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Signs of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 48.

THE NECESSITY OF OBEDIENCE AND FAITH

Signs of the Times

Dec 15, 1887

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Dec 15, 1887

THE NECESSITY OF OBEDIENCE AND FAITH.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
ONE presumptuous act, one deed in disregard of God's expressed will, lost for Adam his beautiful Eden home, and opened the floodgates of iniquity and woe upon our world; and yet men will declare that God is not particular, and does not require perfect obedience to his law. The precepts of Jehovah are as unchangeable as his eternal throne. To excuse sin on the plea that God is lax in his government is dishonoring to the great Governor of the universe, and perilous to man. It is an attempt to belittle his requirements, and to take away the force of law. Those who advocate such doctrine, place themselves in harmony with the first great rebel, and however high their professions of religion, Christ pronounces them "workers of iniquity." They are saying to the sinner, "It shall be well with thee in thy disobedience and transgression," as said the arch-deceiver in the garden of Eden.
God said to Adam, "Thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Satan came, and with specious words presented an enticing temptation. He argued that they were in bondage through the prohibition to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that they should be as gods if they would but eat, and he denied the positive statement of God, that they should surely die if they partook of the fruit. The same arguments are used now by all who trample upon the law of God. "Obedience is bondage," men declare, and disobedience is freedom, such as they could never realize under the restrictions of the law. Men are flattered in their course of sin, to believe that they are rising in the scale of greatness, as Satan flattered Adam and Eve to believe they would be as gods if they would but disregard the commandment of their Creator. How many are reiterating his statements while they profess to be sinless!
We need not be deceived by these high professions of holiness which deny the power thereof by rejecting the law of God. "Sin is the transgression of the law," writes the beloved John; and "he that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected." Here is the test of every man's profession. We cannot accord holiness to any man without bringing him to the great measurement of God's only standard for holiness, in Heaven or in earth. If men feel no weight of the moral law, if they belittle and make light of God's precepts, if they break one of the least of these commandments and teach men so, they shall be of no esteem in the sight of Heaven, and we may know their claims are without foundation. Christ, who died to magnify the law, and to attest its validity and immutability, says of such, "I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity."
God does not change his plans and devise new expedients to save man in different ages or dispensations. With him "is no variable-ness, neither shadow of turning." He does not abolish the law to bring man into harmony with himself. If he had proposed to destroy the jurisdiction of the law over man at any time, he would have done so when Adam's failure to keep its requirements brought him under its terrible condemnation. But God does not provide any such escape in this emergency. He expels the guilty pair from the garden. The law says the penalty of sin is death, and they have brought on themselves, by deliberate choice, the loss of eternal life. The course of God toward the rebellious has not changed. There is no way back to innocence and life except through repentance for having transgressed God's law, and faith in the merits of the divine sacrifice, who has suffered for your transgressions of the past; and you are accepted in the Beloved on condition of obedience to the commandments of your Creator.
God's love and justice have provided one way, and one only, whereby man can be saved from eternal separation from Heaven and alienation from God, and that is by faith in Christ and obedience to his law. The Spirit of God operating upon the human heart never leads men to belittle the law of Jehovah. Enlightened by this divine influence, we will see with awe the majesty of its requirements, the heinousness of sin, and feel the terror of its inevitable penalties upon the transgressor.
"If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," and to this refuge the repentant soul turns to plead the merits of his Saviour's blood. But while the blood of Christ avails for the repenting soul, Christ is not the minister of sin, and there is no peace, no assurance, no genuine hope, for anyone who ignores the claims of God's law and tramples upon its just demands. To trust in man's good purposes or works is seen by the repenting sinner to be utmost folly. To suppose that a few deeds of beneficence or the performance of duty will cancel a life-time of sin, is a blindness that Satan brings over the mind to befog the moral perceptions, and lead men to trust in themselves.
The sinner may plead he has been doing good in most things, but in order not to be out of harmony with the world, he did not obey the fourth commandment, but kept the day the world observed. He has on the whole obeyed more than he has disregarded the commandments of God. Would this reasoning stand approved before the courts of Jehovah? What would it have availed in the case of Adam and Eve? They might have pleaded that their sin was only one little departure from God. They had obeyed him fully up to that time. They could have found excuses more plausible than men can frame to-day; but the way God dealt with them should teach the sons and daughters of Adam how he will deal with them if they break one of the least of his requirements.
Suppose a criminal in court, who had violated the law of his State, should make his plea that he had generally obeyed the laws. He had only stolen his neighbor's goods occasionally, and had led an honest life for the most part, would that relieve justice from executing the penalty? Could a just judge and jury bring in a verdict "not guilty"? You can see the absurdity of the case, and yet men of intelligence in all worldly affairs are not wise in matters pertaining to their eternal salvation. They are found seeking to climb up some other way than God has provided, trying to make terms with the infinite One. Many poor souls are leaning on such a broken reed, building on such an insecure founda-tion, laying hold on ropes of sand, and at last they will awaken to realize that they are lost, lost!
The heart must be cleansed from its impurity; self-will must be exchanged for God's will; God's ways must be chosen before our own ways. Many names are registered on the church books that have no place in the Lamb's book of life. Let the question be asked with deepest concern, "Is my name written there?"
The great gift of salvation is freely offered to us, through Jesus Christ, on condition that we obey the law of God; and individually we are to accept the terms of life with the deepest humiliation and gratitude. None will ever enter the city of God who do not reverence the statutes of its government; and now is the time allotted to us to gain the mastery, through divine grace, over every rebellious thought and action; to work out our own salvation, not with boasting self-confidence, but with fear and trembling. We are not to pander to the prejudices and customs of this world at the expense of our obligations to God. We should live as in the sight of Heaven, with no other object for our ambition and toil than the glory of our Creator and Redeemer; live, believing that "every one of us shall give account of himself to God." We should ask ourselves, Am I fashioning my character after the Pattern God has given me? Is my eye fixed on Jesus? and are my actions controlled by the influences of Heaven? If our eye be single, our whole body will be full of light, and the world and its sentiments will not sway us from an undeviating progress toward the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. Christ prayed to his Father, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world"—oh, no; they are to be the light of the world—"but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." We are to be in the world but not of it—shining with the reflected light of Jesus. We must not live for self, blending into the darkness of the world; but kept from its evil we must give our lives into an active, earnest service, as faithful soldiers for the Captain of our salvation. This will sanctify the soul. While we seek the salvation and benefit of others, we shall be workers together with God, learning his methods and partaking of his power.
We need not assume an appearance of melancholy, and sigh and groan and mourn to give evidence that we are Christians, especially devoted and sanctified. And it is no test of vital godliness to be talkative, parading our piety and our knowledge of the truth before others. But the real manifestation of Christ dwelling in your heart will be recognized by a well-ordered life and conversation. Your life will shine with the graces of the Spirit; meekness, kindness, tender compassion, the love of Jesus, and genuine lowliness of heart, will characterize your daily walk.
It is not the profession we make, but the fruits we bear that reveal the condition of the heart. Says the inspired apostle, "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." True piety will not stiffen the character in stubborn, set ways and ideas. The Christian will not be unyielding and dictatorial, but will consider himself a learner in Christ's school. He will not be of that class who are fond of lecturing others, sermonizing, condemning, criticising, but will become meek and lowly in heart, representing Jesus, the Light of the world.
There is no need of being offensive in character, officiously taking a position above the brethren to point out their errors. This is the position of the Pharisee. Let the meekness of Jesus appear in words of wisdom that will inspire desires for the heavenly characteristics. Let the deportment be full of gentle courtesy as becometh the sons and daughters of God.
"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit." If we are desirous of being saved from the evil there is in the world, we must seek this spirit of meekness; then we shall not be led into presumptuous sins; we shall appreciate the great responsibility we are under to observe the law of God, and feeling our weakness shall plead for the divine assistance, and God promises to dwell with the humble and contrite heart. Heaven is open to everyone who desires access to the Source of strength; and God, who spared not his own Son, will freely with him give us grace for every obligation of his law, and make us meet for an inheritance in light.

THE Signs of the Times

“Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.

The Signs of the Times.

By Editor

PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE
International Tract and Missionary Society.
(For terms, etc., see last page.)
Entered at the Post-Office in Oakland.

TRIED, PRECIOUS, SURE.

By Frances Ridley Havergal

“A stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.” Isa. 28:16.
“The same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” Heb. 13:8.
THROUGH the yesterday of ages, Jesus, thou hast been the same; Through our own life's checkered pages Still the one dear, changeless name. Well may we in thee confide, Faithful Saviour, proved and “tried”!
Joyfully we stand and witness Thou art still to-day the same; In thy perfect, glorious fitness Meeting every need and claim. Chiefest of ten thousand thou! Saviour, O most “precious,” now!
Gazing down the far forever, Brighter glows the one sweet name, Steadfast radiance, paling never, Jesus, Jesus, still the same. Evermore “thou shalt endure,” Our own Saviour, strong and “sure.”
—Frances Ridley Havergal.

A RADICAL.

By Editor

WE believe in the exercise of a necessary amount of caution and prudence; but there is such a thing as being too cautious, and there are times when to move promptly, and to go ahead boldly, are the most prudent things that can be done. To those who have a dread of everything that is radical, we commend the following, which we clip from the Occident. It is good for any place, and will apply to every reform:—
“I don't like Peter Jones; he is too radical.” The speaker was one of my very conservative neighbors who always goes with the majority, takes things as they are, floats with the current, reflects other people's opinions like a cameleon, never antagonizes anybody, because he has no principles to fight for. He would be a contented monarchist if the government was monarchical. He would be a zealous Romanist if this was a Papal country. Perhaps he would even be a good Mormon, and marry as many wives as he could support or get to unite in supporting him if he lived in Utah. Such men are annoyed by those of us who have decided opinions as to what is right and wrong, and who insist upon doing all that we can to get the world right side up by turning it upside down. I said to him, “Do you know what radical means?” “Yes; it means a man that is always trying to root up something like a hog in a potato patch.”
“Don't be too fast.” The English word radical, I know, comes from the Latin word, radix, a root. But it does not follow that a radical is merely an uprooter. On the contrary, he is a root man in the largest sense. Webster's definition of radical is, “Proceeding directly from the root.” And among the secondary meanings that he gives are such as these: “Reaching to the principles; thoroughgoing; fundamental.” In order to be “thoroughgoing,” a man must sometimes uproot as well as plant. Let us suppose that you and Peter Jones are farming side by side. You are a conservative. You believe in letting what you call “well enough,” alone. The fall rains come. The thistles sprout all over your fields. You say: “This is a natural growth. I don't see that it does any harm. I won't disturb it, therefore, but will go out and sow my wheat and barley on it. To plow this soil, so richly carpeted with green, would be hard work, and it looks kind of cruel, too.” But Peter is a radical. He believes in uprooting what is unprofitable, and in giving the good seed a chance to root itself in a fresh and mellow soil. So while you are scattering seed on beds of thistles, he plows up the thistles. He tries to plow deep enough to kill all their roots; and then he sows his wheat and barley, and harrows it in, that it may germinate and grow vigorously. Which is the wiser of you two?
“Of course, it would not do to let thistles grow in our fields. We have to plow them under.”
But are not all errors and all evil customs like thistles? If they are left to themselves they will grow fast and strong, and will choke and kill all that is good. If we would have any plants of righteousness blooming and bearing fruit on this sin-cursed earth, we must make room for them by cutting down and digging up the upas trees of sin.
“But you remember that the Saviour said, ‘Let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest.’ Don't that mean that we are not to uproot what is evil, but leave it for the Lord himself to destroy in his own good time?”
I thought you would bring that in. I never knew a lazy, cowardly conservative yet who was not familiar with the parable of the tares and the wheat. He passes over that of the barren fig tree. He does not read John's declaration: “Now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matt. 3:10. But observe, in regard to these tares, they were sown after the wheat. . . . Planting is hard work, and it must be done thoroughly, or the scion will droop and die. You, with your shiftless ideas of moral progress, would merely set up your good ideas and institutions here and there, like a child's Christmas tree. But we radicals know that we must dig deep if we would secure permanent results. We may be a little rough sometimes in our efforts to break through the hard crust of human selfishness, and reach the mellower heart soil beneath; but if we fail to get down to that soil, all our labor will be in vain. Superficial work always fails. It is only the man who is determined to make room for the truth, and to plant it deep as the good seed of the kingdom, who will ever really help his fellow-men, or promote the glory of God on the earth.

NO NEUTRAL GROUND.

By Rev. A. Andrew

LAST summer it was my privilege to spend five weeks on the famous rock of Gibraltar. Six thousand soldiers, it is said, are stationed there, and my duty was to act as chaplain for a brother who was greatly in need of a rest. . . . Outside the rock, at the north end, beyond what is called the north front, there is a piece of ground stretching out towards Spain, generally known as the Neutral Ground, measuring about half a mile broad, and extending from the Mediterranean on the east to the bay on the west. It is a sandy desert. There is nothing attractive about it, and yet it is closely guarded night and day. All along the Spanish lines you see little white boxes for the sentinels, and very much the same thing you see on the other side, so that nobody can venture thereon without being observed and challenged. "Why," I said to a friend one day, "can that be? If I go upon that ground shall I be challenged?" "Yes—either by the Spaniards on the one side or by the British on the other." "Indeed! Well, after all," I said, "there is no neutral ground, for it can't be occupied. You must go either to the one side or to the other; and therefore there is no neutral ground."And when I said this to my friend, he exclaimed, "No; and suppose you could occupy it, it wouldn't be worth, as it is nothing but a barren wilderness, and can be converted into nothing else." Ah! precisely; and is not that also true in regard to spiritual things? You cannot occupy any neutral place. You must either be on one side or another—for Christ or against him. For he said with his own lips, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad."
Sometimes you hear people say, "I don't make any profession—I belong to no church or religious sect. Many nowadays make a profession that is not real, and sit down at the Lord's table, where they have no right to be. But, thank God, I am no hypocrite; I make no professions, and belong to no church." But consider for a moment—is all that possible? Can a man be colorless—having no opinions and no convictions? If you dig down you will find out that the root of all their professed indifference is love for carnal pleasure or worldly advantage. Those that make no profession of Christianity, and go to no church, so act because they love the world more than they love Christ or his house; and can that be right? can that be profitable? for what if you gain the whole world and lose your soul? or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Soon you will be in eternity; and what will all your worldly gains and pleasures do for you then? What a poor harvest you will have to reap, for "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap"! Oh, remember there is no neutral ground! You must be either for Christ or against him. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."—Rev. A. Andrew, in British Messenger.

RANSOMED AND REDEEMED.

MANY ages ago these great words were uttered: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes" (Hosea 13:14); and He, the living One, who became dead is alive forevermore, to make them good. The apostle in his grand discourse on the resurrection refers to this passage (1 Cor. 15:55), and He who stooped to the grave, and who now sits on the throne, shall not fail nor be discouraged till death is swallowed up in victory; and the words so long sung in hope shall celebrate accomplished facts: "The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout;" he will call to his sleeping ones, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust," and millions shall shout in reply, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Then, when "the adoption, even the redemption of the body," for which we now wait, is come, when millions once the slaves of sin and Satan, and the prey of death, are made joint heirs with "the second Adam, the Lord from Heaven," it shall be seen that with regard to his great purposes of love towards sinners, and hatred to sin, death, and hell, repentance has indeed been hid from his eyes.
This aspect of redemption is found in some of the typical institutions of previous dispensations. Some writer observes on the text in Hosea 13:14, already quoted, "that the words 'ransom' and 'redeem' arise out of two distinctive customs of their [the Jews] national policy. 'Ransom' is a word which means a rescue by a sum paid, or an act of power employed; while 'redeem' is put for that deliverance which is effected by the interference of the nearest of kin." It devolved on the nearest of kin to redeem the inheritance, and to raise up seed to his brother; and also, should he be murdered, to avenge his death. Here we have a shadow of the office and work of Him who in his wondrous grace became "our near Kinsman." How infinitely does the Antitype exceed the type in all respects! We only now refer to one point which bears on the subject before us. The nearest of kin might inflict deserved vengeance on the murderer of his brother, but he could not raise him up to life again. The Lord Jesus Christ not only avenges his brethren on death, but he raises them up to a more glorious life than sin, Satan, and death robbed them of. This is in agreement with his glorious utterance, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."—Selected.

A "DANGEROUS DRIFT."

By C. P. Bollman

To drift in the wrong direction, or from truth to error, is always dangerous; and the apostle Paul foretold a drift of this sort when in writing to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:1) he said that in the latter days some should "depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." And again, in his second letter (2 Tim. 4:3, 4), the apostle says: "For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears [Revised Version], will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables."
Such is the "dangerous drift" against which the apostle would warn those who live in the last days; but it is not the "drift" against which a late writer in a religious paper published in the city of Chicago, warns his readers; he says:—
"As to the influence of spirits upon mortals, either for good or evil, there seems to have been no doubt in the minds of early Christians. The dangerous drift toward gross materialism is, perhaps, no more plainly manifested in any direction than in the silence of religious journals and of the pulpit in respect to these things. We scarce hear a word concerning angelic presences or of the position and condition of those who, once here, have long since departed. . . . We do not yet know ourselves or our surroundings. God is always trying to enlighten and instruct us; but, alas! we are dull scholars. There are discoveries to be made yet in spiritual things, as there has been and doubtless are still in material things. . . . Modern Spiritualists will have lost their hold upon the masses of their followers when certain strange phenomena which cannot be denied are better understood. The phenomena now so strange will be familiar when we follow more closely the leadings of God's unerring Spirit and his word."
"As to the influence of spirits upon mortals, either for good or evil, there" not only "seems to have been no doubt in the minds of early Christians," but there certainly was no doubt of this in the apostolic churches; and there can be no doubt now in the minds of any who accept heartily the testimony of the Scriptures upon this important subject. Speaking of the good angels the apostle says (Heb. 1:14), "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" And in the texts quoted in the outset we are explicitly warned against the influence of evil spirits. Then, too, we have the testimony of many other texts which might be quoted; but the limits of this article forbid their citation; and a mere reference to the fact that our Lord himself recognized this very influence must suffice on this point.
The writer whose language has been quoted, errs, however, in confounding the good and evil spirits which the Scriptures recognize, with the spirits of the dead. This is a view which, though quite common, is none the less unscriptural. The well-known song, "I Want to Be an Angel," rests upon no better foundation than the imagination of the author; for no human being ever has been or ever will be an angel, either good or bad. A single scripture will suffice to satisfy any candid mind upon this point. When our Lord was questioned by the Sadducees relative to the relation which in the resurrection a certain woman should bear to seven brethren each of whom had in turn had her to wife, he answered (Luke 20:35, 36): "They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels."
Our Lord did not say, they shall be angels, but they shall be "equal unto the angels," and equality certainly disproves identity. Then, too, the angels were certainly created before man was, for in Job 38:7 we read that when the foundations of the earth were laid all the sons of God shouted for joy. Again, we know that the angels which kept not their first estate, but sinned against God, fell before the fall of man, for it was their leader who tempted Eve, when as yet there were but two human beings upon the face of the whole earth. It is certainly needless to dwell longer upon this part of the subject.
The dangerous drift of the present day is not towards a "gross materialism," but towards a gross spiritualism, or devil worship. The Bible teaches that good and bad angels come to this earth, and that they exert an influence in keeping with their characters. Avowed Spiritualists and a host of professed Christians, who are really Spiritualists, but not professedly (sometimes even unwittingly), teach that these angels are the spirits of the dead; and thus tens of thousands of souls are led captive by Satan at his will, supposing that they are following the leadings of the spirits of friends whom in life they dearly loved.
If the language quoted from the Chicago journal means anything, it is simply this, that "Modern Spiritualists," as such or under the name of "Spiritualists," "will have lost their hold upon the masses" when the churches have all become (as they are rapidly becoming) Spiritualist. And the sentence, "The phenomena now so strange will be familiar when we follow more closely the leadings of God's unerring Spirit and his word," might justly be paraphrased thus: "The phenomena now so strange will be familiar when we surrender ourselves fully to the leadings of seducing spirits (supposing that we are following God's Spirit), and when, contrary to the express command of the Lord (Isa. 8:19, 20), we seek 'unto wizards that peep, and that mutter,' instead of seeking unto our God."
The Scriptures plainly teach that "the dead know not anything" (Eccl. 9:5), and that when a man is dead "his sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them" (Job 14:21); nevertheless men professing to accept the Bible as the word of God, presume to endow the spirits of the dead with both knowledge and power and send them forth to do the very work which the Scriptures plainly tell us is done by good and evil angels. It is indeed a "dangerous drift" when both pulpit and press unite in proclaiming to the world that "the phenomena now so strange" is only the workings of the Spirit of God imperfectly understood! Our Saviour when on earth taught that it was blasphemy to attribute to demons the work of the Spirit of God. Are not they in danger of incurring this guilt who attribute to that Spirit the unclean and unholy works and doctrines of Spiritualism?
That there is real phenomena connected with Spiritualism is generally admitted by the well-informed; but if we accept the testimony of the Scriptures we must conclude that the spirits which produce this phenomena are the spirits of devils spoken of in Rev. 16:14; and it is at the very time that they are accomplishing their work of deception that the Saviour says: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Brethren, "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh," "therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."

A CHOICE.

By Mary Lowe Dickinson

If all Love's gifts of grace or power Lay spread before my choice this hour, What would I claim as life's best dower? Dear Lord, how should I know?
Unfailing love from sun to sun? Unfailing wealth, in honor won? Unfailing health—all gifts in one? Nay; all of these may go.
For love that comes our lives to bless Must evermore be counted less, In grace and might and tenderness, Than gifts that from us flow.
And health, the tender soul may drain Of grace to share the sufferer's pain; And strength is weakness, power is vain, That soothes no human woe.
And wealth of treasure, land, or gold Is only sweet to have and hold When streams of mercies manifold In ceaseless gifts o'erflow.
So, from the dazzling, tempting three, How can I choose? Choose thou for me; Give or withhold; but let me be Content God's will to know.
Give love until I love outpour; Give pain till those whose hearts are sore May feel for them I suffer more Than for my own small woe.
Give wealth, but not for selfish greed, But for the sad world's pain and need; Give thou thyself; then, rich indeed, All else may come or go. —Mary Lowe Dickinson.

OUR WAYS.

How much disposed we are to choose our own way and take charge of our own interests, without any regard to an overruling Providence! With all our ignorance and weakness we think that we can best direct our own course and manage our own affairs. Perhaps this is true so far as our fellow-men are concerned, who know less about our matters than we do ourselves; but it is not true so far as our heavenly Father is concerned, who knows all about us, and who has infinite resources at his command.
We are directed to cast our burden and care upon the Lord, and the psalmist exhorts us to commit our way unto him. Were we to follow this counsel, and daily and hourly implore the divine direction, and with filial trust commit all our interests into the hand of our heavenly Father, who can doubt the fulfillment of the divine promise, that all things shall work together for our good? We may not be able always to see how this can be, but trusting in him who has promised, we are resigned and happy in our lot, knowing that what may not be a present comfort is a necessary means toward an ultimate good.
All our anxiety comes from the fear that something is going wrong, and that some disaster, which we cannot avert, will ultimately overtake us. But when we commit all our interests into the hand of our heavenly Father, who is infinitely wise and good, and who has promised to watch over us and take care of us, we know that under his watchful eye no evil can befall us. What cause, then, have we for anxious and corroding care? Implicit trust in God would bring peace and comfort to our minds. He knows what is best; and if we commit our way unto him, he will do for us what he sees to be best; and what more can we desire? It is only when we want to manage our affairs in our own way, and for our own purposes, without regard to the divine will, that we get into trouble. The great remedy for all our trouble is unreserved consecration to God, and implicit confidence in his goodness and fatherly care.—Selected.

THE FIRE DID IT.

WHILE Moses was up on the mountain, Aaron took the gold that the people brought him and made a calf for them to worship. When Moses came down and reproached him he was frightened, and stammered out, They brought their gold to me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. He did not make the idol; oh, no, the fire made it; he only threw the gold in, and was not responsible for the result! It was a very strange and wonderful thing, but so it was, and the fire only was to blame. That is the way people talk and reason still. The world is full of just such cowards as Aaron was that day. Men do what they know to be wrong, do it deliberately, and then throw the blame on somebody or something else.
Mr. Moody says that he once went from cell to cell in the Sing Sing Prison, talking with the convicts. But he found only one man among them who acknowledged that he was guilty and deserved to be punished. All the others were the victims of circumstances. One man was drunk, and meeting another man as he was staggering home, he thought that he would play the part of a robber just for fun. So he pointed his pistol at the other man, and the pistol went off of itself and killed him. He did not mean to do it. The pistol was to blame. Another had been found guilty of forgery. But he was as innocent as a newborn babe. The pen, somehow, would write somebody else's name on the paper. The pen was to blame. He did nothing but hold it.
A young man comes home from college in disgrace. He has been caught in an act of malicious mischief or of beastly debauchery. But he assures his sad and confiding parents that he never meant to do anything wrong. Some other students led him astray and then left him in the lurch. He was as much surprised as anybody could be when he found what he had done. A bridegroom, before the honeymoon is over, is brought home between midnight and morning, dead drunk. When he wakes up from his stupor and sees how sad and horrified his young wife is, he protests most vehemently that he is not to blame. He only stepped into a saloon to take a social glass with a friend. But the liquor must have been drugged, for he soon lost all consciousness. Of course he was not blameworthy, but only unfortunate. It was the fault of the bar-tender or of the brandy. And so it is all around us. Men and women are meanly shirking responsibility just as Aaron did. He put the gold into the fire on purpose to make a calf. And we are told that after it was melted and moulded he fashioned it with a graving tool (see Ex. 32:4); and yet he told Moses that the fire made the calf. He invoked the agency of the fire to accomplish his foolish and wicked purpose, and then laid all the blame upon it. How transparent the falsehood! and yet how many excuse themselves in the same mean and dishonest way.
The truth is that in nine cases out of ten men's excuses for their follies or their crimes are just as bad as Aaron's was. They knew that they were putting themselves in contact with and under the influence of persons or things that would involve them in wrong. Those who handle pitch must expect to be defiled, and the fault is but their own. They could not lay it over on the pitch, for its nature is to defile, and they knew it.
With multitudes business is the fire out of which comes the idol that they worship. They take the pure gold of their young manhood into some place of trade and traffic. They mean to be honest, and yet they mean to make money. They encounter keen competition. They are told that certain practices of doubtful integrity are customary—that everybody does so. They sacrifice conscience to custom. They know that what they do is wrong. But it is the fault of the business and not theirs. And so it is in society. The lady in fashionable life cannot be sincere. Sincerity would be rudeness. So she tells what she calls white lies, and almost believes that she is not guilty—that she has to do what others do. And the politician adopts the theory that all is fair in politics as in war. And the ardent reformer uses doubtful methods for securing popularity and success, claiming that the end justifies the means. And so the world goes on, casting its personal guilt upon the scape-goat of circumstances, and half believing its own false and flimsy excuses.
An eloquent preacher says: "There are currents flowing always in all bad directions. There is a perpetual river flowing towards sensuality and vice. There is a river flowing perpetually towards hypocrisy and religious pretense. There is a river always running towards skepticism and infidelity. And when you once have given yourself up to either of these rivers then there is enough in the continual presence, in that great movement like a fate beneath your keel, to make you lose the sense and remembrance that it is your own will that you are there, and only think of the resistless flow of the river which is always in your eyes and ears."
There is little hope for any man who thus tries to excuse his guilt. If the prodigal in our Saviour's parable had come home laying the blame of his degradation upon the citizens to whom he had joined himself, or the swine, his father would not have welcomed him as a true penitent. But when he came crying, "I have sinned," he showed that he was earnest and sincere. What is needed in the preaching of the gospel is to awaken in man the sense of personal responsibility. When they quit excusing themselves—claiming that they are the victims of circumstances, or were overcome by resistless influences—and cry out with the prodigal, "I have sinned," they are ready to welcome that grace which can save the chief of sinners. But as long as a man fails to realize, or is unwilling to confess, his personal guilt, how can he repent heartily, and trust, as a lost sinner, in a divine Saviour?—Obadiah Old-school, in Interior.

Toil and Rest

By Horatius Bonar

Toil on, and in thy toil rejoice; For toil comes rest, for exile, home; Soon shalt thou hear the bridegroom’s voice, The midnight peal: “Behold I come!” —Horatius Bonar.
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