Earlier text: Editorial"TRUST IN THE LORD."
By Mrs. E. G. White
"In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." It is the privilege of every member of the family of God to know his will in regard to his course of action. The Lord would be sought unto by all who would be instructed and enlightened by the Holy Spirit. He is ready to commune with his people. He declares: "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and I smote him; I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it can not rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Every individual must seek by earnest prayer to know the Word of God for himself, and then to do it. Only by daily putting his trust in God, and not in the arm of flesh, will any soul obtain the experience essential to answer the prayer of Christ, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." "Come unto me," is the invitation of Christ. By this he does not mean that we shall go to the next town or to the ends of the earth to5learn what course to pursue. He desires us to trust in him as our present Helper, as One who will overrule all things for the best. "If any of you lack wisdom," he says, "let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." This is the lesson given to every soul. The strength of every soul is in God and not in man. Quietness and confidence is to be the strength of all who give their hearts to God. In all our temporal concerns, in all our cares and anxieties, we need to wait upon the Lord. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men," is the word that comes to us. The Lord has united our hearts with his. If we love him, and are accepted in his service, we shall bring all our burdens to the Lord, and wait upon him. Then we shall have an individual experience, a conviction of his presence and his readiness to hear our prayer for wisdom and for instruction, that will give us assurance and confidence in his willingness to succor in perplexity. God would have us rejoice, and praise him every day for the privilege granted us in the words of Christ: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." A kind and loving Friend and Father is overruling all things. And if this is true of individuals and nations, how much more of his church, his chosen ones. The church is established, not on theories of men, not on long-drawn-out plans and forms. It is built on the Rock Christ Jesus, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." This is the Rock upon which the church may build successfully. It is the living presence of God. The weakest may depend upon it. Those who think themselves the strongest may become the weakest unless they depend upon Christ, as their efficiency, their worthiness. As long as the members of the church shall through faith draw nourishment from Christ, and not from man's opinions and devisings and methods; if, having a conviction of the nearness of God in Christ, they put their entire trust in him, they will have a vital connection with Christ, as the branch has connection with the parent stock. The Lord would have all come to him as their refuge. He would have them come to him for counsel and instruction, for comfort and for hope, in all their anxieties. To him you may tell all your griefs. You will never be told, "I can not help you." To him all your troubles are worthy of consideration. You may have his help under every difficulty. You may, I may, the weakest one in all the ranks of believers may, trust in a loving, pitiful, faithful High Priest, who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He keeps us safe from Satan's power even while we are full of perplexities, discouragements, and trials. Every believer is to keep looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of his faith. All who will do this, will work calmly and quietly, as if in view of the whole heavenly universe. They will trust to no man's opinion of their virtues, but feeling an individual responsibility resting upon them in temporal and eternal things, they will put their trust in God. "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday; and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward." "Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." The Elder Brother of our race is by the eternal throne. He looks upon every soul who is turning his face toward him as his Saviour. He knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are their wants, and where lies the strength of their temptations. The weakness of our human nature will not bar our access to the heavenly Father; for Christ was tempted in all points like as we are, "yet without sin." Christ has not a casual interest in us. His love for us is stronger than that of a mother for her child. Says the prophet, "Can a woman forget her sucking child? . . . yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Our Saviour has purchased us by human suffering and sorrow. He suffered insult, reproach, abuse, mockery, rejection, and death. God is near in Christ's atoning sacrifice, in his intercession, his loving, tender, ruling power over his church. Seated by the eternal throne, he watches his children with intense interest. He is watching over you, trembling child of God. He will make you secure under his protection. His promises are: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee." "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord." "They that wait on the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which can not be moved, but abideth forever." MEANING OF HELL AND GEHENNA.
By Kate Hulst
We should remember that the word rendered 'hell' in our language had no other signification than that of the grave, or of a covered place, either in the language from which it is translated, or in the English understanding of that word at the period of the translation of authorized version. In proof of these assertions we need only say that the Greeks used this same word to designate an ordinary pit in the ground, and that our English ancestors used to 'helle' their vegetables. When Christ used this expression, 'gehenna,' his Hebrew hearers at once thought of the valley without the city, where a fire burned continually, fed with brimstone, for the more perfect and swift destruction of what was cast therein. There the city of Jerusalem burned its refuse; there dead animals were cast as unclean; and there were also cast the dead bodies of criminals who were denied decent burial. But we must remember two things,—no living thing was ever cast into gehenna, for the Jewish law forbade such torture, even of animals; and everything that was cast there was so disposed for the purpose of utter destruction. So when Christ said, 'Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in gehenna,' what possible conception could his Hebrew hearers have had, except that destroy meant destroy, and that the soul was capable of destruction as well as the body? He could not have meant torture, for nothing was ever tortured in gehenna. The6language was to them plain and unmistakable; and it is only to people of centuries later, whose minds are confused by the traditions of men, that it appears misleading. —Kate Hulst, in Greenwich (N. Y.) Journal. THIS word occurs but twice in the Bible, yet, judging by many of the social-meeting experiences we hear in the churches, it would seem to be the most prominent word in the Scriptures. The stress laid upon the expressions “I feel” or “I want to feel” thus and so are with many a mere habit, but with many more they come from the delusion that feeling is religion, and that a display of enthusiasm is evidence of extraordinary faith. The exercise of an exuberant feeling on the part of people who make a great pretense of holiness or of faith often leads the more humble or less demonstrative brother to fear that he is certainly in the background, because he is not disposed to be so enthusiastic in his testimony. The disposition to attach a high value to an impulsive outburst of feeling is apt to lead him to the conclusion that such an one or such a class has something essential to a living experience that he has not yet acquired. Unless his mind is freed from this misleading idea, he will in course of time be following after some of the numerous demonstrations of “bodily exercise” that are only calculated to arouse a superabundant sensation. The frequent use of the phrases “I feel” or “I want to feel” carries the idea that the acme of proof is the feeling. One thinks this or that course is right because he feels it is so, or he feels that he ought to do so and so. Again, such a brother seems so happy in the way he feels, that another brother wants to do as he does in order to enjoy a like feeling. This desire to feel everything that is supposed to be right, and the disappointment because the desire is not gratified, is the imaginary cause of much of the darkness and backsliding and discouragement that we meet in the church. The real cause is unbelief; but unbelief is the last thing that any professed Christian is willing to acknowledge. There is only one standard of truth, of holiness, of sanctification, or of duty; and that is not feeling, it is the Word of God. Right feeling is a result of having believed and having shown our belief in good works based on the Word of the Lord. Paul speaks of the Gentiles as “being past feeling,” because of “having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness [margin, “hardness”] of their heart.” Eph. 4: 18, 19. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Rom. 1: 21. But, coming back to Ephesians 4, we read in the twentieth verse, “But ye have not so learned Christ.” In no instance do we read of his doing anything because he felt like it. No doubt he felt like doing many good things, but that was not his reason for doing them. But he did many things that he did not feel like doing. His was not a life of sentimental happiness or rapturous feeling; he was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Of his work he said, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” John 6: 38. His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane was, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22: 42. I would emphasize the thought that there is nothing wrong in being happy in the Lord, even joyful in tribulation. That is the Christian’s privilege; but it is not the proper basis of duty, nor the sole object of faith. Like the Master, the servant’s chief object is to do the will of God, without reference to his own feelings. It is not because it is a pleasure that we are to forsake all that we have for his cause, but because it is necessary to the salvation of ourselves and others. The Lord Jesus came down from heaven, not because of the pleasure there was in his sacrifice, but because of the necessity involved in our lost condition. So he tells us, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Now the cross will not bring feelings of happiness and contentment in the Lord, unless it be taken up by faith, regardless of the kind of feeling one may desire to have. If Christian joy, or elation of feeling, or rest in the Lord, be sought in advance of the cross, or in murmuring because of the cross, it is evidence of selfish motive, and there will be disappointment. Or if a seeming joy in the Lord, or a forced or feigned sentimentality, be indulged for the purpose of arousing a satisfied feeling, there will be delusion. Christ “endured the cross” for “the joy set before him,” the joy yet future (Heb. 12: 2), and not for the good feelings he enjoyed in his earthly life. The apostle Paul was called to a life of sacrifice and suffering. Said the Lord, “I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” Acts 9: 16. It is true that Paul could rejoice in afflictions, but suppose he had sat down and murmured about his feelings, or made his feelings a test in all matters of faith and duty, when the Spirit bade him do this or that, how much would he ever have accomplished? Is it probable he ever could have said, “I have fought a good fight”? The Spirit of the Lord crossed Paul’s feelings many times when he felt like doing things in his own way, or going to certain places to labor. See Acts 16: 6–9; 22: 17–21. We have several marked examples of religious feeling recorded in the Scriptures. Two of these occurred on the borders of Canaan, and both were the result of rejecting the Word of God, and resulted in disaster. When the twelve spies returned to the camp of Israel, two of them rested on the promise of God and advised going forward; but the other ten felt differently, and declared that they were not able to conquer their enemies. Then the congregation of Israel felt as the ten spies did, and their feeling was so strong that they resolved not to make the attempt. But when Moses told them the consequences of their lack of faith, their feelings were changed, and they determined to go up and take the land. The Lord told them by his servant not to go; that he would not go with them, and they would be defeated in the attempt. But their feelings were aroused to such a pitch of enthusiasm that they again disregarded the Word of the Lord, and met sore defeat. What was the trouble, then? Was it a lack of feeling?—O, no, they had plenty of feeling and zeal to enter the promised land! But we are told “that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” There is not one direction in the Scriptures that warrants us in taking our feelings as a guide in matters of faith and duty. “Faith cometh by hearing [not by feeling], and hearing by the Word of God.” Rom. 10: 17. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” [not our feeling]. 1 John 5: 4. We are justified by faith, not by feeling. Rom. 5: 1. Faith, not feeling, is “counted for righteousness.” Chap. 4: 5. “We have access by faith [not by feeling] into this grace [not feeling] wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Chap. 5: 2. And this feeling of rejoicing, and all the blessings mentioned in the succeeding verses, are the result of faith, not of feeling. Men are prone to excuse their laxness because they do not feel right, but God’s Word always lays it at the door of unbelief, and consequently not doing right. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works [not your jubilant feelings], and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5: 16. THE APOSTLES AND THE SABBATH.
By W. L. Iles
WE now pass from the four Gospels to the Acts of the Apostles. What is there said about the Sabbath of the Lord and the first day of the week? Says the apostle Paul: “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” 1 Tim. 1:16. Paul says to all who shall believe on Christ after him, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” 1 Cor. 11:1. Paul’s idea of perfection was Christ. He presented Christ as the complete and perfect man. “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Eph. 4:13. “Lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created him.” Col. 3:9, 10, R. V. We put on the new man at conversion. The new man is Christ. “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.” The Lord Jesus Christ, or the new man, is being renewed in us. For a thing to be “renewed,” it must be made over again. It must be repeated again. This renewal only takes place unto knowledge. As our knowledge of Christ increases, just to that extent is Christ renewed in us. After conversion, we are new creatures; and as we grow, we grow up in Christ; and as Christ is the image of God, so we are renewed after the image of God. In all these texts it will be seen that Christ is set before the world as the only standard of perfection, and that same life of perfection is to appear, or be renewed, in us, unto our knowledge. Paul had a good knowledge of Christ, and so in him we behold Christ. Christ lived in him. Gal. 2:20. If Christ kept the law when upon earth, and the life of Christ was renewed in the life of Paul, then Paul kept the law, and the same can be said of the Sabbath. There are now many who are keeping Sunday, whom God accepts as his children, but when they see that the life of Christ is not being renewed in them, in the act of Sunday-keeping and Sabbath-breaking, they will take their feet from off God’s holy day. We now inquire, Did Paul follow Christ in Sabbath-keeping? “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Acts 17:2.7The congregation that heard Paul preach was composed of Jews and Greeks. Some of the Greeks believed (verse 4), and the Jews were filled with envy (verse 5). The Jews and Greeks met on the same day. At that time there was no dispute as to which day was the Sabbath. There were many pagans who recognized no Sabbath. If Jewish Christians kept the seventh day, and Gentile Christians kept the first day, there would have been trouble and controversy, even as we see now. The Sabbath day referred to is the seventh-day Sabbath. It was Paul’s “manner” to do upon the Sabbath day what it was Christ’s “custom” to do. Luke 4:16. “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.” Acts 13:14. “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” “And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God.” Acts 13:42, 44. Many suppose that Paul simply went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, because he could get a congregation of the Jews, and could preach to them. On this occasion there were present both Jews and Gentiles. When the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles asked Paul to come back the next Sabbath and preach the same Word. Here is a recognition of the Sabbath by the Gentiles. The Sabbath referred to was the same one the Jews kept, and that was the seventh day. This narrative was written by inspiration, and is therefore the Word of God. God recognizes the Sabbath day in this dispensation, and so calls it. The events referred to above happened about fourteen years after Christ was crucified, and if at that time the Sabbath was recognized by Jews, Gentiles, apostles, and the Lord, we will do well to recognize it now. “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” Acts 16:13. This prayer-meeting was on the Sabbath day, and as the Sabbath is the seventh day, and Saturday is the seventh day, it was upon Saturday. There was present at this prayer-meeting a woman by the name of Lydia, who worshiped God. She believed in attending divine services on the Sabbath. “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Acts 18:4. It will be noticed that the Scriptures very clearly indicate that the Jews and Gentiles all met on the same day. There is nothing to indicate that the Jews met on Saturday and the Gentiles on Sunday. Paul met with both Jews and Gentiles on the Sabbath. “And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together; and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.” Acts 28:17. The words that Paul uttered were addressed to the “chief of the Jews.” These Jews were very strict Saturday-keepers. They were so strict that they “sought to slay him,” because they thought he was a Sabbath-breaker. It was the custom of the Jewish fathers to keep the Sabbath. Paul, in the presence of the “chief Jews,” declares that he had “committed nothing against the custom of the fathers.” How could he make such a bold statement if he was keeping Sunday, and disregarding the Sabbath? If the Jews sought to “slay” Christ for healing a man on the Sabbath, what would they do with Paul if he made tents on the Sabbath day? It was Paul’s “custom” to follow the Jewish “custom” in recognizing the seventh-day Sabbath, and we follow the custom of Paul, and do after the “manner” of Christ by keeping the seventh day, and attending religious services. W. L. ILES. IS IT WRONG TO ATTEND THE DANCING SCHOOL?
By Eben Bumstead
I KNOW a superintendent of a Sunday-school who has his boy take lessons in dancing. It is well known that multitudes in the churches think the same course to be a wise one. But how many of these Christian parents have any knowledge of the dance as it exists to-day? If they knew but one-tenth of the evil that takes place in, and results from, the dance-halls, and even private parlor dances, we feel sure that they would at once take their children from so great danger. What can be the object of this Sunday-school superintendent, but that his boy may learn to do as the world does, to mingle more gracefully in its society, to spend his evenings in that which they think is the queen of worldly amusements. If this be his object, how can it be reconciled with the admonitions: "Be not conformed to this world" (Rom. 12:2); "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15); "A friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4)? The Bible clearly indicates that there is to be a dividing line between the world and the disciple of Christ. On which side is the dance? Great as is this evil, there seems to be almost no voice to speak out and warn against its bold effrontery. The dancing-school is not only tolerated, but is supported by a large portion of the church, while in many cases Christian people open their parlors for private dances. I know of an academy for young ladies, members of whose board of directors are among the foremost Congregational ministers of Massachusetts, that allows the girls to have weekly dances among themselves. Tho they come from Christian homes, and may have been taught by watchful parents to look upon dancing as a sin of worldliness, yet in this seminary, which is one of our very best, they have every encouragement and means to learn to dance. This season there was only one student who had the courage to refuse. In answer to the question so commonly asked, "What harm can there be in parlor and boarding-school dancing?" we will give the words of Mr. T. A. Faulkner, ex-dancing master, ex-champion dancer, and ex-president of Dancing Masters' Association of the Pacific Coast:— In these places are taught the rudiments of an education which may make them graduates of a saloon or the brothel. I do not say that it always does, but I do say that it often does. I only wish that certain parents who think they are restricting their children to "parlor dancing at home only," could have been with me the night of May 30, 1892, and have seen, as I did, their girls, some of them but twelve or fourteen years of age, dancing in a public saloon, where so much beer had been spilt on the floor that the women had to hold their dresses up to keep them from getting soiled and wet as they danced. This is usually the result of teaching a child to dance, and then to restrict it to home dancing. If they once become fascinated with it, they must, and will, by some means, fair or foul, have more of it than their homes afford. The safe side is the best side. Keep them from taking the first step to ruin, and they can never take the last. It is a sad commentary on the dancing-school that dancing-masters find it necessary to close their schools for a season, lest the young ladies who have been ruined bring the school into disgrace, as is shown by Mr. Faulkner in the following incident:— I met on the train, while leaving town one day, a young woman who, a few months before, had been a member of my select dancing academy. She had been ruined there, and was one of the discarded ones when the school was closed for a few weeks, as all dancing-schools have to be every little while, to get rid of those girls who have met with a fate similar to hers. I entered into conversation with her, and found she could no longer endure being shunned and slighted by all her old companions, and was running away from home. I knew that her parents would be heart-broken, and that she, without the protection of a home, would soon sink into utter abandonment, and I tried every persuasion to induce her to return to the home she was leaving. I—who was still teaching the very thing which had been her ruin, now that self-respect and all that life was worth living for, was lost to her forever—I tried to save her from further degradation. After I had argued for some time with her, she turned fiercely upon me, her once beautiful eyes now filled with a desperation born of despair, and said, with a look and tone of reproach which I shall never forget: "Mr. Faulkner, when you will close your dancing-schools and stop this business, which is sending so many girls by swift stages on a straight road to hell, then, sir, and not till then, will I think of reform." The dancing-master was stirred by her words. He renounced the business, and is to-day a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. The case of this young woman is not one of a few, but of many. It is the story of three-fourths of the harlots in our cities. Mission workers who have taken statistics among fallen women, tell us that seventy-five per cent. ascribe the first cause of their downfall to dancing. Professor La Floris says: "I can safely say that three-fourths of these women (2,500 abandoned women in San Francisco) were led to their downfall through the influence of dancing." A chief of police of New York City has said that "three-fourths of the women and girls who are living lives of immorality, have been led from the path of virtue through the dance." My only object in writing on the unpopular side of a popular subject is that Christian parents may be aroused to the danger their children are in, if they dance; and that those parents who are debating the question of sending their children to dancing-schools, may have a few reasons why it is not a wise thing to do. A friend told me that his wife took into their home a young girl with an illegitimate child, who one day said to his wife: "Mrs. —, do not ever allow your daughters to attend a dancing-school. When my father sent me to the dancing-school, he started me on the way to hell." WONDERING how God can do his part is wasting the time that we need for ours. If we trust God, we may well leave to him the things we can not do ourselves. Can we atone for our sins? can we forgive ourselves? can we make the seed we sow germinate, or guarantee the harvest? can we read the riddle of suffering, or
"Find in loss a gain to match,
Or reach a hand through time to catch
The far-off interest of tears"? No. We may leave these things to God. He is faithful and just to forgive. His word shall not return unto him void. He is causing all things to work together for good to those who have made his purpose their purpose. In the meantime there is no better way to show our trust than to busy ourselves with the things he asks us to do. Trusting him to take care of his share leaves us "at leisure from ourselves" to do our share of the "Father's business."—S. S. Times. "Enquire, and make search, and ask diligently." NOTE.—We wish those who ask questions to take particular notice: (1) Only such questions will be answered here as we believe to be of general interest and information. (2) We can not undertake to explain from four to a dozen scriptures, as in one sentence we are often requested to do. (3) Do not ask to "explain" a certain text or passage. State clearly the point in question. (4) Give full name and address, not for publication unless desired, but as evidence of good faith, and to give us the privilege of replying by letter if deemed best. (5) Unsigned communications of any kind find the quickest way to the waste-basket. (6) It is always well to inclose stamp. (7) "Foolish and unlearned questions avoid," also those that minister to mere curiosity. (8) Study the Scriptures yourselves. No. 633. Picking Grapes or Hops.
WOULD picking grapes or hops for wages promote the cause of intemperance? We see no harm in doing either under ordinary circumstances, any more than in harvesting barley, rye, or corn. But these questions of conscience must be settled by each individual for himself. Let each one in humility and submission ask God for himself, and then follow the dictates of an enlightened and good conscience. No. 634. The Hollow of the Thigh.
The Angel of Jehovah met with Jacob in the form of a man, when Jacob was pleading with God for forgiveness of sin and protection from Esau. He evidently did not know his divine antagonist till the Angel revealed his power and Jacob's helplessness by "touching the hollow of his thigh," the socket of the hip joint, the hollow place in which the neck bone of the thigh is inserted. This revealed to Jacob the Lord, yet painful as it must have been, he would not let the Lord go till he gave him assurance of victory. Jacob prevailed by persevering faith. See Hos. 12 : 4. Verse 32 is confirmatory of the truth of verse 25. "The custom prevailing among the Jews to this day of abstaining religiously from eating this sinew," says the Bible commentary, "seems a lasting monument of the historical truth of this wonderful event in the life of Jacob." It is supposed that the "sinew" refers to the sciatic nerve; it is translated by some "nerve of contraction." PLEASE give me a little information on Dan. 12 : 11, 12. Are the times mentioned separate periods? When do they begin and when end? The first period—1290 days—is thought by many to begin at the time when the daily desolation ("sacrifice" is a supplied word), paganism, was taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate,—the Papacy—set up. This is fixed at A.D. 508; 1,290 years from that point carries us to 1798, when the days of papal persecution ended. The 1335 days of the next verse evidently begin at the same time, and would therefore end in 1843, when a great time of blessing and power was experienced by the advent people. See "Daniel and the Revelation," by U. Smith, pages 313, 314. We have not space here to enter into a detailed examination of the texts. No. 636. Is It Sabbath-Breaking?
(1) SHOULD the Sabbath be made a weekly bathing day for the family, if the persons who compose it are "too busy" during the week? (2) Should the secular paper be read on the Sabbath for the same reason, namely, "too busy during the week." 1. The command is, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Ex. 20 : 8–11), "holy to the Lord" (Ex. 31 : 15). This means consecrated unto the Lord, not ourselves. The inspired commentary is, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isa. 58 : 13, 14. The Sabbath should be kept holy unto the Lord. To "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," means to remember it every day of the week, and to so remember it that one would keep it holy when it came. There may be circumstances which would justify bathing; cooking or purchasing of food may be necessary for the sick or feeble; but no person has any right to be so busy with his own work as to hedge on God's time to do work that could be done and should have been done the day before. And he or they who thus do, tho prosperous for a time, will in the end find that he has left out of the question the only One who can assure real prosperity. "Bake that which ye will bake," "and boil that ye will boil" (Ex. 16 : 23) is the expression of a principle which applies to all our work, the bath, the shaving, etc. The ordering of foods and having them delivered on the Sabbath comes in the same category. Those who thus regard the Sabbath say to all who observe them, and to all with whom they deal, that the holy day of the Lord is a mere day of physical rest, subject to one's own convenience and pleasure. 2. No one who loves God, who delights in his Word and works and worship, will ever desire to read a secular newspaper on the Sabbath day. He who feeds upon God's Word will not care to vitiate his Sabbath feast by a perusal of worldly news. Here is a good rule in connection with the specific instruction of God's Word—"In His sight." Do only, speak only, think only, as you would wish to do were Jesus Christ visibly by your side. Here is the whole scripture, Matt. 5 : 17–20:—
"17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
"18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
"19. 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.
"20. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." 1. Christ is talking about the moral law of God, the standard of righteousness. Verse 20. God's royal law is summarily comprehended in the Decalog, or Ten Commandments. See James 2 : 8–12; Rom. 7 : 7; Ex. 24 : 12; 31 : 18. See also Matt. 5 : 21, 27; but read "to them" instead of "by them."
2. All will never be fulfilled. The law is fulfilled when man fully keeps or fills up its eternal breadth and depth. Only one did this, Christ Jesus. We can do it only in Christ. The prophets, that is what they prophesied, will never be fulfilled; for they prophesy of a glorious eternity as long as the days of God; and eternity will never be filled up. Therefore never a jot or tittle will pass from the law.
3. The commandments of that law. In a way the great commandments of God's law are summarized in supreme love to God and equal love to man (Deut. 6 : 5; Lev. 19 : 18; Matt. 22 : 36–40), and the lesser, the ten precepts of the Decalog, the doing of which is proof of the love. But the mere outward form is not keeping the law. This was self-righteousness, the righteousness that fell short (Matt. 5 : 20), but God requires heart righteousness, the keeping of the law from the heart by the Spirit (Matt. 5 : 21–28; Rom. 1 : 16, 17; 8 : 4; 1 John 5 : 3). No. 638. Christ and the Sabbath.
Do THE words "Take up thy bed and walk," teach that we may do business on the Sabbath to save us a little labor some other day? No words of Jesus Christ contravene or conflict with the fourth commandment, which he gave and kept. See that commandment in Ex. 20 : 8–11 and the divine comment upon it in Isa. 58 : 13. "Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10 : 31. WHENCE but from heav'n could men unskill'd in arts,
In several ages born, in several parts,
Weave such agreeing truths? or how or why
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
Unask'd their pains, ungrateful their advice,
Starving their gain, and martyrdom their price.
Then for the style—majestic and divine,
It speaks no less than GOD in ev'ry line:
Commanding words, whose force are still the same
As the first fiat that produced our frame,
All faiths beside, or did by arms ascend,
Or sense indulged has made mankind their friend.
This only doctrine does our lusts oppose;
Unfed by nature's soil on which it grows,
Cross to our int'rests, curbing sense and sin,
Oppress'd without, and undermined within,
It thrives through pain, its own tormentors tires,
And with a stubborn patience still aspires.
To what can reason such effects assign,
Transcending nature, but to laws divine,
Which in that Sacred Volume are contained,
Sufficient, clear, and for that use ordain'd?