Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 5, 1892
Editorial.
By Editor
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable."—2 Tim. 3:16.
THERE are works which will justify the sinner, and only those works will justify, but these works are not his own. They are the works wrought into the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may make his works, God's righteousness in him, ours by living faith. Faith lays hold of his righteousness and says, It is mine. Jesus says to the sinner: "The righteousness is thine; accept it. I came to earth, was made sin for you, that you might be made the righteousness of God in me." Why will not all accept of this righteousness?
THE New York Observer, in its issue of November 3, says, "The complaint of the misuse and abuse of texts is a just one;" and in the column article which follows the above words, is much good said concerning the use and worth of the word of God. But, say, reader, do you know of any worse misuse of texts than the application of all those passages of Scripture to the first day of the week which refer to the seventh-day Sabbath and it alone? Think of it. What right has anyone to apply the fourth commandment to the first day of the week? There is no sabbath law, injunction, or reference which applies to the first day.
SAYS the Rev. J. H. Hughes, Christian minister of San Jose, in the Truth of May 12, 1892:—
It is not "sound Bible form" to say "Sabbath day for Sunday." The day is called the "first day of the week," and, probably, "the Lord's day" once. It is never called the Sabbath, nor is it in any sense a sabbath, for it is neither the seventh day nor a day of rest. It is confusing to "so call it."
And just so it is confusing. He qualifies the Lord's day with a mild "perhaps," evidently himself a little confused. The expression occurs in Rev. 1:10. Compare that text with Ex. 20:8-11; Isa. 58:13, and Mark 2:27, and then say which day is the Lord's day. If Bible truth and "Bible form" were followed, Sunday would be called neither Sabbath nor Lord's day, for it is neither. Yes, it is; it is the "American sabbath," the "Puritan sabbath," etc., etc., but it is not the Lord's Sabbath. "Let God be true and every man a liar."
NATIONAL REFORMERS—THEIR PURPOSE AND ITS OUTCOME.
By Editor
THE complaint and purpose of National Reformers are well set forth in the following language from Rev. J. M. Foster in the Christian Statesman of October 8:—
"But our national Constitution is secular. It does not contain the least reference to God or his law. It is silent as the grave respecting the King of kings. It is a compact of political atheism. And I cannot see how any follower of the Lord Jesus Christ can conscientiously swear to support it. That Constitution is 'the supreme law in this land,' and ultimately the government will and must be conformed to its spirit and letter. Now the question is, Shall this nation incorporate Christianity and the Author of it in the Constitution, and thus provide a legal basis for our Christian laws, institutions, and usages in the fundamental law in our land? or, Shall the Constitution be left to entirely eliminate Christianity from our government, and completely secularize it? National Reformers cry with one voice, 'Amend the Constitution [Italics as we find them].'"
This is the object of National Reformers, as declared by them for the last thirty years. "But would it not be well to carry out this object?" asks one. "Are not Christ and Christianity to be desired in our Constitution? and would it not be well to have our Christian laws, institutions, and usages placed on a fundamental legal basis?" There are many who sincerely and conscientiously ask this question, and in their own minds answer it in the affirmative. They decide thus because they look only upon the surface of the question.
Jesus Christ cannot be placed in the Constitution of any government by law. His name may be placed there; that document may say we recognize the Author of Christianity as our ruler, but that does not make the government Christian, nor does it make Christ ruler. The Jews declared that they were "Abraham's seed" (John 8:33), but Jesus answered them, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham" (verse 39); and then he told them their true condition and ancestry: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." Verse 44. And yet the Jewish people made high professions of reverence and love of God. His holy name was so revered that they did not utter it; his precepts were written upon their phylacteries; they made many prayers; they fasted; they paid tithes; they kept up an elaborate form of worship; they professed to be looking for Messiah, the Deliverer.
But all their professions did not change the facts. They did not know how much they were not the children of Abraham; but in a little from that it was demonstrated that they were not only the children of the father of lies in respect to their false profession, but that they were also children of the "murderer from the beginning;" they put to death Him whom they professed to love, and for whom they were looking for deliverance. But they thought they were doing God's will. And was not Jesus, in their opinion, guilty of blasphemy against God? and was he not therefore worthy of death?
So it was with the apostate church in the Dark Ages. Their laws recognized "Christianity and the Author of it," in order to "provide a legal basis for their 'Christian laws, institutions, and usages.'" Among these "Christian laws and usages" was the sacrifice of the mass, penances, purgatory, transubstantiation, the Sunday, and other things equally unscriptural. And yet they were called "Christian," every one of them. They thought that it was necessary to legalize all these things or Christianity would be eliminated from human governments. They did as they thought to do, and brought into the government, not Christ, but antichrist; not the mystery of God, which is Christ in the heart and life, but the "mystery of iniquity," which is opposed to Christ. And after they had by law acknowledged their perversions of Christianity, in order to maintain those perversions and show due respect to the false christ they had enthroned in the temple of God, they found it necessary to put to death, in every imaginable form, from twenty to fifty millions of the saints of God, who had so much of Christ in the heart that they dared to disregard the false christ in the law.
And this is the kind of government that we will have under the National Reform régime. With Christ and Christianity in the Constitution, human tribunals must decide who is Christ and what is Christianity. If the human tribunal is Mahometan, Christ will be a prophet; if it is Unitarian, Christ will be a mere man; if it is Trinitarian, Christ is very and eternal God; if Roman Catholic, Christ's representative—vicegerent—is the pope of Rome. According to these same human tribunals, Christianity will mean as many things as Christ does, and Christian laws, institutions, and usages will take as various forms as the church spires which point heavenward. Decided by a Baptist tribunal, immersion alone would be baptism; decided by Presbyterians, sprinkling alone would be baptism. One church66counts marriage a sacrament, another a civil contract. But there is one thing on which all the professed Christian church would agree, and that is the American Sunday. Around that their hosts are gathering. That is the rallying point of their legions, the coat-of-arms on their banner. Having no basis in Scripture, Jesus Christ silent as regards the day, it is substituted for the Sabbath of the Lord, and its term of authority must be held by human laws, because it has naught of divine law. This unchristian institution, it is safe to say, will be one of the "Christian" institutions of the National Reform government, and the false christ whom they place in the Constitution will be the author or promoter of the Sunday, while the Christ of God will be dishonored and rejected. And as the Jews in their zeal crucified Christ, so these people will, in their unwise zeal, put him to death anew in the person of his saints. This will be the inevitable logic of such a government as National Reformers seek, and to which this country is fast drifting. When once religious laws and institutions become a part of the government, they will from their very nature be considered the most important by the partisans of that government; and these religious dogmas will be the very laws which will be disregarded by the honest-hearted Christians who believe in following God's word. The partisans of the government, in order to vindicate their unholy work and uphold the dignity of the government, would be compelled to prosecute and persecute those who for conscience' sake turned from their man-made god and a legal religion.
It may be said that such a government will never be seen in these days. It is already beginning to be seen; and it looks as though an amendment to the Constitution will not be needed, as the Supreme Court of the United States has already declared (February 29, 1892) this to be a "Christian nation," and that the Constitution is in harmony with this. Congress has emphasized this fact by making a national Sunday law.
Yes, the thing will come. How do we know it? Read Revelation 13. God has predicted it in his word. We now see its beginning. The end is not far off. The SIGNS OF THE TIMES lifts a warning voice to every Christian in the land, to have naught to do with the deceiving, baleful movement. Jesus says, "My kingdom is not of this world;" and those who seek to make him king simply enthroned a false christ, and adopt a corresponding christianity. Against this great and world-wide movement, God gives the following solemn warning:—
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. . . . And they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receive the mark of his name. Rev. 14:9-11.
Says the Lord by the prophet Amos (3:7): "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophecy?"
64. CHRISTIANITY AND FREEMASONRY.
By N. P. S.
Is it in harmony with the Scriptures for Christians to belong to the Freemasons?
No, we do not think it is. Jesus said, "I spake openly to the world; . . . and in secret have I said nothing." John 18:20. He tells his disciples that what they had heard in the ear, the private instruction he had given, "that preach ye upon the house tops." Matt. 10:27. God's wondrous blessings are free to all who by faith will appropriate them. God has especial regard for the poor, the weak, the needy, the infirm, but it is this very class that Freemasonry prohibits. At the very best it is but a mutual benefit association with a very high premium for possible benefits. Its extra judicial oaths, with their fearful and unnatural penalties, are contrary to Christianity. In benevolence, and even its acts of honor, are of necessity only to be exercised to those within, or connected by family ties to, the "lodge," while Christianity inculcates doing "good to all," as opportunity offers. That there are sincere believers in Christ who are Freemasons we would not for a moment deny; but to us it seems that they have an erroneous idea of true benevolence as exercised in these secret orders, and they also have a very low conception of the breadth, scope, work, and spirit which ought to be in and actuate the church of Christ. To turn from the church of Christ, from true union with Christ, to any lodge or organization; such as Freemasonry or Odd Fellows, is like turning from the cool-flowing, life-giving waters of the mountain to the brackish waters stored in the broken cisterns of men.
67. PLAYING MARCHES, WALTZES, ETC.
By Editor
I want to know if it is wicked for Christians to play marches and waltzes? I like to hear them, and it is a great temptation to me to keep from playing them. I have studied a great deal about it; everyone I have mentioned it to says, "Of course it is all right," but I am not satisfied that it is, and I want to know what you people think of it, and then if it is wrong I can more firmly resist it. M. J. C.
In reply we would say, These questions are difficult to decide. Some Christians play waltzes and marches and do not feel condemned, and it is not for us to condemn them (the Christians, we mean). Personally we believe it better for the Christian to refrain from such things; for (1) the playing of such tunes67generally brings to the mind associations and scenes which do not make for godliness or increase spirituality.
Even if they do no harm, what good can they do, unless it be in some simple and proper gymnastic exercise or march for physical good? (2) When Christians are nearest Christ, and have the most of his Spirit, they have little or no care for any of these things. This would show that the persuasion to indulge did not come from God, who called us by his Spirit. (3) If conscience condemns our querist, and she violates conscience, she thus benumbs or sears conscience, so that it is easier to yield next time, and next time, till, at last, nothing would appear sinful. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." See Rom. 14:23. (4) The Lord says through an apostle, "Is any merry [Revised Version, "cheerful"] let him sing psalms [Revised Version, "praise"]." James 5:13. (5) Would Christ do it if he were here? Would we do it if his visible presence were by our side? Would to God that his professed people would get so near to him that they could count him and his "altogether lovely." With joy would they then draw water from the wells of salvation, and quaff the nectar of life, instead of seeking happiness at the stagnant pools and broken cisterns of the world. Follow Christ, and find joy in him.
OUR QUESTION CORNER.
By Editor
[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries on scriptural topics or moral questions as may be sent us. Questions which minister strife to no profit to our readers will not be answered here. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not fo publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. The questions will be numbered continuously.]
61. THE SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS.
By A. H.
What are the grounds on which the position is taken that seven thousand years is the period allotted to time as connected with this earth, as set forth in Elder Haskell's article in No. 47 of the SIGNS?
1. We have the general belief of the Christian church throughout the dispensation.
2. The general law of types and sevens of the Bible. Seven thousand years is the great week of time.
3. The chronology of the Bible gives about six thousand years since the creation of man. The evidences of God's word and fulfilling prophecies and signs show that Christ's coming is near. After that the judgment age lasts a thousand years. Rev. 20: 1-6.
62. MORMON EVIDENCES.
Is there any ground for the use of Isa. 29:4, by the Mormon, to prove that any writing would be found buried in the earth which would explain any truth not understood in the Bible in connection with the book of Mormon? A. H.
The text in question has reference to the low state to which Jerusalem (Ariel) would be brought on account of her sins. It reads: "And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." It is the last text which we should expect anyone to take to prove a divine or heaven-sent message. Jesus said to the Jews, "Ye are from beneath, I am from above." His messages come down from heaven. "Familiar spirits" are always condemned, and a voice like that of one that had a familiar spirit would of itself be condemned. The verse simply means that Jerusalem, that trusted in her wealth, her allies, and her false gods, would be humbled low in the dust. See context and Isa. 8:19, 20.
Please explain Isa. 66: 24, where it says, "For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched."
The expression simply means that the wicked will be utterly destroyed; for the worm eats up what it feeds upon, and the fire utterly devours them. See Isa. 51: 8; Mal. 4: 1; Rev. 18: 8, and many others. The text, it will be noticed, does not speak of live men upon which worms feed, but the carcasses, or dead bodies of men. See Isa. 37: 36, where the Hebrew word is rendered "corpses," and Jer. 31: 40; Amos 8: 3, and other places where it is translated "dead bodies," which is what the word everywhere means. The terms "undying" and "neither . . . be quenched" simply indicate that these agents of destruction will not cease until they do their appointed work; for the worm shall eat them up (Isa. 50: 9; 51: 8), and the fire shall burn up the chaff (Matt. 3: 12). For an instance of this use of unquenchable fire see Jer. 17: 24-27 and 2 Chron. 36: 19, 21. The former text declares that if the Jews would not observe the Sabbath, the Lord would kindle a fire in her gates which should not be quenched. In the latter it states that this fire "burnt the house of God," and "burnt all the palaces thereof with fire," "to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah." The "undying worm" and the "unquenchable fire" are symbols of utter and complete destruction. These arguments will likewise apply to Mark 9: 43-48.
If our Lord and Master fasted forty days (Matt. 4:2), is it not necessary for us to do the same if we follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21)?
The fact that Christ is our example does not mean that we should do just the very identical acts that he did. The suffering that 1 Peter 2:21 has special reference to is the buffetings, revilings, and torture which he bore from his enemies. He is our example in this, as he is in all moral acts and principles. 1 John 2:6. Jesus fasted that he might overcome the power of appetite in the flesh and overthrow the dominion of sin in the flesh. If such a fast as that were necessary for us, if we had to meet all the power of darkness single handed and alone, as did he, the forty days' fast might be necessary. But to fast forty days just to follow him would be works of supererogation not required by God. If we would partake of that fast, let us lay hold of Christ by faith. But is not fasting necessary?—Doubtless it is. Going without physical food for a while makes us weak, clears up the mind, makes us more sensible of our frailty, more susceptible to the impression of the truth of God, and helps us more fully to realize our dependence upon God. We should learn by such fasts that as our bodily powers become weak without sufficient food, so do our spiritual natures unless fed upon God's word. The professed Christian who would enjoin such a duty as a fast of forty days on each disciple of Christ, would do well to feed a multitude of five thousand or raise a dead man, and then be crucified and rise again. Christ is our example in submitting to God's will, in overcoming and walking above sin; and he is also the mighty helper in this work. Let faith lay hold of him, and his fast is ours.
I would like an explanation of Mark 9:48. I do not understand what is meant by "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
See answer to question 63. To what we have said there we would add that the term "hell" occurring in Mark 9:43-48 comes from the word "Gehenna," from the Hebrew Valley of Hinnon, south of Jerusalem, "once celebrated," says Bagster's Greek Lexicon, "for the horrid worship of Moloch, and afterwards polluted with every species of filth, as well as the carcasses of animals, and dead bodies of malefactors, to consume which, in order to avert the pestilence which such a mass of corruption would occasion, constant fires were kept burning." And thus it "symbolizes," wherever occurring in the New Testament, as Wilson truly remarks, "death and utter destruction, but in no place signifies a place of eternal torment."
JUSTIFICATION.
By Elder William Covert
BY ELDER WILLIAM COVERT.
WE have seen that God placed man in Eden a just being. In no other condition is it possible for him to be retained in possession of God's works. The Lord said, "That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Deut. 16:20. Certainly we should not expect God to require less than that which is "altogether just" in those who represent him. There is a kind of justice recognized among men that has for its standard a model man. With men one must come approximately near this standard that he may live without being complained of by the society in which he moves. Measured by this standard many are called good and just men.
But our present urging is concerning how a sinner may be made to conform to that standard indicated by the law of God. Concerning the ruler placed over men the Lord speaks saying, "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." 2 Sam. 23:3. When Adam departed from the plane of justice, the Lord removed the diadem from off his head, and placed it upon Christ. Heb. 2:7-9. There is a beautiful picture of what a just ruler would be to those over whom he presides in 2 Sam. 23:4: "He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." David realized that his rule did not meet the standard, and that the blessed result above described had not been realized under him. In humility he said that his house was "not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow." Verse 5.
The thing that ought to have been seen in his kingdom, is to be brought about through the everlasting covenant. This covenant is "ordered in all things and sure." In this covenant he found all his salvation and desire. The growing of righteousness as the springing forth of the grass after the rain has not been seen in the kingdom of men, but it will come through this righteous covenant.
As to the number of men who are absolutely just it is written, "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." Eccl. 7:20. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23.
Of course if man were in conformity to the commandments of God, he would be just, for the Lord says, "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12. But can God in justice make an unjust man just? It would seem impossible that such a thing could be done, yet the apostle speaks of an arrangement whereby God "might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:26.
To justify a person is to make or declare that person to be right or just. JUSTIFICATION is properly the judicial act which declares the accused to be without condemnation. In human courts the guilty are often declared right in violation of the laws of justice. Isa. 59:14. But the justification of which we write takes a guilty man and conducts the case so as to justify him. This is done also in entire harmony with justice. The reason that earthly courts are so culpable is because of the unfair means used in trying to justify or condemn. But the gospel court has One that presides over its rulings who will not be mistaken, nor do wrong. The prophet says:—
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove [or argue or decide] with equity for the meek of the earth." Isa. 11:2-4.
Such a court as this will take no advantage of any case. Although Christ died that he might justify the ungodly, yet he will by no means justify an impenitent sinner. Ex. 34:7; 23:7; Rom. 1:18. Of course this inquest finds all guilty. Rom. 3:9, 19. It further decides that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20. The law condemns every soul. No person from any age or any country is clear. There is none righteous, no, not one. All are culprits, and the sentence of death is upon all, for the wages of sin is death. Surely the apostle seems to be presenting rather a hopeless prospect for obtaining an unnumbered throng of righteous ones out of this company.
How can it be done?—It is this way: Jesus was made to be sin for everyone. Says the68apostle, "He hath made Him to be sin for us." 2 Cor. 5:21. The prophet writes: "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. . . . The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:4-6. Paul says this dying of Christ was "for the ungodly." Rom. 5:6. And again, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Verse 8.
But why did he do this?—"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." He saw us condemned. The sentence could not in justice be revoked until the penalty was met. So Jesus paid the penalty himself. "His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." Thus he bought us by himself taking our condemnation. He "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world." Gal. 1:4.
Thus far the honor of the law is vindicated. One object, as stated above, is that he might "purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Then justification is only declared where it is to be followed by purification and good works. No people could complain of a court in declaring a culprit free if that court did at the same time pay the penalty pronounced by law against the accused and also change him so as to make a law-abiding citizen of him and a valuable acquisition to the commonwealth. In defense of the reconciliation and atonement accomplished through the working of the gospel, Paul says, "God hath set forth [Christ] to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission [or "passing over"] of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." Thus through Christ the righteousness of God is put in the place of all sins remitted in redeeming man.
There is no laxity or injustice to be seen anywhere in all that is done in redeeming man. Not only is all done in perfect harmony with justice, but infinite mercy and infinite love are clearly seen in it all. In addition to all the glory that is traceable in the transaction thus far elucidated, we notice that the individual becoming a Christian is made the righteousness of God in him (Christ). 2 Cor. 5:21, last clause. The Christian himself is made the righteousness of God in Christ.
Recalling the points cited in Romans 3, we notice the apostle's conclusion, stated in verse 28: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Or, as the Revised Version states it, "by faith apart from the works of the law." The righteousness without the law, or apart from the works of the law, is the righteousness of God, or the right doing of God in Jesus Christ. That righteousness becomes the believer's through renouncing himself and receiving Christ. It is both "unto all [or into] and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference." Verse 22. God justifies freely. Verse 24. None are compelled to accept it, while all who will may have it. When Christ is received, he then becomes the just Ruler described by David in 2 Sam. 23:3, referred to above. He is to such an one as the light of the morning, without clouds, after the rain. He will bring his children up to the standard of righteousness "altogether just."
68. THE SABBATH—ITS NECESSITY AND TIME OF BEGINNING.
By Editor
Is it to our salvation that we keep the Sabbath? And what time shall we begin to keep the Sabbath?
1. To the first question we would simply say: God has given the Sabbath as the memorial of himself. He has commanded man to keep it. He has placed that command right in the midst of nine other moral precepts (Ex. 20:3-17), showing the Sabbath to be morally obligatory also. Is it necessary to salvation to keep the first or seventh or tenth commandment? How much God excuses because of the blindness and darkness of men to whom his light has not come we know not. That we leave with God. The real believer in Christ submits to all of God's law, to all that is revealed or that God may afterward reveal. He does not expect that his keeping the fourth commandment will give him life, nor the keeping of the second, or sixth, or all, but loyalty and love for God and Christ demand that he should, in the strength of Christ, do them all. True faith works, not in our way, nor according to our standard, but in God's way, and according to his standard—the moral law as it is in Christ. This brief answer may not be all our friend desires. If he will read the SIGNS the coming year, it will have much more to say on the subject.
2. The time to begin the Sabbath is at the beginning of the natural day. See Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Lev. 23:32; Matt. 8:16; Mark 1:32; Luke 4:40. Other texts might be given; but the above clearly show that the natural day, as given by God, is composed of two parts, "evening and morning;" that the evening begins at the going down of the sun; that in this way the Jews counted time in their annual feast days, and as regards the Sabbath also. This method of keeping time is known to all; it is not dependent on man or his inventions. The beginning of the Sabbath is, therefore, Friday night at sundown, and it closes Saturday evening at sundown. This is the only Sabbath which God has given.
69. THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE
By Editor
Please give an explanation of the beast and his image and receiving his mark in his forehead or in his hand, as I do not understand that.
See SIGNS of November 28, article beginning on first page, entitled "Prediction—Interpretation—Fulfillment." In a few weeks we will present a series of articles on Rev. 14:6-12, which will more fully and satisfactorily answer our querist.
Recognizing Christ’s True Followers
By Rothe
If the Lord Jesus were once more to appear amongst us in the flesh, but quite incognito, without title or honor, this would be the surest method of discovering who are his. He who then felt the strongest attraction to him, who bent before him in deepest reverence, would belong to him most closely, and would have the truest faith in him.—Rothe.
In the shadow of His wings will we trust, will we trust.
What harm can reach us there?
What grief can bring despair?
What of evil can befall us, with His protecting care?
Snares will be set in vain,
And fearful terrors reign,
And pestilence and wasting shall follow in their train.
Come they by day or night,
In darkness or in light,
Yet shall we still be covered, protected by His might.
In the shadow of His wings He would see, He would see
Earth's children gathered in,
Cleansed from the stain of sin,
And righteousness upspringing from the new heart within.
As tree by fruit is known,
So love to God is shown
By his commandments keeping, although we stand alone.
And when there is delight
In doing what is right,
Then will each one be covered, protected by his might.
In the shadow of his wings will you come? will you come?
The bread of life is free;
The cleansing stream we see;
It flows for all earth's children; it flows for you and me.
The Spirit and the Bride
Are asking all to hide
Beneath the friendly shelter, extending far and wide.
The storm is gathering dark;
Its onward progress mark.
Oh, will you not be covered? "Come thou into the ark."