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Signs of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 44.

The Right Use of Talents
Earlier text: The Right Use of Talents

Profession and Zeal Not True Piety.

By C. P. Bollman

PROFESSION of religion does not constitute true piety, and zeal is often only a cloak hiding even from the individual himself the deformity and corruption of his own heart. The great Teacher said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." Matt. 7:21.
The gospel history abounds in instances in which the Jews manifested a zeal for God, and for his law, which under some circumstances would have indicated that they were indeed his children; but inasmuch as they were professing obedience without yielding it, and ascribing glory to the Father, while they were rejecting the Son, their professions of piety only served to brand them as hypocrites; and the term "Pharisaical" is now everywhere used as a synonym for spiritual pride, formalism, and hypocrisy. That this is a just estimate of their character, is evidenced by the fact that even while they were professing the greatest love for God, they were making void his law through human traditions (Mark 7:6-13); and, worse still, while falsely accusing the Saviour of breaking the fourth commandment, they themselves were plotting to take away his life, in direct violation of the sixth. Under such circumstances, their professions of love and pretensions to obedience must have been even more displeasing to God than open rebellion.
Yet no doubt many of those Jews were honest—honest because ignorant (Acts 3:17)—and verily thought that they were doing God service; and, like Paul (Acts 26:9), felt that they "ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth." But ignorance did not excuse them; they were none the less "the betrayers and murderers" (Acts 7:52) of the Son of God, because they did not know that he was indeed the Christ; for they might have known. The difficulty was not in the insufficiency of the evidence of the Saviour's divinity, but in their own moral condition. As has been truthfully remarked, "Ignorance [in matters of religion] is the result of wickedness." Their minds were so darkened by love of the world, and their hearts so hardened by spiritual pride, that they were incapable of seeing in the life and character of Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecies relative to the Messiah. Such was their condition that the Saviour said of them: "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." John 3:19.
They did not feel their need of the light, for they were righteous in their own eyes; their selfishness hid from them the evil of those things which they loved. Many of them, doubtless, reasoned that their fathers were men approved of God, and as they were observing the customs and traditions of their fathers, they had no need that any man should teach them. Instead of receiving the plain testimonies of the word of God, they made their own practices and traditions the standard by which to test the teachings of Him who spake as never man spake; and because his words condemned them, they turned away from the light which would have enabled them to see and correct their errors.
But even while rejecting the Saviour, and turning away from the truth, the proud Pharisee was careful to observe all the forms of his religion; the more dense his moral darkness, the longer grew his prayers, and the more demonstrative his greetings in the markets; the less he enjoyed of true religion and communion with God, the more did he seek the favor of men; and the more he was praised and flattered by his fellows, the stronger grew his self-deception, until he was utterly incapable of seeing any good beyond or outside of that which he imagined that he possessed. Self-deception brings self-satisfaction, and self-satisfaction is often mistaken for the blessing of God, and therefore the Pharisee (like his modern brother), though in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity, was happy, believing himself highly esteemed, not only of man, but of God.
But the only true standard of Christian life is the word of God. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. This, then, being true, the Bible is a perfect standard, the only correct rule of faith and practice; and it matters not how loud the profession, nor how ardent the zeal, if in any particular the creed and life do not correspond with the Scriptures, we may confidently write upon them, "Weighed in the balance, and found wanting."
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Jer. 17:9. Therefore it should not be a matter of surprise that many are self-deceived. We have seen that the Jews were seemingly honest in rejecting Christ. From their standpoint they could not see the evidence of his Messiahship; but they were inexcusable, because they had placed themselves in that position, i. e., they had come to love their own ways more than they loved the truth. The apostle Paul, speaking of those who should in the last days occupy a similar position, says that they do not receive the love of the truth. "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:10-12.
That this scripture applies to some who profess to serve God, is evident from the fact that they are deceived. They think, as did the Jews, that they are serving the Lord; but in reality they are the servants of Satan. They are self-deceived, having their hearts so set upon their own ways, that in time they really think that they are doing all that God requires of them; and though they do not realize it, they are taking pleasure in unrighteousness. Now the apostle John says, "All unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5:17); and he further says, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." Chap. 3:4.
How aptly, then, do these scriptures describe the condition of many in these last days who profess to and do really believe that they are serving God; yet they take pleasure in violating the law, and teach, contrary to the words of the Saviour himself (Matt. 5:17, 18), that Christ abolished the law! Those who are in the sad condition almost invariably make a showy profession, and manifest a zeal, which, if according to knowledge, would be most commendable. They speak of God and the Saviour as they would of a next-door neighbor, and affect a familiarity with sacred things which cannot but do violence to all feelings of reverence and true worship. As well exemplified by the Saviour, those who live nearest to God, and are the most thoroughly consecrated to his service, will ever have, and will unconsciously manifest, the greatest reverence for his holy name. God is not only to be loved, but he is to be feared, and his name should be had in reverence by all his creatures. Ps. 89:7.
God has given us his word, by which we may become wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ (2 Tim. 3:15); and yet men and women professing perfect love for its divine Author, so lightly esteem the Bible that they do not hesitate to make void its plainest precepts. Instead of making it the standard by which to test their lives, they make their own experience the criterion, and insist that the Scriptures must be explained in harmony with their feelings and sentiments! Of such a course the Lord says: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Prov. 14:12.
God is the same in all generations; with him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning; nor is he a respecter of persons. He requires neither more nor less now than he did in the days of Abel, Abraham, or Moses. Paul plainly states the conditions of salvation as "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21); and that they have ever been the same, no student of the Scriptures can for a moment doubt. Those who profess to honor the Son while they despise and trample upon the Father's law, are making as great a mistake as did they who anciently professed such reverence for the law, while rejecting Christ. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination" (Prov. 28:9); and he who rejects Christ, rejects "the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.
The law of God leads men to Christ, by showing them their need of a Saviour; it thus acts an important part in every case of true conversion (Ps. 19:7), while a living connection with Christ brings us into harmony with the law. Rom. 8:1-9.
God has joined these things together; let us beware of those who separate them. "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.

Family Religion.

By George B. Stevens

The power of family religion consists, primarily, in the fact that the home has the first chance to reach the children. It touches the springs of thought and emotion long before school, or church, or pulpit touches them. These agencies have to do with the stream after it has gathered volume, but the father and mother at home sit at the very fountain of the young life. It is commonly supposed that the four or five years of opening manhood are the great formative years of character. It may be doubted if the same number of years in childhood do not exert an equal power upon the future life. It is hard to tell just when the day is really breaking, after once the flash of dawn is seen on the horizon; it is hard to tell when the gates of day are shut, as the light steals away at nightfall and hides itself in shadows. So hard is it to tell when character is forming. The home has the first chance, and the most continuous opportunity, extending over the most pliant years. Hence its power. Other agencies can do much, but no other agency can do what the home can do. Other influences are strong, but that of the home is paramount. The school can give training; the pulpit can give instruction; society can give culture and experience; but what shall give direction, motive, inclination, if they be not given in the home, and what shall turn them if they be wrongly given?
—Rev. George B. Stevens.

Finish Thy Work

FINISH thy work, the time is short; The sun is in the west; The night is coming down; till then Think not of rest.

Labor for Christ

By Samuel Rutherford

THERE are depths of love in Christ beyond what we have seen; therefore dig deep, and labor, and take pains for him, and set by as much time in the day for him as you can. He will be won with labor.—Rutherford.

The Bible and the Monuments.

If there were heroes before Agamemnon, the world of Greece had lost all record of them. They were quite forgotten, or had been lifted into a pantheon of mythical demigods. If there were books before the Old Testament, they had been buried, lost, forgotten. With the exception of one or two of the later pamphlets, the Old Testament antedated all written history known at the beginning of the present century. Its assertions could be confirmed by no contemporary documents. For vast periods, and not for Israel alone, but for kingdoms and mighty empires which fell before Greece developed a written literature, it was the only record that could claim authority. What the Greeks knew of the history of Egypt and Assyria and Babylonia, they credulously gathered as they could, centuries after.
Standing thus alone, the Old Testament history was unconfirmed. There was nothing with which to confirm it, except the muddled accounts of two or three blundering late Greek story-tellers—who were quite as likely to contradict as to tell the truth. The critics had it all their own way. They could deny what they pleased. They could say that this story was inherently improbable, that that was contradicted by Xenophon or Syncellus, and praise the Greek or disparage the Hebrew writers; and no positive and conclusive reply was possible.
But the last half-century has changed all this. Fifty years ago Egypt began to open the contemporaneous monuments of her kings. Thirty years ago the capitals of the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys were discovered, and their language unlocked. Long historical inscriptions—a few from Egypt, but multitudes from Assyria—have been discovered, written in the life-time, and by the direct orders, of the kings whose deeds they record; contemporary annals, whose historical trustworthiness is beyond question, except as we must make allowance for that boastful temper which would change a defeat into a victory. Fifty years ago critics doubted if such a king as the Sargon mentioned once in the Bible, ever lived. Now, we know the history of the whole dynasty of the Sargonidæ, and have Sargon's own full record of where his armies fought during each successive year of his reign. That record can be trusted. Sargon himself, or his own official historian, tells the story, and the same is true of the other Assyrian kings.
My object in this article is to give a few examples, showing how the monuments confirm Bible history. I purposely omit matters of cosmogony, and what comes before the history of nations, which, though abundantly illustrated by the mythic poetry of old Babylon, cannot, in the nature of the case, be historically confirmed. There is space to mention but a few out of scores of combinations which would each bear a much fuller treatment than can be given them here.
It is not many years ago that it was stoutly objected that Moses could not have written a book of the law or the ten commandments, because writing was not then invented. But not only is it now abundantly proved that Egyptian hieroglyphic and Assyrian syllabic writing was familiarly known long before the time of Moses, or even of Abraham, but within the past twenty years the history of Phœnician writing used by the Hebrews, has been carefully studied; and it is now the general conclusion of the best scholars that it originated during the time of the conquest of Egypt by the shepherd kings, four or five centuries before Moses. The last student of the subject, Mr. Isaac Taylor, thus sums up the result of long and careful investigation:—
"The possible date of the origin of the alphabet is thus brought within definite limits. The possible limits lie between the twenty-third and seventeenth centuries; and there seems to be no reason why we should not provisionally accept the approximate date which has been proposed by de Rougé, and place it in or about the nineteenth century B. C." This objection is swept away.
It had seemed strange that, in the tenth chapter of Genesis, it should be represented in one verse that the people of Babylonia were descendants of Ham, through Nimrod; and in another, that they came from Shem, through Asshur. The inscriptions gathered into the British Museum now fully prove that two races occupied that country from a very early time: one pure Shemitic, and the other a darker non-Shemitic race, older than the former, and having an entirely different language and physiognomy, being of what the Bible calls "the sons of Ham." This difficulty is fully met.
It seemed, a few years ago, an almost incredible story told in Genesis of the campaign of the four kings of Elam and Babylonia, Chedorlaomer, Arioch, Amraphel, and Tidal, against the five kings of Sodom and the plain. The monuments confirm the story wonderfully. They tell us that at just this time there had been an Elamite (or Median) conquest of Babylonia; they tell us that Laomer was the name of an Elamite god, or that Chedorlaomer means worshiper of Laomer; and we find an account of this very Arioch mentioned on the monuments as king of Elassar, and we learn that his father's name was Chedormabug, and his grandfather's was Simtisilhak; and we further learn that even earlier than this there had been Babylonian expeditions to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Every difficulty is completely removed, and confirmation supplied.
Abraham, we are told in the Scriptures, came from Ur of the Chaldees. Such a town had become utterly lost, except in this Biblical mention of it, and a pious tradition had put it in an impossible place. The present generation has rediscovered it, and read its record on the monuments. We find it was the second capital of Babylonia, and was distinguished for the worship of the moon-god. The names could be mentioned of half a dozen of its kings, one of whom was Chedormabug, father of the Arioch of the Bible. Two seals, worn by gentlemen of Ur before the time of Abraham, and bearing the names of the two first kings, are in the British Museum. The Bible geography is proved no fiction.
Passing now, with the course of the Hebrew history, from Mesopotamia to Egypt, in the time of the oppression, we find on the Egyptian monuments no record of Bible miracles; that was not to be expected—kings do not report their disasters. But the whole color of the Genesis story agrees admirably with that of Egypt at this time, and Egyptian scholars speak of it with wonder. We find pictures and accounts of slaves with Hebrew features, and working at brick-making as the Hebrews worked. Only lately has any systematic exploration been made in the region where the Hebrews lived. During the present year an expedition was sent from England to search for records of this region; and the first thing done was to discover Pithom, one of the two store cities which the Bible tells us the children of Israel built. The city was previously unknown, but it was found bearing the name of Pithom on an inscription; and the chief buildings were great brick store-houses, without windows or doors, in which grain was to be preserved for use in war or famine. But the Egyptians had no historical tastes. They have left us much to illustrate habits and customs, and only clues to their history. Their annals fail us, but their pictures and stories and pious books are full of helps and of illustrations bearing on the Bible accounts of the land and people of the Nile.
The Bible tells us of a strong Israelite kingdom established by David, or extended by him and his son Solomon to the very banks of the Euphrates. But is this credible? What was the mighty empire of Assyria doing all this time? The monuments have answered the question. At just this time the Assyrian empire had suffered a great decline. It was scarcely able to hold its own cities, much less to make any foreign wars. Room was then made for the new Israelite kingdom. But soon after Solomon's death a great king arose in Nineveh, Assur-nazirpal, who unified the Assyrian kingdom and conquered his neighbors, though he did not send his armies as far as Palestine. But his son Shalmaneser tells us, in his own monuments, how he fought with the very kings mentioned in the Bible. He says that in his sixth year he fought against Ben-hadad, king of Damascus, and that Ahab, king of Israel, sent two thousand chariots and ten thousand infantry to help Ben-hadad. He says that twelve years later he again attacked the king of Damascus, who was now Hazael, and who was helped by Jehu, son of Omri. Here Hazael succeeds Ben-hadad, and Jehu succeeds Ahab, precisely as the Old Testament tells us; although Shalmaneser made an error as to Jehu's parentage. Omri was not his father, but the founder of Ahab's dynasty.
From this time nearly every king of Israel and Judah is mentioned in the annals of the Assyrian kings. One of these is Hezekiah. Sennacherib's own story adds much of interest to the Bible account. The Bible says that Sennacherib was at Lachish while Jerusalem was invested. We have an actual picture preserved, made by order of the Assyrian king, of his victory at Lachish. He does not claim to have captured Jerusalem, but only that he received tribute. The Bible says that Hezekiah gave him thirty talents of gold and three hundred talents of silver. Sennacherib, in his own account, says it was the talents of gold and eight hundred of silver. But there were two sorts of silver talents, a large talent and a small talent; and eight hundred of one is not equal to three hundred of the other, so that the two accounts fully tally to a shekel.—William Hayes Ward, D. D., in S. S. Times. (To be concluded.)

A Way to Grow Wise.

AFTER reading a book or an article, or an item of information from any reliable source, before turning your attention to other things, give two or three minutes' quiet thought to the subject that has just been presented to your mind; see how much you can remember concerning it; and if there were any new ideas, instructive facts, or points of especial interest that impressed you as you read, force yourself to recall them. It may be a little troublesome at first, until your mind gets under control, and learns to obey your will, but the very effort to think it all out will engrave the facts deeply upon the memory, so deeply that they will not be effaced by the rushing in of a new and different set of ideas; whereas, if the matter be given no further consideration at all, the impression you have received will fade away so entirely that within a few weeks you will be totally unable to remember more than a dim outline of them.
Form the good habit, then, of always reviewing what has just been read. It exercises and disciplines the mental faculties, strengthens the memory, and teaches concentration of thought.
You will soon learn, in this way, to think and reason intelligently, to separate and classify different kinds of information; and in time the mind, instead of being a lumber-room in which the various contents are thrown together in careless confusion and disorder, will become a store-house where each special class or item of knowledge, neatly labeled, has its own particular place, and is ready for use the instant there is need of it.—St. Nicholas.

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—DEC. 13.

  1. UPON whom did Christ pronounce a special blessing? Matt. 5:10.
  2. For what did Peter say it is better to suffer? 1 Pet. 3:17.
  3. For what did Christ once suffer? Verse 18.
  4. For whose sins did he suffer? Isa. 53:5.
  5. Why did he thus suffer? 1 Pet. 3:18.
  6. How did he suffer for our sins? Ib.
  7. By what was he made alive? Ib.
  8. To whom is it said that Christ preached? Verse 19.
  9. By what agency did he preach to the spirits in prison? Verses 18, 19.
  10. Who are they who walk at liberty? Ps. 119:45.
  11. Then who may be said to be in prison?
  12. When was it that Christ by the Spirit preached to those disobedient ones? 1 Pet. 3:20.
  13. Did the Spirit of God indeed strive with the antediluvians? Gen. 6:3.
  14. When did the Spirit cease to strive with them?
  15. To what place do the dead go? Ps. 89:48.
  16. Where did Christ go before he ascended to Heaven? Eph. 4:9.
  17. Did the same Jesus that ascended to Heaven also descend into the grave? Eph. 4:10.
  18. Did the soul of Christ go into the grave (hades)? Acts 2:29-32.
  19. What Scripture proof can you give that Christ did not preach while in the grave?
  20. When we read that Christ suffered for sins, "being put to death," does it mean that the soul of Christ suffered even to death? Matt. 26:38; Isa. 53:10, 12.
  21. What had the Lord promised concerning death? Isa. 25:8.
  22. How only could he destroy death? Heb. 2:14.
  23. If Christ himself had not died, what would be the condition of the human race?
THE scripture which calls out the texts that compose this lesson, is 1 Peter 3:18-20. The text itself teaches a lesson far different from that which it is commonly supposed to teach, and the design of the lesson is to correct this mistaken idea. The apostle exhorts Christians to be patient under reproach, even though it be unjust, citing the example of Christ, who, though sinless, suffered for sins, "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." It is concerning this last expression that the misapprehension exists, people supposing that because preaching to the spirits in prison is introduced almost immediately after the death of Christ is spoken of, therefore Christ must have preached to those spirits after his crucifixion and before his resurrection. If this supposition be true, then our previous teaching concerning the state of man has been at fault; therefore we will study the text carefully.
It would be well for those who hold to the theory that Christ immediately after his crucifixion went and preached to the spirits in hades, to compare this text with Luke 23:43, which was studied last week. It is claimed from that text that Christ went at once to Paradise; yet the same persons claim from 1 Pet. 3:18-20 that Christ went to some place where the dead were congregated, and preached to them. If one theory be true, the other cannot be. A little examination of this latter passage will show us that no statement whatever is made in it concerning the condition of Christ between his death and resurrection.
NOTICE that the statement concerning his preaching to the spirits in prison does not immediately follow the statement that he was put to death. Between these two is the statement that he was "quickened"—made alive. So if we follow the order of the apostle's statements, we find that the preaching was done while Christ was alive. But on reading the verses still more closely, we find that Jesus did not preach in person at all. It was by the Spirit that he preached. The apostle, having introduced the sufferings of Christ, mentions the fact that he was put to death. But the Bible writers always connect the death and the resurrection of Christ. They do not have Christ put to death, and then leave him. So he says, "put to death in the flesh, but quickened,"—made alive. This is not all, he was "quickened by the Spirit; by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." The verse teaches simply that the Spirit which raised Christ from the dead, is the very same Spirit by which Christ preached to the imprisoned spirits.
Now when did this preaching take place? The twentieth verse contains the answer. "When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." Turning to Gen. 6:3, we read: "And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Thus we find a harmony between the two passages; the Spirit of the Lord was striving with the antediluvians. Christ was preaching to them, through Noah, but all true preaching is accompanied by the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit that impresses the truth of God upon the heart, and convinces of sin.
"BUT," says one, "you forget that those to whom Christ preached by the Spirit, were in prison." No, we do not. For what purpose was the Spirit upon Christ when he was here on earth? In Luke 4:16-21 we read that Christ read Isa. 61:1, 2, and said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." That scripture reads: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath appointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Who are these captives? David says, "I will walk at liberty; for I seek thy precepts." Ps. 119:45. And from that we would conclude that all others are not at liberty. So Peter says of false teachers, and those who are ensnared by them: "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." 2 Pet. 2:19. Paul also teaches that if a man yields himself to sin, he is the servant of sin. Rom. 6:16, 17; and in Rom. 7:15-24 he gives a graphic description of the struggles of one who is seeking to escape from the cruel bondage of sin. At last he finds liberty in Christ; his servants alone are free men. So then all sinners are in prison; they have transgressed the law of God, and where the laws are not a nullity, transgressors are always consigned to prison. Through faith in Christ, they may get liberty. But this liberty is contingent on their obedience to the law. The Spirit presses the claims of the law home to the heart, and when the sinner repents and accepts the way of truth, the Spirit abides with him. See Rom. 8:7-14. In Noah's time "the wickedness of man was great" (Gen. 6:5); and therefore the Spirit, through the preaching of Noah, was striving to have them repent and find true liberty.
IT is not alone for the bearing that the popular theory of this text has on the Bible doctrine of immortality, that it deserves notice. There is a deeper reason. The popular interpretation of both 1 Pet. 3:18-20, and Luke 23:43, not only makes these texts contradictory, but overthrows the foundation principles of the gospel. In what way? By virtually denying the death of Christ. When man had sinned, he could not save himself. He could not by any obedience atone for his own sin. Neither would the life of one man answer for the life of another, for all men have forfeited their lives by sin. Human sacrifices, then, would avail no more than would the blood of bulls and goats. Nothing but the life of a divine being, one who was sinless, and the giving of the law, could answer for man. Such an one was Christ. He offered himself freely, not because the law had any claim on his life, but that his righteousness might be counted instead of the past transgressions of those who should believe in him, and obey him. But now they tell us that Christ, the divine Son of God, did not die; that only his earthly, human body died. If that be so, then indeed is our faith vain, and we are yet in our sins. With the sorrowing Mary we may say, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." An interpretation that makes such a conclusion necessary should not be held for a moment by those who profess to love the Lord.
THAT Christ himself did die, there is abundant proof. Aside from the texts which say that the dead know not anything, we have special statements concerning Christ. The Jesus that "ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things," who now sits at the right hand of God, there making intercession for us, is the same Jesus who "descended first into the lower parts of the earth." Eph. 4:9, 10. Not merely his human body, but his soul, which certainly must include his divinity, went into the grave. As we read in Acts 2:29-31, David did not, in the sixteenth psalm, speak of himself, but, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath that he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell [hades, the grave], neither did his flesh see corruption." If, by the resurrection, the soul of Christ was not left in the grave, then it must previously have gone into the grave. Christ himself declared in the garden that his soul was "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," and this is just in harmony with the prophet's statement that he "poured out his soul unto death." Isa. 53:12. By death alone could he "destroy him which had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. So then, notwithstanding the theories of men, the foundation of God standeth sure," viz., that "Christ died for the ungodly." E. J. W.

NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.

By A. T. Jones

DECEMBER 7—PROVERBS 23:29-35.

Who hath woe? "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night till wine inflame them!" "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!" Isa. 5:11, 22, 23. "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!" Hab. 2:15. We see therefore that the woe of those who tarry long at the wine, is not confined to the trouble and sorrow that come in this life as the direct result of drunkenness, but that it reaches to the fearful punishment that destroys men for their iniquity. Woe, woe, terrible, dreadful, and irremediable. Now, God has opened a way of escape from it. Those who, through Christ, overcome, will be saved, but "no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God."
"Look not thou upon the wine." Here Solomon gives the true and only safeguard, Look not upon the wine. This is the true principle of temperance, and although it is expressed here in regard to wine, and although the lesson to-day is touching strong drink, yet true temperance, Bible temperance, Christian temperance, does not consist in abstinence from strong drink alone. Therefore we shall treat the subject on the broad basis of Christian temperance.
Temperance is self-control. Whenever in any of his appetites or passions a man loses control of himself, he is intemperate. Says Paul, "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." 1 Cor. 9:27. In other words, I, myself, am determined to be master of myself. The truly Christian temperate man is master of himself, and the servant of Christ. And it is only as the faithful servant of Christ that a man can be master of himself. Thus he becomes his own free man, and Christ's servant; a real manly man; then he "dare do all that becomes a man; who dares do more is none."
In view of the actual meaning of the word, how few temperance people there are! How few who really and decidedly have control of themselves! Very few indeed there are who are not subject to some habit which must and will be satisfied at whatever cost. Thousands are the slaves of strong drink. All that they have, all that they can get, goes to satisfy that which is insatiable. Every effort to appease it only increases its demands, and its power to exact them.
But where there are thousands thus the slaves of strong drink, there are hundreds of thousands who are the slaves of tobacco. Their children may be clothed in rags, and go barefoot in the cold, they may even lack bread, but they never lack tobacco. If they have no money with which to buy it, they will go in debt for it, and if they cannot get credit, then they will even beg. Men who would think it a shame to beg for bread, are not ashamed to beg for tobacco. Such abject slaves are they. Have such persons control of themselves? No; tobacco controls; that is master and will be served.
Then there are thousands who are slaves to opium; thousands slaves to arsenic; thousands slaves to morphine; thousands slaves to absinthe; thousands slaves to hasheesh; and though not so great in degree, yet the same in kind, thousands are the slaves to beer, or the servants of tea, or of coffee. "What!" some may exclaim, "is the use of tea or coffee intemperance?" It is. In the "Encyclopædia Britannica," article on "Drunkenness," what do you suppose we find? The following: "In short, from tea to hasheesh, we have through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, a sort of graduated scale of intoxicants, which stimulate in small doses, and narcotics in larger. The physiological action of all these agents gradually shades into each other, all producing, or being capable of producing, consecutive paralysis of the various parts of the nervous system. Even tea cannot be regarded as altogether free from the last named effects. Tea-sots are well known to be affected with palpitation, and irregularity of the heart, as well as with more or less sleeplessness, and mental irritability, and muscular tremors, which in some culminate in paralysis, while positive intoxication has been known to be the result of the excessive use of strong tea." And of coffee the same authority says: "It produces a feeling of buoyancy and exhilaration, comparable to a certain stage of alcoholic intoxication." So the only difference between tea or coffee and alcoholic drinks, is in the degree of its effects, and not at all in the nature of the effects. All have the intoxicating quality, and as quoted, from tea to hasheesh, it is only a graduated scale of intoxicants, through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, each one shading into the other. All are relatives in the family of drunkenness, and the use of any one of them is intemperance.
Sir Isaac Newton, when asked why he did not learn to use tobacco, replied, "I will create to myself no necessities." In this sentence there is much of that philosophical insight which could see in the falling of an apple a law of the universe. In the economy of the human system there is no provision for either stimulants or narcotics. If ever there is a demand for these things, it has to be created. And more, such things as stimulants and narcotics (poisons) are the only ones for which the necessity can be created. It is impossible to form the habit of using any one particular kind of food. Through the agency of the digestive process, each organ will take up its portion of that which is food, and by assimilation will renew itself, and thus vitality is maintained; in fact this is vitality. If a person be hungry, any kind of food will satisfy, whether it be fruit or vegetables, meat or bread. It is not so with narcotics and stimulants. The appetite for these has to be created. And when it is created for any one of them, it is for that particular one, and nothing but that will satisfy the demand. If the appetite be for tea, nothing but tea will satisfy. If it be for alcohol, nothing else will do, and so on through the list. Then look not upon the wine, touch not tobacco, taste not any of all the list of intoxicants; create to yourself no necessities; be temperate (self-controlling) in all things; keep under your body, and bring it into subjection; be master of yourself, and thus your own free man. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself." "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. 3:21.
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