Signs of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 31. (8/3/1904)

Signs of the Times

Aug 3, 1904

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 3, 1904

THE CAUSE OF GOD AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

IN the wisdom of God great national governments have been utilized in the promulgation of His truth. Ever since there has been a great nation the opportunity has been offered to the administrators of government to be instruments in His hand for making known the true God, and the way of eternal life. And the more the “powers that be” have yielded their influence to the encouragement of true righteousness, the greater has been their prosperity in material things. “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.”

WHEN the king of Egypt made Joseph the wise ruler in his kingdom, because the Spirit of God was in him, the result was a wise administration of affairs through a most trying period of overflowing productions, followed by another trying ordeal of devastating famine. And, further than this, Joseph inaugurated wise systems of agriculture, and his magnanimous dealings with other peoples during their time of want (Gen. 41:56, 57) gained their good-will to such an extent that Egypt enjoyed many years of peace and prosperity. This continued all the eighty years of Joseph’s life after he became ruler, and until a new dynasty disregarded the principles he had established.

IN the providence of God, Nebuchadnezzar extended the realm of Babylon far beyond that of any preceding nation. Daniel said to him: “The God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand.” But when, after all that God had done for him, he took the glory of his success to himself, the Lord humbled him to a level with the cattle of the field. Then, when he turned his heart to the Lord and acknowledged his absolute dependence upon the Most High God, his reason and the glory of his kingdom were restored. Then went forth a genuine proclamation of the majesty of “the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment.” When, however, Nebuchadnezzar’s successors refused to acknowledge the God of heaven, and altogether turned to idolatry and unrighteousness in general, the hand of the Lord was withdrawn from the support of the kingdom, and the dominion passed to other rulers.

MEDO-PERSIA succeeded Babylon in world-wide dominion, and when Darius the Mede took the throne the angel Gabriel “stood to confirm and to strengthen him.” His successor, Cyrus, had been especially named in prophecy as the “shepherd” of the Lord, to perform all His pleasure; “even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” It was also said that the Lord would subdue nations before him. All this was fulfilled, and as long as Medo-Persian and Persian kings could be utilized in the furtherance of God’s eternal purpose, that kingdom survived and prospered. But when idolatry and human ambition came to hold sway throughout the kingdom, the dominion was again transferred to another.

GRECIA succeeded Persia, also in the providence of God. Her first king, Alexander (styled, “the great”), was instrumental for

good only in that he put down a world power that could no longer be utilized in the promotion or the preservation of truth. Beyond this calling, Grecia, under succeeding rulers, did the cause of God a great service in translating the Scriptures into Greek, the then best-known, and most extensively-used language in the world. But Grecia’s factions became tyrannical toward the people of God, both in Egypt and in Palestine, and the Lord withdrew His protecting hand.

ROME rose from western obscurity on the wings of sympathy for the oppressed. She made her hand felt in the protection of an infant king (Ptolemy Epiphanes) of Egypt, whose kingdom was about to be seized by the kings of Macedon and Syria. Then the people of God in Palestine made a league with Rome, and thereby secured a measure of relief from the oppressive exactions of the Syrian king. In about a hundred years, however, instead of a mere alliance, Rome took possession of the country, and made the Jews a tributary people. No power ever had a grander opportunity to be a blessing to all the world than Rome, principally for the reason that, in her day, the Prince of Righteousness, bearing from heaven a message of peace and good-will toward all classes, sojourned among men. Like her predecessors, Rome was providentially made an instrument in the chastisement of other powers and people who had enjoyed opportunities for doing good, but had outlived their usefulness. But she herself became imbued with a spirit of such exceeding cruelty, pride, and arrogance, that her greatly extended period of grace can be comprehended only from the standpoint of God’s unbounded patience and long-suffering.

OF modern nations none have been so highly favored with opportunity in the Lord’s great, universal cause as Great Britain. Perhaps we might except Germany, which was allowed the gracious privilege of being the “cradle of the Reformation.” It is possible that England’s greater present opportunity and blessing is somewhat owing to her greater appreciation and activity in carrying out the work that came providentially to her hand. Germany’s Luther gave her people the Word of God in their own language; and he and his colleagues did much to establish the Reformation in that and in some other countries. But England had her Wycliffe and his English translation of the Scriptures two hundred years before Germany had her Luther and his German translation. England’s scholars and missionaries and Bible societies have given the Bible to the world in more languages than all other countries combined. The British flag has hovered over and given protection to more missionary work than any flag that ever floated. Under no flag is there a greater degree of religious liberty than under that of Great Britain; and this is the secret of Gospel progress in those countries where the British Government holds sway.

THIS is not to disparage the work done by men of our own country, which has had, and yet has, its golden opportunity. But it is yet a child as compared with the “mother country.” Much of the missionary work of Americans has been accomplished within the jurisdiction of the British Government. But while, in the providence of God, America became an asylum of the oppressed of all lands, who sought here “freedom to worship God,” many of whom fled even from British tyranny, yet our national councils had begun to turn toward church and state dogmatism, while Great Britain was making favorable progress in the right direction.

LET it not be forgotten that the nation that does the most to further the cause of God in the earth is not the one that undertakes to enforce the observance of the Christian religion by direct compulsory laws to that effect. It is the national protection of absolute liberty of conscience, and the free circulation of Gospel truth, that gives true Christianity its greatest triumphs. Contrast the work done by Great Britain in times of religious tyranny, and in the periods when liberty of conscience has been recognized by her lawmakers. Also contrast the work done in the world since the Reformation with that of many centuries before. Such a contrast is enough to demonstrate that true Christianity needs, and asks of any government, only to have free course with the people, and no direct hand in the control of political affairs. Christianity will more than repay, in peaceful influence and the attendant blessing of God, all the expense of the protection that is the just due of every citizen. Any government can best serve the cause of God by simply doing justice to all classes of people in temporal administration. The Spirit of God, through the Word, will do the rest.

“THE FOOL HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD.”

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

Atheism has no power to restrain crime, or to quicken the higher energies of the being, no power to elevate or purify the soul. It can shed no light into the grave.

Men may think that they have succeeded in banishing from their minds all thought of God; but when they are brought face to face with the king of terrors, there is wrung from their unwilling lips the confession that the boasts of a lifetime have been a delusion.

Was ever an instance known where a dying Christian gave to his watching friends the testimony that he had been deceived, that there is no God, no reality in the religion of Christ? But how many of those who have drawn about them the dark robes of atheism have let them fall before the grim messenger of death. We might cite many instances where learned men have gloried in their unbelief, and in parading their atheism. But when death claimed them, they have looked with horror into the starless future, and their dying words have been, “I have tried to believe that there is no God, no reward for the faithful, no punishment for the wicked. But how vain has been the attempt. I know now that I must meet the doom of the lost.”

Sir Thomas Scott in his last moments cried: “Until this moment I believed there was neither a God nor a hell. Now I know—and feel that there are both, and that I am doomed to perdition by the just judgment of God.”

Voltaire was at one time the lion of the hour. He lived in a splendid mansion, and was surrounded by every luxury that heart could wish. Kings honored him. The great men of the world sought his society. On one occasion men took his horses from his carriage, and drew him themselves in triumph around the city.

Was this sufficient to make men who deny Christ happy? Go with me to his death-bed, and listen to his words of mournful despair: “In man there is more wretchedness than in all other animals put together. He loves life, and yet knows that he must die. If he enjoys a transient good, he suffers various ills, and is at last devoured by worms. The bulk of mankind are little more than wretches, equally criminal and unfortunate, and the globe contains carcasses rather than men. I tremble at this awful picture, and wish I had never been born.”

Go now to the death-bed of a Christian,—Halburton of Scotland. He was in poverty, and was suffering great pain. He had none of the comforts that Voltaire possessed, but he was infinitely richer. He said: “I shall shortly die. In the resurrection I shall come forth to see my God and to live forevermore. I bless His name that I have found Him, and I die rejoicing in Him. I bless God that His Son was ever born.”

Giving an account of the last days of Sir Davis Brewster, his daughter writes: “He thanked God that the way of salvation was so simple. No labored argument, no hard attainment, was required. To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ was to live. He trusted in Him, and enjoyed His peace.” The last words of this great man of science were: “Life has been very bright to me, and now there is the brightness beyond. I shall see Jesus, who created all things, who made the worlds. I shall see Him as He is. Yes, I have had the Light for many years. O, how bright it is! I feel so safe, so satisfied.”

“The way of the transgressor is hard;” but wisdom’s “ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” In the downward road the gateway may be bright with flowers, but there are thorns in the path. The light of hope which shines from its entrance fades into the darkness of despair; and the soul who follows that path descends into the shadows of unending night.

But he who takes Christ for his guide will be led safely home. The road may be rough, and the ascent steep; there may be pitfalls upon the right hand and upon the left; we may have to endure toil in our journey; when weary, when longing for rest, we may have to toil on; when faint, we may have to fight; when discouraged, we must still hope; but with Christ as our guide, we shall not fail of reaching the desired haven at last. Christ has trodden the rough way before us, and has smoothed the path for our feet.

Those who walk in wisdom’s ways are, even in tribulation, exceedingly joyful; for He whom their soul loveth walks invisible beside them. At each upward step they discern more distinctly the touch of His hand; at every step, brighter gleamings of glory from the Unseen fall upon their path; and their songs of praise, reaching ever a higher note, ascend to join the songs of the angels before the throne. “The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

Sins of Omission

SOME men console themselves and flatter themselves that they are very good, very right, and very safe, because they have never done anything very bad. They overlook the fact that much of our trouble comes from the things which we have left undone. Our sense of guilt is not so keen and sharp when we neglect our duty as it is when we fall into actual transgression. But sins of omission involve the soul in actual guilt and condemnation.—Christian Advocate.

FIRST CHRONICLES.

By F. D. Starr

BY F. D. STARR.

THE name of this book, as well as of the following book signifies, in the Septuagint, matters omitted, or things passed over. While much of the subject matter of these two books is found in the books of Samuel and Kings and other books, yet there are additional facts brought out that are interesting to know. The book we are now considering covers a longer period of time than any other of the inspired books. It will be seen that it commences with the progenitor of the race, Adam, and reaches down to the time of Solomon, being approximately 3,000 years, or just about half of this world's history since creation.

Much of the book may be considered as a review lesson of what has been already studied. Review lessons are very essential in any line of study. The most successful and efficient teachers are those who frequently review their classes on what they have already passed over.

Perhaps some may think that these books of “matters omitted” might well be omitted entirely from our perusal of the Scriptures; they may seem quite dry and uninteresting to many on account of the lengthy registers of names, and the genealogies they contain. But rightly considered these lists of names are of special interest, as showing the accuracy with which the names of persons were handed down from father to son through successive generations. How many people are able to-day to give a list of the names of their ancestors back for a dozen, or even a half dozen generations? Many can not do this for even three or four generations. It seems like quite an evidence of the obtuseness and indifference of the average mind to the history of our ancestors, that we can so rarely even tell the names of those from whom we have descended. Evidently the Lord does not desire that men should become so ignorant concerning those who have lived in past ages, and have been our progenitors. It is interesting to know the names of those who have constituted the chain of humanity from the first human being down through the ages. But how surpassingly interesting it will be in the future world to see a complete register of the redeemed, whose names are written in heaven, and not only this, but to see these individuals themselves.

After passing over the genealogies of the Israelites and their ancestors, the writer takes up some of the historical events of this celebrated nation. A brief account of Saul’s overthrow is given in chapter ten. It is there stated that “Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.” The statement in 1 Sam. 28:6 is: “And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” One text states that Saul did not inquire of the Lord. From the other we learn that he did inquire of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him. We find by looking into the life of Saul that he had departed from the Lord, and was following in the way of disobedience for a long time previous to this crisis. In this condition his inquiring of the Lord was the same as if he had not inquired, for he, “sought Him not after the due order.” “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Prov. 28:9. How many poor souls who have in like manner sought information from the Lord, have asked and received not, because they asked amiss. The spirit of obedience, and the love of God are absolutely necessary in order to gain divine information. When one comes to the Lord to inquire of Him, having set up the stumbling-blocks of his iniquity in his heart, he can not expect to be shown the right way. Eze. 14:4.

A good illustration of the use of the term “angel” is found in 1 Chron. 14:1, where it is stated that “Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars,” etc. In the Greek translation, the Septuagint, we read that he sent “angels” to David. The word angel is a Greek word (ἄγγελος pronounced angelos), and signifies a messenger, it may be either a celestial or a terrestrial being. Another instance is found in ch. 19:2, where we read that David sent angels to Hanun, king of the Ammonites, to comfort him concerning the death of his father. In verse 16 we read that the Syrians sent angels to call for assistance from the other Syrians. Instances of the use of this term are very numerous in the Greek of both the Old and New Testaments. For instance we read in Luke 9:52 that Jesus sent angels before His face to inquire in a village of the Samaritans if there might be room for him to be entertained. In Luke 7:24 we read concerning the disciples whom John had sent to inquire of Jesus if He were the Christ: “And when the angels of John were departed,” etc. Knowing how the word angel is used, we can better understand such passages as Rev. 2:1, 8; 14:6, 8, 9, etc., where the term evidently refers to human beings. Heavenly angels are likewise sometimes called “men.” Dan. 9:21; Acts 1:10.

Much is to be learned from the books of Chronicles, and we do not want these books to remain among the matters omitted in our reading.

WHY SHOULD NOT THE SABBATH BE OBSERVED ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK?

By T. E. Bowen

BY T. E. BOWEN.

THIS is the question appearing in the daily Utica Press, under date of June 16, 1904, written by S. C. Maxson, M.D., one of Utica's able physicians. Dr. Maxson says:—

To the editor of the Utica Press: I want to say that the dissipation which characterizes Sunday amusements is very distressing to me; and I would not by word or deed encourage it. The Protestant church is very weak on the Sabbath question, for the simple reason that it has departed from the Word of God in teaching and practise in this matter. No honest man can read the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, with a desire to reach the truth on this question, and then say that Christ or His apostles changed the day of the week. We know that Christ from His youth to his death, obeyed God, His Father, in this as well as in all the rest of the law. There is no record in all that follows in the lives of Christ's apostles to prove that they did not follow Christ in this particular. On the other hand, with all the fault found with them by the Jews, never were they accused of observing the first day of the week as a Sabbath, which we know the Jews would have been quick to do had that been true of the apostles.

Again, Christ said, when speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, which did not occur until about fifty years after His resurrection, “Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” In this He certainly did not mean the first day of the week. Now, if Christ recognized the validity of the Sabbath and the day of its observance fifty or more years after His resurrection, I don't see how Protestant churches, which claim to take the Word of God as their rule of faith and practise, can do less than teach and observe the seventh day of the week as holy time. If we can come to men declaring “Thus saith the Lord God,” we may press this home to their consciences. Without this we have lost our power.

Again, the Sabbath was not instituted to commemorate Christ's resurrection. It is a memorial of the fact that God created this beautiful world in which we live. To use it as a memorial of any other, is to pervert its meaning, and will destroy the institution. Many will say, It does not matter which day we keep. I feel a sweet rest and comfort in standing on God's side of this question, with Christ and His apostles. I would not dare say it does not matter.

Utica, N. Y., June 16, 1904.

It might also be added that Christ not only taught Sabbath observance by keeping it, but went further; He endured persecution from the Jews, not only to maintain the special day for observance, but the manner of keeping it as well. He used the day in performing wonderful miracles of healing, and relieving of physical suffering among His fellows—common humanity with which He had clothed His divinity—and because of His beneficence He was persecuted by the Jews who claimed He was not properly keeping the Sabbath. Thus He not only pointed out the correct day, as is so forcibly and sensibly shown in the quotation above from Dr. Maxson, but He makes very plain also how the day should be kept—none of which can be applied to the first day of the week, for that is not the Sabbath.

A SERMON OF FEW WORDS.

By H. F. Phelps

BY H. F. PHELPS.

The train stopped at — where we once had an organized church. Returning from a visit at a place where the church was almost depleted by removals, I was glad to see Brother — among those who boarded the train. I knew he was almost, if not the only, light left in the place, and I was anxious to know of his courage in the work. He soon told the story in a short sermon, as I inquired after some with whom we used to meet in worship. As in the former place some had moved away. Some were unsteady in their Christian walk. Other some walked no more with us. And now comes the sermon.

Musing a moment, he laid his hand on my knee, and exclaimed: “I tell you, Brother Phelps, when a man gives up family worship, he is gone! It don't seem to me I could live if it were not for family worship.”

What volumes could be written of those who have given up family prayer! And what volumes could be written of the rich experience, and the victories of some who have not yielded to such a temptation. Of course, this brother could not live if he should give up family worship. There is nothing but death in such a course. As these words have come to my mind from time to time, I have desired to repeat them to others, for it is a living, but sad truth that “when a man gives up family worship, he is gone!” In every place where Abraham sojourned he builded an altar of prayer; and he was the father of the faithful.

Trials Strengthen Character

REMEMBER that the harder the trials we bear, and the fiercer the temptations we meet, the stronger our characters will become.

The Industrial Conflict in the Light of Revelation.

By Geo. W. Rine

By Geo. W. Rine.

THE GREAT CLASS STRUGGLE FORETOLD BY PROPHETS.

In the article of this series, contributed to the last week's issue of this journal, indisputable evidence, both from current industrial history and from the infallible predictions of inspired prophets, was adduced showing that the laborer, the producer of wealth at first hand, is not receiving a just share of the finished product of his toil. It was shown also that this deplorable fact is very largely responsible for the terrible poverty so generally prevalent to-day.

Further Prophetic Evidence.

Dear reader, I beg to repeat: We must study the perplexing present-day social problems in the light of divine revelation. Otherwise we shall, like all others who refuse to accept Holy Writ as the definitive solvent of all difficulties, be hopelessly “at sea.” Like them, we shall be groping in the mists, if we shut our eyes to the light which only God can give. Let us remind ourselves again of the significant testimony borne by the Apostle Peter as to the nature and mission of prophecy: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19, 20. When our Lord walked among men He declared: “I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. To follow Jesus is to follow His word,—who Himself is the representative of the Father of all prophecy. See 1 Peter 1:11.

In Mal. 3:5, our Lord, in reference to the final judgment, warns those who live in the time when the judgment is imminent, in these solemn words: “And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers [spirit mediums of these last days], and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, and the widow, and the fatherless.” These are evidently sins that would be peculiarly rife in the closing years of time. Here Malachi confirms the testimony of James, which was emphasized in last week's article, that in the last days the laborer would be oppressed by having his just wages “kept back by fraud.” Such oppression is in the sight of God most heinous. Note the terrible anathema uttered against those who are guilty of such fraud: “Woe unto him that . . . useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work.” Jer. 22:13. So prone is the wealthy employer to underpay his employees that the Lord deemed it necessary to peremptorily forbid the practise of this specific form of injustice. “Thou shalt not,” is the unqualified command, “oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are . . . within thy gates.” Deut. 24:14.

In the New Testament we have a precept of exactly the same tenor, but positively rather than negatively expressed. Thus, “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal.” Col. 4:1. These precepts are mandatory, and therefore just as binding on the conscience as the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” To disregard the former precepts is to transgress the latter.

In those precepts are packed all the philosophy and wisdom of true economics. And it is because these divine rules are almost universally ignored that society finds itself to-day in the seething maelstrom of the most bitter and hopeless industrial struggle that the world has yet known.

The Struggle Is On.

“Business is business,” epigrammatically expresses the dominant law in the world of business and industry. It means simply that I must seek my own aggrandizement at whatever cost to the other man. This business law is the antithesis of the law of love, the law of Christ. Some one has wittily said that the prayer of the modern Pharisee runs substantially thus: “God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are; I feast seven days in a week while I have made other men fast.” How true it is that while the few are feasting the many are fasting. The palace of plenty is casting its shadow on the hovel of want.

The editor of the Saturday Evening Post, Mr. Lorimer, recently expressed the law of economic selfishness, the law which precipitated the great conflict, in the following witty metaphor: “Labor and Capital once went for a walk, but they soon quarrelled because both wanted the sunny side of the path.” It is true that the contentions of labor are not always righteous, its demands are not always just. Labor has been guilty of much that is foolish, unreasonable, and even lawless, as I shall show in a later paper. Yet the fact that labor, as a rule, is notoriously underpaid, is incontrovertible. Practically all unprejudiced thinkers bear testimony to the truth of the foregoing statement. In this they attest the fulfilment of the inspired predictions already referred to.

The popular author, Mr. Jack London, contends that the interests of the two classes—capitalists and laborers—are hopelessly at variance. But I am morally certain that it is only their selfish interests that are antagonistic. If both classes were governed by the law of love—the Golden Rule—there could be no conflict between the interests of the one and those of the other. The law of love expresses itself practically in this divine mandate: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” This is the law of self-denial, of mutual helpfulness, of love. But very rarely indeed does this supernal law govern the relations of employer and employed. Were this rule the supreme law of the economic world, that world would be an industrial paradise.

The Evidence Adduced.

In a paper contributed to a late number of the Arena, a noted writer says: “The laborer and the capitalist throughout the civilized world stand face to face this day in grim antagonism. The most peaceful relation existing anywhere between them is one of armed truce, which may be broken at a moment’s notice. . . . The only disadvantage under which the laborer fights, is the difficulty of maintaining organization in so vast and mixed a multitude. That so thorough an organization has been affected and is maintained is one of the signs of the times. . . . The element in the struggle which excites the gravest apprehension is the intense bitterness and animosity, which occasionally flash out in acts of violence, and which characterize the literature and oratory of the conflict. They give a passing glimpse into a volcano of hate smouldering beneath the crust of seeming deference to law, which may at any moment burst out into acts of fiery violence.”

Congressman Hatch, of Missouri, is reported in the public press to have said recently: “Mark what I say! If the inexorable law of cause and effect has not been expunged from the statute book of the Almighty, unless a halt is called very soon, you may expect to see the horrors of the French Revolution put on the American stage with all the modern improvements, and that within the next decade.”

The following extract is taken from a speech delivered in the United States Senate, a few years ago, by one of its members:—

“We can not disguise the truth that we are on the verge of an impending revolution. . . . The people are arraying themselves on one side or the other of a portentous contest. On the one side is capital, formidably entrenched in privilege, arrogant from continued triumph, tenacious of old theories, enriched by domestic levy and foreign commerce, and struggling to bring all values to its own gold standard. On the other side is labor, starving and sullen in the cities, resolutely determined to overthrow a system under which the rich are growing richer and the poor are growing poorer—a system which gives to a Vanderbilt or a Gould wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, and condemns the poor to a poverty from which there is no escape or refuge but the grave. Demands for justice have been met with indifference and disdain. Laborers, asking for employment, are treated like impudent mendicants begging for bread.”

In a late sermon, a famous clergyman and scholar of the Middle West said: “The pulpit has been saying that these ugly-looking trusts are object lessons of the higher associate possibilities of our new age, and has preached hope and not despair, has believed that the American people will find a peaceable solution of the present troubles, and that we should talk and work and pray for peace, appeal to the high and noble sense of right and conscience, of love and brotherhood, and not to the sword. But if not in this way, justice must come in severer forms. It is evolution or revolution. We shall hear more of this evolution or revolution.”

[The remainder of this interesting article will be given next week.]

The Rejected Preacher.

There is a rejected preacher. There always has been a rejected preacher. His cry is heard through all the ages, sometimes a warning cry turning into wrath, and again a pitiful, pleading cry turning into grief. Among the voices of men none has spoken so sadly. Like winter winds wailing in a frost-stricken forest we hear the refrain of his anguish sounding across the desolation of generations. “He is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He has left messages to the world stained with tears and throbbing with pain. An Isaiah, a Jeremiah, a Jesus of Nazareth, or a Paul, we find him sooner or later weeping over a people who would not hear.

Whether born in that age or this, or preaching there or here, the marks which the rejected preacher bears are always the same. He is God’s man. In the endless controversy between

God and man he is on God’s side. He believes that God is right, and that man is wrong. His convictions are clear and straight. He draws the line at God’s will. Whatever is against that will is disobedience, rebellion, and not only so, it is dangerous, fraught with final disaster. No man who is against God can succeed. And hence his great sorrow, his tears, his cry of anguish. He sees men going to ruin, refusing to hear the word of warning, to see the sign of danger, blind, deaf, secure, saying to themselves peace, when there is no peace. If he believed less in God and less in man, if he loved God less and man less, he would have less sorrow. But, knowing what God is, and what man may be, and loving both, he sees his message rejected with a pain that smites to the heart.—Christian Advocate.

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