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Review and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 37.

The Need of Power

Review and Herald

Sep 11, 1913

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 11, 1913

The Need of Power

It is power we need. Our work for Christ is too great for human strength. Our adversaries are strong. The world, this present evil world, how dominant, how enthralling! The flesh, human nature with its desires, tastes, and tendencies altogether against God and righteousness! And the enemy, who can measure his skill, his resources, his grip on the hearts of men? Against such odds how helpless are our reasonings, organizations, and endeavor. We must have power, divine power, or fail.
And it is the power of the Holy Ghost. It is not culture, wisdom, wealth, nor earthly influence. All these can create organized results, but cannot bring spiritual life. Only God can do His own work, and until we realize this, He will let us stumble on and call that success which is only man’s untempered mortar. This is preeminently true of our work in the last days. In and of ourselves we are nothing. We have known something of His power in the past, but He has much more for us. Let us not take less than the whole armor of God. Pray, brethren, pray!—Selected.

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Songs of the Exiles

By Arthur W. Spaulding

ARTHUR W. SPAULDING
Why hang your harps on the willows, Children of woe? Far is the fame of your voices’ Musical flow. Sing us the songs of Zion.
How can we sing? Waste is our beautiful city, Captive our king.
*O stranger land, O stranger land, Dark is thy bloody scroll. Happy shall be the ruthless hand, Happy the sword at its command, That spills thy fearful soul.*
Kneel with the world in Dura, Ye stiff of neck! Have ye no fear of the furnace? Nothing to reck? Bow to the golden image!
How can we bow? We have no God but Jehovah, Forever, and now.
*God of our fathers, thine all power; Thy name be glorified. Be thou our stay in this dread hour, A covert and a fortress tower; In thee our souls do hide.*
Pray ye no more toward Zion, Hated of men: Choose ye the monarch’s favor, Or lions’ den! Kneel to the lord of kingdoms!
How shall we kneel? Faith in the Lord of heaven Will we reveal.
*Jerusalem! For thee we yearn, Whose streets the saints have trod, To thee with streaming eyes we turn, For thee our hearts within us burn, Thou city of our God!*
Where is your ancient glory, Seed of the blest? Tossed on the waves of affliction, Know ye no rest? Boast ye no hope of restoring? How should we boast? This is the hour of contrition For God’s sad host.
*O Lord, the great and dreadful One, Rebels and sinners we! In misery earned we lie undone. O Lord, forgive! In heaven is none To look to but to thee.*
Lift up your heads, ye drooping, Sorrowful men! Know ye of none anointed To bring you again? Sing ye no song of Messiah?
Yea, we will sing: Blessed is he that cometh, Messiah, our King.
*Lift up your gates, Jerusalem! Your portals open fling! And he that wears the diadem Shall with his people enter them, And reign our glorious King.*

The Voice of Stern Rebuke

By Ellen G. White

Elijah's Second Visit to Ahab

MRS. E. G. WHITE
For three years Elijah was hunted from city to city, and from nation to nation. At the mandate of Ahab, many had given their oath of honor that the strange prophet could not be found. Yet the search was continued; for Jezebel and the prophets of Baal hated Elijah with a deadly hatred, and they spared no effort to bring him within reach of their power. And still there was no rain.
At last, “after many days,” the word of the Lord came to Elijah, “Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.”
In obedience to the command, Elijah “went to show himself unto Ahab.” About the time that the prophet set forth on his journey to Samaria, Ahab proposed to Obadiah, the governor of his household, that they make thorough search for springs and brooks of water, in the hope of finding pasture for their starving flocks and herds. Even in the royal court the effect of the long-continued drought was keenly felt. The king, now thoroughly concerned over the outlook for his household, decided to unite personally with his servant in a search for some favored spots where pasture might be had. “So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.”
“As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?”
During the apostasy of Israel, Obadiah had remained faithful to God. His master, the king, had been unable to turn him from his allegiance to the living God. Now he was honored with a commission from Elijah, who said, “Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.”
Greatly terrified, Obadiah exclaimed, “What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?” To take such a message as this to Ahab was to court certain death. “As the Lord thy God liveth,” he explained to the prophet, “there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me.”
Earnestly Obadiah pleaded with the prophet not to urge him. “I thy servant,” he argued, “fear the Lord from my youth. Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.”
With a solemn oath Elijah promised Obadiah that his errand would not be in vain. “As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand,” he declared, “I will surely show myself unto him today.” Thus assured, “Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him.”
With astonishment mingled with terror the king listened to the message from the man whom he feared and hated, and for whom he had sought so untiringly.
Ahab well knew that Elijah would not endanger his life merely for the sake of meeting him. Could it be possible that the prophet was about to utter another woe on Israel? The king’s heart was seized with dread. He remembered the withered arm of Jeroboam. He could not avoid obeying the summons, neither dared he lift up his hand against the messenger of God. And so, accompanied by a body-guard of soldiers, the trembling monarch went to meet the prophet.
The king and the prophet stand face to face. Though Ahab is filled with passionate hatred, yet in the presence of Elijah he seems unmanned, powerless. In his first faltering words he unconsciously reveals the inmost feelings of his heart. “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” he asks. In his heart, Ahab knew that it was by the word of God that the heavens had become as brass, yet he sought to cast upon the prophet the blame for the heavy judgments resting on the land.
It is natural for the wrong-doer to hold the messengers of God responsible for the calamities that come as the sure result of a departure from the way of righteousness. Those who place themselves in Satan’s power are unable to see things as God sees them. When the mirror of truth is held up before them, they become indignant at the thought of receiving reproof. Blinded by sin, they refuse to repent, and feel that God’s servants have turned against them and are worthy of severest censure.
Standing in conscious innocence before Ahab, Elijah makes no attempt to excuse himself or to flatter the king. Nor does he seek to evade the king’s wrath by the good news that the drought is almost over. He has no apology to offer. Indignant, and jealous for the honor of God, he casts back the imputation of Ahab, fearlessly declaring to the king that it is his sins and the sins of his fathers that have brought upon Israel this terrible calamity. “I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah boldly asserts, “but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.”
Today there is need of the voice of stern rebuke; for grievous sins have separated the people from God. Infidelity is fast becoming fashionable. “We will not have this man to reign over us,” is the language of thousands. The smooth sermons so often preached make no lasting impression. The trumpet does not give a certain sound. Men are not cut to the heart by the plain, sharp truths of God’s Word.
There are many professed Christians who, if they should express their real feelings, would say, What need is there of speaking so plainly? They might as well ask, Why need John the Baptist have said to the Pharisees, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Why need he have provoked the anger of Herodias by telling Herod that it was unlawful for him to live with his brother’s wife?
The forerunner of Christ lost his life by his plain-speaking. Why could he not have moved along without incurring the displeasure of those who were living in sin?
So men who should be standing as faithful guardians of God’s law have argued till policy has taken the place of faithfulness, and sin is allowed to go unreproved. When will the voice of faithful rebuke be heard once more in the church?
“Thou art the man,” Nathan said to David. These words are seldom heard in the pulpits of today, seldom seen in the public press. If they were not so rare, we should see more of the power of God revealed among men. The Lord’s messengers should not complain of their efforts being without fruit, until they repent of their own love for approbation, and their desire to please men, which lead them to suppress the truth.
Those ministers who are men-pleasers, who cry, Peace, peace, when God has not spoken peace, might well humble their hearts before God, asking pardon for their insincerity and lack of moral courage. It is not from love for their neighbor that they smooth down the message entrusted to them, but because they are self-indulgent and ease-loving. True love seeks first the honor of God and the salvation of souls. Those who have this love will not evade the truth to save themselves from the unpleasant results of plain-speaking. When souls are in peril, they will not consider self, but will speak the word given them to speak, refusing to excuse or palliate evil.
Would that every minister might realize the sacredness of his office and the holiness of his work, and show the courage that Elijah showed. As divinely appointed messengers, ministers are in a position of awful responsibility. They are to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering. In Christ’s stead they are to labor as stewards of the mysteries of Heaven, encouraging the obedient, and warning the disobedient. With them worldly policy is to have no weight. Never are they to swerve from the path in which Jesus has bidden them walk. They are to go forward in faith, remembering that they are surrounded with a cloud of witnesses. They are not to speak their own words, but words which One greater than the potentates of earth has bidden them to speak. Their message is to be, “Thus saith the Lord.” God calls for men like Elijah, Nathan, and John the Baptist,—men who will bear his message with faithfulness, regardless of the consequences,—men who will speak the truth bravely, though it call for the sacrifice of all they have.
God cannot use men who in time of peril, when the strength, courage, and influence of all are needed, are afraid to take a firm stand for the right. He calls for men who will do faithful battle against wrong, warring against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. It is to such as these that he will speak the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

The “I Come” Which Shall Be

By L. F. STARR

L. F. STARR
“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28.
Just as certainly as Christ came to this world as an offering for sin, just so surely will he “come again” for the final salvation of his people; for so it is made known by the prophets and promised by Jesus himself.
Four times in the book of Revelation the glorified Saviour speaks explicitly the “I come” of his sure and speedy return: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast” (3:11); “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (22:7); “Behold, I come quickly: and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (verse 12); and “he which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen” (verse 20). Great is the emphasis; mighty and holy the import of such a personal promise.
Christians look to the promise, “I come,” with great joy. They have with patience and much suffering longed for the glad and speedy fulfilment of the “I come” of the Scripture. The hearts of all Christians who look forward to a literal and glorious coming of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, as the true church has looked from the first, will “see him as he is.” It is possible for Christians who love and submit to the Word, and hold heartily that the divine promise in that Word is a reality, to look up together unto heaven, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, loving his appearing, looking for the Saviour, “who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,” and who shall welcome us as we meet him in the air. It is possible for us to be thus standing with our loins girded and our lamps burning, as men who are “waiting for their lord.” “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
“Behold, I come quickly;” “Surely I come quickly;” “This same Jesus”—what a common ground for all to love him! In the “quickly” of the promise we are all to read that the disciples’ attitude, as was that of the children of Israel, is to be that of a man with his shoes on his feet, and his staff in his hand, ready. It is an old story, but never out of date, certainly not in this age of worldliness, in this time “when ye think not” he comes. Is this prospect being recollected and cherished? Are we maintaining it in the soul’s sanctuary, as a dear and joyful event, a climax in the world when great changes will take place? We may—we must—cultivate such a view of him as will naturally spring up into an instant andenraptured welcome. “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, . . . we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:9. The fulfilment of the “I come” will be a time, a moment, a crisis, never through eternity to be forgotten; a point of interview between disciple and Master at the solemn close of the working-day. Shall it be “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”? Who will abide the day of his coming? How shall we meet his eyes? We shall see those pierced hands and feet and the brow that was once crowned with thorns. Let us walk with him now in the light on the way to see him then face to face, and to join the redeemed in the inheritance prepared from the foundation of the world.

Significance of Jacob's Tithing Vow

By William Covert

WILLIAM COVERT
Jacob, son of Isaac and brother of Esau, was fleeing from his father's home because of his brother's anger, when the Lord gave him a very impressive dream. Weary from walking, sad because of an offended brother and home troubles, he lay down to sleep upon the ground, with a stone for a pillow, the evening star for a lamp, and the blue sky for a covering.
He was probably too discouraged to pray with strong faith, and too anxious of soul to find any consolation from environments or future outlook. With weeping he probably tried to confess his sins, yet his late course of action toward his brother seemed so wicked that he feared God would not hear him.
But finally sleep came to his aching nerves; and during his slumbers he was given a dream which reassured his troubled soul. In the dream he saw a ladder so high that it reached from the earth right where his stone pillow lay all the way up to the gate of heaven. And the ladder served as a stairway for the ministering angels to descend from heaven with blessings for men and return again to the throne of God to get further orders and come to earth again with fresh blessings, while at the top of the ladder where it touched the threshold of heaven, he saw the Lord standing to communicate with the inhabitants of our world. Then Jacob in the dream got a warm message from glory relating to the future of himself and his people.
“And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.” And rising up early, “Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” Gen. 28:16, 20-22.
Jacob had been promised the inheritance of his father's property, and because of the promise which his father had made to him Esau was greatly offended and was threatening to slay Jacob. These threatening conditions made Jacob sad, and the prospect of getting back to his father's house in peace looked to him a doubtful problem. But this was the chief desire of Jacob's heart then. Would he ever again be permitted to reach his father's house in peace? and yet if God should bring it all about, Jacob would surely be a faithful man. He had in prospect a large inheritance, and he would pay a tithe of it all to the Lord. Not this alone, but he would also faithfully pay a tithe of all that he would acquire on his own account. Not a penny's worth of property would be held in his possession that was untithed.
Jacob's vow was a very strong one in regard to tithing, and it shows that he regarded it incumbent as an heir to tithe all that might be inherited from an estate, even though that property might have been tithed while it was in the hands of the former owner.
What a financial uplift it would be to the cause of God now if the vow that Jacob made should be adopted and carried out by all our people! And why should it not? It is right, having in it the true principle of tithing according to the intent of the plan.

The Lord's Charge to Delinquents

The Lord through Malachi declares that his people as a whole have robbed him in tithes and offerings, and that the curse of God is resting on them because this is so. He also promises that a most wonderful blessing will come to them when they make a clean breast of it and bring all the back tithes and offerings into the Lord's storehouse. He says, “Even from the days of your fathers ye have gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord.” But the question is asked, “Wherein shall we return?” What can we do to get back? Then the Lord tells them what they must do. He says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.”
What tithes is he talking about?—The entire tithe; all the tithes that have been held back. He means that we should tithe the property that we have not tithed which we hold in our hands from the days of our fathers. That tithe is the Lord's, and we should pay it just as truly as if we had acquired it by our own thrift or labor. Mal. 3:7-10. The extent of this withholding is of vast magnitude. In many cases it extends back into past generations. And the recording angels have kept a faithful record of the whole vast account. We cannot deny it, for God's books show it in heaven. There are volumes of accounts there that must be balanced. And God tells us that the way to settle these accounts is to bring in all the delinquent funds, and then keep paid up to date as business is done. When we have done these things, then comes the promise to rebuke the devourer. Mal. 3:11.
Even now awful calamities are falling upon men and properties, and these things will increase until they have devoured the whole earth. Will our people not take heed to this serious situation? But the heartrending things that are taking place among men and women in many places seem too terrible to record, yet they will not abate while wickedness holds high carnival.
But our brethren and sisters should see that their record is straightened up. The words and the lives of the great ungodly multitudes will not improve, but we can get right with God. Our profession is eloquent, and our theology faultless. We believe Jesus will soon come. Our work is to give God's blessed truth to our fellow men in all the world, so all our misdeeds must be corrected if we escape the plagues that are falling all around. God has promised that these things will not curse us if we make a full confession and fix up the gaps which now show in the moral hedge that God wants to build around us. There are many thousands of dollars in tithes standing against our people on God's books which must be brought into the storehouse.
No one can be a permanent loser by doing what God tells him to do. God wants these matters made right for the sake of the blessed cause.
The question of offerings is included in the accounts which are pending, and this subject should be studied so that we may know the truth and do our whole financial duty, for our cases are receiving attention in the court of heaven. Will we be faithful?

The Greatest Religious Movement of the Ages; Another Pentecost Due

By G. W. Reaser

(Concluded)
G. W. REASER

The Character of Our Work Now

But what is the character of our work now, before the fulness of power comes? We are now in a constructive period. God is even now gathering out a loyal-hearted constituency of patient, truth-loving commandment-keepers in every land. Truth-laden literature is being published in earth’s multitude of tongues. An excellent Christian educational system is set in operation for the development of the children of God’s remnant people in godliness and as messengers of Heaven in this closing movement. This preparation of our children is a mighty factor in preparing their minds to be channels of the Holy Spirit in the service of the King.
The believers in this threefold message constitute, under the leadership of our Captain, the wiring of the world for the mighty current of power, to be turned on by the hand of the omnipotent God when the flood-gates of heaven open wide, in the time of “the latter rain.” The central power station for this movement is the throne of the universe; the lights will be the true believers in God’s truth wherever they may be, and they will soon be set in every nation and among every “kindred, and tongue, and people,” for thither are we sending our missionaries—our children—in this constructive period.
Even Christ’s work showed but little fruitage when he went back to heaven, but he had laid the foundation for all truly evangelistic movements till the end of time. Now, under Heaven’s leadership, we are laying the foundation for the last great Pentecost. Who among us is not happy to have a part in this constructive, this wiring, period? and who is not thrilled, overjoyed, filled with gratitude, at the thought that the next brief but mightily effectual epoch will be the period of power, and then the “eternal weight of glory”?
It has been said that “a propaganda, to succeed, must have within it the driving power of a great emotion.” As we approach the close of probation, the mightiest propaganda of all the ages is heralded to the world, and the very nature of the message contained in the propaganda makes the mightiest possible appeal to the deepest emotions of the human heart. To whom was there ever committed such a message as ours? Who does not desire to remain steadfast in this glorious message until the King shall say, “Come home”?
While we are in the constructive period, some are becoming discouraged because the Bridegroom seems to tarry. It is written, “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” Is it not high time to arouse and secure oil for our lamps?

Conclusion

Many years ago I heard Elder S. N. Haskell make the statement that “God’s work in the earth will not go out at the back door.” I believed the statement then, because of the confidence that I felt in the speaker. Now I believe it because of the strong array of prophetic utterance both in the Bible and in the spirit of prophecy to corroborate it, and because “all that the Lord hath spoken” concerning the world’s great religious movements has thus far come to pass.
To reconfirm our faith in the message, let us observe in conclusion, first, that each of the world’s great religious movements was the fulfilment of definite and specific prophecy; second, that each such movement exactly fulfilled every specification of the prophecy; third, that such movements as are now in the past are matters of authentic history; fourth, that the beginning of the world’s last continuous series of mighty religious movements is a matter of time prophecy, and that the only heaven-appointed religious movement now is the threefold message; fifth, that the world’s greatest religious revivals and reformations mark special phases of Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary; sixth, that the prophetic descriptions of the three herald angels and their work, beginning in the 1844 movement, have been fulfilled to the letter, and will not, cannot, be repeated; seventh, that according to the Bible and the spirit of prophecy, the world’s greatest true religious awakening is yet future, and to come as a glorious climax of the threefold message; eighth, that the Bible and the spirit of prophecy are in perfect agreement in describing all these movements.
If, in the great religious movements of the past and present, all the prophetic details have been so minutely fulfilled, with what confidence and assurance can we expect, in the immediate future, the descent from heaven of the Holy Spirit in the fulness of power, and the coming down from the throne of God of the angel “having great power,” with the result that the earth will be lightened with glory, for these things are matters of the “sure word of prophecy.”
Phoenix, Ariz.

Sacredness of the Tithe

By E. K. Slade

Gospel Order—No. 7

Sacredness of the Tithe

E. K. SLADE
Throughout the history of the world, God has ever kept before the human race the opportunity of distinguishing between the sacred and the common. The common practise of one who fears not God, is to ignore God’s claims, disregard his requirements, and desecrate that which he has sanctified. The seriousness of such a course can be understood only as we understand the difference between the common and the sacred, and by what means and for what purpose the sanctification exists.
In his bountifulness and love, God has given to man for his use and his pleasure all that he can ever need. This was true before the fall, and it is equally true at this time. It is true with reference to all things that we can ever desire or enjoy. In his wisdom he has seen fit to sanctify, or make sacred, certain portions of these bounties. The sanctuary serves as an example. It was set apart for his service. It was made sacred by his presence, and thus became a holy place, to be distinguished from all common places and properties as a sacred place or structure. In this act man was not deprived of any blessing or portion of property that he could need, but on the contrary, this sanctified place, this sacred structure, was designed of God as a means of bringing to humanity untold blessings, as is true of his sanctifying presence always.
When the law was given from Mt. Sinai, that portion of the earth’s surface was set apart as sacred ground, and a line was drawn between the sacred and the common. At the burning bush Moses was requested to recognize the sacredness of the place which God had set apart for his use at that particular time. The ark of the covenant was a portion of property unlike an ordinary box, or chest, of common property, in that God had set it apart for his service and it became sacred.
One of the gifts bestowed upon man was time. This the Lord gives freely, with the exception of one-seventh part. He made the week of seven days, and drew a line about one day, saying, This I set apart for my use. This portion of time is thus made sacred, or holy, and he calls it “my holy day.” Man was required to recognize a difference between it and the remaining days of the week, which were common time.
It was not a slight offense for one to fail to distinguish between the common and the sacred. On one occasion the servants of God, in a careless and dissipated condition, found it more convenient and more suited to their taste in connection with the sanctuary service to use fire which they had kindled instead of that which God had provided and sanctified for that service. The sacred fire had been kindled by God, and it burned perpetually. It doubtless seemed to the intemperate priests that all fire was alike, and they failed to put a difference between the sacred and the common fire. The account of their punishment is placed on record that we may know that God is particular, and that he counts it a serious sin for man to treat as common that which he has made sacred, or for him to fail to distinguish between the common and that which has been made sacred.
Of material things it is said: “God gives man nine tenths, while he claims one tenth for sacred purposes, as he has given man six days for his own work, and has reserved and set apart the seventh day to himself. For, like the Sabbath, a tenth of the increase is sacred; God has reserved it for himself.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. III, page 395. No one will question God’s right to reserve one-seventh part of time for his use and for mankind to recognize and use as God directs. The seventh day of the week is God’s time—his holy day. Though nearly the whole world carelessly treats it as common time, substituting another day instead, or treating all days as common time, yet the truth remains the same; and some day God will make it evident that it is as great a sin as in the days of Nadab and Abihu to disregard that which he has sanctified and to count as common that which is holy.
“Like the Sabbath, a tenth of the increase is sacred.” A tenth of the income of every man living is sacred, and God claims it for his use. But few recognize his claim, and treat the one tenth as sacred; yet this does not alter the obligation nor lessen the offense.
To use that which God has set apart is robbery today, just as much as in ancient times. A tenth of our income is sacred. It cannot be treated by us as common, nor be used by us as we may properly use the remaining nine tenths. We are just as much required to distinguish between the sacred and common in this as in any other thing, place, or time that God has sanctified. The punishment of Nadab and Abihu serves to reveal the nature of the offense; but we are not to conclude that the absence of such punishments now indicates that it has ceased to be an offense to desecrate that which God has sanctified. That punishment indicates the final fate of those who trample upon and treat withdisrespect God’s sacred things. Members of our churches who have been careless regarding the payment of tithes will do well to consider carefully the thought that “like the Sabbath, a tenth of the increase is sacred.”

"Fret Not"

By J. M. Cole

J. M. COLE
THERE is a great difference between sorrow and worry. Christ was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs;" but we never read of his worrying over his sorrows. His sorrows brought him nearer to his Father. "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour."
Sorrow can be made one of the best things in our lives, if we bear it bravely and well; for in all our sorrows God is with us. "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them." If we trust, it is proof that we do not worry; and if we worry, it is proof that we do not trust the Lord as we should. The spirit of worry and fret shuts out the blessing of God from the heart, and unfits us to be a help and blessing to others. Therefore to worry is sinful.
The whole example and teaching of Jesus is against worry. "Take no thought for your life [no anxious worry], . . . for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." It is not characteristic of little children to worry. That is one thing little children never do. And from this scripture it is plain to be seen that God's children will trust to the Heavenly Father to look ahead and provide for them. The testimony of one of God's little children is, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
Look at the gentle rebuke Jesus gives to all the Marthas who fret and worry about the little things of the home. There is a "better part" for God's children to act. Take all that perplexes to the feet of Jesus and leave it there, and in place take the "My peace I give unto you."
Did you ever look upon that familiar scripture in John 14:1, 27, as a command, Thou shalt not worry? It is about the last command Christ gave to his disciples. He knew of the great sorrow that would come to them in a few days, and he did not want them to worry over this trial. Listen to his sympathetic warning: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." And again, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Don't worry, for out of all this great sorrow will come to you comfort and joy.
Do not worry is a command of God to be obeyed. Ps. 37:1. But we excuse ourselves by saying, "I cannot help it. It is so natural for me to worry." It is natural for some to steal. It is natural for men to disobey all God's commands. But God will take away the natural heart and give us a new heart that will obey him if we will let him. Where sin has abounded, he has promised that his grace will much more abound. "My grace is sufficient for thee."
Israel worried and fretted because the water was bitter. Did all their fretting make the water sweet? Did their worry help matters? There was no need of all that fussing. The man of God sets the right example for all of us, "He cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree." And if we cry unto the Lord, he will sweeten all our bitter experiences. Hagar wept for water to keep her son from dying, when there was a good well of water within a stone's throw.
Hannah made herself and her husband miserable by her constant fretting. But when she left it all in the hand of the Lord, he changed her fret into perfect trust, and was able to work for her, and gave her the desire of her soul. You see worry only hinders God from working for us.
Jacob's last act was to call God "the Angel which redeemed me from all evil." Why not call God our Redeemer long before we die? Why not know that he delivers us from all evil every day? "My God shall supply all your need." "In quietness and in confidence [not by worrying] shall be your strength." Let us ask the Lord to save us from the sin of worry.
Longburn, New Zealand.
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