Earlier text: Our High Priest in HeavenNot What I Feel, but What I Will
By Charles L. Taylor
FEELINGS are altogether unreliable. One may feel his worst and yet do his best. A good feeling is often found in company with reprobate acts. It is often true that God is nearest His children when their feelings tell them He is farthest away. Even in physical matters the feelings are inconsistent and untruthful. Many times they lead into trouble, by failing to speak in time of danger, and by giving false alarms when danger really does not exist. Feelings are only nerve-voices. And the nerves, like telegraph wires, may become tangled, form short circuits, and transmit to the brain all sorts of confusing, misleading, false, destructive messages. Everybody understands somewhat of this from the experience of weariness. When worn out, exhausted by long hours and taxing toil, one feels oftentimes that his life is a failure, that God is far away, that there is no use trying to overcome. The slightest conversation with his feelings convinces him that he himself is a hypocrite, and that others, too, are only shamming. Sometimes illness comes. The trouble may be either functional or organic. Then it is that the believer becomes sorely tried, life takes on a different hue, and in place of bright hope, he settles down into gloom and even despair. He is sure that he is lost, that God is angry with him; and so he ceases to pray. And he feels every bit of it. In some instances, people are caught napping; and being surprised by temptation, they go astray. Then, waking as it were from a dream, they find themselves overwhelmed with various and conflicting emotions. Everything seems unreal, untrustworthy. They feel themselves unconverted, God's Word unlovely, and even heaven itself undesirable. Yes, they feel it all. But, reasoning sanely and soberly, we all know that God doesn't change with our changes, that hope is not blighted and blasted by illness, that failure does not do away with the love of God. On the other hand, good feelings may not be taken as evidence of a good Christian life. A person may "feel" that he is getting along well when in reality he is not. No, feelings are unreliable, and therefore are not to be trusted. The child of God rests his confidence upon an altogether different foundation. Going Contrary to Feelings
In the spiritual life, as in the physical, we are called upon to exercise the will. Each day witnesses to the fact that young people may go contrary to their feelings, and by so doing win their greatest victories. They do not feel like arising in the morning; but hearing the call of duty or privilege, they deliberately set aside and ignore their feelings, and make the very most of the day's opportunities. The feeling of dislike for work in no wise cancels the fact of the day nor the fact of its responsibilities, because the will is brought into play. Just so it is in the business of serving Christ. Various things may contribute their quota of bad feelings, or, perhaps, lack of feelings, so that the blessings of the Sabbath, of the prayer-meeting, of the reading of the Bible, of laboring for others, may not appeal to us; nevertheless, the will, the deciding power of the life, may so effectually do its part that the heart shall thoroly enjoy all these things which otherwise would be lost. It is too often true that we do right simply because we "feel like it," rather than from a sense of love and filial obedience toward God. We are to love Him and serve Him because He first loved and first served us. And this we may always do, feeling or no feeling. And the reward is just as great, if not greater, when we thus act from principle, and will to do in order that God's will may be fulfilled. Dear young friend, let me urge you to live no longer by feeling. Live every day in the great facts of truth, and make sure that your life is one long I WILL for God. He Will Come Again
By Mrs. Luvernia Cowan
"Ye men, why stand ye gazing up in a cloudless sky?
Why is your heart so troubled? why tears bedim your eye?
Know not ye this same Jesus who walked with you to-day,
Will come again, in glory, at the closing of the day? "Cease, then, from sad repining, and wipe away your tears.
This glorious second coming is yet for many years.
Go, write the words He gave you, and bind them in a book,
And pass it down through ages. He told you when to look." The faithful men departed, and well performed their task;
The mighty truth they taught us, no evil cloud can mask.
And as we read the pages o'er we know that it is true,
And soon this blessed Saviour will come for me and you. There's a foe to conquer, a call for volunteers;
In every tongue and nation, a sign for God appears.
Gird on the armor tightly, the fiery darts withstand;
The mighty foe's advancing, he's seen on every hand. Christ is our faithful leader, His Word our shield and sword;
God's law the path to guide us, and point us heavenward;
When the mighty foe surrounds, and help seems almost flown,
Our Saviour then is coming to lead us safely home. "Out of Babylon to Zion"
By Prof. Lucas A. Reed
XXIII. Zion versus Greece
THE ninth chapter of Zechariah is a prophecy of coming events, and deals principally with the conquests of the coming nation. Persia was at this time ruling as the great universal empire, but in this chapter we are told in prophetic words of the oncoming of Greece. A number of the cities that are to be punished, even destroyed, by Alexander the Great, are given in the first seven or eight verses, but Jerusalem is to be spared. Says the Lord, "I will encamp about Mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth; and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with Mine eyes." Evidently reference is here made to the march of the conqueror of the Persians, Alexander the Great. His was one of the most eventful expeditions in the history of mankind. Persia was destroyed in a very short period, and the empire of Alexander himself was soon greatly changed. As was prophesied by Daniel, he cast Persia down to the ground, and waxed very great, and when he was strong the great horn was broken. With remarkable perception he realized the dependableness of the Jewish people, and impressed the same thing upon his successors. When he came into Judea he sent to the high priest for aid against Tyre, and also demanded the tribute paid to Darius, promising that the ruler of the Jews would not repent for having chosen the friendship of the Macedonians. The high priest refused on the grounds of his oath to Darius. Alexander threatened to make Jerusalem an example for this disobedience to him, and after the conquest of Gaza he prepared to fulfil his threat. Jaddua the high priest, and his people, prayed to the Lord, and the priest was shown in a dream by night that he need not fear the wrath of the king, and he went with perfect confidence to meet the great conqueror. The gates of the city were thrown wide open, and there marched out, not an army such as encountered the Romans, but a multitude in white garments, the priests going before in raiment of fine linen. The high priest in his apparel of purple and gold, on his head the miter, and on the miter the golden plate wherein was written the name of God, advanced alone to meet the great Alexander. Alexander, who was expected to give the city to be plundered, and the high priest to be insulted and slain, kissed the name of God, for he recognized in the priest one whom he had seen in like dress in a dream, and who had bidden him, when hesitating, to cross to Asia, for he would go before his army, and deliver the Persian empire into his hands. As the result of this experience Alexander the Great made very liberal terms with the Jews. They were allowed to live in Judea according to their own laws; the tribute was remitted every seventh year; and he made other conditions very favorable to them. And now began to come true the great promise of God that He would set the sons of Zion against the sons of Greece; make His children as the sword of a mighty man. Verse 13. Yes; as one studies the history of that time he realizes that verse 14 has been truly fulfilled: "And the Lord shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south." Verses 16, 17: "And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of His people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land. For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!" Then it was that Alexander's dream was fulfilled, for the high priest showed him the prophecies of Daniel which declared that a Greek would destroy the Persian empire. Alexander could not but see in the vision of the notable horn a picture of himself, and so his dream that a priest clothed like this high priest would urge him on into Asia to conquer Persia he now saw fulfilled; he could go forward with confidence believing in this word of the prophet and the priest of the most high God of the Israelites. Some may doubt this historical fact, but there is one thing that can not be doubted by the student of history. Alexander made that people who had been the most despised part of the enslaved under the Medes and Persians equal in privilege to his own Macedonians. While Alexander could hardly brook the absorption of the Persians, he honored the Jews with the highest grade of citizenship. God's people, who had been the most despised of the enslaved, became the most trusted of the trusted. They became a large portion of the second and third then known cities of the world. They became citizens of Alexandria, and Antioch, and Ephesus, without in any sense ceasing to be Jews. The immediate successors of Alexander followed the policy of their great exemplar; and wherever God's people failed of these gracious privileges, it was because of unfaithfulness to the Lord, bringing troublous times upon them because of their sins. But in a remarkable sense for hundreds of years God gave His people grace and favor before the world. But the prophecy is not fulfilled alone in the Jews before the first advent. That prophecy looks forward as well to our own time. God's people to-day have favor before the world in the execution of the closing work. "And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of His people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land. For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!" In the midst of these promises that God would protect His people during the great march when Alexander would destroy all the peoples about them, the Lord throws in the wonderful promise of the coming of the Messiah: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Verse 9. It was customary for the king of the Jews to ride in this way when about to be crowned; therefore when Christ was seen riding upon the ass, and advancing toward the city of Jerusalem, it was a declaration of His Messiahship, and those who read properly the sign gave Him the allegiance that belonged to a king. But there were those who refused; those who controlled the destiny of the nation, those who were the rulers among the chosen people, refused the Christ, and brought upon themselves swift destruction. There is another particular in which God set His chosen against the power of Greece. The system of philosophy generalized by Plato and Aristotle, formulated by Socrates and his followers, has held a commanding influence in the world from the time of these teachers until to-day. It was a philosophy of great power and influence even in the time of Christ, but God puts His truth in antagonism with that materialistic teaching. How grandly Christianity conquered for years, the history of the opening centuries of the Christian era well exemplified; but there came a time when so-called Christian teachers began to rationalize; began to formulate Christianity in terms of Grecian philosophy. The apostasy came as a result; Christianity was Grecianized, Platonized. But even to-day pure, vital, true Christianity is more than a match for all the philosophy of the Grecians. Note what some say as to the power of Grecian teaching even now: "We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our art, have their roots in Greece."—Shelly. "Except the blind forces of nature, there is nothing that moves in the world to-day that is not Greek in origin."—Henry Sumner Maine.8 But Grecian philosophy is of Egypt. "These are strong statements, but let us see if conditions to-day do not prove their accuracy. Much of the learning and philosophy of Greece was taken from Egypt, that land of dense darkness,— so designated by the Word of God. Many of the Egyptian myths and gods were adopted by the Greeks, thus the Greek conception of truth was based largely upon Egyptian philosophy."—John K. Jones. Evolution itself, the great form under which all science teaching is nowadays cast, comes direct from the Grecian and the Indian philosophies; but against these atheistic teachings of Greece, Christianity opposes itself. God sets the sons of Zion against the sons of Greece; and if they cling faithfully to the Word of God, the issue is not at all uncertain. The man arrayed by that Word which is the sword of the Spirit becomes as the sword of a mighty man. Over such the Lord is seen, and the prosperity and success are a sign of God's all-triumphing Word. God keep us from the Grecian philosophies that are to-day taught in the world as scientific truth. May we be sons of Zion rather than sons of Greece. The Date Palm
By Delwin Rees Buckner
WHERE desert waste continually drifts,
The noble, fruitful, heaven-breathing palm
Through rude, unfeeling wind, or gentlest calm,
Its crown of everlasting green uplifts,
And firmly stands, nor for a moment shifts
The place where it hath tied its roots, while from
Its branches music rises like a psalm
To Him who gives the universe its gifts.
O, tree of triumph, mounting to the skies,
Triumphant, e'en in worthless, barren sand,
When God's redeemed have battled with the grave
And won; when their sweet songs of joy arise,
With harps of gold, there'll be in every hand,
O palm, thy leaves of victory to wave. Why We Oppose Religious Legislation
By Charles P. Whitford
Civil government was ordained of God to protect men in the enjoyment of their rights. Freedom of conscience in religious matters is one of these rights. Religious legislation deprives individuals of this God-given right. All true religious service must spring from the heart and be performed in love; but when religion becomes an affair of law, it ceases to be a service of love. Religion is a matter of faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." No amount of religious legislation can make men believe God. "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." No amount of religious legislation can make men worship in spirit and in truth. Where enactments concerning matters pertaining to our duty to God begin, there moral suasion ends. The darkest pages of history are those recording the results of the invasion of the civil power into the realm of conscience. Religious legislation may make men act religious; but the religion of such men is vain, if they can not say as did the apostle Paul: "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." To compel a man to pray, is to make him act the part of a hypocrite, and a hypocrite in God's sight is worse than an open sinner. We enter our most emphatic protest against civil government engaging in a work that will make hypocrites. To compel a man to observe a day for the Sabbath, which he does not believe is the Sabbath, is to compel him to commit sin; for we read in the Bible, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Civil government has the same right to compel men to be baptized, or partake of the Lord's Supper, as it has to compel them to keep the Sabbath. To compel men to conform to any religious rite or ceremony in which they have no faith, is to outrage the conscience. "If all mankind, minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing the world."—John Stuart Mill. Religious legislation is class legislation. It favors a class of citizens in matters of religion. It is therefore a respecter of persons. But why should civil government be a respecter of persons? "God is no respecter of persons." It is wrong for civil government to be a respecter of persons. It is contrary to every principle of good government. It is contrary to the United States Constitution, which declares, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Religious legislation robs men of their dearest and most sacred rights, and is therefore wrong. The object of the writer in presenting the above thoughts, is to engage the serious attention of the citizens of our state to the question, Is it right for civil government to legislate on religious questions? "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." Ps. 2: 1-3. It is a vain thing for any man, or set of men, to undertake to make laws limiting the rights of another to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. It is a vain thing to think that such a law or laws could break their bands asunder; especially those truths that bind them to their Maker. Against whom are they taking counsel together? Is it not against the Lord? Can it be possible the rulers of this land would take such counsel? Does not the Constitution of these United States plainly inform us that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press"? "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure." But why do they rage? Why do they imagine vain things? Ah, the answer comes to us from His Word: "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Eccl. 8: 11. Why do they set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed? 1. What is the great harvest of earth?
"The HARVEST is the END OF THE WORLD [age]." Matt. 13: 39. 2. What message of mercy is given to prepare them for that day?
"FEAR GOD, and give GLORY TO HIM; for the hour of HIS JUDGMENT IS COME; and WORSHIP HIM that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." See Rev. 14: 6-12. 3. What will this message bring about in the earth?
"MULTITUDES, multitudes in the VALLEY OF DECISION: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3: 14. 4. What character will that message develop among those who decide for God?
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, AND THE FAITH OF JESUS." Rev. 14: 12. 5. Who then will come to reap?
"I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like unto the SON OF MAN, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Verse 14. 6. What messages are given to Him and His messengers?
"THRUST IN THY SICKLE, AND REAP: for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe." "Thrust in Thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe." Verses 15, 18. See also Joel 3: 13. 7. What will each class reap?
"He that SOWETH to his FLESH shall of the FLESH reap CORRUPTION; but he that SOWETH to the SPIRIT shall of the SPIRIT reap LIFE EVERLASTING." Gal. 6: 8. 8. What will those who have not decided for God, then say?
"The HARVEST IS PAST, the summer is ended, and we are NOT SAVED." Jer. 8: 20. 9. What opportunity does God give to all?
"Behold, NOW is the acceptable time; behold, NOW is the DAY OF SALVATION." 2 Cor. 6: 2. He Was Tempted as We
By Alexander Maclaren
O, WHEN we are journeying through the murky night and the dark woods of affliction and sorrow, it is something to find here and there a spray broken, or a leafy stem bent down with the tread of His foot and the brush of His hand as He passed; and to remember that the path He trod He has hallowed, and thus to find lingering fragrance and hidden strength in the remembrance of Him as "in all points tempted like as we are," bearing grief for us, bearing grief with us, bearing grief like us.—Alexander Maclaren. Conditions of Effectual Prayer
By Editor
FAITH is not mere belief. One may believe; that is, he may assent to a thing that it is so; but that is not faith. We may say that we believe in God the Creator, but this is worthless unless we appropriate in personal experience the creative power. That is what faith does — it appropriates. The demons believe and tremble. The child of God believes and appropriates the power of God. The one has nominal belief; the latter, faith which makes living connection with creative power. There is no definition of faith which tells us all that it is. Heb. 11: 1 is sometimes quoted as a definition of faith. It is a definition of one aspect of faith, having wholly to do with its forward look, and pertaining to God's promises. Here is another expression of faith: A complete yielding to God to do or to be what He declares. It is open to criticism, but there is a helpful thought in it. Does God command us to do this?—Faith yields to do it. He said to Israel, "Go forward." They began the march into the very sea, and the power of the word opened the way. Does God declare a certain course of action to be sin, and that we should depart from it?—Faith answers, "It is sin, Lord;" and the soul is yielded to righteousness. Does God declare that if we yield our sins, He will wash them all away in the blood of Christ?—Faith in glad rejoicing will accept the grace and rejoice in freedom from sin. Faith respects all God's Word. It holds His precepts to be as sacred as His promises; His warnings to be as precious as His assurances. And that "faith" can not be depended upon which does not do this. Faith not only makes God's promises real, but His precepts, His warnings, His injunctions, His condemnations just as real. It is a telescope which brings the future near. Fall on the seeming void and find
The rock beneath. Effectual prayer must have as its element simple faith. "Therefore I say unto you," says Jesus, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11: 24. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Heb. 11: 6. But faith is based on God's Word, not our own fancies. Rom. 10: 17. It is God's revealed Word that we depart from sin and keep His commandments; let faith yield to the Word, and the commandments become enabling acts. God's Word contains innumerable sight notes of definite payments with the space for the name of the payee left blank, so that our faith may then write our names and present the note at the Bank of Heaven for payment. That faith will be honored. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Pray, pray without ceasing; pray in faith; God will hear. The Christianity of Christ
IT is a sad fact that many professors of religion are somewhat in the same condition as the man described by his son. When the little fellow was asked if his father were a Christian, he replied that he was, but that he did not work much at the business. There are many who seem to think that if they only regard the common moralities or civilities of life, are not profane, dishonest, untruthful, pray now and then, give a little, perhaps, to the church expenses, they are very good Christians. Christianity with them is largely, if not wholly, of a negative character. It is manifested in the works of the law, "Thou shalt not." That is, they see in God's requirements just what is expressed in the mere words of prohibition, instead of seeing in that law just what the Gospel reveals to us in the positive righteousness manifested in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. If our Christianity is anything, it is a positive force for good. Christ's life was not a negative life. While it is true that He "did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth" (1 Peter 2:22), it is also true that He "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). Is it not just this which marks the difference between the "works of the law," or the "righteousness which is of the law," on the one hand, and the "obedience of faith," or the "righteousness which is by faith," on the other? The Decalogue in its mere words forbids sin. Its language is prohibitory. It is "Thou shalt not" do this and that and the other. The Jew who did not break the injunction, was blameless so far as the mere letter of the law was concerned. Touching righteousness which is in the law, he was blameless, as Paul declared that he was. Phil. 3:6. But the law requires more than a negative goodness. Were it not so, dead men keep it the best. It is not founded on negation, but on the positive character of God Himself. The character of God is love. 1 John 4:8. Love is the underlying principle of the law. The God of love gave His law in love. Love only can fulfil the law; and the apostle declares love to be its fulfilling. Rom. 13:10. John says, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. Jesus sums up the requirements of the law in loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and one's neighbor as himself. See Matt. 22:37-40. But love is not a negation; it is a positive force. God loved a fallen world. This did not lead Him simply to do it no injury, or wish it well, but He gave His Son to die, and interested the hosts of angels in man's salvation. Christ loved the world and therefore gave Himself, left heaven with all its glory, sacrificed all He could sacrifice, suffered all He could suffer, because He loved the sinner. His whole life was a positive, outflowing life. There was developed in His loving and therefore lovable character the righteousness demanded by the holy law of God. The Jews had kept its letter, but were, nevertheless, sinners; for "to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17. God's Word declared that the law required love. See Deut. 6:1-9; 10:12, 13. But as many did not believe God, and would not heed His Word, they did not see beyond the mere letter of the law. Those who by faith did apprehend the truth that God's law required more than mere negatives, not finding this love required in either their own life or power, were led to seek God by faith; and thus was revealed to them through the Gospel the righteousness which is of God by faith. By that faith the righteousness of God, manifested in the character of Christ, is imputed to the sinner for all the past (Rom. 3:20-23), and by that same faith the Spirit of Christ becomes his, and the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the same Spirit (Rom. 5:5). It then follows that if the Christian has the Spirit of Christ, he will show the works of Christ. The goodness of his nature will not be merely negative but positive. He will do good; he will seek the good of others; he will have a burden for souls; he will labor for souls, sacrifice for souls, plead with God for souls. He will work, not for life, but from life. He will do, not because he ought to do, but because he must do, constrained by the love of Christ. To be a Christian is to be like Christ. Dear reader, have you this Christianity? Have you so learned Christ? Is your Christianity positive or negative? Are you laboring for Christ and His cause, or are you simply doing nothing against Him? If you have not His love in your heart to impel you to work, seek it now, seek it earnestly, seek with all your heart, and you will not seek in vain; for as men know how to give good gifts unto their children, "much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." Luke 11:13. Therefore "ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." It is the present experience in God which bears fruit. The vine-dresser cuts away all of last year's growth, leaving only the old, seemingly dead, dry stock. But he prunes the vine, that it may bear more fruit. So God deals with His children. Do we pride ourselves on the leaves of past experiences? God cuts them off, and leaves us to view ourselves as we are by nature, that we may know that, severed from Him, we can do nothing. Union with Him brings fresh sap, fresh life, fresh vigor. Last year's nourishment may possibly keep us alive a little longer than if we had never had it; but only the present, constant supply will bring fruit to perfection now. It is the constant, momentary life which tells for Christian fruit bearing.