Signs of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 28. (7/9/1902)

Signs of the Times

Jul 9, 1902

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 9, 1902

Shakespeare’s Stratford

In the center of beautiful green England rises the River Avon, which, flowing south-westerly through the county of Warwick, empties its waters into the Severn. In the southwest part of Warwickshire, situated upon the Avon, is the little town of Stratford,—Stratford-on-Avon,—famous the wide world over as the birthplace and home of one of the very greatest of English poets, Shakespeare. Here is the house where the poet was born, the house in which he lived, now a national property and suitably restored, and his tomb. The house within preserves its 16th-century character, and an interesting museum has been founded there.

In quaint old Stratford the poet first saw light April 23, 1564. His father belonged to the yoeman class, and was by trade a glover. He was evidently a man of worth of character. His mother was a woman of some property, education, and refinement. Shakespeare's principal school education seems to have been largely obtained at the free grammar school in Stratford before he reached the age of fourteen, for at that time he left school. But he seems to have improved his time in getting a fair knowledge of English, and to some extent at least of Greek and Latin. For five years he probably worked at what he could, reverses having come to his father in business. At nineteen he was married to a woman, Anne Hathaway by name, eight years his senior. At twenty-two he went to London, where his writing and dramatization of plays began. The latter part of his life he lived at Stratford-on-Avon. He possessed some of the vices of his time, but was known also as a man of generosity and nobleness of character. He was called among literary contemporaries "Gentle Will."

STRATFORD-ON-AVON, THE BIRTHPLACE OF SHAKESPEARE.

Of his works it is superfluous to speak. They form a wonderful treasury of trite apothegms, maxims, short and pithy sayings, revealing remarkable knowledge of human nature. Because of this he is quoted more largely than any other author. While filled with moral precepts, it can not be said that his remarkable genius has brought the world much if any nearer heaven than it found it; for the morality found in his works is largely counteracted by the coarseness, vulgarity, and lewdness they contain. Much of this is doubtless due to the environments in which his poems were written, to their purpose to portray and please human nature, and to the way in which the age expressed itself. He has ministered much to the pleasure and entertainment of the world, but little to its true edification. According to Mr. Ward, a vicar of Stratford, he died as the result of a fever after a convivial feast with kindred friends, at which the vicar tells us, "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Johnson, had a merry meeting, and drank too hard." Thus closed the career of this brilliant man at the early age of fifty-three.

And yet God has used the remarkable genius He gave William Shakespeare, altho it was not consecrated to Him. It is good to recall that the sayings of Shakespeare used most are generally of a moral and philosophic character. Besides this, he has kept alive the good old Anglo-Saxon tongue. It has been said at times that the common version and also the Revised Version of our Bible is the language of three hundred years ago; but the English of three hundred years ago, with the modifications which have been met in the above versions, is the best English to-day. Among the Bible readers that Book has kept alive and current the simplest, the strongest, the best of English; and among another class of non-Bible readers, a class of strong writers, among

the chief of which is Shakespeare, have performed the same office. The Bible therefore still speaks the language of the common people, with rare exceptions so sweetly and clearly that the child can understand its blessed words of life.

WHOLE-HEARTED SERVICE.

By Ellen G. White

CHRIST says, "He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad." He calls for whole-hearted, fearless disciples,—men and women who are ready to do and dare for Him, ready to follow wherever He leads the way. This requires thorough conversion. Half-converted men make half-hearted Christians. They are fruitless trees. On them Christ looks in vain for fruit; He finds nothing but leaves.

Many, by the half-hearted, careless way in which they do their work, say to the Master, "I pray Thee have me excused." Thousands would unite with Christ if they could do this without denying self. If Christ and self could be served at the same time, a large number would join the ranks of those who are journeying heavenward. But it is not for such as these that Jesus calls. His cause does not need such adherents.

Christ's true followers use their knowledge to make others the recipients of His grace. With their lamps filled with holy oil, they go forth to give light to those in darkness. Such workers see many souls turning to the Lord. New truths continually unfold to them, and as they receive, they impart.

Those for whom the fetters of sin have been broken, who have sought the Lord with brokenness of heart, and have obtained answer to their yearning requests for righteousness, are never cold and spiritless. They realize that they have a part to act in the work of soul-saving. They watch and pray and work for the salvation of souls. Moulded and fashioned by the Holy Spirit, they gain depth and breadth and stability of Christian character. They gain enduring spiritual happiness. Walking in Christ's footsteps, they become identified with Him in His self-sacrificing plans. Such Christians are not cold and unimpressible. Their hearts are filled with unselfish love for sinners. They put away from them all worldly ambition, all self-seeking. Contact with the deep things of God makes them more and more like their Saviour. They exult in His triumphs; they are filled with His joy. Day by day they are growing up to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus.

Christ hates sin. From Him evil met with stern rebuke. But while He hates sin, He loves the sinner. Laying aside His riches and glory, He came to this earth to seek for us, sinful, erring, unhappy, that He might lead us to heaven. He humbled Himself, and took upon Him our nature, that He might make us like Himself, pure and upright, free from defilement. He suffered more than any of you will ever be called to suffer. He gave His all for you. What have you given for Him?

According to the Talents Entrusted to You

will be the returns required by the Master. What have you done to persuade sinners to believe in Christ? All around you, in sin and degradation, are those for whom Christ died, that they might be pure, holy, sinless. What are you doing for them? Has your life been filled with good works? Have you sowed in the hearts of those with whom you are brought in contact, seeds that will spring up to bear fruit unto righteousness?

When we sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn from Him to be meek and lowly in heart, He can impart to us His treasures of truth, knowing that we shall be wise workers. Not until Christ's life is a vitalizing power in our lives can we be strong to resist the temptations that assail us from within and from without. We need to press close to the side of Christ. We need to be sure that we are wearing His yoke of restraint and obedience. Then we shall be safe, because we are on the Lord's side. His truth is in our hearts, and we find His yoke easy and His burden light. We are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. But without Christ's strength we shall bend like the willow at every breath of criticism. Nothing but His power can make us and keep us true and steadfast. No one can stand firm who does not cherish in His heart the truth of God.

We are God's servants, and we are to be workers together with Him, doing His work in His way, that all with whom we come in contact may see that we not only talk of self-denial, but that we bring it into our lives.

There is to be in our service no taint of self-seeking. "Ye can not serve God and mammon." Lift Him up, the Man of Calvary. Lift Him up by living faith in God, that your prayers may prevail. Do we realize how near Jesus will come to us? He is speaking to us individually. He will reveal Himself to every one who is willing to be clothed with the robe of His righteousness. He declares, "I am He that holdeth thy right hand." Let us place ourselves where He can hold us by the hand, where we can hear Him saying with assurance and authority, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore."

All Are Being Tested and Tried.

By the way in which we do the work Christ has given us to do in His absence, we decide our future destiny. Many neglect their God-given work. They refuse to be God's helping hand. Let us fear to fall short of God's plan for us. His servants are to be ever on duty, working always for the uplifting of those for whom He gave His life.

Christ, the Master of the household, has gone to prepare for us mansions in the heavenly city. We are waiting for His return. Let us honor Him in His absence by doing with faithfulness the work He has placed in our hands. Waiting, watching, working, we are to prepare for His return. If we are faithful, if we serve Him with full purpose of heart, He will receive us with the gracious words, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." He will receive us with honor. To us will be given a crown of glory that fadeth not away, and a new name, "which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." Those who follow Christ here will one day "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."

God calls. Do you hear His voice? He calls for earnest, whole-hearted workers. Will you hear, and, denying self, take up the cross and follow Him? Those who refuse, giving themselves up to love of ease and self-seeking, suffer an eternal loss. MRS. E. G. WHITE.

OUR FATHER'S PROMISES.

By J. Louisa Ireland

"A PROMISE," says Webster, is a "declaration which gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or claim the performance or forbearance of the act." The promises of God are given to us that we might claim the performance of them at His hand. We have a right to expect Him to fulfil them, because for this very purpose He gave them to us. We did not ask God to make us these promises; they have been given unsolicited, freely, of His own accord. He saw our need, and desired to supply us abundantly; yet He would not force upon us that which we might not want. So in promises God tells what He is willing and anxious to do for us, and then leaves it with us to receive or reject His free gifts. If we desire to have that which He desires to give, we have but to come into His presence, present the promise, and receive the substance.

It would be an utter impossibility for one of them to fail in any particular, for Jesus is the surety of every promise. "All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen." We can fail through doubt and unbelief to appropriate the promises; but God's words are truth, and are as sure as the recurrence of day and night. "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

"Exceeding great and precious promises" are given unto us, that we "might be partakers of the divine nature," and thus escape "the corruption that is in the world through lust." To all who have need, to those who realize that they are lacking, to the weak, the faulty, the erring, the words of promise are addressed, "My God shall supply all your need," so the numerous promises are made to meet the needs as varying circumstances make them known. So full and so complete are they, that the individual who takes from God the fulfilment of them will escape the corruption that is in the world. Through these promises the needy ones will be enabled to stand faultless before the throne of God, "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."

We are all by nature sinners. We know we do wrong, even when desiring and striving to do right. This failure to meet our conceptions of right causes us to loathe ourselves; and the consciousness of our sinful condition becomes a heavy load upon our hearts. In this helpless

state we feel like saying, "There is no use in trying; I can not do right;" yet we hardly consent to give up entirely. In such an hour we long for help, and, turning to God's Word, we find a precious message for us in this our time of need: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Are we worthy of forgiveness?—No. Have we any right to expect God to forgive?—Yes; this promise is our right, our claim upon Him. He gave it to us because He wants to forgive and cleanse us. But if we as sinners will not accept the forgiveness held out to us in this promise, then how can God reach us with forgiveness and cleansing? But taking Him at His word, confessing our sins, He does forgive, and the load of guilt is removed.

In gratitude to Him we are now more desirous than ever before of doing right. We remember how hard we tried, and how miserably we failed. Must we repeat over and over that experience of trying and failing? What are God's words and promises for this occasion? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." A sinner can not change himself, no matter how hard he may try. God's promise to the sinner is—

"I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." "I will also save you from all your un-cleanness." "Sin shall not have dominion over you;" "for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made" you "free from the law of sin and death."

Could a promise of deliverance be more full than this? Can God fail to keep His word when we come to Him claiming that which these promises hold out to us? Will He fail as we rest in full assurance upon these words?—No; by no means. He will save to the uttermost. Salvation is of God. We can not save ourselves. We can only let Him accomplish in us that which He has promised.

Then considering God's promises to us of strength and endurance when we are clothed with utter weakness; the promises of peace and rest for us in the midst of strife and commotion; the promises of quietness and confidence when disturbances abound on every hand; the words of courage when all is discouraging; the triumphant promises of victory for us in the face of seeming defeat,—considering these, who can refuse to bow in the presence of Him who would do for us "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," and pray: "Lord, be it unto me according to Thy word; do with me as seemeth good in Thy sight; make me a praise to the glory of Thy grace, for great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints."

J. LOUISA IRELAND.

Building Toward Heaven

By Beecher

MANY build as cathedrals were built,—the part nearest the ground finished, but that part which soars toward heaven, the turrets and spires, forever incomplete.

Childlike Trust in God

By N. A. Staples

O, THAT cheerful, childlike trust which believes that whatever storms shake earth or heaven, the everlasting pillars are not shaken.

CONVERSION.

By Ella Cornish

O God, I am undone; for I have seen Thy righteousness, and know that I am vile, Unjust, impure, condemned, by sin, to death. But, O my God, forgiveness is with Thee; For Thou art merciful, compassionate, And very slow to anger. O my God, Forgive my sin, I pray; cleanse Thou my guilt, And work in me Thy works of truth and love; No merit to Thy favor can I claim; I ask it only in my Saviour's name.

O wondrous change, O mighty miracle! That I, once dead in trespasses and sin, Am now alive in Christ to righteousness; Yea, more, my life is hid with God in Him, And naught can separate me from His love. In tribulation, famine, and distress, In trials, mockings, bonds, imprisonments, In life or death, things present or to come, I'm more than conqueror through Christ my Lord. Asylum, Neb. ELLA CORNISH.

The Coming of the Lord

By L. A. Phippeny

THE HOPE OF THE AGES.

GOD forgives! It was a momentous event when Adam and Eve surrendered their sovereignty to Satan. Was it less significant when the sorrowing and repentant couple were forgiven for their disloyalty, and received a promise of ultimate restoration, with all their descendants who should prove loyal to God?

Thenceforward the whole course of existence for the human race was changed. Life was not to be endless length of days and unalloyed pleasure; it was to mean hardship, sorrow, pain, and the shadow of death. But from eternity, infinite Wisdom was prepared for the emergency, and infinite Love came now to the opportunity for the fullest manifestation. On the spot, in the presence of holy and fallen angels and fallen human beings, was the marvelous statement made to the usurper: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel."

Wonderful and mysterious promise! Somewhere, somehow, somewhen in "the fulness of time," the seed of the woman,—one from among many,—was to bring deliverance, and the head of the serpent would be bruised unto death. In the midst of the sudden gloom and darkness there appears a ray of hope. And so generation succeeded generation, and age followed age, and in field and forest, in nature's festooned dwelling, in palace and world's mart, from lip to lip passed the promise vital with the Spirit of Him who gave it, cherished deep in the innermost heart by some, wondered at by others, laughed to scorn by the many.

The sons of God and the children of men they were called in ancient days,—those who called upon the name of God and feared Him (Gen. 4:26), and those who were conformed to the character of the enemy, and obeyed him. And so the good and the evil developed side by side, and righteous men looked with longing eyes into the uncertain future, hoping and praying for the appearing of the promised Deliverer. Early in the world's history, even at the threshold of Eden, was inaugurated the significant ceremonial offering with shedding of blood, speaking in red types of One to come whose life's blood should be poured out as an expiation of the act that spread a veil over all nations. Just men lived and died, testifying of a power that even from Eden redeemed from sin and kept from sinning; prophets foretold events to come to pass even in remote ages, and preachers of righteousness rebuked ungodly generations for their ungodly deeds, and warned the world that then was of an impending destruction.

The first age passed, and a new age was inaugurated; but the promise that had buoyed the hopes of the faithful endured, and cheered the hearts of the few who remained of the seed of the woman. And the earth came gradually to be populated again, and the evil developed with the good. Some there were whose spirits were grieved because of the wickedness that was so abundant, and who longed for the spread of righteousness. Among these was Abram, whom God called from among idolaters, because He saw in him the elements of a faithful character. Him God chose and separated from his native land, that through him the knowledge of God and the promises of the Redeemer might be kept pure. Wonderful were the promises made this man from Chaldea:

"Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." And again "the Lord said unto Abram, . . . All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth."

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness."

A new name the Lord gave him,—Abraham, father of many nations, and again the promise came: "In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." And to Isaac, after his father was laid to rest, was repeated the significant words: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Still the promise is repeated to Jacob, in after years: "In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Not meaningless words these, but full of all the glad hope that spoke to the heart of the two penitent ones in Eden. In the seed, of the seed, there was to be One seed, the hope, the "desire of all nations."

Around the camp-fires of the Israel of old the wondrous promises and the peculiar destiny of the chosen people were repeated and dwelt upon. With prophetic eye the aged Jacob sees the future of his sons, and of Judah says: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet." But more! Again the special mission of Israel appears to his view, and the time has come in the divine plan to designate one from among twelve through whom the promised seed should come, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be."

Foretold by the Prophets.

The centuries passed, and again a prophet under the hand of God speaks these glad tidings: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and He

shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever." "Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him."

Again a voice is heard in these definite words: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, tho thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Yet again a voice speaks, this time from angel lips to the beloved Daniel: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." The time was nearing, tho still centuries away, for the dawning of a great day for the world, and it was expedient that the generations to live when the Messiah should come should know Him from the predictions of prophets and divine messengers.

But this is not all. A note of gladness is raised by the prophet Zechariah: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is just, and having salvation;" and then that the people of the King's time might know Him there follows the brief description: "Lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

A hundred years pass by, and Israel, long backslidden, listens to a message both solemn and glad,—solemn for the backslidden, glad for the faithful,—a message of double application, but applying for the time: "The burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. . . . Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts."

The long-looked-for seed was near to be revealed. Something momentous was soon to occur. Is it enough to say for the present that the event, whatever it might develop, was awaited with longing by a few among men, with anxiety and determination by the hosts of evil angels, with intense interest and exalted confidence by the legions of holy angels and unnumbered worlds beyond?

THIS SAME JESUS... SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN

The Spirit and Work of Christ

By Ellen G. White

THOSE who believe in Christ will reveal the same spirit that Christ revealed. Converted to God, made partakers of the spirit and love of the Saviour, they are set apart to do the same work that He did on this earth. They lose their identity in Christ, becoming one with Him. By searching the Word of God diligently, receiving it as the leaves of the tree of life, they gain a knowledge of the plan of salvation. They learn from Jesus how to work successfully for others.—Mrs. E. G. White.

THE LOVE OF GOD.

By Kathrina B. Wilcox

NEVER, upon this sinful earth, can we fully appreciate the boundlessness of God's love toward us. The dewy freshness of the green grasses, the sweet warblings of the wild birds in the leafy trees, the cooing of the doves, the fragrance of the blooming flowers, the opening buds, the murmuring of the pines, the merry song of the babbling brooklets, the tinkling of the sparkling fountains, the gentle kiss of the evening zephyrs, the glorious majesty of the shining sun, the quiet stillness of the starlit sky, the soft radiance of the silver moonbeams, all tell of the love of God to us. All Nature rejoices in the wonderful wisdom works of her Creator. The love of God and Christ toward us is as incomprehensible as the innumerable number of starry gems that glitter in the azure blue, and as far-reaching as the space about us are its unfathomable depths. Eternity itself can never reveal it in its fulness. "Yea," says God, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." KATHRINA B. WILCOX.

THE MISSION OF INFIRMITIES.

By William Samuel Sadler

"OF myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For tho I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth; but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." Few men pass through the experience that Paul passed through; hence few men are subject to greater temptations than Paul was. Therefore, also, few men have to guard themselves, or be guarded by God, more carefully than Paul.

Paul, who went about persecuting the Christians, the man who had been transformed in a moment,—this same character had been exalted to the great position of being the first apostle to the Gentiles. He had ushered in, as it were, the new era when the Gentiles would have equal rights with the Jews. Yet such dangers beset him in the realm of spiritual exaltation that he represents himself as waging a continual spiritual and physical warfare against these temptations, lest, after preaching the Gospel to others, he himself should be a castaway.

Paul's peace was acquired by faith in a time when, according to appearances, he had no peace, so he always had peace. He reckoned his happiness unto himself; and therefore was always happy. Paul was a man who had little difficulty with himself, because he had learned to reckon himself dead; and so he was always dead unto himself. Paul's personal experience led him to write one of the deepest books of the Bible, and it was an experience that he always enjoyed when in the face of the besetments that stood before him.

The life of Paul stands as a triumphant example of what the Gospel of reckoning can do for a man. To reckon one's self dead unto sin and alive unto Christ is the soul and substance of the whole Gospel. There are two things people can not do who reckon themselves dead unto sin. Dead people do not fight God, or attempt to save themselves by their own works. When I die and am buried, you can go to the graveyard and say all kinds of things about me, and I wont rise up and make trouble for you about it. The same is true of the man who reckons himself to be dead unto sin. The Christian who is really dead unto sin treads a pathway high above the world. He has a connection with the world below to enable him to lift men up to his level, but the world has no power to draw him down. So you and I should reach such a high pinnacle of truth and righteousness that the world can not draw us down; at the same time we should have power to lift the men of earth up.

"Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure." Mortification is God's process of taking care of dead things. There are two ways of getting rid of dead things,—burying them under ground, or leaving them on top of the ground to putrefy. We have no record that Paul was ever tempted to persecute or kill the saints after his conversion. That was the part of Paul's old self that God buried beneath the ground; but there were other things in his character which God did not bury out of sight. Likewise in our lives and experiences the Lord will put some things out of sight, but others will be left a putrefying mass, becoming more and more obnoxious to us, until the whole thing is finally destroyed.

Paul discovered that there was a part of his old self left above the ground, to mortify in his sight and the sight of others. But only that portion of our old dead self is left in sight which can accomplish something for the glory of God or the developing of our character. The rest is laid beneath the sod, and we shall never meet it again.

If it were best for us to be divested of these things in a moment, the Lord would so order it. It is because of all these experiences that we go through down here that we shall be able to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb in the next world.

"For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee." These things were left in Paul that he might see that, altho he had been to the third heaven, there was still some more reckoning to be done on his part, otherwise he would have received the idea that he was perfect when he was not.

"My grace is sufficient for thee." When you have to get this new life by grace, and know in your heart that it is from God, there will be no danger of backsliding. "For My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Have we come to the place where we can say with Paul, "I am glad this is so"? Have you applied to the courts of heaven for a divorce from that old self to whom you were formerly married? Do you glory in the death and mortification of that sinful self, because it is the pledge, the evidence, that you have been wedded anew and now live with Christ? That is why He calls us out of the world, that we may not be of the world. We must be dead to self before we can live with Christ. W. S. SADLER.

NATURE'S GOD.

By John Wm. Stein

[Read and ponder well.]

GOD is Life, then in Him we live, All thy blessings He doth give. He thy great Creator is; By redemption thou art His. He is Health, in Him be well; He's a Stronghold, in Him dwell; A Defense, in Him abide; He is Love, in Him confide; He's a Refuge, to Him flee; He is Light, then in Him see; He is Wisdom, to Him turn; He is Truth, then of Him learn; Thy Preserver to the end, Thou mayest know in Him thy Friend. He's a Father, be His child; He's the King, be reconciled; When He doth the sceptre give, Gladly come and touch and live; Whoso on the Son believes, Everlasting life receives. Every word He speaks is food; In Him "all things work for good." Spurning Him, we soon must be Like the barren, withered tree, Fit for naught but to be turned Into dust and ashes—burned.

Kalamazoo, Mich. JOHN WM. STEIN.

THE DREAM OF PILATE'S WIFE.

By Edwin Markham

[Edwin Markham, in Success.]

"When he was set down on the judgment-seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." Matt. 27:19, 24.

You can not wash your hands of this: that crimson would defy The many waters of the sea, the cisterns of the sky. His blood will be upon your name; nor years can wash it white— Not till the leaping seas shall wash the great stars from the night. You say the Galilean only dreams a foolish dream, That He is but an idle leaf upon an idle stream; No, He is the Man of the People, hated by scribe and priest; He is the fear at the temple door, the specter at the feast. Shall the whispering house of Annas draw down upon your head The hatred of the future and the shadow of the dead? Why palter with this priestly crew? They hold a long intent: When the wheels of the street have pity will the hearts of the priests relent You say you fear Tiberius—you fear the roar of Rome; But this Man is to Caesar as a sea-rock is to foam. Whoever turns from this Man's truth, he takes the thorns for bed; He plows the seas for gardens, and he sows the sand for bread. O, let the Galilean go, strike off His cruel bond; Behold that fathomless silence and those eyes that look beyond. There's more than mortal in that face,—than earthly in this hour; The fate that now is in the bud will soon be in the flower. O Pilate, I have suffered many things in dream to-day, Because of this strange Teacher of the straight and mystic way;

I saw Him hanging on a cross where the stones of Golgoth are, Then laid, at last, in a guarded tomb, under the evening star. I saw Him rise again one dawn and down a garden go, Shining like great Apollo white, our god of the silver bow; And then the wind of vision tore the veil of time apart, And love of Him ran greatening from camel-path to mart; His story was a wonder on the eager lips of men, The scourged Galilean walked the roads of earth again. I saw Jerusalem go down before the wrath of spears, And turn into a field of stones under the trampling years. All these fair towers and walls went down, with a great and terrible cry, While signs and portents threw on earth their shadows from the sky, Where spectral warriors strode the clouds like giant cherubim, Going to battle in the night, now glorious, now dim. Then whispers wild; the shout of crazing prophets on the street; The wail of mothers by their dead; the sound of running feet; And then the temple reddened up, and stood, a cone of flame; Then ashes, and Jerusalem had withered to a name. World-battles roared around this Man, the world's mysterious King; But over the storm of the ages I could hear the seven stars sing. Rome crumbled, and I heard a voice across the ruin laugh; A Power had risen on the world, shaking the thrones as chaff; And down the ages ran your name, a byword and a jeer; "He suffered under Pilate!" sounded ever in my ear. The deeds of some are clear forgot, but yours did breathe and live; Some are forgiven in the end, but none could you forgive.

Continue reading: SIGNS OF THE COMING KING