment.

The Spirit of the Lord tells us that leavened bread must not be used to commemorate the Lord’s Supper; and in the light of the foregoing, we can see why it is not to be used.

Many are perplexed to know what to do with the fragments that remain; for there is always some left. In the institution of the Passover, the Israelites were told to burn with fire that which remained. Ex. 12:10. And again we read: “If aught of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread remain until the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten.” Ex. 29:34.

Let us ascertain just what the Lord wishes us to do, and then to do it in every minutia, thus honoring Him; for it is the willing and obedient who shall eat the good of the land.

Continue reading: THE GOLDEN RULE