p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 15. (4/9/1896)

THE YOSEMITE VALLEY and BIG TREES OF CALIFORNIA

“Yosemite” means “a full-grown grizzly bear.”

Horace Greeley said: “Of the grandest sights I have enjoyed,—Rome from the dome of St. Peter’s, the Alps from the valley of Lake Como, Mount Blanc and her glaciers from Chamouni, Niagara and the Yosemite,—I judge the last named the most unique and stupendous. . . . It is the grandest marvel that ever met my gaze.”

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IN THE HEART OF THE SIERRAS

is the only authentic history published of this, the most wonderful of natural attractions. It contains nearly 500 pages of text, with over 150 illustrations, 28 of which are

BEAUTIFUL FULL-PAGE ARTOTYPES.

Its author, Col. J. M. Hutchings, has lived in the Valley nearly a quarter of a century, and tells its wonders as can no other writer.

Price, Old Gold Cloth, embossed in Jet and Gold, $2.75.

A CHEAPER EDITION on thinner paper and containing none of the artotype illustrations, but all of the other matter in the above, has been published, in flexible covers. Price 75 cts.

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Rome and Sunday

An Italian Roman Catholic monk, Agostino da Montefeltro by name, is now preaching in the Cathedral of Florence, and it is said that no such crowds as come to hear him have flocked to the services since the time of Savonarola. He seems to have all the eloquence and enthusiasm of a crusader, and one of the crusades he is preaching, and which seems to give joy to some Protestants, is for reform on the Lord’s day. He bases his arguments upon the original institution of the Sabbath; but he does not leave it there. We quote from the Homiletic Review for April:—

“Jesus, when he came into the world, confirmed the law, but he, by his church, transferred the day of rest from the first [last?] to the last [first?] day of the week. The first day of the week thus became the Lord’s day, for it was on Sunday that God began the creation of the world, and pronounced the words fiat lux, ‘Let there be light.’ It was on Sunday that Jesus Christ rose from the sepulcher in all the splendor of his glory. It was on Sunday that the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles and touched their lips with fire, that they might preach the divine law to the world. It was on Sunday that the creature was reconciled to the Creator. And so it is that that venerable saint, St. John Chrysostom, of Constantinople, exclaims, ‘Glory be to the Sunday.’”

All of this would be good if all were true. But the Bible Christian would prefer to know from Christ whether the church had the right or direction from God to transfer the day. We have Christ’s words for the confirmation of the law, including the seventh-day Sabbath in its scope (Matt. 5:17–19); but where are his words for the change? According to the Bible, the Lord’s day is the seventh day. See Mark 2: 28; Isa. 58: 13; Ex. 20: 10. Whether the Spirit of God descended on Sunday or not the Bible does not say. It did, however, qualify the apostles to “preach the divine law,” in which is taught not the first day holy day, but the seventh day. The creature, according to the Bible, is “reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” Rom. 5: 10. Did Christ die on Sunday? “Glory be to the Sunday” is paralleled in Acts 19: 34. The Sabbath and every other of God’s institutions bring glory to God. It is characteristic of all false religions, counterfeit religious institutions, and false religionists, to take glory unto themselves. The divine injunction is, “Fear God, and give glory to HIM.” What will Protestants do?

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By Editor

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CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.

Editorial.

Uncertainty (Notes on Prophecy) ... 1, 2

Empires of Men vs. the Kingdom of Christ (Daniel 2) ... 2–4

Instruments of Righteousness (Rom. 6: 12–23), R. J. W. ... 4, 5

Friendliness, S. J. W. ... 5, 6

Question Corner.—No. 292, A Conditional Prophecy—No. 293, A Famine—No. 294, Sitting with Abraham—No. 295, Women Speaking in Churches—No. 296, Nehemiah and Sabbath Laws—No. 297, The Gospel Commission—No. 298, The Lying Spirit—No. 299, Wicked after the 1,000 Years—No. 300, The Worm Shall Not Die—No. 301, Ezekiel 40, etc.—No. 302, The Day of the Lord ... 6

Poetry.

A Tower in the Heart, ELIZA H. MORTON ... 8

The Home-Land, LLEWELLYN A. MORRISON ... 9

Builders, A. ALLEN JOHN ... 11

General Articles.

The Christian Mother & Coworker with God, MRS. E. G. WHITE ... 6, 7

Saved by His Life, S. N. H. ... 7, 8

The Fruit of the Spirit, WM. COVERT ... 8

The Kingdom of Christ, W. N. GLENN ... 8, 9

The Outlook.—“God in the Constitution” ... 9

The Fireside.—A Cup of Cold Water—Spring Tonics—Hygienic Value of Perfumes ... 9, 10

Missions.—The Influence of the Bible in India—A Chinese Idea ... 11, 12

International Sabbath School Lesson.—Object of the Incarnation of the Son of God (Lesson 4, Sabbath, April 25, 1896) ... 12, 13

International Sunday School Lesson.—The Rich Man and Lazarus (Lesson 4, Sunday, April 26, 1896) ... 13

News and Notes ... 14

Publishers ... 15

Jewish Customs and Traditions: A Forthcoming Series

By Editor

WE soon begin a series of articles on “Jewish Customs and Traditions,” by a converted Hebrew. These will be of interest in pointing out more fully the Gospel in type.

Dr. Godmark on Spring Tonics

Dr. Godmark furnishes us a timely article on “Spring Tonics,” which will be found in our Fireside department. Be assured that the remedies he offers are better than all patent medicines or drug prescriptions.

The Christian Mother a Coworker with God

MOTHERS will find some excellent instruction in Mrs. White’s article, on “The Christian Mother a Coworker with God.” The evils of the day are great and the temptations of the agents of Satan are legion, but the Christian parent has a mighty co-worker with God.

Christ Our Life.

Our Sabbath school lessons are now on the general subject of “Life in Christ.” They will not only bear faithful study on the part of our Sabbath schools, but they will be of interest to our general readers. It is in Christ that life is found, because in him alone is righteousness found. Outside of him at the best is self-righteousness; and self-righteousness is sin and death.

Getting Rid of Self.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

It is quite generally recognized that “self” is the great thing that stands in the way of Christian progress, and that it must be denied and put away. Accordingly, we hear people express the determination to get rid of self, so that the Lord may have complete possession. But too many forget that they themselves can not put away self; for it is obvious that when self attempts to put self away, self will remain all the time. Self is sin, and only Christ can put away sin. He hath appeared to “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Heb. 9: 26. He “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world.” Gal. 1: 4. Only the power by which he “emptied himself,” can empty us of self. Let us rejoice that he is abundantly able to do it, and simply yield ourselves to him, that he may work his own will in us.

E. J. W.

New York Police Crackdown on Liquor Candies

The police of New York have begun a crusade against candies containing alcoholic liquors. It is sold generally in the form of sugar capsules, covered with chocolate, filled with the worst possible brandy. It is a devilish method of training the young drunkards, and must have been devised by the evil one himself. We should think that every true man and woman would be opposed to such things.

The Still Small Voice of God

What a world of strength and comfort there is in the thought that God speaks to us with a “still small voice,”—that all the works of nature are the results of a small whisper! Since God whispers to us, he must be very near to us, and so he is. This suggests close communion with him, in the closet, and about our daily tasks. It means that we must be listening, or we shall fail to catch the sound of his voice, altho if we do listen we may hear it amid the loudest din of earth. Blessed is he who can say, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”

Death of Elder J. G. Matteson

The sad news comes to us that one of our oldest and most faithful laborers in both the English and Scandinavian field, and one of our ofttimes contributors to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Elder J. G. Matteson, is dead. The cause was tuberculosis. He died at Santa Monica, Cal., early Monday morning, March 30. He was especially instrumental in opening up the work in Scandinavia, is the author of several works in that language, and until his death held a place on the editorial staff, we believe, of both our American and European Scandinavian journals. But he sleeps in Jesus. His relatives have our heartfelt sympathy.

The Knowledge of God

The Knowledge of God.—“Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, wheresoever our heart condemn us; because God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” 1 John 3: 19, 20, R. V. How will the fact that God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things, assure our heart before him, when consciousness of sin would naturally cause our heart to condemn us?—Because of the assurance from God that “by his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many,” or, as better expressed in the margin of the Revision, “make many righteous.” Isa. 53: 11. Grace and peace are multiplied to us “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1: 2. Therefore we are exhorted to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

How Not to Forget.

Many persons frequently remark, “How I wish I could remember the Bible texts or tell where they are, but I can not!” etc. And yet many of these same persons will talk glibly of fashion, of their business, of neighborhood gossip, etc., giving supposed facts, names, and dates without difficulty. Now what are the reasons they can not remember the words of God? Principally two: (1) They lack the interest in the word of God that they have in temporal things; and (2) they do not talk about the word, they do not tell it to others. Every time we tell a thing of interest to others we engrave it more deeply on our own memory. Do you desire to remember the wonderful words of life? Take an interest in them; tell the sweet story to other hearts. You will be surprised at the results.

Which Will You Have?

—Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” In the forepart of the verse is described the work of Satan and his agents, who strengthen “the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.” Eze. 13:22. Thus has Satan done. He has deceived men from the beginning into believing that there was life for man in man, apart from obedience to God and faith in Jesus Christ. Out of this falsehood have grown demon worship, idolatry, adoration of saints, worship of the Virgin Mary, Modern Spiritualism, Universalism, eternal torment, and every other great false system of religion. In Jesus Christ alone, in the righteousness which comes by him alone, is found life, eternal life. Which will you have,—the life (which is not life) promised by Satan, or the eternal life, which Christ gives?

It Depends: Good Perverted Becomes Evil

It Depends.—We may make evil out of good by putting the good to a wrong use. In fact, all evil is good perverted. Iniquity is the perversion of equity, unrighteousness of righteousness. Sin is missing the mark, swerving from the path of holiness and right, coming short of God’s glory. What is called the law of gravitation is a good law, rendering stable the material things of earth. In fact, it is absolutely necessary to our existence. But if a man should fling himself from a precipice or a church spire, the same law would in all probability prove his destruction. God’s law was ordained to life, and if man had only let that law work in its own legitimate way, he would never have known death. But now, in the sinner, “the law worketh wrath” (Rom. 4: 15); why? because man has perverted the law, endeavored to control the law in his way, to use it for a wrong purpose, and what was ordained to life proves to be unto death (Rom. 7: 10). But in the Christian, the law, God’s will working in him (Phil. 3: 13), operates after its original design—“the law of the Spirit of life” (Rom. 8: 12). Thus it was in Christ Jesus; thus it is in every man in whom the carnal heart is yielded up to die. In the sinner, God’s law perverted by the carnal heart is a law of sin and death; in the believer in Christ it is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. If used to God’s glory, God’s blessings are life; but perverted they are death. It depends on how we use them.