Signs of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 41. (10/30/1884)

Signs of the Times

Oct 30, 1884

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 30, 1884

“Search the Scriptures.”

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

“Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.”

AFTER the resurrection, two of the disciples, while traveling to Emmaus, were talking over the disappointed hopes occasioned by the death of their beloved Master. Christ himself drew near, unrecognized by his sorrowing disciples. Their faith had died with their Lord, and their eyes, blinded by unbelief, did not discern the risen Saviour. Jesus, walking by their side, did not reveal himself abruptly. He accosted them as fellow-travelers, and asked them the subject of their conversation and why they were so sad. Astonished at the question, they inquired if he were indeed a stranger in Jerusalem, and had not heard that a prophet mighty in word and in deed had been taken by wicked hands and crucified. And now it was the third day since Jesus died; and strange reports had been brought to their ears that he had risen; and had been seen by certain of the disciples. But Jesus said to them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken; ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” And beginning at Moses and the prophets, he opened to them the scriptures concerning himself.

When they arrived at Emmaus, the disciples constrained Jesus to remain with them; for the day was far spent. The evening meal was quickly prepared. As Jesus was offering thanks, the disciples looked at one another with quick, astonished glances. His words, his manner, and then his wounded hands, revealed to them their guest, and they exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus gently reproved them for their ignorance of the prophecies referring to himself. Had they been familiar with these, they would have understood concerning his life, his suffering, and his death and resurrection. Their faith would have been sustained, their hopes would have remained unshaken; for the treatment Christ would receive from those he came to save was plainly stated.

The disciples were astonished that they had not recognized Christ as soon as he spoke with them by the way; and they were equally surprised that they had failed to recall the scriptures which he had brought to their remembrance. They had lost sight of the precious promises; but at the words of Jesus, faith revived. No wonder that their feelings found expression in the words, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

In similar words a prophet of old exclaimed, “My heart was hot within me; while I was musing the fire burned.” If Christians would earnestly search the Scriptures, more hearts would burn with the vivid truths therein revealed. Their hopes would brighten with the precious promises strewn like pearls all through the sacred writings. As the mind dwells upon the virtue and piety of patriarchs, prophets, and other holy men of old, the spirit which inspired them kindles a flame of love and holy emulation in the heart, and awakens a desire to be like them in character, like them to walk with God.

The apostle tells us, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” There is power in the word of God, and those who frame excuses for neglecting to become acquainted with its teachings, will neglect the claims of God in many respects. The character will be deformed, the words and acts a reproach to the cause of Christ.

The student should be as thoroughly in earnest to become intelligent in the knowledge of the Scriptures as to excel in the study of the sciences. If either is neglected, it should not be the word of God. The injunction of our Saviour, “Search the Scriptures,” should be religiously regarded by every one who professes his name. Parents should make the Book of God their constant guide. They should not plead trifling excuses for not interesting themselves in its study with their children. But instead of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, they often exalt the temporal above the spiritual and eternal. This example of forgetfulness of God and neglect of his word, moulds the minds of the children after a worldly standard, and not after the exalted standard erected by Christ. How much more profitable to be faithful disciples of Christ, ever searching the Scriptures, that they may be able to give an intelligent explanation of the word given of God to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Mothers are heard to deplore that they have no time to teach their children, no time to instruct them in the word of God. But these same mothers find time for needless trimming upon their own dresses and those of their children. They can find time for tucks and ruffles, even though their own minds and the minds of their children are starved in order to follow custom and fashion. They act as though they considered the adorning of the mind and the culture of the soul of less importance than the adornment of the apparel.

Fathers and mothers, take up your long-neglected duties. Search the Scriptures yourselves; assist your children in the study of the sacred word. Do not send the children away by themselves to study the Bible, but read it with them; teach them in a simple manner as far as you know, and be diligent students that you may guide them wisely. Mothers, dress yourselves and your children in modest apparel, clean and neat, but without needless trimming. When you learn to dress with conscientious plainness, you will have no excuse for being ignorant of the Scriptures. Follow Christ’s injunction, “Search the Scriptures,” then will you gain spiritual strength yourselves, and be able rightly to instruct your children.

“They are they that testify of me,”—the Redeemer, Him in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. The prayer of Christ for his disciples was, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” If we are to be sanctified through the truth, we must have an intelligent knowledge of God’s will as revealed in his word. We must search the Scriptures, not merely rush through a chapter, taking no pains to understand it; but we must dig for the jewel of truth, which will enrich the mind and the soul.

By searching the written word we are enabled closely to observe the divine Model. As one becomes acquainted with the history of the Redeemer, he discovers in himself serious defects of character; his unlikeness to Christ is so great that he sees the necessity for radical changes in his life. Still he studies, with a desire to become like his great Exemplar. He catches the looks, the spirit, of his beloved Master; by beholding,—“by looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,”—he becomes changed into the same image. It is not by looking away from him that we imitate the life of Jesus; but by talking of him, by dwelling upon his perfections, by seeking to refine the taste and elevate the character, by trying, through faith and love and by earnest, persevering effort, to approach the perfect Pattern. Even unconsciously we imitate that with which we are familiar. By having a knowledge of Christ,—his words, his habits, and his lessons of instruction,—we instinctively borrow the virtues of the character we have so closely studied, and become imbued with the spirit which we have so much admired. Jesus becomes to us the “chiefest among ten thousand,” the one “altogether lovely.”

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” But there are very many who profess to be Christians who gratify the desires of the carnal heart in following their own inclinations; and God-given probationary time, granted them to become acquainted with the precious truths of the Bible, is devoted to the reading of fictitious tales. This habit, once formed, is overcome with difficulty; but it can be done, and it must be done by all who would gain eternal life. That mind is ruined which is allowed to be absorbed in story-reading. The imagination becomes diseased, and there is a vague unrest, a strange appetite for unwhole

some mental food. Thousands are to-day in insane asylums whose minds became unbalanced by novel-reading, which results in air-castle building and a sickly sentimentalism.

The Bible is the book of books. Practice its precepts, and it will be to you life and health. “For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant to thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.”

WAITING FOR THE MORNING.

By Mary M. Buckland

BY MARY M. BUCKLAND.

We are waiting for the morning, While in this dark world we roam, When will end the night of darkness, And we'll see the light of home.

We are waiting now in sadness, Watching, hoping, trusting still, Striving ever in the darkness To perform our Father's will.

But the way seems dark and dreary, For we cannot see the end; And we only can go forward, Trusting in our faithful Friend.

He invites the sick and weary; Those who will forsake their sin, Come and drink of healing waters, Find their sweetest rest in him.

So we'll trust him in the darkness; Though we're sinful, erring, weak, He is ready to receive us, When with all the heart we seek.

Gaines, N. Y.

Reform and Popularity.

By Alonzo T. Jones

"It is the universal law that whatever pursuit, whatever doctrine, becomes fashionable, shall lose a portion of that dignity which it had possessed while it was confined to a small but earnest minority, and was loved for its own sake alone."—Macaulay's England, Chapter 3, Paragraph 136.

A short study of the history of reforms, will be sufficient to convince any one of the truth of this observation. Fashionableness, popularity, is the one great danger of every reform. For just as soon as, from pure love of the principle, by self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful endeavor, it has been carried to that point where it compels recognition, and begins to grow popular, it receives accessions because of its popularity, and not because of its truth; because of its fashionableness, and not because it is loved; and this, as expressed above, inevitably detracts from that dignity which it possessed when it was loved for its own sake alone. This spirit soon pervades the whole body, leaders and all, and then the leaders dare not press anything upon the people, more than they accepted because of its popularity, and soon, "like people like priest" (Hos. 4:9), it reaches the point where the special reform which they represent, cannot itself be preached in the simplicity and dignity with which it arose, because even that has become unpopular. And just as surely as one begins to press these things upon their notice, he will be slighted; and if he persists in it, he will as surely be accounted a "troubler of Israel," and will be ostracized, and if his work goes on, it must do so outside of the communion with which he has hitherto been connected. It must begin again in weakness, in humility, in self-denial, in reproach, and in separation, because it is unpopular.

In this very thing lies the reason and the philosophy of the fact stated by Wendell Phillips: "No reform, moral or intellectual, ever came down from the upper classes of society. Each and all came up from the protest of martyr and victim."

Again Mr. Phillips says: "No man, in the pulpit or on the platform, can be true to the truth, and at the same time be popular with his generation." The tendency of the truth, either moral or intellectual, is to reform, and no reform is ever popular. When it becomes popular, truth is compromised and loses its power. Whosoever, therefore, will love the truth must do so at the expense of his popularity. Christ illustrated these principles, in his choice of his disciples. The Pharisees, also, at the same time gave an illustration of the principles here evolved. When the officers had returned, not bringing Christ as they had been ordered, to their "Never man spake like this man," the answer was made, "Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on him?" And when Nicodemus simply called their attention to a principle of justice and the law, which, if allowed, they knew must be in Jesus' favor, they cried out, "Art thou also of Galilee?" John 7:45-52. And although even among the chief rulers, there were some who believed in the truth he taught, and the evidences of his mission, they would not confess him, because of the Pharisees, and lest they should be put out of the synagogue. Then the apostle gives the gist of this whole subject: "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." John 12:42, 43. They loved popularity more than they loved the truth, and that, too, which they really believed to be the truth.

Yet "the common people heard him gladly;" because, as is well expressed by Robertson Smith: "The religious life of Israel was truer than the teaching of the Pharisees."—Old Testament in the Jewish Church, Lecture 5, last paragraph but one. They were willing to believe on him, to love him, and to the efforts of the Pharisees to take him, they very pertinently asked, "When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?" The Pharisees could not avoid seeing the force of this argument, for they could not deny that Messiah would certainly come; well, then, if when he should come he should do no more miracles than those which he had done, why was not this he? But no; all questions, all reasonings must be set aside because he did not foster their pride, nor promote their popularity. If he had gone to them, every part of his doctrine would have been by them warped into conformity with their proud lives; and so, if he would have his mission prove a success, if he would have the truth grow, in its purity, he was compelled to go to the common people, to those who would receive the truth, and the love of it for its own sake alone, to those who would conform their lives to the perfect form of the doctrine, and not seek to bend the doctrine into the imperfect shape of their evil lives.

This work of Christ, in his immediate presence on the earth, was not an exception to the rule by which the progress of his truth has been worked out. It was rather the laying down of the rule itself. Prof. Robertson Smith truly says: "Throughout the history of the church, it has always been found that the silent experience of the pious people of God has been truer, and has led the church in a safer path, than the public decrees of those who claim to be authoritative leaders of theological thought."—Old Testament in the Jewish Church, Lecture 5, last sentence. And so again we are brought to the truth that no reform has ever come down from the upper classes of society. And coming up from the protest of martyr and victim it has to meet all the pride of place and power of popularity, and with only the simple truth it overcomes all. The truth and the love of it is the reformer's "shield and buckler." The truth will reach the conscience and compel assent. Then the individual must make his choice, whether he will love the praise of men more than the praise of God, whether he loves popularity more than he loves truth. Truth is demonstrable, and even when a person decides against it in his practice, he cannot deny the evidence upon which the proposition is based. The only way in which he can justify his opposition is to destroy the evidence.

To illustrate: When many of the people believed on Jesus, basing their faith in his Messiahship on the fact that he had raised Lazarus from the dead, then the chief priests "consulted that they might put Lazarus to death." John 12:10, 11. Exactly: the only way they could evade the truth was to destroy the evidence by killing Lazarus. They would go to the length of committing murder, rather than to acknowledge what they could not deny. The papal persecutions, and all others, have been carried on in the same channel. When the Bible was appealed to, it was destroyed. Then when the heretic in his words and his life gave evidence to the truth, his life was destroyed.

Opposition to the Third Angel's Message is conducted on the same principle. The substance of that message is reform on the ten commandments, particularly the fourth. Without special reference to that commandment, we may ask the "chief rulers" of any orthodox church in all the land, whether the ten commandments are the law of God; whether they are every one binding on all people; whether they are immutable, unchangeable; whether that is the fundamental law; whether it is the constitution of the moral world; whether it is the truth; whether the fourth commandment is as binding as the first or the seventh, or any other one? and to every one of these questions they will answer emphatically, Yes. Then we may turn to the fourth commandment and read, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work;" and ask them to obey it, and what do they do? They attempt to destroy the evidence by abolishing the law. And from the positions taken by the National Reform Party, as well as from the message itself, we are assured that their endeavors will not be confined to the law, but that when they get the power, it will be extended against those who respect and maintain the obligation of the law. And still they will call that reform, which in every feature is contrary to the word of God, the truth, the basis of all reform. But in no single point does it agree with the principles of true reform. It arose and is carried on by those who claim to be authoritative leaders of theological thought, who, as quoted above, have never been safe guides. It comes down from the upper classes of society, which no reform has ever done, and which we have seen it can never do. Those who advocate it are popular, which Wendell Phillips declared no man can be "and be true to the truth." More than all these, the fundamental principle of the whole cause, viz., the Sunday sabbath, is a falsehood from its very inception. They may call it National Reform all they please, but the more it is examined in the light of truth, the more plainly it appears that there is not a single element of reform in the whole movement.

A. T. J

By Alonzo T. Jones

Since writing the above the Christian Statesman of Oct. 16 has come to hand, containing a portion of a paper read by Rev. A. T. Pierson, D. D., before the Ministerial Union of Philadelphia, from which I clip the following strong confirmation of the points of the foregoing article:—

“We are often fettered by our denominationalism. Brought up to exalt our sectarian standards, and views, and politics, we sometimes degenerate into religious partisans and politicians, espousing our sect, because it is our sect. We stand by our colors, whether it is the color of the blood or not! We preach and teach what we find in our denominational standards, whether or not we can give an intelligent scriptural reason for our position. Have we the boldness to face opposition and ridicule for the sake of the truth? And, if a candid, careful searching of the word should compel us to believe that our denominational position is unscriptural in any respect, would we simply follow the light God might give us, or consent to silence and compromise with conscience? Many of us are hindered in preaching the word and in directing the affairs of Christ's body, by the very officers of our church, and especially by ungodly trustees! If, out of profound convictions, born of prayer and spiritual travail, we should insist upon a new and more spiritual conduct of our churches, or preach some gospel truth that pierces the quick, there are some church officers who would come between us and the congregation, and request us to keep silence or resign.”

A. T. J

A Record of Fidelity

SOMETIMES inconspicuous people write their honored names in God's books by mere fidelity to the right. There was peril in the act of defending such a man as Paul, while the wrath of the mob was at its height. He was at that time making his home with Aquila and Priscilla; and he tells us afterwards that they "laid down their own necks" for his life; it is quite likely that those other two friends, Gaius and Aristarchus, ventured much when they tried to stand by him. But here they gained a record.—Sel.

“The Morning Cometh, and Also the Night.”

By C. P. Bollman

IN the twenty-first chapter of Isaiah is recorded a seemingly mysterious and contradictory prophecy, in these words: “The burden of Dumah. He calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye. Return, come.” Verses 11, 12.

This language seems to have no connection with the rest of the chapter, and challenges the reader’s attention by its peculiar force and solemnity. The figure used is one full of meaning. Anciently watchmen were stationed upon the walls of cities to give an alarm if danger approached, and to announce to the inhabitants the time of night, and especially the first indications of approaching day. The watchmen were held responsible for the safety of the cities over which they watched, and if danger approached and they failed to sound an alarm, they forfeited their lives.

This figure is used also in Eze. 33 : 2–6. The Lord there says: “If the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman; if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. . . . But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come and take any person from among them. . . . his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” In verse 7 the application is made: “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” Then, in view of the solemn responsibility resting upon the Lord’s watchmen, what means the answer, “The morning cometh, and also the night”?

In many places in the Scriptures, light and darkness, joy and sorrow, are spoken of as coming together—not, indeed, to the same individuals, but at the same time to the two classes, which alone are recognized in the word of God,—the righteous, and the wicked. Thus, in speaking of the day of the Lord, the prophet Joel says: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains.” Observe the language of the last clause; clouds and thick darkness are spoken of “as the morning spread upon the mountains.” But will it be a day of darkness to the people of God? Will it not rather be to them a day of joy and gladness? Let us see. When the Lord comes “he will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25 : 8, 9; compare with 1 Cor. 15 : 51–54 and 1 Thess. 4 : 16.

From these scriptures it appears that to the righteous it will indeed be a day of triumph and rejoicing; instead of gloom and darkness, it will be to them the sunrise of a glorious eternity, the realization of “the blessed hope,” the time when their “eyes shall see the King in his beauty” and “behold the land that is very far off.” But to the wicked the coming of the Lord will be “a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness;” “for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?”

John, describing that day prophetically, says: “And the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6 : 14–17.

Well might the Lord’s watchman say, “The morning cometh, and also the night.” But what reply shall we make to the all-important question, “Who shall be able to stand?” Let the Scriptures answer:—

“The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high. . . . Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty.” Isa. 33 : 14–16.

The same question (in substance) is asked and answered by the psalmist; he says:—

“Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth [testifieth] to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” Ps. 15.

Reader, with which class do you desire to stand? Will you be among those who will call to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them, or will you be of that number who will say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord. We have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation”?

“Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” C. P. BOLLMAN.

The Two Immutable Things.—Heb. 6: 18.

By N. J. Bowers

WHAT are these unchangeable things mentioned in the passage? They are not defined in plain words, side by side, yet we may conclude pretty certainly from the context. Verse 17 speaks of “the immutability of his [God’s] counsel,” and the confirming or fastening of the same with an oath or a declaration of certainty. The oath relates to the Abrahamic covenant. The Lord made oath by himself. Verse 13. Gen. 22: 16. This promise was to be effected through Jesus. Luke 1: 69–79; Gal. 3: 29. The Lord sware by his holiness that he would not lie unto David. Psa. 89: 35. “As I live saith the Lord,” is a statement of the divine certainty.

The Lord has pledged his existence, if we may so speak, that he will fulfill his gracious promises. The most honorable and trusted of men may, by compelling circumstances, violate their promises. The Lord, who is over all circumstances, cannot fail. He cannot lie. The two immutable things of the text seem to be the promise of eternal salvation through Jesus, based upon the simple declaration of redemption, first, and the oath of confirmation, certain as the divine existence that it will be fulfilled, secondly. No wonder the apostle spoke with such confidence and hope of “the exceeding great and precious promises” by which we become “partakers of the divine nature.” 2 Pet. 1: 4. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised.” Heb. 10: 23. N. J. BOWERS.

Sins of Ignorance.

By George Dana Boardman

WHAT a multitude of such sins hide in the nooks and crannies of the human heart! Even the wisest of us—those best skilled in the Christian morality—are perpetually stumbling through ignorance. For example, many are the occasions on which we sin through simple unacquaintance or misunderstanding of the circumstances in which we happen to be placed. This was the significance of the sin-offering as set forth in the fourth chapter of Leviticus. But, though ignorance may palliate a sin, ignorance cannot justify it. And he who sincerely longs for a complete purification of his nature, cannot bear that even the comparatively venial sins of ignorance should lurk behind to cast their shadows upon the heavenly pictures with which Christ has begun to adorn the chambers of his soul. Sins of ignorance may not rend asunder the new robe of righteousness, but they sully it. They may not be venial; nevertheless, they need forgiveness. For did not the Son of man, in the very act of being nailed to his cross, pray for his murderers, saying: “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do”? I do not think that Christ, in offering this prayer, had in mind the Jewish authorities so much as the Roman soldiers who were executing Pilate’s sentence. These soldiers were pagans, under control of a pagan procurator, who himself was a representative of a pagan emperor. And this accords with what an apostle says: “Had the rulers of this world known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” And yet can any one believe that this sin of the crucifixion of Jesus, committed though it was ignorantly, and especially commended though it was to the forgiving mercy of the heavenly Father by his dying Son, was stripped of its wickedness because committed through ignorance? Alas! sins of ignorance may lie with terrible weight of vengeance on our heads. And as we think of the ten thousand unconscious sins which we have committed ignorantly, we may well exclaim, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”—George Dana Boardman.

Is God Particular?

By Joseph Parker

“THEN Elisha said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.” 2 Kings 4: 3, 4. Some one will say, Why all this bother about shutting the door and gathering vessels, and pouring out oil; could he not have helped the woman without all this detail? But so it was; and if she had failed in aught, she would have lost the blessing.

I remind you of Israel’s first king. Saul was told to go and slay the Amalekites; and he returned saying he had fulfilled God’s command. “What mean the bleating of those sheep and the lowing of those oxen in mine ears?” “Oh!” said Saul, “I forgot for the moment; yes, to be sure, I did spare a few sheep and oxen, but it was for the purpose of sacrificing to the Lord.” This was an obliviousness with a consequence; he lost the kingdom through it. Just so, my friend, when you begin to question what God commands, “What is the use of this appointment?” “Where is the good of that injunction?” you are lost.—Dr. Parker.

Great Evil, Small Men

A MAN may work a great evil, and yet himself not be a great man.

Continue reading: Necessity for the Reformation