A PLAN of such magnitude as that by which God was manifested in flesh, for the purpose of restoring life and light to man, must have been carefully prepared. Was it designed in the midst of some unexpected occurrence? Was it the product of afterthought consequent upon the fall of man? These are questions always discussed in connection with a study of the prescience and discernment of Him who rules the universe. It must be that He who is mighty in wisdom (Job 36:5), and knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), well understood the needs of the future, and so prepared such a plan for the creation of a world of intelligences as would cover every emergency ever likely to arise.
In the unfolding of this marvelous plan, One stood in the presence of Jehovah who had been with Him from the very beginning of His way. He was Wisdom, who, before the mountains were brought forth, or the clouds were established in the firmament, was constantly in the presence of the Most High, as One brought up with Him. Prov. 8:14-30. His name was called Wonderful, Counselor, and the mighty God. Isa. 9:6. He was the Word, who was with God in the beginning, and was God, by whom all things were made. John 1:1-3. All things were not only made by Him, but for Him, as well; everything was His by right of creation. Col. 1:15, 16. Yet this same Word afterward became flesh, and dwelt among men as the Saviour of the world. John 1:14.
It is therefore plain that every detail of God's eternal purpose concerning creation as well as redemption, was intrusted to the authority and might of Christ. Every minute arrangement was perfected before the word was spoken which called the world into being. Before its founding, Christ was set apart as a lamb to be slain for a lost world. 1 Peter 1:19, 20; Rev. 13:8. Through the might of Christ dwelling in men to control their every action, were they to be holy and without blame before God in love. Eph. 1:4, 5.
There was good reason for all this minute preparation. Even while the plan for carrying out the purpose of God was being perfected between Father and Son, a dark plot was brewing in heaven itself; confusing sentiments were being quietly disseminated. One who had stood high in the councils of heaven was harboring thoughts of rebellious discontent, which led him to say in his heart, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." Not being satisfied with the position assigned him, his ambition led him to attempt the exaltation of himself above his associates, even to the highest place under God. He therefore said, "I will be like the Most High." Isa. 14:12-14.
He who knew the end from the beginning was fully aware of this ill-concealed tendency. He foresaw the deplorable trials and sufferings that the development of these vailed sentiments were sure to entail upon all who should come under their influence. It was not possible, therefore, to formulate any plan of creation which did not take existing circumstances under consideration.
But to open such a question, at such a time, in the presence of all the angels, would be prematurely to expose the designs of heaven's disaffected members, and so precipitate a movement the result of which might have been charged to the indiscreet canvass of what was to many an uncertain proposition. In such a time, when many were probably at the deciding point as to which side of the great question they would array themselves on, it was wisdom on God's part, and better for all concerned, to keep the secret of His knowledge of affairs, between Himself and Son, letting all the angels act freely as they would in the great crisis then before the universe. This done, the loyal and true would be known to have acted from the purest motives. These considerations alone were sufficient to confine such a council to the Father and His only-begotten Son.
In the creation which followed, all things belonged to Christ by right of His creative agency. When man fell under the persuasive power of Satan, and sullied his native simplicity, Christ undertook to redeem His own, and so carry out the fulness of that plan which had been perfected between Him and His Father. Altho to do this was to involve the deepest humiliation and shame. He shrank not from the task, but constantly looked forward to the "fulness of the time" when He would descend to earth in the "form of a servant," and there yield up His life-blood for the redemption of a fallen and degraded race.
In all the forms of worship required of the patriarchs, the sufferings and death of the coming Messiah were foreshadowed, but so indistinctly that their fullest and deepest significance was not comprehended. The prophets, also, who, under the direction of the Spirit of Christ, wrote of "His sufferings, and the glory that should follow," altho diligently searching to know the time and the manner of the time which the Spirit was indicating through them, failed to understand the full import of these things. Even the angels desired to look into that which had been hidden from them,—the mystery of Christ dwelling in human flesh for its redemption and salvation. 1 Peter 1:9-12.
So, "from the beginning of the world," this secret was "hid in God." The fellowship of the mystery may be experienced, but the eternal purpose of God which He purposed in Christ Jesus can never be fully known, either to men or angels, until the church is gathered home, to reveal in itself the power of Christ to cleanse and uplift those who were once rebels against God's government, and fallen under the ban of heaven's law. Then for the first time will be realized by all,—principalities and powers in heaven as well as dwellers upon earth,—the extent of infinite love for the erring, which prompted such a wonderful plan of salvation. Eph. 3:9-11.
Such a mystery is indeed too deep for any mind but His in whose counsels it was conceived. Being beyond the pale of finite senses, human logic can not confirm it. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." But through faith in God, His Spirit does reveal to the human heart many of those deep things of God into which it so constantly searches. 1 Cor. 2:9, 10.
But, to receive this, that science of the laws of thought called logic must be laid aside, and the statements of God's words as given must be accepted, without waiting to discover some remote probable certainty of their reliability. These all must be received as positive truth, just because God said them, and not because logic makes their significance entirely clear to the mind. Nor is this an unreasonable condition, when one stops to think that God's thoughts there embodied are as much higher than ours as the heavens are higher than the earth. Isa. 55:9.
By this method alone may we be able to see Christ a "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" as a part of the deep mystery of God, and His coming to earth in the "fulness of the time," to die on the cross the sinner's sacrifice, as the seal of the mysterious compact which was confirmed before the foundation of the world.
But as this mystery is the power of an indwelling Christ to redeem man to the restoration of his lost estate, the finishing of the mystery (Rev. 10:7) will be the complete gathering into one of "all things in Christ," as has been "declared to His servants the prophets." As men were for long ages oblivious to the mysterious power of electricity, which lay hidden all about, so the operation of God's life-power has been unappropriated by the masses. To learn its silent working, and to know how to apply its benefits to our own persons, is to learn the mystery of God's eternal purpose concerning us. This done, we may boldly say that Omnipotence is on our side; that Wisdom watches over our heads; in short, that God himself is our safeguard, while we trustingly follow where He leads.
ANOINTED SPEECH.
UNDER the anointing of the Holy Ghost the humblest child of God is qualified to preach the Gospel and reap its golden fruits. How this turns ordinary conversation to account, giving it just the direction and savor it needs, and without any attempt to make it "holy conversation," or "talking to people on religion"! In a natural, unobtrusive, spontaneous way it will yield abundant fruit.
A Christian woman sat in the midst of a company of friends after an evening tea. In an artless, unaffected, unpremeditated manner she spoke of her Christian experience—some of God’s providential dealings with her, and the precious answers to prayer given. She seemed unconscious that she was doing anything for souls, but tears were in many eyes—light came to hearts.
When the social interview was over, one had found peace, another had returned to God, while all seemed to have been lifted up nearer to God. She had preached the Gospel to the meek without knowing it, and it was, as the Gospel always is when accompanied by the Spirit, the power of God unto salvation.—Selected.
Do What You Can
By H. A. Mitchell
BETTER be what you can be, and do what you can do, than to be always trying to be what you can’t be, or trying to do what you can’t do, and thus never be anybody, and never do anything.—H. A. Mitchell.
Malleable Glass Tooth Fillings
"A most surprising use for glass has been discovered. By a new process this usually brittle substance is rendered soft and malleable, and is then used instead of gold as a stopping for teeth."
DIVINE UNION.
A Vital Question.
THE only true union which has any right to exist in the church of Christ for either worship or work is divine union. The prayer of Jesus Christ, uttered for all His people, through all time, uttered under the impending agony of the Garden and the Cross, was not "that they all may be one," controlled or guided or headed by one human mind or hand or heart, which might be called Peter or James or John, ancient or modern; but in the very agony of infinite wisdom and interest He prayed: "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." "I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one."
This is divine union and unity, and it is secured in no other way than by the divine method.
Men in human wisdom would secure unity in God's work by putting at its head one man, placing in His hand the reins which guide, control, and direct the various branches of God's work, hoping in this way to avoid friction and difficulties, to secure greater and instant and more constant co-operation, and therefore greater success. Such plans seem to be efficient from a human standpoint. Their highest and most marked degree of success is seen in the Papacy.
But, at their very best, human plans fall far short of the divine plan. Their evils overbalance their good. They bring glory to the man who may stand as the head instead of God; (2) they lead men to look to man as their wisdom and strength and source of supply instead of to God, the infinite and ever-responsive Fountain of all good; for "the Head of every man is Christ;" (3) they prevent the fullest development of divine wisdom and power in the church of Christ; for no one man is capable of receiving and transmitting all that Christ would give to His church. The church therefore remains stunted of growth, the minds of her members narrowed and dwarfed, and God's work crippled where it should be strengthened.
And the church, guided by human wisdom, lorded over by human authority, centered in circumscribed human plans, will leave souls to perish in darkness, oppress and enslave the free, crucify afresh her Lord, and finally form a part of that great Babylon which shall be "utterly burned with fire."
The divine plan is union in diversity. God proposes (if man will permit, for Divinity will not compel humanity) to take of imperfect, diverse, discordant elements and make of them one great united concordant body in which the very diversity will make for unity and beauty, even as the mason takes the rough, irregular, ill-mated stones of the quarry and shapes them into a strong, noble edifice of beauty and harmony.
"The head of every man is Christ." Let the man recognize this and be united to his Head, by the Spirit of life. Let each man, each member, so do. Let each one be perfectly willing that God should reveal to his brother and guide him as God will. Let each one be willing that God shall by His Spirit guide him also.
If each and every one of the church of Christ are thus united with Him, it must be manifest to all that there could be no stronger bond of union between them. They are bound together by the life—the Spirit—of Jesus Christ. The bond of union is infinitely strong—it is Christ Jesus Himself.
Thus bound to the Head, thus baptized into the one body, there need be no fear that the church will go astray, that her fruit will prove abortive, that her work will be inefficient. All her members are in touch—en rapport—with the great Head. He could not reveal to or through one finite mind all His wisdom and beauty; for one mind could not contain it or bear it. But He can and will reveal it through all. The blended members of the church are the spectrum or prism through which the white rays of Christ's character of light are revealed to the world in the transcendent beauty of the covenant crown of glory, the bow of promise. Men will work in different lines, as the talents and mind of the Spirit directs, but there will be no friction, no schisms; for there are many ministries, but the one Spirit; there are diversities of gifts and operations, but the one God to direct. Men in the same lines will look to God together and separately, and He will reveal to each and all manifold plans and wisdom directly and indirectly—directly as they seek Him and labor for Him as individuals, indirectly as He reveals and develops through their fellow-members. And thus in God's plan, unlorded by men, men unenslaved by men, the church of Jesus Christ will prove to be the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
O reader, brother, seek union with Jesus Christ, the union of faith and humility, the union of His Spirit and life, union in truth and righteousness! All other desired union and results will surely follow.
IF YE ABIDE.
By T.
"If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7.
The promise is to those who "abide" in Christ. To "abide" is to dwell permanently and continuously. And he who abides in Christ has the Saviour with him all the time. He appreciates the heavenly Guest, and so is not satisfied with a passing and nominal acquaintance; he desires and enjoys the abiding presence of the divine Lord.
But when we abide in the Master, He tells us that "My Words abide in you." The abiding of the Saviour is inseparable from the abiding of His Word. If the Word of Christ abides with us, He Himself abides with us also. And if He abides with us, it is just as true that His Word also abides with us. Then if we desire to have the Master with us, we must see to it that His Word abides in us.
The Word of Christ abides with us when we read that Word and meditate upon it. And he who truly reads and meditates upon the Word, does it that he may know how to obey that Word and thus stand in harmony with its Author. But the Word does not abide with us when we read it only occasionally. It is the daily, the constant study of the Word that causes it to abide.
Then the Lord says, "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Do you receive what you ask from the Lord? If not did it ever occur to you that the hindering cause may be your failure to have the Word of God "abide" with you? There is nothing that humanity needs so much to-day as the abiding Saviour and His abiding Word.
T.
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
By Editor
BEAUTIFUL, clear, and cold was the weather; the great storm was over, the railways open; and most of the delegates were here the first day of the General Conference.
The conference opened a day late on account of impeded railway travel. For instance, New York is distant from South Lancaster but six hours by rail, yet one company were two days and two nights in making the trip.
But there was never a conference held of its magnitude since pentecostal days where more union and brotherly love existed, and where more of the Spirit of God was present than the first meeting of the delegates to the thirty-third General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists. It opened in a different way,—a devotional hymn, a few opening words by President G. A. Irwin, the reading of the blessed 107th psalm, a hearty welcome to the General Conference by President H. W. Cottrell, of the New England Conference, in behalf of his conference and the people in South Lancaster, a response on the part of President Irwin, and prayer by J. N. Loughborough, the oldest active pioneer minister among us.
Following this came stirring, feeling testimonies from the witnesses of God from all parts of the world.
The formal organization of the conference was completed in a remarkably short space of time, at 3 P. M. February 15. About 150 delegates are enrolled, most of whom were present at the first meeting. These represent thirty-six organized conferences, from European, Australasian, and American fields. But few conferences sent full delegations, and several conferences and important mission fields are not represented.
Three new conferences were admitted, namely: The British Conference, with a membership of 800, 5 ordained ministers, 18 licensed ministers and Bible workers. The tithe for 1898 amounted to $8,536.42; tithes and donations, $9,611.56; average tithe per member, $10.67; average donation per member, $1.65; total average per member, $12.32—a remarkably good showing. Prof. W. W. Prescott was received as its delegate.
The German Conference was received (delegate, L. R. Conradi), with 48 churches, 1,534 members, 8 ordained ministers, 8 licentiates, 16 Bible workers, and 50 colporters. The tithe amounts to $12,034.04; donations, $3,383; total, $15,417.04; total donations and tithe per member, a little over $10. This conference7includes Germany, Holland, Austria-Hungary, Roumania, Servia, Bulgaria, with a population of 13,000,000, and a territory of 613,000 square miles.
Montana was admitted as a conference, with 13 churches, a membership of 308, 3 ordained ministers, 3 licentiates, and 3 Bible workers. The tithe is about $3,000 a year, and donations $400.
The address of the president was brief, earnest, eloquent, and stirring. Attention was called to the beginning of the work, "when, May 20, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the destiny of the republic trembling in the balance," less than a score of earnest men, unknown to the world, without rank or fortune which the world could give, met in Battle Creek, Mich., and organized the first conference. Their annual income then was but little more than $1,000. But these men had a message and a mission, God-given, to which they were true; and, despite opposition and unpopularity, God has brought the work to its present proportions.
The gain of the last year has been 110 ordained ministers, 23 licentiates, 215 churches, 7,245 members, and $90,179.71 in tithes. But there has been far greater gain in work and workers which are not reported. Forty-two general and 24 local camp-meetings were held last year, besides more than 400 tent-meetings.
Reference was made to the organization of the Union European Conference, of which O. A. Olsen is president, and the general meetings held in various parts of the field, all of which have been characterized by much of the Spirit of God and increasing manifestation of His power.
The progress in publishing, educational, sanitarium, and missionary work was briefly considered. All branches showed marked progress, and a powerful and touching appeal was made for missionary work among the negroes. In closing, the following, among other recommendations, were made by the president:—
The use of means to prosecute the work among the colored people of the Southern States; plans for a more extended sale of our literature; the creation of an interest among young men for the ministry; a uniform plan for weekly contributions to foreign missions; and the advisability of quadrennial sessions of the General Conference instead of biennial.
Up to the present time preliminary meetings of most of the organizations have been held, but no general action in any of these has as yet been taken. The delegates are studying the principles of God’s truth, and precious light is shining from the throne of God through His Word. In this also this conference is unlike any other. Humility before God has been a marked trait; confession and putting away of sin is followed by glad hearts and shining faces.
We believe that this conference will demonstrate that a knowledge of the right principles of God’s truth and work, apart from human resolution, is of more importance than one hundred resolutions without the principles. Then God makes of His church living resolutions, demonstrating in the life of His people His power over all the nations of earth.
February 23, 1899.
THE SITUATION IN POLITICS.
THE outlook in the political field is far from pleasing. This country, through many of its leading men, is having much to say just now about "our manifest destiny" in the matter of territorial expansion. The flag of the United States has recently been raised over Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Cuba. And great is the boasting in regard to the pure philanthropy that is prompting this new order of things in the American republic.
But when we look for the pure and upright statesmen to send to this new territory as governors, where are they to be found? There are just as good men in the country to-day as there ever was, but they do not have the chance of occupying all the governmental positions. There is an abundance of evidence that shows that the worst forms of corruption exist in political circles.
The efforts of the Pennsylvania Legislature in trying to elect a United States Senator are too well known to require more than a passing mention. A political "boss" who has become notorious because of the charges against him for embezzling State funds holds the reins and is determined to be re-elected as Senator of the United States. The Legislature of California is also trying to elect a United States Senator. But here, too, the Legislature is held in a "dead-lock" by a "boss" who is determined to be elected to a seat in that most honorable body of national legislators, and the odium of embezzling public funds rests upon his name also. And while they have not been so much talked of, there have been serious difficulties in several other States in their efforts to elect United States Senators, and this difficulty is occasioned by the corrupting influences of money and the trickery and frauds of unprincipled politicians.
The influence that enables these "bosses" to hold things in their own hands is not superiority of mental and moral worth, but just money and patronage. The "boss" is pledged to work in the interest of some corporation, firm, or individual who furnishes him the money with which to work. And, whether he seeks to secure his own election or that of some one else, he has his money and official appointments with which to command votes. Some will vote his way provided the "boss" will secure them the appointment to some offices out of which they can each reap several thousand dollars a year in salaries and "boodle." And when the offices to which his dupes may be appointed fail to go around, then the "boss" falls back on money bribery. The person who has the vote is approached and it is carefully ascertained what is the least sum that can buy him.
An investigation was made in the California Legislature and the charges of bribery were inquired into. It seems that numerous legislators were implicated in this degrading crime of receiving a bribe to vote for certain ones for United States Senator. As the investigation progressed, the impression was made on one's mind that the principal object that men have nowadays in getting into office is that they may be in the most favorable position to extort blackmail and bribes.
This evil has filled the whole land. It is found in our city councils, it is in the state Legislatures, and since men are sent to the National Congress who use bribes so freely, it can not be that this highest assembly of the nation is free from corruption. Where will we look to find men in politics to-day who are honest enough and free enough from corruptions of bribery and political trickery to safely guide the affairs of the home government?
And if the men can not be found who are sufficiently true to look after home matters, what will be done with the newly-acquired island colonies? Will not these colonies be mere footballs for corrupt politicians to knock about according to their liking and in the interest of more extended "boodle"? Certainly the political household of the entire country will have to be immediately reformed or such will be the case.
Then when these "boodling" and bribe-seeking and bribe-giving politicians go to the semi-barbarous and heathen colonies of the United States to govern them, what impression will they make? Will it be that of uplifting and Christianizing civilization? It can not possibly be so. The poor heathen, instead of being helped, are made to serve the corrupt purposes of degraded politicians, and "the great civilizing work" stands only in the sham of empty but bombastic words.
But, it is urged, only the best men will be sent to these stations. It is easier to say this than to get it accomplished. The few good men who are in politics may work ever so sincerely and earnestly to have the best of representatives sent to the island colonies, but they will have to confront the "money power" and the political "boss" at every turn they make. And the man who "stands in" with these corrupters of the world is the one who is more than likely to be sent. For the "invisible empire" of "the money power" must have its servile agents in all parts of the world, and the politician who is seeking a bribe is ever the ready instrument of wealth.
To cleanse the political pool is an impossibility. There is not an instance in all history where such degraded corruption has become enthroned that it has retired except amid the scenes of invading armies from other lands and the bloody revolutions of internal strife. But the whole world is so corrupt to-day that no nation will be able to hold intact strong armies of invasion sufficiently long for it to overpower another great nation. And then if this could be done, the invading army would represent evils that would only make the social and political waters all the darker. So invading armies coming from less corrupt countries are out of the question in this work of cleansing and uplifting, and the only thing left is world-wide revolution.
And to just such a revolution the whole world is driving with a mad rush. Every one who has eyes and will use them can see it. The Bible speaks of this awful revolutionary time that is just ahead of us as "a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time." But the Lord Jesus Christ, attended by all the legions of angels, will come in the midst of it and rescue all who are prepared to receive Him. That is the one and the only bright ray of hope before the world. T.
Do the Most You Could
It's always something to know you've done the most you could.—Charles Dickens.
Beauty Must Be Carried Within
“Tho we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”
Ventilation of Gas-Lighted Rooms
"In dealing with the ventilation of gas-lighted rooms it is well to remember that an ordinary jet consumes as much oxygen as five persons."