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Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 5.

HEART PROMPTINGS

Review and Herald

Jan 30, 1900

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 30, 1900

HEART PROMPTINGS.

By F.

I WANTED to send her some flowers, For ’t is just two years to-day Since the little ones were taken From my neighbor over the way. But John said, “What good would it do her?” “And why bring up the past?” He was sure he “wouldn’t want flowers;” So I gave it up at last.
Men often think us foolish To do these “useless” things; But if they call us “angels,” They should not clip our wings. There is something that tells us to do them— A feeling we can’t resist; Perhaps if we gave up doing, There’d be something lost and missed.
And I can’t help feeling the Master Still speaks for us now, as when He defended those simple women Before the wiser men; As when, all worn and weary With hours in field and street, That woman’s tears provided The water for his feet.
All saw that he was slighted; Yet the men who loved him, too, Might have whispered, “Useless, foolish,” Had they known what she would do. But that woman’s sudden impulse, With love’s unerring aim, Went straight to the heart of Jesus, And her deed to blessed fame.
And again, when his soul was heavy With the burden of unshared woe, Wounded by those who loved him, As well as by open foe, One heart—a woman’s—answered With an act that met his need, And heaven and earth still witness To the fragrance of her deed.
But by some of his own disciples It was judged in angry haste: “The poor might have had the money; To what purpose all this waste?” “She hath done what she could,” he answered, “Hath wrought a good work on me; And this she hath done, in my gospel Her endless memorial shall be.”
And then, although sadly “useless,” One voice—a woman’s—rose For “that just Man”—forsaken, Before his bitter foes.
And all the Way of Sorrows Love’s fearless protest came From that noble band of women, To whom he spoke by name.
Around the cross of their Master, They stood to the very end. “You can do no good,” was whispered, Doubtless, by many a friend; Yet from his cross he saw them, And Mary, standing there, Heard his own voice commit her To John’s protecting care.
“Nay, do not go to the garden,” Their friends, in kindness, said: But the women followed, weeping, And saw where he was laid. “It was useless to gather spices— What good will the ointment be? The tomb is sealed and guarded, There is only the stone to see.”
But the women’s strong devotion Impelled their eager feet To haste, in the early dawning, With spices and ointment sweet. Had they stayed and checked their feelings, Ah, think of the untold loss! For they were the first to see him Who died for them on the cross.
Love speaks a simple language, But speak it must and will, And our Lord doth set his sanction On its tender promptings still. He has gone himself to heaven, But he lives in his own to-day— I think I will send those flowers To my neighbor over the way. — F., in Parish Visitor.

CHRIST OR BARABBAS?

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.
The scene in the judgment hall in Jerusalem is a symbol of what will take place in the closing scenes of this earth’s history. The world will accept Christ, the Truth, or they will accept Satan, the first great rebel, a robber, apostate, and murderer. They will either reject the message of mercy in regard to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, or they will accept the truth as it is in Jesus. If they accept Satan and his falsehoods, they identify themselves with the chief of all liars, and with all who are disloyal, while they turn from no less a personage than the Son of the infinite God.
God has a controversy with those who accept the fallacies of the great apostate, which are prepared to suit every class in the Christian world, and who discard the law of God, pronounced by Inspiration to be “holy, and just, and good.” By the death of Christ the changeless character of this moral standard of righteousness is shown. Christ lived the law of God’s government; he was an expression of God’s character; and he died to save men from the penalty of the transgression of this law. Those who reject God’s law crucify the Son of God afresh. They identify themselves with those who crucified him between two thieves on the cross of Calvary.
The world is asleep. The people know not the time of their visitation. To them the words apply: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” All need to be aroused. We can not afford to be rocked to sleep in the cradle of carnal security or indifference; for we are deciding our eternal destiny. The record of the shameful trial in the judgment hall has passed up to heaven, and is the standard by which all are measured, whether they stand under the blood-stained banner of Christ, or under the black banner of the prince of darkness.
There can be only two classes. Each party is distinctly stamped, either with the seal of the living God, or with the mark of the beast or his image. Each son and daughter of Adam chooses either Christ or Barabbas as his general. And all who place themselves on the side of the disloyal are standing under Satan’s black banner and are charged with rejecting and despitefully using Christ. They are charged with deliberately crucifying the Lord of life and glory.
Each one has an important question to answer for himself: Are you on the side of Satan, a transgressor of God’s law, or are you loyal to that God who declared himself to be, “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” God’s character is here displayed as his glory. God has delivered all judgment into the hands of his Son; and as a righteous judge, Christ must pass sentence on every work whether it be good or bad. Justice is as much an expression of love as mercy.
The world is not improving. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. By rejecting the Son of God, the personification of the only true God, who possessed goodness, mercy, and untiring love, whose heart was ever touched with human woe, and choosing a murderer in his stead, the Jews showed what human nature can and will do when the restraining power of the Spirit of God is removed, and men are under the control of the apostate. Those who choose Satan as their ruler will reveal the spirit of their chosen master.
The world will not improve till God goes out of his place to punish her for her iniquity. Then the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Christ warned his disciples, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that yebe not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
When Christ was upon this earth, the world preferred Barabbas. And to-day the world and the churches are making the same choice. The scenes of the betrayal, the rejection, and the crucifixion of Christ have been re-enacted, and will again be re-enacted on an immense scale. People will be filled with the attributes of the enemy, and with them his delusions will have great power. Just to that degree that light is refused will there be misconception and misunderstanding. Those who reject Christ and choose Barabbas work under a ruinous deception. Misrepresentation and false witness will grow to open rebellion. The eye being evil, the whole body will be full of darkness. Those who give their affections to any leader but Christ will find themselves under the control, body, soul, and spirit, of an infatuation that is so entrancing that under its power souls turn away from hearing the truth to believe a lie. They are ensnared and taken, and by their every action they cry, Release unto us Barabbas, but crucify Christ.
Even now this decision is being made. The scenes enacted at the cross are being re-enacted. In the churches that have departed from truth and righteousness it is being revealed what human nature can do and will do when the love of God is not an abiding principle in the soul. We need not be surprised at anything that may take place now. We need not marvel at any developments of horror. Those who trample under their unholy feet the law of God have the same spirit as had the men who insulted and betrayed Jesus. Without any compunction of conscience, they will do the deeds of their father, the devil. They will ask the question that came from the traitorous lips of Judas, What will you give me if I betray unto you Jesus the Christ? Even now Christ is being betrayed in the person of his saints.
In view of the history of the life and death of Christ, can we be surprised if the world is hollow and insincere? Can we in our day trust in man, or make flesh our arm? Shall we not choose Christ as our leader? He alone can save us from sin.
When the world is at last brought up for trial before the great white throne, to account for its rejection of Jesus Christ, God’s own messenger to our world, what a solemn scene it will be! What a reckoning will have to be made for nailing to the cross One who came to our world as a living epistle of the law. God will ask each one the question, What have you done with my only begotten Son? What will those answer who have refused to accept the truth?—They will be obliged to say, We hated Jesus, and cast him out. We cried, Crucify him, crucify him. We chose Barabbas in his stead. If those to whom the light of heaven is presented reject it, they reject Christ. They reject the only provision whereby they may be cleansed from pollution. They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. To them it will be said, “I never knew you: depart from me.” God will assuredly avenge the death of his Son.

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PREPARING THE WAY.

By George B. Wheeler

GEORGE B. WHEELER.
(South Lancaster, Mass.)
PUBLIC sentiment is gradual in its growth. It never moves by sudden fits and starts, although it may seem at times to do so. Often there are influences at work that cause it to move rapidly. These influences are frequently brought to bear in such a way that they are unseen, or unnoticed. Opinions and public measures are sometimes presented, with which the public has no sympathy, yet they are urged in such a way that after a time they find favor, and are finally adopted. Many illustrations might be presented to prove the truthfulness of this statement.
The recent address of a prominent leader of the National Reform party, advocating the death penalty for all who would not keep Sunday as a sacred day, may shock many persons even of those who believe in Sunday laws, but that penalty is in harmony with the views they hold and are advocating of the character of Sunday sacredness. Some time ago Dr. Crafts said, in the Golden Rule: “The Lord’s day is, then, most of all, the sign, the ensign, of the Lordship of Christ. To break the Sabbath, therefore, is to tear the flag of Christ. To desecrate the Lord’s day is to trample on the ensign of the King of all kingdoms, and so is an offense kindred to treason. . . . He that desecrates the Lord’s day denies the Lordship of Christ.”
An article in the North and West says: “Upon keeping the Sabbath holy rests the preservation of God’s word; upon the Bible rests morality; upon morality rests civilization; upon civilization rests human progress; and upon the substantial structure, rising like a marble statue, with the whiteness of the snow from heaven and with the firmness of the rock from the hills, stands the figure of man, his brow wreathed with the crown of human liberty, which God’s fingers designed for him. Sabbath desecration is a blow struck at the base of human liberty.”
This is the character of the teachings that the leaders and advocates of the Sunday-law movement are spreading over the country. The offense that they make out kindred to treason, would, if true, be worthy of death; therefore the penalty advocated in the address before the National Reform convention, and which was loudly applauded, is in harmony with their views of the offense of Sunday-breaking. And these views of Sunday-breaking are what the people of the country are now being taught.
The movement that is now going on to federate under different names the religious organizations of the country, for the purpose of forcing Congressmen, by intimidation, to favor the reforms of the Reform Bureau is already working successfully. Many Congressmen vote on the questions differently from what they otherwise would on account of the pressure of this religious sentiment from their constituency. This is preparing the way for a national Sunday law, advocated and forced upon Congress by the very organization that is now advocating and indorsing the death penalty for those who will not keep Sunday, the mark of the beast. For this the sentiment of the country is now being worked up, thereby providing for the fulfillment of Rev. 13:15.

THE ECONOMY OF GIVING.

By L. A. Reed

L. A. REED.
AND now a few closing words upon this subject of economy. We have found that economy is the right use of the gifts of God; that is to say, it is the right use, the best use, of all the gifts of God. It is not economy to make a good use of a part, and let the rest go to waste; for by just so much as there is waste, by just so much do we fail of being economical. And so, if we waste the largest and best gifts of God, if we waste those of most worth, though we may save all the rest, we have been far from being economical.
Suppose a man owns a mine filled with gold of priceless worth, and suppose that instead of marketing this wealth, he markets the building stone that also exists in the mine, and which brings him not a fraction of what the gold would bring; would you call him wise? would you call him economical?
If a house were burning, and some of the property within were to be saved, which would be the wise way—to save that which is of little value, or that which is of almost inestimable value? I am writing to reasonable people, and I know your answer.
And what application shall I make of it?—Simply this: You have not been economical if you have been laying up treasure for yourself, and are not rich toward God; for you have neglected the most of what you could have done, and you have lost not most, but everything, and have died like a beggar, or worse than a beggar, when you might have died as rich as God.
“Heirs of God,” says the Word; is it a mockery? Some of us make it so. We save a few dollars or a little property, which never in the widest and best sense was ours,—it is not a part of us; only that which enters into our characters, and becomes a part of us, is truly ours,—and lose everything that God meant us to have, not only here, but for all the running cycles of eons of ages.
The world has its books devoted to political economy and to domestic economy. They are taught in schools, and academies, and colleges, and universities. And the idea of it all, as usually gathered, is that economy is a word for saving and hoarding and making the largest pile of wealth possible. “The practical end contemplated in political economy is the production of wealth, in the largest measure and of the highest value, and its application to the fullest and most general satisfaction of men's desires.”—Wayland, “Elements of Political Economy.” Follow out that definition at your leisure, and see how much of heathenism there is in it. Think of what it means to apply the largest measure and the highest value of wealth to the fullest and most general satisfaction of men's desires. Which way do men's full and most general desires run?—You know. And so you know which way this wealth must be applied in order that it may satisfy these most general desires to the full, and thus give men the fullest and most general satisfaction.
In nature God gives untold examples of economy. And the moth, and the rust that corrupt the treasures of earth are but one constant protest against hoarding. Earning belongs to economy, but hoarding does not. Saving belongs to economy, but savings do not. Accumulating belongs to economy, but accumulations do not. If you wish to know what is economy, look to nature; here is a husbanding of resources, but there is no stagnation anywhere,—constant action, constant change, always receiving, always giving.
He is no sort of economist who seeks only to give, and neglects to receive. Economy is a giving that we may receive, and a receiving that we may give. It is not all giving, or soon we would have nothing to give. It is not all receiving; for this is an attempt to monopolize the goodness, the gifts, of God. It is both receiving and giving rightly measured over against one another. “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

AN EXPERIENCE.

By J. A. L. Derby

J. A. L. DERBY.
In thy heart of love, O Saviour! I am hiding, ’Neath thy watchful eye’s protection safe abiding; I shall never be afraid While my trust on thee is stayed Though by sorrows deep dismayed, Loving Saviour.
Sweet the comfort thou dost give, precious Master! Sure retreat and refuge dear in disaster; In thy presence there is calm, In thy words a soothing balm, Every woe deliver from, Loving Saviour.
When life's empty hopes and plans cheer no longer, Let my trust in thee, O Christ! grow the stronger; When time's fiercest storms prevail, And my fragile bark assail, Let my faith in thee ne'er fail, Mighty Saviour.

The Fear of the Lord

“The fear of the Lord tendeth to life.”

THE CONSCIENCE.

By E. J. Hibbard

E. J. HIBBARD.
I WILL call your attention to 1 Tim. 1 : 19: “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck.” The word-for-word translation is, “Holding faith and a good conscience; which [conscience] some, having cast away, as to faith made shipwreck.”
Of all the figures that could be thought of, a shipwreck is the one best fitted to show complete ruin. A person who has made shipwreck concerning his faith is in a most pitiable condition.
“Holding faith, and a good conscience,”—not simply having faith and a good conscience,—this is what we are exhorted to do. An intermittent experience will never answer. Two things are here mentioned, which must be held in order to avoid shipwreck. These are faith and a good conscience. And the text shows that when the latter is “put away,” the shipwreck of the former is assured.
The query at once arises, What is a good conscience?—The answer may be given in the language of Scripture itself: “A conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.” Says Paul, “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.” Acts 24 : 16. A conscience void of offense is a heart that does not condemn. “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” This is the normal condition of a Christian—a real Christian.
Unconverted men have consciences. “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.” Rom. 2 : 14, 15. Now a Gentile is said to be without “hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2 : 12); yet, notwithstanding this fact, he has a “conscience,” and “thoughts” also, which preside over every act of his life, “accusing or else excusing.” But this is not to say that his conscience is a perfect guide or an unerring test, although it is all the monitor he has. In fact, we know it is not; for is it not written, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled”? Unbelieving minds are always accompanied by defiled consciences. Therefore, to the extent that a person disbelieves the word of God, to that same extent are his mind and conscience defiled. And since “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” it follows that to the extent that we accept the word of God, to that extent our conscience is restored.
With these facts before us, we readily observe that all men on earth, in their natural state, have defiled consciences. Consequently, no man in his natural state is able to know whether all his actions are right or wrong. That is, a defiled conscience does not reprove all violations of the law of God. It is “when the Gentiles, which have not the [written] law, do by nature the things contained in the law,” that it “shows the work of the law written in their hearts.” They do not always do it. In fact, they seldom do; but when they do it, and do it naturally,—that is, not for show or effect, but in simplicity,—it is then that it is shown that the law of God has not been wholly effaced from their hearts.
Of course many things are done which outwardly appear good, but which spring from a selfish motive. These, being artificial, are, of course, not natural, and in that case can not be done “by nature.” In the time of Christ, the Pharisees represented this class. Their alms were given, their prayers offered; and all their deeds were done, “to be seen of men.” This did not show the work of the law written in their hearts. And there are some modern Pharisees.
It has been thought by some that conscience is simply a creature of education, but this is not wholly true. That conscience may be somewhat affected by the education, all must admit; but to say that it is created by education, as would be the case if it were simply a creature of education, is to deny both experience and revelation.
The Jews had educated themselves to think that the blood of bulls and goats would take away sins. This must be true, else it would have been superfluous to say to them, in the letter to the Hebrews, “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” This is also apparent from the fact that none of them, not even the disciples of Christ, looked for the death of the Messiah. When Jesus spoke of his death, on one occasion, “the people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up! who is this Son of man?” True enough, the persons who asked Christ this question might not have accepted Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, yet this saying conveyed their opinion of the Christ when he should come.
These people, then, who for generations had been taught that their sacrifices atoned for their sins, had consciences that were ahead of their education. Read Heb. 10: 1, 2, and see if this is not so: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.”
Had the sacrifices actually taken away sins, the person who once offered them should have had no more conscience of sins. They did not take away sins; and therefore the person offering them did still have a conscience of sins, even after the offerings had been made, which he supposed would take away sins. His conscience still accused him of sins after he had done that which he had been educated to believe would take them away. Again: inchapter 9, verse 9, speaking of the earthly tabernacle, “which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices,” the Lord says that these sacrifices “could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience.”
We may imagine a man who had taken God’s name in vain; and afterward, being convicted of the sin, had brought his offering, confessed his sin over its head, also had slain the animal, and the priest had made atonement for him, seeing only that sacrifice, and expecting that sacrifice—the blood of a bull or a goat—to take away his sin. After all was done, that man’s conscience would say to him, “You are a sinner, you have violated God’s law, and you have not made it right yet.” A sense of condemnation lingers with him. He has not a “conscience void of offense.” He has not seen the sacrifice, the blood, of Christ, which alone can cleanse the conscience; and his conscience is yet defiled.
“The wicked are like the troubled sea.” God. All mankind are seeking that rest of soul which comes only to a conscience purged from sin. The Brahman, the Buddhist, the Mohammedan—all are seeking this same thing. The Hindu mother may cast her babe to the crocodiles in hope of quieting a guilty conscience; the father may go on a weary pilgrimage of hundreds of miles, barefoot, across India’s burning sands; he may suspend himself by means of flesh-hooks high above the car of Juggernaut; he may isolate himself from home and loved ones, and deprive himself of all pleasures and comforts, and of most of the necessities of life,—these, and a thousand other acts of penance may be performed, and yet no peace, no rest. Condemnation fills the heart; the conscience smites.
When we examine one man-made remedy for sin, we see the principle that underlies all. Man can not purchase pardon by any sacrifice or penance that he himself can make. “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it can not rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Isa. 57: 20, 21.
Why all this unrest? Why all this conflict and condemnation?—Simply because man’s mind, his will, his way, are out of harmony with God’s. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God.” “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Our ways are but the natural products of our thoughts. Hence, to change our ways, our thoughts must first be changed. And since thought is but a product of the mind, a changed mind—that is, a new mind—will produce new thoughts and new habits. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2 : 5. He has expressed his mind in his word. Then “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” “The word of God” effectually “worketh also in you THAT BELIEVE.”
Of Abraham it is written: “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”
Here, then, is the atonement offered by God himself for guilty man. Christ, the Son of the infinite God, “was delivered” to death “for our offenses.” How do we know that this offering satisfies the demands of divine justice?—Simply because the Lord says so. Is not that enough? But is there no satisfaction to him that believes? no rest? no peace within?—Indeed there is. And right here is the point where the offering of Christ is shown to be the only way whereby sin may be pardoned, and its condemnation removed. “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Heb. 9: 13, 14. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;” “for he is our peace.”
(To be concluded.)

THE FAITH OF JESUS.

By Mary C. Baldwin

MARY C. BALDWIN.
(Sheridan, O. T.)
In James 2:14–26 is a lesson on faith, showing that without works our faith is useless. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Of what use is our body without the spirit? — It is dead; and nothing but the quickening, or life-giving, Spirit of God can again give it life. Then we must count our dead faith as useless as the body without the spirit, and rely on the same quickening Spirit of God to give us the living faith that will work.
For some time the message has gone forth, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” We believe that this message is for us as a people; but, says James, “The devils also believe, and tremble.” Now shall we receive this message with our old dead faith, as Satan would have us do, and only believe and tremble, as do he and his angels? Shall we not rather flee to the Life-giver, and earnestly “contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”? The Lord is holding out many blessings to us, beseeching us to accept them. How our refusal to receive his proffered mercies must grieve him who has suffered so shamefully for us! He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” We have been slow to receive his blessings of justification; and now, as he extends the blessing of glorification, our dead faith receives the blessing in a grave, as it were. Shall we not turn to the Lord, and contend for a living faith, for “the faith of Jesus”? His faith is a living faith, a faith that works.
When on earth, he healed the sick, cast out devils, and performed many wonderful works; and he said to his disciples, “He that believeth on me, . . . greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” Before he left them, he promised to send them the Holy Spirit, which he says he is more willing to give us than we are to give good gifts to our children. Shall we receive this blessing with a dead faith, or with the faith of Jesus, the living faith?
Long have we been teaching the commandments of God; but have we had a full realization of the faith of Jesus? May the day hasten when it may be said of us, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the FAITH of Jesus.”

Protestants and Catholics in France

There are only six hundred thousand Protestants in France, and nearly thirty-nine million Roman Catholics.

HOW TO DEAL WITH ERROR.

By H. F. PHELPS

H. F. PHELPS.
(St. Paul, Minn.)
The following from Mr. Moody, as given in the Literary Digest, is worthy of a place in the REVIEW AND HERALD. It contains a good lesson for those who should feed the flock of God with food well winnowed. Mr. Moody says:—
A statement of error is like dropping a seed. It often suggests what would otherwise never occur to a man. I once heard a man combat the very liberal views of two able men. The men who were supposed to be unsound were so much more able than the one who criticised them that I found, unconsciously, that my sympathies were being roused in their behalf. This taught me a lesson that it is always a dangerous thing to attack men who hold error.
It is for this reason that Christ’s teaching was always constructive. He gave little attention to tearing down, because he knew that as light dispels darkness, so truth scatters error. His method of dealing with error was largely to ignore it, letting it melt away in the warm glow of the full intensity of truth expressed in love. But most important of all, let us remember the injunction of the apostle Peter, “Above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves.” Let us hold truth, but by all means let us hold it in love, and not with a theological club.
Now there are several points worthy of consideration in this. “A statement of error is like dropping a seed.” When we drop a seed, it is supposed that it will grow. That is why we drop the seed. But when we drop a seed of error, by quoting the words or statements of those in error, would we like to have it grow? We quote it for the sake of refuting the error. But why not refute the error by presenting advance truth? In so doing, the error will vanish in the minds of the honest, without the sowing of a seed of error for some one to catch up, who, in all probability, would never have thought of the error or of the would-be argument if we had not quoted it. On this point the Spirit of God has spoken: “Let your pens trace advance truth.” And the voice should do likewise.
This is the quotation in full, as found in “Special Testimony for Ministers and Workers,” No. 4, pages 22, 23: “The pen so often traces words that are sharp, and by repeating the statements of the advocates of error, our brethren sometimes give currency to the error. This is a mistake. Let your pen trace advance truth.”
This is so very plain that it needs no comment. The Spirit of God is able to say just what it means, just what is for our good, and for the good of the cause of God as well. From a careful consideration of the foregoing quotation, it seems to the writer that in dealing with error—imperialism, for instance—we should present the truth in contrast,—hit the very “thing” itself, and hit it hard, with the truth of God. We can even name the error, the very thing we are after, and show how the truth of God proves that it is an error; and all this without giving quotations or so-called arguments of the error. The need of naming the “thing” is because many persons have so benumbed the finer faculties of the mind by indulgence of appetite that they would not be able to see the application if the thing were not named. With many the mind is rendered so obtuse by stimulants and narcotics that they can not see clearly. So we may name the thing; but we do not need to quote the error.
Another very suggestive word in this quotation from Mr. Moody, is that deep-meaning word “constructive.” There is altogether too much tearing down, and not enough building up, in this world. It is the work of Christ, and of all who co-operate with him, to build up. But it is the work of an enemy to tear down. When Christ was here among men, his work was to counteract the work of the enemy. And, as noticed by Mr. Moody, he did it by “the full intensity of truth expressed in love.” And the followers of Christ must do the same. This, indeed, will be the chief characteristic of the people of God in the crisis that is before them. Christ will, by them, be represented before the world. The world is in perishing need of Christ. All the world will see Christ in his people. And seeing Christ in his people will lead every honest soul to flee out of Babylon.
Another point: “Have fervent charity among yourselves.” But this never can be secured in any other manner, nor will it be manifested in any other manner, than that set forth by the Spirit of God through his servant Paul, “which is, Christ in you,”—Christ in the believer. When Christ is seen by the world, in his people, in all his fullness, then there will also be found “fervent charity” among them. And that charity will manifest itself toward the erring, to the extent that its possessors will not judge the motives of any soul of man, not even of their persecutors. They will not judge the motives of even the most zealous National Reformer, nor of the most ardent imperialist; in fact, they will “judge nothing before the time.”

LOOK HEAVENWARD.

By Mrs. P. Alderman

MRS. P. ALDERMAN.
(Madison, Ohio.)
Open thy soul windows up toward the sky; Catch the bright rays That fall from His presence who dwelleth on high, To gladden thy days; For Jesus the darkness will surely dispel, And loosen thy tongue the sweet story to tell Of his excellent ways.
Though narrow the pathway to God, it is plain: His footsteps are there. In cloud or in sunshine, in tempest and rain, He makes it all fair.
The smile of his presence is dearer to me Than all the world's jewels, from land or from sea, Though costly and rare.

WILLIAM BRICKEY

By William Brickey

“FORASMUCH as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” 2 Cor. 3: 3.
Where did Paul find this manifest declaration?—It does not require much wisdom to see that the epistle that is now written in the hearts of believers by the Spirit of God, was once written in tables of stone. Jeremiah was the one who made the declaration: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.”

WILLIAM BRICKEY

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