Earlier text: TREES“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Notice, it is not that we wait for righteousness by faith. That is the free gift of God, always open to every soul in the world, and does not have to be waited for a moment. Rather, it waits, in the long-suffering of God, for men to awake to receive it. The word is, We “wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” That is, righteousness by faith is the foundation of a “hope” not yet realized, but which is certain to be realized. What, then, is this hope?—It is the inheritance promised to Abraham—the eternal inheritance, which none can receive except they have eternal life. And none can have eternal life—the life of God—who have not eternal righteousness—the righteousness of God. This hope was referred to by Paul in his answer before King Agrippa: “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.” Acts 26 : 6, 7. The promise made of God unto the fathers was the promise to Abraham, which embraces the world, even the world to come. As it is written: “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11 : 9, 10. Paul said that it was for this “hope’s sake” that he was accused of the Jews, when he made his answer before King Agrippa. But before Paul was brought before Agrippa, he had also stood before Festus the governor; and before that, he had made answer before Felix the governor. And in his word before Felix, he said: “I have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24 : 15. But even before this, Paul had been obliged to stand before the Sanhedrin and answer; and there “he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.” Acts 23 : 6. Of the hope of the dead, and the resurrection of the dead; that is, even the dead have hope, if they be of the righteousness of faith; for it is written: “The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.” Prov. 14 : 32. Therefore again it is written: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” 1 Cor. 15 : 19. Not only in his life, but in his death, he who is in Christ has hope; and, being dead, his flesh rests in hope, as did that of him in whom all the hope and promises of God are yea and amen. The resurrection of the dead is an essential part of “the hope” which rests on righteousness by faith—this hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Indeed, the resurrection is the essential means of receiving “the hope.” For, though God promised to Abraham the land in which he sojourned, yet “he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on,” though “he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” Acts 7 : 5. And even at that time, the Lord taught Abraham that it was through the resurrection of the dead that he was to receive the inheritance. For, in his call to the offering of Isaac, in whom was called the promised “seed,” he was brought to the point wherein he accounted “that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” Heb. 11 : 19. It was through the seed only that Abraham was to receive the promised inheritance. And thus, in553his receiving that seed “from the dead,” “in a figure,” upon his accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, he was taught that that inheritance was to come to him through the resurrection of the dead. There is another bright element that enters into this hope which is begotten by righteousness by faith. Without the coming of the Lord there can be no resurrection of the dead. For he said to his disciples: “Whither I go, ye can not come” (John 13 : 33); but “let not your heart be troubled. . . . I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14 : 1–3. And so all the fathers, “having obtained a good report through faith,” “died in faith, not having received the promises,” “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Heb. 11 : 39, 13, 40. Therefore, “this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4 : 15–17. Thus the second coming of the Lord is the crowning essential in “the hope of righteousness which is by faith.” We can not have the inheritance without the righteousness of God. And even having the righteousness of God, we can not receive the inheritance without the resurrection of the dead. And having the righteousness of God, and the hope of the resurrection of the dead, there can not be the resurrection of the dead without the coming of the Lord in power and great glory. Therefore, they who have the righteousness of God, which is by faith, are ever “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2 : 13. And, so, it is the present truth forever that “we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” A LATE number of the daily Mexican Herald refers to the troubles in China, in the following intelligent and forcible words:— The internal troubles of China have precipitated the war with Russia before the latter country was ready for the conflict. The Siberian railway is uncompleted, and the dispatch of sufficient troops to Manchuria will be hindered by lack of railway communication. But at last the aroused and angry Chinese, their country threatened on every side, have grappled with the Russian Bear. A war, the consequences of which every competent observer feels to be momentous, has begun, threatening to draw into it all the civilized Powers keenly outraged by the barbaric slaughter of their subjects and citizens resident in the Celestial Empire. France will sustain Russia actively, and with large hopes of further acquisitions in the south of China. Germany has new interests to defend, and a horrible indignity to avenge. England, already at war in South Africa, must make new sacrifices to preserve her ancient prestige in China, and to conserve, if it be possible, her sphere of influence in the Yang-tse-kiang Valley. The United States, transformed, before our eyes, from a domestic and peaceful republic, into an aggressive Power, tending toward imperialistic methods, is almost unwillingly dragged into the mêlée. The American Republic is already trying to subjugate the Filipinos, and now finds herself fighting on the Asiatic mainland; and Seward’s memorable prediction, uttered in the United States Senate, in 1854, comes true.—“The Americans and the Russians will confront one another on the mainland of Asia” before the close of this century! Japan, alert, armed to the teeth; with a new navy, and a well-disciplined and numerous army; hot with ambition and spurred by necessity, direfully felt, for expansion, takes a leading part, her secret desire being to dominate in China, to become the tutor of the bigger yellow nation, and to keep white men from conquering the Orient. Here are all the elements of a colossal conflict. It is a tremendous time, and the vials of wrath are being opened on the nations. It is difficult now to see any assurance of peace; certainly there is no hope save in the utter collapse of China, and this is hardly to be looked for. And even then, would not the jealous Powers fall to fighting over the spoils? It is indeed a tremendous time, and will be only more tremendous. “The day of trouble is near, and not the echo of the mountains.” “Get ready, get ready, get ready.” America’s Policy in China
In the note of July 3, announcing to the world the policy of the United States in regard to China, it is declared:— The policy of the government of the United States is to seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace in China, preserve Chinese territorial and administrative ENTITY, protect all rights guaranteed to friendly Powers by treaty and international law, and safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire. Study that statement clause by clause, and you will get a glimpse of the mighty task which this nation has assumed in Asia. As a leading journal remarks:— Here the administration has conceded that its policy means the entrance of the United States into Asiatic politics. For no one can suggest how America can work actively for the ends outlined, without plunging into the politics of Asia up to the neck. The United States can no more preserve the “entity” of China without being a force in the complications of Oriental politics than it could set out to preserve the “entity” of Turkey without entering the politics of Europe. That the program is somewhat colossal will not be seriously disputed. In the first place, the United States is to seek for “permanent safety and peace” in China. Now a state of “permanent safety and peace” is manifestly an impossibility in the most advanced and well-governed of Western nations. The alien nation that seeks to keep China in a condition of perpetual peace must always be in China, prepared to prevent or put down civil war. To preserve Chinese “entity,” you must be ready to do a great many other things, such as enter foreign alliances that mean business. To keep China’s territorial domain as it is, you must be prepared to oppose the Slav coming down from the north, and the German pushing in from the sea. And when you “safeguard for the world,” instead of for the United States alone, the principle of equal and impartial trade, you pass beyond the realm of national interests, which alone concern properly the statesman. Just why the United States should set out to “safeguard the world’s” trading interests in China is a mystery. If the United States safeguards its own trade, it will do its full duty. It is not enough now to say that the United States is one of “the kings of the East;” but that she is, or at least proposes to be, the very chiefest of these. And so there are now no kings of the East, except the kings of the West; and these are “the kings of the earth and of the whole world.” “WE HAVE SEEN STRANGE THINGS TO-DAY.”
By v. s.
This was the exclamation of the multitude, near Jerusalem, one day when they brought unto Jesus a man stricken with paralysis, and had seen him restored, by the word of the Master, to health and strength. Every Bible reader is familiar with the circumstances. The friends of the stricken man, not being able to get near to Jesus on account of the crowd, had climbed up, and pushed aside a portion of the roof of the veranda of the house where Christ was sitting, and had let the man down through the opening, in front of Jesus. He, seeing their faith, immediately greeted the man with the astonishing words, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” The poor invalid looked only for the healing of the body, but found what is better, and always in God’s order, the healing of the soul. Then the scribes and Pharisees, ever ready to fall into skeptical haggling and complaint over the work of Christ, lifted up their hands in holy horror, and exclaimed, “Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” In their witch-pot breath of cynicism, they were ready to mix up divine healing and deliberate blasphemy against God, to gratify their envious spirit, never stopping to think that the two could not possibly go together. And Christ, perceiving their wicked thoughts, did not meet them with anger, but patiently took up the matter as it stood in their own minds, and put them to silence, by saying, “What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins (he said unto the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to-day.” They had indeed seen strange things; but they allowed what Christ had done to the man’s body to excite their wonder more than the greater work he had done to the man’s soul. To take a man who is unjust, and unclean in the sight of God, and make him pure, and upright, and justified, is the greatest miracle that ever was, or can be, wrought. And they who now decry the manifestation of miracles, affirming that the age of miracles is past, thereby cut off the great boon of conversion from all men since the days of the apostles. But that boon will continue till the end of time; and the last conversion that will take place under the third, and last, message of mercy, will perhaps be as notable an event of that kind as any in the past. Many strange things of this kind we have seen, and many more we hope to see. But thought will go forward, and assert its claim to other events that are strange things, which are peculiar to our own times. We are living in strange times. Taking the daily record of the newspapers, as a photograph of the times in which we are living, we can say of every day of our lives, We have seen strange things to-day. The outburst, in 1848, of the predicted anger of the nations (Rev. 11: 18) was a strange and unaccountable thing, if viewed outside of the light of prophecy on the subject; or, rather, the sudden and unexpected way in which the trouble was hushed up was the marvelous thing, from any human point of view. But just as strange are the foretold events that have followed right along since that time—the abnormal convulsions of nature, the sea and the waves roaring, storm and tempest and tidal waves, the threatened distress of nations with perplexity, rolling up portentous and heart-distressing volumes everywhere, till the prospect overshadows the world like a huge nightmare, the spell of which can not be broken,—is not this one of the strange things to be seen to-day? Assemble all these objects into one view, one huge, gloomy picture of the last days, and what can we say of it? Can those be discounted as pessimists who exclaim, “We have seen strange things to-day”? Well may we, like the disciples of old, be amazed over these things; but we can not glorify God on account of them, only as we see in them evidence that the word of God is true, and that he is bringing to pass what he has foretold, and is hastening on that day which is at once the day of his glory and of the triumph and reward of his saints. Wherever we look, we see strange things. Take, for instance, an object nearest home, our own country,—a country risen to the very acme of renown and prosperity through the excellence of the principles upon which it was founded, and the ability and integrity with which it has been managed,—a nation which has grown delirious with self-laudation over the success of the working of these same glorious principles, and now in the same breath repudiating that which has been its life and glory, its Declaration of Independence, and inimitable Constitution! Seeing this, have we not seen strange things to-day? And when we see the artful manner in which the nation is being drawn away from its former safe moorings, and roped in to the bewildering maze of evils in which the nations of the Old World are entangled, till it must bear its share of the burden of expense and perplexity, which are crushing the very life out of them; and how unconcernedly the rank and file are falling in with this condition of things, can we not say that we have seen strange things to-day? But, some one may say: “This nation has life and vitality, and it will endure. Things that would block the way and cripple the power of other nations can not phase this one.” So, the optimist, we know, dreams and sings. But let us ask, in all candor, of any one who is intelligent in regard to the nature of our times, how long before the influences now confessedly at work everywhere among the people of this land,—how long before these influences would, and will, reduce this government to the condition of those peoples whom Lord Salisbury pronounces to be decaying and dying nations—whose power is waning away, and who are hastening to their doom? No one would claim it could be long, for the example of other nations who have gone over the same course is too plain to be mistaken. Figures will not lie; and history is repeating itself. But we have not to wait even for this swift decadence; for this power, in connection with that other one called “the beast,”—a power which, to be sure, has run longer in sin, but not deeper,—is to be cast ALIVE into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Rev. 19: 20. That first power—the Beast—has rounded out the prophetic description given of it, by speaking, at the beginning of the last third of the present century, the great words that it was to utter just before it went into the devouring flame, in which it is to perish forever. Dan. 7: 11; 2 Thess. 2: 8; Rev. 19: 20. And this latter one—the Image of the Beast—is preparing to crown with honor, and laud to the very heavens, the first Beast, just when the God of heaven, in his wrath, is about to blot it from the face of his dominion. See last-cited references. When we see this nation turning its back upon this precious heritage of civil and religious liberty, which Henry Gannett, in his late work, called “The Building of a Nation,” says “has contributed more than any other single agency to the career of magnificent prosperity which this country has pursued, almost without interruption,” and when we see it oppressing its citizens for conscience’ sake, have we not seen strange things? But that which gives these things their startling significance is not only that they are so strange in themselves, but that they are the sharply defined precursors of the world’s coming funeral day. But the world is ignorant of them and does not see them,10because it has not studied the signs of the times. And seeing in these things no significance, they drowsily declare that there is no sign of his coming, for “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2 Peter 3: 4. They hear the truth, and think they have heard strange things, because they do not acquaint themselves with what God’s word teaches on these points. How often we hear them speak thus of the doctrines of God’s word. Just so the Epicureans and Stoics thought of Paul’s teaching. They said, “Thou bringest certain strange things to our ears.” Acts 17: 20. We would that listeners to-day would have the same interest as then, to learn “what these things mean.” How often have we had the same experience? But are there not some things among ourselves that should seem strange to us? To those who do not believe these things they seem strange; and their course, under such unnecessary blindness, seems strange to us. But have they not as much reason to look upon the course of us who profess to believe these things, as strange? Is it not strange that, making the profession we do, we display no more earnestness and zeal than we do to make them known to the world? Is it not strange that the different agencies established to promulgate these momentous doctrines are not abundantly sustained? Is it not strange that we manifest no more of the spirit of pilgrims and strangers, seeking a better country, and give no more evidence to the world that our inheritance is above, and that we are seeking a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God? And if men, with their dull perceptions, can discover such inconsistencies in us, what must be the feelings of angels, as, from their heavenly point of view, and with their more perfect knowledge, they look down upon our half-hearted and semiconscious efforts in the work of salvation for ourselves and others? “It is high time to awake out of sleep.” Must they not often be led to exclaim, as they look upon our divided hearts, and unstable course in the cause of the Prince of Life, “Lo, we have seen strange things to-day? What is the matter with that people who claim to believe that heaven and hell are trembling in the balances, soon to be their portion forever, and they no more alive to the situation, and no more zealous in their walk and conversation? They see the heavens and the earth full of startling signs that nature in her present condition is about to be laid in her last winding sheet; and while this is pending, they see the world lying asleep, and dreaming of a time of peace and safety soon to dawn upon them; but, stranger still, though professing to understand these things, and to know the course that events are about to take, and the results that will follow, they seem but half awake. They think themselves rich, but they are poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked. They know that the Lord is coming,—coming as a snare upon all the dwellers on the earth,—and yet they themselves live as permanent dwellers, not as pilgrims and strangers. They understand the subject of the sanctuary, and the closing work of Christ as the only High Priest above, and yet fail to study and sense the subject in its sublime importance. They know the King is soon coming in to examine the guests; but where is the wedding garment? This is a strange sight,” we imagine we hear the angels say. “What will awake the people to their duty and destiny?” But some will be overcomers, and will be saved; and such will soon see strange things of another nature. The great controversy will be ended, and deliverance will come. And they will be able to say, “We have seen strange things to-day.” We have seen the Lord take to himself his great power, and reign. We have seen all his foes cut off, and have seen them perish. We have seen the new heavens and earth come into a new creation before our eyes. We have seen the Sun of righteousness arise, all glorious, with his wings full of life and healing, and have seen the worn warriors with sin, don the robes of victory, and enter upon days which shall be as the days of the tree of life, and enter into a country where they will “long enjoy the work of their hands.” With reference to such scenes as these, may we not hope to be able some day to say, “We have seen strange things to-day”? v. s. THE LAW OF WORKS IS SUBSTITUTED FOR THE LAW OF FAITH IN MODERN BABYLON.
By W. W. P.
It would be profitable to read again with care the whole of the seventh chapter of Daniel, giving special attention to the latter part of the chapter, where the time for the rise of the little horn is declared, and the character of its work is described. The last preceding study in this series made it clear that in the papacy, modern Babylon, is found the fulfillment of this symbol, and the year from which its supremacy is to be dated (A. D. 538) was definitely determined, and its work in blaspheming God and persecuting his saints was considered. The next indictment against this power is that “he shall think to change the times and the law.” Inasmuch as his blasphemous words were against “the Most High,” and the saints worn out by him were “the saints of the Most High,” it is evident that “the times and the law” which he would think to change would be those of the Most High. It is proper, therefore, to inquire whether the papacy has done anything which would meet this specification of the prophecy. In order to give an intelligent answer to this inquiry, it is necessary to consider what is comprehended in “the law of the Most High,” and how man may obtain the righteousness set forth in it. The law of God as stated in the ten commandments is simply the revelation of his character as applied to human conduct. The eternal principles of truth and righteousness, which are the very essence of his being and the basis of his throne, are here put into a formal statement. “Thy law is the truth.” “All thy commandments are truth.” “All thy commandments are righteousness.” Ps. 119:142, 151, 172. As first created, perfect in his being and in harmony with God, in his image and after his likeness, man revealed his character as expressed in these commandments, and the divine life worked unhindered and unchecked in human flesh. But sin marred the image of God, and alienated man from the life of God, so that the glory (character) of God departed from the temple that he had created. “For all have sinned, and come short of [or lack] the glory of God.” With the loss of the glory with which he was originally crowned, came the loss of his kingship and his kingdom. It is the work of the gospel to restore the image of God in the soul, to bestow again the crown of glory, and to bring back the kingship and the kingdom. This is the gospel of the kingdom. But “the kingdom of God is . . . righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,” and “the kingdom of God is within you.” And as “righteousness by faith” is the only real righteousness, it is evident that it is only through faith that the lost character can be regained and the kingship restored. This is the warp and the woof of all the inspired teaching concerning the gospel. The gospel of Christ is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” In it “is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” By it provision has been made for restoring the image of God in man by “the gift of righteousness,” “even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” God hath set forth Jesus Christ “to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, . . . that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith. . . . Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:22-31. It is evident from this scripture that a personal faith in Christ as the Redeemer, “faith in his blood,” is the one and only way by which the gift of righteousness is received, and a sinful man is justified. Through faith in Christ, the law, by which “is the knowledge of sin,” becomes in him the very life of our life, the power of God unto salvation. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:2-4. In the practical experience therefore of sins forgiven and righteousness bestowed, everything depends upon the faith of the individual. “According to your faith be it unto you.” The natural man, in the pride of his own self-assertion, seeks either directly or indirectly to save himself by his own works, not being willing to acknowledge his entire dependence upon God, both for the gift and for the power with which to receive the gift. To him the whole law is, Do and live. This is the law of works, which always gives to man some ground for boasting. But this substitutes sin for righteousness,—“for whatsoever is not of faith is sin,”—puts man in the place of God, and ends in death instead of life. God’s plan for the salvation of man is just the opposite of that: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:8-10. To the all-sufficient inquiry, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” the answer is given, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” “Life through his name” by believing, and then good works as the fruit of this life.—“Live and do,—this is the law of faith,” which leaves no opportunity for rejoicing in the flesh. (This study to be concluded next week.) PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE REMNANT.
By S. N. H.
We are living in the most important period of this world's history. As we near the second coming of Christ, the perils increase on every hand. Time has continued longer than many expected, and this, instead of creating more earnestness and devotion, has the opposite effect on many of the people of God. All should remember that God's mercy and probationary time have a limit. It was when the fullness of time had come that God sent forth his Son. Not another day could be granted to the world before Christ did come; and so with probation, the end of which is just before the people of God, there is a limit; but where that boundary line is,—the moment, the day, the year,—is not revealed in the Bible. The great anxiety therefore on the part of the people of God should be to have an experience that will stand the test. This experience will be of no ordinary character; the evidence of our acceptance should not rest on any manifestation of power in healing the sick or in casting out devils, or even of zeal itself; for Christ says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7: 22, 23. The persons here referred to have prophesied, or thought to prophesy. They think they have cast out devils and done many wonderful works, and this they say they have done in the name of the Lord. It is useless for us to give this scripture all away to those who do not believe the Third Angel's Message; many who profess present truth will be among the number. To understand the word of God, and to have an experience that is in harmony with it, is of the utmost importance.555 The apostle Peter, in speaking of his experience with the Saviour upon the mount, when he heard the words, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” says, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy.” 2 Peter 1: 19-21. Any experience that does not cause a person to rejoice more in the Word than in the manifestation of the power of God, or in a special revelation of his love, is very questionable. The disciples on their way to Emmaus, mourning over Christ's death, said, “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.” The Saviour could have relieved their feelings in a moment of time; but there was something more important than this, and so he began by saying, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24: 25-27. The most important thing was for them to learn from Moses and the prophets in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. When this was done, and he had opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures, they were prepared for a revelation of himself. We should have a personal experience with God. Every Christian will have this, and will know that God forgives his sins and accepts him. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Rom. 8: 15, 16. And even more than this: “He . . . hath given unto us the earnest [or assurance] of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” 2 Cor. 5: 5, 6. But this experience, unless it gives a relish for the word of God, is not to be relied upon. The word of God becomes a test, and that word is the prophecy that relates to the time in which we live. There is still another test, which, considered from the standpoint of the experience of John the Baptist, becomes equally important. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. He was the greatest prophet that ever lived upon the earth. No man born of woman was greater than John the Baptist. His life reached the height of self-abnegation. This the Scriptures plainly reveal. When the Saviour came to be baptized of him in Jordan, John felt the holy atmosphere surrounding the Son of God. He was different from those who had come confessing their sins, so John forbade him, saying, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” Considering the character of John the Baptist, and his feelings when the Saviour approached him to be baptized of him, it would seem that there could be no mistake in his experience: yet his own words are, “I KNEW HIM NOT: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” John 1: 31-34. John was a prophet, but he did no miracles. God had revealed to him that when he was baptizing in Jordan, Christ would come, asking for baptism at his hands; and yet he did not know him until that which he had seen in vision was fulfilled; namely, the Holy Spirit descending and remaining upon him. Here was his experience confirmed by the living testimony, which was the crowning evidence that Christ was the Messiah. So in the church to-day, John becomes a representative. The living testimony is in the church, and our experience must be in harmony with that living testimony, or else it is questionable. No wonder the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who have the testimony of Jesus Christ, or the Spirit of Prophecy. Rev. 12: 17; 19: 10. The living testimony in the remnant is to be a test of genuine Christian experience. Whenever we find anything in our hearts rebelling against the plain commands of God, revealed in the word of God or in the Testimonies given by the Spirit of God, we are on dangerous ground. It makes no difference how “happy” and “free” we may be feeling, we are being deceived unless that freedom comes from obedience to God's requirements. David says, “I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies also.” Ps. 119: 45, 46. S. N. H.