Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 17, 1900
AS IT WAS, EVEN THUS SHALL IT BE.
By L. A. Phippeny
AT Bethel, in the land where dwelt the Canaanite and the Perizzite, Abram and Lot pitched their tents. And heaven smiled upon them, and their possessions of flocks and herds increased and multiplied and covered the land, even until "the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together."
A SEPARATION and migration became necessary. To the right or to the left one must go. To Lot was given first choice, and he "lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord. . . . Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east." And in the course of time he made his home in the city of Sodom.
FROM a worldly and business standpoint, it would seem that Lot had made a wise choice. Here flourished in lavish abundance the olive and the pomegranate, the palm and the luscious orange. Waving fields of grain mantled the pleasant hills, and beautiful vineyards lent of their fatness to delight the soul of man. And beyond stretched the great, green pasture lands. As the garden of the Lord it was, indeed. Hardly can we wonder that the sight pleased his eye, and that Lot pitched his tent toward the cities of this inviting domain.
"The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." Gen. 19:23-26.
IT was the golden era of the cities of the plain. And in the midst of this unrivaled scene of tropical beauty and overflowing plenty, like a gem in richest setting shone the fair city of Sodom, queen of the goodliest vale of all Palestine. Through her crowded marts flowed the wealth of the East and of the South, and at her summons the denizen of the great desert brought of his peculiar treasures to enrich her palaces and enhance the splendor of her temples, while art and philosophy and the science of the age flourished in her courts. But the multitudes ate and drank, and made merry with heaven's choicest blessings, and honored not the munificent Giver.
To us of a later age the name Sodom stands for corruption and every evil thing, and with it is associated the thought of terrible punishment. Not so when Lot looked with longing eyes on her dazzling magnificence. We say now that he should have looked beyond the temporal prospects and delights to the probable moral effect upon himself and his family, for he knew that the inhabitants of the cities of the plain were idolaters. But he knew not how ugly and black was the wickedness that was lightly concealed beneath the glittering exterior. He had to learn by the bitterest experience that there is awful danger in association and affiliation with a godless generation. In the end he was bereft of wealth and home, of wife and married daughters, and hardly escaped with his own life. Of Lot the record tells us that he maintained his integrity toward God amid the corruptions of Sodom. But in the records of that city's last hours and Lot's later history, we clearly discern the benumbing effects of its corrupt practises and teachings upon him and his family.2
WEALTH and plenty, without God, are the highways to ease and idleness and the luxuries and pleasures of sin. Sodom the beautiful lay at the conjunction of all such highways. "Behold," said the Lord, "this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me." Every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually; for the time was as it was in the days of Noah before the flood. They ate, they drank, they married wives and were given in marriage, they bought and sold, and planted and builded. These things, right in themselves, become wrong when wrongfully used. Worldly gain, worldly prosperity, the pleasures of the present, were the gods of Sodom.
BUT the day of visitation and punishment came silently and unexpectedly, and with appalling suddenness. The knowledge of God and of His character had been scorned once too often. The evil-doers suffered summary punishment for their evil deeds, and their fate became an object lesson for all that should live thereafter. The history of Sodom is the pre-drawn picture of the conditions that mark the last generation upon earth, and her end is the fate of the ungodly. It is a page from God's lesson book for this day, and a solemnly-thrilling page it is. Said the Master,—one of the three who came to destroy Sodom of old,—"Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; . . . even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."
OF the evil and its fate God warns the whole world, and bids His followers flee from the final and everlasting destruction of modern Sodom. He warns them not to be contaminated with her wicked influences and seductive associations, but to fix the heart's affections so entirely on things of heaven that there may not be the slightest desire to cast backward one lingering look. "Remember Lot's wife." Her fate,—destruction,—is the fate of the world-loving, the wealth-loving, and those who do not see in eternal salvation and the all-healing power of a loving Father more to be desired than the closest ties even of earth. "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee," is the startling cry that sounds in the ears of every soul. The day of the Son of man is at hand.
L. A. PHIPPENY.
HELP FOR THE TEMPTED.
By Ellen G. White
“In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
THERE is no warfare between Satan and his agents, between fallen angels and those who have yielded themselves to evil. Both possess the same attributes, both through sin are evil. But between Christ’s followers and the powers of darkness there is an unwearied conflict, which is to have no end till Christ shall come the second time without sin unto salvation, to destroy him who has destroyed so many souls through his deceptive power.
This enmity was spoken of in Eden. God declared to Satan, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” This enmity was revealed as soon as man transgressed God’s law. His nature became evil. He formed a confederacy with the enemy of God. Fallen men and fallen angels have united in a desperate companionship against good. Satan does all in his power to lead men to work with him. Christ has pledged Himself to engage in conflict with the prince of darkness, and Christ’s soldiers, the chosen of God, war against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Satan tempts men and women in many ways. On the right hand and on the left he works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. To some he comes in a winning garb and with a friendly air. To others he comes in garments of darkness, to scatter and slay. By torturing fears he seeks to dishearten and distract.
Again and again he came to the children of Israel, and at no time was he completely repulsed. He always found some soul ready to entertain him. The very men who had seen the glory of God from the mount received him as a welcome guest. Two hundred and fifty princes, men of renown, fell under his subtle power. Members of the priesthood, connected with the sacred work of God, were deluded by his devices, and were found fighting against the Lord.
These men mixed the cup of gall for Moses. They thought they were serving the Hebrew host by opening to them a door of freedom. What a terrible delusion they cherished! How fearfully they were deceived!
The history of the children of Israel was recorded for the benefit of those upon whom the end of the world is come. We are to take warning from their experience, that we may not dishonor God as they dishonored Him. Satan was continually inciting them to rebellion, but he is even more active to-day. He attacks first one and then another, and when men are unguarded he succeeds in his purpose.
Christ saw that Satan’s power was exercised upon the human family, and that he claimed the whole race as his own. The Saviour pledged His word to give His life in man’s behalf. He laid aside His royal robe and clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might clothe humanity with His garment of righteousness.
Jesus came to the world as a human being, that He might become acquainted with human beings, and come close to them in their need. He was born a babe in Bethlehem. He grew up as other children grow. And from youth to manhood, during the whole of His earthly life, He was assailed by Satan’s fiercest temptations.
Adam was tempted by the enemy, and he fell. It was not indwelling sin which caused him to yield; for God made him pure and upright, in His own image. He was as faultless as the angels before the throne. There were in him no corrupt principles, no tendencies to evil. But when Christ came to meet the temptations of Satan, He bore “the likeness of sinful flesh.” In the wilderness, weakened physically by a fast of forty days, He met His adversary. His dignity was questioned, His authority disputed, His allegiance to His Father assailed by the fallen foe.
All heaven watched the conflict between the Prince of Light and the prince of darkness. Angels stood ready to interpose in Christ’s behalf should Satan pass the prescribed limit. O, what love burned in their hearts as they saw their Commander apparently in the power of His foe! When the last temptation came, when as Satan offered Christ all the world and the glory of it, if He would fall down and worship him, divinity flashed through humanity, and the enemy was resisted, the love of the angels knew no bounds. Their sympathy could no longer be restrained.
Christ overcame Satan on every point. The wily foe could not induce Him to swerve from His allegiance to His Father. “Get thee behind Me, Satan,” Christ said; “for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” The Captain of our salvation overcame for us; Satan left the field a conquered foe. But the strain upon Christ had left Him as one dead. “And, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.” Their arms encircled Him. Upon the breast of the highest angel in heaven His head rested. Divine consolation flowed into His soul. The foe was vanquished. Humanity was placed on vantage ground. Christ had conquered. Those who became partakers of the divine nature would be able to resist the temptations of the enemy.
Christ lived a human life that He might be man’s example in all things. He endured temptation even as every human being must endure. He believed God, as we must believe. He learned obedience, even as we are required to learn obedience. And He overcame, as we must overcome. His path lay through manifold temptations; therefore He knows how to succor those who are tempted.
Wonderful indeed is God’s work in behalf of man. Let the tempted soul remember that he is a representative of Christ. It is only by coming in contact with obstacles and difficulties and overcoming them that we become strong. Our necessity is God’s opportunity. If we will hold fast to Christ, every trial will work out for our good.
“We have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” “In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.”
A GOOD CONFESSION.
By K. C. Russell
It is a source of encouragement to learn occasionally of those who are willing to confess the truth of the Gospel when the Lord brings it to their attention. The following, from the New York Christian Advocate (Methodist), discussing the “rite of feet washing,” says:
“The arguments in support of the rite of feet washing are not easily disposed of. Being snowed up on a train in Maine for many hours, an attempt was made by a person on board to convert us to the proposition that there is as much argument for making a permanent rite of feet washing, as there is for making a permanent rite of the holy communion. . . . We have to confess, however, that, after much study of St. John, we know of no way without the aid of ecclesiastical tradition to answer fully these imitators of Christ’s example.”
This is a good confession, but to have it acceptable it should be followed by rejecting the error and adopting into our practise the truth that has been shown us.
K. C. RUSSELL.
The Advantages of Promptness
BESIDES the material advantages of being prompt to do at the proper time whatever needs being done, there is the added opportunity to take advantage of chance pleasures that may be enjoyed, if work is not pressing. One can stop to visit half a day with friends who may come; he can take a trip or an outing with a clear conscience, or have time for missionary work, without feeling all the while that he should have stayed at home and finished work that is left undone because of his own neglect.—Selected.
'LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU'—AS TO THE TIME OF HIS COMING.
AFTER having given the counsel to guard His disciples against being deceived as to the personality and manner of His coming, Jesus next gives counsel to guard them from being deceived as to the time of His coming and of the end of the world.
He not only says that "many shall come saying, I am Christ," but that these same ones would say, "The time is at hand," or "draweth near." But He says, "Go ye not after them."
This was not to say nor to imply that no time could ever come when it would be proper for anybody to say, "The time is at hand," or "draweth near."
It was only to say, first, that no time could ever come when anybody could come, saying, "I am Christ, and the time is at hand," because, as has been abundantly shown, anybody who ever comes anywhere or at any time saying, "I am Christ," is a deceiver. And this being false as to the personality and manner of His coming, it would, in the nature of things, be false as to the saying that "the time is at hand."
Secondly, it was to say, as is abundantly shown, not only in His own words that follow, but also in other places in the Bible, that there was a long period of time and a remarkable series of events that must intervene before it could be truly said by anybody that "the time is at hand," or "draweth near," of His coming and of the end of the world.
Therefore for any one to say, "The time is at hand," before this long period of time had passed, and these remarkable events had all occurred, would be only to deceive. Under these circumstances, any one so saying would be only a deceiver; because he would be speaking only from the imagination of his own heart, and not by the word of the Lord.
Accordingly, on this very thought it is written in another place: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as the day of Christ IS AT HAND. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
"Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only He who now letteth [hindereth] will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness OF HIS COMING. Even Him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thess. 2:1-10.
Thus all these things must come to pass before any one can truly say of the coming of the Lord and the end of the world, that "the time is at hand," or "draweth near." And the answer of Jesus to the question of His disciples covers the same time and contemplates the same course of events.
Remember that the question of the disciples as to His coming and the end was, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?" And in reply Jesus does not in any sense intimate that there would be no signs, nor that nothing could be known on the subject. But, first of all, He gives full counsel against anybody's being deceived as to the time, and which will effectually guard against being deceived all who believe His Word.
Thus He says: "Many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and the time is at hand; and shall lead many astray; go ye not after them. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, and tumults, see that ye be not troubled or terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be great earthquakes, and in divers places famines and pestilences; and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven. But all these things are the beginning of travail.
"But take ye heed to yourselves; for before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up unto tribulation, to councils, and prisons; and in synagogs shall ye be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye stand for My name's sake. Ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and children, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake. For in those days shall be great tribulations, such as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, no, nor ever shall be. And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh should be saved; but for the elect's sake whom He hath chosen, He hath shortened the days.
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ; or, Lo, He is there; believe him not. For false christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show great signs and wonders, to seduce if it were possible even the elect. But take ye heed; behold, I have told you all things beforehand. If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the wilderness, go not forth; Behold, He is in the inner chamber, believe it not. For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven and shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the Son of man be in His day.
"And then shall many stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And not a hair of your head shall perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray. And because iniquity shall be multiplied the love of many shall wax cold. But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and THEN SHALL THE END COME."
That is the true order of things as to the time of the coming of the Lord and of the end of the world, and as to the events that should precede His coming and the end of the world. And the Gospel—glad tidings—of His coming, "this Gospel of the kingdom," preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations, is the final event that precedes His coming and the end; for "then shall the end come." For, note, it is not only the commonly-accepted Gospel of salvation of sinners from their sins, which must be preached in the whole world, but it is definitely the glad tidings of His coming, this Gospel of the kingdom, that is thus to be preached.
This is certain, because that is the great subject of His discourse, and that discourse given in answer to the direct question as to His coming and the end of the world. And, speaking on this subject in answer to the direct question on this subject, He has dwelt on His coming, on the manner of His coming, and on the events which should precede His coming; and then, having reached the ultimate point of the answer to the inquiry, He says, "THIS Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached," etc. That word "this Gospel of the kingdom" fixes it to the preaching in all the world of the glad tidings of His coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory—the glad tidings of His coming and kingdom. And when "this Gospel of the kingdom" shall have been preached in the whole world, to all nations, then THE END WILL COME.
And in the great threefold message of Rev. 14:6-12 there is the very complement of this word of Jesus as to the preaching of this Gospel of the kingdom in all the world to all nations; and in Rev. 14:14-16 there is the very complement of this word of Jesus as to His coming and the coming of the end, following the preaching of this Gospel of the kingdom.
Thus we read: "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
"And I looked, and behold a white cloud; and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud, thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." And Jesus Himself said in another place, "The harvest is the end of the world." Thus certain it is that in these scriptures there is shown the message and the time of the preaching of "this Gospel" of the coming and kingdom of the Lord, which is to be followed4by the very coming of the Lord and of the end of the world, about which the disciples asked.
Thus as to the manner and the time of His coming, and of the end of the world. What, then, as to "the sign" of His coming and of the end of the world? That will be considered next.
ALONZO T. JONES.
WHO CREATED ALL THINGS?
By George B. Thompson
IN a previous article we noticed how all things were made. It was seen that there were no long periods of geological formation, but that the Creator simply spoke and the earth came into existence. The power of His word called it into being, with all things that it contains. “He spake, and it was.” The word had, then, creative power; and, bless God, it has this power still. The power of God was manifested through His word; and it is the same to-day.
Another thing which is clearly stated in the Word is that the same being who redeems us from sin—the Son of the eternal God—is the one who created all things. The same being is both Creator and Redeemer.
Jesus existed before Abraham. John 8:56. “Before the world was,” He was crowned with such glory as no human mind can understand. John 17:5. The same One who was born in Bethlehem of Judea had existed from the days of eternity. Micah 5:2, margin. Before a single star which now glimmers in the sky was made, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, existed. He was “before all things.” Col. 1:17.
The Son was associated with the Father in the stupendous work of creation. When the Father said, “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), He spake to His Son. There is one Lord Jesus Christ, “of whom are all things.” 1 Cor. 8:6. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds.” Heb. 1:1, 2. See also Eph. 3:9; Prov. 8:22-31.
Jesus is the One who “spake, and it was.” It was He “who commanded the light to shine out of darkness.” 2 Cor. 4:6. And, to the praise of His name be it said, that word which in the beginning had power to bring light out of darkness, can still do the same work. It can do this for us; and the people who sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of darkness, can see great light.
See how closely creation and redemption are associated. The same One who created, redeems, and the same word which brought order from chaos in the beginning, makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Sometimes we hear it asserted that redemption is greater than creation; but they are both the same. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Creation is Jesus Christ working to create worlds; redemption is Jesus Christ working to create men anew in Himself.
Both of these are mysteries incomprehensible to finite minds. No mind can fully understand how the Creator could make a world from nothing, or how He can take a soul all steeped in sin and iniquity, and present him faultless before the throne; how He can impart to such a soul a divine power that will enable him in the time of the strongest temptation to stand steadfast, immovable, and make him abound in the works of righteousness; yet this He can and does do. Then why should men discuss which is the greater of two things, neither of which they understand?
In Col. 1:12-17 the apostle connects these two things, clearly showing that they are both the working of the same power: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”
By this it is clear that creation and redemption both center in Jesus Christ. And, O, what hope this awakens in my soul; for I know that He who could make this earth and all the stars of heaven can save me from the awful consequences of sin! Reader, is He saving you? The sign of this power we will consider next.
G. B. THOMPSON.
Rome, N. Y.
THE POWER OF WORDS.
By Mrs. M. C. Du Bois
“DID you ever well consider,
As you journey on life’s way,
Of the vast results impending
On the things you do and say?
Have you ever learned the magic
Treasured in one little word?
Fitly spoken, wisely chosen,
How it into being stirred;
And a soul almost desponding,
New, fresh inspiration caught,
Grasped anew life’s heavy burden,
From one loving, cheering thought!
Then don’t call these trifling matters,
These small every-day affairs.
Words will eat as doth a canker;
Life at best is full of cares.
All our actions, words, and manners
With possibilities are rife;
For in each a soul is hindered,
Or advanced in higher life.”
How few there are who fully realize the power and influence of their own words! The Bible abounds with instruction on this important subject. In Matt. 12:36, 37 we are told that for every idle word spoken we must give an account; also, that by our words we shall be justified or condemned. This truth is enough to startle us into watchfulness. It is not something spoken by sinful man; these words fell from the lips of the Sinless One, the Son of God. Why do they have so little power over us? Are they really true?—Yes, every word of God is true; but we do not realize their truth or we would be more careful what we say.
The Bible mentions many different classes of words. I will present a few. First I note: “Words without knowledge,” “idle words,” “vain words,” “lying words,” “deceitful words,” “sharp words,” “untruthful words,” “condemning words;” and still there are more of this class.
Let us turn to a brighter list: Words of “love,” “merciful” words, words “spoken in due season,” words “fitly spoken,” “gracious” words, words of “truth and soberness,” “cheering” words, words of “reconciliation,” words of “patience,” words of “consolation,” and many like words.
Now, dear reader, it is a fact that some of these words pass our lips every day. From which class do we choose? I tremble when I get a glimpse, now and then, of the influence of my own words. I pray for the art of silence, except when moved to speak by the Holy Spirit.
Who has not felt the power of words? We are each susceptible, more or less, to the words of others, which either cheer or sadden us. In time of trial and temptation, a loving, encouraging word, how it helps us! On the other hand, a word of censure, how it hurts!
A word is apparently a little thing, a mere trifle; but often it is fraught with power that vibrates for good or ill through all eternity. We drop a word and pass on. From that word grows a lovely flower or a baneful weed. We forget the word, and would fail to recognize the fruit of our own lips, should we meet it in after years.
A good woman once laid her hand upon the head of a little orphan boy, with these words: “Danny, be a good boy; strive to be a good man. You can just as well grow up a noble, useful man as to be a nobody.” She shook his grimy little hand, and passed on.
Years after, during the War of the Rebellion, the husband of this lady was in a Southern hospital, where he met this same little boy, now a noted surgeon. The surgeon pressed the hand of his visitor as he said, “The words of your wife, under God, were the means of making me what I am to-day.” This is a real incident.
A soul is under strong temptation. Satan is throwing his fiery darts at him as he stands where two roads fork, one leading to life, the other to death. A word will decide his fate. Which word will fall upon his ear in this temptation, the loving word to turn his feet upon the highway of life, or the harsh, condemning word, which will start him down the road to eternal death? This, reader, is not an imaginary picture. I would to God it were.
There is another word that it is sometimes duty to speak,—the word of reproof,—but, O, how careful we should be to seek God until self is not foremost when we speak words of this character!
There is a dearth of kind words. There are plenty to speak words of condemnation; would there were more to speak words of cheer to earth’s sorrowing ones, and point them to Jesus.
We each have it in our power to do much good. There are those around us whose hearts ache for loving words to point them to Christ. Who will speak them? Neighbor can help neighbor. Wives can lighten the toils of the husband by sending him to his work with cheerful words and loving smiles in place of frowns and fault-finding. Husbands can leave sunshine in their homes by a parting word of appreciation. Parents can lead their children with firm and loving words. Old people can counsel the young by gentle words of warning. The young can brighten and cheer the pathway of the old by hopeful, pleasant words.
We are in the perils of the last days. Satan is using every means to ruin souls. He takes our words as weapons to destroy those we love. O, do we then not need to be very careful of our words? Let the prayer of the psalmist ever be ours, “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”
Study and believe what the Word of God says upon the power of words.
MRS. M. C. DU BOIS
The Dullness of Long Sermons
By Rev. J. P. Brushingham
THERE is such a thing as profound dulness, as learned monotony, and stupid erudition. A congregation will melt away like a vanishing snow-bank under the exhausting heat of a lengthy and mystifying sermon.
FAITH NOT SIGHT.
By Ruth Gardner
GOD has not given us to see spiritual things with our natural eyes. He has holden back the face of His throne, and "spread a cloud before it." He has drawn as it were a vail between this material world and the spiritual glories of the eternal world. But because we can not see "the invisible things of Him," they are none the less real and powerful. We do not doubt the reality of the existence of the all-pervading air, or the powerful electric current, because we can not see them.
In great wisdom God has ordained that His children shall walk in this world by simple faith in the word of their heavenly Father, without the witness of their natural senses, for it is written, "The just shall live by faith." "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." "For without faith it is impossible to please God."
God has given abundant testimony to His wonderful goodness and saving power, but a "sign from heaven" He will not give to convince the unbelieving heart. Mark 8:11-13; 1 Cor. 1:22, 23.
God will have a tried and proved people. Deut. 13:3; Rev. 17:14. And so He has required that we walk by faith and not by sight, walking trustingly in the path He has marked out by simple faith in the Word of Him "who can not lie," laying hold on the eternal promises of God, which He has sworn to perform to every soul who will come unto Him by faith in Christ Jesus His Son. Heb. 6:16-20.
And to every soul who will step out in faith on His sure word of promise, and walk with God in the Spirit, He does reveal Himself by abundant manifestations of His love and keeping power, even lifting aside at times the vail of futurity and disclosing glimpses of the glory that is to be revealed. Not only to Daniel at the river Ulai, Ezekiel by the river Chebar (Eze. 1:1), and the beloved John on the lonely isle of Patmos (Revelation 1), does God reveal Himself and His great spiritual realities; but to many a humble pilgrim on life's rugged highway does He vouchsafe most precious manifestations of the invisible presence and power that surround every faithful child of God. These come through the blessed ministration of angels (Ps. 91:11, 12; Heb. 1:14), the unseen spiritual beings that surround our every-day life,—just as real beings as you and I, who live with us, walk with us, and have a part in all our daily struggles and temptations.
But Satan can also lift the vail between the spiritual and the material world; and to those who will not believe the Word of God, who will not take Him by faith only, but who are seeking for some marvelous manifestation of power—"a sign from heaven"—to such he can give ample satisfaction. He can show them a "sign," and a convincing one, and thousands are led into his snare by that strange dark witchcraft—Spiritualism. "For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Who is the author of these spiritual manifestations?—"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."
Why does God permit Satan's followers to be deceived?—"Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thess. 2:10-12.
He is that same old "deceiver" spoken of in Rev. 12:9, who was cast out of heaven into the earth, and of whom it is written that he "deceiveth the whole world."
But the time of revelation is coming, when the vail of mystery will be rolled aside, and Christ will be revealed "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
For it is written: "He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. 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. 25:7-9.
Who can conceive the unspeakable glory of that hour when "the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll," when the voice of God shall shake the heavens and the earth, and when Jesus shall appear in the clouds of heaven "in the glory of His Father with the holy angels"!
What consternation and horror to those who have despised Him will be the fearful revelation of that hour! But what joy and ecstasy and triumph to those who can look up and say, "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"!
Where will you stand in that great day, dear reader?
RUTH GARDNER.
