Earlier text: The Law of TithingAn Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory
By Ellen G. White
“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” To men has been given the great work of preaching Christ. The priceless treasure has been placed in earthen vessels. God could have proclaimed his truth by sinless angels, but this was not his plan. He could have intrusted his work to men of wealth, position, learning, and eloquence; but neither was this his plan. He chose men acquainted with poverty, hardship, and suffering, men who could reach the poor and lowly. The power of the truth must not be accredited to men. Men must not be given the honor due to God. It must be seen that to God belongs all the glory. Therefore human beings, men compassed with infirmity, are chosen as instruments for God’s work. Through them his blessings were to be conveyed to the world. Through them his glory is to shine forth into the darkness of sin. In loving ministry they are to meet the sinful and the needy. And in all their work they are to ascribe glory, honor, and praise to him who is above all and over all. Paul speaks of his experience in connection with the service of Christ, showing that in choosing the Christian pathway he had not been prompted by selfish motives; for it is beset with trials and temptations. Of his own experience he says, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” The apostles were sometimes cast down in the conflict with evil men and evil angels, yet by the grace of God they were enabled to rise and press once more to the front. Their preservation under manifold dangers testified that Jesus lived. Deliverance, support, consolation, and fortitude came to them as they endured suffering for the Redeemer’s sake. Paul reminds his brethren that as Christ’s messengers he and his fellow laborers were continually in peril. The hardships they endured were telling on their strength. “We which live,” he says, “are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” Wearing physically through privation and toil, these ministers of Christ were conforming to his death. But that which was working death in them was bringing spiritual life and health to the Corinthians, who by a belief in the truth were being made partakers of life eternal. In view of this they were to be careful not to increase the burdens and trials of the laborers by neglect and disaffection. The Hope That Sustained Paul
Paul continues, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.” Firmly believing the reality of the truth intrusted to him, nothing could induce Paul to handle the word of God deceitfully, or to conceal the conviction of his soul. He would not purchase wealth, honor, or pleasure by a life of conformity to the opinions of the world. He was in daily expectation of martyrdom for the same faith that he had preached to the Corinthians, but he was not intimidated, knowing that he who died and rose again would raise him from the grave, and present him, with all the faithful who had accepted the truth through his labor, to the Father. “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.” Not for self-aggrandizement did the apostles preach the gospel. It was the hope of saving souls that led them to devote their lives to this work. And it was the hope of saving souls that kept them from fainting or from ceasing their efforts because of threatened danger or actual suffering. “For which cause,” Paul declares, “we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” Paul felt the power of the enemy; but though his physical strength was declining, yet he faithfully and unflinchingly declared the gospel of Christ. Clad in the whole armor of God, this hero of the cross pressed forward in the conflict. His voice of cheer proclaimed him triumphant in the combat. Fixing his gaze on high, he beholds the reward of the faithful, and in tones of victory he exclaims, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” If Paul, troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, could call his trials light afflictions, of what has the Christian of to-day to complain? How trifling are our trials in comparison with Paul’s many afflictions! They are not worthy to be compared with the eternal weight of glory awaiting the overcomer. They are God’s workmen, ordained for the perfection of character. However great the deprivation and suffering of the Christian, however dark and inscrutable may seem the way of providence, he is to rejoice in the Lord, knowing that all is working for his good. How Sorrows and Trials are Made Light
How many there are who grieve the Spirit of God by continual repining! This is because they have lost sight of Christ. If we behold him who bore our sorrows and died as our sacrifice, that we might have an exceeding weight of glory, we shall regard our heaviest sorrows and trials as light afflictions. Think of the Saviour upon the cross, bruised, smitten, mocked, yet uncomplaining and unresisting, suffering without a murmur. This is the Lord of heaven, whose throne is from everlasting. All this suffering and shame he endured for the joy that was set before him,—the joy of bringing to men the gift of eternal life. When the attention is fastened on the cross of Christ, the whole being is ennobled. The knowledge of the Saviour’s love subdues the soul, and lifts the mind above the things of time and sense. Let us learn to estimate all temporal things in the light that shines from the cross. Let us strive to fathom the depths of humiliation to which our Saviour descended in order to make man the possessor of eternal riches. As we study the plan of redemption, the heart will feel the throb of the Saviour’s love, and will be ravished by the charms of his character. It is the love of Christ that makes our heaven. But when we seek to tell of this love, language fails us. We think of his life on earth, of his sacrifice for us; we think of his work in heaven as our advocate, of the mansions he is preparing for those who love him; and we can but exclaim, “O the heights and depths of the love of Christ!” As we linger beneath the cross, we gain a faint conception of the love of God, and we say, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” But in our contemplation of Christ, we are only lingering round the edge of a love that is measureless. His love is like a vast ocean, without bottom or shore. In all true disciples this love, like sacred fire, burns on the altar of the heart. It was on the earth that the love of God was revealed through Jesus. It is on the earth that his children are to let this love shine out through blameless lives. Thus sinners will be led to the cross, to behold the Lamb of God.9 “Sometime between the dawn and dark
Go thou, O friend, apart,
That a cool drop of heaven’s dew
May fall into thy heart.
Thus, with a spirit soothed and cured
Of restlessness and pain,
Thou mayest, nerved with force divine,
Take up thy work again.” WHEN our soul is much discouraged
By the roughness of the way,
And the cross we have to carry
Seemeth heavier every day;
When some cloud that overshadows
Hides our Father’s face from view,
O! ’tis well then to remember
He has blessed us hitherto. Looking back the long years over,
What a varied path! And yet,
All the way his hand hath led us,
Placed each hindrance we have met;
Given to us the “pleasant places,”
Cheered us all the journey through;
Passing through the deepest waters,
He has blessed us hitherto. Surely then our souls should trust him,
Though the clouds be dark o’erhead;
We’ve a Friend that draweth closer,
When our other friends have fled;
When our pilgrimage is over,
And the gates we’re sweeping through,
We shall see with clearer vision
How he’s blessed us hitherto. The Times of Restitution
By Harry Champness
Why the Coming of the Lord Has Been Delayed “REPENT ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things.” A great and solemn work is before the people of this generation. We have reached the times of restitution which all the holy prophets have spoken about since the world began. That Prophet like unto his brethren has appeared, and his voice is still sounding to-day. Times of refreshing are coming from the presence of the Lord, for the times of restitution have come. A clarion voice must be sounded through the length and breadth of the land, calling the people to repentance. Only those can sound it who have themselves repented. It must go forth with no uncertain tones to earth’s remotest bounds. We are not to call people to penitence, but to repentance. There has been too much relying on sorrow for sin unaccompanied by that godly sorrow which worketh true repentance to salvation. No tears of grief, no heart sobs, can avail of themselves. They are useless unless they lead to thorough reformation through the power of the cross. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” must be heard again. Then similar results will be seen as at the Jordan’s banks when the people stood publicly confessing their sins before they were plunged into the watery grave. The self-life must decrease, that the Christ-life may increase in those who give this message. Those who handle sacred things must be pure in heart. Only clean lips must take this message upon them, or they will be consumed by the glory of it. The standard has been lowered to meet the low level of Christian living. It must be raised, and put back into its rightful place. Our experiences must be leveled up to God’s standard, instead of lowering that standard to meet our experiences. There must be thorough restitution made as far as lies in our power. “For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” No repentance is complete unless it leads to restitution. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” The restitution of the soul is close akin to the restitution of the body. He who forgiveth all our iniquities, healeth all our diseases. Genuine repentance will work carefulness and clearing in soul and body, and the great Healer is at hand to work for all who thus repent. These will follow when John the Baptist has done his work. When God visits his people because they have put away their sins, times of refreshing will come with his presence. “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.” He will pour water upon the thirsty soul, and floods upon the dry ground. And there shall be a revival of all the power and glory that attended the beginning of the proclamation of this message, and that power and glory shall be much more abundant. God is coming near to his people in these days. He is refreshing hearts that have been crying for the outpouring of his Spirit. He is renovating set forms and customs. Those from whose eyes the scales of prejudice have fallen cannot but rejoice as they see his stately steppings among us. Where there has been lip service in the past, heart service is taking its place. Family worship is becoming the prayer meeting of the home, where each member seeks daily for grace to get down lower and lower, so that by love they may serve one another. Each meal is becoming a communion, where it is recognized that all things are shared in common with the blessed Master. Each business transaction is done under his careful supervision. The whole life is transfigured by the glory of his indwelling presence, and every act is divine service. God is coming near to our churches in these days. Such times of refreshing as we have never known before are coming into our services. Hearts are responding to the tender touch of the Spirit of God, even as the face of all nature is now responding to the spring. Hard hearts are being softened, and stubborn wills broken. Those who were mere formalists are finding a joy and delight springing up in their hearts. Many who formerly had simply chosen to do his will have now come to delight in it. Testimony meetings are full of a power hitherto unknown. The ordinary way of conducting meetings is giving place to the extraordinary. O, the great God has come down to visit the Seventh-day Adventist churches throughout the world in these last days, to see if they are awake and ready to respond to the call for the finishing up and cutting short of this work in righteousness! God is coming near to the world in these days. There is a spirit of unrest settling down upon the outside world; men’s hearts are failing them for fear. There is distress of nations with perplexity. People are in a state of expectation, as in the days of John the Baptist. Everybody is on the tiptoe of expectancy, wondering what will happen next. Wars and rumors of wars are filling the air. The strain is getting so intense that any alleviation, however slight, is gladly welcomed. The Restitution of All Things
Now is the time to press the battle to the gates. Now is the time for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” The Lord is coming. He is even now at the doors. Elias has come to restore all things among the people. The Lord is coming to restore all things in the kingdom. Get ready for the events that are fast hastening upon us! Let him restore the soul in order that there may be the necessary preparation for the restitution of all things when the King comes. All the power that has ever been manifested in the past is to be gathered up under this message, and that and much more are to be revealed. All the power that is being manifested outside of this people to-day is to come into their ranks if they will let it. O the shame that others who have not known these precious truths should be in advance of us with the power of the Holy Ghost. Thank God, he is rolling away our reproach. He is beginning to startle us by what he is doing. He will startle us yet more. The God of past generations is still the God of the present. There is no need to cry, in despairing tones: “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” He is here, waiting to do for us all that he ever did for Elijah, and more. When we are willing to put away from us the accursed things, and be clean, the power of the Holy Ghost shall fall upon this people, and as the result we shall soon see the restitution of all things.” —Charles F. Richardson
By Charles F. Richardson
If sin be in the heart,
The fairest sky is foul, and sad the summer weather,
The eye no longer sees the lambs at play together,
The dull ear cannot hear the birds that sing so sweetly,
And all the joy of God’s good earth is gone completely,
If sin be in the heart. If peace be in the heart,
The wildest winter storm is full of summer beauty,
The midnight lightning flash but shows the path of duty,
Each living creature tells some new and joyous story,
The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory,
If peace be in the heart. Reorganization: The Principle of Self-Government
Reorganization has been begun. It is going on; and we are in it. But what really is it? In what does this reorganization consist? Let us study it. This reorganization began in the General Conference a year ago. The General Conference pushed back to the union conferences all that was possible of the work that was formerly done by the General Conference. But it does not stop there. That is only the first step toward reorganization; for the union conferences just as truly push back to the State conferences all that can possibly be done by the State conferences. And it does not stop there; the State conferences must push back to the churches all that can possibly be done by the churches. And it does not stop there; the churches must push back to each individual all that can possibly be done by each individual. And it does not stop there; the individual must push back to God all that can be done by God. This briefly sketches the course which reorganization takes, and discovers the point at which it culminates. And the principle of reorganization is seen to be simply the principle of self-government. The General Conference used to conduct practically the whole thing. That was not self-government. Now, when that is all thrown off, and is distributed, by the steps here stated, back to the individual, and the individual alone with God, that is self-government. And self-government is an essential of the third angel’s message. It is an essential of the gospel. You cannot have the gospel without it. That you may see how entirely self-government is an essential of the third angel’s message, you need but to recall that instance, yes, and that illustration, in the book of Acts, where, “when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.” And Paul, in presenting to him the faith in Christ, “reasoned of righteousness, self-government, and judgment to come”; for that word translated “temperance” is simply self-government, or self-control; and self-control is but self-government. So then, “the faith in Christ” consists of righteousness, self-government, and judgment to come. That is what it consisted of in that day. Now it consists of a little variation—righteousness, self-government, and judgment come; for the message of the everlasting gospel now is, “The hour of his judgment is come: . . . here are they that keep the commandments of God [that is, righteousness], and the faith of Jesus [that is self-government].” That is exactly what Paul preached—righteousness (that is, the keeping of the commandments of God, the life of God manifested in the flesh) and self-government (that is of the faith in Christ). And Paul spoke of judgment then to come; now it is judgment come. Thus self-government is an essential of the everlasting gospel, which is the third angel’s message to-day. Since, then, reorganization consists of self-government, let us study that principle of self-government. Self-government is the government of self; and there are two sides to that in this world; there are two phases in which we may look at it. First of all, let us ask why self needs to be governed. I think no one will have any difficulty in telling why he himself needs to be governed. And if any one should have any difficulty, the Scripture will make it clear, so that he will have no difficulty. Jesus said, in Mark 7: 21-23: “From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these things come from within, and defile the man.” And in the third chapter of Romans we have the same truth somewhat more fully stated, beginning with the ninth verse:— “Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.” That is why it is that we, that is why it is that mankind, need to be governed; they are so bad. But now, look at it. To talk to such a crowd as that of self-government; to call those people, such as you and I are, to self-government,—can we call such as these really to govern themselves? How are they going to do it, when the very impulse, the very inception of all things that come forth from the heart, out of which are the issues of life itself, are evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, and so on? I read that “they are all under sin.” All are under the dominion, the power, the rulership of sin. They are “all in subjection to sin.” And how fully this is so can be seen by Rom. 7: 24 and 6: 6: “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” “Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.” Why is it a body of death?—Because it is a body of sin. How much of me does it take to compose my body as I stand here?—The whole of me, to the finger tips. Yes; that is the body. And what is it?—“The body of sin.” That expression again, “They are all in subjection to sin.” And “know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” We are in subjection to what?—To sin. And here comes to us the call to govern ourselves! And this message, this third angel’s message, which is righteousness and self-government, in view of the judgment present, and going on day by day as we walk about,—this message is to all the world, calling upon men to govern themselves. Then, what is the first step to self-government?—To get rid of sin, that is all. This is described fully for us, you will remember, in the seventh of Romans, beginning with the thirteenth verse: “Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” We are in subjection to sin, and that thing is spoken of as itself exceeding, intensely, sinful. But what is sin?—The transgression of the law of God; lawlessness. Men are in subjection to sin, that thing which itself is lawlessness. And that sin to which we are in subjection is declared itself to be intensely sinful. “We know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” That is the experience of every man in the world, until he finds the better one. “If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. . . . I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” There is the description of mankind as we are in ourselves. Now, is mankind governing itself? [Voices: “No.”] Another question: Can mankind govern itself? [Voices: “No.”] Why?—Because mankind is already governed. Then, since mankind is already governed, and governed in the very worst possible way, let us ask the same question again, What is the first essential to self-government? [Voices: “Get rid of the governor that one has.”] Assuredly! He must get rid of that governor that is governing him to evil. This is stated in other words: “With the mind I myself serve the law of God.” When the law of God is served at all, it is with the mind. But in men’s minds as they are, the law of God is not served. Then, in the mind is the seat of this whole thing—whether for right or for wrong. And “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Then there is this other governor, this other government, this power that is governing man against his better11wishes, against his better self, against his entire sense of right. This power that is governing him is a power that is not merely at enmity, but is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, and cannot be subject to the law of God. That power therefore is not self-governing. Let me state that again: Here am I, a body of sin, governed by a power that is not subject to the law of God, and that is not self-governing. You said that the only way to reach self-government is to get rid of that thing, get rid of that self, get rid of that power. But how can I get rid of that self and that power by myself? [Voices: “I can’t do it.”] What is the only way in which any human being could ever by himself become free from that thing? There is a way, and I want you to see it. [Voice: “He must die.”] Precisely! Here is a call for us to govern ourselves, and we are governed by this power of lawlessness. The first thing for us to do is to get rid of that power. How can we ever by ourselves get away from that power? It is the power of sin, and has whelmed the whole man. Do you not see that the only possible way for me, solely by myself, to get away from that thing is to get out of existence? for my existence is that. The body is the body of what?—Sin. And out of the heart, where the real man lives, all these wicked things come that defile the man. The man is made up of that, and the only possible way for the man ever to get away from it is to get out of existence. I want you to see what is involved in self-government, brethren. When you see what is involved in that, then you will understand what reorganization means. Then it is certainly true that out of existence is the only way that a man can, solely by himself, ever get away from that power. But God does not want the man to get entirely out of existence; God wants us still to exist. But there is no way for the man by himself to go out of existence and still exist. Out of existence is annihilation; and that is the only end to that system of things; and yet that is the only way to self-government. And we are called to self-government. Now, let me ask you, Shall we go back, retrace our steps from the point which we have reached, or shall we go on? [Voices: “Go on.”] Then shall we say that annihilation of self is the only way to self-government? [Voices: “Yes!”] How many of you say Yes? [Voices: “Amen!”] Good! We are well on the right way, then. Now, brethren, that is true. Never compromise on that a hairbreadth, and never dodge it. Stand right there—that annihilation of self is the only way to self-government for men in this world. And when you wed yourselves to that, you will never flinch, nor complain, nor gall under anything that tends to annihilate self. [Voice: “Are you going to tell us how to annihilate self, and we still survive?”] We are coming to how that is done. Now, note: We have found that self of itself cannot do that, because we ourselves are finite. A finite person cannot undo himself and yet remain. For a finite one to annihilate self is only complete undoing forever. But there is a way to do it and survive. Think! In the nature of things we are compelled to look back of ourselves, and beyond ourselves, to find that power that is governing us for the bad. Is not that so? [Voice: “Yes.”] For we have found that we are obliged, by sin that dwells in us, to do the thing that we hate, to go against our true wishes. We are held in captivity to that which we hate. Since we each are drawn by our own heart’s experience beyond ourselves, to find the power that is governing us against ourselves, then is it not only the plainest A B C of common sense that we should be willing to be drawn beyond ourselves to find the power that will enable us to govern ourselves; and that will govern ourselves? We have found that this wicked power that rules us is anarchy, sin. But is sin a personality? Is sin itself a person?—No; sin comes from a person. The thing does not end at sin itself. It goes a step further back to him—not to it—by whom sin came. We all know who that is. Then, in searching for the source of the power by which men are held and ruled to lawlessness, we are drawn directly beyond ourselves to the originator of sin, who is Satan. And upon that I say that it is only the plainest A B C of common sense, that men should be willing to be drawn beyond themselves in search of the power that will govern themselves in righteousness. And since in the search for the power that rules men to lawlessness, we are brought not merely to power in the abstract, but to power in a person; so in the search for power that will rule man to righteousness, we are also brought not merely to power in the abstract, but power in a Person; in a Person who is the origin of righteousness. And that Person is—let us all say it together—God in Jesus Christ. “Blessed Is He That Waiteth”
By F. D. Starr
OFTENTIMES there comes a blessing to those who are willing to wait for some expected benefit, and who do not get impatient at apparent delay. But the case under consideration is one of no ordinary interest and importance. This statement is made in Dan. 12:12, 13: “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be, for thou shalt have rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” In the Greek text of the Septuagint Version, the word for “wait” is the same as that rendered “endure” in Matt. 24:13, and “patience” in Rev. 14:12, and it would seem that the waiting, endurance, and patience of these three passages have allusion to the same thing. The word “stand” in Dan. 12:13 is the one generally translated arise, often in reference to the arising or resurrection of the dead. This passage in Daniel would be thus translated from the Septuagint: “Blessed is he that endureth, and cometh unto the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But go thou, and rest; for there are yet days and seasons to the fulfillment of the end, and thou shalt arise in thy lot at the end of the days.” In fact, the words rendered “cometh to” are from the identical Greek word that we find in 1 Thess. 4:15, and there rendered “prevent,” meaning, as rendered by most other versions, “precede.” Instead of the living getting before the sleeping saints, the apostle rather gives the departed ones this prerogative, in that he states that “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” The blessing and assurance of Dan. 12:12, 13, and that of Rev. 14:13, are so similar that one can hardly refrain from considering them identical when reading them in the language (Greek) employed by the seer of Patmos. The blessings apply at the same epoch in this world's history, or at least the blessing of the apocalyptic vision takes up and extends the blessing from the point to which the closing benediction of the angel in Daniel 12 brings us. Who are they who receive this special blessing?—Those who come to a certain point in their experience and in this world's history,—the point of view from which they can see the unmistakable dawn of the coming day. Having reached that epoch, though, like Simeon of old, they go down in death, yet it is with supreme gratitude to God that they have been permitted to experience the indescribably thrilling emotions of those who are permitted to listen to and heed the celestial sound of the three angels' messages, and they can say, like that saint of old: “Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace; . . . for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” Luke 2:29, 30. In what does this peculiar blessing consist?—Certainly not in dying; no, but in arising from the dead, as seen in Dan. 12:13, and as shown by the second verse of this chapter, where the same partial resurrection as that implied in Rev. 14:13 is clearly mentioned. Thou shalt rest, thou shalt arise. They rest from their labors, and are blessed; But their works follow them. It would seem that these notable words of Dan. 12:12, 13, had furnished the germ thought for the promise of our Lord in Matt. 24:13, the comforting words of Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15, and the prediction and benediction of Rev. 14:12, 13. Surely those who have assimilated the living principles of the first and following angels' messages, from William Miller down, have followed no cunningly devised fables, but are destined to share in a blessing inferior to none that man has known since Adam left the gates of paradise. Blessed indeed are they. The Secret of a Christian Home
By Franklin Carter
To be the mother of a Phillips Brooks, a James Hannington, or a Reginald Heber; to be the father of an Adoniram Judson, a David Scudder, or a John Paton,—is there any comfort or joy or splendor that can rest on any Christian home comparable to the knowledge that a son had entered into such a fellowship with the Master? It is in such lives that college and church reach the zenith of their glory; but it is in the Christian home that such lives must take their impulse; in the Christian home that the heart must be so filled with, and the eye so fixed upon, Christ, the true goal, that love for men and women shall at last know no bounds. A truly Christian home can send a boy into college to be an attractive and momentous force for good for all who know him,—to be cheerful, but not flippant; gentle, but not compromising; loving, but not yielding; pure, but not austere; reverent among the careless, serious among the frivolous, and studious among the distracted, self-denying among the self-indulgent. In this age, when so many outside allurements make it so easy for boys and girls to neglect the home, what need of steady patience, of gentle confidence, of wise, tender thought, of delight in sacrifice, of supreme love for the Master, that the unconscious influence through God’s grace may soften the effect of mistakes in judgment and action, and make the home an attractive center of piety and love. This is, after all, the true secret, the full, studious companionship with the mind of Christ; not any series of carefully directed injunctions or entreaties; not formal prohibitions or requirements; no elaborate system of rewards and punishments; no cunning psychology of child life; no complicated method, but a heart that throbs with warm love for the Master’s wisdom, sinlessness, and sacrifice, and invests loving self-denial with manly beauty, that throbs, as his did, with tenderest sympathy for the helplessness and wonder of the child, and diffuses the radiance of a cheerful, hopeful, happy, wise spirit, but never abates one jot of loyalty to the highest standard, and never clouds with harsh and stormy utterance “the heaven that lies about us in our infancy.”—President Franklin Carter, in The Independent.