Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 38. (9/29/1914)

Signs of the Times

Sep 29, 1914

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 29, 1914

"My Heart Maketh a Noise in Me"

The Prophet Sees Visions of War That Stir His Soul — What a Minister Saw in Europe When the War Storm Broke — The Literal Fulfilment of the Prophetic Word in Present Conditions

AN ancient prophet, while viewing scenes of war and strife, uttered the vividly expressive words: "My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can not hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war." Jer. 4: 19.

This quotation is from the Revised Version. In the King James Version the prophet says, "My heart maketh a noise in me." This language conveys the most intense agitation of mind. The prophet is viewing scenes which cause his heart to palpitate so violently that it makes "a noise" in him. It is "disquieted."

SAW IT TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

Can it be possible that the prophet Jeremiah, some two thousand five hundred years ago, was viewing the very scenes of carnage that are now devastating such a fair portion of Europe? Without question, humanity in general regards this war as something so unusual and so unlooked for, that it is really awe-inspiring. For instance, the Springfield Republican, shortly after the breaking out of the war, said: "Writers who can tell a stupefied world what this fearful portent means, who can throw light on the great fundamental problems of the race, and give some hint as to its destiny, will have an attentive and even anxious hear-

ing." The world is "stupefied."

When the war broke out, the Rev. Dr. Frederick Lynch was in Europe to attend the first general meeting of the Church Peace Foundation, recently established by Andrew Carnegie. In a recent issue of the New York Christian Work and Evangelist, he tells of the shock that came to him, along with the other fifty or so ministerial delegates that were with him, when the awful carnage began. A few of the striking utterances from his article are the following:

AN EYE-WITNESS OF THE WAR FURIES

"In a moment, almost without premonition, millions of men on the continent have become frenzied, and with wild eyes, with bestial thirst for blood, and with savage yells, are rushing to rip their brothers' bowels out. Women are rushing from besieged and burning cities with little babies in their arms, and little, cold, hungry, tired boys and girls, hardly old enough to walk, trying to keep up. Poverty stares millions in the face — poverty not only during this war, but during long years to come. Thousands of women are to be widowed, millions of little children are to be left fatherless. Natural affections are already blotted out, and their place being taken by strange, cruel lusts and passions. The virtue of women will be a free commodity for all soldiers. Drunkenness has already

spread throughout these lands in a mad orgy. All industry will be ruined. Thousands of farms and villages will be laid waste. Thousands of schools and churches will be blown up. Hatreds will be engendered which will keep Europe irritated fifty years after the peace of exhaustion shall come. The commerce of the world will be all upset. The general morality of Europe will be lowered to a point where the churches will have to begin all over again and work a hundred years to restore it. Already thousands of atheists have been made. Almost every other man we have met in Europe this last week has shook his head with sadness and said, 'What's the good of Christianity if it can not stop this sort of thing?' It is as if the devil and all his angels have taken complete possession of Europe."

"Another thing which we think every American of the fifty who got this first sight of war has come to feel is that our religion has broken down in its psychology, that our gospel has been addressed to a man who does not exist, that our sermons have been preached to an imaginary man. We have been preaching to men as highly respectable, on the whole good, some of them saintly, while as a matter of fact this has been only seeming. They have seemed this because great temptations have not roused them from their sleep. No one who came across Europe within the last month can ever hold this easy faith again. Men are beasts; cruel, lustful, revengeful, ravening, just as the gospel represents them. There are exceptions, but in most of us the beast lies just below the surface, and nothing but a regeneration which shall sweep through men's souls as a wind from heaven can make them clean."

This minister has been aroused by actual conditions as they really exist in this time. But we ought to know these things from the word of God itself. What he says of the thirst for blood, and of the helpless women who are rushing from the scenes of war with their little children, shows something of the awful conditions that will be produced by modern wars.

THEY MOBILIZE AND STRIKE QUICKLY

It used to take the better part of a year to mobilize an army and get it into action, and then it was composed comparatively of only a few thousand men. Some of the largest armies that Napoleon ever mustered were below 300,000. Only in a very few instances in previous times have armies reached up into the millions. And even in these cases, there is some doubt thrown upon the size of these armies by the records of the historians.

But if we will stop to realize it, this war has been in progress only about two months, and millions of men have been fighting savagely for more than half of that time. And with modern machine methods — using machinery to kill men, instead of doing it by any kind of ordinary hand process — they are strewing dead bodies of men and animals all over their battle-fields, and are spreading desolation and ruin everywhere.

POVERTY AND SUFFERING FOR MILLIONS

No wonder Dr. Lynch says that "poverty stares millions in the face." But observe that one of the utterances of the doctor is, "Natural affections are already blotted out." Paul told Timothy, nearly two thousand years ago, that in the last days perilous times would come, because men would be "without natural affection." Not only did he say that they would be without natural affection, but they would be "fierce"; and the ferocity of this war shows that one of the greatest perils confronting us is the fierceness of humankind.

Please read carefully all of the third chapter of 2 Timothy, which gives most clearly many other specifications of conditions that would exist "in the last days."

THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS AT WORK

The doctor also says of this war, that "it is as if the devil and all his angels have taken complete possession of Europe." Here again a scripture that we have often quoted comes in for a literal fulfilment; for of the gathering to Armageddon's war it says:

"They are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." See Rev. 16: 13-16.

The doctor is very emphatic in his recognition of the fact that our boasted Christianity in this time is only nominal. All ought to see that the world, instead of getting better and better, is doing just what Paul, in this third chapter of 2 Timothy, said it would do. It is "waxing worse and worse," and men are not only "deceiving" but "being deceived." Our boasted civilization is deceptive, and can not be trusted.

The doctor strikes the truth forcefully when he says, "In most of us the beast lies just below the surface, and nothing but a regeneration which will sweep through men's souls as a wind from heaven can make them clean."

THEY ARE "CHRISTIAN NATIONS"

All these nations that have gone to war are called "Christian nations." But in the suffering and the carnage that are spreading over Europe, there is no semblance to Christianity. Here we have again a striking fulfilment of Paul's words that those who would be "without natural affection" and "fierce," and who would make the last days "perilous," would also have a form of godliness without the power. To quote the Twentieth Century Version of the text, "While they re-

tain the outward form of religion, they will not allow it to influence them." 2 Tim. 3: 5. And again he says — quoting from this same version: "For a time will come when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will follow their own wishes, and in their itching for novelty, procure themselves a crowd of teachers. They will turn a deaf ear to the truth and give their attention to legends instead." 2 Tim. 4: 3, 4.

That is just what the people of this time are doing. They have the outward form of religion, but they do not allow it to influence them. And many doctors of divinity are studying and teaching legends in place of the word of God.

WILL BECOME WORSE AND WORSE

Dr. Lynch has been aroused to see this; and his strong, clear message should be rung in the ears of the people everywhere. A regeneration that gives the Bible its proper place in the hearts and lives of men is the only thing that can save men from conditions such as now exist in Europe.

But we know that the world will not be saved from them, because it will not heed the teachings of the Christ of God. Instead of this, it will go on just as these scriptures have said, becoming worse and worse, until in a little time from now the climax is reached by depths of iniquity that can be tolerated no longer, and the Lord Jesus Christ will fulfil His promise to come in person.

THE PROPHET'S VIEW AND HIS ANGUISH OF SOUL

Please read further from the prophet Jeremiah, beginning with the verse quoted at the beginning of this article:

"My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can not hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people are

foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before His fierce anger. For thus saith Jehovah, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it. Every city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein. And thou, when thou art made desolate, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair; thy lovers despise thee, they seek thy life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gaspeth for breath, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Wo is me now! for my soul fainteth before the murderers." Jer. 4: 19-31.

DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION

The prophet's emotions are stirred by the war that he sees raging. "Destruction upon destruction is cried." He sees the whole land become a desolation; sees the fruitful field turned into a wilderness; and finally all the cities are broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before His fierce anger. Not a man is left. And in connection with this graphic scene, he hears a voice as of a woman in travail. In her anguish, she is gasping for breath, and crying, "Wo is me now! for my soul fainteth before the murderers."

In an incidental way, and as a sort of type, this scripture met a partial fulfilment in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem; but this graphic language can not possibly be made to apply but incidentally and partially to that time. The words of the apostle Paul are to the point: "All these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." 1 Cor. 10: 11.

When this prophecy of Jeremiah is studied in connection with the other prophecies, it gives unmistakable evidence of its direct application to the times through which this world is now passing.

NOT THE LAST WAR

This war in Europe is not the last great war. In all probability it will soon come to an end as abruptly as it began; although just how long it may continue, no one can forecast. But as has been stated in previous issues of this paper, God is restraining these winds of strife, and He will not permit them to continue. Possibly He has allowed this war to break out in order to destroy the delusion in the minds of men that we had a civilization and a quality of Christianity in this time that would save us from wars.

DANGER OF DELUSIVE PEACE

Our next danger will be, when peace is again restored, that the delusion that we will have permanent tranquility will become stronger than ever. But the Bible continues to say that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse"; and therefore we know that wars as they break out will be more and more violent, and more and more barbarous, as the "last days" are continually made more "perilous" by the "fierceness" of men who are "without natural affection." And finally it will be in a time when a deluded world is congratulating itself with established and permanent peace, that the climax will come; for the apostle Paul says:

"Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5: 2-4.

These words of the divine Book are plain. They specifically and clearly describe present-day conditions, and this last quoted text shows that those whom Paul would recognize as brethren were not to be overtaken as a thief. They were not to be surprised by the great outbreaks of war in these last days; and they would not be among those who would be saying "Peace and safety," when their senses ought to teach them that the whole world is a tinder-box of revolution and war. They will not be among that class that go down in the "sudden destruction" which engulfs the wickedness of this world forever, destroying it in the great day of the Lord that is ushered in by the second coming of Christ.

The famous Death's-Head Hussars, the favorite regiment of Emperor William and all his family. The regiment is so named from the death's-head worn on the front of their hats. The mottoes of the regiment are, "Neither give nor accept quarter," and "Fight to the death."

PRINCE GEORGE OF SERVIA, HEIR TO THE THRONE

Boston Photo News Co. LORD HIGH ADMIRAL VON KOESTER, OF THE GERMAN NAVY

The Spirit of War and the Hoarding of Millions

By H. C. Hartwell

What Is the Significance of These Unprecedented Conditions? — Clear Scriptures Plainly Foretell the Story

By H. C. HARTWELL

THIS article reached us just before the great war of Europe broke out. The importance of the many prophecies that tell the meaning of the war spirit of this time, and also of those other prophecies that tell the meaning of concentrating wealth, can not be overestimated. They need to be repeated and emphasized again and again. Their import is clear and obvious. They should be urged upon the minds and consciences of the people.

EDITOR.

Boston Photo News Co. HOTEL DE VILLE (CITY HALL), BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

EARTH'S civilized (?) governments spending thousands of millions annually on war."

"Millions of men are taken from useful work and kept ready to be used as fighting-machines."

"Hundreds of millions are spent for fighting-ships absolutely worthless to the world, except as checks on possible attacks."

"Nations live like armed bandits of olden days, with their minds on bloodshed and battle, and their millions spent for murder or preparing for murder."

PREDICTIONS IN THE LIGHT OF EVENTS

The above quotations from the Boston Sunday American, January 4, 1914, merely bear out the statements of Bible prophecy given centuries ago with reference to this very time of the world. "Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong." Joel 3:9, 10. "And I saw three unclean spirits . . . the spirits of devils . . . which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. 16:13, 14.

Armed to the teeth, and bending every energy to take advantage of the very latest inventions for killing and maiming human beings and destroying property, the nations of earth are under an awful burden in the endeavors to keep up in the race with their powerful neighbors. The more horrible and deadly the newest discovery may be, the more eagerly it is sought as an acquisition for greater effectiveness in some terrible conflict in the future.

Many are talking eloquently of disarmament and universal peace in the near future; but it is written, "They have seduced My people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace." Eze. 13:10. "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them." 1 Thess. 5:3. "And the nations were angry." Rev. 11:18. "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Rev. 16:16.

THE OVERTHROW OF TURKEY

The battle of Armageddon will be introduced by the overthrow of Turkey. This fact is generally recognized. Lord Salisbury, of Great Britain, in his Mansion House speech, November 9, 1895, said: "Turkey is in that remarkable condition that it has now stood for half a century, mainly because the great powers of the world have resolved that for the peace of Christendom it is necessary that the Ottoman Empire should stand. . . . The danger if the Ottoman Empire should fall, . . . would be that the fire there lit should spread to other nations, and should involve all that is most powerful and civilized in Europe in a dangerous and calamitous contest."

Kossuth said, "In Turkey will be decided the fate of the world."

SICK MAN OF THE EAST AND DANIEL THE PROPHET

Inspiration speaks plainly of the overthrow of this "sick man of the East," in the eleventh chapter of Daniel's prophecy, when [[FIGURE]] "he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." Dan. 11:45. The rapidity with which Turkey has been deprived of its territory and power during recent months is an indication that the great powers of Europe have about abandoned it to its fate, and that ere-long it will be driven from Europe.

The most terrible and solemn scenes of earth's history are connected with this event; for it is written that "at that time . . . there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 12:1.

THE COMING CRASH THROUGH CONCENTRATED WEALTH

President Lincoln said, "A time is coming which alarms and unnerves me, when all the wealth will be in the hands of a few."

What do we find to-day?

A few multi-millionaires whose fabulous fortunes make it possible for them to control the wheels of industry throughout the country. Gigantic combinations, forcing out of business the independent man with his family to support. Great corporations placing their own price upon the necessities of life, and grinding down the wages of the producer.

United States statistics show that as long ago as 1890, two per cent of our population owned seventy per cent of our entire wealth.

This unequal distribution is comparatively a new thing. In 1890 the Boston Globe said, "Men now living can remember when there were not half a dozen millionaires in the land." To-day there are thousands of millionaires, and to be accounted a person of great wealth one must be a multi-millionaire.

It took only forty or fifty years for one man to climb from a poor lad, walking the streets looking for a job, to the top of the ladder, as the richest man in the world, with a fortune, it is said, of $1,000,000,000 — more than Adam would have been worth if he had lived to the present time, and had saved $150,000 annually.

A SIGN OF THESE DAYS

Two thousand years ago this accumulating of colossal fortunes on the part of a few wealthy men was foretold in the following striking words: "Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth" — the armies of heaven.

"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. . . . Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you." James 5:1-4.

Seventeen years ago, in the September Arena of 1897, Mr. Tawheneck declared: "We are standing on the threshold of a great

conflict, — a conflict between concentrated wealth on one side and the organized wealth producers on the other. The longer this issue is kept in the background, the harder will be the struggle when it does come; for come it must. Great questions, like heavy trains, move slowly; but when they do move, the opposing forces meet with the clash of colliding worlds."

Unions, strikes, riots, and all attempts to meet this situation with the power of force, will produce no permanent relief. In the midst of the turmoil and uncertainty, the words of the prophet ring out in the following encouraging language: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. . . . Establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." James 5:7, 8. This glorious event will usher in God's everlasting kingdom of peace, and "with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." Isa. 11:4.

JAPANESE BATTLE-SHIP CRUISER AKI, ONE OF THE VESSELS NOW ENGAGED AT KIAU-CHAU BAY

Healing in Answer to Prayer

By Mrs. E. G. White

Prayer and Faith as Effective Now as in the Days of Christ — How to Secure Answers to Prayer — When Prayer Is Not Answered, This May Be a Manifestation of God's Goodness — Remedial Agencies to Be Used

By MRS. E. G. WHITE

"The prayer of faith shall save the sick." James 5:15.

THE Scripture says that "men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1); and if ever there is a time when they feel their need of prayer, it is when strength fails, and life itself seems slipping from their grasp. Often those who are in health forget the wonderful mercies continued to them day by day, year after year, and they render no tribute of praise to God for His benefits. But when sickness comes, God is remembered. When human strength fails, men feel their need of divine help. And never does our merciful God turn from the soul that in sincerity seeks Him for help. He is our refuge in sickness as in health.

RECOVERIES WILL FOLLOW

Christ is the same compassionate physician now that He was during His earthly ministry. In Him there is healing balm for every disease, restoring power for every infirmity. His disciples in this time are to pray for the sick as verily as the disciples of old prayed. And recoveries will follow; for "the prayer of faith shall save the sick." We have the Holy Spirit's power, the calm assurance of faith, that can claim God's promises. The Lord's promise, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:18), is just as trustworthy now as in the days of the apostles. It presents the privilege of God's children, and our faith should lay hold of all that it embraces.

THE CHANNEL OF HEALING

Christ's servants are the channel of His working, and through them He desires to exercise His healing power. It is our work to present the sick and suffering to God in the arms of our faith. We should teach them to believe in the great Healer. The promises He has given will be fulfilled to us. We are undeserving of His mercy; but as we give ourselves to Him, He receives us. He will work for and through those who follow Him.

CONDITIONS OF ANSWERED PRAYER

But only as we live in obedience to His word can we claim the fulfilment of His promises. The psalmist says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Ps. 66:18. If we render to Him only a partial, half-hearted obedience, His promises will not be fulfilled to us.

To those who desire prayer for their restoration to health, it should be made plain that the violation of God's law, either natural or spiritual, is sin, and that in order for them to receive His blessing, sin must be confessed and forsaken.

BRING DISEASE ON THEMSELVES

Many persons bring disease upon themselves by their self-indulgence. They have not lived in accordance with natural law or the principles of strict purity. Others have disregarded the laws of health in their habits of eating and drinking, dressing, or working. Often some form of vice is the cause of feebleness of mind or body. Should these persons gain the blessing of health, many of them would continue to pursue the same course of heedless transgression of God's natural and spiritual laws, reasoning that if God heals them in answer to prayer, they are at liberty to continue their unhealthful practises and to indulge perverted appetite without restraint. If God were to work a miracle in restoring these persons to health, He would be encouraging sin.

It is labor lost to teach people to look to God as a healer of their infirmities, unless they are taught also to lay aside unhealthful practises. In order to receive His blessing in answer to prayer, they must cease to do evil and learn to do well.

SUBMISSION TO GOD'S WILL

In prayer for the sick, it should be remembered that "we know not what we should pray for as we ought." Rom. 8:26. We do not know whether the blessing we desire will be best or not. Therefore our prayers should include this thought: "Lord, thou knowest every secret of the soul. Thou art acquainted with these persons. Jesus, their Advocate, gave His life for them. His love for them is greater than ours can possibly be. If, therefore, it is for Thy glory and the good of the afflicted ones, we ask, in the name of Jesus, that they may be restored to health. If it be not Thy will that they may be restored, we ask that Thy grace may comfort and Thy presence sustain them in their sufferings."

God knows the end from the beginning. He is acquainted with the hearts of all men. He reads every secret of the soul. He knows whether those for whom prayer is offered would or would not be able to endure the trials that would come upon them should they live. He knows whether their lives would be a blessing or a curse to themselves and to the world. This is one reason why, while presenting our petitions with earnestness, we should say, "Nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done." Luke 22:42. Jesus added these words of submission to the wisdom and will of God when in the garden of Gethsemane He pleaded, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." Matt. 26:39. And if they were appropriate for Him, the Son of God, how much more are they becoming on the lips of finite, erring mortals!

TOO GOOD AND WISE TO GIVE ALL WE ASK

We all desire immediate and direct answers to our prayers, and are tempted to become discouraged when the answer is delayed or comes in an unlooked-for form. But God is too wise and good to answer our prayers always at just the time and in just the manner we desire. He will do more and better for us than to accomplish all our wishes. These experiences that test faith are for our benefit. By them it is made manifest whether our faith is true and sincere, resting on the word of God alone, or whether, depending on circumstances, it is uncertain and changeable.

Not all understand these principles. Many who seek the Lord's healing mercy think that they must have a direct and immediate answer to their prayers or their faith is defective. For this reason, those who are weakened by disease need to be counseled wisely, that they may act with discretion.

Often there is danger of error here. Believing that they will be healed in answer to prayer, some fear to do anything that might seem to indicate a lack of faith. But they should not neglect to set their affairs in order as they would desire to do if they expected to be removed by death. Nor should they fear to utter words of encouragement or counsel which at the parting hour they wish to speak to their loved ones.

REMEDIAL AGENCIES; BIBLE EXAMPLES

Those who seek healing by prayer should not neglect to make use of the remedial agencies within their reach. It is not a denial of faith to use such remedies as God has provided to alleviate pain and to aid nature in her work of restoration. It is no denial of faith to cooperate with God, and to place themselves in the condition most favorable to recovery. God has put it in our power to obtain a knowledge of the laws

of life. This knowledge has been placed within our reach for use. We should employ every facility for the restoration of health, taking every advantage possible, working in harmony with natural laws. When we have prayed for the recovery of the sick, we can work with all the more energy, thanking God that we have the privilege of cooperating with Him, and asking His blessing on the means which He Himself has provided.

HOLD ON BY FAITH

When we have prayed for the recovery of the sick, whatever the outcome of the case, let us not lose faith in God. If we are called upon to meet bereavement, let us accept the bitter cup, remembering that a Father's hand holds it to our lips. But should health be restored, it should not be forgotten that the recipient of healing mercy is placed under renewed obligation to the Creator.

When the ten lepers were cleansed, only one returned to find Jesus, and give Him glory. Let none of us be like the unthinking nine, whose hearts were untouched by the mercy of God. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17.

Triumphant Through the Cross

By Worthie Harris Holden

By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

Soul, enter thou within the judgment-hall Of Him who rules high heaven, And prostrate bow before the Lord of all, To hear thy sentence given.

Bared 'neath His awful gaze, what canst thou plead Of righteousness thine own? What honor rendered or what valiant deed Claims mercy at His throne?

His piercing eye detects each secret sin, Each faltering step astray: He knows the leprosy that dwells within, Well hidden from the day.

Before that scrutiny, thou now would'st die In ignominy there. But list! I hear the radiant Saviour nigh Prevail for thee in prayer,—

The Sinless One who urges that His life May substitute thine own, That Calvary's divine yet mortal strife May for thy death atone,—

And thou art freed! Saved to proclaim the love That Heaven holds for thee! Saved that the character of God above Be praised eternally!

Rise to the fulness of redeeming grace, Extol the might of Heaven, That thou, a sinner saved, shalt see His face, And prove His mercy given.

Continue reading: The Law and the Prophets until John