p. 4 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 24. (6/14/1899)

Signs of the Times

Jun 14, 1899

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 14, 1899

DENOUNCING THE PHARISEES.

By Ellen G. White

CHRIST is in the temple for the last time. He had warned the Pharisees and scribes and denounced their evil practises while at their table, invited there that they might find something whereby they might cause Him to be put to death. Now He addresses them and His disciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat." The Jewish teachers stood up to read the Scriptures, but were seated when they expounded them. As persons exalted, they supposed themselves capable of acting in the place of Moses as interpreters of the law given by God.

"All therefore," continued Christ, "whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for they say [when teaching the law from the Scriptures], and do not." They did not bring their own works into accordance with the written Word. They enjoined upon others what they were to do, but their own teaching they did not practise. "For they bind heavy burdens [of requirements and exactions] and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen of men; they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogs, and greetings in the market-places, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." Whatsoever good thing they do, whatever zeal they show, is not that they may obey and honor God, but to gain approval and respect for themselves, that others may think them pious and holy. Their phylacteries were strips of parchment, with scriptures written upon them, and were worn upon the wrists, the forehead, and the arms. But all this outward appearance of piety was, through their spiritual pride, only violating both the spirit and the letter of the law.

The oft-repeated "rabbi," was very acceptable to the ear, but Jesus warned His disciples against this. He said to them, "But be ye not called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ."

By these words Christ meant that no man is to place his spiritual interest under another, as a child is guided and directed by his earthly father. This has encouraged a spirit to desire ecclesiastical superiority, which has always resulted in the injury of the men who have been trusted and addressed as "father." It confuses the sense of the sacredness of the prerogatives of God.

Of this list of sins the scribes and Pharisees were guilty; and it was for this reason that Christ denounced them. "Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men." And to the lawyers He said, "Wo unto you lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."

Knowledge is the only key that will open heaven. The inspired John declares, "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." A right knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent is eternal life to all who believe.

"Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves. . . Wo unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at [out] a gnat, and swallow a camel. Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first

that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

"Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogs, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily, I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation."

Anguish, deep and unfathomable, pressed upon the soul of Christ; and in the intense pain of unrequitted love He exclaimed, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee [not content to receive with indifference and spurning God's message sent by His servants unto thee, your enmity and hatred against God you have vented upon His messengers. You will not suffer them to live], how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing, and ye would not." The same works that ye do to My messengers whom I send, will be reflected back upon you. Refusing to be gathered, you will realize what it means to be scattered, to be the despised of all nations.

"How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye would not." Christ's representation is a most striking one. He would have gathered her children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing. He would have given them protection, they would not have been left defenseless. When the hen sees her brood is in danger, she calls them under her sheltering wings to protect them. She will resist any enemy that may approach. She will die rather than that those who have fled for protection under her sheltering wings should suffer. This will Christ do for those who fly to Him for refuge. He will gather His children together under His mediatorial wings, and there they will be safe.

MRS. E. G. WHITE.

THE LAW.

By H. W. REED.

THE fourth commandment lies in the bosom of the divine law. It is there just as the finger of the Artist carved it in the enduring slab. The ten heaven-born precepts photographed the character of the Infinite One. It can no more be destroyed, or made void, than can its Author. We know that all the efforts of man to do either will be a miserable failure.

Will not man in this take warning from the fate of Uzzah? He did not touch the sacred precepts, but only the depository of these God-given words; and for his heaven-daring sin God justly smote him that he died. This ought to serve as an everlasting warning, to those who, with impious hands, dare to touch the living oracles of God and rudely mar the photograph of God's character, by defacing one or all of them.

Since the ark that concealed the perfect law was so holy, as the case of Uzzah shows, what may be said of the holiness of the precepts themselves confined within its sacred walls? Whatever can be said of the holiness of the ark, it is sure that much more can be said of the holiness of the divine tracings inscribed upon the tables within this sacred chest. And as the punishment was severely met by death upon the offender for touching the receptacle of the law, who will look for the punishment to be less upon one who tears from the bosom of the law the fourth commandment, and teaches others to walk upon it with unhallowed feet? Can any one reason thus except at the peril of his soul? H. W. REED.

DEATH: ITS NATURAL, THEOLOGICAL, AND BIBLE MEANING.

By William Penniman

The Greek word thanatos, from which death is usually translated in the New Testament, is defined by Liddell and Scott as "death, whether natural or violent." They do not say it does, or may mean, eternal life in misery. Greenfield gives its primary meaning as death, the "extinction of life, whether naturally or violently." He also defines it in the following texts: John 8:52; James 5:20; 1 John 5:16, 17, eternal death, "eternal unchanging state of wretchedness and misery."

Here we have the same Greek word defined to mean extinction of life, and also an eternal continuation of existence in suffering. Can the word have two meanings diametrically opposed to each other?

Buck, in his theological dictionary, says, "Death is generally defined as the separation of the soul from the body."

Webster defines it as "that state of being, animal or vegetable, but more particularly of the animal, in which there is a total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions, where the organs have not only ceased to act, but have lost the susceptibility of renewed action. In theology, perpetual separation from God, and eternal torment, called the second death."

We now notice the texts to which Greenfield refers, to prove that death sometimes means eternal torment:—

"Then said the Jews unto Him, Now we know that Thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and Thou sayest, If a man keep My saying, he shall never taste of death." John 8:52.

It is plain that in this passage Christ did not mean natural death, or the life of the body, but He evidently refers to the second death, brought to view in Rev. 20:6: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power." What is the first death?—The cessation of life, or of man's existence, or of the life of the body. Then what is the second death?—If there is any analogy between this and the first, it must mean the extinction of the life of the soul; or, as the second death occurs after the second resurrection, the extinction of all that makes a wicked being in the resurrected state.

We read in James 5:20, "Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." This text, instead of proving the eternal life of the soul, and its consequent suffering, proves its death, for the soul that is saved is not saved from eternal life in misery, but saved from eternal death, or cessation of being.

Greenfield also quotes 1 John 5:16, 17, but the word "death" in these texts, and also in many others, refers to the second death. These words must not be wrested from their true meaning.

Buck's definition (or, as he says it is generally defined, "the separation of the soul from the body") is simply a metamorphosing for a change from the chrysalis state to that of the winged being. This will accord pretty well with the notions of Spiritualists, with whom the so-called orthodox in their ideas of immortality are so closely allied. But as this general definition does not accord with its primary, we will let it go for what it is worth, remembering this, that death in Scripture means death, cessation of existence. WM. PENNIMAN.

PRESENT CONSOLATION.

By Juan McCarthy

DISCOURAGED! nay, arise; be glad; Look up, help comes from yonder hills. Why be disconsolate and sad When God His promise sure fulfils? Revive thine hopes, new courage take, Since Christ the King of kings doth reign; He ne'er will leave thee, nor forsake; Thy foeman all will He arraign

Weak saint, be strong in Jesus' might; Thy strength is weakness, naught hast thou Whereof to boast; yon satellite In heaven's horizon doth endow The Christian's heart with glorious hope; Weak tho thou art, strong shalt thou be In Jesus; look then constant up— From self—to triune sovereignty.

Thus shall thy terraqueous path With heaven's fragrance be perfumed; As thou dost supplement thy faith, So shall thy self-esteem be doomed To banishment from this thy life. Christ's power thy power alone shall be. Thus shalt thou triumph in earth's strife, And strike heaven's note of harmony.

Angelic chords resound aloud Whene'er the saint doth victory gain; On heaven's battlements the host Of cherubs gather; earth's campaign Is watched with interest divine; Oft yon celestial arches ring When we accomplish God's design, And bid Satanic hosts take wing. JUAN MCCARTHY.

Republica Argentina.

EARTH DWELLERS.

By Oriental Watchman

THE Bible definition of the word "heathen" is, one who knows not God. The word means literally, in the old Anglo-Saxon, a dweller on the heath, a countryman. The word "pagan" has a similar signification in the Latin original. In common use this original meaning is lost in these words, but it is strictly true of the heathen or pagan, in the Bible sense, that he is an earth dweller. His life, his hopes, his efforts are here. The Christian is a pilgrim and a stranger here, and his citizenship is in heaven. He is not seeking to build upon an earthly foundation, but his affections are set on things above.—Oriental Watchman.

A Great Light

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."

The Lord Hears the Righteous

"The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry."

IN THE DAYS OF CHRIST.

By E. A. Sutherland

LIKE a giant oak, broad of limb, straight, strong, and hardy, stood the true principle of education. Rooted in the soil of earth, its leaves absorbed the atmosphere of heaven. Its fruit was life; its leaves were for the healing of the nations. But like a parasitic plant, beginning with one tendril-like root buried in the bark, sapping the life of the oak, spreading stem after stem around the massive trunk, creeping higher and higher until each branch is enfolded in its grasp, hugging the tree to death and still clinging to the lifeless branches and preserving the former shape but emitting to the atmosphere around its poison breath, grew the false principles of education.

Evil does not all at once destroy the good. The thunder-cloud does not suddenly overcast the sky. There must be the gathering of the storm-cloud, the first faint mutterings before the storm bursts. So, while truth had been planted in the earth, and men had been given an opportunity to eat of its fruit, evil and death had gradually dwarfed and stung it until its nature was well-nigh lost.

It was only here and there that individuals recognized the light and were following the rays to their Source. The Jewish nation, to whom had been committed the sacred oracles of divine truth; to whom had been entrusted the principles which were powerful enough to make of them a wise and understanding nation, had been in Babylonish captivity seventy years. On their return their ideas of right were but dimly defined. Close contact with the manners and customs of the East had taken from them their strong faith, and they groped in a twilight which ever darkened instead of brightening. Nearly five hundred years served only to fasten more firmly in their minds the form of religion, and to remove them further from the truth.

As the darkest portion of the night is often just before the dawning, so do we find the mental darkness densest just before that fulness of time when God sent His Son into the world, a Light to light every other soul who cometh hither.

It was as an educational as well as a religious reformer that He came, for without the one the other could avail but little. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” The peculiarity of mental and moral darkness is that those most deeply enshrouded are the most oblivious to their condition. So, while the Christ-child “grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom,” it was not the result of earthly instruction. His mother was His first human teacher, for that was a Jewish custom, and His mother had yielded herself to the control of the Spirit of God. At the same time He wandered in the fields and through the woods, holding converse with the works of His own hands. God was His Teacher, and the “grace of God was upon Him.”

He had never attended a rabbinical school when, at the age of twelve, He visited Jerusalem for the first time since His dedication as a babe in the temple. Lingering after the multitude departed for various quarters of Palestine, He entered a school conducted in the temple court, and with other youth took His place at the feet of the learned doctors. They were surprised at the wisdom manifest in His questions and answers, which flashed into their minds truths concerning the long-expected Messiah.

But it was “His Father's business” which He had in mind, and instead of remaining for further instruction He returned to Nazareth and was subject unto His parents until the days of His baptism. The original plan was that youth should be educated by the Levites, and had this tribe remained true to their sacred trust the Son of God might have sat a learner at their feet. But their teaching had degenerated into cold formalism, and the life and spirit of a young child would have been starved instead of fed by their recitals. Of their teaching Geikie says:—

No wonder that when He had finished such an address, the multitude were astonished at His teaching. They had been accustomed to the tame and slavish servility of the rabbis, with their dread of varying a word from precedent and authority; their cobwebbery of endless sophistries and verbal trifling; their laborious dissertations on the infinitely little; their unconscious oversight of all that could affect the heart; their industrious trackings through the jungles of tradition and prescription; and felt that in the preaching of Jesus, they, for the first time, had something that stirred their souls, and came home to their consciences. One of the rabbis had boasted that every verse of the Bible was capable of six hundred thousand different explanations, and there were seventy different modes of interpretation current, but the vast mass of explanations and interpretations were no better than pedantic folly, concerning itself with mere insignificant minutia which had no bearing on religion or morals.

It was as a teacher that Christ met opposition from the world, and it is His principles of education that are to-day accepted by faith, or, being rejected, leave the educator to grope his way with naught but human invention. Should the educators, whose minds are exercised to find the best methods and the best materials for young minds, but turn to Him who held the keys to the fountain of knowledge, nay, who was made unto us wisdom, all caviling would cease, and humanity would sit at His feet and learn of Him, whom to know aright is life eternal.

That He was a Teacher was evident, for He was so recognized by the master of Israel who came to Him by night with the words, “Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher come from God,” and to the mind of Nicodemus, Jerusalem's greatest teacher, the proof of His power to teach lay in the fact that miracles attended His work. The power to perform miracles was then a result of His education. Since they were always based upon faith, the secret of His education is revealed to be a faith that laid hold upon the throne of God.

Now, to the instructor in the worldly schools it may seem inconsistent to speak of faith as the basis of education; but without it you will have no learning. The only question is, In whom will you place your faith? in God, or in the words of men who speculate upon the theories of science and kindred truth? The ultimate result of faith in the latter leads to the formalism which killed the Jewish system. Faith, as taught by Christ, gives life and power to the instruction.

The contest of Christ's life was over this question. The controversy of the last nineteen centuries has been over the same question. The living connection with heaven, the life of faith,—this is what distinguished Christ and His system from all others. It is the lack of this to-day which prevents the professed followers of Christ from reaching that high ideal.

Turning to the instruction given by the master Teacher, we are surprised to note the simplicity of His manner and to find that He could choose His followers from the humble seaside fishermen. Nor were they pupils of whom He was afterward ashamed, for He sent them forth to the whole world, and they, with the truths they taught, and the methods learned from Him, shook the very foundations of the civilized world.

So nicely did He deal with the problem which to-day perplexes the educational world that should educators make His life a study and follow His methods they would find all perplexity at an end. At His ascension His last words to His disciples were that He would send them the Spirit, which should guide them into all truth. The Master left not His followers comfortless, but sent the Holy Spirit as a teacher of truth. The work accomplished at Pentecost shows the fulfilment of the promise. It was a marvelous educational movement. The power of the early Christian church as it met in almost deadly conflict with paganism in Europe, verifies the truthfulness of the promise. It was a return to the time when Israel's youth received instruction in the schools of the prophets, and for several years after the life of Christ was ended His followers maintained their steadfast adherence to these principles. The sunlight of truth had shone on the world; life sprang up at its touch, but no sooner does the herald of truth begin to sound than the enemy strikes a note lower and begins to play on a downward scale. The world remains in tune but for a moment; the discord grows more and more pronounced. The work of the last days of earth's history will be to strike that higher key of education by faith which will lift the learner to a position where all wisdom is at his command.

OUR WORDS.

By E. J. Burnham

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," says our Saviour. Matt. 12:34. James compares the heart to a fountain, and the words to a stream that issues from it. He asks, "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" Chap. 3:11. So, then, the words are an indication of the character; for they show what is in the heart. If "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," dwell there, the words will show it; if the heart is "like the troubled sea, when it can not rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt," this, too, will appear in the words.

Judging people by their words, what a variety of characters we meet. There are talkers of the type of—

"Iagoo, the great boaster, He the marvelous story-teller."

The writer knew one of this class, a soldier in the ranks, who was fond of telling how, just on the eve of an important battle, a major-general came down the line of the company tents, inquiring for private Blank; and the major-general actually spent two hours discussing the military situation with this soldier who had worn Uncle Sam's uniform but a very few weeks. The hallucination deceived no one, and the conceit made the soldier better disposed toward himself. But that is the way with the boaster. He is a hero in his own eyes; and it is evident that self is very dear to him, and has a large place in his heart.

Then there is the inveterate talker, the individual who goes into no end of tiresome

details in relating incidents of no possible interest. One can not help wondering that he can talk so much and say so little. But tho he may waste time and patience, he is often well-meaning and kindly, and he is certainly a far more pleasant person to have around than one who is sullen and sulky.

The gossip seems to have an itching ear for news, and a burning desire to be the first to tell it. He prys into everything, and repeats everything he hears, seeming quite unconscious of the harm he may be doing. He may not be really malicious, but he likes to make a sensation, and so a scandal is a choice morsel under his tongue. The inveterate talker and the gossip seem to desire "to make talk" and be entertaining. It is pretty certain that trivialities occupy the minds of both.

Still worse is the malicious gossip. Wo to the man, woman, or child whose character passes under his dissecting-knife. The pain he may cause, the harm he may do, will never deter him from telling all he knows or imagines, that may injure another. If he would stop with what he knows, it would generally not be so bad. The faults of his near friends give him great pain, no doubt; but he will often discuss them with a gusto that indicates a sincere relish. Try it, tho, and you will find that he does not like scandals or harsh criticisms that touch those who are really "nearest and dearest;" so it is not pure unselfish love that speaks from the heart in detraction. Whatever his profession, the gossip does not love as himself the one whose character he blackens, and it is not the charity that "thinketh no evil," that leads him to confess his neighbor's faults and sins behind his back.

There are some people who seem to think they ought to contradict every remark that does not strike them just right, and they conscientiously do this duty. Truly wonderful are their resources for showing that anything they take exceptions to is impossible, unreasonable, or absurd. They have been known to flatly contradict a statement made by "one who was there," in no way deterred or embarrassed by the fact they had no personal knowledge of the things whereof they spoke. Such persons can hardly be said to obey the apostle's injunction to be "gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." If they believe that the narrator of some incident either lies or "don't know what he is talking about," they would hardly be held guilty of dissembling if they were politely to say nothing.

Another unpleasant companion is the one who always has some misfortune to relate. Any true, warm-hearted man or woman will delight to give sympathy, and aid if possible, to those in trial and affliction; but there are many who morbidly dwell on the dark side of things, and who overwork the command, "Bear ye one another's burdens." We can hardly believe that joy and peace reign in their hearts, or that they have learned the sweet lesson that "godliness with contentment is great gain."

Some may think that where the singular pronoun has been used to represent "talker" or "gossip," it should be "she," and not "he." Very well, friends; read it that way if you like; but observation has convinced the writer that neither sex has the monopoly of the talking business. Men take as great an interest in their neighbors' affairs as women do, and are as fond of discussing them. And of all these talkers, except the hopelessly bad, no doubt Burns' words are appropriate:—

"O wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel's as ithers see us, It wad frae mony a blunder free us, And foolish notion."

In conversation, as in everything else, Jesus is our Example, and of Him it was said prophetically, "Grace is poured into Thy lips." Ps. 45:2. He denounced the priests and scribes who were false to their trust as religious teachers, and were misleading the people; but He received the repenting sinner with tender, loving forgiveness. He reproved Peter, James, and John when they manifested a spirit that, because of the influence it might exert, could not be silently tolerated; but in His daily life with His disciples He was patient and forbearing, and not even the thieving Judas was betrayed to his fellow disciples.

Jesus did not guide His hearers into the right way by reproaches and criticism; but by His life and teaching He placed before them the beauty of holiness. John, who was with Him through all His ministry, testified: "He dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth." What winning, gracious sweetness, what loving tact, what tender sympathy, do these words suggest. Grace was poured into His lips because in His heart "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness," held undisputed sway. He was "full of grace and truth" because He was one with the Father, and reflected His glory.

Because the words are an index of character, because they show what is in the heart, they will have due weight in deciding our final destiny. The Saviour says, "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Matt. 12:37. But if we will seek grace and wisdom where He found them, our words will not condemn us in the judgment.

E. J. BURNHAM. Troy, Pa.

WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE?

By Edison J. Driver

OFTEN we hear people say, "O, if I were only rich, how easy it would be for me to do good!" Another moans, "If I were only well and strong, how much I could do."

But they forget, as we all do sometimes, that not man, but God, giveth the increase. He seeth not as man seeth, for He has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. And if the simple and weak and poor will humble themselves, God will work through them to do the deeds of Omnipotence.

One day an old gentleman, well-to-do and retired from active life, was walking with a poorer man, who was engaged in relieving suffering. During their conversation the lack of sympathy among people was spoken of.

"Yes," said the poorer man, "but there are those who, being taught in the school of suffering and poverty, have learned the divine lesson of brotherly love."

As it chanced, seemingly, they came at this time to a park and sat down. An old crippled man sat on an opposite bench trying to warm himself in the morning sunshine. He was apparently hungry, too, for he several times stopped passers-by to ask for coppers, but with no success. Strong and happy people went by, but without pity for the old man. So at last in despair he ceased to stop them and apparently decided to go hungry. But a little crippled girl, coming slowly along on her crutches, had noticed his distress; and she did not pass him by as others had done. Instead, she accosted him kindly, and in her own gentle way learned his story of want, and finally induced him to go with her to a cheap eating house. There she paid for a simple meal for him, and, with close-set lips, went out hungry herself.

But our friend, the old gentleman, had been a looker-on, amazed and delighted with what he had seen. He took the little girl to his own home. Needless to say, she was never again hungry. Yet more than all this, the old gentleman's heart was opened, and the remainder of his life was spent helping the poor.

Thus, in hidden and mysterious ways, the great and good Father works for men. O, cast thy bread upon the water, He says, even the little that thou hast, and I will care for it, and it shall return to thee after many days.

EDISON J. DRIVER. Fresno, Cal.

THE DIVINE HEALER.

By M. E. OLSEN

"Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of My people recovered?"

Jesus Christ is the Great Physician, the Healer alike of the diseased body and the sin-sick soul. Such He was when He walked upon the earth in human form; such He is to-day after He has returned to the Father, and received of Him all power in heaven and earth. Contact with the Saviour means health to the believer to-day just as much as it did to the poor woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of His garment, and was made whole.

Why, then, are so many professing Christians afflicted with disease? What reason can be given why God's people, take it on the whole, do not seem to enjoy better health than unbelievers? These are questions which should be pondered well. Health is too great a blessing to be lightly regarded.

Every good gift, the apostle James tells us, is from above; and comes down to man from the Father of light. This includes health as well as all other blessings. By means of our faith the channel is kept open. When unbelief is permitted to enter the heart, the channel is stopped up, and the stream of blessing ceases to flow. If we ask of the Lord health, in faith, nothing wavering, as we are bidden to do, we shall receive it.

Nevertheless, it is to be remembered that true faith is active, not passive. Paul tells us that it works by love, and James says that faith without works is dead. Hence it follows that a person who exercises faith in the healing power of Christ will conscientiously obey His Word in all things, adhering strictly to those habits of eating and drinking which an enlightened judgment pronounces right.

It would be absurd for a man to throw himself into the river and then ask God to keep him from drowning, or to fill himself with whisky and ask God to keep him from being drunk. So also it is absurd to go on eating bad food, living in poorly-ventilated rooms, and ask God to give us healthy stomachs, strong lungs, and clear, retentive minds.

God's efforts in behalf of man are limited by the unwillingness on man's part to fully co-operate with Him. When He is given the right of way, He can do great things for the weakest of His children. The Gospel in its fullness means health of body as well as of soul, and the Christian life, rightly viewed, involves obedience to the physical laws of the Creator as well as to His moral laws.

Sickness is the result of sin; it belongs to Egypt. God called the children of Israel out of Egypt, and in doing so promised them that He would keep them in health provided they kept His laws. God has not changed; the same arrangement holds good with His people to-day. If we find ourselves incapacitated by sickness for the Master's work, let us diligently study the laws of our being, and having put ourselves in harmony with them as far as in us lies, rest assured that God will make His part of the bargain good by restoring us to health. M. E. OLSEN.

THE WONDERFUL CITY.

By Doris

O ZION, we long to behold thee! We weary at times of the rod, Which must chasten till proud hearts are humble, Ere we see thee, fair city of God.

O Zion, prepared for thy children, By faith we can see thee afar; The bright gleam of thy mansions invites us, Like the olden-time Bethlehem star.

And, Zion, we watch for His coming, Almost we're forgetting the rod, As we think of thee, wonderful city, Whose builder and maker is God. Doris.

WOMEN IN THE CHURCHES AGAIN.

By Mrs. Amanda Bostick

A Suggestion.

LET your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

"What? came the Word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?" 1 Cor. 14 : 34-36.

Why divide this paragraph of Paul's Corinthian letter?

By studying the whole letter we see that much, if not all, was a reply to a letter of inquiry from the Corinthian brethren about certain points of dispute among them and of other things that were unpleasant in the social worship. For one thing, the women seemed to have transgressed the bonds of womanliness in the social worship, and the brethren made the suggestion in their letter to Paul that "the women keep silence in the churches," as a quietus to them. The Revised Version says, "Let the women," etc., the correct reading, evidently, instead of "Let your women," which puts the suggestion from Paul, while the whole of the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth verses is a quotation from the letter Paul had received from them. In reply he expressed his indignation at the suggestion of their putting the women to silence by saying: "What? came the Word of God out from you [men]? or came it unto you [men] only?"

Keeping sight of the pronouns in each passage, we see that those representing the women are in the third person, and those in Paul's reply to the suggestion are in the second person and are, without doubt, addressed to the men, who wrote the letter to which Paul is replying. Otherwise we can possibly see no sense in the thirty-fourth verse whatever.

Another objection to charging Paul with the authorship of the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth verses is that they are entirely inconsistent with the general teaching of the Scriptures and with church membership for women.

MRS. AMANDA BOSTICK.

Fresno, Cal.

THE GOSPEL FOR ALL.

THIS is well set forth by the following from Dr. Alex. McLaren, in an article in the Sunday School Times: 'The high priest therefore asked Jesus of his disciples, and of His teaching!' If they did not know about either, why had they arrested Him? Cunning outwits itself, and falls into the pit it digs for the innocent. Jesus passed by the question as to His disciples unnoticed, and by His calm answer as to His teaching showed that He saw the snare. He reduced Caiaphas and Annas to perpetrating plain injustice, or to letting Him go free. Elementary fair play to a prisoner prescribes that he should be accused of some crime by some one, and not that he should furnish his judges with materials for his own indictment.

'Why asked thou Me? ask them that have heard Me,' is unanswerable, except by such an answer as the officious 'servant' gave,—a blow and a violent speech. But Christ's words reach far beyond the momentary purpose; they contain a wide truth. His teaching loves the daylight. There are no muttered oracles, no whispered secrets for the initiated, no double voice, one for the multitude, and another for the adepts. All is aboveboard, and all is spoken openly to the world. Christianity has no cliques or coteries, nothing sectional, nothing reserved. It is for mankind, for all mankind, all for mankind. True, there are depths in it; true, the secrets which Jesus can only speak to loving ears in secret are His sweetest words, but they are 'spoken in the ear' that they may be 'proclaimed on the housetops.'

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