Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 36. (9/7/1911)

Review and Herald

Sep 7, 1911

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 7, 1911

Opportunity

They do me wrong who say I come no more When once I knock, and fail to find you in; For every day I stand outside your door, And bid you wake and rise to fight and win.

Wail not for precious chances passed away; Weep not for golden ages on the wane: Christ helps the fallen in life’s bitter fray; Let every heart take courage once again.

Though deep in mire, wring not your hands and weep; Against the fallen Heaven holds no ban; No shamefaced outcast ever sank so deep But by God’s help he yet may be a man.

— Selected.

The September Number of

By Editor

Beautiful Cover Design Printed in Three Colors

The September Number of

Life & Health

Special School and Home Number

You will like the “Grapes and Peaches” cover and the 73 good articles the magazine contains

EIGHT TIMELY ARTICLES ON SCHOOL HEALTH PROBLEMS

A Monthly Message of Optimism and Good Cheer!

A life-saving, disease-killing magazine that will tell you in simple language how to keep well and how to get well, also how to sleep, cook, eat, and dress for health.

HOW THIS MAGAZINE SELLS

Our two August editions, totaling 72,000 copies, were sold out by Sunday, August 13, leaving us with many unfilled orders. These we shall be obliged to fill with the September number.

Twelve of our agents have sold 43,200 copies of this magazine thus far this year, in from two to five months, visiting 137 cities and towns. Here are the records of the twelve agents: 7,950, 7,500, 6,400, 5,000, 3,000, 2,200, 2,200, 1,975, 1,900, 1,875, 1,700, and 1,500 copies respectively. And all but one of these are still at it. Telegraph orders calling for from 500 to 1,500 are frequently received.

Beautiful Cover Design Printed in Three Colors

PARTIAL CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER

Our School System, by F. W. Fitzpatrick. Some Special Exercises for the Business Woman, by Anne Guilbert Mahon. Man’s Struggle for Existence, by George Henry Heald, M. D. Keeping Clean Inside, by William J. Cromie. Guard the Health of Your Children, by A. E. Schelin. Effects of Hydrotherapy, by G. K. Abbott, M. D. The Canning of Fruits, by George E. Cornforth. Preparing for Medical Missionary Work, by H. J. Williams. A Letter From Java, by Lily M. Thorpe. Finding Peace in Jesus, by John N. Herboltzheimer. The Public Health—Drug Action and Medical Science—Plague and the National Health Service—The International Hygiene Exhibition at Dresden. Back to the Country—Pure Food Law Emasculated by a Decision—Resorcin Disinfection—Play a Science—Alcohol and Tuberculosis—Britain and the Decimal System—Consequences of Overeating—Life Insurance and Health—Wisconsin and Pure Food—The Growth of the Playground Movement—Fruit Exposed on Stands—Activities of the Playground Association. The Child’s Start to School, Interesting Advice to Parents From a Medical Standpoint—Hygienic Errors in Rural Schools—The Evils of Mouth-Breathing—Revaccination—Alcoholism and Phthisis—Gardening and Health. The Public School as a Factor in Unhealth—The Training of Janitors in the Sanitary Care of School Premises—The High School and the People—School Hygiene—Tuberculin Treatment of Tuberculosis—Open Air for Well Children—Mouth Conditions and Health.

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Religion

By George E. Tack

GEORGE E. TACK

RELIGION, all-beneficent and pure, A boon and solace for the dying race. I hail thee, bearer of God's truth and grace. Though oft defamed, thy character secure Abides with God; thy love is sweet and sure, And leadeth thee to scorn apart to dwell In cloister dim or solitary cell. All vain their hopes who thus their lives immure.

So many creeds, so many ways to bliss, And still with blood of martyrs reeks the sod. Each false religion’s voice but leads amiss, Like Eden’s serpent, to the Babel crowd; But thou, Religion, dost consist in this: The joyful doing of the words of God.

Baltimore, Md.

Positive Evidence That Christ Did Minister in the First Apartment of the Heavenly Sanctuary After His Ascension

By George T. Butler

Many Voices—No. 4

Positive Evidence That Christ Did Minister in the First Apartment of the Heavenly Sanctuary After His Ascension

GEO. T. BUTLER

I DESIRE in this article to present plain, positive proof from the Word of God that Christ ministered as priest in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary after his ascension. The book of Revelation is a prophecy,—an inspired history in advance of its fulfilment,—giving the position and work of Christ, a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek in the heavenly sanctuary. In it we shall learn of his position and of the nature of his work. Christ reveals himself to his servant John, saying, “I am alpha and omega, the first and the last,” etc. Then the apostle says: “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks [more correctly, seven golden lamp-stands]; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; . . . I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen.” Rev. 1:12-18.

This was our great High Priest. He had begun his ministry. These seven lamp-stands are the seven churches, really the seven stages of the one true church. This vision was given to John about the year A. D. 96. Christ's ministration had been in progress over sixty years. Was he then in the most holy apartment or the holy? If he was in the former, his ministration pertained entirely to the great work of the final judgment; for that alone is the matter under consideration in the work of cleansing the sanctuary. But there is not a hint of such a thing. John's instruction related to the experience and historical development of the church on earth, and to the instruction given to that church for eighteen centuries ahead.

These seven churches being successive, there is scarcely a word said to the first four concerning Christ's second coming; but to the last three much is said concerning that event. The church of Sardis continued till the coming of Christ began to be preached, and till two of the great signs of the latter days, the darkening of the sun and moon, had been witnessed. To them of Sardis he promises that, if they are faithful, he will not blot out their names from the book of life. The work of blotting out the names of those who have been unfaithful after conversion is a part of the work of the final judgment. Christ, after his ministration in the first apartment has ceased, and he has entered upon the final work of cleansing the holy sanctuary, has to do with this blotting out of names.

The Philadelphia state of the church comprehends especially the believers who gave the first angel's message, and began to preach, “The hour of his judgment is come.” Philadelphia means brotherly love. The believers in that movement went forth with the power of God, and were perhaps the greatest examples of that precious grace ever seen since the gospel began to be preached. All the old believers who were in this movement will witness to this. Now let the reader particularly note one statement of Christ to this church: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” Rev. 3:7, 8.

Christ was ministering in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, as he had been doing for ages. The end of the period of 2300 days had come. Already his people on earth who had heavenly wisdom enough to understand the prophecies of the Lord were sounding the warning message to the ends of the world, “The hour of his judgment is come.” When the time is fully reached, our great High Priest steps out of the holy place, where he had been ministering, and opens the door into the most holy place of the heavenly temple. The shutting of that door ends his ministration in that apartment. It is closed. He begins, with his Father and with the ten thousand times ten thousand heavenly angels, the work of the investigative judgment. The judgment is set, and the books of record are now examined.

Sixty-six years have passed since that greatest court in the universe opened its session. That opening and shutting of the door came in at precisely the time

God said it would in connection with the Philadelphia state of the church.

The Laodicean church represents the experience of the people under the third angel's message, who have to do the work of warning the world of Christ's soon coming, and of instructing them that the last great judgment period is reached, when Christ is standing before the throne of the Judge of the universe pleading for those who have accepted him as their Saviour and have been faithful to the end. Such will have all their sins blotted out, and their names retained in the Lamb's book of life; while those who have been unfaithful will have their sins retained in the books of God's remembrance, and their names blotted out of the book of life. Most solemn and awful thought! And those events are now in progress in the heavenly court above. The transition from the work in the first apartment to the solemn work of the final judgment is beautifully and plainly marked by the opening and closing doors in the heavenly sanctuary in the Philadelphia state of the church. This is away down in the closing period allotted to the seven successive stages of the one gospel church in the very last days of time.

Bowling Green, Fla.

Paul at Ephesus

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

(Concluded)

As was his custom, Paul had begun his work at Ephesus by preaching in the synagogue of the Jews. He continued to labor there for three months, “disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.” At first he met with a favorable reception; but as in other fields, he was soon violently opposed. “Divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude.” As they persisted in their rejection of the gospel, the apostle ceased to preach in the synagogue.

The Spirit of God had wrought with and through Paul in his labors for his countrymen. Sufficient evidence had been presented to convince all who honestly desired to know the truth. But many permitted themselves to be controlled by prejudice and unbelief, and refused to yield to the most conclusive evidence. Fearing that the faith of the believers would be endangered by continued association with these opposers of the truth, Paul separated from them, and gathered the disciples into a distinct body, continuing his public instruction in the school of Tyrannus, a teacher of some note.

Paul saw that “a great door and effectual” was opening before him, though there were “many adversaries.” Ephesus was not only the most magnificent, but the most corrupt, of the cities of Asia. Superstition and sensual pleasure held sway over her teeming population. Under the shadow of her temples, criminals of every grade found shelter, and the most degrading vices flourished.

Ephesus was a popular center for the worship of Diana. The fame of the magnificent temple of “Diana of the Ephesians,” extended throughout all Asia and the world. Its surpassing splendor made it the pride, not only of the city, but of the nation. The idol within the temple was declared by tradition to have fallen from the sky. Upon it were inscribed symbolic characters, which were believed to possess great power. Books had been written by the Ephesians to explain the meaning and use of these symbols.

Among those who gave close study to these costly books were many magicians, who wielded a powerful influence over the minds of the superstitious worshipers of the image within the temple.

The apostle Paul, in his labors at Ephesus, was given special tokens of divine favor. The power of God accompanied his efforts, and many were healed of physical maladies. “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul; so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.” These manifestations of supernatural power were far more potent than had ever before been witnessed in Ephesus, and were of such a character that they could not be imitated by the skill of the juggler or the enchantments of the sorcerer. As these miracles were wrought in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the people had opportunity to see that the God of heaven was more powerful than the magicians who were worshipers of the goddess Diana. Thus the Lord exalted his servant, even before the idolaters themselves, immeasurably above the most powerful and favored of the magicians.

But he to whom all the spirits of evil are subject, and who had given his servants authority over them, was about to bring still greater shame and defeat upon those who despised and profaned his holy name. Sorcery had been prohibited by the Mosaic law, on pain of death, yet from time to time it had been secretly practised by apostate Jews. At the time of Paul’s visit to Ephesus, there were in the city “certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists,” who, seeing the wonders wrought by him, “took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus.” An attempt was made by “seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests.” Finding a man possessed with a demon, they addressed him, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” But “the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

Thus unmistakable proof was given of the sacredness of the name of Jesus, and the peril which they incurred who should invoke it without faith in the divinity of the Saviour’s mission. “Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”

Facts which had previously been concealed were now brought to light. In accepting Christianity, some of the believers had not fully renounced their superstitions. To some extent they still continued the practise of magic. Now, convinced of their error, “many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds.” Even to some of the sorcerers themselves the good work extended; and “many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” By burning their books on magic, the Ephesian converts showed that the things in which they had once delighted they now abhorred. It was by and through magic that they had especially offended God and imperiled their souls; and it was against magic that they showed such indignation. Thus they gave evidence of true conversion.

These treatises on divination contained rules and forms of communication with evil spirits. They were the regulations of the worship of Satan,—directions for soliciting his help and obtaining information from him. By retaining these books, the disciples would have exposed themselves to temptation; by selling them they would have placed temptation in the way of others. They had renounced the kingdom of darkness, and to destroy its power they did not hesitate at any sacrifice. Thus truth triumphed over men’s prejudices and their love of money.

By this manifestation of the power of Christ, a mighty victory for Christianity was gained in the very stronghold of superstition. The influence of what had taken place was more wide-spread than even Paul realized. From Ephesus the news was widely circulated, and a strong impetus was given to the cause of Christ. Long after the apostle himself had finished his course, these scenes lived in the memory of men, and were the means of winning many to the gospel.

It is fondly supposed that heathen superstitions have disappeared before the civilization of the twentieth century. But the Word of God and the stern testimony of facts declare that sorcery is practised in this age as verily as in the days of the old-time magicians. The ancient system of magic was, in reality, the same as what is now known as modern Spiritualism. Satan is finding access to thousands of minds by presenting himself under the guise of departed friends. The Scriptures declare that “the dead know not anything.” Their thoughts, their love, their hatred, have perished. The dead do not hold communion with the living. But true to his early cunning, Satan employs this device in order to gain control of minds.

Through Spiritualism many of the sick, the bereaved, the curious, are communicating with evil spirits. All who venture to do this are on dangerous ground. The Word of truth declares how God regards them. In ancient times he

pronounced a stern judgment on a king who had sent for counsel to a heathen oracle: “Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die.”

The magicians of heathen times have their counterpart in the Spiritualistic mediums, the clairvoyants, and the fortune-tellers of to-day. The mystic voices that spoke at Endor and at Ephesus are still by their lying words misleading the children of men. Could the veil be lifted from before our eyes, we should see evil angels employing all their arts to deceive and to destroy. Wherever an influence is exerted to cause men to forget God, there Satan is exercising his bewitching power. When men yield to his influence, the mind is bewildered and the soul polluted ere they are aware. The apostle’s admonition to the Ephesian church should be heeded by the people of God to-day: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

Lessons for Christian Living

“Do not be too sure that your first attempt was a failure. At least it mapped the road to after-success.”

“THE question is not what will suit us, but for what are we suited.”

Provision for Its Restoration

By J. O. Corliss

Tracings of the Prophetic Gift — No. 18

Provision for Its Restoration

J. O. CORLISS

The very first promise of the Bible is that the seed of the first woman should finally bruise the serpent’s (Satan’s) head. Gen. 3:15. The meaning of this is made plain in the one hundred tenth psalm. There the Lord Jesus is introduced as the Melchizedek priest who is to judge the heathen, and wound the heads over many countries. While Christ is the Seed by whom this work will be done, he will accomplish his purpose through his church, which carries his name, and is commissioned to carry on his work in the earth.

But the present state of world affairs reveals that the head of the old serpent (Rev. 12:9) has not yet been broken, but that he still reigns among men, leading them to push his plans of opposition to God’s work. He does not, however, employ the apparently worst characters among men to carry on his warfare, but when possible, he seeks out and inspires those for his designs who profess to be followers of Christ. It was through the church of the dark ages,—the one claiming to be Christ’s representative on earth,—that he did the most appalling work of persecution recorded in the history of the world.

And yet this did not satisfy the dragon’s wrath. We learn that he has reserved his strongest efforts in this direction to be visited upon the closing generation of men. Thus we read: “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17. In this scripture we not only have portrayed the predicted raid to be made against the last of the woman’s seed, but the very reason for such an attack is openly announced; namely, that the offending remnant keep the commandments of God, and have the “testimony of Jesus Christ.”

But why should these particular attainments so stir the wrath of the dragon?—Simply because the practise that these acquirements set in motion are opposed to Satan’s earliest and continued efforts to pervert knowledge of the true God. It is of general understanding that the unity of God is the one doctrine upon which revelation lays the greatest stress. To guard this point was the principal object of the Jewish religion. This doctrine prefaces every important utterance of the Old Testament, from the speaking of the ten commandments to the outlines of minute ceremonials. Every prophetic warning kept this particular aspect in mind. The Lord Jesus always presented his Father in the forefront of all his teachings. The apostle Paul was careful to say that while there were in his day lords many and gods many, to him and his associates there was but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him. 1 Cor. 8:5, 6.

The delivery of the law from Sinai, amid awful thunderings and lightnings, was a great tidal movement in human life. But as no wave can remain indefinitely uplifted at its height, the prophetic order there came in to repeat in the ears of those Hebrew refugees the oneness of God, which was so wonderfully demonstrated to them while at the base of Sinai, but the impressions of which, as the sense of the occasion should pass, would gradually wane away. Their work then was, as was the Saviour’s in a later day, to fulfil the law, by magnifying it and making it honorable.

The provision was one which boded divine foresight. Without this display of foreknowledge, God’s people would have been required to meet their common enemy with only blank moral cartridges, which are ever impotent to subdue the mob of social passions. Indeed, man at his best state realizes the need of high spiritual backing, and looks to the “beyond” for that which he does not find in any stratum of human society. One popular writer has truthfully remarked that the church has never the right to lose the spirit of prophecy, because to keep it, and humbly to exercise it, is one of the first conditions of progress.

This thought, if all knew how to express it, would be, from the very nature of things, repeated by the majority of lips, because of the helplessness of the human mind to grasp the intent of Heaven-inspired words. Because many in every age have waited for saint or prophet to lead their way, advantage was taken of the situation; and that religio-political combination known as the Papacy met the humanizing demand by setting up the head of its organization as the prophet of God.

Having succeeded in being thus recognized, instead of directing minds to the one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, as the source of comforting hope, this pseudo-prophet abolished the observance of the Sabbath instituted for the sole purpose of establishing the unity of God, and thus turned men from the worship of Jehovah to see in himself an object of adoration.

But when the remnant, or last end, of the woman’s seed is due,—when the hour of judgment arrives,—then the call is for all nations to break away from this false adoration, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the only true God. Rev. 14:6, 7. This is what renews the conflict of the ages. It is this that introduces a world contention such as never was to that time, because it is the closing of the age-lasting contention.

In the bitterness of such a controversy, intensity will take possession of every earthly element. Old disputes will be renewed, which were thought to have long ago been hushed; and new and subtle ones will spring to the front. Amid all this will be needed a knowledge of Jehovah’s will. But how may one know this when surrounded by so many clashing sentiments and so much angry discourse? Will God leave his people then to battle alone with the surging elements? How could he, and be the same God who always responded to the appeal of his old-time people?

In view of the fact that the judgment hovers near, and that every case must receive the scrutiny of both law and prophets (Rom. 3:21), each individual seeks the direction of the law as laid open by the “testimony of Jesus,” which is the spirit of prophecy, knowing that only by the most careful walk can any one pass the solemn test to be encountered. The hostility to be met from the dragon’s wrath becomes so galling as to drive the faithful few to their only refuge, the ever sure promise of protecting power. In response to this expression of confiding faith, messages of comforting hope come through the prophet of God, infusing courage into the patient upholder of the commandments of God. Rev. 14:12.

Through this one method, victory is to be gained over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name. These will “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Rev. 15:2, 3. Thus will close the long-continued controversy, with the saints standing in the very presence of him who has so diligently sought to keep in close relation with men, by “rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place.” 2 Chron. 36:15.

Mountain View, Cal.

Editorial

By Editor

The Divine Attributes

Love is heaven's divinest attribute. Associated with infinite wisdom and power, it forms a trinity of divine attributes which furnish assurance for confidence and trust to the child of God. We may never by searching find out God nor circumscribe his wisdom. We may never comprehend the scope and magnitude of his power. We look upon these as the natural attributes of Deity. We are not surprised that he possesses them. But somehow we have come to regard greatness and the possession of unlimited power as apart from the exercise of the gentler attribute of love. Before the revelation of divine love we stand in amazement and wonder. Particularly is this so when we understand that love is the lever, the inspiration, which calls into exercise the infinity of power and wisdom. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” “God is love,” and every use of his unlimited resources is prompted by this spirit.

Love in the Church and Home

By F. M. W.

No attribute of the divine character has been so maligned and misrepresented by Satan as that of God's love. He did this work in heaven, he is doing it now in the earth. His agents are myriad, and may be found in every place, invading, even as of old, the assemblies of the sons of God. He sows still the seeds of envy and jealousy, of variance and emulations, of wrath and strife and sedition, of criticism, quarreling, and fighting. He makes of professed Christians unlovely characters, and holds them up as examples of the grace of Christ.

The great need of the world when God gave his Son to die for it was a revelation of love. That same revelation is as greatly needed to-day. The great professed Christian church needs more of this grace. We as Seventh-day Adventists need to cultivate it in greater fulness. A coldness has invaded our membership. The old-time spirit of cordiality, hospitality, and brotherly love which once characterized this people is dying out. We need to return to our first love to God and to our brethren.

We need hearts to feel for each other in the trial, the sorrow, the weakness, and even the shortcomings and mistakes, which in some measure and at some time are the common lot of all. We need to stretch out the helping hand and speak the word of courage to the faltering, stumbling ones on every side. This was Christ's spirit; and if he abides within, it will be our spirit. Our brethren and sisters do not need our criticism, even though they have gone astray or fallen in sin. They need, if they have erred, above every other time, our sympathy, our prayers, our kindly Christian labor in reclaiming them to their former experience.

We see in our church to-day too many sharp critics, too many idle talkers, too many wicked gossipers, too many who stand ready to pick up every little fault in others and peddle it about the church. This sometimes is done under the specious plea of loyalty to the church, and regard for the honor of the cause. Men are made offenders for a word, and their names and reputations are handled with easy indifference.

The church needs to be cleansed from these unsanctified elements. Love and tenderness need to be cultivated. The spirit of unfeeling criticism should be put away. We need to press together as brethren, as members of a common faith and united interests. We should exercise more patience toward the careless, more long-suffering for the erring, more forbearance toward the weak and faltering.

This kind of love should be distinguished from the sentimentalism we see in the world around us. It is not a love which condones sin or passes over evil. It is a love which distinguishes between the sinner and his sin, and while condemning the wrong, seeks to save the sinner from that wrong.

“By this,” says Christ, “shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.”

We need more love in our homes. The spirit of alienation is seeking entrance to every heart, and in some is finding admission. In the world around us we see divided or ruined homes at every turn. Against this great citadel and bulwark of society, Satan is making his fiercest assaults.

Will our homes, our families, be able to withstand the power of his onslaughts? Only by God's grace can this be done. We need to press together as families, to cultivate love and confidence in one another. Husbands and wives, parents and children, need to come close to one another in loving sympathy. and tender helpfulness.

This spirit can not be cultivated without time and thought and carefulness. The busy rush of this strenuous age will leave us scant room for the little kindnesses and courtesies of life, if we are not careful. Unconsciously we shall become strangers to those with whom we daily associate.

But taking time to become acquainted with our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters, will pay in the end. It will cultivate in us and in them the sweeter and more tender qualities of life, whereby our efficiency as laborers in the great world's work will be doubly enhanced. It is not alone the rugged, sterner qualities of character that have their use in gospel labor, but the softening, subduing ones also have a place to fill and a work to do. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

F. M. W.

“As the Heavens Are Higher Than the Earth”

By W. A. S.

WHAT a difference between the Christian Scriptures and the sacred books of the heathen!

In the heathen scriptures it is everywhere man talking about God and about religion.

In the Book of books it is God talking to man.

The difference is as great as that between heaven and earth.

In one, it is a helpless human hand reached up from earth toward heaven. In the other, it is a divine hand of might stretched down from heaven to earth.

In the one case, man is wandering blindly in the darkness, thinking his own vain thoughts, speaking his own words, with never a gleam of light from above, no voice from the world beyond.

Sir Arthur Lyall describes the barrenness and loneliness of it in his “Meditations of a Hindu Prince:” —

“And the myriad idols around me, and the legion of muttering priests, The revels and rites unholy, the dark, unspeakable feasts! What have they wrung from the Silence? Hath even a whisper come Of the Secret, whence and whither? Alas, for the gods are dumb!”

Even so it is without the divine revelation. Man must do all the talking, and his thoughts have no power to lift him beyond himself. It is the black, impenetrable darkness of unbelief.

But with the Holy Scriptures how different! Our whole outlook is flooded with light from heaven above. We hear on every page the voice of God calling to us. The Bible is the living Word. Not man talking about God, but the loving Father speaking to our hearts, is what we find in it.

It is not the lost sheep left to grope its

impossible way in the darkness that we see in the blessed Book, but the Good Shepherd come from above, seeking the lost and bringing it back to the fold.

It is a wondrous treasure, this Book of God, a divine gift sent down from heaven. The possession of it, in faith, makes all the difference between Christianity and heathenism. And modern unbelief and criticism is seeking to rob men of this voice from above. In the Outlook of May 13, Dr. Lyman Abbott speaks for the “modern view of the Bible” as follows:—

The Bible was formerly regarded as a letter from God; it is now regarded as a personal introduction to God.

And this introduction, he says, is written “not by amanuenses inscribing at dictation” or receiving “miraculous information.” It is simply the word of men who tell “what they have seen and felt.”

No; that will not do. Man’s word can never save. It leaves things just as they are in hopeless heathenism—men talking about God.

Thanks be to God for the revelation of the “sure word,” the voice that speaks in clear tones from heaven above.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,” saith the Lord, “so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

W. A. S.

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