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Review and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 5.

WORDS TO PARENTS

Review and Herald

Jan 29, 1901

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 29, 1901

WORDS TO PARENTS

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE
CHILDREN are very susceptible. Undue severity hardens them, while a lack of discipline is like leaving a field untilled; it is speedily covered with thorns and thistles.
Blind affection is a snare. By it the young are led to look upon evil as a thing to be excused. Parents are in constant danger of indulging natural affection at the expense of obedience to God’s law. Many parents, to please their children, allow what God forbids.
By allowing children to do as they please, parents may think themselves affectionate, but they are practicing the veriest cruelty. Children are to reason, and their souls are hurt by inconsiderate kindness, however proper this kindness may be in the eyes of the parents. As the children grow older, their insubordination grows. Their teachers may try to correct them, but too often the parents side with the children, and the evil continues to grow, clothed, if possible, with a still darker covering of deception than before. Other children are led astray by the wrong course of these children, and yet the parents can not see the wrong. The words of their children are listened to before the words of teachers, who mourn over the wrong. There is little hope of children in any age of the world, and especially in this age, whose fathers and mothers help them to testify to a lie.
In the history of Eli the danger signal for parents is lifted. Eli’s sons did wickedly, but he restrained them not. His great desire was to avoid unpleasant feelings in the home. He remonstrated, but did not command. His blind affection for his sons led him to shrink from taking any decided action against their wicked course. He proved unworthy of the trust given him, and the Lord passed him by, and gave His message to the child Samuel. “The Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever.”
Contrast the history of Eli with that of Abraham. Eli neglected to discipline his sons. They made Israel sin, and as a result, terrible calamity came upon the nation. Israel was defeated by the Philistines, and the ark was taken.
Abraham inquired daily, Is this the way of the Lord? He ruled his household by the combined influence of authority and affection; and the Heart-searcher said of him: “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.” Abraham cultivated home religion. God knew that he would not betray sacred trusts, that he would not show for his children the blind affection that allows the child to be master of father and mother.
Parents, the happiness of your children depends upon the way in which you discharge your duty toward them. Teach them carefully and prayerfully, here a little and there a little, leading, guiding, and when necessary commanding. Parents whose hearts are given to the Lord will follow His way in directing their household; and blessings will flow from them to their children.
While we are not to indulge blind affection, neither are we to manifest undue severity. Children can not be brought to the Lord by force. They can be led, but not driven. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,” Christ declares. He did not say, My sheep hear my voice, and are forced into the path of obedience. In the government of children, love must be shown. Never should parents cause their children pain by harshness or unreasonable exactions. Harshness drives souls into Satan’s net.
Parents, as surely as you treat your children in a cold, unloving manner, just so surely will the image of God in the soul be defaced. Christians should act like Christ. Cherish and cultivate all that is pure and lovely in the heart of your child. Be kind. Do not oppress and repress your children by laying upon them burdens that are not sanctioned by the word of the Lord. Thus you cause the children to lose confidence in you. Let there be no fretting, no scolding, no unnecessary exactions. Administer the rules of the home in wisdom and love, not with a rod of iron. Children will respond by willing obedience to a rule of love. Commend your children whenever you can. Provide the little ones with innocent amusements. As soon as they are old enough, give them something to do, according to their strength. Encourage them with the thought that they are helping you. Then, in doing these little duties, they will find greater pleasure than in mere amusement. Do not let them pass through childhood in a dull routine. Never wound their hearts by a lack of consideration. Walk constantly in the way of the Lord, following the example set by Christ.
Make the home a Bethel, a holy, consecrated place. Make the lives of your children as happy as possible. Keep the soil of the heart mellow by love and affection, thus preparing it for the seed of truth. Remember that the Lord gives the earth not only clouds and rain, but the beautiful, smiling sunshine, causing the seed to spring up and the blossoms to appear. Remember that children need not only reproof and correction, but encouragement and commendation, the pleasant sunshine of kind words.
We need more sunshiny parents and more sunshiny Christians. We are too much shut up within ourselves. Too often the kindly, encouraging word, the cheery smile, are withheld from our children and from the oppressed and discouraged.
Parents, upon you rests the responsibility of being light-bearers and light-givers. Shine as lights in the home, brightening the path that your children must travel. As you do this, your light will shine to those without.
Before parents can teach their children correctly, they must themselves learn in the school of Christ. Then, in humility and love, let them work for their children, determined not to fail nor be discouraged. They are to have faith that their efforts will not be in vain. Patient, untiring work will win the blessing of God. Divine power will combine with human endeavor, and the hearts of the children will be turned in loving obedience to Christ.
Be careful to show your children that Christ is a loving Saviour. Tell them that He died for children. Never cease to labor in love for their salvation, presenting the truth as it is in Jesus. Make the Christian life an attractive one. Speak of the country in which the followers of Christ are to make their home. As you do this, Godwill guide your children into all truth, filling them with a desire to fit themselves for the mansions which Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him.
Parents, are you working with unflagging energy in behalf of your children? The God of heaven marks your solicitude, your earnest work, your constant watchfulness. He hears your prayers. With patience and tenderness train your children for the Lord. All heaven is interested in your work. Angels of light will unite with you as you strive to lead your children to heaven. God will unite with you, crowning your efforts with success. Christ delights to honor a Christian family; for such a family is a symbol of the family in heaven.

OUR CHILDREN

By L. D. Santee

L. D. SANTEE
“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Heb. 12:6.
All my dear ones must be guided By a mightier hand than mine, Perfected, and tried, and tested By a providence divine. So, submissive, bowing lowly, Praying, when the shadows fall, In thy hands, O God most holy,— In thy hands I leave them all.
I can not protect and shield them From life's sorrow, pain, and loss, So into God's hand I yield them; He must purge away the dross. Though I know they will be sifted, Sweet hopes blighted, longings vain, Still to purer heights they're lifted, Through the ministry of pain.
Life is not a game of chances, When ’tis rightly understood, But it steadily advances Upward, toward the pure and good. Disappointments on the morrow, Heartaches that shall last through time,— All God’s discipline of sorrow, Hath a meaning most sublime.

ONWARD!

By Anna C. White

ANNA C. WHITE (Battle Creek, Mich.)
The twentieth century — the much lauded, greatly talked-of, wonderful new century — has dawned; and the strangest of all is that its days are exactly the same as their predecessors. We go through them hour by hour, meeting the same trials, the same cares, and passing through the same struggles. We find it needs the same grace and power to face and conquer them. Our hearts are just as sore when sorrow comes; our defeats as bitter; our victories as grand and encouraging now, as they were in the days of the old century.
It brings to our hearts a realization of the fact that there is no to-morrow. The day and moment are all we have, hence the necessity of doing our best now. True, the memories of the past and the hopes of the future are stepping-stones for present accomplishments, but in the present only, come our opportunities. That which is neglected to-day, fails to present itself to-morrow; and too late we awaken to find that the opportunity given us yesterday is to-day in the possession of some one else.
Last year’s achievements were neither easier nor more difficult than those of this year will be. The consecration and good sense that carried us over the rough places last year, will meet and conquer the difficulties of this; the same lack of sympathy, tact, foresight, and observation that caused us to fail then, will be our stumbling-block now. Whatever we accomplish will be by no turn of fortune’s wheel, other than reward for hard, painstaking labor and earnest effort on our part.
We have the comfort of knowing that we may go on from glory unto glory, during the coming days. We have to-day a wider range of vision, a broader conception of things, three hundred and sixty-five days more of experience, than we had a year ago. He who stands still, retrogrades; there must be progress if there is to be life. The waters of the dashing, sparkling mountain stream are clear, cold, and life-giving, and in the end reach the great sea; those of the stagnant frog-pond are spawn-covered, miasmatic, hideous, and remain within their own environments until dried up beneath the burning rays of a midsummer sun.
Rocks, overhanging branches, deep declivities, broken places, hills of difficulty, are naught in the onward path of the ambitious brook; all are overcome, borne down, swallowed up, in the one resistless impulse of “Onward! seaward!”
So is the influence of a life in which the Spirit of God has full control. Life may have its drawbacks, missteps will be made, a consciousness of sinful tendencies and weak impulses will be felt, yet no insurmountable barrier can be placed in the path of such a one. Moments of indecision, hours of dejection, days of silent suffering, nights of intense agony, seasons of struggle, defeat, and dishonor, on our part, can not for one instant weaken the power of God’s right arm, nor lessen our knowledge of the fact that we have a Helper, the strong and mighty One of the universe.
That we are constantly seeing our own imperfections; that we every day discover new flaws in our personal characters is strong evidence that God is still leading, guiding, instructing, remonstrating, rebuking, encouraging. Black never shows blacker than when contrasted with white. Impurity appears never so vile as when in the presence of purity. The more we walk with God, the closer the communion with His Holy Spirit, the nearer our relationship to our Elder Brother, the more vividly will our moral shortcomings appear to us; and as we bravely strive every day to overcome each fault as it is shown to us, so shall we grow more and more into the perfect image of Him who hath called us sons. “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” Walking with God here is a needful preparation for the coming likeness hereafter.
Last night I looked at the beautiful, star-spangled canopy overhead, and noted the wonderful brightness of the moon shining clear and full from its dark-blue background. Whence comes its brightness? I asked myself. The old schoolroom came up before me, and I remembered how, in childish incredulity, I listened as the patient teacher explained the mystery, and told how the moon partook of the sun’s glory and effulgence. But, I thought, the sun has not been shining to-day. What now? — Aye, but he had: the clouds had come between me and his radiant splendor, but not between him and his fair co-worker. And so the gentle messenger told all night long the tale of his shining; and I believed it because before my very eyes was the evidence of the truth.
Is it not a great deal the same in our spiritual lives? Others see not the goodness of God’s providences, the justice of His dealings, the mercy of His plans in behalf of fallen man. Yet if, looking into our faces, watching our daily lives, examining the motives of our every-day actions, they see reflected therein the glory of the Son, the radiance of the Father, and the loving, tender influence of the Comforter, will not they be convinced of the wisdom and love of the Triune God? What an incentive to right thinking! What a motive for right living! What opportunities for the silent living out of God’s principles! What a privilege of witnessing for the Master we profess to dearly love!
Yet we fail and come far short — saddest of facts. Who of us can look back with pride upon a year, a week,—nay, even a day,—and not know within his heart of the faults and omissions with which it is full. And knowing this, we have charity and tenderness for our erring brethren.
It is ours to hourly live, conscious always of sinful tendencies, sorrowfully aware of yearnings for that which is forbidden and wrong, sensible of our proneness to err, but kept from sinning by the power that dwells within, controlling our wills and directing our lives.
Report of failure means one of two things: Christ is weaker than Satan, or else I have failed to make connection with the Source of all true strength.
Conscious of sin, yet kept from sinning by His grace — let us rejoice in it. Let us bear with patience, endure with meekness, overcome with grace, and by His strength rise above those things that tend to make us of the earth, earthy. Dissatisfied with our present conditions, let us seek those higher and better. “Wherever we are, to go somewhere else; whatever we have, to get something more,” is the moving desire of the modern world. Why should it not be ours, so long as we seek the nobler, truer, purer things?

THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST

By W. S. Chapman

W. S. CHAPMAN (Warsaw, Ind.)
In Rom. 8:3 it is said that Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh. To be like a thing is to have the very appearance of it. Christ, then, had the appearance of a sinner, as he was after a reign of four thousand years of sin. This can not mean that Christ appeared as a sinner to the eye of man, as humanity would see nothing unnatural in sin, but in the eye of God Christ presented the likeness of a sinner. His human nature, then, must have been dwarfed, physically, mentally, and spiritually, as completely as that of any sinner; for God waited until sin was fully developed before preparing His Son a body in the likeness of fully developed sin. Therefore Paul asserts (Phil. 2:8) that Christ was fashioned as a man; that is, formed and molded with flesh having all the inherited tendencies to sin that could, or ever would, assail any sinner, that He might be a perfect substitute, and so a Saviour for all mankind.
“Taking human nature fitted Christ to understand man’s trials and sorrows, and all the temptations wherewith he is beset. Angels who were unacquainted with sin could not sympathize with man in his peculiar trials. Christ condescended to take man’s nature, and was tempted in all points like as we, that He might know how to succor all who should be tempted.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. II, page 201.
If Christ’s body contained no tendencies to sin, He could not have understood the power of sin any better than could His angels, neither could He have been tempted. There would have been nothing in Him subject to temptation, nor could He have been a substitute for sinners; for He would have had no sin to overcome or to die for. But the record is that He was tempted in all points like as we are; hence, in order to become a perfect Saviour, He must have had every tendency to sin in His flesh that can possibly assail humanity. So long as Christ remained in heaven, unacquainted with sin from actual contact with and resistance of it, He, like His angels, could not understand the power required to overcome. It was necessary, therefore, that He should unite His divinity with the corruption in man, in order to know how to succor those whom He was to save. “He is a brother in our infirmities, but not in possessing like passions.”—Id., pages 201, 202. Let us examine this. Man is infirm—weak, unsound—because of sin, inherited and cultivated.
“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.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in Signs of the Times, Oct. 17, 1900.
The preceding quotation is the description of the human nature of Adam. Did Christ unite His divinity to a body that would answer such a description?—No, indeed! Let me present now the conclusion of the paragraph I have partly quoted: “But when Christ came to meet the temptations of Satan, He bore the likeness of sinful flesh.”
The humanity of the first Adam was faultless, without taint, absolutely free from any tendency to sin. Not so the Saviour. His body was fashioned as the body of a sinner, weak (2 Cor. 13:4) because of “indwelling sin,” filled with “corrupt principles,” and “tendencies to evil.” But did He sin?—No. Why?—Because His mind was incorruptible. It was His humanity that contained sin, and this could not overcome His divinity; hence He was “without sin.”
“As the sinless One, His nature recoiled from evil,”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. II, page 202. What nature recoiled from sin? The answer must, of necessity, be His divine nature. Sin is mental, a product of the mind. The mind of Christ could not harbor an evil thought, because it was divine; therefore He did not sin. But that divine mind was connected with a human body, having incorporated in it indwelling sin and all tendencies to evil. By faith the Saviour kept His mind spiritualized (Rom. 8:6), with it serving the law of God (Rom. 7:25), thus overcoming indwelling sin (Verses 14-23), and was, therefore, absolutely free from all passion, His divinity remaining unsullied all through the trying ordeal. In His life, therefore, is shown a perfect pattern of an overcomer. As Christ, by uniting His divinity with sinful flesh, overcame, so the sinner, by uniting his humanity with divinity, can have his mind freed from all tendencies to evil, spiritualized and made holy, a perfect overcomer, freed forever from all passion, as was his Master.
“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 with Satan’s fiercest temptations.” “The Majesty of heaven undertook the cause of man, and with the same facilities that man may obtain, withstood the temptations of Satan, as man must withstand them.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in Signs of the Times, June 9, 1898.

WHAT GORMAN DID

By Lephia M. Bryant

LEPHIA M. BRYANT (Aberdeen, Wash.)
Mrs. Gorman turned from her dainty, lace-draped, parlor window, and fell upon her knees beside little Roy’s crib. “O baby dear,” she moaned, “it is there, gilded and shining, fresh from the paint shop.”
Little Roy was only three years old, and could not understand why his mother wept, but he put up his hands sympathetically, and brushed the tears from her cheeks.
The old sign representing her husband’s business had been worn and weather-beaten, and many persons often passed it, not knowing that behind the doors over which it swung were sold the best wines and liquors to be had in Chippewa Falls. Those who passed, however, were few compared with those who stopped and left their dimes and dollars with Roy Gorman in exchange for — The old sign had been replaced by a larger, more gorgeous affair. A board, twelve feet long, with a wreath of forget-me-nots surrounding the proprietor’s name and portrait, now swung across the sidewalk, plainly visible for several blocks.
“May God help many to pass it,” sobbed Mrs. Gorman, hiding her face in her boy’s curls.
Two women were walking slowly by the modest cottage, admiring the fountain and the flowering shrubs that adorned the yard. Each led a child. One of the women tossed her head defiantly; the other paused at the gate. “No, Jane, I ain’t goin’ to stop,” said the first, with a sneer. “We shouldn’t be havin’ such hard times if it wasn’t for folks like them. I’ve got a little pride left; if Dan does give Gorman every cent he earns. I’d like to see him living on dry bread er nothin’, the same’s we do. I’ve hearn tell, though, that Mrs. Gorman was a lady, an’ a Christian lady at that!”
“She is, she is, an’ allus helps anybody in trouble,” answered Jane Rodgers. “The last time I washed for her, she told me how she wept and prayed ’cause her husband kept saloon.”
“I wonder if she thinks she’s the only woman who weeps and prays ’cause her husband keeps saloon!” answered Mary Flinn, sarcastically. “You needn’t tell me — She’s glad enough that he gits his money easy. I see he’s got his new sign up: ‘Roy Gorman, Best Wines and Liquors.’ Huh! I’d like to paint it black, with a skull and crossbones on it! Come along, Patsy, we ain’t goin’ to stop here — not much! — if you have to go without shoes till yer gray headed! I won’t ask charity of them that’s takin’ the bread out of yer mouth, and the clothes from yer back! Come along, we’ll go and see Mrs. Dr. Haymer!”
Jane Rodgers’ little boy opened the gate. “It ain’t Mrs. Gorman’s fault that her man sells liquor, no more’n it’s yours an’ mine that our men drink it,” said Jane, stepping inside. “Her man’s got an appetite for makin’ money easy, and our men’s got an appetite fer letting their money go easy — though they suffer enough after a spree; poor souls!”
“Her youngun’s jus’ had scarlet fever,” said Mary Flinn. “I wouldn’t no more think of takin’ my Patsy in there than I’d cut off my right hand. You ain’t got a bit of dignity left, Jane, not a bit, to come beggin’ fer old clothes here!”
“I didn’t come beggin’. Mrs. Gorman told me to come to-day and she’d have a few things for Nelly,” answered Jane.
“Well, I wouldn’t let ’em tread on me! It’s hard enough to be down without bein’ trod on;” and Mary Flinn stepped proudly down the street toward Dr. Haymer’s, while her sister, Jane Rodgers, walked up to the vine-shaded door.
The fragrant odor of lilacs filled the little parlor; and, wafted in through the open window, came also every word of the dialogue at the gate. Mrs. Gorman’s eyes rested an instant on the gilded sign across the street. “My good man! my noble husband!” she sobbed; “if he could only realize how good God has been to spare the life of our only child!” She clasped little Roy to her: “Papa is so good to us, baby, so good and true — and — yet how can he deal out so much misery to so many homes, to so many blameless little children? Mama loves papa, Roy dear, but never, never does she want her little boy to go over to papa’s store again.”
The baby laughed. “Roy likes to go store; mens give Roy lots of nickels and five-cents.”
Mrs. Rodgers rang the bell. Mrs. Gorman smiled, and greeted her warmly. “Yes, do come in!” she said, “I’ve been very lonely. I do not have much company ever; but since Roy has been sick, scarcely any one has called. Is this fat little fellow Mickey, whom Roy likes so much?”
Mrs. Gorman prepared a generous lunch, and then said, “I finished the dress and apron for Nelly yesterday, and will get them for you after we have a visit.” They talked awhile, and then, neither of them knew how it came about, they went upstairs to Mrs. Gorman’s room, and knelt and prayed for the saloon keeper and the drunkard, who were dearer to them than all the world.
Four years passed, during which Roy Gorman’s worldly goods increased. He built a new three-story building for his enormous stock, and sold to all the small dealers for miles around. He built a handsome dwelling in the most beautiful part of the city. His wife could no longer see the gilded enticement, yet she knew it was there, daily, hourly, telling poor weak humanity where it could purchase destruction for soul and body.
Mrs. Gorman rejoiced when Jane Rodgers told her that Alexander “had quit fer good,” and was prospering. “Now Mickey can have good clothes, and look as well as the best of ’em,” said the happy mother.
Mrs. Gorman’s kind heart grew kinder, and her liberal hand more liberal. She attended church with her little boy; and Roy Gorman was proud of his model wife and child. One thing, however, the father did not like, and that was Roy’s propensity to play with children like Rakey Coals and Patsy Flinn, and other ragged boys who lived on Trounce Alley.
One day Roy came home from school with a black eye. “How did it happen, my son?” asked Mr. Gorman.
“I don’t like to tell,” answered Roy, hanging his head.
“Was it your fault?” said Mr. Gorman.
“Guess so,” replied Roy. “I told Patsy Flinn he lied, and he lit into me.”
“Come, tell father just how it happened. I don’t want my little boy wearing a black eye, and I not know all about it.”
Roy looked his big papa over from head to foot, then, drawing confidence from the hand caressing his head, the little fellow answered: “Well, then, it was about you! Patsy said you made drunkards. I told him you didn’t; that you only made money. Every night when you come home, you know, you tell mama how much money you’ve made. Patsy says you make the money out of drunkards; that his father’s one, and his uncle, and his grandfather Winch, and almost every man on Trounce Alley. ’Tisn’t so! is it, papa? You don’t make drunkards! You don’t know what they are, do you? I’ll tell Patsy so again to-morrow — I don’t care if he blacks my other eye!” The little boy squared his shoulders as if to bid defiance to all the Patsys in the world who dared say one word against his beloved father. “He says he can prove what he says if I’ll let him. Mama, pass the cake, please.”
Mr. Gorman felt very small beside his little boy, who wore scars of battle for him, and he ate his dinner in silence.
Mrs. Gorman passed the dessert without a word. What would be the outcome of this she dared not think. Ah, if her prayers could but be answered!
Mr. Gorman finished his dinner, and took his hat. “Don’t let Roy play with those boys any more, Clara,” he said, in a constrained voice. He could scarcely breathe, something terrible seemed crushing out his life.
“I can not very well help it, husband,” replied Mrs. Gorman; “they all go to the public school. Dear husband, did you expect our boy to remain in ignorance of your business much longer? I’ve done just as you wished me to, and have kept unpleasant things from him. It has been very hard sometimes to give him a reason why he must not go to his father’s store.”
(Concluded next week.)

MORAL DEFILEMENT

By B. W. Marsh

B. W. MARSH (Cripple Creek, Colo.)
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery.” In the time that these words were spoken, the sayings of Jesus as spoken through Moses were memorized by the scribes and Pharisees. The seventh commandment, with the others, was known “by heart,” but was not known in the heart. They had heard that such a commandment had been given, but did not know its power as a living truth. The power to appreciate the true meaning of a pure life was limited, because the sense to understand the true heinousness of sin was dead. Therefore the hearing of the ear, or the seeing of the eye, could not convince of unrighteousness.
Simply the hearing of that which is said will never take one whit of sin from the human character. The Jews had heard all the commandments, and were familiar with all the sayings of the prophets, yet when the Son of man lived before them all the things which they had heard, they were filled with the madness of murder,and rested not until the sinless Christ was slain. They had witnessed the greatest miracles ever wrought; still they asked for a sign. But hear the words of our Saviour, “There shall no sign be given.”
The evidence that proves the truth is internal, not external. It is not the shaking of the earth, nor the awful midnight of sin, that enables us to know God; but it is the power that awakens the deadened sensibilities of a sin-spent life, giving us a holy horror of the sins which are without, that keeps us day and night with God, and in the peace that heaven gives.
Therefore unless the power of God, which is the Holy Ghost, quickens us to an understanding of the true meaning of the seventh commandment, we need never deceive ourselves into thinking that all the sin we can see without will awaken in us a consciousness of our own moral defilement. “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? . . . He that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.” Isa. 33:14, 15. Then our only hope of purity, and of dwelling in the presence of the Lord, who is a “consuming fire,” is in the power that can keep us from hearing or seeing the soul and body corrupting sins practiced by the lost.
It is not a question of how much this commandment, or any other commandment, covers. Law can grant no license, and privilege can give no consent. Purity is long enough and broad enough to cover all the ground, and angels record every act, whether performed at the brightest noonday or the blackest midnight, and know the thought and purpose of the heart.
Now let us read the remainder of that first text quoted from the Saviour: “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Let us put with this a few verses found in Matthew 15: “And He called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand: not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, that defileth the man.” “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man.”
From these sayings of the Lord, it is plainly evident that He dealt with the sins of the heart, whether hidden or revealed. He was above criticising the acts of men, because He knew that the foundation for every act is in the heart.
Therefore when the grossness of man’s nature asserts itself, whether in temple defilement, evil thoughts, or lustful looks, God has plainly said that the only way He has of reforming the individual is to purify the heart. The lustful thought, which is father to the lustful look and action, is sin. “And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Therefore the man or woman in whose heart is allowed to exist one taint of moral defilement is living in death, and in that condition can not come into life. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

SOWING FOR PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL HEALTH

By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler

David Paulson & W. S. Sadler

AUTO-INTOXICATION, OR HOW A MAN MAY POISON HIMSELF

(See Diagram 4 in Review of Jan. 15, 1901)

HOW THE BODY PROTECTS ITSELF AGAINST MICROBES AND POISONS

Although the body is in continual danger of being poisoned, yet under normal conditions it is able to protect itself. Microbes are continually swarming around the body, seeking a foothold on the inside, yet man has the privilege of living above them. Bouchard tersely represents this condition by saying, “The healthy man is not attractive to the microbe.” Man in his normal condition is stronger than any germ; for in the beginning God made man to have dominion over the microbes; and it is only by wrong habits of living, by allowing himself to become poisoned and weakened, that germs secure the mastery.
The most careful and toilsome research is being carried on in scores of laboratories to discover some new means of lessening the activity of germs, and this work deserves great praise for the results that have been achieved; but there is still a greater work, and that is to study as thoroughly as possible the means and methods of strengthening man so that he may regain his lost dominion over microbes.
1. Germ-Destroying Power of the Body's Fluids.—There is scarcely a tissue or fluid of the body that does not possess germicidal properties. It is only when the tissues become deteriorated and the stomach overwhelmed because of wrong dietetic habits, that the tongue becomes coated. The gastric juice of the dog has power to disinfect decaying meat. The human gastric juice does not possess this power, yet it is of sufficient strength to keep the stomach perfectly aseptic when it has a reasonable opportunity. If the food substances pass out of the stomach untainted, there will be little likelihood of their producing virulent poisons in the small intestine. But, to prevent even this possibility, the bile is a mild antiseptic, as are also the remaining digestive juices.
The serum of the blood is an antiseptic. When pus germs accidentally get through the skin, they are not able to produce boils and abscesses unless the health of the person is below par. The white blood cells are scavengers of the human system, having the remarkable ability to eat up microbes.
2. Vital Resistance of the Mucous Membranes and Other Tissues.—In its normal condition, the whole area of the respiratory tract (lungs, throat, etc.) possesses the power to destroy germs. If it were not for this divinely appointed protection, the system would soon be overwhelmed with disease-producing germs, which would be carried into the lungs through this avenue. A person does not contract tuberculosis until, by wrong habits in diet, or other violations of natural law, he has so weakened his system that he sinks beneath the line that marks him as being stronger than the germs of consumption. Likewise the mucous membrane of the digestive organs does not furnish a favorable soil for the microbes to establish their headquarters, if the body has not been weakened by violations of physical law.
3. Transformation of the Harmful into the Harmless.—The same power that enables the lily to grow beautiful and fair amid the filth and slime of the pools appears to have endowed some organs of the body with ability to transform poisonous substances into elements that are even useful and helpful to the system. The liver is a marked example of this, utilizing, as it does, much of the broken-down blood substances, by transforming them into useful bile.
The liver also stores up certain poisons, gradually releasing them as the system is able to eliminate them. It retains, for a time, a large share of the sugar which is received from the digestive organs, changing it into a form of starch called glycogen, dispensing it to the system with a nicety and accuracy that suggest an unerring consciousness. Even the dropsical condition of Bright's disease is in most cases a protective process. Nature stores away in the tissues of the body poisonous fluids, which the kidneys, in their crippled condition, are unable to carry off, and thus saves the delicate nerve cells from the influence of these poisons.
4. Normal Elimination.—The most important means the body possesses of protecting itself against the dangers of self-poisoning are the various eliminative organs—the lungs, kidneys, skin, and bowels. The lungs are first in importance. The kidneys carry off about two thirds of all the solid materials that are eliminated from the human body. Next to the lungs, they are the most important of the eliminating organs. There is carried off through the skin about one and one-half pints of waste fluids every twenty-four hours, while the kidneys eliminate a much larger quantity. It is a remarkable illustration of the divine intelligence that directs the lungs to carry off the gaseous waste, the kidneys and skin the fluids, while into the intestines are poured many of the poisonous substances made in the body, which are thus removed with the residue that remains in the intestinal tract after each digestive fluid has selected that which can be utilized for the nourishment of the human system.
5. Fevers.—Occasionally, when the poisons accumulate in the system beyond the safety line, nature has a sort of house cleaning for the person's benefit, in the form of a vigorous fever. The appetite is lost, so as to preclude the possibility of taking more harmful food. The patient becomes excessively thirsty, because it requires no tissue activity to care for pure water, which cleanses his tissues on the inside, the same as it would cleanse if it were applied on the outside. Nature takes away his physical strength, so as to put him on the “rest cure,” thus cutting down the amount of poisons made in the muscles. His heart beats faster, so that the blood may be carried more frequently to the lungs, kidneys, and skin. Fever is a sort of safety valve to the human economy, and its successful and rational treatment lies in the removal of the cause of the fever, and not of its symptoms. When the cause of the fever is removed, and the body is properly treated with rational remedies, in ordinary cases the fever will soon abate.
Copyrighted, 1900, by David Paulson and W. S. Sadler.
He always wins who sides with God, To him no chance is lost; God's will is sweetest to him when It triumphs at his cost.
Ill that blesses is our good, And noblest good is ill; And all is right that seems most wrong, If it be His dear will.
When obstacles and trials seem Like prison walls to be, I do the little I can do, And leave the rest to thee.
I have no cares, O blessed will! For all my cares are thine; I live in triumph, Lord, for thou Hast made thy triumph mine.
—Faber.

Bearing Each Day's Burden Only

“WE can easily manage, if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed for it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we add to its weight the burden of to-morrow before we are called to bear it.”

Toiling Against Dangers That Never Come

“ONE of the most useless of all things is to take a deal of trouble in providing against dangers that never come. How many toil to lay up riches which they never enjoy, to provide for exigencies that never happen, to prevent troubles that never come; sacrificing present comfort and enjoyment in guarding against the wants of a period they may never live to see.”
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