Your ShelfYour Projects

Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 17.

THE CITY ETERNAL

Signs of the Times

Apr 26, 1905

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Apr 26, 1905

THE CITY ETERNAL

By Llewellyn A. Morrison

BY LLEWELLYN A. MORRISON (Copyrighted.)
I sing of a city whose luster appearing In vision and story, hath beauty untold; From type and from symbol my soul hath been rearing The mansions of rest by the pathways of gold. At morn, when the brilliance of sun-dawn is shining— At noon, by the banners of cloudland unfurled— At eve, when the splendor my heart is refining, I watch for its coming—the hope of the world.
The travail is over for all who have found it; The toiling is ended and labor is done; The spice-laden mountains of gladness surround it, The meadow lands fragrant in shadow and sun. The gates are of pearl, and the trees by the river Bear fruits for the healing of sorrow and strife. Pure love is the bond of communion forever, And mortals, immortal, have infinite life.
O beautiful City, divine and resplendent! The wealth of all hearts dwelleth in thee alone; A King is thy builder; thy triumphs transcendent; The Lord is thy light, and His Name is thine own; The alms of the pauper, a by-word and wonder, Outshine in thy courts at the end of the days; The saints have been shrived by the blood they came under; And God is thy temple—thy service His praise.
O City, eternal! By faith I behold thee Descending from God without blemish or stain. The greatness and glory of heaven enfold thee, And sinners redeemed are thy victors who reign.
  • *
My ransom is counted, my pardon blood-written, And some day the King will in mercy remove My name from the annals defiled and sin-smitten, And find me a home in the City of Love.

Signs of the Times

By Editor

Leaflet Series

A series of sixteen leaflets covering vital phases of Bible truth for this time, is in press.
Writers who have made a special study of the various subjects, have prepared matter, have read their manuscripts to the committee as a whole, have invited suggestions and criticism, and have revised and re-arranged accordingly.
As a result, we believe they have presented the truths on the subjects covered in a way that will be generally appreciated, and we look for a circulation of millions of copies during the next few months.
After the matter was prepared, an artist met with the committee and planned appropriate headings for each leaflet. These headings are partially in hand, and will add materially to the attractive appearance of the series.
These leaflets will contain only two pages each.
The general title will be "Signs of the Times Leaflet, No. 1," "No. 2," etc.
The price has not as yet been fixed, but will be very low.
The titles will be as follows:
  1. The Sure Word of Prophecy
  2. Prophetic History of the World
  3. Second Coming of Christ
  4. Signs of Our Times
  5. The Sanctuary
  6. The 2300 Days
  7. The Law of God
  8. The Sabbath of the Bible
  9. The First Day in the Bible
  10. Who Changed the Sabbath?
  11. The Seal of God and Mark of the Beast
  12. The Great Three-fold Message
  13. Church and State
  14. Life and Immortality
  15. The Great Judgment Day
  16. The Home of the Saved
Watch for further announcements.
Pacific Press Publishing Company
Mountain View, Cal.

EACH ISSUE APPRECIATED.

Please find enclosed fifty cents for subscription to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES to that amount. I expect to be here but a short time, but want the SIGNS just the same. Yours in the truth,
J. H. GROVE.
Aroostook Junction, N. B. March 31, 1905
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal. Dear Friends:
Enclosed please find Express Money Order for the renewal for the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. I think a great deal of the paper, and would not like to be without it.

CO-OPERATION CORNER.

By Editor

SEVERAL weeks ago we stated that Brother George R. Drew, Oakhurst, Fernhill Park, Woking, England, desired twenty copies of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES to use in missionary work.
We have just received $5.00 from A. T. Myers of Montpelier, Ohio, for this purpose. This will enable us to send ten copies four months.
Are there others who would esteem it a privilege to assist in furnishing this veteran missionary worker with SIGNS OF THE TIMES? If so, address SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal., with your remittance.

Terms of Subscription.

By Editor

Per Year, post-paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.50 Six Months, 75 cts. Three Months, 40 cts. To Foreign Countries, per year, $1.75.

SPECIAL TERMS.

  1. One new yearly subscription and one renewal, or two new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $2.50.
  2. Two new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or three new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $3.25.
  3. Three new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or four new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $4.00.
Sample copies sent on application.

TO OUR PATRONS.

Please be careful to write all names of persons and places plainly.
Send money by Post-office Money Order, Express Order, or Bank Draft on New York, Chicago, or San Francisco.
Orders and Drafts should be made payable to the Pacific Press Publishing Co.
Paper money or silver should be sent in a registered letter.
Registered mail is safe. Unregistered mail is at the risk of the sender.
Postage-stamps in five or ten cent denominations will be accepted for small amounts.
The address label on your paper will indicate the time to which your subscription is paid. In case of non-receipt of papers, or any other irregularity, please notify us immediately.
When subscriptions expire, no more papers are sent to the party except by special arrangement.
You are requested to watch the date on your label, and renew early, and save the loss of papers. We can not always furnish missing numbers.
When requesting change of address, be sure to give both old and new addresses.
Important.—If you order SIGNS, Our Little Friend, books, etc., at the same time, use a separate sheet of paper for each. If this request is complied with, it will materially assist in the prompt and accurate despatch of the business.
When writing to the editor, be sure to use a separate sheet of paper.

CHOOSING A DIET.

By John Harvey Kellogg

WHEN the Lord gave instructions to one of old concerning her diet, He said: "Drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing." Judges 13:4. In those days there was a plain line of distinction drawn between two classes of animals, the clean and the unclean. In these days, many of those animals that were once designated as clean, have come into a condition which the world generally recognizes as unclean, tho men still continue to partake of their flesh. If a "clean" diet was necessary then, when the persons of the eaters were in a much healthier condition than now, how much more essential is it to health that we have a clean dietary now.
The movement toward a reform in diet is a most commendable one, and it is a pleasure to note the fact that the movement is growing in strength and influence. Vegetarian restaurants are increasing in number in our large cities, and vegetarian societies are increasing in membership.
With the multiplication of diseases in all the animal kingdom, and the liability of their transmission to the human body by eating the unhealthy food, this growing influence in favor of the no-meat diet is refreshing indeed. It istoo much to hope for that there will be any sudden and overwhelming change in this regard. Human nature is more prone to pander to appetite than to follow knowledge, where appetite must be curbed.
Like all good things, this work of reform is occasionally injured in the house of its friends, by those who do not know how to temper zeal with knowledge. The extremist is bound to get into trouble, no matter with what good movement he may associate himself. Not long ago a college student practically starved himself on a very meager diet, and the case was given much unfavorable comment by the daily press, unfriendly to the rational diet. These organs took occasion to show the necessity for an unstinted meat dietary, where intellectual activity is required. As a matter of fact, there is a class of literature being produced at the present time that does require a strong meat diet, with tobacco and liquor adjuncts; but it is a literature as unwholesome to the mind as the diet itself is to the body; and the flagging imagination is being whipped up to the sensational task by these health- and mind-destroying stimulants. Good, plain, wholesome food is not relished by the one who continually flavors his food with hot spices or tabasco sauce; and good, wholesome, elevating reading is insipid to the mind fed on a literature which such a diet begets.
The blood of the human being, loaded down with the impurities contained in the meat he has eaten, can not generate the highest, purest thoughts in the brain to which it is sent. If we saturate the system with intoxicants, the brain registers the fact at once. Inhale coal gas, and the head "swims." The influence of the epicurean diet is not so rapid or so noticeable, but it is none the less certain. Poisoned blood can not make a healthy brain; and an unhealthy brain can not produce the most elevating and purest thoughts. The alcoholic stomach does not crave pure water; the tobacco-, liquor-, and meat-poisoned brain does not crave solid, serious, helpful literature. The food of Eden was a pure food, with no suggestion of flesh of any kind; and the food of Eden restored, will be as pure as that of the Eden lost. Nowhere in the Bible is there any hint that man shall live upon the flesh of other creatures, when sin has been purged from the universe of God. Flesh-eating is one of the results of sin. It will not be found when sin is no more; and they who are wise, who are seeking to put away sinful tendencies, will not cling to this sin-breeding child of sin.
On the other hand, we are told something of what will be the food of man when redemption is complete. First, and most important, they shall "eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." Rev. 2:7. "They shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them." Amos 9:14. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord." Isa. 65:25. Flesh shall not feed upon flesh there, nor life be sacrificed to sustain other life; but all will be peace and joy and satisfaction. For the good of His people there, God will feed them upon the fruits of the earth. If such a diet is good for man when sin has run its course, it certainly is good for man while still suffering from the results of sin. There never was a time in the history of the world when we needed pure food so much as in this generation; and there never was a time when so much of the food eaten by man in general was more impure than it is now. He who would have pure health now can not afford to load down his system, through the food he eats, with the impurities and diseases of other creatures. If you would choose health, then choose the diet that has in it the least of disease, the diet planned for man by Him who knows man's needs more perfectly than man himself can possibly know them. S.

III. SUCCESSFUL FISHING.

HOW much of unsuccessful fishing there is in this world! How men toil and labor and plan and wait, yet catch nothing! The gilded bait is untouched; the seductive spoon is unsought; the net fails to find the "school." It is an ages-old complaint, "We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing."
HOW MANY fishers of souls there are who nominally, at least, toil on from year to year and catch nothing! Every kind of bait which the human can devise, every attraction to gather them to the net is used, but the souls remain uncaught, the ecclesiastical net remains empty.
THE story of our miracle has to do with fishing. Several of our Lord's disciples were fishermen. The calling was not the most reputable then, nor is it now. The roughness of the fisher in word and deed is proverbial. And the fishermen of Galilee were in all probability no exception to the rule. Yet there were honest hearts among the fisher folk notwithstanding their unpromising exterior. There are brave strong hearts among those who battle for years the stormy sea. To that class went Jesus and chose, at least Simon and Andrew, James and John, and perhaps Thomas and Nathanael.
SIMON had first come to Jesus on the invitation of Andrew (John 1:40-42), with no thought evidently of giving up his occupation of fisherman. Not long after Jesus called him and his brother, and also the sons of Zebedee. "Follow Me," He said to them, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matt. 4:18-22. They left their nets and followed Him, until coming back to their old fishing grounds, the temptation seems to have been too strong, and Peter and James and John returned to their old occupation, doubtless in hope of a steadier life, and greater gain.
OUR story has to do with the second call on this wise: In the morning, Jesus followed by a large crowd of people went down to the banks of Galilee. The multitude pressed upon Him to hear the word of God. Two boats stood there rocking in the soft swells of the quiet sea. Jesus enters one of them and asks Simon, the owner, to put out a little from the land, that He might better see and speak to the people; and then the Master sat down and taught the people.
His lesson to the people over, Jesus turned to Simon and said: "Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." What could He mean? Simon respected Him as a wise teacher, but surely He knew little about fishing. Yet he answered Him respectfully, and with a willing heart, "Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing; but at Thy word I will let down the nets." Did the poor fisherman expect great results? —Evidently not, from what follows. But he had the first requisite of sublime faith and true discipleship, a willing, submissive mind and heart. In effect he said: "Master, I question the worth of the attempt, but at Thy word, I will put forth the effort."
FULLER faith might have more triumphant joy, but it could do no more. "At Thy word" was all sufficient and ever is; for the potency is not in the weak faith of the mortal, but in the living word of God. Faith is the trolley which makes connection with the power. The nets were let down, filled with fish and the fish filled both the boats. The Master's friendliness in choosing his boat had touched Peter's heart; His instruction to the people had doubtless aroused once more in the heart of the rough fisherman a sense of God's holiness, and now the miraculous draught of fishes overwhelms him with a sense of God's power. That the miracle was wrought in his boat for him, touched his heart with a sense of God's love, which led to a humbling and breaking of heart. He falls down before the Master, and pleads what he deserves, but not what he wants: "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." He had departed from his Lord and returned to his fishing; but his efforts had been fruitless. He had first come to Jesus on the invitation of his brother. Jesus now comes to him the second time, uses his unsuccessful boat as a pulpit of God, a chair of state for Heaven's Ambassador; and then to show poor unsuccessful Peter his mistake, works the miracle of the great draught of fishes, right on the very ground where Peter and his companions had toiled all night. Then Jesus presses home the lesson to this disciple and John and James, and to all others after them, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." And "they left all, and followed Him." The all was not much, a boat or two, a few fishing nets and other paraphernalia, and their hope of the future; but it was all, and a Rockefeller or an Astor could do no more.
THE lesson should come home with peculiar force to the minister of God if he would be successful. Whole-hearted consecration is demanded in the work of God. He who carries his nets or his farm with him into his service for God will not, can not, be successful in winning souls.
ABSOLUTE faith in God's word is an essential requisite, tho that word be contrary to human calculation. "At Thy word I will launch forth" should be the ever-present purpose of the minister of God. By that word he is to win souls. The hired or worldly singers, the arts of elocution and rhetoric the sensational methods of modern revivalists, the aid of the world or the state, will never win souls. Only by the word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are souls to be won to Him. Only by that word are they kept. "Preach the Word," is God's mandate to His ministers. Mere essays about the Word, discussions of latest sensations, unholy compromising with some undemonstrated hypothetical science, will never convert men. The power of God's soldier is in his sword, and that sword is the word of God.
THERE must be guidance of God in the Gospel ministry; and that there may be guidance there must be a submissive heart, a will yielded to the will of God. "The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way." Consecration, a powerful message which elevates Christ, the drawing power, and guidance of God, what more can the fishers of men ask?

DEATH—AND THEN WHAT?

By G.

It is sometimes important that people be told things that they already know—“lest we forget.” There is one important matter that is being emphasized much oftener than daily, and yet the masses of men seem to forget it until it confronts them personally, or in the persons of those who are near and dear. It is something that every one knows, yet is apt to disregard unless frequently reminded of its nearness to the door, and possible entrance at any time. It is simply this, “The living know that they shall die.” Eccl. 9:5.
And then what?—“After this the judgment.” Why do men die?—Because of sin, which is disobedience of God’s commandments. See Gen. 2:17; 1 John 3:4. Going to judgment means meeting the law of God face to face, with its penalty of death, from which the sinner has no means of release in himself. This is a fact that it is well to know in connection with the other truth, that “it is appointed unto men once to die.”
There is another thing that men ought to know, which many of them do not know, and that is, that the great mass of mankind will die twice. Dying once they can not help, for that death has been entailed upon them by the sin of the father of the race. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” But through the sacrifice of Christ that death will be overcome. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” This is general; “all that are in the graves . . . shall come forth.” But here a peculiar difference is noted: “They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
From the resurrection of life there can be no more death; so that the resurrection of damnation must be the opposite of the resurrection of life. So the Gospel statement is that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This gives us the key to the reason why there are two deaths. It is a matter of faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith must be exercised during the first, or probationary, life; for “after this the judgment.” Then there will be no more opportunity for mercy. The execution of the judgment ends all. The decree is that “the wages of sin is death;” and the sinner, having neglected to seek mercy while mercy was available, having rejected pardon when it was freely offered, has no alternative but the full penalty of the law.
All are not resurrected at once. The resurrection of the righteous will take place at the coming of Christ, as described in the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians; and that the unrighteous will be raised a thousand years later is positively stated in Revelation 20. Here it is also stated that, “blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power.” Verse 6. And what the second death means to those who have not, in this life, prepared to have a part in the first resurrection, is shown further on in the chapter.
“The living know that they shall die,” and if they will but believe the Word of God, they may also know all that hangs upon that knowledge, all the possibilities that are involved in that knowledge, and all the consequences that must follow a neglect of that knowledge. The importance of at once seizing upon the benefit of such knowledge is emphasized by the fact that no one knows what hour he shall die. Hence the Lord has given the merciful warning that, for the purpose of securing eternal life, “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.” G.

YET THE OLD BOOK STANDS.

RECTOR F. W. CLAMPETT, of Trinity Church, San Francisco, has recently issued his pronouncements on the Bible. Taking for his text, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good,” he flatly tells us, according to the news quotation, “that there is not a scientific truth in the universe that can be logically proven. The only truth we know is the truth of life, and that can not be demonstrated.” And yet the rector informs us that “evolution is throwing a flood of light on Christianity.” This flood of light has led Mr. Clampett, and most of the “thinking men and women in the church, or out of it, to reject “the Biblical narrative of creation.” He does not think that “it was ever intended that man should believe that God created the universe in six days, and rested on the seventh.”
Incidentally, it may be remarked that the Bible nowhere affirms that God created the universe in six days. All that was done “in the beginning.” But if God never intended that the record of the six days of Genesis 1 was to be believed to be six days’ record, why are they so stated repeatedly in His Word? All this the rector meets with another unbelief:
There is a great body of church people to-day who do not believe in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures.
And, therefore, what does the story of Genesis amount to? True, it declares that God wrought all that work concerning this earth in six days, by His own almighty power; that the Sabbath is the memorial of that power (Ex. 20:8-11); and that creative power is pledged to save poor sinful souls who need recreating by the power of God, who need God’s Word to speak light and order and fertility into the darkness, chaos, and barrenness of sin. But the rector and others tell these heart-longing ones that God does not mean this, that the Sacred Record is only an allegory, or poem, telling us how ages upon ages of evolution wrought all the imperfection we see now; God does not mean what He says, sometimes the writers of His revelation struck the scientific truth—which can not belogically proved—and sometimes they did not. Away go miracles, the reincarnation, the resurrection, conversion, regeneration, the new heavens and new earth, and all the blessed hopes which the Bible holds before us! This is their Gospel. For if the record of creation by the mighty power of God be not true, what hope is there for the sinner, save through transmigration of soul and endless ages of progression, which does not progress, during which millions perish and fossilize, unless by some hocus pocus a spark of conscious, bodiless life survive “the wars of elements, the wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.”
What a Gospel is offered us in this! It was never preached by Moses or Isaiah or Jesus or Paul. Better the dogmatism, the superstition, the tradition, of the Roman Catholic Church to-day, than the utter chaos of a “higher-criticism” Protestantism.
Take away the story of Creation and the Fall, and there is no need of Christianity. Christ and His all-comprehending, glorious character is—well, a quite, truly, remarkable product of evolution, toward which the race is tending; but no more! It is all a black, blighting lie, remonstrated by the mighty miracles of Christ and Christianity over desolating ages, over the fatal disease of sin.
The need of the Christianity of Christ is based on the Fall of Man, as recorded by Moses; and he who rejects Moses will sooner or later reject the essentials of Christianity, as saith the Master: “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?” John 5:46, 47.
But, believer in the Bible, and Christianity; do not be alarmed. The present aspect of infidelity, which is not original with Mr. Clampett, with the glitter and tinsel of all that is worldly and worthless, will, in the light of the burning glory of the day of Jehovah, crumble, and wither, and burn; but the Old Book will stand till every pilgrim is safe home, and its immortal truths are written in living, eternal principles on the hearts of the faithful.

Question Corner

By Editor

1648.—L. M. D.
Referring to question No. 1615, the answer does not say, Christ "was not buried on Friday," but it says, "Nowhere does it say He was buried on Friday." It seems to us that the evidence is quite clear that He was buried on the sixth day, the day before the weekly Sabbath. Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54. But the Bible does not mention "Friday," and many believe that the Sabbath referred to was a yearly Sabbath. But the expression, "that Sabbath was a high day," seems clearly to show that the weekly Sabbath and the Passover Sabbath fell on the same day that year.
1649.—Why Slow in Obeying God?
Why is it that so many zealous Christians and Bible students of other denominations to whom the Sabbath truth has been brought, are so very slow in accepting the light; and stepping out from tradition? Are these to be lost?
It has always been thus. (1) Men do not naturally like to change. (2) They are prone to believe that their fathers were right and saw all that needed to be seen. (3) Many trust to their learned and great men, who are often too proud to accept the simple truth of God. They trust in "the multitude of their mighty men." (4) Many know so little of the Bible they are uncertain as to duty. (5) Many do not wish to be unpopular, and therefore follow the multitude in the wrong way. "Have any of the rulers believed?" is still asked. All these and still other excuses have always been, and are still, presented as reasons for not obeying God and following Christ Jesus. Still labor and pray for them all. Titus 3:3-5. As to their future salvation and action, their responsibility for light and knowledge, we leave that with God.
1650.—What Is a "Generation"?
What does the Bible term "generation" mean? When did this present generation begin? How long is it supposed to last? H. W. T.
The common meaning of the term is a class of people living upon the earth at the same time. To illustrate: the people which the Lord took out of Egypt was a generation, beginning some time before they went, and lasting till they entered the promised land; two of the generation entered it, Caleb and Joshua. Of that people the Lord says, "Forty years long was I grieved with this generation." Ps. 95:7. The present generation religiously and prophetically, we believe, began in 1844. It will close when Christ comes. We shall treat this more fully in the future.
1651.—For the Healing of the Nations. Rev. 22:2.
What is the meaning of Rev. 22:2, "The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations"? My understanding is that there will be no sickness there.
Read Rev. 22:1, 2 punctuated thus:
"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street of it [that is, the city]. And on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Some scholars render, "Were for the service of the nations," whatever that may be. Another thought. "The disease of sin has dwarfed the race. May it not be true that the use of the leaves of the tree of life will be a means in the fullest development of the weakened pygmies who will be saved out of later generations. Glorious and full pristine loveliness and vigor will be restored.
1652.—Children and the Sabbath.
Will you please tell me do you think it wrong for children to play on the Sabbath when there is no church to go to, and they get tired of being read to? When I do not let them play they seem to hate to have the Sabbath come. H. G.
This is a difficult question to answer. It depends on the children, their surroundings, their ages, their parents, and other things. Up to a certain age we should permit innocent, quiet play; but that should be play for the Sabbath alone. It might be some Bible game, by which knowledge should be stored. It might be in building blocks, by which churches and temples could be built. But do not use these games or materials on other days. Keep the best for the Sabbath. Walk out with the children. Show them the country if near the country; if not the beautiful flowers and trees found in most cities. It is a problem for each parent to solve, and it is worth taking time to solve it aright.

PERPLEXING TEXTS ON MAN’S NATURE.

THE whole tenor of all the positive teaching of Scripture is that man is "mortal;" that the whole man dies, that he is unconscious in death, that the dead know not anything, the punishment of sin is death, extinction of being, and that some day there will be a clean universe, where neither sin nor sinners are. Yet there are some texts, a misunderstanding of which, through early teachings, hide from the minds of many the plain truth. Some of the more common of these we briefly explain:

I. The Thief on the Cross. Luke 23:42, 43.

1. The thief did not ask that Jesus should remember him when Jesus died, or when Jesus should ascend into heaven, but when He should come into His kingdom.
"Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." Luke 23:42. See Luke 19:12.
2. Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus had not been in Paradise, where the throne of the Father is.
"Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to the Father." John 20:17.
3. Jesus will not take His kingdom till He comes again.
"When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory." Matt. 25:31. See, also, 2 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:15.
4. Not until then will the saints enter into His kingdom.
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. 13:40-43; Dan. 7:27; Matt. 24:30, 31.
5. Then the Paradise of God will be in the capital city of earth, the New Jerusalem.
"The tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God." Rev. 2:7.
"And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life. . . . And there shall be no curse any more; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein." Rev. 22:1-3.
6. The answer of Jesus to the repentant one at His side, was in harmony with the request:
"Verily I say unto thee to-day, Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."
NOTE.—This is all harmonious. The thief in all probability did not die that day. He, with other Jews, had heard the teaching of Jesus that He was coming again. In that supreme hour of darkness, he had faith to believe in the Saviour by his side, and, as he believed in that darkest of all days of the Saviour’s mission, so Jesus promised that day that when the time did come that He should rule in Paradise, the penitent thief should be with Him. The comma is no part of inspired scripture; it belongs after "to-day."

II. “The Spirit Shall Return.”

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Eccl. 12:7.
The above text is the resultant of the sentence given in Gen. 3:19, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." It is the opposite of Gen. 2:7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Let us ask some questions:
Of what was man made?—"Of the dust of the ground."
What made him a living creature?—"The breath of life."
When he dies, what becomes of the man?—"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
What goes back to God?—"The spirit," the life. How did man receive that spirit?—As "the breath of life."
How does the dust return?—As it came, "dust." How does the spirit go back?—As it came, "the breath of life," and not as a conscious entity.
Is it not highly unreasonable and illogical to say that the pronoun "thou," in Luke 23:43, refers to the thief’s soul, and that the "thou" in Gen. 3:19-21, refers to Adam’s body? The spirit returns to God as it came, simply the vital principle of life.

III. The Transfiguration.

Who appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?—"Moses and Elijah."
When did Moses die?—Near the close of the forty years’ wandering in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 34.
Who had power over death, and claimed Moses’ body for his lawful prey?—"The devil." Heb. 2:14; Isa. 49:24, 25.
Who disputed that right?—"Michael the Archangel," who is Christ. Jude 9; Dan. 12:1; John 5:28, 29; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.
Who but Christ could have prevailed in that conflict? therefore Moses was with Christ on the Mount.
How did Elijah come to be on the Mount?—He was translated without seeing death. 2 Kings 2:1, 11.
What was represented by the Transfiguration?—"The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," at which time there will be the resurrected righteous, represented by Moses; and the translated ones, represented by Elijah. See Matt. 16:28; 17:1; 2 Peter 1:16-19.

THE INDIAN EARTHQUAKE.

By Editor

As FURTHER details of the great earthquake in India come in, the list of the dead increases. It appears that a large portion of Northern India was severely shaken. The substantial government buildings at Simla are more or less severely damaged, and the wife of the viceroy had a narrow escape from death. The cantonment and civil station at Dharmsala were practically destroyed, houses and bazaars being practically leveled with the ground. After the first severe shock, the people camped in the open, and the frequent repetition of the shocks has induced them to continue so to do. The government is sending out food, tents, and nurses to care for the needy and injured. One report avers that 10,000 persons have lost their lives as the result of this earthquake, and other reports place the number at an even higher figure.
At the same time that India is convulsed with these disturbances, it is noted that there is an unusual seismic activity in the West Indies. Earthquake shocks have been felt throughout the island of St. Vincent, the island which was so severely shaken at the time of the great outbreak on St. Pierre. Investigation of the volcano's crater shows that there is every indication that an eruption may occur at any time.
Continue reading: SUNDAY PERSECUTION IN NEW MEXICO