WITH OUR INQUIRERS Page
Questions 2102 to 2111 . . . . . . . . 2
SECOND ADVENT SYMPOSIUM
The Religious World . . . . . . . . . 3
The Earth Waxed Old . . . . . . . . 4
Ere "The Harvest Be Past" . . . . . 5
Cumulative Evidence of Christ's Soon
Coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
GENERAL
The Only Dangerous Enemy . . . . . . 7
"Watch Your Step" . . . . . . . . . 7
EDITORIAL
Effectual Prayer—Its Conditions . . . . 8
The Conditions of Sodom Over Again . . 8
"It Is Time to Seek the Lord" . . . . . 9
Increase of Crime . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Increase of Riches . . . . . . . . 9
The Resurrection and Immortality . . . 9
THE OUTLOOK
France and the Papacy . . . . . . . . 10
MISSIONS
Our Work in China . . . . . . . . . 12
HOME
Pillars of Health . . . . . . . . . . 14
Household Repairs . . . . . . . . . . 14
POETRY
"Lord, If Thou Wilt" . . . . . . . . 7
For Every Day . . . . . . . . . . . 14
With Our Inquirers
By Editor
"If ye will inquire, inquire ye."
[All questions to this department will be answered which to the editors will minister to the general good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. The same question can not be answered repeatedly in the same volume. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. It is well always to enclose a stamp for reply.]
2106.—Choice and Compulsion.
Until what age should parents compel children to obey? INQUIRER.
This also is a question which it is utterly impossible to answer. It depends on the parents, on the children, and early teachings, on the tasks required, and many other things which should be taken into consideration. The obedience of after years almost wholly depends on the training of the early years. "The discipline of the child," one writer has said, "should begin a hundred years before he is born." It is almost impossible to begin too early with the child in a wise way, and if the early training of the child has not been neglected, the later guidance will come, not in the way of compulsion and command, but of counsel and advice. Older children should be companions of father and mother, in which the child has learned to respect the counsel of the father and mother. Yet there will be times when the probable results of certain acts must be laid before the young man or young woman, and he or she left to decide for themselves and learn by their own reaping the kind of seed they have sown.
2102.—"According to His Work."
By S.
Will the Bible sanction the paying an efficient or learned man more wages than the inefficient and unlearned? James 2:3; Prov. 28:21. S.
The way God will reward His children is "every man according to his work." This is taught in the parable of the pounds and the talents, Luke 19; Matthew 25. To him that hath faithfully used his talent God gave the talent of the man who had buried it in the earth; and He lays down this principle, "For unto every one that hath [that is, that has employed his talent] shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not [used his talent], even that which he hath shall be taken away." It certainly would be showing respect to persons to pay a worthless, idle man as much as one who was earnest, faithful, and devoted. It would seem as if the idle fellow himself, if he had justice in his heart, could see that.
2103.—Christ and Satan.
As Jesus has said "I and My Father are one," John 10:30, has not this One made Satan bite the dust in every encounter between them since Satan entered the Garden of Eden?
A SUBSCRIBER.
Yes, in reality, tho it has not always so seemed. Christ has always conquered, even when He seemed not to have conquered. In His death upon the cross He seemed to be utterly defeated, but by that very death He destroyed him that hath the power over death, that is the devil. Heb. 2:14.
2104.—Ordinances of Humility.
Is feet-washing practised by Seventh-day Adventists? If so, is it in connection with communion? If not, is there any sect which does practise it? INQUIRER.
Feet-washing is practised by Seventh-day Adventists in connection with communion, immediately before the Lord's Supper. That practise is based on the simple, clear history of the institution of the ordinance and the words of Jesus, found in John 13. 1 Tim. 5:10 would indicate that it was still continued in the church. There are, we believe, some of the Baptist sects which practise it still, also the Dunkards.
2105.—Brothers and Sisters of Jesus.
Did Jesus have brothers and sisters? I note references in various religious publications which imply that Jesus when here on earth as a child had older brothers. Does ancient history or the Bible show that Mary was the second wife of Joseph, and that these older brothers were the stepsons of Mary?
B. R. N.
Sometimes the term brother is used to mean a more distant relative than what we use the expression for, so that a cousin might be termed a brother; and yet such expressions as found in Mark 6:3 would certainly seem to indicate that Jesus had brothers and sisters. "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not His sisters here with us?" So also we read of "James the Lord's brother." The tradition is quite strong, and seems to be fairly well founded, that no other children were born to Mary. If that be the case, these were evidently children of Joseph by a former wife. There is nothing, however, in the Scriptures to prove that other children were not born to Mary.
2107.—Place of Baptism
By Editor
Do Seventh-day Adventists allow their people to make a pool back of their pulpits in their churches for the practise of artificial baptism? J. G. H.
We do not know what our querist means by "artificial baptism." We should hardly think that artificial baptism would need a pool. Does he mean that when the rite is performed in a pool it must be artificial? Most Seventh-day Adventist churches have baptistries, and generally under the pulpits, because they can be arranged there better than anywhere else. When filled with water, of course these form pools for that purpose. Baptism is just as truly baptism, however, if performed in a pool or river or lake or sea. All of the baptisms around Jerusalem were performed in pools. There are no running streams in that vicinity all the year round, save the channels which had been formed for the purpose of supplying the city with water. To these pools the New Testament makes frequent reference.
2108.—Associations for Children.
What kind of companionship should nearly grown children have, and who should choose their companions? Suppose relatives feel insulted if a father or mother refuses to let children associate with uncles, aunts, or cousins, because of character; what is the best course to pursue? Inquirer.
The matter of companions should be regulated by the strength of character of the child; any companionship that is dragging a person down morally should be broken. If a young man or young woman is strong enough to mold the minds and hearts and morals of those associated with, there is no harm in letting them do such missionary work for those whose morals may not be the best and ideals the highest. In such cases, however, it should not be intimate companionship, for intimate companionship would unconsciously corrupt the pure minded. It is well to remember the scripture, "Be not deceived; evil companionships corrupt good morals." 1 Cor. 15:33, A.R.V. If our children are corrupted by relatives, we know no reason why we should not guard them just as sacredly from such influences as we should from those who are not relatives. The eternal interests, the building of the characters of our children, should be first. What is the best course to pursue?—We can only say, the Christian course. It is utterly impossible to answer a question of this kind in detail. We know nothing of the dispositions of the people, of the surroundings, and other matters which enter into the question. Those things must rest between the individuals affected and God. Take just such a course in such things as you will wish you had taken in the great judgment day. The great and wise Counselor is always willing to guide us aright if we seek Him earnestly and unselfishly. After we have done that leave results with Him.
The Seventh Day
2109.—The Seventh Day.
How can you prove that Saturday is the seventh day? R. U. G.
We have no desire to prove that Saturday is the seventh day. The days of the week are not identical with the Bible days, only in the most general sense. The Bible seventh day is not identical with our Saturday. It begins at sunset Friday evening and ends at sunset Saturday night; that is, the Biblical seventh day. The identity of the seventh day is shown in the fall of the manna; for forty years God pointed it out so that man could not possibly make a mistake. Exodus 16. When our Lord Jesus Christ came, He and His followers observed the seventh day "according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. That again fixed the identical seventh day. There has been no question, and is no question, on the part of scholars as to the identity of the New Testament days with our days. The New Testament week is identical with our week. The New Testament first day has come down to us in our Sunday. We can understand how one person or one family might lose track of the day of the week, but no one ever hears of a township or a city or a country losing such record. Certainly the world has not, and all history bears this out. See tract "The Identical Seventh Day," Bible Students' Library No. 114, one cent. Also "The Sabbath the Test of the Ages," a pamphlet which covers the whole Sabbath question, No. 134, price, ten cents.
2110.—Elijah the Prophet.
If Elijah the prophet refers to God's people in the last days, preparing the way for Christ's second advent, to whom does the 'you' refer in the expression, 'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come'? Mal. 4:5. F. A. H.
The 'you' refers to the great religious world. Those thru whom God will give His special message are those who may be raised up in the religious world to give that message. Isaiah 58:12 expresses it: 'And they that shall be of thee shall build up the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.' The whole chapter refers to God's people in the last days, scattered as they are thru the whole earth; and yet there will be a class raised up among them, referred to by 'they that shall be of thee,' and that body is referred to as the 'thou' that 'shall raise up the foundations of many generations;' and of that body Elijah is the type. God always sends His messages first to the church—those who profess His name: 'Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble.' All His disciples were from among the Jews, and they gave their message first to Jerusalem, then to Judea and Galilee, then to Samaria, and out into the great regions beyond.
What are the two sticks referred to in Eze. 37:16? C. G.
The text itself tells us to what they refer, the one to the people of Judah and the other to the ten tribes under the term Ephraim. Two of the tribes were under the house of Judah, the rest of the tribes were under the house of Ephraim. God's promise was to that people, and would have been fulfilled in those days if the people themselves had been willing; had been ashamed of their sins and forsaken them, they would have been brought together and would have become one people. Verse 19. God would have brought up from the grave those who had died, would have set up His kingdom and sanctuary, as promised in the latter part of Ezekiel, on the condition, however, that Israel would forsake their sins and yield to Him. They did not, and consequently those promises were not fulfilled to them. They will be fulfilled thru Jesus Christ in a larger measure when all who believe in Him are counted Abraham's seed, "according to the promise." Then in the glorious fulfillment under Christ there shall be, in His own words, "one fold and one Shepherd." John 10:16.
The Great Religious World
By Abdiel
By Abdiel
The Vatican and Pope Pius.
Its Testimony.
WHAT testimony has the religious world to offer as to the times in which we are living? What witness has the Church of Jesus Christ to bear in response to the "more sure word of prophecy"? What has she to say as to the proximity of her Lord's return? These are vital questions, and there are clear answers.
The Great Religious World in General.
First of all, there is general expectation thruout the great religious world, not in Christianity alone but among the devotees of the great historic religions, that some great change is impending, some great disclosure of divine light and truth is imminent. Buddhism, Brahmanism, Mohammedanism, are all looking for the advent of great teachers, great light, greater power. True, the devil has deceived them, but the counterfeit demonstrates the true.
Modern Spiritism, Christian Science, New Thought, Religious Magnetism, and Hypnotism are all various forms of counterfeits of Christ's coming. Satan takes advantage of the general expectations of mankind, who are ignorant of, or are unwilling to follow, the simple word of God, and deludes them in various ways, but always with more or less of the exaltation of the human, the giving of glory to man.
The Professed Christian Church.
That church is divided as never before in all her history. She swings from the strongest, most tyrannical traditionalism to the loosest liberalism; from the strong centralized power of the Vatican and pope at Rome to the utter unbelief of higher criticism, represented in the latest results in the teaching of R. J. Campbell of the City Temple, London, and echoed loudly and oftentimes anonymously from thousands of voices in pulpit and press among the teachers of so-called Protestantism. On the one end of the line God's word is made void by the tradition of men, as verily as it was by the strict Pharisees of old; on the other end it is utterly set aside as a book of myths and fables and allegories, a mere expression of the religious thought of the times in which its various parts were written. The one extreme holds to the inspiration of the Scriptures, but, by its system of traditional interpretation and infallible assumptions, separates it from the people and makes void its clearest utterances. The other leaves the people without any standard of revelation from God, to be blown about by every wind of doctrine, holding to beliefs
"Wavering, doubtful, undefined,
Never shapen nor outlined."
Between these extremes stand the great mass of professed Christians, the most of them dividing between the extreme standards. There is another class, still holding for the faith "once delivered to the saints," loyal to the Bible, but more or less ignorant of its teachings.
This condition of things God has designated by the term "Babylon." The Scriptures do not do this by way of condemnation. Rather, it expresses the true condition of Christendom. Babylon means "confusion," and surely "confusion worse confounded" reigns in Christendom to-day. The Roman Catholic Church has her standard of tradition which holds by human "authority" her flock if they do not independently and in God-given freedom read the Bible. But the fact that Rome professes to believe the Bible and still utterly ignores it in all tests between that word and her tradition, creates confusion.
The Protestant churches have professedly Biblical standards, which in times of test yield either to the liberalism of "Higher Criticism" or to the traditions of Romanism; and consequently she who ought to be a guide to clear, definite, saving faith, envelopes the world in fog and doubt. There is another class, also divided and scattered in great Babylon, but who believe the Bible and are seeking to know its truth and practise its precepts. Of this class more hereafter.
The chief point in all this to which I wish to call the reader's attention is that this very condition is foretold in God's word, that this Babylon of religion will fill the world, and eventually, if not "healed" (which is the desire of God's heart, Jer. 51:9), will, in her various divisions, come into judgment before God. Read Revelation, chapters 14 to 18.
The Results.
The results of these departures from God, the following of different standards, has been to the highest degree demoralizing. There has been the thrusting out of the great moral standard of God. While outward conventionalities are observed, real inward moral worth, tender conscience, and clear convictions of duty are wanting. Evil and selfish men unite with the church with unchanged hearts, become standards of conduct because of wealth and influence, debauch Christian business men with worldly, oftentimes dishonest, methods, till the true standard of morality drags in the dust and there is not vital godliness and strength of conviction enough in the church to withdraw fellowship with such men, or to decidedly and specifically rebuke the wrong. Of this time the apostle to the Gentiles prophetically speaks:
"This know also, that IN THE LAST DAYS perilous times shall come. For men shall be4lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYING THE POWER THEREOF; from such turn away." 2 Tim. 3: 1-5.
Here are eighteen different sins, or rather eighteen different manifestations of sin, held among those who have a "form of godliness." More than this, it is a form of godliness which in itself possesses power, a true godliness, having the power of God in it to change hearts, to regenerate men. But the class mentioned above deny this power by godless lives, by doing just what the heathen world do; just what we may expect from the natural, unregenerate heart. See Rom. 1: 28-32; Mark 7: 21-23.
When the spirit of the world reigns in the church, the church is no longer the salt of the earth, religion becomes a dead form, and profession, hypocrisy. We need not affirm that the eighteen sins above named are in the church to-day. We know that they are there. Godly men and papers in every church cry out against the worldliness. Yet the selfishness, the coveting, the boasting, the pride, the blasphemy, the growing disregard for parental authority, the unnatural estrangement, alienation, and strange lack of affection between blood relations, the bargain-breaking, faithlessness in contracts, fierceness, false criticism, incontinence and licentiousness, the despising of those who are truly devout, false-heartedness, stubborn, obstinate haughtiness, pleasure-loving more than God-loving, exist and increase; and because of this in the church the words of Christ regarding this time are demonstrated to be true, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matt. 24: 12. This—the evil in the church—makes the times peculiarly perilous. Let the world be evil; if the church be pure, we need not be alarmed; but if the church lose her power and yield to the world, the moral restraining power is gone.
Out of such conditions are arising the wide-spread erroneous doctrines with which the church and world are filling. There is a notable lack of faith in Biblical Christianity and its Book. Higher Criticism is gaining ground, and souls are doubting to destruction. Man is glorified; God is forgotten. And this, too, fulfils the word of Jesus, "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find the faith on the earth?" Luke 18: 8, A.R.V. And the form of the question implies its almost utter absence. All this declares that Christ's coming is nigh.
On the other hand, there are a few souls who are following their Master. Out of the fog of tradition, out of the mazes of error, out of the darkness of unbelief, they are seeking God, coming back to His word, and finding "the old paths, where is the good way." To them, Christ Jesus says, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." The very spiritual darkness brooding over the world is, in the light of the prophetic word, an omen of His coming, a herald of the dawn.
"O soul, be ready when the Master comes."
City Temple (London) and Rev. R. J. Campbell.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
"But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts."
The Earth Waxed Old
By J. O. Corliss
By J. O. Corliss
Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end.—Ps. 102:25-27.
Erection of Vesuvius, June 28, 1905.
EVERY seed-sowing meets its legitimate harvest. Because of this fact, the apostle exclaimed for our benefit: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7. As this is true of man and his work, it follows that the principle by which immutable results obtain from certain beginnings, has been fixed by the decrees of high Heaven.
When the infinite Creator brought forth the heavens and the earth by the potency of His word, and looked upon the production, He pronounced it "very good," because it was the emanation of His own life. As such, the world was competent to exist indefinitely, and that without the least diminution of its fruitful power. To co-exist with this infinite fertility, man was formed, and was endowed for his post of honor by the "breath of life" from the Almighty. Gen. 2:7.
The evident design of this perfect handiwork was the unending and unchanging enjoyment of the life of Jehovah among earth's inhabitants. But another seed-sowing followed, which was calculated to destroy the intended prosperity of the creation. Listening to the seductive words of an enemy, man violated the law of his well-being, and fell under the curse of sin, entailing the sad result of death upon his entire posterity. Gen. 2:17. This conclusion is clearly expressed by the apostle in these words: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men." Rom. 5:12.
Not only was the sentence of death pronounced upon the inheritor of earth and its bounties, but the effect reached even the inheritance itself. Following the first man's wrong-doing, God said, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.
. . . In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." Gen. 3:17-19.
Because of man's sin the earth was cursed. And why should it not be thus? To leave the earth in its virgin state, bearing only those things which reflect the goodness of God, would but encourage man to continue in rebellion against his Maker, because nothing in his surroundings would cause him to long for a better existence. It was therefore necessary to bring the earth into a parallel condition with its sinful tenant. In doing this, the earth also is made to participate in the [[FIGURE]] sentence pronounced against the sinner: "Dying, thou shalt die." See margin of Gen. 2:17.
By this literal rendering of the text, man is made to enter a dying state, and continue therein until actual dissolution is effected. That is to say, man was gradually to lose hold on life and physical power, from generation to generation, until all the original faculties should weaken and fail. It needs no extended argument to prove that in the descent of generations, man has become physically and morally weaker. Bashan of old was called "the land of giants." Deut. 3:13. Perizzites were also called giants then. Joshua 15:17. As a matter of course, the lad David could take a thieving lion by the beard and slay him single handed. 1 Sam. 17:34-36. But no one to-day, however shrewd in world craft, would dare undertake such an exercise, knowing that his strength would be inadequate to the task.
Goliath of Gath was more than ten feet in height. But according to the "Encyclopedia Britannica," art. "Giant," even in the days of that celebrated giant, it was the common opinion that "the human race had degenerated, the men of primeval ages having been of so far greater stature and5strength." It is, therefore, very evident that man has greatly dwindled in stature and vitality. Once he lived from three to nine centuries; now his average life is hardly forty years. More than this, it is also significant that insanity, pauperism, idiocy, and every kind of defect of the mind and body are on the increase. The steady growth of crime and vice only keeps pace with the general deterioration. How exactly have the words of the prophet concerning the human race been fulfilled: "The haughty people of the earth do languish [become weak]." Isa. 24:4.
But the same prophetic eye saw the earth waxing old, or wearing out, "like a garment." Isa. 51:6. A garment shows age because it becomes faded and threadbare, and no longer serves its original purpose. As the earth is occupied by sinners, and "filled with violence," it, too, grows seedy and assumes the aspect of a worn-out garment, which is ready to be cast aside.
To be sure, the earth, like its weakened human incumbent, is increasingly able to produce noxious weeds in proportion to its age and attendant infirmities. Not only briers and thorns of the original curse come forth, but every imaginable kind of pestiferous and poisonous plant pushes itself forward to choke out the scant product designed for man's nourishment. It is no uncommon thing now to see in print an announcement of some newly discovered pest infecting field or orchard. Forty years ago it was authoritatively stated that the average wheat crop in the Middle West had run down to twelve bushels (a little over seven hundred pounds) to the acre. We do not think the situation there is now improved. In a very short time, if not already, wheat culture in that region must be largely abandoned as unprofitable. This year a reported green bug has appeared which has done much damage to wheat in the Southwest, and brought considerable discouragement to farmers. What will appear next no one is able to tell, but many are predicting sad failure for the years to come.
There was a time, not long since, when fruit-growing, especially on the Pacific Coast, was counted highly remunerative. But of late little inducement is offered to continue in the business. Curl-leaf, blight, scale, and borers are doing enough to offset much of the labor bestowed upon the orchards, and the business threatens to go into decline. This is but a part of the general program of nature's failure to respond to man's wooing.
This is not all, however, for mother earth is of late indulging in some irregular pranks which cause grave apprehension in the strongest minds. Tornadoes on land, waterspouts at sea, and floods everywhere, are reported almost daily as causing great destruction of life and property. All these are but the fulfilment of the Saviour's words in describing the signs of the ripening harvest of earth, preparatory to the Master's coming to receive His own. Luke 21:25-27.
In the same discourse the Master said, in answer to the question as to what would be the sign of earth's growing infirmity and of the close of its varying history: "Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and great earthquakes shall be in divers places." Verses 10, 11. It will be noticed that these "great" earthquakes were to occur in conjunction with nations and kingdoms preparing to make war one with another. This last described state was never more fully in process of fulfilment than at the present time. It is therefore singularly significant that with this very generation, "great" earthquakes in different places are in more forceful evidence, because of more frequent occurrence than at any other time of the past.
We are not now referring to those many slight, palsied tremors of old earth, which are scarcely noticeable, but of those extended nervous shakes, which suggest that "all the foundations of the earth are out of course" and are giving way to her everlasting destruction. Of such, only about two hundred are recorded to have taken place in the first eighteen hundred years of the Christian era, while, in only three years of more recent date, fifteen have been noted. The four most serious ones of latest record, San Francisco, Valparaiso, Kingston, and Mexico, have followed each other in quick succession, covering in time but a few months. These were more generally destructive of life and property than most previous ones, except that of Lisbon which occurred in 1755.
But old mother earth is yet to have another spasm more terrible than any which have preceded it. Those already past, are mere shadowy precursors of the one to come. While these created alarm because of the breaking up of some local area, that one will be more general and more disastrous than any before it. All the cities of the nations will be shaken down by the soon-coming one, while the islands of the sea will leave their places, and the mountains of earth will drop from sight. Rev. 16:17-21.
In the midst of such a convulsion, only those who have made the Most High their refuge will be sheltered. The Lord then will be the only hope of His people, because every other support will have failed. The foundations of the old and infirm earth will then be broken down (Eze. 30:4), and she will be shaken "out of her place" (Job 9:6) for lack of the revivifying power of the life of God to support her. But notwithstanding that, God arises to "shake terribly the earth" (Isa. 2:19-21), in order that "the wicked might be shaken out of it" (Job 38:13). He has "provided some better thing" for those who love and obey Him. For these He has laid in Zion a "sure foundation" which never can be moved. With feet planted on that eternal basis, no one need tremble at what is yet to befall the world in its present state, but may look with calm and confident expectation for the presence of God thru the impending storm, and eternal deliverance at last from all the results of sin.
Soon probation will be past, and Christ will come to claim His own. Sad indeed it will be for you, brother, if you have chosen to be lost after all the tender love and mercy He has bestowed upon you. In the awful time coming you can do nothing to gain everlasting life which you have sold for sin. It will be too late then. Now is the time; there will be no other. Hasten to win eternal life at whatever cost.
After probation, there will be no Saviour's loving call, nor will He ever, ever again offer heaven to thee. There will be no precious souls to save, no missionaries in all the land or on the sea. Mercy for sinners then has ceased, the end is very near. Gifts for God will not be accepted, because not needed; offers will be but vain. Having kept all God has loaned you, refusing to hear His call, it is then too late; you will never be asked to help again.
Pleading for pardon will then be too late. No heavenly ears will hear the sinner's wholly selfish prayer. The Holy Spirit will cease its pleading. There will be no real repentance of heart. Long and patiently has the Saviour waited to hear the cry for help, the response to His call. Now the harvest is past. Faithful laborers have worked hard; fruits are gathered; the grain is all bound; there is no work for you in the Master's vineyard; no place for you among the sheaves.
Then there will be no preaching of God's precious word from sea to sea; no voice beseeching you to do the Master's will. Amos 8:11, 12. He that is unjust then must so continue. He that is filthy must be filthy still. But he who is righteous will ever be righteous. He who is holy, praise God, will ever so remain. Character is fixed by trial and choice forever. Rev. 22:11, 12. Soon will they go to heavenly mansions with Jesus. Others, alas! have chosen the path to perdition.
O, brother, pray now while the Saviour waits. Work the short time that He gives you. Speak now to the hungry soul loving words that cheer, and lift, and guide. Seek now the task God has for you to do. Open wide the closed doors of the selfish heart and give, while for gold and silver God has need.
LUELLA L. HARMON.
Get the Thing Done
"Get the thing done. The tag ends of unfinished business are time consumers. They drag on. They multiply. They take ten minutes to do, if they are done to-day; two hours if they are done to-morrow."
Goodness You Cannot Acquire
“It is easy to sneer at the goodness you can not acquire.”
Reverence in Prophecy Study
The Spirit of Reverence in the Study of Prophecy.
THERE is much danger of presumption in connection with the study and interpretation of prophecy. We are never called to become prophets, but only interpreters of His prophetic word, and when even this becomes too exact and positive, we have good reason to go softly.
We may know much of the meaning of the signs of the times, but the day and the hour we know not. Let us walk with bowed heads and unshod feet amid these sacred days that lie hard by the coming of the King.—Christian Alliance.
