p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 11. (3/13/1901)

Earlier text: RISKED HIS LIFE FOR HIS PEOPLE

LOOK AT THIS FINE BIBLE

By Editor

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A GENUINE OXFORD

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By Editor

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GOOD WORK.

An agent selling the Outlook SIGNS in a large city, writes, under date of Feb. 17, 1901: “This is my third experience with special numbers, having sold about 1,500 of the Quarter Centennial, about the same number of the World’s Harvest issue, and thus far have sold 1,715 of the Outlook Number. . . . The secret of success is in realizing that the Lord can give favor in the eyes of the people, and can impress their minds.

“My sales here average about 60 copies per day, working six or seven hours.”

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BACK NUMBERS.

By Editor

We have a quantity of recent issues of the SIGNS, that is, those printed this year, which we will sell at $1.00 per hundred. The assortment is necessarily limited, as only a few numbers of the paper have yet been printed this year.

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The Department of Justice is distinguished for good judgment, and this is shown by their continued approval of the Densmore.

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BIBLE ELECTION.

By M. C. Wilcox

By M. C. Wilcox. A brief presentation of God's plan and purpose concerning man, showing that the doctrine of election, or predestination, according to the Bible, is full of comfort and instruction. It throws new light on old controversies. Bible Students' Library, No. 67; 24 pp.; price 3 cents. Address Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal.

PRAYER

By A. T. Pierson

By A. T. Pierson, will bring new life and light into your church, missionary society and home. Price, $1.00 per 100

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.

New York City Oakland, Cal. Kansas City, Mo.

CHRIST AND THE SABBATH:

Or Christ in the Old Testament and the Sabbath in the New, by Elder James White. Paper covers, fifty-six pages, sent post-paid for ten cents. Address. PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

Drifting from Her Moorings.

By Editor

When petitions were presented before Congress in 1829 and 1830 that post-offices and post-roads be closed on Sundays, the petitioners were plainly told, in Mr. Richard M. Johnson’s masterly report, that the matter of deciding the day of the Sabbath and enforcing its observance in the smallest degree by law, Congress had nothing to do with. It was not the business of Congress or civil government to decide religious controversies, or fix a religious observance by law. When the Sunday question came up over the closing of the Chicago Exposition in 1892, involving the same principles as the question of 1829, there was prolonged discussion, but Congress yielded to the religious politicians, and compromised the principle of religious liberty. It was a backward step from the glorious mountain height attained by the past heroic struggles for liberty. We said then that conscience was stultified, and subsequent acts would come much easier. This was recently shown when, on February 23, it was voted to close both the St. Louis and Charleston expositions on Sunday. Now, as to whether these expositions close on Sunday or not is not the bone of contention. It is this,—that the Government of the United States has no right, by virtue of its charters of existence, to take action in the matter. That she can now do this without protest shows how far the nation has drifted from her moorings.

A Needy Object.

We are asked to say that our churches are requested, on the second Sabbath in March, to take up a liberal donation for the work in Scandinavia. The field is a needy one, and it is earnestly hoped that the donation will be liberal. “The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” Prov. 11:25.

Compromise in a Moral Realm

Compromise in a moral realm always means a loss to both parties to the compromise. It is a loss of moral power on the part of the man who compromises what he holds to be truth or duty, and it sets before him for whom the compromise is made a varying moral standard. The one yields truth, the other accepts or tolerates error, a perverted standard. Much of the “rapid progress” that religious thought is now taking is in the direction of the compromise of Bible truth with errors of science, based wholly on mere hypotheses. The reconciliation between science and religion is generally a compromise on the part of the latter, and loss of power to the compromisers.

The Rio de Janeiro Disaster

On the morning of February 23 the steamer Rio de Janeiro, from Yokohama, with 211 persons on board, struck on the reef at the entrance to San Francisco Bay, and sank within ten minutes, carrying down 131 of her passengers and crew, the captain of the vessel and the United States Consul at Hongkong, with his family, being among the lost. The vessel is deeply submerged, the wreck lying within a stone's throw of Fort Point. She had lain for hours outside the heads, waiting for the heavy bank of fog to rise. Just before dawn the fog lifted; the order was given to steam ahead, and when in the midst of the dangerous channel the cloud-bank came down again, shutting out every landmark. Having nothing by which to steer, the vessel was at the mercy of the treacherous current, which forced her upon the fatal ledge. This sad occurrence but emphasizes the danger of disobedience of orders. One of the standing orders of the company to its captains is never to enter the harbor in a fog, and the disastrous result of “taking chances” is terribly illustrated in this catastrophe.

Spanish Court Orders Daughter’s Return

It is a refreshing instance of brave justice for the High Court of Spain to reverse the decisions of the lower courts, and order the restoration of Señora Ubao to her mother. The daughter was induced by the Jesuits to take the veil without the consent of the parents, and the mother brought action to compel the order to give up the daughter. The report is that much of the disorder in Madrid has been because of this case. The action of the High Court may be due to public opinion. It is devoutly to be wished that it is a pure act of justice.

Why Men Should Serve God.

—God made man thru Jesus Christ. God redeemed man from sin and death thru Jesus Christ. In Him we live and move and have our being. “He is thy life and the length of thy days.” All that we are that is good, all that we have that is good, all the good that is in the world, is from God. Upon Him we are dependent for all future life and blessing. Ought not man to serve Him? It is His will that those who serve Him shall be with Him forever; do you not wish to share that unmarred existence? Then why not yield now to His cleansing and service? “Behold, now is the acceptable time.”

IN TWO WEEKS

By Editor

We will begin a series of articles on the true relation of God’s people with the State, or the proper relations of Church and State. This is a vitally-important subject, vital to both Church and State, and no Christian or citizen can afford to be ignorant. In the struggles of the future every soul will stand on the right side or the wrong. These articles will help to an understanding of this great subject. They are written from the Biblical view-point by Calvin P. Bollman, for many years an investigator and writer and speaker on these subjects. The topics treated are titled as follows:

The Origin of Government.

The Theocracy of Israel.

“There Was No King in Israel.”

“We Will Have a King over Us.”

Apostasy; a King; Ruin.

The Kingdom of Heaven.

The Constitution and Law of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Christ and Cæsar.

The Apostles and Civil Authorities.

These will continue nine weeks, or two months, beginning in the Signs of March 27. For these nine weeks the Signs will be mailed to the address of any person in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt of twenty-five cents. And the paper will contain many other articles of worth. See page 15 for instructions in ordering.

The Peace of God

There is a peace born of God. It is a condition, not a feeling or fancy. It comes because the soul is yielded wholly to God. The arms of its warfare are grounded, and the government of heaven is acknowledged. In that comes peace, harmony with God. The erstwhile rebellious soul may not be able at once to adjust itself to the new condition; it is a learner. It almost at times mistakes the discords of evil for the concords of good, and conscience is troubled. But peace abides. The soul knows that it has surrendered to all that it sees and knows of God, and in Him it rests as a weary bird from her wanderings. Winds may blow, storms may howl, sickness and pain and even death may come, the peace abides, and walking in that peace the eternal harmony of heaven grows more ravishing and entrancing, the peace deeper and more abundant. This is “the peace of God which passeth all understanding.”

Evolution Not God's Way.

Dr. Dwight Hillis tells us, in an article in the Examiner, on “The Reconciliation between Science and Religion,” that “the Bible was never so popular a book, nor religion never so potent an influence in daily life; while, on the other hand, the method of evolution as God’s way of doing things has swept the field.” (1) As a book, the first statement is probably true; but compared with such opportunity, there was never such widespread ignorance of the Bible. (2) In what is religion “potent,” “in the daily life”? It has an influence in forensic circles; it is a matter of discussion. But wherein is its power manifest in restoring character or saving men above what it was fifty years ago? (3) But evolution is not God’s way of doing things, according to the Bible. Never is He called the Evolutor, but ever the Creator. Things created grow by His life, but they are brought into existence thru His creative power. If the theory of “evolution as God’s way of doing things has swept the field,” the Bible is relegated to the past. Woe be to the church; for the only power that God gives by which souls are saved is creative power, that which makes men new creatures.

A Bird’s-Eye View of Bible Chronology

“A Bird’s-eye View of Bible Chronology,” which has come to our table, professes to give the true chronology for a period of 3,500 literal years. It is, however, in some places, enough to discredit it all; man’s opinion of Bible chronology. The author tries to work out the problem by the means of jubilees that were never kept. He makes the “seven times” of Lev. 26: 18, 21, 24, 28, 2,520 literal years, whereas the expression merely refers to the intensity of the punishment, and not to the time. There is really no word meaning “time” or year in the original. He makes it 486 years from the first of Cyrus to the cross, whereas it was not less than 567 years. Some theories seem good, but like those of perpetual motion, they do not work out well.

The Danger of False Peace

There is a “peace” that is born of delusion; it means compromise, yielding, to the enemy. There is no temptation from Satan when our soul is fast in his toils. When we first turn from Christ and duty, conscience warns, and the Spirit pleads, and Satan tempts; but when we are yielded to the devil’s delusions, conscience becomes seared and hardened, the Spirit sadly leaves us, and Satan soothes to a deadly rest the erstwhile conscience-troubled heart. No condition is more dangerous than a peace purchased at the expense of truth, light, and duty. Such “peace” is a matter of feeling, not condition. When the harvest comes and the last great day arrives, the feeling will depart, and the actual condition will be seen in all its barren nakedness.

Guided in the Way of Truth

Technicalities are sometimes important; sometimes they are not. For instance, some persons object to the word “explain,” and say that the eunuch wanted to be guided by Philip in his search after truth. See Acts 8:31. What is the difference? The word “explain” means to make plain; and the true guide leads and makes plain the way. As Vincent remarks, the Greek word involves the idea of both leading and instructing. We all need to be guided, and this simply means that we desire the way made plain. “Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make Thy way plain before my face.” Ps. 5:8, R.V.