Signs of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 44. (10/29/1902)

Signs of the Times

Oct 29, 1902

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 29, 1902

“THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.” II.

Chapter 1:1-8.

THE Revelation! Then praise God it is not a closed book. God has not placed upon it lock and key. He has not sealed its wondrous mystery, its blessed truths, from His children. The Greek word Apokalypsis, means revelation, disclosure, manifestation. And the book is a revelation. Ages ago God assured us that “the secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”

BUT, reader, we will not gather its most vital meanings by a superficial reading or study. God’s wells of living water, like Jacob’s well, are deep, and he who quaffs the coolest waters must be willing to sink his pitcher down to its crystal depths. The Comforter of God sings many songs to the despairing children of earth which are never heard by ears that are needy. They are not attuned with the song. Many a miner stops just short of the richest products of earth; he does not wish to sink his shaft deep; it costs time and labor. The soul that gathers the most precious things of God must “dig deep,” must search “as for hid treasures,” must yield himself to the harmony of the Infinite, to follow where He leads.

The book is not only a revelation; it is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” And who is this person? We may learn something from the names. “Jesus” means “saviour.” “Thou shalt call His name JESUS; for it is He that shall save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. He is the only Saviour; for “in none other is there salvation; for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.” Acts 4:11. The meaning of “Christ” is “anointed,” the same as the Hebrew word “Messiah.” He is the Anointed of God to save all who wish to be saved. “How God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.” Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Isa. 61:1, 2. He is one with the Father. Before the world was He sat enthroned with God the Eternal. He was the One through whom and by whom all the worlds were created. 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16, 17. For “it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell.” Verse 19. He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” And the book is the revelation of Him, His personality; His character, His work, His glorious and eternal triumph with His people.

BUT it will not be a revelation of Jesus Christ to us unless He is revealed in us. That is the desire of the infinite God in giving to us this disclosure. God desires to “make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:27. This is that which He has so longed to reveal to every soul from the time that man by sin sought to cut loose from the Continent of Heaven. The promise came to the sin-despairing pair that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. The power to triumph over the destroyer did not come from the man or the woman, for both had fallen before the tempter. It must come in a new life from above, from the incorruptible Seed of the Eternal Word, from the presence of God within the soul. “Ye must be born from above,” are the words of Jesus. John 3:7, margin. God must dwell in the flesh.

JESUS CHRIST was the revelation of this life of God in the flesh. It was said of Him, “They shall call His name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us.” Matt. 1:23. “The Word was God. . . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us

. . . full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-14. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. . . . Him who knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:19-21. And this was the revelation of the mystery of God to the world. What God had set forth in His Word, He set forth in Christ Jesus the personified Word, in order that we by faith might empty ourselves as did He, grasp the same “power of an endless life,” and be filled with the fulness of God. Thus Paul expresses it in his own experience: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me; and that life I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.” Gal. 2:20. Thus was the Son of God revealed in Paul (Gal. 1:16), that Paul might tell the good tidings to those who knew not the Saviour. So the Revelation of Jesus Christ must come to us, not as a mere theory, not as mere knowledge of a book, but as the very life of God in our own souls, the Cleanser from sin, the Keeper from its power, the Wisdom, the Righteousness, the Sanctification, the Redemption of God. 1 Cor. 1:30. Such He longs to be to every soul; why not grasp it now by faith.

LET us question the text of the first three verses:—

(1) “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show unto His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John; (2) who bare witness of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw. (3) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein; for the time is at hand.”

Of whom is this book the Revelation?

“Of Jesus Christ.”

How did He obtain it?

It was a Revelation “which God gave Him.”

For what purpose?

“To show unto His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass.”¹

How did He give it to them?

“He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.”²

What did John do with it?

“Who bare witness³ of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.”

Upon whom is the benediction pronounced?

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep⁴ the things that are written therein; for the time is at hand.”

1. “Shortly Come to Pass.”—The Revelation, even as the prophecy of Daniel, is a book for the last days. While it teaches precious truth by precept and promise, always practical, its great warning messages (Rev. 14:6-14,) against threatening dangers, against persecuting powers, against latter-day apostasy, calling God’s people back to primitive faith, purity, and obedience, are especially messages for the times just preceding Christ’s second coming. In the nature of the case it could not be understood in its comprehensiveness till these days. Now God’s Spirit is impelling to its study; for the very culmination of these prophecies which, in a measure, began to come to pass in John’s day, are soon to be fulfilled. “The time is at hand.” So Isa. 40:3 and 61:1, 2, first clause, waited 700 years for fulfilment in John the Baptist and Jesus. Then, 700 years later, John could say, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matt. 3:2. Then Jesus could say, “To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:17-21), and “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). The second part of Isa. 61:2—“the day of vengeance of our God”—must wait 1,900 years longer till the mighty warnings of that day, in the Revelation, should go forth. That period of preparation is now; “the time is at hand.”

2. “By His Angel.”—The first two verses indicate God’s general method of giving His truth to the world. First of all God is revealed through Jesus Christ. “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John 1:18; Matt. 11:27. Jesus sends His angel Gabriel. (See Dan. 8:15, 16; 9:21; 10:10-21, et al.) The angel reveals it to God’s human messengers and prophets; these messengers carry it to God’s people, and God’s people give it to the world. But does not God come into life-connection with every one of His children?—He certainly does. Could He not then communicate with each one?—He certainly could. Why then this round-about way of imparting truth and blessing?—Simply this; it is the divine, better way. God desires that all His servants—His heavenly messengers and earthly messengers—shall share with Him in the glorious result of a redeemed and sinless universe. He wants all to join in the song of eternal triumph. But no one can do this unless he have part in the labor, the struggle, the pain, the travail, the conflict. Too, idleness is the greatest curse next to active wickedness against God. To all His servants God gives the joy of doing something. All will be associated with Christ Jesus in the work. No work is wrought for God by one alone. No soul will be saved by one alone. In the salvation of no sinner will one rejoice alone. Both sower and reaper will “rejoice together,” and all will ascribe all honor and power to the Giver of all, while He will reward His servants for the work which He has wrought through them.

3. “Who Bare Witness.”—That is the work of the children of God, to be witnesses. The chief qualification of a witness is knowledge. He must know in order to testify. This knowledge can not come from rumor or hearsay, or second hand. There are many who know of God, but know not God; that know of the Gospel, but know not the Gospel. John “bare witness of the word of God;” for he knew God’s Word and its power in the fellowship of an indwelling Christ. 1 John 1:1-3. He knew the testimony, the witness of Jesus Christ in himself. John 3:33; 21:24. God’s character is on trial in this world. Satan, the accuser has maligned Him in every way. God has left with His Son and all His children, the precious, holy work of witnessing for Him, of His goodness, His love, His power to save from sin. “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God.” Isa. 43:12. Would God that every one of His children so knew Him as to rightly witness in word and deed to His glorious character.

4. “Blessed.”—Blessed are the readers because of the God-given opportunity; blessed are the hearers, because of God-given privilege; but all the blessing will be turned to cursing if readers and hearers are not all keepers. The word keep comes from tereo, “to keep watch upon, guard, to watch over protectively, to mark attentively, to observe practically, to store up.” The only way to keep God’s Word is to treasure it up in the heart. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” Ps. 119:11. “I delight to do Thy will, O my God,” says Christ through the psalmist; “yea, Thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40:8. There is blessing to the doer. “He that looketh unto the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.” He who yields himself to do for God places himself in the current of God’s great, beneficent, outflowing life. Read, then, and hear and keep the things which God reveals to you in the Revelation of Christ Jesus.

The Coming One.

(1) “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne; (5) and from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood; (6) and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (7) Behold, He cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they that pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him. Even so, Amen.

(8) “I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Suggestive Questions.

To whom is John’s message of the Revelation sent?

“To the seven churches that are in Asia.”

What greeting is given?

“Grace to you and peace.”

First of all from whom?

“From Him who is AND WHO WAS and is TO COME.”

From whom secondly?

“From the seven Spirits that are before His throne.”

From whom lastly?

“From Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.”

To whom does John ascribe glory and dominion?

“Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by [“in,” margin] His blood.”

What has He made us?

“He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father.”

What scene is presented before the prophet as the grand culmination of Christ’s work?

“Behold, He cometh with clouds.”

What will be the nature of that coming?

“Every eye shall see Him, and they that pierced Him.”

How will the earthly regard His coming?

“All the tribes of the earth shall mourn.”

What assurance does the Father give to the verity of the message?

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.”

The Prophecy of Zechariah

By Roderick S. Owen

THE WOMAN AND THE EPHAH.

Zech. 5:5–11.

“Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead; and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar; and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.”

The prophet, after seeing the flying roll, and being told what it will do in the world, is invited in verse 5 to look again. “Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.” He looks, and asks, “What is it?” The reply was given, “This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.” The prophet then sees a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah; and, behold, wickedness is cast in with her, and a weighty piece placed on the top of the ephah.

An ephah is a measure holding in ancient times about one bushel, later, about one-half bushel. It was a common standard of measure. In the preceding vision the flying roll represented God’s standard of measure; but here we see another standard going forth. A woman in prophecy symbolizes a church. Then the woman sitting in the midst of the ephah must represent a church which has surrounded herself with a standard of measure which she sends forth over the earth. As we scan the pages of history, we find the Roman Catholic Church to have literally fulfilled this description.

Coming to power, she takes the law of God, which is God’s own standard of measure, and makes changes in it as follows:—

1. She omits, in her catechisms generally, the second commandment.

2. She takes the fourth, which she calls the third, and tears from it the seventh day, which is God’s memorial of creation, and substitutes the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, the great festival day of sun worship, in its stead.

3. Having omitted one commandment, she must keep the number ten. This she does by dividing the tenth; making one commandment which forbids the coveting of a man’s wife, and another which forbids the coveting of his house and other possessions.

Surrounding herself with this standard of measure, like the woman sitting in the midst of the ephah, she requires all within the enclosure to comply with her false standard of right; and as set forth in the symbol, great wickedness is soon found within the enclosure. The church becoming very corrupt, is not satisfied with simply requiring those in the church to conform; but lo, she sends forth this false standard to the world, and endeavors by the exercise of power to enforce her dogmas on all. Just as she seems to have succeeded in establishing her power and the authority of her false standard, there falls upon her a crushing weight, represented by the talent of lead, or weighty piece, placed upon the top of the ephah. The Reformation fell upon the church like a crushing weight; and it seemed for a time that both the woman (church) and the ephah (false standard) would be utterly destroyed. But lo! a change; for the prophecy continues, “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold,

There Came Out Two Women,

“and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.” “Whither do these bear the ephah?” asked the prophet. The angel replied, “To build it an house in the land of Shinar; and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.”

As a result of the Reformation we have two religious bodies, to-wit, the Catholic and the Protestant. Both were ready for a long and high flight, having stork’s wings full of wind.

The prophecy indicates that as they ascend to power and influence, they will unite to lift up this false standard of measure, and would seek to give it a permanent place, even establishing it upon its own base in the land of Shinar, or in the land of the tower of Babel, or Babylon (confusion).

What are the Facts in this Regard To-day?

1. We are living in a time of great religious confusion, and in the religious world one can hear the cry of the Babel workers on every hand as they shout to each other, in their vain efforts to be understood. Nothing but the word of the Lord can ever bring order out of this chaos of confusion.

We see an effort on the part of all to unite; but the union is only the one described by the prophet Micah in chapter 4:1–5; where they will all unite to establish the law of God, as they interpret it; and yet “All people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.” It is only a surface union, and upon some common points of agreement; while at heart each one still clings to his own peculiar tenets of faith. But we have before us the fact that the majority of the Protestants are becoming more friendly toward the Catholics, and are heartily working for the enactment and enforcement of laws compelling men to observe the first day of the week, which the Catholic Church claims is a sign of her power and authority to change the law of God. As the professed Christian nations gain an

influence or control over the pagan nations, the same laws are introduced, as may be seen in certain parts of China, where Sunday laws have been recently enacted. So we see Protestants and Catholics uniting to exalt the false standard represented by the ephah. They are lifting it up between the earth and heaven; and the open and avowed purpose, according to their own statements, is to give it an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land; or as the prophecy reads, “To build it an house in the land of Shinar; and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.”

In verse 6 the measure is said to be their resemblance in all the earth. Just as God’s law in the flying roll represents His character, so this measure represents their character; and just as God seeks to win all to conformity to His resemblance, so they seek to compel all to conform to their resemblance. The Catholic translation reads, “This is their eye which goeth forth.” As the law of God in the flying roll is His eye sent forth to search out the transgressor, so this is their eye sent forth to find those out of harmony with their measure. The Septuagint translation reads, “This is their iniquity in all the earth;” and so it is; for that which is not in harmony with the law of God is iniquity, or sin; for sin is the transgression of the law. But let us quote this translation entire, for it seems to be a clear reading:—

“This is the measure that goeth forth. And he said, This is the iniquity in all the earth. And behold a talent of lead lifted up, and behold, a woman sat in the midst of the measure. And he said, This is iniquity. And he cast it in the midst of the measure; and cast the weight of lead on the mouth of it. And I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and, behold, two women coming forth, and the wind was in their wings; and they had stork’s wings, and they lifted up the measure between the earth and sky. And I said, Whither do these carry away the measure? And he said to me, To build it a house in the land of Babylon, and to prepare a place for it. And they shall set it there upon its own base.”

According to the prophecy just cited, this movement is going to succeed; and this false standard will be established in the midst of confusion, and will be enforced upon the people. Those who are loyal to the law of God as He wrote and spoke it, will suffer tribulation; and against them the decree of death will be issued. This will bring the time of Jacob’s trouble to the people of God; but they shall be delivered; while the flying roll will cut off the wicked world, together with the false professors.

O when will men learn that Christians can not be made by the enactment and enforcement of law! When will Christians, like the apostle Paul, learn to persuade men and beseech men by the meekness and gentleness of Christ!

[The next article is “The Vision of the Chariots,” chapter 6.]

“CONSIDER HIM”

By G. W. Rine

BY PROF. G. W. RINE

CHRIST THE WORD WITH THE FATHER BEFORE THE WORLD WAS.

In the preceding article it was shown that Christ, as the eternal Word, is, and always has been, the manifestation and expression of the Father to man. All things—absolutely all things (except the anomaly, sin)—are of the Father, but through the Son. This great fact is thus graphically put: “To us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him.” 1 Cor. 8:6, R. V. We now understand why, in the very nature of things, it was essential that the Son should in every particular be the exact counterpart and reproduction of the Father—that in Christ should dwell “all the fulness of the Godhead.” The Father could not be adequately revealed and portrayed through a personality inferior to Himself.

It is through divinity only that divinity can be manifested. Hence the significance of our Lord’s declaration, “I and My Father are one.” This being true, “He that hath seen Me [Christ] hath seen the Father.” The Father put Himself into the Word; thus it is that the Word is God. This fact is distinctly asserted: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1. In Isaiah’s prophecy, the coming Christ is characterized as the “mighty God.” Ch. 9:6.

Christ, being God, is timeless, i. e. eternal. “In the beginning was the Word; . . . the same was in the beginning with God.” The idea that God should be finite as to time, or duration, is manifestly unthinkable. Whatever is God must, by virtue of that very fact, be infinite in all attributes. Christ, being God, is without beginning or end. This fact once understood, how wondrously significant is His petition to the Father: “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” John 17:5. Thus we see that from the days of eternity, the ever-blessed Christ—your Saviour and my Saviour—was a glorious high King. We too may look up into the Saviour’s face, and adore and magnify Him in these sweet, stately numbers of God’s inspired singer in Israel: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” Ps. 90:2.

Yes, in the beginning was the Word, and that Word was then—was eternally—as now, very God of very God. Tho the Word is God, yet as a personality He is distinct from God the Father. The Holy Spirit affirms not only that “the Word was God,” but that “the same [the Word] was in the beginning with God” [the Father]. How significant is the preposition “with” here employed by the divine Spirit. It signifies movement toward and communion with. It denotes the absolute oneness of spirit and the perfect, unbroken fellowship subsisting between the Persons of the one and ever-blessed God. “The face of the everlasting Word was ever directed toward the face of the everlasting Father.” The only-begotten Son ever was and “is in the bosom of the Father.” God has not given us as a Saviour a mere abstraction, an ideal, or a mere word; no, He has given us a Person—the righteous One, whom our hearts crave. Neither has He given a merely evanescent Person—a Person who is “as the flower of the field,” or who is mere “grass,” as is the case with man—not a Person that “is even a vapor;” no, no; He has given to every soul a Saviour whose Person is coeval with eternity, a Saviour who “inhabiteth eternity,” a Saviour whose prerogative it was to declare, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58. Not that He simply was, or is, or will be, but He is the timeless One, the ever-during One; He is Absolute Essence, immutable Being.

Eternity is an eternal dawn; and in its firmament Jesus has ever shone as its Bright and Morning Star. How sublimely the timelessness of our Lord is enunciated in the poetry of the prophet: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, tho thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2, margin. In that firmament, the firmament of eternity, He shone not only as the Morning Star, but likewise as the refulgent Son of Righteousness. Not only “in the beginning was the Word,” but the Word was the beginning; that is, all things began, came to be, in Him. Thus He Himself declares: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.” Rev. 22:13, R. V.

Anent the Word, the beloved apostle wrote: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3. The verb “were made” is in the Greek most significant. Its exact English equivalent is “came to be.” The thought is that through Him all things came into being. At His creative fiat all things emerged out of nothing; absolutely all things, for “without Him was not one single thing [Greek] made that was made.” This stupendous fact is put with equal directness and force by the apostle Paul. “For by Him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” Col. 1:16, 17.

Jesus being the Creator of all things, He was necessarily “before all things,” both in time and in rank and prerogative. That His only-begotten Son was the dynamic agency in the making of the universe, the Father Himself attests in these words addressed to the Son: “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands.” Heb. 1:10. Note

the phrase “in the beginning,” an evident reference to the first affirmation of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”—just as truly God the Son as God the Father. The Father and the Son were united in creation, as they are in all things. Creation, like everything else except sin, is of the Father, but executed through the Son. Hence the significance of the divine colloquy, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Gen. 1:26. In creation God was in Christ, making the worlds; in redemption God is in Christ, reconciling this world (the only fallen world) unto Himself. In the beginning was the Word, uttering the Father in creation; in the hearts of men is the Word, uttering the Father in re-creation (regeneration), which is redemption.

The process of creation is, by its very simplicity, invested with an awful sublimity. There was no strain or paroxysm of effort; no highly wrought elaboration of plan. There was simply the calm, deliberate, all-potent utterance of the divine fiat, “Let there be light,” a world, a beast, a man; “and there was light;” there was a world, etc. The very inditing, by the Holy Spirit, of the sublimely simple mode of procedure in creation, is itself so exquisitely simple and trenchant as to constitute it one of the grandest and loftiest passages in all literature. It runs thus: “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . . . He [Jesus] spake, and it was [done is supplied]; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Ps. 33:6–9. The Son of God speaks into the illimitable void of space, and worlds roll into being; Jesus speaks to the penitent soul in which “there is no good thing,” and righteousness with its concomitant power fills that soul. The fact that my Redeemer can command worlds into being is to me the pledge and surety that He can speak to my vile, sinful heart, and out of it evoke a new heart, a clean heart, a right spirit. By virtue of His divine prerogative to create, is His divine prerogative to redeem.

“The Son of God speaks into illimitable space and worlds roll into being.”

It is the ineffable privilege of every sinful, suffering soul to come to this same Jesus, his Creator, and say, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean;” and into the ear of faith will roll back, as the sound of many waters, the cleansing, healing, creatively potent words, “I will, be thou clean,” and immediately his leprosy, his sin, is cleansed. And as Jesus upholds “all things by the Word of His power” (Heb. 1:3), and as “by Him all things consist” (are conserved) (Col. 1:17), so I KNOW that He “is able to keep you [and me] from falling.” Jude 24. May His love constrain us all to fall at His feet, with the ascription, “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were and were created.” Rev. 4:11.

“And there was light; there was a world.”

Habits of Thought and Health

By Prentice Mulford

CERTAIN habits of thought can not be otherwise than gradually removed. So it is with certain habits of body consequent on such habits of thought, such as the habit of hurry, the habit of worry, the habit of laying undue stress on things not the most needful for the hour, the habit of trouble-borrowing, and many others which permeate and influence every act of life. Their combined effect is exhaustion, and exhaustion is the real mother of most of the ills flesh is heir to. . . . Therefore, keep your mind as much as you can on the thought of strength, vigor, health, activity.

—Prentice Mulford.

Continue reading: The Supernatural Christ