Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 16. (4/22/1889)

Signs of the Times

Apr 22, 1889

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 22, 1889

THE SUNSET OF CHRIST

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his Work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

The Second Death and Probation

THOSE who die the second death, die not because of the individual sins they commit, but because their probation passes with their sinful nature unchanged. Whether they commit ten sins or ten thousand, if their probation closes while unregenerate, they die just the same. The tribulation and anguish, however, will be greater to the one than to the other, but death will come alike to all; for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;" therefore all are in a state of condemnation. Their very nature is subject to death, in harmony with the divine original sentence. The blessed boon and privilege of life in and through the gospel of Christ is set before them. They are not condemned because they reject the gospel; for they are condemned before. Rejecting the gospel does not condemn men, it only leaves them in condemnation. "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:18.

PREPARATION FOR THE TESTING-TIME.

By Mrs. E. G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

It is of the greatest importance to us that we obtain a knowledge of the Bible. Christ has said, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand." He has said again, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." He has also warned us to be on our guard against false doctrines. He said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

Many false doctrines will be presented to us as the teaching of the Bible; but as we compare them with the law and the testimony we shall find that they are dangerous heresies. Our only safety is in becoming personally acquainted with the reasons of our faith. In the book of Revelation, we find warnings, injunctions, and promises given to John for the churches, and we need to understand these instructions more fully, that we may not be found in delusion. We should keep the condition of these churches as described in the Revelation before us, and discern our own spiritual deficiencies by the description of the deficiencies. We should heed the reproofs that are given to us in the counsel of the True Witness.

Christ has declared that "if any man do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." The Lord of Heaven has not left his people in darkness. He has revealed to them his truth for this time. While many of the professed followers of Christ have lapsed away into error and apostasy, those who have walked in the light, not only hear, but read and understand, the prophecies of his word. The law of God will be made void

in the world; its authority will be despised just as it was in Heaven in the first great rebellion; and God would have us intelligent to note the movement of the nations, so that we may see the signal of danger, and recognize the warnings that he has given us, that we may not be found on the side of the great deceiver in the crisis that is just before us.

God has made full provision in the Scriptures for our equipment against deception, and we shall be without excuse, if, through neglect of God's word, we are unable to resist the errors of the evil one. We need to watch unto prayer. We need daily to search the Scriptures diligently, that we may not be ensnared by some delusive error that seems like truth.

I found in traveling through Europe, that I was not acquainted with some of the minor laws of the country, and I was under the necessity of being informed as to the customs of the people lest I should be found a transgressor. But how particular we should be to understand the law of God, so that we may not be under condemnation as law-breakers. It is the willing and obedient that God will bless. If we are desirous of understanding the law of earthly Governments, how much more should we desire to know what God requires of us. If we are anxious to understand our duty, he will not leave us to be enshrouded in darkness, but will enlighten our understanding so that we shall know for ourselves what is truth.

We do not want to be found receiving dangerous error as truth. We do not wish to imperil our souls by rejection of God's messages of warning and counsel. Our greatest danger lies in our tendency to refuse increased light, and our only safety is to see and understand for ourselves "what saith the Lord." Says the prophet, "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." The word of God alone is to be the rule of our faith and doctrine. A great contest is coming in regard to the law of Jehovah in our own day; but we read in Isaiah these words of instruction: "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion." The controversy in regard to the law of God has begun, and we must be prepared to give a reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear. We must know where our feet are standing.

Although the law of God will be almost universally made void in the world, there will be a remnant of the righteous that will be obedient to God's requirements. The wrath of the dragon will be directed against the loyal servants of Heaven. Says the prophet, "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." We can see from this scripture that it is not the true church of God that makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the people who make void the law, who place themselves on the side of the dragon, and persecute those who vindicate God's precepts.

There are many who will tell you that if you keep the law of God you have fallen from grace. They make strong assertions for which they have no foundation, to lead people astray, for they do not know whereof they speak. The prophet says, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." Those who are seeking to destroy the law are not of the class who are sealing the law among the disciples of Christ, but they are of the class who "shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken." The dragon is represented as persecuting those who keep God's commandments. Evil angels conspire with evil men against God and his people. Persons of influence are stirred with a power from beneath; the energies of apostasy are united to deceive or to destroy the champions of truth.

John writes concerning scenes that have to do with our own time. He says, "The temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." That ark contains the tables whereon is engraven the law of God. On the Isle of Patmos, John beheld in prophetic vision the people of God, and saw that at this time the attention of the loyal and true followers of Christ would be attracted to the open door of the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary. He saw that by faith they would follow Jesus within the veil where he ministers above the ark of God containing his immutable law. The prophet described the faithful ones, saying, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This is the class that excite the wrath of the dragon because they obey God, and are loyal to his commandments.

The winds of doctrine will blow fiercely about us, but we should not be moved by them. God has given us a correct standard of righteousness and truth,—the law and the testimony. There are many who profess to love God, but when the Scriptures are opened before them, and evidences are presented showing the binding claims of God's law, they manifest the spirit of the dragon. They hate the light, and will not come to it, lest their deeds should be reproved. They will not compare their faith and doctrine with the law and the testimony. They turn away their ears from hearing the truth, and impatiently declare that all they want to hear about is faith in Christ. They claim to be guided by the Spirit, and yet their Spirit leads them contrary to the law of Heaven. They refuse to acknowledge the fourth commandment, which requires men to keep holy the Sabbath-day. They declare that the Lord has instructed them that they need not keep the Sabbath of his law.

The word of God declares, "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected." It is not enough to nominally assent to the truth, we must have its principles interwoven with the life, and wrought into the very character. We may well be afraid of any class who refuse to compare their faith and doctrine with the Scriptures. There is safety alone in taking the Scriptures as our rule of life, and as the test of our doctrines. Martin Luther exclaimed, "The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the foundation of our faith!" Our work is to hold up the law of God; for Christ has said that "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one tittle of the law to fail." He has said, "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."

Wine at Church Socials

The California Christian Advocate is authority for the statement "that at some church socials in this State wine is used by young men and women until they are too drunk to walk home." The Prohibitionist thinks that the devil has a pretty heavy mortgage on such churches.

Christians Only in Name

A LEADING religious paper refers to the fact that there are in the so-called evangelical churches of this country 12,132,651 communicants, as something that should fill every heart with gratitude. But is there not another side to the question, namely, the fact that a very large proportion of those communicants are Christians only in name?

Saloons and Sunday Justice

The fact that police captains and police generally are subsidized by the saloons is offered by a correspondent of the Sabbath Recorder as a solution to the question as to why a Jew is fined $5.00 in New York for selling a piece of meat on Sunday, while a saloon keeper who sells liquor all day Sunday gets off for nothing. The solution is reasonable.

The Church’s Lack of Attractiveness

At a recent Baptist Convention in Sacramento, Rev. P. W. Dorsey, of San Francisco, said he would guarantee that in California there are hundreds of children of Baptist parents, who prefer attending club meetings and prize fights to going to church, and this fact indicated the lack of attractiveness of the church. It does not appear from the report that the gentleman attempted to fix the responsibility for this sad state of affairs. But when the children of Sabbath-keepers take a similar course (which they sometimes do, though not more frequently than others), Sunday people lay it to the fact that they have not been taught to keep the first day of the week. How then shall it be accounted for among Sunday-keeping Baptists?

Missions in China

The Chinese Recorder for January, 1889, gives the following statistics of missions in China: "The total of foreign missionaries—men, wives, and unmarried women—is 1,123, an increase of 93; native ordained ministers, 162; unordained native helpers, 1,278; communicants, 34,555, an increase of 2,295; pupils in schools, 14,817, an increase of 1,140; contributions by native churches, $44,173, an increase of $5,936."

Judges on Iowa Prohibition

SOME time since Governor Larrabee addressed to all the district and superior judges of Iowa a circular inquiring in regard to the working of the prohibitory law of that State, and asking for suggestions concerning it. Out of forty judges who replied, twenty-nine approved the law, eight had not the courage of their convictions, and so expressed no opinion, while three expressed themselves in favor of the repeal of the law.

The Law Written on the Heart

"The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. But when the sinner enters into covenant relation with God, and submits, according to the terms of the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34) to have the law written upon his heart, he is transformed by the renewing of his mind (Rom. 12:2); he becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17), and he can say with the psalmist: "I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right." And, "My tongue shall speak of thy word; for all thy commandments are righteousness." Ps. 119:127, 128, 172.

The Pope’s Temporal Power

ITALY'S penal code as it now stands is far from pleasing to the friends of temporal power for the Pope. According to its provisions it is a misdemeanor for the Roman Catholic clergy to advocate either in or out of the pulpit the restoration of temporal power. This state of affairs is not at all to the liking of the ambitious Leo; indeed, the situation is well-nigh unendurable to him, and it is stated that he will shortly formally appeal to the powers of Europe to interfere in behalf of his temporal sovereignty. It seems scarcely probable that such an appeal would be heeded just at present, but it is not difficult to imagine a state of affairs which would make a majority of the great powers willing to favor the Pope in return for such favors as the Papacy could really bestow upon them.

Such interference on the part of some of the powers is no more improbable now than was the repeal of the May laws by Germany only a few months before they were wiped from the statute book of that empire in deference to the wishes of Leo XIII.

TRUTH AND LIFE.

THE holy Son of God most high, For love of Adam's lapsed race, Quit the sweet pleasure of the sky To bring us to that happy place. His robes of light he laid aside, Which did His Majesty adorn, And the frail state of mortal tried, In human flesh and figure born. The Son of God thus man became That men the sons of God might be, And by their second birth regain A likeness to his Deity.

SIN OF MURMURING

By H. F. Phelps

GOD'S OBJECT LESSONS. NO. 3.

SIN OF MURMURING.

I SAY it fearlessly, It is a sin to murmur. Judging, however, by their actions, some do not seem to think so. But I open my Bible and read: "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer." 1 Cor. 10:10. In verse 11 Paul tells us that these things happened unto them for ensamples. God did not make them murmur so that they could be ensamples of murmuring, and we thereby be the more adept in this art of murmuring, but they gave themselves over to a spirit of complaining, murmuring, and fault-finding, and then these very things were "written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come," with all their dread results of punishment and destruction.

In the history of the ancient people of God we see many notable examples, object lessons, if you please, examples of people who murmured and kept on murmuring till God's forbearance reached its limit, and quick punishment followed. And we do well that we take heed to these things, for by them God would teach us important lessons.

Some people murmur at almost everything; when it is not one thing, it is sure to be another. Their minds are prolific in invention of something to complain about. They complain of the weather; it is too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. There is murmuring in the family, and in the neighborhood, in the church, and out of it. The sermons are too long or too short. The singing don't suit. There is murmuring in the Sabbath-school. The lessons are too hard or too long. There is murmuring against our leaders, the elder, the deacon, the superintendent, or somebody else, but "my own dear self, I'm all right." We complacently rub our hands and act, if we do not say, "I am thankful that I am better than other men." But read Ex. 16:8: "Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord."

Christ, the great Exemplar, says: "Murmur not among yourselves." John 6:43. But does it do any good to complain? Can we make one hair white or black? Suppose there are some things in this vain world that are not just to suit our minds, or suppose there are some things that are positively wrong, will it improve matters to murmur about them, to whisper our discontent, and be sure to make all feel our dissatisfaction? Who says it will? If it will not, why indulge in it? Who first began the work of murmuring if it was not Satan himself? Did he gain anything by it? Will you gain by it? He was debased, driven from the presence of God, and he will fall lower and lower, till he will come to ashes in the sight of all that dwell upon the earth. And this will surely be the lot of all who do not overcome the spirit of murmuring.

But look for a moment at the object lessons that God sets before us in his word. There was Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a family murmurer, and she was punished with leprosy. Read Num. 11:1, 4-9, 33, and we may find some neighborhood murmuring. And the plague fell upon them and many died. On the occasion of the return of the spies, there was a regular neighborhood broil because some murmured. This spirit is catching. In this case it pervaded the whole camp. Chap. 14:1. But Caleb and Joshua were of another spirit, and tried to encourage them; but they would not be encouraged. They chose to look upon the dark side. They cherished a spirit of unbelief, and were filled with unbelief; they cherished a spirit of murmuring, and they were filled with it. They could drink of the very spirit of which they desired. And God said, "Your carcasses shall fall in the wilderness." And the spies who had brought up the evil report, died right then and there. Tell me, kind reader, is there no sin in murmuring?

But I am not yet done. There were some who murmured against the chosen leaders of God's people, and some who aspired to the highest position. Not satisfied with the place assigned them of Providence, they aspired to the priesthood also. They viewed things in a perverted light. Please read all of that intensely interesting chapter, Num. 16. The earth opened her mouth and prepared herself their grave. Why?—They murmured, and in this they sinned against God. And fire consumed the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense. Now, dear reader, I pray you put that spirit of murmuring far away from you. Indulge it no more. Consider these examples; learn the lessons designed; and may we meet among the saved.

H. F. PHELPS.

IDLE WORDS.

If a pebble is dropped into a smooth body of water, the circle extends to the furthest shore. Throw it into the air, and, according to the laws of attraction, the earth is drawn towards it. Everything has its influence to a greater or less degree. Words are little things, but have a great effect for good or evil; "for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." The wise man has said, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." James says, "If any man offend not in word the same is a perfect man." How many idle words are spoken none can tell, even among those who profess to be followers of Christ. Paul admonishes us not to have foolish talking or jesting among us. Eph. 5:4.

I was acquainted with a minister who was very much given to jesting and foolish talking. He caused much trouble in a family. As the sister read these verses for the morning lesson, she wept, saying, "I knew all the time it was so written, but I thought he could not do wrong, that he was pure as an angel;" and yet his foolish talking was plainly manifest.

A man under deep conviction sought counsel of a minister. While in their conversation, a fast horse passed by. The minister said, "That is a nice stepper."

The man said, "I thought if that was all he cared about my soul, he did not think religion was very valuable." Only one idle word, what mischief it may do! Its influence will be felt as long as time lasts; and in the Judgement, man shall give account thereof. In the language of the psalmist let us pray: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." "O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise;" and keep me from speaking idle words.—Selected.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EASTER.

By Chas. A. S. Temple

"THE ancient pagans had their temples, altars, images, sacrifices, and sacerdotal orders. They were accustomed to a great number of pompous and magnificent ceremonies in all their religious worship."—Moshiem, vol. 1, p. 66.

In that worship they had also certain great festivals, some of which were celebrated with great elaborateness and display. But "the simplicity which is in Christ," the most remarkable feature of the Christian worship, rendered all such things, except houses for that worship, wholly superfluous, and as appointments or ordinances for Christian observance, blasphemous and profane. Yet this very simplicity was regarded and treated by both Jews and pagans with unmitigated scorn and contempt. (Moshiem, vol. 1, pp. 30, 66.)

To remove, in some measure, this prejudice, and to render their religion and worship more attractive to their heathen neighbors, the early Christians began to increase the number and magnificence of their rites, observances, and ceremonies. Even in the first century festivals and other pagan observances began to be introduced. Thus it appears that the real object or motive of the Christians, in introducing and adopting the festival, was widely different from that which they professed. Their professed object, the honor of Christ, was but a flimsy excuse for a weak, mercenary, criminal concession to pagan vanity, arrogance, and hate. It betrayed, on the part of the Christians, an utter lack of that firmness, consistency, and fidelity to the cause of the Master, which it was both their privilege and duty to maintain. No doubt it was in allusion to this fact that Paul wrote (2 Thess. 2:7), "The mystery of iniquity doth already work;" for probably before his very eyes the Christians had begun to celebrate, by a pagan festival, the anniversary of the resurrection of Christ. By what name the festival was then called among Christians, history does not inform us. In succeeding ages, the Latins called it Pascha. (See Moshiem, vol. 1, p. 68.) Later it received its present name, "Easter." The Asiatic and Western Christians differed, somewhat, in their views of the proper time for its celebration. This caused sharp and vehement contentions, which were not terminated till A. D. 325, when a decree of the Council of Nice rendered the time of the celebration of Easter the same in all the churches. (See Moshiem, vol. 1, pp. 45, 66, 69.) Such, in brief, was the origin of Easter, as a so-called Christian observance. It has no basis in Scripture, as we shall further see.

When Christ came the Jews, unmindful of the divine prohibition, as also the lessons of experience, had adopted some of the rites and ceremonies of the pagan worship, and had incorporated them, as ornaments, into the service of the temple, to embellish and adorn the ritual which they had received by divine appointment. (Moshiem, vol. 1, pp. 2, 3.) In the divine statute, "Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: . . . thou shalt not add thereto" (Deut. 12:29-32), it is easy to see that this conduct of the Jews was not merely inexcusable, it was criminal. It merited, therefore, as it afterwards received, the severest divine reprehension. How, then, could the Christian church innocently adopt, in the celebration of, at best, a quasi-Christian observance, any rite or observance which, as in the words just quoted, God had most positively, most emphatically, forbidden? Does the word of God give that which to the Jew is law, but to the Christian is license? Are the thunders of divine denunciation against every form and feature of paganism, intended for Jews only? Do they fall inert and powerless and meaningless, at the feet of the Christian church? May she do with impunity and even with divine approbation what the Jew was so imperatively forbidden to do, and which, when done, brought down upon him such great and terrible judgments? Is God changeable, and will sin now go unpunished?

But what has the church done? Let us see. Her adoption of Easter was unauthorized. There is no warrant, expressed or implied, in the divine law. It is, therefore, an unlawful "addition" (Deut. 12:32) to the ordinances of divine appointment.

To celebrate that ordinance, the church adopted a festival, a rite or observance, abounding in pagan mythology, but unknown in the ritual of Christ. It was, as we shall see, a mingling of paganism with the Christian worship, of the worship of Ashtaroth with that of the true God, and so, of course, a violation of the divine command (Deut. 12:31), "Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God," and of that other equally explicit command (2 Cor. 6:17), "Touch not the unclean thing." Such a professed attempt to honor the Master, by celebrating an ordinance which he had condemned and interdicted,

was more than touching the unclean thing; it was, and is, literally, that "walking in the ordinances" of the heathen, so explicitly forbidden in the divine statutes. It was nothing more nor less than actual rebellion against divine law and command.

The following facts will shed still more light upon the origin and present pagan character of this great festival.

The ancient pagans, with entire unanimity, worshiped one and the same great "goddess of sensual love." The Babylonians and Phœnicians called her "Astarte;" the Egyptians, "Isis;" the Greeks, "Aphrodite;" the Romans, "Venus, Flora, Ceres," etc. Our pagan-English ancestors called her "Eostre," and the Saxons by the similar name, "Easter." She also had many other names, among which were the "Ashtaroth," of the Jews and Zidonians, and "Diana," of the Ephesians. The Roman Church has adopted her Saxon name, Easter, and applied it to the, now paganized, "Pascha" of the early Christians.

Like the ancient Romans, all those nations regarded her as "the patroness of lewdness, obscenity, and adultery." Her worshipers literally "rioted in licentiousness," and every kindred abomination. Her festivals were always regarded as "dedicated to lasciviousness and uncleanness." See Adams' "Roman Antiquities," p. 284, "Floralia."

According to the pagan mythology, "Venus was fond of flowers," and "wherever she went, flowers sprang up." (See "Appleton's Cyclopedia," art. Venus.) April was the most agreeable month to Venus, because it produced flowers, hence called "Mensis Veneris," the month of Venus. Her chief festivals were celebrated in this month, and from her Greek name were called Aphrodisia.

The custom of celebrating Easter with a great profusion of flowers is another sure mark of its Aphrodisio-Floralian origin, character, and relationship. Although "to Venus, young animals were sometimes sacrificed, the offerings usually presented were incense and garlands of flowers." (Appleton's Cyclopedia.) At her festivals, her temples, altars, and images were lavishly decorated with flowers. And just so with Easter in the Roman Church. At that festival her churches, altars, etc., exhibit the same dazzling display of flowers. To the shame of our common Protestantism, we have more than imitated that church, and the ancient pagans as well, in the celebration of this festival. In many Protestant churches flowers in garlands and wreaths and bouquets are scattered about, and festoons of flowers twined in every way conceivable and inconceivable. Flowers in pots and vases adorn (?) the pulpits, tables, niches, in fact everything. The Christian church, which should be, at all times, an example of the strictest fidelity to Christ, his words and ordinances and godly simplicity, becomes, on such occasions, a mere theater of pagan worship, ostentation, and display. What a spectacle for the Christian to contemplate, when, on the morning of "Easter Sunday," he enters a sanctuary, dedicated to the worship of the true God, and finds it all ablaze with these emblems of the ancient pagan worship. If he is at all acquainted with ancient pagan history, he cannot fail to see that the scene before him is but a repetition of the old Greek and Roman Aphrodisia, the ancient Roman Floralia. Venus, "the goddess of sensual love," "the patroness of lewdness, obscenity, and adultery," for the time being in full possession of, and holding high carnival in, the Christian church. Not until light and darkness can be assimilated, not until Christ and Belial are in "concord," not until the sanctuary and worship of God is metamorphosed into harmony and fellowship with idols and idol worship, can such a scene be in agreement with that beauty of holiness, that true devotion, worship in the Spirit, which becomes the house and worship of the true God. 2 Cor. 6:14-17. It is a profanation, a horrible sacrilege. It is akin to the sin of Manasseh, who erected a graven image and altars for idol worship in the temple of Jehovah. It is doing unto Jehovah the very thing so imperatively forbidden in that divine precept (Deut. 12:31), "Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God."

Thus it appears that this festival is by birth, by name, and by manner of celebration, a pagan; and that, too, despite the sanctimonious glamour with which the present professed object of its celebration has invested it. Its celebration, therefore, is the worship, not of Christ, but Astarte (Ashtaroth, Isis, Venus, Aphrodite, Flora), that paragon of lust, "the very incarnation of every kind of licentiousness" ("Two Babylons," pp. 8, 143), whose festivals were always "dedicated to lasciviousness and uncleanness."

Such was the origin, and such was and is the true character, of this most deceitful festival. For it we are indebted, not to Christ (he gave his church nothing of the kind), not to the apostles (they neither taught nor practiced it), but to the Church of Rome, that "hold of every foul spirit, that cage of every unclean and hateful bird, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." Surely, the origin, the name, and associations of this great festival ought to relegate it to the noisome source from whence it had its birth.—Chas. A. S. Temple, in Pagan Counterfeits.

THY WILL BE DONE.

Thy will, dear Lord, doth often run From mine a different way; 'Tis hard to say, "Thy will be done," On every darkened day; My heart grows chill to see thy will Turn all life's gold to gray.

My will is set to gather flowers; Thine plucks them from my hand. Mine reaches for life's sunny hours; Thine leads through shadow-land. And all my days go on in ways I cannot understand.

Yet more and more this truth doth shine Through shadow and through loss: The will that runs transverse to thine, Doth thereby make its cross; Thy steadfast will cuts straight and still Through pride, and dream, and dross.

But if in parallel to thine My will doth always run, All things in Heaven and earth are mine, My will is crossed by none; Thou art in me, and I in thee, Thy will and mine are done. —Selected.

GONE TO CANOSSA.

The Canadian Government has “gone to Canossa,” and stands hat in hand before the Pope. To explain, a few facts need to be stated and put together. The Eastern Province of Canada is mainly French in respect to race, and Romish in respect to religion and only moderately loyal in respect to political relation to Great Britain. Soon after the conquest of Canada, the estates owned by the Jesuits were confiscated by the British Government, and when in 1773 the order of Jesuits had been suppressed by Pope Clement all claims of the Jesuits to their possessions were extinguished. But in 1814 Pope Pius re-established the order, and since then Roman Catholic authorities have been demanding of the Province of Quebec that compensation should be made to the Jesuits. At last the Quebec Government has struck a bargain with the Pope, by which $400,000 is awarded to the Jesuits in consideration of this old-time claim. This act of the Provincial Government could not go into effect without the consent and support of the Dominion Government; but this has now been given.—The Advance.

DIVINE ANGER.

By Mich. Christian Advocate

It is not to be supposed that God is moved by angry passions such as characterize human life. He is never worked up into a fury of sudden wrath, vindictively pouring out his vengeance like a thunder-storm upon offenders. His anger is of a different kind. It is a principle rather than a passion. It is the law of his being and government by which he proposes to punish sinners. It is called his wrath, and is said to abide upon those who believe not on the Son of God (John 3:36). It is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

Punishment of sin is the effect of this wrath. The hard and impenitent heart treasures it up against the day of wrath. The accumulation of this wrath is the sinner's own act. God renders to every man according to his deeds. He gives eternal life to those who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, but metes out indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil. Read the second chapter of Romans for particulars of this awful visitation of the anger of God upon such as are contentious, and do not obey the truth. Language more terrific cannot be framed to show the inevitable harvest of woe which despisers of divine goodness shall reap.

Man is inexcusable for willful sin. He knows the truth and the way of life. After prolonged obstinacy he cannot hope to escape the judgment of God. Divine anger is the permanent, just, vengeful cloud which overcasts the sky of every persistent wrong-doer, and in time must inevitably break in overpowering destruction upon the soul. We read that "God is angry with the wicked every day." His anger against sin is constant. Wickedness is opposed to his nature as well as to his laws. It is a moral impossibility for him to look upon sin with allowance. He abhors it. It is as unlike himself as fire is unlike water, or as darkness is unlike light. He hates sin, denounces it, and will punish it. Sin is the only object of his anger. For misfortune, affliction, unavoidable ignorance, he has compassion, but he has no compassion for sin.

Sin must be either forgiven or punished. To provide for its forgiveness he has done all he could, and the responsibility now rests upon man alone. That responsibility is tremendous. It could not by any possibility be greater. It ought to make every sinner tremble. The old prophet observed that, "the sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites;" but it is to be feared that sinners and hypocrites in our day are not so easily alarmed. They are reckless, stupefied, dead. Unbelief has hardened their hearts. Yet God's anger changes not. He whets his sword against the wicked, and hath prepared for him the instruments of death. None may stand in his sight when once the cup of his anger is full and the word of judgment is spoken. The time is coming in the existence of every human soul when the awful reality of the divine wrath will be manifested, and either through grace escaped from, or through lack of grace entered into. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. There is a death which is eternal.

AND EMBRACED THEM.

WE read in our Bibles that the patriarchs saw the promises afar off "and were persuaded of them and embraced them." Heb. 11:13. The revisers have marred the beauty of this verse by substituting "greeted" for "embraced." Webster defines greeting as "saluting," "accosting with friendship," "paying respect to another." This is the modern way of treating God's promises, but it was not the way Abraham treated them when he gave up home and kindred. The word translated "embrace" in Heb. 11:13 is the intensive and reflexive form of the Greek spao, which means, to draw. The idea is, therefore, to draw somebody or something strongly to ourselves. This is not greeting but embracing. It is not the occidental politeness that lifts the hat and says, "Good-morning;" but the oriental demonstration of affection, like that of the father who ran to his returning son and fell on his neck and kissed him.

We have a touching instance of this oriental style in Acts 20:37, where we are told that the elders of Ephesus "fell on Paul's neck and kissed him." They did not shake hands and bid him good-by as we would do. No. They drew him to themselves and clung to him as a mother clings to the child from which she must soon part, or as the bride clings to the husband for whose sake she leaves home and kindred. The patriarchs were "persuaded of the promises." They believed that they were from God, or could not fail. This was their intellectual conviction, like that of thousands in our Christian land to-day. But if they had stopped there Abraham would have died in Haran, and the Old Testament, if we had any, would end with the eleventh chapter of Genesis. All the wonderful history of this man and his descendants turned upon the act set forth in that word "embraced." They took the promises into their hearts. They twined the tendrils of their affections and their hopes around them. Guided only by those words of the unseen God, they went forth, not knowing whither they went, and became strangers and pilgrims in the earth. By their sojournings, they testified to their faith in the promises, their living, loving, life-long trust in Him who spake to them in dreams and visions of the night.

We have more and better promises than the patriarchs had. We have some degree of faith in them. We have great respect for them. When they are read from the pulpit we listen reverently, and say in our hearts, That is true. We are glad that we are not heathen, ignorant of the promises, or skeptics, who scoff at them. We comfort ourselves with the thought that we are Christians, intellectually at least. But, alas, how rare is the faith of Abraham! How few live as if they had embraced the promises, confessing that they are strangers and pilgrims, and declaring that they seek a better country, even a heavenly!

Embracing means self-denial. If one meets a friend and his arms are full of bundles he must drop them before he can embrace his friend. If we are holding the world or any portion of it with the grasp of selfishness, we must let it go before we can take hold upon the promises. Abraham believed God when he was told to go to a strange land. And because he believed he obeyed. He went out not knowing whither he went. He clung to the word of promise as a wrecked sailor clings to a spar in mid-ocean. He gave up all else to live upon the word of God. And thus he became the father of them that believe. Like Abraham, the true heir of the promises must be a stranger and a pilgrim. He must endure as seeing him who is invisible. He cannot live a life of sense and a life of faith at the same time. He must empty his heart of the world before its tendrils can grasp the things that are set before him in the gospel.—Interior.

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