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Signs of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 1.

SCRIPTURE THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR

Signs of the Times

Jan 3, 1905

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jan 3, 1905

SCRIPTURE THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR.

(American Standard Revised Version.)
"Bless Jehovah, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfeth thy desire with good things, So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle." Ps. 103 : 1-5.
"Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place In all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God." "For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night." Ps 90:1, 2, 4.
"Put not your trust in princes, Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; In that very day His thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God; Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that in them is; Who keepeth truth forever." Ps. 146:3-6.
"Yet a little while is the light among you. Walk while ye have the light, that darkness overtake you not; and he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither He goeth. While ye have the light, believe on the light, that ye may become sons of light. These things spake Jesus, and He departed and hid Himself from them." John 12:35, 36.
"One thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:13, 14.
"So teach us to number our days, that we may get us an heart of wisdom." "And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it." Ps. 90:12, 17.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Thy sight, O Jehovah, my Rock, and my Redeemer." Ps. 19:14.

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60 A Living Saviour 50 1/2c
62 Return of the Jews 25 2c
63 Jesus Died for You 50 1/2c
64 Salvation through Christ 50 1/2c
65 Why Are You Not A Christian? 50 1/2c
66 An Astronomer's View of Our Father's House 25 1 1/2c
67 A Chat with My Tobacco-Loving Brother 25 1 1/2c
68 Food: Its Mental and Moral Value 50 1/2c
69 Some One Cares for Your Soul 50 1/2c
71 United States as a Christian Nation 50 1/2c
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75 Which Day Do You Keep and Why? 50 1/2c
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77 The Two Ways 50 1/2c
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THE MESSAGE SERIES STILL SELLING.

By Editor

SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal.
Gentlemen: Enclosed find a Money Order for $2.75 for which please send me 25 sets of the special SIGNS, bound. The last 25 sets came to hand promptly. Different members of the church here took several papers apiece. Mother took 12 sets and sold them in about 2 hours. She says:
I left home about 2 o'clock P.M., canvassed down one street and back another, arriving home at 4 o'clock. The people seemed eager to get the papers. One lady seeing the commandments on one of the papers said: 'O, here is a paper that says something about the Ten Commandments. That is just what I have been looking for.' At another house I found the lady had borrowed two of the papers from one of her neighbors. She had the papers and her Bible and was studying them. As soon as she found out I was selling them, she wanted the rest of the set. At another place the woman did not have the money; but after I had gone, her little girl came running after me, crying, 'I want one of those papers.'
I didn't suppose I would have such good success. I am anxious to try again.
Yours truly, E. O. Snider.
There are a limited number of sets remaining, the price of which is 10 cents each where lots of 25 sets are ordered at one time. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal.

AFTER FIVE YEARS.

By Editor

Pacific Press Pub. Co., Mountain View, Cal. Gentlemen:—My five years' subscription to your valued paper THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES has just expired. During that time I have read every copy published, and as it is undoubtedly the best paper printed in the world to-day I can not think of being without it. I wish also to send it to a few of my friends. Yours very truly, C. E. Chappell.
Attached to this letter was a list of four names and addresses to each of which the SIGNS was ordered one year.

"WONDROUS LOVE."

Mr. H. H. Winslow has just printed another edition of his beautiful song "Wondrous Love." Copies may be obtained at 25c. each or $2.00 a dozen by addressing him at 285 Salmon St., Portland, Ore., or Pacific Press Pub. Co., Mountain View, Cal.

The Passing of the Old Year

By Editor

DECEMBER 31, 1905.
The last day of the Old Year has been much like other days. It has its morning, its noon, its night. The sun arose, pursued his accustomed course in the heavens, and set. The busy, bustling world ceased not its din. Mankind laughed and cried, cursed and prayed as erst before. And yet it has been a day in which thoughtful persons have paused and looked back with many and varied feelings and emotions, of pain and pleasure, of sorrow and joy, of regret and gladness.
The close of the year marks an era in the course of time, a milestone in the journeys of life; if not in nature, in custom. Another twelve-month companion—1905—is passing away, soon to be among the dead and gone. His retreating footsteps linger a moment on the threshold as we write. His sad farewell falls with mournful cadence upon the ear. His life like that of his predecessors was brief, but eventful. Not a smooth, happy, harmonious life has it been, but anomalous and inconsistent to a degree: smiling, affable, generous, kind, to some; frowning, rude, niggardly, cruel, to others. All kinds and degrees of disposition and temperament were found in the complex nature of the Old Year.
What a regretful year to some! Disappointed ambitions, broken resolutions, reverses of fortune, defeats by the enemy, mark every step of the way. Proud and tyrannical Russia has been humbled to the dust and is groaning and writhing in agony over internal dissension and rebellion. Japan is exultant in victory, but O, at what a fearful cost of money and men. Poor Korea has been ground between the upper and nether millstones, and has lost her autonomy.
What a sad, sad year it has been to many hearts among our readers. Loved ones are gone from the home. The sweet circle is broken. The chair at the table is vacant. The room is empty, or occupied with another. The warm greeting, the hearty handshake, the sweet smile, the fervent God-speed, which have so often cheered, are gone forever. Blasted hopes lie buried with our loved ones in the graves which the Old Year has digged. Pillars in the church, esteemed, revered, loved by all who knew them, have fallen at their post.
Heavy waves of grief have engulfed many hearts. Some mourn, not without hope; for the Life-giver is coming to redeem His trusting ones from the power of death and the grave. Others, and they are many, have no hope. All their expectations are buried in the earth, lost in fruitless efforts or fanciful speculations. Their hearts have never been given to the Source of all good, their faith has not laid hold of the One "mighty to save."
What a cruel year it has been! Hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands have been swept away by pestilence, by earthquake, by famine, by disease, by suicide and murder, by war. Little mercy has been shown to helpless age or innocent youth. The good and the evil have alike fallen. Thus Nature, whom some have exalted as God, serves those who have fallen under her perverted laws.
What a happy year to some! They have left the living death of sin and vice and crime and shame for a life of righteousness and virtue and honor and everlasting glory. They have left the service of Satan and its hollow promises, and have been born anew into the kingdom of God. From children of the night they have become the children of the day. From the bondage of self they have stepped into the glorious freedom of God. There are new hopes in their hearts, new light in their eyes, new joy in living, new life in their being, new love for newer, lasting, holy things, new peace that floweth like a river in their souls, new zeal for helping others, new heart, new hope, new love. All these changes have cost the human trial, conflict, crucifixion, but have been more than repaid by the richer blessings from above.
Such are some of the changes which the Old Year has wrought. Before us lies the unfolding New Year, with all its opportunities for good. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in loving-kindness. He will again have compassion upon us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." In the light of such promises as these, let no sin separate you from the Master in the year to come.
But more than this. In all earth's trouble and turmoil, her sins and crimes, her temptations and trials, her storms and tempests, we need more than mere forgiveness, more than to be lifted from the miry clay; we must have our feet upon the rock; we must have Him "establish" our "goings." Faith must take hold of the immutable Word. The heart must be open to receive the Spirit. He who forgives the past is anxious to fit us to meet the future. He is more willing to give His Spirit of might and strength and wisdom and counsel and knowledge than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children. Then ask, and receive. Seek, and find. Believe, and receive. Then by the Holy Spirit shall "the love of God" be "shed abroad" "in the heart." And then the assurance: "Great peace have they that love Thy law, and they have no occasion of stumbling." If our readers will by faith grasp these blessings of God, they will find verified this scripture: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for Mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine; the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." May the New Year bring this experience to all our readers.

CHRISTIAN COMFORT.

ONE feature, and a prominent feature, of Christ's mission to earth was "to comfort all that mourn." In furtherance of this end, when His personal work on earth was finished, and He ascended to Heaven, "another Comforter" was sent who would abide with His people forever, "even the Spirit of truth." John 14:16, 17.
In all this it was designed "to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." Isa. 61:3.

Pass It On.

Not only is the Holy Spirit engaged in the work of giving comfort, but those who receive comfort through its agency are to fall in line and become comforters to others. "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Cor. 1:3, 4.
God does not give His blessings to His children for themselves alone. They can not get a full benefit by trying to keep His mercies within themselves. Therefore the apostle adds: "As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation." 2 Cor. 1:5, 6.

How Comfort Is Administered.

The means by which the Comforter sent down from heaven is to give comfort to believers, and through them to the world, is the Word of God. The Comforter is to guide them into all truth (John 16:13), and the Word of God is truth (John 17:17).
Of this Word Paul writes: "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Rom. 15:4. To which we add the testimony of the psalmist: "Remember Thy Word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction; for Thy Word hath quickened me." Ps. 119:49, 50.

A Means of Prosperity in the Church.

Genuine comfort, that is, comfort received through the Word and passed on to others, brings life and growth to the church. After the persecution under Saul and others, the record says, "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." Acts 9:31.
Christ says, "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." And He has provided the means—the Spirit, the Word, and His disciples—for imparting this comfort to all who will receive it. It must ever be understood that comfort can not be enforced upon any one; it must be duly accepted upon the stated conditions—faith in the Word of God. On this ground there is no condition in life under which the mourner may not be comforted if only he will accept and apply this balm.

Mourning the Loss of Friends.

A duty which all classes of mankind acknowledge is that of comforting those who mourn the loss of loved ones by death. And here, the Lord has given us the special ground of comfort concerning those who die in the faith: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:13-18.
So we see that even in "the valley of the shadow of death" there is solid comfort in God's Word for those who mourn. They need fear no evil; for the Good Shepherd's "rod and staff" will comfort them even there. Ps. 23:4. Thus "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Rom. 8:28.

A DECEPTION OLDER THAN EDEN.

By Uriah Smith

WITHIN the last few years there have sprung into being many teachers and many periodicals whose purpose is to teach men to think themselves gods or a part of God. That was an ancient plan, conjured in heaven by one who chose the worship of self above the worship of Him through whom he had his being. It proved the angels' deception in heaven; it proved man's deception in the earth. It was a generic falsehood; for from it have sprung a great crop of other falsehoods and false systems of worship.
That teaching in the Garden of Eden was the fountain-head of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul; for it was coupled with, and had in it the essence of, that other statement, "Ye shall not surely die." The tree which sprung from that seed-lie has been dropping down fruit that had in it inherently the essence of death. That teaching which was the foundation of all heathenism has not been left to the heathen world—it is with us yet, clung to, and propagated by, much of the professed Christian world.
The Word of God teaches this truth, that he who is made a new creature in Christ Jesus has Christ in him, "the hope of glory." It teaches men also to let the mind of Christ be in them, that it may direct them in the ways that are in harmony with the law of God; but the doctrine of that ancient error teaches Christ or God incarnate in our flesh. The ideas may seem to some akin, if not in harmony; but they are as far apart as light and darkness, as life and death, as far apart as the poles of the heavens. The one exalts man, and brings in as a natural consequence the worship of self; the other exalts Christ, and puts away from us every form of worship save the worship of God; the one is the counterfeit, the other is the genuine; the one turns men into the ways of destruction, the other leads them by the straight path up to the throne of God; the one must explain away all scripture that is not in harmony with it, the other takes the Word of God and hews itself to the line of that Word, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
Satanic in its inception, that doctrine of deception can end only in the destruction which uproots every plant that has not been planted by the eternal God. Satan said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will be like the Most High;" and that is the doctrine which he preached to the angels. It is the first doctrine which he preached to the innocent pair in Eden for them to believe and work upon for their own self-exaltation.
In this new thought, this new theology, which is new only in its metamorphosis into a sort of Christian ethics stage, man is declared to be able to compass his own salvation, to be his own saviour, able to liberate himself from sin and its consequences, having within himself the power to cure himself of sickness and all the ailments of the flesh, and being in himself "the highest expression of God."
In this not only is God's Word utterly discredited; but the plan of redemption, all that God has done for man, is flatly denied, cast aside, trampled underfoot; and then man is put in the place of God, to do for himself that which only God can do for him. Some time ago there sprung up in this country a society whose express purpose was the exaltation ofman, the setting forth of his divinity and his all-sufficiency in himself. That society has many supporters now in the journals that are devoting their strength and influence to the propagation of that very idea. Books are multiplying rapidly which advocate the same ideas, the pith of which is contained in this expression: "Man will yet fling his form into the heavens and root himself in God." That is what Satan tempted Eve to attempt to do; that is what the builders of the tower of Babel tried to do. The same idea is voiced in these presumptuous words: "Order is our only saviour, and, like the picture in the soul of the artist, it lies within us waiting to be revealed." In other words, we are in need of no Saviour but ourself.
This all works toward the exaltation of self and the worship of self. It is man's attempt to do in the earth what Satan attempted to do in heaven, and the two things are branches of the same evil root.
That one subtle purpose has run through the work of Satan from the day he conspired against his Maker even down to the present day, and will continue thus until his last victim has been ensnared. His power over those who have not the mind of Christ will continue unto the end, and increase as it continues. The subtlety of his sophistry will continue to grow keener unto the end. The rapid increase of these teachings of heathenism to which we have referred proves this to be so. There has been an awakening among the adherents of these teachings in the lands that have been longest enslaved and darkened by them, and they are now rapidly spreading in the lands that had not known them hitherto. They are even permeating the pulpit orations of Christian churches, and are winning their disastrous way wherever the power of God has not come in to dominate the life.
The harvest of the earth is ready for the sickle—the weeds as well as the wheat. It is time to seek God, to "watch unto prayer," that the overspreading delusions of the last days may not reckon us among their victims.
S.

IT BEHOOVED HIM.

IN other words it was what ought to be done, must be done; it was owed, it was duty. Of Jesus the Son of God the words are spoken. It covers His entire sacrifice for man, from the time of His consecration to that work in the foundation of the world to His mighty victory over sin and death. He had created man, that man might glorify Eternal Goodness forever. His creatures sinned and fell. However much it cost the universe, His plan must not fail. Every soul must have the glorious privilege of serving God. Every one must be saved who would put his faith in the power of God, his hand in his Saviour's.
Christ weighed it all. He must become man in all things. He must as man meet all that man would have to meet. He knew that ardor would in trial and darkness grow cool. He knew that zeal under utter physical weariness would flag. He knew that in face of the most appalling and hardest wickedness tenderness would grow harsh. He knew that under the strongest injustice humanity would assert itself for itself. Therefore He placed all His work on the high plane of duty—"it behooved Him"—love's highest expression in the sorest trial.
What a lesson it is for this superficial, spiritual age, which works by feeling and impulse, and so often calls the feeling "love." What a spurious "love" it is that turns from God's Word, turns from integrity of heart, turns from highest and holiest principle, and sacrifices all to the multitude, to impulse, to emotion, to feeling. Even earthly love, if true in character, must yield to duty.
"And I read the moral—A brave endeavor To do thy duty, whate'er its worth, Is better than life with love forever, And love is the sweetest thing on earth."
But the highest plane of love is duty; and on this high plane of duty Christ recorded His wonderful love. "It behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest." And He declares: "If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments." "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love."

Teachings of the Church

By Editor

1756.—Teachings of the Church.
Does the Christian Church teach anything which is not in harmony with God's Word? If so, what is it? S.
If our querist means by the Christian Church the denomination by that name we would be compelled to say from our knowledge of the teachings of that church that they do. While they form no creed, while they boast of that fact, while they claim to teach the Bible and the Bible alone, they practically reject all of the Bible save the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles. In other words, the Antinomians among them seem to have such a decided antipathy to God's law that everything that pertains to it is set aside by them as having no obligation upon men now, and yet the whole great object of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and all the efforts of Heaven are to bring men back to the same allegiance to God's law that was manifested in Christ Jesus. "This is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grevious."

Question Corner

By Editor

1755.—Questions on Tithing.
Two correspondents write as follows:
1. Cane seed, 16 bushels @ 1.25 $20.00 Planting, 15.00 Cutting, raking, shocking, 15.00 Hauling and stacking, 20.00 Total, $70.00 Value of the cane about 80.00 Cost of growing cane about $70.00 Our profit on the cane, if sold, would be $10.00. Do we pay tithe on the value of the cane, $80.00, or on the profit, $10.00? Or should we pay tithe on the cane?
2. We have ten cows, from which we make about two thousand pounds of butter per annum. The cane we raise is fed to the cows. The value of our butter is, say, $500.00. The cost of producing it is as follows: Cane, $70.00 Pasturage, 84.00 Other feed stuff, 48.00 Total, $202.00 The profit on our butter is, say, $298.00. Do we tithe the butter at $500.00, or at $298.00?
3. We raise eight or ten calves per annum. The value of the calves at birth is, Heifers, $25.00 Bulls, 1.50 Should we pay tithe on them at time of birth, or when yearlings, less the expense of raising?
4. We sell chickens and eggs to the value of $180.00, and expend $90.00 to feed the chickens. What do we pay tithe upon, the gross sales or the increase?
1. When the cane is fed to the cows it is tithed in the butter, and should not be tithed as a separate product. If it were sold the tithe should be on more than ten dollars unless all the expense is hired. In all the Word of God a man's labor is not counted out of the amount to be tithed. If outside expense is incurred that is another matter. The man that is hired is to take the portion he receives and pay tithe on that; the Lord does not ask it twice. If the planting, cutting, raking, hauling, etc., were done by yourself, your tithe would be on the product, if the cane were sold.
Your tithe on the butter would be $500.00 less the expense of producing it, outside of your own labor. If the $202.00 is expense paid to others, which they in duty to the Lord should tithe, you would pay tithe on the $298.00, but your own labor should not be deducted as expense.
4. As to the calves, the tithe should be paid when they are sold, less actual expense outside of your own labor. If the calves are to be tithed they should be tithed when a year old, or at any rate at a regular time every year.

1757.—Gentiles and the Sabbath.

By Editor

Were any uncircumcised Gentiles ever commanded to keep the Sabbath? If so, where? R. E. S.
Ex. 20:8-11 contains the Sabbath law that God has given to all nations, for the Sabbath was made for man, Jesus tells us. Mark 2:27. It was made twenty-five hundred years before a Jew existed; therefore it was made for the whole race of men, and the commandment was to all men. It is a memorial of creation, and creation has to do equally with all nations. You could as well ask, Where is any uncircumcised Gentile told to keep the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill"? Every commandment which God has given, His whole Word, the plan of salvation itself, came to us through the Jews. There is not one single promise in all God's Word to the Gentile as a Gentile. It is only as he becomes a part of the true Israel of God. In this way here is one of the promises to the Gentile, or stranger: "Also the foreigners that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer." See Isa. 56:1-8.
Rom. 14:5, 6 has reference to things that are not essential and concerning which man has no right to judge his brother. Those do not in any way excuse man from obedience to God's law. See Rom. 3:31; 8:3. The apostle very clearly tells us in the same epistle that the only things in the world that keep us from obedience to God's law is the carnal heart. Rom. 8:7.
Gal. 4:9-11 is a simple statement of the apostle Paul that the Gentiles had gone back to idolatry, and were observing the days, and months, and seasons, and years of the idolatrous customs, among which the Sunday was the chief day; and therefore the apostle was afraid of them.
For a full explanation of 2 Corinthians 3 see the tract "From Glory to Glory," Bible Student's Library. It will cost but three cents to obtain it, including postage.
Continue reading: 1758.—Who Was Melchizedek? Heb. 7:3