Signs of the Times, Vol. 9, No. 18. (5/10/1883)

Signs of the Times

May 10, 1883

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 10, 1883

Power and Humility of Jesus.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

JESUS, to obtain a little season of repose, and for the benefit of his disciples, proposed that they should go with him into a desert place and rest awhile. There were suitable places for such retirement beyond the sea from Capernaum, and they entered a boat and made their way thither. But some who were searching for Jesus saw him depart from the shore, and the anxious people gathered together watching the slowly receding boat. The news spread from city to city that Jesus was crossing the sea; and many who were eager to see and hear him flocked to the place where it was thought that his boat would land, while others followed him over the water in boats. So when Jesus and his disciples landed they found themselves in the midst of a multitude of people, pressing forward on all sides to meet them.

Jesus, perceiving all this, beckons to Peter, who is in his boat on the sea, to come nigh. The disciple obeys the signal, and comes to shore. Jesus presses through the throng, and steps into the boat, bidding Peter to thrust out a little from the land. He now sits in the rocking boat of the fisherman, and, in full sight and hearing of the crowd, finishes the long and toilsome day by speaking precious truths to them. The Son of God, leaving the royal courts of Heaven, takes not his position upon David's throne; but from the swaying seat of a fisherman's boat, speaks the words of eternal wisdom which are to be immortalized in the minds of his disciples and given to the world as the legacy of God.

As the sun was setting, Jesus saw before him five thousand people besides women and children, who had been all day without food. He inquired of Philip concerning the probability of obtaining bread for so large a number, that they might not return to their homes unrefreshed nor faint by the way. This he did to test the faith of his disciples, for he himself was at no loss how to provide food. He who would not work a miracle to satisfy his own hunger in the wilderness, would not allow the multitude to suffer for lack of food. Philip looked over the sea of heads and thought how impossible it would be to obtain sufficient food to satisfy the wants of such a crowd. He answered that two hundred penny-worth of bread would not be nearly enough to divide among them so that each one might have a little. Jesus inquired how much food could be found among the company. He was told that Andrew had discovered a lad who had with him five barley loaves, and two small fishes. But this was nothing among so many, and they were in a desert place, where no more could be obtained.

Jesus commanded that this meager store should be brought to him. This being done, he directed his disciples to seat the people upon the grass in parties of fifty, and one hundred, to preserve order, and that all might witness the miracle he was about to do. This marshaling of five thousand people into companies, was at length satisfactorily accomplished, and they were all seated in the presence of the Saviour. He then took the loaves and fishes, and, having given thanks, distributed them to the disciples and to the multitudes, in quantities sufficient to satisfy their appetites.

The people had arranged themselves in the required order wondering what was to be done, but their amazement knew no bounds when the problem was solved, and they beheld food portioned out to that vast assembly from the slender store scarcely sufficient for a score of persons. The food did not diminish, as Jesus handed it to his disciples, who in their turn served the people. As often as they returned to him for a fresh supply, it was furnished them. After all had been satisfied, he directed the disciples to gather up the fragments that nothing might be lost; and the broken fragments filled twelve baskets.

During this remarkable feast, there was much earnest reflection among those who were so miraculously served. They had followed Jesus to listen to words such as had never before fallen upon their ears. His teachings had sunk into their hearts. He had healed their sick, had comforted their sorrow, and, at last, rather than send them away hungering, he had fed them bounteously. His pure and simple doctrine laid hold of their minds, and his tender benevolence won their hearts. While eating the food he had provided for them, they decided that this was indeed the Messiah. No other one could do so mighty a miracle. No human power could create from five barley loaves and two small fishes, food sufficient to feed thousands of hungry people. His teachings and work of healing had already nearly convinced them of his divinity, and this miracle crowned their growing conviction with entire belief.

They decided that this was the Prince of Life, the promised Deliverer of the Jews. They perceive that he makes no effort to win the applause of the people. In this he is essentially different from the chief priests and rulers, who are ambitious for titles and the honor of men. They fear that he will never claim his right as King of Israel and take his place on David's throne in Jerusalem. But they decide that what he will not assume for himself, they will claim for him. They need no greater evidence of his divine power nor will they wait for any further proof.

They quietly consult among themselves, and arrange to take him by force, and bear him upon their shoulders; proclaiming him the King of Israel. The disciples unite with the people in declaring that the throne of David is the rightful inheritance of their Master. Let the arrogant priests and rulers be humbled, and compelled to yield honor to Him who comes clothed with the authority of God. They begin to devise means to accomplish their purpose; but Jesus discerns their plans, which, if followed out, would defeat the very work he designs to do, and put a period to his instruction and deeds of mercy and benevolence.

Already the priests and rulers look upon him as one who has turned the hearts of the people from them to himself. Already they so dread his growing influence among them that they seek to take his life. He knows that violence and insurrection would be the result of his exaltation as Israel's king. He did not come into the world to set up a temporal kingdom; his kingdom, as he had stated, was not of this world. The multitude do not perceive the dangers arising from the movement they contemplate; but the calm eye of divine wisdom discovers all the hidden evils. Jesus sees that it is time to change the current of feeling among the people. He calls his disciples to him and directs them to immediately take the boat and return to Capernaum, leaving him to dismiss the people. He promises to meet them that night or on the following morning. The disciples are loth to submit to this arrangement. They are ambitious that Jesus should receive his true merits, and be lifted above the persecutions of the priests and rulers. The favored moment seems to have arrived, when, by the unanimous voice of the people, Christ can be elevated to his true dignity.

They cannot feel reconciled that all this enthusiasm shall come to naught. The people were assembling from all quarters to celebrate the passover at Jerusalem. They were all anxious to see the great Prophet whose fame had spread through the land. This, to the faithful followers of Jesus, seemed the golden opportunity to establish their beloved Master as Israel's king. It seemed, in the glow of this new ambition, a very hard thing for them to go away by themselves and leave their Master alone upon the desolate shore, surrounded by high and barren mountains.

They remonstrate against this arrangement; but Jesus is firm in his decision, and commands them to follow his directions with an authority that he had never before assumed toward them. They obey in silence. Jesus then turns to the multitude, and perceives that they are thoroughly decided to force him into becoming their king. Their movements must be checked at once. The disciples had already departed, and he now, standing before them with a grand dignity, dismisses them in so firm and decisive a manner that they dare not disobey his commands. The words of praise and exaltation die upon their lips. Their steps are stayed as they are in the very act of advancing to seize him, and the glad and eager looks fade from their countenances. There were men of strong minds and firm determination in that throng, but the kingly bearing of Jesus, and his few quiet words of authority, quelled the tumult in a moment and frustrated all their designs. Like meek, submissive children, they obey the command of their Lord, submitting humbly, and without question, to a power that they recognize as above all earthly authority.

Jesus looked upon the retreating multitude with yearning compassion. He felt that they were as scattered sheep without a shepherd. The priests who should have been teachers in Israel, were but machines for performing unmeaning ceremonies and repeating the law they did not themselves understand nor practice. When he was left alone he went up into the mountain, and, for many hours, bent in supplication before the Father with bitter agony and tears. Not for himself were those earnest prayers, but for man, depraved and lost but for redeeming grace. It

was for man that the Son of God wrestled with his Father, asking that the poor sinful creature might turn from his guilt to the light of salvation.

The Saviour knew that his days of personal effort for men upon earth were numbered. He who read the hearts of men knew that comparatively few would accept him as their Redeemer, acknowledging themselves lost without his divine aid. The Jews were rejecting the very help that God had sent to save them from utter ruin. They were fastening the chains that bound them in hopeless night. They were bringing upon themselves the certain wrath of God for their blind and obstinate wickedness. Hence the grief of Jesus, and his tears and strong cries for his mistaken people, who spurned his love that would save them from the retribution of their sins. Deep emotion shakes that noble form as he keenly realizes the doom of the people he has come to save. In every trial and emergency, Jesus went to his Heavenly Father for help, and, in those secret interviews, received strength for the work that lay before him. Christians should follow the example of their Saviour, and seek in prayer the strength that will enable them to endure the trials and duties of life. Prayer is the Christian's defense, the safeguard of his integrity and virtue.

THROUGH TRIALS.

By Rosegarten

Through night to light. And though to mortal eyes Creation's face a pall of horror wears, Good cheer, good cheer! the gloom of midnight flies, There shall a sunshine follow, mild and fair.

Through storm to calm. And though his thunder car The rumbling tempest drives through earth and sky, Good cheer, good cheer! The elemental war Tells that a blessed healing hour is nigh.

Through frost to spring. And though the biting blast Of Boreas stiffens nature's juicy veins, Good cheer, good cheer! When winter's wrath is past, Soft murmuring spring breathes sweetly o'er the plains.

Through strife to peace. And though with bristling front, A thousand frightful deaths encompass thee, Good cheer, good cheer! Brave thou the battle's brunt, For the peace march and song of victory.

Through cross to crown. And though thy spirit's life Trials untold assail with giant strength, Good cheer, good cheer! Soon ends the bitter strife, And thou shalt reign in peace with Christ at length.

Through death to life. And through this vale of tears, And through this thistle-field of life, ascend To the great supper, in that world whose years Of bliss unfading, cloudless, know no end. —Rosegarten.

The Law and the Gospel. (Concluded.)

WE now come to the New Testament. The first four chapters of Matthew are devoted to a sketch of the genealogy of Christ, Joseph, and Mary, the birth of Jesus, Herod slaying the children of Bethlehem, John the Baptist, the temptation of Christ, and his entering upon his public ministry. The fifth chapter opens with his inaugural address. This was his first sermon. In this memorable sermon upon the mount, Christ warns his disciples against a terrible heresy that would soon press its way into the church.

The Jews boasted of God, of Abraham, and of the law, but despised and rejected Jesus. The great facts connected with his resurrection were soon to be so convincing that many would believe. And as the Jews were to reject and crucify the Son, while boasting in the law, Christians would run to the opposite and equally fatal heresy of trampling upon the authority of the Father, and despising his law, while receiving Christ and glorying in the gospel. It has ever been Satan's object to separate, in the faith of the church, the Father and the Son. With the Jews was the cry, The Father, Abraham, the law; but away with Jesus and his gospel. With Christians the cry was to arise, Christ, the cross, the gospel; but away with the law of the Father. To meet this heresy, ere-long to arise in the Christian church, the Master, in his first recorded sermon, spoke pointedly. Listen to his appeal to his disciples in the presence of the assembled multitudes:—

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy; but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven."

These words of warning from our Lord fully meet the case. They need no comment. The history of the church, showing how loosely great and apparently good men have held the law of God, and the present, closing controversy respecting it, give them especial force.

Jesus did not come to legislate. In no case did he intimate that he would give a new law to take the place of that of his Father. Speaking of the Son, the Father says, "He shall speak unto them all that I command him." Deut. 18 : 18. "Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." John 7 : 16. "I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." Chap. 8 : 28. "The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." Chap. 14 : 24.

We will now consider the important question of the great apostle to the Gentiles, relative to the law of God and the faith of Jesus: "Do we then make void the law through faith?" Rom. 3 : 31. This question points directly to the true issue between us and the men of this day who teach that the gospel of the Son makes void the law of the Father. Paul decides the question in these emphatic words: "God forbid; yea, we establish the law."

The gospel is a necessity in consequence of law transgressed. Where there is no law there is no transgression; no sin, no need of the blood of Christ, no need of the gospel. But the gospel teaches that Christ died for sinners, on account of their sins. Sin is the transgression of the law. He came, therefore, as the great sacrifice for those who transgress the law. The gospel presents him to the sinner as the bleeding sacrifice for the sins of those who transgress the law. This fact establishes the existence of the law of God. Remove the law, and we have no further need of Christ and his gospel.

In the gospel arrangement for the salvation of man, there are three parties concerned: the Lawgiver, the Advocate, and the sinner. The words of the apostle are to the point: "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2 : 1. Sin is transgression of the law of the Father; hence the sinner offends the Father, is in trouble with the Father, and needs Jesus to plead his cause with the Father. But if the Father's law has been abolished, and Christ sustains to the sinner the relation of lawgiver, who is his advocate? "Mother Mary," or some other one of the multitude of canonized saints will answer for the Papist; but what will the Protestant do in this case? If he urges that Christ, and not the Father, is the lawgiver, and that in the present dispensation, sin is the transgression of the law of Jesus Christ, then I press him to tell me who the sinner's advocate is. And I ask him to harmonize his position with the words of the beloved John, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

Paul addresses the elders of the church at Miletus, relative to the fundamental principles of the plan of salvation, thus: "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 20 : 20, 21. The apostle has here set before the men of the present dispensation two distinct duties. First, the exercise of repentance toward God; for his law is binding upon them, and it is his law that they have transgressed. Second, the exercise of faith toward Christ as the great sacrifice for their sins, and their advocate with the Father.

These are both indispensable. Paul presented both. He kept back nothing pertaining to the plan of salvation, that was profitable.

The closing words of the third angel point directly to a body of Christian commandment-keepers. "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14 : 12. The Jew takes no stock in this text, because he sees in it the despised Jesus of Nazareth. Many professed Christians find it as objectionable as the Jew, for the reason that they find in it the equally-despised commandments of God. But said the adorable Jesus, "I and my Father are one." So the law of the Father and the gospel of the Son pass through all dispensations of man's fallen state, in perfect harmony. Would God, that both the blind Jew and the blind Christian might see this, and embrace the whole truth, instead of each a part, might keep the commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus, and be saved.

But here let it be distinctly understood that there is no salvation in the law. There is no redeeming quality in law. Redemption is through the blood of Christ. The sinner may cease to break the commandments of God, and strive with all his powers to keep them; but this will not atone for his sins, and redeem him from his present condition in consequence of past transgression. Notwithstanding all his efforts to keep the law of God, he must be lost without faith in the atoning blood of Jesus. And this was as true in the time of Adam, of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the Jews, as since Jesus died upon the cross. No man can be saved without Christ.

On the other hand, faith in Jesus Christ, while refusing obedience to the law of the Father, is presumption. An effort to obtain friendship with the Son, while living in rebellion against the Father, is Heaven-daring. No greater insult can be offered to either the Father or the Son. What! separate the Father and the Son, by the trampling on the authority of the one, and making a friend of the other? "I and my Father are one." The Jew insults the Father, in his rejection of the Son; and the Christian flings in the face of Heaven equal insult, in all his acts of worship in which he vainly thinks to make Jesus his friend while, with light upon the subject, he breaks the commandments of God.

The oneness of the Father and the Son is seen at the transfiguration. That voice which is the highest authority in the universe, is there heard saying, "This is my beloved Son; hear him." It is also seen in the closing benediction of the Son, in the last chapter of the Bible, which presents before those who are loyal, the glories of the reward in reserve for the obedient. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

I briefly call attention to three grand events which have taken place in connection with the sad history of fallen man, either one of which is sufficient to establish the perpetuity of the law of God.

First, the fall with all its terrible consequences. If the law of God was of such a nature that it could, in any particular, be changed at any time, it would have been thus changed before Adam and Eve left Eden. If the plan of God's moral government could be changed, it would then have been changed, so as to set them free, and save the tide of human wretchedness and agony which has followed. But no; it could not be changed. The curse must fall on man, and upon the earth for man's sake; and the blight and mildew of sin must follow everywhere, and hang upon creation like a pall of death. Why? Because God's law that had been transgressed could not be changed—could not be abolished.

Every fading flower and falling leaf, since man left Eden, has proclaimed the law of God change-less. This has been the result of sin. It is the result of the terrible fall. And this has all come about because of the transgression of that law which is as changeless as the throne of Heaven. If that law could ever be changed in any particular, it would have been changed when there were but two fallen beings, in such a way as to free them from the sentence of death, and raise them from their degradation, and the race from continued sin, crime, and woe.

Think of the recent American war, with all its terrible agony. But this is only an item in the vast record of human woe. For six thousand years, the tide has been swelling, and creation has been adding groan to groan. Oh! the sorrow, the wretchedness, the agony! Who can compute it? The fall then with its accumulated wretchedness, proclaims God's law changeless. We hasten to notice the next great event which proclaims this truth.

Second, the announcement of the ten commandments from Sinai with imposing display. It was not left for Moses to proclaim this law.. It was not left for an angel to assemble the tribes of Israel, and utter these ten holy precepts in their hearing.. The Lord himself descended in awful grandeur, and proclaimed these precepts in the hearing of all the people.

Do you say that that was the origin of the law of God? Do you say that the Lord descended on Sinai, and there legislated? And do you say that he has since abolished that code, or changed it? When did he do this? Where did he do it? Has any prophet foretold that such an event should take place? And has any apostle recorded that such a work was ever done? Never.

The several States empower their legislators to enact laws. These laws are published throughout the commonwealth. The people understand them. Some of these laws are repealed or changed. Is it done in secret, and the people permitted to know nothing about it? No. The same body that enacts laws, also changes, amends, or abolishes, and the people are apprised of the fact. This is made as public as the enactment of the law. And has not the Lord manifested as much wisdom in managing affairs in which man has so great an interest, affairs which affect his eternal welfare? He came down upon Sinai, and proclaimed his law under such circumstances as to impress the people with its grandeur, dignity, and perpetuity. Who can suppose that he would abolish, or alter it, and say nothing about it?

Third, the crucifixion establishes the law

of God. If that law was of such a nature that it could be abolished, or any of its precepts be changed, why not have this done, and set man free, instead of the Son of God laying aside his glory, taking our nature, living the sad life he lived here upon the earth, suffering in Gethsemane, and finally expiring upon the cross? Why, oh, why, should the divine Son of God do all this to save man, if that law which held him as a sinner could be changed, so that he could be set free? But no; nothing could be done in that direction. Man had sinned, had fallen, and was shut up in the prison-house of sin. His sins were of such a nature that no sacrifice was adequate but the sacrifice of Him to whom the Father had said, "Let us make man." The death of an angel was not sufficient. He only who engaged with the Father in the formation of man, constituted a sufficient sacrifice to open the door of hope by which he might find pardon, and be saved.

"Come, O my soul, to Calvary," and there behold love and agony mingled in the death of the Son of God.

Behold him groaning in Gethsemane. His divine soul was in agony as the sins of man were rolled upon him. "My soul," said he, "is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." The weight of man's sin in transgressing God's immutable law was such as to press from his pores as it were great drops of blood.

He then bears his cross to Calvary. The nails are driven into his hands and feet. The cross is erected. There the bleeding Lamb hangs six terrible hours. The death of the cross was most agonizing. But there was in his case the additional weight of the sins of the whole world. In his last expiring agonies he cries, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and bows his head in death.

The sun, the brightest luminary of heaven, can no longer view the scene, and is vailed as with sackcloth. The vail of the temple, the noblest work of man, is rent in twain. Christ, the noblest being in the universe save One, is dying in agony. Creation feels the shock, and groaning and heaving, throws open the graves of many of the saints, who come out of their graves after his resurrection. This great event transpired because it was the only way by which sinners could be saved. The law must stand as firm as the throne of Heaven, although the earth shake, and the whole creation tremble, as the Son of God dies in agony.

The law of God was given to man as his savior. He broke it. Could it then redeem him? It is not in the nature of law, either human or divine, to redeem the transgressor of law. Those who transgress the law of any commonwealth, must suffer the full penalty, unless the Governor shall pardon the transgressor. This is his only hope of escaping the full sentence of the law. It is said by those who do not fully understand our position, that we trust in the law, and the keeping of the Sabbath, for salvation. No, friends. You may observe all these precepts, to the best of your ability, conscientiously; but if you look no farther than the law for salvation, you can never be saved. The hope of eternal salvation hangs upon Christ. Adam hung his hope there. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and the believing Jews hung theirs there. We can do no more. The hope of the next life depends upon Christ. Faith in his blood can alone free us from our transgressions. And a life of obedience to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will be a sufficient passport through the golden gates of the city of God.

A Contrast.

By J. T. McCrory

THE true gospel-teacher tells men the truth, however severe or distasteful it may be. What a contrast between Peter's method and that of not a few so-called teachers in our day!—men standing before the godless and guilty with cringing, shuffling, apologetic words and manner, aiming to excuse Moses and David and Isaiah and all the inspired teachers and prophets and apostles for their hard sayings against sin and sinners: "Oh you know the race was not enlightened in the time of David;" or, "Paul, being a Jew, could not, of course, get entirely rid of his Jewish ideas and prejudices." Miserable gospel-tinkers! The thunders and lightnings of trembling, flame-wrapped Sinai, as the eternal Jehovah speaks out from its darkness a law for the race, are turned by them into a meaningless display of theological pyrotechnics. The awful agony of the cross, that speaks so plainly the fearful penalty that sin deserves, and, if unpardoned, will receive, tells them no story of human guilt and impending woe, or of eternal justice and consuming wrath. They rob the word of its power to convict, and hence of its power to convert and save. God have mercy upon the sinner who dares thus to emasculate the gospel, and also upon the sinners he instructs. The one has never been shaken by "the powers of the world to come," and the others never are likely to be under such teaching.—Rev. J. T. McCrory.

The Return to Simple Faith

By N. Y. Observer

After all has been learned, the old man is a boy again, and turns to songs and prayers that he heard when the nursery was his divinity school, and the mother the senior professor. Out of that seminary he may go to groves of philosophy and halls of ethical culture, sit at the feet of wise men, and become himself an interpreter of thought, a founder of schools and sects, and fill the world with records of his inner life and his experience in learning how to live. But at last he must come back to the simple faith that his first teacher taught him. The little child gets the kingdom.—N. Y. Observer.

Union with God

RELIGION is union to God, but there must be knowledge and love before there can be comfortable union. Do you know God? Do you love him? Are you united to him?

IDLE men are dead all their life long.

Forgiveness and Cleansing.

By G. C. Tenney

BY ELD. G. C. TENNEY.

The grace of God extended to sinners by the death of Christ includes both of these qualities of mercy. "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." As sinners we need pardon which procures for us the remission of the penalty attached to transgression. But if this were all that the grace of God could do for us in our sinfulness, it would not fit us for Heaven. We should still bear the stains of sin; our characters would be imperfect; a sense of our wrongs would ever rest upon us. The pardons granted to criminals by executive officers do not raise them above the reproach and shame which their crimes have brought upon them; but they go forth to their liberty with a tarnished name, and a consciousness of guilt which the pardon could not remove.

In the blood of Christ we have pardon full and free, which saves us from the second death. We have also a cleansing from all unrighteousness, by which we are released from the reproach of sin. Our characters are restored to a perfect purity; we can stand in the sight of God in a righteousness which is complete, represented by robes pure and white.

O wonderful love, which passeth knowledge! Boundless grace, and infinite merit! Let us not only look for escape from wrath, but let us live for that perfect purity which God will finally bestow upon the faithful.

Christ and the Sabbath Law.

By Editor

The following is a portion of an address adopted as the sentiments of the M. E. Conference at Lancaster, Pa. It is just as good as though the members had not immediately afterward resolved to work more earnestly for the spread of Sunday observance. Their inconsistency does not destroy the truth of their statement:—

The Sabbath law, as contained in the fourth commandment, was not repealed by Christ. While many suppose that his teachings were contrary to Moses, and while his enemies charged him with the sin of Sabbath-breaking, yet his own words were: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

To this emphatic "think not" of Christ we must appeal, in order to correct the erroneous thinking on the Sabbath question. The sayings of Christ in relation to the Sabbath must not be so interpreted as to "destroy" any part of that "law" which he came "not to destroy, but to fulfill."

"It is right to do good on the Sabbath-day;" but it is not right to do all kinds of good on that day. There is a lesser good connected with the life that now is, which men may seek during the six days of the week; but every seventh day the secular activities must be interrupted by a season of holy rest, so that men may have time to seek the greater good which belongs to the soul and spirit. Furthermore, because it is right to do good on the Sabbath-day, it does not follow that it is right to publish newspapers, run railroad trains, and open drinking saloons, and places of amusement on that day. Because "the Sabbath was made for man," it does not follow that man is at liberty to disregard its requirements, and employ the day for selfish and secular purposes. The Sabbath was made for man, not that he should despise it, or desecrate it, but that he should "remember it to keep it holy." The Sabbath law was enacted "for man" by infinite love; and he should therefore regard it not as a grievous burden, but as a gracious benefit; not as a costly sacrifice enacted, but as a priceless gift bestowed; not as the mark of a humiliating bondage, but as the ennobling condition and indispensable safeguard of the highest freedom.

The Growth of the Bible Student.

By Rev. S. Robson

THE thoughtful man always grows. He is continually getting new light, seeing things in new relations, and adding to his stock of permanent knowledge. The Bible student is always a thoughtful man. He cannot help but be thoughtful, for he is stirring his heart with the profoundest thoughts ever penned, even the will and wisdom of the Almighty, and in his eager desire is making that will and wisdom his own.

The Bible is a mirror—now revealing our deformities, and now the perfections of Christ to be our own through faith—now holding up as nowhere else the iniquities of a sinful heart, and then by a skillful turn shedding full upon us the glory of God and transforming us into that "same image from glory to glory, even as from the Spirit of the Lord."

Every Christian, if he would grow, must have the high standard of the Bible set before him, and that too by continuous study. The standard of the world is very low—lower than it at first sight appears. He who mingles much with different classes of men and becomes familiar with the prevailing actual moral standard of society, and by this intimacy is powerfully influenced, feels a dead weight resting on him. His soul is confined and shackled. He needs to turn to the word of God and behold the perfections there revealed; and more, he needs the encouragements of God's promises—he needs to hear God speaking to him and comforting him. God now speaks to men only through the Bible. The Holy Spirit sanctifies through the truth, i. e., his word. Just so much, then, of the word of God as we allow our hearts to hold and feed upon, just that much material has the Spirit with which to work to sanctify us. The greater one's actual knowledge of the Bible, other things being equal or anywhere near equal, the richer and more holy his Christian character. When our hearts are empty of the word of life, we need not expect to grow, because there is no material for the Spirit to work upon. We need to see God as he is revealed in his word, and look upon him, being always assured that there is something in our hearts that, through the aid of the Spirit, will respond to the perfections of God with anxious yearnings to be like him.—Rev. S. Robson, in Examiner.

Good Nature and Good Eating

A SENSIBLE writer advises those who would enjoy good eating to keep good-natured. "For," says he, "an angry man can't tell whether he is eating broiled oysters or a stewed umbrella."

Nothing but Money.

It is the aside remarks that let in light upon men's characters. A worldly-minded Sunday-school superintendent, being about to go to Europe on business, addressed the school on the Sunday before his departure. He waxed fervent as he depicted the horrors of the sea voyage, the risk of life, the separation from friends and home, and the possibility that he would never see them again. "O children," said he, "it is dreadful to think of. Nothing but money would induce me to it."—Christian Advocate.

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