p. 11 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 32. (8/9/1905)

Earlier text: APPOINTED BECAUSE THEY ARE ROMAN CATHOLICS

"WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS."

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

READ the record of Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Never before or since has so fearful a strain been brought upon a human being as that which God permitted to be brought upon His Son at this time. It is not possible for His suffering and distress to be exceeded; for He was bearing the sins of the whole world; and in all His suffering He gave an example of absolute submission to the divine will. The sinless Son of God was treated as a sinner, that sinful human beings might be treated as innocent. "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." He laid off His royal robe and kingly crown, and clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might live in our behalf a life of sinlessness, and on the cross make an atonement for our transgressions. He consented to take the body of humanity. He could have refused to be thus humiliated; but it was to suffer humiliation and death that He came into the world.

It was the anguish of separation from His Father's favor that made Christ's sufferings so acute. As the agony of soul came upon Him, "He sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." His terrible suffering, caused by the thought that in this hour of need God had forsaken Him, portrays the anguish that the sinner will feel when, too late, he realizes that God's Spirit has been withdrawn from him.

Christ's human nature recoiled from the trial, and with strong crying and tears he said, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." The humanity of Christ trembled in that trying hour. The awful moment had come,—that moment which was to decide the destiny of the world. The fate of humanity hung in the balance. Christ might even now refuse to drink the cup apportioned to guilty man. It was not yet too late. He might wipe the bloody sweat from His brow, and leave man to perish in his iniquity. He might say, Let the transgressor receive the penalty of his sin, and I will go back to My Father. Will the Son of God drink the bitter cup of humiliation and agony? Will the innocent suffer the consequences of the curse of sin, to save the guilty? The words fall tremblingly from the pale lips of Jesus, "O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done."

How little can we enter into this dreadful experience through which the Saviour passed. His prayer was heard, in that He feared. What did He fear?—That He would refuse to drink the cup of suffering. But a refusal to drink this cup would mean that no human being could be saved. Only by His suffering and death could human beings be placed on vantage-ground. Only by drinking of the bitter cup of imputed transgression could He save the race from perishing in sin.

Fulness of Suffering.

Christ drank the bitter draught to the very dregs. He was not spared one pang of anguish. This was His hour, and the power of darkness. In this awful crisis, when everything was at stake, when the mysterious cup trembled in the hand of the Sufferer, the heavens opened, a light shone forth amidst the darkness, and the mighty angel who stands in God's presence, from which Satan fell, came to the side of Christ. The angel came not to take the cup from Christ's hands, but to strengthen Him to drink it, with the assurance of the Father's love. He came to give power to the divine-human Suppliant. He pointed Him to the open heavens, telling Him of the souls that would be saved as the result of His sufferings. He assured Him that His Father is greater and more powerful than Satan, that His death would result in the discomfiture of Satan, and that the kingdom of this world would be given to the saints of the Most High. He told Him that He would see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied, for He would see a multitude of the race saved, eternally saved.

Christ had spoken to His disciples of the experience awaiting Him. "I have a baptism to be baptized with," He said, "and how am I straightened till it be accomplished?" He could not but feel a dread, as He thought of what that hour would bring to Him. Fear came upon Him, as He thought of the strain that His humanity would have to bear, and the prayer came from His lips, "Father, save Me from this hour." Then He added, "But for this cause came I unto this hour." He had pledged Himself to bear the penalty of sin. He had entered into a covenant to offer a sacrifice that would make possible the salvation of every repentant sinner.

Only through the death of Christ could Satan's kingdom be overthrown. Only thus could man be redeemed, and God be glorified. Jesus consented to the agony, He accepted the sacrifice. The Majesty of heaven consented to suffer as the Sin-bearer. "Father, glorify Thy name," He said. As Christ spoke these words, a response came from the cloud which hovered above His head, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." Christ's whole life, from the manger to the time when these words were spoken, had glorified God; and in the coming trial His divine-human sufferings would indeed glorify His Father's name.

The Second Adam.

Christ bore the sins of the whole world. He was the second Adam. Taking upon Himself human nature, He passed over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell. Having taken humanity, He has an intense interest in human beings. He felt keenly the sinfulness, the shame, of sin. He is our Elder Brother. He came to prove that human beings can, through the power of God, live sinless lives.

Satan had made the boast that he would gather the world under his banner of rebellion. He declared that man could not keep the law of God. Christ came to prove this assertion false. He came to meet all the temptations wherewith man is beset, and to endure all the trials that we are called to endure. He was tempted in all points like as we are tempted, yet His life was without spot or stain of sin. He redeemed Adam's failure, and worked out for us a perfect character.

Victory in Death.

Christ did not yield up His life until He had accomplished the work that He came to do, and with His parting breath He exclaimed, "It is finished." The battle had been won. His right arm had gotten Him the victory. As a conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Was there not joy among the angels? All heaven triumphed in the Saviour's victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.

Could one sin have been found in Christ, had He in one particular yielded to Satan in order to escape the terrible torture, the enemy of God and man would have triumphed. Christ bowed His head and died, but He held fast His faith in God. "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

No one need be overcome by Satan's assaults. Christ has conquered for every son and daughter of Adam. He came to cut every thread that binds human beings to Satan. His life of pure, unselfish service is our example. Let us study His work in our world. As we stand at the foot of the cross, and behold the infinite sacrifice made in our behalf, we shall be humbled and subdued. Our hearts will be filled with a desire to practise the self-denial and sacrifice seen in Christ's life. Self will sink out of sight. All worldly ambition, all desire for earthly gain, will be quenched. We shall count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. Our highest aim will be to know Him, "and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."

GOD IS LOVE!

By Mrs. Carrie K. Butcher

BY MRS. CARRIE K. BUTCHER.

Out o'er the wooded hills, Down by the rippling rills, O'er the vale, so fresh and fair, Decked with flowers and grasses rare, From the blue-domed, star-lit sky, From the breakers, dashing high, Everywhere! on sea or land, We may trace God's loving hand.

Heart, all a-throb with care! Haste! to the place of prayer, Jesus waits to give thee rest; Lean, by faith, upon His breast. Buoyant youth, or tottering age, Turn thee to the sacred page; Sweetly there, as nestling dove, Thou shalt learn that "God is love."

“THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.”

Is the Greek, “Mian Sabbatone,” of Matt. 28:1, Rightly Rendered “First Day of the Week”?

IT is natural for the human to believe himself wise. He does not wish to admit that he has ever been wrong. If for years he has followed some theological error, he does not wish to learn that it is error, especially if the error be popular. When his attention is called to error, instead of seeking the truth, he is more inclined to substantiate, if possible, the error.

How true this has been in the matter of Sunday observance! Instead of seeking to know just what the Bible teaches concerning the Sabbath, men study the Word to find something to bolster up the failing Sunday. Some are frank enough to admit that the Sunday, as a sacred day, has no Biblical foundation or support. Others contend that it has, and in support of that claim the argument has been made—by dishonesty or ignorance in the beginning, we are bound to say,—that the translation of those passages which speak of “the first day of the week” is incorrect, and that mian sabbatone ought to be rendered “the first of the sabbaths.” Is this true?

In reply we present the testimony of candid Christian men and eminent scholars, all observers of the first day:

One of the instructors of the Teachers’ Training School of New York City, is Dr. Walter Quincy Scott. That training school publishes a paper called The Bible Record. In the January issue of that paper is the following question:

“Is it allowable to translate the Greek of Matt. 28:1, ‘At the end of the sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward the first of the sabbaths’? It seems to me as if we might, and it would be quite an argument in favor of a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, because the resurrection morning stood between the two classes of sabbaths.”

In reply to this question Dr. Scott writes to the editor, Dr. W. W. White, as follows:

MY DEAR DR. WHITE: Your correspondent asks, “Is it allowable to translate the Greek of Matt. 28:1, ‘At the end of the sabbaths, as it began to dawn towards the first of the sabbaths’?” Such a rendering is impossible. 1. Mian is feminine, and sabbatone is neuter. Mian agrees with hameran [day] understood. Your inquirer remarks on this point (as made by writer in Sunday-School Times), “Neither do they [mian and sabbatone] agree in number.” Of course not; a substantive followed by a partitive genitive can not agree with it numerically. 2. It seems idle to add anything to the foregoing grammatical prohibition of the rendering proposed. But I may add that mian sabbatone is a Hebraism corresponding to the rabbinical designation of the days of the week. They called each day of the festal week a “sabbath,” and indicated each day by its proper ordinal prefixed to “sabbath.” And in Greek eis is commonly used (as here) instead of protos. LXX. and N. T. alike use ta sabbata in sense of singular—“the Sabbath day,” and also in the meaning “week.” Mian sabbatone in Matt. 28:1 can not mean anything else than “first day of the week.” The Revised Version correctly translates the verse. Your correspondent will find ample scholarly notes in Lange’s Matthew, by Schaff. Yours very truly, WALTER QUINCY SCOTT.

Thus this candid first-day scholar treats what others think would be “quite an argument in favor of a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week.” And here is another letter from a professor in a theological seminary (name not given) in the Bible Record for May:

EDITOR OF THE Bible Record: DEAR SIR: The query in the issue of January, 1905, as to “Sabbath or Sabbaths” seems to call for a further warning: The querist asks if, in Matt. 28:1, “Opse de sabbatone, te epiphoskousee eis mian sabbatone,” may not be rendered: “At the end of the [Jewish seventh-day] Sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward the first of the [Christian first-day] sabbaths.” The superb negative answer given should be heralded far and wide. People of excellent intention and deep piety, but with little knowledge, are making such an interpretation in fortifying themselves against “Saturday keepers.” I own two books, and have read two others, in which each writer claims to have made the great discovery of said translation, and has based his book thereon. These good men had only a rusted smattering of classical Greek, and, in their zeal without knowledge, they stumbled upon this rendering, with a carelessness that few students of a month would make. “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” And more than that, acquaintance with classical Greek is not enough for the reading of the New Testament Greek. One must have large acquaintance with the grammar and the lexicon of the Greek Old Testament, and behind that, as the key to many of its peculiarities and mysteries, of the Hebrew Old Testament, also. This ought to be conclusive. Let no reader of this paper be alarmed by the ignorant claim which is made concerning these expressions. Truth needs no such support to sustain it.

The Synthetic Study of the Bible

By W. S. Sadler

HOW TO ENJOY YOUR BIBLE. No. 8.

BY W. S. SADLER.

The Synthetic Study of the Bible.

THE synthetic study of the Bible is just the opposite of the analytical method. It consists in building up an idea of what a book or a chapter or a part of the Scriptures teaches, by putting its various leading events and subjects together, so as to make a picture of the whole.

Before taking up some book of the Bible as an example of synthetic study, let us consider a few rules that are quite important to the best results along this line.

1. Read the Bible. Simply read. Don't undertake to memorize. Don't especially tax the mind with remembering one line of thought above another. Just carefully and thoughtfully read.

2. Read the book or the section of the book you are going to study through at one sitting. This is important that you should have a view of the whole section under study brought before your mind at one time.

3. Read the book a number of times. Each time you will gain some new glimpse of its contents.

4. Read independently. That is, do not make use of a Bible dictionary, or any work of reference. Read the Bible, and the Bible alone.

5. Read it prayerfully.

6. While you do not consult commentaries or works of reference concerning the subjects you are studying, at the same time it will be well to refer to the Bible maps or dictionary, to make clear any points that are not fully understood, such as the location of towns and cities, the meaning of words with which you are unfamiliar, etc.

Now, as an example of the synthetic study of the Bible, let us take the book of Genesis. We want to get a picture in our minds of what the book of Genesis teaches, and what it tells

about. So we read through carefully the first chapter, and we see that it has to do with the creation of the world and the many things that are in it and about it. In the second chapter, we see the continuation of the same story. In fact, these two chapters tell the story of Creation over, in two different ways.

Then in the third chapter we read the story of the Fall, and sin, and we find this story continues on in its various details until the conclusion of the fifth chapter. In the sixth chapter, we at once notice a change in the narrative. The terrible condition of sin in the world is described; and from the sixth to the ninth chapters we have the story of the Flood, and events immediately following.

In the tenth and eleventh chapters we find another change in the subject matter of the book. These two chapters deal with the origin of nations, the peopling of the earth, etc. In the twelfth chapter, we come to the interesting life record of that grand old patriarch, Abraham; and so we continue to read about Abraham as the central figure in the book, until we reach the twentieth chapter.

Then chapters 21 to 27 deal with the varied and remarkable experiences of Isaac; while chapters 28 to 36 tell us of the life of Jacob. And chapters 37 to 50 pertain to the wonderful experiences and work of Joseph.

Now, in the synthetic study of the Bible, it is sometimes profitable to make a word outline of the book. That is, name the chapters, or a group of chapters, by a word that expresses the leading thought contained in them. So, in making a word outline of Genesis, and to make it brief, in order to make it easy to memorize, we would make one something as follows:

CREATION, chapters 1 and 2: creation of world, sun, moon, stars, life, Sabbath, marriage, etc.
THE FALL, chapters 3-5.
THE DELUGE, " 6-9.
NATIONS, " 10, 11.
ABRAHAM, " 12-20.
ISAAC, " 21-27.
JACOB, " 28-36.
JOSEPH, " 37-50.

Now it will readily appear that this outline could be made much more full. Under "Abraham," the leading events of his life might be tabulated; and in this way made much easier to learn, and their whereabouts in the Scriptures can be easily memorized.

Thus the synthetic study of the Bible purposes to take a view of a book of the Bible as a whole, first, before we take it to pieces as it were, and look it through by chapter and verse. Then, having carefully read and examined the book, we aim to make a word picture of its contents; and in this way we help the mind to more readily grasp the scope of the entire book, and to remember the subjects dealt with in different chapters or different sections of the book.

As an illustration of how these word outlines can be further worked out, let us take in the outline we have made of Genesis, those chapters dealing with Abraham; and we could very easily make an outline of Abraham's life, beginning with his call in the twelfth chapter, which might be as follows:

The Call.
Egypt (referring to his sojourn in that country).
Lot (referring to his whole experience with his nephew).
The Covenant.
The Circumcision.

Hagar (referring to Abraham's experience of doubting God, etc.).
Sodom.
Isaac.
Closing scenes of his life.
Death.

In making a word outline of a book or chapter, always choose a single word, if possible, and in choosing between a number of words that may be suggested to the mind, always select the word which will call to your mind the greatest number of experiences, or remind you of the largest amount of the contents of the chapter you are studying. Thus, in place of choosing the word "Lot," we might select other words which would be suggested by a study of this chapter, but which would not recall all the experiences connected with Abraham's separation from Lot, whereas the word "Lot" immediately brings to the mind the entire experience.

Every Day a New Beginning

By John Ruskin

LET every dawn of the morning be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close. Then let every one of these short lives leave its own record of some kindly thing done for others, some goodly strength or knowledge gained for ourself.—Ruskin.

BE NOT DECEIVED.

WE have the admonition in God's Word: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." We see the result of sin everywhere, but still men keep on sowing and reaping, not learning lessons from others. They seem to think they will not reap what they sow, but something better. Or they lay the blame of sin on our first parents and then keep on in disobedience instead of turning toward the things of life. It is no unusual thing to see the dead carried to their resting places in the dust, and those who know them are not ignorant of what the harvest will be. O, to live so that every one will know, when death comes to us, that we shall reap everlasting life! —Selected.

MESSAGE OF LOVE.

By Thoro Harris

BY THORO HARRIS.

Thy Saviour is pleading, O wand'rer, to-day; From sin's vain allurements Turn, turn thee away. Through perfect surrender Thy warfare shall cease; How sweet is the message, Christ giveth thee peace!

O, trust thy Redeemer Once nailed to the tree, And heed now the message, Love beareth to thee; Then come, weary pilgrim By sorrow oppressed, Bring Jesus thy burden, He giveth thee rest.

From sin's fatal slumber O, rouse, and awake! Soon death may o'ertake thee, Thy life is at stake! Christ is thy salvation From fear and from strife; The Lord hath redeemed thee, He giveth thee life.

Bright sunbeams of mercy Thy path shall illumine, Dispelling thy darkness, Far scatt'ring thy gloom; They shine with a radiance So peaceful and bright; O sinner, believe it! Christ giveth thee light.

Watchful Until the End

By Rebecca J. Smith

THE last hours of a night of watching are the longest and most tiresome; the last moments in a weary waiting-time are hardest to endure. So to the church in the last moments of time the burden of waiting will be heaviest; the temptation to sleep the strongest. But "unto them that look for Him," who faithfully "keep the word of His patience," who maintain their "confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end," will He "appear the second time without a sin-offering unto salvation"—life forevermore! How fearful to lose it! How inexpressibly glorious and blessed to gain it! The more trying the days, the more will be the need of vigilance. We are now in the hour of temptation and danger. Watch, therefore, lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. —Rebecca J. Smith.

THE TITHE AND THE GOSPEL.

1. THE Gospel was preached to Abraham (Gal. 3: 8), and Abraham recognized his obligation to pay the Lord's tithe to the Lord's recognized representative. Gen. 14: 18-20; Heb. 7: 4.

2. The Gospel was preached to Jacob at Bethel, and Jacob made a vow to return unto the Lord a tenth of all that He should give him. Gen. 28: 10-22.

3. The Levites were the ministers of the Gospel in type. The Gospel was preached to Israel in all the services which God prescribed for their observance. Heb. 4: 1, 2. And the Levites were supported by the Lord's tithe. Num. 18: 20, 21.

4. The Levites, who were the recipients of the tithe, were also accredited with having paid tithe in Abraham, before a Levite was born. Heb. 7: 9, 10. This shows that the tithing system or principle was a recognized institution under the Melchizedek priesthood, which obtained in the patriarchal age.

5. When Christ preached the Gospel on earth in person, He told the people that they "ought to" pay tithe, even of things that were of the smallest recognized value. Matt. 23: 23.

6. Christ is now a Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7: 15-17); hence the tithing system, which was not a type, inures to His priesthood as it did to that of Melchizedek. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, hence the disciples of Christ, who are Abraham's seed (Gal. 3: 29), should pay tithes to Christ, whose priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek.

7. To the Levites, the recognized ministers, the Lord said: "I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation." Num. 18: 20, 21.

8. Under the universal priesthood of Christ, commonly called the Gospel dispensation, we have this instruction: "Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel." 1 Cor. 9: 13, 14.

9. The tithe is the Lord's, by special reserve (Lev. 27: 30), and to withhold it is robbery, to which is attached the curse of God. Mal. 3: 8, 9. God never has relinquished His title to the tithe, nor withdrawn His directions as to what should be done with it.

10. The faithful return of the tithe is a positive commandment of God, and the commandments of God are inseparably connected with the Gospel of Christ. Of those who will stand at His coming it will be said, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14: 12.

THE COMFORT OF THE TRUTH.

By Mrs. J. N. Anderson

BY MRS. J. N. ANDERSON.

How Error Has Borne Fruit in China.

THE words of Jesus, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11), are just as true of every scripture as of the particular things to which He there referred. It is always the purpose of revelation to give assurance, to “make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Christ asks us to follow Him, with a very definite understanding that we are to find peace to our souls, and offers to make us partakers of a love that casteth out fear.

That apostle who, moved by the Holy Ghost, wrote, “Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means,” was the same who, to the same end, wrote, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep.” When the dear one has been laid to rest under the green lap of earth, and loving hands have performed their last possible ministry, love still lingers, longing to penetrate the mysterious veil, and discover the secrets of the grave. Here ignorance stifles hope, and speculation leads to error and confusion. But what eye hath not seen or ear heard, the Word of God undertakes to reveal. To the earnest inquiry of love the God of love responds in gentle tones, He “sleepeth.” John 11:11; see also, 1 Cor. 15:6, 12; Dan. 12:2.

“How long, O Lord, how long?” pleads the loving heart, or, like the ancient philosopher struggling with the same deep problem, inquires, “If a man die, shall he live again?” To him the solution became apparent; for in confidence came his own reply, “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee.” Job 14:14, 15.

The prophet Isaiah, with sublime trust and confidence, rises above the history of the apparent defeat of fruitless Israel, and sees beyond the day of grand victory, when he declares, “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” Inspired with this hope, he breaks out in the joyful strain, “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26:19.

One who describes Himself as “He that liveth, and was dead,” and holds in the grasp of a deathless hand the keys of death and the grave, declared in the face of scoffing unbelief, “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” John 5:25.

Such statements as, “If I wait, the grave is mine house” (Job 17:13), and, “So man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep” (chapter 14:12), are given to aid our faith in spanning the chasm of separation, and in taking hold upon the hope of a great resurrection day.

To the old questions, “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (1 Cor. 15:35), another is often added, Do they come with any body at all? or is the existence beyond the grave simply that of an immaterial spirit? Here, too, we are not left in ignorance. “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” Isa. 26:19. “In my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:26, 27.

In the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11); in the opening of the graves of the many saints who slept, and returned to life at the resurrection of Christ (Matt. 27:51-53), as well as in the resurrection of our Lord Himself, “the first-fruits of them that slept,” we have examples of the resurrection. In each case the existence is material and in a form to be recognized by friends. To the Corinthians, this rising again was presented under the figure of seed-sowing: “Thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain;” but in its growing, that is, in the resurrection, “God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body.” So is the resurrection of the dead. “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” 1 Cor. 15:37, 38, 44.

The passage opening with the words, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,” ends with, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:13-18. Perhaps the apostle Paul, himself so often brought into contact with heathen philosophy in its speculations concerning the future state, could appreciate better than we can what blessed peace and comfort might flow to his Corinthian converts from plain, direct teaching on this important subject.

A Scene from Our Window, looking down Pearl River.

In China one sees the Satanic falsehood, “Ye shall not surely die,” in full fruitage, and comes to be devoutly thankful for the clear, definite statements of God's Word regarding the future life and the means by which we are to attain to it. For the theory of a conscious-spirit existence has bound upon the Chinese race a burden grievous as it is heavy to be borne.

One of their sages wrote to the effect that of the several kinds of unfilial conduct the most unfilial is to leave no posterity. Why?—When the family male descent becomes extinct, there is no one left to offer incense and minister to the spirits of ancestors, who, thus beggared, pine in helpless neglect, or turn vicious in revenge.

Out of this teaching grows concubinage, with its long train of domestic ills; the infanticide of girls; the alienation of married daughters; the ill treatment of wives who bear daughters when sons are desired; the sale of girls from families where they are in excess; the sale of boys into families where male posterity is wanting, and the theft of boys for this purpose. By a process of their own, a living woman may be married to a dead man, and adopt a son to rear up as his heir; or, when expediency demands, two corpses may be as easily united in wedlock, and a son adopted to bear the family name they leave. Good spirits that are well supplied with food, clothing, and incense (these latter are transferred by burning), stay at home, and do no mischief, so their theory runs; but neglected spirits are guilty of no end of trouble wherever they go, and they go anywhere, everywhere, to work out their mischievous devices.

All sorts of inventions are devised to keep them out of the houses and away from the persons of those who fear them. Paper traps are fastened to the door-frames to entangle them; pictures of armed watchmen are posted on the two-leaved doors to frighten them away, and a screen is set inside the door to prevent direct entrance. Seeing queer bunches of sweet flag sold in the street in large quantities, I inquired if this was used for medicine. “O, no,” replied an intelligent native, “You observe the leaf is shaped like a long, pointed sword. The people tack these to the door and window-frames, to pierce the spirits that seek entrance.” The spiny branches of the prickly-pear cactus are used for the same purpose.

With the enemy in flesh and blood, on equal terms of wit or strength, there is hope of successful conflict; but with such as these, that creep through a crevice in the eaves, a cracked tile in the roof, or a torn pane of the window, where no more convenient entrance is available, the native feels his one resource is pacification, and thus it comes to be that their religion consists in the worship of demons.

Soon after our arrival in this city, a certain woman of over fifty years came to be a constant, almost daily, visitor at our home. She seemed possessed of a burning desire to learn the Gospel, and here spent most of her leisure from the family where she was employed as cook. “I do not believe in idols,” she said, “I want to enter your church.” “You must be patient, and learn the Gospel first,” I replied.

Some days later she learned that missionaries employed elderly women to act as Bible women, and requested to be taken into our home to be trained for this service. Food and clothes was all she

needed or desired. How a woman who did not know characters could be trained for Bible work, was a question, and could it be hoped that a woman of such ordinary intellect could learn characters at her age? Clearly, I was not down to the bottom of this matter; but, unwilling to quench any kindling spark, I encouraged her to believe that all who love our Lord in sincerity are privileged to be His co-workers, at the same time emphasizing the importance of a good individual experience as a preparation.

One day a few weeks later, she seemed quite absorbed in her own meditations, while I was trying to instil some simple Gospel truth into her mind. Finally she broke out, quite disconnectedly, to inquire, “Do you expect to care for your church members when sick? Will you buy coffins for those too poor to provide for their own burial? and, Will you burn incense to their spirits?”

Here was a clue, and questions brought out the full secret. She had no relatives; never had been married; had no child, adopted or otherwise, and was too poor to adopt one. But the loneliness and poverty in which this life had been spent were as nothing in comparison with the agony she anticipated as a vagabond spirit throughout eternity.

And yet, who shall impugn her? Certainly she is “ignorant concerning them which are asleep;” but, even so, may it not be that her heart is blindly feeling after God? Remember the poor demonic who, when he would call for healing, was constrained to say, “What have I to do with thee?” and yet he was healed. May we who have the light prize it as the light, and not be as those whose foolish hearts were darkened, because they were not thankful. May we learn to say, “Thy Word was the joy and rejoicing of my heart.”

Canton, China.

THE LOVE OF GOD.

(1 Cor. 13:1-13.)

"Could we with ink the ocean fill; And were the sky of parchment made; And every stick on earth a quill; And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above, 'Twould drain the ocean dry; Nor would the scroll contain the whole, Tho stretched from sky to sky."

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