Signs of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 21. (5/21/1896)

Signs of the Times

May 21, 1896

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 21, 1896

God Incomprehensible

God Incomprehensible.—“Canst thou by searching,” asks one of old, “find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?” This does not mean that we can not find God or know God; it simply means that finite man can never sound the depths of God’s infinity. This is elsewhere expressed: “No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

God Is Infinite.—Why man can never know God is because God is infinite, man is finite. Man had a beginning, and may have an end. God is not only without end, but without beginning—“from everlasting to everlasting,” “the eternal God.” Man can never comprehend this great fact. Language can not describe the eternal past. It could not in the very nature of the case be revealed to finite creatures. The thought is simply overwhelming, and all that the greatest can do is to accept the great fact and bow with reverence and awe before the Eternal One.

Infinite in Power.—All things came by his will; for “thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.” (Rev. 4: 11, R. V.) “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” “He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” “The nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.” “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one falleth.” “The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.” “By his Spirit hath he garnished the heavens.” “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” These are a few of the many expressions found in all parts of the word of God which tell us of his almighty power. Truly may we say with the prophet of old, “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.”

Infinite in Wisdom.—God knows all things. Not only does he know all things, but he knows how to work all things, use all things, control all things, to the best end and for the glory of his name. “He hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” “There is no searching of his understanding.” “The foolishness of God is wiser than men,” even as “the weakness of God is stronger than men.” His government is laid in perfect wisdom. No surprise of foe, no exigency which may arise, no cataclysm of nature, can occur to change the wondrously wise plans of God. He knows all, understands all, can control all. In the light of his revelation in nature, in the written word, and in his grace manifest in faithful receivers, we may say with the psalmist: “Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite.” “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.”

“God Is Love.”—This is his character, the sum of all his attributes. In love he created the worlds, in love he upholds all things, in love he gave his laws, in love he executes punishment, in love he gave his own Son to die, in love he pleads with the sinner, in love he has wrought all things. Wondrous, boundless love, reaching to the very depth of human wo, misery, and sin, in order that the child of wo and misery and sin may be saved to life and joy eternal.

Unchangeable.—In all his attributes of power and wisdom and love, infinitely and perfectly blended, God is unchangeable. “I am Jehovah; I change not.” “With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” His all-power will never grow less. His infinite wisdom and knowledge shall never know diminution or loss. All intelligences in the universe might rebel and conspire; he has all creative and uncreative power. By a word he can create, by a word he can uncreate those who have betrayed the holy trust of life. But his all-power and all-wisdom are governed and controlled by his all-love. He can not use his power to blast or curse the universe or his creatures. He can not use his wisdom to plot and plan the destruction of good, neither does he bestow it for such purpose. To thus use wisdom or power would be contrary to his infinite love, and he can not deny himself. It is power in love, wisdom in love, and love, blessed, tender, holy, in infinite power, abounding “toward us in all wisdom and prudence.” What he was once, he is now. What he is now, he always will be. What were once his conditions and promises of salvation, are the same now. The law of his government is as eternal as his throne—like him, it changes not; it is without “variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Changes in Dispensations.—In the light of the foregoing oft-repeated truths of God’s word can be seen the folly of the claims so often made that God’s law has changed with the different dispensations; that in one dispensation it is the law, in another it is the Gospel; in one it is faith, in another it is works. There is no change in God’s law or plan or purpose. The only condition of salvation there ever has been since man was created upon the earth is the faith which connects with God’s power, which submits to God’s will, which brings the soul into agreement with God, which works by love, which issues in perfect willing obedience to

all God’s commands. This is the lesson of the whole of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. It is faith, the faith that works, that is pleasing to God. But have there not been changes in dispensations?—Yes; in the development of God’s unchangeable plan, there have been different ways of manifesting faith in the Redeemer to come. In purpose he has been the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In fact, he was not slain till he came in the flesh. Before his coming men showed faith in his redeeming blood by the offering of clean beasts, and various other ceremonies looking forward to the cross; since the crucifixion the ordinances of the Gospel have shown forth his death as well as pointed forward to his second coming. But all this has not affected God’s moral law of Ten Commandments, wrought out in living character in Jesus Christ, our great and only example.

Trust Him.—Fellow-sinner, can you not yield to such a God as this?—Yes, you can do it, but will you do it? The choice rests with you. He has power to save you, to make you a new being in Christ Jesus. He knows how to save and change and mold you; he has wrought this work in myriads before, and he has wrought it in Jesus Christ for you. Will you let him perform it in you? He will do it all for your eternal good; for he “is love,” everlasting love. He loved you so much that he did all that he could do,—“gave his only-begotten Son” to save you from sin and death. Will you let him save you? If not, why not? Why not yield all to him? With all the boundless, exhaustless love of eternity in his heart he pleads with you to come. How can you slight his invitation?

Abide in Him.—Christian brother, abide in him. The trials of life will come, all things visible will seem to be against you; yet God “abideth faithful; he can not deny himself.” You may lose earthly riches, friends may forsake you, sickness and poverty may come, your name may be cast out as evil, persecutions may hurt you even to death; all these things the Master suffered and triumphed; and all these things God will work together for your good if you trust and love him. This is his promise: “And we know that to them that love God, God worketh all things with them for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8:28, R. V. Submit to his will, commit to him your cause, and Christ Jesus will triumph with you and in you. Trust God’s infinite power, wisdom, and love, and thus may you sing in the darkest hour: “For this God is our God forever and ever.”

HOW TO BE FREE FROM WANT.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Who would not be glad if he could be assured that he could have everything he wanted? How many people there are who are filled with unsatisfied longings! This is a world of want and woe. It is not only those who have no money who are in want. Often those who suffer the most from unsatisfied desires are those whose money is reckoned by millions. They want more.

Well, there is a sure way by which every man may have all that he wants,—may have every desire gratified. Here it is: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Ps. 37:3, 4.

It is a sure thing. Whoever delights in the Lord will have everything he wants. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly,” or sincerely; and those who delight in the Lord will want nothing but that which is good. Christ himself is the surety for the fulfillment of this promise. He says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7. He has an unlimited supply; for the apostle assures us, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19. His riches are unsearchable. Why will men persist in being in want, when they might have abundance?

E. J. W.

GLORIFIED TOGETHER.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

In the preceding verses of the eighth chapter of Romans we have seen how we are adopted into the family of God as sons, and made joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit establishes the bond of relationship. It is the “Spirit of adoption,” the Spirit proceeding from the Father as the representative of the Son, that proves that we are accepted as brethren of Jesus Christ. Those who are led by the Spirit must be even as Christ was in the world, and are therefore assured of

An Equal Share

in the inheritance with Christ. For “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Rom. 8:17–25.

Questioning the Text

To what does the Spirit bear witness?

“That we are the children of God.”

If we are children, then what are we?

“If children, then heirs.”

Heirs of whom?

“Heirs of God.”

With whom do we share this heirship?

“Joint-heirs with Christ.”

What did Christ inherit on this earth?

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted.” Isa. 53:7.

Then if we are joint-heirs, what must we do?

“Suffer with him.”

What else will also be sure?

“We may be also glorified together.”

What may we know of the sufferings of this present time?

They “are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

For what does the material creation wait?

“For the manifestation of the sons of God.”

To what was the creation made subject?

“To vanity.”

How?

“Not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.”

What is the hope?

“The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption.”

Into what will it be delivered?

“Into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

What is the condition of the whole creation at the present time?

“The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

What besides the lower creation is in this condition?

“Ourselves also.”

For what do we groan?

“For the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

What have we received as a surety that the body will be redeemed?

“The first-fruits of the Spirit.”

By what are we saved?

“By hope.”

For what do we hope?

“For that we see not.”

What does hope lead us to do?

“We with patience wait for it.”

Suffering.—Christ’s life on earth was one of suffering. He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He “suffered, being tempted,” but his sufferings were not all in the mind alone. He knew physical pain. “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases.” Matt. 8:17, R. V. He suffered hunger in the wilderness; and his works of love were done at the expense of much bodily pain and weariness. The sufferings which he endured at the hands of the rough soldiers in connection with his mock trial, and his crucifixion, were simply a continuation in another form of what he had endured throughout his whole life on earth.

Glory Following Suffering.—In all the prophets the Spirit of Christ was witnessing, and testifying of “the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:11. When Christ, after his resurrection, talked with the two disciples on the way to

Emmaus, he said: “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:26, 27. We know that the first part of those prophecies was fulfilled, and therefore must know that the rest are as sure. As surely as Christ suffered, so surely will the glory follow.

Suffering Together.—Our suffering is to be “with him.” We are not to suffer alone. But we could not suffer eighteen hundred years ago, before we were born. Therefore it follows that Christ still suffers. Otherwise we could not suffer with him. Read what is said of his connection with ancient Israel: “In all their affliction he was afflicted.” Isa. 63:9. So in Matt. 25:35–40 we learn that Christ suffers or experiences relief whenever his disciples suffer or are relieved. He is the head of the body. Now if when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it (1 Cor. 12:26), how much more must that be true of the Head! So we read of Christ that even now, as high priest, he is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” Heb. 4:15. A high priest must be one “who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.” Heb. 5:1, 2. So we learn that Christ has never divested himself of the human nature which he took upon himself, but that he is still identified with suffering, sinful men. It is a glorious truth, to be recognized and confessed, that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” 1 John 4:2.

Glorified Together.—“If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Christ does not have anything that is not for us equally with him. His prayer was, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” John 17:24. And he says, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.” Rev. 3:21. Whatever he has, we have, and we have it when he has it, since we are joint-heirs with him.

Glory Now.—The above statement may at first sight seem to be untrue. It is the common idea that Christ is glorified long before those who are fellow-heirs with him. One text is sufficient to settle this matter: “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” 1 Peter 5:1. Peter declared himself to be a partaker of the glory. This was because he believed the saying of Christ, in his prayer for his disciples, “The glory which thou gavest me I have given them.” John 17:22. If Christ has glory now, his disciples share it also. Again we have the words of the apostle Peter. Speaking of Christ, he says, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8.

Grace and Glory.—The apostle John tells us that, altho we are now the sons of God, the world knoweth us not, because it knew not Christ. There was nothing in the appearance of Christ on earth to indicate that he was the Son of God. Flesh and blood did not reveal that fact to anybody. To all appearance he was but an ordinary man. Yet all the time he had glory. We read that when he turned the water into wine, he “manifested forth his glory.” John 2:11. His glory was manifested in the form of grace. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. The grace with which God strengthens his people is “according to the riches of his glory.” Eph. 3:16. Whoever is in Christ, is chosen “to the praise of the glory of his grace.” Eph. 1:6. Grace is glory, but glory veiled so that mortal eyes may not be dazzled by it.

Glory to be Revealed.—“The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” The glory is for us to possess now, but it will be revealed only at the coming of Christ. It is then that his glory will be revealed (1 Peter 4:13), and then our trials will “be found unto praise and honor and glory.” Christ’s glory has not yet been revealed, except to the chosen three on the mount of transfiguration. At that time the glory that Christ already possessed was allowed to shine forth. He appeared then as he will appear when he comes. But to the mass of mankind there is no more evidence now that Jesus is the Son of God than there was when he was before Pilate’s judgment seat. Those, however, who see it by faith, and who are not ashamed to share his sufferings, also share his hidden glory; and when he shall appear in his glory, “then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Matt. 13:43. That will be “the manifestation of the sons of God.” Then for the first time Christ will be manifested to the world as the Son of God, and those who are his will be manifested with him.

The Hope of Creation.—That the word “creature,” in verses 19–21 means the creation, as given in the Revised Version, may be seen from verse 22, where we read of the whole creation as groaning, waiting to be delivered from that to which it has been made subject. When man sinned, the earth was cursed on his account. See Gen. 3:17. The earth had done no sin, but it was made to share the fall of him to whom it had been given. A perfect earth was not the dwelling-place for sinful men. But it was made subject to vanity in hope. God made the earth perfect. “He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited.” Isa. 45:18. And he “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Eph. 1:11. Therefore the earth is sure to be glorified as it was in the beginning. “The creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”

Adoption and Redemption.—Both the earth and we are “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” The earth waits for it, because it can not be relieved of its curse until men are set forth as sons of God, and therefore lawful heirs. The Holy Spirit is the pledge of this heirship. The Spirit seals us as heirs, “unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 4:30. It is to us a witness that we are children of God; but the witness is not accepted by the world. They know not the children of God. But when that glory which he has given us is revealed, and our bodies are redeemed from destruction, and made to shine like his glorious body, then there will be no doubt in the minds of any. Then even Satan himself will be obliged to acknowledge that we are God’s children, and therefore rightful heirs of the glorified earth.

Hope and Patience.—Hope, in the Bible sense, means something more than mere desire. It is certainty, because the ground of the Christian’s hope is the promise of God, which is backed by his oath. There is nothing that our eyes can see to indicate that we are the sons of God. We can not see our own glory, and that is why we are charged not to seek it here. We can not see Christ, yet we know that he is the Son of God. That is the assurance that we are also sons of God. If there were any uncertainty, then we could not wait with patience. We should be uneasy, and should worry. But, altho the natural eye can not see any indication that we are owned as God’s children, faith and hope assure us of it, and so we with patience wait for that which is unseen.

E. J. W.

Answers to Questions

No. 344. Satan’s Knowledge.

Does Satan know our thoughts before we speak them? W. D. F.

Yes, and no. Some persons reveal their thoughts in face and act. But he need not know our thoughts. God has not given him the power of thus reading our thoughts unless we are willing. That he has not this power seems to be indicated by such texts as Eccl. 5:6; Ps. 25:14; Eccl. 12:14; 1 Cor. 4:5; Heb. 4:12. The thoughts, the purposes, the motives are revealed only to God, except as they are revealed by manifest acts.

No. 345. The Two Witnesses.

WHAT are the two witnesses, Rev. 11: 3-9? J. W. S.

See “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation,” or “Great Controversy,” or “Spirit of Prophecy,” vol. 4. In brief, they are the two witnesses of God’s love and salvation to men. In Christ’s day they were the words of God which went before, the writings of the prophets, and the works which God wrought through him in harmony with the prophets. This made a twofold, unimpeachable witness. These witnesses of God’s word are personified,

represented as persons, in Rev. 11: 3-12. It is by God’s word that judgments have come upon men, that the heaven has withheld and given rain, etc. During the Dark Ages of 1,260 years they are represented as men in mourning. Infidel France endeavored to destroy these witnesses from the earth; but God’s providence overruled to enable them to give their testimony more widely. A double witness to the world now is the unchangeable word of God, which has come down to us, and the same word revealed in the lives of his people, “living apostles.”

No. 346. The Covenant in Horeb.

IS THE covenant spoken of in Deut. 5: 2 the same as the one spoken of in Gal. 4: 20-26 and Heb. 7: 14-19? Does Heb. 8: 10-13 have reference to the Ten Commandments? If it does, how were the Ten Commandments abolished through the death of Christ? E. H. J.

Our correspondent has asked large questions for this department, but we will answer the important question briefly, asking study of our readers on the texts referred to.

1. “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.” Deut. 5: 2. This covenant is not the Ten Commandments. The Decalogue is God’s covenant, not made with any one, but commanded to all. Deut. 4: 12, 13. The covenant made with Israel in Horeb is the covenant the record of which is found in Ex. 19: 3-8 and 24: 3-8, in which are found the mutual promises of God and Israel, of which the Ten Commandments, God’s voice (Ex. 19: 5), was the basis. But the breaking of that covenant, by transgressing the law, does not affect the covenant. A native of Ireland desires to become a citizen of California. He enters into a covenant with the state. He agrees to uphold the constitution of the state and obey its laws; the state makes him a citizen and gives him the protection and rights of a citizen. If he breaks that covenant which he made with the state, that does not affect the law of the state. If by his breaking that law California annuls the contract because he has forfeited his part, that does not affect in jot or tittle the constitution or law of California. So with the mutual covenant made at Horeb with Israel. Israel’s disobedience, and God’s consequent annulment of the covenant, did not affect his law which he had commanded all to keep, and which it was the duty of all to keep, whether they agree or not. The law is repeated in Deut. 5: 7-21, to show to Israel what their duty was in fulfilling the covenant, even as it was first given in Ex. 20: 3-17.

2. The covenant of Deut. 5: 2 is the same as that of Gal. 4: 20-25. As a means of salvation it gendered to bondage, because it was a national covenant, and salvation by man’s effort and promise through fear. Israel said through its elders, “All that the Lord hath said will we do,” but they failed. They endeavored to keep the law from without, and failed. The covenant which God designed for another purpose simply left Israel “under the law,” condemned by the law, because they were sinners. But the law was not the covenant.

3. The law of Heb. 7: 11-19 has reference to the law regulating the priesthood and vesting it in the tribe of Levi. The Lord ordained that Levi should be the priestly tribe, and it was death for one of another tribe to serve. Jesus Christ, our High Priest, came of the tribe of Judah. That he might serve, the law regulating the priesthood must be changed (Heb. 7: 11-14) before Christ could serve. It refers to no other law.

4. Heb. 8: 10-13 has reference to the Ten Commandment law and no other, the law which was obligatory upon Israel six hundred years before Christ. See Jer. 31: 31-33. The old covenant, based on Israel’s promises, could not put that law in the heart, but held it without in the letter. The new covenant, based on the eternal promise and oath of God, puts that same law in the heart of every man who will submit to God. It teaches no abolition of the law, but the strongest, closest relation to man possible. In Christ Jesus the law becomes a very part of man. See Ps. 40: 7, 8; Matt. 19: 17; John 15: 14; 1 John 5: 3. It is only the carnal heart which rejects or despises God’s law (Rom. 8: 7), a heart which we hope our correspondent has not.

THE CHARACTER OF GOD.

By S. N. H.

BY S. N. H.

“God is love,” is the declaration of the inspired penman. God can not manifest himself different from his character; therefore every manifestation of God is an expression of his love. He is unchangeable in his character; for, with him “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” On every leaf of the forest, on every stone of the mountain, on every blossom, from the tiniest flower to the queen of lilies, is written, “God is love.” If man had never sinned and lost the image of his Creator, he would have seen in nature the same infinite love that was revealed in the life and death of the Son of God.

It was sin that caused this last special manifestation of the love of God. That love existed and was shown in nature before. There was no more love because man sinned but the great heart of God was touched by human wo. God’s love manifested in the death of Christ, existed before Christ came, and it would have been in nature if the mind had not been blinded by sin. If man had remained loyal to divine law, his capacity to know, to enjoy, and to love, would have continually increased. He would have constantly gained new treasures of knowledge, discovered fresh springs of happiness, and obtained clearer and yet clearer views of the unmeasurable, unfailing love of God.

When sin first entered this world, and it became necessary for Christ to die to save a lost race, then, in sympathy with its divine Author, the operation of all nature was changed. The decaying leaf, the withering grass, and the garb of death that yearly clothed all nature, was an unmistakable testimony of the awful nature of sin, which required the death of the Son of God. But the sprouting tree, the germinating of the seed sown, the reproduction of the grain, the reviving of nature in the spring, taught also the resurrection of the dead. This was a different manifestation of the love of God than would have been made if man had never sinned. Christ died for the redemption of this planet and its inhabitants, which had been separated from the great continent of heaven by sin. It also settled the question before the universe that infinite love was the basis of all the requirements of God, and that he sought the happiness of all of his created intelligences. It was a demonstration of the one great fact that “God is love.”

For about twenty-five hundred years there were no books to reveal the Gospel. The creation of God and the operations of nature were God’s text-book of the Gospel. The written word directs our mind to nature, as illustrating the truth of the Gospel. Said Christ: “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Mark 4: 26-29. Here is the planting of the seed, its growing up of itself, its ripening off for the harvest, and finally the harvest itself illustrates the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or the kingdom of God. The word is a different manifestation of the Gospel, but it aids the mind to a correct understanding of the truth as taught in the operations of nature. There is in the word a warning against every sin, and instruction unto every act of righteousness. As object lessons of sin and its tendency we have the record of various characters left in the Scriptures. We also have every act of righteousness and God’s approval of it in the lives of the righteous. Perfection is not found in any one person, but every character recorded is necessary to make a complete revelation of sin and righteousness.

The one great truth announced to Satan, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15), has been developed

more and more by the written word. It has come in different ways, adapted to the people under varied circumstances and adapting itself to man as he has sunk lower and lower in sin and vice. Finally Christ came. “In him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;” “for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Cor. 5: 21. He brought into humanity, not a new love, or an increased love from what existed in the beginning, but a revelation of that love and purpose of God, which existed both in nature and revelation. It was “now made manifest by the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” 2 Tim. 1:10. “We have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4: 15. He lived our life in sinful nature, without sin, that we might live his life of righteousness and partake of the divine power that was in Christ Jesus .

Even more than this, God has so mysteriously connected our life with his that we are clothed with his righteousness, and by a living faith in him, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Nothing in any way that concerns our peace is too small for him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for him to unravel. He makes even our mistakes to work not only for our good but for the advancement of the cause of Christ.

O, what matchless love is this! In all of God’s creation, in the operations of nature, in the written word, in the characters and events recorded in the Bible, in the life and death of the Son of God, even in every circumstance of our own life if we love God, is a revelation of the life of Christ, which is an illustration of the love of God. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Rom. 11:33. Such is the love of God manifested toward the human family.

CHRIST IS COMING.

[Arranged by C. P. Whitford. Tune, “Minnie Minton.”]

Christ is coming; let creation Bid her groans and travail cease; Let the glorious proclamation Hope restore and faith increase. Earth can now but tell the story Of thy bitter cares and pains; She shall yet behold thy glory When thou comest back to reign.

Chorus:—

O Saviour, dear Saviour, Blessed Saviour, hearts are longing For thy presence here below; Hasten, Lord, thy second coming, Come, and take thy children home.

Long thy exiles have been pining, Far from rest, and home, and thee; But in heavenly vesture shining Soon they shall thy glory see. With that “blessed hope” before us, Let no harp remain unstrung, Let the mighty advent chorus Onward roll from tongue to tongue.

Christ is coming, yes, he's coming; O, be ready for his call At the midnight or the dawning, Or when evening shadows fall! Of the day and hour we know not— Yet this thought shall comfort men, To receive us into glory Will our Saviour come again.

Christ is coming, yes, he's coming; His sure promise never fails; He will then release his people From the chain-gang and the jails. How they long to see him coming; Then no more they'll be oppressed; For the Saviour will be ruler In that land of peace and rest!

We shall see our Saviour’s coming With the angels bright and fair; Then we'll shout his praise and glory As we meet him in the air. On a cloud we'll see him coming— O my brethren, watch and pray; Soon you'll enter, if you're faithful, Into realms of perfect day!

Christ is coming, surely coming; Roll the notes of joy on high; Every blood-washed saint of Jesus Rally to your Leader's cry. Yes, our blessed Lord is coming; Swell the glad triumphant song; Let it echo through the nations That the time will not be long.

Continue reading: AND SHALL NOT GOD AVENGE HIS OWN ELECT?