Signs of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 1. (1/2/1912)

Signs of the Times

Jan 2, 1912

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 2, 1912

A New Creature

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The New Year

By Editor

Out of the mighty unrolling future, big with portent and possibility, a new year bursts upon us. What it shall mean to us in adversity or prosperity, in gain or loss, in trial or ease, in storm or calm, we may not wholly or perhaps at all determine; for we live in a complex and imperfect world beyond our individual control. But what it means to us morally, in character-building, rests with us — it lies between us and God. He is ever for us — our Peace, our Life, our Rock of Strength, our Joy. Whatever all these shall avail for us depends upon our choice. May each of our readers so unite with Christ our Lord that every day of the year shall mark progress heavenward, and make them all blessings to those they meet or greet in the upward way.

A New Creation

And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Rev. 21:5.

3628 — How to Get Religion

By Editor

Will you please explain how to get religion, and make it plain as can be? I have tried for twenty-five years in all the ways I know. I believe there is a God, and that the Saviour died for our sins, and rose again. I believe He is just, and nothing is impossible with Him. I love Him with all my heart, soul, and mind. What can I do? I am just sin-sick. When I hear His Word I tremble. Yet I am a sinner. It seems to me there is something about it I can not understand. Inquirer.

It seems to us that "Inquirer" has more real, true religion than she is willing to acknowledge. She declares that she loves the Lord with all her heart and soul and mind. That is all that God asks of us. She declares that she believes that Jesus died for our sins. Well, that "our" includes her, and there is life in that. Then, having faith and having love, why not let faith and love be manifest in willing obedience to all God's precepts? God's law points out our sins, His Spirit impresses upon our heart the force and power and condemnation of that law, not to destroy us, but to show us that we are sinners. (See Rom. 7:7, and other scriptures.) Christ Jesus died to save us from our sins, the sins which the law condemns, and all He asks us to do is to believe, whatever our feelings, whatever the sins of the past, to believe and accept Him as the Saviour from all these sins. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. If we believe that God is "faithful," if we believe that He is "just," we must believe, if we have confessed our sins, that these are forgiven, that the unrighteousness is cleansed away. We know the lies which the flesh will tell, and which the devil will seek to have us believe; but God's Word is truer than all our fears, and stronger than all the powers of darkness. Believe, rejoice that it is so, thank God that His Word is true. And now He wants us to go on. He wants the law of "life in Christ Jesus" to make us "free from the law of sin and death" which is in our members. Rom. 8:1-4. And He does this in order that the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.

The flesh will again clamor for the mastery. It has been master in the past; it wishes to be master again. It will rise up again and again in the endeavor to lord it over us; but by simple faith lay hold of the scripture, "Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." Rom. 6:11. Take home to your heart by faith this truth: "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace." God no longer condemns; He looks upon us with favor. As our members have been yielded to sin in the past, yield them now to righteousness. If our tongue has spoken evil words, let it speak good words. If our eyes have been wont to look upon the things that are evil, turn them, by His grace, to the things that are good and pure and lovely. If our ears have been prone to catch that which is low and base, turn them to Him; let faith attune them to the music of the voice and truth of God; let us listen to Him. If our taste has been perverted so that we love the things which weaken, and destroy, and bring us under bondage to the power of appetite, give these up, and educate our fleshly appetite to love the things that are good.

And so with every sense and every member. We may make blunders in the doing of it; we may make mistakes; we may fail. But the kind Father who has started us in the way, has also told us that, while He writes to us that we sin not, yet "if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Pray, pray earnestly. Have times when you come before the Father, and tell Him all your needs, all your cares, all your trials, all your sorrows. He has an open, listening ear to all His children, and is never too hurried to hear your prayer.

Read His Word; feed upon it, day by day. Let the Spirit of God transmute it into your life and character. And rejoice in Him. Tell others of His goodness.

You say you tremble when you hear His Word. That is good. Know that that very thing is the evidence of God's love to you, and of your relationship to Him. Here is His own Word for it: "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: . . . but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My Word." Isa. 66:1, 2. And then note the promise that He makes, and that is that joy will come to those that tremble, and those who oppose them shall know shame.

What "Inquirer" seems to need more than all else is to rest in God's promises. There are some people who never lie down to rest. They hold themselves, while they are on their bed; they do not just simply yield themselves to that bed. They seem to feel that the bed itself will not hold them unless they are nerved up and hold themselves tense in some way. What they need to do is to relax. Let "Inquirer" rest right down on the promises of God, just like a child in its mother's arms. Jesus is not afar off; He is near to every one that trusts Him.

3629 — Eating Bacon

Is it a sin to eat bacon, in the case of sickness, when the doctor says it is good for tuberculosis? H. C. B.

By bacon, of course, is meant pork. In the first place God forbade His children's eating swine's flesh. This is shown in Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14, and elsewhere. He did not do this arbitrarily. That is, He did not take certain classes of animals that were all equally wholesome food, and set some over on one side as unclean, and the others on the other side as clean. Those that were set aside as unclean were in their very nature unclean. And those that were set aside as clean were much more favorable than the others that were called unclean. It was an abomination to offer the unclean to the Lord. The clean could be offered for sacrifice, and their flesh could be eaten, altho this is not the best food. The Lord showed that by giving His children manna to eat instead of flesh foods, and in the very beginning of man's career upon this earth no flesh was given him.

We can not understand how a doctor could prescribe bacon as good food for tuberculosis. We never heard of any such thing as that before. We have heard of their prescribing meat, or flesh food, in the form of beefsteak, scraped meat, and such foods as that; but the one thing which is usually the first prohibited in case of sickness is pork. It is hard to digest. It does not assimilate readily. The swine has within him potencies of disease, and especially scrofula. It is the testimony of thousands upon thousands who had all sorts of outbreaking humors in their blood, that when they gave up swine's flesh entirely, all those passed away. It is the testimony of many that in the days when they ate swine's flesh a wound would not heal readily; it suppurated. But after giving up swine's flesh, all bruises and wounds healed immediately, "by first intention," as the physicians say; that is, there was no suppuration, no pus, no matter flowed from the wound, or exuded from the sore. Some physicians who have had excellent success in treating tuberculosis cases advise legumes, such as beans, peas, lentils, etc. Others who have had great success advise the use of milk — milk alone, some advise, all that can be eaten, good, fresh cow's milk. And there are remarkable testimonies of its efficacy in the treatment of consumption. These essentials are quite evident in the treatment of the disease: first, that there shall be not too much exercise, only sufficient; secondly, an abundance of fresh air — the same night and day; and thirdly, a superabundance of food, so that the system shall be fed beyond the power of the disease to consume. If we were afflicted as the question indicates, and the doctor told us to eat bacon, we would want to have consultation with another physician.

3630 — Praying for the Soul

Please explain 1 Kings 17:21, 22. Elijah seems to have prayed for the breath, or spirit. Eccl. 12:7; 3:19-21. W. T. K.

The scripture declares that he prayed for the soul. "O Jehovah my God, I pray Thee, let this child's soul come into him again." Verse 17 is a cue to the understanding of it. His sickness was so sore that there was no breath left in him. The breath of life had departed, that which God gave to man in the beginning (Gen. 2:7). Elijah simply prayed that that breath of life, or soul, might be returned again; in other words, that the child might live. He did not pray that an entity — a separate being, one that could exist, and think, and live separate from the body — might come back, but that the life which the child had lost might be restored to that child again; and God answered. And that is all that the simple narrative teaches; no more, no less. Eccl. 12:7 teaches the same truth, in its reverse, — that when man dies, the spirit goes to God who gave it; in other words, that breath of life which God gave in the beginning (Gen. 2:7) goes back to God when man dies; and when man lives again, that life is returned to him. The whole difficulty lies in treating the soul as an entity in those cases in the Bible where it simply means life.

3631 — What God Will Do

What is it that God will do, as given in 1 Thess. 5:24? D. R. M.

Read the verse previous, in connection with verse 24, as in the American Revised Version: "And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it." The message is to those who live when the Lord shall come. And the Lord is able to save complete at that time all those who trust in Him. See also 1 Cor. 1:7-9: "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." God is faithful to do all that He has promised for His children.

3632 — I Will Go to Him, 2 Sam. 12:23

Please explain 2 Sam. 12:23. Does David refer to the resurrection when he says, "I will go to him"? O. H.

Evidently not. Just as long as the child was alive, David was pleading that he might live; but when the child died and was at rest, he stopped his fasting and weeping. He could not call the child back, but he himself could die and be at rest. Possibly he may have looked forward to the resurrection, when he would be with the child there. But then in that case he would not be going to the child, because the child had not had a resurrection; he would be raised together with the child. He evidently referred to rest, in the sleep of death.

3633 — Foreordination

Does Acts 13:48 teach foreordination? D.

Yes, Bible foreordination. It tells us, "And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the Word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." "The New Testament Critically Emphasized," of Rotherham, renders it, "Now the Gentiles having heard, were rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord, and they believed — as many as had become disposed for age-abiding life." We have not space in the Question Corner to enlarge upon the matter of foreordination, of election. See the tract on Bible Election, "Bible Students' Library," No. 67. Price 2c.

Question Corner

By Editor

"IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YE."

This Inquirers' Department is conducted for the purpose of helping those who are studying the Bible. The answers are oftentimes only suggestive. They are never to be considered infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. The writer who may answer them does not consider that his opinion is infallible. He will simply give the best that he has, and plead with the inquirer to search the Word. Such questions only will be answered as, to the editors, seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. We can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. No letters are answered which do not contain the name of the writer. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

Bible Readings for the Week

By Editor

Schedule for Week Ending January 13, 1912

Sunday	January 7	Genesis 11, 12
Monday	" 8	" 13, 14
Tuesday	" 9	" 15, 16, 17
Wednesday	" 10	" 18
Thursday	" 11	" 19
Friday	" 12	" 20, 21
Sabbath	" 13	Psalms 4, 5, 6

Our readings for this week cover a tremendous space, from B.C. 2247, according to Usher's chronology, to B.C. 1872, a period of 19,500 weeks, or 375 years. This period includes men's folly at Babel, perpetuated still; the scattering of humanity; the genealogy of Abraham; God's call to Abram; his sojourn and trials of faith, with constant and remarkable evidences of God's overruling providences. Note the choice by Lot, and the unselfishness of his uncle, and the results. Not to fulness of faith did Abraham at once come. Over and over the lesson came. Are we children of Abraham? Chapter 14, once disputed by the "higher critics," has been abundantly confirmed by archeology.

The Law and the Gospel

By Mrs. E. G. White

THE law and the Gospel can not be separated. In Christ mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. The Gospel has not ignored the obligations due to God by man. The Gospel is the law unfolded, nothing more nor less. It gives no more latitude to sin than does the law. The law points to Christ; Christ points to the law. The Gospel calls men to repentance. Repentance of what? — Of sin. And what is sin? — It is the transgression of the law. Therefore the Gospel calls men from their transgression back to obedience to the law of God. Jesus in His life and death taught the strictest obedience. He died, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, that the honor of God's law might be preserved, and yet man not utterly perish.

The work of salvation in both the Old and the New Testament dispensation is the same. Christ was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. The types and shadows under which the Jews worshiped, all pointed forward to the world's Redeemer. It was by faith in a coming Saviour that sinners were saved then. It is through faith in Christ that they are justified to-day.

He Gave Himself in His Son

In giving His Son, God gave Himself, that man might have another trial. If God could have changed His law to meet man in his fallen condition, would He not have done this, and retained His only-begotten Son in heaven? — He certainly would. But because His law was as changeless as His character, He gave His beloved Son, who was above law, and one with Himself, to meet the penalty which His justice demanded.

Satan is working with all his deceptive power to ensnare the world. He would have them believe that this great sacrifice was made in order to abolish God's law. He represents Christ as opposed to the law of God's government in heaven and in earth. But the Sovereign of the world has a law by which to govern His heavenly intelligences and His human family, and the death of His Son fixes the immutability of that law beyond any question. God has no intention of doing away with His great standard of righteousness. By this standard He can define what a correct character is.

“God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son.” That Son so loved the world, that He “gave Himself for us.”

He Did Not Slay the Law

Christ consented to die in the sinner's stead, that man, by a life of obedience, might escape the penalty of the law of God. His death did not make the law of God of none effect; it did not slay the law, lessen its claims, or detract from its sacred dignity. The death of Christ proclaimed the justice of His Father's law in punishing the transgressor, in that He consented to suffer the penalty of the law transgressed Himself, in order to save fallen man from its curse. The

death of God's beloved Son on the cross shows the immutability of the law of God. His death magnifies the law and makes it honorable, and gives evidence to man of its changeless character. From His own divine lips are heard the words, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." The death of Christ justified the claims of the law.

But the doctrine is now largely taught that the Gospel of Christ has made the law of God of no effect; that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the Word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which Christ so unsparingly condemned. To the church of Ephesus He says: "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast

tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate."

The Sinner's Credentials

Those who are teaching this doctrine to-day have much to say in regard to faith and the righteousness of Christ; but they pervert the truth, and make it serve the cause of error. They declare that we have only to believe on Jesus Christ, and that faith is all-sufficient; that the righteousness of Christ is to be the sinner's credentials; that this imputed righteousness fulfils the law for us, and that we are under no obligation to obey the law of God. This class claim that Christ came to save sinners, and that He has saved them. "I am saved," they will repeat over and over again. But are they saved while transgressing the law of Jehovah? — No; for the garments of Christ's righteousness are not a cloak for iniquity. Such teaching is a gross deception, and Christ becomes to these persons a stumbling-block, as He did to the Jews, — to the Jews, because they would not receive Him as their personal Saviour; to these professed believers in Christ, because they separate Christ and the law, and regard faith as a substitute

for obedience. They separate the Father and the Son, the Saviour of the world. Virtually they teach, both by precept and example, that Christ, by His death, saves men in their transgressions.

It is necessary that every intelligent being shall understand the principles of the law of God. Christ through the apostle James declares, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." These words were spoken this side of the death of Christ; therefore the law was binding upon all at that time.

The Saviour's Voice Protests

The Saviour raised His voice in protest against those who regard the divine commandments with indifference and carelessness. He said, "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." And He also declared, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

Men may talk of freedom, of Gospel liberty. They may assert that they are not in bondage to the law. But the influence of a Gospel hope will not lead the sinner to look upon the salvation of Christ as a matter of free grace, while he continues to live in transgression of the law of God. When the light of truth dawns upon his mind, and he fully understands the requirements of God, and realizes the extent of his transgressions, he will reform his ways, become loyal to God through the strength obtained from his Saviour, and lead a new and purer life. "Whosoever abideth in Him," says John, "sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him."

The Testimony of Jesus

By George W. Reaser

I—Jesus Christ as Prophet

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev. 19:10.

NOT long ago, the late Arthur T. Pierson, then editor-in-chief of the Missionary Review of the World, raised the question in said journal as to the meaning of the inspired words, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Doubtless he voiced the mental inquiry of many Bible students. Without reviewing the explanation given by Dr. Pierson, let us undertake to analyze the text, and if the Lord wills, discover its treasured meaning.

To the apostle John, through God's mighty angel, came the words which form the basis of our study.

Analysis of the Text

In analyzing the text, naturally our first inquiry would be, What is the signification of the word "testimony"? The universally accepted definition of the term is, the evidence given by a witness, whether in or out of court. But why is the word employed in connecting the name of Jesus with "the spirit of prophecy"? We discover the answer to this question when we learn that Jehovah says of Jesus, "I have given Him for a witness to the people." Isa. 55:3, 4. From the fact that Jesus is the one, above all others, commissioned of Heaven to bear witness to the people, what titles have been bestowed upon Him? Answer, "The Faithful Witness" and "The Faithful and True Witness." Rev. 1:5 and 3:14. And what did the angel say was His chosen method of witnessing, or bearing "testimony"?—By "the spirit of prophecy."

When Jehovah sent His Son into the world, to "bear witness to the truth," He said in an audible voice, "This is My beloved Son: hear Him." Luke 9:35.

Things Proved by the Testimony of Jesus

What would Jesus be expected to prove and thereby establish in the minds of men, by the spirit of prophecy?

We will find the answer to our query in the character of His mission in coming personally into our world. He said of His mission, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." In other words, He came, as a man, into our world to accomplish the plan of salvation. His witnessing by the spirit of prophecy began at the very foundation of the world, and, logically, should prove and establish those things that are absolutely essential to the plan of salvation, and the proof that He supplies must be of such a nature as will appeal to the highest orders of intelligent beings.

Essentials of the Plan of Salvation

Now what are the absolute essentials to a perfect and complete plan of salvation? Doubtless all will concur in the following list as embracing the essentials of the plan of redemption:

First, the eternal existence and universal sovereignty of a Supreme Being, who possesses creative power.

Second, the revelation of a Saviour possessing all power to pay sin's penalty, and to rescue men forever from their fallen condition, and thus from the ravages of death.

Third, a divinely inspired guide, containing a Heaven-sent revelation of the will of the Supreme Being, and a transcript of His perfect character, which guide shall also give faithful warning against all fatal deceptions, and convey a hope of immortality in perfect and ever-secure bliss.

While other details might be mentioned, yet all will agree that no plan of salvation can be complete without these three essentials.

In the plan of salvation which it offers to all members of the human family, the Christian religion boldly claims to possess these essentials. It sets forth Jehovah as the Supreme Being; it announces Jesus of Nazareth as the all-sufficient Saviour of men; it offers the Bible as the revelation of the will of Jehovah, and as the only safe guide-book to an eternal haven of bliss.

The Purpose of the Writer

The definite purpose of these articles is to demonstrate that the strongest evidence Heaven has supplied to establish a firm foundation for intelligent faith in these essentials of the plan of salvation is "the testimony of Jesus," which is "the spirit of prophecy." In view of the importance of the theme, may both reader and writer humbly invite the wisdom of that Spirit of which the Master said, "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth," and "He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you." John 16:13, 14.

Heaven Chooses the Manner of Witnessing

This world's history has been one continuous court scene, so to speak. All the way down the stream of time, God and His truth have been on trial. As Lowell puts the thought,

Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne.

Men have persistently denied the existence of God, and the truthfulness of His Word. Jesus Christ bears the commission of Heaven to prove Jehovah's existence, to verify God's Word, to attest to His truth. He is not only "the faithful and true Witness," but He is the chief Witness. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." John 1:18. And His chosen method of witnessing is by "the spirit of prophecy." How do we know this? Because "He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John," that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

It is reasonable to suppose that, having all wisdom, and holding the commission of Heaven to take special charge of the unfolding and of the development of the plan of salvation and also of the ultimate complete redemption of the world itself, He chose the best possible medium of giving double assurance for faith in God and in His Word.

It is worthy of our special notice that in the opening paragraphs of the book of Revelation, John informs us that he "bare record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ" (chapter 1:2), and that he was in the "isle that is called Patmos, for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ," and, while there, he wrote the book of Revelation, which is one of the most wholly prophetic books of the Bible, and is, moreover, "the revelation of Jesus Christ" (verse 1). We again have a corroboration of the fact in our text.

Why Called the "Spirit" of Prophecy?

How do we know that Jesus witnessed through the prophets? We are not left to guess at this fact, nor to assume it. Peter, speaking of the plan of salvation and of the part that the prophets performed in preannouncing it, said, "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." 1 Peter 1:10-12.

In the above quotation we are given the reason why "the testimony of Jesus" is

Continue reading: The Text Made Clear by Paraphrasing