Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 13.

Increase of Crime

Review and Herald

Mar 9, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 9, 1916

Increase of Crime

RECENT statistics gathered by Frederick L. Hoffman, from an investigation of the records of thirty cities, indicate that the rate of homicide for the past year was 8.6 per cent of every hundred thousand of our population. In other words, the total number of persons murdered in the United States during 1915 approximated 8,000. Contrasted with the two previous decades, the decade just closed shows an alarming increase. Regarding this situation the editor of America (Catholic), under date of January 8, says:—
“The conclusion is obvious. Life is held far cheaper than it was ten years ago, and far cheaper than a quarter of a century ago. The increase in murder is a deplorable thing in itself, but it is also a symptom of the passing of the moral standards that have given to our people the vitality and the prosperity that have made us an object of envy to the world. Increase in divorce, increase in suicide, increase in the shamelessness of literature, art, and drama, are other indications of the accelerated retrogression away from Christianity toward paganism. It is time to call a halt. It is time to stop playing with trifles and striking at shadows. The ax should be laid at the root. And the root is the irreligious spirit that is so rife among us.”
It is time to call a halt, but how shall this be done? How can this terrible tide of lawlessness which is setting in so strongly be turned back? It cannot be done by legislation, although of course that is necessary. At best the civil law can only restrain the outward acts, and so long as the heart, which is the source of all life's issues, remains unchanged, there is very little hope of raising the status of society. There must be on the part of the great Christian church an awakened consciousness of sin. The moral conscience of the individual must be aroused and educated. The state cannot undertake this work. It is a work which must be done in the home and by the church.

How to Make a Church Prosper

DR. O. L. WILLIAMS, in a recent number of the Christian Advocate, offers some very practical suggestions as to how to make a church prosper. These suggestions are well worthy of consideration, not alone by members of the Methodist Church to whom they were addressed, but by the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We present them as follows:—
“There is a sure way of prosperity. It has never failed, and never can. The following rules observed by all the members of any church will insure good days. If the church is decaying, the decay will soon be arrested. If it is standing still, it will soon begin to grow. If it is already flourishing, it will grow more rapidly.
“1. Attend all services regularly. If possible, be on time; you need at least five minutes after coming in to find a seat, and to compose body and mind for the service.
“2. Never miss a service needlessly. If you have visitors, invite them to go with you; they will respect you more as a Christian if you are faithful to your duty.
“3. If it rains or snows, make a special effort to go. Our churches stand much in need of storm-proof religion.
“4. Take part in the service. You go to worship, not to be entertained.
“5. Be devout in every attitude; all whispering should be studiously avoided. Find the hymn, and sing it if you can; and share the book with your neighbor.
“6. Speak to strangers, and invite them to come again; a hearty handshake will add much weight to the invitation.
“7. Be friendly to all. Remember hand-shaking has not gone out of style. A hearty Christian greeting means much by way of cheer, comfort, and encouragement.
“8. Accept gladly any work assigned you. If the pastor or some one else is struggling under a load, take hold and help. At least, do not increase the burden.
“9. Always show proper respect for others’ opinions.
“10. Never encourage strife, but be a peacemaker. Peacemakers, you know, are called ‘the children of God.’
“11. Avoid gossip as you would an enemy; it is one of Satan’s best agents for starting church troubles.
“12. Give cheerfully, according to your ability. The Lord has dealt bountifully with you; hence you should be liberal to his cause.
“13. Take a church paper. Church members should keep posted on the affairs of their church.
“14. Think of services through the week, speak of them to others, and pray that they may be attended with divine blessings.
“15. Pray for the sick and the poor. Help the Lord to answer your prayers.
“16. Pray for the pastor. His usefulness will be greatly increased by the daily prayers of all the people.
“17. Pray for some unsaved soul in particular.
“18. Pray, pray, pray! Keep prayed up to date. No Christian should be back in his prayer accounts.
“19. It is a great deal braver to try to do something to better conditions than to stand around and criticize. If you mean to help along, don’t get in front and block the way. Get behind and push. You will then see how little you feel like finding fault with the burden bearers after you have shouldered your part of the load.
“20. In short, pray, praise, push, and keep sweet!”

Note and Comment

No Bible, No Message

He who cannot accept the Word of God as inspired and infallible has no message of salvation for his fellows. This is the dying testimony of Dr. Sylvanus Stall. Dr. Stall will be recognized as the author of the series of “books on avoided subjects,” embracing such works as “What a Young Boy Ought to Know,” “What a Young Husband Ought to Know.” A short time before his death he made in an address the following statement regarding his faith in the Word of God, which was read to those assembled around his open grave:—
“I have reached the end of the journey upon which you are just entering. I have a message for you from my open grave. Let me impress upon you the importance of a full, unqualified, and complete acceptance of the Scriptures from cover to cover as the inspired and infallible word of God. If you cannot accept it as such, let me say to you, you will have no message, and you ought never to enter the ministry. Preach Jesus Christ, and him crucified as the only hope of the sinner, and the only Saviour of a lost and ruined world. Live and labor for God and humanity.”
It is indeed true, as Dr. Stall states, that all who do not accept the Word of God as inspired and infallible have no message for their fellows. In their failure to do this is found the weakness of many men of master minds at the present time. In proportion as the great Christian church and its leaders have given up faith in the Scriptures of truth and discounted its cardinal doctrines they have lost the power of gospel evangelism. To one who will receive it as such, the Word of God today, as in every age of the past, will prove spirit and life and power.

The Great Earthquake

By L. L. C.

Signs of Christ’s Coming — No. 1

THE SCRIPTURES make it plain that Christ will come back again. They are equally clear in pointing out signs by which we may know approximately the time of the event.
It is our duty to study that we may know whether we are yet nearing the time of the end of this world’s history and the beginning of the eternal kingdom. As one writer has said:—
“All will admit that time is not eternity; that this current which we call time, this streamlet, this tiny streamlet, which we think so mighty, but is really so minute in relation to the infinite space, will one day merge in the eternal main. If God has given hints of the when, and indications of the places that we have reached in the course of its flow, can it be irreverent to study them? or rather, is it not infidel to refuse to read and study what God has written?”—“The End,” by John Cumming, D. C., F. R. S. E., Boston, John P. Jewett & Co., 1855, p. 3.

The Great Earthquake

In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we find recorded Christ’s answer to his disciples’ inquiry as to the signs of his coming. After speaking of the persecution of the Middle Ages, he says:—
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
These same signs are given in the words of Rev. 6: 12-17:—
“I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
Here we find mention of a great earthquake as taking place before the darkening of the sun and of the moon, and the falling of the stars. And history records the occurrence of a great earthquake at just the time indicated. The great Lisbon earthquake occurred as the period of papal persecution drew to a close.
The author of the following quotation considers that in some respects this earthquake takes first rank among all recorded earthquakes:—
“Among the earth movements which in historic times have affected the kingdom of Portugal, that of Nov. 1, 1755, takes first rank; as it does also, in some respects, among all recorded earthquakes. The first shocks of this earthquake came without other warning than a deep sound of rumbling thunder, which appeared to proceed from beneath the ground, and it was immediately followed by a quaking which threw down almost the entire city. In six minutes sixty thousand persons perished.”—“Earthquakes,” by William Herbert Hobbs, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1907, p. 143.
Of the extent of its effects, J. Nourse says:—
“The effects of the earthquake of the first of November, 1755, were distributed over nearly four million square English miles of the earth’s surface; a most astonishing space! and greatly surpassing anything of this kind ever recorded in history.”—“The History and Philosophy of Earthquakes,” London, 1757, p. 334.
James Parton, in his “Life of Voltaire,” tells of the widespread alarm which this caused:—
“The Lisbon earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755, appears to have put both the theologians and philosophers on the defensive. . . . At twenty minutes to ten that morning, Lisbon was firm and magnificent, on one of the most picturesque and commanding sites in the world,—a city of superb approach, placed precisely where every circumstance had concurred to say to the founders, Build here! In six minutes the city was in ruins. . . . Half the world felt the convulsion. . . . For many weeks, as we see in the letters and memoirs of that time, people in distant parts of Europe went to bed in alarm, relieved in the morning to find that they had escaped the fate of Lisbon one night more.”—Vol. II, Houghton, Mifflin Company, N. Y., 1909, pp. 208, 209.
Thus we see the fulfilment of this first sign given in the series of signs of the approaching day of the Lord. We will next consider the darkening of the sun and moon. L. L. C.

Labor for the Erring

By F. M. W.

“BRETHREN, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Gal. 6: 1.
“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.” Luke 17: 3, 4.
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.” Matt. 18: 15-17.
The Scriptures of truth give plain and definite instruction as to the course to be pursued toward a brother who has fallen into sin. The one who undertakes such labor should determine first of all his own relationship to God. He should make sure that his own experience is clear, that his sins have been confessed and forgiven, that there is nothing in his life that can prove a stumblingblock to the one who has fallen under the power of temptation.
He should undertake the labor for his brother in a spirit of meekness, considering the weakness of human nature, and the natural inclination to sin which exists in his own heart when brought under the power of the tempter. He should go tothe offending brother in the spirit of forgiveness, both for any personal wrong which has been done him, and, as a representative of the church, for any wrong which may have been done the church.
The labor he puts forth should be direct and personal. He should not parade his brother’s faults before the church; he need not report to the church officers. The instruction is, “Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” How many times has this command been violated! It is easier to tell another of our brother’s fault than to go to him alone. It is easier to report it to the church officers and place the burden upon them.
There is a growing tendency in the church to do missionary work by proxy. It is easier to pay the minister and the Bible worker to do missionary work than to do it ourselves. It is easier to send a representative to heathen lands than it is for us to forsake home and friends and undertake such service. This representative missionary work is necessary. Indeed, it exists in the order of God. It has ever been the purpose of the Lord that men should be set apart for his service, and that they should be supported by their brethren in their labors; but Heaven never designed that the spirit of representative missionary work should so dominate the experience of the believers that they would cease direct personal missionary effort.
We cannot commercialize the religion of Jesus Christ. It is right that we should give liberally and unsparingly of the money of which Heaven has made us the stewards. Indeed, if we are wholly consecrated to God, all that we have and possess will be placed upon his altar. But let us never come to feel that this phase of missionary work can take the place of direct, personal missionary effort which the Lord wishes us constantly to put forth for those within our reach. So we say again, that in seeking to help our brother who has fallen into error, our first effort should be not by proxy, but by direct, personal, face-to-face labor.
If this spirit of labor actuated every member of the church, how greatly it would revolutionize our church life! The tattlers and gossipers and scandal-mongers and grumblers and growlers would cease out of Israel. The faults of brethren would no longer be topics of conversation for little cliques and circles. At the family board more ennobling themes would absorb our interest.
Shall we not resolve by God’s grace to put out of our lives the cruel spirit of criticism which some of us have cherished? Shall we not determine that where differences exist between us and our brethren, we will go to them, and according to the instruction of the Word, seek reconciliation? And shall we not also resolve that if we see our brethren and sisters making mistakes, if we see them consciously or unconsciously pursuing a course of evil, even though their course in no wise affects us, in place of talking about it to others we will go to them directly and personally, and seek to reclaim them?
Failing in this personal effort, the Scriptures instruct us to take with us one or two others, and go again to our brother, and seek to reclaim him from the error of his way. We are not necessarily to call to our aid those who may see the question from our bias, but we are to seek the assistance of men who are spiritually minded, and see if as the result of united effort the erring brother may not be reached.
It is only after these united efforts, put forth perhaps not once, but many times, have failed, that the matter should be brought before the church, to see if the church by its united prayers and persuasions may not secure that which weaker effort has failed to accomplish.
When we realize that the soul of an erring brother, even though he has done us a great personal wrong, is as precious in the sight of God as the soul of the heathen, and when we are willing to put forth as earnest effort for the heathen at home as for the heathen abroad, we shall see miracles of divine grace wrought in bringing back to Christ those who have wandered from the path of his commandments.
Failing in its efforts to reclaim the one in error, the duty of the church is clearly indicated. It cannot fellowship evil. It cannot harbor in its membership those who by their lives bring discredit on the cause of Christ. By their own course of action they have virtually separated themselves from the church. It is incumbent upon the church to declare the fact of this separation.
“No church officer should advise, no committee should recommend, nor should any church vote, that the name of a wrong-doer shall be removed from the church books, until the instruction given by Christ has been faithfully followed. When this instruction has been followed, the church has cleared herself before God. The evil must then be made to appear as it is, and must be removed, that it may not become more and more widespread. The health and purity of the church must be preserved, that she may stand before God unsullied, clad in the robes of Christ’s righteousness.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VII, pp. 262, 263.
But even after this action has been taken, the members of the church must still put forth effort to draw the erring one back to his Lord. Even as they labor for the heathen and the publican, so should they labor for this soul.
“If the erring one repents and submits to Christ’s discipline, he is to be given another trial. And even if he does not repent, even if he stands outside the church, God’s servants still have a work to do for him. They are to seek earnestly to win him to repentance. And however aggravated may have been his offense, if he yields to the striving of the Holy Spirit, and by confessing and forsaking his sin gives evidence of repentance, he is to be forgiven and welcomed to the fold again. His brethren are to encourage him in the right way, treating him as they would wish to be treated were they in his place, considering themselves, lest they also be tempted.”—Id., p. 263.
Let us seek to live in all good conscience before God and with our fellows. In this experience we shall find holy, uplifting power and satisfying peace and joy.
“Wouldst thou an erring soul redeem, And lead a lost one back to God? Wouldst thou a guardian angel seem To one who long in guilt has trod? Go kindly to him, take his hand, With gentle words, within thine own, And by his side a brother stand, Till thou the demon sin dethrone. “Scorn not the guilty, then, but plead With him in kindest, gentlest mood, And back the lost one thou mayst lead To God, humanity, and good, Thou art thyself but man, and thou Art weak, perchance to fall as he; Then mercy to the fallen show, That mercy may be shown to thee.”
F. M. W.

Self-Examination

By G. B. T.

THE apostle Paul exhorts, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Cor. 13: 5. We are to examine ourselves, not others. Some men, professed Christians, are very active in examining others. Defects are found, and commented upon. But, my brother, have you any defect? Do you make any mistakes? Are you perfect? If you are imperfect, how can you feel free to climb on the throne and judge others? It is those who are without sin who are to throw stones at other people.
Self-examination is all right. We can deal with ourselves as critically as we please; and we can do this much more understandingly than we can investigate and dissect the characters of others. We know our own failures; we do not understand others. We cannot read the heart; God alone can do this; we should not try. But with the wickedness and deceitfulness of our own hearts we can deal intelligently. Its depravity we can examine, and on our knees before God we can confess our sins and implore him to cleanse the soul.
But it is much easier to deal with other people's shortcomings than with our own.
“So easy to say what another should do, So easy to settle his cares, So easy to tell him what road to pursue, And dispose of the burdens he bears. It is easy to bid him be brave and be strong, And to make all his shortcomings known; But oh, it’s so hard when the care and the wrong And the dangers we face are our own!
“It is easy to stand in the other man’s place When our comforts of life are assured, And the sting of the rain beating sharp in his face By him must be bravely endured. It is easy to tell him the path he should take And bid him laugh at his care, But oh, it’s so hard when it’s our hearts that ache, And we have the burdens to bear!
“We all know the things that another should do, His faults are like books on our shelves; We can ponder them over and read and review, But we haven’t a book on ourselves. We can settle the other man’s problems each day, His griefs we can calmly discuss; It is easy to sweep all his troubles away, But we can’t do the same thing for us.
“The need of another it’s easy to see When our own wants are all satisfied; Brave and courageous it’s easy to be When it isn’t our souls that are tried. But oh, it’s so hard when we’re stumbling along, To keep ourselves steadfast and true! It is easy to tell some one else to be strong. It’s easier to talk than to do.”
How kindly and gently we should deal with others! We should try to place ourselves in their position, and as far as possible carry their burdens and sorrows. God is judge; he looks at the motives of the heart, and weighs our needs in the balances of love. If one is in error, we should first go to him, and in kindness and love seek to enlighten him upon the point on which we may think he is making mistakes. When we get his view of the question, we may discover we have been grievously mistaken, and been guilty of misjudging. Then, too, we should consider ourselves at the same time, and be sure that while we may not be erring on that point, we are not failing on some other point equally sinful in the sight of God. Let the golden rule be our guide.
G. B. T.

Leading Questions Relating to Christian Experience

By F. M. W.

1. Do you read and study the Word of God daily? You partake daily of physical food. You feel that your body needs this, and indeed it does. If you were to go for a single day without food, you would feel the lack of nourishment. Does not your soul need daily nourishment in the same way? Reading the Word of God two or three hours on the Sabbath will not make up for the lack during the week, any more than a large weekly meal would supply your physical needs for seven days.
2. Do you have family prayer? There are many professed Christians who do not, and there are some Seventh-day Adventist families where this good old-time practice has fallen into disuse. What is your experience? Are you so crowded with your business, with the cares of your farm or shop or office, that you have no time to gather the members of your family around the family altar? Failing in this, how can you expect God to work for your sons and daughters? With what confidence can you seek him to work for their salvation when you fail to cooperate with him?
3. Do you seek God by yourself every day? You cannot depend upon family worship to maintain your connection with heaven. You cannot depend upon the chapel worship in any institution with which you are connected. The battles with self are fought out alone with God. Are you fighting these battles, and are you gaining victories? There are many members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who are neglecting this daily personal communion. Even ministers have many times acknowledged that they were recreant in this Christian duty and privilege. The measure of our strength will be in direct proportion as we find daily, personal communion with the Lord Jesus.
4. Have you put forth during the last few weeks definite personal labor for some soul? How many readers of the REVIEW can answer this question in the affirmative? Have you felt a definite burden of heart to pray for some one in need; for the unconverted? Have you endeavored to encourage some brother or sister, or to reclaim the cold or the indifferent?
These are leading questions that relate to your Christian life, and by their answers you may determine in some measure the state of your experience. They are simple means by which you may maintain a vital connection with the living Vine. If you have no love for the Bible, no love for prayer, no love for souls, do not deceive yourself into believing that you are enjoying a living Christian experience. You are not. Your Christianity is a mere form, a pretense, a hollow mockery.
“Prayer is the Christian’s native breath; The Christian’s native air.”
If you love the Lord, you will love to commune with him, the same as you love to commune with your dearest friend. If you love the Lord, you will love to read the messages he has for you in his Word, the same as you love to read letters from absent loved ones. If you love the Lord, you will love those for whom he gave his life, and will love to unite with him in securing their salvation. How may this experience of love and joy in Christian service be obtained? It will come through surrender of self, through full and complete consecration. To seek to grasp Christ with one hand while we are laying hold of the world with the other, to be obliged to force ourselves to pray, to study his Word, to seek to help our fellows, because we feel that the condemnation of God will rest upon us if we do not,—this is servitude; this is bondage; this is the old covenant relationship. God wants to set us free in Christ Jesus. He desires to give us such an infilling of his love and Spirit that we shall delight in his service; that obedience to his requirements will constitute the chief joy of our existence; that we shall take even the spoiling of our goods joyfully, because we sacrifice them for One we love and for One who loves us. For this service of love let us pray.
F. M. W.

Freedom of the Press

IN the Buffalo Evening News of Feb. 14, 1916, Dr. Frank Crane refers to a resolution passed by one of the Seventh-day Adventist conferences, protesting against the passage of bills in Congress which would tend to restrict the liberty of the press. Regarding this question he makes the following sensible comments:—
“But there are a number of periodicals which are open advocates of some religious faith. The Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and other churches have their official organs.”
“Each of these in defending its own peculiar tenets must necessarily endeavor to expose the fallacy of those who hold contrary creeds. The heat of protest is the life of the sectarian paper; it is what its readers want.”
“And it is not the right to advocate that constitutes religious liberty; it is the right to protest. There can be no freedom that is not freedom to resist, whether by argument, denunciation, ridicule, or what else.”
“The only limit to this is the responsibility of any person or publication for scurrility, libel, and other manifest indecencies or injurious utterances.”
“To make the Postmaster-General and his agents, or any other government officials, censors of the press to any further degree than the powers they now possess to prohibit fraudulent or obscene matter from going through the mails is wholly undesirable.”
“If any man is aggrieved because his religion is attacked, let him remember that freedom to criticize is the other and indispensable half of his freedom to believe as he pleases. Without one there could not be the other.”

Our Refuge

By Worthie Harris Holden

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
WE cannot measure Thy great love As boundless as the sea; But fill, O Lord, our little cup, That we may sup with thee!
No man can fathom thy deep thought, Or scale the heights of grace, Yet under the Almighty Wing Is our abiding place.
We sense no vision of thy cross, But through it enter in To rest from heavy-laden care, And liberty from sin.
If meager measure here abounds To overflow the soul, What must be heaven's rapture-feast Where we may know the whole!

The Promise to Obey, Tested

By E. HILLIARD

E. HILLIARD
In the days of Jeremiah the prophet, when the people of Judah were carried into captivity, many, through the treachery of some of the royal seed, were slain, and the survivors were but few in number. In their distress some of the chief men, in behalf of the people, requested the prayers of the prophet. Apparently they were humble and ready to do anything that the Lord might require. They said, “Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) that the Lord thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.”
Of course Jeremiah was willing, and even glad, to petition Heaven in their behalf. He promised to withhold nothing that the Lord might reveal to him. They called the Lord to witness between them and his faithful prophet that they would do whatever the Lord required, whether it pleased or displeased them; whether in their eyes it was good or evil, they would certainly obey the Lord. Jer. 42: 2-6.
Jeremiah prayed earnestly to God, and within ten days his petition was answered. He called together the chief men who made the request, and placed before them God’s requirements, obedience to which would insure God’s protection and blessing. It appears, however, that their hearts were set on going down into Egypt, where they would see no war, hear no sound of the battle trumpet, and feel no pangs of hunger. The test was brought to bear on that upon which their hearts were most strongly centered. If they would abandon their Egyptian journey, the Lord promised to protect them from the king of Babylon, of whom they were sore afraid, and to bestow mercies and blessings upon them. Jer. 42:9-12.
They did not know their deceitful hearts, and the Lord told them that they had dissembled when they requested the prophet’s prayers. Jeremiah said to them, “Ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.” Jer. 42:20. The prophet then faithfully declared unto them what the result would be if they went to sojourn in Egypt. Famine, pestilence, and the sword were their predicted punishment. Verse 22.
They stood face to face with the God of heaven. It was he that they were contending with, and not Jeremiah the prophet. The only way that they could make an appearance of honesty was to blame the prophet. This they were not slow to do. “Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: but Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.” Jer. 43:2, 3.
This is a good example of how the prophets of the Lord, in all ages, have been treated by men who have professedly surrendered all to God and have claimed to be willing to be led by him, but who, when tested, have proved to be stubborn and abusive. Such have rejected the heaven-sent message, abused the chosen instrument, and justified themselves.
Men, women, and children, under the leadership of the chief rebellious men, emigrated to Egypt. There they burned incense unto false gods. But the great and merciful God had pity on them. He sent unto them his “servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.” Jer. 44:4. There was still hope for all who would return to the land of Judah, all who would humble their souls before God. See verse 14, margin.
But the men who knew that their wives had burned incense unto the queen of heaven (the moon) stubbornly rejected the warnings of the prophets. They said, “As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven: . . . for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things.” Jer. 44:15-18.
Poor deluded souls! They did not realize that the temporal blessings of heaven were bestowed upon them while they were worshiping false gods, that they might learn the forbearance and long-suffering of God, and that it is his goodness that leads men to repentance. When the Lord could no longer bear with their wickedness, his retributive judgments came upon them. Those who maintained their opposition to God were visited with famine and pestilence. Many of them were slain by the sword of their enemies. The very thing that they feared was at last sent upon them.
No one but the Lord knows how to deal with the desperately wicked hearts of men. Let us surrender all to God. When we place all in the hands of him who died to redeem us, then we are prepared to follow wherever the Lord leads. It is by a continual surrender that we maintain peace and communion with God.
St. Paul, Minn.

A. T. ROBINSON

By A. T. Robinson

The Light of the World — No. 1

A. T. ROBINSON

THE first direct, positive command ever given by the Creator of this world was, “Let there be light.” Gen. 1:3. This command was given before sin entered this world, before the music of the created universe was ever marred by a discordant note — when “all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Because at that time there was nothing to resist light, fulness of light came into existence — “there was light.”
The command of God, “Let there be light,” pertains not alone to light in the physical realm of man, but to light in the spiritual realm as well. “God is light,and in him is no darkness at all.” John 1:5. Light and life are synonymous terms. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. Therefore to know God, to be connected with his life, is light and life eternal. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3.
God made the sun and its accompanying luminaries in the heavens to be the bearers of physical light to the world. He made the divine Son and his accompanying messengers of light to be the bearers of spiritual light to the world. “Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Matt. 11:27.
After God had created this world and filled it with the light of heaven, sin came, alienating man from the life and light of God, shutting him away from the source of divine life and light. Although man continued to live, and to enjoy, in a measure, physical life and light, the divine sentence, “Thou shalt surely die,” was executed in the very day that man sinned, and he, that very day, passed from life unto death—became “dead in trespasses and sins.” Eph. 2:1. He was then “alienated from the life of God.” Eph. 4:18. He was without hope, “and without God in the world.” Eph. 2:12.
When there was no human eye that could pity, nor any arm that could reach to the depths of man’s lost condition, a ransom was found. “Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.” Job 33:24. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
The whole plan of the gospel, through which all who should accept its provisions would be saved, was announced to the world in the statement, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Gen. 3:15.
As soon as that promise was made, the conflict was begun between the forces of light and life, of darkness and death. Many times it has seemed as if the powers of darkness were about to triumph, but in every such crisis the Lord has raised up a standard against the enemy, and preserved and rekindled the flickering spark of light, ere it should go out in eternal night. One hundred and forty-two brief verses of the Inspired Record bring us to the time when God looked down upon this world and saw that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth.” Gen. 6:5, 6. He saw but one lone man in the world of whom he could say, “Thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” Gen. 7:1. There was then left but one man in whom the light of life continued to shine. In order to preserve and rekindle the light, the Lord preserved this one righteous man and his family from the old world, which perished in a flood of waters. After the flood, God renewed to Noah the same commission given to Adam in the beginning.
Boulder, Colo.

The Power of God's Word

By Charles P. Whitford

CHARLES P. WHITFORD
It is full of power. Heb. 4:12.
In it is spirit and life. John 6:63.
By it God created the world. Ps. 33:9.
By it all things are upheld. Heb. 1:3.
It will effectually work in those who believe it. 1 Thess. 2:13.
It is able to make us wise unto salvation. 2 Tim. 3:14, 15.
It will awaken new life. 1 Peter 1:23.
It will cause spiritual growth. 1 Peter 2:2.
It will build us up. Acts 20:32.
It will make us clean. John 15:3.
It will keep us from sin. Ps. 119:11.
It will make us happy. Jer. 15:16.
It is satisfying. Job 23:12.
It will endure forever. 1 Peter 1:25.
Study every verse cited, and then thank God for his Word which is able to accomplish so much for us.
Orlando, Fla.
Continue reading: The Beatitudes in Their Broader Expression