Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 8. (2/10/1916)

Review and Herald

Feb 10, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 10, 1916

Religion a Fundamental Necessity

By John McDowell

Too many are treating religion today as though it were an incidental of life, rather than an essential; a luxury, rather than a necessity; a mere external form of life, rather than a vital principle in life. Men are not asking in our day, what kind of religion is needed, but, “Is religion needed?” The materialistic philosopher, the atheistic socialist, and the nominal religionist are answering this far-reaching question in the negative. The real denial of God in our day is not the denial of His existence but of His reign. Over against this materialism and paganism, the followers of Christ are challenged to maintain that religion is essential to life; that it is not “the cake of life,” but “the bread of life;” and that no theory can be true to the facts of man’s nature, which disregards religion as an internal, inalienable factor in his consciousness. “There is no living without it.” The verdict of history is that religion is universal. The verdict of Scripture is that religion is essential, and the verdict of human experience is that religion is indispensable. Man may exist without religion, but he cannot live without it.—John McDowell, D. D., in Record of Christian Work.

Note and Comment

As in the Days of Lot

OUR Saviour declares in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke that “as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. . . . Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; . . . even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Verses 26-30.

In the days of these ancients the hearts of men were set upon their own selfish interests. Pride, the love of ease and of pleasure, filled the hearts of men. In the days of Lot, particularly, licentiousness was the great prevailing sin, and the one above all others for which the cities of the plain were destroyed.

That similar conditions exist to an alarming extent at the present time is too evident to need demonstration by the statement of facts and statistics. Several reports of the conditions existing in our large cities, made by vice commissions which have undertaken investigations, reveal an alarming state of affairs in the social world at the present time.

A few months ago the governor of one of the large Eastern States appointed a commission to investigate social conditions existing in one of the large metropolitan cities on the Atlantic coast. This report has been made public, and astounding are its revelations. Referring to this report, the New York Times says:—

No names are mentioned in the report, although men in all walks of life—ministers, lawyers, bankers, and business men—are implicated. The names, the members of the commission say, will always be kept secret. If revealed, it is asserted, the divorce courts would be clogged with business. Many of the men charged with continued immorality, are leading figures in the church life of the city.

Of these men the report declares:—

There is nothing more reprehensible than some of the practices of a number of esteemed and prominent business and professional men. The practices of the red-light district are pale and mild compared to the acts of some of these so-called “Christian gentlemen.” We are led to believe that of all the occupations for women, the close association with a man in a private office is one of the most likely to lead to immorality. Parents and guardians should be fully aware of this danger that a young and inexperienced girl is liable to encounter.

In this large city the commission discovered that there exists, the same as doubtless is found in other large cities, a regular system for disposing of or caring for the offspring of these illegitimate unions. It was found that not only physicians and nurses, but social and religious workers, were members of this system and cooperated with it. Of the work of these institutions and of the care they give to these children, the report says:—

And the institutions—day after day, month after month, year after year, they receive healthy, plump infants into their wards and watch them hour after hour go rapidly down to death. They know that practically all of those that immediately after birth are separated from their mothers will die; yet year after year they keep up this nefarious, murderous traffic.

We do not attempt in this study to settle the many complex problems relating to the illegitimate, but we believe that the facts show that society’s method in many instances is one of repression and virtual murder. All of this is done in the effort to preserve a family’s good name, to prevent a girl’s reputation from being smirched, to save the man in the case from facing the consequences of his act. Altogether it is a well-organized hushing up by a system of subterfuges and repression in order that certain individuals shall not have to face openly what they have done. And aiding in this is a band of doctors, clergymen, mothers, fathers, and institutions, conniving and plotting and having a hand in the killing of an absolutely helpless child, all in the name of virtue and purity, for the sake of saving somebody’s home.

We cannot believe that the particular city investigated by this commission is worse than many others, and we refer to the finding of this commission only to point the lesson as to the conditions which exist in the world, the conditions which the Scriptures of Truth declare will exist just before the coming of the Lord. It is a sad commentary upon twentieth-century civilization that much of this crime is legalized and carried on under protection of the law. It becomes, however, none the less reprehensible or odious in the sight of God.

Cooking, and Food Combinations

GEORGE E. CORNFORTH, for years chef for the New England Sanitarium, has completed a series of scientific studies on cooking, and the proper combinations of foods—the simplest, most instructive, and really valuable lessons ever given in any of our health publications.

Knowing these lessons are needed by all, and believing they will be wanted by many of our people when attention has been called to them, arrangements have been made for publishing the full series in pamphlet form to be given to all who send $1 for Life and Health for one full year. The lessons alone are worth more than one dollar. When adopted in the home, they result not only in economy, but health, which is of greater value than much money.

These lessons do not advocate an impoverished or one-sided diet, as any one who has had the privilege of partaking of the author's meals will testify. Mr. Cornforth is a skilful cook and a liberal provider, believing that there is sound sense and real health in the intelligent application of the principles which have been given to us.

If some have looked at the health message as something of a reproach, let them make a careful study of these lessons, and carry out the principles on their tables, and they will be delighted, not only with the menu provided, but with the results in improved health.

An Apt Illustration

ONE of the missionaries in South Africa drew a very apt lesson from a common experience with the tall grass and fire in that region. He says: “During the dry season the natives burn off the grass. In some places great patches are burned clean, while in other parts some of the stalks of grass remain after the fire has passed through it. This impressed me how it will be with us, and is even now. The fiery trials burn out all that is not alive. The grass that had life in the stem was spared; so all in the church who have the Spirit of Christ in their hearts will be kept alive and remain standing, while those who have lost the Spirit, and are practically dead, will be consumed.”

“Always Very Interesting”

By W. E. Gerald

“I THINK Life and Health is being superbly edited. Where you get so many good things and keep up a variety, is a mystery. I have heard the remark in bygone days that you went over the same round every year in this magazine. Whether this is true or not I do not know, for I have not followed quite closely enough to notice that point; but I do know that it is always very interesting reading, and attractive enough to make an excellent seller.”—W. E. Gerald.

The Promise of His Coming

By L. L. C.

The Second Advent — No. 1

The Promise of His Coming

God’s people in all ages have been believers in the final establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. The doctrine of the second advent is a Biblical doctrine. As one writer well says,—

You cannot unthread this doctrine out of the Sacred Book, and have a living Word left. As well unthread the nerves out of the body, and have a living organism left. And you cannot unthread it out of the faith of the church without driving the knife to the heart of thousands of its godliest confessors. Say what men may, one thing stands well attested through the ages, that wherever this belief in the Lord’s literal return has gotten possession of men’s hearts, it has invariably exalted the authority of the Word of God, emphasized all the doctrines of grace, lifted high the cross of Christ, exalted the person and work of the Spirit, intensified prayer, enlarged beneficence, separated believers from the world, and set them zealously at work for the salvation of men.

At his first advent when about to “leave the world, and go to the Father,” Christ promised his disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 2, 3. When he was brought before the high priest and adjured to declare whether he were the Christ, the Son of God, he said: “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Matt. 26: 64. Thus witness was borne even to the unbelieving Jews of the certainty of Christ’s return.

Later, after the ascension, the angels that appeared to the disconsolate disciples again bore witness to the second advent in these words: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 11.

Paul, the agent used by God in writing a large share of the New Testament, links together the redemption wrought at Christ’s first advent and the restoration at his second advent.

“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9: 28.

Also in the Old Testament times we find the belief in the doctrine of the coming of Christ in glory. The promise to our first parents was that their seed should crush the serpent’s head. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, speaking prophetically, said:—

“Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 14, 15.

Abraham, while sojourning in the land of Canaan, “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11: 10.

When Job expected to die, his hope rested on a resurrection to take place at Christ’s coming:—

“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.” “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 14: 14, 15; 19: 25-27.

Daniel and all the prophets foretold the establishment by the God of heaven of a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. No phrase is more frequent in the prophetic writing than that used to describe the time of this great event—“the day of the Lord.”

“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13: 9.

“All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.” Eze. 7: 17-19.

“Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3: 13-16.

“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.” Zeph. 1: 14.

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zeph. 2: 1-3.

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 4: 1-3.

The testimony of both Old and New Testaments is so conclusive that Calvin could say truly, “The Scripture uniformly commands us to look forward with eager expectation to the coming of Christ, and defers the crown of glory that awaits until that period.”— Calvin’s “Institutes,” book 3, chap. 25.

Dr. D. L. Moody, while expressing his own belief in the “blessed doctrine,” tells of the comparative neglect it suffers in many churches:—

To my mind this precious doctrine—for such I must call it—of the return of the Lord to this earth is taught in the New Testament as clearly as any other doctrine in it; yet I was in church fifteen or sixteen years before I ever heard a sermon on it. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, but in all of Paul’s epistles I believe baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while it speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. Now, I can see a reason for this: the devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake the church so much. The moment a man takes hold of the truth that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive his followers to himself, this world loses its hold on him. Gas stocks and water stocks and stocks in banks and railroads are of very much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of his Lord, who at his coming will take him into his blessed kingdom.— “The Second Coming of Christ,” by D. L. Moody, Chicago, F. H. Revell, 1877, pages 6, 7.

This freedom from worldly interests will be the experience of the sincere believer in the Biblical promises of Christ’s second coming.

The subject of the manner of his coming must be reserved for a following article.

L. L. C.

Beginning of the Great Controversy

By W. A. S.

Satan, and the Origin of Evil

THE great controversy between good and evil, that has been waged on earth ever since man's fall, had its origin in heaven. There was rebellion against God and his government on the part of certain of the angels:—

“And there was war in heaven; and Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Rev. 12: 7-9.

Thus came the forces of evil into this earth, which have been working through all the ages to draw men from allegiance to God and to infuse into human hearts the same spirit of disobedience which wrought the ruin of the fallen angels.

The Cause of the Downfall

Christ stated the principle: “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matt. 6: 23.

The principle finds its utmost application in the great reversal, by which Lucifer, light bearer in heaven, became Satan, the adversary, the prince of darkness.

In the pride and self-exaltation of Tyre, of old, the Lord saw manifested the spirit of the god of this world; so, in declaring his message of rebuke to the prince of Tyre, the Lord describes the cause and history of Satan's fall:—

“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God. . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. . . . Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” Eze. 28: 13-17.

Likewise, in the swelling pride of Babylon, the Lord recognized the spirit of the leader of the rebellious angels. In one of the messages to Babylon, there came this reference to the vaulting ambition of Lucifer in heaven:—

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer [“day-star,” margin], son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.”

By his powers perverted, he deceived many of the angels, persuading them to join in rebellion against the government of heaven.

Then “there was war in heaven,” and Satan and all his hosts were cast out. Christ said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10: 18.

“Him the Almighty Power Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky.”

The Earth the Battle Ground

Then this earth became the battle field; and the great controversy that began in heaven now centers round man. For “that old serpent,” the leader of the fallen angels, deceived man, and persuaded him to distrust God and to choose his own way in preference to God's way. Thus came sin and death into the world. And Satan, who had overcome man, became the “prince of this world.”

But Christ gave himself to save man. The same mighty power that overcame Satan and his angels in heaven is able to overcome his power in human hearts and lives. The controversy is still between Christ and Satan, the earth the battle ground, and man's salvation or destruction the aim of the contending forces.

There is no neutral ground. Every soul must choose to which side he will yield allegiance. In this choice lies eternal destiny:—

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey: whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Rom. 6: 16.

Therefore the Lord pleads with men, “Choose life.” Every soul that chooses life has the promise of it. Christ has all power. “He is able . . . to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” Heb. 7: 25.

The Judgment upon Satan

From the time of Satan's rebellion it was assured, by the very omnipotence of God, that there would come a last judgment, when evil would be destroyed from the universe. This day of execution of the judgment upon the fallen angels is referred to by Jude:—

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Verse 6.

The evil spirits themselves know that this day is coming. When Christ was about to cast certain of them out of one possessed, they cried out to him, “Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” Matt. 8: 29.

Though the judgment of that last day was originally set for Satan and his angels, unrepentant men have part in it, because they have joined Satan in his lawless rebellion. To the wicked it will be said:—

“Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25: 41.

Satan sees that the day is hastening; and the shorter the time in which to work, the greater his fury in seeking to draw souls to perdition. The warning comes to us in these last days:—

“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Rev. 12: 12.

Christ's second coming ends the reign of Satan in this present world. The righteous are then taken to heaven, beyond the reach of Satan's arts. 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. The wicked are slain by the consuming glory of Christ's coming. 2 Thess. 2: 8. Satan and his angels are thus left upon an earth devoid of human beings. He is chained to this pit of desolation for a thousand years. Rev. 20: 2, 5.

By the second resurrection—that of the wicked dead, after the thousand years—Satan is again set free to ply his arts upon his subjects. As the holy city comes down out of heaven from God, with all the saints, Satan gathers his angels, and all the forces of the lost of all the ages, to make an assault upon the city. The result was shown the prophet in vision:—

“And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20: 9, 10.

That is the fate awaiting the author of sin. In the description of Satan's

pride and self-exaltation, uttered by the prophet in the message to Tyre, there occurs also the prophecy of this utter destruction that awaits him, when he shall bring his forces against the city of God in that last conflict:—

“And I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” Eze. 28: 18, 19.

It is the final victory of Christ over evil, in the great controversy that began in heaven. Satan exalted himself—and lost. Christ humbled himself, even unto the death—and won the eternal triumph: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Heb. 2: 14. W. A. S.

The Second Coming of Christ

By F. M. W.

It is interesting to note the increasing agitation which is going on in religious circles regarding the proximity of the second advent. This has been particularly marked since the beginning of the war in the Eastern world. Much of the discussion of course is based on a very superficial knowledge of the Bible, and is very far from representing the teaching of the Scriptures. It is the more gratifying, therefore, to find in Home Life for the month of January, an article on this subject from J. Wilbur Chapman, D. D., which very clearly represents the Scriptural view. With two slight omissions where in our judgment Dr. Chapman wanders from the teachings of the Word, we take pleasure in reproducing his article entire, as it appeared in that journal:—

When St. Paul wrote his epistle to the Corinthians, he said: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” and now that St. John is writing his epistles, he is expressing the wish that he might be so faithful to Jesus Christ and to his teaching that he would not be ashamed before him at his coming. See 1 John 2: 28.

The second coming of Christ is one of the most important and inspiring subjects presented in all the Bible, and at this particular time it is proper that we should study the subject carefully. There are many persons who believe that we are approaching the last times, if indeed we are not already in them, and that there are the clearest indications that we may at no far distant date find him coming for his saints. It has been said that this subject has been mentioned no less than 385 times in the New Testament, but this would include the Revelation, and I do not refer to the verses in this book because of its entirely prophetic character. But the second coming of Christ is mentioned forty-eight times in the Gospels, nine times in the Acts, seventy-four times in the Epistles, making a total of one hundred and thirty-one, and as a matter of fact, taking the New Testament as a whole, one verse in twenty-five refers to this great event.

We make very much of baptism and rightly so, but St. Paul says far more about the Lord’s return than about this great doctrine. More is said concerning his return than concerning his deity. He must have meant exactly what he said, when he declared that he was coming back. Some have said that his second coming means death, or that he came at the destruction of Jerusalem, or on the day of Pentecost, or that he will come at the end of the world; but if you take the verses referring to his second coming and insert the word “death,” or the words which have to do with the great events I have mentioned, in the place of the expressions which tell of his coming again, these scriptures will all lose their meaning.

The Bible is very plain and explicit concerning this great day, as for example, Acts 1: 11: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” I have always been interested in the remark of a little girl who said: “If Jesus did not mean what he said, why did he not say what he meant?” and I can imagine one who has been indifferent to the Lord’s return meeting him, and having the Master say to him, “But did I not say that I was coming back?” and the indifferent one replying, “Yes, but I thought—,” and before this sentence could be finished, I can quite imagine that one standing before him would be exceedingly ashamed.

As a matter of fact, the evangelical denominations are agreed as to his coming back again, but in the manner of his coming, and the time, and the attendant circumstances concerning these things we differ. It is not my purpose in my message to take up the disputed points. I shall not discuss the question as to whether the church is to pass through what is known as the “tribulation,” but I shall certainly strive to make it plain that he is coming back, and that he may come soon.

To me it is not a matter for argument; certainly it is not a question to divide Christians. I have always been much impressed with the words of St. Paul in 1 Thess. 4: 18, where he says, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” To me the doctrine is a great comfort and a great cause for cheer.

His coming personal. Heb. 9: 28: “Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” He, himself, is coming back, this same Jesus whom children loved and men and women adored, and we shall see him, O glorious day!

His coming visible. Rev. 1: 7: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Some day the skies will brighten beyond the brightness of the sun, and we shall see him face to face; and then, when we remember the words of the prophet, that he is the chiefest among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely, we shall realize how inadequately language describes him. O wonderful vision!

I should like to tell you why I believe as I do. I did not always hold to this precious doctrine. I did not think it made any difference to me as a preacher. I knew that many people had advocated this truth, and had become extremely fanatical; but the following, when I became thoughtful, made a deep impression upon me:—

1. I came in contact in my study and observation with some of the great men of the church. I read John Wesley closely, and found that this was his belief and the inspiration of his preaching. I became familiar with the teaching of John Calvin, and was inspired when I found that he, too, was looking for the Lord. Charles H. Spurgeon, the greatest preacher of his day, stood in the same class. D. L. Moody never lost an opportunity to declare his belief in the second coming of Christ; while Dr. A. J. Gordon of Boston inspired me beyond measure in his messages concerning the second coming. I found that God had used or was using these men in a great way, and soon I came to accept this truth, which revolutionized my thinking, increased my love for the Bible, and helped me to be truer to humanity and to Christ.

2. I was always troubled about the question of the judgment. I could not understand how there could be a general judgment, and all who hold to the second coming of Christ believe that there are many judgments, as, for example, the judgment of the cross, where the sin question is settled; the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5: 10), where Christians are judged for the way they have used their time and talents; the judgment of the nations (Matt. 5: 22), where there is nothing spoken of the dead, but all of the living; and the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20: 11-15), where there are no living, but only the dead stand before God.

3. The world didn’t seem to me to be growing better, but rather worse. The two views held by the church may be described as follows: First, the postmillennial, i. e., the world will grow better and better, until at last the millennium will be ushered in, and then the Lord will come; second, the premillennial view, i. e., the world will not grow better until Christ himself comes, and he will usher in the thousand years of peace. My view is the premillennial. Surely no one could look upon the world at war today and say the world is getting better. I think I should be utterly discouraged did I not believe that all these wrongs could be righted by the return of Jesus. Read Second Timothy, second [third] chapter, the first five verses, and you will find a description of these days. . . .

The Time

No one knows when he is to come; it may be soon, but I beseech you be ready for his coming; God pity you if you are not.

The attending circumstances. Read 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. When he comes, the tombs of the righteous dead shall be opened, and our loved ones shall be caught up to meet him in the air,—your mother and mine, your child and mine; then we which are alive shall be taken up. We sometimes speak of a thing as being as sure as death, but death is not sure.

“O joy, O delight, should we go without dying, No sickness, no sadness, no dread, and no crying; Caught up through the clouds with our Lord into glory, When Jesus returns for his own.” . . . The times in which we live are exceedingly

serious; the wars and rumors of wars startle us from day to day. Surely we are facing a world crisis of some sort. I would suggest that all Christian people give themselves most diligently to the study of the prophecy. As for myself I have not the slightest question but that we are approaching the last days. I do not mean that Jesus may come today or tomorrow; it may be that he will delay his appearing; but surely these great events, the like of which the world has never known, ought to make us very serious, and ought to impel us to turn away from frivolity and sin, and seek in every way to please him, lest we be ashamed at his coming.

The minds of men have been mightily stirred during the last few months as to the portent of things which are now taking place on the earth. This is in God’s order, and affords us an opportunity to give to these inquirers a knowledge as to the time in which we are living and the meaning of these startling events. Mordecai told Esther that God had brought her to the kingdom for just such a crisis as arose in her experience. We verily believe that God has given us a knowledge of the truth for this time that we may spread it abroad. Let us be faithful to the trust reposed in us. Let us seek by every consistent means in our power, by the circulation of literature, by cottage meetings, by Bible studies, and by personal labor, to give our fellows a knowledge of the truth of God especially applicable to the times in which we live. Failing in this, we shall be recreant to our trust. Engaging in this labor, we may become workers together with God in the salvation of a lost world.

F. M. W.

“The World on Fire”

By G. B. T.

THE evening of Jan. 29, 1916, the President of the United States, speaking at Cleveland, Ohio, uttered what we believe to be the most solemn warning and startling statements regarding the critical times in which we find ourselves that have fallen from the lips of any ruler. From a summary given in the Washington Post of January 30, under the heading “Nation on Brink of Crisis,” we take the following:—

The world is on fire.

Sparks are likely to drop anywhere.

Things are getting more and more difficult to handle.

If all could see the dispatches I read every hour, they would know how difficult it has been to maintain peace.

New circumstances have arisen for which the country must prepare itself.

There are men all over the United States prepared, equipped and ready, to go out at the call of the national government upon the shortest possible notice.

You will ask me, Why do you say the shortest possible notice?

Because, gentlemen, let me tell you very solemnly you cannot afford to postpone this thing. I do not know what a single day may bring forth.

I do not wish to leave you with the impression that I am thinking of some particular danger. I merely want to leave you with this solemn impression that I know that we are daily treading amidst the most intricate dangers, and that the dangers that we are treading amongst are not of our making and are not under our control; and that no man in the United States knows what a single week or a single day or a single hour may bring forth.

These are solemn things to say to you, but I would be unworthy of my office if I did not come out and tell you with absolute frankness just exactly what I understand the situation to be.

Such solemn statements spoken by the nation’s chief executive, spoken by a man who knows what he is talking about and who is taking the people into his confidence, are worthy of the most sober consideration by the nation and the world. Solemnly and earnestly he tells us that the world is in a blaze of war, the sparks of which may fall on our land at any time.

Bishop Newman in 1898 was reported to have said:—

We are now passing through the most unsettled condition of the whole world since the crucifixion of Christ.

And whatever cause it is that touches the first match to the fuse, no human power can foretell in what countries that fuse may lead to an international explosion.

We are surely living amid perilous times. We know not when there will be an international explosion involving this country. The day of trouble is upon us; the great day of God hasteth greatly. We must send forth the warning, and prepare our hearts for that day.

G. B. T.

“Is the Church Going Backward?”

By Francis McLellan Wilcox

THIS is the question which Rev. Charles Stelzle, of social service fame, raises in the Independent for Jan. 24, 1916. Dr. Stelzle feels that when the Federal Council of Churches, representing thirty Protestant denominations, adopted its social service platform seven years ago, it was regarded as a great step forward; and that the statement of what it proposed to do in behalf of social reform brought joy to the hearts of many social workers and workingmen in general. He feels, however, that from motives of self-preservation the council is receding from its position.

It seems as though the Federal Council were determined to take a backward step in its social program, for the sole purpose of retaining within its organization the denominational groups which for various reasons cannot cooperate in helping to secure social justice through legislation.

He believes that this retrograding influence which is at work in the council will not meet the minds of thousands of men and women in the churches who are looking for reforms through the influence which the federation can bring to bear upon legislators. If the Federal Council declines to speak in the name of the churches in regard to these various questions involved in the social service program, he inquires where the religious body may be found to which the legislators and statesmen may look for guidance in social matters. He feels that it is not a question of the church interfering in politics for its own benefit, but that it is a matter of making a fight in behalf of helpless men and women.

We believe that the church of Christ should stand ready to lend a helping hand to the helpless and downtrodden in every possible way, but the divine Word has left us an example of how this service should be rendered. We find Christ heading no party in order to influence legislation. He stated emphatically that his kingdom was not of this world. On the other hand, he sought by every means in his power to minister comfort to the sorrowing, to relieve the distress of the needy, and to be a strong, uplifting factor in social life as well as in personal experience. This is the model of work for the church of God today.

For some time some of the churches represented in the Federal Council, notably the Southern Presbyterian, have protested against the tendency on the part of the council to mix with politics. If the Federal Council is heeding some of these admonitions, the step is not a backward one, but an advance. We cannot hope, however, that this reaction will prove permanently lasting, for the reason that the whole tendency of the federation is toward political methods and political affiliation. We are heartily in favor of some of the objects for which the federation stands, but the methods by which they are seeking to obtain these objects should meet with the condemnation of every one who clearly recognizes the line of distinction between the province of the church and the province of the state.

F. M. W.

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