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Signs of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 36.

OBEDIENCE AND ITS REWARD.

Signs of the Times

Sep 15, 1887

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 15, 1887

OBEDIENCE AND ITS REWARD.

By Ellen G. White

(Concluded.)

WE should understand our obligations to the God of Heaven. We should honor our Creator in this life. We should keep his honor and glory in view every day. We must have an eye single to the glory of God. If all in this congregation who profess to be followers of Christ were to take the position of light-bearers to the world what a flood of light would be reflected from them to this world of darkness. Then why not let your hearts be uplifted to the God of Heaven for his grace that you may be imbued with his Spirit? Why not live as though you were pilgrims and strangers upon earth, looking for that better country and that heavenly city whose builder and maker is God?
That precious city you may gain; but not one of you will go there loaded down with self and the guilt of the transgression of God's law. You cannot take with you into the city of God the pleasures of this life, neither the riches of the world. All who enter that city will enter it as conquerors. If you will sing the song of triumph and victory as overcomers, you must first learn here the art of conquering self and sin. And should you not do what you can in order to obtain the heavenly riches which can never be taken from you? to secure the heavenly land where there is no more poverty, no more sickness, no more pain, and no more death? But we shall not go to that holy Heaven as guilty, shamefaced, condemned criminals, but as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You should keep Heaven before your eyes, and not allow the glitter and tinsel of this earth to eclipse its glory. The most beautiful places upon earth will soon be shaken down, the richest houses will fall, the gold and silver be cast to the moles and to the bats, but heavenly things will endure forever.
You may look upon the greatest riches and splendor which this earth possesses, you may look at the beauties of nature, which the great Master Artist has spread out before you in rich profusion, and yet we hear a voice saying, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." You may put your imagination to the highest stretch, and yet you cannot take in the glory of heavenly things. Then shall we not turn our attention to the future immortal life?
There is not one of you that will enter in through the gates into the city alone. If you give back to God in willing service the powers he has given you, not only will you save your own soul, but your influence will be to gather others. Everyone who takes his position steadfastly for the truth is bringing other souls to the same decision and to Heaven. In this work you can show that you love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. We are to feel a burden for the souls that are around us who are out of Christ. We should have a missionary spirit that will move us to try to help other feet to stand upon the platform of eternal truth.
We see that iniquity abounds everywhere, that the law of God is almost universally made void in our land. What insult is this to the God of Heaven that has given righteous laws and wise and merciful statutes to have them disregarded and trampled under foot. Then should not all who name the name of Christ depart from all iniquity, and give all their powers to his service? Should we not stand in defense of the truth, and think much less of our pleasure and our amusement, and a great deal more of Christ? The requirement is, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." You must come nearer to God by repentance and confession of all your sins. If you are saved you must be found loyal and true subjects of the kingdom of Heaven. You cannot afford to meet the great Lawgiver over his broken law. Let every soul here to-day inquire, What road am I traveling? Am I in the road which has been at infinite cost cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in, or am I in the broad road of Satan? Have I my eye single to the glory of God? Says Christ, "I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Angels of God are watching the development of character, and weighing moral worth. The record is kept in the books of Heaven of all the deeds of men. Your sins though hidden from mortal eyes are open before God. His eye sees every sin; but if you confess your sins then will he forgive them.
We have a precious loving Saviour. I wish I could present him to you just as he is. Many have Jesus so exalted in their minds that he seems far off and they have no communion with him. But Christ took upon himself human nature and was called the Son of man, because he was to become acquainted with all the trials, with all the sorrows, and with all the sufferings of humanity, that he might know how to succor those who are tempted. To the weeping ones he says, I have wept. I know how to sympathize with you. He is a Saviour that is in sympathy with the woes of man, a Saviour that is by our side to help, and strengthen, and succor us. You may take all your trials, all your troubles, all your sorrows to Jesus in prayer; you may feel that he is at hand to help you in every emergency, and you can tell him all about it and he will give you just the help you need. He wants us to have joy in him, and in order to do this we must come in close connection with him. We cannot dishonor him more than to distrust him. And we honor him when we believe in him and are obedient to all his commandments.
I have been for more than forty years engaged in labor to save souls for Jesus Christ, and I have had new and precious lessons to learn every day of my life. One of the most precious has been to commit the keeping of my soul to God as unto a faithful creator. If I was knowingly transgressing one of God's commandments because it was convenient for me to do so, then I could not trust God and believe that he would at last bring me into the haven of bliss. But when I seek to overcome to the best of my ability, when my will is swallowed up in the will of God; then it is my privilege to claim his promises and believe that God will do with me according to his loving-kindness.
I cannot describe to you this perfect trust. But I present before you a loving Saviour, that Saviour that wants to bring to your heartsjoy and peace and love, that is inexpressible. He wants you to be happy and joyful in him. He says, "If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink," and he will be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And if Christ is in you as a well of water, your words and influence will be a blessing to all around you. No one should live to himself; we are accountable to God for the influence we exert. Christ has made an infinite sacrifice, and all our powers should be given to him, and if we are faithful soldiers of the cross of Christ, the precious reward of a life that measures with the life of God will be granted to us.
I see matchless charms in Jesus, and I cannot have my affections placed upon anything that is earthly. My heart is drawn out in love for those out of Christ. I long to see them enter into the service of Christ, that they may have the blessing here and eternal life in the kingdom of God. Will you not take heed to your ways? Will you not compare your character with God's moral law, the ten commandments? And then seek to come into obedience to all of God's requirements. Says Christ, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Give me this precious reward, and you may take everything from me here upon earth.
Eternal interests are at stake. Jesus says, "My son give me thine heart;" he has bought it with his own blood. And when the pearly gates shall at last be swung open, and the nations who have kept the truth enter into the joy of their Lord, they will have that crown of glory which by faith Paul saw laid up for him, and not for him only but for all those who love his appearing. The saved will hear the benediction, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Let us think of these things; let us bring the Saviour into our lives every day; let us love him with all our hearts; and if we appreciate the preciousness of Heaven, we shall talk of Jesus, of Heaven, and of the glories to be revealed to the overcomers. Then let us place ourselves under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emanuel. Let us have a faith that takes right hold of Christ. Let the language of each soul be, He is my Saviour, he died for me, and I hang my helpless soul upon him. He is able to keep that which I have committed to his trust, against that day. This is the precious lesson that I am learning to-day, to do the very best I can according to the best light that shines upon my pathway, and then trust the rest to Jesus.
May the blessing of God rest upon this dear people. How many that are here present to-day shall I meet around the great white throne? How many will lift their voices in songs of triumph, and praise, to him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. God grant that you may be there, saved, eternally saved, in the kingdom of glory.

CHRIST IS COMING.

Christ is coming! let creation From her groans and travail cease; Let the glorious proclamation Hope restore, and faith increase; Christ is coming! Come thou blessed Prince of peace.
Earth can now but tell the story Of thy bitter cross and pain; She shall yet behold thy glory When thou comest back to reign. Christ is coming! Let each heart repeat the strain.
With this blessed hope before us, Let no harp remain unstrung; Let the mighty advent chorus Onward roll, in every tongue. Christ is coming! Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come! —Selected.

ORTHODOX LIVES.

No man really believes any more than he practices. "Faith" is the most abused noun in the language, and "believe" the most abused verb. Men say they believe in Christ, who do not show the first quality of his temper. Women say they believe in love, who are exacting, selfish, vain, worldly, altogether unlovely. People are very orthodox in notions, who are the greatest of heretics in their lives. The Jews never became atheists or infidels; but if you want to know what they really believed, read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew.
In religion, only that is believed which is lived. There is no Christian faith unless it makes a man a Christian, and that not in the head, but in the heart. If you call yourself a believer, and want to know whether you are justified in so doing, ask yourself this question: "What kind of a man am I?" And remember, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."—Presbyterian Observer.

ASKING AND RECEIVING.

By Rusticus

I MET Diarca Doubtem as I was going to town the other evening. He said, "Rusticus, what's the matter? Anybody sick, that you go to town this time of day?"
"No," I replied. "I am going to prayer-meeting."
"So you believe in praying do you? Well, I don't. I used to, but I gave it up some years ago. I hardly ever got what I asked for, and when I did it was something that I could have got without asking. So I made up my mind to take care of myself as well as I could, and to get by hard work, or my wits, all that I could. Then I would feel that what I got was my own, and that I was not beholden to anybody. The Bible says, 'Ask, and ye shall receive;' but I know that it isn't so, for I have tried it."
"Perhaps you did not try in the right way. When God says, 'Ask, and ye shall receive,' he speaks to us as a father speaks to his children. This we know, because he goes right on to tell how much better he is than human fathers. Well, a father likes to have his children ask him for what they want, but he does not always give them just what they ask for. The other day I took home with me a vial of arsenic to poison rats. My boy, Johnnie, saw it. He thought that it was sugar, and he asked me to give him some. Did I say 'Certainly, my dear boy, I love you and I cannot refuse you anything that you ask for?' Of course not. But did I therefore not regard and respond to Johnnie's prayer? No indeed, I took out a paper of candy that I had brought for him, gave it to him instead of the poison that he wanted. So God deals with us. When we ask for something that is not best for us to have, he answers by giving us something better."
"But when I asked for something that I knew was good, God did not give it to me."
"Perhaps the reason was that he saw that you would not make a good use of it, if he gave it to you. Johnnie came the other day, and asked me for a dime. I often give him small sums of money; for I want him to learn how to use money. But this time something in the boy's manner led me to ask him what he wanted the dime for. He replied that a boy in the school had a beautiful toy pistol, and the other boys all wanted it, but none of them had money enough to buy it. So the owner proposed that each boy should bring a dime, and then he would put all their names into a hat, and the boy whose name was drawn out first should have the coveted pistol. Poor unsophisticated Johnnie did not see that there was anything wrong in this. But I object to children having pistols and to their taking lessons in gambling. So to keep Johnnie from being led into temptation, I did not give him the dime. And God says to us, 'Ye ask and ye receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.' If you ask the Lord for a gallon of whisky to get drunk on, he would show his love for you by not giving it to you."
"All your stories don't touch my case. The last time that I prayed I asked the Lord for that which is both good and useful—for a big crop of wheat. I wanted $1,000 for a practical purpose. I ploughed that forty-acre field deep, and harrowed it until it was mellow, and sowed it just at the right time with good seed, and then I prayed every day that the Lord would give me thirty bushels to the acre, but I got only ten, and was $1,000 poorer than I ought to have been."
"Then it was not really the wheat that you wanted, but the money that it would bring. May I ask what you intended to do with the $1,000 if the Lord had given it to you?"
"Certainly. I had a grand speculation in view. Sam Steck I knew was in debt. His place which joins mine was mortgaged, and would have to be sold. Times were dull, and if it had come into the sheriff's hands just then, it would have been bid off for half of its value. I meant to be on hand with my $1,000, and get that piece of land."
"And so you asked the Lord to give you a first-rate wheat crop so that you might get money to take advantage of your neighbor's embarrassment, and buy his property at less than half its value! And you are angry with the Lord because he did not furnish that money in answer to your prayer? If he had done so he would have been a party to your plan for oppressing the poor. I don't wonder that the Lord did't hear your prayer!"
Diarca had not seen the matter in that light before, and was taken aback by being compelled to admit that he wanted to get the Lord to help him turn another man out of house and home. But there are a good many people whose prayers are just as selfish and wicked as his, and yet they don't seem to know it, and wonder why the Lord don't answer them. The asking which has the promise of receiving, is that which honors God—which recognizes his wisdom, which says, even when making the most definite requests for things that we think we really and urgently need, "Not my will, but thine be done."—"Rusticus," in Occident.

PATIENCE.

PATIENCE is a characteristic of soul strength. In this life of excitement and haste, patience, in the majority of men, is a dormant power. This is especially true in regard to Americans. They live more for the present and the near future, and unless the evident fruit of their labors soon appears, they become impatient, and with the petulance of a child exclaim: "It is no use, I won't try any more." But this surface sixty-miles-an-hour life is detrimental to the higher development of man. And patience cannot necessarily be in harmony with it. A man who is accustomed to behold the results of an undertaking shortly after he has exerted himself in its performance, usually performs work of no lasting importance. Those who sow deep will not reap so soon as those who sow on the surface. And it is the man whose noble spirit leads him to work for eternity, who cultivates his patience most assiduously; men, whose noble impulses lead them to work for the future benefit of their fellows, must expect misunderstanding and disappointment to glare upon them in the walks of life. Such people can afford to wait in patience the return of the future years. So the nobler the work, the more this patience. And, in fact, the world jeers yet respects and fears, in its deeper feelings, the men of patience. They have been the world's best friends; those whom their contemporaries killed or persecuted, but whom succeeding generations appreciated and blessed. He, whom the world once despised and rejected, while dwellingupon the earth, suffered all things with divine patience; for with almighty foresight he knew that his good labor would not be in vain. So when individuals strive for the right they can in patience wait for the time when well-earned rewards and just appreciation will be theirs.
—Selected.

PROVE ALL THINGS.

By Frank Hope

THE Catholic Church teaches that one of the most heinous sins is for any of its devotees to attend any other church or to listen to any other preaching than its own. The policy of this, in a church as corrupt and ungodly as the Catholic Church, is easily seen; for, if Catholics were allowed to attend other religious meetings they would be induced to study the Bible, and where the Bible is honestly studied, Catholicism vanishes. But the Catholic priests are not alone in this policy, many professed Christian ministers do the same. When the truths of the "Third Angel's Message" are being preached, it is not uncommon to hear that the ministers have warned—nay, forbidden the people from attending the meetings. They say it is wrong to listen to error. This spirit is not merely confined to ministers but others that have any authority do the same. One such case occurred recently in a California town where a camp-meeting was being held. It happened one day that some sort of a festival or circus was being held in the town and the school children were given a holiday to join in the fun. Several children, however, attended the religious meeting, and were present at a baptism. When this came to the ears of the pedagogue-in-chief, he punished those children and made them an example before the school, who were duly warned that a worse thing might come upon them if they ever attended such meetings.
It is evident that such men as these are taking too much upon themselves, and are shouldering a responsibility that they will have to meet in the Judgment. Men have no right to condemn anything without they know what they are condemning; and by prejudicing other minds they are doing wrong. The words of Paul in the second chapter of Romans are very applicable to these men. "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself." This is exactly what these men do. They claim to discriminate between error and truth, and the only way of doing that is by the Bible. They must therefore take the Bible as their guide, this of course they pretend to do. But by taking such a course as before stated they directly violate their own standard of right, and so condemn themselves. This is easily shown.
Paul writes to the Thessalonians: "Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good." This is a direct command. When Paul wrote that, there were a great many false ideas and theories abroad. John testifies that many false prophets had gone out into the world. In the same epistle, Paul says "the mystery of iniquity doth already work," and many Jews followed Paul in his travels with the design to teach error, and there were busy-bodies among this very church (2 Thess. 3:11). Yet, knowing all this, Paul admonishes them to "prove all things." Now to prove, means "to ascertain some unknown quality or truth by an experiment or by a test or standard;" "to evince truth by argument, induction, or reasoning." See Webster. That is, Paul told the Thessalonians, (and he also tells us) to carefully analyze and compare all things with the Scriptures. It is for this reason, we are told, that the Bereans "were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so." Acts 17:11. If this candor to examine and prove all things produces nobility, the action of many ministers of to-day must produce the opposite.
Of course, there being in the world such a multitude of different sects and beliefs, there must be a great deal of error. This was so in Paul's day, but did he tell his converts to avoid and condemn everything that differed from them? Not at all, on the contrary, he prayed that they might have more knowledge and judgment that they might "try things that differ" that they might "be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ." Phil. 2:10 (margin). And John even says: "Try the spirits." Thus men who take upon themselves to warn honest souls from investigating Bible doctrines have no right to do so whatever, and being condemned by their own system of ethics have absolutely no cloak for their sin, but in the day of God will be found with their garments stained with the blood of souls. FRANK HOPE.

A SIGNIFICANT WORD.

It is a small word, a word of only one syllable, and that consisting of but two letters. And yet, in its connection, it expresses a world of meaning. I know of no word more expressive, whether in the Bible, or in any other book. It is the simple word "so," a word insignificant in itself, but, as we find it in one of the Saviour's declarations, big with import. To Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night, he said: "God 'so' loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Had he simply said that "God loved the world," this sinful race of man, it would have been something wonderful. But that little word "so" tells us how he loved it. He so loved it that he gave for it his only-begotten Son.
Was there ever heard another declaration so amazing? Did ever angels, did ever the inhabitants of any world listen to anything so wonderful? Think of the world that God loved, a world of sinners in rebellion against him. Think of what he gave for them. Not the richest mines of gold and silver, and all the cattle on a thousand hills, as he might have done, for they were all his. Not the highest and the holiest angel that bows before his throne, but an "unspeakable gift," the most costly gift in his power to bestow; nothing less than his only-begotten Son, infinitely dear to him, from eternity dwelling in the bosom of the Father. And think to what he gave him. It was to unparalleled humiliation and sufferings. It was to become a man like unto ourselves, sin excepted. Emanuel, God with us. And it was to suffer all sorts of indignity and abuse, and to die the ignominious and painful death of the cross. It was to suffer the malice of wicked men and devils; and, more than that, it was to be smitten even of the loving Father, whom it pleased to bruise him, and to put him to grief. It was he who said: "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow." So did he love this world of sinners. So did he manifest his interest in our salvation. And so did he make it consistent with justice to save all that believe on his Son.—New York Observer.

“CLASHING VOICES.”

By W. A. Blakely

It is eminently proper that the National Reformers should have a department known as “Clashing Voices” in their official organ, the Christian Statesman; for they have the faculty of presenting some of the most absurd ideas, in making their voices clash with those who happen to differ with them. But this is not strange; for it seems to be impossible for the men who take the lead in this “reform” movement to keep their voices from clashing with their own statements. Sometimes they will write something that is sound and logical; then when they happen to have a different object in view, they will flatly contradict it—never seeming to realize the absurd position in which they place themselves. In the entire history of National Reform, this has seemed to be a characteristic of the movement.
The Sabbath question might be taken to illustrate. In their resolutions, memorials, to legislative bodies, and in their public writings, the Sabbath question takes a leading, if not the leading, position. Taking their authority, as they claim, from the ten commandments for the observance of Sunday, they make some excellent and incontrovertible arguments on the perpetuity of the divine law. They claim that the Sabbath of the law of God is as unchangeable as God himself. They urge in the strongest terms the importance of the fourth commandment, that is, when they are attempting to show the necessity for a Sunday law, or, as they style it, a Sabbath law. The following is from a report adopted by the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1887, and is quite in harmony with the teachings of the word of God:—
“The Sabbath was instituted before the rise of the Jewish nation; is coeval with man. Adam and Eve knew the Sabbath law; observed it in the garden; transmitted it to their children. The Sabbath is a permanent institution for mankind. The Sabbath law is a law of nature; therefore universal and permanent. Man must have a rest of one day in seven. This is an eternal law. As a sanitary institution, the Sabbath can be no more Jewish than Gentile, no more necessary for the days of Moses than of Gladstone. Also, the Sabbath law is a moral law; therefore universal and permanent. A moral law is unchangeable, as unchangeable as physical law, as God himself. No change of dispensation can lessen its bearings on man. Of this moral nature the Sabbath partakes; it can never die, must live throughout all the generations of mortals. This institution was loved dearly by Christ Jesus. Though he attacked most bitterly the counterfeit Sabbath of the Pharisees, he respected most highly the real Sabbath of Sinai. He spent the day chiefly in the synagogues, unfolding the Scriptures. He taught his disciples to revere the institution. See Mary Magdalene and the other women restraining their burning feelings, coming not to the Joseph tomb on the seventh day, waiting for the dawn-breaking of the first. Why? The Lord had taught them by his life, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’”
Rev. M. A. Gault, who edits “Clashing Voices” in the Christian Statesman, was on the committee that drafted the report. But when the question arises in regard to which day is the Sabbath, he “reasons” in a manner that is extremely absurd, and directly contradicts the argument laid down above, as may be plainly seen by the following from his pen, as published in the Christian Statesman sometime since:—
“To show you why most people believe the Sabbath was changed to the first-day, we say:
“1. This change was prophesied in Eze. 43: 27.”
The absurdity of using this text as it is used by Rev. M. A. Gault (and not only by him but by many others, even in a work published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication), is apparent to anyone who will read Eze. 43: 18-27. Notwithstanding the National Reform party teaches that the Sabbath cannot be changed, they teach that the following is a prophecy of its change! “These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. . . . Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. And when these days [the seven days of sanctification] are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt-offerings upon the altar, and your peace-offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord God.” Eze. 43: 18, 27, 28.
Such proof is the best that can be obtained from the Bible; hence they use it; but that is none at all. To continue he draws a conclusion which is also entirely false. He says:
“2. In accordance with this fact [?] the first-day was kept as the Sabbath by the apostles, as is evident from the six or seven times when they met for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and other Sabbath observances.”
But the truth is that there is no record of “six or seven times when they met for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and other Sabbath observances.” Nor is there a record of the apostles themselves meeting even once for any religious purpose whatever; although Paul closed a week’s stay at Troas, with the Lord’s Supper on the evening of the first-day (Saturday evening). This meeting excepted, there is not a single instance in the New Testament of a religious meeting on the first-day of the week.
Since in the above instance the only apostle was Paul, the “six or seven times” the apostles met must be the one meeting they had on the day of his resurrection. There are three accounts of this meeting, and by some who observe Sunday it is supposed that this meeting was in honor of Christ’s resurrection, and is an example for us. The reason why they were gathered together was because they had a common dwelling-place (Acts 1:13); but that they had not met in honor of Christ’s resurrection is evident, for they did not believe that he had risen. When the two disciples returned from Emmaus and told the eleven, who were already gathered together in this “meeting,” that Christ had risen, they believed it not (Mark 16: 12, 13), though they had been told before. Mark 16: 9-13. And finally, when Christ himself appeared, one would think that they would have greeted him with joy; “but they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” Luke 24: 37. But even if they had met for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (which they had not) that would not be, as Mr. Gault calls it, a “Sabbath observance;” for the Bible says: “As often [not specifying the day] as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.”
I quote again:—
“3. Paul says (Col. 2: 16), that we are not bound to observe any of the Jewish sabbaths; therefore the first day of the week must be binding because none of the ten commandments can ever be abrogated.”
Wonderful argument! Wonderful conclusion! But, as quoted in the beginning of this article, Mr. Gault says, “The Sabbath law . . . is as unchangeable as physical law, as God himself.” He also says “the Sabbath was instituted before the rise of the Jewish nation;” but in the argument above he places the observance of the seventh day with “the Jewish sabbaths,” and actually blots it out. For Col. 2: 16, 17, says: “Let no man therefore judge you . . . in respect . . . of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come.” But why does Paul say this? Because verse 14 says that Christ blotted out the handwriting of ordinances which enforced their observance. So if the Sabbath of the Lord was among those ceremonial sabbaths, it would be blotted out altogether, as they were, which position, I think, even the vacillating Mr. Gault would not care to take. Still he quotes verse 16 to prove that the seventh day is not binding! He continues to reason thus, but I only quote these as specimens of how their voices “clash.”
Hence in their writings they not only make their voices clash with opinions of others, but also with their own statements, and, that which is the most to their discredit, with the plain statements of the word of God. It is a shame that professors of Christianity will take the Scripture and deliberately twist some of the plainest passages, not only to their own destruction, but also to the destruction of those who have confidence in them, and reject the truth upon the strength of what “our minister says.”
W. A. BLAKELY.

"AT EVENING TIME IT SHALL BE LIGHT."

By J. W. Scoles

ZECH. 14:7.

BY ELDER J. W. SCOLES.

To us is not at all times given the power To comprehend the purposes of God; Nor is it often in affliction's hour That we can bless the hand that holds the rod. We bear our burdens through the gathering darkness— Our brightest moments tinged with sadness seem, While in our onward march we pause to question, Is this life all, and is it but a dream?
How tenderly and truly floats the answer Down from the dewy years of olden time! How sweet upon our ears the words of promise! How bright, by faith, the future scene sublime! And though our waiting hearts grow faint with longing, We catch, amid the gloom, this promise bright As bow of peace upon the storm-cloud's bosom— God says: "At evening time it shall be light."
Earth's fairest joys at best are only fleeting; The brightest flowers bloom but to decay; With chill foreboding in our hearts at greeting, We part to meet no more on earth for aye. But though we know not what may lie before us, We know God surely doeth all things right; We'll trust him for his guidance ever o'er us, And sing, "At evening time it shall be light."
What matter then though we at times grow weary, Why should we shrink from duty's post away? What should we care though earth seems dark and dreary? There's rest and peace beyond the gates of day. The shadows of this earthly day of sorrow Are falling fast; the near approaching night Proclaims the ushering in of that glad morrow, And then, "At evening time it shall be light!" —Spokane Falls, Washington Territory.

THE SAME FAITH.

By C. P. Bollman

IN Ps. 51:17 we read: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." And this language not only expresses an important truth now, but it was equally true when first uttered by the penitent psalmist more than twenty-nine hundred years ago. The impression is quite general that in the "former dispensations" religion was little more than a mere form; that men brought their offerings and presented them according to a certain ritual, and that having done so they were accepted of God whether their act was one of faith or not. But this view, though so very common, is manifestly an error, for it was not a new but an old truth which the apostle stated when he said: "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 him."
The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a unit; they present not two systems of truth but one, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; and the theology that does not recognize that fact is not Bible theology. In his letter to the Hebrews the apostle Paul testifies that "by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." The offering itself was nothing; God looked not alone at the burning wood, nor at the bleeding victim upon that ancient altar, but he looked back of those crude symbols and saw in the heart of Abel a vital, living faith in the promised Saviour whose death that an atonement might be made for sins was typified by the death of that firstling of righteous Abel's flock.
Every rite and ceremony in the whole Jewish ritual, except those which were merely sanitary, had some reference to the work of Christ; and those rites and ceremonies were valuable only as Christ was seen and recognized in them. When man fell, or shortly after man had fallen, the Saviour was promised, and God provided for the offering of sacrifices to show the faith of those who should put their trust in the promised Sacrifice; and this sacrificial system we can trace all the way down to the cross, where it ceased, and the Lord's Supper took its place; not as a sacrifice, as the Romanists teach, but as an outward manifestation of faith in the heart; and so we read: "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come."
If there ever was a time when men were saved by the blood of bulls and of goats, then, doubtless, part of the throng of the redeemed will sing one song and part another; the "song of Moses and the Lamb" would be not one song but two, the song of Moses being for those who were saved through Jewish sacrifices, and the song of the Lamb for those who are saved through Christ. But such is not the teaching of the Scriptures; when in propheticvision John saw the great multitude of the saved from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, they all, without exception, ascribed their salvation to the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. The plan and the conditions of salvation have ever been the same, namely, "Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," or, as stated in Rev. 14:12, "The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." C. P. BOLLMAN.

JASPER.

By Christian at Work

AMONG the precious stones often referred to in the Bible we find the jasper, a stone clear as crystal, or rather of a crystal hue. It was the last of the twelve inserted in the breastplate of the high priest, and the first of the twelve used in the foundations of the New Jerusalem. It is also mentioned among the stones that adorned the king of Tyre. John says that "one sat on the throne; and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone."
It is spoken of as a stone most precious, and as we infer of a brilliant and transparent light. It is said that the stone that we call jasper is not the same, as that is an "opaque species of quartz, of a red, yellow, green or mixed brownish-yellow hue, sometimes striped and sometimes spotted, in no respect presenting the characteristics of the crystal. The only feature that at all accords with the scriptural account is that it admits of a high polish." A writer thinks that the diamond would more adequately answer to the description in the Book of Revelation, and that the term rendered "diamond" in Ex. 28:18 refers to the emerald.
How glorious it will be to see "that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal"—when we shall serve God, and see him not as through a glass, not with our finite eyes that are so often dimmed with tears, not with our heads aching with the cares of this life, but, bless God! we shall see him face to face.
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