Earlier text: A DIVINE INDICTMENTRESPONSIVE TO THE VOICE.
By A Little One
THERE is a great chord of harmony struck by the divine Hand of love in heavenly places which vibrates and reverberates over mountain and valley, over river and ocean, to which our hearts, if attuned, will give a glad response. Did you ever note the answering tones given by the strings of a piano as it echoed a sound made in another part of the room? Our hearts should be far more responsive than the lifeless strings of the piano harp. If our hearts are “out of tune,” it behooves us speedily to have the great Master Musician touch them, for He is the Author of all harmony. That of the ripple of the brooklet, the boom of the mighty waves of ocean; the sweet strains of the stringed instruments, and those that seem to be breathing richest melody through their reeds when touched by the hand of one whose soul is filled and thrilled with the “great Amen;” the cheery songs of the happy little birds whose sole mission seems to be to fill the air with their joyous singing, and the happy voices and merry laughter and words of love of the little ones—the sweetest of all earth’s sweet music—yes, He is the composer of it all; He can attune us anew if we but go to Him. To what is your ear attuned? As the hurrying crowd passes along the busy street, the ear of one catches this sound, the ear of another that. The musician hears the notes of an instrument now and then as he hastens along, sounds unheard and entirely unheeded by the ordinary ear. The blacksmith hears the ring of the sledge as it falls upon the anvil in some distant shop. The engineer, listening for the directing notes of the captain’s bell, can hear it even in the midst of the roar of the foaming billows without and the clash and clamor of the machinery within. The motorman is mindful of the clanging gong which is unnoticed by others—he hears the warning note even through the noise and confusion of a crowded city street. So should each one of us be on the alert to catch the faintest signal of warning or direction—for with us, as with the motorman, to hear and heed is often a question of life and death. The violinist as he tunes his instrument, can, with his quickened sense of hearing, discern the guiding note and change the violin to accord with it, tho the hum of conversation and other sounds would make other and unaccustomed ears unable to detect the special note. The musician must have a correct and unchanging note to which to attune the strings of his violin—one which will give no uncertain sound. So also must we have a true and unchanging note to which to attune our lives. The key-note of one is money, of another is business, of another fashion and society, and of still another fame, and of others, but far too few, the Word of God. The ear of the willingly obedient child can hear the parent’s voice speak his name when others hear not. The ear of one who loves another, be it parent or child, friend or lover, is sensitive—love is ever quick to catch the first syllable of the voice of the loved one. The voice may be that of a person, pleasure, or ambition; it may be that of the art of music, poetry, painting, or one of the many other voices which are constantly calling to those around, but recognized only by those whose ears are in accord, especially with this or that voice, made so by love, duty, or cultivation. What is your key-note? For what voice are you listening? Sooner or later we will each one catch the sound we “strain our ears to hear,” for as we listen more and more for it, we will become the more accustomed to its peculiar and, to us, charming tones, and we will hear it, regardless of the noise and confusion around us. Who, in the midst of earth’s great babel, can distinguish the waves of heavenly sweetness which float earthward to soothe, comfort, and fill with joy the weary traveler to that “distant City”? It is only to the attentive ear that the heavenly voices can penetrate. As a true musician can feel the wondrous harmony in music, so also can the grand accord of heaven be heard and felt only by those whose lives are hid with Christ in God—there they can realize the perfect sweetness of perfect harmony. The voices of nature and revelation are messengers ever calling heavenward. Have you a listening ear for the “still, small voice” that you may hear and know the Voice of all voices whenever the Shepherd speaks? for He says, “My sheep hear My voice.” What voice are your ears alert to catch? What will be the end of following that voice, be it that of art or business, pleasure or duty? The following of some voices will lead, like the following of a “Jack-o-lantern” or “will o’ the wisp,” but to quagmires, sloughs of despond, and over precipices into the lake of death. Ah, there is a Voice that it is safe to hear and follow; that Voice will lead into green pastures, beside still waters, yea, and to its followers bespeak eternal life. How They Became Convinced
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.] FIVE years ago, in answer to the prayers of Christian souls, I found Him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, and peace came to my soul. “He sought me ere I knew Him; with cords of love He drew me.” A Hebrew by birth, I was taught to reject the One who is now the “fairest of ten thousand to my soul.” I kept Sunday for some time after my conversion, believing it to be the resurrection Sabbath, and having been told that the old Sabbath law had been abolished in Christ. Three times was I a backslider, denying my Lord openly. But the Lord in His mercy reclaimed me, and divinely healed me of many bodily ailments. At one time I visited a mission in Jersey City, and was impressed by their manner of keeping holy the seventh-day Sabbath, altho no special Bible readings were held on that subject. While there I learned many precious lessons of faith; was taught to look to Jesus for healing of mind and body. Praise the Lord for His healing power. Some time later I united with the Salvation Army, and while with them I was led to the home of a dear Adventist sister. She asked me why I kept Sunday, and invited me to some meetings led by Brother Carroll. There I was led to see Christ as the author of the Sabbath. Afterward I was baptized and received into the Adventist Church. I am continually receiving more light, and growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. The commission to “Feed My lambs,” and, “Feed My sheep,” has now a new meaning to me, for which I praise and thank God with all my being. ESTHER LEVY. I LEARN from the fourth chapter of Hebrews that the seventh day always has been the Sabbath, and only through faith in Christ can we enter into that rest. I learned years ago that Sunday got its name and its prestige from Paganism and Papalism, and in keeping it we do not obey the law of God. Since I have observed the true Sabbath I have had much greater enjoyment of the Christian life. I believe that if we keep the Sabbath in spirit and in truth, we will keep all the other commandments more perfectly. I could give many scripture texts in support of the seventh-day Sabbath, but will cite only a few. Gen. 2: 2, 3; Ex. 20: 8-11; 31: 12-17; Lev. 19: 3; Deut. 5: 12-14; Isa. 58: 13, 14; Eze. 20: 12, 13. Christ kept the Sabbath of the commandment (Luke 4: 16), and so did His disciples (ch. 23: 55, 56; Acts 13: 4, 5; 18: 1-4, 11). There is no Scriptural authority for Sunday. J. J. NABERS. WALKING WITH GOD.
By C. E. Locke
WALK humbly with God! The possibility of companionship with the Infinite presses us into the dust. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted! Greatness consists not in original talents, but it will be found wherever our heavenly Father is permitted to control and operate through our lives. Bunyan and Luther and Lincoln would have remained in undiscovered obscurity except that they permitted the great God to build His mighty thoughts into their humble lives. The measure of a man depends on how much of God he permits to enter into his life. All creation is full of God; the flower has more of God than the stone, the bird than the flower; but man is God's masterpiece. The masterpiece in marble or canvas is the work in which the artist has invested most of himself. God's investment in man is an intimation of the possibilities of the man who walks humbly with God. Mary Lyon used to say to her students: “If you want to serve your generation, go where no one else will go, and do what no one else will do.” It is the God-purpose which makes chapters of history! It is the God-thought which is the nucleus of individual glory and renown. The evolution of the good goes steadily forward. If a man would have a part in the great process of the world's redemption he must be good—and this he will come to if he strives to “walk humbly with his God.” —C. E. Locke, D. D. It is possible to desire a thing so strongly in our own way that we may never attain to its possession. The people of this generation are looking for life, as have the people of all past generations. It is easily possible so to use the life which is now in our possession as to preclude the possibility of our attaining to that life which is everlasting. The service of self will build a wall which will preclude all progress into that life which is beyond. So will the assumption, on our part, of the right and ability to construct for ourselves a way of salvation, in place of the way already provided. Some have sought and are seeking that future life by paths which lead in the opposite direction, paths of their own construction. These are they who invent plans for salvation which look beautiful to them, but which have no life goal at the end of the journey. The futility of such plans are so apparent to those who are seeking to follow in the way marked out by Him who only hath the words of eternal life, that they appear childish and pitiable; and yet, in these self-snares, thousands are going down every day. The one way—the only way—has been set before the world. God has dealt faithfully with His children in this life-journey. With line upon line and precept upon precept has He indicated the way, and then, in the garb of flesh, has the Son of God Himself marked out the way in foot-prints that can not be mistaken. John the Beloved, after enumerating the miracles of Jesus, and the signs which He did, declares: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” John 20: 30, 31. There is declared the purpose of the Gospel according to John. The words and doings of Jesus were not recorded by him for any other purpose than to prove to the people of every generation from then till now that there came into this world at that time the Saviour of men; that He had and has the power to forgive sins, to bring in reconciliation between man and his Maker; and to give eternal life to as many as would come to Him in full assurance of faith, and accept at His hands the gift which He is holding out to all the world. There is no other way. It is not for man to set himself up above his Maker and construct a plan for himself in which the purposes of God must work out. It would not be in harmony with infinite wisdom and power and foreknowledge for a variety of ways to be devised for man’s salvation. If there is more than one way, there is no way; but as God has made one way whereby man can be saved, we know that that is the perfect way. A variety of ways would mean imperfection in all, and that is beyond the realm of possibility. As it is not for fallen man to mark out for God a way in which he should be saved from the results of his fall, so it is not for man to cast aside this or that portion of the Word of God and say that it is not essential to man’s instruction in the way of life. Christ declares, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life;” and the Bible is written “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” Again: “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Then are the life and words of that One the most important instructors man can have in that way of salvation. In the multitude of voices that are calling from every quarter, now this way, and now that, let us listen for the voice of the One in whom lies man’s only hope of life everlasting. We must not discard His Word; we must not think to fashion to ourselves a plan of salvation. There is eternal life for all who will believe and follow in the way provided by One who is the very fountain of wisdom and righteousness and love. We can not afford to experiment in a matter of so great importance; for experimentation in the ways that are not true, means disloyalty and ultimate rejection of the way that is only true; and that means everlasting loss. The plan of salvation is a complete plan and needs no alterations or additions from man or any other creature. Accept it, believe, and be saved. DANIEL PERSECUTED FOR CONSCIENCE' SAKE.
Because the jealous presidents and princes of the Medo-Persian Kingdom could find no fault in Daniel's official administration, they connived to entrap him through his fidelity to the law of his God. “Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” This was oriental flattery in the highest degree, setting the king above all gods. It was the supreme distinction which Nebuchadnezzar had sought for himself, as king of Babylon, when he set up the image of gold for universal worship. The scheme of the princes was a double trap—primarily for Daniel, and secondarily to inveigle the unwitting king and make him a party to the scheme. The aged king was caught in the trap through the flattery of his counselors. “Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree.” But what about Daniel—he who, as a youth, had withstood the temptation to defile himself with the king's intemperate food and wine, when to refuse might have been a forfeiture of his life. Did he now obey the mandate of the king?—No; he had, amidst all the pomp and luxury of Babylon, remained true to his principles of faith and temperance. And now that he was an old man, not less than ninety years of age, he could not afford to sell his birthright for a mess of pottage at that late day. So he was not moved when he “knew that the writing was signed.” He deliberately went to his house, and, “his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” Of course the conspirators were watching him, in expectation that he would do that very thing, and then they would shortly be rid of him. They had based their hope of the success of their plot on Daniel's faithfulness to his God, and in this respect they were not disappointed. Then they made haste to report the matter to the king. They said: “Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king readily answered his flatterers, and said, “The thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” Thus were they doubly assured that the law was in harmony with their unholy purpose. So we find men to-day, men who profess better things than allegiance to a heathen government, employing like means to carry out sinister purposes. Men who assume the Christian name, and wear the ministerial garb, combine to secure secular laws designed to work hardship on those who conscientiously ignore the traditions of men. And, in support of these unjust laws, they will invoke a perversion of the scripture which enjoins us to “be subject unto the higher powers.” Such a perversion is a virtual claim of infallibility for human law-makers. Daniel's persecutors, feeling sure of their ground, as the king reasserted that the decree could not be altered, answered sneeringly, “That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.” This indicates the closeness of the surveillance that had been established over Daniel's movements. They were not fully satisfied with detecting him once at his usual devotions; they watched him all through the day, to see if he repeatedly disregarded the king's decree. This was in order to make a strong case against the object of their jealousy, and make sure of his conviction because of his persistent disloyalty. But the Spirit of God was evidently working upon the mind of the king, and enduing him with a keener discernment than he had manifested when, overcome by flattery, he consented to the decree. And the over-zealous manner of the princes, no doubt, helped to expose the real cause of their ardor. Therefore when the king understood the trickery of his counselors, he “was sore displeased with himself.” When Nebuchadnezzar made a like blasphemous decree concerning the worship of his golden image, and the men who were loyal to the law of God refused to obey, he was very angry with them, and was in haste to destroy them; but Darius, on learning of Daniel's fidelity to the law of his God, was displeased with himself for having made such a foolish decree. He realized that the loss of Daniel from his cabinet would be a serious loss to the kingdom, seeing that all his other counselors were men who could not be trusted. So King Darius “set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.” But, as is ever the case with the men who urge legislation to force the consciences of their fellow-men, the princes were relentless. They had laid a deep plot to work the destruction of one who was in the way of their ambition and could not be persuaded to yield their advantage. They persisted in their patriotic plea that the law must be enforced; that the man who would disregard the law of the land should suffer the penalty. But religious legislation by fallible men is always devoid of mercy, and the king, having twice committed himself, was at the mercy of conspirators who knew no mercy. Then he “commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions.” The working of the Spirit of the Lord upon the mind of the king was further manifest in his confession of faith in the power and grace of the God of Daniel. Daniel did not recant, when brought face to face with the penalty of the law, and apparently his firm stand for conscience' sake increased the king's admiration for him and confidence that his God would deliver him. This confidence was expressed in these words, “Thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee.” This confession was equivalent to a prayer of faith that it might be so. But as far as the law was concerned, the sentence was carried out; and to emphasize it, “a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.” In a future article we will notice how the purpose was changed, to the glory of God. THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT.
The “letter” of a command, law, or covenant is, according to the Standard Dictionary, “the literal or exact meaning or requirement of the words used; as, according to the letter of the law.” The letter of God’s law, and of every precept of that law, is, according to this recognized authority, “the literal or exact meaning or requirement of the words used.” The Spirit Behind the Letter.
It was the Spirit of God which inspired the words of God. 2 Peter 1:21. The words of God, therefore, express the mind of God toward His children. As the Spirit gave the letter, the letter is not, nor can it be, antagonistic to the Spirit. We may look upon the letter as the mere outward form, nevertheless, it is the form of truth. The Jews in the days of Christ made much of the outward form of the law. For this they were not rebuked. Rather it is expressly said by the apostle that they had “the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.” Rom. 2:20. God’s Word More than Form.
It is evident, then, that the letter of the law expresses “the literal or exact meaning” of God’s7requirement. Of course, there is more in God’s law than the mere form. “The words that I speak unto you,” says Christ, “they are spirit, and they are life.” It is the Spirit of God which gives knowledge; the Spirit of God is “the Spirit of truth,” and therefore not only is the spirit of the words knowledge and truth, but the letter of the words is “the form of knowledge and of the truth.” The one is essential to the other. The man who cries out for the letter alone is “alienated from the life of God.” And the man who cries out for the spirit alone and who says of the letter or form of the truth, Away with it, is moved by another spirit than that which inspired the Word. The Spirit of God in giving the Word chose its own instrument, and breathed through that instrument its own words. It chose its own form for the expression of the will of God. To say that the form is nothing is an insult to the Majesty of the universe, who chose it. It is despising His wisdom. When God would make man, He gave him a certain form, and placed within it life. The whole became a living soul. The form alone did not make the living soul,—the living, thinking man. The life alone did not make him. The two combined told the whole truth. But God did not put the soul and mind of beast or bird in the form of the man. There was the exact adaptation of form to life and intelligence. All this man and sin and Satan have perverted, but God’s plan was perfect. If we were told that the horse was a man, we would declare it false, because God has not written man in that form. He has not written the maple in the form of the larch, nor the larch in the form of the oak. Again and again in His Holy Word has the Lord shown us that He was particular in regard to the letter of the Word. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God.” Deut. 4:2. See also Deut. 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18, 19. The above words clearly show that the instruction must be heeded if Israel were to keep God’s commandments. And note also that it was not obedience to the mere letter of the law which God required, but it was the fullest obedience of its spirit; for thus we read: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” Deut. 6:4–6. But it was necessary, in order that this might be done, that there should be such regard for God’s words that naught should be added to them or taken from them. Love would not dwell in the heart of the person who would knowingly change the form of the truth. In all the building of the tabernacle and temple the instruction was explicit that they should be built like the pattern. Illustrations of Disobedience.
One of the first examples we have of disregard of God’s word is the case of Nadab and Abihu. The fire used to burn incense before the Lord must be the sacred fire from the altar, where it was constantly kept burning. But these men reasoned that the letter was nothing; there was no difference between that fire and any other, and so they reasoned that they would comply with the “spirit” of the law, and use “strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not.” The result of their rash disregard of the letter of God’s instruction is given in Lev. 10:1, 2. Another instance is recorded in 2 Sam. 6:6, 7. God had commanded the priests to bear the ark upon their shoulders, but it was evidently thought by them at that time: Now the principal thing is the carrying of the ark. Of course God has commanded us to carry it on our shoulders, but the letter killeth; we will therefore comply with the spirit of the law, and take it to its resting place in a better way. We will do better than the old way; we will make a new cart. They did so, and the displeasure of the Lord was again manifested, because they did not do His commandment “after the due order.” 1 Chron. 15:13. The “letter” is important. But are there not exceptions? Has not God sometimes blessed those who did not follow the law, but kept its spirit?—Yes, He has; but it was when “the form of knowledge and of the truth” was not known. The Philistines placed the ark of God upon a cart and sent it home, and the Lord’s judgments were lifted from the land. But they knew no other way to do; nor did they have the priests to carry the sacred chest. They acted on the best light they had. For centuries the church of God has been observing the first day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord. They had, to a greater or less extent, the true spirit of obedience, but they did not know “the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law,” and therefore God did not punish them for their ignorance. But now He is everywhere enlightening men in regard to the claims of His holy law. Everywhere is the question agitated, and everywhere is read the words of God: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” To the man who simply regards the outward letter of that law, God promises no blessing. He alone can keep the day holy who loves God with all his soul and has the commandment written in his heart. To those teachers before whom has come the plain command of God, and who have rejected God’s word as the letter that killeth, the Lord thus speaks: “Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned [made common] Mine holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned [made common, polluted], among them.” Eze. 22:26. The only safe path, the only blessed path, is to do in the spirit of the Perfect Pattern just as God says. SHALL WE OBEY GOD, OR MAN?
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God.” Rom. 13:1. This is a very plain declaration, and it would seem that there is no excuse for misunderstanding it. All the power that any man or any governmental body has is of God, the Source of all power; therefore every man and every governmental agency is under obligation to render due allegiance to God, and to make a legitimate use of the power with which God has endowed such individual or official body. Then the first duty of every one is loyalty to God’s authority—obedience to His will, which is expressed in His law. But sinful men are prone to pervert the gifts of God, whether of power or other endowment. So kings, governors, legislators, and other officials—just as ordinary individuals—often misuse their authority, and exercise their functions without regard to the will of God. In this way laws are sometimes enacted whose provisions contravene the law of God, and it is insisted that these laws must be obeyed, because we are enjoined to be subject to the higher powers. What, then, is duty? Duty is clearly seen when we reflect that the individual’s first duty, his prime allegiance, is to God; that no agency is authorized to intervene between him and the law of God, who is a still “higher power” than any earthly power. The Scriptures furnish abundant illustration of this principle. Daniel declined to eat the food ordered for him by King Nebuchadnezzar, because he would not defile himself before God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down to the king’s golden image, because the decree required him to disobey the commandment of God. For the same reason, Daniel refused to obey King Darius’ decree that no prayer should be offered to any one but himself for thirty days. Christ disregarded the traditions of the Jewish rulers, because they made of none effect the law of God. Peter and John disregarded the command of the Jewish council not to preach in the name of Jesus, and said, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” And on another occasion, before the same authorized power, when arraigned for persistent defiance of official command, “Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Moreover, all the martyrdom of God’s chosen servants has been on the plea that they disregarded the authority of “the powers that be.” Yet no class of people ever lived who were more obedient to the laws of the land, as long as these laws did not require disobedience of God’s law, no matter how unjust the human statutes may have been in other respects. REFERRING again to that important subject, “Back to the Land,” it is interesting to know that there is a way to restore the fertility of overworked grain lands. In the October Century Magazine, Mr. Gilbert H. Grosvenor discusses the subject, and describes how, by a process of inoculation, the nitrogen so necessary to productive grain land can be supplied to soil which has been robbed of its nitrogen by successive crops of wheat and other cereals. A current press despatch says:— Probably the most pleasing thing about the whole matter is, the nitrogen germs so necessary to the soil’s productiveness are furnished free by the Agricultural Department of this government, the letters patent having been presented to the department by Prof. George T. Moore, in charge of the laboratory of plant physiology of the department, who discovered how to practically utilize nitrogen germs. But Dr. Moore was not the real discoverer of the germs. It had been known for many years that the air we breathed contained all of the nitrogen so necessary to the soil, and it was known that certain plants, like the clover, bean, and pea, did not impoverish the soil as some of the grains did. It remained for Professor Nobbe, a German scientist, to discover, as Mr. Grosvenor declares, that the bean especially takes its nitrogen from the air and that it absorbs more than it needs, and actually enriches the soil with the surplus supply. Then he found that all of these plants had bulbs, or round tubercles, or nodules, attached to the roots, as if an insect had bitten them. He dissected one of these bulbs, and found it filled with bacteria that worked incessantly, absorbing nitrogen from the air to feed the plant. Then the professor successfully cultivated these bacteria, and a German company was actually formed to supply them to farmers in bottled form. They did not live because they had been too well fed by the professor, says Mr. Grosvenor, and hence were not used to working for themselves. In the soil they died. The company stopped manufacturing. Professor Moore cultivated a self-reliant disposition in his nitrogen bacteria. He did not overfeed them and they began to seek their nitrogen food themselves. Having obtained permanent bacteria, he found a bit of cotton would soak up millions of them. He then dried it, and in this form it is sent to the farmer, who is directed to soak the cotton in a solution of water, granulated sugar, potassium phosphate, magnesium sulphate, and ammonia phosphate. The solution is then mixed with five times the quantity of earth and scattered over a barren field, inoculating it with nitrogen germs that multiply and cause bountiful crops. One small package, it is said, will inoculate from one to four acres. The Creation Days and the Sabbath
Christianity declares—it doesn't argue the point—that the Holy Scriptures, as comprised in the Book known as the Holy Bible, are “given by inspiration of God,” and are therefore infallible evidence concerning every subject of which they treat. Therefore the Christian must implicitly believe that “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.” According to the infallible Word, these are irrefutable facts. These days were days marked by evenings and mornings. They were days marked by alternate darkness and light. From the fourth day onward the division between the darkness and the light was especially marked by the appearance and disappearance of the sun. But the darkness and the light were regularly separated, and evening and morning were regularly discerned before the making of the sun as the light-bearer. While the word “day” is sometimes used to signify times or seasons of greater or less duration, no other regular succession of definite days are known excepting the days of twenty-four hours. This fact establishes the correlative fact that the seventh day, which the Creator set apart and blessed, was a day of twenty-four hours—an evening and morning like the other six days. Thus is established the further fact that the setting apart of this seventh day was the establishment forever of a memorial institution, which should be a sign between the Creator and His commandment-keeping people. See Ex. 31:12-17. A Good Man in Troubled Times
A GOOD man shows himself at his best in the worst of times.—S. S. Times.