Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 39. (10/3/1895)

Signs of the Times

Oct 3, 1895

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 3, 1895

The Spirit and the Word.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

— “He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.” John 3:34, R. V. In the common version the words “unto him” are added, although they are not in the original, as is indicated by their being in Italics. However, it makes really no difference whether they are in or not, for the meaning is the same either way. The plainly expressed idea is that God gives the Spirit without measure unto the one whom he sends, and who fulfills his mission by speaking the words of God.

Of course there is no question but that this refers primarily to Christ. God “sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10. God had said to Moses concerning Christ, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deut. 18:18. So Jesus said, “Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” John 12:50. And again, “The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” John 14:24.

It was “through the eternal Spirit” that Jesus offered himself to God. Heb. 9:14. It was by the Spirit, therefore, that he spoke. But the word was not simply in his mouth but in his heart. The testimony of Christ was, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.” Ps. 40:8, 9. The word being in his heart, it guided all his acts as well as his speech; so that Jesus both lived and spoke the words of God. And the Spirit was with him without measure, both to speak and to do whatever the Father required of him.

But Jesus said of his disciples, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” John 13:18. He said also, “I have given them thy word.” Verse 14. Because he whom God has sent is sent to speak the word of God. This word of testimony can not be truly spoken except by the Spirit; for “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” 1 Cor. 12:3.

THE word of truth can not be spoken unless it fills the heart; “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Matt. 12:34. See also Deut. 6:6, 7. Therefore it is evident that he who truly speaks the word of God, lives the word of God. Such an one lives “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” He does not slight one precept.

NOW COMES in the fullness of the promise that he who fulfills the mission on which he is sent, namely, to speak the word of God, will have the Spirit without measure. It is for this special purpose that the Spirit was promised and given. Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8.

THE Spirit was manifest in the church without limit, as long as the church held forth the word of God. It was only when the professed people of God turned from the mission on which they were sent, leaving the word of God for fables, that the powerful manifestations of the Spirit disappeared. Would you have to the full the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Give yourself wholly to the word of God, to hold it forth in its wholeness and perfection, and the Spirit will be given without measure. E. J. W.

EVERYTHING FROM HEAVEN.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

WHEN John the Baptist was reminded by some of his disciples that his influence among the people was waning, and that the multitudes were flocking to Jesus, he replied, “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from Heaven.” John 3:27.

If the truth of this answer was recognized and believed by all men, there would be a perfect condition of society. It is well worth studying.

In the first place, it shows us the uselessness of seeking position and influence for ourselves. “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from Heaven.” Therefore he does not really possess that which he has gained by his own self-seeking. Or, to put it more correctly, that which one gets by his own selfish seeking is nothing. Whoever, therefore seeks position and influence for himself, is pursuing a shadow. Such seeking is worse than useless.

Again, the will of heaven towards us can not be thwarted by any other person. The reception of the gifts of heaven depends solely upon ourselves. If we are willing to receive what Heaven has for us, no person on earth can stay it from bestowing them. Therefore it follows that we shall most certainly have everything that the God of heaven wishes us to have. A belief of this would produce perfect contentment in us. Moreover, if any position or influence is taken from us, we may know that it was taken by the will of Heaven. We are not to blame men for it. Even the man who may possess it instead of us is not to be blamed. If there be any blame, we are the ones to whom it belongs. God may have taken it away because we did not use it properly. Or there may be no blame at all, but the purpose for which God gave it to us may have been served. But in any case we are not to blame men for what we have lost, since gifts are only at God’s disposal.

With these words of John we may place those written by the apostle James, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither

shadow of turning.” James 1:17. Therefore we need not mourn if we lose the position which was good, and which offered such facilities for serving God; because when it goes we may know that it would not be good for us any more. Not only are we certain to have every good thing that God has for us, if we are willing to receive it, but everything that comes from God is good. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Who can not see that it is worse than foolish to complain when good comes to him?

“Let good or ill befall, It must be good for me, Secure of having Thee in all, Of having all in Thee.”

One thing more should be learned, and that is not to boast. Since a man can receive nothing except that which is given him from Heaven, what wickedness it is to boast of any gifts that we may possess! “Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” 1 Cor. 4:7.

He who remembers that God gives only good things, and everything that is good, and who lives in constant recognition of the fact that he is dependent on heaven alone, and who therefore commits himself to the heavenly keeping, will, though poor and unknown, find even on earth the riches and satisfaction of heaven. E. J. W.

Hearing the Word of God

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Hearing the Word.—But let it be remembered that it is the word of God, and not that of men, that is to be heard. If men are really sent from God, and preach only the word, then it is all right; but let it never be forgotten that faith can not come from hearing the word of men. It is evident, therefore, that when men speak we must be able to discern whether or not they are speaking the word of God. That means that we must know the word of God for ourselves. We must study it for ourselves, recognizing God’s voice in it, to know exactly what he says. If this is done, there will be no difficulty in the matter of faith. That man who gives himself patiently to the study of the word of God, will have faith just as surely as he will have strength if he eats good food and breathes pure air. E. J. W.

A NATIONAL QUESTION.

This is what the Sunday question has been for some time—since 1892, when Congress decided that Sunday was the Sabbath; but now it is recognized as such by prominent newspapers, especially since the agitation of the matter in New York City. Its last disguise in coming before the people is that of a temperance measure—the closing of saloons on that day. But the veneer is so thin that it is ofttimes worn through or rubbed off by the advocates of the measure themselves, and the true grain of the body timber is revealed as clear as noonday. The veneer is ostensibly a demand in the interests of temperance. The body of base timber which the veneer is thought to hide will be found to be a full-fledged Sunday law, with all the attendant evils of church and state. What is wanted is a law to exalt Sunday, to protect, to promote a religious institution.

The question is one that great political parties can no longer ignore. The great Republican party of New York state, which at the last election reversed the politics of the state, finds it necessary to its existence, as declared in its late convention, to indorse the Sunday law, not even leaving it to the principles of local option. The platform declares that the Sunday question will “measure the moral tone of the Empire State.” It adds:—

“We believe in the American Sunday, and that the traditions of the Republican party favor the preservation of all those conditions and principles calculated to bring peace, prosperity, and happiness to the masses of the people.”

The leading voice in this decision was that of Ex-Senator Warner Miller. The reason may be found in remarks of Chauncey M. Depew before the convention, which we clip from the (Cleveland, O.) Methodist Times of September 20:—

The theory of the Republican party should be clearly defined on this excise question. It should not hesitate or shrink. It should come out squarely one way or the other, either for enforcement or against. If against it you will get the German vote; if for it you will get the church and school vote; but if neither for nor against it, you will disgust the people, make them doubt your sincerity, and lose their entire vote.

It was fear of the religious boycott that brought the party to terms. We may well close this in the language of the United States Senate, in a report on the Sunday question, in 1829, the wisdom of which all will do well to ponder:—

Extensive religious combinations to effect a political object are always dangerous. . . . All religious despotism commences by combination and influence; and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of the country, the civil power soon bends under it, and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequence.

THE SUNDAY-LAW SPIRIT.

The “unselfishness” and “fair-mindedness” of Sunday laws is illustrated by the following from the Christian Statesman. After saying that Sunday laws in Tennessee and Maryland do not interfere with the conscientious conviction of any, the Statesman remarks:—

They [the laws] do not forbid the observance of Saturday as the Sabbath. They do not require any one to observe the sabbath religiously. They do not make a single religious act obligatory. They only restrain from doing what demoralizes, breaks down the sanctity of the sabbath, or interferes with the right of others to a day of rest.

The substance of the above is just this: Seventh-day keepers have the privilege and right, with no hindrance whatever from the law, of keeping Saturday, however few or many they may be. But first-day keepers must have a law to protect their day—Sunday—or their right of rest is interfered with! The fact that the great mass of people are at work on Saturday does not interfere in the least with those who keep the Sabbath, but a few working on Sunday interferes so much with the 40,000,000 of professedly religious Sunday keepers (that is what they claim) that unless there is a law compelling all to keep Sunday, there is an interference with their right to a day of rest! The few can get along very well with simply no law against their Sabbath observance, but the great majority must have laws to assist them; and not only so, but to compel their neighbor to seem to do as they think he ought. Surely the unselfishness, the magnanimity, the goldenrulity, of the argument and demand must be apparent to all!

But the men who are engaged in this movement do not see its wickedness. They have espoused the Sunday-law cause, imbibed the Sunday-law principles, and, as has always been inevitably true, it is developing in them the spirit of persecution.

Sanctity of the Sabbath.—Another word on the expression, “They [Sunday laws] only restrain from doing what . . . breaks down the sanctity of the sabbath.” It is an error that is prevalent that outward service is pleasing to God, and yet our Lord Jesus Christ uttered no such denunciations against any class as he did the formal Pharisees, who were so punctilious about the conduct of others. The Sabbath is not kept at all in God’s sight unless it is kept as he commands. He says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Holiness is an attribute of the heart, motive, and life. He only can keep the Sabbath holy who is himself holy, made such by the presence of the One whose presence in the Sabbath makes the day holy. Compulsory rest is not pleasing to God nor beneficial to the heart of the man compelled to take it. Laws compelling to outward observance of religious institutions only make men hypocrites. That righteousness which begins outwardly, governed by the letter of the law only, is at its best but “filthy rags” in God’s sight. The righteousness which he requires is born within, a very part of the heart and of the life, which by growth fills up the letter of God’s law with fragrant, living fullness, exhaling the sweet perfume of love and helpfulness on all around. Such Sabbath keepers will lift men, through God’s grace, to the only true Sabbath-keeping acceptable in God’s sight, but it can never even seek to compel men to observe a sabbath.

One thought more: We can keep only that day holy which the Lord has made holy. He has hallowed the seventh day alone. To set apart another day in the light of his word, to seek to compel men to hallow it, is to make God a liar, and to usurp his throne. Reader, on which side of this matter do you stand?

A “NECESSITY”—TO WHOM?

HERE are two utterances from one editorial note in the Christian Statesman of September 7. In speaking of seventh-day observers and their persecutions, the editor says:—

There is no law against observing Saturday or any other day as the Sabbath. If any one chooses to observe every day as a sabbath, the law will not interfere.

In speaking of the persecuting Sunday laws he says:—

Sabbath laws are a necessity to protect all people in their right to a weekly rest day.

Now if the first statement be true, the second is not. If men can observe any day they wish, if there is no law to interfere, what is the necessity for Sabbath laws? It means just this, that men shall be compelled to observe days which they do not choose, and the thing is stated as a “necessity” to hide its fallacy. It means that, whatever other days a man might choose to keep, he must keep the day selected for him by the Sunday keeper. The Sunday-law man says in effect, Though you have kept the day of your religious choice, now you must give one-sixth of your time, or 16⅔ per cent. of your income, in keeping the day of my choice. Mark this, a law which demands the observance of one day over which men may differ, or, in the language of the Statesman, a “law which protects the first day of the week,” does NOT protect men. It says to the man who chooses to keep Sunday,

“You are all right,” but to those who do not so choose (and every one has the right so to do), “You must observe the day or suffer the penalty.”

“To protect all people!” Then the people of California are not protected! They may be driven out like cattle or slaves to work on the day they choose to keep! Such a defense of Sunday laws would be laughable were they not wicked. The truth is that every man is protected now in keeping any sabbath he desires in all places where no Sunday law exists. It is only when such laws exist and are enforced that the rights of men are not protected. And so it is in Tennessee, Maryland, and other states. It is not so in California, and yet men are protected in keeping Sunday.

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

“BLESSED are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” Impurity in thought or practice obscures spiritual vision, so that the soul can not contemplate and be charmed with the character of God. The world is full of disobedience, and the understanding of men has become so darkened by a sinful course of action that righteousness is not clearly discerned, and is not therefore appreciated above unrighteousness. The pure in heart shall see God, whose character is represented in the law. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.”

He who has an eye single to heavenly and divine things, will delight in beholding God in Christ Jesus, and by beholding he will become changed into his image. “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” He is seeking to be like the Pattern. When in perplexity he inquires, “How would Jesus do under similar circumstances? It is important that I follow Christ, that I conform my conduct to the model of his example. Without holiness no man shall see God. I must obey the commandments of God; for his law is a transcript of his character.”

The pure in heart shall see God. While all men shall behold Christ, as a judge, the

pure in heart shall behold him as a friend; for Jesus has said, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” The pure in heart shall see Christ as a friend and elder brother. Those who are constantly looking unto Christ for his counsel, who pray in sincerity for his Holy Spirit, will be grieved if a cloud hides him from their sight. Satan will pass his hellish shadow across their pathway in order that the human agent shall not discern God, but may behold him who obtrudes himself between the soul and God, suggesting, as he did to Adam, his lying sophistry to lead men into transgression. He frames lies to substitute for a “Thus saith the Lord.”

The Christian world in this age are inclined to accept the sophistries of Satan in the place of the words of God. Many have separated themselves from God by wicked works, and they love not to behold God, or to retain him in their knowledge. They do not want to see God any more than did Adam when he hid himself from the approach of his heavenly Father. But let us not follow the example of Adam; for not one of the human family can hide himself from God. You may turn your face from God so that you can not see him, but you can not place yourself where God will not see you; for the darkness is as the light to him, and he knoweth every secret thing.

Pure through Christ.

“And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” What kind of fear? Not servile fear. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Every human being should fear to offend God, should fear to lose his favor by engaging in anything of an impure character. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”

We are to look unto Jesus as our only hope for the taking away of our sins; for in him is no sin. He became sin for us, that he might bear our guilt, standing before the Father as guilty in our place, while we who believe in him as a personal Saviour shall, because of his merits, be accounted as pure from the contaminating influence of sin. Through the imputed righteousness of Christ, we are accounted guiltless. Christ has given to every human being the evidence that he alone is able to bear human grief, sorrow, and sin. Those who claim Christ as their substitute and surety, hanging their helpless souls upon Christ, can endure as seeing him who is invisible. The benediction, “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God,” belongs to them.

When you are betrayed into sin, do not despair. Do not delay and mourn in hopeless unbelief, but take your case at once to Jesus. “We have not an high priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” but in order that he might be a perfect Saviour for humanity, he was “tried in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” He understands every device that the enemy prepares for the unwary. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities; he himself suffered being tempted. Though he was without sin, and was not tainted with guile, yet by a painful experience he understands what it means to come into conflict with the arch-deceiver. He suffered, resisting his temptations, and he knows what man will meet in resisting evil. He gives encouragement to the souls who trust in him as their Saviour, promising that they shall not be tempted above that which they are able to bear. “With every temptation,” he says, “I, your Lord and Saviour, have made for you a way of escape.”

Christ passed over the ground where Adam failed, and redeemed his disgraceful failure. He was made perfect through suffering, and is able to succor all who shall be tempted, and to make a way of escape, that they may be able to endure temptation. Though he was a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. He knows how to sympathize with every human being; for he has identified his interest with the interests of those he came to save. What a wonderful high priest is Jesus! We may lay our very soul burden upon him. We may lay our hand of faith upon the promise of God, that he will pardon the guilty, and impute to us the purity of Christ. Through the faith that works by love the soul is purified, and the human agent can discern God; for he is a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. The one great need of the sinner is righteousness, and the word of God is called “the ministration of righteousness;” for it presents a sinless Saviour to the defiled soul. One who was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. The righteousness of Christ is a free gift; we can obtain it without money and without price. Christ himself has become the sin bearer. In his own person he answered all the claims of the law, and through the offering of himself, he made it possible for the human agent to keep the law of God, and to stand before God as innocent, accepted in the Beloved.

Power from Christ.

Though men have fallen through transgression, they may receive moral power from Christ, and return to their allegiance. They may receive the Holy Spirit as the representative of the Lord. If they believe the testimony of the Spirit, obey the requirements of the Gospel, following on in the ways of purity and holiness, they shall know that “his goings forth are prepared as the morning.” The Holy Spirit leads men to Christ, links the soul to the Saviour, and causes the human agent to identify himself with Christ.

Christ alone can save from sin; for he can make over to us his righteousness, and place it to our account. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son for us, that by this infinite sacrifice he might not only show the terrible character of sin, but condemn sin in the flesh. Men can not continue in sin and stand faultless before God; for God will not tolerate sin. The human agent must separate himself from sin, crying out with earnest soul hunger, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” The Lord will answer such a cry, saying, “A new heart also will I give thee.”

If men in responsible positions of trust, no matter in what line they may work, would cultivate that faith which works by love, and purifies the soul, they would experience the creating power of the Holy Spirit. What a change would be made in families! What a wonderful change would be made in our churches! It is because there is so great a lack of the purity and righteousness of Christ that there are unhappy families and polluted churches that stand in need of cleansing. Unless this cleansing shall take place, the building can not be fitly framed together, can not grow into an holy temple unto the Lord. Many hold the truth in unrighteousness; they have a theory of the truth, but are not sanctified, soul and body, through the truth. Being destitute of heart purity, they do not discern sin in its true character, and have not correct views of righteousness and of judgment to come. Controlled by the spirit of the world, their hearts are impure, earthly, sensual, and they can not commune with the only true God, can not know God, nor Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.

There is hope for a man who is hungering and thirsting after righteousness, who is longing for heart purity, who is desirous of having fellowship with the Spirit of God. Such a man prays, and watches unto prayer. He seeks for strength to keep the heart with all diligence, knowing that out of it are the issues of life. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” Fellowship with God means much, and those who have this fellowship with God, hear the voice of invitation saying: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The more lowly the soul in its own estimation, the more distinctly and clearly will God be discerned. He who is in communion with God will recognize the divine excellence of heavenly things, and respond to the invitation, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” The word of God comes in power to the soul, impressing the mind with the exceeding great and precious promises. Those who learn of Christ, look earnestly unto him that they may catch his Spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Their feelings become pure, their words pure and tender, and the earnest of the inheritance leads them to walk in love, drawing near to God, to listen to the voice of the true Shepherd.

The Pure in Heart Shall See God.

He who has taken no pleasure in contemplating God in this world, who has felt it no privilege to commune with God, will not be prepared to see God or to appreciate his character in the future life. Those who are occupied with earthly things, enjoy a low, cheap level, and their souls could not bear the purity of the saints in light. The conversation of heaven would be a language which they could not understand, and they could not endure the purity of infinite holiness. Heaven would not be a place of perfect bliss to them; for the faculties of the mind would not be capable of dwelling upon heavenly things.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father

hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” If we were breathing in the atmosphere of the world, we should not be regarded by the world as strangers, but if our affections are set on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, we will be misunderstood by the world. But we shall see God, because our eye is single to his glory. Our whole body will be full of light; for we are dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Purified by the faith that works by love, we shall see and appreciate the preciousness of Christ. “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.”

QUESTION CORNER

“If ye will inquire, inquire ye.” “But avoid foolish questions.”

[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for 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. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.]

No. 237. The Second Gathering.

TO WHAT time does Isa. 11:11 refer? E. A. B.

The question opens up the whole subject of Israel, which is much too long for this department. Suffice it to say that Israel is not a name according to the flesh, but according to faith (Gen. 32:24–28; Hosea 12:3–5), and the term is therefore used to denote all the people of God or those who have joined themselves to him, both before and after Christ. When the unbelieving tribes were cut off, the gentiles, or people outside of Jacob’s descendants, were grafted in by faith, and thus became Israel. See Rom. 11:17, 21. Therefore the children of the flesh are not counted for the true seed, but the children of promise. Rom. 9:6–8. And yet all are of the household of Israel (Eph. 2:19–21); all are seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29); all are of the one body, of whom Christ is the head (1 Cor. 12:13); and thus all are Israelites, all are Jews (Rom. 11:26; 2:28, 29); and all enter the glorious city of God through the twelve gates (Rev. 21:12; 22:14). All the predictions therefore relating to the people or Israel of God in the last days have reference not to the Hebrews according to the flesh, but to those who have joined themselves to the Lord, whether Jew or gentile.

But even as all of Israel according to the flesh are not the true Israel, so all of the gentile-house of Israel—if we may use the term—all the people of God in this dispensation, are not true children of faith, are not the true Israel. The true people of God now, as in Elijah’s time (Rom. 11:2–4), as in Christ’s time (verse 5), are a remnant, scattered among all churches, denominations, sects, nations, peoples. God is gathering them out by a last threefold message (Rev. 14:6–14; Zeph. 2:1–3), not to any one place, but to himself, his one faith, one truth, preparatory to the final gathering home to his heavenly kingdom.

It is to this gathering doubtless which Isa. 11:11 refers: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” Note that this is in the Christian dispensation, after the root of Jesse is revealed, to whom the gentiles seek. The names of all these various countries and peoples are used to indicate the different parts of the earth as familiar to the people at that time. It takes in all of God’s work for the last days.

No. 238. Swallowed Them Up.

IS THE original Hebrew the same in the passage, “The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up” (Num. 16:32), as “The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up,” etc. (Rev. 12:16)? L. J. C.

No; the former is from the Hebrew, the latter from the Greek. The prominent words, “earth,” “swallowed,” etc., come from words of similar meaning, but the former text relates a simple fact, while the latter deals in symbols.

No. 239. All Shall Know the Lord.

PLEASE EXPLAIN Jer. 31:33, 34. Speaking in verse 33 it says that he will make a new covenant with Israel “after those days,” and will put the law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. What days are “those days”? MRS. M. C.

Evidently the fullness of blessings referred to will be realized only after Christ’s coming. And yet all these blessings begin here. Compare Heb. 8:6–13. The days after which these blessings would come were the days of the first and rebellious house of Israel. “After those days” includes all after the crucifixion. The term “teach” does not have reference to instruction in the Lord, to growth in Christian grace, but teaching those who do not know the Lord, the true God. Those who are truly the Lord’s know him of themselves; their sins are forgiven; God’s law is written in their hearts; but the fullness of all these blessings will be realized in eternity.

No. 240. Concerning the Dead.

I WOULD like to ask a few questions concerning the dead. Luke 20:37, 38; Eccl. 3:21; 12:7. W. W. P.

But what our brother wishes to know he does not ask, and we might write pages and yet not answer the questions he wishes answers to but did not ask. However, Luke 20:35–38 shows that a resurrection of the dead is proved necessary to make God’s words true that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of the living. In his purpose they live, and in the resurrection his purpose will be manifest in fulfillment. Eccl. 3:21 simply asks, “Who knoweth?” The context teaches that death comes to all. Eccl. 12:7 simply shows that the dust returns to the earth, and the spirit returns to God, not as a conscious, intelligent entity, but as it came from God,—the breath of life, to be given again at the resurrection.

What a Man Knows.

Between a man of wonderful intellect who does not know what he is talking about, and a man of feeble intellect who does know what he is talking about, it is not difficult to choose. If a man of great intellect is talking about something that he does not know, he is just as ignorant as any fool on that thing. But when a man who does not know much, really knows a thing, he knows it just as surely as any one can know it. No one who knows the life of the Lord will be afraid to tell it. “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.”

To-day: Rejoicing in the Lord Without Fear

To-day.—Many are afraid to rejoice in the Lord to-day, for fear that they will fall in the future. But the Lord delivers from all fear. His love casteth out fear. There is no danger of falling in the future, to-day. It cannot be done. To-morrow cannot be brought into to-day. And when to-morrow comes, it will be to-day. So that if we can trust the Lord to-day, we can trust him forever. All time is present with God. So we may rejoice in the full salvation of God now, and the future can throw no cloud over to-day, to darken the way of rejoicing.

THE BIBLE.

By F. E. Belden

BY F. E. BELDEN.

O holy book of truth divine, Eternal as thy Maker’s name, Through countless ages of decline Thy glowing truths have stood the same!

The dust of time is on thy page, Yet dims no pure and hallowed thought. In every clime, in every age, Have saints thy holy comfort sought.

Thou art the life, the joy, the light, The hope of trusting thousands here, Whose faith shall find eternal sight Beyond this dreary mortal sphere.

O wondrous lamp of promise sweet, Thy light illumes the trusting soul With glory that shall be complete When days and years have ceased to roll!

Continue reading: THE SANCTIFIER AND THE SANCTIFIED